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MACDONALD, G.O.B., P.O., D.C.L., LL.D., &c. n BASED ON THK WORK OF EDMUND COLLINS, REVLSKD, WITH ADDITIONS TO DATE, BY G. MERCER ADAM, THOROF "THK CANADIAN NORTH-WEST," "CANADA FROAf SKA TO SF,A," "TORONTO OLD AND NEW," "OlITUNK HISTORY OF CANADIAN LITERATURE," "PtBLIC SCHOOL HISTORY OF lONGLAND AND CANADA," ETC., ETC. % iOSE PUBLISHING COMPANY (Ltd.) 1891. I • l»» ' ii^.'^ Entered according to the Act of Parliament of Canada, in the year one thousand eight liundrud and ninety-ope, by Hunter, Rose & Co., at the Department of Agriculture. PBnmD AKD BOtTKB W Huirm, R08B & OoMPAHTi Tosono. 341528 ^«Mv*atlon< THIS MEMOIR OK ONE OF CANADA'S GREATEST SONS, JS BY ITS PUBLISHERS, RESPECTFULLY DEDICATEID TO THK ||ounii( rttt^ Svt0tu llottion, WHKIi HK ARDKNTLY AND PATRIOTICALLY LOYKD, AND TlIEOU(ilIOrT A LON(i LIKE TIME LOYALLY AND FAITHFULLY SERVED, WITH A SINULE EYE TO ITS VIGOROUS UPBTILDINO, AS WELL AS TO ITS PERMANENT CONSOLIDATION AND EVElll'RESKNT WELL BEING, IN TlIK HOPE THAT THE LIKE IfEUE COALMEMORATED MAY HE TO ALL RANKS AND CONDITIONS OK THE PEOPLE AN ABIDING EXAMPLE AND A NOT UNWORTHY TRIBUTE TO A /■'.A ^atviot ^t at cm in an' & $ante* v.- i' • ■'.: . j, CANADA'S PATROIT STATESMAN, INTRODUCTION. BY G. MERCER ADAM. / , THE sense of loss which the country haa sustained in the death of Sir John Macdonald will, for a while at least, not be favourable to dispassionate estimates of the deceased's character and life-work. At any time it requires an effort to write of a public man with absolute truth and honest fearless- ness. The difficulty is greater when one attempts to weigh actions and appraise a career in the presence of a nation's sorrow at the passing away of the distinguished personage, long at the head of the Government of this country, who is the interesting theme of this book. The task is somewhat easier to one, however, who while in sympathy with his sub- ject is at the same time honest with himself, who puts his country first and always, and upon whom party ties sit not at all. If the present writer cannot rise to the pitch of en- thusiasm to which Mr. Edmund Collins had attained when he wrote the bulk of the following pages, he is none the less con- scious of the gifts and endowments of the subject of Mr. Collins' lively panegyric, or in any way unwilling to do justice to his theme. What he has alone stipulated for, in taking up and carrying down to date that writer's work, is freedom to present facts without doing violence either to history or to the dictum of a calm and impartial judgment, and always with consideration and courtesy towards the other great Party in the M ;f f '■' VI INTHODUCTION State. To this tttipulation, the original author being out of the country, the puhli.shcrs have readily given awsent, at the Hanie time authorising and approving the revision vviiich the book as a whole has received. With these few words of explanation, let us at once address ourselves to our task. \\i. The demise of Canada's foremost statesman, one who ha.* been for over a generation not only tlie leader of a Party, and that Party most of the time in ofHce, but the chief and revered figure in the political arena of the country, is an event with which biography may dare to deal, and with which history is sure to deal. There is a ])athos in the pa.ssing into the beyond of even the humblest son of toil, when the shadows have set forever upon his work and he goes forth to the reward that ha^ been appointed for him. In the ease of the chief of the State when he passes hence, if the pathos is not greater, public interest is more active and widespread and its sympathy more intense. It is not always when the bell tolls and flags are half-masted, however, that a nation mourns for its dead. For Sir John A. Macdonald, the late Premier of the Donunion, Canada really mourns, and the cause of this is not far to seek. His was a personality so winning and magnetic that even his enemies — and he had enemies — admired hira, and in spite of themselves they not infre(|uently and ungrudgingly gave him their heart. There have been few more remarkable instances in the career of a public man, where, whatever have been the methods by which success has been won, the qualifications for winning it have been more manifest that in his. In late years, when he had became the country's idol, it was easy to account for the idolatry. Yet from the outset of his career it was never difticult to cast the horoscope and premise that suc- cess would certainly come to him. Few better than he knew how to attract men — even those politically opposed to him — and having won them to his side he knew how to retain and use them. In this respect, his leadership in Parliament is not less notable than was the enthusiasm he extorted from his following in the country. We say his following, because, though his name INTRODUCTION. ▼U was usually rfood to conjure with, ho was never without a party opposed to hi in, and by that party and its organs he was con- stantly and bitterly assailed. The most impartial mind, it was long ago remarketl, can hardly avoid being biassed against Sir John Macdonald by the language of his friends, and in his favour by the language of his foes. His friends hailed him, with ecstatic admiration, as the maker of Canada and the honoured chieftain of his party ; his eneiuies saw in him only a monster of political crime. By the henchmen of party he was esteemed an ideal leader, and there is no doubt that he possessed in a wonderful degree the gifts that attract and weld together a 'party following. Of recent years he had become the object of excessive party worship, a worship so idolatrous as to close the eyes of his adherents to his shortcomings and faults. This was specially manifest in the efi'ective campaign cry of the last Gene al Election, when " The Old Man, the Old Policy, and the Old Flag" was the onthusiasm-compelling watchword of the Tory party. By the ebb >ii(l •'"'" '>f party fortune Sir John Macdonal ' has rarely been affecte*^ :' '"* once has he suffered conspicuously 'm the withdrawal of tij^ public favour, and even in that case y.'M))^ morality made haste to make amends for averting for a time its fac«. T'em- porary reverses, o courso, lio • nw and again met \.7||'. and violent at times \:&s the rancour of thoje 0('pxsed to him; but he rarely had to meet opposition from within, whilt> di affection and rivalry were almost unknown factors in b own camp. To an extraordinary extent he could depend upuu due devotion and attachment of friends, and loyalty to him ant his cause was almost a fetich among his worshippers. It would be difficult in a word or two to say what were the causes of Sir John Macdonald's success as a Canadian states- man. Not a little of the interest that attaches to his career arises from the long period over which his public life extends ^nd his hearty sympathy with the national aspirations. To lese may ^-e added the entire and disinterested devotion, w^ich he a ways evinced, to the material interests of the cou. try, and his long-time and complete identification with i\ 3 > < 1; 7 I ., > ^ M n\ > W\ VIU INTRODUCTION. 1 ' «i. its political histo-y. Not a little is due also to his phenomenal tact and adroitness as a party lei\der, to his intimate knowledge of men and the world, to his faculty of winning to himself and his cause those who were ever ready to help him in need and stand by his fortunes, to that charm of manner which brought even political opponents under his personal sway, and to those arts and methods as a politician which did not scruple at times to profit by the weakness of human nature. In this latter respect, of trading at times on the weakness of human nature. Sir John Macdonald but reflected the type of politics of to-day. Political ambition, like ambition in other walks of life, is right enough in its way, if the way be that cf uprightness and honour. Unhappily, in these latter days, politics though a science is not a system of ethics, but a game ; and the game too often involves the sacrifice of every- thing reputable for the lust of office, with ita patronage and gains. We do not say that Sir John Macdonald made any such sacrifice for personal ends, or besmirched his character for the sake of retaining pn-^ver. His ideals, however, were not always heavenly, and his contact with men hardly led them to regard him as quixotically rigid in his principles, or of austere morals. He was not superhuman, only intensely human. So far as he was personally concerned, his political purity was unquestioned ; and unquestioned too, we be- lieve, was the purity of his domestic life. Socially, he was a delightful man to come in contact with, though perhaps a greater restraint upon himself and more dignity of manner would have become his position and honours. One thing can be said of him, that there was little conscious guile in the man, and hardly even a suspicion of cant. Irreverent at times he might be, but, on the other hand, he was never a sniveller ; and no one could be more ready and infectiouslj'^ merry with a jest. Always delightful, indeed, were his flashes of pleasantry, whether in the House or out of it ; and to these, as much per- haps as to anything else, did he owe his great popularity. To his genial manners, especially to his amenities in Parliament, when the game tried the tempers of everyone, he owed the INTRODUCTION. iz friendship and devotion of his followers. To the same qualities he owed the " sneaky" attachment (to use the term in the wooer's sense) of those who, on political grounds, could not give him their party allegiance. Nor did his cheerfulness, still less his courage, desert him in adversity. Even in the dark days of the Pacific Railway Scandal, he never repined or suf- ferred his spirits to droop. With becoming contriteness he bowed his head to the storm, and, when the storm passed, he confi- dently resumed play at his winning game. In the game, as he played it, he could always be trusted to score with his mirthful heart. As leader of his party he was dexterous and wary, and when hotly pressed by an opponent he could hit hard and with signal effect. But in the House he was not wont to be angry ; on the contrary, his demeanour was as pleasant as his bearing was jaunty. If anything annoyed him, it was but for tne moment, and seldom did the annoyance cause him to throw aside his habitual urbanity. Many were the occasions, though sometimes frivolous the offence, that brought upon him the wrath of an opponent. At such times, his weapon of retort was rarely anything more deadly than a delicious bit of raillery, perhaps even a felicitous compliment, with, it may be, a barbed arrow concealed inside. He was unusually ready, and often ex- tremely clever, in repartee. Many and memorable are the sallies that broke from him in the House when silencing a member who had interrupted him in a speech or who ventured to ask an embarrassing question. What wonder that qualities liko these endeared him to all and inspired an affectionate interest in his fortunes ? In departmental work, Sir John Macdonald's gifts were those of an industrious, careful, and painstaking chief. In council, he was sagacious, straightforward, and, in the main, ever mind- ful of the public interest. But it w&a in Parliament, and be- fore the country, that he was best known to the people. He had great administrative ability, and in the management of the public business he was honest and efficient. Perhaps his special gifts were best seen in his direction and control of affairs ".» n f i.f U: )! :! i 1,- ' ■I? ,■ fr ■■■•Tfr 11! ;t[ 1 3r=r; s> '-"•-, • *„ «.'■ •-^' ■>. -' ■'*,', ■ • 1 •■ I . v."- N ',- X INTRODUCTION- in the Commons. He was well versed in Constitutional Law, and an almost infallible authority in Parliamentary procedure. His instinct was unerring in the measures to be brought be- fore the House. Seldom did he initiate legislation or bring forward a Bill he could not carry without being submitted to mutilation. He had a keen scent in detecting measures emana- ting from the Opposition calculated to embarrass hita, and these he usually had little difficulty in opposing or throwing over. He had a certain originative and constructive faculty ; but in introducing new legislation, he preferred to follow rather than to be in advance of tlie age. In the business of the House he was always alert and sagacious, but rarely profound. To know the best and the worst of any public man it is only necessary to read the columns of his party newspaper and then those of the organs politically opposed to him. Than Sir John Macdonald, probably no man in Canada has been more the vic- tim of journalistic comment, both of praise and of blame. Alike extravagant have been the party organs on either side. With one of the parties throughout his life he has been an- athema ; and it is a surprise to-day that he has enough reputa- tion left to make a shroud for his burial. With the other he has long been an idol, and no incense was too o verpowerin g to waft in his face. Harm has unquestionably been done him by worship so extravagant and intense. It has led dispassionate minds to see in his life-work the service he was rendering to his party, rather than the service he was rendering to the nation. This is unfortunate, for there can be no doubt of his entire and disinterested devotion to the interests of his country. We frankly make this admission, though we as frankly withhold our commendation of the questionable elements which entered into and debased his politics. It is little amends to say, that ele- ments equally questionable discredit the politics of the Opposi- tion. With the party system we shall have corruption and methods of governing neither high-minded nor patriotic ; but in politics, we hope, the reign of party is not forever to endure. To the system. Sir John Macdonald's memory will owe a light debt : as we have hinted, what he has done for party will cloud -;Vt INTRODUCTION. XI what he has done for the nation. To its violence, in the journals opposed to him, he owes not a little of whatever has detracted or will detract from his fame. As time passes this will become increasingly clear. In Canarla party and its evils may now be more honestly and trenchantly reprobated, since, admittedly, there is little here in the way of principles to justify the maintenance of the system. Its perpetuation can only bring disaster upon the State. Upon it sectionalism, both of race and creed, and the other ills that affect the body politic, have long been nourished and fed. The passing away of tlie great Tory leader, and the disintegration of party likely to follow that event, will create the opportunity for some measurable approach at least to na- tional government. Only upon that neutral system can the diverse and incongruous elements, of which Confederation is composed, be honestly and efficiently governed. Upon that system, and that system alone, can the country's barc^ue escape the rocks and find her way to smooth water. No one can fail to see, at all events, that parivism is not only a menace to Confederation but a strain upon the stability and cohesion of the State. But for party, it is probable that Sir John Macdonald would not have enjoyed so long a tenure of office. This might have been better for his reputation, however, as it would have given him, in the ranks at least of his adversaries, a less censured name. Yet in its despite, he has achieved great things and given a continuity to the national life not only essential to its development, but helpful in laying broad the foundations upon which it is to continue to be upreared. For this good service, during the formative stage of the country, we have to thank Party and the strength — we had almost said the tyranny — of Party. It is for this service that England has honoured the now dead Chieftain in years that are gone, and for this, to-day she pays the tribute of respect to his memory. What fate lies before the country, now that the hand that long guided it has dropped hold of the helm, who shall say ? By the direction given to Canada in the past forty or fifty 1^ i i : "i': I ! i ii ■• p il xu INTRODUCTION. w 3t years by its once commanding figure, Sir John Macdonald may not only have steered its course for the time being nationward, but, for the future, may have baulked Destiny of its expectant triumph. The national problems may once more, and with greater force and perplexity, confront us ; but, after all that has been wrought and suffered, craven would be he who now lost faith in the future. The " old Parliamentary hand," it is true, has lost its grip and now withers in the dust ; but what that hand has shaped for the young nation, its sons surely will not think lightly of or heedlessly throw away. Let us, however, look a little closer at the era upon which we have now fallen, that we may see more clearly what has been accomplished under the later regime of Sir John Mac- donald and his Government. Almost a quarter of a century has now gone by since the country entered upon Confedera- tion, and for a time hushed to a lullaby the strife of jarring interests and the din of faction. There are those, though we are not of the number, who not only doubted the wisdom of our politicians in committing the several Provinces to Confed- eration without a direct appeal to the people, but who, after these years, see no gain from the alliance, or at least counter- balance the gain by a heavy loss. It is too late in the day to re-open the first of these questions; the second is a more practical one here for consideration. What the net results of Confederation are it is not difficult to say. There are, of coarse, two sides to the balance-sheet ; and though exception may be taken to many of the entries on the debit side, and though the patriot heart may sink as it scans not a few of the items, there are offsets on the credit side which must be taken into equitable account before a true and impartial balance can be arrived at. We do not shut our eyes to the fact that Confederation has not assimilated, or is likely soon to assimilate, the whole people. A nation is not born in a day ; it may be said, indeed, that a thoroughly-fused nation- ality can hardly be looked for on the status of a colony. But has there been no gain, nevertheless ? Let those who assert this recall the position of things a score or more years ago, or >i»' I! i[ INTRODUCTION. i (• xui go back a generation to the elemental state of these British American Provinces before the era of railways. True, Repre- sentative Gbvemment was an achievement of the' times; and in the Union of the Provinces a beginning was made towards effecting that larger union which was to be attained later on. But the picture of the Canadas in " the forties" is the picture of a comparatively primitive community, awaking to the con- sciousness of the boundless possibilities before it, yet retard- ed by the rudimentary conditions that surround it-: existence. Since that era the whole face of the country has undergone change. What, emphatically and universally, was a wilder- ness, is now in a large measure a cultivated garden. Nature has yielded up its tyranny, and civilization is everywhere illuming the dark places with its cheer and light. Politically, the contrast is no less sharp. The old system of irresponsible rule has long since disappeared ; and through many a stirring scene and angry tumult the power of the people has triumphed, and has established itself, in the main, in justice and right. The political rule of to-day, we shall of course be reminded, is far from heavenly ; and faction notoriously has not gone off in a sweet sleep. But though we have not reached the mil- lennium, we have solved nany ugly problems, and overcome or averted many calamities that menaced the State. In trade and commerce the national development also pre- sents gratifying results. The industries of the country are be- ginning to rival the operations of agriculture, and to furnish increasing means of employment as well as to become a source of wealth. This much may be said without questioning the soundness of the fiscal policy of the Dominion,or committing one- self on so delicate a matter as the pros and cons of the " National Policy." The acquisition and opening up of our western domains is another and an important feature in the progressive life of the nation, and a signal mark of national advancement. Here again the other side of the picture obtrudes itself ; find the advantages of extending the arms of the Dominion over a continent are discounted by the burdens entailed in opening the country for settlement. The obvious answer to this, how- t K , ! i \ . \ 1 , i \ '5 . -v.- H S-aBSSCT XIV INTRODUCTION. V ii ^' ever, is the one given by both political parties, in drawing upon the country's exchequer for the means to build the Pacific Railway, foh, as it has a thousand times been asked, " What is the territory worth if you can't get access to it ? " Nor has the progress of the country been confined to material concerns. Its intellectual life has grown and expanded, and more than a beginning has been made in developing a native literature. Journalism flourishes, and the reading habit is becoming general. Art and e<:lucation have spread and are spreading their refining influences, and, in the cities particu- larly, some measure of culture has been reached. Intellectually, as well as materially, Canada has made considerable progress, and her social condition, it may safely be said, is not behind that of any other people. But there is another side to the picture. Undoubted as is the progress of the country, one need not be querulous in wondering why the progress has not been greater. Canada somehow or other does not attract immigration ; in this re- spect she is far eclipsed by her southern neighbour. The climate may have something to do in limiting the incoming of settlers ; or the immigration system, possibly, may be in default. There is we know attraction in numbers and an equally potent attraction in success. The greater wealth and immense popu- lation of the United States, together with the well-known enterprise of her people, must give her some advantage in drawing emigrants to her shores and in retaining them when she has got them. But, relatively, Canada might expect her share of immigration, which, however, she fails to get. What is there that prevents her obtaining this ? Is there anything in the oft-mooted gift of citizenship that explains the matter ? We fear there is. Nationality, we know, is more a sentiment than anything else, and in these day of levelling democracy predilections of sentiment are bound to manifest themselves. One thing is clear, that a nation in all things has the advantage of a colony. Why Canada remains in theory a colony while she has all but the status of a nation is one of those puzzles hard to make out. Confederation was a step, but not the '.>-.; i. . INTRODUCTION. ■w XV ultimate one, in the evolution of thfl nation. What prevents Canada from taking the ultimate step ? The most manifest evil of the colonial state is the repression of national sentiment ; and the lack of it in Canada, with all the indifference that marks its absence, wo hold to be one of the anti-national phases of Confederation. There is plenty of British sentiment, and in a section of the Dominion perhaps more Gallic sentiment than the country is well aware of : but of an ardent and wide-spread Canadian sentiment there is, we fear, little. In its place we have an ever-active sectional feel- ing, and a tightening of provincial boundary lines, which if over-stepped at all are over-stepped on the way to the Dom- inion treasury. Widely extended as are the provinces of the Do- minion, and as yet but sparsely and poorly peopled, it is perliaps to be expected that the connection of the extremities with the haart of the country shall be one that seeks the sources of li^'j. Nourishment for the enfeebled no one would withhold ; but let us be sure that the dole of the treasury goes to the enfeebled, and not to the wanton and the prodigal. Self-reliance will come with self-sustenance ; and with the latter, doubtless, a vigorous life and a more pronounced nationalism. Self-sus- tenance, however, may breed self-sufficiency, and this again, if our rulers are not careful, may bring in its train disaffection and finally secession. If Confederation is to be proof against this, it will be by the assiduous inculcation of national senti- ment, and by the diffusion of a spirit of patriotism, which can only come of fervent nationality and a full-bodied national life. Among other untoward aspects of the present experiment in government is the attitude we have hinted at, of certain provinces looking now and again to the Federal treasury for " better terms." If the only real union we are to have is one that gathers round the office of the Minister of Finance and plays snap-dragon from the Federal chest, then Confederation is confessed a failure, and the end is not far off. The exigen- cies of party have made this game-playing an expensive sport to the country, and its most sinister aspects are seen in the case of the sister province of Quebec, where burdensome grants if' Jo ' V f It ; ! 1 ( * it ■ ft *' vri INTRODUCTION. i I!-; jli:: have been made to its bankrupt exchequer on the plea of re- couping it for railways built and afterwards sold to the Do- minion, the money being wrung from the Federal treasury as the price of the sectional party vote. Aggressive raids of this kind, with the political immorality that brands them, are bound to have a disastrous effect upon Confederation. In the case of Quebec the evil is aggravated by racial jealousy, by religious cleavage, and by sectional hostility and isolation. The unifying process can scarcely go on while these things are per- mitted ; and the consolidation of the Dominion must yet be a long way off. If the recent movement among the national societies of Quebec, in giving encouragement to the colonial schemes of Old France, means anything more than the arrogance and self-assertion of race, ' '. ^n more distant still must be the unification of the Dominion. To contend against the separating forces in Confederation, we want, as we have said, the infusion of patriotic feeling and the diffusion of national sentiment. Through no influence more potent than literature and literary spirit can this nation- alizing of the Dominion effectively operate. Nothing will bet- ter contribute to the welding process, or be more potent in bringing about homogeneity and the consolidating influences the country so urgently needs, than a healthy native literature and an ardent national sentiment. With these, and due en- couragement given to their exercise, we may see the various provinces of the Dominion knit more closely together in the bonds of a common nationality, and sectionalism and disrup- tive influences dispelled as things of alien growth. Some dif- ficult questions, no doubt, will remain to be faced, and not a few tendencies to be checked that look in one quarter or an- other to separation. But time and destiny are likely to work in our favour, and tact and good judgment may be trusted to do the rest. With an added million or two to our population, if meantime we do not swamp ourselvss with debt, the national outlook will be less grave and there will be more room for hope. tiri IMRODUCTION. xva The devotion to duty and the single eye to the country's interests, which ever actuated Sir John Macdonald, ought at least to be an inspiration to us. His history is entwined with that of the State. Remembering this, how poorly would Canada's sons repay him who has gone, did they fail to pro- fit by his toil, or esteem lightly the heritage he was instru- mental in either winning or making for them. The disappear- ance from the scene of one who, far above his fellows, was the representative of the hopes and aspirations of the nation, comes in the natur"^ course of events. The country could ill afford just now to lose him. But it loses him, confident that he will, in time at least, be replaced. This is the note of assurance that ought to find an echo in each patriot breast. With the close of Sir John Macdonald's life there closes another era in the history of the possessions of Britain in the New World This is, in itself, no small tribute to the head that long directed and the hand that skilfully shaped the des- tinies of a vast dependency of the Empire. That he has made the era of his political sway in Canada his own, and gained for the country abroad that recognition of its status and future promise which he was in large measure the means of creating, are facts admitted on every hand. To repeat them is to mark and emphasize the wonderful union of gift in the man by whom these things were wrought. How marvellously he has led Canada on in the path of progress and self-development, we who are of the country full well know ; while those who are rot of it bear this testimony, that once Canada was to them a mere geographical expression ; now they know it not only as a great Colony of the crown, but all, save in name, a nation. This is the explanation of the esteem with which he was re- garded, and the pride manifested in his triumphs in the loved motherland. The Fates, it may be said, were propitious in bringing Sir John Macdonald on the stage at an era ready for the coming of one able to direct and fashion it. But what he has accomplished has not been the work only of an opportun- ist, however nimble and tactical. Neither has it been achieved by mere adroitness in the methods of personally governing, still ! ! •\t ', )6 .J f 111 XVUl INTRODUCTION. i f i less by the wizardry, great ns it was, of his manner. Not one gift, but many gifts, have gone to the making up of his record. Of these, even the superficial observer will own as pre-eminent- ly his — commanding ability, steadfast and disinterested pur- pose, and a phenomenal faculty of not only winning men, but of fusing heterogeneous elements, and that by an alchemy so subtle as to seem to be his own secret and exclusive possession. Great was his opportunity, but great, unquestionably also, were his gifts. One other and universally admitted virtue was his — he was personally honest. Throughout his long public life, if he was fond of power, he never used it to enrich him- self. This not only is his glory, but it is the glory of the country of which he was, in an especial degree, the benefactor — the countiy that proudly owns and honours him as soa. As we write, the loss that has befallen the nation has for the time hushed into an almost religious silence the strife of Party and buried forever the enmities of a long, stirring, and, may we not say, beneficent life. Shall not the loss bring its atoning and compensating gain ? May we not see, as its fruit, our politics purified, our public life elevated and ennobled, our patriotism broadened and increased, the people set free from the enslavement and noxious influence of faction, and the country made more closely and enduringly one ? When we can point to these results, then the old loved " Chieftain " may look down from another sphere, as in life he was wont to say that he would, and the seers of that time shall discern on the once thought-seamed but now serene and transfigured face the smile of unalloyed triumph and content. is?-;;, 'ji,,-^ ;.j^:ii.; CONTENTS. CHAPTKR r. Sir John A. Macdonald'a DlHtitiKuislied AnccMtry— A ClftriHman byliirth -Ar- rival with His TarentH in KiiiRst-m Sch.n.l Days -He Studien Law aiul is Called to the liar - Kntrusted with an Important Case— Uis Brilliant Defence of Von Shoultz. CHAPTEU II. Political I'pheavals -Caufles leiKlinj,' to Political DiHconteiit in f'linada—Ol.ince at IVvelopnieiit of Popiilar Freedom in Knp;lan'>Iite I.Hfi.iitaiiM- -Sir Alliiii M;i<'Niil) -Dcmini.k Dalv -l!«>lii-rt Halilwin SiiUl- Vttn-Mon. L). U. Vi^tr John HaiKlHold MaoiInniJil. • • • • 8fl Ijiil 11 HI ' i lifi SI f, CIIAITKII VII. The Tjawt Days of TorylNm -'I'hH Triint.iriun Movement nt Oxford— KeMe ami Newiiiiin— Tlio Ue|>»'iil MovHtnent in Ireland— The (Jrwit O'Connell— lUne and Ci.II'vimt! of Ins Mnvi incnt -Tim djujit O'Ci.nnell totti-r^ and fidl*-- The Iri^h Kiiiniiifl - Iiiiinitfi'ation to Canadii — Tli« Oregon iKtunduiy l)in- pute - Macdiinald'H Stur Cliinhing— He "can affttrd to wait" — Toryisui's Last Ai>[ifal -Lord Klgin Mucdonald enters the t'aliinet. • . . CHAI'TKll VIII. 09 Hiding i" Storm -Sketch of la-lxllion I.onHeH ^rea'-urc-lini jirovokea a Tory llosvl - 'i'lif Storm liiii-.-its Mob risus iiii.l ln-.rns I'liiliiiiiicnt IJuildin^^B - iJivjTH I'igiirt'.s Heen through the Stonii Ski't:;h of tlie 'i'roiiliU'rt — John A. Mac(h>nald m-en thronK'li the Tuniidt- " Tiie Hritish North Ameiicai League" — " Chihlreu of the Sun"— P.viliament ren:oved fnim Montreal. - 114 CIIAI'TEU IX. Fall of the "Orent Ministry" -('uuni's produciiii,' the Catu-trojihe -Mac- donald «een through the Sitti.ition— Tiie Pope (ieirymanden Knyland — ("anadiim Echo of I'ritish l!ii;e— Georj^'e Krown attempt!* to ovcrthiow the I'apacy— He Kails— Brown and (iav,i//.i an|iirialil Tilt hetwenn Ml-. .Idlin A. Mat i|<>iiuli| ami Col. Hittikin -'riic ( oiiKiTvativcs ilrop Hir Alliiii Miii'Niili lloii. .loliti A. Miii'iloiiiilil MiiutH^edrt tliti Ktii^lit— CIomo u( tht) Critiie.iu Wiu— Ufiifrul lliMtorio lit'corti of tho Time. ... 183 CHAl'TEll Xm. Tlie Double ShiifHo—Hrown'H "Vaiiltinj,' Amhition ovtM'l«ft|)K iUelf, ami fiuU oil t'citlicr Hiiie" — Mr. .lolin A. .Miii'iloiiiild'H i>iiit iIu'oiikIi tin; trniixiu'tlon — ])iNcii-tioii iiiMtrhf><>vr IMiiulfolii -Protection to llmiiu lit(luHtriu)«~UL>utlt of Uolicit Ktildwiii -(teiiirul KvuutH. • • '202 CHAlTKIl XIV. rranHition— 'i'lie Diirk Hour orocti'lini^ tlm I)iiwii -Ciuhom ivt work proiiuciti^' tit'sin) for CoiifoiliM-iition Kiiit>roiliui-iit of U|i|>fr with Lower ('lUiaiiu RiuMit Ut'preMtMitiitioii liy l'o|iiiliition -ISitltu- I'lirty Strifo, iiml tlii' ciiief Actorn -Mr. .lohn A. Miudiimld Kt-fii tiirouuii tlif 'i'uimilt --I'Htiiliility of MiiiiMters "Tiie I'litivl Halance of l'iirtit;«"— ( 'omlition of I'liiiih')* in Nova Sci>ti;i iind New Uniimwick - Secert.sion of Soutlurii .Sltitcrt (ronenil His- toric Uutlinu —Domestic luciduiitH. ........ 224 CHAPTKll XV. Fruitiji of tht! Ainericnn Civil War— Sei/iiin- of tht; Hontheni Comiiii.''MiinirrH — Southt-rn llefiiifees mid Anu'riciui 'IViritory from Civniuliaii Frontier — I'rivateerinj,'— Crnise of the Ala^mnui and her (Confreres— I'nhlic fcclinK in Cftuaila— The Fenian Kaid — Ueneml Historic Incidents - Donie.itic K^fcntH 257 CHAPTER XVI. The Coalition— Oil and Water Unite— Canadian Di'le;,'ate» at the ChivrlotT^e. town Conference— The Quebec Scheme— (Janadian Delegate.'* in Kn(,'land — History of the Confederation Movement from Deaillock to ll'niou— fCon. Jiilin A. Macdonald'8 Part throujj'h the Movement— Domestic and Foreign Events. 277 CHAPTER XVII. IVminent Members of tho First Dominion Cabinet— (leor^'e E. Oartior— A. T. Gait -H. L. Langevin-S. L. Tilley— Peter Mitchell -W. P. Howland — Alexander Campbell. 321 CHAPTER XVIII. The New Regime— Two Reformers Read otit of the Ranks— M. Canchon's " liank " offence— Sketches of Thomas D'Arcy Mc(Jee ; his assasftinatiou. 3.38 CHAPTER XIX. The Red liiver Rehelliin-- ('anses of the Outbreak Col Dennis .and the Sur- veyors— Hon. \\m. McDouyall on the Scene The llrutal Muider of Scott mmm ^ XMl CONTENTS. PAOI —The Bishop cloaking the Murderer— Go .ernor Archibald's Foul Com- pact. - 353 t:l i :! liii; 9': ■ ,1 • CHAPTER XX. VV^ithdrawal of British Soldiers — The Wrestle between Tupper and Howe- Sketch of Tupper— The Reciprocity Treaty— Sir John ^vmong the Commis- misaioners ; his Defence— J. H. Cameron's Defence of Sir John— The New Brunswick School Bill ; and John Costigan — Sketch of Lord Dufferin— A Bomb flung on the Floor i if the House of Commons 365 CHAPTER XXI. The Pacific Railway— Companies formed for Construction of the Road— Sir Hugh Allan and the Government— The General KleotionH— The Scandal ; history of same -Sir John a\id the Country through the Storm. • • 38C CHAPTER XXII. Sir John's Attitude on the Morrow of the Pacific Railway Scandal — His De- fence and Resignation of his Government — Mr. Mackenzie Forms an Ad- ministration — British Columbia in Ferment- Mr. Mackenzie's Struggle for Dominion Rights — Kxtraditiim— Constitutional Privilege -Canadian Treaty-making Power — Trade Stagnation— The Reform Administration Courts Defeat-The General Election of 1878. 407 CHAPTER XXIII. oir John Redidivus— New Liberal-Conservative Government — The Powers of a Speaker After the Demise of Parliament — Mr. Blake Ousts Mr. Mac- kenzie in the Leadership— The Letellier Case — Queen's Birthday Honours. 427 CHAPTER XXIV. The National Policy— Its Popularity— Mr. Tilley's Financial Statement - Lord Lome's regime- The new I'acific Railway Syiidicate - 444 CHAPTER XXV. The Canadian Pacific Railway — The chief principle in Sir John's Career — Magnitude of the undertaking — Extraordinary rapidity of construction — The work authorized by Parliament and completed by the Company - 455 CHAPTER XXVL Closing Years — Readjustment of the Representation — Trade and the N. P. — Cnbinet Changes— The Ontario Boundary Question — Disallowance — Lord Lunsdowne Succeeds Lord Lome in the Governor-Generalship — Sir John is Ci"ated a a. C. B.— The North-West Rebellion— The Lamp Goes Out— Sii Joh.'i's Work and Character— Tributes in the Commons and the Senate — Press Eul-^gies- -Summing Up. 401 CHAPTER XXVII. Last Illness — Public Sympathy at Home and Abroad— The Doctor's Bulletins — Sir John's Amazing Vitality — On the Brink of the Grave — Legislation Pauses in its Work — Messages from the Queeu and the Princess Louise — Life Wane..— The End. • - - 485 CONTENTS. CHAPTER XXVIII. XIlll PA'tE Sir Jolin's Death Causes Universal Grief -Preparations for the Funeral— The Body liViiig in State in the Senate— The Funeral at Ottawa and at Kiiijj- ston— Immense Deputations attend the Obseriuies— The Last Rites. - 501 CHAPTER XXIX. Sir John Macdonald's Last Address to the Electors. ■'A'2 CHAPTER XXX. Last Appearance in the House- Debate on the High Commissioner's Conduct. 518 CHAPTER XXXI. His Fellow-Commoner's Tribute— Addresses in the House of Commons of the S|)eaker, Sir Hector Langevin, and Mr. L'iurier. 529 Anectes and Incidents. CHAPTER XXXn. CHAPTER XXXIII. - 5;u Sir John at Home -Earnscliffe, the Abode of the Domestic Graces — Lady Mac- donald's Devotion— Her Letter to the Ministerialist Supporters of Sir John 545 CHAPTER XXXIV. English and other Estimates of the deceased Premier's Life-Work - 54!) i I 5 •if; It i: IP :>l ' APPENDIX. SPEECH ON THE PACIFIC RAILWAY SCANDAL. - 5(37 11 ^'i Xist ot 3Uu8trattons. I'AIJE Sir John A. Mactlonuld Frvntispiece Sir John A. Macdonakl's Early Homo 24 Sir John A. Macdonald. (From a Painting in the City Hall, Kingston) 5G Eiirnsclifl'e, Ottawa, (Residence of tl'.e Late Sir John A. Macdonald) 90 IIoii. Cienrgc Brown ..-....-. I'M Hon. Oliver Mowat 21(J Hon. Alexander Mackenzie .-...-.. 408 IJon. Wilfrid Laurier 448 Sir Charles Tupper, Bart., (J. C.M.O. 480 Hon. J. J. C. Abbott, D.C.L.,Q.C., I'.C. 480 Hugh J. Macdonald, M.P. t80 Sir James A. (irant, M.D., K.C,M.(i. 488 H. W. Pow.ll, M.D. 488 H. P. Wright, M.D. 488 Sir John Thompson 4!»0 The Senate Chamber— The Body Lying in State - - - - 504 The Funeral— Parliament Hill, Ottawa 512 The Hearse 528 St. Alban's Clmrch, Ottawa 528 Interior of Funeral Car 528 The Funeral Train - - - 528 City Hall, Kingston, where the Body lay in State - - - - 5;{(J The Funeral, Princess Street, Kingston 552 '"^ir .(olui A. Macdonakl's Orave, Catara(iui Cemetery, Kingston - 5«;(> 4 ^1 4 ^ '" [' 1 i t^ i l '' 1 ■< ■ Si ■ ' 'T 1. W ' ■i ' mi it M % r ■fi .; . M' 1 i ^- 1 'i s k m I ^ :fi i' SI C soun( life n futur( manif howe\ such ( The g] by wis which of his ( ineQioii ' history, CANADA'S PATRIOT STATESMAN. • ♦ > LIFE AND CAREER OF THE RIGHT HONOURABLE THE LATE SIR JOHN A. MACDONALD. G.C.B. Ills • i * A^ */ » =1 j CHAPTER I. EAKLY LIFE. CONTEMPORARY judgment of the several acts of even so great a life as that of John Alexander Macdonald may bs sound. But the general tendency and broad effects of such a life must be left to be estimated by posterity, for only in the future will the results at which the Statesman aimed be made manifest. It is the office and duty of the contemporary historian, however, to record the facts as he finds them, together with such comments as are necessary to their due interpretation. The great fact to be made known, either in so many words or by wise compiling of the records, or both, is the estimation in which the man whose history is being written is held by people of his own time. Viewed from this point, the subject of this memoir takes rank among perhaps the smallest class known to i history. Carlyle remarks of Goethe, that if certain qualities, IS i r ^^K^m^a^nmmmm 18 LIFE OF SIR JOHN- A. MAGDONALD. m ! iii' i'.li ) ..- i'lfe- \. which he is alleged to possess, were really his, then Goethe " must rank with Homer and Shakespeare as one of the only three men of genius who ever lived." That genius which enables him who possesses it to embody fictitious persons before our imagination as clearly as those we meet are made clear to our senses, may be, as Carlyle suggests, the only genius worthy of the name. But if the limit is to be extended in the least, it must be made to include that few who are born leaders of men. Some are the leaders of a time, some lead only a class, and the deeds they do are worthy of all praise and emulation. But the born leader of men shows his power, not only through his works but in his personal contact with those about him. Men have made or unmade empires, they have commanded victorious armies or directed mighty movements, and yet have remained themselves but little known to all, save the few whom they used as their means of communication with the people at large. Their leadership is essentially the product of circumstance, and some of the men who have apparently had the most to do with making history are leaders of this class. " No man is great to his valet," according to a saying which has almost become a proverb. But it is not true ; the man who is truly great will be recognized as such by his valet as by others. John A. Macdonald carried on his life work in the limited sphere of a Colony even now far from populous, and having a history little longer than his own life. But such as his opportunities were, he made the most of them. He be- came the greatest man in the community in which he lived ; he achieved, with the elements at his command, results which those who knew not his powers declared to be impossible, and, through it all, he moved daily with the people, and not one of the thousands with whom he came in contact but recognized him as truly great. John Alexander Macdonald was by birth a clansman^des- cendant in direct line of Donald Lord of Kintyre and Islay, a mighty man of valor in his day, who, in his old age, relinquish- ing his claymore to his son, Angus, spent in devotion and in benefactions to the church the closing days of a life which up iii! '■'. EARLY LIFE. 19 to that time had seen its " dearest action in the tented field." From Angus descended a line of chiefs who, so long as force opposed them, not only held their own, but increased their borders and actually opposed in arms the power of all Scot- land rallied about the king. But when James the First came to the throne, craft and treachery were employed, and by these the power of the warlike chiefs was broken. Invited by the king to meet and discuss in brotherly fashion the differ- ences between them, Alexander, Earl Macdonald, accompanied by his mother and a few of his leading warrior-s and advisers, left the security of his island fortress and went confidingly to Inverness — and to the dungeon. James treacherously seized the man whom he had asked to parley with him and, though sparing his life, deprived him of liberty. The effect upon the clansmen was disastrous. Left without their chief and leader, jealousy, distrust and apprehension played havoc with the stvenrrtli which in the united clan Macdonald had been uncon- qudrable, and, learning a lesson from his perfidious lord, Alex- ander vowed to the king a fealty which he had no intention of observing, and, on being released in consequence of his vow, at once sought his home to prepare his men for such a war as would teach tyranny and treachery a lesson. But the clan was not as he had left it, united and confident, but torn with dis- sensions, and the war resulted in disastrous defeat. On aorain taking a vow of fealty and undergoing a banishment from his own land, Alexander Macdonald was again given liberty and control of his family's dominions. The time came, however, when the Macclonalds became divided into smaller groups, and from this fact arises the difference in the spelling of the name in difierent localities, for " Macdonnell " and " Macdonald," as is suggested by their similarity, are in origin the same name. Mr. Hugh Macdonald of the parish of Dornoch, Sutherland- shire, was a true descendant of the head and founder of the clan. In early life he moved to Glasgow and there he married Helen Shaw, of Badenoch, Inverness. The children of these two were five in number, the second son being John Alexander Macdonald, the subject of this memoir, who was born on the i ly \ \ .„-...-. -I -t — t 4 t ■^ ''v4;"'. V msBSS mmmBmamm 90 LIFE OF SIR JOHN A. MACDONALD. (•; 11th of January, 1815. The other children were William, James, Margaret, Louisa. In the year 1820 Mr. Macdonald decided to remove with his family to Canad.o. All the origi- nal members of his little household were then surviving except his eldest son William, a bright lad, who had died a short time before. All landed safely at Kingston, then the most impor- tant point in Upper Canada, after a voyajre which, after the manner of those days, consumed many weeks' time. This was in 1820, when the country was in its first rude beginnings. The original draft of United Empire Loyalists who had formed the bulk of the original British population of Upper Canada, and especially of this central section, had brought the wilderness into subjection in some places, and some towns had been founded, which promised well. Of these, as stated, one of the principal was Kingston, built near the site of the old fort which De Courcelles had established only to lose, 8.nd which the adventurous Frontenac, despite the in- structions of his superiors, had rebuilt. When the little family reached Kingston, he who afterwards became the most dis- tinguished man of this new country, was a child of five years, notable for his big expressive eyes and his sunny disposition. The father began business and worked hard and faithfully to win a living for himself and his family. He laboured under considerable disadvantages, however, for the country and its ways were new to him. He had not got far in the road to fortune in the first four years of his life in Canada, and, hoping for improvement in his circumstances, he embraced an oppor- tunity that offered to remove to Adolphustown, on the Bay of Quints. The move was not a very distant one, even in those days of corduroy roads and lumbering stage-coaches, but it was a very hard parting for one member of the family, young John Alexander, who was to be left behind to attend school. Hugh Macdonald had the true Scotsman's appreciation of learning, and had early determined to educate this bright and promising boy of his for one of the learned professions. The advantages of this course, even aside from the desire to give the boy an edu- cation for its own sake, were obvious. The country waa still i :i i ■X:' EARLY LIFE. 21 new, but it was rapidly developing. A few years' time was certain to bring a great demand for men of education to fill the widening ranks of professional life, and those who were early in the race and acquitted themselves well were certain of good pay and quick promotion. To qualify him for the career from which his father expected s j much — though it is safe to say the fond parent's expectations of his son's future were far short of what we of to-day know the reality to have been — the lad was left in Kingston there to attend the Royal Grammar School, one of the best academies of its time in the Province. At this time the preceptor of the little college was Dr. Wilson, a man of special ability, a graduate of Oxford and a good teacher. The boy was a good student, being possessed of keen perceptions and a retentive memory. Though quick in every- thing, he showed a taste esj)ecially for mathematics. The working out of intricate problems delighted him. He was keen to see the principle involved and the methods to be used in applying it, and there was a certain faculty of order in his make up, which was satisfied by the methodical following out step by step of the plan best calculated to achieve the desired result. He was fond of reading and study, and had in pleni- tude that true faculty of the scholar which enables him to make what he reads his own. Though he spent less time than many of his contemporaries in the study of the classics, he got a firm grasp, especially of the Latin writers, as the public speeches he has made will show. During the course of his tutelage in the Royal Grammar School there was a change in his preceptors, Dr. Wilson giving place to Mr. George Bax- ter, who seems to have paid particular attention to his promis- ing young pupil, and to have been very proud of him. The lad spent his holidays at his new home in Adolphus- town. To the summers thus spent is undoubtedly to be at- tnbut , in part the magnificent strength of constitution which was one of the many marvels of this marvellous man. Adol- phustown, though still a small village without even railway communication, is a place of importance (from a historical point of view) unsurpassed in Canada. Here it was that the United r ^ '■fei Il ! 99 LIFE OF i^IR JOHN A. MAC DON A LI). I ! Ml 1%J I ir I !|! II Empire Loyalists, those sturdy defenders of a chosen cause, landed in Upper Canada. Under Captain Van Alstino, whoso name is one of the heritages of that district, they canio up the river in their Durham boats with the few worldly possessions left to them in their exile, and their voyage came to an end at that part of the densely wooded shore where afterwards grew up the village of Adolphustown. It is not of the historic as- sociations of the place that we would speak, for these have been dealt with over and over again by leading Canadian writers. But the natural beauties of the locality, especially as they must have appealed to a boy coming home after the dull monotony of a session at school, should be adverted to, even though briefly. The Bay of Quints region of which Adolphus- town was at this time one of the principal places, is one of the most beautitul places in all this beautiful Canada. In those early days it must have been especially attractive, for there were many leagues of forest where now is only meadow, these forests protecting many streams, perfect in their beauty, which since the removal of the forest have run dry. It was a perfect empire for a boy to ramble over in summer, and in fishing and boating, in tramping the woods and climbing the hills, there was recreation and health besides. In after years the great statesman often spoke with enthusiasm of the delightful ex- periences he enjoyed about old Adolphustown. In his delightful book, " Random Recollections of Early Days," Mr. Canniff Haight speaks of the time when Mr. Hugh Macdonald and his family lived at Adolphustown. He says : " The father of Sir John A. Macdonald kept a store a short distance to the east of the Quaker meeting-house, on Hay Bay, on the third concession. It was a small clap-board- ed building, painted red, and was standing a few years ago." In this connection he tells a characteristic anecdote about John A. Macdonald's appearance on the platform at Adolphustown some years afterwards, when he was known as a rising young Kingston lawyer, just feeling his way into political life. He began his speech in this fashion, " Yeomen of the county of Lennox and Addington, I remember well when I ran about ■s:. EARLY LIFE. thi^ district a bare-footed boy." Wo can well believe it whwi Mr. Hai^ht says, "I recollect how lustily ho was ,hoer"■ I r I I I I ' r i Hi ;i t( ■> building its nest or boast of it when built ? All good work y f- -^'f,S.r ■ :»^»'i.-'' k : 'c'"-' ■J^':..:'' /■!f -fJ^ % It 26 LIFE < F SIR JOHN A. MACDONALD. f4 ^i- j- fi >•':' ffe* " is essentially done that way — without hesitation, without " difficulty, without boasting ; and in the doers of the best there " is an inner and involuntary power which approximates liter- " ally to the power of the animal — nay I am certain that in the " most perfect human artists, reason does not supersede instinct, " but is added to an instinct as much more divine than that of " the lower animals as the human body is more beautiful than " theirs ; that a great singer sings not with less instinct than " the nightingale, but with more — only more various, applic- " able, and governable ; that a great architect does not build " with less instinct than the beaver or the bee, but with more " — with an innate cunning of proportion that embraces pll " beauty, and a divine ingenuity of skill that improvises all " construction." Such words apply with particular force to the opening car- eer of John A. Macdonald. He could not have foreseen exactly how his chances of fame were to arise; he could not have known exactly how the perfecting of himself in his profession, or the ability to make and keep friends was to benefit him, but he went on without hesitation and without mistake, every step being an advance toward his appointed goal. His power of making friends was not that of the man who seeks to gather about him a number of people who will help him. He had the honest human love of his fellows, and this caused him to deserve, as it enabled him to hold, the friendship of many whom other friends of his would not tolerate. Those were stirring and uncomfortable times in Canad,' The demand was being made for Responsible Government bot! » ihe Upper and in the Lower Provinces. In the latter, tiie Itifnlers in the movement were young men who, mistaking the effect for the cause, held that Republican institutions alone were compatible with freedom, and that separation from Britain alone would enable the people to establish the Rei)ublic. Though not going so far, the leading Reformers of Upper Canada — the Radicals of their time — were honestly believed by their opponents to be in favour of the separation of the colony from the Mother Coun- try. The feeling that there were traitors in their very midst '■'■»■•■»'■». yT,:\v EARLY LIFE. 27 led to personal estrangements between those who would other- wise have been friends, and this feeling of personal bit- terness grew as the strife became hotter, and the signs began to multiply that bloodshed and perhaps anarchy would be the result. It was a time of dreadful suspicion and suspense, a time of rancour and quarrelling. But, through it all, young John A. Macdonald, though known as a Conservative, had the friend- ship and esteem of many Reformers, as well he might, for ho did all that lay in his power to deprive the situation of its ele- ment of personal bitterness. The Rebellion of 1837 broke out but was quickly suppressed and its leaders imprisoned or scat- tered, but new complications arose to keep alive the bad feeling among the people. Many are now living who can remember distinctly the events that followed the unhappy outbreak of 1837, and all who nave read anything of Canadian history must be more or less familiar with the facts. The hatred of Britain engendered among the people of the United States by the war of Independence might have died out but for the complications arising out of Napoleon's mad attempt to conquer Europe and hold it in sub- jection. This led to the war of 181 2-15, which fanned into even fiercer flame the ill-feeling of Americans against every- thing British. The exigencies of American politics had caused this feeling to be kept alive by one side at least. When the in- ternal troubles in Canada arose, thousands of Americans good and bad believed that at last the northern Provinces had grown tired of what in their efllorescent oratory was called " the gall- ing yoke of British tyranny," and they made ready to help the " oppressed " on this side of the border. " Hunters' Lodges " as they were called, were formed all along the border, backed and assisted by the money of some men who simply wished to hurt Britain, and of others who believed that the sacred cause of human freedom was to be fought out upon a new battle ground. These " Hunters' Lodges " wera composed of " sympathizers " who were ready to go over at a moment's notice to help the people of Canada, who according to their theory were anxious- ly looking for their coming. The Navy Island affair, the attack . I. 3 '? m V ! am iiM 4 wP* 1 f LI wmmm if i. ^1 ■.V-, ' . il L: fv. .■•V"w-.' 28 LIFE OF SIR JOHN A. MACDONALD. upon Ahmerstburg, Bill Johnson's famous piratical raid, and other affairs of the kind followed, including the battle of the Windmill, an event with which this history has more particu- larly to deal. The " Hunters " congregated in Ogdensburg early \v Novem- ber, 1838, and all along the St. Lawrence frontier, and especially at Prescott, which faces Ogdensburg from the Canadian side of the river, there was misgiving which rapidly grew to dreadful apprehension. The people had not long to wait, for on the 11th November upwards of 200 men fully armed crossed over in small boats, and, landing, took up their position in the wind- mill, a building strong enough to resist any ordinary assault. This little band of "sympathizers" was under the leadership of one Von Shoultz, a Pole, who had been impressed with the stories told him about the oppression of Canadians by the rep- resentatives of Britain, and for the love of freedom's cause alone, gave himself to the rescue. Von Shoultz expected to be joined by immense numbers of Canadians anxious to over- throw their oppressors. This was his own explanation of the case subsequently, and indeed his action in coming over with so small a force, and then making a stand in the place he did, is inexplicable upon any other tii^ory. Of course he was dis- appointed. Even those who sympathized with the Rebellion regarded the matter as a family quarrel, and resented the in- terference of outsiders. As soon as the alarm was given, the whole district sprang to arms. Volunteers poured into Prescott from all quarters, and not a single man turned out to help the deluded Pole and his followers. Too late Von Siioultz saw that he had been entrapi)ed. He could not venture to attack the town, his force was too small; he could not retreat, for vessels patrolled the river on the Canadian side, ready to sink his boats and annihilate his band. There was nothing to do but to sur- render or stand at bay and fight it out. He chose the latter course. The little band o:' invaders fortified themselves as well as they could within the windmill. On the 13th, two days after they landed, a large force of Canadians under Col. Young, advanced to the attack. The battle was a long one, for at first ,,r ^-. " T EARLY LIFE. 29 only muskets were used, but afterwards the heaviest guns that were available were brought down, and cannonading was be- gun. The walls of the mill, though strong and thick, could not long resist this kind of thing. To remain was death to all, but by yielding the lives of some might be saved. Von Shoultz and his remaining men — about half his force had been killed or made prisoners — yielded to the inevitable and gave up their arms. The Canadians in this engagement escaped with the loss of nine men. The fact that the lives of nine good and patriotic men had been sacrificed by this mad and cau.seless interference with the affairs of a people well able to take care of themselves, however, caused intense feeling against Von Shoultz and his men, and the demand was general that an example should be made of them which would deter others from following the same course. Von Shoultz and his accomplices were arraigned for trial by court martial sitting in Kingston. The unfortunate men must needs be represented by a man able to plead their case. The brilliant young lawyer, John A. Macdonald, was chosen. His opportunity had come. The trial of Von Shoultz excited tremendous interest. He had no sympathizers and few friends, but of these even the most hopeful could not look forward to a favourable outcome of the trial. John A. Macdonald went to work upon the case con- scientiously. But as he became acquainted with his client and learned how completely the Pole had been deluded, how earnest- ly he had believed that in this ill-starred expedition he was following the example of his many compatriots who had fought freedom's fight to the death, he became interested and even en- thusiastic in the preparation of his defence. In court ha con- ducted his case ably ; it is not too much to say that he did it brilliantly. The case was a desperate one, considering the off- ence, the character of the court and the state of public feeling, and it is not to be wondered at that the pitiless military law was not altered from its course. Von Shoultz was condemned to death and he was executed, according to one historian who ounht to be best informed of the facts, on December 8th, 1838. Before his death he expressed himself as satisfied with the ^ i :il (T* I' ilil I;: Hi; i ^1 '^c; tic . ':■■ < r ! I KM "V-- •''^^•iJ- 30 iJJ'i^ OF /Sf/ii JOHN A. MACDONALD. \fi verdict — he had allowed himself to be misled to the terrible injury of many innocent people, and it was but reasonable that he should suffer the penalty. He even wrote letters from the condemned cell to friends in the TTnited States that the stories he had been told about the wrongs and sufferings of the Cana- dian people were wholly misleading, and that there was nothing in the fact of his death that ought to cause his friends to think of seeking vengeance or making reprisals. The effect of the trial was to acquaint the people at large with the character of this romantic leader of a lost cause, and to excite in his case a feeling which, by comparison with that with which other sympathizers were regarded might almost be called sympathy. If the people could not consent to the continuance of Von Shoultz' life, they could at least praise and honour the young man of only twenty-three years who had shown himself so well read, so clear-headed, and so able with his tongue in defence of the unfortunate man. In speaking of the case one of the Montreal newspapers said, editorially, that the young, Kingston lawyer who had defended Von Shoultz would soon be known as one of the first men of the country. Prophecies are not always fulfilled, but this one was realized so much more completely than even the man who made it could have expected, that he might be far astray in some of his other predictions and still claim a very good average. Soon after the trial a student was admitted to John A. Mac- donald's office. He has since become known tc. " .ne as Sir Alexander Campbell, with a long and honourable political re- cord leading up to the Lieutenant-Governorship of Ontario, which he now holds. But another student who was to become even more famous entered the office soon after. He, like the other two, was of Scottish stock ; he had turned out as one of the defending volunteers when the cry of alarm was raised in 1837, and in his school and college career he had shown him- self painstaking and splendidly persevering. He graduated from John A. Macdonald's law office to the political arena, after- wards to the bench, and subsequently to Premiership of Ontario, which position he holds to-day. To say this is to tell the EARLY LIFE. 31 reader that the name of that young student was Oliver Mowat. It would be a curious study for some one to undertake, to learn how far the future of these men, whose training, while he him- self was but a youth, John A. Macdonald ha«.' 'n charge, was moulded by his influence. If it was merely a coincidence that two great lawyers and statesmen graduated from the office of the greatest lawyer and statesman the country' has ever known, surely no coincidence ever was more wonderful. Business grew and flourished with John A. Macdonald. Many private clients were attracted by his talents and his per- sonal magnetism. The Commercial Bank was founded by John S. Cartwright, and John A. Macdonald was appointed its solici- tor. The Trust and Loan Company, since grown to one of the greatest institutions of its kind, was established, and this also placed its legal business in the hands of the rising young law- yer. He had established himself in business. His opportunity to enlarge his sphere of action and usefulness was at hand. r Nr > ■;;| r 4 t ; 1 -4 • 1 1 il '^l :,K I I In s CHAPTEE II. POLITICAL UPHEAVALS. 1)ERHAPS it were well to pause here and take a back- ward glance at the causes which brought about the troublous times referred to in the foregoing chapter. Half a century before the British Parliament divided the Province of Canada into Canada Upper and Lower, each division corres- ponding with what is to-day Quebec and Ontario. By this partition it was hoped that each province would enjoy consti- tutional peace and bound forward in the paths of progress. Burke, indeed, who had been caught and flung back into the rriost abject toryism by the influence of the French Revolution, saw a golden peace in the future for the Canadas now, and re- garded as guarantees for the abiding principle of the system the restrictions upon popular liberty placed in the Constitution. Bat many statesmen shook their heads, and Fox predicted that these vaunted safeguards of peace and an abiding constitution would prove the seeds of discord and disruption. And so it proved ; though the evil laid in the marrow of the s^ jtem did not break out into an active sore for many years afterwards. To each province was given a constitution supposed to reflect the virtues and the liberties of the constitution of the mother land. There was an elective chamber where the sturdy yeo- man and simple habitant clad in their homespun came to legis- late upon their allotted questions. There was an upper chamber, supposed to tx>' a reflex of the House of Lords, the members of which were appointed by the Crown for life. To these were given the prerogative of altering or rejecting bills which came up from the lower chamber. The councillors 'r. POLITICAL VPUBAVALS. were men of hir.h sooinl c.f„ i- . ^ r'""™"--fP"W-a,,in j;r^^^^ a.>vi.so with ,,i„. «lr were drawn f,,™ the lo ' htuvo o T"""-' °' ""•" 1'""™ of n,„embly, wore not Im ""'' ""^ f™"' *'■» r"I'..l« brand, an'd wo ::!:' '"'f '° '"'™ « -«' in the Scvcrnmont. The govornorla • -' '° "'" '■^»^' "^ 'he %3 had all the w^,, J:.^:^^, '^'"^^ «"" '" «>o.e OoJ only fo,. n ^^j; ch»! ;, i "" "■■"'"""aWe to -"• the Petition of Ri„ht « T '" "'" ^"■''' -''™ P-'-ento,! «;ly '-or „,y actions "said the li tlo'r""",""'"'''" '" ""^ '^'"S 'vI.on meekly reminded of wha ! ?"" "" '"«l'-«"ve,ei.n' Those were not the davl of Tl " '" *''° ^^'^P'"' ^ «>° days of light; rathorbotlti "■ """'" '™''» "'"^ ;na«ortof twnight whore the lib ^o;:;' ""'""'°"' '»-• to merge in the oppression of the n f I ''° f''^"^ ^^""^^ ^vl.en the barons wrun,- f,o,„ r! ° '^l '' ®'"'='' '•"f"'''' «'o time «f tl.eir libertio, everyone "du,''?''""^""''"''' «'<' «.arter »yoct ■■ ar,d the " pio;;:'j;^-'''''-',«.e " right of the '0 know where the one bo^an o, , ^i"'" ' ^"' """"^ «'=«™d -«" of the Prince of oCl r,! '"'• ^"''«'- ^^-^or the »""yof the predicate St.nvT .f ' '•'-™''">bered the tyr- ■V '"■eonstiLtio„°a, ibo : '■'■ t:f' "■^^"™'' "> "'o noe';. "- Third to sot up a tyram wl " V ■■"""""' ^^' '» George "Tl;oro„gh,%„,y LauChetol; p:.;"^' "■" -"'"• "f profligate intrio-u,, „„,, ,. "" j^^^"'^ ability for anythin. but ;"- i^ng,i...non ;r:it: 'r: 'r '"'-"'^'^ ■-° •'7 of Charles, wo.Id;ot r.Ven a "^ ""'"""° '" «- » cleverer tyrant than Strath ,7 ?'? ""° ^^"^^^t by «P'"tof those Georges wiR^ ^ T !^ ^"'' '■>''-»ny ^ns the «" 'lie rather than stoooTol?' . '^^ "=■* '^"^ «•«=■••'>■• "I ^"' opposition was ^^Z^^^::^' '''' «»-«<= «>« Third J«>-^ he retained ministersTn , 7 ' '"'' ''" ^'""I^A ^or — i-. 'Hee„try:;;r::-;f^t:.^o..se of Com. ' '■'^'■^ovn tox was one, i 't ■t- I-* li i ' iiLii : ' ( 11 'i I i.i 34 LIFE OF SIR JOHN A. MACDONALD. into the Cabinet, and maintained a Hystcin of wrong-headed personal government tliat co.st the country a hundred millions of pounds, thirteen provinces, and the lives of a thousand subjects. His son William the Fourth, tliougli called "The People's Friend," still dismissed or retained a minister " when he pleased, and because ho pleased ; " but with him, we may well believe, disappeared from the royal closet forever the last vestige of personal government. A flutter, it is true, went through the breajts of the jealous guardians of constitutional liberty not many years ago when the commons discussed the " Question de jupona ;" when a minister of whom the nation had grown sick, a man who dandled cushions and played with feathers while momentous questions of the state were hanging, resigned the seals and two days later crept back again to power behind the petticoats of the ladies-in-waiting. But if anything were needed to give assurance of constitutional rule, it surely must have appeared, when, with girlish frankness, the young Queen told Peel, " I liked my old ministers very well, and am very sorry to part with them ; but I bow to constitutional usage." It is not written in the constitution where the power of the sovereign shall begin or end in retaining or dismissing minis- ters ; but he would be a bold ruler indeed who should ever again attempt personal rule in England. Should such an attempt be made, it were not necessary to fear for the people. It would be only the worse for that sovereign. But while the principles of liberty were growing broader and deeper in England, the people of the colonies were chafing under a yoke as intolerable as that felt in England at any time during the reign of the Stuarts. In the provinces of Canada the long heard cry of discontent Lad grown deeper and more ominous towards the close of the reign of William the Fourtli. Wise men looked into the future then as they look ever, but we wonder that they could not have foreseen the consequences POLITICAL UriIfJA VALS. 30 of such government as was now iniposed upon tlio Canadian people. Each province, aa we have seen, had its mimic kin^r, and Urn creature generally ruled with the spirit of an autocrat. It mnttored little that the man was good when the system by which lie governed was so very bad. There existed at this time in every province a combination which bore the luiterul name of " Family Compact." This com])act was con»posod of men who were tories by profession, and who came, by virtue of the preference they had so long held above their fellow colonists, to regard their right to public ofhco as prescriptive. Th(y filled the legislative council, which became the tool of the Crown to thwart or strangle any objectionable measure sent up from the chamber of the people. They filled every office of emolument from the Prime Minister to the sergeant- at-arms; from the chief justice down to the tip-staff. "Nor (lid Israel 'scape the infection," for they were found in the clnu'ch wh' ' .n turn furnished mitred heads to the council. They look: .^ upon the large bulk of the colonists as inferiors, and viewed with alarm the movemc^at in favour of what was called Popular Rights. Every point gained by the people they regarded as something lost to the Crown ; and when a governoi came to the colony they generously surrendered themselves to his pleasure. If he were some haughty autocrat, who looked upon the colonists as the owner of a plantation in Jamaica regarded his slaves, they seconded his opinions and zealously assisted him to rule as he would. If he happened to be a generous man, and wa.s disposed to listen to the de- mands of the people, they poured poison into his ear, and grad- ually led him to regard the most worthy popular tribunes who as-ked for reform as dangerous demagogues. It seemed to be tiie hie of every man who in these days came out to govern us to turn tory ihe moment he set foot upon our soil. The whigs, who in England set themselves up as the redeemers of our liberty, outdid their opponents when they came to Canada. '4 ur-,. til If •• l"V I l (« ^i' ■If !1) U U t 'I" .4 /.■':.'■ ■ ' ''ff >,«■ ' 89 Lll'h! OF SJJi JOHN A. MACDONALU Whon tlio tory caino hero ho outdid liiiuself. But the toryisni which fjrouud een, the history of our own times would liave formed a more turhuh-nt eliaptor. From this Family Compact the fjovernf)r, wl)ethor whig or tory, (hew a cinde ot'adviseis which lie call(!d "The Executive;" but he did not feel himsc-lf hound to seek the advice of its memhers, unless for courtesy, or wlien beyond his depth. But where the council were of the same nund as the governor, re- straints were not needful ; and in tlie executive for many a year the viceroy found a willirij^ tool to aid him in governing according to his conviction or caprioo. In Quchec the wheels of government rolled on with an incessant jar which threatened a disruption. It was hard for the French to forget that they were a conquered peo})le, even und' • the most liheral foreign rule; but the intoleraV)lo opprossi ^i the dominant clique brought out all the nice prejudices, and, not unnaturally, gave an alarming magnitude, sonuitimes, to the smallest grievance. But th(;ro was enough of weighty grievance. The homo government had fostered and kept up a British part}', a little clifpie which threw themselves in with the governor and ruled in defiance of the vast majority. The ujiper chamber was filled with this clique, and they sat with eagle eyes watching to destroy any measure opposed to their interests coming from the lower chamber. It was a long and fierce wrestle, that, between the two houses, but in every contest the habitant went to the wall. From the i-anks of this clique, too, was filled the executive council, pupi)ots of an autocrat governor, and the demoralizers of a man of fair play. Again arid again would the house of iissijmblv declare it had no confidence in a minister; but it was coolly recou)mended to mind its own aflairs, and not to meddle with those which \,'ere only the governor's. For nearly half a century the French had worn this galling yoke, and now determined to cast it off. Finding mm I'OLirWAL lirilKA VALS. 87 how hollow a thing to them was reHponsildo ^^ovcniinont, in X'S'.VZ thoy suddenly stopped tho supplies. Then came about *' tho ofticials' fiimino," an". . '■* i;j>*,':"~v,'",'rv"v, 7,'' 'js ".^ ■ POLITICAL UPBEAVALS. 39 administrators, and driving them back again into allegiance with cruel steel. We are told that the blood of a man who falls by the violence of his fellow will cry to heaven for ven- geance; a heavy AC 30unt, then, must be that of those men by whose oppression these poor habitants were driven away from their humble toil to meet death at the hands of the soldiers. The flame having burst forth in Lower Canada, it was soon communicated to the ready material in the upper province. There, too, did the Family Compact furnish an irresponsible executivs to an autocrat governor. The people dreamed of constitutional freedom, for the light which now was shining across the Atlantic was dawning here. Great men are usually the offspring of an important crisis; and now a party of superior men, all of high character, and many of good social standing, had grown up ; and they d'^manded that the government of the province should be taken it of the hands of the favoured, ir- responsible few, and handea over to the majority of the people through responsible ministers. This change would purge away the long train of evils of which the people had so long complained. In those days there was no popular check upon bad administration, or even upon corruption. Many a minister grew rich upon his peculations, because the eye of the public could not reach him. But some journalists now boldly intruded upon the sacred privacy of the ministry, ard revealed to the public many instances of official mismanagement and corruption. Then it was that the history, in which we read of the disgraceful per- secution of Wilkes by a tyrannical sovereign, was repeated in Upper Canada. Then came prominently upon the stage the ill-starred Lyon Mackenzie, a man whose name in his day served to hush the babes of loyal mothers to slee{). We perse- cuted him then in every conceivable way. We sent the most loyal and respectable of our young men to scatter his types and wreck hirj printing presses. We five times expelled him from the legislature, after he had been five times elected. Finally we drove him into rebellion, and set a price ot £1,000 s 40 LIFE OF SIR JOHN A. MACDONALD. ■t V >v. upon his head. Now, we are about erecting a column to his memory. It was galling enough to see a mimic king come over here to govern us, as if God had made us only to be governed ; but it was unbearable that the political adventu'jr, besides be- ing an autocrat, should be also a bloc'chej To quell the fast-increasing tumult in Upper Canada, the ^^litish govern- ment set about to select a man. They found one in a poor commissioner s office in Kent, surrounded Avith prayers for relief and heroic poems. This was an extraordinary man, and had done things in his day which, in the eyes of the gov- ernment, qualified him well to rule a colony. He liad writ- ten several pamphlets, extraordinary for their style, and in- stinct with '*fine frenzy." Twice he had dashed across the South American pampas, from Buenos Ayres to the Andes, on the back of a mustang. Upon this man the home govern- ment let the mantle of authority fall, and dispatched him to Upper Canada. He came amongst us with the pom^j of an Alexander, and the attitudes of a Garrick. The band of perse- cuted men who had fought so long for popular rights be- seeched him to redress their grievances, but after a few dramatic revolutions on his own responsibility, poor Sir Francis Bond Head fell into the fatal circles of the Compact maelstrom. Naturally, with a colony in the incipient throes of revolt, we might have expected the home government to send a man with some fitness, natural or acquired, to govern and make smooth, but at this day we are unable to see what special training in this direction could have been conferred upon an enthusiastic tragedy-reader by galloping about the pampas on a wild pony. It is not necessary to add that the action of the new gov- ernor drove the impatient seekers for reform towards the brink of rebellion. In the house of assembly the Speaker read a leUer from Joseph Papineau, urging the Upper Can- ada reformers in covert terms to rebel, and hinting that, in case of need, republicans would come over and help them. Hero '.'f-'^ V f , POLITICAL UPHEAVALS. 41 M'as an opportunity for the dramatic governor, and he seized it. " In the name of every militia regiment in Canada," he exclaimed, with a tremendous wave of his arms, as he closed the parliament, " I promulgate, let them come ii they dare." There was then nothing for the reformers to expact from Sir Francis. He was threatened with rebellion, but treated tho threat with seeming scorn, and sent all the soldiers out of tho country. In an evil moment, and without taking counsel of prudence or philosophy, Mackenzie and his followers rushed to avms. Then brother rose against brother, and after a con- flict in which smoke predominated, the government demon- strated its strength, and the cause of the rebels ended in panic* Lord John Russell could not have heard tho news from Can- ada with much astonishment, for he had been told that just those things would happen, and he seemed coolly to court the consequences. In the commons some made light of the rising, and spoke of '' a Mr. Mackenzie," concerned in the rebellion. Mr. Ilunie replying, cited the declarations of Chatham on the Stamp Act, instancing them as the sayings of " a Mr. Pitt." They had queer opinions in England then about colonies, and equally odd notions about how they should be governed. Some statesmen claimed that the executive should have the confidence of tho house of assembly, but Lord John Russell and other whigs held tliat to make the executive responsible to the popular bra.nch would be to reduce the governor to a cipher, and to virtually proclaim the independence of the colo- nics. In this emergency Lord Durham was sent out to Canada with extraordinary powers. He proclaimed his Ordin.anccs fiom Quebec, but had scarcely boguii to carry out hi"? pro- * All our histories make the inexcusabU. blunder of statin^,' that a large number of persons were killed and wounded at this battle ; even Mr. Lindsey, son-in-lav/ of Mr. Mackenzie, repeats the fiction in bin bonk many years after the battlo. To the Toionto Woild the public aie indebted for icrictijiij out the Ll.uidi;r. ,r ■ ■k'-.^k'' |, J/S^^SSSwK ;;xiTO''i'''»» l >i i (ir»iiM>a MMMhl mmmm :"j^-"^T*r; 42 LIFE OF SIR JOHN A. MACVONAlD. I ii ii:i; i I ■III \ sv u gramme when many voices began to clamour for his recall. Undoubtedly there was a disposition to judge Lord Durham in England on the scantiest evidence. His emotional nature was not unknown to the public. Men had not forgotten how often he had terrified his father-in-law, Earl Grey, and ap- ]>allcd the council by his outbursts at their cabinet meetings. They had heard him in the House of Lords describe the speech of the Bishop of Exeter, against the Reform Bill, as " coarse and virulent invective, malignant and false insinuation, the grossest perversion of historical facts, decked out with all the choicest flowers of pamphleteering slang." They did not be- lieve that a man with a head so hot was fitted to grapple with such a problem as was now presented in Canada. But every day added fresh rumours to those already current in England. The famous Ordinances of the Earl seemed to astound every- body. They were sweeping measures, to say the least, and in England were regarded as revolutionary. An amnesty was granted to all political oF'enders, Papineau, Mackenzie and the other leaders, excepted. These were banished to Bermuda, from which they were not to return under pain of death. The colonists were cordially invited to aid in organizing a libe- ral and enduring plan of government ; and, attended by his suite, the High Commissioner made a progress through the country with all the pomp and splendour of an Eastern king. But Lord Durham was not allowed to put his Ordinances to a trial His course was assailed in England by a storm of hostile criticism ; it was shown that in nearly every important respect he had transcended his constitutional powers ; that he could not transport to Bermuda, for the reason that he had no author- ity over that island, and that he had no power to order that any one breaking his exile and returning to Canada should suffer death. One of the most fierce of his critics was Lord Brougham, but the whole cause of his bitterness was not the Quebec Ordinances. Five years before, at a dinner given by Earl Grey, he had imprudently provoked Lord Durham and )! !'; i /•i POLITICAL UrUE AVALS. 43 called down upon his head a torrent of wrath. The govern- ment, who first stood like a weak man in a strong current feebly facing the stream, supported their Commissioner for a time, then faltered and gave way. In an American newspaper the Earl read for the first time that the government had for- saken him ; and he tendered his resignation. The resignation and the disallowance of his Ordinances crossed each other on the Atlantic, and a few days later the proud and great Lord Durham learnt that he was a disgraced man. With constitu- tional impulsiveness he issued a proclamation which was sim- ply the justification that a lofty spirit, too noble and too sensi- tive for the rude shocks of party strife, sought before the country he had so earnestly striven to serve. Humiliated beyond the length that a mean mind can imagine, he returned to England, his proud spirit broken. It has been, said that he went beyond his constitutional powers ; but surely he did not do so unknowingly. No better justification of his conduct can be given than is afforded in his own words, when he asks with just scorn : " What are the constitutional principles remaining in force when the whole constitution is suspended ? What principle of the British Constitution holds good in a country where the people's money is taken from them without the people's consent ; where rep- resentative government is annihilated; where martial law has been the law of the land, and where trial by jury exists only to defeat the ends of justice, and to provoke the righteous scorn and indignation of th© community." But it remained for posterity to do justice to Lord Durham. While he lay gasping away his last breath by the sea shore at Cowes, came the tidings, but all too late, that even his bitterest foes bore tribute to the wisdom and broad statesmanship in his Report. This was the document that first set forth the scheme by which our struggling provinces afterwards became united in one con- federation; which traced the causes of colonial discontent, and pointed out the cure. Toward the close of July, 1840, the earl i i; » ; i] I !l I Pi ■^ /; 44 LIFE OF SIR JOHN A. MACDONALD. ;>-:•■ i.:-';)i^ breathed his last. Two days before he died ho said : " 1 would fain hope that I have not lived altogether in vain. Whatever the tories may say, the Canadians will one day do justice to my memory." They have done justice to his memory ; and one of the foremost names in their affections and their history is that of the great, the high-minded John George Lambton, first Earl of Durham. The Government were not satisfied, it appears, with what they had done for Upper Canada in sending over Sir Francis B. Head, but on his being recalled, endeavoured to do better, and sent out Sir George Arthur. He was deemed to possess the very acme of governing powers, for ho had already ruled two colonics. He governed 20,000 negroes and several whites- in Honduras, and when selected for Canada had just returned covered with glory from Van Diemen's Land. This latter was a colony to which, about thirty years before, the homo government had begun to send the most violent and aban- doned characters. Armed with the experiences of Honduras and Tasmania, Governor Arthur began to rule Upper Can- ada. It took a great deal to fill up his bill of duty. In tu- mult he stamped every rebellion splutter out with the heel of a Claverhouse ; in peace he was busy with the halter. It nigh drove him mad when a reformer approached him to state a grievance, or ask a mercy for the misguided men who had fallen into his hands. Reform, he said, had been too long the cloak of treason — therefore he would talk only of stern justice now. And the governor chose a blootly justice. He hanged Lount anil Matthews in Toronto, to the horror even of many tories. It is due, however, to the governor's memory to say, that he was not entirely guilty of the blood of these men ; as it is understood that the deed was strongly recommended by the officials of the Family Compact. Wo know not to what extent the governor would have used the rope, had not Lord Glenelg aroused himself from his languor to stay the fell work of the hangman. rou Tia i L vriiEA va ls. 45 In Lower Canad.a, atraii-s were in chaos. Tho constitution Had been suspended, and the aHairs of the colony were being 'idministcred by a special council. The British population, who now found themselves more than ever estranged from the French, prayed for union with Upper Canada, for freedom from French laws and French dominion ; and besecched all the legislatures of British North America to assist them in attain- ing these things. The French inhabitants had felt the voke of a few British sit so heavily upon them that they regarded with horror a proposal which they believed would utterly absorb them into the English system, with its uncongenial customs and political oppressions. In 1839, Sir John Colborne went home, and the British Government, finding that the most unsuitable men did not make tho best governors, selected a plain meichant, Mr. Charles Poulett Thompson, who was known to have a clear, cool head, much suavity and tact, and an enormous capacity for business. The great drawback to him was that he po-ssessed no title, an inferiority keenl}-^ deplored by the tories ; but the government, though partial to titled men themselves, overcame their scruples aii>. sent him out. His first duty was to act on a suggestion made by Lord Durham, whom the tories had slandered and the wliigs (lescrted. That duty was to unite Upper and Lower Canada. The new governor-general promptly convened tho special council of Lower Canada, and obtained its assent to a diaft bill providing for the Union. It was known that the Frencli, who comprised the great bulk of the population, were hosfile to the scheme, and they were not consulted. The measure v.as foreshadowed in the Speech opening the legislature of Upper Canada. Subsequently, a message was sent down to the assem- bly, embodying, among other matters, the chief points of tho proposed Union Bill. This message gave some hope to the reform politicians, but one of its most important .statements was a lie. " So far," said the governor-general, " as the feehng V 'l *': '^\< in''' i i III |- ■I i. .',r' ^ ;|;. liii I! •[ It'll ii l:li!'t u ]' .'V 4C LIFK OF Silt JOHN A. MACDONALD. of the inhabitants of Lower Canada can be obtained the meas- ure of re-union meets with api)robation." The governor very well knew that nothing could be more hateful to the bulk of the inhabitants than this same measure ; ami for this very reason lie had refused to consult them. The Bill was intro- duced in due course and was opposed by the Family Compact. But the governor-general was in earnest, and what was better, he was master of the situation. They might pass the bill or submit to worse. So they ate their leek with all the grace they could command. In July, the next year, a measure was introduced into the imperial parliament and passed with slight amendments. The Union Bill provided that there should be one legislative council and one assembly. Each province ha ... ' v■•^^'^ FROM THE BAR TO THE HUSTINGS. 55 Few, ai we have said, at this time really understood what responsible government was, or what had been the issue be- tween the governor and his ministry. But now, c. the elec- tions drew near, those before inclined to moderate reform came to think about it, and remembered that some of the men in the late ministry had come thither out of the rebels' camps. They did not wonder that men who six years before were pitted against the solc'ers were pitted now against the governor. And during the many months that the autocrat had ruled with- out a government, ominous mutterings were heard from large bands of the more impatient and radical reformers. They said anarchy had come again, and professed their readiness to take up arms and once more strike for a republic. All this wiis remembered now, and was yet to be used with tremendous effect by the governor and his party. The question, therefore, by skilful tory arrangement, came to be, not one between conservatives and reformers, as our histories have it, but be- tween the reform party and the crown, — a party who the tories claimed had furnished rebels to the rebellion, who had threatened of late to rebel again, who alarmed the governor with measures which would be fatal to the constitution, and who from their hustings even now were calling for separation. The Crown, in the person of governor Metcalfe, had been out- raged by the reformers, and all men who loved i)eace and British rule were asked to rally round the representative of the Queen. In a country yet in a crude state of civilization, where the reverential and emotional are the strongest sides to the character of men, we need not wonder how talismanic proved the mention of the Crown. " Next to my God, my kin j," was the rule of men for over a thousand years, when to touch the hem of the royal garment made the sufferer whole. Aye, and " More than my God, my king," was often the maxim too, and it is avowed us by the statesman-prelate gasping his y ►? ) -^ 1 i« 3\ ^t ^ I S * i t^i 4- '4 M ;- ^'- r fe r .* n FROM THE BAR TO THE HUSTINGS. 57 The governor was grateful, and the followinfj year the doctor was assured the chief superin tendency of education for Upper Canada. If in this, though, we find no re[)aration by the governor for his oppression of the people, we do find in it an excuse for the divine in lending himself to the autocrat. Self-interest is the strongest passion among mortals ; and Dr. Ryerson was mortal. His pamphlets are not worth much notice, save for their literary form, which is good, although Hon. A. Mackenzie says in his "Life of George Brown" that it is not good. This hardly amounts to a contradiction, how- ever, as Mr. Mackenzie is not a judge of literary style. The doctor was an accomplished writer, and generally made the most of his material, though he had a passion for running into bombast. He was not satisfied with defending his master on one or two points, but led up his defences in battalions. It was a crushing reply to the charge of autocracy to be told by the reverend defender that Sir Charles was " not a fortune seeker, but a fortune spender," and that he was " good to the poor." Nevertheless, in the governor's cause these pamphlets were as strong as armies, for they were spread among the dis- senters, a class outside the charmed circle of the aristocracy, and, hence, stoutly given to reform. The}' transfigured the governor from a monster "mounted on an elephant, the despotic ruler of oriental slaves," as the fiery and terse Francis Hincks styled him, into a " benevolent man," whose whole life was " an un- ceasing round of good works." Mr. Sullivan, under the name of " Legion," apijeared on the other side with pamphlets which would have been more impressive had they been less flippant. About this time, Mr. George Brown, a young Scotchman for some time resident in New York, came over to Canada, can- vassing for a little weekly newspaper called the British Chronicle, belonging to his ftither, Peter Brown. He went about among the politicians to see if he could get encourage- ment to establish a political newspaper. It would have been natural to him to have allied himself with the tories, as both 11 3!' r,! '«'■»:; 1^ TK^i 1 58 LIFE OF Sin JOHN A. MACDONALD. ,4'!;: >*. he and his father had been moro intensely British and anti- American in New York than Metcalfe had been in Canada. The tories, however, had plenty of organs, and were never over-anxious to share confidence with ailventurers. But young Brown was more lucky among the radicals, and the ultimate outcome was the establishment of a new radical organ, the Qlohe. This paper was launched on the eve of the contest, and at once began the battle with nnicli earnestness. Its style was vigorous but extremely uncouth, and would be rather rough reading in the light of our present newspaper culture. This, however, was not a grievous fault then, for not a very large bulk of its readers enjoyed much more literary culture than the editor himself. Its moro serious fault was the frequent crude and undigested form of its thought which was the result of a spontaneous outpouring of impatient and indiscreet enthu- siasm. There was no manoiuvering in Mr. Brown's advances; he attacked always in charges. It was on seeing his impatience and impetuosity, his lack of tact and the inability " to wait for the morrow till the morrow came," that men said, " Another William Lyon Mackenzie has come amongst us." Once it is recorded in Holy Writ tluat in troublous times fierce horsemen were seen riding through the clouds shaking their shields and spears: to those who looked out upon tlie political sky as the sunnner of 1844 wore away, and autumn came, the spectacle could have been scarce less full of fore- boding. Chaos virtually had come, for the governor had now unlawfully ruled eight months without a constitutional govern- ment. Mr. Draper had proved the friend and counsellor of the governor all along; but as August arrived, and yet no progress in forming a ministry liad been made, he one day waited upon his excellency and told him he saw grave danger in further delay. Mr. Draper was a tory of a dye almost pro-historic, yet he was a wise man and a patriot. The governor took his sharp and, we may say, imperious advice with wondei-ful grace for an autocrat, and set hijuself to work to form a cabinet. Evidently ;.' I rii!. FliOM THE BAR TO THE HUSTINGS. DO Mr. Draper had friglitened him, for ho went hastilj^ at liis work, as if lie fancied a tempest were shortly to break, and he feared being caught in the storm. In a few weeks it was known that a cabinet had been patched up as follows : Attorney -GPMeral, Etist. Jamks Smith W.M. Dkaper - D. B. Papineau William Morius M. ViOKR DoMiNicK Daly Attorney-General, Wet i m ll I: i»:i 4)0 LIFE OF SIR JOHN A. MAVDONAJ ' . '■\v\ mc. ... I honoured hitn as a patriot, I loved him as a man, and I revered him as a father. ... In fact his couise is one of those enigmas thr , hattte mo cinito in every attempt to unravol it, and I can still really designate it by no other term than an hallucination." The necessity of appealing to the country went sorely aga'nst the governor's grain, but he was assured that there was no hope for the ministry in the existing house. When he found that a dissolution was inevitable, he folded his sleeves for the contest, and stoopid to artifices and meanness in forwarding the cause of the tory party to which an average ward politician would hardly descend. PTe felt however sure of victory. Cir- cumstances stronger than the strength of parties were in his favour; he lacked not the aid of friends who were influential and unscrupulous, and had the satisfaction, above all, to know that his ojiponents were alienating sympathy by their excesses. The contesi jne on in November, in a very hurricane of umult. At more than one hustings blood was shed, and mu- tual massacre on a general scale only prevented by bodies of soldiers and special constables. The worst fiend known to man was loose in those days during the elections, the demon of whiskey. Near every booth were open houses, where the ex- cited mobs drank intoxicants furnished by the candidates till they became mad. For days before polling, ill-favoured look- ng persons poured into Montreal, some carrying dirks and slung-shots, and others pistols. Kegiments of soldioi-s, aided by hundreds of special constables, were on constant duty during the elections in this riotous cit3^ but could not prevent some of the most brutal collisions, and even bloodshed. The suspi- cious strangers with the dirks and pistols did not come into the city for naught ; and in the riots gave many a bloody account of themselves. In Kingston the passions of the mob were scarce less brutal, or party feeling less bitter. Recent sittings of the parliament there had called the staid political principles of the people into mOM THE B All rtt THE HUSTINGS. 61 activity, mv\ now the crisis which had come faniu'il that ac- tivity into a fiorco llamo. Some were extreme radicals, who declared at their gatherings that " the British system ought to he pulled out by the roots," others were uncompromising in their toryism, and prayed that Metcalfe "nuj;ht hold fist, and tight the good fight bravely to the end ; " while, perimps, a j)arty as large as the two extreme ones, took the middle ground, and was neither so radical as the out-and-out reformer, nor so conservative as the ultra tory. To the moderate conservative party John A Macdonald belonged, though when it was told througl) the streets of Kingston that he was coming to oppose Matuihan, the extreme tories, as well as members of the great middle party approved of the choice, and, with ringing cheers^ followed the young Alexuuder of politics to the hustings. { I v.% \ I .l> '* r CUAPTEU IV. FROM TIIK HUSTINGS TO THIi HOUSE. A TORY, liowcvcr, Mr. MacdonaM was, and as a tory he went to the polls. But what he professed was not that slavish toryisni which bolieved that the nation and the people were made only for the sovereign. Neither did he go to the ImstinLjs " tallcin;,' prerogative, the alpha and omega of the compact," but at once came to the political condition of the people. With prerogative, indeed, he did not concern himself at all, unless where it bore on the constitutional status of the jirovince. These were turbulent times in many parts of Upper and Ljwer Canada, and for several months preceding the elections monster meetings had been held by the party leaders at various parts of the province. It was not unusual to see proceeding to one of these gatherings, a hundred teams, each carrying a dozen stalwart voters to stirring music, with flags dying, and every man armed with a club. Violent collisions often occurred, and the polling places were frequently the scenes of the maddest and most brutal party strife. Of a similar character were the crowds that gathered at Kingston before the elections were held, some cheerinof for Mr. Manahan, others for Mr. Macdonald. Manahan was an Irish- man, and all the bullies of the city were on his side. The number of these was comparatively small, but they could terrorize over a much larger number of peacably disposed men. But the election had not proceeded far when the repute of Manahan had grown so odious that his followers began to drop away in flocks. The man's past career, the worthlessness of his moral character and his mean abilities had much to do with 02 FROM TUK nVSTISGS TO THE llOVSE, 03 this ; l>iit tlio chief reo-son was tho happy athlit'ss, tlic skill and tact of the youni^ hivvyer, who opposed him, and who grew from day to o had much dirtieulty in getting an opportunity to begin Ids spoccii, as several adherents of Manahan came there to ohstru'jt liim. " Never," says an eye-witness, " did ho lose tenjper, l)ut good- naturedly waited till there was a lull in the dist'irhance." When silence was restored, he said he knew most of the elect- ors, an«l they were all manly fellows — too manly, indeed, to refuse another fair play. Tlie\' were opj)Osed to him, he said, and they had a right to be, an iiei'ce activity ; that in many places the active tory became a. tirebrand, and the moderate one a zealot — that hosts of rc' formers rallied around the governor, and only the most pro- nounced of the party stood by their guns. We do not wonder at Mr. Macdo!iald being loud in his cry against the ousted ministry. He had been brought up \ conservative, and the young men with whom he tirst mingle \ were of the same po- litical school. So, indeed, were nearly all, if not all, of his close friends, up to his entry into public life ; and the first chapter of political history' he read, in equipping himself for his career, he saw through conservative glasses. It was impossible that he could have been other than a tory, taking into ccmsideration his birth, early training and associations.. In and about Kingston everything was on the side of conserv- atism ; — the wealth, the intluence, in great measure the intel- ligence, the social standing, and the pi'ospects. Had Macdon- ald been the son of a whig father, and grown up in Toronto, instead of Kingston, he might have struck a different chord when he came upon his first platform. Out to condemn him for being a tory, as circumstances were, would be to see " an exam[)le and a shining light "in the hero \n Pinafore, ^'\\o " might have been a Roosian, a French, or Turk, or Proosian, or perhaps an Italijvn," but who " in spite of all temptations to belong to other nations," became " an Englishman." Friendly historians, commenting upon Mr. Macdonald's entry into pub- lic life, speak of his toryism, not as a set of irresistible opin- ions, but as if the young politician were troubled with lame back or a club foot, for *"hey considerately describe it as " his ■ ?• :j" ■, "*>■ - ">".*>'■' -pr'";-'' <;'^'-^''''"''"^;, , ,,,."n'', ..4. ..,, /'i?0-V THE HUSTINGS TO THE HOUSE. 65 misfortune ratlier than his fault." The fact is, he ou|jht, like Richard the Third, to have come into the world a horrible pro- digy, feet first, and bristling with teeth, and instead of crying, as most babies do when first sti-anded upon this cold and cruel world, begun with a rattling stump speech on Reform. It matters little how John A. Miicdonald set out. It is his career in the trying path of public life in which we are interested. If there he did his duty history will be satisfied. Miicdonald did not lack material to incite, from his stand- point, the most scathing speeches. While we all have sympa- thies with the struggles of a just cause, with the excesses of that cause we cannot have any sympathy. Some of the most brazen demagogues had gone about the country for two years before the election pluming themselves on their disloyalty and the aid they had given to rebellion. They openly declared that henceforth the government should consist of men who had been either rebels in t^o^^ or in open S3anpathy. Then many close frien! 1! < '^'•■llm «*^MM«u«Miia ;! 'M'ii' . ii \M i m i:/' f-'l ■ i' ii . 68 LJFJ'J OF SJJi JOHN A. MACDONALD. The Rofonn party now held a caucus, at which it was decided that Mr. Lai'ontainc sliould introduce resolutions later on in the session, praying the home government to remove the em- bargo i)ut upon the official use of the French langr.age. In those days governor Metcalfe did not creej) about in person to listen at his opponents' doors. He would not be above doing this, however, if the enterprise were a convenient one; but he main- tained instead a j)inip or a listener at every window and key- hole wdiei. the reformers projected a movement which it was his peculiar interest to thwart. In the proposed resolutions of Mr. Lafontaine he saw danger to the French votes he had pur- chased. Messrs. Vige • and Papineau had been bought in the political shambles, it is true, and could be purchased again, but it would bs too much even for them to face the storm of ob- loquy that would follow their support to a government which as a body opposed trie resolutions of Mr. Lafontaine. On the other hand, did the}' and the government as a whole support the resolutions, the French people vrould ask, Can justice come to us only from opposition ? Thue was there a dilenjma, one horn not more inviting than the other. The governor, there- fore, once again, decided to play the Hindoo. One day, as reform members sat listlessly at their desks, Mi-. Papineau arose and moved a set of resolutions praying for the relaxation of restrictions ujjon an ofhcial use of the French language. " Once more has the subtle Indian," whispered Mr. Baldwin to the member who sat beside him, " delved a yard below our mines." No one was astonished now when the cunning or the meanness of the governor came to the surface. There was only the feeling of mortification that he should have been per- mitted to delve below the mines. Parliament had no sooner opened than petitions " thick as leaves that stiew the brooks at Vallambrosa," began to pour into the house, some setting forth that one member had ob- tained his seat by the hybrid sin of " bribery and corruption," others that perjured returning offi cvs aci(' partisan magistrates FROM THE HUSTINGS TO THE HOUSE. 69 had turned majoiities into i-. xiorities, and sent the defeated cautlidate of the c^overnment to the legislature. Some of the ininisterial supporters aftected to disbelieve these charges; others said thev v. ere intolerable if true, but not a few coolly maintained thpt whether they were true or false was of little consequence. The contest had been between rebellious sub- jects and the authority of the Crown, they said, and in main- taining connection with the glorious mother-land, and subor- dinating our colonial functions to the jurisdiction of the Fons Honoris and Specuium Justitice what their ojn)ononts were pleased to call corruption and bribery, they were proud to recognise as loyalty and zeal. It is not, perhaps, to be v on- imL!j" p " ! gi] i ,. jiii^ i awi . 'i' • 't ■' :Y :f?;:' 70 LIFE OF SIR JOHN A, MACDONALD. m some prominent reformer did noi 'sk a question which sot tho hearts of the headless party there palpitating. Sometimes tho (juestion was answered parrot fashion, or with that hesitation with which an errand boy repeats over the message of tho sender. But the chief reply was that the government was either considering, or would " consider the matter," though the visible government, it came soon to be understood, was only a sort of Mr. Jorkins, and the real government Mr. Draper. Sometimes, indeed, a minister would burst " from vulgar bounds with brave disorder," and answer an un- decided question upon his own responsibility. But woe speed- ily overtook him, for he was snubbed before the house ere he had well settled into his chair, by a brother councillor. If he had any retort in him, a scone generally ensued that scan- dalized the party and set tho vjpposition chuckling. The gov- ernor's spies made notes nf all these indiscretions and duly reported them. When the situation at length became intoler- able it was decided that the head of the Family should come down stairs. In the early part of February, therefore, Mr. Draper published a card soliciting the suffrages of the people of London, asking them to reiterate their intention now " t^ support the government of Sir Charles Metcalfe." Fancy Sir John A. Macdonald, at this day, going up to the Forest City and asking the people to reiterate their intention to support " the government of Lord Lome ! " The impartiality of the governor's character, we fear, would scarcely be an offset to the offence. And having spoken in one breath of the govern- ment of Sir Charles Metcalfe, in the next Mr. Draper uttei-ed this lumbering sentence ; " I am determined not to retain office under responsible government under circumstances which would cause a minister of the Crown in Great Britain to re- sign." The Londoners swallowed Mr. Draper, contradictions and all, and the govei'nment was saved for tho time. The faces of several prominent members of the old house were missed from their places in the now Mr. Francis Iliucka. FROM THE HUSTINGS TO THE HOUSE. 71 was defected in Oxford, but instead of playing Othello, he at once turned his great energies and ability to his newspaper, the Pilot, which he had established a few months before in Mon- treal. The Pilot thereafter till the downfall of the Govern- ment was the greatest newspaper power in the land. John S. Cartwright, too, an uncompromising Conservative, who probably believed that the rain would refuse to fall and the corn to spring in a reform country, and that east winds and every description of bad weather v/ere sent by Providence upon the reformers, was also missing from his place. It is not recorded, however, that the earth ceased spinning, or the sun to shine the day he ste[)pe(l out of the political sphere. The faces of many members destined to play a prominent part in political life were seen there for the first time. Among these were Mr. Ogle R. Gowan, the fiery Orangeman, Joseph Edouard Cauchon, on whose political aegis there yet appeared no tarnish, and, above all the rest in ability and promise, the member for Kingston, Mr. John A. Macdonald. i ' ■ I'M '9 < ■ . s *; ^ (:^W^ CHAPTER V. I ll i . ■ 1:! : i..:' Ill 111 DRAUGHTS FROM TORY FvOUNTAINS. rpHE session, as we have seen, commenced with much wrangle, J. and all the batteries of the opposition, who possessed the heaviest guns, were opened upon the government. Nearly every member who " could talk " took some part in assault or defence; but Mr Macdonald sat unmoved at his desk while the fray went on, "looking," says a gentleman who remembers having seen him there, "half careless and half contemptuous. Sometimes in the tliick of the meMe, while Mr. Aylwin acted like a merry-andrew, and Colonel Prince set his Bohemian lance against members indiscriminately, Macdonald was bu.sy in and out of the parliamentary library. I scarce ever remember see- ing him then about the house that he was not searching up some case either then impending or to come up at a later date. He was for a great par; of his time, too, buried in a study of political and constitutional history." With Mr. Macdonald we have already seen the faculty to conciliate and harmonize con- tending factions was born, as well as assiduously cultivated; and we may be sure he had no little contempt for a ministry which every day paraded the mroual jealousies and antagon- isms of its members before their opponents and the public. This, indeed, was the ver^' reason why he abstained, with not a little silent scorn, from engaging in the debates; this is why he chose rather to store his mind with knowledge that would endure, while others wrangled or played the merry-andrew. Some, who see a similarity in life and character from the re- semblance of two locks of hair, have employed themselves in drawing parallels in these later years between the subject of 7-2 ■ .* 'T DRAUGHTS FROM TORY FOl'NTAINS. 73 this biography and a young politician wlio liad now begun to at- tract attention in another parliament, that ond reading the pour- travals could think of nothiu'' but Martin and " tlie other Martin" in " The Two Dianas." At the time of which we write, Mr. Disraeli had published books and got into jiarlia- ment, but hail shone with an uncertain light which so much resembled a will-o'-the-wisp that no man would have cared to follow it. With an overmastering love of Oriental display, to him a suit of clothes was of more moment than a set of piinci- ples, while the particular cut of a myrtle-green vest transcended in importance the shape given to a bill of reform. " Clothes," he tells us by the mouth of Endymion, when his lace was nearly run, " do not make the man, but they have a great deal to do with it." But there was in the beginning, and indeed to the end, little resemblance betweeu the two, as we shall see in the progress of our story. The vounor member who his the affliction of beinof "smart" is generally as great a nuisance as ihe boy com- ing home from high school, to whom all knowledge is a novelty; but Mr. Macdonald was as reserved as the staidest veteran in that whole house. He assumed no airs when he arose to speak, and never attempted dramatic or sentimental flights, as did the man to whom he has been likened, in the outset of his career. He never spoke merely for the purpose of talking, but only when that which he had to say threw more light upon the discussion, added force to an attack, or strenjjth to the defence. It is not uninterestincf to note that the beginning of his long executive career was his appointment on the 12th of December, 1844, to the standing orders com- mittee. On the 21st of December there was much turmoil in the a.ssembly. During the elections held at IVIontreal, owing to the corrupting facilities in the hands of the govern- ment, Hon. Geo. Moffatt and Mr. C. S. De Bleury had been returned to the legislature. One Peter Dunn, and others, ac- cordingly drew up a petition setting forth the irregularities m... K ' ■■ ■' H? ,-- *t lU i d£!| lii ii 74 LIFK OF SIR JOHN A. MACUONALD. of the election, and Mr. Ay 1 win, a refonnor, and a gontleinnri possessing a most flippant and annoying tonLjue, nloved that the election of the two members bo declared void. The soli- citor-general, Mr. Sherwood, held that the petition was insuf- ficient, inasmuch as it was not competent to any person, not an elector at the time of the election, to petition against a mem- ber's return, and that the law in Lower Canada reipiired that ten of the persons signing such a petition should take an oath declaiing their right to vote under the Act. But tliis petition ondtted to sliow these vital points, for which reason it was not a valid subject foi" legislative action. Mr. Aylwiu, in a deluge of words, said the government wa>^ utuiecessarily tied to techni- calities. Mr. Baldwin, the leader of the reformers, said the mere technicnl (piestion with respect to qualification was en- titled to no weight. The (Question now was not whether the acts alleged in Dunn's petition were true or false, but whether the legal formalites had been observed wliich Lower Canada retpiired. "Will any one tell me," cpiotli Mr. Baldwin, "that if I had only obtained my elective franchise yesterday, I am not interested in the manner in which the town or country where I reside is represented ? " Then Mr. Baldwin folded his coat and sat down. Up to this time the young Kingston mem- ber had uttered no word ni the house save yea oi' nay. Many members had heard of the clever Kingston lawyer who defend- ed Shoultz, and overwhelmed ^lanahan, but he had sat there so unobtrusively at his desk that many thought, really, but little about him, regarding him as a quiet, lawyer-like politi- cian, who seemed ^'ery industrious — for he was always reailing or searching books — and that was all. Now he arose, cool and collected, to put an old member right ; not, indeed, some indif- ferent member, but the renowned Mr. Baldwin, with whom few, save the " know nothing, fear nothing," members of the government would care to have measured swords. He ulanccd first at the speaker, then at the leader of the opposition. In " reply to that gentleman's observations he would say that the V"' "f • ■'"" f' .--»,. . -^f^t' ■■ VRAUGins FROM TORY FOUNTAINS. 7& hon. gentleman was mistaken in f^upposin*^ that the law did not recjuire jiarties petitioning tobc! resident at the place whefe the elections took place, and that if they afterwards became re idents it woidd be suflieient. The hon. and learned member for Quebec du not adopt that line of argument because he saw that it was an unsound one. The whole of the argument upon the subject used b\ Sir William Follett, which had been referred to, was sustained, and it was a principle not only of law, but of common sense, that parties not residing at the place of election cannot be aggrieved by the return. It could not be contendeil that they had sustained a wrong, and it would be out of their power to make the afHdavit, required by the statute. The tirst ground of objection was not answered in any way, because the law of Lower Canada on tliis point was the same as the law of England, and the argurcents used must apply with equal force in the one case as in the other, The second ground of objection was equally unanswerable It was true that the magistrate had taken upon himself to state that the oath which had been taken was according to la«v, but the house was the only com- petent judge as to whether the oath had been so administered. It seemed to him, therefore, upon these grounds that the peti- tion could not be supported ; and to settle the precedent he would move that the further consideration of the (Question bo deferred until the 11th day of January next." A writer who draws an amusing picture of the phoenix-like member for Megantic, Mr. Daly, and a not flattering poi-trait of Mr. Sherwood, was present in the house when Mr. Macdon- ald made his first speech. He tells us that " when Mr. Mac- donald stood up to reply to the contentions of the opposition, he addressed the house with as much ease as if speaking there were nothing new to him. He had an air of confidence, and was as truly master of his subject as if he had been prime minister. Every eye was upon the young member as he spoke, and as I saw the respectful attention that was paid to him, I felt proud of Kingston." This gives us an idea of the /i t i ','' ^^„r.^ IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-S) 1.0 I.I — tarn ^ Ui 12.2 In 110 It! IIS I li£ 12.0 18 1-25 1.4 III 1.6 -^ 6" ► V] vl >> C PhotDgraphii Sciences Corporation 33 WEST MAIN STREET WEBSTER, N.Y. 14580 (716) 873-4503 i'v . ^6^ o^ -;>.>;;■ \ :-:\i' : ■ :■■ ; -■''•■"■ ■ ' ■ ■,• ;, -'■-"• :■ : ' ' ■■. -';V: ' - ■■ ^- .-'■'- - -v---- ■ >• :-::"*^>>'"'- - ■■" I- / :,."^'i • -v. " ■ ■ . '. ti'/;' '■' ..;..■■: \ (■■'"" , ■ .' ', ■"'''"'''"''.,■ S ' . '"■■'v.^i'CX-''" ■""' 76 LIFE OF SIR JOHN A. MACDONALD. i! W ■ mti '; (,i i'"--*v^^ I inianner of Mr. Macdonald on first addressing the house, but the speech itself tells us a much fuller story. Jt is not often that the beginner in fence courts conflict with a master of the sword. It is not often that a young politician, standing up for the first time in parliament, courts issue with a /eteran, the leader of a great party, and a debater against whom Tione save the reckless would have cared to match himself. But •this weight in his opponent was the very incentive that hur- ried Macdonald to the conflict. He had sat since the opening •of the house silent, often with scorn upon his lips, while a series of little tempests raged about him, till now, he saw an opportunity to worst the greatest opponent on the other side, to end a wrangle, and establish a precedent. It is not to be wondered at that the austere reformer glanced darkly from under his brows at this young man whom he had not seen till yesterday, who now stood up coolly rebuking him and expos- ing his errors, as if the ox-minister were thS novice, and the novice the veteraa But the speaker spoke on indifferently. For days he had heard the house wrangle about these Mon- treal seats, and now he felt the time had come when the brawling ought to cease. He had looked for some member of the government to end the turmoil, but had looked in vain. The spirit of confusion had taken the bit in its teeth, and the government was completely at its mercy. What old heads had failed to do, at last he did. He made a motion that at once brought the barren strife to an end, and established a prece- dent. His motion ended the disorder, and the house set free, proceeded with its work, It is doubted by no one now that both Messrs. De Bleury and Moffatt won their seats through fraud find perjured instruments, but it wa« not Mr. Macdonald's aim or concern to shield them in their ill-got places. To reach them was made impossible by a fatal informality in Dunn's petitions. His speech was a triumph for higher reasons — a •liff'erent speech from the first flight taken by the gaudy young statesman in the British commons. DJiAUClITS FROM TOUY FOUNTAINS. 77 From this time on to the first of February, we meet not his name aijain in the mass of verbiage that flowed from the House. His silence during this period and the following ses- sion has been much commented on, but we have alread}'^ seer» that during a gi-eat portion of his time, while the wrangling went on, he sat with bent head at his desk, poring over a book, or was found searching, or making memoranda in tho library. Bat we suspect he was as deeply engaged in another direction ; that then began the system of personal influence upon political associates which has been such an important factor in the se- cret of his success as a party leader. With most men noise is one of the necessaiy accompaniments of advancement, but with him it was different then as it has been since. He did not gain the attention and admiration of the conservative party by sounding his trimpet ; and later on, when he entered the cabinet, he went in, so to speak, in his stocking-feet. Neither did he accomplish this in the fashion of a Machiavelli, but was sought after up.:ii merits he had manifested without in- trigue or display, and through a system of what we must re- gard as something higher than mere tact, as indeed an art bom in him with his birth, and a phase of only the rarest genius. On the first of February, Mr. Roblin introduced a Bill pro- viding for the proper distribution of intestate property in Upper Canada. He set forth that the law of primogeniture was an evil tree to set growing in our country ; and drew a touching picture of an expiring father dying intestate, whose baby son wondered at all the faces gathered about his papa's bed. Would the house believe, Mr. Roblin asked, that the father was less anxious for the welfare of this infant son thrown upon the cold world, than for the oldest son who mio-ht have reached the years of manhood ? He therefore believed that what Canada wanted was gavelkind. Such was the law in Kent, and under it the children of the intastate inher- ited in equal proportions. Mr. Baldwin believed that the Bill fill « J 8?' 78 LIFE OF tilJl JOHN A. MACDONALD. \m jjiii| Hi* was very cl(!fective, but as the people of Upper Canada desired it, he would vote for it. Mr. Baldwin had no sooner sat down, than the provokingly cool young lawyer from Kingston rose again ; once more looked at the Speaker, and from the Speaker to the leader of the opposition ; then told " Mr. Speaker " that he " heard with sur- prise and regret the hon. member for the fourth riding of York, after declaring that the system now attempted to be in- troduced was open to great objections, state his intention to support it. He had, indeed, always persuaded himself that the hon. gentleman's motto was ' Fiat jastitia mat coilum' He would vote for a measure which he knew to be defective and declared to be a bad one, simply because he had taken it into his head that the people of Upper Canada requii'ed it. . . . . How did he know they did require it ? There were but two legal and parliament;^}' ways of ascertaining what were the opiniori? ci" the people, petitions and public meetings, and there had been neither of these in its favour. . . . It was folly to raise a monarchical structuie upon a republican foundation The measure oufjht not to be intro- duced here for the very reason that it was adopted in the United States It violated tlie laws of political economy, and was calculated to make the poor poorer ; to make that which was a comfortable farm-house in one genera- tion a cottage in the .second, and a hovel in the third. They had heard that primogeniture was a son of toryism, but surel}'^ they would accept the dicta of Blackwood's Magazine, a jour- nal not much tied to toryism, against the cutting and carving up. ... It was the younger sons of England that had made her great in peace or war. What would have been the younger Pitt and Fox if instead of being sent forth to seek their fortunes, the estates of their fathers had been divided ? They would have been mere country squires. It was fortunate for the Duke of Wellington and for his country that he was left with his sword in his hand, and that sword all he had." Hlil!' DIiAUGHT, sting him, in proportion as his government lost ground he exerted himself by art and wile to prop it up, till, eventually, as his biographer tells us, he began to fear that he had lowered his honour, and appeared to himself somewhat of a trickster. But, though he had degraded his high office, the home government considered he had done his duty well, and wrote to him that he had been ennobled. It is not surprising that when an address was moved in the legislature, felicitating him on his honours, many a member said that he could not congratulate either Baron Metcalfe or the House of Lords ; and that mstead of being honoured with gauds and title he ought to have been re- called and tried for high crimes and misdemeanors. If the I i * f^'3 jji^wn w 84 LIFE OF SIR JOHN A. MACVONAID. I ^i.iit V-: denunciation was extravagant, it was certainly not without its excuse. Shortly after the prorogation of parliament a destructive fire broke out in Quebec, consuming 1,G50 dwellings, two churches, a ship-yard and several lumber yards. Nearly 2,000 persons were turned penniless and adrift upon public charity. Assistance rapidly poured in from every quarter, and the governor-general, who took active measures in soliciting subscriptions, generously headed the list with $2,000. The end of poor Metcalfe's mortal career was drawing close to him now. His old malady, cancer in the face, had broken out afresh, and was dragging him down remorselessly to the grave. They sent out a jjhysician from the colonial office with a sovereign wash* for the disease, but the patient was beyond the reach of human skill. During the early winter he crossed the At- lantic to his seat at Basingstoke and died there. It is said that in private life he was kind and courteous, and good to the poor ; and that many a tear was shed to his memoiy. His epitaph was written by Macaulay, who makes the marble tell posterity that," In Canada, not yet recovered from the calamities of civil war, he reconciled contending factions to each other and to the mother country," and that " costly monuments in Asiatic and American cities attest the gratitude of the nations he ruled." This, however, only lessens our faith in epitaphs. It proves, too, that Byron was not all astray when he told us in the " English Bards and Scotch Reviewers," not to li " Believe a woman or an epitaph, Or any other thing that's false." It was during the spring of this year that the gallant com- mander Sir John Franklin sailed away with high hopes from England to meet his death among the thunders of ice in the dismal North. Thereafter it was that many a whaling crew • Chloride of Zino. '» »^ DRAUGHTS FROM TORY FOUNTAIN'S. 8ft «t night in Northern bays sang while the tempest howled and icebergs rumbled the touching song, In Bantling Bay while the whale blows, • Th« fate of Franklin no one knows ; ♦ ♦ • and told, how, often in the wierd light of the aurora bore- alis the brave commanlor and two of his company, clad in white, were seen gliding swiftly by bound for the frozen pole. wmBmBmm CHAPTER VI. Tilt' i.KJUTS OF '4'4. I I WILLIAM HENRY DRAPER, whose coinmnnding pres- ence and sweet silvery voice would attract anybody who visited the gallery of the legislature, was born in Lon- don, England, in 1801. His father v;as rector of a High Epis- copal Church there, but the son yearning for adventure left the parsonage when a mere lad and entered as a cadet on board an East Indiauian. Here he had plenty of the adventure that falls to the middy's share, but tiring of the " floating palace," as Marry at describes the East Indi.imen of those days, and even the allurement of a tiger hunt in the jungle after the voy- age, the young rover, in his tWvmtieth year, reached Canada, and settled down to the I«iss romantic employment of teaching school in Port Hope, iiut this new ^-ccupation was only a stepping-stone and did not detain him long. He studied law and was called to the bar, taking up his residence in Toronto or what was then known as Little York. In 1836 Toronto elected him to the legislature of Upper Canada, and the fol- lowing year, at the invitation of Sir Francis Bond Head, he took a seat in the executive without a portfolio. During the battle of smoke at Gallows' Hill he was an aide- de-camp to the governor; became solicitor-geneial in 1837, and attorney-general in 1840, succeeding, to the latter o ace, Hon. Christopher A. Hagerman. Mr. Draper was a tory. He staunchly upheld the union of Church and State, but did not consider that any church, save his own, had the right to an offi- cial existence. Dear to him, above every feature of government, 86 fH 77/ a; L10IlT.i OF U. was tli(! prerogative of the Crown, wliich he looke«J upon as a constitutional sufeguanl, nevoi inlunge the whoh> govevumental fabric into ruin. As all good and thoughtful ujei* to day regard tlie doctrines of communism, so di« v«i|f*r *hat ho won for him- self the name ol " Sw- ;t William." He. h -i nWe knowr- ledge o* human natui' 'ti inoxhaiistible tuna. 1 !u*'*' ^W'» beset by difficulties to mollify oprp' '"^nts, and "make rti« #^oi*«* appear the better reason"; jethe never h^,'^' a largo pvrHuttau following, and could i.ot hold together the i|)4ij^n||^0vu* df"* ments of the cabinets he led. it lis /;.ol as a pofitieiaii thtt^ h% endures in our memory now, but ixs the just J<'i; oi ih* difj- illed presence and silvery voice that for tlujty jkvs adortjud tk" bench with his high character and great judioiajf in.si(rht. J^^ died on the 8rd of November, 1S77, being then n ^ns 77th year, regretted for his lofty charactei' and great abilitie.s Robert Baldwin, the great Reformer, and son of Dr. Wiii «m Warren Baldwin, of Summer Hill, Cork, Ireland, was born it'. Toronto in 1804. In 1789 his father and fjrandfather e!ni''ratetl to this country and .settled in the town.ship of Clarke, Ontariov but removed afterwards to Toronto, where young Dr. Baldwin botook himself to the dual profession of law and medicine, prae- ti.«ing both for a time, and the law exclusively in lat^r yeai-s^ ' 1 ,ui i k 1 * 1 It PI 1 •"■^V'?^;j;.-;f 'ri^ v*i;i*' '^S-'- A,!*' '.■■,'»'•;"""'.'«'''"■■ i '«'' ".;^'-'^:;tv ;-t;, , ^^r. r.'^'V. ;>'»>.♦'■,«■; 88 LIFE OF SIR JOHN A. MA CD ON A LD. SJ^*S, with marked success. About six months before his death, which occurred in 1844, he was called to the legislative council of Canada. In 1825 Robert, who was now twenty-one years, entered upon the practice of law with his father, and the firm was thereafter known as "Baldwin &l Son." In 1829 a A^a- cancy occurred in the representation of York, by the resignation of Chief Justice Robinson, and Robert Baldwin was called out by the liberals to oppose the candidate of the Family Compact, Mr. Small. Young Baldwin, like his father, was op- posed to the outrageous system of government which then pre- vailed, and being of a singularly lofty and honourable char- acter, and of marked ability, his entry into the field of politics created much attention. It was a time surely to fire any man who had in him the love of fair play, and could rise above personal or class interests. Of the twelve years from 1824 to 1836, the government was in a minority in the popular branch for eight years, a fact which some of the ^ories declared at the time to be " annoying, but not of much consequency." Mr Baldwin was elected despite the array of government strength he found in the field ; and on his entry into the house at once began to assail the odiousness of the existing system. In 18*36 he went to England, and while there sought an interview with the colonial secretary, Lord Glenelg; but that languid gentleman, who reminds one of Frederick Fairlie in the " Woman in White," "Raised to see him, though he was good enough to intimate that he would attend to communications in writing upon the subject. Mr. Baldwin's efforts availed little then, but the prin- ciples for which he strove vere soon to triumph. The report of Lord Durham not long afterwards, which set the tory world aghast, was a powerful auxiliary. In 1840 Mr. Baldwin be- came solicitor-general under Mr. Draper, with the approval of the reform party, and the year following the union was ap- pointed attorney-general for Canada West. This position he retained (ill the meanness and tyranny of governor Metcalfe forced himself and his part^ to resign office and make way for ■■■\i..f rr-:*\: .'■ :i. -4- TUE LIGHTS OF '44. 89 a government by the minority. We may as well anticipate the remainder of his career. He remained in opposition till 1848, when he again became leader of the government, which position he retained till 1851. At this period he bade farewell to public life, retiring full of honours, and surrounded by af- fluence, to his seat at Spadina, Toronto. Here ho died on December 9th, 1858, Throngs of people from every surround- ing part streamed in to his funeral, to attest their love and respect for this good and noble-minded statesman. Robert Baldwin married a sister of the late Hon. Edward Sullivan, who bore liim several children. One of these enter- ed the ehurcli, and another went to sea, while a daugh- ter married Hon. John Ross Mr. Baldwin was somewhat above the middle stature, of stout build, and slightly stooped at the shoulders. As a speaker he was not captivating, but he was convincing, for exery sentence seemed to come from a deep well of conviction ; atid thougli he hesitated ai he spoke, arul broKe and marred his sentences, his aims were so noble and so good that be always received the profound attention and respect of his auditors. In disposition he was mild and affable, but he could not woo popular fa\'our by the smaller arts which, in many men, iiro the passport to popularity. Yet he was neither cold nor formal, and all who came to knov him closely were captivated by the sweet sincerity of his character. We have seen a private letter that he wrote to a friend in Kingston, who had decided to enter nolitical life, and from it we gather that he was not enamoured of the public sphere. " I confess," he says, " was I to put public inter- est out of the question, it would be more the part of a private friend to wish that you might be disappointed, for politics are certainly a most thankless and profitless occupation. Do what one will, sacrifice what one may, and his conduct is misrepre- sented and his motives maligned, and the only consolation left is the consciousness of having done one's duty." Well is it with the statesman who, opening his heart, can say that he has done 6 >*" X 1 h 1 .' ' i I 1 i i y i , 1 1 > 't r^ vo LIFE OF SIR JOHN A. MACDONaLV. (! his duty. Well has it been with the high-minded, the good Robert Baldwin. One of the most remarkable men in appearance and ability in the house was \ir. Lo;iis Hypolite Lafontaine. He wad a son of Antoine Menard Lafontaine, who had been a member of the parliament of Lower Canada from 1796 to 1804, and was bom at Boucherville, in October, 1807. He began life as a bar- rister, and api)lied himself diligently to his profession, accumu- lating a handsome fortune. When the oppressions of the little British clique became intolerable, he was found among the daring young spirits at whose head was Papinsau, wiu> met to discuss ways of throwing oft' the hateful yoke. Later on he became the rival of Papineau, and put himself at the head of la jcune France ; " and the priests shook their heads at his orthodoxy." He was on the searcli for liberty then and often hinted at throwing off" the "ecclesiastical fetters " as well as the yoke of the Compact. In 1837 he fled the country from a warrant for high treason, passed over to England, and thence, in some trepidation, silently slipped acoss the Chann2l to France. There was no evidv^nce against him, however, and an ironical letter he had written to Mr. Girouard on the absurdity of rebellion was taken literally, and went far towards removing him even from suspicion. His little tour had a wonderful ef- fect upon him, for he came back, not only a good loyalist, but a pious Christian. He went to mass ostentatiously, frequented the sacraments, and muttered his Ave Marias aloud. The priests killed the fatted calf on his return, and he became a pet and a light of Holy Church. In 1842 he reached the goal of his po- litical ambition, by being called to the cabinet as attorney- general East, but the next year, with his colleagues, fell a victim to the snares of the governor-general, and resigned. In lb48, when the tory fabric tumbled down, he again came in as attorney general East, which position he retained till 1851. Two years later he was appointed Chief Justice to the Queen's Bench of Lower Canada, and in 1854 was created a baronet of !' Hi THE LIGHTS or 'U. 01 the United Kingdom. He was married twice, first to AdMe, only daughter of A Beithelor, advocate, of Lower Canada, and secondly to a widowed lady of Montreal. He left no issue. Mr. Lafontaine was a man of a very commanding appearance. He had a strikingly handsome face- and a magnificent forehead which was said to resemble strongly that of Napoleon the Firet. " He was not," says the writer of Wasldngtcni Sketches, " an eloquent speaker, his utterances being thick and guttural, and his English, though good in structure, bad in pronunciation." He was a close and very decided reasonor; never losing his temper ; but having formed many of his ideas arbitrarily from books he was tied to theories and dogmatical. He frequently showed a passion for the impracticable in politics, and was vain of his knowledge of the British constitution, of which one keen critic at least, said he knew nothing. He was an honourable opponent, but his resentments were as undying as his attach- ments. In his judicial capacity he excelled, and down to his death added a lustre to the dignity and efficiency of the Bench. The Speaker of the Ass :mbly, the Hon. Sir Allan Napier MacNab was born at Niagara, in 1798. While a lad at school tlie Americans attacked Toronto, and he was " one of a number of boys selected as able to carry a musket."* The lad then entered the ship of Sir James Yeo, where he was rated as a midshipman, and accompanied the expedition to Backet's Harbor and other points. Promotion being slow on ship-board, he joined the 100th Regiment in which he saw some service, and subse- quently entered upon the study of law. In 1825 he was called to the bar, and some months afterwards began to ])ractice his profession in Hamilton. Up to this period he had been a victim of impecuniosity, having been " compelled to restrict his peram- bulations within the charmed circles of the blue posts which in these times marked the boundary that must not be passed by a bailed debtor."-}* * Morgan . " Biographies of Celebrated Canadians." + Dent's " Last Fortj' Years." •■y: ; ■\-. I-. I K?-'!i i U\v. ir,' -A J I I •I t I I 51! y; m ;l|f f - 1 * V ■'7'/ i f t)2 L/i^i; Oi' rivate life, had strong personal friendships, and was a pious adherent of the Catholic faith. He believed that the king could do no wrong, and that the duty of the sul ject was to obey the sovereign or the vice-regent, unquestioiiingly, under every circumstance. He would be an odd figure upon the scene now, and even in his day was a curiositv. He was the an)aiautus of the cabinet, its never- fading tiower; but his enemies used harsher prose, and named liim the " Vicar of Bray." His prefenneut in after days to high place and title, is an eloquent coJiimentary on the wisdom and discrimination of Downing Street. Another noted man of this Parliament was Robert Baldwin Sullivan. He was born in Iielaiid, but emigrated to Little York when only a lad, and studieil law there in the office of his uncle, Doctor Baldwin. \Vhil Bagot, and Lord Metcalfe. Strangely enough, under the gall- ing rule of the latter, he returne m o UJ h Ul UJ o z UJ 9 w UJ (X UJ UJ o Hi ir. * 1 { ! t \ f ! i i I n J' ei ai an ca sel he I TUE HO UTS OF 'J^. 97 for himself in tho world. Discovered many miles from hoiuc, he wjia taken back against his will, but he soon took an oppor- tunity to start oft' tho second time. On this occasion, as he was bargaining with an Indian at Cornwall to paddle him across the river to the United States, the Indian demanding a half a dollar, and tho lad having only a quarter, his father came up and again carried him home. He soon broke away a third time, and hired with a store-keeper for three years at a sliding scale of salary, £10 for the first year, £12 lOs. for the second year, and £15 for the third year. He removed after two years to a store in Cornwall, but abandoned the position in a few months, and entered upon a study of law with Dr. Urqu- hart of the same town. The following occurrence, it is related, turned him from mercantile pursuits to the law : One day, while out in the streets, he was pelted with snow-balls by urchins, who, at the same time, contemptuously called him a " counter hopper." It was not for the snow-balls he cared, but he was stung with the thought that the callinnr he had adopted could be flung reproachfully in his face.* In June, 1840, he was called to the bar, having completed his studies in the office of Mr. Draper. He was fii"st elected to parliament after the Union, in March, 1841, and joined himself with the op- po.sition, though he had no love for Sir Allan MacNab, the leader of that party. Up to this time Mr. Macdonald had loose notions about political principles- -by the way, he always had —but when Metcalfe developed into a political tyrant he joined the ousted ministry ; and it was because political treach- ery was revolting to his mind that we find him now sitting among the opposition benches. Though we shall meet him again, we may as well anticipate some of the e''?nts in his career. Although a Roman Catholic, he opposed separate schools ; and his clergy denounced him from their altars. But he was very dear to the atfections of his brother Highlandmen, * Morgan : *' Biographies of Celebrated Canadians." Ill ^ ! i ,| fi G ■•j^w^.'^'fr- t» LIFE OF Sin JOHN A. MACDONALD. .- t whom ho could address fluently in Gaelic ; and thoy voted for him despite the dicta of the priests. At the election of IS^*, there were 18,()()() inhabitants in his county, Cornwall, anrl of these ninoteon-twontioths were of Scotch descent; while of Miicdonalds alono there were not fewer than three thousand two hundred, all of whom spoke Gaelic. Four years before thia date Mr. Macdonald married a lady from Louisiana, the daughter ot a United States, senator and owner of a large plantati«»n of negroes. His after career is not uninteresting, and we shall see this nervous man, with the bright eyes, often, Ijefore our story closes. •^ • « CHAPTKll vir. THE LAST DAYS OF TORYIS>r. WHIIjE tin struggle for constitutional governinont was going on in this country, three great questions ])ro- foundly stirred the minds of men in the mother land. One of these began thirteen years before within the hallowed walls of Oxford, when the conviction dawned upon the" sweet and saintly Keble," who has been likened to Goethe's star, a soul " without haste and without rest," that the Church of England had wan- dered from the apostolic road into the world's by-ways, and that, while the body grew out into fair proportions and decked itself in purple an«' S tt f' lil 102 LIFE OF SIR JOHN A. maCDONALD. il reminder, from some wily tory, that the air was full of the "spirit of this repeal," that they "wanted separation in Ire- land, and less would not satisfy them in Canada." But the great fabric that O'Connell raised was destined to pass away as dissolves the picture in a troubled dream. And almost as sud- den as the fall of the movement, was the fall of its oiiginator. Now we stand spell-bound in the gallery of the commons listen- ing to " the thunder of his eloquence ;" Charles Dickens, while a reporter in the gallery, is so njoved by the pathos of one of his speeches that he has to lay his pencil by ; the discerning critic, Lord Jeffrey, regards all others whom he hears as " talk- ing schoolboy " compared with the agitator. Yet a little, yea, in three short years, and we see him making his last speech — this giant who so took the fancy of Lord Lytton among his native mountains, that he made him the subject of a poem — tottering feebly by a table. " His appearance was of great de- bility, and the tones of his voice were very still. His words, indeed, reached only those who were immediately around him, the ministers sitting on the other side of the green table, and listening with that interest and I'espectful attention which became the occasion. * * It was a strange and touching spectacle to those who remembered the form of colossal energy, and the clear and thrilling tones that had once startled, disturbed and controlled senates. * * * j^, was a performance in dumb show ; a feeble old man muttering before a table."* He longed now to get away to Rome, to soothe his spirit in the shadow of her wing and there lie down to rest. He hurried away just as the shadows of famine began to gather over his beloved land, struggled to Genoa, on his way to the holy city, and there died. The most engrossing movement of the three, pernaps, was that which stirred the whole commercial frame of Great Britain — the question of a tax on corn. This movement had • Disraeli. II Ff \ /^•%' rp'^ir^jf-r^i ;;•»•■ >_ THE LAST DAYS OF TORYISM. 103 been set on foot and carried out with a force and a success be- fore unequalled, by those unique and singularly honest and able politicians, Richard Gobden and John Bright. These were the two gifted men who could, in the words of Kinglake, " go bravely into the midst of angry opponents, show them their fallacies one by one, destroy their favourite theories before their very faces, and triumphantly argue them down." This de- scription helps us to understand how a government chosen to maintain the duty on corn should suddenly announce its con- version to the doctrines of free trade; and how Sir Robert Peel could stand boldly up in the parliament four years alter his election to maintain the duty, and frankly tell the house : " I will not withhold the homage which is due to the progress of reason and truth by denying that my opinion on the subject of protection has undergone a change." The sudden revolution in English opinion on this question created much surprise and some excitement here, but though Peel fell in the moment of victory, and a young rival seized the occasion to raise him- self to eminence, no hand has since succeeded in renewing the life of the corn laws. They are dead, and, we doubt not, will sleep now till the sound of the last trumpet. In the autumn of 1845 a period of chilling winds and wet r)revailed in Ireland, and the potato crop, the mainstay of the great majority of the working people, began to rot in the ground. The extent of this calamity will be understood when it is learnt that large numbers of the labouring class received no wages, but tilled the fields of the land-owner on the " cot- tier-tenant system" ; that is, giving their labour for the use of a patch of land in which to plant ])otatoes. Generations, in many districts in Ireland, had grown up and passed away, and never tasted flesh meat, unless fortune sent a rabbit, perhaps once in the year, through the hedge, when it was stealthily dispatched with a pitchfork, conveyed home under the mother's cloak, and eaten in uneasy silence. So when the long-continued, drizzling days set in, and the potatoes began to rot in the P Ml ^ 111 f! 1 •si -if i 0'' t f 1 :M • i \ i I i ii ' 104 LIFE OF SIR JOHN A. MACDONALD. \m m\ i f li.i- ground, a feeling of horror crept over the country. Not a county escaped the devastating hand, but the southern and western districts fared the worst, and were soon plunged into all the horrors of famine. Hundreds of persons, wandering aimlessly along the roadside, searching in vain for food, lell down and died. To add to the horror of the famine, an ei)ideraic, known as " famine fever," set in, and with this a terrible form of dysentery. Between these frightful scourges, and hungei", thousands were carried away ; their dead bodies lay in the ditches, and the town authorities refused any longer to burthen the living with expense in providing coffins for the dead. In the early stages of the mortality coroners held inquests, and juries often brought in verdicts of wilful murder against Lord John Russell or the lord lieutenant, either of whom, it was believed, could have furnished relief to the starving popula- tion. Crowds of girls and young women, tortured with hun- ger^ came from the mountains and the villages, and entering the city, smashed the windows of shops, and committed every possible act of destruction to property, in the hope of being sent to jail, where they could get food to eat. The gloom of this reign of horror was somewhat enlivened by the appearance upon the scene of a fashionable French cook, M. Soyc;-, who appeared in silver buckles and shining velvet, at the head of a soup kitchen in Dublin under the patronage of the lord lieutenant. The object of the cook's appearance seemed to be less to relieve the hunger of the suf- fering throngs than to demonstrate a nice scientific point over which he had long been brooding ; namely, that the extent to which the inhabitants of the earth up to that time had eaten was an excess and a folly, and that a strikingly sustaining potage could be produced out of the thinnest and cheapest articles of food. A character in one of Scott's novels had an old mare upon which he applied the same principle, however, long before the day of the dandy French cook. This individual began by lessening the ration of hay to his poor old beast from ftv ■"■■■, -V' 1,'' ■T'TV^- 7:'-:'V; , . ., ^ ,. ,. THE LAST DA YS OF TORYISM. 105 day to day, aiming to bring tho daily food down to one straw ; and he would have been successful, we may suppose, had not the " puir n ig " died the day before he made the final experi- ment. Frightful though this fatnine was in all its conse- quences of death, and riot, and crime, we can scarce help regard • ing it as Goldsmith looked upon the French revolution — a '' blessing in disguise." From a population of eight millions, overcrowded in sties too filthy even for the brutes, the number of Ireland's inhabitants fell to six millions. If that famine did nothing but let in additionnl air and sunshine upon these re- maining six millions it surely cannot be called a scourge. But it did better than this : it taught the {)easant that there are other lands besides his own dreary bogs and sterile mountain- sides, lands where there is bread to be had for honest toil, and where rack-renting and the miseries of an organized pau- perdom is not known. Thereafter, the inhabitants, with a new hope, turned their faces to the setting sun, and there saw the land of their deliverance. They poured into Canada during the dark year following the famine, 70,000 in the one season alone. On the Atlantic voyage, huddled together in worse plight than the cattle we now ship to British markets, in all the filth and misery of a load of negroes under a slaver's hatches, they sickened of fever and dysentery and died like sheep. Through the summer long they poured in upon Grosse Isle, till the fever broke out with redoubled violence among the filthy and pent-up hovels, and the very air that blew about the island was loathsome, and instinct with death. " Army after army of sick and suffering people," McMullen tells us, " fieeing from famine in their native land to be stricken dov/n by death in the Valley of the St. Lawrence, stopped in rapid succession at Grosse Isle, and then, leaving numbers of their dead behind them, pushed upwards towards the lakes in overcrowded steam- ers to burden the inhabitants of the western towns and villages." The inhabitants, without regard for race, colour, or religion, gave all the assistance in shelter, food and clothing to the suf- ■;-t: ;■.* r-. ■.lv.;'_ 1 * N 1 ^' 1 ^^"^f- k ;. i' ■•■ . 1 > ' m |- -^.. :,- ^. \i »: \%\ 1 1 \ H 1 ^' -^ 1 1 1 i 1 C; ^ W ..1 1 ifll ; • l^j "1 1 LIFE OF SIR JOHN A. MACDONALD. ferers that they could ; but there was a bitter feeling abroad a.-* ships carried in cargoes of Lord Palmerston's tenants to add to the others already living upon public charity. The people could have borne the load of sharing tiieir own scanty store with the sufferers, but it aroused their indignation to think that the* British Government should utilize Canada merely to get rid of useless and burdensome subjects. No pen can describe the horrors among the miserable and filthy masses that 8weltere7-'^'- ■vv 'p'.i'tr'' THK LAST DAI'S OB' TORYISM. 107 (juestion. Tlie Monro doctrine must have been strong in the rninds of the quarrelsome party in the United States then, and the call of the president in 1S43 does not seem unlike a summons to the British nation, to sliow cause why her subjects should not be swept off the continent, and on what grounds at all they claimed a foothold there. The Canadians had not learned then as well as they know now, that it takes a good deal of Ameri- can bluster to make one cannon shot, and that a ni.isy presi- dent or a party in warpaint does not represent the whole spirit of the republic. But the Canadians became alarmed at the noise, and looked to their muskets. The British government expected to see the glove thrown down every moment, and appointed a military governor, who had instructions to put the frontiers in a state of defence, and make the country ready for war. The goveinor chosen, Earl Catlicart, a brave soldier who had seen fire in Holland and the Peninsula, and had three horses shot under him at Waterloo, was an admirable selection at such a crisis. But the threatening cloud blew away before it broke ; the compromise of Lord Aberdeen, the foreign secretary, was accepted, and the treaty of Oregon made. This provided, among other things, that the dividing line along the disputed ter- ritoiy should be "the forty-ninth degiee of latitude from the R(jcky Mountains, west to the middle of the channel, separating Vancouver's Island from the mainland; thence southerly thiougb the middle of the channel, and of Fuca's Straits to the Pacific." By this treaty Vancouver's Island remained to Great Britain, as also the free navigation of the Columbia river. On this basis the question rested for a time, to be disturbed again dur- ing the framing of the treaty of Washington. Shi ill wars- alarms having now subsided. Earl Cathcart was relieved of his civil responsibilities, and a new governor sent out. The day the evil genius of the tory government left Canada to die, the fate of the Family Compact was sealed. Removed from the subtle charming of the governor's voice, poor old Viger came to see the unlovely place he held, and, smitten with remorse, re- ■'.■..fl if i # J ' t08 LIFE OF SIR JO UN A. MACJJONALD. Ilk si:; signed the presidency of the council, and practically disappeared trom the political scene for ever, Mr. W. B. Roljinson, who had resigned the inspector-generalship a year before, became commis- sioner of public works, and Mr. JolmHillyard Cameron, one of the most brilliant legal stars in the horizon, then in his thirtieth year, became solicitor-general instead of Mr. Sherwood, who -earned removal by having shown contempt for the governmciit, and hostility to Mr. Draper. Nearly every day brought a change, or the rumour of a change in the cabinet, and the j^ jvern- ment seemed not unlike the dying man, who, racked with pain, now takes one end of his couch and now anijtlier in the hope of bettering his condition. Weary of the turmoil of public life, and di.sgusted with the bitter fruit it brings, Mr, Draper yearned to spend the remainder of his life in the rest and calm of the bench ; but whenever he spoke of moving there was a general rising at the cabinet seats, as if not one, but all, would be the premier, and he was obliged to forego retirement till a successor without a rival appeared. It was during this time that many eyes were turned to the member for Kingston, as a rising hope of the declining party, but he seems not to have been an.\ious to " go on board a ship that was foundering," Yet the itnpressiou went abroad and got into the public prints, tliat the member for Kingston was about to enter the cabinet. A Toronto paper, violently •opposed to the govei-nmcnt, but an admirer, evidently, of Mr. Macdonald, heard the rumour, and told its readers rather sadly : " Mr. John A. Macdonald is marked for another victim ; he too will speedily be a flightless bird." A Montreal journal, which has not since ceased to support Mr. Macdonald, told its readers something different. " The appointment of Mr. Macdonald," it said, "if confirmed, will, we believe, give universal satisfac- tion. A liberal, able, and clear-headed man, of sound conserv- ative principles, and unpretending demeanour, he will be an ac- quisition to any ministry, and bring energy and business habits into a departn^ent of which there have been for many yeai's, i. if 'V ''*■ .■"■,*f"";^ ■■ ' v^, ' -s .i, <■ ■• ••■ I, ■ \' THE LAST DA }\S OF TORYISM. l(h> under the present, and still more under preceding manage- ments, many complaints." Jjut this was a time when govern- ment was sustained only for plunder, and some of those who had worn the harness long in the tory cause — who had voted for the good and the bad, and lent themselves to every scheme of their masters — threatened rebellion if any more " recruits " were taken into office. Macdonald took the dis- appointment with philosophical coolness, told his friends that he did not suppose the world was coming to an end very soon, that he could " afibrd to wait," and added : " The condition of our party must be worse, before it is better." During the pre- ceding session he had sat, as usual, industriously at his desk ;. but in one discussion which came up he took a part which is interesting to us now in view of an impoi-tant act of legis- lation of his later life. On the first of Maj*, Mr. Cayley had a resolution before the house seeking to reijrulate a scale of differetitial duties on im- portations in leather manufactures, which was bitterly oppos- ed by some of the reformers. Among those who warmly de- fended the resolution was Mr. Macdonald, and what he said is interesting, because we have heard that in adopting the " na tional policy," as in other matters, he was only " the creature of expediency," and did not believe the principle of protection to be good. But it will interest, if it will not disc(nnfit, those who say this, to learn that on the 1st day of May, 1846, Mr. Macdonald stood up in his place in the Canadian parliament and told " hon. gentlemen that there was no reason in their opposition to these resolutions ;" that ** had they studied the question they must have supported them," that " the measure of the hon, gentleman was really a protective one, and as such deserved unanimous support;" for "it would prevent the trade of Canada from l)eing subject to the competition of Ame- rican artisans, an I 110 LIFE OF Sin JOHN A. lilACDONALD. V I \r > . 1 ill! And now drew on the last dayn of toryiam in Canada. Its sun was low in tho sky, even when Metcalfe put his dignity by and appealed to party in the name of the Queen. It lay not in tho power of man or any combination of men to bring the life back again to its palsicil limiis. Toryism is the policy of stagnation, the force that opposes change and progress. It cannot live where the will of the people is supreme. It was put upon its trial in Canada, in tho siunmer of 1848, and fell, never again to raise its head. We know the term " tory " is still applied to one of our groat parties, and that we are told " toryism still lives;" but surely oui informants are those who are not acquainted with tho history of public parties in the past, or who understand the g6nius of p(»liLical opinion in the present. But after all, it matters really little what we call our partit.3 now, since there is not necessarily a connection at any time between the name and the nature of any thing. It is not 80 long ago since a profound and dogmatic thinker would be Btyled a " duns," bec&uso he resembled the over-leanied and profound Scotus. Now, th.at name dunce we apply only to a blockhead — and not more striking has the difference between the Duns of six hundred years ago, and the dunce of now become, than between the tory of 1840, and the tory of 1883. In the autumn of 1846, Lord Elgin, the greatest of Canadian governors up to his day, Durham excepted, arrived in Canada. He was a member of the tory school, and the reformer.s became eore afraid when they heard of his coming; yet they had already learnt how really little there is in a governor's party name. When Sir Francis B. Head came they posted proclamations upon the fences, but before the little boys tore down the placards, they began to learn how sorely they had been deceived. When Metcalfe, " the great liberal," came, they had no letter black enough in their type-cases to print their " Welcomes ; " a day cam« upon them when ink was not dark enough to paint his character. But when Bagot, " the tory," came, they hung down their heads in gloom ; and were wearing mourning faces THE LAST DA YS OF ffOk UHi^t. Ill when he oil loci tiieir leaders to bis ciibt'*^. Lord fe]gi» w%i a noblenian in the peerages of Scutland nu4 tbo Unit^nl Hmg' dora, and was a Bruce of the illustrious liouMt, whiVli had f^*^ A member the victor of Baimockburn. In 1842 he liaU U\^i\ ap- pointed governor of Jainaica; and upon tiie chat»fio of g*. /ern- ment in England in the summer of 184G,and .he est^iblisjuiiefit of peacoabk^ relations between the imperial and Tnited h'^nt s governments, was sent out to Canada. Shortly before departing for his seat of government he married his second wife, Lady Mary Louisa, the eldest surviving daughter of the late Lord Durharii, but left his bride to follow liim when the tempestuous season passed. He arrived here in the earl}' wiiiter, and at once threw his whole energies into the work before him. It was plain to those who watched his movements with an intel- ligent eye that he had studied the political condition of Canada before he passed the Atlantic; nay, more, he alaniicd the apos- tles of the Compact by telling the inhabitants of Montreal : " I shall best maintain the prerogative of the Ciown by manifest- ing a due legard for the wishes and feelings of the people, and by seeking the advice and assistance of those who enjoy their confidence." He had .'•tudied carefull}^ the doctrines laid down by his illustrious father-in-law and found they were gootl. He soon mastered the condition of afiairs in Canada, and saw, so his biographer* tells us, that in the ruling ]mrty " there was no real political life ; only that pale and distorted retiection of it which is apt to exist in a eolony before it has learnt to look within itself for the centre of power." He frankly and heartily assisted the effete and unrepresentative body he found in office, but plainly told them that he should as cheerfully and not Iqss heartily assist their opponents. The governor was doubly tied to his duty. Canada had long been looked upon as a stormy sea, studded with breakers, wliere administrators were as likely to meet with shipwreck as to win laurels ; and he was deter- • Walrond. r i !^ '% i 'l-i ! '■ i 'si ■ *1 9 ^ 7 K i 1 4 .liJil f« 112 LIFE OF SIR JOHN A. MACDONALD. mined to avoid tho locrlis. Then, as dear to him oh his own succoHs wan tlie reputation of his father-in-hiw, Lord Durham, which Htill trembled in the balance, and must ho remain til) the principles he laid down had been worked out for weal or woe. He was hero to win a reputation for himself in follow- ing out the princi|>les laid down by tho father of his absent bride : we may be sure most earnestly did he set himself to his duty. His maidy foiiu was seen at several public meetings, exposed to tho fierce winds of our Canadian winters, and he had not appeared upon many platforms before it was learnt that ho was the most eloquent sjjeaker in Canada. In the spring following his arrival tho dying man of the tory cabinet shifted his place once again. Attorney-general Smith resigned, and Hon. Wm. Badgley took his place. " Your turn has come at last, Mac•i,*':^^.'''^l''^'■■?«:;"l'^^"^■:'""' i,.^' CHAPTER VIII. RULING IN STORM. rpHE reformers entered the contest with cheerful faces, and X the tories fought sullenly on the deck of their sinking ship. A change had come over the country since the autumn which saw the governor-general the leading spirit in one side of a party contest. The public is sometimes an impulsive and not too just arbiter between men or questions ; but it is possess- ed of a broad generosity, and is certain to show sympathy eventually, for that one to whom it discovers, on reflection, it has done injustice. And, as Carlyle expresses it, since it is al- ways " revising its opinion," it is certain sooner or later to dis- cover if it has gone wrong. A demagogue may sacceed for a time in leading the public into extravagance, or gross error, but sober, second thought, is sure to come and set its judgment right. Pereival Stockdale thought the public always wrong, because as often as he gave them his verses, so often did they east them aside, after a hasty glance ; the author going back to the country comforting himself on " the verdict of posterity." But Pereival lives now only among " The Curiosities of Litera- ture." Whenever you see a man who has had an opportunity of stating his case, whatever it may be, before the people, and see them withhold their approbation, be assured that the pub- lic is not stupid, or unjust, and that the man is another Perci- \a\ Stockdale. By foul means, and through false cries, a verdict had been wrenched from the public against Mr. Baldwin. He bore his defeat with that proud patience which the gods love and men 114 ^.-/w^'f; .-*■- ",-. ^;n RULING IN STORM. 116 admire ; and now that he came before the people, the same lofty and upright character that they had always known him, his principles unchanged by time, sincere and true, to ask of them, in their sober, second thought, for a verdict again, near- ly all the wholesome sentiment in the country rallied around him. He wjnt to the polls with ringing cries, cries that at thd late election were called the voice of treason. Once again he told his hearers, who were now in an impartial mood, that " he was not disloyal, nor were his followers rebels ; but this they con- tended for, not! ling more, and nothing less, that what the Queen would not be permitted to do in England, we should not per- mit the governor to do in Canada. Tories had proclaimed from their hustings that responsible government, as sought by the reformers, would be insufficient, and unwoithy of Canada ; i>ut he had unbounded faith in its adequacy." And some wiiter used the apt figure that, as in the unfettered working of the ocean, lay the secret of the purity of its waters, so in the untrammelled operation of colonial government lay the secret of its justice and purity. In Lower Canada, the people, the great bulk of whom were reformers, were loudly jubilant and lit bonfires before the opening of the polls, in anticipation of a sweeping victory. The question that most agitated public gatherings there was that of recompense to persons who had suffered losses, either by the rebels or the soldiers, during the uprising of 1837. The re- bellion of 1837-38 had no sooner been put down than resolu- tions were introduced into the legislature of Upper Canada providing for the appointment of commissioners to investigate the claims set forth by certain loyal inhabitants for damages sustained during and by " the late unnatural rebellion." The report of these commissioners was made tlie basis of further legislation during the following session ; whde the special council of Lower Canada had pro voided by ordinance a rec()m- pense for loyal persons in that province whose property had Ijeen injured or destroyed during the collision between Papi- yf: V^ . > Jm 4 7 r. m. :f \ ■n f'\ ,1 -, i!lr r i'i^ r Hi; I 1 iilti 116 ///'i; OF sin JOHN A. MACDONALD. iieau's followers tind the soldiers. But neither the act of the one legislature, nor the ordinance of the other met the demands of a large number who had suliered by the rising. There came from every quarter, demanding compensation, men whose pro- perty had been injured or destroyed, not l>y the rebels, but by the agents of authority. Nor tan we wonder at the nature or the number of supplications, when we take into account the loyalty of the soldiers. Their zeal, we are told in the records of this unfortunate time, did not end when thev had left the poor habitant soaking his coarse homespun with his heart's blood on the field where he fell, but they directed their might against property in tainted, districts, tiring outbuildings and dwellings, slaughtering cattle, and, it is not hard to believe, only ceasing, like Alexanders, in son'ow, because there was naught else to conquer. But in the most disaffected districts, there were some whose adherence oo authority had been un- flinching, who deplored the uprising, and gave no countenance to the rebels ; and these came forward now asking recompense for butchered cattle and demolished dwellings,. Accordingly, shortly after the union, an act was passed ex- tending compensation for lossessustained at the handsof personii actinr^ on behalf of Her Majesty in " the suppression of the said rebellion, and, for the prevention of further disturbances," but the operation of the act curiously enough was confined to Upper Canada alone. Lower Canada, where the conflict had been the greater and the more bloody, ir ^ the trained sol- diery had been let loose, and scores of il amocent, with the guilty, felt the weight of the arm of authority, was not admitted within the pale of the recompense law. Therefore it was that in 1845 the assembly passed another address praying Sir Charles Metcalfe for a measure which would " insui-e to the inhabitants of that part of this province, formerly LowerCanada, indemnity for just losses during the rebellion of 1837 and L^38." This change of ministerial attitude is curious reading now, but the wheel had gone round since 1842. Here and there among the RULING IN STOIiM. W, remnants of the ancient party was a man who saw the drift of public opinion, and one of these was Mr. Draper. He saw that his party was being every day pushed nearer the brink of the precipice, that French votes and sympathies were on the other side ; and, as drowning men will clutch at straws, seized upon the faint hope of wining Lower Canadian support by authoris- ing commissioners to enquire into the " losses sustained by loyal subjects in Lower Canada during the rebellion, and the losses arising and growing out of the said rebellion." The com- missioners w^ere instructed to distinguish between rebels and loyal subjects, but they soon found that every claimant on his own showing, had always been unswervingly obedient to the law. Men who had fired at soldiers out of flint muskets and hacked at the law officers with scythes, came forward claiming compensation for their losses as the reward of their loyalty. The commissioners were non-plussed. They wrote on the 11th of Feburary, 1846, to the governor-in-council, Earl Cathcart, for instructions as to how thej" might draw a distinction be- tween the loyal and those who had rebelled. The provincial Ksecretnry replied that it was not the intention of his excellency that the commissioners should be guided by " any description of evidence, other than that furnished by the evidence of the courts of law." It was pointed out that the commissioners were not to try cases, but merely to obtain a general estimate of the rebellion losses, and that the particulars of the estimate would form the subject of minute enquiry, subsequently, un- der parliamentary authority. The commissioners presented their report in the same year. This document set forth that commissioners were entirely at the mercy of the claimants where there was no court sentence before them ; and they ex- hibited a list of 2,176 persons who claimed damages amount- ing in the aggregate to £241,965. An opinion was expressed that £100,000 v.ould cover all meritorious claims, for it had been ascertained that damages for .£25,503 were claimed by persons who had actually been condemned by court-martial for '■ 'ii I'll 118 LIFE OF SIR JOHN A, MACDONALD. Si h I .It ■ ■ ai * . {*■'■ complicity in the rebellion. But the intention of the ministry was not to close the question of these claims, but to temporize and keep it hanging. The report of the commissioners was^ therefore, laid by, Mr. Dris had co:ne, whon rebellion was to be stamped as a crime or a virtue. In his loyal eai-s, we doubt not, as he trod from alley to alley through the darkness on his mission of re- sistance, rang the words of the couplet : " Treason does not prosper ; what's the reason ? Why, when it prospers none dare call it treason." But he would " dare call it treason," and, so, girt up his loins for the fight. » His party, therefore, entered the conflict with a will. The knight led the attack, and his in\ective was unsparing and in- discriminate. He did not wondet that a premium was put upon rebellion, now that rebels were rewarded for their own up- risings ; for the government itself was a rebel government, and the party by which it was maintained in power was a phalanx of rebels. His lieutenants were scarce less unsparing and fierce in the attack. But the government boldly took up their posi- tion. Mr. Baldwin, attorney -general- west, maintained that it would be disgraceful to enquire whether a man had been a rebel or not after the passage of a general act of indemnity. Mr. Drummond, solicitor-general-east, took gropid which placed the matter in the clearest light. The indemnity act had pai- doned those concerned in high treason. Technically speaking, then, all who had been attainted stood in the same position as before the rebellion. But the opposition were not in a mood to reason. The two colonels. Prince and Gugy, talked a great deal of fury. The former once again reminded the house that he was " a gentleman " ; the latter made it plain that he was a blusterer. Mr. Sherwood was fierce and often trenchant ; while Sir Allan reiterated that the whole French-Canadian people were traitors and aliens. At this date we are moved neither j»»r ^-1 RULING IN STORM. 123 to anger nor contempt at reudinLj such utterances as those of the knight's, for it would be wrong to regard theui as else than infirmities ; and it is regretable that by such statements the one party should allow itself to be dominated and the other driven to wrath. But through all these volcanic speeches Sir Allan was drifting in the direction of a mighty lash held in .» strong arm ; and when the blow descends we find little com- passion for the wrigglings of the tortured knight. It was whilt' Sir Allan had been bestriding the parliament like a Colossus, breathing fire and brimstone against every opponent, and fling- ing indiscrimmately about him such epithets as " traitor" and " rebel," that Mr. Blake, solicitor-general-west, stung beyond endurance, sprang to his feet. " He would remind them that there was not only one kind of rebellion and one description of rebel and traitor. He would tell them there was such a thing as rebellion against the constitution as well as rebellion against the crown. A man could be a traitor to his country's rights as well as a traitor to the power of the crown." He instanced Philip of Spain and James the Second when there was a struggle between political freedom and royal tyranny. " These royal tyrants found loyal men to do their bidding, not only in the army but on the bench of justice. There was one such loyal servant, he who shone above all the rest, the execrable Judge Jeffries, who sent, among the many other victims before their Maker, the mild, amiable and great Lord Russell. Another victim of these loyal servants was Algernon Sydney, who.se offence was his loyalty to the people's rights and the constitu- tion. He had no sympathy with the .spurious loyalty of the hon. 'gentlemen opposite, which, while it trampled on the peo- ple, w as the slave of the court — a loyalty which, f lom the dawn of the history of the world down to the present day, had lashed humanity into rebellion. He would not go to ancient history ; but he would tell the hon. gentlemen opposite of one great ex- hibition of this loyalty ; on an occasion when the people of a distant Roman province contemplated the perj)etration of the '»■, ^! I t i i fli : Ifll 12t LIFE OF SIR JOHN A. MACDOXALD. i' 1' '-,' f .' '.t tr'^\ m^ foulest critne that the \>iv^c. of history records — a crime from which Nature in compassion hid her face and strove to draw a veil over ; but the heathen Roman hiwgiver couhl not be in- duced by perjuretl witnesses to place the great founder of our religion upon the cross. ' I find no fault in him,' ho said. But these provincials, after endeavouring by every other means to effect their purpose, had re:;ourse to this spurious loyalty — ' If thou lettest this man go, thou art not Ciesar's friend,' Mark the loyalty ; couhl they not see every feature of it ; could they not trace it in this act ; aye, and overcome by that mawkish, spurious loyalty, the heathen Roman governor gave his sanc- tion to a deed whose foul and impure stain eighteen centuries of national humiliation and suffering have been unable to efface. This spurious, slavish loyalty was not British stuff; this spuri- ous, bullying loyalty never grew in his native land. British lo^'alty wrung on the field of Runnymede, from the tyrant king, the great charter of English liberty. Aye, the barons of Eng- land, with arms in their hands, demanded and received the great charter of their rights. British loyalty, during a period of three centuries, wrung from tyrant kings thirty different recognitions of that great charter. Aye, and at the glorious era of the revolution, when the loyal Jeffries was ready, in his extreme loyalt}', to hand over England's freedom and rights to the hands of tyrants, the people of England established the constitution which has maintained England till this day, a great, free and powerful nation." Again and again did Sir Allan, tortured by the merciless lash, rise in his place, but still the long pent-up stream of manly wrath cand contempt poured forth. " The expression ' rebel ' " continued the speaker, " has been applied by the gallant knight opposite, to some gentlemen on this side of the house, but I can tell gentlemen on the other side '.hat their public conduct has proved that they are the rebels to the constitution and their country." It required but one taunt more to bring on the climax — and that tau came. " And there sit the loyal men," con- 'lAitiT RVLlNd IS ST(fHM. 13& tinuod tlio avenging momltor, pointing ilolihorately at the oppo- sition benches, " there sit the loyal men who shed the blood of the people and trampled on tlieir just rights. There sit the rebels." Choking with rage, Sir Allan arose once again and repudiated the epithet rebel as applied to him, and asked Mr. Blake to retract. This the honourable gentleman Hrmly refused to do, whereupon a sudden uproar arose through the house, which was followed by a turmoil in the galleries, where spec- tators had joined in the discussion. Several breaches of the peace were committed, and men grapjjled and struck at each other admidst the terrified screams of ladies. Many of the disturbers were arrested and the galleries cleared, the ladies seeking refuge in the body of the house. For twenty minutes the chamber was a scene of wild confusion, and remained with closed doors. The sergeant-at-arms was sorely tried to prevent a collision between Mr. Blake and Sir Allan. As the discussion on the bill drew to a close, Mr. John A. Mac- donald, who had all along preserved a stolid silence, rose in his T""' . and told Mr. Speaker that this measure was not going to /.. without his protest, and that while his j)hysical strength endured he would offer it resistance. Mr. Macdonald was one of the few members of the opposition against whom the charge of inconsistency for opposing the bill could not be brought, for when Mr. Draper introduced the bill which was the parent of the pre- sent measure, Mr. Macdonald had not yet entered the ministry, and was only a passive, if not contemptuous, member of the tory side of the house. Now, however, he became active, and if we can believe the newspaper reports, "tierce." He brought in a petition from his constituents, praying that the moneys of the people of Upper Canada be " withheld from the rebels of Lower Canada." He entreated the government to move slowly and carefully with the bill, and when a minister remarked that they were only waiting for him " to get done speaking to pass i^,," he launched out fiercely against the promoters of the mea- sure, charging them with utter disregard of tJie sense of the in f! i' -/A f'1 m < u ^ 'U. 0t i f. t f 'ii::!' - ,1' '!t; I 4 ill ' ' I II' I! \ 126 JJFK OF SIR JOHN A. MACDONALD. country, ami wanton di.scourtesy to incinbers of the opposition. Ho attirinod that tlio country was aroused against tliein, and that they were drawinj^ down grave dangers, not alone upon their own heads, but upon the peace of the province. He de- precated the surrenf Mr. Mackenzie's published letters — and then the whole L>...oo was silent." There only remains the sequel of tory consistency now to be told to complete this chapter of disgrace. The bill had no sooner passed the house than petitions to the governor-general, praying for its disallowance, poured in from every qnaiter. Lord Elgin received petition after petition in his closet, read each one carefully and thoughtfully pondered the whole question over. He plainly saw that the petitioners, who were toiies, were en- deavouring to force him into conflict witli his ministry and to act over again the part of Lord Metcalfe. And the longer the governor pondered the deeper the impression grew that his duty lay in assenting to the bill. His reasons for this conclusion were abundant and irresistible ; and since they were so, he argued that it would be unworthy in him to shift upon the shoulders of the sovereign the onus of assent or disallow- ance. In the firat place dissolution appeared to him unwise and uncal''*^^ for, as the ministry had been elected but a iii\^v ^■^^ ' '•• rr JiULING J^ .STOJIM, m lew months before on writs isnticd at the roqtiost of their op- ponents. Then the incao'iro was carried in tiie popular branch by a vote of more than two to one ; and an analysis of this votth, he iief justice of Upper Canada, and a societv beau, was in the chair. This gentlennm made an ■ V n "*>: tS^: HI : I i i 0> < -r 1 ! ' I ' i r^„ tmmm :^^ S 128 LIFE OF sin JOHN A. MACDONALl). ■ ' .: i^li '■ 'I SI ■■; !i l > - If , itt "'' 'i,j /■ •!"^ :■ 134 JJFE OF SIB JOHN A. MACDONALD. Major-Geuerul Rowan came down, and the thunder of cannon announced the close of the last parliament ever to sit in Mon- treal. The summer sped away and autumn came, but tumult still lived in Montreal. In August the ringleaders in the spring riots were rearrested and released again on bail, but the mob flew to arms, and after nightfall gathered like fiends around M. Lafontaino's dwelling. The inmates knew the fate in store for them should they fall into the hands of that mob, and after due warning fired, wounding several of the rioters. One of the gang, William Mason, was shot in the thigh, and as he fell his associates cried out, " The blood of a Saxon has been shed by a Frenchman." Then, and, as it would seem, when the house and its inmates were about being torn to pieces, the military came and the mob went off, bearing with them the insensible Mason who died next morning. Since the burning of the parliament buildings, the question of removing the seat of government from Montreal to some other city had been under the governor's consideration. The protracted and outrageous disposition of the mob, which ap- peared ready to rise to deeds of destruction at any moment out of cold blood, now decided his course. It was therefore fixed that the remaining two sessions of parliament should be held in Toronto, and that henceforth the sittings should be held at that city and Quebec, at each for four years alternately. Thus was the parliament driven out of Montreal, and thus was the reputation of the city once again, as but too often since, smirch- ed by the lawlessness of her mobs. kx CHAPTER IX. THE GREAT MINISTRY FALLS. AFTER the wild paroxysm of loyalty had spent itself in storm, many of the tories, who by their speeches had stirred their followers up to the riot point, and afterwards attempted to find excuse for their excesses, began to feel ashamed of the part they had played and to be anxious about the consequences. A conclave was held at which it was de- cided to send Sir Allan MacNab and Mr. Cayley to England to avouch in Downing Street the loyalty of the party who had burnt down the parliament buildings, poked sticks through a picture of the queen, and attacked the representative of the sovereign with addled eggs. No one to this day knows what reception these two got at Downing Street ; but as they have re- mained 90 reserved upon the subject, it would not be hazardous to say that their silence was probably judicious. Hot upon their heels followed Mr. Francis Hincks, accredited by his government to make known fully the causes of the disgraceful outbreaks. We are not surprised that the colonial office about this time took a good deal of our provincial business into its own hands; for if two parties here had a dispute about a jack-knife they ran to Downing Street to have it settled. Why was it necessary for Sir Allan and Mr. Cayley to hurry off to England to apologize to an indifferent official in the colonial office for the riots in Canada ? — and why was it necessary for Mr. Francis Hincks to follow them there ? We complained then, and murmur still about Downing Street in- terference ; yet it is we who have taught the officials there how 135 ' M Iv [i.. J... I I I ■f- / ,1 •^^ 136 LIFE OF SIR JOHN A. MACDONALD. to interfere. Even at this day, though we regard the authority of the colonial office only a fiction, and lash ourselves into a rage when it becomes a reality, we take sometimes the most trivial cases from our own supreme court and refer them to the judicial committee of the imperial privy council. The persons who proclaim the loudest that Canadians ought to be supreme in their own aflairs, are among the veiy first, when a decision contrary to their views is given in our highest courts, to hasten away to the oracle at Downing Street. If every disputed case, originating in a magistrate's court about the paying of ja municipal tax or the right of prosecution under a Dominion act, is to be submitted for a decision to the superior wisdom and higher justice of a conclave of English law officers, why per- petuate the costly mockery here of a " supreme " court ? Mr. Hincks returned from England, elated as a schoolboy who had received the " well done " of his parents. During the autumn the weather-cock in the colonial office described a revolution, and the governor-general was raised to the peerage of the United Kingdom for pursuing a course the precise opposite to that for which, five years before. Lord Metcalfe had been en- nobled. Though perhaps title conferred according to this method of discrimination, does not fill our minds with awe for the '* belted knight, the duke and earl p,nd a' that," that a king can make, the honour was highly prized at the time by Lord Elgin, and properly prized, for his conduct had been on trial before the home government. He made an extended tour of the province, and at every place was received with evidence of admiration and gratitude. As he drove through Toronto a party of gentlemen hurled a few eggs and some bottles at him, but they fell short of the mark. In Kingston a few persons came down to the wharf at which lay the vice- regal steamer, and gave some dismal howls, then slunk away again. This trifling exhibition of tory manners was dictated by fear, however, rather than by hate, for the rumour had got abroad in Montreal that the seat of government was to be re- 1^- HON. GEORGE BROWN. ' > ie!r 'i >> ' ;-[ :i? VT ■ -.-A' THE GliKAT .VIXlSTliy FALLS. 137 moved ; whereuj>on the instigators of t)io riots in that city promptly sent out emissaries whoso duty it wjus to see that the governor-general was insulted in any city that was likely to be chosen as the capital. In November the seat of governmont was changed to Tor- onto, and the offices established in the dreary pile along Front Street, which does duty to the present day. The government met in all its strength, and ho were a rash prophet who would predict that it was not impregnable for many years to come. But som.; shrewd eyes looking through the assemblage of re- formers, saw in this semblance of strength ir.-esistible evidence of weakness. A largo majority is to bo covete J when parties are divided by some well marked line, and each avows a set of well understood opinions ; but the government whose party doctrines are yet only in the formative process, is not to bo envied of the possession. One day a vote waj taken in the lower chamber which divided the house upon party issues ; and as the reformers stood up in all their a[)|)alling strength, John A. Macdonald is credited with having observed to a member who sat beside him, " That mighty fabric is soon io go to pieces." His companion replied, " I suppose no government has a perennial lease, but if numbers aud apparent harmony count for aught, I think their prospects are good." "Ah, yes," said Macdonald, " appirent harmony! But we shall . ee." As has been stated already, the reform party coniprised not only modarate seekers for reform, but many who desired radical changes, and not a few who thought we ought to fashion our political system after the republican model. The advocates of these innovations pressed their views upon the government, but neither Mr. Baldwin nor Mr. Latontaine seemed disposed to move any further at once in the direction of reform, and inti- mated that the chanfje desired must come throufjh gradual stajjes. When the attitude of the leaders became known, a number of the most prominent of tha government followers met, laid down a new political platform, and resolved to withdraw themselves > -^ ' rj SSI^p!?^ 138 LIFE OF Sin JOHN A. MACDONALD. i -J. ^;»:- from the reform party. Tlio chief nai» 3S in the new combina- tion were David Christie, Dr. John Rolph, James Leslie, and Malcoha Cameron ; and among the concessions they demanded were, abolition of judj^es' pension^j, biennial parliaments, uni- vei*8al sutfrago, and election of all public officers. The name given to the new j)arty was the " Clear Grits," a term which first a^>peared in the Globe. The appellation appears to have origi- natod during a conversation between George Brown and Chris- tie, the latter remarking that they wanted in the new move- ment " men who were dear grit." The clear grits had no sooner completed their organization in Upj)er Canada, than Louis Papineau aroused himself and formed in Lower Canada " Le Parti Rouge" a combination less radical than revolutionary. We can fancy that member to whom John Macdonald had made the prediction tvirning aghast as he saw the groat fabric which he had regarded as indestructible already split into three parts. And we might fancy the astute observer telling him to wonder not, that the " greatest was behind." This double defection set the government reeling ; but many of ihof^o wi.o stood fasc in their allegiance waited upon minis- ters and infurmed t'urn thv.t the time lu d now arrived when they eX)>L;cted a settlement oC the long-burnmg question of the clergy reservep. upon a new basis. Mr. Baldwin professed himself hostil.. to a union of Church and State, but gave little assurance of meeting the wishes of his supporters ; while Mr, Lafontaine did not conceal his hostility to what he called a " disturbance of vested rights." " When sorrows come they come not single spies but in battalions " that luckless govern- ment might have exclaimed. From every quarter evil seemed to come upon them now ; every breeze that blew brought them dark tidings. One of the s\ :i,nnchest Aiinisterial organs hitherto had been the Toronto Glebe , but it now assumed such an atti- tude that ministers felt themselves obliged to repudiate responsi- bility for its course. In short, the Olobe was endeavouring to wipe popery off the face of the earth. THK (J It FAT MINISTRY FALLS. 139 In the year 1850. as rniiny a nervous Englishman had cause to ronicnilKjr, the conviction entered the breast of the Holy Father that the Episcopal Communion of England were pro- paring to follow Newman over to Home. So ho set about to parcel off' the land of protostant Englishmen into ecclesiastical districts, and created Cardinal Wiseman Archbishop of West- minster. The ordinances declarinj; the districts were written in Rome after the manner of the time when a sovereign pon- tiff' set an English king scourging himself before the tomb of a "rebellious priest," shut up the churches and absolved subjects of their allegiance. "Datum apud llomoa sub anulo piacatO' ris," wrote the rash papa in the palace of the Peters ; " " Given at Rome under the fisherman's ring ! " echoed the people of England, some in scorn and many in dismay. They had less experience of " paper towns " in England then than has fallen to our share in Canada since the inauguration of the "boom," or they might have regarded the employment of the pope in setting districts off on sheets of vellum, as of no very serious consequence. Yet, alarmed thousands of very valiant Englishmen became, and we have it on excellent authority that the "British Lion" stalked through the land. Lord Truro called forth applause that nigh shook down the building when he quoted, at the Lord Mayor's dinner, the words from the play, " Under my feet I'll stamp thy cardinal's hat in spite of pope or dignities of church ; " and thun- ders of applause were evoked by Kean the tragedian, when in the theatre, he quoted the words from King John, " No Italian priest shall tithe or toll in our dominion." In good season, however, the tumult died, and when the hurly-burly was done, it was found that the " country of protestant Englishmen " had sustained no serious damage. After Englishmen had become heartily ashamed of their ex- hibition of fear, the cardinal, the pope and the unfortunate papacy fell into the hands of a wild protestant Canadian. This person was consumed with the idea that the papacy ought to i a: t 1 < mimm mm T* m V 'i' F l-:X l! '• ' ■■■■ ',;*■" ; iK .•; 140 i/l^i; 0/' SIE JOHN A. MACDONALD. be rooted out of this country, and without calculating whe- ther the object was a possible one, began the crusade in the coluiTins of his newspaper, the Globe. He published the pronunciamento of Vviseman, replying in his editorial columns in language as rough and intemperate as it was intolerant and illogical. Cardinals may be nght or they may be wrong, but it is not in writers of Geor^ge Brown's stamp that they find confuters. Having begun the discussion, Mr. Brown used every means to lash public feeling into tumult. He pictured the Roman hierarchy in Canada as an odious system that menaced the well-being of our social and political institutions, and the public were informed that it was their duty to resist the common enemy. This indiscreet onslaught upon an un- offending portion of the community was made with as much noise and fervour as " temperance reformers " to-day employ against the vice of drunkenness. But this was the manner of Mr. Brown. He never moved without noise ; and whether it was his entry into the legislature, or that he addressed a meeting in a school-house ; introduced a bill, or presented a medal to a . bool girl, the fact was announced by a clatter of kettle-drums and a bray of bugles. It has always seemed to us that the prominence he so suddenly attained, from being a mere adventuring raw youth, to the adviser and hustler of the reform party, was more than Mr. Brown could stand. He was ambitious, and had a great deal of honest, worthy ambition too, we may be sure, but under his brusqueness, which was the result of a la-^-k of refined atmosphere during the formative period of his character and manners, he was inordinately vain of his powers and his position. Early in the year 1851 some newspaper writer declared he was seeking the wardenship of the Kingston penitentiary ; but he announced, not bluntly but vainly, in his own paper that he was " seeking higher game than that." Yet he had not the foresight to see that his senseless and uiicharitable crusade against a law-abiding and inofiensive Christian denomination must prove a barrier be- ■'■M ■H •-' :-:■:■ ^'^■ r \<^k THE GREAT MrNISTRY FALLS. UV tween hira and the " higher game " he sought. And he did not injure his own prospects alone, but drove the aheady shattered government to the alternative of bearing the responsibility of the Globe's fatally reckless course, or repudiating it, and thus alienating its support and following. Every age and country has produced its partisans, and we see in a book lying before us now, Hon. Alexander Mac- kenzie, with brush in hand, brightening the dark spots in this portion of George Brown's career. Mv. Mackenzie, who, we fear, has not over well informed himself about a period of which he writes, admits that harsh things were said in this discussion by Mr. Brown, but adds that " no article ever appeared (in the Globe) which bore the character of intolerance," " Unscrupulous politicians," he says, " of little or no standing as public mej, for years filled their scrap-books with garbled ex t; acts, torn from their context, and used them as electioneering weapons." Through all this whitewash the merciless types in the Globe itself will tell the fiicts. We have made a few " extracts," not " garbled," and not all " torn from their context," and the whitewash cannot hide their intoler- ance. Is it tolerance, v/hether it be the truth or not, which is not the question we are discussing, to be told that " the ad- vance of education has been the de.ath-knell of popery through- out the world ; " that " its mummeries have failed to stand the test of free institutions ; " that " civil despotism and the papal delusion hang together ? " — or will it make the statements less offensive to Roman Catholics to join them with the context ? Will the printing of the context make it less offensive to say that "popery binds all men in the most debasing thraldom ;" that " this religion robs man of his noblest privilege, direct communion with God. . . . and debases him to the very level of paganism " ? Or to ask with a note of admiration, " What a frightful weapon of tyranny the confessional is ! " Perhaps we have misunderstood what Mr. Brown's biographer means by intolerance. George Brown was never the imperial dictatoi* ^1 Ei i I ' , ' ^ 1^1 i H 1 i'- \ V' *.■ I i "' If 142 'Mr LIFE OF SIR JOHN A. MACDONALD. of Canada, holding the life and liberty of the subject in his hand. It may be going too far, then, to say he was not intol- erant, because he did not banish the Roman Catholics out of the country. But the spirit was willing if the flesh was weak. A powerful auxiliary of Mr. Brown was Padre Gavazzi, who had broken out of his Roman cage, and was now abroad through Christendom breathing fire and smoke against the pa- pacy. His mission, he said — as reported in the newspapers — was " not to protest against Rome ; — it is to destroy, to destroy. It is not protestantism at all, my dear brethren," said the in- flamed padre, " it is destruction ; the destruction of pope and popery. My mission is to destroy, to annihilate in my Italy the pope and popery. I am no protestant. Call me destructor, for that is my name." It is hardly too venturesome to say, that, had Mr. Brown not been "settled down" at this time to politics, the laudable purpose of the Italian priest might have lured him away into missionary work. Mr. Brown was a warm admirer of Gavazzi, for the Globe of June lUth, [853, de- scribed him as " the distinguished defender of the Protestant faith." It is seldom two such distinguished defenders of any faith get together and some harm does not come of it. It is hardly necessary to add that the papacy withstood the shock of the cleric and the journalist. Indeed, both the editor and the ex-priest are dead, and Rome still lives, or did, at least, " up to the hour of going to press." It takes more than a great newspaper and a small padre to destroy an institution that may flourish when the traveller from New Zealand stands upon the ruined arch of London Bridge. The session of 1850 produced a number of important meas- ures, and the most prominent of these referred to an extension of the canal system, which gave to inland shipping an uninter- rupted course of navigation from lakes Erie and Ontario by ti;e St. Lawrence to the ocean ; the control of post offices and postal revenues by the Canadian government; and a measure i:'' .1 ■ ; ' (* THE GREAT MINISTRY FALLS. for the establishment of free trade between the provinces of British North America. Notwithstanding the plenitude of important legislation achieved by the government and the latter's apparent impreg- nableness, it was a house divided against itself, as we have already seen, and soon must fall. Opinion was in a nebulous state among reformers, and just as in the formation of our stellar systems — as some scientists believe — masses of insubor- dinate matter become detached from the main bulk and roll away, each forming a sphere in itself ; so the great reform body was dissevered, one portion becoming rouge, another clear grit, still another independent, the balance remaining true to its original conditions. One might suppose that a party made up of so many independent sovereignties as this would be a helpless mass before the skilful attack of the enemy ; but the conservative party, which was then in its chrysalis state — between a dead and effete toryism, and the coming conserva- tism — was led by the indiscreet and offensive Sir Allan Mac- Nab, who did not inj ure his opponents by his bad temper and worse tactics and only disgusted his friends. So coarse and so insolent were his attacks on Mr. Lafontaine, and even on Lord Elgin, that Colonel Gugy, who had been an uncompro- mioiug tory, arose iu his place and diBclaimed approval of his leader's course. He said he had borne the reproach of such leadership too long, and announced his separation from the party. Several consul mtions were held among the conservatives, and when the government first began to show evidences of division within its ranks, Mr. Macdonald proposed a course of action, but Sir Allan broke so repeatedly beyond the lines which had been laid down, that Macdonald despaired of suc- cess by attack. He summoned philosophy however ; and at a caucus in Toronto, held by his party to adopt " waj-s and means," after it was decided that no ways or means could be adopted her emarked, " We need not despair ; their sands of life .' -li W H m M ■ i : ' ^ 144 i/f ff Of SIR JOHN A. MACDONALD. are rapidly running themselves out; they will cie in due time if we but let them alone." As early a? this date t'lere were seve- ral conservatives of the liberal school who whispered among themselves that so long as Sir Allan was the ' 3ader there was little hope for a vigorous conservative party. " MacNab and Sherwood were a pair of weights upon Macdonald's wings" a conservative of that day tells us, " and some of our party, I for one, felt that there was no hope till we got a chavge of idea at the head of our party." It is true MacNab had begun to trim his sails to the popular breeze, so far as he could see the direction in which blew that wind, but he belonged to a past century, and was too old and too stubborn to bond to thfr demands of the time. During the spring of the following j'ear, a vacancy occurred in the representation of Haldimand, i)nd a number of candi- dates, among whom were George Brown and William Lyon Mackenzie, offered themselves for the seat. We have already introduced Brown, but have made only slight mention of Mac- kenzie. William Lyon Mackenzie, whose figure seen down, the galleries of the past, seems in these latter years to the careless student of Canadian history to be suffused with glory,, was born at Dundee, Scotland, about the year 1795. In 1824 he established a newspaper at Queenston, Upper Canada, and at once began a galling attack upon the Family Compact. Though he was possessed of a sturdy, independent spirit, and might under any circumstances have brought himself into col- lision with the powers of the time, in declaring war against the Compact, he had everything to gain and nothing to lose. After a short journalistic career in Queenston, during which his de- cisive and uncompromising way of dealing with offences against freedom and public morality brought him to some notice, he removed, to York and be^an to issue flaminor denunciations in the very shadow of the enemy's camp. The oligarchs became enraged at his attacks, and bitterly complained before some of the young gontlemen of their own set, like Henry when pro- I ,.r.,' •;;'. ..'f' ft- K THE GREAT MINIS THY FALLS. -jMf- 145 voked by Becket, that they had no one to rid them of " this fellow's annoy: ^ce." The genteel young men consulted about the matter, and one June day in 1826, with canes and kid gloves called at Mackenzie's office ; broke open the doors, bat- tered the face off some of the types, and bore away a quantity which they th^ew in the bay. The persecution only made a martyr of the bitter journalist, who thereafter became a sorer thorn than ever in the side of the Family. Two years later the county of York sent him to the assembly, but here he violated privilege by publishing lengthy reports of the legis- lative debates ; and s expelled. But after the expulsion he was again elected, and again expelled; and the farce was con- tinued till he had been four times elected and as often expelled. In 1834 he was chosen for the second riding of York, and took his seat without molestation. Two years subsequently, parlia- ment was dissolved, and Sir Francis Bond Head and his coun- cil adopted corrupt and unmanly ways to keep their opponents out of the assembly. One of the victims was Mackenzie ; and exasperated beyond all endurance, he turned his thoughts to rebellion. The story of the farce on Gallows Hill has already been told and need not be repeated. Mackenzie fled away through the wintry woods and found an asylum in the re- public for a time, but was afterwards arrested there and thrown into prison. When a pardon was granted to the rebels he made his way back to Canada, and living in the remembrance of the people as a brave man, who with all his indiscretion and impatience, had risked the all he had for popular liberty, he was welcomed to the hustings of lialdimand with vociferous cheers from a thousand lusty throats. But although he seemed to be remembered gratefully by some of the people, he was re- ceived coldly enough by Mr. Baldwin and other members of government. The following extract from an unpublished letter, written by him in 1850, to Mr. Aug. Thibodo, of Kingston,will explain his relations to the government, and show also, we believe, why he put himself at the head of a refractory party, J •^M 4--ri! 146 LIFE OF SIR JOHN A MACDONALD. -,::!< after his entry into the legislature. " Mr. Baldwin and his friends steadily strive to keep me down here in means and influence. I applied for three years assembly wages due — refused. Applied for a year's wages due on the Welland Canal — refused. Also for the money due Randal's estate, £500 — refused. In every possible way they have striven to render my residence here burthensome to me. Why is this ? Are the reformers of '37 the tories of '50 ? Or does office and the fear of losing it convert manly oppositionists into timid and crouching placemen ? If so I trust I'll never be * led into temp- tation,' " The anti-papacy articles of Brown rose before their author in the Haldimand election like the ghost of Banquo, and Mackenzie was elected by a fair majority. Brown went back to his newspaper to print more indiscreet articles, and Mackenzie went to the legislature where, for the remainder of his public career, he was at best a hasty critic with a narrow view and limited conception of public measures. Another new face was seen at this last session of the third parliament under the union, a man who, could he have cast the horoscope, would have seen, down the years, political degradation — let us not say dishonour — whether his star showed he deserved that fate or not. Perhaps it is needless to say that the new member intro- duced to the house was M. Luc Letellier de St. Just. Parliament met in Toronto in the early spring. The chief measure of legislation was a bill making provision for the construction of railways to supplement the canal system, and put Canada in a position to compete with the carriers of the United States, where railroad building had recently become a mania. A measure introduced during the session by Mr. Hincka authorized the governor-in-council to take steps in concert with the goveinments of the maritime provinces towards the construction of a railway from Hamilton to Quebec, to make connection there with another line to run along the St. Law- rence and through New Brunswick to Nova Scotia, terminating at Halifax. A meeting of delegates was held in Toronto, and - ( '-T?^-> .-, :v /""■'^ THE GREAT MINISTRY FALLS. 147 measures were adopted towards the corxstruction of the lines. But when the delegates, Mr. Hincks from Canada and Mr. Chandler from New Brunswick, went to England to ask impe- rial aid, they were astonished to find that Joseph Howe had either been guilty of duplicity in leading them to hope that help would be given, or that Earl Grey had deceived Mr. Howe ; for Sir John Pakington informed them that imperial assistance could not be promised. But out of these projects eventually grew the Intercolonial and Grand Trunk railways. Another important measure of the session was the abolition of the law of primogeniture, in defence of which Mr. Macdonald had aired his early eloquence ; but he had grown wiser now, and sat with supreme unconcern while the politicians swept the ideal law of hisyouth off the statute books. Macdonald's attitude during the session was not more demon- strative, and less scornful, than it was on his first appear- ance in the house. On July 19th he brought in a bill relating to the medical profession in Upper Canada, introducing it to the House in a few terse sentences. The measure met with some opposition, and the chief hostility, though for what reason it is hard to tell, came from the Solicitor-General, John Sandfield Macdonald. The arguments used by this opponent were very paltry, and as some other members took up the same strain, John A. Macdonald at last became annoyed. " Mr. Speaker," he said, " if the Solicitor-General is to be logical and consistent, after he has opposed my bill, in view of what it aims to do — and its scope and aims are not denied — he ought to introduce a bill to legalize murder." How apt, not to say how crushing, was this thrust must be apparent to those who will now try to conceive of our great body of medical practitioners without ob- ligations, organization, or protection. When the simple brother in one of Matthew Arnold's poems plucked the tiny plant to fling at Balder, the gods laughed at his humour, but presently they saw the Father against whom they had hurled their javelins in vain fall, pierced by the fragile gi.* , ■ n s v r p^r^ K4iytWWi!J!L '\ ^T < ■d!. it- <^ . 148 LIFE OF SIR JOHN A. MACDONALD. weed. The countiy had seen Mr. Baldwin stand bravely through the clangor of the fire bells, and in the glare of the burning halls of parliament ; saw him supreme when Sir Al- lan MacNab tried once again to coax abroad the spurious Bri- tish Lion ; now they see him, on a measure brought in by William Lyon Mackenzie to abolish the court of Chancery, stand up and declare that he will resign his place in the government. The weed had slain Balder. The house rejected Mackenzie's measure, but a majority of the Upper Canada mem- bers voted for it; and though Mr. Baldwin was no advocate for "double majorities " he was cut beyond endurance at this rebuke to his ideal court. His lofty spirit could not bend. It was a time of wonders ; for almost immediately afterwards M. Lafontaine arose at his desk and announced his intention of retiring at an early day. "The two masts are overboard," Macdonald remarked in an undertone to Mr. Sherwood ; " a helpless hulk there is left now ! " In October, M. Lafontaine withdrew and the other ministers followed him. Lord Elgin, who was now at his lovely resi- dence, Spencer Wood, upon the cliffs of Sillery, sent for Mr. Hincks to form a government. Perhaps Mr. Hmcks could not see through the blank wall of the future; perhaps he did get a glimpse through it, but made up his mind to follow the path he had traced out. At any rate he did not send for George Brown, who was burning to get into office, but made up his government as follows : FROM CANADA WEST. Hon. Francis Hincks Premier and Insp'r- General. " W. B. Richards Attorney-General West. " Malcolm Cameron President of the Council. " Dr. John Rolph Com'r of Crown Lands. " James Morris Postmaster-General. ' TUB GREAT MINISTRY FALLS. 149 FROM CANADA EAST ' Hon. a. N. Morin Provincial Secretary. " L. T. Drummond Attorney-General East. " John Youno Com' r of Public Works. ** R. E. Caron Speaker of LegislativeCouncil ** E. P. Tache Receiver-General. But there was more than one jealous member when Mr. Hincks made out his programme. Mr. John Sandfield Macdonald, a* ho aimed to be attorney-general, was offered the commissioner- ship of crown lands, but refused, and went away muttering ' curses not loud but deep." Mr. Brown, as was rather his wont, found vent for his vexation and disappointment in noise, and fulminated more indiscreetly than ever through the Globe. Ee had little denunciation for the tories — indeed, the tone of his paper was complimentary to John A. Macdonald and many other candidates of the party, — but he was unsparing of the Government, he who had lashed the clear grits such a brief time before for their treachery in putting themselves in oppo- sition to the "redeemers of the country." But this all happened before he got into the legislature, and, more than all, before he was ignored in the making up of Hincks' cabinet. Once again Canada was in the throes of a general electiim. /" ' i i r" CHArTER X. "BURNINO" QUESTIONS. THE new government was pledged to the public to provide measures for an elective legislative council, for increased parliamentary representation, the abolition of seigniorial tenure, and the secularization of the clergy reserves. Of all the ques- tions which had agitated the public mind, this latter was the most prominent, the most galling and unjust. Among the other evils planted in the constitutional act of 1791, were the prpvi- sions fo>- i^ranting a seventh of the crown lands in the provinces of Canu .a, for the support of " the Protestant clergy," and the establishment of rectories in every township or parish, " accord- ing tc the establishment of the Church of England." In the early history of Upper Canada, the effect of these grants was not felt, but as the population began to spread over the public domain, and it was found that the sanctified hand of the church had aggregated her reserves in large blocks, to aid in the spread of the gospel according to her way of teaching, a general cry of dissatisfaction was raised. Well might the dissenters have cried with Cassius, " Now is it Rome indeed, and Rome enough." It was Rome without the ceremonies and canonical panoply, but it was Rome monopolized. The heads of other protestant deno- minations met to protest against the injustice. The words " a protestant clergy " excluded the dissenters, whom aU imperial statutes ignored ; but the presbyt* rians stood boldly up and proved that they came within the meaning of the words. The law officers of the Crown, on pondering the question said the Presbyterians were correct in their view, and that the 1.50 imw \ ' ' n UliNIA' O" QU ESTIONS. 151 benefit of the act should extend to " these persons, so long as there were any of them in the country." The language of the officers might be taken to refer to moose or beai-s, but it really did point to "the presbyterians." The sturdiest advocate for the maintenance of the reserves was Dr., afterwards Bishop, Strachan, one of the ablest men that has ver appeared in Canada, and an uncomprottiisinL,' champion of the church of his second love. He resisted the claims of dissenting bodies — " pre- tensions " he called these claims — and hurried away to Eng- land to fortify the colonial office against the importunities of the outraged denominations. In 183G, Sir John Colborno was recalled to England, but before his departure endowed forty- lour rectories to the unspeakable amazement and indignation of the province. To each such rectory was allotted about three hundred and eighty-six acres of land. The law officers in Eng- land promptly declared the endowment to bo invalid, but Dr. Strachan got together a bundle of documents which he packed off to England ; whereupon the oracles reversed tho'r decision. It must certainly have been annoying to officials of the Bri- tish Go /ernment to be pestered about every little colonial mat- ter, but they brought the trouble upon themselves by arro- gantly, not to say, impertinently, undertaking to deal with matters which rightly belonged to the jurisdiction of the colo- nial legislatures, in framing our constitutional acts. Nor had they grown more wise, perhaps we should say less meddlesome, in 1840. The Union Act provided that no further reservation.s were to be made — as if the Canadian government were not the best judge whether more reservations ought to be made or not — and that, of previous sales of resei ves, one-third should go to the presbyterian body and two-thirds to the church of England ; and that of the future proceeds of sales, one-third should go to the episcopalians, one-sixth to presbyters, and the remainder "for purposes of public worship or religious instruction in Canada."' This latter citation was an insinuation in favour of the dissent- ers; for the framers of the act could not be expected to name ': :■'■' tA n-i , r. « hJ :M/| 1H » )■ 1il ■■ .. A. ; ii 1^1 J:. ll 11 ii V^. LIFE OP SIR JOHN A, MACDONALD. the Baptists, Wewloyans, Unitarians, et cmtera. But this settle- ment of the question, proposed doubtless by the spiritual peers, was made without any regard for the census, and at once caused a cry of anger and dissatisfaction through the country. We know not by what light went the peers whon making the ap- propriation. It is their custom when choosing a bishop, we know, to pray to be guided in the choice they are about to make, and then to appoint the person named by the prime run- ister. It is not certain that in apportioning the reserve proceeds among the Canadian religious bodies they gave mucli time to thought or prayer, simply setting down double as much to the episcopalians, whether they numbered ten or ten thou- sand, as to any other denomination. Four years afterwards, discontent at the settlement had reached such a head that a complete secularization of the reserves was demanded by the reform party. The question was discussed on the hustings and in the legislature with much passion, and Mr. Henry Price, a congregationalist, at his place in the house, described the reserves, with not less justice than force, as " one of the great- est curses that could have been inflicted upon the land." But the tories showed no inclination to disturb the arrangement. On the contrary, to them, like to the fraraers of the act of 1791, establishment was one of the dearest features of o>ir govern- ment. When the reformers came into office in i84S, the champions of secularization were filled with hope ; but as we have seen, Mr. Baldwin, although opposed to the union of church and state, or rather of God and Mammon, had enough of high church prejudice to be content to let the settlement by the union act abide. In Lower Canada the question was never of any consequence, and for this reason M. Lafontaine was op- posed to opening up the matter again. We shall discuss, in its proper place, the influence it had upon parties, how it split governments, begot coalitions, and changed the whole current of our political history. '^ -fl "BVIiNlNG" QUESTIONS. But if tho lower province was not concerned about tlio clergy reserves, it had a grievance scarce less exasperating. In the seventeenth century tiie feudal system still existed in France, anfl was transferred, though not in all its rigours, to Canada. Large blocks of land were granted by the West India Company to families of the crown, army officers and religious bodies, who held them en Htigneune. This condition embraced the pay- ment of fealty and homage to the king. On th > day set apart for doing homage, came the seigneur, or holdev of the granted lands, to the castle of St. Louis in Quebec, ard kneeling before the representative of the king, he there, in token of submission, delivered up his sword; which was graciously returned. Nearly all the fertile lands, stretching, for three hundred miles, along the banks of the St. Lawrence were granted to the seigneurs. The latter enjo^'ed many rights and privileges, but they also had their duties. Within their domaiios they had jurisdiction over all offences against the laws save treason and murder. When the seigneurie or any portion of it was sold, a fifth of what it brought, called a quint, was paid to the crown. Being unable to cultivate his extensive grant, the seigneur divided it into lots having a frontage of three acres on the St. Lawrence, extending backward eighty acres. The holders of these lots which were granted en roture, were called censitaires. Several annoying conditions were imposed upon the censitaire. He A'as obliged* "to gi-ind his grain at the seigneur's mill, bake his bread in the seigneur's oven, work for him one or more days in the year, and give him one fish in every eleven for the priv- ilege of fishing in the river before his farm." He was also obliged to pay a small yearly rental, to do military service, to open up and repair roads, and build bridges. If he sold his lot he was obliged to hand over lods et ventes, that is, the twelfth part of the receipts, to the seigneur. The holding descended to the censitaire's heir, whose relations to the seigneur remain- • Francis Parkman : " The Old Rdgime in Canada." i- v.. n i;li ! Ill Ef 'If' I«i ' I ■'.m- ■'\(^:">if^--^^.::-'f^-' 154 LIFE OF SIB JOHN A. MACDONALD. ed the same as during the original occupation. Some years after the conquest the censitaires became restive under the in- creased obligations put upon them by the seigneurs, who, in consequence of the system of dividing the seigneurie among all members of the family, were driven to sore straits to maintain a living suitable to their rank. At the time reformers in Upper Canada were demanding a secularization of the clergy reserves, the wretched censitaire was praying to be released from the yoke of his master. Accounts are given of the most dishonest and harassing measures adopted towards the ignor- ant habitant, who was not aware that he was being cheated — only knowing that he was being oppressed — ^by the seigneurs. Some hot-headed Frenchmen, v ithout any instinct of justice, advocated the total sweeping a' ray of seigniorial claims without compensation ; others advocated a joint commutation of what was called the cens et rentes by the state and the censitaires ; aiid the legislature in 1849 passed an act providing for optional commutation. This measure, however, did not satisfy the habitant, who demanded that the system should be abolished branch and root. Thus the legislature had upon its hands at the period to which our narrative has reached, two important, or, to use the phrase of the time, two " burning " questions. Mr. Francis Hincks, the leader of the government 'i.sked to grapple with these questions, was the youngest son of Dr. Hincks, of Breckenborough, Yorkshire, England, and could trace his ancestry far backward, finding a Hincks as alderman of Chester in 1341. Dr. Hincks obtained a fellowship in Trinity College, Dublin, and subsequently became rector of Killyleagh. He was the author of a number of papers on the transactions of the Royal Irish Academy, and on Assyrian, Persian, and Egyp- tian archaeology. Some of his discoveries proved valuable additions to the knowledge of Eastern lore, and chief among these may be mentioned his determination of the value and forms of the Assyrian numerals. Alter spending some years at college, his son Francis entered a large business house, and r.:V^' '^"■•"^' -':■>.- ?;::■'•-'■■ ^■'r'7''^^- : *' n URNING " Q VESTIONS. 155 subsequently sailed as supercargo to the West Indies, visiting Jamaica, Trinidad, Demarara, and Barbadoei. In the latter city he met a Canadian gentleman with whom he visited Can- ada, for the purpose of studying her commerce. He went back to Ireland, well pleased with the new country, married the second daughter of Alexander Stewart, a merchant of Belfast, and soon after returned to Canada, taking up lu'j residence in Toronto. He rapidly rose in the estimation of .all with whom he came in contact for his great abilities and integrity ; and after the amval of Lord Durham to Canada, established the Examiner newspaper. As a journalist he was seen to possess abilities of the highest order, and while he fearlessly sifted every question to the bottom, his style of writing always main- tained the due dignity of the press. In 1841 he was " called out " for Oxford, and defeated his opponent by a majority of thirty-one votes; and was re-elected on going back to his constituency after having accepted the inspector-generalship. Three years later he was defeated by a son-in-law of Admiral Vansittart for the same constituency, but in 1848 was again elected by a majority of three hundred and thirty-five over his old opponent Carroll. Again he entered the government of his first friend in Canada, taking the same office he had held before. In the autumn of 1851, as we have seen, on the retirement of Robert Baldwin, he was called to form a govern- ment. He is to be an interesting figure for some years to come, and we must not anticipate his career. M. A ugusfcin Norbert Morin, his " other half," as the second government head used to be called in those days, was born at St. Michel, district of Quebec, in 1803. He studied law in the offiee of D. B. Viger, and was called to the bar at Montreal, in l'^28. In his twenty-eighth year he was returned to parlia- ment, and was so brilliant as to fill his friends with great hopes for his future. He entered the Baldwin-Lafontaine ministr}- as commissioner of crown lands, in October, 1842, retaining office until December the following year, when, with his col- » J r l! u .1'' I ■'.-'■■ '^.-T:'' 166 LIFE OF SIR JOHN A, MACDONALD. leagues he was forced out of office by the treachery of the governor. In 1848 he was again returned to parliament, and elected to the speakership. On the resignation of M. Lafon- taine, three years later, Mr. Hinck's choice fell upon him as the only suitable successor to the retiring statesman. Kaye, whose portraits are not always above suspicion, pays honest tribute to the character of M. Morin. His administrative abilities, he tells us, were of the highest class. He had vast powers of appli- cation, rare conscientiousness, and a noble self-devotion, which in old times would have carried him cheerfully to the stake. His patriotism was of the purest water, and he was utterly without selfishness and guile. And he was of so sensitive a nature and so confiding a disposition, that it was said of him he was as tender hearted as a woman, and as simple as a child. A prominent figure in the new cabinet, a man who as yet had no clear notion of what his party leanings were, was Etienne P. Tachd, receiver-general. He was the descendant of an ancient and distinguished French family, and was born at St. Thomas, Lower Canada, in 1795. When the war broke out in 1812, young Tachd entered the militia of Lower Canada as an ensign in the oth battalion, and dashed bravely to the front in defence of his country. After the war had closed, he studied medicine and achieved much success in his profession. He was elected to the first parliament under the union, and six years later was appointed deputy-adjufcant-general, which po- sition he retained for two years, when he entered the Lafon- taine-Baldwin ministry as commissioner of public works. On the resignation of L. M. Viger the following year, he became receiver-general, and was allotted to the same oftice on the for- mation of the Hincks* ministry. Henceforth Mr. Tachd began to evince preferences for the conservative party, and was dur- ing his term of office in Uie reform government a professed admirer of Mr. John A. Macdonald. We shall see that he soon boldly goes to the party whither his sympathies had been BURNING" QUESTIONS. 157 leading him, and stands at the head of a government with the member whom it was his wont so warmly to admire. The election was held in the early winter, and resulted in a return of all the new ministers. The position of parties was little changed, save indeed that the only member of the once mighty compact who took his place in the new house was Sir Allan MacNab, and he only won his seat by repudiating many of the principles which he had been in the habit of defending with much fury. One of the surprises of the election was the rejection of the hoDoured ex-leader of the reform party by the electors of North York for a candidate who up to the time had been unknown to the electorate. The fact is that the public mind had been excited during the summer about the question of secularization, and the suspicion got abroad that Mr. Baldwin looked upon the disturbance of the existing set- tlement V ith no friendly eye. And so when lie appeared at the hustings a throng of his friends waited upon him, and bluntly requested him to pledge himself to support secularization. It is not strange that Robert Baldwin should receive a request like this with scorn. He calmly told his supporters that he came before them with no claim upon their regards save what a record of his public career had given him; that he had always acted unfettered by pledges, free to do what he believed wa» right ; that he would not fetter himself now, and if they sent him to the legislature he would go there free of pledges. They rejected him, and took the unknown. John A. Macdonald, whose popularity had flagged not since his first election, was returned again for Kmg.iton, but took his seat not in that listless manner which was his wont, but sat up at his desk, his eye upon every movement that was made. Mr. John Sand field Macdonald, who was burning for an opportunity to be avenged on Mr. Hincks. was elected speaker. The Speech made reference to the proposed intro- duction of decimal currency, to railways, the attitude of the imperial government towards secularization of the clorgy re- -:/,-. ■v^- ^^•;. yr-^ -:} 158 LIFE OF SIR JOHN A. MACDONALD. i serves, and the expediency of settling the grievance of seignorial tenure. Some life was introduced into the debate on the address by George Brown, who made his maiden speech — a slashing and effective effort, and perhaps as forcible an array of raw material as had ever been presented to that parliament. In after years Mr. Brown's style of parliamentary speaking improved, but not very much. This first speech of his revealed all his strength, and not a few of his defects. He had a prodigious capacity for getting facts together, and these he flung with a tremendous force in tl: e face of his audience. Only the one qualification of an oratoi had he, however, and that was this force, a quality which was perhaps made better by having to it a nervous side. It was homely, blunt speech, strongly made, and that was all. It lacked all the accomplishments and many of the gifts which are essential to oratory. It was devoid of imagination, of sarcasm, of humour, of irony, of pathos, of scorn. We know that facts can be honestly and eff'ectually told without these gifts and graces, but we a.re merely pointing out that it is a delusion to suppose that Mr. Brown was an orator. He was a man of much honest purpose, of rugged, strong intellect ; so rugged as to give roorfi forthe supposition that his muscle may have been turned into brain without having undergone any particular change. The true orator understands human nature, the sympathies of audiences, and as he speaks keeps his hand upon the pulse of his hearers. Mark Antony subdued and turned into zealous friends upon the spot a mob of turbulent Romans, drunk with tumult, by appealing to all the better instincts of their humanity. That oration of his, hidden away in the play, is, in our poor judgment, the greatest speech, the most effective piece of oratory that lives in any language, though he who utters it declares (but in the disclaimer proves the contrary), " I am no orator as Brutus is, but, as you knovr me all, a plain, blunt man that loves his friends." George Brown was a decidedly ]^Wn, bl^nt man, but it is doubtful if n ' ' B UliNJy G" Q UESTIONS. 169 he always loved his ^r'Rnds ; and if he did he surely had not always tact enough to tell them so. He plunged straight on, without art or grace, believing it to be his duty to drive instead of to lea.d. Papireau made an erratic attack upon the government, and declared that he wanted annexation and an elective legislative council. Mr. John A. Macdonald, who had informed some of his friends that " at last he was ready for the fray," adminis- tered a long scourging to the government. He affirmed that the ministry had outlived its principles, and that its only bond of union now was that of office. Frequent meetings of the conservatives were held at which it was agreed thot the party should act in accord with Brown's stalwarts when any blow was aimed to overthrow the government. During the summer Mr. Hincks had visitca England, and while there made every possible effi)rt to induce the imperial government to introduce such legislation as would give the Canadian parliament authority to deal with the question of secularization. Notwithstanding these facts, George Brown charged him with having " sold himself to the enemy," and upon this asseveration grounded his opposition to the govern- ment. The truth is, Mr. Hincks' real offiince was that he had ignored Brown in forming his cabinet, and now stood in the path of a man who had told the public with a flourish b\it a few months before that he was " aiming for high game." If this is not the true interpretation, then it remains to be explained why Brown had no censure for Messrs. Baldwin and Lafontaine, one of whom, at least, was known to be hostile to secularization ; why he scourged the clear grits in his news- paper for jeopardizing the interests of the party, and saw nothing censurable in the conduct of the government till he found he had not been remembered in the formation of Mr,. Hincks' cabinet. The interests of the reform party were always dear to Mr. Brown, but not so dear as his own ambi- tion. In the whole course of his public career, he never hesi- H.'? ^i m R*i I U t f > ^, ^• > ' ^ - d I bi : 1 ■ ^fli ^fi * ! Ji*i^ifitiriat^Tj LTW»»*^«rriT!^X^<'<^U».i»gJ W W'* » >ift*^'-~-"fe - ■•'\t ,■":; .i",?^ >-■•.! -'■y•yf'■*■:^^?' leo LIFE OF SIR JOHN A. MACDONALD. hit ti '^ tated l>o crush any mi who crossed his path. If the interesta of hifl party happened lo he identical a\ ith the interests of his rival, then so much the worse for the party. It was not that he loved his party less, but that he loved George Brown, more. Owing to the prevalence of cholera in Quebec, the legisla- ture was adjourned from November till February. A few days before prorogation, news reached Canada that a measure rela- ting to secularization had passed the imperial parliament. The act authorized the Canadian legislature to repeal or amend tha act of 1S40 as was deeraed desirable, but prohibited interfer- ence with the annual stipends already allowed to clergymen. Evidently, up to this date, the impression had not got out of the heads of some of the law-makers that our legislature hera was largely comuosed of the barbarian element. They could' not trust the; few clergymen interested in this legislation to our hands for justice ! During the summer, the celebrated Alessandro Gavazzi, of whom we have already made mention, arrived in Canada for the purpose of destroj'ing the papacy. He lectured in Quebec,, but a number of lawless ruffians, defenders of the Catholic faith we suppose they styled themselves, broke up the meeting. Thence Gavazzi passed to Montreal, and while addressing an, audience in Zion Church there one evening, a mob of Roman Catholic Irishmen, also on the defence of religion, endeavoured to force its way into the building. This was prevented by a force of police outside, but as the mob was drawing back, one of them fired a pistol. This rioter was promptly shot down by a protestant. The lecture was hurriedly brought to a close, but during the progress of the audience through the street it was assaulted by the mob, which was largely composed of murderous and half-drunken navvies. Two women were struck to the ground and trampled over ; and a child of nine years had its arm broken. Mayor Wilson now appeared from behind the scenes and ordered the military to lire. The order wa>j. lit " Ji CliNlN G ' Q UESTIONS. 161 obeyed, but the balls went only among the procession whose oflence had been that they attended Gavazzi's lecture. Five men dropped dead from the volley, and a large number were wounded. In the excitement the mayor evidently lost his head, though his action in ordering the soldiers to fire seems like an appalling murder. Unfortunately for Mr. Ilincks he was on terms of great intimacy with Wilson, who was a Catholic. The government was tardy in investigating the occurrence, and its enemies told it on their trumpets through- out Upper Canada that Mr. Hincks was in the hands of the Catholics, The accusation seemed so much like the truth that it contributed in no small degree to the premier's downfall. During the session Mr. John A. Macdonald was the most prominent figure in the debates. Upon the bill to increase the number of representatives, he took strong grounds, contending that the measure was a sacrilegious laying of hands upon the constitution, without the sanction or desire of the people.* Against the University Bill, he took a firm stand, •!• but a perusal of his si)eech shows that his objections are well taken, and that much of his hostility to the measure was due to a conviction that Dr. Rolph was personally interested in the government bill. During the discussion on a measure to res- train the sale of intoxicating liquors, he took the position that the government could no more legislate a man to be sober than it could to make him religious.;}: The law against duelling, he pointed out did not prevent " meetings," and the practice of the duel existed till the moral force of the community frowned it out of existence. The bill for indemnity to seigneurs he attacked with tierce scorn, not that he believed compeiLsation should not be made for the confiscation of seigneuries, but that as the measure was one of local interest only, the burthen of indem- nity ought not to be borne by the people of Upper Canada.§ "It i 7 I I i:l I ':i| * See Appendix **A." § See Appendix " D." t See Appendix "B." See Appendix "0. K vf mmm _;,,»?> !.T,i', ..-■-- ^.i-\ :■•■■: -/^cyy 162 LIFE OF SIR JOHN A. MACDOKALD. B '' •• ■ I! ! was as much as saying," he pithily observed, " that Upper Canada should be bribed with her own money." The premier seems to have been the chief object of his care during the Hession. Scarce a day passed that there was not a passage of arms between the two. One afternoon Mr. Hincks was asked to distribute copies of the bill creating a bureau of agricul- ture, among members, but curtly refused to do so. Macdonald rose in his place: "Mr. Speaker, the inspector-general, in an- swer to a proper request from this house, says ' we won't.' Sir, it is absolutelv indecent." Mr. Hincks who was rather surprised at seeing Macdonald show any trace of peevish- ness, arose and said that there was surely nothing indecent in saying, "we won't." "Ah, yes," said Mr. Badgley, "but it is the manner." " The manner," returned Macdonald, con- temptuously ; " he has no manners." " Why, is it possible ! " said several members at once, " that Macdonald has lost his temper." " Nonsense," he replied, " I was never cooler in my life." He seemed to be in his element glancing along the benches of the doomed ministry and taunting its members. From being silent and nonchalant, he had become active and provoking. No joint in the enemy's harness escaped his eye ; the memo- randum books were thrown aside, and he sat there another Attila. Attorney-general Drummond, in defending the charita- ble societies bill, had wandered away from his text, and indulg- ed in some jubilation at the strength of the government. " Ah, yes ; " Macdonald said, when Drummond sat down, " they had much reason to be joyful about their majority. You have a ma- jority of six votes," he went on ; " and you have at least eight ministers. So deduct the votes of these eight gentlemen for themselves, and there is a majority of two against them ! " There was a time, he admitted, when he had some respect for them, " but I have none now. The hon. member for Kent (George Brown), has ungritted you. You are now an unfortu- nate incoherent mass at the mercy of everybody and every- thing." We find the Kingston membc r attending a meeting held " B URN IK G " Q UESTIONS. 163 at Montreal during the summer, by the protestant citizens, in relation to the Gavazzi riots, and observe in his conduct there ihe caution that has always been part of his character. He was called upon to speak, but said a few words only, assur- ing the meeting of his sympathy with their object, but declin- ing to say anything further, as " the matter was to be brought up in parliament." On the eip^hteenth of June, in this summer, the Globe winds «p a dreary article with the earnest prayer, that " the country may be saved from the darkness of Romanism." Mr. Mackenzie has, however, said in his book that " no article ever appeared in the Globe, that bore the character of intolerance." I H . i CHAPTER XI. BIRTH OF "LIBERAL-CONSERVATISM." r !!i ;J F Kussia should decline to restrict within purely diploma- tic limits the discussion in which she has for some time past been engaged with the Sublime Porte, and does not by the return of the messenger, who is the bearer of my present letter, announce her intention of causing the Russian troops under Prince Gortschakoff to commence their march with a view to recross the Pruth, so that tlie provinces of Moldavia and Wallachia shall be completely evacuated on April 30, next, the British government must consider the refusal or the silence of the cabinet of St. Petersburg as equivalent to a declaration of war, and will take its measures accordingly." Such was England's ultimatum to Russia despatched on the 27th April, 1854. The messenger was informed by Count Nesselrode, four days after he delivered his errand, that the Emperor did not think it becoming in him to give any reply to the letter. A few days afterwards, a large assemblage of excited persons con- gregated about the Royal Exchange to witness the most inter- esting ceremony known in any country. The sergeant-at- arms, accompanied by several city officers, ascended the steps of the Exchange, ana tlierefrom read Her Majesty's declaration of war against Russia. Foreign capitals which had so often said with a sneer that " England had joined the peace society and would never be seen in battle any more," stood aghast now listening to the clangor of her arms. But that sentiment sung by our first of Canadian singers, Mr. Roberts, still lived as 164 ^* BIHTH OF '' LUlEltAL-CONSERVATISM» 105 the swords wliich huJ lain idly in their scabbards were buckled on, and the great shipb were wiirped out from their moorings : *' But let a groat wrong cry to hoaven, Let a giant necessity come ; And now of old shu can slriko, She will striko, and strike home." The Canadian govornmont had been growing weaker day by day, and while the great nations grappled with each other in their murderous conflict at the Crimea, a violent newspaper war was being waged throughout our province. It was in vain that the ministry asked to be judged by their works, and pointed out Uie valuable legislation they had called into ex- istence. During the previous summer the Grand Trunk rail- way had been opened to Portland, the Great Western from Suspension bridge to Windsor, and the Ontario, Simcoe and Huron, now known as the Northern, from Toronto to Barrie. With the declaration of war the prices for Canadian products reached a fever point, labour was in brisk demand, and com- mercial prosperity at the flood-tide. The fly in iEsop's fable imagined that it was he who raised the dust-chjud, and not unnaturally ministers believed that their policy was in some measure the author of the extraordinaiy activity in trade ; but it was not. For some time past Lord Elgin and his govei-nment had been conducting negotiations towards a treaty of reciprocity be- tween Canada and the United States. In May, the governor and Mr. Hincks went to Washington to conclude the terms, but congress was busy with questions of greater moment, and our representatives wore lost sight of for some weeks in the bustle. Opponents of the government ridiculed their mission, and prophesied the return of " our diplomats," as they contem- tuously termed them, " with their tails between their legs." It created no little surprise among the prophets, and rejoic- ing through the commercial community, to ]p>irn that, on the *f'j '/' ' u\ I ..«»». r^%. IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) .<'- ^v^ ^. 1.0 I.I 1.25 IA£I28 |2.5 II 2.2 1.4 III 2.0 18 1.6 <^ A- / /r'" 'W W o 7 Photographic Sciences Corporation 23 WEST MAIN STREET WEBSTER, N.Y. M580 (716) 872-4503 ^ ^ ^ %%"" "-^ ^4" € Ts^^^mji^mm^ wmm 1G6 LIFE 01 SIR JOHN A. MACDONALD. ;:.'; 5th of June, the treaty had been signed by Lord Elgin on be- half of Great Britain, and W. L. Marcy, .secretary of state for the United States, on behalf of the republic. By the provisions of the treaty, citizens of thf^ United States were permitted to take fish of any kind except shell-fish on the sea-coasts and shores, and in the bays, harbours and creeks of British provinces in North America, at any distance from the shore; and to land upon the shores to dry their nets and cure their fish. In return for these privileges British subjects were allowed the same concessions in all the waters and upon the land of the eastern sea-coasts and shores of the United States, north of the Stith parallel of north latitude. Grr n, flour, breadstuflfs, animals, meats, poultry, fish, lumber, hides, hemp, ores of metals, manufactured tobacco, and some other articles were admitted into each country duty free. The navigation of the St. Lawrence and the Canadian canals was permitted to American citizens on the same conditions as to British subjects ; and the latter were given similar rights on lake Michigan. No export duty was to be levied on any lumber cut in districts in Maine, watered by tributaries of the St. John river, and floated down the latter to the bay of Fundy for shipment to the United States. The treaty was not to go into efiect till it had received the sanction of the imperial and provincial parliaments on the one hand, and of the congress of the United States on the other. It was to continue in force ten years from the date of ratification, and one year after either party had signified a desire to terminate it. In Canada the treaty was received with a good deal of favour, but the people of the maritime provinces perused its terms with disappointment and anger. They charged Lord Elgin with hurrying away to Washington without understand- ing what were their most vital interests, and flippantly sign- ing these away. * The objections raised to the treaty were, •Archer: "A History of Canada." ,( ■■. •y-.. , -. : BIllTH OF ''LIBERAL-CONSERVATISM:* 167 ; ' that though the United States had nothing to exchange com- parable in vahie to the priceless fisheries of British North Amei-ica, and though their ships were placed on an equalit with the ships of Great Britain, they still peremptorily declin- ed to concede the only equivalent they could offer, the admis- sion of colonial vessels to registry in their ports and to their coasting trade. The treaty, it may be added, ran for th.'.i teen years ; and during this time the va'ue of the aggregate of commodities interchanged between the two countries rose from an annual average of SI 4,280,703, in the eight years previous to the treaty, to 850,339,770, in its tliirteenth year. Parliament was called together on the 13th of June, the last day to which convocation could be postponed. It was impossible that the meeting could have been summoned for an earlier date, as the governor and the premier had been detained in Washington till the fifth of the month. But the opposition did not care about impossibilities, and declared that ministers were afraid to meet the house, and had put off" the evil day to the utmost moment. Political felling was once again at fever heat in Canada. The opposition press had carried on a flaming crusade against the ministry, charging it \»ith treachery to the public, and hostility to secularization of the reserves and the confiscation of seigneuries. The Globe, and all the journals that followed its lead contended that it was the government's duty at the impending session to grapple with these questions ; and Mr. Brown wound up a very rampant editorial in support of this view by saying that Mr. Hincks " must secularize or go out." What the ministry's intention was had not transpired; and when the governor sat upon the throne to read the address, the house listened in breathless 'jilence to hear what measures were promised. But it indicated only two; and neither of these referred to the reserves or seigniorial tenure. The house was merely informed that a bill would be prepared to give effect to the Reciprocity treaty, and another to regulate '». "W"^ A lromist;d in the speech. During the preceding seasion provision had been made for an increase in the number of parliamentary representatives from 84 to 130. Clearly, then, from the moment parliament had declared for an increase in the number of representatives, the existing legis- lature was not fairly representative, and for a body, so de- ficient, to enact legislation affecting the interests of the pub- lic would have been a violation of the principle of respon- sible government. Mr. Hincks defended the action of the ministry on these grounds, and might have cited the prece- dent set by the imperial parliament in 1832 after the passage of the reform bill. We are unable to recall any instance worth noting of a departure from this doctrine in any country under responsible government. It is only a few months ago since Sir John MacdonaJd dissolved parliament after its fourth session, because the census had shown that its representation was not equitable. History by-and-by, when the party feel- ing of the hour shall have passed away, will net fail to approve his act ; yet had the courtry rustic who stood aghast at the denunciation of Fox by a scurrilous hireling of the court ar- rived in Canada after Sir John Macdonald had announced this dissolution, he would have asked, as he asked in England, " ' As 'e stole a sheep ? " Even Mr. Edward Blake so far forgot the constitutional usage as to indite an extraordinary epistle to his constituents, in which he told them that the government having been beaten in a fair fight had resorted to " foul play." Now that Mr. Blake's little fit of excitement has blown over, he must bear to be told that it was no more correct to call a desirable and constitutional act " foul play," than to say that the government, against whom he issued his manifesto, had been " beaten " in any fight, fair or foul. It was plain to the house that the intention of the ministry was to hurry through its measures and end the session speed- »> BIRin OF '' LIBERAL CONSERVATISM. nja ily. But the conservatives, led by Sir Allan MacNab, and in- spired by John A. Macdonald, joined themselves with the clear grits who followed George Brown, and tVe rouf/es who were a set of political Mamelukes. The address was stubbornly op- posed inch by inch, and Mr. Hincks had the mortification of seeing men who stood fast to their allegiance all along now desert him on the ground that he had been unfaithful to his pledge. The man who goes through public life without some reproach clinging to his name, is as strange a spectacle as the Hebrew children who passed scathless through the fiery fur- nace. Rumour had a good many scandals upon her lips now, and the conduct of Mr. Hincks in certain transactions were said to be not above reproach. Ministers v/ere therefore charged with infidelity and corruption ; and the explanations they made were not sufficient before the house or the country. Beyond any comparison their most powerful opponent was Mr. John A. Macdonald. His hostility was not shown to the constitutional ground the government had tiikcn, but to their hesitancy in dealing with the questions which had set the country aflame He did not take a stand either for or against the secularization of reserves and the abolition of tenure, but contended that the duty of the government was to have said yes or no to the public, and to stand or fall by their action. Apart from the shilly-shallying of the ministry, he formulated against them a number of grave charges of wrong-doing. As he proceeded with his speech he grew warm, and at last lost his temper. It was a strange sight to see him who never be- fore had been stirred by discussion grow white with feeling, and gesticulate wildly with his arms. The government he said was now a reproach to the country. They had the con- tempt not alone of the party by which they had always been opposed, but by their own friends. " It was well known," he continued, " that the system pursued by the present govern- ment had been one of rampant corruption, appealing to the most sordid and the basest motives of men * * * * »*. I t •■ mmtm nMHBI «■■ y 170 LIFE OF SIR JOHN A. MACDONALD, X ' pi.„/i -i, .. Even the postmaster-general had said at Perth, in rL.erenco to the purchase of government property by members of the government, that there had been a job perpetrated by his col- leagues, with whom he continued to sit. Now, a government should be free from suspicion and feel a stain on their escut- cheon like a wound on their person. Especially should they keep their hands clenn of any speculation in the government property.* " All honour, he said, had departed from them, and the only bond by which they were kept together now was "the bond of common plunder." Nor were these short-com- ings either confined to one, or two, or three odious transac- tions ; " they were steeped to the very lips in infamy ; " wero " tainted with corruption, collectively and individually, both in their public and private charactei-s." During the delivery of this speech the wildest excitement prevailed in the house, and ministers " shivered at their benches." The attack was all the more effective coming from a man whose balance of temper the house never before had seen destroyed, and at an hour when the staunchest supporters of the ministry were dropping off. Fastidious critics censure Mr. Macdonald's " violent lanoruage " in his early career, but our impression is that outbursts like these have not been uncommon in debate among the staidest of parliamentarians. The very year before, Mr. Disraeli had suffered his temper to get the mastery, when, in a discussion with Mr. Gladstone, he informed Sir Charles Wood (Lord Halifax) that petulance was not sarcasm, nor insolence invec- tive ; and said that he "viewed Sir James Graham with regard, but not with respect." Some years before, at a public meet- ing, he denounced O'Conncll as ** a bloody traitor ;" and the latter retaliated by characterizing Disraeli as the " true heir-at- law to the blasphemous thief that died impenitent upon the cross. Among the amendments to the address were two by Messrs. Cauchon and Sicotte — in the drawing of which it is said Mr. •See Appendix "E." / « BIRTH OF " ljuehal-consehvatism." 171 Macdonald had a hand. Mr. Cauchon's amendment expresse.i regret tliat the government had not taken steps for the dis- posal of the seigniorial tenure question during the session, and Mr. Sicotte's very adroitly added, " or one for the immediato settlement of the clergy reserves." Ina^r.nuch as " settlement " might mean a confirmation of the status quo, or an agreement to the demands of the clear grits and rouges, these amend- ments were supported by the two latter parties, and by the con- servatives ; and the government found itself beaten by a vote of 42 to 29. The vote being really one of non-confidence, Mr. Hincks promptly adjourned the house for two days, and the ministry hurried together to discuss a way out of the dilemma. The conservatives and clear giits each heUl its separate caucus the following day, and at the hitter's George Brown was jubilant as he saw the "higher game" now almost within his reach. At the other meeting was no exultation ; but there sat the cool, shrewd- headed Macdonald, pointing out that now since the crisis had come, their party should move with more prudence and cau- tion than ever. It was clear to him, he said, that no ministry could be formed, even after an appeal to the people, without the coalition of some two of the parties. Sir Allan MacNab, as was his wont, became excited and talked extravagantly, but Macdonald reminded him, that they could " afford now to sit and see them flounder in the net," " There is no way for them out of it," he assured his colleagues. Meanwhile no one outside of those who sat at the ministerial conclave knew what the government would do on Thursday next. When the day came the house met Lt the stated hour, and members, some with anxious, others with curious, and not a few witli gratified faces took their seats at their desks. But the speaker had hardly taken his place when the house was startled by the booming of cannon; and the conviction flashed upon unin- formed members that the governor was on his way to prorogue parliament. Sir Allan MacNab jumped to his feet and asked the ministry if it was possible that the government had ^4 *> ll 1 i M 111 ' ' 1 iif mmm ^*^r 172 LIFE OF SIR JOHN A. MACDONALD. n !!| 'iiii J • decided on an immediate prorogation. Mr. Moriu said yes, lay a siivk})le inclination of his head. " Then," replied the knight trembling with excitement, "I protest in the name of the op- position against our being broken up in this manner. I declare, oil behalf of myself and my friends, that we are quite prepared to make a respectful reply to his excellency's speech, that wo are ready to pass a bill bringing the new franchise act into op- eration, and to grant the necessary supplies for the current year." Sir Allan had no sooner sat down than WiHiam Lyon Mackenzie, almost speechless with rage, arose and began an attack upon the ministry. After pouring out his wrath upon the government he asked permission to introduce a bill on the clergy reserves; but while insisting on having his mo- tion put the knocking of black-rod was heard at the door, and the sergeant-at-arms appeared before the bar commu- nicating the fact to Mr. Speaker. Then arose a general con- fusion, a dozen members endeavoured to make themselves heard at once. Some members could be understood through the din to say, that black-rod must wait at the door till the house was prepared to send him his answer. Mr. Mac- kenzie, who had maintained his place on the floor the while, now sat down and Mr. iviactlonald arose, and btgan to speak with great vehemence. He declared, that of all the disgrace- ful acts of which the government had been guilty, this last was the worst. It was, he affirmed, an unlawful and indecent use of the power in their hands to prevent the public from investigating their corrupt actions before the election. While he was 3'et speaking, Mr. Mackenzie, taking the motion he had written, from his desk, walked with it to the speaker's chair. Mr. Sherwood ar:,se to a question of order. The messenger, he said, had been admitted without the con^-snt of the house. Mr. Macdonald, who still remained standing said he st«od there to protect the liberties of the people of Canada. Here the uproar, in the words of the newspapers of the day, became tremendous ; Macdonald speaking at the top of his voice, but Bin TIT OF "Lin F.nA L CONSEIt VA tism:' being quite inaudible, and the speaker standing up also as if to speak. The sense of the house, however, begun to return to U, and the " faithful commons" eventually proceeded to the court-house where the legislative council held session and the governor was waiting. While reading the incidents of this memorable morning manv will ask. But how could a dissolution be declared, since the pass- age of at least one bill through both branches of the legislature was necessary to constitute a session? So queried, too, the speaker in whose eyes now shone the light of triumph as he nervously fingered a slip of pa{)er he carried in his hand. He had sat in the chair passionless and impartial since his election, but there always burnt in his breast the desire to be revengctl on Mr. Hincks for having refused to him the attorney -general- ship. As Speaker it was his duty to call attention to any infringement of constitutional usage by the government or the house, and he now saw the time at hand when he could take revenge on the premier. The govc.nor sat on the vice-regal chair awaiting the appearance of the commons, and when the Speaker reached the bar put out his hand to the secretary for his speech. But he hesitated and a look of astonishment came over his face, for the Speaker had unfolded the paper with which his fingers had been nervously toying as he walked over to the court house, and in a bold tone in which one could catch the feeling of subdued triumph, read: " May it please your Excel- lency, — It has been the immemorial custom of the Speaker of the commons house of parliament to communicate to the throne the general result of the deliberations of the assembly upon the principal subjects which have em[)loyed the attention of parlia- ment during the period of their labours. It is not now part of my duty to address your excellency, inasmuch as there has been no act passed or judgment of parliament obtained. The passage of an act through its several stages, according to the law or custom of parliament solemnly declared applicable to parliamen- tary proceeeings by a decision of the legislative assembly of !^a A ''»V>1 '■:J t i. E ^ > i ^ ~ wL.-m 174 LIFE OF Slli JOHN A. MACDONALD. m 1841, is hold to bo necessary in order to constitute a session of parliament. This wo have been unable to accomplish, owing to the command which your excellency has laid upon rae to meet you this day for the purpose of prorogation ; and at the same time I feel called upon to assure your excellency, on the part of her majesty's faithful commons, that it is not from any want of respect to yourself or to the august personage whom you represent in these provinces, that no answer has been returned by the legislative assembly to your gracious speech from the throne." This address was also read in the French language, and Mr. Fennings Taylor teMs us that as his excellency listened to what he regarded as an act of censure upon his ministers and a reprimand to himself,his countenance displayed deep displeasure and annoyance. He recovered his calm, cool aspect very soon, however, and read a brief speech announcing an immediate dis- solution of parliament. Political affiai^s had now reached a puzzling state. There were three parties in the field, the ministerialists, led by Mr. Hincks, the conservatives, by Sir Allan MacNab, and the clear grits, by George Brown. No one of these parties could hope to be returned in sufficient strength to form a government; so that to close observers the only way out of the difficulty was in coalition. The choice of the conservatives was between joining their forces with the ministerialists, whom they were now savagely assailing on the hustings and through the news- papers for corruption and incompetency, and the clear grits. To the government no choice presented itself : they could not seek coalition with men who had told upon trumpets that they were " steeped to the very lips in infamy," nor could they on the other hand submit themselves to the intolerable tyranny which Mr. Brown had set up in his newspaper ; so they went to the polls in a sort of sullen despair. The most jubilant politician at that election was George Brown, for he believed that the hour of office was at hand. He wab led away by the delusion that ■ J-^ BIRTU OF " Llll Eli AL CONSERVATISM." 175 )f either one of the otlicr two parties in the field would readily join its forces with his own ; but ho did not see himself as others saw him. At the very time that he went about among his folhjwers in a storm of jubilation, telling them tl>at their day was coming, both of the parties, either of whom he thought would coalesce with him on the hint, were pondering how they could get into oflice without making such a compact. Fanny Sijueers supposedNicholasNicklebysmittenof her because he talked with her over the tea; and she went abroad to announce an "engage- ment," forgetting that it takes two parties to a contract. Much like Fanny Squeers was George Brown at this election. Ho was doubtful whether Mr. Hincks could be bullied or libelled into submission to his will, and so concluded to ally himself with the conservatives. To the astonishment of the latter party and everybody else he began to coquet with his ancient enemies privately, and to support them in the Globe. Like Fanny Squeers, he did not deem two parties +o the engagement necessary. Because he was willing to form a compact with the conserva- tives he believed they were ready to coalesce with him. Mr. Brown may have been anxious to see a secularization of the re- serves — no doubt he was — but above all other things he desired to get into powei*. So eager was he for oflfice, and so little did the hereditary evils of toryism count compared with the capture of his own " higher game," that he gave warm support in the Globe and on the platform to no less conservatives than MacNab, Macdonald and Cayley, opposing the ministerial candidates. This portion of Mr. Brown's career Mr. Mackenzie finds the most diflScult of all to whitewash over. But it needs only a few extracts from the biographer's book to show how effectually it resisted his treatment. " That Mr. Brown ever expressed an unqualified wish for the success of the tories," he says on page 32, "is not only without foundation but so palpably absurd as to require no contradiction." On page 52, a contradiction comes, and it is made by himself. He saj's : " Mr. Brown gave his support in certain cases to candidates of the conservative type ^P la T fli % i-1 A m a'' i mf ji*, f w K *■ m (1 :rr j wmm -» n~T~ '^ A 176 LIFE OF Sili JO JIN A. MACDONALO. m on the ground that Uioro was nothing to bo hoped from the ministry." We have made the italics in tlie last quoted passage. It would not have accorded with the opinions so strongly put forward by Mr. Mackenzie, to have it stated that Mr. Biown supported such conservatives as Macdonald, MaeNab and Caylcy, 80 by a 8U(j(jedio falsi the writer tries to leave the imj)ression that support was given only to some indifferent politicians who really might, — and this was a generous admission on the part of the writer ! — be regarded of the " conservative type." Keep still in mind wlio M'ere the " candidates of the conservative type," and then turn to the next page of Mr. Mackenzie's book : " Tho new government was savagely as.sailed by tho Globe. No one could expect that a government in which the names of J. A* Macdonald, Sir Allan MacNab and Mr. Cayley appeared, could be other than hostile to the determined demands of the Upper Canadian people 1 " We are not dealing with Mr. Mackenzie as an historical writer now : that is out of the question ; but we are merely showing how unskilled he is, after all his attempts, in the use of whitewash. Were we to show the value of his statements as an impartial historian, we would merely quote from the page preceding that containing the extract just given : " Mr. Hincks was 'entitled to the discredit of forming a new combination w th the tories." In view of Mr. Brown's attempt and failure to form " a new combination with the tories," the discredit of having succeeded in doing so fell to Francis Hincks ? That is it we suppose. Mr. Mackenzie also forgets that Mr. lli))u" acro»wi tha house to the premier, and the l*ttor answcM**', h»!'" *ith m* ronical bow. The vote showed that ih' ^ainistry did not p,j;ip»«s<8 the c^n- fidence of the house, yet, Mr, Hincks g n>cd, a-" tl# vot* had not been taken oa a question of k 'conUdewtjfi '"^ nee^l not resign till some other sign liad been lorftde. On thq ff^^S^iv^ day the governor-general came down anu .^livered u s 8|Ue4»dll from the throne. Several important measui c-^ were promised, but nothing that ink and pen could put on pap< >• would h%\'e laved the ministry. The latter now saw that thei*' was noth- jig to be gained by postponing the evil day, and ov Friday, the 8th instant, resigned. From the mass of political timber now afloat, the governor-general set about to select some one to form a ministry, and his choice fell upon Sir Allan MacNftb- s- '' 5' ■ niiuiut !■» % I!' > !'/Mf ,^ ij. ! ' 1 I i \ \« t •ffWipiF 11! '4^ il ^1 I. /A- i Ill 4 Ill > It! ':^ I) ii . "if. 178 /,/f^ OF SIR JOHN A. MACDONALD. But John A. Macdonald's was the head that planned the course to he pursued. Mr. Brown and one or two of his lieutenants were alraost bursting with anxiety for several hours after it was learnt that the governor had called upon MacNab, ex- pecting t<» be " waited on" and invited to enter the cabinet. But Mr. Brown was soon to find, like Fanny Squeers, that be- tween himself and the conservatives there was no "engage- ment." A caucus of MacNab's party was held, at which John A. Macdonald was the most prominent figure. He pointed out that the sentiments of the old tory party had been now out- grown by the province, and that the true course was the medium line between effete torvism and the doctrine of the radicals. Alliance, he said, with the clear grits — which num- bered about forty strong — was not to be dreamt of. Their policy was one of impetuosity and indiscretion, and their leader would tyrannize with his newspaper if he could not rule in the cabinet. With the liberal party, which had become deiiached from the extravagant members of the reform side, he said, the conservatives could, without any sacrifice of princi- ple, and with much profit to the country, unite. The secular- ization of the clergy reserves, and the abolition of seigniorial tenure were questions, he added, upon which the country had expressed itself unmistakably; and it was the duty of the government to give effect to the popular wish. While the discussions went on, and messages passed between Sir Allan and some of the ex-ministers, Mr. Brown's excite- ment had grown to a very high pitch, and every one who ap- proached him, he fancied, brought a letter from MacNab. At last, to his utter consternation, he learnt that the conservatives were in communication with some of the ex-ministers, and later on, that a government had been formed, as follows FOR CANADA WEST. Hon. Sir Allan MacNab, President of Council and Minister of Agriculture. m ,/i^;f.'?^:;'^|: ""V^. "'.'■,':■.■ r'"'-V7'- BIRTH OF ''LIBERAL-CONSERVATISM.*' 179 Hon. John A. Macdonald " Wm. Cayley " Robert Spence - " John Ross - Attorney-General. Inspector- General. - Postmaster- General. Speaker Lejiditivii Couac'tl. for CANADA EAST. Hon. a. N. Morin - " L. T. Drummond " P. J. 0. CHAiVJiAU " E. P. Tachk " J. Chaeot - Comm.issioner of Crown Lands. Attorney-General. Provincial Secretai^y. Receiver-General. Commissioner of Public Works. This was the famous MacNab -Morin government, the first liberal-conservative ministry formed in Canada, the combina- tion in which were fused the staid and respectable liberal senti- ment of the province, and the liberalized and broadened form of conservative opinion. With this coalition disappeared from the sta<^e the historic refoi'm party^ the apostate reformers or grits, only remaining. Strictly speaking we have no "reformers" now ; and those v/ho cull themselves such are the descendants of the baffled grits who set up a cry of rage when liberal and conservative sank a few imaginary differences, and blended into a party liberal enough to keep abreasfi of public opinion and conservative enough not to run into excesi;. Meanwhile George Brown's excitement had passed away, and as we have it on the authority of Mr. Mackenzie that he was now anxious to see the reserves secularized, it is natural to suppose that he held his peace till he learnt what the policy of the new government was. But he did no such thing. In the words of Mr. Mackenzie himself, "the new ministry was sav- agely assailed by the Globe." After parliament had met Mr. Mac- donald promptly introduced a measure dealing with the clergy reserves. This act abolished all distinctions between religious denominations by providing that the proceeds arising from all land-sales, after the deduction of expenses, be handed over if f i am 'J ■.«« 180 LIFE OF SIR JOHN A. MACDONALD. to the municipalities in proportion to population, the amount to be applicable for ordinary municipal purposes. Another bill was introduced abolishing feudal rights and duties in Lower Canada, and allowing compensation to seigneurs in cases where vested rights had grown up under the tenure. Since the object of George Brown, according to the Globe and Mr. Mackenzie, was to have a settlement of the clergy reserves made, and since it was because of alleged dilatoriness on Mr. Hincks' part in settling this question that Mr. Brown seceded from the mini:>terialists, his support to a government which swept state- churchism away ought to follow as a matter of course. But it did not. On the contrary, the new ministry was still " savagely assailed by the Globe." It was liot, after all, state-churchism so much that Mr. Brown cared about, though Mr. Mackenzie does not tell us so, but his failure to capture the " higher game." There was some astonishment among the fossil tories at the stand taken by the new ministry ; and John Hillyard Cameron, John W. Gamble and Edmund Turner were utterly scandalized and withdrew their august support. Some of the newspapers of the conservative side expressed regret, and others wonder. The Belleville Intelligencer said : " Who would have fancied that the knight of Dundurn and the Hon. Mr, Cayley would ever have surrendered their principles on the clergy reserve question. That the Hon, John A, Macdonald should have done so, does not astonish us, because we have long known his views upon this question, and that they had undergone considerable change, so far as its settlement would tend to allay the un- natural excitement which has so long agitated the country. Well, these men are to compose the ministry, with the French members, who were part and parcel of the Hincks' administra- tion. So that the changes are confined to the upper part of the province, exclusively." In the legislature the new ministry were subjected to some scathing criticism, and some of those who had not learnt to appreciate the force of the Duke of Wellington's maxim, that ;.,.." ■ ■ / ''' I' ' -: f, ' BIRTU OF ''LIDERAL-CONSERVATISM:* 181 "the Queen's government must go on," loaded conservative ministers with reproach for sitting in the same cabinet with men whom they had so latel}'^ denounced. Mr. Macdonald, oi Glengarry, said, among other things, in a very long and windy speech : " Well, the house met after an adjournment of a year, and amendments to the address hostile to the administration were adopted. Charges of a very serious nature were brought against the administration. The honourable member for King- ston (Mr. Macdonald), who had now gone over to the other side, and was to be the administration leader, stood up in his place in this house and declared that the administration then in power were ' steeped in infamy to their very lips,' and that they were * tainted with corruption collectively and individually, both in their public and private characters.' And yet within three months after, they found the gentleman who made use of that language, almost unparalleled in the annals of parliament, amalffamatiiisr with the administration which he had thus de- nounced ! Could anything have happened which would have taken the people more by surprise ? " The Globe in a calm mood made an estimate of the new min- istry, and said of Mr. John A. Macdonald : "Then we have Mr. attorney -general Macdonald, the only man of any working qualities in the governmont, the only one who can make a set speech in the house, the man who must be the leader in the assembly. Has Mr. Macdonald e/er shown any tendency to reform principles ? Was he not one of the most active mem- bers of the Metcalfe cabinet, the Ojiponent of responsible government ? Is he not known to hoid the highest conserva- tive views ? " This was the same " Mr. Macdonald " whom the Globe had supported when it saw hopes of a coalition with the tories. It is needless also to say, that the inference we ought to draw from this statement, namely, that Mr. Macdonald was one of Metcalfe's ministers, is, like many other things published li 182 LIFE OF SIR JOHN A. MACDONALD. and spoken by Mr. Brown, incorrect. Mr. Macdonald did not enter the cabinet till after Metcalfe had left the country. In December, Lord Elgin, who had lived to see the syatem of goveirnment advocated by his father-in-law in his masterly report* tried and proved successful, sailed for England. His after career was worthy of the man who so ably and fearlessly performed his duty in Canada in a time of perplexity and turmoil. After performing important services in China and Japan, and sitting for a time in Palmerston's cabinet as post- master-general, he was appointed to the vice-royalty of India. While making a progress through the north-western provinces, he was attacked with serious disease of the heart, and died under the shadow of the Himalaj'as, where, at h»s request, and in a spot selected by Lady Elgin, his remains were laid. His successor to the governorship of Canada was Sir Edmund Walker Head. *For extracts frum Lord DurLam'B Rt;port, see Appendix (I). :V-. CHAPTER XII. TACHE-MACDONALD. SIR EDMUND W. HEAD, was bom, in 1805, near Maid- stone, Kent, England. He came of a distinguished and very ancient family which had for an ancestor Richard Head, baro- net, in 1G76. Edmund was educated at Oriel college, Oxford, where he took a first-class in classics, subsequently obtaining a fellowship in Mereton. Here he was appointed university examiner, and examined Lord Elgin, whom he was afterwards to succeed as governor-general of Canada, for a Mereton fellow- ship. An article of his published by the Foreign Quarterly Review, brought him to the notice of the marquis ojf Lands- do wne — who had the honour of " bringing out" Macaulay under almost similar circumstances — and this nobleman prevailed upon him to study ecclesiastical law. He found, however, that theology was not his proper vocation, and, like his giddy-headed kinsman Sir Francis, entered a poor-law office as assistant-com- missioner. In this department he acquitted himself with such excellent discrimination and high ability, that on a change of ministry, though the in-coming party were not of his school of politics, he was appointed chief-commissioner. The poor-law, however, grew into bad odour, though the conduct of the com- missioner was beyond reproach, and the ministry was obliged to reconstruct it. It was felt by the government that a man of Sir Edmund's ability and high character ought to have employ- ment ; and in 1848 they appointed him to the governorship of New Brunswick. This position he retained till 1854, when he was appointed governor- general of Canada. As will bo 183 mHHB *- --"; .'. ■ 'H>-W-71«*^' , V "V 184 LIFE OF SIR JOHN A. MACDONALD. seen by the record of Sir Edmund's Canadian administration, he was a man of a discerning mind and wide experience, who could not be coaxed or driven from the path of duty. Above all his sense of honour was so keen that no consideration could bring him to follow any course that was not in keeping with the dignity and impartiality of the position he held. We shall see him, as we proceed, in trying places, and hear him loaded with reproach for doing his duty. But the snake may crawl upon the spotless stone and cover it with slime, still the purity of the marble will outlive the defilement. Through all the slander and malignant abuse heaped upon Sir Francis during the years immediately to follow, the character of the man assailed stands forth to-day untarnished by any improper act during his administration. The health of Mr, Morin now began to fail him and he longed to be out of the hurly-burly of political life and get upon the bench, a haven where all harassed statesmen believe " the wicked cease from troubling and the weary are at rest." Mr. Morin's resignation disturbed the Lower Canada ]„ '/•'T:' TA CnE-MA CDONALD. 187 half bitter way, he called attention to the difference between George Brown hopeful and George Brown disappointed. But notwithstanding that Mr. Brown had at first supported the re- formers and then deserted them ; and that he ridiculed the clear grits for forsaking their party, and afterwards became the leader of the clear grits himself; and though he tried to ally himself with the conservatives, and savagely attacked the reformera for succeeding where he had failed ; yea, though he had, as we have already stated, supported MacNab, Macdonald and Cayley befwe the election, and ferociously assailed them after the elec- tion, because they would not coalesce with him, and after they had abolished state churchism — the thing for which ho said he had been chiefly contending — notwithstanding, we say, all this, of ail the sins in the political calendar the most hateful in his eyes was inconsistency. He rose trembling with excitement, and poured out a stream of invective on the government, taunting them with corruption, incompetency and dishonour ; and with infidelity to their pledges and the people's trust. Once again temper got the better of the cool attorney-general west. He was observed to tremble and grow white at his seat, while Mr. Brown went on ; and as the latter gentleman took his seat like a subsided volcano, Mr. Macdonald jumped up. It was some time before he could articulate distinctly, but when his voice grew clear and his nerves steady, there was no effort needed to catch his meaning. He accused Mr. Brown of having, while acting as secretary to a commission appointed some years be- fore to investigate abuses said to exist in the management of the provincial penitentiary at Kingston, falsified testimony, suborned convict witnesses, and obtained the pardon of mur- derers in order to induce them to give false evidence. Such appalling 'charges coming from a minister of the government bewildered several members of the house, but others remem- bered that Mr. Macdonald had made similar charges years before, and believed that he had strong warrant for reiterating them now. In making these charges Mr. Macdonald is open to u "i- I t 188 LIFE OF SJE JOUK A. MACDONALD, censure, not indeed for having, as Mr. Mackenzie meanly alleges in his book, preferred them knowing the same to be false, and under the belief that a certain document which alone could exonerate Mr. Brown, had been burnt at the Montreal fire; but in allowing an opponent to provoke him into gravely ma'.in,ij charges that had been substantiated only by rumour. .'Vom all that can be gathered he did not assert the wrong-doing as liaving come within his personal knowledge, but repeated the charges in language of burning passion, and in the words employed by the lips of rumour. After Mr. Macdonald had taken his seat, Mr. Brown arose shivering with rage. He re- pelled the charge in fierce words, said he had taken down th-T attorney-general's statements, and would hold him responsible for them. The house was too much excited to proceed with other work, and the scene in the legislature was the topic for •knots of persons in the street after adjournment. On the following day, Mr. Brown moved for a committee of enquiry and during the discussion Mr. Macdonald expressed his regret at the occurrence of the previous day, but maintained that he had strong reasons then, and still, for believing that the charges he had preferred against the honourable member for Lambton were not without foundation ; though, he repeated, he had not spoken from personal knowledge. The committee brought in a report which neither convicted nor exonerated Mr. Brown, and the house passed a motion setting forth that : "Attorney- general Macdonald appears to have acted under a firm convic- tion of the truth of the charges made against Mr. Brown, and to have been justified in doing so by all the evidence within his reach." Mr. Mackenzie displays a great deal of malice in writing about this event, and endeavours to show that not only Mr. Brown's followers, but leading members of the go^^ernment, reprobated the conduct of Mr. Macdonald. " It was remark- able " he says, "that one of Mr. Macdonald's colleagues, attorney- general Drummond, was candid enough to declare that there was no evidence criminating Mr. Brown. Sir Allan MacNab and •»•»-, TA C/IK- MA CDONA LD. 189 other conservatives took similar ground and Voldly stated their views." The truth of the matter is, both Sir Allan MacNab and Mr. Drummond were at this time hostile to Mr. Maedonald, and would lose no plausible opportunity to discredit him before the house. Sir Allan knew that the desire of all the cabinet members, save one or two, was to sec Maedonald occupy the premier's seat ; while Mr. Drummond had ambitions of his own, but saw that Maedonald was preferred before himself. Some time afterwards, Vhen MacNab was forced out, and Col. Tach6 called in his place, the question of lt?aders]iip in the a.s.^embly arose between Maedonald and Drummond, and because the former was chosen the latter withdrew from the cabinet in high dudgeon. Another of Mr. Macdonald's quarrels during this session in worth recording. On a motion regarding the seat of govern- ment. Col. Rankin, who possessed an exaajjerating tongue, seemed disposed to create some tumult. About this time, stories of dissentions in the cabinet were on everybody's lip, and it was well understood that the government was sick of Sir Allan^ and trying to be rid of him. As Col. Rankin proceeded with his speech it was evident that he was inspired by public rumour, and endeavouring to make his remarks as offensive as possible. He could not understand the course the government had pur- sued in the seat of government matter, he said. " If there was any point on which they ought to agree, he thought this ought to be one, and their not being able to take any decided course showed that they were unfit to hold office any longer. He was well aware that the tone of the remarks he was now making was not consistent with the manner in which he had spoken of the ministry on some former occasions, but it would be remem- bered that he had always maintained an independent position, and had never allowed himself to be describ-d as a follower of the government ; and though he had supported some of their measures, he never regarded them as men of a high order of talent : while anything of a complimentaiy nature which he r>>! W\ ^1 ' 25 100 LIFE OF Sin JOHN A. MACDONALD. had said about them was well knuwn to have been said in irony. He would still support such measures as ho approved of regard- less of the quarter whence they emanated. In looking at the conduct of the government lately, ho cx)uld not lielp thinking of a certain exhibition in Trafalgar Square, called the ' happy family,' which consiistud of a collection of animals naturally the most hostile to each other, but which had been taught to appear before the public as the most harmonious in the world. But one could not help fooling that when the public eye was off them they would indulge in scratches and bites ; and ho thought the ministry were somewhat in the same position ; for notwithstanding their professions of perfect harmony, no great question came up on which they had not 8om< difference of opinion ; and he had no doubt that in private, ike the happy family, they indulged in some of those contests of which the house sometimes saw the symptoms." He was proceeding with some general reflections in the same tone, on the conduct of ministers, when he was called to order by the speaker. He then said that a more fitting opportunity would probably occur before long, to discuss the merits (»f the ministry, and of that he would not fail to avail himself. He '"hen moved that Toronto is a most desirable place at which to establish the permanent seat of government in Canada. When Col. Rankin ceased, Mr. John A. Madonald arose. He ridiculed the remarks of the colonel who, lie said, had been des- cribing happy families and like exhibition -s, with such wit and gusto as would lead people to imagine that he must have been a showman himself ; but he had not said anything of various other exhibitions that had been seen in London, such as Ojib- beway Indians." He confessed, also, that he had gone so far as to compliment the government ; but that had only been done in irony, and probably the motion he had just made was in irony too. He could not believe, however, that the hon. member wan quite so bad as he had represented himself to be, and he thought that the remark must have been an after- thought, for the hon. ■V A;^ "I" TA Oil EM A CDOSA LD. 101 gentleman could never have been so insiiicero as to have voteti on many occuHions with the mniority of the house contrary to hi-j own convictions. These an') ^j i H' :xA\:-. 194 ' ■ t''^"V:>:"^'T'.''' '^' ■■'■''* LIFE OF SIR JOHN A. MACDONALD. in doing whatever they believed to be for the welfare of the government. Sir Allan at this time was a victim to gout, and was frequently unable to attend the meetings of council. It came to his eara that the ministry had resolved at a caucus to put Mr. Macdonald in his place, and his anger knew no hounds. When the paroxysm of his disease was over, he reviewed the condition of afFai»-s, and found, with some exultation, that he was master of tha situation. He was premier he told his friends, indeed blurted it out publicly, not by the suffrage of his con- spirator colleagues,but of that of the governor. He even fancied that he might be able to dispense with the cabal altogether, and rally around him other men who would have sufficient fol- lowing in the house to sustain the ministry. Presently the newspapers began to open fire upon him, telling him that he was a log in the path of progress, that he had been a good man in his time, but that his day was past ; and urging him not to sully a fairly respectable career by becoming a nuisance at the end of his life. Against such a defection as this the old man was not proof, and he shed bitter tears as he resolved to offer a compromise. It was sufficient humiliation he felt to be forced out of the leadership, but it was intolerable that the man he regarded as the arch conspirator should succeed to his place. He met the ministers and informed them that he had made up his mind to resign; but on the condition that Mr. John Hillyard Cameron should succeed him. Mr. Cameron was an indifferent figure compared with the gentleman of the cabinet's choice, but he was not at all conscious of inferiority, and pressed himself forward with much earnestness. Although the ministry was now in a critical condition and staggered under the assaults of the opposition, its members resolved not to accept Sir Allan's offer. They could afford to wait till a- change came, they said, which would not be long. It came sooner than they expected. On the 17th day of October, the previous year, Robert Cor- rigan, a protestant, while attending a cattle show in the parish of St. Sylvestre, Quebec, had been attacked and brutally mur- l ■"-i-J^^fiii.ii.t'-v^i TA CHE-MA CD ON A LD. 105 derod by a gang of Roman Catholic Irishmen. In thy following spring seven of the assailants were tried for the murder in Quebec ; but in spite of the plainest and most overwhelming testimony, they were declared " not guilty." When the verdict became known a cry of indignation was raised through the protestant community of Canada ; and it did not tend to allay the feeling when it was learnt that the jury trying Kelly and his fellow murderers was virtually packed, being composed exclusively of Roman Catholics, and that judge Duval, who presider', was also a Roman Catholic. When any great public wrong has boen done, it eventually cries out from the parlia- ment for redress. On Friday, the 7th of March, Mr. John HUlyard Cameron, who since his rejection by the anti-Mac- Nab ministers was not particular whether he embarrassed the government or not, moved an address to the governor for the production of a copy of judge Duval's charge to the jury. This address the motion affirmed, — and c5ming from a criminal lawyer of Mr. Cameron's standing, the asseveration startled the liouse — " contained statements which could hardly have been made by any man who had anything like a fair acquaintance with the manner in which the criminal law ought to be ad- ministered." The government was in a sore plight. They dared not commit themselves to any measure that cast an imputation on judge Duval's character, for the French Canadians made the judge's cause their own ; while upon the other hand nearly every Upper-Canada member in the assembly demanded that the matter should be sifted to the bottom. On the ni^ht of the 10th, after three days' stormy debate, the motion was put and carried against the government by a vote of forty-eight to forty. Attorney-general Drummond hurriedly arose and moved an adjournment of the house. On the following day ministers asked permission for a further adjournment of two days, and meanwhile endeavoured to bring together their sundered forces. During the term of gi-ace they decided to present the address to the governor, and to subse- : :'fi ^i I S. ^'■pp mm «■■■■ I III r '.t->s 190 i/^^^ OF SIR JOHN A. MACDONALD. quently have a friendly member move a want of confidence in the ministry. Though conservatives as well as reformers would have the disgraceful raiscJirriagc of justice in Quebec investi- gated at much public sacrifice, they were not willing that the liberal -conservative ministry should give place to clear-gritism and newspaper tyranuy ; and when the motion of non-confi- dence was put they sustained the government. It is scarcely necessary to add that the governor did not produce judge Duval's address, for the good reason that it was not in his pos- session, and could not even be assumed to exist ; while, if it did exist, he had not the power to compel its production. The government, however, was shattered by the adverse vote on the Corrigan matter; and while yet engaged in healing the breaches, hon. John Ross resigned the speakership of the legis- lative council. This action was dictated by the attitude of the reform members in the cabinet, who pointed out to him that since the secularization of the clergy reserves had been accom- plished the purposes of the coalition no longer existed, and that they were not willing to form a permanent concordat with a party at whose head was Sir Allan MacNab. Colonel Tach^ took Mr. Ross's place, and Mr. J, 0. Morrison, through the influence of Mr. Macdonald, was admitted into the cabinet. At a later day the enemy would say the sweet tongued siren lured Mr. Morrison thither. It was hoped that this accession would restore the equilibrium between the reform and conser- vative elements of the ministry. The step was endorsed by Mr. Morrison's constituents in Niagam, but was regarded by no small portion of his party for years afterwards as a betrayal of trust. The accession, however, added little strength to the cabinet. It had no effect indeed save to discredit the new coun- cillor before his party, and to satisfy a friendship. Some days later, Mr. John Sandfield Macdonald, who when a storm was to be raised, was always ready to take the part of Ariel, brought in a motion respecting the seat of government, and providing for the abolition of the perambulating system. ■ ^i,ra TA CUE-MA CDONA LJ). 197 ** Out of evil Providence sometimes brings good," attorney- general Macdonald said when "John Sandfield" brought in his irotion. Quebec was then chosen as the permanent capital, and the house was asked to grant a sum of £50,000 to erect legisla- tive buildings there. To this latter proposal George Brown and his grits offered fierce opposition, but the amendtuents they offered were declared out of ordev by the chair. " Make a direct non-confidence vote " said attorney-general Macdonald, *' if you are debarred by the rules of the house from getting the sense of parliament." He would be a superficial man who supposed that a fit of generosity to Brown and his followera dictated this advice. The suggestion was adopted, Mr. Helton moviog that the course of the ministry on the seat of govern- ment and other important questions disappointed the expecta- Mons of a majority of the people. The motion was defeated by a vote of seventy to forty-seven ; but an analysis showed thirty-three Upper Canada members to be among the minority, and only twenty-seven with the majority. For the first time the " double majority " principle was now adopted. It was contended that on a question affecting each division so dis- tinctly as did this, the Upper Canada section of the ministry would be faithless to their trust did they retain office while supported only by a minority of members from their own part of the province. So the Upper Canada division of the gov- ernment, despite the protestations of Sir Allan, who was " tor- tured at every joint," decided to resign. It now seemed as if Providence were about to bring good to the government out of the evil. While the albatross hung about the neck of the Ancient Mariner, there was naught but woe for the unfor- tunate man, but when the disastrous bird dropped off" the curse departed. Sir Allan had long been the albatross about the government's neck, and " worked 'em woe," but on the 2l8t of May he informed the governor-general from the midst of his flannels, that while " not recognising a sectional majority as a sufficient reason for a change of government," no alternative t' « '■■' : '1 t ^ f w^ r A ■•■. /*■' 198 LIFE OF SIR JOHN A. MACDONALD. m m' but resignation was open to himself and his colleagues from Upper Canada. Thus the albatross dropped off, and the gov- ernment was saved. A daring way to seek riddance of an incubus; but the man who planned it saw his course far before him, and was not mistaken. Men are sometimes masters of their fate Cassius tells Brutus, and Mr. Macdonald had steadily climbed the ladder, never failing in his purpose, till, at last, we find him upon the round whither he had aspired. We do not believe the superstitious dame who tells us that this one who has attained fame and that one fortune are " lucky;" the fault is rever with our stars but with ourselves that we do not succeed ; and that " chance," through which they tell us some gain glory and others power, is not chance at all, but "direction which we cannot see." The governor-general called upon colonel Tach<}, president of the legislative council, he being the senior mem- ber of the government, to lead the ministry, but Mr. Macdonald took the reins in the assembly and was virtually the ruling spirit in every department. Mr. Drunmiond, attorney-general- east, the gentleman whom Mr. Mackenzie brings in judgment against Macdonald, had ambition to lead in the assembly and pressed his claims with much persistency ; but the cabinet was not likely to turn from indiscreet impetuosity to respectable mediocrity, and therefore did not entertain Mr. Drummond's proposals at all. " Well, then, I shall not sit in the cabinet," he said. " And you may go," they replied. He did go, believ- ing that the fabric would fall when such a pillar as he had withdrawn its support. Mr. Cartier, the late provincial secre- tary, became attorney-general-east in the place of Mr. Drum- mond ; Mr. Philip Vankoughnet, one of the most thriving lawyers at the bar, and a close personal friend of Mr. John A. Macdonald's, took Sir Allan MacNab's place as president of the council, and Mr. Timothy Lee Terrill succeeded Mr. Cartier as provincial secretary. Two days after the resignation Sir Allan was borne into the house, swathed in flannel, by two serving men. The rumour '■f ; • TA CUE~MA CDONA LD. 199 having gone abroad that the knight'.i ire against Mr. John A. Macdonald was very strong, curio&ity was on ti]i-toe, and members who appreciate "scenes" looked anxiously for the arrival of Mr. Macdonald and his colleagues, in whose absence they did not suppose the explanations proper to the occasion, with the anticipated extra, would be made. But the attorney- general-west and his colleagues judiciously remained away and Sir Allan, muffled in flannels, and seated in his invalid chair, addressed the house. As his colleagues had chosen to absent themselves, he did not deem it proper to make the ex- planations he had to offer. The state of his health, he said, had prevented him from discliarging his duty as he would wish, during the session. " I have been a member of this house " he went on, "twenty-six years, and during all that period I have not been so long absent as during this session. I think the people of this country will receive that from a man of my age as sufficient excuse." He would be ready, he assured the house to meet the ministers on the following Monday to make cer- tain becoming statements, and he would appeal to the poople for a verdict on the cou^-se he had taken. " If I am supported by their voice," he added with i^iuch emotion, " I shall feel that I am right. If condemned, I am ready to retire into private life, — and perhaps I am now fit for little else." There is some- thing touching in the spectacle of an old man bowed with time and pain, telling those gathered around him, some full of higU hopes as he once had been, that the autumn of his days has come, and that he looks now to the falling of the leaf. At such a moment with the grave dimly seen in the background, we can afford to drop the party questions that divide us during our brief sojourn upon the mortal stage and moralize on the in- stability of human things. There was many a moist eye as this old man, who, with all his defects of character, was frank and generous to a fault, told the assembled members that he had been thrown aside — let us add in the murderous struggle. for the survival of the fittest — by younger men, and. that, pei^- ■. ( 0' 200 LIFE OF SIR JOHN A. MACDONALD. haps, he was no longer useful and only fit to die. It is not, how- ever, that we believe a catjustrophe had come upon Sir Allan which was not meet and just ; indeed we can allow our tears to flow as Macbeth, the fiend and victim of a morbid ambition, paces the stage and we hear him wail, " I have lived long enough my way of life has fallen into the sear and yellow Lia'r ' There was genuine sorrow as Sir Allan bade a long farewell to the men among whom for so many years he had been a prominent figure. But turning aside from the humanity that bids us weep when the tree in the fulness of time falls, and the petal drops that is never to bloom again, we find ourselves in a world where tears and sentiment will not satisfy the demands of duty; where the fittest survives, and justly so, and the incompetent gives way to the capable. One of the most important acts of the session was the measure respecting the legislative council. It was provided that councillors already appointed should hold their seats for life (it is probable their positions were regarded as vested rights, though should a merchant or a railway " boss" believe his staff too large he would not allow scruples about " vested rights " to trouble his conscience when discharging such assist- ance as he did not need) ; but that every future member should be elected by the people, and for a term of eight years. The province, for the purposes of the act, was divided into forty- eight electoral divisions ; and the elections were to be held biennially, twelve members to be chosen at each contest. Two months before a joyful thrill had run through the civi- lized world as it was learnt that a treaty of peace had been signed at Paris by the powers. With all the fame and victory- trophies of the war, it had an appalling summing up. Not less than twenty thousand Englishmen who went out to meet the enemy, returned no more. About a sixth of these fell in battle or died of their wounds. Cholera and other diseases engendered by a climate against which the British soldier was not proof, ren- dered a grim return of the rest. England and France thought TA CHE-MA CDONALD. 201 not of the loss of sixty thousand lives, but rang with the fame of the allied aimies. Instances of heroism had been shown by British troops that gave the actors a place beside the lieroes in ancient legend whose valour had filled the world with wonder for more than two thousand years. Many a Canadian flushed with pride as he heard of the brilliant and successful daring of our troops at Alma; many a one compared the unflinching bravely of Fenwick Williams at Kars, the noble if fatal courage of the six hundred horsemen who " rode into the valley of death," to the deeds of the Spartan at Thermopylie, and of Horatius at the Bridge. The treaty of peace was signed on the 30th of March. One of the articles provided as follows: "The Black Sea is neutralized ; its waters and its ports, thrown open to the mercantile marine of every nation, are formally and in perpetuity interdicted to the flag of war either of the powers possessing its coast or any other power." There was an excep- tion by which each power reserved the right of maintaining a force of small armed vessels in the Black Sea to do the duty of a maritime police, and protect the coasts. The navigation of the Danube was thrown open, and the rule was confirmed pro- hibiting ships of war from passing the straits while the Porte was at peace, during which the Sultan undertook to refuse such vessels admission into the Bosphorus or the Dardanelles. Such were among the most important stipulations of the treaty. Some hopeful statesmen believed that the settlement would long endure, and the olive branch flourish perhaps for centuries to come. Lord Aberdeen, who had no heart in the war, pre- dicted that the results would maintain peace in Eastern Eu- rope for " probably twenty-five years." It was not a bad fore- cast. Just twenty-two years later the clangor of arms was heard there again. : 1 i: ' 11 j j '•J^ CHAPTER XIII. THK DOIIDLK SHUFFLE. AS immiorration j)oui'ed into Canada in an ever- increasing stream some public men began to speculate about a time when population would have spread to the limits of Canada, and the pioneer would venture forth into the vast regions held by the Hudson Bay Company. Some began to dream of a day, not far in the future, when a proud nation would be reared between the re|)ublic and the Arctic Ocean ; but there lay as a bar to the realization of the vision the gigantic monopoly by which a private companjheld vast stretches of British territory in the great, unknown Noith-west. Several wise newspapers and public speaker ridiculed the ardour shown about "desolate regions of snow and muskeg, inhabited by the fox and prairie- wolf, a few bands of Indians, and a handful of furriei's and half- breeds." The territory was said to be a dismal expanse, set apart by providence for wild beasts, composed of sterile wastes, and of such a climate that grain would not grow there ; while its summer, — a season afflicted with frosts — was too short to mature even a small potato or a cabbage. The government, however, were fully alive to the importance of getting possess- ion of the company's territory, and to this end, at the sugges- tion of attorney-general Macdonald, negotiations were opened with the British government and the company; and chief justice Draper went to England to represent the interests of Canada. The house met in February. George Brown and his grits were drawn up in line, refusing to be comforted by any man- ner of legislation emanating from the ministerial mind. In this 202 V i. r // E jj o vbl e ^u uffl b. m$ skate of feeling, hostility may fcs? ^,;i»e(iicated of i^'^ir to *lt nieasureH whatsoever not originating oni thoir side nf the Wmuhmf, and we need not retail special mcidt uta. One qu«a»«,iject ; but when the election was done, because his overtures for alliance were rejected, ho thwarted in every possible way the administration which ac- complishcul the legislation for which he had been crying out, a ministry which at a bound placed itself abreast of public opi- nion. The government saw the danger to its own existence in enter- taining Brown's latest [)roposition, but attorney-general Mac- donald did not hesitate to inform Col. Tach<; that the time was Fast con>ing when it would be the duty of his Upper Cana- dian colleagues to take up the question of representation. Mr. Macdonald did not believe the interests of the province thus far had siifTcred anything, or was likely for some time to be pre- judiced by maintaining the representation scale fixed by the union ; but ho was resolved when " the time was ripe " — an expression he was fond of using — to grapple with the question let his party stand or fall. This waiting for the time to ripen the ready critic may deem a vulnerable spot, but it can only be so on the assumption that it is the duty of the statesman to lead public sentiment, instead of to give expression to it in legislation. A fatal mistake surely. We do not send the statesman to the cabinet to do his will, but to do ours : we do not depend upon his talent to devise out of his own conscious- ness legislation which has not appeared to us aa needful ; but to give the right and effectual form to that which we regard as for the ffeneral good. Nor do we believe it to be the function of the newspaper to mo'ild, or to lead, public opinion. There seems to us to be no special need for thinking machinery in a man if the " we " in the editorial column, which may represent a needy law-student or a feather-headed Bohemian, is to think TUE DOC n I, K Sn UFFL E. 20& for !nni on ovcry auhject from killing potato-buj»a to voting on tho National Policy. With tho spread of the habit of inde- pendent thinking, and tho ceaseless activity of the printing press, bringing from tho four winds of heaven knowh'dge of tho revelations and products of every day, the reign of doi^uia has passed. In the middle ages, when a small tallow candle had to shed light for tens of thousands, when the priest thought for tho flock on all important matters, cleric ami lay, ju.nt as one man now grinds grain for another — at ''^ch a time as this, wo .say, when the mind and conscience of tho !>< night('(l being were always in the pocket of .some one else, the dictum of the editorial column would have been a beneUcont aid to tho race. Now, however, the little editor who Injcameacensor of human action and intelligence becau.jc he failed as a schoolmaster or a vet- erinary surgeon, is seen endeavouring to coerce tho public with a lead pencil : every day engaged in the experiment of leading the high-spirited hor.se to the well — .seldom indu- cinsr him to drink. If the statesman have his dutv, so we l)elieve has the journalist. That duty is to give the public facts, not to give them inferences ; to keep a record of the births of busy time, not to fill his pages with distortions. Give the people the facts ; trust to their having sufficient ability to come to proper conclusions. If the Hon. Edward Blake gave forty dollars to the Muskoka sufferers, and David Mills gave them thirty dollars, depend upon Llie public conclud- ing that the joint donation reached just seventy dollars. There is no use in the tory editor saying that the " miserable contri- bution of the two reached a trifle over ^20." Give the public the rein, and have no misgivings. If they have an upset they are entitled to it. The upper house having thrown out the item providing for the erection of legislative buildings, the question was again in the status quo and attorney-general Macdonald suggested to his colleagues a reference of the matter to the Queen for arbi- tration. The clear grits raised a howl against submitting " ;i b, 0? I ■I #S'' if^Mi xt ^c v iPrf f" ^* Fif.l Its 'ii-'HiJUJ-Jll^piP 11(1 F ll* » l#l>>iM H >l| W l|illl fc l« |) !»IWi^ BJN i| 3S ^mmt ■"y^^ptiw mmm I ' '..;"«' 206 LIFE OF Sir 10 UN A. MACDONALD, question cf purely local concern to tne decision of her majesty," and contended that such an act " outraged the spirit of respon- sible government." Mr. Brown and his grits evidently knevir little of propriety or precedents. We believe the custom of submitting questions, great or small, to disinterested parties for arbitration still survives, and that notable cases are on r^jord, such, for example, as the reference of the dispute about the New Brunswick boundary to the king of the Netherlands. The ministry was now, as ministries always are and always will be, held responsible for the reaction in trade caused by lavish expenditure during the period of unwholesome business activity attending the war, and the failure of the crops through- out the country. Some of the ministers began to grow uneasy, but the hand of Macdonald was at the helm, though Mr. Tach^ was the nominal commander, and he steered the ship steadily tljrough the reefs. Late in the autumn of 1857 Mr. Terrii re- signed to give his attention to private affairs, and his place was filled by M. Jacques Loranger. On the 25th of November Col. Tach^, who had grown tired of the worries of state-craft, also resigned, and the governor-general at once applied to attorney-general Macdonald to form a government. At last he found himself on "fortune's crowning slope," invested with the semblance as well as the substance of power. The Upper Canada members resumed their places; Mr. George Etienne Cartier took the leadership of the Lower Canada section, still retaining the portfolio of attorney-general-east. On the day following Col. Tach<5's resignation, the Macdonald-Cartier gov- ernment took the reins. Two days later parliament was dis- solved, and the parties went to the hustii-gs, the clear grits with two shibboleths, " Non-sectarian Schools," and " Representation by Population." The ministrj- took ground that these ques- tions were not then expedient, and as a result Jost in the con- test Messrs. Cayley, Spence and Moriison. But the Lower Canada electors who regarded George Brown as an enemy to their race, institutions and religion — and it is difficult to see r.\ THE DOUBLE SHUFFLE. aof how they could have regarded him in any other lignt — and who were opposed to non-sectarian schools, and somewhat to repre- sentation by population, though not so zealously as some of our historians state, returned an overwhelming body of minister- ialists. Among the new members elected to parliament, the most conspicuous were Thomas D'Arcy McGee, Hector Louis Lang- evin, John Rose, William P. Rowland, Oliver Mowat and John Carling. The new parliament assembled in February. The opposition was in a more tumultuous state than ever, and this condition was due to the announcement that, on the recommen- dation of hon. John A. Macdonald and his colleagues, Ottawa, — which in these later years has been styled by Bystander, " an Arctic lumber village " — was chosen as the capital. In this selection the government had evidently defeated their oppon- ents, though the result was not to be seen for some time to come, and ended a perpetual source of discontent, by the aid of geography. Several amendments to tho address were moved by the opposition, by which it was seen, that, while the min- istry was supported by a considerable majority of the house, it was in a minority in the Upper Canada section. Mr. Josepli Thibaudeau, member for Portneuf, brought in a motion affirm- ing the principle of double majorities, but it was met by the almost entire force of the ministerialists, who were supported by George Brown, Oliver Mowat and many other grit members. Strange to say among those who supported Thibaudeau's mo- tion was Hector Langevin, the member for Dorchester. We say this is strange in view of the great statesmanship Mr. Lang- evin has always displayed through the brilliant and masterly career which has ever since been his. After the ministry had got this troublesome question off its hands, a resolution and several amendments, disapproving of her majesty's choice of Ottawa as a capital, were moved by Messrs. Brown, Thibaudeau, Dunkin, Pichd and othery. Aftei- an animated discussion, Mr. Pichd's amendment, setting forth 1; 1^ i y C. \ "^ppiipp l.,js'' t t i 203 LIFE OF SIB JOHN A. MACDONALD. that, " It is the opinion of this house that the city of Ot- tawa ought not to be the permanent seat of government for the province," was carried by a vote of sixty-four to fifty. Before the word " carried " had left the speaker's lips, George Brown's enthusiasm had passed bounds, and he jumped to hm feet. The occasion helps us to get the measure of the man. " The house " he said, as soon as the cheering ceased, " can have no doubt that the motion just carried expressed an emphatic disapproval of the government policy ; and in order to prove that it means just this, I now move an adjournment of the house." The premier arose perfectly cool, and informed mem- bers that he was glad to accept the challenge of the leader of the opposition. " Let the vote on adjournment" he said, with a slightly ironical tone, " test whether or not the ministry possesses^ the confidence of the house;' Mr. Macdonald knew that while a majority in the assembly was opposed to fixing the seat of government at Ottawa, there was by no means a majority disposed to transfer the reins into the hands of George Brown. When the speaker put the motion to adjourn it was clearly understood that the fate of the ministry hung on the issue. Macdonald was not mistaken. Sixty -one said " nay," ana only fifty " yea." An analysis of the vote, however, showed that a large majority of the Upper Canada section voted with the yeas. After the house adjourned Mr. Macdonald conferred with his colleagues on the situation. " Brown," he said, " has been really doing our work; an ? ' Iiis indiscreet motion shows what our duty to ourselves nov, "j." It was then agreed that the government could strike a decisive blow at the oppo- sition by resigning. The motion carried by the grits was equivalent to a censure on her majesty, and the ministry felt that by resigning they would identify themselves with the cause of their sovereign. Mr. Macdonald never believed that Mr. Brown would have a ghost of a chance to forai an endur- ing ministry, though some of his colleagues were timid, and feared that he would soon gather a number of the " loose fish " A _ » ■,'V - tUE PotJBLE SHUFFLE. 209 around hira. " My mind is perfectly easy on the point." said Macdonald, " I am absolutely certain that he will not be sus- tained in the hoase." Now, one would suppose that Mr. Brown, knowing that a majority was opposed to him, would have hesitated before grasping at glory which could only turn to disaster. The apologists of Mr. Brown tell us that he foresaw his reception in parliament but had faith in the governor granting a dissolution. We believe he expected nothing of the kind. The " higher game " for which he had been so long burning he saw within his grasp, and with the same indiscreet impetuosity with which he allowed himself to call for a test vote after the passage of Pichd's resolution, he would now thrust out his hand for the office within his reach. The fact is Mr. Brown was somewhat incapable of forecast or restraint where personal interest and ambition were behind urging him on. But let us see what happened. The Macdonald-Cartier government resigned, and Sir Ed- mund Head wrote to George Brown ; * * " His excellency feels it right to have recourse to you as the most prominent member of the opposition, and he hereby offers you a seat in the council as the leader of a new administration." Mr. Brown was too jubilant to pause long before replying to this note. " Buy me the captain's commission, mother," said the son in the beleagured city. " The soldiers will be over the wall to-mor- row, my son, and your glory will be short-lived." " I don't ^aie mother, I want to be a captain." And George Brown was not concerned that the enemy would to-morrow break over the wall He did not see that he was in a miserable minority in the house. He wanted to be a prime minister, to grasp the " high game," so he wrote : " Mr. Brown has the honour to inform his excellency that he accepts the duty proposed to him in his ex- cellency's communication, and undertakes the formation of a new ministry." Had Macdonald been by when Brown sealed this lettiir he must have muttered with Antony ; S''' 5*1 !t s> c v\ ■f* 210 Lll'E OF SIR JOHN A. MACDONALD. " Now let it work ; mischief, tlioo art afoot, Take thou wliat courae thou wilt." On the following day, Sunday, in the afternoon, an aide-ie- "camp waited on Mr. Brown and delivered to him a memoran- dum, which the governor-general desired him to submit to his proposed colleagues. This memorandum stated that his excel- lency gave "no pledge or promise, express or implied, with refer- tjnce to the dissolving of parliament," a condition for which Mr. l3rown strongly pressed the governor at a previous interview, re- *:v)iving the same answer. The memorandum went on to show that his excellency was willing to consent to a prorogation with the understanding that parliament should meet again, " say in November or December ; " but an intimation was given that a prorogation would not be granted till " the bill for the reg- istration of voters, ai..! that containing the prohibition of i'raudulent assignments and gifts by traders " had become law. " Besides this," his excellency wrote, " any item of supply ab- solutely necessary should be provided for by a vote of credit, and the money for the repairs of canals, which cannot be post- poned, should be voted. * * If parliament merely adjourns until after the re-election of the members of the government the case is different and the responsibility is on the house it- self." Mr. Brown, as we have seen, had been requested by his excellency to lay the memorandum before his proposed col- leagues, but the grit chieftain did nothing of the sort. That was not his way. Being dictator, if he pleased himself, why need he to trouble about the wishes of his colleagues. So with hot haste he despatched a note on Monday morning informing the governor that he had selected the members of his proposed ministry, and that the latter could not be in a position to discuss any measures or questions of public policy with his excellency till they had 'assumed the functions of constitutional advisers of the crown." Bartizan writers like Mr. Mackenzie have com- plained of his excellency's lack of courtesy and frankness to Mr. Brown, but the discourtesy and lack of frankness, as the THE DOUBLE SHUFFLE, 211 extract last made evinces, were begun by Mr. Brown himself. His refusal to discuss certain quesitions with his excellency at the latter's request, was not alone discourteous, but insulting to the governor-general. It implied that Sir Edmund either did not know the bounds and dignities of his position, or that he was, while putting the latter under foot, trying to entrap the in- coming ministry into his confidence for some sinister purpose. Mr. Brown may not have recognized the duty of one gentleman towards another; but history is bound to take notice of the fads. Mr. Mackenzie describes what we deem the discourtesy of Mr. Brown on this occasion in language somewhat different from ours. He calls it a " dignified rebuke to the governor." About half-past ten in the forenoon of the same day, Mr. Brown waited on his excellency, and submitted the names of his colleagues. The latter were sworn in at noon, and were as follows : — FOR CANADA WEST. Hon. Geouge Brown " J. S. Macdonald " Jas. Morris - *' Oliver Movvat " M. H. Foley - *' S. Connor - - - Premier and Insp. General. - - - - Attorney -General. - Speaker Legislative Council. Provincial Secretary - Postmaster- Gene7'al. - - - - Solicitor- General. for CANADA EAST. Hon. a. a. DoRIOn - - Commissioner of Crown Lands. L. T, Drummond Attorney- General. J. E. Thibaudeau - - - - Pres. of the Council. L. H. Holton - - Commissioner Public Works. F. Lemieux Receiver-General. G. J. Laberge ------ Solicitor-General. Mr. Patrick rose in the house in the afternoon announcing the names of the new ministers, and likewise stating that he had been instructed to say that it was the wish of the government h" I I .-■•r;^-..^, 5- 212 LIFE OF SIR JOHN A. MACDONALD. I that parliament should be prorogued at an early day. Expla- nations as to the policy of the government he hoped to be able to make on the morrow, — but he was indulging in a false hope, if he was not pretending, for the new cabinet was a mass of con- trarieties, and there was not the shadow of a possibility that the administration could evolve a policy within a day, or a week^ or a month. The house was not pleased that it should have been asked to vote for the new ministry blindfold. A state- ment of policy in the most general way would have induced it to extend the ordinary courtesies. When Mr. Patrick sat down, Mr. Bureau rose and moved the issue of a writ for the election of a member in Montreal, to replace Mr. Dorion. But on the motion being put, Mr. H. L. Langevin moved the following amendment : " That this house, while ordering the said writ, must, at the same time, state that the administration, the for- mation of which has created this vacancy, does not possess the confidence of this house and of the country." This amend- ment was seconded by Mr. John Beverley Robinson, son of the chief justice of Upper Canada. A fierce debate began and con- tinued till midnight, when the ministry was defeated by a majo- rity of forty votes. Thus was the fairf ruit which the reckless pre- mier plucked in the morning, turned to ashes in his hand before the beating of the midnight bell. Mr. Langevin and those who supported his amendment have been - '•'•used of violating parlia- mentary courtesy in condemning a ministry without knowing its policy ; — but because it did not disclose its policy was one of the reasons why it was hurled from the eminence upon which it had rashly seated itself. We admit much is due to the cus- toms and courtesies of parliament, but Mr. Brown and his following who had worried and thwarted the government through the session in a manner not quite courteous, deserved everything at the hands of the house that could be done within the letter of the constitution. The vote showed that the assembly was disposed to rebuke Mr. Brown for his con- duct no less than for his indiscreet haste in rushing into offic© VI i 4^ I)t .' TBE DOUBLE SHUFFLE. ,.v ' 'V..-,,. 213 when he knew his opponents had a large majority in the house. " But it reveals a trick," say his defenders. " The trap was set for Mr. Brown." We answer, if Mr. Brown, or any other man who sets himself up as the censor and leader of men, cannot keep Ou. of traps, it is a pity that he should not go into them. Mr. Macdonald had the right, with the attendant risks, of resigning, as any prime minister has at any time, for whatever reason to him seems sufficient ; but it did not follow that Mr. Brown should sacrifice himself to his own unforeseeing and impetuous ambition. Mr. Macdonald saw he wanted to be in office, and that his ambition had become a dominant power with him. He resigned, and let him go in. The parliament made ha^te to turn him out again. We presume, without dis- cussing obsolete courtesies, they had thn i-ight to do so. An analysis of the vote showed that the callow ministry had been defeated by a majority of votes in both sections of the province. In the upper house also a no-contidence resolution was introduced by Mr. Baton, aud after a hot discussion in which Mr. Vankoughnet and Col. Prince assailed the ministry in very able speeches, the motion was carried by a vote of two to one. On the following day Mr. Brown waited upon his excellency and urged an immediate prorogation with a view to dissolution. Once again the governor told him, as he had done twice before, that he could not, from his present light upon the subject, give any hopes of a dissolution. It was now the governor's turn to be cautious ; and to guard against misrepresentation he request- ed Mr. Brown to put in writing the grounds upon which he based his request. One can fancy a certain kind of document presented by a newly-fledged county-councillor to the reeve of his municipality, or a protest made to the chair by a s[)inste» at a meeting held to put down the use of tobacco ; but this document sent to Sir Edmund Head by Mr. Brown is uni- que, we venture to say, in const itiilionu,! literature. One of f • M Ifi y n ' 1 -4^ .1 J:.^v' "«e P ^j B ? '"f i ^- f ' " i*»iiiP-i II " I " %»i^!»«^>iti»*wiW 214 LIFE OF SIR JOHN A. MACDONALD. U t its strong reasons for asking a dissolution was this : " The house they [the ministry] believe does not [)ossess the confidence of the country ; and the public dissatisfaction has been greatly increased by the numerous and glaring acts of corruption and fraud by which many seats were obtained at the last general election." Not satisfied with this the cabinet gives another reason. As it would be a pity not to reproduce it, here it Is : " For some years past strong sectional feelings have arisen in the country, which, especially during the present session, hav«j seriously impeded the carrying on of the administrative and legislative functions of the government. TJie late administra- tion made no attempt to meet these difficulties or to suggest a remed}' for them, and thereby the evil has been greatly aggra- vated. His excellency's present advisers have entered the government with the fixed determination to propose constitu- tional measures for the establishment of that harmony between Upper and Lower Canada which is essential to the prosperity of the province. They respectfully submit that they have a right to claim all the support which his excellency can constitu- tionally extend to them in the prosecution of this all import- ant object." One might have supposed that these two reasons were overwhelming, but the main shot still remained in the lockei', an appeal to the pity of the governor. It waa as fol- lows : "The unprecedented and unparliamentary course pur- sued by the house of assembly — which, immediately after having by their vote compelled the late ministry to retire, pro- ceeded to pass a vote of want of confidence in the present administration, without notice, within a few hours of their appointment, in their absence from the house, and before their policy had been announced — affords the most convincing proof that the affairs of the country cannot be efficiently conducted under the control of the house as now constituted." There is more even than absurdity in this ; there is inaccuracy. It was not true that the assembly had " by their vote compelled the late ministry to retire." The resignation was voluntary ; but .■ ) THE DOUBLE SHUFFLE. 2K> we must be frank enough to admit that it was not done out of deference to any principle or to the sense of the majority of the Upper Canada section of the cabinet. It was simply done- to lure Mr. Brown into a pitfall ; and into the pitfall he went,, eyes and mouth wide open. However, let us see if Sir Edmund's feelings can be wrought upon like the lady-president of the anti-tobacco club. Before touching the grounds on which the dissolution is urged, his excellency, among others, gives the following replies : *' His excellency is no doubt bound to deal fairly with all political parties ; but he has a duty to perform to the Queen and the people of Canada paramount to that which he owes to any one party, or to all parties whatsoever. The question for his excellency to decide is not, • what is advantageous or fair for a particular party ? * but what upon the whole, is the most ad- vantageous and fair for the people of the province. The resig- nation of the late government was tendered in consequence of a vote of the house which did not assert directly any want of confidence in them." His excellency then points out that a want of confidence in the government had been emphatically voted by both branches of the legislature, and adds that he is asked to dissolve parliament by a ministry " who possesses the confidence of neither branch of the legislature." We do not pretend to have so subtle a knowledge of constitutional mystery as Mr, Mackenzie, but we have no hesitation in saying that we think the simple fact last stated was, alone, sufficient ground on which to refuse a dissolution. This is how the governor an- swered the wail made about the legislature voting the want of confidence, an answer all the more eflfective.. because made in re- ply to a man who boasted of being the advocate of the supre- macy of the people through their legislatures, and who had in his memorandum virtually appealed to the governor against the house of parliament. " It is not the duty of the governor-gen- eral to decide whether the action of the two houses on Monday night was or was not in accordance with the usual courtesy of 2 ■> t > i hi^ ,s> .'.: V I' ..«- >. r 216 LZ/'iS; 0/' S//; JOHN A. MACDONALD. parliament towards an incoming administration. The two houses are the judges of the propriety of tlieir own proceedings. His excellency has to do with the conclusions at which they arrive, providing only that the forms observed are such as to give legal and constitutional force to their votes." A striking lecture we repeat from a viceroy to a man who had made so much newspaper thunder against the inicjuity of governors thwarting, or meddling with, legislatures. Some of the reasons put forward by Sir Edmund aj. ainst granting a dissolution are as follows : " An election took place only last winter. This fact is not conclusive against a second election now, but the costs jind inconvenience of such a proceeding are so great, that they ought not to bo incurred a second time without very strong grounds. " The business before parliament is not yet finished. It is perhaps true that very little which is absolutely essential for the country remains to be done. A portion, however, of the estimates, and two bills, at least, of great importance, are still before the legislative assembly, irrespective of the private bus- iness. " In addition to this, the resolutions respecting the Hudson Bay tenitory have not been considered, and no answer on that subject can be given to the British government. "The time of year and state of affairs would make a general election at this moment peculiarly inconvenient and burthen- some, inasmuch as the harvest is now going on in a large por- tion of the country, and the pressure of the late money crisis has not passed away." These, however, were reasons outside of those in answer to Brown's memorandum. The governor s reply to the points in the ministerral paper are worth reproducing. We consider them overwhelming but Mr. Mackenzie says they were only " carping criticism." " The following considerations are strongly pressed by his excellency's present advisers as reasons why he should author- J^-K-0,, t.- , 1.1 • •*»! t \ \ i t HON. OLIVER MOWAT. Kf. .■,-:: .M-'i^sMi il:! i rjli: DOVIiLE SHUFFLE. 217 izc an appeal to tho people, and thereby retain their services in tho council. " (1.) Tiie corruption and brihory alh^god to have been prac- tised at tho last election, and tho taint which on that account is sai attach to tho present legislativo assembly. " (2.) Tho existence of a bitter sectional fouling botweou Up- per and Lower Canada, and tho idtiniato danger to tho union as at present constituted, which is likely to arise from such fool- ing. " If the fii-st of these points bo assumed ax true, it must bo asked what assurance can his excellency have that a new elec- tion, under precisely the same laws, hold within six or eight months of the last, will diffor in its character from that which then took place ? If the facts are as they are stated to be, they might be urged as a reason why a general election should be avoided as long as possible ; at any rate until tlie laws arc made more stringent, and the precautions against such evils shall have been increased by tho wisdom of parliament. Until this is done, the speedy recurrence of the opportunity of prac- tising such abuses would be likely to aggravate their character, and confirm the habit of resorting to them. "The second consideration, as to the feeling between Upper and Lower Canada, and the ultimate danger of such feelings to the union, is one of a very gi-ave kind. lo vould furnish to his excellency the strongest possible motive for a dissolution of parliament, and for the retention of the present government at all hazards, if the two points were only conclusively established, that is to say, if it could be shown that the measures likely to be adopted by Mr, Brown and his colleagues were a specific, and the only specific for these evils, and that the members of the present council were the only men to aUay the jealousies so unhappily existing. It may be that both these propositions are true, but, unless they are established to his excellency's complete satisfaction, the mere existence of the mischief is not in itself decisive as to the propriety of resorting to a general S3 (. . 1. l.-^- . ;•*■. m^ m ^: raf i>». ^V"'. .: ^-:/^^v:'^;. 118 LIFE OF Slli JOHN A. AlACDONALD. election at the present moment. The certainty, or at any rate the great probability, of the cure by the course proposed, and by that alone, would require to be also proved. Without this, a gieat present evil woula be A'oVuiitarily incurred for the chance of a remote good." In conclusion, his excellency de- clined to grant a dissolution. We need not refer to the plea recapitulated under "(1.)" as the governor thoroughly illustrates its absurdity ; but the con- tention of "(2.)," in which dissolution is urged on the ground that " bitter sectional feeling exists between Upper and Lower Canada," and that George Brown should be given an oppor- tunity to establish peace and unity there, can scarcely be re- garded in a serious light, when we remember that the breach between the two sections was in a -^reat measure the work of Brown himself, and that his great aim through his newspaper and in the legislature seemed to be to create discord between the French and English. And as proof of how strong a sense of his nefarious course rankled in the minds of the French Canadian members, on the non-confidence resolution he received but four Lower Canada votes. There was now only one course open to Mr. Brown. He resigned. Those who understand the purpose and chift of Mr, Macken- zie's book need not be told that the character of Sir Edmund Head, in its pages, appears as black as ink and partisanship can make it. Mr. Mackenzie's style is usually clear and incisive — it now and af^^ain suggests the filing of a saw — yet it is hard in the pages he devotes to this question to ascertain what he means, other than to say unpleasant things of Sir Edmund and to cover his idol with glory— perhaps we ought to say with rose-water. Where page after page bristles with this file-cutting censure of the governor, the reader who does not pre- suppose malice naturally looks for a i)lain statement of some scandalous and unconstitutional act of the viceroy. But he will find no such thing. The honour of a chief justice, who in pri- vate life could no more stoop to the baseness with which he is TEE DOUBLE SHUFFLE. 210 charged, than a partisan could say a generous word for an op- ponent, or do him justice, is aspersed ; while the conduct of the governor, upon the testimony of irresponsible rumor and clever surmises, is pictured to be that of a conspirator, and his whole character sought to be covered with obloquy. But we must rule out of court Mr. Mackenzie's unsupported opinion and address ourselves to the facts. The governor, he says — and this is one of his strongest grounds — " was bound as a ruler and as an honest man to see that no impediment should be thrown in the way of his new advisers getting fair play in sub- mitting their policy to the country through the medium of a new election." The " impediment," which we have italicized, meant the non-confidence vote passed by the house. But what would Mr. Mackenzie have the governor do about this vote ? He tells us it was his excellency's duty " to see that no impedi- ment " should be thrown in the way. Would he have the go- ver r go down like the tyrant Charles, to muzzle the legisla- ture If the language does not mean this, it means nothing. His other point, and these are the only two he offers, out- side of the slanders he scatters through his pages, is that the governor should have granted a dissolution to Brown because he had given the latter " to understand, as {)lainly as if he had said it in so many words, that whatever he (Mr. Brown) found it necessary to do he should have his support." We suppose the reader is now able to judge of Mr. Mackenzie's tactics. He deliberately ignores the interview held before Brown formed his government, in which the latter was informed b}'^ his excel- lency that he was not to count on a dissolution ; and the distinct statement in the memorandum, before the ministry was sworn in, or the governor had any knowledge of Brown's choice, that " the governor-general gives no pledge or promise express or im- *plied, with reference to dissolving parliament ; " and charges Sir Edmund with having -deceived Mr. Brown. He shuts his ears to the governor's distinct and repeated woids and elicits a contrary language from his actions. Mr. Brown, however, »< 'I C2' CBi 3! f i'U ■int.- J ■f .1 i i i ■ It-"" ■•» M , ., f: ; •220 LIFE OF SIR JOHN A. MACDO^ALD. understood the governor's language plainly enough, but too elated with the offer of office " rushed to glory " reckless of con- sequences. As a party driver he may have depended on his power of over-awing the governor, though we cannot give him the credit of such foreco.st. He fared little better than the excited son in tlie ' ^leagured city, w^o wanted to be a captain. He wore the honours for foar d and then was out of office, and out of parliament. As to tue governor's conduct throughout the affair, no impartial man will say that it was not beyond reproach, while we cannot doubt with Bjstander, that " hatred of what might be deemed incendiarism, and a sense of the peril which it was bringing on the country, may very likely ha\ e prejudiced Sir Edmund against Mr. Brown," though this wouVi not, and did not, influence the act of his excellency. The governor-general next applied to Mr. Gait, a member of marked abilities and high parliamentary standing, but that gentlemanhad occupied solitaryground, allying himself to neithor party, and was without a following. He declined the gover- nor's proposal, — something that George Brown would not have done — and recommended to his excelljency Mr. George E. Car- tier the la^.e le.ader of the Lower Canada section of the cabinet. Sir Edmund took the advice, and called Mr. Ca 'or, who promptly underi^^ook the task of forming a new ministi . The incoming administration was the same as the Macdonald-Oar- tier government, the only exception being tliat Messrs. Cayley and Loranger were left out and Messrs. Gait and Sherwood taken in their places. The Cartier-Macdonald ministry resumed office eight days after the resignation of the Macdonald-Cartier government. Though Mr. Macdonald had changed places, and, as some who did not like the transposition at the time phrased it, " the car had been put before the horse," Macdonald's was the ruling spirit in the cabinet, although Mr. Cartier was one of the ablest men in Canada. Now during the session of 1857, an act relating to the independence of parliament had been passed, and the seventh section provided that, " whenever any J^ THE DOUBLE SHUFFLE, 221 person holding the office of receiver-general, inspector-general, secretary of the province, commissioner of crown lands, attor- ney-general, solicitor-general, commissioner of public works, speaker of the legislative council, president of committees of the executive council, minister of agriculture or postmaster- general, and being at the same time a member of the legislative assembly, or an elected member of the legislative council, shall resign his office, and within one month after his resignation accept any other of the said offices, he shall not thereby vacate his seat in the said assembly or council." A meeting of pro- posed ministers was held after the personnel of the cabinet had been decided upon, and it was then mooted, that, under the sec- tion just quoted, the incoming ministers, by complying with certain legal formalities, need not go back to their constituencies for re-election, but simply take their seats. The technicality of the law was complied with by M. Cartier, on the Gth instant, becoming inspector-general ; Mr. Macdonald, postmaster-gene- ral ; Mr. Alleyn, provincial-secretary ; Mr. Sicotte, commis- sioner of public works ; Mr. Rose, receiver-general ; Mr. Sidnej'- Smith, president of the council and minister of agriculture. On the following day another change was made and the new cabinet stood as follows : — FOR CANADA Wi:.ST. Hon. John A. Macdonald - - - - Attorney -Geveral. " P M. Vankoughxet - - - Com. Crovn Lands. " John Ross President of the Council " Sidney Smith Postmaster-Oeneral. " George Sherwood - - - - Receiver- General. FOR CANADA EA.ST. Hon. George E. Cartier - Premier and Attorney General. " A. T. Galt Inspector-General " L. V. Sicotte - - - - Minister Public Works. " N. F. Belleau - - Speaker Legislative Council. " Charles Alleyn - - - - Provincial Secretar}/. J ! I f u ij I i -. .-i;.S., ■ .^:7'r''^W^^'^''^^^^ .'■;■-' i .-;''*■' ■ f !' '\T' '*■- . *,;: !^: 232 LIFE OF STR JOHN A. MACDONALD, Thus it will be seen that the new ministry evaded the re- sponsibility of going back for election by accepting within a month other offices than those held at the time of resignation. This was t?^« expedient that has been since known as the " double shuffle." The laws of the land with their technicali- ties, are for cabinet ministers we presume, as well as for shabby clients in inferior courts ; and we are unable to see why a plea which would be respected and irresistible in a court of justice should be re^jarded as a disgraceful trick in a council chamber. Once more, technicalities may be the excrescences of law, but if the writer of " The Last Forty Years " sued his friend to re- cover a loaned pair of boots and won the same on a technicality, would he have the moral generosity to say to the defendant, " Here are the boots ; I recovered them by the mere letter of the law, and not according to its spirit." We do not believe he would. But he is shocked as he writes about ministers retaining their seats by virtue of a technicality, and, after due condemna- tion, utters a sigh, and "dismisses the subject from his pages " If we are not mistaken two cases, almost similar to this, occurred not so very long ago in England. In 1839 Lord Melbourne intro- duced bis Jamaica Bill, but being only able to carry it with a majority of five, resigned. The Queen at once sent for Peel, the leader of the refurbished tory party, and invited him to form a ministry ; but as every one remembers the " question of the petticoats " stood in his way — he could not rule with Lady Normanby — and he had to fall back into private membershij). Her Majesty at the advice of Lord John Russell called on Mel- bourne again, who, with the rest of the cabinet, resumed their oflBces, without, if we remember aright, appealing to the people. Another case in point happened in 1873 when the liberal govern- ment suddenly found themselves defeated on their Irish Uni- versity Bill. Mr. Gladstone resigned, and, by his advice, the Queen invited Mr. Disraeli to form a ministry. Mr. Disraeli, • who did not resemble George Brown, thought the situation over, and concluded not to try his luck in the commons as consti- ' \ ' .' '• >■;". .■'^ ' ■'' '■ " * ■■■ ' ; :..\ ?■■•- / " THJJ DOUBLE SHUFFLE. 223 tilted ; whereupon Her Majesty again sent for Mr. Gladstone, who, with the other ministers, quietly resumed tlicir places. There was no election, if we are not mistaken, in this case either ; yet there is nothing on record in England about single or double shuffles. The case here differed somewhat, but not so as to change the constitutional principle involved in the English cases. There was a slight legal barrier in the w.ay in Canada, and it was avoided by taking advantage of the letter of the law. But we have to repeat that the client who would, in one of our courts, take advantage of a technicality to gain his suit, is ineligible to cast a stone at the actors in the double shuffle, unless it be assumed that politicians have more honour, or ought to have, than other men ; a contention which we deny. The new government was supported by a good majority, and during the session passed a number of important meas- ures. Since a quietus had been given to the question of double majorities, a desire for representation by population had taken deep root in Upper Canada. The question of " Protection to Home Industries," as a direct issue, came up for the first timo during the session of 1858, being introduced by Mr. Cayley, though, as we have already seen, it had been discussed before in connection with certain tariff changes. During this year science accomplished one of its wonders, in connecting Europe and America by the Atlantic cable. During the year, likewise, the 100th regiment was organized, and that highminded politi- cian of stainless name, Robert Baldwin, passed to his rest. m f. '-;-:^t ;»! m CHAPTER XIV. TRANSITION. WHILE Canada was strugf^ling for responsible government, reformers were engaffed in a similar conflict in the mari- 'ft"©^ time provinces. Tliere, it is true, the question of races, which lay at the bottom of most of the tumult in Canada, did not exist ; but both in Nova Scotia and New Brunswick the will of the people was threatened by the domination of a Family Compact. The chief cause of discontent in New Brunswick was the con- trol of crown lands and timber by a commissioner responsible only to the imperial government. This official received a hand- some salary, sold the lands according to his capri/^e, retained fees and perquisites, and defied the house of assembly. During the session of 1832 the latter body presented an addiess to the governor praying that he would cause to be laid before the house, annually, a detailed statement of the receipts of the crown lands department. In their zeal for the welfare of the province the members went too far, however ; for the governor haugh- tily refused to grant the demand, and left the impression that both himself and the executive, especially the commissioner of crown lands, regarded the request as an insult. Messrs. Cha'les Simonds and E. B. Chandler were then deputed to go to Eng- land and press upon the colonial secretary the necessity an'^s justice of handing over the crown lands to the control of th« legislature. As a result of the mission, Lord Stanley, the fol- lowing year, proposed terms which satisfied the assembly • but there was a hidden hand at work, and the irresponsible commissioner went on selling lands at choice terms to friends- l>-?4 .'•■'-•/'''J V '- ^^^''f •'■ .^*.' ".'.i ■ TRANSITION. 226 and wealthy speculators, without making the desired return of receipts. In 1836 the blood of the house of assembly again began to rise. An address was presented once more asking for detailed accounts of the sales of crown lands and tim- ber, but the governor presented a mere general statement, again baffling enquiry. An address to the king was then passed praying for redress, and Messrs. Crane and L. A. Wilmot were deputed to lay it at the foot of the throne. King William ap proved of the prayer, and the outcome was that the net amount of casual and territorial revenue was placed at the disposal of the assembly, the latter undertaking to provide a permanent civil list of £14,.500, annually, for the payment of public offi- cials. The decision of the home government went sorely against the grain of the governor, Sir Archibald Campbell, and he despatched Hon. George F. Street to the colonial office to endeavour to " undo the mischief." The fact is the governor was sincere in believing that public moneys should not be trusted to legislatures for expenditure ; that they were only safe in the hands of some man like the commissioner wlio was be- yond popular control. The governor was a soldier, and his whole being was pervaded by the military instinct. He re- garded the people much as he looked upon the troops under his command. The duty of the commander was to give orders ; that of the soldier to obey. What could the troops know of expenditure, and the order or economies of campaigns. What did the people or their house of assembly know of how govern- ment should be administered or public moneys expended. The truth is Sir Archibald was like some extinct animal restored, which had broken loose and wandered out of past ages down into a time when a higher order of creatures moved upon the planet — when the dawn-light of liberty had burst upon the world in all its virgin freshness. In the summer of 184)8, as we have seen, toryism made its last appeal to Canada, and then fell never again to raise its head. Its fall was not without an influence on other provinces o • ; .)'■ K\. c 1 ± •4 1 ',f O li f i 'S' in ! ■. f >,. ■ III ".•".' v 328 /.//'i; OF SIR JOHN A. MACDONALD. than Canada. Lord Falkland, the governor of Nova Scotia found a coalition on his arrival in that province in 1840, fiirailar to that established the following year in Canada under the union ; but as his term of office advanced he learned from Metcalfe, the Canadian scourge, the plan of making ap- pointments, and committing the government to certain acts c^ jx)licy, without the consent of the reform members of his cabinet. The result was that Joseph Howe, the chief reformer of the administration, and his liberal colleagues, resigned, as Messrs. Baldwin and Lafontaine had done in Canada. After Falkland had succeeded in distracting the province, and several wittj'^, if not scurrilous, reformers had loaded him with abuse aj\(k ridicule in prose and rhyme, he was recalled, and Sir John ilarvey, the " political pacificator," removed from Newfound- land, and appointed in his place. The new governor at once tried to construct a ministry out of the timber of both parties, but Howe was sick of coalitions, and said that as it was now die eve of a general election he would wait for " a better pro- position than that." The election came in 1848. As Howe had foreseen, the Compact were routed, to use the newspaper phrase •c)4 the time, " horse, foot and artillery." They laid down their «,vms, and Howe's patience, if not patriotism, was rewarded by being called on to form an administration. In the same year the question of responsible government was put to a test in New Brunswick. Mr. Charles Fisher, the member for York, framed a resolution affirming that the terms of Earl Grey's •despatch of 1847 were as applicable to New Brunswick as to Nov^a Scotia. The most important point laid down in this despatch was that no ministry could hold its place unless it commanded a majority of the house of assembly. The resolu- tion was debated with much fervour, and when the ministry 'saw that it was certain to be carried, like Richard, they turned suddenly around and joined the insurgents. The surprise at this change of attitude was not greater, however, than that occasioned by the entry into the tory cabinet, a few days later, !!!' TRANSITION. 227 of Charles Fisher and Leniuol Wilmot. Had these two gentle- men possessed the patience, or the patriotism, of Joseph Howe, they might have reaped the same rewards with a full measure of honour at no distant day, as the province was prepared, wlien the opportunity came, to cast aside the remnant of what had been so long a galling yoke. But Fislior and Wilmot were both vreak and vain men. The lure of office, even under circumstances that compromised their political honour, was more than they could resist. The next question of importance that stirred the maritime provinces was the scheme of con- federation. During the session of the Canadian parliament which met early in 1859, the decision of her majesty in selecting Ottawa as the capital, or rather the compromise, of Upper and Lower Canada, was brought bcfoi'e the house, and ratified after a stormy debate by a majority of five. One of the most impor- tant measures of the session was the adoption of a " national policy." Mr. Gait, the inspector-general, introduced the reso- lution, the most important feature of which was an increase of from fifteen to twenty per cent, on non-enumerated imports. The duty was so laid on as to give protection to certain classes of Canadian manufactures, and the author of the measure was Mr. Isaac Buchanan, of Hamilton, who had given life-long attention to trade questions, and believed that it lay in the power of legislatures to make or mar commerce. In this same session the term inspector-general was abolished, and "Finance Minister," which, under our budding nationality, has become such an important name, adopted in its stead. The first minister of finance in this country, the reader will hardly wonder at being told, was Mr. (now Sir) Alexander Tiiloch Gait- The most important measure the session brought forth wa-s the address which both houses passed, praying that her majesty, accompanied by the prince consort, and such other members of her royal household as she might sjlect would gi*aciously "deign to be present at the opening," in the following year, of the '*'',, I 1!! 1 .■^f. \ It »t u !«„4J- .;.... •■i- "^.■- i^^- •»»-,\,-:\»i 228 LIFE OF STli JOHN A. MAC DOS AID. li ;! -^: I ( > ' H ' ■> |t-:'!t ;■ ' % 1 •■ '* ■-■:' !■ l£ ! \ f^ 1 ,; 1 '■Hx- ■ 1 .Sr'^ If \h Victoria Bridge across the St. Lawrence river at Montreal. Bridjje-buildinjj: was not so common in Canada then as it is now, or the house would not have thought of routing out the whole royal family to coino over here on the occasion in (juostion. They sent the speaker of the assembly, Mr. Henry Smith, over with the addi ess and to receive her majesty's reply. We may as well state here the result. Her majesty could not leave the seat of empire, much as it would have ]>loased her to be present at the opening of a bridge in Canada, but she generously resolved* to send her son, Albert Edward, then in his nineteenth year, and up to this time having a good charac- ter — so far as the public knew — to be present at the event. It is true it was a saciiHce, greater than any reader of this book can imagine, for the prince to undertake a journey out to this rough country, but so great was the regard for the welfare of the colonies that he shut his eyes to the hardships and came. We shall tell in a paragrai)h in its proper place all that it is necessary for the reader to know about the visit. After the close of the session, which took place in May, the offices of government, after a strong protest against the expense, by a number of Upper Canada membejs, were removed to Quebec, where they remained till they were finally established at Ottawa, six years later. During the summer following prorogation the feeling rapidly grew in Upper Canada, that, since the abandonment of the double-majority principle, representation by population could alone save the upper province, now making rapid strides for- ward in progress and spread of population, from French dom- ination. During the late autumn a monster reform convention * Rev. Charles Pedley, who wrote a " History of Newfoundland," dwells raptur- ously on the " sentiment of reverent and tcrateful loyalty," shown by the colooista "towards the royal lady who had entrusted her son to the hospitality of the distant subjects of her realm " (p- 448). The same excellent historian regards the visit oj the piince to St. John's, N. F. , as an occurrence of greater moment than the laying of the Atlantic cable, which had been accomplished two years before the date of th« royal visitation. .«r TliANSlTION, 220 composed of (ielegates from all parts of the upper province, was held in Toronto to " consider the relations between Upper and Lower Canada, and the financial and political evils that had resulted therefrom, and to devise constitutional changes fitted to remedy the said abuses and to secure good government for the province," A number of speeches aflame with denuncia- tion of the government were made, and before the gathering dispersed a " constitutional reform association " was organized to press forward a scheme for a repeal of the union, and the establishment of two or more local governments, with a joint authority having control of matters connuon to both sections of the province. A scheme for a confetLuation of all the British North American colonies was proposed at the conference, but the general opinion was that such a measure was so beset with 3J 2 1 I. rflT'l i , if II 'I ft -r ■ LIFE OF SIR JOHN A. MACDONALD. tion press. Wo cannot bu», admire the man who for the sake of satisfying friendsliip would brave obloquy, and challenge serious dangers ; but we have not much admiration for tlie man ■who would accept favours at such a risk to a chivalrous friend. If Macdonald owed a duty to fiiendship, so too did Morrison; and the duty of the latter was not to enter the cabinet, or, having entere«4 it, to have resigned when the enemy began to sound a censure upon their trumpets. The next session opened at Quebec, in February The "abundant harvest," such as was the custom in the beginning, IS now, and ever shall be, was touched upon, and in such tv manner that the allusion, like at this day in the documents planned by Mr. Mowat, and by the subject of this biography, read like an insinuation, that, while providence was to be thanked for the said bountiful harvest, the ministry was also entitled to a .share of the credit. The government was sus- tained by majorities obtained from the Lower Canada mem- bers, and the enemy declared that Macdonald was bound neck aad heel to the French. No one in the house more deprecated the necessity of resorting to French-Canadian majcities on all questions which touched the existence of the government than ihe attorney-general-west, but he believed that a change was coming. The tyranny of George Brown was so galling, that all the members of the grit party who had any spirit were looking for other leadership. Several liberals of standing re- fused any longer to follow Brown's lead ; others became dis- gusted and grew lukewarm about the fate of parties. One day while major Thomas Campbell, the member for Rouville, and a liberal of high standing and much ability, was making a speech, ho called upon George Brown to " relinquish the leader- ship of a part; with vrmch Fieneh-Canadians could never unite so long as he was at its head." The friendship of George Brown had proven to many Lower Canada members what the upas is to him who rests in its shad). Yet it was George Brown, if our readers remember, who put forward as one of «■'*■ TRANSITICy. his strong grounds for ur;,Mng a dissolution upon Sir Edmund Head, that discord existed between the English and French, and that his government had a .specific to lical the sores. But although Mr, Brown saw that his followers were dropping off and looking for another leader, he bont himself vigorously t<> work. He prepared and moved two resolutions, setting forth that the union was a failure, and that the true remedy lay in the establishment of two or more governmunts having jurisdic- tion over local affairs, and a supreme joint authority," charged with such matters as are necessarily common to both .section* of the province." Resolutions were introduced with the ablest; speeches, it is said, that Mr. Brown ever delivered, but were defeated, one, by a vote of CG to 27, and the other by 74 to 32. As this was a black-letter year in Canadian annals, tho famous 18G0, during which a prince of the reigning house, and the heir apparent to the British throne and dominions, was to visit Canada, the legislature [)rorogued in May, with the under- standing that it was to meet again in the summer to give a suitable welcome to the royal visitor. When the chariot of Zeus was seen in the clouds by the armies hurling their might against Troy, a flutter went through warriors who showed no emotion before the ruinous spear of the foe ; for now a " god was coming." Harsh thunder, too, grated across the heavens, and the hills shivered at the approach of this gi-eat deity. When it was known that the prince of Wales was actuall^r afloat in the Hero bound for Canada, the hearts of colonists* began to bound, and a feeling of awe came over them like that which passed through the serried ranks of the Greeks, wherh Jupiter's wheels were seen in the thunder-smoke. Some o£' our people could not convince themselves that the visit was & reality and not a myth. Was it possible, they mentally asked, that the prince, in actual flesh and blood, the heir of a king- dom, was actually to be in our cities, to put his foot on our streets, to eat our bread and drink our milk, like an ordinary human being. To do justice to the Greeks, they had an exc7«se ' o p 232 LIFE OF SIR JOHN A. MACDONALD, MJ: for their perturbation, for he who filled them with awe was not »ome frail, earthly creature like themselves, whose corpse would one day make a banquet for the worms, but a god dis- encumbered of flesh, and framed of spirit and ether, who held the winds arid the lightnings in his hands, and who in battle plucked up the hills by their wooded crowns and hurled them at the foe. There was no similarity in 1800 between Zeus and Albert Edward, nor has any appeared since — unless it be in their morals. In July the Hero, bearing the prince and his suite, and followed by a fleet of war vessels, ai rived off" those grim cliffs of Newfoundland, that rise like cold, haughty Titans out of the never-resting sea. The cormorant, and the guillemot, and the ticklace, and the sea-mew, and all the feathered broods that rear their young on the rocky cliff'-slielves in the summer time, twisted themselves upon their terraces as the great pro- cession, bearing the body, passed, but gave no other sign. The convoy sail pheer for the steep when, suddenly, the adamant cliff opens, and the ships steal in between two plumb rock-walls that tower several hundreds of feet into the blue. These rise from the base, clean cut as if from the chisels of the gods, and y^a hear the waters, as deep at the foot of the cliff" as in the channel's centre, lapping against the rock as the ships move in. Cannon look down into the vessels' decks from the forts on the hill-tops, and a chain stretches across the narrow water-path — a path so narrow that you listen, as each ship passes in, to hear the grim rocks gride her sides. This was a more glorious sight for the prince, if he was able to appreciate it, than all the arches green bushes could make, all the mottoes that commit- tees could devise, all the addresses that mayors and corporations could grind out upon pink-bordered vellum. We are not aware, however, that the gre.vt Architect of the universe fashioned the^ St. John's Narrows merely to give a pleasant surprise to the prince of Wales in 18G0. From Newfoundland the young gen- tleman sailed for Halifax, and thence proceeded to St, John and Fredeiicton, N, B,, in all of which cities he was honoured to thaksition. 233 the fullest extent of the people s ingenuity. From Fredericton the party proceeded to the little, flat meadow-province, with the coy motto, " Parva sub ingente " ; and from its capital set out for Canada. At Gasp^, famous lobster-fishing grounds, they were met by the governor-general and the members of his ministry. A grand reception took place on the 18th of August at Quebec, and, on the 21st, both branches of the legis- lature presented addresses to his royal highness expressing their loyalty and devotion tu the throne and person of his mother. Before the prince came out they created him vice- king of all the British Noi th American colonies, so that he had the power of turning any inhabitant he chose into a knight on coming here. Messrs. N.F.Belleau and Henry Smith, speakers of both houses of parliament, had the dignity of knighthood conferred upon them — and felt more comfortable for the rest of their lives. On the 25th of the month the prince accom- plished the task for which he came over here. He laid the keystone of the arch of Victoria Bridge, and fastened the last of a million rivets. Some mothers had babes afflicted with king's evil, which tliey were going to carry to the prince that he might lay his hand upon and cure them ; but some of the fathers and grandmothers said it would be no use, as he was not yet a king ; that only the king or the queen had the "' virtue in the hand." A week after the prince had finished Victoria Bridge he laid the foundation stone of the proposed parliament buildings at Ottawa. He did not, we must say to his credit, ridicule the day's operations to his guardian when they were both alone in the evening, like a near ancestor of his, who, having performed a similar task, said contemptu- ously to some of his suite that he was " tired of this ditch dig- ging." The prince then made a progress through the western portion of the province, visiting the chief towns and cities in the route. The populace was giddy with excitement, and each city tried to outdo its neighbour in rearing arches and flaunt- ing welcome-legends. The Orano-emen of Kingston, Belleville, »' c::: tnii Vi--" .1 Jjl !,,^,^,,;,.; •234 ./":(':• '~'i'_'.,x.'' i'''% vj-'-y^^.'^^. LIFE OF SIR JOHN A. MACDONALD. and Toronto exhumed the cerements of the Orange king, and hung them on arches, but, in the latter city, the regal party turned their horses' heads and proceeded by another street. The Duke of Newcastle declared that he would lend no coun- tenance to displays of party that were not conducive to the public peace and good- will. The Orangemen took bitter revenge on the duke, for they burnt himself and the governor- general that night on Colborne street. The fuel, however, was only effigies. Before setting out for Canada the hospitalities of the republic were offered the Queen for her son by President Buchanan, should he choose to pay a visit to the United States. After the Canadian visit had ended, the prince and his suite accepted the president's invitation, and the reception met everywhere in the republic was so cordial that the Duke of Newcastle declared that the visit did more to cement a hearty feeling between the two countries than half a centuiy of dip- lomacy. But the duke was not a seer, and could not forecast some threatening clouds soon to cover the face of the briofht sky. The calculation of the diplomatist after all is a science as inexact as that of the weather prophet. During the autumn Sir Allan MacNab, like the ghost of Hamlet, appeared again upon the scene, and was elected to the upper house. In 185G we dropped some tears over the old man as we saw him, swathed in flannel and racked with pain, bidding a long farewell to his companions in the assembly. Shortly after the scene was ended a baronetcy was conferred upon the deposed leader, whereupon he mastered his gout for the nonce, and turned his face toward England, where, near his sovereign, he resolved to spend the remainder of his days. He had not been well settled in England, when, bethinking him of his career and honours, and how dear he must be to the heart of the empire, he persuaded himself that he could defeat Admiral Pechel, who was a parliamentary candidate for the town of Brighton. But the triumph of the admiral helped the poor baronet somewhat to realize that he had probably over- ?ij- ■ HV^V^^"-"'" •'' '"' '' TRANSITION. 235 rated his standing witli the empire; nnd he retuiTicd to Can- ada, to be elected, as we hav^ seen, in 18G0, to the legislative council. The session of 18G1 was interesting to those who had begun to look with alarm upon the ever-increasing strength of the reform party. It is related by those who were intimate friends of Mr. John A. Macdonald, at this time, that he was not less " busy holding his own party together, than keeping his oppo- nents in hot water anwng themselves." It is not known in what way he succeeded in promoting discord in the rank^, of his opponents, but he remarked one day quite eariy in the ses- sion, while some ministers sat smoking in the council chamber r " John Sandfield is at last in our service ; he is now on Brown's track." It must not be understood that there was any collu- sion between the two Macdonalds, nor is it above question that the attorney -general- west was responsible for some of the dis- cords among the reformers attributed to his " machinations." His readiness in penetrating the situation of his opponents, and his accuracy in forcasting their movements, often led less powerful observers to believe that he had originated the discords he fore+old. Notwithstanding the tact and finesse of Mr. Cartier, several of his jjrominent followers began to break away from restraint, and range themselves in opposition. For the past two sessions one man alone maintained the government in power, and that man was George Brown. "If anything should happen to Brown," Macdonald used frequently to say jocosely, though the joke was pregnant of truth, "the government would be done for." The movement to which we have already re- ferred, in the reform ranks, and which John A. Macdonald had predicted, now became apparent to the public. John Sandfield Macdonald and George Brown could no longer disguise their hostility for each other ; and the public saw that thej'e was a struggle between the two men for the mant) 3 of leadership. But so long as the rivals stood in the same parliament, which ever succeeded, the government had nothing to fear. Yet Mr. '% ,,.,,, fcli M" :i- iP, a 1 I !l ■HHHP mm 'i ' iii^':^ V ml 4 m III •■ f; - . ttF' M ■If \\ ,■^': II n ¥■•. Ill r§- p 236 L/Fi; Of -s/ie joiix a. macdonald. Caitier changed colour when ho Icaint that, Messieurs Sicotte and Loranger had forsaken him and leagued themselves with Mr. J. S. Macdonald. Mr. Dorion, fo whom the friendship of Mr. Brown was not always beneficent, was removed from the leadership of the Lower Canad** opposition on no other pounds than that he had been on terms of political intimacy with the man who was an enemy " to the religion, the institu- tions, and the very existence of the French people." Yet Mr. Brown wanted to heal " sectional difTerences " between the two provinces ; and Alexander Mackenzie says Sir Edmund Head was guilty of treachery in not giving Mr. Brown an oppor- tunity to do what he intended. A few weeks before the open- ing of the session, a census had been taken, which showed that the population of Upper Canada was 300,000 in excess of that of Lower Canada, though twenty years before, at the formatioai of the union, the population of the lower province exceeded that of the upper by 200,000. The logic of these figures, in the •contest for representation by population, was irresistible, though Mr. Cartier resisted the measure with a fervour that seemed like ferocity, and vowed that he would never consent to a chanixe which aimed to sacrifice the interests of his section of the province. Mr. Cartier has been censured for taking this attitude by several writers, who view the question from tJheir own peculiar ground and th( present time ; and one of these tells us in referring to Mr. Cartier, that " on this particular question .... the lawyer and the sectionalist were seen everywhere, the statesman and the Canadian no- where." * The writer of this assertion ought to have remem- bered that union was not granted to Lower Canada, but forced upon her ; and that by the terms of union she was allotted onl}' as many members as Upper Canada, though her population exceeded the latter's by 200,000, at a time, when, to all obser- vers, the possibilities of increase in the upper province were no •Dent : " Portrait Gallery." /' . TRANSITION. 237 greater than those of the lower. But while this might have served as a justifiable excuse for the ground taken by Lowei^ Canada statesmen in opposing the demand for increased rep- resentation for the upper province, because the population of the latter exceeded that of her partner by 300,000, there was a reason overshadowing this why no alteration should be made, a reason that also absolves Mr. John A. Macdonald and his Upper Canada colleagues from the imputation of disloyalty to their own section by supporting the position of Mr. Cartier^ The very virtue of the union consisted in the equality of poli- tical power held by each section of the united province ; where- as, the n. -lent that balance was destroyed, a larger represen- tation given to one portion of the province than to the other, the virtue departed, and one section became bound neck and heel to the will of the greater forever. There were two ways by which justice couh^ be done to one and both : these were union on terms of equality, or separation. There was one other alternative, but it lay far in the back ground, and that the plan of giving to each section a parliament to deal with its local affairs, and the establishment of a supreme legislature, with jurisdiction over such measures as were common to both. But so long as the union was maintained, and the wisdom of the connection under the circumstances no one is blind enough to believe, it was the duty of Mr. Cartier and of John A. lilac- donald, and of every man to whom justice was dearer than any interest, even the interest of their own section, to resist the scheme for the adjustment of representation by population, though the inhabitants of Ontario exceeded those of Quebec by two to o'^.e. Yet the people of the upper province whose minds were excited by demagogues, were not in a mood to do justice ; and on the eve of the elections, which took place in the summer, it was evident that the ministry would have difficulty in breasting the current. Among several other charges brought against the administration on trial before the constituencies, was that of having kept Mr. Joseph Morrison in the council ft. I ■k .I't 238 LIFE OF SIR JO UN A. MACDONALD. deapite tlie fierce remonstrances of the house, and the bitter, but reasonable, censure of the reform press. The action of Mr. Macdonald in retaining Mr. Morrison in the ministry, for we believe the action to have been his, passes our understanding, and seems like the infatuation that has sometimes led sove- reigns to retain favourite ministers against the will of the nation, though, through their obstinacy, their thrones have trembled. Meanwhile the country was in a gale of excitement anwit the " election campaign," Several stalwart warriors fell in the battle. Mr. John Crawford, a prominent politician in his day, vanquished George Brown in east Toronto ; while the whilom friendship of the Reforn leader proved fatal to the fortunes of Messieurs Dorion, Thibaudeau and Lemieux in Lower Canada. For the first time when the new parliament met the sharp, matter-of-fact face of Mr. Alexander Mackenzie was seen at one of the desks. The figures of Henri Gustave Joly and Henry Elezear Taschereau were likewise seen there for the first time. Mackenzie represented Lambton. In 1842, be- ing then in his twentieth year, he came from Perthshire, Scot- land, to Canada, and settled at Kingston ; but removed thencC' five years later, to the neighbourhood of Sarnia where he plied the trade of a stone mason, and engaged in large building ope- rations. It soon became apparent that he was a man of su- perior ability — though self-made — of untiring industry, and that he possessed a character of the highest integrity. He was a pronounced reformer from the time of his settlement in Canada, and seemed to be drawn towards George Brown, who w^as like himself of humble origin, and a Scotchman. For a time Mr. Mackenzie edited a reform newspaper in Sarnia, and in 1861, when, his brother, Mr. Hope F. Mackenzie decided not to again become a candidate for Lambton, which he lately re- presented, Alexander appeared, and, as we have seen, was suc- cessful. We shall find a good deal more to say of Mr. Macken- zie, who is not our ideal of a statesman — (but who certainly •vy., ■'-.,*• •' *■■■"■ ■■'■^'■J. ;," vi;-'.-,f TRANSITION, 23d makes a better statesman than a liistorian) as our story pro- gresses, and shall not anticipate. In October Sir Edmund Head sot out for Enijland, his toim of administration having expired. A wrecked ambition never lacks bitterness towards the rock on which it finds disaster. It was no wonder then that the Globe pelted the departing vice- roy with every missile at its hand. But through all the tur- moil of party strife, the governor, if we have read the records aright, did his duty with resolute and digniHod judgment ; although he refused to do an act which was inexpedient, un- timely and improper, merely because it would forward Mr. Brown's ambition. There may have been better governors in Canada than Sir Edmund Head, but we are unable to discern any errors of judgment in his administration ; or the trace of any act that shows he did not strive to the fullest of his powers to do his duty. Despite the violence of the Globe, and the animus of Mr. Alexander Mackenzie, he appears to all im- partial readers of Canadian history as an honest man. Sir Edmund's successor to the governorship was Lord Monck, who reached Quebec, in October, 1861. The new governor, the fourth viscount of Monck, was born at Templemore, in the County of Tipperary, Ireland, in 1819. He was a descendant of the Le Moynes, an ancient and honourable Norman family. He was called to the Irish bar and sat in the commons for some years as a representative for the English constituency of Ports- mouth. Under the Palmerston administration he was ap- pointed lord of the treasury, and was a respectable, though not a brilliant, figure in the government. In 1857 he fpHed to secure reelection, and dropped out of public life till his appoint- ment to the governorship of Canada. The new governor reached us at a time when there were foi-ebodings, on the Am- erican continent, of the mightiest civil war that the world has ever seen. The presidential contest in the United States dur- ing the preceding year had been attended with public excite- ment strained to the highest pitch, artd had resulted in the \i 'C? : 1 ^1 1; liii, itili i' r \' 240 LIFE OF SIR JOHN A. MACDONALD. election of Abraham Lincoln, a noted republican and an un- compromising enemy to slavery. The causes of hostility be- tween the north and south were the questions of slavery and of trade. The great bulk of southern wealth consisted of large plantations tilled by negro slaves, who were driven and whipped like beasts. Upon these plantations grew cotton, to- bacco and rice, which the planters sent to the north, or exported to the great mr.rkets of Europe. The abolition of slavery would deprive the plantation owner of the cheap labour of the slaves, while the establishment of a protective policy would bring a tax-burthen without any benefit, as the commerce of the South consisted in the })i'oducts of the plantations, which were exported raw, while manufacturing formed but a small factor of trade. On the 20th of December, 1861, a day well remem- bered in American annals, the legislature of South Carolina passed an ordinance of secession. The people of this state hal for many years maintained that each state in the confed- eracy was sovereign and independent, and had the right to separate itself from the union whenever it chose. Fired by the example of South Carolina ten other states, Mississippi, Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana.Texas, Tennessee, North Carolina, Arkansas, and Eastern Virginia, also seceded, and constituted themselves into a separate republic under the presidency of Jeff- erson Davis. The population of the union before the secession was about 31,000,000 ; the population of the Southern Confed- eracy was 9,000,000 of which 3,000,000 were slaves. Within the Southern Confederacy was Fort Sumter, a garrison held by Northern troops, and against this the cannon of Charleston hurled its rebellious thunder. Seeing the whole country around him under hostile arms, the commandant laid down his sword. The North made no delay, but sprang to arms '■o maintain the integrity of the republic. The booming of the guns before Fort Sumter nmst have sounded loud in the ears of Great Britain, for a month after the surrender of the fort a royal proclamation was issued calling upon British subjects <>.., ■»..•■-.•.-,- «'->'"i T^l^^fT^^?^ r,,,j, TRANSITION. 941 everywhere to maintain a neutrality during the war. The British cabinet had fallen into ihe common delusion of suppos- ing that one swallow makes a summer ; that the triumph of the Charleston guns meant victory and stability for the south- ern confederacy. The proclamation may have only been the faiix pas of a stupid minister, though this view is hardly ten- able, but it was regarded by the United States government a» a deliberate insult, and a recognition of a cluster of rebellion* states as an independent power. President Lincoln called upon every state true to the union to make ready its quota of armec) men to send into the field ; and proclaimed a blockade of the southern ports. The war had not progressed very far when it became apparent that the Duke of Newcastle had overestimat- ed the importance of the prince's visit to the United States. The imperial government, in many ways, had unwisely per- mitted the world to see its hostility to the north and friendship for the south ; while a large portion of the Canadian public, dutifully, though not loss rashly and stupidly, reechoed the sentiment of the mother-land. We presume there is some code of honour among nations as well as men ; but it is hard to see by what code went Great Britain in conniving at the indepen- dence of a body of rebels, and in regarding citizens of a sov- ereign state, in unlawful revolt, as an independent power. If a band of Irishmen, to-morrow, were to fling the lord-lieutenant into the Liffey, pull down the union jack, and set up the green flag upon the hill of Tara, Englishmen would surely consider that Prussia had outraged the code of national honour, and levelled a gross insult at the British empire, did Frederick William issue a proclamation commanding all his subjects to preserve neutrality during the " war " between England and Ireland. But the United States government had graver grounds for complaint against the British nation : southern privateers, as piratical as partisan, pounced out of British ports, and harassed the merchant shipping of the north. The most noted of these cruisers was the Alabama, of which we shall bear .-<; \' 4| ; !i ■( ^amm wm "r- i 242 LIFE Of SJJi JOHN A. .JACOONALD. ^ 1^ again. Notwithstanding, wo say, that the prince of Wales had viHited the United States a year before, a fcMiling of hostility was arc used in the north against the British nation for her in- discreet sympathy with the rebellion, llot-heiidod republicans stood for a moment upon their own hotly-fought fields, and turned their eyes towards Canadian territory, muttering that thither lay their duty next; turned again and faced the rebel. On the 8th of November, 18GI, the British mail-steamer, Trent, was pui'suing her way in the Bahama channel, one morning, with mails and passengers, when an American ship of war, San Jacinto, cannon scowling through her port-holes, bore down, fired a shot across the steamer's bows, and putting out boats swarming with blue jackets, arnied to the teeth, took forcible I)ossession of two passengers, Mason and Sliddel, southern com- missioners, on their way to England. This act of national |)iracy was hailed with enthusiasm, by the northern states, and Wilkes, the captain of the piratical man-of-war, became the hero of the hour. When the mail steamer reached England and made known the story of the outrage, the government at once de- manded that the commissioners be rendered up, and intimated that a refusal would be regarded as a declaration of war. While we are among those who glory in British valour, we are not one of those whose blood comes tingling to their cheek as they read of how promptly the British lion arose to his feet when the captain of the Trent told his story. The northern states were already locked in a struggle with the south, and a small foreign force could give a disastrous turn tQ the scale. That was the secret of the promptitude. While British troops were yet upon the ocean, bound for American territory. Presi- dent Lincoln quietly surrendered the commissioners, who sailed from Boston to England on the first day of the new year. When the Guards anl Rifies arrived in St. John, New Bruns- wick, the cloud had blown over, though an intense feeling of hostility existed in the northern states towards Canada. In- vasion had been predicted by the timid ones among us, and at n •■•I \^ |«:|:*ll|l TRANSITION. 243 n- at once our volunteors looked to their arms. Aleasuros for the organization of militia companies were put on foot; every Can- adian youth old enough to carry a rifle exhibited an enthusiasm for drill. To the impartial reader, now, it seemed as if we were anxious in Canada foi**u little wa' , just for exercise or recrea* tion. While we were preparing to resist an invasion, we were nurturing a cause for invasion. While our school boys and their fathers were asking for rifles, to defend the homes of their sisters and wives, we were giving harbourage and hospi- tality to southern rebels, who harassed American settlcHjents and the government troops from our border territory. The first parliament under Lord M(mck met in March, 1802. In the speech from the throne it was stated that Her Majesty recognised the loyalty of her subjects in their conduct through the Trent embroglio, but it is not unlikely that self-preserva- tion rather than extreme solicitation about a sovereign two thousand miles beyond the reach of American bullets, dictated the attitude of Canadians. Once for all, let us say, that should an enemy, be he ever so insignificant or ever so great, threaten our homes and our country, we shall be ready to do all that we can to repel him for our own sakes ; and after our selfish duty has been done, if there is a " man with soul so dead " as to say that it was a " selfish " duty, we shall not consider ourselves entitled to eulogiums for loyalty to a throne and a person that we were not thinking about when fighting the foe, and which were two thousand miles out of harm's way. To satisfy the feeling of uneasiness abroad, the speech recom- mended the reorganization of the Canadian Militia, and attor- ney-general Macdonald set himself to work to fnime a bill. He counted on the support of a majority from his own section of the province, and relied on M. Carticr for the rest. Of late he stood higher in the affections of Upper Canada, than ever before ; for during several years he had been believed, by the larger portion of the people, to have had little regard for the interests of his own section, and to have maintained a league with the ! .■;i! Ig y «i j »ll' >l K < *\ •144 LIFE OF SIR JOHN A. MACDONALD. French for tlio sake of oIKco. But provious to the late general election, the conviction came upon i. <»reat many of his harHh judges, that there might be another rfide to the stories told by the Glulxi, and its foUowei-s ; that he *r>ay have been wrongfully accused, and the victim of an unsirupiilous and diHappointed ambition. And so deep grew this iinpiession that the traduced attorney -general was invited cordially, nay entreated, to visit their towns and cities. He consented, and made what may be called, without exaggeration, u triumphal tour through Toronto, Hamilton, London, Simcoe, Brantford, Dunnvillo St. Thomas, Guelph, St. Catharines, Belleville, and a number of other lesser towns, at each of which he addressed large assemblages. All weie captivated by the address of the man, and won over by his defence of himself and the government ; yea, those who had been taught to believe him the ally of the French, and the enemy of hi>^ ,vn, cheered him to the echo. Everywhere he was receiveu with cordial and spontaneous welcinne, and his tour placed the government in a favourable light before the province. Nor had his uncompromising and manly attitude of resistance to the agitation for representation by population, the effect of lessening him in tlie esteem of the people of Upper Canada ; rather, it won for him their hearty respect. One of the ablest speeches he has ever dylivered was made in defence of the ministry's attitude in resisting the question of representation by population. We who dream of the day whei, the reproach of colonialism shall be a thing of the paf^. an^'i Canada be ranked among the independent nations, read v ?*J» pleasure an outburst of eloquence touching this fond hope of ours, and nring, while restraining, our ambition. It is impossible not to believe that if the man who uttered the following woids were not a minister of the crown, we should have had the hopes without the limitations. Said Mr. Macdonald : "I trust that for ages, for ever, Canada may remain united with the mother country. But we are fast ceasing to be a dependency, and as- suming the position of an ally of Gieat Britain. England will TRANSITION. 345 bo tlio centre, surroiindcd and sustained by an alHanco not only with Canada, but Austiulia, and all her other possessions ; and there will thus bo fornied an immense confederation of free- men, the greatest confederacy of civilized and intelligent men that ever has had an existence on the face of the globe." To the gicatness predicted of our futiu'o in this thrilling picture, only, however, can we subscribe ; for wo carmot conceive of tliat "alliance," which means o([uality, on which the speaker in the fervour of the moment dwells, and tlie connexion which makes U8 subject and inferior as being thy same thing; or, of being sister to imperial greatness, when our highest distinction is to bo ruled by a subject. Early in the session some changes were made in the 'Cabinet. Mr. Ross resigned the presidency of the council, and retired from the government ; Mr. Sherwood assumed the conmussion- ership of crown lands, and John Carling succeeded him in the receiver- generalship. Mr. John Beverley Robinson, a lawyer with a clear and well-balanced head, took the presidency of the council ; and James Patton, whose lucky star was John A. Mac- donald's friendship, became solicitor-general. These new mem- bers of the ministry were favourable to representation by popu- lation, but the question was left an open one in the cabinet. Mr. Robinson was re-elected for Toronto West, and Mr. Oarling for London, but Mr. Paton who represented the Saugeen divi- sion in the legislative council was rejected by his constituents. He nevertheless retained his portfolio, as Joseph Morrison, who by this time had escaped to the bench, had done before him ; for Mr. Macdona'd, in this case, too, was stronger than the con- stitution. Brown out of the legislature, the opposition was no longer a mere butt for reproach, but a dangerous •^^^^\ rapidly-increasing combination. It resisted the address with stubborn pluck, and fought not as had been its wont under the somewhat tyran- nous leadership of George Brown, in detached eddies, but, pow- erfully, as a unit. A vote was taken on a resolution virtually { f f \ -s Ami — r-T :t * i ■ 'i: M ! f '! ■'^' = ' 'I'll;' V . ! ^ - * . --* ftf- ■ -1^1 i 1 , ! - ■ ' ' mh '" ii a Ini 1 H 'JtIM 'n % ^40 LIFE OF SIR JOHN A. MACDONALD. : I affirming want of confidence, but it was defeated by a majority of 17, and the ministry breathed easy. Nevertheless causes were at work undermining public confidence in the adminis- tration. On the parliament-buildings question a dangerous discussion arose. It was shown that $900,000, appropriated for the construction of the buildings, had been all expended, besides several large amounts not authorized by parliament, and yet the structure was not half completed. Afiairs in the depart- ment of public works, at the head of which was Mr. Rose, were in a scandalous plight, and the minister was charged with incompetency — which was glaring — and corruption. In the letting of contracts, large sums had been lost to the public by dishonest means, or an incompetency that, so far as it related to the country's intere ts, was as criminal as corrp.ption. Of the two, the dishonest and the incapable minister, we believe the former is the preferable, his competency granted. For a capable minister can be watched into doing the right, be he ever so cor- rupt in intention ; but hope in an incapable minister may be a will-o'-the-wisp to lead to disaster. The ministry, though not responsible, was held accountable for the shortcomings of Mr. Rose, and it soon became known that its tenure of life was maintained by a slim thread. While affairs were in this state, Mr. John A. Macdonald in- troduced his Militia bill, a measure that made ample provision to resist invasion, but which would have required an expendi- ture beyond the convenient ability of the province to meet, Mr. Macdonald could, usually, at a glance, see the dangers in his course, but on this occasion the future was inexorable. He introduced his bill. It was supported warmly by a considerable majority from the Upper Canada section, but Mr. Cartier's fol- lowers, in the hour of trial, pretending to be alarmed at the burthen threatened in the bill, proved faithless, and the measure was rejected by a vote of Gl to 54. On the following day the srovernment resiorned. ' ' ■"■r>::yv-^™'"?'rxr: ';;■ " •■^■' '■*'"' , ^7 *;■■ ■■^/vTvr^ TRANSITION. 247 In the emergency the governor had recourse to John Sand- field Macdonald, whose eyes lit up when the aide-de-camp handed him a note from the head of the government ; and on the 24th of May, while cannon was thundering its rejoicings proper to the Queen's natal day, the Macdonald- Sicotte minis try was swoin into office. We give the personnel of the new government, and glancing down the names one is reminded of the " Who ? Who ? " administration in England whose member- ship so sorely puzzled the Duke of Wellington. There were FOR CANADA WEST : Hon. John Sandfield Macdonald Premier and Aft- Gen. W. P. HOWLAND M. H. Foley - Adam Wilson ■ James Morris W. McDoUGALL Minister of Finance. - Postmaster-General. - Solicitor-General. Receiver-General. Commissioner of Crown Lands. FOR CANADA EAST Hon. V. SicoTTE - " A. A. Dorion - " J. J. C. Abbott " T. D'Arcy McGee A ttorney- General. Provincial Secretary Solicitor-General. President of the Council. " N. J. Tessier - Commissioner of Public WorJcs. " Francois Evanturel - Minister of Agriculture. Two days later, Mr. Wallbridge announced the ministe^'ial programme in the house of assembly. The double-majority principle, so far as related to purely local questions, was admit- ted, and a measure was promised''that would provide "a more equitable adjustment of the parliamentary representation." The new government was determined to carry out its every act of policy according to that high standard of purity, efficiency, and proper economy that always guides the actions of incoming administrations. A thorough cleansing was to be given to the t =ac -'^■yJI-Vl.^^fW^r /JT-V 1'--^ ■ •':"X' i 243 LIFE OF SlJi JOHN A. MACDONALD. w-\ • Augean stables, a complete system of " retrenchment," — that word which has covered more extravagance since the establish- ment of legislatures than any other expression known to our English tongue — was to be inaugurated ; a most searching in- vestigation of affairs in that " pent-house of corruption," as one 3'oung legislator — who had not yet been afforded an opportunity ** of soiling his own hands by corrupt transactions — called the Board of Works office, was to be made ; and the government pledged itself to abide by the decision of Her Majesty with re- ference to the seat of government, though the greater portion of the new ministry's timber had signalized themselves particu- larly by opposition to the choice of Ottawa by the sovereign, and had made the question the basis of non-confidence motions against the late administration. To all who understood that, while the union was maintained, a scheme for representation by population was incompatible with justice to one section or the other of the province, the decision of the new ministry, to allow the question to stand, was learnt without surprise. John A. Macdonald said to his colleagues : " We shall have Brown with us again ; not that he cares so much for Rep. by Pop., but he wants to be at John Sandfield ; " and while he was yet speak- ing, it is related, a copy of the Globe came in, with every battery opened upon the new ministry. After a fierce article had been read aloud, Macdonald asked Cartier : " In what way would Brown have been able to cany off his feelings against John Sandfield had they not providentially repudiated Rep. by Pop ?" At the formation of the Brown-Dorion administration, a cold- ness had appeared between John Sandfield and George Brown, which grew in course of time into active hostility. Both men were ambitious, the former wanting to live himself, but wil- lir g that others also should exist ; the latter determined that no one but himself should live, and ready, with the engine with which he destroyed character, to crush any one who crossed the path of his ambition. He sorely felt that during the two last sessions of parliament his party had repudiated his leadership ■ V" ; '■ 10 St 'P TRANSITION. 240 and cliosen Macrlonald in his stead ; now in his rage and disap- pointment he almost forgot that his constituents had likewise repudiated him, and looked upon the new premier as having usurped a place belonging to himself. John Sandfield solaced himself by saying, " Let the heathen rage " when he received the tirst broadside of the Globe's " afflictinjj thunder ;" but it was not a trivial matter for a prime minister to have arrayed against him the most powerful newspaper of his party. Meanwhile the ex-ministers offered no obstruction to the new administration at the polls, or in finishing the programme of legislation. The defeat of Mr. John A. Macdonald's militia bill, as he con- jectured himself, was regarded in England as a measure of the practical loyalty of Canadians. The Times which had, on seve- ral previous occasions, displayed its coloni phobia, if we may be permitted to coin that word, led off by a rebuke to Canadians, which was taken up by a multitude of the minor newspaper's, who declared that we were an assemblage of greedy self-seek- ers, without gratitude or loyalty, or even the instinct, com- mon to the animal, of self-defence. One organ urged the Britldi government to " shake off the unprofitable colonies " and leave them to the mercy of the first comer ; another said we brought neither strength nor profit to the empire, and that any loyalty we had was in our breeches' pocket. Lord Palmerston's face turned purple as he told in his place in the commons that Her Majesty's government had done all for the Canadians in assist- ing them to j)rocure defences that they intended to do, and that it now rested with the colonists to do the remainder themselves, or to " disgrace the stock from which th'.y sprang." At a dinner in Montreal, Lord Monck feebly reechoed the imperial senti- ment, preferring to trust the impressions of the home ministry and an uninformed press to the facts of the case which were plain to every Canadian. Mr. John A. Macdonald's bill was an admirable measure, but the house weighed the cost of the scheme against the danger of invasion, and rejected it. It was not true, though Lord Palmerston and the British press seem to Jii.1^ I ■ «^ ir \ ■ ■ >■ ■r-^ vk^'':'-^'^-r V ,..'/>i.f»»5,^.nii 260 LIFE OF SIR JOHN A. MACDONALD. [ i liave been differently informed, that the Canadians were relying upon imperial soldiers to fight for them in the day of trouble; though they rejected a measure which, whether rightly or wrongly, they regarded unwarranted by the expediency of the time, they never once thought oi shirking the defence of their country and homes should the occasion come. As we have, however, seen, the loss of the measure was due to the defection of the French-Canadian members anions whom a threat of inva- sion created no serious panic, and who, if the truth could be known, cared very little, since their destiny was that of a con- quered people, whether their masters were republican English or monarchical English. But in Mr. Macdonald's measure all tie British spirit, all the loyalty to Canadian welfare found ex- pression, as was shown by the considerable Uiajority from th« upper province by which the bill was supported.* There was no invasion ; but this fact was not any more foreknown to those who rejected the attorney- general's means for defence, than it was brought about by disarming resistance at such a critical time. " All's well that ends well," is the maxim of the fatalist, and the proph ^t ; for the one is the bondsman of the event and the other foresees it : on occasions where stupidity or reckless- ness fail to provoke disaster, it often becomes triumphant jus- tification. The war in the republic was a harvest-time for Canada. The army raised by President Lincoln to subdue the South had been in a large measure, taken away from the field, and the work- shop. Canada was overrun by persons from the United States who bought up everything that we had to sell. For our staple articles of food, for cattle, poultry, eggs and grain they paid al- most fabulous prices. GovernmeK ' agents ran over the country with pockets full of gold purchasing horses for the northern cavalry ; and many a farmer, tempted by a pouch of shining * The bill was supported by a majority of seven of the Upper Canada represen- tatives. !i HW TRANSITION. 251 (iagles, sold his best team from the plough. Warned by the re- hu'Ks of ovei -^peculation during tlie Crimean war, the com- munity lavirched out into no exti-avagant enterprises, but, with prudence, made tii«., most of their neighbours' misfortune. During the summer the ^out accomplished its victory over Sir Allan MacNab, and the gallaiit knight, loaded with honours which give little joy to a dying man, passed to that bourne whence no traveller returns. His place, as speaker of the legis- lative council, was filled by Mr., now Sir Alexander, Campbell, a popular and clear-headed Kingston lawyer, who, as we have seen, studied law many years previously in the office of Mr. John A. Macdonald, an^^ had subsequently been in a legal part- nership with that gentleman. Parliament met on the 12th of February. The government now, to use the phrase of the ex-atti rney-general-west, had " lived long enough." P]nemies began to arise in every quarter^ and South Oxford had just sent a thorn in the person of George Brown. He was full of the accumulated energy of two years, and at once bitterly assailed his rival, John Sandtield Mac- donald, for infidelity to the principles of non-sectarian schools, and ropresentation by population. A small but bellicose band of Liberals rallied around their imperious chief, and threw themselves in with the liberal-conservatives whenever the lat- ter assaulted the ministry. It will be remembored that the premier took office affirming the double majority principle, yet, vhen a largo majority of the Upper Canada section voted against his school ill Msure, he refused to resign. Early in xMay, John A. Macdonald informed his party that he had decided to move a want of confidence in the ministry. Some prominent liberal- conservatives did not approve of the step, but counselled delay till further defection took place in the ministerial side ; but the ex-attorney-general-west assured them that he was certain of a majority, and pointed out that there was no object in further delay. Two days later he rose in his place and moved a direct non-confidence motion. John Sandfield's eyes twinkled ner- '^^ . ; i ; i < '♦ I. ■'>-Y vi-m i^* tw ■^ ,(•*■ i d pr i' ii I*"?* [ • t ii w '\il:\ J'-V ,. .^., ,, i »-YT ■252 LIFE OF SIR JO JIN A. MACDONALI)'. vously, li ^' he assuinod a bold air, and sat upright at his desk, lie knew his government had received the grave censure of those from whom it ought to have looked for support, but he (lid not believe that the majority was willing that he should be hurled from power. John Sandfield's glance was quick, and, as far as it went, took an accurate survey of things ; but in this case, as in many others, he argued upon sentiment, while his more astute rival concluded from fact. The ministry was de- feated by a majority of five vQtes. The premier hastened to the governor and asked for a prorogation with a view to dissolution, which was granted. The dissolution followed immediately, and the election writs w^ere made returnable in July. In Upper Canada, the result of the election sliowed some important gains to the ministry, but this»was balanced by fully as many losses in the lower province. After much shuffling in the cabinet, and the tOuJ- foundering of the Lower Canada section, on the 12th of August, a new administration was formed as follows : — Foil CANADA EAST. Hon. a. a. Dorion " IsiuoiiK Thibaudeau " L. H. HOLTON " L. Letellier de St. Just " L. S. Huntington ^' Maurice Laframboise A ttorneij-GG7ieral. Presdt. Council. Minister of Finance. Min. of Agricultu7'e. Solicitor-General. Gomr. Public Works. for CANADA WEST. Hon. J. S. Macdonald " W. MCDOUGALL " A. J. Fkrgusson-Blair " W. p. How land " Ol.IVKU Mo WAT - - Premier and Att-Gen. - Com. Croiuii Lands. Provincial- Secretary. Receiver-General. Post master- General. It was a favourite practice with John Sandfield Macdonald, whenever the ship became unmanageable, to pitch some of his TEA XSITION. 25a crew overboard ; but like the malignant Schriften in Marryatt'R book, they never failed to appear for vengeance at an unex- pected moment. It was not wise, surely, to throw over such men as Thomas D'Arcy McGee, M. Sicotte, and tlie late post- master-general, M. H. Foley. Office being more to these poli- ticians, at least at this time, than principles, they joined the opposition into whose rank.s they were warmly welcomed by John A. Macdonald, and assailed their former chief in unmea- sured language. They charged him with betraying his trust as a leading minister of the crown, and with having descended to acts of personal meanness and treachery to prop up his party. The premier's eyes glowed like live coals as he hurled back the charges of baseness and political perfidy on the heads of his accusers; and where he received only censure from friendly members, he so lashed the critics as to turn them into enemies upon the spot. One of the premier's faults, and a gi-ave failing in a party leader, was, that, under the stress of feeling, he could not keep a bridle upon his tongue, .should the outburst put hi» government in jeopardy. The fruitless session came to an end in October. The premier was hopeful, but his opponent and namesake assured him, on the day of prorogation, in the smok- ing-room, that he was " nearing the end of his tether." Towards the close of the year — 1863 — Mr. Albert Norton Richards was appointed to the vacant solicitor-generalship for Upper Canada, and returned for re-election to his constituency. South Leeds. But before the new minister reached the hustings, he learned, to his dismay, that Messrs. John A. Macdonald and Thoma& D'Arcy McGee were abroad in his constituency. What wa& worse, the two clever oppositionists shadowed him wherever he appeared, and, whenever they believed he had made a telling point, afterwards addressed the audience, and turned the gov- ernment and its new minister into contempt. The close of the poll revealed that the member who, a few mouths before, had been returned by 135 votes more than his opponent, was now beaten by a majority of 75. If, during the summer of 1883, a. 1 i } i fe*': t i n,«i ■I .'XJ s 1 i ^'i>. ^'0' ;i^: H 1 t i ■' ^ t 1 .f I T " :l pmim ••«" wtmrnm 254 L/i'^ Oi' .S77? JOHN A. MACDONALD. iijlll !l ! I: iii ! ::t fiimilar event should occur, we are sure that a certain newspaper would affirm that Mr. Richards "lost his seat through the corru[)t- ing influences in the hands of Sir John Macdonald," and that public money " was lavishly and unblushingly employed." The defeated solicitor-general resigned his office, but John Sandfield, who ignored logic and indications, would not take the hint, but threw himself upon fate. With an evil star lowering upon the ministry's fortunes, the house met on the 19th of February. The " governor's speech," as it is called, by its silence upon any discussion-provoking policy, revealed the fears of the govern- ment. The opposition ignored this languid ministerial docu- ment, but made a violent onslaught upon the wretched ministry. It was apparent that, if legislation was the business of the house, it had met in the winter of 18G4 to no purpose : up to the 21st of March no important work had been done. On that day, disgusted with the ungenerousness of fate, the premier and his ministry resigned. The governor was perplexed, and began to grow apprehensive for the well-being of the constitution. The peculiar position of parties j^roduced a hopeless dilemma, and without faith that any member of the legislature could foi-m an administration that would endure, Lord Monck entrusted the formation of a ministry to the ex-provincial-secretary, Mr. Fcr- gusson-Blair. That gentleman's exertions failed; and Mr. Cartier was next called on and made the attempt, but with a similar result. His excellency then requested Sir Etienne, formerly known as Colonel, Tachd to address himself to the task; and that gentleman, who enjoyed the respect and good-will of his com- patriots, though anxious to be rid of the turmoil of administra- tion, in obedience to the duty he owed his country, consented, and at once put himself in communication with John A. Mac- donald, who \mdertook the formation of the Upper Canada sec- tion of the cabinet. Several days were occupied in making the arrangements, and, in view of the fact that the late ministry had resigned while having a small majority in the house, no one believed that any ingenuity or skill could fashion an adminis- TRANSITION. 255 tration that would survive. The virtue seemed to have gone out of the theory of responsible government, and the device of party appeared powerless to produce majority and minority. On the 30th of the month it was announced, however, that a min- istry had been formed ; and for the second time a Tache-Mac- donald government came into existence, and was as tbllowa : — FOR CANADA EAST. Hon. SirE. P. Tache Premier and Receiver-General. Geo. E. Cartieu - H. L. Langevin - A. T. Galt - T. D'Arcy McGee J. C. Chapais Attorneij-General . - Solicitor-General. Min, of Finance. Min. of Agriculture. Com'r of Fablic Works. FOR CANADA WEST. Hon. JoHxN A. Macdonald " John Simpson " Isaac Buchanan " Alexander Campbell - " M. H. Foley - " James Cockburn - - Attorney-General. - Provincial Secretary. - President of the Council. - Conir Crown Lands. Postmaster-Gene ral. Solicitor-General. M. Canchon, in French, and John Hillyard Cameron, in Eng- lish, explained to the house the policy of the administration, which, in the most important respects was a determination to pay strict attention to the provincial defences, to organize the militia on an efficient basis, to endeavour to maintain and ex- tend the reciprocity treaty and to establish more intimate com- mercial relations with the maritime provinces. It goes with- out saying that to " departmental reform " and " retrenchment," — but one wonders, with every incoming party effecting depart- mental reform and retrenching, how anything could remain to be reformed, or how- a dollar could exist to be retrenched— above all things, the new government pledged itself, while the {II 11 m ■ j I m\\ I! mi' I I II ill I i w 'Ml J. r.W^t -Wfi 250 LIFE OF SIR JOHN A. MACVONALD. question of roprescntation by population was allowed to remain open. Oil the followiiig day the house adjourned to meet again on the 3rd of May. No one who penetrated the situation, and saw that the same causes which, of late, had overthrown minis- tries formed from every side, and of every combination, still remained, believed that the new administration could exist. 'J'here was only one other chance, and that was existence by the sufferance of the opposition ; but John Sandfield MacdonaUl, though it were to save the constitution from ruin, was not like- ly to extend mercy to the men who had so rudely thrown him- self from power. Meanwhile, public sentiment was, unconsci- ously and by the force of circumstances, being gradually pre- pared to accomplish an event which was to triumph over turmoil, to set the wheels of government rolling afresh, and to give a new and fuller impulse to our political existence, and a lasting direction to the current of our history. While the greatest crisis in our Canadian annals was approaching, Herr von Bis- marck, who had hitherto been regarded by the world as a " fanatical reactionary, a coarse sort of Metternich, a combina- tion of bully and buffoon," suddenly revealed a genius as daring, as crafty, and as competent as Cavour, with a wider field and greater powers for action than the Italian statesman ; at this time, too, came Garibaldi in state to London, whose workshops and stately West-End dwellings sent out their throngs of en- thusiastic artizana, and peers and countesses, to do homage to the soldier of fortune ; at this time it was that England's grand old statesman, in his eightieth year, in the growing morning, re- viewed, as one glances his eye along some panorama, the his- tory of his political administration, made his last great speech before stepping out of the commons and entering the portal which guards the entrance to that realm from which no travel- ler comes back. CHAPTER XV. FRUIT.S OF THE AMERICAN CIVIL WAR. ■ n CYLLA is passed ; Cliarybdis appears." The Trent van- O ishes; i\\Q AlahaviaiAin sight. On the morning that the San Jacinto brought her prisoners into port, the citizens of the north set up a loud hurrah, and cried lustily for the daring commander, whom they would have borne on a chair through their cities. Some of the cooler heads, however, be- gan to consider the situation, and derived little comfort from their reflections. This valiant deed of the San Jacinto' 8 com- mander, they now saw, was a repetition of the outrage com- mitted by England against the United States in 1807 During the year named, while several British men-of-war were lying at anchor in Chesapeake Bay, a number of blue-jackets deserted, and enlisted on board the United States frigate, Chesapeake. A few weeks after the occurrence, some British officers were on shore in Norfolk, Virginia, and saw the deserters parade the streets, protected by the American flag, and under the es- cort of a recruiting officer. They at once asked for the sur- render of the men, and their demand was seconded by the British consul ; but the officer refused to render them up. No- thing more was said at the time, and there was some chuckling on board the American ships of war over the occurrence. The following day, however, a long-boat from the British flag-ship, admiral Berkley, visited each English war-ship in port, leaving a spaled despatch. Each captain was instructed by the admiral to keep a sharp look-out for the American frigate C/iesopea/ce, when at sea, out of the limits of the United States, and to search the Q 257 • ifH- VM Sij :j ,."^,.. IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) // '< A {./ ^ .V^ /-.V 4 id. 1.0 I.I 1.25 6" 2.0 1.8 1-4 IIIIII.6 m^y v. ^ 71 W *^.#' '^- o^. /A Photographic Sciences Corporation 23 WEST MAIN STftEET WEBSTER, N.Y. 14580 (716) 872 4503 £-^ ^o» W^ xs o ^\ w^ 6^ v^p mm 258 LIFE OF SIR JOHN A. MACDONALD. \\\'M i. said vessel for the deserted seamen ; and enjoined that, should any American war-ship insist on searching a British vessel for a similar purpose, no resistance should be offered. On the morning of the 22nd of June, His Majesty's ship Leopard, captain Humphreys, put out to sea, and about fourteen miles from land met the Chesapeake, commodore Barren. He hailed, and said he had despatches for the commodore from the com- mander-in-chief. The Chesapeake hove to, and was boarded by an officer from the Leopard, who bore Berkley's orders, and a letter from captain Humphreys expressing the wish that he might be able to carry out the admiral's order in an amicable manner. The commodore was surprised, but firm. He said he could not think of agreeing to the request, that his orders from government forbidding any foreigner to muster his ship's company were most peremptory; that he had no deserters on board, and, finally, that he must refuse, once for all, to allow his ship to be searched On receiving this answer, the Leopard edged down towards the Chesapeake, captain Humphreys again hailing, and stating that " Commodore Barren must be aware that the orders of the British commander-in-chief must be obeyed." To this the answer given from the American ship was, " I do not understand you :" whereupon there was a quiet movement, with the regularity of clock-work, on board the frigate, who promptly fired a shot across the bows of the Ches- apeake. After a minute another shot was fired ; then there was a pause of two minutes ; and, the American ship giving no answer, a broadside was poured into her. The Gftesapeake stood, like a stripling of fifteen, with folded arms, before a burly bully who has already delivered his insignificant adversary a stunninff blow, and did not return the tire. But after a few moments' pause, and in that awful silence when the only sound to be heard was the beating of the searasn's hearts, commodore Barren hailed, and said he wished to send a boat on board ; but the ieoj^osrd believing that the Chesapeake was preparing to return the fire, regarded the request as only a ruse, and | oured FRUITS OF THE AMERICAN CIVIL WAR. 269 in two more murderous broadsides. Barren then sti*uck his colours, and two lieutenants with several midshipmen entered his ship to make search for the deserters. They captured, after a three houn ' search, four of the delinquents ; two others were identified among the slain, and one jumped overboard, and perished. Six of the Chesapeake's crew were killed, twenty- four were wounded, and commodore Barren, who acted through- out with the utmost coolness, was wounded from a living splinter. The search having been accomplished, Barren wrote a note to Humphreys, saying that he considered the Chesapeake was now the Englishman's prize, and that he was ready to de- liver her up ; but the latter replied that he had executed the orders of the commander-in-chief, that he was merely to obtain the deserters, was now to rejoin his squadron, and lamented sincerely the necessity which had compelled him to resort to violent measures. When the Chesapeake reached oort, battered and blood- stained, a cry of indignation was raised throughout the union ; the attack by the Leopard was felt to be an out- rage upon the lionour of the nation, and an insult that could only be wiped out by war. Promptly President Jefferson is- sued a proclamation requiring all armed vessels bearing com- missions under the government of Great Britain, then within the harbours or waters of the United States, immediately to depart therefrom, and interdicting the entrance of any British ship armed or mercantile to American ports or waters. The act of the Leopard was disowned by the British government ; captain Humphreys was recalled, and admiral Berkley super- seded ; but all this could not atone for the outrage, and five yeai*s later the dreary wrangle culminated in a declaration of war by the United States against Great Britain. , If then, American statesmen reasoned, the outrage perpetra- ted by the Leopard was held to be a casus belli by this coun- try, why should not the act of the San Jacinto be similarly regarded by the British government now ? President Lincoln promptly made up his mind that the act of captain Wilke.s i i •-» Ul '' 200 LIFE OF SIR JOHN A. MACDONALD. could not be sustained, and that the southern commissioners should be given up. " This," said ho, " is the very thing the Bri- tish captains used to do. They claimed the right of searching American ships, and carrj'ing men out of them. That was the cause of the war of 1812. Now, we cannot abandon our prin- ciples. We shall have to give these men up and apologize for what we have done." In answer, therefore, to one of Lord John Russell's usually long and sonorous dispatches, demanding the surrender of the commissioners taken from the Trent, Mr. Seward, who also delighted in writing lengthy and pompous state-documents, went on to declare that his government could not find a justification for the proceeding of captain Wilkes, and that the only excuse at all that could be offered for his act was that he was strictly following British precedents. " It will be seen," he added, " that this government cannot deny the justice of the claim presented to us, in this respect, upon its meri+j. We are asked to do to the British nation what we have always insisted all nations ought to do unto us." There- fore, as we have already seen, the prisoners were on the 1st day of January, 18U2, "cheerfully liberated." Thus ended the .'ifFair of the Trent ; and now began the dispute about the Alabama. On the outbreak of the war between the South and the North, Mr. Lincoln proclaimed a blockade of the Southern ports. English authorities point out that this was a breach of constitutional usage. The law, it is tixie, on the subject of blockades is plain. A government may proclaim a blockade of the ports of an enemy, but it can only, for the general pur- poses of war, order a closure of its own ports. The declaration of President Lincoln was therefore regarded by foreign govern- ments as tt, recognition, by the North, of the Southern confed- eracy as a belligerent power ; and upon this ground Lord Pal- mers ton's ministry sought to defend its imprudent and hasty proclamation. The Northern government might have ordered the closure of its ports, but such a decree would be binding only ■ s FRUITS OF THE AMERICAN CIVIL WAR, 261 vnder municipal law, and every port would be at the mercy of adventurous blockade-runners, who need only escape the har- bour defences, a." they could not be dealt with by United states war-vessels beyond American waters. The American govern- ment chose the blockade as the most expedient course, regard- less of the technical standing it would give to the rebellious states ; and it is difficult to understand how the adoption of a new form of war etiquette could change the character of a body of citizens in revolt against the supreme authority of the state. The truth of the matter is that whoever drew up the interna- tional clause relating to blockades, like the framers of many other laws, failed to foresee all the cases that might arise to be affected by the ordinance. The cases sought to be met were those where war is declared between separate nations, no in- spiration-gleam being shf d from the future to show that a day might come when thirty-one millions of people, scattered over half the New World, would separate into two mighty bodies and rise in a fratricidal war. But the attitude of the imperial ministry in issuing its pro- clamation, commanding all British subjects to maintain a neu- trality during the " war " between the United States and her rebellious citizens, was not the only affront at which the repub- licans took offence. Open sympathy was manifested for the South throughout Great Britain, and when news of the defeat of the raw levies by the discipline of the rebel soldiers at Bull Run reached England, there was much jubilation; and Lord Palmerston so far forgot his dignity and his duty as to make sneering allusions, during a public speech, to the " unfortunate rapid movements " of northern soldiers during that battle. This contemptuous phrase, coming from the head of the British min- istry, embittered public feeling in the republic, towards Eng- land and all that belonged to her. Not many months elapsed before there arose a cause to intensify that feeling, and lead 'Great Britain and the United States to the verge of war. 4 ^1.♦,||. »' }^ ill !,1U' t , :' ly r ^*r. 202 LIFE OF SIR JOHN A. MACDONALD. i!!i One June morning, in 1861, tl.e Savannah, a swift-sailing and audacious little vessel, escaped from Charleston, and began to scour the seas in search of northern merchant-vessels. Many a ship deep-laden with merchandise, pursuing her way from port to port, was met by this little scourge, plundered, and given to destruction. Fired by the example and the successes of the Savannah, other daring spirits in the South rigged out fleet-sailing vessels, armed them with guns, and took up the privateering trade. Among these were the Sumter, commanded bj Captain Semmes, whose exploits at a later time made him famous ; the Nashville and the Petrel, the latter skimming, like the bird whence she took her name, over the sea, and Bweeping down upon her victim. But these were small vessels of light armament, and took flight the moment a ship of war was sighted by the sailor in the cross-trees. The first of the privateers that became really formidable was the Oreto, after- wards known as the Florida. She had not been long upon the seas when a shudder went through the northern merchant marine at the mention of her name. She was a swift sailer, and swooped down like an eagle upon her prey. Before she had been three months cruising, she captured fifteen vessels, thirteen of which she burned ; and many a vessel sailing in northern waters or crossing the Atlantic, shuddered as she saw at night a tower of flame rising from the sea. The Florida was a sturdy ship, heavilj'^ armed, and was not so fleet a sailer as some of her smaller sisters. She was built at Birkenhead, England, nominally for the Italian government ; but the American minister resident at London, learned her destiny, and requested the British government to prevent her putting to sea. While the cabinet was giving " due considera- tion " to the request, the Florida passed out the Mersey upon her career. From the time this vessel departed, England was declared by American writers to be the " naval base of the confederacy." : J'i » 17 FRUITS OF THE AMERICAN CIVIL WAR. But the most noted of all the privateers, the vessel which became the occasion of a new code of laws between nations, and brought the States and Great Britain to the verge of war, the reader need not be told, was the Alabama. This craft wa.s built in Birkenhead by the Messrs. Laird, one of the most pro- minent building firms in the country. When on the stocks the vessel was culled the " 290," and crowds thronged to the dock-yard to see the ship destined for some strange mission. Long before she was built, the myster}' was dissipated : the newspapers declared that she was intended as a southern cruifser, that she would sweep northern commerce from the seas, and be so armed as to be able to hold her own against even the heaviest ships of war. Mr. Adams, a descendant of a brilliant family, distinguished for their superior statesmanship and high sense of honour, was then the American representative in Lon- don. Promptly he .<»at down, on hearing of the character of this new .ship, and wrote to Lord John Russell, urging him to institute enquiries into the allegations concerning the proposed mission of the vessel, and maintaining that it was the duty of the Bi'itish government, on being satisfied that the craft was to be employed ar a southern cruiser, to prevent her dej)arture from England. Lord John Russell, in whom more than any other modern English statesman of note, much littleness was mingled with not a little greatness, sought to parry Adams' contentions by asking for proof of the' allegations offered in one breath, and in the next expressing a doubt whether the government could fly in the face of a domestic law. Mr. Adams again pressed his request. He only desired that the govern- ment should satisfy itself as to the mission for which "290" was intended. If the mission were ascertained to be that which he had alleged, then he contended, under the " Foreign Enlistment Act," the vessel ought to be detained. Lengthy cor- respondence passed between the two ministers, in which Mr» Adams alwa}'.-. maintained a calm dignity and an overwhelming logic, while Lord John Russell more than once gave way to i>f, f 1 ■i'l 1 i \ «^l^ •if ¥'■'} i T^ \' "• 264 LIFE OF SIR JOHN A. MACDONALD petulance, and sought to defend his position by feeble and tri- fling analogies which he affected to tind in American diplomacy. Meanwhil© Mr. Laird went on building the ship, and as the time of her departure approached, Mr. Adams pressed Lord Russell with much earnestness to interpose his authority. At last Lord John was prevailed upon to ask the Queen's advocate* for advice ; but when the request was made that official was sick, and could not return an answer. At last the answer came, expressing the opinion that the vessel ought to be detained. But while the ministers were waiting for the advocate's reply, " 290 " though unfinished, was made ready for sea, and, under pretence of a trial trip, sailed down the Mersey to Moelfra Bay where the work remaining was hastily completed. On the 31st of July, orders came from the British ministry to seize the ves- sel, but on the same day the prospective privateer, amid the ringing cheers of her crew, sailed away from the coast of Eng- land. Thence she. proceeded to Terceira, one of the Western Islands, where she tarried till the arrival of the Agrippiiia from London, with her guns and stores, and the Balmma with captain Semmes, late commander of the Sumter, his officers and crew. On the 24th of August, the privai,cci was equipped and ready for her career of destruction. She was a screw steam sloop of 1,040 tons, built of wood, and for speed rather than strength. She was barque-rigged, had a crew of eighty men, and carried eight 32-pounders. When ready for sea, captain Semmes appeared on deck in Confederate uniform, and read his commission to the men. Henceforth he told them they would know their ship by the name of the Alabama; after which he delivered a speech predicting that their good fortune in escaping from England was an omen of their success among the shipping of the north. Then under pressure of steam and canvas, the saucy privateer steered for the scene of her future labours. On the 5th of September, when four days at sea, she sighted a * Sir John Harding. FRUITS OF THE AMERICAN CIVIL WAR. 263 l^rigantino under full canvas, bowling along, bound for a north- ern port. " Give him the British bunting," said captain Semraes, and the Union-Jack v.-as flung out from the main-top. The brigantine tarried till the pompous stranger came up, and was imaking ready to hail, when a deluge of grape-shot came whist- ling across his bows ; and looking, he saw the stranger flaunt- ing the Southern flag. An hour later, the stately brig was a mass of flame through the twilight of the autumn sea. For the next eleven days, the Alabama lingered about where she met her first victim, and in that time captured and burnt property the value of which exceeded her own cost. Several fast-sailing cruisers, heavily armed, put out from Northern ports searching for " the pirate Semmes," but when a speck appeared upon the horizon that the look-out declared to be formidable, the priva- teer altered her course, and skimmed fleetly over the sea, leav- ing her pursuers far behind. A few months later, she hovered along the track of commeice between Aspinwall and New York, and after patient watching, one m'»rning, captured the Ariel mail steamer, with 140 marines, a number of United States officers, and about 500 passengers. These the captain of the privateer decided to put on shore at Kingston, Jamaica, but the city was a pent-house of yellow fever. On board his own ship there was not room for their accommodation; so with much re- gret he let the steamer go, taking a bond for a large sum, pay- able when the war was ended. Some days later the look-out saw an American gun-boat, which afterwards proved to be the Hat- teras, bearing down. Semmes smiled grimly as he ordered tlie decks to be cleared for action, and saw the war-ship approach- ing, eager for the fray. It was a short conflict. After a few broadsides the Hatteras werit down, and the privateer, issuing unscathed from the encounter, pursued her v.^ay. The name of the Alabama now became one of terror and hate, and few vessels ventured from their ports while it was known that she was near their track. The American government equipped a num- her of heavily-armed and speedy cruisers, which scoured the I './ , M ii . ! '■ \ ' t- ill J iV I »|! h j)^ I , i « rf^r^^x r 4^; * *t 2GG LIFE OF SIR JOHN A. MaCDONALD. y v. >^ ^r/ Hciis in search of the mainiuler ; and Heveral narrow escapes told Sennnea that Northern waters were no longer safe. So he set sail for the Cape of Good Hope, and preyed upon all the Northern merchant vessels (which were not many) that he met there; but soon finding that the merchant shipping of the enemy was beginning to fonsake the seas, he sailed for Europe, and put into Cherbourg to repair his vessel, now much battered, and no longer unrivalled for her speed. Bitter re- proaches followed the captain of the privateer, and he was burning for an opportunity to distinguish himself by some valorous deed. During his career he had captured sixty-five vessels, and destroyed property valued at over four millions of dollars; yet his repute was that of a buccaneer that preyed upon defenceless vessels, but who fled on being confronted with a strength equal to his own. The Hatteras, which he had met and sunk with a half-dozen broadsides, was repre" sented as a crazy old hulk not fit to be at sea, and that umst have foundered from the concussion of her own guns. But Semmes was a daring and brilliant sailor, who knew not fear, as he was soon but to prove too plainly. He writhed under the abuse heaped upon him, and was stung by the palpable truth, that, whether he were coward or courageous, his warfare had been upon defenceless commerce, and that however much he may have harassed his foes, no glory waited on his career. While the Alabama lay in Cherbourg, the American war-vessel Kearsage arrived off the coast of France, and, learning where the p*"vateer lay, made several demonstrations in the ofting, which the Alabama regarded as a challenge to battle. Half reckless and half hopeful, Semmes made up his mind to accept the challenge of the haughty man-of-war, and notified the United States consul of his intention. He made ready his ship, and, on a fine Sunday morning, 19th of June, 18C4, steamed out of the harbour, to engage in the murderous conflict. The in- habitants of the city crowded upon every height to witness tl. e battle. To the inexperienced eye the two ships, now quietly t j/'JiUITS OF THE AMERICAN CIVIL WAR. 267 ncaring each other, were of about equal strenj^h, and even captain Seiauies, though at one time one of i\w most experi- enced officers of the Northern naval service, was deceived. He did not know that the ship advancing for the fray was in all respects superior to the Alabama. It was only when it was all ended he learnt that her armament was supoiior to iiis own, her crew larger, and that she was iron-clad amidships. The bat- tle was begun without delay, and soon was over. The Kiurmige possessing greater speed than her adversary, was able to keep up a distance of about 500 yards, at which range she was little affected by the Alabama's shot; while the latter was suffering terribly. The issue was decided in less than an hour. Captain Semmes, finding his vessel sinking, struck his flag; but before the enemy could come to the rescue, the noted privateer went down. Some of the crew were picked up by the Keavaage's boats, and captain Semmes and others were rescued by an English yacht, the Deerhound. There was a deep feeling of relief through the merchant marine of the North when the end of the Alabama'wiiii known; and captain Winslow, with supe- rior guns and armoured sides, was the lion of the hour. Before the destruction of the privateer, there was much diplomatic turmoil between the British and United States gov- ernments, the latter holding the former responsible for the damages done by the Alabama. Once again Lord John Russell fancied he had terminated a difScuity by becoming peremptory; but his successor to the colonial office. Lord Stanley — now Lord Derby — frankly conceded the grounds taken by Mr. Adams in the discussion with Lord John, to which we have already re- verted. The outcome was renewed negotiations, a good deal of diplomatic fire, which, as is usual in such controversy, was confined to the glow of anthracite coal. The United States declared, that, while the British government had not oixiered and sanctioned England's making war on American commerce, it had permitted the outrage, and was, now, in honour, and by all the rules of national etiquette, bou!id to make reparation. IfpSi; ' I [ •Kli^j^ Min H Ir****? . I h : V i: 1V& -J08 LIFE OF SIR JOHN A. MACDONALD. I: I At Icn^'tb, when correspoiulenco failed to proctirc satisfaction, an arV)itration won proposed, which consisted of re[)reHontativeH of Enjjiand, the United States, the president of the Swiss Con- federation, and the empetor of Brazil. This tribunal met in < ioneva, and on the loth of Scptenil)er, 1872, delivered its final award. For the wrong-headedness of Lord Russell and the ministry it was decreed that England should pay a sum of X3,229,16() 138. 4d. The only regret that one can feel on reading this record of retributive justice, is, that the statesmen, who, by their obstinate prejudice, instead of the public who were the victims, were not obliged to pay the fine. Some Englishmen, among whom were many of those who clapped their hands and threw slippera laden with rice after the Ala- bama, as she slipped down the Mersey, on her career of pillage, raui ored "curses not loud but deep" when they were obliged to pay $15,000,000 tor their Southern sympathy. Several leading Englishmen, and Sir Alexander Cockburn, an eminent judge — if eminence can afford to ignore such codes as national obligation and national honour — affirmed that the Geneva deci- sion was unjust, and advised its repudiation. But the amount was paid, and the British taxpayer has had an opportunity to realize how dangerous a possession national sygipathy may sometimes be, and to lay to heart this costly lesson which Mr. Kings) ey ought to have had an opportunity of stating by the mouth of Mrs, Bedonebyasyoudid. It has been already seen that Canada dutifully reflected the Southern sympathy of her mother, and aggravated the feeling of hostility against the British empire in the republic. Sou- thern refugees were received here with open arms, were some- times publicly fSted, and all the while given to understand that they were regarded as the noble sufferers iji a glorious cause. During the summer of 1864 a body of the refugees decided to turn Canadian sympathy to account, and, in September, sallied forth from their colonial asylum and captured and plundered two American vessels plying on Lakes Erie and Ontario. Ela- jf-'.r^'' »-* ■ v-^ • V T FHUITS OF THE AM Kill CAN CIVIL WAR. 200 ted by their huccohh, the lilibustors, a few weeks later, heade:':■'•?*''> 270 LIFE OF SIJi JOHN A. MACJJONALD. r * I went in bare arms, and " would dare death and the devil." Money and recruits poured in to the " head-centre " at. New York ; a thorough organization was effected, and the brother- hood held meetings at which, in grim earnest, they discussed the plan of " liberating Ireland." Amongst this deluded band were many noble and patriotic spirits,* whatever unjust and intemperate writers may affirm, and some again of the most worthless and mischievous adventurers that ever disgraced so- ciety. Demagogues who had never figured in any more heroic movement than a drunken row in some bar-room in the Sixth Ward, vapoured against " the bloody Saxon," and thrilled the deluded crowds of their fellow Irishmen by recounting the means they would pursue to overthrow British rule, and set " darlin' ould Ireland free agin." Some of the most useless and vicious loafers found in the agitation a golden trade, and pushed themselves to the front as leaders. " The contributions given by some Irish hack-drivers and servant girls, in the sincere belief that they were helpin.ir to man the ranks of an Irish army of independence, enabled some of the self-appointed leaders to wear fine clothes and order expensive dinners." The organi- zation grew, and gigantic projects were developed. One of these was a conquest of Canada as a first step " before takin Ireland." Early in the year 186G, it was resolved, at a meeting of the brotherhood, to celebrate St. Patrick's Day by seizing New Brunswick ; and sure enough when that festival came, with it appeared, on the boundary of the cov^eted province, a band of Hibernians, armed in grotesque fashion, and bedecked with shamrocks, looking more like a detachment bound for Doney- brook fair than invaders thirsty for conquest. The visitors were met by Colonel Cole and a body of volunteers, and speed- ily took to flight, winding up the day after they had got be- ♦ Any virtue that may have existed in this organization in the beginning has long shice departed. The only achievements of the asdouiation now are cold-blooded murders; the instruments by which it works terror, the dagger and dynamite. FRUITS OF THE AMERICAN CIVIL WAR. 271 yond the reach of Canadian bullets, with a whisky feast.* On the night of May 31st, following, a bolder attempt v?as made. An advance guard consisting of about 900 of the brotherhood, under the command of one O'Neil, in the night, crossed Nia- gara river, and landed about a mile below the village of Fort Erie. They advanced with much spirit into the village, where they demanded rations, and vainly sought the co-operation of the inhabitants. Then they tore up a piece of the Grand Trunk railway-track, cut the telegraph wires, set fire to some bridges, and, in all other ways of destruction, endeavoured to deport themselves in the manner of invading warriors. During the forenoon of the following day, the American gun-boat * In connection with the Fenian attempt on New Brunswick, Mr. Edward Jack, of Fredericton, New Brunswiiik, furnishes the writer with the following facta : — *' Sir A. J. Smith, prior to the Fenian invasion, interviewed Andrew Johnson, pre- sident of tuo United States, who promised him, that so soon as the Fenians commit' ted an overt act he would attend to them. When the maurauders made their appearance at Eastport, in the State of Maine, the United States government des- patched several vessels of war to prevent their making a demonstration on New Brunswick. Not far from Eastport might be seen one of the ileetest war-vessels in the United States service, lying at anchor: with steam up, while not far distant a British frigate in provincial waters was ready for the fray. The Etonians spent their money freely at Eastport in liquor and cigars, and did no harm beyond burning a building on Indian Island, opposite Eastport. A party of the Fenians ascended the Ste. Croix to Calais, where some of the number, who put up at the Frontice hotel, stole all the soap, and other things they could lay their hands on in the rooms, on their departure. The arrival of the adventurers at Calais was followed promptly by that of a body of German artillerymen, in the pay of the United States. These were intended to be a check on the Fenian operations on the American side. These artillery-men used to visit the British side, and indulge so freely in beer, that the provincialiftts, who feared an attack from the Irish myrmidons, placed them ikj drays and had them carted across the river to the American side. Some of the best people of ^t. Stephen, were so alarmed at the appearance of the Fenians, uiat they sent their plate to the Calais bank for safe keeping. From the quiet little town of Saint Andrew's, situated at the mouth of the Ste. Croix, not far from the island where De Monts and Champlain spetit their first winter in America, the Fenians could be seen drilling to the number of a dozen or two. Fort Tipperary, which over- looks the town, was promptly garrisoned, and the old honeycombed gims which the rotten carriages could hardly support, were placed in position. He would have been a bold man who fired them ! In the midst of the trepidation a British frigate steamed up to Joe's Point, at the northern end of the town, where she quietly cast ancnor. The commanding officer came ashore, and consoled the inhabitants by telling them not to fear. * If the Fenians get in here,' he said, ' clear away as fast as you can, for we shall shell the city and burn it over the rascils' heads.' " w I 1 7: 111 tj- ^^'/ ^p i«l« • # i'L i! i .if-, 1 III 272 L/i?'i; OF SIR JOHN A. MACDONALD. Michigan began to patrol the river to prevent any breaches of , the neutrality laws ; and shut her eyes whenever a boat with reinforcement or stores for O'Neil happened to be crossing from the American shore. When rows of the invasion, by this rab- ble, reached the public, there was a general feeling of indigna- tion. There was some chagrin felt that the military defences of the country were in a disordered condition, but not a moment was lost in taking all possible measures to hurl back the in- truders. The regulars in the Hamilton and Toronto districts were at once ordered by Major-General Mapier to the Niagara peninsula. Orders were given tex-premier was brooding over his revenge. Some of his col- leagues assured him that it was now a question between duty to his party and duty to his country ; that, to overthrow the new administration might lead to a disruption of the whole governmental system. " Did they spare us," retorted John Sandfield with flashing eye, " when our overthrow was an equal menace to the constitution ? No ; I shall oppose them now as I have never done before ; it is useless to talk to me of for- bearance." 277 1 1 . fli m SI ni B 1 H 1 ■^i n '^'V- % V «■■« 278 LIFE OF SIR JOHN A. MACDONALD. ^f . A few (lays after the opening oi the session a no-confidenc& motion was introduced, and though the ministry strained every nerve in the conflict, it was sustained by a majority of only two votes. With such a support the government were powerless to effect any important legislation, yet, under the circumstances, they resolved to maintain their places till actually voted out. Not long were they obliged to wait, for the ending came on the 14th of June. It had come to light, that, in 1859, Mr. A. T. Gait, the finance minister that year in the Cartier-Mac- donald government, had advanced a sum of $100,000 from the public funds to redeem certain bonds given by the city of Mon- treal to the Atlantic and St. Lawrence Railway Company. The bonds were subsequently made redeemable by the Grand Trunk which company thus became actually the recipient of the ad- vance. The loan had been made quietly in the finance minis- ter's office, and the fact had not transpired, till a member, dis- tended with importance, rose at his desk, and in the low, feigned-sorrowful tones which an honourable member always assumes when digging a grave for his live op[)onent, announced that he had a painful task to perform, but that, nevertheless " imperative duty to the country demanded that it should be done ; " and then exposed the $100,000 transaction. Mr. A. A. Dorion following, moved, in amendment to the motion to go into committee of supply, a resolution censuring the advance of the amount without the knowledge of parliament. The resolution though aimed apparently at Mr. Gait, comprehended a censure of the ministry which it was averred was a mere rehabilitation of the Cartier-Macdonald government. This was an unconsti- tutional view, but ministers at once waived the quastion of propriety, and assumed for the cabinet the full responsibility of Mr. Gait's act. The latter gentleman was not bowed down, but defended himself in a speech that was everything a mere outpour of plausibility could possibly be. But, tottering from the moment of its birth, the ministry could not withstand this last shock. It had to deal not less with the uncompromising .■i^l'iVS"*!,. ■ ■'A THE DOMINION OF CANADA. 379 foeraan, whose eyes sparkled with the very fire of hostility, than with over-sensitive consciences. It is not likely that the reader has failed to remark, as well as the writer, that an " honourable " gentleman, who, while his party is on the flood- tide of prosperity, can swallow a camel without a grimace, will strain at a gnat when the same party is found on the ebb-tide, surrounded by reefs ard ruin. Perhaps it is only one more of the many wise provisions of the Great Intelligence whose " hand holds the reins of all things," that ruling parties should sometimes grow weak, else such men as these would never find an opportunity to reveal that they are possessed of consciences. It would be extremely unwise and unprofitable for a man sud- denly to let virtue get the better of him while his party still held a majority of fifty men ; but the case is reversed wlien the honesty- impulse can be exhibited while the party ship lies soggy in the water, and goes down with the defection of two or three of the virtue-stricken crew. Messrs. Dunkin and Rankin belonged to this not uncommon class of politicians. They had for years judged the morality of the liberal-conser- vative party by the standard of its success — while it was staunch, their faith in its virtue was strong ; when it grew weak it became a moral Lazarus in their eyes, full of sores, and not fit to live. They voted with the grits on Mr. Dorion'3 resolution, and the ministry fell. Yet, it may be seen, as our story progresses, that these two men were instruments in facilitating the birth of the greatest event in our political history. The movembnts of several years past which we have endeavoured to pourtray, were the causes, though inefficient, producing the scheme for a union of the provinces ; henceforth we lose sight of the causes, and watcli the manner in which was born the confederation itself. When the defeat came, ministers were in no wise perturbed : they had expected the result for many weeks, and did not re- sign. Two courses there remained open to them : to attempt a reconstruction, or to ask for a dissolution. Neither project at •Hi 'rf^. :y<\^ ! -. » s f . 380 LIFE OF SIB JOHN A. MACDONALD. '•♦.■. ',4, first left room to hope that the second condition would be bet- ter tlian the first, either for the party or the constitution. Within a little more than two years four different governments had been formed, and party feeling had grown so bitter that the ministry felt there was little hope that the general result could be changed by " trying their fortune in the lottery of a general election." Yet though the virtue had apparently gone out of the expedients of our constitutional system, responsible government was still supreme, and Messrs. Macdonald and Tachd could not continue in office while in a minority in the assembly. The opposition held their breath after the minis- terial defeat, and spake not during the hours that ministers, still holding the reins, deliberated over their position ; but the silence was like that which falls upon wood and dale before the storm breaks. Happily for the public peace, the figure on this occasion held not good. There was no storm after the death-like stillness; for, after duly considering the situation, Mr. Macdonald reached the conclusion that of the ways open dissolution was the best ; and with this view the ministers waited on the governor-general. His excellency, after careful deliberation, granted the request of his advisers. If the writer were one of those who subscribed to predestination, he would affirm here with rigid religious conviction, that "there's a divinity that shapes our ends, rough-hew them how we will ; " for with such surprise as one feels who sees a thunderbolt flame out of a clear sky, the public saw a figure stalk upon the scene to end the confusion between parties, and assist in the adoption of a new and wholesome course of public policy. We can hardly tear ourselves away from figures, the apparition forces itself so strongly upon our imagination. It was as it the pope had left Rome, appeared suddenly upon one of our platforms, and begun to read a lecture in favour of the right of private judgment in spiritual things ; as if King John had headed a movement that was seeking for popular liberty. The man who came upon the scene, was no other than George "ip7 ' ■ " THE DOMINION OF CANADA, 281 Brown. Wo have not laid ourselves open to the charge, so far, of undue admiration for this politician, but have endeavoured, as we shall strive now, to do him simple, naked justice. It might be open to us, were wo disposed merely to censure the public career of Mr. Brown, instead of to endeavour to paint his record, the good and the bad, so far as it is concerned with the main thread of our narrative, just as it is, to say that the course he proposed in the political emergency which had come was not begotten of a well-spring of devotion to the country s interests, and not that he hated John A. Macdonald and his party less, but that he hated John Sandfield Macdonald more. What he did do, we shall, instead, endeavour to regard as a bright spot in a career of noisy and unscrupulous ambition, and peace-disturbing demagogism. On the day after the ministerial defeat Mr. Brown fell into convei'sation with Messrs. J. H. Pope and Alexander Morris, supporters of the ministry, and members respectively for Comp- ton and South Lanark. He gave it as his opinion that a crisis had arrived which could not be overcome by an appeal to the people, and that the time was a fitting one to settle " for ever the constitutional difficulties between Upper and Lower Can- ada." He further expressed his willingness to cooperate with the existing or any other ministry that would deal promptly and firmly with the matter. The two ministerialists, one of whom had been a staunch advocate of federation, lis- tened to Mr. Brown with a good deal of satisfaction, and before parting from him asked if they might repeat the conversation to the conservative leaders. He readily consented, and the re- sult was that on Friday, the 17th, Messrs. John A. Macdonald and A. T. Gait waited on Mr. Brown at his rooms in the St. Louis Hotel, stating that they were authorized by the minis- try to invite the cooperation of the liberal leader, with a view to the settlement of differences existing between Upper and Ijower Canada. When this proposal had been made, Mr. Brown replied that nothing but the extreme urgency of the present «-^ •^:',^*> ..T •' '^* 282 LIFE OF Slit JOHN A. MACVONALD. .U criHis couM justify this meeting — with wliicli obaeivatiou Mr. Macdonald agreed in a tone of hlaiid irony. The grit chief then iritiinated that " it was (luite inipossible that ho could bo a nieniber of any adniini.stration at present, and that even had this been otherwise, he would have conceived it highly objec- tionable that parties wlio had been so long and so strongly op- posed to each other, as he and some nienibei's of the adminis- tration had been, should enter the same cabinet. He thought the public mind would be shocked by such an arrangement, but he felt very strongly that the present crisis presented an opportunity of dealing with this question that might never oc- cur again. Both political [)arties had tried in turn to govern the country, but without success ; and repeated elections only Arrayed sectional majorities against each other more strongly than before. Another general election at this moment present- ed little hope of a much altered result ; and he believed that both parties were far better prepared than they had ever been before to look the true cause of all the difficulties firmly in the face, and endeavour to settle the representation question on an equitable and permanent basis." In reply, Mr. Macdonald said he considered it essential that Mr. Brown should be a member of the cabinet, to give gua- rantees to the opposition and the country of the earnestness of the government. To do justice to Mr. Brown, he did not show any hopeless opposition to the propo.ml that he should enter the ministry, but suggested that all questions of a personal r.a- ture, and the necessary guarantees, might be waived for the present, " and the discussion conducted with a view of ascer- taining if a satisfactory solution of the sectional difficulty could be agi-eed upon." He then requested to know what steps the government proposed towards settling sectional troubles. Promptly, Messrs. Macdonald and Gait informed him that their remedy was " a federal union of all the British North- American provinces " — a project, while not in some details the same as that afterwards adopted, all along very dear to Mr. :..«iK •(|'';fi4r THE DOMINION OF CANADA. 383 Macdonalil, though he did not approve of the methods i-ecently proposed to carry out the object, and had voted againnfr. the plan suggesteil — " local matters heing committed to local bodies, and matters common to all to a general legislature, const iUited on the well-understood principles of federal government." With this plan Mr. Brown expre.ssed himself dissatisfied, his desire not being to see a confederation of the provinces, a contin- gency which he regarded as iujpraetieable then and remote, but rather to have accomplished a measure to provide more ecjuit- able parliamentary representation for Upper Canada. As there ia an impression among several writers that Mr. Brown was the parent of confederation, and entered the coalition for the purpose of forwarding the scheme, it may be as well to dispel the illusion. The testimony of Mr. Mackenzie, Mr. Brown's biographer, on this point, is conclusive. After Messrs. Mac- donald and Gait hud stated what their remedy was, " Mr. Brown," Mr. Mackenzie tells us, at page 89 of his book, " ob- jected that this was uncertain and remote (the confederation scheme), as there were so many bodies to be consulted ; and stated that the measure acceptable to Upper Canada would be parliamentary reform based on jiopulation, without regard to a separating line between Upper and Lower Canada." Messrs. Macdonald and Gait assured Mr. Brown that his proposal in- volved an impossibility, and after some discussion the latter gentleman was persuaded to accept a compromise in the adop- tion of the federal principle for all the provinces as the larger question, or for Canada alone, with provision for the admis- sion of the maritime provinces and the North- West territory. The ground having been thus cleared, Mr. Brown stated that he was ready to cooperate with the new government. The utmost credit then to which Mr. Brown is entitled is, not that he brought the union into life, but that he permitted its birth. Quite a different parent had the scheme. To use Bystanders apt epigram, " The father of confederation wa.s dead-lock." ■• " i I ,'« ■ ' 284 LIFE OF SIR JOHN A. MACDONALD. '\ <■ >> On the 30th of the month, business having been hurried thi'ough, parliament was prorogued. On the same day the ministerial announcements were made. George Brown entered the government as president of the council, Olivev Mowat as postmaster-general, and Wm.McDougall as provincial-secretary. The ordinary affairs of legislation had little charm now for the coalition ministry, so absorbed were they by the scheme which overshadowed every other question. The tongues of implac- able party foemen for the time were stilled, the questions that had kept the two sections of the province so long in an atti- tud3 of hostility towards each other, passed for the time from the public memory, and one and all began to dream over this new nationality that was to be given to them. But as one hears, in the stilly moments before the rush of the storm, the croak- ing note of the raven on the turret or the tree-top, so, in the midst of the expectancy which held the people mute, here and there was heard the voice of a politician croaking some evil prophecy. Messrs. Dorion and Holton raised their voices and said ip effect that we were plucking green fruit, that the union scheme required yet many years to ripen, and predicted a new brood of discord under the expected regime. Mr. Dunkin croaked an mmistakable note of ruin ; solemnly declaring that we would have under " this confederation " a sv.arm of trou- bles and heart-burnings far more grievous than the discords we aimed to exorcise. A number of the grits who had followed Mr. Brown all along, while approving of the federation princi- ple, declared that he had sold himself to the liberal-conserva- tive party, and, that, what was worse than the sale, he had gone over " f oo cheap." They pointed out that while the oppo- sition had a majority of two votes in the legislature they were given only three seats ; but it afterwards became clear that Mr. Brown brought all possible pressure to bear for the admis- sion of a greaier number of his friends, and that the govern- ment had decided to stop at this poirit, ..jr,^^ THE DOMINION OF CANADA. 285 The most energetic spirit in the federation movement now was Mr. John A. Maedonald. It was his hand that made smooth many oi the rough ways in the negotiations ; and he in- spired his colleagues with the same faith and enthusiasm in the achievement of the union as he felt himself. His interest in the scheme, after the coalition had been accomplished, has been sneered at by some prejudiced and superficial writers, while others who affect an anxiety to be friendly, say that he de- serves credit for having bent so readily to the wishes of the legislature and the public. The truth is, from the moment that a federation of the provinces had been first discussed, the scheme had been Mr. Macdonald's fondest dream. Efforts, wronglj-- made, by politicians who were zealous for the union, he had seen and disapproved ; believing, and affirming his belief, that it was not proper to jeopardize a project of such overshadowing moment, by affixing to it the stigma of that defeat which was sure to come ujion the test of its popularity, at a time when the public mind was not prepared to comprehend its import- ance. But through all those years that the Upper Canada re- formers cried out for representation by population, and charged him with lendinjj himself to the French Canadians for the sake of office, he dreamt of the time, when through some such system as was afterwards adopted, the turmoil would be brought to an end, and that which the majoiity of the people in his own sec- tion sought be granted, without working injustice to the other p;>rtion of the province ; and when the census revealed that there were 300,000 persons more in the upper than in the lower division, he promptly told Mr. Cartier that the day of settle- ment was close at hand. We have seen that while the union was maintained, such settlement nevor could be representation by population ; that Mr. Maedonald had made some of his most * powerful speeches in affirming this position : it is not necessary then to say that the expedient in which he saw a cure was this plan for a confederation. Later on, v.hcn, among other delegates, he visited Halifax, he stated that this scheme of ]A '!l I s- U f-n M r-r-r 286 LIFJH OF SIR JOHN A. MAGDONALD. Wf;(. .*S 1 union had been his ideal dream, and that since he saw a possi- bility of its accomplishment he felt that a higher future had been opened for us, and a field worthy the ambition of the Canadian statesman. Yet not alone in his attitude towards this great question, but to many other important political events, the birth of his time, in which he has felt the deep- est interest, has he been regarded hostile. " He will not con- sent to be hurried," says one writer, " but no one can say that on any given question his finality of to-day may not be his starting-point at some future time." * The truth is, Mr. Mac- donald had not pretended to be wiser than his time, or sought to move faster than the people. He showed then, as ever since, that he regards it to be his duty in the governing place, not to create, but to obey public opinion. Many a time when pressed to move this way or that has he assured impulsive col- leagues, " The fruit is green and not +lt to pluck," and that the harmless thunder of an unpopular orator, or a newspaper awry, is not public opinion, any more than one swallow is a summer. He might write in living letters in his political arms as his motto, Garpe diem. Unlike the unthinking plodder who launches his skiff when the tide sets against him, Mr. (let us say Sir John, for we are anticlpatiDg) Macdonald only puts out when the current is with him, and the " furrow follows free." Some men are for ever wrestling with the winds and the tides of public opinion, because they have not been given the gift to see in what direc- tion the -currents flow ; but after they have been driven by the adverse elements, which are stronger than they are, and which have always conquered, and will always overcome whoso is reckless enough to battle with them, and see their opponents progressing with flowing sail, they sneer and cry, "He has waited for the wind and the tide. He is only a creature of expedient. We have not regarded the tempest or the waves, but have buffeted tkem " — and, let us add, had shipwreck. Charles Lindsey, in Dent's " Portrait Gallery." ■■■'■^rp . :?-'>■;/;- ;:*:^v ' Vf>'^''''"' '" "'' THE DOMINION OF CANADA. 28? ■" We do not wait till public opinion is in our favour, but set boldly out, wrestle with it," — and, let us add for them again, get ashore. This has been Mr. John A. Macdonald's pre-emin- ence: and if standing patiently by, and waiting till public opinion is ready for him to secularize clergy reserves, or con- summate a union of the straggling provinces, is to be a creature of expediency, then such a creature, in the superlative degree, is he. Brown's proposal of a coalition Macdonald saw was the favourable turn to the tide which had up to that hour set adversely. Because his efforts for union before would only have been energy wasted, £:,nd a defeat-tarnish on the project he had, up to this hour, held aloof ; because his exertions now could be turned to triumph, he not alone joined hands with the unionists, but with heart and head became the leader of the movement, halting not, or flagging not, as we shall see, till his ideal victory had been won. Let us now, briefly as we may, give the story of the various steps, from the first to the last, of the confederation move- ment. The idea of a federation of the colonies was not a new one, and had been mooted many times before. Indeed so early as the time when the New England colonies separated from the empire, an article was introduced into the constitution of the new confederacy authorizing the admission of Canada to the union, should the latter seek such alliunce. In 1810 an enter- prising colonist put forward the federation scheme, but politi- cal opinion was in a crude state, and nothing more was heard of the proposition till four years later, when chief-justice Se- well, of Quebec, submitted a plan of confeauiction to the Duke of Kent. The Duke agreed, in a very cordial note, with the suggestions of " my dear Sewell," and then pointed out that the chief-justice was mistaken as to the number of legislatures in the British North American possessions. Although the justice had " quite overlooked " one province, he was satisfied that his scheme was a masterpiece of grasp and detail. In 1827 the legislative council of Upper Canada originated resolutions aim- '^'!^'^ n ilf - 288 LIFE OF SIR JOHN A. MACDONALD. 3: l':-*;^ '■*i-.:r- ing at a union of the two Canadian provinces, suggesting like- wise a " union of the whole four provinces of North America under a vice-royalty, with a/oc simile of that great and glori- ous fabric, the best monument of human wisdom, the British constitution." This movement exploded in rhetorical thunder, and nothing more was heard of the scheme in public places till Lord Durham had been disgi-aced, and had presented his report. From that hour the question engrossed, more or less, the public mind, and in 1849 the North American League, a body which V>ore a somewhat similar relation to the British North American provinces, as those three Tooley-street tailors did to the city of London, met in Toronto and discussed the question, though the immediate object of the gathering was an application of the federal principle to the two provinces of Canada. In 1854 the legislature of Nova Scotia adopted resolutions recommending a closer union of the British North-American colonies. From this period the imperial government seem to have set their hearts upon a federation of the provinces. Leading statesmen warmly recommended the measure in the house of commons, and the foremost newspapers took up a similar tone. But the plan approved by the Nova Scotia legislature was not for a federation of all the provinces, but a maritime union, compre- hending under one government, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island. In 1864, the legislatures of these provinces passed resolutions authorizing the appointment of delegates to meet during the autumn, to discuss the project of maritime union. At once it occurred to Mr. Macdoiiald that the meeting could be turned to account by the government of Canada in promoting the general confederation scheme. The maritime-province 'delegates were to meet, in September, ab Charlottetown, and thither repaired eight members of the Canadian administration. The delegates at this conference were as follows : — From Nova Scotia — The Hon. Charles Tuppor, M.P.P., pro- vincial secretary ; the Hon. VVm. A. Henry, M.P.P., attorney- <"-'. w.K'.-.^' THE DOMINION OF CANADA. 289 general ; the Hon. Kobert Barry Dickie, M.L.C. ; the Hon. Jonathan McCully, M.L.C. ; the Hon. Adams G. Archibald, M.P.P. From New Brunswick — The Hon. S. L. Tilley, M.r.R, pro- vincial secretary ; the Hon. John M. Johnston, M.P.P., attor- ne3'-general ; the Hon. John Hamilton Gray, M.P.P. ; the Hon. Edward B. Chandler, M.L.C. ; the Plon. W. H. Steeves, M.L C. From Canada — The Hon. John A, Macdonald, M.P.P., at- torney-general, Upper Canada ; the Hon. George Brown, M.P.P., president of executive council ; the Hon. Alexander T. Gait, M.P.P., minister of finance ; the Hon. George E. Cartier, M.P.P., attorney-general. Lower Canada ; the Hon. Hector L. Lange- vin, M.P.P., solicitor-general of Lower Canada ; the Hon. W^illiam McDougall, provincial secretary; the Hon. Thomas D'Arcy McGee, M.P.P., minister of agriculture. Prince Edward Island was represented by the Hon. Col. Gray, M.P.P., president of the executive council ; the Hon. Ed- ward Palmer, M.L.C, attorney-general ; the Hon. W. H. Pope, M.P.P., colonial secretary ; the Hon. George Coles, M.P.P. ; the Hon. A. A. Macdonald, M.L.C. The Canadian ministers not having been appointed to con- fer respecting legislative union, had no official standing at the Island conference, but they were invited to join in the discus- sion, of which courtesy they vigorously availed themselves. " The Canadians descended upon us," said one of the Islanders afterwards ; " and before they were three days among us we forgot our own scheme and thought only about theirs." No longer did any one speak of maritime union ; all were absorbed by the greater project of a general federation, guaranteeing local and joint control. " This scheme of ours," the attorney- general for Canada West observed to some of his colleagues as they walked home to their hotel after the discussion had been a short time in progress, " like Aaron's serpent, has swal- lowed all the rest." The objections that still exist to maritime union, existed then ; the impossibility of fixing the capital m \m ■■' ■ ft, ill' \>-* H».* 290 LIFE OF SIR JOHN A. MACDONALD. I, Hi s.> one province without provoking the animosity of the others. There was a way by which this fatal bar might have been set aside, and that the adoption of the itinerant plan. When the free school system was introduced through the provinces, one of the most formidable obstacles to its operation often proved to be the problem, Where is the teacher to board ? and many a district, rather than see one family monopolize the honours of the " master's " board and lodging would con- demn itself to the privation of having no school at all. But as a way was fou^id out of this dilemma by the teacher "board- ing around the deestrict," a possibility of legislative union for our maritime brethren is suggested by the idea that the government might board around the union, spending say, four years at Fredericton, as many sessions at Halifax, and a like term in Charlottetown. But, putting levity aside, we believe that the day is coming when the three provinces named, and Quebec with them, must unite in a maritime union, if they, one and all, would not be overshadowed, in the coming years, by the provinces developing with such rapid strides in the west. So completely did the general confederation scheme absorb the maritime idea that the convention closed only to reassem- ble at Quebec again, on a date to be fixed by the governor- general of Canada. On a bright September morning, full of high hopes of a future great Canadian nation, in which, doubt- less, each member of the convention on board the steamer Victoria as she ploughed along Northumberland Strait, was fashioning out for himself a high place, the party sailed away for Halifax. Here they were received with enthusiastic wel- come, the city being literally en fete during their stay. A sumptuous banquet was prepared in the dining-room of the Halifax hotel, at which Dr. Tupper, provincial secretary for Nova Scotia, and the second ablest public man in the province, presided. Making due allowance for after-dinner exagger- ation, which is as the bubble on the champagne which gives it 'rF^ THE DOMINION OF CANADA. 291 t)irth, these speeches showed a careful mastery of the situation ; many of the predictions made have already been fulfilled, while the consummation of others is assured to us by fair promise. M. Cartier, who was the only member that dipped into Virgil for allusion and jewels, glanced into the inexorable future and there saw a great British- American nation with the fair pro- Adncei of Nova Scotia and New Brunswick as the arms of tlie national body to embrace the wealth which the Atlantic's commerce would bring, with Prince Edward Island as the regal head, and for a body the provinces of Canada stretching from the sea in the east to the shadow of the Rocky Moun- tains in the west. It was reserved to later years to complete this national giant, when, to extend M. Cartier's figure, British Columbia became the national legs, legs that a cynic might say, but that we shall take the pains here to forestall him, may some day, as they have lately threatened, walk away from the trunk to a destiny of their own. Mr. John A. Macdonald made a telling speech.* While he took a hopeful view of what the confederation would bring, he nowhere allowed his imagin- ation to take flight with his judgment. He calmly, though hopefully, examined the prospect, and declared that the con- summation of the union had been for many years his fondest dream. From Halifax the delegates passed over to New Brunswick, visiting the pretty little capital Fredericton, where a conference was held with Lieutenant-Governor Gordon. St. John extended its hospitalities to the " confederates," as the visitors were called, and the delegates departed for their homes, the Canadians above all jubilant over the success that had attended their visitation. Mr. John A. Macdonald, curiously enough, is reported to have said, after the Halifax banquet, to one of his colleagues, " I admire this Tupper ver}' much ; it seems to me if you get him interested in any movement, he is not likely to falter, or to be hindered by small obstacles." Of • See Appendix " F.'' •* I'' ■ ,j» : 5 ^1 .It'' .(«■" W? U- ri T' " •' :?l' "^'^ - »■►'•■,<■ ,^ I. f^i X^ 293 i/Z/'i: OJ' SIR JO UN A. MACDONALD, the New Brunswick delegates, Mr. Mficdonakl and his col- leagues talked much, and he and they seemed taken with Mr. S. L. Tilley, the provincial secietary, for the clear decisiveness of his view, and the sincerity of his manners. There is nO" reason to suppose that, during the many years since that political good fortune has thrown Mr. Macdonald in such close- contact with those two distinguished maritime-province men, he has changed his mind. On the 10th of Octoher, the day named by the governor- general for the meeting of the conference in Quebec, the dele- gates had assembled in that quaint city, looking so antique- that it might be regarded as having come to birth at a day as far in the past as saw ^he oiigin of those grand old cliffs- that sentinel the leisurely flood of the St. Lawrence, which, apparently, is here at pause on its way to the great sea. The number of delegates had been increased by the presence of Hon. (now Sir) Frederick B. T. Cartet, speaker of the New- foundland house of assembly, Hon. Ambrose Shea, leader of the opposition in the same chamber, and Sir Etienne P. Tachi^, A» Campbell, Oliver Mowat, James Cockburn, and J. C. Chapais, from the Canadian cabinet. The conference was organized by the election of Sir E. P. Tachd to the chair. The provincial secretaries of the several provinces were appointed honorary secretaries to ■ the conference, and Major Hewitt Bernard was chosen executive secretary. Then the doors of the conference- chamber were closed, and the momentous discussion went on, without any one raising his voice to say nay. When the con- clave was ended, though no word had gone abroad to the public of what had been done, it was surmised that a plan of federal union had been adopted, and would in due time be submitted to the imperial government. A round of hospitalities was in- augurated, and at a sumptuous dinner, given by the Quebec Board of Trade, some members, under the influence of enthu- siasm and champagne, were sore pressed to retain their porten- tous secrets. Dr. Tupper spoke there, dilating, in his own TUK DOMINION OF CANADA. 293 robustious and iiufiassioned way, on the advantnjjfes the pro- posed confederation nmst derive from union with his little ])eninsular province. Hon. S. L. Tilley followed in a speech less forcible, though equally as convincing. He did not come there, he assured his hearers, as a suppliant praying for recognition of a pauper province, but as the representative of what would prove one of the richest and most desirable possessions of the confederation. Hon. Mr. Carter, of New- foundland, spoke in his usual terse and telling style some good words for his little colony — the most ancient of them all — standing like a solitary virgin out in those cold Atlantic waters, fringed in the summer time with fogs, and buffeted by the rude storms of winter. Mr. Carter was an able exponent of his country's import'ince, but he was mistaken when he stated that his brother Newfoundlanders would account it a " loss to be left out of the union." Perhaps the very ablest speech was that made at the public banquet in Quebec some days later by the brilliant and level-headed island politician, Hon. Ambrose Shea. He assured his hearers that in the event of his colony entering the union compact, the islanders would not be the only gainers. He dwelt at some length on the riches of the seas around his island province, and spoke with just pride of the hardy character of the thirty thousand seamen who reaped the harvest from the waters, and of those bravo fellows who ranged the ice-fields for the seal treasures. It was a time when military aspects influenced statesmen. The mightiest civil war the world had ever known had convulsed the continent, and while the delegates were yet in Quebec, rumours of threat- ened invasion were on everybody's lips. Mr. Shea brought forward a telling military consideration, in recommending his colony to the union, which elicited ringing cheers from the auditoic*. " In considering a union of the provinces," he said, *' it becomes necessary to take into account the position of the proposed confederation with regard to the safety and defence. In this view, the position of Newfimndland becomes I , ',!' * ^, ur. »'■ ' ! I' y. .A SM /.//'i; Of S//? /0//-y A. MACDONALD. one of marked significance. Our island, as you know, stretches- across the Gulf of St. Lawrence, commanding both passage* by which the vast trade of the Gulf region and the St. Law- rence river finds its way to the ocean. Now, were this colony in the liands of n hostile power in war time, the trade of Canada would be hermetically sealed as if perpetual winter reigned here." Mr. Shea, whose flowing and impressive style of oratory at once captivated his hearers, and caused at least one shrewd delegate to say, " He will be an acquisition to the Canadian parliament," was not so sanguine of the reception the union scheme would meet with the colonists ; and frankly stated that the question had not yet been discussed in the Island press, and that himself and Mr. Carter had spoken only for themselves. And it so happened that while the two talented Islanders were in Quebec, a colonial " poet," always burthened with the weight of the people's woes, sat at home brooding much over the union sch jme, and finally broke forth into verses, some of the more brilliant of which, as presented some months later on the hustings, were injunctions to the colonists to — • " Remimber the day Thivt Carter and Shoa Crossed the say To barter away The rights of Tirra Nova." When the two delegates reached the island they" found that many of the inhabitants had taken the alarm. Several ora- tors whose speech revealed their relationship to that land whence a certain saint expelled the frogs and snakes, went noising around the coast, denouncing the " shkeemers " who' had been in " Cunady tryin' to sell their counthry." The in- habitants of Irish birth or extraction showed the greatest hos- tility to the scheme, because the demagogues had led them to' believe that it would involve all the hardships and wrongs of the union between England and Ireland. It is not strange that the more rampant " antis " were the thousands who could .i ^,'%"»- -T'-' ' THE DOMINION OF CANADA. flt neither read nor write, and who lived huddled awa^ li^ ^t little nooks around the coast, fishing for cod in summef, IKm')*)^- ing game, imd hauling firewood with dogs, in the winter. Hr>w- ever, we are somewhat anticipating, and must tell in th. pn (ler plnce how this cold virgin resented the proposal for political wedlock. Before the delegates dispersed, they paid a visit to the cm»i- tal of this New Dominion, of which, it might be said, they were now wildly dreaming. They set out on their journey by train, accompanied by lady members of their family; but, lured by the beauty which lights and transfigures our scenery in the autumn, they took steamer and journeyed by the Ottawa river. Some of the fair passengers declared they had seen grander scenery, but never anything more lovely. They had, walling their own provinces in, mighty cliflls, at whose feet they heard the ocean thunder in storm, and sing songs unspeakably sad and sweet in the calm. They had bold, airy mountains of their own, sombre forests and rushing rivers, but never, they said, had they seen anything so lovely as those groups of mellow islands, robed in the autumn's glory, which at every bend of the river were revealed to view. The sun set before the passage of the river was made, and as the soft twilight came stealing over wood and dale, minrrlintj its gloom with the darkling hues of the hills, the scene became enrapturing. The party sat upon the deck till the shadows deepened into night, and the moon climbed over the hills, listening to the murmur of the river shallows, and the hoarse, warning roar of the rapids, one fair lady looking with rapt glance upon the dim hills and shining river flooded in silvery glory, the while gently murmuring, as only a sweet-voiced woman can, who loves nature and sweet verse for its sake, • »t , win"***: , '* Blow, breezes, blow, the stream runs fast, The Kapids are near, and ilie daylight's past." The party was met at the little wilderness-city by a torch- light procession, and escorted to Russell's hotel, around which 'm LlFh OF SIR JOHN A. MAC DONALD. W I .f an enthusiastic assomblago had gathered. The pet of the mul- titude was Mr. John A. Macdonald, who wa.s called for lu.stily by hundreds of voices. After some time he appeared at one of the windows of the hotel, thanking the a.ssoml)Iago, in a few happy sentences, for their welcome, and expressing the hope that at a day not far distant, Ottawa might bo the capital city of a great British- American confederation. The citizens were politic enough not to let their visitors depart witliout seeing the natural beauties which abounded in their neighbourhood- Through the bright, cold November morning, one of Mr. Dick- inson s trim little steamers took the party tiiree miles down the river, and then turning, ran uf), further than ever boat had gone before, into the boiling cauldron at the foot of Chaudiero Falls. Leaving Ottawa, which had extended her fullest courtesies, the party proceeded westward through the province, receiving cordial welcome and lavish hospitality at Kingston, Toronto, Hamilton and other cities on the route. The delegates then returned to their respective homes, eager to get before the legislatures, and propose the scheme which had filled them with such high hope. We bid good-bye to our visitors at Quebec, and turn to watch the fate of the union in Canada. Before parliament met, Mr. Mowat had grown weary of politi- Ciil life, and accepted a vice-chancellorship on the judicial bench of Upper Canada. It is needless, almost, to tell the reader, that in time the chancellor grew weary of the bench, and en- tered public life again. We must take the liberty of stating that weregird the exchange of the judicial seat for party place a decensus averni, and an act bearing a close analogy to a ' bishop leaving the episcopal chair, and turning railway direc- tor. Mr. Mowat's ca^e is not an exception in Ontario, but a plurality of examples only makes the matter worse. The man who is taken from among his fellows, and elevated to the chair of justice, bears, in the public eye, a solemn stamp and seal, which removes him from the influences and interests which sway other men. He is as one who renounces the world's ways THE DOMINION OF CANADA. 207 •,\rn\, entering the Hnnctuary, devotes hiiD.self to the exclusive work of religion. He eonsecriites himself to justice, is regarded in a different light from other men ; is a>sumed to have no party prejudices, and to be an unmoved spoctatoi of the strug- gle between individuals and parties, and all thing;, whatsoever that are begotten of difference of opinion. But when this man, 80 consecrate to justice, stands up before the public, lays by his sacred robes, and, stepping down from the judgment seat, enters the world, and plunges into the mire of polities, ashocV is given to our honest faith in the sanctity of the bench ; tho fsolcmn judge, in ermine and j\»dicial insignia, expounding and pronouncing, does not awe us any longer ; for we dream of a day yet to come when wo may find him figuring at some de- grading political intrigue in a city ward, or endeavouring to bribe an archbishop. Mr. W. P. Howhind, who wtis a gentle- man of ability and integrity, became postmaster- general in Mi. Mowat's place. Parliament met on the 19th of February, and, in the minis- try's opeuing speech, which the governor read, the confedera- tion scheme was warmly recommended to the house. The union question ab.sorbed the almost exclusive attention of par- liament. Some of the ablest speeches ever delivered in a Canadian legislature were heard during the se.ssion. On the ministerial side, Messrs. (John A.) Macdonald, Jh-own, Cartier and McGee, supported the question with marked ability, while with scarcely less skill and j)ower Messrs. (John Sandfield) Macdonald, Huntington, Dorion, Holton and Dunkin op])Osed it. AH that careful research and skilful manipulation of fact and figures could urge against the scheme, was put forward with impassioned force by these gentlemen. An eastern writer tells a story of a dervish who had the power in form, face and voice, of personating whomsoever he willed. The wizard had a taste for political intrigue, and one day, as grand vizier, learnt momentous secrets from the pasha, and again in the form of some favoured sheik discovered intrigues, which, in league •'( vm -¥ f »V:,:,., 298 LIFE OF SIR JOHN A. MACDONALD. A *■ / il I. with a daring and ambitious accomplice, lie tui*ned to his own advantage. He could, indeed, the story goes, take the shape of the loveliest occupant of the harem, and once, in the guise of a beautiful houri, with eyes like night, and heart-entangling hair, made the amorous prince lay bare every wile and secret of his heart. The story, we believe, to be an allegory representing dramatic power. The dramatic quality in the possession of a politician is not less dangerous than tlie metamorphosing power of the dervish, for in a stupid, if not in a vicious, cause, the public may become a victim to horror, virtue and awful in- dignation counterfeited. It appears that Mr. Dunkin, at the hand of blind, indiscriminate nature, was the possessor in some measure of the dramatic instinct. It is hardlv worth while to talk so much aboat his powers, or what he did, or to go to East- ern lore for illustration, but nevertheless it may be said that he counterfeited, in a very clever fashion, a vast amount of horror and dread of the confederation scheme. '* All that a well-read public man," says Hon. John H. Gray, m his work on " Con- federation," " all that a thorough sophist, a dexterous logician, a timid patriot, or a prophet of evil could array agfeinst the project, was brought up and pressed against the scheme." It almost appears from reading Mr. Dunkins utterances, that he was opposed to the union, for at times he breaks away from his art and becomes as impassioned as Cassandra, who sees the swallow's nest fall from the wall of Troy, while the wooden horse of the Greeks seeks admission at the gates. On Fri- day the 10th of March the discussion had ended, and attorney- general Macdoriald, rising, offered the following motion, " That an humble address be presented to her Majesty, praying that she may be graciously pleased to cause a measure to be sob- mitted to the imperial parliament for the purpose of uniting the colonies of Canada, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland in one government, with provisions based on certain resolutions, which were adopted at a conference of delegates from the said colonies, held at the city THE DOMINION OP CANADA. 299 of Quebec, on the 10th of October, 18G5." This resolution, after some discussion; was carried by a vote of 91 to 33, Of the minority, four were from the upper province, and of the majority fifty- four. The question might not have fared so well in the lower province, but that M. Cartier was an enthusiastic champion of union, and was supported by the priests almost to a man. A motion similar to that carried in the house of com- mons had been introduced in the legislative council by the premier, Sir E. P. Tach6, and carried by a vote of three to one. Parliament prorogued on the 18th of March, and during the month following Messrs. (J. A.) Macdonald, Gait, Brown and Cartier, proceeded to England, to confer with the imperial government, and promote the scheme of confederation. The most active member in forwarding the measure was .Vr Mac- donald, who assured his colleagues that it would be impof^sible to go back again to the old and troublous order. Up to this point, and for some years later, it may be stated, the attorney- general-west differed from his colleagues as to the details of the confederation plan. He believed that the true system wa.^ one parliament having supreme control, and a system of muni- cipal institutions in each province witn enlarged functions. To this view his colleagues were determinedly hostile, expressing their preference for provincial legislatures, and a controlling joint authority. " I prefer that system too," argued Mr. Mac- donald, " but what I fear is that it may be found impracticable. I fear there will arise a collision of authority between the pro- vincial legislatures and the general parliament, which would be an evil worse than that which we seek now to remedy." His colleagues were of the opinion that this danger could be averted by assigning to each parliament, at the outset, its spe- cial functions, giving it as M. Cartier expressed it, its " chart of jurisdiction," whence no difficulty could arise. History has vindicated the correctness of Mr. Macdonald's surmises, and weighty opinion does now assert that we ought to have had the system he advocated then, and that we are too much governed. 'i \ ' \ i 1 I tl 300 LIFE OF S^R JOHN A. MACDONALD. " At present we have," soys the greatest living English writer * " for a population of four millions, eight kings, one central and seven provincial, as many parliaments, and sixty-five ministers of the crown ; while England is content with a single king, a single parliament— the members of which are not paid — and a single cabinet, seldom containing so many members as the cabinet at Ottawa. We have also judges and chief-justices as the stars of heaven in number." Leading Canadian minds have begun toponder these figures. Is such a plenitude of government needful they ask themselves ; if not, then why should it abide ? Meanwhile the inhabitants of New Brunswick had taken xilarm, and a very gale of opposition to the confederation movement swej)t over the province. Before heavy guns are put to the ordeal of battle, they are tested by tremendous charges; and boilers used for generating st'^am are subjected to enormous pressure, to guard against ruinous explosion in the day of trial. When the delegates shut themselves up in their secret chamber at Quebec, a sacred silence was imposed upon each one present till the i-esult of the deliberations should be made known in the proper way through the legisla- tures. There was no means of testing the secret-bearing capa- city of members, else some explosions might have edified the early stages of the proceedings. Nothing in the way of casu- alty occurred, however, during the tour through the western province, though some of the delegates did look the AvhJle so important with their cargo of mystery as to remin;! v* • of a heavy August cloud, full of lightninj and thunder, lIi;... ".ay at any moment burst. But when one of the number reached his home \\i Prince Edward Island, the secret had grown so oppres- sive that he felt it would be impossible for him to contain himself. When the pressure became intolerable, he went, in a sort of reckless despair, and unburthcned to a newspaper editor. Within three hours the terms of the Quebec scheme • Prof. Goldwin Smith, in " The Bystander " for March, 1880. THE DOMINION OF CANADA, ■:• ,-• .''*'■ " ;;{;^ 301 were flashed from end to end of British North America. The New Brunswickfct's took instant alarm. Trifling discrepancies were magnified into frightful proportions. The demagogue cried out against " taxation," and the conservative against a " sacrilegious meddling with the constitution." In March, 1805, a general election was held,, and so bitter was the feeling against union, that not one of the Quebec delegates was elected. An anti-confederate ministry was formed by Hon,, (now Sir) A. J. Smith, and George L. Hatheway. The result of the election in New Brunswick told heavily on the fate of the question else- where. The union enthusiasm of Nova Scotia was instantly chilled ; the legislature seemed disposed to hold aloof from the general federation plan, and passed icsolutions favouring alone a union of the maritime provinces. Prince Edward Is- land suddenly developed a turbulent little temper of her own ; spiritedly refused to have anything to do with confederation, and rei)udiated the action, of her delegates at the Quebec con- ference. Newfoundland took no stt^ps, and the ministry waited till the other provinces had set the example of entering the union before submitting the question to the polls. The Canadian delegates, while in England, had several lengthy conferences with the imperial ministers on the proposed constitutional changes, on treaties and legislation, the defences of Canada, the settlement of the north-west territories, the Hudson Bay company's claim, and other subjects. The con- federation scheme having attracted much favourable attention in England, our emissaries were received with marked cordiality by the ministry as well as by the Queen and royal family. Hon. John A. Macdonald pressed upon the home government the expediency of making known to the recalcitrant colonies that the imperial authorities desired to see a union consumma- ted ; for one of the weapons used against the project in Nova Scotia and New Brunsw' jk, was that the aim of the confedera- tion was separation from the empire, and the assumption of independent nationality. Such an intention at that day was If! 1 "I m L . ) m^ u h i i % J^ Ui kH \\\\'' »» ) ! . tfi "^ r w ■>! SSS" U r^ iM * n I J ^ .J '\-r: 302 LIFE OF SIE JOHN A. MACDONALD. %- 1 '> regarded as a public offence. If it is an offence for the son, approaching the years and the strength of manhood, to turn his tiioughts to separation from the homestead under whose jurisdiction and shelter he has lived during his infancy and boyhood, to sketch out a manly and independent career of his own, plan to build his own house, conduct his own business, and carve out his own fortune, then was it an offence for those Canadians, if there were at that time any such, who on the eve of union dreamt of nationality, of a time when Canada would have passed the years of boyhood, and be brave and strong enough to stand forth among the independent nations. After the despatches of the colonial secretary had reached the provincial government, some of those who had opposed union on the ground of loyalty, now began with much consist- ency to inveigh against the alleged ' unuue pressure " of the imperial government ; while many declared that " an atrocious system for the coercion of the colonies into the hateful bond " had been inaugurated in the home office. The truth is there was neither pressure nor coercion exercised from the colonial office, since no proceeding could have been more fata! to the prospects of the confederation. The home ministry had grown to be enthusiastic supporters of the " new -dominion " scheme, and stated their views at much length in their despatches to the colonial governors, whom they wished to give to the project every possible proper support at their command ; but that was all. On the one hand Mr. John Macdonald and his colleagues avouched the loyalty of the provinces to the crown, and de- clared that the colonists would spend their only dollar, and shed the last drop of their blood, in maintaining connexion with the mother-land. The parent was much moved at these earnest and lavish protestations of the child, and in token of her apprecia- tion and gratitude guaranteed a loan for the construction of an Intercolonial railway ; admitted her obligation to defend the colonies with all the resources at her command ; and consented to strengthen the fortifications at Quebec, and provide arma- TEE DOMINION OF CANADA. 303 ments. The Quebec scheme was amply and carefully discussed, and our colonial ministers were fairly matches for their impe- rial brethren in diplomacy — notably so was Mr. John A. Mac- donald, whose astuteness and statesmanlike views were the subject of much favourable comment. Among other things, the home government undertook to ascertain what were ttie rights of the Hudson Bay company, with a view to the cession of the north-west territory to the Dominion. A meeting of the Canadian parliament, to discuss the report of the delegates, was called for the 8th of August. On the 30th of July, some exciten»ont was caused in political circles* by the death of the premier, Sir Etienne P. Tachd, and as the meeting of the legislature was to take place in a few days, it became imperative that his successor should be appointed as speedily as possible. The senior member of the cabinet, and beyond any comparison, its most able and eligible men;ber, was the attor- ney-general-west, and for this gentleman the governor-general promptly sent, requesting him to assume th^ place of the de- ceased leader. Mr. Macdonald offered no objections, but, on the contrary, believed that he was entitled by reason of his seniority in the cabinet, to the vacant premiership. He waited on George Brown to whom he stated what had passed between himself and Lord Monck, but the grit chieftain refused to con- sent to the arrangement, giving as his reason that the govern- ment hitherto had been a coalition of three political parties, each represented by an active party leader, but all acting under one chief, who had ceased to be moved by strong party feelings or personal ambition. Mr. Macdonald, M. Cartier and himself on the contrary, he maintained, were regarded as party leaders, with party feelings and aspirations ; and to place any one of these in an attitude of superiority over the others, with the ad- vantage of the premiership, would, in the public mind, lessen the security of good faith, and seriously endanger the existence of the coalition. He refused, therefore, to accept Mr. Macdon- ald as premier, and suggested the appointment of some gentle- H ' V i <<■ i '<•:■ " N« 304 LIFE OF SIR JOHN A. MACDONALD. man of good standing in the legislative council. The giit leader's motives, the reader can see as well as ourselves, were partly patriotic, but above all they were selfish. It was natural that he should be jealous of the ascendancy of Mr. Macdonald, but it would have been more creditable had he frankly said so, instead of trying to hide his real motive behind the thin screen of argument, that Sir Etienne Tachij was a colourless politician, without strong party feeling. Mr. Macdonald, very calmly and clearly, pointed out, in reply to Mr. Brown's objec- tion, that at the time the coalition was effected, in 1864, Sir Etienne Tach^ held the position of premier, with himself as leader in the lower house, and of the Upper Canada section of the government ; that Sir Etienne was not selected at the time of the coalition to the leadership as a part of the agreement for the coalition, but that he had been previously, as then, the head of the conservative government, and was accepted by all his Lower-Canada colleagues without change. This it will be seen cut away the ground completely from under Brown's con- tention; after which Mr. Macdonald stated that he had not much personal feeling in the matter, and that if he had he thought it to be his duty to overcome such feeling for the sake of carrying out the great scheme, so happily commenced, to a successful issue. He would, therefore, readily stand aside, and waive his pretensions to the premiership ; and then suggested the name of M. Cartier for the vacancy. Mr. Brown said he coma not decide on this proposal without seeing his friends ; and went away to consult Messrs. McDougall and Howland. The result of the conference was that M, Cartier was not acceptable either, after which Mr. Macdonald informed Mr. Brown that he and M. Cartier had decided on offering the premiership to Sir Narcisse Belleau. To this Brown replied that he was still un- satisfied, thn t his party would not have chosen Sir Narcisse ; but he added : " Since we are equally with you desirous of pre- venting the scheme for the confederation of British America receiving injury from the appearance of disunion among us, we THE DOMINION OF CANADA. 305 shall offer no objection to his appointment." Sir Narcisse was therefore installed, accepting the original policy of the coalition government. The last session of the Canadian parliament, held in Quebec, was opened on the 8th of August. The chief ^rk of the ses- sion was a consideration of the report of the delegates to Eng- land. The government carried its measures by overwhelming majorities, and there seemed no disposition to tolerate the ob- struction of the small band of opposition. During the session, the result of the labours of the commission, appointed in 1857, to frame a civil code for Lower Canada, wsis presented to the legislature, and M. Cartier introduced a bill to carry the same into effect. The late Mr. S. J. Watson, a peculiarly vigorous writer, in refemng to the speech delivered by M. Cartier on this occasion, remarks : " He spoke with the feeling of a man who is conscious that he is placing the crowning stone on an edifice which has cost him years of labour and anxiety to build." The code went into operation on the 1st of August in the following year. The house rose after a six-weeks session ; and in the autumn the public offices were removed to the new capital in the wilderness, some one hundred and twenty miles up the Ottawa river. During the summer, for the sake of convenience, the cabinet meetings were held in Montreal. Meanwhile, it was faring ill with George Brown in the cabinet. "The giant of the platform," says Bystander, "is apt to shrink into less imposing dimensions when placed at the ♦council board and pitted mind to mind against shrewd and able men who are not to be swayed by rhetorical thunder. It was always said that the southern slave-owner never was half so happy at Washington, even in the hour of his political ascen- dancy, as on his own plantation where he was absolutely lord and master of all around him. Mr. Brown's position, it may be easily believed, was more pleasant in the sphere where, instead of finding his supremacy always contested, he ruled with des- potic sway, and could visit dissent from his opinion with the it .^ Si •w«^?i ; \i Xi T^ I iH .•ft ■ n i^'^ s:i ^^^^^m r-' » ..,,.. .,^ 306 LIFE OF SIR JOHN A. MACDONALD, lash." His position began to grow so intolerable, that the vir- tue which prompted him to enter the government, and give his pledge to support the ministry till the confederation scheme was beyond danger, began to fade out of him, and he only sought a pretext for resignation. It appears, and it is not greatly to be wondered at, that Sir Narcisse Belleau was only the figure- head of the administration, and that attorney -general Macdon- ald's was the ruling mind. Of Mr. Brown's personal unfriend- liness, we might say his hatred, towards Mr. Macdonald, we have already heard, as shown in his refusal to ratify the latter gentleman's appointment to the premiership ; and now that his enemy, despite this protest, was the virtual premier, the mind which inspired, and the hand that shaped the policy of the ad- ministration, was a thorn too stinging for him to bear. One writer says that Mr. Brown should have foreseen all these things before entering the administration, but as we have already shown, Mr. Brown was frequently, when apparently moving according to the dictates of calm calculation, the victim of im- pulse, and always incapable of forecasting probabilities or con- sequences. Duty to some men is as the fixed star that the mariner, sailing over the unknown main, follows with unfalter- ing faith till it leads him to his haven ; but it is clear in the record that with all the robust honesty and sense of right which Mr. Brown possessed, this higher, and finer moral duty was not to him a constant star. Strong and clear appeared his duty when he came to conservative ministers and proposed a, coali- tion ; promptly did he follow then what he deemed his duty, was ; and that, so far, he did hono\irably, we might say nobly, is by nothing so strongly proven as in the protests entered by that school of politicians, to which, by his own newspaper, he had given life. But not far did he travel on his way when he lost faith in the virtue of the star, faltered, dropped off, and covered an honourable beginning with an ignominious ending. Let us not anticipate, however, but see exactly what he did. ^ m^ THE DOMINION OF CANADA. 307 The termination of the reciprocity treaty, as those who have borne the dates in mind remember, was now at hand, and the commercial interests of the provinces demanded that the gov- ernment should employ all possible means towards securing renewal. Overtures which had been made, were treated with contempt at Washington, so, at the suggestion of the imperial government, a " Confederate Council on Commercial Treaties," and comprising representatives from all the British North A.merican provinces, was held during the autumn of 18G5, at Quebec. This council, among whose members was Mr. George Brown, recommended that a deputation should be sent to Wash- ington, to endeavour to effect a renewal. While Mr. Brown was absent from Ottawa on public business, Mr. Rowland and Mr. Gait were sent to Washington to negotiate there with the committee of ways and means. Inasmuch as Mr. Howland had not been a member of the confederate council, and Mr. Brown had, the latter gentleman regarded the preference of the other as a personal slight, and a sufficient excuse for withdrawing himself from the cabinet. It will be seen that a very filmy cloud obscured Mr. Brown's star of duty. A principle that can- not withstand a personal slight, and one of such a nature as this, is surely not worth the having. But in view of Mr. Brown's subsequent attitude towards the treaty question, it will be ob- served that Mr. Macdonald acted with his usual discretion in refusing to send to negotiate a treaty a man who was hostile to the very proceedings which it would be his duty to carry out. On learning that Howland had been sent to Washington, Brown at once resigned his seat in the ministry, and could not be in- duced by any pressure to alter his decision. It appears that the affront received was not Mr. Brown's only ground of com- plaint against the government. Of the ministerial policy with respect to the Washington treaty, he strongly disapproved. He did not believe that we ought to go to Washington as suitors, but that Washington ought to come to us. In other words he was not willing that Mahomet should go up to the mountain, but '^1 lifl H ill ii> t 'I' ;^ \ii 4'< III ■ V , ^ . ' ■; •■■•(,«'-, ■ 1, ■ - 308 LIFE OF SIR JOHN A. MACDONALD. ! '/« >f';. r'i: contenrlod that tlio mountain ought to coino down to Mahomot. That this excellent view had taken possession of him is clear from the following extract of a speech which ho delivered dur- ing the next session of parliament. " I was," he said, " a8 much in favour of a renewal of reciprocity as any member of this house, but I wanted a fair treaty ; and wo should not overlook the fact while admitting its benefits, that the treaty was at- tended with some disadvantages to us. I contend that wo should not have gone to Washington as suitors, for any terms they wore pleased to give us. We were satisfied with the treaty, and the American government should have come to us with a proposition since^ they, not us, desired a change." Of course nobody believes that Mr. John A. Macdonald sent delegates to Washington begging for " any terms they were pleased to give us." In a little while Mr. Brown passed from the transition state, and was pouring red-hot broadsides into the government. Has political history ever told of such another man ? No impartial writer hesitates to think if there may be found anj/ excuse for the man's course ; one might almost have fancied Alexander Mackenzie shrinking with his brush. Says Colonel Gray : " Either he (Mr. Brown) ought not to have joined the government or he ought not to have left it at that time. The people sustained him in the first ; they condemned him in the latter. The reason he gave no one accepted as the real reason, ^nd his opponents did not hesitate to say that he left the go- vernment because he was not permitted to be its master." One balm onlv now could have healed the wounds of Mr. Brown, and that the loyalty of his reform colleagues. But in the dark hour these deserted him. Mr. Howland openly disap- proved of his leader's course, and when Mr. McDougall returned to Canada, from which he had been absent on a mission of trade, he endorsed th(3 course of Mr. Howland It may be said here that the mission to Washington was a failure, and that no further attempt to secure reciprocity was made till several years after confederation. 4 THE DOMINION OF CANADA. 309 Tlio last session of tho provincial [)arliamenfc met at Ottawa on the 8tli of June. The ministry's speech expressed the h()])e that the union sclieine would soon be un fdit accomjiU, and that the next parliament would embrace an assemblage not only of the federate representatives of Canada, but of every colony in British North America. A shiver had r»m through the public with the tidings of the invasion by O'Neil's rulliaiis, and on tho assembling of the legislature an act suspending tho Habeas Corpus for one year was hurriedly passed ; also a measure pro- viding for tlie protection of Lower Canada against invasion. There was brisk discussion upon some of the government measures, but the opposition found themselves in compari- son with their opponents as " that small infantry warred OD by cranes ;" and hence, as the session wore on, learned not to offer opposition where nothing was to be gained but a crown of ridicule. A series of resolutions defining tho constitution of Upper and Lower Canada under the proposed confederation, and which subsequently were, in great measure, incorporated in the impe^ ' ' act, were passed, and likewise a tariff pro- vision fo . admission of such commodities as boots and shoes, ready-made clothing, saddlery and harness, which had hitherto, by virtue of the act of 1850, paid a duty of twenty- five per cent., at a duty of fifteen per cent. ; while, to stimulate native aianufacture, a number of raw materials were put upon the free I'it. To meet the deficiency which must result in the revenue, an increased impost was placed upon whiskey. Before the house arose a difference, suppressed for some time, between the finance minister, Mr. A. T. Gait, and Mr. H. L. Langevin, on the subject of education in Lower Canada came to a head, and resulted in the resignation of the former gentle- man, who, however, loyally supported the government in its general policy, while feeling obliged to so far dift'er from it oil a particular question. Mr. Howland took Mr. Gait's port- folio, and Mr. solicitor-general Langevin became postmaster- general in the place of the new finance minister. 'it .,.«.H*' i T !■• 310 / LIFE OF SIR JOHN A. MACDONALb. Meanwliile, reason had resumed her sway in Now Brunswick and Nova Scotia. In New Brunswick, shortly after the blind ^'oddess lind scored her victory, opinion began l>u revolt against the counsel by which it liaa hitherto been guided respecting the great question at issue, and which, in its anti-progressive and dark-age press had appealed to the condition of Ireland under union for witness against the wisdom of the confederation scheme. The public in a calm and sensible mood pondered the question over, and remembered among other things the story of the bundle of rods, which when fastened together could not be broken, wh»le each rod, tested singly, proved to be a frail and unresisting thing. But they thought beyond the confines of figure and allegory, nnd were eager for an opportunity to dis- card the progress-brakes which had assumed the government of the province. In 1S6G, the legislature of New Brunswick met under exciting circumstances. The province had been threatened with invasion by the Fenians, and, not unnaturally, the public mind exaggerated small dan- into great propor- tions. There was some reason to suppi tid strong supposi- tion, that the ministry which had assumed power by virtue of opposition to the union, was not composed entirely of members deadly foemen to the ruffians threatening the province. Gover- nor Gordon, in the speech opening the legislature, announced that it was the earnest wish of the Queen that the provinces should unite in one confederacy, and strongly urged the ques- tion upon the legislature. The Smith-Hatheway administra- tion was willing to meet the royal wish half way, provided that New Brunswick obtained better terms in the compact than those offered in the Quebec scheme. But the public were not disposed to abide by the half-way marches of the ministry, or even to tolerate its existence. The legislative council, strange to say, proved that on occasion it may be useful, by passing an address expressing the desire that the imperial government might unite New Brunswick and the other provinces in a fed- erative union. The ministry were obliged to resign, and the »JT»n TIIK DOMIMON OF CANADA. 311 governor calhul on Mr. (now Sir; Leonard Tilloy to ft)rm an adminiHtnition. A dissolution followed, and to tliosamo lenj^th which the province had before gone in opposinj; coid'i'deration it now went in supporting the Hclietue. This election had a marked iufluenco on the fortu ^ ;s of confederation in other quarters. " The destiny of British North America," indeed, says Mr. Archer, " was decided in New Brunswick." Nova Scotia shook off lier torpor, and appointed delegate.s to proceed to London, to perfect a measure of union. Meanwhile the little province in the Gulf remained refractory, while her more rugged sister out on the edge of the Atlantic was listless, save for the harrowing " poetry " of her fisherman-bards, and the metaphys- ical flux of a Hebrew scholar. The little meadow-[)rovinco afterwards fell before the wooer, but the " ancient colony " choso perpetual celibacy. Little Tom the sea baby once found in the middle of the Northern Sea a solitary gair-fowl sitting bolt up- right upon V Allalonestono, and singing at morn and eve, singing ever, " And 80 the poor stone was left all alone, With a fal-lal-la-lady." She was an ancient dame, having no winces, and despising birds who had ; was supremely content with her isolation, and disgusted with the progress of modern times. It seems to us that Newfoundland has attempted to emulate the gair-fowl, preferring that " the poor stone " should be " left all alone," to casting in her lot with a young nationality in the spring-bloom of its strength. For the colonists — we are anticipating by a few years — showed their hostility to union, by some unmis- takable signs. When Hon. Ambrose Shea, who had been the island delegate to Quebec, paid a visit to Piacentia, the chief place in his constituency, he was met at the landing by a number of the inhabitants, some bearing pots of hot pitch, and others bags of feathers witli which to bedeck " de shkeemer " who tried to " sell his counthry." The writer ju::t remembers the 7- 1 ,: 1 . 1. ', 'A i 1 ( 1 ii ' * ! t ^i ti >»4 •«< .3115 LIFE OF SIR JOHN A. MACDONALD. \ , scene, and never will it leave his memory. In addition to the zealous " antis " with the tar and feathers, were about fifty indi- viduals who sounded melancholy insult to the candidate through these large con chs which the fishermen ge upon their "bull- tow " trains in summer, and another band of about thirty, who blew reproaches and derision through cows-horns. They heaped every possible insult upon the visitor, raved up and down the landings threatening his life should he attempt to come on shore, till, at last, pained and disgusted, this man who had been so often their benefactor when famine darkened their homes, who was a statesman of whom any country might have been proud, tarned away and never visited the ungrateful spot again. Mr. Shea, however, we may add here, did not drop out of public life, but still, with his brother, the colonial secretary maintains a leading place in the counsels of his colony, whose interests in him have an able and zealous advocate. In November, 18G6, the Canadian delegation, consisting of Messrs. John A. Macdonald, George E. Cartier, A. T. Gait, W. P. Howland, Wm. McDougall and H. L. Langevin, proceeded to England, where they were to meet the Nova Scotia and New Brunswick delegates, to discuss the confederation plan. The Nova Scotia delegates were Messrs. Tupper, Archibald, Henry, McCully and Ritchie ; those of New Brunswick were Messrs, Tilley, Mitchell, Fisher, Johnson and Robert Duncan Wilraot, the last named gentleman being the present lieu- tenant-governor of the province. The delegates assembled at Westminster palace on the 4th of December, and, by pre- eminence, the chair was given to Hon. John A. Macdonald during the conference. Lord Monck, who had left Canada on a holiday tour, and who was a zealous advocate of union, ren- dered what assistance he could to the delegates and to the im- perial government. The conference sat till the 24th of Decem- ber, after which the acoemblage were in a position to proceed with the structure of a constitution. Though some of the ablest men our colonies have ever produced were instrumental in fo'- TUE DOMINION OF CANADA. 313 framing the new constitutional charter. Mr. Macdonald, it was readily admitted, was the master-head. Many a time during the progress of the negotiations, conflictipg interests arose, which, but for careful handling, might have wrecked the scheme ; and here the matchless tact of the attorney-general of Canada West pre-eminently asserted itself. During the conference several modifications were made in the Quebec draft. Seveial concessions were made to the maritime pro- vinces, and a more uniform and equitable feature given to the whole. The Nova Scotia delegates were confronted by the colossal figure of Joseph Howe, who poured out a stream of fiery eloquence against the confederation; but those who were present say that Dr. Tupper turned the great orator's argu- ments back with such force and clearness that the mind of the imperial government never for a moment wavered in concluding what its duty to Nova Scotia was. After the conclusion of the discussion on the g eral scheme, the conference, in con- junction with the imper. law ofticers, prepared certain draft bills, which were afterwards fused into a hanuonious whole, and submitted to the imperial parliament on the 5th of Feb- ruary following. On the 29th of March the amalgamated bill received the royal assent; and on the 12th of April another imperial act was passed authorizing the commissioners of the treasury to guarantee interest on a loan not to exceed £3,000,- 000 sterling, which sum was to bo appropriated to the construc- tion of an Intercolonial railway between Halifax and the St. La>vrence. The union was not considered perfected by the consti- tutional ceremony ; and needed a firmer linking by the bonds of iron. O] the 22nd of May a royal proclamation was issued from Windsor Castle, giving effect to " The British North America Act," and a{)pointing the first day of July following as the date on which it should come in force. Briefly, the act provided that the provinces of Canada, New Brunswick, and Nova Sco- tia should be one Domrnion, under the name of Canada. This Dominion was divided into four provinces, named Ontario, l\ \ -s ^.h>i il \ K' i.,l> : I* i ,' ■ipi h ■ ■*-- A': \^ ■ * .'*■ » -id- 314 LIFE OF SIB JOHN A. MACDONALD. Quebec, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia; the boundaries of the former two to be the same as those of the old provinces of Upper and Lower Canada ; the boundaries of the two maritime provinces remaining unchanged. The executive authority, and the command of the naval and military forces, were vested in the imperial sovereign, represented by a govpi"" >r-general or other executive officer lor the time being. The of Ottawa was declared the seat of government during tne sovereign's pleasure. The legislative machinery was to consist of a viceroy or his deputy, and a ministerial council, to be styled the Queen's piivy council for Canada, the members of which body were to be chosen by the governor-general, and to hold office during his pleasure. The legislative power was vested in a parliament, to consist of the Queen, the senate and the house of commons. It was provided that a parliament should be held at least once in each year, so that not more than a twelvemonth might elapse between session and session. The ridiculous system of election to the political dead-house was abolished, — though the gigantic thing itself was maintained — and it was provided insteaa that the senate should consist of seventy-two life members, twenty- four for Ontario, twenty-four for Quebec — an apportionment which, in view of the disparity of population and the outlook of increased inequality, would have been a rank injustice, but that the members so distributed are but the shadows in an in- stitution which in practice is a myth — and twelve for each of the maritime provinces, the members to possess certain pro- perty qualifications, to be appointed by the Crown, and to re- tain their seats for life, unless guilty of gross misbehaviour. Becoming swinishly intoxicated, and while in that state vom- iting over Turkey carpets at vice-regal banquets were not fore- seen in framing the constitution, so that senators offending in that way may retain their seats. Provision was made for in- creasing the membership of the body, but the number (as finally arranged) was not to exceed eighty-two, or to reach that limit unless upon the entry of Newfoundland into the confederation. JLSy -i.;-* THE DOMINION OT CANADA. 316 The principle of representation by population was established for the house of commons, the basis adopted for the original adjustment being the census of 1861. It was declared, how- ever, that an adjustment should take place every ten yeai-s, upon a census of population being obtained. The representa- tion of Quebec was permanently lixed at sixty -five members, while that of each of the other provinces was to bear the same relation to the population thereof that sixty-five should from time to time bear to the population of Quebec. The repre- sentation for the whole union was fixed at 181 members: eighty-two for Ontario, sixty-five for Quebec, nineteen for Nova Scotia, and fifteen for New Brunswick. The duration of the house of commons was not to exceed five years. Constitutions were likewise given to the four pro- vinces embraced in the union. Each comprised a lieutenant- governor who was to be appointed by the governor-general, paid out of the general treasury, and to hold office for five years; an executive council which was to be appointed by the lieu- tenant-governor, who had the power of dismissal ; a legislative council to be nominated by the lieutenant-governor and to hold their seats for life* ; and the house of assembly. Such legisla- ture was to have control over local affairs, all questions of a cha- racter afieef ing the dominion at large falling within the juris- diction of the general government. It is hardly necessary to say that the jurisdiction of the federal and the provincial par- liaments in many cases remind one of those colours on the can- vas which rcoet and to the eye seem to soften and blend, so that it passes the keenest skill to say where the one begins or the other ends ; and that, therefore, it was impossible by the terms of any constitution to so define respective jurisdiction as to avoid collision of authority in the future. One notable case, as our readers will readily remember, has of late years arisen, namely, the question whether the power to pass certain laws * Ontario had the good sense to dispense with an upper chamber, and her legi»- tion baa never been the worse in consequence. ^ :%' '~ > '--i. Jft^ I \ y f )* * ii "TV', 7P^ •w^yw'ffrrv'.'^'mv' 310 i/ii^^ OF SIR JOHN A. MACDONALD. regulating the liquor traffic resides in the geneial or the provincial parliaments, the learned and clear-headed chief justice of New BrunswJck affirming that the jurisdiction lies in the province, not in the douilruon; the distinguished chief justice of Canada maintaining, on the other hand, that the authority is not in the province, but in the dominion ; while other eminent jurists contend that the power resides not according to the terms of the act bearing upon such cases, cither in the one legislature or the other. Provision was made, likewise, in the British North America Act, for the admission into the confederation, of any colony that had so far refused to be a party to the compact. The royal proclamation announced the names of seventy-two senators, thirty-six of whom were conservatives and thirtv-six reformers ; so that when the date which was to witness the birth of the Dominion came round, the machinery was in readiness to set in motion. When the delegates returned from England, Lord Monck, who had been a zealous worker in promoting union, turned his thought to the choice of an administration to be called to the government of the federated provinces. As to who the leader should be, he doubted not a moment. Many warm and able advocates had had the scheme of union among those who sat at the Westminster Conference, as well as among numbers of others in the parliament and the press ; but above all these towered the figure of Hon. John A. Macdonald. We have seen that he dif- fered at the outset from his colleagues as to the form some details of the scheme ought to take ; but that a union of the scattered colonies was the only solution to the troubles dis- tracting the provinces, he never doubted. From the moment the coalition was formed, his was the head that planned, the hand that shaped, the negotiations. It is not going too far to say, in glancing at his exertions, and the obstacles which were presented at every stage of the proceedings, that ha i it not been for Mr. John A. Macdonald we might not at this day have a confederation. George Biown sought rep- M* TUB DOMINION OF CANADA. 317 resentation by population, and entertained the proposal of eon- federation only as a means to that end ; Lower Canada was apathetic, and rather interested in resisting Brown's move- ment than anxious to enter a combination wliich would not increase her prestige, Mr. Macdonald, appearing upon tho scene at this critical time, thus on the one hand appealed to Mr. Brown : You will through federation get represen- tation by population, and, turning to the French party : The time has now come when you must recede from the ground on which I have so long sustained you ; you must now choose between a subserviency to a majority in all things, or a mea- sure that will make you supreme in your domestic concerns, and give you the authority to which your number entitles you on questions of national importance. Mr. Mackenzie natuially enough, perhaps, considering our poor fallen nature, is jealous of the position Mr. Macdonald takes after the accomplishment of the union. " Having," says Mr. Mackenzie, " no great work of his own to boast about, he bravely plucks the laurel from the brows of the actual combatants, and real victors, and fastens it on liis own head." Who, pray, Mr. Mackenzie, were the " actual combatants ? " Who were " the real victors ? " We know not and we write from the record, seeking not to put laurels on brows that have not won them. Surely the question is a question of fact, not one of malice. Lord Monck, as we have said, who had watched the course of Mr. Macdonald, who remembered how that statesman had turned the Prince Edward Island conference to account, the attitude he had assumed after the conference, and his position at the Westminster meeting, had no difficulty in concluding that far beyond all others was his place in accomplishing the great event, and that for this reason, and by virtue of his first-class abilities as a statesman, to him belonged the honour of leading the first Canadian administration. He wrote a note asking if Mr. Macdonald would come and see him, and then told the at- torney-general-west what his intentions were. Mr. Macdonald \' I ■ "i t»i»f<#^ 'I m '^J 3ia LIFE OF SIR JOHN A. MACDONALD. expressed his obligatiopjs, and his willingness to take any duty that his excellency assigned to him. Upon the recommendation of the prime miniater, almost entirely, it was that the members of the ministry were chosen. Like the " heretic " who, on receiving baptism and entering the fold of the Roman church, finds all his past bio Lted out as if it had never been — though his sins had been red as scarlet — and begins life de novo, so was the past of party in Canada obliterated, Mr. Macdonald and Lord Monck argued — though of course not precisely in our figure — and the new ministry, drawn from every province, and all parties, would begin its career without a political stain. With confederation arose new problems, new interests, new aspirations ; old ques- tions were brushed oflf the stage, and nought remained but hollow names. Lord Monck indeed believed that in the ap- pointment of a compound ministry, a death-blow would be struck at party ; but Mr. Macdonald assured him that party would survive the discarded institutions, and resist all the ex- pedients that ever entered the brain of man. But while regard- ing this evil of responsible government irrepressible he advised, as we shall see, the formation of a ministry from among all parties in the colonies. " The confederation," he said, later on, " is the work of the people of these provinces, irrespective of old-time party opinion. I do not want it to be felt by any section of the country, that they have no representation in the cabinet, and no influence in the government. And as then are now no issues to divide parties, and as all that is required i i to have in the government the men who are best adapted to put the new machinery in motion, I desire to ask those to join me who have the confidence of, and represent the majorities in, the various sections, of those who were in favour of the adoption of this system of government and who wish to see it satisfac- torily carried out." In due time the members of the new cabinet were announced, as follows : Hon. John A. Macdonald Premier and Min. of Justice. " A. T. Galt - - - Minister of Finance. THE DOMINION OF CANADA. 319 Hon. u « (( Alexander Campbell A. J. Ferqusson-Blair W. P. Rowland George E. Cartier Wm. McDougall S. L. TiLLEY Peter Mitchell - H. L. Langevin - J. C. r^HAPAIS - A. G. Archibald - Edward Kenny - Poatmaster-Oeneral. President of the Council. - Mill. Inland Revenue. - Min. Militia and Defence. - Minister Public Works. - Min. of Customs. Min. Marine and Fisheries. Sec. of State for Canada. Min. of Agriculture. - Sec. of State for Provinces. - Receiver- General. Lord Monck was sworn into office as governor-general of the New Dominion by Chief Justice Draper, after which he announced that Her Majesty had instructed him, through the Colonial Secretary, to confer the order of knighthood upon Hon. John A. Macdonald, and the distinction of Companion- ship of the Bath on Messrs, Tilley, Tupper, Cartier, Gait, Mc- Dougall and Rowland. Messrs. Cartier and Gait refused the favour, and it soon became known that the former gentleman was wounded to the quick that, in granting the higher honour . t knighthood, he had been ignored. But what he felt worse than all, with that impulse that rushes sometimes into the rashest consequences with its eyes shut, was that the man with whom he had borne the brunt of so many hardly fought battles should be faithless to the friendship that had so lone; bound the two together as " with hoops of steel." He believed, in short, that the slight was due to Mr. Macdonald's selfish ambition which coveted the crowning honour for itself alone. The truth all the time was, that never lived a lovaler friend than Hon. John A. Macdonald ; that the knighthood was not obtained at his solicitation or even with his knowledge, but the work of Lord Monck, who conceived the honour to be a fitting one to the first statesman called to lead the government of the new nation. That M. Cartier had borne a noble part in the move- ment for the federation was undoubted, but so had many others (ji**HBP^ l*£»WT %,. '\ ':h a ' I \m TWWJf'^ .•eT 320 LIFE OF SIR JOHN A. MACDONALD. who were visited with no higher token of imperial regard than the worthy leader of the French Canadians. With the un- bounded chivalry of his nature the premier set to v/ork to redeem what, in view of M. Cartier's feelings, was a diplomatic blunder ; and a year later it was announced that the French leader had been created a baronet of the United Kingdom, a higher dignity than had been conferred upon the prime minis- ter himself. M. Cartier was somewhat mollified, but the origi- nal hurt rankled in the very marrow, and to use the phrase of one of our writers, the golden bowl once shivered could not be restored again. Such, then, is the history of the confederation movement — from the beginning to the triumphant ending — which, like the river that takes its rise in obscure gi'ound begins its journey with feeble motion, winding on with seeming hesi- tation, through various bends and turns, sometimes entering the dark forest that the thoughtless spectator believes will hide the stream forever, but emerging again with greater speed and sturdier purpose, sweeping on, halting never, and flowing round the mountain that rises to bar its way, till, " at last the longed- for dash of waves is heard," and it joins the broad, bright sea. Though glancing backward, we find that the yeai-s have begun to invest events once standing out in such distinctness, with vague outline and shadows, still so long as endures the story of the creation of the Dominion of Canada, one clear form will appear above all the rest, and that the figure of the Right Hon. Sir John Alexander Macdonald. \ iM "v/ CHAPTER XVIL THE FIRST DOMINION CABINET, GEORGE ETIENNE CARTIER was born at St. Antoine, m the County of Verch&res, on the 6th of September, 1814t. Tradition, perhaps hazarding a guess, connects him with the great Jacques of the same name, so prominent a figure in the early history of Canada. After finishing his education in the College of St. Sulpice, Montreal, M. Cartier studied law in the oflice of M. Edouard Rodier ; and, in 1835, began practice at Montreal. Two years later the province was in a flame o? rebellion, and like most of his spirited compatriots at the time, the young barrister shouted his vivas for Papineau and La Li- herU. He fought, with much bravery under Dr. Nelson at St. Denis, and when the bloody drama was ended fled to tho United States, where he remained till the clouds of revolt at home had rolled away. While 'still under the ban of the law he returned by stealth to Montreal, and shut himself up in his rooms during the day. In the evening he quietly left his confinement, seek- ing the suburbs for exercise and fresh air, and as he glided along the lonely roads in the gloaming, he often related after- wards, he fancied that mysterious footsteps dogged him, and that every bush concealed an officer. At last, semi-official in- formation reached him that if he conducted himself with dis- cretion, the law would wink at the past. M. Cartier, we may be sure was as patriotic as most of his countrymen, but the phantom of a hangman dangling a halter had haunted his pil- low so long that the patriotism which had once put on the wings of revolution, .was ever afterwards, in his breast, frozen at the u 321 :Hf ^ H m 1 <' I V' V ', 322 LIFE OF SIR JOHN A. MACDOKALD. source. For ten years the young lawyer diligently epplied himself to his profession, shrinking from notoriety, but never losing interest in political questions ; and all the while yearning for the political sphere. In 1848, he saw his ambition gratified in being elected for VerchSios, which constituency ho repre- sented till 18G1, when he overtiircvv the rouge Goliath, A. A. Dorion, in Montreal, dealing a blow to Lower Canada gritism from which, it may be said without exaggeration, it has never since recovered. We have seen that, early in 185(3, he was chosen provincial-secretary in the MacNab-Tach^ administra- tion, and that four months later he became attorney-general in the Tach^-Macdonald ministry, in the room of Mr. Drummond, who had gone out of the cabinet in dudgeon, because Mr. Mac- donald, instead of himself, was chosen to the leadership in the assembly. The following year the Macdonald-Cartier govern- ment came into existence, but after a few months the wheel w< ♦^ round, and the Cartier-Macdonald ministry appeared upon the scene. Weighed against even many of his contem- poraries, M. Cartier would be light in the scale, unless we con- found his success with his merit. He had a keen perception of every question, but his view was narrow ; and while he prized the interests of his country, party was to him before patriotism, and self before party. A dark picture you draw us surely, says some one at our elbow, who has seen the French leader upon the wall so long enveloped in a blaze of glory. Yes ; it is a black picture, but we, to whom the tasks falls, however unwor- thy we be, to sum up the work and paint the portrait, must not falter in our duty, though our naked sketch reveal an imper- fect man. M. Cartier had many faults. For some of these he was not responsible, as they were inheritances of his birth. It would be unfair to blame him that his understanding was not broad, and that his judgment frequently was unsound ; or that when he spoke to an audience his voice was harsh and un- sympathetic, and seldom captivated hearts. It is just that we blame him for being selfish, for giving bridle to his temper un- r-V THE FIRST DOMINION CABINET. . M der small provocation, and for holding, not unfrequently, in con- tempt men the latchet of whoso shoes he was not worthy to loose. Yet we have seen that he was successful. He had an unbounded ambition, a profusion of nervous force, an unflagging perseverance, an activity as restless as the winds of heaven ; and, to crown these invincible tools in the hands of a man who sets excelsior for his motto, he had an aggressiveness that pushed aside obstacles and all opposing pretensions, and a ca- pacity for organization that always astonished and sometimes bewildered those w'o are not given to analysis, but who are charmed by flash. No political leader could ignore M. Oartier, for ho would prefer being matched against half a dozen st''ong men, to feeling that he had arrayed against him a tireless energy that never slept, never paused, that drilled on, and would work its way through iron walls till it reached its ends. Alexander Tilloch Gait, the chief of finance; in the new min- istry, the son of John Gait, a writer of some note, and the friend and biographer of Lord Byron ; was born at Chelsea, London, on the Cth of September, 1817. Fired by the suc- cesses of his father, he showed an early ta ste for literature, and when in his fourteenth year contributed to Fraser's Magazine. A writer in the Illustrated London News refers, with much approval, to this early contribution ; but we can only shed compassion backward through the years upon the editor of Fraser'a Magazine. It is a sore task enough for a magazine editor to have to read, and reject the tomes of manuscript produced by adults, but it is horror opening her flood-gates upon his head when he is not safe from boys of fourteen. Therefore, we must not be regarded as considering that either the spirit which prompted Mr. Gait to write at fourteen, or the matter he wrote, was good ; we do not approve of the parent who permitted him to write ; neither does the judgment of the editor commend itself to us, who published the lad's effusion. Literature after a short stay with young Gait waved her wing ; and the young man fixed his eye upon some other star. The I v.. ""I ' iL t!H I 111 J A m* 324 LIFE OF SIB JOHN A. MACDONALD. Gait family otnigratod to Canada, in 1824, and when Alexander had attained his sixteenth year, ho entered the service of the British American Land Company, in the eastern townships, as a junior clerk. His marked abilities brought hiui to notice, and his rise through the various stages of the department vas rapid, till he reached the post of cornmissionership. " During his twelve years management," says a reliable authority, " the com- pany was ".hanged from one of almost hopeless insolvency, to that of a valuable and remunerative undertaking." Mr. Galfc first entered parliament when the country was atiame over the rebellion losses bill, but at this period ho seemed to be less use- ful as a politician than as a business man. He endeavoured to distinguish himself as a shining protestant by opposition to catholicity, though the true way for him to prove the superior- ity of his protestantism, was to worship God in his church in a simple earnest s[)irit, and when he left the temple to do unto others as he would have others do unto him. Uncharitableness and intolerance are not any more true protestantism, than Catholicism is the drunken zeal of those brutal mobs that stood up in defence '^9 the "church," when Gavazzi lectured in Que- bec and Montreal. In the lapse ot time, Mr. Ga'*^ outgrew weak prejudice, and h: was for many yturs regarded as being "too judicial" loi the warped ways of the politician. He was a valuable m<'ri,bei when measures were supported or opposed merely for party's sake, and sat as one alone in the house, now warmly supporting a view t)f the government, and again ap- pearing the most censorious among the opposition. From the first his opinion on all questions of trade and finance commanded the close attention of the house. Upon the collapse of the Brown-Dorion ministry, he was rerruested to form an adminis- tration, but having practically alienated liiinsolf from party, he had no following in the house, and not being possessed of the lofty ambition of George Brown, wisely refused to attempt a task A^hich must have ended in failure. We have already noted other events in his career, and shall see him again before '^.3 THE FIRST DOMINION CABINET, 326 close. Mr. Oalt, though not borri in Canada, is a Canadian, and oven with his eccontricitios is a credit to his country. Hia jiolitical compass )i8 our readoi-a are aware, has frequently taken fits of wide variation ; to intensify the figure a little his opinion lias gone round the compass. He has shown decided leaning.^ to the policy of the roformors ; and at times has sounded notes with the true ring of the conservative. This perhaps Mr. Ualt himself would call the swinging of the pendulum, denoting a well-balanced non-party man ; but unfortunately the time came when the pendulum, reaching one side, remained there. For example, Mr. Gait was a zealous champion of confederation, and we write it down, with a hearty feeling, to his credit. At another periodiof his life he was something quite different. A band of men gathered together in Canada shortly after the tory mob had burnt the parliament buildings in Montreal, and cir- culated a manifesto recommending " a friendly and peaceful separation from British connexion, and a union upon equitable terms with the great North American confederacy of sovereign states." A number of gentlemen of good standing in Canada, supported the scheme, and one of these was Mr. A. T. Gait. There would be nothing; strikinof in this historical morsel but that, a few months ago, while trying to restrain her laughter, Canada stood watching the same Mr. A. T. Gait, as Cana- dian high commissioner to England, endeavouring to set flying no less a kite than a scheme for the federation of the empire. The idea, unfortunately for the fame of Mr. Gait, is not original, and even in the way of second-hand is only a half-way measure. For, in Locksley Hall. Tennyson has a much better proposal, as we learn when he sings of the time *' When the war drum throbs no longer, and the battle-flags are furled In the parliament of man, the federation of the world." But as the Canadians are not far enough advanced yet to appre- ciate such an admirable scheme as this, Mr. Gait should have brought the project out in a story-book rather than in a prac- '5v .;»'. ''!)(•• iv ' i? \[\ .( Hi, : .'■* r,' "^r 326 LIFE OF SIB JOHN A. MACDONALD. •'?,,,. 11.4 f'«' tical way. Had Jules Verne proposed all those elaborate ideas of his to the French government, he might not have succeeded either, but h'3 wisely instead put them forth in his " Ten Thou- sand Leagues under the Sea," his voyage through the heavens, and other unusual excursions. Should it ever occur to Mj*. Gait that his federation plan might be extended so as to take in the moon, we beseech of him not to make the proposal i.. the formal way either to the British or the Canadian government — as so surely as he does they will not take kindly to the scheme — but simply bring it out in a novel. If we except this one marvellous idea, so far as relates to Mr. Gait's public career, his influence upon political life in Canada has been for the better, and he deserves well of his countrymen. As hi^ mission at the court of St. James has, by his own desire, been brought to a close, and he is again to become a resident of Canada, we only express the wish, that must be general, that the country may for many years to come have the benefit of his experience, pru- dence and great ability in public matters. We beseech of him» from our own feeling, and on behalf of Canadians, however, to purge his mind of ^his federation phantasm. Perhaps one of the most prominent men in the new ministry was M. Hector L. Langevin, secretary of state for Canada. M. Langevin is a son of the late Jean Langevin, who was as- sistant fxwW secretary under Lords Gosford and Sydenham. He was born in the city of Quebec on the 25th of August, 1826. Educated in the city of his birth he began the study of law in the office of Hon. A. N. Morin, concluding his course with the late Sir George E. Cartier. He was called to the bar in 1850. T^^tirly in life M. Langevin gave evidence of the first- rate abilities which wore to be employed in the service of his country in later years. In connexion with the practice of his profession he was at various periods the editor of three differ- ent newspapers, of the Melanges Religiewc, and the Journal d' Agriculture, in Montreal ; and of the Courrier du Canada, in Quebec. He had the desire common to so many aspiring young . r* a,.-;s;! .* Ad THE FIRST DOMINION CABINET. 327 men in this country to enter political life, and began his public career in the capacity of mayor of Quebec, to which office he was several times elected. In 1855, he took the first of three prizes for an essay on Canada, written for circulation in Paris^ in which paper as in his other contributions he gave promise of reaching high literary eminence, though, somewhat unfortu- nately for letters, the public charmer, with h/ing to his ex- ertions, a more liberal spirit, a feeling of broader citizenship, has grown up among his people. We do not wish here to be understood as thinking that the province of Quebec has held a monopoly of uncharitableness ; for a large porticn of the people of Ontario, through the teaching of a press forced into perfidious work by the needs of party,regard Quebec with a feel- ing at once narrow and unworthy. Unfortunately, the Globe newspaper has been foremost in promoting the bad work of es- trangement, though some do now hope, and we are of the num- ber, that the worst of that great journal's work is done ; that, to use the words of Bystander, "the black flag has been hauled down." Under these circumstances, the duty of Sir Hector Langevin to his province is resistance, but with more than judicious resistance, and a patriotic assertion of his people's rights, he ia not to be charged. M. Langevin's ability as a statesman is, as we have said already, of the highest order. To a comprehensive understanding he brings a calm and unwarped judgment, while so ready is his grasp, and so accurate his view that he has more than once astonished delegations having com- plex propositions before government, by his readiness in un- ravelling and making plain the difficult sides of the question. To all wLo meet him in his public capacity he is painstaking and aft'able, and in every walk of life comports himself with that courtesy which he has acquired from his distinguished an- THE FIRST DOMINION CABINET, 329 'cestors. In this respect we do wish some of his blustering, pompous colleagues, who endeavour to supply by aii"s what they lack in escutcheon, would try to emulate him. To one has •ever yet proved that he is a gentleman, or " of good family " by the assumption of swagger ; on the contrary, he thereby shows as plainly as if he had it written upon his front, that he is lowborn, and not a gentleman. Men have control over most of the events i" their lives, but they have not the remotest in- fluence upon their own birth ; so that it would be unjust to think the worse of a man in exalted place that he is not high- bom. A large number of our public men have sprung from humble parentage, and these we can readily forgive, when high upon fortune's steep, for endeavouring to appear as gentlemen ; for they must take their wives and their daughters to Ottawa, and go to court, and give and receive calls, and hold a place in social life proper to their rank in the public sphere ; and when •such men deport themselves with that grace, courtesy and toler- .ance belonging to those who are to the manner born, they de~ «erve to be ranked among those whose house has never been seen in the bud but always in the tree. But the person who, plebeian born, wraps himself in conceit and vulgar pomp, or in that brusque bonhomie which sits well upon some imperial colonel, and that the parvenu counterfeits only to travesty, is plebeian still ; all the waters of the St. Lawrence will not make liim whiter than the " great unwashed " of whom he is, but 'vhom he despises. In 1881, with the approval of those who set no store on gauds or title, save as badges of merit, and of duty, in whatever line, well and faithfully done, her Majesty conferred upon M. Langevin the ordei* of knighthood, which distinction is now his. One of the most remarkable men in the council, was the minister of customs, Mr. S. L. Tilley. For many years he had been the foremost politician in New Brunswick, and, in the capacity of leader, exhibited talents of more than a common order. Unfortunately, the profession of politics to the popular > 330 LIFE OF SIK JOHN A. MACDONALD. 1 ' ' , 1 ^r-. i' 4'. .^" I : '^ J|l - minJ, when placed in the moral scale, has little specific gravity; and the person who enters public life is regarded as having taken a step downward. But through all the years thf.t Hon. Leonard Tilley had given to public duty, the most unscrupu- lous opponent never even sought to put any tarnish u )on hia name. So upright were all his acts, so deep and sincere his moral convictions, so able his administiation of affairs, and, withal, so zealous was ho in the service of his countrjj, that his name was a very tower of strength to his party. Once indeed in the hubbub of political strife, the popular mind lost its balance and rejected the favourite, but when reason returned the people repaired their error, and placed him again in power. He was, as we have seen, a warm advocate of union, and it is not improbable that the confederation might not to this day have comprehended the maritime provinces, but for his firm and decided course at the critical time when New Brunswick was the pivot ground of the scheme. Mi-. Tilley brought to the enlarged sphere of politics at Ottawa, a mind stored with the fruits of observation and experience, a penetrating and well- contained intellect, and an unerring judgment. As minister of customs, he was prompt and decisive, but he displayed such clearness of grasp and excellence of judgment upon every ques- tion of trade or finance which cr.me up, that it was app irent be was capable of much higher ^/ork than playing the role of chief custom-house officer. An important occasion was soon to arise when the people of Canada demanded a reorganization of the laws bearing upon trade and commerce ; and in Hon. Leo- nard Tilley was found a man equal to the emergency. "We need not here do more than refer to the National Policy, and to the laurels that have fallen to Mr. Tilley 's share through the suc- cess of that measure, which is indebted in so great a degree to his financial skill and keen insight. Among modern statesmen we need not say the place of Hon. (now Sir) Leonard Tilley is among the first ; and to this qualification he adds the other dis- tinction of being an honest man. There are, perhaps, in the THE FIRST DOMINION CABINET. 33] Canadian parliament more forcible speakers +han Sir Leonard Tilley, but there is certainly not one more convincing; and the way to judge of the ir'^rit of a speech is by looking at the results. " The distinguishing characteristic of Sir Leonard Til- ley," says Mr. Nicholas Flood Davin, in his sparkling and capi- tal paper, "Great Speeches," in the Canadian Monthly, " is sin- cerity. No man could appear more lost in his subject. This is a great element in persuasiveness. The earnestness is en- hanced by a style of pure Saxon and unaffected simplicity. His ease of expression would at once mark him out in the English house of commons, and the audoritas with which he speaks, gives him weight and ' ""'ires a following. He has the rare power of making a budget speech interesting, a power which no chancellor of the exchequer I ever heard in the Eng- lish house of commons had, Mr. Gladstone, of course, always ex- cepted." In listening to Sir Leonard Tilley, we hear a man who makes no statement that has not receiv od thorough exam- ination from every view, no opinion that does not bear the stamp of deep conviction ; few, if any, propositions that those who follow will be able to disprove. The critic who admires- sound and fury would be disappointed in Sir Leonard Tilley, for he would find a man discussing his question with calm, earnest dignity, never allowing passion to hurry him into ex- travagance, but firmly maintaining himself upon the ground of common sense. Through such simple, irresistible force, Mr. Cobden, whom Sir Leonard as a statesman and as a speaker strongly resembles, was in his day one of the leading orators in Great Britain, and one of the foremost of h'T public men. Sir Leonard Tilley 's public career is one that some of our young politicians might study with profit. To no principle in private or political life to which he has pledged himself has he ever been known to prove faithless ; and in, at least, one no- table instance * the sincerity of his character is shown in strong • Once upon a time a certain Christian who told from the steeple-top— we are not BU;,^e8ting the Pharisee in the temple, though we cannot quarrel with the reader if f M I Hi 1 1 ■'i ' ;;^ '!: M»«M, *-«l..^. ^''■' 332 LIFE OF SIR JOHN A. MACDONALD, '■' contrast with that of another public man, a "shining light," a " vessel of election," and we know not what else, to one of our leading Christian churches. Sir Leonard is gracious and affable to all with whom his duty brings him in contact, and it would certainly be taxing to the patience of Job himself to have to listen to, expostulate with, and resist the shoals of delega- tions that visit Ottawa representing this, that and the other " interest," and with whom Sir Leonard, by virtue of his posi- tion a? adjuster of the tariff law, is brought into contact. Once or twice he has hinted at withdrawal from public life, but his province, and Canada at large, will not willingly let retire from her service, so long as health remains, a son to whom one and both owe so much, and who has been, since his first appear- ance on the political scenes, down to this hour a credit to the country that has given him birth. A further popularity is added to Sir Leonard in the social sphere, by the grace and charming manners of his accomplished wife, Lady Tilley. A member whose presence would be felt in any cabinet, was Hon. Peter Mitchell, minister of marine and fisheries, who had also been appointed to the senate. Mr. Mitchell had had a pro- minent political career in his native province, New Brunswick. He was a keen-eyed critic and a powerful assailant out of office, and an Armstrong gun in a ministry. Mr. George Stew- art, jr., in some of his life-like portraits in ^'Canada under Dvf- he see a reeemblance — how deep were his religious feelings, and who regarded the person that partook of intoxicants as unfit for society, was appointed to the gover- norship of New Brunswick, but the shock of the elevation upon his moral nature was so great that he fairly held wassail, though not caring for spirits himself, dur- ing his reign in government house. The case is altered now, he said, and I must bow to the custom of keeping spirits at my table and on my sideboard. Hon. Leo- nard Tilley succeeded this person as governor. He had never declared that mode- rate drinkers were outside the pale of society, but in an earnest, dignified manner had always striven to promote the cause of total abstinence. The provincials expected that he would surely follow the example of the more demonstrative teeto- taler and Christian who had been his predecessor; but froci the day he entered government house till his leaving, intoxicating spirits formed no part of his hospi- talities. We may be pardoned for relating this fact, since the " enterprising jour- nalist" has preceded us, .:A.-, THE FIRST DOMINION CABINET. 333 ferin " has this telling bit of description with referencft to Mr. Mitchell. " In popularity he almost rivalled Sir John himself. He was a hard worker, a redoubtable foe and an unforgiving enemy. He was keen in debate, quick to perceive weakness in an opponent, and ready on the instant to strike him down. He always spoke eloquently and well. He was bold but did not always show the more subtle element of tact which he un- doubtedly possessed. He was vindictive and never neglected to pursue an enemy with relentless fury. In executive power he had few equals. With great skill he mastered the minutiee of iis office, and his department rapidly became one of the most important in the cabinet." Politicians matching themselves against Mr. Mitchell, had usually come to grief. When a clear- headed man is able to outwit an opponent by calmly ponder- ing the situation over, as the careful chess-player looks many moves into the future of his game, he is not unfrequently termed a trickster ; and Mr. Mitchell who had been guilty of no offence save possessing the ability to delve a yard below the mines of some of those pitted against him, received the sobriquet of " Bismarck." For a brief season many were per- suaded that the clever politician dealt in naught but " trea- sons, stratagems and spoils;" and they heard without won- der that an invertebrate lieutenant-governor and a guileless ministry had fallen a victim to his wiles. As this is not a question of morals, we have only to say that if a ministry can not resist the arts and a governor the blandishments of one man, it were a pity the one should not fail and the other be perverted. There is in the record, even taking the distortions of the outwitted ones, little to bring a blush to Mr. Mitchell, and less that the historian needs to condemn or excuse. It need hardly be said that the department given to the charge of Mr. Mitchell was at this time the most important in the public ser- vice. With the energy and ability which are his in such a marked degree, he vigorously set to work to frame laws for the protection of the various fisheries, a task requiring a vast deal / K,«J< l1»i It »fH* r'^ > li ijiftji •wp ■^■PFI^^i^^^ 1 ! i-. ^'\ 334 LIFE OF SIR JOHN A. MACDONALD. of consideration, prudence and skill ; and he likewise construct- ed a system of regulations, which, with a few modifications only, has existed to the present day. Many of the harbour improvements begun, the erection of a large number of light- houses, and the adoption of a host of other measures in the in- terest of the sailor and the fisherman were likewise the work of his hands. It is not uncomplimentary to succeeding officers, or even to the present clear-headed and thoroughly able incum- bent to say that since Hon. Peter Mitchell left the department of marine and fisheries, it has not had such another energetic and capable head. Like most other distinguished public men, though the pet and pride of their constituents, who sometimes become the victim of reason run wrong, Mr. Mitchell was once rejected on appealing to his constituents in Northumber- land, N. w Brunswick, being defeated by one of the local millers of that place. His tireless figure has returned again to the commons, however, and he is now, as always, with sleeves rolled up, battling for the interests of the constituents who have the good fortune to call him their representative. The country is etill to hear a good deal from Mr. Mitchell ; and it would, it will be readily admitted, be a loss to the dominion to have such a splendid ability out of harness. The minister of Inland Revenue, Mr. (now Sir) W. P. How- land, whom we have already seen on several occasions, p.nd whose figure is one the reader of Canadian history will not hesitate to admire, was one of the " commercial magnates " of Toronto when he entered public life. He was bom in New York State, but removing to Toronto in his youth, he never knew sympathy for any other country than the Canada to whom he h^ since been as much indebted, as she has been to him. "We have already seen that Mr. Howland entered public life in 1857, when he was elected, in the reform interest, for the west-riding of York. The good judgment, caution and foresight which had made him foremost among men of busi- ness, soon elevated him to the ranks of the prominent members THE FIRST DOMINION CABINET. 331 of the legislature, acd, as has been recorded already, though he ^as never unfaithful to his principles, he had true patriotism enough sometimes to shut his ears to the narrow dictates of party, and lend himself heart and hand to his country. That we do not overestimate the patriotism of Mr. Rowland, is proven, if in nothing else, with abundant force by the assaults to which he was from time to time subjected by the Globe. But Mr. Rowland's feense of duty was always sti'onger than his dread of newspapers, and he never hesitated to face the thun- der at the call of his country's interests. At a meeting held in Toronto after the formation of the first dominion ministry, Mr. Rowland and Hon. \Vm. McDougall, both of whom made an able defence of their course in entering the coalition, were read out of the reform party. At this meeting the grit tyrant was the swaying spirit. A perusal of th^i speeches shows that both Messrs. Rowland and McDougall ably defended them- selves ; but they had to reckon not alone with a question of right or wrong, or of duty to party, but with an all-powerful chief burning with revenge towards the two men who had re- fused to follow him from the coalition cabinet, and an ambition, that, like a high-blooded horse, which becomes the more un- manageable the longer it is kept confined, had now passed res- traint, and could not be appeased by anything short of office, and the destruction of all that had crossed its path. Mr. Row- land received the dicta of excommunication with somewhat of indifference, but when the time arrived that set him free to show his party preferences, he hesitated not in returning to his first love. In July, 1868, he was appointed lieutenant-governor of Ontario ; and in later years received the dignity of knight- hood, an honour, which, if a badge of recog^tion to merit, he had undoubtedly won. Already have we had occasional glimpses of the postmaster • general. We first met him as a student in the law office of Mr. John A. Macdonald, and afterwards, in 1858, as a representa- tive for Kingston in the legislative council. Four years after ►.*'■}■ t»a I • m 1 1 '&:. ■Wvi,- 'j % I' III ii'i r 336 LIFE OF SIB JOHN A. MACDONALD. this date gout croated a place for tho talented young lavryer, by carrying off Sir Allan MacNab, speaker of the upper chamber. He became a member of tho executive council and commissioner of crown lai ds in 18G4, which position he re- tained till the union, when he became postmaster general. Mr. Campbell entered public life as a liberal-conservative, and has always remained true to his faith. He led the government in the legislative coimcil of old Canada from 1858 until 1867, and in the senate from the latter period till 1873. But in the last- named year the government of tho country fell into the hands of Mr. Mackenzie Lnd his party, and Mr. Campbell thereafter, till \}\Q return of Sir John A. Macdonald to power, led the op- position in the upper house. Under the restored Macdonald ministry he has hoVl different portfolios, and is at present min- ister of justice and leader of the government in the senate. He was created a knight C. M. G. by her Majesty on the 24th of May, 1870. It is perhaps rather unfortunate for those who- are striving foi le abolition of the senate, that such men as Sir Alexander Campbell should be found among the membership of that body ; for it defeats the argument that the institution: is entirely useless, since its supporters will readily point to some of its able men, and to the legislation which they have accom- plished. Yet there is a way of looking at the question which proves that this contention is hollow. A certain firm erects a huge bakery in which it employs the best skill and labour that can be obtained, having abundance of fuel and unlimited tiers of ovens ; but not content with the unbounded capacity for work in this establishment, it builds another equally ps im- posing and costly, and employs a large staff of hep.iiy-paid workmen. A traveller passing the way sta^.as bewildered before the new pile and asks, Wly this grand structure? and the firm answers him, O they now and again bake a loaf in that building. But, still queries tho nigh dumbfounded stran- ger, could you not do all your baking in the other establishment? Yes. Then why did you build, and why do you maintain. THE FIRST DoSlINION CABINET. 337 this second bakery ? That stranger has stood since by the im- posing pile, and redCived no answer, save that which echo, ever ringing, gives. There are, it is true, other and weightier rea- sons offered for maintaining the "old feudal estate,"* but a very rude attempt at illustrating the same by figure shows that they are as untenable as the fallacy just pointed out In such an institution a man with the wide understanding and the calm judicial character of Sir Alexander Campbell is as much out of place as would be admiral Drake at sea on n waterlogged barge, without sail or oar. * This ia ' liyitander't " term for ths Upper Uuuw. \l'- I ■ : m '.^.;. it w,mmmm ^ I I - r ! "v I ^ fy ,. . CHAPTER XVIII. THE NEW UEdlME. BUT now the storm was over and the ship of state which liad been tossed by so many tempests, rode safely at her moor- ings. The country looked hopefully into the future for politi- cal peace, and believed that such would be the fruit of this wider brotherhood, knitted together by the bonds of political and commercial interest. But Mr. George Brown and his lieu- tenants were not happy, and the untamable chief set himself to work, once more, to foment party discord. A few days before Mr. John A. Macdonald's new ministry was announced, a con- vention of reformers was held at Toronto, at which the proposed coalition was denounced in no charitable language. Messrs. McDougall and Howland happened to be in Toronto at the time of the meeting, and were considerately invited to attend, on the principle of the magistrate who, though quite clear as to the punishment he is about to inflict, generously resolves to heo,r what the culprit before the bar " has to say for himself." The two reform sinners appeared without much trepidation before Mr. Brown and his following. Mr. Howland said a new era was to be inaugurated ; that the past had been wiped out as if it had never existed ; that it was not the duty now of one party, but of all, to lend its support to the governing body under the new regime. Mr. McDougall's defence was still more telling than that of his fellow culprit, and those who watched the ef- fect of the address upon " the meeting," saw that the underlings had begun to look at the coalition in a different light. But as we have elsewhere said the question was not one between these 338 , _-.ji.S-.il>' i:a ' H»'.7i» il l»'^rr#^." 'TT'"w ■> THE NSW REGIME. 830 two reformers and public duty, or party duty, but between theraselvcH and a thwarted ambition. They could not hope for mercy though the satraps had shown unmistakable signs of softening ; and they got none. The ireful reform chief sought not the aid of ruses or obscure phrase to cloak his feelings. Ho simply read the two contaminatou ones out of the party. It may be said that since that day Mr. McDougall, though deserv- ing a better fate, has been unfortunate as a politician ; though Mr. Rowland, in due time — when the period arrived that hia secession was not a violation of the original compact — returned to his first love. The general election for the house of commons was held dur- ing the summer and early autumn. Quebec and Ontario em- phasized their approval of union and coalition by returning overwhelming majoritie.s of ministerialists ; and Goorge Brown was defeated in South Ontario. Coercion is a wholesome policy when dealing with the dagger and dynamite, but it is not a happy expedient in Canadian politics ; as George Brown ascer- tained, but, as we might have supposed, without reaping any profit from the lesson. Though the dark-age organs, and the " anti" politicians of New Brunswick had waged bitter war against all who had favoured union, the ministry there carried twelve of the fifteen seats. Nova Scotia had been caught by a counter breeze and driven back from her late position. Dr. Tupper hod worsted Joseph Howe before the imperial minis- ter, ' ji :he latter had the ^wnt mortem victory before the : rov.- ce. For once the sturdy doctor found that neither his iniigb I'.v his courage were sufficient against the stream of l>Viectator a large number of the faces in the commons were new, the entire thirty-four representatives from H'' m ^f V 1 'V>« •iiy,-- m[ H; f ^: i - (1>;'. i« ''' ^ 342 LIFE OF SIR JOHN A. MACDONALD. ' i! the maritime provinces being strangers. Among the latter were Joseph Howe, one of the greatest orators of his day, a man who could carry his audience by his passionate eloquence as the sweeping wind sways the trees of the forest, and who, besides a distinguished public career, had made some creditable contributions to the literature of his province, and written some florid poetry, which however will not add many cubits to his stature ; Dr. Tupper, his opponent, and of whom we shall have something to say in another place ; Hon. Albert J. Smith, a competent lawyer with a strong tendency, under provocation, to lose his temper, talk rubbish, and forget his dignity, yet being capable of making a slashing speech at times, and administer- ing a good deal of judicious annoyance to an opponent ; Charles Fisher, who was an awkward but able lawyer, a comparatively mediocre politician when in office, but a very battering-ram, torpedo-boat, and many other things compounded when assail- ing a ministry ; Timothy Warren Anglin, who was to the politics of his time what the stage-coach is in a railway age, and the carrier-pigeon in the days of electricity — a man with a strong and stubborn intellect, capable of a vast grasp, and en- dowed with an extraordinary memory — a forcible but diffuse speaker, who made long excursions in the by-ways of his argu- ment, seldom delivering a speech within bounds suitable to the time of those whose temporal span is fixed at three score and ten, and whose patience is only good. The most important " new face '' from Ontario was that of Mr. Edward Blake, of whom, in another place, we shall have just a word or two to say. Hon. James Cockburn was elected to the speakership of the commons. The ministerial speech contained the usual con- gratulations and foreshadowed the sessional programme. On the address there was; some hot discussion, and when the Demos- thenes from down by the sea rose to state why his province was dissatisfied with the compact, every whisper was stilled* every member sat with head thrust forward. Whether it was that expectation had looked for too much, or that the speaker THE NEW REGIME. 343 failed to attain hia usual height, there was no little disappoint- ment, and Dr. T'upper following, fairly riddled the argument of the great orator by pointing out several inconsistencies in his speech, and proving that the union issue had not been fairly presented to the people of Nova Scotia. The address was car- ried without a division, and Howe sitting at his desk, the em- bodiment of grim dissatisfaction, reminded the on-looker of a volcano at rest, after a violent eruption. The chief business of the new parliament was an act reducing the rates of postage and organizing the post office savings bank system; and a measure providing for the construction of the Intercolonial Railway, the route to be determined by the imperial govern- ment in accordance with the terms when obtaining the imperial loan. An attempt was made to place the telegraph system under government control as had been done in Great Britain, but some of the grits suid, Why not at once put the newspapers, and the writing of private letters, and our ledgers, and our man-servants, and our maid-servants, and our oxen, and our asses, and everything that is ours under the control of the gov- ernment ? and for once, the grits took, probably, a very whole- some and correct view of the matter. It is not the duty of government to take charge of railways, and telegraph lines, and steamers, in order that these may be run and managed properly ; but it is their duty to use the powers' in their hands to have them so conducted. If two mail-coach drivers get into the habit of running into each other as they pass on dark nights, breaking the bones of passengers and destroying pro- perty, it is not the duty of government to mount the box and drive the coaches , but it is their duty to see that one and both carry lights; that each takes his own side of the road ; that in certain places he must not drive at greater speed than may be prescribed ; and that, failing to observe these conditions, he pay a fine or suffer other punishment at the hands of the law . It is not the function of government, let us repeat, to manage k ,. iwr • •» ' .' ? '1 ' v., 4, i ' li S ■ :.i * ■ ■i ■ . . 1 * • m\\ 1 », If ■ :■ '» '.lifHt i m r ' i .' i 1 ,=-.r. 1) H|| ■ i ■ If r Ir ^ L ii I 111 I •f'i''' ■^i\ntm m m y- 344 LIFE OF SIR JOHN A. MACDONALD. railways — unless under some exceptional condition — but it is its duty to protect the public against railway monopolies by so framing its legislation as to maintain competition and make aggregation and monopoly impossible. The tendency in this age of gigantic public enterprise, like in England under the heptarchy, is for the greater to absorb or swallow the lesser, and half a glance shows us that this centralization is going on in monster corporate affairs, the weaker day by day vanishing from the scene, falling a victim to the coercion or the bribe of the stronger. Watching the Grand Trunk and the Canada Pa- cific railways in this country reminds one of nothing so much as a pair of whales devouring all the smaller fish that come in their way, and halting on occasion, trying to bolt one another. Corporation is rapidly becoming khig in Canada as in the re- public, and the duty of our government is to thwart him.* Hon. John Rose assumed charge of the department of finance, vacated by Mr. Gait, and applied himself with diligent zeal to- the duties of his office. The reform press said he was only a " baby in finance," but censure being the platform of oppo- sition, the statement did not overwhelm the new ofiieial, who made a very efficient and clear-sigiited administrator. On the 4th of December, Hon. Wm. McDougall moved a series of reso- lutions based on the 146th section of the British North Ame- rica Act providing for the incorporation of Rupert's Land and the North-West territory into the Dominion of Canada. After a week's discussion the resolutions were adopted, and an address embodying the same was forwarded to the Queen's government, On the 21st of December, parliament adjourned till the 20th of March, the object of the long interim being to give the local legislatures an opportunity to complete their ses- sions. The close of the year was marked by the death of Mr. Fergusson-Blair, president of the legislative council, a man of • The writer must not be considered as having any feeling but detestation for the doctrine of thn Socialists, one of whose expounders unfortunately is the fine ability of Mr. Henry George looking sadly awry. THE NEW REGIME. 345 moderate views — with preferences for the liberal party — and genuinely devoted to his countn''s interests. During the recess, Howe again led the forlorn hope in Nova Scotia, and in full hai cess thundered around his little province, declaring that thf " tie must be broken." The local legislature met on the 30th of January, 1868, and an address was passed praying for the repeal of so much of " the act for the union of Canada and Nova Scotia and New Brunswick as related to Nova Scotia." Four provincial delegates, with Howe at their head, were deputed to lay the address at the foot of the throne, but the ambassadors of disintegration were confronted at the home office by Dr. Tupper, who once again carried away the laurels. When the Dominion parliamenc met, the opposition censured the government for having sent Dr. Tupper to London, but in a little grew ashamed of this contention, and said no more about it. And now, while the commons was in the midst of its duties, an event happened which sent a th: ill of horror through the country and brought legislation to a stand-stiil. One of the ablest members in the houce, and perhaps its most brilliant orator, was Thomas D'Arcy McGee. A shoi't sketch of his career must be interesting to all so familiar with his name and the circumstances of his untimely end. He was born of humble parents in the County of Louth, Ireland, in 1825. The advan- tages of higher education, which were open only to the rich man's son, were denied to young McGee ; yet, young eagle that he was, he aimed to soar, and no circumstance could trammel the yearning spirit within his breast. He had the flashing, eloquence of his nation, that gift which no Irishman ever acquires by putting pebbles in his mouth or going down by the shore to declaim above the thunders of the surf ; for the kind fairy who still lingers about the green springs in the wild valleys, or visits the cabin at night, when the peasant sleeps, gives him this grace for naught ; and he appears upon his first platform an orator, though untaught, as the duckling swims who has had no lesson. When young McGee reached his. ?.» 350 LIFE OF SIR JOHN A. MACDONALD. ' invited Joseph Howe to a seat in the ministry. Mr. Howe carefully reviewed the situation, and seeing that his refusal of Sir John's terms would only be the prolongation of a hopeless struggle that could only bring bitter fruit, gave way, and, in Januar}' of the new year, 1869, entered the government as president of the council. At a cabinet meeting the de- tails of the " Better Terms " sought for Nova Scotia were determined : Canada undertook to assume $9,186,756 of the provincial debt instead of $8,000,000 as originally tixed, and to grant an annual subsidy of $82,698 for ten years. Lord Monck having taken such an able and zealous part in forwarding confedeiation, his term of office had been extended two years, that, the new government might be inaugurated un- der his auspices. The extended period had expired on the 14th of November, and the governor, with some emotion, bade farewell to the country in which he had taken so deep an in- terest. For his services in Canada he was created a peer of the United Kingdom with the title of Baron Monck, of Bally- trammon, in the County of Wexford. His successor was Sir John Young, better known to us as Lord Lisgar, the eldest son of an Irish baronet, a conservative in politics and the repre- sentative of Cavan in the imperial parliament. He had been governor of the Ionian Islands and of New South Wales, and when he reached Canada was in his sixty-second year. The second session of the first parliament of New Canada meton the loth of April. Mr. Howe introduced a series of resolutions embodying the stipulations of the order-in-council ; but Mr. Blake contended that the measure was ultra vires, in- asmuch as the imperial parliament having settled the basis of union the Canadian government could not change it. Mr. Mackenzie in a speech less eloquent and powerful than Mr. Blake's, but one charged with facts and dissolving argument, supported the contentions of the latter; but Mr. John Hillyard Cameron, Dr. Tupper and others, supported the resolutions wi^;h much power and an array of possible and improbable THE NEW REGIME. 861 cases tLak altered, to the view of the house, the complexion which had been givon to the case l.y the speeches of Messrs. Blake and Mackenzie. There is nothing in the sphere of poli- tics stronger than eloquence, except numbers ; and Howe's resolutions were carried by a large majority. in August, ^^ince Arthur, one of the Queen's sons, visited Canada, and w.is received with profuse hospitality. A month or two later in the season Mr. Rose resigned his portfolio and went to London, England, as a member of the well-known banking firm there. Mr. Francis Hincks having returned to Canada, though not as Mr. Francis, but as Sir Francis, from the government of Baibadoes and the Windward Islands, was offered by Sir John, and accepted, the vacant portfolio of fin- ance. The coantir had the fullest confidence in his financial skill, remembering his splendid record as inspector-general, and he was returned to the house of commons for North Ren- frew. Several other changes were also made in the cabinet, Mr. J. C. Aikens becommg secretary of state and registrar- general ; Mr. Dunkin, minister of agriculture ; Mr. Alexander Morris, minister of inland revenue, and Mr. Howe, secretary of state for the provinces. Mr. i\IcDougall, whom we are to see again, was appointed governor of the North-West terri- tories, and resigning his seat in the ministry, proceeded with his family to that distant wilderness, where, blind to the bitter disappointment the future held in store, a reasonable ambition whispered in his ear, a vast range of opportunity would be opened to his energy and talents, and he would add renown to his name. -^1 l!i If -lit IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) v.. 1.0 I.I 1.25 m. %u ■ 50 2.2 m us 1.4 1.6 f." ^ I [^ V] ^> ^l 7 y^ Photographic Sciences Corporation 23 WEST MAIN STREET WEBSTER. N.Y. 14580 (716) 872-4503 "^ 1 \^ ;u^-..^4_i-^ CHAPTER XIX. THE HALF-BREED. ^PHE Hudson Bay Company agi*eed to surrender their rights 1 in the North-West territory for £300,000, to be paid by the Dominion government ; but all the existing rights of the company, with certain reservations, should first revert to the imperial government. The reservations included some 500,000 acres <■ : land adjacent to the trading posts of the company, one twentieth of the land in the fertile tract lying to the south of the north branch of the Saskatchewan, with the stipulation that the rights of the Indians and half-breeds should be re- spected Within a month after the reversion, the territory was to be ceded to the Dominion ; and the Canadian government passed a measure providing for the government of the newly acquired territory. By this act provision was made for the appointment of a lieutenant-governor, and a council to carry on the adminstration, and the rights of the Indians and half- breeds, it was expressly declared, were to be respected ; while all laws in force in the territories not clashing with the British North-America act or the terms of admission were to be held as valid until repealed. For many years Hon. Wm. McDoiicall, on the platform and in the press, had advocated the acquisition of this territory, and at a time when most men regarded the distant wilderness as a dreary region of muskeg and eternal frosts, affording harboiu'age only to wild beasts, he declared that it would prove a source of untold wealth, and could support millions upon millions of people. It was felt now, when the territory was to be added to Canada, that none 352 > . . ..-;>.',.■. .-^i-^-fi^^ THE HALF-BREED. 363 other there was so worthy the honour of first governing this extensive terra incognita as Mr. McDongall, and so on the announcement being made that the company had surrendered the territory to the British government, this gentleman was appointed to the governorship, though the proclamation was not to take effect till the region had passed into the hands of the Dominion. Early in September, therefore, and without waiting till the month had elapsed, Mr. McDougall, with hia family, set out from Ottawa on the long and tiresome journey to Fort Garry, the seat of his future government. Meanwhile a party of surveyoi"s, under Lieutenant-Colonel Dennis, a gentleman swayed largely by the warlike instinct, had been at Fort Garry and the districts surrounding, laying off lots and townships. The ignorant half-breeds, naturally, looked upon the new-comers, with their ta{)es and chains, with Bome alarm ; and they soon became seized with the fear that the land which they and their ancestors had held at the hands of the company, for generations, was now to be wrested from them by the government, and that for this very purpose the strangers were here measturing off the territory. The inhabit- ants of the country consisted of French-Canadian half-breeds, descendants of the voyageurs and coureurs des hois who had for several generat'ons trapped, p,nd traded for furs, throughout these wild regions. They were all members of the catholic church, servile in their obedience to the priests, but steeped in ignorance and ready to follow any clever demagogue who could work upon their fear or prejudice. They had been in- formed that Dennis and his surveyors were to visit their terri- tory to seize their ancestral lands, and they promptly and without any show of grace demanded of the strangers, busy with their chains and levels, to know if what they had been told was true. For, if it is, they said, we shall resist the aggres- sion, and prevent anybody else from settling upon the territory of which you are about to rob us. One might have supposed that Dennis' staff would explain to these deluded people that m .-'* 4 W 334 LIFE OF SIR JOHN A. MACDONALD. f .»• \\ a- !i y their rights would be respected, and what the object of the survey was ; but they took a different course : they told the poor half-breed that the less he had to say about opposing settlers, and thwarting government the better ; that there was plenty of soldiers in Canada to enforce obedience. To make the matter worse the English inhabitants scattered through the territory, who owed no love to their half barbarous neigh- bours, indulged in much injudicious exultation over the pro- posed change. All these causes combined produced pernicious fruit„ The half-breeds became mad with excitement, and only waited for some one to lead them to mischief. Not long were the leaders wanted,, In hot haste rose John Bruce, Louis Riel, and Ambrose Lepine ; and with their appearance the country burst into rebellion. Colonel Dennis, who had been on the spot and at first treated the idea of conciliation and explanation with due military contempt, now began to grow alarmed, and wrote to Mr. McDougall that things had taken on an ugly face. Meanwhile the rebels had formed a provisionrl government with John Bruce at its head ; but the ruling spirit was Louis Riel, a daring, young French-Canadian, wily as a savage, bril- liant and energetic. He appealed to the prejudices and the fear of the half-breeds, and in a few days had four hundred men at his back. The new governor, in the meantime, unconscious of what was going on, had been travelling with all possible speed to the seat of government. While on the way from St. Paul,, he heard that the half-breeds were in anns ; but undaunted by the intel- ligence he [.ashed on. At Pembina, however, he was served by a half-breed with a no tics from the " National Committee " forbidding him to enter the territory; but still heedless of warnings he proceeded with his councillors to the Hudson Bay Company's post, about two miles beyond the frontier. Here he was apprised by Colonel Dennis of the true state of affairs, and learned that large parties of armed men had been despatched by Riel to various points between Fort Gany . t,' iJii^.,' >-.*■■ '^ ■ ■ *.-, V THE UALF-BREED. 355 and Pembina, to oppose his progress. Not having a suffi- cient force to fight his way to Fort Garry, Mr. MoDovgaH had no alternative but to call a halt. He wrote a despatch to Ottawa setting forth the state of matters, and also despatched a messenger to Governor McTavish, at the Fort ; but his mes- senger was captured by a party of armed men, and sent back under escort, with the warning not to attempt a similar enter- prise again. Some time after this occurrence a party of four- teen armed horsemen diew up before Mr. McDougall's halting- place and demanded an interview. They notified the gover- nor that he must leave the territory before nine o'clock on the following day ; but after some expostulation they rode away " considering the matter," returning, however, on the follow- ing morning, showing a desire to use violence. Mr. McDougall and his party retired promptly across the border, and took up lodgings 2i*j the house of a friendly Irishman, in Pembina, where they reraained till the return to Ontario. Since we have last seen the conspirators, amazing success has waited on their fortunes. Only the few Canadian settlers among them had shown hostility to the rising. The officers of the Hudson Bay Company sat with folded arms when a decisive step would have stamped the rebellion out ; for they no more than the half-breeds relished the prospect of a new regime, having come, from their long possession in these wilds, to regard themselves as the rightful lords and masters of the territory. But the highest authority in the country was the catholic church, one of whose priests, in the field, would have been as powerful as Colonel Dennis and fifty cannon. Un- fortunately the resident bishop, the Right Rsverend Alexandre Antoine Tach^, was at the time in Rome, and the pious priest in charge of the cViocese, during the bishop's absence, was too conscientious to interfere in the interests of peace, and to pre- vent bloodshed, though his catechism had told him, — and he might have read it in the scriptures — that " he that resisteth the power resisteth the ordinance of God, and they that resist t. m 356 LIFE OF SIR JOHN A. MACDONALD. .shall purchase to themselves damnation." The good prip'tand his ignorant flock, however, were not so miich awed by the threat of " damnation " as dazzled by the successes of the im- pulsive and shortsighted Riel. On the 24th of November the insurgents, under Riel, took possession of Fort Garry, set the authority of Governor McTavish, who was now stricken down with mortal illness, at defiance ; and fell to feasting on the stores of the company. The Canadian settlers having taken the alarm, gathered together to the number of about fifty and took refuge in the house of Dr. Shultz, but the dwelling was besieged ; the inmates were captured, and marched off to Fort Garry where they were put in confinement. The proclamation appointing Mr. McDougall to the governor- ship of the territory, and annexing the latter to the dominion was not to go into effect till the 1st of December, but for weeks previous to that date the intended governor had been perform- ing the functions of a regular ruler. In this he was guilty of a grave error, and when tidings of his course reached Ottawa the government felt the gravest alarm. But Mr. McDougall was not a solitary blunderer upon the scene. When the first day of December arrived he issued a proclamation command- ing the insurgents peacably to disperse to their homes under pain of the rigours of the law. He likewise authorized Colonel Dennis to raise a force to put down the insurrection ; and a few days later that worthy soldier was found among the lodges of the Sioux Indians trying to array the chiefs into hostility against the insurgents. Whatever some writers, who, when passing judgment, were in a quiet room, in the midst of a peaceful city, may affirm to the contrary, we are unable to see any great lack of judgment in the governor of a territory in re- volt against the supreme authority raising a force to establish order. But it appeara that the Canadian government, unwil- ling to accept a province seething with tumult, did not bind itself to the time fixed in its own proclamation, so that the ordinances of Mr, McDougall, who was ignorant of what had i,',.- i-ff JK^i,!i-' wmm '":'r- THE nALF-IiREED. 867 been done, were invalid; and he was held responsible for the blunders of the ministry. Meanwhile Colonel Dennis set him- self to work to raise a force, but Kiel and his followers only laughed at the chief of the surveyors, who, disgusted and cha- grinedj left the territory ; while Mr. McDougall, finding he had made a false step, for which he was only in part to blame, that public opinion was against him, and that the government had, without understanding his difficulties, and dealing with deci- sicn themselves, censured his proceedings, leturned disheart- ened and disgusted to Ontario, where he published a series of letters affirming, and with such proof as lent but too much probability to his story, that the Hudson Bay Company and the Roman Catholic clergy of Red River had to some ex- tent fomented the rebellion, and that his own late colleague, Hon. Joseph Howe, secretary of state, who had visited the re- gion a short time before was, not to a small extent, responsible for the uprising. On Mr. McDougall's way home, he met upon the plains three emissaries, Vicar-general Thibault, Colonel Do Salaberry and Donald A. Smith, each bearing, from the Cana- dian government, to the insurgents, a copy of a proclamation issued by Lord Lisgar, containing, in conclusion, the following paragraph : — " And I do lastly inform you that in case of your immediate and peaceable obedience and dispersion, I shall order that no legal proceedings be taken against any parties implica- ted in these unfortunate breaches of the law." Mr. McDougall pursued his way home, and he was not much to be blamed if he offered no prayer for the success of Commissioner Salaberry. The emissaries proceeded on their way, but had no sooner reached Fort Garry than they were pounced upon, and de- prived of their papers without being given an opportunity to offer a word of explanation. Riel's head had failed him in the trying moment of prosperity, and he was now fairly delirious with success. He came to believe himself lord and master of the territory ; he confiscated property, overthrew every barrier to his will, and banished from the country such as had aroused , i' "I '^ :'\\ a -I ' 4ji mmimK^ 868 LIFE OF SIR JOHN A. MACDONALD. his fear or ire. It is difficult to tell what punishment he had in store for Dr. Sliultz and the band of Canadians now locked in the fort ; but one night, three v/eeks after the incarceration, the doctor made his escape, and rallying a number of settlers around him demanded the suirender of the prisoners. The sturdy front of Shultz and his followers, and the entreaties of several proiiinent residents induced Kiel to yield to the re- quest, but he openly stated that he would recapture Shultz, who might depend upon a sore reckoning. The threatened man silently left the territory, and remained in Ontario till better days. Upon one other person, too, had the insurgent cast a murderous eye. On the night of the loth of February, there was a rising at the Portage, and about a hundred sturdy settlers, who were loyal to the Canadian government, placed themselves at the disposal of Major Boulton, a Canadian officer of militia. This force marched to Kildonan, where they were joined by three hundred and fifty others, the most of whom were English half-breeds, wretchedly armed, undisciplined, and without food enough for a single meal. The result of such a rising can be readily predicted. Major Boultcn, a brave offi- cer, though leading for want of better such a helpless assem- blage, was, with forty others captured, thiown into prison, and sentenced by court martial to be shot. Through the earnest entreaties, however, of Mr. Smith, the Bishop of Rupert's Land, Archdeacon McLean, the Catholic clergy and other influential citizens, he was released ; though it went sorely against the will of Riel to deliver him up. The latter was now dictator and " president " of the " provisional government " formed by the insurgents ; and each day that he enjoyed this power he grew more overbearing and dangerous to those who resented his will. But Kiel's worst offence so far was rebellion, and a high- handed use of his unlawful powers ; he was yet to enact the foulest crime that stains the page of Canadian history. It ap- pears that among the besieged at Dr. Shultz's house was one mme ^m THE HALF-BKEED. 059 Tliomas Scott, a sturdy and spiritiMl young follow, who had moved to the territory from Ontario. He did not surrender with the main body of Canadian settlers, but was arrested the same evening and confined in the Fort. Scott was a fiery youth, loyal to the government, but indiscreet enough ton:ake speeches which brought upon his head the wrath of the dicta- tor. There is now no doubt that for Scott Riel had conceived a personal hatred. Twice had he risen in arms against the insurgents, and even under the lock and key of the president made no effort to suppress his turbulent spirit One morning the story was told that the prisoners had heaped gross insult upon their half-breed guards, that the example had been set by Scott, and that the latter's conduct was no longer tolerable. Whether the story was true or not it served the bloodthirsty purpose of Riel, who, with murder in his eye, on the evening of the 3rd of March, within the walls of the fort, improvised a court martial, consisting of the " council of seven," to try Scott. The crimes for which he was to be tried were resistance to the provisional government, and assault upon one of his keepers. Riel appeared in the character of prosecutor, witness and judge, and refused to allow Scott to be present at the trial, or to make any defence. After a brief consultation, the seven sentenced the victim to be shot on the following morning at ten o'clock. When news of the unheard-of proceedings, and the barbarous sentence got abroad, there was even in that rebellious fort general excitement, and much sympathy was expressed for the condemned man. Rev. Mr. Young, a Methodist minister, Pore Lestang, Mr. Smith and others, besought with tearful earnest- ness that the sentence might be commuted, but the president was thirsting for Scott's blood, and, with his barbarous ally Lepine, peremptorily refused to listen to any plea for mercy. Poor Scott, as may be supposed, could scarcely realize his posi- tion; and did not at first believe that the bloody sentence would be carried out. But a few minutes past noon on the following day, the executioners, a band of half-breeds, partially i !,■,'■ •■■ J V " '4 't,.i ! i I M ^- ■*■■< Nv ^ *■ ,'^? «f V. 3C0 L;/'^ of S//? JOHN A. MACDONALD. intoxicated, came into his cell, and led him out blind-fold through the chief entrance to the fort to a spot a few yards distant from the wall. "My God, my God," he could only say, in a tremulous voice, " this is cold-blooded murder." His coffin, covered with white cotton, was carried before him, and laid down at the spot planned for execution, where the firing party r of six half-breeds under "Adjutant-general" Ambrose Lepine, now drew up. Scott then, his arms pinioned, knelt on the ground, said farewell, and fell back pierced by three bullets. The victim it was observed was not dead, and one of the firing party stepping over to where ho lay bleeding upon the snow, drew a revolver which he discharged into his head. The body was then thrust into the coffin, and there are those that wit- nessed the bloody deed who assert that the cry of the dying man could be heard after the lid had been fastened down. What was afterwards the fate of the corpse, no one save those engaged in iis disposal knows. It was reported that the body had been burned in the fort, but the box, which was alleged to have contained the remains was found to conttiin naught but stones. The general opinion is that the corpse was thrust below the ice in Red River. At the first tidings of the outbreak it occurred to Sir John Macdonald that Bishop Tachd's presence would do more to quell the disturbances than any other means at the disposal of the government. His lordship, however, as we have seen, was at the time in Rome, attending a session of the famous CEcumenictil council, but the ministers considered the case ur- gent enough to invite the bishop to return and use his endea- vours towards restoring peace. The prelate, at no little sacri- fice, tore himself away from Rome and proceeded to Canada. On arriving at Ottawa, he received special instructions for the guidance of his mission. But unfortunately for the ends of justice, the bishop set out with the mistake of regarding him- self a plenipotentiary with formal powers, whereas his mission was exactly in the character of that of Coionel de Salabery, M^ A' THE UALF-liREED. 861 Oonald A. Smith, and tlie vicav-j^cneral. Dr. Tadid was chosen because it was but too apparent that some of tlie priestH in his diocese sympathized largely with the rebels, and that the insurgents, almost to a man, were members of his flock. So, ■as in the dispatching of the three emissaries named, his lord- ship was given a copy of the proclamation, and also some pri- vate letters for his guidance. For example, among other things, Sir John Macdonald wrote :" Should the question arise as to the consumption of the stores or goods belotiging to the Hudson Bay company by the insurgents, you are author- ized to inform the leaders that if the company's government ia restored, not only will there be a general amnesty granted, but in case the company should claim payment for such stores, that the Canadian government will stand between the insurgents and all harm." His lordship had also private conversations with Sir John and Hon. Joseph Howe, and a letter from the governor-general. But no member of the government looked upon the bishop's position as other than that of a peacemaker, bearing assurances from the government on specific points. Had he been a plenipotentiary he would have been given a formal commission with authority to deal, in the name of the government, with all past and possible offences. As a mere informal emissary and peacemaker, the bounds of his author- ity extended no further than the specifications iii tne letters of the ministers ; and it migh't even bb argued that the private letter of Sir John Macdonald, oi of Mr. Howe, or even of Sir John Young, was not a valid authority, and was not so in- tended, and that ministers only wished to have the insurgents made aware of the disposition of the government. That the government did blunder in assuming that the mere uprising of the French Metis and the consumption of the Hudson Bay company's stores were the limit of Kiel's offences, no one can deny ; but this was not a justification, though it was the occa- sion, of the bishop's view of the question. It is not necessary , 1 1 t ■ I M ■ "! »^ M2 LIFE OF SIR JO JIN A. MACDONALD. m\ 'i to Hay that when liis h)r(lHhip set out from OttJiwa, the minis- try was ignorant of the nmrder of Scott. On the 9th of March, five days after the doatli of Scott, tho bisliop hearing Ids credentials arrived at Red River. Ho pie- sented his papers, remonstrated with the rebels, and in the name of tho government of Canada made certain promises if they would lay down their arms. Among these, was that of a general amnesty to nil implicated in the insurrection ; as like- wise to those concerned in the shooting of Scott. It is almost incredulous that the worthy bishop should have so far mis- taken Ids powers as to include in the amnesty, upon his own responsibility, the perpetrators of this foul murder ; yet such was his view, an opinion which he maintained stoutly to the end. He wrote, stating what he had done, to the secretary of state, Mr. Howe, but that gentleman promptly informed him that the government wns not in a position to interfere with the free action of her majesty in the exercise of the royal clemency, though he requested his lordship to persevere in his endeavours to bring the population to peace and order, acknowledging, as was proper and due to the prelate, the value of his services so far to the cause of peace. For years afterwards the question of amnesty was a subject of discussion, the government affirming that they had never committed themselves to a pledge of par- don beyond what appeared in their published letters. The news of the murder of Scott filled the great bulk of the Cana- dian public with horror and indignation, and in a few days it was learnt with much satisfaction that General Sir Garnet Wolseley, who has since distinguished himself in Ashantee, Egypt and elsewhere, was to be sent to Red River with an ample military force. The news reached Fort Garry, and tho murderer Riel and his colleague Lepine lost their bravado and shivered for fear. With the same secrecy of moA ment that the commander of the troops observed in his sortie upon the forces of Arabi Pasha, he was within rifle shot of Fort Garry ere anyone in the murderer's lair knew of the approaci . Riel TI!K HALF liRKKD. 303 ami Lepine took iriHtant flight out cf lumn'.s way, aiiiii >*• placed at the disposal of Mr. Archibalu. Th governor, it flpj)ottf», k^ ^ Uu\e misgivings in entering into tin. 'il and revolting comj.ta, t. ^^*^ vwiewed the murderers' troops, acceptcs. 'leir services, proatua^d Lepiitn and Uiel at Ihi-hI temporary iramunit} frO'j n»n1f>stHtK/n f« )jejr crimen shook hand« with thoT/i, received a ktu '' .^ned by theiu, and through his secretary addi't'siscd a written reply il^'ter tlie retreat of the brigand O'Donoghue, con»"1im«iiti»?.':' ♦^f ^m uDthe loyalty they had shown and the assisW,..,^ they h«,d r'-..- ^"reil- Indeed, the governor was of the impres iot th^it Riel aivid "^W followers offered their services in a spirit of g <»uine lo3c^lty, " though," says Lord Dufferin, in a dispatch to the secretary of state, " Sir John Macdonald appears to have had n "sgivings on this head." The strongest point by the lieutenant gover- nor, in justification of this sickening alliance, is made whe ' he says : " If I had driven the French half-breeds into the hands of the enemy O'Donoghue, they would have been joined by ail "-Is ^f ■i^ii mi^^^m^^m ■^^"■T"^^' I ■! • II 3(14 i/fF OJ' 57i2 /OiTiV A. MACDONALD. the population between the Assiniboine and the frontier ; Fort Garry would have passed into the hands of an armed mob, and the English settlera to the north of the Assiniboine would have suffered horrors that it makes me shudder to contemplate. At this period an all-pervading sense of etiquette had taken possession of archbishop * Tach^, who maintained with a zeal worthy of a noble cause, that, by virtue of his commission from the Canadian government, and his declaration of an am- nesty, Riel and Lepine had been placed beyond the molestation of the law. It is not necessary to detail incidents of this un- seemly squabble between the bishop and the ministers. The question was submitted to the imperial government, and after much correspondence between Lord Dufferin and the colonial secretary, the latter left the subject in the hands of the gover- nor-general. Lepine had been captured, and lay in the Winni- peg gaol under sentence of death, but this Lord Duflferin com- muted io two years' imprisonment and a permanent forfeiture of civil rights. This was surely a triamph for murder and the archbishop, Riel, whose punishment would have been the same as Lepine's, for the time escaped the law — because the law shut its eyec — but, as we shall see, he afterwards paid the penalty of this and a later crime on the fell scaffold. * Uis lordship about this time was created an archbishop. iMpii ^o.- -.1', ■"«*'; ■;■■ CHAPTER XX. THROUGH STORMS TO THE REEF. IT is necessary now to take a few paces backward. On the 2nd of May, and while the territory was at the feet of the insurgents, Sir John Macdonald introduced an act to establish and provide for the governmonu of the province of Manitoba, as this tumultuous region was to be henceforth called. Local affairs were placed under the control of a lieutenant-gover- nor, who was aided by an executive council, the legislative machinery to comprise a house of assembly, and an upper chamber. Even in this wilderness province, so remote from the influences of the aristocracy, it was considered necessary to season the constitution with a pinch of feudalism, by creating a house of prair'.e-lords. The province having no public debt of which the Dominion should have borne a part, interest at five per cent per annum on $472,090 was guaranteed ; a yearly subsidy of $30,000, and the usual general allowance of SO cents per head, the population being estimated atl7,00<). Ungranted territory was vested in the crown for purposes of the federal government ; and to effect an extinction of the Indian title, 1,400,000 acres of land were set apart for the benelit of resident half-breed families. It was provided that the new province should become a partner in the federation on such date as the Queen in council should fix for the admission of Rupert's Land and the North-west territory into the union. Another impor- tant measure of this session was the banking act of Sir Francis Hincks, which found instant and settled favour with banking institutions and the commercial public. Not so successful was 365 0ii ■•^i^ .t>i .^!.; I '1 • -,1 ■ V 366 LIFE OF SIR JOHN A. MACDONALD. the honourable knight's tariff act, which bore on its face the semblance of protection, but in reality waa a declaration of commercial war against the United States, with which recipro- city was desirable but impossible. From the first the ministry seemed to have little heart in launching this measure. Sir John called it "forcing public opinion," which was not at that stage ready for a system of protection, much less a measure that promised the burthens, without the benefits, of such a policy. Nevertheless, something was needed, and Sir Francis came forward witli his measure with the timid-courage of a boy, pole in hand, venturing out on the first ice of the season. Unfortunately for the ministry, long pressure of public busi- ness had told severely on the health of Sir John. He was frequently utable to attend parliament or cabinet meetings ; and as the session drew to a c4ose he became completely pros- trated. Sir Francis and his colleagues battled bravely against the op[.osition and the defection in their own ranks, but the nerve had gone for the time from the hand that could alone make the rough smooth, and bring harmony out of disorder ; and the measure passed after a severe battering, with a feeble majority. Among the able oppositionists might be counted Messrs. McDougaJl and Gait, for though they were labelled " Independent," on trying occasions they were found voting with the government. Mr. McDougall regarded himself, as he certainly was, a victim of the government's unenviable North- west poUcy, and was not in opposition in the public interest, but for the sake of revenge ; while Mr. A. T. Gait also turned a personal grievance into a ground of public policy. The Fenians had their hearts set on capturing a piece of British territory, and when the rebellion broke out in the North- west, O'Ncil, whose acquaintance we have already made, nim- bly reassembled his ragged brigade, and on the 25th of May, made a dash across the Missisquoi frontier ; but was driven back, helter-skelter, by a handful of Canadian volunteers. Two days later, another band, made heroic with whiskey, swaggered ',-l '■* THROUGH STOnMS TO THE REEF. 367 across the border in Huntington county, but on being confront- ed by a few of our militiamen took wild flight again into shel- tering territory. Even here they were not beyond harm, as their leaders were arrested by United States officials, and their arms, whiskey and other possessions confiscated. In the early autumn the announcement that the imperial government was about to withdraw the troops^ called forth an earnest, if a not very manly, protest from several quarters. In reply, we were informed from the. colonial oifice, that Great Britain felt that she now ought to be relieved of the burthen of our defence ; that we had entered upon an era of peace, and that while the mother considered herself bound to defend us from foreign aff- gression, that she expected us, henceforth, to provide protec- tion in our domestic affairs. We somewhat pitiably retorted that we had always furnished force to do our police duty, and did not need assistance now for that purpose ; but the colonial office was inexorable, and said that what had been ordered could not be revoked. The forces were consequently called home from all the stations save Halifax, whose society, tavern- keepers and immorality are at least the gainers, if no boon is conferred upon the country. The only anomaly in the proceeding was the withdrawal of the troops from Newfound- land, which was then, and is to-day, not in the union. The imperial view was surely not less than rational and politic ; though some of those who had talked after the union vith so much sound about our magnitude and our future, were among the first to cry out, '* O don't take away the soldiers." To boast of nationality in one breath, and to cry for protection in ano- ther, is at once impertinent and unmanly ; and resembles no- thing so much as a hale young man of twenty-one under the guardianship of a dry nurse. Our duty is to rely upon our- selves in the day of trouble, and we have spirit, and brain, and patriotism enough in this country, were the attenuated leading string of British connexion cut to-morrow, to resist all-comers as effectually as we could under our present system — wMch 't '■u» 3t* n \i ■ I I S < i f wm^ \ 368 LIFE OF SIR JOHN A. MACDONALD. dampens national ardour, and undermines self-confidence — aided by imperial soldiers. The duty to home and kin i* a strong incentive, if the duty can always be made to assume- that personal form, but patriotism can be only predicated of those who possess a country, not of those who inhabit an in- stalment of tei-rilory belonging to somebody else, and who hav- ing fought the batUe and overwhelmed the foe, are reminded that they are serfs by profuse thanks for the loyalty and cour- age they showed not to themselves, not to the country whose fields they till, and whose seas they sail, but to a foreign ruler whom they have never seen, and who lives beyond a dissever- ing ocean. This opinion is not for those enlightened, loyal Canadians, who think that the sovereign can cure their babiea of king's evil ; but for the manly, intelligent young fellow with the light of the age in his eyes, who loves his country, and takes wisdom for his guide ; who believes that all men came into this world equal, as they must leave it equal, that gold, and place, and spurs belong alone to those who in honest strife can win them, that the custom which fixes perpetual authority in any family among the race of men, and declares that all others shall be subject and inferior, is one of the few relics of a barbarous age, a butt for the future historian, and an institu- tion that he will take to represent the darkness of the century. During the summer an important acquisition to the Do- minion cabinet appears in the appointment of Hon. Charles Tupper, whose robust ability and unfaltering parpose, had all along favourably impressed Sir John, to the presidency of the council, in the room of the Hon. Edward Kenny, who had been appointed to the governorship of Nova Scotia. We have met Dr. Tupper already measuring his strength with Joseph Howe, and seen hjm return from England twice with the laurels ; but this was no test of his prowess, since Howe was pitted not alone against his brother Nova Scotian, but against the imperial cabi- net, which was zealous for union. Where the field was fair and there was no favour, it fared better with the giant, and we ;■'' THROUGH STORMS TO THE REEF. 369 found Dr. Tupper, like Randolph Murray, returning to Ottawa, out of the fight, alone. But of Sir Charles' abilities, we might say of his genius, there can be no question. He began life, we believe, as a medical practitioner ; and while enjoying an ex- cellent prospect of eminent success in that profession, entered politics, in which sphere, by the sheer force of his abilities and the possession of a power that lite. ally battered down every obstacle, had succeeded in forcing his way, as we have seen, to o^e of the most prominent places in his country. But the Dr. Tupper of that day, was not the Sir Charles of our present ac- ijuaintance. Never could anybody deny that great energy of character, and almost superhuman force ; but for many years after his entry into public life. Dr. Tupper was almost insuf- ferably verbose, and often bombastical. Language literally poured from the man ; but his speeches were not remark- able for the closer and more incisive reasoning which runs through his public utterances now. Time has chastened and disciplined that ardent spirit, reduced the blaze to a sober glow, while not robbing the fire of its heat ; yet without being disposed to unkind criticism, his speeches still — speeches that may always be called verbal tornadoes — on occasion may be described as sivage, though in no instance we can remember of has the provocation not been ample. Of the question of dignity, and what is due to his position as a leading minister of the crown, Sir Charles Tupper is the best judge ; though he must bear the writer to challenge the propriety of a member of the Canadian government descending to a personal attack, how- ever well merited, on one who had degi'aded the press by making a newspaper the vehicle of vulgar spleen. Mr. Nicholas Flood Davin in his paper " Great Speeches " in the Canadian Month- ly, from which we have already extracted, has this telling de- scription of Sir Charles as an orator. " Sir Charles Tupper's most distinguishing characteristic ... is force. Though he has not the scholarship nor finish of Mr. Gladstone, it is with Mr. Gladstone — were I searching for a comparison — I should X A I ' I i, , I HV\ r V ■•«' 370 LIFE OF SIR JOHN A. MACDONALD. f.f*i h I compare him. Yet they are dissimilar in so many ways that the choice does not seem happy. They are alike however in this : extraordinary capacity for work, power of going from place to place, and making great speeches with little or no time for rest or study. Different in kind, his command of expres- sion is as ready and effective as Mr. Gladstone's. He has the faculty of growth ; the sure mark of a superior mind when found in a man over forty." The same writer goes on to say, and had he omitted saying it, we should not have thought so much of his paper: "I am sure that both he and Mr. Blake speak too long. If they could take off about thirty per cent, in time without impairing the texture of thought ; if they could pack closer ; how much more effective both would be. Sir Charles Tupper is not content while a single wall of the ene- my's defences remains standing." Some of Sir Charles Tupper's most important work is too fresh in the mind of the reader to detail it here. For many years he has been an important fig- ure in Canadian politics. Still in the prime of his manhood, though with health somewhat shattered, by a too-long over- wrought brain, he now retired from office to fill a place of im- portance in the mother-country as high commissioner. May we not cherish the hope that many days may yet remain to him, after his mission in the new sphere is ended, and his health restored, in the performance of public duty in Canada. The Reciprocity Treaty having expired, as we have seen, and the overture s of the Canadian government for renewal having proven fruitless, a state of affairs had arisen which provoked a strong feeling of hostility among our people towards the United States. With the expiry of the tieaty, of course, all rights and privileges to both parties lapsed, yet Americ'-n fishermen continued to fish in our coast-waters within prohibited limits. The Canadian government remonstrated with the Washington authorities, and the president of the United States issued a /:.. "• i> TIlIiOUGH STORMS TO THE REEF. 371 proclamation forbicliling American citizens to further infringe upon the law. American schooners still appeared within the three-mile limit around our coast, putting out nets and spilliard trains ; and oven became so brazen in their disregard for author- ity, as to engage in taking fish during Sunday ; — for which, in one instance, they paid the panalty by the inhabitants of a covo in Fortune Bay, Newfoundland, taking the law in their own hands, destroying the fishing gear of the intruders, and driving the violators of the sabbath and the civil laws from the shore. The imperial and Canadian governments sent armed vessels along the coasts to prevent this international poaching, and several crafts caught in their unlawful work were seized and con- fiscated. Whereupon our American friends grew wrathful, and their high-pent feeling vented i'self in an unstatesmanlike and intemperate message from President Grant during the autumn. A number of irritating questions had now accumulated be- tween the United States and Great Britain, and oarly in the year, 1871, it became known that these would be submitted for settlement to a joint commission appointed by both govern- ments. The chief subjects for the adjudication of the commis- sion were the fisheries question, to which we have alluded; the Alabama clsiims, the navigation of the St. Lawrence, and of the Canadian canals, and the boundarv line between the United states and British Columbia. Owing to some of the hazy defi- nitions in the Oregon treaty, the ownership of the island of San Juan, in the strait of Juan de Fuca, which for the past twelve years had been occupied jointly by British and United States ofiicials, had been open to dispute ; and a settlement of this question was also refeiTed to the commission. On the 10th of February, the United States government appointed as its representatives, the Hon. Robert C. Schenck, United States minister to the court of St. James ; the Hon. Hamilton Fish, secretary of state ; the Hon. Samuel Nelson, of the supreme court ; the Hon. George H. Williams, of Oregon, and the Hon, Ebenezer R. Hoar, of Massachusetts. On the sixteenth of the ■.4fi m I ■?''* '\ 'I A '*', >"■' n I I' § I ^1 i i ,n it .:i f ■■A\ = ^f 4 ) 1 372 LIFE OF SIR JOHN A. MACDONALD. 5(1' I I 1 1 1' same month, the imperial government appointed as its five representatives the Earl De Gray and Ripon, Sir Edward Thornton, Sir Stafford Northcote, Sir John Macdonald and Montague Bernard, professor of international law in the univer- sity of Oxford. The appointment of a colonist on a commission to conserve imperial interests was an unusual course, but the eminent abilities of Sir John, and the vast Canadian interests at stake, induced the selection. It is an error, however, to suppose that, in any sense. Sir John was a Dominion represen- tative ; he was merely the interpreter of Canadian interests. On this commission, as events afterwards showed, our premeir found himself between the devil and the deep sea, between his duty as an imperial representative on the one hand, whose mission was to support any plan that would forward the interests of the empire as a whole, even though such measure should bear harshly upon his own province, and his duty to the interests of the Dominion on the other. The first meeting of the commission was held at Washington, on the 27th of Feb- ruary ; and the sittings were continued at irregular intervals till the 8th of May. On this date the Washington treaty was signed, and the commissioners set out for their homes. In brief the treaty — which was ratified by the United States on the 24!th of May, and by the imperial parliament on the 17th of June — provided for the settlement of the Alabama claims by an arbitration board to meet in Switzerland, and to which refer- ence has already been made ; the San Juan boundary dispute was referred for adjudication to the emperor of Germany, who gave the disputed island to the United States ; while, with res- pect to the fisheries, our waters were thrown open to the Ame- rican fishermen for a period of ten years, the compensation to the Canadian government, in lieu of this privilege, to be decided by a special commission.* It was provided that fish and oil should be admitted into the United States and Canada, from each * The commission met in Halifax in 1877, and awarded to Canada $5,500,000, which was paid, but with not a little groaning. 9HHV mmm rnnouou stohms to the reef. 37J country, duty free during a like period ; free navigation of the St. Lawrence and the Canadian canals was guaranteed to Ameri- can citizens, a similar privilege being accorded to British sub- jects on Lake Michigan. As an offset to the claim for damages by the Confederate cruisers sailing from British ports, Sir John contended that the Dominion was, in a like measure, entitled to recompense for the ravages of Fenian marauders from American tenitory. Against an attitude which so much as refused to discuss this question, and with the tepid support of his brother commissioners, to whom imperial questions threw all others in the aiiade. Sir John was powerless ; and, as in some other points, he was obliged to yield. Some of his opponents afterwards maintained that in the face of this opposition it was his duty to have resigned, but that would have been for the premier to con- fess that he regarded himself as a colonial, and not an imperial representative ; that he had consented to enter the commission under false pretences ; for, {is we have already stated, it was by the accident of his qualifications and the esteem in which he was held — and in any case only as an interpreter of Canadian inte^'ests — that he was appointed among the representatives ; and had he resigned the imperial will would nevertheless have been carried out, and perhaps without the dampening presence of another colonist. But that Sir John d'd do all that was consistent with honour and duty as a representative of impe- rial interest, became abundantly clear, and is, if by no other evidence, amply proven in the fact, that, up to a late period — if indeed down to this time — he had not been forgiven by imperial statesmen, for what, between themselves, they had been pleased to call his " colonialism " on the commission ; not a colonialism im[)lying anything beyond what they regarded as too much aeal in Canadian interests, which clashed with those of the em- pire. It is not going too far to assume that, when we hear the premier's Canadian opponents denounce him for having done too little for Canada, and hear imperial earls and knights who were with him whisper behind the door that he did too much, ij ■^■r fl'Fl'P""W ill D.til »\ 374 X/FJS? OF SIR JOHir A. MACDONALD. ho (lid his onerous and difficult duty, honourably, conscienti- ously, and well. For a year the treaty was misrepresented throughout the country, and the premier and the ministry were loaded with abuse. The assailants were sorely mortified that they could elicit no official response, a silence maintained r/o tae request of Sir John, who said that it would be time eiovigh to explain when the politic period arrived and in the proper place. We shall skip a year to see the issue. In May, 1872, the storm broke, and Sir John was ready. His defence is given us in one of the ablest — perhaps the most effective — speeches of his life. We need not here attempt an outline of this address, which we give in full elsewhere,* or of the telling speeches by Sir Francis Hincks, Hon. Wm. McDougall, Hon. Charles Tupper, Hon. S. L, Tilley, Sir George Cartier, Hon. J. H. Cameron and others. All the speakers, understanding the painfully difficult position Sir John had held, and appreciating the highmindedness and ability with which he conducted himself, came forward in de- fence of their chief. Mr. John Hillyard Cameron said that " be- fore entering into discussion on the various points of the treaty,, he might be allowed to say a few words about one upon whom the eyes of all Canada were fixed, in whom the country had the deepest interest, and in whom, he ventured to say, the great mass of the people had the most implicit reliance. He refer- red to the gentleman who was entrusted, not only as a nego- tiator but as a representative of the empire, and of Canada, as a part of it ; he whom so many had been accustomed to ad- mire, and whom he (Mr. Cameron) had been permitted to follow, as his leader, for so many years. Probably there was no mem- ber of the house better entitled to speak of that gentleman than he. They had been friends for more than half the term of life allotted to man ; they had been at school together, and had been in the government of Canada in the freshness of their youth, more than a quarter of a century ago ; and from that • For the text of the speech in extenso, see appendix G. mm Wt THROUGH STORMS TO THE REEF. 376 year to this, although their positions had been very different, he had been always hi^political follower, and had endeavoured to be his faithful friend ; and he believed there were very few among those who had been his friends, and followers during that long peiiod of years who were not his staunch supporters now. There could hardly be a higher compliment [)aid to any man than that he sliould have continued to hold the position he had held during the many years past ; and he felt compelled to say this, because heartless attacks had been made upon his character and honour. They all knew, every one of thorn, and he (Mr. Cameron) recollected well, the time when he first came so prominently before the public. They might have looked through their own party, in and out of politics, and could not have found a single man his superior, and in the opposition party they could not find a man either his superior or his equal. During all those years he had carried out those measures which he considered were for the country's good. In many he (Mr. Cameron) did not concur, but in many had agreed ; and of all men competent to deal with the affairs of the people, he had always considered that there was no one so competent as he, Sir John Macdonald. He (Mr. Cameron) had seen his skill and ability at all times and under all circumstances, and there was no one among them who had not had an opportunity over and over again of forming a judgment upon them. He would ask them to recollect how, when circumstances had withdrawn him, when debates and discussions were going on, they had felt that the chords were jangled and the instrument out of tune, and when he returned again how his master hand evoked a harmony that no other hand was able to produce. They had all known it. They had seen him in his position there using his talents and groat ability for the benefit of the countiy. Had he turned those talents and that ability to his profession, he would have won both wealth and fame. Whilst other politici^ ns were mak- ing their fortunes, no one ever felt otherwise than that ihni man was poor, because he never allowed his political or parliamen- „/:'■ .r I . ■ -0 %1 i '■! )f I t \ liii 378 LIFE OF SIR JOHN A. MACDONALD. ill i; I i ll ' 'r /t- j- fcary influence to be used in order that he might in the slightest i 378 i/J'i; Oi' iSIB JOHN A. MACDONALD. the Pacific, to connect the seaboard of British Columbia with the railway system of Canada ; and further to secure the com- pletion of such railway within ten years from the date of the union." This line, we need scarce say, is not built yet, though it has had a prodigious catastrophe, resulting in the wreck of a great party, as shall be told further on. The Hon. William Joseph Trutch was appointed lieutenant-governor of the newly acquired province. The piosperity of Ontario was now devel- oping in bounds, and Hon John Sandfield Macdonald, with the strange daring that had more than once led him upon the rocks, appropriated a large sum of the public funds for railway pur- poses without the consent of the legislature. A storm arose, and the premier could n )i withstand it. His enemies thundered their censure, and his friends dropped off. He resigned in December, and the governor asked Mr. Edward Blake to take his place. One of the first acts of the new provincial govern- ment was the offering of $5,000 reward for the apprehension of the murderers Kiel and Lepine, one of whom at least has since met his deserts. Sit George Cartier had made common cause with Monseigneui Tach^ in shielding Riel, who was for the time, but not till he had sought oarliaraentary honours, induced to leave the country. The last session of the first Dominion parliament opened on the 11th of April, 1872. The moso important question was the clause of the Washington treaty to which we have reverted, Mr. Blake excelling himself in clever argument, sarcasm, and special pleading in his attack upon the measure. A question of much interest was the New Brunswick " School Bill," which had passed the legislature of that province, in May, of the pre- vious year. The New Brunswick Act, in brief, provided for the establishment of free non-sectarian schools, which were to be taken out of the hand of the Jacks-of -all -trades, administered under government supervision, and supported by municipal tax- ation and a grant from the provincial legislature. A wise measure, however, was marred by blemishes affixed by a bigo- f ■f ,vr -.^ ^ ;-iy'" -^i : . ■ -j-'l ; / ■, ~, -;■ ''^v'»' '.$ "■ '.' THROUGH STORMS TO THE REEF. try that made a triumph of reason an engine of injustice, gi-oss and contemptible. The question, through the local constituen- cies, became not one between the old and barbarous plan of edu- cation, and the new system, but between protestant and catho- lic. The catholic priesthood became alarmed, and saw the hand of Satan guiding the new movement. The free-school people affeci;ed to see something nearly as bad on the other side, the Pope resisting the spread of education and thought. The priest was over fearful, the free-school champion was over zealous. The most with which the former is to be charged is extrava- gant dread, and a profusion of evil prophecy that he came for- ward himself, in time, to falsify ; but against the latter there is a much less creditable count. They studded the new law with provisions, called by some one " millinery regulations," deliber- ately intended to insult and harass the Roman catholics, while one politician,* who is now, thanks to the unfortunate system of party which rules everything in this country from the bencli to the buck-saw, a judge in New Brunswick, carried his un- manly bigotry so far as to declare on the hustings, that he had no feeling in common with Roman catholics, and did not want their vote'- Such a spirit was odious enough in the cam- paign, but it was carried into the bill, and provided that no teacher should wear crosses, badges or garbs pertaining to any exclusive order ; the object being to exclude religious of the Roman church from the woi-k of teaching. It was while the law remained in this intolerable state, that the two prominent Roman catholics from New Brunswick in the Canadian legis- lature sought to have the obnoxious measure set aside. In May, therefore, Mr. Costigan moved a set of resolutions praying for the disallowance of the act, in which he was strongly seconded by Mr. Timothy xVnglin. The following session he moved? " that the government should advise his excellency to disallow the acts passed by the New Brunswick legislature," which was * Hon. (now Judge) John J. Fraser. 'm iiiijit'i 380 LIFE OF SIR JOHN A. MACDONALD. carried ; though the question remained open for several years afterwards. The next year again he moved for " an address to her Majesty praying her to cause an act to be passed amending the Biitish North America Act, 1867, by providing that every religious denomination in New Brunswick shall continue to possess and enjoy all such rights with regard to their schools as they possessed and enjoyed at the time of the passage of the said Act." This resolution was withdrawn, though Mr. Costi- gan was unceasing in his exertions from session to session, till his desires were virtually accomplished by the amendments to the New Brunswick act which expunged the obnoxious regula- tions. In the early stages of the agitation, as we have seen, Sir John was in office, and durincj this time Mr. Costifjan had the heartiest support from Mr. Anglin ; but he stood alone in the struggle when the reformers came to power, when Mr. Anglin was elevated to the Chair, and agitation on the measure men - aced his salary and perquisites. The New Brunswick legisla- ture very properly resisted the attempts at Ottawa to set aside legislation which it felt it was compe'ent to enact; and Hon. (now Judge) William Wedderburn, one of the most powerful and brilliant speakers in Canada, moved a series of resolutions in defence of the law, asserting the exclusive authority of the provincial legislature over the question, and resolving that its jurisdiction or powers should not be impaired or abridged with- out an appeal to the electors at the polls ; and that without the consent of the local body the imperial parliament or the par- liament of Canada ought not to interfere. Meanwhile the priests had refused to permit Catholic children to be taught in the " godless " institutions, and the parents were burthened with the double expense of paying the municipal tax to main- tain the public schools, from which they derived no benefit, and of supporting the separate schools to which no contrll'i^ion was made from the provincial funds. The bishops and their clergy found themselves obliged by conscience to refuse paying the public school-tax ; but the officer seized a horse and carriage, or in ROUGH STORMS TO THE REEF. 381 any vjhattel that he could lay iiands upon, and went his >vay. It i& related that the cow of a certain priest was seize i five times for the tax, some pious parishioner as often " bidding in " the animal, and thuL sati^-ying the law and the clerical con- science. But thia »tate of affairs could not continue. The catholics began to groan at the double burthen put upon their shoulders. Then the priests had now and again paid a visit to the government schooL, and found no pictures of Satan hang- ing upon tho wall, nor heard any boy say that the name of our first parent was ProtopJasm. The legislature, too, had shown a disposition to fair pl&j by purging the school statute of in- sult and intolerarvce. Still the clergy remained aloof ; but on their behalf leading citizens opened negotiations with the free- school authorities. Through the influence of Mr. (now Sena- tor) Boyd and other proininent citizens in St. John, Biihop Sweeney capitulated, and in Fredericton, the capital, amalga- mation was accomplished through the tireless exertions of Mr. Patrick McPeake, the leadmg Roman catholic in the city. Now while we have denounced the stain that bigotry put upon the school law as at first established, and admired the manly, able and uncompromising way in which Mr. Costigan battled for justice to his co-religionists, we must not be regarded as hav- ing the remotest sympathy with those who opposed non-secta- rian schools upon 'principle. Ten years ago he who visited a parish school, from which God had not been banished, saw an institution seething with disorder, which was ever pouring a stream of youth upon the country, many of whom were more vulgar and vicious than if they had never seen the in ide of the school walls. But it is different now ; and the system of education enjoyed by the people of New Brunswick, would be a boon and r credit to any country. We could wi.sh that of the system iii this noble province we could say as much ; though this is more than we dare to hope so long as it maintains the political taint. V n s' 1 %i , T . i {■■ ■Tf-t ») m wmmm •''-^i^''-''C ■ 382 LIFE OF SIB JOHN A. MACDONALD. \ I nm'im Parliament prorogued on the 14th of June, and eight days afterwards the governor-general bade good bye to Canada. During his administration he had been raised to the peerage of the united kingdom with the title of Baron Lisgar, of Lisgar and Bailieborough, in the county of Cavan. While amongst us he won our good opinion and respect, though he neither flat- tered the people nor courted popularity, doing his duty with a courteous quiet dignity that phased without effort. " His hospi- tality," says Professor Goldwin Smith, " was simply that of an English nobleman; it had no ulterior object, and as an example could do nothing but good." His successor was Frederick Tem- ple Hamilton Blackwood, Earl of DufFerin, eldest son of Captain Price Blackwood, afterwards fourth Baron Dufferin and Clan- deboye, in the peerage of Ireland. The new governor was a man of some distinction in diplomacy and literature when he came amongst us. He had been under-secretary of state for war, and in the same capacity at the Indian office. He went to Syria as commissioner of the crown, where he ended the turmoil between the Christians and the natives. " He suc- ceeded," says Mr. Stewart, "in mastering the details of this deli- cate mission; and not only satisfactorily arranged the Turkish troubles, but also compromised matters between the French and the warlike Druses. He gave a constitution to Lebanon, and we have here the first evidence of his ability as a states- man and diplomatist." If by letters in his own right he was not famous, he was distinguished through his ancestry. His mother was the author of " The Irish Emigrant," and other ballads, which, if not showing a deep poeticil vein, contained a wealth of feeling, and many passages of tender, melancholy pathos. For an aunt, he had that pretty song-bird, the Hon. Mrs. Caroline Norton, whose sweet verse and bright eyes, scandal said, lured Lord Melbourne so often away from the cares of state. And through this siren he was connected with a name of still greater note, of whom a great poet has said: «»♦*•» Nature formed but one such man, And broke the die in moulding Sheridan." . .'.itj',. »1?»"«"W^""^ ^^P"iip' THROUGH STORMS TO THE REEF. 383 Lord DufTerin was educated at Eton and Oxford, and in 1850 was created an English baron. He was not long amongst us when it was found that the proverbial gift of his countrymen sat upon his tongue. In making speeches he could outdo our most confirmed orators; and in this respect his example was not good. If a governor-general could only, by his example, help to curtail the platform trade, he might well feel that his vice-regal mission had not been fruitless, j,nd that he had not been born in vain. But it is not encouraging in a political country like this, where the tendency is to an epidemic of speech, to have a viceroy appear among us with this run- ning at the mouth. Perhaps, but for this never-failing eloquence on every subject from a hot- water tankard to tho constitution, it might be said that Earl Dufferin's administra- tion was delightful. He possessed a warm sympathetic heart, and took a genuine interest in the welfare and aspirations of our people ; and in return, there sprang up among us for him, a deeper and kindlier feeling of regard, than had ever before been entertained for a Canadian governor. Everywhere the viceroy and his great-hearted wife, the countess, went, they stirred the feelings of all by the genuine and hearty way in which they sympathized with, and entered into the feelings and aspirations of, those they visited. When they departed from our shores a void was left in the hearts of our people that it would be hard to fill. The first parliament of Canada, having lived out the full term of its constitutional life, was dissolved on the 15th of July. The elections came off through the summer and early autumn, and the government found itself confronted by staunch opposi- tion. The ghost of poor Scott, murdered in the North-West, rose against it; the Washington treaty "was shaken in the face of the country;" the gigantic railway-building, a duty to which the country had been pledged, was declared by the opposition to be a mad and impossible scheme ; and the reforrr party in Ontario was made sturdy by the strength of Mr. Blake and the i,' SI it^: :-'i li! I ^^x 384 LIFE OF SIR JOHN A. MACDONALD. provincial ministry. The government came shattered, though not defeated, out of the contest. Sir Francis Hincks was worsted in South Brant, but Vancouver, British Columbia, offered the woi-thy kinght her seat, which he accepted. Sir George Cartier was put to flight in Montreal east, but was wel- comed to the arms of Provencher, Manitoba. Ontario declared herself hostile chiefly because the government had failed to punish Scott's murderers ; Quebec refused her usual support because a full amnesty had not been gianted. The dignity of the archbishop was at stake — though resting upon an absurdity and a misunderstanding — and that was of more importance than the cruel and wicked shedding of a fellow creature's blood. There once was a commandment — but it was under the Jewish dispensation! — though written upon stone by the finger of God, which said, " Thou shalt not kill"; but Sir George Cartier, and his French supporters, and Bishop Tach^, and his priests and the faithful, blotted out that old edict, and put in its stead, " Thou shalt not dishonour the promise of a bishop." Notwithstanding the defections, a count of forces after the contest was ended satisfied Sir John that his government had an ample working majority. In October, the Ontario legislature passed a resolution prohibiting dual representation ; so that Messrs. Blake and Mac- kenzie were compelled to choose between the provincial and general parliaments. Naturally, their ambition, patriotism, cu- pidity, and any other quality they may have possessed, found stronger attraction in the wider sphere and larger flesh-pots. Their choice necessitated a reconstruction of the provincial government, and Mr. Blake suggested to the lieutenant-governor that Mr. Mowat ought to be invited to lead the ministry. The lure was too strong for the judge, and he left the bench. What- ever of public immorality there was in this proceeding, Mr. Blake, at all events, was the seducer. From that day to this, Mr. Mowat has held the leadership of the Ontario government, and though his administration has not been brilliant, it has in many im- portant respects been efiicient and honest ; if the adjective can mmmifi ,' '>! THROUGH STORMS TO THE REEF. 383 be applied to a system, somewhat subservient to the ends of party. Towards the close of the year M. Joly, leader of the opposition in the Quebec legislature, moved for a commission of inquiry into certain charges made against M. Cauchon, the local member for Montmorency, and whom we have also met in the Canailian parliament. The inquiry revealed that this member had, while occupying a seat in the local house, been a secret contr^ctur wi^h the provincial government in connexion with the Beauport lunatic asylum. To avoid expulsion M. Cauchon resigned; but the saire moral sentiment that had so zealously shielded murder, now cor doned corruj)tion ; and he was straightway elected again. Early in the following year, several important changes took place in the Canadian ministry, the most prominent of these being the acceptance of the port- folio of finance by the Hon. S. L. Tilley in place of Sir Francis Hincks, who had grown tired of official worry, and longed for the calm of private life. Dr. Tupper succeeded to the office of Mr. Tille}' as head of the department of Customs. The new par- liament opened on the 5th of March, 1873. Prince Edward Island had got over her little tiff, had reasoned out the ques- tion of union, grown sorry over her stubbornness, and asked to be admitted into the federation. A measure was promptly pre- pared to give effoct to the wish, and was forwarded to the im- perial parent, who, of course, held the right of giving the daugh- ter away. The debt of the little island was placed at S4',701,- 050 ; and interest at 5 per cent, per annum was io be paid from time to time on the difference between that sum and the ac- tual amount of the provincial debt. An annual subsidy of S30,000 was granted, and the eighty cents for each head of the population which the census of 1871 showed to be D4,021. In the midst of the routine labours of the house, one day, a member arose, with face pale, and flung a bomb upon the floor which convulsed the parliament and the country. •*•> ^' .,>%.- I t: Ji: : :.i;: ,\i 1--^ ni'i. ■». .. RH H ■■ 1 I^^R^Hb 1 'k^KB HI mm ■ III Hi H CHAPTER XXI. THE GOVERNMENT AND SIR HUGH ALLAN. IT will be remembered that one of the terms under -which British Columbia consented to enter confederation was that the central government should construct, within ten years, a railroad from the Atlantic to the Pacific. Two wealthy com- panies composed of superior business-men were formed, the one the Inter- Oceanic, at the head of which was Mr. D. L. Mac- pherson, the other the Canada Pacific, the president of which was Sir Hugh Allan. As the session of 1872 drew near, the air was full of rumours concerning these two organizations, oppo- nents of the government affirming that Sir Hugh Allan was to get the contract, that his company was largely composed of Americans, that the road would be made tributary to American commerce, that all this was an outrage upon the country, and that he motto should be " Canada for the Canadians." Parlia- ment met and the legislature granted a charter to both compa- nies, authorizing the government to enter into contract with either, or with an amalgamation of the two, or, if they should see fit, to grant a royal charter to a new and distinct company. We need not repeat that to the construction of the railroad the country was by honour and by stipulation bound ; and for this purpose the legislature had agreed to grant 50,000,000 acres of land and $30,000,000 to any company that would build the line. The project was not alone one of national importance, but was the most gigantic undertaking up to that time, or since, known to Canada. The grant made by parliament appeared enormous and was, therefore, tempting to the eyv. of 386 ■Hlfi THE GOVERNMENT AND SIR HUOU ALLAN. 387 those who may have had but Uttle conception of the vast task of building a road across the rugged breast of a con- tinent ; so that it became the duty of government to give ear only to persons upon whose wisdom, experience and integrity they could rely, and whose commercial standing was such that they would be able to obtain the entree into the money mark- ets of the world for the prosecution of the work. On the 14th of June the session closed. Parliament was dissolved on the 8th of July, and from the loth of the same month till the 12th of October the country was plunged into an election contest. An engrossing topic with the ministry was the rail- way, which it was felt should be begun as early as possible, as skilful engineers hinted that every day of the term allowed woald be required to link ocean with ocean. The cry against " Sir Hugh and his A me icans " had waxed louder in the meantime, but Sir John, from the first, expressed himself hos- tile to outside aid in building the line. Sir Geoi-ge Cartier, who frequently examined great questions through the eyes of somebody else, followed the lead of his chief and confirmed his opposition to " Yankees" with an oath. It was Sir John's desire now to get the two compa lies amalgamated, and to this end negotiations were opened ; but the ambitions of the two presidents were irreconcilable. Sir Hugh claiming that his inter- ests were of such magnitude that it was proper he should have the presidency, Mr, Macpherson holding that the question in dispute ought to be settled by the shareholders. Union having been found impossible. Sir John announced that the govern- ment would avail itself of the legislation of the past session and endeavour to form a new company. Sir Hugh now dropped his American associates and leagued himself with a number of Canadian gentlemen of high standing, and large means and experience. On this organization the government looked with favour in consideration of the high integrity, the financial abi- lity, and the credit possessed by its members. The leadin g member was Sir Hugh Allan, the owner of the proud fleet of I ■ ■I ,1 i ' t'\ I 388 LIFE OF SIR JOHN A. MACDONALD. I '! , %\mm^ * ;:,.i^kiii ocean steamers wliich be.us his name, a gentleman of vast energy and enterprise, and pos.«ossir.g advantages, by the extent of his capital and his ciedit in the European money-ma ket, not held by any other person that oftered to undertake the woik. The duty of the govornu)ent was to close the contract at the earliest moment, to tie.it w"t.h those who were best qualified to do the work ; and so, af er some consideration, issued the charter, appointing Sir Hugh pioa'dent. Parliament met in due course. Minintcis announced that a new and powerful company was now ready to commence the great work, and that all needed was the sanction of the legisla- ture. So gigantic had seemed the task to which the Dominion had connnittod itself, that the la 'ge bulk of the house, now learning that there was a body of responsible men actually ieady to go on with the work, regarded the fact as a brilliant triumph for the government. Ministers began to rejoice in the virork of their hands, and some of their opponents admitted with grudging grace that, under the circumstances, perhaps as good an agreement had been made as was possible. But then came out of the political sky a whisper that set the heart of opposition bounding, that brought light to its eye. This " small voice " said : " Doom is hanging over the ministry ; soon the bolt shall fall." The work of the session went on, the ministers, with buoyant hearts and sunny faces, dreaming of no evil to come. Their opponents made no unusual sign, save, perhaps, that of late they had appeared less factious and more reserved than usual. Sometimes, indeed, one spectator has re- corded, a prominent reformer would steal an ominous glance across to the treasury benches, and then resume his work in a preoccupied way, as if " there was something in the wind." At last arrived the 2nd day of April. A sort of calm had seemed to have fallen upon the house. Some members were writing at their desks, others lounged in their chairs, or read the news- papers. The treasury benches vrere full ; the speaker sat in the chair, and pages flitted across the floor with notes. Sir John . ■:\-. •• i y. THE GOVERNMENT AND SSih %VOH ALLAy. SM Macdonald was sitting at his own deslk, »*^ lej^ rt/?ro,sa tkt^ oUtcr, and IcanLnrr his hci&,?; \[\\\, a^ to the Pacific Railway, an af^recnent was made between Sii- Hugh Allan, acting for himself, and certain other Canadian promoters, and G. W. McMullen, acting fior certain United States capitalists, whei'eby the latter agreed to furnish all the funds necessary for the construction of the contemplated rail- way, and to give the former a cer' a In percentage of interest, in consideration of their interest and position, tfiie scheme agreed upon being ostensibly that of a Canadian company with Sir Hugh Allan at its head, — " That the government were aware that these negotiations were pending between the raid parties, — " That, subsequently, an understanding was come to between the government, Sir Hugh Allan and Mr. Abbott, one of the members of the honourable house of commons of Canada, that Sir Hugh Allan, and his friends should advance a large sum of money for the purpose of aiding the elections of ministers and their supporters at the ensuing general election, and that he and his friends should receive the contract for the construction of the railway,— - " That accordingly Sir Hugh Allan did advance a large sum of mciiey for the pui'pose mentioned, and at the solicitation and under the pressing instances of the ministers, — " That part of the moneys expended by Sir Hugh Allan in connection with the obtaining of the act of incorporation and charter were paid to him by the United States capitalists un- der the agreement with him, — h t •i 1 1 'f. !?:■ '■ 7. S>=t« -I! pi H << 390 LIFE OF SIR JO UN A. MACVONALD. ** That a committee of seven members be appointed to enquire into all the circumstances connected with the negotiations for the construction of the Pacific llailway, with the legislation of last session on the subject, and with the granting of t ^ cliarter to Sir Hugh Allan and others, with power to send for persons, papers and records, and with instructions to report in full the evidence taken before, and all proceedings of, said committee." Sometimes, as ho read, ho paused and cast his eye about him to note the effect of his disclosures. Some sat with heads thrust forward, eagerly drinking every word ; others with a stolid air, and a look of stony indifference. Not a few there were with the light of triumph in their eye ; and some felt, or assumed to feel, the most unbounded horror. But as the mem- ber's eye rested upon one figure, ho became abashed, and his voice grew timid. This was the prime minister who sat with a face as inscrutable as the Sphynx, betraying no sign of fear or any show of anger Once Mr. Huntington caught his eye, and saw there the blaze of scorn ; and contempt was upon his lip. Having read his motion he sat down, amid a "'silence deep as death ; and the boldest held his breath for a time." It would have given relief to this agony of silence had the accusing member made any explanation, or spoken any word ; or had any other member of the house asked a question or oflfered comment. The accuser was not as one who had performed some deed of wondrous valour, " He had spoken," says Mr. Stewart, " with some feeling, but it was the feeling of fear. It was as if he had chalked ' No Popery ' on the wall and had then fled." There is now no doubt that when Mr. Huntington made his charges, his authority was vague rumour; that he had not in Ins possession, nor had seen, the telegrams and docu- ments which afterwards came to light ; and that his motion was thrown out as a feeler, with the hope of bringing some member of the government to his teet, and making statements which might serve as a clue to the supposed wrong-doing, or lend colour to the allegations. Every eye was now turned upon the >.iLV,^:.Ki^'Jif^.^ .,J THE GOVERNMENT AND SIR HUGH A LLAN, prime minister, but he sat at his desk as if ho had been a fij,an(i of stone ; ho uttered no word, and made no .siyn. The motion was seconded without comment, was put to the house, and, out of that sickening stillness, came one hundred and seven " nays," and seventy-six "yeas." A long breath of relief was drawn; the silence found its tongue, and a continuous buzz-buzz pre- vailed for many minutes. Then adjournment. A meeting of tho cabinet was hastily ca'lcd, Sir John in- forming his colleagues that tho slander must be prom[)tly and boldly met. Next night, wo may be sure, there was littlu sleep for the premiei. He was aware that cer'aiu ^ransacti()ns between members of the ministry and Sir Hugh Allan were susceptible of being distorted into a form corresponding with tho charges made by Mr. Huntington, and that tlie government would have a serious task to put the case in Us true light be- fore the country; but he was resolved to face the charge firmly and challenge the accusers, knowing that he had less to fear from a thorough expos^ than from the insinuations of opponents barely seasoned with distorted fact. Looking more wearied and anxious than he had ever appeared in that house before, he took his place tho following day and, risingi offered the following resolution, which was carried : — " On mo- tion of the Right Honourable Sir John A. Macdonald, that a select committee of five members (of which committee the mover shall not be one) be appointed by this house to enquire into and roport upon the several matters contained and stated in a res/lution moved on Wednesday, the 2nd ul April, in- stant, by the Hon. Mr, Huntington, member for the county of Sheftbrd, relating to the Canadian Pacific Railway, with power to send for persons, papers and records ; to report from time to time, and to report the evidence from time to time, and, if need be, to sit after the prorogation of Pa-liament." The members named for the committee were Hon. Messrs. Blakfe, Blanchet, Dorion, Macdonald (Pictou), and Cameron (Cardwell). .^ ■ '.i f ^1 ii i :i :th iff 392 LIFU OF SIR JOHN A. MACDONALD. To guard against the admiss'on of unreliable testimony, it was provided that the commission be authorized to examine witnesses upon oath ; but as the committee, as such, had no power to so examine, a measare called the Oaths Bill was promptly introduced and passed, conferring upon the commis- sioners that authority. In this, however, parliament tran- scended its powers, and the act was disallowed by her majesty on the advice of the law officers of the crown. While the fate of the bill was unknown the commission met, and on the 5th of May decided, in view of the absence of Sir George Cartier, and the Hon J. J. C. Abbott, and the impossibility of the inves- tigation being carried on in a proper manner without oppor- tunity being afforded these gentlemen of being present and hearing the testimony adduced, that it was advisable that the committee adjourn until Wednesday, the 2nd of July, if parlia- ment should be, on such date, in session. According to the customs of Lynch law, nothing is so absurd as the plea that the accused should be present at his own trial to offer his de- fence ; and the opposition grew wroth at the decision to stay proceedings till the impugned members returned and had an opportunity of defending themselves. Some time after this. Sir John waited on the governor-general, and advised adjourn- ment, with a view to meeting and prorogation, on the 13th of August. Lo^'i Dufferin saw that the suggestion was good; the spring had well advanced, and it was to the interest of mem- bers to be at their homes ; the business of the session had been ended ; the presence of the legislature could not promote the work of the commission which might go on taking the evi- dence ; and he decided to accept the prime minister's advice. Upon this understanding. Sir John proceeded to the house, and from his place announced in distinct terms, that parliament would be prorogued on the 13th of August, " that the re-assem- bling wouIdbepro/o?'ma, that no business would be done beyond receiving the report of the committee, which could then be printed with the evidence, and go before the country ; that the iia. '■'A'T' '■ ""■' THE GOVERNMENT AND SIR HUGH ALLAN. 393 members would not be required to return, and that only the Speakers of the two houses would need to be in their places." All this the house seemed to clearly understand, and no op- position was offered to the arrangement. Mr. Blake expressed the opinion that the commission might go on taking evidence from the rising of the house till the meeting of the regular session in February, forgetting that the powers of a parlia- mentary commission expire with prorogation. Mr. Holton said he believed a quorum would be necessary to receive the report; and muttered between his teeth that he and a quorum would be there. Sir John, in reply, observed that if a quorum were considered necessary, a sufficient number of members for that purpose could be found in the neighbourhood of the cap- ital. On a distinct undei standing of the facts as above related, the house was adjourned; after which in«*,mbers returned to their homes, and the opposition abandoned themselves to false- hood and conspiracy. Instead of a quiet meeting with the two speakers, only, present, or a quorum, with the 13th of August appearisd the opposition in full strength, intrigue in their hearts, falsehood upon their tongues. And when asked for what purpose they had mustered ert masse, they answered : " We didn't understand that the meeting was to be pro forma; we thought a full attendance was desirable." The intention was — since the ministry, abiding by the terms of adjournment, was at a serious disadvantage in having but a few of its sup- porters at the capital — to overthrow the government by the force of numbers. And, certainly unlike men of honour, they chuckled at the trap into which they believed the government had fallen. During the period between adjournment and the 13th of August, the governor-general was making a tour of the mari- time provinces, and filling public halls and school-houses with his infinite eloquence. During that summer recess many strange tidings fell upon the public ear. First came the announcement that the Oaths Bill had been disallowed, and that the work of .■*^ 4iiil Am ■!« ■ • -• .li-' ST* I 394 LIFE OF SIR JOHN A. MACDONALD. the commission was at a standstill. It is not to be wondered at that some of the opposition screamed out that tliis was tho doings of Sir John: had God sent a bolt from heaven and smit- ten the five commissioners, their inclinations for the moment would have been to believe that the premier was in some mea- sure responsible for the taking off. On receiving notice of the disallowance, the governor put himself in correspondence with the prime minister. The commission would meet in a few days, and it was desirable that the public mind should be sat- isfied as to the truth or falsity of the heinous charges. Sir John said there was one way that the end sought could be at- tained, and that was by issuing a royal commission to the com- mittee, which could then go on as had been originally arranged, placing the evidence before parliament which might take whatever steps it chose upon receiving the same. This is the only practical way lying open now, wrote the prime minister, to probe the facts of the case. Lord Dufferin grasped at the suggestion, and acted upon it without delay " No one can doubt," he said, " that for the purpose for which the committee was originally constituted, its conversion into a commission can make no practical difference. As a commission it will take evidence ; and as a committee it will report upon that evidence to the house." Armed with the governor-general's authority. Sir John wrote to each of the five members stating that, as the oaths' bill had been disallowed, it was his intention to issue to the committee a royal commission. The acceptance of the commission, he pointed out, wi i«i a jcoraplish the object originally in view, and hasten the \Vv i*:;:. But Messrs. Blake and Dorion, the two reform members, refused to act. on the ground that they would be under the control of the accused parties. This view, in a constitutional sen.se, was undoubtedly correct, though it was subsequently afhrmed in the house that the crown, not the ministry, had issued the commission, and had control of the enquiry. But this ground at once becomes untenable whuo wa reflect that the viceroy is bound to take ■ «^" ,-»!l«V THE GOVERNMENT AND SIR HUGH ALLAN. 393 the advice of his council, and that during the sitting of the commission some of the impeached ministers were the trusty advisers of the crown, which refused to consider them guilty, or unworthy of confidence, till their guilt had been proven. This objection then might well have been regarded as fatal, were the commission possessed of judicial and final powers : but its functions were only inquisitorial ; it was merely to collect evidence and report to the house, which might accept, reject, or ignore the same, as it saw fit. There was, unfortu- nately, no other way, owing to the unwise tying up of our powers by the act of the foreign state, by which the matter could be probed; and under such circumstances the duty of Mr. Blake was to have come out of the clouds and surrendered to the real and the practicable. On the 4th of July, certain information contained in the Montreal Herald fell upon the public ear like a clap of thun- der. This information comprised a nuuiber of letters and tele- grams sent to one C. M. Smith, of Chicago, a banker, and one Geo. McMullen, of Picton, who seemed at first to be a specula- tor or the representative of American capitalists, but who sub- sequently appeared as a blackleg. In this correspondence the history of Sir Hugh Allan's exertions towards obtaining the railway charter is set forth, the expenses he had incurred in pushing his scheme, — expenses which he declared exceeded $300,000 in gold — and certain relations with Sir John Mac- donald and Sir George Cartier. At once the hostile and the hasty swallowed the statements, and concluded that the enor- mous sum which Sir Hugh alleged he had paid away had gone into the hands of the ministers for corrupting the constituencies at the late elections. On the following day, an affidavit deal- ing with these charges, made by Sir Hugli, ap[)eared in the Montreal Gazette. It was a wet blanket fiung upon the pre- vious days' story, and depressed, sadly enough, the spirits of the opposition. W e need not here go into the details of this state- ment. The deponent admitted that there were many inatcu- ,«,•,!' '/ I M ! 'W II- ^ ' .: r W^: 390 LIFE OF SIB JOHN A. MACDONALD. I' racies in his hastily-written business-letters ; but the statement with which we are concerned, and which at once vindicated the innocence of ministers of the crimes inferred from the allega- tions in the letters, was as follows. "... In these and similar ways I ex]^cnded sums of money approaching in amount those mentioned in the letters, as I conceive I hcd a perfect right to do ; hut I did not state in those letters, nor is it the fact, that any portions of those sums of money were 'paid to the members of the government, or ivere received hy them or on their behalf, directly or indirectly, as a consideration, in any form, for any advantage to me in connection with the PaciflG railiuay con- tract" So far then, the accusations against the ministry had fallen to the ground, and Mr. Huntington's allegations were re- garded by a large bulk of the people ak reckless slanders. And so the opinion would nave stood had not the blackmailer, Mc- Mullen, come forward with what purported to be a concise and circumstantial statement of the corrupt relations of the gov- ernment with Sir Hugh Allan, in iwhlch he put forward in- ferences as facts, and assumptions as transactions happening under his own eyes, bringing his disclosures to an end with a number of stolen telegrams, containing requests from Sir John Macdonald and Sir George Cartier, to Sir Hugh, for certain sums of money. There v/as no indication as to the objects for which the money was intended, or upon what conditions it had been received ; but once more the hostile and the rash were assured that it had been obtained from Sir Hugh in considera- tion of the sale of the Pacific railway charter to him and his American friends ; and that Mr. Huntington had alleged the whole truth and nothing but the truth. And we must leave one and both to nurse their charitable opinion till we reach the stage in our narrative for another explanation. The governor-general had reached Prince Edward Island when newspapers containing the McMullen narrative came to hand. He was considerably startled, Mr. Stewart tells vla, at reading the correspondence, and at once sent for Messrs. Tilley ►; hi ,^. ■,»" », THE GOVERNMENT AND SIR EVGU ALLAN. 397 and Tupper who were at the time on the Island on ofRcial business ; but both these gentlemen assured him that satisfac- tory explanations would be made in due course ; and his lord- ship accepted the declaration as a confirmation of his hopes. He had before setting out upon his tour provided for pro- rogation on the 13th of August, by commission, but now felt that the case had assumed such a shape as to demand other arrangements. On the morning of the 13th, his excellency was in the capital, and within a few hours after his arrival was waited upon by the premier, who, on behalf of the ministry, tendered the advice that parliament should be prorogued as ori- ginally agreed upon. His lordship went over the grounds put forth by Sir John, and found they were good ; and smce he still had confidence in the prime minister and his colleagues, nothing remained for him but to be guided by their counsel, as he cheer- fully was. He consented to the arrangement, but upon the condition that parliament should meet again as soon as was consistent with the reasonable convenience of members, after say six or eight weeks ; to which proposal Sir John gave his hearty consent. In the meantime the opposition, or the " party of punishment," as they were not unwilling to be styled, had resolved on a course of their own. While his excellency was in the maritime provinces, they had adopted the manly and hon- ourable course of endeavouring, by stealth, to prejudice and poison his mind against his ministers, A member who ap- parently was not in the habit of allowing dignity or a sense of manly pride to stand in the way of his inclinations, collected a number of newspapers, containing the charges against the ministry, which he enclosed and directed to his excellency ; but they were returned to him unopened. On the morning of pro- rogation, the governor learnt that a large body of members of parliament was awaiting an audience ; and he was at no little loss to guess what could be their mission. His speculation was soon put at an end by Mr. (now Sir) Richard J. Cartwright, who introduced the delegation, and then presented a memorial ■>-;'i^ '^el ,1 m li*?.: >i , > Jj*^j^ I ' ' .y^,^ 1 ^' v^ I "'< .^jffl ^H -t'^^8 ^fi^SSm ^H '^ma 4JJH ■ \: ?* \i ^i:lfi ~H • 4 i 308 LIFE OF SIR JOHN A. MACDONALD. V '■ K 1' I a signefj by ninety-two members pmyin<^ that his excellency might not prorogue parliament until the house of commons had had an opportunity " of taking such steps as it may deem ne- cessary with reference to this important matter." Of course this request was an assumption that the governor either did not know, or was unwilling to perform, his duty; but gross though this inference was, his excellency answered the dele- gation with his usual courtesy, refusing promptly and firm- ly, however, to grant their request. This was an utter collapse for the opposition hope. They had nursed their plot through the hot summer, and now that the hour had come when it was to be put to account, the figure of the governor must rise and thwart them. Only thirty-five ministerialists were at the capital, but the reformers, as we have seen, were there in force, " an eager, expectant and exultant throng. Their faces showed determination, but no mercy ; their actions convinced the min- istry that they would give no quarter. For weeks they had waited for this moment ; and now the hour had arrived." * They set up a cry of disappointment and rage ; and their newspapers loaded the governor-general and the prime minister with libel. Among those flying with the storm, regardless of their dignity, was seen the figure of Mr. Edward Blake. He had sat apart for many weeks feeding his mind on solitary medita- tion, and when he met his brethren at Ottawa assured them that he had discovered at least two courses by which parlia- ment could confer the power, upon a mmittee of its own members, to administer oaths. One of these ways the Earl of Kimberly afterwards stated, " would be beyond the powers of the parliament of the Dominion ; " the other, also, was proved to be unconstitutional. Sir John pointing out that Mr. Blake had misread the case occurring durincj the administration of William Pitt, which he had taken as an analogy. Meanwhile> the opposition party, through the ministrations of its orators * George Stewart, Jr, ia Canada under the Administration of the Earl of Dufferin. . >:- ,^^jjjg|>iu,|k -'■r ■■^r" . THE GOVERNMENT AND SIR HUOH ALLAN. 399 and press, continued to sound the charges against the ministry up and down the land. Reformers having refused to sit as royal commissioners, Sir John suggested to the governor the expediency of issuing a commission to three or more judges of the land, whose posi- tion would remove them fron ^he suspicion of partiality in conducting the enquiry ; and acting on the advice, which he believed to be good, his excellency chose the honourable judges Day, Polette, and Go wan, who promptly began the work as- signed them. It would be too much to expect that any min- isterial arrangement could satisfy the opposition ; and it is hardly to be wondered at that before the new commission met at all it was loaded with slander by the reform press and its members, and characterized as the creature of the prime minister. An atmosphere, more poisonous than that wind which " breathed in the face " of Sennacherib's army, now floated over the province: the aroma from a corrupt min- istry, and from tainted ermine. Mr. Mackenzie, who some- times himself, does not hesitate at exaggeration, at least when writing political biographies, did not believe that either party would knowingly utter falsehood upon examination, and, there- fore, regarded the terrors of the oath unnecessary ; but even Mr. Blake shuddered, inwardly, as he thought of such men as McMullen coming into the box and testifying upon their " honour." Yet he, no more than any of his brethren, was satisfied with the judges upon the new commission, though it was impossible for him to condescend to the allegation that these gentlemen would falter in their duty. But his choice lay between smirching the honour of the commissioners, and accepting their appointment as good, unless, indeed, he was more anxious that formality should be observed, than that the charges against the government should be thoroughly investi- gated. Yes, answers Mr. Blake, that is very well, but what if the ministry tied up the hands of the judges, and thwarted en- quiry in fatal directions ? And our answer is this : The com- 1 -i: l.f: i. ' 'III •\\i 400 ■■*'> LIFE OF SIR JOHN A. MACDONALD. mission was held in the light of day ; seats were provided for the reporters ; Mr. Huntington was requested to furnish a list of his witnesses, and invited to come forward and question these as he would ; advertisements were put in the papers calling upon any persons who knew aught of the case to come forward ; a large array of witnesses for and against the ministry was present; they were submitted to the most searching cross- examination by members of both political parties, and ques- tions were asked by the reform side, and answers given, which would not have been tolerated in any court of law, without challenge. In what way, then, pray, Mr. Blake, were the hands of the judges tied ? Whence, pray, reformers of lesser dignity, came the taint on the ermine ? But had the judges been base as Jeffreys himself, the terms of the commission were fatal to par- tiality. Lord Dufferin distinctly, at the beginning, traced out the chart by which the judges were to be guided. " Your duty is not judicial, but inquisitorial," were his instructions ; they were not to pronounce, to condemn, or to «^xculpate, but to collect evidence and report the same to the commons without comment : to the commons that might accept or reject that testimony as it chose. And as instructed, so they did. They furnished the evidence without comment, though they stated, as they had the right to do, that anybody who cared to learn their private opinion, might have it. Many sought that opinion ; it was that there was little in the evidence to corroborate the charges 'preferred by Mr. Huntington. Now it night have been sup- posed that in the interests of pure government, the gentleman who made the grave charges afrainst the administration in his place in the house, would have been found among the host of witnesses called ; but he came not — though he furnished the the names of witnesses to the commission. And it miijht have been supposed that McMullen, who had levied blackmail on Sir Hugh Allan, rifled cabinets, stolen telegrams, and steeped him- self to the lips in dishonour for the sake, also, of pure govern- ment would have come to judgment, but he appeared not ; rUE GOVKHNMKNT AND i^Ili HUGH ALLAN. 401 neither came the Chicago banker, C. M. Smith, whom it had been alleged Sir Hugh Allan had " jfleeced " to buy up the ministry, and seduce the constituencies. These gentlemen re- mained away, and listened from behind the doors to the evi- dence, tossing their caps in glee when any testimony was ad- duced that they believed lent colour to their allegation. But it is sickening work to wade through this page of history, and we pass on. The commission finished its work, and as the 23rd of Octo- ber drew near, the political combatants girded on their swords. Sir Hugh Allan returned from England ; but before the meet- ing of the session had resigned the charter. On the 27th of October the memorable debate began. Mr. Mackenzie made, as he always does, a speech that one who hears is likely to re- member. Mr. Mackenzie is a large dealer in facts, which some may call " dry," but which we designate as " hard ; " and to these he has the faculty of giving a bias which it is frequently impossible to detect. His speech against Sir John and the ministry was perhaps the ablest, in its way, that he has ever delivered. The argument was strong and was poured out like some stinging, dissolving acid. In amendment to the second paragraph of the ministerial speech, he moved : — " And we have to acquaint his excellency that, by their course in reference to the investigation of the charges preferred by Mr. Huntington, in his place in this house, and under the facts disclosed in the evidence laid before us, his excellency's advisers have merited the severe censure of this house." Mr. (now Judge) James Macdonald, of Pictou, followed in a speech of great power, moving as a second amendment : — " And ■•ve desire to assure his excellency, that, after consideration of the statements made in the evidence before us, and while we regret the outlay of money by all political parties at parlia- mentary elections, and desire the most stringent measures to put an end to the practice, v/e at the same time beg leavo to '^fl z 402 LIFE OF SIR JOHN A. MACDONALD. I '^■ f ?■ I! ^ 11 express our continuer' •*' THE GOVERNMENT AND SIR HUGH ALLAN. 40ri was needed, and it was le^ntimately spent, as money is neede:t; hence the charge of impropriety goes to the wall. Perhaps some will suggest " indiscretion " for impropriety. We shall not quarrel with whomsoever does so. One more point remains. Was it proper that the government should scatter all this money through the electorate ? Is not that debauching the public mind? It is, we answer without hesitation, but the sin rests on the shoulders of the system which prevails in every country under responsible, and party government. Sir John simply did as his neighbours, no more, and nothing worse. At every election there are expenses, some light, and some vast, and >*#'■ * 'li ,) ill! .,,■.0 - .•,-*■ ■ i06 LIFE OF SIB JOHN A. MACDONALD. 1: these have to be borne by ministers and their friends. The spectacle may be pitiable, and it is pitiable, but it is true, and is a part of our system as much as the ballot itself. At the last general election, if the newspaper reporter, who at- tends to keyholes, is to be believed. Sir John gathered the manufacturers about him, and levied an election tax. Probab- ly he did ; and his reform friends were not behind him. The reformer as well as the tory, has his " fund " at elec*:ion time, and he does not use it to make the electors purer and more in- dependent. Once, indeed, he did move in this direction, when he levied a large sum to " put down corruption." The only differ- ence between the conservative and his neighbour in this respect is that the latter sometimes goes in debt to bribe and corrupt, as we see by the post-election scandals with which men not over honest now and again regale the public nostril. We need not do more than say in conch; ion, that every judge in the land, every impartial observer wlio has studied the story of the connection between the prime-minister and Sir Hugh, is forced to admit, that, while the accidental relations between the giver and the receiver of the railway charter, assumed, at the first, an aspect strongly suggestive of wrong-doing, that there remains little to prove that the conduct of Sir John, so far as he may be said to have personally profited by the affair, showed aught than fidelity to his public trust, or was other than that of a man of honour. This, too, is the verdict of the people who have repented of their Larsh judgment and taken him back to favour. And it will be the verdict of histor3^ ,i;«:.{.;^i"'«-'-5.*''--y!- ■ CHAPTER XXII. MR. Mackenzie's administhation. SIR JOHN MACDONALD'S attitude on the morrow of these disclosures, and in presence of the ad vers j judgment of the House and the country, was typical of the man. It was the expression of a stalwart courage, which blenched not in face of calumny and opposition, as well as of an unshaken confidence in himself and his government. This attitude he then and always afterwards maintained, des})ite what his enemies had charged him with, and whatever colour had been given to the circumstances brought to light in the relations between the heads of the Administration and Sir Hugh Allan. His speech in defenc of his conduct is full of force and fire. Nor is it lacking in dignity, or in that moral tone, which gave no little effect to his words, of injured innocence. Here is the perora- tion of his address, after insisting that Sir Hugh Allan had contributed of his own volition to the election fund of the party, and that there was nothing in the Pacific Railway char- ter, conceding an undue privilege to that gentleman or to those in alliance with him, that might be construed as a corrupt bargain between the government and the pn jected construc- tion company. " Mr. Speaker," said Sir John Macdonald, " I commit myself, the government commits itself, to the hands of this House, and far beyond the House, it commits itself to the country at large. We have faithfully done our duty. We have fought the battle of Confederation. We have fought the battle of Union. We have had party strife setting i)rovince against province, and, more than all, we have had in the great- est province, the preponderating province of the Dominion, every prejudice and sectional feeling that could be arrayed against us. I have been the victim of that conduct to a great 407 -€ \ I' M ' i Ml' I |j r W} 1 1] 1 ' n wKr 4 ■ ■|^|.:H IbI r p^ mmt 408 LIFE OF SIR JOHN A. MACDONALD. ■■*:• extent ; but I have fought the battle of Confederution, the battle of Union, the battle of the Dominion of Canada. I throw myself upon this House ; I throw myself upon this country ; I throw myself upon posterity ; and I believe I know, that, notwithstanding the many failings in ray life, I shall have the voice of this country and of th' House rallying round ine. And, sir, if I am mistaken in th"' I can confidently appeal to a higher court — to the court of wn conscience, and to the court of posterity. I leave it with tliis House with every confid- ence. I am equal to either fortune. I can see past the deci- sion of this House, either for or against me. I know — and it is no vain boast for me to say so, for even my enemies will admit that I am no boaster — that there does not exist in Canada a man who has given more of his time, more of his heart, more of his means, or more of his intellect and power, such as they may be, for the good of this Dominion of Canada." Vain, how- ever, was this appeal, and finding the struggle a wrestle with the inevitable, Sir John Macdonald, on the morning of the 5th of November, (1873), placed his resignation and that of his Ministry in the hands of the Governor- Ger-ral. Later in the same day, he rose in his place in the House and announced that the Government had resigned, and that His Excellency had called upon Mr. Alexander Mackenzie to form a ministry. Then the great cloud of change rolls in, shutting from our sig the figure upon whom ciir eye so long had rested with admira on and pride ; and a new crew appear upon the deck of the ship of State. Two days after Sir John's resignation, the new premier was able to announce his ministry as follows : — Hon. Alexander Mackenzie Premier and Min.Puh. Works. " A. A. DoRioN ... Minister of Justice. " Albert J. Smith - - Min. Marine and Fisheries. " Luc Letellier de St. Just - Min. of Agriculture. " Richard J. Cartwright - - Min. of Finance. " David Laird .... Min. of the Interior.* * This department had been recently cieated in lieu of that cf secretary of state for the provinces, which, being at once useless and a travesty on the imperial office, wafl abolished. J^ [68. Ice. dLte M-Jf.O> HON. ALEX. MACKENZIE. ''H ■n '^^H )« lllj iff ■» f| •1 f .i a ■si ' 'r 'I ill > I *1 i 1 < 3 1 1 i 1 i, 1 ",f;*'Vt ■(»« 1 .»7r"t,uf^ •:j\''^:',»-«'"«' MB. MACKENZIE'S ADMINISTRATION. 40{> Hon. Isaac Burpee " David Christie " Telesphore Fournier - " Donald A. Macdonald *' Thomas Coffin " William Ross - " Edward Blakb " Richard W. Scott Min. of Customs. Secretary of State. - Min. Inland Rev. - Postmaster-Genera'. - Receiver-General. - Min. Militia and Defence. - {without portfolio), {without portfolio).. Mr. Mackenzie was determined on a thorough cleansing of what the Opposition doubtless deemed the Augean stable, and asked for a dissolution, which was granted. If the reform newspapers were to be relied upon, a large number of members had bought their way to the legislature with Sir Hugh Allan's money ; so by a new election, candidates would have an op- portunity of judicious bribing with purer coin of the realm> There was not a superfluity of brotherly love in the new cabi- net, for Mr. Blake could not hide, or probably did not care to hide, his dislike of Mr. Mackenzie ; while Sir Richard Cart- wright, who looked with no enamoured eye on responsible gov- ernment, was rather out of his element among radical statesmen grown up from the trades. The lack of cordial relations be- tween Mr. Mackenzie and Mr. Blake, then as now, were due, we infer, to the leadership, which passed the latter because he could not bend to negotiation. If Mr. Blake has ever had a political intrigue, which we do not believe, then surely must it have been different from that of other men. We can imagine this singularly icy statesman treading the long winding-stair of a solitary tower, and, having reached the top which looks out into the star-lit night, carrying on an intrigue with his own half-mystical ambition. Never can our imagination picture him courting his colleagues, still less courting the people, for their preferences. On the 2nd of July, the old parliament ceased to exist, and the two parties went to the polls. The reformers had no rigidly- defined policy to propound, their chief mission being to purify the country. They pledged themselves to keep faith with .nt. r. (.1 ,1 I <■ •«' (' 410 LIFE OF 8Ili JOHN A. MACDONALD. 4 Britisli Columbia, but gave warning that they considered the construction of the Pacific Railway within the time specified impossible, and that thty would not bind themselves to that poition of the contract. The other measures in the programme were not of first-rate importance. They included, however, the following useful measures : a readjustment of the fianchise, and the taking of votes by ballot ; a revision of the militia and insolvent laws ; the qualification of members for the legislature; the creation of a Court of Aj peal for the Dominion ; the pro- motion of immigi'ation ; an improvement of the canal system, and the develo[)ment of unoccupied territory. As well might one, standing upon the shore, expect to reason with the ocean, that has been lashed into fury by the storm, as expect Sir John to succeed in getting Canada, disturbed and startled by the alarming scandal which the reformers had unearthed, to listen to reason and give heed to his defence. She stopped her ears and turned away. The reformers swept the country, and Mr. Mackenzie, in the new parliament, found a majority of eighty at his back. We differ from Mr. Mackenzie in our view of many public questions, and have no great admiration for him as a writer, much less as a biographer painting a portrait under the coercion of party prejudice , nevertheless we do not hesi- tate to say that his influence upon the political life of Canada, has been good ; that he was faithful to his trust ; and above all according to his lights, strove lo do his duty. We would like to be able to say that he was a popular administrator ; but we cannot. He was out of sympathy with the spirit of our time ; and the robust judgment of the young country, then at least, was against him. Ca.st-iron theories always hedged him in, and set bounds to his every impulse and plan ; at last they grew so narrow as to become his coffin. A man who follows a doctrine has little of pliancy or compromise, and less of the disposition to be influenced by public opinion. His attitude reminds one of the captain on the lee shore who scorned the advice of his officers, went by the " Navigator's Guide," and put his vessel upon the rocks. But it is only ignorance or pre- judice that would deny to Mr, Mackenzie a place amongst the _■, :;■••'■ "ii\ "w».; ■^' MR. MACKENZIE'S ADMINISTBATION. 411 foremost statesmen of his time. In and out of otiice he ex- hibited a tireless industry in examining and mastering every subject belonging to the public sphere ; and those who have •seen his inner life declare that while ho held power he never lived an idle day. Of his policy of stubborn resistance to the popular will, he certainly was the heir rather than the arbiter ; and if ho ever desired to be free from the yoke of that power which dominated almost every in)portant action of his administration, his escape from the Nemesis that haunted him was made after his opportunity had been lost, and whtu he never again could breathe the breath of confidence into the people. In later years his head rolled on the block to propitiate the policy of his master's making. Nor had the deposed leader any superabundant loyalty for the hand that cut otf his head ; he repaid his lucky rival with a support as frigid as the latter gave to him when he became prime-minister. Too often the community is the measure of the luan, the " village Hampden " seldom attaining to the stature of the giant ; and if our colonial statesmen develop smaller mindedness in the political sphere than do British statesmen, the fault is perhaps rather the country's than their own. This much, however, is certain : From 1846 to 1852, Lord John Russell was prime-minister ot England, with Palmerston as foreign secretary ; but in 18,5.5 the latter became premier, his former leader taking the colonial secretaryship ; and the most amicable relations existed between the two statesmen. In 1835, the Duke of Wellington accepted the foreign secretaryship, under Peel, with cordial loyalty, bend- ing to the wishes of his party ; though the bluff old statesman was not without the opinion that his prowess in the council was only equalled by his skill in campaigns. Biitish history abounds with similar instances, the leader of to-day becoming the subordinate of to-morrow, not regarding the change as a per- sonal injury by the luckier rival, but as one of the fortunes of political war. One of Mr. Mackenzie's faults seems to have been a rather hard and unyielding manner, which he could, perhaps, no more control than if it had been dyspepsia; but many a one who had claims upon his courtesy came out of his ; iii ' I t !! i ; .1 Ik -*..■;» 412 LIFE OF Sin JOHN A. MACDONALD. m^ t. presence more or less adversely influencetl by it. Such slight faults, however, help sonietiines to make up a bill of assassina- tion. But the change ot heads did not make the reform atmos- phere warmer. The party lost a leader whoso blood was cold, and got something colder. When Mr. Mackenzie assembled his forces at the Capital he found office a boisterous sea, where without a skilled hehnsman the vessel of State is sure to find shipwreck. Mr. Mackenzie differed very much from Sir John Macdonald in his mode of administering affairs. He was disposed to promise little, his manner was formal and cold, and, as we have said, he rarely cultivated those little amenities which go far to make a cabi- net minister j)opular. It was an irksome task with him to give a promise which he could not fulfil or to undertake any- thing he thought he could not carry out. It seemed a part of his policy to say very little, but to try and do a great deal. Sir John, on the other hand, had pursued a line of conduct quite the reverse of this. " With him nothing was impossible. He laid his finger on the map of British Columbia one day, and finding that it rested immediately on the spot marked Van- couver Island, he said, let that be the terminus of the Pacific Railway. What weie mountain ranges or seas of mountains to him ? It was an easy matter to promise. It was easy to send a thousand engineers into the field ! It was easv to fill the mountains with theodolites and surveyors' chains ! It suited him for the moment to maLe a promise, and a promise was accordingly made."* Three problems awaited Mr. Mackenzie on entering oflSce, the discontent of British Columbia on the inevitable violation of the compact under which she entered the Union ; the New Brunswick school imbroglia, and the amnesty to Louis Riel, the murderer of Scott. On the 20th of July, 1871, as we have seen, British Columbia entered the Union. She had been in- duced to do so upon the express understanding that a railroad stretching across the breast of the continent and connecting the newl}'^- acquired province with the East would be completed '■Stewart's Canada under the Administration of the Earl of Dufftiin, pp. 353, 3S4. i.,..iW' T";. '•JT •■•-.^^i.r.m^-.'-^:'- pj'Vi' ME. MACKENZfE'ri ADMlNISTRATIOiV. 413 slight ■ssina- tmos- col(J. an- wlthin ten years. Our Canadian statesmon knew little of the difficulties of great railway construction then, and Sir John gave evidence of this, when laying his finger casually upon the map, he said, " Let that be the terminus of the Pacific Railway." Even, it appears, eminent engineers themselves, with whom ministers consulted, were not aware how stupendous the under- taking was. But though the gigantic character of the enter- prise was manifest to Sir John and his colleagues when they were entering the compact, it would be a mistake to suppose that they were likely on such an account to stay the act of com- mitment. They desired the acquisition of British Columbia and knew that once in office, whether they fulfilled their pledge promptly or not, or even not at all, she must remain in her political wedlock. Some of them, however, were induced to seek the construction of the road actuated by a national en- thusiasm.highly inflated. But there was some difference between that jingoism which set itself to building up scientific frontiers and plunging suffering mechanics into revolt ; and in the over- haste of Canadian stateamen, to undertake, though at inest- imable, cost a work which they believed would confer commer- cial greatness upon their country and l:nit the sundered mem- bers into an abiding brotherhood. Ay for the speeches that were made about the possible military advantages of the road, those who write history are not supposed to take any more account of them than of the ignominious out-going of the training-ship Gharybdis.* Let us trust that in future, dis- * This vessel was brought to Oanad* with a great fli)uri8h of trumpet^, and min- isters and their supporters pointed out with enthusiasm in the House of Commons, the generosity of the Imparial Government in miking the donation. One honor- able gentleman, the member for Yam islca, said : " This gift that the country accepts with the greatest gratitude is destined to supply a want long felt in the organization of the forces of the country. • ♦ * Nevertheless we are wanting in marines. Tliis training-ship is calculated to create this new calling, and our young men will be able to defend the country on the high seas with as much ftkill and valor as on the land." But when the people saw the unsi^'htly old hulk mak- ing her way into the harbour of St. John they set up a laugh, nor did the mockery or the banter cease till the government which had made such an ado about lier coming were obliged to send the pojrfy old coucern back again. In 1883 Mr. Blake poked a good deal of fun at the ministry aud at inflationists of the type of the Yamaska member. Beferring to all that the \ onderf ul ship was to do for us, he 7 / Si M ,i ■.t.M-.i, :.,. .,.v.^- 414 LIFE OF SIR JOHN J MAC DONALD. cussions on those affairs wliicli are purely commercial or political, we havo heard the last of "military considerations." Three years havin;^ elapsed and the first sod of the road beiny yet unturned, British Columbia, trembling for the fate ol' the couipact, began to importune the government. Accord- ing to terms, w '»rk should have been commenced within two years, but that date \nu\ elapsed by nearly a year. Some de- clared that Uritish Columbia acted with " indecent haste " in pressing on progress in the work before means lor the fulfil- ment of the same were obtained, before methods of operation were known, and before the route itself had been determined. But with these things the people in the distant province had nothing whatever to do. The Dominion Government solemnly un- dertook to perform a part: it was the affair then of that Govern- ment to achieve it. The people were clamorous and unappeas- able. Hundreds of shop-keepers, trades-people and others, had been looking forward to the influx of construction money, and had turned their attention away from other affairs. Many of them, indeed, had made direct and heavj' outlays in prepara- tion for the anticipated increase in trade. To make matters worse, just about this time Mr. Mackenzie went to Sarnia and there made a long, and, as wo conceive, a foolishly frank speech concerning the Pacific Railway. He condeumed, and very justly condemned, the act of his predecessors in tying the country up to the completion of so stupendous an enterprise in a period so short, but declared that while the government would honor- ably carry out every portion of the compact that was practic- able, it would not bind itself to finish the work in ten years, or in any specified number of years. Listening through a long season for the click of the pick-axe, and failing to hear it, it was no wonder that the British Columbians took the alarm when they received these tidings from the lips of the premier. The complaints from the people were so loud, and the solicitations of asked in answering the speech iu reply to the address : " But where is she now ? Why, sir, you cannot find her even in the speech from the Throne. If no one else will, let me be permitted to pay my respects to the departed Charpbdis." The whole affair of this old war-ship was very ridiculous from beginning to end ; the action of setting her up as a training-ship was only worthy of a lot of school boys. i' I MK. MACKENZIE' i^ ADMTNlf^TllATlON. 415 the provincial ministry so persistent, that Mr. ^lackenzio at last resolved to send a plenipotentiary, in the person of Mr. James D. Edgar, to propose terms for a new arranijement between the respective governments, and to ascertain the general condition of the people of the then little-known colony. On the 9th of Mareli, 1874, the Dominion agent reached British Columbia. lie was promptly called upon by Mr. Walkem, the Premier, to whom he made known his mission and exhibited his credentials. The Colonial Premier did not seem to have any hesitation at this point in accepting Mr. Edgar as the properly accredited agent, and, regarding him in the latter light, intro- duced him to his colleagues. Mr. Edgar was not long in the country before he found that a considerable number of tho persons who made the most grievous outcry were those who had no roots in the soil ; that swarms of adventurers and speculators, counting upon the extraordinary circulation of mone}'', had come in and, so to speak, pitched their tents in order to gather w^hile the harvest was going on. Land-grabbers had gone along the proposed line of road, and for small amounts purchased extensive tracts of land, which they believed would bring enormous gains when the trains ran through them. Mr. Edgar had gone across armed with authority to propose a definite scheme for building the road, but his foot was no sooner in the province than he found the determination upon every face to have what was guaranteed by the Union or nothing at all. The 'ogislation had another year to run, and a week before his arrival it passed this re.-olution : " That in view of the importance of the Railway Clause of th ; terms of Union between Canada and British Columbia, being faith- fully carried out by Canada, this House is of o])inion that no alteration in the said clause -hould be permitted by the Gov- ernment of this Province until the same has been submitted to the people for endorsation." This resolution was in itself a bar to progress in the negotiations which Mr. Edgar came to press. The agent met the Provincial Cabinet several times, and the difficulty was discussed in all its bearings. Mr. Edgar pointed out that the obstacles to construction were titanic ; ,'-U !* \ *J3!- 416 LIFE OF 8Ili JOHN A. MACDONALD. im^' that engineers had only the most imperfect idea of the difficul- ties, but that with such knr vledge as thoy possessed they declared that the time remaining? was utterly inadecjuate, with the expenditure of anythinin; like rational annual sums, for the completion of the work. The Canadian Government was pro- pared, he informed them, to bind itself to a scheme which would guarantee a railway at once from Esqnimault to Nana- imo, which road would be vigorously pushed and finished as expeditiously as possible; to make surveys on the mainland and begin them immediately , and he pointed out that to this end a generous grant had been made, and that a large staff of engineers was already under orders. He further showed that while it was impossible for Government to begin the construc- tion of the railroad proper before surveys had been finished and the line laid out, that a post-road would at once be opened up, and telegraph lines be carried across the continent. The ministry further bound itself to expend the minimum sum of a million and a half dollars each year in the Province, after the surveys had been completed, till the termination of the work. Shortly alter the above conditions were submitted to the Provincial Government, on behalf of the Canadian Ministry, Mr. Edgar received a letter from Mr. Walkem, setting forth that the Provincial Government '^'d not recognize in him an A Tent-generai of the Dominion, but merely a person invested 'vith powers to discuss the question under dispute ; and he demar'led the official authority that conferred any higher function before entering into negotiations of so grave a character. Mr. Edgar sent a dispatch to the Government representing the turn affairs had taken, and asking for a confirmation of authority ; but for eight days Mr. Mackenzie kept silent, after which Lieutenant-Governor Trutch received the following dis- patch : " I refer ministry to my letter by Mr. Edgar, which sufficiently indicatefl his mission, and which they recognized. He is now recalled, and I aw at his return and report." This was exactly in Mr. M ackenzie's manner. It is not certain that Mr. Walkem would have agreed to the proposal ; but it is quite A3ertain that the undiplomatic and possibly evasive Premier t:\ C^b.■■•'": « MH. MACKENZIKS ADMIXISTPATWN. 417 (lid not give him an opportunity of tloiny so. The anxiety of the Local Government was natural enouj^h ; they wei'o asked to release the (^'anadian (Government from a contract that was the core of the conditions of Union ; and they wished to know if this gentleman with whom they had been holding converse was a mere reporter or go-between for the Oovern- ment, or a ])eison acting by a code of instructions, whoso doings would be binding upon those who sent him. At any rate, it was not excellent statesmanship to waste so much time over a lot of useless negotiation, ami when the only part of the whole proceeding that was of any conse([uence was reached, to suddenly get huffed and break off the negotiations. The Province was now left to make some move for it-elf. Accordingly it was decided to send Mr. Walkem to England to argue the case before the Secretary of Suite for the Ojlonies. His Lordship (the Eirl of Carnarvon) was loth to interfere officially in what he regarded as a doni3stic dispute, but con- sented to act as arbitrator between both parties. This proposition was readily and cheerfully accepted, and the (Canadian Govern- ment made the following proposals : (1.) To commence at once, and finish as soon as possible, a railway from Esquimault to Nanaimo. (2.) To spare no expense in settling as speedily as possible the line to be taken by the railway on the mainland. (3.) To make at once a waggon road and line of telegraph along the whole length of the railway in British Columbia, and to continue the telegraph across the continent. (4.) The moment the surveys and roads on the mainland are completed, to spend a minimum amount of 81. 500,000 annually upon the construction of the railway within the Province. Taking up each point seriatim the British Cjlumbians re- plied: (1.) That nothing is being done by the Dominion Govern- ment towards commencing and pushing on a railway from Esquimault to Nanaimo. (2.) That the surveying parties in the mainland are numer- ically very weak ; and that there is no expectation in British AA 'II ■ill > \ ' i i : I ' 1 ; ' (■ 1 m^ ■ * M'^ > \. r ■»>■ ■ ■/I' -■•'. '^f '/'■■i>^''y^' "'■■A". .■;«.!ii;-,. 418 ilJ'j; Oi?' SIB JOHN A. MACDONALD. Columbia, or guarantee given on the part of the Dominion, that the surveys will be proceeded with speedily. (3.) That the people of British Columbia do not desire the waggon road offered by the Dominion Government, as it would be uselc}.«s to them ; and that even the telegraph pro- posed to be constructed along the line of the railway cannot be made until the route to be taken by th(i railway is settled. (4.) That " the moment the surveys are -completed," is not only an altogether uncertain but, at the present rate of pro- ceeding, a very remote period of time, and that an expenditure of $1,500,000 a year on the railway within the Province will not carry the line to the boundary of British Columbia before a very distant date. The Earl recommended : "(1.) That the section of the railway from Esquimault to Nanairao should be begun at once. " (2.) That the Dominion Government should greatly increase the strength of the surveying parties on the mainland, and that they should undertake to expend on the surveys, if necessary, for the speedy completion of the work, if not an equal share to that which they would expend on the railway itself, if it were in actual course of construction, at all events some definite minimum amount. " (3.) Inasmuch as the proposed waggon road does not seem to be desired by British Columbia, the Canadian G-overnment and Parliament may be fairly relieved of the expense and labour involved in their offer ; and desirable, as in my opinion, the construction of the telegraph across the continent will be, it peniaps is a question whether it may not be postponed till the line to be taken by the railway is definitely settled. " (4.) The offer made by the Dominion Government to spend a minimum amount of $1,-500,000 annually on the railway within British Columbia., as soon as the surveys and waggon road are completed, a))pears to me to be hardly as definite as the large interests involved on both sides seem to require. 1 think that some short and fixed time should bo assiofned with- in which the surveys should be completed j failing which, some U:^.„;>* Mil MACKENZI'SH ADMINISTRATION. 419 compensation should become duo to British Columbia for the delay." . After a little diplomatic wrangling, the " Carnarvon terms " were laid before the Dominion Government, which provided (1) that the railway from Esquiinault to Nanaimo, on Van- couver Island, should be begun and finished with all des- patch ; (2) that the surveys on the mainland should be pushed on with all possible vigour; (3) that the waggon road and telegraph line should be immediately constructed ; (4) that $2,O0O,OOJ yearly, not $1,500,000, should be the sum expended on construction, and (5) that on or before the 31st of JJecem- b6r, 1890, the road should be open for trattio from the Pacific seaboard to a point on the western end of Lake Superior. Thus was the matter settled for the time ; but, during the following session, dissatisfaction once more broke out in British Columbia and its people began to threaten secession. It now only remained for the Dominion authorities to devise the methods by which the road was to be constructed — whether by the Government itself or by private caiiital. It is certain that each member of the Government took the gloomiest view of the situation, and many of its number held the conviction that when the line was constructed it must create a deficit, each year, of two or three millions in travelling expenses. Various acts of legislation were introduced to carry the " Carnarvon terms " into effect ; but these were either opposed or miscarried, and it was left to a succeeding ministry to remove the railroad from the arena of Parliamentary debate and set it down on the prairie and the mountain. The history of the New Brunswick school ditlioulty has been elsewhere dealt with in these pages, as has also the lurid story of Riel. We cannot, in the space now remaining to us, follow Mr. Mackenzie through every detail of his administration, but must content ourselves with a hasty glance at his most impor- tant work. During the year 1870, the United States demanded of Great Britain the extradition of certain fuijitives from justice, under the terms of the tenth clause of the Ashburton 'M iA-.:-i^ m i\ y.\ % ' .ji / ,-. „ ■■'■ v. • ;■* ^'. «;;,/-,.•• "--:.■,"?,■?.■{■ 420 LIFE OF SIR JOHN A. MACDONALD. f^' treaty, lut the English Government refused to grant the request, unless upon tho condition that the offenders should not be tried for any offence other than that for which their surrender had been demanded. To this reasonable stipulation the United States Government would not afjree, and the operation of tiie clause named was for the time suspended. Canadian criminals ffed across the boundary, finding protection under the American flag, and forgers, murderers and escaped convicts came trooping from the republic into our cities, vvhere they laughed at the laws they had outraged. Such a state of affairs, though happily altered now, was, of course, intolerable; but the British Government receded from its position and the suspended clause assumed its former virtue. A joint extradi- tion act has since been agreed to by the Governments of the United States and Canada, and the .scandal has now ceased to outrage morality. In 1874i the lyeneral election law providing for vote by ballot, simultaneous elections and the abolition of property qualifications for members was passed. In 1875 was established the Supreme Court of Canada, having civil and criminal jurisdiction throughout the Dominion, and taking away — though only in name — the right of appeal to England, except where imperial 'interests were involved; in the same session were passed the Canada temperance, the homestead exemption, the petition of right, the militia, the maritime court and the public accounts audit acts. By the latter it was provided that the auditor-general should, in a sense, be a detective, his functions being to keep his eyes open for ministerial dishonesty ; and his office was put beyond cabinet control. As the assumption of the act was that governments are given to steal, and that auditors are not incorruptible, persons as suspicious as the fraraers of the measure must be in a state of perpetual alarm, lest dishonest ministers may some day league themselves with the temptable auditor for the purpose of plunder. Besides these important measures, it is to the credit of Mr. Mackenzie that he has left to us, though in leges non scriptde, a wider range of constitu- tional privilege. The authorities of the colonial office, during MR. MACKENZIE'S ADMINISTRATION. 421 the early years of Lord Dufferin's regime, had through the usual plural pronoun of the first estate, issued these instruc- tions to the Governor-General. " T ' in any case, you see sufficient cause to dissent from the opinion of the major part, or the whole of our privy council for our Dominion, it shall be competent for you to exercise the powers and authorities vested in you by our commission, and by these our instruc- tions, in 02)positlon to such their opinion." These, of course, ai3 the words of a scribe, and the sentiments of a sovereign, innocent of the trend of modern history, and of the nature of Canadian spirit. Mr. Mackenzie, to his credit be it said, challenged this dictum of Downing-street, that opened corres- pondence with the colonial office, and contended that the Governor-General, his council and the parliament of Canada, should bear the same relation to the people of the Dominion, with regard to all acts of domestic policy, as the Queen, her privy council, and the imperial parliament bear to Great Britain. To this firm contention, the home oflice, after some resistance, with a complacent shrug, at last consented. A good deal has been written by light writers and by heavy writers, concerning the functions of a Governor-General, or his lieutenant, under responsible government; and we have long seen " Constitutional heirophants " picking their feeble way through a waste of constitutional tomes by the light of a» tallow ^lip. Some assert that the duty of the Governor-General is now merely to sign documents ; while others maintain that he ia the agent of the state that appoints him, and holds in his hand a power greater than the people. With the latter view, we may say, we are in accord. To talk of the supremacy of the people in a subordinate state, is to utter a paradox, even thoufifh the sh-idow of foreii^n domination feU across our coun- try but once in a generation. Prtictically (though there is at least one important exception) we do now govern ourselves ; but we sometimes forget that we do so only by courtasy, though no doubt courtesy is not likely at this late day to be exchanged for anything bearing a harder name. The type of a perfect legislative and governing system is the municipal i 'I \ \' ■'*• it ? 422 -•■":^;-^'*,v^/ XJF^ Oi*' ^Y/2 JOHN A. MACDONALD. institution. The warden (or reeve, as he is sometimes called), is not himself the authority, but the executor of the council's will ; the receptacle wherein resides the authority of the assem- blage. Authority is indivisible, and is rfsident only in unit}''; and in the municipal institution is beg' tten of the council — which is an embodiment of the people's will — and is expressed through the pei'son presiding. The warden has no power save that which he derives from those over whom he presides ; but he is at once the executor and the representative of the will of that body. This is, then, the true type of government by the people. In the Canadian cabinet, the authority of ministers is resident in, and admini.stered by, the president of the council ; but that authority is paraded before the nominal authority of the foreign power, as vested in the agent of the latter, and may be accepted or set aside. In our Provincial Governments the case is tlie same in form, though differing greatly in nature, the Canadian ministry filling in a large degree the place of the foreign power with respect to the higher cabinet. Our frienda in the republic glory in sounding upon their trumpets that they have government by the people ; but in the veto, which is an assumption that one man is wiser than many millions^ there is more than the phantom of a king. The Governor-Gen- eral may be a " wooden horse," but like that of the Greeks before Ihe gates of Troy, he has within him a power though now fallen into desuetude. We have been fortunate in the mild sway of such agents as the Dufferins and the Lornes, and the Lansdownes; but we may get another Metcalf before we are all gray, and then we shall probably have — Independence. In 1877, it became known to Mr. Mackenzie that the 'mpe- rial Government were about appointing, as the Canadian repre- sentative at the Halifax fishery commission, an English diplo- matist. The Premier at once offered a firm protest, and main- tained that it would be impolitic if the Dominion were to be without a local representative in view of the magnitude of her interests at stake. The Imperial Government, however, did not consider that we were entitled to a domestic commissioner, contending, among themselves, that it was an affair of the em- MB. MACKENZIE'S ADMINISTRATION. 423 0. I s pire — though the interests of Canada alone were at stake. Yielding, however, to the uncompromising attitude of Mr. Mac- kenzie and the ministry, and "to satisfy the colonists,' Sir A. T. Gait was nominated. In addition to the higher grounds of manhood, equality and liberty, which make the scheme of Ca- nadian Independence so dear to all those who dislike the idea of continuing to be subjects of a distinct European state when they may be citizens of their own, are several questions bear- ing upon the trade and welfare of our people, by which we suffer from being held in leading-strings. It is surely more than an imaginary grievance that we are not permitted to make our own commercial treaties, but must be content to accept the agreements entr ^ into on our behalf by the distant and old world governmenc. In a speech of uncommon power, during the session of 1882, Mr. Blake contended that the right of making Canadian treaties should be vested in the Dominion gov- ernment. Some time afterwards, certain writers in the news- papers declared that Mr. Blak^ was a staunch friend of Can- adian Independence ; whereupon, at a public gathering in Montreal a few months later, he repudiated his utterances at the late session of parliament, by declaring that we now, prac- tically, had self-government in Canada. Where Mr. Blake now stands on national questions, we are not any the more clear since his recent utterance on the morrow succeeding the last general election. In that manifesto he certainly does not stand where he stood at Aurora, though, it is true, time has marched on with the country since then. Mr. Blake's great speeches, unfortunately, but too often resemble railway tiains running in different directions, eventually meeting in disastrous col- lision. After the defeat of Sir John at the polls, the conservative party were crestfallen, and were many dreary weeks before they had spirit to raise their heads. Two or three members at a caucus, which at last made a desperate effort for life and organization, were of the opinion that Sir John had seen his time and done his work ; but such counsel only stirred the deap-seated loyalty of the party to the chief who had led them so often to victory, -% ; I rll '^i:l'l:il ;il| '• '1. "•'"';•' ■'■■'};"■'+,:- ''.■*;'fV'*"'' 424 LIFE OF Sin JOHN A. MAGDONALD. W'% ' ' to a new activity. Once again the well-beloved leader sat at the head of his erstwhile scattered followers, and bejjan to whisper in their ear words of hope. He had been studying the political situation, and saw that decay had laid its hand upon the ruling party. The country had fallen into a state of com- mercial atrophy, and year after year, during the administra- tion of Mr. Mackenzie, saw the situation grow worse. Enter- prise was without heart, capital shrank timidly away, and con- fidence had fairly gone out of the country. Each session of parliament showed a large deficiency in receipts in comparison with the expenditure. For some time previous to 1874, the cus- toms duties on unenumerated imports had been 15 per cent., but in the session of the last-named year, to meet the threatened de- ficit, Mr. (now Sir) R. J. Cartwright, minister of finance, intro- duced a measure providing for an increase to 17i per cent. Mr. Cartwright, like all other statesmen, had no hesitation in ad- mitting that taxation was bad ; but he preferred taxation, pure and simple, to taxation with a saving clause. His increase felt into the gaping jaws of deficit, which still hungered for more. Year after year the balance was on the wrong side of the book, till at last trade was languishing so low that it would have died had that been possible ; commercial houses and financial insti- tutions which had been regarded firm as the hills came toppling down ; our people were fleeing the country in thousands look- ing for work, while the solicitations of the idle for employment and of the hungry for bread, were heard in every Canadian city. The government cannot manipulate the State as it manages a department; nevertheless crises do sometimes arise, when a ju- dicious touch of the hand may give a new direction and a life to motionless commercial forces. The people, whether unrea- sonably or not, believed that it lay within the power of legisla- tion to better their condition, and they waited upon Mr. Cart- wright in hundreds, telling their woes and asking his help. But that statesman assured them that in such an emergency as this, and face to face with these problems of trade, govern- ment was only a fly on the wheel ; and, turning gloomily away, the sufferers heard it wliispered abroad that the cure the fin- l..,..*^ :j^ Mli. MACKENZIE'S ADMINISTRATION. 425 ance minister had for this deplorable state of things was direct taxation. " Our opportunity has come," said Sir John, Macdonald to his colleagues, at a caucus held about this time ; " want has over- come the prejudice ot a theory, and we will propound a policy that will better this woful state of affairs and carry us back to office." From that day forth the conservative chief began to organize and marshal his forces, to " get his hand u[)on the pulse of the country," and to breathe into his own followers the same hope and ardour that filled himself. Sir Richard Cart- wright jeered at the " new-fangled doctrines," and his chief losing a momentary restraint npon his vernacular, affirmed in broad Scotch, " that the scheme was the corn laws again with a new face." The question presented to the ministry was one between commercial misery and a favoured theory, " but, in deference to the formula, they chose to be stiff-necked, and kicked complaining industry into the camp of their opponents."* In the House of Commons on the 10th of March, 187G, Sir John boldly laid down the broad *' national jiolicy " of his party, in a speech of much vigour and point. His contention was that there should be a thorouofh reorjj.inization of the tariff, which ought to be constructed in such a manner that it would, while producing sufficient revenue for the current ex- penses of the country, also afford a stimulus and a protection to home industry, entice capital to the country, and keep our own artisans at home at the employment which must arise under the fostering legislation. Once again the cry went abroad, and at this time at the dictation of the conservative chief, " Canada for the Canadians ! " The heralds appeared through the country giving the shibboleth a liberal translation, assuring the clamorous workmen it meant that when they came to the Liberal Conservative ministry for bread, they would not be offered a stone in the form of direct taxation ; that henceforth our raw matei'ial would not be sent out of the country to give employment to the artisans of foreign cities ; and that no longer would the American "drummer " be found * Prof. Goldwin Smith, in The Bystander. \ * 426 LIFE OF SIR JOHN A. MACDONALD. soiling his goods upon the threshold of our crumbling and idle factories. On the 17th of September, 1878, the two parties appeared at the polls. Sir Richard Cartvvright and the ministry bound neck and heel to their idol ; Sir John with the light of hope in his eye, and "Canada for the Canadians" upon his lips. The change which he predicted had come. It swept the coun- try in a whirlwind, and the ministry fell, and their god fell with them : '* Like the leaves of the forest when the summer is green, That host with their banners at sunset were seen ; Like the leaves of the forest wlien autumn hath blown. That host on the morrow lay withered and strown. " CHAPTER XXTII. SIR JOHN RKDIDIVUtt. THE defeat of the Mackenzie administration, thoiipfli sVnal and unmistakable, was, it must honestly be said, no dis- credit to its chief. He and his government liad fallen upon evil times, and the times were not bettered by stubborn adherence to an inflexible, though well-moaning policy. Up to almost the end, it was even doubtful whether Mr. Mac- kenzie and his cabinet realized the true state of public opinion. It is the fashion ti call public opinion fickle, but, on that as on many other similar occasions, there was justification for the fickleness, in the desire for a change in the fiscal policy of the country, and this we say without endorsing the policy substituted for it, or deeming it, then or now, in the best and lastinjx interest of the Dominion. In the meantiuie a chance was sought ; only by a change, seemingly, in the administration could the country rally from its night of depression. So off rolled the clouds again which had temporarily obscured the hero of our story and we find him once more at the helm of affairs, potent still for great endeavour and full of resource in leading the van of national enterprise. In coming again to the front, Sir John Macdonald had his usual good luck, a luck which has followed him throughout life, and which, since 187S, the period we have now reached, has been many times exemplified. "The repeated return of Sii- John Macdonald to power," said a writer, the other day, when the great Chiettain had closed forever his career, " is little short of miraculous. It has few parallels in history. It is, in reality, as creditable to the people as to the Minister, and this may be said without any reference to the peculiar measures which he carried." 427 ;mi ■'i^a *ii •,"K'V- 428 LIFF OF SIR JOHN A. MACDONALIK After the verdict of the polls .r. Ma(;keii/. did not wait till the assembling of rarliament, but, with the demeanaur of an honest man, who had tried to do his duty, lie and his cabinet lelimjuished office. On the 10th of October, 1878, the out- going mir.xstry tendered Lord Dufferin their resignations, and His Excellency then cPvlled in Sir John Macdonald to form an administration. The new cabinet was as follows :— : The lliCriiT Hon. Siii John A. Macdonald - Premier and Minister of Ike Interior. Mill, of Finance. - Min. of Public Works, lieceiver- General. Postmaster- General. Secretary of State. Ml)h. of Aijricultiire. - Min. of Justice. Min. of Customs Min. Marine and FisheHes. - Min. Inland Revenue. - Min. Militia and Defence. Pres. of Council. Hon. S. L. Tillky " Crauli!:s Tipper - " Alexandi u Campbell " H. L. Langevin " J. C. AlKlNS " J. H. Poim: " Jam IK iMacdonalm " Mackknzi!-: Bow ell «' J. C. Popl: - " L. F. (}. Bauy - " L. F. R. Masson - " John O'Connor " K,. D. WiLMOT - Speaker of Senate {without i^ortfolio). There was now universal rejoicing from end to end of Tory- dom. It is hardly an exaggeration to say that about one fifth of the adult male Conservatives in the country effected an oihce of some kind, and that ninety per cent, of the remainder anticipated profit of some pecuniary sort by the change ; in addition to this, there was unbounded faith in the promises made on the hustings that the clouds of depression would roll away and the sun of prosperity shine. There was some fear expressed even in Conservative quarters that the new ministers were about to introduce the pernicious American system of ro- tation of office ; for it was well known that almost immediately after the new party came into power several efficient officers were removed on no presuiiiable grounds save that they were loyal to their political convictions, and were not afraid to give y~^^'' ^T ' 3 « s i." alling the threats, of these masters of bis fate. A certain member is entrenched in a riding or county, and, an election drawing near, it is decided to rout him. A clique is formed which at once finds a candidate. The first duty of the candidate is to begin to promise. There is nothing within the range of ordinary necessity that he does not pledge himself to obtain for his people ; he is nearly always certain to have made up his mind to get a railway for them as their claims are " excep- tional," and would long ago have been granted liad the man representing them now been " any good,' "on the right side," or something of that sort ; he never can see any possible bar that could arise to his obtaining a breakwater, a canal, a special telegraph line, or it may be a meteorological station or a military training school. If, as we have said, the community be very small his word is always pledged to turn out every politically obnoxious official. These pledges, given in haste, he soon finds to be plagues lodged in his bosom to prick and sting him. Installed in his seat, he forgets much that he said in the turmoil of the election ; but the little clique that holds its meeting in the bar-room, that chews its tobacco or drives fast horses does not forget ; — and if he hearken not to their demands he must expect to have his back broken across the wheel and to see another man take his place. Finding himself at the head of a large, able and loyal follow- ing the light of other days seemed to shine in the Premier's eye, and many declared when they saw him walking" about the corridor saying a friendly word to this member, and laying his hand upon the shoulder of the other, that the old elasticity had returned to his step. His position certainly was one of which anyone miglit be proud. It was in public life in the V k 41 ; Hiii ¥ I.: 430 LIFE OF en tha sittinj^s of Parliament, must, he con- tended, portain to him after Parliament was dissolved and until the assemblin"'*<',. '/">" ■",•;. ■;;)P*;' '■'",;'<■*■,'"'.;;. r*3;j'*'i;>'^-v'' "i^.V- 432 ilFi; OJ' SIB JOHN A. MACDONALD. when the House came to deal with the subject the amend- ments would certainly not be in the direction of confirming Mr. Anglin's views. It certainly seems strange how a person of the ex-Speaker's acknowledged abilities should have calmly, and after proper consideration, adhered to the view which he propounded in the lloupe. We, ourselves, favour the view expressed elsewhere on the subject* : " The Speaker is the president and executive officer of the House, and certain authority is conferred upon him by virtue of his office. But it is only as a member of Parliament that he has these powers ; when the body from which his jurisdiction emanates is dissolved, then his functions cease. For him to affirm that his authority remained after the decease of Parliament, a portion of whose machinery he was, seems like the human ha .d assuming vitality and. direction after the rest of the bod} is dea 'LLu#i*'^ SIR JOHN REDIDIVUS. 4:33 It was during this Session that a conclusion was reached in the famous " Lctellier 'Case." In 1876, M. Luc Letellier de St. Just, a Senator of the Dominion, and a member of Mr. Mac- kenzie's Administration, was appointed Lieutenant-Governor of the Province of Quebec. M. Letellier was a muscular and zealous partisan, and it was too much to hope that his appoint- ment would make him «a convert to neutrality. He came into the council cliamber of his advisers as comes an emissary from the camp of an implacable foe. The .'eatler of the Gov- ernment was M. De Boucherville, a gentleman of very little force of character, and evidently little tact ; but the real di- rection was given to affairs by M. Angers, who sat in the legislative council. Both of these gentlemen disliked and mistrusted the new governor; they saw in him, thrust into their councils by opponents, among whom he was a leader and a favourite, an arch-enemy. The Governor regarded his ad- visers as a band of political opponents, conspiring to carry out the ends of their party alone. Neither side, probably, was wrong in its estimate. " From the first, there was a sefnblance of harmony between M. Letellier and the Cabinet, and a genu- ine cordiality between himself and some of its members. But after a time the conviction forced itself upon the Governor that his advisers were treating him as a mere figure-head, a something that had a voice but not a head, a ' yes,' but not a * no.' This was, perhaps, also an extreme view, though it was in a great measure justified by the attitude of the Council. nor any supremely great causes, but we have cases that sometimesliHuggest com- parison with things conveyinj,' hig)ier morals. While Mr. Alexander Mackenzie was in office there were not wanting many to bear testimony to his honesty, his prudence, his clear insight and capacity for administration ; but the sun had not gone dc vn after it was known that he had been defeated before the same men came to utter maledictions, and to lay at his door responsibility, for the disaster to their cause. Then the disaffected ones began to plot the overthrow of their leader, and they cast about for a man to take his j)lace. At this time Mr. Edward Blake was not a member of Parliament, but in October, 1879, he was elected for Durham, whereupon Several Reform politicians waited upon him, and made known their desire that he should assume the leadership of tiie party. It is not. necessary to record hr-re, if it were worth while, that Mr. Blake either offered opposition or felt exalted by the oiler ; 1 e had for years shown a well-bred and politic dislike of Mr. Matkeiizie, and felt convinced that the leadership belonged to himself. Various BB i J' f! I: 1 1^— p—i^p ■i| f: ,-,lUJ_--I. .. , IIIJ L^>HBB^SamiBHi 434 LJf'i? C'/?' »STJv' JOHN A. MACDONALD. It had been whispered abroad that M. Letellier did not see things as MM. de Boucherville and Angers saw them, but this was declared to be a matter of little moment, as the Governor was a mere Ministerial tool who was not to do what he wished, but what he was told." On the other hand, the Governor believed that his function was one of su.rveiUance rather than of consultation ; that his chief duty was to watch his advisers and resist their acts, rather than be guided by their counsels. But he forgot that they were responsible to the people, not to him, for their misdeeds ; perhaps he was ignorant of this responsibility but deemed their inten- tions and their policy dishonest, and such as the Province would not have sanctioned could it see the inward motives of the ministry's policy. However, it was the rupture that from the first was inevitable that soon came. An announcement in tlie Provincial Gazette, over the name of His Honour, where- as His Honour had, up to tiie time of publication, never so much as heard of the notification. " If they put my name to this announcement without my cognizance," thought the Governor, •'presently they will in like manner commit me to something of graver moment." In addition to this " slight " to His Honour's prerogative, a Bill providing for the levy of new taxes had been proposed to the Legislature without having been submitted to him. On the strength of these acts of dis- regard foi the prerogative and rights of the Crown, and an implied kck of confidence in the prudence, capacity and probity rumours werej^float during' the early part of the session, resjiecting the alleged ill- feeling and rivalry between Messrs. Mackenzie and Blake, and for many weeks it was undei'stood that the former gentlemar< would not renign tho mantle, unless compelled to do so by a vote of the majority of his supporters. The followers of Mr. Blake, it wri ascertained, suggested that a caucus of Liberals should be held and the ()ue.«tion squarely submitted ; but Mr. Mackenzie's admu-ers saw in this humiliation for their leader, and, it is said, advised resignation. It is by no means certain that,, had the recalcitrant Reformers been le->s obtrusive in de- manding the leadership for Mr. Blake, Mr. Mackenzie, somewhat broken in spirit by defeat, and shattered in health by a too clo^se attention to the duties of a double department, would not have thrown off the galling harness. It is certain, how- ever, that the most delicate methods to effect the removal were not adopted, and that the ex-Premier folt the act more bitterly than his defeat at the pol's, or any other i;ros8 in his public career. On the 27th of April, looking very calm, and ill! V SIR JOHN liELIoIVUS. 436 of his advisers, M. Lctollier dismissed the Cabinet. The note of dismissal is about one of the most curious pieces of state- craft literature enshrined in constitutional history. The fol- lowing are the concluding words of the note : " For all these causes the Lieutenant-Governor cannot conclude this memo- landum without expressing to the Premier the regret he feels at being no longer able to continue to retain him in his posi- tion, contrary to the rights and itrerogatives of tlie Crown." Here it will be seen that the peg for hanging the dismissal upon is a violation of " the rights and pren;g!itives of the Crown," yet His Honour had already with his own hand writ- ten an absolvement of the Ministry from that chaige in these words : " There was no intention on the part of the Premier to disregard the prerogatives of the Crown" And further: " It was only an error in good faith.'' Piobably affairs were in a bad way in the Province of Quebec at that time — doubt- less they were ; it is beyond question that the Ministry were resorting to all sorts of questionable means to raise revenue and for rard their own interests ; it may even be made abun- dantly plain that M. Letellier had just and sufficient grounds lor dismissing his advi,sers, but most assuredly he fails to spt down in his memorandum valid reasons for his action. The coup d'etat iilunged the Province into a scene of the wildest confusion. M. Jol}', an upright and clear-headed man, was called upon to form an Administration. This accoinplishetb there was an appeal to the people, which resulted iu a baie majority for the newly-chosen leader. f- bowing no trace of the humilialion that must have been burning vvithia him, he rose from his place, and simply said . " I desire to ^ay a word or two with re;_'aid to ray personal relations to the House. I j'enterday determined to withdraw from the position as leader of the Opposition, and from this time f'irth I will speak and act for no i)erson but niy>elf." With charao^eiistic .^enerci-ity, Sir John Macdonald promptly auKse and replied : "Of course we, o.i this side of the House have nothing to say to such a decision ; but I can say that I hope the honor- able gentieman who takes the place of the honorable member for Ijainbton and his party, will display the same ability, earnestness and zeal for what he thinks ami believes to be f(jr the good of the country, as have been displayed l)y my honorable friend who has just taken his seat." Two days Inter, a caucus of J^eform mend.ters was held, and Mr. Blake was chosen leader. Cu the 7th of M ly, Parliament was prorogued by the Manpiis o: Lome.—" Canada under the Adiiiinistra'ion of Lcrd J-orne.^' ! i- i I. ¥ tBJMWi««uaH||'Mt'> l!J ;. - 43G LIFE OF SIR JOHN A. MACDONALD. On the 11th of April, the (juestion came up in the House of Commons, on a motion by Sir Jolm Macdonald, in amendment to the motion for Committee of Supply, "That Mr. Speaker do not now leave the Chair, but that it be resolved that the recent dismissal by the Lieutenant-Governor of Quebec of his Ministers was, under the circumfj lances, unwise and subversive of the position accorded to the advisers of the Crown since the concession of the principle of Responsible Government to the British North American Colonies" Sir John supported this motion in a speech of three hours, in which he dealt with the subject mainly from a constitutional standpoint. Setting out b}' justifying his proceeding in this way instead of by a sub- stantive resolution, he dwelt u])on the importance, at this stage of the country's history, of avoiding the establishment of evil precedents. It was a strange thing that having gained lies- ponsible Government for Canada, almost at the point of the bayonet, we should be called upon at this day to defend its tir.it principles. There was a great difference between prerogative power and constitutional right. An Act which might be sus- tained by the C»)urts as the legal prerogative of the Crown might be exercised in the most unconstitutional way. Con- stitutional usago was now pretty well defined. Setting aside the legal view witli regard to the Quebec ditliculty, he con- tended that the Ministry should have governed, and should have been free to govern, so long as they possessed the confid- ence of the Legislature. If there was any exception to this doctrine, it was when the Crown had reason to believe that the Parliament did not I'epresent the country. Referring par- ticularly to the Quebec matter, he said that the Lieutenant- Governor when appointed found a Government in office sus- tained by large majorities in both branches of the Legislature. Not a sino-lc reason txlven for their dismissal would hold. Ho quoted the several cases in England where the Sovereign had exercised the prerogative of dismissal, and said that the only one referred to by the defenders oi' the Lieutenant-Governor of Quebec which was worth noticing was that of the Mel- bourne Government: and Greville, whose account had been SIR JOHN liEDWIVUti. 4S7 confirmed by Baron Stockmar, showed that the failure of Lord Melbourne to . if^tain the WhiLj character of his Govern- ment afforded William IV. a reason for the dismissal which was not generally understood. The excuse had considerable force, yet by entire concensus of practical statesmen and theo- retical writers it has been admitted that the kin'jf was wronj;. The case which corresponded most -"losely to that of Quebec was the South Afi'ican Case, where Sir Bartle Frere dismissed his Ministiy. But he acted in the face of a great danger, in which the Local Government declined t) use the burgher force for the maintenance of Imperial interests, and Sir Bartle Frere took the course which he <]id to su])port those interests which he was appointed peculiarly to maintain. Moieover, his action was defended by the P• V -fi.trc ^-f-li.-y^^^JI- 438 LIFE OF SIR JOHN A. MACDONALD. :: I .■ tion from Prinir'^e Hill, * * The Queen can hardly now refuse a defeated MiniHter ihechi s; of a dissolution any more than she can dissolve in the timi\U8. 441 General. Ho would have been pleased if His Excellency bad at once accepted the advice tendered him, for the Govern- ment were unanimously of the opinion on which it wa.s based ; but the advice had not been rejectcMl. The representative of the (^Mieen had simply said that he would like to submit the matter to the Sovereiirn. There was nothinij unconstitutional in such a procenlint^, for Canada was as safe in the hamls of Her Majesty as in the hands of hor representative, and wo might be well assured that the lilx'rty an ^^V^^*' '^.-'v'* v A^. >> dn % m '^W Hiotographic Sciences Coiporation 23 WESTMAtNSrREET WEBSTER, N.Y. 14580 (716) 873-4503 m ,'\ V ^^ -,00(),000, were about maturing in L(.ndon ; and to meet them, Mr. Tilley, the Finance Minister, was despatched to England, whei'e h(> succeeded in raiding a loan of £3,000,000. The negotiation of the loan, for the time, tided over a crisis : it was, however, not all smooth sailing with the Ministry. The Reform Piess now began to taunt the Administration with having gained office through promises which they did not intend to fulfil. Day after day, they derisively besought Mr. Tilley to flick hi.s wand and 1) i »:• S 1 :3 ■ ^ ! . : ,;',. '1 1 ( . ;■ '!!.•. 1 " I ; :. ,^ 1 .i 1 '■ ... .. ^ ■ r i i 1 i i 1 ■I- ■ -|: t. Jl ■■> ■ V ' f 441) LIFE OF Sin JOHN A. MACDONALD. call down upon the people hettcr times. Depression was every- where and commerce was in a woful plight. Each morning's paper brought, tidings of a new bankruptcy or of the exodus of a hundred workmen to" the factories of the New England States. Meanwhile, as we shall see, the new Ministry was (juietly but steadily pursuing its course. Gathering about him a number of able experts, and gleaning the opinions of intelli- gent representatives of the leading Canadian industries, Mr. Tilley set to work to construct a new fiscal policy, differing radically from the old. The object of all preceding tariffs in Canada had been to raise revenue ; the new expedient, as we have shown, had for its object, besides the needs of the reve- nue, the encouragement of native industry. Some supporters and even some members of the Government were so carried away by the prospects of the new departure, and the boon it would be to the manufacturer, that they refused to give pledges that a sufHciency of revenue was to be the measure of the aid given to Protection. " On the 14th of March, Mr. Tilley submitted his financial statement and his tariff resolutions to the House of Commons. In the opening portion of his speech, he compared the position of the finances and of the commerce of the country with the position when he made his statement in 1873. Then, he con- tended, there was a steady and increasing revenue, a steady and increasing surplus, and a steady decrease in taxation, in consequence of which he was able with confidence to estimate the expenditure for the succeeding ten years, and to point to the probability of the Pacific Railway being constructed and in running order for a total money grant of 830,000,000 and a land subsidy of 50,000,000 acres. Then, too, the country was pros- perous ; the banks increasing tbdir capital and paying large dividends ; various manufacturing industries throughout the country in operation, giving employment to many thousands of men and remunerative investment for capital ; the farmers were contented and niaking money ; the tea and West Indian trades growing and flourishing; and everything in that condition which gave hope and satisfaction to all classes of the people. .' .vv.-y THE NATIONAL POLICY. Ail But a change of (Tovernment had taken place, and a change of j»olicy, and ruin and disaster had oveitalven every industry and every branch of trade in Canada. It was to remedy the de- plorable condition of uti'air.s which had prevailed for the past lour years that the National Policy, sug<,'ested by the Conser- vative Opposition in Parliament and resisted by the Liberal Oovernment, had been so unanimously demanded by the people ; and he expressed the hope and belief that the propositions he was about to make would fairly justify the anticipations of the electors. Arriving from England, he had set himself to the work of framino; the new tarifl'. Ruferiiiianey of about half a million. The revenue durin;; the past three or four weeks imd, in consequence of the excitement in regard to the anticipated tariff changes, been \evy iar^'e ; but such increase of revenue ought to be credited to next year's receipts, and if allowance were made for that j)arpo-e from the income of this year, the deficit would be increased to S2,4()0,000 ; or crediting the abnormal revenue to this year's account, there still would be a deficit of .S1,GOO,U()'). In order to be able to meet the expendi- ture requisite for 187:'-8(), the Government would have to get authority from Parliament to receive an increased revenue from cusUans of 82,000,000 ; and, in arranging for the levying of the additional duties, he would ask the Hou^e to consider how it might be imposed so as to give protection to our home indus- tries. The volume of imj)ort;' into Canada had not been materially reduced by the commercial depression, which he re- fjretted. Indeed, he rejjarded the large balance of trade aofainst us ever since Confederation as one of the main causes of our difficulties. He knew that there were those in the House — especially hon. gentlemen of the Opposition — who held views different from his upon this ([uestion; but regarding the enor- o , ■«': !« 448 ■ » iJii'l,' OF SIR JOHN A. MACDONALD. r?" ■" .'■'■**,-• r.: mous excels of imports as an evil, he proposed in the policy he was about to submit to the House to correct it. Much dis- turbance and mischief had been caused to our trade by the manufactuiers of the United States making a slaughter market of Canada. Our tarifi" since 187*3 had favoured their efforts in this direction, while their protective duties had shut our farmers and manufacturers out of their markets. It was the opinion of some that the condition of a country could not be improved or its prosperity increased by legislation. From this view the Governiiu nt dissented. He would have been glad had he been relieved from the necessity of im[)o.sing additional taxation, but having to impose it, the taritfhad been so Iramed that he had the utmost confidence in stating that the larger proportion of the extra two millions for which he required to provide would be levied upon the products of foreign countries, and would not be drawn from the great country — England — of which we form a part. With regard to the United States, the Government intended to impose duties on a great many articles imported from there which had been left on the free list since 1865, in the vain hope of inducing our neighbours to renew the Reciprocity Treaty which they had then abrogated. The Government believed in reciprocity, but not in a one- sided tariff. They regarded it as important to encourage the expor- tation ot our own manufactures to foreign countries, and the extension of our markets generally. In explaining the leading items of the preceding tanfl, the Finance Minister stated that the policy of the Government was to select for a higher rate of duty those articles which are manufactured, or can be manu- factured, in the country, and to leave those that are neither made nor are likely to be made in the country at a lower rate." The Reformers fell upon Mr. Tilley as if he were a mad dog. The new policy was loaded with objurgation and ridicule. Mr. Mackenzie, Sir Richard Cartwiight, and other leading Liberals declared the new policy to be a return to the barbarous and unwise traditions of the past. Mr. Cartwright made an exhaus- tive and clever review of the financial situation in his bitterest I ^'i\: ..sMaiC--" HON. WILFRID LAURIER. Pl;!^" 1 1, ' I "I m k ;t^> '.V THE NATIONAL POLICY/ manner. As for the tariff, he declared that it would neither stimulate home industry nor raise a revenue ; but would cripple commercial enterprise without swelling the coffers. Y/hen the Oracles at Delphi prophesied they usually did so in enigmas, capable of two interpretations, so that whether the battle was lost or won their explanation as seers was never doubted. But Mr. Cartwright, in bitter and uncompromising English set upon inexorable record the prediction that in both ways this new policy would fail. A sufficient trial proved that in the begef- ting of revenue it did not fail ; and that if it has not signally stimulated native enterprise it certainly has not crippled it. Indeed, it*has not only raised revenue, but produced a surplus, and has been coincident with, if it has not in some measure occasioned, the appearance of an era of prosperity hitherto un- equalled in Canada. We know that the weevil or the drought is stronger than ministries, and that statutes are powerless to make the corn to spring or the sun to shine ; but we do not hesitate to record our conviction that Sir John Macdonald's ministry came upon the scene at an important era, that its cry upon the hustings, before it put a line upon the statute book, roused the spirits of the country, brought public confidence to its feet, and drew capital out of its hiding-place. By its legis- lation it has done, and it is but fair to admit it, an appreciable amount of good ; it has brought into the country's lap millions of dollars of foreign capital, and added immensely to the sum of the national wealth. There are portions of the Dominion, it is true, notably in the North-West, where the people derive little or no benefit from, and perhaps are harshly burdened by, the direct operation of the policy ; but they are in a substan- tial measure repaid for this by the fuller throb in their veins of the general prosperity which it has given to the country. For the time, we say at least, the " N. P." has been of service to Canada. Now, as we have hinted, however, there are indica- tions that the time has come when a change of fiscal policy is desirable, and an extension made in the area of unrestricted trade. cc j hi 1 1 ,. I I 1; ^ ^^ 450 LIFE OF Sin JOHN A. MACDONALD. m During the month that witnessed tlio reappearance of Sir Jolin upon the ministerial scene, Lord DuH'erin took his de- parture from Canada ; and on November following a new Governor-General, Lord Lome, accompanied by his consort the Princess Louise, arrived at Halifax. " There was no lingering of politicians at the capital after adjouinment, e^ch hied him to his constituency, where, with the skill of Ariel, he set himself to raise a storm. The tem- pest, if fierce, was short, and the ministry came out of it neither demolished nor shattered. Mr. Blake had put on his heavy armour and visited Toronto, London, and Hamilton, speaking against the contract in those magnificent sentences of his that are always so distinctly uttered, so strong, so clear and so cold ; but Sir Charles Tupper followed him round, deliver- ing address for address, and though his speeches contained much that was only declamation, and not a little that was absurd, or mere unsupported assertion, he told the best story, because his subject had the best side ; and beyond inflaming, and in some instances intoxicating, a few score of excitable and not very astute lleformers, there was little gained by the Opposition during the recess." On returning to their seats, there was an ominous silence that betokened the early bursting of a storm. Within a day or so certain vague rumors floated through the lobbies concerning a "strong Opposition card." The chief rumour was that as the Pacific Railroad had once broken Sir John's back, it would even do so the second time ; that a combin- ation of capitalists unexampled in this country for their re- sources, their experience and their standing, had been* formed, who were prepared to construct the road at a figure far less thaii that named by the Syndicate, and they would ask none of those restrictions which would keep enterprise and settlement so long in shackles in the North- West. This com- pany would come forward, the rumour said, and make its offer, when one of two courses was open to the Government. They must, this confident and awing whisper said, 'either reject the offer or accept it.' They dare not reject it, for even their own of Sir is de- ne w )rfc the THE NATIONAL POLICY. 461 timid following would not lend themselves to the support of such an ini(iuity ; if they accept it, then, .since the sciiemo be- longs purely to the Opposition, there should be no decent course open to the Ministry but to resign. All this took place while Sir John was, apparently, the least exercised of any in the House. " He assured his iollowera that it was only natural to expect a ' card ' of some kind, but that they would be hardly warranted in looking for a very ' strong ' one." Presently the scheme was revealed in detail. The new Syndi- cate offered to build the road in consideration of a money sub- sidy of §22,000,000 and a laud subsidy of 22,000,000 acres ; and they asked for no exemption from duty on articles iu)ported for construction from municipal or Dominion taxation, c;r for any special privileges or monopolies with regard to the con- struction of branch lines. With regard to the duty of the Government in dealing with this otter we can only reiterate what has been said elsewhere. " For tho Ministry to have entertained the new proposition would not have been either wise or just. It would not have been wise, because the new company had no m^ans of obtain- infj an estimate of costs, and were obliji^ed to make their offer at random ; it would not have been just, because the govern- ment had given ample time for capitalists to make combina- tions and present their offers ; because they had received and carefully considered several propositions ; and after a sufficiency of time to allow the coming in of all possible tenders had elapsed, they closed with a combination of men whose financial standing and personal character were the highest, and whose proposition in all respects promised more advantage to the country than any other that had been made to them." On Monday, the 17th of January, Sir Charles Tupper pre- sented the ofr -' *' 77/ A' NATIONAL POLICY. |"1 45.1 have a line by which the trade from the East will rnn into the States, and by which the legitimate profits of the Lake Superior road will be destroyed. You are asked to have a line by which the trade from the West will run into the States. Mr. Speaker, the whole thing is an attempt to destroy the Pacific RailN^ay. I can trust to the intelligence of this House, and the j)atriotism of this country, I can trust not only to the patriotism but to the common sense of the nation to carry out an arrangement which will give us all we want, which will satisfy the loyal legitimate aspirationo, give us a great, an united, a rich, an improving, a developing, Canada, instead of making U8 tributary to American laws, to American railroads, to American bondage, to American tolls, to American freights, to all the little tricks and big tricks that American railways are addicted to for the purpose of destroying our road. Look on this picture and then on that, and I know which choice will bo made by the peop'e of Canada. And, Sir, I believe before the general elections in 1883, the honorable gentle- men opposite will try to make the poopio forget, will try to make the people disreraember, to use a W Awrn p^T-ase, this publican plot, and will eat thv ir ov i words before tii« people as they are trying to do now wi^ regard to the l^Aiioi,^ , Policy — and in doing so they will lose tht respoet of the peopu of Canada." Mr. Blake followe the Proini«r ' nd characterized the (w>. w»'J syndicate as "the strongest combination yv^r witnessed *yf Canadian capitalists." The discussion was for th.o greater part furious, and there was not a little of personal bitternes* 'ftxhio" ited by some of the gladiators. But the fears and tb. .'lath of the Opposition were without avail. Even the thunder of Mr. Blake's undeniable eloquence deterred no man, and hushe J itself, harmlessly, in the leaves of Hansard. The offer of the second syndicate was rejected, and that of the first accepted by a vote of 136 to 51. Although the biographer finds it his duty to set d Trn the consummation of this great work to the credit of Sir J hn Macdonald, yet it would be less than justice to ignore tl ♦ force, the ability, the tirelessness and the zeal dis- :) » ! I ■i' y.-'i ,->.v..- 454 LIFE OF SIE JOHN A. MACDONALD. }r^ -ir 'V played by Sir Charles Tupper, minister of railways and canab, upon whose shoulders fell the heavy stress of the batile. The following is an analysis of the votes cast by provinces : Ontario Quebec Nova Scotia New Brunswick British Co^ t. a Prince Edward Isliind Manitoba For A^ains*; Did not Death Amend- Amend- Vote. Vacan- ment ment. cies. 23 61 3 1 15 46 4 15 1 10 5 1 4 1 1 1 5 54 4 140 10 2 Total Vote of Province. 88 65 21 16 6 6 4 20U It is to be added to this imperfect chronicle of the incidents connected with this great national undertaking, that in the session of 1884 Parliament sanctioned a further subvention to the Pacific Railway of thirty millions of dollars. Since that date, it has still further come to the company's assistance, and showed its generous appreciation of the great work done by the syndicate in the interest alike of Canada and the Emnire. ces : tal of ince. 311 ts the to hat and by ire. CHAPTER XXV. THE CANADIAN PACIFIC RAILWAY. WE now come to the chief triumph in the career of Sir John Macdonald, the negotiation with a syndicate of capitalists, which resulted in the construction, within an astonishingly brief period, of the great iron highway across the wide. Im- perial domain of Canada to the Pacific. That thio huge national undertaking is to-day not only an accomplished fact, but, as an engineering feat, one of the marvels of our time, is due in large measure to the practical skill and shrewd administrative ability, coi^nled with the tireless energy and fervent patriotism, of Sir John Macdonald. In saying this we do not wish to take a leaf from the laurel crowns of Sir George Stephen and Sir Donald Smith, the chijf promoters of the enterprise, or to de- tract from the well-won honours of those who were associated with them in the great achievement of the Co/npany. To those gentlemen, and the enterprising railway corporation under them, Canada owes a debt which it has not been niggard in ack- nowledging, for it has subjected itself to heavy financial burdens and been lavish in the grants of public land it has given the Company, to enable the enterprise to succeed and to facilitate its speedy construction. While we fairly, as we think, take this credit to the country, we at the same time pay our tribute to the great railway corporation for its unoxampled labouia on behalf of Canada and the Empire. What these labours mean, those know who are familiar with the engineering difficulties overcome in the construction of the road, and not alone in the " sea of mountains " on the Pacific, but over the desolate wastes on the north shore of Lake Superior. Not only has the road opened up to commerce and settlement the vast regions of the North- West, and linked together the distant and long-strung- 455 ;|. ;, :f 1.1. • ■ LIFE OF SIR JOHN A. MACDONALD. that day was a meaj:]fre little in comparison with the achieve- ment which has now to be detailed. On the 29th of June, 1881, a political pic-nic was held at Bath, Ontario, at which Sir John Macdonald, Sir Leonard Til- ley, and other public men of lesser note attended. At this mid-summer festival an important announcement was made, which — we say it with all reverence — reminds us that it is often to the humble and lowly that great tidings first come. To the simple folk gathered about the Chieftain at this pic-nic. Sir John Macdonald made the announcement that there was at that moment in Ottawa a number of capitalists who were ne- gotiating with the Government, of which lie was the head, for the construction of the Canadian Pacitic Railway. The Prime Minister's weighty statement was immediately flashed over the country. For a brief season it produced much depression in Reform circles, and in the Conservative camp there was no end of jubilation. Soon it was announced that negotiations had reached a stage justifying a visit of Ministers to England. Thither Sir John and some of his colleagues went, conferred with a number of capitalists in the moon, and, with consider- able importance and an air of deep mystery, yet with manifest triumph, returned to Canada. The newspapers are irrepressible. Despite the silence of Ministers, these useful gatherers of infor- mation one morning announced that a syndicate or combination of capitalists, of abundant resources, and the highest titiancial repute, had been formed to undertake the construction of the road, and that for such work the Government had pledged itself to give $25,000,000 in money and 25,000,000 acres of land. The journals of the country were not misinformed ; such indeed were the facts. Of course, those who a few months be- fore had shaken their heads and declared that the road would never be built, that no company could be induced to undertake the work, unless for a sum which would mean ruin to the country, that the lands in the North-West, except for a fertile strcboh along the valley of the Saskatchewan, were of little value, being visited by destructive frosts in summci and by de- vastating storms of snow in winter, were now the first — even' ■i :-.'■.'' yrj. THE CANADIAN PACIFIC RAILWAY. ■••' f*".'^''f , 459 before they knew the actual terms of the contract — to scream out that the Government had made an ignominious sur- render to the Company, that they had given a sum of money fabulously large, and made over lands that would turn railway magnates into territorial kings ; in short, that the financial future of Canada and the commercial future of the North- West were bound hand and foot and oiven over to the Syndicate. It is true, the money subvention to the Company was large, and large, too, the land grant by which it was supplemented. But large — vast, indeed, — -was at the same time the undertaking ; and though the countryhas sir^co generously extended the aid given to the Company, and in all respects been considerate to it, the Government were quite jus- tified in their liberal dealings with the road. At times there has been fear of undue influence on the part of the Company, in extorting concessions from the Administration not always in the country's interest. In the future there may be more fear still of this: but it will be the duty of the Opposition to see that these demands and all undue pressure of whatever sort are not carried too far; and if the Opposition fail in their duty, there will still be a check applied, we hope, by the watchful voice of public opinion. But the contract had to be submitted to Parliament and by proxy be ratified by the country/ . A Session of the House was called early in December, about two months before the usual time of meeting, and great was the excitement occasioned by the summons. Sir John met the assembleil wisdom of the country with his usual confidence, though it has since leaked out that he had some misgiving, for the proposed money-grant was large^ and the fears of the country had been actively ex- cited by their opponents. Between factiousness and funk there was indeed some occasion for apprehension. Mr. Blake led oft' by declaring that an undertaking so prodigious as this and so full of moment to the country should be approached with cool- ness and deliberation. This was true ; but it was hardly the way to secure a judicial verdict on the matter by first exciting the people from the hustings and by creating a prejudice against 1..: m - ; ■ ,< ■ «,--;. '' . '■■■■ 4G0 LIFE OF SIR JOHN A. MAGDONALD. the enterprise. Parliament, at all events, was now to deal with the Syndicate, and it was certainly more fit to deal with it, and with the whole question, than the body of the people, stirred up by partisanship and largely misinformed of the actual facts from the hustings. Parliament, however, was not then to decide ; it heard an inkling of the Ministerial policy, and Sir John Macdonald was too wise to attempt to hurry the issue ; back therefore the matter went to the people. The Christmas holidays intervened, and the House took a recess from the 23rd of December till the 4th of January. ,n. ■.« ■■ ■ j 1 fV I ! ' f ■ 4' il with nth it, >eople, actual hen to nd Sir issue ; istmas 23rd r I- > CHAPTER XXVI. CLOSING YEARS — THE LAMP GOES OUT. BRIEF must be our summary of the events in the closing years of Sir John Macdonald's career. Nor is there need, while our space rapidly contracts, to take up time with the re- cital of matters of political history with which most readers are familiar. Contemporary themes, moreover, are of less in- terest to the nation than to the individual. The chief topics yet to be discussed are the General Election of 1887 and that of the present year, the readjustment of representation in the Commons, the Ontario Boundary Question, the North-West Rebellion, and the diplomatic corresjtondence with the Home Government concerning Canada's relations with the United States. Before coming to these topics, let us clear the sheet of those, minor though they be, that claim some attention. Durinjj the session of 1882, Sir John Macdonald broucrht m a Bill providing for a readjustment of representation in the House of Commons. By the British North America Act it is pro- vided that a census shall be taken every ten years ; that Quebec shall have the fixed number of sixty-tjve members ; that there shall be assigned to each of the otlier provinces such a number of members as will bear the same proportion to the number of its population, ascertained at each census, as the nunibei- of sixty-five bears to the number of the population of Quebec, so ascertained. The census of 1881 showed that Quebec contain- ed a population of 1,359,027, which divided by sixty-five gave 20,908 as the limit of representation, Ontario which was found to contain 1,923,228 souls was, therefore, entitled to ninety-two members. By virtue of an expected rather than 4GI W' : ;' ! ■ K .'!*. V V 4' 4C2 LIFE OF SIR JOHN A. MACDONALD. ■ an actual population it was decided to give one additional representative to Manitoba.* It was therefore necessary, according to law, to reconstruct and redistribute a number of elective ridings in Ontario, but months before the bill was brought in, reform speakers and writers declared that Sir John, in view of the ponding general election, would carve the constituencies in such a way as to strengthen his own hands. They even averred that he had declared to several of his friends that he was going to " hive the Grits." So when the measure was brought in, the opposition set up a shout of dissent. They declared that every principle which should have guided in readjustment had been ignored ; that in taking away from one riding and adding to another, to- pographical and municipal considerations were utterly disre- garded, the only plain aim kept in view being the strengthen- ing of doubtful constituencies, the adding of strongly reform sections to other districts where the liberal vote conspicuously predominated, thus agglomerating or "hiving" their opponents, while, wherever practicable, a sure majority — according to the election returns — was left to the Conservative riding. Mr. Blake believed that Sir John had dishonestly taken advantage of his position to recast, in his own favour, the whole political geography of the province, so that it was with a pardonable indignation that he characterised the action of the Ministry as " high-handed, arbitrary and unjust." Mr. Blake moved, in amendment to the Bill, the following, but the motion was lost by a vote of 111 to 51 : — " That the principle of observinj,', as far as possible, the limits of the municipal counties in adjusting tlie Parliamentary representation is sound * In Ontario the small electoral divisions of Niagara and Cornwall were merged respectively in the counties of Lincoln and Stormont, their names being retained in the designations, " Lincoln and Niagara" and "Cornwall and Stormont." In the folio >ving manner were the six new constituencies created : Essex was divided into two, Lambton into two, Bruce instead of two divisions was given three ; Middlesex instead of three was given four ; Simcoe and Ontario, which had previously been divided into two, were now, ench divided into three. The greater number of the other constituencies were readjusted ; or " carved" as the Reformers described it. In Manitoba the old constituencies were slightly rearranged ; and the added member was given to Winnipeg. CLOSINO YEARS. 4ti3 and should be followed in the said Bill for the reason given oy Sir John A. Macdonald (in a recited speech on the subject in 1872), and approved by Parliament ; and also because it affords some safeguard against the abuse of power by the party in office to adjust the representation unfairly towards their opponents. That the said Bill is framed in utter violation and total disregard of the said principle, since it takes away territory from the municipal counties for electoral purposes, and conjoins for electoral purposes territories having no municipal county relations with each other in a very large proportion of the constituencies of Ontario ; while, at the same time, it does not effect the proposed object of equalising the popu* lation of the electoral districts." It has to be admitted that the ministerial reply to Mr. Blake's powerful review of ^.he question was somewhat unsatisfactory. Sir John's chief detence was this : — " The measure is a fair one ; it is a Bill which e([ualizes the population, which acknowledges the principle (representation by population), which was pressed to a successful completion by the liberal party — the old leform party of Canada — and which since that time has been adopted by all parties, having the true principle, the real basis of repre- sentative institutions." Opponents of government exhibited maps showing the newly- constructed ridings, and they much more resembled the work of nature than of man. Some sup- porters of government affected to see nothing unfair or irre- gular in this political map-making, but declared the A.ct, which came to be called the " Gerrymander," a " blunder as well as a crime." Although one year of the usual Parliamentary term was yet unexpired. Sir John resolved to make an appeal to the country. The Opposition declared that his fortunes having touched the meridian were now sadly on the decline, and that he feared to encounter the likelihood of defeat by waiting another year. But the Prime I\Iinister was ready with two reasons for the pro- ceeding, contained in the closing paragraph of the speech from the throne : " I heartily congratulate you on the rapid and successful development of our manufacturing, agricultural and other industries. I am, however, advised that their progress would have been still greater were it not that capitalists hesi- tate to embark their means in undertakings which would be t 3V^ f ■■ i ;,f:^ > « '(' ' . f ■ i V: 4G4 LIFE OF SIJi JOHN A. MACDONALD. Injured, if not Jostroyod, by a change in tiio trade and fiscal policy adopted by you in 187!) In order, thorofore, to give the people, without further delay, anopportunityf o expressing their deliherate opinion on this policy, and at the sanie time to bring into operation the measure for the readjustment of tho representation in the House of Commons, it is my intention to cause this parliament to be dissolved at an early day." All through the summer wo find tho old Chief potent, as of yore, through tho constituencies. Ha was not at this period as vigorous ])hyaically as he used to be, but his intellectual force, his tact, his fertility of expedients, and his power to compel zeal in his cause have in nowise Ibrsaken him. "There he is in the thick of tho Iray with the light of other days in his eyes, still wieldincf that subtle ami irresistible fascination over tho crowds who have gathered to hear him. Always clear-voioed, always turning, always watching ; ho pours out that succession of argument, of wit, of joko and of story, many of them old, of flashes of thought, many of them now and bright, of political reminiscence and political fact, rambling yet not unconnected, and always bearing straight on the point, all of which have, for many a long year past, among Canadian populace or in Canadian legislature, been more powerful than tho voice of other living man." Though the ideal politician of the majority, yet the old chiefs welcome was far from being as warm, the crowds that gathered around him were far from being as large or as enthu- siastic as in 1878. But the reason was plain. In 1878 depression had touched everything, and the crowds who gathered to hear Sir John were often largely composed of men who wanted bread, and who could only find employment by expatriation. They did not want work or bread now, and if, for a moment, they forgot the past, the unforgetful chief did not chose to permit them to disremember. " The last time I addressed you, he said, you cried out for work. I told you that better times would come, if legislation could bring them, if you wouKl elect us. You did elect us. The better times have come, whatever brought them. I recognize before me the faces of my old fiiends ; but you have better coats on, better hats on, better m- CLOSING YEARS. 405 boots on than when you aHseiiihlod to hoar me last." Conserva- tive .speakers everywhere stood fast ui)on tliegood sliip National Policy wliich had before Civrried them on the wavo's-top to of- fice. In the party led by Mr. Blake there was lacking loyalty to one another, there was discord upon the (question ot National Policy, .some declaring their preference for the fiscal system of the Government. " Mr. Blake went out to Durham and told the people that 'free trade is for us impossible.' Mr. Macken- zie raised his voice in East York and assured the electors that any doctrine but that of free trade was pernitious, retrogres- sive, and a relic of commercial barbarism. And so, an era of Reform speech-collision.s began all over the country, and the enemy made the most of the clashing declarations. Thus it came to pa.ss that the leailer of the Opposition could .scaicely make utterance on any ([ucstion that a counter statement made somewhere else by Mr. Mackenzie, by Mr. Mill.s, or the Toronto Globe, did not rise like the ghost of Banquo to confi-ont him; and vice versa. Each party pressed into service everything that could do duty as a conjurer of religious or ])ro\ incial pre- judice; the Reformers carried through the lantl a huge Bleu B'renchman, who, they .said, was at once the master of the tninistry and the ministry itself , and this B>ile Bleu, they aC- tirmed. to be jealous of the grov/th of Ontario, and bent on preveiiting her further development. It was at his dictation, they declared, that the ministry refused to ratify the boundary award, and they called upon the " men of Ontario " to come to the polls and defend their Pi-ovincc from the jcalou.sy of ' these domineering Frenchmen.' Another important Opposi tion cry was the alleged tendency of the Premier to a centrali- zation of all important political power at Ottawa ; and proof of this allegation, they averred, was found in the disallowance by the federal parliament of certain provincial acts of purely local importance. It was pointed out, too, that Sir John, at a meeting of Conservatives held in Toronto, had spoken with marked conten>pt of the functions of local legislatures, and de- scribed Mr. Mowat, the Premier of the most important Pro- I' 'f- > \ 400 LIFE OF SIR JOHN A. MACDONALD. vinco in the Confederation as V)eing engaj^^d in ' whittlin!:^ at little provincial bills,' and had threatened to Htrip him of Home of the authority with which ho then waH clothed. Thewe were two strong cries against the government in Ontario; yet, owing to a more zealous and coherent party loyalty, to superior organi- zation, aii(l minis- try hail taken their seats ; but the followinj^ session puissed, an- other came and went, still another and another, yet Govern- ment made no sign of giving validity to the binding of the arbitration. Meanwhile aH'airs in the largo tract of i -'yX' '.^■. CLOSING YEARS. 4G9 f tho the the the ■such ither ittoe On the 23rcl of May, in the session of 1883, Sir John Mac- donald moved an address to His Excellency Lord Lome ex- })ressive of the admiration and good-will of parliament for His Lordship, whose term of office had then nearly expired. The address received the cordial and unanimous support of both Houses of Parliament ; after which it was presented to His Excellency by Sir Johii, accompanied by other members of the Cal.dnet. In his last s|)eech, closing parliament, His Lordship said, atid the words came not from his lips but from his heart: "The severance of my oiiicial connection with Canada does not lessen the ties of afl'ection which will ever make me desire to serve this country." In saying this His Excellency was only speaking the modest truth. Oii more than one occasion, since leaving us, he has by pen and tongue shown that he has a deep love for Canada and a sincere regard for her welfare. The establishment of the Royal Academy of Arts will re- main a testimony to the interest in art taken by their Excel- lencies ; but the founding of the Royal Society of Literature is, we fear, not likely to testify to its founder's j)ractical sagacity. The Marquis of Lorne was succeeded in the Govern il V'^ \r-: ..■■ i' In speaking of the eventu, in these closing years of Sir John Macdonald's administration, it is to be noted that in the year 1884 the most able minister of the Cabinet, next to the Premier, retired from Canadian public life to devote him- self to the duties of the office of Canadian High Com- missioner at the Court of St James. To this latter office Sir Charles Tupper was appointed on the first of June, 1883, a vacancy having been created by the recal], at his own request, of Sir Alexander T. Gait. It is fitting here also to record the compliment that was paid Sir John Macdonald, in the banquet given under the auspices of the Junior Conserva- tive Club of Montreal, early in the year 1885. The demonstra- tion marked two important events in the Premier's long and distinguished career — one, the attaining of his seventieth birth- day ; the other, the commemoration of the fortieth anniversary of the great Parliamentarian's entrance into public life. The banquet was attended, we are told, by the largest number of political notabilities ever assembled at a social gathering in Canada. Its occurrence was a gratifying and spontaneous manifestation of popular regard, and well was it deserved. Eqjally well deserved was the honour which his Imperial Mistress paid him a little while before the banquet took place. In the autumn of the previous year Sir John was in England, and there the crownins: honour of his life was conferred on him — the Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath. The distinc- tion was conferred by Her Majesty, herself, " in acknowledg- ment of long and distinguished services." At the banquet, Sir John made the statement that the first intimation he had had of intention to confer the honour was by a communication received from the then Premier, Mr. Gladstone. The intimation, coming from this source, was most gratifying to the Canadian statesman, for, as he put it, " he (Mr. Gladstone) knew that I was a Conservative, and he was a Liberal. He knew that I was a supporter of the National Policy, and he was a Free Trader." Alas ! that only for some six years after this was the gratified recipient of the G. C. B. to enjoy the honour of it. ■■->;:;; "-f CLOSING YEARS. 471 The year 1885 put a great and severe strain upon the resources and the integrity of the Canadian Dominion. The cause of this was the outbreak of the rebellion in the North- West, which, but for its prompt and heroic suppression b}' the Canadian Militia, might have entailed far more serious conse- quences than befell the country. Serious, however, the con- sequences were, both in blood and treasure. Calamitous was the J'jss of life which it occasioned, and millions of money were required to suppress it. The disturbance was the unhappy sequel of a lawless ambi- tion ungratiiied, further played upon by race jealousies, and by impatience at the neglect of a distant, and, in this special case, not over-considerate government. In the chapter on " The Half-Breed," Louis Riel, the leader of this new insurrectionary movement, has been introduced to the reader. This firebrand, having unluckily been relieved of the consequences of his des- potic usurpation in the Red River Settlement in 1869-70, had for a number of years resided in exile, in Montana. There, however, he had not purged himself of either the taint of treason or of the infection that led him still to coquet with it. He not only maintained communication with his old rebel following, now removed to new holdings on the Saskatchewan, but nursed the illusion that the gods had again destined him to play the role of the prophet-deliverer. His mission was to free his half-breed kinsmen from Anglo-Saxon and Protestant ascendancy and possible domination in the prairies of the North-West. From the period of the acquisition of the Terri- tories by the Dominion, the French half-breed had always deemed himself aggrieved at the opening of the region to colonization and settlement. He wanted the country conserved as the liappy hunting-ground of his race. The settler he looked upon with jealous eye, and with more than jealous eye he looked upon the surveyor. The latter indeed was his hete- noir: he not only resented his intrusion, but clamoured to have him withdrawn. Giving free scope to his pnjudices, he re- sisted the now laying-out of his lands, and in irate mood he individually and collectively appealed to Ottawa. Ottawa H I: 47a Hm OF tilli JOHN A. MAVDONALD, unfortunately disrojjfarJod the appeal. The Dojiartrnont con tinuiiij:^ doaf to the call for the rodross of his }^M"ievances, the Spirit of blvil ^ his peisonal ascendancy. The gap he has left, it seems, ibi the time at least, impossible to till. This is not the result entire's of the Chieftain's own natural abilities, great admittedly a.*< they were. It is the result rather of education in the inind- sharpening school of statecraft, combined with a clever aptne ^ in the art of personally governing, of a ready power of gauging contemporary thought on the political topics tliat interested the people, and of consummate skill in shaping in harmony with it the policy of the hour. In these respects, high — little indeed .short of genius — were his qualifications as a leader. To be un- reasonably admired by one generation, remarks a writer, is to incur the certainty of being unreasonably disparaged by the next. It is too soon, as yet, to say what will be the final esti- mate of Sir John Macdonald's work and character. There can bo little question, however, of the regard in which he was held, while in life, by the mass of his countrymen, as there can be little question of the sincerity of the grief manifested on all sides when his career closed. Friend and foe alike have al- ready borne testimony to the greatness of the man. The elo- quent leader of the Opposition did him no more than justice when, in the House the other day, he spoke of his death as a national loss, and characterized the deceased statesman as " Canada's most illustrious son." Though Mr. Laurier's politi- cal views compelled him to differ with Sir John Macdonald on many matters which he deemed vital to the interests of Can- ada, he freely admitted that his actions — to quote the eulogist's own words — " displayed unbounded fertility of resource, a high level of intellectual perception, and, above all, a far-reaching vision beyond the events of the day, and, still higher and per- meating the whole, a broad patriotism in seeking Canada's wel- fare, Canada's advancement, and Canada's glory." These kindly and sympathetic words are the graceful tribute, not only of a member of the House, who had long known the de- ceased statesman, but of one, as we know and have said, whose conscientious convictions had ranged him in opposition to the /:• 48U rjFH ItF tilU JOHN A. MACDONALIK great ConHervativo leader. May we not also say, that they voice the opinion of tlio country at lar^o, at leawt of all who, of what- ever stripe of politics, can rise above the projudices of party and recognize in the young nation's long-time and chief ruler those giftH and ({ualitie.s that go to the making of a great statesman ? Hardly less fervid are the words of the Hon. Senator Alibott, who has since been called by His Excellency, the Oovernor- (jl«;ncral, to the Premiership of the Dominion. In the Senate, on the morrow of Sir John Macdonald's THE LAMP GOES OUT. 481 people, a people Tsonstituted as ours i^, divided by race, divided by relig ion, divided by habitg, divided by politics, yet personally he was the friend of every man in the country, and every man in the country regarded him with airection as well as with friendship. Sir John Macdonald lived dur- ing the greater part of his life with unparalleled facilities for amassing wealth ; he died a comparatively poor man. None of his bitterest enemies in the greatest and most violent heat of the most violent political debate, ever accused him of using his personal power for his personal advantage. These are the characteristics ot the man we have lost, I know I speak in accordance with the feeling of every man in this Senate, and perhaps of nearly every man in the country, when I sjvy that we regret and deplore hia loss, and moreover, that we sympathize with our whole hearts in the bereavement of those near and dear to him, who sufldr from it even more materially than his country. Journalism, too, was not behind the Senate in laying its im- mortelles on the Patriot Statesman's tomb. We make two quotations from the Press tributes, one oach from the chief journals of the two great cities of Canada, Montreal and Toronto. The following is from the Montreal Gazdte : — " Compared with bis life during Lhe last tw«nty-four years, the great Btatesman'a ear'y career seems unimportant. Confederation did, indeed, greatly enlarge the influence and the responsibilities of the Government. For three- fourths of the entire period he was Prime Minister of the Dominion. But he assumed the leadership of the first Dominion Cabinet as a statesman of well tried ability, ox broad views, and intensely patriotic. Some of the ablest men that Canada has produced were proud to call themselves his followers. Sir George Cartier, the trusted leader of the Conservatives of this province, had been in turn his chief and his lieuten- ant, under the old co-ordinate system of the Union period. The leadinc men in the sister provinces readily acknowledged his rare gifts, and when the quartette of colonies that first composed the Dominion looked around for the one man who would, as Premier, inaugurate the new rule, the majorities did not hesitate to fix upon Sir John A. Macdonald, This confidence ho retained to the last. There never was even a thought, in the Conservative party, of setting up a rival to Sir John Macdonald, so long as he had health and strength and will to guide its course. There never was even a hesitation as to the recognition of his supremacy ; and to this loyal unanimity must be attributed the fact that he and his col- leagues were able to accomplish so much, to accomplish what urder no other circumstances could have been accomplished. •' If he was powerful at the beginning of this later period, he was indis- putably supreme in the confidence and afi"ections of the people at the EB ^'i:.- y- ^ ' ■a^- \ M 4 -. I 1' . * 1 1 . ; Pi' ";P , iwmm 482 LIFE OF SIR JOHN A. MACDONALD. ■;V r ii ■' I- .. close of it. His was ono of thos^ intellects which go on maturing dur* ing a life-time. Prosperity anJ adversity had alike tended to develop his rare faculties. Even after his climacteric was past and his physical powers began to fail, his mind continued to ripen and to yield fresh harvests of policy for the advancement of the country. He was the most direct and 1 ractical of statesmen. He always seemed, by an intu'^ive prescience, to discover the pivotal point of the situation, and, that point once ascer- tained, he could not be diverted to side issues. There are, doubtless, persons who insist that this is not the highest type of statesmanship — that the man of that type is ever something of a Falkland, seeing with pained philosophic ken all the sides of a question and ready to baJance various contingencies against his own assured convictions. Such a Falkland (especially in a democracy) loses while he hesitates. The high- est type of statesman, who is at once philosophic and practical, sees the whole range of poasibility at a glance and makes his decision promptly — a decision based on intimate knowledge of his people and their needs and of the extent and a\ ailability of his own resources (including faithful and willing helpers) for the carrying out of his plans. Rarely, indeed, have the broadest views, the grandest aspirations, the most devoted patriotism, the loftiest ideal of nationhood been combined with such clear-sightedness of aim, such a cir Richard Cartwright was making his attack upon Sir Charles Tupper and the man who had then lost all conbciousness of the political realm in which he had been so conspicuous a figure. " As the news became general all interest in the debate "ceased. The lobbies were filled as they had only been once " before this session, and under ordinary circumstances tlie " House would have been ringing with cheers and cuunter- " cheers. But one by one the members passed out to wait for " the next bulletin, or gathered in knots near the back row of " benches on the Ministerial side. Dr. Landerkin saw that, "some unusual news was being passed from mouth to mo«ri\, " and he crossed the floor to inquire what it was. When he ■■■■M 488 LIFE OF SIE JOHN A. MACDONALD. " returned to the Opposition side and told his confreres what " had caused the commotion across the House, there began " the same scene in the benches at the back of Mr. Laurier. " The people who were crowded into the galleries up to this " time, dividing their attention between the debate and the " gossip of the hour, also became aroused to the fact that an " extraordinary pall had fallen upon the House. They became " silent. They caught the same inexpressible solemnity that " was creeping over every one in the House, which is only "felt when one stands in the presence of a great and over- " powering calamity." Mr. Charles Mackintosh, M.P., was now speaking. Sir Hec- tor Langevin and the members of the Cabinet saw that it would be useless to carry the debate any further. They found themselves pressed by eager questions from member after mem- ber, who, hoping against hope, wished to learn if there was not some feeble chance that the latest news might not be as bad as it had reached their ears. But Sir Hector and his colleagues were unable to hold out the slightest hope. A majority of the Cabinet then withdrew to consult, necessarily with haste, as to what course should be taken in respect of the proceed- ings in the House. Meanwhile Mr. Fred White, the Premier's former private secretary and closest friend, came to the Hduso with further news, crushing out the last spark of hope which might have been kept alive since the bulletin of 8 o'clock was posted in the lobby. In effect he said that the chieftain was barely conscious and in a state of collapse. He had been try- ing to speak, but failed. Mr. White at once saw Sir He .or, and told him that Sir John had been absolutely given up by the doctors, who said he could live but a few hours at most. This news at once brought the Minister.^ to the decision that the House must be adjourned. Sir Hector walked across tu Mr. Laurier and made him acquainted with the information, that had come from Earnscliffe. Mr. Laurier at once consented to second both the adjournment of the debate and the adjourn- ment of the House. There was a brief pause. After the Minis- ters were in their seats, and before Mr. Mackintosh ceased LAST ILLNJCSS AND DEATH. 489 to speaking, or bad well taken his seat, Sir Hector rose, and in a low, tremulous and almost inaudible tone said : " Mr. Speaker, " J have a painful duty to perform. The news we have had Ironi " Earnsclitre is that the First Minister has had a relapse, and *'that he is in a most critical condition. We have had reports "from the medical men, and they do not seem to believe that " he can live many hours more. Under these circumstances 1 ** move, seconded by Mr. Laurier, that the debate be adjourned." As Sir Hector rose it was apparent that his statement had Itocii anticipated. In an instant a strange and in)pressive silence came over the House. Every ear was strained to catch hi^ words, and when he ceased speaking a sigh passed tluDugh the chamber. Then Mr. Laurier rose and said : *' TJjider such cir- "cumstancus, the painful duty devolves upon me to second the " motion of my honourable friend. The country will be shocked " to hear the sad news It .seems impossible to carry on the "business, and I, therefore, agree to this motion." This motion and the motion to adjourn the House were carried. Tlie Emjyire reporter thus describes the .scene that followed : " When the speaker had left the chair a scene which will " long be remembered for its painful solemnity took place. Sir " Hector was immediately surrounded by a score of members, " who plied him with questions as to what the doctors really said, " and how long the Premier might be expected to live. They " spoke in whispers, and took in many cases a suggestive shake " of the head for an answer. By a common instinct the convic- "tion settled itself over the House, that the event which all " knew to be inevitable within the compass of a few years had " at last come. More than three-fourths of the members ro- " mained in the chamber. Hon. Mackenzie Bowell, who had " been talking to several members in the rear row of seats, " walked down to his place with his handkerchief to his eyes, ^* and utterly unable to speak. The tears streamed down .Sir " Hector's cheeks, as he said : ' For thirty-three years I have " been his follower.' # » * * # " The members of the press gallery immediately left their " places and a majority of them entered the Chamber. There * 4 -um i 490 LIFE OF Hlli JOHN A. MACDUNALD. " was scarcely room to move about on the iloor of tlie IIouso. " Every one was ca;;er to hear the latest news from Karnsclitie. " But there was nothing new to bo learned there. The Pieniier " was (lying, and that was all that could be said." Immediately after the 8 p.m. bulletin was posted in the Hou.so of Commons lobby, and Sir Hector had made his an- nouncement in the Chamber, cabs were speeding towards Earnscliff'e bearing with them anxious individuals, including the Ministers ol" the Crown, and many members of Parliament At 11 o'clock thp following bulletin was issued : Eaknscliffe, 11 p.m. Sir John's condition still continues very precarions ; loss of power of speech ; respiration and circulation weak ; rest somewhat better than during the afternoon ; takes a moderate de!j:ree of li((uid nourishment. (Signed) II. W. Powkll, J. A. GUAXT, H. P. Whioiit. At the same hour his Excellency the Governor-General, who, since he took up his residence in the Dominion, had become a iirm friend of the Premier's, came from Government House to inquire after the First Minister's condition. At 2 a.m. on Saturday all was quiet about Earnscliffe. Dr. Powell, the attendant physician, said : " There is no change in the Premier's condition. He is resting quietly." Long after midnight Sir John wakened from a duze. Looking around he reached his hand out towards the boll, made a motion as if to strike it and motioned his head towards the door. He could not speak, but the action spoke as plainly as words. It meant that everybody was to go to bed and he would ring the bell if he wanted anything. The whole country was in possession of the sad news on Saturday morning. Every newspaper had the announcement under display head lines. " Sir John is dying ! " Everywhere the blow to the country was the sole subject of conversation. It was with the greatest possible anxiet; that the people awaited further information. The watchers at Earnscliffe had LAST ILLNESS AND DEATH. 491 tlicir countorpaits all over the Dominion. In Ottawa all through the night there was a constant stream of iiu^uirerf* pouring down Sussex Street. The representatives of news- j)iipers had no rest. The piess room at the House of Commons was open all night, and the telegraph instruments in the ad- joining rooms clieko^. He has taken milk at intervals. (SigueiJ) R. W. PuwEi.L, M.D. The sti ' of callers set in early in the morning, but means were taken to prevent the passing of vehicles to disturb the patient, and provision was made also that those in attendance should be relieved of all the strain possible. The people show- ed marked good taste as well as kindly sympathy ; and while all were anxious to learn the beloved Premier's condition, they refrained irom unnecessarily embarrassing by their presence those who were thus called upon so suddenly to discharge the exceedingly onerous duties of receiving visitors and giving in- formation. At 10:30 Sir James Grant and Dr. Wright arrived, and had a consultation with Dr. Powell. Sir John at that hour, it was stated, was perfectly conscious, and, though dozing frequently, opened his eyes at every sound. A step on tho gravel was suflBcient to awaken him. As nearly as possible absolute quiet was maintained. As a result of the consultation^ the following: bulletin was issued : II III ■'m ill . « 402 LIFE OF Hin JOHN A. MACDONAUK Earnrclippi:, 1' :40 a.m. Tho Premior passed as coinfortahlo a night aa c«>nl(i have been ex- pected, and thia morning, at our consultiition at II o'ulock, wo find his general symptnnis iinaltcrud from yesterday. Our opinion of yesterday remains unaltoied. (Sigied) II. W. Powkll, M.D., J. A. rJiiA.Nr, M.D., H. l\ WiuuHT, M.D. At 4 o'clock the physician.s again met in consultation. Mean- time, visitor.s who came to tlic ^ato wore int'oinit'd thut there was no change. After the consultation this buUuiin appeared : Earnsomffk, 4:30 p.m. Sir John has been resting quietly all day, and has had stveral inter- vals of natural sleep. lie has taken li(iuid nourishment in small quantities. He in still conscious, and knows those about him, but speech has not re* turned in the slightest since his stroke of yesterday afternoon. Anj change in his condition will ut once be announced. Among the very few admitted to the sick room was Ven. A.rchdeacon Lauder. Hu called both in the morning and after- noon in hia pastoral character. About 5 o'clock four members of the Cabinet walked down to EarnsclifiV^ i'hey remained but a short time. During the afternoon' Excellency Lord Stanley of Preston drove over with a cabl . -.cs.sage from tho Queen, personally, and remained at Earnseliffe for an hour. What the Queen did in sending a message of anxious inquiry hundreds and thousands of her subjects, from the highest to the lowest, were cons'. antly doing. Secretaries were busily engaged answering telegrams from every part of the 33om- inion, from Britain, the United States and elsewhere. One •of the Old Chieftain's greatest friends, was the Princess Louise. When Loid Lome was Governor-General of Canada and the Piincess resided at RiJeau Hall, she learned to value the kindly natuie as well as to appreciate tho keen intellect of the Premier, and since leaving Canada more or less correspon- dence was maintained between the two. Sir John's advice has many times been sought by the Princess. On Friday morning, before the attack had become serious, a cable message was re- ceived from the Princess asking as to his health. The Premier dictated a reply, stating that he was out of danger. Then LAST II.LXESS AM) I) K AT 11, Am cnriie tlio stroko, and on Saturday came anotlier mcHsago, which read : LoNiioN, May 30th. ATiich moved at report of Sir John's severe illnoRB. Trust ho is im- proving. LoUISK. Politicians, railway nm<;natt's, niinistcrs of the GoHi>el, hu.si- ness men, personal friends of all classes, sent in inessa(]fcs of sympathy and in(|uiry. The whole country, as it were, watched at the dyiny Pienner's bedside. Intimate personal friends in different parts of the country, on learnin^- LAST ILLNESS AND DEATH. the ksist- Iman \t in e a sral, eau :om- Mr. out ier ten- tish tion ^ey, the 495 CJonsciotisnsss, while waning, is still preserved to him." The day wove on and the patient remained about as before, his strength astonishing all who were acquainted with such cases, especially the physicians in attendance who had the oppor- tunity of gauging accurately his condition. The principal duty of the watchers by the bedside during the day was to admin- ister nourishment to Sir John and occasionally to change his position. The services of Mr. Stewart, of the Dominion Police Force, were constantly in requisition. Broad shouldered, bi awny and big-hearted, strong as a lion, but gentle as a lamb, in Stewart's arms the Premier was as a little child. When asked to indicate how he would like to be placed Sir John was told to squeeze the hand of Stewart or the doctor, whoever happened to be the questioner. Supposing he desired to re- cline on his right side, he would give a strong grip, while if he preferred the opposite position the chieftain would refrain from pressure, but always when he was composed the old man's kindly nature would bear out in a grateful pressure of the hand of attendant or doctoi The day passed on, the events changing little from the day before, so far as Earnsclifte and Ottawa were concerned. Out- side, in every church in Canada practically, prayers were of- fered up for the Premier's life and for his restoration to health. The announcement of his condition, according to the latest bulletin, was made at the evening service in hundreds of ohurches, in order that, so far as possible, the public anxiety might be allayed and the natural longing for news on the one absorbing topic gratitied. This is how the bulletin read : — Earnscliffe, May 31, 10.30 p.m. The Premier passed a quiet day, and we iind no marked alteration in his general .' ymptoms. He retair.a consciousness much as in the past two days, and is free from aufiferiug. [Signed,] R. W. Powell, M.D. J. A. GuANT, M.D. H. P. Wright. M.D. It may be well to pause here to give the following brief ac • count of the cause of the sudden as well as sad stroke which I l:. -'£• ' ^- r 'A p4l «j , - i ''■',"' J " ■1" ■ |J V- 4 - ', . ' ' ^H -tU 4^ flH 'fM '•/^s 3 nm r* i m wmmum • ■'•'',-'' ' 496 LIFE OF SIR JOHN A. MACBONALD. %■• laid the Premier low. It is a professional summary of the facts : Sir John's position may be put in a few words. The ruptured blood vessel in the substance of the brain has left a minute clot to press upon the centre of nervous power. That clot is the cause of paralysis. The tendency of a vigorous con?'itution is to slowly absorb this tiny bubble of coagulated ^^ ^d and re- lieve the piesHure ; but no human eye can see " ler that process has begun or not. On the other hand, snould this deadly circle suddenly begin to expand, the Premier would pa^s away at once. The clot has reached the utmost limit at which life can be sustained at all. Thus, the physicians can only look on, while endeavouring to keep up the patient's strength, but utterly powerless to reach the centre of danger. With them the question is whether nature will triumph or the pressure on the centre of life increase. All are agreed, how- ever that the immediate absorption of this clot in the brain or its reduction would only give the Premier a precarious lease of life. Sir John has probably gone beyond recall. Should even the power to speak return, there are good reasons for b' - lieving that his predominant characteristics and marvellous acutencss of intellect would never come back. The vital cord has been drawn out to its highest tension, and on the slightest additional strain must snap. On ]\.'onday morning the train of anxious visitors to Earns- cliffe was resumed, while from all over the country the people looked anxiously for the first news. They were informed by the bulletin at (5.4.5 that Sir John had slept more than usual during the night, and that at intervals his heart's action became very weak, but there was no change in the symptoms. At 11 o'clock the bulletin told of "an unmistakable lowering of the vital forces," and caused still greater gloom and depression in Ottawa as well as throughout the whole country. At 6 p.m. there was " no change," but the newspaper reports stated that the tide of life seemed fast ebbing. At 11.45 p.m. the consol- ing fact was announced that the patient suffered no pain, and that there was every prospect of his living throughout the night. SIR JOHN 1 HOMPSON. LAST ILLNESS AND DEATB, 497 On Tuesday there were not wanting those outside who allowed themselves to hope that after all the wonderful " Old Man " would drive the enemy back, and the newspapers of the follow- ing day found some ground for expressing this feeling. But there was nothing in the announcements made by the physicians to form a basis for the slightest comfort. They were evidently drafted so as to cause as little excitement as possible, but those who read each bulletin without reference to the others might succeed in maintaining a delusive hope. At 6 a.m. the absence of the severe depression which had manifested itself on the previous day was noted, but when the physicians saw that the people used this to buoy up their hopes they took care in the bulletin at 11 a.m. to say: " While we are gratified " to find such an exhibition of vital strength as we see ex- " emplified in him, yet we cannot alter our opinion as to the "final result of his illness," There was no alteration until 7 o'clock, when the physicians were pained to notice a change for the worse, and a decided lowering of the vital forces. When the announcement was made in the House of Commons, which was then in session, it caused the greatest excitement, and led to an immediate adjournment. As rumours had spread that the sick room was not guarded against intrusion as it should have been, the following semi-official announcement was telegiaphed from Ottawa to the Empire : " In consequence of the absurd rumours current in some news- papers as to the [)ersons who obtain access to the Premier in his illness, the Empire is authorized from Earnscliffe to state distinctly that no one has admission to Sir John's sick room but Lady Macdonald, Mr. and Mrs. Hugh John Macdonald, Mrs. Dewdney, Mrs. T-'itzgibbon, Miss Marjorie Stuart, Sir John's two secretaries (Messrs. Pope and Baird), Mr. Fred. White and Mr. George Sparks. The sick room is entirely under the con- trol of Dr. Robert Powell, who is never many minutes absent from it, and who is assisted in the actual nursing only by Lady MacdonaM and Mr. James Stewart, of the Dominion police force, a valuable nian-nurse. The other attendants divide into regular watches by daj' and night, and assist by goii)g in and out of the chamber for such things as are there required. The utmost quiet and regularity are observed." FF I ,< , u 4). lUf ', '' ii II m ■r\ 498 LIFE OF SIR JOHN A. MACDONALD. During the day the illness of Sir John Macdonald was mentioned in the British House of Commons, and was the occasion of several graceful tributes to the abilities and virtues of the dying Premier, Right Hon. W. H. Smith, First Lord of the Treasury, said : " Sir John Macdonald is a man who, how- ever his party conduct may be viewed, has earned the respect and admiration of all who know the services he has rendered to the Dominion and the Empire. There can be but one feel- ing, of deep sorrow, that a life so valuable seems about to end." Sir William Vernon Harcourt, Mr. Staveley Hill, and Hon. Joseph Chamberlain joined in the tribute to Sir John Mac- donald, whose death, they all said, would be an international loss. The House generally showed keen sympathy with Canada. Wednesday passed much as the other days had done since the blow which was ultimately to result in death had fallen. The Premier's marvellous vitality was that which occasioned the most comment. There was a demand from outside, espe- cially from pliy-sicians who followed the case with greater in- telligence but not with greater anxiety than the people at large, that the patient's pulse and respiration should be given. This wish was complied with. The morning bulletin showed the respiration to be 28 ; " pulse irritable, 120." After the afternoon consultation it was announced that the patient's condition was lower than at the same hour on the previous day ; in the even- ing the pulse was 120, respiration 30. Just before midnight the bulletin announced, " the patient, on the whole, exhibits less strength. Respiration, 28 ; pulse, 100, flabby, compressible and very irregular." The following was one of the many news- paper despatches sent from Ottawa on Wednesday : — " The condition of the Premier is not generally understood. The repeated announcement that he is conscious and able to take nourishment has led to the impression here and elsewhere that there are grounds for believing he can recover. But the degree of consciousness is so slight and the volume of nourish- ment so small that these announcements should be accepted with wide qualification. Beyond the signals which he is able to give upon matters affecting his immediate physical comfort. f-^. ''^''' LAST ILLNESS AND BEATS. 499 Sir Jolin has not since Friday last communicated a single idea to anyone about him. That he knows those who are about him is probably true, but that he is able to appreciate either his circumstances or general surroundings is to be doubted. And yet, it is only natural that the fact of his survival to this hour should lead to the general notion that he must be getting better. A close analysis of the bulletins, however, shows that there has been a stead}'" lowering of the nervous forces. That Sir John has not succumbed ere this is entirely due to the fact that his hold on life was stronger than his medical attendants believed it to be. The doctors could not say in advance how long he could endure the terrific strain to which he was sub- jected, and in judging his chances of living they merely mea- sured his strength by the common standard. If, however. Sir John has been a remarkable man these fifty years and more, he has not ceased to be so when the hand of death closed about his heartstrings. Everyone now sees what inestimable stores of vital force the 'Old Man' has had to sustain him through all his wonderful career of restless activity and hard mental work." Thursday saw the weary watch continued but with little more reason for hope than before. The patient had passed the night without change, taking nouiishment as usual and slecpir ^ a good deal. The hope of the country went up with a bound when, at their forenoon consultation, the doctors is- sued this bulletin : — Earnscliffe, Juno 4, 1891, 11.15 a.m. Sir John Macdonald passed a fairly comfortable night and partook of Douriahment at intervals. The cerebral symptoms are slightly improved at the time of our consultation, owing, doubtless, to the fact that having lived six days since his seizure partial absorption has had time to take place. The heart's action, however, is extremely feeble and very irregu- lar, and its failure is at present the chief danger. [Signed,] R. W. Powell, M.D. J. A. Grant, M.D. H. P. WpaGHT, M.D. One of the doctors explained, however, that this simply meant that there was less hope, the trouble merely changing from the head to the heart. In the evening, the bulletin told n V ■*■■ ^^ ';i: t'ic 600 LJJ'E OF SIR JOHN A. MACDONALD. of " continuous weakness," and at night he was " slightly more conscious of his surroundings," but the heart's action was weaker. As the week drew to its close so did the life of the great and beloved Premier. Dr. Geo. Ross, of Montreal, had been called in at the special desire of many friends of Sir John's family, and he arrived at noon. The result of the consultation of the four physicians was this hopelessly depressing bulletin : — Earnscliffe, June 5th, 2.45 p.m. At our consultation to-day we found Sir John Macdonald altogether in a somewhat alarming state. His strength, which has gradually failed him during the past week, shows a marked decline since yesterday. He shows still a slight flickering of consciousness. Respiration, 38 ; pulse, 120, more feeble and irregular than heretofore. His hours of life are steadily waning. (Signed) R. W. Powell, M.D. J. A. Grant, M.D. H. P. Wright, M.D. G. Ross, M.D. Then followed this announcement, increasing, if possible the gloom and despair among the people : Earnscliffe, June 6th, 7 p.m. Sir John's end is fast approaching ; has been unconscious since 4 p. m. (Signed) R. W. Powell, M. D. From this time on it was deemed simply a matter of hours to the anxious w^atchers expecting at any time the ap[)roach of death. At nine o'clock the physicians notice'! a change and notified the family, who gathered round the bedside, conscious that the end was now at hand. His irregular and laboured breathing, which had been for hours a series of gasps and had now reached the rate of fifty-six a minute, ceased, and in its place there came a deep, regular and ordinary respiration. For another hour the terrible waiting and suspense continued. At last, without a struggle, his heart sto])ped beating, the breatli of life left the body. Sir John Macdonald died at fifteen minutes past ten o'clock, on the night of June the sixth, 1891, aged seventy-six years and five months. tly more ion was reat and Bn called family, n of the p.m. Itogether ly failed day. He 8 ; pulse, Arms St. Donis. Speaker Lacoste and Members of the Senate four abreast. Judgv 8 of the Supreme Court and Courts of Law and Equity. The Mace l f the Commons, borne by Sergeant-at-Arms MaoDonnell. Speaker White ..-.id Members and ex-Members of the House of Commons, four abreast, irrespective of political divisions. Officials of the House of Commons. Parliamentary Press Gallery and Pages. B.ind if La Lyre Canadionne. Consular Corps — C. L. Knapp, U S. Con8u!-(Jeneral ; Consul; D'A. Ansell, Consul-General of Mexico; Mr. Consul of France ; Caudido De Pedrorena, Consul-General of Spain ; W. C. Muuderloh, Consul-Goneral for German Empire ; E. SchuKze, Consul for Austria- Hungary ; G. B. Day, Consul-General for Chili ; C. Mariotte, Consul General for Italy ; Col. Henshaw, Consul for Uruguay ; J. F. Wolff, Consul for Denmark and Vice-Consul for Sweden and Nor- way. Deputy Ministers of Departments. The folio tv'ing represent^civea of Legislative Assemblies : Ontario— W. R. Meredith, lead«i.- of the Opposition ; Messrs. Monck, Marter, Hiscott, Bush, McCle-Tjr, Gila our, Mack t..'' Campbell of Alguma. Quebec — Joim S. HalJ, Q.C. , .Tames McShane, J. O. Villeneuve, W. J. Poupore, B. lieau'^hanp, P. E. Leblanc, G. A. Mantel and Rochon. Manitoba- "Hun. Pr-^mior Greenway. New Brunswick — Hon. Premier Blair and Solicitor General Pugsley. British Columbia — Hon. Theodore Davie, Attorney-General. Then followed the representativea of many municipalities and public organizations of all kinds, and after these, promi- nent citizens in their private capacity. Along the entire route of over a mile to St. Alban's Church, where the funeral service was to be read, the sidewalks wore blocked with people, the majorit} citizens of Ottawa, but tiousaMli also from outside, attracted by the greatness of ihe solemn event which was to mark the day as one to be remembered in the history of Can- ada. It was estimated that 8,000 mon were in line and that . \ I UJ < I- O z > > G O CO UJ I h- cc Hi CO O u UJ Ul p mm *.^V":'i'''y''*'' ■>.''-?; *'^'' ''•".«';,"; ^v|-;.i;r's-/rKri.:^;-,V.,r^-7; r/fE FUNERAL. 505 60,000 people watched the procession from the Senate Cham- ber to the Church. The day was intensely hot with that close, stifling heat which precedes a storm, and there was much suffering among the processionists and spectators. The Church was magnificently decorated. The catafalque, under which the casket was to rest, was clothed in imperial purple. The two pillars nearest the altar had an embossed wreath of oak leaves and acorns, while the two nearest the main entrance had embossed leaves of laurel worked in bullion gold. The top drapery was festooned with gold braiding, with a background of three golden stars ; below there appeared two wreathes of maple leaves entwined in gold and green. At the junction of each pillar with the canopy hung bannerets of purple and gold, bearing a centre design of the Greek lexicon, the Alpha and the Omega. The canopy itself was a covering of black and purple. The bier consisted of two mahogany pedestals, covered with a banner of royal purple and gold in front, having a representation of St. Alban the Mart^'r. But there was one particular spot to which the eyes of the hundreds who visited the Church durinT; the morning were directed with thoughts of sadness. Immediately in front of the reading-desk, the end seat next the centre wall in the second row was covered with purple and old gold, festooned in front, a wreath of smilax on the entry side. This was the seat which the great chieftain had occupied for so many years, and in the place where he had been accustomed to sit there rested to-day a superb cross of white and cream roses, tulips and im- mortelles, a gift from the following young ladies of St. Albans: The Misses Taylor, Cross, White, Powell, Wallace, Bogert, Bacon, Landor, Wise, Mackintosh, Jarvis, and Bancroft. The baptismal font was filled with superb tropical plants of Yucca palm and ferns, and adorned with lilies and smilax. The en- tire edifice was touching in its sombre shadows, but beautiful in all its floral loveliness. Among those in attendance at the church was Lady Stanley of Preston, wife of the Governor-General, who was accompanied by Lord Kilcoursie, A.D.C., Mrs. Colville and Mrs. Herbert, the III ti- i 19 ■ ■SUP . I' 606 LIFE OF SIR JOHN A. MACDONALD, ladies attired in deep mourning. The procession was most solemn and included nearly all, if not all, the Anglican clergy of the city. The coffin containing the remains of the dead Pre- mier was borne in attended by the pall-bearers and followed by the relatives of the deceased, led by Mr. Hugh John Mac- donald and his little son Jack, the Premier's only grands Dn. When all had been admitted for whom decorum demanded an assured place, the doors were thrown open and as many of the multitude outside as could find standing: surged into the Church. The service was most solemn and impressive and all present joined in spirit in psalm and prayer over the mighty dead. The service was read by Rev. Mr. Bogert, incumbent of St. Alban's. The service concluded, the procession re-formed and the march to the station was begun. The gathering storm had come closer and was now imminent. The procession had not got half way to the station when the inky clouds broke in a terrific down-pour, scattering spectators and many of the pedes- trians in the procession. A special train had been made up to carr}'" the remains and those who were to attend them to Kingston, and on the arrival of the cortege the coffin was reverently borne from the hearse to the car which had been prepared for its reception. The whole train was heavily draped in emblems of mourning. About a quarter past four the train started. At Carleton, Smith's Falls, and Sharbot Lake, where short stops were made, vast throngs of people were found assembled, thus paying the last tribute of love and respect for the Chieftain. At many smaller places the people turned out to see the train go by, and at wayside stations and farm houses men stood with heads uncov- ered as the train flew past. It was twenty minutes past ten o'clock when the train rolled into Kingston with the mortal remains of the Old Limestone City's most distinguished son now nearing their last resting- place. An immense throng had assembled and were waiting patiently in solemn silence the coming of the dead. When the train ceased to move, the clock over the town hall began to toll, and the ringing continued for an hour. A battery was pres- THE FUNERAL. 507 ent in full force and formed two lines from the train to the City Hall. Eight constables stepped forward and received the casket, which was covered with magnificent wreathr • nd other floral tributes. The spectacle, as the procession moved from the train towards the building under the vivid glare of the electric light, was solerim in the extreme. First came Mayor Drennan, then the oasket, members of the City Council, every member of the Cabinet, Senators, M.P.'s and friends from Ottawa. A squau of cadets was formed around the bier when the corpse arrived, and immediately they formed a body guard. On the casket being deposited at the City Hall, the cover was quickly removed, and the guard of honor settled into position. Then the members of the Cabinet passed the coffin and viewed the face of their beloved Chieftain for the last time. Not one went through the ordeal with dry eyes. Some of them, particu- larly Sir Hector Langevin, were very much affected, and aged men were seen to weep as the}' proceeded on towards the means of exit. The sadness of the scene was remarked by many. Half an hour later the doors were thrown open and the crowds be- gan to surge in. They passed iu one door and out at another, so that confusion was avoided and thousands had their desire gratified. The passing to and fro was continued till midnight, at which time the crowd lessened and dispersed to their homes. While this solemn ceremony was going on in alike the Capital and in the home of the Premier's boyhood, all Canada joined in spirit in honoring the dead. In every town and city business was suspended, while during the hours when the funeral piocession was to take place bells tolled from church steeples throughout the whole Dominion, On Thursday, the eleventh of June, the body of Canada's greatest statesman was to be i'aid away from mortal sight for- ever. Kingston was early astir. People from outside began to pour in soon after daybreak, and long before the hour fixed for the funeral the city was uncomfortably crowded. Yet so general was the impression of the importance of the occasion* BO keen the sense of personal loss on the part of every man and woman who desired to take part in the ceremony, even as ...f-;;r ■,v. i- it; I t , 603 LIFE OF SIE JOHN A. MACBONALD. spectator, that the crowd never lost its character of a funeral assemblage. As early as five o'clock that morning citizens began to has<,en toward the city buildings, where the remains were lying in state. A continuous stream of people kept passing through the hall, and the crush was so great at times that the doors had to be closed. Soldiers and policemen were on hand to prevent confusion, but frequently they were unable to do so. The mayor estimated that fully lo.OOO people viewed the remains before he gave the order to replace the lid on the casket. It was no uncommon thing to see old citizens weeping as they left the building. Had the funeral been postponed, the demand to view the remains would not have been satisfied within the day, as when the doors were closed at 12,30 p.m. thousands had collected in the streets in front of the hall intent on gaining admission. At 1.30 o'clock Ontario Street in the neighborhood of the city hall was densely crowded. It was at that point and in the ad- jacent squares that the funeral procession was being organized by the civic officials. This was done quietly and with due re- gard for the solemn character of the proceedings. It was 2.45 p.m. when the casket was raised to the shoulders of eight men of A Battery and slowly borne to the street. It was preceded hy the officiating clergymen and the pall-bearers. Instantly the bells began to toll with slow and regular stroket^, and thou- sands of heads were bared. The hearse stood in the centre of the street awaiting its burden of distinguished clay. It was heavily draped and was drawn by eight horses from A Battery, suitably caparisoned and 1-ed by men in uniform. The casket having been placed in position and the wreaths of Her Majesty the Queen and His Excellency the Governor-General placed thereon, the officer in command gave the order to march. In low, plaintive tones the combined bands of A Battery and the 14th Prince of Wales' Own Rifles began a funeral dirge, and the cortege moved forward in regular order. As the wailing notes of the music were heard, an impressive hush came over the vast concourse in Princess Street, and they waited in 1 '• ^w* TILU FUNEIIAL. 50D patience for the sombre pageant to appear. As the procession moved into the main thoroughfare, running the full length of the city, it was observed to be IN THE FOLLOWING ORDER: Kingston Police Force, in command of Chief Horsey. 4'.h Regiment of Cavalry, eight abreast, in command of Col. Duff. Combined Bands of A Battery and 14th P. W. O. Rifles. Ven. Archdeacon Jones and ilev. .J, J. Bogert. Cur of Floral Offerings. THE HEARSE, drawn bv ei^ht led horses. Pallbearers, being members of the late Cabinet. Hon. J. " ans. First carriage of mourners, containing Mr. H. J. Macdonald, Col. Mac- pherson. Rev. Dr. Williamson, and Mr. Georgo Sparkes. Second carriage of mourners, containing Dr. Powell, Mr. F. White, Mr, Joseph Pope, and Mr. Vankoughnet. In parallel lines, extending as guard, A battery, under Major Drury. The Royal Military College cadets and Kingston Littery, under Capt. Wilmot. Carriage containing Col. Sir Ca&imir Czowski, representing Her Majesty the Queen, and Lieut. -Col. Smith, of the Governor- General's staff. Carriage containing Sir Alexander Campbell, Hon. 0. Mowat, Commander Law, A.L-.C, and Sir Roderick Cameron, of New York. Carriage containing His Grace Archbishop Cleary ; His Grace's Secretary, Father Kelly ; Father Corbett, of Cornwall parish, and Father Mc Williams, of Kingston. Carriage containing Rev. Dr. Wardrope, Moderator of the Presbyterian General Assembly, and Rev. Dr. Reid, Clerk of the Presbyterian Church in Canada. Carriage containing Major-Gen. Cameron, Commander R 31 .C. Members of the Senate and House of Commons. Guard composed of 14th P.W.O. Rifles, in command of J^Iajor Powers. Ontario Legis'ature. Representative Clergy of all the Denominations. Judges of the Superior and County Courts. Deputy-jMinister of the Interior, Mr. A. M. Burgess. Deputy-Minister of Public Works, Mr. A. Gobell. Deputy-Minister of Railways and Canals, Mr. T. Trudeau. CoUingwood Schreiber, Chief Engineer of Government Railways. Officers of the Canadian Militia in reversed order of seniority. „ V y 610 LIFE OF SIB JOHN A. MACDONALD. vN J ■ >,>■ Then followed the represontatives of munioipal corporations headed by those of Kingston, clubs, organizations and societies of various kinds, in- cluding many from distant parts of the country. Along the principal portion of Princess Street every available foot of ground nob actually taken up by the marchers was occu- pied by spectators. The masses of people were not so great as at Ottawa, but they seemed greater for the reason that there was more concentration. The route lay along one street, and to that point the people of the city and thousands of visitors flocked. As the imposing procession moved along and the hearse passed by, every head was bared, and to the tribute of respectful silence there was in many cases added the tribute of loving tears. The drapings of mourning were general along the line of march, and were not limited at all to places of busi- ness. Some of the private houses were draped with em- blems of sorrow. The distance to the cemetery was three full miles. This, with the return, was more than most walkers were able to undertake, loyal and loving as was their purpose, and hence, according to arrangement, they halted just outside the city limits and allowed the procession of vehicles to pass between their ranks. There were about a hundred of the marchers who considered no sacrifice too great for their chief- tain, and they pushed onward to the cemetery. This brave contingent embraced a score or more of members, ex-members, and senators, as well as the full civic delegation from Ottawa. Long hours before the funeral cortege came into view, people wended their way through the gates of the ceme- tery. A continuous stream of vehicles drave along the road from Kingston. The trains ran every hour, and hundreds walked the entire three miles rather than miss the closing scene in the career of the great chieftain. Over the undulating and beautifully kept grounds they swarmed to the hillside where is the family burying plot of the Macdonalds, and there they halted and massed in solifl depth about the enclosure. The square plot has the usua_ iron railing, a square granite column with the names "Macdonald," and " Williamson" on the base, the grave of Mrs. Williamson, Sir John's sister, on the right, • I Ij THE FUNERAL. 611 the grave of Sir John's father and mother on the left. Be- tween the pillar and the mother's grave is that of the chieftain. The great stone flags in which the coffin was to be enclosed were all in j)lace, save the two that composed the lid, which were held in position ready for use by tackle. The people were allowed to file through and look at the grave, and thousands availed themselves of the opportunity. Presently the word ran among the thousands upon the hill- sides that the funeral procession was in sight. Far up the road it could be seen wending along its slow and solemn way. Presently it entered the grounds, the dragoons now in advance and the Cabinet Ministers following the hearse in carriages. Slowly it came until the side of the open grave was reached, where, borne by eight stout artillerymen, the casket was placed in the shell and lowered into the tomb. The scene will hardly ever be forgotten by those who wit- nessed it, — the mourners at the foot of the grave, the colleagues of the dead Premier ranged by its side, the thousands upon thousands standing with bared heads as the last rites were per- formed. Venerable Archdeacon Jones, in his flowing white robes and scarlet cape, and Rev. Mr. Bogert, also in full canoni- cals, assisted by half a dozen minor clergy, performed the ceremony. It was very simple, the short yet beautiful and impressive burial service of the Anglican church, but when as the minister uttered, '• Earth to earth, dust to dust, ashes to ashes," the earth clods struck the coffin with hollow sounds, there -were few dry eyes in all that great assemblage, and those }Dresent manifested the feelings which were those of the nation. It was soon over, the mourners and Cabinet Ministers took a last lingering look into the grave, the tackle was loosened, the great stone lids of the sarcophagus fell into their beds. Molten lead was poured into the crevices, a layer of cement covered all, and the remains of the man the people had so loved and honoured were left in the resting-place where, when in life, he had desired they should be laid. li iW. Ifi'll'tll" '^ \ Wi <'^- :■-■:■.^^. V'^-' --■'^IV-'V^ft '..v<.'- (I 'f*;;,r-. ^..^TivArvn-y.,;;^? :,:^>.':\;^!';t-'^'.-v.«.'^* CHAPTER XXIX. LAST APPKAL TO THE ELECTORS. i: * T lllE last address of Sir John MacJonald to the electors of Canada was issued at the oldening of the campaign of 1891, and dated 7th of February in that year. is the text of the address : — The following To the Electors of Canada : Gentlejien, — The momentoua questions now engaging public atten- tion liaving, ir the opinion of the Miniitry, reached that stage when it is desirable that an opportunity should be given to the people of expressing at the polls their views thereon, the Governor-General has been advised to terminate the existence of the present House of Commons and to issue writs summoning a new Parliament. This advice His Excellency has «een fit to approve, and you, therefore, will be called upon withia a ahoi't lime to elect members to represent you in the great council of the nation. I shall be a oandidato for the representation of my old constituency, the City of Kingston. In Holicitinii at your hands a renewal of the confidence which I have en- joyed as a Minister of the Crown for thirty years, it is. I think, convenient that I should take advantage of the occasion to define the attitude of the Government in which I am First Minister towards the leading political issues of the day. As in 1878, in 18S2, and again in 1887, so in 1891, do questions relating to the trade and commerce of the country occupy a foremost place in the public mind. Our policy in respect thereto is to-day what it has been for the past thirteen years, and is directed by a firm determination to foster and develop the varied resources of the Dominion by every means in our power consistent with Canada's position as an integral portion of the British Empire. To that end we have laboured in the past, and we pro- pose to continue in the work to which we have applied ourselves, of build- ing up on this continent, under the flag of England, a great and powerful nation. When, in 1878, we were called upon to administer the affairs of the Do- minion, Canada occupied a posititm in the eyes of the world very difl'orent 512 »»»' - ■."-■.,■■ < < h- H O \- Z UJ < IJ < 0. < cc Hi z LlI I i |: 1 ; ■ ' ;HI lU : ill *S/iJ J.t in seven years after the assumption of ofhce by the present Administration the dreai.; of our public men was an accomplished fact, and I myself experienced the proud satisfaction of looking back from the steps of my car upon ihe Rocky Mountains fringing the eastern sky. The Canadian Pacific Railway now extends from ocean to ocean, open- ing up and developing the country at a marvulloui rate aud forming an imperial highway to the east, over which the trade of the Indies is des- tined to reach the markets of Europe. We have subsidized steamship lines on both oceans— to Europe, China, Japan, Australia and the West Indies. We have spent millions on the extension and improvement of our canal system. We have, by liberal grants of subsidies, piomoted the building of railways, now become an absolute necessity, until the who'e country is covered as with a network ; and we have done all this with GG :^' -il \% I t i \ N C14 LIFE OF SIR JOHN A. MACDOXALD. f I ■uch pnulunco and caution that our credit in the inouuy matketa of the world in hi^^her to-day than it has evor been, and the rate of irterest on our debt, which is the true maasure uf the public burdens, ii leas than il was when we took office in 1878. During all this time wltat has been the attitude of the Uufurm party ? Vacillatin;; in their policy, and inconstancy itself. As regards their luai- ors, they have at least been consistent in this particular, t!»at Ihey have uniformly opposed every measure which had for its object tlio dovolop- ment of our common country. The National Policy was a failui'e hofore it had been tried. Under it we could not possibly riise a revenue iufti- oient for the public requirements. Time exposed that fallacy. Then, we were to pay more for th^ home utanuf•■.■ '?j^*t. ■rr LAST APPEARANCE IN THE HOUSE, 619 raised by Opposition attacks upon men for whom tfc3 Premier was determined to demand fair play — Mr. Perley, Chief Engineer of the Public Works Department, and Sir Charles Tupper. There were other matters also upon which he spoke, and altogether he took a more active and sustained part in the debate than was his custom. Mr. Perley suffered attack inci- dentally in the McGreevy scandal, as it was claimed that the wrongful act alleged to have been committed could not have been committed except through his culpable neglect of duty. The House was in Committee of Supply, and that item in the estimates was reached covering the salaries of officers of the Public Works Department. Sir Kichard Cartwright asked whether Mr. Perley had been suspended or not, and Mr. McMullen opposed the vote so far as it was made to cover Mr. Perley's salary. Mixed up with this was the criticism of another salary, because the recipient of it was said to have taken an active part in the general election. The following is from Hansard immediately following Mr. McMullen's speech : — Sir John A. Macdonald. With respect to the statement by my hon. friend from Bothwell (Mr. Mills) and my hon. friend from South Oxford (Sir Richard Cartwri<;ht), that the subject would be brought up as to the extent to which it is legitimate for civil servants to interfere in political contests, I have nothing to say just now. The hon. member for Wel- lington (Mr. McMullen) says that it is very discourteous for us to move this vote for the salary of the Chief Engineer of Public Works from the Ist July next until the 1st July, 1892. The reason why the vote waa postponed the other night was that the House was exceedingly thin, and by a sort of arrangement across the floor we agreed that the Committee should rise and report progress and that the question on this vote should remain as it was. Now, however, it comes up in the ordinary way. As I have already taken occasion to say, this is not a question of Mr. Perley personally at all ; it is a question of whether Parliament will provide a salary for the Chief Engineer of Public Works. That Department mrat have such an officer, and that salary is to be given- to the officer who haopens to be the Chief Engineer on the 1st July next. It is to be understood that Mr. Perley's conduct is to be under review this session by the Committee on Privileges and Elections, and I hope that long before the 1st of July next, the truth or falsehood of the statements concerning Mr. Perley will be investiguted and decided upon by the Committee in the first place, and hy the House in the second place. If ilt^ i^" h'\ m 1'' ! I'H'.I vl '■'?-■■ ■■!•'". 620 LIFE OF SIR JOHN A. MACDONALD. ^'J any improprieties are proven against Mr. Perley, the House will deal with that, and another Chief Engineer will be appf)inted ; but there must be a Chief Engineer, and this is not a vote for Mr. Perley, but for whoever happens to be Chief Engineer at the time. Now, as to the question of suspension, I at once say that I will never agree to suspend a respectable man who hitherto has had a good character, who still holds a responsible position, and who has been trusted for years, because char)j;e8 are brought against him and not yet proven. I would not keep my place for a moment if that were done, and if such a practice is introduced, it must he introduced by a Government of which I am not a member. I will stick to the English practice, that every man should be considered inno- cent until he is proven guilty, Mr. MiiiLS (Bothwell). I am rather surprised at the last proposition laid down by the Prime Minister, Certainly, the appropriation we are now askud to vote is an appropriation to be paid after the 1st July. Sir John A. Macdoi'alij. To bo earned after the Ist July. Mr. Mills (Bothwell), Yes, " earned " after the 1st July, and it may be earned by someone else than Mr. Perley. There is no doubt that no one is disputing that proposition, but the proposition in which the Housd is interested is to know what action the Government have taken with re- gard to a person who if he remains in office will earn this salary of Chief Engineer. The First Minister has just stated that until the truth of this charge is established he will not suspend Mr. Perley, but supposing Mr, Perley were charged with murder, would the hon. gentleman apply that rule : how would it be in that case ? Sir John A. Macdonald. If he were charged with murder he would be charged before a magistrate and there would be sworn evidence against him, and he would be put upon his trial and he could not perform his duties. Mr, Mills (Bothwell). But he might be bailed out, and I suppose that if he should be bailed the hon. gentleman would still continue him in office. I do not undt-rstand the English rule to be as the hon. gentleman has laid down. What makes the matter inportant in this particular is that Mr. Perley is charged with certain acts which affect him in his char- acter as Chief Engineer. Sir John A. Macdonald I have not seen such charges. Mr. Mills (Bothwell). Well, I understand such charges have been made. Sir John A. Macdonald. The hon. gentleman does hot k.. jw the charges, and yet he asks for a suspension. Ho does not know what the charges are, or whether there are any charges at all. Mr. Mills (Bothwell.) The charges are before the House, and it is pretty clear the First Minister has not read them. Now, what is the English practice. I will take the case of Lord Melville. In 1805, Lord LAST APPEARANCE IN THE HOUSE. 521 ■ P I mno- Melville, who was then First Lord of the Admiralty, wfas impeached by the House of Commons for certain irregularities committed while holding the office of Treasurer of the Navy. / Iter a criminatory vote had been carried by the House, Lord Melville resigned his position as a Minister of the Crown, although his irial had not yet taken place. The rule that a man is to be considerri iiinocent until guilt is established did not pre- vent his resignation, and it was deemed expedient to erase his name from the list of Privy Corncillors, although he was afterwards acquitted of the charge preferred against him. That is the English ru'e. Sir John Thompson. There was first the criminatory vote. Mr. Mills (Bothwell). It was just such a vote as was given here. Sir John Thompson. It was just such a vote as might follow condem- nation by the Committee on Privileges and Elections, and Lord Melville did not resign until then. Mr. Mills (BothwelJ). It was a vote which put Lord Melville, better known as Sir Henry Dundas, on his tr:al. We h-'ve certain charges made against persons here, and the question has been referred to the Committef on Privileges and Elections, and the enquiry of the Committee is exactly such an enquiry as takes place upon an impeachment. Sir John A. Macronald. Oh ! Mr. Mills (Bothwell). The hon. gentleman says " Oh ! " but I say that is the case. It is for the purpose of ascertaining whether the party is guilty or innocent of Ihe charge. It is a preliminary trial, for the Com- mittee on Privileges and Elections have no power to punish. They report to this House, they perform the particular functions that are performed by the House of Lords in the case of impeachment, but the fact that they have not power to give an effective judgment with a view to punishment does not at all a?ter the case in this particular. I stated to the House the other day, and 1 stated, I think, with perfect fairness, that when these charges were made the persons who are to prepare the necessary papers with a view to bring them before the Committee, should not be the per- scus who stand charged. It is a well settled rule of law that a man is not to be a j udge in his own case, and when you place in the hands of the Chief Engineer any part of the collection and arrangement and prepara- tion of the papers which an hon. member of this House said were neces- sary for the purpose of establishing the case against him, you are depart- ing from that rule, for you are making him to some extent a proseciil'^r against himself. It does seem to me that the last proposition laid down by the First Minister is indefensible, and entirely at variance with the principles of our law and with the rule that is followed in the United Kingdom. Sir John A. Maodonald. I am afraid that my hon. friend from Both- well (Mr. Mills) is not observing his usual accuracy, or rather that his memory has failed him when he referred to the case of Lord Melville and i i tj ! f . ; ;•;■ r- r.vi'ir ■, ;C'-;'f' ', V ^^\ i^^iUX^' r'v,""''^''" ■V 523 LIFE OF SIR JOHN A. MACDONALD. his impeachmont. That case and the one under diacussion are not anal- ogous at all ; on the contrary, If the n. gentleman will look back at the history of that case he will find that vhen Lord Melville was First Lord of the Admiralty thore were charges brought against Sir James Trotter, a subordinate officer of the Admiralty, and an attempt, made to connect Lord Melville with them, somewhat, perhaps, under circumstances simi- lar to this case. Lord Melville, upon these charges being brought against him, did not resign, and Mr. Pitt did not ask him to rebign, and he re- mained in office more than a year, perhaps for two years, while the evidence was taken inculpating him, as the majority on the committee believed, as being connected with, or conniving at, or submitting to the impropriety of Sir James Trotter. During all the time of that investi- gation, which is similar to the investigation by the Committee on Priv- ileges and Elections, Lord Melville remained First Lord of the Admiralty, It Wi,8 not until tha committee reported, censuring Lord Melville and connecting him with the improprieties committed by Sir James Trotter to such an extent that the House of Commons took it, as a condemnTMion and impeached him of hij^h crimes and misdemeanours, that he resigned. In addition to that. Lord Melville was a political officer as the hon. gentle- man knows, and ought to command the implicit confidence of Parliament, and he conld not with propr'ctj ■n his ('ffice. I remember another case, that oi Lord Henry Lennox, who was Chief Commissioner of Works. When he was charged he rose in his place voluntarily and he said that ho desired to resign and to fight his battle alone. He denied the charges and he said he wished to fight his battle independent of Parliament, and not to cloak himself with any supposed influence he might have as being a member of the Government, and he did not wish that anything con- nected with the charges against him should in any way, directly or indir- ectly, affect the Government, or that they might be supposed to be con- niving with him, or supporting him against the charges. However, the case of Lord Melville is precisely a case in support of my argument and contention. Sir RicHAKD Cabtwright. That may be, but I think that every mem- ber of this House who will look at this matter with reasonable impartial- ity, will feel that it is an unfortunate thing that a gentleman who ie charged with very great crimes and misdemeanours should be the person whose official duty it is to submit these documents for the investigation of the committee. I state — and this as my own individual opinion — that I believe that the hon. Mioister of Public Works would have better consulted his own dignity, would have better consulted the dignity of the Parliament of Canada, and the interest of the Government, if he had for the time beiug changed office with some of his colleagues. That, howevt-r, I am not disposed to insist on further than to state that I be- lieve ho would have done well to have done so. But the hon First Min- LAST APPEARANCE IN THE HOUSE. 623 later, if I understood him rightly just now, stnted that no charges had been preferr/^d" against Mr. Perley. Well, I find the hon. gentleman who brought this matter forward, among other things states : " That the said Thomas McGreevy used his influence aa amemher of this House with the Department of Public Work", and in particular with Henry F. Perley, Esq., to induce him to report to the Quebec Harbour Commission in favor of the payment of said sum c f 35 cents per cubic yard. "That the correspondence on this subject between Henry F. Perley and Larkiii, Connolly & Co., before the Quebec Harbour Cummissioners were consulted, took place at the suggestion of the said Thomas McGreevy, and wus conductod with his knowledge and participation in Huch a manner as to conceal from the eyes of Parliament and of the public the corrupt chiracter of the contract, iu connection with which he had received $27,000." I think these are very strong charges against Mr. Perley. Sir John A. MACDojfAiiU. Against Mr. MjGrreevy. Sir Richard Cartwright. They implicate Mr. Perley very griev- ously. Sir John A. Macdonald. An inference may be drawn from these statements alfecting Mr. Perley, but they contain no direct charge against him. They charged that Mr. McGreevy used his influence with Blr. Perley, hut it is not said that Mr. Perley yielded to the seductions of Mr, McGreevy. The debate was continued by Sir Richai-d Cartwright, Mi-. Foster, and Mr. McNeil, and then Sir Richard spoke again, claiming that it was wrong to allow Mr. Ptrley to retain his office, because it would be part of his official duty to prepare the documents for reference to the Committee on Privileges and Elections, before which the case involving Mr. Perley's own honour was to be tried. Sir John (and these were his last words on this subject) answered as follows : — Sir John A. Macdonald — The hon. gentleman makes a mistake in supposing that Mr. Perley has anything to do with the preparation or custody of the documents. All the papers are in the hands of the deputy head, Mr. Gobeil, and Mr. Perley can only have access to them through the intervention of iVlr. Gobeil . The debate on the suhject soon afterwards dropped, and the item was carried. The next item discussed was a vote of a similar character, for the salaries of officers in the Depart- ment of Railways and Canals. Mr. Foster explained, among other things, that there was a decrea.se in the estimated salary of the deputy of this department of $1 ,400, leading Sir Richard ^*,' ■ «■ 524 LIFE OF SIR JOHN A. MACDONALD. Cartwrighfc to ask if the Deputy Minister was to be dispensed with, leaving the duties to Mr. Schriebev, chief engineer of rail- ways. The debate proceeded. Sir John A. Macdonald. Mr. Trudeau has been for many years the Deputy head, Mr. Schrieber, the Chief Engineer of Railways, and the lamented Mr. Page, Chief Engineer of Canals. Mr. Trudeau being an engineer, and especially a hydraulic engineer, as well as Mr. Page, he and Mr. Page acted together for years in connection with the construction of canals and the improvement of the St. Lawrence and other waterways, so that when Mr. Page suddenly died it was thought better that Mr. Tru- deau, while still retaining office as Duputy head, should be Mr. Page's successor as Chit f Engineer of Canals to carry out the plans which had been settled pretty much by them in concert. Mr. Trudeau is now the Deputy head of the Department of Railways and Canals, and also the Chief Engineer of Canals, and will continue to be so until it is found that the work is too much for him, and some engineer is trained to take the place of Mr. Page. In the meantime, the salary of the Deputy head i» saved. Sir Richard Cartwright. Is it as Deputy of Chief Engineer that Mr. Trudeau is paid ? Sir John A. Macdonald. He is the Deputy head and Chief Engineer, but draws only the salary of Chief Engineer, which is ^(i,UOO. Ho draws the larger and drops the smaller salary. Sir Richard Cartwright. I have no doubt Mr. Trudeau is a good officer, but I rather suspect that the hon. gentleman, if he finds it neces- sary to replace the Chief Engineer, will find that he has landed himpelf in a dilemma ; for, unless Mr. Trudeau is built on entirely different principles from most men, it would b ? very diaagretable for him, after enjoying a salary of S6,000, to fall back upon one of 31,^^00. Sir John A. Macdonald. He will not do that. Sir RioHAUD Cartwrioiit. Not if he can help it, I am quite sure, but ihe difficulty is this, that if Mr. Trudeau is to continue va Deputy head, and a Chief Engineer be afterwards appointed, you will have the anom- aly that you will have one Deputy head drawing ^6,0U0, and a great many others drawing $3,200, and you will find a strike for higher wages on their part. Sir John A. Macdonald. I do not see any fear of that. Mr. Trudeau is now receiving f6,CO0, and as long as he remains in the service he will continue to receive that salary. It is rather an anomaly that the Deputy head, the permanent head of the Department, should receive less salary than the two engineers. Mr. Trudeau is an experienced engineer himself, and the only consequence will be that if it is found he requires assistance, he will still be Deputy head and Chief Engineer, and will get LAST APPEARANCE IN THE HOUSE. 625 an asaistnnt who will be quite aatistied to take the $4,000 and wait for an increase, as Mr. Triideau, like bin political head at this moment, is not a young man, and we may both retire together. Mr. McMri-LEN. I notice that in the year before last wo only spent $44,0CO, and this year we are asked for $50,000. Now that we have complet- ed a great many of our public works, we ought to be able to make a consid- erable reduction in the expenditure of the statl' rt;quired in this Depart- ment. Certainly the same amount of work that was going on a few years ago is not now being discharged by the Department of Railways and Canals. A great many railways are now built which formerly necessi* tated the employment of a large staff, and, though there is some reduc- tion, I think there should be a larger leduction in this expense. Sir John A. Macdonald. In regard to railways, there will be, and there ought to be, ere long a reduction in the engineering stall", because there is no new railway work going on escape the Extension Railway and the railway running throui^h Cape Breton. As to canals, however, there is an increased amount of work. The Williamsburg Canal and the Corn- wall Canal are now worked up to higli pressure in order to have our great waterway finished as soon as possible, and we are entering upon the con- struction of the Sault Ste. Marie Canal, eo that there will be no reduction for some yeais to come in that branch. Sir RiCHAKD Caktwkight. The ho!). gentleman did not refer to any increased expenses on the Trent Valley Canal. Sir John A. Macdonald. That depends upon the support we get from both sides of the House, including my hon. friend. Mr. Baruon. The First Minister telegraphed that a grant was to be made this year to complete the Trent Valley Canal. Sir John A. Macdonald. I think the hon. gentleman's memory is not quite cornet. Mr. Barkon. I have seen the telegram, and it says that the Trent Valley Commissioners have reported in favour of the completion of that canal, and that Parliament will be asked this session for a vote for that purpose. So I suppose there will be a considerable sum for that work in the Supplementary Estimates. I would call the attention of the Minister to the fact that the railway bridge at Fenekn Falls, to which reference has BO often been made, is still there, preventing barges of any size from going down. Mr. Foster. This does not come under this item, which refers only to the officers in the inside service. Mr. Barron. I only desire to call the attention of the First Minister to this matter now, so that he might see that it is attended to. Sir John A. Macdonald. They have been called upon for many years without effcict, and 1 am afraid that, unless the Govermeat takes decided action, matters will remain as lliey are. M \ I '■ \ h, ■I 1 I' I 1'.' V > 626 LIFE OF SIR JOHN A. MACDONALD. Sir KicuAUi) CAUTWRKiiiT. Porhapn, under present circamstancea^ more decided action may bo takun. I may point out that my hon. friend has not been altot^ether forgotten. The completion of the Trent Valley Canal is provided for by a vote of ^70,000 in the current year, and accord- ing to the Katimates before ua, we have spent no leaa than 82,000, and a re-vote of $7-1,000 will be asked, which I hope will aatiafy my hon. friend. When the House rose for recess at six o'clock, the item of salaries in the olHce of the High Commissioner in London was under discussion. On resuming in the eveniqg it became evi- dent that the Opposition planned a direct and vigorous attack upon the High (Jommissioner, Sir Charles Tupper. Dr. Landerkin, Mr. JMcMullen and others spoke, and Sir John listened but said nothing. Ho seemed as bright as ever and showed no signs of the calamity which was so soon to come upon him. At length Mr. Paterson of Brant spoke To no man on the Opposition side was Sir John wont to listen with greater attention than he usually did to Mr. Paterson. The member for South Brant read an extract from Sir Charles Tupper's Kingston speech stating that he was there at Sir John's request to convey a message to his friends in Kingston. ^Ir. Patei-son asked if it was true that he had sent Sir Charles Tupper there, adding "If the First Minister will favour us with a rc[)ly then perhaps we might be able to follow it up with in- quiries in other directions." According to Hansard the debate then proceeded. Sir John A. Macdonald. Well, Mr. Chairman, I cannot resist the seductive tones of niyvhon. friend and I may answer him : Sir Charles Tupper did go there at my request and he made the speech at my in- tance, and I fancy that his speech must have had a considerable influence, because in the previous election I was elected by a majority of seventeen, and after Sir Charles Tupper made this ;peech 1 was elected by a majority that only wanted seventeen of 500. You see 1 was pretty wise in my generation in asking Sir Charles to go there and make a speech for me. Mr. Patehson (Brant). You would be wise if you stopped him at that point. Sir John A. Macdonald. I will go a little further, and I will say that Sir Charles Tupper came out from England to give us the advantage of his skill and influence and eloquence, at my special request. ■ -Vsji y k . LAffT APrEAnAXCE IN THE HOUSE. f)27 Subsequently Mr. Patursoii went on to spoak of the meeting at Windsor addressed by Sir Charles, and continued : — *' But the result was that the gontlemau ao supported, and who was, I think, the chairman of the Central Committee of the great Liberal-Conservative organization of the whole Province of OnLario, was df f'uated and my hon. friend from Essex (Mr. Mc- Gregor) was rci uned by %' ^'j" Photographic Sciences Cbrporation # Q •1>^ V ^ ^^ \\ ^ 530 LIFE OF SIR JOHN A. MACDONALD. J, 4 had occupied so prominent a position both in Parliament and in the coun- cils of the cotintry for so long a time that we should exhibit some sign of mourning in this House to-day, and I took the responsibility of ordering that the symbols of mourning which are shown here to-d&y should be put up this morning, and I venture to express tlie hope that hon. members on both sides, irrespective altogether of politics, will sustain me in the action I have taken. Hon. Members. — Hear, hear. Sir Hector Langevin — Mr, Speaker, having to announce to the House the sad event that has been known for two days now, I was afraid I could not trust to my memory, and I therefore thought it desirable to place in writing what I wished to say. Accordingly, I will now read the observations which I desire to offer. Mr. Speaker. — As the oldest Privy Councillor, it falls to my lot to announce to the House that our dear old chief, the First Minister of Canada, is no more. After a painful illness of two weeks death put an end to his earthly career on Saturday last. To tell you, Mr. Speaker, my feelings under the circumstances is more than I can do. I feel that by the death of Sir John Macdonald Canada has lost its greatest statesman — a great patriot, a man of whom any country in the world w^-uld be justly proud. Her Majesty, our gracious Queen, never had a more devoteO and loyal subject than the Grand Old Man whose loss we all deplore and regret from the bottom of our hearts. For nearly fifty years he has directed the public affairs of this country. He was among the fathers of Confederation the most prominent and distinguished. He put his whole soul in that great undertaking, knowing full well that the confederation of all the British North American provinces would give to our people a country and institutions to be proud of, and to the Empire not only a right arm, but a great and safe highway to her Indian and other possessions. He told me more than once how grateful he was to the people of Canada to have allowed him to have consolidated the great work. The fact is his love for Canada was equal to that he had for his own Mother Country. Mr. Speaker, when the historians of Canada write the history of the last fifty years they will have to write the life of Sir John Macdonald, and in writing his life they may not agree with all his public acts, but they cannot fail to say that he was a grea"; man, a moat distinguished statesman, and that his whole life was spent in the service o' his country, dying in the midst of his official duties, not having had a day's rest before he passed to a better world. £ need not express, Mr. Speaker, my own personal feelings. Having spent half of my life with him as his follower and as his friend, his departure is the same as if I lost half of my existence. I remember how devoted he was, not only to the old province of Canada, but how chivalrous he showed himself to the Province of Quebec, and specially to my French- Canadian countrymen. .,V' . t-' ■■■\* ^r*iv ■*y^ ' HIS FELLOW COMMONEIVS TRIBUTE. 581 lie had only a word to say, and instead of being at the head of a small band of seventeen Upper Canada members he would have had all the re- presentatives of his province behind him, but, as he told mo several times, he preferred to be just to his French compatriots and allies and the result was that when Confederation came the Province of Quebec had confidence in him, and on his deathbed our great chief could see that his just policy has secured peace and happiness to all, Mr. Speaker, I would have wished to continue to speak of our dear departed friond, and spoken to you about his goodness of heart, the witness of which I have been so often, but I feel thj.t I must stop. X.Iy heart is full of tears. I cvnuot proceed further. I move : — "That in the opinion of this House the mortal remains of the Ri^ht Hon. Sir John A. Macdonald, G.C.B., should be publioly interred, and that this House will oncur iu giving tc«*;he ceremony a fitting degree of solemnity and importance." Mr. Laurier — Mr. Speaker, I fully appreciate the motion which the hon. gentleman has just proposed to the House, and we all concur that his silence under the circumstances is far more eloquent than any human language can be. I fully appreciate the intensity of the grief which fiJs the souls of all those who were the. friends and followers of Sir J(jhn A, Macdonald at the loss of the great leader whose whole life has been so closely identified with their party — a party upon which he has thrown Buch brilliancy and lustre. We on this side of the House, who were his opponents, who did not believe in his policy nor in his methods of govern- ment, take our full share of their grief, for the loss which they deplore to day is far and away beyond and above the ordinary compass of party strife. It is in every respect a great national loss, for he is no more who was in many reppects Canada's most illustrious son, and who was in every sense Canada's foremost citizen and statesman. At the period of life to which Sir John A. Macdonald had arrived, death, whenever it comes, cannot come unexpected. Some few months ago, during the turmoil of the last election, when the country was made aware that on a certain day the physical strength of the veteran Premier had not been equal to his courage, and that his intense labour for the time being had prodtrated his. singularly wiry frame, everybody with the exception perhaps of his buoy- ant self was painfully anxious lest, perhaps, the angel of death had touched him with his wings. When a few days ago, in the midst of an angry discussion in this Parliament, the news spread in this House that of a Budden his condition had become alarming, the surging wave of angry discudsion was at once hushed, and everyone, friend and foe, realized that this time for certainty the angel of death had appeared and had crossed the threshold of his home. Thus we were not taken by surprise, and although we were not prepared for the sad event, yet it is almost im- possible to convince the un\S'"Uing mind that it is true that Sir John Mac- d i , ., ■^'» wmm 632 LIFE OF SIM JOHN A. MACDONALD. i- - Q o CO Ui I ! — 111 GC UJ I o /) z ^ »': % ; H !^ ANECDOTES AND INCIDENTS. 537 > ■ ■ was lying at th|hpoint of death, Mr. ferry said : " When he came to Montreal first, politics did not count for much, and the fight was race against race, and religion against religion. When Sir John took the new departure, and went in for union and conciliation, we ultras opposed him, but I now feel that he was right and we were wrong, and my regret to-day is that I did not support him. Ours was village politics, but his was to build up a great Dominion. He said to me once at the Wind- sor hotel . ' Fred, your bark is worse than your bite, and I only wish I had more personal friends like you.' Mr. Perry also related the case of the famous meeting in Dominion Square, when Sir John designated a dozen or more disturbers, with Perry and Jim Stewart at their head, as the Herald brass band. It appears that the noise was made with black bottles, and when the trouble was over the Premier asked Perry to ex- plain to him how he had succeeded in extracting such unearth- ly sounds from the instruments in question. Afcer his old personal friend and political opponent had let Sir John into the secret the old veteran laughed heartily, and said he must give the patent to the boys in Kingston." A follower of Sir John Macdonald in the House of Commons says : — " The first time I met Sir John Macdonald was in the eai)v part of the summer of 1878. He addressed a meeting that night in the amphitheatre in Toronto, and we had one at Seaton Village. After it was over we drove in to the city and went to the U.E. Club, where I was introduced to Sir John. When I went to the Houso of Commons the first session after that election I met Sir John, and though I only met him once, he quickly recognized me and gave me a mcst cordial greeting. A very important factor in his successful career was his re- markable faculty of remembering men's faces and names. A few years ago I was talking to a King Street merchant in the post-office corridor of the Commons. Sir John came along, slapped him on the shoulder and said, ' Hello, Cheeseworth, how are things going in Toronto ? ' to the evident pleasure and surprise of the Torontonion, who marvelled at his prompt re- cognition." ^' n- '4 !, 1 .,!*■" :M. 538 LIFE OF SIR JOHN A. MACBONALD. Mr. Barr (Luke Sharp), the well-known Detroit journalist, at a dinner in Ottawa, told a couple of incidents, showing by con- trast the marvellous power of the Premier in recof^nizing faces, and explaining in part the secret of the " Old Man's " ability to make friends. On one occasion Mr. Barr met in New York a prominent Liberal politician whom he had often met and who he doubted not would at once recognize him. He there- fore advanced with extended hand to greet him. But the other had forgotten him entirely. " Young man," he said, " I'm too old and experienced to be taken in by any New York bunco steerer." On the other hand, he had met Sir John Macdonald, but meeting him again some years after, the greeting came prompt and cheery, " How are you Barr, when did you leave Detroit ? " The last night Sir John was in Parliament, the 22nd of May, was a memorable one. He moved about among the mem- bers nearly the whole evening, Mr Hazen, the member for St. John, M.B., was telling Mr. R. S. White, M.P., an amusing story of some election of 1887, and as Sir John was passing along we insisted that he should tell it to him also, which he did. The old chieftain laughed heartily, and sat down and told a couple of excellent campaign stories, and one about the great English free trader Cobden, as related by himself, and which it was said was the only humorous story Cobden ever told. I then congratulated Sir John on his rapid recovery from his earlier illness, and he said ' Yes, I am getting better, but very slowly.' Asked, after Sir John's death, what he believed to be the ele- ments of tlie great man's success, Hon. Mackenzie Bowell said: " I consider that the chief element in his success was a thorough knowledge, by long study, of human nature, and an unfailing senseof prudence. He never rushed into a conclusion. While others would be impetuous and desirous of pushing the ideas that first suggested themselves, he, during the long years in which I was associated with him, never took action upon any serious matter until he had taken some time for considera- tion. It was doubtless from this habit that he gained the sou- briquet of ' Old To-morrow.' In questions of doubt it was '.'■'t'M ANECDOTES AND INCIDENTS. 539 .IT, r, ■ his invariable practiQe to court the opinions of every colleague before taking actit)n.' Combined with these qualities was a frankness and an unchanging kindliness of disposition with every one with whom he came in contact. This striking fea- ture in his character was often illustrated in the fact that men who came to him with grievances went, away quite satisfied that they had fair treatment." A leading: Conservative Member of Parliament from the Maritime Provinces said of Sir John : " He seemed to be able, as if by instinct, to gauge the average of opinions in the House, and this was true in the larger field of the constituencies as well. No mere strength of intellect could have served him for this purpose. As a mother feels the needs and desires of her child, so Sir John felt the needs, desires and aspirations of the Canadian people by his innate sympathy with them. Cana- dians felt justly that he was one of them, and at one with them. This sympathetic power was shown also in his relations with individuals." I was present at the great outdoor meeting which he held last autumn near Halifax, and can testify to the impression he made there. For a half hour before the «neaking began he forced his way through the thronging thousands, and diffused mirth, geniality and kindly feeling from him as a censer sheds its incense. A negro, the only one in that great crowd, was forcing his way towards Sir John, who immediately advanced to meet him, asked for an introduction, shook his hand and said : "I am glad to see you here. All your people in Ontaiio support me, and 1 hope you are equally sensible." The words were nothing, but their manner called out a hearty cheer from those around, and I venture to say that that humble negro will feel that some virtue has departed fjom Canada when he hears of the great man's death. Hon. George E. Foster, Minister of Finance, had this to Gay of Sir John : — His wealth of reminiscence and vivid portrayal he poured out without stint to his colleagues, and rarely in- deed did a consultation pass without furnishing one or more rich recollections of by-gone days filled with instruction and ■' , ■It- ' ^i . iili I V ! I 540 LIFE OF SIR JOHN A. MACDONALD. valuable precedent. In this regard it is sadly true that w^ shall never look upon his like again. His memory struck me as wonderfully retentive, and repro luced with great exactness and vividness the impressions it had received from experience, observation or reading, and this, aided by his charming man- ner of recital and his apt vocabulary, made him a most fascin- ating and instructive raconteur. He was an omnivorous reader of books, and would often astonish me by allusion to works covering the widest area of biography, history, theology and fiction, the leading features of which he appeared to have thoroughly in hand Often have I inquired at the library for some new book, under the impression that I should find use for it, only to be informed Lhat the Premier had taken it out. Sir John's last words in the House were to the Hon. Mr. Bowell. A little after ten on that faui.ous Friday night the Minister of Customs noticed the Premier looking weary ; going over to his desk he said. " Sir John, you look tired; it's time young fellows like you were at home and in bed. ' " I guoes, I will go home," the chieftain replied, and after a word with Sir Hector, he said, " good night, Bowell," and walked out, never to return,. One of Sir John's particular friends in politics was the Hon. Thomas White, who, when he died, was Minister of the Interior. The friendship between the Premier and Mr. White was ex- ceedingly close, and there are some strange coincidences in their careers. Mr. White has always been credited with taking the stand which nipped in the bud a movement to have Sir John Macdonald deposed from the leadership of the part}'- in the days when it was in opposition. When in 1888 the Premier rose to make mention of the death of his old friend, he burst into tears and was unable to say a word. One of the greatest pieces of campaigning done in late years was the tour made by Sir John Macdonald, through Ontario, in the winter of 1886-7, in company with the Hon. Thomas White, the Hon. J. S. D. Thompson and the Hon. George E. Foster. The special car, " Jamaica," provided them not only with tran.«portation but with sleeping accommodation and '-jt'r. hat w€.' ck me actness rienoe, ? man- fascin- reader works y and have ry for ise for It. >n. Mr, ht the ANECDOTES AND INCIDENTS. bH often with meals, and thus enabled them to cover a great extent of territory in a short time. Two and sometimes three meetings were held every day. In one week 900 miles were traversed, and meetings held in a dozen towns and villages. The comforts of the car were of great value in lessening the fatigue and hardship of travel to the Premier. Sir John left the heavy work of the campaign to his lieutenants, but was careful to gratify the popular wish by putting in an appear- ance at every meeting and making a brief speech. Several times he referred to his advancing years and to the certainty that he would soon retire from the stage. Some words of his at Welland, though spoken jestingly, and greeted with laugh- ter, have now a significance: — "He was sony to say — it was an unfortunate thing — that he could not live forever, and that he must make room for others. He had, however, given them a specimen of his * boys ' that evening. Doubtless the people would weep very much at his retirement, but they would have some consolation in knowing that he would leave behind him worthy successors to take his place." The following from a Napanee correspondent appeared in the Globe: — "At the laying of the corner-stone of the new church at Napanee, about fifteen years ago, the late Rev. Saltern Givens, the first Church of Engknd clergyman at Napanee, was present, and in his address gave some interesting reminis- "cences of his work when the town was a mere hamlet, some- time in the thirties — I forget the year. He said the services weie held in a school house near the village, and it was the custom of several young men to meet one night in the week and practise psalmody, so as to better assist in the Sunday service. ' Among them,' said Mr. Givens, ' was a young man who I am bound to say turned out much more successful as a politician than a singer ; I refer to Sir John A. Macdonald.' " On the last night when Sir John was in the House, the at- tack upon Sir Charles Tupper for taking part in the General Election was being made by the Liberals, Sir John was as fond of a joke as ever. Mr. Paterson of Brant mentioned tiiat the High Commissioner addressed a meeting at Kingston and the •■ v\ •*•' , li k « • ' • r-KjT' 'K«-"' ■i ■,;■ .■'^//..('■■■■^ ,.-:"",<"••■ ,' ••■^■■' ■■.'/■ 542 XJF^ Oi!' SIR JOHN A. MACDONALD. Minister's majority was largely increased. But how was it, he asked, that a like result had not attended his efforts at London and Windsor ? Had the First Minister lost his shrewdness or had Sir Charles lost his eloquence ? The Premier's ready re- sponse was, " I'll tell you what he did, he lost his voice." The first time Mr. Flanagan, the city clerk of Kingston, saw him was in court pleading at the bar. He went home and told his wife that he had heard a fine young lawyer speak, and that he was an Irishman. He thought his name was Mac- donough, but his wife corrected the error and told him who the lawyer was. Sir John is the only man alive who was a member of the Council when Mr. Flanagan was appointed, clsrk. The latter remembers the statesman as an alderman, quite well. He was the life of the Council, and frequently held high revelry at the meetings. At one time he came near causing the officials to resijjn because he advocated their wear- ing a gorgeous uniform, which he described at length while winking at the mayor. He met the late John Shaw on the street and said : — " Mr, Shaw, what shall I do to become popular ? " "Join our lodge and run for alderman," was the reply. Inside of a month he was an Orangeman and an alderman. He was the young men's candidate. The election was very close and keen. He was elected and the young men were so pleased that they improvised a platform on the market, and after Sir John and his friends had mounted it the electors carried it on their shoulders and the result was a capsize. Slush was deep on the ground, and as Sir John brushed his clothes he re- marked, " Isn't it strange I should have a downfall so soon ? " He was only two years in the Council when the young people brought him out for Parliament against Mr. Monohan, whom he defeated. He did not resign his seat in the Council but served to the end of his term. He was most adept in hand- ling committees, and as a rule the side he took prevailed. On one occasion he suggested that the Council elect the mayor. The suggestion was adopted, and the custom was followed for years. He recommended Aid. Grier to run for mayor, and ANECDOTES AND INCIDENTS. 043 when the latter was defeated, Sir John said, " If it is ever in my power to make amends I will do so." Years afterward ho appointed Mr, Grier registrar of Wentworth at a good salary. Besides having great courage in debate, Mr. Flanagan said Sir John was a brave man otherwise. He remembers when a serious fire occurred on Princess Street, and Sir John turned out with the firemen to fight the flames, which spread so rap- idly that the hosemen were unable to get near enough to make the water supply of effective service. Sir John hurriedly nailed a number of boards together and then asked for assist- ance to plant the shield near the building. Mr. Flanagan ap- proached him and said, "Mr. Macdonald, it is reported that there are several kegs of powder in the cellar and that the building will soon blow up," The reply was, " For goodness sake don't make that known, else we will be left alone, and there is no telling where the fire will stop." Raising the shield he carried it forward aiid placed it close to the building. From behind it the hosemen did good service, and the explosion which was feared did not occur. A tale is told of Sir John when he was seriously sick in 1870, and was so reduced that his medical attendant would only give him the soft portion of an oyster and a little claret at a time. Sir John, thouga by no means a great eater, wanted more, and asked for more. " You must bo contented. Sir J ohn," was the reply, " remember, the hopes of Canada are on you." " Well, doctor," said Sir John, " It's a funny thing if the hopes of Canada rest on half an oyster." THE LAST LETTER WRITTEN BY SIR JOHN. The Victoria Colonist i)ub]ishes, on the authority of Hon. Mr. Dewdney and Mr. Joseph Pope, the following, as the last letter written by the late Premier : "Earnscliffe, Ottawa, "May 19, 1891. "My Dear Robson, — It has occurred to me that the present would be an opportune season for your Government to discuss with ours th© various questions atill unsettled between them. ■ i f • t 1 mm 044 LIFE OF Sin JOHN A. MACDONALD. " You, I presume, can get away from Victoria with little or no incon- venience, and you will find us here in Parliamentary session until the 1st of July or later. We will then scatter until October, and at that Beason you, I suppose, will be wanted at home. " Besides it will be a pleasant season for your journey — so, give your- self leave of absence, and Dewdney, you, and I can take up ... . and any other unsolved questions that may remain. Herein fail not. " Yours sincerely, ** JoHX A. Maodonald. "The Hon. John Robson, Premier, etc., Victoria, B.C." I- \f l! r J \ CHAPTER XXXIIl. SIR JOHN AT HOMC — LADY MACDONALD. rPHE biographer who properly respects the privacv of domestic A. life must necessarily be under restraint in taking the reader with him across the porcj,ls of the home. Any sketch of the character and career of the deceased Premier would, neverthe- less, be singularly incomplete which did not touch, however briefly, on Sir John in private life. The genial and lovable qualities that so distinguished the man and endeared him to all classes of the people, found their freest and heartiest ex- pression in the bosom of his family. Within the domestic cir- cle he displayed to the full those charming dispositions and graces which, abroad, make him the idol of the public. " He is a very prince at his own board," was the remark of a dis- tinguished guest at Earnscliffe who had been wont to enjoy the hospitalities of the Premier. " That winning grace of manner which those who do not know him think he wears for politi- cal purposes in public life, shines out still more brightly in the domestic and social sphere, that it is really impossible to know Sir John at the fireside or the board and not love him. When not receiving friends at dinner or in some other social way. Sir John used to be found in his library attending to public busi- ness, or reading until late at night. He read with great rapi- dity. The range of his reading was extensive and varied ; this may really be said to have formed almost his only recreation. In conversation he was brilliant and entertaining, and as not a few with whom he exchanged hospitalities differed from him in politics, his conversation on public questions was tolerant^ airy, and good-natured. Mr. Goldwin Smith, replying on one occasion in The Bystander, to the charge of having II 545 * 546 L/Fi,' OF am JOHN A. MAC DONALD. learnt some ministerial trick at ' Stadacona Hall ' (a former residence of the late Premier), tells us that his impression is ' that there is not much to be learnt at Stadacona Hall beyond the lessons taught by the example of a statesman who kno ws how to lay politics aside in the social hour, and is large minded enough to bear with opinions differing from his own,' " " But the crown," sa3's the writer of the earlier edition of this work, " to Sir John's social success is given by the place his very accomplished and popular wife. Lady Macdonald, fills at the capital. Of the society circle there, she is voted pre- eminently, the queen, where in every project of social enter- prise she is the first and the last, and no less the favourite of the elderly and the demure, than of the young folk. To go to Ottawa and mention the name of Lady Macdonald to any of the young people there, is at once to bring forth a pasan in her praise. Everything, they tell you, that is to be ' got up,' Lady Macdonald has a hand in, not indeed that she seeks to take this place or even cares for it ; but so kindly is her nature that she is prodigal both of her time and energy to make everything agreeable ; while it is a fact that nothing seems to go on so harmoniously or successfully when she is not at its head and front. She seems to be in the social what her husband is in the public sphere. In political questions> too, this gifted lady takes no little interest, and her judgment is said to be scarcely less sound than that of Sir John, who, it is whispered, is in the habit of consulting her when he is about to take some important political step. And while we have no doubt that, like the wives of several distinguished English statesmen, what rumour says of Lady Macdonald in this respect is true, yet it is the social sphere that she most adorns, where she is no less warmly admired by ladies whose hus- bands are politically opposed to Sir John than by those of his own friends. In domestic life, Lady Macdonald is a model woman, lavishing her tenderness upon an invalid daughter, keeping a household that might well be the envy of any circle ; attending to Sir John at late sittings of the House, and, as Mrs. Disraeli used to do, and as Mrs. Gladstone does, wrapping up -T ,^ SIR JOHN AT HOME-LADY MACDONAI.D. 547 got her husband after he has inade a speech, and zealously guarding his health at home or while travelling. And to ([uote the young people again, who will insist on telling their gn%'itu(le, she is ready at live minutes' warning, no matter how fatigued tiht may be, to have lunch for a tired toboggan or snow-shoe party, or to accompany gatherings of young folks as chaperon. Add this to her genial and kindly manner, her charity to the scores who will press their wants upon a lady in high station and especially when they find her heart tender and her purse open. Altogether Lady Macdonald is a worthy mate for her thrice worthy and distinguished husband." What is here said of Lady Macdonald, by one wiiting of her eight or ten yi^ars ago, is emphasized by the testimony of those who have knowledge of her since. The feeling towards hfv, among the large circle of her friends and accjuaintancea, h«,s been that of ever-deepenmg affection and regard. To the number of her social friends and admirers have been added, of recent years, no inconsiderable number of literary friends and admirers, for Lady Macdonald has a graceful pen and has made, in English sources, some delightful contributions to the literature of Canadian travel. But it has been in the wifely devotion and tender solicitude of these sad days of the nation's bereave- ment and her own that Lady Macdonald has pre-eminently touched the hearts and evoked the love and sympathetic inter- est of the psople. Her unwearying tendance through these agonizing hours by her loved husband's couch, has drawn to her the hearts alike of Queen and Commoner. Here, at the close of this book, written to preserve, however faintly and unworthily, some chronicle of the dead Premier's life and work, may fitly be appended the following tender and patriotic letter. It was penned by Lady Macdonald, to ac- knowledge the condolence of the political friends and followers of her late husband, Canada's Patriot Statesman : — To the Chairman of the Ministerialist Committee: Earnscliffe, Ottawa, June 17th, 189L I have received and read with u profound satisfaction the address you forwarded to me from the Conservative members of both Houses of ■ 'i ■ 1 1= i ^K i i 648 LIFE OF SIR JOHN A. MACDONALD. Parliament, oonveyinK in words that are each ono a comfort and ooniola- tion to me their sense of my lots and their own. Will you do me the favour to say to those gentlemen, my husband's true and devoted friends, with what a swelling heart I dwell on their testimony to the greatness of him, whose usiful, kindly, Christian life, it will ever be our high privilege to remember. I thank tlieso dear friends with tears— not of sorrow, for such a life and such a death are beyond the reach of common sorrow — but with tears of gratitude and aflection in acknowledgment of their love for him and faith- fulness to him through many years and many battles. Will you tell them from me at some time when all can hear that I, his widow, and broken- hearted in my loneliness and desolation, venture to ask from them a last and lasting tribute tu my husband's dear memory. I ask that that tribute shall be a firm and united support of the policy and principles our great leader lived and died to maintain and carry out. I appeal to them with all the power my words can convey to do now and in the future what they and I know would be my husband's wish and desire could those lips, silent on earth forever, once more speak on this or any other crisis of our country's history. To stand side by side, shoulder to shoulder, regardless of irritation, self-interest or seeming reverse, with no goal but Canada's success ; to follow, in short, the splendid example left to us and to carry out with no si,';;n of division or faltering the plans and purposes that lay so near Sir John's heart. I shall watch, so long aa my life lasts, with earnest anxiety, the progress of public ati'uirs as for the last twenty years I have been proud to do, and pray, as I have always prayed, that the Almighty Ruler of all men would of His mercy grant wisdom, foresight and firmness to the policy and counsels of the great Conservative party. Believe me your sincere friend, AoNBs Macdonald. CHAPTER XXXIV. ENGLISH AND OTHER ESTIMATES OF THE DECEASED I'UEMIEU'S LIFE- won K. rilllK death of Sir John Macdonald has, naturally enough, T evoked in England no inconsiderable volume of counnent. With remarkable unanimity the great English organs of public opinion have expressed regret that a most useful life has ter- minated, while they praise the work which has been wrought by that life for Canada and the Empire. Where eulogy has been qualitied there is no disposition to ignore the enormous difficulties the late Premier had to contend with. If they withhold praise of his commercial policy, they acknowledge his services in preserving Canada to the Crown. If they canncjt laud his political methods, they recognize his great personality, and do justice to the rare qualities of head and heart that dis- tinguished him. In Sir John Macdonald, em a writer has remarked, " Canada has lost a patriot, England a staunch friend, and the world a worthy and distinguished man." From the mass of English journalistic comment we make the following extracts : — THE TIMES. •* To-day the Canadian people mourns the veteran statesman who has for the last thirteen years presided over its destinies — the statesman who maintained so remarkable a hold upon the confidence and affections of Canadians that his power and policy seemed impregnable to any assailant but death. Even death has decorated his triumph, for upon the news of his approaching end a whole people stood smitten with grief, and admirers and adversaries showed how little they differed regarding the value of Sir John Macdonald's life to the Dominion. It is needless to say that his loss will be felt heavily far beyond the limits of Canada. The Queen, in her 549 ■!; '..-^i. 550 LIFE OF SIR JOHN A. MACDONALD. ms: sympathetic inquiries, has given expression to a regard felt by her Bubjecta in the mother country and throughout the Empire, In these days of Greater Britain, a great colonial statesman fills an itnportant place in history. Few foreign potentates are such important persons as he. His Cabinet administers tracts of territoiy by the side of which most of the kingdoms of Europe are mere patches. His colony can throw a foreign industry into consternation by raising the tari£f by a few dollars. He sits with his finger on the valve which admits emigrants from the Old World. It is his to shape the proportions of a swiftly- growing giant, and no here- ditary titles, no feudal tenures, or class traditions restrict the range of his experiments. In such places, be they pleasant or not, are cast the lines of a Premier of a great British colony. It was Sir John Macdonald's for- tune to be the first colonial statesman to build up a reputation which should be world-wide. Sir Henry Parkes and Mr. Cecil Rhodes are others who have since done the same, but it is no disparagement to them, and especially to Mr. Rhodes, whose greatness lies chit fly in men's expecta- tions, to say that they have made no name equal to Sir John Macdonald's. A legitimate feeling of pride in a man whom Britain sent forth seventy years ago, a child of six years old, to seek his fortune in the New World, is one reason why we join with the Canadians in deploring the death of their veteran. But in Sir Jchn Macdonald we have also lost a statesman who, while severely practical in his measures, was deeply imbued with the sentiment of Imperial unity, and could be trusted to foster it with all the energy at his coiuir^and. We cannot but remember that the latest devel- opment of hip policy is the subsidizing of a magnificent line of armed steamers which, togetlier with the Canadian Pacific Railway, is to put a British gird?j round tht world. " We are indebted •i.o Sir John Macdonald for evoking the most re- markable exhibition t-.at Parliamentary institutions have ever afforded of constancy in a democratic electorate. Since 1878, when a general election curried him into power, the electors have given him a majority, greater or less, in three consecutive elections. For the same Minister to have won four general elections in succession is unexampled in the modern history of Parliamentary Government in Anglo-Saxon communities. No politician dares to say much in public about that moat potent and constant of elec- toral forces, the temptation to * give the other side a turn.' But no one is really under any illusion about it, and Sir John Macdonald's success is the exception which pioves the rule. That success was all the more re- markable because the same electorate which kept Sir John Macdonald in power was all the time returning Radical majorities to the Frovincal Legislatures — that is to say, majorities which were generally supposed to be hostile to Sir John Macdonald's policy. Mr. Goldwin Smith's explanu tion of this phenomenon may do very well for a party platform, but no candidly-minded man will believe that gerrymandering and log-rolling are Ti •!' '; 7'.>,*y y; ■)•' -,■ Y^'^" '•'':'" ''"'' > '.'V '■.. » '-A ENGLISH AND OTHER ESTIMATES. 561 quite BO sure and uniform in their results as to smother for thirteen years the convictions of a people. It is aif indubitable fact that Sir John Mao- dor>ald captivated the imaginations of the Canadians by a policy conceived on broad, patriotic principles, and appealing as strongly to national senti- ment as it seemed to appeal to material interests. His ' National Policy ' was the protest against absorption into the United States. Looking back at the past, we are able to see how almost irresirtible would have been by this time the forces making for absorption, had not the * National Policy ' checked them in their beginnings. Even Canadian Federation, of which Sir John Macdonald was the foremost promoter, if not the originator, would have been powerless to stem the tide had not the provincr^s and territories of British North America been braced together by something more solid than an Act of Parliament. The Canadian Pacific Railway will be Sir John Macdonald's enduring monument. From one point of view it was the corollary of Canada's protective tariff — this last a bulwark against American encroachment, which, however natural, we at home cannot regard with unmixed feelings. But if the prime purpose of the Canadian Pacific was to kuit together the Provinces of Canada, it has in- cidentally given the Empire an inestik.able commercial and strategic advantage, and has imparted a colour of actuality to aspirations after Imperial J^ederation. No wonder that the ' National Policy ' took root in the instincts of Canadians. In their own province the electors of Ontario and Quebec might indulge themselves with Radical Legislatures ; but in regard to the broader interests of Canada they were faithful to what is commonly called Conservatism for want of a better name. It is extremely creditable to the good sense of the Canadians that they should have mastered the temptation to fickleness, and having once made their choice, should over and over again have renewed their mandate to Sir John Macdonald to carry it out courageously and consistently. "In the midst of the mourning whish attends the death of the great Canadian statesman, men cannot postpone asking — Who is to be his suc- cessor, and what will become of his party ? Sir John Macdonald's personal popularity has so long been regarded as the most important factor in the success of the Conservatives that there was a temporary tendency to see in his impending death the signal lor a general breaking of old ties and re- construction of parties. People are now beginning to discover that th« ideas of which Sir John Macdonald was the champion cannot be buried with him. They are his children ; but it remains to be seen whether a majority of Canadians have adopted them for their own sake?, and not merely out of regard for the statesman who gave them birth. At the same time there is no use in denying that the disappearance of ' the Chieftain's ' commanding personality is a heavy blow to the Conservative and Imper- ialist party. In the Dominion and, perhaps, other colonial Legislatures, it is perhaps easier to secure a majority than to keep it together. That is •it " -■- m ■■'U( ■IT:/"':' ^ ;■■*. 'K »■. !!•' ■m V. i, •.I. 652 LIFE OF SIB JOHN A. MACDONALD. where the tact and personal pojularity of Sir John Macdonald were ao signally displayed. From the death -of Canada's great Piemier we must date a new period of doubt and danger during which Sir John Macdonald'a successors will have to depend upon the intrinsic worth of the ideas he has bequeathed without the magic aid of his great personality." ******** " As a Parliamentary leader, Sir John Macdonald exhibited great abili- ties in debate, in general affairs, and political tactics. He wau very fre- quently a delegate to England and to other countries on public business, and he always executed his delicate diplomatic missions with singular tact and skill. He bore so strong a facial resemblance to Lord Beacons- field that he was styled *' the Canadian Disraeli," and there was likewise a considerable similarity between their views of statesmanship. An *' old Parliamentary hand " unmatched in Dominion politics, he excited among his followers a devotion which was invaluable to the Conservative party in keeping together the various groups of which it was composed. In the course of his long political career he carried to a successful issue many measures of the highest importance, in addition to those already enumer- ated in this article. Conspicuous amongst these measures may be cited the improvement of the criminal laws of Canada ; the consolidation of the statutes ; the extension of the municipal s.8t«>^ ; military organiza- tion ; the establishment of a direct steam mail communication with Europe ; the inspection of reformatories, prisons, penitentaries, and asy- lums ; the reorganization of the Civil Service on a permanent basis ; the conucruction of the Intercolonial and the Canadian Pacific railways ; the enlargement of the canals ; the enactment of a stringent election law ^ the extension of the franchise ; the ratification of the Washington treaty ; and the extension and consolidation of the Dominion." THE SATURDAY REVIEW. " It may be permitted to an Englishman — using the word in its widest sense as the name of all the white subjects of Her Majesty — to begin a notice of the late Sir John Macdonald by noting that he held a posi- tion which no man not born under the ruler of England could have held in any past time, or could hold now. He won himself the position of a statesman in a great community which was yet a colony of this Empire. The State which he governed has the resources and extt nt of many inde- pendent nations ; but it was, of its own free will, only a part of a greater whole. * * * As a Parliamentary politician there is no reason to suppose that his capacity would have failed of its reward in any constitu- tionally governed country. The methods by which elections are won and parties are held together are not always free from smirch ; but a ruler must, in the main, be judged by what he does in power, even though, in ii;] z O h- W o z u UJ oc H co I/) w Lil O z cr a _f < QC UJ z D u. u I h- ENGLISH AND OTHER ESTIMATES. 653 Bacon's phrase, he has risen to dignities through indignities. It was intrinsically honourable to Choiseul that he rose by the help of La Pom- padour, though it may be to his honour that he refused to retain bi« position at the price of an alliance with Mme. Du Barry. Yet nobody has denied that Choiseul was a gre.it minister, and sincere in his t fforts to secure what he believed to be the good of France. The Gerrymander and bribery of the constituencies by which Sir John Macdonald fortified, if he did not secure, his long tenure of office, are the modern democratic equivalent for the old-fashioned alliance with the king's mistress. Essen- tially, they are about as honourable aa, though less agreeable than, their predecessor. Still, they are the conditions of the fight, and they must be conformed to by him who would win. After all, the great question concerning every fighter is. What did he do with his power when he had obtained it ? "To that question an answer can be given which is almost wholly honourable to Sir John Macdonald. His Commercial Policy was entirely wrong according to the principles which have been accepted in the Mother Country. He had no scruples in imposing duties on imports from Eng- land for the purpose of protecting Canadian industries. In this respect he shared the views of those English politicians who protected England against the competition of Irish woollen goods and cattle. But he had no more intention than they that these commercial taxes should lead to disruption of the Empire. There is absolutely no ground for suppoung tfiat he was other than perfectly honest in hia declaration made during the late general election that he would die as h<^ had lived, a subject of the Queen. Whatever measures he might introduce in Canada were meant to make the continuity of the Empire more and not less stable. It cannot be denied that during hJS life he succeeded triumphantly. The party which he led for so many years is still in power in Canada, and it is committed heartily to the policy which he had always defended. Sir John Macdonald was no mere ' machine' politician of the latest and worst American stamp. If he was not, as he has been called, the founder of the Canadian Federation, he at least helped materially to found it ; and it was largely his doing that it has hitherto worked smoothly. The whole extent of the credit due to him for his management is not easily realizable by Englishmen. Yet it requires no great effort to understand in the main what a feat it has been to keep a community in which a large minority is French, Roman Catholic, and united, while a not overwhelm- ing majority is English, Scotch, Irish, partly Roman Catholic, partly Protestant, and by no means united together, so that it has worked with some uniformity of aim and national sentiment. By the confession of his Parlinientary enemies themselves Sir John Macdonald did this. On their showing, then, he proved himself the greatest master of his weapons in that field on which it was his fortune to fight. After all, a man cun ft:: 'I; ' '-'if 1 n I •|-- .-•j^.^ MM LIFH OF SIR JOHN A. MACDONALD. i,r' do DO more anywhere, and the conditions are far from easy in Canada. When it is remembered that his object all through was to preserve the tinity of the Empire, it is not for us to be grudging in our admiration of him." THE SPECTATOR. " Sir John A. Macdonald distinctly wished to make of the Northern half of the North American Continent a great and powerful State, to weld all the peoples on it into a united nation, and to do this as long as possible under the shadow of the British throne. He was at heart, and inside all external professions and ways of acting, first of all a Canadian, and next a loyalist, so far as loyalism — we do not quite mean loyalty— is possible to an Eni'lish-speaking person of this age whose business it is to think for a separate section of the F-^pire. He loved Canada and he liked the British Empire, and to those two things he would have postponed anything, his own judgment, on right and wrong perhaps included. It was in his method, not hifl inner desires, that he was Lord Beaconsfield over again. * * * He had to govern and consolidate a bundle of populations with different origins, creeds, and degrees of civilization, and he managed to draw from them all a'strongly united party, which agreed, while he moved in his well understood direction, to obey his orders implicitly. * * * His great public works, for example, though always useful to the state, were com- monly useful tohis party also. We would question if he ardently believed in the protection with which he identified himself. Knowing exactly what ha wanted, knowing thoroughly all his own people, Canadians, Irishmen, Orangemen, French Catholics, French Liberals, and knowing all men with whom he had ever come in contact, with a ready eloquence which, like Bismarck's, gave all readers a true impression of largeness, and a falsa impression of utter frankness, he almost always succeeded ; and in his largest, and most complex task, the welding of the Dominion, he succeeded beyond hope or expectation. * * * He loved power and success and reputation, and popularity as a basis for them all ; but he loved the Dominion too, he more than any man helped to make it, and it is fitting that the Dominion, if it believes in itself — an assumption we have recently seen some reason to doubt, or it would not so dread the levelling of custom-houses — should honour the statesman who believed in it through life." ST. James's gazette. " It is the misfortune of some great men to be generally unpopular, of others to be generally beloved. That Sir John Alexander Macdonald, late Prime Minister of Canada, deserved the adjective ' great ' there is as little doubt as that he was personally liked by the people of the Dominion. .■ii'i.' »&.,::. J--..-. ENGLISH AND OTHER ESTIMATES. 556 Men might doubt his political motiveo, or challenge his public judgment, but none doubted his heart. In the fray he was denounced, but out of it he was applauded. Always a fighter, he was buoyant in conflict, and al- together unsparing of his foes ; ever a lover of men and hooks, he was possessed of an amiable cheerfulness and kindness which disarmed jea- lousies and eliminated the hurts that warfare had made. Those who live at the heart of the Empire may well take heed of this man's life, it vas that of a Briton to the bone ; of his death, fof who shall come after like to him in colonial statecraft, in breadth of ideas, in the possession of the faith of the poople, in masterly grasp of n.<,tional circumstances, in large conception of policy, in unwavering attachment of the British connection ? No other man could so have inspired Canadians with conudence in their country as did he ; none other so held in check the lighting elements, so smoothed away or toned to a note of unity the inharmonious characters of the Canadian national life. The Canada Sir John A. Macdonald knew in his first days of political life was a bundle of jealous provinces, and with Upper and Lower Canada united in a bond of political wedlock, in which there was neither peace nor advancement. He has left a strong Domin- ion, with Confederation not only an accomplished fact, but an accomplished success. He entered Parliament at a time when the union of the two Can- adas, accomplished in 1841, was to so stir up dis^ati^ faction among the French Canadians as to result in the destruction of the Parliament build- ings at Montreal in 1849. " The future Premier took his seat at the first session of the Legislature at Montreal in 1844. He was destined from the beginning of his career to associate himself with important public events, to take an 'outstanding position. He was only twenty- five years of age when he sprang into no- tice as a brilliant advocate by his defence of Von Shouliz, one of the rebels of 1 837-38. This was four years after being called to the bar. He had only been in Parliament three years when he was asked to take the office of Receiver- General, and from that time forth he was a power in the land. For forty- seven years his has been in Parliament an unbroken re- cord, and a minister during thirty-three of tliat period. He has held nearly every portfolio in ^he Cabinet of Canada — Receiver-General, Com- missioner of Crown Lands, Attorney-General, Minister of Militia, Minis- ter of the Interior, Minister of Justice, President of the Council, Secre- tary of State, and General Superintendent of Indian Affairs. He was Prime Minister as early as 1858, and was the first Prime Minister of the Dominion, taking office in 1867, and with the exception of the years from 1873 to 1878, keeping his party in power ever since. ** Sir John A. Macdonald was one of a race of Canadian statesmen now almost gone ; th© very few that remain are either in that peaceful retire- ment which the Senate of the Dominion afifords, or have sunk into private life, forgotten of the people. Of the once puissant names, however. h ! 1 ' \ i m'- r LIFE OF SIR JOHN A. MACDONALD. ):■ ..^A \r many are engraven upon tombs, one at least upon a statue, and the last and chiofest of them upon the hearts of the Canadian people. Baldwin, MacNab, George Brown, Tach6, Morin, Hinoks, Belleau, and Cartier — that 'Englishman speaking French language,' — and many others as re- markable, are gone ; but until yesterday Sir John remained the active and splendidly- renowned representative of a time when legislation in the Province of Canada and the separate Maritime Provinces was a much more difficult thing than it is in the Parliament of the Dominion. It was an ac- cident of life that Sir John's career was set in Canada ; had it been in England, and had he devoted his life to politics here as he did there, the English House of Commons would in all probability have acknowledged him to be as illustrious in this greater sphere, as he was in the country where his name was a sufficient guarantee of public confidence, the rally- point of the popular faith. Men might attack his political methods, his party schemes, his means for keeping in power, but they never could seriously attack the sincerity of his desires to faithfully serve and soundly advance the interests of the land to which he had given his life's labours, and behind the natural force there was in Confederation to impress the dangers attending provincial selfishness and wire-pulling strife for balance of power, it was felt that there was as a powerful safeguard, the person- ality of Sir John A. Macdonald." " Sir John inspired loyalty because he himself was loyal, and he trusted the instinct of loyalty in the people. In 1885 he dared to alienate the French population by hanging the rebel Louis Riel. Political, so far as Quebec was concerned, this was a dangerous move — it defeated the Con- servative party in the French province ; but he trusted to the general sentiment of the country, and the results showed that his policy of no compromise in this matter was right. Yet nothing stands out more strik- ingly in the history of Canada than what might be called the subjugation of Quebec by Sir John A.. Macdonald. The French province was always to him a thing to be closely reckoned with in every political movement, but it has lost its power of upheaval, of successful resistance to other pro- vinces, of sudden displacement in political and party machinery. Sir John reduced the racial sensitiveness by preferment and the considerate eleva- tion of French-Canadian politicians to important posts and places in the Cabinet. Bnt these were only the outward limits and flourishes, for behind ' all means to concentrate ' there was a sound principle of utJon and amalgamation working. If Sir John A. Macdonald did not himself make Confederation he did most to make it possible at the time and he did most to preserve it. But he has alsry, of all Canadians, done most to preserve that larger spirit of Confederation which makes Canada loyal to the British Crown when lured most financially, oppressed most com- mercially, and influenced most socially, by its stronger neighbour at the south. His creed was ever that it was better to be poor and Canadian — / ENGLISH AND OTHER ESTIMATES. 557 that ia British— than to be filled with American * enterprise' and be governed by rings at Washington and New York, and his creed is the one by which Canadians stand. Travelling far and near, living in the United States or elsewhere, they do not desire to see Canada sell its heritage for a mess of pottage which is held out by advocates speaking in the name of the United States. To some unenthusiastic spectators Sir John's advocacy of Imperial Federation, his constant iteration of loyalty, his flag-fiying, and his accentuated ritual of patriotism may have seemed like Jingoism, but how deep that patriotism really was, how firm and true was the idea behind it, the history of the man's life bears ample record, and nothing seems so fine in the career of this well-beloved servant of his country than his attitude towards young men. If he was dili- gent then to enlist them under the Conservative banner, he was equally diligent in instilling the love of country, the belief that there could be no finer, no more inspiring basis to character, than affection for and honour- able fidelity to one's native land. All young men who ever entered the magnetic, genial and convincing presence of this man carried with them «ver after the conviction that whatever Sir John as a politician might do he was to be trusted as a Canadian, he was to be revered, honoured and followed, and to the credit ol all classes in Canada be it said that there is no man, old or young, but laments the hour when ' the Chieftain ' has gone to that quiet arena where there is no more fighting." MORNING POST. " Sir John Macdonald's work was not dependent on a versatile, magnetic personality. It was solid achievement in pursuit of principles that at- tended him from his earliest youih. He conceived the idea of building up a great British people in North America, formed out of the loyalist refugees, whom Republican intolerance had expelled from their homes, out of the French colonists whom treaties had committed to our care. The whole cemented together by the most industrious of British emigrants, and in this work he has refused to listen to any theory of destiny bidding him accept immersion in Yankee democracy as his inevitable fate. This is the principle for which he has struggled for over forty years. This is the principle he has seen Canada affirm at a crisis of great moment." THE GUAPHIC. *' The deabx; jf the Canadian statesman, par excellence, has been aptly, if obviously, compared to the fall of a pillar of the Constitution. And the comparison would have been as gravely significant as it is apt had the fall of the pillar occurred a generation ago — for two generations, as they 11 :Sa "^■tr*'.* /' !•'««*■■,.!*',■.■, , 668 LIFE OF SIR JOHN A. MACDONALD. are countod, must be reckoned in connection with Sir John Maodonald. Thanks to him, the edifice of the whole Dominion haa become so solidly settled as to be able to stand withuut the single pillar which at one time seemed to form its whole support. * * * He had the statesmanlike characteristic of being able to act with all parties in the sense of being no mere partisan, and of combining their conflicting energies, interests and prejudices to a common end, of which he never lost sight for a moment. Whatever ia to be the future of Canada, she can at any rate never again fall to pieces, while every year that passes will strengthen her cohesion. In short. Sir John Macdonald found a number of scattered colonies and left a nation. This work of nation-making is one of the features of the close of this century, and will, no doubt, be n chief occu- pation of the next. And whatever is hereafter achieved in Australia, or in Africa, or elsewhere — and where not, who can tell? — will be largely due to Sir John Micdonald's solution of the problem in an instance of supreme ditllculty." THE EXAMINER AND TIMES (Manchester). "Canada's 'Perpetual Premier' is dead. After a severe strugi>Ie, he who has been 'always a fighter,' and has mo'itly come off victorious, has succumbed, leaving the fortunes of the Dominion in the hands of younger men, the majority of whom have been trained by him either as followers or opponents ; for in politics, as in warfare, men learn by defeat as well as by the exercise of the responsibilities attendant upon success. Sir John Macdonald's name has latterly been prominently before English readers, to many of whom a few years ago his name was probably un- known ; but there can be no doubt that in him Canada possessed a states- man of whom any country might have been proud — one who, had he re- mained on this side of the Atlantic, would have taken a place in the first rank of imperial statesmen. His forty-seven years of Parliamentary life have been mainly spent in office and in the conduct of negotiations ; and the fact that, during the twanty-five years since Canada was confederated, he has been Premier for twenty years shows that he knew the secret of governing a country more complex in its organization than any self-gov- erning nation, with the solo exception of the Austrian Empire. He has been likened on the one hand to Prince Bismarck, on the other to the late Signor Depretis ; in adroitness as a ' House of Commons man,' and in what has been called ' the exuberance of his antique youthfaJness,' hi bore a strong resemblance to Mr. Gladstone, while there was a marked facial similarity between him and Lord Beaconsfiold. Upon this latter point, the testimony of Sir Charles Dilke is worth recalling : ' The first time that I saw Sir John Macdonald,' he wrote, ' was shortly after Lord Beaconsfield's death, and as the clock struck midnight. I was starting rM.- r^,; ENOLIHU AND PTIJEH ESTIMATES. from Euiton itatioti, and there appeared on the step of the railway riage, in Privy Councillor's uniform (tho right tu wear which ia continud to lo small a number of persona, that one expects to know by sight those who wear it), a tigure precisely similar to that of the late Oonservati e leader, and it required, indeed, a severe exercise of presence uf mind to remember that there had been a City banc^uet, from which the apparition must be coming, and to rapidly arrive by a process of exhauBtion at the knowledge that this twin brother of that Lord Beaconstield, wIkmu shortly before I had seen in the sick room which he was not to leave, must be the Prime Minister of Canada.' Hero, however, in the oj.inion of Sir Charles Dilke, the similarity ended ; but, while it is perfectly true that the Cana- dian Premier never affected that air of mystery which was so often noticed in Lord Boaconstield, there is another direction in which a parallel may be drawn, and that is tho trust and afTection which he inspired in those with whom he associated, and in his subordinates. He has been well served, because those who served him knew that they would never be sacrificod vicariously. An instance of the firm support upon which his frie;id8 knew that they could count has been seen only during the last month. It is, moreover, an instance of parliamentary audacity such as only F^almerston or Beacons- field, among our political leaders of the last fifty years, would have ventured upon. * * * It was, however, his loyalty to those with whom he co-operated, and his marvellous power of weighing and selecting men, that gave him a commandiug position over all other Canadian statesmen. He was at once respected and loved by the heads of the various administra tive departments, whom he always treated as colleagues, and, knowing of what they were capable, trusted implicitly with the due performance of his general instructions. They knew well that he would not pester them with unnecessary interferences in matters of detail, and that if they were loyal to him they would not need a defender. In this seems to have been one of the secrets of his wonderful success ; but an additional, and doubt- less the prime, factor in securing his position, was the fact that he had always at heart the interests of Canada, and, joined with those, the in- terests of the Empire. His policy has often been attacked as extravagant. Of its costliness there can be no question ; but he saw clearly that the only chance for tlie future prosperity of Canada lay in the development of her resources and the utilization of her geographical situation, and that, such being the case, extravagance consisted not in a liberal expenditure, but in what is often falsely regarded as economy. The task of building up a country involves the sinking of capital, often without an immediate return in hard cash. It was this ' National Policy ' which induced Sir John Macdonald to include in his programme protective tariffs, beyond what might have been strictly necessary for raising revenue in a country where the collection of direct taxes is impracticable ; and though it w m \% i* • •, -. 660 LIFE OF 8JIi JOHN A. MAVDONALD. probable that Oanada would have made greater head-way had her import trade boon Buhjeoted to few ruatrictiona, aho haa undoubtedly progreaaed rapidly and aolidly." THE INDEPENDENT (NEW YORK). BY MR. MAKTIN J. OKIKFIN. (Librarian of I'arliament^ Ottawa). " Sir John Macdonald waa Itnporial in all hia iduaa concerning the ob* ject and deatiny of the Dominion of Oanada. It was to establish and por- p(;tuate a bulwark of British power on this continent that he made such efforts at conciliating all the political forcea of the Upper and Lower Pro- vinces in order to effect the Confederation of 1807. He waa at the same time a passionate Canadian ; and while he kept one hand on the petulant poBBiona that would sometimes rise against Imperial authority among our people, he often, with the other, repreased the ags^resaive imperialiam of some new Colonial Minister in London. The time for writing fully on those thinga will not come in this generation. An example may be given. When he formed one of the High Commission to negotiate a treaty at Washington, in 1871, he was blamed by many in Canada for having made too liberal concession of Canadian interests to British interests. When the " Life of Sir Stafford Northcote " was recently published, it was found that Sir John Maodonald had pressed beyond almost the legitimate bounds the patience and the policy of the British Ministers, in the inter- ests of Canada. The proof of his success waa found in the Halifax Award. " It was partly for Imperial purposes that he pressed on the building of the Intercolonial Railway, which alone could have contributed to the earlier stages of the successful development of the Dominion. It waa partly for Imperial purposes that he opened up the North- West to be a home for the emigratirr citizens of Great Britain. British stateamen less wise than he ha' a nc'. given him enough aid in turning the stream of emigra- tion into that prepared and splendid field where now the pioneer may go, finding at his door, however remote, the post, the railway, the telegraph, the school, the resources of religious teaching, medical skill, and of a civilizing literature. It was partly for Imperial purposes that he took hia political life, and the political lives of all his friends and followers, in hia hand to accomplish the task of building the Pacific Railway, to which now not merely the subscribed capital but also the credit and honour and in- terests of Canada, and the interests of the Empire too, are in greater or leas degree pledged. ■ .«;■,-■ .- .'C*t^! r import 'ogroued yj the ob- and per- Lade such •wer Pro- the same petulant nung our rialism of f fully on be given, treaty at ing made . When ras found igitimate he inter- Award, ding of d to the It was )o a home ess wise emigra- may go, elegraph, and of a took his rs, in his hich liow and in- reater or z o 1- in O z X \ > u: u' »- UJ S UJ O 5 < cc I'S' o i| b ■ "> -I . < {\ z o ! '■I Q 1 ,■ O < S 'a' < !m - Z ■ t' I o . ,', -3 cr (/) • -1 I 3-55— ENGLISH AND OTHER ESTIMATES. 561 "Toward the eister Republic the attitude of Sir John Macdonald was one of admiring rivalry. It waa his determination that there should never be on 1. 'h continent only one nation ; part of it was to be British alwaya. For that reason he was cautious in developing every resource of this country, and for this purpose the National Policy of 1878, which waa flimpl}' an imitation of th*^ protective system of the United States modi- fied by circumstances, was adopted and maintained by him always. But he waa never averse to trade relations with the United States, on terms which could be considered fair to both countries. The proof of his earnest- ness in this respect is to be found in dates and facta. It was a Govern- ment, of which he was an influential member, carried the Treaty of 1854 into operation. In 18G5 he endeavoured to secure its renew il. In 1801) he caused negotiations to be entered on ^'or renewal. In 1871 he endeav- oured to arrange a partial Treaty of Rjoipricity. In 1874 he acquiesced in the missions which his opponents, then in power, sent to Washington. In 1888 he again made a friendly offer to the United States, and when he died he was in a friendly negotiation with Mr. lilaine, and a meeting had been fixed for October next. " His character as a Conservative was peculiar. He entered public life at a time when the power of the old Tories of the Loyalist period was waning ; and he made no effort to maintain that power. He took in hand the slowly approacliing power of the Democracy and made it serve the purpose of a moderate and proL'reisive conservatism, which some of the older politicians looked on with suspicion, as if it mi^ht be Radicalism in disguise. As Pitt brought in the masses to control the traditional powers of the classes, so Sir John Macdonald was the man who made the franchise for the Dominion elections more democratic than it had ever been — so much so that but a faint line divides it from universal suffrage. He had a leaning, too, towards Female SuilVage ; but that was never particularly marked, and only evinced tentatively during a prolonged and annoying debate. He was opposed to divorce courts with much firmness. He hated all forms of irreligion ; and though he was accessible to all new ideas, he was not easily accessible to anything that bore the stamp or faintest impressioTi of irreverence toward established beliefs and practices. He had the highest regard for the Clergy in general, as representing to him a divine order, a social power a conservative influence ; and the Clergy, as a body, held him in an affectionate esteem, though his light-hearted audacity never allowed him to put on an air of solemnity for the mere sake of ap- ptaraoops. He was intensely conservative of the dignity and ability of tht Juiiiciiil Bench, from the highest to the lowest rank ; and among the vrry i.uiuerous appointments made by him, not more than two or three were ever publicly criticised. He did not confine these appointments to his own pvrty, but sought out the best man wherever he could be found ; the Benca of Canada, consequently, commands respect by its character as JJ m 562 LIFE OF SIR JOHN A. MACDONALD. well as by its ability. He was conservative, too, of the permanence of the public service, and the Civil Ser vice Act, which is very conservative, was not sufficiently so to suit him, though as much so as he could have carried through the House. " His characteristics as a public man were marked and interesting. No Roman Senator could robo himself 'n dign'ty and speak „ith more stately precision than could Sir John Macdonald on state or great of'casions ; his respect for Parliament was such that he never, or very rarely, took the slifjhtest liberty with the general sense of the House '"or order and calm- ness. On the other hand, when on the stamp, or in convention, no " Gerard the ffur, the girl-mouth'd, the ay, Who jested with the foe he slung his sword to slay," could be more joyous, more amusing, more apparently careless in anec- dote, in expression, in quotation ; his old stories had been laughed at by two generations of men and a dozen new sets of electors all over the country ; and he took no pains to repair or renew them, because he knew "the boys" uxpected them, and were ready to laugh tl;e moment he ap- proached the subject which the favourite old story was t illustrate. His oratojy was not a great oratory, his voice was not strong, but was distinct and clear as a Scottish accent always makes any voice. He was not ad- dicted to perorations and purple patches in his speech. He used anecdote, however, often and eflfectively. He was hesitating in manner ; but the exquisite precision of phrase which marked his speeches showed always that he never spoke at random. He was a singularly industrious man. The letters he wrote personally, in a hand so like a woman's hand of the past generation, were remarkable for their number ; and it is a singular thing that in all that enormous private correspondence there have been few breaches of confidence on the part of his correspondents. " In private life, that life which his friends found so delightful, Sir John Macdonald was what no pen save perhaps the late Lord Beao^^ns- field's could describe. His kindness never failed in any lea : 'rtit^ courtesy of life. To the oldest he was cordial and friendly ; ' ; !\o youngest he was caressing and re-aasuring. His presence in any rooni -.-aa the signal for an encircling gathering to whom he would talk all at once. If any one had a pet study. Sir John Macdonald was sure, in a skilful and delicate way, to make him talk a little of it. If any one was fond or full of anecdotes, the old Premier would be sure to give the opening for the last good thing. He himself was sure to have read the last new book worth reading, and to have got ;at the pith of it quickly. He kept well np with the reviews as well as with the books. A fews days before he entered or, the campaign of IbOl he was in the Library of Parliament, and amid much talk of other thing?, he expressed his high appreciation ENGLISH AND OTHEll ESTIMATES. 563 Mi d! the admirable article in the London Spectator on Cardinal Newman ; he gave Bomo anecdotes of Lord Hough' on which have not appeared in print ; , and an adventure with the late Walter Baj^ehot at a London dinnor-party ; ho explained hia opinion as to the reasons why the Whigs dealt ungrate- fully by Edmund Burke, and gave a short account of a conversation with Lord Beaconsfield. " As I write, they have carried his body in a stately and solemn way into the Senate Chamber, to lie in state, to be looked upon for the last time by the people who knew him so well in life. Flowers and guards and stately ceremony make a solemn and touching surrounding for this man who has never needed guards before, and to whom ceremony, when he was the object of it, was not always pleasing. And again, there comes rising in my mind and ringing in my ears the tender lament of Sir Ector de Maria : " ' Thou never were matched of none earthly knight's hands ; and thou were the couitliest knight that ever beare shield ; and thou were the truest friend to thy lover that ever bestrode horse ; ' and so let us pass from his presence to cherish his memory with a loyal affection which time must fail to extinguish.' m (,?^>" !i,^ Wr- ii7:-r"-T,'ii^lPf ""«■*« ^^m ArPENDIX. \^y>Tt 'IT "■T-"T7"^.^'--^iri' APPENDIX, THE PACIFIC SCANDAL. The following is the speech delivered by Sir John Macdonald, in reply to the allegations concerning the pacific railway charter, in the house of commons, Ottawa, on Monday, Nov. 3rd, 1873. On rising, the honour- able gentleman was greeted with hearty cheers : — Mr. Speaker, I had not intended to address you on the two motions now before the house, and the reason why I did not so intend is that I had al- ready given my testimony on oath, and in tliat testimony I had endea- voured, notwithstanding the statement of the hon. gentleman who has just taken his seat, to state the whole case as far as I knew it, according to the best of my conscience, concealing nothing and revealing everything. Therefore I did not think it well, according to the ordinary rule, that I should attempt in any way to supplement my statement on oath by my statements not on oath. (Cheers.) However I have been taunted, not in the house certainly, but 1 have heard it elsewhere and have seen it in the papers that I have been withholding my statements ; that I have been keeping back, and that I dare not meet the house and the country. Sir, I dare meet this house and the country. (Cheers.) I know too well what the house and the country will do, and wliat the feeling of the country will be, when they know all the facts. They know many of them now, and those they do not know I shall endeavour presently im enter upon. But now I enter upon the subject which is most interesting to this house — the question whether the government or any members of the government were in any way implicated in the giving or granting of a charter, or of a privi- lege of any kind to men for corrupt motives. I shall allude to one or tw.» subjects which a short time ago assumed prominence in the opinion of the country, but which in the course of the present debate have almost sunk into insignificance. A short time ago, from the 13th August till now, wo heard nothing else but the unconstitutionality of the prorogation ; nothing else but that a great wrong had been committed on the privileges of the house. Although I was here for only a few minutes before the houso was prorogued, if I remember aright, this chamber rung with charges that the privileges of the house had been invaded. I not only heard the voice of the hon. member for Chateaut^uay (Mr. Holtou), but I saw his hand 5G8 APPENDIX. brought down, with the ponderous strength of the hon. gentleman, on hit desk, when he called " privilege ! " '* privilege ! " and all because the re- presentative of the sovereign had exercised a prerogative conferred upon him by law. The hon. gentleman was committing an anachronism. There were days when the prerogative of the crown and the privileges of the peo- ple were in opposition. There were days — but they were days long gone by, and there was no necessity for any attempt to revive them now — days r when the prerogative of the crown was brought in opposition to the will of the people, and the represuntatives of the people ; and then, as was proper, the will of the people was paramount, and when the crown op- posed it, by prerogative or by excess of prerogative, the head of the sov- ereign rolled on the scaffold. But, Mr. Speaker, those days do not exist now, and I am happy to say that at this moment, in this age, the prero- gative of the crown is a portion of the liberty of the people. (Clieors.) If we wish to preserve our liberties, if we wish to preserve our present con- stitution, if we do not wish again to have a long parliament or a rump parliament, if we do not wish again to have a parliament overriding every other constitutional authority, we shall preserve the prerogative of tha crown as being a sacred trust, as being a portion of the liberties of the people. (Cheers.) Centuries ago, as I have said, the time was when the sovereign could come down with his strong hands and could seize, or at- tempt at all events to seize, a member of parliament for performing his duty in his place. The day was once when the sovereign could come down and could banish and send to the tower, and even as has been known, could send to the block, members of parliament for defending the privi- leges of the people. But when the sovereign is no longer a despot, when the sovereign is a constitutional monarch, when the sovereign takes his advice from the people, when the sovereign in his act of prerogative takes Ms advice from a committee selected from the representatives of the peo pie and from the other Chamber, which other chamber has its power rest ing upon the basis of the will of the country and the will of the people, then I say there is no danger of the prerogative being used unconstitution- ally ; but the great danger of the country here, as in England, is that the prerogative may not be strong enough to resist the advancing wave of de- mocracy. (Cheers.) And, sir, when in the undoubted exercise of the pre- rogative of the crown the representative of the sovereign came not to this Chamber but to the proper chamber, and announced his will, as the repre* sentative of the sovereign, that parliament be prorogued, he committed no breach of the privileges of this house or the other house of parliament, and made no infringement on the liberties of the people. (Cheers. ) It was charged that a great breach of the constitution had taken place. True it APPENDIX. 069 in that we heard in ^ sort of minor key from the GIoIk, which had some cha- racter to lose, that although it was very inoxpodiont, it was no breach of tho constitution. But every other paper, I believe, every organ of hon. gen- tlemen opposite, except the Globe, stated that there had been a great breach ot the constitution and of the privileges of tho people on the tloor of par- liament, and they were countenanced by tho voice and clamour of hon. gentlemen opposite. (Cheers.) We might pardcjn them, perhaps, because we have seen cases of a similar kind in England, and therefore I can quite understand it, and I do not much blame them, as showing the momentary feeling of disappointment at the exercise of the royal prerogative, prevent- ing the extension of the excitement into debates in a subsequent session. In 1820, ii.t the time of Queen Oaroliiio's trial, while the bill was pending, when it w{.'.s resolved to withdraw the bill, and when tlie motion for the six months' disposal of that measure was carried, there was an outburst when the knock of the usher of the black rod was made at the door — an outburst of indignation on the part of the queen's friends because they had no opportunity of expressing their feelings against the course which had been taken. Parliament, however, was jjrorogued, notwithstanding the storm of indignation that arose at the time. On a still later occasion, at the time of the reform bill, in 1831, we can remember how the house was almost in mutiny, and how that staid gentleman, the Duke of Richmond, almost declared himself in rebellion against his sovereign. Sir Robert Peel, at the very moment the usher of the black rod knockeil at the door, was making a most indignant protest against prorogation for tho purpose of dis- solution. Therefore when sucli staid men and men of such high position could take that course, we can perhaps pardon hon. gentlemen opposite for having betrayed an unseemly warmth on the 13th of August because the prerogative of the crown was exercised as the crown had the right to ex- ercise it. Therefore, it occurs to every hon. gentleman who has consid- ered the subject well, that the question of constitutionality cannot exiat for a moment, and that a question of privilege set up against pi'erogative is altogether a false cry, an untenable cry, a cry unconstitutional and un- warranted by law. (Cheers.) The prerogative at present is valuable only as one of the liberties of the people, and it is one of the liberties of the people because it is guited, as 1 said before, by the advice of ministers responsible to the two houses of parliament, not alone to this chamber. The prerogative is not dangerous. There is no hazard that any one of our liberties, personal or political, will be endangered, so long as the preroga- tive is administered on the advice of a minister having the support and requiring support from the two chambers of parliament. (Cheers.) The question then comes, whether the present ministers of his excellency the KK 570 AlTEXniX. governor-general wore jnstifietl in rocotninomlinsj the prorogation on the Kith day of Angust. Sir, if they had not given that advice they would liavo tlie sovereign to break liis word ; they would have advised the sov- ereign to commit a brcacli of faith against evory absent member of parlia- ment. I can say in the presence of this house, in the presence of tho country, and in tho presence of the world, if the world were listening to our rather unimportant aflairs, that if ever a pledge, if over a bargain, if over an agreement or arrangement was made, it was that the house sliould bo prorogued on tho 115th day of August. Some of tho gentlemen who have spoken, I won't tax my memory as to which of them, have n\ade tho constitutional objection that the house never agreed to tho prorogation on the loth of August. Sir, the house had nothing to do with it. It is not a matter of agreement between the sovereign and the people ; it is a mat- ter of prerogative. Did any educated man, any man who knows what tho constitution in Canada or what the constitution in England is, believe that I, the first minister of the crown, could get up in my place and tell this house that on the 13th of A\igU3t it would be prorogued, and that on that day there was no real necessity for members being present, because it was to be merely a formal meeting ? that I, a minister of nearly twenty years standing — (hear)— who oiight to know by practice, and do know by study, somewhat of the British constitution, should make that announcement un- less I had got the authority (if my master ; had got the sanction of tho crown ? As a matter of course, as his excellency has stated in the answer he made to the gentlemen who waited upon him, I submitted tho propo- sition to his excellency and took his pleasure upon it, just as the first min- ister in England would take the pleasure of her majesty as to the day on which prorogation was to take place. I got the sanction of his excellency the governor-general to make that statement, and if I had not got that sanction I do not believe tho house would have agreed to the long ad- journment. V*'^e will look back for one moment to see whether I was right, whether the government was right — in speaking of myself I speak of my- self and my colleagues whether we ought to receive the sanction of the the house in giving that advice. Lat us look back to the circumstances of the case. 1 invite the c.ireful attention of the house, and especially the uttentiori of those lion, members who were not members of the parliament of Canada at that time, to the circumstances of the case. In February, I think it was, there was a royal charter given for the purpose of building a Pacific I'ailway, to the Pacific railway co-npany. T'ley went home — their president. Sir Hiigli Allan and certain other members of the Board for the purpose of attempting to carry out this charter which had been jjiven to them. The charter had been given to them according to tho AI'PKSDIX. 571 voto of tlie Parliiuutuit of Cariiula, with the sanction of the parliament of Ciiniulu, and evory cl.iuso of it was in acL-ordanco with th»» jjrovisions of the law i)a98od by tlio parliament of Canada. (Cheers.) These gentlemen had yone homo to Knyland to lay a great scheme, so great a Bchenif, Mr. Speaker, that some of tiio hon. <,'entlenieu op[)usite said that it was goini; to overtax our resoiirctis and destroy our credit, and that they could not sinv ceed at all with so auiiU a population in such a young coiuitry. They had gone home to England to lay the project before the En^dish world and European capitalists. They were going home to operate, and it depended much on the support they received from this country, from the parliament and press of Camida, whether they could succeed or not. They had gono homo hi February. Purliamont met early in ISIarch, I think. The hon. mem- ber for Shr.ll'ord rose in his place and made his charge against the govern- ment on the 2nd of April. The hon. gentleman may have been, I do not say he was not, actuated by principles of fine patriotism in making that charge ; but whether he was so actuated or nt:)t, whether his motives were parliamen- tary or miparliamentary, patriotic or nnp.atriotic, one thing is certain, that the direct aim, the direct object, the point at which that motion and that statement were directed, was to kill the charter in En.;land. (Cheers. ) The weapon was aimed with that object, not so much with the desire of de- stroying the administration, not so much with the purpose of casting a re- flection upon the ministry, as with the view of destroying that first on the expectation that f" .nstry would fall afterwards. That was the aim ; there was no doul c^.iit it, and when the hon. gentleman's motion was defeated, and when I took up the resolution the aim was well intended — the desire of killing was well intended— but it failed in the execution. (Hear, hear.) When I took it up I considered the whole position of events. Sir Hugh Allai: and those connected with him went to England in March. Parliament was L-itting at the time the hon. gentleman made his motion. 1 could not know how long parliamjnt would last, and the chances wero that they would ret\irn some time before the end of the session. If they did not return then, of course 1 considered that there could be no examin- ation until they did, but I thought they might return. I declare that I never for a moment supposed that the hon. member, when he made his statement, could be guilty of such great, such palpable, such obvious in- justice, as to press his committee in the absence of Sir Hugh Allan, I\Ir. Abbott, and Sir George Cartier, when they had no opportunity of defend- ing either themselves or the charter which they had obtained. Tho house must remember also that the motion made by the hon. gentleman went much farther than my motion. The motion of the hon. member, which he moved on the 2nd of April, was not only to inquire into the facts that Its: ' ■k 572 APPENDIX. ho mentioned, tliu Htutcmonta upon wliich ho based hia motion, but to go into tho wholo of tlio Bubjuct connuctud with tho chiirtor and the granting of tho charter to tlio I'licitii! railway lompany. Tiio aim of his motion, I ropfiit, was to destroy that charter. I will road tho motion of the hon. moialjor. After detailing tho facta, ho moved, " that acummittoeof sovon mombors bo appointed to in(piiro into all tho circumstancoa connected with the negotiations for tho construction of the Pacilic railway, with tho legis- lation of last session on tho 8id)jeut, and with the granting of tho charter to Sir Hugh Allan and (»ther8." So that the aim of the hon. gentleman in making that motion wan not simply to attack thogovornmont, not simply that from improper motives or ii;.' icemunts of any kind they had given tho char- ter, but was for tho purpose of destroying that charter and of attacking all the legislation of the previous session on which the chartur was based. I never for one moment supposed that any hon. member would be guilty of the gross injustice of attempting to attack the whole of the legislation of the previous session and tho charter solemnly granted under an act of par- liament, and of attempting to affect vested interest, on which a million of money had been staked, in the absence of tho pei'sons primarily interested. That motion was made, and was intended to be a vote of want of confi- dence. Was that so I or was it not so ? Will tho hon. gentleman say it was not so ? Mr. HuNTiNfiTOX — The motion when made w; anded to express precisely what it did i xi)iv.ss. (Laughter.) Sir Joux Maijl)on.\i.u — It is said, sir, that if there had been one hon- est man in tho cities of Sodom and Gomorrah they might have boon saved ; and so the Oppo.sition may be saved in the same way, for they have one honest man in their ranks — the member for South Wentv.urth — who stated that that motion was intended to be a vote of want of conSdonce. Everybody knew that that was its design (hear, hear), and yet at this day, at this late hour, the hon. gentleman (Mr, Huntington) had not the man- liness to get up and say so. (Cheers.) Ho dare not say it was not a mo- tion of want of contidence. It was meant in that way, and I can prove that it was by my hon. friend the member for South Wentworth. I call him, and I believe him. He said it was so. Will the hon. gentleman not believe him ] Although difiering from him in politics, I know he would not say what was not true. If I remember rightly, the hon. member for Sheftbrd said he would make the motion when we went into committee of supply. Ho gave the necessary notice that is always given in such cases, and I certainly supposed that he intended to make a general mo- tion on our policy connected with the Canadian Pacific railway. Ho siid he was going to make a motion on that subjuoc, and it was by mere A rri:yi)ix. 673 ftcci"e should be any undue delay in this inquiry, which affected Hinp '* ' i-yy '' i. APPENDIX. 577 the honour of hon. gentlemen and of myself. Now it must be remem- bered that my motion having been unanimously adopted by the house, was not only my motion, was not only my vote, but was also the motion and the vote of hon. gentlemen who were then members of this parliament. I considered at that time that the chances were infinitesimally small that these ^ ^gentlemen would be back in time to go on with the inquiry before the proro- gation of parliament ; and what did I move ? I moved " that a select com- mittee of five members be appointed, of which Committee the nover shall not be one," and here, Mr. Speaker, I may perhaps bring in, par parenthese, a remark. I moved that resolution as I thought that I being one of the accused should not be a member of that committee, and yet the hon. member for Shefford stated in a speech recently that if he had had his own way he would have been the chairman of that committee ; that he would have been chairman and that he would have guided the deliberations of that committee — he the accuser. The hon. gentleman may think that I may have committed something like folly in this course, but, at all events, I moved that ''a committee of five members be appointed, uf which the mover shall not be one, to inquire into and report on the special matters men- tioned in the resolution of the hon. member for Shefford, -with power to send for papers and records, with power to report to the house from time to time, with power to report their evidence to the house from time to time, and if need be to sit after the prorogation of parliament." I thought that by a mere lucky chance, by a mere fortuitous circumstance, Sir Hugh Allan and his associates might perhaps raise the money, make the necessary aiTangements and be back in time before parliament was pro- rogued, and, therefore, I put in merely as an alternative that if need be the committee could sit afti r parliament prorogued. I never thought for a single moment, it never occurred to my mind, that any man having a sense of jus- tice would enter upon a trial of a matter, in the absence of those who were chiefly implicated, and perhaps you will say that the government were im- plicated, but at all events Sir Hugh Allan and Mr. Abbott were not only personally implicated, but their capital, their vested rights, their pledged faith were all interested in this inquiry, and I never thought any man would attempt such an effort of lynch law as to go on in the absence of Sir Hugh Allan, Hon. Mr. Abbott, and Sir Geo. Cartier ; in the absence of all the evidence which these gentlemen could give on the subject of those charges. 1 therefore, sir, drew up the motion in the manner I have named, aud I must confess that I amsomev/hai ashamed that my know- ledge of constitutional law should have been at fault ; but I was anxious that the government should not lie under the charges for a whole year, and I put that in the resolution in order that the commission might ait KK ^- WJ '.:t Iffli'i 'im ,-^ .\*l v.t TT.,^^.,. 578 APPENDIX. from day to day during the recess, and if Sir Hugh Allan, Mr. Abbott and Sir George Cartier arrived in this country that their evidence might be taken. This waa my object in placing this clause in the resolution. On consideration we found that this house could not confer the power, and for a very substantial reason, because it this parliament could appoint a committee with power to sit during the recess it could also appoint a committee of the whole house to sit during the recess, and thus the prero- gative of the Crown to prorogue would be invaded, and parliament as a committee of the whole might sit indefinitely. But I made a mistake ; it was accepted by the whole house, and hon. gentlemen who voted for my resolution are as much responsible for it as myself. Not only was my pro- position considered, but it waa weighed by the hon. member for South Bruce. So much did the hon. member consider it as a matter of certainty that the committee must sit during the recess that he used this language : " With regard to giving the committee power to sit after the prorogation, he thought the correct course to pursue would be to introduce a bill authorizing the committee to sit during the recess, and by a resolution of the house to take evidence under oath." The hon. gentleman saw that it was quite impossible for us to get through the investigation during the session, and I do not see in justice how it was possible to get through without these gentlemen coming. Have I not then proved my case, Mr. Speaker ? (Cheers.) Have I not proved that this house solemnly re- solved, as far as it could resolve, that this enquiry should be continued after the prorogation ? Now, Mr. Speaker, I shall not elaborate this question any further than to say that believing as I did, believing as I do, that it would have been an injustice to proceed with this enquiry in the absence of the gentlemen whom I have named, the government, of which I am a member, offered the advice to the governor-general that the house should be prorogued on the 13th of August, it having been understood that in the intermediate time the committee might sit. That advice was accepted, that was the advice I brought down and communi- cated to the house, and that advice was acted upon by this house and that act this house cannot now recall. (Hear, hear.) This house is responsible for its own acts and ordinances, and when I announced here that the house would be prorogued on the 13th of August, this house accepted that proposition as it should have done. (Cheers.) But, Sir, I stated to this house for all the purposes of this house that the adjournment should be considered a prorogation. (Cheers. ) That was accepted by this house, and more than that, I brought down a bill to pay every member hia salary, on the ground that it was a prorogation, and I say further that any member who got this money and wished for more and came back to get it APPENDIX. 579 pi wa» (f.ilty of taking money under false pretenses. (Cheeis.) Wo know what has happened in the United States. We know that the Globe, in order to induce its friends to come — they knew of course that my friends from the Pacific did not care for a thousand dollars — but they thought that the hon. members who were nearer Ottawa would be induced to come by a bribe, and the Olobe to the eternal disgrace of that paper, insinuated that if hon. members came they would get their money. (Cheers.) I shall now make a few remarks in respect to the issue of the royal com- mission. I have spoken of the prorogation. I believe that it was consti- constitutional. I believe that it was wise, or whether it was wise, or unwise, it was sanctioned by this parliament, and I know that parlia- ment cannot, without dishonour, reverse their vote ; and I believe I know that the house accepted that prorogation on the ground that the adjournment was in effect to be a prorogation, and that only the two Speakers should be in the house on the 13th of August. (Cheers.) As regards the legality of the royal commission, I believe thalfc I need not speak so long on that subject. The motion of the hon. member for Lambton relieves me from that necessity. I will quote the evidence of the royal commission. Mr. Blake— Hear, hear. Sir John Macdonald — I hear the member for South Bruce say " hear, hear." Surely he ought not to touch, taste nor handle the unclean thing. (Laughter.) Surely he will not think that any good fruit will come from a vile stalk. Surely he won't quote any evidence of the commission if he believes the evidence of that commission to be illegal. The hon. gentle- man is on the horns of a dilemma. Either the evidence is legal or illegal. If it is legal, then the house can judge from the evidence, but if it is ille- gal, the house must discard it ; and yet the hon. member for Lambton quoted this evidence, and every man who spoke on the opposite side of the house used that evidence ; and it cannot be said, if that evidence is to be used against the government, that it is illegal or unconstitutional. (Cheers. ) You have your money, and you take your choice. Either ac- cept or discard it, and remain as you were before this evidence was taken. (Cheers.) Now it was alleged in the argument of an hon. gentleman op- posite, with respect to this committee, that the governor-general had been snubbed. I tell the hon. gentleman, and I have the permission of the crown to state it, that in addition to the official announcement, there is a formal opinion given by the law officers of the crown. — those authorities whose opinion the hon. member for Bothwell looked so scornfully upon, but every one else so much respected— that the course taken by the gov- iVi ■ I'rlit^ WM , :.' ''i 11 ft "■i^r m 680 APPENDIX, .,v ' y^A •«. ' emor-general both in respect to the prorogation and the issuance of the royal commission, was legal and constitutional. Mr. Blake. — Hear, hear. Sir John MACOONALn. — Well, Mr. Speaker, I cannot help it if thehon. gentleman does not agree with the law officers of the crown. But I have still a further statement to make, and I think I may make it in the pre- sence of my hon. friend the finance minister — that the course of the gov- ernor-general in respect to all these transactions had been finally settled and agreed upon by the whole imperial cabinet. (Cheers.) It is said, Mr. Speaker, with respect to the commission that by constitutional authority the crown cannot know what happens in the house of commons. Well, Mr. Speaker, that is one of the anachronisms which we see in the quota- tions of the hon. gentlemen opposite. They are two or three centuries behind the times. Did the matter remain with the house alone, or con- clude with ihe house ? No, the house itself sent information to the gov- ernor-general by ^ vcDONALD. — Would the hon. gentleman tell me of any such commission B i Mr. Wood. — Yes, there was the act of 1843, and the act of St. Albans, and in 1852 a general act was passed relating to such matters. No single case could be found in which a royal commission was appointed to try cor- rupt parties at elections, except under a special act. Sir John Macdonald. — The hon. gentleman cites certain acts relating corr upt practices, but the hon. gentleman must see that his oases had no reference to this one, because those which he cited referred to corrup- tion in boroughs, and the charge here is general corruption on the part of the government. It had been contended by the hon. member for Bothwell, who spoke at some length, that it was very surprising that the witnesses before the royal commission did not know anything, that they came up one after another, telegraph operators and others, and all stated that they did not know anything about the matter. Why were they called ] The reason was plain, and tho reason was known to the hon. member. It was because Mr. Huntington handed in the names of these witnesses to the committee. He handed in my name among the rest, and it was alleged that there was an arrangement about this as if the government had any control over that commission. The witnesses were called one after ano- ther and in the order shown on the list handed in by the hon. member for Shefford. Early in the session he handed in the list of witnesses, and APPENDIX. roper. Ho, howover^ oonsented to aot. He also stated to mo tliat at least one French Canadian judge should ■it, as one of my colleagues, a French Canadian, was implicated. He thought over all the names of the judges of Lower Canada, and suggested to me the na'ne of M. Justice Polettu as a man of high standing, a k.ian of great logal power, as worthy in all respects to take his seat on the com- mission. And it is said Mr. Justice Gowan was a creature of mine. How Mr. Justice Oo\'an ever came to be considered a creature of mine, I can- not say. He com nenced life as a partner of Mr. Small, and was an ex- treme reformer. Ho was appointed by Mr. Baldwin on the representation of Mr. Small. I never did him a single favour that I know of. 1 did not appoint him a judge. He was appointed a judge before I was a member of parliament, his appointment being made in 1 843, while I became a member of parliament in 1844. I afterwards became acquainted with Judge Gowan, and I found that he was a good lawyer. I may also say that I have received great advantage, and that the country has received great benefits from the services of Mr. Justice Gowan. There is but one judge of the superior court in Upper Canada whom I have not appointed or promoted, and that one judge, I am proud to say, on the best evidence, has declared in the strongest terms that in the evidence prodnced before the commission there is not one tittle of evidcncu against me. (Cheers. ) It has been said that the comm^'suon was a partisan commission ; but sup- posing I hdd coinuiittoci aw.; crime under the common law of the land, I mwst have been tried under « judge who wao appointed or \ - -noted by myself ; and I believe t^ ,' aot one single mouth or day less punishment would have beon t^i.* t^n to me if I had been tried by any one of these judges whom I havfr > eon fro.i. n\y position instrumental in placing on the bench. With respect to the charges brought against the judges, they have assumed various phases. First we are told that the government had acted with these American gentlemen and had given up all the rights of Canada to a foreign corporation. We were told that we are recreant to our posi- tion as Canadians, to our position as members of parliament, and guar- dians of the rights of Canada, and that we had handed over the great Pacific railway to the Americans. When that broke down, the next charge was brought up. Hon. gentlerien opposite fcaid, " We knoY you did not do that, bu* you hai'e sold it," a-, 'i then wiien that broke down they came to the last charge, and i^aid : '* Oh, you are guilty of spending a largo 3um of money ai. the elections." There are the three charges, and "itli your permission I shall deal with them »eriatim. It has been attempted to ahow that the hrst was not a charge. I would ask the house if it was not so understood in Canada, if it was not so <"~^ fgjjjggssmmsmm V .' 1 ^ .vS\4'5"'>.i3a ■ » * ' .V.f. .. ■J ■'■ A I'd' END! jr. nndentoud in England, if it had not nir:g ihniugh the country, that the government of Canada were bu devoid of duty, bo devoid of patriotiam, that they aold the charier to the Americans I I muat aay that when this charge was first made, it roused me. I had thought that 1 had thwarted these men in every particular. I had thouglit that I had excluded them in every particular. I had thought that I had kept Jay Cooke & Co. , and Scott «& Co., and every company in any way connected with the Northern Pacific railway out of the Canadian Pacific railway. (Choera.) Mr. Speaker, if I had not done so ; if 1 had gone into that moderate system; if I had allowed the American railway system to go on and be completed, forever shutting out the opportunity for ours; if I had played the Ameri- can game; if I had played the game of the hon. gentlemen opposite; if I had sold the railway; if I had sold the interests of Canada, — 1 would have got the plaudits of hon. gcvitleinen opposite, instead of now getting their stabs. (Cheers.) But it is because, from the first to the last, I was a true Canadian; because from the first to the last I stood by Canada; be- cause from the first to the last, when they attempted to levy blackmail upon me, I put it down with a strong hand, — that is why tiie attack waa made on the government; that is why the attack was made on mo. (Loud cheers.) I have no hesitation in saying that this course, taken by the hon. member for Shefford, is governed behind the suanes by a foreign element. (Cheers.) I do not charge the hon. gentlemen by whom he is surrounded with being parties to this, but I do say that the courao of the hon. mem- ber for Shefford is governed by a foreign element, and I can prove it. (Cheers.) And if a committee is granted to ma, I will show that the hon. gentleman sits here by virtue of alien money and influence; and not only by virtue of alien influences, but alien railway infiuences. (Cheers ) 1 can prove it. I am informed, and verily believe, that I can prove it, (Cheers and laughter.) I have got evidence, and if a committee is given to me I can prove that the hon. gentleman was elected to his seat in this house by alien railway infiuences; and more than that, 1 can not only prove that he was elected by alien railway influences, but by alien railway influ- ences not unconnected with the Northern Pacific railway. (Loud cheers.) Now, Mr. Speaker, I have to speak to the specific charges made against the governinent. Sir, before the last election took place, I knew what I had to face. I had a great, a strong and united opponent. I had showered upon my devoted head all kinds of opposition. I had been one of the high commissioners, and one of the signers of the treaty of Washington. It was said that I had betrayed the country, and the hon. gentlemen had described me in their speeches as a cross between Benedict Arnold and Judas Iscariot. But I met parliament, and by a calm explanation of my course I won the \ im i :W. 588 APPENDIX. approval of the house. Still the opposition roared. I knew that I must meet with a strong opposition in my native province, from gentlemen of the opposite party. That province was the only province in the country that was not a gainer by the treaty, except as it was a gainer by the great gain which, I think, over-balanced every th'n^ — that of a lasting peace be- tween England and the United States. (Cheers. ) It gave to our children, and to our children's children, the assurance that we could enjoy our own comfort, that we could enjoy our own firesides, that wc could sit under our own fig tree, without the possibility of the war-cloud hanging over us; and if I was guilty of being a party to that treaty, I shall be glad to have it recorded on my tombstone. (Loud cheers.) We yielded much, we gave up many things — I admit that. I told this house that we had yielded much — that we had given up many things. But still we see our country prosperous — still we see every interest growing (cheers), and now we know that by no hostile hand, by no unfriendly, warlike invasion, can the future be destroyed. (Cheers.) Yet, sir, I went out and submitted my shoulder to the smiter. I knew how much it would be held out that we had not got what we ought to have got ; that we had got no reciprocity — that the wheat of the Western farmer was not exchanged on equal terms with the wheat of the Americans. But I had to meet that, and I met it, Mr. Speaker, like a man. (Cheers.) I had to meet much more. I had not only to be told — as I was told at every place that I went to — that T was a traitor and had sold this country. If Canada is never sold in the future by a greater traitor than myself, Canauv. will be a fortunate country. (Loud cheers.) But I was told also that I had not only sold Canada to the Yan- kees, but that I had sold Ontario to the other provinces. It was said that I had not only committed a great breach of international law, but had also given them more than their rights. On every question of constitutional law I have had the satisfaction of having the courts — well, not perhaps the courts, but of those men who make the courts — in my favour, and I have never made a constitutional or legal proposition in which I have not had the support of the legal advisers of the crown in England, and in which I have not been right, aiid the hon. gentlemen opposite have been wrong. But with respect to Nov?; Scotia, we are told, not only that my course was unoonstitutional, but that we had given to Nova Scotia more than they had a right to have. Perhaps the hon. gentleman opposite would s&y they never said do. He had been in the habit of saying so. But the fact could be proved, that the hon. gentleman took the two grounds — first, that our action was unconstitutional, and second, that the action was unjust to Ontario, (Cheers.) Now I would ask you to speak to every member from Upper Canada, and ask if they did not find in every election that \v. -f ■ APPENDIX. 589 vaid of the g^overnment of Canada, and that I, as prime minister, had granted to Nova Scotia too much, and had thereby increased the taxation of the people of Ontario ? I have had to tell the people of Ontario, in the first place, that Nova Scotia only got justice, and in the second, that the course taken was perfectly constitutional; and even if we had given Nov.). Scotia a little more than justice, it was well worth the outlay. (Cheers.) Why, Mr. Speaker, what did we find at the time of the union ? The min- ister of customs was the first man returned to the house in the elections, on strictly union principles. Consider the position wo were in here. We were with a constitution just tr& nbling in the balance, and yet we found one of the moat important provinces recalcitrant, threatening independence, and opposing in every possible way the carrying out of confedeiai'ion, under which we now live and flourish. Was I to deal with the question in a hesitating way ? If we had given to Not a Scotia a little more than her rights, and even as it were a sop, I say it was a statesmanlike act. But, sir, there were no necessities of that kind. We did them simple justice; and I will venture to say that any member who will now sit down and read the discussions and negotiations between Canada and Nova Scotia, will feel that we did full and ample justice. I am no friend to doing half justice, but we did them no more than justice. What is the consequence 1 We see the people, irrespective of party; we see every man in Nova Scotia ad- miring the legislation of parliament introduced by the government, which has made Nova Scotia a part of the Dominion, instead of being a separatti province, and has converted it into one of the most ardent friends of con- federation among the whole of the different members of the Dominion. (Cheers.) If it shall happen, sir, as it may happen, that 1 receive a reverse, a condemnation of any particular act of mine, I may still appeal, and I do appeal, to the members for Nova Scotia, who, when their best interests were assailed, and they were brought perforce, fas aut nefas, into confeder- ation, they still got fair treatment, got full justice, at our hands; and I hope to live in the hearts of the Nova Scotians. (Cheers.) While that was satisfactory to me, I think it was not satisfactory to my friends in On- tario. Every man who supported me was attacked at the polls with respect to our action on the Washington treaty, and because it was said we had given too much to help the Nova Scotians. So with British Columbia. Letmereadsome of the resolutions with reference to the Pacific railway and British Colum- bia. Do you suppose, does any man suppose, we could havo British Columbia within the Dominion without a railwaj' 1 There must no; only be a union ou paper, but a union in fact. Those hon. members of the opposition, by every act that they could, in every way that they could, opposed the prao- iical \inion of British Columbia with Canada. (Cheers.) They voted against '■ i li :#■ >\"' ■i^^:ji 590 APPENDIX. i^ it, they said it was most outrageous — the plan, the idea of a railway, was outrageous. (Opposition cries of ' ' hear.") That is the language used by hon. gentlemen opposite, and I will presently quote terms used. Now let us look at some of the motions made. The government moved a motion to carry out a measure which is now the law. It was moved in amendment "that the proposed engagement respecting the Pacific railway would, in the opinion of the house, press too heavily on the resources of Canada to cany out." That motion was defeated. (Ministerial cheers.) Then it was moved, "that in view of the arrangement entered into with British Columbia at tho time of confederation, and the large expenditures neces- sary for canal improvements and other purposes within the Dominion, this house is not justified in imposing on the people the enormous burden of taxation required to construct within ten years a railway to the Pacific, as proposed by the resolution submitted to this house." (Ministerial cheers.) I say I might read you a series of resolutions, all made by hon. gentlemen opposite, and voted for by them, showing that in their opinion we had beep overtaxing the resources of the people of Canada. I am now told by the hon. gentlemen opposite, that, although they opposed that arrangement with British Columbia, they think they are bound to it now. I am told that they say, "True, we made an arrangement with British Columbia which was improvident, extravagant ar.d ruinous, and which could never be carried out. Yet, being made, we will carry it out." I don't exactly see the logic of that. If it be ruinous, extravagant and impossible, I really don't see how it can be carried out now. (Cheers.) But, Mr. Speaker, I don't believe the policy of the hon. gentlemen opposite is in favour of that. (Loud cheers.) I knew it is opposed to that. (Renewed cheers.) I know, if this government goes out of office, and another government comes into power, if it be composed of hon. gentlemen opposite, that it will oppose our policy in this question. (Ministerial cheers.) Hon. gen- tlemen opposite dare not deny that the Globe newspaper announces and directs their policy. We passed a bill the session before last: we granted a charter for the building of the road, and it was settled and determined that the Pacific railway should be built, and we were to build it on our own territory, and not allow the Yankees to come in and assist in building the road, nor even the friends of the hon. member for Vancouver. Yet, what was the announcement of the organ of the hon. gentlemen opposite ? After the legislation of 1 872, after we had accepted the arrangement with British Columbia, after we had brought them into the Dominion on the pledge of the faith of !; ie government and the country that there would be a Pacific railway withii ten years, after we had made that promise, with the solemn sanction of the country, what were the remarks of the Olobe, the ..MM wmmmMmmm 'J -r- '.V APPENDIX. 591 exponent of the opii ions of hon. gentlemen opposite? The right hon. gen- tleman then read an extract from an article, published in the Qlohe during 1873, wherein the Pacific railway scheme was declared to be financ^ily ruinous, and politioally unpatriotic ; — a scheme which could only be ac- complished within ten years at an outlay which would cripple Canadian resources, and lock vrp the most valuable part of our public domains. The right hon. gentleman continued: — Now, Mr. Speaker, you see what is to happen if Canada builds this Canadian Pacific railway. All our resources are to be crippled by this, th"" most ruinous and most unpatriotic scheme ever invented, and this cry I had to meet at the hustings. I have gone on from one stage to another. I have shown you how I met the cries at the hustings — tliat I bartered away Canadian rights in the Washington treaty; that I had granted too much to Nova Scotia; that I had been guilty of granting a constitution to a few half-breeds in the North-West country, and had given them infinitely more than they had a right to expect; that, as regards British Columbia, I would throw away the resources of Canada upon the construction of the Pacific railway, and that I had sold Ontario. (Ironical cheers from the opposition.) Mind you, Ontario considers itself the richest province — and no doubt it is — and that any additional charge placed in the public treasury presses unfavourably on them, because they pay more in proportion to their wealth than the other provinces of the Dominion. 1 know they don't do so, but it has been urged upon them that they do do so. Then, again, we had to meet the continued opposition of the local government of Ontario. I will give the hon. gentlemen proofs n writing, so that they will not be able to deny the fact — proof that though that local government had pledged itself in the most formal manner to be neutral in the contest, that they, by every act in their power, and by every influence, direct and indirect, that they possessed, worked against the Canadian government. That is the charge, and I can prove it. (Minis- terial cheer.' "i We know that influences of every kind would be used, and were used, wnich can be proved ; or, as the hon. member from Sheffbrd would say, " I am credibly informed, and cai prove," (laughter) ; p^nd we believed that the future of Canada much depends upon the continuing in power of a government that has for its one single aim and object the main- tenance of the connection between Canada and the British empire, and the promotion of the development of the Dominion itself. (Cheers.) We have been met at the polls with sectional cries. If the opposition could raise a religious cry, it was done. The Now Brunswick school question was brought up, and they got up the cry that we had given too much to Nova Scotia, amd those cries were made to ring at the polls in Western Canada. The cry that we had gisen too much to British Columbia was 1 lit !;r m I A. '^^im APPENDIX. ! -if^ hammered into ns at every public meeting in the west, and T say distinctly, and I repeat it again, that we had the power, influence, and the weight of the Ontario government against us, contrary to the distinct pledge tKat that government would bo neutral. (Cheers.) Well,«ir, I will state row what occurred with respect to the Pacific railway. I was at Washing on, bartering my country, as some of the hon. gentlemen say — (laughter) — at- tending, at all events, to the Washington treaty, when the resolutions were carried which happily I say for Canada brought British Columbia into the union of the British North American provinces. (Cheers.) The propo- sition included the Pacific railway, for British Columbia would nut have come in,unless the terms of union had included a railway. Notwithstanding great opposition, the resolutions were carried by my late honoured and lamented colleague, but he only carried them by promising to introduce resolutions by which the milway would be built, not by the government directly, but by private capital, aided by government grants. I would not, if I had been here, have willingly assented to that proposition, but though I was not here, yet I am responsible for that act, and I do accept it as perhaps the best proposition to be had ; otherwise, perhaps, the union would not have been consummated. The resolutions declared that the railway should be built by a railway company, assisted by government grants of land and money. The hon. member for Napierville, however, rr.-ived a resolution setting forth that the house did not believe that pri- vate capital could be obtained sufficient for the purpose. The whole of the resolutions moved by hon. gentlemen opposite were more for the pur. pose of defeating the construction of the Pacific railway ; and when Sir George Cartier produced his resolutions, and was about to carry them as prepared, he had to give way to the desire of the house, because even those who usually supported the government were alarmed by the cry which had been raised by gentlemen opposite. Thus, if the motion of the hon. mem- ber for Napierville had been adopted, and Canada was unable to get a company to build the railway, the bargain with British Columbia would fall to the ground and be only waste paper, and British Columbia would sit out shivering in the cold, forever, without a railway. The policy in- dicated by that resolution of the hon. member for Napierville has been carried out ever since. In March, long after the legislation had taken place, by which parliament declared that there should be a Pacific railway built in some way or other, we find the Globe urging its friends to still further oppose that scheme; and, sir, we have had arraigned against us the opposition of those who usually ally themselves against the govern- ment, supported by those gentlemen of the opposition many of whom owe their election to sectional cries. (Cheers.) We have met them, and it is APPENDIX. ■ '-' ' ' ' ■ '.",;■> 593 said that we have met them with money. I believe that the gentlemen opposite spent two pounds to our one. (Opposition cries of " no, no.") I challenge the hon. gentlemen to have "> committee on this subject. Let ^8 have a committee. (Ministerial cheers.) I read the speech of the hon. member for South Bruce at London, and he suggested the appointment of a statutory committee. In God's name, let us have it ! Let us have a committee of three, to go from county to county, from constituency to constituency, and let them sift these matters to the bottom, and I tell you on my honour as a man, that I believe I can prove that there are more who owe their elections to money on that side of the house than on this. (Loud ministerial cheers. If I be challenged, I can go into detail. I can show, and I can prove it, that many members owe their election to money, and to money alone. I challenge the hon. gentlemen to agree to the ap- pointment of a committee, a statutory con. utee, as suggested by the hon. member for South Bruce. Let us put the names of the judges of all the provinces into a bag, and draw out three names, who shall form the committee. (Cheers.) As I stated in my evidence — and I hope my evi- dence has been carefully read by every member of this house — and I say here, that I tried to be as full and frank as I could well be. I could not help it if I was not subjected to a rigid cross-examination. I was exceed- ingly anxious that the hon. member for Shefford should be there to cross- examine me — (cheers) — and I would willingly have answered his questions. I have little more to say than I said then. Sir, there was no sale to Sir Hugh Allan of any contract whatever. (Cheers.) Consider for one mo- ment, Mr. Speaker, how the case stood. Parliament had passed two acts, one for Upper Canada and one for Lower Canada, and some two or three subsidiary acts respecting branch lines. But we will leave these out of the question, and will consider that there were two acts passed — one for a company having its centre in Montreal, and the other in Toronto. Now, sir, although there were Ontario gentlemen con- nected with the Canada Pacific company, and although there were Que- bec gentlemen connected with the Interoceanic company, yet the/ were really acts promoted by men wbo have Ontario and Quebec interests on- ly, and every one saw that they were essentially sectional. Before parlia- ment met, and before either act was passed, the cry was got up that the Northern Pacific people were desirous of obtaining the control of our rail- way. At the first, Mr. Speaker, when the first interview took place be- tween the government and these gentlemen, I was very glad to see them. We had passed in 1871 theact that British Columbia should be a portion of '.he Dominion, and we had passed a resolution by which we were to build che railway in ten years. It was understood, then, sir, that the whole t:'' '^f J^ 694 APPENDIX. 'S- ^ matter should stand over until the ensuing session, and that in the mean- time the government should go on with the survey and be ready in 1872 with the plans. We got through the session of 1872 and we commenced, in order to keep faith with the British Columbians, the survey, and I think they will admit, and everyone must admit, that the greatest energy and the greatest zeal have been exhibited in the survey, and that within two years there has never been so much work so satisfactorily done as in this railway survey by Mr. Sanford Fleming. (Cheers.) The survey was go- ng on, and in midsummer and in the fall all the members of the govern- ment were scattered looking after their several affairs, taking their little holidays, and God knows the public men of this country have little enough holiday. They were all scattered except Sir Francis Hincks and myself when Mr. Waddington called on me. I had known the gentleman before, and I much respected him. He said to me that there were some Ameri- can gentlemen to see us abo\it the railway. I said to him in my way, *' What a fool you were to bring them here. We can do nothing with them." He was very much distressed, and said to me. " But you will not refuse to see them." I said certainly not. The gentlemen then o^me, and Sir Francis Hincks and I met them, and we talked pleasantlj', and I said to them that I was glad to see that American capital was looking for investment in Canadian enterprises, but that it was altogether premature as we could not then take any offers or suggestions, or take any action tAl after we had met parliament. One of them remarked that they had evi- dently been brought on a wild-goose errand, and they then went away. This first brought to my mind very strongly the necessity for looking out for our railway. Parliament had tied down our hands, and the railway could only be built by a company, and there were no other means of car- rying out the pledge with British Columbia, and I therefore immediatcsly addressed myself to the matter. And what did I do ? I spoke to all that 1 could, as I have no doubt my colleagues did, and endeavoured to arouse Canadians in the enterprise. I went to Toronto and saw Messrs. Mac- pherson, Gzowski, Col. Cumberland, Mr. Rowland and his son, and Good- erham & Worts, and in fact every one, and endeavoured to induce them to enter into the great enterprise. I told them as Sir Francis Hincks told «Sir Hugh Allan, that by law there was no other way of building the road but by a company, and that they cught to get up a grand company, get a char- ter and go to England for any capital they needed. As I went to Toronto, Sir Francis Hincks went accidentally to Montreal, and told Sir Hugh about the American gentlemen who had called on us, and the fault I found with my friend Sir Francis, and which I ventured to tell him when he was a member of the government was, that while merely attempting to stimu- APPENDIX. 595 late Sir Hugh to go into the work, he had named to him that he had bet< ter put himself in communication with the American capitalists. That was the act of Sir Francis Hincks. That was his concern, and I would not at all object to American capital, or capital from England, or any- where else, but I told Sir Francis on his return that he had been prema- ture in this, that we ought to have kept to a great Canadian conjpany be- fore any offer or intimation that Americans might come in was made. Then Sir Hugh, acting on the hint given by Sir Francis, and it was no more than a hint — it was in no way a government action — communicated with the Americans, and we had a visit from a number of Americans with Sir Hugh ; and Mr, Speaker, I being spokesman on both occasions, gave them precisely the same answer that they were premature ; that we were very glad to see them, but we oould make no arrangement until parliament met. 1 said we would be very glad however to hear any proposition, and asked them whether they had any to make. Sir Hugh asked in return whether we were in a position to entertain a proposition ; and on our re- plying in the negative, he rejoined that he then had no proposition to make. A.nd these were all the communications between the Canadian government and these gentlemen. (Cheers.) This statement cannot be con- troverted, and will not be. In the meantime a sectional jealousy had arisen, instead of, as I hoped, a joint action between the capitalists of Montreal and Toronto, and instead of, as I had hoped, there being a rush and anxiety among our moneyed men in the different parts of Canada to form one great company, for the work required united exertion, there was a jealousy fanned from some quarter, which we know now, and this jeal- ousy prevented the two great bodies of capitalists, who ought to have built the road, from joining, and all our hopes were scattered ; and a feeling arose in Toronto first that if the Montreal interest got the preponderance Toronto trade would get the go-by, and second, that Sir Hugh Allan and the Montreal interest were joined with the Americans. That feeling grew and 1 am not now in a position to state, after reading the evidence and af- ter reading the letters of Sir Hugh Allan and those published by Mr. Mc- Mullen, I am not now in a position to state that that jealousy in Toronto was ill founded. I am not in a position to state that they had not some ground of which we knew nothing for believing that the Montreal party were in communication with the Americans. I am not now in a position to stake that the people of Toronto and the Tnteroceanic had not great cause for suspicion and jealousy, whether that suspicion was well or ill founded ; but before parliament met, as I have sworn, and as Mr. Abbott has sworn, and as every member of the house knows, the feeling against the introduction of American capital was so great that by no ,'■ > J; ' 'V* 4 mi 1 ■ -.-'.■ iW-iteii" > 596 APPENDIX. \' possibility could it be allowed entrance. We felt, Mr. Speaker, and every member knew it, that it was necessary that every American ele- ment must be eliminated from the acts, or they could not pass — (cheers) — and I appeal to hon. gentlemen who were then in the house if they do not know, as a matter of fact, that it was understood on all sides that the American element was eliminated. I understood it so ; the government understood it so ; and the house understood it so, and Mr. Abbott, who undertook the management of the bill of the Montreal company through this house, made it a special understanding with Sir Hugh Allan that it should be so before he promoted the bill, and so' it was by universal con- sent. I know, Mr. Speaker, that it will be said, and I may as well speak of it now, that Sir Hugh Allan's letters show that he still kept up his con- nection with the Americans. I know it, and I painfully know it, that Sir Hugh Allan behaved badly and acted disingenuously towards the men with whom he was originally connected. I say that when he found that Amer- icans were not to be admitted he ought to have written to them, and in- formed them tl- ^t though he had made a contract with them, still so strong a feeling existed in Canada that he must at once and forever sever his con- nection with them. Instead of doii:g so, however, he carried on a cor- respondence with them, a private correspondence, which he has sworn no one else saw, and which he has sworn that not even his colleagues in the Canada Pacific company knew of, not even Mr. Abbott, his confidential adviser. He says he conducted it as his own personal affair, believing and hoping that in the end the people of Canada would come to a different view, and allow American capital to be used. He has sworn that, and we never knew that he was carrying on communications with the Americans. Mr. Abbott never knew it and the Canada Pacific company have declared that there was no connection between them and the Americans, but I have heard it said, I think, by the member for Cbateauguay, is it possible that the government would give a contract to a man wiio had behaved so disin- genuously, and after this want of ingenuousness had been shown to the Prime Minister, by the exhibition of the correspondence ? Sir, let me say a word to you about that. After the Act passed and we were working with all our might to form a good company and a strong one, long after, Mr. Speaker, as it appears in the correspondence between Sir Hugh Allan and the Americans, Mr. McMullen came to my office in order to levy black- mail. (Cheers.) He did not show me the correspondence, but he flour- ished certain receipts and drafts which Sir Hugh Allan had drawn at New York. There was nothing, however, in that because he had told us he had gone into that association, and we knew that he had communication with the Americans, and there was nothing extraordinary in my seeing that APPENDIX. m these gentlemen had aubacribed a certain sun of money for prelimi.iary expenses, and I have never known a company, railway or otherwise, with- out preliminary expenses being provided for by the promoters. I told Mr. McMuUen therefore, that it was his matter, and that he must go and sea Sir Huf^h. I heard no more about the matter until late in January or February, after we had formed the company, a'ter a correspondence with every province of the Dominion, after having tried to excite and having successfully excited the capitalists of the different provinces to subscriber after we had got every thing prepared, after I had drafted the char- ter and the great seal only required to be affixed, and just when the charter was about to be launched, and the company to build the road was about to be made a certainty, then Mr. C. M. Smith, Mr. Hurl, hurt and Mr. McMullen walked into my office. I do not say that Mr. Smith or Mr. Hurlburt came to levy blackmail. I do not think they did, for they looked respectable gentlemen, and spoke and behaved as such. They told me Sir Hugh Allan had behaved very badly, and they read a good deal of the correspondence which has been published, and I told them then, " Gentlemen, if your statement is true, Sir Hugh Allan has behaved badly towards you, but the matter is your own, and Sir Hugh is no doubt able to meet you." They spoke of the seizing of hia ships and bringing actions against him both in the United States and Can- ada, when I repeated to th^m that they had iheir own proper remedy, and added that Sir Hugh had not the slightest power to give them the con- tract. (Cheers.) I told them that he ought to have broken off his con- nection with them long ago, and that if he had kept them in the dark they must take their own remedy against him. We were then asked how could we admit Sir Hugh into the contract. Mr. Speaker, we had already ad- mitted him. The contract was made. Every province had been given its directors. The charter had been drawn, and only awaited the signature ■of the governor-general ; and more than all this, the correspondence, whatever may be said of the conduct of Sir Hugh Allan towards the Amer- icans, p'.oved the existence of hostility between them, and showed that if Sir Hugh were one of the company who received the contract we should keep the Americans out altogether. I had to get that contract let. I had to get a sufficient number of the capitalists of Danada who would take up this subject, and Sir Hugh Allan was the first. He is our greatest capi- talist. He was the first man who went into it, and these gentlemen, Mr. McMullen and the rest, proved to me that Sir Hugh Allan had cut the cord of connection , had nothing to do with the Americans, or w ith Jay Cooke & Co., and that they were resolved to follow him to the death as they have done. (Hear, hear.) This,^ then is the narrative, so far, of our con- 1! i! A • '■ ^ -ii- u 598 APPENDIX. nection with the Pacific railway. My evidence states that Bh< rtly before the elections I went to Toronto, and Sir George Cartior went to Montreal. I do not winh hon. gentlemen to suppose for one single instant that I would desire to shelter myself or my living colleagues by throwing the blame on my dead colleague. (Oheers.) Whatever Sir Geoi-^e Cartior has done I will assume the responsibility of. (Hear, hear.) Whatever Sir Goorge Oartier has done I must accept as being the honest expression of an individual minister ; but, sir, I do not admit, and I will not admit, and it is not safe for hon. gentlemen opposite to admit, that any one minister can bind a ministry. (Cheors.) I went to Toronto in order to descend to the stern contest that was forced upon me by the course taken by hon. gentlemen opposite, to meet the arguments that were going to be used against me, the sectional questions that were raised against me, the numerous charges which were made against mo, and which I had always found operating against me. When I went to Ontario for that purpose, and to meet these charges, it was not for the first time. As long as I have been in parliament I have been charged by hon. gentlemen opposite with selling Upper Canada, with sacrificing the best interests of Upper Canada, with selling myself to French domination and Catholic influences and Lower Canadian i ests. I had refuted these charges repeatedly, and had convinced the majority in Upper Canada that 1 held then as I do now the principle of union between Upper and Lower Canada, and that the only way by wliic.i that union could be firmly established was by ig- noring sectional questions and religious differences. (Cheers.) These cries are still raised. You will hear them before many days in this house, and you will hear them throughout the country whenever it pleases hon. gen- tlemen opposite to raise them ; but as my past history has shown, so my future history will prove that whatever party political exigency may be, I have never, and shall never give up the great principle of keeping intact the union of Upper and Lower Canada by a give and take principle, by a reciprocity of feeling and by surrendering our own religious and p >litical pi'ejudices for the sake of union. I went to the West to do what I could during the elections, in fighting the battle of the party and the govern- ment. I had simply said to Sir George Cartier that I should have a very hard fight in Upper Canada, as I had the goternment of Ontario against me, and I wished him to help me as far as he could. I went to Toronto, and I tried all I could before the elections took place to procure an amal- gamation of the two companies. It was of vital importance, in a party point of view, laying aside the patriotic view, to have a company to build the road, composed of the Montrealers and the Toronto men, so that i could have gone to the country and said, " Here is a great enterprise. W© BBBS ilP¥ m m A PPENDIX. S0» have fi)rmecl a great company. We are carrying out a great achenio. Wa are forming a great country." I s^iared no pains to procure an amalgaiua- tion ; Senator Macplierson, and any one in Toronto connected with the enterprise, will tell you how hard, how earneatly, in reason and out of season, I worked to procure that amalgamation. I failed. I thought I had succeeded two or three times. I abandoned my own o istituoncy ; 1 might have been elected by acclamation, or at all events by a vary largo niajoiity, but instead of attending to ray election, I went up to Toronto to attempt to bring about an amalK'iniation between the two companies. Then they got up a story about me, according to the habit of the opposi- tion, that I considered my constituency a pocket borough, and thought I could afford to pass it by. 1 thouj^ht at one time I had succeeded in pro- curing an ainalgaiaation, and Mr. Abbott came up to Toronto in response to a telegram from me. We had an interview with Mr. Macpherson, and almost succeeded in coming to an agreement. The only question was whether there should be seven and six or five and four directors from On- tario and Quebec. The arrangement was so near thiit I was satisfied when I left Toronto that the amalgamation was complete. I found, however, that that was not the case, and in the middle of my election, on the 25th, T think, of July, I telegraphed to Mr. Macpherson to como down, and he came down to Kingston and saw me and then I sent that telegram which has been published in the papers, and which was the only arrangement a'} regards the granting of the chapter so far as the government was concern- ed, 80 far as i was concerned. (Hear, hear.) That telegram which was sent on the 20th July w.xs sent by me to Sir Hugh Allan, after seeing Mr. Macpherson, and with the knowledge of Mr. Macpherson. Now what does that say ? I was obliged reluctantly to give up the hope of having an amalgamation before the elections. These little jealousies, these littlo personal ambitions and the jostling between seventeen and thirteen mem- bers on the board had come in the way, and I could not carry out the ar- rangement J had hoped to complete. I could not spare the time. 1 T»af» in great danger of losing my election by throwing myself away on thi* great Pacific railway. I actually came down to Kingston only on the day of my nomination, trusting to the kindness of my old friends in Kingston, Well, sir, what was the telegram which I sent ? It said : "I have soeu Mr. Macpherson," — he was in the room when I wrote it. " I have seeui Mr. Macpherson. He has no personal ambition, but he cannot give up. the rights of Upper Canada. I authorise you to state that any iiifluenco the government may have in the event of amalgamation, shall be given to Sir Hugh Allan. The thing must stand over till after the elections. Tho two gentlemen, Mr. Macpherson and Sir Hugh Allan, will meet in Ottawa T V ' 600 APFEMjIS. t V and form an amalgam nti on." That wai tho proponition which I tuodo, and just think, air, what woa involved, think huw much I wassuuhbinij, which ia a word which han betm used by tho Glvbe lately, how much I was injur- ing and prejudicinjfj the interest of my colleague in Montreal, Sir George Cartier. Sir Hugh Allan did not care so much for tho Pacitio railway, and Sir George Cartier did not care so much for Sir Hugh Allan. It wad not SirlHiigh Allan or the I'aoitic railway that ho aired so much aboul ; f but Sir Hugh Allan had made himself the ruprusentativo man of Lower Canada with respect to tho Northern Colonization Road, tho N(jrth Shore Road, and the Ottawa and Toronto Road, so that the members from Lower Canada would have stood by Sir Hugh Allan even to the risk of losing all the elections, because thoir Montreal interests would be so much affected if Sir Hugh Allan were not sustained with regard to tho Paoitic railway. But with respect to the other railways, my hon. friend from Ho- cholaga and other gentlemen can say that if there had been accord between Sir Hugh Allan and the French members of Lower Canada from tho Mon- treal district, there would have been a great peril of tho Lower Canadian members from that district deserting Sir George Cartier, and supporting Sir Hugh Allan in carrying out tho Northern Colonization road. I was standing by Sir George Cartier, who was most improperly charged with being so much attached to the Grand Trunk railway that he would not do justice to the other roads. I will ask my friends from Lower Canada if Sir George Cartier's connection with tho railway had anything to do with the results of tho elections. His prospects were connected with the local roads alone. In order to prove to you how true a man Sir George Cartier was, how perfectly unselfish he was, I may state that he held back on my account. When he said, " I wish to be elected on my own merits, and on my own services, and not on account of tho Colonization or any other road," (cheers) and when by a word he could have put an end to the crj' of interest, he felt that it was a sectional feeling between Upper and Lower Canada, and that if ho pronounced in favour of any railway in Lower Canada, he would injure me in Upper Canada, and he sacrificed himself for my sake in Lower Canada, because he thouglit that any pronounce- ments in favour of Sir Hugh Allan, might injure me and my friends in the western elections. (Cheers.) I had only one thing to do and that was to return to him the confidence and trust ho had reposed in me. I said, " Don't mind me. Fight your own battles. You must make your own arrangements with your own friends in respect to the railways," and it was not until he had that communication with mo that he said he would help the Northern Colonization road. It was not because Sir George Cartier had any personal objects to gain, it was not because he APPENDIX. «0l was connected with the (Irand Trunk Iliiilwny, but it was purely from a desire to save tn« from any possiblo difficulty in Upper Canada that he held back, and 1 have here now, when he is dead, the proud opportunity of stAtin^; that even in the last moment he \r only thought of his colleague, of his comrade of twenty years. He only thought by ap- pearing to promote a national interest in Lower Canada he might hurt me in Upper Canada, and he threw away all his chances, all his hopes, every thing like a certainty or a reasonable hope of success, for the purpose of standing by mo, and I am proud and happy now to pay tliis tribute to his njeraory. (Cheers.) Well, air, on the 2Gth of July 1 sent that tele- gram, and that was the only bargain. No man can make a bargain with the government, except by an order in council, or by the action of the first minister, recognised and accepted by hia collea^'uos. Any act of a first minister, until it is disavowed, is considered equal to a minute of council, equal to an act of the government. That telegram of mine of the 20th of July was an act of the government. My colleagues have not re- pudiated it ; they have accepted it, and it was a fair arrangement as we could not get the amalgamation. As we could not succeed in going to the country with a perfect scheme for building the Pacific railway, what else was left to us but to keep the amalgamation of these great capitalists open till after the elections, and then c;ill them together, and the only word of preference for Montreal over Toronto was simply my expression that any influence the government might have in case of amulgamatiun, in the case of the two companies joining and electing a board of directors, would be fairly used in favour of Sir Hugh Allan for the presidency. I think that was duo to Sir V . h Allan, and after all it was no great affair. Every- body kn*" ft8 iiid,!, i:,; president of a company is no more than the junior memb?! *tl'o 'lar' of directors. It depends altogether upon the per- fonal V mryx :.if r man. We have seen boards where the president grvW-ted thi? h >. ^ ; others where the president was «. mere figure head, and others h-^.!%i where the junior member governed the company. It depends entirely upon the personal figure and authority of the man. Well, air, I made that promise, but I wish the h )U3e to remember that at the time of that telegram, in which I simply stated that as we coulJ not form a company before the elections, we would form one afterwards out of the two, and would do what we could to make Sir Hugh Allan president. At that time there had been not one single word said about money — (cheers) — *ad there never was one said, as far as I was concerned, between Sir Hugh Allan and me. (Hear, hear.) I was fi;?hting the battle in Western Canada. I was getting subscriptions, as I have no doubt the hon. mem< '.' )' ; ^■, n APPEND! jr. ber for Lambton was getting subscriptions, and if he denies it I will be able to provo it. ((Cheers.) I state in my place that I will be able to ^^'ove it. (Cheers.) I was doing what I could for the purpose of getting money to help tho elections, and I was met, not only by individual exer- tions, but by the whole force, power and influence, legitimate and illegiti- mate of the Ontario government. I have no hesitation in saying that in ai; expenditure, we were met by two dollars to one. (Hear, hear.) I have read with some amusement the attacks that have been made upon the government, because a member of the government was a party to this fund. If we had had the same means possessed by hon. gentlemen oppo- site ; if we had spies ; if we had thieves ; if we had men who went to your desk, picked your lock, and stole your note books, we would have much stronger evidence than hon. gentlemen think they have now. (Cheers.) We were fighting an uneven battle. Wo were simply subscrib- ing as gentlemen, while they were stealing as burgla 'd. (Cheers.) We may trace it out as a conspiracy throughout. I use Le word conspiracy advisedly, and I v/ill use the word out of the honso as well as in the house. (Cheers.) The hon. member for Shefford said that he had ob- tained certain documents. He attempted to read them to this house, not much J think to hli credit, and certainly contrary to the sense of the house «nd of the country. Now how did he get these documents. We had Mr. George W. McMuUen, who was the American agent of these gen- tlemen. He had carried on this correspondence with Sir Hugh Allan, and when he came to me in December and tried to levy black mail on me (hear, hear,) I told him to go to , well I did not use any improper language, but I told him to step out of my office (laughter and cheers,) and he went to the hon. gentlemen opposite. (Cheers.) This is no mere hypothesis of mine. Sir Hugh Allan had promised to pay this man f 17,000 for these papers, and although he had the money Almost in his hand, the hon. gen- tlemtin gave him something more. (Cheers.) The hon. gentleman cannot deny that he did. Ho i. Mr. HuNTiNOTOX — I do deny it. (Opposition cheers.) The statement is without foundation. Sir John Macdoxald — If there is one person in the world whom the hon. member for IShefford has as a friend, it is the editor and pro- prietor of the Montreal Harald (hear, hear), I think he takes him to his bosom ; I think they sleep togetlier. I think they have but one thought. He is his guide, philosopher, and friend, and when wo have the announcement from the Montreal Herald, of May the 22nd. 18V3, T thin?; we must accept it. " >io one can suppose that such a plat could have been laid bare without great labour a>id large ex • V s:^ ■ r-r'l;: 'Jsf '.(:■■• Ari'ENDIX. 603 penditure" (cheers), again, the Herald says, speaking of Mr. Hunting- ton, — "But for the courage with which he assumed it, as well as for the pains and expenditure which it has cost him to expose the mystery, he ii entitled to the warmest gratitude." (Cheers on both sides of the houst.) I judge from the cheers of hon. gentlemen opposite that the hon. member for Shefford has their thanks ; but that is an admission that he made the expenditure. (Oh! oh! and cheers.) This man bought Mr. McMullen. It is admitted by the Montreal Herald that he bought him. (No ! no ! and hear, hear.) Hon. Mr. Hlntington — I have already stated in the house that tho charges were not founded on afiy information from Mr. McMullen, and that the statements which have appeared were ^'alse. I nover got any in- formation. I never got any information from McMullen till long after I made the charges. 1 never paid nor promised him a cent, and the state- ment of the hon. gentleman is utterly without foundation. (Opposition cheers.) The statement also that he made a few minutes ago that I have been influenced here by foreign gold, and that foreign gold had been used in my election, is an utterly unfounded statement, false in every particular ; and I challenge the hon. gentleman to the combat, and dare him on his re- sponsibility to take the committee. (Mr. Huntington was proceeding, when cries of " Order ! " were raised on the government benches, answered by opposition cheers. The hon. gentleman went on speaking in the midst of an uproar which rendered his remarks perfectly inaudible). On order being restored. Sir John Maodonalu proceeded. There, sir, is the very evidence that I have hit the spot ; that I have hit him on a sore point. (Cheers and No ! no !) I have told the hon. gentleman that I am willing to havo a committee to inquire into the whole matter, including the case of tho hon. gentleman. Hon. Mr. Huntinotox — Oh ! You can back out as you will. Sir John Macdonuld— I am not backing out, but the hon. gen- tleman cannot expect to have it all as he likes. I'll read another extract, "Mr. Huntington said that the charter was obtained in the session of 1872, long after the men who furnished the money to him (Sir Hugh Allan) were repudiated, and made arrangments with him (Mr. Hunting- "ton) to bring the charges against the government. " (Cheers.) Hoiu Mr. Huntington rose to a question of order. The report of my speech is entirely without foundation. (Cries of order, order.) That is a question of fact, and the hon. gentleman can correct it after* wards. '■/y €04 APPENDIX. Sir John Macdonald — I heard it myself. (Cries from govemmont benches, "We ai' heard it.") Perhaps the hon. gentleman will deny that he said Jay Cooke would not have him in his office without a witness. Hon. Mr. Huntington — That is another falsehood of the Ottawa Times. That paper, which is inspired by hon. gentlemen opposite, delib- erately falsihed my speech from the beginning to the end. I refused to disgrace myself by noticing the malignant statement of the dastard sheet. What I said was that I had not seen Jay Cooke for four years ; that I went to a prominent promoter of the Northern Pacific railway (hear, hear), with the view of conversing with him, and found that they were the allies of the hon . gentlemen opposite, becauso they would not even talk to me without people being present. (Hear, hear.) The Speaker— I must call the hon. member to order. I hope this interruption will cei*8e. The hon. member knows what the rules of de- bate are as well as any one else in the house, and this plan of interrup- tion can only lead to unseemly confusion in the house. The hon. gen- tleman will ask his opportunity from the house. I am sure it will be given to him, and he can then make his denial on the question of fact. Sir John Macdonald — I wish to invite the attention of every hon. member of this house who is an honest and candid man, to the statement I am making. There could be no amalgamation before the elections. In my telegram of the 26th of July I stoted that the question must stand over until after the elections ; that the two companies would stand on per- fectly equal footing, and that the arrange ments which had been laade be- tween Mr. Macpherson and Mr. Abbott nhould be the guiding line. That arrangement was that Upper Canada should have seven. Lower Canada six, and each of the other provinces one director on the bo&rd. Not by any chance or possibility could Sir Hugh Allan by his large capital, or the influence created by that capital, give undue influence on the bo^rd for Lower Canada or for himself over my own province. On the 30th of July I received a letter from Sir Hugh Allan, Sir Geo. Cartier being sick, stat- ing that he had made certain arrangements with Sir George, and it was a bad arrangement, for it was something like this, that if there should not be an amalgamation he thought that Sir Hugh Allan's company ought to get the charter. I received that message in the middle of my election contest, and I said to myself it is noi of much consequence whether one company or the other gets the chf. rter if they unite, but it will kill me, it will kill us if the Montreal company without amalgamation receives it. However, T telegraphed back at once that I would not agree to the ar- rang,jment, and I would go down to Montreal that night. Yes, Mr. Speaker, in the midst of a severe election contest, for I was elected only , omnts'^vsi^iK-.tMr.-'" ArPEhDIJ[ 605 by 130, whereas at the previous election I had a majority of 300, 1 said I would run down to Montreal on this matter. I telegraphed to Sir Geo. Cartier that I would not consent to the arrangement, and that my tele- gram of the 26th of July, 1872, would be the decision of the government, and the government would be bound thereby, and would be governed by nothing else. I wish it to be clearly understood, beyond the possibility o? doubt, that the Canadian government had agreed that since it could not obtain an amalgamation of the two companies before the elections they would try to get an amalgamation after tho elections, and in such an amalgamation they would do what was fair, in order to get Sir Hugh Allan made president of the amalgamated company. (Cheers. ) I say that that arrangement made by Sir George Cartier was set aside, and why ? Because it would have killed me in Upper Canada. I telegraphed that even at the risk of my election I would go down to Montreal and put an end to it, and Sir George Cartier, when he got ray message, saw what an absurd proposition it was, and there was an end to it, and Sir Hugh Allan telegraphed back that the bargaiu H'as ended. At that time there had not been one single word said about money subscriptions. Sir, it may be very wrong to give subscriij kjus to election funds at all, but is there any one gentleman opposite who will say he has not expended money him- self, or has been aided in doing so by his friends. (Several members of the opposition here denied the charge. ) Whether those acts had been done by thi members themselves or their friends, money was spent and always would be spent on elections. I don't hesitate to say — and 1 state this in the face of this house, of the country, and of the world — that I am not aware of any one single farthing having been spent illegitimately and contrary to law (opposition laughter and cheers) —by members oii the government side of the house. I can tell of one mim on the other side who spent ^26,000 ; another case I can prove of spending ^30,000, and I can also prove cases of spending $5,000, $6,000, $7,000, and $8,000, and when tho committee which the hon. member for Bothwell challenged me to nati'e, and which I intend to move, is appointed, 1 shall give the proofs. (Laughter, in which Mr. Blain joined.) I can prove the expeudi ture of money by that gentleman (Mr. Blain) himself. Mr. Blain — If the right hon. gentleman refers to me, I say there is not a particle of truth in the statement. Kot one single, solitary cent came out of my pocket unfairly. (Cheers and laughter.) Sir John Macdonald — Perhaps the hon. gentleman has not a pocket. Perhaps his wife has. (Laughter, and cries of "shame" from the opposi- tion.) ■M • "ii v^Ml ■"^1, 606 J rPENDIX. Mr. Blain rose. (Cries of "order.") He aaid the right hon. gentleman had made a charge an;ainst him. He would answer it at another time. Sir John Macdonald — Before the committee which I propose to move, and which will have the power to administer an oath, and which the mem- ber for Bothwell has invited, I shall be able to prove the fact I stated. The hon. gentleman will perhaps reserve himself for that. (Interrup- tion.) Mr. HoLXON — 1 raise the question of order. I doubt whether *.he right hon. gentleman is in order in making statements affecting the right of hon. gentlemen to sit in this house without formulating charges to be fol- lowed by a motion. The hon. gentleman intimates his intention of mak- ing a motion at a future time, but he cannot move a motion of the kind indicated in a debate on the a ddress. To charge members with having ob- tained their seats by improper means is therefore a violation of the pro- prieties of debate, and I believt of other standing (orders of the house. Mr. Blake — In the case of the member for West York the proceeding is doubly irregular, for it is interfering with an actual petition pending be- fore an election committee. The Speaker said a good deal of language had been used diiring the de- bate which would have been better not used, but the subject was of such a character that he should not interfere with free discussion. It would be better if the minister of justice refrained from directing charges against individual members. Sir John Macdonald — I submit to your decision, sir, I would not have alluded to the hon. member if it had not been for the offensive way in which he interrupted me, and my knowledge about his case. The hon. gentlemen opposite will find out that I know a great depl more about their elections than they would care that I should know. I shall now proceed with the history I am giving to the house as well as I can under these un- seemly interruptions. Sir, there never was an occasion, there never was a minute, in which the interests of Canada were sacrificed by the govern- ment of Canada for election purposes. (Loud cheers.) I say that we car- ry out the law as well as the law can be carried out. (Cheers.) I say thai; up to ney liadi been expended at his election, and he said no, no statement could have been truer. Sir, the money that was expended by the committee, of which I was a member, was not with the purpose or object of endangcrinj; any man's seat. (Ironical cheers from the opposition, and cheers from the ministerial benches.) I state distinctly, so far as I know, not one single farthing that passed through my hands was expended improperly or con- trary to the law. If it is so, the election tribunals of the country will set- tle that question, and, as I understand it, no improper expenditure ha». been proved in any election tribunal. (Cheers.) I say distinctly, aay ia in my place aa a member of parliament, ,that money was distiibuted for the purpose of fighting monty against money, fire against fire, influence against influence ; and we were over-matched by the hon. gentleniun op* :l (>12 APPENDIX. poaite. (Loud cheers.) Tliere is one more remark that I have to ina1<«> before I nit down. The government never gave Sir Hugh AUan any con- tract that I um aware of. (Cheers.) We never gave him any contract iu which he had a controlling infiiience. Wo had formed a comaiittee o{ thirtoen men, chosen carefully and painfully, for the purpose of control- ling dir Hugh Allan from having any undue influence. We promised, we provided, that not one of the board should lu)]d more than one hundred thousand dollars of the stock ; that not one single man should have any interest in the contract whatever, which were of course, only the ordinary provisions in a charter of incorporation. (Cheers.) Now, Mr. Speaker, 1 have only one more thing to say on this point. I put it to your own minds. There were thirteen gentlemen — Sir Hugh Allan and others — incorporated by that charter. That charter — study it, take it home with you. Is there atiy single power, privilege or advantage given to Pi I Hugh Allan with that contract that has not been given equally to the other twelve ? (Cheers.) It ia not pretended that any of the othei twelve paid money for their positions. It is not contended that the gen* tlemen gave anything furtlier than their own personal feelings might dic- tate. (Cheers.) You cannot name a man of these thirteen that has goial to either fortune. I can see past the decision of this house, either for or against mo; but whether it be for or against me, I know — and it is no vain boast for m*^ to say so, for even my enemies will admit that I am no boaster — that there does not oxi in Canada a man who has given more of hia time, more of his heart, \u ire of his wealth, or more of his intellect and power, such as they may be, for the good of this Dominion of Canada. The right hon. gentleman i-jsumod his seat, amid luud and long cuntiuued cheering.