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^d-h^^'i'J^^
.a,^i0-'^»t?mntKaeiii9Bfgm
:hant prince
H JOHN MACDCNALD.
]'V
'S, D.D.
T, 1,1
i ' iN:xuas,
/
X
\
/
/
7
A MERCHANT PRINCE.
LIFE OF
HON. SENATOR JOHN MACDONALD.
BY
REV. HUGH JOHNSTON. D.D.
TORONTO:
WILLIAM BRIQQS,
WESLEY BUILDINGS.
C. W. COATES, Montreal, Que. | S. F. HUESTIS, Halifax, N.S.
1893.
115219
Entered according to the Act of the Parliament of Canada, in the year one thou-
sand eight hundred and ninety-three, by Wu.MA^, Bk.ocs. Toronto, tn the
Office of the Minister of Agriculture, at Ottawa.
,/
INTRODUCTORY.
This Biography has been undertaken at the solicitation of
friends, outside the family of Mr. Macdonald, who felt that
some record should be preserved of a life which shed so
much light and love and (juickening influence upon our
young nation. It was a life not only worth living, but worth
being studied — a life replete with the highest activities,
brim-full of the noblest deeds, and so furnishing an example
as rare as it was beautiful.
Biography is the literature of life, of the individual, per-
sonal life, which must always have a distinctness and an
interest which cannot belong to any other kind of history.
The late Bishop Brooks has said: "The intrinsic life of
any human being is so interesting that, if it can be sym-
pathetically and simply put before the world's attention, it
will be legitimately interesting to others." I have sought to
conceive of Senator Macdonald's life as a whole, standing
out distinct and complete by itself; and trust that his large
circle of actjuaintances and friends will find here a true and
living portrait cf the man. I have not sought to follow a
strictly chronological order, but simply to give a clear and
connected outline of the chief events in his remarkable
career.
The task has been a delightful one, but it has been
performed under the constant pressure of duties of other
kinds, and each interval during which the work has been
laid aside has involved fresh labour upon its resumption.
In the material available for biographical purposes, there
has been an embarras des richesses. Rev. William Arthur,
in his Preface to the life of Gideon Ouseley, says that he
could easily have made two portly volumes, but he did not
wish to bury Gideon in a big book. With a like desire I
have found it no small effort to bring this volume within
i )
iv
INTRODUCTION.
its present compass. Amongst the many friends of this
Merchant Prince are those who knew ^him longer and saw
him more frec^uently than did I. But it was my good
fortune to have been brought very close to him during
some of the most impressive phases of his life; and this
gave me a clear knowledge of his inner life and a rare
insight into his character. I have been in close touch with
many of the events recorded here, and while the work has
been done with a loving heart, I have sought carefully to
guard against inaccuracy or misrepresentation of facts.
I desire here to express my great obligations to Mrs.
Macdonald, who has placed at my disposal diaries, letters,
and other documents necessary for the work, and greatly
assisted me by her counsel. His eldest son, Mr. John K.,
and the daughters. Miss Winnifred and Miss Ethel, have
rendered invaluable aid in various ways. Indeed, all the
members of the family have been most helpful. My
thanks also are due to the Editors of the Christian Guar-
dian and the Methodist Magazine^ who have given me
unrestricted access to these connexional publications ; and
to many friends who, by conversations and by letters, have
helped to recall important details of his personal history.
What has been attempted is the plain record of a busy and
eventful life.
I trust that these memorial pages will give stimulus and
inspiration to other lives. Because this beneficent life is so
worthy of imitation, the narrative of it is worthy of being
given to the public. Whilst many who once occupied
prominent places in the land will soon be forgotten, the
name of John Macdonald will be an abiding monument ;
and in the annals of Canadian history he will ever rank
among the men of " light and leading " of his time.
Hugh Johnston.
Toronto^ Au^ust^ iSgj,
CONTENTS.
I
ir.
Ill,
IV.
V.
VI.
VII.
VIII.
IX.
X.
XI.
XII.
XIII.
XIV.
XV.
XVI.
XVII.
CuiLDHOoft AND PaHKNTAOE
HovHooi) AM) Yoi'Tif IS Canada
Start:N(j Life— Convkkhion
. Ill-Health— J SMAiCA .
CoMMENCma BUHINEH.S
WHOLE.SALE MeUOHANT .
Chuuch Relations .
Manifolo Activities
Pauliamentahy Like
Pulpit and Platfoum .
LiTERAKv Like .
Benevolence .
TlJAVELH .
• • «
Home Life
Personal OHAUACTEHisTrcvs
Last Days
Tkuujtes .
Paok
23
35
53
77
97
143
166
185
203
227
243
265
275
285
301
.'iO!)
c
I.
CHILDHOOD AND PARENTAGE.
Life, like a dome of many-colored glass,
Stains the white radiance of eternity.
—F. B. Shelley.
A new sweet blossom of humanity,
Fresh fallen from God's own home,
To floAver on earth.
— Gerald Massey.
" The childhood shows the man,
As morning shows the day."
A MERCHANT PRINCE.
T OHN MACDONALD, son of John and Elizabeth
I Macdonald, was born in the city of Perth, Scot-
land, on the 27th December, 1824. Hi': father was a
Highlander, a native of Ir^verness-shire, and was born
in the parish of Boleston, near the town of Inverness.
This maritime county of the Highlands, on account
of its numerous lakes and rivers, combines something
of the softness of the Lowlands — gentle hill-slopes
and river valleys, pasture lands dotted with herds of
cattle, gardens and orchards, farm land and wood-
land — with the bold, picturesque and rugged scenery
of mountainous districts — retired glens, green patches
and purple heather, with thatched cottages and shep-
herd huts scattered here and there over the landscape.
Those who have traversed the Caledonian Canal know
something of the grand and varied scenery of this
portion of " Auld Scotia."
Nowhere within the bounds of the Empire of Great
Britain can a more strongly marked type of character
ibe found than in the Scottish Highlands. The terri-
[tory of a community is not only the indispensable
condition of nsitional life, but also a determining factor
in its development. The effect of natural scenery
upon the character of a people is well known. A
10
A MKRCHANT PRINCE,
rich landscape like that of Italy enervates; an inferior
and flat landscape like that of Holland dulls the tem-
perament, while a bold and varied landscape excites
the poetic and inventive faculties, and awakens energy
and activity. What wonddr then that a country so
stern and wild as "Caledonia," and presenting so
many ob.jt.acles to be overcome, should force its sons
to habits of frugality and thrift, sagacity and indus-
try, and develop those characteristic traits which
have made the Scots foremost in the empire of mind
and enterprise, the world over.
Sir Walter Scott says that " every Scotchman has
a pedigree," and the Macdonald family maintained
this national prerogative. The clan was an ancient
and noble one. The Macdonalds were a typical house-
hold. The father not only possessed those deeper
and sterner qualities which are usually considered to
belong to the Highlander, but was also strongly im-
bued with the national spirit, a passionate love of
country and devotion to arms. At an early period
Inverness-shire was included in the kingdom of the
northern Picts, and Inverness was the capital of the
Pictish kingdom. Pict, in the old Celtic, means a
fighting man. Breathing this air, and inhaling the
aroma of the olden time, John Macdonald, senior, at
the age of fourteen, enlisted as a drummer boy in
Company No. 1 of the 93rd Kegiment — the Suther-
land Highlanders. The muster-roll contains this
entry concerning him : " Light complexion, eyes grey,
fair hair, height five feet four." From this it will be
seen that the son inherited not a few of the physical
characteristics of the father. *
CHILDHOOD AND PARENTAGE.
11
The mother's name was Elizabeth Nielson, an
Aberdeen lassie, of fine personal attractions, cheerful
in disposition, simple, frugal, and like her husband,
God-fearing. We can only get glimpses of her appear-
ance and character ; through the mists of recollection
her lovely lineaments can with difficulty be traced,
but she is remembered as being above the medium
height, with large expressive eyes, of gentle and sedate
manner, having a sweet voice and a superior mind.
An event so common as the birth of a child makes
little stir in this busy world ; but it was while the
1 93rd was stationed in Perth that the subject of our
I memoir was born. He thus became " a citizen of no
I mean city"; for that staid old town, charmingly
[situated on the west bank of the Tay, is an ancient
and royal city. It early became the seat of Parlia-
ment, succeeding Scone as the capital, and was the
favorite residence of the Scottish kings until in the
reign of James II, the Parliament and Court were
(transferred to Edinburgh. We know not just how
long the child lived in his native place, but long
[enough perchance to allow its historic associations to
mould and impress his lively imagination. The city
litself does not retain many relics of antiquity, but in
[its neighborhood are Culross Abbey, founded by the
ICistersians in 1217 ; Blair Castle. Huntly and other
[old castles of the chiefs, with the ruins of Castle Dhu,
[once a stronghold' of the Campbell family. Among
the adjacent hill-forts is Dunsinane, and near to this
[the witch-stone where Macbeth is said to have met
the* witches.
12
A MERCHANT PRINCE.
.■k
Mr. Macdonald never lost interest in his native
city, and desiring in some way to be identified with
its young life, he appropriated a sum of money, the
interest of which was to be given annually in books
for religious knowledge, as a prize to be submitted
for competition in the Public Schools of Perth.
Nor do we know much of the home-life of young
Macdonald. The father w^as not cast in a tender
mould ; he was a man of iron will, and believed in
the use of the stick. Though the current of family
life ran smoothly on, yet the standard of living was
not high, and there could have been no luxuries and
but few coiiiforts in that soldier home. Army life,
at best, is a hard and weather-beaten one, and young
Macdonald's home was a migratory one. Indeed, to
follow it, we must trace the wanderings of the famous
regiment, and in doing this we are indebted to Captain
Roderick Hamilton Burgoyne's historical records of
the 93rd. Tlis regiment was organized in 1759,
when the Earl of Sutherland received proposals from
Pitt to raise a regiment of Fencibles on his estate.
Soon 1,100 men were assembled before Dunrobin
Castle, and the regiment served the country until the
peace of 1763, when it was reduced. In 1779, another
regiment was raised, which, in 1793, was recruited to
the strength of 1,084 men, and served in Ireland
during the rebellion of 1798.
In 1805, this regiment formed part of an armament
for the reduction of the Cape of Good Hope, and
when the town and garrison capitulated in 1806, the
93rd remained there in garrison until it embarked
CHILDHOOD AND PARENTAGE.
13
native
id with
ey, the
. books
jmitted
young
tender
eved in
family
ns: was
ries and
[ny life,
I young
deed, to
I famous
Captain
ords of
n 1759,
s from
estate,
unrobin
ntil the
another
lited to
Ireland
nament
De, and
B06, the
barked
for England in 1814. In 1813, a second battalion
was added, and it was at this time that John Mae-
donald's father joined the regiment. This battalion
also maintained the exemplary bearing which had
alvjays characterized the high-principled, self-respect-
12- men of Scotland. The soldiers of this most
Highland of the Highland regiments, were always
remarkable for their subordination, their respect for
military authority, and bravery, as well as for their
intelligence and stable religious character. Wheriever
they were in quarters, the usual precautions necessary
Iwith soldiers were entirely inapplicable to them.
I Many of the non-commissioned officers and privates
iwere farmers' sons, and almost all of them of hiffhlv
[respectable parentage, and of good moral and religious
training. The regiment seemed as one large faraily,
^ bound together by the ties of neighborhood and
* acquaintance, nay, the stronger ties of relationship ;
^ and this inspired the reciprocal feelings of confidence
;and attachment between the commanders and the
*, commanded. The officers were well-known gentlemen
Iconnected with Ross and Sutherland ; the regiment
Iwas regarded as one great household, and there was
[the exercise of the clan influence on a large scale.
No regiment ever stood in greater estimation for its
|discipline and soldier-like conduct, and no wonder
|that its deeds of daring will live forever on the
ibeadroU of fame. The regiment was intensely
^national, and as blood is thicker than water, the
j'family and social life prevailed wherever they went.
^One of the most marked proofs of the intensity and
^
14
A MERCHANT PRINCE.
genuineness of this family and reli<^ious feeling, was
the .support given to the Kirk and the School.
The Regimental School was kept in a thorough
state of efficiency, and this means of culture and dis-
cipline was diligently improved by young Mac-
donald. In the Regimental School and the Soldier
Home, though there was not the stimulus of college
life, and the daily breathing of a literary atmosphere,
yet there was the development of character and dis-
position, the formation of sound principles and good
habits, strict integrity, high devotion to duty, and
deep, though undemonstrative affection, He was a
precocious scholar, fond of his books, but not less fond
ot fun and sport.
The regimental teacher was Sergeant Nimmo, now
an aged and highly respected Congregational minis-
ter, living in London, England, who still remembers
the boy and many of his early traits of character.
His teacher took a sincere interest not only in his
advancement in learning, but in all that concerned
his happiness, and that could affect his future pros-
pects in life. A friendship was formed between mas-
ter and scholar which time could not dissolve, and in
Mr. Macdonald's frequent visits to England he never
forgot to call upon his loved and venerated teacher.
Mr. Macdonald's diary of August 8, 1868, contains this
record : " Received a letter from my early friend and
school-master, then Sergeant Nimmo, now Rev. David
Nimmo, Independent Church, Melbourne, Australia,
to whom I am deeply indebted for leading me, as a
boy of twelve, to the knowledge of Christ."
CHILDHOOD AND PARENTAGE.
15
ng, was
borough
md dis-
lof Mac-
Soldier
: college
losphere,
and dis-
,nd good
uty, and
^e was a
less fond
imo, now
il minis-
imembers
haracter.
y in his
oncerned
ire pros-
een mas-
, and in
ne never
teacher,
ains this
end and
V. David
ustralia,
me, as a
The teacher thus writes concerning his pupil :
London, Aug. 15, 1892.
LEV. Dr. Hugh Johnston.
Dear Sir, — In reply to your request, made at the
suggestion of the family of the late Senator Macdonald,
for some account of his school life in the 93rd High-
landers, I have to say that my accjuaintance with him
)egan in the spring of 1885, in Daventry Barracks,
Torthaintonshire, when he was a lad about twelve
'^ears of age. He was the son of the hospital sergeant
)f the 9-ird Highlanders — a man respected by the
rhole regiment for his faithful discharge of the im-
)ortant duties entrusted to him.
The boy was a scholar in the school of that regi-
lent, to the mastership of which I had just been
ippointed by the late Sir Duncan McGregor, then
lieutenant-colonel in command of the regiment.
Almost immediately on entering upon my work my
ittention was arrested by the appearance of John
[acdonald. He was slender of frame and short of
itature, for his age. He had a sickly cast of face, and
ippeared to have lived for some time in a tropical
jlimate. His countenance was earnestly serious. The
frivolity of boyhood was not in him. Had he possessed
nore of boyish sportiveness, his subsequent health
^ould have been better and his life longer. His gravity
ras that of manhood rather than of boyhood. Such
'as the impression made on me at my first interview
-an impression which deepened in my after-inter-
course with him.
In teaching him I found mental powers that placed
lim abreast of the foremost boy in the school. In
soundness of judgment he was older than his years.
had ample opportunities of testing this, as he was
Jprequently in my company. He was a daily visitor
in my room and very often accompanied me in my
16
A MERCHANT PRINCE.
walks. He attached himself to me, and was spoken
of by the people as my shadow.
We discussed politics, theology, the different re-
ligious sects, the past history of our race and its future
prospects, and I dare say often "rushed in where
angels fear to tread." His favorite theme, however,
was his religious experience. He had an intense de-
sire to live a Christian life, and sometimes would have
us pray together in my room. We were more like
companions than teacher and pupil. In years, there
was not a great difference between us, and in disposi-
tion still less. I had scarcely entered my manhood,
and he was just emerging from boyhood and had the
bearing of a man. If he was still at school, I had not
long left it, for on the completion of my training as a
teacher I was immediately appointed to my work.
The remembrance of my school-days was still upon
me. I had not lost sympathy with my stripling
speculations. The difference in our years raised no
barrier to our very confidential intercourse. It was
this intercourse that enabled me to gauge the sound-
ness and penetration of his judgment, and the thorough
grip that Christian truth had taken of his soul.
His influence in the school and regiment was a great
help to me in my work. The 93rd was distinguished
for its religious character. It contained a goodly
number of men of all ranks, well known for their con-
sistent Christian lives. The Colonel himself was a
pronounced servant of Christ and an effective preacher.
Sometimes he gave the soldiers the benefit of his gifts.
Led by such a commander, who was supported by
many in the regiment, especially of the non-commis-
sioned officers, the corps became as noted for its piety
as for its bravery. Stimulated by this state of things,
the aim of the school-master was to infuse a religious
spirit into the thinkings and feelings of +he school
life, Fpv this purpose the gchplfxrs wet every Sabbath^
CHlLDiJOOD AND TARENTAGE.
17
and occasionally on the week y evening, for Bible
linstruction and devotional exercises.
Not satisfied with these meetings, John Macdonald
sought privately to influence his school companions
md awaken in them the same interest in the claims
)f Chist that he himself felt. He succeeded in per-
suading some of the boys to follow his example. They
)rganized a weekly prayer-meeting and conducted the
ringing, praying and talking themselves. John Mac-
lonald v/as the leader of the praying band ; indeed,
the suggestion of such a meeting came from him. All
pis became known among the soldiers, and doubtless
lelped to raise and strengthen the religious tone of
Lhe corps. It was already known in the towns where
|t was quartered as the praying regiment.
This effort among his school-mates did not exhaust
lis zeal. He was ever ready to help in any attempt
[o enlist the soldiers in the army of Jesus Christ, and
Ihrew himself with zeal into a series of services held
reekly by the school-master in the school-room of
Lichmond Barracks, Dublin, for the spiritual welfare
If the men. At these meetings a course of lectures
[n the " Pilgrim's Progress " was delivered, The
)om was crowded with an audience that maintained
bs attendance to the close. Onr protegd threw his
rhole soul into the enterprise and spared neither time
|or toil to make it a success. He went round the
irrack-rooms and compelled the men to come in.
[is prayers for a blessing were as fervent as his
ibours were incessant. I recall that time with a
[•eat deal of pleasure. This Christian activity was
)t a fitful impulse, but a fixed habit. It was his life
-a life received from, and devoted to, Christ. It
)ntinued with ever-increasinor fervour all the time I
jrved in the regiment. That time, however, was
lort. Eighteen months from its commencement I
ras called to enter upon a course of preparation for
18
A MERCHANT PRINCE.
the Christian ministry, and had to leave my young
friend and the work of the regiment. For some time
after we corresponded, and continued to do so until
the 93rd was ordered for foreifijri service. We then lost
sight of each other for nearly twenty-tive years. After
this long time I received a letter from him. In con-
sequence of feeble health he had gone to winter in the
West Indies. There he became acquainted with one
of the missionaries who, in conversation with him
happened to mention my name. From him he learned
my address, and wrote to inquire if I was the same
Mr. Nimmo who taught tlie school of the 93rd High-
landers ; and requested me to favour him with a letter.
I satisfied him on this point, and asked for an account
of himself since we last heard from each other. I
received a reply attributing to me the commencement
of his spiritual life, and giving a full account of his
doings during our long silence. This renewed corres-
pondence continued until shortly before his death.
In returning from Melbourne, where I had been for
five years, and coming by the American route in 1872,
I was his guest for a fortnight in Toronto. During,'
that time, " we fought our battles o'er again, and
thrice we slew the slain."
We contrasted his school-boy life in the 93rd with
his then political, commercial and religious life in the
Dominion of Canada. The contrast much affected us
both. After this he had to pay frequent business
visits to the old country. I met him from time to
time in my own home in London. As these visits and
our correspondence are now at an end, my hope is that
I shall go to him as he cannot come to me.
This meagre account would have been much fuller
had it been written when I left the regiment, fifty-six
years ago, or had I kept memoranda or even our cor-
respondence. In the absence of all these I have had
to rely solely on my memory. Little did I forebode
(CHILDHOOD AND I'AUENTAGE.
19
bhat I .should survive him to perform this slight ser-
[vice to his memory. Could I have presaged it, how
jaret'ully I would have preserved every laurel I could
[find to plant it on his honoured grave. " Silver and
rold have I none, but such as I have give I unto thee."
Yours in sympathy,
D. NiMMO.
We thus notice in his boyhood the dawning of those
lental and moral qualities which afterwards char-
icterised him. His beaming face, bright eye, Celtic
Impulse and perpetual activity show the wide-awake,
[enuine boy ; while his clear head, ready sympathy,
ind considerate regard for others, make his presence
in sunshine among the soldiers. His father, who was
corporal at the time of his birth, was made sergeant
1827, and promoted to be color-sergeant in 1831.
'he rejjiment was then in the West Indies. After
|hree years spent at St. Lucia, Dominico, and Bar-
)adoes, the company was quartered in Canterbury,
England, under Col. McGregor, and here on the
jventh of October, 1884, new colors were presented
le regiment by His Grace the Duke of Wellington, the
[reat commander of the age. His father being color-
jrgeant, one can imagine the interest which young
[ohn took in this great military display. The High-
mders in their brilliant costume, the rich ostrich
[lumes waving in the breeze, their tartan plaids grace-
illy falling from their shoulders, the ancient garb of
lilt, hose and sporran, giving a warlike appearance,
id displaying to the best advantage their symmetrical
id manly forms, march forward to the sound of mar-
20
A MKKCllANT IMUNCE.
tial music, and stand in battle array ready to give the
salute when the veteran " victor of a hundred fights "
delivers an impressive address, and then presents the
new colors, which he charges them to defend and pro-
tect with all the gallantryand devotion that have dis-
tinguished Highland soldiers. This memorable event
must have made a lasting impression upon the plastic
mind of the ten-year-old lad. Shortly after this the
father was permitted to resign the colors to be hospital
sergeant, which is a staff appointment.
In 1836 the regiment proceeded to Dublin, where
it formed part of the garrison until removed to Newry,
then to Belfast, from which city, in December, 1887,
'it was ordered to Cork to be in readiness for foreign
service. Serious trouble was occurring in Canada,
and the commander of the regiment received directions
to be ready to proceed to Halifax, Nova Scotia.
It was during this stay at Cork, that the first great,
overwhelming sorrow fell upon his young life. The
cholera, that sanitary inspector of the world, scourged
the regiment, and his mother was suddenly attacked
and snatched away. The loss was irreparable, and
the aflfectionate, impulsive boy of thirteen mourned
like one heart-broken over his mother's death. The
father was made of sterling metal, but the mother
was tender and lovable, and with each year bestowed
increasing care upon her promising boy, who returned
the boundless aflfection with which his mother regarded
him. She was his trusted friend, and he almost wor-
shipped her. But while her death left him deeply
bereaved, the impression of her life and example upon
CIIILDUOOD AND PARENTAfJE.
21
1 fights "
sents the
and pro-
lave (lis-
ble event
le plastic
this the
3 hospital
in, where
io Newry,
ber, 1837,
)r foreign
1 Canada,
directions
btia.
Hrst great,
life. The
, scourged
1 attacked
rable, and
mourned
lath. The
he mother
bestowed
o returned
regarded
most wor-
im deeply
mpleupon
sr
lim was enduring. What was her own character,
ahd wliat share did she have in moulding her son's
character \ We cannot answer with precision ; but
she taught him virtue, truth, religion, and to her
Jnfiuence may be traced the principal traits of his
i^haracter. Her image was the most sacred and the
lOHt cherished of all his early memories. She was
wonderful singer, and she had taught him all the
iavourito Scottish airs, which he used to sing with
;|nthusiasm. An old soldier of the 93rd, who so long
ierved as messenger at Osgoode Hall, was wont to
ill how he remembered the lad coming to him when
»e was sick in hospital, sitting down by his bedside
^nd singing to him the old songs until his soldier's
>eart was all aglow, and his eyes suffused with tears.
Jhe had taught him to pray, and to read his Bible,
[t was her presence that pervaded the home life as an
Itmosphere ; and after her death her very memory
jcmed a tender and subtle influence, moulding, soft-
(ning, elevating and building up a nobler and purer
lanhood. So tender was the gratitude which he
lerished towards his mother's memory, that on one
his first visits to the old land he made a pilgrimage
Cork and sought diligently for the grave of her
rhose sunshine of love had brightened his early life,
id helped to make him the genial, domestic man
lat he was. Unable to find his mother's last resting-
lace in the churchyard to erect a stone over it, he
paced in the church in which the soldiers with their
imilies worshipped, a beautiful memorial window,
[he subject is "The Raising of Lazarus," and the
jene is well delineated by the artist. In the circle
'ti
t:! ii
22
A MERCHANT PBINCE.
above, are the words of the Saviour, " I am the resur-
rection and the life." The inscription is as follows :
Ubis window i3 placed bere bp
3obn /iDacDonalb, Uoronto, CanaDa,
in loving remembrance of bis motber,
]Eli3?betb /Ibac&onal&,
interrt^ in tbe cburcb^arb of tbis cburcb,
X837.
This church is no other than the famous St. Anne
de Shandon, remarkable for its commanding position,
its picturesque appearance, and its lofty steeple whose
chime of bells has been immortalized by the pen of
the inimitable Father Prout — Rev. F. Mahoney — who
was buried in this churchyard. The well-known
ballad is not only exquisite in itself, but is also a rich
tribute of fond recollections to his native city, and
the " magic spells " of childhood :
" With deep affection
And recollection,
I often think on
Those Shandon bells,
Whose sound so wild would,
In the days of childhood,
Fling round my cradle
Their magic spell.
" On this I ponder,
Wher'er I wander,
And thus grow fonder,
Sweet Cork, of thee ;
With thy bells of Shandon,
That sound so grand on
The pleasant waters
Of the River Lee."
II.
BOYHOOD AND YOUTH IN CANADA.
'The* days of infancy are all a dream,
How fair, but oh ! how short they seem ;
'Tis Life's sweet opening spring.
The days of youth advance ;
The bounding limb, the ardent glance.
The kindling soul they bring ;
It is Life's burning summer time.
— Robert Southey.
As the rose-tree is composed of the sweetest flowers and the
sharpest thorns ; as the heavens are sometimes fair and some-
times overcast ; alternately tempestuous and severe ; so is the
life of man intermingled with hopes and fears, with joys and
sorrows, with pleasures and with pains.
— Robert Burns.
Well, then, our course is chosen ; spread the sail,
Heave oft the lead, and mark the soundings well ;
Look to the helm, good master ; many a shoal
Marks this stern coast, and rocks where sits the siren.
Who, like ambition, lures men to their ruin.
—Scott.
Warriors, and where are warriors found,
If not on martial Britain's ground ?
And who, when waked with notes of fire,
Love more than they the British lyre ?
— Scott.
m
BOYHOOD AND YOUTH IN
CANADA.
A DVICES having oeen received of the continued
r\ progress of the Rebellion in Canada, Her
Majesty's ships of war, the Inconstant and the Pique,
were ordered to Cork for the conveyance of the 93rd
to Halifax, The Inconstant sailed on the sixth of
January, 1838, and reached its destination on the
twenth-ninth of the same month, making the passage
in twenty-three days. The frigate Pique did not put
out to sea till the twenty-third, and then encountered
one of the most boisterous passages across the Atlan-
tic that could possibly be experienced, and it was not
until the fifth of March that she cast anchor in the
harbour of Halifax.
Mr. A. M. Smith, of this city, who was one of the
706 soldiers on board, savs that he was sea-sick for
five weeks out of the six, and that the main-deck
was never dry for twenty-four hours in succession.
Two men were washed overboard and lost in the
1 passage.
Mr. Macdonald, in after years, gave a poetic des-
[cription of one of the terrible storms that burst upon
[them, in which this stanza occurs :
26 A MERCHANT PRINCE.
" I heard a sea break o'er the ship
That roused me from my sleep,
As if some mighty thunder-peal
Had rent the vessel to her keel,
And caused her oak-built frame to reel
And founder in the deep ;
Even now I think I hear the cries
That rose that night and pierced the skies."
Never were tempest- tossed pilgrims more gladdened
by the sight of shore than were these passengers of
the frigate Pique rejoiced to set foot on the soil of
British America.
Here young Macdonald attended for a time Dal-
housie College. This institution was founded in
1820 by Lord Dalhousie as a seminary for the higher
branches of education upon a broad, liberal basis,
open to all sects of religion and to all occupations,
" to gentlemen of the military as well as the learned
professions." The building was erected upon the
Parade, and was commodious, but the college had
been struggling long for an existence. About this
time there was a union with Pictou Academy, and
Dr. McCulloch, who had built up that institution, was
elected to the presidency of Dalhousie. Associated
with him were two other professors, Rev. James
Mcintosh and Rev. Alexander Romans.
We know little of his student life here, but he
seems to have been diligent and faithful in his work
during the session which he attended.
His scholarship was general but not accurate. He
had attended the Regimental School under a good
BOYHOOD AND YOUTH IN CANADA.
27
teacher, who did his duty by him ; but the constant
change of place, and frequent interruptions must have
sadly interfered with the continuity of teaching and
with progressive and well ordered study. But his
mind was quick and versatile, his memory retentive ;
he was an eager and constant reader, and alreadv had
mastered the elements of an English education, as
well as the rudiments of the classics. The opening
stages generally show the character, and suggest the
issues of the whole journey. The lad missed the
inspiration and intellectual stimulant of a mother's
love and care, but his father gave attention to the
development of his son's mind, and was ready to
furnish him with every advantage.
After some months spent on the sea- board, the
regiment was ordered to proceed to Upper Canada.
Rebellion was rife, and over the land stretched the
dark shadow of approaching conflict. The regiment
reached Toronto on the sixth of November, which
continued to be its headquarters until June, 1843.
Here young Macdonald attended the Bay Street
Academy, then under the headmastership of Mr. John
Boyd. This teacher possessed, in a wonderful degree,
the power of developing the minds and quickening
the intelligence of his pupils. He was himself a man
of more than ordinary ability, the father of Hon.
John A. Boyd, who, after rising with distinction
through the several grades of the legal profession,
became Vice-Chancellor, and is now the Chancellor of
Ontario. In the Bay Street Academy young Mac-
donald worked hard and successfully, progressed
28
A MERCHANT PRINCE.
rapidly in his studies, making his mark as an active,
alert, thoughtful young fellow, with a practical turn
of mind, full of enthusiasm, and not easily daunted.
Among his fellow-students were a goodly array of
well-known, and even prominent Canadian names,
and the soldier-boy distinguished himself among these
in more ways than one, but chiefly in the study of
languages, having won several prizes, and carried off
the medal in classics. The object aimed at in this
Academy was not merely information, but preparation
for actual life. He was not shut up in a boarding-
school, and deprived of the humanizing influences of
family life. He lived at home while attending this
excellent private school, and many happy days were
spent by him on the grounds of the Old Fort. His
old regimental teacher speaks of the unusual serious-
ness of the lad. He had not known much of the
buoyant, elastic, volatile, airy spirit of childhood ;
nor had he experienced much of the joys of boy-
hood. The discipline of the Bay Street Academy
was not of the mildest kind. The teacher was a
" brisk wielder of the birch and rule." His home life
was austere enough, and at times the atmosphere was
most depressing, for every misconduct met with cruel
punishment.
Of all the changes that have come over this century
none is more remarkable than that which has taken
place in the relationship between parents and children.
It was then the almost invariable practice to rule
children by severity ; now an opposite extreme pre-
vails. There was no gentle mother to plead for the
BOYHOOD AND YOUTH IN CANADA.
29
boy, and the fear wiih which the parent was regarded
sometimes made life oppressive ; but young Macdonald
took the floggin(^s which his stern father gave him as
light-heartedly as possible. He made good use of his
time and opportunities, and those earlier years were
years in which he was graduating for the great work
of life.
When the regiment received orders to leave Toronto,
Major-General Sir Richard Armstrong expressed the
high satisfaction which their conduct had afforded
him from the time he had assumed the command in
Canada West. He referred to their superb appearance
when under arms, their regularity in instruction and
the performance of field movements, and the uniform
good behaviour of the men in barracks and in quar-
ters. Certainly no such company was ever seen in
this city. Wellington once said that the English army
was composed of the scum of the earth, but this could
never be said of these Highland soldiers. ' As splendid
looking men as could be found in the world, they
would march to Church on Sabbath with steady step
and in quiet order, each soldier carrying a Bible in his
hand, the band accompanying them, not to give mar-
tial music on the way, but to assist in the service at
the house of worship. They left Toronto amid tre-
mendous cheering, the band playing " Auld Land
Syne " and " Scots wha hae wi' Wallace bled." Young
Macdonald did not accompany them. He cut his cable
in the old land and remained to carve out his fortune in
this new country. His father continued with the
army until June, 1846, when he resigned his position
1
30
A MERCHANT PRINCE.
i
Pilili
and gave up the life of the soldier for that of the
civilian. He also came out to Canada, settled in
Toronto, and established a druggist business on Yonge
Street, opposite Shuter. He married again and had
five children besides John and Alexander, the two
children by his first wife. He was a typical Scotch-
man, with all the eccentricities and peculiarities of the
Highlander, thoroughly honest, stern in his morality,
most rigid in his piety, a strict Presbyterian.
The old military man was one of the right stamp —
honest as the day, transparent as plate glass, well
educated, as is common with the Scotch, and greatly
respected by all who knew him. He lived quietly and
methodically ; rejoiced to see his eldest son surrounded
with all the comforts of material prosperity and
advancing in the regard of men ; and then, at the
mellow age of sixty-seven, he passed peacefully from
earth to heaven on the 19th October, 1866.
Young Macdonald never lost interest in the regi-
ment to which his father belonged, and in which he
had spent his boyhood days. He alwaj^s referred
with pride to his connection with it. He continued
to rejoice in its brilliant achievements in the field, and
to follow the fortunes of his many soldier- friends of
the regiment. How proud he was that in the Cri-
mean War his old regiment earned the distinctive
title of the " Thin Red Line," and was the only infan-
try regiment entitled to bear upon its colors " Bala-
clava." At this terrible charge, when the Turks ran
away. Sir Colin Campbell, the loved chief, rode along
the front and said : " Stand steady men ! There is no
BOYHOOD AND YOUTH IN CANADA.
31
retreat from here ! Everj^ man may have to die
where he stands ! " The regiment answered, with a
cheer, " Aye, aye, Sir Colin, and it' needs be we will
do that ! " No wonder when the Russian cavalry
came dashing against that thin red streak, tipped
with a line of steel, the impetuous rush was broken
by the splendid front of Gaelic rock, and rolled back
in defeat. So, during the Indian Mutiny, they be-,
haved with their old-time valour when at Cawnpore,
Captain Lumsden fell as he was waving his sword
and calling to his countrymen, " Come on, men, for the
honour of Scotland ! " and Adrian Hope expired in the
prime of his young manhood, with the whispered
word to his aide-de-camp, " Say a prayer with me ; "
and the most difficult and daring achievement of the
centuries — the relief of Lucknow — was accomplished
when Sir Colin Campbell, the gray-haired chief ain^
with his force of only 4,000 men, opposed by ten times
that number of regularly-trained soldiars, supplied
with all the munitions of war, and holding an almost
impregnable position, yet stormed and carried one
fortress after another, and finally brought away in
safety every living man, woman and child shut up in
the residency. No wonder Mr. Macdonald was proud
of this regiment which, more than any other, is
endeared to every Scotchman because of its untar-
nished name and glorious record of achievements. In
July, 1881, the title of the regiment was changed to
that of the 2nd Battalion Princess Louise's Argyll
and Sutherland Highlanders.
Mr. Macdonald was to the last interested in keeping
32
A MEllCIIANT i'KLNCE.
up the character and dignity of this coips, and addinj^
if possible to its greater lustre. When visiting the old
land he would go almost any distance to see his be-
loved refjiment. He loved to make mention of the
bravery of his soldier-friends, among them William
McBean, who, by exemplary good conduct, bravery
and zeal, rose step by step from a private soldier until
he received the brevet of colonel ; and died in June,
1878, as a Major- General, receiving the honour of a
full military funeral. "Others," he writes, "laid them
down to die on the heights of Alma ; some before
Sebastopol ; others rest near Balaclava, with which
place as the ' thin rc.i line ' their name is imperish-
ably associated. Others found their resting-place in
the Black Sea ; others at Lucknow ; others at Cawn-
pore."
Shortly before his death, while the movement for
the formation of a Highland Regiment in Toronto was
in its infancy and beset with many difficulties, he
gave every encouragement to Mr. Alexander Fraser
and to the other ardent young mfen who were promot-
ing the scheme ; and it is not too much to say that
to his ready and practical counsel, as well as to the
enthusiasm with which he entertained their views on
the subject, was due, to a very considerable extent,
the confidence which inspired them from the very
beginning, that the citizens of Toronto would stand
by them and that their efforts would be crowned with
success. It can be easily understood, therefore, how it
would have rejoiced his heart had he lived to see such
a regiment an accomplished fact, and to witness its
BOYHOOD AND YOUTH IN CANADA.
33
splendid bearing and steady movements as it passed
in review to receive its colours at the hand of Mrs.
Merritt, on that famous morning in the Queen's Park,
in the presence of the Governor-General and suite,
and the congregated citizens of Toronto, who are now
so proud of the "Kilties," as they love to call the
gallant 48th Highlanders. With all this he did not
love war. But he loved and shared the martial spirit
of his uncon(juered and uncomiuerable race ; and while
jhc was a man of peace, a true follower of the Prince
of Peace, the prowess and bravery so closely allied
with the heroism found on the field of battle, as well
[as in the less glittering and humble walks of life,
entered largely into his character. He believed that
the cultivation of the military spirit developed courage
^hich lies at the root of all manliness and the lofty
[deals of duty.
" So close is glory to our dust,
So near is God to man,
When duty whispers low, ' Tliou must,'
The youth replies, * I can.' "
III.
STARTING LIFE-CONVERSION.
" Within Tliy circling power 1 stand,
On every side I tind Thine hand ;
Awake, asleep, at home, abroad,
I am surrounded still by God."
Our lives are albums, written through
With good or ill, with false or true ;
And as the blessed angels turn
The pages of our years,
God grant they read the good with smiles.
And blot the ill with tears.
— John G. Whittier.
Whatever progress may be made in science, art and literary
culture, Christianity will be still there, as what these rest against
and imply ; as the indispensable back -ground, the three-fourths
of life.
— Mathetv Arnold.
m
STARTING LIFE— CONVERSION.
YOUNG MACDONALD'S school-days closed with
his fifteenth year, when he left his father's
house to plunge into the " world and wave of men,'
and entered upon the duties of a junior clerk in a
mercantile establishment. Of his entrance upon busi-
ness he thus writes :
" It was in April, 1840, that the Rev. Mr. Leach,
pastor of St. Andrew's Church, took me into the
phice of busl. ess of Mr. John Thompson, of this city,
a member of his congregation, to see if he could find
an opening for me. Here Mr. Leach was unsuccess-
ful. From that we went to the business house of
Walter Macfarlane, the '' Victoria House," on the cor-
Iner of King Street and Market Place. Here also Mr.
Leach failed, neither of these gentlemen at the time
having any opening for a lad of fifteen. He then,
without my knowledge, corresponded with the house
[of C. & J. Macdonald & Co., Gananoque, then one of
jthe most important concerns in Canada, and arranged
[for my entrance into the house. Neither member of
the firm ever havinir seen me, or havino; heard from
le, I was taken entirely upon his recommendation,
[ere I attended the ministry of the Rev. H. Gordon.
" Thus it came to pass that at the very threshold of
iy business life I was placed under obligation to two
jarly missionaries of the Church of Scotland. To
the first I was entirely indebted for the situation
rhich determined my subsequent course. This position
)rought me under the pastoral oversight of the second,
38
A MERCHANT PRINCE.
nm
ii'i'r
III
and thus began a friendship which extended through-
out their lives.
" If there is one thing of greater i'nportance than
another to a young man entering upon life, it is that
he should do so under such conditions as will furnish
him with the best illustrations of all that is implied
in upright and honourable transactions. Under just
such conditions was it my rare good fortune to begin
my business life in the firm to which reference has
been made, where during my two years' residence not
one transaction, I venture to say, ever took place
which would not bear the closest scrutiny. The
partners in the firm were the Honourable John Mac-
donald, and his nephew, William Macdonald."
Who can tell how much this early association with
business men of sagacity, activity and perfect reliabil-
ity had to do with his own character for integrity
and that high standard of mercantile honour which
he always maintained ? It was also his good fortune
to find in his fellow clerks young men of energy,
ambition and active force, who have since made a
deep impress upon their times. Among these were
J J. C. Abbott, who afterwards became Premier of
the Dominion, and John Bell, the well-known solicitor
of the Grand Trunk Railway. It is no small thing
for a young country that its ablest sons should thus
find recognition and gain positions where their gifts
and capacities can be used to the best advantage.
After a stay of two years in Gananoque, he re-
turned to Toronto, and on the 30th May, 1842, en-
tered the establishment of Mr. Walter Macfarlane,
known as the " Victoria House." There are turn-
ing points in every life, and in the house ofj
STARTING LIFE— CONVERSION.
39
Walter Macfarlane young Macdonald was to reach
the crisis that was to give shape to his whole future
life, and in which must be found the secret of his suc-
cess. In the house itself there were fifteen young men,
and Macdonald was the youngest. He had not been
lono- here before one of the most ass aming of the clerks
ordered him to take out a parcel. It was a large one,
and had to be carried for a mile. It was a terrible
mortification, and he at once replied that he had not
come there to carry parcels. Without further cere-
mony the clerk found his way to the employer, and
said in loud tones, " That boy refuses to take these
parcels out." " Oh, very well," was the reply, " tell
him to go about his business." The boy's determin-
ation was taken in a moment ; it was to eat humble
pie, and, quick as thought, the parcel was picked up
and he was nearly out of sight before the message
from his employer could reach him. His situation
was saved, and his future, to some extent, decided.
Several of the young men were very fast and very
unreliable, enemies alike to their employer and to
themselves. Some of them were moral young men —
one only was thoughtful and pious. Into the room
with this young man the boy was put as a companion.
He found it irksome to room with one whose fixed
purpose seemed so different from his own. Young
Macdonald then went to bed, and rose without prayers.
He had been religiously trained, and during his school
days had kept alive an intensely devout spirit, but
for two years he had been living among prayerless
young men ; he had imbibed their worldliness, and
m
40
A MERCHANT PRINCE.
'II
now in the city, had determined to drink more fully
into the spirit and adopt the habits of the ungodly.
" Eternity," he writes, " will reveal many strange
things, and doubtless among others, will show the
strange way in which I was led to that house, to that
room, to that young man, and back to God, from
whom I had wandered."
He says : " There are incidents which often occur,
too trifling to excite attention at the time, yet, as one
sees afterwards, big with results and destined to
change the whole of one's after-life. The establish-
ment I was entering was the most extensive retail dry
goods concern in Upper Canada. My home was to be
under the roof of my employer, and I had assigned to
me a room, large and lofty, in which there was a
young man who was to be my room-mate. It was not
long before I found, very greatly to my surprise, that
he was a Methodist. I say surprised, for had it been
possible for me to have had anything to say in the
matter I would have willed it otherwise — not that I
had anything against the young man, nor was there
any reason that I should think of him other than
kindly, but hitherto I had never been associated with
any other than Presbyterians, and had always looked
upon Methodists with a kind of mistrust. I cannot
well describe my disappointment when I found myself
associated with a room-mate who was my senior by
two or three years, and a Methodist. Each, in church
matters, went his own way ; he to the old rough-cast
church on George Street, where worshipped the British
Wesleyans ; I to St. Andrew's, on Church Street. As
to the structures, the churches externally and inter-
nally were as different as thej'^ well could be. The
St. Andrew's Church, for those days, might with great
propriety be said t<. be a pretentious building. It
was built of brick, and plastered to imitate stone ; had
STARTING LIFE— CONVERSION.
41
a handsome .spire, an ecclesiastical appearance, while
the location was central and commanding. The other
was as unpretentious as a church buildinf]f could well
be ; size, about 35 x 60 feet ; rough-cast ; the whole
structure worth probably from $2,000 to $2,500, as
plain as wood and rough-cast could make it, and
accommodating from three to four hundred people."
The young man here referred to was Mr. T. S.
Keough, and the acquaintance ""ipened into a warm
and lasting friendship which coloured the whole of
his career. In his daily journal he records that he
had determined to " see life ; " had begun to delight
in various amusements on the Lord's Day and to seek
the acquaintance of the irreligious. But his plastic
nature was to be changed and his entire religious life
shaped through the influence of a faitliful companion.
No wonder he continues :
"It seems fitting just here, to notice how much the
happiness and well-being, the misery or wretchedness
of our lives depends upon the companionships which
as young lads we form. Indeed, as I look back upon
the past, I am persuaded that greater in importance
than even home-training, all important as that is, as
regards the future of the young man, is the selection
which he makes of his companions. If the selection
is in every way desirable from the standpoint of God's
Word, he may be said to be placed in circumstances
of safety ; if, on the other hand, he is thrown into
close company with those who disregard God's Word,
His day, His house, he is placed in circumstances of
the greatest peril ; all the greater, if such companions
are kind-hearted, genial, and unselfish, as such young
men so often are; circumstances which may so shape
I his life as to mean ruin, and ruin only, of soul and
■' n
42
A MERCHANT PRINCE.
i
1
body, the blighting of every prospect, the dissipating
of every fondly cherished hope.
' Taking my own case as a fair example, what
might the result have been had circumstances been
different ? I find myself in a room with a stranger,
one whom I had never seen, but with whom I had
much of my time at least to be associated, without a
relative on this continent, so far as I knew. What
more natural than that we should go to the same
places, do the same things, mix with the same com-
pany ? Certainly no better than other lads of my
age, and possibly not much worse, I was ready most
assuredly to offer no violent objection to anything
which meant fun, and would not have been unwilling
to have " seen life."
" What if the inclinations of my young friend lay
in that direction, what if he was in the habit of spend-
ing his evenings in some saloon, of visiting the play,
of going to the opera, nay, what if he were in the
habit of visiting those abodes which lead down to
death ? Would he have invited me to accompany
him ? Would I have gone ?
" How wonderfully does God lead us ! What safe-
guards docs He throw around us ! What barriers
does He set up to save us from breaking through, lest
we perish ! How He leads us in ways which we had
not known ! How He directs our steps and brings us
under the power of influences of which we had never
dreamt, that our own happiness may be secured and
His own glory promoted. In none of the hurtful ways
to which I have referred was the influence of my
friend to be exerted. Here I found a young man who
had given his heart to God, singularly pure in his life
and in his conversation. Without cant on the one
hand, without gloomy misanthropic views on the
other, thoroughly consistent among those who were
STARTING LIFE— CONVERSION.
43
careless. It* we were to be companions it must be
upon the lines upon which he was walkin^^."
Let us see what the result was. On a Sabbath
evening in the early autumn of 1842, he was found
for the first time in a Methodist chapel. The preacher
was the Rev. John C. Davidson. The pulpit, like
everything else in the church, was severely plain.
The choir sat within the communion rail. The leader
was Mr. Booth ; Alderman Baxter, then a slender
young man, was a member — his father, strangely
enoutrh, being the leader of the choir in St. Andrew's
Church. The singing was very good ; none better
was there in the city. He was much pleased with the
service, and as there was no evening service in vSt.
Andrew's he found himself going each Sunday evening
to the George Street Church ; yet doing this without
the remotest intention of transferrincj his allegiance
from the one church to the other, or ever dreaming
that he was to live or die other than a Presbyterian.
In like manner the week evening services on Monday
and Thursday attracted him, there being neither
preaching nor a prayer-meeting service during the
week at St. Andrew's.
" The case therefore stood thus : I attended two
services weekly of the church to which I belonged —
the Presbyterian — and though not connected with it
by membership was fully resolved never to leave; and
three weekly services in the church to which I did not
belong — the Methodist. The senior preacher on the cir-
cuit was Bev. Matthew (afterwards Doctor) Richey.
When it is claimed that he was the most eloquent
preacher in the city, the statement is one which will not
mi
44
A MERCHANT PRINCE.
be questioned. He was an Irishman; he must have been
then about forty years of age, of fine presence, voice
so full, deep and musical, that it might well be said to
be phenomenal ; faultless as a reader, it was a rare
treat to hear him read the Word of God. His pulpit
efforts were marked by a solemn and devotional spirit;
his prayers were in striking contrast to that hasty,
irreverent manner which characterizes the approaches
of so inany in our day, to the throne of grace. Little
wonder was it that his name at that time would at-
tract as many as the building would hold, and more."
Mr. Macdonald was greatly charmed with the pulpit
ministrations of this highly gifted man. He attended
a special meeting which was held during the last week
of 1842, and was closed with a watch-night service,
the first of the kind he had ever attended. The ser-
vice was in charge of Dr. Richey. Mr. Macdonald
says : " I remember the sermon well, as being one of
great impressiveness. About three minutes before
midnight the preacher, in his devout way, said : ' We
will spend the remaining moments of the old year
upon our knees before God, in silent prayer.' Every-
thing was new to me, the death-like stillness which
reigned throughout the church was descriptive of that
solemnity which everyone seemed to feel ; then the
overwhelming silence was broken by the deep, full,
solemn voice of the minister, as he gave out the lines:
" 'The arrow has flown; the moment is gone ;
The millennial year
Rushes on to our view, and eternity's near.' "
This service left a deep religious impression upon
his mind ; and on February 10th there began another
STARTING LIFE — CONVERSION.
45
series of meetings which were destined to exert a
transforming influence upon his character and life.
He becarpe interested in personal religion ; then pow-
erfully convicted of sin, and sought earnestly the
assurance of God's favour. A long struggle with pride
took place before he could take the deciding step, and
go forward for prayer.
The very night that he surrendered his will and
yielded his heart, he was owned and blessed of God.
Divine light, and love, and joy were poured into his
being, and he received the remission of sins, and justi-
fication through faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. In
his " Recollections of British Methodism in Toronto,"
he refers thus to his coming forward as a seeker :
" There are those who object to any manifestations
in public assemblies, such as have been referred to.
The result of my own thinking on the matter, after
an experience of forty-eight years, has taught me that
the man who will stand up in a public assembly and
thereby show his determination not only to be a
Christian, but his desire to secure the prayers of God's
people to strengthen him in his determination, is in
earnest. That which prevents a man from taking this
step is not a conviction that he does not stand in need
of God's grace, hut pride. The step once taken, this
pride is humbled, the man hasobtained the mastery over
himself, he has proclaimed to his worldly associates
that he intends to lead a new life. In one word, he
has virtually said with the prodigal, * I will arise and
go to my Father.' He is not far from the kingdom ;
he has gone to meet the Christ who is waiting to re-
ceive him.
" Does it need an effort ? It needs the effort of his
entire nature, and if he is sincere, it will help him a
46
A MERCHANT PRINCE.
thousanfl times more than all the promises to consider
the matter and weif]fh its responsibilities. There are
thousands of earnest workers in the Church to-day
who liave to thank God that He, by His fjrace,
enabled them when invited to do so, to stand up and
confess Him, to^stand up and^acknowledjjje their need
of Him, and who, in this way, were helped to find
Christ. And tliere are thousands to-day who re<^ret
tliat when such opportunities were offered, shame
prevented them from availing themselves of such
invitations."
This was lus spiritual birth, the beginninor of a
divine life, and his whole after life was but the
o^rowth, the unfoldinjnf of what he then received. This
try "
great spiritual event is the key to his character and
his work as a man. The end of religion is conduct.
Ethical means practical — it relates to practice or con-
duct. The grace which he then received passed into
habits and dispositions, and gave him his many-sided
excellences. Shortly after, he joined the Methodist
Church, but not without much thought and spiritual
conflict. There were the early influences of home
and Christian training in another Church ; there was
the new-found Saviour and the affluent peace that
had sprung up in his heart through the agency of
Methodism. He observes :
" Here was a young lad, eighteen years of age, too
young to be noticed ; certainly too young to initiate
any change in Church life, attracted to a Church
against which he was strongly prejudiced, drawn
from one to which he was as strongly attached, from
one to which all his friends belonged. Why was it
that he should have become a Methodist, when under
STAIlTlNf} LIFE — CONVEIISION.
47
ordinary circumstances he sliould have continued to
be a Presbyterian ?
" I found myself j)lace(l in circumstances of diffi-
culty, conscious beyond doubt that a new direction had
been j^iven to my life, throu^li the instrumentality of
the Methodist Church ; ecjually conscious that it was
my duty that my church relationship must he with
the Presbyterian C'hurch. What was 1 to do :* b'irst,
it appeared to me tluit it was my (hity to make
myself familiar with the teachinjif of the l*reshyterian
Church. Havinrr thus resolved, it did not take me
loii,i( to act ; that very day I went to the book store
of Jlunh Scohie, Kin<; Street, and purchased a copy
of the " Confession of Faitli." I hegan to examine it
with a mind fully made up to endorse all that was
contained in it. It would have appeared to me the
most profound folly to (juestion aught which it set
forth. I expected from it to gather light, and know-
ledge, and strength.
" I soon found myself in a difficulty. If I was
implicitly to accept the Confession of Faith, many
passages of Scripture to me were incomprehensible.
1 closed the book, determined to read no more, but to
go for my light and teaching to the Word of God. I
bought Dr. Adam Clarke's Commentary, and turned
to the article described by him at the close of the
Acts, 2nd chapter, as that awful subject, the fore-
knowledge of God. The article on the ' Decrees ' in
the Confession perplexed me ; the reasoning of Dr.
Clarke attbrded me no satisfactory solution. The fact
was that the wind tliat bloweth where it listeth had
blown upon me, and brought with it the awakening
of a new life — a life wdiich had to gather strength
and vigour from daily conflict with those who were
actively engaged in church life, and from the same
source from which they gathered theirs. The con-
elusion was slowly but painfully reached, that this
I't
48
A MERCHANT PRINCE.
to be obtained in a church whose public
services for the week, apart from the
was not
religious
Sabbath School, were all embraced in the one morn-
ing service on the Lord's Day. And thus the step
was taken. The severance was made, and I had
passed away from the church under whose influence I
had seen the light, and to which all my friends
belonged."
His new spiritual life responded loadily to the
doctrines, institutions and ministries of Methodism.
He was its child, not by descent, but by real kinship.
It met his wants, satisfied his desires, and he was in
sympathy with its aims and methods.
On Wednesday, March 15th, he attended a class-
meeting for the first time, and with quick insight he
perceived its value as a means of grace. The leader
was Richard Wordsworth, and the class met in his
house on Richmond Street. Mr. Macd' nald says :
" The whole thing, to me, was new > hear men
speaking of their unfaithfulness, expressing their
fixed purpose anew to consecrate themselves to God's
service, and soliciting the prayers of God's people to
help them in their purpose ; and to hear the leader,
a man of experience, who had himself passed through
just such mental conflicts, counsel them from his own
knowledge of God's goodness, and present to them for
their consideration the unfailing promises of God's
Word, was something which I had never conceived,
was something which I felt was of inestimable value
to every young Christian, was something which
might, with great advantage, be adopted by all the
churches, and which now, after a lengthened experi-
ence, I regard as one of the most valued means for
the strengthening of Ggd's children iji the Pivine life,
STAUTING LIFE — CONVERSION.
49
No better barometer is there by which the spiritual
life of the members of the Methodist Church can be
gauged than that which is furnished by their attend-
ance upon the class-meeting. If careless and inditler-
cnt ; if the world preponderates, the class-meetinjg is
irksome. If men are living to God, it is a delight."
He entered the George Street Sabbath School, of
which Mr. Alexander Hamilton was superintendent,
and soon became a teacher. He bought the Wesleyan
.standard works, and so studied them that the doc-
trints and traditions of the Church passed into his
life and became a part of himself. He was soon in
the full round of religious activity, speaking in class
and fellowship meetings, attending prayer-meetings
and assisting in conducting them. He was placed on
the Prayer Leader's plan, a department of Church
work in which the young men went in companies,
sometimes singing on the streets, then holding a
cottage-meeting near -their field of labour extending
from Berkeley Street on the east to the Asylum on
the west. While his i 'igion v. as thus practical and
experimental, ho was giving close attention to study.
His young friend, Mr. Keough, greatly aided him ;
their sympathies and secret hearts seemed to flow
spontaneously together ; they were bound together
by the most sacred ties of sanctified friendship.
Over the George Street congregation he grows
I enthusiastic, and while he has no desire to detract
from the influence of the Canadian Methodists theuv
worshipping in the Newgate Street Church, in helping
[on the development of Methodism in the city and in
tlic Dominion, yet he says, " Greater far was the
60
A MERCHA><T PRINCE.
\S
"■!.!■
iit''!
hiiliilil
mm
lii
power and influence exerted by the old George Street
Church."
" It was to the George Street Church that every-
other church in the Connexion looked ; its action
deter?nined the action of the others. The best men
in the body tilled its pulpit and ministered to its
people ; it was from George Street that the church
removed to the Richmond Street Church, the Cathedral
of Methodism, which, more than any other church of
its day, was the centre of great evangelisMc gather-
ings, and which, having outlived its usefulness, has
recently passed into the hands of the Book Room
Committee to be used for connexional purposes."
About the time of his conversion he commenced a
dail}'' journal devoted almost exclusively to his re-
ligious feelings and occupations. This biography of
his inner life is marked by set phrases for religious
things, and a particular type of devotion then in
vogue ; but it is characterized by great maturity of
thought, and is an affecting picture of the Christian
lad struggling against his doubts, temptations and
sins, and earnestly aspiring after a higher spiritual
life. Wednesday, 11th April, 1843, marks the first
(juarterly ticket he received. On Sunday, 30th April,
there is this record :
'' Attended a love-feast for the first time. Felt a
great diffidence and backwardness in owning my pro-
fession. But at length I broke through every barrier
and spoke for Christ, after which I felt relieved and
5iblessed. This made me determined that if I was
spared to attend another, I would speak as soon as
an opportunity offered itself."
He has preserved in his diary the texts from which
STARTING LIFE — CONVERSION.
51
preached many of the illustrious men of that day ;
and the boy-critic freely passes his comments upon
tlic discourses to which he listens. In June of this
year there is an entry which marks a most important
epoch, as it gives the first intimation of his thoughts
concerning the Christian ministry. His youthful
aspirings are thus recorded :
"Thought a great deal about devoting myself to
the ministry. 1 feel the solemn responsibility of such
a work, and almost fear that it is sacrilege to indulge
in thoughts concerning so great a vocation. But am
thankful to say that I gladly accept God's will should
He spare my worthless life, and make me the humble
instrument in His hands of doing good to the souls
of my fellow-men. I have a burning desire to do good,
and devote myself to the s'^rvice of my Redeemer."
He had belonged to a voung men's Bible-class in
St. Andrew's Church, which afterwards had taken
the form of a debating society. Young Macdonald
had been elected its first president. He had thus
begun to exercise his gifts of speech. In the prayer-
meeting he had ventured now and then upon a word
of exhortation, and had acquired a readiness of utter-
ance. While conducting the band meetings, his con-
victions upon the subject of preaching seemed to
increase in strength and definiteness, fostered, no
doubt, by friends who discerned his gifts. Besides,
his companion, Mr. Keough, had become a Local
Preacher, and as they worked together, lived together,
read and prayed together in closest intimacy, this
fact no doubt helped to give direction to the course
of his thoughts.
He still continued to be diligent in
52
A MERCHANT PlllNCE.
Hl|jl^i
business, a successful merchant in embryo ; his duties
were very exacting, his hours long, yet the current of
his being was steadily setting in another direction.
On Wednesday, September 23rd, 1845, he preached
his first sermon. It was in the Yorkville chapel, the
Rev. John Bredin being present to hear and approve
or discourage the experiment. He preached for thirty-
four minutes, and the effort was so completely satis-
factory that on the following Sabbath he accompanied
Mr. Bredin into the country, preaching for him at
Milligans' and at Thornhill. After some months'
trial, he passed his examination satisfactorily, and
became a fully accredited Local Preacher. The jour-
nal tells of increased activity in the cause of Christ,
and while there are such records as these, " Thought
of abandoning the idea of preaching ;" " Have a dread
of unworthy motives ;" " O what a responsible office
is that of a preacher of the gospel ! " still his work
does not slacken. But there was sore discipline in
store for him — severe searchings of heart, bodily
suffering, mental anxiety, dark and gloomy forebod-
ings, and the prospect of early death. Disease seems
to have become a finger-post of Providence, and to
have directed the current of his life.
in:.::
IV.
ILL-HEALTH-JAMAICA.
if'j
liii I,
Sorrows are often like clouds, which, though black when they
are passing over us, when they are past become as if they were
the garments of God thrown oti' in purple and gold along the sky.
— Henry Ward Beecher.
Heave, mighty ocean, heavo !
And blow thou boisterous wind !
Onward we swiftly glide, and leave
Our home and friends behind.
— S. Graham.
Vf '
Talk not of wasted affection ; affection never was wasted.
If it enrich not the heart of another, its waters returning
Back to their springs, like the rain, shall fill them full of
refreshment,
That which the fountain sends forth, returns again to the
fountain.
— LviKjfelloiv.
ILL-HEALTH— JAMAICA.
I
T is well said," observes Carlyle, " in every sense
that a man's religion is the chief fact with re-
gard to him." The subject of our memoir has passed
the crisis of his being and become a " new creature in
Christ Jesus." Having received the new life from
above, he gives all diligence to nourish and strengthen
it. For this grace, though miraculous in its origin,
is yet subject to natural laws in its progress. We
find young Macdonald diligently using the appointed
raeans of grace, engaged in visiting the sick, attending
prayer-meetings and preaching the Word. He has
strong spiritual conflicts ; he knows what it is to
wrestle in agony with his bosom-sin and to face with
courage the daily temptations of life. His diary
shows a remarkable elevation of religious faith and
it
feeling; yet there is constant self-reproach for in-
dulging in things seemingly innocent. His conscience
is awakened to the evil of vanity, and he resolves to
%ht his enemy down to its lurking-place. What is
written in his diary is rather for God's eye than the
eye of man, yet through it we get a deeper insight of
his inward humiliation and his spiritual conflicts.
How valuable such records are ! Marcus Aurelius is
one of the most beautiful characters in history. He
was an example of goodness in high places ; yet the
56
A MERCHANT PRINCE.
lii;.''
3:-
Mi
■ |i-
record of him, on which his fame as one of the best of
men rests, is the journal of his inward life, his " Medi-
tations."
From his Journal :
"January 22nd, 1846. — By the blessing of God I
intend to redeem the time from idle conve'*sation, to
set a guard over my lips. How much have I lost by
inattention to this duty.
" February 16th. — Felt more humbled and my pride
somewhat checked. Much annoyed in spirit about
my carelessness, my foolish tempers and dispositions.
" March £th. — Felt a disposition to vanity, when a
lady expressed delight on hearing my sermon yester-
day. What a hurtful thing pride is ! May God
enable me to overcome it in all its aspects and fea-
tures !
" May 2nd. — Unable to preach. Got Brother N. to
supply my place at Dundas Street.
" May 5th. — Had some thoughts to-night of death,
namely, that it is because we do not love Christ
supremely that we are afraid to die.
" May 5th. — Felt a want of spirituality, and conse-
quently of devotedness and zeal. Thought much upon
the necessity of being as spiritually minded in and
about my business and among my shop-mates as I
would desire to be when endeavouring to instruct
others in the way of salvation."
These extracts show that he had a keen sense of
indwelling sin and a longing to be Christ-like, as well
as an ardent desire to devote himself to the Master's
service for the advancement of His glory and king-
dom. At this time the Rev. William Harvard was
Superintendent of the Circuit. He proved to be a
wiie, faithful and kindly pastor, and took a deep in-
terest in Mr. Macdonald's welfare.
la-
ir
ILL-HEALTH — JAMAICA.
57
" Wednesday, June 15th. — Had some conversation
with, and advice from, Rev. Mr. Harvard, who apprised
me that, it' we were both spared until next District
Meeting, he intended bringing me forward as a candi-
date for the ministry."
Next comes a period of declining health and of
deep depression of spirits. He was troubled with
irritation of the bronchial tubes and weakness of the
luno-s. There is an undertone of gloom and melan-
choly ; only now and then do his natural buoyancy
and liirhtheartedness reassert themselves. He seems
to be living as in the very shadow of the grim spectre.
He makes record of evejy departure of acquaintance
and friend, and is ready to exclaim :
" Oh, what is life 1
'Tis like a flower that blossoms and is gone."
His own mind is absorbed with the idea that he is
"iven over to die.
"September 7th. — Lay awake all night thinking
on death, scarcely closed my eyes.
"January 1st 1847. — Realizing the uncertainty of
life, and desiring that in case of a sudden removal
from time to eternity the property which I have re-
ceived from my Heavenly Father should be disposed
of in a way which will conduce most to His glory,I
bequeath to my father my Bible and Wesley's Notes
on the New Testament, and direct that the rest of my
books and goods be sold, and the proceeds, with other
sums of money, to be applied to the liquidation of the
debt on the Richmond Street Chapel. May this New
Year upon which I have been permitted to enter, be
the best in my life ! May every unholy disposition
and temper be sanctified ! May I be ena bled ever to
58
A MERCHANT PRINCE.
i'l
iljP
;iif t^
K I
see my way clearly before me, and may I be rendered
an instrument of good in n^y day and generation."
His health did not improve. His lungs were
inclined to be tuberculous, and he had occasional
spitting of blood. Still he worked on with Mr. Mac-
farlane, in whose employment he had been for five
consecutive years, and was engaged in study and
systematic reading, writing his sermons with con-
siderable care, and preaching as often as his physical
strength would permit. One of his companions at
this time was Mr. Sanford Fleming, then a young
engineer from Scotland, who has since, through our
most stupendous public works, made himself known
in every part of the Dominion.
From his Journal :
" Saturday, June 6th, 1847. At the annual meeting
of the Canadian Conference a union was effected
between that body and the British Conference."
Dr. Alder had been sent out to adjust, if possible,
the differences existing for the last seven years, and
Mr. Macdonald, as one of the ofhcials was present at
the first meeting called to lay before the Board the
articles of the proposed union. He thus speaks of
the representative of the British Conference :
" Dr. Alder was about medium size, stout, florid,
thoughtful face, large head, great profusion of hair,
impressive appearance and manner ; in addition to
his being an excellent preacher, he was a skilled
diplomat. In the public Sabbath services which fol-
lowed, he took no part beyond reading the hymns
and Scriptures, both of which he did faultlessly. His
message was delivered to a hostile company, and he
knew it ; admirably did he do his part of the work."
ILL-HEALTH — JAMAICA.
59
He further says :
" In that great company of officials Dr. Alder had
not one friendly hearer, not one who was in sympathy
with the movement, not one who desired it. The
meeting was protracted to a late hour. Many threats
were made. Rather than go into the union they
would form an independent church or join the Primi-
tive Methodists. One thing was clear, no Canadian
Methodist would be allowed to preach in the Richmond
Street Church ; they would lock the doors, they
would forcibly prevent any minister of that Church
from occupying the pulpit.
" Meantime much writing had to be got through,
the proceedings of the evening had to be put in shape
ready for the next meeting. Who was to do it ? One
had no time, another had no inclination, another gave
a flat denial."
Mr. Macdonald undertook to do the needed work.
It was done. The meeting was held, and the act of
union consummated. The next record in his diary is :
" Attended a union meeting of both circuits, and
was extremely pleased with the happy feeling that
seemed to influence all present. The appointments
were put upon one general plan for the more efficient
and amicable working of the whole."
Of this union he thus speaks in his " Recollections
of Toronto Methodism " :
"The first Sabbath came and wont, as did the
second and following Sabbaths, and no doors were
locked, no ministers ejected from pulpits, no indepen-
dent congregations formed, no further negotiations
carried on for a union with the Primitive Methodist
Church. The union was of God, was crowned with
His blessing, and was the first step toward that
larger movement which has eventuated in consoli-
60
A MERCHANT PRINCE.
4-^' .1
dating every branch of the Methodist family into
one united and powerful Church, whose healthful
influences are felt from Newfoundland to Japan,
never, let us hope, to be again dismembered by
trifling ditt'erences, but to go on baptized from on
high, and fltted by the consecration of its wealth, its
influences, and, above all, by the devotion of its
people, to do its share, side by side, with the great
army of the living God, as found in the other
churches, in the evangelization of the world."
Had Mr. Macdonald's health continued, he would
undoubtedly have entered the ministry of this
Church, a work for which both his natural gifts and
his spiritual aspirations seemed to qualify him. But
that Providence, which so strangely and beautifully
makes all things work together for good, was order-
ing otherwise. He was now booked as a victim of
consumption, and his physician advised him at once
to give up all labour and study, and go to the West
Indies. Accordingly we And this entry : " July 21st,
1S47, my declining health rendered it necessary to
give up all work, and I left Mr. Macfarlane's employ-
ment." He speaks of his employer with the highest
respect, and felt grieved at parting from him. The
feeling was reciprocal, for Mr. Macfarlane gave him
testimonials of the most satisfactory description, paid
him several pounds more than his salary, and handed
him a handsome Bible, the gift of his two youngest
children. Early on the morning of the twenty-second
of July we find him on the wharf bidding farewell to
the friends that have accompanied him to the ship,
and taking passage on the Niagara steamer. He
il
^mm
ILL-HEALTH — JAMAICA.
61
proceeded to Buffalo, thence to Albany, where he
spent the Sabbath. Here he attended a class, made
the ac(|uaintance of the superintendent of the school,
and addressed the children.
Next day he sailed down the Hudson to New York,
where he spent two or three days, and then went on
to Boston. With his soldierly instincts he turned his
steps to the Navy Yard, and was impressed with its
extent and importance. He also visited Lowell, to see
the great cotton, woollen and print manufactories.
From Boston he took passage to St. John, where he
surprised Rev. Dr. Cooney and family with his pres-
ence. He preached in the Centenary Church to a large
and attentive congregation. Here, also, he met the
Rev. Samuel D. Rice, who was going to Upper Canada,
and he gave him his keys to select from his library, in
Toronto, such books as suited him, the amount to be
placed to his credit till he should hear from him again.
He found the atmosphere of St. John 'foggy and
oppressive, and after a short stay went on to Fred-
erickton, thence to Chatham Head, Miramichi, the
residence of his friend, Mr. A. Fraser, with whom he
remained for nearly a month. The recollection of his
pleasant visit, in this beautiful home, remained fresh
and green in his memory to the end of his days. An-
other fortnight was delightfully spent at New Glasgow,
in the home of Mr, James Fraser, another brother,
whose parting words were : " Never hide your circum-
stance from me, and if you ever stand in need of
assistance, my help is ready." The young man was
greatly pleased with the attentions paid to all the
62
A MERCHANT I'llINCE.
observances of relijjjion by these friends of his father's
faniily, and he speaks of many happy seasons enjoyed
in prayer wliile otliciatinj^ at tlieir family altars. Krom
New Glasgow lie went to Halifax and stood aij;ain,
after an absence of nine years, upon the spot familiar
to his boyhood. He found the place jjjreatly altered.
At Dalhousie Colle<(e he saw a number of his old
school-mates; some he remembered ; others had grown
out of his recollection. He says, " many pleasing
associations were recalled as I passed each spot which
I had so of ton trod in my boyish days. When i was
here I was without God and had no hope in the
world." His thoughts and hopes, his purposes and
aspirations have all been changed by the transforming
power of divine love. He preached in the Argyle
Street Chapel, occupying the pulpit in which the Rev.
William Black, the eininent afiostle of Methodism in
the Eastern Provinces, had often jtreached. Of the
congregation he says : " It was the largest I have yet
addressed ; very respectable and exceedingly atten-
tive." Furnished with a number of letters to Jamaica
he took passage on board the brig Gomvierce, bound
for Port Maria. The wind was favourable, and next
day they lost sight of the North American coast. The
voyage was exceedingly disagreeable, and attendi
with danger, as they narrowly escaped being o^ t iway
on the leeshore. This is the account :
" Early on the morning of the •«* jur
departure from Halifax, the ca] ewe
were within a comparatively .D disi ace uf the
Bermudas, judged it expedient to iuy to f' nn 1 to 5 a.m.
ILL-MKAI/ni — JAMAICA.
68
The morninjij was squally, a ]\\(fh wind lilowinf]f. About
9 a.in. land was seen buarin<^ .south-east, distance
about ten niiles. ])urin;jf the whole of that day the
win<l blew fresh from the east, accompanied by fre-
(juent scjuails. Next day tluj wind shiftcid to the
south-west, increasinjif in violence, the sea also runnin<(
very hi<;h. About four in the afternoon our storm-
stay-sail was carried away, and a considerable (juan-
tity of water was taken in over our lee-bows, which
threw the vessel on her beam's end, and a heavy deck
load prevented her from risinjjf. She now made lee-
way rapidly, when the captain thouj^ht it prudent to
throw a portion of the deck- load overboard, which
being done, she immediately ri<jfhted and seemed re-
lieved. As the evoninjjf advanced the winds and waves
increased in fury, and rendered it a season of painful
anxiety to all on board. They w^re apprised that
the situation was one of extreme danirer, the ves.sel
rapidly nearinjij a reef of rocks amon<r the mo.st dan-
gerous in the world. The sea was running high, and
the wind blowing so furiou.sly as to prevent us from
carrying sail sufficient to bear up against it. The gloom
of night, and the fury of the surrounding elements
were rendered still more alarming by the appear-
ance of the vivid light on Gibb's Hill, .seen occasion-
ally from the top of a mighty wave. Then, indeed,
did our case appear hopeless. The captain at once
crowded on all sail, being determined that either
tlie masts would be carried away, or that we would
escape the danger by bearing up against the wind.
Happily, through the assistance of a kind Providence,
after strujji^linij hard for about .seven hours, the li<jfht
bore from us east north-east, and shortly di,sap})eared.
It was a wonderful deliverance from ship- wreck and
one of the narrowest escapes from a watery grave, for
had we gone ashore we must all have inevitably per-
ished. Much praise was due to the captain, who with
such decision and self-possession met the emergency."
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64
A MERCHANT PRINCE.
After leaving the Bermudas, the passage was tedi-
ous, being about twenty-three days before they saw
Jamaica. The last three or four days they were pass-
ing St. Domingo and Cuba. These islands present a
high, mountainous appearance, and the view from the
deck of the vessel is one never to be forgotten. What
a picture of loveliness ! Lofty mountain ranges
towering majestically beneath a tropical sky. At
length they descry on the far horizon the dim outline
of a lovely isle, St. Jago, Jamaica, gem of the
Antilles.
" The Hesperian isle from distance dimly blue,
With gradual beauty opened on his view."
They were detained for six days off the island by
having simply got a few miles to leeward of their port,
where the current was running at the rate of several
miles an hour, while the breeze was scarcely sufficient
to shake the sails. He thus had ample time to drink
in the enchanting scene, as Montgomery sings of this
charming land :
" When first his drooping sails Columbus furl'd,
And sweetly rested in another world,
Amid the heaven-reflecting ocean smiles
A constellation of Elysian isles ;
Fair as Orion as he mounts on high,
Sparkling with midnight splendour from the sky,
Thy bar(|ue beneath the sun's meridian rays
When not a shadow breaks the boundless blaze ;
The breath of ocean wanders through their sails
In morning breezes and in evening gales,
Earth from her lap perennial verdure pours,
Ambrosial fruits and amaranthine flowers ;
O'er the wild mountain and luxuriant plains
Nature in all the pomp of beauty reigns."
ILL-HEA.LTH — JAMAICA.
65
They landed at Annotto Bay, and by daybreak
next morning Mr. Macdon-
ald, with letters to the most
influential houses in the
island, and accompanied by
his sable guide, was on his
way to Kingston, thirty
miles distant. It was a de-
lightful trip, and nothing
could be more exhilaratins:.
The beauties of nature, con-
stantly before his eyes, en-
raptured him. He remem-
bered that in the land he
had left, the melancholy
rustlinor of the fallinjx leaf
was heard in the forest,
and bleak winds, the fore-
runners of winter, were
whistling around the farm
dwellings, and comfortable
fires blazed upon the hearth-
stones, while here " eternal
summer reigns." It is the
month of November, yet
the people are clad in thin,
white apparel, and the trees
are laden with the choicest
and richest fruit. He ad-
mires the bamboo huts of
the negroes, and the picturesque villages along the way.
TIIK rWKNTV-nvF. FOrNTAlNH,
WK.HT IM)IK8.
66
A MERCHANT PRINCE.
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After leaving the town of Annotto Bay, which then,
as now, possessed great length without breadth, con-
sisting of one long narrow street, over which there are
three or four bridges several rivers, or rather the Wag
River, emptying itself by several streams into the sea,
they passed a number of large and beautiful sugar
SCKNES IN THE WEST IXDIES.
plantations, with their picturesque buildings, mills and
aqueducts. He found boundless delight in the scenery,
the climate, and especially the vegetation. There
were trees of every kind, the beau til ul sugar cane,
the great and principal staple of the Island ; the silk
cotton tree spreading its ample branches on either
side for forty feet ; the trumpet tree and the tall
cocoanut, the graceful bamboo and the rich mango,
it 3
ILL-HEALTH — JAMAICA.
67
cactus hedges, logwood copses and banana walks. The
ample foliage of these trees, endless in their variety,
afforded a grateful shelter from the burning rays of
the sun. The distant views of the mountains, almost
Alpine in their proportions, with their lofty summits
shrouded in clouds, enchanting glens and ravines with
rivers foaming along, forming graceful and feathery
cascades ; the natural arbors made by vines, moss and
ferns, and flowerinij shrubs crowned with bright
blossoms, every form of sylvan life ; the endless
streams of water beautifully clear ; the orange, the
mango and other luscious fruits growing so plentifully
that he could pluck laem as he passed along; all made
up a unique and intensely romantic journey, and left
upon his mind a vivid and lasting impression of per-
fect beauty. Kingston was reached in the afternoon,
a city of 40,000 inhabitants, the chief commercial
city of the Island. He confessed to a disappointment
at its straggling appearance. Here he takes train to
Spanish Town, the old capital Santiago de la Vega of
the Spaniards, for three centuries and a half the
capital of the Island. When the train halted at the
station, he made his way alone: its clean and well-
paved streets until he stood before a door which bore
a plate with the inscription, Rev. J. G. Manly.
From his journal :
" I stood at the door of a gentleman to whom I was
an utter stranger, yet if he had not been in Jamaica,
I might not have found my way thither. Mr. Manley
had been in Toronto, where, I was informed, he suf-
fered from ill-health, but had found the climate of
Jamaica greatly to benefit him. I had concluded that
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68
A MERCHANT PRINCE.
if the climate had had such a beneficial effect upon
him, it would surely be helpful to me. This was the
main reason for my comin<:f to Jamaica. Although I
had not the pleasure of his acquaintance, still we
were mutually acquainted with the same kind friends
in Toronto. He was a minister of the same Church
to which I belonged, and would consequently enter-
tain kindly feelings towards me. I had left Toronto
under the same circumstances that had compelled him
to leave, and had come at the suggestion of the same
kind friends who had strongly advised him to visit
Jamaica. And chiefly, I had come because I believed
the good Providence of God had directed me thither.
I rang the bell, a coloured girl came to the door ; I
sent in mv name, and remained in the drawinjj-room
for a few moments until the Rev. gentleman appeared.
He received me with kindness, but with apparent
caution. After a few words had been interchanged,
I presented my letters of introduction, one from his
intimate friend, Mr. J. G. Bowes, the other from the
Rev. E. Evans, Superintendent of Toronto West Cir-
cuit. He at once introduced me to his wife, sent for
my luggage, and insisted on my making his house my
home. It is impossible for me to speak in language
too strontr of the kindness received from these estim-
able people, and it will not appear strange that an
attachment was formed that can never be forgotten."
By the aid of his friends, and the letter which he
had brought with him, he obtained a situation at
£150 per annum in one of the best houses in the
Island, the firm of J. Nethersole & Co., Kingston. He
observed a difference, not only in the class of goods
required for . e West Indian colonies, but also in the
class of customers. The blacks he found were ex-
tremely susceptible to slight, and jealous of any pre-
III
ILL-HEALTH — JAMAICA.
69
ference shown. They were e ceedingly fond of dress,
and would buy the most costly materials. He found,
too, that whenever a European acted with proper
decorum and respect toward them, it secured their
confidence and esteem. He soon became a popular
salesman with the natives. He at once united with
the Church, attending the Coke Memorial Chapel.
This is a noble Gothic edifice built on the Parade, the
chief architectural ornament of the city, and accom-
modating: a conjTjroofation of 2,000. It bears the
honoured name of the pioneer of Wesleyan Missions,
who landed in Port Royal in January 19th, 1780,
preached several times in Kingston, established a cause
and had missionaries sent to the Island. He assisted
the pastor, Rev. M. Young at the Watch-night service,
which was crowded ; and was struck with the custom
of the blacks when the moment arrived which ended
the old year, of setting up a most doleful sound ; one
old woman declaring to him that she heard the old
year go out with a lukizzy, vjhizzy, whizz, and the
new year come in with a whizzy, whizzy, whizz. He
formed many delightful acquaintances in Jamaica,
and had pleasant intercourse with the Wesleyan mis-
sionaries. Among them Rev. H. -Bleby, Superintend-
ent of Wesley Chapel, another noble church edifice
on Thames Street, capable of accommodating a con-
gregation of 3,000 ; Rev. James R. Westley, a devoted
young minister, the first missionary whom he met,
and whose ruddy appearance seemed to commend to
him the salubrious climate, but whose career, alas, was
suddenly ended. He was seized with yellow fever,
70
A MERCHANT PRINCE.
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and a week later thousands followed the remains of
the almost idolized young pastor to the grave. Rev.
Henry B. Foster, the author of " The Rise and Progress
of Weslevan Methodism in Jamaica," who laboured
on the Island as a missionary during an unbroken
period of forty-five years, and other devoted men who
v;ere seeking to extend and deepen the influence of
Christianity on this lovely Island.
But on the other hand, the depravity and licentious-
ness of the people filled him with shame and sorrow.
He makes this bare, unvarnished statement of fact,
that the great majority of native girls over fourteen
or fifteen years of age were the mothers of children
born out of wedlock, the evil being so common as not
to bring even a blush of shame to the cheek of these
unhappy, unholy matrons. Many Europeans, moving
in respectable society, were living in a state of con-
cubinage, with a troop of illigitimate children grow-
ing up around them. His whole nature burned with
indignation that these evils, which were a disgrace to
to the Island, should be looked upon with indifference
by the Colonists. He had longings for home, and as
the warm months approached, he felt the relaxing
efiect of the heat. The physician who attended him
thought that he might return to Canada with com-
parative safety, and accordingly he determined to take
the first vessel that sailed for Halifax.
Before leaving Jamaica, he wished to see something
more of the beauty of this radiant queen of the West
Indies. He made a pilgrimage to St. Anne — the gar-
den of Jamaica, where Rev. Martin Young, with his
ILL-HEALTH — JAMAICA.
71
family, nad gone. He describes the scenery through
the Bog-Walk as singularly bold and striking, among
the grandest he had ever vitnessed. The Rio Cobre,
a small winding river, runs betvi^een two immense
mountains, whoso heights break the clouds and cause
them to discharge their burdens beneath, so that it
rains heavily here almost daily. In some places the
mountain sides are literally perpendicular, the ravines
almost vertical, forming wonderfully grand views ;
while in striking contrast to this scenic grandeur, is
the gurgling or placid waters that flow beneath.
Streams of exquisite beauty abound, and rolling fields
of emerald verdure, with clusters of deep-hued mango
foliage, tree ferns and flowering shrubs. Indeed, the
Spanish Xaymaca means the country of springs and
forests,
rivers.
The groves are not less interesting than the
" Waters whose rills o'er ruby beds and emeralds How,
Catching the gem's bright colours as they go."
He visited Linstead, " a nest of sensuality," near
which, he says, " is the famed Rodney Hall, where
many a poor negro has'groaned under the lash of the
house of correction. It looks like some horrid inquisi-
tion — a den of cruelty, in which deeds of darkness
and blood have been committed." He greatly enjoyed
the rugged climb of Mount Diabolo. It is one con-
tinued ascent of seven miles, the road in some places
extremely dangerous, but the view from the summit
repaid the climber. There, southward, nestled St.
Thomas in-the-Vale, surrounded by mountains — the
it : ■■
IS , j
72
A MERCHANT PRINCE.
Vale itself once a mountain lake, drained by some
great convulsion of nature, many hundreds of feet
above the level of the sea — away northward the
Mountain Scene, West Indies.
Parish of St. Anne, bamboo cabins, rugged ridges, and
peaks of the Blue Mountains, varying in shape, height
and verdure — the whole tropical landscape dotted
ILL-HEALTH — JAMAICA.
78
with villages and vast estates. The majority of these
estates were, however, abandoned, and the beautiful
residences presented a forsaken appearance. The
Colony, at this time, was in a deplorable financial con-
dition. The halcyon days of the sugar industry were
ended. By the action of the Sugar Duties Bill, passed
by the British Parliament in 1846, which equalized
the duty on British Colonial sugar with that of slave-
grown sugar from slave colonies, there had come great
agricultural and commercial depression. The blacks
had passed their stated apprenticeship and had re-
ceived their freedom in 1838. The immediate effect
of emancipation upon Jamaican industry was dis-
astrous.
When the Emancipation Act was passed in 1834, the
estates had been greatly impoverished, and were be-
ginning to yield much less than they had previously
done. The majo]*ity of the planters were crippled
with heavy debts to English houses. The nearly six
millions of pounds sterling awarded to them as com-
pensation for the loss of their slaves went, for the
most part, directly into the hands of their creditors,
and they were left without resources, with over-worked
estates, old, worn-out machinery, and scarcity of labour.
Right upon the heels of this came the adoption of the
free-trade policy, which reduced the price of sugar
one-half to the English consumer and made corre-
spondingly less the planter's profits. In slavery times
the English Government had protected Jamaica by
heavy differential duties on foreign sugar ; now, aboli-
tion had cut down the labour supply, the Sugar Duties
74
A MKRCIIANT I'lUNCE.
Bill had diminished the chance for profit in sugar-
growing ; the planters were unable to compete with
the supply from other slave colonies, and at once
abandoned their heavily-mort<ifao:ed estates. The re-
suit was the throwing of thousands of poor people out
of work, and a large proportion of the labouring popu-
lation upon their own resources. No wonder the
Colony was in such financial depression. Happily
there has come the " awakeninjj of Jamaica;" but still
the resources of that fertile, radiant queen of the
West Indies are undeveloped, and its commercial im-
portance but dimly realized. He spent a Sabbath at
the Mission House, at Beechamville, on the top of a
mountain which formed one of many, enclosing a
beautiful vale beneath, in which was a large and popu-
lous settlement. The religious services on the Sabbath
commenced at day-break and continued, with but a
few moments intermission, until five p.m. The Chapel
was capable of seating a congregation of 1,200 and
was well filled. He noticed that the proportion of
men in the country congregations was much greater
than in the city, where in an audience of 2,400 or
2, .500 he had frequently counted not more than 100 or
150 males. He returned more than ever disgusted
with the torrent of licentiousness which seemed to
sweep unchecked over the land. Luxurious nature
seemed to encourage idleness and looseness in morals.
The last evening in Jamaica was spent at Spanish
Town with his good friends the Manly's. This friend-
ship he counted among the many blessings of his life,
and it was a great gratification to him when the Rev.
iVWPPiaiP
JLL-ilEALTH — JAMAICA.
75
Mr. Manly returned to Canada, where the friendly
intercourse was renewed, which continued to the end
of hi.s life.
He had seen, in its lenjrthand breadth, this glorious
Island — one of the brightest gems in the imperial
diadem ; had traversed its lowlands, climbed its heights
and sauntered among its hills ; he had rejoiced in its
balmy air, its sky of unsullied blue, its sub-tropical
waters of turquoise and emerald hues; he was impressed
not only with the salubrity of its climate, but with the
fertility of its soil, and the unsurpassed beauty of its
scenery. This visit gave him an exceptional know-
ledge of the affairs of the West Indies, so that tlirough-
out his public life he was anxious to create and foster
a reciprocal trade with these fair and fertile isles.
He returned to Halifax via Cien Fuego, Cuba, by
the brig Nancy. He had a delightful passage, the
time being spent in reading the whole of iiyron's
works, many of Shakespeare's plays, and .in writing
poetry himself. He took a keen delight in versifica-
tion. Poetry was an unfailing resource to him ; and
he had already tried his prentice-hand at verse. We
shall, in a later chapter, produce some of his thought-
ful poems, for he not only had a genius for rhythm,
but also possessed that vividness and activity of im-
agination which makes poets. His poetic lines at
this time are unequal, occasionally marred by a false
accent or redundant syllable ; but there is about them
a delightful limpidity and smoothness ; they evince
hopefulness and cheer, and are mostly of a contem-
plative and religious character. These are some of
76
A MEIlcriANT PRINCE.
!
E) fti
the themes of his early efforts : " The Irish Famine,"
" A Storm at Sea," " God is Love," " Hope," " A Sab-
bath Day in Cien Fuego," " To llev. J. (i. Manly and
Lady," " Farewell to Jamaica."
Mr. Macdonald arrived in Halifax, May 15th, LS48,
and after spending a few days in the city, went to New
Glasgow, where he remained a month or more under
the hospitable roof of his friend, Mr. James Frazer.
On the 0th July he was in Toronto again. He found
the city much improved in appearance, but sadly pro-
strated in all its business energies. Some of his
friends had crossed the Jordan of death ; others he
was glad to meet again, clasp their hands, and ex-
change expressions of confidence and esteem. At
once we find him resuming his accustomed duties ;
returning to his old class, taking charge of a select
Bible class in the Richmond Street Sundav School, and
ready to enter the wide-open gates of golden possi-
bilities.
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V.
COMMENCING BUSINESS.
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Seost thou a man diligent in his business ; he shall stand
before kings, he shall not stand before mean men,
— Pr<n\ OCX. 20.
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To be honest as this world goes, is to be one man i)icked out
of ten thousand.
— Shakespeare {Hamlet).
Study economy. Do not let your house be too big for :'our
income. At the outset go to sea in i\ small but well made bark ;
you can sail a three-master when you have gained experience
enough, and can conunand the necessary capital.
— Rev. Samuel Osgood, D.D.
I hope I shall always possess firmness and virtue enough to
maintain what I consider the most enviable of all titles, the
character of an " honest man."
— George Washington.
? ■■
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COMMENCING BUSINESS.
IT is a well-known fact of history that the Hon.
W. E. Gladstone, Prime Minister of England, the
illustrious statesman and leader of the Liberal party,
was in youth on the eve of taking religious orders.
In like manner, the merchant-prince of Toronto came
very near becoming a minister of the Gospel. With-
out doubt he regarded the Christian ministry as the
highest ideal of human usefulness ; but the state of
his health was a sore detriment to his prospects for
entering this field of service to God and humanity.
His throat was still troubling him, as it troubled him
through life, and for the present there seemed nothing
left him but to re-enter business. This would not
prevent him from exercising his gifts as a local
preacher, and thus fulfilling the great call of life.
For well has Lowell sung :
" God bends from out ths deep and says
I gave thee the great gift of life ;
Wast thou not called in many way? 1
Are not my heaven and earth at strife 1 "
And are not the wrongs and evils in society, the sins
and sorrows of individual life, a Divine call to use
our best gifts and accjuirements in righting wrongs
anu endeavouring to bring heaven and earth into har-
80
A MERCHANT PRINCE.
mony ? The man who is unworldly, who has the
good of his country and of his fellows at heart, will,
by the very force of his own elevated character
uplift others. There is no power on earth like the
power of a holy, consecrated life, and everyone who
is leading such a life is a minister of God to his
fellows, and no matter what his occupation may be,
is, by his own saintlin<.ss of character, lifting others
to higher altitudes.
Mr. Macdonald, in entering the mercantile profes-
sion instead of the responsible office of the ministry,
did not cease to be a prophet and commissioned mes-
senger of heaven. There is an exalted, as well as a
low and grovelling idea of trade. The sole object of
business is not profit and worldly aggrandizement
True, some modification of the selfish principle may
be said to lie at the root of all human action, and
nowhere is this so marked and undisguised as in a
profession whose direct and avowed object is tho
getting of gain.
At the same time, the world has always admired
those who have been distinguished as honourable
merchants. It was said of Tyre, the crowning com-
mercial city of old, that " her merchants were princes
and her traflickers the honourable of the earth." It
has always been the use made of the wealth acquired
in trade that has been the object of commendation
and honour, rather than the mere success in accumu-
lation. The true merchant makes no claim to
benevolence or patriotism as his ruling motive in trade,
but he does profess absolute justice and honour. The
lull •('-
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COMMENCING BUSINESS.
81
morals of trade are of the strictest and purest char-
acter. While the direct object is gain, profit, indivi-
dual benefit, yet no deviation from truth is allowable ;
there must be unblemished and inviolable integrity.
There is no class of men from whom the golden rule
of " doing 'into others as we would that they should
do unto us " is more strictly demanded than among
merchants. Mercantile honoi j is a most delicate
thing, and will not bear the slightest stain. The man
who, in business, is found to equivocate, is a marked
man, while incorruptible integrity is almost uniformly
the accompaniment of success, as it always is of
sterlinof character. True it is that in the manifold
operations of commerce there are many temptations
to acts of dishonesty, more frequent perhaps than in
other occupations ; and it must be confessed that, in
not a few instances, poor human nature is found to
yield to them ; yet rigid truthfulness is the rule
which controls the actions of the honourable trader.
Whilst, then, the selfish principle lies at the founda-
tion of trade, there is no reason why the merchant
himself should not be active in benevolence and in all
Christian virtues ; indeed, that his whole life should
not be a benediction to others.
John Macdonald possessed in an eminent degree all
the qualities which make a merchant prince. The
corner-stone of his character was an earnest reliijfious
belief ; and while his piety was of a rich and ardent
type, he had also an integrity as firm as a rock, and
an honour as unsullied as the stars.
There are few events in a merchant's life more im-
6
82
A MERCHANT PRINCE.
' i^
; H 1
M
n
i i.
i. 11
portant than that which introduces him into active
business on his own account. As a clerk he had been
popular among customers for his alertness and cour-
tesy. He was frank, gencous, energetic and upright,
instinctively shunning evil practices and associates.
An eager and constant reader, he had improved his
mind, mastering manj'' solid works ; yet his chief
schooling had been among men, and in efforts to solve
the daily problems of life. Returning to Toronto,
somewhat improved in health, he re-engaged with Mr.
Macfarlane for a short period, when an opportunity
opened for him to go into business for himself.
He secured' a store on Yonge Street, west side, one
door south of Richmond Street, which he made known
as the Large 103. It was a tliree-story building, and
had abundant accommodation for a dwelling-house ;
but there was no other place of business on the street
at the time. He had the offer of a good place of busi-
ness on the principal thoroughfare, at a rent of 551,000
per annum, but he reasoned thus : " I am commencing
business, not on my own means, but on a credit which
I am obtaining chiefly from the confidence placed in
my character. A larger place would require a large
stock, a large staff of assistants, a large expense, while
a large interest account might make me dependent
permanently upon my creditors. I should also have
to contend, at great disadvantage, with those whose
means would enable them to buy more advantageously
than I could." He resolved, therefore, to take the
smaller store. Mr. Macdonald details rather amus-
ingly his efforts to open an account with some of the
m' '!
...ri«■,«!0^S%iC"•«■«■^■;:^:^7::.. - .. ..r
Premises in which John Macoonald hei^an husiucss iu October, 184^,
known then as joj Yon^e Street, 2nd door South of Richmond
Street, West side.
■ \{%
w
I fi.
84
A MERCHANT PRINCE.
i ■! j!
leading houses. It was little more than t yelve months
since the crisis of 1847. Men had lost heavily by
overtrading, and a more cautious policy was being
pursued. Although each of the business men he ap-
proached would have been willing to open an assort-
ing account with him, not one of them would give him
a stock of goods. One house had just succumbed to
the terrible fall in the price of produce, and the senior
partner of the firm, unable to bear the terrible reverse
thus brought upon him, had gone into a field adjoining
his own house, and put an end to his existence. The
first wholesale establishment upon which he called
was the one doing the largest trade. This house
blandly declined to entertain his account, although
selling to hundreds of men whose accounts proved so
bad that in a very few years the whole fabric fell
with a terrible crash. The next firm received him
kindly enough, but with the same blank refusal. The
third refused, assigning as the reason that their im-
ports were only sufficient for their own regular custo-
mers. He called upon three or four other firms, with
no better success.
" Little," he says, " did they know or think
that the young man, whose account they had thus
declined, was not only going to obtain credit, but
to succeed not as a retail man only, but, in a few short
years, become a direct importer, contest with them for
the trade of the country, and do it successfully. Little
did they think that, before one year, instead of his
pleading with them for credit, they should be solicit-
ing him for his trade, and that before ten vears his
trade would become as large as theirs, and his credit
as good, and his means as ample."
COMMENCING BUSINESS.
85
le
is
Is
ifc
He succeeded in obtainiiiGf a credit with the whole-
sale establishment of Bowes & Hall, and his first in-
voice amounted to X461. His assistants wcreayouni^
lad ci tliirteen, and a young man who had been in
business on his own account. Two days were con-
sumed in checkini;, markini; and arranijinor the stock.
The first thing he did was to go and effect an insur-
ance upon upon his goods. The next thing was to get
circulars printed, setting forth the place in which he
was to be found, and what he had to offer. On the
third day he took down the shutters, and looked
proudly at his name over the door, in connection with
which might be read: "Staple and fancy dry goods."
He had many friends, for during six years he had filled
a situation in one of the larefest establishments in the
city, entering it as a boy to take the cash and carry
parcels, and steadily working his way up until he
occupied the first position in the house.
As soon as he announced to the public that he was
a competitor for a share of their patronage, among
those who gathered early about him to encourage and
help him, were the friends he had formed under Chris-
tian associations. They were glad to wish him suc-
cess in his venture, small and unpretending though it
was. His capital was meagre, but he was not ashamed
of small begmninsrs. The amount of his stock was
small, but he made the most of it. He had placed
fixtures on one side only of his shop ; and on the
other were shrubs and flowers, tastefully arranged and
displayed in such a way as to give the place a full and
well-stocked appec-rance. On the 27th of September,
i(
II
III
86
A MEHCIIAKT PRINCE.
1849, he opened business. The amount of cash which
he took on that day was £14 17s. 9d. ; on the 28th,
£10 17s. 7d.; on the 29th, £9 16s.; on the 30th, £10
4s. Id. On the 28th he paid Bowes & Hall £14
10s. 2d. , on the 29th, £11 Os. lid.; on the 30th, £9
15s. It was refreshing to i<ee how his creditors rubbed
their hands, and eagerly inquired whether he did not
want anything else. But three days had elapsed, and
the firm felt that he was going to succeed. If success
could be attained on lines of industry, application and
integrity, he was bound to attain it. By the third of
December, a little over two months, he had paid this
firm £478 2s. 8d., or £0 12s. lOd. more than his origi-
nal purchase. In that time, also, he had bought from
them, in addition to his original purchase, £1,287 7s,
Very soon his business began to be talked about, and
the houses that had refused to give him credit were
anxious to offer him lines of goods. He felt, however,
that the house which had assisted him was entitled to
the benefit of his account, and resolved that, as far as
possible, he would do business with that one firm. He
gave his business all his attention ; early and late he
was there, and from the first day it might fairly be
called a prosperous business. When the month of
March came, he determined to take stock, and see
what had been the result of the season's trade. Ht
did not, after the manner of too many, take it for
granted chat he was doing v.rell ; he was going to test
it.
He had been looking forward to the prospect of
having his own home, but had determined that until
COMMENCING BUSINESS.
87
his means would warrant the maintenance of a wife
he would remain unmarried. The result of this stock-
taking assured him that by prudent management he
could maintain the expenses of a home and have an
amount of comfort and happiness which was im-
possible for him to enjoy, situated as he was. He was
in his twenty-.sixth year, and as soon as possible after
his books had been balanced, he was united in mar-
riage to one in every respect worthy the alliance.
He had won the love of an amiable, beautiful and
intelligent young lady, the eldest daughter of Alex-
ander Hamilton, Esq. Eliza Hamilton had been
brought up in a devout Methodist home ; she was of
a sweet Christian disposition, and well fitted to be a
true help-meet. On May 3rd, 1850, they were happily
united as husband and wife. As soon as the marriage
ceremony was over, amid the many prayers and bless-
ings of their friends, the bride and groom started
out for their new home over the store. . There was
no honeymoon tour to interfere with business pursuits,
and next morning bright and early he was at his
place behind the counter.
He felt that he had no right to expend in travel or
in furniture the money that belonged to others, and
better still, he had no desire to do so. He had no
wish to make an appearance other than became his
means and his prospects, and in these respects he was
seconded by his young wife. There was in the new
home no lack of anything absolutely necessary to the
wants and the comforts of a young married couple ;
but there was nothing for the mere purpose of
88
A MERCHANT rillNCE.
M :
i '.
ill
ornament or luxury. One room alone received special
attention — hi.s library. In this was a book-case in
whicli were several hundred volumes of books, for
he had commenced to purchase books before he was
eighteen years old, and before he was twenty-two his
library was worth about $300. Mr. James Jennings
was his principal clerk, before entering business for
himself. Ho was a Sunday School teacher at the
time, and on one occasion he asked permission of Mr.
Macdonald to consult one of the Connnentaries in nis
library. " My library is at your service at any time,"
was the answer, and from that time forward he in-
sisted that on Sundays Mr. Jennings should dine with
him, and avail himself of the advantages of his books.
These were happy days. He was full of exuberant
hopefulness, and there was the audacity of buoyant
young effort.
" Through long days of labour
And nights devoid of ease,"
he was toiling on with the purpose of making his
mark in the business world. He aspired after a
brilliant mercantile career. It is well for the young
irit.i inant to aim high,
"Who aims a star,
SliOobs higher far than he who aims a tree."
He posvsessed boundless resource, had a fine capital
of ambition, good sense, energy, a trained mind, and
virtuous habits. He was happily united to one who
sympathized with him iu all his efforts, Cowper has
sweetly sung : •
COMMENCING BUSINESS.
89
" Wliat is there in the vale of life
Half so {leliijfhtful as a wife,
WluMi fri(Mi(lsliip, lovo and peaco coinl>ine
To stamp the iiiarriaj^e l)oi1(l divine J
The stream of pure and genuine lovo
Derives its current from aljove ;
And earth a second h^den shows,
Where'er the healing water flows."
All day he toiled with effort, streni^th and will, and
at nii^ht in the ^' douxe inthuitt'," oi his younf]f wife,
talked over his affairs and clierished prospects, or
gave his spare moments to reading, and turned frag-
ments of time to golden account.
Before the commencement of the fall trade, Mr
Macdonald determined to take stock again, though he
had been only ten months in business. When he had
balanced his books, he arrived at the following results -.
His sales had amounted to £*1,18G 14s. 2 id., and after
deducting expenses, he transferred to the credit of
pipofit and loss the sum of £300 8s. Gid. He adver-
tised extensively and judiciously, never exaggerating
in the least degree, but using his talent for versifica-
tion to bring before the public the valuable goods
at No. 103. His son, Mr. J. Fraser Macdonald, has
shown me a copy of the North American, published
in Toronto by William. McDougall & Company, bear-
ing date of June 9th, 1855, in which is found the
following advertisement :
THE LARGE 103 YONGE STREET,
TORONTO,
JOHN MACDONALD,
Respectfully invites attention to his very large stock
of seasonable dry-goods, etc., etc.
IMAGE EVALUATION
TEST TARGET (MT-3)
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IIM 1112.2
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Photographic
Sciences
Coiporation
23 WEST MAIN STREET
WEBSTER, N.Y. 14580
(716) 872-4503
C'..
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A.
90
A MERCHANT FHINCE.
lii
The advertisement ends ,vith a poem on Reformation
in Trade, the closing lines of which are :
" The bonnets, for instance, which a few years ago
Would cost you a dollar and a quarter or so,
A much liner style you now can procure
For less than a quarter of that sum, I am sure.
Nor did you then think the terms very hard.
If you bought a good print for a shilling per yard,
But now you may purchase for lialf of that price
A cloth quite as good, and a style just as nice.
Will you call at Macdonald's, if only to try.
From his well-sorted stock, how che^ip you can buy 1
And we venture to say, when you look through his store.
You will wonder you never have found it before.
'Tis a three-storey house, with the front painted white,
Which makes its appearance both graceful and light.
With very large figures that you plainly may see.
Describing his number as one hundred and three."
His business for the first nine months was some-
thing over $12,000 ; for a like period from March 1st,
1851, to January, 1852, it was over $16,000. All
the while his capital was increasing, and he was
now in a position to dictate terms with the firm
from which he bought, who were ready to offer him
inducements to continue his tra ^3 with them. He
was also in a position to buy wherever he pleased,
and felt that he could now do so without doing any
injustice to the firm\hat had first given him a start.
When the business of Taylor & Stevenson was
established, Mr. Macdonald became one ot their princi-
pal customers. One of the partners, Mr. C. C. Taylor,
was a young man about his own age, of good address,
active and pushing, his intimate friend and companion,
COMMENCING BUSINESS.
91
and the firm gave Mr. Macdonald the special privi-
lege of selecting from the invoice-book desirable and
cheap lines of goods before their arrival, which were
laid aside for his examination and approval. He was
not slow to secure those lots which paid him extra
profits. The arrangement was mutually advan-
tageous, as Mr. Macdonald became their most valuable
customer, bought from them largely, paid them
promptly, sold their goods quickly, which yielded
him a good profit, and enabled him to add to his
capital. After a year or so he began to job, not that
he laid himself specially out for that business, but a
friend who was about commencing business came to
him, thinking that he could depend upon being well
and honestly treated. This was no other than
William Gooderham, who became a steady customer,
and a friendship was ripened, which continued un-
abated to the end of life.
Hitherto the jobbing business which he had done
had been either with those who took an interest in
him and desired his success, or those who, coming into
his shop, were led to make a parcel in some of the
lines he had to offer. Now he resolved on taking the
road and seeing what impression he could make on
small traders in the country. He got his samples
carefully prepared, taking with him only lines which
he knew would be considered cheap by even the
closest buyers, hired a horse and buggy, and on a
rainy morning in the month of May, 1852, went forth
dreaming of the future. That day he took orders to
a considerable amount, and returned, feeling that his
92
A MERCHANT PRINCE.
•Ml
1:
01
r.i-
journey had been a success. He felt Uiat all he wanted
was capital, to enable him to do a jobbing trade as
large as any house in the country. He possessed a
thorough knowledge of his business, U'lderstood the
requirements of the country, was energetic, could
buy well, and knew that with means he conld soon
out-distance houses of reputed wealth, that had been
long established. For a little a feeling of restlessness
and impatience came over him, but it was only for a
little ; and then came the determination to work and
wait. It was a wise one, and well for him that he
had not sufficient capital, until he had acquired
the experience to employ it wisely. It was a blessing
that he was unable to attempt a large trade, until he
had been taught the perils of a small one, and for
this he was thankful in after years. Though he
never inherited a dollar, yet the means came with
the experience. His wealth was gradually acquired,
and a wise and overruling Providence continually
blessed the labour of his hands.
His success in the jobbing confirmed his purpose.
He would be a wholesale merchant, and that ere lonsf.
He had made this resolve, and waited anxiously for
indications which would warrant him in taking steps
in that direction. His shop was enlarged ; the staff
had already grown to four; the shelves on both sides
were well filled, and the basement turned to account for
reserve goods. Yet th^ pressure for room continued,
and nothing remained but to take part of the upstairs
and convert it into a room for stock. Immediately
above the stairs were the words, " Wholesale upstairs,"
COMMENCING BUSINESS.
93
He was now firmly established, was doing well, and
always at his business. He employed no book-keeper,
but when his store was closed he posted up his books,
and made out his accounts. About this time came a
pressing request to endorse a note. He quickly made
up his mind, and answered, " No.' That answer was
for his entire business career. Had he yielded to this
first request he would have been ruined ; he would
have done the friend who made it no good, and would
have lost his friendship. He took his own decided
course — kept his friend ; and, still better, was able
to assign to others that he had refused this friend.
Here was a breaker which lay early in his course ; he
steered skilfully through it, and felt that he had got
his craft out into deep water, where there was less
danger than near a rocky coast. Nor did he carry
money in his pocket. When he wanted money he
took it out of his till, and never did this without
making an entry of it, and charging it to his own
personal account.
Alert, vigorous, ambitious, with natural business
talents, an experienced salesman, anxious to secure
confidence and customers, he now began to feel the
pressure of increased business responsibilities.
But his activity and earnestness were not confined
to his dry-goods store. Though not physically strong,
yet he was abundant in labours for the spiritual good
of those about him. In the Richmond Street Church,
of which he was a member, he found ample scope for
various forms of Christian labour. He was the super-
intendent of the Sabbath School, and a leading oflficial
94
A MERCHANT PRINCE.
of the circuit. He was In demand on the neighbour-
ing circuits for sermons and missionary addresses,
and he thus acquired that readiness, fitness and zeal
in Christian work which distinguished his whole
career. His success in business was steady, and with
the increase of means he exhibited a growing spirit
of large and wise liberality.
In the midst of r.U this activity, a deep shadow fell
upon his heart and home. His beautiful young wife
was sinking into an early grave, and after a brief
married life of four years, consumption seized her as
its prey, and she was thus early "crowned and
blessed." She left behind two children, the first a
perfect little human flower, named Jessie, unfolded
her tender life only just enough to " smell sweet and
blossom in the dust;" the second survived — the
gentle and beloved Amy — who grew up to lovely
womanhood, when she, too, passed on before her
father to the "house of many mansions." These
sharp family sorrows chastened his spirit, but they
were not allowed to interfere with his duties, or his
wonderful activity and zeal.
Mr. Macdonald was a born merchant. He was
ready in resource, and thoroughly enjoyed the stir
and strain of commercial life. His plans were far-
reaching, and they were pushed with resolute self-
reliance, tireless energy, and unwavering faith. He
was ready to seize upon a situation with quick and
comprehensive grasp. He was one of the first to see
the advantage of separating the dry-goods entirely
from other departments of trade, and here his marked
COMMENX^ING BUSINESS.
95
individuality cropped out. Just as in complicated
trades, the work is divided into a number of processes,
and the division of labour effects a saving of time and
material, as well as gives increased dexterity to the
workman ; so he perceived that with moderate capital,
and with a small stock of goods, greater skill and
success could be secured in a particular department
by having his attention directed exclusively to that
work than to have it range through many other
departments of trade.
He had achieved success in the retail business, and
he saw before him a wider field, where he could carry
on the same business on a larger scale in the whole-
sale. The story is told of John Jacob As tor, that
while yet a stranger in New York, and in the
narrowest circumstances, as he passed by a row of
houses which had just been erected and were the talk
of the town, he said to himself, "I'll build one day a
greater house than any of these on this very street."
He accomplished the prediction. So John Macdon-
ald saw before him in the wholesale business a broad
field of enterprise, and with that far-seeing spirit
which anticipates the future, he grasped the assurance
of success. Shakespeare says, " We must take the
current when it serves, or lose our ventures." The
time and tide, without which the best powers and
strongest purposes do not avail, soon came to him, and
we find him fairly launched upon an extensive trade.
VI.
WHOLESALE MERCHANT.
Ill
Ijabor is the true aloheinist wliich beats out in patieut trans-
mutation the baser metals into srold.
— W. Moday Punshnn, D.D.
•' Business is what it is made to be."
We have not wings, we cannot soar,
But we have feet to scale and climb,
By slow degrees, by more and more,
The cloudy summits of our time.
— Lotigjellow.
Still let thy mind be bent, still plotting where
And when, and how, the business may be done.
— Herbert.
Not slothful in business, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord. "
— Pa,iil.
WHOLESALE MERCHANT.
FROM the moment Mr. Macdonald commenced
business for himself, small trader thouj^h he
was, he had in him the constant presentiment of a
wide career. The characteristics which afterwards
distinjTuished him in his widely-extended sphere, at
once manifested themselves. He was remarkably
energetic, active, and attentive to business. He had
tact, promptness, order, hopefulness, straightforward-
ness and honour. He was genial, courteous, large-
hearted and liberal. His integrity won for him
respect and confidence ; and his business capabilities
and success led him to contemplate enlargement. His
force of purpose and enthusiasm were amazing, and the
results which they brought him were natural and
inevitable. He knew there was a high career before
him . ne felt it in his veins like new wine, and this
incited him to larger schemes and to take in a wider
horizon. A gracious Providence was marking; out a
path for him, and soon v/e find him entering upon an
extensive wholesale business. The first difficulty was
to get the retail business off his hands. Mr. Marma-
duke Pearson, who had been a partner with Thomas
Thompson, Sen., in the firm of Thompson & Pearson,
was, however, just then proposing to enter business
for himself. He was ready to take Mr. Macdonald's
100
A MERCHANT PUINCE.
■ 1!
!
business, purchase his stock, and assume his liabilities.
Accordingly, in 1853, our subject moved to more
capacious premises on Wellington Street, in the centre
of the business portion of the city, and nearly opposite
the present premises of the firm. He made arrange-
ments with Mr. James Frazer, of Nova Scotia, to go
to Great Britain and buy his goods for him for one
season, obtaining from him, at the satne time, a letter
to the well-known Glasgow firm of William Kidston
& Sons, who shipped all Mr. Frazer's goods. He was
enabled to make an arrangement with this firm which
lasted over many years, and which proved highly
satisfactory to both parties. Mr. Macdonald was wont
to express to his friends the sore disappointment which
he felt at his first interview with the senior partner
of this great firm. The unpretentious looking little
office, a few dying coals in a small grate, and the sur-
roundings generally, seemed to suggest anything but
great wealth, with luxurious environments. How-
ever, when he learned from mercantile circles the
standing of the house and the high estimation with
which it was regarded, both on account of the extent
of its transactions and the honourable principles upon
which they were conducted, especially when he had
succeeded in obtaining an open credit of several thou-
sand pounds, matters assumed an entirely different
aspect, and that little office shone with a brightness
which carbon could not give. The arrangements
made with this house enabled him to purchase his
goods at first hand and save his discounts; and,
although he paid this firm well on to ^100,000 in
WHOLESALE MERCHANT.
101
commissions, yet it was money well laid out, since no
goods had ever come to Toronto better bought than
his. From the start, the other liouses found it diffi-
cult to compete with Mr. Macdonald, both on account
of the (juality and the prices of his staples. A strong
friendship also sprung up between them. Mr. Mac-
donald named his eldest son after the great ship
owner, merchant and banker, whose acknowledged
worth of character, sound judgment, enlightened and
judicious views on all commercial matters, steadfast
Christian principle and abounding liberality, made
him a man after his own heart. Only one ripple of
trouble ever occurred during their long business rela-
tions together. His goods were all shipped by the
sailing vessels of this firm, and in the season of 1855
the ship Shandon, which contained the whole of his
importations, was lost, and he had no goods fo«' his
customers. What was he to do ? Coleridge says :
" A bitter and perplexed ' What shall T do ? '
Is worse to man than worse necessity."
The power of quick decision is part of the outfit
which makes a man equal to the occasion. He had the
faculty of penetrating at once into the heart of things,
and saw at a glance what was the proper thing to do.
Decision is concentrated force, and it did not take him
long to decide. He was put upon his mettle and would
try a I'use de guerre. In the emergency he hastened
to New York, bought a large stock of goods on credit,
and then opened them out, writing at the same time
to the Glasgow firm to inform them what he had
I
102
A MERCHANT PRINCE.
done. The firm was at first indignant at what seemed
to them his rash action, and threatened to close the
account. However, they soon came to see that Mr.
Macdonald had acted in a prompt, high-minded and
judicious manner ; that he was equal to the occasion,
of ready resource, and master of his fate in the hour of
opportunity. The diflficulty was speedily adjusted,
the corner was safely turned, and the young merchant
found himself upon the rising wave. The loss of the
goods turned out to Mr. Macdonald 's gain, for he had
not only the profit from the pwichase at New York, but
the gain from the insurance paid him on his sunken
goods, for then as now marine insurance allowed ten
per cent, above the invoiced cost.
The year 1857 was a disastrous one. Trade was
very bad. A commercial panic existed throughout
the country. Business houses were failing on every
hand. Banks were breaking; money was scarce ; con-
fidence gone. Men knew not whom to trust. In this
time of mercantile distress, when every house seemed
tottering, banks shutting down, no discounts, exchange
scarce, Mr. Macdonald had no bills to meet, no paper
to be discounted. He simply remitted as the money
came in, and the (jlasgow establishment bore the brunt.
Ke was thus enabled not only to tide over the awful
crisis, but to keep adding to his capital, and brick by
brick, round by round, story by story, built up his
colossal firm. He lived economically, had few bad
debts, had no overstocks, kept everything well assorted
and in good condition. His cipital was doubling
almost yearly, and he was laying the foundations
WHOLESALE MERCHANT.
103
Icr
broad and deep of one of the largest businesses on the
continent. He was not only an excellent warehouse
man, but he managed the finances himself. His forte
was in counting-house management. He was able
not only to buy at the lowest pricc.s for cash, but
he was also able to dictate terms to his customers.
He selected only the best, as his goods would
readily sell. He sustained few losses, while the hon-
our and repuia,tion of the house were always main-
tained. He was especially fortunate in Manchester
printed goods ; this branch of the tvade flourished
greatly, and the house, like a strong oak, was year by
year striking its roots more deeply, and spreading its
branches more widely over the land.
In August 14th, 1857, he was permitted to rebuild
his home, and was united in marriage to Annie Eliza-
beth, only daughter of Samuel Alcorn, Esq. His wife
was prudent, affable, devoted, judicious and, like him-
self, had no extravagant views, so that they lived to-
gether very happily in a small house on George Street,
until the time came for him to erect a permanent
suburban home. The business had now assumed im-
mense proportions, and the firm of John Macdonald Sz
Co. was one of the principal trading houses of Canada,
enjoying an enviable reputation for stability and
business integrity. In the year 1862, he erected the
premises which, with enlargements and improvements,
are still occupied. The warehouse is built of cut stone,
in Venetian-gothic style of architecture, and is one of
the most handsome, convenient and commodious busi-
ness houses in the city. It is a five-story structure,
John Macdonald & Co's Wholesale Wakeuousk.
Wellington Street View,
WHOLESALE MERCHANT.
105
elegant and imposing in appearance. When first
erected it far surpassed in size and ornate finish every
other business establishment in Toronto ; and with all
the improvements in warehouse architecture, it still
holds its place among the chief architectural orna-
ments of the business section of the commercial
metropolis. The building extends from Wellington
Street through to Front Street, and is entered from
either street, although the principal entrance is on
Wellinjjton Street.
The firm of John Macdonald & Co., from the first,
went on modestly, steadily, actively, always keeping
abreast of the times; year by year increasing its trade,
until at the time of the founder's death it ranked, as
it still ranks, among the oldest, as well as the largest,
in the Dominion. With one or two solitary excep-
tions, every firm carrying on the wholesale trade when
Mr. Macdonald entered the race, has disappeared,
while his own seems founded on a rock. How was it
that, commencing with so slender capital, such signal
success has been achieved? First, there was Mr.
Macdonald's own energetic spirit. His temperament
was active, persevering, indefatigable ; and he infused
the same spirit throughout the house. From the out-
set of his mercantile career, he embarked on a bold
and somewhat original course. He was reaJy to
mark out a new path to success. The custom at that
time was to sell goods at a certain advance upon the
sterling cost. This advance was supposed to cover
interest, exchange, duty and profit. Mr. Macdonald
took his stand against this custom, and although he
106
A MERCHANT PRINCE.
m
Hi
i
t'
stood almost, if not entirely alone for years, he refused
to sell floods on the steriinfif,but put on a round advance,
and offered them at a certain, definite price. He be-
lieved that the old mode offered room for deception,
and tempted the wholesaler to dishonesty. He be-
lieved that it was the more open and honest way to
sell his goods in the currency of the country, and with
no dating ahead. The old system has gone out of
vogue, and all the wholesale houses of any standing
in the country have simply followed Mr. Macdonald's
example.
This house, too, was one of the first to adopt the
system of distinct departments, each department hav-
ing its own buyor and its own staff of salesmen. Mr.
Macdonald was a thorough organizer, and with keen
foresight he saw that a great impulse would be given
to the whole business by dividing into departments
the more important articles of trade This would
give the heads of these departments increased respon-
sibility. It would make each staff of assistants more
active and spirited, and promote a healthy rivalry
in the departments. Recognizing the division of
labour, as a means to the best results in almost every
kind of employment, he saw that continued applica-
tion to a particular department of goods would make
experts in that special line, and that, other things
being equal, experts make success. Along with his
own quickness and shrewdness, his honourable deal-
ings and integrity, he gathered about him associates
of like character. His knowledge of character was
marked, and his employees were young men of stirl-
WHOLESALE MKRCHANT.
107
ing qualities, who seemed to catch his own energy and
his generous, frank manner of doing business. He
would have nothing of trickery or over-reaching, of
lying or fraud of any kind. In his diary of 1873 we
find the very basis of his success in what he calls :
" HOW TO ADD TO YOUR BUSINESS LARGELY EVERY
MONTH, EVERY WEEK, EVERY DAY."
" Buy well.
Keep your stock well and constantly assorted.
Be attentive and courteous to the humblest
customer.
Have a perfect organization of your staff
Let every man attend to the business for
which he is best fitted.
Fulfil every promise you make to customers.
Execute every order with promptness and
fidelity.
Study the interest of every customer, as the
best means of securing your own.
Be up to the requirements of the age.
Advertise your business.
Do it regularly, truthfully, thoroughly.
Keep no drones about you.
Keep none about you who are not true to
your interests.
Earn a reputation for upright dealing by
practising it.
Be prompt in the discharge of everj?' engage-
ment.
Maintain over the whole a ceaseless over-
sight, and conduct the whole with un-
tiring energy.
V f
108 A MERCHANT PRINCE,
Conduct your entire business on the princi-
ples of God's Word, which contains the
grandest commercial maxims in exist-
ence.
The observance of these simple rules will
secure continuous prosperity, continued
confidence, ultimate wealth, and a stain-
less commercial choracter.
These were the high principles on which he contin-
ually acted, and they secured the desired results.
For some time after the custom of employing com-
mercial travellers had become established in Montreal,
and had been generally adopted hy the trade, Mr.
Macdonald continued to employ no travellers. Not
that he had any objection to these " ambassadors of
commerce," but he preferred that customers should
come to the warehouse and select for themselves.
For many years he maintained his business with not
a single representative of his house on the road. But
the custom had taken such deep root, and become
so essentially a part of the trading system of the
country, that in the end he gave up his own peculiar-
ity and adopted it. The reasons for his holding out
so long against the custom may be found in the fol-
lowing reminiscence of their first traveller, given by
one of the linn, Mr. Paul Campbell :
" In the year 1867, commercial travelling being
well established in Montreal, and several houses in
Toronto having adopted the system, Mr. Macdonald
was induced to try it. At that time the mileage of
railroad v/as limited, and it was thought best to send
■ i" I • » WW
WHOLESALE MERCHANT.
109
out a team and equipment, so that the many places
removed from railway communication mi^ht be visited.
An expensive equipment, a fine pair of .young lively
horses (they proved too lively) and a rioj were bought,
and an old country traveller of experience was en-
gaged. The traveller engaged was a Mr. J,, who,
although a man of ability, had one failing more
common in the early days of travelling than now,
but this fault was unknown to the firm. On a bright
morning the traveller, his horses and his samples left
the warehouse with the hope of success on the part
of the firm, and many promises on the part of the
traveller ; but promises and excuses were the only
resultants of that trip. He would strike a town, and
straightway something hurtful would strike him. He
was fertile, however, in excuses ; they came thickly
in, explaining his want of success. He reached Col-
lingwood and put up at a well-known hostelry kept
by the genial Charley C . The patience and for-
bearance of the firm being exhausted, he was requested
to return, and a few days after he entered the ware-
house much demoralized, stating that those horses
had finally parted company with him about Holland
Landing, after nearly killing him. There was in the
employ of the firm at that time, as cashier, a gallant
young ofiBcer of the Queen's Own, who had dis-
tinguished himself on the field of Ridgeway, Lieut.
F. H. He at once volunteered to go after the horses, but
returned two mornings afterwards a wounded soldier
again, with an arm in a sling, and otherwise badly
battered, also minus the horses. They proved too
much for the infantry ofl^cer. In the end they were
brought home by Mr. Bond, of this city, and for a
month or so afterwards there came in little mementoes
in the way of bills for damages done to various
vehicles and other property, which were quietly
I
110
A MEHCHANT I'lUNCE.
I
settled. The equipment was sold, and the house
became famous afterwards for advertising " no travel-
lers employed, no goods sold on the sterling, and no
dating ahead."
Mr. Macdonald's first partner was a Mr. Lyle. After
the first two or three visits to Great Britain by Mr.
Maedonald liimself, Mr. Lyle undertook the buying
for the house, and bought well and satisfactorily for
many years.
One of the gravest emergencies that ever came to
any business was when three of his chief clerks —
the buyer, the warehouse man, and the book-keeper,
went out froui him to establish a new firm for them-
selves. The action came as a complete surprise to
Mr. Maedonald. The new firm would compete for his
best customers, and though it had not the capital of
the old house, yet the partners were accomplished
salesmen and tireless workers, with all the buoyancy
and ambition of youth. But the old master, with
his boundless resource, marvellous business powers,
and with the immense energy, promptness, courage
and decision that had always characterised him, rose
superior to the emergency and, surmounting the diffi-
culty, gained the flood-tide, and still distanced all
competitors. The trade went on increasing as if
there had not been a jar ; but this circumstance ltd
him to adopt the department system, although for a
few years the entire management fell largely upon
himself.
Mr. Maedonald always entertained a very high
conception of the dignity and responsibility of a
!
WHOLESALE MERCHANT.
Ill
merchant, and ever sought to impress upon younf*
men the necessity of cultivating in all business re-
lations a character for honesty and integrity, as well
as of making the best and noblest use of their oppor-
tunities. His business in the mercantile world gave
weight to his utterances, and in an address to the
students of the British American Commercial College,
on the "Elements Necessary to the Formation of Bus-
iness Character," he says :
" There are certain conditions which are essential to
success in business. These, in addition to a sound
mind in a sound body, may be summed up in three
words — time, place, circumstance. No one, for ex-
ample, would think of locating himself in a desert
for the purpose of carrying on business. He must
be where there is a population — a population which
needs what he has to sell — a population which can pay
for what it buys.
" It is a common saying that the percentage of
successful busine.ss men is not more than live per cent.
Others with, I think, greater accuracy, claim that it
is not higher than 2^ per cent. It may be somewhat
startling to affirm that it is possible to n verse these
figures, so that with the most favourable conditions,
and the untiring application of sound business prin-
ciples, the percentage of failure might not exceed 2?*
per cent., while the percentage of success would
necessarily be 97i. per cent. But you will readily
take in all that this implies ; without my going
elaborately into details, it implies, for example, that
the supply ought in no case to exceed the demand ; it
implies in each the maximum amount of ability ex-
erted under the most favourable conditions.
" I am going to refer now to elements that are
absolutely necessary to the formation of a business
112
A MERCHANT TRINC'E.
!
i
1:
I:
character, as forminj]f the foundation upon which it
must rest, and which, it' lacking, will imperil the
safety of the whole.
" I am goinj? to look into the remote past and see
if I can find any axioms whose force has been acknow-
ledged and acted upon by the wise and thoughtful ;
and whether these axioms maintain the place in our
day which they did in the past, and whether they are
likely to remain unchanged in the future. The
elements to which I would refei are two. The first
Truth, the second Honesty. And the axioms which
I find as having reference to these are :
" First, ' Buy the truth, and sell it not ' ; and
" Second, ' A false balance is abomination to the
Lord.'
" What is meant by a false balance ? Not the beam
merely which is always so adjusted as to place the
customer at a disadvantage, but the selling a thing for
what it is not ; taking advantage of the inexperience
of the customer to secure one's own profit. All this
has been declared to be abomination to the Lord.
" That was as it used to be. How is it to-day ? It
is the same to day. Truth and honesty are the essen-
tial qualities in a bond between individuals, in a
treaty between nations ; truth and honesty afford the
only real security in the multiplied and ramified
transactions of trade ; truth and honesty are bulwarks
which protect the nation — more powerful far are
they than those behind which are placed bristling
cannon and armed men. In one word, they are the
pillars upon which the whole fabric of society rests,
and are as unalterable and imperishable as is the
nature of Him from whom they come. Buy the
truth, then, and sell it not.
" I come now to consider the matter of thorough-
ness. What do I find in ancient records to throw
light upon this aspect of the case. This I find ;
WHOLESALE MERCHANT.
113
" ' A workman that needaih not to he aahawetV
" Few men muster all the details of their calling.
Have we not illustrations of this every day ? Why
did that lawyer lose that case ? Want of application
and thorouf^h mastery of it. Why did that pliysician
lose that patient 'i He was weak in some essential
element. The sense of this weakness paralyzed his
action, and the patient slipped through his fingers.
Why did that merchant fail ? Because he had never
made himself familiar with the minute details of his
business. Obtain a thorough mastery of the details
of your business.
" I have touched upon truth, honesty and thorough-
ness. I now come to touch upon energy.
" ' Whatsoever thy hand Jindeth to do, do it ivith
thy might'
*' Whatsoever is true, whatsoever is honest, do ; but
do it with your might. Throw j^our being into it ; be
in earnest. Whatsoever is worth
doing well ; do nothing by halves.
It* vou think that business success is to be achieved
by half-heartedness, or by an energy which is put
forward by fits and starts, you make a very great
mistake. There is in business, as in everything else,
no royal road to success. It is work, work — hard
work. It is at it, and always at it. The business
world has no room for idlers. There is in it, as there
is in all other callings and professions, plenty of room
at the top.
" Look at fifty labourers working on some great
work, and a keen-sighted man in five minutes will
pick out the man who is going to occupy the position
of foreman, and that perhaps before the sun goes
down. Go into a warehou.se or into an office, and you
will not be long there before you will pick out the
man, or the men, who are of service to that office or
warehouse ; who are going to make their work felt ;
8
doing, is worth
114
A MEIK'HANT l»RIN<E.
who are f^oinrr to rise. What of the others ? You will
never hear of them, nor will anyone else ! Good (|uali-
ties many of them may have had ; but ^ood (jualities
unused are like the talent tied up in a napkin — not
only brinjjfinj^ in nothin<( to the owner, hut, through
the want of enercjy of him to whom it was entrusted,
deprivinof the owner of his lawful interest.
" I look back aj^ain to that period from wliieh we
gather the axioms upon which we have been basing
our remarks, and f ask whether anything is recorded
characterizing results which follow the faithful work-
ing out of these principles ? and I find this : * The
hand of the dUlgent shall bear ndc' I also find
this : ' The thotu/hts of the diligent tend only to plen-
teouaneaa ; bat of every one that is hasty only to waMt.
" And is this not so to-day ? Who are the men in
our cities who are the leaders of men ? They are the
diligent.
" See those works rising up resembling a village in
their extent, with the hundreds of workmen to whom
they give employment ; look for the master-mind
under whom the whole has grown up, and you will
find in him a diligent man.
" A word or two, then, as to what is essential after
you leave this college ; and,
" First — Be willing to begin at the bottom ; do not
think that when you have left this you know every-
thing. If you have learned the secret of obtaining
knowledge in your business, and the spirit which will
make you an anxious and a willing learner, you have
learnt that which will prove of inestimable value to
you.
" Second — Be patient. Impatience is the curse of
thousands. Remember that Rome was not built in a
day ; that you do not find upon the tree at the same
time the fragrant blossom and the ripened fruit ; that
success is a thing of slow growth.
WHOLESALE MERCHANT.
115
" On my own frrounds there are oaks which twenty-
five years ago looked as though they had been there
a century or more. Every year they continue to add
to their bulk and beauty, Uy the riclmess of their
foliage and tlie gratefulness of their shade. Every
year they give back to the soil, in their burdened foli-
age and abundance of acorns, more than they take
away, thus adding fruitfulness to their many other
qualities. Side by side with them are lofty poplars,
planted by my own hand twenty-fivj years ago. For
a dozen years they made annually as much growth as
the oak would make in ten years. Then their height
was equal to that which the oak had reached in a
century. And what then ? This, simply, that then
they began to decay ! The leafless branches present-
ing no beauty for the eye ; the tree itself of no advan-
tage to the soil — nay, a positive disadvantage, extract-
ing, by its greedy and hasty nature, from its virtue,
impoverishing and giving nothing back. Be an oak,
not a poplar.
" Be patient. Do not begin to think, after you
have been in a concern for six months; that you can
run the establishment.
"Do not be afraid that the ability you possess will
not be recognized. If it is there it will shine out ; it
will make its effect ; it will meet with its acknow-
ledgment; it will produce its results and it will meet
with its reward.
" Be patient. You cannot all go into business ; you
cannot all be merchants. But you can all rise to
positions of trust and responsibility. The man who
occupies a confidential position in any house, occupies
a proud position, one preferred by many because it is
in many respects freed from responsibilities which
attach themselves to large business obligations. Aim
at such positions; for these your training in this col-
lege should eminently qualify you.
liG
A MERCHANT I'llINCE.
" but one says, You have omitted speaking of the
Bible as a business hand-bcok. I have, and the omis-
sion has been intentional.
" If you want to pass unscathed through the dangers
which beset the path of the young man ; if you want
to go about your duty free from the allurements of
the destroyer ; if you want to bring into your daily
life a temperament that will enable you to enjoy with
continual zest all the blessings of life ; if you want to
take the highest place in your profession and to make
it not only a means of employment, but a means of
eiijoyment ; if you want to secure and retain the con-
fidence and esteem of your fellows ; if you want to
make the very best of health and wealth and life ; if
you want to know all that is implied in an honoured
and in a happy old age ; if, in one word, you want to
make the best, and the very best of both worjds, read
your Bible. Not read it only, make it the man of
your counsel. Then, come what will — ii the experi-
ence of the ages is of any value ; if the testimony of
the best men living, as well as the testimony of the
great and good that have passed away, be of any
value, nothing can hinder you from being prosperous,
contented and happy."
No place here for the idea that the successful mer-
chant must be dishonest.
" I grant my bcargains well were made,
]^ut all men overreach in trade ;
Tis self-defence in each profession ;
Sure self-defence is no transgression."
Mr. S. William Beck, editor of the WaTehoiiscnian
and Drapers' Trade Journal, in a review of this
address, says, " If there were any truth in the stupid
conclusion that business success implied business
WHOLESALE MERCHANT.
117
guile, the wealth and position won by Mr. Macdonald
would have been nothinj^ to be proud of. But the
widespread regret expressed upon his death, and the
open testimony to his sympathies and his systematic
benevolence showed that he was known to be one of
* Ood Almighty's gentlemen.' His public gifts were
splendid, and the part he took in educational and
social improvement an active and prom.inent one.
And what of his principles ? Well he believed in the
usual commercial virtues — foresight, prudence, energy,
truth, honesty, application, thoroughness and patience.
But with Mr. Macdonald, and with many more
besides, business was more than a means of existence,
or the road to competence, and honesty more than a
policy. The Bible was his business text-book, and
from it he took his commercial maxims."
As an employer, Mr. Macdonald took a deep and
abiding interest in the young men o£ his warehouse.
He trusted them, put responsibility upon them, and
sought in every way to promote their best interests.
This interest was heartily reciprocated, and as the
result he gathered about him those to whom the
reputation of the firm and its success were objects of
just pride and keen solicitude.
In 1870, before leaving for Ottawa to attend to
his parliamentary duties there, he published a little
brochure, which he placed in the hands of each of his
employees. It is addressed
118
A MERCHANT PRINCE.
TO THE YOUNG MEN
OF
THE WAREHOUSE
TO THOSE FIRST,
WHO, CONNECTED WITH IT IN ITS
INFANCY, HAVE BEEN WITNESSES OF ITS GROWTH, A
GROWTH TO WHICH THEIR OWN FIDELITY
HAS MATERIALLY CONTRIBUTED;
TO THOSE
WHOSE CONNECTION WITH IT,
THOUGH NOT SO REMOTE, HAVE NEITHER BEEN
LESS FAITHFUL OR LESS ANXIOUS
FOR ITS PROSPERITY;
TO THE
JUNIORS WHO HAVE YET THEIR BUSINESS TO LEARN
AND THEIR MARK TO "MAKE ;
THIS LITTLE BOOK
IS RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED BY THEIR EMPLOYER
AND FRIEND,
John Macdolald.
Oaklands,
February ^i/i^ 1876.
WHOLESALE MERCHANT.
119
In the Preface, he observes :
" In every large concern, as well as in smaller ones,
confidence between ' master and men ' is absolutely
necessary ; without it the fabric is unsafe, and its
weakness and insecurity may be rendered apparent at
any moment.
" Not onlv is this essential between ' m^aster and
ft/
men,' but the entire staff must have confidence the one
in the other. Upon the completeness and efficiency
of the parts, depend the harmony and successful work-
ing of the whole.
" Negligence in any one department must to some
extent result in injury to the others, as the mistakes
of one young man will compromise, in some measure,
the reputation of the whole.
" The ambition of every young man should be not
only to maintain the good reputation of his house, but
to add to it, if possible.
" To impress you with the need of earnest and
increased effort in the discharge of your duty ; to
show you that the interests of the house are to be
promoted only by the united and harmonious efforts
of all its workers ; that the young man of principle
must always feel that the absence of his employer is
but a motive for greater diligence, I have placed these
hurried thoughts together for perusal at your leisure
— and, may I not hope, for your profit.
" But 1 have another object. I am fully con-
vinced that if these thoughts, simple as they be, form
the groundwork of your action in the house, they will,
especially with the juniors, have the effect of forming
character and laying the foundation for success in
after life."
He proceeds :
" A business to be successful must be founded upon
principles which possess guarantees for development
120
A MERCHANT PRINCE.
and permanence. These, I need hardly say, involve
not only fairness to employees, but interest in them,
manifesting itself in desires to improve their position ;
hiofh-toned and honourable dealing with customers,
taking no advantage where there happens to be an
imperfect knowledge of goods, or in any of the many
features connected with business transactions ; con-
sulting their interests as much when filling their
orders as if they were personally present.
" A business so conducted ought not to suffer by the
occasional absence of its head. Were such the case,
it would be an evidence either that the watchful eye
of their employer was needed to lead young men to
do their duty, or an absolute lack of system — or, in-
deed, of the utter absence of business principle.
" I do not think that I claim too much for our own
business in stating that unhealthy inducements have
never been employed as a means of its development,
and that while all are impressed with the need of
untiring earnestness, all are equally aware that the
atmosphere of the house is such as secures for the
customer the utmost fairness, and, consequently, for
the house, a reliable business reputation.
" But some will say such a system can only be
carried out by employees of high moral character,
whose work is performed from a sense of duty, and
who recognize as much their obligations to do rightly
by the customers of the house as by their employers.
" It is, I think, well known that the young men of
this house are of this class ; and I am anxious that
they should ever stand in the front rank of the young
men of this Dominion, in all matters pertaining to
efficiency and fidelity in the warehouse, and to all
that pertains to high character out of it.
" Such being the case, there can be no reason why
the business should not go on as smoothly and effici-
ently in my absence as if I were present; why it
i
WHOLESALE MERCHANT.
121
should nob be marked by the same steady increase,
why every customer should not receive the same
attention, nor should any cause arise from which any
one would have reason of complaint, and, in conse-
quence, the business of the house, or any department
of it, sulfer in any measure however slight.
" Indeed, I am persuaded that to a young man of
high principle the presence or absence of his employer
in no measure attects his fidelity ; and, did young
men but realize this more fully, there would be fewer
mistakes in the world ; for this principle of fidelity in
the discharge of duty lies at the very foundation of
all success in life.
" The first point to which I desire to call your atten-
tion is that of courtesy to customers ; upon this I can-
not lay too much stress.
" In our house there must be no failure in this
point ; no one, however small his purchase, must be
treated with neglect. In serving your customer spare
no pains in completing his list as fully as possible.
" Be at your post in good time. You are aware
how much I dislike what is called "night- work," and
think that very much of it might be avoided by sys-
tematically arranging matters during the day. Dur
own house has done much to diminish the evils of this
system, and I hope to see a yet greater improvement.
" Avoid all extravagant expressions in selling. If
the value is good, your customer will not have diffi-
culty in discovering it ; prudent men dislike boastful
utterances, as well as the undue advocacv of one's
wares.
" In no instance, seek to force upon any customer
more than he should prudently buy. If he finds the
goods sell, he will repeat ; if he finds he has purchased
more than he should have done (even if the value is
good), he will blame you, and his remembrances will
not be pleasant either of you or of the house.
122
A MErJ'HANT PRINCE.
I i'
" Cultivate a cheerful disposition ; not only will yon
feel better yourself, but you will make every one
about you all the happier.
" Be energetic ; time is of too much value to be
wasted ; the earnest, diligent young man will always
find something to do ; if not engaged in selling, in
arranging his stock and carrying out improvements in
his department.
" I expect heads of departments steadily to aim at
making their departments models of their kind, keep-
ing them always well assorted, and free from bad
stock ; in short, I should like the departments of the
house, for completeness and convenience, to be unsur-
passed in the trade.
" I expect heads of departments to be thoughtful
and considerate to every one in their room, kindly
encouraging the juniors and bringing out of them
their best points.
" When the head of a department discovers in a
young man anything which should be corrected, let
him speak to the young man alone, and never before
a customer.
" Juniors are expected to do whatever they are
told, cheerfully and readily ; no one can ever hope to
rise in his business, who is unwilling to begin at the
foundation — who, in short, is above his business — who
is not prepared for the fag, that advancement may
come in due time.
" I desire to see a continuance of that good feeling
among all the young men which has so long prevailed
in the house, the evidences of which, to me, have been
so very pleasing.
" A large warehouse, a large stock, a large capital
and an established reputation are all good in their
way, but they are not everything ; each is an element
of power, and when combined with good management,
are agencies by which wondrous results may be
'^im.
WHOLESALE MERCHANT.
123
accomplished. Yet, threat as these advantages are,
they may be weakened, nay, frittered away, by what,
to many, may appear little more than trifles.
" It will require nothing more than the neglect of
the points which I have presented to you as so essen-
tial, to impair the facilities of a house, nowever
strong ; to destroy the trade of a house, however well
and long established. That being the case, no young
man can neglect the interests of his employer without
doing him a serious injury. He should realize that
if he is not helping to develop his trade by his
earnestness and fidelity, he is assuredly impairing it,
by his indifference and unfaithfulness.
" I submit these thoughts to you, not that I have
any fear that you will be lax in your duty, but with
every confidence that the young men of the house
will be as faithful and earnest in my absence as if I
were present ; that no part of this large business will
be neglected ; that every man will be at his post ;
that every customer will be faithfully served, and
every order carefully filled ; and that it will not
require weekly sheets of the comparative sales of
1875 and 187G to assure me that each department is
making all the advancement that it would be prudent
or desirable to secure.
" Without a consciousness of your fidelity, I should
have hesitated ere I assumed the responsibility of
representing in Parliament the commercial division of
this great city, with the demands which such a posi-
tion necessarily makes upon my time, thought and
strength.
" Should I be spared to discharge the duties during
the period for which I have been elected, I trust that
the pleasant relations which now exist between us
will have strengthened with time ; that additions will
have been made to the staff of the house ; and that
the results of your own devotion to its interests will
I
124
A MERCHANT PRINCE.
be seen, not only in the maintenance of its reputation,
but in the healthful enlargement of all its depart-
ments."
*' ' Onward, onward may we press
k Through tlie path of duty ;
Virtue is true happiness,
Excellence, true beauty ;
Minds are of celestial birth ;
Make we then a heaven of earth.
' Closer, closer let us knit
Hearts and hands together ;
Where our tireside comforts sit
In the wildest weather ;
O, they wander wide who roam
For the joys of life from home ? ' "
We have only given here the leading thoughts of
this singularly happy and practical address. No
employer could thus address his young men, who did
not enjoy their unfailing confidence, or who had not
manifesteil a deep concern in their welfare. In his
diaries are frequent references to one and another of
his clerks whom he had called into his office to
reprove for certain evil habits, and obtain from them
promises of amendment.
Emerson has said, " Trust men, and they will be
true to you ; treat them greatly, and they will show
themselves great." Mr. Macdonald acted upon this
principle. He sought to make the interests of the
young men of the warehouse identical with his own.
But he would not tolerate indifferent work or half-
hearted service ; he would not have around him
incompetent men. He was a thorough disciplinarian.
WHOLESALE MERCHANT.
125
He knew the stern conditions under which success
was possible, and he compelled others as well as him-
self to conform to them.
He was deeply interested in the life of George
Moore, the London merchant and philanthropist, and
gave a copy of it to each of the young men of the
warehouse staff. He always sought to recognize
worth and special service done to the firm.
In the year 1878, the trade of the house having
grown so much as to necessitate increased accommo-
dation, Mr. Macdonald determined to carry the
warehouse through from Wellington Street to Front
Street, as he owned the land from street to street.
The building being wide, the joists did not, as usual,
span the building and rest on the walls, but rested on
two row^s of iron pillars running parallel to the walls
of the building. The iron pillars were cylindrical
and hollow, being about half an inch, in thickness,
while about a foot and a-half from the top of each
pillar on which the beams rested for supporting the
floor, was a flange which expanded gradually out-
wards and upwards until it was on a level with the
pillar, there being a double surface on which the
beam rested. Unfortunately in the pillars for the
basement, where the greatest strength was reijuired,
the pillars ended at the flange instead of being carried
through. This fault, through a concatenation of
oversights, was not perceived by the manufacturer or
architect, or by the foreman who put them up. There
was sufl[icient strength in these very defective pillars
to carry the weight of the floors, but when the goods
12G
A MERCHANT PRINCE.
from the adjacent warehouse were beinjif brouf^ht in,
the additional weifjht proved too much for their
strenfifth, and they broke simultaneously, like the
report of a cannon. Tlioy snapped ott" where the
flanf]fe joined the pillars, but by a fortuitous circum-
stance, the large pipes conveyinij the steam for heating
the warehouse ran parallel and alongside of the beam,
which rested on the pillars, and this prevented any
one of the broken and jagged pillars from falling to
the ground. The beam and all the floors fell about
a foot and a-half, the beam resting on the broken
pillars. Had any one of the pillars fallen to the
ground, the floors would have fallei ., and the loss of
life would have been great, as there were, with
painters and employees of the firm, about one hundred
in the building at the time. Their exit was rapid.
Mr. Macdonald was not in the warehouse at the time.
He was much concerned, but pleased and thankful to
God that no loss of life had occurred. The iron pillars
became so discredited with him, that he ordered them
all to be taken out of the entire warehouse and
replaced by solid wooden ones. The cost of raising
the floors and replacing the pillars amounted to over
twelve thousand dollars.
This accident occasioned a great deal of extra labour,
and many of the clerks worked night after night for
months. To these he gave large additional remunera-
tion for their untiring service. On the Christmas of
1880, the following address was presented. by the em-
ployees to Mr. Macdonald in beautifully illuminated
text.
WHOLESALE MERCHANT.
127
Xl^C, tlie uuderaigned, the majority of wliom
have been for many years in your employment,
desire to express to you our j^rateful sense of the
unvarying kindness, liberality and consideration
experienced by us at your hands, from our first
entry into your establishment to the present time.
XllllbCn it was decided to organize within
the warehouse a Mutual Benefit Society, the
movement met with your kind and cordial ap-
proval, and most substantial pecuniary support,
giving us thereby fresh proof of the deep interest
our employer takes in all that concerns the per-
manent well-being and happiness of his employees.
IRor can we omit to mention here the
handsome donation distributed among those who
shared in the labour of moving the goods, on the
occasion of the accident during the erection of the
new building, an accident which, by the merciful
Providence of God, was not attended with loss
of life or bodily injury of any of us.
^It conclusion, let us add that our earnest
hope and prayer is, that you may be long spared
to see the return of many happy Christmas sea-
sons, and to control and direct in the new ware-
house that business which has grown under your
wise, liberal and kindly government, to be second
to none in the Dominion of Canada.
Mr. Macdonald's system of promotion w^as from step
to step, beginning at the loMrest round of the ladder.
Mr. Paul Campbell, now one of the partners, was only
a lad at the time he entered the warehouse. When
128
A MKKCKANT I'UINCE.
the game of lacrosse was first introduced in Toronto,
he was one of the principal promoters, and belonj^cd
to the first team ori^anized. One morning aftcjr a
game, he came down to the warehouse, with face
badly bruised and otherwise in physical dilapidation.
Mr. Macdonald surveyed his battered appearance and
said : " Well, Paul, which shall it be, lacrosse or busi-
ness ? " The young fellow thought a moment, and
promptly answered : " Business, sir." The results of
his quick decision, in thenceforth giving his sole
attention to the establishment are well known. Mr.
Macdonald was not in the habit of paying large wages
to his hands. He believed in fair compensation and
promotion. He had studied somewhat deeply the
labour ((uestion, and did not believe in profit sharing
for merchants. In manufacturing: establishments he
considered that a share in the profits ovf^r and above
wage receipts might serve as an additional motive
both to capital and labour. But for the sale of manu-
factured goods the same motive could only operate
on a small number of employees, whose mental force
and practical experience, combined with strict honour
and integrity, would make them competent to manage
departments. As a fact, then, he did apply the profit-
sharing principle, when he divided his great establish-
ment into departments, and gave ampler compensation
and a prospect of partnership to men of experience
and intellectual grasp who had risen step by step in
the house, and had shown themselves competent to
manage these departments. Thus he was in sympathy
with the social aspirations of the new era.
WHOLESALE MERCHANT.
129
The last address to his younj^ men was made a few
months before his death, June 22nd, 1889, on leaving
for Alaska. It will be read with deep interest :
" As I am likely to be absent for a few weeks, I have
thought that I might address a few words to you be-
fore leaving, which might have the effect of proving
of service to the business^ but chiefly be of lasting
benefit to yourselves.
" It will be in the month of October, forty years
since the business with whicli you are associated was
founded. In the month of May, 1890, or in about
eleven months, should I be spared to see that period,
it will be fifty years since I left my father's house to
begin my business life with fewer advantages and
opportunities than those possessed by the most of
you whom I now address. As that, therefore, will be
mj^ jubilee, I ought, in that long period, to have
gathered some knowledge which should be of service
to my fellows, specially to those whom circumstances
have brought into connection with the house.
" My aim has been to make the concern as perfect
in its manner of conducting business, and as advanced
as a business house as it is possible.
" To study the interests of those who do business in
the house, as well as the comfort, happiness and
future of all those connected with it.
" That the house may have failed in securing these
ends always is only what may be expected of every-
thing that is human.
" That such, however, has been, and now is, its aim,
is equally certain.
" The house, as it is constituted to-day, may fairly
be likened to a regiment of the British army. It has
its recruits, its non-commissioned olftcers, its commis-
sioned officers of various grades, and the discipline
130
A MERCHANT PRINCE.
that is essential to the prosperity of the one is equally
essential to the prosperity of the other.
Let me note these in order. 1st. There are the buy-
ers, the heads of deprrtments. I may, perhaps, unduly
exaggerate the importance of such a position, but I
state frankly that such a position in this house is a
prize of which any man ouf^ht to be proud — is such a
position as every boy enterinpr the house ounrht to look
forward to as a position which he intended to reach.
The value of such a position to the man himself or
to the house depends, however, upon many factors
which, if wantini^ in his character, go very far to
dininish from his value to the house, and to impair
his own success, and consequently his income.
The factors which I deem so essential in a buyer
are good judgment in buying, intense earnestness in
selling, personal magnetism in attracting customers,
the faculty of introducing goods, and above all, the
rendering of a service from the standpoint of con-
science rather than as an equivalent for the remuner-
ation he receives. He should serve more customers
(and when not absent purchasing), sell more goods
than any one in his room. He should have perfect
control over his men, and firmness enough to have all
his instructions to his staff faithfully carried out. He
should himself be a pattern in everything which he
enjoins, so that he has the respect of those under him,
and if he cannot secure this, then it is manifestly
evident he is unfit for his place.
" Manners have so much to do with a man's success
in such a position, that, if lacking, it is difficult to
say what would compensate for the loss. These re-
marks, in very many respects, are equally applicable
to every traveller. We come next to the Seconds in
the departments. Here again, 1 claim, a position of
which any young man might be proud.
" All the qualities which I have spoken of as being
essential to the buyer, are equally needed in tho
.
I
WHOLESALE MERCHANT.
131
Ay
5SS
to
:e-
)le
in
of
second, who has to take the place of the buyer when
absent in the markets. He is the next in authority
in the room ; and unless there were some strong
reasons which would render promotion undesirable,
would naturally take the position of buyer, should
such a position from any cause become vacant. And
so we go step by step until we reach the boy who
enters the house as a junior at a salary at the rate of
fifty dollars per annum.
" Following out the same figure, that of a regiment,
in referring to the goods in the warehouse, so in like
manner the discipline which is essential in the army
is needed in the warehouse. What would the com-
mandinor officer think of a soldier who came on the
ground five mii 'ites or one minute after the regiment
had fallen in ? Only this, simply that he would be
confined. What would be thought of a soldier who
would take out his watch when on duty to see when
the parade would be over ? Why, he would expose
himself to discipline. It should be so in the ware-
house. Intense devotion, unselfish service, faithfully
rendered, should characterize every member of the
staff, from the very humblest to the very highest.
" I want to notice a few points which are essential
to your success ; and
" 1st. It is essential that in following any business
there must be a strong liking for it. If, for example,
there should be in the case of any of you a feeling of
indifference as to whether you follow the dry goods
business or ranching, or some branch of mechanical
industry, be assured, in such a case, that you will fail
utterly in making your mark in the dry goods trade,
and you would make but a poor rancher or a poor
mechanic.
" If you want to be a dry goods man you must throw
your being into it, otherwise you will never be any-
thing but a poor hand, will never command anything
132
A MERCHANT PRINCE.
in the shape of a prize, and will never secure a situa-
tion where your place could not be filled, perhaps
better tilled, in any five minutes of any day.
" 2nd. But the great factor in your success, or, indeed,
in the success of any man, is to be found in the fidelity
with which you render your service.
" What does the faithful man care whether the eye
of his employer is on him or not ! What is there
which gives him so much pleasure as the success of
the business with which he is connected ? Nothing,
indeed, is there which brings such unbounded pleasure
to a thoroughly faithful man.
" This principle makes him punctual, affable, atten-
tive, obliging, economical of the time of the house
even to minutes, acquisitive; everything about his work
is watched. He would not waste a piece of string.
He would carefully look after every piece of paper.
He would watch the progress which he makes every
day, and would only feel satisfied in knowing that
every day there
" ' Had been something attempted,
Something won.'
" Let me say, however, that fidelity, excellent and
indispensable as it is, is not the only qualification
needed for reaching the highest results ; there must,
in addition, be ability and enthusiasm.
" The man at the look-out, for example, may be most
faithful — and in what position is fidelity more needed ?
— but he might be utterly wanting in the qualities
which would ever fit him to command the ship.
While, therefore, I deem fidelity as the most desirable
of all the qualities for the right discharge of every
duty, I would have you not only to be faithful on the
look-out, but to strive after tliose qualities which
would fit you to command the ship ; to command the
ship not in fine weather only, but in a gale. Have
il
WHOLESALE MERCHANT.
133
it
?
le
y
)e
h
e
:i
ambition, and follow its lead upon sound and safe
principlea and you will not be likely to p;o astray.
" You will perhaps say, " You have drawn a very
hiorhly coloured picture." Highly coloured or not,
believe me it is true. And, if unhappily you should
fail to become successful, which I hope may not be
the case, then examine carefully into the cause and I
jruarantee you will be compelled to confess that it is
to be found in the nef^lect of the very principles which
I have pointed out to you as so necessary.
" You will observe that I have said nothins: about
profanity, intemperance, disregard of the house of
God, the breaking of the Sabbath day, the visiting of
places of sinful resort, or the keeping of such com-
pany as can have no other than hurtful results. I
am assuming that all these are wanting in the case of
each. If existing, I should have but little hope of the
securement of happiness, either in this world or in the
next.
" You will perhaps be astonished when I tell you
that if my somewhat lengthened experience has en-
abled me to form any estimate of the proportion of
men who so act, that it is not more than one per cent.,
not more than one in every hundred who is guided by
the high motive to which I have referred.
" Nor does this apply to young men in dry goods
houses alone. It applies to every trade, to every pro-
fession, to every calling, and in this must be found the
true secret of the small number who achieve success.
" In a house like this, where the aim is to have only
young men of high character, the proportion shouhl
of course be considerably higher, but even here I need
not say to you that among the workers in this house
there is much that is done in no other than in a mechani-
cal spirit, and without that high and noble and lofty
inspiration which sooner or later rewards its possessor.
But you will perhaps enquire, Why this address at
134
A MERCHANT PRINCE.
this time ? I would say, 1st, chiefly for your own
good ; 2nd, for the benefit of the house, in order that
its prosperity may be furthered and its efficiency
secured. The house has entered upon a new era. In
four months it will enter upon the forty-first year of
its business existence, and the determination is that it
must not only be manned by earnest competent and
faithful men, but by that class of men only, that the
value of every man will be determined, and every
effort made suitably to acknowledge his worth, that
incompetent men will discover that unless incom-
petence give place to diligence and efficiency, their
position is jeopardized, and that a place on the staff"
means that its holder is a real acquisition to the house.
" ' But I cannot wait for these prizes,' one may say;
* this advice is all very good for an essay, but pro-
motion is too slow, I cannot wait.' Of that, every
man must be the best judge. Hence, I have always
felt that any man should feel at liberty to change his
relationship at any moment, and that the house should
have the privilege of dispensing with the service of
any of the staff' if it sees tit. This, I think, is the
best and safest bond between the house and its em-
ployees ; and this, I think, is the surest way to secure
satisfactory and unbroken business relationship.
" am most anxious that the relationship existing
between the firm and yourselves should be something
more than that which might be defined as a dollar
and cent relationship, and I think the best and surest
way to secure this higher and more desirable con-
nection, is in each acting from the highest and noblest
standpoint towards each other, and for each other's
good. I should like the relations existing between us
to be of that hiijh and enviable character that if
these became severed, the interest in each other's
welfare should not be impaired, so that ought that
would secure the advancement of the one would
k
It
WHOLESALE MERCHANT.
135
always be regarded with satisfaction by the other.
This, I desire to assure you, is my own earnest wish,
I have to ask you, if any need should unhappily be
found to deal with cases which might involve the
severance of our relationship, do not conclude that
what is said upon this subject is not earnestly felt,
or that such action would contradict this statement.
" So many matters demand my own time and atten-
tion and thought, that I do not come as much in con-
tact with you personally as I would desire, and conse-
quently many of the recent additions to the staff are
not known to me, but do not conclude from this cir-
cumstance that your efforts to promote the interests
of the house will fail to reach me. They will all be
brought under my knowledge, as will, indeed, any
business indifference or inefficiency. My knowledge,
therefore, of the part you are playing in the ware-
house is greater than you suppose, and nothing will
give me greater pleasure than to hear of your con-
tinued progress and advancement. And nothing will
cause me more regret than to learn that any of you
in your departments are failing to give satisfaction.
" To get a right idea of the value of time, of the
results of combined effort, and what diligence will
accomplish, watch what is going on at an ant-hill, as
I myself have done for hours ; watch them in the
early grey morning, watch them until your eyes will
no longer help you, when the sun has withdrawn its
light, and you will see such devotion to work, such
precision, such order, such method, as can be witnessed
in no department of human labour, but which ''annot
be witnessed without deriving many valuable and
important lessons. No wonder is it that the wise
man should have said, as an antidote to sloth, ' Go to
the ant, thou sluggard ; consider her ways and be
wise ; which, having no guide, overseer or ruler, pro-
L3G
A MERCHANT PRINCE.
gathereth
her
videth her meat in the summer, and
food in the harvest.' (Prov. vi. 6-8).
" How many men are there whose whole destiny
is changed by impatience ! ' I am not getting on
fast enough ; 1 will leave, I can do a great deal better.'
In taking such a step, and in reaching such a con-
clusion, every man must, of course, be his own judge;
but let me add that there is scope enough in this
house for the very ablest man on its staff — scope
enough for the employment of all his energies, oppor-
tunities enough of showing what he can do ; and I
hope there is fairness enough and reg,diness enough
in the house suitably to recognize all such devotion.
" My own sons are part of the staff with yourselves.
They entered upon the same conditions, performed
the same work, took their positions in the very
humblest work of the house, were subject to their
seniors, and I would feel compromised and humiliated
had they, in such positions, developed any other spirit
than that of respect for those placed over them,
fidelity in the discharge of their duties, and devotion
to the interests of the house. What can I say more
which will prove of service to you, keeping in view
the principle I have called your attention to ? Let
me emphasize two or three thoughts :
" 1st. Be ambitious. Make up your mind to rise
in the house. How high, do you ask ? Well, as high
as it is possible for you to get. This purpose, rightly
formed and properly prosecuted, rarely fails to secure
results.
" 2nd. Be enthusiastic. I intend this, first, to apply
to every head of a department. Do not, I ask of you,
be satisfied with anything short of making your
department the most complete, the most successful
department of its kind in the Dominion of Canada.
Avoid any mistakes which have hitherto brought
about disaster, which have failed to produce results.
■
WHOLESALE MERCHANT.
137
Be diligent yourself, and have no one about you who
is not dilijrent also.
" 3rd. Be mafjnetic. The success of hundreds of
men might be traced to their manners. Attract men
to you by your earnestness, diligence, attention
and truthfulness. Do not deal in extravagant lan-
guage ; your customer will always discount it. Do
not think anything a trouble. If your customer fails
to find what he wants in your department, take him
to another, and, if possible, see that he gets it there.
No customer should leave the house without getting
what he wants, if it is in ytock, and if not, without
procuring it tor him if he so desires. These remarks
apply with equal force to seconds, and every man and
boy in the department, office and entering room.
" Of the greater number of you, I may say I know
nothing of the manner in which you spend your time
after business hours. Let me say how painfully I
should feel if any of you were heard using profane
language, any of you seen coming out of saloons,
any of you spoken of as frequenters of improper
houses, and so spoken of as young men of the staff
of John Macdonald & Co. I should want to hide my
head ; I should feel that the house had been dishon-
oured, and that unless there were a change of habits
there would have to be a change of relationship.
'* The path of success does not lay in the path of
the destroyer or near it. Can I do better than call
your attention to the words of the wise man :
" ' Enter not into the path of the wicked, and go not
in the path of evil men. Avoid it ; pass not by it ;
turn from it, and pass away.'
" If my own experience would in any way prove help-
ful to you, I would say in a word or two what were some
of the points which, as a young man in a situation, I
laid myself out to avoid, and v/hat were some of the
principles which I determined to follow :
138
A MERCHANT PRINCE.
li !i
" 1st. I resolved never to live above my means, never
to go into debt, never to overdraw my account ; and
in laying myself out to pursue this line of conduct I
had no difficulty in carrying it out.
" But you will say. Oh, you found it very easy be-
cause you had, in all probability, a large salary. Well,
the largest salary I ever had was $440, and this at a
time when the absolute charge of the concern in which
I was, was placed in my hands.
" I have said I found no difficulty in carrying out my
purpose, and a moment's reflection will show you how
this was accomplished, when I state to you the charac-
ter of my expenditure.
" Theatres, operas, saloons, cigars, cabs, horse hire,
cost me not one cent. I never in my life saw the in-
side of an opera house ; I never in my life spent one
cent in a saloon.
" Rings and breast pins and silver-headed canes cost
me nothing ; nor did I think them essential or neces-
sary either for my appearance or my position. The
simple matter that my coat was old never led me to
buy another until I could pay for it ; and the same
remark applied to anything or everything that I de-
sired to possess.
" I had to dress respectably, and think that I always
did, but all the expensive trappings which go to make
up the outfit of a dude made no inroad upon my
modest income. So, also, all expen<liture of which it
may safely be said, in the words of the old adage, * A
fool and his money soon parts/'I carefully avoided.
" But you will say. Is it not drawing it very fine to
speak about a man's ties, and tight kids, and canes,
even if they have a silver head ? Surely there
cannot be anything wrong in these ; they cannot
affect my services as a salesman or interfere with
my devotion or efficiency in the house ? Possibly
not, but they may interfere with your pocket and
WHOLESAJ.E MERCHANT.
139
your peace of mind ; let me ask you to take a care-
ful account of every unnecessary thing of this kind
which you needlessly buy, add it up at the end of
the year, and you will be astonished. Had you
been able to exercise self-control, and absolutely not
to buy anything which you did not want, you would
have had the money which has been thrown away to
gratify vanity. But you would have had something
vastly better, you would have strengthened those
principles which enable you to bring into control every
wish that has not in it some useful end, and to keep
your desires where they ought tc be, in a position
which would make them your servants instead of
your masters.
" If I were to tell you how carefully I carried out
the policy which I am now presenting to you, you
would be astonished. But I was forming habits
which have proved of life-long service to me. Hence
I had always money at my credit; I had always
money to lend men, so that when my salary was
$120, I could lend those whose income was twice
what my own was, what they asked me to lend them.
" I was fond of books, and before I was twenty-two
years of age, my library was worth not less than from
$2.50 to $300, and this purchased out of my modest
salary.
" Do you ask me how I spent my time after busi-
ness hours, which business hours, let me say here,
extended in summer from six o'clock in the morning
until eight o'clock at night, let me say to you that
they were wholly given up to the diversified work of
church life. In that I found pleasant and delightful
and profitable companionship ; I found congenial and
elevating work, which tended to the formation of my
mind, and to the cultivation of habits, and to the
study of God's Word, which have been of life-long
advantage to me, which kept me from evil company,
140
A MERCHANT PRINCE.
from questionable places of resort, and which have
left pleasant remembrances worth to me vastly more
than gold.
" An employer ought to take an interest, not only
in the temporal concerns of the members of his staff',
but in their higher well-being. I have not personally
given this matter the attention it deserves, and which
it ought to have had from me. Will you be good
enough, therefore, to accept personally, at this time,
these remarks as intended for each one, and will you
receive my assurance that the adoption of such a
course by you, as the one to which I have referred,
cannot work out for you anything but the very best
results, not for this world only, but for the next.
** Believe me, that the words are as true to-day as
when spoken by the wise man : * Happy is the man
that findeth wisdom, and the man that getteth under-
standing. For the merchandise of it is better than
the merchandise of silver, and the gain thereof than
fine gold. She is more precious than rubies, and all
the things thou canst desire are not to be compared
unto her. Length of days is in her right hand, and in
her left hand riches and honour. Her ways are ways
of pleasantness and all her paths are peace. She is a
tree of life to them that lay hold upon her, and happy
is every one that retaineth her. Pro v. iii. 18-18.'
*' But I think I hear some of you say, * Could you
not have done better, could you not have commanded
a higher salary in some other house ? It is quite pos-
sible I could. I never tried. I was attached to my
work, to the house and my employer. Any man who
spoke against either the one or the other spoke against
me. There is a source of enjoyment greater than that
which comes from any salary, however large, or from
any position, however prominent, and that is the con-
sciousness that with singleness of eye one's constant
WHOLESALE MKUCHANT.
141
aim has been faithfully, efficiently and honestly to do
one's duty.
" You will not think it boastful in me to say to you
to-day that that consciousness is mine, and that what-
ever measure of success may have attended my etibrts,
there is nothing that affords me a purer pleasure than
to look back and realize that I never served a man to
whom I did not fjive my undivided ener^ifies, whose
interests I did not make my own, and in whose suc-
cess I did not as much rejoice as if I was in that
success myself a participant.
" Such a reward, at least, is open to you all. Its
value, be assured, you cannot possibly overestimate.
Let me ask you to frame your conduct from such a
high standpoint, and I earnestly hope that if you are
spared to reach my own years, that in your retro-
spective musings the one thought which will stand
out more prominently than any other will be this :
' I am thankful that I am able to say that in all my
business relations my one constant and unchanging
aim has been to do my duty.' "
Brave, manly and noble words are these, and in
every way worthy of being, as they proved to be, the
final message of a great and experienced Christian
merchant to the members of his staff. If he seemed
to possess the Midas-like gift of turning everything
he touched into gold, it was because his eye was
directed to high aims, and his whole life ran on the
continuous lines of integrity, economy, industry and
application.
So far from being ashamed of his humble begin-
nings, he was proud of them.
As the merchant princes of Florence in the height
of their power, and when dictating laws to all Italy,
142
A MEKCHANT PUINCE.
preserved upon their palaces the cranes by which
the bales of merchandise had once been raised to
their attics, so this merchant prince souj^ht ever to
lead young men to the perennial sources of inspira-
tion and help, and displayed nothing of that vulgar
reluctance to allude to the earlier stages of e
remarkable rise from poverty and obscurity to com-
fort, affluence and distinction.
He was, in many respects, an ideal employer, a
sagacious, enterprising, successful business man, enjoy-
ing the unfailing confidence of all in his establish-
ment, as well as of his fellow-merchants, and seeking,
by every means, to exalt the standard of mercantile
honour. Throughout his entire business career he
was an active, living force, a prom'nent and influen-
tial figure, and it has been the rare fortune of but
few merchants to make a more deep and helpfi '
impression upon their times than was made by Joh^.
Macdonald.
! I
I I
I
a
li I
But as for me, 1 will come into thy house in the multitude of
thy mercy : and in thy fear will 1 worship toward thy holy
temple.
— Psahnist.
only see how sweetly there
Our lovely Church is gleaming !
The golden evening sunshine fair
On spire and roof is streaming.
— German Lyrist.
Love thyself last I Drink deep
The iiectared anodyne of selflessness.
— Edwin Arnold.
For the soul that gives is the soul that lives,
A nd bearing another's load
Doth lighten your own, and shorten the way,
And brighten the homeward road.
— Washiuijton Gledden.
They which builded on the wall, and they that bare burdens,
with those that laded, every one with one of his hands wrought
in the work, and with the other hand held a weapon.
— Nch. iv. 17.
I- i
CHURCH RELATIONS.
WE have followed Mr. Macdonald through an un-
broken career of business success, until, from
humble beginnings, he has, by shrewdness and energy,
self-reliance and integrity, become the Canadian dry-
eroods kins ; his wholesale firm the largest in the
Dominion, and perhaps, in proportion to population,
the largest on the American continent. But while
thus diligent in business, he was " fervent in spirit,
serving the Lord." As a merchant, he was active
and alert ; as a Christian, he was not less energetic in
the Master's vineyard. This activity embraced
almost every department of personal and official
service in the Methodist Church. He laboured in
the Sabbath School, and occupied the pulpit as a
local preacher almost every Sabbath ; was the leader
of a class, assisted at the weekly prayer-meeting, and
was zealous in revival services. He was a member
of several Boards of Trustees, treasurer of the Mis-
sionary Society, a delegate to Annual and General
Conferences, and a representative to various ecclesias-
tical bodies. He took a deep interest in both the
spiritual and temporal interests of the local church
with which he was connected, while he largely felt
also "the care of all the churches." He took an
active part in the inauguration of various Church
IQ
TT
146
A MERCHANT PRINCE.
IS '
l\
: I
enterprises, and performed the ceremony of laying
the corner stone of more churches than any other
layman in Canada.
As long as Mr. Macdonald lived on George Street,
he was a member of the Toronto West Circuit, of
which Richmond Street was the head. He was the
Superintendent of the large Sabbath School in this
mother church of Toronto Methodism, and was the
leader of an important class in the Elm Street
Church. He preached almost every Sabbath in
some part of the city, or drove out to appointments
on adjoining circuits. Mrs. Macdonald frequently
accompanied him, and they had occasional "adven-
tures." On one occasion he was like the great apostle,
" in peril of robbers." One dark night, as they were
returning from Weston, two men rushed upon them,
one seizing the horse, the other attempting to lay
hold of the driver. Mr. Macdonald, in warding him
off with the whip, struck the horse somewhat sharply,
so that the spirited animal sprang wildly forward,
throwing the man at his head violently to the ground,
and then dashed along with all his might, leaving
the highwaymen far behind. The horse was utterly
beyond control, and ran on for miles until, utterly
exhausted, he calmed down. Fortunately the road
was clear, and nothing occurred except a severe fright
to his wife.
On another occasion, after preaching in Weston, he
was returning with Mrs. Macdonald, who carried in
her arms her little firstborn child. The night was
dark ; Mr. Macdonald drove into the ditch, and all
CHURCH RELATIONS.
147
were capsized into the mud. As good Providence
would have it, neither mother nor child received a
scratch or wound ; but these little occurrences some-
what dampened the ardour of his wife in accompany-
ing him to his country appointments.
When Mr. Macdonald removed to Oaklands, he
connected himself with the Bloor Street Church, then
a part of Toronto East Circuit. The church was
known as the Yorkville appointment. The population
was small, but the interest was a growing one. He
threw himself into the movement, and became an
earnest and willing co-labourer, being not only alive
to whatever touched the spiritual interests of the
church, but also awake to its material prosperity,
being a member of the Board of Trustees and a
Steward of the Quarterly Official Board. Owing to
the distance, he held a Sabbath Scliool in his own
house, and gave constant attention to the spiritual
nurture of his own children. As the population
began to spread northward, he saw the necessity of
providing for the religious wants of his own neigh-
bourhood. Ground was secured on Yonge Street,
corner of Marlborough Avenue, and a small but
comely sanctuary erected. Here he toiled assiduously,
visiting the sick, the poor, the wayward, and gathering
rich fruit of his labours. He organized a Sabbath
School, becoming its first superintendent ; and when
another could be found to assume this responsibility,
he established an adult Bible class. In many instances
the seed sown in the minds of these young men
ripened into a harvest of true manhood and piety.
I
rrr
148
A MERCHANT PRIN'CE.
In connection with this work he makes the following
record :
" Sunday, 22nd February, 1874, Bible class, which
about nine weeks ago numbered three, to-day num-
bered fifty-seven, having grown as follows : second
Sabbath, six ; third Sabbath, nine ; fourth, sixteen ;
fifth, twenth-four ; sixth, thirty-two ; seventh, forty-
five ; eighth, forty-six ; to-day, fifty-seven."
The hive was small, but composed of working bees,
and the cause grew from year to year. In the com-
munion and worship of this church he partook of
some of the richest clusters of spiritual fruit, while
his soul was strengthened and gladdened by constant
refreshing from on high. Here his younger children
were baptized, and his sons and daughters came out
and subscribed with their own hand to be the Lord's.
He welcomed new-comers to the church, and rejoiced
when they were added to its membership. His heart
was warmly engaged in every revival effort, and
during one of these seasons of religious interest,
w^hich lasted nearly a month, in the midst of his
manifold engagements, he was not absent from a
single service. When the school outgrew the little
room in which the work began, he bore the chief
burden in furnishing comfortable accommodation in a
larger school-room, which is now the Memorial Hall
of the church.
The church was two or three times enlarged to
provide for the increasing congregations ; and an im-
pulse was given to every connexional cause by the
munificent offerings of the Yonge Street Methodist
Church.
CHURCH RELATIONS.
149
ing
lich
am-
!on(l
een;
>rty-
He cherished kindly relations with the pastors as
thev came in succession : Revs. W. L. Rutledore, F. H.
Wallace, B.D. ; H. M. Manning, Geornre Leach, R. N.
Burns, B.A. ; George J. Bishop and John V. Smith ;
and constant references are made in his diaries to
sermons preached by them, and helpful influences
received in the sanctuary. The results of his Christian
teaching and example in his own neighbourhood will
abide continually. He laboured directly for the
spiritual good of his fellows, and watched continually
for opportunities to reach individuals ; and many
intelligent, active, trustworthy church m'embers bear
glad testimony to his fidelity in leading them to the
Saviour, and confirming them in every good work.
On the Official Board, when church matters were
being discussed, his generous nature manifested itself
in his thoughtful regard for the opinions and feelings
of his brethren. The management of a large business,
where one's every wish is a command, encourages
sometimes a dictatorial spirit, and often men that are
successful in their own affairs are unable to work
harmoniously in harness with their brethren. They
assume magisterial airs, and wish to be referred to in
all things. Not so Mr. Macdonald. He always showed
a considerate regard for the opinions of his brethren,
and with singular tact would draw out the views of
the humblest brother before final action was taken
on any matter.
Church Erection.
He was always interested in church building, for
he believed that a house of worship in any commun-
•~Tir
150
A MERCHANT PRINCE.
ity gave promise of permanent religious influences.
When the Metropolitan Church, that monument to the
energy, enterprise and influence of the Rev. William
Morley Punshon, was to be erected, Mr. Macdonald
became one of the original trustees, and not only con-
tributed liberally of his means, but from its inception
to its completion, gave of his time and activity to the
great undertaking. In his diary for 1873 we And the
following :
" Thursday, April 4th. A day never to be forgotten.
The Metropolitan Church dedicated
The opening hymn, Rev. W. M. Punshon.
The opening prayer. Rev. Dr. Wood.
Tlie lessons, Rev. Geo. Cochran.
The sermon, Rev. Dr. Tiffany, of Newark, N.J.
The effort to collect money, Mr. David Preston, De-
troit. All marked by divine power. $21,000 sub-
scribed.
Evening meeting.
Was called upon to preside. Rev. Dr. Tiffany and
Rev. Mr. Punshon the speakers.
Over $5,000 additional subscribed."
Mr. Macdonald believed that to Dr. Punshon we
were not only indebted for a new departure in pulpit
services, but, also, for stimulating all denominations
to that wonderful extension of church buildings which
are at once the pride and glory of our land. He says :
" The great church-building movement of Ontario
dates from the period of the erection of the Metropoli-
tan Church. If this should be doubted by any one,
let him take the trouble to ascertain the date of the
erection of the splendid churches that adorn Toronto ;
■ i
CHURCH RELATIONS.
161
let him ascertain when the churches in every city,
town and hamlet in Ontario, which are pretentious
and modern in their character, were erected, and he
will find, with very few exceptions, that they date
after the Metropolitan Church. The movement as-
sumed something of the form of an epidemic, and was
not confined to the Methodist Church, for it seized all
the denominations ; and churches began to arise,
beautiful in their architecture, commodious in their
internal arrangements, and so admirably adapted for
church work, with their schools and class-rooms, that
it may with fairness be claimed that to-day, Canada,
in the number, beauty and arrangements of its
churches stands ahead of any country in the world."
Next to Dr. Punshon's influence was his own in this
direction, for he not only assisted many of the
churches in the city, but contributed also to the
erection of others all over the Province, aiding many
churches outside the bounds of Methodism. Indeed,
whenever appeals were made to him, and he was
reasonably convinced of the worthiness of the request,
he would give such an amount as he thought the cir-
cumstances warranted. He was opposed to excessive
expenditures for merely building purposes. He cared
not for
" Storied windows richly dight,
" Casting a dim, religious light;"
he preferred the plain structure.
He was in such demand at the inauguration of these
church edifices that he had preserved no less than
thirty silver trowels, presented to him by Boards of
m
^=^fr
152
A MERCHANT PRINCE.
" Trustees on the occasion of the laying of the corner-
stone. These trowels are of elegant workmanship,
and are now heir-looms of the family.
Missions.
From the day of his conversion, he began to think
and work for missions. He felt an individual respon-
sibility in the salvation of the world, and to the
utmost of his power did he aid in this work, by gifts,
prayers and counsel. He was a member of the Mis-
sionary Committee of the Methodist Church for more
than a quarter of a century, and was its Lay-Treasurer
for a good portion of this time. His broad views and
earnest spirit, his high sense of i-he obligation and
. ability of the Church to extend its labours at home
and abroad, made him eager to enlarge the sphere of
missionary operation, and take advantage of every
opportunity of fulfilling the Master's last command.
He not only took part in the deliberations of the
committee, but was frequently called upon to make
addresses at its annual public meetings. His words
were always earnest ^nd inspiring, and he showed a
thorough acquaintance with every department of the
missionary field, as well as with the workers em-
ployed.
He took a deep interest in the complimentary
breakfast given to the pioneer missionaries to British
Columbia, the Rev. E. Evans, D.D„ E. White, E. Rob-
son and A. Browning, in December, 1858, when the
Mayor of the city, together with clergymen and re-
presentatives of all the Protestant Churches gave, in
CHURCH IIELATIONS.
1 •'i*5
em-
the old St. Lawrence Hall, a farewell banquette these*
first gospel messenc^ers to that infant colony then
rising upon the western slopes of the continent.
On May 8th, 1868, he presided at the farewell
breakfast given in the Richmond Street Church to
the Wesleyan missionaries to the North-West, Revs.
Geo. Young, D.D., E. R. Young, P. Campbell, and Geo.
McDougall ; on which occasion he said that their
appointment would add the last link that was want-
ing to complete the chain of missionary enterprise
which would now stretch across the continent. Presid-
ing at the forty-third anniversary of the Missionary
Society, held in Guelph, in the November of that
year,he pleaded the cause of Red River and the Great
Lone Land ; and maintained that there was wealth
enough in the Methodist Church to send the gospel
to every pagan in British North America within
twelve months. At this meeting, Mr. Macdonald in-
troduced a resolution to increase the minimum allow-
ance to missionaries from $450 to $500, which, after
some discussion, was adopted.
He was anxious to see Canada represented in the
foreign field, and, with Dr. Punshon, was one of the
prime movers for the establishment of the mission to
Japan. His diary of Thursday, October 10th, 1872,
bears this record :
" Missionary Committee at St. Catharines. Subject
of mission to Japan introduced. Committee decided
to commence it, and entrusted the matter to the
Committee on Consultation and Finance; in Toronto."
Concerning the establishment of this mission, Mr.
Macdonald thus writes :
154
A MERCHANT PRINCE.
li
" It was at the Missionary Committee, held at St.
Catharines, that it was resolved definitely to enter
upon the Japan mission. It had been brought before
the Committee, held in the preceding year, and failed;
and now met with considerable opposition. At a
favourable point of the debate a slip was handed to
Dr. Punshon, on which was written : ' If tried now, it
would carry.' He wrote on the slip, and returned :
' The chief difficulty is the man, if we had him I would
be more hopeful.' This paper, so full of significance,
is still in my possession. It being the last subject of
debate, he said : * Brethren, let us pray to-night about
this matter ; we will then be better able to judge in
the morning.' The morning came, the matter was
brought up, and the Church, through its Missiona 'y
Committee, had committed itself to the establishment
of a foreign mission. How wonderful have been the
results of that action ; how the fears of all the
brethren who opposed it, conscientious as they were,
have proved groundless; how it surpassed all the
sanguine expectations of those who promoted it ; how
it has stimulated the great missionary enterprise of
our Church ; how it has led to the formation of our
invaluable Woman's Missionary Association ; how it
has intensified the missionary spirit in all the sister
churches, is matter of history."
At the last meeting of the Board which he ever
attended, held in London, he pressed upon the Com-
mittee with great earnestness the duty of establishing
a mission on the islands of Martinique and Gaudaloupe,
and saw in such a mission possibilities of large use-
fulness in promoting the enlightenment and Chris-
tianization of the entire group of West Indian Islands,
that peerless zone of jewels in our nation's diadem.
CHUIU'H RELATIONS.
155
in
Methodist Union.
He took a deep interest in the union of the different
branches of the Methodist household, and an active
part in the negotiations which led to the union of
lcS74, as well as that larger union of 1883, which gave
to the Dominion from "sea to sea" a united Method-
ist Church. From the time that lay delegation was
introduced into the councils of the Church, he was
an influential member of the Toronto Annual Confer-
ence, and a delegate of all the General Conferences
held.
Frateiinal Delegate.
At the first General Conference of September,
1874, he was appointed, with the Rev. John A.
Williams, D.D., fraternal delegate to the General
Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church of the
United States. These representatives proceeded to
the Baltimore Conference, in May, 1876, and were
most heartily welcomed.
Mr. Macdonald was particularly happy in his
address, at the close of which, in response to a ques-
tion by Dr. Keid, one of the secretaries of the Mission-
ary Society, he raised a storm of applause by stating
that the average contribution per member of the
Church which he represented was $1.85 per member.
General Conference.
He was always a prominent figure on the floor of
the General Conference. Ready in debate, wise in
counsel, warm in sympathy, and with largeness of
in
156
A MEFICHANT PRINCE.
It >
vision, the princely merchant, the Irtrtrc-minded states-
man, the genuine philanthropist, the niuniticent friend
of Missions, the devoted Christian, was always lis-
tened to with interest, and his opinions carried great
weight amontj his brethren. He was inclined to be
conservative in all church matters, and was greatly
opposed to the revision of the Hynm Book. At the
General Conference of 1878, he pleaded for the old
Wesleyan Hymnal. The points presented were :
" 1. I am persuaded that if any such changes had
been foreshadowed ps the Committee recommend, the
Hymn Book Committee would have had its powers
defined.
" 2. The $25,000 or $30,000 which the Methodist
people have invested in hynm books at this period
of depression is another reason.
" 3. The reference to profit by the Book Room is,
to my mind, somewhat mercenary. Mr. Wesley's
idea was that the books should be cheap. If our
hymn books had been cheaper than they have been,
our hymns would have been more widely known.
The aim should be with the book in use to cheapen
it, so as to bring it within the reach of the poorest
of our people.
" 4. I implore the Conference, on behalf of the half-
million of persons in Canada who sing these hymns,
to spare them as they are, and not sweep away from
us the last vestige which binds us to the men to
whom, not ourselves alone, but the world is so mucb
indebted. I do this in behalf of the Method' ♦"• pp'
of Canada, who have not asked for re vis' %t
not want it.
"5, The argument, to my mind, has u ,ag in .
that the Church is no longer what it \va.- since )ur
union with the New Connexion body. I will reuJily
CHUUCII RELATIONS.
157
IS,
accept any hymn which tho brethren of that Church
will add by way of supplement ; but they, I am sure,
no more than others, desire tho spoiling of tho old
book which, next to tho Word of God, has boon
made a means of grace to many millions. If there is
anything in the argument, it will have as nmch force
at some future day, when possibly the Methodist
Episcopal Church and Primitive Methodists, and the
Bible Christians may, with us, be all united in one
common bond.
" 0. The Hymn Book, as we have it to-day, is the
result of careful revision, the perfected work of our
founder, the strongest evidence of which is its having
remained unchanged for a century. During that
time it has spoken to the hearts of millions, with a
power which no other book ever written, God's
Word alone excepted, has ever spoken. It has to-day
all the power it had when compiled ; it is as fresh
and as precious to the Church of to-day as it was
to the Church of the days of Wesley, and it is a
work which is the heritage, not of the Methodist
Church only, but of the Church throughout the
world. When I think of the changes that have taken
place in the arts and sciences, the changes in the
thoughts of men and the modes of life ; when I
think that within the last few years churches have
arisen which are exerting a wondrous power in the
earth, and that the identity of churches has been
lost by being merged into sister communions ; when
I think that empires have been dismembered and
empires created, dynasties established and dynasties
destroyed ; and then remember that this little book
has outlived all that is perishable, is as fresh, as life-
giving, as critically correct, as experimentally true,
and as precious to the heart of every believer to-day
as it ever was, and will be at the last day as it is
now, I ask whether or not there is one man in this
:
m
i
158
A MERCHANT PRINCE.
Conference bold enoufrh to put his hand upon a heri-
tage so precious, and rob the Church of that for which
he can give no substitute ? "
Spite of these hallowed and cherished associations,
the Hymn Book was revised, and over three hundred
of the choicest modern and ancient hymns added to
our Methodist hymnology. Even after the new
Hymn Book was authorized and published, Mr. Mac-
donald struijfjled to retain the old collection ; but he
at length yielded, and was brought to see that the
Methodist hymnody had lost none of its richness and
attractive beauty by the change.
(Ecumenical Conference.
He was a delegate to the first (Ecumenical Confer-
ence held in City Road Chapel, in September, 1881,
and presented a paper on " The Maintenance of Home
Missions to the Most Degraded Populations." Among
other observations, he remarks :
" What can be done to better the masses of human
beings who crowd together in all great centres of
population, ignorant, indolent, vicious and degraded ?
Is their condition hopeless ? In this city of London,
where there are so many who love and serve God,
what sight so sad as to see in such a city thousands
of men and women from whom every vestige of all
that is good and holy and pure has been effaced, and
who, in this city of Gospel-light, se^m to have aban-
doned all feelings of hope for this world and the
next ; to see multitudes of young lads already old in
crime, and who, unless relief coifie to them, and come
soon, will assuredly swell the ranks of the criminal
class. Sadder still to see thousands of young girls,
CHURCH RELATIONS.
159
al
between the ages of ten and fourteen, drifting away
to a doom which appears inevitable; to see flocks of ^
helpless children growing up to form another genera-
tion of the degraded — such of them, at least, as will
survive the hunger and wretchedness, the neglect and
cruelty, to which they are subjected.
lights such as these, without looking into the gin-
palaces — those sinks of all that is degrading — the
dark lanes, loathsome alleys, crowded lodging-houses,
where thieves and pickpockets and the vilest men
and women congregate, are enough to cause the
deepest pain of heart, enough to beget the most pro-
found thankfulness to God that our own lot is so
different, and enough to lead us searchingly to ask
ourselves. What have we done, what do we intend to
do to make this wretchedness and this sorrow less ?
Can these older and more hardened men and women
be saved ? these young lads, can they be rescued ?
these young girls, can they be snatched from a life of
shame too sad to contemplate ^ these helpless children,
can they be reached before sin, with its defilement,
has done its work ? can the bodies be saved as well
as the souls ? A simple glance at the report of the
London City Mission will, perhaps, furnish the best
answer we can give to these questions :
" The achievement of the shoe-black societies, as
well as those of many kindred associations, have put
to rest the question of hopelessness. None are too
low to be raised, none too abandoned to be hopeless ;
while the individual instances in which those who
were once neglected street-arabs, vagabonds and
pickpockets, become men holding prominent and re-
sponsible positions, demonstrate that positions of
trust and responsibility are open to those who are
found in the ranks of the degraded, and that if deter-
mined to live new lives, the past, however dark, does
not bar their future advancement."
1
IGO
A MERCHANT PRINCE.
But how is this great wave of wretchedness and
misery to be checked, and changed into all that is
pure, and healthful, and life-giving ? God's Word
must be in future, as it has been in the past, the
great instrument arresting the attention, awakening
the conscience, and exciting the understanding to the
need of salvation. It must be put into the hands or
brought to the homes of those who need it, by agents
of unmistakable piety, tact and shrewdness, by those
who not only are bringers of the Word, but lovers of
the Word, not only readers of the Word, but those
who have its truths treasured in their memories and
in their hearts. It is but a waste of time to employ
anyone in this work who does not love it for its own
sake, who has not experienced a change of heart,
who has not a love for the souls of men. Herein
lies the whole groundwork of the system :
" The love of Christ doth me constrain
To seek the wandering souls of men ;
With cries, entreaties, tears to save,
To snatch them from the gaping grave."
To-day, as in the days of Christ, " the harvest truly
is plenteous, the labourers are few." Taking, by way of
illustration, this great city, containing over 4,000,000,
and adding to its population some 90,000 souls a year,
it has, in connection with the London City Mission,
450 missionaries. But when the masses among whom
they labour are considered, may it not be appro-
priately asked, What are they among so many ? Upon
this point the Lord Mayor, while presiding recently
at Egyptian Hall, asked, " What are 450 missionaries
for this great metropolis ? " And at the same meeting
Lord Shaftesbury stated that 1,000 would not be one
too many. If we rightly estimate the results sure to
follow the ft*. ' ful efforts of every devoted worker
CHURCH RELATIONS.
161
and
lat is
Word
b, the
ening
,0 the
ids or
iprents
those
ers, oi
those
ies and
employ
its own
: heart,
Herein
in this field, then we may safely conclude that in
this wide world there is not one more full of promise.
If there is a field in the world where more than
any other such efforts are needed, that field is the
one found in this great city. Here is the deepest
degradation, here ample ability to meet it in
means and workers. . . . Let the Church
unite in sending into this field without loss of time
a greatly increased staff of workers ; Christian men
await but the application to supply you with the
means. Better still, let every Christian man and
woman in this great city become a worker, not
offering words merely, not simply reminding the
degraded of their condition, not merely offering Christ
to them as their Saviour when the only feelings of
which they are conscious are the gnawings of hunger,
and the only shelter which awaits them for the night,
the canopy of heaven. Let such workers cheerfully
minister to them of their substance, giving if it be
but a tithe of what they daily spend upon super-
fluities, realizing that the poor perishing body needs
help as well as the soul. Let every Christian woman
of this metropolis take their poor fallen sisters by
the hand, many of whom are more sinned against
than sinning, many of whom abhor the life, the sad
life into which they have drifted, not passing them
by as though God had forsaken them, but remember-
ing the words of Him who said to an erring one,
" Neither do I condemn thee ; go in peace and sin no
more " ; then, indeed, will results follow such as never
have been witnessed in this great metropolis ; and the
glad tidings will be wafted to every quarter, and men
and women everywhere will be led to labour as they
have never done before for those that are outcast and
degraded.
:='(!
n]
11
\-<i
162 A MERCHANT PRINCE.
'* In the lone; run all love is paid by love,
Though undervalued by the hearts o£ earth ;
The great eternal government of above
Keeps strict account, and will redeem its work.
Give thy love freely, do not count the cost,
S^o beautiful a thing was never lost
In the long run."
In a large union meeting held in December, 1881,
in the Carlton Street Primitive Methodist Church, to
hear the delegates from this great Methodist gathering,
" One in speech, and one in face,
One in honest pride of race,
One in faith, and hope and grace,"
Mr. Macdonald, speaking of the " Probable Results of
the Conference," said :
" If, then, the ordinary daily intercourse of men
may be productive of most important results, if their
words, hastily, perhaps thoughtlessly spoken, become
active agents for good or ill, what results might one
reasonably suppose would follow from the coming
together of 400 delegates, representative of twenty-
five millions of people, brought together from every
quarter of the earth, coming, as many of them did,
at great personal sacrifice of time and means — feeling
that a great occasion, the first of its kind, had brought
them together in a sanctuary, every foot of which
might not irreverently be said to be holy ground,
whose aisles had been so often trod by the saints of
God, by men whom God had honoured as instruments
in reviving pure religion throughout the world, whose
dust was resting /here they stood awaiting the morn-
ing of the resurrection ? In such an assembly, in
vsuch an editice, brought together under such circum-
stances, where utterances were carefully considered,
CHURCH RELATIONS.
163
where so many of the speakers were men of masterly
minds, whose thoughts were creative thoughts, their
words those of inspiration, where men came to listen,
not in the spirit of criticism, but in a spirit at once
humble and teachable, and where from the opening
services from the able and comprehensive sermon of
Bishop Simpson to the hallowed devotional exercises
which brought the Conference to a close, the Master
of assemblies was graciously present crowning the
proceedings with His favour and His blessing — what
results might be looked for from such a gathering
convened under such circumstances ? Let me say
briefly, that there were results which were immediate
— results which led men to ask what hath God
wrought ? Results of which one may enquiringly
ask, What will the harvest be ? Was it a great thing
to see assembled in one building representatives of
twenty-five distinct branches of the Church of Christ
— many of whose members had upon so many occasions
found it difficult to speak of each other with ordinary ,
courtesy, to say nothing of brotherly affection ; and
had often contended upon the same ground, not so
much for God alone as the maintenance of a sect ?
. . . Was it a great thing to realize that the
members of the Conference knew each other only as
brethren ? That the feelingf which most influenced
each was the sense that hitherto there had been (m
the part of each a large amount of misunderstanding
about each other ? That the differences which divided
brethren were more imaginary than real ? How easy
is it to realize that the members felt that above the
spirit which characterized the Council was the spirit
of that charity which thinketh no evil, which suffereth
long and is kind, which envieth not, which vaunteth
not itself, which is not puflTed up, and which led
brethren so sit day after day as members of the same
family, and to part with the kindliest wishes for each
■ ' 1.,
1 !'. ■'!
I li ■
164
A MERCHANT PRINCE.
other's welfare. Now, had there been no other results,
would these not have amply repaid all the labour and
sacrifice involved in the gathering, sufficient both for
the members and others, matter tor life-long remem-
brance ? The utterances of the Council upon the
peculiar characteristics of Methodism were clear and
unmistakable. ... Of the results which are to
follow, what shall we say? First, another Council to
be held on this continent, where brethren will renew
their fraternal greetings, and with an enlarged expe-
rience discuss the great matters which will coine be-
fore it. Can we not find in the spirit which pervades
this meeting, the first of its kind, results which, but
for the Council, we had hardly hoped to have seen so
soon — a greater interest in each other's work, a rivalry
only in seeking to secure each other's good, a gradual
growing towards each other, not by any sudden or
spasmodic effort, but as the result of exhibiting more
fully that charity which is the fruit of the Spirit, and
which is the true mark of Christ's followers. And
what we are doing here, is being done at our antipodes.
The results of the Council will neither be local nor
ephemeral. They will be felt wherever our language
is spoken. They will be felt as long as time shall
endure. They will be apparent in the great kindli-
ness with which brethren will speak of each other, in
the greater tenderness with which they will think of
eac'i other, in the gradual but permanent widening of
that platform upon which they will stand and work,
and as a consequence in the gradual diminution of the
number of branches of the great Methodist family,
in the hastening of the period when, not in word only,
but in deed and in truth, they will all be one, and
when it will be said of them, in a sense which has
scarcely been possible before, ' Behold how good and
how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in
unity.' "
T results,
30ur and
both for
J remem-
ipon the
ilear and
li are to
ouncil to
1] renew
id expe-
jome be-
3ervades
lich, but
I seen so
I rivahy
gradual
dden or
ig more
irit, and
3. And
tipodes.
>cal nor
tnguage
le shall
kindli-
ther, in
hink of
ning of
1 work,
1 of the
family,
d only,
le, and
ch has
od and
her in
VIII.
MANIFOLD ACTIVITIES.
FT"
!
J
4:
> 1
r
1
When 1 think of the agencies which are ceaselessly at work
to make this bad world better, I am thankful that I live.
— Wm. Morley Fnnshon, LL.D.
To serve with lofty gifts the lowly needs
Of the poor race for which the God-man died,
And do it all for love. Oh, this is great !
— J. G. Holland.
We live in deeds, not years ; in thoughts, not breaths ;
In feelings, not in figures on a dial.
We should count time by heart-throbs. He most lives
Who thinks most, feels the noblest, acts the best.
— Bailey.
Life is not as idle ore,
But iron dug from central gloom,
And heated hot with burning fears.
And dipped in baths of hissing tears,
And batter'd with the shocks of doom,
To shape and use.
— Tennyson.
MANIFOLD ACTIVITIES.
!ii
ONE would think that the attention which the
active merchant gave to his extensive busi-
ness, and the earnest Christian to liis Church worl^,
would have absorbed all liis time. But a man oi his
exhaustless resources and immense energy of char-
acter could not fail to make his personality felt
everywhere in the community. His activity and
Christian work kept increasing. He was constantly
engaged in some great, practical, good work. In this
he received constant accessions of Divine strength,
for no man can persist for years in a course of self-
denying labours, prayer and activity unless he is
drawing from the Fountain of all grace — our Lord
Himself. It was only by the most persistent econ-
omy of time, and the most complete surrender of
himself to perpetual labour, that he was able to
accomplish what he did. He did not enter into
investments outside his regular business. He never
speculated. The following incident took place when
he was a boy. When leaving home, his father placed
in his hands the sum of eight dollars. Shortly after,
the embryo trader purchased an old watch for a
chain which had cost him four dollars, and two dollars
in cash, the balance left from his father's benefaction.
This watch he sold for the sum of twelve dollars to
168
A MERCHANT PRINCE.
a lumberman who had just returned from the woods,
where he had been working for the company. Upon
this transaction he expected to double his money,
instead of which he lost chain, money and watch, for
the lumberman never paid him a cent. It was a
terrible blow at the time, but was one of the best
things that could have happened to him, for he saw
the danger of speculation, and it was his first and last
venture of the kind. His reputation for ability,
integrity and zeal in positions of trust caused him to
be eagerly sought after to enter upon boards and
corporations of trust. But he was cautious, and
rarely embarked in such financial ventures. He was
for a time a director of the Bank of Commerce, and
was largely interested in the Canada Car Company,
which required much attention, but brought small
profit. With his accustomed sagacity, he saw that
he must not scatter his forces in business affairs.
Board of Trade.
He was, however, active on the Board of Trade.
Interested in the commercial prosperity of the city
and the province, he devoted much time and judg-
ment in devising plans for promoting and developing
that prosperity. These combinations of merchants,
manufacturers and traders, to promote the interests
of commerce and aid the industrial advancement of
cities and nations, are now a part of our modern
civilization. His matured judgment, untiring devo-
tion to business, and his unblemished integrity, gave
him rank with the most honoured and successful of
MANIFOLD ACTIVITIES.
1G9
Trade,
city
oping
hants,
erests
jnt of
odern
devo-
gave
merchants, and made him very influential in the con-
sideration of all questions pertaining to finance and
the industrial interests of the city. Ho was enrolled
among the earliest members of the Toronto Board of
Trade, and always took an active part in its proceed-
ings. As late as January, 1889, he presented a paper
on the commercial relations between, Canada, the
West Indies and British Guiana.
In this paper, among other things, he said :
" I have no doubt that there are in this gathering
those whose business or inclination have brought
them to these lovely islands of the sea. For them,
nothing that I can say of their appearance, their pro-
ducts or their people, will be new ; but there are
others, and I am safe in saying by far the greater
number, who have not the slightest conception that
within five or six days' journeying from our own
city, there are islands so strangely beautiful, so
wonderfully productive — islands where perpetual
summer reigns, and where — while with us winter has
asserted its power, has robbed the forest of its foliage,
and the fields of their verdure — there the palm
trees bend their graceful forms — oranges, limes,
bananas, and sapodillas, and indeed every kind of
tropical fruit surround the passer-by, while tropical
flowers skirt every road-side, and border many of the
great cane fields, whose delicate green with the
feathery arrow of the cane rises and bends to every
breeze, as do the waves of the sea ; whose lofty moun-
tain peaks rise to the height of 5,000 or 6,000 feet,
and whose low lands present such pictures of loveli-
ness, arising from their great fertility and marvellous
vegetation, as are not to be surpassed on the face of
the earth. It is under such circumstances that one
realizes, to some extent, at least, the vastness and the
170
A MERCHANT PRINCE.
power of the Britisli Empire, as they thus see it
embracing within itself every climate, almost every
class of people, and every {)rocluct of the earth.
"In the month of July, when amid the icebergs of
Labrador, in latitude somewhere about 52" 20' north,
and when on that rocky coast at anchor by reason
of the fog, the very first object that met my eye
when the fog lifted was the ensign of St. George
Hoatinir on one of Her Majesty's vessels stationed
there to guard the interests of her Newfoundland
fishermen ; and at the close of the year, as I found
myself at British Guiana, in something like six degrees
north of the etjuator, and where the mariner ofttimes
takes his bearings from the Southern Cross, I found
the same ensign Hoatini; from British merchant-
ships, which had brought there the riches of many
lands, over many seas, to take back to as many lands
the products of Britain's colonies.
"Steaming from about 52" 20' north, where our
way lay through immense icebergs, sixty of which
we would see in one day, and where the hardy
Newfoundlander, amid snow and ice, plies his trade ;
.steaming onward and southward to within six
degrees of the equator, where the temperature of the
ocean is 83", and where summer perpetually reign.s,
I found on that great expanse of ocean continuous
evidence of the dominance of British commerce. I
found in every colony I visited not only that Britain
had left upon each the mark of her prowess, but
the blessings of her civilization. 1 felt, as I never
had realized before, under circumstances and condi-
tions as opposite as they could well-nigh be, that at
each extreme the power and influence of the empire
were equally great, and equally great for good.
Connected with such a power, I thought upon our
possibilities of development; I thought upon our
future ; I thought upon our destiny. But this was
MANIFOLD ACTIVITIES.
171
the one thought which most impressed me — that our
destiny was in our own luinds, and not in the hands
of any foreijjn power, however near or liowever
great, and realizing tliis fully, I felt that if in work-
ing it out we were but true to tliose great underlying
principles of truth and righteousness, which are the
guarantees, not only of a nation's prosperity, but of
a nation's stability — if we were but true to our
country and true to ourselves — nothing could stand in
the way of our progress, nothing, by any possibility,
retard our development ; for then we should be pros-
perous and contented at home, and we should be
honoured and respected abroad."
Sunday School Union.
An enthusiastic worker in the Sabbath School, a
teacher or officer in it during the larger part of his
life, he took a lively interest in the Sunday School
Union. He was always ready to aid -Mission Sunday
Schools in new and remote districts, and believed
them to be fountains of blessings. He was ready to
second every measure that would promote the effi-
ciency of Sunday Schools. He often acted as chairman
of these Sunday School Teachers' Associations, and
gave addresses at their anniversary meetings.
The Sabbath.
He loved and honoured the Sabbath, and every
encroachment upon the sanctity of the Lord's Day
met with his vigorous and constant opposition. In
the unceasing warfare that has to be kept up against
the enemies of God's Day, Mr. Macdonald could
always be counted upon either as a soldier to fight or
^•:
172
A MERCHANT PRINCE.
I
a general to lead He believed that the domestic,
political and religious life of a nation was advanced
by guarding the Day of Rest, and sought to enforce
the rights and obligations of this day, not only by
speech, but by restrictive legislation.
Every sense of humanity, kindness and justice in
him was shocked by the perpetual, unbroken labour
of the workingman on the Sabbath Day. In his
travels over the continent, or along the rocky coasts
of Newfoundland, wherever he found a settlement
destitute of public worship on the Lord's Day, he
would call the people together and preach to them
the Gospel. When he visited the famous Yellowstone
Park, he arrived with his daughter at the hotel on
Saturday night. Next morning all the guests were
out in carriages. Mr. Macdonald and his party alone
remained. On Monday morning, as they entered the
carriage, the driver said, " Are you the gentleman who
refused to go out yesterday ? " " Yes, sir ; I am."
" Well, you are the first tourist that I have met in
sixteen years who refused to break the Sabbath. I
have driven this carria,ge all that time, and could
never get a Sunday to go to church."
Temperance.
The Temperance cause had also his active sym-
pathy. In early life, when drinking habits were all
but universal, he became an abstainer and an advo-
cate of total abstinence.
He had words of encouragement for the various
Orders, Associations, and Bands of Hope; but he
MANIFOLD ACTIVITIES.
173
had small confidence in aay reformation of the indi-
vidual that did not include genuine conversion. He
believed that as a religious movement the Temper-
ance cause achieved its best results, and so the City
Christian Temperance Mission had his constant sup-
port. He was also a member of the Prohibitory
Alliance, for in his deep and intelligent hatred of
intemperance, he sought by every moral and legis-
lative means to suppress this crime of crimes.
Would that all our legislators could see the folly
and sin of licensing men to sell this poison ! The
liquor laws are an unspeakable infamy, and the
traffic is one under whose curse the civilized world
is everywhere groaning. Or<r prisons, workhouses,
and asylums overflow with the victims of drink.
Yet through the power of the liquor oligarchy the
iniquity is made lawful, though petitions and appeals
to our legislatures fall year by year as *' thick as
autumn leaves in Vallambrosa."
■ City Charities.
The benevolent and charitable orgaaizations of
the city all had his co-operation and support. His
hand was on almost every lever of the varied machi-
nery to restore and lift up the fallen : the rescue
work, reformatory work, prison-gate missions, etc.
One of the most unique and helpful of addresses was
given by him to the prisoners of Toronto Jail on the
Christmas of 1879 :
" You have seen at many public buildings and at
different gates approaching them two boards, and upon
4-
I
If
II i
i I
1
174
A MERCHANT PRINCE.
each board three words : ' The way in,' ' The way-
out.' i purpose applyincr these words to yourselves.
" ' The way in.' There are many of you who, when
boys and girls, if you had been told that upon this
glad Christmas morning you would be the inmates
of this jail, would have answered, ' Impossible.' You
had other hopes and other purposes. But in an evil
hour you took your first step and entered the street
of Bad Company, which was directly on the route to
' the way in.' This street has a down-grade and is
slippery withal, and of the many who are drawn into
it very few find their way out. You remember this
morning the first step you took into it, and all the
other streets into which it has led you, until you
are now in a labyrinth from which escape seems
impossible. Away down this street you entered
another — the street of Drunkenness ; then the street
of Profanity, which led into the street of Sabbath
Desecration, where God's name is never mentioned
but to be taken in vain ; wherein is no sanctuary
and no Sabbath bell, no modest looks, no quiet
demeanour, no peace, no happiness, no rest. This
brought you to the street called Utter Indifference,
at the end of which stood the jail -yard, and over it
' the way in ' — your character gone, clothes gone,
friends gone, hope gone ; so that many a poor fellow,
and many a broken-hearted woman has entered it
repeating :
" ' Anywhere, anywhere, out of the world.'
"But by thuS time you are ready to say, 'Never
mind the way in, tell us the way out.' Well, there
are a great many ways out — through the gate, over
the walls, through the window ; but these will all be
found difficult. And let me tell jou, unless you get
rid of the thraldom of your own selves, you are
better here than anywhere else. The thought I want
MANIFOLD ACTIVITTES.
17;
to impress upon you is this : Be men and women.
Come to God throunrh Jesus Christ, and though He
knows it all, tell Him the story of it all, and in this
jail repent of your past. The only way out is
through repentance ; without it, I have no hope in
any promise you may make. Without the help
which God will grant, you could not stand an hour.
" Perhaps one of you is sayinf^, ' If I were sure
that any person situated as I am had ever become a
reformed man, and a useful member of society by
doing as you say, I would try it.' Let me give you
an instance of one better off than any here, perhaps,
lower sunk than anyone here — the Prodigal Son —
who, when forsaken by his companions, said, ' I will
arise and go to my father.' ' But,' you say, ' he had
a father and a home — I have neither.' The whole
scope of this parable is to teach the readiness of our
Father in heaven to receive* us. Can you not trust
Him. We present to you this Saviour ; we come to
you this glad morning with the joyous message,
" Unto you is born this day in the city of David a
Saviour, which is Christ the Lord,' "
ever
ihere
over
ill be
u get
are
want
Salvation Army.
The Salvation Army had his sympathy, and he
gave to the movement his coimtenance and aid. At
first he thought that the excesses of the Army pro-
duced irreverence of thought, expression, and action,
•naking religion grotesque and familiar; but when
he visited London and other great centres of England
and saw the work that was beint; done amonsf the
degraded, outcast and fallen, his whole being went
out in ardent sympathy with the work ; and when
General Booth uuxde his first visit to this country in
176
A MERCHANT PRINCE.
1886, a reception was given him at " Oaklands,"
when his residence and grounds were thrown open to
the Army and their friends, and the General had the
opportunity of setting forth the principles and pro-
gress of the Salvation Army before many of the
best citizens of Toronto.
When the Army were securing their magnificent
quarters at King's Cross, Mr. Macdonpld assisted
them by a contribution of one thousand dollars ; and
always gave largely and cheerfully to the various
schemes of this mighty, evangelizing agency.
Bible Society.
He was an unfailing friend of the Bible Society, so
catholic in its character and operations. He was not
only a regular contributor to the funds of the Upper
Canada Bible Society, but also a director, and for
many years one of the vice-presidents. Through
the whole period of his career he never wavered or
faltered in any step that might promote its welfare,
and always cherished the largest conception of the
importance of this work. He was also a firm believer
in. the usefulness of tracts and of religious books,
and w^as an active member of the Upper Canada
Tract Society.
General HospirAL.
Among the institutions in whose success he took
an unwearied interest was the General Hospital.
This institution is not for the treatment of city
patients alone, but is open to patients from the vari-
MANIFOLD .VCTIVITIES.
177
ous municipalities in different parts of the Province,
where they receive the best medical advice and atten-
tion which the country can afibrd. He was Hospital
Trustee for the Board of Trade in 1868 and 1869,
when the stoppa^^e of the annual grant by the old
Government of Canada, and the uncertainty as to
the policy which the Government of Ontario would
adopt in regard to charitable institutions, left the
trustees no alternative but temporarily to close the
institution. As soon as it was learned that a grant
would be made by the local Government, the building
was put in excellent order and re-opened. When
Mr Macdonald took hold of the trusteeship, there
was no money in the exche(|uer ; few beds for the
sick; the institution crippled, enfeebled, and in bank-
ruptcy. But he took money out of. his own pocket
to keep it open, sought increased funds, and through
his faithful and zealous efforts the benefits of the
institution were extended to a larger number of
patients and its efficiency greatly increased. During
one year he attended over one hundred meetings of
the Board, and made a still larger number of visits
to the hospital when contagious diseases were in the
wards. Each week he went from five to six times
around the wards, making himself familiar with the
patients and doing what he could for their comfort.
He was for some years the Chairman of the Board
of Trustees, and in October, 1882, in this capacity he
delivered an address to the nurses. The address
abounds with valuable suggestions, as the following
extracts will show :
13
t
178
A MERCHANT PRINCE.
" You doubtless realize that when men or women
are prostrated by disease, they require good air, good
advice, good nursing.
"All the medical skill they need they have here
from gentlemen of high professional ability, and
whose labours are rendered without fee or reward,
other than the consciousness that they are helping to
lessen human misery.
" But patients may receive the best medical advice,
they may have tho benefit of the best medical skill,
•and in some diseases, unless they receive the very best
nursing, they may die.
" Do not underrate your position, then. A nurse,
who, from right and pure motives, attends the sick
with the care, tenderness and fidelity which ministers
to their recovery, is a noble woman, and is engaged
in a work for which she will be had in remembrance.
In order that you may do this, it is necessary that
you should, first, love your luork. You must have
some higher motive than working for so many dollars
per month. No one ever made a successful nurse,
either in an hospital or elsewhere, who did not feel a
deep interest in the work itself.
" In order that such may be the case, go about it
pleasantly. If a bright, cheerful, sunny, smiling,
winning face is needed anywhere, it is in the
hospital."
Young Men's Christian Association.
Full of sympathy with the young,' familiar with the
circumstances of young men in our cities, Mr. Mac-
donald could not fail to appreciate the aims and
usefulness of such an organization as the Y.M.C.A.
He knew that such an agency would be most helpful
to young men who had no guidance., no direction, no
po;
mi
I
MANIFOLD ACTIVITIES.
179
nen
rood
here
and
/ard,
igto
home influences, no helpful associations ; and with a
view to improve the moral and spiritual condition of
these younj]j men, he with a few others originated this
movement in the city in 18r)2. At a meeting held in
Bond Street Congregational Church, in December,
1866, he discussed the value of these associations to
the commercial world. Among other things, he said :
" Commerce has attained a magnitude in our day,
greater than in any period of the world's history.
When the Ishmaelites came down from Gilead to
Egypt, bearing spices, balm and myrrh, they came on
the * ships of the desert,' the camels. How wondrous
are the transformations produced by commerce even
in that land made sacred by so many associations.
She is about laying her iron-way for the accomplish-
ment of her purposes to the mountain-city of Jeru-
salem. What changes have taken place since the
days of Columbus, Now the adventurous merchant-
man sends his goods from continent to continent ; our
rivers and oceans are filled with vessels from every
land. How has .science shortened distance, so that
what used to take months is now performed in days.
Where is the country that is not intercepted with
railways, and difficulties at one time considered insur-
mountable have been overcome with ease ? When a
commercial panic takes place we get some insight into
the influence which commerce exerts in the world.
We read occasionally of firms whose stoppage throws
out of employment as many men as are found in the
British army, and whose liabilities amount to a sum
which one of the merchant princes of Tyre in their
days of splendour and glory had never conceived it
possible of attainment. Look at the fleets and navy-
yards of the world, bonded and other warehouses, the
millions of men employed in moving the spices, the
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H
180
A MERCHANT PRINCE.
cottons, the flax, the grain, and manufactured goods
of every kind, and we will form some idea of the
power which commerce exerts in the world. It
appears to be a part of the divine economy that the
products of one country are wanted by another, and
the country having the largest manufacturing ability
is largely dependent upon other lands for agricultural
products, so that neither a failure of crops in the one
instance, nor a suspension of industry in the other,
can take place without being felt by both. Seeing,
then, that these interests are so closely connected,
what a large portion of the human family are identi-
fied with commerce.
" Now, what is the value of the Young Men's Chris-
tian Associations to these commercial interests ? What
do they propose to do ? Why, to benefit young men,
the majority of whom are in the marts of trade, by
engaging them in Christian work, getting good them-
selves, and doing good to others. By the ditfusion of
a pure and healthy literature among young men, by
visitation of the sick, by the benefit of Bible classes
and other profitable exercises ; in a word, to provide
a home for young men and make it attractive, intro-
ducing them to those whose sympathies are with
them. What an important work this of saving our
young men from the path of the destroyer and leading
them into the ways of pleasantness ! To the young
man himself, how invaluable are such influences in
saving him from bad company and giving him the
best possible education for the stern duties of active
life. Is there any spectacle more beautiful than to
see a young man surrounded by every earthly allure-
ment yet living to God and being able to say amid all
these things, ' O God, my heart is fixed.' "
He rejoiced to see the Association steadily increas-
ing in numbers and in wealth, until it had gained the
prominent position which it now occupies in the city.
MANIFOLD ACTIVITIES.
181
roods
I the
It
t the
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bility
Itural
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other,
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ig men,
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the city.
When a movement was started for the erection of
a building for the Association, he promptly subscribed
and greatly assisted in the work. On June 1st, 1872,
in presence of a large gathering, surrounded by the
leading pastors of the city, as president of the Associ-
ation he performed the impressive ceremony of laying
the corner-stone of Shaftesbury Hall.
In October, 1872, on the occasion of the visit of
Lord Dufferin, the Governor-General, to Toronto, a
deputation from the Association, consisting of Mr.
John Macdonald, President; Dr. Daniel Wilson, B.
Homer Dixon, K.N.L., George Hague, John L. BlaiKie,
J. C. Hamilton, C. A. Morse, William Anderson, S. R.
Briggs, W. E. Cornell, R. C. Bothwell, James McDun-
nough, Thos. J. Wilkie, Secretary, waited upon His
Excellency, and an address of welcome was read by
Mr. Macdonald.
In 1878 he was a delegate to the International Con-
vention of the Y.M.C.A., held in Baltimore, Md., and
was a conspicuous figure in that wonderful gathering
When the time came to choose a more central location
than Shaftesbury Hall, Mr. Macdonald was one of the
leaders in the enterprise of erecting the new and
magnificent building on Yongc Street, corner of Mc-
Gill. At the dedication of this structure, so complete
in all its appointments, and so thoroughly fitted for
Association work, on the evening of November 3rd,
1887, Mr. Macdonald said :
" The beginniniijs of most successful men have been
humble. The beginnings of this Association were very
humble. It was indeed ' the day of small things.'
182
A MERCHANT PRINCE.
a;
The Association room was small, about eighteen by
thirty-three. The membership was small. The means
were small, and necessarily the expenditure was small.
But steadily this humble agency kept growing ; kept
making its power felt. A bold step was undertaken
in the proposal to remove to King Street, at a rent of
$200 per annum, with about six times the room
which the Association then had. Next came the more
thorough organizing of committees, and the need of a
secretary, and Mr. Wilkie's connection with the Asso-
ciation, when its increase became marked and perma-
nent. No two names deserve to be treasured more in
connection with this period of the Association's history
than the names of Wm. Anderson and Robert Baldwin.
Now came the still more pretentious project of a
building for Association work, and Shaftesbury Hall
was the result. Two names are here to be remembered,
the names of Mr. George Hague and Mr. Homer
Dixon. Next came the Bazaar, in which the ladies
raised between $8,000 and $9,000, and from that day
onward the success of the Association has been
assured. Now comes Mr. Blake's connection with this
important work. Indeed, the Association has been the
child of the people, and the best evidence that its work
has been done well is the confidence with which it has
been held by the public. But greater than all the
results which we witness in this magnificent building,
and all the appointments in connection with it, is the
work it has done in character-building for the young
men of this city. Very many have been led to Christ
through its workers and through its agencies, some of
these being among the ministers and others among the
Christian workers of this and other cities. The days
of which I speak then, * the days of small things,'
were really to this association like the grain of mus-
tard seed, now become a great and stately tree."
MANIfOLD ACTIVITIES.
18.1
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In December of the same year he attended a
public meeting in Hamilton, and made an eloquent
appeal for the erection of a Y.M.C.A. building in that
city.
He was twice President of the great conventions
held in Canada.
He knew that the future of our country depends
upon the young men who are rising to take their place
in the Church, in politics and in trade ; and that the
Y. M. C. A. was one of the most important of all
Christian organizations ; and to the end of his life
he entertained toward it the most cordial affection.
Evangelical Alliance.
The Evangelical Alliance was another organization
that appealed strongly to his catholic spirit. Its
principles and international character were in har-
moiiy with his own love of Christian unity ; and his
ardent desire was that believers of every name and
land s-hould be brought into closer fellowship and
co-operation. He was at the formation of the Branch
in Toronto, and it secured his adhesion and support.
He took a prominent part in its proceedings, and
frequently presented its claims before the churches
and the public. He was active in the meetings held
from year to year during the week of prayer, under
the auspices of the Alliance. In October, 1888, a
General Christian Conference was held in Montreal,
under the direction of that Branch of Evangelical
Alliance. One hundred and fifteen delegates from
all parts of the Dominion, and representing all evan-
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A MERCHANT PRINCE.
gelical denominations, responded to the invitation of
the Montreal Branch. Representatives from the
American Alliance and from the parent Alliance in
London were also in attendance. The conference
continued for several days, with crowded audiences
at each morning, afternoon and evening session.
Papers were read, and discussions held on the most
vital, theological, religious and moral questions of the
day. On the second day Senator Macdonald gave a
most effective address on " Capital and Labour."
At the close of the conference a Dominion Evan
gelical Alliance was formed. The headquarters of
the new organization was to be in Montreal ; and in
order to secure the influence and cc operation of
Ontario, Mr. Macdonald was appointed its President.
The honour was unexpected, but though his hands
were full of work, yet he could not decline it. The
agitation concerninor the Jesuit Estates Act and the
appropriation of public funds to this Order followed,
and during the year Mr. Macdonald resigned his
position as President. But his interest in the Evan-
gelical Alliance never wavered. He believed that it
was accomplishing a great and glorious work through-
out the world in diflfusing the spirit of brotherly love
and union among all denominations, and among
Christians individually ; in vindicating the cause of
the oppressed, and promoting that peace and amity
which should characterize the relationships of individ-
uals, of churches, and of nations.
IX.
PARLIAMENTARY LIFE.
A life in civic action warm,
A soul on highest mission sent,
A potent voice in Parliament,
A pillar steadfast in the storm.
—Tennyson's ''In Memoriam.'
For some must follow, some command,
Tho' all are made of clay.
■Longfellow.
Party has, no doubt, its evils, but all the evils of party put
together would be scarcely a grain in the balance when com-
pared to the dissolution of honourable friendships, the pursuit
of selfish ends, the want of concert in council, the absence of a
settled policy in foreign affairs, and the corruption of separate
statesmen. _^^^.^ j^^^^^ _g^^^^^j^^
PARLIAMENTARY LIFE.
THE pursuit of politics as a profession is in har-
mony with the best intellectual tendencies of
our age. It is as necessary that we should have in
our Houses of Parliament trained and skilled legis-
lators, as that we should have able and professional
administrators of the law. Why should not legislation
become the business of one's life, just as jurisprudence
is the business of the professional lawyer's life ? True,
the methods of election present serious disadvantages
to the study of politics as a science or to the follow-
ing of it as a calling. A free State must be self-
governing, and popular sjuffrage must be the ultimate
sovereign. Hence, the people must be free to call for
the services, not only of a class of educatec politicians,
but also of those who never seriously contemplated a
parliamentary career. For this reason politics can
never become, like law or medicine, a close profession.
Besides, the subjects that call for legislative inter-
position are so multifarious that no special training,
either theoretical or practical, could possibly embrace
them all ; so that men of exceptional aptitude must
be selected irrespective of any preliminary training.
Whatever our training, when it comes to pursuits in
life,
Some will lead to courts, and some to camps ;
To senates, some.
188
A MERCHANT PRINCE.
Great interests must be represented by those who
are particularly interested in them ; and so the rank
and file of the Members of Parliament will always be
representatives of special industries and interests.
Mr. Macdonald was a citizen of great public spirit,
gifted with exceptional insight into public affairs, and
as his wealth and leisure increased, he was induced
to enter the sphere of legislation. In June, 1863, he
became a candidate for the representation of the
Western Division of Toronto in the Provincial Parlia-
ment. Though a moderate and independent man, he
was on the Liberal side of politics.
The requisition inviting him to permit himself to
be put in nomination was a very large and influential
one, signed by nearly a thousand of his fellow-electors,
who expressed their confidence in him as an old
resident, an enterprising and successful merchant, a
man of ability and integrity, and in every way worthy
to represent a progressive and improving city.
Having allowed himself to be nominated, he at
once entered the arena,, contesting the seat with the
Hon. John Bev^erley Robinson, afterwards Lieut.-Gover-
nor of Ontario. He appeared before the electors at
meetings, setting forth with clearness and vigour his
views ; but a personal canvass he would not under-
take. He would take no personal means to secure a
single vote. With that canvass so exhaustive as to
amount almost to a preliminary election, he would
have nothing to do. He was ready to fight an open
battle, fairly and honestly ; but his nature was too
sensitive and finely strung to descend to a personal
PARLIAMENTARY LIFE.
189
solicitation of support. To his opponent he was
generous, chivalric and courteous, and opposed to fraud,
intrigues and chicanery of every kind. The result of
the election was that Mr. Macdonald was triumphantly
returned, the "noble ward" of St. John's alone giving
him a majority of over 300. Toronto was lost to the
Conservatives, Mr. A. M. Smith, the friend of his boy-
hood, defeating Mr. Crawford in the east by a majority
of over 500, and Mr. Macdonald's supporters giving
him almost the same majority in the west. The con-
test was an honourable one, and he was elected by the
independent and honest vote of the people, as a man
who would act in the House according to his honest,
conscientious convictions.
"What do you think of the House of Commons?"
asked Lord Wolseley of Carlyle. The sage of Chelsea
answered gruffly, " I think that it is a place in which
there are 600 talking asses." Mr. Macdonald entered
the House at an interesting period of Canadian history,
and he was not a silent observer of the great political
drama. He was an original speaker, an effective
debater, and took a wide and independent range of
outlook. He was not a fighting politician, nor a party
man viewing everything from a party standpoint.
Compared with many of the parliamentarians around
him, he was as porcelain to pottery, being of so much
finer material and superior qualities. The degrada-
tion of politics filled him with sorrow and misgivings.
But he cared for his country, as most men care for
party, having no private ends to seek, and desiring
only the public weal. There were burning questions
I") fc
190
A MEUCHANT PRINCE.
under discussion. One of these was the seat of Govern-
ment : for the Parliament had, since the burning of
the buildings in Montreal, been convening alternately
at Toronto and Quebec. But the chief question was
representation by population. By the constitutional
Act of 1791, Canada had been divided into two pro-
vinces, Upper and Lower, each having its own legisla-
tion of two Houses, and its own Governor. Many
abuses had crept in ; the Governors really had every-
thing in their own hands, and worked through what
is known as the " Family Compact." There was a
long struggle for popular rights and responsible
government, until the contest culminated in the re-
union of the provinces by the Act of Union of 1840.
This transferred the supreme power from the Crown
to the representatives of the people. The " Clergy
Reserves " continued to be a bone of contention until
1854, when the immense land grants were secularized,
and the rectorial claims were commuted. But the
provinces had been given a fixed and equal number of
members in the Legislature. The population of the
Lower Province was at first larger than that of Upper
Canada. But the rapid growth of the west soon
created a demand that this representation should be
rectified in accordance with numbers. The disparity
between the two provinces, in population, was
growing wider and wider ; and the call from the
British province, for a remedy of these inequalities,
became more and more irresistible. The French re-
fused the concession of this principle, on the ground
that the apportionment had been made irrespective of
li f- ■*
PARLIAMENTARY LIFE.
191
numbers. The struj^gle was carried on with the ut-
most vehemence, the Globe leadinjif, until, in 1857, Mr.
George Brown moved in the House that representation
should be based upon population, without regard to
the separating line between Upper and Lower Canada.
The resolution could not be carried, but the antagon-
ism between the two Canadas became so great that
legislation came to a standstill ; the political machinery-
could not move ; there was a dead-lock. A select
committee was appointed to find some solution for
existing difficulties, and this committee expressed a
strong feeling in favour of a Confederation, which
should include all the North American colonies of
Great Britian. Party hostilities were suspended, and a
Coalition Government was formed with Confederation
as its object. Delegates were appointed from the
various provinces, and a great conference held. A
scheme was promulgated, submitted to the Legisip .ure>
and finally adopted. The debate on Confederation'
which was opened in the Canadian Parliament, on the
6th of February, 1865, was a long and able one.
Every aspect of the question, financial, commercial,
political and military, was presented ; and Mr. Mac-
donald made several able and effective speeches.
It is needless to say that the resolutions of the
Government were carried. The Confederation Act
was passed by the Imperial Parliament, received the
royal assent, and Her Majesty's proclamation was
issued, bringing the Dominion of Canada into exist-
ence on July 1st, 1867. Legally, Confederation was
the act of the Home Government, yet the new Con-
192
A MEllOHANT PRINCE.
I
11
stitution would never have been inauf^urated but for
the action of the Colonial Lej^nslatures. One of Mr.
Macdonald's main objections was that the scheme was
not to be submitted to the people for approval. The
Constitution would have gained in veneration had it
been the act of the whole community. Strange that
a plan so cordially supported by Parliament should
not have been Submitted to the people at the polls.
No doubt the Government lacked courage to appeal
to the country for a constitutional expression of
opinion. Had there been such an expression of public
mind, many difficulties which have since arisen would
have been averted, for the constitution of our great
Canadian Confederation would have been made valid
and sacred by the fiat of the whole people, and not
by their acquiescence alone. As we look back over
the history of the Dominion during the past quarter
of a century, in the light of Mr. Macdonald's spirited
opposition to the proposed plan of federation, it does
not require much discrimination on the part of the
student of political science to observe how remark-
ably correct were his forecasts of the probable effects
of the measure. The politicians desired it as a way
of escape from the dilemma of dead-lock ; but it is a
question whether Confederation has not increased
instead of lessened these sectional difficulties. And
certainly the financial effects of union, and the in-
creased expenditure attending the working of Con-
federation, he did not overstate.
In 1865 Mr. Macdonald was re-elected for Toronto
West, and sat until 1867, when the inauguration of
I'AIlUAMENrAUV LIFE.
HKi
the new Dominion called for the formation of a new
Government. Sir John A. Macdonald, who had just
been knighted, in recofrnition of his services in con-
nection with the new nationality, was sworn in as
Premier ; and in organizing his Government he deter-
mined to ignore the old party lines, and have both
political parties represented. To this the Liberals
objected, claiming that the Govemnient was a coalition,
and declaring that the temporary alliance between the
Reform and the Conservative parties should now
cease. Mr. Macdonald received a recjuisition to stand
for the House of Commons, signed by 1,198 names.
He was opposed by Mr. Harrison, afterwards Chief
Justice of Ontario. Mr. Macdonald occupied an in-
dependent and untrammelled position, but the cry
was for union ; public feeling was in favour of the
coalition Government, and the union candidate was
sustained. The contest was conducted with tolerable
good feeling, and without much display of acrimony,
but those were days when practices of rowdyism and
lawlessness were resorted to to interrupt and disturb
public meetings. The hustings was a bear garden.
There was the open system of voting, and the polls
would sometimes be held by the most disreputable
portion of the community, so that, amid bowlings and
jeerings, showers of stones and brickbats, and with
blood flowing copiously from wounds received, the
electors recorded their votes.
Mr. Macdonald turned with relief to his business
affairs, until in 1875, a vacancy occurring in the
representation of Toronto Centre, a constituency
13
'f
I
104
A MIUCMANT PIUXCE.
which ha<l been createrl in 1872, he was invited to
become a candidati^, an<l was returned by acclaination.
There had been the downfall of the Macdonald Oov-
ernment, and Mr. Mackenzie was at the head of the
Administration.
Tlie existence of party has been character''^ed as
the very life-blood of freedom. It seems to be
essential to representative government and to true,
constitutional liberty. The great evil of this system,
however, is that party politicians are inclined to view
everything from a party standpoint. While Mr.
Macdonald rec()gnize<l a parliamentary Opposition as
ft necessary and constitutional restraint upon the
Government, yet when his party was in (3pposition, he
was always ready to aid in carrying out and perfect-
ing all measures which he believed would promote
the public good; and when his party was in power
he was just as ready to oppose a measure which he
deemed to be injurious to the country. While thus
an independent Liberal, holding loosely to the ties of
party, and discharging the duties of his trust, he was
recognized as a politician who had no axe to grind,
no favours to ask, no other object to accomplish save
the good of his constituents and the welfare of the
land. The uprightness and ability with which he
had created and was conducting one of the largest
commercial houses on the continent, was universally
recognized, as well as his unswerving religious prin-
ciples and high Christian integrity.
During this session an Act was passed which always
afforded him very great satisfaction. On his motion,
PAllMAMKNTAUY I.IKK.
105
the House was reciuested to consiiler the propriety of
opetiinj; its procoe(liri<»s with prayer. After some
observations from both sides, a committee was
appointed, and a report adopted to the effect that
prayers shouhJ be read by the Speaker of tlio House
in the lan^juaij^e most familiar to hiin, and tiiat mem-
bers should stand durin*^ such service. The practice
of the House, established, no doubt, out of <leferenco
to the French-speakinjjj members, is the reading of
prayers in French and Knnjlish on alternate days.
The budget speech of this year was the signal for
a long discussion of the Hnancial condition of the
country, in which Mr. Macdonald took a most active
part. He greatly impressed the House by the grasp
and practical knowledge of the subject which ho
displayed.
In 1878 there came another turn in the political
wheel. This wa3 the great cataclysmal year for the
Reform party. The session was becoming more and
more turbulent. The policy of the Opposition, led by
that parliamentary wi.-iard, Sir John Macdonald, was
a policy of deliberate obstruction, and some unusual
scenes were witnessed.
I cannot forbear giving some extracts from a letter
from Mr. Macdonald to his wife, which contain a
lively description of an event so familiar to many
old parliamentarians, when the House sat from
Friday at three p.m. until Saturday at six p.m., Mr.
Mackenzie then consenting to adjourn until Monday.
Lady Dufferin, in her charmingly written " Canadian
Journals," and others have given graphic sketches of
196
A MERCHANT PRINCE.
the incidents and events o£ that protracted meeting,
but this letter puts them in a most vivid light. The
debate arose from Sir John Macdonald movinof an
amendment to the motion tor going into Committee
of Supply, "condemning the conduct of Governor
Letellier for dismissing the DeBoucherville ministry."
The Hon. Luc. Letellier, of Quebec, was a Liberal,
while his constitutional advisers were Conservatives.
The high-spirited Govv-^.rnor had Derformed the
coup d'etat of dismissing the Premier and his col-
leagues, on the ground that his prerogative had
been slighted by his ministers, whose treatment of
him had been of a most unf^eremonious character.
But it was contended by the Opposition that the
Lieut.-Governor had dismissed his ministers for party
purposes, and in violation of the principles of respon-
sible government. Hence the motion. The minis-
i/crial speeches were short, but those on the other side
were long and irrelevant. The events of that dis-
graceful all-night session are here given.
Ottawa, A2)ril ISth, 1878.
My Dp:ar Annie, — It is row half-past four p.m.,
and we have been sittnig for twcxity-five and a l.alf
hours. All night, and until half- past eight this
morning, I have been in the chamber. About mid-
night the House became uncontrollable ; the Speaker
was unable to maintain order, and throughout the
night, scenes of wiid confusion prevailed. Mr. Hood
and I dined with the Speaker sans ceremonie, and
Mrs. Anglin sang for us very sweetly. There appeared
PARLIAMENTARY LIFE.
197
every prospect of our havinf^ a division before mid-
night, but as the night wore on it was evident that
such a result was hopeless. When Mr. Plumb, the
member for Niagara, rose, matters reached their
climax. Members banged desk-lids, playing the
" devil's tattoo " ; made creaking noises, sang songs,
blew whistles, shouted and roared. All order was
lost, and confusion rampant. The night wore on.
Here and there were groups of- men using high words,
and excited with drink. I watched the grey light
of morning breaking through the stained windows,
and changing every moment, as the day gathered
strength. Then the gas was extinguished, and in
the clear light of morning ihe appearance of many
of the members told of the want of rest through the
long night. Breakfast was arranged for at the
restaurant, as it was feared a division might be
taken suddenly. And so it has been going on all
day. Lady DufFerin, Mrs. Stephenson and other
ladies from Rideau visited the chamber about three,
and stayed for a couple of hours. While they were
in, singing began. " Auld Lang Syne," " En roulant
ma boule," " Marsellaise," and other songs were sung
by several of the members, the House joining in the
chorus. As Lady Dufferin rose to go out, someone
started " God save the Queen." The House rose and
sung it well, and then gave three cheer.s. Now the
day is declining, again the evening shadows are
dimly lighting the stained windows, and the long
hours will be wasted in a folly that should shame
intelligent schoolboys. Some twenty spectators
lai
198
A MERCHANT PRTNOE.
remained in the galleries all last night, and when it
became known that the House had been in session
all night, the people flocked to the chamber, and
filled the space allotted to strangers. Such a night
and such a sitting I have never seen, and never desire
to see again. "What the object is I can hardly find out.
All the speaking is being done by the Opposition,
and-it is said 'that their object is to prevent the result
of the division, which will largely be against them
from being known at the churches to-morrow. Keep
this letter. Very few such instances occur in the
history of a parliament as the one here described,
and years after the matter referred to will not be
without interest. I enclose you a few lines which I
sent to the Premier during the " long sitting," and
with it his reply to me :
" Will this fight close to-night.
Or will it pay to give another day
To this matter of Letellier 1
If this be so, then off I go ;
I'll do what's fair, I'll find a pair ;
But if you'll fight till n)orning light,
I only have to say 'all right.' "
The Premier's reply :
" The fight must close to-night,
'Twill never pay to waste another day
Even for Letellier —
At least, I think so ; so don't you go.
No kind of pair is half so fair
As thine own face.
Far better stay and share the fight,
Than turn your back, and say ' Good night.' "
PARLIAMENTARY LIFE.
199
On the Monday ensuing, when the question was
voted, the division stood 112 to 70. The Reform
administration had encountered many difficulties, and
Mr. Kackcnzie's premiership had been accomplished
under jjreat disadvantaijes.
On the 10th of May, Parliament was prorogued
and members left the Capital to enter upon one of
the most keenly contested elections ever held. The
National Policy was inaugurated. The people de-
clared in favor of protection. The Liberals met with
disaster all along the lines, particularly in the cities.
Toronto East was carried by the Conservatives with
a majority of 700; Toronto West, of 639; and
Toronto Centre was carried by Mr. Robert Haj^ a
manufacturer, by a majority of 490. The friends
of Mr. Macdonald still maintain that he would have
been elected had not the accident in his warehouse,
to which we have already referred, so occupied his
attention that he could give no time or attention to
the political campaign. We havje already said that
he would never conduct a personal canvass, but his
platform addresses were needed to carry the con-^
stituency. Mr. Macdonald excepted his defeat with
perfect resignation, and, relieved of Parliamentary
duties, he was able to give more fully his time and
energies to business, the interest of the Church, and
the various objects of Christian philanthropy.
As a politician, Mr. Macdonald alwj^j. - felt and acted
as though answerable to God for his parliatiientary
as well as for his personal life. He mourned the
prevalence of corruption among politicians, and often
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200
A MERCHANT PRINCE.
spoke of the foul and fetid atmosphere in which they
lived at Ottawa. They met together in the great
arena of a nation's fortunes, as jockeys meet upon a
race course, to decide upon the methods they should
adopt to overthrow their opponents ; and then would
sally out to corrupt the people with money filched
from their own pockets, or stolen from the public
treasury. He also mourned the deadness of the
public conscience, the moral lethargy of the people,
to the evils that were bringing shame upon the
reputation of the country. There was an apathy
and indifference like the vis inertia of a glacier, and
as well try to quicken the march of the mer de glace
as rouse the masses to drive out of public life any
one gieat political party guilty of dishonesty and
fraud. Mr. Macdonald remained for nine years in
private life, until in November, 1887, he was appointed
to the Senate on the nomination of his personal
friend, but political opponent. Sir John Macdonald.
The appointment was a very popular one, as his
native capacity, administrative experience, and prac-
tical knowledge of the world were well known
throughout the Dominion. That Mr. Macdonald was
legitimately gratified by the appointment goes with-
out saying. Whether he would have preferred the
roses and raptures of strife in the House of Com-
mons to the lilies and languors of the Upper House
is a question ; but he had crowded into the past
twenty-five years the activities of an ordinary life-
time, and it was time for him to think of taking rest.
At the opening of the Senate debates of 1888, we
PARLIAMENTARY LIFE.
201
find him busy in introducing bills of various kinds
and speakino^ to various questions.
But the most important of all was his action on
the Sabbath Observance petitions presented to the
Senate, when the Hon. Senator moved :
" That an humble address be presented to His
Excellency the Governoi- General, prayinj^ that His
Excellency will be pleased to cause to be laid before
this House a detailed statement of all petitions, with
the source from which they have emanated, from the
year 1881 to the year 1888, inclusive, praying for the
better observance of the Lord's Day."
The session of 1889 was also an •'ctive one. On
March 7th, Senator Macdonald delivered a speech on
the imports and exports of the Dominion. He was
an authority on the subject, and his utterances
thereon commanded the respect and attention of the
Senate.
On the 8th of April, when the question of discrim-
inating duties af^ainst the Mother Country was being
discussed, Senator Macdonald, from his long experi-
ence as a successful merchant, gave great pertinency
to the debate in a very piquant address.
On April 29th, there was brought before the
Chamber an Act, for the " Prevention and Suppression
of Combinations formed in Restraint of Trade," upon
which Mr. Macdonald spoke with great earnestness,
concluding with these words :
" I have throughout my business steadily refused
to have anything to do with any kind of combina-
tion, and looking along the business experience of
my own life, I find that the men who have been most
.«
202
A MERGE AKT PRINCE.
successful have been those who have had the courage
of their convictions to carry on their business on
their own principles."
This was the last session that he ever attended.
When the session of 1890 opened on January IGth,
he was too ill to attend, and on the 4th of February
he had passed away.
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PULPIT AND PLATFORM.
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Character is higher tliau intellect,
be strong to live as well as to think.
Life is not measured by the time we live.
A great soul will
-R. W. Emerson.
-Geo. Cmhbe.
PULPIT AND PLATFORM.
WE select, out of a great mass of Senator Mac-
donald's sermons and addresses, only a few.
They reflect the real character of the speaker, and will
be read with much interest. His sermons all show
that deep and penetrating insight into the Word of
God, which only a thoughtful and constant study of
the Scriptures under the guidance of the Divine Spirit
could impart.
The Bible was to Senator Macdonald a living book
adapted to this nineteenth century with all its wants
and sorrows and sins. He studied it in its practical
application to our everyday life. He had a fund of
scriptural knowledge, and the rare felicity of touching
a secret spring in some well-known passages, thereby
opening up some fresh vein of edifying thought, or
causing some precious truth to lt?ap forth where its
presence had not even been expected. He is intensely
practical ; his themes are not subjects " up in the air,"
but adapted to strengthen faith and incite to nobler,
holier living.
The address is selected from his missionary speeches.
There is no marked originality ; no new truths are
uttered ; but it is forcible and earnest. The speaker
is carried forward with fervency, and at times he rises
to the heights of true, impassioned eloquence.
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A MEIICHANT PRINCE.
As these sermons and addresses, a few out of a
great number, all carefully written out, are read, it
must excite surprise how such a busy man could
find time for such thorough preparation. It exhibits
not only his great industry, but also the variety and
versatility of his intellectual powers, and his fixed
purpose to fill up his life with the best and noblest
well-doing.
I.
" This book of tlie law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but
thou shalt moditale therein day and night, that thou mayst
observe to do according to all that is written therein : for then
thou shalt make thy way ])ro3perous, and then thou shalt have
good sucross." — Joshua i. 8.
These words were spoken to Joshua by the Lord
just after the death of Moses. The occasion is most
itnpressive. " Moses, my servant, is dead." What a
world of meaning in this sentence ! How our minds
are impressed with the thought that God's ways are
not as our ways ; that no man is so needful to Him,
whatever be his record, his ability, his influence, his
wealth or position, that he cannot be dispensed with.
One would have thought that, if there was any man
who was needed at this period of the history of the
Jewish people, it was Moses ; he who had gone
unto Egypt's monarch and had said to him in the
name of the Lord, " Let my people go " He had
seen His wonders in the Egyptian overthrow ; had
witnessed the murmuring and rebelling of the people
as they journeyed through the wilderness ; had often
pleaded with God on their behalf, nay, had incurred
His displeasure through the hastiness which their
ingratitude and rebellion had provoked. He had
guided them to the very borders of the Promised
Land, but he is not permitted to lead them into it.
PULIMT AND PLATFORM.
207
the
had
had
)eople
often
urred
their
had
nised
it.
What are we to understand by these words? What
does prosperity mean ? We know what the world
means by success. It is the possession of enormous
means, no matter how ac(|uired, whether honestly or
otherwise, whether by inheritance or by labour,
whether by skill or by accident, possession is all that
the world looks at; and whether the wealth consists
in land, mines, timber limits, the increase growin<T out
of lar<^e manufacturinjjf interests, or out of a pro-
fessional practice, or out of immense sums invested,
the world is ready to speak of such persons as success-
ful men. It is well that we should be clear upon the
point that such conditions are not the ones implied in
this passajife.
The world ajjain iudijes of the measure of success
by the position occupied by the individual. Hence, if
in addition to his jj^reat means he is placed in a posi-
tion of honour and responsibility, the world speaks of
him as beinfj born under a lucky star, as beinj;
phenomenally successful. Here again such a condition
may be wantinjy. There may'be nothinc^ in the con-
dition of the godly man, so far as wealth or position
is concerned, to distinguish him from the mass of his
fellows; and yet, viewed from the standpoint of the
Word of God, his way may have been made prosperous
and he may have had good success. All this must be
very clear to anyone who has taken the trouble to
think over it. If it meant gold and silver, houses and
land, then it follows that everyone who obeyed the
command would be seized with these varied posses-
sions ; that if this prosperity und success meant high
position in the municipality and the State, then these
positions would be filled by those who so acted. But
as we lind that this is not necessarily the case, we
must look for some other definition of the phrase.
Indeed, as the word success is understood in every-
day life, it is applied as often to a bad cause as to a
208
A MERCHANT IMIINCK.
I.! I,:i.
good one. A man breaks into your house, he ^ets
away with his phinder, and it is said that he
succeeded in robbing the house. The same may be
said of almost every form of wronfj-doing in which
people efi'ect their purpose without bringing them-
selves under the penalty of the law. The best
definition which we can give of success is * the favour-
able or prosperous termination of anything attempted.'
We will make a great mistake if we associate it in
every case with the possession of means and influence,
a mistake only equalled by that which leads us to
conclude that where these are wanting there are
wanting also the evidences of God's favour and God's
approval. The world calls a man who has acquired
means, even dishonestly, a successful man ; the Word
of God calls him a fool.
Consider what the term success refers to in the case
of Joshua. He had led three millions of people into
the country of an enemy ; before him lay a river which
had to be crossed. What was he to do ? Construct
pontoon bridges ? No'. Beyond that, a walled city.
Was he to employ battering-rams ? No. Behind
the walls, the inhabitants. How were they to be over-
come ? " This book of the law shall not depart out
of thy mouth." That river will prove no obstacle ;
those walls will fall down before you, and the people
will be discomfited. Yet even these promises would
have availed nothing had not Joshua applied the wis-
dom that God had given him, and implicitly followed
the divine teaching. It does not mean that he v«ras
to sit with the book of the law before him day and
night ; but that his entire conduct was to be framed
in accordance with the law of the Lord.
How does the text instruct us, as to what is meant
bv " ffcod success " ? There are those, we have no
doubt, who, if they could but realize that, by reading
the Bible daily they would thereby secure the ad-
PULIMT AND PLATKOIIM.
200
vancement of their worldly schemes, would become
constant readers of the Word. But that is not the
idea contained in the passage. We are not taught
that any ambitious project, any speculative undertak-
ing, any questionable business, any undertaking good
and laudable and even well pleasing to God is to feel
the touch of this wonderful passage unless there is a
putting forth of all lawful means for the purpose of
securing ends that are in all respects lawful. We
may fairly dismiss the idea that it has a relation to
the getting of gain, and may safely conclude that it
means rather that in our undertakings, whether they
relate to the support of our families, or in any plans
consistent with the spirit of God's Word, if we would
to the largest possible extent succeed, the Word of God
must be followed.
What book is this to which reference is made ? It
was that book which Moses commanded should be put
into the Ark of the covenant of the Lord that it might
be there " for a witness." The one grand truth upon
which the whole fabric rests is that God has revealed
himself to His people by giving them a law for their
guidance, and has declared that obedience to the same
will secure for them His favour and affection.
I have said that belief in a great Being who has
created and upholds all things by the Word of His
power, is essential to our happiness. God did not ask
His people to accept His bald statement that He was
their God, without coupling that statement with an-
other which none but God could make. Referring
to the exhibition of a power which none but Almighti-
ness could perform. He said : " I am the Lord thy God
which brought thee out of the land of Egypt."
Remember that this book which is now said to be
uninspired, this book which it is said cannot endure
the searching ordeal brought to bear upon it by mod-
ern science, teaches supreme reverence to God, loyalty
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A MERCHANT PRIN'CE.
to the sovereign, love to our fellowman, respect for and
obedience to parents, the rendering of honour to the
aired, aid to the poor, and the observing of everything
v/hich is deemed essential to our happiness and well-
being.
But if it was important that Joshua should meditate
in this book of the law day and night, how much more
important for us who have the complete Bible, and
that Saviour whom the law only shadowed with its
types and figures, that we should meditate therein — we
who have the story told us " of all that Jesus began
both to do and teach, until the day in which He
was taken up, after that He through the Holy Ghost
had given commandments unto the apostles whom He
had chosen" — told us by men who were eye-witnesses
and ministers of the Word from the bemnninsr — we
to whom Christ is not far off but very nigh, who have
but to accept Hip invitation and rely upon His gracious
promises. Surely, if it were important that Joshua
should meditate upon the book of the law, it is more
important that we should meditate in addition upon
the Gospel. Surely if in his case his way would be
made prosperous and he should have good success, this
result will not he less certain than in ours. The sailor
who is making for his port is dependent upon his
chart an<l his compass. The soldier who is going to
battle is guided by his marching orders. The Word
of God is more to us than compass or marching orders.
It is light in darkness, guidance in difficulty, comfort
in sorrow, strength in weakness ; it is our stay in
death.
Ordering every act of our life by the teachings of
that Word, following its counsels, making it in short
the rule of our conduct, we cannot but be prosperous,
because we shall live in the enjoyment of God's
favour and His loving-kindness which are better
than life.
PULPIT AND PLATFORM.
211
II.
"And there were certain (Ireeks among them th;it came up
to worship at the feast : The same came therefore to Philip,
which was of Bethsaida in Galilee, and desired him, saying,
Sir, we would see Jesus." — John xii. 20, 21.
More than fifteen hundred years before the events
recorded in this chapter, God had brought His chosen
people out 01 Eo^yptian bondage by a great deliver-
ance. The feast to which reference is here made was
the feast of the Passover, commemorative of this
deliverance. To this feast came, among others, cer-
tain Greeks, to whose presence and to whose desire
to see Christ we are indebted for the comforting
words found in the verses from the 28rd to the 30th.
We are at the outset drawn towards these Greeks.
They had come to the great city to attend the feast.
They were proselytes, l3ut the main attraction for
them is to see Jesus, There are some who, as soon
as they leave home and go to some great city, feel
relieved from the restraints under which they are at
home, and are seized with a desire to see things
which they would not think of seeing when at home.
Well would it be if thev would remember that what
is wrong at home cannot be right away from home,
and that whether known or unknown, the Chris-
tian's duty is always to glorify God. But a passion
stronger than that of seeing the sights of Jerusalem
inHuenced these Greeks. It was to see Jesus. This
was all the more remarkable because of the circum-
stances of His life. He had no regal splendour, no
outward show; there was no earthly patronage at His
disposal. Let us see if we can discover what it was
about Christ which made those Greeks so anxious to
see Him. Everything relating to Him was at the
time a matter of common conversation — His appear-
ance, His words, His miracles, His claims to the Mes-
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212
A MERCHANT PRINCE.
siahship. The question among the people was, "What
think ye, will He come up to the feast ? " When H,e
entered the city, so great was the demonstration that
even the Pharisees, who were plotting His destruc-
tion, said, " Perceive ye how we prevail nothing ?
Behold, the world has gone after Him ! "
These Greeks, probably, had become worshippers
of the true God, from conviction and investigation.
It is reasonable to suppose that they had some
knowledge of the prophecies relating to the Messiah,
and because of this they were anxious to se3 Jesus.
Then it is by no means unlikely that they were
familiar with many of the incidents of His life : how
lepers had been cleansed, how devils had been cast
out, how the dead had been raised by His power.
They had heard of His control over the elements,
how He even walked upon the waters, and had
stilled the tempest. Perhaps His own tender utter-
ances had reached their ears ; they may have heard
of His Sermon on the Mount, of His conversation
with Nicodemus, and with the woman of Samaria.
His fame went throughout all Syria, so that there is
nothing wonderful in the earnestness manifested by
these Greeks to see Him. Even in the prison of
John the Baptist, which proved also to be the place
of his execution, the fame of Jesus had found its
way. There John had heard of the words of Christ,
and* had sent two of his disciples to ask of Him, " Art
thou he that should come, or look we for another ? "
Surely, then, it was not strange that He who so filled
the public vision, whose name was on all lips, to
whom the afflicted came in troops to be healed,
should have been to those Greeks an object of great
interest, and that they should come to Philip, saying,
" Sir, we would see Jesus."
We come now to consider the object of this visit —
not to be cured of any malady, not to gratify any
PULPIT AND PLATFORM.
213
idle cnriosifcy, so that they might say that they had
seen him. They had probably heard the shouts of
the multitude, and, possibly, joined in the triumphal
procession. We must look, therefore, for some other
reason. They came in the spirit in which Nicodemus
had come, that they mij^ht Ic.irn the things pertain-
ing to the Kingdom. How did they come ? Nico-
demus had come by night. He was a prominent
pjan, equally impressed with the sayings and doings
of Christ. His position and his experience gave him
greater confidence, and he does not ask any one of
the disciples to bring him to Jesus. These Greeks
did not belong to God'^j chosen people. They were
strangers in Jerusalem, and hence hesitated. "Where
can we find Him ?" " How will He receive us ? "
"Who will go with us?" It appears to us that all
these questions would present themselves to their
minds. Possibly they inquired who would be best
able to bring them to Christ. If so, no answer
would be more readily given than this : " Find
Philip, he will tell you where and when He can
be seen." At any rate, him they sought. Philip
goes at once to Andrew, and then Andrew and Philip
tell Jesus — in other words, bring Jesus to them.
The carefulness of Scripture record is very striking
in the description given of Philip. It was Philip of
Bethsaida, of Galilee. If not so described, the whole
beauty of the reference would be lost — if it had
been Philip the Evangelist, for example, or merely
Philip, for there were many Philips — but if we turn
to the first chapter of John, we at once find the con-
nection : " The day following Jesus would go forth
into Galilee, and findeth Philip, and saith unto him.
Follow Me. Now Philip was of Bethsaida, the city
of Andrew and Peter." This reference to Andrew
and Peter is significant, in view of the fact that
Philip sought Andrew, and that together they brought
214
A MERCHANT PRINCL.
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the Greeks to Jesus. Christ first found Andrew, he
went and found his brother Simon and brought him
to Jesus. The next day, it is recorded, Jesus found
Philip. Philip finds Nathanael and says to him, "We
have found Him of whom Moses in the law and the
prophets did write." Here is the key to the incident
recorded in the text. We see how his own mind was
impressed with the truth that Christ was the Mes-
siah, and how fitting it was that he who had brought
Nathanael to Christ should also have been the one
who, -in connection with Andrew, brought these
Greeks to Jesus.
What was the result of their interview? The com-
munication to them, and through them to us, of
God's plan of salvation; the declaration to them of
those astounding realities, so full of mystery that
angels desired to look into them. To them, Christ
appears first to have made the announcement of His
approaching crucifixion. " The hour is come that the
Son of Man should be glorified." He taught them
from a figure familiar to us all that it was needful
that He should die : " Except a corn of wheat fall
into the ground and die, it abideth alone; but if it die,
it bringeth forth much fruit." This He subsequently
in other words made manifest to His disciples. Then
follows the declaration, " He that loveth his life shall
lose it ; and he that hateth his life in this world shall
keep it unto life eternal."
Attachment to His cause must be stronger than
love of life. His service makes no provision for
lukewarm followers, or for ambiguous positions.
How abundantly were these Greeks repaid for the
intense interest which thev manifested in their desire
to see Christ !
What are the lessons of the text ? How may they
be turned to our profit ?
1. Christ should be the object of our search. True,
PULPIT AND PLATFORM.
215
we cannot see Him as tliey saw Him — cannot catch
the words as they fell fro!n His lips ; but they are
still spirit and they are still life, and in them and
through them we may find that same Saviour. We
have the fulfilment of His own promises : " And I if
I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto
Me."
2. But if we would imitate these Greeks in their
sincerity and earnestness, we must attend to this
matter without delay. They did not say, " We will
see Jesus by and by," or " The next time we come to
Jerusalem." They make it their urgent business.
They find out Philip and say, " We would see Jesus."
We can come to Christ in response to His own invi-
tation, and can hold communion with Him in prayer.
Can we afford to be indifferent where they w^ere so
importunate ? Are we willing that they should sur-
pass us in wisdom in matters of such infinite impor-
tance? Are we willing to do without blessings which
they deemed of such value ? Let us imitate their
example, and like blessings with theirs will be ours.
Have we any evidence of the result of this inter-
view ? I think we have. We have many references
to the manner in which the Greeks embraced the
faith. One will suffice. Paul preaching at Thes-
salonica, as his manner was, stated that "Christ must
needs have suffered and risen again from the dead ;
and that this Jesus, whom I preach unto you, is the
Christ." And some of them, it is said, " believed, and
consorted with Paul and Silas ; and of the devout
Greeks a great multitude, and of the chief women
not a few."
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MERCHANT PRINCE.
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III.
"And many of the Samaritans of that city believed on Him
for the saying of the woman, which testified, He told me all
that ever I did."— John iv. 39.
Our text occurs in connection witli Christ's inter-
view at the well with the woman of Samaria. More,
perhaps, than from Christ's utterances in His public
ministrations, do we gather from His conversation
with various persons, the objects of His mission to
the earth. In His conversation with Nicodemus we
are taught the absolute need of the new birth, and
the marvellous love of the Father in the gift of His
only begotten Son. Next in the order of time, we
have this interview with the Samaritan woman.
Christ had left Judea for the purpose of going into
Galilee, and must needs pass through Samaria. It
was noon when he reached Sychar, and while resting
Himself, the woman came to draw water. He asked
her for a drink, and the woman expressed surprise
that He, being a Jew, should request a favour from a
Samaritan. Christ said, '" If thou knewest the gift
of God, and who it is that speaketh to thee, thou
wouldst have asked of Him and He would have given
thee living water." A gift is that which comes with-
out equivalent, and a free gift is that which is given
without asking. Christ stood before her as God's
free gift, and the living water, by its refreshing, satis-
fying and purifying qualities, is a fit emblem of the
Holy Spirit. The woman, though thoroughly in-
terested, did not comprehend His meaning, and still
refers to the water of the well. Jesus, to divert her,
said, " Go, call thy husband, and come hither," and
disclosed such a knowledge of her history that the
woman said, " I perceive that thou art a prophet."
Then she asked Him to settle the question as to the
place where men ought to worship. The Samaritans
PULPIT AND PLATFORM.
217
in-
still
her,
and
t the
»het."
the
itans
had, to a certain extent, adopted the idolatrous wor-
ship and customs of the nations among whom they
minf]rled, men whom the kingf of Assyria brought from
Babylon, Cutha, Ava, Hamath and Sepharvaim.
Christ reveals to her the nature of true worship.
" God is a spirit, and they that worship Him must
worship Him in spirit and in truth," and finally
declares Himself to her as the Messiah. Never had
He spoken in such direct terms concerning Himself to
His own countrymen, not even to His own disciples.
The woman believed, and went and told her neigh-
bours concerninof the Christ.
We are to consider the character of her faith, and
1st. It was a faith that was prompt and decisive.
There are many persons who seem to think that a
long preparatory course is necessary before they can
become Christians. They must begin by dropping
one sin and then another, resisting one temptation
and another, until they are able to cease doing evil,
and begin doing well. This effort at self-salvation
the woman did not try. She found Him at the well
who had revealed to her the inmost secrets of her
heart, who had told her that He was the Messiah, and
then and there, without hesitating, promptly and
decisively, she accepted Him as her God and Saviour.
2nd. It was a clear and triumphant faith. It is
quite true that all people were in a state of expectancy
about the promised Christ, and the woman says,
" When Messias cometh He will tell us all things."
But how different His coming from what she expected
— not with pomp and observation, not with a great
revenue, but as a footsore and weary traveller, asking
her to give Him to drink, speaking thus to a woman
contrary to the customs of all Eastern countries.
Would not unbelief suggest then, as now. Can this
be the promised Saviour ? And the reply would
needs be, " Impossible." Was it not so with His own
218
A MERCHANT PRINCE.
people? " He came to His own, and His own received
Him not." I^ay, more, they sought His life on more
than one occasion, because He had made Himself
equal with His Father. To the Jews who had wit-
nessed His n.iracles, He was constrained to say, " Ye
will not come unto Me that ye might have life." How
different with this woman ! There had not been tl)e
performance of any miracle; there had been no dis-
play of popular favour with the multitude ; nothing
to appeal to the eye or the imagination, but He
revealed to her the story of her own :"ner life ; also
the fact of His Messiahship, and then and there she
accepted Him as her personal Saviour.
3rd. It was a simple and satisfying faith. It left
no room for doubt or uncertainty. There would have
been room for both with many persons. Had she
been disposed to reason, she might have said, " How
is it, if He be the Messiah, that there are about Him
all the evidences of poverty ? Why this weariness ?
And even if He has read my inmost heart, why is it
that He is dependent upon me for a drink of water ?
Could He not command the water to flow ? Why,
again, had He sent His disciples to buy meat ? Could
He not easily command the stones about Him to be
made bread ? " Should not such thoughts have come
to her mind, for they had been addressed to Him by
the tempter ? It was not strange that those who had
beheld the five barley-loaves and the two small fishes
mysteriously multiply in His hand, until the wants of
the five thousand men were satisfied, should say,
" This is of a truth that prophet that should come
into the world " ; but here was no miracle. Here the
God-man was waiting by the well ; His disciples had
gone into the city to buy meat; and although in
answer to the request of His dit^ciples on their return,
that He would eat. He said, " I have meat to eat that
ye know not of," the question might still present itself
PtTLPIT AND PLATFORM.
219
to her mind, Why was it needful that His disciples
should go at all ? But her faith was triumphant, and
it was satisfying. " He told me all that ever I did,
surely this is the Christ."
The woman went to the well not expecting to see
the Messiah. She went in the performance of her
daily work, and there she found Him who was the
Saviour of the world. The people went to Caper-
naum, not that they cared for Divine instruction, but
for the loaves and the fishes. The woman, without
observing the performance of a miracle, accepted
Christ. Of the people who followed Him to Caper-
naum, the Master said, " Ye also have seen Me and
believe not."
4th. Her faith was saving, and consequently well-
'pleasing to God. We greatly mistake that it is only
the scholarly and cultured who can believe Christ's
record of Himself, who can exercise that intelligent
faith which takes Christ as a personal Saviour. This
woman, from all that we can gather, was a plain
woman, in no way above her fellow-countrywomen ;
yet she stands before us exercising a faith which, for
its sincerity, its earnestness and its simplicity, is
worthy of imitation by every earnest seeker after
God — a faith which has given courage to many a
i:: stricken and wearied one, and which, throughout
all time, will go on doing its work of helping and
encouraging all who, like her, desire to find the
Saviour.
5th. But Iter faith was sublime. When we consider
that it was only by slow degrees that the disciples
became fully impressed by the character of Christ
and the nature of His mission, the conduct of this
woman, in her ready and unreserved acceptance of
Christ, is simply remarkable. His brethren say unto
Him while He was in Galilee, " Depart hence, and go
into Judea, that thy disciples also may see the works
220
A MEIICFIANT PRINCE.
.
1
that thou doest. For there is no man that doeth
anything in secret, and he himself seeketh to be
known openly. It* thou do these thinj^s, show thy-
self to the world." Literally, " Do not stay in a small
place like this. If you are the Messiah, jtjo to Jeru-
salem. Go to the capital, that your works may be
manifest thore." And then it is added, " For neither
did His brethren believe on Him." And so, in the
whole compass of early discipleship, we shall find it
diflScult to instance a faith so sublime as that of the
woman of Samaria.
We come next to consider the results of her faith,
first, upon herself ; second, upon her neighbours. To
ascertain the results upon herself, we are not to look
to her utterances to Christ so much as to her actions.
She did not say, with Thomas, " My Lord and my
God " ; nor with Peter " Lord, thou knowest all
things — thou knowest that I love thee " ; nor with
Saul of Tarsus, " Lord, what wilt thou have me to
do ? " Yet, she did what all of these would have
done, if her actions are to be regarded as indicative
of her gratitude and her trust.
She was so filled with joy that she began imme-
diately to tell what had been done for her. She
began to invite others to come, that like blessings
might be secured for them. Notice the steps. She
left her water-pot. She went her way into the city.
She spoke to the men, saying, " Come, see a man
which told me all things which I ever did. Is not
this the Christ?" In the case of the people who
had seen the miracle of the loaves, Christ makes a
distinct charge of unbelief, saying,. "Ye also have
seen Me and believed not." This woman, in her
ready, willing and earnest engagement in God's work,
shows how fully she had the approval of Christ.
What would the men think who were addressed by
her ? Perhaps, that she was mad. Most people who
fn
PULPIT AND PLATFORM.
221
are intensely in earnest about the salvation of others'
are deemed mad. That disease is not chargeable to
us, for the simple reason that we interest ourselves so
little about the salvation of others. But her earnest-
ness, her persistency, her changed aspect, her happy
condition dissipated their first impression, and in
consequence many of the Samaritans of that city
believed.
" Come, see a man which told me all things which
ever I did. Js not this the Christ?" They came.
Observe, she did not say, " Go." She is ready to
accompany them. They went. They saw Christ.
They heard His testimony, heard for themselves, and
believed on Him. In this connection, we notice that
scholarly training is not absolutely necessary in
order to declare unto others the way of salvation.
Indeed, there may be great learning, and at the same
time great ignorance as to the plan of salvation.
That which is of most importance this woman pos-
sessed, namely, to be able to speak from experience
of the pardoning grace of our Lord Jesus Christ.
" He told me all that ever I did." This was the kind
of preaching which confounded the Pharisees. " One
do know, that whereas I was blind, now I
thing I
see."
What does the Church need to-day ?
faith ; this woman's singleness
of
This woman's
purpose ; this
woman's devotion. The Church needs her faith, child-
like, yet sublime, prompt and decisive, clear and tri-
umphant. The Church needs her singleness of
purpose. It is as true to-day as in the days of Christ's
flesh, that we cannot serve God and Mammon. The
Church needs her devotion. She wants workers who
can tell and who will tell what Christ has done for
them, that others may be saved. Why are these
wanted ? Some there are who have nothing to testify.
They have never passed from death unto life, and
222
A MEIU 'HAN'T PIIINCE.
i'l . : i
I!
cannot speak of the change. Others tear to speak of
what tlujy have experienced. They are cowards,
afraid to show their colours.
The lessons of the text: (1) That Chri.st can be
found at any time and in any place. The woman
found liim at the well, while attendinf]f to her daily
duties ; so we may find Him, whether it be in the
workshop, the office, or the home. (2) The dili«^ent
employment of our time secures for us the best oppor-
tunities for turning our advantages to account. (*3) The
case of the woman of Samaria should put to rest any
doubts we may have about the po.ssibility of instan-
taneous conversion. Nothing can be more certain
than that she went to the well without the knowledge
of Christ, and that .she went from it, not only as a
.saved woman, but as the first apostle of Christ in
Samaria. (4) It establishes the value of testimony,
as a means of bringing sinners to Christ. It is a
practical endonsement of the class-meeting as a means
of (jrace, for it means nothinij more than a recital
of God's dealings with His people. (5) It shows that
the agencies which God employs for the accomplish-
ment of His purposes are not always gifted people, the
prominent, wealthy and influential, but the simple,
the poor, the obscure. Finally, it teaches us that work
done for Christ is so far-reaching in its consequences
that the results for good cannot be estimated. Many
of the Samaritans of that city believed. How many ?
How many more did they influence ? Every day in
our reading and study of God's Word, in the public
ministration of His house, the wonderful faith of this
woman is inspiring others, and with great appropriate-
ness might the words of Christ, spoken in reference
to another woman, be applied to her : " Verily I .say
unto you. Wheresoever this gospel shall be preached in
the whole world, there shall also this, that this woman
hath done, be told for a memorial of her."
PULPIT AND PLATI'OUM.
223
Missionary Address, delivered in the Bloor
Street Methodist Church, Fem. 1881.
The objects of our missionary !neetin«:;s are to pre-
sent annually a state of our niissionary work on the
various fields of labour, in order,
1st. That we may realize properly the thankfulness
we owe to God for casting our lot in a land of j;ospel
light.
2nd. To present the claims which the heathen
world have upon us, as professinj^ Christians.
8rd. To enkindle a Greater interest in their behalf.
4th, To call forth that spirit of liberality which
God expects from His people.
There can be no right appreciation of our obliLja-
tions where there is no riijht conception of God's
fjoodness. In other words, we cannot feel for the
darkness of others if we ourselves have not been
brouf(ht out into the liij^ht — no sympathy for them
in their sin and misery, if we ourselves have not tasted
of the good thinors of the Kingdom. We must our-
selves be able to speak of God's goodness from con-
scious experience before we long to make it known to
others.
These anniversary meetings are, among others, the
means by which we make known the claims which
the heathen have upon us. No one would turn from
his door a famished man who sought bread. If your
neighbours in an adjoining township were famishing,
you would feed them. Who is my neighbour ? He
whose story of want and suffering is brought home to
me, and whether it be the Bread of Life, or the bread
that perisheth, you are bound to furnish him with both
according to your ability.
But these meetings are intended to enkindle in our
hearts a greater interest in behalf of the heathen.
224
A MERCHANT PRINCE.
1
m
V i
Sitting; by our own blazing fire, in our own comfort-
able homes, how apt are we to forget that a storm is
raging without, and that there are those who are ex-
posed to its pitiless fury. Enjoj^ing the blessings of
the gospel ministry, how apt are we to forget that
there are those who have never heard the good tidino^s.
To sound in our ears the fact that our fellowmen are
perishing, and to awaken in us a deeper interest in
their behalf is what ought to be accomplished by our
missionary meetings; and, finally, to call out a spirit
of liberality such as the circumstances demand, and
such as God expects.
On the beautiful tablet in Westminster Abbey,
erected to the memory of John and Charles Wesley,
are these two sentences, " The world is my parish,"
" God buries His workmen, but carries on His work."
The last has had its illustration in this church; two of
its most honoured members have been removed — two
of its most earnest, devoted and liberal workers — Mr.
Robert Wilkes and Mr. John Bridgland. God has
buried His workmen, but He is carrvinix on His work.
And if the work is not only to be maintained, but ex-
tended, then greater responsibility rests upon those
who remain. The other sentence was the motto of
Wesley, and it is only when as Methodists we grasp
them in their comprehensive sense and are influenced by
them that we are in a spiritually healthy condition.
"Who is my neighbour," was the question proposed by
one anxious to justify himself. We are accustomed
to speak of our next-door neighbour, but Christ, ^y
a beautiful parable of the Samaritan, has taught us
that every member of the human family is our neigh-
bour, and that while loving God with all our heart,
we should in this sense love our neighbour as our-
selves. Specially are those our neighbours whose tale
of suffering or of darkness and misery is b»'OUght home
to us, and who are without the gospel. The mistake
PULPIT AND PLATFORM.
225
which we as a Church are making at present is this,
that we are not undertakinf^ new work. Men in the
Church, as in the world, need novelty and variety.
Nowhere as in the Church is there so much room for
this, for its resources are exhaustless. Take a journal
which caters to public opinion. Let it day after day
devote its articles to the discussion of some half a
dozen subjects, investing them with no new interest,
and its life would be a short one. Take the best busi-
ness on this continent and let those who direct its
affairs be content, with its present methods of doing
business, with the number of its customers and the
extent of its operations ; let it once be said we will
not advance, and it begins to decay. Extension is
necessary for its very continuance, and if it is to exist
at all it must extend. So in the Church. We ought
to realize the difference between attempting too much
and doing too little.
Our work in Lower Canada ought to be sustained
with increased vigour. Our work in Japan is full of
interest, but our men labouring there ought to be en-
couraged and ought to have their hearts made glad
by the sympathy felt at every missionary meeting
throughout the country, and all this without abat-
ing one particle In the interest felt or the support
needed for every really destitute domestic mission.
If this is not the desire of God's people, what is the
meaning of the tidings which reach us from the
points where missionary meetings have been held ?
One reports twenty per cent, advance upon the receipts
of last year; another, thirty; another, sixty per cent.
We must advance, or we will most certainly fall be-
hind. We cannot stand still. When aggression ceases,
decay begins. We cannot be regarded as a Missionary
Church and be regardless of our obligations. The
people are teaching those who are intrusted with the
oversight of this great enterprise, in saying, as they
15
226
A MERCHANT PRINCE.
virtually do by their increased contributions, "There
is need for more labourers ; send them. Here are the
means, send the Gospel to lands which have not yet
heard it ; we will help you." The Missionary Society
is now out of debt. This is a great blessing ; but are
we therefore to refuse to undertake new work and
substitute for the spirit of the gospel the spirit of the
cuunting-house? God forbid. The counting-house
says : " Let us have the money if you want the goods,"
and refuses to do anything in which there is not some
pecuniary benefit. The gospel says: "Freely ye have
received, freely give." The counting-house studies its
own interests ; the gospel seeks the interest of others.
The counting-house absolutely refuses to have any-
thing to do with any who cannot pay ; the deep
spiritual need, the hopeless bankruptcy of the children
of men, is the powerful motive which the gospel has in
seeking their deliverance. The counting-house says :
"We can take up new work only as you give us means";
the gospel says : "Go into all the world and preach the
good tidings to every creature." But there are points
from which the Church may gather lessons from the
counting-house. The counting-house says : " To be
healthy and active we must extend ; inaction means
decay." Well, will it be if the Church learns this
lesson. The counting-house says : " Success can only
be achieved by untiring watchfulness and unwearied
diligence." It is so in every department of God's
Church upon earth.
Now, what is going to be accomplished to-night ?
Larger subscriptions ? Very good ; but not all. Never
until God's people are all aglow with His love will
they live for and labour for His glory as they ought :
never will they do all that in them lies for the bodies
as well as for the souls of men.
XI.
LITERARY LIFE.
They are never alone that are accompanied with noble
thoughts.
— Sir Philip Sidney.
There are few delights in any life so high and rare as the
subtle and strong delight of sovereign art and poetry ; there are
none more pure and more sublime. To have read the greatest
works of any great poet, to have beheld or heard the greatest
works of any great painter or musician, is a possession added to
the best things of life.
— Sioinhurnc, Essays and Studies.
What a wonderful, what an almost magical boon, a writer of,
great genius confers upon us when we read him intelligently.
As he proceeds from point to point, in his argument or narrative,
we seem to be taken up by him, and carried from hill-top to
hill-top, where, through an atmosphere of light, we survey a
glorious region of thought, looking freely, far and wide, above
and below, and gazing in admiration upon all the beauty and
grandeur of the scene.
— Horace Mann^ Lectures on Elocution.
Books, books, books.
I found the secret of a garret room
Piled high with cases in my father's name ;
Piled high, packed large, where, creeping in and out
Among the giant fossils of my past,
Like some nimble mouse between the ribs
Of a mastodon, I nibbled here and there,
At this or that box, pulling through the gap.
In heats of terror, haste, victorious joy,
The first book first. And how I felt it beat
Under my pillow, in the morning's dark,
An hour before the sun would let me read
My books.
At last, because the time was ripe,
I chanced upon the poets.
— E. B. Browmng.
LITERARY LIFE.
AS a class, literature has done little for business
men, and business men have done little for
literature. Many of our mer'^hants seem to have an
aversion to mental pursuits, just as many literary
men have a disgust for business occupations. Few
literary men have an intelligent appreciation of busi-
ness, while the majority of business men are so
occupied with the pursuits of life that they give little
attention to the cultivation of the mind.
It was not so with Senator Macdonald. In the
midst of all his activity as a merchant and public-
spirited citizen, he was an assiduous student, finding
time for self-improvement and giving attention to
general and scientific reading.
While a lad at school, he acquired a literary taste ;
as a young man, he cultivated the acquaintance of the
best English authors in prose and verse ; as a mature
man, he possessed a knowledge of the poets of the day
such as few have the ability to acquire or the capacity
to retain.
His classical attainments were of no inferior order.
He could translate Latin poetry into English verse.
Even during his last illness, one evening as he lay
upon the sofa, his son Alexander A., who is Classical
Master in Upper Canada College, for his amusement
230
A MERCHANT PRINCE.
f -'I'll'' I
gave selections from classical and modern writers,
when his father would give the name of the author,
and often, to the surprise of his son, completed the
quotation.
Af" early as 1848 his diary contains such references
as these :
" July 24. Finished Pope's * Odyssey ' and the
* Battle of the Frogs and Mice.* Pope is certainly an
interesting and instructive writer, and justly merits
the great fame which his works have acquired for
him."
" July 29. Read to-day Pope's ' Rape of the Lock,'
a finely finished picture, and Campbell's ' Pleasures of
Hope.' Although there are many noble ideas in Hope,
considered generally, yet in describing the hope of the
Christian he is notably very weak. There is wanting
the faith and beauty which characterize the other
sections of his poem."
From early life he shows himself a discriminating
reader, and he was constantly laying up stores of
valuable information. While a lad providing for him-
self, enduring hard knocks from the world, living on a
meagre salary, he was purchasing good and useful
books, and laying the foundation for a large library.
As a clerk, he withstood the almost irresistible
attractions of city life and the passing pleasures of
society, and the evenings that were not devoted to
business or religious duties were spent wholly among
his books,
" Holding high converse with the mighty dead."
He committed to memory his favourite passages of
an author, and could declaim poetry by the hour.
LITERARY LIFE.
231
of
Had he been absolved from the necessity of earning
his own living, he would no doubt have received a
full university education. Had his health permitted,
he would have entered the Christian ministry, and
there found fuller scope for the exercise of his literary
gifts, because he was by natural predilection, taste
and habit, scholarly and studious.
When he first set up housekeeping it was on a very
modest scale. There was no lack of comfort, but
there were no Brussels carpets, no damask curtains,
and no paintings. One hundred pounds would have
covered all his bills for the furnishing of parlour,
dining-room, bedrooms and kitchen ; but there was
one room whose costly furnishing would have put to
the blush many a lordly home. It was the library,
which then contained over five hundred dollars' worth
of valuable books.
His library was well read, for he had the habit of
marking his books and the dates of his reading them.
One is surprised with the range of subjects. He
roamed over the whole expanse of literature — philoso-
phical, scientific, ecclesiastical, poetical, historical and
biographical. He was particularly fond of biography.
Here great men that have lived worthy lives still give
dignity and sweetness to other lives, living again, as
it were, in minds made better by their presence on
the earth. He was profoundly interested in the life of
Lord Lawrence, the sagacious man, the intrepid soldier,
the far-seeing statesman, and the vigorous adminis-
trator ; and with a deep reverence for his character
he penned on the fly-leaf of the volume the following :
232
A MERCHANT PRINCE.
" To My Dear Boy Jack, — With the earnest hope that
the life of this, one of the most extraordinary men which
the century has produced, may lead him to apply the
lessons which it is so well calculated to teach, and that he
may throw into his life-work the same singleness of pur-
pose, the same fine sense of duty and the same unwearied-
ness of effort in its performance.
"Oaklands, September 7, 1883."
He read the largest, most helpful thinkers of the
day, and never tired of poring over his books. "A
good book," says John Milton, " is the priceless life-
blood of a master-spirit." He sought the true and
right development of his being by communion with
these master-spirits. One is surprised that such a
busy man could find time to read and write so much.
But when he was not engaged in business or public
duties, he was always reading. He had his quiet
evening hours sacred to study and the cultivation of
his family ties. He had the calm, unbroken hours of
the Sabbath, for he never allowed any week-day cares
to intrude into his Sabbath rest. He has often told
me that when the warehouse was locked on Saturday
evening, he never allowed any thought of its work
till he entered it again on Monday morning. But
especially was he relieved of all burdens of family
cares. They were all lifted from his shoulders by his
devoted wife, who not only threw sunshine into his
home, but made it a serene, restful nook, whose mo-
ments of calm were undisturbed by a single household
concern.
He was never happier than when in his study,
arranging and re-arranging his books, devouring some
LITERARY LIFE.
233
his
favourite author, or writing on some theme. Although
only able to give to literature his Itorae suhsecivaey
he was essentially a man of letters, and all the delica-
cies and refinements of diction were dear to him.
In addition to what we have given in these
memoirs, he left behind him voluminous writings, all
dashed off in the odds and ends of leisure, but display-
ing accuracy in punctuation and all the details of
literary art.
He contributed many articles to the Methodist
Magazine, under the able and brilliant editorship of
Rev. Dr. Withrow, who always encouraged him in his
literary projects. He also wrote much poetry, for he
had the vision and the power of bodying forth what
he saw in an artistic form. Wordsworth sings :
'* Oh, many are the poets that are sown
By Nature ! Men endowed with highest gifts,
The vision and the faculty divine,
Yet wanting the accomplishment of verse."
He possessed the deep-lying poetry and emotion of
the North ; he possessed also the " accomplishment of
verse." He used the poet's lyre, touching it with
sweetness and grace. His earlier poems are rather
artificial, yet many of them are marked by force and
fertility of diction. His qualifications as a poet
increased with his years, when all his powers were
developed, and his whole nature deepened and en-
riched. It was wonderful how he preserved through-
out a busy life the high poetic mood.
If, according to Mr. Arnold, poetry is simply the
most beautiful, impressive and widely efiective mode
234
A MERCHANT PRINCE.
of saying things, then we cannot over-estimate its
importance. And if poets are
'* All who love, who feel
Great truths and tell them,"
or, as Mrs. Browning calls them, " God's Prophets of
the Beautiful," then we should appreciate Senator
Macdonald's unusual facility of thought and expres-
sion in verse. Douglas Jerrold characterized certain
prose and verse as " prose and worse." This cannot
be said of Mr. Macdonald's writings, for if not marked
by great originality, elegance and energy, they have,
nevertheless, naturalness and transparency. He wrote
no large work of sustained merit, but he has written
a considerable number of exquisite episodes. His
poems could claim an honourable place in any collec-
tion of beautiful thoughts. Here is a selection which,
aside from the significance and dignity of the theme,
reveals his character and his modes of thought, feeling
and expression :
TRUST IN GOD.
Call it not faith to trust in God
When ample is your store,
And when to barns already filled,
The Lord is adding more.
Call it not faith to give your tenth.
While yet nine-tenths remain ;
And while your offering to the Lord
Is felt not from your gain.
'Tis when the fig-tree blossoms not,
Nor fruit is in the vine,
The labour of the olive fails,
Nor corn is there, nor wine.
LITERARY LIFE.
235
its
i of
Eitor
ires-
tain
Qnot
eked
lave,
irrote
itten
His
oUec-
rhich,
leme,
eling
'Tis when the flock fails from the field,
Nor herd is in the stall ;
To trust in God then, that is faith —
The strongest faith of all.
Below is another noble and suggestive poem, which
sounds a note that will vibrate in every true heart.
It reveals the purity and strength of his diction, as
well as his profound emotional impulse :
THE WOUNDED GREY BIRD.
I watched a little grey bird
As it flew against a wall,
So stunned, so nearly lifeless,
I saw it helpless fall ;
It gave one gasp and closed its eyes,
It dropped its bruised head.
And all this in one moment,
I thought that it was dead.
Between my hands I held it,
And breathed upon its breast,
As something whispered to me,
" Now try and do your best."
And soon I felt it struggling,
And then a kindling glow,
Which told the crisis over.
Told of the life's blood flow.
I placed it gently on my knee.
To catch the sun's warni rays,
So strange to see it fluttering.
For ended seemed its days.
It gathered strength each moment,
And then with new delight,
It left me to my musing,
And soon flew out of sight.
How oft in the great city.
Does many a brother fall,
Stunned like the little grey bird
That dashed agair /iie wall.
23G
A MERCHANT PRINCE.
And wounded bird and man must die,
We well can understand,
If someone out of loving heart
Reach not forth loving hand.
The following lines appeared in the Evening
Journals Ottawa, as the flags were displayed at half-
mast at the Capital on the occasion of the death of
the Honourable Thomas White, Minister of the
Interior, during the session of Parliamen 1888:
"THE FLAG AT HALF-MAST."
a
a;
tl
h
w
b(
Why flies the flag at half-mast
Which was mast-head yesterday 1
Has one of the mighty fallen,
Some great one passed away 'i
Has the rider on the pale horse,
The rider with icy wand,
Touched beating heart, and stilled it.
Of some leader in the land 1
The flag which flies at half-n?ast.
As it flutters high in air,
But reads to man this lesson
That is taught him everywhere.
That man being here abideth not,
Is cut down as a flower ;
Is like the grass which " cometh forth,"
Which withers in an hour.
And so the flag at half-mast
Which was yesterday mast-head,
Tells in ':s mournful floating
Of a gifted statesman dead.
And reads this solemn lesson
Alike to grave and gay,
It may float for you to-morrow
As it floats for him to-day.
LITERARY LIKE.
237
Another poem of a similar nature, thouj^h its metro
is peculiar, yet reads with an a(lmiraV)le expression
and power of interpretation. Mr. Macdonald was
greatly interested in the life of the London mercharjt
and philanthropist, George Moore. The reading of
this biography was one of the decisive moments of
his life. He gave a copy of it to each one of his
warehouse staff. It was the subject of one of his
best lectures, as well as of this inspiring song:
ON READING THE LIFE OF GEORGE MOORE.
Wlien good men die
Are they forgotten ?
From noble lives
Is nought begotten ?
To make men good, and brave, and strong,
Champions of right and foes of wrong ;
To give men higher aims than self,
To make them think and work for others.
To make them feel that men are brothers,
That deeds are better far than pelf 1
Wh» n good men die
Ai they fc 'gotten?
From ii>»ble lives
Is nought begotten ?
Nothing to break wrong's grievous fetter.
Nothing to make this " wide world " better.
Nothing to arm men for life's fight ;
Nothing to make the warfare sure.
Nothing to help strong men endure
When battling for the right 1
When good men die
They're not forgotten ;
For from their lives
There is begotten
238
A MERCHANT PRINCE.
il^^
Is gr.aven as with iron
The noblest purpose, brave and true,
To aim at what they dared to do ;
To find one's work in others' good.
To spend the life which God has given
In waging war for God and heaven,
'Gainst vice and all its hateful brood.
When good men die
They're not forgotten ;
For all of good
Which they've begotten
en
To help and glad desponding men.
The record this of race well run,
More lasting far than granite pile.
Or storied urn in abbey's aisle,
And then the Master's glad " Well dope ! "
An ancient bard sings :
" The poet gathers fruit from every tree,
Yea, grapes from thorns and tigs from thistles, he ;
Plucked by his hand, the basest weed that grows
Towers to a lily, reddens to a rose."
So with our poet-Senator, the most common objects of
nature kindled his imagination, exalted his mind, and
made him a heaven-sent messenger of the truth. On
his way to Sitka, Alaska, the steamship Elder cast
anchor in Freshwater Bay, whose mirror-like waters
reflected a rich, thick border of unbroken forest, and
the dark, deep shadows of a lofty range of snow-clad
mountains.
The captain told him that eighteen years before, a
young Englishman serving on board the Admiral's
ship, the United States steamship Saranac, was
killed, and that he had been buried here with miUt^iry
LITERARY LIFE.
239
honours. The Senator determined to find the spot,
and secured a Red man as his guide, for
" The Indian knows his place of rest
Far in the forest-shade."
He found the grave in a perfect state of preservation,
and with the inscription clearly marked upon the
headstone.
Mr, Macdonald says, " I found myself unconsciously
weaving the story into the following simple lines."
They are exquisitely graceful lines. It was his latest,
and perhaps most tender poem.
THE SAILOR'S GRAVE.
What mean those sounds of music,
And the dip of the muffled oar,
As those boats in long procession,
Move slowly toward the shore?
And why are those men armed
Who are not bent on prey 1
Why this imposing pa<i;eant.
In the waters of this bay 1
See ! The Admiral's ship is flying,
Its flag at half-mast head,
And that boat with its mournful draping,
It bears a sailor — dead.
See ! His comrades gently bear him
To his lonely place of rest,
So far from his home of childhood,
From the land which he loved best.
Hear the echo of the volleys,
As they fire them o'er his head.
Ere with measured steps they leave him
To slumber with the dead,
240
A MERCHANT PRINCE.
Where the wild, unbroken forest
Throws its shadow o'er the bay,
Its stillness broken only
By the salmons' sportive play.
In a land whose snow-clad mountains
Guard, as sentinels, his grave,
Fit resting-place for England's son,
For one so young and brave.
O England, dear old England,
Thy sons lie scattered wide.
Some sleep 'ueath palms in tropic lands,
Some by the glacier's side.
But dear is every spot to thee
Where'er their ashes lie,
And dear to thee is this lone grave
By this Alaskan sea.
A very grateful tribute to Mr. Macdonald's poetic
genius was given by the venerable and gifted Rev.
Dr. Scadding in his " Toronto of Old." Alluding to
the lofty pines that once covered the hills on both
sides of the Don, he tells us how a solitary survivor of
this forest of towering trees was long to be seen
toward the northern limit of the Moss Park property,
and that this particular tree has been graphically com-
memorated by an anonymous writer. He then gives
Mr. Macdonald's poem, "The Old Pine Tree.*' Dr.
Scadding himself assured me that, as soon as he had
found out the author, he made fitting recognition of it
in a later edition of his book, where the poem can be
found.
These poems are full of freshness and naturalness.
He is not like Browning, one of the greatest and purest
LITERARY LIFE.
241
teachers of the century — most intellectual of poets —
but so careless about being understood as to be fatally
lacking in lucidity of thought and expression, and
who needs an interpreter to wander with us through
the " Palace Beautiful " of his verse.
If culture is, as Mr, Arnold puts it, to know the best
that has been thought and said, then the subject of
our memoir was essentially a cultured man.
But while he read and wrote much, the Bible was
his favourite, all-absorbing study. This is one out
of many of his diary records :
" Read to-day the books of Nehemiah and Esther
with part of Ezra, and twenty-five chapters of the book
of Job ; read largely from Trench on the miracles."
He was not a critical student of the Word of Truth.
The critical study of the Bible may be dangerous, but
it is indispensable. There has been created within the
present generation a new type of scholarship called
the " Higher Criticism." It is just as assiduous in
collecting facts as the old, but it brings to their
examination a more critical method. It sifts, com-
pares, analyzes, classifies ; in short, it works induc-
tively instead of deductively. It has been influenced
largely by the developments of science, and manifests
not only great skill and acumen in arranging facts
so as to reveal their true significance, but is also
marked by the spirit of candour, judicial comparison
and the pre-eminent love of truth for its own sake.
There is a broad, an arrogant and flippant spirit of
Bible criticism that must not be confounded with the
more reverent and devout spirit which, however bold
16
24.2
A MERCHANT PRINCE.
i ■( ■
and independent in its methods, yet reverences the
" Law of the Lord." Christianity is not afraid to
throw open the gates of her citadel, and allow the
closest scrutiny of its strength.
The Bible has a human origin, as well as a divine,
for no one asserts that it fell, like the fabled statue of
Jupiter, perfect from the skies. But, after the most
fierce assaults, the great body of its truths abide per-
fectly uninjured, and it stands to-day as it shall ever
stand, the king of books, the Kohinoor among dia-
monds, man's undying treasure, God's eternal Word,
" which liveth and standeth forever."
It is needless to say that with Senator Macdonald's
conservative turn of mind he did not have much sym-
pathy with the new science, nor with the higher critics.
He was not in touch with them.
He read the Bible largely for his own personal
profit. It was the voice of God to his own soul, and
in its simplicity, its calm authoritativeness, its direct-
ness and living power, it seemed to reach the centre
of his being, and to enter into his inmost life. While
its lofty thoughts fired his mind and excited his
admiration, its concentrated and burning rays of
truth were brought to a focus on his deepest heart.
He read the sacred page as God's message to himself,
and could say with the Psalmist: "Oh, how I love Thy
law ; it is my meditation all the day."
XII.
BENEVOLENCE.
He is truly great that is great in charity.
— Thomas a Kempis.
The soul of a truly benevolent man does not seem to reside
much in his own body. Its life, to a great extent, is a mere
reflex of the lives of others. It migrates into their bodies, and
identifying its existence with their existence, finds its own
happiness in increasing and prolonging their pleasures, in ex-
tinguishing or solacing their pains.
— Horace Mann.
.■'I
:i
To pity distress is but human, to relieve it is God-like.
— Horace Mann.
Who soweth good seed shall surely reap ;
The year grows rich as it groweth old,
And life's latest sands are its sands of gold.
— Julia C 1{. Dorr.
They serve God well
Who serve His creatures.
-Miss Norton.
For his bounty,
There was no winter in't ; an autumn 'twas
That grew the more by reaping.
— Shakespeare.
In giving, man receives more than he gives, and the more is
in proportion to the worth of the thing given.
— George Macdonald.
BENEVOLENCE.
dd.
SENATOR MACDONALD'S life was one of un-
usual activity. Indeed, he crowded into the
last fifteen years the activities of an ordinary life-
time. A born merchant, shrewd, intelligent, far-
seeing — yet he was a Christian first, a business
man afterwards. Whether his business yielded him
wealth, honour, social position, he held all as a trust
from God, to be used not primarily for his own
aggrandizement, but for the advancement of His
kingdom in the world. It has been well said that
by doing good with his money, a man, as it were,
stamps the image of God upon it, and makes it pass
current for the merchandise of heaven.
There is danger in the getting of wealth. George
Herbert says :
" Gold thou mayest safely touch, but if it- stick
Unto thy hands, it were death to the quick."
And even Horace, the heathen poet, has told us :
" Money was made not to command our will,
But all our lawful pleasures to fulfil ;
Shame and woe to us if we our wealth obey,
The horse does with the horseman run away."
It is one thing to get money, it is another thing to
have money get us.
The attempt to win means, as well as their actual
possession, may be either a blessing or a curse. If
246
A MERCHANT PRINCE.
it makes us avaricious and hard-hearted, it is a curse,
not a blessing.
Senator Macdonald realized that money is a sceptre
— that is all ; an instrument of power that is to be
held for its uses, not for itself. He had the business
habits which makes capital. The strictest economy waii
his rule. But careful for himself he was always lib-
eral to others. He had the sense of Christian steward-
ship. He was a man of benevolence, a philanthropist
in the highest sense of the word. His whole career
was an illustration of the integrity, liberality and
public spirit which are indispensable in the character
of a great, successful, and philanthropic merchant.
He bestowed upon the needy not only money, but
that which is often more difficult to give — time and
thought and attention. Of what avail our best gifts
if the heart be withheld.
" To the noble mind,
Rich gifts wax poor, when givers prove unkind,"
Senator Macdonald loved commercial enterprise as
a literary man loves literature, or an artist loves art ;
but he delighted in the acquisition of property, not
that he might increase his own comforts and enjoy-
ments, but be better able to promote the comfort and
alleviate the condition of his suffering fellows.
Avarice, the love of money for its own sake, was
as far from his nature as was dishonesty or false-
hood. He believed in and practised systematic giv-
ing. He started life on this principle. He says :
" The business man who thus acts, never makes a
mistake, never injures his business, and is never
BENEVOLENCE.
247
without means to give. He is always likely to '/we
in increased measure each year ; and has no creditors,
for no man is more prompt in his payments, nor
enjoys a greater measure of happiness, because he
draws it from the purest of all sources. Few men
give as they ought to give ; few men give in propor-
tion to their means. Giving becomes a habit as does
withholding also. It may he laid down as a safe
rule that few men are reckoned among willing givers
who did not commence giving when their means
were small, and who gave then as cheerfully as
afterwards when means increased. The world owes
nothing to the men who are always going to do some
great thing, but who never feel that the time has
arrived for the unselfish deed. The man who has
no heart to give of his little, will never feel that he
has anything to share with others, no matter how
great his wealth, or how pressing the cause."
When a lad of sixteen, his employers took a deep
interest in Queen's College, Kingston, which was
about being founded in connection with the Church
of Scotland, of which they were members. His
salary then was only fifteen pounds ; yet he wanted
to do something, and after a little thought he put
his name down for three pounds. That was Mr.
Macdonald's first subscription — one-fifth of his entire
income. This first offering was a life-long service to
young Macdonald. He had subscribed the money
and it must be paid. This meant that he could not
squander his small means, but that he must husband
them to meet the engagements as they became due.
We have in our possession the receipt for the first
instalment paid upon this subscription. It is as
follows :
248
A MERCHANT I'llINCE.
"Gananoque, Feb. 8th, 1842.
"Received of John Macdonald, jun., ten shillings,
currency, amount of the first and second instalments
due on his subscription to Queen's College.
" W. S. Macdonald,
•' Local Treasurer"
As soon as he commenced business for himself, he
opened a donation account, and from that day forward
this account had its place on his ledger. The amounts
under this head were small for some time. He felt
that he had no right to give away that which be-
longed to others ; but he felt also that while his house
expenses and the entire management of his business
were conducted with economy, he was in a position to
be a giver to some extent, and to that extent no
creditor ever had a right to find fault with him.
Hear him again :
"Business men sometimes shield themselves from
giving by saying that they are in debt, and that in
justice to their creditors they must first be just, then
generous. Hear these gentlemen talk about their
business to someone who is soliciting an order from
them, or to some friend, and what do they say ?
* Best season I ever had.' * I have done this month
half the amount I did the whole of last season.' ' I
expect this year to pay my rent out of my discount.'
Or, * I made an offer to-day for a site for a new ware-
house.' While to someone seeking a subscription, an
hour after, they will say, ' I can do nothing to-day.
I am struggling, you know, to establish a business.
By and by I hope to be able to help not only this but
other objects.' Or perhaps they rudely refuse to
listen to the appeal at all, under the plea that they
nENEVOLEXCE.
249
are too busy, or that they never put clown their names
for show, but give in such a way as that the right
hand knows not what the left does. Poor fools !
making wealth and at the same time forging a chain
with which it will bind them as its slaves ; making
wealth to embitter in the end their own happiness,
passing through life without gladdening any heart,
and without experiencing the luxury of making others
happy, or realizing the truth of those most precious
words, * It is more blessed to give than to receive.'
How much should that man give to benevolent objects
whose business produces no profits ? Not a dollar.
But why does his business produce no profit ? Very
probably from extravagance or inattention. Let him
attend to his business, let him be prudent, economical,
and courteous, and his business will soon show results,
and he will soon have means with which to help
others.
" How much should a man give whose business is
prosperous ? That will depend upon his income.
'But,' he says, 'my goods are sold on time and may
not be paid.' Let him make a fair and reasonable
allowance for a rest ; let him estimate what liis bad
debts are likely to be ; let him look at the years that
have passed and at the results they have yielded ; let
him look at the season's business in which he is
engaged and estimate its prospects ; let him weigh the
claims of the object, or objects, for which his assist-
ance is sought ; let him weigh also the effect which
his help will give, and the loss which his refusal
would cause, and then give readily and cheerfully,
but no more than he can afford."
He experienced all the annoyances that fall to the
lot of the reputed philanthropist. While in his office,
scarcely an hour passed that he was not called upon
by some agent or some needy applicant for assistance.
250
A MERCHANT PRINCE.
Many of these would be wholly unknown to him,
without references or introductions of any kind, but
he was ready to examine every claim and bestow the
needed help. Scarcely a mail arrived that did not
bring some appeal for assistance.
Senator Macdonald not only honoured the Lord
with his substance, but by personal efforts and un-
wearied labours he did much for the cause of Christian
benevolence.
He kept himself near the poor, in daily contact
with distress, misfortunes, and privations; he took
upon himself a little of their poverty, like the dust of
a journey. Every day was full to the brim with good
words and good deeds — what Wordsworth calls
" That best portion of a good man's life,
His little, nameless, unremembered acts
Of kindness and of love."
Every day of his life was a blessing to somebody,
for he could say with Alice Cary,
" I hold that Christian grace abounds
Where charity is seen ; that when
We climb to heaven, 'tis on the rounds
Of love to men."
He found many ways of doing good with his money.
He gave constantly, by wholesale and by retail. His
bounty descended in copious showers on great in titu-
tions ; it distilled in gentle dews upon not les^ needy
individuals. He gave munificent sums iblicly, but
more frequently did his benef ■tr umble
want to its retreat, and ther ry and
sorrow known only to God.
nENEVOLENCE.
251
He gave as a prince to the various forms of cliurcli
work, in erecting churches, making repairs, paying off
debts, furnishing parsonages and replenishing Sunday
School libraries. He did not approve of costly
sanctuaries burdened with debt,
"But such plain roofa as piety could raise,
And only vocal with tlu; Maker's praise."
He not only gave largely to missions, but did all in
his power to awaken and stimulate in others a like
interest.
He was the unknown almoner who offered through
Dr. Withrow and other adjudicators one hundred
guineas for the best essay on " The Heathen World :
Its need of the Gospel and the Church's obligation to
supply it."
Another cause very near to his heart was the
Superannuated Ministers' Fund, and his appeals on
behalf of this fund were fervent and noble.
No one admired more than he the manly qualities
and pre-eminent ministerial gifts of Rev. Dr. Wm.
Morley Punshon ; no one rejoiced more than he in the
great good accomplished by this loan of British
Wesleyanism to Canadian Methodism; and no one
contributed more than he to give success to his minis-
trations and labours in all the great movements of
the Church, the endowment ot Victoria University,
the establishment of a Foreign Mission, and church-
building.
When, in October, 1871, the news flashed over the
wires that Chicago was in flames, his firm at once
252
A MERCHANT PRINCE.
forwarded a shipment of goods in behalf of the suf-
ferers by tire. The mayor of the city sent back the
following telegram :
"God bless you. It is just what we need. Accept
the heartfelt thanks of a suffering people for your
very generous donation. R. B. Mason."'
Mr. Macdonald also sent further contributions,
which were gratefully acknowledged by the Chicago
Relief and Aid Society.
He was the founder of the Macdonald Bursary in
the University of Toronto. If the facilities of com-
merce have been multiplied and her gains increased
by the discoveries of science and the inventions of
art, commarcial men have repaid the debt by rich
gifts to schools and colleges, and noble endowments of
institutions of learning wheie science can be advanced
and art promoted.
Senator Macdonald was one of the original promoters
of the scheme of University Federation. During the
stormy controversy in Methodism over this question,
he never wavered for a moment ; and his generous
offering of $25,000, along with the generosity of
William Gooderham, Mr. Cox and others, gave an
impetus to the movement in favour of Federation
that could not be resisted. Festina lente. Events
moved quickly. He did not live to see Victoria Col-
lege rising in the Queen's Park ; but his far-seeing
wisdom was indicated, and the success of this educa-
tional movement was well outlined in the Convoca-
tion address of Chancellor Bur wash at the close of
the first year of work under the Federation Act.
BENEVOLENCE.
253
A leading layman of the Methodist Church, a con-
stant and munificent supporter of all its institutions
and funds, his bounty was not confined to his own
dbiiomination. He was engajjed in humanitarian
work of every kind. Of orphanages and asylums
he was a generous supporter. It would be difficult to
enumerate all the enterprises and efforts — religious,
philanthropic, educational — to which he lent his sup-
port and aid. A few weeks before his death he gave
$40,000 for the establishment of a hospital in con-
nection with the Medical Department of the Univer-
sity, and in his will he made, in memory of his
daughter Amy, an additional provision of $60,000
towards the New Park Hospital.
One of his last appeals was in behalf of the Pres-
byterian Home for Alaskan Girls, in which he says :
" I cannot describe the degradation that exists,
neither can I adequately tell of the transformation
which has been accomplished in the existing schools
through the instrumentality of faithful, loving Chris-
tian men and women.
" If every reader of these letters will send me one
dollar, or more if they feel disposed, so that sufficient
aid will be furnished to this most desirable and much
needed object, I venture the statement that never will
money have been better spent, never will it have
accomplished better results, never have hearts been
gladdened more than will be the hearts of the noble
missionaries, their wives and the lady missionaries
who are doing such grand work among those Indian
tribes to-day. . . . All sums sent me will be for-
warded to the various points indicated in these letters
in such proportion as with my knowledge of their
respective wants I deem best, unless the donors should
254
A MERCHANT PRINCE.
themselves indicate the disposition of such sums as
they may feel constrained to contribute."
Senator Macdonald thus gave largely, constantly,
cheerfully, and on Christian principle. He believed
that God's blessing attended liberal giving. He built
upon the adamantine foundation of fidelity to God
and man ; and while his business career extended over
two or three terrible convulsions, which shook the
very pillars of the commercial world, yet they dis-
turbed not the solid basis of his prosperity.
It is said that during the crisis of '57, Mr. Kidston,
the head of the great Glasgow house, came out to
Canada to inspect Mr. Macdonald's business affairs.
As soon as he opened the ledgers, he saw his "donation
account," noted with what strictness and fidelity he
was discharging his obligation as a steward of his
Maker, and he closed the books, saying, " Mr. Mac-
donald, we will proceed no further. I am perfectly
satisfied ; I have no fear of the merchant who con-
ducts his business on such principles."
In a private memorandum to his eldest son, John
Kidston, a partner in the firm, he imparted the infor-
mation that for some years past he had devoted to
charitable purposes one-fifth of his income. No
wonder he was recognized as a philanthropist, and
that the fragraut memory of his virtues and his
charities
" Smell sweet and blossom in the dust."
XIII.
TRAVELS.
1
1
; i
Sleep safe, O wave-worn mariner ;
Fear not the night, or storm or sea ;
The ear of Heaven bends low to hear —
He comes to shore who sails with me.
-iV. P. Willis.
" Hame, hame, hame,
An' its hame that I maun be ;
Hame, hame, hame,
To my ain counterie."
Windermere ! Why, at this blessed moment we behold the
beauty of all its intermingling isles. There they are — all gazing
down on their own reflected loveliness in the magic mirror of the
air-like water, just as many a holy time we have seen them all
agaze when, with suspended oar and suspended breath — no sound
but a ripple on the Naiad's bow and a beating at our own heart
— motionless in our own motionless barque — we seemed to float
midway between that beautiful abyss between the heaven above
and the heaven below on some strange terrestrial scene com-
posed of trees and the sliadows of trees, by the imagination
made indistinguishable to the eye ; and, as delight deepened into
dreams, all lost at last — clouds, groves, water, air, sky — in their
various and profound confusion of supernatural peace.
— CkrUtopher North.
float
above
corn-
nation
. into
their
rlh.
TRAVELS.
SENATOR MACDONALD was not only a well-
read but an extensively travelled man. Like
Ulysses, he had seen the cities of many men and
learned their thoughts.
Few men enjoyed natural scenery more than he did.
He revelled in the works of God. The majestic and
the beautiful moved him to intense delight. He did
not belong to the globe-trotting fraternity who form
hasty observations and with the cacoethes scrihendi,
irresistibly strong upon them, proceed to draw sweep-
ing deductions and offer crude dissertations of a
misleading: and mischievous character concern ing the
habits and customs of many lands. He was a careful
and accurate observer; he studied both sides v^ the
shield, and sought to acquire an intimate acquaintance
with the social, political and economic conditions of
the countries which he visited.
It is said that to know a man thoroughly you must
travel with him, and see whether he takes his con-
science along with him ; whether his character re-
mains the same when the restraints of daily occupa-
tion, public opinion, home life, and the forces of habit
are removed.
In all his journeyings Senator Macdonald preserved
his character as a genial, unselfish, appreciative Chris-
tian gentleman. However urgent his business, whether
1 ;; ,
i: f
258
A MERCHANT PRINCE.
I
on the continent of Europe, in the far West, or on
the rock-bound coast of Newfoundland, his invariable
rule was to rest at the end of the week, for he con-
sidered all unnecessary Sunday travelling as wron^.
The first time he made an ocean passage he found
himself sharing his stateroom with a very prepossess-
ing looking gentleman from Boston. As the night
advanced and he thought of turning in, the question
came up : *' Shall. I go through my private devotions ?
May it not be an offence to my companion ? " While
thus deliberating in his own mind, what was his sur-
prise and delight to see his companion kneel down and
engage in silent prayer. It was a rebuke to his fears,
and an encouragement to him always to show his
colours. The gentleman was no other than the Hon.
Jonathan Lane, and they became life-long friends.
We have seen how in his young and callow days he
visited the West Indies for his health, and found
boundless delight in the climate, vegetation and scenery
of that "gem of the Antilles," Jamaica. Even then
we notice how he felt the intimate life of nature, her
weird power and charm, her all-penetrating life and
beauty.
He crossed the Atlantic many times, and made ex-
tended tours through the countries of Europe. He
wrote much in a pleasant, gossipy manner, and his
descriptions of scenery show not only great delicacy
of feeling, but how deeply nature allowed him to enter
into her secret. His sketches of cities, well known
places of interest, and the customs and life of foreign
people, are very entertaining,
TRAVELS.
259
In December, 1861, he made an ocean passage, and
spent a few weeks in Great Britain.
In December, 1870, he made a nine days' passage
from New York to Liverpool by steamer Russia.
In the summer of 1879 he made a pilgrimaj^e to
the Old World, accompanied by his daughters Lucie
and Amy ; and in 1881 he again crossed the Atlantic,
takinjr with him Mrs. Macdonald and the daughters
Marion and Annie. These frequent foreign tours
gave him an exceptional knowledge of European
affairs. While visiting France, Rhineland, Switzer-
land and Italy, he spent much time in Great Britain.
He loved especially his " ain counterie," and cherished
the warmest sentiments of loyalty, gratitude and
admiration for the land of the hills and the glens.
He had drank in with his mother's milk the many
traditions of " Auld Scotia," and he passionately
loved her shaggy woods, her heathery slopes, her
mountains and her green swells of meadow-land. He
not only loved the home and haunts of Burns, and the
charming seat of Abbotsford, pervaded by the spirit
of the great minstrel of the north, but he loved the
very character, the noblesse oblige', the generous and
chivalrous enthusiasm of the Scotsman himself.
The bard of Ayr sings :
" In heaven itself I'll ask no more
Than just a Highla^nd welcome."
This was the welcome which Senator Macdonald
always found at the very door-step of his native
land.
During the same season of 1881, the Senatoi:
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A MERCHANT PRINCE.
re-crossed the ocean by the steamship Peruvian, to
attend the first Ecumenical Conference, held in
London.
In June, 1885, he made another trans- Atlantic
trip, accompanied this time by Mrs. Macdonald and
the daughters Winnifred and Ethel. He spent much
time in the great metropolis, the centre of commer-
cial enterprise, the market of the world. He also
passed some weeks in the south of England, and
was enthusiastic over the beauty of the Isle of
Wight.
The following year he took his children, Lucie,
Winnifred and Eraser, sailing by the steamship
Fariman from Montreal. In a series of letters to the
Christian Guardian he says :
" Among the many changes which have marked
the last fifty years, none have been more remark-
able than those connected with ocean passages. True,
passages were then made in twenty-one or twenty-
two days, but they were so occasional as to be
objects of w^onder; thirty-five, forty and fifty days
were the rule. To cross the ocean in those days
was the event of a man's life ; the man made out
his will (although sensible men should always
have their wills made), he bade a solemn good-bye
to his friends, and when he returned he was the hero
of the hour, a subject of interest and wonder. All
this is changed. Men cross the ocean to-day with
less concern and less risk than they could have gone
from Toronto to Amherstburg fifty years ago, and
with so much certainty that they may order their
dinner for a certain hour on a certain day and be
there to enjoy it."
fSi-
TRAVELS.
261
days
days
out
ways
■bye
hero
All
with
gone
and
Reaching the Old Land, he says :
" Glorious England ! Not unmindful of your sons,
who are proud on every sea to sail under your flag !
Not unmindful of your sons, who in every land tight
your battles ! Not unmindful of the widows and
orphans of those wlio fall in your service. What
land is like to thee ? Who does not glory at being
an Englishman ?
" How lovely the country looked ! It was in
patches only that the hedges had assumed their
shiny garb, but hero and there the hawthorn blossoms
had begun to till the air with their fragrance. But
the whole country was dressed in that tender, deli-
cate, virgin green, which shows so lovely in the early
spring-time. Every field has been so carefully
plough( d, harrowed and rolled that it looked as level
as one's dining-table ; not one stump, not one rail
fence to be seen through the entire distance. Large
numbers of sheep (most of the dams having two
lambs) were in the fields, with large numbers of cattle,
among which were many Galloways."
Here is a vivid description of' the Queen's visit to
the Exhibition of that year, and a sight of Her
Gracious Majesty, etc.
" One who, like myself, had never seen Her Majesty,
could not help realizing that they were about to look
upon the head of a royal house the most ancient in
Europe, who rules over an empire on which the sun
never sets, whose subjects comprise members of nearly
every race and every creed on the habitable globe, a
prominent place on the Exhibition walls announcing
the fact that the area of the British Empire is 9,120,-
999 square miles, and that its population is now 305,-
337,294 souls.
" And now she comes. She is in a black silk robe,
' w
262
A MERCHANT PRINCE.
1 1
adorned with black beads, her" bonnet of black b.^ing
relieved by a silver-j^rey feather. She is passing to
hear the singers intone those stirring words of the
Poet Laureate :
( t
* Shall we not thro' good and ill
Cleave to one another still 1 '
And the close of them :
'* ' Sons he wedded, each and all,
Into one Imperial whole —
One with Jiritain, heart and soul —
One life, one flag, one Heet, one throne.
Britons hold your own,
And Ood guard all.'
" Here she is, within ten feet of where we stand.
Her face is broad and full in features — a regular
Guelph. Her face is red, very red. In this respect
her photographs convey no idea of her appearance —
very short, very stout, yet carrying herself with great
dignity, and every inch a Queen. I felt that it was
worth my passage across the Atlantic twice told, and
all my expenses in London, to see the woman now
passing so very near to me. As she passed by the
Canadian court, cheer after cheer went up with great
enthusiasm ; to every one of which she turned to-
wards the court and bowed to her Canadian subjects.
What mnjesty in her movements. How fully she
recognized that amid all the dignitaries from the
Prince of Wales and other members of the Royal
family — that amid all the heroes who joined in that
procession, who had fought England's battles by sea
and land — Admirals, Generals and Field Marshals —
men whose faces were bronzed and whose breasts were
covered with medals — Napier of Magdala, Seymour
and Lumsden — men whom the nation delijrhted to
m
TRAVELS.
163
honour — well did she recognize that, great as these
and other men there were, and that much >is tlieylwid
done, that not for them, l)ut for her, did these cho«rs
ascend. She alone acknowledged the compliment —
she acknowledged it as a Queen.
Two thoughts struck one as she passed through the
Canadian court to make her way to the Albert Hall.
First : Here is a woman who has been living amid the
manifestations of the loyalty of her people for tifty
years, and yet she is not indifferent to the expressions
of loyalty of her colonial subjects, but every cheer
receives its betitting acknowledgment. Does this not
bespeak a Queen ? Second : She occupies a position
the most difficult for anyone to occupy — viz., that
position of distance from all others that no one
dare ted her of any weakness ; that no one dare
chide her for any inconsiderateness ; that no one
can tell her of any incompatibility of temper. In
these respects is it not true that her position is a
more difficult one (taking all the circmnstances into
consideration) than that of any mortal upon t-he face
of the earth to-day, man or woman ? . . .
*• But she has passed. I have seen the Queen of
England, and I am wonderfully pleased that I have
done so. What a scene the grounds presented. What
changes time has wrought. At one corner of the
Exhibition one might realize from the people they
meet that they were in the streets of Toronto, Here
are men of distinction from China, with their blue
silk robes. Here are various castes of India, some
all in white, with white turbans gracefully twined
about their heads; some all in veils, some clad in
many-coloured silk robes, sone in crimson velvet
braided with gold, some with curiously-shaped head
dresses; ladies from India, whose caste in days gone
by prohibited them from seeing the face of man
unveiled, wandering about and enjoying the scene as
:,.A
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A MERCHANT PRINCE.
i! :1
did the people of Canada, Verily, the whole was a
sight only to be seen in a lifetime — never, in so many
respects, to be seen again."
Whatever he touches is done in an incisive and
felicitous immnor. There is no haziness in his de-
scription — the subject stands out as clearly cut as a
cameo.
During his stay on the Isle of Wight he looked
up the 93rd Highlanders, lunched with the officers,
and revived the sunny memories of early days with
his old regiment.
His graphic letters were cut short by a severe
illner.s, and it was a period of intense anxiety to his
family. However, through careful nursing and the
skill of his physician, Sir Joseph Lister, he rallied,
and returned home somewhat recruited in strenefth.
In the summer of l<S8cS, accompanied by his daugh-
ter Ethel, he took a most refreshing holiday, visiting
Newfoundland and the Labrador coast.
His letters to the Toronto Globe commanded gen-
eral attention throughout the Dominion, and were
read with lively interest. We can give here only a
few excerpts :
" How little do we know of Newfoundland ? How
little of Labrador ? We have been accustomed to
think of both as having rock-bound coasts, of beinjx
lands of fog and fish ; of Labrador as being also the '
home of the seal and the region of eternal ice. Yet
Newfoundland is our oldest, and, in very many
respects, one of our most important colonies. . . .
*' Our first point is Harbour Grace, for which we
had a large amount of freight. . . .
"I rode over the mountains to Carbonear. The
TRAVELS.
265
population of the place is some 4,000. Like Harbour
Grace, almost the entire population sustain themselves
by fishing'. The road from Harbour Grace to Car-
bonear is most pictures(|ue. Mountain passes, wind-
ing roads, frowning rocks, and patches of j^reen forests
of spruce, make up the picture. Carbonear is built
upon the slope of a lofty range, with white houses,
most of them havini; sinall cultivated enclosures.
" Our cargo out, and we are off for St. John's. On
the base of a rocky promontory, at the left hand side
of the entrance to St. John's harbour, stands the Fort
Amherst lighthouse, on the right Signal Hill, 525 feet
above the level of the sea. The Narrows leading to the
harbour are nearly a mile in length ; the entrance to
them is about 1,400 feet wide, and at the narrowest
point not more than 000 feet. When two-thirds of
the Narrows have been passed the harbour turns to
the west, and there, completely land-lock(Ml with
lofty hills on either side, vessels may ride in perfect
safety. It was a magnificent sight to sec the
Admiral's ship, Ikilcrophon, with two men-of-war
following, steaming up the Narrows, and casting
anchor in the harbour, an English and a French
warship being previously in port, thus niaking a tieet
of five warships — four English and one French.
II
"To one from Ontario, ev^erything about Newfound-
land is new, and conse([uently full of interest. The
harbours are much alike, all land-locked, nearly all
surrounded by bold, rugged and lofty hills. In enter-
ing some, the ship makes a complete circle, in others,
half a circle ; in some, her course is in the shape of
the letter S, so that when once in, it is difficult for a
stranger to see, not only how the vessel came in, but
how she was to get out. The settlements have about
•266
A MERCHANT PRINCE.
them so much that is alike, that when one has been
seen, you have a very good idta of what the next will
be like. . . .
" Newfoundland is very well supplied with churches,
nearly all built of wood, and in places like Fogo, and
even smaller, three churches are often found — one an
Anglican, one a M.etho(Ust and one of the Church of
Rome. . .
" As we neared the coast of Labrador, although no
perceptible change took place in the atn ©sphere,
great patches of snow were seen lying in the gulches,
and here and there a place which could not be so
accurately described as in the well-known lines :
" ' It was a cave, a huge recess,
Which held till June December's snow ;
A mighty prt cipice ;ibove,
A silent tarn below.'
" Here we entered the Straits of Belle Isle. The
sunsets were magnificent, such, indeed, as no artist
could paint, such as no pen could describe, making
the heavens, even in these bleak latitudes, like a ' sea
of glory,' and lighting it up with such grandeur as
forcibly reminds one of the words of Jean Ingelow,
which could only have been conceived under such
inspirational circumstances :
" ' And far against days' golden death
She moved where Lindus wandereth,
My son's fair wife Elizabeth,'
Leading one to en(|uire if the death of day be golden,
what reason is there that the close of one's life should
not be radiant, and why should not one feel that,
although clouds and darkness have been scenes in
one's life with which they have not been unfamiliar,
yet assuredly one may realize that ' at evening time
it shall be light.' . . .
TRAVELS.
267
" At Blanc SaDlon I saw the process by which the
cod liver oil is prepared. I was struck with the
cleanliness of the process, with the purity and clear-
ness of the oil, resembling amber in colour, and quite
as free from odour, I tasted it, and found that it
was not only not difficult to take, but was something
which one could get to like, and which must be most
nutritious. Oil of this quality, J was informed, was
worth £30 per tun; seal oil, £^6, and finer quali-
ties, £22. . . .
'* There is much that Confederation can do — there
is much that it cannot do. It can make the colony an
integral part of a great Dominion. It can thus give
it a prominence which it does not possess to-day. It
can make its voice heard and its power felt in the
Legislative Chambers of Ottawa, It can rely upon
having the intercb!. of the entire Dominion awakened
in the development of its great resources. These
are results which Confederation would undoubtedly
secure ; but it cannot bring back to the island the
days of extravagant profits and colossal fortunes —
th^^e are gone."
On the 22nd of Nove.nber of the same year he sailed
with his youngest daughter, Ethel, from New York,
per steamship Barraca'iUa for the West Indies. He
not only desired to catch another glimpse of the proud
appearance of those isles of the sea, and breathe the
balm of their soft southern air, but he was anxious to
foster between them and Canada h reciprocal trade.
His letters and addresses helped to create a public
interest in this trade, and no doubt formed one of the
factors which led to the granting, by the Dominion
Parliament, of the liberal subsidy to ohe " Castle "
268
A MERCHANT PRINCE.
I
line of steamers now plying between the Dominion
ports and the West Indies.
The last journey made to restore shattered nerves
and vital energy was to the far Pacific Coast :
" A clime where glittering mountain tops
And glancing sea, and forests steeped in light
Gave back, reflected, the far flashing sun."
Accompanied by his daughter Winnifred, he left
Toronto, June 2iSth, 1889, for British Cohimbia, via
the Northern Pacific Railway, visiting Chicago, St.
Paul's, Minneapolis, Yellowstone Park, Spokane Falls,
Portland and Alaska. His letters to the Globe, called
" Nine Thousand Miles by Rail and Water," were very
voluminous and interesting. Of Chicago he writes :'
" We reached Chicago on time, and approaching it
I had my first view of Lake Michigan. What a
wondrous place ! In the Palmer House is a picture
of the city in 1831 — two log-houses, a small, rude
log-bridge crossing the river near the present site of
the Palmer House. A little over half a century—
what an extraordinary change !
" It now enters upon its onward course as the
second city in the Union, with a population of one
million one hundred thousand people. Has the world
ever seen a city spring up as this has done ? Was
ever a city overtaken by so great a calamity as befell
it in 1871, when, in a few hours, miles were laid
desolate and property destroyed to the value of about
$500,000,000 ^ One hundred millions of pounds ster-
ling, or about one-seventh of the national debt of
Great Britain. It is from this period of disaster, which
would have blotted out the very site of many a city,
that its great development dates, and it entered upon
that course of advancement of which it is so difficult
to foresee the end."
TRAVELS.
269
The Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone Excites
His Awe and Admiration.
" My first impressions were those of wonder and
astonishment; my last and the abiding one was one of
awe.
" I speedily realized how feeble had been my con-
ception, and as speedily realized how impossible it
would have been that it could have been ought else.
I had never seen anything like it, I had never fancied
anything like it ; while no description, however
graphic, could convey to one a description of the
picture upon which I was gazing.
" Before me was the yawning chasm, the cliffs rising
perpendicularly for about two thousand feeb, em-
blazoned with colours so rich, striking and wonderful
as to throw into the shade all the picture galleries of
Europe. On the right, the lower falls of the Yellow-
stone — considerably higher than those of Niagara;
beneath, the bed of the river, foaming and dashing in
its wild course, receiving the waters of many tribu-
taries, each having its canyon rolling onwards, broad-
ening and deepening, until from a point above the
mouth of the Big Horn River until its confluence
with the Missouri, a distance of about two hundred
and fifty miles, it becomes during a good stage of
water navigable for steamboats of from two to three
hundred tons.
" Hovering over us were the eagles — a fitting place
for the king of birds — sweeping o'er the chasm with
a conscious sense of security and an utter indifference
of man's puny efforts. Perched upon the very top of
the highest crags were their nests, upon which, how-
ever, we looked down, the young broods adding to the
weirdness of the picture. . . .
"Farewell to the Grand Canyon, worth alone all
the trouble, expense and fatigue incident to reaching
11
270
A MERCnANT PRINCE.
i
\im*\
it ; sight which never can be forgotten ; the joy of
having seen it something which can never fade.
Ckystal Staius, Ykllowstonk Pakk.
" I have spoken with those who have expressed dis-
appointment at Niagara Falls— to those.) who have
been disappointed in other objects the fame of which
TRAVELS.
271
is world-wide. I have never yet seen, nor do I expect
that I ever will see, anyone bold enough to express
disappointment at the Grand Canyon of the Yellow-
stone."
Concerning the great river of the Pacific Coast, he
says:
"The Columbia has charms peculiarly its own for
all who are fond of nature. It furnishes one of those
v/onderful trips, of whicli, indeed, there are so many,
which never can be forgotten — one of those trips
which leaves upon the mind pleasant pictures not to
be seen elsewhere, and which never fails to afford
pleasure in calling them up after the journey itself
has become a thing of the past.
" Some idea of the en')rmous wealth of the Columbia
River, so far as its salmon is concerned, may be
gathered from the fact that in ]cS8.S the total pack
was no less than 020,400 cases, valued at J!?8, 147,000.
"The river abounds with sturgeon. At one of the
landing places there was one which had been caught
weighing about 100 pounds, and one of our passengers
told me that he had caught one measuring 22 feet.
Great numbers of seals, too, we saw during the day,
at which the soldiers amused themselves firing with
their revolvers, the bullets sometimes striking the
water marvellously near them. We leave the Columbia
where its great atttuent, the Willamette, joins it, and
proceed amid beautiful scenery for twelve miles •
the latter river until w^e reach Portland. We had, ..i
addition to Mount Hood, good views of both Mount
Adams and Mount St. Helens ; and well it was so, for
during our stay at St. Paul, where, in a clear state of
the atmosphere, six snow-clad mountains are clearly
visible at the same time from the park, the atmosphere
was so dense from the smoke of forest tires that it
II
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272
A MERCHANT PRINCE.
was with difficulty that anything could be seen
beyond the range of the city."
He writes glowingly of Vancouver Island and
Victoria :
" Victoria, the capital of British Columbia, is pic-
turesquely situated in a beautiful harbour in the
south-cast of Vancouver Island, its population being
from 12,000 to 15,000.
" I was not prepared for the many evidences of
thrift and substantial progress which met me at every
turn. The streets are wide, and .veil laid out. The
shops and plac'es of business are imposing and
attractive. The stocks of goods which are displayed
ill the windows and exposed in the places of business
are such as are to be found in our largest and most
important cities. The standing of the merchants is
equal to that of any merchant in any of our Canadian
cities.
" The climate of Victoria is mild in winter and cool
in summer, and I was not surprised to tind that in
consequence it was a favourite resort for tourists."
From Victoria they took steamer, George W. Elder,
for Alaska, visiting the different settlements along the
route, reaching Sitka August 8th, and arriving back
at Victoria August 17th. He took a deep interest in
the Indian missionaries, and made an earnest appeal
on behalf of the natives of Alaska and the Aleutian
Islands.
He returned by the Canadian ii,cific Railway. He
has this to say of the great Pacific ierminus :
" In many respects Vancouver is the most remarkable
place we have seen since leaving Toronto. Vancouver
as it is now had no existence three years a^o. Where
TRAVELS.
273
great, wide streets exist to-day, was then a dei.se, un-
broken forest. How dense tnat was and how mag-
nificent were the trees, is manifest by the number and
size of the trunks which have not yet been removed.
Streets now are being opened out, on either side of
which the forest remains as it has been for the past
hundreds of years ; yet, as we drove by these we were
told that the price of a lot of fifty feet on one of these
forest streets ranged from $800 to $1,200.
" Well may the people of Vancouver be proud of their
park, upon which I trust no encroachments will be
made, however strong the pressure may be, for com-
mercial or other purpose."
He was impressed with the mountains, and particu-
larly the prairies.
" And thus we keep rolling over the vast and it
indeed seems boundless prairies, feeling the full force
of the words of the poet :
"*Lo ! they stretch
In airy undulations far away,
As if the ocean, in his j^entle swell,
Stood still with all his rounded billows fixed
And motionless for ever.' "
The long journey is accomplished !
"And now the conductor, passing through the car,
cries, ' Toronto,' and in a few moments we are at the
Union Station. A few minutes later we are at our
own home, wife and children on the verandah to
meet and welcome us, realizing that kind of experi-
ence that one never tires of repeating, intensified in
this case by the fact that perfect health had been the
portion of all at home, that not one moment of un-
easiness had befallen the travellers, that health and
increased delight had been their portion on their
journey of 9,000 miles to Alaska by the way of the
18
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274
A MERCHANT PRINCE.
Northern Pacific and home by the Canadian Pacific
Railv/ay."
His closing sentences are :
" And now that I find myself in my own city and my
journey over, my verdict is that while loving the
United States none the less, I find myself loving my
own country all the more. Cherishing nothing, I
trust, but the very kindest wishes for my American
friends, and the greatest possible success for their
country, yet I am proud of my nationality, and fully
assured from all that I have heard and seen, that no
people on this wide earth have more to be thankful
for than have the people of Canada, and, applying the
words of the poet to their own country, none should be
able .with greater sincerity and feeling than they to
say:
*' ' There's no place like home.'
"It was with these soul-stirring words welling
up in my breast that I reached my own door, words
which, when applied to Canada, I venture to say
every Canadian may with confidence adopt."
Little did the many readers of those interesting
letters dream that ere two months had rolled awav,
Senator Macdonald would have embarked on the
journey to that mysterious, unseen land from which
no traveller returns.
1(1
XIV.
HOME LIFE.
i
Stay, stay at home, my heart, and rest ;
Home-keeping hearts are happiest,
For those that wander they know not where
Are full of trouble and full of care ;
To stay at home is best.
— LoiKjfcllow, ISong.
Home is the resort
Of love, of joy, of peace and plenty ; where,
Supporting and supported, polished friends
And dear relations mingle into bliss.
— Thompson, The Seasons.
Whenever we step out of domestic life in search of felicity,
we come back again disappointed, tired and chagrined. One
day passed under our own roof with our friends and our family
is worth a thousand in another place.
— Earl of Orrery.
Home is the grandest of all institutions.
— C. H. Spurgeon.
HOME LIFE.
'ry.
WE liave not sought to present a strictly chrono-
lof^ical narrative, but to bring out the
character of the man in the various relations and
engagements of his life.
We have already revealed in his business and
political life those strong and manly traits of personal
character which commanded the admiration of all
who knew him. But of all the varied features of the
life of Senator Macdonald, none were more marked
than the intense warmth of his home affections. No
portraiture of the man would be of any value that
failed to present in their due se(]uence the personal
and family events of those busy years in whl«.li he
was so occupied with mercantile, parliamentary, social
and ecclesiastical duties. He was essentially a family
man.
The stream that rushes along at full tide rarely
meanders through quiet woods and meadows, and one
would have thought that the current of Senator
Macdonald's life was too swift to allow him to rest
upon its banks. But his main delights were in the
midst of his quiet home, and all the hours of rest were
sacred to the cultivation of family ties.
The early years of his life, though full of unremit-
ting eftbrt — his intellectual faculties becoming sharp-
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ened, and the range of ^lis business knowledge widened
— were nevertheless not eventful. There is little of a
picturesque or striking nature. ."
" So runs the round of life from hour to howr."
Yet they were fruitful in influence, for all the while
he was not only enriching and beautifying his ow'n
character, hut building up a home of wealth, intelli-
gence, refinement and piety. The v/hole atmosphere
of that home was permeated by a domestic affection
that was quite ideal in its manifestation. Among the
images of earliest childhood his mother's shone out as
in a picture. Her memory always came back to him
with a sort of celestial radiance, and it exerted a
mellowing influence upon his own home-life.
In his early years he had sharp domestic sorrow in
the loss of his beautiful young wife. But when he
again set up the family roof-tree, he had found a
most affectionate partner, a true companion and friend.
He relied much upon his wife's clear, sound judgment,
and he gave her the full affection of his pure, strong,
manly nature. It is almost romantic to read in one
of his Alaska letters :
" The weather is balmy ; the reflection of the water
perfect ; the scene such as no painter could transfer
to his canvas or writer fittingly describe. And here
I find mysolf in circumstances calling up in one what-
ever is in him of the sense of the beautiful, finishing
my entry with this remark, * The anniversary of my
wedding day.'"
They were blessed with a large family of cluldren —
five sons and five daughters. These were born at
intervals of about two years, and as follows :
••■■'
I
John Kidstox Macdonald.
HOME LIFE.
Annie Eliza, born March 28, 1859, who was married
in February h 1882, to Mr. Montgomerie Lewis, of
London, Out.
Marion Louisa, born Aiigust 28, 18(i0, united in
marriage to Jamr .«=» Morrow "^ ml, of Halifax, Octob^^v
19, LS82.
Lncie Elizabeth, >mm Jxm% fi, 18()2, >a Decern^
ber 'S, 1889, married Dr. J -ant, son of Sir Jani(;s
Grant, of Ottav
John Kidntoii, iKsni ^Novcir it^«i, the present
head of thr- t-' "
«r i, 18
!)._ -A
■f Rev. a M. Muiigan.
James Kn;
Mary Eveli?.
• onto.
;5dar Alcorn, born Octoter 22, 1867, wlio i.
tlie ::i:.i July, J8^^ ' ' in marriage • snie
C, i^ailanty- --uru uau.^nior of the lat-
liuidJaw, Ey,^., .i Toronto.
Winriifred JrJin. born ^^frif.ombor I '» (Sf'O
Ethel-.
Duncan McGru - ,^i ,
Arthur Nin - .74.
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with all rJ *
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m
HOME LIFE.
279
Annie Eliza, born March 28, 1859, who was married
in February 1, 1882, to Mr. Montgomerie Lewis, of
London, Ont.
Marion Louisa, born August 28, 1860, united in
marriage to James Morrow, Esq., of Halifax, October
19, 1882.
Lucie Elizabeth, born June 6, 1862, who, on Decem-
ber 3, 1889, married Dr. J. A. Grant, son of Sir James
Grant, of Ottawa.
John Kidston, born November 4, 1863, the present
head of the firm.
James Fraser, born November 2, 1865, who married
Mary Eveline, second daughter of Rev. G. M. Milligan,
of Toronto.
Alexander Alcorn, born October 22, 1867, who, on
the 21st July, 1890, was united in marriage to Annie
C. Ballantyne, third daughter of the late George
Laidlaw, Esq., of Toronto.
Winnifred Julia, born September 19, 1869.
Ethel Alberta, born July 30, 1871.
Duncan McGregor, born June 6, 1873 ; and
Arthur Nimo, born October 6, 1874.
He was a model pere de fa/mille, devoted to his
children and idolized by them. He played with the
boys, participating in all their boyish sports. He was
particularly good at the game of marbles. He was
the finest shot and generally the winner. Chess was
another favourite household game. He sought to
make his children happy at home, and provided them
with all the means of innocent amusement.
Christmas was a joyous famiij'" day, and in the
evening that home party was one of the most pleasant
of scenes, the father full of high and buoyant spirits
and joining in fun and frolicsomeness. Indeed, he
280
A MERCHANT PRINCE.
considered this the best way of keeping his sons and
dauj^hters from the alluring snares of sinful amuse-
ments.
As they grew older, he entered into their higher
companionships, and shared all their studies and
pursuits. He watched with intense solicitude over
their spiritual interests, and rejoiced when their hearts
were given fully to the Saviour.
Every now and then appears in his diary a record
like this :
" Class this evening. John has been going to class
for one month."
Returning from one of his journeys, he says:
" Arrived at home about 6.30 p.m. What a joyful
meeting. Found my dear wife at the door to meet
me. Amy and all the children were there. Never
did I feel happier or more thankful,"
A man of intense domesticity, devoted to wife and
children, he poured out upon them all the love of a
tender heart.
When Her Majesty the Queen gave to the world
the story of her happy home in the Highlands in the
days of Albert the Good, how that revelation of the
sweet, pure, domestic life of Balmoral Castle won all
hearts. So the chaste home life of the Merchant
Prince of Toronto was a model of simplicity, domestic
affection, dignity, culture and sturdy piety.
In 1860 he purchased " Oaklands," and made it one
of the most delightful suburban residences of the
metropolis. The grounds are extensive, and command
a wide and charming view. Trees and green fields
HOME LIKE.
281
with the soft sunshine streaming down upon them,
make a very pretty foreground to the picture of the
city, which se^^ins to borrow enchantment from
distance ; its streets and squares spread out, with
many a spire and lofty tower uplifted in the air.
Along the horizon, far as the eye can reach, up and
down, are the gleaming waters of Lake Ontario. The
house itself is embowered in trees and shrubs, and
seems to express the personality of its owner. The
architecture is home-like. Entering the hall, on the
right is the library, a pleasant, airy room, with a desk
in the centre, and book-shelves all around, loaded
with valuable books. Next we come to the stately
drawing-room and the dining-room, both of which
open on the lawn, and command a fine view of the
city and lake. It is well planned, both for conven-
ience and beauty, and on all sides extends a large and
well kept lawn, with parterres and flowed' beds bright
with blossoms of every tint.
The oaks in their symmetrical beauty have stood
for generations; but the Senator prided himself in
having planted nearly every tree on the grounds.
Every part of Oaklands gave evidence of cultured
taste and of an intense love of nature, and the owner
could say with Longfellow :
" I hear the wind amonji; the trees
Playing celestial symphonies.
I see the branches downward bent
Like keys of some great instrument."
He took a deep interest, not only in the grassy
lawn, the blooming flowers, the budding and blossom-
Wl
282
A MER('HANT PlUNCE.
ing trees, but also in the birds, their love-makinj]f,
their nest-buildinnj, their songs. In the melody of
these wild birds he could detect each songster that
sought to " disburden his soul of its music," and could
say with the poet :
" That's the wise thrush ; he
Sings each song twice over,
Lest you should think he never could re capture
Ihe first fine careless rapture."
A genuine child of nature, in close affinity with the
love of flowers and his love of birds, was his affection
for children. Every summer his pleasant grounds
were thrown open to the Sunday School scholars of
the Yonge Street Church. What a joy it was to the
Senator to mingle among the children on these pic-nic
occasions, and join in laugh and shout and merry
games. It was as if he said :
" Come to me, O ye children,
For I hear you at your play,
And the questions that perplexed me
Have vanished quite away.
Ye are better than all the ballads
That ever were sung or said,
For ye are living poems.
And all the rest are dead."
But while he showed great capacity for domestic
love and domestic happiness, there was plainness and
economy in the home life. There was no ostentation,
no luxurious wastefulness and showy modes of living.
Among the mercantile classes, luxury is an all-devour-
ing evil. They allow great establishments to eat up
their gains. Senator Macdonald realized that family
happiness was not dependent on superfluities and
HOME LIFE.
283
ostentatious display. There was plentifulness every-
where, but no needless luxuries. By word and deed
he sought to condemn the prevalent extravagance of
the household. When useless luxuries called, he had
nothing to spare ; when the poor called, he had to
spare, and was glad to give of his abundance for
their support.
In the home no one could resist the fascination of
his affectit)nateness and geniality. He was the most
delightful of hosts. He knew how to entertain with
grace, courtesy and dignity, and with that prince-
liness which thinks nothing too good for its guests.
Hospitality, like other things, is modified by environ-
ment, and there is danger, from the restlessness, the
pressure, the breathless hurry of modern life, of its
becoming one of the lost arts. Says Hamerton, "The
friendships of the heart are sacred, and should be
permanent like marriage."
" The friends thou hast, and their adoption tried,
Grapple them to thy soul with hooks of steel,"
sings the Bard of Avon ; while the words of Holy
Writ are, " Ointment and perfume rejoice the heart ;
so doth the sweetness of a man's friend by hearty
counsel." Senator Macdouald's was a nature that
offered love for love, confidence for confidence, and
his friendship was steady in its flame, and lasting in
its endurance. Through all the relations and passages
of life it abided continually.
On a great house wds this legend carved in stone :
" Amicis et sihi " (for my friends first, and afterwards
for myself). This seemed to be the legend at " Oak-
284
A MERCHANT PIUNCE.
lands." Indeed, on the stained j^lass window of the
hall, beneath an open Bible, and between the crest
and motto of the family, is this inscription :
" Through this wide open givte
None come too soon, and Dne return too late."
How many hundreds remember his kindness, and
love, and hospitality ? " Oaklands" will always live
brijifhtly and beautifully in their memory. What a
pleasure it was for him to offer the hospitalities of
his home to distinojuished ministers from England,
the United States, and all parts of the world, and to
men and women engaged in religious and benevolent
work. How many weary and exhausted missionaries
have found delightful days of repose, comfort and
Christian cheerfulness under his roof, and in that
happy family circle have risen from feebleness to
strength.
There was one thing that every guest of this house-
hold cherished as among his most delightful memories.
The service of family prayers was one of the most
honoured institutions at " Oaklands." It was the
first act of the assembled household. A portion of
Scripture was read, a hymn often sung,^ and then, as
a priest of his own fireside, he presented his offering
at the altar of the home. The last letter which Mrs.
Macdonald ever received from her husband is dated
from Victoria, B.C., and this is the closing sentence :
" I am grateful for mercies vouchsafed. I want you
to read at worship, 1 Chronicles, 29th chapter, from
10th to 19th verse "
XV.
PERSONAL CHARACTERISTICS.
I • v^i^^^^^^^mmmmmmm^^^^t^^
The great man is he who does not lose his child's heart.
— Mericiis.
This is the porcelain clay of human kind.
— Dryden.
Pity and need
Make all flesh kin. There ia no caste in blood,
Which runneth of one hue, nor caste in tears,
Which trickle salt with all ; neither comes man
To birth with tilka-mark stamped on the brow,
Nor sacred thread on neck.
— Edwin Arnold.
I
Only what we have wrought into our characters during life
can we take away with us.
— Humboldt.
A Christian is God Almighty's gentleman.
— J. G. and A. W. Hare.
PERSONAL CHARACTERISTICS.
lite
WE come now to the most difficult and the most
delicate part of a biographer's task, namely,
to ^ive an adequate and just conception of the char-
acter of his subject. Is it the biographer's duty to
portray the weaknesses as well as the excellences of
his hero ? W3 think it is. The object of biography
is to exhibit character, and the writer has a duty
to perform, not only to his subject, but to truth. He
is not merely to play the part of the advocate ; he is
to be judge — to weigh, analyze and discriminate, that
he may present a faithful sketch. It is impartial
statement that one desires to see, both in history and
biography. How can the biographer portray the
energy, devotion, fidelity, and activity of his subject
as springs of high action, and worthy of imitation,
without also acknowledging those blemishes and
defects that should become beacons of warning in the
voyage of life. Not that these weaknesses should be
ostentatiously put forward, but they are to be candidly
admitted, wherever they are found.
Many prominent traits of Senator Macdonald's
character have been clearly indicated in the narrative
already given, but we desire here to present a full
length portrait, with all its lights and shadows, that
our readers ma^r know what manner of man he was,
288
A MERCHANT PRINCE.
In personal appearance Senator Macdonald was
tall and rather slender, with handsome, clear-cut and
regular features, an agreeable, open countenance,
gentle gray eyes, high forehead and light hair and
whiskers. Erect, commanding, particularly neat in
his dress, of graceful presence, he was a man calcu-
lated to attract attention anywhere. He was a well-
built figure, and though never robust, yet his wonder-
ful activity gave evidence of considerable physical
energy. Though he never wholly recovered from the
shock which he received from his throat and lungs
attack, yet he enjoyed through life a fair share of
health.
In manners, he was a high-bred, dignified, courteous
gentleman. " Be courteous " is the injunction of the
apostle. Courtesy is the grace of saying and doing
things fitly. A courteous man is a man of court-like
or elegant manners. Courtesy is not mere surface
polish, but part and parcel of the man's inner self,
the outcome of a generous nature.
" Manners are not idle, but the fruit
Of noble nature and of loyal mind."
Senator Ma,cdonald had real kindliness and generosity
of heart, and to him could be given
" Without abuse,
The grand old name of ' gentleman.' "
While his voice was pleasant, yet it betrayed his
birth and blood. This Scotch accent, not harsh and
crabbed, but rich and pleasant, clung to him through
life.
ac
PERSONAL CHARACTERISTICS,
289
In conversation, he was rich, varied and versatile.
We have already dwelt upon the wealth of his
mental gifts and resources, the variety and versatility
of his intellectual powers, and the accuracy and
accumulation of his knowledge.
He had an artistic mind, and the true spirit of
poetry was his. He had a love of language and an
aptitude for the study of it, and for a business man
was highly cultivated in general literature. He felt
the influence of the subtle zeit-geist, the spirit of the
times, and lived fully abreast of the age.
One of the foibles of his truly great and attractive
character was his genial egotism. He had the sense of
individual worth, and was not unconscious of his gifts.
This apparently overweening estimate of self gave to
those who were superficially acquainted with him a
wholly erroneous impression of his character. George
Eliot says : " I've never any. pity for conceited
people, because I think they carry their comfort about
with them." It could hardly be called conceit, for he
was ever ready to attribute to a higher source than
self all his gifts and all his success. Nor was it
pride, which consists in exalting self at the ex-
pense of others. He had the true spirit of humility,
yet he had that trait in the organization of the High-
lander — that show of self importance in manner which
would say with Shakespeare's Henry IV. :
" I am not in the roll of common men."
Along with this inheritance of Scotch blood and
training came a certain dictatorial bearing, an imperi-
ousness of disposition, He had an intensely strong
19
290
A MERCHANT PRINCE.
will, which could not bear thwarting, an autocratic
bent of mind which could ill endure contradiction,
and which was somewhat severe toward those who
ventured to differ from his views and convictions.
Some thought him stern and unapproachable, because
he had what was remarked about Burke, " A certain
inborn stateliness of nature which kept people at a
distance."
Another mark of the Celtic genius was his impulsive
nature. His susceptibilities were easily ruffled. He
was quick to resent wrong ; his self-control was not
comph e, and in Parliamentary debate he would not
hesitate to drive his lance home between the joints of
his opponents harness. But there was no venom, no
unmanly hate ; all was generous and chivalric ; he
was " lord of a great heart," and like Longfellow's
Miles Standish, " He was sensitiv e, swift to resent, but
as swift in atoning for error."
He had much of the perferviduin Scotorwm in-
genium. The flood of loyalty and patriotism rose to
its full height in his nature. He was a thorough
Canadian, yet he was very clannish, and thought
there was no man like the Scotchman. The ancient
Roman could utter the proud boast, " Civis Romanus
surti" ; Senator Macdonald could say with exultation
" I also am a British subject. I belong to the Anglo-
Saxon race." The Britannica civitas is a wider and
more honored privilege.
He had also the quiet humour of the Scot. Amid
the carking, corroding cares of life he kept his heart
fresh, yet there was a vein of sadness in his make-up.
PERSONAL CHARACTERISTICS.
291
in-
to
bion
alo-
and
mid
eart
Interlaced with his sprightly moods were seasons of
melancholy, when every thinc^ was clad in the most
sombre hues ; he was in a state of extreme dejection.
This may have had its origin in the state of his health
and in the reflective and deeply sensitive turn of his
mind.
Another clearly-marked trait in his character was
his love of kin. He paid great respect to his soldier-
father, and saw that he wanted for nothing in his old
age. As he rose step by step he did not shun the
society of his kindred, or leave them out of sight ; he
was the same kind, unassuming, loyal relation. This
strong feeling of kinship is shown in the ample provi-
sion made in his will for the members of his father's
household. This was the chain that bound his children
to him irresistibly. He cherished the strongest love
toward them. How touching his treatment of the
wish of his gentle Amy.
"None knew her but to love her,
None named her but to praise."
She had been a great sufferer, and near the end she
greatly desired of her father that the property that
would have gone to her, had she lived, be devoted to
the relief of the suffering. This was the secret of
his interest in, and provision for, the University Park
Hospital.
He abhorred meanness of any kind. He hated especi-
ally that sneakishness "which creeps and crawls and
leaves its slime and its odour behind." His eldest son
related to me that one morning they were driving down
Yonge Street, when they met a man who had treated
292
A MERCHANT PRINCE.
him shabbily, and was utterly devoid of all honesty.
Involuntarily Mr. Macdonald bowed to him, when at
once he reined up his horses, and lookinj^ the man
in the face, he said : " I want you to understand, sir,
that that was a mistake, my bowing to you. I do not
recognize you, for I regard you as a thorough
scoundrel."
He was a man of strong prejudices. He could be
easily imposed upon, but he possessed this character-
istic of Alexander III., the Imperial Autocrat of all
the Russias, that when once a man has deceived him
he never trusts him again.
He had enthusiasm. He was an indomitable worker.
" Labour ipse voluptas." He had the genuine love of
work. He had great system. In reviewing his life
one wonders how he could get through so much ; but
he had the knack of packing engagements and duties
into close compass.
He was thorough, never doing anything in a half-
and-half fashion, and he turned every spare moment
to golden account. He was like Cicero — ready to
consume " even the shreds and waste ends of time,"
or like one of those of whom a French writer tells,
" So covetous of the moments that if Old Time
should let his hour-glass fall, they would stoop for
the sand, and, by incessant labour, collect all the
scattered grains."
His promises were kept to the moment and ful-
filled to the letter. Louis XIV. called punctuality
the "politeness of kings"; in trade it is called the
"soul of business." Senator Macdonald believed it
PERSONAL CHARACTERISTICS.
293
the sine qua non of success. He was a man of
prompt, rapid action. It was constantly noticed of
him that when he was driven up to the warehouse
he would be out of the door before the carriage
stopped. And he had also the backbone (juality of
perseverance. He would never slacken until he had
planted his banner on the crest of every hill diffi-
culty. He had been trained in the school of hard-
ship, and the steel thread was woven into the texture
of his life. He was a man of determination, and his
purpose once fixed, there was n^ looking forward to
what he might be, or looking backward to what he
might h?;Ve been, but a-doing the thing set before
him, and doing it thoroughly with all his might.
He felt that
" Life is to wake, not sleep ;
Rise, and not rest ; but press
From earth's level, where blindly creep
Things perfected, more' or less.
To the heaven's height, far and steep."
He was especially a man of integrity. He was
absolutely upright and truthful. The least sugges-
tion of falsehood or untrustworthiness was abhorrent
to him. Without fear or reproach he bore a con-
science void of offence toward all men ; alike in home
or warehouse, or legislative halls, he never said a
word or did a deed that did not bear upon it the
stamp of unsullied integrity. There is nothing we
need so much in business life and in public life as
the principle of integrity. Unfaithfulness, unrelia-
bility is only another name for moral rottenness.
294
A MERCHANT PRINCE.
And this brings me to say that religion was the
Alpha and Omega of his being. His life-story could
not be told unless this aspect of his character were
put in the forefront of the narrative. Without this
vital principle, we fail to appreciate the secret of his
successes and the motive power of his actions. His
conversion in the old George Street Wesleyan Church
was the crisis of his being, and the key to his after
life. He was a Methodist, but he was no bigot. Not
the faintest shadow of intolerance or of sectarian
bitterness ever darkened his intercourse with his
fellow-Christians. He would not
" Melt in an acid sect
The Christian pearl of charity."
He was true to his convictions. It was well known
where he was to be found on every moral and re-
ligious question. He held that no man had a right
to be liberal in the sense of giving away a part of
what he believed to be the truth. He knew the price-
less worth of truth, and loved it with all his soul.
As Paracelsus tells us :
" Truth is within ourselves —
There is an inmost centre in us all
Where truth abides in fulness ; and to know
Rather consists in opening out a way
Whence the imprisoned splendour may escape,
Than in effecting entry for a light
Supposed to be without."
To him, divine truth was a living force, applied to
living issues of the day. His life was true. The
Christian religion was not so much n system of doc-
trines as a grand realization — a blessed experience-
PERSONAL CHARACTERISTICS.
295
He cluncr with firm faith to Jesus Christ as a per-
sonal Saviour, and loved God with the fulness of
childlike atiection. He would not swim with the
current or bow down in adoration before the idols of
the hour; he would serve his God in all the matters
which make up the warp and woof of our lives.
He believed and realized that the cleansing, purify-
ing, fertilizing tide of the river of God should flow
on and on, through all the affairs of the world.
We have more than once alluded to his profound
veneration for the Word of God. His reverence for
the letter and the spirit of Holy Writ was most
marked. He delighted in searching its treasures
and pondering them in his heart. He sought to im-
press upon others that this was the most precious
treasure in the world. A young man called upon
him who was out of employment, and in despond-
ency. The Senator said to him : " Have you read
that striking passage in Joshua i. 8 ? * This book
of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth ; but
thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that t' ou
mayest observe to do according to all that is written
therein : for then thou shalt make thy way prosper-
ous, and then thou shalt have good success.' " After
a little further conversation, the young man said on
leaving, " Will you please tell me again where that
passage is to be found ? " It was given. A few
weeks after, Mr. Macdonald received a letter from
this young man thanking him for calling his atten-
tion to the study of God's Word, telling him that he
had taken the Bible as his chart for the journey of
296
A MERCHANT PRINCE.
life, that he had secured a lucrative position, and was
enjoying " good success."
He believed the Bible to be pm- excellence the book
for daily guidance. One of his sons had been visit-
ing for some days at the house of his affianced. The
Senator feared that he was staying too long, and sent
him a telegram. The message was, " See Prov. xxv.
17." The Bible was got ; they all gathered around
it in great excitement, and read, " Withdraw thy foot
from thy neighbour's house, lest he be weary of thee,
and so hate thee." His own Bible was well marked.
The passage, " Be thou diligent to know the state of
thy flocks, and look well to thy cattle," has this com-
mentary by him, " In other words, whatever your
business, be careful regularly to take stock." So Rev.
xiii. 3, "And all the world wondered after the beast,"
has this : " See Tennyson's ' Charge of the Light
Brigade.' The poet borrows his striking refrain, 'All
the world wondered,' from this passage of Scripture."
His own deep personal religious experience, the
variety, fulness and soundness of his spiritual life,
largely came from his devout study of the Word of
God. He had those regular habits of devotion with-
out which the Christian life cannot be preserved. He
lived in constant communion with the Father of
spirits, believed in the "sweet reasonableness " of
prayer, and in answered petitions he had a constant
confirmation of the Divine interposition in the affairs
of life.
Senator Macdonald delighted to refer, as an instance
of special Providence, to the rescue of the six hundred
m
PERSONAL CHARACTERISTICS.
297
TS
and forty-one persons on board the ship Kent^ when
on fire in the Bay of Biscay, by the brig Cambria.
He says :
" When all were looking for death — that is, before
the Cambria hove in sight — Sir Duncan, then Major,
Macgregor wrote on a slip of paper, on which was
his father's address, as follows :
'"The ship, tho Kent, East Indiainen, is on firo. Elizabeth,
Joanna and myself commit our spirits into the hands of our
blessed Redeemer. His grace enables us to bo (juite composed
in the awful prospect of entering eternity.
" ' Duncan MACciUEOoB.
" ' 1st March, 1825, Bay of Biscay.'
" Now for the history of this bottle. Left in the
cabin, it was cast into the sea by the explosion that
destroyed the Kent. About nineteen months after-
wards the following notice appeared in a Barbadoes
(West India) newspaper :
" 'A bottle was picked up on Satunlay, 30th September, at
Bathsheba(a bathing place on the' west of Barbadoes), by a
gentleman who was bathing there ; who, on breaking it, found
the melancholy account of the fate of the shi[) Ki')it contained
in a folded newspaper, written with pencil, but scarcely legible.'
" The letter itself, taken from the bottle, thickly
encrusted with shells and seaweed, was returned to
its writer when he arrived, shortly after its discovery,
at Barbadoes, as Lieut-Colonel of the 93rd High-
landers. This paper, now in possession of his son,
Mr. John Macgregor, widely known as ' Rob Roy,'
through his book, * One Thousand Miles in the Rob
Roy Canoe,' and ' The Rob Roy on the Jordan,' I saw
in his Chambers in the Temple, London. He it was
who, when a child of a few weeks old, was the first
human being to find refuge in the little craft, the
298
A MEUCHANT PHINCE.
Camhrid, having been caufjjht from his mother's arms
by Mr. Thompson, the fourth mate of Uie Kent."
Senator Macdonald, after he had visited the Island
of Barbadoes, sent to Mr. Mac<,'regor (" Rob Hoy ") a
photograph of the very spot wliere the bottle was
found, and of Culpepper House, the residence of the
gentleman who found it.
He recognized an overruling hand in his own life,
and could sing with the poet :
" My bark is wafted to the land,
By bn^ath divine ;
And on the helm there rests a Hand,
Otiier than mine."
On June 18th, 1888, there is this record of a
" MIRACULOUS DELIVERANCE.
"This morning as Brady (coachman) and myself
were driving along King Street, the horse * Milan '
started to rear. Brady held on bravely. Presently
I saw that a crash against one of the Grand Trunk
wagons was inevitable. The crash came, and strangely
enough threw me out of my own wagon into it, and,
with all but a few scratches, uninjured. The horse
kicked and ran with the broken wagon, but it was
caught on Yonge Street, I do trust I feel thankful
to God for His preserving care upon this occasion,
when death seemed so near. Surely there is still for
me a work to do."
Another entry, July 18th, of the same year, is as
follows :
" While walking down Yonge Street this morning,
I hailed a street car, and stepping on to it while in
motion, did not perceive that another car was rapidly
approaching in an opposite direction. They were
PERSONAL CHARACTElllSTICS.
299
together before I had noticed ; and so close that I
cannot at this moment realize how it was that I
escaped beinj; cru.slu;(l, po.ssihly to death. How won-
derful is God's watchful care ! I felt that on reaching
my ottice I could not hut bow my head in humble
acknowledgment of His preserving care. May He
ever keep me in a humble, lowly and thankful spirit,"
Just the year before his death there is this record :
" Our engineer in conversation to-day on the falling
of the warehcuse in 1878, said, ' In all my professional
life I never saw such a case. How it should have
gone so far and stopped without becoming one mass
of ruin is unaccountable. And it was only of God's
mercy that the building and everyone in it was not
destroyed.' "
Thus he delighted to acknowledge an over-ruling
Providence, and he believed "that all things work
together for good to them that love Him."
" God's plans, like lilies pure and white, unfold.
We must not tear the close-shut leaves apart ;
Time will reveal the calyxes of gold."
He lived not only in the spirit of prayer, but in the
spirit of sympathy with the Lord Jesus Christ. He
sought to follow the Great Exemplar, who pleased not
Himself but lived for others.
We have alluded to his benevolence. True charity
is a virtue of the heart and not of the hands.
" What the Abbot of Bamba cannot eat he gives
away for the good of his soul. He steals a pig and
gives away the trotters for God's sake."
Senator Macdonald not merely gave out of his
abundance ; he held his possessions as a steward, and
sought to use them for the benefit of the weak, the
needy, and the suffering.
300
A MERCHANT PRINCE.
" Loathing pretence, he did with cheerful will
What others talked of, while their hands were still."
His great watchword was " duty." " Duty, that
which," says George Herbert, " gives us music at
midnight." " Stern daughter of the voice of God," as
Wordsworth has it.
How he loved the ringing words of Tennyson in
praise of duty :
" Not once or twice in our rough island story
The path of duty was the way to glory.
He that walks it only thirsting
For the ri^ht, and learns to deaden
Love of self, before his journey closes
He shall find the stubborn thistle bursting
Into glossy purples, which out-redden
All voluptuous garden roses.
Not once or twice in our fair island story,
The path of duty was the way to glory."
Indeed, in gathering up these sparkling gems that
make the diadem of his Christian character, it can be
truly said that his dominating desire was like that
of Sir Henry Lawrence, who, after the distinguished
administrative ability, energy, and indefatigable
devotion with which he had discharged the onerous
and responsible duties entrusted to him, being asked
what inscription might be put upon his tomb, said,
" Let it be, ' Here lies Henry Lawrence, who tried to
do his duty.' "
Senator Macdonald, in every detail of life, tried to
do his duty, and his success in life is a conspicuous
illustration of the truth,
" Honour her and she shall exalt thee."
XVI.
LAST DAYS.
We know when moons shall wane,
When summer birds from far
Shall cross the sea,
When Autumn's hue shall tinge the golden train ;
But who shall teach us when to look
For thee, death ?
"Gone!
Taken the stars from the night and the sun
From the day !
Gone, and a cloud on my heart. "
Whatever crazy sorrow saith,
No life that breathes with human breath
Has ever truly longed for death.
— Tennyson.
God keeps a niche
In heaven to hold our idols ; and albeit
He break them down to our faces, and denies
That our close kisses should impair their white,
I know we shall behold them raised, complete.
The dust shook off, their beauty glorified,
New Memnons singing in the great God-light.
— E- B. Browning.
Death's but a path that must be trod
If man would ever pass to God.
— Tlwmnti ParneU.
" I am weary. I will now go to sleep. Good-night. "
— Meander's dyuui xcords.
Say not " good-night," but in some brighter clime
Bid me "good morning."
—Anna Letitia Barbaidd.
To our graves we walk in the thick footprints of departed
men.
— Alex. Smith.
LAST DAYS.
WITH advancing years, Senator Macdonald's
thoughts were turned toward the future
Though he' had no anxious dread of death, 3'et he had
reached a point where earth would seem a pleasant
place. He had prospered amazingly, his family had
grown up around him, honours had fallen thick upon
him, higher and wider circles recognized his excel-
lence, he had leisure at his command, and it would
seem that he might for years repose amid the fruits
of his toil. He faithfully walked with God, and was
daily rising in elevation of character. He was using
his surplus wealth and spare time in the service of
others, and was a mighty factor in the attempted
solution of nearly every question affecting the moral
and religious welfare of the young nation.
But the shadows were lengthening. His plenitude
of virile energy was gone. His diary of 1883 bears
this record :
" Decemher 27th. — To-day I enter upon my sixtieth
year. I seem unable to realize it. Truly, I must now
begin to think that I am getting old. How good God
has been to me through all these long years that are
past ; how mercifully He has guided me, from how
much that is sad has He saved me ; how little have I
304
A MERCHANT PRINCE.
rendered to Him, other than ingratitude for all his
blessinnrs. May the years which remain be more
fruitful."
The following year there is this register :
" November 24<th. — Twelve months ago to-day laid
up with an attack of my old complaint, attended by
copious discharjxe of blood ; confined to bed for about
three weeks. How good God has been to me since
then ; how much He has taught me ; how mercifully
He has spared me ; how well I am to-day, though not
quite well, compared with then ; and how much have
I to be thankful for on the ground of health compared
with thousands. I want a spirit of greater thankful-
ness ; a spirit of greater dependence upon Him ; a
spirit of greater trustfulness in His goodness, in His
mercy and in His truth."
In December, 1885, he writes:
" Sunday, 27th. — To-day I complete my sixty-first
year. How good, and how gracious, and how merci-
ful God has been to me all these long years ; how
strangely and how mercifully have I been led ; how
many have been the blessings of the past year ; how
many blessings surround me to-day ; how undeserved
have they all been. Oh, that ray spared life may
show forth God's praise ! "
During this year there was a perceptible loss of
strength, and though he was occupied with religious
and benevolent effort, and wrote and travelled much,
yet the disease from which he had suffered for years
did not readily yield to medical treatment, and his
whole system betokened decay.
LAST DAYS.
305
In oije of his letters to Mrs. Macdonald while at
Victoria, he wrote :
" August 17, 1889.
" I thought you would like to hear from us up to
the latest hour of our departure. We leave to-night
for Vancouver. The climate is pleasant, but with all
the rest we have taken here I have not had any other
than a languid feeling. I hope the Alaska trip will
brace me up a little."
" August 30.
" Winnifred and I returned from Alaska, and found
all well at home."
"August 31.
" Very ill with an attack of indigestion. Remained
at home this morning, and felt much better for the
rest."
These are the last two entries in his diary :
" Friday, September 13, 1889. — Mr. James Good died
in his 75th year. Mr. William Gooderham died last
night while conducting a service in the Haven. Born
in my yearT-lS24 — I feel this to be another of the
solemn calls that I have had lately. No one in
Toronto has been doing more good with his time,
means and influence. He Has been the city's most
munificent giver. How mysterious his death ! Who
will take his place ? "
" Congressman Samuel S. Cox, called ' Sunset Cox,'
died on the 10th, in New York. He was taken ill on
the 4th. Just a few days ago I met him at the
Mammoth Hot Springs Hotel apparently quite well.
He expressed a desire to see my letters about Alaska,
and promised to send me the census returns of the
United States, with the perfecting of which he was
charged. He is gone. How sudden ! What a void
a death like his makes. He was born also in my
own year — 1824."
20
I -
306
A MERCHANT PRINCE.
Thus he was deeply impressed with a sense of the
invisible and eternal world, and was evidently medi-
tating on the great change, that the Messenger might
find him with his lamps burning and his loins girded.
The months of September, October, November and
December were spent much at home, in reading, writ-
ing, meditation, and in soul culture.
He read the Bible constantly, with the commentary
wholly Biblical, which he had used for two years.
Sunday evening, December 22, he read the whole
of the Gospel according to St. John. At the end of
the Book is pencilled, "Oaklands, December 22, 1889,
8 p.m." This is one of the last of the markings in
his much-loved Bible.
On Christmas day he was able to attend the services
in the church, and made his last appearance and last
public prayer in the sanctuary. In the evening he
read in the Acts of the Apostles, and made his last
entry: "Wednesday, Christmas, 1889, 9 p.m.; 15
chapters."
The following day he was taken severely ill. He
had complained of uneasiness and an unaccountable
depression. In the wholesomeness and purity of his
life, he could have said, with Browning :
" Have you found your life distasteful ?
My life did and does smack sweet ;
Was your youth of pleasure wasteful 'i
Mine I saved and hold complete ;
Do your joys with age diminish'?
When mine fail me, I'll complain ;
Must in death your daylight finish 1
My sun sets to rise aga:n."
mm
LAST DAYS.
307
last
15
But his disease now distressed him, and weighed on
his spirits, and he assumed a wearied, broken-down
aspect.
His life was as a finished temple, with the altar
fires lit, and the voice of worship ascending ; but he
complained that on account of his great weakness,
he was not able to pray. He said to his wife, " One
of the hardest things 1 have to bear is that I have
not power to pra}'." To his daughter Lucie he said,
" Have you been able to do some little thing to-day
to make someone happier ? " He was looking at life
in the light of eternity when, instead of being a
straight line, it looks more like a line drawn by an
anemometer upon the recording sheet, and when the
holiest must say :
" Ah ! but the best
Somehow eludes us ever ; still might be,
And is not."
His illness was sweetened by the constant devotion
of his wife, and the society of beloved children. His
every want was anticipated, and they watched over
him with tender, increasing solicitude. He was suf-
fering from a severe internal malady, and in a short
time the disease assumed a most alarming aspect. His
family physician, Dr. W. T. Aikens, called to his
assistance Drs. Grasett, Cameron and Strange, who
performed a difficult and delicate operation. The
operation was successfully carried out, but Senator
Macdonald's condition did not improve. Day after
day he became weaker. Fever supervened, he became
308
A MERCHANT PRINCE.
unconscious, and about nine o'clock on the evening of
the 4th of February, 1890, surrounded by his family,
" God's finger touched him, and ho slept."
Death came to him without pain, without forebodinj^.
It was like Pilfjrim at the Land of Beulah, waiting
for the messaofe and the crossing: of the river. The
day he was to cross, " there was a great calm at that
time in the river," and the river was very shallow.
He went quietly down to the gates of death, and
when they opened behold ! it was not death, but life.
« They looked ;
He was dead,
His spirit had fled,
Painless and swift as his own desire."
His death was a shock and surprise to the country,
but everything betokened the love, esteem and pro-
found respect of the people among whom he so long
had lived. A distinguished citizen had finisiied an
honourable career, a good man had gone to his re-
ward, a public benefactor had yielded his spirit to
God.
His funeral was private. On Thursday morning, the
6th of February, a simple funeral procession, made
up of his family and a few friends, threaded its way
silently to the Necropolis, where all that remained
of Toronto's Merchant Prince was laid away in hope
of the resurrection from the dead.
" Life's labour done —
Serenely to his final rest he passed ;
While the soft memories of his virtues yet
Linger like twilight hues when the bright sun is set."
XVII.
TRIBUTES.
"'TIs over wroiij? to say n good inan dies."
IT is scarcely necessary to say that when Senator
Macdonald's noble and beneficent life was closed,
letters of condolence came to Mrs. Macdonald and the
family from multitudes far and wide — from all parts
of the land and from beyond the sea; sermons were
preached and memorial services held ; religious and
philanthropic societies and boards with which he had
been connected passed resolutions of respect and affec-
tion. We select a few out of a number of eulorjiums,
and they indicate the remarkable place which he held
in Canadian life.
The Senate Debates of the Fourth Session, Sixth
Parliament, contains the following record :
Hon. Mr, Smith — It becomes my painful duty to announce
to this House the death of one of our most esteemed menibers,
Senator John Macdonald, of Toronto. 1 am sure tliat every
one who hears me will share my regret at this sad event. Where
he was best known the regret will be most deeply felt. He was
a good citizen, a useful member of society and a man of great
benevolence. I deeply lament his loss as a good friend and
neighbour in Toronto, and I sympathize with his family in their
bereavement.
Hon. Mr. Scott — I am sure that every member of this
Chamber who had the pleasure of knowing the late Senator
Macdonald will with great sorrow join in a tribute of respect to
his memory. During the time that he was a member of this
Chamber we all felt that he possessed a superior mind, that he
nio
A MERCHANT IMUNCE.
had ciilni judgincnt aiul great e(|uaiiiinity — that lie whh a
th(H'(iii<4ly bcnevolfiit and true Christian in all hiscli.iracteriHtie.s.
Though allied to one of the political parties of tlu* country, the
late Mr. Macdonald never felt himself trannuelled by party
political views. As a rule, in giving utterance to his opinions
ni this Chandler, we all felt that he was exercising an utd)iased
judgment. He was a man who acted from the verj highest im-
pulses of human nature. He seemed to be ever anxious to dogood.
Even in that remote coinitry, Alaska, where his political sym-
pathies were not aroused, he took a deep interest in rescuing the
native children of the country from barbarism. He headed a
subscription to place the native girls of that country in schools,
where they would have the benetit of an educatittn and be pro-
tected from the evil influences of the white men. Outside of
his public life. Senator Macdonald was deejjly beh)ved. He was
a man of very benevolent character ; his purse was ever open.
God blessed him with great wealth, and he distribi.ied it most
generously and libei'ally. His great charities were most unos-
tentatiously ^iven. It is only now discovered, when he has gone,
the very many persons who were receiving from his purse. Not
this Chamber, but this comitry, has sustained a great loss in the
der^th of Senator Macdonald.
Hon. Mr. Howlan — 1 would accuse myself of very great
ingratitude if 1 .allowed this opportunity to ])ass without paying
my tribute to the memory of the late Senator Macdonald. It
v/as not my good fortune to have a lengthened accpiaintance
with him. He was a gentleman that I am proud to number
iXmong my friends. During tiie past year it pleased (Jod to
visit me with sickness when I was twelve hundred miles away
from home. No man was more constant at my bedside than
Mr. Macdonald, and his lofty sentiments and the breadth of his
mind im[)ressed me very strongly with the mdnlity of his charac-
ter. He has left few men behind him like himself. He was a man
of deep sympathies, prt»foiuid thought and earnest convictions,
and able at all times to express his views, not only with his pen
Imt with his tongue. In the city of Toronto, where he resided,
his loss will be greatly felt. He had been reared as a Canadian,
not in the lap of luxury, but supj)Ox'ted by his own industry, and
he will take his place among thosv; who aided in the building up
of the Dominion. Long after we have })assed away, and another
generation takes our place, he will be included among those who
contributed by tlieir energy, their ability and their moral
Btrength, to the greatness of the country. Among them no name
will be honoured with greater distinction than that of John
Macdonald, of Toronto.
TUIIJUTES.
311
Hon. Mk. Ma<'Tnnkm (P>urliii<,'b)ii)— In risin*;; to nddrons tlio
HouHo, 1 (1()S(» with a fi'olingof theilenpi'st Hormw. I desiio tofuld
my huuible tiibuto to the mt'iin)ry of our dopHitt'd colleiijj;ue. I
WH8 intiiiifitoly !ic(|iiuinted with the hito Henjitor Mncdoiiiild for
iiifiuy years, and learned to know his works and liis hit^li eliar-
Hcter. His apimintnient to tliis honourable House, without
reference to political or party lines, was a tribute to that char-
acter. His api)ointinent was alike honourable to him aiul to
those who made it, and furnished a valuable precedent f(tr the
future. H(m. i^^entlemeu have been witnesses of the able
manner in which he performed his duties in the Senate. Jn
business he was scrupulously hon<iurableandfair in his dealing's;
by his ability and good nianajfement he succeeded in accumulat-
ing a handsome fortune, and he has been lai'gely his own admin-
istrator during his lifetime in his bountiful be(iuests to many
charities, and he never sent away the deserving applicants to
his charity empty handed. When 1 lieard of his illness and at
about the same time the announcement of his ju'incely charity
t(i the hospital at Toronto, f wrote to congratulate him on his
munirtcence and to say that 1 hoped he wouhl soon recover his
health, and that 1 should have the pleasure of seeing him here;
but it has been ordered otherwise. His was home life with
his family. He cultivated the home atiections. We can
all appreciate what a sad bereavement has fallen on those
near and dear to him, but it inay be some consolation to them
to know that they have the sympathy of this House and of
all who knew him.
Mr. Si'Kakkr — I am sure the House will permit me to tres-
] ass on their time for a few nujuients to add my humble tribute
to what has been so well and ably said in i-eference to the ex-
cellence and worth of our late colleague, Mr. Macdonald. I
have known him for so many long yeai's that I could not allow
this occasion to pass without expressing to this House my strong
sense of the noble character of a man who lived not for himself
alone or for his own pleasure and enjoyment, but who lived and
laboured throughout along life for the welfare of others, and
■who by his Christian example and influence, as well as by his
nuniificent generosity, has dt)ne so much for his count^i-y and
left a memory behind him which will long be held in reverence
and respect. I shall say nothing of his jxditical career, because
that is well known to every one here, but I am sure 1 shall have
the assent of every one who hears me when 1 say that from the
time that Mr. Macdonald took his seat among us until the last
time he ajjjteared in this House, in everything he said and
in every vote that ,he gave he was actuated by the highest and
most patriotic motives.
312
A MERCHANT PIIINCE.
From Sir Olivkr Mowat, rrt'mvr of Ontario.
My fitHb ac<iuaintiiiioo with Suimtor MacdonuM, personally,
was about tlie tiinu of his uloction, in 1K(S1, as onu of thu
nioinhurs for tho city of Toronto, and from that tiino until his
(loath thoro was tho warmest frioiulHhip hetweun us. Ho was a
gonial, kiml-hoartod and lihoral-minded Christian num, con-
sciontious in politics as in ovorythin<; olso, a man of j^ood sense,
amd possessed of jjfreat executive ability, as his lonj^ success in
business demonstrated. The life of such a man as he was is the
best of sermons to the conuuunity in wiiich he was known. Ho
both lived the life and died the death of the righteous.
O. Mowat.
From Rkv. J. V. Smith.
Rev. J. V. Smith, his pastor, who attended him during his
illness and ofHciated at his funeral, says : ''John Macdonald was
a Christian in the best and truest sense of the word, and that
all-important fact gave colour and character to the whole of his
life. The great motto of his life was, 'Acknowledge Him in
all thy ways, and He sliall direct thy paths.' Insincerity, double-
dealing and self-seeking he looked upon with all the scorn of a
noble soul. Ho was a staunch defender of old-fashioned, time-
honoured Methodism. He laid strong empliasis on the great
doctrines taught in the Bible, such as sin, rej)entance, faith, re-
generation and salvation for all through Jesua Christ. Hut he
was more than a Methodist. In a high sense he belonged to all
God's jjoople. Ho was a lover of good men of all names and
sects. Ho was the friend and helper of the poor, the fatherless
and the widow. Many a cord of wood, many a ton of coal, and
many a well-filled basket has found its way to the home of want
as a result of his private charity. His public benefactions to
philanthropic, educational and Christian institutions are known
from one end of the Dominion to the other. But these bene-
factions were a moans of grace unto himself. The last sentence
he wrote was a marginal note on his Bible, the day before his
death, stating where he had left off reading, and his last public
utterance was the offering of a prayer at the Christmas service
in Yonge Street Church.
From Rev. J. G. Manly.
My acquaintance with Mr. Macdonald extended through forty-
two years, from his (juest of health in Jamaica until his final ill-
ness. I knew him in England in the full tide of his business ; in
Till 1 JUTES.
313
Oanadji, Jis his j^uost on my way to tlio West for throe months ;
and evor hIiico, in tho full MuhIi of Win prosperity ami usuf iilimHs ;
and always a» an ahlu and honoiu'ahlu Christian man, without a
singlo step either backward or aside. No one that knew him
could (juestion his veracity and integrity or doubt his j^txtd
judgment. In busincHs, his course was an unbroken success ;
to tlie (vhurch of his clioice and whole spiritual life lie was
always faithful and true, as he was also to his friends ; and to
every good cause and case that came before him he was thought-
fully and genially responsive, not to get (piit of an applicant,
but to counsel and co-operate in a manner far above and beyond
the dinuiess and diminution of sectarianism.
He was a conspicuous example of \nnllli irilhonl iroildllncss.
No social attractions, no worldly indulgences, no fashionable
frivolity, no i)oliti(;al rank or regard ever clogged or clouded his
Christian cctnsistency, purity and duty. Nothing like ostenta-
tion or assumption belonged to him. He was a princely
merchant, a faithful steward of (Jod, a truly good man in all
the varied relations of life : "■ Me was a man ; take Irm f->r all
in all, we slmll not look upon his like again." Never, jn .ill my
life, has tho loss of a friend so deeply allVicted me, makin nie
more ccmscious than ever of my love lor him and of the ■ uat-
ness of our common loss. His provision for the sick is al. . .<iito
monument ; his commercial character and success should serve
as an example and incentive ; his practice in the churches should
quicken activity and rebuke bigotry ; and to his family, his
whole life is a precious legacy, a trLvisure and an inheritance.
1 shall never forget my first olliciiil meeting with him in tho
North Toronto Church, and the unostentatious, kind and liberal
spirit in which he helped to deal with (juestions of financial
obligation and dilHculty. This sjiirit, in himself and all the
memliers of the Board, made the meeting for business a verit-
able feast of love.
" He is not, for God has taken him."
J. (i. Manly.
11-
|in
From Rev. Nathaniel Buhwash, LL.D., Cliancdlor of
Vidoria Unirersity.
My dear Dr. Johnston, —
You have asked me for a brief account of tho connection
of tho late Senator Macdonald with our recent University move-
ments.
Mr. Macdonald was by an early classical education prepared
314
A MERCHANT PRINCE.
to take a very intelligent interest in all that concerned higher
education. The literary taste thus acquired Mr. Macdonaid
cultivated to the close of life, and it was not an uncommon thing
for those who were privileged with a more intimate acquaintance
to find him of an evening preparing a rendering of some Latin
poet in English verse for the enjoyment of his family and inti-
mate friends.
His convictions, however, were opposed to the policy of mak-
ing Victoria a rival of the Provincial University, and also to the
policy of State grants for any denominational purpose. It was
thus not until 18(55 that he was induced to take a seat in the
College Board. In 18(>7-8 the grants hitherto made to Victoria,
Queen's, Trinity and Regiopolis were finally withdrawn, and
Mr. Macdonaid took a very active part with Dr. Ryerson, Dr.
Punshon and Dr. Nelles in organizing an endowment movement
to maintain our College work, contributing himself ^2,000 for
that i)urpose. At that time he favoured a project for removal
to Toronto and attiliation with the University of Toronto ; but
finding that the sentiment of the Church wfis opposed, the
matter was not pressed. He continued, however, to be an
active member of the J'oard and a large contributor to later
movements for enlai'giug ihe resources of the College down to
the time of his death. At the same time he took a deep interest
in the University of Toronto, and in 1877, was appointed
a member of the Senate. Jn the autumn of 1883, Vice-Chan-
cellor Mulock through Mr. Macdon.ald addressed a letter to the
late President Nelles, making propositions for alliance of Vic-
toria with the University of Toronto. Mr. Macdonaid accom-
panied Mr. Mulock's letter with a lengthy letter of his own,
expressing his sympathy with the project. In the negotiations
of the various University authorities with the Ontario (xovern-
ment, which extended over the next twelve months, Mr. Mac-
donaid assisted largely by his counsel and influential support.
The next year was occupied in discussion of the scheme within
our own Church and College circles, culmina* .g in the decision
of our General Conference in ISSH, at which Mr. Macdonaid
made the generous offering of $25,000 for the work. The offer-
ings of Mr. Macdonaid, ^25,000, Mr. Ceo. A. Cox, ,^^30,000,
and Mr. (Jooderham, !i?30,000, followed shortly after by Mr.
Gooderham's noble beciuest, gave the impetus to the financial
movement without which federation never could have been
accomplished in any other form than the establishment of a
Divinity Scho' ' in Toronto. This brief statement of facts may
be of interest to some of your readers, and is due to the memory
of a man eminent for his ability to guide wisely great public
TRIBUTES.
315
movements, as well as for the generosity with which he con-
tribiited to their support. His noble gift in memory of his
daughter for the establishment of a hospital in connecticm with
the Medical Department of the University, was another proof
of the interest which he felt in University work and of his high
appreciation of the noble mission of medical science for the
alleviaticm of human suttering.
Wishing you every success in your praisewortliy effort to per-
petuate the memory and the influence of the life of a great and
good man,
I am yours sincerely,
N. BURWASH.
Mb. Thomas Thompson's Estimate of thk Secret of
Senator Macdonald's Success.
The ([uestion might he asked, have there not been instances on
record of men having all the characteristics of Mr. Macdonald
and yet not having succeeded in what is commonly called
success ?
Now-a-days we hear the " secret of success " spoken of. What
is that secret ? Will energy, probity and tact always insure it?
Or is there beyond all this scnne occult or hidden power that
determines it ? Is it something that can be acquired, or is it
something native to the possessor of it ? Is the science of
money-making in mercantile life an exact one, or is it a com-
bination of excellent ([ualities that make the prosi)erous busi-
ness man, with fortuitous circumstances, as well as the thinking
out and the balancing of j)robabilities and then combining the
activity of the merchant with that faith in himself which not
only deserves, but makes his ventures successful, like a
Christian man answering his own prayers in the working out
of what he is looking for.
Mr. Macdonald had his strong ambitions or delights, and
which were to the other an alterative or rest, and, per conse-
quence, each conduced to the strength of the other ; for tlie mind
and the body are so constituted that weariness invariably follows
too close application to any given pursuit. So, if we may use a
metaphor, the horse which has been resting comes freshly from
his stall only too glad to be used by his rider, till it in turn
retires grateful for its season of rest.
One of these means was, to ])Ut into shape and sometimes into
rytiim, his thoughts uj)on what passed l)efore him in life's ever-
changing panorama.
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A MERCHANT PRINCE.
Being fond of literary pursuits, he took delight in the off-
spring of his brain, and he had the ambition to do his work well ;
and the better clothed his thoughts were, the more he loved
them and took pleasure in them.
The other delight was in his business, not directly in the con-
tinual aim to realize a good profit and to have a good balance
sheet, but in the merchandise itself; and as spiritual things are
spiritually discerned, even so there are many things in our mate-
rial surroundings that need the lover's eyes to a[)preciate all
their worth.
To Mr. Macdonald every department of his business had its
history and romance. The gathering together of very much
that was beautiful and curious in its manufacture enthused and
gratified him, and made his daily business life not a mere
routine of duty, but a never failing source of pleasure ; and it is
perfectly true that success sweetens labour, though many have
to get along through life without this sweetening, and manage
to survive barely, and perhaps serving their day and generation
to the best of their ability. Even they succeed infinitely beyond
the mere hoarders of money who, narri)wed down to scrapers to-
gether of personalty and realty, and who as they slowly wend
their way to their narrow graves, fancying that every one they
meet is wanting their poor self-gotten pelf, self-made men in
other senses (for self makes men very small), in some few in-
stances some of whom may lay the flattering unction to their
poor, starved, withered natures that they have arranged in their
last will and testament some little sop in the shape of some
small charity, and handing out the same from out their coffins
with their bony fingers, thus putting themselves out of reach of
the blessing that follows a generous act, the eyes becoming so
blinded that they go away unblessed and with their dried
natures unwatered.
Mr. Macdonald received his first training among shrewd
Scotch drapers at a time when youths were taught to take an
interest in the goods they were handling.
Perhaps the difference in fifty years ago and the present
might be stated in this way. The object in view then was to
learn the business in order to make a living. Now-a-days it is
to get just enough knowledge of business to land them into a
fortune, with the intention of discarding the business when cir-
cumstances will allow, forgetting that even in the prosaic work
of buying and handling and marketing those goods that feed and
clothe tl' 1 body and adorn the home, as well as in the higher
realm of furnishing the mind and heart, there is a spirit that
liiust bo wooed, won and loved for its own sake. No perfunctory
TRIBUTES.
317
or patronizing homage, but a spirit of devotion and faithfulness
to its demands.
The loyal heart of Mr. Macdonald kept closely identified with
the Church of his choice, his foster-mother the foster-mother of
thousands who have lived and died in her communion, and who,
when their own mother Church failed to reach out aliment to
their hungry hearts, in the spirit of her Divine Master wel-
comed them to her sacraments and enfolded them in the invisible
Church of the Sun of God.
He made it part of his life work to extend her boundaries
even to the islands of Japan, for with the shrewdness and cul-
ture of his redeemed nature he saw that the islands ever
governed the continents. So with every sense (quickened into
activity he believed and acted up to the thought that the time
was fast coming when from the rivers to the ends of the earth
the teachings of Christ, the Son of God, would have universal
sway.
Thomas Thompson.
From Rev. John Potts, D.D.
In the June of 1865 I was appointed to what is now known
in Toronto as the Central Methodist Church, then better known
as Yorkville Church. It was at that time that I first met John
Macdonald. I found him an official member of the church and
deeply interested in the prosperity of the cause of God in that
congregation. As I look back to those daya, nothing hfis made
a greater impression upon my mind in relation tt) our departed
friend than the spirit he manifested, especially towards those in
the Quarterly Oftici.il Board who were not of the same social
status. It seemed to give him pleasure to defer to their judg-
ment in any matter that came up for discussion, and therefore
his influence with them was correspondingly great.
John Macdonald was in many respects the foremost layman
of Canadian Methodism. He possessed in himself several ele-
ments which, combined, made him easily the most influential
layman in our denomination. He was to Toronto Methodism
what Senator Ferrier was to Montreal Methodism. Senator
Macdonald was a good preacher, a good debater, and a man of
jjrincely liberality, whose gifts found their way to benevolent
objects beyond the bounds of his own Church. He was in the
highest sense a connexional Methodist. His broad and states-
manlike views of the missionary and educational work of the
Church made him invaluable on the Missionary Board and on
the Board of Regents of Victoria U "'versity. While he was an
intense Methodist from investigation and conviction, ho evinced
318
A MERCHANT PRINCE.
a beautiful spirit of fraternity in relation to the other sections
of the Christian Church. Perhaps more than any man in
Toronto he commanded the affectionate esteem of all classes of
the community as a philanthropist and an earnest and consis-
tent Christian.
Mr. Macdonald was a constant and ardent student of the
Word of (lod, and cultivated a ranf^o of literature far beyond
that of most commercial men. From a good deal of observation,
I came to regard him as a striking illustration of the principle
contained in that passage of Scrij)ture, " Them that honour me,
I will honour." Like the late William Gooderham, he recog-
nized in a high degree the responsibility and privilege of Chris-
tian stewardship, and acted in all the relations of life as one
who expected to give an .account of his stewardship.
John Potts.
From H. A. Massey, E,sq.
My first ac(iuaintance with the subject of this sketch was when
he laid the corner stone of the Methodist Church in Newcastle,
Ont., on May 24th, 1867 ; but soon after this business relations
brought us together fre<|uently, which gave me opportunities of
knowing Air. Macdonald better, and which resulted in my form-
ing a very high estimation of his abilities and personal worth.
He was always ready to respond to every call in any good
cause, and was devoted to the best interests of his country.
His untiring zeal in serving the Church in any and every
capacity that Jay in his power, was worthy of imitation, and I
have no doubt that it stimulated others to similar good deeds.
By his death the Methodist Church lost one of its ablest and
worthiest members and most generous benefactors. Would
that we had many more such men amongst us.
H. A. Massey.
From Rev. W. H. Witurow, D.D., la The Mcthodid
Magazine.
ISeldom has the whole Canadian counnunity been so deeply
moved by any death as by that of the H(/n. John Macdonald.
To thousands who knew him ouly by reputation his loss was
felt to be a public calamity. But those who knew him best
feel that the world is incomparably the poorer for his departure.
The readers of The Mcthodid Maijazine, whose pages he so often
enriched with his thoughtful and inspiring papers, have reason
TRIBUTES.
319
for regret that no more shall they be favoured with the
graphic production j of his pen.
The lessons of that life are writ so large that he who runs may
read. " Seest thou a man diligent in his business? He shall
stand before kings ; he shall not stand before mean men." By
his fidelity and energy Mr. Macdonald built up a colossal busi-
ness, and yet found time to engage in schemes (jf widest useful-
ness, and was called to fill a prominent place and exert a potent
influence in the councils of his Church and of his country. But
while diligent in business, he was abo«'e all fervent in spirit,
serving the Lord. A prominent characteristic of his life was an
all-pervading sci se of responsibility to (xod, of Christian stew-
ardship. He seemed to hear ever the words, " Occupy till I
come." And how well he filled that injunction only the great
day shall reveal, for many of his benefactions were known only
to God and to the recipient. He was one of those who
"Did good by stealth, and blushed to find it fame."
When he permitted his benefactions to be known, it was with
the object of stimulating others to Christian beneficence, to
more largely help the cause of God.
Religion was not to him a thing apart from his daily life, but
its very vital air. Religious subjects were not dragged into the
conversation, they sprang up spontaneously, like the daisies in
the meadows, as the most natural thing in the world.
In political life he maintained the same sturdy independence
which characterized his other relations. While from coviction
a Liberal statesman, he was no partizan, and conmianded, as
few men have done, the confidence and respect of both sides of
the House,
Such men are God's best gifts to His Church. They are the
most striking "evidences of Christianity," demonstraticms of
the power of godliness which the caviller and the infidel cannot
gainsay, "■ living epistles known and read of all men."
From Rkv. Gkok(!K Douolas, D.D., LL.D., rr'nu'qud WvAcijan
Thi'oloijicid CoUi'ijc, Moidii'id.
It was in the sunnner of 1857 .vhen I first met our friend, now
translated, Hon. John Macdonald. Somewhat slender in his
physique, medium in height, erect in carriage, handsome in
features, lined with strength, ample in brow, with (juestioning
but kindly eye, frank, cordial, genial in his manner, with a
shade of reserve militaire, graced with a Scottish cultus, this
was the man in the maturity of liis youth who subserpiently be-
came the merchant prince, the parlimentarian, the potential
320
A MERCHANT PRINCE.
factor in all circles, social, commercial, philanthropic and re-
ligious. Recollection sui)plieH no parallel to our friend in his
steady .and ra))id ascent to status, to wealth, and to influence
anion<,'st his compeers.
His incisive intellect, his power of outlook and mastery of
detail, his natural sagacity and coolness of judgment, the
thoroughness which marked everything he undertook, ensured
a success which was ])henomenal, solid and enduring.
In our personal intercourse with the departed, we often ad-
mired his ability to lay aside all his pressing commercial cares
and live for a time in the realms of thought and amid the at-
tractions of literature. Naturally endowed with a measure of
poetic genius, combined with philosophic tastes and tendencies,
he had enriched his library with some of the finest poetic, bio-
graphic, historic, and evidential writers of the age.
All this gave to his conversation a peculiar wealth and charm.
For the time the merchant was lost in the literateur. To the
very close of life he delighted in those apologetic writers whose
works authenticate from the human standpoint the verities of
spiritual Christianity.
Though thus liberally gifted by nature, it was his absolute
loyalty to Christ and His Churchwhich gave nobility and strength
to the character o^ our friend.
When he was blossoming into early manhood, grace supernal
led him to turn his feet into the testimonies divine, the resultant
of which was a clear, defined, experimental Christian life, a life
which found its development in the Methodist Church of Canada
until the close of his earthly career.
For the Church of his intelligent choice he cherished a pro-
found admiration, and while strongly conservative both in rela-
tion to her doctrine and discipline, he was remarkable for the
catholicity of his spirit. It may truly be asserted that he was
one who loved our Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity.
Every official responsibility which the Methodist Church could
confer on a layman was intrusted to our friend. His labours in
the Sabbath Schools, the pulpits and the councils of the Church
are an abiding record of his fidelity to Christ and his solicitude
to make his life infiuential for the benefit of others.
Well do we remember our last conversation with him A\hen
physical decadence had begun, and the sombre shades of even-
tide were coming on apace. He then affirmed his growing de-
light in Biblical truth and an unfaltering faith in the ultimate
realization of its eternal beatitudes.
Held in honour by all who knew him, well beloved by those
who knew him best, enthroned in the undying love of those
who shared his paternal regard, he filled a great sphere in the
58555!
TRIBUTES.
321
Church as well as in the State. " Having fought the good fight
he hnushed his course and kept the faith"' ^ '
fv.!^^"""'''^'^'',^•'-''"'^ \'''^ -"' ""'^^^ their blossouMngs and their
fruitage which Ins eye shall never see, but his lu.nim.us example
to the coming manhood of this Dominion shall in its influence
be perpetuated by the admirable record of a noble life, f unSd
sa souvenir by one who along the years held him n In ur
and IS now his sorrowing friend. '"h»>ui,
"The righteous shall oe held 'in everlasting remembrance."
(iROR(iE D0UOLA8.
How precious is the memory of a just and good
man! Senator Macdonald was a remarkable man
If he could not be called great, he was not destitute
of those qualities out of which great men are made.
As a merchant he was enterprising and successful •
as a statesman he was upright and intelPgent; as a'
citizen he was patriotic and public spirited ; as a bene-
factor he was generous and sympathetic ; as a Chris-
tian he was devout, consistent and consecrated. His
religion was not a mere creed or profession ; it was a
hfe, an experience. His name was a tower of strencrth
to every good cause. He has left behind him a char-
acter above reproach, and his example will liVe for
good through many generations.
"Were a star quenched on high,
^ For ages would its light,
Still travelling downward from the sky,
Shine on our mortal sif^ht •
"So when a good man dies,
For years beyond our ken
The light he leaves behind him lies
Upon the paths of men."
21
FINIS.