492 MACDONALD, SIR JOHN A. 



MADAGASCAR. 



Notably among these are those directed against 

 Bismarck and Gladstone. One of his most dis- 

 tinguished sermons was preached on the occa- 

 sion of the laying of the corner-stone of the 

 new church of St. Francis Xavier, in New 

 York. As a writer of scientific articles Bishop 

 Lynch was also distinguished. u The Liquefac- 



tion of the Blood of St. Januarius," and the 

 u Transit of Venus," are two of his most cele- 

 brated. He participated in the Vatican Coun- 

 cil of 1869-'70, and ably supported the dogma 

 of infallibility. A short time before his death, 

 the Pope had assigned him a chair in the col- 

 lege at Rome. 



M 



MACDONALD, Sir JOHN ALEXANDER, 

 Prime Minister of the Dominion of Canada, 

 was born in 1815, educated in Kingston at the 

 grammar-school, and was called to the bar in 

 1835. He entered political life as a member 

 of the Parliament of Upper Canada. He was 

 elected in the Conservative interest in 1844 by 

 the Kingston constituency, which he has con- 

 tinued to represent to the present time. His 

 introduction to office was as a member of the 

 Executive Council and Receiver-General, to 

 which post he was appointed in May, 1847. 

 In December of the same year he took the 

 office of Commissioner of Crown Lands. In 

 March, 1850, the Cabinet of which he was a 

 member gave way to the Reform Ministry 

 under Lafontaine, Baldwin, and Hincks, which 

 remained in power till September, 1854. At 

 that time the difficulty with regard to the res- 

 ervation of lands for the Protestant clergy 

 and other questions caused a defeat of the 

 ministry, and a coalition was formed to con- 

 duct the public business. Macdonald joined 

 the Government as Attorney - General. He 

 retained this office until May, 1862. A part of 

 this time he was the head of the Government. 

 In January, 1862, upon the reorganization of 

 the militia, he took the position of Minister of 

 Militia. The Government sustained a defeat 

 on their militia bill of that year, and all re- 

 signed. In May, 1864, Macdonald resumed 

 office as Attorney-General in the ministry of 

 Sir E. P. Tache, which was not, however, in 

 command of a stable majority. At this time the 

 question of federation was under discussion. 

 The proposition had adherents in both parties. 

 Upon a report in its favor by a committee of 

 the Legislative Assembly, a conference of the 

 leading men of both parties was held, which 

 led to a coalition for the purpose of carrying 

 the proposition through. On the death of Sir 

 E. P. Tache, in 1865, Mr. Macdonald again 

 became Minister of Militia, which office, with that 

 of Attorney-General, he retained until 1868. 

 In that year, upon the consummation of the 

 federation, he became Minister of Justice and 

 Attorney-General in the Dominion Govern- 

 ment, and in 1869 assumed the premiership. 

 The ministry of which he was the head resigned 

 November 5, 1873. In October, 1878, he was 

 called upon to form another Cabinet. In -1866 

 he served as one of the delegates appointed 

 to confer with the Imperial Government with 

 reference to the terms of confederation, and 



was chosen president of the meetings by the 

 delegates in London. He was knighted in 

 1867, and was honored with a doctor's degree 

 by Oxford University in the same year. Sir 

 John A. Macdonald is the undisputed leader of 

 the Conservative party in Canada, which under 

 his guidance introduced the protective policy, 

 and has almost silenced the formidable opposi- 

 tion of the Liberals. His abilities in debate, in 

 affairs, in political tactics, and in the inception 

 of policy, are so conspicuous that he occupies 

 a most commanding position amon'g parlia- 

 mentary leaders. 



MADAGASCAR, a large island off the east- 

 ern coast of Africa. The area is 591,964 square 

 kilometres, or about 227,600 square miles. 

 The population is estimated at from 3,500,000 

 souls to double that number. The inhabitants 

 call themselves Christians, the Presbyterian 

 Church having been established as the state 

 religion of the Hovas. The capital, Tananari- 

 voo, situated in the interior of the island, con- 

 tains from 70,000 to 80,000 inhabitants. The 

 chief commercial town is Tamatav, a town of 

 about 3,000 inhabitants, on the eastern coast. 

 The foreign commerce is conducted principally 

 in English ships coming from Mauritius. One 

 of the principal articles of import is rum. 

 American traders have a large share in the 

 foreign commerce. The exports are princi- 

 pally cattle, hides, resins, India-rubber, gums, 

 tallow, oil-bearing seeds, rice, etc. The trade 

 with Mauritius in 1873 consisted of 155,000 

 of exports and 145,000 of imports. The com- 

 merce with other countries was estimated at 

 100,000. Ships and pirogues also visit Mada- 

 gascar from the small French colonies adjacent. 



The inhabitants belong to two distinct races. 

 The aborigines, known by their mahogany 

 color, have been overrun at a comparatively 

 recent epoch by a Malaysian race, whose type 

 is found in its purity among the Hovas. The 

 new-comers were at first divided into twelve 

 independent tribes, but at the beginning of 

 the present century they merged, and adopt- 

 ed monarchical institutions and such features 

 of civilization as an army, police, taxes, and 

 customs duties. They have constantly opposed 

 the industrial development of the vast natural 

 wealth of Madagascar, declaring fevers and 

 bad roads to be blessings because they protect 

 them from the Europeans. The Hovas have 

 a nobility of various degrees and privileges. 

 Children take the rank of their mother. There 



