MACDONALD 



3555 



MACDONALD 



made, too, for the many difficulties he had to 

 meet. Few political leaders of any age have 

 had so many opposing elements to reconcile, so 

 many factions to hold together. The man who 

 could rule a mixture of zealous factions, includ- 

 ing "Irish Catholics and Orangemen, French 

 and English antifederationists and agitators for 

 independence, Conservatives and reformers, 

 careful economists and prodigal expansionists," 

 was manifestly a man of unusual power. 



Sir John was a consummate leader, a man 

 of great personal magnetism and striking phys- 

 ical appearance. In features he greatly re- 

 sembled Benjamin Disraeli. He had a keen 

 insight into the workings of the human mind, 

 a gift which he utilized to secure personal 

 popularity among the mass of the people as 

 well as the leadership of any group in which 

 he worked. In the old Canadian assembly and 

 its successor, the Dominion Parliament, he held 

 a unique place, which is perhaps sufficiently 

 indicated by the fact that his first service as 

 Premier of Canada began in 1857, and his last 

 continued until his death in 1891. 



Youth and Early Career. Macdonald was 

 born in Glasgow, Scotland, on January 11, 1815. 

 When he was five years old his parents took 

 him with them to Canada. They settled at 

 Kingston, Ont., where their son spent his boy- 

 hood, studied law and in 1836 was called to 

 the bar. He practiced at Kingston until 1844, 

 when he was elected to the assembly as a Con- 

 servative. In a sentence of his first public 

 address he struck the keynote of his career: 

 "I therefore need scarcely state my firm belief 

 that the prosperity of Canada depends upon 

 its permanent connection with the mother 

 country, and that I shall resist to the utmost 

 any attempt (from whatever quarter it may 

 come) which may tend to weaken that union." 



During his first years in the assembly his 

 voice was heard infrequently. He devoted 

 most of his time to perfecting his knowledge 

 of parliamentary practice, and no less impor- 

 tant, to a study of the men with whom he was 

 now brought int.o contact. As a result he be- 

 came perhaps the most skilful party manager 

 and the ablest parliamentarian in the history 

 of Canadian politics. His speeches were infre- 

 quent, but his abilities won prompt recogni- 

 tion, and in 1847 he acted as receiver-general 

 and later as commissioner of crown lands. 

 From 1848 to 1854 the Conservatives were in 

 opposition, but in the latter year Macdonald 

 again took office as attorney-general in the 

 Cabinet formed by Sir Allen MacNab and 



Auguste Morin. As attorney-general it fell to 

 Macdonald to dispose of two vexing problems, 

 clergy reserves and seigniorial tenures, which 

 had long been important. During these years 

 Macdonald recognized and accepted three prin- 

 ciples which thereafter guided his policy first, 

 the maintenance of Canadian union with Great 

 Britain; second, a tariff for the protection of 

 domestic industries; and, third, a union of the 

 British colonies in North America. The union 

 of the colonies was established to a consider- 

 able degree through Macdonald's influence, 

 and the other two principles still guide Cana- 

 dian statesmen. 



A Decade of Preparation, 1857 to 1867. Until 

 1857 Macdonald held only subordinate Cabinet 

 positions, although in several Ministries, no- 

 tably that formed by Sir Etienne Tache in 

 1856, he was the real head of the government. 

 Between 1857 and 1867 Macdonald was several 

 times Premier, first jointly with Sir Georges 

 Cartier, and later again with Tache. During 

 this period British Columbia became (1858) a 

 crown colony, Ottawa was chosen (1858) as the 

 capital of Canada, the decimal system of cur- 

 rency was adopted (1858), the famous Vic- 

 toria bridge at Montreal was completed (1860), 

 and the Trent affair (1861) and the Fenian 

 invasion (1866) caused great excitement. 



Far more important than any of these events 

 was the growing consciousness among Cana- 

 dians that the legislative union of the two 

 Canadas could last no longer. The alternative 

 was Confederation, the union of all the Brit- 

 ish colonies in North America. The Fenian 

 Raid, the Trent episode, the lesson of unity 

 learned from the War of Secession in the 

 United States, added to the impossibility of 

 securing effective government under the Act of 

 Union, turned the thoughts of statesmen to a 

 larger Canada. 



At last in 1864, after the Tache-Macdonald 

 Ministry was again defeated, a coalition Min- 

 istry was formed with a view to securing a 

 union of the provinces. For this coalition the 

 chief credit is due to George Brown, the Lib- 

 eral leader, who renounced the strongest per- 

 sonal dislike of Macdonald and accepted a 

 place in the Ministry. Macdonald, Brown and 

 Cartier were sent as delegates to the Charlotte- 

 town Conference in 1864, the result of which 

 was the Quebec Conference, a month later. 

 The most prominent figure in the conference 

 was unquestionably Macdonald, who became, 

 three years later, the first Premier of the new 

 Dominion of Canada. 



