Born in 1815, died in 1891: Receiver-General in Canada in 1847; Attorney-General in 1854; Prime Minister in 1857, and again in 1868 and 1878; one of the British Commissioners who signed the Treaty of Washington; leader in work of effecting Canadian confederation.
I have had the honor of being charged, on behalf cf the government, to submit a scheme for the confederation of all the British North American Provinces—a scheme which has been received, I am glad to say, with general if not universal approbation in Canada. This subject is not a new one. For years it has more or less attracted the attention of every statesman and politician in these provinces, and has been looked upon by many far-seeing politicians as being eventually the means of deciding and settling very many of the vexed questions which have retarded the prosperity of the Colonies as a whole, and particularly the prosperity of Canada.
The subject, however, tho looked upon with
- ↑ Delivered in the Parliament of Canada in February, 1865, Macdonald (not yet Sir John) being then attorney-general. Two years later, when the Union was effected, he became prime minister. Abridged.
