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The Great Bag.
when the House was dissolved and a general election held in 1848, the Conservative min istry was defeated. The Cabinet resigned, and Mr. Macdonald went into opposition under the leadership of Sir Allan McNab. The sessions of '52 and '53 were held at Quebec. The Hincks ministry, although Liberal, was opposed by George Brown and the extremists associated with him, as well as by the Conservatives under McNab. The result was the defeat of the Government in 1854. The Conservatives were not pre pared to form a government, and a coalition ministry was therefore formed, with Mr. Macdonald as attorney-general for Upper Canada. The coalition was distasteful to the extreme Liberals and the ultra-Tories, but it had the support of the moderate men of both parties, as parties previously existed. It was thus the Liberal-Conservative party was formed. During his tenure of office the young attorney-general grappled with and settled the questions of the Clergy Reserves and Seignorial Tenure. Sir Allan McNab retired from the leadership in 1856, and Mr. Macdonald became leader in the House of Assembly, Sir E. P. Tache becoming Premier and leader in the Council. The ministry was defeated in the first session after the reconstruction on the question of the selection of Ottawa as the seat of govern ment. George Brown was called upon to form a cabinet, but failed; and the Governor refused a dissolution. Mr. Macdonald was then again called to office, and Mr. Cartier became Premier. The session of 1861 opened at Quebec. George Brown advocated the right of Ontario to increased representation. His fierce at tacks on the French people did much to create a feeling of hostility between the two provinces of Canada; while Mr. Macdonald on the other hand employed his singular tact to allay this feeling. His ambition was to make Canada a happy and united country under British connection; and the follow ing extract from a speech which he de livered at the time epitomizes the sentiment 1
that actuated him throughout his career : —
whole
"I hope that for ages, forever, Canada may remain united with the mother country; we are fast ceasing to be a dependency, and assum ing the position of an ally of Great Britain. England will be the centre, surrounded and sus tained by an alliance, not merely with Canada, but Australia and all her other possessions. There will thus be formed a vast confederation of free men, the greatest confederacy of civilized and intelligent men that ever had an existence on the face of the globe." In 1862 the Government was defeated on the Militia Bill; and for two years its mem bers remained in opposition, after which they were restored to power. About this time the Charlottetown convention took place, and was followed by the Quebec conference, where the question of the union of the Upper and Lower Provinces was considered. In 1865 a co alition was formed between Macdonald and Brown to bring about the union, and reso lutions accordingly submitted to the House. Mr. Macdonald's speech on the union was an able and comprehensive presentation of the case, and the measure was carried through the legislature. The Dominion of Canada, comprising the Provinces of Ontario, Quebec. Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick, was established on the 1st of July, 1867. Mr. Macdonald, who did more than any other man to consummate the scheme of union, was made Knight Commander of the Bath for his eminent services by the Queen. He was also selected as first Premier of the new Dominion, and accepted the portfolio of Minister of Justice. His greatest work, however, was not com pleted. The four large provinces were united, but a large amount of legislation was now necessary in the way of organizing the various public services, and Sir John Macdonald proved equal to the demand. In the course of a few years the Northwest Territory was purchased from the Hudson Bay Company, and the Provinces of British Columbia and Prince Edward Island joined the union.
