14 chapters
3 hour read
Selected Chapters
14 chapters
PREFATORY NOTE
PREFATORY NOTE
Within a short time will be celebrated the centenary of the birth of the great statesman who, half a century ago, laid the foundations and, for almost twenty years, guided the destinies of the Dominion of Canada. Nearly a like period has elapsed since the author's Memoirs of Sir John Macdonald was published. That work, appearing as it did little more than three years after his death, was necessarily subject to many limitations and restrictions. As a connected story it did not profess to come dow
1 minute read
CHAPTER I
CHAPTER I
John Alexander Macdonald, second son of Hugh Macdonald and Helen Shaw, was born in Glasgow on January 11, 1815. His father, originally from Sutherlandshire, removed in early life to Glasgow, where he formed a partnership with one M'Phail, and embarked in business as a cotton manufacturer. Subsequently he engaged in the manufacture of bandanas, and the style of the firm became 'H. Macdonald and Co.' The venture did not prove successful, and Macdonald resolved to try his fortunes in the New World.
37 minute read
CHAPTER II
CHAPTER II
The Liberal-Conservative Government formed in 1854 was destined to a long and successful career, though not without the usual inevitable changes. Very shortly after its accession to power, Lord Elgin, whose term of office had expired, was succeeded by Sir Edmund Head. The new governor-general was a man of rare scholastic attainments. During the previous seven years he had occupied the position of lieutenant-governor of New Brunswick, and he was to administer, for a like period, the public affair
56 minute read
CHAPTER III
CHAPTER III
'With the Canadian Pacific Railway finished, and my Franchise Bill become law, I feel that I have done my work and can now sing my Nunc dimittis .' So wrote Sir John Macdonald to Lord Carnarvon shortly after the close of the arduous parliamentary session of 1885. There can be little doubt that these words expressed his inmost sentiments at the time. He had passed the allotted span of threescore years and ten, had 'sounded all the depths and shoals of honour,' and was beginning to look forward to
43 minute read
BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTE
BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTE
The following works, dealing in whole or in part with the day of Sir John Macdonald, may be consulted: Sir Joseph Pope's Memoirs of the Right Honourable Sir John Alexander Macdonald (two vols.: London, Edward Arnold, 1894); Sir John Willison's Sir Wilfrid Laurier and the Liberal Party (two vols.: Toronto, Morang, 1903); George R. Parkin's John A. Macdonald (Toronto, Morang, 1908); Dent's The Last Forty Years, or Canada since the Union of 1841 (Toronto, 1881); Castell Hopkins's Life and Work of S
20 minute read
PART II THE RISE OF NEW FRANCE
PART II THE RISE OF NEW FRANCE
3. THE FOUNDER OF NEW FRANCE By Charles W. Colby. 4. THE JESUIT MISSIONS By Thomas Guthrie Marquis. 5. THE SEIGNEURS OF OLD CANADA By William Bennett Munro. 6. THE GREAT INTENDANT By Thomas Chapais. 7. THE FIGHTING GOVERNOR By Charles W. Colby....
18 minute read
PART VI PIONEERS OF THE NORTH AND WEST
PART VI PIONEERS OF THE NORTH AND WEST
18. THE 'ADVENTURERS OF ENGLAND' ON HUDSON BAY By Agnes C. Laut. 19. PATHFINDERS OF THE GREAT PLAINS By Lawrence J. Burpee. 20. ADVENTURERS OF THE FAR NORTH By Stephen Leacock. 21. THE RED RIVER COLONY By Louis Aubrey Wood. 22. PIONEERS OF THE PACIFIC COAST By Agnes C. Laut. 23. THE CARIBOO TRAIL By Agnes C. Laut....
23 minute read
PART VII THE STRUGGLE FOR POLITICAL FREEDOM
PART VII THE STRUGGLE FOR POLITICAL FREEDOM
24. THE FAMILY COMPACT By W. Stewart Wallace. 25. THE 'PATRIOTES' OF '37 By Alfred D. DeCelles. 26. THE TRIBUNE OF NOVA SCOTIA By William Lawson Grant. 27. THE WINNING OF POPULAR GOVERNMENT By Archibald MacMechan....
15 minute read