ere to be carried _en bloc_, lest any change should entail a
fresh conference. The delegates made a tour of Canada, visiting
Montreal, Ottawa, and Toronto, where receptions and congratulations
awaited them. Their work had been done quickly. It had now to run the
gauntlet of parliamentary discussion.

[1] D'Arcy McGee published a treatise in 1865 entitled _Notes on
Federal Government Past and Present_, presenting a useful summary of
the various constitutions.

[2] The quotations in this chapter are taken from Pope's _Confederation
Documents_.

[3] At Cornwall, March 2, 1866.

[4] It is worth noting that almost any change of importance would
affect the office of the lieutenant-governor and thus challenge federal
interference.

[5] We know now from Sir Joseph Pope's _Confederation Documents_ (p.
140) that it was proposed in the first draft of the union bill to have
interpretation clauses, and one of these declared that where the
governor-general was required to do any act it was to be assumed that
he performed it by the advice and consent of his executive council.

[6] In the copy of the Confederation debates possessed by the writer
there appears on the margin of the page, in William McDougall's
handwriting and initialled by himself, these words: 'In the Quebec
Conference I moved and Mr Mowat seconded a motion for the elective
principle. About one-third of the delegates voted for the proposition,
Brown arguing and voting against it. At this date (1887) under Sir
John's policy and action the Senate contains only 14 Liberals; all his
appointments being made from his own party.'

[7] Gray's _Confederation_, p. 62.

{84}

CHAPTER VIII

THE DEBATES OF 1865

In the province of Canada no time was lost in placing the new
constitution before parliament. A dilatory course would have been
unwise. The omens were favourable. Such opposition as had developed
was confined to Lower Canada. The Houses met in January 1865, and the
governor-general used this language in his opening speech:

With the public men of British North America it now rests to decide
whether the vast tract of country which they inhabit shall be
consolidated into a State, combining within its area all the elements
of national greatness, providing for the security of its component
parts and contributing to the strength and stability of the Empire; or
whether the several Provinces of which it is constituted shall remain
in their pres