o the crown and to monarchical
institutions, while the violent language of some of the Radical party
alienated many persons who, while they were not Tories, were even less
disposed to become rebels.

The exacting demands of his Radical advisers upon the governor-general
at this period occasionally passed all bounds. One of their grievances
against Sir Charles Metcalfe was that he had ventured to appoint on his
personal staff a Canadian gentleman bearing the distinguished name of
deSalaberry, who happened to be distasteful to LaFontaine. In our day,
of course, no minister could dream of interfering, even by way of
suggestion, with a governor-general in the selection of his staff. In
1844, when the crisis came, and Metcalfe appealed to the people of
Canada to sustain him, Macdonald sought election to the Assembly from
Kingston. It was his 'firm belief,' he announced at the time, 'that
the prosperity of Canada depends upon its permanent connection with the
mother country'; and he was determined to 'resist to the utmost any
attempt (from whatever quarter it may come) which may tend to {18}
weaken that union.' He was elected by a large majority.

In the same year, the year in which Macdonald was first elected to
parliament, another young Scotsman, likewise to attain great prominence
in the country, made his _debut_ upon the Canadian stage. On March 5,
1844, the Toronto _Globe_ began its long and successful career under
the guidance of George Brown, an active and vigorous youth of
twenty-five, who at once threw himself with great energy and
conspicuous ability into the political contest that raged round the
figure of the governor-general. Brown's qualities were such as to
bring him to the front in any labour in which he might engage. Ere
long he became one of the leaders of the Reform party, a position which
he maintained down to the date of his untimely death at the hands of an
assassin in 1880. Brown did not, however, enter parliament for some
years after the period we are here considering.

The Conservative party issued from the general elections of 1844 with a
bare majority in the House, which seldom exceeded six and sometimes
sank to two or three. Early in that year the seat of government had
been removed from Kingston to Montreal. The first {19} session of the
new parliament--the parliament in which Macdonald had his first
seat--was held in the old Legislative Building which occupied what was
afterwards th