e perfection of
a measure which promised so much for the welfare and security of the
British provinces. It was his good fortune, after the establishment of
the federation, to be the first premier of the new Dominion and to mould
its destinies with a firm and capable hand. He saw it extended to the
Pacific shores long before he died, amid the regrets of all classes and
creeds and races of a country he loved and in whose future he had the
most perfect confidence.

The name of the Right Honourable Sir John Macdonald, to give him the
titles he afterwards received from the crown, naturally brings up that
of Mr., afterwards Sir, George Etienne Cartier, who was his faithful
colleague and ally for many years in the legislature of old Canada, and
for a short time after the completion of the federal union, until his
death. This able French Canadian had taken an insignificant part in the
unfortunate rising of 1837, but like many other men of his nationality
he recognised the mistakes of his impetuous youth, and, unlike Papineau
after the union of 1840, endeavoured to work out earnestly and honestly
the principles of responsible government. While a true friend of his
race, he was generous and fair in his relations with other
nationalities, and understood the necessity of compromise and
conciliation in a country of diverse races, needs, and interests. Sir
John Macdonald appreciated at their full value his statesmanlike
qualities, and succeeded in winning his sympathetic and faithful
co-operation during the many years they acted together in opposition to
the war of nationalities which would have been the eventual consequence
of Mr. Brown's determined agitation if it had been carried to its
logical and natural conclusion--conclusion happily averted by the wise
stand taken by Mr. Brown himself with respect to the settlement of
provincial troubles. In the settlement of the terms of union, we can see
not only the master hand of Sir John Macdonald in the British framework
of the system, but also the successful effort of Sir George Cartier to
preserve intact the peculiar institutions of his native province.

All those who have studied Mr. Brown's career know something of his
independent and uncompromising character; but for some time after he
entered the coalition government his speeches in favour of federation
assumed a dignified style and a breadth of view which stand out in great
contrast with his bitter arguments as leader of the Clea