c
affairs, both in his own province and at a later time in the new
Dominion as a minister of the crown. Mr. Edward Barron Chandler had long
been a notable figure in the politics of New Brunswick, and was
universally respected for his probity and worth. He had the honour of
being at a later time the lieutenant-governor of the province with which
he had been so long and honourably associated. Mr. John Johnson and Mr.
William H. Steeves were also fully qualified to deal intelligently with
the questions submitted to the convention.

Of the seven members of the Prince Edward Island delegation, four were
members of the government and the rest were prominent men in one or
other branch of the legislature. Colonel Gray--a descendant of a
Virginia Loyalist--was prime minister of the island. Mr. George Coles
was one of the fathers of responsible government in the island, and long
associated with the advocacy and passage of many progressive measures,
including the improvement of the educational system. Mr. Edward Whelan
was a journalist, an Irishman by birth, and endowed, like so many of his
countrymen, with a natural gift of eloquence. Mr. Thomas Heath Haviland,
afterwards lieutenant-governor of the island, was a man of culture, and
Mr. Edward Palmer was a lawyer of good reputation. Mr. William H. Pope
and Mr. Andrew Archibald Macdonald were also thoroughly capable of
watching over the special interests of the island.

Newfoundland had the advantage of being represented by Mr. Frederick
B.T. Carter, then speaker of the house of assembly, and by Mr. Ambrose
Shea, also a distinguished politician of the great island. Both were
knighted at later times; the former became chief justice of his own
province, and the latter governor of the Bahamas.

SECTION 3.--Confederation accomplished.

The Quebec convention sat with closed doors for eighteen days, and
agreed to seventy-two resolutions, which form the basis of the Act of
Union, subsequently passed by the imperial parliament. These resolutions
set forth at the outset that in a federation of the British American
provinces "the system of government best adapted under existing
circumstances to protect the diversified interests of the several
provinces, and secure harmony and permanency in the working of the
union, would be a general government charged with matters of common
interest to the whole country, and local governments for each of the
Canadas, and for the provinces of Nova Scot