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Through the courtesy of the
publishers, Messrs. Hunter, Rose & Co., have
come to hand the early chapters of a work which
must prove of deep interest to the Canadian public.
It is entitled the "Life and Times of the
Right Honorable Sir John A. Macdonald," etc.,
and is by Mr. J.E. Collins, of Toronto; it will
be looked upon probably as a counterblast to the
Hon. Alexander Mackenzie's life of the Hon. George
Brown. The table of contents indicates that
the volume will contain in the neighborhood of
forty-five chapters, and will cover everything
of direct importance to Canada that has occurred
within the last forty years. It is printed
in large type, on heavy tinted paper; and with
its liberal margin and careful press-work presents
a handsome appearance. We should congratulate
ourselves that the art of book-making in Canada
has made such rapid strides of late. Our
books of a few years back show but meanly alongside
of those now issued from our presses.
In the first seven chapters of
his work, Mr. Collins tells the story of our Premier's life, from his
coming to Canada with his parents in 1820, a boy of five years old, to
the time of his obstinate struggle in opposition to the Rebellion Losses
Bill in 1849, the year of the Montreal riot and the burning of the
Parliament buildings. Thus far in the record Sir John appears as a
genuine and uncompromising Tory, though always rather contemptuous of
the violence and mismanagement which were driving his party to
destruction. His Toryism, however, was mitigated by common sense;
and with this fact his biographer, who seems but an indifferent Tory,
consoles himself and his readers, abiding the time when the narrative
shall come to tell of the infusion of the leaven of Liberalism.
But there is no suggestion of apology for the intensity of Sir John's
early prejudices; these were inevitable, and are displayed as the
healthy raw material, out of which was later to be evolved the more
acceptable product of Liberal Conservatism. Even thus early,
however, in Sir John's career, and while party strife was relentlessly
bitter and he in the foremost of it always, we see him making personal
admirers in the ranks of his most strenuous opponents. While
candor and fairness rule these pages, and nothing is distorted or
conceded for purposes of effect, it will, I think, be acknowledged by
readers of both shades of political opinions, that this is a very
attractive picture Mr. Collins presents us of the well equipped,
courteous, ready, self-possessed young statesman, imparting dignity to
the decline of a not very glorious cause.
With regard to the style and
the structure of the work, if what is to follow fulfils the promise of
these chapters, we shall have a production that will step at once into
the front rank of our young literature. In the department of
history and biography, more than in any other, we can already boast
works of dignity and importance. Only one or two of these,
however, apart from the value of their matter, can take rank as literary
products. But the dullest matter would become readable under the
spell of Mr. Collins' vivid and picturesque rendering. Here the
attention is held from the first sentence. Every page is
delightfully readable. A strong and sympathetic imagination has so
grasped and mastered the whole subject, that the narrative proceeds with
the unobstructed swiftness of good fiction, while dry but needful
details are so skillfully woven in as apparently to heighten the
interest. This is indeed a chief triumph of the biographer's
art. If the author can throughout maintain the unfailing freshness
and verve of these one hundred and twenty-eight pages, then his
work will have an audience far beyond the borders of Canada, as one of
the most brilliant biographies of the day. This [text illegible]
will I hope [text illegible] be said to have [text illegible] tremendous impact
on the
reading classes of the world.
In argument and style
these chapters are terse, simple, and eminently Saxon. No energy
is wasted in resounding syllables; each sentence is compact and telling,
with perhaps an occasional tendency to unnecessary ellipses, arising
from the rapid movement of the thought. The tone is temperate, and
opposing parties are depicted with even-handed justice. None are
painted wholly black or white, but Tory and Reformer appear in probable
and natural colors. Perhaps the best abused man in their pages is
Sir Charles Metcalfe, that most subtle and dangerous adversary of the
cause of Responsible Government. Yet even of him it is shown that
"in private life he was kind and courteous;" that he was
"good to the poor;" and that many tears were shed to his
memory.
A piece of sympathetic
eloquence is devoted to the case, too generally misunderstood, of the
unfortunate Pole, Von Shoultz, to whose memory is here done a portion of
tardy justice. Mr. Collins refutes the common accounts of this
general, whose execution we are wont to hear mentioned as the well
deserved punishment of a mercenary and lawless adventurer. But I
would fain have seen even a fuller definition of this noble but
misguided man, whose heart burned hotly against all tyranny for the sake
of his down-trodden Poland, and who so ardently embraced the cause of a
country which has misrepresented him as groaning under almost Russian
despotism. It is his glory that he longed to deliver us; it was
his misfortune that we happened to stand in no great need of
deliverance.
Some of Mr. Collins' powers,
perhaps, are displayed to best advantage in chapter vi., which describes
"The lights of '44." These pen portraits are admirable
done. Here is keen insight, dramatic presentation, most racy and
piquant handling. Here also is what never fails to capture the
reviewer—a crisp decision of outline and a potent but
unobtrusive humor. With the following brief quotations this review
of what promises to be so masterly a work, must be brought to a
close. This is of the Reformer Lafontaine, who was born at
Boucherville, in 1807:—
"He
began life as a barrister, and applied himself diligently to his
profession, accumulating a handsome fortune. When the oppressions
of the little British clique became intolerable, he was found among the
daring young spirits at whose head was Papineau, who met to discuss ways
of throwing off the hateful yoke. Later on he became the rival of
Papineau, and put himself at the head of la jeune France; and the
priests shook their heads at his orthodoxy. He was on the search
for liberty then and often hinted at throwing off the
"ecclesiastical fetters" as well as the yoke of the
Compact. In 1837 he fled the country from a warrant for high
treason, passed over to England, and thence, in some trepidation,
silently slipped across the Channel to France. There was no
evidence against him, however, and an ironical letter he had written to
Mr. Girouard on the absurdity of rebellion was taken literally, and went
far towards removing him even from suspicion. His little tour had
a wonderful effect upon him, for he came back, not only a good Loyalist,
but a pious Christian. He went to mass ostentatiously, frequented
the sacraments, and muttered his Ave Marias aloud. The
priests killed the fatted calf on his return, and he became the pet and
light of Holy Church."
This,
again, of Sir Allan MacNab:
Though
his speech was jagged and often lumbering, he was always drawn up in the
order of battle, ready to level a lance against any opponent whether he
knew his mettle or not, or to rush into the most intricate question that
he knew nothing about. Sir Allan would have been a better man had
they not spoiled him with their gauds and knighthood. It is not
every man who is equal to the carrying of a ribbon or star, or a C.M.G.
to his name. Sir Allan was not. The moment that the title
fell upon him his usefulness departed; he seemed to feel that he had
been absorbed by the Crown, and drawn out of the coarser and unholy
atmosphere of common life in which he had formerly lived.
Henceforth his duty was to guard faithfully the interests of that Crown
of which he felt himself a part."
But
this, of Dominick Daly, elsewhere called the "perennial
secretary," is, perhaps, most racy of all. It may be given in
full, being brief: Dominick
Daly, the son of Dominick Daly, by the sister of the first Lord
Wallscourt, was born in Galway, Ireland, in 1798, and married in his
twenty-eighth year, the second daughter of Colonel Ralph Gore, of
Barrowmount, County Kilkenny. He studied law, was in due time
called to the bar; but, not caring for the legal profession, came out as
secretary with Governor Burton, to Quebec. Shortly after his
arrival he became Provincial Secretary for Lower Canada; and on the
accomplishment of the union became provincial secretary for Canada, and
a member of the Board of Works, with a seat in the Council. He
retained the provincial secretaryship till 1848, when he was driven out
of office by the Reformers. He sat in gloomy state three years
longer for Megantie, and then betook himself to England, where he
petitioned the Government for a substantial recognition of his
twenty-five years' faithful service in Canada. In answer to his
prayer he was appointed successively to the governorship of Tobago,
Prince Edward Island, and Western Australia, and received a
knighthood. If ever henchman deserved reward at the hands of the
Crown, Dominick Daly did. His idea of political duty was to
show unswerving fealty to the Crown, and support every government that
came to power. He was a body upon which the political sun never
set. When a government of which he was a member waxed strong,
Dominick became full of party sinew and vitality; but as that party
waned and the end drew near, the color faded out of him; he became a
sort of political jelly-fish, and calmly awaited the change of parties,
when he developed new affections, a new frame, and fresh marrow and
muscle. Like Mejuour of the Rosy Cross, he saw rulers come and go,
and parties wax and wane, and fall to pieces, and rally and grow great
again; but neither time nor change affected him. In the best of
nature he assisted the successor of Burton and his clique to thwart and
oppress the French majority; and he aided Durham in laying the broad
foundation of an enduring liberty. He stood with Sydenham to found
the basis of an equitable political system; and he aided Metcalfe in
strangling popular rights. He was courteous and genial in private
life, had strong personal friendships, and was a pious adherent of the
Catholic faith. He believed that the King could do no wrong, and
that the duty of the subject was to obey the sovereign or the
vice-regent, unquestioningly, under every circumstance. He would
be an odd figure upon the scene now, and even in his day was a
curiosity. He was the Amaranthus of the Cabinet, its never-fading
flower; but his enemies used harsher prose and named him the "Vicar
of Bray." His preferment in after days to high place and
title is an eloquent commentary on the wisdom and discrimination of
Downing street."
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