The John A. Macdonald Retrospective 2-Book Bundle. Ged Martin

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СКАЧАТЬ Victoria, but it is equally likely that he needed to demonstrate possession of a wife to become Canada’s first prime minister. The fashionable church of St George’s, Hanover Square, was packed with friends of Canada: three of the four bridesmaids were delegates’ daughters, giving the marriage the flavour of a dynastic alliance. As the couple took their vows, “a bright ray of sunshine fell through the fine old stained glass windows,” lighting the scene in a happy omen. At the wedding breakfast, the bridegroom delivered a “brilliant speech,” playing on the joke that he was applying the political principle of uniting the provinces to his domestic life — “Confederation, under a female sovereign.” The couple’s health was toasted by elder statesman Francis Hincks. Twelve years earlier, Macdonald had denounced him as “steeped to the lips in corruption.” Now Hincks presented Agnes with a valuable diamond and pearl bracelet. The couple headed for a two-day honeymoon in Oxford: Macdonald was needed in London when the Confederation legislation came before Parliament.

      The newlyweds were “kept in England by some Canadian business,” which included a special audience with Queen Victoria, who praised the loyalty of her transatlantic subjects and the “very important measure” of Confederation. The prime minister-designate formally replied that Canadians had declared “in the most solemn & emphatic manner our resolve to be under the sovereignty of Your Majesty and your family forever.” It was early May before the couple returned to Ottawa. On his first Monday back at work, Macdonald held a celebration luncheon. An Ottawa diarist was “very much disturbed” to learn that “John A. was carried out of the lunch room ... hopelessly drunk.” “What a prospect Mrs. John A. has before her!”

      5

      1867–1872

      Gristle into Bone

      “Except Macdonald, I know none of the Delegates who really think enough of the future,” wrote Alexander Galt from London, adding that even Macdonald believed that the “immediate task is to complete the Union, leaving the rest to be solved by time.” Lord Monck had commissioned Macdonald to form the first ministry, enabling him, as his friend Gowan urged, “to give a fair start to the new Dominion.” Macdonald had claimed in 1866 that “a great party is arising of moderate men,” soaring above “the petty politics of past days … to join together for the good of the future of Canada.” Unfortunately, the formation of the first Dominion Cabinet disproved this noble vision.

      Macdonald nearly failed to shoehorn claimants and interest groups into the thirteen available Cabinet places. The Maritime premiers, Tupper and Tilley, each selected a colleague to fill the region’s four seats. Tough bargaining allocated five ministers to Ontario against Quebec’s four. Since the Conservatives were weak in Ontario, Macdonald reappointed all three Great Coalition Reformers. He also retained the courteous and bilingual Alexander Campbell to run the Senate. Campbell represented the Tory wing of the party: the prime minister was the only Macdonald Conservative in the Cabinet. His biggest headache lay in the political arithmetic of Quebec. Naturally, French Canadians claimed three of the four seats — leaving one ministry for the anglophone minority. D’Arcy McGee demanded the place on behalf of the Dominion’s Irish Catholics, but his appointment would have excluded Quebec’s Protestant community, whose spokesman, Galt, also represented Montreal finance. Macdonald confronted the impasse “in a constant state of partial intoxication,” said Galt, and threatened to abandon his commission. The logjam was broken by Tupper, who persuaded McGee they should both stand down, freeing the thirteenth place for a Nova Scotian Irish Catholic. The Halifax merchant, Edward “Papa” Kenny, was surprised to receive the summons to Ottawa. To prevent the Grits from controlling the new province of Ontario, John A. Macdonald tried a new twist on an old triangular rivalry. To block George Brown, Sandfield Macdonald agreed to become his running mate as first premier of Ontario.

      George-Étienne Cartier disliked playing second fiddle to the new prime minister, and resented Ontario’s extra Cabinet place. On the first Dominion Day, July 1, 1867, the moment Gowan hoped Canada would escape from “a sea of strife and littleness,” Cartier’s resentment exploded. There were rumours that the British would mark Confederation by bestowing titles and medals, perhaps using the prestigious Order of the Bath, a relic of medieval locker-room culture when kings shared their ablutions with trusted retainers. A knight commander of the Bath outranked any ordinary “sir.” “Come back a K.C.B.,” Campbell had cheerfully urged the newlyweds, “Sir John and Lady Macdonald.” The Bath included a category of “Companions,” associate members who put the coveted letters “C.B.” after their names. On the morning of July 1, Macdonald learned he was to be knighted: he promptly scribbled a note to Agnes, addressing the envelope to “Lady Macdonald.” But when Cartier found he was only to receive a C.B, he angrily rejected the honour as a personal affront and an insult to Quebec. Galt reluctantly declined his C.B. too. In the coming months, knighthoods soothed the egos of Sir George and Sir Alexander, but the Dominion had made a sour start.

      The limits on Macdonald’s prime ministerial authority were underlined by his inability to save the Commercial Bank from collapse in October 1867 — a crash that almost bankrupted him. Kingston’s bank had been over-extended for years, but its directors failed to crack down on unreliable borrowers — such as board member Sir John A. Macdonald, with his $80,000 overdraft. In October 1867, a run on deposits highlighted its vulnerability. Finance Minister Galt travelled to Montreal to beg Canada’s bank bosses for help, but their bail-out terms were tough. Macdonald’s Cabinet colleagues insisted that the package was “insufficient to warrant any action by Government,” and the Commercial Bank closed its doors. Not only powerless to save his riding’s bank, Macdonald also lost his finance minister. Galt resigned, expressing “exasperation” with Macdonald: “had he stood by the Bank as I did, it would have been saved.” The wreckage was absorbed by a Montreal rival and Macdonald’s debts fell into unfriendly hands.

      The first Dominion Parliament assembled on November 7, 1867, with the new prime minister orchestrating the ceremonies. A journalist described him as “a young looking oldish man, dark hair, not quite as plentiful as it was ten years ago, a prominent nose, dark eyes, and a pliable and sagacious mouth.” With Brown absent, Cartier sulking, Galt marginalized and Sandfield neutralized, Macdonald appeared dominant, but his position was weaker than it seemed. Confederation itself remained insecure. Eighteen of Nova Scotia’s nineteen MPs demanded repeal of the union. Macdonald believed that their leader, Joseph Howe, would “by and by be open to reason” but, if statesmanship required patience, politics might demand action. The session took its toll in a sadly familiar manner. On December 16, a backbench MP spotted “Sir John drinking” and rushed by cab to fetch Agnes.

      The Dominion of Canada’s first parliament looks like a dream come true as it meets in November 1867.

      Agnes was learning about married life in a cramped house, shared with her mother and her brother, Macdonald’s secretary, Hewitt Bernard. Sometimes she misread her husband’s mood: once, he lost his temper when she teased him, and actually ordered her out of the room — although “the good old boy” quickly called her back. She tried to be an attentive spouse: Macdonald, she recognized, was “so busy and so much older than I that I would soon fall out of his life if I went my own ways.” Agnes had enough self-knowledge to realize that her pride in being “the instrument of so much improvement” was partly “a love of power.” She tried to ban politics on Sundays and chivvied her exhausted husband to attend church, but she abandoned her campaign for daily morning prayers: “Sir John rises late — it is his only quiet time … he ought not to forego it.”

      Macdonald was still more likely to turn for support to the bottle than to his bride. In January 1868, Agnes enigmatically noted “a rather trying week,” leading her to give up wine “for example’s СКАЧАТЬ