SIR JOB2T A. MACDONALD.
Sir John A. Macdonald. By George R. Parkin. (T. C. and E. C. Jack. 12s. 6d. net.)—John Macdonald was born in 1815, was called to the Canadian Bar when he had just completed his twenty-first year, entered political life in 1844, and took a part, which before long became very prominent, in public affairs for nearly fifty years. He lived, then, it will be seen, through a very agitated period of Canadian history. Curiously enough, one of his earliest capes at the Bar was the defence of a Polish gentle- man who was tried for rebellion in 1837. This did not by any means presage the line which Macdonald was to take in Canadian polities. He was from first to last a staunch advocate of the Imperial connexion, though he could not be called an extremist. On various questions of domestic politics—the Church Reserves, for instance—he took a liberal line. There is, of course, in this volume much that an English reader will find it difficult to appreciate. There are some things which he will hardly understand. It might have been well to give him a more detailed account of the "Clear Grit" Party. The description on p. 46 is not enough. It is not every one who even knows what the title means. Now and then such a reader will be not a little amazed, as when he reads that the "com- pensation of losses" in the Rebellion went partly into the pockets of the rebels. It looks like an incendiary claiming a share in the money paid by the fire insurance companies. One thing, however, we see clearly : that John A. Macdonald was a strong, honest man who did his country and the Empire excellent service, and fully deserved the unprecedented honours which were rendered to him after his death.
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