Amongst the men, able and earnest, who carried the union of the
British, separated, Provinces, and made the "Dominion," no man gave
more soul and substance to the cause, by his eloquence, than Mr. d'Arcy
McGee. His had been a chequered career. Beginning, like Sir George
Etienne Cartier, in revolt against what he believed to be British
tyranny, he ended his life, one of the most loyal, as he was one of the
most eloquent, of Her Majesty's subjects. In 1848 he was one of the
"Young Ireland" party, and became an exile from his country; and, at
length, a denizen of the United States. From thence he came to Canada.
In Canada he found all the liberty, without very much of the license,
of politicians in the United States. In Canada he could think for
himself; in the United States he must think the thoughts of some secret
organization - or perish. In Canada he was welcomed, and soon made a
position. I first met him, in a casual way, in Ireland, in the time of
O'Connell, I think in 1844; and in 1861 I made his acquaintance, and I
knew him well until his untimely death, by Fenian assassination, at
Ottawa. He had faults - what politician has not? But he was honorable
and kindly; no man's enemy, unless it were his own. He was remarkable
in appearance; of middle height, very dark complexion, and with hair so
curious and curly that he always joked about his popularity with the
negroes of Canada.
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