od bless your
labours, and pour down upon this province all those blessings which in
my heart I am desirous it should enjoy.'

His accident occurred on the fourth of September: he was not released
from his sufferings until the nineteenth. A stately funeral testified
to the universal regret. St George's Cathedral at Kingston, where his
bones lie, should be among the high places of the land, a shrine doubly
sacred, as the tomb of one who had no small part in making Canada.

{66}

CHAPTER III

REFORM IN THE SADDLE

On Parliament Hill at Ottawa is a monument of bronze and marble. It
represents two men standing in close converse; and, in spite of the
dull and untempering effect of modern coats and trousers, the monument
is an artistic success worthy of the noble eminence on which it stands
above the broad-bosomed river and looking towards the distant hills.
It is designed to keep in memory LaFontaine, the man of French blood,
and Baldwin, the man of English blood, who worked together as leaders
in the first parliament of reunited Canada. That they so worked
together for the good of their common country deserves commemoration in
enduring brass; for, happily, ever since their time English and French
have been found working side by side and vying in fraternal efforts
towards the same glorious end.

LaFontaine and Baldwin are typical Canadian {67} politicians of the new
order. They carried on a government under modern conditions.
Sydenham's work had been done once for all. In spite of ignorance, and
errors, and worse, the parliamentarians had really learned the lessons
of procedure which he had so deftly taught, and they now settled down
to the regular game of Ins and Outs, according to established and
accepted rules. The irreconcilables were gradually tamed as wild
animals are--by hunger first, and then by being fed with sufficient
quantities of the loaves and fishes. Power, office, good permanent
positions, fat salaries, proved strong sedatives of yeasty aspirations
towards vague political ideals. There were still to be grave
difficulties, crises, reactions towards the old order of things; but
the cardinal principle of popular government was finally accepted, and,
ever since 1841, has been in continuous operation, as part and parcel
of the constitution.

If Canadian politicians had, in the words of the Shorter Catechism,
been left to the freedom of their own will, it is difficult to see how
they could