nce of Manitoba. The appointment of a military man to the
civil office of lieutenant-governor was not, however, considered
expedient just then, and, fortunately for the future viscount, he was
passed over in favour of Adams Archibald.

Shortly after these events Sir John Macdonald, overcome by the fatigues
and responsibilities of his office, fell ill, and for several months in
the summer of 1870 the duties of the first minister were discharged by
Sir George Cartier. Scarcely had Sir John resumed his tasks when he
was appointed a member of the Joint High Commission--named to adjust
all differences between Great Britain and the United States--which
resulted in the Treaty of Washington, 1871. In another volume I have
related,[12] mainly in his own words, the story of his strenuous fight
{92} for Canadian interests on that memorable occasion. Few more
interesting diplomatic memoirs were ever penned than the pages in which
Macdonald recounts from day to day his efforts to discharge his duties
to the Empire as Her Majesty's plenipotentiary, and at the same time to
protect and defend the special interests of Canada. That he upheld
Imperial interests was never questioned, but he was accused by some of
his political opponents at the time of having done so at the expense of
Canada. It was alleged that he had sacrificed the fisheries to enable
Her Majesty's government to come to terms with the United States. In
this, as in many other matters, time has amply vindicated his course.

The treaty--in regard to which he had apprehensions--received the
sanction of the Canadian House of Commons by a vote of more than two to
one. At the ensuing general election the province of Nova Scotia--the
home of Canadian fishermen--ratified Macdonald's policy by returning
twenty members out of twenty-one in its support. It is clear that he
had not sacrificed Canadian interests, for when the Fishery Articles
were terminated in 1885, it was not by desire of {93} Great Britain or
of Canada, but by the action of the United States.

The summer of 1871 was marked by the admission of British Columbia into
the Confederation. By the terms of this union Canada was pledged to
construct a railway to the Pacific within ten years. This was
strenuously objected to by the parliamentary Opposition. It was an
obligation, the Liberals said, that would press with crushing severity
upon the people of Canada. They argued that in contracting to build
the roa