ederation of the Empire he considered impracticable.
He did not believe that the people of Canada--or of any other
dependency of Great Britain--would ever consent to be taxed by a
central body sitting outside its borders, nor did he relish the idea
that the mother of parliaments at Westminster should be subordinated to
any federal legislature, no matter how dignified and important it might
be. He believed in allowing Canada's relations with the mother {180}
country to remain as they are. To use his own words, spoken within a
year or so of his death:

I am satisfied that the vast majority of the people of Canada are in
favour of the continuance and perpetuation of the connection between
the Dominion and the mother country. There is nothing to gain and
everything to lose by separation. I believe that if any party or
person were to announce or declare such a thing, whether by annexation
with the neighbouring country, the great republic to the south of us,
or by declaring for independence, I believe that the people of Canada
would say 'No.' We are content, we are prosperous, we have prospered
under the flag of England; and I say that it would be unwise, that we
should be lunatics, to change the certain present happiness for the
uncertain chances of the future. I always remember, when this occurs
to me, the Italian epitaph: 'I was well, I would be better, and here I
am.' We are well, we know, all are well, and I am satisfied that the
majority of the people of Canada are of the same opinion which I now
venture to express here.... I say that it would {181} bring ruin and
misfortune, any separation from the United Kingdom. I believe that is
the feeling of the present Parliament of Canada, and I am certain that
any party, or the supposed party, making an appeal to the people of
Canada, or any persons attempting to form a party on the principle of
separation from England, no matter whether they should propose to walk
alone, or join another country, I believe that the people of Canada
would rise almost to a man and say, 'No, we will do as our fathers have
done. We are content, and our children are content, to live under the
flag of Great Britain.'[7]

Macdonald did not believe in forcing the pace. He looked for a
preferential trade arrangement with the United Kingdom, and the
establishment of a common system of defence. In all other respects he
desired the maintenance of the _status quo_, being content to leave th