the benefits to be derived from the larger scheme with
such effect that the conference agreed to adjourn and to reassemble at
Quebec. The Quebec Conference met on October 10, 1864, and continued
in session until the 28th of the same month. The deliberations
resulted in seventy-two resolutions. These were adopted by the
Canadian legislature at its next session, and formed the basis of the
deliberations of the conference which assembled in the Westminster
Palace Hotel, London, on December 4, 1866, under the presidency of
Macdonald, for the purpose of drafting the British North America Act.
These several steps, however, were not reached without the overcoming
of many obstacles. The Rouge party led by Dorion was hostile to the
whole project, as were Sandfield Macdonald and a few Upper-Canadian
Reformers. The people of New Brunswick pronounced against the scheme
at the polls before the question had been laid before their
legislature. The legislature of Prince Edward Island emphatically
declined a union 'which it believed would prove politically,
commercially, and financially disastrous to the rights and interests of
its {75} people.' George Brown quarrelled with his colleagues and left
the Cabinet, which thereafter experienced a renewal of his vehement
opposition.[5] Negotiations regarding reciprocity with the United
States engaged the attention of the Ministry during the early part of
the year 1866. Scarcely had they been disposed of when a series of
Fenian attacks along the Canadian frontier caused much concern, and
added largely to the cares of Macdonald, who as minister of Militia
Affairs was at that time responsible for the defence of the country.
His labours were incessant, his responsibility heavy, and his
discouragements not a few; but with inflexible determination and rare
patience he eventually surmounted all the difficulties, and on July 1,
1867, witnessed the birth of the new Dominion. From that time forth
the responsibilities of his position, though greatly enlarged, were
more easily borne. The sense of dependence on one province for support
was no longer felt. {76} The enlargement of the arena and the
inclusion of many new men of marked ability into Canadian public life
tended to assuage somewhat the old-time bitterness of political strife.
Perhaps more than all, the unification of the office of prime minister
came as an unspeakable relief. From 1841 to 1867 the office of first
minister was what mi