Page:The World's Famous Orations Volume 5.djvu/23

 Author:John Alexander Macdonald (1815-1891)

ON CANADIAN CONFEDERATION

(1865)

had the honor of being charged, on behalf cf the government, to submit a scheme for the confederation of all the British North American Provinces—a scheme which has been received, I am glad to say, with general if not universal approbation in Canada. This subject is not a new one. For years it has more or less attracted the attention of every statesman and politician in these provinces, and has been looked upon by many far-seeing politicians as being eventually the means of deciding and settling very many of the vexed questions which have retarded the prosperity of the Colonies as a whole, and particularly the prosperity of Canada.

The subject, however, tho looked upon with