As to his statesmanship, it is written in the history of Canada. It may be said without any exaggeration whatever, that the life of Sir John Macdonald, from the date he entered Parliament, is the history of Canada: for he was connected and associated with all the events, all the facts which brought Canada from the position it then occupied--the position of two small provinces, having nothing in common but their common allegiance, united by a bond of paper, and united by nothing else--to the present state of development which Canada has reached. Although my political views compel me to say that, in my judgment, his actions were not always the best that could have been taken in the interest of Canada, although my conscience compels me to say that of late he has imputed to his opponents motives which I must say in my heart he has misconceived, yet I am only too glad here to sink these differences, and to remember only the great services he has performed for our country--to remember that his actions always displayed great originality of view, unbounded fertility of resource, a high level of intellectual conception, and, above all, a far-reaching vision beyond the event of the day, and still higher, permeating the whole, a broad patriotism--a devotion to Canada's welfare, Canada's advancement, and Canada's glory. 54. THE CANADIAN TROOPS IN THE BOER WAR (1900). =Source.=--Speech by Sir Wilfred Laurier in the Canadian House of Commons, 13th March, 1900; quoted in J. S. Willison's _Sir Wilfred Laurier and the Liberal Party_.