During the adjourned session of the first Dominion parliament which had met in Ottawa in March, 1868, the Hon. Thomas D’Arcy McGee, who represented Montreal West, was assassinated just outside his Ottawa lodging. There is no doubt that this dastardly outrage was the consequence of Mr. McGee’s condemnation of the Fenian movement against Canada, and though one man, Whelan, an ex-soldier and tailor, suffered the extreme penalty for being the instrument, the real miscreants got away. The murder of D’Arcy McGee robbed this country of one of her best sons. Brilliant and large minded he had risen to cabinet rank before he was thirty-eight years of age and in the last government under the Union he held the port-folio of Agriculture. Always a believer in the closest union between the component parts of British North America, he was an eloquent advocate for Confederation and on the formation by Sir J.A. Macdonald of the first Dominion government (1868) McGee’s eminent services gave him every right to be included, but his sense of loyalty made him stand aside so as to allow Sir John to form his cabinet on territorial lines. This great man, whose remains rest in Cote de Neiges Cemetery, is still--forty-six years after his death--the outstanding figure of Irish Canadianism--an example in broad mindedness and patriotism. Another Father of Confederation was the Hon. A.T. Galt, whose representation of Sherbrooke, P.Q., and his years of residence here, made him a local figure. Mr. Galt’s great financial ability was very helpful in making equitable arrangements in the consolidation of the Dominion. To commemorate the consummation of confederation the Hon. J.A. Macdonald received the honour of Knight Commander of the Bath, while his co-workers, including Cartier and Galt, received companionships of the Bath. The title was refused by both Cartier and Galt for the reason that being representatives of Lower Canada they could not accept a lesser title than Sir John Macdonald. The difficulty was overcome by a baronetcy conferred on Cartier and a K.C.M.G. on Galt.