It does not take a long sojourn in Canada to prophecy that Mr. MacKenzie
King will need all his courage and independence if he is to stand up to
the hostility of his Conservative and fashionable opponents; but if he
can make himself known to thinking men his administration ought to prove
successful.
The next day I was again the guest of the premier, and met one of the
two sitting members for Ottawa,--Mr. Hal McGiverin; the Hon. Dr. Henri
Beland (Minister of Soldiers Civil Re-establishment), who had been a
distinguished physician in Belgium when the war broke out. He wrote "A
Thousand and One Days in a Berlin Prison" after having been taken
prisoner by the Germans and confined for over three years. During his
incarceration his wife died in Belgium, and he was not permitted to
attend her death-bed or her funeral. The Hon. George Graham, Minister of
Militia, whose only son was killed in the War; the Hon. Sir Lomar Gouin,
Minister of Justice, and the only other lady, Mrs. G. B. Kennedy, made
up our luncheon party. We had general conversation, which my stepson
Raymond once described as a series of "ugly rushes and awkward pauses",
but on this occasion it was successful, as we discussed among other
subjects politics and literature.
I asked my neighbour what the statue was which commanded such a
wonderful view near the Houses of Parliament. He said it was "Sir
Galahad," and had been erected in memory of a deed of heroism, and had
no other inscription upon it. He told me a young man called Henry
Albert Harper was skating with a friend when he observed a couple in
front of him disappear into the river at a sudden break in the ice. He
sent his companion to the shore for help, and lying down, stretched out
his walking stick to see if the lady in the water, or her friend, could
catch hold of it. Seeing that this was impossible, as they neither of
them could reach it, he rose to his feet and took off his coat. The
other skaters implored him not to attempt to rescue them as it meant
certain death.
"What else can I do?" said young Harper, and plunged into the icy
current. Their dead bodies were found the next morning.
Hearing that Mr. MacKenzie King had written a memoir of Harper--who had
been his greatest friend--I begged him to give me a copy of it. He sent
it to me with his autograph in it, and asked me to sign his volume of my
own autobiography. I was truly sorry to say good-bye to the Canadian
Premier.
We returned to Montreal the next morning where I found my room a garden
of flowers given to me by Mrs. Reed, Mrs. Lawford and Lady Drummond. I
addressed a ballroom that night full of empty chairs and chandeliers,
but was consoled by my flowers, and the ladies with whom I afterwards
went to supper; and I hope and think I have made lasting friendships
with Mrs. Hayter Reed and Mrs. Lawford.
Mrs. Reed told me that the little son of friends of hers who had always
refused to meet a Jew, had disconcerted them, one day, by saying in a
reproachful voice,
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account