The profound sincerity of the leaders of the {86} coalition, whether in or out of office, is not to be questioned. The supporters of the union bore down all opposition. Macdonald's wonderful tact, Brown's passionate earnestness, and Galt's mastery of the financial problem, were never displayed to better advantage; while the redoubtable Cartier marshalled his French compatriots before their timidity had a chance to assert itself. Particularly interesting is the attitude which Brown assumed towards the French. He had been identified with a vicious crusade against their race and creed. Its cruel intolerance cannot be justified, and every admirer of Brown deplores it. He met them now with a frank friendliness which evoked at once the magnanimity and readiness to forgive that has always marked this people and is one of their most engaging qualities. Said Brown: The scene presented by this chamber at this moment, I venture to affirm, has few parallels in history. One hundred years have passed away since these provinces became by conquest part of the British Empire. I speak in no boastful spirit. I desire not for a moment to excite a painful thought. What was then the fortune of {87} war of the brave French nation might have been ours on that well-fought field. I recall those olden times merely to mark the fact that here sit to-day the descendants of the victors and the vanquished in the fight of 1759, with all the differences of language, religion, civil law and social habit nearly as distinctly marked as they were a century ago. Here we sit to-day seeking amicably to find a remedy for constitutional evils and injustice complained of. By the vanquished? No, sir, but complained of by the conquerors! [French-Canadian cheers.] Here sit the representatives of the British population claiming justice--only justice; and here sit the representatives of the French population, discussing in the French tongue whether we shall have it. One hundred years have passed away since the conquest of Quebec, but here sit the children of the victor and the vanquished, all avowing hearty attachment to the British Crown, all earnestly deliberating how we shall best extend the blessings of British institutions, how a great people may be established on this continent in close and hearty connection with Great Britain. {88} In thus proclaiming the aim and intent of the advocates of Confederation in respect to the Imperial link, Brown expressed the views of all. It was not a cheap appeal for applause, because the question could not be avoided. It came up at every turn. What was the purpose, the critics of the measure asked, of this new constitution? Did it portend separation? Would it not inevitably lead to independence? and if not, why was the term 'a new nationality' so freely used? In the opening speech of the debate Macdonald met the issue squarely with the statesmanlike gravity that befitted the occasion: