Blair Collection > Celtic magazine > Volume 5

THE EDITOE IN CANADA. 185
plant beiug of the most moderu description, with the latest improvements
!introduced into all the departments. Among other Highlanders which it
was my agreeable lot to meet here was ]Mr Macleod Stewart, a wealthy-
barrister, and a warm-hearted Celt, descended from the Stewarts of
Appin ; and 'Mv ]\IacdougaU, Auditor-General for the Dominion, The
'Mayor of the city, who is also editor and proprietor of the leading
[Conservative paper, was a Borlum, or Holme Mackintosh (I forget
iwhich), and a near relative of our own popular M.P,, Charles Fraser-
iMackintosh of Drummond. Another leading Celt, holding a good position
■in local politics, with whom I had a chat, is Alderman Masson, a native
■of the Black Isle, Eoss-shire, and a cousin of the Eev. Dr Masson, of the
i Gaelic Church, Edinburgh. But really the Celt meets you everywhere in
ithe Dominion, and the reader who has followed me in these sketches will
jnot be surprised to find him at the very top of the political world of
'Canada.
' The Marquis of Lorne, heir to the Dukedom of Argyll, is Governor-
'General, while Sir John A. Macdonald, ELC.B., another distinguished
■Highlander, is Premier of the great Dominion. His Excellency having
seen by the morning papers that I was the guest of Mr Burgess of the
Inturior Department, on Monday morning, sent several messages to the
■oflice before we arrived there,_intimating Ms desire to see me at his residence,
EideauHaU (two miles out), and that he would be glad to receive mo from
twelve o'clock to two p.m. Just as we entered the office his official secre-
:tary, j\Ir Kidd, came in to make further enquiry, and I at once started,
; arriving there exactly at noon. In a few minutes I was ushered into the
i presence of vice-Eoyalty. A genuine hearty shake of the hand and a grace-
iful, easy, unj)retentious manner on the part of his Excellency at once
■placed me at perfect ease. All ceremony was set aside, and the Queen's
' son-in-law, the Governor-General of this vast territory, acted and spoke as
iif ho were the humblest of her Majesty's subjects. Here was one who
[traces his descent through forty-eight generations to Constantine (who
I died early in the fifth century), and in whose veins circulates the blood
of "William the Conqueror and of the Bruce ; whose consort is her
i Majesty's favourite daughter; and who governs the greatest of our British
Colonies ; sitting beside you — talking in the simplest manner — in the most
gentle tone — without the slightest air of superiority, about his brother High-
landers at home — those who settled in the Dominion; but especially those
■ who left his own property in Tii'ee and other parts of Argyleshire, and
5 who emigrated and settled down in Canada, as if he were a mere ordinary
' subject of the Queen. I was never so much struck with the impassable
'■■ gulf that exists, and must continue to exist, between the real gentleman,
' born and bred, and the snob who prides himself on his mere possession of
' filthy lucre. He talked freely about Canada and its magnificent prospects ;
the warm reception which the people accorded to himself and to his royal
■ consort on their arrival; and at every place which they had since visited ;
' the advantages of the Dominion as a field for emigration, especially for
Highlanders, who, he said, he would be glad to welcome there as Governor-
General of Canada, though as a Highlander he woidd be very sorry to part
■ with them at home. I asked if it was not possible to extend any special
' encouragement to the Highlanders of Scotland such as the Government
' had already given to the Mennonites and Icelanders 1 I received pretty