THE HONORABLE
SIR JOHN ALEXANDER MACDONALD, K.C.B., D.C.L., M.P.,
PREMIER OF THE DOMINION OF CANADA,
THIS VOLUME IS BY PERMISSION RESPECTFULLY DEDICATED,
AS
A RECOGNITION OF HIS ABILITIES AS A CANADIAN STATESMAN, AND AS A TRIBUTE TO A LONG STANDING INHABITANT OF BAY QUINTÉ, WHO HAS GIVEN HIS TALENTS AND ENERGIES TO LAY A SURE FOUNDATION FOR “A GREAT NORTHERN NATION.”
BY HIS RESPECTFUL ADMIRER,
WILLIAM CANNIFF.
PREFACE.
In the year 1861 a meeting was convened at the Education Office, Toronto, with the view of establishing an Historical Society for Upper Canada. The writer, as an Upper Canadian by birth, and deeply interested in his country with respect to the past as well as the future, was present. The result of that meeting was the appointment of a Committee to frame a Constitution and By-Laws, and take the necessary steps to organize the proposed Society, and to report three weeks thereafter.