Sir J. A. Macdonald, the Canadian Premier, and head of
the party which is Conservative, Protectionist, and devoted to the British connection, expired on the night of the 6th inst. The Parliament of Ottawa has voted him a publics funeral, which, in spite of some patent faults, he deserved. He has held power so long, and was so trusted for his patriotism by both parties, that the news was received in Canada with dismay, and it is still uncertain how the parties will re-form themselves. Religious differences greatly complicate the question, the Orange Conservatives refusing to accept Catholic Conservatives as their chiefs, and it is supposed that Lord Stanley will be oompelled to entrust power to Mr. Abbott, a moderate and able man, but one who will try to unite, rather than actually lead, the jarring sections of the majority. The result will be a development of the Liberal Party, which seeks to effect a commercial union with. the United States, and is accused by its rivals of not being disinclined to make the union more complete. We are wholly unable to believe, in the face of such examples as the Southern States of the Union and our own Ireland, that an absence of Custom Houses is sufficient to bind States heartily together. That was an idea of Mr. Cobden's, but with all his insight into economic conditions, he did not fully comprehend men.
