. Life and letters of Sir Wilfrid Laurier . at, and held the party leadership seven years. Sevenyears was not a long time in Canadian party warfare, and most of ouropposition Jacobs have had to serve more than seven years in was needed, but Blake was never patient. He was not theman to fight uphill battles. He was proud, and expected men to cometo him; sensitive, for he lacked humour; honourable and earnest, andsaw charlatans and men steeped in corruption holding high place inpublic life. Public life in the eighties was not a calling where thin-skinned men throve. The kindlies
. Life and letters of Sir Wilfrid Laurier . at, and held the party leadership seven years. Sevenyears was not a long time in Canadian party warfare, and most of ouropposition Jacobs have had to serve more than seven years in was needed, but Blake was never patient. He was not theman to fight uphill battles. He was proud, and expected men to cometo him; sensitive, for he lacked humour; honourable and earnest, andsaw charlatans and men steeped in corruption holding high place inpublic life. Public life in the eighties was not a calling where thin-skinned men throve. The kindliest of men to his intimates, he worethe sensitive mans mask of indifference to the public. Ill-health anda nervous temperament unfitted him for the drudgery and disappoint-ments of politics. He was moody and nervous when things were notgoing well. Yet without any of the lesser arts, he cast a spell overevery man in parliament. We felt in the presence of genius, and wouldhave been proud to serve to the end, had he not drawn himself aloof. 224. EDWARD BLAKELeader of the Liberal Party, 1880-87 UNDER A NEW LEADER In a federal state it was inevitable that difficultiesshould arise as to the bounds and shifts of had been few models to guide the fathers ofConfederation in their task. In the great republicwhich was the foremost exemplar of federalism, dif-ficulties had arisen so serious that only the sword couldcut the knot. Canada had sought to avoid some ofthe weaknesses the experience of the United Statesmade clear, but in so doing had sailed into unchartedwaters. Macdonald, it has been observed, was opposed to theunion of the provinces upon a federal basis, literallyuntil the hour of the decision which made it plan of a single parliament for all Canada wouldhave made Confederation impossible, since there wasnot a ghost of a likelihood that Quebec or the provincesby the sea would make the sacrifice of local freedomthis involved. Time has made it clear that if e
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