MACDONALD, Sir JOHN ALEXANDER (1515 91). A Canadian statesman. Ile was born in Glasgow, Scotland. January 11, 1515. With his parents he emigrated in childhood to Canada. was educated at Kingston Grammar School, studied law, and was called to the bar in 1830. Ile was returned to Parliament in 1544 as Conservative member for Kingston. Ontario, and soon distin guished himself by forcible oratory and self-con trol. In 1847 he became a member of the Exec utive Council and Ileceiver-Itimeral. and in 1854 entered a coalition Cabinet as Attorney-Gcncral for limper Canada, holding office till 1802, when the Ministry resigned, upon the de feat of the _Militia Bill that he had introduced to place Canada on a self-defensive basis. In 1864 he entered the Cabinet of Sir E. P. Tache as At to•ney-General. A coalition was now formed be tween the leaders of the Government and the opposition on the bill to unite all British Ameri ca under a federal government, a project which had been facilitated by the unauthorized part that Macdonald had taken in the incipient •on feren•e, earlier in the same year, at Cha•lotte town. P. E. 1. On the establishment of the Do minion of Canada (q.v.) in 1567, Macdonald was called upon to form the first Government. and was made Minister of Justice and Attorney-Gen eral. The Cabinet resigned in 1873. He was in strumental in securing the construction of time Intereolonial and Pacific railways, as a contin gent to the federation policy. In 1870 he was one of the British commissioners appointed to settle the Alabama claims and other difficulties between the British Government and the United States, and was one of the signers of the Treaty of Washington in 1871 protection of native industries constituted a successful election plat form in 1878, when he formed another Cabinet, taking himself the post of Minister of the In terior, which he filled for several years after wards. holding various Government positions. Ile was equally successful in the elections of 1852, 1887, and 1891, in the last of which he made a strong attack upon reciprocity with the United States. He died at Earnseliffe Hall, mar Ot tawa, on June 0, 1891. Consult: Macpherson, Life of Sir John Macdonald (Toronto, 1592) ; Collins, Life and Career of Sir John Macdonahl (Toronto, 1591) ; Pope, Memoirs of Sir John .11c.rander Macdonald (London, 1894).
McDONALD, JOI1N SAN [WIELD A Canadian statesman, born at Saint Haphaels, Glengarry. lle was admitted to the bar in 1540, and in 1841 was elected to the Parliament of the United Provinces. In 1843, 1848, 1852, and 1554 he was reinected, and from 1549 to 1851 Was SO licit on( teneral. From 1552 to 1554 he was Speaker of Parliament. in 1557 sat in Par liament for Cornwall, and was from 1562 to 1864 Premier under Lord Monk. In 1567 he be came Premier of Ontario Province, and in 1571 resigned. He was extremely independent in all phases of political affairs.
McDONALD, JOSEPH EWING ( 1819-91). .\n American politician. lie was born in Butler County, Ohio. and was educated at Wabash Col lege, Crawfordsville. Ind.. and at Asbur;% (now He Pauw) t•niversity. Ile studied law. was admitted to the bar in 1844, and in the following year established himself in practice in Craw. fordsvillc, where from 1543 to 1547 he was county prosecuting attorney. In 1545 he was elected to as a Democrat. but in 1530 was de feated for reitlection. lie was Attorney-Gencral of Indiana from 1550 to 1560, and afterwards practiced privately in Indianapolis. In ISO4 he was the Demneratic candidate for Governor, but was defeated by Oliver P. Morton. In 1872 he became ehairman of the Democratie State Com mittee. and his efforts in this capacity resulted in the choice of a Democratic Legislature. which in 1875 elected him to the United States Senate.
There he remained until 1881, maintaining with great independence and vigor, in spite of party opposition. his belief in sound money and a pro tective tariff. His influence and popularity among Democrats in the .Middle West were for two decades probably greater than that of any other man of his times.
MacDONALD, WILthut ( 863— ) . An American historian. born at Providence. R. ]. lie graduated at the New England Conservatory of Musie in 1884 and at Harvard in 1890. In the interval he was dean of the musical department of the University of Kansas. MacDonald was professor of history and economies at ?Vorevster Polytechnic institute (1892), and professor of history at Bowdoin until 1901, when he was chosen to a like chair in BrOwn University. Be published: Select Documents Illustratirt of the History of the United Males (1898); Select Charters (1899) ; and The Gorertiment of Maine (1002) .