Canada Sorrows

Ottawa, Ont., June 8.- Sir John McDonald is dead. Canada is mourning it greatest statesman, and a great partjj is i grief for the loss of a beloved leader Toward that sick cbamber at Earnscliff public thought has been directed for th last ten days, and the sympathy of the nation has gone out in greater degree as th picture presented grew darker and mor pathetie. From all parts of the Dominion and from the sovereign herself ame ten der messages of condolence and anxious inquiries as to the aged statesman's condi tion. To all of the inquiries but one answer could be given - the end might be de layed but was inevitable The beginning of the end came early Friday morning. The Last Feeble Rally. The premier had slept the greater pari of the night and throughout the day he slept at intervals. The Friday afternoon bulletin from the physicians at the bedside announced that the premier's strength was rapidly diminishing and then all hope fled. As the afternoon slowly waned profound stillness reigned at Earnscliffe. The seene there after nightfall was impressive in its solemnlty. Up to midnight anxious groups gathered upon the lawn and spoke in whispers of the dying patient's condition. At 9 o'clock Sir John's heart faüed in its work and he sank so low that for some time he seemed to have ceased to live. He rallied feebly and fought his way back to the weakest hold on life a man could have. His stupendous vitality was making a grand struggle. Watching the Vital Spark Die Out. At midnight the callers had all departe3 and the correspondents were left to watch the night out alone. The hours wore slowly on. The light of a new day brought with it nothing to relieve the anxious suspense. The was no change in the patient's condition. He was unconscious. His Hmbs were numb, and there was nothing to mark that life was not extinct but the feeble flutterings of the pulse and the almost imperceptible breathing. The family had been gathered about the bedside all night. Lady MacDonald, almost worn out by her long vigil, was there, and the premier's son, Hugh John MacDonald, had kept his place at his father's side. Thirty Hours of Unconsciougness. There was no bulletin from the physicians Saturday morning. Nothing could be said beyond what had already been given out. It was a matter of time- perhaps moments, perhaps Imhi iw The marvelous vitality which was staying the band of death was slowly, but surely eobing. The scènes of the morning and the afternoon were but counterparts of Friday. At 2 o'clock the physicians concurred in the opinión that the premier could not live until 9 o'clock, and again did they err. The dying premier had been perfectly unconscious for nearly thirty liours, and still the spark of life lingered on. The action of the patient's heart at times during the evening was so feeble ;hat Sir John was believed to be dead. The Angel of eath t Hand. Once the family gathered at the bedside under the impression that the end had come, but it proved to be another of the dreaded sinking spells which in succession bad le.ft the aged statesman with less and less vitality. Sueh an unequal struggle could not much longer be sustained. Even;ide found the members of the family ered about the bedside of the dying statesman waiting patiently for dissolution. Outside in the dusk were gathered the eorrespondents and small groups of anxious 'riends. The patiënt lay unconscious. Vature no longer asserted itself; life's i res were burning low, fliekered and smouldered as though the soul would eave its tenement at each successive break. At 10 o'clock it was evident that the end was near at hand. The household was summoned to the death chamber. Lady üacDonald stood by the side of her huslainl. and around her gathered the mem)ers of the family. Her face showed traces of weary watching and the long suspense. She bore up bravely. Death came peacefully to the aged premier, at 0:15. He was unconscious to the last. The pulse fluttered, the breath came shorter and the pulse was still. When the announcement of Sir John's death was made the bells of the city were tolled to convey the intelligence to the thoasands who were anxiously awaiting this signal hat their beloved premier was no more. Vhen the final blow liad rejilly fallen, Lady MacDonald, who had made so long and so brave a vigil at the side of her dyng hnsband, was prostrated, nature aserted itself and she was taken from the oom in a fainting condition.