Letter

Handwritten letter dated September 27, 1886, from Macdonald thanking Campbell for a book. Discovered on June 30, 2016 in the pages of the book “Speeches on divers occasions” (FC 506 .C36 C36 1885) by Sir Alexander Campbell, 19th-century Canadian politician and parliamentarian (1822-1892), acquired at the Fraser-Hickson Library Antiquarian Book Auction. The book was donated to the library by Campbell’s granddaughter. In all probability, the letter was placed in the author’s personal copy and then forgotten. In the letter, dated September 27, 1886, Macdonald thanks Campbell for the book, probably given as a gift. He mentions that he has read one of the speeches addressed to Lord Lorne, and that he will read the speech at the Burns Centenary (a party organized everywhere to celebrate the centenary of the birth of Robert Burns, Scotland’s poet par excellence, on January 25, 1859). Finally, he praises the value of the collection and states that he will use it as inspiration for his own speeches. Earnscliffe Estate, in the header, was Macdonald’s Ottawa residence at the time. Today, it serves as the residence of the British High Commissioner to Canada.