his cabinet in October, 1878. He represented West Middlesex in the Ontario assembly rrom 1871 till October, 1872, when he resigned, and was a member of the executive council and treasurer of the prov- ince from 21 Dec, 1871, till the date of his retire- ment. His administration was productive of the most important legislation, and as premier he moulded and directed to a great extent all the principal measures that were enacted by the Do- minion government. Among these were a strin- gent election law, with the trial of election peti- tions by judges and vote by ballot ; the abolition of the real-estate qualification for members of parliament ; the enactment of the marine telegraph law, which virtually abolished the monopoly of the cable company ; the establishment of a Dominion military college; the improvement of the militia system; the permanent organization of the civil service ; the establishment of a supreme court for the Dominion ; the reduction of postage to and from the United States ; the opening of direct mail communication with the West Indies; the con- struction of a trans-continental telegraph-line ; the adoption of a final route for the Pacific railway ; the opening of negotiations for a reciprocity treaty between the United States and Canada ; the estab- lishment of a territorial government for the North- west ; and the satisfactory adjustment of the Mani- toba amnesty and the New Brunswick school ques- tions, which at one time threatened the gravest complications. Mr. Mackenzie, though possessed of no gifts of oratory, was an effective speaker, and his plain, honest, and earnest statements of opinion proved often more convincing than the elaborate and eloquent speeches of Edward Blake, his suc- cessor in the leadership of the Liberals. In June, 1872, Mr. Mackenzie visited Scotland, and while there was presented with the freedom of Irvine, Dundee, and Perth, and also visited the Queen at Windsor Castle. In 1881, during a second visit to his native land, he was granted the freedom of the city of Inverness. Mr. Mackenzie was president of several important financial associations. He was thrice offered the honor of knighthood by the Queen, but declined it. He was the author of " Life and Speeches of Hon. George Brown "' (To- ronto. 1882).
MACKENZIE, Alexander Slidell, naval officer, b. in New York city, 6 April, 1803 ; d. in
Tarrytown, N. Y., 13 Sept., 1848. He was the son
of John Slidell, and the brother of the U. S. sena-
tor of that name. The name of Mackenzie, that
of his mother, was added to his own in 1837, at the
request of a maternal uncle. He entered the navy
as midshipman in 1815, and in 1822 he took com-
mand of a merchant-vessel to improve himself in
seamanship. He was made lieutenant in 1825, and
commander in 1841, and in both grades was in ac-
tive duty in the Mediterranean, the West Indies, the
Brazilian waters, and the Pacific. He was at Bahia
in command of the " Dolphin " during the siege of
that place, and at its surrender, and was an eye-
witness of many of the political events on the Rio
de la Plata at that period, an account of some of
which he published in a pamphlet at the time.
He also enjoyed the intimacy of Gen. Rosas, with
whom he subsequently corresponded for many
years. In 1842 he had' charge of the brig " Som-
ers," manned chiefly by naval apprentices ; and on
his passage from the coast of Africa, in the autumn
of that year, the existence of a mutinous plot on
board was discovered, the principals of which were
immediately placed in close confinement. A coun-
cil of officers was called, which, after a careful in-
vestigation, recommended the immediate execu-
tion of the three persons that were principally
implicated. This recommendation was carried
into effect at sea, 1 Dec, 1842. The " Somers "
soon afterward arrived in New York, when a court
of inquiry was immediately ordered to investigate
the affair. The result was a full approval of the
conduct of Mackenzie. Subsequently a court-
martial was held upon him at his own request, and
the trial again resulted in his acquittal. As the
young .men that had been executed were all of
good social standing, one of them being a son of
the secretary of war, John C. Spencer, of New
York, the event created a great sensation, and
Mackenzie's conduct w^-e as severely criticised by
some as it was warmly defended by others. The
decisions of the courts-martial did not succeed in
quieting these differences «Pf opinion, and the affair
more or less embittered th? remainder of Macken-
zie's life. In May, 1846, he' was sent by President
Polk on a private mission '^^o Cuba, and thence
sailed to Mexico. He was ord*"iance-officer at the
siege of Vera Cruz, and comrL*anded a detached
division of artillery at the stormi ig of Tabasco in
1847. Mackenzie also attained note as an author.
His first book was " A Year in Spain, by a Young
American " (2 vols., Boston, 1829 ; London, 1831 ;
enlarged ed., 3 vols.. New York, 1836), which gained
immediate popularity both in this country and in
England. " Here, wrote Washington Irving from
London on its appearance, " it is qiite the fashion-
able book of the day, and spoken of in the highest
terms in the highest circles." It has also been
translated into Swedish. His other works are
" Popular Essays on Naval Subjects " (2 vols.,
1833) ; " The American in England " (2 vols.,
1835) ; " Spain Revisited " (2 vols., 1836) ; " Life of
John Paul Jones " (2 vols., Boston, 1841) ; " Life
of Commodore Oliver H. Perry " (2 vols.. New
York, 1841) ; and " Life of Commodore Stephen De-
catur," being vol. xxi. in Jared Sparks's " Library
of American Biography " (Boston, 1846). He also
left in manuscript " A' Journal of a Tour in Ire-
land." See '• The Case of the ' Somers ' ; Defence
of A. S. Mackenzie " (New York, 1843).— His son,
Ranald Slidell, soldier, b. in Westchester county,
N. Y., 27 July, 1840 ; d. on Staten Island, N. Y., 19
Jan., 1889, and was graduated at the U. S. military
academy in 1862. In August he was brevetted 1st
lieutenant for " gallant and meritorious services " at
the battle of Manassas, where he was wounded. He
was commissioned 1st lieutenant, 3 March, 1863,
brevet captain for gallantry at Chancellorsville, and
brevet major for the same cause at the battle of
Gettysburg. He was promoted captain, 6 Nov., 1863 brevetted lieutenant-colonel for his services
before Petersburg, Va., 18 June, 1864, and became
colonel of the 2d Connecticut heavy artillery, 10
June. 1864, being brevetted colonel in the regular
army in the following October for gallantry at
Cedar Creek, and brigadier-general of volunteers
for meritorious services at the battles of Opequan,
Fisher's Hill, and Middletown, Va. He was brev-
etted brigadier-general in the regular army for
bravery and also major-general of volunteers in
Marchj 1865. Besides' taking part in other engage-
ments. Gen. Mackenzie was engaged in build-
ing bridges, constructing rifle-trenches, repairing
roads, erecting forts, and other engineering work
throughout the war. He was promoted colonel, 6
March, 1867, and brigadier-general, 26 Oct., 1882.
On 24 March, 1884, he was placed on the retired
list, having been disabled in the line of duty." —
Another son, Alexander Slidell, naval officer, b.
in New York city, 24 Jan., 1842 ; d. in the island
of Formosa, China, 13 June, 1867, was appointed
