In the
interest of restoring the notion of how national leaders should conduct
themselves when addressing the public in a short message, I offer an example
from Sir Wilfrid Laurier, (1896-1911), written nine years before he became Canada’s
seventh prime minister:
“When
the hour for final rest shall strike, and when my eyes shall close forever, I
shall consider my life has not been wasted if I shall have contributed to heal
one patriotic wound in the heart even of a single one of my fellow countrymen
and to have thus promoted, even to the smallest extent, the cause of concord
and harmony between the citizens of the Dominion.”
– 1887, Somerset, Quebec
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