LL

after a long debate, the sense of the House was taken. The vote stood 64 to 50 in favour of the amendment, and Mr. Brown rose in his place, to the accompaniment of a perfect whirlwind of Opposition cheers. The House, he said, could have no doubt that the motion which had just been carried was an express disapproval of the Government policy; and in order to test the matter he would move an adjournment. Attorney-General Macdonald, on the part of himself and his colleagues, at once signified his acceptance of the challenge, and declared his willingness to make his retention of office dependent on the vote about to be given. Attorney-General Cartier expressed similar sentiments ; and the House was made to thoroughly understand that the fate of the Ministry depended upon the impending vote. Now, there were a good many members who disapproved of Ottawa as the Seat of Government, and who yet were by no means prepared to vote for a transfer of power from Mr. Macdonald to Mr. Brown. Upon the question being submitted, the motion for adjournment was defeated by a majority of 11, the vote standing 61 to 50. The evidence thus afforded was conclusive. The Administration possessed the confidence of à majority of the peoples representatives. But the majority was derived from Lower Canada, and the Upper Canadian vote was decidedly adverse. The source of the majority was of less consequence since the repudiation of the double-majority doctrine ; but the circumstances were peculiar, and after careful deliberation the Ministry concluded that they would best serve their own interests by resigning. They knew that they could command a majority in the Assembly, and that no Government formed by their opponents could be permanent. The Opposition, by approving and carrying Mr. Piché’s amendment, had taken a stand which might easily be made to tell against them in the popular mind. They had laid themselves open to the charge of having practically passed a vote of censure upon Her Majesty. The Ministry, by promptly

The Short Administration. 371

resigning office, would identify themselves with the cause of their Sovereign. They would be certain to win publie sympathy, and thus gain by their opponents’ loss. The Opposition would be called on to form a Cabinet, and would doubtless make the attempt, but, owing to the want of coherence in their ranks, it was certain that they could not get together any body of men that could command the support of a majority of the Assembly, as then constituted, for any considerable length of time. Acting upon these wellgrounded assumptions, the Government, though they were under no constitutional necessity for so doing, tendered their resignations on Thursday, the 29th—the day succeeding the hostile vote on the Seat of Government.

Mr. Brown, as the most conspicuous member of the Opposition, was forthwith charged by his Excellency with the task of forming a new Administration. On the afternoon of Friday, the 30th, Mr. J. S. Macdonald announced to the Assembly that Mr. Brown, in conjunction with Mr. Dorion, had entered upon negotiations which, it was hoped, would soon be successfully completed. A delay of three days was asked for, and readily granted. On the morning of Saturday, the 31st, in the course of an interview between the Governor-General and Mr. Brown, the question of an immediate dissolution of Parliament was discussed, It would seem that, contrary to what has often been asserted, the discussion did not assume the shape of an endeavour on Mr. Brown's part to obtain his Excellency's consent to a dissolution. The subject appears to have been merely talked over, in connection with various other possibilities of the near future. It is at all events certain that Mr. Brown left Government House without having obtained from his Excellency any definite expression of opinion on the subject of a dissolution, and that, in the absence of any such expression of opinion, he addressed himself to the task of completing his negotiations for the formation of a Ministry. The full significance of these facts will presently be understood,

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372 The Last Forty Years.

Mr. Brown's greatest difficulty, as might have been anticipated, was to obtain any foothold in Lower Canada. Through his alliance with Mr. Dorion he could count upon the Rouge influence, but that was now inconsiderable. Mr. Sicotte, ex-Commissioner of Crown Lands, was approached with proposals which would have left him free to adopt great latitude of action; but that gentleman was not disposed to enter into any alliance with Mr. Brown, and rejected all overtures to that end. With Messieurs Lemieux, Laberge and Thibaudeau the approaches were more successful, and to these were added Mr, Drummond, as the representative of the Irish Roman Catholic population, and Mr. Holton, who had no seat in Parliament, having, as already mentioned, been defeated in Montreal at the last election by Solicitor-Generai Rose. In Upper Canada there were no serious difficulties in the way, and the offices were soon apportioned. The negotiations were practically completed on Saiurday, but were not formally ratified until Sunday, the ist of August. About ten o’clock on Sunday evening a cireumstance occurred to which, in the subsequent course of events, much significance was attached. One of the Governor’s aides-de-camp waited upon Mr. Brown and handed him a memorandum from his Excellency embodying several important notifications. “The Governor-General”—so ran the memorandum—“" gives no pledge or promise, express or implied, with reference to dissolving Parliament, When advice is tendered to his Excellency on this subject he will make up his mind according to the circumstances then existing, and the reasons then laid before him.” The memorandum then set forth that the Governor was willing to consent to a prorogation, upon the understanding that Parliament should meet again as soon as possible—“ say in November or December ;” but the opinion was expressed that the business transacted in the interval should be confined to matters necessary for the ordinary administration of Government; and it was suggested that a measure for the registration of voters and another for the prohibition of fraudulent assign-

The Short Administration. 313

ments* should be proceeded with and passed. ‘“ Besides this,” continued the Governor, “any item of supply absolutely necessary should be provided for by a vote of credit, and the money for repairs of the canals, which cannot be postponed, should be voted.” An intimation was added that his Excellency could not consent to a prorogation until these necessary steps should have been taken.

Early on the following (Monday) morning Mr. Brown, without consulting his colleagues, replied on his own sole responsibility to this missive. He intimated that he had successfully fulfilled the duty entrusted to him, and that he and his proposed colleagues would not be in a position to discuss “the important measures and questions of public policy referred to in his Excellency's memorandum” until they had ‘“assumed the functions of constitutional advisers of the Crown.” A few minutes after despatching his reply Mr. Brown waited upon the Governor, and submitted for his approval the names of the proposed Ministers. At noon on the same day the latter were sworn into office. In the Assembly, after the transaction of the usual routine business, Mr. William Patrick, member for South Grenville, announced the names of the new Ministry. They were as follow :

UPPER CANADA

The Hon. George Brown, Premier and Inspector-General. . “J,S. Macdonald, Attorney-General West, James Morris, Speaker of the Legislative Council. M. H. Foley, Postmaster-General, Oliver Mowat, Provincial Secretary.

LOWER CANADA

The Hon. A. A. Dorion, Commissioner of Crown Lands.

* Bills to effect these objects had already made some progress during the session, and were passed before its close,

374 The Last Forty Years.

The Hon. L. T. Drummond, Attorney-General East. À, “__L. H. Holton, Commissioner of Publie Works. “ “°F, Lemieux, Receiver-General.

“ “°° J, E. Thibaudeau, President of the Council.

The Solicitors-General West and East respectively were Skeffington Connor, member for South Oxford, and Charles Joseph Laberge, member for Iberville.

But Mr. Brown's difficulties, so far from being ended with the formation of his Ministry, were only just beginning. After announcing the names of the new Ministers, Mr. Patrick intimated that they would fully explain their views when they were in their seats; and that meanwhile he had been instructed by them to declare their wish that the necessary business of the country should be closed, and that Parliament should be prorogued at the earliest possible day. He added that the Government had not had time to consider the public measures before the House, but would lose no time in doing so, and that he hoped to be able to be more explicit on the morrow. A similar explanation was then made in French by Mr. Piché; and after the Speaker had instructed the Clerk to call the order of the day, Mr. Bureau, member for Napierville, seconded by Mr. Piché, moved the issue of a writ for the election of a member for Montreal, in the room of Mr. Dorion. To this motion Mr, Langevin moved an amendment: “That this House, while ordering the said writ, must at the same time state that the Administration, the formation of which has created this vacancy, does not possess the confidence of this House and of the country.” By moving this amendment the member for Dorchester gained some notoriety at the time, and that not altogether of an enviable kind, for there was a very general feeling that his motion was à violation of Parliamentary courtesy.* The Ministers involved in it had, by accepting

* There can be no doubt,” says Mr, Fennings Taylor, ‘‘that the resolution exactly expressed the sentiment of Parliament, but it is by no means as clear that the time of

The Short Administration. 375

office, vacated their seats, and were thus unable to defend themselves in Parliament. Undoubtedly, however, there was another side to the question. The declaration made by Mr. Patrick on behalf of the Administration had been exceedingly meagre and unsubstantial, and left them free to adopt almost any line of action whatever. It was notorious that the wentlemen whose names had been announced as composing the new Ministry entertained widely divergent views on many of the most important questions of the day. Had they authorized their spokesman to announce à policy, even of the most elastic character, they would have been entitled to ask for a fair trial; but they had no right to ask Parliament either to take their policy for granted or to trust them blindfold. As simple matter of fact, th: Brown-Dorion Administration had not matured a policy, and the heterogeneous elements of which they were composed rendered much deliberation necessary. If Mr. Langevin's amendment was unusual, so likewise were the circumstances, and the spirit of keen political antagonism prevented many persons from acting, or even thinking, with judicial impartiality.

The amendment was seconded by Mr, John Beverley Robinson, junior member for Toronto, à son of the distinguished Chief Justice of Upper Canada. The debate upon it lasted from the middle of the afternoon until past midnight. A vote was then taken, and it was found that the Ministry were in a minority of forty; and this on an amendment which was a direct motion of want of confidence, They were indeed doubly in à minority, for even in Upper Canada, where their main—almost their only—strength lay, there was a majority of two votes against them. Only four Lower Canadian votes were recorded in their favour,

submitting it was well chosen. Less haste would not, in all probability, have altered the vote ; perhaps it might have increased the majority by which it was affirmed, In any case it would have placed the proceeding beyond the reproach of unfairness, and have effectually removed it from the grave imputation, which has been affixed to it by many, of being wanting in Parliamentary courtesy. . , The proceeding appeared to lack generosity, and though it offended no rule, it was not, so far as we are aware, supported by any example of Parliament.” — Portraits of British Americans, Vol, IL, p, 239,

376 The Last Forty Vears.

In the Upper House, on the same evening, opinion was also strongly expressed against the Government, Mr. Morris having made similar announcements to those made in the Assembly by Mr. Patrick, a long debate followed, which was participated in by twenty-five out of the twenty-eight members 5-esent, Speeches specially condemnatory of the Administration were made by Mr. Vankoughnet and Colonel Prince. A motion of want of confidence, moved by Mr. Patton,* was carried by a vote of 16 to 8, and an address to the Governor, founded upon it, passed on a similar division. The address was duly engrossed and presented to his Excellency. This passing of a vote of want of confidence in Ministers who had not had time to seek reëlection, and who had not declared their policy, was certainly à harsh proceeding, and had no exemplar in our history. Mr. Cauchon was so sensible of the harshness that he declined to record his vote on either side. The proceeding, however, can hardly be said to have been wholly without excuse, for the Ministry had committed a grave error in making no attempt to disclose anything in the shape of a policy, and they had no right to expect forbearance from those whom they had so unsparingly opposed all through the session,

In such a contingency there was a very plain alternative before the Government. They must either obtain an immediate dissolution of Parliament, or resign. They recognized the necessities of their position, and on the morning of Tuesday, the 3rd, Mr. Brown waited upon his Excellency. The discussion of four days before was resumed, and Mr, Brown, on behalf of himself and his colleagues, advised an immediate prorogation, to be followed by dissolution. The Governor perceived the necessity of acting with cireumspection, and requested that the grounds upon which the advice was preferred should be put in writing. The request was complied with, and a memorandum was prepared for his Excel-

* Mr, Patton sat in the Upper House for the Saugeen Division, having been elected in

The Short Administration. 377

lency’s consideration. It set forth, among other grounds, that the Assembly, as then constituted, did not, in the opinion of the existing Cabinet, possess the confidence of the country ; that many seats had been obtained by corruption and fraud at the last election ;* that strong sectional feelings had arisen in the country, and had seriously impeded the carrying on of the Government ; and that the present Government had taken office with the fixed determination to propose constitutional measures for the establishment of harmony between Upper and Lower Canada. The memorandum having been delivered at Government House, nothing further could be done until his Excellency’s reply should be received. In the course of the afternoon, after the transaction of some formal and unimportant business in the Assembly, Mr, Patrick, on behalf of the Government, asked for and obtained an adjournment until the following day.

At two o’elock in the afternoon of Wednesday, the 4th, the Governor’s reply was received by Mr. Brown. It was an elaborate document, and much skill had evidently been employed in its preparation. It traversed, step by step, the ground covered by Mr. Brown’s memorandum, It drew attention to the fact that if, as alleged, the existing House of Assembly did not truly represent the Canadian people, there had been no sufficient reason for the resignation of the late Government. In view of the fact that a general election had taken place a few months before, his Excellency did not think proper to put the country to the expense and inconvenience of another, unless very strong grounds could be shown for such a proceeding. With respect to the corruption and bribery alleged to have been practised, it was asked: “What assurance can his Excellency have that a new election, under precisely the same laws, held within six or eight months of the last, will differ in its

* This was undeniable, and a considerable part of the session had been consumed in discussions arising out of contested election cases, 25—2

character from that which then took place ?” “If the facts are as they are stated to be” pursued his Excellency, with scarcely repressed sarcasm, “they might be urged as a reason why a general election should be avoided as long as possible: at any rate until the laws are made more stringent, and the precautions against such evils shall have been increased by the wisdom of Parliament.” The sectional feeling between Upper and Lower Canada was admitted to be a grave question, but before granting a dissolution on that ground, his Excellency desired to have some evidence that the measures adopted by Mr. Brown and his colleagues would be “a specific, and the only specific” for the evil; and that the members of the existing Government would be the only men in the country likely to calm the passions and allay the jealousies so unhappily existing. “It may be,” continued the Governor, “that both propositions are true, but unless they are established to his Excellency’s complete satisfaction, the mere existence of the mischief is not in itself decisive as to the propriety of resorting to a general election at the present moment. The certainty, or at any rate the great probability, of the cure by the course proposed, and by that alone, would require to be also proved. Without this, a great present evil would be voluntarily incurred for the chance of a remote good. It would seem to be the duty of his Excellency to exhaust every possible alternative before subjecting the Province for the second time in the same year to the cost, the inconvenience, and the demoralization of such a proceeding. The Governor-General is by no means satisfied that every alternative has been thus exhausted, or that it would be impossible for him to secure a Ministry who would close the business of this session and carry on the administration of the Government during the recess with the confidence of a majority of the Legislative Assembly.” His Excellency concluded his memorandum by declining, “after full and mature deliberation,” to accede to the request for a dissolution of Parliament.

The Governor-General's conduct at this crisis aroused the hot

The Short Administration. 379

anger Of Mr. Brown and his followers, and the feeling was destined to survive until long after Sir Edmund had ceased to exert any influence over Canadian affairs. The Reform press, with The Globe at its head, poured out the vials of its wrath in no stinted tide. Many English journals joined in the wholesale denunciation of the Governor, and drew uncomplimentary parallels between him and Sir Charles Metcalfe. In some parts of Upper Canada the tone of the public mind was for some days almost revolutionary. It was broadly hinted that Chief Justice Draper, who had long since returned from his English mission, and who was a frequent guest at Government House, was the real author of the Governor’s cunninglyworded memorandum. It was even said, and doubtless believed, that all through the transactions above described there had been a secret understanding, express or implied, between the Governor-General and the leader of the Macdonald-Cartier Government, and that the Queen's representative had actually lent himself to the underhand designs of an unscrupulous party-politician, who wished to get rid of the Opposition leaders for the time.* Such a charge, it would seem, ought to carry its refutation upon its face, but even at the present day there are intelligent persôns in Canada so blinded by prejudice as to seriously profess belief in it. In the opinion of the present writer such a helief has not a tittle of evidence to support it, and is simply preposterous. It has ever been the fashion of disappointed political aspirants to be suspicious of those in authority ; but the suspicion, in the case under review, would seem to have passed all legitimate bounds. It may be conceded that Sir Edmund had no partiality for Mr. Brown, and that he was mentally unjust in estimating that

* The Opposition leaders, by accepting office, of course vacated their seats, and were thus debarred from taking their seats in Parliament until after their reëlection. A few weeks, however, would suffice for their reëlection, and why Mr. Macdonald should have been specially anxious to “get rid” of them at that particular time, especially when there was a decided probability of their soon being restored to their seats, is a matter not easy to explain, Certainlv no explanation that has ever been given is sufficient to justify the aspersions cast upon Sir Edmund Head.

380 The Last Forty Yeurs.

gentleman’s character. He—at any rate in 1858—regarded him as a mere obstructionist, who was inordinately ambitious of power, and ever on the alert to embarrass the Government for his own ends. That such an estimate was far from accurate will now be disputed by few, but Mr. Brown's contemporaries a quarter of a century ago were by no means s0 capable of doing justice to his aims as we are at the present day. Doubtless Sir Edmund was prejudiced against most of the Reform leaders, and there was a misty vein of narrowness in his intellectual vision, which did not always permit him to see through clear glasses. His treatment of Mr. Brown was unnecessarily arbitrary. It was deficient in frankness, and devoid of large-mindedness. It is even probable enough that the events of the first week in August may have been partly foreseen by the Governor and by Chief Justice Draper, as well as by Mr. Macdonald and his colleagues. But, so much being conceded, there is no discoverable ground for aspersing his Excellency's memory by charges which there has never been any serious attempt to substantiate by evidence. A careful study of all the circumstances must convince a dispassionate enquirer that Sir Edmund, though imbued with a decided leaning in favour of the men he had found in power upon his assumption of the Government—and who had been in power ever since—was nevertheless sincerely desirous of acting up to the spirit and letter of the constitution, and of holding the balance fairly between the rival parties. And it further appears that he carried out his desire, and was substantially just, though he allowed his preferences to become somewhat too apparent, and though his conduct was neither amiable nor diplomatic.

So far as to his Excellency’s motives. The constitutionality of his conduct affords more room for argument; though even there his diplomacy seems to have been more at fault than his law. At a first glance it certainly appears inconsistent that he should entrust the formation of a Government to a gentleman whose supporters were notoriously in à minority in the Assembly; and that he

The Short Administration. 381

should then, after his behests had been obeyed, refuse to afford that gentleman an opportunity of strengthening his position. As the Assembly was then constituted, it was utterly out of the question that any Government formed by Mr. Brown should command a majority of votes. Why, then, it may be asked, did the Governor go through the farce of allowing Mr. Brown to form a Government which must inevitably be defeated? The answer to this query is two-fold. In the first place, it was not generally believed that Mr. Brown would be able to obtain any such support in Lower Canada as would enable him to form a Ministry at all. In the second place, supposing him to have been successful in forming a Ministry, various contingencies might happen from day to day to alter the tone of feeling in the Assembly. But in any case, as the Government had resigned, it was his Excellency’s duty to afford the Opposition the means of testing their strength under ministerial prestige, and if he had failed to do so he ‘would have brought down upon his head the merited thunders of the Reform press. Mr. Brown’s own newspaper declared again and again that that gentleman would have no difficulty in forming a Government which would command a majority in the Assembly. The opportunity was afforded, and Mr. Brown doubtless made the most of it, but the most proved to be insufficient, and no special circumstances occurred to turn the tide in his favour. The Governor's reply to the demand made upon him for a dissolution was fully borne out by the facts of the case. The Macdonald-Cartier Government had resigned voluntarily, and in the face of a vote which showed that they possessed the confidence of a majority of the Assembly. Their successors, on the other hand, had been met by a direct vote of want of confidence in both Houses. In the Assembly they had been defeated by a majority of 40 in a House of 102. The full membership was only 130, so that even if all the other 28 members had been present, and if every one of them had voted to sustain the Brown- Dorion Government, the latter would still have been in a minority.

382 The Last Forty Years.

In the Upper House the vote against them was two to one. The Governor was not bound to grant a dissolution upon the advice of a Ministry which did not possess the confidence of either branch of the Legislature, more especially when no imperative grounds for such a step were established. There was no new question upon which to found a fresh appeal to the country. There was no disruption of party ties; no such change in the position of affairs as to leave room for doubt that the Macdonald-Cartier Government could still command a working majority in the Assembly. It was clearly the Governor’s duty, as he alleged, to exhaust every possible alternative before dissolving a Parliament that had been elected only seven months before.

The determination arrived at by the Governor rendered it incumbent upon Mr. Brown and his colleagues to tender their resignations, which they lost no time in doing. This was on Wednesday, the 4th.* The same afternoon Mr. Lewis Wallbridge, member for South Hastings, announced the resignation to the Assembly, and, having received authority to that effect, he also communicated to the House the correspondence between the head of the Government and Mr. Brown. A long and acrid debate followed, in the course of which Mr. McGee spoke with much earnestness against the course pursued by the Governor; and Mr. John A. Macdonald indignantly repudiated the insinuations which had been made as to collusion between the Governor and himself.

Upon the resignation of the Brown-Dorion Ministry, his Excellency applied to Mr. Galt, member for Sherbrooke. That gentleman had developed high Parliamentary qualifications during the last two or three sessions, and had come to be regarded with much respect in the Assembly, where he took a specially conspicuous part

* It will be seen from the text that Mr. Brown and his colleagues were sworn in shortly after noon on Monday, the 2nd, so that they were only actually in office about forty-eight hours. They nominally held their portfolios until the appointment of their successors on the 6th, but their tenure of office was not signalized by a single act, Parliamentary or Administrative.

The Short Administration. 383

in the discussion of questions relating to trade and finance. He had also become an advocate of a federal union of the British North American Provinces, and during the current session had introduced that subject to the Assembly in a telling speech. He possessed a judicial mind, which impelled him to look at every side of a question before pronouncing a decision upon it. Being independent and moderate in his opinions, he persistently refused to connect himself with the violent partisanship of either side. He had given a general support to the Macdonald-Cartier Government, but had not hesitated to vote against them on several occasions. As a necessary consequence of his independcace, however, he occupied an almost isolated position in the Assembly, and had no appreciable following. He was, moreover, a staunch supporter of Protestantism, and was in consequence not regarded with special favour by the Roman Catholic representatives of Lower Canada, whose hearty coôperation was absolutely essential to any man seeking to form a stable Ministry. Feeling that he could not hope to be su::cessful in any attempt in that direction, he wisely declined the task which the Governor sought to impose upon him. His Excellency then, at Mr. Calt's suggestion, had recourse to Mr. Macdonald's late colleague, Mr. Cartier, who had at that time the largest Parliamentary following in the Assembly. Mr. Cartier read‘ly undertook and fulfilled the task of forming an Administration, choosing his materials almost entirely from the Macdonald-Cartier Government which had resigned a week before. Mr. Cayley and Mr. Loranger were left out, and Mr. Galt and Mr. George £" wood took their places. Mr. Galt’s financial ability rendered him sp :ally acceptable to a Government which had to face a serious deficit in the exchequer. Mr. Sherwood had served his party long and faithfully, and it was considered that his services were well worthy of such recognition as they now received.

The Cartier-Macdonald Administration was formed on the Gth of August. Its accession to power was substantially a resumption of office by the Macdonald-Cartier Government. Its composition, with

384 The Last Forty Years.

the two exceptions above mentioned, was the same. It was guided by the same minds, and its policy remained practically unaltered. The leaders in the two sections of the latter were the same as in those of the former. So far, well. But, in direct violation of the spirit of the law, the members of the old Government who now resumed office did noë return to their constituents for reëlection. By the seventh section of a statute passed during the session of 1857, intituled ‘“ An Act further to secure the Independence of Parliament,” it was enacted that “ Whenever any person holding the office of Receiver-General, Inspector-General, Secretary of the Province, Commissioner of Crown Lands, Attorney-General, Solicitor- General, Commissioner of Public Works, Speaker of the Legislative Council, President of Committees of the Executive Council, Minister of Agriculture or Postmaster-General, and being at the same time a member of the Legislative Assembly or an elected member of the Legislative Council, shall resign his office, and within one month after his resignation accept any other of the said offices, he shall not thereby vacate his seat in the said Assembly or Council” The object of this enactment was merely to enable casual interchanges or transfers of portfolios whenever required by the exigencies of the public service. But there was nothing in the Act to so restrict its application ; nothing to prevent such a proceeding as now took place. The letter of the statute was not transgressed, for only eight days elapsed between the demission of the 29th of July and the resumption on the 6th of August. The portfolios accepted on the 6th—by such Ministers, at least, as were members of the Assembly — were different from those which had been held by the same persons in the former Administration; so that the technical requirements of the Act were complied with. Mr, Cartier became Inspector-General, Mr. Macdonald Postmaster-General, Mr. Sicotte Commissioner of Publie Works, Mr. Alleyn Provincial Secretary, Mr. Rose Receiver- General, and Mr. Sidney Smith President of the Council and Minister of Agriculture. Messieurs Vankoughnet and Belleau,

The Short Administration. 385

being members of the Upper House, and under no necessity to appeal to popular suffrage, were reinstated in the offices they had previously held. But there was no intention of permitting the arrangements of the 6th of August to remain undisturbed. The law having been complied with, there was no strict legal objection to further readjustments, and on the 7th Mr. Cartier and Mr. Macdonald resumed their former portfolios of Attorneys-General East and West respectively. Mr. Smith was at the same time restored to the Postmaster-Generalship. When all arrangements had been completed, the adjustment of the portfolios was as follows :

LOWER CANADA

The Hon. G. E. Cartier, Premier, and Attorney-General East, “AT, Galt, Inspector-General.

N. F. Belleau, Speaker of the Legislative Council. L. V. Sicotte, Minister of Public Works.

Charles Alleyn, Provincial Secretary.

« [14 LA Li

UPPER CANADA

The Hon. J. A. Macdonald, Attorney-General West. PM. Vankoughnet, Commissioner of Crown Lands. Sidney Smith, Postmaster-General.

John Ross, President of the Council.

George Sherwood, Receiver-General.