the bonds which the Government were bound to retain, until its advance was repaid, were handed over by the ReceiverGeneral to the Treasurer of the City of Montreal. In December, 1859, the Hon. Mr. Galt, being in England, wrote to one of the officers of his department, stating that the financial agents of the Province had acceded to his desire to charge the Province with the sum of $100,000. After this time, the sum was not mentioned in the communications of the financial agents. Further, no action was taken by Hon. Mr. Galt, up to the time when the Ministry with which he was connected, resigned their seats, May, 1862, to put this matter right. But in the December of 1862, Mr. Galt's successor, Hon. Mr. Howland, the present Lieut.-Governor of Ontario, finding that the accounts of the Provincial agents did not agree with those in the Receiver-General's office, called the attention of the financial agents to the fact. They answered, stating that they knew nothing of the transaction. In his evidence before the Financial Commission, Hon. Mr. Galt stated that he had made the arrangement, previously referred to, when in England, and that Mr. Baring-one of the financial agents-and Mr. Blackwell, Managing Director of the Grand Trunk, were present. The Hon. Mr. Holton, who was Finance Minister, at the time the Financial Commission was in session, transmitted to Baring and Glyn, a copy of the evidence given by the Hon. Mr. Galt. They replied that no member of their firm had any recollection of authorizing the payment in question. They further added that as Hon. Mr. Galt was very methodical in conducting all business matters with them, they had no doubt that had there been any such agreement as was alleged, it would have been reduced to writing. Mr. Dorion observed, in conclusion, that the question now was whether the Province should lose the $100,000; and it had also to be decided apon whom the liability rested, and what

steps should be taken in order to recover the money. He laid particular stress on the fact that the money had been given away without the authority of Parliament, and finished by moving an amendment to the effect that the Speaker should not leave the chair.

The

This amendment was seconded by Hon. Wm. McDougall. The seconder sat, of course, on the Opposition benches. He was regarded by the House as a good debater, and as an aspirant for political fame, there were few of his compeers who seemed destined for much higher success. Reform party regarded him as a man who, in the future, might win his way to one of the grades of leadership. And the Government side feared his facility of declamation and rapidity of attack—even though one of the members of the Administration, Hon. T. D. McGee, not very long before, had styled him, in the course of a caustic speech, "one of the most overrated men in the house." On this occasion, Hon. Mr. McDougall did not make a speech; but merely contented himself with seconding the motion.

The Government, though taken by surprise, at once saw the full scope of the amendment; and accepted it as a resolution of want of confidence. And so the debate began, and continued all that sultry afternoon. The discussion was dry by nature. There was was no opportunity for brilliant speech-making; for Demosthenes himself could not wax eloquent over the multiplication table. Very few of the best speeches are ever heard in Parliament during the prosy interval that comes between three and six o'clock. Sunshine and eloquence seem, in our age, to be antagonistic to each other. One might as well try to make Hamlet and his fortunes appear to advantage on a stage without gaslight, as to evoke eloquence out of Parliamentary speakers before the evening lamps are burning. Hamlet must have the footlights blazing, and the back-ground in shadow, before he can "sport his suit of sables."

Though well acquainted with the modes of Canadian Parliamentary warfare, and having had his full share of experience in receiving and delivering assaults, the Hon. Mr. Galt addressed the House with more than ordinary manifestation of feeling. In the first portion of his remarks, he boldly took up the gauntlet that had been flung at his feet. He said that, from the manner in which the motion had been brought, it might be judged that the intention was any thing but friendly; and he would meet the intention in a like spirit. The mover of the motion had spoken as if a discrepancy between the accounts of the Financial Agents and the accounts of the Province, had been first discovered by Hon. Mr. Howland in September, 1862. But this was not correct; as he (Mr. Galt) had stated in his evidence before the Financial Commission. The information as to this discrepancy had reached him a few days before he left office. On learning it, he requested the Auditor-General, Mr. Langton, to draw the attention of his (Mr. Galt's) successor to the matter, as it was a thing that required immediate action. He regretted deeply that any misunderstanding should have arisen with reference to what took place in London between the Financial Agents and himself. If the motion were carried, how would it affect the Government? He asked the House if it supposed that an attack on one member of the Government would affect, them all? If he were the objectionable individual in the Government, he would call upon his opponents to take the manly ground and declare that his presence made the Ministry undesirable to the House and to the country.

Hon. Mr. Holton then took the floor. His long Parliamentary practice enabled him to perceive that what had at first appeared to promise nothing but a skirmish, was about to develope into a pitched battle; and he knew well how to accelerate that result. He began his remarks by denying that the motion of his friend, Mr. Dorion, was in the

nature of a personal attack. But he (Mr. Holton) would ask the House, nevertheless, to pronounce its condemnation on the Ministerial act of Mr. Galt, when that gentleman was formerly in office. Mr. Galt, in order to defend himself, had made a charge of dilatoriness against his successor, Mr. Howland. This charge implied laxity with regard to this whole transaction; and afforded ample justification for the motion. In respect to Mr. Galt's complaint, that the act of a former Government should be converted into an attack upon the present Government, he (Mr. Holton) held that the present one was, in every respect, merely a resuscitation of the old Cartier-Macdonald Coalition. Mr. Holton proceeded to say that this was the first time, since the facts were ascertained, that the matter could be brought before the House. The transaction did not appear in the Public Accounts of '59, '60 and '61; its true character lay concealed until the Financial Commission had commenced their labours.

Hon. Mr. Howland next addressed the House. He could always, on such occasions, plead with full justification the excuse of Marc Antony-as to his being no orator. He was barely audible in the back benches ; in the public galleries, his utterances were only heard in broken whispers. Still it was necessary that he should meet the charge of negligence implied in the speech of the exFinance Minister. Mr. Howland assured the House that Mr. Galt's charge, that he (Mr. Howland) had not acted with sufficient promptness in ascertaining all about the $100,000, was unfounded. He then proceeded to show that, as soon as the matter came under his notice, he prosecuted inquiries with the utmost diligence. He asserted that the charge of dilatoriness came with a bad grace from Mr. Galt; who, from the year 1859 to 1862, when he left office, was not aware of the discrepancy between the books of the Province and those of the Provincial Agents, with reference to an item

so large as $100,000. It was unfair in Mr. Galt to assail his successor for not having collected the money, when he (Mr. Galt) had left no evidence against the parties who were liable to pay it. He remarked that the City of Montreal, for which the payment was made, was well able to reimburse; yet the Government had released that city from its obligations. The only other party liable was the Grand Trunk, and he did not think the late Government-(that of Hon. John Sandfield Macdonald and Hon. Mr. Dorion) —would be much blamed for not obtaining money from that source. On the other hand, Mr. Galt was much to blame for putting the country in such a position that the Grand Trunk was the only source to which to look for the $100,000.

The lull in the discussion came at six o'clock in the evening, when the House rose for recess. In no city in Canada did the people evince more interest in politics than in the Ancient Capital. In that city, where society has had longer time to become settled than anywhere else in Canada, the taste for politics has descended from father to son, and become intensified in the transmission. A change has come since Confederation. The Parliament House is still there; but it is like Cape Diamond, stripped of its armament-it is a memory and nothing more.

House. Sitting behind the first desk, on the front row at the right hand of the Speaker's chair, is the Hon. John A. Macdonald, the leader of the House. His face, always mobile, is, if taken as a mirror of what he experiences to-night, an index of something more serious than usual. His action is partly nervous and partly constrained.

The House had scarcely risen for recess when it was known over the city that a motion of want of confidence in the Government was under consideration. Half-past seven has arrived, and the public galleries are filled to overflowing. The members are in their places. Most of them wear an air of seriousness; the banter and jocularity, which usually prevail before the Speaker enters the House, are not apparent to-night. There seems to be a general presentiment that the vote will lead either to a "deadlock" or a dissolution of Parlia

ment.

He is not engaged, as is his wont, in chatting with his colleague, the Hon. G. E. Cartier. There is no member in the House more capable of concealing behind a careless exterior the responsibilities of government than is the Hon. John A. Macdonald; but to-night he looks grave; his face is pale, and its expression anxious. He keeps darting rapid glances over the House; and, at intervals of seconds, looks nervously towards the door through which the Speaker will enter.

While the Speaker is yet absent, let us see who are the principal personages in the

To the right of the Hon. John A. Macdonald sits the Hon. George E. Cartier. As regards the number of his followers, he is the strongest man in the House. On other occasions he seems to know it; but to-night he is not in his usual merry and conversational mood. He has a face indicative of power, and any one looking at it, even in its repose, can see that it is expressive of purpose and strength of will. There is little about it to connect it with the faces of Southern France; it has neither their fulness nor their weakness. It is a Breton, square-framed physiognomy, an excellent type of that hard-headed Northern French sea-faring race which first colonized Canada -a race akin to our own, not only through origin, but also through love of adventure and stubborn tenacity of purpose. The Hon. Mr. Cartier does not seem at ease. The resoluteness of look which always marks him is changed to anxiety. His manner, however, is not so nervous as that of his colleague. Instead of turning himself in his chair to see how his supporters muster in the back benches, he rests with his arms on his desk, and remains gazing fixedly across

whole country, there is not a man better versed in the intricacies of the political puzzle of the times-the Canadian finances. He has a talent for figures, and an eye not to be cheated even in the smallest and best concealed expenditures. He is expected to make a speech to-night, and, if so, the Finance Minister will meet his match, for the chieftain of the Upper Canada Liberals is a speaker of uncommon power.

In close proximity to the Hon. George Brown, sits Mr. Alexander Mackenzie. He has given proofs of ability, is characterized by great industry and has that faculty, as valuable in politics as Napoleon the First found it to be in war-the faculty of taking into account the most minute matters of detail. He speaks frequently, and what he says is trenchant and well-argued.

The clock indicates that it is a quarter to eight, and in a few moments more the Sergeant-at-Arms, bearing the mace, enters, followed by the Speaker. The debate is resumed, and waxes warm. Hon. Mr. Cartier rises and addresses the House in the French language. He speaks vigourously. He charges his opponents with personal motives in moving and seconding the motion; and argues that the Finance Minister is not to be held accountable for any result arising from the granting of the $100,000.

Mr. Denis follows the last speaker, and also uses the French language. He is heard with impatience, for he merely re-echoes the arguments of his leader.

After the last speaker sat down, Mr. Christopher Dunkin rose. His status in the House is peculiar. He is known to be a man of considerable logical ability, ingenious in argument and not easily to be talked down; but his influence is not commensurate with his experience in public life. He is a rapid and untiring talker; but he seems to feel that the motion may lead to a crisis, and that he owes it to his position, as an Independent member, to speak briefly and to the point. He began by expressing re

gret that the motion should have been brought forward. Then he proceeded to state that the facts had shown a very lax administration of the Finance Department; when, for so long a period the Finance Minister had allowed the liability of the Province for $100,000 to remain without a scrap of paper to bind the parties, while the accounts of these parties showed that they did not admit the debt. He also commented on the circumstance that Parliament had been kept in the dark about this matter. He finished by saying that when unmistakeable facts like these were brought under the notice of Parliament, he could not refuse to say that such an advance of money, and such a concealment of the facts, were not in accordance with our system of responsible Government. This speech, though not remarkable for any political boldness, was one of the events of the night. As has been already stated, the two parties were almost equally balanced. During the time that had elapsed since the motion of the Hon. Mr. Dorion was made, there had been opportunity for ascertaining with almost certainty how the vote of each member of the House would go. It was whispered about the corridors and committee rooms, that the defeat or success of the motion would depend on the vote of Mr. Dunkin. Up to the moment he began to speak, it was not known on which side his vote would be given. The speech settled the matter. He would vote against the Government. In view of the anticipation that Government would be defeated, the interest in the debate grew deeper.

Mr. Isaac Buchanan, a well-known member of the House, rose to oppose the motion. Mr. Buchanan was always heard with attention. He admitted that the Government had redeemed the bonds of the City of Montreal; but that city, in return, had paid its indebtedness to the Municipal Loan Fund, which was not done in any other in

stance.