ef;
and as early as in 1862 he had conveyed private intimation to his
Conservative opponents that if they would ensure Upper Canada's just
preponderance in parliamentary representation, which at that date the
Liberal ministry of Sandfield Macdonald refused to do, they would
receive his countenance and approval. In 1864 he moved for a select
committee of nineteen members to consider the prospects of federal
union. It sat with closed doors. A few hours before the defeat of the
Tache-Macdonald ministry in {33} June, he, the chairman of the
committee, reported to the House that

a strong feeling was found to exist among the members of the committee
in favour of changes in the direction of a federative system, applied
either to Canada alone, or to the whole British North American
provinces, and such progress has been made as to warrant the committee
in recommending that the subject be referred to a committee at the next
session of Parliament.

Three years later, on the first Dominion Day, the _Globe_,[2] in
discussing this committee and its work, declared that 'a very free
interchange of opinion took place. In the course of the discussions it
appeared probable that a union of parties might be effected for the
purpose of grappling with the constitutional difficulties.' Macdonald
voted against the committee's report. Brown was thoroughly in earnest,
and the desperate nature of the political situation gave him an
opportunity to prove his sincerity and his unselfishness.

{34}

On the evening of Tuesday, June 14, 1864, immediately after the defeat
of the ministry on an unimportant question, Brown spoke to two
Conservative members and promised to co-operate with any government
that would settle the constitutional difficulty. These members,
Alexander Morris and John Henry Pope, were on friendly terms with him
and became serviceable intermediaries. They were asked to communicate
this promise to Macdonald and to Galt. The next day saw the
reconciliation of the two leaders who had been estranged for ten years.
They met 'standing in the centre of the Assembly Room' (the formal
memorandum is meticulously exact in these and other particulars), that
is, neither member crossing to that side of the House led by the other.
Macdonald spoke first, mentioning the overtures made and asking if
Brown had any 'objection' to meet Galt and himself. Brown replied,
'Certainly not.' Morris arranged an interview, and the following da