s in the year. The Government provided for the
entertainment of its royal guest and made John Rose master of the
ceremonies. It is probable that out of this circumstance grew the
royal friendship with which Sir John Rose was honoured in after years.

The year 1862 witnessed the defeat of the Cartier-Macdonald Government.
The immediate cause was a Militia Bill. The American Civil War, and
more particularly the _Trent_ affair of November 1861, drew the
attention of those in authority to the inadequate means of defence in
Canada. In December a general order was issued calling upon the
volunteer force to hold themselves in readiness for active service.
The civil administration of the militia was placed in charge of
Macdonald, and in January 1862 a commission was appointed with the
following instructions:

1st. To report a plan for the better organization of the department of
Adjutant-General of Militia.

2nd. To investigate and report upon the best means of organizing the
militia, and providing an efficient and economical system for the
defence of the province.

3rd. To prepare a bill or bills on the above {69} subjects, to be
submitted to parliament at its next session.

The commission performed its duties with dispatch, and on April 25
Macdonald presented to parliament the fruit of its labours in the form
of a bill to promote the more efficient organization of the militia of
Canada. On the motion for the second reading he spoke at length
concerning the reasons which made this legislation necessary. The
measure had been carefully thought out, and was well adapted to the
requirements of the time. It entailed, however, the expenditure of a
large sum of money, and on this ground was unpopular with a certain
number of Cartier's followers. On May 20 the vote on the second
reading, which was taken without debate, resulted in the rejection of
the bill by a majority of seven. This defeat was entirely due to
defection among the Lower Canadians. Of the Upper-Canadian members the
Government had a majority of seven votes.

Cartier was succeeded as prime minister by John Sandfield Macdonald,
whose ally from Lower Canada was L. V. Sicotte. Sandfield Macdonald, a
steadfast opponent of the proposal of representation by population,
was, of course, eminently distasteful to George {70} Brown. To the
Rouges this presented no difficulty. Dorion and his friends took
office in the new Government. The double-majority princ