e first flush of his natural disappointment Cartier
may have made use of some hasty expressions, and thus lent colour to a
report which had no serious foundation. There never was any real
breach between the two men. In order to allay the soreness, Lord Monck
obtained permission to offer Cartier a baronetcy if Sir John Macdonald
was agreeable. Sir John Macdonald at once replied that he would be
only too glad to see his colleague thus honoured. Galt was made a
K.C.M.G. at the same time, and thus the affair was brought to a happy
termination. This is the whole story. It may be mentioned, as
illustrating the simplicity of life during the period, that when Sir
George Cartier was created a baronet, he had to borrow on his personal
note the money to pay the necessary fees.

{79}

The general elections that came off shortly after the formation of the
Dominion went decisively in favour of the Government--except in Nova
Scotia. There it was otherwise. A violent and unreasoning opposition,
led by Joseph Howe, swept all before it. Of the Conservative
candidates in Nova Scotia, Sir Charles Tupper, then Dr Tupper, was the
only one who carried his constituency. The remaining eighteen,
including Adams Archibald, the secretary of state for the provinces,
suffered defeat. It speaks not a little for Charles Tupper's influence
in his native province that at the next general elections (in 1872)
these figures were reversed, the Conservatives carrying twenty out of
twenty-one seats. Macdonald and Tupper first met at the Confederation
negotiations in 1864. They were attracted to each other at first
sight, and formed an offensive and defensive alliance which was
terminated only by Macdonald's death twenty-seven years later.

No single event in Sir John Macdonald's career affords a more admirable
illustration of his strategic ability, delicate finesse, and subtle
power over men than his negotiations with Joseph Howe. Howe's
opposition to Confederation was of no ordinary kind. He {80} had long
been a conspicuous figure in Nova Scotia, and was passionately devoted
to the interests of the province. He was incomparably the greatest
natural orator that British North America has ever produced. With the
enthusiastic support of the whole province he proceeded to England,
shortly after Confederation, and there, with all his great ability and
eloquence, he strove for repeal. His efforts proved unavailing.
Tupper was in England at the