on to make him a suitable
administrator. Before all things he is there for himself;
and he has even figured in the respectable role of
land-grabbing. I am sure that if the gentleman is to be
provided for by the public no objection would be raised
if Sir John were to propose that he be recalled, and
receive his salary all the same in consideration of the
position he holds in the regard of the prime-minister,
and of those who are not exactly prime-ministers or
ministers. Mr. Dewdney has not alone got it into his
head that an Indian has no understanding; but he must
also endow himself with the conviction that he has no
nostrils. A friend of Mr. Dewdney got some meat, but the
article stank, and the importer knew not how to dispose
of it.

"O sell it to the Indians," the Governor said; and, "Lo!
to the poor Indian" it was sold; and sold at tenderloin
prices.

"We can't eat em meat. He stinks," the poor savage said.
"Em charge too much. Meat very bad."

"Let Indians eat their meat," the just Mr. Dewdney
retorted; "or starve and be damned." What right has an
Indian to complain of foul meat, and to say that he has
been charged too high a price for it? He is only a savage!

Let Sir John take care.

Well, this was the state of affairs when Louis Riel,
about a year ago, left off his wooing for a little while,
and returned to the old theatre of his crimes. He found
the people chafing under official injustice, and delays
that were almost equivalent to a denial of justice. He
did not care a fig for the condition of "his people!"
but like the long-winged petrel, he is a bad weather
bird, and here was his opportunity. He went abroad among
the people, fomenting the discord, and assuring them that
if all other means failed they would obtain their rights
by rising against the authorities.

But the plain object of this plausible disturber was
cash. The lazy rascal had failed to earn a livelihood
among the half-breeds of Montana; and now was resolved
to get some help from the Dominion Treasury. Presently
intimations began to reach the Canadian Government that
if they made it worth M. Riel's while, he would leave
the disaffected people and return to American territory.
The sum of $5,000, it was learnt, a little later, would
make it "worth his while" to go back. This, if Sir John's
statement in the House of Commons is to be trusted, the
administration refused to pay.

And now some good priests made up their valises, and
trav