federation. Howe had his
majority; but what was he to do with it? Repeal could come only from
England, and to England Howe went. One good argument he had, and one
only, that Tupper had refused to consult the electorate on a question
involving their {145} whole constitutional status as a province; that,
as he put it, they had been entrapped into a revolution. With the aid
of this he won the support of the great English orator, John Bright,
and had the matter brought up in the House of Commons. But Bright's
motion for a committee of investigation was voted down by an
overwhelming majority.

Meanwhile Tupper, with fine courage, had followed him to London, and
had made his first call upon Howe himself. Howe was not at home, but
Tupper left his card, and Howe returned the call. Over forty years
later the veteran, now Sir Charles Tupper, told in his _Recollections_
the story of their interview.

'I can't say that I am glad to see you,' said Howe, 'but we must make
the best of it.'

'When you fail in the mission that brought you here,' said Tupper;
'when you find out the Imperial government and parliament are
overwhelmingly against you--what then?'

Howe replied: 'I have eight hundred men in each county in Nova Scotia
who will take an oath that they will never pay a cent of taxation to
the Dominion, and I defy the government to enforce Confederation.'

'You have no power of taxation, Howe,' Tupper replied, 'and in a few
years you will {146} have every sensible man cursing you, as there will
be no money for schools, roads, or bridges. I will not ask that troops
be sent to Nova Scotia, but I shall recommend that if the people refuse
to obey the law, that the federal subsidy be withheld.'

'Howe,' he continued, 'you have a majority at your back, but if you
will enter the Cabinet and assist in carrying on the work of
Confederation, you will find me as strong a supporter as I have been an
opponent.'

'Two hours of free and frank discussion followed,' writes Tupper. That
very night Tupper wrote to Sir John Macdonald that he thought Howe
would join the Dominion Cabinet.

On his return to Nova Scotia, Howe found that the extreme repealers in
the local legislature were talking secession and hinting at annexation
to the United States. He could countenance neither. The son of the
Loyalist was loyal at the last. The whole province was like tinder. A
spark would have kindled a fire that would have ruined it, or thro