parliament should be convened with all imaginable expedition. His reply to the memorial presented by the Opposition is so much to the point that we cannot do better than abridge a portion of it. "You urge me," says His Excellency, "on grounds which are very fully and forcibly stated, to decline the advice which has been unanimously tendered me by my responsible ministers, and to refuse to prorogue Parliament. In other words, you require me to dismiss them from my councils; for you must be aware that this would be the necessary result of my assenting to your recommendation. Upon what grounds would I be justified in taking so grave a step? What guarantee can you afford me that the Parliament of the Dominion would endorse such an act of personal interference on my part? You yourselves do not form an actual moiety of the House of Commons, and I have no means of ascertaining that the majority of that body subscribe to the opinion you have enounced. . . It is true, grave charges have been preferred. . . but the truth of these remains untested. . . Is the Governor-General, upon such evidence as this, to drive from his presence gentlemen who for years have filled the highest offices of State, and in whom, during the recent session, Parliament has repeatedly declared its continued confidence?. . . Certain documents of grave significance have lately been published in the newspapers, but no proof has been adduced which necessarily connects them with the culpable transactions of which it is asserted they formed a part. . . Under these circumstances, what right has the Governor-General, on his personal responsibility, to proclaim. . . that he believes his ministers guilty of the crimes alleged against them?"

Such were the circumstances under which the prorogation of the 13th of August, 1873, took place. Looking back on it, in the light of the seven years which have since elapsed, it will be hard to arrive at any other conclusion than that Lord Dufferin did not deserve the animadversions which were heaped upon him. As he himself observed in his despatch to the Colonial Secretary two days after the prorogation: "It is a favourite theory at this moment with many persons that when once grave charges of this nature have been preferred against the Ministry they become ipso facto unfit to counsel the Crown. The practical application of this principle would prove very inconvenient, and would leave not only the Governor-General, but every Lieutenant-Governor in the Dominion very thinly provided with responsible advisers; for, as far as I have been able to seize the spirit of political controversy in Canada, there is scarcely an eminent man in the country on either side whose character or integrity has not been, at one time or another, the subject of reckless attack by his opponents in the press." In a word, he acted on the well-established principle that every man is to be adjudged innocent until he has been proved guilty; and in so acting he showed that he understood the responsibilities of his position. That his Ministers were culpable, as well as unwise, in advising the prorogation, is certain; and when the next elections came on they paid the penalty of their disingenuousness.

The events of Lord Dufferin's residence in Canada subsequent to the fall of the Macdonald Ministry, which has already been reviewed, must be given in few words. The political events by which his administration was characterized have been given at sufficient length in sketches to which they more properly belong. The Mackenzie Administration had not been long in power before each individual member of it was on friendly terms with the Governor-General, and there seems to have been a tacit understanding that all past differences of opinion should be forgotten. In the summer of 1874 His Excellency and suite made a tour through the Muskoka District, and thence westward by steamer over lakes Huron, Superior and Michigan. The tourists called at most of the interesting points on the route, including Chicago, where they disembarked, and returned overland by way of Detroit. All the most important towns in Ontario were then visited, and the party returned home to Ottawa in September, after an absence of about two months. It was during his sojourn in Toronto, while on his return from this expedition, that Lord Dufferin made his famous speech at the Toronto Club, which aroused the enthusiasm of the press on both sides of the Atlantic. A part of the summer and autumn of each succeeding year was spent by His Excellency in making other tours through the various Provinces of the Dominion. The last important one was made in 1877, and consisted of a pilgrimage through Manitoba and part of the District of Keewatin. In 1875 he also visited Ireland, and in 1876 attended the Centennial Exhibition at Philadelphia. Wherever he went, his visits were marked by a continual round of ovations. Lady Dufferin generally accompanied him on his excursions, and contributed not a little by her personal graces and accomplishments to the popularity of her lord. Perhaps the most marvellous thing about him is his ability to make an eloquent speech on any given topic, without ever repeating himself, and without descending to platitudes or commonplaces. He has always something to say which is appropriate to the particular occasion, and the special circumstances in which he happens to be placed. The quick perception and ready wit begotten of his Irish blood never fail him. Each of his replies to the thousand-and-one addresses which at one time and another have been presented to him has a merit of its own, has an application purely local, and is unlike all the others. His more serious utterances are marked not less by maturity of statesmanship than by brilliancy of imagination. It would be faint praise to say of him that as an orator he stands alone on the long roll of Canadian Governors. There has been no other who is even worthy of being named as second to him. It has been truly said of his speeches that they are "warm with the light of hope, brimful of sympathy for the toiling and the struggling, sparkling with humour, and moving with pathos."

As the term of his residence among us drew towards its close the Canadian people began to realize how much they liked him. Addresses poured in upon him from every corner of the Dominion, many of which, at least, could only have had their origin in sincere esteem and hearty good-will. When, on the 19th of October, 1878, he took his final departure from among us,