vernment. His action is supposed
to have been in some way connected with the failure of the Commercial
Bank, which occurred about that time, but no one who knew Sir Alexander
Galt would waste time in seeking to account for his actions, which
often could only be accounted for by his constitutional inconstancy.
In saying this I do not for a moment wish to ascribe any sordid or
unworthy motive to Galt, who was a man of large and generous mind and
of high honour. He was, however, never a party man. He could not be
brought to understand the necessity for deferring sometimes to his
leader. That spirit of subordination without which all party
government becomes impossible was foreign {83} to his nature. By some
impracticable persons this may be regarded as a virtue. At any rate,
in Galt's case it was a fact. As Sir John Macdonald once said of him,
'Galt is as unstable as water, and never can be depended upon to be of
the same mind for forty-eight hours together.'

Galt was succeeded as minister of Finance by Sir John Rose. Two years
later Rose gave up his portfolio to take up residence in London as a
member of the banking firm of Morton, Rose and Company. Circumstances
rendered it necessary that, to maintain the arrangement entered into
with Brown in 1864, Rose's successor should be an old-time Ontario
Liberal, and no suitable man possessing that qualification happened to
be available. But while Sir John Macdonald was casting about for a new
colleague, Sir Francis Hincks reappeared on the scene. In the interval
of fifteen years which had elapsed since Hincks left Canada he had been
governor of various of the West India Islands, and had returned with a
record of honourable service and the decoration of Knight Commander of
St Michael and St George. Scarcely had Sir Francis set foot in Canada
when Macdonald resolved that he should succeed Sir John Rose. {84} The
offer was made and promptly accepted, and on October 9, 1869, Sir
Francis Hincks was sworn of the Privy Council and appointed minister of
Finance. A great storm followed. The _Globe_ outdid itself in
denunciation of Sir John Macdonald, of Sir Francis Hincks, and of
everybody in the most remote way connected with the appointment.
Richard (afterwards Sir Richard) Cartwright, hitherto a traditional
Tory, took umbrage at the appointment of Hincks, and notified Sir John
Macdonald no longer to count upon his support, though he did not then
finally leave the Conse