e papers will ultimately find their
resting-place in the Dominion Archives and will become available to
future historians.

The political effect of the execution of Riel was quite in accordance
with Sir John Macdonald's expectations. In the province of Quebec the
greatest excitement prevailed. {131} At many meetings the prime
minister and his French-Canadian colleagues were burned in effigy. Sir
John had postponed an intended visit to England until after the
execution. So intense was the popular feeling, that when the time came
for sailing he thought it prudent to avoid Montreal and Quebec and to
board his ship at Rimouski. This circumstance afforded material to the
editor of the _Mail_, Mr Edward Farrer, for an amusing article, bearing
the alliterative title, 'The Murderer's Midnight Mizzle, or the
Ruffian's Race for Rimouski.'

All this happened in November. In the preceding January Sir John had
taken part at Montreal in a magnificent demonstration to celebrate the
fortieth anniversary of his entrance into public life. If ever a
public man enjoyed the acclaim of the populace, the Conservative
chieftain did so on that occasion. If my memory serves me rightly, the
crowd took the horses out of his carriage and drew him in triumph from
the place of meeting to his hotel. Not quite ten months later, when
slipping almost secretly past Montreal, Macdonald alluded to this as an
apt illustration of the fickleness of public opinion. The immediate
consequence of this popular frenzy in Quebec was the defeat of the
Conservative {132} Government of the province, the rise of Honore
Mercier, the Liberal leader, to power, and the loss of many
Conservative seats in the subsequent Dominion elections. Indeed, Sir
John Macdonald never recovered his ground in the province of Quebec.
Riel's execution wrought organic political changes which are visible to
this day.

The parliamentary opponents of the Government were naturally not slow
to take advantage of the situation, but their first move was frustrated
by Sir John Macdonald in a manner worthy to rank as a piece of
political strategy with the 'Double Shuffle' itself. At the first
available moment after the meeting of parliament in February 1886, the
member for Montmagny[20] moved this resolution: 'That this House feels
it its duty to express its deep regret that the sentence of death
passed upon Louis Riel convicted of high treason was allowed to be
carried into execution.'