e
chieftain whose cause he had so long and so effectively promoted. To
the great grief of {145} Sir John Macdonald, White died within three
years of taking office. Few statesmen of so great merit have
experienced such persistent ill fortune. Had he lived, he might not
improbably have become prime minister of Canada.

In the autumn of 1885 the minister of Finance, Sir Leonard Tilley,
resigned to become lieutenant-governor of New Brunswick. In another
volume I have alluded to his close friendship with Sir John Macdonald.
If White was an unlucky politician, assuredly the same cannot be said
of Sir Leonard Tilley. In 1867 he gave up the office of prime minister
of New Brunswick to enter the Dominion Cabinet; he remained minister
until a few days before the downfall of 1873, when he was appointed
lieutenant-governor of New Brunswick. This post he held throughout the
period when the Conservatives were in opposition (1873 to 1878). Upon
the return of the party to power in 1878, Tilley, having just completed
his term as lieutenant-governor, became minister of Finance. After
holding this office for seven years, he slipped back again into the
post of lieutenant-governor of New Brunswick. Sir Leonard's place in
the Cabinet was taken by Mr (now Sir) George {146} E. Foster, whose
signal ability was thus recognized thirty years ago by Sir John
Macdonald.

In May 1884 Sir Charles Tupper relinquished the portfolio of Railways
and Canals in order to devote himself exclusively to the office of high
commissioner for Canada in London, to which he had been appointed a
year before. It is unnecessary to say that the withdrawal of Sir
Charles from the Cabinet, in which he had so long exercised a
commanding influence, proved a serious loss. Indeed, as the sequel
shows, his presence became so necessary that he had to return. Sir
John Macdonald's choice of a successor from Nova Scotia fell upon Mr
Justice (afterwards Sir John) Thompson, a brilliant man, who will never
be appreciated at his true worth because his term of office was too
short. The selection was at variance with Sir John's expressed views
on the inexpediency of judges leaving the bench to return to political
life, but it proved singularly happy, and in time Thompson became prime
minister. 'Thompson,' observed Macdonald, 'has just two faults. He is
a little too fond of satire, and a little too much of a Nova Scotian.'
It cannot be denied that, in spite of Thompson's