emason, journalist, and prime minister,
died in April, 1892, a victim to the paralysis which had been steadily
creeping for years over his enfeebled frame, and made him a pitiable
spectacle as he sat like a Stoic in the front seats of the opposition,
unable to speak or even to rise without the helping arm of some
attentive friend. On the 30th October, 1893, Sir John Abbott, probably
the ablest commercial lawyer in Canada, who had been premier of Canada
since the death of Sir John Macdonald, followed his eminent predecessors
to the grave, and was succeeded by Sir John Thompson, minister of
justice in the Conservative government since September, 1885. A great
misfortune again overtook the Conservative party on the 12th December,
1894, when Sir John Thompson died in Windsor Castle, whither he had gone
at her Majesty's request to take the oath of a privy councillor of
England--high distinction conferred upon him in recognition of his
services on the Bering Sea arbitration. Sir John Thompson was gifted
with a rare judicial mind, and a remarkable capacity for the lucid
expression of his thoughts, which captivated his hearers even when they
were not convinced by arguments clothed in the choicest diction. His
remains were brought across the Atlantic by a British frigate, and
interred in his native city of Halifax with all the stately ceremony of
a national funeral. The governor-general, Lord Stanley of Preston, now
the Earl of Derby, called upon the senior privy councillor in the
cabinet, Sir Mackenzie Bowell, to form a new ministry. He continued in
office until April, 1896, when he retired in favour of Sir Charles
Tupper, who resigned the position of high commissioner for Canada in
England to enter public life as the recognised leader of the
Liberal-Conservative party. This eminent Canadian had already reached
the middle of the eighth decade of his life, but age had in no sense
impaired the vigour or astuteness of his mental powers. He has continued
ever since, as leader of the Liberal-Conservative party, to display
remarkable activity in the discussion of political questions, not only
as a leader of parliament, but on the public platform in every province
of the Dominion.

During the session of 1891 the political career of Sir Hector Langevin,
the leader of the Liberal-Conservative party in French Canada, was
seriously affected by certain facts disclosed before the committee of
privileges and elections. This committee had bee