tted to Dr. Rolph he expressed some surprise at
the action of the caucus. He appears to have felt convinced that no
credit to the Reform cause was to be won by placing Mackenzie in a
prominent position. He knew Mackenzie to be a man who could not stand
prosperity, and whose want of mental ballast was such that he was not
fit to be trusted with power. He was moreover very much disposed to
suspect that the little man himself was at the bottom of the movement in
his favour, which was probably the fact. Still, the Doctor was compelled
to admit that there was much force in the arguments put forward, and he
was by no means disposed to press his own claims. He therefore gave his
assent; and from that moment the question was to be regarded as
practically settled, although the matter was kept a profound secret
among the persons most immediately concerned.

The Conservative members of the Council also held a caucus before the
day appointed for the election of a mayor. Their purpose was to organize
their forces, and to present the best front which their numerical
inferiority would admit of. They had assumed that Dr. Rolph would as a
matter of course be the choice of the Reform members for the chief
magistracy, and this assumption had been confirmed by common rumour, so
that they entertained no doubt on the subject. The selection met with
their full approval. In fact, unless a mayor was to be chosen from their
own number--a thing out of the question with such a preponderance of
Reform members--no man would have been so acceptable to them as Dr.
Rolph. He was known to and respected by them all, and it was felt that
he would fill the chair with credit to the city. They accordingly
resolved to give him their support, and one of their number, Mr. Thomas
Carfrae, Jr., wrote to him on the subject. But, Dr. Rolph had meanwhile
given his assent to the project of Mackenzie's election, and was not in
a position to accept support from any quarter. After careful
consideration he had determined to resign his seat in the Council. He
foresaw that Mackenzie would render himself unpopular, and deemed it
probable that he would be guilty of indiscretions which no public
representative of a political party could properly defend. The course of
subsequent events was such as to fully justify this forecast. Dr. Rolph
replied to Mr. Carfrae, thanking him for his offer of support, but
announcing that he was about to resign his seat. He also wrote to his
fri