ation, which gained
immense force in Upper Canada, lies in its relation to the larger plan
of confederation.

FOOTNOTES:

[9] Hincks's _Political History of Canada_, p. 80.

CHAPTER IX

SOME PERSONAL POLITICS

After the burning of the parliament buildings in Montreal the seat of
government oscillated between Quebec and Toronto. Toronto's turn came
in the session of 1856. Macdonald was now the virtual, and was on the
point of becoming the titular, leader of the party. Brown was equally
conspicuous on the other side. During the debate on the address he was
the central figure in a fierce struggle, and some one with a turn for
statistics said that his name was mentioned three hundred and
seventy-two times. The air was stimulating, and Brown's contribution
to the debate was not of a character to turn away wrath.

Smarting under Brown's attack, Macdonald suddenly gave a new turn to
the debate. He charged that Brown, while acting as a member and
secretary of a commission appointed by the Lafontaine-Baldwin
government to inquire into the condition of the provincial
penitentiary, had falsified testimony, suborned convicts to commit
perjury, and obtained the pardon of murderers to induce them to give
false evidence. Though the assembly had by this time become accustomed
to hard hitting, this outbreak created a sensation. Brown gave an
indignant denial to the charges, and announced that he would move for
a committee of inquiry. He was angrily interrupted by the
solicitor-general, who flung the lie across the House. The
solicitor-general was a son of the warden of the penitentiary who had
been dismissed in consequence of the report of the commission.
Macdonald was a strong personal friend of the warden, and had
attempted some years before to bring his case before the assembly.
Brown promptly moved for the committee, and it was not long before he
presented that tribunal with a dramatic surprise. It was supposed that
the report of the penitentiary committee had been burned, and the
attack on Brown was made upon that supposition. When Mr. Brown was
called as a witness, however, he produced the original report with all
the evidence, and declared that it had never been out of his
possession "for one hour." The effect of this disclosure on his
assailants is shown in a letter addressed to the committee by
VanKoughnet, Macdonald's counsel: "Mr. Macdonald," he said, "had been
getting up his case on the assumption and belief