e was an
opportunity of forming a great and powerful dependency of the British
empire.... We all thought, in fact, that a political millennium had
arrived."

In a family letter written at this time Mr. Brown said: "June 18th,
past one in the morning. We have had great times since I wrote you. On
Tuesday we defeated the government by a majority of two. They asked
the governor-general to dissolve parliament, and he consented; but
before acting on it, at the governor's suggestion, they applied to me
to aid them in reconstructing the government, on the basis of settling
the constitutional difficulties between Upper and Lower Canada. I
refused to accept office, but agreed to help them earnestly and
sincerely in the matter they proposed. Negotiations were thereupon
commenced, and are still going on, with considerable hope of finding a
satisfactory solution to our trouble. The facts were announced in the
House to-day by John A. Macdonald, amid tremendous cheering from both
sides of the House. You never saw such a scene; but you will have it
all in the papers, so I need not repeat. Both sides are extremely
urgent that I should accept a place in the government, if it were only
for a week; but I will not do this unless it is absolutely needed to
the success of the negotiations. A more agreeable proposal is that I
should go to England to arrange the new constitution with the imperial
government. But as the whole thing may fail, we will not count our
chickens just yet."

Sir Richard Cartwright, then a young member of parliament, relates an
incident illustrating the tension on men's minds at that time. He
says: "On that memorable afternoon when Mr. Brown, not without
emotion, made his statement to a hushed and expectant House, and
declared that he was about to ally himself with Sir Georges Cartier
and his friends for the purpose of carrying out confederation, I saw
an excitable, elderly little French member rush across the floor,
climb up on Mr. Brown, who, as you remember, was of a stature
approaching the gigantic, fling his arms about his neck and hang
several seconds there suspended, to the visible consternation of Mr.
Brown and to the infinite joy of all beholders, pit, box and gallery
included."[15]

The official account given by Mr. Macdonald in the House, is that
immediately after the defeat of the government on Tuesday night (the
14th), and on the following morning, Mr. Brown spoke to several
supporters of the administr