These were warm words, designed to rally a divided party. In due time the tireless energy of the speaker and his friends reawakened the fighting strength of their followers. For the moment, however, a considerable number of {143} Liberals were disposed to give the new conditions a trial. Howland and McDougall were invited to address the convention, and they put their case in temperate and dignified language. Howland pointed out that in the new ministry there would be several Liberals from the lower provinces, and these men had requested their Ontario friends not to leave them. McDougall's address was especially apt and convincing: We think that the work of coalition is not done, but only begun. We think that British Columbia should be brought into the confederacy, that the great north-western territory should be brought in, that Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland should be brought in. I say that the negotiations of the terms upon which these provinces are to be brought in are important, and that it is as necessary that the government in power should not be obliged to fight from day to day for its political existence, as when Confederation was carried up to the point we have now reached.... I think the coalition ought not to cease until the work begun under Mr Brown's auspices is ended. {144} It was evident from these remarks that the arguments--what his critics called the blandishments--of Macdonald had prevailed. The first Cabinet, which was announced on July 1, began on a non-party basis. This commended it to moderate men generally. But the task of getting it together had been herculean. To secure a ministry representative of all parts of the country seemed a reasonable policy at the beginning. With time this has grown into an unwritten convention of the constitution which cannot be ignored. In 1867 the Cabinet representation had to be determined by geography, race, creed, and party. None but an old parliamentary hand could have made the attempt successfully. Ontario claimed and was assigned five ministers, Quebec four, and the Maritime Provinces four. So much for geography. Then came race and creed. It was found necessary to give the Irish Catholics and the English minority in Quebec each a minister. The French demanded and were granted three ministers. Finally, the fusion of parties imposed another difficulty upon the cabinet-maker. He could not find room for all the really deserving. There were thirteen ministers--too many, {145} thought Brown and the _Globe_--and of these six were Liberal and six Conservative, while Kenny of Nova Scotia had once been a Liberal but had lately acted with the Tupper party. The surprises were the absence of the names of McGee and Tupper from the list. To have selected McGee as the Irish Catholic minister meant five representatives for Quebec, and Ontario would not consent. This threatened a deadlock, and Macdonald was about to advise the