[BURPEE] HOWE AND THE ANTI-CONFEDERATION LEAGUE 415 
and confidential conversation the night before he left. He expressed 
again his fears that if he took the course I suggested he would be 
abandoned by the people and defeated, but I have pledged him, in 
case he takes the patriotic course, my most loyal support, and I think 
satisfied his scruples on that point. He suggested that it would mate- 
rially aid him in reconciling the Nova Scotia party if the Government 
here would throw upon your Administration the duty of dealing with 
the question, and I undertook to aid in that matter. If there is any 
faith in men I think I may consider the matter, if judiciously managed 
by you, settled. I have assured him of a seat in the Cabinet, and at 
the Intercolonial Railway Board for Nova Scotia members, and the 
fullest and most favourable consideration, financially and otherwise, for 
the province from your Government. 
The matter was more serious than we supposed. The duke told 
me that five of his colleagues, until they heard my explanations, were 
satisfied that N. S. had strong grounds of complaint, and the effect 
of keeping up the impression here, and in the U. S., that the union is 
not to be permanent, has a most injurious effect. After talking the 
matter over with the duke after Howe had left, he requested me to 
give him my suggestions as to a despatch in answer to Howe and Co., 
and I sat down and hurriedly wrote the paper of which you have here 
acopy.* The duke said it entirely agreed with his own views. I hope 
the course I have taken will be approved.”’ 
On May 26th Tupper again writes Macdonald:t 
‘‘Howe drove me home in his cab from the Lyceum last Thursday 
evening, and invited me to breakfast with Mrs. Howe and himself the 
next morning, when we had two hours’ conversation in her presence 
and went fully into the whole matter. She goes with me strongly, 
and I have no doubt that his mind is quite made up. I put it to him 
strongly that with the course you had taken I would now be able to 
take the platform and carry the country against any opposition he 
could bring, but preferred, as the province had pronounced in his 
favour, to stand aside myself and let them have the legitimate fruit 
of their popular triumph, and thus bring all into complete harmony 
at once. I am satisfied that he is fully convinced that the interests 
of his country, his party, and himself all require him to take hold with 
us, but both he and I feel that we must handle the subject with great 
delicacy.” 
Three days earlier Howe had written:f 
‘Tupper is here, and we are very civil to each other, but we must 
fight our battle out. We are both too old soldiers to play tricks on 
each other.” 
* Compare the draft given by Tupper to Buckingham, Jbid., 82-3, with Buc- 
kingham’s, despatch to Monck, in Campbell’s Nova Scotia, 460-61. 
t Recollections, 91-2. 
t Speeches, 534. 
