of this vacancy by nominating Mr. Thomp son, their strongest available man. He was triumphantly elected, and in the session fol lowing added a great deal to the debating strength of his party. In 1878 a general election took place, and Mr. Thompson again stood for Antigonish, and was this time re turned by acclamation. The Liberal govern ment was overthrown, and the Conservative leader, Mr. Holmes, was called upon to form a new government. The position of attorneygeneral naturally fell to the young member for Antigonish, who was again returned by acclamation by his constituency after his acceptance of office. During his incumbency — from 1878 to 1882 — the Attorney-General was instrumen tal in passing some very useful legislation, such as the Municipal Corporations Act, which gave local self-government to the coun ties of the province, and an act looking to the consolidation of all the provincial railways. Mr. Holmes retired from public life in 1882, and Attorney-General Thompson succeeded him as premier. A general election followed, and while the new premier was again re turned, his party met with defeat at the polls, and gave way to a Liberal government. A few months later, to the great acceptance of the bar, Hon. Mr. Thompson was appointed Judge of the Supreme Court of Nova Scotia, which position he occupied until 1885. As a judicial officer he added to his already high reputation. His thorough knowledge of law, his ceaseless industry, and his unerr ing judgment made him the most esteemed judge of the province. Nor did he confine himself while on the bench to the routine of his office. The Judicature Act, which became law in 1884 and greatly simplified the prac tice of the Superior Courts, was drafted by him; and in the midst of other labors he found time to deliver a course of lectures on Evidence before the students of Dalhousie Law School. About 1885 events began to develop which led to Judge Thompson's recall to political life. A rebellion had taken place in the
Canadian Northwest, and was suppressed. Louis David Riel, the leader of the revolt, was captured, tried at Regina, sentenced to death, and hanged. The Liberal politicians who up to the time of Riel's execution had taken no side, or perhaps more properly speaking both sides, as to the expediency of that act, began to array themselves in oppo sition to the government on that question, and soon joined hands with the "national" leaders in the Province of Quebec, where many people regarded the rebel leader as a martyr, in denouncing the execution as impolitic, cruel, and unchristian. The pro vincial elections, too, went in favor of the Liberals. The Government's Northwest ad ministration was weak, and the governor of the territories, Mr. Dewdney, was harsh in his treatment of the people under him. Al together it looked ominous for the govern ment; and when the house would meet, the administration had no man to pit against the eloquent leader of the opposition, Mr. Blake, who was preparing a strong attack on the government. In this crisis, some of the Nova Scotia Conservatives represented to the Premier that the services of Judge Thompson were necessary; and accordingly in September he was appointed Minister of Justice and Attorney-General, and sworn in as a member of the Privy Council of Canada. It seemed a rash experiment for a political leader in such a crisis to summon to his as sistance a young man who had never before sat in the House of Commons, and whose reputation was up to that time only pro vincial. But the result amply justified the choice. Before the parliamentary session of 1886 was far advanced, the great Riel debate be gan. Member after member took part in the discussion, and the idea was somewhat general that the government could not long survive this debate. On the 19th of March Mr. Blake rose, and began his arraignment of the administration. He was the ablest man in his party, admittedly the leading lawyer in the House. He had hitherto been with
