You can read the full editorial below.

“The rumors so long in circulation concerning Sir John Abbott, have been confirmed. His health has not been good, the trip to England has not improved it, he contemplates spending the winter in the south of Europe, and so he has resigned the premiership of the dominion government. John Thompson has been summoned to form a ministry. It is wonderful how time and custom will reconcile people to almost anything.

When Sir John Macdonald passed away his minister of justice was spoken of as his successor, but there was such a protest, backed up by a rebellion in the ranks of even the Conservative party, that the Governor-General did not dare to commission him with the work of cabinet building. Sir John Abbott, old and feeble, was never looked upon as an eligible candidate for the responsibilities of a leader of the government, but he was happily hit upon as a compromise, and he has probably done all that was expected of him, that is kept the government together, and discharged the duties of his office with as little strain and friction as possible pending a suitable time for his exit. That time has arrived and the turmoil of a year ago is on at Ottawa with Sir John Thompson as the central figure in it. What the outcome of it will be no one can conjecture. But experience has shown that the period of long tenure of office is passed.

The only accepted infallible guide is but a memory, and dictation from Ottawa to the party is no longer a possibility. Sir John Thompson may seek to surround himself with men who will be a unit with him on public policy, by men who will let him do the thinking while they do the voting and coercing, but the party in the country has an opinion now and it must be consulted. Anything, therefore, done in the name of the Conservative party by the government must be in touch with the party's sentiment or it cannot stand."