Chapter XXXVIII

1843.

Episode in the Case of Hon. Marshall S. Bidwell.

As mentioned in Chapter xxiv., page 188, an effort was made in 1843 to induce Hon. M. S. Bidwell to return to Canada. Copies of the correspondence on the subject were enclosed to Dr. Ryerson, by the Hon. Robert Baldwin, in a letter dated Kingston, 5th June, 1843, as follows:--

I enclose you copies of letters which I am sure will afford you
much pleasure. At present this communication of them must be
confidential, as you will see by their date that they have not yet
reached their object himself. But after the warm interest you have
taken in the cause of my friend, at a time when any interference on
my part would have been worse than useless, I feel it due to you to
make you early acquainted with what has taken place. I have seen,
with much pleasure, that you have carried out the intention you
hinted to me when I last had the pleasure of seeing you at
Kingston. Your admirable letter must have had a good effect. I see
that some little popguns were let off at you on the occasion, but
they are too puny to excite anything but a smile at their
imbecility.

I regret much my inability to have been present at your last annual
examination, but hope to be more fortunate another year.

The Hon. Robert Baldwin's letter to Mr. Bidwell, enclosed to Dr. Ryerson, dated Kingston, 2nd June, 1843, was as follows:--

I have great pleasure in being able to transmit to you a copy of a
note addressed by me to His Excellency the Governor-General, with a
copy of that of Mr. Secretary Harrison, conveying His Excellency's
reply, which, I am happy, so distinctly removes every obstacle to
your return to what has been in all essentials your native country;
and that without the descent on your part, by even a single step,
from the high ground which you have always maintained in relation
to your unjust expatriation.

I will at present only stop to assure you of the sentiments of
unabated affection and respect with which you have ever continued
to be regarded in this country, during the whole period of your
exile, and to express my conviction of the satisfaction with which
your return will be hailed by all your former friends, and by many
even of your former political opponents--in which satisfaction, I
trust, I need scarcely add that no one will more sincerely
participate than myself.

The following is a copy of Mr. Baldwin's note to Sir Charles Metcalfe, the Governor-General, dated 25th May:--

Mr. Robert Baldwin, having been informed by Mr. Secretary Harrison
that with reference to the case of Mr. Bidwell, which Mr. Baldwin
had the honour of bringing under the notice of the Governor-General
shortly after his assumption of the Government, His Excellency only
requires a request to be made to him as a foundation for his
directing that the pledge taken from that gentleman, in his
departure from Upper Canada, should be cancelled, and giving His
Excellency's sanction for the introduction into Parliament of a
Bill to restore to Mr. Bidwell the political rights of which his
residence abroad, under pressure of that pledge, has deprived him,
Mr. Baldwin respectfully begs leave to make that request.

The letter in reply, of Mr. Secretary Harrison to Hon. Robert Baldwin, dated 29th May, was as follows:--

I am commanded by the Governor-General to inform you, in reply to
your note of the 25th inst., that His Excellency considers it right
that whatever pledge may have been given by Mr. Bidwell on his
departure from Upper Canada, to preclude his return, should be
cancelled. The letter of that gentleman to the then
Lieutenant-Governor, Sir Francis Bond Head, supposed to contain
such a pledge, is not to be found in the archives of the
Secretary's office. I am, therefore, directed to say that the
pledge is considered as cancelled, and that the letter, if ever
found, may be returned.

I am also further desired to acquaint you that in the event of Mr.
Bidwell's proposing to return, His Excellency will give his
sanction to the introduction into Parliament of a Bill to restore
to that gentleman the political rights of which his residence
abroad, under pressure of his pledge, deprived him.

On the 14th August, 1843, Hon. Robert Baldwin wrote the following letter to Dr. Ryerson:--

I send you a copy of a letter from our friend, Mr. Bidwell, in
answer to my letters to him. The original I have sent up to my
father, but had a copy made for you, knowing the interest you have
ever taken in his case.

Hon. M. S. Bidwell's letter to Hon. Robert Baldwin, dated New York, 31st July, 1843, was as follows:--

I hardly know how to commence my answer to your letter after so
long a delay which has been unintentional and unexpected, and in a
great measure unavoidable. I might, indeed, and ought to have
written to you when I first received it, but I then hoped it would
be in my power to make you a short visit in compliance with your
invitation. On this point I was kept in suspense by the state of
Mrs. Bidwell's health, and was besides very laboriously occupied
with indispensable professional engagements. With this frank
explanation I throw myself upon your indulgence to pardon my delay.

Never, my dear friend, for one moment have I doubted your kind and
friendly feelings, or your anxiety that I should be treated with
justice and liberality by the Government, and I have never ceased
to be gratified that I was honoured with the friendship of one
whose wishes and talents have, for many years, commanded my
respect. Amidst the dejection of spirits and perplexity of mind
that I have suffered, this consideration has afforded me great
consolation.

Your communication has now taken me by surprise. You will add to
your former obligations if you will make suitable acknowledgements
for me to His Excellency for the answer which, by his directions,
Mr. Secretary Harrison returned to your letter.

All that I have learned of Sir Charles Metcalfe's character and
measures has filled me with the highest respect, and with a
confidence that Canada will be governed by him with wisdom,
justice, and liberality. Loving that country, this confidence has
been a source of great joy to me.

Let me add that, in my judgment, Sir Robert Peel in all his
measures, since his last appointment has shown a wise moderation
and conciliatory spirit, and an anxious desire for the true welfare
of the vast Empire beneath the sway of Her Majesty's sceptre.

I would gladly make you a visit at once if I could, but I should
feel great pleasure to see you here. I shall do with great pleasure
what I can to make the visit agreeable to you. I have heard with
concern of the feeble health of your venerable father. I cannot
tell you with what deep interest and great respect I think of him.
He has been the consistent friend of constitutional liberty through
evil report as well as good report. Amidst perfidy and violence,
folly and bigotry and intolerance, he has presented a rare and
happy example, which I admire, of an enlightened and cultivated
mind supporting the great principles of the British Constitution
with discriminating zeal, constancy of purpose, and moderation of
temper. I beg that you will do me the favour when you write to him
to present my most affectionate and respectful regards.

I perceive that Mr. Secretary Harrison alludes to the possibility
of my returning to Canada. I cannot fail to feel, as long as I
live, a deep interest in that country, and the most ardent wishes
for its prosperity. But I have formed no plans for a change of
residence. A constant attention to my business, which is necessary
for the support of my family, has left me no time to form plans.

With a gratified sense of your kindness and with great regard and
affection, your friend,

Marshall S. Bidwell.

To this letter from Mr. Bidwell, Hon. Robert Baldwin replied on the 12th August, as follows:--

I have, believe me, great pleasure in acknowledging the receipt of
your letter, as well on account of its relieving me, to a certain
extent at least, from apprehensions that Mrs. Bidwell's health was
the cause of your silence.

I cannot, however, conceal my disappointment at the last paragraph
of your letter, in which, though you do not altogether shut out the
hope of our having you again amongst us.... The obligations in
regard to Mrs. Bidwell's health which you wrote (as precluding such
consideration for the present) are, however, too sacred for even
friendship to venture upon more than a repetition of those
assurances, which my former letter contained, of the feelings of
affection entertained towards you in this country, and the
satisfaction which your return would afford. I, however, find it
impossible to do otherwise than indulge in the pleasing
anticipation of again seeing you amongst us, not as a mere visitor,
but as once more a Canadian, in fact as well as in feeling. We have
not, and certainly for the generation to which we belong, shall
not, have any subjects of equal importance, in a pecuniary point of
view, to those which seek the aid, and reward the exertion, of your
professional talents where you are. It seems, therefore, to partake
somewhat of selfishness to wish to withdraw you from an arena
worthy of your great talents, to appropriate those talents to a
sphere so much more limited. Be that as it may, I will indulge the
hope, so long as you do not forbid it. In the meantime, could you
not take a leave of absence for a few weeks during the coming
Autumn Assizes, and amuse yourself with holding some briefs on some
of them here? We have now five Circuits--the Eastern, Midland,
Home, Niagara, and Western. Mr. Justice Jones takes the Eastern,
Mr. Justice McLean the Midland, the Chief Justice the Niagara, and
Mr. Justice Hagerman the Western. Nothing would give me more
pleasure than to see you thus renew your relations with our bar;
even if you should not do so with a view to a final return to it.
Let me know soon, in a post or two, if possible, as well as the
circuit you mean to go on.... Now as I have gone on with this
scheme, I find myself grow warm on it, so do not throw cold water
upon it by a negative.

If I could do so with any propriety, I would avail myself of your
kind invitation to visit you at New York for the purpose, not only
of seeing you, but of urging this my suit in person. But I assure
you it is out of my power to do so. Parliament is called for 2nd
September, and I shall not have a moment's leisure from this time
till the Session is over. You must recollect that, as a Parliament
man, I am comparatively but a young hand, and I have to try and
make up for want of experience by hard work; though I find it by no
means a sufficient substitute.

I complied in substance with your request to make your
acknowledgements to His Excellency for the answer, which by his
direction, Mr. Secretary Harrison returned to my letter; but lest I
should do so less appropriately than I ought, I took the liberty of
letting you speak for yourself, by showing His Excellency your
letter.

Your opinions of the Governor-General and of Sir Robert Peel
entirely agree with my own. But I regret to say that some of our
friends, and of our firm friends too, seem to me to forget what has
been accomplished because everything is not done at once, or,
because some things are done not exactly as they would have them.
This impatience is much to be regretted. If I were one whom it was
necessary to keep up to the mark, as it may be called, it might be
excusable, but they do not even profess to think that to be the
case as respects the points in question. Their display of
dissatisfaction, therefore, has only the effect of lessening the
weight of the party in Upper Canada in the eyes of both the Head of
the government here and the Imperial authorities at home. But I did
not mean to make this a letter of complaint; but the fact is, I am
just now smarting under an ebullition of violence on the part of
our friends in Toronto, on the subject of Mr. Stanton's appointment
to the Collectorship there, which almost involuntarily led me into
these remarks. You will, I hope, excuse me.

My dear father, I am happy to say, appears by his last letters to
be rather better. I fear much, however, that the improvement cannot
be considered of a permanent character. As the Governor-General
kept your letter till yesterday, I was only able to send it up to
him to-day. It will, I am sure, afford him much gratification.

I hope you will excuse the length of this epistle, and rebuke me by
the shortness of your reply, which need contain no more than six
words, to wit: "I will ride the circuit." I believe "ride" is the
professional term; at least used to be so, though it may belong to
the era of Mr. Justice Twisden, if not a still more remote one,
rather than at present.... You see how inclined I am to run on, so
that lest I should transgress beyond endurance, I will conclude at
once, with the assurance of my warm and continued regard. Ever your
affectionate friend,

R. B.