More kindness, more nobleness of sentiment and feeling, I never witnessed than was manifested towards us after we had succeeded in removing suspicion, and allaying fears, etc. In the course of the conversations, your name came up frequently, but always in terms of great respect; only they all seemed to think that you got astray in the matter of the disruption of the union. I assured them, however, that no man in Canada was more desirous of a settlement of differences than you were, and in order to the attainment of it, you were desirous that all the past should be forgotten, and that henceforth in these matters all should become new. I assured Dr. Alder that no man in Canada would receive him more cordially than you would. This assurance seemed to be very gratifying to him and all the other ministers present.
On the 24th November, 1846, after the return of the Conference delegation from England, Dr. Ryerson addressed the following letter to Drs. Bunting and Alder:—At the suggestion of my brother, Rev. John Ryerson, and in accordance with my own feelings, I take the liberty of addressing you a few lines on adjustment of differences between the English and Canadian Conferences, and the concentration of the work of Methodism in Upper Canada. In the arrangement which has been mutually agreed upon between your Committees and the Canadian Representatives, I entirely concur. Into the consideration of a measure so purely Christian and Wesleyan, I have never allowed, and could not for a moment allow, any sense of personal injury to enter. I have had the pleasure of expressing to the Conferential Committee of the Canadian Connexion my appreciation of the honourable and generous arrangement to which you have agreed, and to propose a resolution expressive of the concurrence of that Committee in that arrangement, to which it assented cordially and unanimously. I have also had the pleasure of moving that Rev. M. Richey be invited to occupy the relation to Victoria College which I have for some years sustained, and to which the College Council has also unanimously agreed. Nor shall I hesitate to use every exertion in my power to complete and render beneficial an arrangement so honourable to the British Conference, and so eminently calculated to promote the best interests of Methodism in Western Canada.
Your treatment of my dear and most beloved brother, John, I regard and acknowledge as a favour done to myself. I did not do myself the honour of calling upon you personally when I was in England, nor should I feel myself at liberty to do so even now, were I again to visit London. It is not that you have objected to many things that I have said and done, and have expressed your objections in the strongest language. In this you have acted as I have done, and for which I ought not either to respect or love you the less. But, in your resolutions of April, 1840, you were pleased to charge me "with an utter want of integrity;" and in a subsequent series of resolutions, you were pleased to represent me as unworthy of the intercourse of private life. These two particulars of your proceedings attracted the painful notice of the late Sir Charles Bagot before I ever saw him, and, I have reason to believe, made no slight impression on the mind of his successor, the late venerated Lord Metcalfe; and they have sunk deeply into my own heart. But I have not so much as alluded to them in my official intercourse with my Canadian brethren, nor will I do so; and as a member of the Canadian Conference, I shall (if spared) receive and treat Dr. Alder with as much respect and cordiality as I ever did, and shall do my best to render his contemplated visit to Canada agreeable to himself, and successful in its objects. I have, more than once, through the press, disclaimed any imputation upon his integrity, motives, or character; but with his recorded declaration of my "utter want of integrity," and my unfitness for social intercourse in private life, I feel that my own conduct towards him should be confined to official acts and official occasions; in which I shall treat him with as much cordiality as I would any other member of the English Conference. Had it not been for the two particulars in your former proceedings to which I have referred, I should have as readily sought the opportunity of paying you my personal respects, during my recent visit to England, as I did in 1836.
I have thought this explanation, at the present moment, due both to you and to myself. I assure you at the same time of my personal regard, and of my desire and purpose to promote, in every possible way, the great objects which you have proposed, viz., the amicable reunion between the English and Canadian Connexions. [The amende was subsequently made.]
In order to place the English and Canadian reunion question fully and fairly before the English Wesleyan public, Dr. Ryerson was requested to prepare an article on the subject for the London Watchman. This he did. Rev. M. Richey writes from Montreal, on the 28th June, 1847, and thus acknowledges the service which Dr. Ryerson had rendered in this matter:—
Your promptitude in preparing an article for the Watchman, and the ability, as well as noble spirit of Wesleyan catholicity by which it is characterized, have afforded to Dr. Alder the highest satisfaction. The article perfectly corresponds to the ideal he had conceived of a production adapted to place the whole matter before the transatlantic public so as best to accomplish the important object. The article will doubtless appear in the earliest impression of the Watchman, to the joy of thousands of hearts. He has also to acknowledge the receipt of the address of the Canada to the British Conference. Permit me to assure you that Dr. Alder and myself most affectionately reciprocate your expressions of kindness and regard, and we have every confidence that no elements will be ever hereafter permitted to disturb either our ecclesiastical relations or our personal friendship.
On his return from Canada, Dr. Alder wrote to Dr. Ryerson, under date of the 17th September, expressing his grateful feelings at the result of his visit. He said:—
I assure you of the recollection which I cherish of the candid and manly part which you took, both in public and in private, in connexion with the various important matters of business which were brought before us during the sittings of the last Conference in Toronto, as well as previous to the meeting of that assembly. I have not failed in my communications since my return, to do you that justice to which you are so well entitled; and I trust, as I doubt not you do, that the good understanding which has thus been restored, will be as permanent as it is gratifying. Much will depend upon you, as well as upon myself, in securing the harmonious working of the union which has been accomplished; and I shall always be happy to receive from you free and full communications, which will be regarded by me as confidential.
Dr. Alder in a subsequent letter, to Dr. Ryerson, said:—
In the Watchman I have prefaced an account of our Missionary Anniversary by a few observations, in which I have taken occasion to bear testimony to the spirit and conduct of your brother William, as well as of your own, with a view, not merely to perform an act of justice to you, but to prepare the way for the appointment of one, or you both, coming, either now, or at some future period, in a representative character, to our Conference,—an arrangement which, I am persuaded, will be productive of much good in various ways.