Had Mr. Bidwell been in his proper professional position here when the Government was called upon to appoint to the places now filled, or on the eve of being filled, by those gentlemen, there is not one of those high judicial positions to which it would not have been at once a pride and a pleasure both to myself and my colleagues to have advised his appointment. Vice-Chancellor Jameson's health, too, will probably ere long lead to his retirement. When that time arrives, will our friend's continued absence be still a barrier to the gratification of our wishes?
If the affairs of the Province shall be then conducted by the same Councils as now sway them, I may say, with almost the same confidence of that future as I do of the past, that it will be the only obstacle to such gratification. I should add, too, that last winter one of my colleagues who, as well as myself, has always taken a particular interest in Mr. Bidwell's return to the Province, wrote to him, informing him of the Judiciary measures intended to be introduced by the Administration, and giving him to understand as distinctly as could properly be done, that, if he had returned to this country when those measures were to go into operation, it would afford us and our colleagues the greatest pleasure to have it in our power to advise his being placed in a situation alike agreeable to his tastes, deserving of his talents, and satisfactory to the public at large. And though, when he wrote first, he expressed some doubt of the Bills becoming law during the last session, yet shortly after, when it was felt expedient to carry them through, he again wrote to inform Mr. Bidwell that this would be done if the sanction of Parliament was obtained to the measures. Whether, in my letters to Mr. Bidwell, on the subject of his return, I have appeared to him not to speak with sufficient warmth, I know not. It has, at all events, not been from indifference to the object. I certainly have felt that, in the uncertainty that must for the future attach to political power, there was a great responsibility in urging one in good business elsewhere to leave that and throw his fortunes again in with us here. I am naturally cautious, and my caution may have led me to speak less warmly than I felt, particularly when I found my first appeals unsuccessful. But he ought, and I hope, does, appreciate my motives. It is true his ear may be poisoned by having had unjust suspicions poured into it. I know I have never afforded any just grounds for such suspicions, and I feel confident that his generous nature would have been far above conceiving any such, had they not been suggested by others. I am, however, perhaps doing wrong. It may be that none such have ever been thought of by anyone. I trust it is so. If otherwise, it is but just to myself to say that they are the foulest, basest and most malignant that mortal ever breathed.
Rev. Dr. Bangs attended the Conference at Brockville in 1850, as a delegate from the American General Conference. On his return to New York he wrote a letter to Dr. Ryerson on the 3rd July:—
I think my trip to Canada was one of the most pleasant tours I ever made, and shall reflect upon it with peculiar delight. I have commenced, as you will perceive by the Christian Advocate, to give the public an account of my visit to your Conference.
The pleasure we enjoyed in our visit to Canada, and especially your hospitality at Toronto, makes us feel truly thankful to God for such hallowed friendships, and reminds us more forcibly than ever of that eternal union which the spirits shall enjoy in a future world.
Dr. Ryerson made a second educational trip to Europe in October, 1850. Writing to me from London on the 8th November, he said:—The day before yesterday, I left Lord Elgin's note of introduction, with my card, at the Colonial Office; the same evening I received a note, appointing yesterday for an interview. Mr. (afterwards Sir B.) Hawes, the Under-Secretary was present. It was most agreeable and gratifying. Lord Grey seemed much delighted with what had been done, educationally, in Upper Canada; and of which he was until then, entirely ignorant. Mr. Hawes asked if I had published any report of my tour in Europe, or the results of it; and as I happened to have a copy of each of the documents I brought with me, I presented Lord Grey with copies of them. He seemed surprised that he had not seen them before, and said he must write to Lord Elgin to send him a copy of each of them for the office. The conversation extended to the United States—our system of Government as contrasted with theirs, etc. Lord Grey and Mr. Hawes appeared entertained and pleased. His Lordship offered to aid me in any way, in his power, that I might devise; and asked me to dine with him.
Last evening, I received from Lord Grey letters of introduction to the Marquis of Lansdowne (President of the Privy Council Committee of Education) to the Rt. Hon. T. B. Macaulay, and Mr. Lingard, successor of Sir J. P. Kay Shuttleworth, and an unsealed letter of introduction from Mr. Hawes, to Sir Henry Ellis, Librarian of the British Museum, in which he said: This will be presented to you by Dr. Ryerson, of Canada, who has rendered great services to the cause of education, not only by his writings, but by his great exertions.
Both Lord Grey and Mr. Hawes seemed to know something about me; and the above copy of note shows the spirit in which they are desirous of aiding me. I shall now commence my work here in good earnest.
Lord Grey introduced the subject of the Toronto University, and of the Bishop of Toronto's Mission to this country, and when he found that I had a copy of the amended University Bill, and the proceedings of the Wesleyan Conference on the subject, he requested them for perusal. In my next interview with His Lordship I shall introduce the subject of the clergy reserves.
I have been very cordially received at the Wesleyan Mission House. I was affected to see Dr. Bunting's great bodily weakness, and surprised to see his intellect clear, quick, and powerful as ever. When he walks, he can only step about six inches at a time. I expect to hear him on Sunday morning, in the same Chapel (Spitalfields Chapel—a once French church, in which the eloquent Saurin has preached, and made a collection for the refugee Huguenots to the amount of £3,000) in which I preached last Sunday, and aided in administering the Lord's Supper.