—that "concessions were valueless to him unless he wrenched them with a strong hand from his opponent;"—that being "of an unbounded arrogance and self-conceit, he made no allowances for others, and sought none for himself;"—that "there was a sort of sublime egotism about him—a magnificent self-esteem, which caused him to look upon himself as a patriot whilst he was serving his own ends by the promotion of his ambition, the gratification of his vanity or his spite." Those of us "to the manner born" do not need to be informed that the proportion of truth to error in the foregoing extract is even less than the proportion of bread to sack in Falstaff's tavern-score. It is difficult, indeed, to understand how any one could have read the character of Robert Baldwin so utterly awry. The above passages are quoted from the early edition of Kaye's "Life of Charles Lord Metcalfe." In the late edition he modifies a few of the details, but the general portraiture of the man remains unchanged. All the assertions are so far the reverse of fact that it is hard to believe them to have been honestly made. The "gentleman of American descent" was Dr. Baldwin, who, as has already been seen, was an Irishman, and a native of the County of Cork. His journey from Ireland to Canada was made by way of Quebec, and he probably never spent ten consecutive days in the United States, with the republican institutions whereof he had little sympathy. So far from his ever having been a member of the Family Compact, he had always been a pronounced liberal, whose character and political opinions were so well known from the time of his first settlement in this country that it was deemed hopeless to attempt to allure him to the side of the oligarchy. Even Sir Francis Bond Head refers to him as "more ultra in his theory of reform than his son." The delineation of the son's character and principles is equally at variance with fact. It is not going too far to say that no man occupying an equally pronounced position in the arena of political life was ever less swayed by animosity or spite than Robert Baldwin. Sir Francis Hinks, a thoroughly competent and trustworthy authority, in his pamphlet on "The Political History of Canada between 1840 and 1855," published at Montreal several years ago, says, in speaking of the Baldwins:—"Neither the Doctor nor his son entertained bitter feelings against their opponents, and although firm in their adherence to cherished political opinions, they were both highly and universally respected." Sir Francis Head's early impressions of the son were chiefly derived from
