amily and a devoted member of the Church of England, he opposed the
religious and political oligarchy which was then at the head of Canadian
affairs, and brought up his son in the same principles. Robert Baldwin was
called to the Bar in 1825, and entered into partnership with his father. In
1829 he was elected a member of the parliament of Upper Canada for the town
of York, but was defeated in the following year and retired for a time into
private life. During the next six years, he so constantly advocated a
responsible executive as the one cure for the political and economic evils
of the time that he was known as "the man of one idea." In 1836 he was
called by Sir Francis Bond Head (1793-1875), the lieutenant-governor, to
the executive council, but finding himself without influence, and compelled
to countenance measures to which he was opposed, he resigned within a
month. Though a reformer, he strongly disapproved of the rebellion of
1837-1838. On the union of the two Canadas he became (1841) a member of the
executive council under Lord Sydenham, but soon resigned on the question of
responsible government. In 1842 he formed the first Liberal administration,
in connexion with Mr (afterwards Sir) L. H. Lafontaine, but resigned the
next year, after a quarrel with the governor-general, Sir Charles Metcalfe,
on a question of patronage, in which he felt that of responsible government
to be involved. At the general election which followed, the
governor-general was sustained by a narrow majority, but in 1848 the
Liberals were again returned to power, and he and Mr Lafontaine formed
their second administration under Lord Elgin and carried numerous important
reforms, including the freeing from sectarian control of the Provincial
University and the introduction into Upper Canada of an important municipal
system.

Internal dissensions soon began to appear in the Liberal party, and in 1851
Mr Baldwin resigned. The special struggle leading to his resignation was an
attempt to abolish the court of chancery of Upper Canada, whose
constitution was due to a measure introduced by Baldwin in 1849. The
attempt, though defeated, had been supported by a majority of the
representatives from Upper Canada, and Baldwin's fastidious conscience took
it as a vote of want of confidence. A deeper reason was his inability to
approve of the advanced views of the Radicals, or "Clear Grits," as they
came to be called. On seeking re-election in York, he dec