der
Bidwell.[143] It was this same Henry John Boulton who had joined with
his friend the Attorney-General in abusing and maligning the elder
Bidwell during the election campaign of 1821, and afterwards. It was he
who had put forth all the little strength that was in him to assist his
party in bringing about the expulsion of the elder Bidwell from the
Assembly.[144] He had done his utmost, and successfully, to induce
members of Parliament to vote for the statute which had forever closed
the doors of the Upper Canadian Legislature to the ex-member of
Congress.[145] He had opposed the return of the younger Bidwell to the
Assembly, and more recently, though he was not then a member of the
House, he had done what he could to keep him out of the Speaker's Chair
by influencing members in favour of John Willson. He had lost no
opportunity of making himself personally offensive to Mr. Bidwell, whose
abilities he envied, and whose character he was utterly incapable of
appreciating. It will thus be seen that all the attendant circumstances
combined to make Mr. Bidwell hate and contemn his adversary. If he
failed to do so the explanation was to be found in his own gentle
nature, and not in the lessons of humiliation which the Boultons had
endeavoured to impose upon him.

It was a memorable scene when the Solicitor-General stood up, on the
20th of February, to receive the admonition which he had been adjudged
to endure. He was in a state of tremor, for he was conscious of the
disadvantage of his position, and he dreaded the power of the Speaker's
tongue. His friends also felt much solicitude on his account, for they
knew how little consideration he deserved at the hands of the man who
now had him in his power. For some moments a solemn silence reigned
supreme. Then the Speaker's voice was heard; low at first, but steadily
rising into clear and impressive tones which made every word sink deep
into the hearts of the listeners. And the words themselves: how
different from what the expectant personage at the bar had looked for!
Nothing of malice or revenge there. Nothing but quiet dignity and
forbearance. No mere spectator could have told whether the offender was
a personal friend or an enemy of the Speaker. The voice was full of
feeling, but utterly devoid of passion or malevolence. The power of
Parliament was fully vindicated, yet the transgressor escaped without
any unnecessary laceration of his pride. "By every member of the
commun