an event took place which removed
Attorney-General Robinson from the atmosphere of the Assembly, and was
the indirect means of introducing Robert Baldwin to public life. This
was the appointment of Mr. Robinson to the place of Chief Justice of
Upper Canada. The office had just become vacant through the retirement
of Chief Justice Campbell, who had received the honour of knighthood
during his absence in England. Mr. Robinson thus obtained the reward
which he had long coveted, and which his devotion to successive
Lieutenant-Governors had richly earned. There was some doubt as to the
strict legality of his passing directly from the office of
Attorney-General to that of Chief Justice. To remove the doubt he
accepted the position of Registrar of the County of Kent, which he
resigned after holding it a few days. His appointment to the Chief
Justiceship was made on the 13th of July, but owing to the delay
occasioned by his acceptance of the inferior office it was confirmed and
re-dated on the 3rd of August following. He then took his seat on the
bench, and was destined to remain there for more than thirty-three
years. As Chief Justice he succeeded to the Presidency of the Executive
Council, and at the opening of the session in the beginning of 1830 he
was nominated Speaker of the Upper House. His removal from the Assembly
therefore did not remove him from the political arena, and for years
afterwards he continued, in conjunction with his friend and quondam
tutor Dr. Strachan, to direct the policy of the Government as completely
as he had done for some years previously. He was succeeded in the office
of Attorney-General by Henry John Boulton. The temporary purpose for
which Mr. Hagerman had been appointed to the bench, in place of Mr.
Justice Willis, having been fully effected, that gentleman now
threw off his official robes and succeeded his friend Boulton as
Solicitor-General.

Mr. Robinson's elevation to the bench left a vacancy in the
representation of the Town of York. This vacancy young Robert Baldwin
successfully aspired to fill. At the last general election, in
conjunction with J. E. Small, he had unsuccessfully contested the County
of York with W. L. Mackenzie and Jesse Ketchum. He was now opposed in
the town by the same individual who had so lately been his coadjutor in
the county. Mr. Small was defeated, but, at his instance, the return was
declared void, the writ for the election having inadvertently been
issued by