ur's reply to the address of
the "Constitutional Reformers." There is good in it. They will see
the folly of continuing the former party designations, and
pretended grounds of complaint. I think, however, that their
address will do good, from the large number of names attached to
it. I was surprised, and it has created quite a sensation here,
that there are so many as 772 in Toronto, who still have the moral
courage to designate themselves "Constitutional Reformers." It
will teach the other party that they are not so strong, and so
absolute in the voice of the country, as they thought themselves to
be.

I am satisfied that there never was such a time as from the
termination of the trial of the prisoners to the next session of
Parliament, for us to stamp upon the public mind at large, our own
constitutional, and Scriptural, political, and religious doctrines;
and to give the tone to the future Government and Legislation of
the Province, and to enlarge vastly a sphere of usefulness. I shall
write some papers for the _Guardian_ with this view.

In a letter from Brockville, Rev. William Scott said:--

My humble opinion is, that in order to our safety as a Church--our
preservation from high church influence--you must be at Toronto. I
assure you that is the opinion of our influential men in this
quarter, who understand the state of the province, and the position
of Methodism. Permit me to add that the one hour's conversation
which I had with you amply repaid me for all the furious battles
which I have fought on this circuit in your defence.

Rev. Joseph Stinson, in a letter to Rev. John Ryerson, said:

I am quite of your opinion that your brother Egerton ought to take
the _Guardian_ next year. There is a crisis approaching in our
affairs which will require a vigorous hand to wield the defensive
weapon of our Conference. There can be no two opinions as to whom
we should give that weapon. We now stand on fair ground to maintain
our own against the encroachments of the oligarchy, and we must do
it, or sink into a comparatively uninfluential body--this must not
be.

As urged by these letters from his brethren, Dr. Ryerson, early in May,
1838, prepared several articles for the _Guardian_. His brother John,
who was a member of the Book Committee, thus speaks of the ser