Baldwin! I speak your name like liberty!
It sounds of struggle and patience to the end
That forced a mighty Empire to bend
Before your will, and your Great Ministry.
Today you stand in quiet comity
On Parliament Hill, and talk with your best friend,
Your LaFontaine; on you both we still depend
To help us grow into our destiny.
Your friendship set a course to nationhood,
And raised up men with courage to go on;
Your leadership proved you true and just and good
When faith was weak and scarcely lingered on.
Baldwin! You took your colleague’s open hand
And formed from two a fair and single land.
This is a sonnet to Robert Baldwin, the great Reformer who led the fight in Canada for Responsible Government in the 1830's and 1840's. He and his compatriot, Louis-Hippolyte LaFontaine forged an alliance between French and English that produced one of the best governments that this country has ever had. It is known as "The Great Ministry" of 1848-51.
ReplyDeleteThe fight for Responsible Government was the central issue of the Rebellions of 1837; the population wanted the Governor General and his Counselors to be accountable to the elected assembly rather than be accountable only to themselves. It took years of political conflict, but ultimately there was nothing the British could do. Under Baldwin and LaFontaine the power of the colonial oligarchy, which had sided with the Governor General and had controlled the levers of power for decades, was definitively broken.
Furthermore, the French-English alliance was absolutely crucial. In the early 1840's there were several moments when Canada could have split apart. At critical moments Baldwin, who spoke no French, stood with his French allies when his fellow Englishmen were acting unjustly against the French. In many respects Baldwin's actions saved the future country. Baldwin was one of the few Anglophones that the French would trust. It is telling that in 1840 or '41 Baldwin lost his election in Ontario, but the French got him elected in Quebec. Several years later LaFontaine was defeated in Quebec, so Baldwin brought him to Toronto and helped him win an English seat!
There is much that Canadians today could learn from these two men.
B & L kick ass!