Editing Robert Baldwin (section)

=== To the Rebellion of 1837 ===
[[Image: John George Lambton, 1st Earl of Durham by Thomas Phillips.jpg|thumb|left|John George Lambton,<br> 1st Earl of Durham.]]
After losing his seat in the 1830 election, Baldwin withdrew to his private legal practice until his wife's death as a result of a Caesarian in 1836. He took no part in the [[Reform Movement (Upper Canada)|Political Union movement]] of the 1830s. Two weeks after Eliza Baldwin's death, Sir [[Francis Bond Head]] (1793&ndash;1875) arrived as the new Lieutenant Governor, to address reform grievances. He sought out and appointed reformers Baldwin, John Dunn and [[John Rolph (politician)|John Rolph]] to the [[Executive Council of Upper Canada|Executive Council]] with three [[Family Compact|Compact]] members. Baldwin's condition for joining the Executive Council was a verbal commitment by Bond Head to a responsible government. Bond Head later refused to give written confirmation of the agreement, so Baldwin resigned within a month and convinced the other councilors, both Reform and Tory, to resign with him. This convinced Bond Head that the Reformers were intractable. He called an immediate election, in which he as Lt. Governor waded into the electoral fray, and with the use of Orange Order polling violence, expunged the reformers from the Legislative Assembly.{{sfn|Saul|2010|pp=55-56}}

Baldwin traveled to Great Britain in 1836 to see the colonial secretary, Lord Glenelg but was refused. He wrote to Glenelg that "if the Mother Country desires to retain the colony ... it can only be done either by force or with the consent of the people. I take it for granted that Great Britain cannot desire to exercise a Government of the Sword." He laid out the remedy – responsible government – but was spurned, and the colony descended into rebellion.{{sfn|Saul|2010|pp=57-59}}
{{wikisource|Report on the Affairs of British North America}}
Though a moderate reformer, Robert Baldwin strongly disapproved of the [[Upper Canada Rebellion|rebellion]] of 1837&ndash;38, and as a function of his views provided allegedly a lackluster defense of [[Peter Matthews (rebel)]], who was executed for his role in the Rebellion. Baldwin served as an intermediary, with John Rolph, between the rebels and the Lt. Governor, carrying a flag of truce to the rebel camp north of Toronto on 5 December 1837, but failed to head off an armed clash.{{sfn|Stagg|1985|p=xlvi}} He and his father William advised [[John Lambton, 1st Earl of Durham|Lord Durham]] to suggest [[responsible government]] to the British government.