S. RINTOUL
SIR,—Your tribute to R. S. Rintoul and his associa- tion with the Spectator is very interesting, but has Paul Bloomfield not got astray with some of his assertions? Is he not rather unfair to the Radicals and does he not magnify the result of the work of the Colonial Reformers?
It is correct that Rintoul basked in the reflected glory of the 'Radical Joseph Hume' as stated in the article, and by the same authority he is said to have been `on excellent terms with Charles Buller,' who was described by Carlyle as 'the greatest Radical' he had ever met. It is also a fact that Charles Buller and Gibbon Wakefield were members of the staff of Lord Durham in his Canadian mission which resulted in his famous Report on the Affairs of British North America. This Report immeasurably more than the work of the Colonial Reformers (offspring of Philo- sophical Radicals!) was the source to which must be attributed the British Commonwealth, and entitles Lord Durham to the credit of being its Founder Statesman. Lack of imperial vision was not confined to any one party. Did not Disraeli in 1852 write : The wretched colonies will all be independent in a few years, and are a millstone round our necks'? There were Little Englanders in all the parties then.— Yours faithfully, JAMES L. MCDONALD
Crow Garth, Downhill Lane, West Boldon, Co. Durham
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