Ottawa July 25 1880

Private & Confidential

My dear Robinson

You ought to have come down at all hazards when I wrote you. It would I think have been better for your future - but it is too late now, as Govt could not delay the appointment any longer. If your [appt] loses [in] West Toronto, your "usefulness will be gone" and the party will clamour in such a manner as to makeyour tenure uncomfortable if not impossible - The Privy Council were of course a good deal concerned at the step, but finally resolved to throw the responsibility on you

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- So you will have to ["move your boots lively"] in West Toronto.--- Now that it is finally settled - I must repeat what I have said to you before - that I never promised you the office - my [utmost] statement to you was that if you ran [at][our] Emergency for [us], you would be taken care of - As an old Cabinet Minister you know that I could make no such promise - that the [illegible] did not belong to me but to the Ministry as a whole. I have your letter written in Consequence of my telling you that [T R Gibbs] had prior [claims] - stating that you would take the [ship] - and when

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I was last in Toronto, I was there for the purpose of seeing whether it was safe to open the [illegible]. You know also that I mentioned this to [B____] and your other friends that I met at the U.E. Club & that the question was as to the safety of this [illegible]. At that meeting [Aikins] & Tupper were present and on my leaving it I met you - You asked me how things were going to which I answered "favourably". I mention all this to put our relations in this matter right from the start.
And now wishing you all success in you new sphere of usefulness.

Believe me

Yours faithfully,

John Mcdonald

The Hon J.B. Robinson

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[Note: on back of letter J.B. Robinson has written "Never answered this production - didn't believe much of what is stated --"]

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