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A PLEA FOE THE EXTENSION

UNIVERSITY EDUCATION

IN CANADA,

AND MORE ESPECIALLY IN CONNECTION WITH THE

McGILL UNIVERSITY, MONTREAL.

'•I ■^

Bv J. W. DAWSON, LL D., F.R.S.,
Principal and Vice-Chancelior of McGill University.

JiONTREALi

PRtKTBD AT tfiB OPFtOE OF JOHN 0. BKdKKT, SAINT JAMES STRKkI*.

1870.

A PLEA FOR UNIVERSITY EXTENSION.

Introductory.

The following pages relate to a subject which has employed the
thoughts and enf /gies of the writer, in conjunction with other friends
of education, for the last fourteen years, — the erection and perman-
ent establishment of a University worthy of this great city, and fitted
to be the centre of the higher education for the English of the Pro-
ince of Quebec, and to shed abroad the practical influence of scien-
tific training and the amenities of literary culture throughout Can-
ada. Montreal has already, as becomes its pre-eminence in population
and wealth, distinguished itself by its liberality in the support of the
higher education ; and I cannot doubt that it will receive, at least,
with patient attention, any suggestions that may be offered with ref-
ference to the extension and improvement of its own University, —
the creation of its own wise liberility, the sharer of its fortunes, and
the enhancer of its prosperity and renown as a centre, not only of
wealth, but of liberal education.

The circumstances which induce a reference to this subject at
present are the following. The University has continued, with a
careful economy, to treasure up and use for the purposes of the
higher education, the estate bequeathed by Mr. McGiil, and the
sums subsequently placed at its disposal by the liberality of the
citizens of Montreal. It has now reached the utmost point of de-
velopment which these resources will permit. The hope was at on$
time entertained that the pledges of public support, given to the
Boyal Institution by the Government of Canada, would have been
redeemed ; but after a long and ineffectual struggle, the University
is obliged to admit, that by the New Constitution of the Dominion,
and the pubsequent action of the Legislature of Quebec, these ques-
tions have been settled in a way adverse to the interests of the higher
education. The McGill University must now depend almost en-
tirely for its support and extension on the City of Montreal ; and
it is for its friends in this city to determine whether, by being left to
be stationary, it shall in effect retrograde, relatively to the increasing

demands of our modern civilisation, relatively to the progress of this
city, and relatively to the advancement of Universities elsewhere.
True wisdom would dictate that the decision should bo in favour
of extension. Nor docs this imply any neglect of or competition with
the interests of the religious institutions, the public charities, the
elementary education, or the commercial and manufacturing enter-
prises of the city. The University can be sustained without injury
to these ; and in its nature it is fitted directly or indirectly to pro-
mote all these great interests to an extent much beyond that of the
means which it may require.

In the hope that these views of the question may be entertained,
I venture to invite the attention of the friends of education in Mon-
treal, to the subject of University extension as dependent on them-
selves ; and in doing so, I believe that I shall express the convictions
of all those who have been my fellow-workers in this enterprise, and
who feel that the time has arrived when it becomes a public duty
again to call attention to the many avenues in the culture of mind —
the richest of all the resources of nations, — from which we are at pres-
ent debarred by hindrances which might easily be removed.

Natube op University Extension.

The extension of University Education may be viewed in
several very dissimilar aspects. The expression may have reference
to the number of persons who receive an academical education, or to
whom its benefits may be accessible. In this sense it is most fre-
quently employed In the continuous agitation in England respecting
the possibility of increasing the number of students in the older'
Universities, and more especially in Oxford. Again, in speaking of
University extension, we may have reference to the enlarging of the
scope of collegiate study, or of the University examinations for
degre<^s and honours. Such extension has taken place largely in the
courses of the English Universities in our own time, and is still in
progress. A third, consists in the increase of the number of Univer-
sities, such as that which we have witnessed in a late session
of our Janadian Legislature, in nearly doubling at one stroke
the number of Universities in Ontario, a province which already
possessed too large a number of such institutions.

I need scarcely say, that I should be sorry to see this last kind

Ill

of University cxt iision introduced into this Province, since I be-
lieve that the number of our Universities is already sufficiently
jj;reat ; but I shall proceed to en(iuire as to the degree of possible or
desirable extension of our Universities, and more especially of
that of IVIontreal, in the direction of cnlarj^ed scope of study
and training, and in the direction of enabling larger numbers
of students to avail themselves of the advantages of collegiate edu-
cation.

In regard to its course of study, the McGill University has not
limited itself within the narrow boundaries of the older collegiate
education of the mother country. Until the late reforms introduced
into the English Universities, their ordinary or imperative course of
study had, under the influence of the Colleges upon the examining
body, been narrowed down to little more than a very moderate amount
of classics and mathematics, and shewed no tendency to incorporate
with itself any portion of the more modern literature and science
of our own time. lu short, the Universities confin(;d themselves to
the work of training the mental powers of students to move along a
very narrow and restricted track, and they tru.'ited for their reputa-
tion to the eminence attained by a comparatively small number of
honour men, while the ordinary students were allowed to leave the Uni^
versity with little enlargement of mind beyond that acquired in cchool.

It may be instructive here to enquire how so singular a result as
the actual narrowing of a collegiate course, in the face of the immense
growth of modern learning, was arrived at in the older English Uni^
versities. The story may be shortly told thus : —

In the middle ages when these Univeisltlcs were established,
their reputation was based on the labours of distinguished and cele-
brated teachers who occupied the professorial chairs. The concourse
of students to the lectures of these men was so great, that the
erection of Colleges and Halls fov their accommodation became desir-
able, and wealthy and benevolent men undertook this work for the
poorer students. At first, these foundations were merely a sort of
better lodging-houpes. with tutors to superintend the lives and studies
of the inmates. But^these QoUeges were separate corporations, and
in course of time they became ^influential in the University, and
began to engross to themselves the teaching of the students, as well

as to control the examinations for degrees. In such circumstances, it
was the inevitable tendency on the part of the Colleges to reduce the
requirements for the degree to the range of subjects taught by their
own tutors, or in other words to the possible .stiuidard of the weaker
Colleges, which could only afford to teach a few of the more stationary
or less j^rogressivo subjects. Thus the lectures of the University
professors became loss and less necessary for the ordinary students,
who, by what was described by one of its opponents as a system of
"cramming and partial teaching" on the part of the tutors of the
Colleges, could reach the required standard. In defence of this
system, it could be argued that proficiency in a few things was better
than a smattering of several, and that the old established subjects
which were inflexible and unchanging in comparison with the new
sciences, admitted of more certain and rigorous examination-tests ;
but the real ground was the narrow desire of the Colleges to retain
the work and the profits of teaching within themselves, and to reject
all subjects which required any means and appliances not possessed
by the individual Colleges. At Oxford, the statute of 1800 which
for the first time established a rigorous system of University exami-
nations for the degrees, found the power of the Colleges already in
full exercise, and was moulded by i». But just as the College tutors
had contrived to cut out the University professors, so a new class of
meT> arose in consequence of this statute, and to some extent super-
seded the College tutors. These were the private tutors, and it is
stated that in 1840 and '41 no less than one-fifth of the students availed
themselves of the services of these "coaches" at an aggregate expense
of £10 000 a year. About the same time Dr. Peacock, a tutor at
Trinity College, Cambridge, in his work on the statutes of that Uni-
versity, states that a large proportion of the students resort to
private tutors " to whom they pay on an average £40 a year."
These teachers he sayd are " young and inexperienced and not com-
petent to convey enlarged views ;" and he attributes to this the pau-
city of works of learning nnd research proceeding from the Univer-
sity.

The extent of this remarkable narrowing or retrogression of the
English Universities, may be learned from the fact, that in 1839,
the Professors of Experimental Philosophy, Comparative Anatomy,
Chemistry, Mineralogy, Geology, Botany, Geometry and Astronomy,

.-■j i ii .H i, naM lf „,„ l H|,, li,

■ii

at Oxford, though many of them were amon.ii; tlio most able mou of
their day, sent a petition to the Heads of Houses, in which thoy do-
chired that their classes had dwindled in some instances to one-fifth of
their former numbers, and that, unless some reform was introduced,
their usefulness would be at an ead. Thus, these subjects were
actually dying out at Oxford, while the number of students was not
diminishing, and while the subjects were gi'owin;j; in popularity and
importance in the estimation of the extra-academical world. The
Heads of Houses were sufficiently impressed with this portentous
phenomenon to pass a statute requiring studciits to take, at least,
two courses of professorial lectures, beforo passing for the degree of
B.A. But, as a late historian of these events remarks, " several aca-
demical generations had already grown up under the same system,"
and in utter ignorance that there is any educational or other value in
the subject? represented by the Professorships above named, while the
collegiate and private tutors merely felt that their interests were at stake,
and the statute was rejected by the Convocation. From this time, all
the mo lern sciences, though nominally taught, were actually exiled
from the University; and, with the exception of Mathematical stud-
ies, the same was the case at Cambridge.

In 1845, just at the time when the question of a University
Commission was being agitated in Parliament, and when the rivalry
of the new University of London was begining to rouse the atten-
tion of the other Universities, the views of the cultivators of modern
Science were thus expressed by Sir Charles Lyell, in an able resume
of the history of the Universities.

' The highest excellence in Literature or in Science, can only re-
sult from a life perseveringly devoted to one department. Such
unity of purpose and concentration of power, arc wholly inconsistent
with our academical machinery of tuition. The panegyrists indeed
of the modern University system in England, seem never to admit
candidly this plain truth, that the colleges have no alternative in
regard to the course of study open to them. Take any flourishing
University in Great Bi^itaiu or the Continent, Berlin for example, or
Bonn or Edinburgh, whefe a wide range of Sciences arc taught.
Let the Students be divided Into fifteen or more sections, without
any classification in reference to their age, acquirements, tastes or
future prospects. Vssign to each section a separate set of teachers,

I i

chiefly clerical and looking forward to preferment in the church and
public schools, and from them select al! your public examiners'
What must bo the result ? Tho immediato abandonment of three'
fourths of the sciences taught, while those retained will belong of
necessity to tho less progressive branchet) of human knowledge.
Under conditions so singular as those now imposed on Oxford and
Cambridge, I am ready to join their warmest eulogists and to con-
tend that their plan of education is the best."

Vrom this period, however, dates a new era of intellectual life in
the English Universities ; and, as evidence of its extent, we now have
Oxford presenting in its new Museum and the Eadcliffc Scientific
liibrary connected with it, one of the noblest provisions in the
world for tho study of Natural and Physical Science, and offering
it's highest honours to the successful cultivators of those Sciences,
while its ablest men are now discussing the means for giving to these
and its other educational privileges a wider extension for the benefit
of those who are now excluded from the University by the expensive
modes of life, which have singularly enough resulted from that very
provision of Colleges and HaiiS, originally instituted to aid poor
students.

Oua PosiTiOx. AND History.

I have mentioned these things, principally to shew that the
time when this University was re-organised, say from 1850 to 1855j
was a time of strife between things new and old in collegiate educa-
tion. Wo had before us the old English system, and the improve-
ments then recently introduced or recommended. We had the me-
thods of the Scottish, German and American Universities, which dif-
fered altogether from those of England, and also to a great extent
from one another. We had the new University of London, and the
Queen's Universities of Ireland, with their peculiar modification of the
idea that a University should be an examining rather than a
teaching body. We had the imitation of this system introduced into
Canada in the new University of Toronto, and we had the chequered
history of McGill itself, and the peculiarities which had been impres-
sed on it by the conditions of its origin and existence.

In these circumstances, it would have been the easiest course to
have fallen back on the limited curriculum of the English Univerai-

'' < W H Mi

■ 11.11 ill I ''■

ties, and to have oBtabliBhcd here a bare imitation of one of their

smaller CollegcH, with as much of University ehow, titles pnd ceremo-
nies, as our li ated means would permit. Such a course, if sucooss-
ful for a little time, would have ncccssurily failed in the end. The
learning which we should have had to offer, would have been of that kind
for which, however valuable, the palate of a new and young society
has little relish. The laws and usages of this country gave none of
that prescription in favour of such studies which exists in older
countries. We had no mass of educated gentry trained in this me-
thod to support us. Even admitting that we had recognized this as
the true ideal of the TTniversity, it would have been hopeless to have
made the attempt.

Another course would have been to have taken as our constitu-
tion that of the newest universities of the old world, and to have
vaunted before the country a magnificent and ultra-liberal programme of
modern studies and options, regardless of all that had been before
done here, and to the subversion of the older and time-honoured cur-
riculum of college learning. This would have been dan.-^erous with
our limited means. It might, under favourabhi circumstances, have
led to a magnificent if unsubstantial success. It would more likely
have resulted in a gigantic failure.

The authorities of tins University did neither of these things.
Carefully cherishing every t'lenient of success already existing in the
College, dropping only what seemed useless or harmful, they at-
tempted to gather around the University an able and efficient staff of
instructors, representing in the first instance the subjects most essen-
tial in a college course, and, in the second place, those more modern
subjects, which by being more popular, and in some respects more
practical, increase the value, of the education given, and at the
same time cause it to be more sought after. This being secured,
mere forms and rules were at first left somew at vague, that they
might shape themselves according to the necessities of the case, as
these should arise. At the same time, the University was connected,
as far as possible, with the practical wants of life in this country, by
its two Professional Faculties, its Normal School, its attempts in the
direction of Schools of Agriculture, of Engineering, and of Practical
Chemistry, and by its courses pf Popular Lectures. Some pf (hes^ 9,tr

tempts have been discontinued, either because the need of them had
ceased, or from want of students, or want of means, but others have
been eminently successful, and all have oontributed somewhat to the
growth of the University.

Our next stage of progress consisted in giving to the University
a local habitation, by the occupation of the original College Buildings
above Sherbrooke Street, previously unused because of their dis-
tance from the heart of the city. This was followed in a short time
by that most munificent act of Mr. William Molson, which has
brought our buildings to their present state cf c^mpletencss.

Our next stage has been the affiliation of new Colleges, and the
consolidation of our regulations in a definite and determinate form,
a work o"ly completed ia recent years. Our position in these
respects is not precisely like that of any other University with
which I am acquainted ; but partakes of the methods of several, and
seems eminently fitted to the work we have to do in this country. As
an evidence of this, it has been imitated in several of the newer or
more recently reorganised Colleges of British America, and some of
the points which we have practically settled are now subjects of
discubsion in connection with the farther reforms now sought in the
Universities of Great Britain.

The position which we h'ive thus attained, with our three Facul-
ties, numbering 20 professors and lecturers, and 300 students, our
cot modious buildings, our collections, our apparatus, and our library,
is one which, when we consider the slender means at our command,
and our absolute want of those public endowments which most Uni-
versities in other countries have enjoyed, may well excite our grati-
tude and our wonder. But my object, at present, is not to look
back on what we have done, but rather to look forward to what we
may and should do in the time to come, and on this subjec* I desire
to explain to our friends my views as to certain objects which I place
before me as desiderata, ond which I should i Spice to see effected before
I shall be removed fro.a my sphere of active educational usefulness.

Application op Science to the Arts.
In the first place, I never cease to lament the small extent to
which we have been able to promote the practical applications of
science to art in this country. I am aware that it may be r .garded

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as our special sphere to deal with the more purely educational rather
than with the practical business of life ; but in a country so lament-
ably deficient in schools of art and applied science, and yet aspiring
to success in those industrial arts which without such schools
must be crude, abortive, and unsatisfactory, this would be a most
useful department of labour for us,

I had hoped that when the government of this country was so
far aroused to its duty in this respect as to appoilnt a Board of Arts
and Manufactures in Lower Canada, we should soon have had efifec-
tive art and science schools, and the authorities of this university were
ready to co-operate fully and frankly in this great work ; but these
hopes have proved illusory, and as yat nothing permanent has been
effected.

Our School of Engineering, successful in the number of pupils
attracted to it, and calculated to confer great benefits ou the country,
was worried with professional and official opposition ; and, unaided by
the public, was at length suspended owing to the temporary
financial embarrassments of the University. Our chair of Practical
Chemistry, though filled by the most eminent Chemist in this country,
has failed to attract our artisans or manufacturers to receive its
benefits, and the same fate has befallen my own efforts to bring the
principles of Scientific Agriculture under the notice of our farmers.

Some men may regard these efforts as failures, which should not
be referred to here. For my own part I am not ashamed of them.
Directly or indirectly, they have done good ; there is not one of them
which is not important to the material progress of this country ; and
there is not one of them which by us, or others, will not be at length
successfully carried out. I do not yet despair of any of them ; and
I am prepared, should I remain in this University, to watch for the
opportunity to revive any of them when favourable circumstances shall
occur. In the meantime, they remain as projects inchoate and so
far matured in their plans and methods, as to be readily brought to
completion by the aid of any one desirous of stimulating through us
the development of any of those arts to which they relate. We wait
for some Canadian Lawrence or Sheffield to endow for us a Scien-
tific School, like those of Harvard and Yale, which have contributed
so greatly to the wealth and progress of New Ecgland.

it:

The report of the Treasurer of Harvai-d, for 1864, states that
Mr. James Lawrence, in addition to the gift of two thousand five
hundred dollars, towards fitting up a laboratory, " fills up the muni-
ficence of his father" by the additional gift of fifty thousand dollars
as a fund for the support of the Chemical and Engineering Depart-
ments of the Lawrence Scientific School. Still more recently, the
sum of $50,000 has been given to found a School of Mines in Har-
vard College, and an Institute of Technology has been founded iu
Boston with an endowment of half-a-million of dollars, two thirds of
that sum being from private sources. I may mention in con-
nection with this, that the General Government of the United States
has, by a leccnt Act, oifered to every State, which shall establish a
College, where the leading object shall be, without excluding other
Scientific and Classical studies, and including Military tactlos, to
teach such branches of learning as are related to Agriculture and the
Mechanic Arts, a free grant of 30,000 acres of land for each Senator
or Representative to which such State may be entitled. The State
of Connecticut has bestowed its share of this grant on the Sheffield
School of Yale College. The portion of the same grant falling to
New York has, when supplemented by the generosity of a citizen of
the State, given birth to the now famous Cornell University.

When we reason as to the causes of the growth of wealth in the
United States, we should not forget their magnificent educational
foundations, which send out annually hundreds of able men trained in
the applications of mathematical^ physical, and chemical science.
These men alone would enable our American brethren to hold their
own against the world, in the'battle of the industrial arts and applied
sciences, without any other advantage whatever. The want of such
men must keep us far behind them, until we endow similar schools.

The mother country might furnish us with equally eminent ex-
amples of the value attached to practical science, I shall refer to
one only. Owens' College, Manchester, is one of the newer institu-
tions affiliated to the University of London, and much employed
in science teaching. It was founded by John Owens, a merchant of
Manchester, who bequeathed to it nearly £100,000. Its students,
at first few, have risen to 173. It has also 324 students in evening
classes, intended for the benefit of those who must work durinsc the

864, states that
thousand five
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8 students,
in eveninc
iuring the

day. Since the foundation of the College, :e20,000 has been left to
it in benefactions of various kinds, chiefly for founding scholarships
and building the laboratory. An endowment is being subscribed to
establish a Chair of Engineering in this College, and this by mem-
bers of the Engineering profession itself, who have given nearly
£10,000 to this object already. It is "considered desirable to raise
a fund of je200,000 to extend the buildings of the College."
Government has promised to give a sum equal to the subscriptif,
and ^660,000 has been already rai.sed, with the hope that it will be
increased to £100,000.

If, as is hoped, the Government of this country is about to
supply one of our most urgent needs in this respect, by the estab-
lishment of a Mining School in connection with the Geological
Survey, it will probably fall to this University, from its local posi-
tion, to give much of the educational aid, without which experience
elsewhere has shewn that such a School cannot be fully successful.
In this way we hope that there may be «, greater demand than here-
tofore for those facilities for scientific education provided here j and
whatever aid may be given by the Government, it will in the first in-
stance merely supplement the larger provisions made by the libe-
rality of the friends of education in Montreal, and should in the
sequel be a stimulus to the further exercise of that liberality.

LiiJRARY, Apparatus and Museum.

Auother opening for extension occurs in what may bo termed the
external appliances of instruction. Twelve years ago this University was
almost destitute of these, except in so far as the Faculty of Medicine was
concerned. The library of the Faculty of Arts consisted of a few volumes
of public records. The apparatus was of small amount, antiquated
and out of order. When I enonircd as to the collections in Natural
History, the late secretary handed to me a small specimen of one of
the most common corals in the limestone of this vicinity, and said
that it constituted the museum. All this is very difiierent now, and
when the circumstances are considered, our advan<iement seems
almost incredible. But we are still far short of what we might be.
A library of six or seven thousand volumes, and the excellent room for
which ■'ft have to thank Mr. Molson, constitute a good nucleus, but
that is all. The admirable historical collection presented by Mr.

i'r

Peter Hedpath and the classical colic 3tion presented by Mr. C. Alex-
ander furnish examples in this respect well deserving of imitation. Mr.
Redpath has filled ope alcove with standard books of History. Others
remain which might well be filled, by similar acts of generosity, with
collections in Classical Literature, Mental and Moral Science, Phy-
sical Science, Natural Science, or in the literature of any of the
Modem Languages.

In regard to apparatus for the teaching of Physical and Chem-
ical Science, it is not necessary that I should go beyond the limits
of Canada for examples worthy of imitation. Let any of our friends
who may visit Quebec, examine the magnificent galleries in Laval
University, filled with the most varied and costly apparatus, and he
will see, that though our comparatively slender collection now em
braces all that is absolutely necessary, and though it has been materially
improved by the additions recently made through the private liber-
ality of members of the Board of Governors, it is far from having attain-
ed a complete condition, and in the present rapid growth of Physical
Science it yearly requires large additions. Under this head also, it may
be mentioned as scarcely creditable to Montreal, that its University
should want a good Astronomical Telescope. This would however
require for its full utility not the instrument alone, but a properly
fitted up Observatory and the means to sustain an Observer.

In Natural Science, a Museum sufficient to illustrate our pre-
sent courses of Lectures has been accumulated almost without ex-
pense to the University, and we have access to the valuable collections
of the Natural History Society, and the Museum of the Geological
Survey. But in means to facilitate advanced study and original
research we are still very deficient. Such institutions are things
of recent growth elsewhere. Oxford continued to litist for 200 years,
in the face of the continued publication of the Transactions of the
Royal Society and of the growth of modern science represented In that
publication, without recognising as a part of her educational system
the systematic study of the works of God ; and it is only within the
last few years, th?,t, waking up from that great practical irreligion, she
has devoted the iiunificent sum of £30,000 to the erection of that
noble Museum, which with its splendid provisions for collections,
lectmre-rooms and laboratories, and books in Natural and Physical

by Mr. C. Alex-
imitation. Mr,
istory. Others
generosity, Tvith
Science, Phy-
of any of the

ical and Chem-
ond the limits
J of our friends
leries in Laval
)aratus, and he
ction now em
been materially
e private liber-
1 having attain-
nh. of Physical
leadalso.itmay
: its University
would however
)ut a properly
server.

trate our pre-
it without ex-
ible collections
the Geological
Y and original
•ns are things
for 200 years,
actions of the
jsented in that
itional system
ily within the
irreligion, she
Jction of that
•r collections,
and Physical

Science, is one of the educational wonders of our age, and which is
open, not only to the students of the University, but to extra-acade-
mical or, as we should say, occasional students. Even now a move-
ment is in progress to give to Cambridge a similar establishment, and
to redeem its valuable collections in Natuial History from compara-
tive disrepair and confusion.

Scotland was before England in this respect ; and the fine Mu-
seum Hall of the University of Edinburgh, with its rich collections
in Zoology and Mineralogy, and the lectures delivered in these and
other subjects in Natural History, were an attraction to students from
abroad, at a time when no similar advantages existed in England.
As a student, I enjoyed its benefits a quarter of a century ago ; when
I crossed the Atlantic in search of that training in Natural Science
which was then comparatively of so difficult attainment. But the Edin-
burgh Museum has been found too small for the requirements of the
present day. Breaking across an adjoining street, it has "annexed "
a whole block of houses, and is erecting on their ruins a splendid buil-
ding, one hall of which, the only one existing four years ago, when I
visited it, is comparable in magnitude to our exhibition building,
and has for its central specimen an immense skeleton of a whale,
more than sixty feet in length.

On this side of the Atlantic, Harvard has, in addition to her
former rich collections, organized her great museum of Comparative
Zoology, which under the management of Prof. Agassiz is now ia
some departments one of ihe richest in the world, and which has
received grants of $20,000 annually from the State Legislature,
in addition to its annual revenue of several thousand dollars from
endowments. These great efforts have been imitated elsewhere,
and they call for imitators here ; where, though our collections
in Natural History are very valuable and as accessible as it is
possible for them to be, their extent is small and there are many
important blanks to be filled. What may be termed a fortunate
accident has recently given us an excallent and most complete col-
lection in one important department. I refer to the admirable and
extensive conchological collection of Dr. Philip Carpenter, pre-
sented by him on the most liberal terms to the University. We
have been enabled to take advantage of this benefaction only by
a subscription on the part of a number of oui' friends.

il 1

Before leaving this subject, I would mention our want of a Bota-
nic garden. Our herbarium has been steadily growing, since its foun-
dation in the liberal donation of the Herbarium of the late Dr. Holmes.
But the want of a Botanic Garden, and more especially of a Conser-
vatory, which might facilitate the teaching of Botany in winter,
and familiarise our students with the forms of exotic vegetation, is
severely felt. With us a Museum has preceded a Garden. The
reverse order has usually been observed elsewhere. The Botanic
Garden of Oxford dates from 1632, three years before the old
Ashmolean Museum was built, and that of Cambridge from 1670 ;
and both are still green, flourishing and useful.

Special Lectureships.

There is another department of educational usefulness, in which
Canada might borrow a hint fi-om the older Universities of the mother
country. There are many branches of study in which regular in-
struction cannot be conveniently given in the College curriculum,
and which are best taught, not by the continuous lectures of an or-
dinary professor, but by the occasional and vivid utterances of some
enthusiastic advocate or specialist, who, if he cannot give systematic
instruction, can attract attention to his subject — and shew forth its
most important results. Provision for such subjects may be made
by Lectureships, to be held by distinguished men, annually appointed.
Such are the Bampton Lectures, at Oxford, on the Christian Evi-
dences ; the Reade Lecture, and the Hulsean Lectures at Cambridge.
Such lectureships afford the means of new and ever fresh instruction,
tend to promote the study and improvement of important branches
of knowledge, and constitute prizes and distinctions to which the cul-
tivators of subjects not ordinarily taught in schools and colleges, but
of importance to society, may look forward as encouragements in their
labours.

As topics which might thus be provided f^r, I aoay suggest
che following : —

The Evidences of Christianity, and Biblical Literature in
general.

Historical Subjects, as for instance, those bearing on the
History of our own country.

want of a Bota-
g, since its foun-
late Dr. Holmeo.
ally of a Conser-
tany in winter,
ic vegetation, is

Garden. The

The Botanic

before the old

dge from 1670 ;

ulness, in which
es of the mother
lich regular in-
3ge curriculum,
jctures of an or-
3rances of some
give systematic
id shew forth its
3 may be made
lually appointed.
Christian Evi-
js at Cambridge,
resh instruction,
ortant branches
which the cul-
nd colleges, but
gements in their

I may suggest

Literature in
aring on the

Hygiene, and matters connected with Sanitary Refoim.
l*olitical Economy and Statistics,

Special Departments of Natural Science, as Metcorolofry,
Physical Geography, and specialities in the Natural
History of Canada,

Fine Art, more especially in relation to its introductiou
into this country, and cultivation here.

Others might be suggested ; and it is evident that this de-
partment of usefulness affords ample scope for the munificence of
many benefactors disposed io endow l>;iotureships in any of these sub-
jects, open to annual appointment by the Corporation of the
University.

Endowed Professorships,

I shall close that part of my subject which relates to the exteq-
Bion of the course and means of instruction, by referring very shortly
to that which is perhaps of all modes of promoting the mainte-
nance and extension of the higher education the most important.
I mean provision for the permanent support of professoriaJ chairs.

Our leading Professorships should be permanently endowed.
'The Professors are, after all, the essence of the University. Only
.one of our existing chairs is endowed — the Molson Chair of Eng-
lish Literature. All the others are dependent on the general funds
fof the University, and therefore contingent on its financial state and
' management. I would wish here to say, as omphatioally as possible,
that in no way could our friends more effectually benefit the cause of
education, than by the Endowment of Existing Chairs. Such
endowments would set free portions of the general revenue for other
' purposes, and would ensure the perpetual support of a succession of
'■ competent teaching men in important departments of learning. Could
our more essential chairs be thus permanently endowed, this would
not only be the most assured guarantee for our continued prosperity,
but would furnish means suflBicient to allow us to provide for many
of the important objects already mentioned, or to bo referred to in
the sequel.

It is proper to add that though our number of Professors in
Arts is greater than that of most Universities in this country, yet

Ill

ill

the range of study pursued here, necessitates that each cliair shall
cover subjects so lumerous that many of our professorships would
advantageously admit of sub-division, or at least of aid to the Pro-
fessors, by means of tutors.

Increase op Students.

1 now turn to that department of extension, which relates to
the increase of the number of those who receive the benefits of aca-
demical education. This end we have constantly kept in view, and
have endeavoured to secure it by the reduction of our fees, and the
granting of free tuition, under proper conditions ; by not insisting on
residence in the College buildings; by the admission of occasional and
partial students ; by granting exemptions to professional students ; and
by the affiliation of Colleges in other places, the students of which
may have their examinations conducted simultaneously with those of
McGill College by the University Examiners, and uuiy attain to
our degrees and honours. These measures have been, to a large er.-
tent, successful, and it is satisfactory to us to find that they have
been commending themselves to educators elsewhere, not only in these
Colonies, but abroad. Among the various schemes now before the
authorities of the English Universities, for the reduction of their
expenses and the increase of the number of students, there are pro-
posals for arrangements for affiliation and non-residence similar to
ours. In evidence of this, on one of these points, I may quote the
following remarks from an able paper on this subject, by Dr. Temple :

" No other plan (than that of non-residence) holds out any real
prospect of making Oxford cheap. In cases such as this, there is,
you may depend upon it, no economy like freedom. Even the work-
houses administered by guardians jealous of the rates, cannot keep
paupers as cheaply as labourers can keep themselves, and the princi-
ple holds good for all ranks alike. A poor student left to himself,
can choose his own privations, and fit them to his own ability to bear,
can choose his own society, can contract his expenditure if he finds
it too great — can do all this without exciting unpleasant remark.
The same man in a College is compelled to share some expenses
which he would be quite willing to dispense with ; is to a certain
extent drawn into extravagance, whether he likes it or not ; always
spending more money and often finding less oomfort." And he goes on

•mmmsmm--

1 chair shall

■ships would

to the Pro-

h relates to
efits of aca-
in view, and
ees, and the
insisting on
casional and
udents; and
ts of which
ith those of
liy attain to
• a large er-
t they have
nly in these
before the
ion of their
ive are pro-
similar to
'■ quote the
f. Temple:

it any real
, there is,
I the work-
mnot keep
the princi'
o himself,
^y to bear,
if he finds
t remark.

expenses

a certain
'', always
le goes on

to show, that the benefits .supposed to result from the society of tho
UniverMity, can be be fjuitc as well secured by non-resident students.

While however in the points above relorrod to, we have endea-
voured to carry out a liberal policy, and to extend the benefits of
the University as widely as possible, there are sonic kinds of exten-
sion which we have avoided as unsafe or improper, and others, which
though desirable, our finances would not allow us to attempt.

While we have been ready to afliliate Colleges either giving an
adequate course in Arts, or providing for professional studies, we have
felt the danger of doing this at the expense of any lowering of the
standard of education ; and we have endeavoured in all our arrange-
ments of this kind to preserve our standing in this respect, though,
by allowing options and exemptions in taking the degree, we
have given all reasonable oppor^ aities to afiiliatcd Colleges, even
when unable to teach all the subjects for which we make provision.

On the other hand, we have resisted altogether that idea pre-
valent in some ruarters, that the University should be not a teach-
ing, but merely an examining body, and should receive students to
its examinations without insisting on any superintendence of their
training. This we believe differs as widely from the true function
of the University as mere cramming for examinations does from real
education. We hold also, notwithstanding some shallow objections
frequently made, that the best examiners are actual teachers. It is
easy to parade many plausible reasons why University examinations
should be conducted only by persons supposed to be disinterested:
but in practice, such persons of sufl&cient attainments are not easily
obtained, especially in this country, and their examinations are often
of a very defective character. We are desirous to secure the aid,
when opportunity offers, of the Professors of other College", and we
should be glad, did our means permit, to associate with our Profes-
sors extra-academical examiners ; but I hope it may be long before
this University shall be induced by any specioue theories to trust its
examinations wholly, or principally, to non-professorial examiners,
or to admit to its examinations for degrees, .'^tudr nts not trained un-
der its own regulations and supervision. To use the strong words of
a late Lord Rector of Glasgow, "to degrade a University to
the position of a Board of Examiners for Degrees, is to forget, not

only the history of UoiverMties, butaleo what their true and primary
functions are."

The history of Universities abroad, and our experience in this
country, shew, that however desirable one examining body for all
our colleges would be, it is necessary: — Ist. That this body should
centre in one strong and vigorous teaching institution : 2nd. That it
should command the services of practical educators : 3rd. That it
should require collegiate training, as opposed to mere cramming for
the examinations : and lastly, that it should be independent of the nar-
rowing influence of the weaker colleges.

Aids to Students.

I would now desire to invite your attention lo one of tl c urgent
wants of this University in the direction of its profitable extension.
It has but two Scholarships, in the ordinary sense of the term, in aid of
poor students, and neither of these as yet permanently endowed. What
we have hitherto called Scholarships, only exempt the holder from the
fees of tuition . T hey give him no money aid towards the prosecution of
his studies. I know that the idea of thus aiding men to obtain a liberal
education, is one of slow growth in a country like this. To found a Scho-
larship, say of $120 annually, requires a considerable capital, and it
shows no tangible result like a medal, a building, or a library. Its results
appear only in the less showy, though more valuable, form of the
labours of a succession of men going forth to occupy useful places in
society ; but it is to be observed that it thus, in the most direct man-
ner, serves the interests of learning. Where employment is so easily
obtained with a very limited amount of education, and where even
the higher professions are open to men without the degree in Arts,
it seems unnecessary to pay men to go on with an academical edu-
cation. Yet even these considerations should, when rightly viewed,
rather lead to a favourable conclusion as to the value of bursaries ;
and this more especially since the experience of all other Universi-
ties has shown that such foundations exercise a highly beneficial
effect, not only iu adding to the number of students and in aiding
able men in narrow circumstances, but also, in raising the standard
of acquirement of the students as a whole. It is true, that some
difficulty exists as to the conditions on which such aids should be
given. If given merely to aid poor men, they might often be

bestowed on those whose abilities are insufficient to produce ade-
quate results for the expenditure. If given only to the ablest
competitors, they may go to tlioso who have, by reason of
wealth or other incidental advantages, the best means of preparation.
The real use of such aids, in so far as the individual is concerned,
is to promote the education of young men of markeu ability and in
humble or indigent circumstances. In so far as the University is
concerned, it is to raise the standard of preparation and acquirement.
These results may be attained both in the Faculty of Arts and in the
Professional Faculties, and these aids also afford a strong and
healthy stimulus to the preparatory schools. In the older Univer-
sities, where such assistance has been liberally offered, though some
endowments have failed to secure these benefits through injudicious
or defective regulations, an immense amount of good has, on the
whole, been effected. Without troubling you with the details of the
precautions required, I may merely say, that experience proves that
such scholarships should be open to general competition, and that this
competition should be renewed at intervals, not too frequent, so as to
reward persistent effort on the part of those less prepared at first.
Probably in a course of four years' duration, the scholarships should
be open to competition at the beginning of the course and at the end
of the second year, and there might be some scholarships for compe-
tition in the first year only, or in the second year only. Judging
from experience in this country, there is little danger that they
would be sought or obtained to any injurious extent by the sons of
wealthy persons, and there cannot be a doubt that they would secure
the education of many able men, now prevented by narrow circum-
stances, from attaining that culture which would render their powers
beneficial in the highest degree to their country.

Under the names of Scholarships, Exhibitions, Bursaries, and
Sizarships, great numbers of such inducements to study exist in the
Universities of Great Britain and Ireland, some of them being of
very small value, others affording handsome annual revenues ; some
being open to undergraduates, others only to those who have taken
a degree ; some being general, others for particular subjects ; some
open to competition, either general or under various restrictionij,
others given as presentations without competition. As the subject

f- rll f

is one as yot little understood here, I may cite a few examples of the
provision of such aids abroad.

In a late calendar of the University of Ediulurgh, I find that
there are in the Faculty of Arts Ob Bursaries tenable by underpira-
duates, and ranging in value from £4 10s sterling to £100 sterling, and
in duration from 1 year to 4. There are besides about 21 Scholar-
ships and Fellowships tenable by Masters of Arts, on various conditions,
and ranging in value from £60 to £120 each, and in duration from 1 to 4
years. This may be taken as a moderate provision of this nature, in a
University whose students in Arts number about 700, and the
friends of the University of Edinburgh arc now earnestly cndcavour-
iag to increase the number of Scholarships.

In Ireland, Trinity College, Dublin, in addition lo 34 Fellow-
ships held for life, and yielding handsome incomes, has four grades of
annual aids to students, known as Studentships, Scholarships, Sizar-
ships, and Exhibitions. Of Studcntshlpsi, there arc 14, tenable for 7
years, and with £100 sterling per annum These arc given by com-
petition to what we should call B. A. Honour men iu Classics and
Mathematrcs. Of Scholarships there arc 85 to 90 tenable by under-
graduates, and also for three years after taking the degree of
B. A. Their value may be stated at about £60 sterling each. Of
Sizarships there are 30, tenable up to taking the degree of B, A.
They are worth £35 to £40 each. Of Exhibitions there are more
than 100. They are held for one year by students, and of diflferent
values, from say, £20 to £60 per annum. Thus there are in all
more than 200 of these provisions giving substantial aid to deserving
students. The annual expenditure on these objects is J61 0,000 in
Scholarships, &c., and £30,000 in Fellowships.

In each of the three Colleges of the Queen's University in
Ireland, 55 scholarships have been instituted by the Government, at
an annual cost of £1,500 for each College, and these being found
insufl&cient, a number of others have been furnished by private
liberality. As the throe Colleges of the Queen's University in
Ireland, are all smaller than ours, in regard to the number of
students, this may serve as a fair standard of comparison for
our wants. The scholarships in the Queen's Universities are
all annual, and they are so arranged as to aid all the Faculties,

■i

■I

|eH of the

find that

iinderpjra-

•ling, and

Scholar-

(nditions,

from 1 to 4

iture, in a

and the

Ddeavour-

Fellow-

grades of

ps, Sizar-

lable for 7

n by com-

tassics and

by under-

degreo of

each. Of

of B. A.

are more

f diflferent

I are in all

deserving

10,000 in

versity in
•ninent, at
ing found
y private
versity in
lumber of
irison for
'sities are
Faculties,

particularly by promoting the taking of the degree in Arts by stu-
dents intending to enter the other I'^aculties, an arrangement which
would be very useful here.

It would occupy too much space to attempt even a summary of
the vast number of inducements to study, offered in the way o^
Scholarships and Fellowships in the two ancient Universities of
England. To give any idea of their number, of their conditions
and adaptations to different desjriptions of students, of their history
and utility, and of the great men who have been cherished and
aided in the opening of their career in life by their means, would
afford material for volumes. The following curious estimate, how-
ever, of what has been called the stimulating force of these older Uni-
versities, may be given on the authority of Mr. Bennet, the President
of Queen's College, Galway. He estimates this, for the Queen's Col-
leges, at what he regards as the exceptionally low rate of £6 sterling
per head of the students; for Dublin, at £28 Us.; for Cambridge,
at £66; and for Oxford, at £106 12s. Assuming this to be an ap-
proximation to the truth, it affords a vivid idea of the great prizes
which, even within the walls of the University, it is thought desir-
able to offer as stimuli to industry and talent ; and for the purpose
of bringing out into its full development the best ability of the
nation. The aggregate sum annually given in this way at Oxford
in minor aids to students, has been estimated at £80,000. The stim-
ulus thus given, is found also to act, not merely on those who strive
for these aids, but necessarily also ou those who strive for distinction
alone, but who must in order to earn this, keep up with the winners of
Scholarships and Fellowships. Nor are these struggles without their
effects in after life. Five members of the late Administration in Eng-
land, are said to have been First-class University men. The present
Ministry could probably boast of nearly as many, and everywhere we
find in the first ranks of British political, literary and scientific exer-
tion, those who have carried off the prizes of the University career, and
who in many cases have been enabled, by the aid of these prizes, to
take their first steps in public life. The public career of our late
Governor-General Sir Edmund Head, commenced with his election
to a Fellowship in Merton College, Oxford.

W"hen comparisons are made between Universities in Canada

and those in Great Britain «ind Ireland, it should be botne in mind
that in the mother country learning is stimulated and encouraged
by the most splendid rewards ; and success in obtaining these, marks
a man for success in life ; while here the efforts and the sacrifices of
Ine friends and bo^efactors of education have as yet only sufficed to
give the student . ic means of seeking learnin[^ for its own sake; and
in so far as Lower Canada is concerned, the Province at large, as
represented by its Government and Legislature, has not given any-
thing for the permanent endowment of aids to liberal education,
and may not unfairly be supposed to believd, that the higher learning
in this country, and in the case of poor students, is a nuisance to be
abat>ed, rather than an object of public uti'ity to be fostered and en-
couraged. All the more honour, therefore, should in these circumstan-
ces be ^iven to the men wlio have prosecuted this good work, and to the
earnest and diligent students who here pursue the path of knowledge
without the prospect of the golden rewards, which in moie cultivated
lands would reward their efforts. They should be all the more highly
esteemed. I may further ]-emark that we must not suppose that
in Britain the aids given to students by Scholarships are regarded as
relics of bygone times, or as not requiring additions. New endow-
ments of this kind are constantly being given ; and among other in-
stances I see, that in the will of Dr. Whewell, the late Master of
Trinity College, Cambridge, than whom no man was mo:e fully
acqujiinted with the present wants of education, handsome properties
are bequeathed to the University for the foundation of Scholarships.

In the American Universities also, provisions of this kind have
been made. Yale College has the means of annually aiding about
90 students, at an annual cost of nearly $5000. In regard to
Harvard College, I find the following information and appeal,
in a late report of the President. He says : — " Another subject
to which it may not be amiss to ask your attention, and that
of the public, is the provision made for indigent students. We have
now thirty-seven scholarships. It is impossible to over-estimate their
beneficial influence upon the College. They attract to the Univer-
sity a largo number of the very best of our scholars, who otherwise
would seek less expensive Colleges. They have raised to a degree
which those not connected with the College can hardly appreciate, the
general standard of scho'irship and of chaiacter. They might be

multiplied with added advantage to the institution, and with unspeak-
able benefit to those whose proficiency they would sustain and reward.
But there is a large class of deserving and needy students who fall
short of the rank which entitles them to scholarships. Among those
who become our best scholars there are some who, not having enjoyed
the preliminary training of schools of a high grade, are not prepared
for the first months of their college course, to become successful com-
petitors with those who are thoroughly fitted to enter college. There
are others who iu rank fall but little below the successful competitors,
and are fully their equals in industry and merit. Tbjre are yet
others, destined to be able and useful men in after-life, who commence
their education at a late period, and cannot, therefore, become as ac-
curate classical scholors as those who acquire the rudiments of the
ancient languages in childhood, who yet attest their mental capacity
and vigor by their strong grasp of the subjects on which thoy are oc-
cupied in the last years of the college course. For these classes of
students our general beneficiary fund presents i very inadequate re-
source, the dividend which each applicant can receive averaging not
more than from twenty to thirty dollars per annum. Many of these
students submit to severe privations, struggle on in depressing poverty,
and often incur a burden of indebtedness which must weigh heavily
upon them for many subsequent ye^^rs. It is very desirable that there
should be a fund, — a large fund if possible, — the income of which
should be distributed, not with sole reference to the scile of rank, but
in the joint ratio of merit and need. The disposal of the proceeds of
such a fund might be intrusted to the President, or to a select com-
mittee of the Faculty, and left, without restrictive rules, to his or
their discretion. A provision of this character would meet u want
profoundly and painfully felt by those members of the Faculty who
have been placed in confidential relations with individual students,
whose own ability to render aid is limited, and who often know not
where to look to private generosity for the requisite funds, or are
reluctant to multiply appeals where appeals are never made in vain."

Every statement of this extract applies with still greater force
to ouv Canadian Colleges, and especially to this, where not even the
limited provision made at Harvard exists.

In Canada, such Scholarships exist in limited numbers in the

University of Toronto, which offers to its students 32 Scholarships
of £30 each. They are founded on its public endowment, and
have contributed largely to attract students to it. Queen's College,
Kingston, has I believe received from its friends about 24 endow-
ments for Scholarships, six of which are restricted to students in
preparation for the ministry.

In the report of a commission on the University of New Bruns-
wick, on which I had the honor of acting in 1S54, with Dr. Ryerson
and other gentlemen, under the auspices of Sir Edmund Eead,
though that University at that time enjoyed an annual income from
the public funds of the Province of only J62,500, (which, however,
it is only fair to state, is twice as much as this great Province of
Quebec can afford to its three Universities;) we recommended, among
other things, as essential to its successful operation, the establishment
of thirteen Scholarships, of from £15 to £25 each. The Legislature
exceeded our recommendation by establishing a Scholarship for each
County in the Province, and six open Scholarships besides.

We can, as yet, boast of but two Scholarships, the Jane Red-
path Exhibition, and that subscribed by the Board of Governors.
In the present Session of the University, one of its friends has offer-
ed five prizes of $50 each, for competition.

I would, in conclusion, earnestly commend this subject to the
attention of our friends, as affording one of the most effectual means
of aiding the University, and through it, the cause of good learning
in this country. Had we, in tb?^ University, even 20 or 30 Scholar-
ships of the value of $100 or $120 each per arnum, with a fund
of $500 or $600 for prizes, we could greatly stimulate the Pre-
paratory schools, largel} increase the number of students, and raise
the standard of Scholarship throughout the Province.

Influence on Schools and on Education Generally.

To one other subject in this connection I must briefly allude,
and tliat is the relation of the University to the schools. From these
we derive our students, and we owe them all that we can do for them
in return. In one direction, the University has become intimately
connected with the Schools through the Normal School, which now
has more thun 300 teachers scattered through this country, and

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has done very much to elevate the standard of general education.
In another direction, we have given the stamp of a University
guarantee to the education communicated in the higher Schools,
by our University School Examinations and Certificate. The High
Schools of Montreal and Quebec have alone, as yet, received this
benefit, but we are very desirous to extend it more widely; and
probably could do so had we means to defray the necetisary expenses
of the examinations, and to hold forth adequate rewards to those
boys who might attain the highest places and who desire to pass
through the College. Within the past fourteen years, we have also
sent forth from the College, a considerable number of young men,
who have devoted themselves to teaching, either for a time or per-
manently. The influence of the College has thus been beneficially
impressed on the schools ; and if we could attract ^ the College a
larger number of young men from the humbler ranks of society, this
influence might be greatly increased.

Farther, I believe that similar benefits might be extended by the
University to the education of young women. I have no doubt that
the more elementary education is now carried on in our man} excellent
private schools for girls very efficiently, and I have no wish
that the University should assume its responsibilities. But there
seems no reason why the School Examinations of the University
should not here, as in the case of Cambridge and Oxford, include
the pupils of schools for young women ; and I think it would
be quite possible for the University to provide lecturers on scientific
and literary subjects, whose classes should be open to the pupils
of all Ladies' Schools in the city, and whose certificates of attend-
ance and examination should be given to such pupils, I \io
not propose either that young women should attend the ordinary
college classes, or that, except in special cases, the ordinary pro-
fessors should lecture to them. I would have special class-rooms,
and in many instances at least special lecturers appointed by the
University. Of course this is a purpose for which the constitution
of the University does not permit its funds to be used, even if they
were sufficient for it, which they are not, I only t^ish to intimate
my conviction, that an opening for usefulness lies in this direction,
which I have often wished to have the means of cultivating, knowing
that in this country very few young ladies enjoy to a sufficient ex-

tentj the advantages of the higher kinds of education, and that the
true civilisation of any people is quite as much to be measured by the
culture of its women as by that of its men.

One recent fact which shows what may be done, is the founda-
tion of Vassar College in the State of New York, an institution with
an endowment of about half-a-million of dollars, given by one person,
and which already has more than three hundred students admitted
on a matriculation examination comparable with that of any of the
Universities, and passing through a severe course of study, extend-
ing over four years. Eflforts are also being made in connection with
the University of Edinburgh, and by Professors in the siisLer Uuiver-
sity of Toronto, to promote the higner education of young women by
coui les of lectures ; and there is, undoubtedly, much economy in
the first instance at least, in employing, for this purpose, the teachers
and apparatus already provided for the education of young men. I
observe, in a late number of the Athenaeum, that at Cambridge,
a committee of Professors and others has been formed for the
purpose of institr.dng courses of Scientific and Literary Lectures
to young women. All that we have, as yet, been able to do in this
direction, is to admit young ladies of the city to some of the classes
in the Normal School.

University Buildings and Grounds.

t add only one word on u department of University extension
which always excites the suspicions of the true educator, as one tend-
ing to absorb immense sums of money with but slender corresponding
advantages. I refer to University buildings. We greatly need, and
indeed must soon provide, a proper building for our Medical Faculty.
That a body of students numbering 150 to 200, should have been
yearly drawn to Montreal, to pursue their studies in one of the most
important professions, and should be doomed to spend their days of
laborious work in a building so contracted in all its accommodations,
and so indifferently provided with modern improvements and meafls
for securing the health and comfort of students, has been long a sub-
ject of sorrow to all true friends of the University. We .'equire a
bew and much larger Medical School, near to the College buildings.
And fitted up with all the more modern imprdvemetits in its class-
tooms fmd its laboratories. This building should also, be one credit-

■*'

able in its appearance, and which could be pointed to with pride as
the home of the most successful and useful Medical School in this
Dominion. Considering the incalculable benefits which, not only the
University, but the city and the whole of this country !iave derived
from the labours of our Medical Faculty, the citizens of Montreal
should come forward liberally to aid the University in thus ade-
(juately lodging this highly important department of its work.

Other buildings the University will want in course of time. A
larger Astronomical Observatory, and a Conservatory have already
been mentioned. A large and well lighted building suitable for a
Museum and a Gallery of Art, would richly pay the interest of its
cost in the donations which it would attract from those who have
valuable objects inaccessible to the public and exposed to the risk of
fire. A Senate House with suitable Board-rooms, offices, rooms for
the Faculty of Law, and fire-proof vaults for the preservation of the
Records of the University, will also become a necessitj'. All these
wants loom in the future, near or distant. All must be supplied
that the University may keep pace with the growth of the demands
for education and of this commercial metropolis of Canada,

In connection with these future buildings, I would mention one
point VAhich has long been an object of solicitude with me. The ur-
gent demands of the work of the University have necessitated the
gradual diminution of the McGill estate, until the portion which
remains is now much smaller than the area which most other Univer-
sities in this country regard as necessary to their future growth. Must
it be still further diminished ? This cannot be avoided unless further
pecuniary aid can soon be obtained ; and once alienated it can never
be recovered. This I regard as a most important point for the con-
sideration of our friends, and we are now prepared to present to them
plans which will provide for the permanent preservation of the re-
maining grounds for public use and recreation, along with all the re-
quisite space for our future buildings.

Sources of Aid.

It may be said that the Government should aid us. But it is
needless to conceal our entire want of confidence in such aid. The
sacred promises made in former years by the Imperial a^d J^ocal

Governments, and on the faith of which Mr. McGill gave his estate,
have heen repudiated. The General Government of the Dominion
has, in my judgment, most unwisely, failed to take to itself those
powers, with reference to the higher education, exercised hy the
Government of the mother country, and to some extent, as already
stated, even by the General Government of the United States. The
Local Government is necessitous, and the majority of its Legislature
cannot be expected to feel much sympathy with an English Univer-
sity, after the long struggle which has been waged for nearly a cen-
tury between French and English Education, and in which the Royal
Institution and its University have been the chief bulwark of the
latter. We must depend on the Protestant population of Lower Ca-
nada, and more especially of Montreal, for our maintenance and ex-
tension ; and if once placed in a safe and independent and progressive
position, we can, I think, trust to the falling in from time to time of
benefactions and legacies to provide for further growth, including
the supply of many of the less urgent of the wants above indicated.
To place us in this position a capital sum of $100,000 to $150,000
added to the general funds of the University, or given in endow-
ments of existing chairs, would suffice. This being secured, we
could guarantee to the city the preservation of our College Park,
the constant and growing usefulness of our Library and Museum,
the continuance for ever of a staff of Professors capable of sus-
taining among us means of education not inferior to those enjoyed
in any other country, and the permanence in this city of a
University, its own creation, which could challenge comparison,
in all essential respects, with any on this continent, and from
which there should issue a continuous and increasing stream of
highly educated young men, fitted to uphold the intellectual and
moral eminence of the English of Lower Canada, in this country
and throughout the world.

The University looks to those who now hold the wealth of this
city in their hands, to follow up the good work begun by Mr. McGill,
and to place it in this position. It can then look forward to the
continuation of this work by its own graduates. They are yearly
going forth into positions of usefulness, responsibility and influence.
They represent the University in all parts of the Dominion, and the
time must come when their good offices will flow backward to the

■

source whence they have themselves derived so much. The children
must repay those who have been their educational fathers by
enlarging and perpetuating to future times, the means of liberal ed-
ucation. Already we look to our graduates for aid, both directly and in
stimulating and collecting the contributions of others, and I am per-
suaded that we shall not look in vain.

Hitherto, our Canadian Universities have been like the seed which
puts forth from its own substance roots and tender leaves. Before
they can be truly flourishing, they must draw nourishment from the
soi! itself and root themselves firmly in its bosom. I shall not feel
that our work here has realised its full results, until I see endow-
ments and benefactions flowing in from our own graduates. Then we
may believe that we are truly rooted in the soil. Then we may expect
to go on to the blossom and the fruit of mature growth. Then wo
shall see the good seed, sown by the generous friends and benefactors
of this University, producing, not merely boughs and leaves, but the
ripened fruits of academical learning, holding forth still richer bene-
fits to succeeding generations of students.

Finally those who manage the affairs of this University, are
not BO unwise as to expect that we shall at once be enabled to attain
to all the objects above indicated. Some of these, however, are very
urgent, and progress however slow, would inspire hope. We are be-
coming old under difl&culties which cramp our usefulness. Young
men who should have enjoyed the benefits of a liberal education, are
yearly growing up to manhood without this inestimable blessing.
The loss sustained in this way cannot be repaired, and even in indi-
vidual cases may be of incalculable importance to the country. We
would therefore ask of the friends of education, an early considera-
tion of this matter. On our part we shall at all times be ready to
place at their disposal, all information which they may require, and
cordially to co-operate iu all arrangements which may tend to the
security and permanent utility of their benefactions and endowments.