^, rMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) 4MAi v/ ijf*\^^ :a :a % 1.0 i.i |50 "^" 31MB ^ i^ 12.2 I. L25 i 1.4 m 1.6 ^Sciences Corporation 23 WEST MAIN STREET WEtSTER.N.Y. t4S«0 (7l6)a73-4503 # V iV \\ V CIHM/iCMH Microfiche Series. CiHM/ICIVlH Collection de microfiches. Canadian Institute for Historical Microreproductions / Institut Canadian de microreproductions KJstoriques iV Technical and Bibliographic Notaa/Nctat tachniquaa at bibliooraphiquaa Tha Inatituta haa attamptad to obtain tha baat original copv availab!a for filming. Faaturan of thia copy which may ba bibliographically uniqua, which may altar any of tha imagaa in tha reproduction, or which may aignificantly changa tha usual mathod of filming, ara chackad bcilow. 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I „ -V. , •* iJ BY DANIEL WILSON, LL.D., F.R.S.E., PREHIDr^T OF nNIVKBSITY OOLLEOB, TORONTO. ' , ' ; , .; t < c ^ '1- HUNTER, ROSE & CO., PRINTERS. - ^^ 1884. ifff?fffffiiffffffffffffyfffff»ffii»»»»»MM>iMm*rfff?ffff^»ffffyffi f H ■ iii. • ^^iS^-. v'^f' • > , '-"'■J-' ; , ;■". it. .■>■:,■ :yr}.::rrJ^,,_]C^'] COEDUOATIOK >i' A LETTER TO THB HON. G, W. EOSS, M.P.P., MINISTER OF EDUCATION. BT DAKIEL WILSON, LL.D., F.E.S.E., PRESIDENT OF UNIVERSITY COLLEGE, TORONTO. ^0r0nta: HUNTER. ROSE & CO., PRINTERS. 1884. i:l '^1 TO THE HONORABLE G. W. ROSS, M.P.P., &C., &C., &0., MITsTISTER OF EDUOATICm. Dear Sir, I learn from the reported proceedings of the P.ovincial Legislature that the following resolution was adopted on the 5th instant : — " That inasmuch as the Senate of the Provincial University, having for several years admitted women to the university examinations and class lists, and inasmuch as a considerable number of women have availed themselves of the privilege, but labour under the disadvantage of not having access to any institution which affords. tuition necessary in the higher years in the course : in the opinion of this House provision should be made for the admission of women to University College." , . , . It can scarcely be necessary to point out the essential difference between admitting women to university examinations and their en- tering as fellow-students with the young men in University College. Whatever may be the final decision on the latter question, it must be based on different grounds. The correspondence called for, and submitted to the Legislature in previous years, has fully informed you of the course thus far pursued by the Council of University College in reference to applications by women for admission as students. Nevertheless, it may be well that I recall the terms of their original response. The honourable member by whom the above resolution was submitted to the House is reported to have spoken as follows : — " The question arose, ' Why were women equally with the male sex not to enjoy the same facilities for obtaining higher education i The college through its council had said, ' We sympathize with these young ladies ; we think they should have all the advantages of higher education ; we are willing k ".!• to do that which lies within our power to confer on them ^-heso advantages ; but they must not enter the precincts of University College, b»^,cause we think that due order and discipline would thereby be endangered.' " This question of " due order and discipline," appears to have been repeatedly referred to in a way which seemed to imply that the only idea entertained of the well-ordered discipline indispensable for efficient application to study is the prevention of riotous dis- order. Whatever is calculated to di\erf, the student's mind from systematic devotion to the studies required of him is incompati- ble with due order and discipline. The lady principal of Girton College says : " I should expect co-education ,at the age suitable for college life, to have a distracting effect on the minds of the young women at any rate. I have not considered the subject as it regards the young men. I should think it would add oth*»r excitements to that attendant on the pursuit of knowledge." The following, however, is the original and unanimous resolution of the College Council as reported to the Legislative Assembly, in reply to their order of date, 13th February, 1882 : — " The College Council are prepared to give their heartiest co- operation to any well-considered plan for securing the advantages of higher education for women, and will be prepared, to the fullest extent of their ability, to bear a part in such education, if a college for ladies is provided ; but the Council, after mature consider- ation, are satisfied that the co-education of young men and women in large numbers in the same college, is open to grave objections; and they feel it to be their duty to adhere to the practice of the College from its foundation." The introducer of the resolution is further reported to have said : " There was no word in the University Act which in his opinion warranted the authorities in excluding ladies from the lectures of tho college, and it seemed to him that those who had taken the responsibility of excluding them had assumed an authority to which probably they were not entitled. He had been informed that, unless some measures were taken by the House or the Government in order to place ladies on that footing which they claimed they were entitled to, it would be necessary for them, in self-defence, to take pro- ceedings in the courts by way of mandamus to obtain these privileges. He had no doubt but that they had good grounds for taking the matter into court. He proceeded to point out that for years past co-education had existed ■it :^<»*-- in connection with the High Bchools, Normal Bchools, and Cellepiate InBti- tutes of the country ; and as the position in University Colle ^e would be no different to these institutions, he failed to see why it should not be allowed in the Provincial College." As the ideas thus set forth appear to have been leiterated by other mem))ers of the Legislature, and necessarily involve a reflec- tion on myself and the College Council, as pursuing a course in- consistent with the University Act, I beg leave very respectfully to submit that University College is conducted now, as it has been from the first, in accordance with the invariable practice in older seats of learning to which it has been customary to look as our models in academic usage. As to the threat of proceedings in the Courts of Law to compel the admission of lady students to the College, I presume that, in such case, it will devolve on the Attor- ney-General or yourself to appear as defendant. As President and Professors of the Provincial College, I and my colleagues are the servants of the Province, appointed by the Crown to perform cer- tain duties ; subject to the Orders of the Lieutenant-Governer in Council ; and to statutes which are only valid after receiving such confirmation. We do not question for a moment the absolute authority of the Provincial Legislature to make whatever changes they may see fit in the constitution or purposes of the College ; and whatever those may be, it will be our duty to carry them out. But so long as such changes are under discussion, I should fail in my duty as President of the College if I did not submit to you my reasons for apprehending injury to the institution from any proposed change. I beg leave, therefore, very respectfully to submit to you, as Minister of Education, that, so far from the admission of ladies as students being in accordance with the constitution of this College, it is a departure from all past proceedure ; and a change o^ the most radical kind, involving results which many experienced educationists view with grave anxiety. Permit me further to add that I do not find the appeal to usage in the Schools and Collegiate Institutes of Canada, as made by more than one speak- er, to be borne out by facts. The Normal School for the training of teachers is an altogether exceptional case, as is recognised by the very special regulations there enforced, which, so far from / 6 favouring tlie free intercourse of the sexes while in pursuit of a common course of instruction, aim at enforcing the avoidance of all personal intercourse, even uftoi' the hours spent in receiving instruction. Any such discipline, if desirable, is only possible in an institution wliere the students aim at a professional status, and can be compelled to render obedience to any code of laws. But another feature of the same institution is its Model Schooh which, by its very designation, is intended as a model for the whole Province ; and there an absolute separation of the sexes prevails. This is still more noticeable and significant in the Col- legiate Institute. The building now occupied by University Col- lege was completed in 18G(), in accordance with plans maturely considered with a view +,o meet every requirement of a thoroughly ■equipped College. They had the full approval of the Government, of the Chancellor and Senate of the Universitv, and of the College Council. The Senate then included a aong its active members the late Chancellor Blake, Chief Justice D^-pper, and other high legal authorities ; but no single individual at so recent a date en- tertained the thought of female students as a possibility ever con- templated in the University Act ; and the building is accordingly so arranged that any attem[>t at adequate provision for their re- ception now will involve very considerable and costly alteration.^' The Collegiate Institute building in Toronto, erected still more recently, has, on the contrary, been planned throughout for the reception of both male and female students ; but so far is it from indicating an}' favour for co-education, that ample provision is everywhere made for their separation. The central building in- cludes the common hall in which they meet for morning prayer ; but during all their hours of study they are as entirely apart as if they were in separate buildings ; and the present able Principal gives the system his strongest approval. I am assured, moreover, by the head of one of our educational institutions, who has en- joyed exceptionally favourable opportunities of learning the views of teachers in this Province, that many heads of Collegiate Insti- tutes and High Schools would gladly welcome a similar arrange- ment. ..... All this proves how largely the element of economy influences the practice of co-education, even in our preparatory institutions. n The remark made to me recently, by a fj^entloman of lon^ experi- ■pnco as the Principal ot a Collegiate Institute, was, that I "need not imr so much for the young men. It is the young women who suffer most from co-education." Looking to the illustrations to which I have referred, and even to the extent to which hoys and girls are kept apart in our best organized city schools, I may be per- mitted to protest against the statement that co-education is recog- nised tl) rough out the educational system of Ontario as in all re- spects preferable ; and to smile at the com|)lacent assumption that I and others who have questioned the wisdom of bringing young men and women together at the most critical period of their lives, in all the attractive relations of undergraduate rivalry, are the mere representatives of antiquated prejudice. HIGHER EDUCATION. Having said thus much, permit me in the next place to press •upon your attention the essential distinction between the ques- tion of The Higher Education of Women and that of Co-educa- tion : for in r^^cent discussioi^s they have been to a large extent treated as ciic and the same. It is with reluctance that I revert to any personal aspect of this question ; but I must protest aTainst references to myself as one out of sympathy with the cV 'ms of women to the highest educational privileges. It is now fifteen years since, mainly through my own personal exertions, the Toronto Ladies' Educational Association was organized. In the opening address, which I delivered in the Music Hall, on the 22nd of October, 18G9, it was remarked: "We meet to-day foi the purpose of inaugurating a movement which aims at securing for ladies facilities for training in the highest departments of mental culture, in some degree corresponding to those available for young men ; " and after referring to the want of adequate provision for female education in the higher branches of letters, philosophy and science ; it is added : — " The need of something more cannot be doubted. To what extent the want is as yet felt among our- selves, the present movement is designed in some degree to test." The Association thus begun was carried on successfully from 1869 to 1877, when it was allowed to drop by the ladies' comrait- y V tee who had undertaken its management, owing to causes apart from its special object, to which it is not necessary to refer. But during the whole of that period I delivered regular courses of lectures to large classes of ladies, embracing the same subjects as were taught by me iu University College. Similar courses were given on iheir respective subjects by Professors Croft, Cherriman^ Loudon, Young acd Nicholson, along with Professor Gcldwia Smith, Mr. Buchan, now Principal of Upper Canada College, and otherG. The Report of the sixth Session, which I happen to have preserved, shows that regular examinations continued to be held at the close of each session. In the first year the number of lady students amounted to upwards of 150. In subsequent years they increased till the hall of the Canadian Institute proved inade- quate to accommodate their growing numbers; and the late Min- ister of Education granted the use of the largo lecture room of the Technological College for the purpose. These, let me repeat, were not popular lectures ; but of a strictly academic character, corresponding to those given to the College students. That I did not undervalue the influence of educated women, is shown in the following brief extract from ^' » same inaugural address : " I see iu this bright hopes for the . jture. A class of highly-educated women in our midst would do more to elevate the tone of feeling,, and to awaken nobler aspirations in the intellectual manhood of this young country, than anything else I can conceive of. I see no other means in any degree equally calculated to wean our young men of high promise from the enslavement of professional pursuits ; the mere trading drudgery, whether it be of commerce or medicine, of the counting-house or the bar, which seems now ' their highest goal." The success which attended the movement in Toronto for the Higher Education of Women led to our example being followed in Kingston and Montreal. On two ojcasions I visited Montreal snd delivered the opening lecture of the Ladies' Association for their "Winter Session. The scheme thus inaugurated there hv3 been carried on with uninterrupted success, and has been crowned by the liberal >equest of a wealthy citizen for the purpose of founding a Ladies' College. •^ CO-EDUCATION. Bo.t, as I have already said, this question of Higher Education and that of Co-education are essentially different. Nay, more, while I have thus far objected to the admission of lady students to University College as a radical change in its constitution, and an experiment of doubtful issue, so far as its present students are concerned : I have opposed it even more confidently in the true interest of women. I am strongly convinced of the justice of President Eliot's remark : — " It is certain that as our country ad- vances in wealth and refinement the method of educating together young men and young women of 18 to 2? years of age, as it ex- ists to-day in the new communities of our Western States, will be less and less in favour with the people who can atTord to give their children collegiate education. Even now the method finds no acceptance in New England, with the most insignificant ex- ceptions. For the Collegiate education of the two sexes together there is but one respecU^ble argument, namely, Poverty ! '' If the remarks of various speakers have been correctly reported, not a few of the members of the Legislat .re of Ontario concurred with . yourself in acknowledging that, apart from this question of econ- _omy or " poverty," they would much prefer to any scheme of co- education, such provision for the lady students of Ontario as that of Newnham Hall, Cambridge. The same is the avowed opinion of many whose names have been incorrectly quoted as adv'ocates of CO- education, such as Principal Nelles, Principal Austin, Pro- fessor Voung, (fee. Principal Dawson, of Montreal, is even more decided in his disapproval of co-education, except where poverty leaves no other alternative. A great array of evidence is nevertheless adduced from the practise in vogue in many Colleges in the United States ; but care- ful study and enquiry lead me to doubt the vaiuu of their exam- ple as a guide for Ort^ario. Alike from personal knowledge and from trustworthy report I am satisfied that their standard of education, and the system pursued in many of the Western Col- leges, preclude the idea of any profitable appeal to their example. But Cornell is adduced ; and the evidence of President White is 10 'i' / I held as a sufficient offset to that of President Eliot, of Harvard. Those who do so are probably not aware of the relative value of the evidence. President Eliot, an experienced educationist, ac- tively engaged in the work of his own College, did not adopt the final opinion to which he has given expression till he had satis- fied himself by cjiref ul personal observation and enquiry into the result-8 of Co-education in other Colleges, where, as he says, " the experiment of giving a collegiate education to women is compli- cated with the social experiment of bringing scores or hundreds of young men and women into intimate relations in the same i-^stitution at the excitable age of eighteen to twenty-two ; " and, as he further adds, as the result of his observation of the social life and manners of the new communities where co-education most >argely prevails, " The risks which unguarded youth mupt run increase as society becomes more and more complex." On the other hand. President White has, since the introduction of co-edu- cation at Cornell, been to a large extent precluded from personal observation. He has accepted diplomatic appointments ; was ambassador at Berlin for upwards of two years ; and subsequently engaged in other political missions ; in addition to which, on the ground of health, he has for long periods been absent from the University. It is not surprising, therefore, to learn that his re- port of the unqualified success of co-education there is not con- firmed by all who have watched the progress of the experiment. Notwithstanding the provision of an ample endowment by an enthusiastic advocate of " Woma'i's Rights," the result, so far, in point of numbers, clearly indicates that thoughtful parents in the States, as well as elsewhere, give the preference to Vassar, Smith, Wells, and other Ladies' Colleges, rather than risk the doubtful experiment of sending their daughters to " refine, and bring under wholesome female influences," some three or four hundred stranger youths, as their fellow-students of the rougher sex. It has, more- over, already been found expedient to erect at Cornell a special femal college residence, and to place the lady students under the 8 perintendence of a principal and others of their own sex. But if the success of co-education at Cornell is doubtful, the University of Michigan is triumphantly appealed to, with its fe- male students in law and medicine. The answer, however, is ^ i ii J 11 easily given. Principal Austin, of Alma College, St. Thomas, is one of those whose names have been marshalled as supporters of co-education. But all that he does say is that " if something better is not available," it is the most economical method But he adds, " it may be doubted if Co-education will meet the demands of the people. Parents will, as a rule, prefer separ- ate colleges. I fully agree with the remark made to me by Dr. Angell, President of the Michigan University: — 'The majority of young women seeking higher education will do no at colleges spe- cially designed for women,' " But no commentary on the subject of Co-education is more in- structive than the uncompromising defence of the system by the President of Oberlin College There, as the memoers of the Legislature have been informed, ii has been longest carried on, and, according to its advocates, with triumphant success. Some of the results which President Fairchild deems it important to state are, no doubt, satisfactory, in a sense. Of eighty-four lady graduates, for example, he tells us that only twenty-three — nearly all of them among the youngest, — remain unmarried. With the inevitable influences which thus come in<-o play as the result of bringing together in close intimacy of undergraduate life young men and women at the most susceptible age, President Fairchild thus deals : — " Will not the young people form such acquaintances as will result, diiring their course of study, or after they leave school, in matrimonial en