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 UN.'VERSITY OF 
 CAL/FO)?NIA 
 
RYERSON MEMORIAL VOLUME 
 
 PEEPARED ON THE OCCASION 
 
 OF THE 
 
 UNVEILING OF THE RYERSON STATUE 
 
 IN THE GROUNDS OF THE EDUCATION DEPARTMENT 
 
 ON THE 
 
 QUEEN'S BIRTHDAY, 1889. 
 
 BY jr GEORGE HODGINS, M.A., LL.D., 
 
 BARRISTER-AT-LAW, AND DEPUTY MINISTER OF EDUCATION. 
 
 TORONTO: 
 PRINTED BY WARWICK & SONS 68 AND 70 FRONT STREET WEST. 
 
 1889. 
 
&(o A/43 
 
 PREFATORY NOTE. 
 
 I have two reasons to give for the part which I have taken in the prej^aration of the latter 
 part of this ^Memorial Volume. The first is mentioned in the following paragraph from the 
 brief resume' of the historical and personal facts given in the volume, and which I read on the 
 day of the unveiling of the statute, as follows : — 
 
 " It devolves upon me, as Chairman of the (Ryerson Memorial Statue) Committee, and at 
 the kind request of my colleagues — no less than as the life-long friend and fellow-labourer of him 
 whose deeds and memory we honour to-day — to trace back to their source the origin and under- 
 lying principles of our system of education, and to show that these underlying principles and 
 other vital forces were so combined by a master-hand as to form the groundwork, as they have, 
 in their combination, become the charter of our educational system of to-day." 
 
 The second reason is contained in the following paragrai>hs — containing a brief record 
 of Dr. Ryerson's thirty-two years in the Public Service, taken from Tlie Story of My Life, 
 page 351. 
 
 " During my connection with the Education Department — from 1844 to 1876 — I made five 
 educational tours of inspection and enquiry to educating countaies in Europe and the United 
 States. I made an ofHcial tour through each county in Upper Canada, once in every five years, 
 to hold a County Convention of municipal councillors, clergy, school trustees, teachers and local 
 superintendents, and thus developed the School system as the result of repeated inquiries in 
 foreign countries, and the freest consultation with my fellow-citizens of all classes, in the several 
 County Conventions, as well as on many other occasions. 
 
 " During the nearly thirty-two years of my administration of the Education Department, I 
 met with strong opposition at first from individuals — some on personal, others on religious and 
 political grounds ; but that opposition was, for most part, partial and evanescent. During 
 these years I had the support of each successive administration of Government, whether of one 
 party or the other, and, at length, the co-operation of all religious persuasions ; so that in 1876 
 I was allowed to retire, with the good-will of all political parties and religious denominations, 
 and without diminution of my i^ublic means of susbsitence. 
 
 "1 leave to Dr. J. George Hodgins, my devoted friend of over forty years, and my able colleague 
 for over thirty of these years, the duty of filling np the details of our united labours in 
 founding a system of education for my native Province which is spoken of in terms of strong 
 commendation, not only within, but by people outside of the Dominion." * 
 
 My own estimate of Dr. Ryerson's educational life and labours is contained in the following 
 paragraphs, which were written by me in 1883 : — 
 
 Dr. Ryerson's fame in the future will mainly rest upon the fact that he was a distinguished 
 Canadian Educationist, and the Founder of a great system of Public Education for Upper 
 
 *It is the purpose of the writer of this Retrospect (in accordance with Dr. Ryerson's oft expressed 
 wish) to prepare another volume, giving, from private letters, memoranda, and various documents, £t 
 personal history of the founding and vicissitudes of our educational system from 1S41 to 1876 inclusive. 
 
 795 
 
IV. 
 
 Canada. What makes tliis distinguishing excellence in his case the more marked, was the fact 
 that the soil on wliich he had to labour was unprepared, and the social conditicm of the countrj' 
 was unpropitious. Englisli ideas of schools for the poor, supported by subscriptions and volun- 
 tary offerings, prevailed in Upper Canada ; free schools were unknown ; the very principle on 
 which they rest — that is, that the ratable property of the country is responsible for the educa- 
 tion of the youtli of the land — was denounced as communistic and an invasion of the rights 
 of i)roperty ; wliile '• compulsory education" — the proper and necessary coniitlenient of free 
 schools— was e(iually denounced as of the essence of " Prussian despotism," and an impertinent 
 and unjustifiable interference with " the rights of British subjects." 
 
 It was a reasonable boast at the time that only systems of popular education, based upon 
 the principle of free schools, were possible in the republican American States, where tiie wide 
 dift'usion of education was regarded as a prime necessity for the stability and success of republi- 
 can institutions, and, therefore, was fostered with unceasing care. It was the theme on which 
 the poi)ular orator loved to dilate to a i)eople on whose sympathies with the subject he could 
 always contidently reckon. The practical mind of Dr. Ryerson, however, at once saw that the 
 American idea of free schools was the true one. He moreover perceived that by giving his 
 countrymen facilities for freely discussing the question among the ratepayers once a year, they 
 would educate themselves into the idea, without any interference from the State. These 
 facilities were provided in 1850 ; and for twenty-one years the (juestion of free schools versnn 
 rate-bill schools (fees, etc.) was discussed every January in from 3,000 to 5,000 school sections, 
 until free schools became voluntarily the rule, and rate-bill scho(jls the exception. In 1871, by 
 common consent, the free scliool principle was incorporated into our school system by the Legis- 
 lature, and has ever since been the universal practice. In the adoption of this principle, and in 
 the successful administration of the Education Department, Dr. Ryerson at len<fth demonstrated 
 that a popular (or, as it had been held in the United States, the democratic) system of public 
 schools was admirably adapted to our monarchical institutions. In point of fact, leading 
 American educationists have often pointed out that the Canadian system of public education was 
 more etticient in all of its details, most practically successful in its results, than was the ordinary 
 American g^hool .system in any one of the States of the Union. Thus it is that the fame of Dr. 
 Ryerson as a successful founder of our educational system, rests upon a solid basis. What has 
 been done by him will not be undone ; and the ground gone over by him will not require to be 
 traversed again. But I forbear, as I hope to devote a volume to the private and i)ersonal history 
 of our educational system. 
 
 The first part of this volume contains an interesting account from the leading daily papei.s 
 of Toronto of the ceremony of unveiling the great statue to a distinguished native of Ontario 
 and a truly representative man — representative of her enterpri/e, energy and progress. As 
 such, many <jf the leading men of the Province assembled on the Queen's Birthday to do honour 
 to his memory. It also contains tlie addresses in full of those gentlemen who were appointed 
 by their respective institutions, etc, to that duty, and who kind y consented to take part in the 
 ceremonies and proceedings of the day. 
 
 The second part of the volume contains a statement of the origin, witli illustrations, of the 
 underlying principles of our .system of education — primary, secondary and unixersity. 
 
 There has also been added at the end some historical and personal sketches — some of them 
 of a humorous cast — but all illustrative of the early days of education in tliis Province, and its 
 vicissitudes of liglit and shade. They admirably serve to bring out in strong relief the present 
 
state of ejfficiency of our system of public instruction, as well as the substantial progress which: 
 has been made by it in its various departments since the early educational pioneers of Upper 
 Canada first attemj^ted to give it form and substance, over fifty years ago. 
 
 The photograph fi-om which the irontisjiiece is printed was by Mr. J. Bruce, of 118 King 
 street west, Toronto. 
 
 J. G. H. 
 
 Toronto, 24th May, 1889. 
 
 Personal Note. 
 
 A few days after the ceremony of unveiling the Statue, I received the following verj' kind note 
 from Rev. Dr. Ryerson's only son : — 
 
 27 Cecil St., Toronto, 
 
 May 28th, 1889. 
 
 My Dear Dr. Hodgins, —The 24th of May was indeed a red-letter day to me and to my family ; and 
 one I shall never forget. 
 
 The Statue and Pedestal are beyond anything I expected ; and the likeness is excellent. 
 
 Allow me to thank you very heartily for your eloquent Historical Paper, and the touching references 
 to my dear Father. 
 
 I know that all you did was a labour of love. But 1 cannot allow this event to pass without express- 
 ing to you our deep gratitude for the time and pains you have taken in sucaessfully carrying out this 
 splendid memorial to my revered Father. Mrs. Ryerson joins me in very kind regards. 
 
 Believe me. 
 
 Yours very faithfully, 
 
 C. EGERTON RYERSON. 
 J. George Hodgins, Esq., LL.D., 
 
 Toronto. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 Paqk, 
 
 Title and Prefatory Note i. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 Preliminary Remarks I 
 
 Appeal for Funds for the Erection of the Statue 3 
 
 The Financial Results of the Appeal Made — Particulars of the Statue 5 
 
 Programme of Arrangements for Unveiling the Statue 5 
 
 Inscription on the Statue Pedestal 6 
 
 Record of Rev. Dr. Ryerson's Services 7 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 Report of Ceremony of Unveiling the Statue (from The Globe) 8 
 
 Address of the Hon. G. W. Ross, Minister of Education 9 
 
 The Statue Unveiled by Sir Alexander Campbell, Lieutenant-Governor 11 
 
 Report of the unveiling by The Empire and The Mail 13 
 
 Comments of the Press on the Unveiling of the Statue 15 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 The Addresses Delivered at the Unveiling of the Statue, viz. : 
 
 1. By Mr. Robert McQueen, President of the Teachers' Association of Ontario. ... 17 
 
 2. By Alderman McMillan, Acting Mayor of Toronto li> 
 
 3. By Hon. Senator Macdonald, representing the University of Toronto 20 
 
 4. By Rev. Dr. Burwash, representing the University of Victoria College 22 
 
 5. By Sandford Fleming, LL.D., C.M.G., representing the University of Queen's 
 
 College 23 
 
 6. By Rev. Professor Clark, M.A,, representing the University of Trinity College. 24 
 
 7. By Professor T. H. Rand, D.C L., representing McMaster University 25 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 Education in Ontario, Past and Present — An Historical Retrospect, 
 BY J. George Hodgins, M.A., LL.D., viz.: 
 
 Significance of the Event of the Day 27 
 
 The Ontario System of Education — Its Influence Abroad 27 
 
 Comprehensive Character of the Ontario Educational System 28 
 
 Character and System of Education Abroad, and Lessons Therefrom 29^ 
 
 Educational Lessons to be Learned Outside of Ontario 29^' 
 
 Three Educational Periods in the History of Ontario 30 
 
 Colonial Chajiter in the History of American Education 30? 
 
 The Nine British Colonial Universities in the Thirteen Colonies 32 
 
 The United Empire Loyalist Period in Upper Canada 3<> 
 
 Governor Simcoe's Educational Views in 1795 37 
 
 Early Beginnings of Education in Upper Canada, 1785-1805 ''. 37 
 
 State of Education in Upper Canada. 1795-1799 '^ 
 
 2* (R.M.) 
 
Vlll. 
 
 Page. 
 
 First Official Educiitional Movements in Upper Canaila, 1797, 1798 38 
 
 Educational Pioneers in Upper Canada 39 
 
 Early Efforts to Establisli Connnon Schools, 1810-1820 40 
 
 State of Education in Upper Canada, 1784-1819 41 
 
 Fitful Educational Progress from 1822 to 1829 41 
 
 State of Eduaction in Upper Canada, 1827-1829 v . 42 
 
 Rev. Dr. Strachan's Course of Study in Grammar Schools, 1829 43 
 
 Rev. Dr. Strachan's System of School Management 44 
 
 Rev. Dr. Strachan's Career as a Teacher 45 
 
 Mr. Joseph Hume's Essay on Education, edited hy Mr. \V. L. MacKenzie 4(5 
 
 Vicissitudes of Education in Upper Canada, 18.30-1839 4(> 
 
 Educational Efforts in the House of Assembly, by Mr. M. Burwell, 1831-1830 47 
 
 Efforts at Educational Legislation, by Dr. Charles Duncombe, 1831-1836 48 
 
 Continued Educational Efforts of Mr. Burwell in the House of Assembly 50 
 
 Early Opinions on the Necessity for Manual or Industrial Education in our Schools 51 
 
 Later Opinions (on the same subject) 51 
 
 Further Educational Efforts in the House of Assembly, 1835, 1836 52 
 
 Analysis of Dr. Charles Duncombe's Report on Education , 183(5 53 
 
 Summai-y of, and Reflection on, these Educational Efforts from 1830 to 1839 54 
 
 Extracts from Official Reports on Education in Upper Canada in 1838 55 
 
 Influences by American Teachers and School Books Deprecated 55 
 
 Extracts from Report of an Education Commission in 1839 57 
 
 Educational (^jjinions of Prominent Public Men in 1839 - . 58 
 
 Separate Educational Forces Shaping Themselves in Upper Canada 59 
 
 Noted Educational Leaders — -Dr. Straclian and Dr. Ryerson 59 
 
 The Educational Efforts of the U. E. Loyalists and the lluliug Party 60 
 
 An Educational Glance Backwards 60 
 
 Provision for Hig'ier Education in Upper Canada by tlie Imperial Government 62 
 
 Rev. Dr. Strachan as an Educator <52 
 
 Rev. Dr. Strachan's Reasons for Establishing a University in Upper Canada 64 
 
 Rev. Dr. Strachan, the Founder of Two Universities in Toronto 65 
 
 The University of Toronto 66 
 
 The University of Victoria College. 6(5 
 
 The Queen's College University 69 
 
 The University of Trinity College 70 
 
 The R. C. University College at Ottawa 70 
 
 The Western University, London .... 70 
 
 The McMaster University 71 
 
 Upper Canada College — Albert College — Woodstock College- The School of Practical 
 
 Science, and various colleges and schools, etc 71 
 
 Rev. Dr. Ryerson's advocacy of Popular Right:*, 1827-1841 72 
 
 Educational Legislation in the United Parliament of 1841 and 1843 72 
 
 Origin of the ann\ial grant of $200,000 for Common Scliools in 1841 73 
 
 Educational efforts of Rev. Dr. Ryerson up to this time 74 
 
 First appointment of a Superintendent of Education for Upper Canada, 1842 74 
 
 Appointment of Rev. Dr. Ryerson as Superintendent of Education, 1844 75 
 
 Rev. Dr. Ryerson's Report on a System of Public Instruction for Upper Canada 75 
 
 Chief features of Dr. Ryerson's tirst report and School Bill, 184(5 77 
 
IX. 
 
 Page. 
 
 Objections to Dr. Ryerson's School Bill of 1846, answered 77 
 
 First and Second Councils of Public Instruction, 1846 and 1850 78 
 
 Religious Instruction in the Common Schools, 184(i 79 
 
 State of Common School Education in Ui)per Canada, 1845 80 
 
 School Houses and School Teachers in 1845-1850 81 
 
 Combined opposition to the projected system of Education 82 
 
 Educational Proceedings of District Councils in 1847, 1848 83 
 
 Estimate of Lord Elgin's character by Hon. W. H. Draper 84 
 
 Invaluable assistance given to Dr. Ryers ,)n by Lord Elgin 85 
 
 Proceedings of the Fii'st Council of Public Instruction. The Normal School 86 
 
 Laying the corner stone of the New Normal School Buildings, 1851 87 
 
 The County Model Schools of 1843-1850 88 
 
 Fundamental Principles of Dr. Ryerson's Scheme of Education 90 
 
 Oan Upper Canada Emulate the State of New York in Educational Matters ? . 90 
 
 Establishment of the Educationa' Depository and its Results . 92 
 
 Abstract of Depository Schedule Presented to the Legislature in 1877 92 
 
 Dr. Ryerson a Commissioner on King's College, New Brunswick, in 1854 93 
 
 •Chronological Sketch of Dr. Ryerson's Educational Work, 1855, etc 94 
 
 Bishop Eraser's Estimate of the Upper Canada System of Education in 1863 95 
 
 Character of the Important School Legislation of 1871 97 
 
 Review of the School Legislation of 1871 98 
 
 Objections to Improve our School System Answered 98 
 
 Necessity for the Change in the School Law of Ontario in 1871 100 
 
 Hon. Adam Crooks on the School Inspection Legislation of 1871 101 
 
 Inspector Harcourt's opinion of the effect of the School Act of 1871 101 
 
 Inspector McKee, of the County of Simcoe, on the School Act of 187 1 101 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 A Spei'ial Chapter on the State of EnrcATiON in the Olden Time in Upper 
 
 Canada 103 
 
 Hon. J. Sandfield Macdonald's School Days — His Reminiscences of them 103 
 
 Hon. Charles Clarke on Education in the County of Wellington under Dr. Ryerson's 
 
 Administration 104 
 
 Early Scliooi Legislation in 1841, 1843 and 1S46 104 
 
 Inferior Qualitication of Teachers and Varied Methods of Teaching. . . '. 105 
 
 Dr. Ryerson's Test of the Intelligence of a School Section 105 
 
 The Character of the School-House, also a Test 106 
 
 School Condition of the County of Wellington in 1847 106 
 
 Great Educational Advance made by the Province of Ontario since 1847 107 
 
 Great Advance also in the Standard of Teaching Ability 108 
 
 Rev. W. H. Landon on the State of Edueation in Upper Canada in 1847-1849 109 
 
 The Old Log School-House and its Belongings 110 
 
 The Pioneer Teacher and the Trials of " Boarding- Round" Ill 
 
 The Old School House (Poetry) 113 
 
 Mr. Canniff Haight on the Schools Fifty Years Ago 113 
 
 A School Teacher's Personal Experience in 1865 114 
 
 Mr. James Cumming's Reminiscences of Education in Hamilton in 1847-1852 116 
 
 Education in the County of Simcoe, 1852-1872 117 
 
CHAPTER VI. 
 
 Page. 
 
 Persoxai. Chapter Relating to the Rev. Dr. Ryersox 11& 
 
 His Early Life, as Sketched by Himself 119 
 
 Rev. Dr. Ryerson as a Teacher 121 
 
 The Rev. Dr. Ryerson and His Native County of Norfolk 122 
 
 Closing Official Acts and Utterances of Dr. Ryerson 124 
 
 Reasons for Dr. Ryerson"s Retirement as Chief Superintendent of Education 125 
 
 Dr. Ryerson"s Letter of Resignation in 1868 and Reply to it 126 
 
 Dr. Ryerson's Letter of Resignation in 1872 and Reply to it .... 128 
 
 A Few Words Persoxax to the Writer of this Retrospect 130 
 
THE RYERSON MEMORIAL VOLUME. 
 
 PRELIMINARY. 
 
 The Rev. Dr. Ryerson's death occurred on the 19th of February, 1882. Early in 
 the next month the following circular was issued : — 
 
 A preliminary meeting of trustees, inspectors and teachers connected with Public, 
 Separate and High Schools — past and present — will be held in the theatre, or public hall, 
 of the Education Department, on Tuesday afternoon, the 14th instant, at 4.30, to consider 
 the proposal to erect a monument or other tribute of love and esteem to the memory of 
 the late revered founder of the educational system of Ontario. 
 
 J. George Hodgins, 
 Toronto, March, 1882. Convener. 
 
 The following account of the meeting appeared in The Mail newspaper of the loth 
 March : — 
 
 A meeting of those connected with educational matters was held in the theatre of 
 the Normal School yesterday afternoon, to consider the proposal to erect a monument or 
 other token of esteem to the memory of the late Dr. Ryerson. 
 
 There were present, Drs. Hodgins, Davies, Carlyle, Tassie ; Inspectors Hughes, 
 McKinnon, McBrien, Little, Fotheringham ; Messrs. James Bain, G. McMurrich, and 
 Orombie, Public School trustees, Toronto; Thomas Kirkland, M.A., Normal School; 
 Mrs. Riches, Misses E. A. Scarlett, M. L. Williams, Boulton and Tomlinson ; Messrs. 
 McAllister, Doan, Lewis, Spence, McOausland, Martin, Clarke, Coyne, Parker, Cassidy, 
 ■Campbell, teachers of Toronto city schools. Dr. Hodgins was appointed chairman, and 
 Mr. James L. Hughes secretary. 
 
 Letters expressing regret at inability to attend were read from Mr. G. W. Ross, 
 M.P., Inspectors Scarlett, Bigg and Piatt, and Mi', W. J. Gage. Also a letter from the 
 Minister of Education, to the effect that every inspector and teacher was at full liberty 
 to take such action as he might think proper in connection with so laudable an object as 
 the erection of a memorial to the late superintendent. 
 
 Dr. Hodgins related the circumstances which had led to the calling of a meeting, 
 and said that the object was to uni'te all persons in any way connected with schools in a 
 tribute of affection to the late chief, even the children might contribute a mite. Taere 
 was some difference of opinion as to whether the tribute should take the form of a monu- 
 ment in the cemetery, or a statue in the Normal School grounds. He mentioned Dr. 
 Ormiston as having taken a very strong interest in the matter. 
 
 On motion of Mr. McAllister, seconded by Mr. McMurchy, a resolution expressing 
 the approval, by the meeting, of the proposal to erect a memorial was unanimously 
 adopted. 
 
 Mr. Hughes suggested that a central committee of organization be appointed, and 
 that local associations be formed in every county. 
 
 Messrs. Fotheringham, McMurchy, George McMurrich, McAllister and Brother Odo, 
 were a|)pointed to nominate the central committee. Their report was presented to the 
 meeting, and adopted with some amendments. 
 
In the discussion which took place, the general opinion was that the memorial should 
 take the form of a statue of the late Chief Superintendent, to be erected in the Normal 
 School grounds, Mr. Bain being one of those wlio strongly urged this view. 
 
 Mr. Inspector Fotheringham thouglit tliat the amount of the contribution should be 
 limited so as to make it general, and suggested one dollar for each teacher and trustee, 
 and ten cents for each child, corporate bodies being left to their own discretion. 
 
 The chairman having called for suggestions as to the formation of local committee.s, 
 Mr. Little, Inspector for Halton, thought that the inspector for each county should 
 appoint the teachers and trustees of each school to open a subscription list. 
 
 Mr. McBrien, Inspector for Ontario County, suggested that the inspectors should 
 send a postcard to every teacher in the county, requesting him to convene a meeting in 
 his section. 
 
 Mr. McKinnon, Inspector for Peel, was in favor of Mr. Little's plan. 
 
 There was also considerable discussion as to whether others besides those directly- 
 connected with the schools should be asked to cuntribute. It was urged on the one hand 
 that the tribute would come more fittingly from those more peculiarly interested in edu- 
 cation, and on the other that it should be made national in its character, especially as a 
 large majority of the people had been educated, and their characters formed'under the 
 school system of which Dr. Ryerson was the founder. 
 
 These questions were left for future consideration, and, after a vote of thanks to the 
 chairman, the meeting adjourned. 
 
 As the result of that meeting the following circular was issued by the secretary on 
 the 15th March : — 
 
 At a preliminary meeting of trustees, inspectors and teachers connected with Public, 
 Separate and High Schools, held in the public hall of the Education Department on the 
 14th instant, the following gentlemen were appointed members of a central committee to 
 carry out the resolution unanimously agreed to by the meeting, viz. : to collect funds with 
 which to erect a monument or other tribute of love and esteem to the memory of the late 
 revered founder of the educational system of Ontario, viz : — 
 
 Dr. Hodgins, chairman ; Rev. Principal Davies ; Principal McCabe ; Rev. Dr. 
 Ormiston, of New York ; President Wilson and Prof. G. P. Young, Toronto TJniversity ; 
 Archbishop Lynch ; Rev. Provost Body, Trinity College ; Rev. Principal Oiven, Knox 
 College ; Rev. President Castle, Toronto Baptist College ; Rev. Father Vincent, Superior, 
 St. Michael's College ; Rev. President Nelles, Victoria University ; Very Rev. Principal 
 Grant, Queen's University ; A. McMurchy M.A., President of Ontario Teachers' Asso- 
 ciation ; Very Rev, Dean Grassett, Chairman of Collegiate Institute Board ; Edward 
 Galley, Escj., Chairman, Public School Board ; Vicar-General Rooney, Chairman, Separate 
 School Board ; Dr. McLellan, Inspector, High Schools ; Mr. White, Inspector, Separate 
 Schools for Ontario ; Rev. Brother Tobias, city Inspector of Separate Schools ; J. S. Oar- 
 son, Esq., Chairman of inspectors' section Ontario Teachers' Association ; R. Lewis, Esq., 
 chairman of Public School section ; J). C. McIIenry, M.A., chairman of High School 
 section ; also the Public School Inspectors throughout the Province as ex officio members. 
 (Messrs. D. Fotherinyham and J. R. Miller). Mr. James L. Ihu/hes was appointed 
 secretary of the committee, and Mr. Walter S. Lee, treasurer.* 
 
 * James Carlyle, Esq., M.D., Master in the Normal School, was subsequently appointed joint secretary 
 with Mr. Hughe's. Both rendered most valuable service in promoting the object in view.— J. G. H. 
 
 Ah some gentlemen here named declined, and others ceased to act, the connnittee was finally reduced 
 to nineteen members, including the chairman, secretaries, treasurer and the new appointments. Only 
 those whose names are printed in italics were members of the committee at the time the statue was unveiled 
 in 1889— seven years after their appointment. The following were the members of the committee at the 
 time of the unveiling, viz. : — 
 
 Rev. Principal Caven, D.D., Rev. Dr. Potts, Hon. G. W. Ross, Minister, Rev. H. W. Davies, D.D., 
 Hon. Senator Macdonald, Principal Kirkland, M.A., Rev. W. H. Withiow, D.D., Principal Dickson, 
 MA., Rev. Hugh Johnston, D.D., Rector McMurchy, M.A., Mr. G. H. Robinson, M.A., ex head master 
 Collegiate Institute; Mr. David Fotheringham, Inspector of North York ; Mr. R. Doan, Mr. S. McAllis- 
 ter, public school teacher, Toronto, and Mr. J. R. Miller, ex-inspector. Chairman, J. George Hodgins, IjL.D. ; 
 joint secretaries, Mr. James L. Hughes and James Carlyle, M.D. ; treasurer, Mr. Walter S. Lee. The 
 artist-sculptor was Mr. Hamilton McCarthy, R.C.A., and the contractor for pedestal, Mr. F. B. GuUett, 
 monumental sculptor. 
 
Appeal for Funds fok Erection of the Statue. 
 
 At a subsequent meeting of the committee, Rev. Dr. Ormiston and Dr. Hodgina 
 were requested to draw up an appeal soliciting aid for the proposed memorial. Dr. 
 Ormiston did so as follows : — 
 
 Appeal to Trustees, Inspectors, Teachers and Pupils— past and present — connected with 
 Ptiblic, Separate * and High Schools, and to the other friends of Education in the 
 Province of Ontario ; from the General Committee appointed at Toronto on the IJfth 
 March, 1882, Jor tJie collection of Junds with which to erect a Monument, or other 
 Tribute of Esteem and Admiration to the memory of the late Rev. Dr. Ryerson, 
 founder of the Educational System of Ontario : 
 
 " Although still young our Province has already been called to mourn the removal of 
 not a few of her gifted sons, who have severally adorned the different walks of public 
 life. In weight of character, wealth of manhood, and width of human sympathy, the 
 late Chief Superintendent of Education, stood amongst the foremost and mightiest of 
 them all. 
 
 Egerton Ryerson was a man of rare diversity of gifts, of remarkable energy, and of 
 abundant mental resources. It would have been easy for him to have excelled in any 
 one sphere of human greatness, but it was his to stand high in several. He was a many- 
 sided man ; richly endowed in various ways. He was a laborious farmer — a zealous 
 student — a successful teacher — an eminent preacher — a ))rominent ecclesii^stic — an influ- 
 ential editor — a forcible writer — a sagacious counsellor — a most efficient principal and 
 professor — but he was chiefly noted as a great public educationist. 
 
 For a third of a century he was the head and inspiring genius of our school system, 
 establishing, moulding, adapting, controlling it ; and this, the main work of his life, will 
 endure and command in the future, as it has in the past, the admiration of all, both at 
 home and abroad. During all these years he was the teacher's true friend, and the ardent 
 
 * Having asked Archbishop Lynch to commend this and subsequent appeals to the teachers of the 
 Separate Schools, he replied as follows : — 
 
 "St. Michael's Palace, Toronto, December 12, 1882. 
 
 "Mt Dear Dr. Hodgins, — I do not like to assume a prominent part in writinj^ to th- teachers of the 
 Separate Schools outside of my own diocese, or to set an example which I fear would be criticized. How- 
 ever, I sead you my subscription ($10) towards the erection of the statue to the late lamented Dr. Ryerson. 
 
 'J. George Hodgins, Esq., LL.D., 
 Chairman, etc." 
 
 " 1 am, yours very sincerely, 
 
 "t JOHN JOSEPH LYNCH, 
 
 " Archbishop of Toronto. 
 
 (The Very Reverend Vicar-General Rooney also sent $10, as his subscription to the fund). 
 
 I also wrote to the Rev. Father Stafford, of Lindsay, on the subject. In his replv, dated March 9th, 
 1882, he said : — 
 
 " You ask my opinion as to whether the erection of a monument to the late Dr. Ryerson will receive 
 support from the Separate Schools ? 
 
 "Not much from Separate Schools as such, nor much from Separate School supporters. The recollection 
 of the old controversy with the bishops of our Ctiurch, is still fresh in the memories of many. 
 
 "I think some of the Separate School teachers will subscribe— perhaps many of them. 
 
 " Personally, I must give my mite. I always found Dr. Ryerson, as you are aware, very kind with 
 me, and very attentive to any suggestions I had to offer, and very just in all his dealings with me. 
 
 " I admired his ability and his love and enthusiasm for his work. No one knows better than you my 
 admiration for that man. My idea is that the monument ought to be something very respectable — say, 
 got up something like the one to Grattan, or Moore, or Burke, near Trinity College, Dublin ; and it ought 
 to be erected in the Normal School grounds. 
 
 " I wished to send a word of sympathy to Dr. Ryerson's family, but I did not know where to addresa 
 them. Will you kindlj' say a word for me to the proper person ? 
 
 " Dr. Hodgins, 
 
 "Toronto." 
 
 " Yours faithfully, 
 
 "M. STAFFORD, Pt. 
 
■well-wisher of the young. His sympathies — tender and true — as helpful as they were 
 healthy, went out to every earnest worker, whetiier in acquiring or imparting knowledge. 
 The enquiring left his presence directed ; the downcast, cheered ; the doubtful, contiroied. 
 
 Unselfish, generous, disinterested, he devoted himself wholly to his work. How 
 often did his lip quivf^r and liis eye fill when he addressed the gatherings of teachers and 
 pupils, upon whom he looked not only with the eye of a patriot, but of a parent, — " Ye 
 are n.y children all." 
 
 We can never forget him ; we profoundly mourn our loss ; we fondly cherish his 
 memory. Affection, gratitude, a sense of what is due to so eminent a man, impel us to 
 perpetuate that memory in some suitable way, which will render such a noble life an 
 insjjiring example to young men now and in the coming days. 
 
 In obedience then, to one of the purest and loftiest instincts of our nature, let us 
 unite in paying a common tribute of admiration and regard to the memory of him to 
 whom we all sustained a common relationship, and to whom we also, without distinction 
 as to nationality, political preferences, or religious belief, can pay sincere homage, as 
 the founder of our present excellent and comprehensive system of education. 
 
 In honoring him we do honor to our common country, and recognize our obliga- 
 tion to pay fitting homage to the great men of our Dominion, whose names, with his, are 
 inscribed high upon the roll of Canada's famous sons." 
 
 At intervals, during the years 1882-1886, circulars were issued by the committee to 
 inspectors, trustees and masters of High, Public and Separate Schools, urging the collec- 
 tion of the necessary funds to erect the propased memorial. In order to aid in this work, 
 7,500 copies of a biographical sketch of Dr. Ryerson and his educational work, prepared 
 by the chairman, was sent to the inspectors for distribution. The chairman also made the 
 following suggestions to inspectors (with a view to facilitate the collections from pupils), 
 which was generally acted upon, viz. : — 
 
 " Permit me to susrgest a simple way of securing a response from each school : You mio^ht request the 
 teacher to give notice that, on the following week, he would devote five minutes at noou of each day to 
 taking down a list of contributions (from a cent upwards) to the fund. 
 
 "In this way the pupils— and everyone in the locality, through the children — would have an oppor- 
 tunity of contributing his or her mite to the erection of a statue to one of Canada's most honored sons." 
 
 The final circular issued by the committee was as follows : — 
 
 The appeal on behalf of the Rj'erson Memorial Fund has been responded to by about two-thirds of the 
 public, and less than one-third of the High Schools in Ontario. The sum thus received amounts to 
 $4,4'25.(}0, including accrued interest on the moneys received and invested. 
 
 The 7,i5'20 masters and teachers now employed in the Public and High Schools of Ontario, have not yet 
 been app^^aled to, as a body, to contribute to this most desirable and patriotic object, although many of 
 them have sent in their subscriptions. The General Committee have, therefore, decided to make this 
 appeal to them through the various teachers' associations. The committee trust, therefore, that the indi- 
 vidual masters and teachers concerned (if they have not already done so) will heartily and promptly respond 
 to this appeal. 
 
 The words with which Dr. Ormiston closes his appeal on behalf of this fund we would lieartily com- 
 mend to your sympathy and kind consideration. We do so with the earnest hope that you will give them 
 a substantial and practical application. Dr. Ormiston says : — 
 
 "In obedience tiien, to one of the purest and loftiest instincts of our nature, let us unite in paying a 
 common tribute of admiration and regard to tiie memory of him to whom we all sustained a common 
 relationship, and to whom we also, without distinction as to nationality, political preferences, or religious 
 belief, can pay sincere homage, as the founder of our present excellent and comprehensive system of 
 education. 
 
 " In honouring him we do honour to our common country, and recognize our obligation to pay fitting 
 homage to the great men of our Dominion, whose names, with his, are inscribed high upon the roll of 
 Canada's famous sons." 
 
 The Rev. T. Bowman Stephenson, LL.D., delegate from the British to the General Conference of the 
 Methodist Church in Canada, in his recent address to that Conference, said, referring to the late Rev. Dr. 
 Ryerson : — 
 
 That gentleman " visited us in England twice. Old man as he then was, he seemed younger than 
 most of us. I take him to have been one of those rare men who are never young and never old— old in 
 wisdom whilst young in years— young in heart and feeling when already the snow is on the head .Eloquent, 
 logical, far sighted, generous, independent, courageous, with an unhesitating faith in duty, and a boundless 
 love of freedom and justice, he 'served his generation. — O how well the inspired words describe him — by 
 the will of God, ' he fell on sleep.' " 
 
The Financial Results of the Appeals Made — Particulars of the Statue. 
 
 The following is the financial result of the labours of the committee up to the date 
 of its final meeting on the 1st of June, 1889, viz. : — 
 
 Subscriptions received $4,647 95 
 
 Legislative grant • 2,000 00 
 
 City of Toronto grant 500 00 
 
 Interest on deposits 1,119 14 
 
 $8,267 09 
 
 Cost of bronze statue $5,100 00 
 
 Cost of granite pedestal 2,600 00 
 
 Fees and incidentals 381 09 
 
 $8,081 09 
 
 $186 00 
 To be expended on the Memorial Volume 186 00 
 
 Height of bronze figure 9 feet 6 inches. 
 
 Height of granite pedestal 10 feet 6 inches. 
 
 The granite of the pedestal is from a quarry at St. George, in New Brunswick — a 
 Province which was the first early home of Dr. Ryerson's father and mother, after the 
 close of the American Revolutionary War. Dr. Ryerson's mother was a native of New 
 Brunswick as were his elder brothers and sisters. 
 
 Programme of Arrangements for Unveiling the Statue. 
 
 The following was the programme of arrangements agreed to by the Committee to 
 be observed on the Queen's Birthday, 1889, at the ceremony of unveiling of the statue of 
 the Eev. Egerton Ryerson, D.D., LL.D., founder of the school system of Ontario, 1844- 
 1876, ceremony to commence at two o'clock p.m. : — 
 
 Chairman for the Day. — The Hon. George W. Ross, LL.D., Minister of Education for 
 Ontario. Dedicatory Hymn. — (" All People that on Earth do Dwell," Old Hundred) 
 to be announced by the Rev. John Burton, B.D. Selection of Scripture. — To be read by 
 the Rev. John Potts, D.D., Secretary of Education of the Methodist General Conference. 
 Dedicatory Prayer. — By the Rev. G. M. Milligan, B.A., Minister of Old St. Andrew's 
 Church, Toronto. Opening Address. — By the Hon. George W. Ross, LL.D., Chairman 
 of the Day. Unveiling of the Statue. — By the Hon. Sir Alexander Campbell, K.C.M.G., 
 Lieutenant-Governor of Ontario. Patriotic School Song by the City School Children. — 
 " Hurrah, Hurrah, for Canada ! " to be led by Mr. Perrin, Music Teacher, City Schools. 
 Historical Paper on Education in Ontario. — The abstract only was read by J. George 
 Hodgins, M.A.. LL.D., Deputy Minister of Education for Ontario. Address on behalf 
 of the Ontario Teachers' Association. — By Mr. McQueen, President of the Association, 
 1889. Address on behalf of the Citizens of Toronto. — By His Worship the Mayor, E. 
 F. Claike, Esq., M.P.P. (Mr. Clarke having gone to England, the address was read by 
 AJderman McMillan, President of the City Council, and Acting Mayor pro tern). 
 Patriotic Sony by the City School Children. — " The Maple Leaf for Ever ! " Address on 
 behalf of the University of Toronto. — By the Hon. John Macdonald, Senator. Address 
 on behalf of Victoria University. — By the Rev. N. Burwash, S.T. D., Chancellor of Vic- 
 toria University. Address on behalf of Queen's University. — By Sandford Fleming, Esq., 
 LL.D., C.M.G., Chancellor of Queen's University. Address on behalf of Trinity 
 University. — By the Rev. Professor William Clark, M.A. Address on behalf of Mc Master 
 University. — By T. H. Rand, Esq., D.C.L. The National Anthem. Benediction. — Pro- 
 nounced by the Right Rev. Arthur Sweatman, D.D., D.C.L., Bishop of Toronto. 
 
Rfipre<entatives present. — The Mayor and Cori)oration of the City of Toronto, Chair- 
 man and members of the High School and Collegiate Institute Board of Toronto, Chair- 
 man and nierabers of the Public School Board of Toronto. Upper Canada College, Hon. 
 John Beverley Robinson ; Knox College, Rev. William McLaren, DA). ; Wyclifle College, 
 Colonel Gzowski, A.D.C. ; McMaster Divinity Hall, Rev. Chancellor McVicar, D.D. 
 LL.D. ; Brantford Ladies' College, T. M. Maointyre, Esq., Ph. D. ; Alma Ladies' College, 
 Colin Macdougall, Esq., Q.O. * ; Oshawa Ladies' College, Rev. A. B. Demill. 
 
 The following replies from other Colleges were received by the Secretaries, viz. : — 
 
 " Assumption College, Sandwich, March 12, 1889. 
 " Dear Sib, — I beg to return thanks for your invitation to the unveiling of the Statue to the late 
 Doctor Ryerson. 
 
 " I do not think it will be possible for any representative of this College to be present on that occasion. 
 
 " I remain, dear Sir, yours respectfully, 
 "J. Carlyle, Esq., " (Sgd) DENNIS O'CONNOR. 
 
 Secretary. " 
 
 " St. Michael's College, Toronto, 15th March, 1889. 
 
 " Dear Sir,— I received in due time your letter inviting me to the unveiling of the Statue to the late 
 Dr. Ryerson on the 24th of M<*y next. Your invitation I must respectfully decline, and thanking you 
 for it. 
 
 "I remain yours very sincerely, 
 
 " James Carlyle, Esq., "(Sgd) P.VINCENT. 
 
 Secretary. " 
 
 " College of Ottawa, March 21, 1889. 
 
 " Dear Sir, —I am in receipt of your circular, dated March 12th, with which you kindly favored me. 
 Please accept my best thanks for your cordial invitation to send a representative of our College to the 
 unveiling of the Statue of the late Dr. Ryerson. I am greatly sorry to state that it will be hardly possible 
 to anybody of us to go on the 24th of May. Please e.xcuse us and believe me. 
 
 " Yours sincerely, 
 " Mr. J. Carlyle, " (Sgd.) J. M. FEAYARD, O.M.J. 
 
 Secretary. " 
 
 No replies were received from the other Colleges in Ontario to which invitations 
 had been sent by the Secretaries. The following representatives were also present : 
 
 Ontario Teachers' Association, Public School Section, Mr. Robert Alexander ; 
 Inspectors' Section, Mr. David Fotheringham ; High School Section, Mr. Archibald 
 McMurchy, M.A. 
 
 Inscription on the pedestal of the bronze statue of Rev. Dr. Ryerson, as approved by 
 the General Committee, November, 1887, to be placed on the front of the pedestal, facing 
 Bond Street :— 
 
 EGERTON RYERSON, 
 
 FOUNDER 
 
 of the 
 
 SCHOOL SYSTEM OF ONTARIO. 
 
 To be placed on the rear of the pedestal : — 
 
 BORN 
 
 in charlotteville, county of norfolk, ontario, 
 
 March 24, 1803. 
 
 DIED 
 
 AT TORONTO, FEBRUARY 19, 1882. 
 
 * In a kind note received from Mr. Macdougall, dated St. Thomas, May 29th, 1889, he said:— "The 
 ceremonies of unveiling were evrry thing that ould be looked for, and were well carried out. The speaking 
 was good and quite sufficient of it. . . . It must be to you and to your family a gratifying reflection 
 that you will be remembered in history as having largely contributed by personal exertion towards the 
 erection of a monument to the memory of one rf Canada's greatest sons." 
 
Record of Kev. Dr. Ryerson's services, as approved by the General Committee, 
 November, 1887, and intended to have been engraved on the Pedestal. It was after- 
 wards decided not to do so, but to insert the name only, as founder of the Ontario School 
 system.* 
 
 THIS STATUE 
 
 IS 
 
 ERECTED 
 AS A MEMORIAL 
 
 OF THE GKEAT PUBLIC SERVICES OF THE 
 
 REV. EGERTON RYERSON, D.D., LL.D, 
 
 SON OF COLONEL JOSEPH RYERSON, 
 
 A BRITISH OFFICER WHO SERVED DURING THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION, 
 
 AND WHO WAS ONE OF 
 
 THE UNITED EMPIRE LOYALISTS 
 
 WHO SETTLED IN THIS PROVINCE. 
 
 A DISTINGUISHED MINISTER OF THE METHODIST CHURCH, 
 
 1825—1852. 
 
 HE OBTAINED FOR THAT CHURCH A ROYAL CHARTER IN ENGLAND 
 FOR THE ESTABLISHMENT OF 
 
 UPPER CANADA ACADEMY AT C O B O U R G, 
 
 1828-1841. 
 
 AFTERWARDS 
 
 THE UNIVERSITY OFVICTORIA COLLEGE, 
 
 OF WHICH HE WAS THE FIRST PRESIDENT. 
 
 IN FOUNDING 
 THE SCHOOL SYSTEM OF HIS NATIVE PROVINCE, 
 
 AND IN PROMOTING THE 
 
 ESTABLISHMENT OF FREE SCHOOLS, 
 
 HE DISPLAYED THE RARE GIFTS OF A 
 
 F'AR-SEEING AND ENLIGHTENED STATESMAN, 
 
 AND FOR THIRTY-TWO YEARS WAS 
 
 THE ABLE ADMINISTRATOR OF THAT SYSTEM, 
 1844—1876. 
 
 ERECTED BY CONTRIBUTIONS FROM SCHOOL TRUSTEES INSPECTORS, TIAOHBBS, 
 PUPILS AND OTHERS ; 
 
 AIDED BY A GRANT FROM THE CITY OF TORONTO AND 
 THE LEGISLATURE OF ONTARIO. 
 
 * Having submitted the draft of this inscription to several of Dr. Ryerson's clerical friends, I received 
 the following in reply : — 
 
 From the Rev. Dr. Douglass, Montreal : — 
 
 "Thanks for your very kind favor. The name of Dr. Ryerson will be forever sacred in my heart's 
 best affection. I have read the proposed inscription with very much care and interest. I think it is 
 
CHAPTER II. 
 
 CEREMONY OF UNVEILING THE STATUE, 24th MAY, 1889. 
 
 The ceremony of unveiling of the Statue is thus described by The Globe of May the 
 25th (abridged) : — 
 
 The number of truly great men is not large in any country. 
 
 Ontario is not old yet in its physical and intellectual development, and yet it is 
 •with pride her people recall the memory of a few great men who are now with the 
 overwhoLning majority. Among the greatest of Canadian public men was Rev. Dr. 
 Egerton Ryer.son, the founder of the Ontario Public School system of education. 
 Posterity recognizps this, and posterity seeks to perpetuate his memory in that loving 
 manner which bespeaks gratitude, thankfulness and patriotism. The generation that 
 now is speaks affectionately and reverently of him, who, by sheer force of character, 
 founded a system of education which places the child of the poor man on an equal 
 equality with that of the rich, and who so admirably developed his system that every 
 office in the State is open through a complete .system of elementary and secondary 
 education to all classes in the Province. But this generation has done more. It 
 erected a monument to the great man, so that generations yet unborn may not be 
 unmindful of the heritage which shall be theirs, as the result of the untiring zeal and 
 ability displayed by the Chief Superintendent of Education in Ontario for the moral and 
 intellectual advancement of his country. 
 
 The unveiling of this monument, fittingly erected in a commanding position of the 
 Normal School grounds, which were the scene of the labors of the grand teacher, took 
 place yesterday afternoon before a large concourse of people. There were there statesmen 
 and politicians, pre.sidents of universities and eminent divines, men learned in the law 
 and merchant princes, manufacturers and agriculturist.s, teachers and pupils — all being 
 assembled to do honor to the name of him whose monument was unveiled and whose 
 virtues were extolled. The gathering was truly historical and unique in its character- 
 there being spen representatives of the old class of teachers who presided over the school, 
 houses of the country when there was no system of education in Ontario, and who, 
 therefore, could the more appreciate the revolution wrought by the master mind of 
 Dr. Ryerson, when he undertook to mould into shape the heterogeneous elements of 
 public instruction over forty years ago. Then, again, it is seldom in the history of 
 
 comprehensive in its scope, and accurate and elepant in its detail. I really can offer no suggestion. I 
 congratulate you upon the completeness with which you have executed your task. With best wishes, ever 
 and truly yoitrs, G. D." 
 
 From the Rev. J. A. Williams, D.D., Toronto :— 
 
 " I very much approve of the proposed inscription for the memorial to the late lamented Dr. Ryerson. 
 It recognizes his worth and distinguished ability, as a writer, as an educationist, and as a patriot. It is a 
 fitting tribute from one who knew him well and so long. With much and sincere respect, I am, yours very 
 truly, J. A. W." 
 
 From the Rev. John Potts, D.T)., Toronto :— 
 
 " No ]jen but yours should write the inscription for Dr. Ryeraon's monument. What you enclose is an 
 elegant and eloquent tribute to our dear departed father. The committee will accejit the inscription with 
 thanks. Ever yours, J. P." 
 
 From the late Rev. Dr. Nelles, Cobourg (whom the committee wished to be consulted on the matter). 
 He said : 
 
 "The inscription, in its present form, pleases me best of all, and is well nigh perfect, doing 'credit 
 to your head and heart,' as the yjhrase is. 
 
 " I <am sure we sh.all get the thing perfect before we leave it. And the old Doctor deserves that two 
 8uch loving sons should bestow their best efforts in such a matter. 
 
a nation that all classes, creeds and colors could bo got together to do honor to the 
 memory of one man, and seldom could there be seen such an array of intellectual leaders 
 in all the walks of life as held scats on the platform when Her Majesty's representative 
 unveiled the form of him whose memory is sought by it to be perpetuated. The sky 
 itself seemed to favor the auspicious occasion. The weather could not have been finer 
 if it had been designed to gladden and rejoice the hearts of those who were present, and 
 thereby to assist in making the proceedings pass otf as pleasantly as possible. 
 
 A temporary platforui was erected nearly in front of the monument commanding an 
 admirable view of it, while seats were placed on both sides of the centre of attraction. 
 
 (Among those present not mentioned in the programme were : Ex-Governor Aikens, 
 of Manitoba, Sir Daniel Wilson, Hon. Oliver Mowat, Rev, Dr. Scadding, Rev. Dr. 
 Rose, Judge McDougall, Rev. Leroy Hooker, Thomas Hodgins, Q.O., Mr. F. E. Hodgins, 
 Rev. Dr. Parker, Rev. Dr. D. G. Sutherland, Mr. Wm. Houston, Lt.-Col. Allan, Rev. 
 John Hunt, Mr. D. Rose, Dr. H. H. Wright, Professor Ashley, Mr. J. J. Withrow, 
 O. A. Howland, Mr. A. Marling, James Beatty, Q.C., Eev. Dr. Thomas, Mr. 
 J. E. Bryant, Mr. F. B. Hodgins, and Members of the City Corporation, etc. Avery large 
 number of ladies were also present, and many unenumerated old friends of the venerable 
 ex-Chief.) 
 
 The proceedings were opened by Rev. John Burton giving out Psalm 100, which 
 was sung by the audience. Rev. John Potts, D. D., read a portion of Scripture, and the 
 dedicatory prayer was offered by Rev. G. M. Milligan. 
 
 The Hon. G. W. Ross' Address. 
 
 Hon. G. W. Ross, Minister of Education, spoke as follows : — 
 
 We are assembled to-day to do honor to the founder of the school system of the 
 Province of Ontario. On the 18th of October, 1844, the Rev. Egerton Ryerson received 
 a commission from Sir Chatles Metcalfe as Superintendent of what was then called the 
 Common Schools of Upper Canada. At the time he entered upon his duties there were 
 in existence 2,885 Common Schools, with a registered attendance of 96,756 children of 
 school age. The entire revenue from all sources for school purposes amounted to 
 $340,000. When he retired in 1876 there were 5,092 schools, with a registered attend- 
 ance of 489,664 pupils, and a revenue of $3,373,035. Besides the Common Schools in 
 existence there were 25 Grammar Schools attended by 95o pupils, and maintained at an 
 expense of $16,320 annually. At the close of his long career there were 104 High 
 Schools attended by 8,541 pupils, and maintained at an annual expense of $304,948. The 
 accommodation for the pupils attending the Common Schools was supplied by 2,887 
 school houses, of which 213 were brick or stone, 1,008 frame and 1,666 log. The 
 
 "The 'final revise ' [subsequently sent] may, I think, now be accepted. It will bear criticism. . . , 
 You have in you an illimitable power of improvement, and this last is still better than any other. 
 Affectionately yours, S. S. N." 
 
 From the Rev. Alexander Sutherland, D.D., Toronto : — 
 
 " I have read the draft of the proposed inscription for the Ryerson Statue with great care and a great 
 deal of interest. It covers the whole ground, and contains nothing that could well be omitted. The 
 extracts from the ' Letter of Acceptance ' and ' Official Circular ' give it a completeness which leaves 
 nothing to be desired. Yours faithfully, A. S." 
 
 From the Rev. Ephraim B. Harper, D.D., Brampton : — 
 
 "I have read over and over again with all possible attention and care your proposed inscription 
 for Dr. Ryerson's Memorial, and candidly allow that I could not propose the change of a word, or 
 even of a letter in it. I prepared something similar, twenty-three years ago, for a gravestone for thfe late 
 Rev. Dr. Stinson, and know well the difficulty of compressing important facts within the limits permissible 
 for an inscription. It could not have fallen into better hands, when it fell to your lot to write it. As ever, 
 dear doctor, yours affectionately, E. B. H." 
 
 From Rev. W. H. Withrow, D.D., Toronto :— 
 
 " I think the inscription admirable. Yours, W. H. D." 
 
10 
 
 teachers numbered 3,086, and were possessed of such varied qualifications as might be 
 expected when I tell you that they obtained their certificates in most cases from the 
 Boards of Trustees which employed them. When he surrendered his commission tlipre 
 were 4,920 school-houses, of which 1,931 were brick or stone, 2,253 frame, and only 742 
 log, all in charge of a staff of highly educated and accomplished teachers, numbering 
 6,185. 
 
 The school law in existence at the time of Dr. Ryerson's appointment to ofiice consisted 
 of 71 sections, and was as crude in many respects as the education which was obtained 
 under it. There were practically no authorized text-books, no Boards of Examiners, no 
 Inspectors, no Dep.irtment of Education. It was an era of primitive simplicity, but an 
 era, nevertheless, the possibilities of which no man could estimate, the development of 
 which no man could foresee. " The deep surge of nations yet to be " had struck our 
 shores. Thousands of sturdy pioneers were at work hewing down our forests and 
 wrestling with such social and political problems as are incident to a primitive order of 
 things. The materials out of which to organize society on a higher plane were abundant 
 though undeveloped. It was a great o[)portunity for a man possessed of a genius for 
 organization. In the appointment of Dr. Ryerson the opportunity and the man met face 
 to face, and the splendid system of education which we to-day enjoy is the best proof that 
 the man was as great, if nob greater, than the opportunity. Bat, while the opportunity 
 was a great one, it must not be forgotten that the difficulties to be overcome, to a less 
 vigorous and courageous man, would have been overwhelming. 
 
 The executive machinery for administering the affairs of several thousand distinct 
 corporations, with all the complex details necessarily connected with electing trustees, 
 collecting rates, appointing teachers, framing a curriculum of studies, regulating the 
 discipline of pupils and supplying text-books, had all to be re-cast, if not invented, and 
 put into operatioa. Cabinet Ministers, Members of Parliament and ^Municipal Councils 
 had to be indoctrinated with the new education. The press had to be directed, and the 
 whole people educated to receive with favor a school system which ignored well 
 established theories and deeply founded prejudices. Even popular indignation had to be 
 set at defiance, and amid misrepresentation and calumny the master builder had often 
 to do his work and to await the verdict of posterity for the vindication of his wisdom and 
 foresight. 
 
 It is well known, when Dr. Ryerson first proposed to make all the Common Schools 
 of Upper Canada free alike to rich and poor, to citizen and alien, that he was charged 
 with encroaching upon the rights of the subject, that he was charged with appropriating 
 the money of the taxpayer who perhaps had no children to be educated for the benefit of 
 the thriftless and pauperised classes of the community. What was his answer 1 It was 
 this : — "The education of the people irrespective of rank or race or creed is a better 
 investment even for the taxpayer than houses or lands, because it guarantees the safe 
 possession of all his goods — it does even more — it guarantees his personal liberty and 
 therefore the taxpayer must be made to pay for tlie common safety of the people." 
 
 When he asked authority for trustees to erect school houses wherever, in their 
 ■opinion, the public interests required them, he was told such a law would be arbitrary 
 •and harsh, that it would place too much power in the hands of a few men. His answer 
 was : " School houses are cheaper than gaols, teachers are cheaper than police officers, 
 the taxpayer must be made to pay for the common molality of the people." When he 
 said : " Teachers must be educated and traine 1 for their work, the success of thousands 
 of children depend upon skilful handling and discipline in the school room, we must have 
 Oraramar Schools and Normvl School and Township libraries and Doirds of Examiners," 
 he was told that the cointry ciuld not afford such luxuries, that he must wait till the 
 people were richer. His answer was : " Efficiency is the highest economy. If the spring- 
 time of life is wasted, life's g.eatest opp )rtunities are wasted. The taxpayer must be 
 made to pay for the common intelliiienceof the people." As a result of all this courage — 
 may I not call it heroism — in the defence ot sound principles of education he placed his 
 native Province in the van of all the States of America and all the Colonies of the 
 British Empire. Well may we to-day assemble to do honor to his memory. Not only 
 Ontario, but Canada, owes much to his breadth of mind, his sagacity and his tremendous 
 force of character. 
 
11 
 
 For thirty two years his active brain and busy pen were devoted to the work of pro- 
 pagating sounder views on popular education. For thirty-two years he labored to 
 establish the democracy of mind — the common citizenship of every child attending a 
 Public School. With a patriotism which no man ever questioned, with talents which no 
 man could fail to appreciate, with a tenacity of purpose which no difficulty could daunt, 
 he devoted his life to one purpose, the establishment of a school system which would fully 
 meet the wants of a free, strong and progressive people. (Applause). It is said of 
 Augustus that he found Rome brick and left it marble. It may be said of Dr. Ryerson 
 that he found our school system without any definite organisation, he left it highly organ- 
 ized. He found it weak in influence and poor in circumstances, he left it endowed with 
 houses and lands and millions of treasure. He found it tolerated as traditionally 
 respectable, he left it enthroned in the affections of a free people. 
 
 Well may we honor his greatness, for we share in all it has produced. Well may 
 we search our quarries for a tit emblem of the durability of his work, on which to carve 
 his name, that generations yet unborn may recall the record of his life and be stirred to 
 emulate his example. And yet when we have done all this, when we have committed his 
 memory to the keeping of the bronze and granite now before us, I believe the judgment 
 of those who know his work will be that all the monuments which mortal hands can 
 erect, and all the eulogies which affection or admiration can prompt his contemporaries to 
 utter, will be ephemeral and perishable compared with the educational edifice which his 
 own hands builded or the intellectual life which of his own genius he imparted to his 
 iellow countrymen. 
 
 The Statue Unveiled by Sir Alexander Campbell. 
 
 At the close of his address Mr. Ross invited the Governor to unveil the statue. 
 Before doing so the Governor, turning to the audience, said in feeling terms : — 
 
 " Dr. Ryerson was known throughout the length and breadth of this Province. No 
 Representative of Her Majesty has had ever as pleasing a duty given to him to discharge 
 as that which falls to my lot in unveiling the monument of that great man." 
 
 Sir Alexander, accompanied by the Minister and Deputy Minister of Education, 
 proceeded then to the statue, and the work of unveiling was only the question of a few 
 moments. As soon as the British Canadian flag, which covered the massive form of the 
 statue, was raised, the audience raised a cheer which is rarely heard within the Normal 
 School grounds. It was the reflex of the inner gratitute of the sharers in a great 
 heritage. 
 
 The sculptor, Mr. McCarthy, who did his work well, was then introduced to the 
 liieutenant-Governor by the Minister of Education. 
 
 The statue having been exposed to full view the song " Hurrah for Canada " was 
 sung by city school children, led by Mr. Perrin, music teacher, city schools. The children 
 acquitted themselves admirably. 
 
 Educational Retrospect by the Deputy Minister of Education. 
 
 It was fitting that the next speaker should be a gentleman so long and so closely 
 connected with. Dr. Ryerson in moulding the educational institutions of the Province. 
 The Chairman therefore introduced Dr. Hodgins, Deputy Minister of Education, who 
 read a masterly and comprehensive historical paper on Education in Ontario. Dr. 
 Hodgins traced the growth of education in the Province from 1841, dealing minutely and 
 with a thorough k<|owledge of details with the difficulties encountered by Dr. Ryerson in 
 gaining public endorsation for his scheme of popular education, and the phases through 
 which the system passed until at the Centennial Exhibition, held in Philadelphia in 1876, 
 the Chief Superintendent of Education was gratified by the Commissioners making the 
 following award : — 
 
 For a quite complete and admirably arranged exhibition, illustrating the Ontario 
 system of education and its excellent results. Also for the efficiency of an administration, 
 
12 
 
 which has gained for the Ontario department a most honorable distinction among 
 Government educational agencies. 
 
 Dr. Hodgins conchided as follows : — Having been intimately concerned in all of the 
 events and educational matters to which I have referred, it may not be out of place for 
 me to add a few words of a personal character in conclusion. At the end of this year I 
 shall have completed my more than 45 years' service, as chief of the staff of the Education 
 Department of Ontario. For over 40 years I enjoyed the personal friendship of the 
 distinguished man whose memory we honor here to-day — 32 years of which were passed 
 in active and pleasant service under him. How can I, therefore, regard without emotion 
 the events of to-day ? They bring vividly to my recollection many memorable incidents 
 and interesting events of our educational past known only to my.self. They also deeply 
 impress me with the fleeting and transitory nature of all things human. The chief and 
 sixteen councillors, appointed and elected to assist him, liave all passed away. His great 
 work remains, however, and his invaluable services to the country we all gratefully recall 
 to-day, while his native land lovingly acknowledges those services in erecting this noble 
 monument to his memory. Truly indeed and faithfully did Egerton Ryerson make good 
 his promise to the people of this Province, when he solemnly pledged himself, on accept- 
 ing oflSce in 1844 — 
 
 To provide for my native country a system of education, and facilities for intellectual 
 improvement, not second to those of any country in the world. 
 
 God grant that the seed sown and the foundations thus laid, with such anxious toil 
 and care — and yet in faith — may prove to be one of our richest heritages, so that in the 
 future, wisdom and knowledge, in the highest and truest sense, may be the stability of 
 our times ! 
 
 The Teacheks' Representative. 
 
 The audience was then introduced to Mr. R. McQueen, President of the Ontario 
 Teachers' Association, who eulogised Dr. Ryerson for his marked individuality, tenacity 
 of purpose, and the grand results he achieved through his influence for popular education 
 in his native country. He deserved a monument from a thankful postericy because his 
 whole aim in life was to ameliorate the condition of his fellow-countrymen. He was 
 there in behalf of the teachers of Ontario to express their joy at the tribute paid to the 
 memory of a great teacher and founder of a system of education . 
 
 The Acting-Mayok Responds. 
 
 In the absence of Mayor Clarke, Aid. McMillan was called on to reply in behalf of 
 the citizens of Toronto. The Acting-Mayor said that Canada owes Dr. Ryerson a deep 
 debt of gratitude. His life was grand and versatile ; he was a teacher and a Christian ; 
 a combination of the scholar and gentleman ; a leader of men. He impressed his genius 
 on the educational institutions of the Province, he was loyal to the country of his birth, 
 and he abhorred falsehood and oppression. Therefore it was eminently fitting that his 
 greatness and worth should be commemorated by a public tribute. 
 
 The school children at this stage sang the well-known Canadian song : " The Maple 
 Leaf for Ever." 
 
 The Universities of Ontario. 
 
 The Universities of Ontario owe much to the painstaking care of the late Dr. 
 Ryerson over the development of Public and High School education. The eff.ciency of 
 the University and its possible influence depend on a sound andfthorough .system of 
 elementary education. The High School depends on the Public School and the University 
 on the High School. Our Universities have made tremendous strides during the last ten 
 years, and without a doubt the cause of this has been due to the fact of the elementary 
 schools putting forth the fruit of the good seed sowed thirty years ago. The Universities 
 therefore were not unmindful of what they owe to the genius of Dr. Ryerson at yester- 
 day's re-union. These five institutions were well and ably represented on the platform. 
 
13 
 
 The addresses of these representatives were one series of eulogies on the life and labors of 
 him, whose memory they met to do honor to. 
 
 Senator Macdonald, after praising the Ontario system of education, turned to the 
 young people of the audience and said : " You are forcibly reminded to-day that Canada 
 will cherish the memory of all those of her sons who will work patriotically and nobly for 
 the good of their country." 
 
 Rev. Dr. Burwash spoke of Dr. Ryerson as a public educator, but he would be 
 great, the speaker said, in any other profession. Ontario, however, remembers him as 
 an educator, statesman, philanthropist and Christian teacher in the highest sense of the 
 word. 
 
 Chancellor Fleming honored the name of Dr. Ryerson for having laid such a broad 
 and national system of education as enables Ontario to rank among the first of enlight- 
 ened nations. 
 
 Rev. Professor Clark thought that the spirit of Dr. Ryerson was to provide such a 
 system of education as would make men of earnestness^ character and patriotic 
 ardor. The University with which he was identitied honored the name of Dr. 
 Ryerson, and he was there to add his tribute to the worth of so great a Canadian. 
 
 Professor Rand, eulogised also the elementary and secondary system of education in 
 Ontario, declaring that its founder richly deserved to be commemorated by a public 
 monument.* 
 
 The audience then sang the national anthem. Bishop Sweatman pronounced the 
 benediction, and the statue of the great educationist was left to posterity to admire and 
 to preserve intact and inviolate. 
 
 The report of The Empire necessarily traversed the same ground. I can therefore 
 only give the salient points in addition to those referred to by the Globe, it said : — 
 
 The great educational lights of the Province were present in front of the Education 
 Department building yesterday afternoon, when the statue of the Rev. Dr. Ryerson was 
 unveiled. The day was appropriate for doing honor to the memory of a man who 
 had so ably served his Queen and country, A large crowd of citizens witnessed the 
 unveiling and listened to the addresses that were delivered. 
 
 The following relatives of Dr. Ryerson were present : Mr. Charles Egerton Ryerson, 
 (his only son), Mrs. C. E, Ryerson and their two sons, (Egerton and Stanley), Mrs. 
 Edward Harris, (his only daughter). Dr. G. S. Ryerson (his nephew) was absent with the 
 Grenadiers at Berlin, Mrs. G. S. Ryerson and son were present ; also, Mrs. Hardy (his 
 neice) and her daughter. Miss Ethel Hardy, Dr. John Beatty, of Oobourg, and Mr. James R. 
 Armstrong, (brothers-in-law), Mrs. J. R. Armstrong, Mrs. George Duggau, (sister-in-law), 
 His Honor Judge McDougall, (a connection by marriage)." 
 
 The main points of The Mail report wrere as follows : — 
 
 It would perhaps be too much to say that, while the gay and thoughtless were 
 seeking amusements in other parts of the city, it was only the wise who repaired to the 
 grounds of the Education Department to take part in the unveiling of the statue of the 
 late Egerton Ryerson ; yet it cannot but be admitted that these who assembled to witness 
 and assist in this ceremony were men and women worthy to have the privilege ot publicly 
 honoring the memory of Canada's greatest educationist. Among those present were men 
 who have attained to eminence in every department of public life, and it was but right 
 that they should pay the tribute they did to the memory of him who was the founder and 
 for many years the head of the greatest of all departments. There were men present who 
 for years were associated with Dr. Ryerson in his great work; men whose characters 
 were to a great extent moulded by his example, and men whose ambitions have been 
 wakened and whose purposes have been inspired by the contemplation of his 
 achievements. 
 
 •These addresses are given in full, commencing on page 17. 
 
14 
 
 Early in the afternoon the crowd began to gather around the statue, the front part 
 of which was veiled by a large British flag, the folds of which hung almost to the foot of 
 the pedestal. In front of the statue, under the shade of a couple of the maples that help 
 to make the grounds of the Education Department and Normal School so attractive, a 
 platform had been erected for the use of those who were to take part in the ceremony, 
 and around it were placed a number of sents. 
 
 At the close of his address (given on pages 9-11), Hon. Mr. Ross invited Sir 
 Alexander Campbell to unveil the statue. Before proceeding with the ceremony Sir 
 Alexander advanced to the front of the platform and briefly expressed himself as feeling 
 highly honored by being called upon to perform such a task as the one that on this 
 occasion had devolved upon him. He thought no pleasanter duty could fall to the lot of 
 a Lieutenant-Governor of any province than that of assisting in honoring one of the 
 province's noblest men. He then stepped down, and taking hold of the cords that kept 
 the flag in place, drew them aside and the drapery fell to the ground. As the sunlight 
 flashed on the exquisitely chiselled features, and the form so well known to many of those 
 present stood out for the first time as it will stand, it is hoped, tor many years to come, 
 a prolonged cheer burst from those who had up to this moment watched Sir Alexander's 
 movements with almost breathless interest. After a pause of a few moments, during 
 which the naturalness and finish of the statue was freely commented on, Hon. Mr. Ross 
 called forward Mr. Hamilton McCarthy, the sculptor, and amid great applause intro- 
 duced him to Sir Alexander, who spoke in flattering terms of the pleasure he felt in meet- 
 ing a man who had shown himself capable of pi-oducing so excellent a work of art. 
 
 The bronze statue, nine feet six inches in height, represents the late Dr. Ryerson in 
 the attitude of addressing an audience in the cause of education. The head is turned a 
 little to the right, with tlie lips slightly parted, and with the massive brow and fl nving 
 locks, give a correct and forcible expression, in harmony with the action of the advanced 
 arm and firm position of the right leg. The proportions of the figure are well kept 
 through the am])le folds of the Doctor's gown, which in their various lines, lend richness 
 and interest to the work, and take away the stitfhess of the modern costume. The left 
 hand is raised nearly to the bieast, and in it is grasped a book. A little to the left and 
 rear of the figure stands a short pedestal bearing three books, carelessly laid one upon 
 another ; and on one of the panels of the pedestal is the arras of the Department of 
 Education under Dr. Ryerson's rcjjimc. Dignity of bearing, repose and action, and dis- 
 tinct force of character, eminent qualities in the personality of the lat-; doctor, mark the 
 expression of the figure ; and it is evident that no pains have been spared by the artist 
 in the modelling of the d( tails.* Mr. Hamilton McCarthy has also been very successful 
 in the design of tlip pedestal, which has excited general admiration. It is 10 ft. 6 in. in 
 height, and is of New fiiunswick granite. The conception is unique in character. Pilas- 
 ters at the four angU'S terminate in buttresses to the ground, and support abo\'e beauti- 
 fully designed capitols with dentils on the face. The pyramidal form of the whole work 
 gives it an ertVct of rising out of the ground. The finely polished panels of the die, in 
 each of which a classic shield is outlined, contain the inscription.:. 
 
 Mr. McCarthy can be congratulated upon the success of his work, and the province 
 can be congratulated upon the possession of so noble an addition to the few works of art 
 now in the country. Mr. Cullett, the contractor for the erection of the pedestal al>o 
 perfoi med his duties carefully and faithfully, as not the slightest hitch occurred, and no 
 damage was sustained by the granite." 
 
 *In a note from Sir John Macdonald, he said: — 
 
 '■ Many thanks for your note, and for t!)e jihotographic model of our dear old friend. Dr. Ryerson. 
 The apparent frown on the brow i.s perhaps too i)ronounced, [the expression was modified after receipt of 
 this note]. The pose seems to me very good.'" 
 
 Rev. J. K. Smith, D.U., of Gah, in a note to me also said : — 
 
 " Please except my sincere thanks for the excellent photo of the lamented T>r. Ryerson which is an 
 admirable likeness. It is I supiiose, a^ ne.arly perfect in every respeat as a statue could be. I am r'ersuaded 
 that the stat\ie will be a splendid one, and I rejoice that his great name is thus to be handed down to- 
 successive generations of our Canadian youth as a sacred memory and a powerful stimulus." 
 
15 
 
 Comments of the Press on the Unveiling of the Statue. 
 
 The Evangelical Churchn;an oi May the 9th, anticipating the unveiling of Dr. 
 Ryerson's statue, said : — 
 
 On the '24th of this month, the Queen's Birthday, Ontario will do honor to one of her most distin- 
 guished sons On that day will be unveiled the statute to the memory of Egerton Ryerson, the founder of 
 the schof^l system of his native province. The ceremony will be unique in many ways, not the least inter- 
 esting- fact in connection therewith being that the statue of Dr. Ryerson will be the first one erected by the 
 Province of Ontario to one of its own sons. Dr. Ryerson was a thorovigh Canadian and was born in 
 Ontario. Thu.s this signal honor to his memory acquires additional lustre, and does much to redeem 
 Ontario from the reproach so often uttered that a prophet is not without ht.nor save in his own country. 
 It reveals, indeed, another fact which, in a new country, is not without a peculiar significance. It is this, 
 that national life is commencing in earnest, and that national characteristics are developing themselves. A 
 country which can step aside, as it were, in the rush and hurry of existence to do honor to one of its sons, 
 is not without aspirations after a national existence, is not wholly given up to considerations of material 
 interest, and possesses within it something which is full of promise of permanence and true greatness. 
 
 The Hamilton Times of the 25th of May, under the heading of " The Memory of a 
 Great Canadian," SMid : — 
 
 The unveiling of the Ryerson statue in the Normal School grounds, at Toronto, yesterday, was the 
 occasion of recalling the achievements of the late Dr. Ryerson in connection with Ontario's educational sys- 
 tem. From 1844 until 1876 Rev. Egerton Ryerson was Chief Superintendent of Education in this Pro- 
 vince. . . . But Ur. Rj'erson's services to Canada did not begin in 1844. He was a great man before 
 hs touched the educational system. He was born in the County of Norfolk in 1803, and when he was about 
 20 years of age he was studying in Hamilton in a little house on Jackson Street, not far from the place 
 where the new Y.M.C.A. building is in course of construction. ... In 1826 Archdeacon Strachan 
 preached a sermon on the death of Bishop Mountain. The Methodists at that time were the most numer- 
 ous religious body in Upper Canada, but Dr. Strachan set forth the claim of the Church of England to the 
 Clergy Reserves. . . . Mr. Ryerson was junior preacher under the late Rev. James Richardson, who 
 had his arm shot off while in the naval service near Sackett's Harbour during the war. . . . When Dr. 
 Strachan's sermon was published, it was agreed that Mr. Richardson and Mr. Ryerson should each write a 
 reply to it. They separated, each going to a different part of their large circuit, and when they met a few 
 weeks later young Ryerson had prepared his paper, but Mr. Richardson had nothing ready. It was read 
 before the other preachers and published. The battle had now begun, and it did not end until the Clergy- 
 Reserves were secularized in 1854. During nearly all that time Mr. Ryerson was a leading character in 
 Canadiara public life. He wrote, he spoke, he worked, appearing before Parliamentary committees, inter- 
 viewing the statesmen of Great Britain and occasionally taking his stand upon the hustings. . . . Dr. 
 Ryerson was born in 1803 and became Superintendent of Education in 1844. He was only 42 years of age 
 at the time of his appointment, j'et he had performed a greater share of work, ani had attained a greater 
 degree of prominence in those forty-two years than most public men can boast of as the achievements of a 
 lifetime. How many men in this latter end of the century get into the thick of the fight and make their 
 influence felt while under 40 years of age ? The point we wish to impress is this : Had Egerton Ryerson 
 died in 1844, instead of becoming Superintendent of Education and living until 1882, his history would still 
 have been worth writing, and he would have deserved a monument for the services he performed for his 
 native Province. His long connection with educational affairs to a gi-eat extent blotted out the memory of 
 his earlier work and struggles in another connection. He had much to do with founding Victoria College 
 and getting that institution fairlj' established. . . . The impression remains with us to this day that if 
 Dr. Ryei-son had been a lawyer he would have made all other Canadian lawyers look small ; if he had gone 
 into politics he would have been perpetual Premier ; in short, he was the ablest native Canadian who has 
 so far helped to make history. 
 
 The CliristiaiL (huirdian of the 29th May, said : — 
 
 The unveiling of the statue of the late Dr. Egerton Ryerson, last Friday, in the Normal School grounds 
 in this city, recalls the memory of a worthy and honored Canadian, widely known as a successful journalist, 
 a gifted and learned divine, and an eminent educationist. It will hardly be questioned that the jjrinciple 
 of perpetuating the memory of the benefactors of a coimtry is a laudable one, or that the individual in this 
 case was worthy of the honor. No one who has travelled in Britain or other European countries, has failed 
 to have his attention arrested by statues, or other memorials, of eminent men whom the country delighted 
 to honor. It is well adapted to inspire the j'oung with high purpose to note that however partisan strife 
 may obscure the patriotic services of public men during active life, when the work of life is over, as a gen- 
 eral rule, men of all parties cheerfully recognize the value of the service rendered by those who ha^■e faith- 
 fnlly labored for the public good. Owing to the intensity of political feeling in Canada, there is a strong 
 tendency to underestimate the work of our statesmen and politicians, until they have gone where human 
 praise or blame cannot affect them. 
 
 Though Dr. Ryerson passed through many fierce controversies, and at times came into conflict with 
 hostile opponents, to-day men of all creeds and parties are ready to give him his due meed of praise as one of 
 the greatest of Canada's sons, who achieved a work in organizing and building up a system of public educa- 
 tion that shall tell powerfully for good through all coming time. He founded no cities ; he led no armies 
 to victory ; he had no special influence on the material prosperity of the land : but in organizing a sj'stem 
 of public schools, which placed the elements of a sound education within the reach of every boy and girl in 
 this Province, he has exercised an undying influence over the future intellectual life of the country, that 
 shall largely determine its place in the scale of civilization. 
 
 It is not only since his death that the strife of tongues has ceased, and the value of his work has been 
 generally acknowledged. For several years before his death the echoes of old battles had become .silent ; 
 old strifes were healed ; and he lived in a peaceful Beulah land awaiting the Master's call to cross the dark 
 
16 
 
 river. In the beg^inmng of 1879 at the request of the editor of the Guardian, he wrote an article for the 
 Jubilee number of this pajier, of which he was the first editor. After giving an interesting account of the 
 origin and growth of the paper, he concluded bj' saying : " May the success of the past be as a dim dawn 
 to the success of the future ! Such is the prayer and hope of the first editor of the Guardian—now retired 
 from all office in Church and State, near the fifty-fifth year of his ministry and the seventy-seventh year of 
 his age — looking for a better country and waiting for a heavenly home." 
 
 The Presbyterian Eeview of the 30th May, said : — 
 
 The various si)eakers dwelt upon the immense service which the late Dr. Ryerson rendered to the 
 c<iuntry in laying broad and deej) the foundations of our educational system, and testified their satisfaction 
 that gratitude and veneration had found expression in the noble work of ait before them, which would per- 
 petuate his name to many generations of students and scholars. . . . Dr. Hodgins and the other gentle- 
 men associated with him on the Ryer<on Statue Committee are to be heartily congratulated on tiie result 
 of their well-directed efforts and well-sustained efforts to assist in perpetuating the memory of a native- 
 born Canadian who, notwithstanding some errors of judgment, proved himself worthy to be held in grate- 
 ful remembrance by his countrymen. 
 
 The Week of the 31st May, said :— 
 
 That was a grand purpose to whicli Rev. Egerton Ryerson pledged himself on accepting office as the 
 first Superintendent of Education for Ontario in 1844, " To provide for my native country a system of edu- 
 cation, and fa,cilitie8 for intellectual improvement, not second to those of anj' country in the world." The 
 form and loftiness of the jjromise marked the courage, individuality and conscious strength of the man who 
 made it. The statue in the Toronto Normal School grounds, which was unveiled with appropriate cere- 
 monies on the 24th iust., will hencefortli stand as the testimony of the people of Ontario, especially of its 
 teachers and others interested in educational work, to the faithfulness and ability with which the pledge 
 was redeemed through thirty-two years of indefatigable toil and struggle. The artistically wrought monu- 
 ment in bronze will also serve as a fitting reminder to all who visit the Educational Department that the 
 people of Ontario do not mean to let those who faithfully served their country in its earlier days be for- 
 gotten. A monument " more enduring than bronze " stands out to view wherever a free public sch(}ol is 
 efficiently doing its work in training the young of both sexes and of all classes to become intelligent and 
 patriotic citizens of this growing commonwealth. Whether it be literally true or not that Dr. Ryerson 
 '^ placed his native Province in the van of all the St.ites of America and all the colonies of the liritish 
 Empire," as the Minister of Education avouches, his plan was certainly comprehensive and statesmanlike, 
 and was followed out with a courage, perseverance and success, for which the Province must ever remain 
 his debtor. 
 
 The Toronto correspondent of the Montreal Witness, under date of 31st of May, 
 says : — 
 
 One of the noblest public tributes ever paid to the memor)' of any man in Canada was paid the other 
 day to the memory of the late Rev. Egerton Ryerson. F'rom the time of his death, early in 1882, till now, 
 the work of collecting subscriptions for the erection of a statue has gone .steadily on. The amounts contri- 
 buted were individually small, but the contributors were numerous, and now in front of the Departmental 
 Buildings, in St. .lames' Square, stands a memorial of him which will fairly convey to future generations 
 some idea of what the niau himself was in personal appearance. The massiveness and rusrged strength are 
 there, and^there were, after all, the most marked traits of Dr. Ryerson's personality, though he was by no 
 means lacking in sympathy and intellectual ability. . . . The addresses were admirable alike for 
 brevity and good taste, and nothing occurred to mar the .success of the ceremony. 
 
 The Educational Journal of June 1st, said : - 
 
 The statue of the late Dr. Ryerson, which has been so long in course of preparation, has been set up on 
 the Normal School grounds, and was unveiled, with appropriate ceremonies, on the 24th ult. 
 
 The ceremony of unveiling was performed by Sir Ale.xander Campbell, the Lieutenant->jrovernor, who 
 said that he thought no pleasanter duty could fall to the lot of any Lieutenant-Governor than that of assist- 
 ing in honoring one of the Province's noblest men. 
 
 The statue is of bnmze, nine feet six inches in height, and stands upon a pedestal of New Brunswick 
 granite, ten feet six inches high. It represents Dr. Ryerson in the attitude of addressing an audience in 
 the cause of education. The head is turned a little to the right, with the lips slightly parted, and with the 
 massive brow and flowing locks, gives a correct and forcible expression, in harmony with the action of the 
 advanced arm and firm positi<m of the right leg. The proportions of the figure are very well kept th rough 
 the ample folds of the doctor's gown, which in their various lines, lend richness and interest to the work, 
 and take away the stiflfness of the modern costume. The left hand is raised nearly to the breast, and in it 
 is grasped a book. A little to the left and rear of the figure stands a short pedestal bearing three books, 
 carelessly laid one upon another ; and on one of the panels of the pede.stal is the arms of the Department of 
 Education. Dignity of bearing, repose and action, and distinct force of character, eminent qualities in the 
 ^lersonality of tlie late doctor, mark the expression of the figure ; and it is evident that no pains have been 
 «p.ired by the artist, .Mr. Hamilton McCarthy, in the modelling of the details of both statue and pedestal. 
 "The statue stands in a commanding position in the Normal School grounds. It will add a new object of 
 interest to the many attractions which these grounds present to teachers and others visiting the 
 Department. 
 
 The Irish Canadian of the 6th of .June, under the heading of " A Graceful 
 
 Tribute," said : — 
 
 On the 24th of May (the Queen's Birthday), was unveiled the statue erected in the Normal School 
 grounds to the memory of the Rev. Egerton Ryer.son, the founder of the common school system of educa- 
 tion in Ontario, and its Superintendent from its inception in 1844 till 187li, when he retired in the fullness 
 
17 
 
 of years, and after his labors had been crowned with si^al success. The Catholics of this Province, in the 
 matter of education, have nothing for which they should be thankful to the distinguished divine. . . For 
 all that, Dr. Ryerson was a man of great and good parts ; and, from a Common School point of view, he 
 has l«ft a noble heritage in a system of education that will bear favorable comparison with the best of 
 any land. 
 
 It was the occasion of the unveiling of his statue that his co-laborer in the Education Department — Dr. 
 J. George Hodgrins —paid the memory of Dr. Ryerson a graceful tribute. Who so capable for so delicate a 
 task as he who had been Dr. Ryerson's right-hand man, his able support, during his long and varied career 
 in the Education oflBce ? And happily has the story of the ups and downs of the Common School system 
 been told by the learned Deputy Minister, to whose ripe judgment, in no small degree, was due the sys- 
 tem's unmeasured success. The part that Dr. Hodgins played, however, is kept in the background ; and 
 we see only what Dr. Ryerson done during his lengthened incumbency, and the difficultiee with which he 
 had to contend in maturing his plans and bringing them as nearly as possible to his own ideal of per- 
 fection. 
 
 Dr. Hodgins' retrospect goes back to the period of the IT. E. Loyalists, and thence downward to 1876. 
 It leads us by degrees from the primitive system in vogue prior to the grammar schools (in one of which 
 the late venerable Bishop Strachan taught as master), through a series of changes aiming at higher educa- 
 tion, till we arrive at the year in which the foundations of the present system were laid. The corner-stone 
 having been placed, the superstructure rose in fair proportions ; and the edifice having been completed, to 
 furnish it with all the adjuncts necessary to the best educational training was the Superintendent's con- 
 stant care. How^ Dr. Ryerson finally overcame every obstacle to his darling object is told with tender 
 affection by Dr. ^odgins, who, in laying a chaplet on the grave of his dead chief, does honor not only to 
 the memory of a good man, but also to his own generous instincts. 
 
 The Canada Educational Monthly for June- July, said : — 
 
 The Rev. Dr. Ryerson has long been widely known as a gifted and learned divine, as well as a success- 
 ful journalist, who took a prominent part in the religious and moral development of our country in its early 
 days, . . . but the fitting memorial which was unveiled on Her Majesty's seventieth birthday, is 
 erected to him chiefly as a worthy Canadian and an eminent educationist. . . . 
 
 The life work of this able man has now passed into other hands ; in itself it forms a whole super- 
 structure, and if the enlightened principles which he laid down and acted upon are carried out in their 
 integrity, they must exercise an undying influence for good upon the intellectual life of the country, upon 
 its gradual advance in the scale of civilizatien and refinement, and upon its moral and religious life. 
 
 The ceremony of unveiling the statue brought together many true, patriotic and representative men. 
 Some of his personal friends and fellow-workers were there, and others who remembered him with affection 
 and gratitude. The Government, the city, the public and secondary schools, the colleges and universities, 
 were all represented, and all united in honoring the memory of the founder of the Ontario school system. 
 
 CHAPTEE III. 
 
 THE ADDRESSES DELIVERED AT THE UNVEILING.* 
 
 The Teachers' Association of Ontario. 
 
 Mr. Robert McQueen, President of the Ontario Teachers' Association, spoke aa 
 follows : — 
 
 Tour Honor, Mr. Chairman, Ladies and Gentlemen : 
 
 We are gathered here to-day to do honor to the memory of one to whom this country 
 owes a debt of deep and lasting gratitude ; and should I fail entirely to give expression 
 to any thought worthy of the man or the occasion, I feel certain that all will be over- 
 Iboked, when I simply utter the two words " Egerton Ryerson." He was a man of 
 marked individuality of character, of enera:etic action, of great power of will, and tenacity 
 of purpose. His life-work bears the marks of his individuality and energy, the results 
 he achieved are evidences of his power of will and his tenacity of purpose. And, in view 
 of the results which he achieved, it is a meet and a becoming thing, that, as a people, we 
 should meet and do honor to his memory, as we have gathered here this day to do. 
 
 Men, even great men, only act permanently, as they act upon the institutions of 
 their country. The greatness that centres in the individual is dependent upon and 
 contingent on the existence of the individual, and the influence exercised by him as 
 it centres in him, dies with him, passes away when he leaves the scene. But the man 
 who leaves his impress on the institutions of his country, exercises an influence that 
 
 *The Historical Paper— an abstract of which was read by Dr. Hodgins, will be found on page 26. 
 2 (KM.) 
 
18 
 
 is permanent in its action, pervasive in its power, and, within the range of these insti- 
 tutions, is universal in its beneticence. Every amelioration of these institutions is an 
 abiding good, shared in by ail who come within their sphere of operation. It becomes 
 the common heritage of all. 
 
 Such was the impress made, such still is the influence exercised by the individual to 
 whose memory and life-work we have met this day to do honor. His connection with, 
 his charge over, and his influence upon the educational institutions of this country, 
 reaching backward neai-ly halt a century from the present time, and lasting over a period 
 of nearly thirty years, was tliat of a formative and meliorating kind. From the time of 
 his acce))tance of oflice in 1844, down to the period when he resigned his trust, his 
 energies were directed, liis powers brought to bear on organizing, modelling and consoli- 
 dating the school system of this province. 
 
 Let us for a few moments trace briefly the history of that system for the last fifty 
 years. The Education Bill of 1837 may be said to have been the first legislative attempt 
 at organization. This bill pro\ ided for the annual expenditure of fifteen thousand pounds 
 for common school purposes, and that as soon as the permanently available Public School 
 Fund of this Province amounted to ten thousand pounds per annum, a superintendent 
 of common schools should be appointed by the Governor under the Seal of the Province, 
 whose duty it should be to report annually to the Legi-slature on all matters pertaining 
 to the administration of the public schools. The union of the Provinces brought the Act 
 of 1841, introduced by the Hon. Mr. Day. This Act was simplified and improved by 
 the Bill of 1843, introduced by the Hon. F. Hincks. By the provisions of that Act the 
 Secretary of the Province was ex-officio Chief Superintendent of Schools. In 1844 that 
 office was tendered to the late Dr. Ryerson, and in the autumn of that year it was 
 accepted by him on two conditions : (1st), that the administration of the school system 
 should constitute a separate and distinot non political department ; (2nd), that he should 
 be permitted to act by a deputy for one year and have leave of absence for that period, 
 in order to enable him to visit and examine the educational systems of other countries, 
 in Europe and America, before attempting to lay the foundations of a system in Upper 
 Canada. The whole of 1845 was spent in these inquiries and investigations. Tiin results 
 were embodied in a report to the Legislature in 1846. Along with this report was a 
 Draft School Bill, which was introduced and carried through by the Hon. W. Draper, 
 and became law in June, 1846. In a few months a draft bill for cities and incorporated 
 towns was submitted and carried through by the Hon. J. H, Cameron, and became law 
 in June, 1847 ; these two Acts, with modifications and improvements, suggested by time 
 and experience, were incorporated in the School Bill of 1850, which was introduced by 
 the Hon. F. Hincks, and was the first Act to which the Earl of Elgin gave the Royal 
 Assent after the removal of the Seat of Government to Upper Canada. 
 
 The provision of this bill embodied the basis of our present system. It introduced 
 the principle of free schools, leaving the adoption of that principle to the option of each 
 school section. Subsequent changes and modifications were embodied in the Act of 1870, 
 which abolished the office of township superintendent, introduced the county inspectorate, 
 and made free schoola compulsory. This Act may be said to be the last touch of the 
 " Master Hand." In order to appreh(#nd the true nature and extent of that impress 
 which he made, of that influence which he exercised and exerted, we have only to look 
 around, to look on that noble structure, whose foundations he was permitted and honored 
 to lay, and whose superstructure he was so largely enabled to rear. Our school system 
 is his true memorial. 
 
 I have already said that it is a meet and a becoming thing for a nation to honor the 
 memory of its public benefactors. The nation that ceases to cherish and manifest a 
 grateful remembrance of those who have devoted their energies to the promotion of its 
 welfare and spent their lives in its service, gives evidence of deterioration and decay, 
 gives evidence that it is on the down grade of national existence. To-day we have 
 gathered here to give expression to our gratitude in tangible form, by the erection in this 
 public place, of this costly and enduring ihemorial of the individual and his life-work, 
 that by its very presence it may speak to all who behold of the grateful sense of benefits 
 
19 
 
 received, cherished by the people of this Province. Yet there is another way in which 
 we may manifest our gratitude, viz., by seeking to conserve, to consolidate, to ameliorate, 
 our school system, which has thus come down to us from the moulding hand of the 
 departed ; and not only seeking to preserve what has thus been handed down to us, so 
 far as the school system itself is concerned, but to seek to make it practically effective in 
 its operation, so that all who live under its shadow, may share to the full of the blessings 
 and privileges which it is fitted to confer and intended to bestow. Our sense of gratitude 
 will thus assume a practical and beneficent form. That the management of our school 
 system has fallen into, and now is in good and wise hands, we all feel confident. That its 
 success depends largely on the energy, the zeal and the faithfulness of those who are 
 entrusted with the education of the youth of this Province, our high and public school 
 teachers, together with the co-operation of the people at large, of all classes and of all 
 creeds, all will be prepared to admit. In one word : It is only by the united and concerted 
 action of all three, the executive skill, the zeal and energy of the teachers, and the 
 popular sympathy and support that we can hope to secure the full benefit of our school 
 system on the one hand ; and on the other, show ourselves worthy of the heritage that 
 has been handed down to us by those who have gone before us. 
 
 Address of the Acting Mayor. 
 
 Alderman McMillan, President of the City Council and Acting Mayor of Toronto, 
 in the absence of Mayor E. F. Clarke, M.P.P., in England, spoke as follows : — 
 
 I regret very much that His Worship the Mayor is not with us to-day to represent 
 the citizens of Toronto on this interesting occasion. 
 
 It is his loss, however, and I fear it will be your loss also, that it has fallen to my 
 lot to act as his substitute and to speak on his behalf and on behalf of the citizens of 
 Toronto, 
 
 Knowing my own unfitness for the task, I have hesitated ; feeling my own inability, 
 I have shrunk from the duty imposed on me. Deeply conscious as I am of the fact that 
 it requires more eloquence than I possess to do justice to the occasion, or to speak in 
 fitting terms of the great work of the eminent divine and educationist to whose memory 
 this statute has been erected. 
 
 No more appropriate place could have been selected for its erection than here on the 
 grounds of the department which is the creation of his genius, and in front of a building 
 ^vhich stands a monument to the energy of its founder. 
 
 He will be but a poor student of the history of his country who has not yet learned 
 from its pages the deep debt of gratitude which every Canadian owes to the man whose 
 memory is held in most affectionate rememberance by all classes of the community. 
 
 He will be a poor judge of mental power or moral worth who has not yet learned to 
 prize the grandeur of his life-work or the versatility of the attainments of the man who 
 was not only a deep thinker and a notable teacher but an earnest and a humble Christian 
 — a hapy combination of the scholar and the gentleman. 
 
 During a long and eventful career, and at a crucial period in our country's history 
 the active part he played in public affairs has left on the institutions of our province the 
 impress of his vigorous intellect. Prompted by pure motives, and guided by sound 
 judgment, he gave evidences of an uncommon genius, which he devoted to the service of 
 his country and the best interests of the people, and thus he became a leader among men 
 
 In the school system of this province he built for himself a more lasting monument 
 than the granite and bronze we now raise to his memory. 
 
 With fluent speech and ready pen he has oft been the defender of our most sacred 
 rights and cherished privileges. A lover of truth, he abhorred falsehood. A lover of 
 freedom, he hated oppression ; and the cause of truth and of freedom found in him an 
 able and willing champion. A staunch defender of British connection, he yet manfully 
 battled for equal rights and privileges to all classes ©f the people. 
 
20 
 
 He loved the land of his birth with no ordinary affection and, daring a long and busy- 
 life, he helped to mould her destiny and shape her course — guiding her feeble and often 
 erratic steps, leading her into the paths of truth and righteousness which, we are assured, 
 most surely exalteth the nation. 
 
 In the pages of Canadian history the " Story of his Life " and labors will ever be 
 instructive reading. 
 
 In the chronicles of the Methodist Church of Canada (the church of his choice) his 
 name will always stand pre-eminently conspicuous as one of her ablest scholars and one 
 of her most eminent divines — an earnest preacher and a devoted missionary. Filled 
 with a fervent love for his Lord and Master, he labored earnestly in His vineyard seeking 
 souls for His hire. 
 
 I am proud of the privilege I enjoy of being here on behalf of the citizens of this 
 great city — pleased to be able to bear testimony to the high appreciation we have of his 
 services and the strong affection we bear to the memory of the Rev. Egerton Ryerson. 
 I am also pleased to have this opportunity of being allowed to tender my own humble 
 tribute of respect to the memory of him who was both a statesman and a scholar, a patriot 
 and a Christian. 
 
 Representative of the University of Toronto. 
 
 The Honourable Senator John Macdonald, speaking on behalf of the University of 
 Toronto, said : — 
 
 I wish first to express my regret — a regret I have no doubt in which you share — that 
 some one better fitted than myself had not been selected to represent the University of 
 Toronto upon this important occassion. My embarrassment is lessened however, and 
 possibly your disappointment, in view of the handsome tribute paid to the memory of the 
 great man by the Minister of Education in his admirable address, by the presentation of 
 the historic paper by the Deputy Minister, and last, though not least, by the speech of 
 Alderman McMillan on behalf of the city of Toronto. 
 
 Patriotism is that passion which aims to serve one's country, either in defending it 
 from invasion or protecting its rights and maintaining its laws and institutions in vigour 
 and purity. If then we accord, as we ought to do, a place among the patriots of our 
 country to those who readily respond to its call in the hour of danger, to those who 
 bring their wisdom and judgment to bear in the making of laws for its good and healthful 
 government, to those, also, who as diplomats in the carrying on of delicate and subtle 
 international negotiations do so in such a way as not only to maintain their country's 
 honor but to make their country respected, what place shall we assign to him whe 
 devoted his life to the best interests of the young of his own province in order that they 
 might V)e fitted rightly to take their part in life, to do this all the better by reason of 
 that educational system of which he was the moving spirit and which it was his to found ? 
 What place I ask, if it be not the very first place in the front rank of that distinguished 
 class. Egerton Ryerson may fairly be regarded as the founder of the school system of 
 his own province and as a consequence must, throughout all time, occupy a foremost place 
 in the history of his country. 
 
 His was a life spent not in the promotion of his personal ends. Indeed it may be 
 afiirmed that his devotion to his life-work so absorbed his time, his thoughts and his 
 energies as to have disqualified him for making that suitable provision for the close of 
 life for which his great abilities so eminently fitted him. 
 
 It would scarcely be fair to claim for him all the honour of perfecting the school 
 system of Ontario, scarcely fair to say that to him exclusively belongs the results 
 seen to-day which give to the school system of Ontario so prominent a place among the 
 school systems of other countries. A measure of the praise is doubtless due to the able 
 staff of workers by which he was supported. His was the directing mind ; 'twas theirs 
 to carry out his plans. 
 
21 
 
 It would not be fair to ascribe to the architect all the credit for the grace, symmetry 
 •«nd safety of the most magnificent public buildings. True, he it was who planned the 
 foundations, made them deep and broad, so that they might be safe and enduring. 
 True, he it was who gave grace and beauty to the elevation, so that it might not only 
 answer its purpose, but that it might be at the same time "a thing of beauty;" but 
 how easily might not only the safety of the building be imperilled but its beauty 
 marred by careless and by ignorant treatment ; but skilful treatment has produced the 
 needed strength, and has secured the grace of outline, and the building is perfect and 
 harmonious in all its parts. 
 
 What the architect is to the building that was Egerton Ryerson to our school system. 
 His it was to lay the foundation upon which a structure which might be at once the pride 
 and the glory of our Province could be erected ; his it was to lay these deep and broad 
 and enduring. How wisely and how well he did his work. How well his efforts have 
 been supplemented by the able band of workers who were associated with him the 
 splendid school system of our Province to-day abundantly testifies. 
 
 It is fitting, therefore, that his statue should be placed on these grounds, so that the 
 ooraing generations may be made familiar with the general appearance of the man who 
 has done so much for the educational interests of his country. 
 
 But it is not here, faithful as the bronze may speak of the man, that his most fittting 
 and most enduring monument must be found. The group of happy faced children which 
 throng our sidewalks wending their way each morning to our schools, the pupils of our 
 Model Schools, our High Schools, the undergraduates of our Universities, and these seen 
 not only in their school period, but in their subsequent career taking their place in our 
 country as its legislators, its professional men, its merchants, mechanics, farmers, its 
 matrons, taking their places in life, and taking them all the better for their own good and 
 that of their country for the training, sound, thorough and scholarly, which they have 
 received in the schools, colleges and universities of their own country, helping them to 
 make their homes homes of comfort, elegance and refinement. 
 
 Here must be found the true and abiding monument ot the man ; here the enduring 
 fruit of his life-work, more imperishable also than either brass or marble. 
 
 Statistics have been freeely given, and these need not be repeated. 
 
 Not often does it fall to the lot of one man to leave behind him such a record as that 
 left by T>r. Ryerson in his life-work of thirty-three years. 
 
 To see the old-log school house, with its imperfect appliances, supplanted by the 
 palatial school buildings with their perfect equipment of our own day. 
 
 To see the work done by our High Schools, our Colleges and Universities, which 
 challenges not the attention only, but the admiration of other countries, that is an honour, 
 •even with the capabilities which exist in a young country like ours, reserved but for few, 
 and yet among that number he stands out promptly whose statue has this day been 
 unveiled by His Honour the Lieutenant-Governor. 
 
 Any words of mine are poor and weak indeed in dealing with a matter so full of 
 ■interest, not to the people of Ontario only but to the people of Canada, but full of 
 interest to my own mind, as it must be to the mind of others, is the estimate placed upon 
 Dr. Ryer.son's work by many eminent men, all well qualified to judge from an education- 
 alist standpoint. Dr. Hodgins has spoken of the late Dr. Fraser, Bishop of Manchester. 
 
 Few men were so well able to form an opinion upon any educational system. Him" 
 self a great scholar, an Oiiel man, an enthusiast on all matters connected with the educa- 
 tional system of his own country, appointed by the Royal Commission as an assistant 
 commissioner to visit and report upon the educational system of the United States and 
 Canada, thus speaks of our school system and of Dr. Ryerson. After referring to the system 
 says : " It shows what can be accomplished by the energy, determination and devotion of 
 A single earnest man. Through evil report and good report, he has found others to sup- 
 port him in the resolution that free education shall be placed within the reach of every 
 "Canadian parent for every Canadian child." 
 
22 
 
 Egerton Ryerson has deserved well of his country. His best days and his best 
 energies were given to the upbuilding of its grandest institution. Well should his country 
 guard and cherish his memory, fo that the young who are here assembled to-day may 
 learn this lesson, that he who devotes his life for his country's good, his country will hold 
 his memory not in fragrant only, but in perpetual remembrance. 
 
 Representative of Victoria University, Cobourg. 
 
 The Rev. N. Burwash, S.T. D., President and Chancellor of Victoria University, 
 spoke as follows : 
 
 Ladies mid Gentlemen : 
 
 It is particularly appropriate that on this occasion Victoria University should speak. 
 We meet to do honor to one of the greatest of Canada's sons. Dr. Ryerson has written 
 his name indellibly upon the pages of his country's history. He has done so not merely 
 by superior gifts of intellect, although to few men have more noble talents been entrusted. 
 Nor has he done so merely as the successful leader of a great party in Church or State, 
 although he was a leader, one of the first three in one of Canada's greatest movements 
 towards a perfect political constitution. The success of this movement, after a struggle 
 stretching through the lifetime of a full generation, and its results of which all good men 
 now approve, might well ennoble the name of an}- man. But that for which we honor 
 Dr. Ryerson's name and memoi-y to day is his work as an educator ; and from Victoria 
 University he first received the call to consecrate his life to his work. He was the first 
 President of Victoria College. He, a Canadian of the Canadians, was the first Canadian 
 to occupy that position in our Province ; and Victoria has maintained the Canadian 
 succession unbioken from his day to the present. Victoria was the first institution in 
 this Province in active operation as a teaching institution with University powers. And 
 it fell to Dr. Ryerson to shape its character and curriculum, and to give it a form, many 
 features of which it has retained to this present hour. 
 
 It was from this duty of laying the foundations of our University in this young 
 Province that Dr. Ryerson was called to the wider field of fashioning the primary and 
 intermediate education of the whole people. 
 
 It would be presumption on my part to attempt to speak to-day of the difticulties 
 which beset him in his task, and of the skill and judgment with which those difticulties 
 were met and overcome. That has already been the more appropriate duty of one who 
 has just spoken, and who was for long years his most valued and honored associate in his 
 life-work. 
 
 But, as a Canadian of the fourth generation, and as a Canadian school boy who has 
 enjoyed the advantages of the great work which today we commit to the perpetual 
 memory of our country, I may venture to refer to the peculiarly Canadian character of 
 the system founded by Dr. Ryerson. The early schools of this country were very varied 
 in their type. Prepossession and u.sage rule imperiously in education. Each little colony 
 or settlement, as it was called, had its national prepossessions. Here was an attempt to 
 reproduce a miniature Engli.sh Eton or Rugby. There was a genuine Scottish parish 
 school with its Bible and Catechism. Here was an Irish school with its pi-edilection for 
 difficult problems in arithmetic and algebra. There was a Yankee school with its 
 spelling-matches and dialogues on examination day. These were the heterogeneous 
 elements of forty-five and fifty years ago. To day, we have ever* where the Canadian 
 school as unique in its character as any of these, and as well-known in its results all 
 over this continent. The skilful mind that took possession of these materials, that 
 carefully separated the good from the bad, that patiently and wisely removevl or over- 
 came prnjudices, that calmly waited till the public mind was ready for each progressive 
 movement, and then with vigor pushed it forward to speedy completion — this was the 
 le gift which Dr. Ryerson devoted to his country's service. Gathering his materials 
 for building up a perfect educational system from all lands, and from the wisdom and 
 experience of all ages, this great man wrought out his life-task in the face of political 
 prejudices, of national prejudices and of sectarian prejudices. I know of no man of his 
 
23 
 
 day who rose more fully than did he above the narrowness of all these. From the 
 elevation of a broad catholicity, he grasped the great outlines of a comprehensive and 
 national system of education for the Upper Canadian people, and patiently did he work 
 toward that as his ideal. It would be too much to say that he completed the ideal. 
 Such is not often given to mortal man. There are problems in this work still unsolved. 
 There is still something for us to do. But in the solution of these problems we may 
 well thank God for the broad, strong foundations, and structures planned, and so nearly 
 completed by this master workman. 
 
 In the inaugural address with which Dr. Ryerson opened his work in Victoria 
 College, I find this passage " The education imparted in this college is to be British and 
 Canadian. Youth should be educated for their country as well as for themselves." This 
 motto, never forgotten, has given character to his great life-work, and has given us, 
 a system of public schools and intermediate schools which more enduring than any 
 monument will perpetuate to our children for generations to cnme, the name of Egerton 
 Ryerson.* 
 
 Representative op Queen's University, Kingston. 
 
 Sandford Fleming, C.E., LL.D., O.M.G., Chancellor of Queen's University, spoke as 
 follows :— 
 
 Tour Honor, Mr. Chairman, Ladies and Gentlemen : 
 
 In the name of Queen's University, and at the special request of the Senate of that 
 institution, I come here to-day to take part in these interesting proceedings. On behalf 
 of higher education in Eastern Ontario I have the honor to bear tribute to the memory 
 of Dr. Egerton Ryerson. 
 
 However unworthy the individual whom Queen's has sent on this occasion, I am 
 warranted in stating that no institution in this country is more thoroughly alive to the 
 importance of sound education for all classes of the community than the University I come 
 here to represent, Moreover,^ I venture to say that there is no one here present who more 
 fully appreciates the incalculable value of the school system of Ontario and the work accom- 
 plished in its establishment, by him to whose memory we are this day assembled to do 
 honor. 
 
 It is not simply an agreeable duty I am called upon to perform, T feel it to be a 
 high privilege to be allowed to take part by my presence on this auspicious occasion. I 
 have but to look back over a period of forty years to recall the living form of the 
 sculptured figure before us, and to remember the time when in the zenith of his strength 
 and intellectual power, he brought to bear on the great work of his life that wisdom and 
 foresight, that indomitable perseverance and patriotism, that zeal and devotion with 
 which he was gifted. I have but to recollect his persistent efforts to initiate and put in 
 successful operation a comprehensive system of common school education in this pi'ovince, 
 to express my unalloyed satisfaction that those efforts — those great and sustained efforts 
 were not in vain. I rejoiced then, as I rejoice now, that the noble work in which he took 
 so conspicuous a part has been crowned with signal success. I thought then, and I think 
 now, that the people of this province, I may indeed say the people of the whole of Canada, 
 of all ages, of all classes, of all colors and of all creeds, owe a deep debt of gratitude to 
 Dr. Ryerson, and I cannot be wrong in the firm opinion that we all do well to revere and 
 perpetuate his memory. 
 
 While Dr. Egerton Ryerson attached most importance to the establishment of the 
 common schools of the country on a sound and efficient basis, he also warmly sympathized 
 
 * W. Kerr, Q.C., Vice-Chancellor, of Victoria University, in explaining the causes of his absence from 
 the ceremonies of unveiling, said : — " I thank you very much for your ever thoughtful kindness in sending 
 me a programme of the ceremonies of unveiling of the statue of our late great chief founder of the peerless 
 school system of Ontario. I should very much like to have the privilege of being present on the occasion 
 and of listening to the speeches and addresses, but especially your ' Historical Paper on fjducation in 
 Ontario,' which no man now living so well understands as yourself. . . . How often I think of the 
 late chief's far.sightedness and patriotic efforts in connection with the Uitper Canada Academy and ' 
 subsequently with Victoria Uuiversity, " . . . 
 
24 
 
 'with every effort to promote liigher education. He took an active part in founding 
 Victoria University, of which he was chosen the first president. He was a strenuous 
 supporter of that institution up to the day of his death, firmly believing that the 
 resources of the country could support, and that the people of Ontario should possess, 
 well endowed, independent seats of learning of different types. 
 
 As a member of the community I have always had the highest esteem and venera- 
 tion for this great pioneer of education in Canada. I feel now and have always felt with 
 unnumbeied thousands that his life has indeed been that of a foremost public benefactor. 
 I am, therefore, greatly gratified that it has fallen to my lot, on behalf of Queen's 
 University and higher education in Eastern Ontario to bear tribute to the memory of 
 the founder and first administrator of our system of public instruction, a tar seeing 
 Canadian, an enlightened statesman, a man who in his distinguished career rendered the 
 most important services to the country of his birth. 
 
 I am glad to have an opportunity of taking part in the formal inauguration of the 
 work of art which we see before us. At the same time I cannot forget that Dr. Egcrion 
 Kyersou has left behind him an inheritance to unborn generations of Canadians in the 
 schools which we behold everywhere throughout the land and the free public instruction 
 which they represent. These are now and must always be recognized as his best and 
 most enduring monument.* 
 
 Representative of Trinity University, Toronto. 
 
 The Representative ot Trinity University, Rev. Professor Clark, remarked that ne 
 had the honor of representing the smallest of the universities of Ontario, but one in which 
 they strove to do their work in a spirit of loyalty to their country as well as to their own 
 convictions. He had naturally prepared to make some remarks on the distinguished and 
 illustrious man in whose honor they were then assembled ; but, as he supposed, nearly 
 everything which had occurred to him as being suitable to be said had been anticij)ated 
 by previous speakers. 
 
 As he looked upon those Normal Schools by which they were imprinted, he could 
 not help being reminded of the words inscribed on the interior of St. Paul's in memory of 
 its founder, Sir Christopher Wren, " «SV monumentuni 7-equi>is circumspiee." " If you ask 
 for his memorial lo.k around you." With equal propriety we might point to those schools 
 as a monument and memorial of Dr. Ryerson, the founder of the educational system of 
 this Province, iro less fitting than thy statue which had just been uncovered. Rut more 
 enduring than the building or the ettigy was the intellectual and moral work which he 
 had accomplished in our educational institutions, for that work was eternal. Its effects 
 and influences would never pass away, but would go on leavening generations yet unborn. 
 Whatever changes or revolutions might occur, his work and its consequences would still 
 live on. 
 
 In one respect, perhaps, it was fortunate that others should have borne testimony to 
 Dr. Ryerson's work and ability, and to the greatness of the work which he had done. His 
 own knowledge of the man and of the work was only second-hand, and he could not 
 speak with the freshness and vividness of those who had personal knowledge of them. 
 " Regains irritant animos demissa per aurem." But although he had not direct and 
 immediate knowledge of Dr. Ryerson, he had the opportunity of studying several of the 
 publications which gave an account of his history, and especially of his educational work 
 — more particularly .some of those written by Dr. Hodgins. From these he had learnt 
 something of the spirit in which the work had been accomplished, and the principles 
 which were embodied in it; and these would account foi theeulogiums which had already 
 been bestowed upon the work and its principal doer. 
 
 * In liis letter enclos,inp the niaimscript of bis address, Chancellor Fleming, said:— "I write to 
 congratulate you on the conijilete succet<s of the affair of last Friday. iOven the weather was every thing we 
 could desire. It was a genuine pleasure for me to be present on the occasion. In the ievr remarks I offered 
 I meant every word I said. The only omission was the absence of any reference, or suliicient reference, to 
 ^le right hand man of Dr. Ryerson during all the years he laboured. This often happens ; but you have 
 uie hapijy consciousness that your work and your life has so largely entered into the unperishable monument 
 which he has raised in the school system of the country." 
 
25 
 
 " * " 
 
 They might learn from such investigations something that would help to guard them 
 from dangers which attended their educational work. It seemed to him that Dr. Ryerson's 
 conception of the work of education was singularly simple, earnest, deep and comprehen- 
 sive, tree from afiectation and one-sidedness. They were in danger of forgetting some of 
 these elements, of making education showy instead of solid, — of forgetting that it was the 
 education and discipline of the man and of the mind that we had to accomplish, and not 
 the outward adornment of him, or the mere imparting of knowledge. Some of our dangers 
 have been forcibly pointed out by the President of University College, Sir Daniel Wilson, 
 in the March number of the Canada Edvcational Monthly. It would not be proper 
 to go into details on such an occasion, but he would recommend those who were interested 
 in these questions to study that article. 
 
 There was great dangei of their being one-sided in education, of their taking upciies 
 on one side or another. We have often heard of a foolish Anglomania by which some 
 people were possessed. But there are other manias which are quite as silly. There was 
 an Ameiicano-mania and a Canada mania [mania Canadensis, said the Minister), and they 
 were all equally foolish. It was egregious folly merely to imitate an Englishman or an 
 American. But it was equally foolish to imagine that we had everything and could do 
 everything by ourselves. Our business was not to make Englishmen or Americans or 
 Canadians, but to make men, furnished with sufficient knowledge, with cultivated, disci- 
 plined minds, with vigoi'ous wills. This is our work, and we must do it with our might, 
 remembering the limitations of our position and realizing what we could and could not 
 accomplish. We must not at present expect the results of the education given at the great 
 German universities or at Oxford and Cambridge, but we might make the best with the 
 materials at our disposal. We might foster in the rising generations a love of truth and 
 goodness, and instil into them a deep sense of duty, and thus help to qualify them for 
 the position they would have to occupy, and the work which they had to perform. 
 
 Representative of McMaster University. * 
 
 Professor Theodore H. Rand, M.A., D.C.L., representative of McMaster University 
 spoke as follows : — 
 
 Twice before it has been my privilege to unite in doing honor by a public memorial to 
 the name of distinguished educationalists, — ^that of Horace Mann, of Massachusetts, and 
 Alexander Forrester, of Nova Scotia; but in view of the breadth of the area over which 
 Egerton Ryerson wrought, and the really national character of his work, this has been 
 an occasion of surpassing interest to me, and one, I am sure, which marks an epoch in the 
 educational history of Ontario. In speaking as a representative of McMaster University, 
 which is just now being organized as one of the instruments of the higher education of this 
 country, I may be permitted to say that the Christian denomination which controls the 
 destiny of that University has in all parts of the world been in active sympathy with 
 popular education, and in two of our Canadian provinces has been foremost in effijrts to 
 secure the efficient organization of systems of free education under government control. 
 
 AVhen a country has risen to the position of making adequate public provision 
 against the blighting and destructive influences of ignorance, it has undertaken the dis- 
 charge of one of those contingent and great obligations which, perhaps, will always await 
 any people who are pressing forward to the attainment of the possibilities of Christian 
 civilization. With all its imperfections our system of public education in an eminent 
 degree commands the affectionate regard of our people and the admiration of strangers. 
 While Ontario was not the first of our Canadian provinces to organize a free system of 
 public schools, and while she has not maintained intact the principle which lies at the 
 basis of the common schools, the grandeur of the outline of our system and the general 
 completeness of its details are, I believe, unsurpassed by those of any other system on this 
 continent or throughout the empire. This is especially true of the completeness of the 
 
 * Dr. Rand, in sending the raanusicript of his address, said :— " I think the exercises were very success- 
 ful indeed, and that the memorial volume, if brought out with some expedition, will prove very helpful in 
 quickening a true appreciation of the great work done by Dr. Ryerson in building up the educational 
 ■system of Ontario. 
 
26 
 
 provision made for passing from the elementary scliools into the work of the higher 
 education. Ontario occupies this advanced position to-day, with all its immeasurable 
 advantages, largely because of Egerton Ryerson. He was possessed of a profound con- 
 viction that mind is the great creative power by which all resources of nature are to be 
 turned to account. He had no idea that raalerial good is a good at all only as it is a 
 means for the development of the moral and .social possibilities of the individual and of 
 the nation. He did not argue, as many others in the country did, that since the area of 
 the Province is vast, its population widely scattered, its forests waiting to be felled, its 
 lands to be cleared and drained, therefore the organization of an efficient school system 
 was a thing of the far future. On the contrary, having before him such examples as 
 Prussia, Scotland, Ireland, the New England, Middle and Western States, and believing 
 that our civic institutions should afford social conditions inferior to those of no country 
 in the world, he poured all the energy of his great heart and mind into the effort to make 
 available even to the remotest hamlets of the Province the blessings of knowledge. 
 Intelligence, industry and morality were felt to be inseparably bound up with the progress 
 of education. A system good enough for the rich and poor alike, and supported at the 
 public expense, was his aim and his final achievement. The Christian communism under- 
 ly ing our systems of public education on this continent is proving one of the great safe- 
 gu ards of society against the forms of a false communism ; and there is yet room, in my 
 judgment, for a still wider application of kindred principles in our social system. 
 
 The work of Egerton Ryerson furnishes an additional illustration of the truth that 
 systems of popular education are, so to speak, the gift to the people of the Colleges and 
 Universities. His relations to the higher education enabled him to grasp all the elements 
 involved in the great problem he undertook to solve for Ontario, and to bring all parts of 
 the educational system into helpful and sympathetic relations. Our Universities must 
 always be sources of stimulus and enrichment to the schools of the Province at large, if 
 they discharge in any original and adequate measure their functions to society. 
 
 In attributing so important a share to Egerton Ryerson in the establishment of our 
 school system, I am not, of course, unmindful of the public men who seconded his efforts, 
 and above all, of the teachers and inspectors by whose self-sacrificing toils educational 
 advance was rendered possible, and has been sustained. Were he whom we honor in our 
 midst to-day he would be the first to speak thus, and especially of his friend. Dr.' Hodgins, 
 who for so many years was his able assistant and valued confidant. This bronze memorial 
 is well — may it long testify to the patriotic virtues of a noble man — but it is as nothing, 
 I trust, in comparison with the living and imperishable memorials of enriched and ennobled 
 human lives. As time witnesses the increasing development of the material and spiritual 
 forces of the present and coming generations of our people, as our social and national 
 institututions are more fully perfected and widely recognized, we shall have hereby and 
 herein perennial memorials of the founder of the school system of Ontario throughout all 
 cominc time. F*** 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 EDUCATION IN ONTARIO— PAST AND PRESENT. 
 
 An Histohical Retrospect by J. George Hodgins, M.A., LL.D., Barrister-at-Law,^ 
 AND Deputy Minister of Education for Ontario. 
 
 To-day will long be memorable in the educational history of Ontario — for to-day haa 
 been unveiled the first statue ever erected in this province to one of its own sons. 
 
 It will be still more memorable from the fact that that special subject of public 
 intere.st and national concern which has been signally honoured to-day, is the pre-eminently 
 important one of popular education. These two facts combined give to the celebration 
 and pleasant incidents of the day a peculiar significance and a special interest. 
 
27 
 
 Significance of the Event of To-day. 
 
 One of the first indications of a growing national life and a patriotic national spirit 
 is the erection of statues to noble sons who have rendered such valuable services to the 
 state as are recognized and honoured here to-day. 
 
 It is a most hopeful sign, as well as an assuring and happy augury for the future of 
 a country, when its patriotism takes the grateful and graceful form of doing honour to 
 those who have aided in laying the foundation of its future greatness and prosperity. 
 This, we all rejoice has been done by Ontario to-day in the unveiling of the statue of the 
 distinguished founder of her educational system. She has reared to-day to one of the 
 sons of her soil a noble monument, expressive of grateful acknowledgment for services of 
 the greatest importance and value to her and to the thousands of her sons and daughters 
 yet unborn. 
 
 The erection of this statue emphasizes in a striking manner a notable fact, chronicled 
 by John Milton, which the mature judgment of the nineteenth century has everywhere 
 endorsed, that — 
 
 " Peace hath her victories no less renowned than war." 
 
 That is, that it is not heroic deeds of valor alone which call forth a nation's gratitude. 
 It further shows us that unswerving devotion to duty in any of the departments of the 
 public service, or professional or private life, which have to do with matters which 
 concern a nation's progress and welfare, is equally recognized, if not more signally honoured, 
 than were deeds of prowess in the days gone by. We have, at all events on this con- 
 tinent, many notable examples of distinguished honour being done to literary men, to men 
 of science and to noted educationists. Any one who has visited the chief city of Massa- 
 chusetts cannot fail to have seen, on the broad terrace in front of the capitol, a massive 
 bronze statue to Horace Mann, the well-known Founder of the Public School system, not 
 only of Massachusetts, but practically of the New England States. 
 
 The Ontario System of Education — Its Influence Abroad. 
 
 So, in like manner we unveil to-day the statue, not only of the Founder of the School 
 System of Ontario, but of one, the impress of whose hand, and the practical suggestions 
 of whose mature experience, may be recognized in the sy.stems of education of some of the 
 Maritime Provinces, and in those of Manitoba and British Columbia. The first Superin- 
 tendent of British Columbia, and the second of Manitoba were trained in the schools of 
 Ontario, and were thus experienced pioneers in the new Provinces of their educational 
 systems. Also in the West Indies the educational example of Ontario was felt to be of 
 some value by Sir Francis Hincks, when Governor of the Windward Islands.* 
 
 Even the grand old Mother Country has not failed to acknowledge her indebtedness 
 to him whom we honour to-day, for practical suggestions in the solution of the educational 
 problems which confronted her public men, notably the Duke of Newcastle and the Eight 
 Hon. W. E. rorster,t during the years reaching from 1860 to 1870. 
 
 *In a letter from Barbados, dated 31st May, 1856, he said : As to education, in which you will take the 
 greatest interest, all I can say is that my own hopes are centered in getting a good Normal School in humble 
 imitation of yours. I think with that all will be well. If we could train good teachers we would have an 
 admirable system. There have been some attempts, but not to much effect. I want your advice as to the 
 establishment of this school. Tell me how to go to work to get good men, etc. I must have your plan of 
 boarding the Normal School pupils at the public expense, which I think esfential. I also want to introduce 
 the national books (as ^-ou did). Any advice or information will be conducive to good results. 
 
 fFull information in regard to the working of our system of education was communicated from time to 
 time to the Privy Council Committee on Education in England. This was of great practical value (as he 
 assured us) to the Right Hon. W. E. Forster, promoter of the noted English School Bill of 1870. In 1875 
 Mr. Forster visited the Education Department of Ontario. The Journal oj Education of April, 1876, thus 
 refers to Mr. Forster's visit : — 
 
 " During the recent visits of the Right Hon. W. E. Forster and Hepworth Dixon, Esq., to the Ontario 
 Education Department, they were kind enough to explain and discuss some of the new problems in the 
 English Educational system, and made enquiries as to the success of our attempts at a practical solution of 
 the same question. The two principal subjects referred to by Mr. Forster were compulsory education and 
 denominational schools, and on these two points full explanation of our Ontario system were given." — 
 " Journal of Education," Province of Ontario, Volume xxviii,, paqe 49. 
 
28 
 
 In 1860, at the request of the Duke of Newcastle, who accompanied the Prince of 
 Wales to Canada, Dr. Ryerson prepared an elaborate sketch of the system of education 
 in Upper Canada, and contrasted it with the English and other European systems of edu- 
 cation. This report was embodied in a letter to the Duke, dated r2th October, 1860. 
 
 "^As to the appropriateness of our erecting a Statue to Egerton Ryerson in Ontario, 
 as was done to Horace Mann, in Massachusetts, I may here quote a reference to the equal 
 value of the labors of those two noted men which was made twenty- five years ago by that 
 acute observer and experienced educational commissioner, the late well-known and dis- 
 tinguished Bishop Eraser, of Manchester. He said : 
 
 " What Education in New P>ngland owes to Horace Mann, Education in Canada owes to Egerton 
 Ryerson." 
 
 To-day we honour ourselves by seeking to discharge that obligation, at least in part. 
 
 There is one circumstance connected with the erection of this statue which, to my 
 mind, gives it a peculiar value and significance. The erection of statues by popular vote, 
 or by the Legislature, gives a quasi, if not a real national character to such erection, but, a 
 statue erected from the proceeds of thousands of small contributions, as in this case, shows 
 that deep down in the hearts of the people of this country there must have been genuine 
 regard for the man whom they thus seek to honour. When a memorial takes such a form 
 as that we may well regard it as more enduring and precious than either the bronze or 
 marble which constitute the material of its structure. 
 
 COMPREHEXSIVR CHARACTER OF THE ONTARIO EdUCATION'AL SySTEM. 
 
 It devolves upon me, as Chairman of the Committee having charge of this work, and 
 at the kind request of my colleagues, — no less than as the life-long fiiend and fellow- 
 laborer of him whose deeds and memory we honor to-day — to trace back to their source 
 the origin and underlying principles of our system of education, and to show that these 
 underlying principles and other vital forces were so combined by a master-hand as to 
 form the groundwork, as they have, in their combination, become the charter of our edu- 
 cational system of to-day. 
 
 And here, in this connection, a thought or two strikes me ; and each thought con- 
 tains for us a moral and a lesson. 
 
 The first is that educational systems are essentially progressive in their character and 
 purposes, and truly they " never continue in one stay." 
 
 The second is that the earliest .sources of what might l)e called our educational 
 inspiration are now uncertain guides, and, as such, are to-day of doubtful authority. 
 
 No one will venture to affirm that even — as it was then considered — the broad and 
 comprehensive scheme of public education sketched by Dr. Ryerson in 1846, should be 
 considered as the acme of our educational achievements of to-day. Nor would any one at 
 all conversant with the condition and progress of education on this continent alone be 
 content to draw his inspiration from, or limit his range of oVjservation to, the New Eng- 
 land States Ks formerly. The ex imples to be seen, and the experience to be consulted, 
 and the systems to be studied, must to-day, so far as the United States is concerned — be 
 sought for in the far-off Western States. 
 
 In this matter I speak of what I know ; and I speak, therefore, with the more 
 emphasis on this point, because of the primary importance of keeping this Province and 
 the Dominion educationally abreast of the most advanced States of the American Union 
 — our near neighbors, and our energetic and actively progressive educational rivals. 
 
 As an illustration of these notable facts, I may state that having been selected by 
 the United States Bureau of Education to acr. as one of the seven international educational 
 jurors, at the New Orleans Exhibition in 1885, it was, during six weeks, my duty with 
 others, to examine into and report upon the condition and results of the various state sys- 
 tems of education in the Union, and in other countries. 
 
29 
 
 Character op Systems op Education Abroad, and Lessons Therefrom. 
 
 I need not more than state, what you likely anticipate, that France, by her enlight- 
 ened educational legislation of 1881 — |.roviding for manual, or industrial, training in 
 all of her schools — and Germany, by her earlier and more systematized educational legis- 
 lation, stand at the head of European States, as does Japan at the head of the whole 
 Eastern World. But, in this connection, the interest to us should be to note the fact 
 that the educational centre in the United States has within the last few years been grad- 
 ually shifted from the east to the west. As an illustration, I may say that the highest 
 award for the extent, variety and completeness of its educational system in all its details, 
 was unanimously made by the jurors to Minnesota, while Massachusetts and other New 
 England States, with New York, Pennsylvania, etc., were entitled to only second and 
 third class honors. France and Japan jnstly received first-class honors, while England and 
 other countries (omitting Germany) had to be placed in the second and third class ranks 
 as educating countries. 
 
 A revelation of these and other suggestive facts in regard to the progress of educa- 
 tion in countries outside of our own, more than ever convinced me of the wisdom of Dr. 
 Ryerson's policy of observation while head of the Education Department. He laid it 
 down, not so much an educational axiom, as a wise dictum — the result of his educational 
 experience, that — 
 
 "There is no department of civil government in which careful preparation, varied study and observa- 
 tion, and independent and uniform action, are so important to success and efficiency, as in founding, 
 maturing and developing a system of public instruction." 
 
 He, therefore, wisely devoted a large portion of his time to this " careful prepara- 
 tion," as well as to " varied study and observation " of systems of education in Europe 
 and America. And this fact largely accounts for the "success and efficiency " of his 
 efforts in " founding, maturing and developing " our system of public instruction. 
 
 In a reply to a resolution from the Council of the County of Norfolk, in 1851, Dr. 
 Ryerson thus referred to this subject : — 
 
 " There is no poetry in the establishment and development of a public school system ; 
 it is a matter-of-fact-work from beginning to end ; and its progress, like the growth of 
 body and mind in an individual, is gradual, and is the joint result of time and labour. I 
 am happy, however, to know that our school system has already become so far developed in its 
 principles, objects and character as to command the attention and almost unanimous 
 approbation of the country. I have laid it down as a first principle to educate the people 
 through the people themselves, by their own voluntary co-operation and exertion, through 
 the usual elective municipalities and other acknowledged and responsible organs of a free 
 people." 
 
 Educational Lessons to be Learned Outside op Ontario. 
 
 When we rtiflect upon the fact of the immense growth, and the comprehensive char- 
 acter of the educational machinery in operation on this continent alone, and the vast 
 sums expended to keep it in motion, we cannot fail to be profoundly impressed with the 
 serious and grave res;)onsibility which is constantly imposed upon our educational leaders, 
 of being forever on the watch-tower of observation, to note the changes, improvements 
 and advances which are continually taking place in the educational world outside. We 
 are too apt to be content with our own progress, and to measure ourselves by ourselves. 
 In this connection the words recently addressed to the Kingston Board of School Trustees 
 by the Very Rev. Principal Grant, are of special value as an apt illustration of my 
 meaning : — 
 
 " During my absence I have studied the school systems of many countries, and have learned lessons 
 that ought to assist me in coming to right conclusions. The world is wider than Canada, or than America. 
 The British Empire itself is wider than this continent, and within its boundaries there are so many educa 
 tional systems and methods that a man who travels with eyes and ears open cannot help learning many 
 things that confirm opinions previously held, and suggest improvements on what he may have thought per- 
 fect, or the necessity of revising his former judgments. He gets new points of view, and that of itself is a 
 gr^at matter." 
 
30 
 
 Our American neighbors became fully alive years ago to the evils of the fluctuating 
 and uncertain character of the prevailing system of educational administration in vogue 
 amongst them. They saw that new and oflicially untrained men, of merely local experi- 
 ence and knowledge, were constantly being elected to take charge of the administrative 
 department of the schools of a state. Such men were often able educators, but by no 
 means experienced educationists, or masters of systems of education. The American 
 people, shrewd and practical as they are, felt the absolute necessity, therefore, of furnish- 
 ing such men, and the vast army of their educationists and educators, with full and accur- 
 ate information on systems and plans of education all over the world. With this object 
 in view, they established a central observatory, or Bureau of Education at Washington. 
 1 need hardly say how ably the work of this Bureau was systematized and most eflficiently 
 performed under the direction of the Hon. John Eaton, Commissioner of Education. His 
 successive reports and periodical circulars of information are mines of educational wealth. 
 Their fullness and comprehensiveness have been a marvel. They have aroused and 
 stimulated educational workers everywhere. They are largely welcomed, and are highly 
 prized in these Provinces and elsewhere, as suggestive, and as invaluable storehouses of 
 information, and of the practical details of education all over the world. They have, there- 
 fore, largely supplied the place of personal inquiry and research, and yet have greatly 
 stimulated both. 
 
 It was Dr. Ryerson's ideal that sooner or later a similar Bureau would be established 
 by the Central Government at Ottawa, the object of which would be, not only the supply- 
 ing of abundant and reliable information to each i)rovince on the subject of systems and 
 plans of education, but also, by intercommunication, to secure a general harmony of aim 
 and purpose. And that further, without attempting any interference in local adminis- 
 tration, the Bureau would be the means of keeping up an active yet friendly intercolonial 
 rivalry ; and thus, on Dominion and national lines, to build up the confederacy, and to 
 stimulate and encouiage the efforts made in each province for the promotion of substantial 
 educational progress, combined with efficiency and economy. 
 
 Three Educational Periods in the History of Ontario. 
 
 The educational history of Ontario naturally divides itself in three periods, viz. : — 
 
 1. The early settlement, or United Empire Loyalist period. 
 
 2. The period preceding the union of Upper and Lower Canada in 1840. 
 
 3. The period since that union, and including the administration of the Education 
 Department by the Rev. Dr. Ryerson, down to 1876. 
 
 The United Empire Loyalists period takes us back to a period antecedent to that of 
 their historical prominence as a factor in the events of the war of the American Revolu- 
 tion. In order, therefore, to estimate the value of the educational influence of tl'ose 
 times on the future of the provinces in which the U. E. Loyalists settle, we must take a 
 glance at the Colonial chapter in the History of American Education. 
 
 Colonial Chapter in the History of American Education. 
 
 It is, therefore, interesting in taking note of our educational progress to give a brief 
 glance at what was done by our fellow colonists at a corresponding early period in the 
 -history of the " old thirteen colonies," which formed the nucleus of the present 
 -American Confederation. 
 
 It has been the custom, probably unwittingly, but chiefly on the part of certain 
 American writers, to e^alt every good in their political and social condition, as of revolu- 
 tionary origin, and reluctantly to admit that anything which was really excellent in 
 both, in the early colonial times, was of British origin. One unacquainted with the pro- 
 cesses and progress of civilization in America would, on consulting such writers, suppose 
 that, Minerva-like, the young Republic had sprung from the head of Revolutionary Jove, 
 fully equipped, if not fully armed for the battle of life, into the arena of the new world, 
 and that this phenomenon happened just at the extinction of British power in the old 
 colonies, and as the result of it. The policy of these writers has been either to ignore 
 
31 
 
 the facts of history, or to keep entirely out of view the forces which had be 
 operating in the British colonial mind, before and at the time of the Revolution. They 
 have never stopped to enquire as to the source whence they derived their idea oi: political 
 freedom, but have attributed it to their' own sagacity, or regard it as the outgrowth of 
 their own enlightened speculations and thinkings when emincipatei from Britisa control. 
 There never was a greater mistake as to fact, or a greater wrong done to the memory 
 and example of such noble English patriots as Hampden aud his compeers, who laid 
 down their lives for political principles which, considering the times in which they lived, 
 were even more exalted and ennobling than those whieh were professed by the American 
 revolutionists of 1776. In fact, no proper parallel can be instituted between them. Joan 
 Hampden, in our humble judgment, was as far saparior to John HanooiiK, " President 
 of the Continental Congress," in the purity of his political motives and aspirations, as 
 Cromwell was alsove Jack Cade.* However, it is not oar purpose to discuss tiiis question, 
 but rather to vindicate the sagacity of the old colonists, who (at a time when loyalty was 
 the rule, and not the exception), laid the foundation of those educational institutions, 
 which to this day are the glory of the American Republic. 
 
 Nor were the British colonists into those early times peculiar in their zeal for the 
 promotion of Education. The Dutch, Swedish, and Iristi colonists who settled in Penn- 
 sylvania, New York, and Maryland did their part in his great work, and on the wnole 
 did it well, according to the spirit of the times. 
 
 In 16.33, the hrst schoolmaster opened his school in the Dutch Colony of New 
 Amsterdam; and in 1638, the ''articles for the colonuation ani trade of x^iaw Netner- 
 lands," provided that, " eajh householder and inliabttant stiall bear such tax ani public 
 charge as shall hereafter be considered proper for the maintenance of schoolmisters." 
 General Eaton, the United States Oommissiouer of Education, in his valuable report for 
 1875 , says : r;;,;;;^ 
 
 " We fiad, ill nuinarom initaaoei, tlia civ^il aatliDfitiei of these Dutch caloaies ackaowiedging, (1) Ttie 
 daty of eJaoitiug t'a) young, (2) Tiie care of the qaalidcacioa of the teacaer, (3) Frovisioa tor ttie payment 
 of his sarvicas, aal (4) Tne pjovisioa of the sjoji luuie. vVnea, ia ioji, municipal privileges weregfaacei 
 to the New Amsterdam [New York], the support of schools was included." 
 
 In 1642, the instruction sent to the Grovernor of New Sweden [Pennsylvania], wis 
 " to urge insbrucuion ani virtuous education of youth and children." In 169-3-6, large 
 numbers of primers, tracts and cathechisms were received from Sweden, for these schools 
 on the Delaware. Tnis wsa the educational state of the Swedish settlement m 
 what was afterwards known as Pennsylvania, on the arrival of its noble English founier, 
 William Penn. His views on education were well expressed in tae following declaration : 
 
 " That which makes a gojd Cjastitutioii must keep it, viz. : man of wisdom and virtue; qualities 
 which, b3:;a-iS3 thjy desoead mi with worldly iaheritanae must be carefully propagated by virDujus educa- 
 tioa of youth, for which spare no cjst ; for by such parsimony, all that is loved^is lost." 
 
 Tue first real systematic efforts to promote popular education began iu New England, 
 from thence it has spread in all directions. In 1635 the first si^hool was opened at 
 Boston, iVlassachusetts, and brother Pailemon Purmount was appointed schooimister by 
 the Town Committee. Thirty ajres of land were given for his support. In 1612 the 
 General Court, (or Legislature) passed a resolution enjoining on the local authorities : 
 
 '■ To keep a watchful eye on their brothers aad neighbors, and abjve all things to see that there be no 
 fa ally in so b.vroi.-ja! a s;A;e, thi:caj heai Dujrijf J) n.jo himielt, or by cue help of ouUirs, unpart 
 instrujtion tJ his children and servancs, t:> e.iaole then tJ read dueuoly the English language, and to 
 ajquire a kaovielge of thi pjnal la^rs, unler a peialty of twenty shilhngs for such neglect." 
 
 * Thus, in regard to the chivalrous destruction of tea in Boston harbour, in 1773, an American 
 historian says ; 
 
 " Tnc objjjt of thj mj'iher cjuntry in imposing a duty of three pence per pound on tea imported by 
 the Eiit Inlia Company inoo Anjrica, while it was twaiun penje per pound in England, was mainly to 
 
 break up thj co.it.-aband trade of tha colonial merchants with Holland and her possessions." 
 
 "SaJijof tlia mit'ch latj [of BjstonJ had bejomj ricn in the tradij, and a consideraole pirt of the large 
 fortune which Hinjjj_i [Presidjnc of the Insurgent JongressJ inheiitei from his uncle was thus acquired." 
 .... " Ic was tit, thju, that Hia^oji, waj . . . was reipondent in the Almiralcy Ooucts, in 
 sait3 of th'* Crotvn, to recover nearly half a million of dollars, . . . shjuld be the tirsc to aiix his 
 namj to ths [declaration of independence] which, if made good, would save him from ruin." . . . . 
 — Sabine's American Loyaligts, Vol. I. (Boston, 1865), pages 8, 9, 13. 
 
 So much for the much-valued patriotic act, which was a vast pecuniary gain to Hancock and othe.* 
 contraband tea merchants of Boston. 
 
82 
 
 Speaking on this subject, in his inaugural address in 1853, President Walker of 
 Harvard University said : 
 
 What most distinguishes the early settlers of Massachusetts, is the interest and care 
 they took in education, and especially in the institution of a system of common schools^ 
 to be sustained at the public charge. 
 
 Here they were first. In other things they thou<iht wisely and acted nobly ; but 
 in this, and perhaps in this alone, they were original. Honor, immortal honor to the men, 
 who, while still struggling for a scanty and bare subsistence, could yet find the means and 
 the heart to do what had never been done or attempted before : placing the advantages 
 of a competent instruction within the reach of all. By taking this course, what a noble 
 confidence they manifested in the truth of their principles and in the justice of their mea- 
 sures. . . . But the founders and early settlers of Massachusetts did not limit their views 
 of education to common schools. Many of their leading men had studied at the English 
 Universities and were imbued with, or at least, could appreciate the highest scholarship 
 of that day. They also knew, on general grounds and as practical men, that the public 
 good requires the advancement, as well as the diffusion, of knol wedge ; in short, that 
 both must go together ; that the streams will soon cease, if the fountains fail. — Pages 
 33, 34. 
 
 To be brief on this point I may state that in 1847, the first legislative enactment 
 in favor of schools was made in Massachusetts; and in 1670, the Governor of Connec- 
 ticut declared that "one-fourth of her revenue was devoted to schools." 
 
 General Eaton in his comprehensive report of 1875 says : 
 
 " History, with hardly a dissenting voice, accords to the English Colonists of New England, th» 
 credit of having developed those forms of action, in reference to the education of children, which contained 
 more than any other the distinct features of the systems adopted in this cuntry." 
 
 In the early colonial times, before the revolution, there were nine colleges established 
 in seven out of the thirteen colonies. 
 
 These colleges, with the date of their foundation, are as follow : — 
 
 1. Harvard — Massachusetts, in 1638 
 
 2. William and Mary — Virginia, in 1693 
 
 3. Yale — Connecticut, in 1700 
 
 4. Nassau Hall (now Princeton) — New Jersey, in 1748 
 
 5. Kings (now ('olumbia) — New York, in 1754 
 
 6. Brown — Rhode Island, in , 1765 
 
 7. Dartmouth — New Hampshire, in 1770 
 
 8. Queen's (now Rutgers) — New Jersey, in 1771 
 
 9. Hampden — Sydney, Virginia, in 1775 
 
 The Legislature of Massachusetts, aided by the Rev. John Harvard, founded Har- 
 vard Congregational College, in 1638, and the colonists of Connecticut, established the 
 Yale Congregation College in 1700.* 
 
 The New Hampshire colonists endowed the Congregational College at Dartmouth 
 with 44,000 acres of land in 1770. The Episcopalians of the English colony of New 
 York, aided by the Legislature, founded King's now Columbia College, in 1753. Indeed, 
 80 true were the English colonists to the educational instincts of the mother land, that 
 when the Dutch Province of New Netherlands fell into their hands in 1644, the King's 
 
 * " The project of founding a College in Connecticut was early taken up (in 1652), but was checked by 
 well-founded remonstra ice from Massachusetts, who (sic), very justly observed that the whole population 
 of New England was scarcely sufficient to support one institution." — President Dwight's Travels in New 
 England, vol. I. p. 168. 
 
 The Legislature made a grant of £50 a year to Yale College, from 1701 to 1750, when " it was discon- 
 tmued on account of the heavy taxes occasioned by the late Canadian War." — C. K. Adams, in North. 
 American Review for October, 1875, p. 381. 
 
33 
 
 Commissioners were instructed " to make due enquiry as to what progress hath been made 
 towards ye founda9on and maintenance of any College Schools for the educagon of 
 youth."— (Colonial History of N. Y., Vol. III. p. 53.) 
 
 The English Province, par excellence, of Virginia made various praiseworthy efforts 
 to promote education. In 1619, soon after the settlement of Jamestown, t>ir Edwin 
 Sandys, President of the Virginia Company, had 10,000 acres of land set apart for the 
 establishment of a University at Henrico for the colonists and Indians. Tlie churches 
 in England gave £1,500 sterling in the same year to aid in the education of the Indians. 
 In 1 621, 1,000 acres of land as an endowment, and £150 were granted to establish a school 
 at Charles city. Other efforts were made in the same direction in 1660 and 1688. The 
 colony also nobly determined to establish a University ; and in 1692-3, the project was 
 practically realized by the founding by the King and Queen, under royal charter, of the 
 Church of England College at Williamsburgh, of William and Mary. To this College 
 the King gave nearly £2,000, besides 20,000 acres of land, and one penny per pound on 
 all the tobacco exjjorted from Maryland. The Legislature also gave it in 1693, the duty on 
 skins and furs exported, and on liquors imported.* Tiie plans of the College were 
 prepared by Sir Christopher Wren. Among the first donors to the College was the 
 celebrated Robert Boyle, f Of all the colonial Colleges few exercised a greater educa- 
 tional influence among the leading men than did this royal college. Jefferson, Munroe, 
 Marshall (afterwards Chief Justice of the United States), the two Randolphs, and 
 Governor Tyler, of Virginia, received their education here. 
 
 The Irish Roman Catholic Province of Maryland was not, at least in purpose, much 
 behind her English sister. In 1671 an Act was passed by one of the Houses of the 
 Legislature for the establishment of a School or College, but owing to religious differences 
 the other House did not concur. In 1692, the Legislature passed an Act for the encour- 
 agement of learning; and in 1696, King William's Free School, Annapolis (afterwards 
 St. John's College), was established. 
 
 New Jersey was one of the colonies which early promoted higher education by 
 founding the Prfsbyterian College at Princeton, under the name of Nassau Hail, in 1746, 
 and the Dutch Reformed College at New Brunswick (N.J.), under the name of Queen's, 
 now Rutger's College, in 1770. 
 
 The little colony of Rhode Island did not fail in its duty to higher education, for in 
 1764 it founded the Rhode Island College, now Brown University. 
 
 The Quaker colony of William Penn, following the example of the Anglicized Dutch 
 colony of New York, established the University of Pennsylvania at Philadelphia — the 
 metropolis of the colonies in 1755. 
 
 Of these nine ante-revolution Colleges, Harvard, Yale, Columbia and Princeton 
 maintain an equally high reputation, while Brown University, the University of 
 Pennsylvania, Rutgers, William and Mary and Dartmouth Colleges are more or less 
 about the average standard of American Colleges. 
 
 Governor Oglethorpe, the founder of Georgia, was a graduate of Oxford. He, with 
 other English University colonists, conceived the idea of a College for this, the then 
 youngest of the English colonies. The project of his friend, the Irish Bishop Berkeley, 
 of Cloyne, of founding a College in the Bermudas iiaviug failed, he secured £10,000 of 
 the Bishop's funds to aid him in his settlement of the colony. The seed sown by Ogle- 
 thorpe bore fruit; and while Georgia was still a colony, provision was made for a gen 
 erous system of education. 
 
 D. C. Oilman, Esq. (President of the John Hopkins' University, Baltimore), 
 n his admirable sketch of the growth of education in the United States during the last 
 
 * Circular of Information, U. S. Bureau of Education, No. 1, 1887, page 15. 
 
 t General Eaton, United States Commissioner of Education, in an educational retrospect in his Report 
 for 1875, speaking of this college, says : — " The first commencement, in 1700, was a noted event. Several 
 planters came in their coaches, others in sloops, from New York, Pennsylvania, and Maryland. Even 
 Indians had the curiosity to visit Williamsburgh," the seat of the College. —Page xix. 
 
 3 (R. M.) 
 
:34 
 
 century, pays a high tiibute to the nine Colonial Colleges to which we have reffrred. 
 He says: — 
 
 "These nine Colleges were nurseries of virtue, intelligence, liberality and patriotism, a.s well as learn- 
 ing; so that when the revolution began, scores of the most enlightened leaders, both in council and upon 
 the field (on both sides) were found among their graduates. The influence of academic culture may be dis- 
 tinctly traced in the formation f)f the Constitution of the United States, and in the political writings of 
 Adams, Hamilton, Jefferson, Madison, Munroe and many other leading statesmen of the period. A 
 careful student of American politics has remarked that nothing more strikingly indicates the educaticn 
 given at Cambridge than the masterly manner in which different problems of law and government were 
 handled by those who had received their instruction only from that source."* 
 
 Prof. Charles Sprague Smith, A.M., (of Colunibia College) in his essay on The 
 American Universiti/, read June, 1887, thus refers to the character of these colonial 
 collt-ges : — 
 
 " In New England the higher system of general education, brought over from Old England, was 
 divided here, as there, into the two studie-s of the College and the Grammar School; the latter being super- 
 ceded in quite reoent times by the so-called Academy. The curriculum of the American (or Colonial) 
 College wa-i, in the m lin, modelled upon that of the parent country, special consideration being given to 
 theological science, etc." — Page 13. 
 
 A recent American publication on revolutionary topics, thus deils with tli(! i[uestion 
 of the superior educitioii of tlie British colonists who formed th^i tirst American 
 Congress : — 
 
 " .A.n exaitiination of the Continental Congress, composed as it was of leading men of all the colonies, 
 affords some light up(m the topic of popular education at that period. The Congress, whose sessions 
 extended through some ten years, comprised in all some three hundred and fifty members, of whom one- 
 third were graduates of colleges. A recent writer in one of the most intelligent and accurate of American 
 journals hasf taken pains to collect and ar-ay a paragraph of important statistics upon this subject, which 
 we have taken leave to insert here, though without verification, that, however, being hardly necessary for 
 our present purpose. 
 
 "There were in the Continental Congress during its existence, 350 members, of these 118, or about one- 
 third ot the whole, were graduates from Colleges. Of these, 28 were graduates from the College of New 
 Jersey in Princeton, 23 from Harvard, 23 from Yale, 11 from William and Mary, 8 from the University of 
 Pennsylvania, 4 from Columbia College, 1 from Brown University and 1 from Rutger's College, and 21 
 were etlucated in foreign Universities. These 118 graduates were distributed in the Colonies as follows: — 
 New Hampshire had 4 College graduates among her delegates; Massachusetts had 17; Rhode Island had 
 4 graduates; Connecticut had 18 graduates; New York out of her large delegation had but 8 graduates ; 
 New Jersey had 11 graduates; Pennsylvania had 13 graduates; Delaware had 2 graduates ; Maryland had 
 7 graduates; Virginia had 19 graduates; North Carolina had 4 graduates; South Carolina had 7 gradu- 
 ates ; Georgia had 5 graduates. We find that Princeton had representatives from 10 of the colonies ; 
 Yale from (! ; Harvard from 5 ; the University of Pennsylvania from 3 ; William and Mary from 2 ; 
 and Columbia, Brown and Rutger's from 1 each. Fifty-six delegates signed the Declaration of Inde- 
 pendence. Of these, 28, or just one-half, were College graduates." 
 
 Incidentally, and as illustrative of the influenc*^ of college-bred men in the Legisla- 
 ture, Mr. Adams, speaking of the great liberality of South Carolina in founding a college 
 in that State, says : — 
 
 "But no State ever made a better investment. During the first part of this century the general 
 accomplishments atid political ability of the statesmen of South Carolina were the just pride of the State, 
 and Would have been the pride of any State. In forming this high standard of intellectual and political 
 power the infiuence of the College was immeasurable."' — North Ayncrican Mivicw, January, 1870, pages 
 215. 216. 
 
 It is gratifying to us, British Colonists, and to the descendants of tlie U. E. Loyal- 
 ists, thus to have from so important a source, an acknowledgment so candid and so 
 honorable to men, many of whom were the founders of Ontario and the Maritime 
 Provinces of the Dominion. It is an historical fact of equal significance, and an element 
 of social and political strength to us in these British provinces, to know that it was to the 
 thorouitbness and breadth of culture which the American "Revolutionary heroes" 
 received in early days in British colonial institutions which fitted them afterwards to take 
 80 prominent and effective an intellectual part in the great struggle which took place 
 when they were in the prime of manhood. Another gratifying reflection arises out of 
 
 * In illustrating- the fiu-t that coUege-breil gnvduates are considerably less nuinerom and less conspicuous in the 
 professions and in politicaH life than were men of a similar education 50 or ioo years a^co. Mr. C. K. Adams, in the North 
 American li'iuew for October, l.SVri, sa ys that, "of the 56 signers of the Declaration of Independence, 36 were colleife-bred, 
 and 15 of the 2(> Senators in the first Congress; while now there arc only 7 of the iO Senators •college-bred.'" He thinks 
 th it the comparison, if extended to the Hou-c of Keprcsentativeii and the State Lcirislatures, would be still less favorable 
 as to the number of college-bred men in these boflics. 
 
 t New York Ecenini; J'oit, January, 187(J. 
 
35 
 
 the fact tliat the high place which the United States has taken in later yeais as a great 
 educating nation is due to her following out the traditional p )licy of the Co onists of 
 ante-revolution times. 
 
 This fact is clearly brought out by Mr. Oilman in the North American Bevieiv for 
 January, 1876. VVe only quote the following rematks on this point, he says: — 
 
 "When the new constitution of Massachusetts was adopted in 1780 public education received full 
 recognition. An article (the spirit of which was fully in accordance with the legislation of 1G47 [more than, 
 200 yeSiTS before]) was adopted, and stin rcrjiains the fundamental law of the State The consti- 
 tution of New Hampshire, as amended in 1784, transcribes very nearly the same words of that section of 
 the constitution of Massachusetts already quoted," etc. — Pages 198, 199. 
 
 Thus Andrew Ten-Brook, Esq., in his American State Universities, says : — 
 
 "The introduction of an educational system into the New England Colonies may be deemed substan- 
 tially contemporaneous with their settlement. It was of such a character, too, and so energetically prose- 
 cuted, that education suffered little if any deterioration in passing from Old to New England. It was. 
 even more on this side than the other side of the ocean. . . . Thus Common School instruction at 
 least was provided for all. Higher schools, too, had an early beginning. What afterwards was H.irvard 
 College was established but six years after the settlement of Boston. . . . Every town [township] of 
 fifty families was obliged to support a school, and the same general state of facts existed throughout New 
 England. Classical schools followed in regular succession. These were modelled after the (Grammar 
 Schools of England, in which the founders of the Colleges had themselves received their first classical 
 training. . . . As early as 1701, the law of Connecticut required every parent to see that he had no 
 child or apprentice in his household who could not read the Word of God, and 'the good laws of the 
 colony.' The system embraced a High School in every town [township] of seventy families, a Grammar 
 School in the four chief county towns to fit pupils for college, and a College to which the general court 
 Legislature] made an annual appropriation of £120." — Pages 1-3. 
 
 Mr. Ten-Brook, speaking of these New England schools, which were afterwards, 
 t ansplanted to each of Western Stales, says : — 
 
 "They were the elements of that noble system out of which has grown the present one, by the natural 
 laws of development," etc. — Page 18. 
 
 Mr. C. K. Ada lis, in his in:eie.sting paper on State Universities in the North 
 American Review for October, 1875, in speaking ot the educational policy of the 
 colonies, "pursued up to the time of the Revolution, says : — - 
 
 "In general terms it maybe stated that, through all the dark periods of our Colonial history, the 
 encouragement of higher education was regarded as one of tlie great interests of the State. It was no 
 doctrine of the Fathers that higher education was less entitled to the fostering care of the i ommonwealth 
 than was the education off'ered by the Common Schools. — Page 374. 
 
 The "Free School" idea, of which we hear so much as the outgrowth of " modern 
 American civilization and enlightenment," was due to Colonial thought and foresight. It 
 was first broached by Jefferson, three or four years before the treaty with Great Britain 
 was signed by which the United States became a nation. His plan was so comprehen-. 
 sive that we reproduce it here. In a letter to the veteran philosopher, Dr. Priestley, he 
 thus unfolds it : — 
 
 "I drew a bill for our [Virginia] Legislature, which proposed to lay off every county into hundreds, or 
 townships, of five or six miles square. In the centre of each of them was to be a free English School [to be 
 supported, as his bill providea, "by taxation according to pi'operty."] 
 
 The whole Commonwealth was further laid off into ten districts, in each of which v\ as to 
 be a college for teaching the languages, geography, surveying, and other useful things of 
 that grade, and then a single University for the sciences. It was received with enthusi- 
 asm (he goes on to say), but as he had proposed to make the Episcopal College of William 
 and Mary the University, " the dissenters after a while began to apprehend some secret 
 design," etc. — Ten-Brook'n American State Universities, pages 9, 10. 
 
 A writer in the North American Review for October, 1875, in referring to Jeffer- 
 son's scheme, says : — 
 
 "The view entertained by Jefferson was Vjy no means exceptional. Indeed, a similar spirit had per- 
 vaded the whole history of our Colonial life." — Page 379. 
 
 Thus this comprehensive scheme of public instruction for Virginia unfortunately 
 failed ; and that noble " Old Dominion " is in consequence to-day immeasurably behind 
 even the youngest of her then New England contemporaries in the matter of public 
 education. 
 
36 
 
 As to the abiding influence of the old Colonial ideas in regard to hisher e<]uoition, 
 wh quote the following additional remarks from Mr. Oilman, in the North American 
 JRevieiv, liH ^ays : — 
 
 " In reviewing the history of the century, it is easy to 3ee how the colonial notions of college organiza- 
 tion have aflfected . . . the higher education of the country, even down to our own times. The graduates 
 of the older colleges liave migrated to the Western States, and have transplanted with them the college 
 germs . . . and every Western State can bear witness to the zeal for learning which has been manifested 
 within its borders by enthusiastic teachers from the East."'— Page 217. 
 
 Mr. Ten- Brook, in his American State Universities, also says : — 
 
 " The New England colonists left the mother country in quest of greater religious freedom. Their 
 religious syst m was put first, and carried with it a school system as perfect in organization, and admin- 
 istered with equal vigor. This formv-d an active leaven, which, at a later day, was to spread to other parts. 
 .... Everywhere there was a considerable infusion of men who had received in the European universities 
 a liberal culture, which they desired to reproduce on these shores. Early action was full of promise. 
 Probably, at a period from just before the Revolution to the end of it, the average position of the colonies 
 in regard fo lighter education relatively as to age, and to the population and wealth, was quite as good as 
 it is at the present time." — Pages 16, 17. 
 
 This opinion of the writer is a virtual admission that in reality higher education in 
 the United States has not advanced in quality, though it has in quantity. To be in 1876 
 merely where education was '■ relatively " in 1776, is no advance at all, but rather retro- 
 gression. The cause of this declension, the writer thun incidentally adaiits : — 
 
 "Most of the colonies estab'ished, or aided, the (ante-revolution colleges named). The principle of 
 the State support to higher learning was not merely accepted, but was the prevalent one." — Page 17. 
 
 Mr. Gilman, President of the Johns Hopkins' University, touching on the same point, 
 
 says : — 
 
 " There was a civil as well as an ecclesiastical element in most of these foundations. Harvard and Yale 
 were chartered, and, to some extent, controlled by colonial government of Massachusetts and Connecticut, 
 and were for a long time nurtured by appropriations from the public chest . . . . — Page 215. 
 
 '"These institutions were colleges of an English parentage and model, not Scotch nor continental uni- 
 versities They were disciplinary in their aim, and hai more regard for the general culture of large 
 
 numbers, than for the advanced and special instruction of the chosen few. They were also, to a considerable 
 e>tent, ecclesiastical foundations -finding the churches and ministers their constant, and somelimas their 
 only efficient supporters. Harvard, Yale and Dartmouth were controlled by the Congregati.jaalists ; 
 Princeton was founded by the Presbyterians; and Xew Brunswick, X.J., ((.Queen's, now Rut^er») by the 
 Dutch Reformed ; William and Mary was emphaticallj' a child of the Church of England ; and King's 
 (now Columbia) was chiefly, but not exclusively, governed by the Episcopalians ; while Rhode Island 
 College (now Brown Univereity) was under the patronage of the Baptists 
 
 " The declaration of the original supporters of these colleges indicate a desire to train up young men 
 for service of the State, not less distinctly and emphatically than to desire to provide an educated 
 ministry. Individual aid was also expected and invited, and the names of Harvard and Yale perpetuate 
 the remembrance of such generous gifts. " 
 
 Then follows a eulogy upon these colonial colleges, and a tribute to the intellectual 
 vitality of their teaching, as shown in the mental equipment and breadth of culture exhi- 
 bited by men who took part in the perilous and stormy times of the American revolution. 
 To this we have already referred. Mr. Gilman, in following up his remarks in the 
 extract which we have just given, says : — 
 
 " Hence these nine colleges were nurseries of virtue, intelligence, liberality and patriotism, as well as 
 of learning ; so that when the revolution began, scores of enlightened leaders, both in council and in the 
 field (and on both sides), were found among their graduates. The influence of acalemic culture maybe 
 distinctly traced in the formation of the iJonstituniun of the United States, and in the political writings of 
 Adams, Jefferson, Madison, Munroe, and many other leading statesman of the period. A careful stuient 
 of American politics has remarked that nothing more strikingly indicates the iaflueuc3 of the education 
 given at Harvard, ' than the masterly manner in which difficult problems of law and government were 
 handled by those who had received their instruction only from that source.' "—Pages 215, 216. 
 
 The United Empire Loyalist Period in Upper C.\nada. 
 
 We might pursue this branch of our subject further, were it desirable. But that is 
 not necessary. Our object was to show that to British Colonial foresight, zeal, and self- 
 sacrifice, was due, not only the foundation of the best colleges and universities on the 
 continent, but the introduction and diffusion of the principle of " free and universal edu- 
 cation for the masses of the people." This we have done on the authority of American 
 writers themselves. We might multiply examples on the subject; but the fact is already 
 
37 
 
 sufficiently established. We should rather seek to draw lessons of instruction from the 
 noble example of the devotion to education on the part of our British colonial progeni- 
 tors, whose descendants have shed such a lustre of heroic self-sacrifice and patriotism on 
 the history and exploits of the United Empire Loyalists of the thirteen colonies. To the 
 Americans they have left a rich legacy from the colonial times in such universities as 
 Harvard, Yale, Columbia and Princeton — of which the descendants of the expatriated 
 Loyalists, no less than those of the victorious revolutionists, are so justly proud. Let us, 
 as worthy representatives of these clear-headed and far-seeing Loyalints, bequeath to our 
 children as noble a heritage as the fathers of the founders of this Province did to New 
 England, and indeed to the whole Republic. 
 
 Ti-ained in such an educational school, and animated with the educational zeal of 
 these old colonial times, the " United Empire Loyalists " brought with them into Canada 
 their love for evlucation and their devotion to the sovereign. 
 
 In order to keep up the historical sequence of this Retrospect, I shall now refer to 
 the early beginning of Educational life in Upper Canada, and then take up the thread of 
 the narrative at the point where the educational forces — afterwards directed by the Rev. 
 Dr. Strachan and the Rev. Dr. Ryerson — took practical form and shape. (See page 59.) 
 
 Governor Simcoe's Educational Views in 1795. 
 
 Lieutenant-General J. Graves Siracoe, the first Governor of Upper Canada, arrived 
 here in 1792. He was a man of comprehensive views and noble impulses in regard to 
 university education. He was educated at Eton College and partly at Merton College, 
 Oxford, but entered the army before taking his degree. He served with distinction under 
 Wolfe at Quebec, and during the American revolutionary war. 
 
 In Ap)il, 1795, Governor Simcoe addressed a letter to the Protestant Episcopal Bishop 
 of Quebec* In that letter Governor Simcoe uses the following striking language in 
 describing the social condition of the people in the rural parts of Upper Canada, and the utter 
 absence of schools and churches, as contrasted with their existence on the United States 
 side of the lines. He baid : — 
 
 " There was nothing, in my late progress, that has given me equal uneasiness with the general applica- 
 tion of all ranks of the most loyal inhabitants of the Province, that I would obtain for them churches and 
 ministers. They say that the rising generation (of the U. E. Loyalist settlers) is rapidly returning into 
 barbarism. Thej' state that the Sabbath, so wisely set apart for devotion, is literally imknown to their 
 children, who are busily employed in searching for amusements in which they may consume the day. And 
 it is of serious consideration that on the appro ich of the settlements of the United State-, particularly on 
 the St. Lawrence fr.mtier, these people, who, by experience, have found that schools and churches are 
 essential to their rapid establishment (as a nation), may probably allure many of our most respectable 
 settlers to emigrate to them, while in this respect we suffer a disgraceful deficiency."' 
 
 The remedy which Governor Simcoe suggested for the state of things which he so 
 graphically described is thus set forth in the same letter to the Bishop of Quebec It 
 was, as will be seen, entirely general in its character : — 
 
 " Nothing has happened since I left England, in the least, to invalidate, to my own conception, the 
 policy of the measure I then proposed. And a^ far as may be now in the power of His M.ajesty's ministers, 
 I most earnestly hope that what remains to be effected — that is by giving the means of proper education in 
 this Province, both in its rudiments and in its completion, that from ourselves we may raise up a loyal, and, 
 in due progress, a learned clergy." 
 
 Early Beginnings of Education in Upper Canada, 1785-1805. 
 
 A few particulars as to the kind of schools which existed in Upper Canada before 
 and after the d^te of this letter may be interesting. For instance, the first school opened 
 (so far as I have been able to learn) was by the Rev. Dr. John Stuart, a Protestant 
 
 For fuller details on this point, see the sections on the universities, page 61. 
 
38 
 
 Episcopal clergyman, and a United Empire Loyalist, who had been chapUin to the pro- 
 vincial volunteers, and came into Upper Canada with them as a r^'fuiiee.* 
 
 In the year 178) Dr. Stuart opened a select classical school at Cataraqui, 
 (Kingston); and a Mr. Donovan taught the Garrison school th^re. In 1786, Mr. J. 
 Clarke taught a .school in Frederickburg, and iMr. Smith one in Erae3t)wn. In 
 1789, Mr. Lyons kept school in Adolphustown. In the sam-e year, l)e^con Trayes, 
 a Baptist, opened one at Port Rowan. In 1792, Rev. Mr. Addison, an Episcopalian, 
 opened a school at Newark (Niagara), then the seat of government. In 179-t, the 
 Rev. Mr. Burns, a Presbyterian, (father of the late Judge Burns) opened a sch )ol 
 at the same place; and in 1796, Mr. Richard Cockrel opened an evening school in Newaik; 
 Mr. Cockrel shortly afterwards transferred his school to the Rev. Mv. Arthur and 
 removed to Ancaster, where he opened another school. A notice in the York Gazette 
 in 1796 stated that " as schools were now opened, ignorance would be no longer 
 tolerated." In 1797, Mr. James Blayney opened a school at Niagara. In 1798, ^lr. 
 Wm. Cooper opened a school in George St., little York, (Toronto). In 1800, the late 
 Bishop Strachan opened a private school at Kingston, and in 1801-, one at Cornwall. In 
 1802, Mr. and Mrs. Tyier opened a school near Niagara; and in the same year, Dr. 
 Baldwin, (father of the late Hon. Robert Bildwin) opened a classical school at York, and 
 in 1803, the first school in Prince Edward district was opened at " High Shore,* 
 Sophiasburgh ; anotlu-r at " Grassy Point," was taught by John James. Rev. Wm. 
 Wright, (Presbyterian) kept the first school at Meyer's Creek, (Belleville) in 1805, He 
 was followed by Mr. Leslie. In that year. Rev. Mr. Strachan held the first public 
 examination of his school at Cornwall. 
 
 State of Education in Upper Canada, 1795-1799. 
 
 As to the actual state of (^Jucation in Ui)per Canada at this time, we get a brief 
 glimpse from the travels ui tivi Due de la Rochefoucauld, who visited Kingston in July, 
 1795. He says : — 
 
 " In this district there are some schools, but they are few in number. Tlie children are instructed in 
 reading and writing, and pay each a dollar a month. One of the masters taught Latin, but he has left, 
 without being succeeded by another instructor in the same language." 
 
 As to the character of the private schools thus established, and the facilities of 
 education which they afforded, we l«arn incidentally from letters and early books of 
 travel, what they vver.'. In a " l^oN.r Uiroiujli Umnr Canadd, bij a Citizen of the 
 United States" published in 1799, we learn that the policy of the government of that 
 day, was to exclude "schoolmasters froui the States, lest they should instil Repub- 
 *' licanism into the tender minds of the youth of the province." 
 
 FiKST Official Educational Movements in Upper Canada, 1797, 1798. 
 
 As the result of the correspondence between the Governor and Bishop Mountain, 
 the question of a University and free grammar schools was discussed. The Governor 
 referred the matter to the Upper Canada Legislature, which, in 1797 momorializ "d King 
 George 111, soliciting a grant of land for the endowment of a grammar school in each 
 district, and a University for the whole Province. To this request the King gave his 
 assent, and, in 1798, the "chief civil officers" in Upper Canada recommended that 
 " 500,000 acres of land be set apart for the establishment of a grammar school in each 
 district and a central University for the whole Province." They also recommended a 
 grant for the erection of a '• plain but solid and substantial building for a grammar 
 
 *Rev. John Stuart, D. 1)., >vas born in Virgina in 1736. Tn 176'J he went to England to be ordained, 
 and returned to Philadelphia in 1770. Kor seven years he labored as a missionary among the Iroquois 
 Indians at Fort Hunter. He was then aided by the famous Hrant in translating the New Testament into 
 Mohawk. In 1781 he came to Up|)er Canada, and labored in this province as a missionary among the 
 refugee loyalists and Irotjuois. He subsequently became rector of Cataraqui (Kingston), and chaplain to 
 the Legislative Council. He died in 18 1 1, aged 75 ye.irs. On'j of his sons was the late Archdeacon 
 Stuart, of Kingston ; another was the late chief Justice, Sir James Stuart of Quebec. 
 
39 
 
 ^' school in each district, containing a school room capable of holding 100 boys withont 
 " danger to their health from too many being crowded together, and also a set of 
 ^' apartments for the master, large enough for his family and from ten to twenty 
 boarders." 
 
 The salaries proposed to be given were : =£100 for the head master, £50 for the 
 assistant master ; and £30 for repairs, etc., Kingston and Newark (Niagara) were 
 recommended as eligible sites for schools ; after which, when the funds were sufficient, 
 schools were to be established at Cornwall and Sandwich. York (Toronto) was recom- 
 mended as entitled to the University, and for the estiblishment and support of which a 
 sum at least equal to that granted to the four schools was named. 
 
 In 1799, an act was passed by the Upper Canada Legislature "to provide for the 
 education and support of orphan children." It authocizei the township wardens, wich 
 the consent of two magistrates, to bind and apprentice, until they became of age, children 
 deserted by their parents. In the same year an orphan schuol was opened near St. 
 Catharines. 
 
 Educational Pioneers in Upper Canada. 
 
 Governor Simcoe authorized the Hon. Messrs. Cartwright and Hamilton, to select 
 a person to take charge of the proposed college. The celebiated Rev. Dr. Chalmers 
 having declined the appointment, it was accepted by Mr. (late the Right Reverend 
 Doctor) Strachan (Bishop of Toronto) then a schoolmaster at Kettle, Scotland ; but his 
 arrival at Kingston, on the 31st of December, 1799, he found that the project of a 
 college had been abandoned. Governor Simcoe, in the meantime, having left for 
 England. 
 
 It was soon discovered that half a million of acres of land would endow but few 
 grammar schools, land being then only worth a shilling per acre : the scheme had, there- 
 fore, to be abandoned. Meanwhile the Hon. Mr. Cartwright made an arrangement with 
 Mr. Strachan to instruct his sons, and a select number of pupils for three years. In 1804, 
 Mr. Strachan, having been ordained, removed to the mission of Cornwall, where, at the 
 request of the parents of his former pupils, he opened a private school. 
 
 For several years this school was the only one of any nota in Upper C'jinada ; and in 
 it and in Mr. Strachan's school at York, were educated many of those gentlemen who 
 have tilled some of the most important positions in the province. Subsequently Mr. 
 Strachan's school was constituted the grammar school of the Eistern district. In 1806, 
 a temporary act was pissed by the Legislature and made pennan^int in 1808, establishing 
 a classicd and mathematical school in each of the eight districts into waich Upper 
 Oinada was then divided. In the same year (1806) at the suggestion of Dr. Strachan 
 an Act was passed, granting £400 for the purchase of apptratus for illustrating the 
 principles of Natural Philosophy, which were to be deposited in the hands of a person 
 employed in the instruction of youth. In 1807 an appropriation of £800 a year for four 
 years was made to provide for the salaries of masters in the Grammar Schools to be 
 maintained in each of the districts into which Upper Canada was divided. These masters 
 were to be engaged by trustees appointed by the governor, and the governor's sanction 
 was also necessary for the teacher's appointment. There is still in existence the letter, 
 dated, April 16th, 1807, signed by Governor Gore, appointing the Rev. George Okill 
 Stewart, D.D., Archdeacon of Kingston, first Head Master of the Home District 
 Grammar School at Vork (Toronto). 
 
 North of what is now Adelaide Street (formerly Newgate Street), bounded westward 
 by Church Street, and eastward by Jarvis Street, was a large field, almost square, con- 
 taining about six acres — for many years the playground of the District Grammar 
 School. 
 
 In the south-west corner of it, some hundred feet or more from the street boundaries, 
 "Was erected the plain wooden building, about fifty-five feet long by forty wide in which. 
 
40 
 
 on the first Monday of June, 1807, when the pjpulation of the town was only about five 
 bundled, the Grammar School was opened. It was attended by the sons and daughters 
 of the well-to-do citizens of York, and on the few existing records may be found many a 
 well known name. 
 
 In 1812, the IJev. John Strachan. D.D., was appointed Rector of York, and suc- 
 ceeded the Rev. Mr. Stewart as Head Master of this school.* Mr. Barnab;is Hid^vell 
 (father of the late Hon. M. S. Bidwell) kept a good Latin School at Bath, on the Bay 
 of Quint(^, in 1811. In 1813, he removed to Kingston, where he taught for twenty years 
 until he died in 1833. 
 
 In 1820, the " Central School at York " was opened under the mastership of Mr. 
 Jo-seph Spragge, father of the late Chief Justice Spragge. Lieutenant-Governor and Lady 
 Sarah Maitlaud took a special interest in the success of this school. 
 
 In a View of Upper Canada, published at Balt-niore in 1814, by Mr. M. Smith, 
 (who resided in the Province from 1808 until the breaking out of the War in 1812) 
 he said : — 
 
 " The greater part of the inhabitants are not well educated, for, as they were poor when they came to 
 the Province and the country being but thinly settled for a number of years, they had but little cliance for 
 the benefit of schools. But since the country has become settled, or the inhabitants rich, or in a good way 
 of living, which is almost universally the case, they pay considerable attention to learning. Ten dollars a 
 year is the common price given for the tuition of each scliolar by good teachers." — Pa:,'e 52. 
 
 In 1813, Rev. John Langhorn (a Church of England missionary at Earnestown and 
 Bath from 1787 to 1812, and teacher of a school) made a present of his librasy to the 
 inhabitants of the Bay of Qiiinte district. In 1814 Rev. Robert Baldwin was ap|>ointed 
 Grammar schoolmaster at Cornwall, vice Rev. John (afterwards Dean) Bethune resigned. 
 In 1815 the Midland District School, so-called, was incorporated. 
 
 Dr. Strachan resigned the headmastership of the District School on Jtily 1st, 1823. 
 He was succeeded by Mr. Samuel Armour, ^I.A., a graduate of Glasgow University, who 
 afterwards became a clergyman of the English Church, and otticiated many years in the 
 township of Cavan. 
 
 The Rev. Thomas Phillips, D.D., an accomplished scholar, came out from England 
 in 182f) to take charge of the school, and remained in the position of headmaster, much 
 honored and beloved by his pupils, until, in 1830, chiefly by the exertions of the Governor, 
 Sir John Colborne, Upper Canada College was established and the work of the college 
 began in the old District Grammar School building. Classes were opened in the new 
 br.ildings erected in another part of the city for the college in 1831, and the Grammar 
 School was clo.sed, the V)uilding being removed from its original site to the line of Nelson 
 street (now Jarvis street), and fenced into a plot about 70.x 120 feet. The remaining 
 portion of the .six acres was handed over to Upper Canada College. 
 
 On the active remonstance of the citizens liviuii in the eastern part of Toronto, the 
 school was re-opened and secured to the city, Mr. Charles N. B. Co=?ens being apj)ointjd 
 headmaster in 183G, and succeeded by Mr. Marcus C. Orombie in 1838. t 
 
 Early Efforts to Est.vblish Common Schools 1816-1820. 
 
 In 1816, seven years after the establishment of District Grammar Schools, a praise- 
 worthv effort was made to provide for the establishment and maintenance of common 
 schools. "+ A liberal grant of $24,000 a year, for four years, was made as an experiment. 
 Whether the experiment was a success, or not, does not appear, but in 1820, the grant 
 was reduct d to §10,000 a year. 
 
 * Canadian Educational Monthly, February 1889, page 58. 
 
 + Ibid, i>age 59. 
 
 + Iii 181(5, an Act was passed granting £'800 for the purchase of a library for the use of the Legislative 
 Council and House of Assembly. 
 
41 
 
 State of Education in Upper Canada, 1784 1819 
 
 In regard to the state of education of Upper Canada in 1817, and the fluctuating 
 character of its progress since the settlement of the Province, in 1784, up to that time, 
 Mr. Gourlay, a well-known Canadian politician and author, writes as follows : — 
 
 " There is no college in Upper Canada, but there are said to be several townships of land set apart for 
 the purpose of endowing such an institution, when the population and circumstances of the Province 
 shall require it. 
 
 " No provision is made by law for free schools. The inhabitants of the several townships are left to a 
 voluntary support of scho )ls, according to their own discretion. 
 
 " An Act of the Provincial Legislature, in 1807, granted a hundred pounds a year to the teacher of one 
 school, in each of the eight districts under the direction of trustees. Ir. some districts the school thus pro- 
 vided for is made a free school ; but in other districts the salary is considered as a public encouragement to 
 a teacher of literary en.inence, in addition to the compensation received for the tuition of each scholar." — 
 Statistical Account of Upper Canada, etc., by Robert Gourlay, 2 vols., London, 1822. 
 
 The Rev. Dr. Strachan became a master of one of these schools, and Rev, George 
 Ryerson and his brother, Egerton, master and usher of another. 
 
 As to the state of feeling in the rural parts of the oldest settled portions of Upper 
 Canada, we make the following extracts from a letter written to Mr. Gourlay from the 
 township of Grimsby, in 1818, by a highly respected resident there, William Crooks, Esq. 
 Mr. Crooks remarks : — 
 
 "The state of education is at a very low ebb, not only in the township, but generally throughout the 
 [Niagara] district ; although the liberality of the legislature has been great in support of the district 
 ((irammar) schools, (giving to the teachers of each £100 per annum), yet they have been productive of little 
 or no good hitherto, for this obvious cause, they are looked upon as seminaries exclusively instituted for 
 the education of the children of the more wealthy classes of society, and to which the poor man's child is 
 considered as unfit to be admitted. From such causes, instead of their being a benefit to the Province 
 they are sunk into obscurity, and the heads of most of them are at this moment enjoying their situations 
 as comfortaVjle sinecures. Another class of schools has, within a short time, been likewise founded upon 
 the liberality of the legislative purse, denominated common, or parish, schools, but like the preceding the 
 anxiety of the teacher employed, seems more alive to his stipend than the advancement of the education 
 of those placed under his care : from the pecuniary advantages thus held fiut, we have been inundated with 
 the worthless scum, under the character of schoolmasters, not only of this, but of every other country 
 where the knowledge has been promulgated, of the easy means our laws afford of getting a living here 
 by obtaining a parish school, which is done upon the lecommendation of some few freeholders, getting his 
 salary from the public, and making his employers contribute handsomely beside. 
 
 " Lt is true, rules are laid down for their government, and the proper books prescribed for their use • 
 but scarcely in one case in ten are they adhered to, for in the same class you will frequently see one child 
 with Noah Webster's spelling book in this hand, and the next with Lindley Murray's. However prone 
 the teachers are to variety in their school.-, much blame is to be attributed to the trustees, who are in 
 many instances too careless and I might almost add too ignorant to discriminate right from wrong, in the 
 trust they have undertaken for the public benefit. It is, therefore, not to be wondered at why the parish 
 school svstem should meet with a'raost universal reprobation from most discerning men. 
 
 '"Of these parish schools, we are burdened with a liberal share, having no less than three of them. If 
 the establishment of this system was meant by the legislature to abbreviate the present enormous price of 
 education, they have been miserably deceived ; for I can see no alteratit.n or reduction from the charge 
 made before the passing of the act. The price then was 12s. &d. [i. c. $2.50,1 and is now the same, per quarter." 
 
 In July, 1819, provisions was made for an additional district grammar school; for 
 holding annual public examinations ; for reporting the condition of the schools to the 
 governor, and for educating ten common school pupils, free of charge, at each of the nine 
 public <.'rammar schools already established ; but the provincial allowance to teachers of 
 grammar schools was reduced to £50 in all cases where the numbers of pupils did not 
 exceed ten. 
 
 Fitful EdliCational Progress from 1822 to 1829. 
 
 In 1822, Sir Peregrine Maitland, the Lieutenant-Governor, submitted to the Imperial 
 Government a plan for organizing a general system of education, including elementery 
 schools; and, in 1823, he obtained permission from England to establish a Board of 
 Education for the general superintendence of this sy.st^m of education, and for the 
 management of the university and school lands throughout the Province. The members 
 of this Board, with Rev. Dr. Strachan at its head, as chairman, were : Hon. Joseph Wells, 
 Hon. G. H. Markland, Rev. Robert Addison, Hon. J. B. Robinson, and Thomas Ridout, 
 Esq This Board prepared some general regulations in regard to the schools and proposed 
 a plan by which to exchange 225,944 acres of the less valuable of the school lands for the 
 
42 
 
 more productive Clergy Reserve lands. The plan having been approved by the Home 
 Government, was carried into effect by the Governor soon after. In 1824, the first 
 attempts towards providing the public with general reading books, in connection with the 
 Common and Sunday schools, were made. The sum of £150 was annually appropriated 
 for this oliject, and authorized to be expended by the Provincial Board of Education in 
 the purchase of " books and tracts designed to afford moial and religious instruction," 
 and distributed equally among all the districts of Upper Canada. 
 
 Thus were presented the dim outlines of a system of public instruction which it was 
 clear the necessities nf the country required, but which for want of a vigorous and system- 
 atic supervision w.is gradually permitted to languish, and the legislative enactments 
 them.selves were buffered to become almost obsolete on the .statute book. 
 
 In January, 1824, the Common Scliool Act was made to apply "to all schools that 
 are now or iDay hereafter be established and kept among the Indians who shall be resident 
 within the limits of any organized county or township within this Province, excepting 
 such schools as shall or may be otherwise provided for.* Provision was also made for 
 the examination of C.jmmon Schnol teachers by County Boards of Education. 
 
 State of Education in Ui'per Canada, 1827-1820, from the Official Reports, Etc. 
 
 The number and condition of the ('ommon and other schools in Upper Canada in 
 1827 may be githered from "An appeal to the Friends of Religion, and Literature, in 
 behalf of tlie University of Upper Canada," published in London in 1827 (of which I 
 have an original MS. copy), Dr. Strachan says : — 
 
 SrhooLi in Upper Canada, /<S'J7.-"In about 340 Common Schools in Upper Canada from 12,000 to 
 14,000 children are taught reading and writing, the elements of arithmetic, and the first princii)les of religion. 
 Tlie })eoj)le, scattered as they are over a vast wilderne.ss, are thus l)ecoming alive to tiie great advantage of 
 educating tlieir children, . . insomuch so, that schools sujiported by subscriptions are more in number 
 than those established by law. Provision is made by statute for the translati(m of some of the more pn 'mising 
 .scholars from the Common to the District Schools, where the classics and i)ractical mathematics are taught. 
 In these schools (eleven in number) there are at present 300 young men accpiiring an education to <iual)fy 
 them for the different professions. . . . 
 
 Niagara District Boaril nf E'lHcation, 18^8. — ''Itmwsthe admitted generally that after the approval 
 and appointment nf teachers by the Trustees the Hoard have not rejected teachers however incompetent, 
 from a regard to the wishes of "their employers, the terms for tuition being so very low as not to induce men 
 of sufficient qualifications generally to engage in the humble .and ill-requited duties. 
 
 Keading, writing and arithmetic liave been uniformily taught in all the schools. Grammar and 
 geography in a few. Religious instruction has not been overlooked. Upon the v,-hole, the system of 
 education in this district may be considered as efficient as can be expected upon the footing (m which it is 
 jilaced.'— «rr. Thomas Crem. 
 
 Provincial Board of Edacation, 1?.*^. —The number of District Grammar Schools in operation in the 
 Province is 11 ; pupils in attendance, 372. Number of Coramcm Schools, 401 ; number of pupils in attend- 
 ance, 10,712 -increase over 1827 of nearly 2,000 pujiils. 
 
 The President of the IJoard (Rev. l)r. Strachan) last summer visited in per.son .ill the districts of the 
 1 rovince, and not only inspected the grammar schools, but examined minutelv the systems of management 
 adopted by their respective teachers. 
 
 In order to j)roduce a greater uniformity of system and to supply, in some measure, tlie want of experi- 
 ence to younger teachers, the President has submitted an outline of study for the grammar schools, the 
 adoption of which, the Board cannot but think would be highly V)eneficial, and produce a higlier standard 
 of education throughout the Province.t 
 
 *A11 the Indian schools of the Province, which are chiefly sustained by various religious bodies, are 
 now under the cmtrol of the Indian Department at Ottawa. The following is an account of a typical 
 Indian school at the Credit in 1830: The sch -ol room is a large and commodious apartment with tiers oj 
 raised benches in the rear; on one division of which sit the girls, and the bovs on the other. There are 
 also desks and slates for ciphering, and copy-books and coi)per-i>late lines for those who write. The Bibles 
 and Testaments, and some of the other books, are l''.ngli>h printed .-ind some American. No sectarian intol- 
 erance prevails in that way. Among the school furniture are a liandsome map of th« world, the arithme- 
 con, attractive alphabets in pa^teboa^d, regular figures illustrative of geometry, some of them cut out of 
 wood and some of them made of pasteboard ; the picture of Elijah fed by ravens, figures of birds, fishes and 
 quadrupeds on pasteboard, coloured, accom])aiiied with the history of each animal ; the figure of a clock in 
 pasteboard, by which to explain tlie priiicii)les of the time-piece. The walls are adorned with good, moral 
 maxims ; and I perceived that one of the rules was rather novel, though doubtless in place here. It was, 
 "No blankets to be worn in school." Tlie attendance is about .50 Indian ciiildren. The girl.-* are taught by 
 Miss Rolph, sister of the late Member for Middlesex : the boys by Mr. Edwy Ryerson. a younger brother 
 of the late editor of the Clirixtian O'uardian, Rev. Egerton Ryerson. The translating office is occupied by 
 Mr. Peter Jones, the Indian minister. 
 
 t Th's course of stvidy is aiipendcd herewith on tlie next pajre 
 
43 
 
 In some places girls are admitted to the district schools, for want of good female schools, but the 
 admission of female children interferes with tlie government which is required in classical seminaries. 
 
 In a population of nearly 200,000, at least one-fifth, or 40,000, is composed of children between the ages 
 of 5 and 15 who should be going to school. Taking the number of those who are benefited in the Common 
 and Sunday schools at 15,000, then the expense to the Province is about 3s. 9'/. each, in some districts the 
 salarie.s allowed to the schoolmasters of the Common Schools are exceedingly small. They range from 
 £12 10s. downwards. In some little more than £5, and in one less than that trifling sum. Many schools 
 continue only six months ; others eight months in the year. The natural consequence of this state of things 
 is that superior teachers desert the Common Schools as soon as they can procure any other employment, 
 and many persons resort to the occupation of teachers merely as a tempory expedient. These latter are 
 without experience, which is all-important to an instructor of youth and can have little de-ire to establish 
 a reputation in an employment to which they have only recourse for present convenience. 
 
 In the sister Colony of Nova Scotia, "the sum of £1,000 is annually appropriated to the Comnion 
 Schools and divided among 12 counties, not equally, but in proportion to population. One law, by giving 
 the samd sum to each distriut, whether populous or not, in that particular requires alteration. 
 
 The Board would submit that in addition to the public allowance, a power should be given to the town- 
 ships to assess themselves for the schools. In Nova Scotia it is provided in the statute that two-thirds of the 
 freeholders may, under certain conditions, tax themselves according to their ability for the support of 
 education, and that no school of 30 scholars shall be entitled to the stipulated aid of £20, unless the teacher 
 receives bona fide from his employers £40, together with this sum, exclusive of and in addition to board, 
 etc.; and that no school of 15 scholars shall be entitled to the stipjlated sum of £15 unless the teacher 
 receives from his employers £25 per annum as aforesaid. The lioard had distributed to the Common 
 Schools a large quantity of useful school books including Mavor's Spelling Book. They have also con- 
 tracted for 2,000 copies of this excellent work to be executed on cards for the township schools. There appears 
 to be a great scarcity of arithmetic books in the Province, and those in use are in general too difficult or 
 deficient in matter, etc. The President has, therefore, undertaken to draw up a short manual on the subject, 
 suitable to the state and business of the country. 
 
 Neither the sick nor the destitute have higher claims upon the public than the ignorant. The want of 
 knowledge brings all other wants in its train ; and if education be regarded a-» a charity, it is a charity of 
 which the blessings are without alloy. It demands no jealous scrutiny of the claims of its applicants, nor 
 does it require to be t>o stinted as not to multiply their number.— iJc;;. John Strachan, President, York, 5th 
 February, 1829. 
 
 Midland District Grammar School, lS29.~lt is to be lamented that so few of the wealthy farmers of the 
 Midland District avail themselves of the means of giving their sous that degree of education which the 
 public school can readily aflford, which would qualify young persons to discharge the duties of the magistracy 
 and other public situations with credit to themselves. 
 
 The trustees regret that no poor children are educated gratis under the patriotic and very benevolent 
 provision of the statute, in consequence of no returns being made to them of the most promising scholars 
 from the Common School. The trustees, therefore, submit, whether in order to encourage native genius in 
 humble circumstances, some means might not be devised of maintaining all the 10 children whom the 
 statute authorizes the trustees to select for gratuitous instruction.— jRer. George O'Kill Stuart, Thomas 
 Markland and John Macaulaii, Kingston, December SOth, L'>29. 
 
 Note.— The local reports for the succeeding year are chiefly statistical and explanatory and contain no 
 general remarks. From a report signed by the Rev. Dr. Strachan and Hon, Wm. Allan in 1839, it would 
 appear that things had for years remained in .s<«^(t (/«o. They say : — ^ ■ a ^ 'v 
 
 " For many years elaborate reports were sent from this (Home District) Boardof Education detailing 
 what were believed to be the alterations necessary to render the present Common School Act efhcient. In 
 consequence of these, and like reports from other "districts a measure for the establishment of such schools 
 has been for more than .six years before the Legislature, which purposes to provide remedies for the defects 
 which are met with in the working of the present system." 
 
 OouKSE OF Study Suggested by Rev. Dr. Strachan as suitable for the District 
 Grammar Schools throughout the Proyince. 1829. 
 
 In a " letter from the Rev. Dr. Strachan to Rov. A. N. Bethune, Rector of Coboiirg," 
 dated October 6th, 1829, he thus sketched a course of study for Grammar Schools : 
 
 First Year — Boys from 7 to 9. 
 
 1st. Latin. — Eton Grammar ; Vocabulary; Oorderius ; Selecta? e Profanis. 
 
 2nd. ^rt^^is/i— Mavor's Spelling Book ; Enheld's Lessons ; Walker's Lessons ; Mur- 
 ray's Le.ssons ; Blair's Class Bjok ; English Grammar ; Writing ; Arithmetic, chiefly 
 mental. 
 
 Second Year — Boys from 9 to 11. 
 
 1st. Za^m— Grammar ; Valpy's Delectas ; New Testament; Daley's Exercises; 
 Exiimpla Minora ; Entropius ; PhseJrus ; Cornelius Nepos. 
 
 2nd. ^At^/is//— Grammar and Reading, as before ; Writiag anl Arithmetic (mental 
 and mixed) ; Geography ; Civil and Natural History and Elocution. 
 
 3rd. — To commence French. 
 
44 
 
 Third Year — Boys from 11 to 13. 
 
 Ist. Latin — Graraiiiar ; Bailey's Exercises ; Cornelius Nepos ; Caesar; Ov^id's Meta- 
 morposes ; Fonsense Verses; Psalms into Latin Verse; Exampla Moralia ; Versions 
 or rendering English into Latin. 
 
 2nd. Greek — To comm<Mce about the mid lie of the third year: Econ Grammar, or 
 Nelson's edition of Moore's Grammar ; Greek Vocabulary ; New Testament ; Greek 
 Exercises. 
 
 3rd. English. — Grammar ; Writing ; Elocufion ; Civil and Natural History ; 
 Geography, Ancient and Modern ; English Composition. 
 
 4th. Arithmetic. — And to commence Algebra. 
 
 5th. French. 
 
 Fourth Year — Boys from 12 to IJf.. 
 
 1st. Latin. — Grammar; Terence Virgil; Horace; Sallust; Cicero; Livy ; Latin 
 composition, verse and prose ; Grotius de Veritate Exampla Moralia. 
 
 2nd. Greek. — Eton Grammar; Gr?eca Minora; Greek and Latin Testament; 
 Xenojjhon ; Homer. 
 
 3rd. English. — Grammar and Composition ; Civil and N'atural History ; Geography, 
 Ancient and Modern , use of the globes ; construction of maps. 
 
 4th. Mathematics. — Arithmetic; Book-keeping: Algebra; Euclid. 
 
 5th. French. 
 
 Fifth Year — Boys from IJ^ to 16. 
 
 1st. Latin. — Virgil; Horace; Livy; Juvenal; Tacitus; Compjsition, in prose and 
 verse. 
 
 2nd. Greek — Gneca Majora ; Homer ; Thucidides ; Composition, in prose and verse. 
 3rd. English. — Grammar and Composition ; Elocution ; Civil and Natural History ; 
 Geo.-raphy, Ancient and Modern ; use of the globes ; construction of maps. 
 
 4th. Mathematics. — Algebra; Euclid; Trigonometry; Application to heights and 
 distances ; Surveying ; Navigation; Dialling ; Elements of Astronomj', etc. 
 5th. French. 
 
 Rev. Dk. Strachan's System of School Management. 
 
 Rev. Dr. Scadding, in his sketch of Dr. Strachan, " The tirst Bishop of Toronto — 
 
 a Revievv and a Study," says : 
 
 " The system pursued in Dr. Strachan's school at Cornwall and afterwar.ls at York, exhibited features 
 that would have gratified tlie advanr-ed educationists of the present age. In that system the practical and 
 the useful were by no means sacrificed to the ornamental and theoretical, or the merely conventional. 
 Things were regarded as well as words. ... In regard to things— the science of common objects— we 
 doubt if in the most comjilete of our modern schools there was ever awakened a greater intere.-^t or intelli- 
 gence in relation to such matters. Who, that had (mce participated in the excitement of its natural history 
 class, ever forgot it? Or in that of tht» historical or geographical exercises ? We venture to think that, in 
 many an instance, the fullest experience of after life, in travel or otherwise, had often their associations 
 with ideas awakened then ; and often compared satisfactorily and i)leasurably with the pictures of i)l.aces, 
 animals and persons given, rudely it may be, in text books, ransacked and conned in a fervour of emulation 
 then. The manner of study in these sui)jects was this : each lad was required to prepare a set of questions, 
 to be put by himself to his fellows in the class. If a reply was not forthcoming, and the information fur- 
 nished by the questioner was judged correct the latter ' went up ' and took the place of the other. This, 
 process, besides being inttructive and stimulating to the pupils, possessed the advantage of being, as it 
 often proved, highly diverting to the teacher." 
 
 On this system Dr. Strachan himself remarks : 
 
 " The method of instruction by cpiestion and answer possesses many advantages over any other, and is 
 not only the very best and shortest, but the must satisfactory. In this system the deficiencies of each 
 scholar soon becomes manifest, and the teacher knows to what particular points he must direct his explana- 
 tions. There is no time for inattention or wandering ; the question and necessity for reply compel attention 
 and recollection. The children, if the teaciier proceed with a conciliat<>rv firmness, acquire a lively interest 
 n the lesson, for each is particularly addressed and brought forward with action." * 
 
 * The Christian Recorder, edited by Rev. Dr. Strachan, York, 1820, vol. 1, page 182. 
 
45 
 
 The late Bishop Fuller, who was also one of Dr. Strachan's pupils, also states 
 that : — 
 
 " He had a remarkable talent for interesting boys in their work ; and, by taking a deep interest in it 
 himself, he led them to do the same. He was very original in m^ny of his plans for promotmg the good of 
 his sjhool. Amongst others, which I never met with elsewhere, was one of making the boys question one 
 another on certain of the lessons. This made the boys quick at seizing on the leading points in the lessons, 
 ready at sliapiug questions, and deeply interested in the quesljious and answers, The Bishop took as deep 
 an interest in the questioning and answering of the boys as they did themselves; and thus this plan, 
 whilst it was of great service to the boys in various ways, tended strongly to bind master and scholars 
 together." * 
 
 As to his method of teaching arithmetic, ha explains it in the following words : 
 
 " In a new countrj^ like this, a variety of branches must bs taught in every respectable school. Young 
 men . . . are anxious to get forward as fast as possible, and even those destined for the learned pro- 
 fessions are seldom allowed the time requisite for acquiring the knowledge previously necessary. These 
 considerations induced me to turn my thoughts to the discovery of some sure, and at ttie same time, 
 expeditious method of teaching arithmetic. This object I have accomplished with a much greater degree 
 of success than I dared to promise myself. 
 
 " I divide my pupils into separate classes according to their progress. Each class has one or more sums 
 to produce every day, neatly wrought upon their slates. The work is carefully examined, afcer which I 
 command every figure to be bl itted out, and the sums to be wrought under my eye. The one whom I 
 happen to pitch upon first gives, with an audible voice, the rules and reasons for every step, and as he pro- 
 ceeds the rrfst silently work along with him figure for figure, but ready to correct him if he blunder that 
 they may get his place. As soon as this one is finished, the work is ajjain blotted out and another called 
 upon to work the question aloud as before, while the rest proceed along with him in silence, and so on round 
 the whole class. . . . This method of teaching arithmetic possesses this important advantage, that it 
 may be pursued without interrupting the pupils' progress in any other useful study. The same method of 
 teaching Algebra has been used with equal success. Such a plan is certainly very laborious, but it will be 
 foLinl sujcjssfal, nni hithit i$ aiichus to spire labor uwjht not to be a public teacher.'''^ 
 
 Desiring to give a local interest to the exercises in his book, Dr. Strachan gave 
 several examples from Canadian subjects. Thus a question in addition reads : — 
 
 " From Quebec to Montreal is 180 miles— from thence , to Kingston 200— from thence to York 149— 
 from thence to Niagara 78 miles — from thence to Detroit, 210. Required the distance from Quebec to 
 Detroit. Ansivcr — 317 miles. " 
 
 Again a question in multiplication reads : — 
 
 " The distance from Quebec to Montreal is 180 miles , supposing the road 17 yards broad, how many 
 square yards does it contain ? Answe?- — 5,385,600 yards." 
 
 As to his diligence as a student, while yet a teacher. Dr. Fuller remarks : — 
 
 " The late Bishop said to me on one occasion : ' 1 had to study every night quite as hard as the boys ; 
 for I was not much in advance of the highest class in school. These and parochial duties demanded sixteen 
 hours every day, — and yet these nine years were the happiest years of my life." 
 
 Rev. Dr. Strachan's Career as a Teacher. 
 
 Having been appointed Minister at Cornwall in 1803, Dr. Fuller states that there 
 he was : — 
 
 " Induced to resume his school, at the solicitation of the parents of those boys who had been in his 
 school at Kingston, and of others, both in Lower and Upper Canada, who were desirous of placing their 
 sons under a master so practical, wise and successful, as he had proved himself to be. Thus he commenced 
 the school at Cornwall, which afterwards became so celebrated, and at which were educated the first men 
 that Canada has produced, and of whom she may well be proud— such men as the late .Sir J. B. Robinson, 
 Judge Maclean, Sir .J. B. Macaulay, Sir Allan MacNab, Judge Jones, Mr. Stanton, the Bethuues (Alex- 
 ander, John and Donald), Sir James Stuart, and his brother Andrew Stuart, besides many others who have 
 reflected credit on our country. 
 
 " The Bishop had a great faculty for not only attaching his scholars to him, but also for inducing them 
 to apply themselves most assiduously to their studies. He told me he made it a rule, during the time he 
 kept school, to vvatch closely every new boy, and, at the end of a fortnight, to note down in a book his 
 estimate of the boys who had passed through his hands. 
 
 " He was never afraid of having his dignity lowered by liberties taken with him, and he always felt 
 every confidence in his position and entered warmly and personally into many of the boys' amusements, 
 and thus gained an immense influence over them. The influence over his pupils has been shown in the fact, 
 that almost all of them embraced his principles ; and the love and affection for him of his celebrated Corn 
 
 *Sermon on the Death of Bishop Strachan, Journal of Education for U. C, vol. xx. (1868), page 18;j. 
 
 tPreface to " A Concise Introduction to Praetical Arithmetic, for the use of Schools : By the Rev. 
 John Strachan, Montreal. Printed by Nahum Mower, 1809." 
 
40 
 
 wall school was shown iruny years ago, when the surviving members thereof presented him with an iiddress* 
 and a most Iji^autiful and costly candelabra. Nor did his more rect-nt ^cholars entertain le^s affection for 
 him, though they never proved it so substantially as did tliose of his Cm-iiwall School. . . . He was an 
 excellent teacher. His scholars were well grounded in their work. Tiie grammar was well mastered, 
 and every rule thereof deeply impressed on the memory. Every lesson was thoroughly dissected, and every- 
 thing connected with it thoroughly understood, before we passed on to another les.son."t 
 
 Mr. Joseph Hume's Essay on Education Edited as a Catechism by Mk. \\'m. 
 
 Lyon Mackenzie in 1830. 
 
 In 1830 Mr. Mackenzie republLshed at York rForonto), in pamphlet foriu, the hrst 
 part of a Catechism of Education, prepared by Mr. Joseph Hume, M.P., in England. 
 The pamuhlet in my possession is worn and weather stained. It is inscribed to Daviil 
 Thorburn, of Queenston, and extends to 46 pa^es. In iiis preface Air. Mackenzie says : 
 
 "To Mr. Joseph Hume. — The compiler is indebted for an Ess.ty on Education, 
 which lays down and explains principles of vital importance to the best interest of the 
 Canadians, the perusal of which first suggested the design of this catechism. 
 
 " In the first parts, under the heads Domestic, Technical, Social and Political fnstruc- 
 tion, it has been attempted to shew chiefly what the means are by which the human mind 
 may be endowed with those qualities on which the generation of happiness depends.'' 
 
 Vicissitudes of Education in Upper Canada, 1830-1839. 
 
 For many years subsequently spasmodic efforts were made from time to time by 
 progressive and earnest men in the Legislature to establish a system of schools. 
 Enquiries were instituted and reports made, chiefly but not wholly, by the House of 
 Assembly. A vigorous contest was maintained between that body and the Legislative 
 Council on the subject. Bills were [)assed by the Assembly and rejected by the Council. 
 The contest continued until the Rebellion occurred, and this event turned all men'» 
 thoughts into another channel for the time. 
 
 Of the able and zealous men who, almost single handed, fought the battle of elemen- 
 tary education in the L -gislature, pii'>r to the rebellion of 1837, I may refer to the 
 efforts in this direction of Dr. Charles Duncombe and Mr. .Malhon Burwell, who did good 
 service in the cause, as also did Archdeacon Strachan, Hon. William Morris and others 
 for higher education. 
 
 In the light of the growth and educational progress of to-day, the miserable condition 
 of public education in the days of the educational pioneers to whom I have referred, can 
 hardly l)e credited. And were it not on rejord in the proceedings of the Legislature, the 
 statements there made wouUl appear to apply to some other country rakher than 
 to ours. 
 
 There were in the House of As.*embly in those days (as I have intimuled) men of 
 rare power and ability, who did noble service in the popular cause, and in behalf of 
 general education. They passed school bills, founded on elaborate re|)Orts. year after 
 year, only to see them defeated by a majority in the Legi.slative Council. This .state of 
 things continued for some years, and with disastrous effects on the intellectu-il life of the 
 country. This fact is illustiated in tlie proceedings of the House of Assembly. For 
 example : In a petition of the United Presbytery of Upper Canada, pres nted to the 
 House in 1830, the signers say : — 
 
 " It is with deep regret that your petitioners (in their ministerial cai)acity, connected with a very large 
 portion of His .Majesty's subjects in this Province) are compelled to say that the state of education is, in 
 general, in a deplorable condition." 
 
 *The principal 8ign*»r.-< of the address were Sir J. B. Robinson, Sir .T. B. Macaulay, Very Rev. Dean 
 Bethune, Right Rev. BisliDj) Bethune, Hon. Chief Justice McLean, Hon. Justice Jones, Hon. W. B. 
 Robinson, Hon. G. S. Boulton, Rev. W. Macanlay, Judge (George) Ridout, Surveyor-tieneral Chewett, 
 Col. Gregg, Capt. Macaulay, R. A., Inspector-General Markiand, Sheriff McLean, Messrs. T. G. Ridout, 
 P. Vankoughnet, S. P. Jarvis, J. Radenhurst, R. G. Anderson, R Stanton, and others. 
 
 f Journal of Education for U. C, Vol. XX. (ISG.*^), page 183. For further reference to \)r. .Strachan's 
 educational efforts see the sections on universities, page 59 it icq. 
 
47 
 
 The rea-^oii for this state of things is thus clearly set forth by the House of Assembly 
 in an address to the Lieutenant-Governor, adopted in the svmeyear : — 
 
 " We the Commons of Upper Canada, in Parliament assembled, most respectfully represent that there 
 ia in this Province a very general want of education ; that the insufficiency of the school fund to support 
 competent, respectable and well-educated teachers, has degraded common school teaching from a regular 
 business to a mere matter of convenience to transient persons, or common idlers, who often teach school 
 one season and leave it vacant until it accommodates some other like person, whereby the minds of our 
 youth are left without cultivation, or, what is still worse, frequently with vulgar, low-bred, vicious or 
 intemperate examples before them, in the capacity of monitors." 
 
 Educational Efforts of Mr. Malhon Burwell in the House of Assembly, 1831-1836. 
 
 Few men exerted themselves more or to better purpose in the cause of education than 
 did Mr. Burwell durin.^ the time h^ w.is a member of the old Uppei- Canada Legislature, 
 in 1831-1838.* 
 
 Amongst the many motions relating to education which were moved by Mr. Burwell 
 in the House of Assembly from time to time, was the following important one, which 
 wa c )ncurred in by the House in Ft-bruary, 1831 : — • 
 
 " That a standing committee be appointed on the subject of education generally in this Province. . 
 
 "That it be a principal duty and business of the committee to enquire whether an appropriation of 
 500,030 acres of land was not made, in virtue of a j'int address of both houses of the Provincial Parliament, 
 adopted at their session of 1797, or 1798, and whether the same is not subject to the control of the Legis- 
 ture of this Province ; to enquire if anything, and what, has been done with the lands or any part of them, 
 and what is their present situation. 
 
 "That the said committee do enquire in what way the several district schools of the Province can best 
 be endowed with portions of the said lands, so as to render them more efficient and fitting for the improve- 
 ment of the rising generation than they are at present." . . . 
 
 Such were the comprehensive terms of a motion which gave to the subject of educa- 
 tion H status in the House of Assembly at the time V)y making a committee on the subject 
 a Standing Committee of the House, and clothing it with important powers. Mr. Burwell 
 also, of the same month, moved for the production of all the despatches, reports, and 
 other documents relating to the royal giant of lands by George III. for grammar schools 
 and colleges in Upper Canada. In response to this latter motion, the Lieut.-Governor, 
 Sir John Colborne (Lord Si-aton), sent down to the House a mass of papers of great 
 value, showing what steps had been taken by the Inijterial and Provincial Governments 
 duruiiT the intervening years for the promotion of public education. These papers were 
 printed at the time, but little is now known of their contents. 
 
 Ill April, 1831, Ml'. Burwell, as chairman of the Quarter Sessicms of the London 
 
 District, presented to the Lieut -Governor a memorial setting forth the advantages to 
 
 that locality of endowing a college at London. Amongst the reasons given are the 
 
 following : — 
 
 " Your memorialists are aware that education of a superior kind cannot be brought to every man's 
 door, and that under any arrangements, the inhabitants of the Province generally must send their children 
 a short distance from home ; but such is the extent of the several districts, that the school can seldom be 
 a day's journey from any part of them ; and the scholars can return to their homes without expense during 
 the holidays ; and, if sick, they can be visited by their parents in a few hours, and removed to their 
 habitations without difficulty. Added to all this the cheapness at which board can be obtained in country 
 places, and the easiness with which, in most cases, it can be paid for by produce from their farms." 
 
 These reasons ate somewhat primitive in their character; but they throw light on 
 the social condition of the people in these days, and illustrate the common practice then 
 of piying even for education " in kind," or by " produce from the farms." The object of 
 the memorialists was to obtain such an endowment for the London District Grammar 
 School — 
 
 "As shall render it efficient as a classical seminary, and a nursery (as such schools are intended to be) 
 for the University of King's College. ... 
 
 " The endowment should be such a one as would urnish a good school-house, a commodious residence 
 for the head master -to enable him to keep boarders and produce an income of four or five hundred 
 pounds." 
 
 *Col. Mahlon Burwell was bom in the State of New Jersey, but early in life came to Upper Canada. 
 He settled first at Fort Erie, then at Long Point, and finally removed to the Talbot Settlement. He was 
 near neighbor, and for a long time, right-hand man of the noted Col. Talbi>t, of Port Talbot. He was n 
 surveyor by profession, and in 1810 surveyed the townships of Malahide, Bayhani, and part of the thun 
 village of London. 
 
48 
 
 In the following June a similar, but a much longer and more strongly wordet^, 
 raemorial was presented to the Governor from the trustees of the Kingston '■ Royal 
 Grammar School," protesting against the withdrawal from that school of an extra grant 
 of £200 a year and giving it to Upper Canada College, thus i educing the rank of the 
 Kingston '' Royal Grammar School" to that of a district grammar school. 
 
 Efforts at Educational Legislation bt Dk. Charles Duncombe, 1831-1836. 
 
 As one of those who took a prominent part in the trouble.some events of 1837-38, 
 in Upper Canada, Dr. Duncombe acquired consMerable notoriety. He was, nevertheless, 
 a man of broad views, of comprehensive aims and large sympathies.* 
 
 From his first entry into the House of Assembly, Dr. Charles Duncombe, M.P.P. for 
 the county of Norfolk, took up warmly the cause of jiopular education. In this he was 
 actively supported by two other medical gentlemen — Dr. Thomas D. Moriison and Dr. 
 Thomas Bruce — who were also members of the House of Assemlily at that time. 
 
 Dr. Charles Duncombe's first motion in the House of Assemb.y (on the 13th 
 December, 1831) was for an address to the Lieut.-Governor urging the setting apart of 
 a sufficient quantity of the public lands of the Province to form a permanent fund for 
 the support and maintenance of common schools. His motion was, however, defeated. 
 
 As Dr. Duncombe's motion is of historical interest, so far as the facts which it 
 alleges are concerned, I give some extracts from it. The motion stated : — 
 
 " That there is in this Province a very general want of education ; that the insufficiency of the Common 
 School Fund to sup])ort comjjetent, respectable and well-educated teachers, has degraded common school 
 teaching from a regular business to a mere matter of convenience to transient j>ersons, or common idlers, 
 who often stay but for one season, and leave the schools vacant until they accommodate some other like 
 person, whereby the minds of the youth of this Province are left without due cultivation, or, what is worse, 
 frequently with vulgar, low-bred, vicious and intemperate examples before them in the persons of their 
 monitors," {i.e., teachers). 
 
 The motion goes on to say that : — 
 
 "If provision weie made for the liberal and punctual payment of common school teachers . . . tiie 
 teaching of common schools would soon become a regular and respectable calling, gentlemanly, well- 
 educated persons would not be ashamed to take charge of youth, the schools would be no longer vacant, 
 nor the scholars ignorant. Upper Canada would then form a national character that would command 
 respect abroad and ensure peace, prosperity and happiness at home, perpetuate attachment to British 
 principles and British institutions, and enable posterity to value, as they ought, the inestimable blessings 
 of our glorious constitution." 
 
 The motion went on to urge the Lieut. -Governor to represent to the Colonial 
 Secretary the important necessity — in view of the facts cited — of entreating 
 
 "That His Majesty, William IV., be graciously pleased to place at the disposal of the Provincial 
 Legislature a portion of the waste lands of the Crown as a permanent fund for the support of common 
 schools within the same." 
 
 Dr. Charh\s Duncombe, with a prescience of the future, and of the necessities of the 
 case, (which' were not then recognized, nor for many years afterwards,) strongly urged, as 
 did other members of the Assembly, that at least one million acres of the " waste lands" 
 of the Province should be set apart for the support of common schools, f 
 
 * Dr. Charles Duncombe was an American by Viirth, and was born in the State of New .Jersey in or 
 about the year 17116. He came to Upper Canada with his parents during the progress, or immediately 
 after the close, of the war of 1812-15, and settle. 1 in the "London District." Charles Duncombe studied 
 medicine and surgery, and in 1M27 and 1S28 began to practice his profession on the town line between the 
 townships ipf Burford and Brantford, near Bi.^hopsgate. He soon obtained a large ])ractice and with it an 
 extended influence. During the rebellion of 18;<7-S, Dr. Duncombe took part and went to the United 
 States, and remained there until 1843, when he rt-ceived a pardon from Sir Charles (afterwards Lord) 
 Metcalfe. He did not, however, remain long in Upper Canada after his return, but soon left for the 
 Western States, whence lie .subsequently removed to California, and died there. 
 
 t It is gratifying to know that, although defeated at the time. Dr. Duncombe's efforts bore fruit nearly 
 twenty years afterwards —in 1850— when Hon. Wm. Hamilton Merritt, then President of the Council, 
 introduced and had a Bill passed by the Legislatwre setting apart 1,000,000 acres of the Crown Lauds for 
 the permanent endowment of public schools in United Canada. 
 
49 
 
 The motion was negatived. Dr. Duncombe was, however, determined not to be 
 beaten. Mr. David Burn and other friends of his in the county of Oxford — ^no doubt on 
 his suggestion — got up a petition to the Legislature on the subject, and on the 21st 
 December — a week after his motion was defeated — Dr. Duncombe read this petition and 
 had it referred to a select committee for report thereon. 
 
 On the 26th December an elaborate report on the petition was brought in by Dr. 
 Duncombe himself, as chairman of the committee. In that report the whole subject was 
 gone into fully, and a scheme elaborated by which the 1,000,000 acres of land were pro- 
 posed to be hypothecated in advance, so that by the issue of debentures for $500,000, 
 redeemable in ten, fifteen and twenty years, a sufiicient sum would be at once realized on 
 the prospective value of these lands to form a permanent fund for the support of common 
 schools. 
 
 This report (as did the rejected motion) placed on record a few facts and principles 
 which are interesting in the light of to-day. The report stated that — 
 
 "The comtnon schools of this Province are generally in so deplorable a state that they scarcely 
 deserve the name of schools." 
 
 It recommended that the common school law of the Province be so amended that 
 hereafter the school grant be paid only to — 
 
 "Organized schools, taught by; a person who had a certificate from the District Board of Education, 
 or school inspector, of his or her ability to teach a common school." 
 
 It also urged that the Common School Fund should be large enough, with the local 
 contributions, to provide an ample stipend for good teachers, instead of " transient per- 
 sons" and "common idlers" then so often employed as teachers — 
 
 " So that common school teaching, instead of being a mere matter of convenience to transient persons, 
 or common idlers, would become a regular, respectable business in the hands of gentlemanly, well-educated 
 persons. For surely the foundation of the minds of our children (on wliich must depend the happiness or 
 misery we are to enjoy with them) and their own success in life, is a business worthy to be respectable, 
 worthy of the patronage of men in the highest walks of life." 
 
 The report then laid down an important principle in regard to the necessity for a 
 certain and permanent endowment for public education. It said : — 
 
 " Funds and appropriation for the support of education should be permanent. They should not depend 
 upon the annual vote of the Legislature, nor on any other casualty that might, by possibility fail, and 
 thereby check the regular progress of education. " 
 
 Dr. Duncombe, in stating this principle, had no doubt in view the example (then 
 well known) of the fickleness of the Legislature in the matter of school grants. In 1816 
 the vote for the support of common schools was $24,000. In three subsequent years the 
 same vote was repeated; but, in 1820, it was reduced to $10,000 — closing schools here 
 and there all over the Province, and inflicting grievous hardship on many worthy (and, 
 in the language of the day and of the report, unworthy) teachers. Tliis miserable state 
 of things continued for many years, and, as I stated on this subject in 1863 — 
 
 " Thus ebbed and flowed, without a master hand to stay the current, that tide which, in other lands 
 is regarded as the nation's life's blood ; and thus was permitted to ensue that state of living death by 
 which Upper Canada, in the significant and popular metaphor of the day was likened to a ' girdled tree ' 
 destitute alike of life, of beauty, or of stately growth. " * 
 
 No wonder that in these degenerate days the young men, with stirrings within them 
 of noble impulses and patriotic devotion to their country, should have been compelled to 
 depend upon themselves for intellectual enlightenment and advancement. The flippant 
 sneer of many persons of to-day at such " self-made" men is unworthy of those who 
 enjoy the advantages which these self-made men laboured to secure. They belonged to 
 that noble band of pioneers, who achieved for us the civil and religious freedom which 
 we now so richly enjoy. All houour to them, therefore ! 
 
 * Historical Sketch of Education in Upper Canada, by J. George Hodgins, M.A., LL.B., F.R.G.S. 
 in " Eighty Years' Progress of British North America," 1863. 
 
 4 (r.m.) 
 
50 
 
 OoNTiNUED Educational Efforts by Mr. Burwell in the House of Assembly. 
 
 In January, 1832, Mr. Burwell made a motion similar to the defeated one of Dr. 0. 
 Duncombe, which led to considerable discussion. It was as follows : — 
 
 " That this House do address His Majesty, humbly beseeching that His Majesty will be graciously 
 pleased to grant an appropriation of one million of acres of waste lands of the Crown in this Province for 
 the maintenance and support of common schools within the same." * . . . 
 
 In the same month Mr. Burwell introduced a bill " for the establishment and sup- 
 port of common schools throughout the Province." It was printed but was not proceedt^d 
 with that session. Mr. Burwell's object clearly was to keep the subject before the House 
 and to promote discussion on it. In this he succeeded. The House of Assembly was 
 alive to the importance of the question, but the Legislative Council was obstructive in 
 legard to the same subject. 
 
 In November, 1832, Mr. Burwell again had a committee of the House of Assembly 
 appointed to enquire into the manner in which the Kinsf's wishes had been carried out 
 in regard to the royal grant of lands for educational purposes in 179S. To expedite this 
 enquiry the important despatches and reports formerly asked for by him and sent down 
 to the House by the Governor, with others, were printed and distributed. 
 
 Mr. Burwell also introduced a bill "for the establishment, maintenance and regula- 
 tion of common schools, ' in the Province. He made several motions, too, on the subject 
 of the King's College charter and school lauds. On the 21st November he submitted 
 the first report of his "Select Committee on the Subject of Education." The historical 
 part of this report being somewhat interesting in its statements, I quote it as follows : — 
 
 "The committee have been forcibly struck with the uniform anxiety which has been manifested at all' 
 times by the Legislature and Provincial authorities for the establishment of a university. 
 
 "It formed part of the prayer of both Houses in their address to tlie Kin^,' in 1797. 
 
 "It was strongly recommended by the Executive Government, the judges, and law officers of the 
 Crown, in 1798. 
 
 " In 1806 the Legi.slature, to show that something more was even then required than grammar schools^ 
 did all their limited moans permitted, in providing a small apparatus for the instruction of youth in 
 physical science, that they might enter the world with something more than a common district school 
 education ; such an institution was again noticed in 1820, and an earnest desire expre.ssed by the Legis- 
 lature, which knew best the^wants of the Province, for its speedy establishment. 
 
 " In 1825 so many young men were found turning their attention to the learned professions that the 
 Executive Government thought that the establishment of a university could be no longer delayed without 
 the greatest detriment to the Province, and, therefore, applied to His Majesty for a Royal Charter, which 
 was granted in 1827, in terms as liberal, it is said, as the then Government would allow ; but such has proved 
 by no means satisfactory to your Honorable House."* 
 
 About the middle of December, 1832, Mr. Burwell brought in the second and very 
 elaborate report of the Select Committee on Education. This report was chiefly based 
 upon the opinions of several witnesses examined by the committee on the subject of 
 school lands. King's College charter, U. C. College, and education generally. The wit- 
 nesses examined were Chief Justice Robinson, Archdeacon Strachan, Chairman, and the 
 Hon. G. H. Markland, Secretary to the Provincial Board of Education ; Hon. Joseph 
 Wells, a member of the Board, and Treasurer of U. C. College ; Rev. Dr. Joseph H. 
 Harris, Principal of U. C. College ; Rev. Dr. Thomas Phillips, Vice-Principal, and Mr. 
 S. P. Hurd, Surveyor-General of the Province. 
 
 The general views of these noted men on the subject of education are both interest- 
 ing and instructive in the light of to day. The report itself deals with the then pressing 
 question of the extension of educational facilities to the entire Province. It points out 
 in strong language the undesirability of continuing a sy.stem of district, or grammar, 
 schools which were quite adequate to the wants of the Province when the population was 
 only 50,000, but which was not at all equal to the requirements of Upper Canada when 
 that population had increased to nearly 300,000. These references show how wonder- 
 fully the Province has progressed in population and in its educational advantages since 
 that time. 
 
 * See also the opinion of Archdeacon Stracban on this subject, in a subsequent part of this Retrospect. 
 
51 
 
 Early Opinions on the Necessity for Manual, or Industrial, Education. 
 
 The following passage from the report of 1832 is prophetical in its anticipation of 
 the future. By way of illustration I may mention the fact that a somewhat similar utter- 
 ance was made by Sir Lyon Playfair in his address as president of the British Associ- 
 ation, at Aberdeen, in 1887. The passage in the report of 1832 is as follows : 
 
 " That the situation of the Province in wealth and commerce, and in its demand for superior attainments 
 in the various professions is very different from what it formerly was ; and that unless opportunities are 
 immediatety furnished by the establishment of superior schools for the instruction of our youth in the higher 
 branches of science, we must fall behind the a^e in which we live." 
 
 What was thus put forth as a local thought, but yet as an educational axiom, by 
 these educational pioneers of Upper Canada, upwards of fifty years ago, is thus forcibly 
 and beautifully amplified by the president of the Biitish Association in 1887. Speakin<^' 
 generally, and contrasting the educational policy of the colonies and that of the mother 
 country, he said : — 
 
 " The colonies, being young countries, value their raw materials as their chief source of wealth. When 
 they become older they will discover it is not in these, but in the culture of scientific intellect, that their 
 future prosperity depends. . . . Jules Simon tersely puts it :— ' The nation which most educates her 
 people will become the greatest nation, if not to-day, certainly to-morrow.' Higher education is the condition 
 of higher prosperity, and the nation which nesrlects to develop the intellectual factor of production must 
 degenerate, for it cannot stand still. . . . The illustrious consort of our Queen was not the first prince 
 who saw how closely science is bound up with the welfare of states. . . . How unwise it is for England 
 to lag in the onward march of science, when most other European powers are using the resources of their 
 states to promote higher education and to advance the boundaries of knowledge. [She] alone fails to grasp 
 the fact that the competition of the world has become a competition of intellect. ... A nation in its 
 industrial progress, when the competition of the world is keen, cannot stand still. ... I contend that 
 in public education there should be a free play to the scientific faculty, so that the youths who possess it 
 should learn the richness of their possession during the educative process. . • . Science has impressed 
 itself upon the ago in which we live ; and as science is not stationary, but progrsssive, men are required to 
 advance its boundaries, acting as pioneers in the onward march of states. Human progress is so identified 
 with scientific thought, both in its conception and realization, that it seems as if they were alternative terms 
 in the history of civilization." 
 
 In giving these extracts so fully I have done so for two reasons : First, I desire to 
 do honour to the zeal and to acknowledge the forethought and prescience of those members, 
 of the House of Assembly who, in 1832, pi iced so strong an ernphasis upjn thf^ value of 
 "the instruction of our youth in the higher branches of science ;" and secondlv. to point 
 out, in the weighty words of Sir Lyon Playfair, the immen.se imp:)rtance (in the light of 
 past experience) which he and other leaders ot thought in regard to Eni.jlaiul.s industrial 
 life and practical progress, attach to the teaching of elementary science in the schools. 
 He touches upon this point in another part of his address, in pointing out the absurdity 
 of requiring all pupils to study the same subjects. He says : — 
 
 " In a school a boy should be aided to discover the class of knowledge that is best suited to his mental 
 capacities, so that in the upper forms of the school, and in the university, knowledge may be specialized in 
 order to cultivate the powers of the man to the fullest e.xtent. . . . The adaptation of public schools 
 to a scientific age does not involve a contest as to whether science or classics shall prevail, for both are 
 indispensable to true education. The real question is, whether schools will undertake the duty of moulding 
 the minds of boys according to their mental varieties." 
 
 Later Opinions on the Necessity for Manual Training in Our Schools. 
 
 So deeply impressed was I of the immense importance of this subject, and of the 
 necessity of providing in our School system for a practical solution of the question which 
 was then, and is now, of pressing importance — viz., manual training in our schools — that 
 in 1876 I prepared and delivered a lecture oh the subject, in various parts of the Pro- 
 vince. The lecture was founded on the industrial lessons taught to us .so impressively at 
 the Centennial Exhibition, Philadelphia, in 1876. These lessons, in their educational 
 aspects, were even more forcibly impressed upon me at the great Industrial Exhibition 
 held in New Orleans, in 1885. Having been there six weeks, as an Educational Juror 
 on behalf of the United States Bureau of ; ducation, I had abundant and admirable facil- 
 ities for studying the whole question, and for seeing how it was being worked out (^more 
 or less effectually) in the various national school systems which came urder review dur- 
 ing that enquiry — especially in France. Thus the French school law of 1882 provides 
 
52 
 
 that "primary education includes [among other things] the elements of th^ natural, 
 physical and mathematical sciences, and their application to agriculture, to hygiene, and 
 to the industrial art ; manual work, and the use of tools of the principal trades, the ele- 
 ments of drawing, modelling, etc." Api)rentice3hip schools have also been established, the 
 oV>ject of which is to form workmen, as distinguished from foremen, antl in which various 
 tiades are taught. An official report, published by the United States Bureau of Educa- 
 tion in 1882, states tliat the apprentices of these schools " find employment readily after 
 they have left the workshops, at wages, it is said, varying from five to even as much as 
 eight francs per day." 
 
 In discussiug this question in the lecture to which I have referred, these passages 
 occur : — 
 
 " It is not assumed that every pupil in our schools is qualified, or that he should be 
 compelled, as a matter of course, to engage in the study of elementary science or practi- 
 cal drawing. Far from it. But what I do say is, that those pupils who exhibit a taste 
 lor any of ihe various subjects of natural history, elementary science or practical mechanics, 
 should have an opportunity in the Public and High Schools (of cities and large towns) of 
 learning something about them. In an address by Mr. Gladstone on this subject, he 
 stated that the boys of the English schools, and it is so in our schools, had not yet had 
 fair play in the study of elementary science and natural history. 
 
 " There are few schools in which there are not boys possessing talent scientific, 
 inventive, or industrial talent, or constructive genius, which are never evoked, much less 
 aroused or stimulated. As to the question whether for the few the country should be 
 put to the expense of their special training, I answer it in the words of Professor Huxley, 
 who says : — 
 
 " To the lad of genius, even to the one in a million, I wonld make accessible the 
 highest and most complete training the country could afford. Whatever it might cost, 
 depend upon it the investment would be invaluable. I weigh my words when I say : 
 that if the nation could purchase a potential Watt, or Davy, or Faraday, at the cost of a 
 hundred thousand pounds dowQ, he would be dirt cheap at the money. . . . It is a 
 mere commonplace and an e very-day piece of knowledge to say that, what these three 
 men did, (in their special dejmrtments of practical science), has produced untold millions 
 of wealth for England and the world, speaking in its narrowest economical sense of the 
 word." 
 
 The educational mind of the United States, as well as Europe, is being constantly 
 directed to the consideration of this interesting practical subject. Magazines and reviews, 
 as well as educational journals, freely discuss it. One of the most useful articles on 
 " Manual Training in the Public schools," will be found in th • Andover Review for Octo- 
 ber, 1888. The United States Bureau of Education has also published various reports 
 and papers on the subject. One of the most v-iluable is an elaborate report on Industrial 
 Education in the United States, published in 1883. Some of the more important railways 
 in that country have also established training schools for their employes. 
 
 FuRTJiER Educational Efforts in the House of Assembly, 1835, 1836. 
 
 For the four years during which Dr. Duncombe was a member the Legislature of Upper 
 Canada, his efforts to promotf the cause of education were unceasing. With the exception 
 of Mr. Burwell, who devoted himself almost entirely to the interests of education in the 
 House, none excelled Dr. Duncombe in his zeal for the cause of public education. His 
 efforts were chiefly directed to awaken an interest amongst his fellow members in the 
 subject generally, and especially on behalf of the education of the deaf and dumb, in asy- 
 lums for the ins:ine, in prison discipline and similar matters. At length his efforts in the 
 session of 1835 culminated in the appointment, by resolution of the House of Assembly, 
 of Doctors Charles Duncombe, Thomas D. Morrison and William Bruce, Commissioners, 
 to enquire, amongst other things, into " the system and management of schools and col- 
 leges " in the United States and elsewhere. Two of these commissioners deputed their 
 
53 
 
 colleague, Dr. Duncombe, to " go on a journey to the United States, or elsewhere, to obtain 
 such information as is desired by a resolution " of the House of Assembly in that behalf. 
 Six hundred dollars were granted by the House to defray the expenses of this enquiry. 
 
 Late in 1835 Dr. Duncombe went on his mission of enquiry to the United States, 
 and visited literary institutions in the Western, Middle, Eastern and some of the South- 
 ern States of the Union. He also obtained detailed information as to education in Eng- 
 land, France and Prussia, and embodied the result in an elaborate report of nearly sixty 
 pages and an appendix of one hundred and sixty pages. To this report he annexed the 
 draft of a School Bill, extending to twenty-two pages, with a variety of forms and 
 instructions appended. The svhole document embraced two hundred and sixty pages of 
 printed matter. The report is minute and exhaustive in its treatment of the subject in 
 hand, although somewhat discursive and speculative in many parts. It is, nevertheless, in 
 the light of to-day, both interesting and instructive. It presents a vivid picture, and not 
 a very flattering one, of the condition of education in the United States and in Europe. 
 Its discussions of special subjects — such as female education, classical studies, the man- 
 agement of colleges and universities, etc., etc. — are fair and enlightened, and, on the 
 whole, intelligent and practical in their character. 
 
 It is clear that the Legislative Council of the day did not sympathize with Dr. Dun- 
 combe and his colleagues in their zeal for popular education. 
 
 The bill which he had so carefully prepared, although adopted by the House of 
 Assembly by a vote of 35 to 10, early in 1836 failed to recive the sanction of the Coun- 
 cil. His proposition to increase the common school grant from $22,600 to $80,000 per 
 annum was considered too great a step in advance, and was not therefore pressed to a 
 vote in the House of Assembly. He, however, got two influential committees appointed 
 to deal with the questions of public education and school lands. These committees were 
 subsequently united and enlarged. They did good service and kept public interest 
 awakened as to the value of the important subjects entrusted to them. 
 
 Analysis op Dr. Duncombb's Report on Education, 1836. 
 
 The report, be it remembered, speaks of events and educational facts of more than 
 fifty years ago. They are of special interest to us of to-day, since they form the back- 
 ground, so to speak, of our own educational history and progress. I shall make a few 
 extracts from the report : — Dr. Duncombe says : — 
 
 "The first principles of the system recommended in this report with regard to common schools, schools 
 for the education of the poorer classes, and for the education of teachers (or the normal schools) made their 
 appearance almost simultaneously in Great Britain and on the Continent, as appears by the voluminous 
 reports of Lord Brougham . . . and by Mr. Dick's very able and splendid report upon the common 
 schools ... of Scotland, and by M. Cousin's reports of the schools in Prussia and Germany, .and 
 Bulver's observarions upon education as a prevention of crime in France. . . . The glimmering of this 
 beacon light was soon seen across the ocean, and lighted up a similar flame in the United States. Com- 
 missioner after commissioner was .^ent to Scotland and to England by the authority of their State Legis- 
 latures to light their lamps at the fountain of science, that the whole continent of America might be ignited 
 by the flame." 
 
 Dr. Duncombe's observations in regard to the state of education in the United States, 
 are interesting, as by contrast they illustrate the remarkable progress made in that country 
 during the last half century in the matter of public education. He says : — 
 
 "In the United States, where they devote much time and expense towards the promotion of literature, 
 they are equally destitute of a system of national education with ourselves ; and although by their greater 
 exertion to import the improvements made in Great Britain and on the Continent, and their numerous 
 attempts at systematizing these modern modes of education . . . they have placed themselves in advance 
 of us in their common school systen. Yet, after all, their schools seemed to me to be good schools on had or 
 imperfect systems ; they seem groping in the dark, no instruction in the past to guide the future, no beacon 
 light, no council of wise men to guide them, more than we have, upon the subject of common schools. Our 
 schools want in character, they want respectability, they want permanency in their character and in their 
 support. ... It should be so arranged that all the inhabitants should contribute something towards 
 the [maintainance of the school fund], and all those who are benefited directly by it should pay, in propor- 
 tion to such benefit, a small sum, but quite enough to interest them in the prudent expenditure of their 
 share of the school moneys." 
 
54 
 
 The objection to a liberal education being too freely given for the benefit of the 
 learned professions seems to have been urged even in these days. Dr. Duncombe answ.irs 
 it in the following language : — 
 
 " It has been su|)pose(i that there are too many in tlie learned professions .Tlready, and that, therefore, 
 there are too many who obtain a liberal education. l?iit this opinion is founded upon two errors : One is, that 
 every liberally educated man must be above manual labor, and must, therefore, enter one of the learned 
 professions ; and the other is, that all who do enter these professions do it, and have a right to do it, from 
 personal and family interests, and not for the public good — whereas a liberal education ought not txj unfit a 
 man, whether in his jjhysical constitution or his feelings, for active business in any honest emjjloyment ; and 
 neither ought men who enter any of the learned professions to excuse themselves from labor and privation 
 for the good of the world. There is a great and pernicious error on this subject." 
 
 The (juestion of free education is thus discussed by Dr. Duncombe : — 
 
 "Nothing is more important in the formation of an enterprising character than to let the j-outh early 
 learn his own powers ; and in order to this, he must be put upon his own recourses, and must understand, 
 if he is ever [to be] anything, he must make himself, and tliat he has within himself all the means for his 
 own advancement. It is not desirable, therefore, that institutions should be so richly endosved as to furnish 
 the means of education free of expense to those who are of an age to help themselves ; nor is it desirable that 
 any man, or anj^ society of men, should furnish an entirely gratuitous education to the youth of the Pro- 
 vince. All the necessary advantages for educating himself ought to be put within the reach of the young 
 man, and if, with these advantages, he cannot do much towards it he is not worthy of an education." 
 
 After discussing several other topics in his report. Dr. Duncombe made a striking 
 forecast of the educational future of Upper Canada. He said : — 
 
 " Was there ever a more auspicious period than the present for literary reform ? If I rightly under- 
 stand the signs ()f the times, we stand ui>on the threshold of a new dispensation in the science of education, 
 and especiallj' in the history of conunon schools, colleges and universities in this Province. The flattering 
 prospects of our being permitted legally to dispose of the school lands of this Province, so long dormant — 
 the sale and appropriation of the clergy reserves for the purposes of education, and, above all by our having 
 control of the otlier natural resources of the Province, we shall be enabled to provide respectably and per- 
 manently for the supi)ort of literary institutions/;; en ry part of the Provincf, whWe by remodelling the 
 charter of King's College, so as to adapt the institution to the present state of science of education, and 
 the wishes and wants of the people of this Province. . . . With such charming pro.spects before us, with 
 what alacrity and delight can we approach the subject of education to make liberal, permanent and efficient 
 provision for the edvication of all the youth of Upper Canada, to cause ' the blind to see, the deaf to hear and 
 the dumb to speak,' and. above all, to make certain and extensive provision for the support of schools for 
 teachers and tutoresses.'' . . . 
 
 It is Had to think that to tlie writer of these cheerinj;, hopeful words, the future so 
 vividly pictured 1) him becamt; .suddenly darkened, and the pleasant hopes in which he 
 then indulged were nevtjr realized by him, or by many of those who, more tlian half a 
 century ago, were like him ho active in promoting the great cause of popular and collegiate 
 •education in this Province. Within one year Dr. Duncombe was a ■' pro.scril)ed rebel," 
 as were many other.s who with him saw as in a vision the future which, he then pictured 
 for Upper Canada. 
 
 SUMM.'\RV OF, AND ReFLP:CTIONS ON, THESE EDUCATIONAL EFFORTS, FRO.M 1830 TO 1839. 
 
 During the next session of the Legislature, in the winter of 1836, Mr. Burwell sought 
 to give effect to Dr. Duncorabe's liberal resolution of the preceding se.ssion, viz., to 
 provide, out of the public in revenue, a grant of .f80,000 a year for support of the common 
 schools. He proposed two resolutions : one was to the effect that 840 000 a year be 
 granted out of the public revenue for the support of these schools ; the other wa.s as 
 follows : — 
 
 "That the sum of ten thousand pounds (§40,000), be raised annually by assessment, by order of the 
 Quarter Sessions in the several districts on the ratable property of the inhabitants, in aid of the Provincial 
 grant for the common school fund, in the same manner as other assessments are now made.'" 
 
 When the matter camo before the House of Assembly in February, 1837, the committee 
 of supply reported a grant of only .f 22,400 for the year. The assessment proposition was 
 not adopted, as the question of local taxation for school purposes though often before it 
 had not yet been practically entertained by the Legislature. 
 
 Kext year, however, anotliei- effort was made to provide somewhat liberally for the 
 common schools. But as the Bill as passed by the House of As.sembly, embodied in it 
 the principle of local taxation for schools for the tirst time, it was not concurred in by 
 he Legislative Council. Tnat body proposed a conference to explain the reason, and 
 
55 
 
 •appointed the Honorable Messrs. Allan and Hamilton as its conferees. The House of 
 Assembly nominated Messrs. Boulton, Cartwright, Thompson and Rykert as its representa- 
 tives at the conference. 
 
 The Legislative Council stated that . — 
 
 " It oould not pass the Bill, because it proposes to levy an assessment at the discretion of the Justicee of 
 the Peace,to the extent of l^d. [3 cents] in the £ [$4] to support Common S hools ; and as acts have lately 
 passed imposing rates on the inhabitants of several of the districts, for the purpose of defraying the expense of 
 building jails and court-houses and for the construction of macadamized roads, the Council fear that the 
 proposed assessment for common school education might be found bui'thensome." etc. 
 
 Thus, because jails, court-houses and roads were considered more necessary and 
 important than schools, the last Act for the promotion of education ever passed by the 
 Upper Canada House of Assembly was rejected by the Legislative Council! Such was 
 the untoward state of affairs when the L-^-gislative Union of Upper apd Lower Canada 
 took place in 1840. 
 
 Extracts from Official Reports on Education in Upper Canada in 1838. 
 
 1 shall now give a few extracts from official returns illustrative of the state of 
 ■education in the Province in 1838 and 1839, while these efforts of improvements were 
 being made. They also show how entirely practical were the views of those who took an 
 active part in educational affairs of the time, how keenly alive they were to the educational 
 ■deficiencies of those days. 
 
 Other extracts from official reports and proceedings of the House of Assembly might 
 be given to illustrate this part of the subject, but they would make this retrospect too 
 long. They are all of a most interesting and instructive character, and well deserve 
 publication in a connected form. They throw a vivid light upon the educational chaos 
 which existed at the time. They also show how enlightened comparatively, as well as how 
 darkened also, were the views of those who took part on both sides in the educational 
 debates and proceedings of those years — especially during 1830, — 1836, 1838 and 1839. 
 What were then problematical theories and merely tentative schemes, are to-day educa- 
 tional truisms and successful fields of operation, 
 
 The growth of the schools under the fitful system which prevailed in Upper Canada 
 from 1816 to 1842 was painfully slow. The number of what was called "schools" was 
 small, and the quality of them, with rare exceptions, was exceedingly inferior Anything 
 beyond the three R's was generally taught by itinerants. Dr. Ryerson mentions in an 
 autobiographical letter, as an example, that his knowledge of English grammar was 
 derived entirely from the " lectures " of a peripatetic teacher of that subject. He also 
 mentions several of his after contemporaries who acquired a knowledge of grammar and other 
 special snbjects in the same way. No one, as he said to me, ever heard in these days of 
 the possibility of a " royal road to learning." It was hard work, of the hardest kind, and 
 few ever dreamt of reaching a higher eminence than that of mastering the first two 
 E's — Reading and 'Riting. Arithmetic was approached with caution, and its higher 
 '' developments " with consternation. How could such a state of things be otherwise 
 when "transient persons" and "common idlers" were with rare exceptions, the kind of 
 "teachers" employed. Education had no money value then, except in so far as it 
 receded from a rate of payment to that of a day laborer or a pensioner. 
 
 The following are the extracts from the official reports : — 
 
 Influences by American Teacher.s and School Books Deprecates). 
 
 Schools in the Home District — JVo United States books permitted. — The school-masters, 
 with the exception of two Americans who have been long in the Province, are all British 
 subjects — that they have all taken the oath of allegiance — that during the last year the 
 salary allowed was .£10 (ten pounds each), and no books from 'the United States are 
 permitted to be used in the schools. — John Strachan, Win. Allan, Toronto, 8th March, 
 1839. 
 
5t) 
 
 Schools in the Eastern District — Transitory Teachers. — Were the ullowance to be 
 increased teacheis would come forward better prepaied and be induced to remain, ^^aay 
 at present seem to continue for a few months, as a matter of convenience, and to assist 
 themselves in following other occupations, which greatly retards the improvement of the 
 children. — Joseph Aderson, D. McDonell, Cornwall, 9th May, 1S39. 
 
 Schools in the Western District : Their State and Suggestions for Improvement. — The 
 situation of the school houses is not always judiciously chosen, it being situated often 
 more for the convenience of some one intiuential person than for that of the inhabitants 
 generally of the settlement. 
 
 The school-house is often a wretched lo? hut, or a ruinous building altogether unfit 
 for the purpose — especially in "the wintei season. 
 
 In too many cases the teachers are badly qualified for the task which th"y under- 
 take ; and some of them having taken up the profession more from necessity than choice 
 are seldom permanent, and consequently very ineffectual teachers. 
 
 The remuneration which the teachers of common schools receive for their services 
 are by no means sutficient to induce respectable and well qualified teachers to undertake 
 the irksome and laborious task. 
 
 Hints for the Improvement of the Schools of the Province {condensed). — 1. The school 
 should be erected in a dry and healthy situation if possible, and situated so as to suit the 
 majority of the inhabitants of the settlement in which it is erected. It should be a neat 
 and commodious building, sufliciently large to render it airy and healthy in the summer 
 season and well finished inside and out to cause it to be comfortable in the winter. 
 
 2. A comfortable dwelling should be erected for the accommodation of the 
 teacher and his family. 
 
 3. Teachers throughout the Province might be divided into three classes, allow. in;e 
 from Government to be not less than £100, £75 and £.50 respectively. 
 
 4. Every teachi-r, previous to receiving any appointment, should be eximined as to 
 his literary acquirements, his political opinions and his moral character. 
 
 5. A uniform set of elementary books should be compiled and published for the use 
 of the common schools of the Province, and those republican |)roductions that tend to 
 poison the minds of the youth of the country should be driven out of the Province. 
 
 6. A discreet and competent person should be appointed by His Excellency the 
 Lieutenant-Governor to visit ihe schools in each district eight, or at least four, times ia 
 the year to examine the scholars and the internal economy of the schools and to report 
 thereon. — W. Johnson, Sandwich, 21st February, 1839. 
 
 Schools in the London District — " Boarding Round '^ — American Books. — The Board 
 of Education cannot abstain from remarking upon a system commonly practiced by- 
 teachers and generally encouraged by the employers in the cjuntry, of receiving the 
 teachers as members or lodgers with each family who are subscribers to the school in 
 successinn for the period of engagement, which in its influence and consequence has not 
 hitherto been productive of good ; and more especially in cases where the teachers have 
 been Americans, a system than which none can be more mischievovis in its efi'ects. added 
 to which the circumstance, as will be seen by reference to the books used in the schools, 
 that a portion of American books, particularly geographies, have been permitted to be 
 used (notwithstanding the Board have the power to order the discontinuance of such") 
 because others could not be procured in the country, nor has any provision been made by 
 the Legislature for the formation of depots where proper books could be had. — John B. 
 Askin, London, 12th February, 1S3S. 
 
 Names of text-bool^s used in the common schools of Upper Canada in 1838, viz.: — 
 
 Old and New Testaments. 
 
 Readers — English, Murray's, Canadian and Reading Made-Easy. 
 
57 
 
 Spelling Books — Mavor's, Oobb's, Webster's, Graham's, Universal. 
 
 Grammars — Murray's, Lennie's, Kirkham's, McCulloch's. 
 
 Arithmetics — Walkingame's, Gray's, Dillworth's, Daboll's, Watson's, Pike's, Adams', 
 Morrison's, Hutton's, Rogers', Bailey's, Hall's, Joyce's, Keith's, Allison's, Bonnycastle's. 
 
 Geographies — Goldsmith's, Hutton's, Olney's, Woodbridge's, Willett's, Evans', 
 Stewart's, Parley's, Elvey's. 
 
 History — English, Goldsmith's, Tytler's, Hume's, Simpson's. 
 
 Geometry and Ettclid — Ingram's, Hutton's. 
 
 Dictionaries — ^ Walker's, Oobb's, Walker Johnson's. 
 
 Miscellaneous — Dillworth's Teachers' Assistant, Burham's Primer, Mason's Primer, 
 Child's A, B, C, Scott's Lessons, Morrison's Book-keeping, Blake's Natural Philosophy, 
 Blair's Rhetoric. 
 
 Number of schools in Upper Canada in 1838 (estimated), 835. 
 
 Number of pupils in attendance, " 23,776. 
 
 Extracts from the Report op a Commission Appointed to Enquire into the Subject 
 OF Education in Upper Canada in 1839. 
 
 The Commissioners appointed to conduct this enquiiy were the Rev. Dr. McCaul, 
 Rev. H. J. Grasett and S. B. Harrison, Esq. James Hopkirk, Esq., was appointed 
 Secretary. The following are the extracts : 
 
 Preliminary Educational History. — In 1797 both Houses of the Legislature peti- 
 tioned the King for an appropriation of waste lands of the Crown to form a fund for the 
 support of a Grammar School in each district and a College or University for instruction 
 in the different branches of a liberal education. In 1807 an Act, limited to four years, 
 was passed granting £800 for the support of eight district Grammar Schools. In 1808 
 the limiting clause (to four years) was repealed. In 1816 an Act establishing common 
 schools was passed and £6,000 were granted for their support. In 1819 an amending 
 Act was passed requiring annual examinations in the schools ; that reports to the district 
 Board of Education should be made each year ; that '' ten children of the poorer inhabi- 
 tants," to be selected by ballot, should receive free tuition in each Gracimar School, and 
 that trustees should give cert ticates to teachers. In 1820 the grant to common schools 
 was reduced from £6,000 to £2.500 per annum. In 1824 £150 per annum was granted 
 for the supply of common schools, with books, tracts, etc., and that teachers must be 
 examined and licensnd by the District Board of Eiiucation, one member of which might 
 certify as to the ability of the teacher before the payment to him of the public grant. 
 In 1833, the annual grant to common schools was increased from £2.500 to £5,650 
 No grants to a teacher is to be made "unless the trustees shall make it appear that they 
 have made provision for his support so as to secure him for his services in a sura at least 
 equal to double the amount which may be allotted by the Board of Education from 
 the public money." No school legislation took place during the vears from 1833 
 to 1841. 
 
 District Grammar Schools. — The Commissioners made several recommendations for 
 the improvement of the schools, viz,: — 1. Uniformity in the system applicable to all the 
 schools. 2. Examination of teacher, so as to test his qualification f )r the office of 
 teaching. 3. Assistant in each school where there are 30 pupils. 4. School-house built 
 on a uniform plan. 5. Admission of a certain number of free pupils. 6. Quarterly 
 reports from each school and systematic inspection of them. 
 
 Common Schools. — The Commissioners also made recommendation for the improve- 
 ment of these schools, viz. : — 1. That there should be a model school with two rooms in 
 each township, and at least two acres of land attached thereto for the use of the master. 
 2. In each of these schools there should be a male and female teacher (married desirable), 
 
58 
 
 and, in addition, other "teachers licensed to itinerate through tlie township, beyond the 
 sphere of the permanent school," say at places " more than two miles distant from it." 
 "Thus provision is made for one permanent and four occasional schools in each town- 
 ship/' 3. Fees to be §2 per quarter, while one pupil in five might be admitted free, 
 i. The subjects of the instruction should be : Spelling, reading, writing, the Holy 
 Scriptures, geography, history, arithmetic, book-keeping, mensuration, and in girl's 
 school sewing and knitting. .^). Books should be provided at a cheaper rate from 
 Britain, or a series of compilations, or republications should be prepared and printed 
 here, and that they should be appointed to be used in all the schools of the Province. 
 6. The general control of the schools should be vested in a Board of Commissioners, with 
 a secretary at Toronto. One of the Board should be chairman and inspector general of 
 the schools — having control over the Gi'ammar and Common Schools, and should be the 
 medium of communication between the District Boards and the Council of King's 
 College. 7. There should be elected township director of schools. The Commissioners 
 add : — 
 
 Xormal School. — "No plan of education can be efficiently carried out without the 
 establishment of schools for the ttainiug of teachers." They, therefore, recommended that 
 the Central School of Toronto should be a Normal School — others to be added 
 afterwards. 
 
 Grants. — The Commissioners recommend that £21,410 be granted for District 
 Grammar Schools — £12,000 from the sale of Grammar School lands, and £24,300 for 
 Common Schools — £15,000 of the latter to be raised by taxation at the rate of ^d. in 
 the £. 
 
 Educational Opinions of Prominent Public Men in 1839. 
 
 Hon. G. S. Boullon. — In his replies to the Commissioners, he said : — Teache-.s should 
 be British subjects and should be examined by the Board of Education and a])pioved 
 previous to appointment. Each teacher should receive at least .$20 per annum, exclusive 
 of fees from pupils. ... I recommend the passage of an Act appropriating 500,000 
 acres of land for the support of Common Schools, as proposed in the last session of the 
 Legislature by a joint committee of both Houses." 
 
 Hon. Wm. Morris, in his reply to the Commissioners, said : — The hundreds of the 
 youth of the country who, for want of convenient institutions of learning, have been 
 sent to and educated in the neighboring Republic, where, if they have not imbibed a 
 predilection for that form of government, have been greatly exposed to the danger of 
 losing that attachment to monarchical government, and the principles of the British 
 Constitution, which is the essential duty of those who administer the ati'airs of this colony 
 to cherish in the minds of the rising generation. 
 
 Hon. James Crooks. — The system of Common Schools, although in some instances 
 abused by the employment of improper persons, indeed sometimes aliens, as teachers, 
 yet, on the whole, I think highly beneticial ; perhaps were the system of parochial 
 schools, as established in Scotland, with such modification as would be necessary under 
 the different circumstances of this Province, engrafted upon the Common School system, 
 it might be found to work well. 
 
 Hon. P. B. De Blacquiere. — The present condition of teachers is truly wretched, and 
 reflects great disgrace upon the nation, and whit but the actual results can or could be 
 expected? I think a difficulty will arise as to finding inspecto'-s properly qualified, or 
 who, in the present state of the country, can be trusted. 
 
 Rev. RoheH McGill. — f know the qualifications of nearly all the Common School 
 teachers in this (Niagara) District, and do not hesitate to say, that there is not more 
 than one in ten fully qualified to instruct the young in this the humblest department. I 
 should doubt, therefore, whether the money granted to them being an equivalent good, 
 or whether the state of education in this Province would 1)3 worse were these funds 
 entirely withdrawn. 
 
59 
 
 Rev. Robert Murray* — The great difficulty attending any change in the present 
 wretched system of education in the Province is to ensure the efficiency of that scheme 
 which may be adopted in its room. To leave the supervision in the hands of the electors 
 in each district, or to a fevv individuals appointed by them, probably themselves without 
 education, would certainly tend to perpetuate the system of gross oppression to wiiich 
 teachers have been subjected, and to disappoint the reasonable expectations of the 
 Government. ... It appears absolutely necessary to ensure the efficiency of a system 
 (as suggested) that men of education, who themselves have had large experience in the 
 education of youth should be appointed to superintend the whole system of operation. . . 
 
 Malhon Burwell, Esq. — I cannot conceive anything more wanting in efficiency than 
 our present system for Common School education. [ annex for the notice of the Com- 
 mission of Investigation a copy of a Common School bill, which I have several times 
 endeavored to get passed through the House of Assembly. 
 (Note.— See Bishop Strachan's estimate of this bill in next extract.) 
 
 Right Rev. Bishop Strachan. — The Common School Bill, drawn up by Mr. Burwell, 
 appears to be an able performance ; it has several times been entertained by the House 
 of Assembly, and once passed that body, but was unfortunately lost in the Legislative 
 Council. It is based on true principles, and contains within it the power of expansion 
 as new townships, counties and districts are organized. It may, perhaps, admit of a few 
 modifications, but is, on the whole, by far the best measure for the establishment of 
 common schools which I have seen. 
 
 Separate Educational Forces Shapixg themselves m Upper Canada. 
 
 I will now take up the thread of the historical narrative of education in Upper 
 Canada from Dage — • of this Retrospect. 
 
 During the early settlement period, and that preceding the union of Upper and 
 Lower Canada in 1840, two social forces (which took an educational form later on), were 
 slowly shaping themselves into an antagonism to each other which culminated in the 
 events or political crisis of 1837-38. This was apparent from the position which the 
 representatives of these forces assumed on the religious, political and other questions of 
 the day. As yet the question of an educational system for the Province — beyond that 
 of a University and district Grammar Schools — had, down to 1836, taken no definite 
 shape in the public mind. Indeed, such a thing, as we now regard it, was not deemed 
 practical, except by a few leading men, as I have shown, who were years in advance of 
 their times. 
 
 Noted Representative Educational Leaders — Dr. Strachan and Dr. Ryerson. 
 
 It will simplify my statement of the case if I revert back to the transition period 
 between the establishment of the district Grammar Schools in 1809 and the university 
 charter of 1827 ; and from thence take a somewhat prospective view of events in the 
 order in which they afterwards transpired. For convenience I would, therefore, select 
 two noted men of their times as representatives of the two social forces to which I have 
 referred, and of the opposite opinions on education and other subjects which then 
 prevailed. 
 
 The first was the Rev. Dr, Strachan (afterwards first Church of England Bishop of 
 Toronto), and the other was the Rev. Dr. Ryerson, the representative and trusted leader 
 of the members of the Methodist Church in the Province. 
 
 Dr. Strachan was the undoubted representative of the English and particularly the 
 Scotch views on educational matters. Dr. Ryerson, on the other hand, was the equally 
 true and faithful exponent of the British Colonial, or United Empire Loyalist, views and 
 
 * First Superintendent of Education for Upper Canada, and the immediate predecessor of Rev. Dr. 
 Ryerson. 
 
60 
 
 opinions on the earae subject. What these latter views and ofiinions were may be 
 gathered from a reference to the educational chapter in the colonial history of the thirteen 
 colonies, as given in an earlier portion of this Retrospect. 
 
 The Educational Efforts of the U. E. Loyalists and the Ruling Party. 
 
 The first settlers of Upper Canada were " exiled tories," so called, from the revolted 
 colonies. In that, and in the other Provinces, they were warmly received and welcomed 
 as the heroic defenders of the royal cause. They sacrificed'ev^rything but their principles 
 and their honor in maintaining " the unity o'" the Empire." Even after the struggle was 
 ended, they adhered to the "lost cause" with the same devotion a.s they had shown in 
 following the royal standard, not only to victory, but even to disaster and defeat. They 
 were men of wonderful resolution and daring, as well as of superior intelligence. Such 
 were the first settlers of Upper Canada. 
 
 Soon after the arrival of the " U. E. Loyalists " in Upper Canada, a tide of emigra- 
 tion set in, chiefly from the three kingdoms. These immigrants brought with them the 
 feelings and habits of home life in the old world, with the opinions and prejudices of their 
 class, illustrating the truth of the old Latin quotation, "C'C^mw, wow (Oiimum, mutant 
 qui trans mare currunt." 
 
 By degrees portions of the U. E. Loyalists and of these immigrants, who.se views on 
 "Church and State" coincided, united their forces and formed a powerful and dominant 
 party. They ruled the Province with a high hand for many years. From their social 
 position and frequent intermarriage they became a compact and exclusive party, and were 
 distinguished hy the sobriquet oi the "Family Compact." Against this powerful party 
 was arrayed many of the U. E. Loyalists and their descendants, and the entire liberal and 
 progressive party. 
 
 It is sufficient to say in this connection that under the skillful leadershij) of 1)1*. 
 Ryerson and other prominent men of moderate views who acted with him, the power of 
 the Family Compact was broken, the compact itself was gradually dissolved. Its oppo- 
 nents became in turn the ruling party in this Province, a position which their le^^itimate 
 successors still occupy. 
 
 The Family Compact party, in the heyday of their power and influence, were not 
 averse to education. Far fiom it ; for they were men of education themselves. But it 
 took the form of zeal for higher education and for the higher classes. Rev. Dr. Strachan, 
 who was the most energetic and powerful leader of this party, occupied a seat in the 
 Legislative Council (Senate) by appointment of the Governor. He devoted all his energies 
 to the establishment of a university, with district classical schools as feeders. He practically 
 ignored eleraentaiy schools, or rather made no provision for them ; and it was not until 
 nine years after these di.strict classical schools were established that the U. E. Loyalists, 
 (combined with the progressive party of which it formed no inconsiderabe portion), were 
 able to get a measure passed by the Legislature for the establishment and maintenance of 
 common schools.* 
 
 An Educational Glance Backwards. 
 
 But in order to understand more fully the sequence of events which led to the 
 development of the educational spirit in this Province, it will be neces.sary to give a con- 
 densed summary of the facts. With this historical background in prospective view, the 
 distinguishing features of that compi ehensive system of education which, in later years. 
 Dr. Ryerson was privileged to found, can be more clearly seen. 
 
 Tlie U. E. Loyalists removed to British America in 1783, the year of their exile. 
 Most of them settled in Upper Canada, along the north shore of the Upper St. Lawrence, 
 and the corresponding margin of Lakes Ontario and Erie, They brought with them from, 
 the old colonies their educational traditions and their devotion to the flag of the Empire. 
 
 * See remarks on this anachronism on page 64. 
 
61 
 
 Those of them who had settled along the Bay of Quinte, united in 1789, in framing a 
 memorial to Governor-General Lord Dorchester (Sir Guy Carleton), in which lamenting 
 the educational privations which they had endured since their settlement in Canada, they 
 prayed the Governor to establish a " seminary of learning" at Frontenac (Kingston). 
 Their prayer was granted, so far as the setting apart of lands for the support of the 
 seminary was concerned, as well as the support of schools wherever the expatriated 
 colonists had settled, or might settle, in the country. 
 
 Immediately after the passing of the Constitutional or Quebec Act, of 1791, by which, 
 among other things. Upper Canada was separated from Quebec, the Governor of the new 
 Province (J. Graves Simcoe), sought the co-operation of the Church of England Bishop 
 (Mountain), of Quebec, who had ecclesiastical jurisdiction over both Provinces, in urging 
 upon the Home Government the necessity of providing for a University and for classical 
 schools in Upper Canada. Provision for elementary schools formed no part of this scheme. 
 The British Colonial idea of providing for such schools never crossed the minds of the 
 leaders of public opinion in these days nor that of the bishop. They were chiefly English- 
 men, with the old-fashioned English ideas of those times, that the education of the masses 
 was unnecessary, for it would tend to revolution and the upsetting of the established 
 •order of things. 
 
 In April, 1795, Governor Simcoe addressed a letter to the Protestant Episcopal Bishop 
 of Quebec — then having jurisdiction in Upper Canada — urging him to seek to promote 
 the establishment of a "Protestant Episcopal University" in Upper Canada. The reasons 
 which he gave for this appeal were characteristic of the English Churchman and of the 
 times, and reveal somewhat of the social and religons state of the colony. They showed, 
 too, that he was a statesman as well as a Churchman. He said : 
 
 The people of this Province enjoy the forms as well as the privileges of the British constitution. 
 They have the means of governing themselves; and, having nothing to ask, must ever remain a part of the 
 British Empire, provi led they shall become suflBiciently capable and enlightened to understand their 
 relative situation and to manage their own power to the public interest. Liberal education seems to me, 
 therefore, to be indispensably necessary ; and the completion of it by the establishment of a university in 
 the capital of the country, * * * would be most useful to inculcate just principles, habits, and 
 manners into the rising generation ; to coalesce the different customs of the various descriptions of settlers 
 * * * into one form. In short, from distinct parts and ancient prejudices to new-form, as it were, and 
 establish one nation, and thereby strengthen the union with Great Britain and preserve a lasting obedience 
 to His Majesty's authority. 
 
 **♦»*** 
 
 I naturally should wish that the clergy reciuisite for offices in the university, in the first instance, should 
 be Englishm ill, if passible. * * * i most earnestly hope that * * * by giving the means of 
 proper educition in this Province, both in its rudiments and in its completion, that from ourselves we may 
 raise up a loyal, and, in due progress, a learned clergy, which will speedily tend to unite, not only the 
 Puritans within the Province, but tae clergy of the Episcopal Church, however dispersed * * * ^nd 
 on all sides, to bring within the pale [of the Episcopal Church] in tipper Canada a very great body of 
 sectaries, who, in my judgment, as it were, offer themselves to its protection and re-uaion. 
 
 These objects would be materially promoted by a university in Upper Canada, which might, in due 
 progress, acquire such a character as to become the place of education to many persons beyond the extent of 
 the King's dominions. * * * The Episcopal clergy in Grert Britain, from pious motives as well as 
 policy, are niiteriaily interested that the Church should increase in this Province. I will venture to 
 prophesy its preservation depends upon a university being erected therein. * * * j have not the 
 smallest hesitation in saying that I believe if a Protestant E jiscopal university should be proposed to be 
 erected (even in the United States) the British nation would liberally subscribe to the undertaking. * * ** 
 The universities of England, I make no doubt, would contribute to the planting of a scion from their respec- 
 table stock in this distant colony. 
 
 There are two or three things worth noticing in this vigorous letter of the 
 Governor : — 
 
 (1) Among the objects sought to be attained by the establishmBnt of a university was 
 the conservatioa of "the privileges of the British Constitution" ; (2) ths fu^ia^ of the 
 various nationalities represented in the colony ; (3) the absorption of "Puritaas" and 
 ■"sectaries" into the Episcopal Church ; (4) the growth and spreal of loyalty to the 
 King's authority. 
 
 Two things also are noticeable: First, the Governor did not ignore, or underestimate, 
 the necessity of popular education, or " education in the rudiments ; " second, he gives no 
 
62 
 
 hint of a desire to appropriate the public domain to the building up of an " Episcopal 
 university." On the other hand, he assumes that, if done at all, h is to be aided by con- 
 tributions from Eni^land. I call attention to these two points, from the fact that they 
 were quite lost sight of by those who afterwards took up the cause of university education 
 in Upper Canada where he had left it. 
 
 Provision for Higher Education in U. C. by the Imperial Government. 
 
 Governor Simcoe, having received a higher appointment in the colonial service, left 
 soon after. The Bishop of Quebec, however, acted upon his suggestion and wrote to the 
 Colonial Minister on the subject, in June, 1796. In November, 1797. the Legislature of 
 Upper Canada addressed a mememorial to King George III, asking : 
 
 "That His Maje.sty would be graciously pleased to direct his Government in this Province to appropri- 
 ate a certain portion of the waste lands of the Crown as a fund for the establishment and support of a 
 respectable grammar school in each district thereof, and also of a college, or university, for the instruction 
 of the youth in the different branches of liberal knowledge. " 
 
 To this memorial the King directed a gracious answer to be sent. The duke of Port- 
 land, Colonial Minister, therefore instructed the acting Governor, President Russell, to 
 give practical effect to the prayer of tlie petitioners. In doin;^ so he used the following 
 language : 
 
 [His Majesty] being always ready ... to assist and encourge the exertions of his Pr-^vince in 
 laying the foudantion for promoting sound learning and a religious education, has condescended to express 
 his [desire] to comply with the wishes of the Legislature ... in such a manner as shall be judged to be 
 most effectual— 
 
 First, by the establishment of free grammar [classical] schools in those districts in which they are called 
 for, and — 
 
 Secondlii, in due process of time, by establishing other eeminaries of a larger and more comprehensive 
 nature, for the promotion of religious and moral learning, and the study of the arts and sciences. 
 
 Such were the terms in which the King, through his Colonial Minister, intimated his 
 desire that classical and university learning should be promoted in this Province. The 
 very comprehensiveness and express terms of the duke of Portland's dispatch on this sub- 
 ject '^ave rise to a protracted controversy in after years, especially as the controverted 
 expressions were embodied in substance in the royal charter for a university obtained in 
 1827 by Rev. Dr, Strachan (afterwards first Church of England Bishop of Toronto). 
 Around the expressions — '-religious education," "religious and moral learning," and "other 
 seminaries of a larger and more comprehensive nature," etc., a tierce war was waged for 
 many ye .rs, which, though virtually over now, has yet left traces of the bitter conflict. 
 
 The result of the instructions to President Russell was, that 549,217 acres of crown 
 lands was set apart for the twofold purpose set forth in the Colonial Minister's dispatch. 
 Of these acres, 225,944 were, in 1827, devoted to the university that was virtually 
 established, on paper, in that year, and by royal charter in 1828. 
 
 As these lands thus set apart were, in those early days, unpioductive of revenue, 
 nothing could be done to give practical effect to the gracious act of the King. A 
 principal for the proposed university was, however, selected in Scotland. The position 
 was first offered to the afterwards justly celebrated Rev. Dr. Thomas Chalmers, but 
 declined. It was then offered to a successful parish school inivster. Mr. (aft^rwar wards so 
 distinguished in this Province as the Rev. Dr.) Strachan. 
 
 The Reverend Doctoii Strachan as an Educ.\tor. 
 
 Rev. Dr. (afterw;irds Bishop) Strachan, though not a versatile man, was in many 
 respects a many-sided o«ie. In his day he had to do with all of one great public questions 
 which came before the country. On many of them (and in their settlement), he has left 
 the impress of his active mind and persistent will. I his was particularly the case in 
 re^ad to those questions which more deeply touched the best iiit^re.sts of Canadian life, 
 in°its religious and social aspects. And it was a singular yet characteristic fact, that the- 
 
63 
 
 more he was opposed by those who differed in toto from the policy of his acts, the more 
 strenuously he persevered in his purpose — even against the wiser counsels and calmer 
 judgment of many leading public men of his time. But this opens up a question which 
 it is not my purpose to discuss. 
 
 Dr. Strachan, as I have said, — although not versatile, — was a many-sided man. And 
 this was quite true in regard to that department of his career which I desire to illustrate. 
 He was both an educator and an educationist. In the former capacity he was 
 successively the parish schoolmaster, near St. Andrew's, and at Kettle, (Scotland). He 
 had there as a pupil the afterwards celebrated Sir David Wilkie, In Canada, he was 
 first a tutor in the family of the Hon. Richard Cartwright, at Kingston ; then master of 
 the Cornwall Grammar School, at which most of the distinguished public men of the 
 Bishop's later years were educated. Subsequently he was Chairman of the Provincial 
 Board of Education at York. He was named by the late Hon. Peter McGill as first 
 Principal of McGill College, Montreal — although he never was in a position to undertake 
 its duties. He was afterwards President of King's College, Toronto, and subsequently 
 President of Trinity College University, 
 
 In his capacity as an educator, Dr. Strachan was considered one of the most success- 
 ful teachers which this Province has yet produced. His aim was to call into active play 
 the varied mental powers of his pupils, and to stimulate any desire which they had to 
 excel in knowledge and virtue. One of his earliest brochures is a Letter to his Pupils, 
 and is in the nature of an appeal on behalf of the Christian religion. This, he inscribed, 
 "as a mark of esteem to Mr. Andrew Stuart and Mr. James Cartwright, students-at-law." 
 This letter was printed at Montreal, in 1807, in the quaint old type of the time. It is 
 evidently a warning appeal against the infidelity and excesses of the French revolutionists. 
 
 Dr. Strachan's early and practical experience as a teacher gave to him an additional 
 and keen sense of the educational wants of the country. His success as an educator 
 proved to him what could be done in that direction. It also enlisted his feelings and fired 
 his ambition to be the founder of an institution of superior learning, in which the young 
 men of the Province could be thoroughly educated. The education of the masses was not 
 provided for by him, but in an Act passed in 1819 and relating to classical schools (which 
 he promoted), it was agreed — 
 
 That in order to extend the benefits of a liberal education to promising children of the poorer inhabi- 
 tants, trustees [of common schools wherever established] shall have the power of sending scholars, not 
 exceeding ten in number, to be chosen by lot every four years, to be taught gratis at the [classical] schools. 
 
 Thus, in this exceptional manner, provision was made so that, should a limited num- 
 ber of the children of the poorer inhabitants develop ability or taste for learning, they 
 should not be wholly excluded from the privileges so liberally provided for children of 
 the richer classes. These class distinctions have, happily, forever disappeared from our 
 statute book. They were no doubt conceived in a benevolent spirit, and were character- 
 istic of the social ethics of the times, but they were pernicious as a principle to embody 
 in a school law. 
 
 In his "Appeal " in behalf of a university in Upper Canada, published early in 1827, 
 Dr. Strachan gave a fuller expression to this idea of providing education only for the 
 wealthier classes. He said : — 
 
 It is indeed quite evident that the consequences of a university . . . possessing in itself sufficient 
 recommendations to attract to it the sons of the most opulent families, would soon be visible in the greater 
 intelligence and more confirmed principles of loyalty of those who would be called to various public duties 
 required in the country— i.e., the governing classes. 
 
 In justice to Dr. Strachan, it is proper to state that a few years afterwards (in reply 
 to a question put to him by a committee of the House of Assembly) he laid down a 
 broader, a nobler and a more comprehensive principle in regard to a system of national 
 education. He said :^ 
 
 The whole expense [of education] in a free country like this should be defrayed by the public ; that 
 promising boys, giving indication of high talent, though poor, might have an opportunity of cultivating 
 their faculties, and, if able and virtuous, taking a lead in the community. 
 
64 
 
 Lack of Comprehensiven'ess in the Educational Policy of the Times. 
 
 The policy of the country in regard to education in these early times was farther 
 marked by a lack of comprehensiveness in its aims. 
 
 The framework of the educational system, then projected, was constructed on a 
 principle the very reverse of natural. And this fact led to the existence, subsequently, 
 and for many years, of a singular anachronism as the result of its application of that 
 principle. Thus, in 1797, lands were set apart in Upper Canada by the Crown for the 
 establishment of district grammar schools and a university. But no provision was thought 
 of for the establishment of elementary schools. These grammar schools were first estab- 
 lished in 1807 — eight in all, viz., at Saudwich, Townsend (London District), Niagara, 
 York, Cobourg, Kingston, Augusta (District of Johnstown), and Cornwall. But no 
 provision was made for elementary schools (nud then only for four years) until 1816 — 
 nine years after the district grammar schools were established. 
 
 Dr. Strachan's feelings in this matter were evidently in harmony with this spirit of 
 the times, and he directed his efforts exclusively to the establishment of these higher 
 institutions of learning. He never lost sight, however, of the crowning institution of all 
 — the university. His speeches and addresses on education all pointed to '• this consum- 
 mation, devoutly to be wished." 
 
 Referring to this educational anomaly, or anachronism, of establishing higher insti- 
 tutions of learning before providing for elementary schools, an English resident in a book 
 entitled " Three Years in Canada," and published in 1839, thus forcibly points out the 
 singular want of foresight in this matter. He says : — 
 
 " The Provincial Board of Education either assumed that elementary education in Upper Canada had 
 attained its zenith or deemed it better to begin at the ape\ and work do.vnward to the base of the structure 
 they were called upon to rear than to follow the old-fashioned custom of first laying the foundation and then 
 working upwards." 
 
 The fact was, and the chief reason for the perpetration of this educational anachron- 
 ism was, that the friends of popular education, while all-powerful in the House of As- 
 sembly, were few and consequently uninfluential in the Legislative Council. They werci 
 therefore, not able at all times to iuiluence that body su as to secure its assent to the ele- 
 mentary education bills passed by the popular branch. We have seen that, in 1838, the 
 Council refused to concur in the Common School Bill passed in that year by the House 
 of Assembly. Before another School Act was introduced, both Houses had ceased to 
 exist in the Union of the two provinces in 1840. 
 
 Rev. Dr Strachan's Reasons for Establishing a University in Upper Canada. 
 
 The reasons which Dr. Strachan gave for urging the early establishment of a Pro- 
 vincial University were reasonable and weighty in themselves, had the other necessary 
 kind of school been established and provided for. I shall give these reasons in Dr. 
 Strachan's own words. They are characteristic of the Bishop's own feelings in regard to 
 American institutions and their influence on the young. He said : — 
 
 "There is not in either province any English seminary . . at which a liberal education can be 
 obtained. Thus the youth of 300,000 Englishmen have no opportunity of receiving instruction within the 
 Canadas in law, medicine or divinity. 
 
 "The consequence is that many young men . . are obliged to look beyond the province for the last 
 
 wo or three years of their education— undoubtedly the most important and critical pt-riod of^ their whole 
 
 ves. . . The youth are, therefore, in some degree, compelled to look towards th« United States, where 
 
 -means of education, though of a description far inferior to those of Great Britain, are yet superior to any- 
 
 hing within the province, and a growing necessity is arising of sending them to finish their education in 
 
 that country." 
 
 Dr. Strachan then proceeds to point out in his own graphic language, the peculiarly 
 adverse influences to which loyal Canadians from youth were then subjected while attend- 
 ing schools and universities in the United States. He says : — 
 
 "Now, in the United States a custom prevails unknown to or unpractised in any other nation ; in all 
 other countries morals and religion are made the basis of public instruction, and the first books put into the 
 hands of children teach them the domestic, the social and religions virtues; but in the United States 
 politics pervade the whole system of education; the school books, from the very first elements, are stuffed 
 with praises of their ovm institutions, and breathe hatred to everything English." 
 
65 
 
 Dr. Ryerson came to the same conclusions as did Dr. Strachan in regard to the 
 character of American school books. Speaking on the same subject, twenty years after- 
 wards, he said : — 
 
 "With very few exceptions American school books abound in statements and aUusions prejudicial to 
 the institutions and character of the British nation." 
 
 Dr. Strachan still further refers to the anti-British influences of education obtained 
 by Canadian youth in the United States. He said : — 
 
 " To such a country our youth may go, strongly attached to their native land . . but by hearing its 
 institutions continually depreciated, and those of the United States praised . . some may become fas- 
 cinated with that liberty which has degenerated into licentiousness, and imbibe, perhaps uncoubciously, 
 sentiments unfriendly to things of which Englishmen are proud." 
 
 Dr. Strachan then proceeded to point out the advantages of having the youth of the 
 province " carefully nurtured within the British Dominions." He said : — 
 
 "The establishment of an university at the seat of Government will complete a system of education in 
 Upper Canada from the letters of the alphabet to the most profound investigations of science. . . This 
 establishment, by collecting all the promising youth of the colony into one place, will gradually give a new 
 tone to public sentiment and feelings . . producing the most beneficial effects through the whole pro- 
 vince. It is, indeed, quite evident that the consequences of an university . . possessing in itself suffi- 
 cient recommendations to attract to it the sons of the most opulent families would soon be visible in the 
 greater intelligence and more confirmed principles of loyalty of those who would be called to vai ious public 
 duties required Iti the country." 
 
 From these wise and practical remarks, it will be seen how truly Bishop Strachan 
 estimated the great advantages to the youth of the country of university training obtained 
 within our borders. In this view he was far-seeing enough. But yet his range of vision, 
 as to its beneficial eflfects, did not extend beyond " the sons of the most opulent families " 
 — which was another indication of the prevailing feeling of the times, that higher educa- 
 tion in the form of university training was not thought of even for " thn promising chil- 
 dren of the younger inhabitants." Happily our public men, and the Bishop himself, out- 
 grew this narrow feeling and social prejudice. He even lived to see, and with great 
 satisfaction as to the results, that, under the fostering care of men of large sympathies 
 and more generous impulses, the doors of the educational institutions of the country, from 
 the highest to the lowest, were thrown wide open to evtry boy, rich and poor, hi^h and 
 low, and to all the youth of the province, without distinciion of race, or creed, or social 
 rank. 
 
 Rev. Dr. Strachan succeeded in getting a Royal Charter for the university in 1828. 
 This charter virtually placed the proposed university under the control of the Episcopal 
 Church. When its terms were known in Upper Canada it was fiercely assailed. The 
 charter was subsequently modified, in deference to public opinion ; but it was not until 
 many years afterwards that the university was, by statute, declared to be free from 
 denominational control. Out of the controversy which the Duke of Portland's dt-spatch 
 and the charter caused, arose other colleges and universities, viz., Victoria and Queen's. 
 
 Rev. Dr. Strachan. the Founder op Two Universities in Toronto. 
 
 In the Rev. Dr. Scadding's most interesting sketch of the " First Bishop of Toronto, — 
 a Review and a Study" — occurs the following striking passage in regard to the founding 
 of the "Twins of Learning" in Toronto: — 
 
 The results of the life of the first Anglican Bishop of Toronto are tangible real- 
 ities. . . . He built the principal church edifice appertaining to bis own communion 
 four times. . . . " Twins of L<^arning " witness for bim ; he founded two univeisities 
 in succession (1842 and 1852), both invested with the ch^iracter borne by such institutions 
 aa originally instituted, by Royal charter — procured in both instances by his own personal 
 travail ; the later of the two by an individual and solitary eflfort, to which it is not easy 
 to find a paraUtl. He saw both of them in operation, investigating, con.serving and pro- 
 pagating truth, on somewhat dilferent lines indeed, but probably with co-ordinate utility, 
 as things are. Tlie very park, with its widely renowned avenue, the Champs Elys^es of 
 Toronto, in which the bourgeoisie of the place love to take their pastime, are a provision of , 
 
 5 (R. M.) 
 
66 
 
 his — that property having been specially selected by him, as President of King's College, 
 with the same judiciousness and tlie s mie careful |>rescience of the need ot amplitude 
 for f-uch purposes which guided him also in choosing the fine site ancf grounds of Trinity 
 XDoUege. 
 
 The University of Toronto. 
 
 This university was originally ^established under the charter obtained by Rev. Dr. 
 Strachan in 1828. But it only existed on paper until 1842-43. 
 
 In April, 1842, the corner-stone of the new institution was laid by Governoi -General 
 Sir Charles Bagot, (iM.A. of Christ Chu'ch, Oxford). In June, 1843, it was opened 
 under the style and title of the " University of King's College," Toronto, by the Right 
 Rev. John Stiachan, D.D., LL D., President of the University. In October of that year, 
 an effort was made by Him. Attorney-General Baldwin to introduce a comprehensive 
 scheme of university reform, but it was defeated in the Legislature. In 1845 a d 1847 
 other abortive attempts were made to "reform" the university ; but in 1849 a compre- 
 hensive measure was introduced into the Legislature and passed into a law, by which it 
 was reincorporated under the name of the " University of Toronto," and made a purely 
 provincial institution, by jdacing it under the sole control of the Government, and of a 
 senate and othcers appointed by the Government. 
 
 In 1853 another Act was passed, under which the University was constituted with 
 two coip jrations, " The Univeisity of Toronto," and " University College," the functions 
 of the former being limited to the examination of candidates for degrees in the siveral 
 faculties, or for scholarships and honors, and the granting of such degrees, etc. ; those of 
 the latter being confined to the teaching of .subjects in the Faculty of Arts* By this 
 Act certain institutions, from which students might be examined, were affiliated with 
 the University. 
 
 In 1873 further amendments were made in the constitution of the University. The 
 Chancellor was made elective for a period of three years by Convocation, which was then 
 re-established. By this Act the powers of the Senate were extended to all branches of 
 knowledge, literature, science and arts, and ahso to granting certificates of proticienoy to 
 women ; the power of affiliation was likewise extended ; the Senate was alsa empowered 
 to provide for local examinations. 
 
 Latterly, the faculties of law and medicine have been restored and other extensions 
 of the University course have been made. 
 
 The University of Victoria College, Cobouro. 
 
 The Rev. Dr. Ryerson. who was the founder of this University, thus speaks of its 
 -early history, in an address to the students when he was appointed its first principal in 
 1841. He said:— 
 
 His late Most Gracious Majesty William IV., of precious memory, first invested this 
 institution, in 1836, with a corporate charter as the Upper Canada Ac id -my — the first 
 institution of the kind established by Royal Charter unconnected with th*i Church of 
 England, throughout the British colonies. It is a cause of renewed satisfaction and con- 
 gratulation that, after five year's operation as an acaJomy, it has been incorporated as a 
 university and financially assisted by the unanimous vote of b)th branohe-5 of the Provin- 
 cial Legislature — suictioned by more than an official cordiality, in Her Majesty's name, 
 by the late lamented Lord Sydnnham. Governor-General, one of whose last m-ssig.is to 
 the Legislative Assembly was a recommendation to grant £.')00 as an aid to ttie Victoria 
 College. . . . We have buoyant hopes for our country when our rulers and legislators 
 direct their earliest and mist libxal attention to its literary institutions and educitional 
 interests. A foundation for a comm )n school system in this Province his been laid by 
 the Legislature, which I believe will, at no distant day, exceed in effioieuoy any yet est ib 
 
 • By recent legialation Uaiveraity College has been merged in the University of Toronto. 
 
67 
 
 lished on the American continent ;* and I have reason to believe that the attention of the 
 Government is earnestly directed to make permanent provision for the support of colleges 
 also, that ihey may be rendered efficient in their oppration and accessible to as large a 
 number of the enterprising youth of our country as possible. 
 
 This institution originated with the Wesleyan Methodists in 1828-30. The confer- 
 ence in the latter year agreed to establish it as an Academy, and the following year, Dr. 
 Kyerson, in the Christian Guardian newspaper, of which he was then editor, issued a 
 strong appeal in behalf of the proposed institution on the 21st April, 1831. On the 7th 
 June, 1832, the foundation stone of the Academy was laid ; and on the 18th Jane, 1836, 
 it was formerly opened under the designation of " Upper Canada Academy." In the 
 previous year Dr. Ryerson was deputed to go to England to collect subscriptions on 
 behalf of the institution. He was there enabled to obtain a Royal Charter for the Aca- 
 demy and a grant of $16,400 from the Local Leijislature. 
 
 Amongst the last public acts performed by Lord Sydenham was the giving of the 
 Royal assent to a Hill for the erection of the Upper Canada Academy into a College with 
 University powers. This he did on the 27th August, 1841. Dr. Ryerson thus refers to 
 the event, in a letter written from Kingston on that day : — 
 
 The establishment of such an institution by the members of the Wesleyan Methodist 
 Church in Cannda attests their estimate of education and science ; and the passing of 
 such an Act unanimously by both Houses of the Legislature, and the Royal assent to it 
 by His Excellency in HfT Majesty's name, is an ample refutation of recent statements 
 and proceedings of the Wesleyan Committee in London . . while the Act itself will 
 advance the paramount interests of literary education amongst Her Majesty's Canadian 
 subjects, , . For the accomplishment of this purpose, a grant must be added to the 
 charter — a measure . . honorable to the enlightened liberality of the Government and 
 Legislature. When they are securely laying a broad foundation for popular govermeut, 
 And devising comprehensive schemes for the dev<^lopment of the latent resources of the 
 country, and the improvement of its internal communication, and proposing a liberal 
 system of common school education, free from the domination of every church, and aiding 
 collei.'es which may have been established by any church, we may rationally and confidently 
 anticipate the arrival of a long-looked for era of civil government and civil liberty, social 
 harmony, and public prosperity. 
 
 The Academy was thus incorporated as a University, in August, 1841. In October, 
 1841, Rev. Dr. Ryerson was appointed the first president of the University, a po.sition 
 ■which he held until he was api)ointed Chief Superintend-^nt of Education for Upper Can- 
 -ada in 1844. He was succeeded by the Rev. Dr. Macnab, now rector of Darlington. 
 In 1850 the late accomplished president (Rev. S. S. Nelles, D.D., LL. D.) was appointed. 
 He had been a pnpil under Dr. Ryerson, but tiuished his university education at the 
 Wesleyan University, Middlefcown, Conn., and graduated there. He received the degree 
 of D. D. from the Queen's University, Kingston, and that of LL. D. from his own university. 
 His career was an unusually long and prosperous one ; and under his administration the 
 university has taken high rank amongst the sister universities of Ontario, f 
 
 In the original appeal made by Dr. Ryerson in England on behalf of the Academy 
 {in 1833), he stated the " specific objects of the institution " to be as follows : — 
 
 1. To educate, upon terms equally moderate with similar institutions in the neigh- 
 boring republic of the United States, and with strict attention to their morals, the youth 
 of Canada generally. 
 
 2. To educate for common school masters, free of charge, poor young men of Chris- 
 tian principles and character, and of promising talent, who have an ardent thirst for 
 
 • knowledge. 
 
 * This memorable prophecy, made by Dr. Ryerson in 1841, was abundantly verified in after years, 
 •chiefly as the result of his own labors in maturinpf the school system, of which he was the founder. 
 
 t It is a gratifying fact that Victoria College was the first university in Upper Canada whose doors 
 were open to receive stu'lents. The first session commenced in October, 1841 ; that of Queen's College 
 University in March, 1812, and King's College University in June, 1843. The first graduate in arts who 
 received a diploma in Upper Canada was sent out from Victoria College i 1845-46 
 
68 
 
 3. To educate the most promising youth of the recently converted Indian tribes of 
 Canada as teachers to their aboriginal countrymen.* 
 
 These extiacts are highly interesting, as showing the noble and comprehensive aims, 
 in these early days of educational etfort. which Dr. Ryerson had in view in founding 
 this valuable institution of learning. He goes on then (apart from these objects) to 
 show the grave necessity which existed for the ea'ly establishment of such an institution. 
 He said : — 
 
 For want of such an institution upwards of sixty of the youth of Canada are now 
 attending seminaries of learning, under a similar management, in the United States, 
 where nearly two hundred Canadian youth have been taught the elementary branches of 
 a professional education during the last eight years. There is good reason to believe that 
 nearly, if not quite, all the Canadian youth now being taught in the United States semi- 
 naries of learning, will return to Canada as soon as this institution shall have been 
 brought into operation. 
 
 In behalf, therefore, of this institution — most important to the best interests of a 
 healthy, fertile and rapidly improving British colonial possession, the inhabitants of which 
 have in this, as in other instances, shown the strongest desire to help themselves tu the 
 utmost of their very limited means — a respectful and earnest appeal is made to Briti.><h 
 liberality, an appeal which it is devotedly hoped will be responded to in a manner that 
 will contribute to draw still closer the bonds by which the loyal Province of Upper and 
 the British population of Lower Canada are united to the Mother Country. 
 
 This appeal was endorsed by the Governor of the Province, Sir John Colborne (after- 
 wards Lord Seaton), in the following terms : — 
 
 The Rev. Egerton Ryerson proceeds to England ... to solicit subscriptions 
 to enable [the conference here] to bring into operation a seminary established at 
 Oobourg, in Upper Canada. . . . As I am persuaded this colony will derive the 
 greatest advantage from the institution and from the exertions of the conference to diffuse 
 religious instruction, I cannot but strongly recommend that it may receive encouragement 
 and support from all persons interested in the welfare of Upper Canada. 
 
 The " appeal " was also heartily endorsed by the Hon. Peter McGill, founder of 
 McGill College University, Montreal, and by other distinguished gentlemen and mer- 
 chants in Montreal. In his l tter Mr. McGill referred to Dr. Ryerson as " a gentleman 
 who has distinguished himself in Upper Canada by his writings in defense of religion, 
 order, and good government." 
 
 After much delay and great discouragement, Dr. Ryerson succeeded in the objects 
 of his mission — money and a royal charter ; but at the close of his mission he writes to 
 the Academy Committee as follows : — 
 
 Thus terminated this protracted [business], . . . though I had to encounter suc- 
 cessive, discouraging and almost insurmountable difficulties [in obtaining the charter]. 
 Not having been able to effect any loan ... on account of the agitated state of the 
 Oanadas, and being in suspense as to the result of my application to the Government, I 
 was several months pressed down with anxiety and fear, by this suspense and by reason 
 of the failure of ray effort* to obtain relief. In this anxiety and fear my own unassisted 
 resolution and fortitude could not sustain me. I had to rely upon the unfailing support 
 of the Lord my God. 
 
 I have given these particulars somewhat in detail, as they afford a striking narrative 
 illustration of the almost insurmountable difficulties which the early pioneers of education 
 in this Province encountered in endeavoring to found these valuable institutions which 
 have been so useful to this country, and which have shed such lustre upon their founders' 
 names. It is also due to Victoria University, and (as I shall show) to Queen's Univer- 
 sity also to slate these particulars, from the fact that the first practical, yet entirely 
 
 * Several promisinjj Indian youth were educated at Victoria College, and Boine of them became usefu 
 teachers and missionaries. 
 
69 
 
 abortive, attempt to make Kind's College a provincial university, was made in 1843, two 
 years after the Methodists and Presbyterians had, in self-defence, been compelled to 
 found universities of their own. This they did at a great sacrifice. 
 
 By the time that the liberation of King's College took place, in 1849-'53, the really 
 provincial universities at Oobourg and Kingston had become recognized as most important 
 factors in our educational system ; and from them alone, up to that time, could students 
 of all denominations obtain a university education. 
 
 In connection with the university, Faraday Hall, or School of Practical Science, 
 was erected in 1877. It is a handsome and spacious building, and is admirably fitted up 
 for the purpose of science teaching. 
 
 The Queen's College University, Kingston. 
 
 As early as 1829 it was felt among the members of the United Presbytery of Upper 
 Canada that a seminary, or college, for the training of their ministers was highly desirable. 
 As the management of King's College at Toronto was in the hands of the adherents 
 of the Church of England, it was felt that such an institution could not be made avail- 
 able for Presbyterian theoloigcal instruction. A committee of the British House of 
 Commons, to which had been referred petitions from Canada in 1828 and 1830 against 
 the exclusive character of the charter of King's College, Toronto, were disposed to solve 
 the diflliculty by suggesting that two theological chairs be established in King's College 
 (and did so recommend) — one for students of the Churches of England and Scotland, 
 respectively. Nothing, however, of the kind was done ; nor was there any arts college 
 then open on equal terms to all the youth of the country. The Presbyterians, like the 
 Methodists, had, therefore, to found an institution of their own. Steps were taken by 
 the synod of the Church in 1831 and 1839 to found such an institution. At a meeting held 
 in Hamilton, in November, 1839, the commission appointed for that purpose prepared the 
 draft of a charter for the proposed college. Kingston was selected by the synod as the 
 site for the new institution. 
 
 An Act embodying the charter was passed by the Provincial Legislature in February, 
 1840, incorporating the " University of Kingston." The Act was, however, disallowed 
 by the imperial authorities, on the ground that it conflicted with the royal prerogative of 
 granting charters. A royal charter was, however, issued in 1841, incorporating the 
 institution under the name of Queen's College, with " the style and privileges of a 
 university." 
 
 The opening of Queen's took place on the 7th of March, 1842. Rev. Thomas 
 Liddell, D.D , of Edinburgh, was the Principal and Professor of Divinity, and Rev. 
 P. C. Campbell, of Brockville, Professor of Classics. Rev. James Williamson, D.D., 
 LL. D., in 1842, became Professor of Mathematics and Natural Philosophy. He is, 
 therefore, the oldest college professor in Ontario. 
 
 After the opening of King's College, Toronto, in 1843, an agitation commenced 
 "with the view to unite the three universities then in operation into a single provincial 
 institution. Many plans were proposed, and several m asures tending to that end were 
 introduced into Parliament and fully discussed. In 1843 the Hon. Robert Baldwin 
 introduced a university bill, which, though it presented many popular features, was 
 strongly objected to by the churches named and others also, because it was deficient in 
 providing for religious instruction. 
 
 A bill was introduced by Hon. W. H. Draper, in 1845, to amend the law so as to 
 make it more generally acceptable to the religious bodies of the country; and in 1847 
 the late Hon. John Hillyard Cameron introduced a measure in which it was proposed to 
 devote a large part of the endowment to increased sup[)ort of high schools and also to 
 larg"ly subsidize the denominational colleges. The measure failed to carry in Parliament, 
 however, and this practically ended the agitation for the union of colleges for many 
 years. 
 
70 
 
 In 1846 Dr. Liddell resigned his position as Principal and returned to Scotland. 
 Rev. J. Macliar, D D., was ne.xt appointed Principal, and under his administration there 
 was slow l)ut real improvement. 
 
 Rf-v. Dr. Cook, of Quebec occupied the position of Principal for .a time, but he 
 refused to accept the position permanently. Rev. Dr. Leitch was next appointed, hut 
 his early death deprived the in.stitution of his services. He was followe 1 Ity the Rev. 
 Dr. Su' di^rass, and on his retirement the Rev. Georj^e Monro Grant, D. D., oi' Halifax, 
 was ii])pointed. Dr. Grant entered on his arduous duti'^s with his accustomed energy, 
 and occupii'S that pisition with f,'reat acceptance. He is an able speikerand a wise 
 admini.-trator. Queen's 0<)lleL,'e has now faculties of arts, theology, and law, and there 
 are alliliated with it the Royal College of Phvsiciins and Surgeons, also in a prosperous 
 condition, and the Kingston Women's Medical College. 
 
 In 1869 it was resolved to make an appeal to the country for aid. The people of 
 Kingston rai.sed about $25,000, and the result of the whole effort was that about §103,000 
 was raised for the equipment of the college. 
 
 In 1878 Principal Giant made the proposition to raise $150,000, in order to provide 
 new buildings, additional profi'Ssors, and apparatus. The appeal was succes-ful ; addi- 
 tional ground of about twenty acres was at once purchased — a site of rare beauty and 
 convenience — and tlie pre.sent noble building was erected. 
 
 The University of Trinity College, Toronto. 
 
 The immediate cause of the founding of this College and University was the sup- 
 pression, in 1849, of the Faculty of Divinity in King's College, now tjin University of 
 Toronto. In consequence of this the Right Rev. J. Srraehan D.I)., Bishop of Toronto, 
 issued in February, 1850, a pastoral appeal to members of the Church of England for 
 funfls to enable him to establish a Church' University and College. In response to thia 
 pastoral, tlie Bishop succeeded in raising a large endowment from volnnttry subscriptions 
 from churchmen in Canada, England, and the United States, so that on April .30, 1851, 
 the ft)un(lation stone of the college building was laid, and on January 15, IS52, the 
 work of instruction was begun, the staff consisting of four professors in arts besides 
 those in the faculties of law and medicine. During the last thirty years tlie endowment 
 has been lar<;ely increased by liberal contributions made from time to time, so that the 
 original amount is now about trebled. Jn 1878 a large and handsome convoc ition hall 
 was en cted, and in 1884 a loni,' felt want was supplied by the erection of a tinely 
 proportioned and beautiful chapel. 
 
 The University of Trinity College at present consists of the faculty of arts and 
 divinity, of an affiliated Medical School with a commodious building and a large staff of 
 professors, and an affiliated Women's Medical College. Provision is also made for the 
 higher elueationof women in connection with the Bishop Straohm .School in Toronto, 
 and connected with the University is a large school for boys at Port Hope. 
 
 TiiK R. C. University College at Ottaw.\. 
 
 The College (or University) of Ottawa is under the direction of the Roman Catholic 
 CluKch. It was founded in 1848 by the Ri'^ht Iteverend Joseph Euijene Guigues, 
 O. M.I., D.])., lir.st R. C. Bishop of Ottawa. In 1856, the Bishop confided the direction 
 of the college to the "Society of the Obiate Fathers of Miry Iinm iculate." The total 
 value of th" college buildirig and grounds is about §75,000. [t has also a g -od liUrary 
 and cabitiet of natural philisoj)hy (or physics), and of chemistry and natural history. 
 The college obtained university powers in 1866. It confers degrees in arts, science, and 
 literature — B. A., B. Sc, B. L., as well as M. A. 
 
 The Western University, London. 
 
 This institution, in connection with the Church of Eniiland in Canada, was incor- 
 porated in 1878, with power to affiliate with Huron Theological Collesje au<l to confer 
 Degrees in Arts, Divinity, Medicine and Law. The affiliation between that Colleg(^> and 
 
71 
 
 the Univfisity took place in 1881, and the Univprsity was inauguritecl in the month of 
 October of that year. The oUjpct of its establishment was, as a Church of England 
 Institution in the Diocese of Huron, to obtain the same power of conferring Di^grees as 
 was ))Ossessed by the sister University of Trinity College ; also, that a liberal Education 
 in Arts, Science and Literature might be extended to that extensive portion of the 
 Province ot which London is the geographical centre. 
 
 The McMasteb University. 
 
 By the munificence of the late Hon. Wm. McMaster, McMaafcer University is being 
 established on a sound financial basis. McMaster Hall, Woodstock College and Moulton 
 College (for ladies) are affiliated institutions. 
 
 Upper Canada College. 
 
 Upper Canada College was founded in 1828 upon the model of the great public 
 schools of E'igland, and was eudowed with a grant ot" 66,000 acres of public lands, from 
 which it n w derives an annual income of $15,000, in addition to its building and 
 grounds in thn city of Toronto. It is governed by a committee of the senate of the Pro- 
 vincial University. The curriculum extends over a six years' course of study in the same 
 number of lorms, and embraces the usual subjeets. 
 
 In other forms, known as the lower and upper modern, commercial and scientific 
 training can be obtained. Scholarships may be estaMished by the diff.'rent county 
 councils, wliilo four exhibitions have been founded out of the University funds. This 
 college and the high schools constitute the principal feeders of the Collegiate Institutes 
 and provincial University. 
 
 Albert College, Belleville. 
 
 This institution, founded in 1854, was the product of the zeal of the Methodism of 
 that early day. Accordingly, the General Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church, 
 in 1854, adopted a scheme — initiated in the Cay of Quinte C )nfHrence in the preceding 
 year — for the erection and maintenance of an cducati )nal institution of hi!,'h grade in 
 Belleville. Having been chartered by Parliament in 1857 as " Belleville Seminary," 
 it was opened in July of the same year, and entered upon its work under very 
 favorable auspices. 
 
 In the yt ar 1886, by Act of Parliament, the name was changed to " Albert 
 College," and a senate created with ample powers. By the terms of the union of the 
 Methodist Churches of Canada, Albert College was retained in Belleville, and adoi-ted 
 by the General Conference of the United Church as a church school. The charter was 
 amemled and the college was affiliated to the Victoria University, Cobourg. The senate 
 has full powers to examine, grant prizes, scholarshi|is, medals, hnnor certificates, and 
 diplomas in music, fine arts, commercial science, collegiate courses, etc. 
 
 \y'00DST0CK jCoLLEGF. 
 
 Woodstock College, formerly *' The Canadian Literary Institute," was founded in 
 1867, principally through the exertions of the late R. A. Fife, D.I). Under his presi- 
 dency, ably assisted for eighteen years by Prof. J. E Wells, M. A.., the ach )ol constantly 
 increased in efficiency and power, until from a small beginning it has attained its present 
 large proportions and wide influence. 
 
 The School of Practical Science, Toronto. 
 
 Prior to the year 1871 there was no institution in the Province for practical instruc- 
 tion in the industrial sciences. In 1870 the Govermnent of the Province issued a 
 commission to Dr. Hodgins, Deputy Superintendent of Education, and to Dr. Machatt 
 
72 
 
 of London, directing; thera to proceed to the United States for the purpose of inspecting 
 and reporting upon any Technical or Science Schools or Colleges there established, as to 
 their buildings, d-ipirtments of study and general appliances. On their return a report 
 was sub uitted to the Government, with full details as to the cost of the propose! institu- 
 tion. The Government acted upon the information contained in their report, and with 
 a grant of 850.000 established a "College of Technology" in Toiunto. in 1877 the 
 name was chinged to the School of Practical Science, and the Hon. Adam Crooks, Q.C., 
 Minister of Education, had a suitable building for it erected close to the Provincial 
 University. Four of the University Professors are engaged in Departments of the 
 School. The now building was opened for students in September, 1878. 
 
 Various other ('olleges and Scuools, etc. 
 
 There are numerous superior colleges and schools for boys and college? for ladies in 
 Outario, but the limits of this paper forbids a further reference to them, or to the other 
 numerous educational institutions — theological, literary and commercial — in the Province. 
 
 Rev. Dr. Ryersox's Advocacy of Popular Rights, 1827-1841.* 
 
 During all this time the friends of popular education were not idle. From 1827 and 
 for miny years Dr. Ryerson was engaged in waging war with the opponents of lil)eral 
 institutions and religious equality. His chief antagonist was Dr. Strachan. The sub- 
 jects in dispute related to a dominant church, the application of clergy-reserved lands to 
 the purposes of education, and the liberation of the provincial university from exclusive 
 control under the presidency of Dr. Strachan, first as archdeacon and afterwards as 
 bishop. Not being eli^ibh to the popular branch of the Legislature (being a minister), 
 Dr. Ryerson had to develop his powers of resistance to the dominant and ruling party in 
 other directions ; and this he did with wonderful succe.ss. As a writer and debater few 
 equalled him in his presentation of facts, and in his skill in detecting the weak points of 
 his adversary's position or argjmei't. As a controversialist and pampnleteer he had con- 
 fessedly no rival. He, therefore, was able to furnish his friends in the House of Assembly 
 with facts and arguments which were irresistible. They passed resolutions and school 
 bills time and again, but could not always induce the Legislative Council (Senate) to 
 concur in their adoption. This state of things continued fur many years, and with dis- 
 astrous eftects on the intellectual growth and well-being of the province. This fact is 
 attested by indubitable witnesses, and is recorded in the proceedings of the House of 
 Assembly of the time, as is shown in the extracts from its proceedings which I have 
 already given. 
 
 Educational Legislation in the United Parliament of 1841 and 1843. 
 
 In 1840 the House of Assembly and Legislative Council of Upper Canada ceased to 
 exist, and the two Provinces of Upper and Lower were united under one Legislature. 
 
 The momentous political events which preceded this union, and which led to the 
 total disruption of all political parties and combinations, were very salutary in their 
 
 * In the preface to the Story of Mi/ Life, I thus referred to this period of Dr. Ryersoii's labours: — 
 " Public men of the present day looked upon Dr. Ryerson practically as one of their own contemporaries — 
 noted for his zeal and energy in the successful management of a great Public Departmeur, and as the 
 founder of a system of Popular Education. ... In thi-j estimate of Dr. Ryer.son's labours they were 
 quite correct. And in their appreciition of the statesmanlike qualities of mind, which devised and 
 developed such a system in the midst ef difficulties which would have appalled less resolute hearts, they 
 were equally correct. 
 
 " But, after all, iioAT immeasurably does this partial historical view of his character and labours fall 
 short of a true estimate i>f that character and of those labours I 
 
 " In p.»int of fact, Dr. Ryers-m's great struggle for the civil and religious free lom which we now enjoy, 
 was almost over when he assumed the position of Chief Director of our Educational System. No one can 
 read the record of his labours from 182.1 to 1845. as detailed in the pages of this 'story ' without being 
 impres-ied with the fact that, had h^ done no more for his native country than that which is therein 
 recorded, he would have accomplished a great work, and have earned the gratitude of his fellow-country- 
 men." 
 
73 
 
 effects. Under the liberal policy pursued by the Home Government, after the publica- 
 tion of Lord Durham's report, grievances were redressed, and a broad and comprehensive 
 scheme of popular government inaugurated. The result was that the wise and statesman- 
 like measures, designed to promote public tranquility and local self-government, were 
 proposed to and adopted by the Legislature. 
 
 Amongst these was a measure providing for the establishment of a municipal council 
 in each local division of the Province of Upper Canada (and partly so in Lower Canada) 
 for the regulation of internal matters. 
 
 In recommending the scheme of Common School Education to the favorable con- 
 sideration of the tirst Parliament of United Canada, in 1841, Lord Sydenham, the first 
 Governor-General, used the following language : — 
 
 A due provision for the education of the people i8 one of the first duties of the State, and, in this pro- 
 vince especially, the want of it is grievously felt. The establishment of an efBcieat system, by which the 
 blessings of instruction may be placed within the reach of all, is a work of difficulty, but its overwhelming 
 importance demands that it should be undertaken. I recommend the consideration of that subject to your 
 best attention, and I shall be most anxious to afford you, in your labors, all the co-operation in my power. 
 If it should be found impossible so to reconcile conflicting opinions as to obtain a measure which may meet 
 the approbation of all, I trust that, at least, steps may be taken by which an advance to a more perfect sys- 
 tem may be made, and the difficulty u ider which the people of this province now labor may be greatly 
 ■diminished, subject to such improvements hereafter as time and experience may point out. 
 
 The enlightened expectations of the Governor-General were, happily, realized. But 
 so diverse were the populations of the two Canadas thus united, and so different were 
 their social conditions, that the School Act then passed was repealed two years afterward 
 {in 1843), and a school bill for each Province was passed by the Legislature in that year. 
 Provision for Roman Catholic and Protestant Separate Schools was made in both Acts.* 
 
 On this system was ingrafted, by means of a separate Act applicable to the whole 
 Province, a scheme of public education, with a liberal provision ($200,000 per annum) 
 for its maintenance. 
 
 Origin of the Annual Grant of $200,000 for the Common Schools in 184L 
 
 In a letter to the writer of this Retrospect, from the Hon. Isaac Buchanan, dated 
 11th April. 1882, in reply to some enquiries in legard to the appointment of Dr. 
 Ryerson, Mr. Buchanan thus related the circumstances under which the muniticent 
 sum of $200,000 a year was granted by the Legislature in 1841 for the support of the 
 then newly-established Common Schools in Upper and Lower Canada. He said : — " This 
 first attempt of mine to get an endowment for education (out of the Clergy Reserve 
 Fund), failed as there was no responsible government then. But five yeais afterwards 
 when my election for Toronto had carried Responsible Government, and before the first 
 parliament met, I was talking to the Governor-General (C. Poulett Thompson, Lord 
 Sydenham). He felt under considerable obligation to me for standing in the breach 
 when Mr. Robert Baldwin found that he could not succeed in carrying Toronto. 
 He spoke of Canada as ' a drag upon the mother country.' I replied warmly 
 for I felt sure (as I told him), that if we were allowed to throw the affairs of the 
 Province into regular books . . we would show a surplus over expenditure. His 
 Excellency agreed to my proposal, and I stipulated that, if we showed a yearly sur- 
 plus, one half would be given as an endowment for an educational system. Happily 
 we found that Upper ('anada had a surplus revenue of about £100,000 ($400,000), 
 one half of which the parliament of 1841 laid aside for education, the law stipulating 
 that every District Council getting a share of it would tax locally for as much more, 
 and this constituted the fund of your educational system." 
 
 *-This Retrospect would not be complete without reference, m fuller detail, to the history of the Separ- 
 ate School question and to legislation on it in Upper Canada. It was found, however, to be so extensive a 
 subject that no adequate justice could be done to it in this somewhat brief Retrospect. The writer has, 
 therefore, prepared a full and exhaustive paper on the subject, which will be published separately, should 
 it be con idered desirable. The details given are largely personal, and, therefore, of special interest. In 
 addition to private letters bearing on the subject, the paper contains official and other authentic information 
 in regard to the whole question. 
 
74 
 
 Educational Efforts of Dr. Ryersox up to this Time. 
 
 Up to this time Dr. Ryerson's energies, as I have shown, were wholly engrossed in 
 contfndin<^ for the civil and relii^ious rights of the people He had also, t^n years before, 
 prrjecti'd and cnlleetHd money for the esttblishnient of an acaden)y or college for liiglier 
 odiication at Cobourg, on the north short; of Lake Ontario. His efforts in this, and 
 in the e.stablishnifnt of the Victoria College at Cobouig, »b a university, in 1840, 
 aroused a widespread interest in educ:ition generally, which V)Ore good fruit afterward. 
 This university Jims now been in operation fortv-eijiht years, and from it the first arts 
 graduate in U|>|)er Canada was sent forth in 1846. Its tirst |tre.sident was the Rev. Dr. 
 Ryetson ; the second was the Rev. Dr. Maciiab, now of Bownianville. Its late disiin- 
 giiished president, the Rev. Dr. Nelles, was Dr. Ryerson's pupil. 11*- held his position 
 with honor to himself for thirty -six years, and died in October, 1887, deeply and uni- 
 versally regretted by the entire community. 
 
 First Appointment of a Superintendent of Education for Upper Canada. 
 
 In the Canada Gazette of May, 1842, the following announcement was made: — 
 
 "Secrktart's Office, Kingston, 11th May, 1842. 
 
 "His Excellencv the Oovernor-Oeneral ha<( been plpased to make the f()llnwiiier appointments: — 
 "The Honorable Robert Symiison Jameson, Vice-Chancellor, to be Superintendent of Education, 
 
 under the Provincial Act, 4th ami 5tn Victoria, chaptpr 18. 
 
 "The Reverend Robert Murray and .lean Baptiste Meilleur, Esquire, to be Assistant Superintendents 
 
 of Education for Western and Eatitern Canada, respectively. 
 
 " By command. 
 
 "S. B. H.\RRis0N, Provincial Secretary." 
 
 Had the Governor-General, Lord Sydenham, not met with the fatal accident which 
 terminated his life, in September, 1S41. the Rev. Dr. Ryerson would, without doubt, as 
 I have shown in ''The Story of mv Life," have been ai 'pointed in thit yeir. Mr. Murrjiy, 
 who was neighbor and friend of the Hon. S. B. Harrison of Bronte, near Oakville, then 
 Provincial Secretary, was nominated l)y hini, and received his appointment from Lord 
 Sydenham's successor, Sir Charles Bagot. 
 
 In point of fact, the appointment was first spoken of to Dr. Ryerson by Lord 
 Sydenham himself, in the autumn of 1S41. The jiarticulMrs of that cir(?nni stance are 
 mentioned in detail in a letter written by Dr. Ryerson to T. W. U. Murdoch. Esq., 
 Private Secretary to Sir Charles Bagot, on the llth January, 1842. Di-. Ryerson 
 said : — 
 
 " In the last interview with which T was honoured by [Lord Sydenham], he intimated 
 that he thought I might be more usefully employed for this country than in my present 
 limited sphere ; and whether there was not some position in which I could m »re advan- 
 tageously serve the country at larcje. I remarked that I could not resign my present 
 official position in the (.'hnruh, with the advocacy of whose interests I had been entrusted, 
 until their tinal and satisfactory adjustment by the G ivernment, as I might thereby be 
 represented as having at)andoned or sacrificed their interests ; but that after such adjust- 
 ment I should feel myself very differently situated, and free to do anythin<j: which mi.j;ht 
 be beneficiil to the country, and which involved no compromise of my professional 
 character ; that I knew of no such position likely to be at the disposal of the G >ver'iment 
 except the superintendency of Common Schools (provided for in the Bill then b^lore the 
 Legislature), which office would afford the incumbent a most favorable opportunity, by 
 his communications, preparation and recommendation of books for libraries, etc., to abolish 
 diff"erences and jealousies on minor points ; to promi>te agreement on great principles and 
 interests ; to introduce the best kind of reading for the youth of the country ; and the not 
 onerous duties of which office would also aff^rtl him leisure to prepare j)ublications cilcu- 
 lated to teach the people at large to appreciate, upon liii;h moral and social onsiderations, 
 the institutions estaldished amongst them ; and to furnish, from time to time, such 
 expositions of great principles and measures of the administration as would secure the 
 
75 
 
 propor appreciation and support of them on the part of the people at lari^e. Lord 
 Sydeuliam expressed himself as highly gratified at this expression of my views and feelings ', 
 but the passing of the Bill wan then doubtful, although His Lordship expressed his deter- 
 mination K) get it passed if possible, and give effect to what he had proposed to me, and 
 which WHS then contemplated by him." 
 
 "What afterwards grew to be the Department of Education was (under the first 
 general sch lol law, passed in 1841, for the whole of the Province of Canada) originally a 
 subordinite banch of the Provincial Secretary's office at Kingston. That for Upper 
 Canada was managed l)y As.sistant Superintendent liev. Robert Murray, MA., and one 
 clerk (Mr. R()l)ert Richardson). The nominal Chief Superintendent, as ;ii)ove noted, was 
 the Hon. Vire-Chancellor Jameson. On the repeal of the General School Act of 1841 
 and the passing; of a sep irate Act for each province in 1843 the Education branch of the 
 Provini-i.d Secretary's office was divided and reconstructed. The divisions then made 
 were designated lesjjectively "Education Office (Eist) and Education Office (West)."* 
 
 Appointment of Rev. Dr. Ryerson as Superintendent op Education. 
 
 Tn 1844 Mr. Murr.iy was made Professor of Mathematics in the University of King's 
 College, and the Rev. Dr. Ryerson was appointed as Superintendent of Schools in his 
 place. The announcement of this appointment appeared in the Canada Gazette of Octo- 
 ber, 1844, as follows: — 
 
 "Secretary's Office, Montreal, 18th October, 1844. 
 
 " His '''.xcellency the Governor-General has V>pen pleased to appoint: — 
 
 "The R-!veren(l Eirerton Ryerson, D.D., to be Assistant Superintendent of Education for that part of 
 the province formeilv Upper Canada, in place of the Reverend Robert Murray, appointed a Profes.sor in 
 the Uiiiver-ity of Kinij's Gollej?e, and all communications connected with the Education office for Upper 
 Canada are to be addressed to him at Cobourg. 
 
 " By command. 
 
 "D. Daly, 
 
 "Secretary of the Province." 
 
 Dr. Ryerson was notified of the appointment by letter in September, 1844, but was 
 not gazette I until the 18th of the next month. It was my good fortune to ht^ associated 
 with hiui from the time of his appointment in 1844 until he retired from office in 1876. 
 
 Dr. Ryeuson's Report on a System of Public Instruction for Upper Canada. 
 
 Immf diately after his appointment Dr. Ryerson went to Europe, and remained away 
 for ovi r a > ear in familiarizing himself with the systems of education there. On his return he 
 published an ebiborate report on his projected scheme of "Public Instruction for Upper 
 Canada." That rep Tt was approved Ijy the Grovernor-General in Council, and he was 
 directed to prepare a bill to give i ffect to his recommendations, which he did in 1846. A 
 brief analy>is of that report may be interesting : — It is divided into two parts: 
 1. Principles of the system and subjects to be taught ; 2. machinery of the system. 
 
 * The Efani/e'ic'il Churchman of the 21st February, 1887, thus refers to the vicissitu 'es of the Educa- 
 tion offic ■: — The Education Department for Ontario, or rather Upper Canada as it was then called, had it* 
 first ToroM til office in Bny street, in the huildinj^now occupied by the publishers of the Evatii/elical Churchman, 
 From 1^41, when the fir.^t Provincial School Law was pas.-ed, until 1844, the office was a mere adjunct to th© 
 Priiviiici.il S cretary's D-^partment at Kingston. In that year Rev. Dr. Ryerson wa-- appointed to the 
 office which he so ablv filled until 187fi, when he retired. In 1844 the Education office was removed to 
 Cobourg, w hen the present I )eputy Minister of Education became its chief and sole officei- under Dr. Ryerson. 
 In 1816 It was a^aiti removed and transferred to Toronto, and was placed in a room over the front door of 
 the present Ermi'ieliral Churchman office. The first Council of Public Instruction for the Province held its 
 meetiuij.s m the west portion of the printing office, upstairs. In the room over the door the first reliable 
 statistical rejiort of the number of schools, etc., in this province was compiled. It was printed in the shape 
 of a broad heet, 12x1.5, on light blue paijer, atid bears date "September. 1846." This report, which is full 
 of intere^^ting statistics, has long since been out of jirint, but we have been fortunate enough to obtain a 
 copy. Tlie Kdivation office had various vicissitirles in those early days of its existence. In 1847 it was 
 remove 1 f om this liuilding to the Secretary's office at the old Governmerit House -long since demolished. 
 In 1849, when tlie seat of i Government was removt-d from Montreal to Toronto, it was transferred to the 
 
 'Alb my Ch:imtier>," now the Revere House, on King street. Thence, in 1852, it was finally removed to 
 
 ts present handsome quarters in St. James' square. 
 
76 
 
 After defining what wa? " meant by education," the principles of the system were 
 •laid down as follows : — 
 
 •1. It f^hould be universal. 
 
 2. It should be practical, 
 
 3. It should be founded on religion and morality. 
 
 4. It should develop all the intellectual and physical powers. 
 
 5. It should provide for the efficient teaching of the following subjects : Biblical his- 
 tory and morality, readiag and spelling, writing, arithmetic, grammar, geography, linear 
 drawing, vocal music, history, natural history, natural philosoph)', agriculture, human 
 physiology, civil government, political economy. Each of these topics was fully dis- 
 cussed and illustrated in the first part of the report. 
 
 The second part explained the machinery of the system, which was summarized as 
 follows : — 
 
 1. Schools — their gradation and system. 
 
 2. The teacher and his training. 
 
 3. The text-books recommended. 
 
 4. Control and inspection on the part of the Government. 
 
 5. Individual and local efforts. 
 
 These several topics were also fully discussed and illustrated, so that the whole 
 oomprehevsive scheme of education proposed by Dr. Ryerson was clearly and fully under- 
 stood. The report occupied nearly 200 pages. 
 
 The school law founded upon this report provided, amongst other things, for — 
 
 1. A general Board of Edueation for the Province, to take charge of a normal school, 
 and to aid the Chief Superintendent in certain matters. 
 
 2. A normal school, with practice or model schools attached. 
 
 3. The regulation of school libraries. 
 
 4. Plans of school houses. 
 
 5. Appointment of district, instead of county and township, school superintendents. 
 
 6. Apportionment of school moneys to each school according to the average number 
 of children in each school district, as compared with those in the whole township. 
 
 7. Levy of a school rate by each district (county) municipal council, of a sura at 
 leasb equal to the legislative grant to each such district. 
 
 8. The collection, by the local school trustees, of the balance required to defray the 
 expenses of their school, in any way which the school ratepayers (at the annual meeting) 
 might determine. 
 
 9. The recommendation of a uniform series of text books, with the proviso that no 
 aid would be given to any school in which books disapproved of by the general Board of 
 Education might be used. 
 
 10. The establishment of district model schools (reenacted from the Act of 1843). 
 
 11. Examination and licensing of teachers. 
 
 12. Visitation of schools by clergymen, magistrates, municipal councillors, etc. 
 
 13. Protection of children (reenacted from the Act of 1843) from being "required to 
 read or study in or from any religious book, or join in any religious exercise or devotion, 
 objected to by parents." 
 
 14. Establishment (reenacted from the laws of 1841 and 1843) of Roman Catholic 
 Separate Schools, where the teacher of the locality was a Protestant, and vice versa. 
 (These schools received grants in accordance with their average attendance of pupils.) 
 
77 
 
 ]5. Levy of rates by district municipal councils, at their discretion, for the erection 
 of school houses and teachers' residences. 
 
 Such were the principal provisions of the first School Act, proposed and adapted 
 from other school laws by Dr. Ryerson in 184:6, so far as rural schools were concerned. 
 In the following year he prepared a comprehensive measure in regard to schools in cities, 
 towns and incorporated villages. 
 
 Chikf Features of Dr. Ryerson's First Report and School Bill of 1846. 
 
 In sending his draft of School Bill to the Government, early in March, 1846, 
 Dr. Ryerson, in a private letter to Hon. Attorney-General Draper, dated 30th of that 
 month, thus explained its general features : — 
 
 " I thank you sincerely for your kind favor of the 23rd instant, and feel not a 
 little gratified that you approve of the draft of Bill which I had prepared for your 
 consideration. I feel the justice of the high ground on which you place the moral 
 qualifications of teachers and their duties 
 
 " That to which I attach the highest importance in the measure is the authority 
 of trustees to levy a rate-bill upon all the inhabitants of a school section. The rate-bill 
 ■will thus be a second edition of the school tax imposed by the District Council, The 
 principle, once established, it will be seen after a while that the Council may as well 
 impose the whole of the school tax at once as to have the imposition of it divided 
 between the Council and the trustees 
 
 " I attach the greatest importance to the Normal School. I have no doubt the 
 Legislature will be disposed to support it when once established. . . I hope, how- 
 ever, that you will have in view the providing for it hereafter, and some appropriation 
 for school libraries . . from which an offer to a district or township, five pounds for 
 example, upon the condition that it would also contribute so as to purchase books from 
 a list recommended by the Provincial Board of Education, and, therefore, the most 
 suitable for the young and grown-up people of the country. 
 
 " It has been mentioned to me, and I have thought that the term inspector, 
 instead of superintendent, would be the better designation of the District overseer of 
 Schools. 
 
 " I this day transmit to Mr. Secretary Daly my ' Report on a system of Elementary 
 Instruction for Upper Canada.' . . I have introduced no debatable topics, except 
 that of Christianity, the principle of maintaining which as the basis and cement of a 
 system of public instruction, I have discuss- ed at large. On the defective modes of 
 teKcliing those branches (viz., reading, writing, arithmetic, grammar and geography), 
 which are taught in the Common Schools, I have also dwelt at some length in order to 
 furnish District Superintendents and other persons concerned with a proper standard of 
 teaching and examination, and in order to inculcate the true principles of teaching which 
 are applicable to all subjects. I hope the Report will be the means of laying a 
 good foundation in the leading minds of the country on the great work of public 
 instruction. 
 
 " I should add in respect to ray Report that, in pointing out defects in systems of 
 instruction and modes of teaching, I have almost invariably quoted American authors, 
 and have thus incidentally exposed the defects of alipost every part ot the American, 
 system, and have practically shown that every redeeming feature of the American school 
 system has been or is being borrowed from European goverments." 
 
 Objections to Dr. Ryerson's School Bill of 1846 Answered. 
 
 In a private letter to Hon. Attorney -General Draper, dated 20th April, 1846, Dr. 
 Ryerson replies to several objections made in the House of Assembly and by the press 
 to his first School Act of 1846. I quote the following : — 
 
 " The Montreal Pilot objects to appointing trustees for three years. This is one of 
 the improvements adopted in the New York law of 1843. The superintendents, in their 
 
78 
 
 reports, speak largely of the evils of the annual system, and strongly on the advantages 
 of the triennial one. The opposition to the Bill seems to be ba<e I on notions derived 
 from what tlie State of New York system was several years ago. The opp ments d ) not 
 seem to Ih' aware that it was amended in 1841, and amended again in 1843. Messrs. 
 Pri'e, RoUlin, etc., seem to be where the Americans were ten years ago. 
 
 " I anticijtate the objection to the rate-bill clause. I look upon thit above all others 
 to be the poor man's cIau.so, and at the very foundation of a system of public education. 
 It is ol)jecie I to by precisely the class of persons or rither by the individuals thit I 
 expected. I have heard of one rich man olijecting to it, who educates his own children 
 at colleges and ladies' seminaries, but who looks not beyond his own family. He says, I 
 am told, that ' h'j does not wish to be compelled to educate all, the brats in the neii^hbor- 
 hood.' Now, to educate ' all the brats in every neighborhood ' is just the veiTj obj.-ct of 
 this clause ; and, in order to do so, it is proposed to compel selfish, rich men to do what 
 they ought to do, but what they will not do voluntarily.* 
 
 " Mr. Gowan's statements as to the evils of not extending the period of keeping a 
 school open in each district beyond three months of the year are substantially wliat have 
 been communicated to me in many reports and letters. In several of the anuuil 
 district reports which I have received, it is stated that giving public money to districts 
 in which a school is not taught more than three months of the year is an actual injury 
 rather than a benefit, and an abuse of the intentions of the Legislature." 
 
 FiR.sT AND Second Councils of Public Instruction, 184G and 1850. 
 
 Dr. Rverson was assisted in his important work by an able council of representative 
 men, who were appointed in 1816. The members of this first council were as folio *^s : — 
 
 Rev. Ei^erton Ryerson, D.D., Chief Superintendent of Schools ; Right R^v. Michiel 
 Power, D. 1)., Roman Catholic Bishop of Toronto; Rev. Henry James Gras-^tt, MA., 
 Rector of Toronto ; lion. Samuel Beaty Harrison, Q.C., Judge, County of York ; Joseph 
 Currau Morrison, Q C, M. P.P. ; Hugh Scobie, Esq., Editor of the British Colouist; 
 James Scott Howard, Esq., Treasurer, County of York. 
 
 Dr. Ryerson proposed to Bishop Strachan that he should represent the Church of 
 England on the new Boar 1. The Bishop was quite pleased at his request, and so 
 expressed himself. He declined, however, on the ground that he feared his appointment 
 might embarrass, rather than aid, in the promotion of the nev,- scheme of education. He 
 suggested that Rev. H. J. Grasett be appointed in his place. f He also gave friendly 
 advice to Dr. Ryerson to be careful not to recommend a personal enemy for appointment 
 on such a board. 
 
 *In tliis matter «>f trustees' rate bill or school rate on the property of the school section, Dr. Kyeraon 
 waa quite in a lv;ince of his times. The rate-bill clause, as he hud prepared it, was rejected by the House 
 of Assembly and a school fee substituted for it. In a brief, private note from Mr. Draper, dated 22nd 
 April, 1S4(J, he said : — 
 
 " Last night, or rather this morning at one, I got the School Bill through Committee of the Whole. I 
 have been forced to submit to some changes, none very serious . The rate-bill is to be on people send- 
 
 ing children t > school —not on the whole section. I fought this, but was well beaten." 
 
 In his reply, Dr. Ryerson said : — 
 
 " I dee])ly regret the loss of the original rate-bill clause. It involved a new and important principle. 
 , . I am persuadeil that it will on a future occasion pass by a strong majority." 
 
 It dill so pass in 18">0 ; but it was not until 1871 that the Municipal Council was authorized by the 
 Legislature to im|>)se the whole of the .school tax as desired and predicted by Dr. Ryerson in 1846. 
 
 t In a letter to the writer of this Retrospect from the Very Rev. Dean Grasett in 1875, he said :— 
 "I estoem it an himovir tliat I should have been associated with Dr. Ryerson in his Council for so many 
 years (30), and a privilege it I have been of the least assistance in upholding his hands in performing a work, 
 the credit of whijh is exclusively his own. 
 
 " I shall carry with me to the end of life the liveliest feelings of respect for the public character and 
 regard fu- the i>iivate worth of one who has rendered to his country services which entitle hun to her 
 lasting gratitude. Nly venerable friend has had from time to time many cheering recogtiitions of his 
 valuable p\iblic services from the heads of our Government . . . ; but I think that in his case, as in 
 others that ar«- familiar to us, it must be left to future generations adequately to appreciate their value 
 when they shall be reaping the full benefit of them." 
 
79 
 
 Two more members were added in 1850, viz., Rev. John Jenning, D.D., Presbyterian 
 Minister; Rev. Adam Lillie, D D., Congregational Minister. Not one of the gentlemen 
 named sarvive ; but, in their day, th^-y rendered effective service to the country as mem- 
 bers of the first and second Councils of" Public Instruction. 
 
 The Hon. S. B. Harrison (afterwards Judge of the County of York) was nominated 
 by Rev. Dr. Ryeison, as Chairman of the reconstructed Board of Education in 1850 
 {then named tlie Council of Public Instruction), as successor to the lamented Bishop 
 Power, who died in 1847.* Mr. Harrison held that position until his death, in 1862. 
 
 Dr. Ryerson did not enter practically upon the duties of his office until about the 
 middle of 1846. In the Tneantime, the corresp )ndence and routine duties of t!ie Educa- 
 tion Office were (on Dr. Ryerson'.s suggestion) placed in the hands of his friend, the Rev. 
 Alexander MacNab, D. D., now Rector of Darlington (Bowman ville). 
 
 Religious Instruction in the Common Schools, 1846. 
 
 Among the first duties of the new Provincial Board of Education was the establish- 
 ment of a Normal School, the authorizaiion of a series of text-books, and the preparation 
 of regulations for the government of the Common Schools. The most important of these 
 regulations was the one relating to religious instruction in the schools. Before submitting 
 it to the Board for adoption Ur. Ryerson consultf-d various representative persons on the 
 subject. In a private letter to Hon. Attorney-G-t^neral Draper, dated December 17th, 1846, 
 Dr. Ryerson thus explained his prooertdiags in regard to the preparation of the cLiuse in 
 the new regulations relating to religious instruction in the schools. He said : — 
 
 " I submitted the clause first to Rev. Mr. Grasett. He quite approved of it, as he 
 felt exceedingly anxious that there should be such an explicit recognition of Christianity 
 in our school system. I then waited on the Roman Catliolic Bishop, who examined it and 
 concurred in it. . . . I showed it also to the Bishop of Toronto. After he had read 
 the section he said he believed I had done all that could be done on that subject, and that 
 he would write a circular to his clergy, recommending them to act as school 
 visitors, and to do all in their power to promote the efficiency and usefulness of the 
 Common Schools." 
 
 In his report for 1847, Dr. Ryerson stated that he consulted other ministers on the 
 subject. The Hon. Mr. Draper, in a private note to Dr. Ryerson, dated 1st January, 
 1847, said:— 
 
 " I am more gratified than I can express that you have so successfully met the diffi- 
 culty about the religious instruction of children in Common Schools. You (to whom I 
 expressed myself about three years ago on the subject of the iinp)rtance of not dividing 
 refigion from secular instruction) will readily understand the pleasure I feel thit in Com- 
 mon Schools at least the principlw and proposed application of it, for mixed schools, has 
 been approved by the Bishop of my own Churr.h and by the Roman Catholic Prelate." 
 
 In a letter to the late Hon. Robert Baldwin, written in 1849, Dr. Ryerson thus 
 refers to the question of religious instruction and the Bible in schools ; " Be assured 
 that no system of popular education will fl mrish in a country which does violence 
 to the religious sentiments and feelings of tlie churches of that country. Be 
 assured, that every such system will droop and wither which does not take root in the 
 
 *Ia hia aidress at the opening of the Normal School for Upper Canada, in November, 1817, Dr. 
 Ryerson thus referred to the then recent decease of Bishop Power. He said, referring to the harmony 
 which had characterized the meetings of the Provincial Board of Education : — 
 
 "One event indeed has occurred, over which the members of the Board have reason to mourn— the 
 decease of the Ri^ht Reverend Prehite, who, by his colleagues had been unanimously chosen Ch lirman of 
 the Board, and whose conduct as Chairman and Member of the Board was marked by a punctuality, a 
 courtesy, a fairness, a zeal and intelligence which entitle his memory to the affectionate remembrance of 
 his colleagues and the grateful esteem of every member of the community. . _. I cannot reflect upon the 
 ull and frequent conversations which I have had with him on subjects of public in tructiim, and with the 
 crapulous regard which he ever manifested for the views, and rights and wishes of Protestants, without 
 eelings of the deepest respect for his character and memory." 
 
80 
 
 Christian and patriotic sympathies of the people — which does not command the respect 
 and confidence of the several religious persuasions, both ministers and laity — for these 
 in fact make the aggregate uf the Christianity of the country." 
 
 Speaking in a subsequent letter of another feature of the question of the Bible in 
 schools, Dr. Ryerson says: "The principal opposition which, in 1846 and for several 
 years afterwards, I encountered was that I did not make the use of the Bible compulsory 
 in the schools, but simply recognized the right of Protestants to use it in the school (not 
 as an ordinary reading book), as it was not given to teach us how to read but to teach us 
 the way to Heaven), as a book of religious instruction, without the right or the power of 
 compelling any others to use it. The recognition of the right has been maintaineil 
 inviolate to the present time ; facilities for the exercise of it have been provided, and 
 recommendations for that purpose have been given, but no compulsory authority 
 assumed, or right of compulsion acknowledged ; and the religious exercises in each 
 school have been left to the decision of the authoritifs of such school, and the religious 
 instruction of each child has always been under the absolute authority of the parents or 
 guardian of each child." 
 
 To the objection urged against the reading of the Bible in the schools because 
 " a majority of the teachers aie utterly unfit to give religious instruction," Dr. Ryerson 
 replied : " The reading of the Bible and giving religious instruction from it are two very 
 different things. The question is not the competency of teachers to give religious 
 instruction, but the right of a Protestant to the reading of the Bible by his child in the 
 school as a text-book of religions instruction. That riglit I hold to be sacred and divine." 
 
 State of Common School Education in Upper Canada, 1845. 
 
 From the reports then made to him by the County Superintendents of Schools, I 
 select the following extracts, showing what was the actual state of education in the 
 province when Dr. Ryerson commenced his labors as Superintendent of Education. 
 
 Mr. Hamilton Hunter, Superintendent of Schools in the Home District (County of 
 York), in his report for 1845, says : — 
 
 "There is one fact with which I have l>een forcibly struck, in my visits to the schools, which shows, in 
 the clearest manner, the great necessity that exi-ted in this Colony for the establishment of a system of 
 Common School education. It is this : That in our schools th" amount of attainment, on the part of the 
 pupils, is generally in an inverse ratio to their size and age, after they have reached their twelfth or 
 thirteenth year. The lartrest scholars that attend our schools are by far the lowest in point of attainment, 
 which shows how sadly the education of that portion of the community, now about to attain the years of 
 manhood and wominhood has been neglected. In many of our country schools, it is a very common thing 
 to Hnd persons advanced to the a?e of young men and women commencing to learn the very first rudiments. 
 The mind feels pained upon contemplating this; but it is gratifying to think that a remedy has been 
 provided against it in the establishment of our Common Schools, by which the elementary branches of 
 education are brought within the grasp of all. It leads us to reflect upon the melancholy state of ignorance 
 that mii-t have existed at no distant period in this Province had no means been provided other than those 
 which formerly existed for placing the elements of knowledge within the reach of the rising generation." 
 
 Hon. Hamnett Pinkey, Superintendent of Schools in the District of Dalhousie 
 (Oarleton, etc.), in his report, says : — 
 
 " The Common .Schools are very indiflferently conducted, and the masters in general very inadequately 
 perform the duties required of them ; a reform is expected from the esfablishinent of the District Model 
 School." 
 
 R«v. Alexander Mann, M, A., Superintendent of Schools in the Bathurst District 
 (Lanark, etc ) 5?ays : — 
 
 " In existing circumstances t have declined giving a regular certificate to any teacher. ... I made 
 an effort on my own responsibility, and at my own expense to improve teachers, by opening % private 
 school, solely for their b'^aefit, but as I did not meet with proper encouragement I was obliged to relinquish 
 my purpose." 
 
 Richey Waugh, Esq., Supiriotendent of Sch )ols in th-i Johnstown District (L'^eds 
 and Qfr-nville), says : — 
 
 waaf 
 
 " Th'! trmtejs of miny schools emoloy teachers only for whatever time the school fund will pay their 
 f^s, and they receive but little bsnefit from the public money thus expended." 
 
81 
 
 Patrick Thornton, Esq., Superintendent of Schools in the Gore District (Wentworth, 
 etc.), says : — 
 
 " It is a matter of regret that the old parrot system of repeating words without attaching ideas to them, 
 does still in too many instances prevail ; and the dregs must remain till some of the old formal teachers 
 are off the field." 
 
 Rev. jSTewton Bosworth, F.R.S., Superintendent of Schools in the Brock District 
 (Oxford, etc.), says : — 
 
 " The diversity of books and modes of teaching referred to in my last report, still exists, nearly to the 
 same extant ; and in the qualifications of teachers also, as great a variety was observable as before. . . 
 It appears to me that parents should be impressed, to a much greater extent than at present, with a sense 
 of the necessity and importance of education for their children." 
 
 George Duck, jr., Esq., Superintendent of Schools in the Western District (Kent, 
 etc.), says : — 
 
 " In many townships little or nothing was raised by rate-bill. In many places the poverty of the 
 settlements prevented it ; and the only school that was kept open in these districts was just during the 
 time that the allowance from the aggregate fund was sufficient to pay the teacher. This course is, in fact, 
 of very doubtful benefit, as the school is seldom kept open for more than three months in the year, and the 
 children lose so much benefit continuous education produces. " 
 
 School Houses and School Teachers in 1845-1850. 
 
 The Rev. Dr. Ryerson, in his report for 18i5-46, speaking of school houses in the 
 Province, says : — 
 
 " With a few exceptions, the school houses are deficient in almost every essential 
 quality of places adopted for elementary instruction. Very few are furnished with any 
 thing more than desks and forms of the most ordinary kind, and have no apparatus for 
 instruction, nor appendages, or conveniences either for exercise or such as are required 
 for the sake of modesty and decency." 
 
 In his annual Pteport for 1847, Dr. Ryerson incidentally refers to the character of 
 teachers in some districts. He says : — 
 
 " In one district, where intemperance heretofore prevailed to a considerable extent, 
 even among school teachers, the Superintendent gave notice that he would not give a 
 certificate of qualification to any but strictly sober candidates, and that, at the end of six 
 months he would cancel the certificates of all teachers who suffered themselves at any 
 time to become intoxicated. ... I know of two other districts in which the Superin- 
 tendents have acted thoroughly on the same principle, with the same happy results. 
 In a note in reference to it in the printed Form of Regulations, I remarked that ' no 
 intemperate or profane person should be intrusted with the instruction of youth.' . 
 No one will doubt that there are fewer unqualified and immoral teachers employed now 
 than there were before the passing of the present School Act (of 1846)." Pages 8 and 9, 
 
 In his circular issued to the newly formed County Boards of Examiners, dated 8th 
 October, 1850, Dr. Ryerson thus referred to this matter : — 
 
 '' Many representations have been made to this Department respecting intemperate 
 and profane and Sabbath-breaking teachers. ... I cannot but regard it as your 
 special mission to rid the profession of common school teachers of unworthy character, and 
 
 to protect the youth against the poison of a vicious teacher's example." 
 
 Report for 1850, pages 305, 306. 
 
 Dr. Ryerson's Practical Agencies to give Information and Remove Prejudice. 
 
 It will thus be seen from the foregoing, that at this time educational affairs were at 
 a low ebb. Dr. Ryerson, therefore, sought in every practical way to overcome this 
 educational apathy and inertia. His pen and personal effort were freely used. The first 
 circular to municipal councils — prepared by him — wa'B issued by the new Provincial 
 Board of Education in August, 1846. This he followed up by one from himself addressed 
 to county councils, in which he explained fully and at length the scope and objects of 
 
 6 (r.m.) 
 
82 
 
 the new scheme of popular education. This was done under three heads: — 1, That it 
 was " based upon the principles of our common Christianity." 2. That " upon the duty 
 of educating the youth of our country there exists but one opinion, and, therefore, there 
 should bo but one party," 3. That " the system of elementary education is public, not 
 private." 
 
 Another agency Dr. Ryerson sought to employ to aid the Department in its great 
 work. And by it he hoped to educate and rightly influence public opinion in favor of 
 the new departure then in progress. The plan he proposed to the Government in 1846, 
 to authorize the issue, under his direction, of a departmental Journal of Education, " to 
 be devoted," among other things, to the exposition of every part of our school system," 
 then new to the people, ..." and to the discussion of the various means of pro- 
 moting the efficiency of the schools." This the Government felt unwilling at the time to 
 do. He, therefore, undertook the expense and responsibility of the publication himself 
 in January, 1848. And it was not until years had demonstrated the practical value and 
 success of the proposed agency that the expense of the publication was provided for by 
 an annual vote of the Legislature. 
 
 A third agency which Dr. Ryerson successfully employed to aid the Department was 
 that of personally holding county school conventions, In explaining this project to the 
 Government in 1846, he said : — 
 
 " I propose .... to visit and employ one or two days in school discourse and 
 deliberation with the Superintendent, Visitors, Trustees and Teachers in each of the 
 several Districts of Upper Canada. I know of no means so effectual to remove pre- 
 judice, to create unanimity of views and feelings, and to excite a general interest in the 
 cause of popular education," etc. 
 
 This project was concurred in by the Government, on condition that the expense of 
 the proposed nearly three months' visitation •' should not exceed <£75." 
 
 Thus was inaugurated, in 1846, a series of county school conventions which, at 
 intervals of about live years each, were held all over the country. The early ones involved 
 travelling in all kinds of weather and in all kinds of conveyances, so as to keep engage^ 
 ments made weeks before. They were, however, of immense service to the Department 
 in removing prejudice, .settling difficulties and solving doubts as to the p.iacticability of 
 plans proposed for improving the condition of the schools and raising the intellectual and 
 .social status of the teacher. 
 
 Combined Opposition to the Pro.jected System op Education. 
 
 It was not to be expected that so comprehensive a scheme of education as that 
 proposed by Dr. Ryerson in 1846 and 1847 would meet with general acceptance. The 
 very revenue was the fact. It was as.sailed as revolutionary and oppressive. It certainly 
 was revolutionary in the best sense ; but not oppressive, for it was largely permissive and 
 wholly tentative. And, for many years the Town of Richmond, in the County of Carleton, 
 refused to establish schools under its provisions. The new measures were so far revolu- 
 tionary that they differed almost wholly from the former projected school acts. The 
 system proposed was composite. Its machinery was adopted chiefly from the State of 
 New York. The principle upon which the schools were to be supported was taken from 
 New England — Normal schools, from Germany, and the uniform series of school books, 
 from Ireland. All were, however, so blended together and harmonized, to meet the 
 requirements and circumstances of the country that they became, in Dr. Ryerson's moulding 
 hands, " racy of the soil." 
 
 Up to this time no one but Dr. Ryerson had been able to give a practical turn to the 
 latlier crude theories which had been held on the subject of popular education. He, 
 however, had to pay the penalty of all such reformers : but yet he lived to see the fuller 
 details of his system of education worked out on his own lines. 
 
 It is needless to say that Dr. Ryerson's scheme was assailed as impracticable. This 
 I have explained. It was held to be too comprehensive for the country. Even his. 
 
83 
 
 reference to the compact and systematized plan adopted in Prussia was seized upon as an 
 indication of his covert design to introduce the baneful system of so-called " Prussian 
 despotism," His commendation of " free schools," as a prospective feature of our edu- 
 cational system was denounced as an attempt to legalize an " outrageous robbery," and as 
 communistic " war against property." As an example of the injustice of these 
 criticisms on Dr. Ryerson's scheme of education, he said in a lecture on education 
 in 1847 :— 
 
 "I have seen in certain of the public prints, a provision of our school law ascribed 
 to Prussia, which was borrowed from the school law of the City of Buffalo ; and another 
 provision declared to be incompatible with the rights of man which forms the basis and 
 glory of the common school system of Massachusetts." 
 
 Although opposition to Dr, Ryerson's educational plans, as embodied in his school 
 acts, was somewhat general, yet it was singularly illogical. The sore point was that 
 it touched men's pockets in the form of school rates. 
 
 Educational Proceedings of District Councils in 1847, 1848. 
 
 An influential district council in the West sought to influence all of the others against 
 the new system, especially against the establishment of a Normal School. In a memorial 
 to the Legislature (which it sent broadcast), dated Hamilton, 10th November, 1847, and 
 signed by James Little, Chairman of the Education Committee, John White and 
 Francis Cameron, and adopted by the Gore District Council, the following passages 
 occur : 
 
 " With respect to the necessity of establishing a Noi-mal, with Elementary Model Schools in this Pro- 
 vince, memorialists are of opinion that, however well adapted, such an institution might be to the wants of 
 the old and densely populated countries of Europe, where services in almost every vocation will scarcely 
 yield the common necessaries of life, they are, so far as this object expected ti) be gained is concerned, 
 altogether unsuited to a country like Upper Canada. . . . Nor do your memorialists hope to pro- 
 vide qualified teachers by any other means, in the present circumstances of the country than securing as 
 heretofore, the services of those whose physical disabilities from age render this mode of obtaining a liveli- 
 hood the only one suited to their decaying energies, or by employing such of the newly arrived emigrants 
 as are qualified for common school teachers year by year as they come amongst us, and who will adopt this 
 as a means of temporary support, until their character and ability are known and turned to better account 
 for themselves." 
 
 This memorial having been sent to each of the district councils iii Upper Canada for 
 their concurrence, and with a view to procure the repeal of the School Act, 9 Vic, ch. 20, 
 the Colborne District Council not only refused to concur in it but subjected it to severe 
 criticism. In regard to the foregoing extract from the Gore District Memorial, the 
 Colborne Council (now Peterboro' and Victoria) in its report on that memorial said : 
 
 " That the moneys required to pay for the establishment and support of Normal and Model Schools 
 are little less than a waste of so much of the Legislative grant,' is an opinion in which your committee are 
 so far from concurring, that they believe it is from these sources must mainly arise the instrumentality 
 through which the friends of education can alone hope for the first considerable amelioration of the evils 
 they lament. . . . Nor can your committee reconcile it either with their just expectations, or 
 their sense of duty to rest satisfied with the services of those whose physical disabilities from age and decay- 
 ing energies render them unfit, or of those 'newly arrived emigrants,' whose 'unknown character and 
 abilities ' render them imable to procure a livelihood by any other means than by becoming the preceptors 
 of our children ; the dictators of their sentiments and manners ; the guardians of their virtue ; and in a high 
 degree the masters of their future destinies in this world and the next." 
 
 This report was prepared by Mr. Thomas Benson, Chairman of the Education Com- 
 mittee, and Warden of the District (father of Judge Benson of Port Hope). It was 
 adopted by the Colborne District Council in February, 1848.* 
 
 The Western District Council, in its memorial to the Legislature against the School 
 Act, represented that "spite, hatred and malice between neighbors and friends," existed, 
 and was " occasioned by the present School Act." It added : 
 
 " So numerous are the petitions on the subject that more than half of the time of the Council is taken 
 up in endeavoring to settle the differences, but unfortunately without any beneficial effect." 
 
 * Correspondence between members of the Government and the Chief Superintendent, 1850, pp. 17-20. 
 
84 
 
 The Chief Superintendent, in his report, referring to this statement says : 
 
 "Now, in examining the printed report of the committee, to whom all these petitions were referred, I 
 find that of the twenty-nine petitions presented to the Council, one prayed for the establishment of a 
 female school in one of the sections (which was granted) ; one prayed for a local school tax in a section ; 
 two related to the formation of new school sections, and the remaining twenty-five related to the disputes 
 as to the boundaries of scliool sections and tlie non-payment of school moneys by township superintendents. 
 Thus not one of these disputes could have arisen out of the School Act, but must have all been caused by 
 an improper division of the school sections, either by the township superintendents under the late Act, or 
 by the Council under the present statute.'" 
 
 In this (Western) District the Council says : 
 
 " We well know that a very large number of the trustees can neither read nor write, and, therefore, it 
 mui't be obvious tliat the greater part of the requirements of the law remain undone." 
 
 On this statement the Chief Superintendent remarks : 
 
 " In other districts where the trustees can read and write, and where the councillors are correspond- 
 ingly intelligent and discreet in their school proceedings, no disputes or inconvenience have, as far as I am 
 aware, occurred on this subject." 
 
 In the District of Dalhousie, the Chief Superintendent states : 
 
 " Still greater dissatisfaction and confusion were created by the mode of proceeding adopted by the 
 council. Before the passing of the present School Act the council of this district never imposed a school 
 assessment. ' . • The introduction of a district assessment (under the new Act) would naturally 
 
 excite same dissatisfaction, and especially in a district bordering on counties in Lower Canada where the 
 school assessment had been resisted. . . .In addition the Chief Superintendent adds : 
 
 " The Council in the autumn of 1847 passed a by-law to this effect : 
 
 " Whereas the school section division made by this Council at its last session, are in many instances, 
 discordant to the convenience and wishes of the inhabitants, and that to correct them satisfactorily this 
 present session is impracticable. The District Superintendent is empowered and required to make a distri- 
 bution of the school fund (legislative grant and county assessment) ' share and share alike,' among qualified 
 teachers without reference to the number of scholars under their tuition, but in proportion to the time such 
 teachers may have been teaching, etc." 
 
 Thus the Superintendent remarks, " this by-law contemplated the abolition of the statute requiring 
 the school grant to be distributed according to the school population of each section. It made no distinction 
 between the able teacher who taught sixty scholars and the young one who taught twenty ; it had no regard 
 to the engagements which maj' have been made by trustees according to law ; it required of teachers con- 
 ditions wnich the law had not enjoined, and proposed to deprive many of them of advantages which the law 
 had conferred. . . . Of cour.se I pointed out the illegality and injustice of the by-law and it was not 
 acted upon. At the session of the Council lately held, a resolution was adopted praying the Governor- 
 General to dissolve the Council that the sense of the inhabitants of the Dalhousie District might be taken 
 on the school law. . . . It is doubtless probable that many of the inhabitants have not distinguished 
 between the provisions of the law and the proceedings of their own Council— attributing to the former 
 what has been occasioned by the latter." * 
 
 Contrast the enlightened discussion of such questions to-day with the ignorant 
 dogmatism of that day, and you can form some idea of the magnitude of Dr. Ryerson's 
 labors, — not only in laying broad and deep the foundations for his superstructure, but in 
 seeking to overcome the deep-rooted and unreasoning prejudices of those days — days 
 indeed of anxiety and toil and tierce opposition, which I so well remember. 
 
 Estimate of Lord Elgin's Character by the Hon. W. H. Draper. 
 
 On the arrival in Canada of Lord Elgin, as Governor-General, Dr. Ryerson wrote 
 conBdentially to Hon. Attorney-General Draper (on the 16th February, 1847), asking him 
 for his " opinion of the new Governor-General." Mr. Draper replied on the 22nd as 
 follows : — 
 
 " As far as my opportunities of judging go, I think Canada will find cause of satis- 
 faction in having Lord Elgin for a Governor. He is industrious in habit, pleasing in 
 manner, extremely courteous and aflfable in bearing. I find him also diligent and shrewd 
 in inquiry ; and the oV)servations which fall from him show that he has studiously kept 
 pace with the great questions of the day (I do not mean our Canadian politics simply), 
 and besides the cultivation of classical education in its broader sense, he possesses a mind 
 stored with facts bearing on and illustrative of those questions. In these respects, or 
 more correctly speaking in the latter, and as regards trade and finance, he reminds me 
 
 * Chief Superintendent's Annual Report for 1847-8, page 6. 
 
85 
 
 more of Lord Sydenham than any other governor of my time. I think he possesses also 
 caution and firmness ; — that he will not resolve hastily, that he may not have to change 
 his resolves. He has large ideas of the capabilities and resources both of Canada and of the 
 British North American Provinces, and, as it strikes me, without any reference to a 
 political union of these provinces, thinks that a course might be taken to develop the 
 whole, by separate parts taking a common course in matters in which they have a 
 common interest — internal communication, favorable to our European commerce and con- 
 nections will serve as an illustration of the sort of questions to which I allude. 
 All this, of course, is mere opinion, but such are my first impressions, and as such, and no 
 more, I readily give them to you in reply to your enquiry, etc." 
 
 Subsequently, Dr. Ryerson met Lord Elgin in Montreal, and, in a letter to me, dated 
 24th July, 1847, he says :— 
 
 '* At his own request I have had an interesting interview with Lord Elgin. He is 
 exceedingly well versed in systems of education, and is a thoroughly practical man on the 
 subject." 
 
 Invaluable Assistance given to Dr. Ryerson by Lord Elgin. 
 
 It was fortunate that just at this crisis Canada was favored with the presence of one 
 of the most accomplished, in every sense of the term, of the Queen's representatives, the 
 Earl of Elgin and Kincardine. 
 
 That distinguished statesman, who afterwards filled with great dignity the highest 
 post in the civil service of Great Britain, that of Governor-General o£ India, reached 
 Canada at a critical transitional period in our history. Few can recall the incidents of 
 those days without a feeling of admiration for the fearlessness, tact, and ability with 
 which he discharged the delicate and difiicult duties of his high ofiice. 
 
 When Lord Elgin arrived in Canada in 1847, and when he removed to Toronto, after 
 the riot and burning of the Parliament House in Montreal in 1849, educational aflairs 
 were fiercely discussed and were yet almost at the low ebb at which Dr. Ryerson had 
 found them. Not that they had previously reached a higher plane and had gradually 
 settled down to a lower one. The reverse was the fact, but the question of education had 
 only then (in Dr. Ryerson's hands) begun to attract serious public attention. It was, 
 however, as I have explained, in an adverse direction, for the whole subject, in the 
 advanced form in which it was presented by Dr. Ryerson, was unpopular. It involved 
 taxation and other unpalatable " burdens," as its opponents averred. Notwithstanding 
 the zeal and ability with which Dr. Ryerson had collected and arranged his facts, analyzed 
 the various systems of education in Europe and America, and fortified himself with the 
 opinions of the most experienced educationists in these countries, the system which he 
 projected, and the school law which embodied it, continued to be fiercely assailed by a 
 portion of the press, and by hostile politicians. This hostility culminated in an event 
 which brought things to a crisis in 1849. 
 
 At this time, an administration was in otfice, one or two members of which were per- 
 sonally unfavorable to Dr. Ryerson's continuation in office. One of these, a prominent 
 and popular member of the cabinet (Hon. Malcolm Cameron, who afterward became a 
 warm friend of Dr. Ryerson) induced his colleagues to assent to the passage of a school 
 bill which practically legislated Dr. Ryerson out of office, besides being objectionable in 
 other respects. He at once tendered his resignation. The Hon. Robert Baldwin, 
 Attorney-General, declined to recommend its acceptance. By advice of the Cabinet, the 
 operation of the bill was suspended until a new one, f rauied by Dr. Ryerson, could be 
 prepared and passed. The result was the passage of the School Act of 1850 — popular in 
 its character and comprehensive in its provisions. It now forms the broad basis of the 
 present school system of Ontario. 
 
 It was at this period of our educational history that Lord Elgin first came into official 
 contact with our educational system. Being familiar with the Scottish parochial school 
 system, he soon mastered the whole subject, and perceived the great importance to the 
 whole country of the question which was then being so fiercely discu^ised. 
 
86 
 
 Being in England in 1853, Dr. Ryerson wrote to me there : — 
 
 " I was glad to learn that Lord Elgin was to go in the same steamship with you 
 from Boston. I have no doubt it will have proved interesting to him as well as to you, 
 and perhaps useful to you. I miss you very much from the office, but I do not like to 
 employ any more aid without sanction of the Government, though I could get no one to 
 take your place. 1 would wish you to write me what Lord Elgin may have thought or 
 have said as to our doings and plans of proceeding. If the library plan succeeds, it will 
 achieve noble results.* I feel that our success and happiness in the Department are 
 inseparably united." 
 
 It was indeed fortunate for my mission that I was on the same Cunai-d steamer to 
 England with His Excellency the late lamented Lord Elgin, to whom I entered into full 
 detail in regard to the objects of that mission. Before leaving the steamer. Lord Elgin 
 most kindly promised to aid me in every way he could while in England, and wrote 
 me his address as " Broom Hall, Dumfermline," in case I should have occasion to 
 refer to him. He also added the following paragraph to the letter of your instruc- 
 tions and authority, which, in more than one instance, I found to be of essential service 
 to me : — 
 
 " I believe the object of 'Mr. Hodgins' mission to be most important to Canada, and 
 I trust that he will meet with all support and encouragement. 
 
 (Signed) " Elgin and Kincardine, 
 
 " Governor-General. 
 "September, 1853." 
 
 One of my letters, reporting to Dr. Ryerson as far as I had gone, my proceedings in 
 England, having been enclosed to the Hon. Mr. Hincks, he said in reply : — " I return 
 you Mr, Hodgins' interesting letter, with thanks for its perusal. It was fortunate he 
 went by the same steamer as Lord Elgin. I am much interested in the success of your 
 libraries, which is beyond my most sanguine expectations. 
 
 " Quebec, 11th Oct. 1853." 
 
 I recall \Wth pleasure the great services which Lord Elgin then rendered to the cause 
 of education at a critical period of its history in this Province. His speeches and 
 addresses on the subject at that time had a wonderful effect in moderating the opposition 
 which Dr. Ryerson received while laying the foundations of our system of education. 
 They had also the potent ett'ect of popularizing that system in the estimation of the people 
 which it was designed to benefit. That popularity has, happily, continued to this day, 
 thanks in a great degree to the dignity imparted to the subject by the persuasive 
 eloquence of Lord Elgin. His eminence as a distinguished graduate of Oxford, and his 
 general knowledge of European systems of education, enabled him to speak with a pre- 
 cision and certainty which few could gainsay. It was a gratifying fact that he identified 
 himself personally, as well as officially, throughout the whole of his seven years' adminis- 
 tration, with the general education and intellectual improvement of the people of Canada. 
 The first bill to which His Excellency assented in the Queen's name was the School Act 
 of 1850, to which I have referred. 
 
 Proceedings of the First Council of Public Instruction — The Normal School. 
 
 One of the first and necessary acts of the Provincial Board of Educatiou, or first 
 council of public in.struction, was the adoption of a uniform series of text-books — one 
 only on each subject. Those chosen were the Irish National Series, with two additions. 
 The next important step taken by the Board was the establishment, in November, 1847, 
 of a Normal School, with the necessary adjunct of a Model School. The old Government 
 
 * Lord Elgin always referred to Ur. Ryerson's library scheme in his educational addresses as the 
 " Crown and Glory of the Institutions of the Province." 
 
87 
 
 House was fitted up as a Normal School, and the stable connected with it was renovated 
 and converted into a Model School, or school of practice for teachers in- training.* On the 
 removal of the seat of government to Toronto, in 1849, the Normal School was held in 
 the Temperance Hall, and other arrangements were made. 
 
 So successful were these schools in raising the status of the teaching profession that 
 the government of the day — the memorable Baldwin-Lafontaine administration — willingly 
 listened to a proposition of the Provincial Board of Education to grant funds for the pur- 
 chase of a site and the erection of suitable buildings for these schools. The Hon. Francis 
 Hincks, who was Inspector General, had (upon Dr. Ryerson's estimate) a proposed grant 
 of £15,000 put in the estimates of 1850 for the purposes named. A site of seven acres 
 and a half of land was purchased from the estate of the Hon. Peter M'Gill. The writer 
 of this retrospect had the pleasure (in the absence of Dr. Ryerson in Europe) of signing 
 the cheque for the purchase money, £4,500, and of seeing that the deed was duly made 
 out in the name of Her Majesty the Queen and her successors, and transferred for safe 
 keeping to the Crown Lands Department. 
 
 After the plans for the buildings had been approved, certain important additions 
 were considered desirable (chiefly a theatre, or central lecture hall, etc.). As the grant 
 already made was quite insufficient for the proposed additions, Mr. Hincks was once more 
 appealed to. He responded very promptly and heartily, and recommended to his 
 colleagues that a further grant be made, which was done, and an item of £10,000 
 additional was placed in the estimates of 1851 and concurred in by the Legislature. The 
 work then proceeded and near the close of the second year it was brought to a conclusion. 
 
 So carefully had these two grants been husbanded that when the buildings were 
 completed and furnished, there was a balance left over of £90. With this sum the 
 expense of fitting up the Departmental Library was defrayed. The result was highly 
 gratifying to Mr. Hincks, and he so expressed himself at the opening of the buildings in 
 the following year. 
 
 Laying the Corner Stone of the Normal School Building, 1851. 
 
 On Wednesday, the 2nd of July, 1851, the imposing ceremony of laying the corner 
 stone of the new edifice took place. The guard of honor was the 71st Highlanders, under 
 Sir Hew Dalrymple. Ministers of both Houses of Parliament, the city corporation, etc., 
 attended. The inscription on the brass plate — 1 quote from the original, as written by 
 Dr. Ryerson — was as follows : 
 
 " This Institution, Erected by the Enlightened Liberality of Parliament, is Designed for the Instruc- 
 tion and Training of School Teachers upon Christian Principles. " 
 
 Right Rev. Bishop Charbonnell, to whom was assigned the duty of presenting the 
 Governor-General with the silver trowel, spoke with great cordiality, and with French 
 grace and eloquence. He said : 
 
 " MoNSEiGNEUR, — Je suis tres heureux et tres honore d avoir ete choisi par le Conseil de ITnstruction 
 Publique, dont votre Excellence a daigne me faire membi'e, pour lui presenter cette truelie d'argent aux 
 industrieuses emblemes du blazon des Bruces. 
 
 " L'etablissement dont votre Excellence va poser la pierre angulaire, Monseigneur, sera un des plus 
 glorieux monuments de tout ce que son liberal gouvernment aura fait pour la prosperite, de ce pays : ad 
 cedificationem." 
 
 This in substance is as follows : — 
 
 "My Lokd, — I am very happy and am highly honored to have been chosen by the Council of Public 
 Instruction — of which your Excellency has condescended to make me a member— to present to you, on their 
 behalf, this silver trowel emblazoned with the industrial emblems which form the arms of the Bruces. 
 
 " The institution, of which your Excellency is about to lay the corner stone, is destined to be, my Lord, 
 one of the most glorious monuments amongst all of those which your liberal administration has devised for 
 the welfare of this country." 
 
 *Apropros of this, Dr. Ryerson, in a private note to Hon. W. H. Draper, in April, 1846, said : ~ 
 " The stables of the Government House may be fitted up for Model Schools, etc, It is a curious and 
 not interesting fact that the stables of Louis the Fourteenth, at Versailles, are now used for the great 
 National Normal School of France, and is the most splendid establishment of the kind on the Continent of 
 Europe. " 
 
88 
 
 In laying the corner-stone, Lord Elgin was particularly happy in his reply -to these 
 remarks, and to the address of the newly-constituted Council of Public Instruction. He 
 said, addressing Dr. Ryerson : — 
 
 " It appears to me, sir, . . . that this young country has had the advantage of profiting by the 
 experience of older countries -by their failures and disappointments, as well as by their successes; and 
 that experience, improved by your diligent e.vertions and excellent judgment . . . and fortified by the 
 suiiport of the Council of Education, and the Government and Parliament of the Province, has enabled 
 Upper Canada to place herself in the van among 'he nations in the great and important work of providing 
 an erticient system of general education for the whole community. . . . I do not think that I shall be 
 charged with exaggeration when I affirm that this work is the work of our day and generation— that it is 
 the jtroblem in our modern society which is most difficult of solution. . . . How has Upper Canada 
 addressed herself to the execution of this great work ? . . . Sir, I understand from your statements — 
 and I come to the s.ame conclusions from my own investigation and observation —that it is the principle of 
 our educational system that its foundation be laid deep in the firm rock of our commf>n Christianity. , . 
 Permit me to say, both as an humble Christian man and as the head of the Civil Government of the Pro- 
 vince, that it gives me unfeigned pleasure to perceive that the j'outh of this country, . . . who are 
 destined in their maturer years to meet in the discharge of the duties of civil life upon terms of perfect civil 
 and religious equality— I say it gives me pleasure to hear and to know that they are receiving an education 
 which is fitted so well to qualify them for the discharge of these important duties ; and that while their 
 hearts are yet tender . . . they are associated under conditions which are likely to provoke amongst 
 them the growth of those truly Christian graces— mutual respect, forbearance and charity." 
 
 One of His Excellency's last acts in Toronto, when about to leave the country, was 
 to visit those buildings and express his satisfaction with the several departments of the 
 system therein conducted. 
 
 The County Model Schools of 1843-1850. 
 
 The necessity of these schools was felt more than forty years ago, and provision was 
 then made for their establishment. Thus, in the first School Act passed in 1843 to regu- 
 late Common Schools in this province, section 57 of that Act declares : — 
 
 " That it shall and may be lawful for the court of wardens of any county in Upper 
 Canada ... to raise and levy by county rate a sum not exceeding .£200 (SSOO), 
 and to appropriate and expend the same for the maintenance of one or more Coiuity 
 Model Schools, within such county and to constitute, by by-law, or by-laws, to that effect, 
 any township, town, or city school, or schools within the county, to be, for any term not 
 less than one year, such County Model School or Schools," etc. 
 
 " A sum not less than £40 " was appropriated to each such school towards ' the 
 payment of the teachers and the purchase of books and apparatus.' The 66th section of 
 the same Act also declaied : — 
 
 " That in every such township, town or city Model School graituitous instruction 
 shall bo given to teachers of Common Schools within the toft'nship, town or city, wherein 
 such Model School may be established during such periods and under such regulations of 
 the township, town or city superintendent may from time to time direct." 
 
 " Again, in the first Common School Act prepared by Dr. Ryerson, and passed in 
 1846, after providing for the establishment of District Model Schools — it was declared 
 (sec. 40) ;— 
 
 " That at every such District Model School gratuitous instruction shall be afforded 
 to all teachers of Common Schools within the district in which such Model School may 
 be established during such period and under such regulations as the district superintendent 
 may from time to time direct." 
 
 These County Model Schools (as will be seen) had higher functions than have the 
 County Model Schools of the present day. They were designed to aSord instruction to 
 persons who were already teachers, and were thus in Dr. Ryerson's views constituted local 
 Normal Schools for that purpose. So much importance did Dr. Ryerson attach to the 
 value of training institutions for teaching, and so much did he anticipate a demand for 
 ihem that on page 162 of his " Report on a System of Public Elementary Instruction," 
 published in 1845, he said : — 
 
 " As soon as examples of the advantages of trained teachers can be given, I believe 
 
89 
 
 the ratio of demand will increase faster than that of supply, and that an additional Normal 
 School will soon be required in eaoh of the most populous districts." 
 
 Then again so jealously was the efficiency of these District or County Model Schools 
 guarded that in the same Act, 9 Victoria, chapter 20, it was provided that no teacher 
 could be appointed to such school without the approval in writing of the district superin- 
 tendent, and unless he held a certificate from the Normal School (which was established 
 in 1847). In addition to these requirements power was given to the district superinten- 
 dent to suspend or dismiss Model School teachers and to appoint others in their places, in 
 case the local trustees neglected or refused to do so. This district superintendent was 
 also authorized to examine (as they often did at the Model School) all " candidates for 
 teaching in Common Schools " and to give them certificates of qualification, special or 
 general, at his discretion. 
 
 The question may here be asked, " Of what practical value were these County Model 
 Schools in the work of training school teachers, and did they at all discharge the higher 
 functions to which reference is made ? " 
 
 It was clear that these schools were regarded in those early days as a necessary 
 adjunct to our system of education, for the very purpose of aiding teachers in their pro- 
 fessional work. Thus, Mr. Hamilton Hunter, in his report as School Superintendent of 
 the Home District for the year 1844 says : — 
 
 " The deficiency in the qualification of teachers could be remedied hy establishing in 
 each district a Model School upon a good scale, and having it under the management of a 
 superior teacher or teachers. . . . The School Bill makes provision for this, etc." 
 
 In his report for 1847 Dr. Ryerson thus speaks of the operation and success of these 
 schools wherever they had been established : — 
 
 "The School Superintendent of Dalhousie District says: 'In this [County Model School] 
 I have there held public examinations of Common School teachers ; and on some occasions, 
 when reluctant to give them certificates, I have sent them to the Model School Master for 
 information and examination . . . [These teachers] did not make any permanent 
 stay except one, merely learning the mode of instruction, the value of the studies and disci- 
 cipline of the school.' . . . The Superintendent of the Johnstone District says : — . . . 
 ' Much good has been done by the establishrafut of the Model School in this district. 
 Several teachers, whose education was by no means good, have acquired a sound know- 
 ledge of the subjects which are required to be taught in the Common Schools.' The 
 Superintendent of Schools in the Midland District says : — ' Almost every teacher who has 
 attended the Model School for any length of time is now teaching with good success.' " 
 
 In the Act which was hurriedly passed in 1849, but which, by Order-in-Council, 
 never went into operation, provision was made to establish, or continue the County 
 Model Schools "in any township, town, or city," and granting to each of them "£25 
 over and above the sum to which such schools would be entitled as a Common School 
 . . . which sum shall be expended in the payment of a teacher or teachers, and for 
 no other purpose." 
 
 In the Act of 1850, provision for the establishment and maintenance of Township 
 Model Schools was made. Township councils were authorized to raise a special tax for 
 the support and etficiency of these schools ; and it was " provided likewise, that tuition 
 to student-teachers in such Model Schools should be free." 
 
 The reason why Township Model Schools were substituted for county ones, is given 
 by Dr. Ryerson in his circular to town reeves, dated 12th August, 1856. Other reasons 
 contributed to this change, but the circular gives the chief reason. 
 
 " The attempts of district councils to establish Model Schools have thus far proved 
 entire failures. . . . : The late district councils have in every instance, except one, 
 abandoned the attempt. ... To the success and usefulness of a Model School, a 
 model teacher, at any expense, is indispensable, and then a Model School-house, properly 
 furnished, and their judicious and energetic management." 
 
90 
 
 In addition, I may say that the causes of failure of these valuable training institu- 
 tions in 1850, may be incidentally learned from the very words here used by Dr. Ryerson 
 by way of suggestions to town reeves. These schools had neither model teachers, nor 
 were the buildings " model school-houses." Besides, the district superintendents of that 
 day, and after them, the township superintendents, had, as a rule, no experience as trained 
 teachers themselves. 
 
 By the Act of 1871, the status and qualifications of these most important officers 
 were raised to their present high standard. The very name was changed, and that of 
 inspector was substituted. . 
 
 It was felt by Dr. Ryerson that until these new officers had secured some degree of 
 popular favor, and had proved their efficiency as organizers of schools, and as practical 
 judges of the necessary qualifications of teachers, it would be useless for him to attempt 
 the re-establishment of the Oounty Model Schools. Before that time had fully arrived he 
 retired from office — leaving this important and necessary duty to be undertaken (as it was 
 efficiently) by his successor, Hon. Adam Crooks, as Minister of Education. 
 
 Fundamental Principles of Dr. Ryerson's Scheme of Education. 
 
 In founding the system of public instruction for Upper Canada, Dr. Ryerson wisely 
 laid down certain fundamental principles which he believed to be essential to the success 
 and stability of that system. These general principles may be thus summarized : 
 
 1. That the machinery of education should be iu the hands of the people themselves, 
 and should be managed through their own agency ; they should, therefore, be held, be 
 consulted, by means of public meetings and conferences, in regard to all school legislation. 
 This he himself did every few years. 
 
 2. That the aid of the Government should only be given where it could be used 
 most eifectually to stimulate and assist local etfort in this great work. 
 
 3. That the property of the country is responsible for, and should contribute toward 
 the education of the entire youth of the country ; and that, as a complement to this, 
 " compulsory education " should necessarily be enforced. 
 
 4. That a thorough and systematic inspection of the schools is essential to their 
 vitality and efficiency. 
 
 These and other important principles. Dr. Ryerson kept steadily in view during his 
 long administration of the school system of his native Province. He was not able to 
 embody them all at once in his earlier school bills, but he did so in the final legislation 
 on the subiect with which he was connected in 1870-1874. Their judicious application 
 to the school system contributed largely, under the Divine blessing, which he ever 
 sought, to the wonderful success of his labors. 
 
 Can Upper Canada Emulate the State of New York in Educational Matters? 
 
 In his "Address to the People of Upper Canada" on school affairs in 1850, Dr. 
 Ryerson thus answers this question : — 
 
 " Another ground of encouragement in our country's educational work is the practical 
 proof already acquired of the possibility of not only improving our schools, but of success- 
 fully emulating our American neighbours in this respect. Often have we heard this, 
 both publicly and privately, pronounced Utopian ; and often have we sought in friendly 
 discussion to prove that it was neither impracticable nor extravagant to aini in rivalling 
 our New York neighbours in our Common Schools." — Journal of Eilucation for Upper 
 Canada, vol. 3, page 2. 
 
 In his report for 1851, Dr. Ryerson returns to this subject. He says : — 
 
 " The period is very recent when the [subject of educational comparison with the 
 State of New York] would have been an absurdity — when the word ' contrast ' must have 
 
91 
 
 been employed instead of the word ' comparison,' when not a few of our fellow country- 
 men, and some of our public men, considered the project, or the idea of emulating the 
 Common School doings of our New York neighbours, as presumptuous and chimerical. I 
 have not viewed the noble and patriotic exertions of the American people in any spirit of 
 jealousy. ... I hold up their example to the admiration and imitation of the people of 
 Canada ; but I have not despaired of, much less depreciated my own country ; and have 
 had, and have still in a higher degree than ever, a strong conviction that there are qualities 
 in the people of Upper Canada, which, under a proper and possible organization, and with 
 judicious counsel, would place schools and education in this country upon more than a 
 level with what we have witnessed and admired in the State of New York. It is true 
 our American neighbours have had more than thirty years the start of us ; but I am 
 persuaded we shall not require half that time to overtake them — profiting, as we have 
 done, and doubtless will do, by their mistakes and failures, as well as by their ingenuity 
 and success. To rebuke an unpatriotic spirit of Canadian degradation in which some 
 Canadians indulge,* and to animate the hopes and exertions of the true friends of our 
 intellectual and social progress, I will show what has already been accomplished in Upper 
 Canada in respect to Common Schools by a comparison, in a few particulars, with 
 what has been done in the State of New York." (The particulars which Dr. Ryerson 
 points out are seven in number). — Report for 1851, (written in 1852), page 17. 
 
 In his reply to a complimentary letter from the Municipal Council of the County of 
 Norfolk, in 1851, Dr. Ryerson thus referred to this subject : — 
 
 " No person who has at all studied the subject of comparative school legislation 
 between Canada and other countries, can fail to observe that there is an extent of local 
 discretion and power in each of our School and County Municiijalities not found in any 
 one of the neighbouring States, while there are other elements incorporated into our 
 school system, which secure to the remotest municipality of Upper Canada the informa- 
 tion and facilities which can alone be acquired and provided by a Public Department. 
 But the rational conviction and voluntary co-operation of the people themselves have 
 been relied upon and appealed to as the basis of exertion and the instrument of success. 
 When, therefore, steps were taken to improve the text-books of the schools, a set of the 
 books recommended was procured and furnished to each County Municipality in Upper 
 Canada, that the people might examine and judge of the desirableness of the books pro- 
 posed, in regard to both excellence and cheapness. In promoting an improvement in the 
 condition and character of school-houses, plans and illustrations of school-houses and 
 premises were procured and placed in the hands of the local councils, and several of them 
 were published in the Jourmd of Education. The same course has been adopted in 
 respect to School Maps, etc. And in pressing upon the public mind the necessity and 
 advantage of duly qualified School Teachers, an institution has been established to train 
 them ; and the specimens of Teachers thus trained (though but partially trained in most 
 mstances, from the short period of their training) have excited a desire and demand for 
 improved teachers in every County in Upper Canada. I trust this year will witness the 
 introduction of Libraries — thus completing the establishment of every branch of our 
 school system. 
 
 " In all this there has been no coercion— but a perfect blending of freedom and 
 unity, of conviction and action ; and the entire absence of any opposition to the school 
 system during the recent elections throughout Upper Canada, shows how general and 
 cordial is the conviction of the people as to its adaptation to their circumstances and 
 interests. 
 
 " I have the deepest conviction of the strong common sense and patriotism of the 
 Canadian people at large — a conviction founded on long observation and comparison 
 
 * Dr. Ryerson constantly deprecated, in these early years, this want of the spirit of Canadian Patriotism. 
 In an eloquent paper (in the third volume of the Journal of Education) he shows that " Canadian Patriotism 
 {is) the Lever of Canadian Greatness. " He sums it up in these words : "It cannot be too strongly impressed 
 upon every mind that it is on Canadian energy, Canadian ambition, Canadian self-reliance, skill and enter- 
 prize — in a word, on Canadian patriotism— that depends Canadian prosperity, elevation and happiness." 
 —Page 40. 
 
92 
 
 between the people of Canada and those of many other countries ; and I have a faith, 
 little short of full assurance, as to the advancing and glorious future of our country. 
 With this conviction and faith, and animated with the consciousness of general approval 
 and co-operation on the part of the people, I shall renew my humble contributions of 
 labour to the common treasury of Canadian progress and civilization." 
 
 Establishment of the Educational Depository, and its Results, 
 
 In 1850-51, Dr. Ryerson, while in England, made arrangements for establishing a 
 library, a prize book and an apparatus and map depository, in connection with his Depart- 
 ment. His reasons for doing so may be thus briefly stated : 
 
 1. He felt it to be practically useless to train teachers in the best methods of impart- 
 ing instruction, and in the use of apparatus and other school appliances in the normal 
 school and not provide for them, when in charge of schools, a constant and abundant 
 supply of these necessary appliances at the very cheapest rates, 
 
 2. He held it to be equally necessary that the pupils, who had acquired a taste for 
 reading and knowledge in the schools, should have an equally abundant and perennial 
 supply of the best and purest literature as it is issued from the press ; otherwise they 
 would be sure to procure reading matter (often pernicious, as he had painful proof) for 
 themselves. 
 
 3. He could see no distinction, and therefore could not admit of any, in the principle 
 of providing such a two-fold supply of school material and reading matter, and in that of 
 providing trained teachers and skilled inspectors at the expense of the Province, as well 
 as a money bonus to aid in maintaining the schools in a state of efficiency. 
 
 4. He further felt that it was immaterial whether the money voted by Parliament 
 was expended in one direction or the other, so long as in each department of the system 
 the best interests and necessities of the schools were consulted, and the symmetry and 
 efficiency of the school system, as a whole, were preserved and promoted. 
 
 5. He projected this plan of supply on a purely commercial bisis, and so arranged 
 and successfully carried out his scheme that while there was distributed nearly a million 
 dollars' worth of school material and books up to the time when thu depository was closed, 
 it did not cost the country anything for the expenses of its management, as it more than 
 paid its way. An elaborate report on this subject was prepared by ^fr. James Brown^ 
 an experienced accountant, under the direction of Hon. Adam Crooks, the first Minister 
 of Education. It more than sustained the statement here made. The particulars are as 
 follows : — 
 
 Abstract of Depository Schedule Presented to the Legislature in 1877. 
 
 Total amount of legislative grants to the depository for all purposes, viz. : 
 (1) Purchase of stook, and (2) Salaries and the entire cost of manage- 
 ment, etc., 1850 to 1875 inclusive $811,523 72 
 
 Total value of books, maps and apparatus despatched from the depository, 
 
 1850 to 1875 inclusive .' . 803,067 86 
 
 Difference to be accounted for 8,455 86 
 
 Net value of the stock on hand at the end of 1875, after paying all expenses 
 
 of management, etc 79,509 41 
 
 Deduct the dillerence to be accounted for (as above) 8,455 86 
 
 Grand total of profits made by the depository after paying all charges, as 
 
 above, during the years 1850-1875 71,054 55 
 
93 
 
 Dr. Eyerson a Commissioner ox King's College, etc., New Brunswick in 1854. 
 
 On the 1st of May, 1854, the Legislature of New Brunswick passed an Act empow- 
 ering the Lieutenant-Governor to appoint a Royal Commission : — 
 
 " To enquire into the present state of King's College, its management and utility, 
 with a view of improving the same, and rendering that institution more generally useful, 
 and of suggesting the best mode of effecting that desirable object," etc. 
 
 In accordance with this Act, Sir Edmund Head, the then Lieutenant-Governor, in 
 August, 1854, appointed the following gentlemen as commissioners, viz. : — Hon. John 
 Hamilton Gray, (late Judge of the High Court of British Columbia), Rev. Dr. Egerton 
 Ryerson, John William (now Sir Wm.) Dawson, Hon. John Simcoe Saunders, and Hon. 
 James Brown. 
 
 In accepting the position of commissioner. Dr. Ryerson, at the close of his letter to 
 Provincial Secretary Partelow, said : — 
 
 " When I mentioned to the head of the Canadian Administration the request which 
 had been made to me from New Brunswick, and the probability that a compliance with 
 it would cause my absence for two or three weeks from the duties of my department, he 
 thought I ought, by all means, to go — that it was part of my appropriate work, and that 
 we should regard each Province of British North America as a part of our own country. 
 
 " New Brunswick is so to me, in a peculiar sense, as the birth-place of my sainted 
 mother and my elder brothers and sisters." 
 
 The commission met first at Fredericton, and afterwards at Toronto. To Dr. 
 Ryerson was entrusted the principal duty of drawing up the elaborate report, and in 
 Hon. J. H. Gray's letter as chairman, accompanying the report in December, 1854, he says : 
 
 " I beg to express, with the full ccncurrence of my fellow commissioners, our acknow- 
 ledgements of the very valuable assistance afforded us by Dr. Ryerson. His great 
 experience and unquestioned proficiency on all subjects connected with education, justly 
 entitle his opinion to great weight." 
 
 Sir Wm. Dawson, in a letter to Mr. Gray, thus summarizes the contents of the 
 report : — 
 
 " 1st. The improvement of the College course of instruction and its extension by the 
 introduction of special courses. 2ndly, The definition of the true place of the Provincial 
 ■College in its relations to the other educational institutions of the Province, and to the 
 religious beliefs of the people ; and 3rdly, The union of all the educational institutions in 
 a Provincial university system, under official supervision." 
 
 A change in the Government of New Brunswick in 1854, prevented the report being 
 considered in the Legislature at that time. In a letter from Mr. Gray to Dr. Ryerson, 
 dated May 15, 1855, he says : — 
 
 " The change of Government prevented our report being adopted and acted upon, 
 but it met with universal approbation, and from every portion of the Province the voice 
 of praise has gone up. I give you credit for it all ; and in ray remarks in the House, I 
 made my acknowledgements publicly to you and Mr. Dawson." 
 
 In a confidential letter to me, on Separate School matters, from Dr. Ryerson, dated 
 Quebec, January 30, 1858, he said : — 
 
 " Sir Edmund Head (now Governor-General), highly approved of my Report, etc. , 
 on the New Brunswick College question and has sent it to the authorities of McGiU 
 College to see if they cannot adopt something of the same kind." 
 
 Mr. Gray had hoped that the comprehensive bill proposed by the commission in 
 1854, and to give efi'ect to their recommendations relating to King's College, Normal and 
 Model Schools, and a Chief Superintendent of Education, would be passed in the following 
 year, 1855. In this he was disappointed, for the bill did not pass until 1860. In a 
 letter to Dr. Ryerson from the Hon. Charles Fisher, dated Fredericton, 14th May, 1860, 
 he said : — 
 
94 
 
 " After years of controversy and diliiculty we have passed an Act to remodel King's 
 College on the plan proposed by your commission, under the title of the University of New- 
 Brunswick. We have not connected the College or the head of it with the other educational 
 interests in the Province, but confined him to the University, and he must be a layman. 
 This provision was inserted to prevent difficulty." * 
 
 Partial Chkonolooical Sketch of Dr. Ryersok's Educational Work, 1855, etc. 
 
 I will gow give a brief summary, in chronological order, of the successive steps 
 which Dr. Ryerson took to develop the system of education which he had founded. 
 
 In 1855 Dr. Ryerson established meteorological stations in connection with twelve 
 selected county grammar schools, ten following the coast line of the lakes and on the 
 large rivers, and two entirely inland. In this he was aided by Colonel now General Sir 
 (J. H.) Lefroy, R. E., for many years director of the Provincial (now Dominion) Mag- 
 netical Observatory at Toronto. Sets of instruments, having been purchased in London 
 and tested at the Kew Observatory, were sent out to the twelve stations, duly equipped 
 and provided with all necessary appliances. 
 
 In 1857 Dr. Ryerson made his third educational tour in Europe, where he procured, 
 at Antwerp, Brussels, Florence, Rome, Paris and London, an admirable collection of 
 copies of paintings by the Old Masters, statues, busts, etc., besides various other articles 
 of a typical character for an educational museum in connection with the Department. In 
 18G7 I was deputed to largely add to this museum collection, which I did in Paris, 
 London, etc., especially in the direction of Egyptian and Assyrian antiquities, busts, 
 casts, fictile ivory, etc. 
 
 In 1858-61 Dr. Ryerson took a leading part in a protracted public discussion before 
 a committee of the House of Assembly, in favor of grants to the various " outlying " 
 denominational universities, chiefly in terms of Hon. Robert Baldwin's liberalized Uni- 
 versity Act of 1853. He maintained that these colleges "did the State some service," 
 and that it svas right that their claims should be recognised in a substantial manner, as 
 colleges of a central university. He deprecated the multiplication of universities in the 
 Province, which he held would be the result of a rejection of the proposed scheme. His 
 plan was not adopted, and universities were increased from five to eight subsequently. 
 Twenty-five years after the close of that discussion a scheme for the confederation of these 
 colleges was again considered but without much eflect. 
 
 In 1862, Dr. Ryerson addressed a circular to boards of trustees in cities and towns, 
 deploring the " numbers of children in these centres of population, growing up with no 
 other education than a training in idleness, vagrancy and crimp." He added : "I have, 
 at different times, submitted three propositions or plans for the accomj)lishment of the 
 object of free schools in cities and towns. First, that as the property of all is taxed for 
 the common school education of all, all should be compelled to allow their children tlie 
 means of such education at either public or private schools. Or, secondly, that each 
 municipality should be empowered to deal with the vagrancy of children of school age, or 
 the neglect of their education, as a crime, subject to such penalties and such measures 
 for its prevention as each municipality, in its own discretion, might from time to time 
 adopt. Or, thirdly, that the aid of religious benevolence should be invoked and encour- 
 aged to supplement the agency of our present school system." 
 
 Before bringing the matter again before the Government, Dr. Ryerson solicited the 
 opinion and suggestions of the school boards on the subject. 
 
 *In 185S Mr. Heniy Fisher (Brotlier of lion. Charles Fisher) was avipointed Superintendent of Educa- 
 tion for New Brunswick. He visited Dr. Ryerson in that year to confer with him before undertaking the 
 duties of his new office. His death occurred in ISGO, and in communicating the sad news to Dr. Ryerson, 
 Hon. Charles Fisher, referring to his brother, said : — 
 
 " He wished particularly (just before his death) to be remembered to you, and that I .should thank you 
 for your kindness to him on all occasions. He was succeeding in his efforts to improve the educational 
 interests of the Province, and had been enabled to secure the support of all parties." 
 
95 
 
 Bishop Fraser's Estimate of the U. C. System of Education in 1863. 
 
 In 1863, Rev. James (aftex'wards Bishop) Eraser (of Manchester), was appointed a 
 Royal Commission to enquire into the American and Canadian systems of education. 
 From his report, published after his return to England, I quote the following passages : — 
 
 " The Canadian system of education, in those main features of it which are common 
 to both Provinces, makes no pretence of being original. It confesses to a borrowed and 
 eclectic character. The neighboring States of New York and Massachusetts, the Irish, 
 English and Prussian systems, have all contributed elements, which have been combined 
 with considerable skill, and the whole administered with remarkable energy, by those to 
 whom its construction was confided. It appears to me, however, that its fundamental 
 ideas were first developed by Mr, (now, I believe. Sir Arthur) Buller, in the masterly 
 report on the state of education in Canada, which he addressed in the year 1838 to Lord 
 Durham, the then Grovernor-General, in which he sketched the programme of a system, 
 ' making,' as he candidly admitted, 'no attempt at originality, but keeping constantly in 
 view, as models, the system in force in Prussia and the United States, particularly the 
 latter, as being most adapted to the circumstances of the colony.' 
 
 " As a result of Mr. Buller's recommendations, (not, however, till after the legislative 
 union of the Provinces which Lord Durham had suggested, as the best remedy for the 
 various political ills under which they severally laboured,) a law was passed in 1841, 
 covering both Provinces in its range, for the establishment and maintenance of public 
 schools. It provided for the appointment of a Superintendent of Education for the whole 
 Province, with two Assistant Superintendents under him, one for each of the sections. 
 A sum of $200,000 was appropriated for the support of schools, which was to be dis- 
 tributed among the several municipal districts, in proportion to the number of children 
 of school age in each of them; $80,000 being assigned to Upper and $120,000 to Lower 
 Canada, such being the then ratio of their respective populations. 
 
 "The circumstances of the two sections, however, particularly in the proportions of 
 Roman Catholics to Protestants in each, and the extent to which the Roman Catholic 
 religion may be said to be established in Lower Canada, were soon found to be so differ- 
 ent that insuperable difficulties vvere encountered in working a combined system under 
 one central administration, and in 1845 the law was changed. The nominal office of 
 Chief Superintendent was abolished, and the entire executive administration of the system 
 was confined to the sectional superintendents, and the Provinces, for all educational pur- 
 poses, again became separated. The law itself was thoroughly revised and adapted to 
 the peculiar wants of each Province, as ascertained by experience ; and ever since there 
 have been two systems at work, identical in their leading idea, diftering, sometimes widely, 
 in their details, administered by independent executives, and without any organic relations 
 at all. 
 
 " Before we proceed to observe the manner and record the results of its practical 
 working, it is proper to premise that it is a purely permissive, not a compulsory system, 
 and its adoption by any municipality is entirely voluntary. . . Entering a Canadian 
 school, with American impressions fresh upon the mind, the first feeling is one of dis- 
 appointment. One misses the life, the motion, the vivacity, the precision — in a word, 
 the brilliancy. But as you stay, and pass both teacher and pupils in review, the feeling 
 of disappointment gives way to a feeling of surprise. You find that this plain, unpre- 
 tending teacher has the power, and has successfully used the power, of communicating 
 real, solid knowlddge and good sense to those youthful minds, which, if they do not 
 move rapidly, at least grasp, when they do take hold, firmly. If there is an appearance 
 of what the Americans call " loose ends " in the school, it is only an appearance. The 
 knowledge is stowed away compactly enough in its proper compartments, and is at hand, 
 not perhaps very promplty, but pretty surely, when wanted. To set off agttinst their 
 quickness, I heard many random answers in American schools ; while, per contra to the 
 slowness of the Canadian scholar, I seldom got a reply very wide of the mark. The 
 whole teaching was homely, but it was sound. I chanced to meet a schoolmaster at 
 Toronto, who had kept school in Canada, and was then keeping school at Haarlem, New 
 
9G 
 
 York, and he gave Canadian education the preference for thoroughness and solid results. 
 Each system — or rather, I should say, the result of each system — seems to harmonize 
 best with the character of the respective peoples. The Canadian chooses his type of 
 school as the Vicar of Wakefield's wife chose her wedding-gown, and as the Vicar of 
 Wakefield chose his wife, " not for a fine, glossy surface, but for such qualities as will 
 wear well." I cannot say, judging from the schools which I have seen — which I take 
 to be types of their best schools — that their choice has been misplaced, or that they 
 have any reason to be disappointed with the results. I speak of the general character 
 of education to which they evidently lean. That the actual results should be 
 unequal, often in the widest possible degree, is true of education under all systems, 
 everywhere. 
 
 " One of the most interesting featuivs in the Canadian system is the way in which 
 it has endeavored to deal with what we find to be one of our most formidable difficul- 
 ties, the religious difiiculty. In Canada it has been dealt with by the use of two expe- 
 dients ; one, by prescribing certain rules and regulations, which it was hoped would 
 allow of religious instruction being given in the schools without introducing sectarianism 
 or hurting consciences ; the other, by permitting, in certain cases, the establishment of 
 "separate," which are practically denominational, and in fact Roman Catholic schools. 
 
 " The permission under certain circumstances to establish separate, that is, denomina- 
 tional schools, is a peculiar feature of the svstem both of Upper and Lower Canada. 
 Dr. Ryerson thinks that the admission of the principle is a thing to be regretted, though 
 at the same time he considers that the advantages which it entails entirely rest with those 
 who avail themselves of its provisions, and he would not desire to see any coercion used 
 either to repeal or modify them. 
 
 " Such, in all its main features, is the school system of Upper Canada. A system, in 
 the eyes of its administrators, who regard it with justifiable self-complacency, not perfect 
 but yet far in advance, as a system of national education, of anything that we can show 
 at home. It is indeed very remarkable to me that in a country, occupied in the greater 
 part of its area by a sparse and anything but wealthy population, whose predominant 
 characteristic is as far as possible removed from the spirit of enterprise, an educational 
 system so complete in its theory and so capable of adaptation in practice should have 
 been originally organized, and have been maintained in what, with all allowances, must 
 still be called successful operation for so long a period as twenty-five years. It shows 
 what can be accomplished by the energy, determination and devotion of a single earnest 
 man. What national education in Great Britain owes to Sir James Kay Shuttleworth, 
 what education in New England owes to Horace Mann, that debt education in Canada 
 owes to Egerton Ryerson. He has been the object of bitter abuse, of not a little mis- 
 representation ; but he has not swerved from his policy or from his fixed ideas. 
 Through evil report and good report he has resolved, and he has found others to sup- 
 port him in the resolution, that free education shall be placed within the reach of every 
 Canadian parent for every Canadian child. I hope I have not been ungenerous in 
 dwelling sometimes upon the deficiencies in this noble work. To point out a defect is 
 sometimes the first step towards repairing it ; and if this report should ever cross the 
 ocean and be read by those of whom it speaks, I hope, not with too great freedom, they 
 will perhaps accept the assurance that, while I desired to appreciate, I was bound, above 
 all, to be true ; and that even where I could not wholly praise) I never meant to blame. 
 Honest criticism is not hostility." 
 
 In a letter addressed to Dr. Ryerson in 1875, the Bishop says : — 
 " I take it very kindly in you that you remember an old acquaintance, and I have 
 read with interest your last report. I am glad to observe progress in the old lines almost 
 everywhere. I was flattered also to find that some words of mine, written in 1865, are 
 thought worthy of being quoted. . . It is pleasant to find a public servant now in the 
 thirty-second year of his incumbency, still so hopeful and so vigorous. Few men have 
 lived a more useful or active life than you, and your highest reward must be to look back 
 upon what you have been permitted to achieve." 
 
97 
 
 Speaking of the character of Dr. Ryerson's educational work and of the way in which 
 he met difl&culties in accomplishing it, Mr. J. Antiseli Allen, of Kiagston, in his paper on 
 " Dr. Ryerson, a Review and a Study" says : — 
 
 " There is hardly a foot-length of our civilization on which he has not left his mark. 
 For those who believe that, on the grounds of expediency, a government is justified in 
 interfering with the ordinary working of the great human life-struggle, and so, in taking 
 one man's money to benefit another man's children, that is to a majority so overwhelming 
 as to come almost under the category of universal, as to be every one's belief — what 
 system of general education can recommend itself more fully, or work more smoothly, 
 than does his 1 In his struggles in this direction, neither seduced by friends, nor cowed 
 by enemies, nor damped in his ardour by the vastness of the undertaking — turning neither 
 to the right hand nor to the left — he has raised to himself a " monumentuvi perenniics 
 cere," and has bequeathed to us and posterity a system of public and high school education 
 second to none anywhere, and, making some deduction for possible mistakes incident to 
 our weak humanity, a system almost as perfect as we in this generation are perhaps 
 capable of generally acquiescing in." 
 
 In 1867 Dr. Ryerson made his fourth and final educational tour in Europe and 
 America. On his return he submitted to the Government a highly valuable " Special 
 Report on the Systems and State of Popular Education in the several countries in Eui'ope 
 and thf! United States of America, with practical suggestions for the improvement of 
 public instruction in Upper Canada." He also made a separate and interesting " Report 
 on the Institutions for the Deaf and Dumb in various countries." A few years after- 
 wards he had the happiness of seeing institutions of a similar kind in successful operation 
 in this Province. 
 
 Character of the Important School Legislation of 1871. 
 
 The fifth and last series of conventions was held in 1869, and on the results of the 
 consultations and deliberations of these conventions. Dr. Ryerson framed that crowning 
 measure of his administration, which received the sanction of the legislature in 1871 — 
 twenty-one years after the first great departure in school legislation — that of 1850. 
 
 For the various objects which he had recommended during the years from 1850 to 
 1871, liberal grants were made by the Legislature. The policy of the Government during 
 those years was to sustain Dr. Ryerson and to second his efforts to build up and consoli- 
 date the system of 'public instruction which he had taken such pains to establish. The 
 result was that our school system expanded and grew in every direction, and became 
 firmly rooted in the affections of the people. In this way it came to be regarded as one 
 of the most successful and popular systems of education on the continent. And yet, as I 
 have shown, he was continually suggesting improvements in it, for he always held that 
 there was room, as well as a necessity, for them. 
 
 School legislation, chiefly in regard to high schools and matters of detail, took place 
 at intervals during the intervening years, but it was in 1871 and 1874 that the final 
 legislation under Dr. Ryerson's auspices took place. That of 1871 was strikingly progres- 
 sive and took a wide range. That of 1874 was largely supplemental and remedial. 
 
 The Act of 1871 introduced into our school law for the first time some important 
 principles, which, as yet, had not received legislative sanction. They were chiefly those 
 which related, among others, to the following matters : 
 
 1. Governmental, combined with improved local, inspection of schools. 
 
 2. A high and fixed standard of qualifications for inspectors of public schools. 
 
 3. The abolition of non-certificated township superintendents of schools, and the 
 substitution therefor of duly licensed county in.spectors. 
 
 4. The institution of simultaneous and uniform examinations in the several counties 
 for teachers desiring certificates of qualification. This principle was soon extended to 
 other examinations, including competitive examinations in counties, etc. 
 
 7 (R. M.) 
 
98 
 
 Review of the School Legislation of 1871. 
 
 At Dr. Ryerson's request I prepared for him and wrote the text of his education 
 report for 1870. In that report I reviewed in detail the various provisions and improve- 
 ments introduced into our school system by the School Act of 1871. I reproduce here 
 the more salient })oints of that report, touching upon the reasons for the passing of that 
 progressive measure, and indicating some of its main features. I said : — 
 
 So many and important have been the changes recently made in the law affecting our 
 System of Public Instruction, that it may be well, as a preliminary to a discussion of 
 those changes, briefly to refer to a few facts relating to the history and progress of our 
 School System. 
 
 In 1844, our municipal svstem (on which our then elementary School Law was 
 engrafted), was in its infancy. The principle of local self-government was new, and much 
 opposition was experienced in giving effect to the School Law then in operation. The 
 theory of local taxation for the suppoet of schools was in some places vigorously opposed, 
 and in others regarded as a doubtful experiment. Even as late as 1850, some municipalities 
 refused to accent the improved law enacted that year, or act under its provi-sions, and thus 
 dejjrived their constituents of the great boon of popular education. It is only six years 
 since the last disability, caused by such refusal, was removed, — thus uniting the entire 
 Province in a cordial acceptance of the School Law. 
 
 The following brief statistical references will illustrate the growth and advance of 
 our School System : — 
 
 In 1844, there were but 2,610 Public Schools, in 1870, there were 4,566. In that 
 year, (1844), the school population was 183,539 — of which 96,756 children attended the 
 Public Schools, while 86,783 (or nearly as many more) were reported as not in attendance 
 at any school whatever. 
 
 In 1870, the school population was 483,966 — of which 420,488 children were in 
 attendance in our schools, and 63,478 reported as not in attendance — not one-seventh, 
 instead of nearly one-half of the children of .school age, as in 1844. In 1844, the whole 
 sum available for the support of the Public Schools was about $280,000 — of which, 
 approximately, .S190,000 were raised by local taxation.* In 1870, the whole sum available 
 for Public Schools was 61,712,060 — of which ^1, 336, 383 were raised by local taxation 
 and fees — an increase of more than seven hundred per cent over 1844 ' 
 
 There are few Canadians who do not now refer with unmixed pride and satisfaction 
 to the vastly improved condition of our Public Schools under the operation of the present 
 law, revised in 1850, and now revised and extended. t On no one point have we greater 
 cause for thankfulness and congratulation, than in the fact of the unanimity and cordiality 
 with which our School System is supported by all classes of the community, by men of all 
 shades of political feeling, and, with a single exception (and that in part onl}'), of all 
 religious persuasions in the Province. 
 
 Objections to Improve our School System Answered. 
 
 It is a singular and gratifying (yet in some respect it has proved an embarrassing) 
 fact that the chief dithculty experienced in promoting the improvement of our School 
 System has arisen from the somwhat over-sensitiveness of the friends of our Schools, lest 
 the pioposed changes should disturb the foundations of a system which they had learned 
 to regard with so much favor and affection. This solicitude arose partly from a mistaken 
 view of the condition and necessities of our system, and partly from a misapprehension of 
 
 * In 1850, (the first year in which we have positive information on this subject), we find that the total 
 sum e.vpended in this Province for public elementary education, was §410,472; of which $320,472 were 
 raised by local rates .and fees. 
 
 tNo one is more sensible than I am of the numerous defects of our School system, and for this reason 
 I have labored all the more assiduously to hav(< these defects removed by our recent school legislation. 
 As I have stated further on, I have even had to combat the views of those friends of the system who had 
 thought that it was not susceptible of much improvement. 
 
99 
 
 the scope and objects of the proposed ameliorations in our School Law. It will be my 
 aim, however, in the following remarks to justify and illustrate the principles and policy 
 involved in the recent important changes which have been made in our School Law, 
 
 I would, in the first place, remark that were we, in making improvements in our 
 School System, to confine our observation and experience to our own Province alone, we 
 might be disposed to look with complacency upon that system, and to rest satisfied with 
 the progress which we have already made. The effect of such a state of feeling would be 
 that we would seek to profit little by the educational experience and advancement of other 
 countries. But such a short-sighted and unpatriotic course, though approved by some on 
 the principle of " let well-alone," yet would not commend itself to the maturer judgment 
 of those who are accustomed to look at the " stern logic of facts," and to take a compre- 
 hensive and practical view of the underlying causes of the social progress in other 
 countries. 
 
 5. The fixing and rendering uniform of a higher standard of qualification for public 
 and high school teachers. 
 
 6. Giving the profession of teaching a fixed legal status, and providing more fully 
 and equitably for the retirement and united support, by the profession and the legislature, 
 of worn out or disabled teachers. 
 
 7. The establishment by law of a national system of free schools. 
 
 8. Declaring the right by law, as well as the necessity, of every child to attend some 
 school, thus recognizing the principle of, and providing for, " compulsory education." 
 
 9. Requiring, by law, that adequate school accommodation, in regard to school house, 
 playground and site, be provided by the trustees, for all of the resident children of school 
 age in their localities. 
 
 10. Prescribing a more systematic and practical course of study for each of the classes 
 in the public schools. 
 
 11. Discriminating, by a clearly defined line, the course of study in public and high 
 . schools respectively. 
 
 12. Providing for the establishment and support of collegiate institutes, or local 
 colleges. 
 
 13. Requiring municipalities to maintain high schools and collegiate institutes, 
 equally with the public schools, and as part of the general school system. 
 
 14. Providing, at the option of the ratepayers, for the substitution of township 
 boards of education, in place of local trustee boards. 
 
 15. Authorizing the establishment of industrial schools. 
 
 Such were the main features of the comprehensive and progressive School Act passed 
 in 1871. In many respects it revolutionized the existing state of things. It gave a 
 wonderful impetus to the schools, and to every department of school system — the eflfects 
 of which we feel to this day. 
 
 We are a young country, placed in close proximity to a large and wonderfully pro- 
 gressive people. In the good providence of God, we are permitted to construct on the 
 broad and deep foundations of British liberty, the corner-stone of a new nationality, 
 leaving to those who come after us to raise the stately edifice itself. Apart from the 
 vital Christianity of our people, what more lasting bond and cement of society in that 
 new nationality, than a free and comprehensive system of Christian education for the 
 youth of the land, such as we have sought to establish ? Our aim should, therefore, be to 
 make that system commensurate with the wants of our people, in harmony with the 
 progressive spirit of the times,' and comprehensive enough to embrace the various branches 
 of human knowledge which are now continually being called into requisition in the daily 
 life of the farmer, the artizan, and the man of business. In no department of social 
 and national progress have our neighbors made greater advances, or prided themselves. 
 more justly, than in that of free popular education. On the other hand, in, no feature ofc 
 
100 
 
 process under Britiah institutions up to a late period has there been less satisfaction, as a 
 whole, or less positive advancement than in that of public education. By many of our 
 neighbors on the other side of the lines, such inertness and non-appreciation of a vital 
 part of national life has been regarded as inherent in monarchical institutions. The fact, 
 however, has been overlooked that the lingering effects of the long prevalence in Britain 
 of the feudil theory, on which her social and political institutions were originally founded, 
 has, in spite of various ameliorations in the condition of her people, exercised a sure but 
 silent influence against the earlier adoption of the principle of the free and universal 
 education of the people. But so surely and certainly has this latent feeling of op|)osition 
 to popular education given way before the prevalence of more enlightened views, that, even 
 in the most monirchical countries of Europe, the desire felt and the efforts put forth for 
 the diffusion of public education in all its comprehensiveness and fulness have been re- 
 markable. Nevertheless, even among ourselves, that principle of latent opposition to 
 popul ir education did exist in the earlier stages of our educational history. Its gradual 
 removal, therefore, under tlie beneficent operation of our School Laws, and the prevalence 
 of juster and more patriotic views in matter of education are subjects of sincere congratu- 
 lation to our people. 
 
 Necessity for the Changes in the School Law of Ontario in 187L 
 
 We will now proceed, in the light of the educational facts and illustrations which we 
 have fiveti from other countries, to discuss the recent improvements which have been 
 effected in our own law. 
 
 The population of this Province, according to the recent census, is 1,620,842. 
 The number of children of school age is 483,966, or a little over one-fourth of the whole. 
 The number of Elementary Schools is not much below 5,000, and are maintained at 
 an annual cost of nearly 81,800,000, or one dollar per head of the population. Such being 
 the mai^nitude to which our Educational System has grown, every man will feel how 
 imperative it is upon us to see that that system is as thorough and complete in all of its 
 details as possible ; and that in no respect should it be allowed to fall below the standard 
 now reached by the other educating countries to which we have referred. 
 
 So long as our syt^tem of schools was in its infancy, and might be fairly regarded as 
 yet an experiment, so long as we confine our efforts to mere elementary organization 
 and be content with very mo lerate results. Experience has shown, however, that 
 without great care and constant eflfort the tendency of all systera3 of education, and ours 
 atnonc the rest, is to a state of equilibrium, or to a uniform dead level of passable respec- 
 tability. This is the stage in its history, as elsewhere, at which our system has arrived, 
 and at w'lich, as we have explained, many of its friends are disposed to leave it. But 
 those who have carefully studied the subject in all its bearings, and have looked more closely 
 into the educational history, the progress and failures of other countries, know full well 
 that our school system would fall behind that of other couutries and become stationary, 
 unless it eml)odies within itself from time to time the true elements of progress, and 
 provides fully and on a sutlinent scale for the educational wants of the youth of the 
 country. 
 
 Since 1850 it was left to the ratepayers in each school division to decide annually 
 whether the schools should be free or partly supported by rate-bill on pupils attending the 
 school. The principle, th it a Public School education is the right of every child in the 
 land, and that evt-ry man should contribute, according to his property, to the education 
 of every child in the community, by whose influence and labors such property is protected 
 and rendered valuable, had greatly obtained, so that Free Schools had increased from one 
 hundred to Ave hundred per annum, until upwards of four thousand of the four thousand 
 four hundred Public Schools were made free by actual experiments, and by the annual 
 discussions and votes in these primary meetings of the people. The demand was very 
 c^eneral for several years, that all the Public Schools should now be made free by law, and 
 all local disputes on the subject be thus terminated. This has now been happily accom- 
 plished by the new law. 
 
101 
 
 It is not necessary to go farther into detail in this retrospect, as the foregoing 
 extracts indicate the scope and spirit of the improved Act of 1871. 
 
 Hon. Adam Orooks on the School Inspection Legislation of 1871. 
 
 In his speech before the Legislative Assembly on the 18th of February, 1877, the 
 first Minister of Education for Ontario, in referring to the improved system of school 
 inspection introduced by the Act of 1871, and the more certain tenure of office secured 
 to County Inspectors under that Act, said : 
 
 " I have also beeu ready to say that most valuable results were secured by the change in the law in 
 1871, under which the present mode of school inspection took the place of the old plan of local superin- 
 tendence. Inspectors now must possess high qualifications, both as teachers and in scholarship, while the 
 emoluments of the office make it an object of ambition to every school teacher ; and we have many 
 teachers in the Province who possess qualifications of the high standard prescribed for Public School 
 Inspectors. The tenure of the office of County Inspector is such as should secure their impartiality. So 
 long as an Inspector discharges his duties efficiently, he can be removed only by a two-thirds majority of 
 the County Council. It is unlikely that such two-thirds majority would be found unless the Inspector had 
 given reasonable cause for his dismissal. It would not be wise therefore to alter the tenure by which 
 County Inspectors hold office." 
 
 Effect of the School Act of 1871 in the County of Haldimand. 
 
 The following valuable testimony as to the great improvement in our schools which 
 was wrought through the agency of the School Act of 1871, is highly suggestive and 
 practical in its character. What is true of Haldimand, as here expressed, is also true of 
 other parts of the Province. 
 
 In an address to the teachers of Haldimand in 1873, Mr. Inspector Harcourt, 
 M.P.P , said :— 
 
 " No one, whose attention has been called to the matter, could imagine the miserable 
 condition of the majority of the school-houses of 1871. At that time there were not ten 
 properly furnished buildings in Haldimand. Many of them with low ceilings, broken 
 floors and damaged windows, had for seats nothing better than the antiquated bench 
 facing the wall. Too cold or too hot by turns in winter, and suffocating in summer. 
 With nothing to attract and everything to discourage scholars, we wonder that an 
 intelligent public has so long tolerated their existence. ... In the main, however, I 
 am especially gratified at the improvements effected. In two years sixteen brick build- 
 ings have been erected ; all of them substantial and well furnished — some of them models 
 of neatness and finish. In a dozen sections preparations are being made for replacing the 
 old houses, so that we have good reason to hope that in a year or two, at furthest, our 
 country will no longer be noticeable for the miserable style of its school-house.s." 
 
 " Connected with the question of progress in certain branches of study, in relation 
 of which I might say of cause and effect, are the two items of Examination of Teachers 
 and School Accommodation. The provisions now in force for the examination of teachers 
 are such that, if wisely carried out, the standard of the profession must be raised, and 
 along with it the status of our schools. . . . The fact that somehow or another 
 teachers received first and second class certificates, three or four years ago, who could not 
 now obtain a third ; that while it was exceptional for an applicant to fail then, those who 
 succeed now are but thirty per cent, of the whole is known to all of us. . . . 
 
 "To summarize the foregoing statements we have progressed since 1871, swiftly in 
 one particular, slowly and steadily in several others." — Address, pages 5-7 . 
 
 Effect of the School Law of 1871 in the County op Simcoe (South.) 
 
 A.t the inauguration of the new school-house in Barrie in 1872, the Rev. Wm. 
 McKee, B.A., Inspector of Schools in South Simcoe, stated what had been the salutary 
 effect of the School Law of 1871 in his county. He said : — 
 
 During ray visits to the schools I found many of the school-houses of a very 
 inferior description — being rude log buildings, old and dilapidated, with seats and desks. 
 
102 
 
 •of a correspoudinjT character, often situated on the edge of the road, and without wells, 
 offices, playgrounds or fencing of any kind ; so that it is quite certain and plain the 
 requirements of the new School Law liave not come into force at all too soon, so far as 
 the interests and advancement of education in this part of Ontario are concerned. 
 Indeed truth obliges me to state that in the Riding which forms my field of labour — and 
 I believe the remark will hold true with still greater force in regard to North Simcoe — 
 the school-houses which are sufficiently large, well ventilated, fully furnished, and pro- 
 vided with an adequate supply of requisites are very few — perhaps less than half-a-dozen 
 all told. It is true, however, that since the New School Law ami Regulations came 
 into operation there are indications of a change for the better in regard to the matters to 
 ■which I have alluded. I could mention not less than twelve or fourteen school sections 
 in which steps have already been, or are being taken for the erection of new school- 
 'houses which are designed to replace the old buildings, and which, in regard to adequate 
 school accommodation, are also intended to meet the requirements of the New School Law, 
 and to be in every way suitable for school purposes. And it is to be distinctly noticed 
 that in all the cases to which I have referred, the initiative has been taken by the people 
 or the trustees themselves ; and I, for my part, feel that I cannot but regard this as a 
 very significant fact — a very hopeful and encouraging symptom. I look upon it as an 
 omen for good, and as an important and gratifying evidence of the favourable and 
 successful working of the New School Law and Regulations. For being intimately 
 acquainted with the southern part of the county for the last fifteen years, I have no 
 hesitation in maintaining that the effects spoken of, or the action taken by school trustees 
 or the people, can be fairly traced to no other cause than to the working and influence 
 of the New School Law and Regulations. I can testify that latterly — I mean parti- 
 cularly since the passing of the New School Act — I have marked among the people of 
 these townships a deepening sense of the importance of a sound education, and likewise 
 an increasing desire to encourage and promote it. I have noticed, also, I think, both 
 among trustees and parents, a growing conviction that not only the efficiency of the 
 teacher, but, also the discipline and spirit of a school, the progress of children in their 
 studies, their proper training, and their successful education, are far more intimately 
 connected than it was one time imagined, with the style and character of the school- 
 room in which the work of instruction is carried on, and with the kind of school accom- 
 modations provided for and enjoyed by pupils.* . 
 
 * These two extracts are given simply as illustrative examples, and as they were public utterances of 
 the Inspectors named. Similar testimony was received by the Department from other Inspectors, but, 
 from tlie nature of the case, and their non-publication in the local ne\v.spapers, they were not subject to 
 the same criticism as were the statements publicly made and published in tlie localities concerned. 
 
103 
 
 CHAPTEE y. 
 
 A SPECIAL CHAPTER ON THE STATE EDUCATION IN THE "OLDEN 
 
 TIME" IN UPPER CANADA. 
 
 In this special chapter, I insert a series of interesting papers, illustrative of what 
 may be called the interior or domestic character of school life in its various phases, in 
 Upper Canada, from the time of the passing of Dr. Ryerson's first School Act. in 1846, 
 to the passing of his last School Act, in 1871. These papers give a graphic, bird's-eye 
 view of the state of the school, school houses and school teachers in the years gone by. 
 They are by representative men — inspectors, public men and school teachers, and they are, 
 therefore, interesting and valuable, as giving the result of the personal observation 
 of these gentlemen. 
 
 The personal experience of the Hon. J. Sandfield Macdonald is of an earlier date 
 than those which follow, ind refers to one of the most noted of the old District Grammar 
 Schools. It is highly interesting as a reminiscence of the early training of one of our 
 most noted public men, and one, under whose auspices, the important School Act of 1871 
 was passed. 
 
 Hon. J. Sandfield Maodonald's School days — His Reminiscences op them. 
 
 At a public dinner given to the Hon. J. Sandfield Macdonald in 1870, he thus 
 referred to his early school days : — 
 
 " My friend, Judge Jarvis, has referred to my early life, and has very properly 
 remarked that this is the country that offers the widest field to the industrious, or to a 
 man of energy if he only possesses a modicum of brains. . . . It is true what the 
 Judge states that I arrived in Cornwall forty years ago next autumn. ... I was 
 engaged in a dry goods store. But the Judge has told you that I was not satisfied with 
 that state of things. I went to the school here, which has had a reputation it may be proud 
 of ever since the time of the late Bishop Strachan. It was the school that educated the 
 Boultons, the McGills, and the Jarvises. In the school I entered, and there I had to 
 strive with those who were able to be maintained by their parents. I worked against 
 them at a great disadvantage, and would have succumbed but that I was cheered on by my 
 venerable preceptor. Many others have struggled in that school of whom Canada should 
 be proud. One of them particularly. He was one of the brightest and most talented of 
 the men our eastern district can boast of. But providence has thought proper to take 
 him away from his sphere of usefulness. Need I say that I refer to that ornament of the 
 . Bench, the late Chancellor Yankoughnet. — Were Dr. Urquhart able to boast of no other 
 pupil but that honourable gentleman, he might have retired on his laurels. If that old 
 gentleman had not sent me a letter of encouragement I would not have been here, as I 
 was about to break down for want of means. This letter was written in 1835, and . 
 I cannot help shewing what was thought of me by one who had the most perceptive idea 
 of the ability of his pupils. This letter had the effect of making me bear up in my struggle 
 with my superiors in position and was as follows : 
 
 " ' These certify that the bearer, Mr. John S. McDonald, was a pupil in the Eastern 
 District School, from the 19th Nov., 1832, to the 23rd Dec. last ; that during tliat period 
 ihis industry and application were close and assiduous, and that his progress in the several 
 branches of study, to which he directed his attention, was highly respectable, and very 
 considerably exceeded what is usually made in the same space of time ; that the 
 perseverance manifested in overcoming the difficulties to be encountered at the outset of a 
 •classical and mathematical education, called forth the particular remark and approval of 
 his teacher, as indicating considerable energy of character, and as an earnest of fnture 
 success in the prosecution of his studies. Moreover, that his general deportment during 
 
104 
 
 the same period, was most exemplary, and becoming, evincing at all times a kindly dis- 
 position towards his fellow students and a most respectful deference to the discipline of 
 the school ; and that, if the good opinion and good wishes of his teacher can on any 
 occasion profit him, he is justly entitled to both.' " 
 
 " I owe all the spirit of independence which I have maintained throughout my 
 career, to my learning in that school. After I left school I went into the study of the 
 law, in the office of the late Mr. ISIcLean." 
 
 Education in the County of Wellington under Dr. Ryerson's Administration. 
 
 The following admirable resumd of the former state of education and of educational 
 progress in the county of Wellington, and indeed throughout Ontario generally, was given 
 in an address on " Then and Now," delivered before a public meeting in Guelph, in May, 
 1880, by Hon. Charles Clarke, ex-Speaker of the House of Assembly. After some pre- 
 liminary remarks, Mr. Clarke said : — 
 
 Little more than thirty years ago, much of the country, now known as the county of 
 Wellington, was a wilderness. The territory north of Guelph was almost unsettled, 
 beyond the townships of Nichol, and the settled portion possessed but few residents. In 
 Wellington, the upper tier of townships had scarcely been entered upon, and names of 
 places now " familiar as household words " were unknown. Such roads as there were 
 had been simply cut through the bush, and had experienced little other improvement than 
 that which the axe, the handspike, the logging chain and fire had aiForded. Peel was in 
 the early stage of settlement ; Maryboro was almost unk-uown ; Minto was really a ti^rra 
 incognilo ; Luther was, in popular estimation, a vast and irreclaimable swamp ; Arthur 
 had a mere handful of settlers ; ]Monnt Forest was a nameless and unbroken government 
 reserve for a town plot, covered with virgin forest ; Elora possessed some half-dozen 
 houses ; such places as Harriston, Pahuerston and Drayton were not even a dream of the 
 future ; and the gravel roads, thrifty villages, and smiling farms which now make pleasant 
 travel from the northern bank of the Grand River to the utmost bounds of Wellington, 
 were covered with thick and luxuriant growth of maple, hemlock, elm and cedar. Every- 
 thing was in primitive shape, and yet the mark of future progress was made, here and 
 there, and coming events cast their shadow. Oxen were far more numerous than teams 
 of horses, and neither could be regarded as plentiful. The axe was more busy than the 
 plough, and regularly prepared more acres for the annual sowing. iNIoney was scarce, 
 produce was low in price, barter was the rule and not the exception, postal communica- 
 tion was defective, wages were poor, and " hard times " were as commonly talked al)out 
 and as earnestly believed in as to-day, when, measured V)y the past, the term is compara- 
 tively meaningless. There was a feeling of despondency throughout the community, and 
 people were divided as to the cause of the general depression. Some blamed the Rebellion 
 of a few years before ; others said that the eflects of Family Compactism had not yet died 
 away ; and still others attributed all evils to the newly effected Union between L^pper 
 and Lower Canada. There is little wonder that, at such a time, schools and schoolmasters 
 were under the weather, and reckoned as but of " small account " by many of our 
 people. 
 
 Early School Legislation in 1841, 1843 and 1846. 
 
 Thanks to the energy, however, of a noble few, prominent amongst whom stood 
 Egerton Ryerson, the Government of that day took steps to obtain information as to the 
 system of public education in force in some of the states of the American Union and in 
 Europe, and, taking Massachussetts and Prussia as a guide, enacted a sweeping amendment to 
 School Act for Upper Canada, in the ninth year of Her Majesty's reign, and put it into 
 operation in 1847. In 1841, the first Common School Law had been passed, and in 1843 
 it was amended, but the system was defective and unproductive of expected results. 
 Under it, townships were divided into school sections, by township superintendents, who 
 were practically uncontrolled, and therefore, in many instances, arbitrary, and these 
 divisions were unequal in size, often unnecessarily small, and frequently unfairly made. 
 The consequence of this state of things was unpopularity of the law, and a pretty general 
 
105 
 
 conviction that common schools were too often common nuisances. The report of the 
 Superintendent of Education, for 1847, tells us that the system produced "miserable 
 school-houses, poor and cheap teachers, interrupted and temporary instruction and heavy 
 rate-bills." In some districts, before the passage of the amending School Act, 9 Vic. 
 Chap. 20, the District Council had never imposed a school assessment, depending for school 
 maintenance entirely upon the small legislative grant apportioned to each district, and an 
 equivalent raised solely by rate-bills or voluntary contributions. No uniformity existed 
 in the use of class books, the township superintendent or the teacher, or even the parent 
 dictating what should be employed in each particular section. In 1846, no fewer than 
 13 different spelling books, 107 readers, 35 arithmetics, 20 geographies, 21 histories, and 
 16 grammars, were used in our Common Schools, besides varying class books on other 
 subjects. 
 
 Inferior Qualifications of Teachers and Varied Methods of Teaching. 
 
 The methods of teaching were almost as numerous as the teachers, and followed no 
 specified rule. Sometimes it was by classes, often by individuals, and in other cases by 
 an extensive use of monitors, being generally a mixture of the three styles, and nearly 
 always a higgledy-piggledy, go-as-you-|)lease arrangement, as easy as possible to the teacher, 
 and as unproductive of good results to the pupil as such indefinite work might be fully 
 expected to be. And the character of the teachers, speaking in general terms, and not 
 forgetting many bright exceptions, was not above suspicion. Certificates were granted by 
 township superintendents, who too often relieved the charitable, and the district council, 
 by thrusting into the school-house the ne'er-do-wells, the infirm, the crippled, the sickly and 
 the unfortunate, who, under ordinary circumstances, would have become dependent upon 
 the good nature and benevolence of their fellow-citizens. In one district a superintendent, 
 after the passage of the new School Law, was compelled to give notice that he would not 
 grant certificates to any candidates unless they were strictly sober, and that he would 
 cancel the certificates of all teachers who suffered themselves at any time to become 
 intoxicated And, we are gravely inFormed, the result was that a majority, not all, of the 
 hitherto intemperate teachers became thoroughly temperate men, and that the incorrigible 
 were dismissed. The quality of the teachers may be guessed at very fairly, it is safe to 
 say, from the salaries paid to them. In 1845, the average was ,£26 2s, or $104.40 ; in 
 1846, £26 4s, or $104.80 ; and in 1847, £28 10s, or $114, and this, too, for the most part, 
 exclusive of board. Had the schools been kept open during the whole of the teaching 
 months of these years, the salaries would have averaged $134 in 1845, $147 in 1846, and 
 $148 in 1847. It must be borne in mind that, in those days, male were much more 
 numerous than female teachers, so that the smaller amounts generally paid to those of the 
 gentler sex had comparatively litcle influence in lessening the general average. The par- 
 simony and poverty of the people had much to do, of course, with the quality of the 
 teacher, fi^r men who could obtain hi:(h -r wages at almost any other occupation, through 
 physical or intellectual superiority, would not waste time and opportunity to earn more 
 than the paltry pittance paid to the pedagogue, simply through philanthropic desire to 
 advance the interests of the rising generation. 
 
 Dr. Ryerson's Test of the Intelligemce of a School Section. 
 
 Says Dr. Ryerson, in the rep )rt to which I am indebted for these facts : " This small 
 CO upensation of teachers is the great source of inefficiency in the common schools. Per- 
 sons of good abilities anrl actainmnnts will not teach for little or nothing so long as they 
 can obtain a more ample remuneration in other pursuits." He adds, in language as 
 truthful, and as worthy of notice to-day, as when it wa< written : " People cannot obtain 
 good teachers any more than good lawyers or physicians without paying for their services." 
 And, as he says in the nexc sentence, so say we all, and so I am happy to observe are 
 many of our school corporations siying all over the province : "The intelligence of any 
 school section or corporation of trustees may be tested by the amount of salary they are 
 disposed to give a good teacher." If Egerton Ryerson had said and done nothing more 
 
106 
 
 than this, he would have deserved the gratitude of every teacher in Ontario, simply 
 because he had the couracje to put upon record a sentiment which, at the time when he 
 used the words, was eminently unpopular, and a direct and stinging rebuke to nearly 
 every school-board then existent. In those days, clieap teachers were wanted, and the 
 supply equalled the demand, while the pockets of the charitable were saved, a semblance 
 of education was kept up, and the county poorhouses were not required so long as every 
 other school section provided for one, at least, of those who would, in these days, be gener- 
 ally regarded as eligible candidates for admission thereto. The amount of interest takea 
 in educational matters was not evidenced in small salaries alone. 
 
 The Charactkr of the School-house also a Test. 
 
 The school-house, in its quality, too often matched the teacher. Of 2,572 school- 
 houses in Upper Canada in 1847, 49 only were of brick, and 84 of stone, the others being 
 frame and log. Of the 2,500, 800, or about one-third, were in good repair ; 98 had more 
 than one room ; 1,125, or less than half, were properly furnished with desks and seats ; 
 only 367 were provided with a suitable play-ground ; and not more than 1G.3, out of 2,572, 
 had necessary outbuildings. Coming nearer home, we find that the municipalities now 
 comprised in the county of Wellington contained, in 1847, 43 school-houses, of which one 
 was built of stone, 9 were frame, and 33 were log, and the report states that only 13 were 
 good, 25 were middling, and the balance were inferior. When we rememlier the standard of 
 "goodness" in those days, when school authorities at Toronto were thankful for small favors 
 in rural districts, we can have some faint idea of the character of the buildings pronounced 
 inferior. It is probable that they came up to the style of accommodation of the Mapleton 
 school, in Manitoba, which I find described in the last report of the Superintendent of Pro- 
 testant Schools for that Province, as follows : "Found that since my last visit the school-house 
 has been floored ; it still required plastering and ceiling and weather-boarding." What 
 sort of a building it was before these improvements were effected, it doesn't require a very 
 active brain to imagine, and when you have the picture in your mind's eye you will have 
 some conception of the pleasures of teaching in the " good old times," of less than half a 
 century ago, in Upper Canada. 
 
 School Condition of the County of Wellington in 1847. 
 
 Returning to 1847, we are told that in the whole of Wellington District, composed 
 of the territory now forming the three counties of Wellington, Waterloo and Grey, there 
 were 102 schools, of which only 22 possessed good buildings. Let us glance for a moment 
 at the then state of finances of the school corporations in which we feel most interested. 
 Guelph township, including the village of Guelph, raised $507.38 by the municipal assess- 
 ment, for school purposes, realized §556.75 from rat«-bills, and received .'?41G.69 from the 
 legislative grant, or a total of .$1,480.82, wherewith to pay seven teacher.-i, maintain, more 
 or less e^liciently, ten scliool.s, and afford instruction, good, bad or inditferent, as the case 
 might l)e, to 517 scholars. The township of Puslinch was nearly abreast of Guelph, and 
 kept up 10 schools, paid 13 teacht^rs, and had 558 scholars on the roll, at an outlay of 
 $1,381.86, but it must be remembered that if two or three teachers were employed, at 
 difierent portions of the year, in one school, they increased the grand total of teachers for 
 the year. It may have been that, whihi thirteen appear to have been engaged, there were 
 not more, and probably less than ten employed for the full teaching year. In 1847, Erin 
 had the highest number of scholars of any municipality in the county, having returned a 
 total of 585, in six schools, and with eleven teachers, at an outlay of $1,039.06. Amaranth 
 was at the foot of the list, with one school, one teacher, thirty-eight scholars, and an out- 
 lay, made up from rate-bill, assessment and legislative grant, of $68.04. Peel and Wel- 
 lesley, combined, had one school, three teachers, — employed at some portion or other of the 
 year, — and spent $80.52. Nichol (including Fergus and Elora), Eramosa and Garafraxa 
 made returns, — the name Garafraxa being spelt with a double r, as I have found it to be 
 in all old official documents, — but Filkington, Arthur, Maryboro, Luther and Minto do 
 not appear to have had school organization, not even municipal existence, while, of the 
 
107 
 
 whole county of Grey, Derby and Sydenham were alone mentioned in the return. It may 
 be interesting to know — ^although I am aware, from painful experience, that listening to 
 strings of figures is not the most enlivening occupation in the world, — that the whole 
 amount paid for school purposes, in the county of Wellington, for that year, was $5,862, 
 of which $5,763 was given to teachers, and that the average cost for each pupil taught 
 was $2.10. One other fact may be adduced which will enable you to form a still clearer 
 estimate of the educational status of Upper Canada at the date referred to. The Chief 
 •Superintendent had, in forms and regulations issued by him, specified the lowest general 
 standard of qualification for teachers, but was forced to believe that a much lower standard 
 had been acted upon by school visitors. These visitors were clergymen, magistrates and 
 district councillors, — equivalent to our reeves, — and any two of them could examine a 
 teacher, test his or her qualification, pretty much as they deemed best, and grant a cer- 
 tificate, available only for one school and one year, it is true, but nevertheless renewable, 
 «,nd answering every purpose of the certificate of to-day. It is not difficult to imagine a 
 much more easy and varying examination, under such circumstances, than that which an 
 improved system soon rendered necessary, and the quality of teachers so produced need 
 not be further particularized. 
 
 We have thus obtained some glimpse of the Then of our educational facilities of a 
 generation ago. The picture might be elaborated. It would be easy to fill in details 
 ifrom memory ; to tell how the blind oft times led the blind ; how the ignorant teacher 
 insured the ignorant pupil; and how "schooling" was frequently a farce, and mere 
 waste of time. . . . 
 
 'GrREAT Educational Advance made by the Province op Ontario since 1847. 
 
 That the Province has made enormous strides in population, wealth, intelligence and 
 importance, during the last thirty years, admits of no doubt. Our forests have dis- 
 •appeared, an improved system of agriculture has followed, manufactories have sprung up, 
 railways have connected every county, a daily press has become an established and indis- 
 pensable institution, the telegraph has economized time by practically annihilating 
 •distance, while numerous inventions and discoveries have created new wants, and supplied 
 as rapidly as they have made them. Without losing our charaoteristic love of hard work 
 — I here speak of everybody in general, and nobody in particular, and purposely avoid 
 all personal allusions — and that industrial enterprise which springs from it, we have 
 become a reading and much more cultured people. The scholar, endowed with physical 
 capacity equal to that possessed by an illiterate competitor, is worth more than he in the 
 factory, the workshop, the store, the mill, the mine, or on the sea or farm. Cultivated 
 brain has a market value, and book learning is no longer despised, or regarded with half 
 contempt, as the mark distinguishing the mere dreamer from the worker. To possess the 
 " Reasjn Why " is no proof now-a-days of physical and practical inferiority ; to know a 
 little of everything, and everything of something, is not now the peculiar privilege of the 
 English Gentleman. Little wonder is there, therefore, that what the school has helped 
 to bring about, should tend to make the school more valued. That such has been its 
 effect we have but to look around to see. Where in 1 847, we, in Upper Canada, had 
 2;863 school houses, our last returns show that we possess more than 5,000, and while the 
 number has so largely increased the advance in value has been in much greater propor- 
 tion. In 1847 we had, in all Upper Canada, but 49 school-houses built of brick; now 
 we boast of 1,569 built of that material, or over thirty times as many. In 1847 we had 
 eighty-four constructed of stone ; now we claim more than 500. In 1847 half of our 
 Bchool buildings were of logs ; now not more than a seventh are of that primitive 
 character. There are no returns of money cost of buildings or of amount expended in 
 •their erection in 1847, but we find that the expenditure for all school purposes in that 
 year, inclusive of teachers' salaries, was $350,000, while for 1877, for erection and repairs 
 of school-houses, fuel, etc., alone we paid $1,035,390, and a total for school purposes of 
 $3,073,489, or, in round numbers, nine times as much as in 1847. The improved 
 financial value of the teacher is another strong testimony, willingly borne by the people, 
 to their increased interest in education, for, as a rule, a free people will not pay for that 
 which they fail to appreciate. In 1847 there was paid for teachers' salaries a total sum 
 
108 
 
 of 8310,398. In 1877 the amount was $2,038,099. In 1847 there were 3,028 teachers 
 employed, while in 1877 there were 6,468. In 1847, board was otten given in addition 
 to the nominal salary, and was, in fact, part of the teacher's remuneration. Grant that 
 the teachers here enumerated as .serving in 1847 were employed eight months in that 
 year — which is more than the average — and put board at .$2 per week, which was higher 
 than was the average rate in those days — the average payment to each teacher would not 
 exceed 8170, and this was fully equal to, if not greater than was actually allowed. In 
 1877 the average amount paid to each teacher was 8315. The larger amount willingly 
 paid in 1877 for the support of Free Schools, than was unwillingly given in 1847, for the 
 maintenance of rate-supported schools — for payment was then made under protest, and 
 the school law was exceedingly unpopular, while rate-bills and contributions were nearly 
 everywhere necesssLvy, in addition to municipal assessments, to make up the teachers' 
 salaries — is yet another proof of the hold which the educational movement has taken 
 upon the judgment and sympathy of the people of Ontario. In 1847, too, pupils were 
 grudgingly taught, at a cost of 82.80 per head, while in 1877 the average was 86.20. 
 And when we add to all these things the fact that, in 1847, only 124,829 pupils attended 
 our common schools, out of a school population of 230,975, or scarcely one in two, while 
 in 1877, out of a school population of 494,804, not less than 490,860 names were entered 
 on the roll, it is needless to say anything further in illustration of the marked contrast 
 between the two periods, of thf^ immense superiority of the jiresent over the past condition 
 of our schools, and of the public opinion whicli is necessary to their effective maintenance. 
 
 Great Advance also in the Standard of Teaching Ability. 
 
 And the standard of teaching ability, in so far as literary acquirements go, h.\s kept 
 pace with the progress which has otherwise characterized the history of a scholastic 
 generation. We have long got past the period when any two magistrates, any two reeves, 
 or even any two clergymen, could grant permission to teach, and annually invest the 
 teacher with legal status. We subject our examiners themselves to examinations, have 
 uniformity in the character of our examination p;iper.s, and propound questions to candi- 
 dates which fully and fairly test their educational attainments. We have gone beyond 
 that, and instituted county Normal Schools — for such our Model Schools may be fairly 
 termed — at which we require applicants for a certificate to still further establish their 
 fitness for the work upon which they seek to enter. We have not reached perfection, 
 but we have travelled a long distance in the direction in which it lies. We have made 
 every school practically free, built up a High School system which opens up to all seekers 
 after higher education ample opportunity to prepare for the University course, at a mini- 
 mum of cost, and placed our University upon such a footing that its advantages are not 
 the exclusive privilege of the well-to-do, but are proffered to even the poorest student who 
 cares to submit to a period of self-denial, and lose a little extra time in early life, for the 
 purpose of securing them. As a people we havp done no more than, probably not so 
 much as, we ought to do, with the view of placing edacational facilities within the reach 
 of every child born or brought into the Piovince, but we have, nevertheless, ventured 
 and effected more than has been attempted in many older and more wealthy lands. We 
 have the consciousness of having done our duty, according to our lights. In our long- 
 settled sections of country the .school-house bell is within the hearing, or the school-house 
 itself is within sight of nearly every family. In newer portions of the Province, wlierever 
 half-a-dozen or so of clearances are commenced, in the wilds of Muskoka or Algoma, pro- 
 vision is made for the instruction of the little ones who bless those backwoods' homes. 
 The school-master is abroad throughout the land, and is doing much to ensure a glowing 
 future for our country, and when his work is done, and he is compelled to retire from his 
 labors, we willingly open the public purse and give to him that which keeps him above 
 absolute penury, and assures him that, while Ontario cares only to help those who possess 
 the disposition to help themselves, .she is neither ungrateful nor forgetful. And, seeing 
 all these things, we cannot help feeling that our youthful Province may modestly and yet 
 proudly lift her head amongst the nations of the earth, assured that there are none who 
 can reproach her with neglect of the first and best interests of those little children whom 
 God has entrusted to her keeping. 
 
109 
 
 State of Education in Upper Canada in 1847-1849. 
 
 From an elaborate report prepared by the Rev. W. H. Landon, School Superintendent, 
 to the Muncipal Council of the district of Brock (county of Oxford) in 1849, I make the 
 following extracts. The first refers to the educational supineness of the people : — 
 
 " Up to a recent period (say the last two years), the people, generally, seems to have 
 entered upon no enquiries, and to have formed no just conclusion on the subject of 
 education, or the proper means of imparting it. They seemed to think, if they thought 
 at all, that all schools were equal, and that all teachers who could read, write, etc., in 
 a better manner than their pupils were equally good. . . . As to books, it was 
 supposed that any one, or any ten of the fifty different varieties of spelling books in 
 use, with the English Reader, was all that was requisite for the reading classes, while a few 
 treatises on arithmetic taken at random from the almost endless variety with which the 
 country was flooded, would supply the means of imparting a knowledge of the science of 
 numbers, and two or three grammars by as many different authors, would supply 
 material for the grammar class and complete the stock of textbooks for the schools." . . . 
 
 Mr. Landon draws the following graphic picture of the school-house " shanties " of 
 those days. He also gives a vivid view of the interior : 
 
 "The school-houses in many instances (though not in all) are miserable shanties made 
 of logs loosely and roughly put together ; the interstices filled with clay, portions of which 
 are from time to time crumbling down filling the place with filth and dust. Under your 
 feet are loose boards, without nails, across which, when one walks, a clatter is produced 
 equal to that heard in a lumber yard. Over your head are the naked rafters, stained 
 with smoke and hung with cowebs and dust. Two or three little windows, generally 
 half way up the walls, admit the light ; and a rough door which does not fit the opening, 
 creaks upon its wooden hinges. . . . The writing desks are generally long sloping 
 shelves pinned up against the walls as high as the breasts of the pupils who sit before 
 them. The seats are without backs and from eighteen inches to two feet high. Some- 
 times we have a master's desk, but awkwardly constructed, for the most part too high 
 for the sitting posture and too low for the standing one. . . . We have no black- 
 boards, no maps and no illustrative apparatus of any kind. 
 
 " When we enter one of these schools, we behold a picture of discomfort and 
 misery. The children are perched upon the benches before described : but as they have 
 no support for their backs, and as only the taller of them can reach the floor with their 
 feet, marks of weariness and pain are visible in their features and postures. Some to 
 procure rest and ease to their aching frames have drawn up both feet upon the bench 
 and are sitting cross-legged like a tailor on the shop board. Others stooping forward, 
 rest their elbows upon their knees, with one hand supporting their chins and with the 
 other holding up their books before their weary eyes ; while all avail themselves 
 of every possible excuse to change their position and so obtain relief. Some asking 
 permission to go out, others to get a drink, and many constantly flocking to the teacher's 
 dejk with words to be pronounced, sums to be examined and corrected, pens to be 
 mended, or difficulties to be explained, in connection with grammar, or other lesson, etc. 
 So that the place is filled with noise and disorder, rendering study impassible and any- 
 thing like the cultivation of cheerful aad benevolent affections entirely out of the 
 question." . 
 
 Then follows an example of the character of the teaching " in a school in the centre 
 of one of the largest and wealthiest townships " in the district of Brock : — 
 
 " This school was taught by a person who in his youth had enjoyed what we term 
 superior advantages, being connected with a family of highest respectability. Notice of 
 my intended visit had several days before been sent to the teacher. The female pupils 
 had . . . decorated the place with evergreens and bouquets of flowers. - The room, 
 though humble and coarse, was neat and tidy. When I entered, the class in the fourth 
 book of lessons was reading. A book was put into my hands and I desired them to 
 proceed. . . . When they were done reading I proceeded to examine them on the 
 
110 
 
 lesson. Great Britain was mentioned in the lesson and allusion made to her people and 
 institutions. My first question, therefore was — Where is Great Britain ? Fiom the 
 vacant and surprised stare with which tliis question was received I was .satisfied that 
 they had no clear conception of what Great Britain was. ... I finally asked what 
 is the form of Government in Great Britain ? As no answer was given, I . . . . 
 asked whether a King, Queen or President governed in Great Britain 1 lo this question 
 a pupil, aided by the teacher, who whispered in her ear, replied a Queen. I then asked 
 her name. . . . After a good deal of hesitation, a young woman of eighteen or 
 twenty years of age, replied " Queen Elizabeth !" 
 
 The Old Log School House and Its Belongings. 
 
 Tn connection with the realistic picture of education in the County of Oxford, in 
 1847-49, sketched by the Rev. W. H. Landon, District Superintendent, the following 
 dual pictures of " The Old Log School " and " The Pioneer Teachers," taken from the 
 Toronto Globe of 1887, will be found to be highly interesting. The pictures are graphi- 
 cally drawn by a teacher, and from a teacher's standpoint. Speaking of the representa- 
 tive teacher of a former generation recalling the past, he said : — 
 
 The old days come up vividly before him, when he first engaged in the work in some 
 country disirict, engaging to devote to it the best energies of body and mind, for, it may 
 be, some such munificent salary as eight or ten dollars a month, said salary to be supple- 
 mented by the saving in expense efiected through the process formerly so much in vogne 
 of boarding around. How well he remembers the old log school house, with its low ceil- 
 in» on which a tall man could easily lay his hand ; the narrow apertures, fitted with a 
 few panes of 7x9 glass which served for windows ; the floor of unplaned boards, whose 
 crevices were either compactly tilled with accumulations of dust and litter characteristic 
 of the school room, or worse still, yawning to swallow up pen-knife and slate pencil as 
 they would ever and anon drop from the fingers of some luckless wight, started from the 
 half slumber into which the drowsy monotony of the ill-ventilated school room had 
 beguiled him, bv the stentorian tones, or possibly the vigorous cull's, of the master of 
 ceremonies. Very distinctly the vision of such a school room of the old type, though at 
 a date much less than fifty years ago, rises before the writer as memory carries him back 
 to the little Canadian hamlet in which his boyhood was passed. The desks, so as far any 
 were provided, consisted of a wide shelf fixed at a pretty sharp angle against the wall, 
 and extending all around the room, with an intermission only at the narrow space occu- 
 pied by the door. This primitive arrangement was sometimes .supplemented with a long, 
 flat table composed of three or four loose planks in the rough, supported by wooden 
 benches or horses placed transversely beneath. The seats were of planks or shibs, like- 
 wise unsnioothed, constructed l)y driving rudely hewn legs into holes bored with a large 
 augur, at a suitable angle, in the lower surface of the plank or slab. These legs often 
 projected an inch or so above the surface of the seat. It could not be said of these rude 
 structures as in Cowper's " Evolution of the sofa," that " the slippery seat betrayed the 
 sliding part that pressed it," for between the projecting legs and the innumerable 
 " splinters " the unhappy occupant was in much greater danger of being impaled and 
 pinned fast than of slipping ofi. Perhaps it was better so, for in view of the great height 
 usually given them, the fall, for a small child, while it would most surely have been a. 
 " laughing matter," might yet have proved a .serious one. ... It was certainly a 
 strange and cruel infatuation which constrained our grandfathers to think that the proper 
 position for a boy or girl at school was upon a narrow perch, without back or arm bU|)- 
 port of any kind, and with the feet dangling some six or eight inches above the floor. 
 
 The picture of the old school bench would not be accurate without reference to the 
 warping of the plank which was pretty sure soon to take place, with the result of raising 
 one or other of the diagonal legs an inch or two from the floor, thus converting the seat, 
 when filled with its living, aching load, into a tilting board, provocation of many a trick 
 from the omnipresent mischievous boy of the school, and resulting in many a blow from 
 the palm or cane of the irate master, which would, of course, generally descend upon 
 innocent ears or shoulders. 
 
Ill 
 
 What a picture did the wooden desks and walls of those old-time school houses pre- 
 sent, worn smooth with the elbows, smeared with the jackets, variegated with the ink, 
 carved with the jack-knives and stained with the tears ot' boisterous and blubbering boys 
 and rosy-cheeked, hoydenish or timid girls. What burlesque, too, upon every intelligent 
 idea of education were the processes c<irried on in them. From nine o'clock to twelve, 
 and from one till four, six long hours, as marked by the sun's shadow on the rude dial 
 marked out on the wmdowsill, did the work go on. 
 
 Murray's Reader, and in the most ambitious districts his Grammar, Walker's Dic- 
 tionary, Walkingame's Arithmetic, Goldsmith's Geography and somebody's spelling-book, 
 Avith slate and pencil, a scanty supply of paper and ink, and pen shaped with a keen pen- 
 knife from a quill picked up from the wayside or plucked ruthlessly from the wing of 
 some reluctant '' squawking " goose, would complete the scholar's outfit. It is the hour 
 for preparation of the reading lesson. The school room resounds with the loud hum of a 
 score or two of boys and girls all " studying aloud " with a most distracting din, and all 
 the heads and bodies swaying constantly and simultaneously back and forth as an accom- 
 paniment to the voice. This voice in the case of perhaps a majority would be modulated 
 without the slightest relation to the contents of the printed page, while the thoughts of 
 the ostentatiously industrious student would be busy with some projected game or trick 
 for the coming recess. And yet how often would the Scotch school master's eye gleam 
 with pride and pleasure when he had, by dint of persuasion or threat, succeeded in getting 
 every boy and girl engaged in the horrible, monotonous chant. 
 
 Then the recitation — what a scene of confusion and stripes, tears and bellowings. 
 Perhaps it was the column of spellings. A few, fitted by nature with memories adapted 
 for that kind of work, would make their way in triumph to the head of the long semi- 
 circular class. But woe, woe to the dullards and the dunces, under a regime whose 
 penalty for missing a word a foot and a half long would be, very likely, two or three 
 strokes on the tingling fingei's or aching palm with the pitiless hardwood ferule, this pro- 
 cess being occasionally varied ^s some noisy or idling youngster was called up from a back 
 seat to be visited with a still sterner chastisement for some trifling misdemeanor. 
 The writer can recall instances and experiences innumerable, the infliction being some- 
 times accompanied with a caution to tell no tales at home under pain of a worse infliction. 
 In his own case he well remembers the wrath of his father, who would have thought it 
 wrong and encouraging insubordination to listen to any complaints against the master, 
 when, on occasion of the victim of a tendency to juvenile pranks being dangerously ill 
 with scarlet fever, and that father being called on by the doctor to annoint his back with 
 some soothing lotion, he found said back striped and checked with a network of "black 
 and blue." It is needless to add that at this point ended both the writer's experience 
 under that schoolmaster and the schoolmaster's term of engagement in that district. 
 
 As a significant comment upon the moral effects of the regime of the schoolmasters 
 of the old school the writer may add that one of his most vivid memories of the mental 
 status produced by the school training referred to is that of an intense longing for the day 
 when he should be large enough to repay that old schoolmaster in his own coin. That 
 day came. The flagellated boy, transformed into a tolerably lasty youth, found himself 
 face to face with his quondam tormenter. But his long cherished wrath speedily gave 
 place to pity for the decrepit, friendless and lonely old bachelor, whose days were draw- 
 ing to a close, with no loving hand of wife or daughter to minister to their feebleness. 
 
 The Pioneer Teachers, and the Trials of " Boarding Round." 
 
 The writer of the foregoing paper pictured roughly the rural Canadian school of forty 
 or fifty years ago. It may not be without interest to have that picture supplemented 
 with a glimpse of rural Canadian life as seen by the schoolmaster of the period. The 
 " boarding 'round " system afforded him excellent facilities for observation. The vener- 
 able custom of boarding round died, no doubt, a good many years ago, so far as Canada is 
 concerned. . . . But thirty or forty years ago it was, in some parts of Canada at 
 least, almost a matter of course that the teacher should " board 'round." When a school 
 
112 
 
 became vacant or a new and amlntious settlement had reached the pitch of development 
 at which a school was deemed a necessary sequent to the carpenter's shop, the smithy and 
 the shoemaker's shanty, one of the first steps was, of course, to pitch upon a suitable can- 
 didate for the scanty honors and still more scaiity emoluments of the village pedagogue. 
 Probably some infiuential member of the community had a son or a daughter in the teens, 
 who was thought pretty well up in " the three R's." If so, it would usually be deemed 
 quite unnecessary to look farther. In fact it would, in such a case, be useless for an out- 
 sider to contest the constituency. It never entered the unsophisticated heads of the trustees 
 to invite competition by advertising for candidates " to state salary expected." This 
 method ot putting up professional talent in a kind of Dutch auction is an evolution of our 
 present " best educational system on earth." Our grandfathers went about the business 
 in a different way. The coming teacher being fixed upon, the next step was for the candi- 
 date himself, or some interested relative or friend on his behalf, to circulate a subscription 
 sheet. A form of heading would be prepared somewhat in the following style : — " We, 
 the undersigned residents of Smith ton District, being desirous of securing the services of 
 Henry Schoolman as teacher of the district school, hereby agree to engage the services of 
 said H. S. for the period of six months, and to ])ay him at the rate of £1 2s 6d for each 
 and every pupil we hereunto subscribe or send to said school. We further agree to supply 
 the teacher with board in proportion to our several subscriptions ; also to furnish our 
 proportions of wood for the use of said school. Signed, etc." 
 
 The average juvenile Canadian made, no doubt, a much more merciful, and often 
 much more efiicient, teacher than the ex-sold'er, or broken-down tradesman from the Old 
 Country. One of the first duties of the newly-fledged teacher would be to go carefully 
 over his treasured list of subscribers and ascertain, by a careful arithmetical calculation, 
 the exact number of weeks and days for which he was entitled to board and lodging at 
 the house of each of his respective patrons. The next step would be to find out, by per- 
 sonal or written enquiries, at what lime it would be most convenient for each family to 
 open its doors to him. This process, and the subsequent installation in each home would, 
 it may well be imagined, be trying ordeals to the young auH bashful pedagogue. 
 The receptions accorded the poor itinerant would be, of course, as various as the feelings, 
 dispositions and circumstances of the householders, or, more strictly speaking, of the pre- 
 siding divinities of the parlor and the kitchen, especially the kitchen. In many cases he 
 would quickly feel at home. The welcome would be cordial, the hospitality ungrudging, 
 the companionship agreeable. In such cases the bashful beginner would soon l)e able to 
 shake oil the intolerably humiliating dread ot being regarded as an intruder, an interloper, 
 or half-mendicant. But in numerous instances, as may readily be conceived, the situation 
 would be most galling to a sensitive nature. The over-worked, perpetually tired and fret- 
 ful mistress of the house would receive him with an ill-concealed frown or an involuntary 
 sigh. To her he represented just so much addition, for so long a time, to her hourly toils 
 and cares, already too heavy to be borne. 
 
 Unwashed specimens of " the heritage of the poor " would swarm in every corner. 
 The fear and awe which secured him immunity for a time would soon wear away, and as 
 they were replaced with the familiarity that breeds contempt, he would be exposed to all 
 manner of well-meant advances and indignities. The scorn at the roughly-spread supper 
 table would be a scramble, and the twilight hour, which, if he happened to have a spice of 
 romance in his composition, he would fain have consecrated to quiet thought or fancy, 
 would be made hideous by a juvenile pandemonium, as amidst stripes and cuffs and yells 
 and tears the unruly flock would finally be got to bed. These, of course, were the ill- 
 regulated householders, but they exist. 
 
 Well does the writer remember some personal experiences in this delightful phase of 
 the professional life of an earlier day — not much more than half a semi-centennial distant. 
 The old, dingy farmhouse, the bare floors, the hard seats, the utter absence of everything 
 in the shape of books or other literature, the teeming olive branches at every age and 
 stage of development, the little "spare" bedroom, whose sole furnishings consisted of the 
 bed and bedding, on whose hard floor he reclined for lack of chair and table evening after 
 evening for hours after he was supposed to be in bed, reading by the feeble rays of u 
 
113 
 
 tallow candle the ponderous volumes of Dr. Dick's philosophies, which had been kindly 
 loaned him by a friend, and which were devoured with an eagerness begotten of a genuine 
 hunger, though out of all proportion to the literary merits of the works. 
 
 The Old School House, 
 
 Rude and unfinished and uncomfortable as it was, "The Old School House" would 
 be sure to bring up to many an " old boy " tender memories, which would be recalled in 
 after years in words somewhat like those in poetic form as follows : 
 
 It stood on a bleak country corner, 
 
 The houses were distant and few ; 
 A meadow lay back in the distance, 
 
 Beyond rose the hills to our view. 
 The road, crossing there at right angles, 
 
 Untraversed by pomp and aiTay ; 
 Were cropped by the cows in the summer, 
 
 I've watched them there many a day. 
 
 In memory's hall hangs the i^icture, 
 
 A.nd years of sad care are between ; 
 It hangs with a beautiful gilding, 
 
 And well do I love it, 1 ween. 
 It stood on a bleak country corner, 
 
 But boyhood's young heart made it warm ; 
 It glowed in the sunshine of summer, 
 
 'Twas cheerful in winter and storm. 
 
 The teacher, O well I remember. 
 
 My heart has long kept him in place ; 
 Perhaps by the world he's forgotten. 
 
 His memory no touch can effiice. 
 Ho met us with smiles on the tbreshoW, 
 
 And in that rude temple of art. 
 He left, with the skill of a workman, 
 
 His touch on the mind and the heai t. 
 
 Oh ! gay were the sports of the noontide. 
 
 When winter winds frolicked with snow ; 
 We laughed at the freaks of the storm-king. 
 
 And shouted him on all aghiw. 
 We flashed at his beautiful sculpture, 
 
 Regardless of all its array ; 
 We plunged in the feathery snow-drifts. 
 
 And sported the winter away. 
 
 We sat on the old-fashioned benches, 
 
 Beguiled with our pencil and slate ; 
 We thought of the opening future. 
 
 And dreamed of our manhood's estate. 
 I cast a fond glance o'er the meadow, 
 
 The hills just behind it I see ; 
 Away in the charm of the distance, 
 
 Old school house ! a blessing on thee ! 
 
 Mr. Canni^ Haight, in Canada of " Fifty Years Ago," gives the following account 
 of the common .school education of his day : — " The schoolhouse was close at hand, and its 
 aspect is deeply graven in my memory. It was a small, square structure, with low 
 ceiling. In the centre of the room was a box stove, around which the long wooden 
 benches, without backs, were ranged. Next the wall were the desks, raised a little from 
 the floor. In the summer time the pupils were all of tender years, the elder ones being 
 kept at home to help with the work. I was one of a lot of little urchins ranged daily on 
 hard wooder* seats, with our feet dangling in the air for seven or eight hours a day. In 
 
 8 (r. M.) 
 
114 
 
 such a plight we were exppcte<l to bn very good children, to make no noise, and to learn 
 our lessons. It is a marvel that so many years had to elapse before parents and teachers 
 could be brought to see that k^-eping children in such a position for so many hours was 
 an act of great cruelty. The terror of the rod was the only thing that could keep us 
 still, and that often failed. Sometimes, tired and weary, we fell asleep and tumbled off 
 the bench, to be awakened by the fall of the r.id. In the winter time, the small school 
 was filled to overflowing with the larger boy.s and girls. This tlid not improve our 
 condition, for we were more closely packed together, and were either shivering with the 
 cold or being roasted with a red-hot stove. . . I next sat under the rod of an Irish 
 pedagogue — an old man who evidently believed that the only way to get anything into a 
 boy's head was to pound it in with a stick through his back. There was no discipline, 
 and the noise we made seemed to rival a bedlam. — pp. 17, 18. 
 
 " As far as my recollection goes, the teachers were generally of a very inferior order, 
 and rarely possessed more than a smattering of the rudiments of grammar and arithmetic. 
 They were poorly paid, and " boarded round " the neighbourhood. But it is not impro- 
 bable that they generally received all that their services were worth. . . The .•school- 
 houses where the youth were taught were in keeping with the extent of instruction 
 received within them. They were invariably small, with low ceilings, badly lighted, and 
 without ventilation." — pp. 157, 158. 
 
 A School Teacher's Personal Experience in 1865. 
 
 From the Toronto Mail of November 28th, 1888, I select the following graphic 
 account of the personal experience of a school teacher in 1865 :— 
 
 " 'Yes," said an old teacher to a representative of the Mail yesterday, "education 
 has been wonderfully revolutionized in Ontario during the last twenty-five years. It was 
 in January, 1865, that I first took up the birch, swaying it until I cautiously made up 
 my mind to quit when the new Act requiring higher qualifications came into force in 
 1871. At that time the school houses in my county were all constructed of logs, and 
 more uninviting buildings than these were not to be found in the country. It did appear 
 that the ratepayers were more led to educate their children out of a feeling of latent and 
 legal compulsion, than out of duty and parental regard. The life of a teacher in those 
 days was not the high-toned one of to-day. Let me give my own experience, and when 
 I have related it you will see how much there is in the complaints and grumblings of the 
 existing generation of school teachers. 
 
 " ' A school became vacant in the neighboring township, and I made up my mind, 
 armed as I was with a first-class certificate awarded me by the County Board of Exam- 
 aminers, that I would apply for tlip position. 
 
 " ' I went to two influential men in the neighborhood and succeeded in coaxing them 
 to go with me to the trustees of the school. We arrived at the section in due time, and 
 after making due enquiries proceeded to the house of one of the trustees, who had the 
 reputation of knowing everything worth discovering in the school law of the period. I 
 felt an awful dread and confusion come over me when in the presence of that trustee. 
 I was introduced, and I immediately told my errand. The horny-handed son of toil gave 
 me one of those inscrutable looks that nearly sunk me to the earth. He coughed slightly, 
 jerked his head back, put his two hands in the pockets of his trousers, and immediately 
 proceeded to business.' 
 
 " ' So yous wants the school, does you 1 ' 
 
 "'I do, sir.' 
 
 " ' Well, I might as well tell ye at once that the teacher we intend hiring must be 
 better than the present one. He is a curse to the children of this section, with his gram- 
 mar and his jography, and all his other fal de rals. Why, sir ; my son Bill comes home 
 the other night and says he, 
 
 " ' Father, what is grammar ? ' • 
 
115 
 
 ** I says, Bill, I never studied grammar, and you see how I am able to get along 
 without it. Grammar is no good for ploughing or cutting up that slash foment the 
 house." 
 
 " Well," says the boy, " would you tell me what our teacher meant by saying that 
 Berlin is on the Spree 1" I then got mad, and says I, " Bill, never let me hear ye say 
 anything more about these things. Sure they were never taught to us from the New 
 Testament when I was in school." 
 
 But that is not all, the boy began to say to himself, orthography, etymology, syntax, 
 and prosody, going over them again and again, until I says to Moriah, " Is the child 
 getting mad, wife 1 " 
 
 No sooner had he heard that than he began to say, " Noun, adjective, pronoun, 
 adverb, preposition, noun, adjective, pronoun, preposition," as before. I then got afeard 
 the child was clean crazy, and when I was in the act of rising to catch hold of him, says 
 he, " Father, the earth is not flat, it is a round ball and goes lound." 
 
 " Och, och," says I, " that spalpeen of a school master has driven my son mad.". . . 
 
 So I calls a meeting, and ray two colleages, Thomas Ginty and Edward Crawford, 
 and myself, met at the school house and dismissed the rascal. 
 
 When the leader of education of school section No. 5 stopped, I turned to my 
 
 companions, not knowing what qualifications were expected of me. 
 
 The trustee continued : — " Can you read 1 " " Yes." " Can you cipher 1 " " Yes." 
 " Do you know how to count by long division ? " "1 do." " You don't know grammar 1 " 
 
 Here was the crucial test. I resolved, however^ to get out of it the best way pos- 
 sible, and replied : — " I don't like grammar, and don't know much about it," which was 
 true. "Good." 
 
 The trustee smiled swee!;ly and said : — " The school is yours ; but, remember, no 
 grammar or jography, or out you go." 
 
 I was taken to the other trustees, and in their presence I was put through the same 
 examination as above recorded. 
 
 The bargain was struck there and then. I was promised fifteen dollars a month, 
 board from house to house, with the condition that I should put on the fires in winter, 
 and keep the school house clean — a herculean task in those days. 
 
 On the morning that 1 was to assume my pedagogic duties, I arrived at the school 
 house about 8 a.m., and at once proceeded to build a fire. I never can forget the feeling 
 of utter loneliness which came over me, as I stood opposite a fireplace wide enough to 
 accommodate an ox. On the walls of the building were three maps, of what countries I 
 do not now remember, because geography was proscribed during my regime. Daylight 
 was seen through the walls. The seats were of the most primitive character, while my 
 own desk resembled more the top of a toboggan slide than the rostrum of one who was 
 teaching the young idea how to shoot. There was no fence round the building, the 
 play ground being illimitable in its dimensions and capacities. In short the whole of the 
 surroundings of this rural academy congealed all literary aspirations, and it was little 
 wonder that the boys and girls meeting there, and pretending to be drinking at the 
 fountain of knowledge, grew up utterly destitute of the first principles of a rational and 
 suitable education. 
 
 The children arrived, and 1 immediately began to assert my authority as the head of 
 the institution. I made a short speech, telling the children that nothing would be taught 
 in my school but reading, writing and 'rithmetic, adding that the ten commandments 
 would be included in the curriculum. I got along famously that day with the pupils, 
 and as I was told afterwards, when my charges went home and told their parents the 
 new order of things, I was universally pronounced the gieatest teacher of the age. I 
 lodged that night with Trustee Fallis, my examiner. He was delighted with the reports 
 given by Bill of my mode of teaching, and in a moment of confidence told me that the 
 school was mine as long as I liked to keep it. 1 humbly thanked him, and retired to 
 
116 
 
 my room, where I found Bill, the heir of the house, in innocent slumber. Bill did not by 
 any means prove a pleasant bed-fellow. Occasionally his feet were found where his head 
 should be, ami he repeatedly called out, " No grammar ! Hurrah ! " Next morning I rose, 
 and after breakfast majestically strode through two feet of snow to the log school house, 
 and then put in another day's grinding. 
 
 At four o'clock the trustees met and handed m3 a badly written and wor^e spelled 
 manuscript, which on perusal I found to be the list of houses I was to board at during 
 the coming three months. . . . Now, sir, continued the dominie, I put in a whole 
 year of that kind of work ; listened to all the gossip of the neighborhood, slept occa- 
 sionally on the floor, nursed all the babies of the section, and just as I thought that my 
 position was secure, disaster overcame me. One of the trustees had a daughter ot' 
 prepossessing appearance, and I could not resist the temptation of falling in love with 
 her. When the news got abroad that I was paying attentions to her, the section be^an to 
 talk adversely of myself. Complaints were soon heard as to my teaching. Some said 
 that I was teaching grammar on the sly, and that I was partial to some of the children. 
 The result of it all was that a meeting of the board took place, and, despite the protests 
 of Thomas Ginty, I was, in tlie language of modern times, " fired." .j 
 
 " Now," continued the old teacher, " the moral of what I told you is this : — Compare 
 the log school house, its internal arrangements and play grounds, with those of to-day 
 throughout the whole country, and you have the greatest exemplification possible of the 
 progress made by Ontario during the last quarter of a century. There is scarcely a sec- 
 tion now but has its brick school house, with surroundings attractive and neat. The 
 teacher is given ample opportunity to cultivate the minds of his pupils to the highest 
 pitch possible, at least as far as requisite for the general affairs of life. The old prejudices 
 against teaching anything else but the three R's are gone. You have the walls of the 
 buildings ornamented with maps, charts and other appliances. Text-books are provided 
 of the most modern character, while a rigid system of examinations acts as an incentive 
 to the teacher and makes him an instructor in fact and reality. Lastly, we have an in- 
 telligent and cultured class of teachers, and taking all things into consideration, tliey are 
 well paid, and still better, their services are year by year becoming more appreciated. A 
 better class of people now act in the capacity of trustees, and as years roll by a still more 
 intelligent class will be found in these positions. 
 
 Reminiscences of Education in the City ok Hamilton in 1852. 
 
 In conversation with a Reporter of the Hamilton Times in 1888, Mr. James 
 "Cummings, who, after thirty-seven years service on the City Board of Education, thus 
 related his early educational experience : — 
 
 '" At the time I first became connected with the board in 1852," said Mr. Cummings, 
 "education was at rather a low ebb, not only in Hamilton, but throughout the country. 
 Dr. Ryerson had just commenced his excellent common school scheme and in 1847, had 
 established a training school for teachers in Toronto. Hamilton had decided to adopt 
 the common school system and the reorganization of the schools was just being effected. 
 Previous to that time the education of the children of the better class was almost wholly 
 in the hands of private school teachers. There were a few small school rooms in the 
 diff'erent wards, but they were wretched places, where usually fifty children were crowded 
 into a small room reeking with fetid atmosphere. On the site of the present Cannon 
 street school was a small frame grammar school, at which many of the present leading 
 citizens received the ground-work of their education. A great reform was inaugurated 
 here in the year 1852. Under the new Ryerson Act of 1850 trustees were clothed with 
 new powers, and we immediately proceeded to reorganize the schools here on the new 
 l^lan. Tenders v.-ere let for the erection of the present Central school and for ward 
 schools in different parts of the city. Mr. (now Dr. J. H.) Sangster was appointed head 
 master, and to him was entrusted the appointment of teachers, and he was made respon- 
 sible for the efliciency of the schools. He had been a teacher in the Ryerson model 
 school in Toronto, and he appointed as his assistants thoroughly trained graduates of 
 
117 
 
 that excellent institution. This was the founding of Hamilton's excellent common school 
 system. It kept improving from year to year and soon closed out the private schools. 
 Larger ward schools were erected, and since that day Hamilton has taken a high position 
 educationally in the Province." 
 
 Education in the County of Simcoe, 1852-1872. 
 
 Dr. Ryerson was invited to open the new Public School in the town of Barrie in 
 1872. Before the ceremony was proceeded with a letter was read from Judge (now the 
 Hon. Senator) Gowan, who was unable to be present, referring to his long services in the 
 cause of education in the County of Simcoe. He said : — 
 
 " Ever since I came to this country, nearly thirty years ago, 1 have been connected 
 with the school system, having held the oiRce of Trustee of the Grammar School, and the 
 position of Chairman of the Board of Public Instruction from its first institution till 
 superseded by recent enactment, and, with the exception of my friend, Mr. Dallas, I am 
 the only member of the original Board now living. 
 
 " I have seen the gradual improvement in the school system, and the improvement 
 in the schools in this country from very small beginnings to the present advanced and 
 most prosperous condition, so you will understand my disappointment in not being able 
 to be present on the interesting occasion (.f laying the corner-stone of the Public School 
 house of Barrie, by the Chief Superintendent of Education. 
 
 " My position as Secretary and Treasurer of the Grammar School, and Chairman of 
 the Board of Public Instruction, in this, the largest county in Ontario, brought me in 
 constant communication with the Education Office in Toronto ; and I can say that the 
 able, zealous, and wise administration of the school law by Dr. Ryerson and his assistant, 
 Dr. Hodgins, has, here at least, had a happy effect — fostering the increase of schools, 
 securing their better management, giving them efficient teachers, and providing the means, 
 within easy access to all, of securing a good common education to the youth of this 
 country, and a very superior education in the Grammar Schools." 
 
 Mr. (now Judge) Boys, gave a sketch of the educational history of Barrie as follows : 
 
 " Twenty years ago there was no Public or Common School, not, however, without 
 school accommodation, as we were then included in what was known as School Section 
 No. 1 of the adjoining Township of Vespra. We had no building specially set apart as 
 a school house, but a rented room then sufficed to carry on the daily teaching embraced 
 within the section. . . . Twenty years ago one teacher took charge of all our scholars — • 
 both male and female — and if there is any doubt as to his labor having been great, there 
 can be none as to his salary having been small, for he subsisted on a sum of £60 per 
 annum. 
 
 " In January, 1854, Barrie became possessed of a school of its own, and built a school 
 house of frame 24 x 36, just about large enough to fill up one room in the building we 
 are now erecting. It was, no doubt, at the time it was built, amply large, yet I find, 
 from the record of the school, that such was the growth of the town by September, 1854, 
 non-residents were refused admittance to the Barrie school on the ground of its over- 
 crowded state, the average attendance of male-; being seventy — the females were then 
 taught in another building by a female teacher. This state of things continued for nearly 
 a year, when a separate school was established for Barrie, which brought some relief to 
 the over-crowded building. But it was evident that more school accommodation would 
 have to be supplied, and I see by the minute book of the school, that a new school house 
 was talked of so far back as January, 1855. The new school house, however, never came. 
 The difficulty at last was settled by an enlargement of the old building, which then 
 assumed the appearance it now presents. With the enlarged school house, supplemented 
 by some rentf^d rooms, the schools of Barrie have ever since continued to the present 
 time. It took time to convince our people of the imperative necessity there was for a 
 large outlay in providing a new school house. But the ratepayers became convinced at 
 last, and gave their hearty approval to an expenditure which will enable us, during the- 
 
118 
 
 next year, to erect a school building suitable to the place, and one worthy of the trouble 
 you, sir, have taken to be present at its official commencement. During the time I refer 
 to, a Grammar School building of brick was erected and enlarged, and a Separate School 
 building put up. 
 
 " To-day, with your kind assistance, we have inaugurated a system of Public School 
 accommodation which, with our school known as the Barrie School. Separate and High 
 Schools, will ultimately provide for the educational wants of the neighborhood. I use 
 the expression ' inaugui'ated a system,' because I hope and trust that our efforts in this 
 direction will not be slackened on the completion of this building. . . . We believe this 
 building will be worthy of the honor you have done us in coming here to-day, we also 
 believe at some future day, we shall have a system of Public School accommodation 
 worthy of the life-long and successful efforts you have made to give to Ontrtrio an almost 
 perfect system of education. It is seldom that public men are asked to assist in building 
 a monument to themselves, but T have asked you to do so on this O'jcasion, for I look 
 upon buildings of this nature as memorials of your well-directed public work during the 
 last thirty years, and when you have gone to your long home, and the envy — aye — and 
 the malice of your enemies are forgotten, your name associated with the noble work you 
 have accomplished, will be handed down from generation to generation, and each school 
 section throughout the country will contain a monument to your memory, as enduring as 
 the foundations of this continent." 
 
119 
 
 CHAPTER VL 
 
 PERSONAL CHAPTER RELATING TO THE REV. DR. RYERSON. 
 
 In Dr. Rycrson's personal sketch of his early history he gives the following particulars 
 as to his student and teacher life : 
 
 I was born on the 24:th of March, 1803, in the Township of Charlotteville, near the 
 Village of Vittoria, in the then London District, now the County of Norfolk. 
 The district grammar-school was then kept within half a-mile of my father's residence, 
 hj Mr. James Mitchell (afterwards Judge Mitchell), an excellent classical scholar ; he 
 came from Scotland with the late Rt. Rev. Dr. Strachan, first Bishop of Toronto, He 
 treated Die with much kindness. When I recited to him my lessons in English grammar 
 he often said that he had never studied the English grammar himself, that he wrote and 
 spoke English by the Latin grammar. At the age of fourteen I had the opportunity of 
 attending a course of instruction in the English language given by two professors, the 
 one an Englishman, and the other an American, who taught nothing but English 
 grammar. They professed in one course of instruction, by lectures, to enable a diligent 
 pupil to parse any sentence in the English language. I was sent to attend these lectures, 
 the only boarding abroad for school instruction I ever enjoyed. My previous knowledge 
 of the lette7' of the grammar was of great service to me, and gave me an advantage over 
 other pupils, so that before the end of the course I was generally called up to give 
 visitors an illustration of the success of the system, which was certainly the most effective 
 I have ever since witnessed, having charts, etc., to illustrate the agreement and govern- 
 ment of words. 
 
 This whole course of instruction by t\v ) able men, who did nothing but teach 
 grammar from one week's end to another had to me all the attrnction of a charm and a 
 now discovery. It gratified both curiosity and aml)ition, and I pursued it with absorbing 
 interest, until I had gone through Murray's two volumes of " Expositions and Exercises," 
 Lord Kames' " Elements of Criticism," and Blair's " Lectures on Rhetoric," of which I 
 still have the notes which Ithenm^de. The same professors obtained sufiicient encourage- 
 ment to give a second course of instruction and lectures at Vittoria, and one of them 
 becoming ill, the other solicited my father to allow me to assist him, as it would be useful 
 to me, while it would enable him to fulfil his engagements. Thus, before I was sixteen, 
 I was inducted as a teacher, by lecturing on my native language. This course of instruc- 
 tion, and exercises in English, have proved of the greatest advantage to me, not less in 
 enabling me to study foreign languages than in using my own. 
 
 While working on the farm I did more than ordinary day's work, that I might show 
 how industrious, instead of lazy, as some said, religion made a person. I studied between 
 three and six o'clock in the morning, carried a book in my pocket during the day to 
 improve odd moments by reading or learning, and then reviewed my studies of the day 
 aloud while walking out in the evening. ... A kind friend offered to give me any 
 book that I would commit to memory, and submit to his examination of the same. Li 
 this way I obtained my first Latin grammar, " Watts on the Mind," and " Watts' 
 Logic." 
 
 My eldest brother, George, after the war, wi nb to Union College, U. S., where he 
 finished his collegiate studies. He was a fellow-student with the late Dr. Wavland, and 
 afterwards succeeded my biothr-in-law as Master of the London District Grammar School. 
 His counsels, examinations, and ever kind assistance were a great encouragemeut and of 
 immense service to me. 
 
 I felt a strong desire to pursue further my classical studies, and determined, with the 
 tind counsel and aid of my eldest broth<-r, to proceed to Hamilton, and place myself for 
 a year under the tuition of a man of high reputation both as a scholar and a teacher, the 
 
12U 
 
 late John Law, Esq., then head master of the Gore District Grammar School. 1 applied 
 myself with such ardour, and prepared such an amount of work in both Latin and Greek, 
 that Mr. Law said it was impossible for him to give the time and hear me read all that 
 I had prepared, and that he would, therefore, examine me on the translation and con- 
 struction of the more difficult passages, remarking more than once that it was impossible 
 for any human mind to sustain long the strain that I was imposing upon mine* In the 
 course of some six months his apprehensions were realized, as I was seized with a brain 
 fever, and on partially recoveaing took cold, which resulted in inflammation of the lunga 
 by which I was so reduced that my physician, the late Dr. James Graham, of Norfolk, 
 pronounced my case hopeless, and my death was hourly expected. 
 
 After a severe illness Dr. Ryerson hai)pily recovered. 
 
 His narrative states that, " the next d-ty after my recovery, I left home and became 
 usher in the London District Grammar School, applying myself to my new work with 
 much diligence and earnestness, so that I soon succeeded in gaining the good-will of 
 parents and pupils, and they were quite satisfied with my services, — leaving the head 
 master to his favorite pursuits of gardening and building ! 
 
 In 1872, Dr. Ryerson wrote to Mr. Simpson McUall, of Vittoria and asked: " Will 
 you have the kindness to let me know what is your own recollection as to the attendance 
 at the school, especially in the winter months, and the impression of the neighborhood 
 generally as to its efficiency during the two years that I taught it T' Mr. McOall replied 
 as follows : I can assure you that I have a vivid recollection of the London District 
 School during the winters of 1821 and 1822, being an attendant myself. I also remember 
 several of the scholars with whom I associated, viz : H. V. A. Rapelje, Esq., late Sheriff 
 of the County of Norfolk ; Capt. Joseph Bostwick, of Port Stanley ; James and Hannah 
 Moore. 
 
 The number generally attending during the winters of those two vears, if I re- 
 member correctly, were from forty to fifty. 
 
 The school while under your charge was well and efficiently conducted, and was so 
 considered and appreciated throughout the neighborhood at the time ; and after you left 
 the charge of the London District School it was generally regretted in the neighborhood. 
 
 I remember hearing this frequently remarked not only by pupils who attended the 
 school under your tuition but also by their parents. 
 
 " During two years 1 was thus teacher and student, advancing considerably in 
 classical st'idies, I took great delight in " Locke on the Human Understanding,'' Paley's 
 " Moral and Political Philosophy," and " Blackstone's Commentaries," especially the 
 sections of the latter on the Prerogatives of the Crown, the Rights of the subject, and 
 the Province of Parliament." 
 
 In an address before the Ontario Teachers' Association in 1872, Dr. Ryerson said : 
 " As it has of late been stated, so confidently and largely, that he had yet to learn the 
 elements of his native tongue. Such had been tlie representations on the subject, that he 
 had begun to suspect hi? own identity, and to ask himself whether it was not a delusion 
 that he had in boyhood not only studied, but, as he supposed, had mastered Murray's 
 two octavo volumes of English Grammar and Kame's Elements of Criticism and Blair's 
 Rhetoric, of which he still had the notes that he made in ( arly life ; and had been called 
 to assist teaching a spetiiai class of yonni^ pei.sons in Knglish Grammar when he was only 
 fifteen years of age ; and whether it was not a fancy that he had taught, as he supposed, 
 with some degree of acceptance and success, what was then known as the London District 
 
 •Having written to the late Hon. Samuel Mills for his recollections of these school days. Mr. Mills 
 replied as follows : " I have a distinct recollection of having had the honor of being at the Hamilton 
 Grammar School with j'oursi'lf in the yearn 182:< and 1824, and that the late John Law was head master at 
 the time. He was considered a highly educated and accomplished scholar, and was so well qualified for the 
 position he held, that the school had a provincial reputation and was patronized by many parties living at 
 a great distance l>y sending their sons to it ; and the very fact of your attending the schocl gave ^clat to it, 
 a-j you were then considered a well educated young man, far in advance of the rest of us. Your studies, if 
 my rec )llection serves me right, were confined entirely to reading Latin and Greek, and I know Mr. Law 
 and the whole school looked upon you as being a credit to it." 
 
121 
 
 Grammar School for two years, and had subsequently placed himself for a year under an 
 accomplished scholar in order to read Latin and Greek. Somewhat disturbed by these 
 doubts, he thought he would satisfy himself by writing to the only two gentlemen with 
 whom he was now acquainted, who knew him in these early relations. In reference to 
 these statements he would read the correspondence on the subject." (See the foot notes 
 appended.) 
 
 The Rev. Dr. Ryerson as a Teacher. 
 
 As to Dr. Ryerson's influence as a teacher, Rev. Dr. Ormiston thus referred to it at 
 the Ontario Teacher's Convention in 1872. He said : " The teacher has a reward peculiar 
 to his work — a living, lasting memorial of his worth. The feelings of loving reverence 
 which we entertain for those who have awakened our intellectual life, and guided us in 
 our earliest attempts at the acquisition of knowledge, are as enduring as they are grateful. 
 I shall never forget, as I can never repay, the obligations under which I lie to the 
 venerable and honorable Chief Superintendent, Dr. Ryerson, not only for the kindly 
 paternal greeting with which, as principal, he welcomed me, a raw, timid, untutored lad, 
 on my hrst entrance into Victoria College, when words of encouragement fell like dew- 
 drops on my heart, and for the many acts of thoughtful generosity which aided me in my 
 early career, and for the faithful friendship and Christian sympathy which has extended 
 over nearly' thirty years, unbroken and unclouded, a friendship which, strengthened and 
 intensified by prolonged and endearing intimacy, I now cherish as one of the highest 
 honors and dearest delights of my life ; but especially for the quickening, energizing 
 influence of his instructions as professor, when he taught me how to think, to reason and 
 to learn. How I enjoyed the hours spent in his lecture-room — hours of mental and 
 moral growth never to be forgotten ! I owe him much, and but for his presence here 
 to-day, I would say more of what I think and feel of his character and worth. He has 
 won for himself a place in the heart of many a young Canadian, and his name will be 
 ever associated with the educational advantages and history of Ontario. May he be 
 spared for many years to see the result of his labors, in the growing prospects and success 
 of the common schools and educational institutions of this noble and prosperous province, 
 "whose best interests he has patriotically done so much to promote." 
 
 In 1882, after Dr. Ryerson's death, Dr. Ormiston thus referred to his experience at 
 Victoria College, then under Dr. Ryer.son's pre^ideacy. He said :— 
 
 " In the autumn of 18 tS, I went to Victoria College, doubting much whether I was pre- 
 pared to matriculate as a freshman. Though my attainments in some' of the subjects prescribed 
 for examination were far in advance of the requirements, in other subjects I knew I was 
 sadly deficient. On the evening of my arrival, while my mind was burdened witht he im- 
 portance of the step I had tiken, and by no means free from anxiety about the issue. Dr. 
 Ryerson, at that time Principal of the College, visited me in my room. I shall never forget 
 that interview. He took me by the hand ; and few men could express as much by a mere 
 hand-shake as he. It was a welcome, an encouragement, an inspiration, and an earnest of 
 futui e fellowship and friendship, it lessened the timid awe I naturally felt towards one in 
 such an elevated position — I had never before seen a Principal of a College — it dissipated all 
 boyish awkwardness and awakened filial confidence. He spoke of Scotland, my native 
 land, and of her noMe sons, distinguished in every branch of philosophy and literature; 
 specially of the number, the diligence, the frugality, self-denial and succe.ss of her college 
 students. In this way he soon led me to tell him of my parentage, pisc life and efforts, 
 present hopes and aspirations. His manner was so gracious and paternal — his sympathy 
 so quick and genuine — his counsel so ready and cheering — his assurances so grateful and 
 inspiriting, that not only was ray heart his from that hour, but my future career seemed 
 brighter and more certain than it had ever appeared before. 
 
 " Many times in after years have I been instructed, and guided, and delighted with 
 his conversation, always replete with interest and information; but that first interview I 
 can ne-ver forget, it is as fresh and clear to me to-day as it was on the morning after it 
 took place. It has exerted a profound, enduring, moulding influence on my whole life. 
 
122 
 
 For what, under God, I am, and have been enabled to achieve, I owe more to that noble, 
 unselfish, kind-hearted man than to any one else. 
 
 ' A.S a teacher he was earnest and efficient, eloquent and inspiring, but he expected 
 and exacted rather too much work from the average student. His own ready and affluent 
 mind sympathized keenly with the apt, bright scholar, to whom his praise was warmly 
 given, but he scarcely made sufficient allo^vauce for the dullness or lack of previous pre- 
 paration which failed to keep pace with him in his long and rapid strides; hence his cen- 
 sures were occasionally severe. His methods of examination furnished the very best kind 
 of mental discipline, fitted alike to cultivate the memory and to strengthen the judgment. 
 All the students revered him, but the best of the class appreciated him most. His coun- 
 sels were faithful and judicious; his admonitions paternal and discriminating; his rebukes 
 seldom administered, but scathingly severe No studeat ever left his presence, without 
 resolving to do better, to aim higher, and to win his approval." 
 
 The Rev. Dr. Ryeuson and His Native County of Norfolk. 
 
 Mr. P. K. Olyne, in the New Dominion Monthly for July, 1869, in an article on 
 *' Norfolk, or the Long-Point County," thus referrs to its settlement and to the boyhood 
 *here of Ur. Ryerson : — 
 
 " After undergoing many hardships, which were only a foretaste of what they had to 
 endure in the future, a company arrived in the Long Point region about the year 1780. 
 This was then a solitary wilderness. These pioneer Loyalists went to work with zeal 
 unsurpassed in cleAring away the forest, in building roads and erecting houses as com- 
 modious as it was possible to erect out of rude materials. Among those who fir.st came to 
 the Long Point country, worthy of particular notice, were Colonel Ryerson, Colonel Back- 
 house, Walsh and Tisdale. In the pionHur home of Joseph Ryerson might have been seen 
 a remarkably bright lad. Being e.x;tremely fond of books, he spent his spare momenta in 
 studying. 8o regular was his habits in this respect, that when a neighbour would drop in 
 and ask for E^erton, the answer was sure to be : " You will find him in such a place, 
 with a book." Notwithstanding he was placed in a position where opportunities for 
 gaining an education were very meagre indeed, yet he overcame all obstacles — obstacles 
 that he could not forget in after life, and which, like a true patriot, he set himself to 
 remove. How much Dr. Egerton Ryer.son, Chief Superintendent of Education, has done 
 for the educational interests of Canada the reader is left to judge for himself. Of late the 
 Doctor has made a practice of visiting the home of his childhood annually. Not always 
 by rail and stage has he accomplished the journey from roronto, but still clinging to the 
 sport of his youthful days he would set forward in an open boat, and paddling it himself 
 along the shores of the lakes would finally reach the place so dear to him, and which, no 
 doubt, brought afresh to his memory many recollections both joyous and sad. 
 
 " A rude log schoolhouse was constructed by the early settlers as soon as they could 
 do so conveniently. A tire-place. e.xtenJed along nearly a whole side of the building. 
 Logs of considerable length were rolled into this in cold weather for fuel, before which 
 rude benches or hewed logs wer^ placed as seats for the instructor and pupils. The close 
 •of the teacher's term was denominated "the last day." It was customary on this occasion 
 for the children to turn the pedagogue out of door.-^ by force, and for this purpose some 
 whiskey was generally provided as a stimulant. Such was the state of educational insti- 
 tutions in the days of young Ryerson. What advancement has education made since ^ 
 "We trace it step by step as onward it has advanced, until to-day Norfolk can proudly 
 lioast of institutions and teachers second to none of the kind in the world." 
 
 In 1851, Dr. Ryerson seat to each County Council specimens of maps, charts, natural 
 history, })rints, etc., to the value of .$30, the Council of the County of Norfolk, acknow- 
 ledged the gift in a very hearty manner. In reply to the County Council, Dr. Ryerson 
 said : — 
 
 From the Municipal Council of my native county, I have never experienced unkind 
 ■opposition, but have been encouraged by its patriotic co-operation : and it affords me no 
 
123 
 
 small satisfaction, that that same Council is the first in Upper Canada to acknowledge the 
 receipt of the documents and maps refei-red to — that the resolution of the Council was 
 secoiuled by an old school-fellow, * and couched in terms to me the most gratifying and 
 encouraging ; and that my first ofl&cial letter of a new year, relates to topics which call up 
 the e.irliest associations of my youth, and are calculated to prompt and impel me to renewed 
 exertions for the intellectual and social advancement of my native land. 
 
 To the County Board of -Public Instruction he said : 
 
 " I hoi)e the poorest boy in my native County may have access to a better common 
 school than existed there when I was a lad. What I witnessed and felt in my boy- 
 hood, gave birth to the strongest impulses of my own mind, to do what I could to place 
 the means and facilities of mental development and culture within the reach of every youth 
 in the land." 
 
 " I am more than gratified, I am profoundly impressed, that such efforts are made 
 for the interests of the young, and of future generations in the County of Norfolk. That 
 county is dear to me by a thousand tender recollections ; and I still seem to hear in the 
 midst of it, a voice issuing from a mother's grave, as was wont formerly from the living 
 tongue, telling me that the only life worthy the name, is that which makes man one with 
 his fellow-men, and with his country," 
 
 In September, 1864, Dr. Ryer.son thus referred to the trip in his frail skiff to his 
 native county of Norfolk in the preceding month ; 
 
 " In my lonely voyage from Toronto to Port Ryerse the scene was often enchanting 
 and the solitude sweet beyond expression. I have witnessed the setting sun amidst the 
 Swiss and Tyrolese Alps from lofty elevations, on the plains of Lombardy, from the 
 highest eminence of the Appenines, between Bologna and Florence, and from the crater 
 summit of Vesuvius, but 1 was never more delighted and impressed (owing, perhaps, in 
 part to the susceptible state of my feelings) with the beauty, effalgence, and even 
 sublimity of atmospheric phenomena, and the softened magnificence of surrounding 
 objects, than in witnessing the setting sua on the 23rd of June, from the unruffled bosom 
 of Lake Erie, a few miles east of P. 'rt Dover, and about a mile from the thickly 
 wooded shore, with its deepening and variously reflected shndows. And when the silent 
 darkness enveloped all this beauty, and grandeur, and magnificence in undistinguishable 
 gloom, my mind experienced that wonderful sense of freedom and relief which come from 
 all that suiTge^ts the idea of V)onndlessness — -the deep sky, the dark night, the endless 
 circle, the illimitable waters. The world with its tumult of cares seemed to have retired, 
 and God and His works appeared all in all, suggesting the enquiry which faith and 
 experience promptly' answered in the affirmative — 
 
 With glorious clouds encompassed round 
 
 Whom angels dimly see ; 
 Will the unsearchable be found ; 
 
 Will God appear to me ? 
 
 " My last remark is the vivifying influence and unspeakable pleasure of visiting 
 scenes endeared to me by many tender, and comparatively few painful recollections. 
 Amid the fields, woods, out-door exercises, and associations of the first twenty years of 
 my life, I have seemed to forget the sorrows, labors and burdens of more than two score 
 years, and be transported back to what was youthful, simple, healthy, active, and happy. 
 I can heartily sympathise with the feelings of Sir Walter Scott when, in reply to 
 Washington Irving, who had expreseed disapprobation in the scenery of the Tweed, 
 immortalized by the genius of the border minstrel, he said : 
 
 " ' It may be partiality, but to my eyes these gray hills and all this vvild border 
 country have beauties peculiar to themselves. I like the very nakedness of the land. It 
 has something bold, and stern, and solitary about it. When I have been for some time 
 
 * Mr. I. W. Powell, M.P.P., father of Colonel Powell, Adjutant-General of Canada. 
 
124 
 
 in the rich scenery of Edinburgh, which is ornamented garden land, I begin to wish myself 
 back again among my honest gray hills, and if I did not see the heather at least once 
 a year I think I should die.' 
 
 " Last autumn I lodged two weeks on the farm on which I was born, with the family 
 of Mr. Joseph Duncan, where the meals were taken daily in a room the wood-work of 
 which I, as an amateur carpenter, had finished more than forty years ago, while recovering 
 from a long and serious illness."* 
 
 Closing Official Acts and Utterances of Dr. Rykrson. 
 
 An entire revision and consolidation of the laws relating to public and high schools 
 took place in 1874, in which Dr. Ryerson took a leading pare. But the revision related 
 chiefly to details and to the supply of former omissions in the law. 
 
 The last important official act of Dr. Ryerson was to arrange for the educational 
 exhibit of the department at the Centennial Exhibition in 1876. That was most success- 
 fully carried out ; and, at the close of that exhibition, the following highly gratifying 
 " award " was communicated to the then venerable ex chief, after he had retired from 
 office. The award was made by the American Centennial Commission, and was to the 
 following effect : 
 
 For a quite complete and admirably arranged exhibition, illustrating the Ontario system of education 
 and its excellent results ; also for the efficiency of an administration which has gained for the Ontario 
 Department a most honorable distinction among government educational agencies. 
 
 This award was quite a gratification to the now retired chief of the Department, 
 then in his seventy-third year, and amply repaid him, as he said, for many years of 
 anxious toil and solicitude, while it was a gratifying and unlooked-for compensation for 
 all of the undeserved opposition which he had encountered while laying the foundations 
 of our educational system. 
 
 In a letter to a friend toward the close of his official career, Dr. Ryerson thus 
 expbiined the principles upon which he had conducted the educational affairs of the- 
 Province during his long administration of them. He said : — 
 
 During these many years 1 have organized and administered the Education Depart- 
 ment upon the broad and impartial principles which I have always advocated. During 
 the long period of my administration of the Department I knew neither religious sect nor 
 political party : I knew no party other than :hat of the country at large ; I never 
 exercised any patronage for personal or party purposes ; I never made or recommended 
 one of the numerous appointments of teachers in the Normal or Model Schools, or clerkr 
 in the education office, except upon the ground of testimonials as to personal charactes 
 and qualifications, and on a probationary trial of six months. 
 
 I believe this is the true method of managing all the public departments, and every 
 branch of the public service. I believe it would contribute immensely to both the 
 efficiency and economy of the public .service. * * * It would greatly elevate the 
 standard of action and attninments and stimulate the ambition of the young men of the 
 country, when they know that their selection and advancement in their country's service 
 depended upon their individual merits, irrespective of sect or party, and not as the reward 
 of zeal as political partisans in elections or otherwise, on their own part, or on that of 
 their fathers or relatives. 
 
 The power of a government in a country is immense for good or ill. It is designed 
 by the Supreme Being to be a " minister of God for good " to a whole people, without 
 partiality, as well as without hypocrisy, like the rays of the sun ; and the administration 
 of infinite wisdom and justice and truth and purity. 
 
 * The island within Long Point, which Mr. Ryerson 's father obtained from the Crown, but which thei> 
 belonged to him, was marked on old maps as Pott-vhawk Point, but designated on later maps, and more- 
 generally known, as "Ryerson's Island." 
 
125 
 
 I know it has been contended that party patronage * * * is an essential 
 element in the existence of a government. * * * The Education Department has 
 existed — and it is the highest public department in Upper Canada — for more than thirty 
 years without such an element, with increasing efficiency and increasing strength, in the 
 public estimation, during the whole of that period. Justice, and virtue, and patriotism, 
 and intelligence are stronger elements of power and usefulness than those of rewarding 
 partisans ; and if the rivalship and competition of public men should consist in devising 
 and promoting measures for the advancement of the country and in exercising the 
 executive power most impartially and intelligently for the best interests of all classes, then 
 the moral standard of government and of public men woul 1 be greatly exalted, and the 
 highest civilization of the whole country be advanced. 
 
 In a series of letters published in defence of his administration of the Education 
 Department in 1872, he thus pointed out the character of his difficalc and delicate task. 
 He also gave a brief glance at what had been accomplished by the Department since 
 he took office in 1844. He said : — 
 
 The Department of which I have had charge since 1844, and during several admin- 
 istrations of government, is confessedly the m)sc diffiijult and co:nplicated, if not the 
 most important, of any department of the public service. Since 1844, it has devolved 
 on me to frame laws, and to devise, develop, and administer a system of public instruc- 
 tion for the people of this Province. That system has been more eulogized by both 
 English and American educationists, and more largely adopted in other British colonies, 
 on both sides of the globe, than any other system of public instruction in America. 
 
 The system of popular education in Ontario has opened a free school to every child 
 in the land, and proclaimed his right to its advantages ; it has planted a school house in 
 nearly every neighborhood, and in hundreds of instances, made the school house the best 
 building in the neighborhood ; it has superseded the topers and broken-down characters, 
 so common as teachers of a former age, by a class of teachers not excelled in morals by 
 the teachers of any other country, and who, as a whole, compare favorably in qualifica- 
 tions with tho^e of any State in America; it has achieved a uniformity of excellent text- 
 books, earnestly prayed for by educators in the neighboring States, and has spread 
 throughout the land books of useful and entertaining knowledge to the number of nearly 
 a million of volumes ; it is the nearest approach to a voluntary system of any public 
 school system in the world ; and it has developed larger resources than that of any other 
 State in America, in proportion to the wealth and number of inhabitants. 
 
 This unparalleled success is due to the Christian feeling, the energy, patriotism and 
 liberality of the people of this Province ; but it has been imposed on me to construct the 
 machinery, devise the facilities and agencies by which so great a work has been accom- 
 plished, and to do what I could to encourage my fellow-countrymen in its promotion. 
 
 The administration of laws generally is by learned judges, by the pleadings of learned 
 counsel, and the deliberations of selected juries ; but the administration of the school law 
 and system is through the agency of several hundred elected councils, and nearly twenty 
 thousand elected trustees, — thus embodying, not the learned professions, but the intelli- 
 gence, comnion sense, feelings and interests of thj people at large in the work of school 
 administration and local self-government. 
 
 Reasons for Dr. Ryersox's Retirement as Chief Superintendent op Education. 
 
 In " The Story of My Life," I gave the following reasons, amongst others, which 
 induced Dr. Ryerson to propose a change in the headship of the Education Department. 
 I said : " For many years after confederation Dr. Ryerson felt that the new political 
 condition of the Province, which localized, as well as circumscribid, its civil administra- 
 tion of affairs, required a change in the management of the Elucation Department. He, 
 therefore, (as early as in 1868, and again in 1872) urged upon the Government the desir- 
 ability of relieving him from the anomalous position in which he found himself placed 
 
126 
 
 under the new system. The reasons which he urj^ed fi)r his retireiuent are given in a 
 pamphlet devoted to a ' defence' of the system uf education, which he published in 1872, 
 and are as follows : — 
 
 " When political men have made attacks upon the school law, or the school system 
 and myself, and I have answered them, then the cry has V>een raised by my assailants 
 and their abettors, that I was interfering with politics. They would assail me without 
 stint, in hopes of crushing me, and then gag me against all defence or reply. 
 
 "So deeply did I feel the disadvantage and growing evil of this state of things ta 
 the department and school system itself, that I proposed, four years ago last December, 
 to retire from the department, and recommended the creation and appointment of a 
 Minister of Public Instruction. My resignation was not accepted, nor my recommenda- 
 tion adopted ; when, two months later, I proposed that, at the commencement of each 
 session of the legislature, a committee of seven or nine (including the Provincial Secre- 
 tary for the time being) should be elected by ballot, or by mutual agreement of the lead- 
 ing men of both parlies, on the Education Department ; whiah committee should examine 
 into all the operations of the department for the year then ending, consider the school 
 estimates, and any bill or recommendations which might be submitted for the advance- 
 ment of the school system, and report to the house accordingly. By many thoughtful 
 men, this system has been considered more safe, more likely to secure a competent and 
 working head of the department, and less liable to make the school system a tool of 
 party politics, than for the head of it to have a seat in Parliament, and thus leave the 
 educational interests of the country dependent upon the votes of a majcu'ity of 
 electors in one riding. This recommendation, submitted on the 30th of January, 1869^ 
 has not yet been adopted ; and I am left isolated, responsible in the estimation of legis- 
 lators and everybody else for the department — the target of every attack, whether in the 
 newspapers or in the Legislative Assembly, yet without any access to it or to its memWers^ 
 except through the press, and no other support than the character of my work and the 
 general confidence of the public." 
 
 Dh, Ryerson's Letter of Resignation in 1868 and Reply to it. 
 
 The salient points of Dr. Ryerson's letter of resignation, dated 7th December, 1868,. 
 and addressed to Hon. M. C. Cameron, Provincial Secretary, are as follows : — 
 
 "I have the honor to submit to the favourable consideration of the Lieutenant-Gov- 
 enioi- in Council what, some three weeks since, I submitted to the individual members of 
 the Government, namely, that 
 
 " The Department of Public Instruction shall be under the mantgeinent of a mem- 
 ber of the Executive Council, to be designated ' Minister of Public Instruction,' who 
 shall be an ex officio member of the Toronto University and of the Council of l-'ublic In- 
 struction, and who, in atldition to the powers and functions vested in the Chief Superin- 
 tendent of Educaiion, shall have the oversight of all educational institutions which are 
 or may be, aided by public endowment or legislative grant, to inspect and examine, from 
 time to time, personally or any person ap[)ointed by him, into the character and working 
 of such institution ; and by him shall all public moneys be paid in support or aid of such 
 institutions, and to him they will report at such times and in such manner as he shall 
 direct 
 
 " Our system of public instruction has acquired such gigantic dimensions, and the 
 network of its operations so pervades every municipality of the land, and is so interwoven 
 with our municipal and judicial systems of government, that I think its administration 
 should now be vested in a responsible Minister of the Crown, with a seat in Parliament ; 
 and that I should not stand in the way of the application to our varied educational inter- 
 ests of that ministerial responsibility, which is .sound in principle and wise in policy. 
 During the past year I have presented a report on school systems in other countries, with 
 a view of improving my own ; and the Legislative Assembly has appointed a Select Com- 
 
127 
 
 mittee for the same purpose. I have, therefore, thought this was the proper time ta 
 suggest the modification and extension of the Department of Public Instruction. . . . 
 
 " While, in addition to the duties imposed upon me by law as Chief Superintendent 
 of Education, I have voluntarily established a system of providing the municipal and 
 school authorities with libraries, text-books and every description of school furniture and 
 school apparatus— devising and developing their domestic manufacture. I have thus 
 saved the country very many thousands of dollars in the prices as well as the quality 
 of the books, maps, etc., etc. I can truly say that I have not derived one farthing's 
 advantage from any of these arrangements, beyond the consciousness of conferring 
 material, intellectual and social benefits upon the country." . , . 
 
 To this letter the Government of the Hon. J. Sandfield Macdonald replied, through 
 Provincial Secretary Cameron, on the 30th of January, 1869, as follows : — 
 
 " In acknowledging your letter of the 7th December last, placing your resignation 
 of the office of Chief Superintendent of Education in the hands of His Excellency the 
 Lieutenant-Governor, and suggesting that the Department of Public Instruction should 
 be placed under the more direct management of the Government, through a Minister, tO' 
 be designated ' the Minister of Public Instruction,' holding a place in the Executive- 
 Council and a seat in the Lpgislative Assembly, thus bringing this department, in com- 
 mon with all other branches of the Government, within the control of the people through 
 the responsible advisers of the Crown. I am directed by His Excellency the Lieutenant- 
 Governor, to thank you for the valuable suggestions contained in your letter, and to 
 request that you will continue to discharge those important duties, which you have per- 
 formed for a quarter of a century with so much credit to yourself and benefit to the 
 people of this Province, until His Excellency's advisers shall have more fully considered 
 your suggestions, and matured a measure for placing your department under the direct 
 supervision of a member of the Executive Council. 
 
 " The services that you have rendered your country, and your now advanced age, 
 fully warrant your asking to be relieved from the further discharge of your arduous 
 duties ; but knowing your vigor of mind and energy of character. His Excellency ven- 
 tures to hope that compliance with the request now made will not prove too great a tax 
 upon your energies, or interfere seriously with any other plans you may have formed for the 
 employment of the remaining years of a life devoted to the moral and intellectual im- 
 provement of your fellowmen." 
 
 To this letter Dr. Ryerson replied on the 30th January, 1869, as follows : — 
 
 " I have the honour to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of this date conveying 
 the most kind expression of his Excellency the Lieutenant-Governor in regard to myself 
 and my past humble services, and the request that I would continue in my present office 
 until His Excellency's advisers should be able to mature a measure to give effect to the 
 recommendations of my letter of 7th of December last respecting the direct responsibility 
 of the Education Department to Parliament, and the creation of the office of Minister of 
 Public Instruction to be filled by a responsible Minister of the Crown, having a seat in 
 Parliament. The more than kind reference to myself on the part of His Exc^^Uency has. 
 deeply affected me, and for which I desire to express my most heartfelt thanks. 
 
 " I beg to assure you for the satisfaction of His Excellency that [ will subordinate 
 every inclination and contemplated engagement, to the great work of the Education De- 
 partment and the system of Public Instruction, as long as I have strength and may be 
 desired by the constituted authorities to do so. 
 
 " I have found that the apprehensions first expressed by the Hon. M. C. Cameron, as. 
 Chairman of the Education Committee of the Legislative Assembly during the late session, 
 that connecting the Department of Public Instruction with the political Ministry of the 
 day might draw the system of Public Instruction into the arena of party politics and thua 
 impede its progress, is largely shared in by thoughtful men, and that my recommendation^ 
 has been coldly received generally, and strongly objected to in many quarters. 
 
128 
 
 " Under these circumstances I have been led to review the whole question ; and aided 
 by the experience which the recent session of the Legislature has afforded, I would re- 
 spectfully suggest that, until a better system can be devised, a committee of say seven or 
 nine members of the Legislative Assembly (to be presided over by the Provincial Secre- 
 tary) be elected by ballot, (or if not by ballot, by the mutual agreement of the leaders of 
 both parties in the House,) at the commencement of each session, to examine into the work- 
 ing, and report upon all matters relating to the Education Department and its adminis- 
 tration, as well as upon any measures which might be suggested for the promotion of 
 Public Instruction. The Provincial Secretary, being ex officio Chairman of such Com- 
 mittee, would be able to bring before it any thing that had required the interposition of, 
 or had been brought before the Government during the year and meriting the attention 
 of the Committee. The Committee being chosen by ballot, or by mutual agreement on 
 both sides of the House, would preclude the character of party in its mode of appoint- 
 ment, and give weight and influence to its recommendations. In this way the Education 
 Department, necessarily so identified with matters affecting popular progress and enlight- 
 enment would, it its whole administration be more directly responsible to Parliament and 
 through it to tlie people than any other Public Department is now, and that without being 
 identified or connected with any political party, and on the occasion of a vacancy in the 
 Administration of the Department, a selection and appointment could br^ made free from 
 the exigencies of party or of party elections, upon the simple and sole ground of qualifica- 
 tions for the office and with a view of promoting the interests of public education irre- 
 spective of sect or party." 
 
 Dr. Ryerson's Letter of Resigxatiox ix 1872 and Reply ro it. 
 
 On the 10th of February, 1872, Dr. Ryerson addressed a letter to the Hon. Edward 
 Blake, then Premier of Ontario, in which he said : 
 
 " After much deliberation, I have thought it advisable to address you in respect to 
 my long desired retirement from the Education Department, of which I have had charge 
 longer than any Judge has ever occupied the Bench in Canada, and to a greater age. . . 
 
 " The infirmities of age must compel me to retire before long ; and I have thought 
 my immediate or early retirement would enable the Government to exercise its discretion 
 more freely in regard to the Department, and system of Public Instruction. 
 
 " In case you concur in what I have above intimated, I would suggest the creation 
 of the office of Minister of Public Instruction, and the appointment of yourself to it, as is 
 the Premier in Lower Canada, bringing the University, U. C. College, Institutions of Deaf 
 and Blind, as well as the Normal, High and Public Schools, under direct governmental 
 supervision. 
 
 "In the practical administration of the Education Department an abler, more judi- 
 ■cious and reliable man cannot be found than Dr. Hodgins, who has been in the Depart- 
 ment twentv-seven years — who was first educated to business in a retail store in Gait, and 
 afterwards in a wholesale establishment in Hamilton with the Stinsons — clerk in the same 
 establishment with Mr. Charles McGill, M.P., and was offered to be set u|) in business by 
 the Stinsons or admitted as a partner within a year or so if he would remain, but he chose 
 literature and went to Victoria College in 1840, where I found him ; and on account of 
 his punctuality, thoroughness, neatness, method, and excellent conduct, I appointed him 
 on trial first clerk in my office in 1844 ; and having proved his ability, I wrote to him 
 ■when I was in Europe, to come home to his widowed mother in Dublin, and spend a year 
 in the «reat education office there, to learn the whole system and management — I having 
 arranged with the late Archbishop Whately and other members of the National Board, to 
 admit Mr. H. into their office to study the principles and details of its management and of 
 the Normal and Model Schools connected with it. Mr. Ilodginsdid so at his own expense, 
 and losing the salary for the year ; at the end of which he returned to my office with the 
 testimonials of the Irish National Jioard, as to his diligence and the thorough manner in 
 which he had mastered the modes of proceeding in the several branches of that great 
 
129 
 
 Education Department. He also brought ch'awings, of his own make, of the Dublin Edu- 
 cation OiJices, Normal and Model Schools. Then since you know that Mr. Hodgins 
 having taken his degree of M. A., has proceeded regularly to his degree of law in the 
 Toronto University, and has been admitted to the Bar as Barrister at Law. He is, there- 
 fore, the most thoroughly trained man in all Canada for the Education Department ; and 
 is the ablest, most thorough administrator of a public department of any man with whom 
 I have met. I think he has not been appreciated according to his merits ; but should you 
 create and fill the office of Minister of Public Instruction, you may safely confide the 
 ordinary administration of the Education Department to Dr. Hodgins, with the title of 
 my office. 
 
 " In the meantime you can make yourself familiar with the principles and branches, 
 and modes of its arrangement. Whatever you may find to approve of in my policy and 
 course of procedure, I have no doubt you will have the fairness to avow and the patriotism 
 to maintain, whatever may be your views and feelings in regard to myself, personally ; 
 and if you find defects in, and can improve upon, my plans or proceedings, no one will 
 rejoice at your success more than myself. I enclose a printed paper, which will aSord 
 information of tlie details of the Department. 
 
 " I may adit that should I retire from my present office, I would have no objections, 
 if desired, to be appointed Member of the Council of Public Instruction and give any 
 assistance I could in its proceedings as the result of my experience." 
 
 In his reply, dated 12th of February, 1872, Mr. Blake said : — 
 
 " I have your note of the 10th instant, marked private, proposing your retirement 
 and the reconstruction of the Education Office, and enclosing copies of a former official 
 correspondence on the same subject. At this late stage of the session, and under the 
 present jtressure of public business, there is no probability of our giving this matter the 
 consideration which it deserves, and it must thei-efore be postponed till the recess, when, 
 if you will have the goodness to put yourself in communication with the Provincial Secre- 
 tary, as on the former occasion, the subject will receive the early and earnest attention of 
 the Government." . . . 
 
 Nothing further was done in this matter until 1876, when Dr. Ryerson finally re- 
 tired from office on full salary, after having filled his responsible post for nearly thirty- 
 two years. 
 
 9 (R. M.) 
 
180 
 
 A FEW WORDS, PERSONAL TO THE WRITER OF THIS RETROSPECT. 
 
 Having been intimately concerned in all of the events and educational matters to 
 ■which I have referred in the foregoing Retrospect, it may not be out of place for me to 
 add a few words of a personal character in conclusion. 
 
 At the end of this year I shall hive completed my more than 4.5 years' servioe. as 
 chief of the staff of the Education Department of Ontario. 
 
 For over 40 years I enjoyed the personal friendship of the distinguished man whose 
 memory we honor here to-day — 32 years of whicii were passed in active and pleasant 
 service under him. 
 
 The day on which he took official leave of the Department was indeed a memorable 
 one. As he bade farewell to each of his assistants in the office, he and they were deeply 
 moved. He could not, however, bring himself to utter a word to me at our official 
 parting, but as soon as he reached home he wrote to me the following tender and loving 
 note : — 
 
 171 Victoria Street, Toronto, 
 
 Monday Evening, February 2187, 1876. 
 
 My Dear Hodhins, — I felt too deeply to-day when parting with you in the Office 
 to be able to say a word. I was quite overcome with the thought of severing our official 
 connection, which has existed between us for thirty-two years, during the whole of which 
 time, without interruption, we have labored as one mind and heart in two bodies, and I 
 believe with a single eye to promote the best interests of our country, irrespective of 
 religious sect oi political party — to devise, develop, and mature a system of instruction 
 which embraces and provides for every child in the land a good education; good teachers 
 to teach ; good inspectors to oversee the Schools; good maps, globes, and text-books; good 
 books to read ; and every provision wherebj' Municipal Councils and Trustees can provide 
 suitable accommodation, teachers, and facilities for imparting education and knowledge 
 to the rising generation of the land. 
 
 While I devoted the year 184.5 to visiting educating countries and investigating their 
 system of instruction, in order to devise one for our country, you devoted the same time 
 in Dublin in mastering, under the special auspices of the Board of education there, the 
 several different branches of their Education Office, in administering the system of 
 National Education in Ireland, so that in the details of our Education Office here, as well 
 as in our general school system, we have been enabled to build up the most extensive 
 establishment in the country, leaving nothing, as far as I know, to be devised in the 
 completeness of its arrangements, and in the good character and efficiency of its officer.s. 
 Whatever credit or satisfaction may attach to the accomplishment of this work, I feel 
 that you are entitled to share equally with myself Although I know that you have been 
 Ojiposed to the change, yet could I have believed that I might have been of any service 
 to you, or to others with whom I have labored so cordially, or that I could have advanced 
 the school .sys«"em, I would not have voluntarily retired from office.* But all circum- 
 stances considered, and entering within a few days upon my 74th year, I have felt that 
 this was the time for me to commit to other hands the reins of the government of the 
 public school system, and labor during the last hours of my day and life, in a more retired 
 sphere. 
 
 But my heart is, and ever will be, with you in its .sympathies and prayers, and 
 neither you nor yours will more truly rejoice in you success and happiness, than 
 
 Your old life-long Friend and Fellow-laborer, 
 
 E. RYERSON. 
 
 J. George Hodgins, Esq., LL.D. 
 
 *This remark evidently refers to the oft expression of my dissent from Dr. Ryerson's views in regard to 
 the important change which he had proposed to the Government tor the future administration of the 
 Education Department. It was one of the very few subjects on which I had occasion to differ from the 
 views of my venerated friend. 
 
131 
 
 While in England, in reply to a retrospective letter from me at the close of that 
 eventful year, Dr. Ryerson wrote as follows : — 
 
 " London, December 12th, 1876. 
 "Dear Hodgins, — 
 
 " Had we been enabled to work together, as in former years, we would have done 
 great things for our country, and I could have died in the harness with you. But it was 
 not to be so. . . . I have no doubt it will be seen that the hand of God is in this, as 
 it has been in all our work together for more than thirty years. 
 
 " Your ever Affectionate Friend, 
 
 "E. RYEESON. 
 
 •' J. George Hodgins, Esq., LL.D." 
 
 Under these circumstances how can I, therefore, regard without emotion the events 
 of to-day 1 They bring vividly to my recollection many memorable incidents and 
 interesting events of our educational past known only to myself. They also deeply 
 impress me with the fleeting and transitory nature of all things human. The Chief and 
 sixteen counsellors, appointed and elected to assist him, (besides more than twenty 
 persons connected with various branches of the Department) have all passed away since 
 my first connection with the Department in 1844.* His great work remains, however, 
 and his invaluable services to the country we all gratefully recall to-day, while his native 
 land lovingly acknowledges these services in erecting this noble monument to his 
 memory. Truly indeed and faithfully did Egerton Ryerson make good his promise to the 
 people of this Province, when he solemnly pledged himself, on accepting office in 1844 — 
 
 " To provide for my native country a system of education, and facilities for intel- 
 lectual improvement not second to those of any country in the world." 
 
 God grant that the seed sown and the foundations thus laid with such anxious toil 
 and care — and yet in faith — may prove to be one of our richest heritages, so that in the 
 future, wisdom and knowledge, in the highest and truest sense, may be the stability of 
 our times ! 
 
 Toronto, 24th May, 1889. 
 
 J. G. H. 
 
 * These sixteen were : — 
 
 1. The Right Reverend Michael Power, D.D. 9. The Reverend John Ambery, M.A. 
 
 2. Hugh Scobie, Esquire. 10. The Right Reverend Thomas Brock Fuller, D.D. 
 
 3. Hon. Samuel Bealey Harrison, Q.C. 11. The Reverend J. Tabarat, D.D. 
 
 4. The Reverend Adam Lillie, D.D. . 12. The Reverend John McCaul. LL.D. 
 
 5. James Scott Howard, Esquire. 13. The Reverend John Barclay', D.D. 
 
 6. The Reverend John Jennings, D.D. 14. The Honorable William McMaster. 
 
 7. The Very Reverend Henry James Grasett, D.D. 15. The Reverend Samuel S. Nelles, D.D., LL.D. 
 
 8. The Hon. Mr. Justice Morrison. IG. The Most Reverend John Joseph Lynch, D.D. 
 
YD 13736 
 
<n 
 
 
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