On my arrival in England on my first educational tour, near the end of 1844, I was invited to a Christmas dinner party at the house of an English clergyman, where I was introduced to a young Russian nobleman, by the name of Dunjowski, who had attended lectures in several German universities, and came to England to learn the English language, in which he soon became a proficient. During his residence in England he became acquainted with a number of distinguished men, noblemen and others; among whom were the late Rev. Dr. Chalmers. This young Russian nobleman, having learned that I was on a tour of investigation of the educational institutions of Europe, proposed before the close of the evening to join me in investigating the educational institutions of western and central Europe, with a view to his writing an account of them on his return to St. Petersburg. I accepted his proposal; and in the course of a few weeks we commenced our tour through Holland and Belgium to Paris, of which some account will be found in the extracts from my Journal in the preceding Chapter.At Paris my Russian friend conceived the idea of attending another course of lectures on some branch of Roman law at Tubigen. We parted, but he changed his mind, and instead of attending an additional course of lectures in a German university, he proceeded to Rome. A few weeks after my arrival there, I felt a tap on my shoulder at the dinner table, and, on looking up, I recognized my young Russian friend, who was already speaking Italian, with as much fluency as he had spoken English, French, and German, when we parted at Paris six weeks before.We renewed our travels together, after having completed our tour of Rome, with its antiquities and institutions; we proceeded to Naples by stage, where we spent several days in examining its College of Nobles and other educational institutions, including its antiquities of Herculaneum and Pompeii, Vesuvius, etc. In the College of Nobles we met an American Priest, who was President of the Roman Catholic College at Georgetown, near Washington, and invited him to take a seat in our carriage the next day on an excursion to Herculaneum and Pompeii. In the course of the day a religious discussion took place between the American Priest and the Russian, who was very fond of controversy. I took no part in it, but I thought the Priest had rather the best of it. The result was, my Russian friend was persuaded to go into a house of retirement near Rome, and devote some weeks to solitary prayer, fasting, and meditation. I never afterwards saw him or heard from him for eleven years, though I remonstrated with him, and wrote him from Florence, entreating him to reconsider what he was doing; but he said that what I spoke and wrote rather confirmed him in his course, than diverted him from it.When making my third educational tour on the Continent of Europe, I was, with my daughter, at Munich, in Bavaria, about the beginning of 1857, and while at dinner at our hotel, I felt two hands placed upon my shoulders; on looking up, I recognized, notwithstanding his present dress, my old friend, Dunjowski, who embraced and kissed me as a brother. After dinner we retired to the parlour, and talked over the past. I asked him what he had been doing these eleven years, how he had become transformed from a Russian nobleman, scholar, and lawyer, into a Roman Catholic priest, in full canonicals. He told me that after we separated at Naples, eleven years before, he went into a house of retirement at Rome, and by prayer, fasting, and meditation, devoted himself to God and His Church, without reserve of rank, fortune, or country; that he had ultimately decided to be a Catholic; that he had studied theology four years in France; that he had been appointed a Missionary to the North, and had been some years a Missionary to the Lapps, and had preached before the Kings of Denmark and Sweden; that he was then Missionary Apostolic to all the Catholic Missions in Europe and America, north of latitude 60; and that he might yet visit Canada. This extraordinary man had mastered the languages of the various countries in which he had travelled and laboured, and gave my daughter specimens of his writing in twenty-seven different languages. I never knew a man of more disinterestedness, more devotion, and singleness of purpose, than Mr. Dunjowski. He was up and out at prayers to his church before five o'clock, in the terribly cold mornings the last of December and the beginning of January, in one of the coldest capitals of Europe.On the other hand he asked me what I had been doing during the last eleven years. I replied that I had devised and brought into operation a system of public instruction, which had been approved by the Government and Legislature, and by the people at large, whom I had consulted, in the several counties of Upper Canada. He wished to know what I had done in respect to his co-religionists. I shewed him the provisions of our School Act, and the Regulations founded upon it in respect to Roman Catholics in Upper Canada. My Russian friend thought that nothing could be more just and fair than these clauses of the law and regulations, and requested permission to shew them to the Pope's Nuncio (an Italian Archbishop), at the Court of Bavaria. The Pope's Nuncio was so pleased with them, that he requested the loan of them until he got them translated into German, and published in the Bavarian newspapers, to shew how fairly the Roman Catholics were treated under the Protestant Government of Upper Canada. The Pope's Nuncio afterwards desired me to call upon him; and during the interview, after some complimentary remarks, requested me to be the bearer of a medal from the King of Bavaria to Cardinal Antonelli, at Rome. I readily accepted the honour and the office, and found the Pope's arms and seal a ready passport when I got in a tight place among the avaricious Italian Custom House officers.
On my arrival in England on my first educational tour, near the end of 1844, I was invited to a Christmas dinner party at the house of an English clergyman, where I was introduced to a young Russian nobleman, by the name of Dunjowski, who had attended lectures in several German universities, and came to England to learn the English language, in which he soon became a proficient. During his residence in England he became acquainted with a number of distinguished men, noblemen and others; among whom were the late Rev. Dr. Chalmers. This young Russian nobleman, having learned that I was on a tour of investigation of the educational institutions of Europe, proposed before the close of the evening to join me in investigating the educational institutions of western and central Europe, with a view to his writing an account of them on his return to St. Petersburg. I accepted his proposal; and in the course of a few weeks we commenced our tour through Holland and Belgium to Paris, of which some account will be found in the extracts from my Journal in the preceding Chapter.
At Paris my Russian friend conceived the idea of attending another course of lectures on some branch of Roman law at Tubigen. We parted, but he changed his mind, and instead of attending an additional course of lectures in a German university, he proceeded to Rome. A few weeks after my arrival there, I felt a tap on my shoulder at the dinner table, and, on looking up, I recognized my young Russian friend, who was already speaking Italian, with as much fluency as he had spoken English, French, and German, when we parted at Paris six weeks before.
We renewed our travels together, after having completed our tour of Rome, with its antiquities and institutions; we proceeded to Naples by stage, where we spent several days in examining its College of Nobles and other educational institutions, including its antiquities of Herculaneum and Pompeii, Vesuvius, etc. In the College of Nobles we met an American Priest, who was President of the Roman Catholic College at Georgetown, near Washington, and invited him to take a seat in our carriage the next day on an excursion to Herculaneum and Pompeii. In the course of the day a religious discussion took place between the American Priest and the Russian, who was very fond of controversy. I took no part in it, but I thought the Priest had rather the best of it. The result was, my Russian friend was persuaded to go into a house of retirement near Rome, and devote some weeks to solitary prayer, fasting, and meditation. I never afterwards saw him or heard from him for eleven years, though I remonstrated with him, and wrote him from Florence, entreating him to reconsider what he was doing; but he said that what I spoke and wrote rather confirmed him in his course, than diverted him from it.
When making my third educational tour on the Continent of Europe, I was, with my daughter, at Munich, in Bavaria, about the beginning of 1857, and while at dinner at our hotel, I felt two hands placed upon my shoulders; on looking up, I recognized, notwithstanding his present dress, my old friend, Dunjowski, who embraced and kissed me as a brother. After dinner we retired to the parlour, and talked over the past. I asked him what he had been doing these eleven years, how he had become transformed from a Russian nobleman, scholar, and lawyer, into a Roman Catholic priest, in full canonicals. He told me that after we separated at Naples, eleven years before, he went into a house of retirement at Rome, and by prayer, fasting, and meditation, devoted himself to God and His Church, without reserve of rank, fortune, or country; that he had ultimately decided to be a Catholic; that he had studied theology four years in France; that he had been appointed a Missionary to the North, and had been some years a Missionary to the Lapps, and had preached before the Kings of Denmark and Sweden; that he was then Missionary Apostolic to all the Catholic Missions in Europe and America, north of latitude 60; and that he might yet visit Canada. This extraordinary man had mastered the languages of the various countries in which he had travelled and laboured, and gave my daughter specimens of his writing in twenty-seven different languages. I never knew a man of more disinterestedness, more devotion, and singleness of purpose, than Mr. Dunjowski. He was up and out at prayers to his church before five o'clock, in the terribly cold mornings the last of December and the beginning of January, in one of the coldest capitals of Europe.
On the other hand he asked me what I had been doing during the last eleven years. I replied that I had devised and brought into operation a system of public instruction, which had been approved by the Government and Legislature, and by the people at large, whom I had consulted, in the several counties of Upper Canada. He wished to know what I had done in respect to his co-religionists. I shewed him the provisions of our School Act, and the Regulations founded upon it in respect to Roman Catholics in Upper Canada. My Russian friend thought that nothing could be more just and fair than these clauses of the law and regulations, and requested permission to shew them to the Pope's Nuncio (an Italian Archbishop), at the Court of Bavaria. The Pope's Nuncio was so pleased with them, that he requested the loan of them until he got them translated into German, and published in the Bavarian newspapers, to shew how fairly the Roman Catholics were treated under the Protestant Government of Upper Canada. The Pope's Nuncio afterwards desired me to call upon him; and during the interview, after some complimentary remarks, requested me to be the bearer of a medal from the King of Bavaria to Cardinal Antonelli, at Rome. I readily accepted the honour and the office, and found the Pope's arms and seal a ready passport when I got in a tight place among the avaricious Italian Custom House officers.
Dr. Ryerson thus describes his interview with Pope Pius IX.:
On my arrival at Rome I duly delivered my letters of introduction, and the King of Bavaria's medal to Cardinal Antonelli who received me with the utmost courtesy, offered me every facility to get pictures copied by my own selection at Rome, and proposed, if acceptable to me, to present me to His Holiness the Pope. I readily accepted the attentions and honours offered me; but told the Cardinal that I had a young daughter, and young lady companion of hers, whom I should wish to accompany me; His Excellency said, "By all means."On the day appointed we went to the Vatican. Several foreign dignitaries were waiting in an ante-room for an audience with the Pope, but the Methodist preacher received precedence of them all. "Are you a clergyman?"asked the Chancellor, who conducted me to the Pope's presence; "I am a Wesleyan minister," I replied. "Ah! John Wesley. I've heard of him," said the Chancellor, as he shrugged his shoulders in surprise that a heretic should be so honoured above orthodox sons of the Church. We were then in due form introduced to the Pope, who received us most courteously, and stood up and shook hands with me and with whom I conversed (in French) for nearly a quarter of an hour; during the conversation His Holiness thanked me for the fairness and kindness with which he understood I had treated his Catholic children in Canada. Before the close of the interview, His Holiness turned to the young ladies (each of whom had a little sheet of note paper in their hands) and said, "My children, what is that you have in your hands?" The girls curtsied respectfully, and told His Holiness that they brought these sheets of paper in hopes His Holiness would have the condescension and kindness to give them his autograph. He smiled, and wrote in Latin the benediction: "Grace, mercy, and peace from God our Father, and Jesus Christ our Lord," and then kindly gave them also the pen with which it was written.Thus ended our interview with Pope Pins IX., of whose unaffected sincerity, candor, kindness, and good sense, we formed the most favourable opinion, notwithstanding the system of which he is the head.
On my arrival at Rome I duly delivered my letters of introduction, and the King of Bavaria's medal to Cardinal Antonelli who received me with the utmost courtesy, offered me every facility to get pictures copied by my own selection at Rome, and proposed, if acceptable to me, to present me to His Holiness the Pope. I readily accepted the attentions and honours offered me; but told the Cardinal that I had a young daughter, and young lady companion of hers, whom I should wish to accompany me; His Excellency said, "By all means."
On the day appointed we went to the Vatican. Several foreign dignitaries were waiting in an ante-room for an audience with the Pope, but the Methodist preacher received precedence of them all. "Are you a clergyman?"asked the Chancellor, who conducted me to the Pope's presence; "I am a Wesleyan minister," I replied. "Ah! John Wesley. I've heard of him," said the Chancellor, as he shrugged his shoulders in surprise that a heretic should be so honoured above orthodox sons of the Church. We were then in due form introduced to the Pope, who received us most courteously, and stood up and shook hands with me and with whom I conversed (in French) for nearly a quarter of an hour; during the conversation His Holiness thanked me for the fairness and kindness with which he understood I had treated his Catholic children in Canada. Before the close of the interview, His Holiness turned to the young ladies (each of whom had a little sheet of note paper in their hands) and said, "My children, what is that you have in your hands?" The girls curtsied respectfully, and told His Holiness that they brought these sheets of paper in hopes His Holiness would have the condescension and kindness to give them his autograph. He smiled, and wrote in Latin the benediction: "Grace, mercy, and peace from God our Father, and Jesus Christ our Lord," and then kindly gave them also the pen with which it was written.
Thus ended our interview with Pope Pins IX., of whose unaffected sincerity, candor, kindness, and good sense, we formed the most favourable opinion, notwithstanding the system of which he is the head.
Dr. Ryerson also mentions another interview which he had:—
In addition to my letters of introduction to Cardinal Antonelli, my Russian friend, Dunjowski, gave me a letter of introduction to Father Thyner, the keeper of the Archives at Rome, and an intimate personal friend of the Pope; in which letter he referred to the school systems of Upper Canada, in reference to Roman Catholics. Father Thyner wished to see the Canadian school law and regulations, and shewed and explained them to the Pope, who afterwards spoke of their fairness and kindness, in my interview with His Holiness.Father Thyner was once Librarian to the King of Prussia, and being a Roman Catholic, he went to Rome, where his varied learning and high character soon obtained him a high position at the Vatican. He, as well as the Pope, in his early life was an enemy of the Jesuits, and was regarded by them as such throughout his whole life.I had a severe illness of some weeks at Rome, during which Father Thyner visited me almost daily, but never said one word to me on the grounds of difference between Roman Catholics and Protestants.During my last visit to England in 1876-7, I spent part of a day at the residence of the Rev. Wm. Arthur, A.M., who showed me the works in his library from which he had derived the principal materials of his masterly work onThe Pope and The People. Among other works he shewed me some volumes written by Father Thyner, containing an account of the proceedings of the Council of Trent. "Why," I said, "I know Father Thyner personally," and related my acquaintance with him. Mr. Arthur said in reply, "This work is the chief source of my knowledge of the proceedings of the Councils of Trent;" and added, "Father Thyner having determined to publish an account (which had never before been published) of this Council, was forbidden to do so, and banished, or driven from Rome, when he went to Hungary, and published his great work on the Councils."I have observed in the papers, that Father Thyner died in Hungary a year or two since. He was a man of profound learning, of fervent devotion, of great moderation in his views, of uncompromising integrity. I visited him in his convent, near Rome, and drank the juice of the grape grown in his own garden, and pressed by his own hand.
In addition to my letters of introduction to Cardinal Antonelli, my Russian friend, Dunjowski, gave me a letter of introduction to Father Thyner, the keeper of the Archives at Rome, and an intimate personal friend of the Pope; in which letter he referred to the school systems of Upper Canada, in reference to Roman Catholics. Father Thyner wished to see the Canadian school law and regulations, and shewed and explained them to the Pope, who afterwards spoke of their fairness and kindness, in my interview with His Holiness.
Father Thyner was once Librarian to the King of Prussia, and being a Roman Catholic, he went to Rome, where his varied learning and high character soon obtained him a high position at the Vatican. He, as well as the Pope, in his early life was an enemy of the Jesuits, and was regarded by them as such throughout his whole life.
I had a severe illness of some weeks at Rome, during which Father Thyner visited me almost daily, but never said one word to me on the grounds of difference between Roman Catholics and Protestants.
During my last visit to England in 1876-7, I spent part of a day at the residence of the Rev. Wm. Arthur, A.M., who showed me the works in his library from which he had derived the principal materials of his masterly work onThe Pope and The People. Among other works he shewed me some volumes written by Father Thyner, containing an account of the proceedings of the Council of Trent. "Why," I said, "I know Father Thyner personally," and related my acquaintance with him. Mr. Arthur said in reply, "This work is the chief source of my knowledge of the proceedings of the Councils of Trent;" and added, "Father Thyner having determined to publish an account (which had never before been published) of this Council, was forbidden to do so, and banished, or driven from Rome, when he went to Hungary, and published his great work on the Councils."
I have observed in the papers, that Father Thyner died in Hungary a year or two since. He was a man of profound learning, of fervent devotion, of great moderation in his views, of uncompromising integrity. I visited him in his convent, near Rome, and drank the juice of the grape grown in his own garden, and pressed by his own hand.
1844-1876.
Ontario School System.—Retirement of Dr. Ryerson.
Although I hope to be able to prepare a record of the private and personal history of the founding of our System of Public Education, and of the vicissitudes through which it passed, as requested by Dr. Ryerson (page 350), yet in this chapter I give a brief outline of the principles of that System.
After his educational investigations in Europe, in 1844-1846, Dr. Ryerson prepared an elaborate Report on a "System of Public Instruction for Upper Canada," which was published in 1846. In that report he says:—
By Education, I mean not the mere acquisition of certain arts, or of certain branches of knowledge, but that instruction and discipline which qualify and dispose the subjects of it for their appropriate duties and appointments in life, as Christians, as persons in business, and also as members of the civil community in which they live.A basis of an educational structure adapted to this end should be as broad as the population of the country; and its loftiest elevation should equal the highest demands of the learned professions; adapting its gradation of schools to the wants of the several classes of the community, and to their respective employments or professions, the one rising above the other—the one conducting to the other; yet each complete in itself for the degree of education it imparts; a character of uniformity, as to fundamental principles, pervading the whole: the whole based upon the principles of Christianity, and uniting the combined influence and support of the government and the people.The branches of knowledge which it is essential that all should understand, should be provided for all, and taught to all; should be brought within the reach of the most needy, and forced upon the attention of the most careless. The knowledge required for the scientific pursuit of mechanics, agriculture, and commerce, must needs be provided to an extent corresponding with the demand, and the exigencies of the country; while, to a more limited extent, are needed facilities for acquiring the higher education of the learned professions.
By Education, I mean not the mere acquisition of certain arts, or of certain branches of knowledge, but that instruction and discipline which qualify and dispose the subjects of it for their appropriate duties and appointments in life, as Christians, as persons in business, and also as members of the civil community in which they live.
A basis of an educational structure adapted to this end should be as broad as the population of the country; and its loftiest elevation should equal the highest demands of the learned professions; adapting its gradation of schools to the wants of the several classes of the community, and to their respective employments or professions, the one rising above the other—the one conducting to the other; yet each complete in itself for the degree of education it imparts; a character of uniformity, as to fundamental principles, pervading the whole: the whole based upon the principles of Christianity, and uniting the combined influence and support of the government and the people.
The branches of knowledge which it is essential that all should understand, should be provided for all, and taught to all; should be brought within the reach of the most needy, and forced upon the attention of the most careless. The knowledge required for the scientific pursuit of mechanics, agriculture, and commerce, must needs be provided to an extent corresponding with the demand, and the exigencies of the country; while, to a more limited extent, are needed facilities for acquiring the higher education of the learned professions.
With a view to give a summary sketch of Dr. Ryerson's exposition of the system of Public Instruction which he desired to establish, I give the following additional extracts from his first Report. After combating the objection which then existed in some quarters to the establishment of a thorough system of primary and industrial education, commensurate with the population and wants of the country, he remarked:—
The first feature then of our Provincial System of Public Instruction, should be universality. The elementary education of the whole people must, therefore, be an essential element in the legislative and administrative policy of an enlightened and beneficent government. Nor is it less important to the efficiency of such a system that it should be practical than that it should be universal. The mere acquisition, or even the general diffusion of knowledge, without the requisite qualities to apply that knowledge in the best manner, does not merit the name of education. Much knowledge may be imparted and acquired without any addition whatever to the capacity for the business of life.... History presents us with even University Systems of Education (so called) entirely destitute of all practical character; and there are elementary systems which tend as much to prejudice and pervert, not to say corrupt, the popular mind as to improve and elevate it.
The state of society, then, no less than the wants of our country, requires that every youth of the land should be trained to industry and its practice, whether that training be extensive or limited.
Now education, thus practical, includes religion and morality; secondly, the development to a certain extent of all our faculties; thirdly, an acquaintance with several branches of elementary knowledge.
By religion and morality, I do not mean sectarianism in any form, but the general truth and morals taught in the Holy Scriptures. Sectarianism is not morality. To be zealous for a sect and to be conscientious in morals are widely different. To inculcate the peculiarities of a sect and to teach the fundamental principles of religion and morality are equally different.
I can aver, from personal experience and practice, as well as from a very extended inquiry on this subject, that a much more comprehensive course of biblical and religious instruction can be given than there is likely to be opportunity for in elementary schools, without any restraint on the one side, or any tincture of sectarianism on the other—a course embracing the entire history of the Bible, its institutions, cardinal doctrines and morals, together with the evidences of its authenticity.
With the proper cultivation of the moral feelings, and the formation of local habits, is intimately connected the corresponding development of all the other faculties, both intellectual and physical. The great object of an efficient system of instruction should be, not the communication of so much knowledge, but the development of the faculties. Much knowledge may be acquired without any increase of mental power; nay, with even an absolute diminution of it. (See Chapter li.)
In founding the System of Public Instruction, Dr. Ryerson wisely laid down certain great principles which he believed to be essential to the success of his labours. These general principles may be thus summarized: 1. That the machinery of education should be in the hands of the people themselves, and should be managed through their own agency; they should, therefore, be consulted in regard to all school legislation. 2. That the aid of the Government should only be given where it can be used most effectually to stimulate and assist local effort in this great work. 3. That the property of the country is responsible for, and should contribute towards 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, with other important principles, Dr. Ryerson kept steadily in view during the whole thirty-two years of his administration of the school system of Ontario. Their judicious application has contributed largely, under the Divine blessing, which he ever sought, to the wonderful success of his labours.
Notwithstanding the zeal and ability with which Dr. Ryerson had collected and arranged his facts, analyzed the various systems of education in Europe (largely in Germany) and America, and fortified himself with the opinions of the most eminent educationists in those countries, yet his projected system for this province was fiercely assailed, and was vehemently denounced as embodying in it the very essence of "Prussian despotism." Still, with indomitable courage he persevered in his plans, and at length succeeded in 1846 in inducing the legislature to pass a School Act which he had drafted. In 1849 the Provincial administration personally favourable to Dr. Ryerson's views went out of office, and one unfavourable to him came in. The Hon. Malcolm Cameron, a hostile member of the cabinet—although he afterwards became a personal friend of Dr. Ryerson—having concocted a singularly crude and cumbrous school bill, aimed to oust Dr. Ryerson from office, it was (as was afterwards explained) taken on trust, and, without examination or discussion, passed into a law. Dr. Ryerson at once called the attention of the Government (at the head of which was the late lamented Lord Elgin) to the impracticable and un-Christian character of the bill, as under its operation the Bible would be excluded from the schools. Rather than administer such an Act, Dr. Ryerson tendered the resignation of his office to the Government. The late Honourable Robert Baldwin, C.B., Attorney-General (the Nestor of Canadian politicians, and a truly Christian man), was so convinced of the justness of Dr. Ryerson'sviews and remonstrance, that he took the unusual course of advising His Excellency to suspend the operation of the new Act until Dr. Ryerson could prepare a draft of a bill on the basis of the repealed law, embodying in it, additional to the old bill, the result of his own experience of the working of the system up to that time. The result was that a law passed in 1850, adapted to the municipal system of the Province, so popular in its character and comprehensive in its provisions and details, that it is still (in a consolidated form) the principal statute under which the Public Schools of Ontario are maintained.
The leading features of that measure may be briefly summed up under the four following heads:—
1. The machinery of the system was mainly adapted to the circumstances of Upper Canada, from the school laws of the Middle (United) States.
2. The method of supporting the schools by a uniform rate upon property was adopted from the New England States.
3. The Normal and Model schools (established in 1847), were projected after those in operation in Germany.
4. The school text-books were originally adapted from the series then in use in Ireland, and acceptable to both Protestants and Roman Catholics.
In 1850, Dr. Ryerson, while in England, made preliminary arrangements for establishing the Library, and Map and Apparatus Depository in connection with his department; and in 1855 he established Meteorological Stations in connection with the County Grammar Schools. In this he was aided by Colonel (now General) Lefroy, R.E., for many years Director of the Provincial Magnetical Observatory, at Toronto. Sets of suitable instruments (which were duly tested at the Kew Observatory) were obtained, and in 1855, the law on the subject having been amended, twelve stations were selected and put into efficient working order. 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 articles for an Educational Museum in connection with the Department. In 1858-60, Dr. Ryerson took a leading part in the discussion in the newspapers, and before a committee of the legislature, in favour of grants to the various outlying universities in Ontario, chiefly in terms of Hon. Robert Baldwin's University Bill of 1843. He maintained that "they did the State good service," and that their claims should be substantially recognized as colleges of a central university. He deprecated the multiplication of universities in the province, which he heldwould be the result of a rejection of his scheme. In consideration of his able services in this contest, the University of Victoria College conferred upon him the degree of LL.D. in 1861.
In 1867 he made his fourth educational tour in England and the United States. On his return, in 1868, he submitted to the Government a highly valuable "special report on the systems and state of popular education in the several countries of Europe and the United States of America, with practical suggestions for the improvement of Public Instruction in Upper Canada." He also made a separate and extensive "Report on Institutions for the Deaf and Dumb and Blind in Various Countries."
In a letter to a friend, Dr. Ryerson thus explained the principles upon which he conducted the educational affairs of the Province for upwards of thirty-one years. He said:—
During these years I organized the school system and administered the Education Department upon the broad and impartial principles which I had advocated. During the long period of my administration of the Department, I knew neither religious sect nor political party—I knew no other party than that 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 Clerks in the Education office, except upon the ground of testimonials as to personal character and qualifications, and on a probationary trial of six months.
In this way only competent and trained persons were appointed to the Normal and Model Schools, and to the Education Office, when a vacancy occurred by resignation or death. Each employé below the one who had resigned or died was advanced a step if deserving; and the most meritorious lad was selected from the Model school, or on other testimonials, and placed at the bottom of the list, and trained and advanced according to his merits in the work of the Education Department. Each one, thus felt, that he owed his position not to party, or personal patronage or favour, but to his own merits, and respected himself and performed his duties accordingly.
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. Needless and inefficient appointments would not then be made; and it would greatly elevate the standard of action and attainments, and emulate the ambition of the young men and youth of the country, when they know that their selection and advancement in their country's service depended upon their individual merits, irrespectiveof sect or party, and not as the reward of zeal as political party hacks in elections and otherwise, on their own part, or on that of their fathers or relatives.
The power of 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. But when government becomes the mere agency of party, and its highest gifts the prizes of party zeal and intrigue, it loses its moral prestige and power; and from the corrupt fountain would flow polluted streams into every Department of the public service, which would corrupt the whole mass of society, were it not for the counteracting and refining influences which are exerted upon society by the ministrations and labours of the different religious denominations.
I know it has been contended that party patronage, or, in other words, feeding partizans at the public expense, is an essential element in the existence of a government. This is the doctrine of corruption. The Education Department—the highest public department in Upper Canada—existed for more than thirty years without such an element, and with increased efficiency and increased 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 buying and rewarding partizans; and if the rivalship and competition of public men should consist in who should best devise and promote measures for the advancement of the country, and who should exercise the executive power most impartially and intelligently, for developing and promoting the interests of all classes, then the moral standard of government and of public men would be greatly exalted, and the highest civilization of the whole country be advanced. But I will not pursue this topic any further. The truths I state are self-evident.
For many years after Confederation Dr. Ryerson felt that the new political condition of the Province—which localized as well as circumscribed its civil administration of affairs—required a change in the management of the Education Department. He, therefore, in 1869 and 1872, urged upon the Government the desirability of relieving him from the anomalous position in which he found himself placed under the new system.
The reasons which he urged for his retirement are given in a pamphlet devoted to a "Defence" of the System of 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, I have answered them. Then the cry has been 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 to the Department and school system itself, that in 1868 I proposed to retire from the department.... My resignation was not accepted; ... 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 Secretary for the time being) should be elected by ballot, or by mutual agreement of the leading men of both parties, on the Education Department; which committee should examine into 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 advancement 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 majority of electors in one riding. This recommendation, submitted on the 30th January, 1869, was not adopted; and I was left isolated—responsible in the estimation of legislators 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 members, except through the press, and no other support than the character of my work and the general confidence of the public.
In 1876, however, Dr. Ryerson was permitted to retire on full salary from the responsible post which for nearly thirty-two years he had so worthily and honourably filled.
1845-1846.
Illness and Final Retirement of Lord Metcalfe.
In a letter to Dr. Ryerson from Mr. Higginson, dated 27th May, 1845, he thus refers to Lord Metcalfe's increasing illness:—
I wish that I could answer your inquiries about Lord Metcalfe's health in a satisfactory manner. The torturing malady with which he is afflicted is no better; and although there is no decided change for the worse, yet there is in my mind too much reason to apprehend that the disease, though slow in its progress, keeps constantly advancing and threatens farther ravages. The pain is incessant and unabated. The resignation with which he suffers, and his unyielding determination to remain at his post as long as his presence can serve Canada, inspires a feeling of veneration which I will not attempt to describe. He seems to be quite prepared to realize, if necessary, that noble sentiment—
"Dulce et decorum est pro Patria mori."
"Dulce et decorum est pro Patria mori."
Mr. Higginson again wrote to Dr. Ryerson, from Montreal, on the 28th of October, as follows:—
As bad news travels fast, you will probably have heard before this reaches you of the aggravation of the painful malady from which Lord Metcalfe has so long suffered. No other man, in his present lamentable condition, would think of administering the Government. He seems quite ready to die in harness, if necessary, but is determined not to leave here as long as he can, at any sacrifice of personal considerations, continue to discharge the duties. I hope and believe that Her Majesty's Government will not hesitate to relieve him as soon as a successor can be found—it would be inhuman to delay any longer. How much of Canada's weal or woe depends upon the selection? It is far easier to mar than to mend the triumph my inestimable friend has achieved—to weaken than to strengthen its effects.
Mr. Higginson wrote to Dr. Ryerson on the 18th December:—
I, two days ago, had the pleasure to receive your kind and feeling letter of the 11th. It will afford me great satisfactionto communicate to my suffering friend the grateful sentiments to which you give expression.
Lord Metcalfe's retirement was, as you justly observe, strictly a providential dispensation. He remained at his post until it pleased the Almighty to render him physically incapable of discharging all its duties; and he was quite prepared to die at it, in the service of his country. The terms in which the Queen's permission to return home was acceded are, beyond measure, gratifying and complimentary. I shall have much pleasure in reading the despatch to you the first time we meet. Of the fearful malady, I can only say that its onward progress seems to be beyond human control, and that I entertain no hope of its being arrested. But the surgical skill of Europe may, and I earnestly pray to God will, alleviate the intensity of the blessed man's sufferings.
After Lord Metcalfe had returned to England, the Hon. D. Daly, Secretary of the Province, wrote to Dr. Ryerson, who had returned to Canada, on the 20th December, as follows:—
Your disappointment was naturally great at missing the only opportunity that, in all human probability, can be afforded you in this world of seeing our lamented and excellent Governor. In his late and most severe suffering, the greatness of that most inestimable man's character was, if possible, more resplendent than under the trials to which you saw him subjected. May he enjoy a peaceful termination to his useful existence! We can know nothing certain of his successor until the news of which he is the bearer has reached England, his relinquishment of the Government having been left entirely to his own free will. He had the comfort of knowing how fully his services were appreciated by his Sovereign; and his removal was effected in the most gratifying way by Her Majesty's command.
On the 9th May Dr. Ryerson wrote a farewell letter to Lord Metcalfe, from which I make the following extract:—
Having passed Your Lordship on the ocean, and being disappointed of the privilege of ever seeing you again in this world, I wrote by the first packet after my arrival to Mr. C. Trevelyan, requesting him to have the goodness to convey to Your Lordship the expression of those sentiments of gratitude and affectionate respect which I can never fail to cherish while memory remains....
In Your Lordship's retirement and suffering, ... I think it wrong to intrude further than to state my deep sympathy in your sufferings, and that my supplications are offered up daily to the God of all consolation, that He would grant you patience, resignation, and a "sure and certain hope of a glorious resurrection to everlasting life;" and to assure Your Lordship thatmy life shall be sacredly devoted to the work in behalf of the youthful and future generations of Canada, for which Your Lordship's kindness has done so much, to enable me to qualify myself. With, these the strongest feelings of my heart, I have, etc.
The final letter received from Mr. Higginson was dated Montreal, June 10th, 1840:—
I beg you to accept my cordial thanks for your very kind communication of the 30th ult. I am not insensible to the high honour that has been conferred upon me by our Sovereign—far beyond my humble merits; but I have great satisfaction in feeling that I won it fighting shoulder to shoulder with you and the other advocates of those great British Constitutional principles of Government, for which we contended, and which were so fiercely assailed by the British Democratic party, who, I earnestly trust may never again be able to make head in Canada. That I, in the slightest degree contributed to the victory will be to me a source of pride. To the eminent Pilot who directed us no one knows better than yourself how much is due. Would that he had been spared to perfect the good work. My latest account of his health encourages the hope that I may yet be permitted to see him again.
We closed the session yesterday, which was got through with success, and I hope with some advantage to the public interests.
I regret very much that I have not had the pleasure of seeing you since your return from Europe. Farewell!
J. M. H.
The appointment which Mr. Higginson received from the Queen was that of Governor of Antigua. In his reply to an address from the Wesleyan missionaries of that island, on his arrival, he thus referred to his experience of that body in Canada:—
I have had frequent opportunities of witnessing in various quarters of the globe the untiring exertions of your brethren in the sacred cause of religion and humanity, and whether in the sultry heat of Asia, ... or struggling against the rigours of a Canadian winter, I have always found the Wesleyan missionaries animated by the same benevolent and philanthropic spirit, and undaunted by obstacles, however appalling, manifesting the same discreet zeal to spread far and wide the healing influence of the holy Gospel of Christ.
I have had frequent opportunities of witnessing in various quarters of the globe the untiring exertions of your brethren in the sacred cause of religion and humanity, and whether in the sultry heat of Asia, ... or struggling against the rigours of a Canadian winter, I have always found the Wesleyan missionaries animated by the same benevolent and philanthropic spirit, and undaunted by obstacles, however appalling, manifesting the same discreet zeal to spread far and wide the healing influence of the holy Gospel of Christ.
1843-1844.
Clergy Reserve Question Re-opened.—Disappointments.
Extraordinary efforts were put forth (as shown in Chapter xxxiii., page 263) by the leaders of the Church of England party in Upper Canada to prevent the Royal assent being given to Lord Sydenham's Clergy Reserve compromise Bill of 1841. Equally strenuous efforts were successfully made to ensure the fulfilment of Bishop Strachan's prediction that the rejected Bill of Lord Sydenham would form the basis of an Imperial Act, which would secure to the national Churches of England and Scotland, for all time, the lion's share of the proceeds of George the Third's ill-fated gift to Canada of the clergy reserves. Lord John Russell, the pretentious and vacillating Secretary of State for the Colonies at the time, proved himself to be, in this matter, a pliant instrument in the hands of Henry of Exeter. This prelate endorsed,con amore, all the extreme views of the Bishop of Toronto; and with the aid of Lord Seaton (Sir John Colborne) and the Bench and Bishops in the House of Lords, compelled the Government to perpetuate an act of legislative usurpation and injustice, which even the tyros in constitutional law, as applied to the Colonies, were wont at the time to instance in the press as examples of history repeating itself—quoting, as an illustration, the ill-advised Imperial legislation in the case of the Stamp Act, etc.
By a singular fatality, which often attends arbitrary and unjust proceedings, the success of the scheme, which had been so carefully prepared, and carried through the British Parliament in the interests of the Church of England, was destined to become a source of weakness to that Church, and a foreboding of financial disaster. On the 29th December, 1843, the Attorney and the Solicitor-General of Canada (as stated by the Bishop of Toronto in his pastoral letter of the 10th of December, 1844) reported that having attentively examined the provisions of the acts for this subject, it was their opinion that the proper construction of the law threw upon the revenues of Canada the burthen of making up any deficiency in the clergy reserve fund, in payingthe usual and accustomed allowances and stipends to the Ministers, ... and, while that deficiency lasted, the Imperial Treasury could not be called upon to make any payments to the two Churches. (See page 4 of Pastoral.)
The Bishop then charges the Provincial Government with being the cause of this financial difficulty, and accounts for the deficiency in the fund by the mismanagement of that Government. He adds further on:—
But, alas! the mismanagement has increased, pending these difficulties; and while my clergy are left in a state of destitution, large sums continue to be wasted in remunerating services which are really worse than useless, and this to such an extent as to render hopeless the expectation that the clergy reserve fund will ever answer the wise and holy purpose for which it was established.
But, alas! the mismanagement has increased, pending these difficulties; and while my clergy are left in a state of destitution, large sums continue to be wasted in remunerating services which are really worse than useless, and this to such an extent as to render hopeless the expectation that the clergy reserve fund will ever answer the wise and holy purpose for which it was established.
In this dilemma the Bishop states what he had done to extricate the Church out of its difficulty. In doing so, he uses language which partakes more of the character of a wail than of a simple statement of facts. He also draws a most gloomy picture of the prospective religious state of Upper Canada, should the dearly prized, and as dearly bought, Imperial Clergy Reserve Act prove, after all, to be an apple of Sodom.
It is curious to notice how the Bishop, in his despairing outburst, studiously ignores the active and successful labours of the several voluntary churches—whose claims to a share in the reserves he had so strongly and selfishly opposed—churches which were even then actively engaged in "spreading scriptural holiness throughout the land," without the aid of a penny from the State. In his Pastoral, the Bishop says:—
I applied to the venerable [Propagation Society] in England to advance, in the meantime, the salaries (only £100 per annum each) to my five suffering clergy,—assuring the Society that I had the fullest conviction it would be repaid as soon as it was decided which Government was liable.... The Society paid the stipends for the year ending 30th June, 1843, but have declined since that time to continue the advance.... In consequence, my five clergymen have been left without their stipends since June, 1843 [to December, 1844], ... and this large and increasing Diocese [then the whole of Upper Canada], already so destitute of the means of public worship (if the statute be allowed to operate as it has done for the last four years), will, in a spiritual sense, become, through half its extent, a wilderness. Not only are five clergymen in a state of want, but two parishes are left vacant, and the process is unhappily going on.... I have brought this disheartening and deplorable state of things under the notice of the Provincial Government.... I have pressed [the matter] upon His Excellency the Governor-General.... But all that was in my power to do has been without avail (page 6).
I applied to the venerable [Propagation Society] in England to advance, in the meantime, the salaries (only £100 per annum each) to my five suffering clergy,—assuring the Society that I had the fullest conviction it would be repaid as soon as it was decided which Government was liable.... The Society paid the stipends for the year ending 30th June, 1843, but have declined since that time to continue the advance.... In consequence, my five clergymen have been left without their stipends since June, 1843 [to December, 1844], ... and this large and increasing Diocese [then the whole of Upper Canada], already so destitute of the means of public worship (if the statute be allowed to operate as it has done for the last four years), will, in a spiritual sense, become, through half its extent, a wilderness. Not only are five clergymen in a state of want, but two parishes are left vacant, and the process is unhappily going on.... I have brought this disheartening and deplorable state of things under the notice of the Provincial Government.... I have pressed [the matter] upon His Excellency the Governor-General.... But all that was in my power to do has been without avail (page 6).
I also quote the foregoing passages from this noted Pastoral, as they throw a vivid side-light upon the course of the Bishop in so vehemently pursuing the shadow of a state endowment for the Church of England in Upper Canada. The subsequentutterances of the Pastoral show how persistently the otherwise clear-headed and practical chief ruler of that Church shut his eyes to the remarkable success and vitality of the non-endowed Churches in the Province, and how much he deplored the necessity of adopting their successful voluntary system in his own church.[128]He says:—
I represented to His Excellency, in May last, that, "on a review of this unfortunate subject ... the distress of my five clergymen, and the desolation with which it menaces the Church, it involves consequences so calamitous and imminent as to justify the representative of the sovereign in assuming more than ordinary responsibility in arresting their progress...."On the 31st October, I again brought this painful subject at great length before the Provincial Government, and stated that, having failed to receive relief, I could only see one way left of mitigating the evil, and that is by an appeal to my people on the present critical situation of the Church, and in behalf of my destitute clergymen. It is indeed a step which I take with extreme reluctance, and which, were it possible, I would most willingly avoid.... (page 6.)
I represented to His Excellency, in May last, that, "on a review of this unfortunate subject ... the distress of my five clergymen, and the desolation with which it menaces the Church, it involves consequences so calamitous and imminent as to justify the representative of the sovereign in assuming more than ordinary responsibility in arresting their progress...."
On the 31st October, I again brought this painful subject at great length before the Provincial Government, and stated that, having failed to receive relief, I could only see one way left of mitigating the evil, and that is by an appeal to my people on the present critical situation of the Church, and in behalf of my destitute clergymen. It is indeed a step which I take with extreme reluctance, and which, were it possible, I would most willingly avoid.... (page 6.)
In a remarkable document, which the Bishop published in 1849, on "The Secular State of the Church in the Diocese of Toronto," he furnishes a painful and striking commentary on the effect of his own teaching: that it was the duty of the State to support the Church, and thus relieve the people of the chief obligation of supporting the Gospel amongst them. Speaking of "contributions to the Church within the Province," he says:
Till lately we have done little or nothing towards the support of public worship. We have depended so long upon the Government and the [Propagation] Society, that many of us forget that it is our bounden duty. Instead of coming forward manfully to devote a portion of our temporal substance to the service of God, we turn away with indifference, or we sit down to count the cost, and measure the salvation of our souls by pounds, shillings, and pence.... While we are bountifully assisted, and seldom required to do more than half; yet we are seen to fail on every side (page 19).[129]
Till lately we have done little or nothing towards the support of public worship. We have depended so long upon the Government and the [Propagation] Society, that many of us forget that it is our bounden duty. Instead of coming forward manfully to devote a portion of our temporal substance to the service of God, we turn away with indifference, or we sit down to count the cost, and measure the salvation of our souls by pounds, shillings, and pence.... While we are bountifully assisted, and seldom required to do more than half; yet we are seen to fail on every side (page 19).[129]
On pages 34-40 of this pamphlet, Bishop Strachan is very severe on the clergy to whom Bishop Fuller refers, whom he accuses of putting forth efforts "to disturb the peace of the diocese—efforts which were rapidly being organized into somethingof a regular system of agitation, so common ... among the traders in politics" (page 34).
An agitation having been commenced by the Bishop and clergy in Western Canada, in 1843, for "better terms" and an amendment to the Imperial Clergy Reserve Act of 1840, the question was re-opened. The effect of this re-opening of the question was deprecated by Dr. Ryerson and others. Early in January, 1844, Mr. Surveyor-General Parke sent to Dr. Ryerson the copy of a letter written by Rev. Prof. Campbell, of Queen's College, Kingston, in which Mr. Campbell sets up the claim of the Kirk of Scotland, having a branch in Canada, as such, to a portion of the Canadian clergy reserves. Mr. Parke says:—
The writer of the letter arrives at two other conclusions, which, I think, are based on error, and calculated to interfere materially with the rights of the other bodies of Protestant Christians: namely, that the Kirk in Canada participate in the clergy reserves, solely by the right it has as a branch of the Kirk in Scotland; and that other bodies of Christians participate in them merely as an act of favour. To the first of these conclusions I entirely object, on the ground that the Act confers the reserves, purely and solely, on Canada, and for the benefit of interests and persons, absolutely within Canada. To the second conclusion or statement of the Professor, that is, that other bodies participate as a matter of favour, I object on every ground on which it is possible for equity to place the subject. What! shall the unexampled toils, and incessant labours of the early and later Methodists, and other pioneers of the christianizing of Canada, have doled out to them, as a matter of simple grace, and a body in Scotland, who never knew nor participated in the labour of sowing the seeds of the Gospel through the length and breadth of the land, claim as a matter of absolute right, for one of its branches, a participation in lands, purely Canadian in fact and law? This I can never assent to; it was the question on which, as a Methodist, I first became a Canadian politician, and it is the question on which I yet feel the keenest. I desire to call your attention to the matter, and solicit a correction from you of errors which, I think, are insidiously calculated to mislead the public mind, and make uphill work in combating other questions which may arise in unfortunate Canada, bye-and-bye. Some of the Kirk folks would monopolize for themselves, as far as they dare, and the Church of England too; but the general community, who have borne the burden and heat of the day—fought and won the battle—should not in any way have their interests and feelings trifled with by the unreasonable claims of a few, who at comparatively a late day entered the field.
The writer of the letter arrives at two other conclusions, which, I think, are based on error, and calculated to interfere materially with the rights of the other bodies of Protestant Christians: namely, that the Kirk in Canada participate in the clergy reserves, solely by the right it has as a branch of the Kirk in Scotland; and that other bodies of Christians participate in them merely as an act of favour. To the first of these conclusions I entirely object, on the ground that the Act confers the reserves, purely and solely, on Canada, and for the benefit of interests and persons, absolutely within Canada. To the second conclusion or statement of the Professor, that is, that other bodies participate as a matter of favour, I object on every ground on which it is possible for equity to place the subject. What! shall the unexampled toils, and incessant labours of the early and later Methodists, and other pioneers of the christianizing of Canada, have doled out to them, as a matter of simple grace, and a body in Scotland, who never knew nor participated in the labour of sowing the seeds of the Gospel through the length and breadth of the land, claim as a matter of absolute right, for one of its branches, a participation in lands, purely Canadian in fact and law? This I can never assent to; it was the question on which, as a Methodist, I first became a Canadian politician, and it is the question on which I yet feel the keenest. I desire to call your attention to the matter, and solicit a correction from you of errors which, I think, are insidiously calculated to mislead the public mind, and make uphill work in combating other questions which may arise in unfortunate Canada, bye-and-bye. Some of the Kirk folks would monopolize for themselves, as far as they dare, and the Church of England too; but the general community, who have borne the burden and heat of the day—fought and won the battle—should not in any way have their interests and feelings trifled with by the unreasonable claims of a few, who at comparatively a late day entered the field.
As the agitation increased, Dr. Ryerson, who was in England in 1845, addressed a letter to Lord Stanley, Colonial Secretary, in January, on the injustice to the non-episcopal churches of the Act of 1840. He said:—