FOOTNOTES:

The Board of Victoria College took no part in the University question until after the introduction of a Bill into the Legislature which affected the chartered rights and relations of Victoria College. On that occasion a special meeting of the Board was called, to decide whether it would, under any circumstances, acquiesce in that Bill, and upon what terms. The Board expressed a strong opinion in favour of the general terms of the Bill, but expressed an unfavourable opinion respecting some of its details, especially the project of the "Extra mural Board," and the non-recognition of Christianity. The Board also objected to the smallness of the amount proposed to be given to Victoria College. It stated that Victoria College, having been erected by public subscription, for the purpose of "teaching the various branches of science and literature upon Christian principles," could not cease to be a literary institution, as some supposed the Bill contemplated; it stated the peculiar hardships of the aspect of the Bill to the Methodist institution, under all the circumstances (which it explained), and submitted them to the honourable and generous consideration of the Government.... Mr. Baldwin's Bill proposed to grant the sum of £500 per annum each for several years to no less than four seminaries [besides the University].... It was objected to on the part of both Presbyterians and Methodists, that its application to them was not liberal enough; it was objected to on the part of King's College Council that it gave even a farthing to any of them.Afterwards King's College Council objected to the Bill, and employed counsel to oppose it, on the ground that the Legislature had no right to interfere with their charter, or to divert any portion of King's College funds in aid of other institutions. To this plea of the King's College Council an individual member of the Victoria College Board offered an argumentative reply, contending that the endowment of King's College was the property of the Province, and upon legal, constitutional, and equitable grounds, came within the limits of Provincial legislation. This principle, I believe, is now generally admitted.From this summary of well known facts it is evident—1. That Mr. Baldwin's Bill did contemplate giving aid to other institutions than the Toronto University. 2. That the friends of Queen's, Regiopolis, Victoria and King's Colleges did expect to derive assistance from the University funds. 3. That the objections to Mr. Baldwin's Bill on the part of the Presbyterians andMethodists were, not that any portion of the University funds should be applied in aid of their institutions, but that the portion proposed was entirely too small. 4. That those who supported Mr. Baldwin's Bill cannot consistently object to aid being given from the University funds to institutions in connection with the Church of England, Roman Catholics and Methodists. The amount and duration of such aid is a mere prudential consideration; the principle is the same, whether the amount of aid be five hundred or five thousand pounds, whether the duration be five years or five hundred years....That there should be a Provincial University, furnishing the highest academical and professional education, at least in respect to law and medicine; that there should be a Provincial system of common school education, commensurate with the wants of the entire population; that both the University and the system should be established and conducted upon Christian principles, yet free from sectarian bias or ascendancy; that there should be an intermediate class of seminaries in connection with the different religious persuasions, who have ability and enterprise to establish them, providing on the one hand a theological education for their clergy, and on the other hand a thorough English and scientific education, and elementary classical instruction for those of the youth of their congregations who might seek for more than a common school education, or who might wish to prepare for the University, and who, not having the experience and discretion of University students, required a parental and religious oversight, in their absence from their parents; that it would be economy and patriotic on the part of the Government to grant liberal aid to such seminaries, as well as to provide for the endowment of a University or a common school system;—these are views which I explained and argued at length when the University question was under discussion, from 1828 to 1834; these are the views on which the Methodists asked in establishing the Upper Canada Academy, now Victoria College; these are views, by pressing which, a royal charter and government aid were obtained for that institution; these are the views which received strong confirmation in the recommendation of a despatch from Lord Goderich to Sir John Colborne in 1832, and which greatly encouraged the friends of the Upper Canada Academy in their commencing exertions. That institution was not originally intended to be a University College; nor was it sought to be made so until after the establishment of a Presbyterian University College at Kingston; when, prompted by example and emulation, and encouragement of aid, it was thought that the operations of a University might be grafted upon those of the academy, without interfering with the more extended objects of the latter....More than a thousand youth have received more or less instruction at the Cobourg Institution; very few of them, apart from other considerations, have gone from it without forming a high standard of education, and a deeper conviction of its importance than they had before entertained; it has prevented hundreds of youth from going out of the country to be educated, upon whom, and upon hundreds of others, it has conferred the benefits of a good practical education. Its buildings present the most remarkable monument of religious effort and patriotic energy which was ever witnessed in any country of the age and population of Upper Canada....The Wesleyan Methodists have not, like the Churches of England, Scotland and Rome, derived any assistance from the clergy reserve fund, or other public aid to their clergy or churches. It is much easier to figure upon a platform than to establish educational institutions, or to preach the Gospel throughout new countries. Those who have been in Canada twelve months can do the former, and sneer at the latter. The flippant allusions of certain speakers at the late Toronto meeting to the Methodists and to Victoria College ... were as unfounded as they were unbecoming.

Afterwards King's College Council objected to the Bill, and employed counsel to oppose it, on the ground that the Legislature had no right to interfere with their charter, or to divert any portion of King's College funds in aid of other institutions. To this plea of the King's College Council an individual member of the Victoria College Board offered an argumentative reply, contending that the endowment of King's College was the property of the Province, and upon legal, constitutional, and equitable grounds, came within the limits of Provincial legislation. This principle, I believe, is now generally admitted.

From this summary of well known facts it is evident—1. That Mr. Baldwin's Bill did contemplate giving aid to other institutions than the Toronto University. 2. That the friends of Queen's, Regiopolis, Victoria and King's Colleges did expect to derive assistance from the University funds. 3. That the objections to Mr. Baldwin's Bill on the part of the Presbyterians andMethodists were, not that any portion of the University funds should be applied in aid of their institutions, but that the portion proposed was entirely too small. 4. That those who supported Mr. Baldwin's Bill cannot consistently object to aid being given from the University funds to institutions in connection with the Church of England, Roman Catholics and Methodists. The amount and duration of such aid is a mere prudential consideration; the principle is the same, whether the amount of aid be five hundred or five thousand pounds, whether the duration be five years or five hundred years....

That there should be a Provincial University, furnishing the highest academical and professional education, at least in respect to law and medicine; that there should be a Provincial system of common school education, commensurate with the wants of the entire population; that both the University and the system should be established and conducted upon Christian principles, yet free from sectarian bias or ascendancy; that there should be an intermediate class of seminaries in connection with the different religious persuasions, who have ability and enterprise to establish them, providing on the one hand a theological education for their clergy, and on the other hand a thorough English and scientific education, and elementary classical instruction for those of the youth of their congregations who might seek for more than a common school education, or who might wish to prepare for the University, and who, not having the experience and discretion of University students, required a parental and religious oversight, in their absence from their parents; that it would be economy and patriotic on the part of the Government to grant liberal aid to such seminaries, as well as to provide for the endowment of a University or a common school system;—these are views which I explained and argued at length when the University question was under discussion, from 1828 to 1834; these are the views on which the Methodists asked in establishing the Upper Canada Academy, now Victoria College; these are views, by pressing which, a royal charter and government aid were obtained for that institution; these are the views which received strong confirmation in the recommendation of a despatch from Lord Goderich to Sir John Colborne in 1832, and which greatly encouraged the friends of the Upper Canada Academy in their commencing exertions. That institution was not originally intended to be a University College; nor was it sought to be made so until after the establishment of a Presbyterian University College at Kingston; when, prompted by example and emulation, and encouragement of aid, it was thought that the operations of a University might be grafted upon those of the academy, without interfering with the more extended objects of the latter....

More than a thousand youth have received more or less instruction at the Cobourg Institution; very few of them, apart from other considerations, have gone from it without forming a high standard of education, and a deeper conviction of its importance than they had before entertained; it has prevented hundreds of youth from going out of the country to be educated, upon whom, and upon hundreds of others, it has conferred the benefits of a good practical education. Its buildings present the most remarkable monument of religious effort and patriotic energy which was ever witnessed in any country of the age and population of Upper Canada....

The Wesleyan Methodists have not, like the Churches of England, Scotland and Rome, derived any assistance from the clergy reserve fund, or other public aid to their clergy or churches. It is much easier to figure upon a platform than to establish educational institutions, or to preach the Gospel throughout new countries. Those who have been in Canada twelve months can do the former, and sneer at the latter. The flippant allusions of certain speakers at the late Toronto meeting to the Methodists and to Victoria College ... were as unfounded as they were unbecoming.

The discussions on the University question at Quebec in 1860 were, as I have intimated, bitter and largely personal. Dr. Ryerson, being in the fore front of the University reformers, was singled out for special attack by some of the ablest defenders of the University. I shall not enter into detail, but will give the opening and concluding parts of Dr. Ryerson's great speech, which he made before the Committee of the Legislature on the 25th and 26th of April, 1860:—

I am quite aware of the disadvantage under which I appear before you to-day. I am not insensible of the prejudices which may have been excited in the minds of many individuals by the occurrences of the last few days; ... I am not at all insensible of the fact that the attempt has been made to turn the issue, not on the great question which demands attention, but upon my merits or demerits, my standing as a man, and the course which I have pursued. This subject, of very little importance to the Committee, ... possesses a great deal of importance to myself. No man can stand in the presence of the Representatives of the people; no man can stand, as I feel myself standing this morning, not merely in the presence of a Committee, but, as it were, in the presence of my native country, the land of my birth, affections, labours, hopes, without experiencing the deepest emotion. But how much more is that the case when attempts have been made, of the most unprecedented kind, to deprive me of all that is dear to me as a man, as a parent, as a public officer, as a minister of the Christian Church. More especially do I thus feel because reading and arranging the papers on this subject, to which my attention has been called, occupied me until five o'clock this morning....

Sir, the position of the question which demands our consideration this day, is one altogether peculiar, and, I will venture to say, unparalleled in this or any other country. The individuals connected with myself—the party unconnected with what may be called the National University of the country, stand as the conservators of a high standard of education, and appear before you as the advocates of a thorough course of training that will discipline, in the most effectual manner, the powers of the mind, and prepare the youth of our country for those pursuits and those engagements which demand their attention as men, Christians, and patriots, while the very persons to whom has been allotted this great interest, this important trust, stand before you as the advocates of a reduction, of a puerile system which has never invigorated the mind, or raised up great men in any country; which can never lay deep and broad the foundations of intellectual grandeur and power anywhere, but which is characterized by that superficiality which marks theproceedings of the educational institutions in the new and Western States of the neighbouring Republic. Sir, I feel proud of the position I occupy; that if I have gone to an extreme, I have gone to the proper extreme; that even if I may have pressed my views to an extent beyond the present standing, the present capabilities of the Province, my views have been upward, my course has been onward, my attempt has been to invigorate Canada with an intellect and a power, a science and a literature that will stand unabashed in the presence of any other country, while the very men who should have raised our educational standard to the highest point, who should have been the leaders in adopting a high and thorough course, have confessed during the discussion of this question, that the former standard was too high, and that they have been levelling it down, incorporating with it speculations which have never elevated the institutions of any country, and adopting a course of proceedings which never advanced any nation to the position to which I hope in God my native country will attain.

The resolutions on which these proceedings have taken place, were adopted by the Wesleyan Conference in June, 1860. Now, whatever other changes may have taken place, I still adhere to the people of my youth, who were the early instruments of all the religious instruction I received until I attained manhood. Whether they are a polished and learned or a despised people, I still am not ashamed of them, nor of the humblest of their advocates or professors. I stand before you without a blush, in the immediate connection, and identified with that people. The resolutions that were adopted by the Conference, in pursuance of which the Conference appointed a large Executive Committee, consisting of nearly one hundred of the most experienced members of their body, to prepare the memorial which has been presented to Parliament, are these:—

Resolved.1st. That it is the conviction of a large proportion, if not a large majority of the inhabitants of Canada, that their sons, in pursuing the higher branches of education (which cannot be acquired in day schools, and rarely without the youth going to a distance from the paternal roof and oversight), should be placed in institutions in which their religious instruction and moral oversight, as well as their literary training, are carefully watched over and duly provided for; a conviction practically evident by the fact that not only the members of the Wesleyan Methodist Church, and other Methodists, but the members of the Churches of England, Scotland and Rome have contributed largely, and exerted themselves to establish colleges and higher seminaries of learning for the superior education of their children.2nd. That no provision for instruction in secular learning alone, can compensate for the absence of provision, or care, for the religious and moral instruction of youth in the most exposed, critical, and eventful periods of their lives.3rd. That it is of the highest importance to the best interests of Canada that the Legislative provision for superior education, shall be in harmonywith the conscientious convictions and circumstances of the religious persuasions, which virtually constitute the Christianity of the country.4th. That the exclusive application of the Legislative provision for superior education, to the endowment of a college for the education of the sons of that class of parents alone who wish to educate their sons in a non-denominational institution, irrespective of their religious principles and moral character, to the exclusion of those classes of parents who wish to educate their sons in colleges or seminaries where a paternal care is bestowed upon their moral and religious interests, at the same time that they are carefully and thoroughly taught in secular learning; is grossly illiberal, partial, unjust and unpatriotic, and merits the severest reprobation of every liberal and right-minded man of every religious persuasion and party in the country.5. That the ministers and members of the Wesleyan Methodist Church, aided by the liberal co-operation of many other friends of Christian education, have largely and long contributed to establish and maintain Victoria College, in which provision is made for the religious instruction and oversight of students, independent of any Legislative aid—in which there are fifty-nine students in the Faculty of Arts, besides more than two hundred pupils and students in preparatory and special classes—in which no religious test is permitted by the charter in the admission of any student, or pupil, and in which many hundreds of youths of different religious persuasions, have been educated and prepared for professional and other pursuits, many of whom have already honourably distinguished themselves in the clerical, legal and medical professions, as also in mercantile and other branches of business.6th. That Victoria College is justly entitled to share in the Legislative provision for superior education, according to the number of students in the collegiate and academical courses of instruction.7th. That we affectionately entreat the members of our Church, to use their influence to elect, as far as possible, public men who are favourable to the views expressed in the foregoing resolutions, and do equal justice to those who wish to give a superior religious education to the youth of the country, as well as those who desire for their sons a non-religious education alone.

2nd. That no provision for instruction in secular learning alone, can compensate for the absence of provision, or care, for the religious and moral instruction of youth in the most exposed, critical, and eventful periods of their lives.

3rd. That it is of the highest importance to the best interests of Canada that the Legislative provision for superior education, shall be in harmonywith the conscientious convictions and circumstances of the religious persuasions, which virtually constitute the Christianity of the country.

4th. That the exclusive application of the Legislative provision for superior education, to the endowment of a college for the education of the sons of that class of parents alone who wish to educate their sons in a non-denominational institution, irrespective of their religious principles and moral character, to the exclusion of those classes of parents who wish to educate their sons in colleges or seminaries where a paternal care is bestowed upon their moral and religious interests, at the same time that they are carefully and thoroughly taught in secular learning; is grossly illiberal, partial, unjust and unpatriotic, and merits the severest reprobation of every liberal and right-minded man of every religious persuasion and party in the country.

5. That the ministers and members of the Wesleyan Methodist Church, aided by the liberal co-operation of many other friends of Christian education, have largely and long contributed to establish and maintain Victoria College, in which provision is made for the religious instruction and oversight of students, independent of any Legislative aid—in which there are fifty-nine students in the Faculty of Arts, besides more than two hundred pupils and students in preparatory and special classes—in which no religious test is permitted by the charter in the admission of any student, or pupil, and in which many hundreds of youths of different religious persuasions, have been educated and prepared for professional and other pursuits, many of whom have already honourably distinguished themselves in the clerical, legal and medical professions, as also in mercantile and other branches of business.

6th. That Victoria College is justly entitled to share in the Legislative provision for superior education, according to the number of students in the collegiate and academical courses of instruction.

7th. That we affectionately entreat the members of our Church, to use their influence to elect, as far as possible, public men who are favourable to the views expressed in the foregoing resolutions, and do equal justice to those who wish to give a superior religious education to the youth of the country, as well as those who desire for their sons a non-religious education alone.

Dr. Ryerson concluded his speech on the 26th April. Towards its close he said:—[One of the speakers] thought to amuse the Committee, by a reference to an expression of mine, used in a letter written by me several years since, that I had meditated my system of public instruction for this country—(for I contemplated the whole system from the primary school to the University)—on some of the highest mountains in Europe, and said, using a very elegant expression, it must therefore be rather "windy."... No one can have read the history of Greece or Scotland, or the Northern and Western parts of England, without knowing that, from elevated and secluded places, some of the finest inspirations of genius have emanated which have ever been conceived by the mind of man. There are mountains in Europe where the recluse may stand and see beneath him curling clouds, and roaring tempests spending their strength, while he is in a calm untroubled atmosphere, on the summit of a mountain of which it may be said,

"Though round his breast the rolling clouds are spread,Eternal sunshine settles on his head."

And I ask whether it was unphilosophical for an individual who had examined the educational systems of various countries, and who was crossing the Alps, to retire to a mountain solitude, and there, in the abode of that "eternal sunshine," and in the presence of Him who is the fountain of light, to contemplate a system which was to diffuse intellectual and moral light throughout his native country, to survey the condition of that country as a whole, apart from its political-religious dissensions, and ask what system could be devised to enable it to take its position among the civilized nations of the world?...

After giving expression to his views on what he conceived to be a proper and suitable University system for the Province, he concluded with these words:—It is perfectly well known to the Committee that its time, for the last four or five days, has been occupied, not in the investigation of these principles, but by attempts to destroy what is dearer to me than life, in order to crush the cause with which I am identified; and a scene has been enacted here, somewhat resembling that which took place in a certain committee room, at Toronto, in regard to a certain Inspector-General. Every single forgetfulness or omission of mine has been magnified and tortured in every possible way, to destroy my reputation for integrity, and my standing in the country. A newspaper in Toronto, whose editor-in-chief is a man of very great notoriety, has said, since the commencement of this inquiry, that, in my early days, I made mercenary approaches to another church, but was indignantly repelled, and hence my present position. I showed the other day that I might have occupied the place of Vice-Chancellor of the University which Mr. Langton now holds, had I desired (and the proposal was made to me after my return from Europe in 1856), and I have similar records to prove that in 1825, after the commencement of my Wesleyan ministry, I had the authoritative offer of admission to the ministry of the Church of England (see pages 41 and 206). My objection, and my sole objections was, that my early religious principles and feelings were wholly owing to the instrumentality of the Methodist people, and I had been providentially called to labour among them; not that I did not love the Church of England. Those were "saddlebag days," and I used to carry in my saddlebags two books, to which I am more indebted than to any other two books in the English language, except the Holy Scriptures, namely, the Prayer Book and the Homilies of the Church of England. At this very day, Sir, though I have often opposed the exclusive assumptions of some members of the Church of England, I only love it less than the Church with which I am immediately associated.

I have been charged with being the leader of the presentmovement. I am entitled to no such honour. If I have written a line it has been as the amanuensis of my ecclesiastical superiors; if I have done anything, it has been in compliance with the wishes of those whom I love and honour; and my attachment to the Wesleyan body, and the associations and doings of my early years, have been appealed to, as a ground of claim for my humble aid in connection with this movement. Sir, the Wesleyan people, plain and humble as they were, did me good in my youth, and I will not abandon them in my old age.

I have only further to add, that whatever may be my shortcomings, and even sins, I can say with truth that I love my country; that by habit of thought, by association, by every possible sympathy I could awaken in my breast, I have sought to increase my affection for my native land. I have endeavoured to invest it with a sort of personality, to place it before me as an individual, beautiful in its proportions, as well as vigorous in all the elements of its constitution, and losing sight of all distinction of classes, sects, and parties, to ask myself, in the presence of that Being, before whom I shall shortly stand, what I could do most for my country's welfare, how I could contribute most to found a system of education that would give to Canada, when I should be no more, a career of splendour which will make its people proud of it. I may adopt the words of a poet—though they may not be very poetical:—

'Sweet place of my kindred, blest land of my birth,The fairest, the purest, the dearest on earth;Where'er I may roam, where'er I may be,My spirit instinctively turns unto thee.'

Whatever may have been the course of proceeding adopted towards me in this inquiry, I bear enmity to no man; and whatever may be the result of this investigation, and the decision of the committee, I hope that during the few years I have to live, I shall act consistently with the past, and still endeavour to build up a country that will be distinguished in its religious, social, moral, educational, and even political institutions and character; to assist in erecting a structure of intellectual progress and power, on which future ages may look back with respect and gratitude, and thus to help, in some humble degree, to place our beloved Canada among the foremost nations of the earth.

The following private letters, written to me at the time from Quebec and Kingston, by Dr. Ryerson, throw additional light upon the nature of the contest in which he was engaged. They also reveal what the character of his personal feelings and the exercise of his mind during that eventful time were.

On the 20th April, Dr. Ryerson said:—I have had a very painful and laborious week; but I hope to-morrow to be able by divine help, to answer two of my principal opponents effectually. One of these gentlemen made a very plausible speech yesterday in defence of the University, and in reply chiefly to me, but full of fallacies and misquotations.

April 27th.—I finished my defence yesterday in the presence of a densely crowded room—consisting of a large number of Legislative Councillors and members of the House of Assembly—several of whom, I was told, were quite moved when I closed, and cheered me heartily when I sat down. I was congratulated on all sides by them in the afternoon, upon the manner in which I had triumphantly defended myself. I can only say, to God be all the praise. I felt myself as weak as water. I was so depressed and affected the night before, and the morning of commencing my defence, that I could not speak without emotion and tears; but I prayed and relied upon Him who had never failed me in the hour of trial, and my personal friends were also engaged in prayer in my behalf.

As soon as I commenced, I felt as if an army of such assailants were as so many pigmies, and, my friends say, I handled them as such. The remarks of members of both Houses are various, and some of them amusing—all agreeing in the completeness of the defence. All agree also as to the extravagance and defects of the system, and the unquestionable claims of denominational colleges.

I cannot review the great goodness of God to me during this mortifying week without an overflowing heart and tears of gratitude. More conscious and manifold help from above I never experienced. I hope I may never be called to pass through such another conflict. I spoke two hours and forty minutes on the day before yesterday, and one hour and three-quarters yesterday.

May 8th.—I shall be able to send you to-morrow a copy in slips of my reply to my two principal opponents. I know not what will be the result, but I trust in God, who has done better for us than all our fears or our hopes thus far. I hear that the general conviction of members is with me. One of the Senators told me that he had heard but one opinion on the subject. There are some who are satisfied that I have gained in the contest, but who are not in favour of dividing the endowment. All seem to feel that the present system is bad, and that something must be done, and that denominational colleges must be sustained. I think the House will refuse to do anything until the evidence, etc., on the subject is laid before the country. I thank you for your very kind sympathy in my conflicts.

Kingston, June 7th.—The Conference met yesterday, and seems to be in a very good spirit. A Committee was appointed, named by myself, and moved by Rev. Dr. Wood—to arrange for proceedings on the University question. The Committee met last night, and agreed to have a public meeting; and myself and one or two more to draw up resolutions to be submitted to it. I am desired to address the meeting in the evening, when it is expected there will be a great gathering. I find the preachers to be very cordial and grateful.

Kingston June 8th.—The official lay members of the Church in the city of Kingston presented a congratulatory address to the Conference this forenoon, in which they referred with great feeling and force to the University question, also to the representatives of the Conference at Quebec, and especially to myself—requesting that theGuardianmight be more and more the medium of furnishing the connexion with facts and information on the subject, and that my Defence should be inserted in it for the information of our people.

Rev. G. R. Sanderson, seconded by Rev. W. Jeffers, moved a vote of thanks to the official members of Kingston for their address. Rev. J. Spencer, Editor of theGuardian, regarded the address as an attack upon himself, and said the lay members had been instigated to make the attack upon him. Dr. Wood showed that the address simply made a request. Mr. Spencer was considered to have made a great mistake for himself.

The feeling of Conference in regard to myself is very cordial and very enthusiastic on the University question. The article inThe Canadian Churchis much admired. A copy of it has been sent to the MontrealGazette, also to the KingstonDaily News. It is an able and most scholarly article.

Kingston, June 13th.—Yesterday afternoon, the Conference considered and unanimously and cordially adopted a series of resolutions on the University question—thanking those who were at Quebec, especially myself—endorsing the memorial pamphlet. My name was received with cheers, whenever mentioned in the resolutions. In the evening, a public meeting was held, and it was a perfect ovation to myself. Some of those present thought that that was the object of the meeting. Rev. W. Jeffers, the new editor, made an excellent speech. Rev. Lachlan Taylor read extracts in a most amusing and effective manner from the HamiltonSpectator,Colonist,Echo, andChurch Press. The Hon. Mr. Ferrier spoke most happily on the effect of the discussion, and also of the effect of my speech on the members of both branches of the Legislature. I was cheered throughout, and sat down with four long rounds of cheers. There was much laughter, and occasional deep feeling during my criticisms on the variations, and some of the topics of the speeches of my opponents at Quebec, especially the after-dinner speeches at the Toronto University gathering.

FOOTNOTES:[148]Since established and supported, as is the one in Montreal, by contributions from the Methodist people.

[148]Since established and supported, as is the one in Montreal, by contributions from the Methodist people.

1861-1866.

Personal Incidents.—Dr. Ryerson's Visits to Norfolk Co.

During the years of 1861-1866, Dr. Ryerson was chiefly engaged in his official duties, and part of the time with the University question. There is, therefore, little to record during these years except personal matters. The following letters from two of his brothers indicate how strong was their attachment to him:—

Brantford, 4th October, 1861.—Rev. John Ryerson writes: I have derived more benefit from reading Milner's History this time than I ever did before; especially the experience, writings, &c., of St. Augustine, Cyprian, Bernard, Luther and Zwingle. St. Augustine's conversion and "confessions" have been much blessed to me. I have been led to examine with more care and prayerful attention than ever before, the power, influence, and fruits of vital godliness, as experienced and manifested in the hearts and lives of both the Greek and Latin Fathers; and also the principal instruments of the Reformation in the sixteenth century. O! the power, wisdom, and goodness of God; displayed in all these scenes, matters and lives!Kingston, May 8th, 1862.—The Rev. Geo. Ryerson writes: We arrived here safely this morning. I write this by the first mail because I feel anxious concerning you. I fear that if you undertake a journey to Quebec in your present state of weakness and disease, that it will be fatal to you. You are providentially unable to bear the bodily and mental exertion. God does not send a sick man to labour in any good work, and he requires us to use ourselves tenderly, when he weakens us.Brantford, May 9th.—Rev. John Ryerson writes: I had no idea that you had been so seriously ill. It is, however, gratifying now to learn that you are convalescent, and the loss of a little of your "fleshly substance" may prove no great calamity. Were I to lose "forty pounds," as you have, there would be very little of me left!Brantford, December 22nd.—Rev. John Ryerson writes: During my long missionary tour I preached about ten times, always with liberty and freedom. Since I returned home I have resumed all of my domestic and private devotional exercises, and after my missionary labours realize the return of quiet peace and spiritual communion. Recently, after much prayer, I received a great blessing to my soul, the peace of God coming down upon my heart and going all over me, and I still have peace. God is my portion, my righteousness, and my salvation all the day long.

Kingston, May 8th, 1862.—The Rev. Geo. Ryerson writes: We arrived here safely this morning. I write this by the first mail because I feel anxious concerning you. I fear that if you undertake a journey to Quebec in your present state of weakness and disease, that it will be fatal to you. You are providentially unable to bear the bodily and mental exertion. God does not send a sick man to labour in any good work, and he requires us to use ourselves tenderly, when he weakens us.

Brantford, May 9th.—Rev. John Ryerson writes: I had no idea that you had been so seriously ill. It is, however, gratifying now to learn that you are convalescent, and the loss of a little of your "fleshly substance" may prove no great calamity. Were I to lose "forty pounds," as you have, there would be very little of me left!

Brantford, December 22nd.—Rev. John Ryerson writes: During my long missionary tour I preached about ten times, always with liberty and freedom. Since I returned home I have resumed all of my domestic and private devotional exercises, and after my missionary labours realize the return of quiet peace and spiritual communion. Recently, after much prayer, I received a great blessing to my soul, the peace of God coming down upon my heart and going all over me, and I still have peace. God is my portion, my righteousness, and my salvation all the day long.

In September, 1864, Dr. Ryerson wrote the following account of visits which he made to his native county of Norfolk:—

In compliance with many requests, I have thought it would not be improper,and might be acceptable to my Norfolk friends, for me to give an account of my visits during the last two years to my native place, and to the Island within Long Point, which my father obtained from the Crown, and which now belongs to me—marked on old maps as Pottahawk Point, but designated on later maps, and more generally known, as "Ryerson's Island."I may remark, by way of preface, that for more than thirty-five years of my public life my constitution and brain seemed to be equal to any amount of labour which I might impose on them; but of late years, the latter has been the seat of alarming attacks and severe pain, under any protracted or intense labour; and the former has been impaired by labour and disease. Change of scene and out-door exercise have proved the most effectual remedy for both. My first adoption of this course (apart from foreign travel) was two years since, when a month's daily sea-bathing, boating and walking, at Cape Elizabeth, near Portland, State of Maine, contributed greatly to the improvement of my health and strength. After again resuming my usual work for several weeks, I found that my relief, if not safety, required a further suspension of ordinary mental labour, and diversion of my thought by new objects. I determined to visit the place of my birth and the scenes of my youth. At Port Ryerse I made myself a little skiff after the model of one I had seen at the sea-side, and in which I rowed myself to and from Ryerson's Island, a distance of some thirteen miles from Port Ryerse, and about four miles from the nearest mainland—the end of Turkey Point.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.When invited to meet and address the common schools of the county of Norfolk, at a county school picnic held in a grove near Simcoe, the 24th of last June, I determined to proceed thither, not by railroad and stage, as usual, but in a skiff fifteen feet and a half long, in which I had been accustomed for some months to row in Toronto Harbour, between six and eight o'clock in the morning.Providing, as far as possible, against the double danger of swamping and capsizing, by a canvas deck, proper ballast, and fittings of the sail, I crossed Lake Ontario alone from Toronto to Port Dalhousie in nine hours; had my skiff conveyed thence to Port Colborne on a Canadian vessel, through the Welland Canal, and proceeded along the north shore of Lake Erie, rowing in one day, half-way against head wind, from the mouth of Grand River to Port Dover, a distance of forty miles, taking refreshments and rest at farm houses, and bathing three times during the day. The following day scarcely conscious of fatigue, I delivered two addresses; the one to a vast assemblage of school pupils and their friends, in a grove; the other a lecture to teachers and trustees in the evening.After visiting my island and witnessing the productive and excellent garden of the family that occupies it, I returned to Toronto in my skiff, by the way of Niagara river, sailing in one day between sun-rise and sun-set (stopping for three hours at Port Colborne) from Grand River to Chippewa, within two miles of the Falls. I had my skiff conveyed on a waggon over the portage from Chippewa to Queenstown (ten miles), and started from Niagara to Toronto about noon of the first Friday in July. When a little more than half way across the lake, I encountered a heavy north-east storm of rain and wind, and a fog so thick as to completely obscure the Toronto light-house, which was within a mile of me. When it became so dark that I could not see my compass, I laid my course, with the sail reefed, by the wind and waves, reaching (a mile west of my due course) the east side of the Humber Bay, between ten and eleven in the evening, and making my way, by a hard pull, to the Toronto Yacht Club House a little before midnight.About four weeks since my son and myself made the voyage in the same skiff from Toronto to Long Point, but proceeding by railroad from Port Dalhousie to Port Colborne, intending to spend a week or two on the farm, and two or three days on the Island.

I may remark, by way of preface, that for more than thirty-five years of my public life my constitution and brain seemed to be equal to any amount of labour which I might impose on them; but of late years, the latter has been the seat of alarming attacks and severe pain, under any protracted or intense labour; and the former has been impaired by labour and disease. Change of scene and out-door exercise have proved the most effectual remedy for both. My first adoption of this course (apart from foreign travel) was two years since, when a month's daily sea-bathing, boating and walking, at Cape Elizabeth, near Portland, State of Maine, contributed greatly to the improvement of my health and strength. After again resuming my usual work for several weeks, I found that my relief, if not safety, required a further suspension of ordinary mental labour, and diversion of my thought by new objects. I determined to visit the place of my birth and the scenes of my youth. At Port Ryerse I made myself a little skiff after the model of one I had seen at the sea-side, and in which I rowed myself to and from Ryerson's Island, a distance of some thirteen miles from Port Ryerse, and about four miles from the nearest mainland—the end of Turkey Point.

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.

When invited to meet and address the common schools of the county of Norfolk, at a county school picnic held in a grove near Simcoe, the 24th of last June, I determined to proceed thither, not by railroad and stage, as usual, but in a skiff fifteen feet and a half long, in which I had been accustomed for some months to row in Toronto Harbour, between six and eight o'clock in the morning.

Providing, as far as possible, against the double danger of swamping and capsizing, by a canvas deck, proper ballast, and fittings of the sail, I crossed Lake Ontario alone from Toronto to Port Dalhousie in nine hours; had my skiff conveyed thence to Port Colborne on a Canadian vessel, through the Welland Canal, and proceeded along the north shore of Lake Erie, rowing in one day, half-way against head wind, from the mouth of Grand River to Port Dover, a distance of forty miles, taking refreshments and rest at farm houses, and bathing three times during the day. The following day scarcely conscious of fatigue, I delivered two addresses; the one to a vast assemblage of school pupils and their friends, in a grove; the other a lecture to teachers and trustees in the evening.

After visiting my island and witnessing the productive and excellent garden of the family that occupies it, I returned to Toronto in my skiff, by the way of Niagara river, sailing in one day between sun-rise and sun-set (stopping for three hours at Port Colborne) from Grand River to Chippewa, within two miles of the Falls. I had my skiff conveyed on a waggon over the portage from Chippewa to Queenstown (ten miles), and started from Niagara to Toronto about noon of the first Friday in July. When a little more than half way across the lake, I encountered a heavy north-east storm of rain and wind, and a fog so thick as to completely obscure the Toronto light-house, which was within a mile of me. When it became so dark that I could not see my compass, I laid my course, with the sail reefed, by the wind and waves, reaching (a mile west of my due course) the east side of the Humber Bay, between ten and eleven in the evening, and making my way, by a hard pull, to the Toronto Yacht Club House a little before midnight.

About four weeks since my son and myself made the voyage in the same skiff from Toronto to Long Point, but proceeding by railroad from Port Dalhousie to Port Colborne, intending to spend a week or two on the farm, and two or three days on the Island.

I conclude this epitomised sketch with three remarks. I am satisfied of the truth of what I have long believed, that a small boat is as safe, if not safer, than a large one, if properly constructed, fitted out, trimmed, and managed. I believe that many a large open boat, if not capsized by the wind, would have been swamped by the waves over which my little craft rode in safety.

I have never experienced the benefit of out-door exertion and the comfort of retirement to the same degree as during these excursions, besides daily riding on horseback and preparing all the wood consumed at my cottage. Between two and three years ago I found it painful labour to walk one mile, I have since walked twelve miles in a day, besides attending to other duties—an improvement of my general system, which is already acting sensibly and encouragingly on the seat of thought and nervous influence. 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 I never was more delighted and impressed (owing, perhaps, in part to the susceptible state of my feelings) with the beauty, effulgence, and even sublimity of atmospheric phenomena, and the softened magnificence of surrounding objects, than in witnessing the setting sun the 23rd of June, from the unruffled bosom of Lake Erie, a few miles east of Port Dover, and about a mile from the thickly wooded shore, with its deepening and variously reflected shadows. 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 suggests the idea of boundlessness—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 roundWhom 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, andcomparatively 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, labours and burdens of more than two score years, and to 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 expressed 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 wild 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 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.

Dr. Ryerson was very bold and skilful in the management of a sail boat, as may be inferred from the foregoing incidents. On one occasion, a few years ago, while sailing on the Toronto bay in his skiff, he was overtaken by a gale, during which the steeple of Zion Church was blown down, but, through God's goodness, he reachedterra firmain safety.

He frequently sailed his little craft, as he has mentioned, from Port Ryerse and Port Rowan to his Long Point cottage—a distance of thirteen and nine miles respectively—and that, too, in all sorts of weather, and sometimes when much larger boats would not venture outside of the harbour.

For many years Dr. Ryerson was considered one of the best shots at Long Point. When over seventy years of age, he killed from seventy to eighty duck in one day in his punt and with his own gun. In the spring of 1880, when in his seventy-eighth year, he was overtaken by darkness, and, not being able to reach his cottage, was compelled to remain all night in the marsh. Rolling himself up in his blankets, in his boat, he quietly went to sleep. In the early morning he was rewarded by capturing nine wild geese.

He crossed Lake Ontario, between Toronto and Port Dalhousie, four times alone in his skiff (only sixteen feet long), and three times accompanied by his son. Fear was unknown to him, and he never lost his presence of mind, even in the most perilous circumstances.

Another favourite recreation of his was riding. He was often seen before six o'clock in the morning enjoying a canter in the suburbs of Toronto.

Writing to me from Ridgeway in August, 1866, he said:—

To-day I left Toronto in my little skiff for Port Dalhousie.The lake was as smooth as glass the greater part of the day, and the latter part of the day there was not a breath of wind, so that I had to row. I got into Port Dalhousie in the evening. I was at the Queen's Own camp at Thorold yesterday. I visited a large number of tents, and examined the whole mode of living, and especially of cooking. It was amusing, among other cases of the same kind, to see several young gentlemen of Toronto cooking, and others assisting. I saw them cutting their meat, etc. They have the reputation of being the best cooks in the battalion. I go to Port Colborne in the rail cars, and will proceed in my skiff to Port Ryerse, or rather to Port Dover first. I hope to get there to-morrow. I went over the battle-ground here last evening.

As many people were curious to know how Dr. Ryerson spent his time at his Long Point cottage, the following letter, written to his cousin, Major Ryerse, in April, 1873, will supply the information. It relates to one day's experience, and was about the average of these experiences there:—On leaving the island cottage, I paddled and pushed my boat about six miles in the marsh, Monday forenoon. I rowed all the way to Port Ryerse against a head wind, one part of the way so strong that I shipped a good deal of water, and got wet. I was from two to eight o'clock rowing from my cottage to Port Ryerse. I was too wet and fatigued to walk to your house, but went to bed at nine, got up at five, and started for Simcoe at six. I walked eight miles out of ten on the ice, from Port Rowan over—going the other two miles by water, in a skiff which we took with us on a hand-sled. During the first eight days I did not go out in the marsh at all, but devoted myself wholly to my papers and books. The second week I went out three times, about three hours each, got a little game, but not enough to leave any on the way, except to a few friends. I am now beginning to enjoy rest more than exertion; and am not certain when I shall come again, or whether I shall come at all again.

While on his educational tour in 1866, Dr. Ryerson wrote to me from Napanee, and said:—There was a very large meeting in Picton on Saturday and another here to-day, and both went with me in everything, with showers of compliments and almost enthusiastic feeling.

A large number of the oldest settlers and Methodists were invited to meet me last night at Mr. Dorland's, in Adolphustown. The service in the evening was to them a feast of fat things, and some of them spoke of it as the happiest occasion of their lives. I felt very happy with them. They said it reminded them of "old times."

1867.

Last Educational Visit to Europe.—Rev. Dr. Punshon.

In 1867 Dr. Ryerson made his last educational tour to Europe. On his return he prepared two elaborate reports—one on Systems of Education in Europe, and the other on the Education of the Deaf and Dumb. He also went to Paris as an Honorary Commissioner to the International Exhibition held in that city in 1867. While absent he constantly wrote to me. From his letters I make the following selections:—

Paris, January 22nd, 1867.—The pretended concessions of the Emperor of France to the French nation was not much thought of in Paris, as it is regarded here of little value. His announcement of his concessions, as being final, will do him more harm, than the concessions themselves will do good.

The Attorney-General told me to-day that I had won the the heart of Mr. Adderly, M.P., Under-Secretary of State for the Colonies, who is an able man. The Attorney-General gave me a note of introduction to him (in the absence of Lord Carnarvon) in order to introduce me to Lord Stanley, which Mr. Adderly did. He asked me many questions about our school system, and told the Attorney-General I had given him an immense deal of information in a short time.

Nice, February 25.—We left Paris Wednesday evening, and reached Marseilles Thursday noon—passing Lyons, Vienne, Avignon, etc., in the valley of the Rhone, by daylight. The scenery was very beautiful, vine-yards on the hillsides, cultivated fields, trees and shrubs green, almonds in blossom. In the afternoon we "did" Marseilles, visiting the Exchange, the Palais de Justice, the ancient and modern port with its thousands of ships,—28,000 entering it per year—ascended the lofty mount, with garden walls on its sides, to the Notre Dame church which surmounts it—a small church of the sailors hung with innumerable characteristic mementoes of their escapes from shipwreck, through the intercession of their Mother-protector! The view of the city and surrounding country, all dotted with villas, is magnificent. Next morning we started for Nice.Toulon, the Mediterranean naval station of France, is about thirty-six miles this side of Marseilles—about one-third of the way to Nice. It is strongly fortified; its port, which is admirable, contains many French ships of war. The population is about 50,000. Between Toulon and Nice lies the town of Cannes—a rival to Nice as a resort for invalids. The scenery from Marseilles to Nice is beautiful, and sometimes grand—the sea on one side, and the gardens, fields, olive and orange orchards, hillsides and mountain slopes, dotted with hamlets and villas, on the other. In the back-ground of Nice are seen the maritime Alps. Oranges are here seen on the trees; and the trees, shrubs and flowers are green, and some of them in blossom. The breezes gentle, the sun bright and warm, the sky clear, and the atmosphere soft and balmy, one seems to inhale healthful vigour with every breath, and to behold cheerful beauty on every side.

I have here met my old friend, Dr. Pantelioni, who attended me when I was ill in Rome, who was employed by Count Cavour to negotiate with Prince Napoleon and the Emperor the treaty of the 15th September, by which the French troops have evacuated Rome; but he is now an exile from Rome, but hopes soon to return thither. He has the first medical practice here, as he had at Rome.

Florence, March 19th.—Since I wrote to you from Rome, we went to Naples, in ten hours, by railway; spent three days there, and returned, the fourth, here—in 23 hours from Naples—arriving here Sunday morning, in time to dress, get breakfast, and go to church, where we heard the liturgy read evangelically, and a good evangelical sermon. The Church at Rome is High Church; that at Florence is evangelical. But I heard an excellent service from the Dean of Ely (Mr. Goodwin), at Rome. I can give you no particulars of our tour. I do not enjoy it. I have wished a good many times that you were in my place, and that I had a week's quiet on my Island. Rome was dirty, as well as almost wholly given to superstition, though there is a strong and widespread hostility among the masses to the temporal power of the Pope. Naples was dirty, but evinced much business activity. Florence is clean, industrious, and all the people cleanly and well-dressed, except some beggars—an old legacy. But the general hostility to the priesthood is remarkable, though not surprising. The Government had gained in the recent elections, but has a difficult part to play, between the Church and Anti-Church parties, and keeping up a large army, and imposing heavy taxes, of which all complain.

Venice, March 28th.—At Florence, the British Minister introduced me to Count Usedon, the Prussian Minister at Florence,formerly at Paris, a most delightful and variously learned man, who invited me to go to his villa, but I had not time, and who told me all about the working of the Prussian System of Public Instruction, in each neighbourhood—saying that the law had not been changed at all since I was in Prussia; that the Government did nothing but inspect, and see that each locality had a school of a certain kind, and that each person educated his children; but that each locality taxed itself for the support of its school. He told me I could find nothing suitable to my purpose in Prussia, in respect to the militia organization in connection with the school system, as there was no connection between the one and the other, and that the military system was expensive, and much interfered with the ordinary employments; but that Switzerland was the place for me to learn and study the blending of the school system with military training, in consequence of which every Swiss had a good education, understood the use of arms and military drill, and was yet practical, industrious, and sober, while the whole system was very inexpensive. He gave me a letter of introduction to a friend of his in Switzerland, who could give me every information I might desire, and all needful documents.

Lake Como, April 1st.—This is the first place of rest and retirement that we have had since we came to Europe. We are inhaling fresh country air every day. We are in the centre of a natural magnificence, beauty, and grandeur such as I have never witnessed—before us the little, deep, Y-shaped lake, abounding in fish, dotted with skiffs, skirted with flower gardens, walks, shrubs, and villas, and overhung on either side by snow-capped mountains—roses and plants and green flowers at the bottom of the mountains—craggy rocks and deep snow at the top, and all apparently within a mile's distance. Here where we stop is the villa of the Duke of Meiningen, and the palace-residence of the late Queen Caroline of England (now an hotel), and the villa of the King of the Belgians—a favourite place of retirement of the late King. What I have witnessed here, in the quiet Sabbath of yesterday, has given me more impressive views of the varied beauty and magnificence of the works of God than I ever had before, though I had travelled much, and finished my sixty-fourth year the Sabbath before.

London, 30th April.—I was present two hours at the anniversary of the Church Missionary Society—heard the report (a very good one) read, and heard Lord Chichester (President), the Lord Bishop of Norwich, Dean of Carlisle, and the Lord Bishop of Cork. The speaking was evangelical—Methodistically experimental, but nothing like so able and effective as that at the Wesleyan Missionary meeting yesterday.

I attended a meeting this afternoon at City Road Chapel, to hear an address from Lord Shaftesbury on Ragged Schools, and to witness the laying of the corner-stone of a chapel school-house in an alley about six minutes' walk from City Road Wesleyan Chapel—one of the most wretched neighbourhoods in London. I never knew before what the ragged poor of London, in the lanes and alleys, were. I never witnessed such a sight of squalid wretchedness—the neighbourhood literally swarming with children—every window of the houses around full of heads—all indicating that lowest degradation, but many of the children had good features and bright eyes sparkling through the encrustation of dirt. We have no such class in Canada, and I hope we never may.

Lord Shaftesbury's remarks were of the highest type of Scriptural and experimental truth—eminently practical and suggestive. His address to the poor creatures, at the laying of the corner-stone of the edifice, was full of kindness and affection—adopting even the very style of address common among the class whom he addressed. As a specimen, his Lordship said:—"I just heard a boy say behind me, 'which is him?' Now, I am him; you want to see him; and I want to see you, and to talk to you, and to do you good. We have all come here to do you good, because we love you, and the poorer you are, and the more you suffer, the more we wish to help you, and to do you good." He reminded me of the Saviour going about doing good, and of the words of Job (chap. 29), "When the ear heard me, then it blessed me, and when the eye saw me it gave witness to me, because I delivered the poor that cried, and the fatherless, and him that had none to help him," etc. (verses 11, 13, 15, and 16). It was to me an impressive, affecting, and, I trust, a useful lesson.

London, 1st May.—We attended to-day the annual meeting of the British and Foreign Bible Society. The Report was admirably read, and was most gratifying and encouraging. The speeches were excellent, and some parts of them produced a wonderful effect. The Lord Bishop of Carlisle spoke nobly and scripturally; the Dean of Carlisle spoke fervently and affectingly; the Rev. Dr. Miller spoke very ably and effectively; but Mr. Calvert (of Fiji mission), spoke irresistibly to the heart; and Dr. Phillips spoke with surpassing beauty, and charming power. The latter two are both Welshmen, and Methodists—the former a Wesleyan, and the latter a Whitfield Welsh Methodist. The Rev. Mr. Nolan spoke with great excellence; Lord Shaftesbury speaks as a matter of business, naturally, simply, but with dignity, and great force.

But the speeches of clergymen to-day, as well as yesterday,painfully impressed me with the divided, and deplorable state of the Church of England. Indeed, I thought to-day that it was hardly in good taste, or even politic, for clergymen to give such prominence to the internal heresies and divisions of the Church, at a non-denominational meeting, and before their brethren of other denominations, and before the world. But they feel that the evil and danger is so great that they should speak out, and do so on all occasions. There have been disputes and divisions among the Methodists, on personal and political quasi-ecclesiastical grounds, but never of the grave character of those which agitate the Church of England. It is the opinion of many of the clergymen and laymen of the Church, that a formal and great separation will ere long take place between the opposing parties. But, still, I think that the heart of the Church is sound—that neither the ritualists nor the neologists touch the masses of the labouring and middle classes—only some speculative minds, and imaginary spirits, seeking for excitement in religion, as they do in reading novels, and at the theatre. But, after all, I believe, as I hope, the Church will come out of this fiery trial, better, stronger, and more qualified to do good, and with a deeper baptism of the Divine Spirit for its promotion. So far as I have had opportunity to mingle with the ministers and members, and to witness services and meetings, I think I never saw the Wesleyan body in so good a state; so perfectly at peace and united, and so devoted to their one great work; and with a fervour and depth of spirituality not excelled even in Mr. Wesley's day. The personal example and influence of the most eloquent and leading men in the Connexion is highly spiritual and practical.

London, 5th May.—During my present visit to England I have been so deeply impressed with the vast benefit to my native land by a visit to it of Rev. William Morley Punshon that I have written to him on the subject, and have got others to speak to him about it. I was rejoiced, therefore, to get from him a note to-day, dated Bristol, 4th May, as follows:—The more I think about your proposition the more I am impressed that it is in the order of Providence that I should accept it. I have always hoped that I might some day see your great continent and have the opportunity of acquainting myself with the capabilities of your country, and with the work which has been done in it; and on many accounts the present seems to be the most favourable time. If, therefore, you should honour me with an invitation, and the British Conference shall see good to appoint me, I shall place no hindrance in the way, but shall endeavour to regard it as the wish of the Lord.

London, 6th May.—I have gratefully replied to Mr. Punshon,and shall now return to Canada, satisfied that I have, with God's help, accomplished a great work for her, and that we shall reap a rich reward from the services of this honoured minister of Christ.

London, 15th May.—In a kind parting note from Rev. Dr. Elijah Hoole to Dr. Ryerson, dated Mission House, May 15th, the former says: I have written to Dr. Wood to-day, and have informed him how grateful it has been to us to renew our personal intercourse with you. When you have once taken your departure we may hardly hope to meet again, but I shall always thankfully retain the impression of the ability and purity, and Christian love, and missionary zeal, which have always distinguished your personal intercourse with us.

London, 19th June.—This day I had the pleasure of writing to Rev. William Morley Punshon, inviting him to my house when he comes to Toronto. I said to him,—You have probably learned, ere this reaches you, that the Canadian Conference, (now consisting of altogether 612 ministers and preachers), has most cordially and warmly solicited your appointment as its next President, with the request that you will visit and travel through Canada the current year. I assume that you will accept this appointment, and I understood from Rev. Gervase Smith that you would probably come to Canada, in September or October next. As Toronto is the centre of Methodism in Canada, as well as the largest city, and capital of Canada West, I assume, for reasons I have stated in a letter this day addressed to your friend, Mr. Gervase Smith, that you will make Toronto your home. I shall be most happy to entertain you and yours, on your arrival there. I shall be happy to do all in my power to consult your wishes, and promote your comfort, as well as usefulness, in Canada. I pray that the Lord will direct your steps, and prosper your way, to us in this country.

London, July 17th.—In a note from Rev. Gervase Smith to Rev. Dr. Ryerson, dated July 17th, he says:—We all seemed to feel from your first call at our house, that we were adding another valuable friendship to our list, and we followed you over the water with many kind feelings and remembrances. I am very glad to hear so cheering an account of your Conference. As far as I can see, the way is opening out for Mr. Punshon's visit to Canada, as clearly as you or his friends in this country could wish. His removal from us, even for a space, will be a great loss to us; and on grounds of friendship, especially so to myself; but I hope it is all right. It is our earnest prayer that he, and the Conference in his case, may be guided rightly. I should very much like to accompany him. I do not give up the hope of seeing you and the Canadian world, during his residenceamong you. I have formed a secret resolution to steal away for a few weeks within the next year or two. But perhaps it is wrong to anticipate. "Ye know not what shall be on the morrow."

Toronto, 24th July.—I was thankful this day to receive from Rev. Wm. Morley Punshon a letter dated Bristol, 10th July, acknowledging mine to him of the 19th June. He says:—It brought me the only intimation which I have yet received of the request of the Canadian Conference that I should be appointed to preside over its next session. I feel humbled and thankful for this mark of the confidence of my brethren over the water, and, if Providence opens my way, shall regard myself as favoured with no mean opportunity of getting and doing good. No step in this whole matter has been of my own motion. I am simply passive in the hands of God and of His Church. You have very truly interpreted my wishes and feelings in what you have said to some of my brethren. All our affairs are in higher hands than our own; and if by God's overruling providence, I shall be assured of welcome in Canada, and enabled to work for Christ upon that continent, which I have so often longed to see, I shall regard the disruption of all older ties, and the sacrifice of present position in this country, as a small price to pay—the more, if I can aid in the establishment of a grand Methodist confederacy which shall be one of the great spiritual powers of the New World.

Dr. Ryerson adds, With a grateful heart at God's goodness in this matter, I replied to the letter on the 1st of August, 1867.

While I was in England in 1867, Dr. Ryerson wrote to me (Toronto, August 1st,) to say that:—The Rev. W. M. Punshon, M.A., is coming out to Canada, in October, with his family. He has addressed me several inquiries, which I answer by this mail; but I wrote him to say who you were, what your address was in London, and that you could give him every needful information and suggestion as to his best mode of proceedings. I told him I would write you, and request you to write him a line—also telling him your address, and where you could see him, if he came to London, and offering him every information in your power, that he might desire. All things go on as usual in the Office.

Rev. Gervase Smith, in a letter to Dr. Ryerson, dated at the Bristol Conference, 4th August said:—We have had many important conversations and decisions. Some of which will be interesting to you, and the Canadian friends. Mr. Punshon's appointment to Canada was made by the Conference. I need not say that we are all sorely grieved at even the temporary loss of his presence and service. But the call from Canada wasloud, and Providence seemed to indicate the way thither. I need not say that you will take care of him, and let us have him back again as soon as practicable. I am sure that his sojourn among you will be made a great blessing to multitudes, and I doubt not that the future of Methodism in Canada will be influenced by it. He is also heartily appointed as our Representative to the General Conference in America. I judge that the Conference now being held here will be regarded in the future as a very important one.

1867.

Dr. Ryerson's Address on the New Dominion of Canada.

While I was in England, in 1867, Dr. Ryerson wrote to me late in July, to say:—Some of our leading public men were anxious that I should do something to assist in placing government upon the right foundation in our new civil state. But before communicating with them I determined to write boldly, an Address to the people of Upper Canada. These friends were delighted when they learned my determination, after I had written about half my address. It was printed last evening. It will, of course, draw upon me a great deal of abuse. But I have counted the cost, and thought I ought to issue it under the circumstances. I think a reaction is already beginning. I have thought it my duty to make one more special effort to save the country from future wretchedness, if not ruin, caused by the bitter party spirit of the press, whatever it might cost me.... I am wonderfully well; but take some exercise every day, and do not work very long at a time.

The Address was issued in pamphlet form in July, 1867, and under the title of "The New Canadian Dominion: Dangers and Duties of the People in regard to their Government." From it I make the following extracts:

While I heartily unite in your rejoicings over our new birth as a nation, I beg to address you some words on our national duties and interests. I do so because my opinions and advices have been requested by many persons deeply interested in the public welfare; because I am approaching the close of a public life of more than forty years, during which I have carefully observed the hindrances and aids of our social progress, and have taken part, since 1825, in the discussion of all those constitutional questions which involved the rights and relations of religious denominations and citizens, and which have resulted in our present system of free government and of equal rights among all religious persuasions; because my heart's desire and prayer to God is, that the new Dominion of Canada may become prosperous and happy, by beginning well, by avoiding thoseerrors which have in time past been injurious to ourselves, and which have impeded the progress and marred the peace of other peoples, and by adopting those maxims of both feeling and conduct which the best and most experienced public men of Europe and America have enjoined as essential to the strength and happiness, the advancement and grandeur of a nation....

We are passing from an old into a new state of political existence. The alleged evils of former civil relations have induced the creation of new ones; and the denounced evils of a former system of government have led to the establishment of a new system.... We have been raised from a state of colonial subordination to one of affectionate alliance with the mother country. Then the first act of wisdom and duty is, to note and avoid the evils which marred our peace and prosperity in our former state, and cultivate those feelings and develop those principles of legislation and government which have contributed most to the promotion of our own happiness and interests as well as those of other nations.

If you will call up to your recollection the events of our country's history for the last twenty years, I am sure you will agree with me that personal hostilities and party strife have been the most fatal obstacles to our happiness and progress as a people—an immense loss of time and waste of public money in party debates and struggles—a most fruitful source of partiality and corruption in legislation and government.... During the last two years that there has been a cessation of party hostilities and a union of able men of heretofore differing parties for the welfare of the country, there has been an economy, intelligence and impartiality in legislation, and in the whole administration of government, not equalled for many years past, a corresponding improvement in the social feelings and general progress of the country, as well as an elevation of our reputation and character abroad, in both Europe and America....

In no respect is the education of a people more important than in respect to the principles of their government, their rights and duties as citizens. This does not come within the range of elementary school teaching; but I have sought to introduce, as much as possible, expositions on the principles, spirit and philosophy of government, in my annual reports, and other school addresses and documents, during the last twenty years, and so to frame the whole school system as to make its local administration an instrument of practical education to the people, in the election of representatives, and the corporate management of their affairs—embracing most of the elementary principles and practice of civil government, anddoing so to a greater extent than is done in the school system of any country in Europe, or of any State in America. And the strength and success of the school system in any municipality have been in proportion to the absence of party spirit, and the union of all parties for its promotion.... What is true in school polity is true in civil polity; and what is true in the educational branch of the public service, is true in every branch of the public service.

I am aware that many good and intelligent men, of different views and associations, regard partyism as a necessity, a normal element, in the operations of free civil government.... I think they are in error, at least in the Canadian sense of the term party; and that this error has been at the bottom of most of our civil discords and executive abuses. I think that partyism is a clog in the machinery of civil government, as in that of school or municipal government; in which there is free discussion of measures, and of the conduct of Trustees and Councillors; and there have been elections and changes of men as well as of measures.... When party assumptions and intolerance have gone so far as to interfere with the proper functions of government, with the constitutional rights of citizens, or of the Crown, I have, at different times, in former years, being trammelled by or dependent upon no party, endeavoured to check these party excesses, and oppressions, sometimes to the offence of one party, and sometimes to the offence of another, just as one or the other might be the transgressor. I was, of course, much assailed by the parties rebuked; but no consideration of that kind should prevent the public instructor—whether educator or preacher—from ... teaching what he believes to be true and essential to the advancement of society, please or offend whom it may, or however it may affect him personally.

I have rejoiced to observe, that many who have heretofore been men of party and of party government have resolved to inaugurate the new system of government, not upon the acute angle of party, but, upon the broad base of equal and impartial justice to all parties, the only moral and patriotic principle of government, according to my convictions, and the only principle of government to make good and great men, and make a progressive and happy country....

Thankful to find that the new system of civil government was to be established upon the same principles as those on which our school system has been founded and developed to the satisfaction of the country, and to the admiration of all foreign visitors; and believing that the present was the juncture of time for commencing a new and brighter era in the history ofCanada—I have felt that it had a claim to the result, in epitome at least, of my fifty years reading and meditation, and more than forty years occasional discussion, respecting these first principles of government, for the freedom, unity, happiness, advancement and prosperity of a people....

I believe there is a judgment, a conscience, a heart in the bosom of a people, as well as in that of an individual, not wholly corrupted—at least, so I have in time past found it in the people of Upper Canada—and to that judgment, and conscience, and heart, I appeal. If what I have written is true, and if what I have suggested is wise, just, and patriotic, I am not concerned as to what any deceptive or dishonest art can do to the contrary; for, as Robert Hall beautifully said, on a similar occasion, "Wisdom and truth, the offspring of the sky, are immortal; but cunning and deception, the meteors of the earth, after glittering for a moment, must pass away."

After devoting several pages to illustrate the evils of partyism in government, Dr. Ryerson proceeds:—This partyism in government is contrary to the avowed principles and objects of reformers in the true heroic age of Canadian reform. "Equal rights and privileges among all classes, without regard to sect or party," was the motto of the reformers of those days, and was repeated and placed upon their banners in almost every variety of style and form. And what was understood and meant by that expressive motto, in the whole administration of government, will be seen from the following facts:—The reformers and reform press of Upper Canada, hailed and rejoiced in the principles of the government of Lord Durham, Lord Sydenham and Sir Charles Bagot. The Earl of Durham, in his reply to the address of the citizens of Toronto, July, 1838, said:

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