Chapter IV: Education in Ontario--Past and Present (3)

CONTINUED EDUCATIONAL EFFORTS BY MR. BURWELL IN THE HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY.

In January, 1832, Mr. Burwell made a motion similar to the defeated one of Dr. C. Duncombe, which led to considerable discussion. It was as follows:--

"That this House do address His Majesty, humbly beseeching that
His Majesty will be graciously pleased to grant an appropriation
of one million of acres of waste lands of the Crown in this
Province for the maintenance and support of common schools
within the same."...[36]

In the same month Mr. Burwell introduced a bill "for the establishment and support of common schools throughout the Province." It was printed but was not proceeded with that session. Mr. Burwell's object clearly was to keep the subject before the House and to promote discussion on it. In this he succeeded. The House of Assembly was alive to the importance of the question, but the Legislative Council was obstructive in regard to the same subject.

In November, 1832, Mr. Burwell again had a committee of the House of Assembly appointed to enquire into the manner in which the King's wishes had been carried out in regard to the royal grant of lands for educational purposes in 1798. To expedite this enquiry the important despatches and reports formerly asked for by him and sent down to the House by the Governor, with others, were printed and distributed.

Mr. Burwell also introduced a bill "for the establishment, maintenance and regulation of common schools," in the Province. He made several motions, too, on the subject of the King's College charter and school lands. On the 21st November he submitted the first report of his "Select Committee on the Subject of Education." The historical part of this report being somewhat interesting in its statements, I quote it as follows:--

"The committee have been forcibly struck with the uniform
anxiety which has been manifested at all times by the
Legislature and Provincial authorities for the establishment of
a university.

"It formed part of the prayer of both Houses in their address to
the King in 1797.

"It was strongly recommended by the Executive Government, the
judges, and law officers of the Crown, in 1798.

"In 1806 the Legislature, to show that something more was even
then required than grammar schools, did all their limited means
permitted, in providing a small apparatus for the instruction of
youth in physical science, that they might enter the world with
something more than a common district school education; such an
institution was again noticed in 1820, and an earnest desire
expressed by the Legislature, which knew best the wants of the
Province, for its speedy establishment.

"In 1825 so many young men were found turning their attention to
the learned professions that the Executive Government thought
that the establishment of a university could be no longer
delayed without the greatest detriment to the Province, and,
therefore, applied to His Majesty for a Royal Charter, which
was granted in 1827, in terms as liberal, it is said, as the
then Government would allow; but such has proved by no means
satisfactory to your Honorable House."[36]

[36] See also the opinion of Archdeacon Strachan on this subject, in a subsequent part of this Retrospect.

About the middle of December, 1832, Mr. Burwell brought in the second and very elaborate report of the Select Committee on Education. This report was chiefly based upon the opinions of several witnesses examined by the committee on the subject of school lands, King's College charter, U. C. College, and education generally. The witnesses examined were Chief Justice Robinson, Archdeacon Strachan, Chairman, and the Hon. G. H. Markland, Secretary to the Provincial Board of Education; Hon. Joseph Wells, a member of the Board, and Treasurer of U. C. College; Rev. Dr. Joseph H. Harris, Principal of U. C. College; Rev. Dr. Thomas Phillips, Vice-Principal, and Mr. S. P. Hurd, Surveyor-General of the Province.

The general views of these noted men on the subject of education are both interesting and instructive in the light of to-day. The report itself deals with the then pressing question of the extension of educational facilities to the entire Province. It points out in strong language the undesirability of continuing a system of district, or grammar, schools which were quite adequate to the wants of the Province when the population was only 50,000, but which was not at all equal to the requirements of Upper Canada when that population had increased to nearly 300,000. These references show how wonderfully the Province has progressed in population and in its educational advantages since that time.

EARLY OPINIONS ON THE NECESSITY FOR MANUAL, OR INDUSTRIAL, EDUCATION.

The following passage from the report of 1832 is prophetical in its anticipation of the future. By way of illustration I may mention the fact that a somewhat similar utterance was made by Sir Lyon Playfair in his address as president of the British Association, at Aberdeen, in 1887. The passage in the report of 1832 is as follows:--

"That the situation of the Province in wealth and commerce,
and in its demand for superior attainments in the various
professions is very different from what it formerly was; and
that unless opportunities are immediately furnished by the
establishment of superior schools for the instruction of our
youth in the higher branches of science, we must fall behind the
age in which we live."

What was thus put forth as a local thought, but yet as an educational axiom, by these educational pioneers of Upper Canada, upwards of fifty years ago, is thus forcibly and beautifully amplified by the president of the British Association in 1887. Speaking generally, and contrasting the educational policy of the colonies and that of the mother country, he said:--

"The colonies, being young countries, value their raw materials
as their chief source of wealth. When they become older they
will discover it is not in these, but in the culture of
scientific intellect, that their future prosperity depends....
Jules Simon tersely puts it:--'The nation which most educates
her people will become the greatest nation, if not to-day,
certainly to-morrow.' Higher education is the condition of
higher prosperity, and the nation which neglects to develop the
intellectual factor of production must degenerate, for it cannot
stand still.... The illustrious consort of our Queen was not the
first prince who saw how closely science is bound up with the
welfare of states.... How unwise it is for England to lag in the
onward march of science, when most other European powers are
using the resources of their states to promote higher education
and to advance the boundaries of knowledge. [She] alone fails
to grasp the fact that the competition of the world has become
a competition of intellect.... A nation in its industrial
progress, when the competition of the world is keen, cannot
stand still.... I contend that in public education there should
be a free play to the scientific faculty, so that the youths who
possess it should learn the richness of their possession during
the educative process.... Science has impressed itself upon the
age in which we live; and as science is not stationary, but
progressive, men are required to advance its boundaries, acting
as pioneers in the onward march of states. Human progress is so
identified with scientific thought, both in its conception and
realization, that it seems as if they were alternative terms in
the history of civilization."

In giving these extracts so fully I have done so for two reasons: First, I desire to do honour to the zeal and to acknowledge the forethought and prescience of those members of the House of Assembly who, in 1832, placed so strong an emphasis upon the value of "the instruction of our youth in the higher branches of science;" and secondly, to point out, in the weighty words of Sir Lyon Playfair, the immense importance (in the light of past experience) which he and other leaders of thought in regard to England's industrial life and practical progress, attach to the teaching of elementary science in the schools. He touches upon this point in another part of his address, in pointing out the absurdity of requiring all pupils to study the same subjects. He says:--

"In a school a boy should be aided to discover the class of
knowledge that is best suited to his mental capacities, so
that in the upper forms of the school, and in the university,
knowledge may be specialized in order to cultivate the powers
of the man to the fullest extent.... The adaptation of public
schools to a scientific age does not involve a contest as
to whether science or classics shall prevail, for both are
indispensable to true education. The real question is, whether
schools will undertake the duty of moulding the minds of boys
according to their mental varieties."

LATER OPINIONS ON THE NECESSITY FOR MANUAL TRAINING IN OUR SCHOOLS.

So deeply impressed was I of the immense importance of this subject, and of the necessity of providing in our school system for a practical solution of the question which was then, and is now, of pressing importance--viz., manual training in our schools--that in 1876 I prepared and delivered a lecture on the subject, in various parts of the Province. The lecture was founded on the industrial lessons taught to us so impressively at the Centennial Exhibition, Philadelphia, in 1876. These lessons, in their educational aspects, were even more forcibly impressed upon me at the great Industrial Exhibition held in New Orleans, in 1885. Having been there six weeks, as an Educational Juror, on behalf of the United States Bureau of Education, I had abundant and admirable facilities for studying the whole question, and for seeing how it was being worked out (more or less effectually) in the various national school systems which came under review during that enquiry--especially in France. Thus the French school law of 1882 provides that "primary education includes [among other things] the elements of the natural, physical and mathematical sciences, and their application to agriculture, to hygiene, and to the industrial art; manual work, and the use of tools of the principal trades, the elements of drawing, modelling, etc." Apprenticeship schools have also been established, the object of which is to form workmen, as distinguished from foremen, and in which various trades are taught. An official report, published by the United States Bureau of Education in 1882, states that the apprentices of these schools "find employment readily after they have left the workshops, at wages, it is said, varying from five to even as much as eight francs per day."

In discussing this question in the lecture to which I have referred, these passages occur:--

"It is not assumed that every pupil in our schools is qualified, or that he should be compelled, as a matter of course, to engage in the study of elementary science or practical drawing. Far from it. But what I do say is, that those pupils who exhibit a taste for any of the various subjects of natural history, elementary science or practical mechanics, should have an opportunity in the Public and High Schools (of cities and large towns) of learning something about them. In an address by Mr. Gladstone on this subject, he stated that the boys of the English schools, and it is so in our schools, had not yet had fair play in the study of elementary science and natural history....

"There are few schools in which there are not boys possessing talent scientific, inventive, or industrial talent, or constructive genius, which are never evoked, much less aroused or stimulated. As to the question whether for the few the country should be put to the expense of their special training, I answer it in the words of Professor Huxley, who says:--

"To the lad of genius, even to the one in a million, I would make accessible the highest and most complete training the country could afford. Whatever it might cost, depend upon it the investment would be invaluable. I weigh my words when I say: that if the nation could purchase a potential Watt, or Davy, or Faraday, at the cost of a hundred thousand pounds down, he would be dirt cheap at the money.... It is a mere commonplace and an every-day piece of knowledge to say that, what these three men did, (in their special departments of practical science), has produced untold millions of wealth for England and the world, speaking in its narrowest economical sense of the word."

The educational mind of the United States, as well as Europe, is being constantly directed to the consideration of this interesting practical subject. Magazines and reviews, as well as educational journals, freely discuss it. One of the most useful articles on "Manual Training in the Public schools," will be found in the _Andover Review_ for October, 1888. The United States Bureau of Education has also published various reports and papers on the subject. One of the most valuable is an elaborate report on _Industrial Education in the United States_, published in 1883. Some of the more important railways in that country have also established training schools for their employés.

FURTHER EDUCATIONAL EFFORTS IN THE HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY, 1835, 1836.

For the four years during which Dr. Duncombe was a member the Legislature of Upper Canada, his efforts to promote the cause of education were unceasing. With the exception of Mr. Burwell, who devoted himself almost entirely to the interests of education in the House, none excelled Dr. Duncombe in his zeal for the cause of public education. His efforts were chiefly directed to awaken an interest amongst his fellow members in the subject generally, and especially on behalf of the education of the deaf and dumb, in asylums for the insane, in prison discipline and similar matters. At length his efforts in the session of 1835 culminated in the appointment, by resolution of the House of Assembly, of Doctors Charles Duncombe, Thomas D. Morrison and William Bruce, Commissioners, to enquire, amongst other things, into "the system and management of schools and colleges" in the United States and elsewhere. Two of these commissioners deputed their colleague, Dr. Duncombe, to "go on a journey to the United States, or elsewhere, to obtain such information as is desired by a resolution" of the House of Assembly in that behalf. Six hundred dollars were granted by the House to defray the expenses of this enquiry.

Late in 1835 Dr. Duncombe went on his mission of enquiry to the United States, and visited literary institutions in the Western, Middle, Eastern and some of the Southern States of the Union. He also obtained detailed information as to education in England, France and Prussia, and embodied the result in an elaborate report of nearly sixty pages and an appendix of one hundred and sixty pages. To this report he annexed the draft of a School Bill, extending to twenty-two pages, with a variety of forms and instructions appended. The whole document embraced two hundred and sixty pages of printed matter. The report is minute and exhaustive in its treatment of the subject in hand, although somewhat discursive and speculative in many parts. It is, nevertheless, in the light of to-day, both interesting and instructive. It presents a vivid picture, and not a very flattering one, of the condition of education in the United States and in Europe. Its discussions of special subjects--such as female education, classical studies, the management of colleges and universities, etc., etc.--are fair and enlightened, and, on the whole, intelligent and practical in their character.

It is clear that the Legislative Council of the day did not sympathize with Dr. Duncombe and his colleagues in their zeal for popular education.

The bill which he had so carefully prepared, although adopted by the House of Assembly by a vote of 35 to 10, early in 1836 failed to receive the sanction of the Council. His proposition to increase the common school grant from $22,600 to $80,000 per annum was considered too great a step in advance, and was not therefore pressed to a vote in the House of Assembly. He, however, got two influential committees appointed to deal with the questions of public education and school lands. These committees were subsequently united and enlarged. They did good service and kept public interest awakened as to the value of the important subjects entrusted to them.

ANALYSIS OF DR. DUNCOMBE'S REPORT ON EDUCATION, 1836.

The report, be it remembered, speaks of events and educational facts of more than fifty years ago. They are of special interest to us of to-day, since they form the background, so to speak, of our own educational history and progress. I shall make a few extracts from the report:--Dr. Duncombe says:--

"The first principles of the system recommended in this report
with regard to common schools, schools for the education of
the poorer classes, and for the education of teachers (or the
normal schools) made their appearance almost simultaneously in
Great Britain and on the Continent, as appears by the voluminous
reports of Lord Brougham ... and by Mr. Dick's very able and
splendid report upon the common schools ... of Scotland, and by
M. Cousin's reports of the schools in Prussia and Germany, and
Bulver's observations upon education as a prevention of crime
in France.... The glimmering of this beacon light was soon seen
across the ocean, and lighted up a similar flame in the United
Slates. Commissioner after commissioner was sent to Scotland and
to England by the authority of their State Legislatures to light
their lamps at the fountain of science, that the whole continent
of America might be ignited by the flame."

Dr. Duncombe's observations in regard to the state of education in the United States are interesting, as by contrast they illustrate the remarkable progress made in that country during the last half century in the matter of public education. He says:--

"In the United States, where they devote much time and expense
towards the promotion of literature, they are equally destitute
of a system of national education with ourselves: and although
by their greater exertion to import the improvements made in
Great Britain and on the Continent, and their numerous attempts
at systematizing these modern modes of education ... they have
placed themselves in advance of us in their common school
system. Yet, after all, their schools seemed to me to be good
schools on bad or imperfect systems; they seem groping in
the dark, no instruction in the past to guide the future, no
beacon light, no council of wise men to guide them, more than
we have, upon the subject of common schools. Our schools want
in character, they want respectability, they want permanency
in their character and in their support.... It should be so
arranged that all the inhabitants should contribute something
towards the [maintainance of the school fund], and all those who
are benefited directly by it should pay, in proportion to such
benefit, a small sum, but quite enough to interest them in the
prudent expenditure of their share of the school moneys."

The objection to a liberal education being too freely given for the benefit of the learned professions seems to have been urged even in these days. Dr. Duncombe answers it in the following language:--

"It has been supposed that there are too many in the learned
professions already, and that, therefore, there are too many who
obtain a liberal education. But this opinion is founded upon two
errors: One is, that every liberally educated man must be above
manual labor, and must, therefore, enter one of the learned
professions; and the other is, that all who do enter these
professions do it, and have a right to do it, from personal and
family interests, and not for the public good--whereas a liberal
education ought not to unfit a man, whether in his physical
constitution or his feelings, for active business in any honest
employment; and neither ought men who enter any of the learned
professions to excuse themselves from labor and privation for
the good of the world. There is a great and pernicious error on
this subject."

The question of free education is thus discussed by Dr. Duncombe:--

"Nothing is more important in the formation of an enterprising
character than to let the youth early learn his own powers;
and in order to this, he must be put upon his own recourses,
and must understand, if he is ever [to be] anything, he must
make himself, and that he has within himself all the means
for his own advancement. It is not desirable, therefore, that
institutions should be so richly endowed as to furnish the
means of education free of expense to those who are of an age
to help themselves; nor is it desirable that any man, or any
society of men, should furnish an entirely gratuitous education
to the youth of the Province. All the necessary advantages for
educating himself ought to be put within the reach of the young
man, and if, with these advantages, he cannot do much towards it
he is not worthy of an education."

After discussing several other topics in his report, Dr. Duncombe made a striking forecast of the educational future of Upper Canada. He said:--

"Was there ever a more auspicious period than the present for
literary reform? If I rightly understand the signs of the
times, we stand upon the threshold of a new dispensation in
the science of education, and especially in the history of
common schools, colleges and universities in this Province. The
flattering prospects of our being permitted legally to dispose
of the school lands of this Province, so long dormant--the
sale and appropriation of the clergy reserves for the purposes
of education, and, above all by our having control of the
other natural resources of the Province, we shall be enabled
to provide respectably and permanently for the support of
literary institutions _in every part of the Province_, while
by remodelling the charter of King's College, so as to adapt
the institution to the present state of science of education,
and the wishes and wants of the people of this Province....
With such charming prospects before us, with what alacrity
and delight can we approach the subject of education to make
liberal, permanent and efficient provision for the education of
all the youth of Upper Canada, to cause 'the blind to see, the
deaf to hear and the dumb to speak,' and, above all, to make
certain and extensive provision for the support of schools for
teachers and tutoresses."...

It is sad to think that to the writer of these cheering, hopeful words, the future so vividly pictured by him became suddenly darkened, and the pleasant hopes in which he then indulged were never realized by him, or by many of those who, more than half a century ago, were like him so active in promoting the great cause of popular and collegiate education in this Province. Within one year Dr. Duncombe was a "proscribed rebel," as were many others who with him saw as in a vision the future which, he then pictured for Upper Canada.

SUMMARY OF, AND REFLECTIONS ON, THESE EDUCATIONAL EFFORTS, FROM 1830 TO 1839.

During the next session of the Legislature, in the winter of 1836, Mr. Burwell sought to give effect to Dr. Duncombe's liberal resolution of the preceding session, viz., to provide, out of the public in revenue, a grant of $80,000 a year for support of the common schools. He proposed two resolutions: one was to the effect that $40,000 a year be granted out of the public revenue for the support of these schools; the other was as follows:--

"That the sum of ten thousand pounds ($40,000), be raised
annually by assessment, by order of the Quarter Sessions in the
several districts on the ratable property of the inhabitants, in
aid of the Provincial grant for the common school fund, in the
same manner as other assessments are now made."

When the matter came before the House of Assembly in February, 1837, the committee of supply reported a grant of only $22,400 for the year. The assessment proposition was not adopted, as the question of local taxation for school purposes though often before it had not yet been practically entertained by the Legislature.

Next year, however, another effort was made to provide somewhat liberally for the common schools. But as the Bill as passed by the House of Assembly, embodied in it the principle of local taxation for schools for the first time, it was not concurred in by the Legislative Council. That body proposed a conference to explain the reason, and appointed the Honorable Messrs. Allan and Hamilton as its conferees. The House of Assembly nominated Messrs. Boulton, Cartwright, Thompson and Rykert as its representatives at the conference.

The Legislative Council stated that:--

"It could not pass the Bill, because it proposes to levy an
assessment at the discretion of the Justice of the Peace, to
the extent of 1-1/2d. [3 cents] in the £ [$4] to support Common
Schools; and as acts have lately passed imposing rates on the
inhabitants of several of the districts, for the purpose of
defraying the expense of building jails and court-houses and for
the construction of macadamized roads, the Council fear that
the proposed assessment for common school education might be
burthensome," etc.

Thus, because jails, court-houses and roads were considered more necessary and important than schools, the last Act for the promotion of education ever passed by the Upper Canada House of Assembly was rejected by the Legislative Council! Such was the untoward state of affairs when the Legislative Union of Upper and Lower Canada took place in 1840.

EXTRACTS FROM OFFICIAL REPORTS ON EDUCATION IN UPPER CANADA IN 1838.

I shall now give a few extracts from official returns illustrative of the state of education in the Province in 1838 and 1839, while these efforts of improvements were being made. They also show how entirely practical were the views of those who took an active part in educational affairs of the time, how keenly alive they were to the educational deficiencies of those days.

Other extracts from official reports and proceedings of the House of Assembly might be given to illustrate this part of the subject, but they would make this retrospect too long. They are all of a most interesting and instructive character, and well deserve publication in a connected form. They throw a vivid light upon the educational chaos which existed at the time. They also show how enlightened comparatively, as well as how darkened also, were the views of those who took part on both sides in the educational debates and proceedings of those years--especially during 1830,--1836, 1838 and 1839. What were then problematical theories and merely tentative schemes, are to-day educational truisms and successful fields of operation.

The growth of the schools under the fitful system which prevailed in Upper Canada from 1816 to 1842 was painfully slow. The number of what was called "schools" was small, and the quality of them, with rare exceptions, was exceedingly inferior. Anything beyond the three R's was generally taught by itinerants. Dr. Ryerson mentions in an autobiographical letter, as an example, that his knowledge of English grammar was derived entirely from the "lectures" of a peripatetic teacher of that subject. He also mentions several of his after contemporaries who acquired a knowledge of grammar and other special subjects in the same way. No one, as he said to me, ever heard in these days of the possibility of a "royal road to learning." It was hard work, of the hardest kind, and few ever dreamt of reaching a higher eminence than that of mastering the first two R's--Reading and 'Riting. Arithmetic was approached with caution, and its higher "developments" with consternation. How could such a state of things be otherwise when "transient persons" and "common idlers" were with rare exceptions, the kind of "teachers" employed. Education had no money value then, except in so far as it receded from a rate of payment to that of a day laborer or a pensioner.

The following are the extracts from the official reports:--

INFLUENCES BY AMERICAN TEACHERS AND SCHOOL BOOKS DEPRECATED.

_Schools in the Home District--No United States books permitted._--The schoolmasters, with the exception of two Americans who have been long in the Province, are all British subjects--that they have all taken the oath of allegiance--that during the last year the salary allowed was £10 (ten pounds each), and no books from the United States are permitted to be used in the schools.--_John Strachan, Wm. Allan, Toronto, 8th March, 1839._

_Schools in the Eastern District--Transitory Teachers._--Were the allowance to be increased teachers would come forward better prepared and be induced to remain. Many at present seem to continue for a few months, as a matter of convenience, and to assist themselves in following other occupations, which greatly retards the improvement of the children.--_Joseph Aderson, D. McDonell, Cornwall, 9th May, 1839._

_Schools in the Western District: Their State and Suggestions for Improvement._--The situation of the school houses is not always judiciously chosen, it being situated often more for the convenience of some one influential person than for that of the inhabitants generally of the settlement.

The school-house is often a wretched log hut, or a ruinous building altogether unfit for the purpose--especially in the winter season.

In too many cases the teachers are badly qualified for the task which they undertake; and some of them having taken up the profession more from necessity than choice are seldom permanent, and consequently very ineffectual teachers.

The remuneration which the teachers of common schools receive for their services are by no means sufficient to induce respectable and well qualified teachers to undertake the irksome and laborious task.

_Hints for the Improvement of the Schools of the Province (condensed)._--1. The school should be erected in a dry and healthy situation if possible, and situated so as to suit the majority of the inhabitants of the settlement in which it is erected. It should be a neat and commodious building, sufficiently large to render it airy and healthy in the summer season and well finished inside and out to cause it to be comfortable in the winter.

2. A comfortable dwelling should be erected for the accommodation of the teacher and his family.

3. Teachers throughout the Province might be divided into three classes, allowance from Government to be not less than £100, £75 and £50 respectively.

4. Every teacher, previous to receiving any appointment, should be examined as to his literary acquirements, his political opinions and his moral character.

5. A uniform set of elementary books should be compiled and published for the use of the common schools of the Province, and those republican productions that tend to poison the minds of the youth of the country should be driven out of the Province.

6. A discreet and competent person should be appointed by his Excellency the Lieutenant-Governor to visit the schools in each district eight, or at least four, times in the year to examine the scholars and the internal economy of the schools and to report thereon--_W. Johnson, Sandwich, 21st February, 1839._

_Schools in the London District--"Boarding Round"--American Books._--The Board of Education cannot abstain from remarking upon a system commonly practiced by teachers and generally encouraged by the employers in the country, of receiving the teachers as members or lodgers with each family who are subscribers to the school in succession for the period of engagement, which in its influence and consequence has not hitherto been productive of good; and more especially in cases where the teachers have been Americans, a system than which none can be more mischievous in its effects, added to which the circumstance, as will be seen by reference to the books used in the schools, that a portion of American books, particularly geographies, have been permitted to be used (notwithstanding the Board have the power to order the discontinuance of such) because others could not be procured in the country, nor has any provision been made by the legislature for the formation of depots where proper books could be had.--_John B. Askin, London, 12th February, 1838._

Names of text-books used in the common schools of Upper Canada in 1838, viz.:--

Old and New Testaments.

_Readers_--English, Murray's, Canadian and Reading Made Easy.

_Spelling Books_--Mavor's, Cobb's, Webster's, Graham's,
Universal.

_Grammars_--Murray's, Lennie's, Kirkham's, McCulloch's.

_Arithmetics_--Walkingame's, Gray's, Dillworth's, Daboll's,
Watson's, Pike's, Adams', Morrison's, Hutton's, Rogers',
Bailey's, Hall's, Joyce's, Keith's, Allison's, Bonnycastle's.

_Geographies_--Goldsmith's, Hutton's, Olney's, Woodbridge's,
Willett's, Evans', Stewart's, Parley's, Elvey's.

_History_--English, Goldsmith's, Tytler's, Hume's, Simpson's.

_Geometry and Euclid_--Ingram's, Hutton's.

_Dictionaries_--Walker's, Cobb's, Walker Johnson's.

_Miscellaneous_--Dillworth's Teachers' Assistant, Burham's
Primer, Mason's Primer, Child's A, B, C, Scott's Lessons,
Morrison's Book-keeping, Blake's Natural Philosophy, Blair's
Rhetoric.

Number of schools in Upper Canada in 1838 (estimated), 835.

Number of pupils in attendance, " 23,776.

EXTRACTS FROM THE REPORT OF A COMMISSION APPOINTED TO ENQUIRE INTO THE SUBJECT OF EDUCATION IN UPPER CANADA IN 1839.

The Commissioners appointed to conduct this enquiry were the Rev. Dr. McCaul, Rev. H. J. Grasett and S. B. Harrison, Esq. James Hopkirk, Esq., was appointed Secretary. The following are the extracts:

_Preliminary Educational History._--In 1797 both Houses of the Legislature petitioned the King for an appropriation of waste lands of the Crown to form a fund for the support of a Grammar School in each district and a College or University for instruction in the different branches of a liberal education. In 1807 an Act, limited to four years, was passed granting £800 for the support of eight district Grammar Schools. In 1808 the limiting clause (to four years) was repealed. In 1816 an Act establishing common schools was passed and £6,000 were granted for their support. In 1819 an amending Act was passed requiring annual examinations in the schools; that reports to the district Board of Education should be made each year; that "ten children of the poorer inhabitants," to be selected by ballot, should receive free tuition in each Grammar School, and that trustees should give certificates to teachers. In 1820 the grant to common schools was reduced from £6,000 to £2,500 per annum. In 1824 £150 per annum was granted for the supply of common schools, with books, tracts, etc., and that teachers must be examined and licensed by the District Board of Education, one member of which might certify as to the ability of the teacher before the payment to him of the public grant. In 1833, the annual grant to common schools was increased from £2,500 to £5,650. No grants to a teacher is to be made "unless the trustees shall make it appear that they have made provision for his support so as to secure him for his services in a sum at least equal to double the amount which may be allotted by the Board of Education from the public money." No school legislation took place during the years from 1833 to 1841.

_District Grammar Schools._--The Commissioners made several recommendations for the improvement of the schools, viz:--1. Uniformity in the system applicable to all the schools. 2. Examination of teacher, so as to test his qualification for the office of teaching. 3. Assistant in each school where there are 30 pupils. 4. School-house built on a uniform plan. 5. Admission of a certain number of free pupils. 6. Quarterly reports from each school and systematic inspection of them.

_Common Schools._--The Commissioners also made recommendation for the improvement of these schools, viz.:--1. That there should be a model school with two rooms in each township, and at least two acres of land attached thereto for the use of the master. 2. In each of these schools there should be a male and female teacher (married desirable), and, in addition, other "teachers licensed to itinerate through the township, beyond the sphere of the permanent school," say at places "more than two miles distant from it." "Thus provision is made for one permanent and four occasional schools in each township." 3. Fees to be $2 per quarter, while one pupil in five might be admitted free. 4. The subjects of the instruction should be: Spelling, reading, writing, the Holy Scriptures, geography, history, arithmetic, book-keeping, mensuration, and in girl's school sewing and knitting. 5. Books should be provided at a cheaper rate from Britain, or a series of compilations, or republications should be prepared and printed here, and that they should be appointed to be used in all the schools of the Province. 6. The general control of the schools should be vested in a Board of Commissioners, with a secretary at Toronto. One of the Board should be chairman and inspector general of the schools--having control over the Grammar and Common Schools, and should be the medium of communication between the District Boards and the Council of King's College. 7. There should be elected township director of schools. The Commissioners add:--

_Normal School._--"No plan of education can be efficiently carried out without the establishment of schools for the training of teachers." They, therefore, recommended that the Central School of Toronto should be a Normal School--others to be added afterwards.

_Grants._--The Commissioners recommend that £21,410 be granted for District Grammar Schools--£12,000 from the sale of Grammar School lands, and £24,300 for Common Schools--£15,000 of the latter to be raised by taxation at the rate of 3/4d. in the £.

EDUCATIONAL OPINIONS OF PROMINENT PUBLIC MEN IN 1839.

_Hon. G. S. Boulton._--In his replies to the Commissioners, he said:--Teachers should be British subjects and should be examined by the Board of Education and approved previous to appointment. Each teacher should receive at least $20 per annum, exclusive of fees from pupils.... I recommend the passage of an Act appropriating 500,000 acres of land for the support of Common Schools, as proposed in the last session of the Legislature by a joint committee of both Houses."

_Hon. Wm. Morris,_ in his reply to the Commissioners, said:--The hundreds of the youth of the country who, for want of convenient institutions of learning, have been sent to and educated in the neighboring Republic, where, if they have not imbibed a predilection for that form of government, have been greatly exposed to the danger of losing that attachment to monarchical government, and the principles of the British Constitution, which is the essential duty of those who administer the affairs of this colony to cherish in the minds of the rising generation.

_Hon. James Crooks._--The system of Common Schools, although in some instances abused by the employment of improper persons, indeed sometimes aliens, as teachers, yet, on the whole, I think highly beneficial; perhaps were the system of parochial schools, as established in Scotland, with such modification as would be necessary under the different circumstances of this Province, engrafted upon the Common School system, it might be found to work well.

_Hon. P. B. De Blacquiere._--The present condition of teachers is truly wretched, and reflects great disgrace upon the nation, and what but the actual results can or could be expected? I think a difficulty will arise as to finding inspectors properly qualified, or who, in the present state of the country, can be trusted....

_Rev. Robert McGill._--I know the qualifications of nearly all the Common School teachers in this (Niagara) District, and do not hesitate to say, that there is not more than one in ten fully qualified to instruct the young in this the humblest department. I should doubt, therefore, whether the money granted to them being an equivalent good, or whether the state of education in this Province would be worse were those funds entirely withdrawn.

_Rev. Robert Murray._[37]--The great difficulty attending any change in the present wretched system of education in the Province is to ensure the efficiency of that scheme which may be adopted in its room. To leave the supervision in the hands of the electors in each district, or to a few individuals appointed by them, probably themselves without education, would certainly tend to perpetuate the system of gross oppression to which teachers have been subjected, and to disappoint the reasonable expectations of the Government.... It appears absolutely necessary to ensure the efficiency of a system (as suggested) that men of education, who themselves have had large experience in the education of youth should be appointed to superintend the whole system of operation....

[37] First Superintendent of Education for Upper Canada, and the
immediate predecessor of Rev. Dr. Ryerson.

_Malhon Burwell, Esq._--I cannot conceive anything more wanting in efficiency than our present system for Common School education. I annex for the notice of the Commission of Investigation a copy of a Common School bill, which I have several times endeavored to get passed through the House of Assembly.

(NOTE.--See Bishop Strachan's estimate of this bill in next extract.)

_Right Rev. Bishop Strachan._--The Common School Bill, drawn up by Mr. Burwell, appears to be an able performance; it has several times been entertained by the House of Assembly, and once passed that body, but was unfortunately lost in the Legislative Council. It is based on true principles, and contains within it the power of expansion as new townships, counties and districts are organized. It may, perhaps, admit of a few modifications, but is, on the whole, by far the best measure for the establishment of common schools which I have seen.

SEPARATE EDUCATIONAL FORCES SHAPING THEMSELVES IN UPPER CANADA.

I will now take up the thread of the historical narrative of education in Upper Canada from page -- of this Retrospect.

During the early settlement period, and that preceding the union of Upper and Lower Canada in 1840, two social forces (which took an educational form later on), were slowly shaping themselves into an antagonism to each other which culminated in the events or political crisis of 1837-38. This was apparent from the position which the representatives of these forces assumed on the religious, political and other questions of the day. As yet the question of an educational system for the Province--beyond that of a University and district Grammar Schools--had, down to 1836, taken no definite shape in the public mind. Indeed, such a thing, as we now regard it, was not deemed practical, except by a few leading men, as I have shown, who were years in advance of their times.

NOTED REPRESENTATIVE EDUCATIONAL LEADERS--DR. STRACHAN AND DR. RYERSON.

It will simplify my statement of the case if I revert back to the transition period between the establishment of the district Grammar Schools in 1809 and the university charter of 1827; and from thence take a somewhat prospective view of events in the order in which they afterwards transpired. For convenience I would, therefore, select two noted men of their times as representatives of the two social forces to which I have referred, and of the opposite opinions on education and other subjects which then prevailed.

The first was the Rev. Dr. Strachan (afterwards first Church of England Bishop of Toronto), and the other was the Rev. Dr. Ryerson, the representative and trusted leader of the members of the Methodist Church in the Province.

Dr. Strachan was the undoubted representative of the English and particularly the Scotch views on educational matters. Dr. Ryerson, on the other hand, was the equally true and faithful exponent of the British Colonial, or United Empire Loyalist, views and opinions on the same subject. What these latter views and opinions were may be gathered from a reference to the educational chapter in the colonial history of the thirteen colonies, as given in an earlier portion of this Retrospect.

THE EDUCATIONAL EFFORTS OF THE U. E. LOYALISTS AND THE RULING PARTY.

The first settlers of Upper Canada were "exiled tories," so called, from the revolted colonies. In that, and in the other Provinces, they were warmly received and welcomed as the heroic defenders of the royal cause. They sacrificed everything but their principles and their honor in maintaining "the unity of the Empire." Even after the struggle was ended, they adhered to the "lost cause" with the same devotion as they had shown in following the royal standard, not only to victory, but even to disaster and defeat. They were men of wonderful resolution and daring, as well as of superior intelligence. Such were the first settlers of Upper Canada.

Soon after the arrival of the "U. E. Loyalists" in Upper Canada, a tide of emigration set in, chiefly from the three kingdoms. These immigrants brought with them the feelings and habits of home life in the old world, with the opinions and prejudices of their class, illustrating the truth of the old Latin quotation, "_Cælum, non animum, mutant qui trans mare currunt_."

By degrees portions of the U. E. Loyalists and of these immigrants, whose views on "Church and State" coincided, united their forces and formed a powerful and dominant party. They ruled the Province with a high hand for many years. From their social position and frequent intermarriage they became a compact and exclusive party, and were distinguished by the _sobriquet_ of the "Family Compact." Against this powerful party was arrayed many of the U. E. Loyalists and their descendants, and the entire liberal and progressive party.

It is sufficient to say in this connection that under the skillful leadership of Dr. Ryerson and other prominent men of moderate views who acted with him, the power of the Family Compact was broken, the compact itself was gradually dissolved. Its opponents became in turn the ruling party in this Province, a position which their legitimate successors still occupy.

The Family Compact party, in the heyday of their power and influence, were not averse to education. Far from it; for they were men of education themselves. But it took the form of zeal for higher education and for the higher classes. Rev. Dr. Strachan, who was the most energetic and powerful leader of this party, occupied a seat in the Legislative Council (Senate) by appointment of the Governor. He devoted all his energies to the establishment of a university, with district classical schools as feeders. He practically ignored elementary schools, or rather made no provision for them; and it was not until nine years after these district classical schools were established that the U. E. Loyalists, (combined with the progressive party of which it formed no inconsiderable portion), were able to get a measure passed by the Legislature for the establishment and maintenance of common schools.[38]

[38] See remarks on this anachronism on page 64.

AN EDUCATIONAL GLANCE BACKWARDS.

But in order to understand more fully the sequence of events which led to the development of the educational spirit in this Province, it will be necessary to give a condensed summary of the facts. With this historical background in prospective view, the distinguishing features of that comprehensive system of education which, in later years, Dr. Ryerson was privileged to found, can be more clearly seen.

The U. E. Loyalists removed to British America in 1783, the year of their exile. Most of them settled in Upper Canada, along the north shore of the Upper St. Lawrence, and the corresponding margin of Lakes Ontario and Erie. They brought with them from the old colonies their educational traditions and their devotion to the flag of the Empire. Those of them who had settled along the Bay of Quinté, united in 1789, in framing a memorial to Governor-General Lord Dorchester (Sir Guy Carleton), in which lamenting the educational privations which they had endured since their settlement in Canada, they prayed the Governor to establish a "seminary of learning" at Frontenac (Kingston). Their prayer was granted, so far as the setting apart of lands for the support of the seminary was concerned, as well as the support of schools wherever the expatriated colonials had settled, or might settle, in the country.

Immediately after the passing of the Constitutional or Quebec Act, of 1791, by which, among other things, Upper Canada was separated from Quebec, the Governor of the new Province (J. Graves Simcoe), sought the co-operation of the Church of England Bishop (Mountain), of Quebec, who had ecclesiastical jurisdiction over both Provinces, in urging upon the Home Government the necessity of providing for a University and for classical schools in Upper Canada. Provision for elementary schools formed no part of this scheme. The British Colonial idea of providing for such schools never crossed the minds of the leaders of public opinion in these days nor that of the bishop. They were chiefly Englishmen, with the old-fashioned English ideas of those times, that the education of the masses was unnecessary, for it would tend to revolution and the upsetting of the established order of things.

In April, 1795, Governor Simcoe addressed a letter to the Protestant Episcopal Bishop of Quebec--then having jurisdiction in Upper Canada--urging him to seek to promote the establishment of a "Protestant Episcopal University" in Upper Canada. The reasons which he gave for this appeal were characteristic of the English Churchmen and of the times, and reveal somewhat of the social and religious state of the colony. They showed, too, that he was a statesman as well as a Churchman. He said:

The people of this Province enjoy the forms as well as the
privileges of the British constitution. They have the means
of governing themselves; and, having nothing to ask, must
ever remain a part of the British Empire, provided they shall
become sufficiently capable and enlightened to understand
their relative situation and to manage their own power to the
public interest. Liberal education seems to me, therefore, to
be indispensably necessary; and the completion of it by the
establishment of a university in the capital of the country, * *
* would be most useful to inculcate just principles, habits, and
manners into the rising generation; to coalesce the different
customs of the various descriptions of settlers * * * into one
form. In short, from distinct parts and ancient prejudices to
new-form, as it were, and establish one nation, and thereby
strengthen the union with Great Britain and preserve a lasting
obedience to His Majesty's authority.

* * * * *

I naturally should wish that the clergy requisite for offices
in the university, in the first instance, should be Englishmen,
if possible. * * * I most earnestly hope that * * * by giving
the means of proper education in this Province, both in its
rudiments and in its completion, that from ourselves we may
raise up a loyal, and in due progress, a learned clergy, which
will speedily tend to unite not only the Puritans within the
Province, but the clergy of the Episcopal Church, however
dispersed * * * and on all sides, to bring within the pale [of
the Episcopal Church] in Upper Canada a very great body of
sectaries, who in my judgment, as it were, offer themselves to
its protection and re-union.

These objects would be materially promoted by a university in
Upper Canada, which might, in due progress, acquire such a
character as to become the place of education to many persons
beyond the extent of the King's dominions. * * * The Episcopal
clergy in Great Britain, from pious motives as well as policy,
are materially interested that the Church should increase in
this Province. I will venture to prophesy its preservation
depends upon a university being erected therein. * * * I have
not the smallest hesitation in saying that I believe if a
Protestant Episcopal university should be proposed to be erected
(even in the United States) the British nation would liberally
subscribe to the undertaking. * * * The universities of England,
I make no doubt, would contribute to the planting of a scion
from their respectable stock in this distant colony.

There are two or three things worth noticing in this vigorous letter of the Governor:--

(1) Among the objects sought to be attained by the establishment of a university was the conservation of "the privileges of the British Constitution"; (2) the fusing of the various nationalities represented in the colony; (3) the absorption of "Puritans" and "sectaries" into the Episcopal Church; (4) the growth and spread of loyalty to the King's authority.

Two things also are noticeable: First, the Governor did not ignore, or underestimate, the necessity of popular education, or "education in the rudiments;" second, he gives no hint of a desire to appropriate the public domain to the building up of an "Episcopal university." On the other hand, he assumes that, if done at all, it is to be aided by contributions from England. I call attention to these two points, from the fact that they were quite lost sight of by those who afterwards took up the cause of university education in Upper Canada where he had left it.

PROVISION FOR HIGHER EDUCATION IN U. C. BY THE IMPERIAL GOVERNMENT.

Governor Simcoe, having received a higher appointment in the colonial service, left soon after. The Bishop of Quebec, however, acted upon his suggestion and wrote to the Colonial Minister on the subject, in June, 1796. In November, 1797, the Legislature of Upper Canada addressed a memorial to King George III, asking:

"That His Majesty would be graciously pleased to direct his
Government in this Province to appropriate a certain portion of
the waste lands of the Crown as a fund for the establishment
and support of a respectable grammar school in each district
thereof, and also of a college, or university, for the
instruction of the youth in the different branches of liberal
knowledge."

To this memorial the King directed a gracious answer to be sent. The duke of Portland, Colonial Minister, therefore instructed the acting Governor, President Russell, to give practical effect to the prayer of the petitioners. In doing so he used the following language: