THE STRUGGLE FOR EXISTENCE
On July 7th, 1846, the Governors of McGill met at Government House to
appoint a Principal to succeed Dr. Bethune. The meeting was attended by
the Lord Bishop of Montreal, the Rev. Dr. Mountain; the Chief Justice of
Upper Canada and the Governor-General. The seriousness of the situation
that had developed was indicated by the presence of the two last named
members, who had not attended a meeting for several years. It was
resolved that pending a decision on the former acting-Principal's
memorial to Her Majesty's Council, protesting against the disallowance
of his appointment, a temporary appointment of Principal be made. The
choice was Edmund A. Meredith, B.A., LL.B., a graduate of Trinity
College, Dublin. He was at once informed of the Governors' decision; he
accepted the post and took his seat at the meeting. He was to receive no
remuneration for his services. The condition of the College was reviewed
by the Governors and was found to be critical. Dr. Holmes of the Medical
School reported that no degrees had been conferred in the spring "in
consequence of the disallowance by Her Majesty of the former election of
Principal." The Governors therefore changed the date for the conferring
of Medical degrees from the 25th of May, previously fixed, to "a date to
be agreed upon by the Governors on application from the Medical
Faculty," and the deferred Medical degrees were given at a convocation
held on December 17th, following. It was found that the liabilities of
the College amounted to over £3300, made up of £2300 for old unpaid
bills and over £1000 for arrears of Professors' salaries. The revenue of
the College was shown to be only about £900 a year, and the current
expenses, exclusive of salaries, about £500 a year. The financial
outlook, considering the large liabilities, was therefore not
encouraging.
[Illustration: _Edmund A. Meredith, L.L.D.
Principal of McGill University_ 1846-1849]
The new Principal, Edmund A. Meredith, was the son of the Rev. Thomas
Meredith, D.D., a Fellow of Trinity College, Dublin, and a mathematician
of distinction. His mother was a daughter of the Very Rev. Richard
Graves, also a Fellow of Trinity, Dean of Ardagh, and a theologian of
note. He graduated in 1837 from Trinity College, Dublin, where he won
the second classical scholarship, the prize for political economy, and
the graduation medal in science. He then began the study of law, but
before his course was completed he came to Canada in 1843. Here he
resumed his legal studies, and on fulfilling the requirements he became
a member of the Bar in both Upper and Lower Canada. When he was
appointed Principal of McGill he was a lawyer in active practice in
Montreal. In scholarship he was well qualified for his duties, as
Lecturer in Mathematics and as Principal of the struggling College in
which courses had to be arranged and the whole academic policy reformed.
He was possessed, too, of unusual administrative ability and of legal
knowledge of great value in that time of College chaos and disagreement;
and he displayed uncommon tact and abundant patience and energy in his
efforts to solve the delicate problems with which the University was
then confronted. It was largely through his initiative that the movement
was undertaken for the securing of a new Charter. In 1847 he accepted
the post of Assistant Provincial Secretary, but as the seat of
Government was then in Montreal he still remained Principal of McGill.
After the burning of the Parliament Buildings and the violence in
connection with the Rebellion Losses Bill, when the seat of Government
was moved to Toronto, Mr. Meredith tendered his resignation as Principal
on October 26, 1849. He was induced to retain the Principalship,
however, although living in Toronto, until a successor could be found,
and it was not until 1851 that he finally withdrew. His name appears as
Principal in documents of that year. In recognition of his services the
University conferred on him the honorary degree of LL.D. in 1857. When
Thomas Workman gave the workshops to the Faculty of Applied Science he
directed that a sum of $3000 be paid to the former Principal, Dr.
Meredith, "inasmuch;" he said, "as I have long been convinced of the
value of the services rendered to the University of McGill by Edmund A.
Meredith, LL.D., during a very critical period of its history." Dr.
Meredith afterwards became Under-Secretary of State for Canada, and he
was connected with the Civil Service until 1878.
The nine years between 1846 and 1855 were years of continuous financial
perplexity during which the Governors had great difficulty in keeping
the College in operation. There is little else to record than a
discouraging battle with poverty and want. But in this period hope for
ultimate success was not abandoned. The new Board of Governors had first
to reorganize the teaching staff and make new appointments. In addition
to his other duties the Principal undertook to conduct, as Lecturer, the
classes in Mathematics and Natural Philosophy. The Professor of
Classical Literature, the Rev. W. T. Leach, was made Vice-Principal in
September, 1846. It was also realised that in a country of two languages
instruction in French was an absolute necessity. No funds were available
for the purpose, but Monsieur L. D. Montier accepted the position of
Lecturer in return for lodging and fuel and a portion of students' fees,
on the understanding that he was to receive a salary of £30 a year as
soon as money was available. But students' fees, because of the small
number in attendance, gave but little reward, and as a result the new
French Lecturer was apparently not always as zealous and enthusiastic in
his unremunerative labours as the Caput desired. It frequently happened
that for several days he gave no instruction, and soon after his
appointment the Caput censured him for neglecting his work and for
"conduct highly reprehensible and subversive of all College discipline."
In recognition of his services, however, and perhaps to keep him from
becoming weary in well-doing, the Governors allowed him half an acre of
land "in the northeast corner of the College grounds, to pasture his cow
and make a garden," from the products of which they hoped he might
receive some slight return for his work. The Rev. G. F. Simpson,
Headmaster of the High School, consented to act as Lecturer in
Mathematics without any salary or fees. In March, 1847, the Hon.
Justice Badgley, LL.D., was appointed Lecturer in Law without
remuneration other than fees, and instruction in Law which later led to
the establishment of the Law Faculty was commenced during the following
term. In July, 1848, a Lecturer in Hebrew and Oriental Languages was
appointed without salary. It was decided not to appoint a Professor of
Divinity in succession to Dr. Bethune, not only because of the lack of
funds, but because the clauses in the Statutes bearing on the nature of
the theological instruction to be given had not yet been agreed upon by
the Home Government.
But the gravest and most important duty of the new administration was in
connection with the serious financial condition of the University, and
with efforts to improve the situation. When the Governors met in July,
1846, the Professors and Lecturers, some of whom had already retired
because of resignation or dismissal, appealed to them for payment of
their salaries. They had worked without pay for several months, and in
some cases for a year and a half. It was even difficult for them to
obtain fuel and candles. The Governors expressed their "sympathy with
them in their embarrassment and distress," but regretted that they were
unable to relieve them. The Vice-Principal was given land behind the
College to enable him to make a garden, "on condition that he would not
interfere with the Bursar's garden." The Governors and the Board of the
Royal Institution were unwilling to encroach upon the meagre capital to
pay for ordinary running expenses. They believed that if the burden of
debt which the College carried could be removed they could meet in some
way all current obligations, and that there would be no doubt about the
future success of the University. In liquidating the debt they hoped for
assistance from the Government. In November, 1846, the Secretary of the
Governors wrote: "The prospects of the College are now in so promising a
state as to lead the Governors to entertain the most sanguine hopes, if
they would but be relieved from their present embarrassments, of
succeeding in carrying into full effect the great object its benevolent
founder had in view." But their hopes for direct assistance from the
Government or the Home authorities were not early fulfilled.
It was soon evident that the removal of the burden of debt without
Government assistance would be an arduous task uncertain of
accomplishment, and that a problematical period doubtless lay ahead.
Many of the debts were of ten years' standing. Some of them had been
incurred with mechanics and tradesmen in connection with the
construction of the College buildings. Professors had long been unpaid.
Since July, 1845, no money had been placed at the disposal of the
Governors to meet expenses. The Statutes for the government of the
College were still unsanctioned by the Crown, and this fact and the
dispute between the Board of the Royal Institution and the Governors
continued to furnish an excuse, whether valid or not is questionable,
for paying no money for several months out of College funds. The
Governors had borrowed from the Banks on their own personal security,
and had obtained small sums at different times on their own personal
undertaking to pay for fuel and to meet the most pressing demands made
by absolutely necessary contingencies. Were it not for this timely
assistance it is probable that the College would have been closed; its
fortunes at best were precarious.
The Royal Institution had meanwhile concluded to transfer to the
Receiver-General of the Province all sums paid to them on account of the
College. But the Receiver-General would not pay them to the College
authorities, pending the Crown's decision on the Statutes. The Governors
urged the Royal Institution to a hasty consideration of their
embarrassment. They did not blame or censure the Board for the
extraordinary situation in which they found themselves. In the question
as to the cause of the situation they were not primarily interested.
Debating on the responsibility for it and on bygone disputes would not
improve it. The fact was plain that the College's existence was in the
balance because of financial conditions, and that this fact must be
faced. "The buildings are becoming dilapidated and useless," they wrote,
"and those who inhabit them will be frozen or starved unless the
Governors contribute from their private means." They likewise vigorously
called the attention of the Home Government to their incongruous and
lamentable plight. "We desire earnestly," they said, "to impress upon
Her Majesty's Government that the attainment of the benevolent and noble
object of the founder of McGill College has been unfortunately if not
culpably delayed." Yet they insisted that the present problem "will work
out and the whole income will soon be available for expenditure." There
would then be no difficulty, they thought, "in maintaining the College
on a scale large enough to be of use in a colony of a million people
without means for obtaining education for youth." And they declared
with astonishing optimism, "the Governors have great hopes that when
once fairly put in action this Institution will speedily attract
patronage and support and will expand with the wealth of the country."
This note of courage and faith is all the more remarkable when we
realise the exact condition of the University, without money, without
Statutes, a fact which was used as an excuse for withholding funds, with
but little sympathy from Provincial Government or Home Government, with
its few Professors unpaid and pleading even for fuel and light, with
unfinished and poorly equipped buildings falling rapidly into decay,
with grounds uncared for, and with a very small enrollment of students.
The Governors were determined, however, not to decrease the capital
funds of the College and that payments, if any, must be made out of
surplus revenue. In this they had the approval and co-operation of the
Board of the Royal Institution. Nor did they wish to dispose of any of
the land until it was absolutely necessary to do so, and then only with
a unanimous consent. They made an effort first to increase the value of
their real estate. A large portion of the land had been let for pasture
and for grass, but the leaseholders were slow to pay the rent and many
of them were several months in arrears. The Board of the Royal
Institution now endeavoured to collect all rents promptly when due. They
decided to discriminate between their own various debts. They would pay
tradesmen first, in the order of the age of their bills. When the
tradesmen had all been paid they would then pay the Professors, but not
until all other debts had first been liquidated. The Professors must
wait. An agreement was then entered into with the various creditors to
pay their debts off in installments. In order to secure more revenue the
students' fees were increased. They had already been raised from £3 to
£4 6s. 8d., of which £2 13s. 4d. went to the House Fund, 6s. 8d. to the
Bursar, the same amount to the Library, and £1 to the servants. The fees
were now advanced to £10. Every matriculant was also to pay £1 5s. to
the Bursar for his use and benefit, and all students were to deposit
10s. "caution money," to cover breakages and damages to furniture, this
deposit or the portion of it not used to be refunded in the spring.
Expenses during this period were reduced to a minimum. In 1845 the large
dining-hall or refectory had been given over to the Medical Faculty, and
one of the small rooms had then become the dining-room. In 1847,
however, because of the financial loss incurred even the small
dining-room was closed and, as we have seen, the students boarded with
Professors. In 1848, when Law students were first permitted to reside in
the College, it was on the express condition that "Professor Leach would
board them."
The necessity for much needed repairs to fences and buildings and for
fuel for the College rooms called urgently for funds. But there was no
money to provide these necessities. Permission was asked and received by
the Governors to pull down and remove an old wooden hut on the College
grounds, "which had long been considered an unsightly object and a
nuisance fast falling to decay." It was arranged that "the boards of the
roof and floor would mend fences and that the old logs would be used for
fuel." It was later decided to sell the surplus furniture in the
College, scanty enough at best, and also the sand that had been taken
from the excavations for the buildings, the money from the sales to be
put to "repairs to the spouts of the buildings and to the fences, also
to bring water from the spring near the bridge [in the present
'hollow'], to put a railing on the bridge, and to make passable the road
between the College and Sherbrooke Street." But in the midst of all
their financial worries the determination of the College authorities to
encourage students is evident from their establishing two exhibitions of
the value of £10 each, to be awarded yearly to the two students standing
highest in the matriculation examination. Professors might starve or
freeze and creditors might wait, but ambitious and meritorious students
must be practically encouraged.
The Governors were at last given some slight relief by the receipt of
over £1400, on account, from the Receiver-General, to whom the revenues
arising from College funds and properties were being periodically
transferred by the Royal Institution. Of this amount only £50 was voted
for current expenses; the remainder was used to pay off a portion of the
debts, among them the amount borrowed from the Bank by the former
Principal and the Chief Justice of Montreal. A further sum of £280 was
received by the Governors from rentals, of which £100 was paid to the
Vice-Principal, £100 to the Bursar, Registrar and Secretary, £50 to the
Professor of Mathematics and £30 to the Lecturer in French, in part
payment of their long overdue salaries. But it was decided that in
consideration of these payments "no fuel could be provided for the
present for any College officer."
The relief resulting from the above receipts was of but brief duration.
In November, 1848, the Governors had only the sum of £54 at their
disposal. They divided it between the Bursar and the two Lecturers in
proportion to the amount of salary in arrears, and as a result the
Lecturer in French, M. Montier, received £2 14s. as his share from
January 1st, 1848, to November 29, 1848. That was the full amount of
salary received by him during the year; but he still had his cow and his
garden! As if to increase the worries of the College authorities the
College buildings caught fire on January 24, 1849. Fortunately the
damage was only small, but any damage, however trifling, could at that
time be ill-afforded. To add to the embarrassment, several of the few
students enrolled failed to pay their fees, and the Bursar could not
collect them. In February, 1849, he was in urgent need of funds, and on
the 13th he sent out to the student debtors appealing letters of which
the following is typical: "I beg that you will pay your fees this week
if possible, as I have a heavy College claim to meet on Saturday without
the wherewithal to pay it." He supported this appeal by letters to
parents, "I beg that you would be good enough to pay your son's College
fees on or before Saturday next, as I have a heavy College debt to pay
on that day and not sufficient funds to meet it." These appeals were not
always successful, and the revenue from this source remained indefinite.
In the spring the students who had paid their dues were not given back
the caution money they had deposited because "no funds were available."
There is a record of one student, more persistent than the others, who
was difficult to placate. He was finally promised that his "caution
money would be refunded when possible," and he was assured that "funds
would soon be available because the Statutes would soon be ratified."
The gross revenue available to the College in 1849 was £494, made up of
£70 from the rent of Burnside House, £274 from rents of building lots
and other lands, and £150 from the rent of a large stone building known
as the King's Arms or Mack's Hotel, situated on Jacques Cartier Square,
formerly Nelson's Market. The rent of this latter building was first
£250 a year, but from depreciation in value because of the removal of
the Market it had decreased by £100. After deducting the amounts
required for insurance, etc., the net revenue was only about £440. Only
thirteen students were in attendance; two of these had obtained
exhibitions and were admitted free, and the income derived from the fees
of the remaining eleven was £110. The salaries, which, however, were
several months in arrears, amounted to £292 a year. The Principal
received no remuneration. The salary of the Rev. W. T. Leach,
Vice-Principal and Professor of Classical Literature, was supposed to be
£100; that of T. Guerin, Lecturer in Mathematics and Natural Philosophy,
£50; the Hon. W. Badgley, Lecturer in Law, received no stated reward,
but he was entitled to a fee of £2 per term from each student attending
his lectures; the Rev. J. Abbott, Registrar, Bursar, Secretary, and
Lecturer in Ancient and Modern History, Geography and Logic, was
supposed to receive a salary of £100, and in addition several small fees
from students, which amounted the previous year to only £4 5s.; L. D.
Montier, Lecturer in French, received £30 a year, and the Beadle, F.
Hewitt, was given £12; the Lecturer in Hebrew, the Rev. A. De Sola,
received no salary. Later in the year a lecturer in Botany was appointed
"without remuneration for the present."
The Board of the Royal Institution endeavoured earnestly to relieve the
financial situation of the College, and they requested the
Receiver-General to make all possible payments to the Governors. But the
liabilities far exceeded the assets. In January, 1850, the College
officers urgently pleaded for their overdue salaries. It was decided to
pay them 2s. 9d. in the pound. Accordingly, Vice-Principal Leach
received £55 of the £404 in arrears; L. D. Montier, the Lecturer in
French, was given £4 of the £34 due him, and the others were paid very
small amounts in proportion for a year or, as in the case of the
Vice-Principal, several years of work. A grant of £25 was asked for by
the College authorities to purchase books for students, but it was of
necessity refused. The supply of fuel for the year was reduced to "ten
cords of maple wood," and altogether the outlook of the College was not
promising.
Meanwhile the Statutes, Rules, etc., which had been forwarded to the
Colonial Office for Royal sanction in 1843, had been approved with some
alterations, and the Royal confirmation was announced in a despatch from
Lord Grey to Lord Elgin, the Governor-General, on September 27th, 1848.
The Home Government had delayed their approval of the Statutes because
they were not sure of the attitude of the Provincial Legislature towards
the College. Remembering the political events of 1837 and realising as a
result Canadian resentment of any semblance of dictation or coercion,
they decided to proceed with caution. In this they followed the advice
of the Governor-General, Lord Metcalfe, who, as we have seen, strongly
urged delay and a careful consideration of the clauses bearing on
religious instruction, in his despatch of September 6, 1843. To this
despatch Lord Stanley replied from Downing Street on October 13, stating
his approval of the suggestions and expressing his desire to meet first
the wishes of the Provincial Assemblies. "It is evident," he said, "that
these questions cannot be decided without the intervention of the
Legislature of Canada and that it must rest with the Provincial
Parliament to determine whether pecuniary aid shall or shall not be
afforded to the College.... It could answer no useful purpose, but may
lead to a most embarrassing controversy if, by the confirmation of those
Statutes ... Her Majesty should hazard a collision on such topics as
these, between the Royal Authority irrevocably exercised and the future
recommendation of both or either of the Houses of local Legislature.
Consequently, until I shall be apprised of the results of their
deliberations, the decision of the Queen will be suspended."
There were rumours that a bitter attack against the College, its
administration and its religious exclusiveness would be made in the
Legislature, and that a Bill would be introduced which might possibly
lead in the end to its abolition. Lord Metcalfe feared such a
possibility. But no attack was made, and on January 17, 1844, the
Governor-General wrote to Downing Street: "No attack was made on McGill
College in the shape of a Bill during the late Session. The Institution
perhaps owes its escape to the prudence of the French Canadian party,
who, having several Roman Catholic Colleges that are exclusive, are not
disposed generally to join in attacking other Institutions on account of
their exclusiveness, lest the same weapons should be turned against
their own. Under those circumstances McGill College being in Lower
Canada appears to be in a safer position than it seemingly occupied
before the late Session; and I do not consider the expediency of
withholding confirmation of their Statutes to be so urgent as I then
conceived it. Nevertheless, it is not certain that the Institution may
not be attacked in any future Session, for the Presbyterians and
Dissenters of all classes are bent on destroying the exclusive character
which it has acquired in the hands of the Church of England." Efforts
were now renewed by the Royal Institutions to have the Statutes, in part
at least, approved, but the Board was informed by the Colonial Office
that "it does not appear to Her Majesty that the College has the means
of sustaining itself on a reasonable scale of efficiency." The closing
of the College was looked upon by the Home authorities as a mere matter
of time!
After much discussion and delay, when it seemed probable that the
College would weather the storm, the Statutes were finally in part
approved in the autumn of 1848. The time for action had come and the
Home authorities realised that "further delay might issue in the ruin of
the College." As we have already seen, the clauses relating to the
sectarian character of theological instruction and of the College
prayers were not confirmed. In giving reasons for the vetoing of these
clauses, Lord Grey wrote that in his opinion, based on the advice of
Lord Metcalfe, "aid would not be granted [to the College] if the Royal
confirmation of the Statutes should first have impressed indelibly on
that Institution a character of exclusiveness in whatever relates to
Theological degrees and studies and to the public worship of the
place.... The Will and Charter are both silent on the subject of the
peculiar religious tenets or ecclesiastical principles to be inculcated
at the College, a silence very significant in the case of a Testator who
was himself the member of a Christian Church, a silence not less
significant in the case of the Sovereign ... a silence not to be
explained by any supposed forgetfulness or intentional omission of the
subject, since the inculcation of 'the principles of true religion' is
expressly provided for by the Charter; a silence, therefore, apparently
indicating a design that Christianity should be taught, not in any
single or exclusive form, but in any and in every form in which its
great fundamental truths and precepts could be imparted to the
students.... The questions respecting the religious and ecclesiastical
principles to be inculcated in the College will, therefore, for the
present rest in the same state of indecision as that in which the Will
of the founder and the Royal Charter have left them."
With the approval of the Statutes, the Governors made an effort to
reorganise the College on a better working basis. In December, 1849, the
Principal forwarded to the Board of the Royal Institution suggestions
for amendments to the Charter in order to provide a greater freedom of
action which might render the management more efficient. This step
resulted largely from a report sent to the Governors by the Board of the
Royal Institution, setting forth the latter's observations on conditions
found during their official Visit in 1848, and including an outline of
the remedies they thought should be applied. The Board approved of their
suggestions and urged immediate consideration of the question. Three
months passed without action. Meanwhile a peculiar situation had
developed. The Principal of the College had desired in October, 1849, to
resign, as he was about to move to Toronto because of the change in the
seat of Government. He was now Assistant Provincial Secretary. But as no
successor was available he was persuaded to retain the office for the
present, although no longer able, because of his residence in Toronto,
to take a very active part in College affairs, or to exercise any direct
supervision over the administration. The remaining Governors consisted
of the Lord Bishop of Montreal, who resided at Quebec; the Chief Justice
of Upper Canada, the Hon. J. Beverley Robinson, who, like the Principal,
dwelt in Toronto; and the Governor-General, Lord Elgin, who, after he
had been attacked by a mob in 1849 as a result of his attitude on the
"Rebellion Losses Bill," no longer resided in Montreal. None of the
Governors was therefore able to exercise any oversight of the College of
which they were the legal guardians. In April, 1850, a Committee of the
Board of the Royal Institution was appointed to suggest a solution of
the peculiar problem. They wrote to the Governor-General, setting forth
the absurdity and the hopelessness of a condition which permitted the
College to be controlled by Governors no longer resident in Montreal,
and emphasising the necessity that existed for "a prompt application of
remedies to relieve the College from its present unfortunate state of
depression." They urged an amended Charter as the first requirement. A
long correspondence followed between the Board and the individual
Governors, relating to the details of the Charter. In June the Board's
Committee wrote again to the Governor-General, stating that if the
Charter were amended according to the draft prepared "McGill College
would speedily be relieved from the difficulties by which it has been so
long surrounded."
The Board desired to amend the original Charter rather than to abrogate
it in order not to raise any question of the tenure of the estate
through a lapse of possession. They feared that between the brief period
of time which would necessarily intervene between the annulment of the
old Charter and the passing of the new, the heirs-at-law of James McGill
might, even at that late date, claim that the College no longer existed
in fact, and that they were entitled to the estate. They therefore
preferred an amended Charter, even if more cumbersome. One of the
amendments provided that the members of the Board of the Royal
Institution should henceforth be the Governors of the College, the
members still to be appointed by the Crown. The number of Governors was
left indefinite, but the Board suggested strongly that "the number
should not be less than thirteen, and that they should be selected from
the different Protestant denominations in the city and district of
Montreal." Later they suggested that the number should be nine or
eleven, exclusive of ex-officio members. They pointed out that "so long
as the Board of the Royal Institution and the Board of Governors are
composed of different bodies of men exercising a co-ordinate and
uncertain jurisdiction over matters very ill-defined ... it is
impossible to expect either unanimity in the bodies themselves or
harmony in the system.... The only means of imparting to these bodies
unity of action and design will be found in making them identical." Such
an amendment would forever end the dual control which had brought about
in the past disaster and depression.
Other clauses in the amendment provided that all Statutes and Rules of
the College could be approved by the Governor-General at his discretion
without transmission to England; and that the visitatorial power be
transferred from the Royal Institution and vested in the
Governor-General. The purpose of the amendments was to simplify the
government of the College and to secure an efficient administration. The
suggestions with reference to numbers and to the selecting of the
Governors from the different Protestant denominations were not followed
by the Government. There was much correspondence between the Board and
the Governor-General and his Council over the proposals. But it was on
the whole amicable. The objections of one side were always met with
reasonableness by the other, and a harmonious agreement was finally
reached. The Governor-General forwarded the amended Charter to the
Colonial Office with his approval and his advice that it should receive
Royal sanction. The Board of the Royal Institution, realising from past
experience the slow methods of Downing Street, appointed an agent in
London to hasten the passage of the Charter through the different
offices of the Imperial Government. It was not until August, 1852,
however, that the amended Charter was finally approved.
Between 1849 and 1852 very few meetings of the Governors were held,
owing to the absence of the Governors from Montreal. The affairs of the
College were largely in the hands of the Vice-Principal and his
assistants. Conditions gradually became graver. The Lecturers in French
and Mathematics were dismissed because no money to pay them was in
prospect. By 1851 the buildings, which had not been completed and were
uncomfortable at best, had fallen into a dilapidated state. Rain and
snow fell freely through the cracks in the roof, and leaked to the rooms
below. Windows and doors, which in the course of time had been
shattered, were still unrepaired. There was not enough fuel to heat the
broken and damaged structures, for an allowance of "ten cords of maple
wood for the winter" was not sufficient to bring warmth. The College
grounds were uncared for. Students who dwelt in the city tramped through
snowdrifts to the cold College classrooms. Because of the discomfort,
the lack of adequate accommodation, and the inconvenient distance from
the Hospital and the city, the Medical classes, which had been held in
the Centre building since 1845, were removed in 1851, as already
recorded, to the building on Coté Street, built by three members of the
Medical Staff, Drs. Campbell, MacCulloch, and Sutherland, and leased to
the Faculty. A year later the City began excavations for the reservoir
in rear of the College grounds. The blasting in connection with this
work did not add to the peace or the safety of student life in McGill,
and later serious breaks in the buildings were caused by heavy stones
falling on the roof. For these various reasons it was ordered by the
College authorities that all occupants except the Vice-Principal should
withdraw from the College buildings. The chief excuse given was economy,
but the real reasons were not then disclosed to the public. The Arts
classes were afterwards carried on in part of the building used for the
High School. The McGill buildings were abandoned, except by the
Vice-Principal, and it was not until 1860 that they were reoccupied by
the Faculty of Arts.
Several changes now took place in the administration of the College. In
1851 Principal Meredith resigned. His resignation was followed the next
year by that of the Rev. John Abbott, who had been Secretary and Bursar
and Registrar for several years. The Hon. Judge Charles Dewey Day was
now President of the Royal Institution for the Advancement of Learning,
and as such he assumed, in conjunction with Vice-Principal Leach,
direction of the College management.
Charles Dewey Day was a native of Bennington, Vermont. While he was
still a boy he moved with his parents to Montreal, and there he received
his education. He studied law, and in 1827 he was admitted to the Bar.
Ten years later he was made a Queen's Counsel. When the Rebellion of
1837 ended he was appointed Deputy Judge Advocate-General, and he
consequently had an active part in the courts-martial appointed for the
trial of accused insurgents. He was made Solicitor-General in 1839. At
the election of 1841 he was chosen to represent the County of Ottawa,
but he retired from political life in the following year and accepted a
Judgeship in the Court of Queen's Bench. In 1849 he was elevated to the
Superior Court. He was later appointed a member of the Royal Institution
for the Advancement of Learning, of which he became President, and after
the amended Charter of the University was approved in August, 1852, he
became in virtue of that position a Governor of McGill. In 1857 he
became Chancellor of the University, a position which he occupied until
his death twenty-seven years later. He filled many important offices. In
1859 he was one of the Commission entrusted to prepare a Civil Code for
the Province of Quebec; he subsequently served on Commissions appointed
at different times to determine the amount of the Provincial debt to be
assumed by the Dominion; to investigate the details of the Pacific
Railway scandal; and to settle the amount of subsidy which should be
paid to the railroads for carrying the mails. He also helped to prepare
Canada's case in the negotiations for the Webster-Ashburton Treaty, and
after his retirement from the Bench he assisted in prosecuting the
Hudson Bay Company's claims against the United States under the treaties
of 1846 and 1863. After his appointment as a Governor of McGill, Judge
Day took, a deep and earnest interest in the activities of the College.
He devoted his energy and his time to advancing the College's welfare,
to removing the causes of its many troubles, and to giving it a place of
power and usefulness in Canada. He died in 1884. He was referred to in
the contemporary press as "one of Montreal's most upright, honourable
and useful citizens"; and speaking a few days after his death, on his
connection with McGill, Lord Landsdowne said, "In this University he
leaves an irreparable void and an enduring memory."
With the approval of the amended Charter in the autumn of 1852, efforts
were made to reorganise the University, and to commence a forward
movement. The new Board of Governors authorised and established under
the amended Charter found the University in an unsatisfactory and almost
hopeless predicament. It was struggling under lamentable deficiencies in
its educational arrangements; it was faced by heavy pecuniary
embarrassments and altogether inadequate resources. It was, in short,
destitute of funds. Even its buildings had been abandoned, but it was
hoped only temporarily. Conditions in the Faculty of Arts were
particularly bad. Yet there was hope. It was evident to the Governors
that an attempt at resuscitation must immediately be undertaken. An
agreement was entered into with creditors for the making of small
periodical payments with interest. Arrangements were made for the
appointment of a competent Treasurer, and for the holding of regular
meetings of Governors and of Corporation. A Committee on Ways and Means
was selected, consisting of the President, Judge Day, and Messrs.
Davidson, Ramsay and Dunkin. The Provincial Government was appealed to,
and in December, 1852, the Legislature gave the College a grant of £1000
"to help liquidate the debts." It was clear that a new era in the
University's life was about to begin, but that persistent energy and
determination would be required to guide the University through the
night that still covered it.
In February, 1853, a Finance and Building Committee of the Board was
appointed, consisting of James Ferrier, Benjamin Holmes, and T. B.
Anderson. One of the first acts of this Committee was to take legal
proceedings against the purchasers of lots, for the most part "persons
of ample means" who had failed to make payments long overdue. In June,
1853, a sum of £75 was voted by the Governors to complete the portico of
the Arts Building, "the Board being very desirous of correcting as soon
as possible the present unsightly aspect of the Centre building." They
also called for estimates for "the putting up in front of the College on
Sherbrooke Street of a fence of the same description as that of the new
Cemetery." To effect greater efficiency the office of the Secretary of
the Royal Institution was moved to one of the rooms of the McGill
buildings--the East wing--in July, 1853, and the Secretary became also
Secretary of the Governors. The two offices became identical. Later,
because of the cold and the general discomfort, the office was
transferred for some time to a building at the corner of Dorchester and
University Streets, known as Burnside Hall. But that conditions there
were not ideal is evident from an appeal made in December, 1854, to the
firm that had previously repaired the antiquated furnaces. The Secretary
wrote: "Instead of imparting to us an equable and cheering warmth such
as might reasonably be expected from their matronly development ... to
me they are painfully and consistently cold. Do, then, come to our
relief and save us from the horrors of frozen limbs, hospitals and
amputations; or first, if you prefer it, pass a morning without
overcoat, cap and comforter in my office with the thermometer at zero."
In the summer of 1853 repairs were made to the College buildings in the
hope of making them again habitable. The blasting in connection with the
reservoir had caused much damage. Windows were wholly shattered and
there were wide cracks and breaks in roof and walls. The contractor
failed to make restitution, and the City Corporation was then urged to
make the necessary repairs and to guarantee that there would be no
further wreckage. The City authorities were slow to respond, but in the
end they made reparation. Fences were also restored or newly built, and
an effort was made to lay out the College grounds in some semblance of
order. In September the lower part of the grounds was granted free for
the holding of the annual Agricultural and Industrial Exhibition. In the
spring of 1854 the City threatened to enter suit against the College for
unpaid taxes, but the dispute was amicably settled. The total income
from rents on which the taxes were based amounted to £182, of which the
sum of £102 was derived from the rent of Burnside House and gardens, £60
from the Professor and £20 from two students who still occupied rooms in
the College buildings. This income was exclusive of the rents of lots,
which amounted to about £400. In the summer of 1854 the Governors gave
to the city free of charge land for the opening of streets "on condition
that all the College property shall be entirely exempt from every sort
of assessment until it shall have been sold." Land for the opening up of
University Street had been given in 1851. The Streets now provided for
were Union Avenue, between Dorchester and St. Catherine Streets; McGill
College Avenue; Burnside Place; Victoria, Mansfield, St. Catherine,
Cathcart, Dorchester, and Monique Streets. It was stipulated that
Victoria Street and McGill College Avenue "should not be opened, for the
present, higher than Burnside Place."
But notwithstanding the Governors' efforts, the University was still far
from adequate prosperity. It was not yet in a flourishing condition and
its outlook while hopeful was not wholly auspicious. Greater
co-operation on the part of the public was obviously needed, and the
contemporary press frequently deplored the lack of public encouragement.
There was peace and concord in its administration, but there was little
advancement in its academic activities. It was clear that it had either
to go forward or to cease to function. It was plain, too, that in
addition to funds a new Principal and several instructors should be
appointed as expeditiously as possible. The Governors, it was rumoured,
were looking abroad for a Principal; they were also, it was said,
considering the reorganising of the College on the plan of English
Universities. Neither of these suggested procedures was popular, and
neither was in the end followed. In August, 1854, one of the
contemporary newspapers, the _Sun_, which has long since disappeared, in
referring to the needs of the University voiced editorially the opinions
of the people:
"All we need," it said, "are persons at the helm who will take an
_active interest_ in the progress and advancement of the institution....
It won't do to sit idly down--to follow the dignified and majestic
example of Cambridge and Oxford. Montreal is not in England--it is in
Canada. We have a way of doing things for ourselves. It is not necessary
in order rightly to accomplish an end to ask how they do it 'at home';
we can find out a mode ourselves. McGill College will never be anything
until some exertion is made by those who have control of it. A languid
indifference or a sickly half-dead interest will never secure to it a
permanency among the institutions of the day"; and the writer added that
"unless measures for its improvement are speedily undertaken there is a
danger that McGill College will soon be numbered among the things that
were."
The Governors in the end decided to look nearer home for a Principal--a
man of strong personality to take the helm in this critical period. They
determined, if possible, to appoint a Canadian who was familiar with the
country, its spirit, its temper and its educational needs. Down in
Pictou County, Nova Scotia, they found him in the person of William
Dawson, a native Canadian and a graduate of Edinburgh University. In
1855 they offered him the Principalship. He accepted the position and
began his duties in the autumn of that year. In the thirty-four years
that had gone since its establishment and the twenty-six years since its
opening, the College had struggled through many vicissitudes and trials.
It had frequently been on the border of extinction. But the crisis in
its troubled history had at last been passed. A new era, more wonderful
and more successful than even its most optimistic friends dared look
for, was about to begin. The foundations had been laid, perhaps not
always wisely, but at least firmly and hopefully. The College was now to
go forward--for again, as in the past, its sign-posts pointed onward.
The faith of its founder was at last to be justified. It remained for
the new Principal, William Dawson, to guide it on its unwavering march
to usefulness and to power, and by his tact, his judgment, his wisdom
and his strength to impress his name upon its century story as the man
who was greatest among "the makers of McGill" in the first hundred years
of its existence.