feeding partizans at the public expense, is an essential element in the
existence of a government. This is the doctrine of corruption. The
Education Department--the highest public department in Upper
Canada--existed for more than thirty years without such an element, and
with increased efficiency and increased strength in the public
estimation, during the whole of that period. Justice and virtue, and
patriotism and intelligence, are stronger elements of power and
usefulness than those of buying and rewarding partizans; and if the
rivalship and competition of public men should consist in who should
best devise and promote measures for the advancement of the country, and
who should exercise the executive power most impartially and
intelligently, for developing and promoting the interests of all
classes, then the moral standard of government and of public men would
be greatly exalted, and the highest civilization of the whole country be
advanced. But I will not pursue this topic any further. The truths I
state are self-evident.
* * * * *
For many years after Confederation Dr. Ryerson felt that the new
political condition of the Province--which localized as well as
circumscribed its civil administration of affairs--required a change in
the management of the Education Department. He, therefore, in 1869 and
1872, urged upon the Government the desirability of relieving him from
the anomalous position in which he found himself placed under the new
system.
The reasons which he urged for his retirement are given in a pamphlet
devoted to a "Defence" of the System of Education, which he published in
1872, and are as follows:--
When political men have made attacks upon the school law, or the school
system and myself, I have answered them. Then the cry has been raised by
my assailants, and their abettors, that I was "interfering with
politics." They would assail me without stint, in hopes of crushing me,
and then gag me against all defence or reply.
So deeply did I feel the disadvantage and growing evil of this state of
things to the Department and school system itself, that in 1868 I
proposed to retire from the department.... My resignation was not
accepted; ... when, two months later, I proposed that, at the
commencement of each session of the legislature, a committee of seven or
nine (including the Provincial Secretary for the time being) should be
elected by ballot, or by mutual agreement of the leading men of both
parties, on the Education Department; which committee should examine
into the operations of the Department for the year then ending, consider
the school estimates, and any bill or recommendations which might be
submitted for the advancement of the school system, and report to the
House accordingly. By many thoughtful men, this system has been
considered more safe, more likely to secure a competent and working head
of the department, and less liable to make the school system a tool of
party politics, than for the head of it to have a seat in Parliament,
and thus leave the educational interests of the country dependent upon
the votes of a majority of electors in one riding. This recommendation,
submitted on the 30th January, 1869, was not adopted; and I was left
isolated--responsible in the estimation of legislators and everybody
else for the Department--the target of every attack, whether in the
newspapers or in the Legislative Assembly, yet without any access to it,
or to its members, except through the press, and no other support than
the character of my work and the general confidence of the public.
* * * * *
In 1876, however, Dr. Ryerson was permitted to retire on full salary
from the responsible post which for nearly thirty-two years he had so
worthily and honourably filled.
CHAPTER XLVII.
1845-1846.
Illness and Final Retirement of Lord Metcalfe.
In a letter to Dr. Ryerson from Mr. Higginson, dated 27th May, 1845, he
thus refers to Lord Metcalfe's increasing illness:--
I wish that I could answer your inquiries about Lord Metcalfe's health
in a satisfactory manner. The torturing malady with which he is
afflicted is no better; and although there is no decided change for the
worse, yet there is in my mind too much reason to apprehend that the
disease, though slow in its progress, keeps constantly advancing and
threatens farther ravages. The pain is incessant and unabated. The
resignation with which he suffers, and his unyielding determination to
remain at his post as long as his presence can serve Canada, inspires a
feeling of veneration which I will not attempt to describe. He seems to
be quite prepared to realize, if necessary, that noble sentiment--
"Dulce et decorum est pro Patria mori."
Mr. Higginson again wrote to Dr. Ryerson, from Montreal, on the 28th of
October, as follows:--
As bad news travels fast, you will probably have heard before this
reaches you of the aggravation of the painful malady from which Lord
Metcalfe has so long suffered. No other man, in his present lamentable
condition, would think of administering the Government. He seems quite
ready to die in harness, if necessary, but is determined not to leave
here as long as he can, at any sacrifice of personal considerations,
continue to discharge the duties. I hope and believe that Her Majesty's
Government will not hesitate to relieve him as soon as a successor can
be found--it would be inhuman to delay any longer. How much of Canada's
weal or woe depends upon the selection? It is far easier to mar than to
mend the triumph my inestimable friend has achieved--to weaken than to
strengthen its effects.
Mr. Higginson wrote to Dr. Ryerson on the 18th December:--
I, two days ago, had the pleasure to receive your kind and feeling
letter of the 11th. It will afford me great satisfaction to communicate
to my suffering friend the grateful sentiments to which you give
expression.
Lord Metcalfe's retirement was, as you justly observe, strictly a
providential dispensation. He remained at his post until it pleased the
Almighty to render him physically incapable of discharging all its
duties; and he was quite prepared to die at it, in the service of his
country. The terms in which the Queen's permission to return home was
acceded are, beyond measure, gratifying and complimentary. I shall have
much pleasure in reading the despatch to you the first time we meet. Of
the fearful malady, I can only say that its onward progress seems to be
beyond human control, and that I entertain no hope of its being
arrested. But the surgical skill of Europe may, and I earnestly pray to
God will, alleviate the intensity of the blessed man's sufferings.
After Lord Metcalfe had returned to England, the Hon. D. Daly, Secretary
of the Province, wrote to Dr. Ryerson, who had returned to Canada, on
the 20th December, as follows:--
Your disappointment was naturally great at missing the only opportunity
that, in all human probability, can be afforded you in this world of
seeing our lamented and excellent Governor. In his late and most severe
suffering, the greatness of that most inestimable man's character was,
if possible, more resplendent than under the trials to which you saw him
subjected. May he enjoy a peaceful termination to his useful existence!
We can know nothing certain of his successor until the news of which he
is the bearer has reached England, his relinquishment of the Government
having been left entirely to his own free will. He had the comfort of
knowing how fully his services were appreciated by his Sovereign; and
his removal was effected in the most gratifying way by Her Majesty's
command.
On the 9th May Dr. Ryerson wrote a farewell letter to Lord Metcalfe,
from which I make the following extract:--
Having passed Your Lordship on the ocean, and being disappointed of the
privilege of ever seeing you again in this world, I wrote by the first
packet after my arrival to Mr. C. Trevelyan, requesting him to have the
goodness to convey to Your Lordship the expression of those sentiments
of gratitude and affectionate respect which I can never fail to cherish
while memory remains....
In Your Lordship's retirement and suffering, ... I think it wrong to
intrude further than to state my deep sympathy in your sufferings, and
that my supplications are offered up daily to the God of all
consolation, that He would grant you patience, resignation, and a "sure
and certain hope of a glorious resurrection to everlasting life;" and to
assure Your Lordship that my life shall be sacredly devoted to the work
in behalf of the youthful and future generations of Canada, for which
Your Lordship's kindness has done so much, to enable me to qualify
myself. With, these the strongest feelings of my heart, I have, etc.
The final letter received from Mr. Higginson was dated Montreal, June
10th, 1840:--
I beg you to accept my cordial thanks for your very kind communication
of the 30th ult. I am not insensible to the high honour that has been
conferred upon me by our Sovereign--far beyond my humble merits; but I
have great satisfaction in feeling that I won it fighting shoulder to
shoulder with you and the other advocates of those great British
Constitutional principles of Government, for which we contended, and
which were so fiercely assailed by the British Democratic party, who, I
earnestly trust may never again be able to make head in Canada. That I,
in the slightest degree contributed to the victory will be to me a
source of pride. To the eminent Pilot who directed us no one knows
better than yourself how much is due. Would that he had been spared to
perfect the good work. My latest account of his health encourages the
hope that I may yet be permitted to see him again.
We closed the session yesterday, which was got through with success, and
I hope with some advantage to the public interests.
I regret very much that I have not had the pleasure of seeing you since
your return from Europe. Farewell!
J. M. H.
* * * * *
The appointment which Mr. Higginson received from the Queen was that of
Governor of Antigua. In his reply to an address from the Wesleyan
missionaries of that island, on his arrival, he thus referred to his
experience of that body in Canada:--
I have had frequent opportunities of witnessing in various quarters
of the globe the untiring exertions of your brethren in the sacred
cause of religion and humanity, and whether in the sultry heat of
Asia, ... or struggling against the rigours of a Canadian winter, I
have always found the Wesleyan missionaries animated by the same
benevolent and philanthropic spirit, and undaunted by obstacles,
however appalling, manifesting the same discreet zeal to spread far
and wide the healing influence of the holy Gospel of Christ.
CHAPTER XLVIII.
1843-1844.
Clergy Reserve Question Re-opened.--Disappointments.
Extraordinary efforts were put forth (as shown in Chapter xxxiii., page
263) by the leaders of the Church of England party in Upper Canada to
prevent the Royal assent being given to Lord Sydenham's Clergy Reserve
compromise Bill of 1841. Equally strenuous efforts were successfully
made to ensure the fulfilment of Bishop Strachan's prediction that the
rejected Bill of Lord Sydenham would form the basis of an Imperial Act,
which would secure to the national Churches of England and Scotland, for
all time, the lion's share of the proceeds of George the Third's
ill-fated gift to Canada of the clergy reserves. Lord John Russell, the
pretentious and vacillating Secretary of State for the Colonies at the
time, proved himself to be, in this matter, a pliant instrument in the
hands of Henry of Exeter. This prelate endorsed, _con amore_, all the
extreme views of the Bishop of Toronto; and with the aid of Lord Seaton
(Sir John Colborne) and the Bench and Bishops in the House of Lords,
compelled the Government to perpetuate an act of legislative usurpation
and injustice, which even the tyros in constitutional law, as applied to
the Colonies, were wont at the time to instance in the press as examples
of history repeating itself--quoting, as an illustration, the
ill-advised Imperial legislation in the case of the Stamp Act, etc.
By a singular fatality, which often attends arbitrary and unjust
proceedings, the success of the scheme, which had been so carefully
prepared, and carried through the British Parliament in the interests of
the Church of England, was destined to become a source of weakness to
that Church, and a foreboding of financial disaster. On the 29th
December, 1843, the Attorney and the Solicitor-General of Canada (as
stated by the Bishop of Toronto in his pastoral letter of the 10th of
December, 1844) reported that having attentively examined the provisions
of the acts for this subject, it was their opinion that the proper
construction of the law threw upon the revenues of Canada the burthen of
making up any deficiency in the clergy reserve fund, in paying the
usual and accustomed allowances and stipends to the Ministers, ... and,
while that deficiency lasted, the Imperial Treasury could not be called
upon to make any payments to the two Churches. (See page 4 of Pastoral.)
The Bishop then charges the Provincial Government with being the cause
of this financial difficulty, and accounts for the deficiency in the
fund by the mismanagement of that Government. He adds further on:--
But, alas! the mismanagement has increased, pending these
difficulties; and while my clergy are left in a state of
destitution, large sums continue to be wasted in remunerating
services which are really worse than useless, and this to such an
extent as to render hopeless the expectation that the clergy
reserve fund will ever answer the wise and holy purpose for which
it was established.
In this dilemma the Bishop states what he had done to extricate the
Church out of its difficulty. In doing so, he uses language which
partakes more of the character of a wail than of a simple statement of
facts. He also draws a most gloomy picture of the prospective religious
state of Upper Canada, should the dearly prized, and as dearly bought,
Imperial Clergy Reserve Act prove, after all, to be an apple of Sodom.
It is curious to notice how the Bishop, in his despairing outburst,
studiously ignores the active and successful labours of the several
voluntary churches--whose claims to a share in the reserves he had so
strongly and selfishly opposed--churches which were even then actively
engaged in "spreading scriptural holiness throughout the land," without
the aid of a penny from the State. In his Pastoral, the Bishop says:--
I applied to the venerable [Propagation Society] in England to
advance, in the meantime, the salaries (only £100 per annum each)
to my five suffering clergy,--assuring the Society that I had the
fullest conviction it would be repaid as soon as it was decided
which Government was liable.... The Society paid the stipends for
the year ending 30th June, 1843, but have declined since that time
to continue the advance.... In consequence, my five clergymen have
been left without their stipends since June, 1843 [to December,
1844], ... and this large and increasing Diocese [then the whole of
Upper Canada], already so destitute of the means of public worship
(if the statute be allowed to operate as it has done for the last
four years), will, in a spiritual sense, become, through half its
extent, a wilderness. Not only are five clergymen in a state of
want, but two parishes are left vacant, and the process is
unhappily going on.... I have brought this disheartening and
deplorable state of things under the notice of the Provincial
Government.... I have pressed [the matter] upon His Excellency the
Governor-General.... But all that was in my power to do has been
without avail (page 6).
I also quote the foregoing passages from this noted Pastoral, as they
throw a vivid side-light upon the course of the Bishop in so vehemently
pursuing the shadow of a state endowment for the Church of England in
Upper Canada. The subsequent utterances of the Pastoral show how
persistently the otherwise clear-headed and practical chief ruler of
that Church shut his eyes to the remarkable success and vitality of the
non-endowed Churches in the Province, and how much he deplored the
necessity of adopting their successful voluntary system in his own
church.[128] He says:--
I represented to His Excellency, in May last, that, "on a review of
this unfortunate subject ... the distress of my five clergymen, and
the desolation with which it menaces the Church, it involves
consequences so calamitous and imminent as to justify the
representative of the sovereign in assuming more than ordinary
responsibility in arresting their progress...."
On the 31st October, I again brought this painful subject at great
length before the Provincial Government, and stated that, having
failed to receive relief, I could only see one way left of
mitigating the evil, and that is by an appeal to my people on the
present critical situation of the Church, and in behalf of my
destitute clergymen. It is indeed a step which I take with extreme
reluctance, and which, were it possible, I would most willingly
avoid.... (page 6.)
In a remarkable document, which the Bishop published in 1849, on "_The
Secular State of the Church in the Diocese of Toronto_," he furnishes a
painful and striking commentary on the effect of his own teaching: that
it was the duty of the State to support the Church, and thus relieve the
people of the chief obligation of supporting the Gospel amongst them.
Speaking of "contributions to the Church within the Province," he says:
Till lately we have done little or nothing towards the support of
public worship. We have depended so long upon the Government and
the [Propagation] Society, that many of us forget that it is our
bounden duty. Instead of coming forward manfully to devote a
portion of our temporal substance to the service of God, we turn
away with indifference, or we sit down to count the cost, and
measure the salvation of our souls by pounds, shillings, and
pence.... While we are bountifully assisted, and seldom required to
do more than half; yet we are seen to fail on every side (page
19).[129]
On pages 34-40 of this pamphlet, Bishop Strachan is very severe on the
clergy to whom Bishop Fuller refers, whom he accuses of putting forth
efforts "to disturb the peace of the diocese--efforts which were rapidly
being organized into something of a regular system of agitation, so
common ... among the traders in politics" (page 34).
An agitation having been commenced by the Bishop and clergy in Western
Canada, in 1843, for "better terms" and an amendment to the Imperial
Clergy Reserve Act of 1840, the question was re-opened. The effect of
this re-opening of the question was deprecated by Dr. Ryerson and
others. Early in January, 1844, Mr. Surveyor-General Parke sent to Dr.
Ryerson the copy of a letter written by Rev. Prof. Campbell, of Queen's
College, Kingston, in which Mr. Campbell sets up the claim of the Kirk
of Scotland, having a branch in Canada, as such, to a portion of the
Canadian clergy reserves. Mr. Parke says:--
The writer of the letter arrives at two other conclusions, which, I
think, are based on error, and calculated to interfere materially
with the rights of the other bodies of Protestant Christians:
namely, that the Kirk in Canada participate in the clergy reserves,
solely by the right it has as a branch of the Kirk in Scotland; and
that other bodies of Christians participate in them merely as an
act of favour. To the first of these conclusions I entirely object,
on the ground that the Act confers the reserves, purely and solely,
on Canada, and for the benefit of interests and persons, absolutely
within Canada. To the second conclusion or statement of the
Professor, that is, that other bodies participate as a matter of
favour, I object on every ground on which it is possible for equity
to place the subject. What! shall the unexampled toils, and
incessant labours of the early and later Methodists, and other
pioneers of the christianizing of Canada, have doled out to them,
as a matter of simple grace, and a body in Scotland, who never knew
nor participated in the labour of sowing the seeds of the Gospel
through the length and breadth of the land, claim as a matter of
absolute right, for one of its branches, a participation in lands,
purely Canadian in fact and law? This I can never assent to; it was
the question on which, as a Methodist, I first became a Canadian
politician, and it is the question on which I yet feel the keenest.
I desire to call your attention to the matter, and solicit a
correction from you of errors which, I think, are insidiously
calculated to mislead the public mind, and make uphill work in
combating other questions which may arise in unfortunate Canada,
bye-and-bye. Some of the Kirk folks would monopolize for
themselves, as far as they dare, and the Church of England too; but
the general community, who have borne the burden and heat of the
day--fought and won the battle--should not in any way have their
interests and feelings trifled with by the unreasonable claims of a
few, who at comparatively a late day entered the field.
As the agitation increased, Dr. Ryerson, who was in England in 1845,
addressed a letter to Lord Stanley, Colonial Secretary, in January, on
the injustice to the non-episcopal churches of the Act of 1840. He
said:--
There is a subject which, in connection with transpiring
circumstances in Canada, deeply involves the future condition of
the government of Canada, and which can be considered by your
Lordship alone: I refer to the withholding, to the present time,
from the Wesleyan Methodist body in Upper Canada all benefit of the
Act passed for the settlement of the clergy reserve question--a
question which certain parties in Canada propose to re-open, with a
view of depriving the Church of England of what is considered a
disproportionate share of the proceeds of the clergy reserves. The
advantage afforded by such a subject of agitation would be eagerly
seized upon by the leaders of the opposition in Parliament. The
Wesleyan Methodist body in Upper Canada (now numbering 131 regular
ministers, and 24,000 communicants), has for many years possessed
and does still possess the casting vote between the contending
political parties in that country; and should they join in the
agitation contemplated, nothing but military power will prevent the
wresting out of the hands of the Church of England their--the
chief--pecuniary advantages which it derives from public sources.
Hitherto the leading members of the Wesleyan Methodist body have
declined any public agitation on the subject--though solicited by
influential parties--contenting themselves with private
communication to the Government until they should find them
hopelessly unsuccessful. Should not their case be considered? I
have reason to believe that they will at their next annual meeting,
to be held in June, commence an appeal to the public and to the
Local Legislature on the injustice done them; as they have
ascertained that all the leading lawyers in Upper Canada of both
parties, as well as three successive Governors considered them
wronged in the manner in which they alone, of the four great
leading denominations of the country, have been excluded from the
benefits of an act, to the basis of which Lord Sydenham never could
have obtained the consent of the Canadian Legislature without their
most decided support.
I should deeply lament the re-agitation of the clergy reserve
question in Canada. Such a step, on the part of the great Wesleyan
body there, would doubtless be attended by the strengthening of the
opposition in the Legislature, and to probable withdrawal of the
support of several members from the present Government. In an
interview with the official Committee of the Wesleyan body, shortly
before I left Canada, I promised them to bring the subject before
your Lordship during my stay in England. They, therefore, deferred
appealing to the Local Legislature to interpose in their behalf,
until they should learn the result of such an appeal to your
Lordship....
I cannot suppose that it has been the wish of your Lordship, any
more than the intention of the Crown officers, to perpetuate the
exclusion of the Wesleyan Methodist Church in Canada from their
confessedly-just claim of which they have already been deprived for
a period of four years. The amount of the claim is less than
one-half of what has been secured to the Roman Catholic Church in
Upper Canada--less than one-third of the amount paid the Church of
Scotland, and less than one-tenth of what has been guaranteed to
the Church of England. The Wesleyan body, whose members in Upper
Canada have increased eight thousand during the last four years,
will be satisfied on the payment of the sum admitted in their
behalf. And I submit that the sanctioning of it by your Lordship
will, in my humble opinion, be far better, even as a matter of
policy--apart from higher considerations--than affording just
ground for an agitation, the consequences of which cannot be easily
foreseen.
No relief was, however, afforded by a change in the administration of
the Act of 1840. The Act itself remained unrepealed until 1853.
FOOTNOTES:
[128] In process of time, the necessities of his Church compelled the
Bishop to adopt a new financial scheme, which he laid before his clergy
in 1841, one main feature of which was to incorporate the voluntary
principle with a system of moderate grants--such as has been the rule
adopted for some years by the Mission Board of the Diocese of Toronto.
[129] In sending a copy of this pamphlet some years ago to the Editor of
this volume, Archdeacon Fuller (now Bishop of Niagara), said:--This able
and interesting document ... was drawn out from the late Bishop by the
growing dissatisfaction amongst the clergy and laity, in consequence of
Bishop Strachan managing the whole of the clergy reserve fund, without
consulting anybody, and managing to get several thousand pounds of
arrears paid to himself, as Bishop, and his protegé, the present Bishop
[Bethune], made Archdeacon of York, with a salary of £365 a year as
Archdeacon, while he could not find means to pay the missionaries more
than £100 a year.
CHAPTER XLIX.
1846-1848.
Re-Union of the British and Canadian Conferences.
During and before the period of the Metcalfe Controversy events were
transpiring in Methodist circles in which Dr. Ryerson took an active
part, and in which he was deeply interested.[130]
Important correspondence on the relations to each other of the British
and Canadian Conferences took place in 1842. But as the issue of the
contest between these Conferences was so prolonged, and involved so many
important questions--religious and public--I think it desirable to give
a brief preliminary outline of the origin of the difficulties between
the two bodies. This is the more necessary, as Dr. Ryerson's own
personal history and conduct became, from a variety of circumstances,
most prominently mixed up with these controversies. His letters to the
Government on the subject, and to the Missionary Secretaries, now first
published, are also valuable Methodist historical documents--although
they partake largely of a personal character--as he was the foremost
figure in all of these connexional contests. They are highly
characteristic of the courage and self-sacrifice of the writer.
Methodism, after its introduction into Upper Canada in 1790, was
organized into a Church by preachers from the United States. In 1811,
when Upper Canada was on the eve of being the theatre of war with the
United States, several American preachers who had been appointed to
Canada declined to come, while those here (Messrs. Roads and Densmore)
applied to the Canadian Government in 1812 for leave to return to their
own country.[131] Nevertheless, after the war, and on the representation
of persons prompted by high churchmen, the London Wesleyan Missionary
Society sent out missionaries to four of the larger towns in Upper
Canada. This schismatical policy was pursued by the British Conference
until 1820, when the American General Conference sent Rev. John
(afterwards) Bishop Emory, as a deputation to that Conference to
remonstrate. The result was that the following resolutions were passed
by the British Conference in that year (1820):--
1. That as the American Methodists and ourselves are but one body,
it would be inconsistent with our unity, and dangerous to that
affection which ought to characterize us in every place, to have
different societies and congregations in the same towns and
villages, or to allow of any intrusion on either side into each
other's labours.
2. That this principle shall be the rule by which the disputes now
existing in the Canadas, between our missionaries, shall be
terminated.
In transmitting these and several other resolutions on the subject to
the British Missionaries in Canada, the Secretaries (Rev. Joseph Taylor
and Rev. Richard Watson) said:--
We know that political reasons exist in many minds for supplying
even Upper Canada, as far as possible, with British Missionaries;
and, however natural this feeling may be to Englishmen, and even
praiseworthy when not carried too far, it will be obvious to you
that this is a ground on which, as a Missionary Society, and
especially as a Society under the direction of a Committee which
recognizes as one with itself the American Methodists, we cannot
act.
The British Conference loyally observed this compact from 1820 until
1833. At that time (Dr. Ryerson says) the advocates of a dominant church
establishment, though in a small minority in the House of Assembly, were
all powerful in the Executive and Legislative Councils, and employed
very naturally all the resources at their command to perpetuate their
supremacy. For this purpose they appealed to the Wesleyan Missionary
Committee in England, and solicited them upon the ground of their
loyalty to the Church of England and to the Throne to send out
Missionaries to Upper Canada, offering $4,000 per annum out of the Crown
revenues to assist in so loyal a work. The English Wesleyan Missionary
Committee sent out a representative agent, who contended that the
engagement into which the English Conference had entered with the
American General Conference in 1820, through Dr. Emory, to leave Upper
Canada to the Canadian preachers, was no longer binding since the
Conference in Canada has become separate from that in the United States,
and the English Committee was therefore free to send missionaries into
any part of Upper Canada. The Canadian Conference was thus confronted by
a double danger--the danger of division in their congregations, and the
danger of increased power against their claims to equal rights and
privileges; and a two-fold duty devolved upon them--to prevent division
if possible, and, at the same time, to secure the attainment of their
own constitutional rights.
* * * * *
In the meantime other disturbing influences occurred. In 1824, an
agitation was commenced, with a view to take the appointment of the
Presiding Eldership out of the hands of the Bishops, and make the office
elective by the annual Conferences. The Presiding Elders of Upper Canada
(Rev. Henry Ryan and Rev. William Case) opposed this change, and, in
consequence, failed in their election by the Genesee Annual Conference
as delegates to the General Conference. Mr. Ryan was chagrined at this
result, and on his return to Upper Canada commenced to agitate for an
entire separation from the American Church. A memorial to that effect
was sent to the General Conference. The request was not granted, but the
Canadian work was set off to itself as the "Annual Conference of the
Methodist Episcopal Church in Canada." This was not what Mr. Ryan
wanted, and it displeased him. The theme of his complaint was "the
domination of republican Methodism and the tyranny of Yankee Bishops."
He therefore, set himself again to agitate for entire independence.
Finally, after having been the means of stirring up personal strife all
through the Connexion, the Conference of 1827 directed that he should be
reproved and admonished by Bishop Hedding in presence of the Conference.
This was done. Next day Mr. Ryan withdrew from the Conference. (See
chapter vii.)
The high-church party encouraged Mr. Ryan in his disaffection; and when
he withdrew, and set up a separate church organization, Dr. Strachan
actually sent Mr. Ryan $200 to assist him in his schismatical efforts!
(Epochs, page 305.) Hon. John Willson, Speaker of the House of Assembly,
and formerly a Methodist, joined the high-church party, and did all he
could to aid and encourage Mr. Ryan. Thus, in addition to the £50 sent
to Mr. Ryan by Ven. Archdeacon Strachan, to aid him in his schismatical
crusade against the Conference, a Government grant of £666 ($2,664) was
made to the new organization at the instance of Mr. Willson in 1833, and
£338 ($1,352) in 1834. (Epochs, page 359.)
The cry of disloyalty having been again raised, the Government and
clerical party (for they were one under the control of the Archdeacon of
York), lost no time, therefore, in maturing a plan to induce the British
Conference again to undertake the occupancy of Upper Canada as
missionary ground, and forthwith to send missionaries into the province
for that purpose. A correspondence was opened between the head of the
Canadian Executive Government, Sir John Colborne, and the Wesleyan
Missionary Committee, on the subject of the new missionary enterprise
into Upper Canada. (Epochs, page 305.) The result was, that in May,
1832, without notice, an intimation was received that the Rev. Robert
Alder, and twelve missionaries were to be sent out to Canada. With a
view to avert the calamity of again having hostile Methodist camps in
every city and town in Upper Canada, Rev. John Ryerson suggested to Dr.
Ryerson that the Canada Conference should endeavour to form a union with
the British Conference, and thus secure harmonious action instead of
discord and disunion. This was done, and provisional arrangements were
made with Dr. Alder at the Hallowell Conference of 1832, subject to the
ratification of the British Conference. This ratification was made, and
took effect in 1833, and the union continued for four or five years
only.
About the year 1840, a considerable controversy arose in regard to the
payment of an annual grant of £900 by the Government, in aid of the
general work of the Church. It may be well, therefore, to state the
circumstances under which this grant was made, and then point out the
personal causes which intensified the feeling of estrangement between
the English and Canadian Conferences.
In a letter on this subject to the Provincial Secretary, dated 28th
December, 1842, Dr. Ryerson said:--
Rev. Robert Alder was in Upper Canada in the spring and summer of
1833, negotiating on the subject of the grant and the union, which
Sir John Colborne was anxious to promote. The Canadian Conference,
aided by Dr. Alder's counsels, agreed to propose certain articles
of union with the English Conference. Those articles contemplated a
financial, as well as ecclesiastical union; and Dr. Alder expressed
his conviction that the English Conference would grant £1,000 per
annum out of its Contingent Fund, to aid our Conference, besides
the aid granted out of the Mission Fund, in aid of Missions in
Upper Canada. A copy of these proposed articles of union was
forthwith laid before Sir John Colborne by Dr. Alder, and published
in the _Guardian_, of the 29th August, 1832, five days after which
Sir John Colborne wrote to Lord Ripon, recommending a grant to the
Wesleyan Committee of £900 per annum [on terms of the comprehensive
scheme mentioned on page 155]. But the Government delayed making
any payment until October, 1833, after the ratification of the
union by both bodies. In the meantime, however, the English
Conference declined granting any aid out of their Contingent Fund,
and had a clause inserted in the Articles of Union against any
claims upon the funds of the English Conference on the part of the
Canadian Preachers. Of this clause in the Articles of Union the
Government seems never to have been made aware until Lord Sydenham
came to Upper Canada in 1839.
In a long and valuable historical letter to Mr. Murdoch, Chief Secretary
to Sir Charles Bagot, dated May, 1842, Dr. Ryerson further said:--
The first payment of the grant was made in October, 1833, a few
days after the final ratification of the Articles of Union by the
Canadian Conference; so that every payment of the grant was made
and applied according to the "usage" prescribed by the Articles of
Union....
Dr. Ryerson then discussed various matters relating to their "usage,"
and the articles of Union, and proceeded: Some weeks after Lord
Sydenham's arrival in Toronto, His Lordship sent for me--as I was
afterwards informed, at the recommendation of Sir Allan MacNab,
Receiver-General Dunn, and others--but the interview, and one or two
subsequent ones, related entirely to the objects of his Lordship's
mission, in accomplishing which, he desired all the aid I could give
him. The last week of the year 1839, and the first week of 1840, Lord
Sydenham spent in seeing various parties and concerting a measure on the
clergy reserve question. He sent for the Rev. Messrs. Stinson and Richey
(agents of the London Wesleyan Committee) as well as for me. As all the
present difficulties grew out of these interviews of the London Wesleyan
Committee's agents and myself, with Lord Sydenham, I think it important
to state the substance of them, and the evidence on which I make my
statement.
First as regards myself. The proposed measure being intended to secure a
continued payment of grants already made out of the Casual and
Territorial Revenue, and the Clergy Reserve Fund, to the parties
receiving them, I submitted to Lord Sydenham that, as the three
principal denominations (Church of England, Church of Scotland, and
Roman Catholics) received large aid out of one or both of these funds,
it was clear that unless some assistance was granted to the Wesleyan
Methodist Church before the passing of the Clergy Reserve Bill, and
transferred with other charges by the provisions of the Bill, we would
be effectually excluded from obtaining any aid for a series of years. I
submitted to Lord Sydenham an application, which I had been directed to
make, in behalf of the Upper Canada Academy--now Victoria College. His
Lordship acceded to the justice of my views, but replied that aid was
given to us also in the form of an annual grant. I replied, and sought
to impress upon his Lordship, that the grant referred to by him had not
been made to the Canadian Conference, and did not operate to its
advantage, but to the sole advantage of the Wesleyan Missionary Society
in England; and, at his request, I prepared a statement of the case in
writing. It will be seen by the date of my letter that these
communications took place January 2nd, 1840. It is perfectly clear,
therefore, that up to that time there could have transpired between Lord
Sydenham and myself, nothing relative to the transfer of the grant.
On the same day, Rev. Messrs. Stinson and Richey (agents of the Wesleyan
Committee) had an interview with Lord Sydenham. They told him that the
union between the English and Canadian Conferences was not likely to
continue; and prayed (in their memorial, written the day after) "that
the sum intended for the Wesleyan Methodist Church in Canada, should be
given to the Wesleyan Methodists, who are now, and who may be hereafter,
connected with the British Wesleyan Conference." I believe Lord
Sydenham's laconic reply was, that he had to do with religious bodies in
Canada, not in England.
It will be seen that the communication of Messrs. Stinson and Richey, as
well as mine, served to impress Lord Sydenham that there was not an
identity of interests between the English and Canadian Conferences, as
he had supposed, and, as His Lordship said, Her Majesty's Government
also supposed.
A day or two after Messrs. Stinson and Richey's interview with Lord
Sydenham, I waited upon him, when I was given to understand that a
memorial had been presented to him in behalf of the British Conference,
on the ground of an anticipated dissolution of the Union. My feelings of
surprise and indignation, and my remonstrances against such a monstrous
proposition, may be easily conceived. It is known that Lord Sydenham,
from the very first, viewed such a proposition with disapprobation; it
was on this occasion also that His Lordship apprised me of the
conclusions he had come to on the subject of any proposition for a grant
to the Canadian Conference, previously to passing the Clergy Reserve
Bill; that he was satisfied that the Canadian Conference had a just
claim to assistance; that it did not derive any practical benefit from
the grant to the London Committee, but that it ought to do so, as such
were the original intentions of the Government in making it. Lord
Sydenham stated his recollection of the intention of the Government in
1832 to be--and perhaps the recollections of Lord Stanley may be to the
same effect--that it was supposed by the Government, from communications
from Upper Canada, that the Wesleyans here were not quite as
(conservatively) loyal as was desirable; that it being understood they
were willing to unite with the English Conference, the Government
thought it advisable to enable the English Conference to assist them,
as it would exert a salutary influence upon their feelings and
usefulness. Thus was the grant made; but from the peculiar nature of the
articles of Union, the leading objects of the grant had never been
accomplished, as the Canadian Conference had to support all its own
members and institutions--except a few missions--as much since, as
before the Union. He had, therefore, determined to write to Lord John
Russell, and recommend a different distribution of the grant; believing
that to accomplish the original and benevolent objects in Canada, it
ought to be placed under the entire control of the Canadian Conference.
In these views I did, of course, gratefully concur, although I never
fully understood until then the intentions of the Imperial Government in
making the grant. I also thought the course proposed would defeat the
intimated project of breaking up the Union, and furnish real aid to the
Church of which I was appointed advocate and representative. Leaving the
matter in the hands of Lord Sydenham, I had no intention of saying
anything more upon the subject, until, nearly a fortnight afterwards,
when His Lordship requested me--as I was so familiar with the
subject--to furnish him with a written statement of the financial
relations of the English and Canadian Conferences, in regard to the
grant, etc., as it would aid him in preparing his despatch to Lord John
Russell. I did so. The letter, written at the request of Lord Sydenham,
was intended as a memorandum for his Lordship. But he thought it best to
transmit a copy of it with his own despatch to Lord John Russell, by
whom it was enclosed to the Wesleyan Committee; and hence the present
controversy. That letter is dated 17th January, 1840.
I cannot but feel that I labour under great disadvantages in the present
discussion, from the numerous representations and statements which the
Wesleyan Committee have made to the noble Secretary of State to my
disadvantage. My standing, as a public man, is my all, and therefore,
however small relatively, is as important to me as a kingdom to a
monarch.
As the Wesleyan Committee have made me so prominent a subject in this
affair, I have offered to submit to His Excellency, Sir Charles Bagot,
or to the Executive Council--or to His Excellency and the Executive
Council--or to the Lord Bishop of Toronto; or to the Moderator of the
Synod of the Church of Scotland in Canada--or to the Lord Bishop of
Toronto and the Moderator of the Scotch Synod--and to bind myself in any
penalty to abide by the decision of such tribunal. When the Wesleyan
Committee are accusers, judge, and jury in their own case, it is not
likely they will be very impartial; but if there is a shadow of truth
or justice in their accusations and statements, I have given them full
opportunity to secure the confirmation of them, by the highest
tribunals, in the country of my life and labours.
* * * * *
The Wesleyan Committee declined to refer the matter in dispute to an
independent tribunal, and Dr. Alder wrote to members of the Canadian
Conference impugning Dr. Ryerson in the strongest terms, insisting upon
his withdrawal of certain things which he had written, and making
various threats. Dr. Ryerson decided then to address a final letter to
Rev. Messrs. Bunting, Beecham and Hoole, Missionary Secretaries. This he
did on the 19th October, 1842. This letter, and the preceding letter,
are doubly valuable from the fact that they embody a number of
interesting details of the interviews and correspondence between Lord
Sydenham and Dr. Ryerson, and also between Sir Charles Bagot and Dr.
Ryerson, which have not hitherto been published. There is a tone of
manly dignity and independence in this letter which commends itself, and
which were characteristic of Dr. Ryerson in his best moods as a
controversialist. From the letter, which extends to thirty-four foolscap
pages I make the following extracts. He said:--
I wish the most extended success to the general labours of the Wesleyan
Missionary Society, however much they have sought to retard those of the
Canadian Conference; nor have I ever objected to their labours among the
"destitute white settlements" and heathen tribes of Canada; I only
object to their works of schism, and division.... Did you ever think of
sending missionaries, or of employing your money and men, in our regular
circuits, before the breaking up of the Union?--Kingston, or Belleville,
or Toronto, or Hamilton, or Brantford, or London, etc.?--places where
there is no more need of missionary men or missionary money than there
is in City Road, or Great Queen street circuits in London--places in
which it is notorious that the soul, body, and strength of your
societies consists, not in converts from the world, but in secessions
from the Canadian Conference. When, therefore, four-fifths of your
missionaries (so called) in Western Canada are employed on regular
circuits of the Canadian Conference, is it surprising that I should
complain, remonstrate, and condemn?
The burden of Dr. Alder's letter is that I have been the first,
gratuitous, and wanton aggressor upon the character and motives of those
"to whom the British Conference has entrusted the transaction of its
most important business;" and, as such, the author and fomenter of the
difficulties between the British and Canadian Conferences. And it has
been more than once intimated on your part that if I, the Jonah, were
thrown overboard, the commotion of the Methodistic element of Western
Canada would soon cease, and mutual confidence and joy would be restored
to the whole ship's company.... Need I add, that in the columns of your
_Watchman_ newspaper, and in the pages of pamphlets, and in your
_Wesleyan_ in Canada, not only my public conduct, but my character, my
motives, my principles, have been impugned without delicacy or
restraint? Need I add, that the Canada Conference and myself have been
the defendants, and you the assailants, throughout? That in Dr. Alder's
letter to Lord John Russell the proceedings of the Canada Conference are
represented as revolutionary?
I am also impeached in almost every form of phraseology--the Christian
integrity and loyalty of my brethren and myself have been impugned by
your agents throughout this country--our fields of labour have been
invaded, and our flocks divided, while our principles and feelings have
been resented as dangerous to the safety and interests of the State. Yet
Dr. Alder complains of the occasional exposure of these things in the
_Guardian_, and is rampant at the application of the word divisionists,
to those of your missionaries who are dividing our regular societies,
and establishing rival congregations on our regular circuits!... But, in
reply, there may be opposed to the unanimous resolutions of your
Conference, adopted in Liverpool, in 1820, and the whole tenor and
spirit of the New Testament, especially the writings of St. Paul, who
denounces partialities for Peter, or Paul, or Apollos, as pretext for
schisms in the Church of God.
Then as to my desire to protract litigation. Does my having done all in
my power to have the affair referred to a third party--to any impartial
tribunal you might prefer--evince the truth of such a charge? Or does
your refusing to agree to any such reference look most like desiring to
protract hostilities? Great Britain and other civilized nations have
more than once submitted their differences to the decision of a third
party; ancient churches did the same; I have advocated the same; you
refuse; your refusal does not certainly argue a consciousness that you
are right, or a desire for peace, whatever else it may argue.
Furthermore, as to my own feelings and conduct, I will let the following
memorandum, which I presented at the late session of the Canada
Conference, speak in reply to your various allegations:--
I hereby resign my seat in the Conference of the Wesleyan Methodist
Church in Canada.
I do not resign my membership in the Conference, but I resign all
privilege and right to take part in its deliberations, or even to
be present at its sittings. I hold myself as much as ever
responsible and subject to the Conference, and am as ready as ever
to do all in my power to defend the Conference and Institutions of
the Church when necessary; but I voluntarily relinquish
participating in any way whatever in its Executive or Legislative
Councils. The following are the considerations which have induced
me to take this step:--
1. My presence and participation in the proceedings of the
Conference have been represented as forming an insuperable obstacle
to any adjustment of differences between the Wesleyan Conference in
England, and this Conference.
2. I prefer the unity of Methodism, and an honourable adjustment of
differences between two branches of the great Methodist family, to
the exercise of any influence I may possess, or may be supposed to
possess in the Councils of this Conference; or to the profit and
pleasure I may derive from attending the annual deliberations of my
reverend and beloved brethren.
3. I can now take this step without incurring any imputation upon
my character, and without injuring the interests of the Conference,
or of the Church at large.
I respectfully request that this memorandum may be inserted in the
journals of the Conference, as an official record and recognition
of this my voluntary act.
(Signed) Egerton Ryerson.
Hallowell, June 14, 1842.
You will see from the above memorandum, that I proposed to relinquish
all except my connection with a church which I had joined in obedience
to conscience, and my connection with a field of labour to which I
believed myself called by the voice and providence of God. My request
was laid upon the table of the Conference for a day, and then pressed by
me with as much propriety as I could employ on such a subject, but, with
one exception (Andrew Prindle), was unanimously rejected, it being
insisted that I should not be allowed to change my relations to the
Conference, in any respect, on account of your differences with me. To
relinquish my connection with the Church, and my labours as a Methodist
minister, involve considerations which ought not to yield to the impulse
of passion, or bow to the suggestions of expediency. By God's grace,
therefore, I hope to be able to "stand in my place to the end of the
day," say or do what you may....
Dr. Alder and his Canadian friends have advised you from the beginning
that my standing and influence in Canada was merely political; that I
was aware of this, and was, therefore, determined to employ myself in
political affairs in order to gratify my ambition. My assertions to the
contrary were, of course, rejected and scorned by you. Well, nearly
three years have elapsed since, by common consent, I have had nothing
whatever to do with the civil affairs of Canada, as all the public men
in it know. My own conduct, therefore, has thus far refuted one part of
the statements of your informers. As to the other part, has my standing
as a public man declined? or, have all parties, during that period,
awarded me a testimony of regard more gratifying than that which I had
ever before received from any party?
You were also told that my principles were revolutionary, and were so
viewed by the wealth and intelligence of this country, which would
support you and repudiate me and those connected with me. What do you
now see, but the Government at home and in Canada adopting the very
system of administration, both in religious, educational, and civil
affairs, which I maintained many years ago to be most suitable to the
social condition of this Province; and the wealth and intelligence of
our population (save a little knot of Puseyite ultras) rejoicing in its
establishment; and the country in happy tranquility, and blooming with
prosperity, under its operations? What do you see but Her Majesty
possessing a strength far more formidable than that of swords or
bayonets, in the hearts of her Canadian subjects? What do you see, but
three branches of the Legislature unanimously incorporating as a
College, with the privileges of a University, an institution under the
direction of the Canada Conference (which you had repudiated), and in
compliance with an application which I had the honour to have advocated,
and according to the provisions of a Bill, _verbatim et literatim_,
which I drew up? What do you see, but that same Legislature, with equal
unanimity, granting £500 to the same institution, and lately, by the
recommendation of His Excellency, Sir Charles Bagot, renewing that grant
as an annual aid to the institution, now presided over by the individual
against whom all your attacks have been directed? Can I but feel a
grateful, as well as a dutiful attachment to a Government so perfectly
consonant with my own feelings? Can I but feel an honest pride,
retrospecting the past, and looking abroad upon the present, to see in
the constitution and spirit of Her Majesty's Canadian Government my own
views and wishes carried out to the very letter? Can I but rejoice, to
see several members of the Government on our College Board and
Senate--and to be aided by their counsel, abilities, and influence?
I advert to these facts with heart-felt thankfulness, as a practical
vindication of my life and character against your imputations, and as an
indication strong, if not providential, that I have, in the main at
least, endeavoured to do my duty to my God, my Sovereign, and my
country.... Unconnected as I am with any party, and on friendly terms
with leading men of all parties, countenanced by the Government, aided
by the Legislature, and sustained by the public, I can, by the divine
blessing, employ my humble abilities, even under the weight of Dr.
Alder's frowns, to rearing up a large body of well instructed youth,
and a considerable number of ministers, who, I hope, will be a blessing
to this their country, and to the church, and who will, doubtless, do
justice to me when both Dr. Alder and myself shall be receiving our
reward according to our respective works, "whether they be good or
bad."...
My differences with you are wholly of a public and official character;
personally I esteem and honour you as much as I ever did, and wish you
God speed in your general works of faith and divine labours of love....
The only persons in England with whom I have the slightest personal
difference are Dr. Alder and Mr. Lord, for their uncalled for and unjust
personal attacks upon me. I cherish no ill-feeling towards them. But I
ask not your indulgence; I fear you not; I know and admire you as
distinguished servants of the Most High, but as greatly mistaken as to
what truly appertains to one hundred and twenty-one itinerant ministers,
and a large and growing branch of the Wesleyan body in Western Canada--a
body now beginning, like yourselves, to raise up a regularly educated as
well as a zealous ministry....
This epistle shall be my witness to the Government, to the church, and
to posterity, that the dreadful disgrace and varied evils of
perpetuating the present unseemly violation of Methodistic and Christian
unity in Upper Canada, and the creation and continuance of unnatural and
unchristian schisms and divisions in a Christian church, lie not at my
door; and that for the sake of peace, I have offered to do all that
could be demanded of me by reason of Christianity....
As the Government is interested in this controversy, I shall deem it my
duty to enclose a copy of the present letter to His Excellency the
Governor-General, with a request that His Excellency will have the
goodness to forward it to Her Majesty's Secretary of State for the
Colonial Department, that Her Majesty's Government, both at home and in
this country, may fully understand the present posture of this affair,
at least as far as you and myself are concerned, and with whom lies the
responsibility of this continued controversy.
* * * * *
For the reasons given above to the Secretaries of the Wesleyan
Conference in England, Dr. Ryerson transmitted a copy of his letter to
them to Sir Charles Bagot, on the 10th December, 1842, accompanied with
an explanatory letter, from which I extract the following narrative
connected with this matter:--Two weeks before the late Lord Sydenham's
arrival in Toronto (in November, 1839), at a meeting of the agents of
the London Committee, and the Executive Committee of the Canadian
Conference, every matter of misunderstanding and jealousy, as far as I
know, was satisfactorily settled. It was explicitly agreed on all sides,
and recorded, that I should press the settlement of the clergy reserve
question. On other things it was my wish and aim to remain neutral. This
I did, until some weeks after Lord Sydenham's arrival. Parties were very
equally divided on the question of the union of the Canadas, and the
terms on which it should be effected. I was then Editor of the
_Guardian_; I was desired by the agents of the London Wesleyan Committee
and their friends (and some of my own friends), to oppose the union of
the Canadas; Lord Sydenham sent for me, and earnestly solicited me to
advocate it, and assured me that it should involve no change in the
principles of our Constitution, but even secure greater privileges to
the people of Canada, and that it was the only hope of Canada. He
promised, in case he could get the Union measure through the Canadian
Legislature, to apply himself to the settlement of the clergy reserve
question, in accordance with such principles as I had expressed, and
which he understood to be general in Upper Canada. After much
consideration, I consented to give a decided support to the Government
in that great measure. The agents of the London Committee were greatly
offended, and were sure, as were many others, that Lord Sydenham would
not be supported by the Imperial Parliament, and threatened a breaking
up of the union between the English and Canadian Conferences; and in
about three weeks afterwards, they intimated to Lord Sydenham that the
union between the two bodies would not be continued, and sought to get
the Methodist portion of the proceeds of the clergy reserves secured to
those who should be connected with the British Wesleyan Conference. Lord
Sydenham, learning the circumstances in which I was placed, opposed by
the agents of the London Committee and all the opponents of the union of
the Canadas, and by the "radical reform" portion of the press, for
assenting to the application of the clergy reserves to religious
purposes at all, and by many of the members of my own Church, because I
assented to a Bill which recognized the Churches of England and Scotland
by name, and not the Methodist Church,--assured me of all protection and
support that his Government could give. I asked for nothing but a due
consideration and protection of the interests of the Church which I
represented. Of this I received repeated assurances; and when, a few
months afterwards, Lord Sydenham received from Lord John Russell, a copy
of Dr. Alder's first letter to his Lordship, Lord Sydenham not only
renewed the private expression of his views and purposes, but introduced
them voluntarily in an answer to a congratulatory address of the
Canadian Conference. In reference to these very matters, out of which
the present question has arisen, Lord Sydenham thus expressed himself,
and pledged the faith of his Government. He said:--
Whilst I administer the affairs of the Canadas, it is my duty to
look to the feelings of the people of that country; and you will
find me ever ready and willing, whenever any question connected
with the Executive Government may arise, to support the reasonable
views, and maintain the just rights of your society, as expressed
through your recognized authorities within these Provinces.
When it was ascertained that the English Conference would not abide by
the articles of union, and that several months' delay had taken place
without carrying out the views which Lord Sydenham had expressed--that
an Act on the clergy reserve question had been passed by the Imperial
Parliament, different in several important respects from that which Lord
Sydenham had got through the Canadian Legislature, it was our intention
to have the claims and interests of our Church in respect both to the
grant and clergy reserves, brought under the consideration of the
Canadian Legislature. But previously to taking this step, I was directed
to proceed to Kingston (June, 1841), to ascertain what measures the
Government were disposed to adopt; when I learned from Lord Sydenham
that he had been empowered to settle the question of the grant, and that
in that and all other respects he would consult the interests of our
Church to the utmost of his power. It was not his wish to communicate
his decision officially until near the close of the session of the
Legislature, which, unhappily, proved to be the end of his life. What
has since transpired is within the personal knowledge of Your
Excellency.
* * * * *
After all this correspondence, the question of reunion with the British
Conference was often and earnestly discussed privately between leading
members of the Canadian and British Conferences, as well as in the
American Methodist journals.[132]
In October, 1843, Rev. Joseph Stinson, then in Sheffield, England, wrote
to Dr. Ryerson on the subject, and said:--
There is a strong desire on the part of many of our most
influential ministers that the work in Canada should be
consolidated and made one. It is certainly most desirable that
there should be one vigorous, united, and prosperous Methodist
Church; in which the pure doctrines of Methodism, and of the
Gospel, shall be preserved, and a refuge for those who really want
to be saved shall be presented--to all those, I mean, who prefer
our religious system to any other. Now, my dear sir, allow me to
say, that I think that the only two men in the world who can effect
this most desirable object, are yourself and Dr. Alder. If any plan
could be adopted by which you and he could be reconciled to each
other, the work would be done; and it will not be done effectually,
I fear, until this is the case. I still entertain the hope of
spending many happy and useful years in Canada; and I thank you
sincerely for your kind offer with reference to Cobourg. I cannot
forget the happy, and, I may say, holy hours we have spent together
before God in prayer; and I hope and trust we shall yet be found
side by side in the Church militant and in the Church triumphant.
Rev. Joseph Stinson wrote again in December, and was very urgent in
regard to the reunion of the Conferences. He says:
Let us still labour and pray for the great object of union. Every
day, and every aspect which the Church and the world presents,
deepens the conviction of my mind of its necessity, and I hope we
shall live to see a united and prosperous Church in Canada, against
which the gates of hell cannot prevail. We are now very busy with
our Educational movements. We intend to raise £200,000 in seven
years, and we shall, by the Divine blessing, succeed. Our people
were never more united, and truly Methodistical in their feelings
and purposes. God has a great work for us to do in the world, and
if we are but faithful, we shall be a greater blessing to our
Empire than we have ever been.
In November, 1844, after his arrival in London, Dr. Ryerson addressed a
letter to his two friends, Rev. Joseph Stinson and Rev. G. Marsden, on
the Union question. From Mr. Stinson he received a reply, from which the
following is an extract:--
I heartily congratulate you on your promotion. I pray that you may
be happy and useful in the interesting and responsible station
assigned you by the providence of God and the Government of your
country. I hope your visit to this country may be one of those
Providential events which will lead to the accomplishment of an
object which lies as near to my heart now as it ever did--the unity
of our Methodist interests in Canada. The aspects of the times at
home and abroad surely are plainly indicating that our very
existence as a Church depends, in no small decree, upon our unity.
In the meantime, if I can, by any little influence I have, be able
to effect a reconciliation between you and our friends at the
Mission House, nothing on earth will afford me so much pleasure.
Rev. G. Marsden, in his reply to Dr. Ryerson, said:--
Often have I reflected with deep interest on the whole of that very
important affair--the union of the two bodies; and though it was
afterward dissolved, I firmly believe that the union at that time
was of God. It gave a favourable opportunity for our Conference
reviewing and improving the code of Discipline, and I hope that it
is now rendered permanent. In that respect I believe you in Canada
are on good ground; and I could almost wish that it may be
unalterable. There may be attempts made, under the pretence of
improvements, to alter in future our Book of Discipline, but I
trust that those preachers who were at the Conference when the
Discipline was settled and solemnly agreed upon, will not hastily
adopt any material alterations.
The union was also providential as it occurred before the rebellion
commenced. So far it appeared to be in the order of Providence; and
though in a few years the union was dissolved, yet you have gone
on well in Canada, and the Lord has prospered you.
The position which you now occupy is one of great importance, as it
respects the future good of Canada. If the youth of that country be
trained up in sound Christian principles, the country, as it
respects the inhabitants, may become one of the finest in the
world. The old countries are formed, yours is in some measure yet
to be formed; and as is the education, such in all probability will
be the inhabitants in future.
Dr. Ryerson after his arrival in England, also addressed a letter to Dr.
Bunting, dated December 11th, 1844, as follows:--
I desire your acceptance of the accompanying publication [relating to
the Metcalfe controversy]. The Prefatory Notice and Address will explain
to you the circumstances under which it was written.
I take the liberty of presenting you with this publication, not merely
from feelings of profound respect for yourself personally, but also for
the following reason:--That you may have the best possible proof of the
sentiments which I have ever inculcated upon the public mind in Canada,
and which are current among the ministers and members of the Wesleyan
Methodist Church in that country. In appendix No's. 3 and 4, pages
171-178, I have made extracts from what I wrote between the years 1838
and 1841, the period, in August, 1840, during which both my sentiments
and conduct were impugned in your presence. You will probably recollect
that I then stated that my principles were strictly British, and such
alone as could perpetuate British authority in Canada. The fact that the
present Governor-General of Canada, and Her Majesty's present
Government--apart from a candid inquiry into the nature of them--have
staked their character and authority in Canada upon those principles, is
ample proof of their constitutional orthodoxy and essential importance;
and the manner in which Sir Charles Metcalfe has been, and is, supported
in Upper Canada, is sufficient evidence of their influence over the
public mind there, without your expending some three thousand pounds a
year of missionary money within the bounds of the regular
self-supporting and missionary-contributing circuits of the Canada
Conference in order to teach us loyalty. (See pages 282, 283.) Since I
was last in England, I have not written a word on civil affairs, except
a short obituary notice of the late Sir Charles Bagot (which was not
inserted in the _Christian Guardian_, any more than what I have recently
written) until the publication which I herewith transmit. By referring
to pages 134, 153, 164, you will find that I have not, even as an
individual, written for party, or in the spirit of party, but with a
view of giving and securing the application of a Christian
interpretation of the fundamental principles of the British
Constitution, and of all good government.
I am thankful that I have been permitted to live and give to the British
Government in England, and to the public in Canada, a more tangible and
abiding proof of my principles and feelings than the representations
which were made of them in your presence in 1840.
It may not be improper for me to add, that the appointment with which
the Government has honoured me, in placing under my direction, the
public educational instruction of the youth of Upper Canada, was not
accepted by me, until after my ministerial brethren, officially, as well
as unofficially, expressed their approbation of my doing so.
* * * * *
After the Conference of 1845, Dr. Ryerson (then in Europe) received a
letter from Rev. John Ryerson, in which he said:--
The Conference received a note from the sub-Secretary of the
British Conference, enclosing certain resolutions which had been
passed two years ago, appointing a committee to settle matters with
the Canada Conference respecting the differences between the two
Connexions. Our Conference appointed a similar committee, and the
Secretary was directed to communicate to the British Conference,
and request it to make some proposals for settlement, as they had
rejected all the proposals which we had made. In fact, parties here
have taken advantage of the overtures which we have made to injure
the Canada Conference, while there is no move on the part of the
British Conference to indicate that they even desire a settlement.
For my own part, I would have gone so far as to have made the
proposal which you suggested; but I could not influence a majority
of the Conference to do so. The belief here is gaining ground that
the British Conference has no intention to settle the differences;
that they are only tampering with us, and, at the same time, they
are striving to get the £700. I believe that no settlement can be
effected until that grant matter is adjusted, and that no grant
will be paid until that settlement is made. I cannot forget the
reprehensible conduct of the Missionary party, in sending a
missionary to Bytown, at the very time that they were pretending to
negotiate a settlement with us! Still I am anxious to do almost
anything to effect an adjustment of our misunderstandings; but I
fear that the British Conference, influenced by the Missionary
party here, will accede to no feasible plan of settlement--at all
events, not while these men are kept here, and are allowed to have
the influence in England which they seem to possess.
You are aware, of course, that a party in Toronto have for these
six months been publishing a paper, the object of which is by
agitation among our people, to drive the Conference to censure you
and your political writings. The Radical party in the Conference
tried to get that body to pass some such resolutions as Rev. C. R.
Allison introduced at Brockville, but they totally failed. The
Conference in reply to two memorials--the one from Brantford, and
the other from Cobourg--defended the resolutions passed at
Brockville on political matters, and the pastoral address of the
same year, and remarked that it saw no reason to say more than it
had said. This was sadly mortifying to the parties opposed to you.
However, every effort of that party in this and other questions
totally failed. They were left in most miserable minorities in
everything they undertook of a party and revolutionary character.
The party has assailed all of our funds, especially our Missionary
Society and Victoria College. Indeed, there was nothing connected
with our institutions which they have not tried to injure, taking
good care to connect your name with everything, so as to let the
Church know that you would be a sacrifice entirely satisfactory to
them.
Political matters in the country are in a state of great quiet. I
think the present Government has got on strong ground--being
assailed by the two extreme sharks--the _Pilot_ and the
_Patriot_.... The impartiality and high-minded justice of the
Governor-General are becoming more and more apparent. Indeed, I do
not think the Radicals will be able to recover their power in any
degree while Lord Metcalfe remains, certainly not if he continues,
in defiance of party strife, to administer the Government as it has
been administered since the present Council has been organized.
The University Question is a most perplexing one, and the Ministry
will find the utmost difficulty to so devise a plan of settlement
so as to satisfy a majority of the people and carry the House with
them.
After this correspondence on the Union question had taken place little
was done and less resulted from it. When Dr. Ryerson returned to Canada,
he wrote to Rev. Peter Jones, then in England, to see Rev. Dr. James
Dixon, and urge him to come to Canada. In February, 1846, Rev. Mr. Jones
replied:--
On receiving your letter I lost no time in calling upon Dr. Dixon,
who appeared pleased with the invitation from our Executive
Committee. He said that if he could see that his visit to Canada
would bring about a reconciliation between the two Conferences, he
would be most happy to go. I am very glad that the Committee have
invited him to come and inspect the state of affairs. I believe
that the invitation will do much good, whether Dr. Dixon goes or
not, as it will be seen that our Conference is anxious for a
settlement, and courts investigation.
I do assure you that we are getting very homesick; and I am
heartily tired of the work of begging. I shall be glad when we are
again quietly settled in our own wigwams.
In reply to this invitation, Rev. Dr. Dixon wrote a letter to Rev. Dr.
Ryerson, in March, in which he foreshadowed the important Methodistic
legislation which resulted in the establishment of the General
Conference which met at Toronto in 1874, with Dr. Ryerson as its first
President. Dr. Dixon said:--
My own idea is that a measure much more comprehensive than that of
a mere settlement of these disputes is needed. The time must come
when the North American provinces will be united ecclesiastically,
by having a General Conference of their own, in connexion with the
Provincial or District Conferences, after the manner of the United
States. Things must come to this at no remote period; and this
being the case, it seems reasonable to consider such a scheme in
connection with the measure now under review. To do the thing well
will require, of course, very much and mature deliberation. In case
such a measure should be thought of, some form of fellowship, some
bond of union--must be recognized betwixt the British Conference
and such a body as I contemplate. Here is a ticklish point--it is
at this point that all splits and quarrels begin. But clearly the
line of justice, religion, and a Christian experience may be
discovered, if honestly sought. I am deeply convinced myself that
the organization of such a body as I refer to must, in the nature
of things develop the energies of Methodism in the Provinces
infinitely more vigorously than can be secured by the action of a
distant government.
I venture to throw this out as my general feeling and impression.
Of course, it has been thought of by others as well as myself; and
I found the other day from Rev. Peter Jones that the subject is
engaging the attention of different parties on your side of the
water. Could you not open a discussion on this question in your
periodicals? But it should be free from party bias, from angry
passions, from national views and partialities; indeed, the
discussion of such a subject requires the highest reason,
philosophy and statesmanship. If a calm head and pure patriot could
be found amongst you to argue such a point, it would be clearing
the ground. Of the soundness of the principle that the Methodist
body ought to be one in all the adjacent colonies; and I am
convinced that it would be wise and expedient to establish as soon
as men's minds are prepared for it, such an establishment as a
general colonial Conference. And in the present state of things, I
conceive it would be useful to receive a certain amount of British
influence in such a Conference. You cannot do very well without us;
and on this side there would be great alarm at the idea of an
entire separation. But all these are questions of detail.
Let me say now, that I have a strong desire to visit your
Provinces--I should like above all things to obey your call; but I
see it possible not only to do no good, but to do harm, by
exasperating parties on my taking up an independent position. Let
me say, I think the object we desire is being promoted by your
communication; and I hope that either myself, or some other one
better fitted, will, ere long, appear amongst you as a messenger of
peace. I long to see it.
It would afford Mrs. Dixon and I the highest gratification to see
you in this country again--to have the very great delight to see
you by our fireside, and experience over again some of the happy
moments we dearly enjoyed in your friendly society. Thank God there
is a Christianity infinitely above ecclesiastical divisions, and
sub-divisions; and there is a depth of feeling and affection in the
human heart which cannot be destroyed by the miserable squabbles of
nations and churches.
At the Conference held at Kingston, after the receipt of this letter
from Rev. Dr. Dixon, it was considered expedient to send a deputation
from Canada to the English Conference. Rev. John Ryerson and Rev. Anson
Green were selected for this important mission and soon left for
England. In a letter to Dr. Ryerson from his brother John, dated
Bristol, August 1st, he says that:--
The difficulties in the way of any proper adjustments of our
differences seem to be almost insurmountable. Prejudices so strong
and so extensive, have been excited against us that we, as the
representatives of the Canada Conference, are looked upon with
shyness, if not fear and contempt. Our situation is anything but
pleasant; it is even distressing and painful.... Rev. Joseph
Stinson is most cordial and affectionate, and is doing his utmost
to further the object of our mission and promote peace in Canada;
this is also the case of Rev. William Lord.
Subsequently Rev. John Ryerson wrote to say that:--
Dr. Alder presented the address of our Conference, and also the
certificate of our appointment to the British Conference. It was
moved by Dr. Bunting, and seconded by Dr. Alder, that the address
be received, and that we be affectionately and cordially requested
to take a seat in the Conference. The resolution was opposed, and
it called up a warm debate. The opposers contended that their
connection with the Canada Conference and its matters had only been
a source of trouble and injury to themselves, and that, as the
Union was now dissolved, they should keep aloof from all
intercourse with us. The resolution was warmly supported by
Doctors Bunting, Alder, Beaumont, Dixon, Mr. Lord, and Mr. Stinson.
It at length passed triumphantly, and all things are coming out
right, and will end well.
Rev. John Ryerson again wrote to Dr. Ryerson from Bristol:
Although we took our seats in the Conference last week, yet we were
not formally introduced until yesterday. It is clear that Dr. Alder
and others were resolved that we should not take our seats on the
platform, but Mr. Lord and Mr. Atherton (the President) and others
were resolved that we should. The President accordingly stated that
the brethren from Canada, Representatives of the Canada Conference,
would be introduced to the Conference, and would take their seats
on the platform, which we did. What Dr. Alder may hereafter do, I
know not; up to this time his conduct has been cold and repulsive;
he, however, continually declares that he is in favour of an
adjustment of matters in Canada.
In looking at matters here, I cannot express the painful anxiety of
my mind; sometimes I can neither eat nor sleep, and it quite
destroys all the satisfaction which I might otherwise enjoy from a
visit to England. Had I known that things would be as I find them,
I should never have come to England. I left Canada distressed in
mind about our mission; the distress has only continued to increase
every day since. Were I to follow the strong impulse of my mind, I
should leave at once and return to America.
All this was changed, however; and on the 15th September Rev. John
Ryerson thus writes to Dr. Ryerson as to the final issue of negotiations
with the British Conference:--
After four days' conference in committee on Canada affairs, the
whole business was brought to a happy and most amicable conclusion.
When I wrote my last letter I was under most painful apprehensions
respecting the results of our mission. Little change took place in
the bearing of the leading men towards us, until we met in
committee on the 9th inst. Then a most full, frank, and undisguised
explanation of all missionary and domestic matters was entered
into. After this full unburthening of ourselves, the one to the
other, a totally different feeling seemed to come over Drs.
Bunting, Alder, and the whole committee--which consisted of about
thirty leading members of the British Conference. In consequence of
the strong feeling which exists chiefly in Lower Canada, the
British North American plan mentioned by Dr. Dixon in his letter to
you, was thought not practicable at present. The plan of settlement
to which we have agreed, is a union with the British Conference, on
a basis similar to that by which the British and Irish Conferences
are united. The British Conference appoints our President and the
Superintendent of Missions, as in the former union; all of our
missions become missions of the Wesleyan Missionary Society; our
Missionary Society is auxiliary to their Society. The £700 grant is
to be placed under the Missionary Committee, to be appropriated for
missionary purposes in Canada. On the other hand, all the regular
British Missionary circuits in Canada, are to be placed under the
Canada Conference, the same as any other circuits; and there are to
be no missionary districts; but the missionaries are to be members
of the different districts in the bounds of which their missions
are situated. The missionaries are to be stationed by our
Stationing Committee, the same as other ministers. The British
Conference is to appropriate £600 sterling annually to our
contingent fund; and the Missionary Committee is to place £400 at
the disposal of our Conference for contingent purposes.
More kindness, more nobleness of sentiment and feeling, I never
witnessed than was manifested towards us after we had succeeded in
removing suspicion, and allaying fears, etc. In the course of the
conversations, your name came up frequently, but always in terms of
great respect; only they all seemed to think that you got astray in
the matter of the disruption of the union. I assured them, however,
that no man in Canada was more desirous of a settlement of
differences than you were, and in order to the attainment of it,
you were desirous that all the past should be forgotten, and that
henceforth in these matters all should become new. I assured Dr.
Alder that no man in Canada would receive him more cordially than
you would. This assurance seemed to be very gratifying to him and
all the other ministers present.
On the 24th November, 1846, after the return of the Conference
delegation from England, Dr. Ryerson addressed the following letter to
Drs. Bunting and Alder:--At the suggestion of my brother, Rev. John
Ryerson, and in accordance with my own feelings, I take the liberty of
addressing you a few lines on adjustment of differences between the
English and Canadian Conferences, and the concentration of the work of
Methodism in Upper Canada. In the arrangement which has been mutually
agreed upon between your Committees and the Canadian Representatives, I
entirely concur. Into the consideration of a measure so purely Christian
and Wesleyan, I have never allowed, and could not for a moment allow,
any sense of personal injury to enter. I have had the pleasure of
expressing to the Conferential Committee of the Canadian Connexion my
appreciation of the honourable and generous arrangement to which you
have agreed, and to propose a resolution expressive of the concurrence
of that Committee in that arrangement, to which it assented cordially
and unanimously. I have also had the pleasure of moving that Rev. M.
Richey be invited to occupy the relation to Victoria College which I
have for some years sustained, and to which the College Council has also
unanimously agreed. Nor shall I hesitate to use every exertion in my
power to complete and render beneficial an arrangement so honourable to
the British Conference, and so eminently calculated to promote the best
interests of Methodism in Western Canada.
Your treatment of my dear and most beloved brother, John, I regard and
acknowledge as a favour done to myself. I did not do myself the honour
of calling upon you personally when I was in England, nor should I feel
myself at liberty to do so even now, were I again to visit London. It is
not that you have objected to many things that I have said and done, and
have expressed your objections in the strongest language. In this you
have acted as I have done, and for which I ought not either to respect
or love you the less. But, in your resolutions of April, 1840, you were
pleased to charge me "with an utter want of integrity;" and in a
subsequent series of resolutions, you were pleased to represent me as
unworthy of the intercourse of private life. These two particulars of
your proceedings attracted the painful notice of the late Sir Charles
Bagot before I ever saw him, and, I have reason to believe, made no
slight impression on the mind of his successor, the late venerated Lord
Metcalfe; and they have sunk deeply into my own heart. But I have not so
much as alluded to them in my official intercourse with my Canadian
brethren, nor will I do so; and as a member of the Canadian Conference,
I shall (if spared) receive and treat Dr. Alder with as much respect and
cordiality as I ever did, and shall do my best to render his
contemplated visit to Canada agreeable to himself, and successful in its
objects. I have, more than once, through the press, disclaimed any
imputation upon his integrity, motives, or character; but with his
recorded declaration of my "utter want of integrity," and my unfitness
for social intercourse in private life, I feel that my own conduct
towards him should be confined to official acts and official occasions;
in which I shall treat him with as much cordiality as I would any other
member of the English Conference. Had it not been for the two
particulars in your former proceedings to which I have referred, I
should have as readily sought the opportunity of paying you my personal
respects, during my recent visit to England, as I did in 1836.
I have thought this explanation, at the present moment, due both to you
and to myself. I assure you at the same time of my personal regard, and
of my desire and purpose to promote, in every possible way, the great
objects which you have proposed, viz., the amicable reunion between the
English and Canadian Connexions. [The _amende_ was subsequently made.]
* * * * *
In order to place the English and Canadian reunion question fully and
fairly before the English Wesleyan public, Dr. Ryerson was requested to
prepare an article on the subject for the London _Watchman_. This he
did. Rev. M. Richey writes from Montreal, on the 28th June, 1847, and
thus acknowledges the service which Dr. Ryerson had rendered in this
matter:--
Your promptitude in preparing an article for the _Watchman_, and
the ability, as well as noble spirit of Wesleyan catholicity by
which it is characterized, have afforded to Dr. Alder the highest
satisfaction. The article perfectly corresponds to the ideal he had
conceived of a production adapted to place the whole matter before
the transatlantic public so as best to accomplish the important
object. The article will doubtless appear in the earliest
impression of the _Watchman_, to the joy of thousands of hearts. He
has also to acknowledge the receipt of the address of the Canada to
the British Conference. Permit me to assure you that Dr. Alder and
myself most affectionately reciprocate your expressions of kindness
and regard, and we have every confidence that no elements will be
ever hereafter permitted to disturb either our ecclesiastical
relations or our personal friendship.
On his return from Canada, Dr. Alder wrote to Dr. Ryerson, under date
of the 17th September, expressing his grateful feelings at the result of
his visit. He said:--
I assure you of the recollection which I cherish of the candid and
manly part which you took, both in public and in private, in
connexion with the various important matters of business which were
brought before us during the sittings of the last Conference in
Toronto, as well as previous to the meeting of that assembly. I
have not failed in my communications since my return, to do you
that justice to which you are so well entitled; and I trust, as I
doubt not you do, that the good understanding which has thus been
restored, will be as permanent as it is gratifying. Much will
depend upon you, as well as upon myself, in securing the harmonious
working of the union which has been accomplished; and I shall
always be happy to receive from you free and full communications,
which will be regarded by me as confidential.
Dr. Alder in a subsequent letter, to Dr. Ryerson, said:--
In the _Watchman_ I have prefaced an account of our Missionary
Anniversary by a few observations, in which I have taken occasion
to bear testimony to the spirit and conduct of your brother
William, as well as of your own, with a view, not merely to perform
an act of justice to you, but to prepare the way for the
appointment of one, or you both, coming, either now, or at some
future period, in a representative character, to our
Conference,--an arrangement which, I am persuaded, will be
productive of much good in various ways.
In carrying out practically so great a measure as that of the
union, difficulties of no ordinary kind will be felt. I have
pressed upon, and fully explained our financial matter to, Earl
Grey, who has, I believe, written to Lord Elgin on the subject. I
think I have made Earl Grey understand the peculiarity of our case.
You must press the matter on your side.
In the union matter you must have the greatest practical freedom of
operation. I have explained my views to Dr. Dixon, your new
President, who sailed last Saturday in the best of spirits.
In a fraternal letter, written in July, 1847, to the Rev. Dr. Olin,
President of the Wesleyan University, Middletown, Conn., Dr. Ryerson
gave some particulars as to the union with the British Conference. He
said:--
You have, doubtless, ere this, heard that a complete adjustment of
past differences between the Wesleyan Conferences in England and
Canada, has been effected, and that provision has been made for a
perfect _oneness_ of their interests and labours in Upper Canada.
This important object has been accomplished with a cordiality, and
unanimity, and devotion, that I have never seen surpassed, and
without the loss--so far as has yet been ascertained--of a single
minister or member of either body, and to the universal
satisfaction and even joy of both parties. We look upon it with
gratitude and wonder, as the Lord's doing, and as marvellous beyond
expression in our eyes.
In a reply to this letter written to Dr. Ryerson, in September, 1847,
Dr. Olin discusses the question of the Union, and also the relations of
the Church, North and South, on the Slavery question:--
I do most cordially rejoice at the happy termination of your
negotiations with the Wesleyan body in England. I must confess,
however, that I have been somewhat disappointed at the results of
your attempts to get on as an independent Conference. In theorizing
upon the subject, I have concluded that union would be far more
likely to embarrass than to facilitate your movements. I have since
learned that there were disturbing influences not discernible by
observers at a distance, growing out of the occupancy of the field
by conflicting agencies; the heterogenous character of your
population and the power of home associations, etc. I rejoice that
you have overcome these various obstacles, and are likely to have
harmony for the future. All parties will probably be warned and
instructed by the temporary interruption in your connexional
relations. All must be now deeply impressed with the importance of
forbearance and concessions after an experience so memorable of the
necessity of union.
I deeply regret that you should have received anything but kindness
from our side of the line. I think I can assure you that, as a
Church, our sympathies are, and have been, strongly with you; but
the natural and spontaneous feelings of the Body are not well
expressed; and they are in imminent danger of being perverted on
certain questions, which, unfortunately, become party questions
amongst us. The Methodist Episcopal Church is passing through a
crisis. It has fallen upon her to decide momentous questions under
peculiar temptations to error. The ministers are pure and high,
above all liability to be influenced by corrupt motives; but we are
calamitously enough thrown into a position where we must judge
between ourselves and our brethren, with powerful interests and
more potent prejudices to mislead us. Beyond all reasonable doubt,
we are coming to an issue for which, it is my opinion, the Church
of Christ, the world and history, will not cease to reproach us.
And yet we are coming to that issue with a good conscience,
honestly, so far as party spirit and blind prejudice, and the most
unfortunate leading, has left us the power of being honest. I wish
my convictions of the right were not quite so unchangeably settled.
It would afford me unspeakable relief to be able to suspect that
the predestined course of the Church could be other than a flagrant
violation of justice. I would gladly surrender my opinion, if I
could avail myself of even the benefit of a doubt in favour of
retraction. How we shall hereafter be looked upon by the world, is
a consideration of less interest than another which perpetually
thrusts itself upon my fears--what will God pronounce upon our
policy? My only hope is in the indulgence wont to be extended to
errors, and even to high offences which are the result of haste,
excitement, or prejudice. All of these mitigations may be claimed
in anticipation in behalf of the measures which will certainly
prevail at our next General Conference. Of the vast majority, which
will deny to the South what I esteem their unquestionable rights, I
am sure I shall never suspect a man of doing an intentional wrong.
I hope your public sentiment and your press will enable to temper
their disapprobation with this needful infusion of charity.
After his return to England Rev. Dr. Dixon, in a letter to Dr. Ryerson,
thus referred to the impression which his visit to Canada made upon him.
He said:--
My impressions are strong respecting the importance of Methodism in
Canada. It is at present a glorious religious element in the
country, and will become much more powerful. The colony is destined
to become, either in its present, or some new connection, a great
empire. It is consequently of great importance to adapt your
religious system to existing things, preserving points of doctrine.
I must say, that I never think of my intercourse with you; my
journeys with your brother; my connection with the Conference; and
the kindness of the brethren, but with feelings of intense
interest. In imagination, I try to live everything over and over
again. Many faces and persons are imprinted on my mind; and almost
every scene through which I passed lives in vivid reality. I am
often journeying down your glorious lakes and rivers, gazing on
your woods and forests, and stretching myself in the expanse, as if
there were room to live and breathe. Then, the affection and
kindness of everybody! The people and the scenery agree. All is
magnificent in America. I hope you may be able, by the divine
blessing, to preserve the purity of religion amongst you. I have
strong feelings on one point--viz.: the necessity of giving to all
our movements an evangelic and aggressive character. We Methodists
are so fond of organizations of every sort, and hence of
legislating and placing everything under rule and order, that we
leave no room for extension and for development. I am convinced
that a religious system which does not act on the evangelic
principle; and, moreover, have good people free to work and
exercise the divine affection, must break down.
I consider myself much more in the character of an observer now,
than an actor in anything. I have finished my mission, as regards
public work. It ended in Canada; and the above are my last, and, I
believe will remain, my unalterable convictions. Our danger is
over-legislation; cramping the energies of living piety by decrees
and rules; laying too much weight on the springs of individual
movement; destroying the man in society, the committee, etc.
I am glad to hear that you preach constantly. This is all that I
care about--to endeavour to do some little good in the way of
saving souls. Noble work this! So let me intreat you never to let
your other avocations interfere with this glorious calling. It is
painful to see some men merge the ministerial character in some
pitiful clerkship--some book-keeping affair. And worst of all,
these parties take it into their head, generally amongst us, to
consider themselves and their office as much higher than that of
the messengers of Christ!
* * * * *
Two deaths of notable representative men in Canadian Methodism occurred
during 1846:--Rev. Thomas Whitehead and Rev. James Evans. Rev. Thomas
Whitehead was the venerated representative of the early pioneers of
Methodism in Upper Canada, and Rev. James Evans was a remarkable type of
the self-sacrificing and devoted missionaries of that Church in the
great North-west. A brief sketch of each of these ministers will
illustrate points in the history of Methodism in Upper Canada, without
which the account of Dr. Ryerson's career and labours would be
incomplete,--especially as he had to do with both of these ministers
during his lifetime. Rev. Mr. Whitehead was one of these so-called
"Yankee Methodists," whom Dr. Ryerson so often and so strenuously
defended against the charge of disloyalty; and Rev. James Evans was one
of the five brethren with whom he remonstrated so earnestly and yet so
kindly in 1833. (See page 131.)
Rev. Thomas Whitehead was in many respects a strongly-marked
representative man. He was elected President at the memorable Special
Conference held, in the dark days of the Church, in 1840. (Page 274.) A
characteristic letter from him to Dr. Ryerson will be found on page
276. Mr. Whitehead was born in Duchess County, New York, in December
1762, when it was still a British Province. He was, therefore, not a
"Yankee Methodist," but a United Empire Loyalist. He commenced his
ministry in 1783, and went on a mission to Nova Scotia and New
Brunswick, where he remained from 1786 until 1804. In September, 1806,
he was sent by Bishop Asbury to Upper Canada, where he resided for forty
years. He preached his last sermon on Christmas Day, 1845. He was in the
ministry 62 years, and died at Burford in January, 1846, aged 83 years.
Rev. James Evans was one of the most noted missionaries of the
North-west; and was specially so from the fact that, by his wonderful
inventions of the syllabic character in the Cree language, he has
conferred untold blessings upon the Indian tribes and missions of all
the Churches in that vast North-West territory, in which he only was
permitted to labour for six years.
Mr. Evans was born in England in 1800. He was converted in Upper Canada,
and in 1830 entered the Christian ministry, and was a member of the
Canada Conference from that year. In 1840 he volunteered his services as
a missionary to the North-west. At his station of Norway House, he
devoted himself to his great work. Rev. E. R. Young, in the _Canadian
Methodist Magazine_ for November, 1882, thus speaks of Mr. Evans'
eminent service to the mission cause by his famous invention. He says:--
The invention of what are known as the syllabic characters was
undoubtedly Mr. Evans' greatest work, and to his unaided genius
belongs the honour of devising and then perfecting this alphabet
which has been such a blessing to thousands of Cree Indians. The
principle on which the characters are formed is the phonetic. There
are no silent letters. Each character represents a syllable, hence
no spelling is required. As soon as the alphabet is mastered, the
student can commence at the first chapter in Genesis and read on,
slowly of course, at first, but in a few days with surprising
facility.
When the invention became more extensively known, and other
Churches desired to avail themselves of its benefits, the British
and Foreign Bible Society nobly came to the help of our own, and
the kindred Churches having missions in the North West, and with
their usual princely style of doing things, for years have been
printing, and gratuitously furnishing to the different Cree Indian
missions, all the copies of the Sacred Word they require.
Rev. Mr. Young relates an interesting anecdote connected with this
alphabet, which occurred when he was a missionary in the North-West.
During Lord Dufferin's visit there he conversed with Mr. Young in regard
to the Indians in these distant regions, and expressed his solicitude
for the welfare and happiness of these wandering races, and made general
enquires in reference to missionary work among them. Mr. Young adds:--
In mentioning the helps I had in my work, I showed him my Cree
Indian Testament, in Evans' Syllabic Characters, and explained the
invention to him. At once his curiosity was excited, and jumping up
he hurried off for pen and paper, and had me write out the whole
alphabet for him, and then with that glee and vivacity for which
His Lordship was so noted, he constituted me his teacher, and
commenced at once to master them. Their simplicity, and yet
wonderful adaptation for their designed work became clearly
recognized by him, for in a short time he read a portion of the
Lord's Prayer. Lord Dufferin became quite excited, and, getting up
from his chair, and holding the Testament in his hand, exclaimed,
"Why, Mr. Young, what a blessing to humanity the man was who
invented that alphabet!" Then continuing, he added, "I profess to
be a kind of literary man myself, and try to keep up my reading of
what is going on, but I never heard of this before. The fact is,"
he added, "the nation has given many a man a title, and a pension,
and then a resting-place, and a monument in Westminster Abbey, who
never did half so much for their fellow-creatures." Then turning to
me again, he asked, "Who did you say was the author, or inventor of
the characters?" "The Rev. James Evans," I replied. "Well, why is
it, I never heard of him before, I wonder?" he answered. My reply
was, "Well, my lord, perhaps the reason why you never heard before
of him was, because he was a humble, modest Methodist preacher."
With a laugh he replied, "That may have been it," and then the
conversation changed. (Pages 437, 438.)
The following are examples of the
CREE SYLLABIC CHARACTERS.
[Cree characters] a, e, oo, ah.
[Cree characters] pa, pe, poo, pah.
[Cree characters] ta, te, tooh, tah.
[Cree characters] cha, che, choo, chah.
[Cree characters] na, ne, noo, nah.
[Cree characters] ka, ke, koo, kah.
[Cree characters] ma, mee, moo, mah.
[Cree characters] sa, see, soo, sah.
[Cree characters] ya, yee, yoo, yah.
The following is the mode of forming words:--
[Cree characters] Mah-ne-tooh--Great Spirit.
[Cree characters] Oo-mee-mee--Dove.
[Cree characters] Nah-pah-ne--Flour-making.
FOOTNOTES:
[130] In a letter to him from the Rev. A. Green, dated November, 1842,
the desirability of a union with the Episcopal Methodists was pressed
upon his attention. Mr. Green said:--The Episcopal Methodists are
gaining ground in many circuits. It would be of much service to us,
could we take them on board the old ship again. I learn from Brother
Richardson that they are anxious for this, and that Mr. Reynolds would
give up his claims, and many of their preachers would retire, could they
effect it. But in some parts of the Province the re-union would be
opposed; and some members have said, that they would even join the
English missionaries if we were to be united with them (the Episcopals).
You are a wise man, tell us what we should do. If we do not take steps
soon, it will be entirely too late. I understand that they talk of
having a Bishop elected soon,--and should Mr. Richardson or Mr. Smith be
appointed, it would add greatly to the influence of the party; and yet I
cannot now see what steps we could safely take, until we settle the
English Union question, for they would take advantage, I fear, of such a
reconciliation, to prejudice the old country members against us.
I wish also to obtain your views upon the propriety of petitioning the
Governor-General, at once, for a share of the public money granted for
the purchase of Sabbath-school books. The sum of £150 goes into the
hands of Dr. Strachan annually, for that purpose; and where is it? We
are never benefited a farthing by it! Could we obtain one-half, or even
one-third of the sum for our schools, it would be of great service to
them.[b]
[b] I have no copy of the reply sent to this letter. The letter itself,
however, shows what subjects were being discussed in Methodist circles
in 1842.
[131] Epochs of Canadian Methodism, pages 292-294.
[132] Dr. Thomas Bond, Editor of the New York _Christian Advocate_,
having suggested in December, 1842, the basis of settlement of the
differences between the English and Canadian Conferences, Rev. W. M.
Harvard wrote from Quebec to Dr. Bond, dissenting from his proposition.
Dr. Bond, in a letter to Dr. Ryerson, commenting on Mr. Harvard's
objections, thus refers to the Canadian Connexion:
The Canada Conference was sound in the faith, and well affected to
primitive Wesleyan discipline, and when it came of age, the Methodist
Episcopal Connexion allowed them, and aided them, to go to housekeeping
by themselves. We knew of no objection on either subject, when we, with
the kindest of feelings, have now hinted at the possibility of an
amicable arrangement between our British and Canadian brethren.
CHAPTER L.
1846-1854.
Miscellaneous Events and Incidents of 1846-1854.
After his return from England, Dr. Ryerson was engaged in the
preparation of his Report on a "System of Public Instruction for Upper
Canada," from which I have given extracts on page 368. In that report he
gave the broad outlines of his proposed scheme of education, and fully
explained the principles of the system which he proposed to found. He
also prepared a draft of a Bill designed to give effect to some of the
most pressing of his recommendations.
In a letter to a friend, dated 18th April, 1846, he said:--My report on
a system of public elementary instruction occupies nearly 400 pages of
foolscap. It will explain to all parties what I think, desire, and
intend. But I would not hesitate to resign my situation to-morrow, and
take my place and portion as a Methodist preacher, if I thought I could
be as useful in that position to the country at large. My travels have
added to my limited stock of knowledge, but they have not altered my
principles, or changed my feelings.
To another friend he wrote about the same time:--As the science of civil
government is the most uncertain of the uncertain sciences, if I should
fail in my exertions--if counteracting influences should intervene which
I cannot now foresee, and give success to the opposition against me, or
paralyze my influence--I would not remain in office a day, or would I
retain it any longer than I could render it a means of strength to our
system of government as well as of good to the country. I would rather
break stones on the street than be a dead weight to any government, or
in any community.
* * * * *
It may be of interest at the present time to learn what was Dr.
Ryerson's opinion of Mr. Gladstone in 1845. Writing in the _Guardian_ of
March 18th, 1846, in reply to strictures on that statesman, Dr. Ryerson
said:--During my late tour in Europe, I was one evening present at the
proceedings of the British House of Commons, and heard Mr. Gladstone,
the Secretary of State for the Colonies, avow a change in his opinions
in regard to ecclesiastical and educational matters. Sir Robert Peel's
Government had determined to establish several colleges in Ireland, not
connected with the Established Church. Mr Gladstone, in his book on
"Church and State," had maintained that the National Church was the only
medium through which the Legislature ought to instruct the nation in
every department of knowledge.... There was, therefore, a complete
antagonism between Sir Robert Peel's policy and Mr. Gladstone's book. On
the night I was present, Mr. Gladstone ... frankly stated that he had
written a book advocating an opposite policy to that which Her Majesty's
Government had deemed it their duty to pursue, in establishing secondary
colleges in Ireland; that further reflection and experience had
convinced him that his views were not correct; that he fully concurred
in the policy of the Government in respect to those colleges, and
should, as an individual member of Parliament, give it his support; but
that should he do so as a Minister of the Crown, after having publicly
avowed very different sentiments, he would not be in a position to place
his motives of action above suspicion. To exonerate himself, therefore,
from the imputation, or suspicion, of being actuated by a love of office
or power, to support, as a Minister of State, what he condemned as an
author, he resigned his office; and to do justice to his present
convictions of what he conceived the interests of Ireland demanded, he
avowed his change of opinion, and his determination to support the Irish
policy of Sir Robert Peel, with whom he declared he cordially concurred
in every measure which had been discussed in the Cabinet.
Sir Robert Peel followed in a beautiful and touching speech--appealing
to the sacrifice which the Cabinet had made in the loss of so able a
member as Mr. Gladstone, as a proof of the sincerity of the Government,
and the strength of its convictions in its Irish educational policy.
The conduct of those two distinguished statesmen (Dr. Ryerson adds)
towards each other on that occasion, presented one of the finest
examples of strong personal friendship between two public men that I
ever witnessed.
* * * * *
No man excelled Dr. Ryerson in his respect and love for his parents.
This was apparent from many incidents, and from the tone of his mother's
and father's letters to him, as given in this volume. He generally wrote
to them at the beginning of each year. His letter dated Toronto, 1st
January, 1847, is, however, the only one which I have. It is as
follows:--
My Dear and Most Venerated Parents,--
As heretofore, the first work of my pen is employed in presenting
to you my filial respects, and offering you my dutiful and
affectionate congratulations at the commencement of another
year,--lifting up, as I most earnestly do, my heart to Almighty
God, that, having brought you at so advanced an age to the
beginning of this year. He will make it the happiest, as well as
the holiest of your lives! I cannot but regard the lengthening out
of your earthly pilgrimage so much beyond the ordinary period of
human life--so much beyond what I expect to reach--as a special
means and call of God to become fully ripe for heaven. You stand a
long time on the margin of eternity--may that margin prove the
verge of eternal glory! As the body grows feeble, may the soul grow
strong! As the bodily sight becomes dim, may the heavenly vision
become brighter, and the heavenly aspirations and assurances
stronger! How great the privilege, and how soul-cheering the
thought, especially at the approach of death, to know that "your
life is hid with Christ in God." It is in safe keeping, and the
disclosure of it bye-and-bye will be glorious beyond conception;
for "when Christ, who is our life, shall appear, shall we then
appear like Him in glory." The sufferings of the present life,
however severe and protracted, are not worthy to be compared with
the glory which that life shall reveal. O, my dear parents, may
that glory be yours in all the fulness of its splendour, and in all
the perfection of its beatitudes!
I thankfully acknowledge the receipt of the two pairs of socks--the
last of the many like tokens of my Mother's affection, and the work
of her own hands. I scarcely ever put them on without a gush of
feeling which is not easily suppressed. They every day remind me of
the hand which sustained my infancy and guided my childhood, and
the heart which has crowned my life with its tenderest solicitudes,
and most fervent and, I believe, effectual prayers. Praised be God
above all earthly things, for such a Mother! May I not prove an
unfaithful son!
We are all well. I was at brother George's to-day. I hope to see
you in the course of the winter. Each of the family unite with me
in expressions of dutiful respect and affection to you. Please
remember me to all those who reside with you, and to all relatives,
and old acquaintances and neighbours.
With daily prayers at the family altar for your health, comfort and
happiness, and anxiously desirous of hearing from you, I am, my
most honoured Parents, your affectionate son,
Toronto, 2nd January, 1847.
Egerton Ryerson.
Between Dr. Ryerson and Rev. Peter Jones a life-long friendship existed.
In a note to Dr. Ryerson, dated Credit, Nov. 1st, 1847, Mr. Jones says:
I had the pleasure of receiving a set of your School Reports, for which
I thank you from the bottom of my heart, and I trust I shall receive
much valuable information which may prove beneficial in our Indian
School schemes.[133] My brother, I thank you for all the kindness you
have ever shown to me and my dear family, and I hope and pray that the
friendship which was formed between us many years ago will last for
ever. Pray for us. Rev. Peter Jones had been an inmate of Dr. Ryerson's
house during his last illness in 1856. As the crisis approached he
desired to return to his own home in Brantford. After he reached there,
Ven. Archdeacon Nelles visited him, and in a note to Dr. Ryerson, dated
25th June, said:--Mr. Jones has been gradually sinking ever since his
return from Toronto. He enjoys great peace of mind, and I believe truly
trusts on that Saviour whom he has so often pointed out to others as the
only refuge and hope of poor sinners. May my last end be like his.
* * * * *
After the change of administration, consequent on the result of the
recent elections, it was confidently stated that Dr. Ryerson would be
removed from office. Having written to his brother John on the subject,
his brother replied, on the 9th of February, 1847, as follows: It is
quite certain that combined and powerful efforts are being made against
you by certain parties, no doubt with a determination to destroy you as
a public man, if they can. The feeling of the "radical" party is most
inveterate. They are determined, by hook or by crook, to turn you out of
the office of Chief Superintendent of Education. All the stir among the
District Councils, and about the school law, etc., are but the schemes
and measures set on foot by the party in power for the purpose of
compassing the great object in view of ousting the "Superintendent of
Education."
* * * * *
In a letter which I received from Dr. Ryerson, while at the Belleville
Conference, dated June 13th, 1848, he said:--Every distinction has been
shown me in the appointments and arrangements of the Conference; and I
believe the great body of the preachers will sustain me in all future
contingencies.
The Conference thus far has been the most delightful I ever attended. I
took the evening service of yesterday, and preached with considerable
freedom to an immense congregation; text, John xvii. 17--first part of
verse.
There has been an advancement in every department of the interests of
our Church during the year. This is very encouraging, and a ground of
special thankfulness.
Judge then of Dr. Ryerson's surprise and of mine on seeing the following
paragraph in the _Globe_ newspaper, about the same time:
It is said that Egerton Ryerson is trying to get the Methodist
Conference to deprive him of his clerical standing, because of his
holding a permanent Government situation.
In the course of his reply, Dr. Ryerson said:--When the situation in
connection with elementary education was offered to me, in February,
1844, before replying to the offer, I laid the letter containing it
before the large Executive Committee of the Wesleyan Conference, and was
authorized by that disinterested body to accept of the appointment.
When, in the latter part of the May following, I placed the appointment
again at the disposal of the Government, as absolutely as if no offer
had ever been made or accepted, and determined in June not to accept it
under any circumstances, should the offer again be made, a written
address was got up to me, numerously signed by the Wesleyan ministers of
the Conference which assembled that month, requesting me not to refuse
it, should the offer be again made; and it is to the influence of that
judgment, in which I confided more than in my own feelings, that the
_Globe_ and some other papers are indebted for the opportunity and
privilege of abusing me in my present position these last four years.
Sir, the Wesleyan Conference is as incapable of entertaining such a
proposition as you have attributed to me, as I am indisposed to make it;
and, though I am not insensible to the honour and importance of my
educational office, I hold it as in all respects consistent with my
relations and obligations to the Church, through whose instrumentality I
have received infinitely greater blessings than it is in the power of
any civil government to bestow.
At the proper time I shall be prepared to show, that I was personally as
disinterested (whether right or wrong) in what I wrote in 1844, as in
what I wrote in 1838 and 1839 in connection with the names of Marshall
S. Bidwell and J. S. Howard, Esquires. I have ever maintained since 1827
what appeared to me right and important principles, regardless of man in
high or low places, and favour or oppose what party it might. I have
never borrowed my doctrines from the conclaves or councils of party, nor
bowed my neck to its yoke; nor have I made my office subservient to its
interests in any shape or form, but to the interest of the country at
large, so far as in my power, irrespective of sect or party. I should
contemn myself if I could perform one act or say one word to court party
favour, or avert party vengeance, if such exists. I shall do as I have
done, endeavour faithfully to perform the duties and fulfil the trusts
imposed upon me, and leave the future, as well as the past, to the
judgement of my native country, for the equal rights of all classes of
whose inhabitants I contended in "perilous times," and for years before
the political existence of the chief public men of any party in Canada,
with the exception of the Hon. William Morris.
The question, incidentally raised by the _Globe_ newspaper, after the
Conference of 1848, as to Dr. Ryerson's retaining a ministerial
_status_, while holding and administering a civil office was brought up
at the next Conference, held at Hamilton, in June, 1849. In a letter to
me from the Conference, dated 11th of the month, he said:--I brought my
position before the Conference in consequence of a remark from one of
the preachers, saying, while Mr. Playter's case was under consideration,
"that there was a general opposition among the members of the
Conference, occupying the position that Mr. Playter did, or a civil
situation." Several of the senior members of the Conference spoke in a
very complimentary way respecting me; and a strong satisfaction was
expressed from all parts of the Conference with my position--the manner
in which I had filled it, and consulted the interests of the
Church--expressing their earnest desire that I would continue in it.
In a letter to Dr. Ryerson from his brother, Rev. E. M. Ryerson, from
Brantford, on July 2nd, 1848, it would appear, from the foregoing, that
some hostile movement was being generally formed against him. His
brother said:--I found upon my return from Conference to Brantford that
the general topic of conversation was your dismissal from your present
office. When I told them it was not the case, some rejoiced, while
silent grief and disappointment were visible on the countenances of
others.
* * * * *
Dr. Ryerson having been called to Montreal on educational matters, in
April, 1849, wrote a letter to me from that city, dated 27th of the
month, in which he gave a graphic account of the state of the city
during the crisis at that time:--You may well imagine my surprise and
regret, on reaching Lachine yesterday, to learn that the Parliament
House had been burnt, together with a noble library of 25,000 volumes,
containing records of valuable books which can never be replaced. On
arriving in Montreal, I found nothing but confusion and excitement,
which, instead of subsiding, are increasing, and it is apprehended that
to-morrow will be a more serious day than any that has preceded it.
Yesterday, the court of the Government House was filled with soldiers,
while the street in front of it was crowded with a multitude, who
saluted every appearance of any members of the Executive Council, or any
of their Parliamentary supporters with hisses and groans. This continued
from one o'clock until eight or nine o'clock in the evening. Mr.
Lafontaine came out in care of Colonel Antrobus and soldiers, to get
into a cab, and he was pelted with eggs and stones. Not one of the
Ministers can walk the streets. Last night Mr. Lafontaine's house was
sacked, and his library destroyed; and Mr. Hincks' house was also
sacked, but he had removed nearly all of his furniture, as well as his
family. The scene of to-day was similar to that of yesterday. This
afternoon a meeting of several thousands of persons was held in the
Champs de Mars. I heard some of the speeches. They were moderate in
tone, but the feelings of disgust and contempt for Lord Elgin exceed all
conception. There have been two vast assemblages this evening--the one
French, the other British--in different parts of the city. Companies of
soldiers have been stationed in the streets between them, preventing
persons going from one party to the other. I have heard their shoutings
since I commenced this letter.
The next day Dr. Ryerson wrote to me again to say:--Nothing has occurred
in the city since last night, worth noticing. Soldiers meet you at every
turn almost. Two companies of soldiers were stationed to-day in the
building in which the Legislative Assembly met. There was a long debate
on the causes of the recent disturbances, and strong protestations from
all sides of the House against "annexation."
* * * * *