talented men in the United States are very rarely placed at the
head of affairs, and it must be acknowledged that such has been the
result in proportion as democracy has outstripped its former
limits. The race of American statesmen has evidently dwindled most
remarkably in the course of the last fifty years.
These remarks of M. de Tocqueville apply to some extent to Canada where
there has been a manifest decline in the standing and ability of our
public men. There are exceptions, but what instances have we now of the
representatives or equals of the Robinsons, the Macaulays, the Bidwells,
the Jones', the Lafontaines, the Hagermans, the Baldwins, the Drapers,
the Willsons, and many other political men of forty and twenty years
ago?[149] To what is this decline in public men, in an otherwise
advancing country, to be ascribed but to the unscrupulous partizanship
of the press and politics, which blacken character instead of discussing
principles, which fight for office instead of for the public good, and
that by a barbarous system of moral assassination, instead of public men
respecting and protecting each other's standing, and rivalling each
other's deeds of greatness and usefulness. In England, the character of
public men is regarded as the most precious property of the nation; and
if the personal character of any member of Parliament, or other public
man, is assailed by the public press or otherwise, you will see
opponents as well as friends rallying round the assailed, and sustaining
and shielding him by their testimony, as a matter of common or national
concern. When Sir Robert Peel, in the last great debate of his life,
objected to Lord Palmerston's Grecian policy, he referred to Lord
Palmerston's character and abilities--not to depreciate and calumniate
his great rival, but to exclaim, amid the applause of the House of
Commons, "We are proud of the man! And England is proud of the man!" But
in Canada, the language of a partizan press and politician is "down with
the man; execrate and execute the man as a corruptionist and traitor!"
It is with a view to the best interests of our whole country, that I
have thus addressed my fellow countrymen, contributing the results of my
best thoughts and experience to your beginning well, that you may do
well and be well under our new Dominion, though I cannot expect long to
enjoy it. My nearly half a century of public life is approaching its
close. I am soon to account for both my words and my deeds. I have
little to hope or fear from man. But I wish before I go hence to see my
fellow citizens of all sects and parties unite in commencing a new
system of government for our country and posterity,
That all things may be so ordered and settled by their endeavours,
upon the best and surest foundations, that peace and happiness,
truth and justice, religion and piety, may be established among us
for all generations.
On the publication of this Address, Dr. Ryerson received commendatory
letters from various gentlemen throughout the Province. I select three.
The first is from Mr. Jasper J. Gilkison, Brantford, dated August
10th:--
As a Canadian and British subject, permit me to thank you for the
admirable pamphlet which you have had published, as it is the one
thing wanted for the instruction and guidance of the people of the
Dominion, aye, and for the world. It should be circulated free
throughout the land. Never in the history of any country did a more
favourable opportunity arise to test the fallacy that good
government can alone emanate from that of party. We have, in fact,
had an illustration of no-party government during the past few
years productive of peace and quiet among us, and it could be
continued indefinitely, were it not for bad-hearted men.
Were men actuated solely for the welfare and progress of our
country, the Government could most successfully be carried on, much
in the same way as a great company; the Executive and Parliament
being somewhat analagous to a board of directors and shareholders.
Your pamphlet cannot fail to be productive of immense good, for it
will cause reflection on a subject but little thought of by many
with a vast amount of ignorance as to the true form of government
calculated to confer the greatest benefits and happiness on a
people, and which, I think, you have clearly pointed out. In our
present position, were the Government to try the experiment, and
take Parliament into its counsels, I fancy it would succeed, by all
uniting for the common good.
The second was from Mr. Wm. (now Judge) Elliot, dated London, August
20th:--
Allow me to express to you a sense of gratitude, which I feel in
common, I trust, with all reasonable people, on the occasion of
your address on the political aspect of the Dominion of Canada.
I have had some limited connection with political contests in this
part of the Province, and what I have seen and learned impels me to
offer you my humble thanks for this contribution to our political
treasury.
Whether we have arrived at such a condition of society as entirely
to discard party political conflict may, I suppose, admit of
serious doubt. But that at this juncture your admonitions are most
valuable, all who reflect on the future will, I think, acknowledge.
In more than one electoral contest already, I have referred, I
believe with good effect, to your remarks, and I beg of you to
allow me the pleasure of thus acknowledging the value of your
counsel. That you may long be spared to advance the educational
interests of the country, and to allay the discord and acrimony of
faction, is the sincere prayer of yours faithfully,
William Elliot.
The third from a gentleman in Matilda:--
Permit me to thank you for the seasonable pamphlet you have issued
on the Dominion, and the sound advice it contains, addressed to the
people of this country. I have read it with pleasure, and am of
opinion that it should be scattered broadcast, for the
consideration of electors at this very important juncture.
FOOTNOTES:
[149] It affords me pleasure to remark, and I do so without any
reference to the political opinions or relations of the gentlemen
concerned, that some of our rising Canadians have entered, and others
are seeking an entrance into Parliamentary life upon the ground of their
own avowed principles, personal character and merit, as free men, and to
exercise their talents as such, and not as the articled confederates, or
protegés, or joints in the tail of partizanship. Free and independent
men in the Legislature, as in the country, are the best counterpoise to
faction, and the mainspring to a nation's progress and greatness.
Faction dreads independent men; patriotism requires them.
CHAPTER LXII.
1868-1869.
Correspondence with Hon. George Brown.--Dr. Punshon.
On the 24th of March, Dr. Ryerson addressed the following letter to the
Hon. George Brown:--
I desire, on this the 65th anniversary of my birth, to assure you of my
hearty forgiveness of the personal wrongs which, I think, you have done
me in past years, and of my forgetfulness of them so far, at least, as
involves the least unkindness and unfriendliness of feeling.
To express free and independent opinions on the public acts of public
men, to animadvert severely upon them when considered censurable, is
both the right and duty of the press; nor have I ever been discourteous,
or felt any animosity towards those who have censured my official acts,
or denounced my opinions. Had I considered that you had done nothing
more in regard to myself, I should have felt and acted differently from
what I have done in regard to you--the only public man in Canada with
whom I have not been on speaking and personally friendly terms. But
while I wish in no way to influence your judgment and proceedings in
relation to myself, I beg to say that I cherish no other than feelings
of good will, with which I hope to (as I soon must) stand before the
Judge of all the earth--imploring, as well as granting forgiveness for
all the wrong deeds done in the body.
On the same day Mr. Brown replied as follows:--
I have received your letter of this day, and note its contents.
I am entirely unconscious of any "personal wrong" ever done you by me,
and had no thought of receiving "forgiveness" at your hands.
What I have said or written of your public conduct or writings has been
dictated solely by a sense of public duty, and has never, I feel
confident, exceeded the bounds of legitimate criticism, in view of all
attendant circumstances. What has been written of you in the columns of
the _Globe_ newspaper, so far as I have observed, has been always
restrained within the limits of fair criticism toward one holding a
position of public trust.
As to your personal attacks on myself--those who pursue the fearless
course as a politician and public journalist that I have done for a
quarter of a century, cannot expect to escape abuse and
misrepresentation; and assuredly your assaults have never affected my
course toward you in the slightest degree. Your series of letters
printed in the _Leader_ newspaper some years ago, were not, I am told,
conceived in a very Christian spirit, but I was ill at the time they
were published, and have never read them. Your dragging my name into
your controversy with the Messrs. Campbell--on a matter with which I had
no personal concern whatever--was one of those devices unhappily too
often resorted to in political squabbles to be capable of exciting more
than momentary indignation.
The following letter from Dr. Ryerson to Mr. Brown, dated Toronto, April
13th, closed the correspondence:--Your note of the 24th ult., did not
reach me until Saturday evening--night before last.
I wrote my note of that date with the view of forgetting, rather than
reviving, the recollection of past discussions.
I never objected to the severest criticisms of my "public conduct or
writings." My remarks had sole reference to your "personal attacks" and
"assaults," made over your own name, and involving all that was dear to
me as a man, and a father, and a Christian--"personal attacks" and
"assaults" to which my letters in the _Leader_ referred to by you, and
which you had engaged to insert in the _Globe_, but afterwards refused,
were a reply; in the course of which I convicted you not only of many
misstatements, but of seven distinct forgeries--you, by additions,
professing to quote from me in seven instances the very reverse of what
I had written, and your having done all this to sustain "personal
attacks" and "assaults" upon me.
Besides this, on at least two subsequent occasions, you charged me with
what involved an imputation of dishonesty; and when I transmitted to you
copies of official correspondence relating to the subject of your
allegations, and refuting them, you refused to insert it in the _Globe_,
and left your false accusations unretracted to this day.
It was to such "personal attacks" and "assaults" on your part against
me, and not to any legitimate criticisms upon my "public conduct or
writings," that I referred in my letter of the 24th ult.
I admit the general fairness of the _Globe_ towards me during the last
few months; but that does not alter the character of your former
"personal attacks" and "assaults" upon me, and to which alone what you
call my "personal attacks" and "assaults" upon you were but defensive
replies and rejoinders.
I certainly have no reason to be dissatisfied with the results of such
"personal attacks" and replies, notwithstanding your great advantage in
having a powerful press at your disposal; and I am prepared for the
future, as I have been for the past, though I wish, if possible, to live
peaceably with all men.
* * * * *
Dr. Ryerson having been appointed delegate (with Dr. Punshon) to the
American General Conference of 1868, at Chicago, he wrote to me from
that city on the 14th of May:--
On our way here we stopped at London, where Mr. Punshon lectured
nobly. We reached here Tuesday evening, and were most heartily
welcomed by Bishop Janes, and by our hosts.
We were introduced to the Conference to-day, and were most
cordially received. Mr. Punshon was introduced by Bishop Janes, and
made a touching and noble address, which won the hearts of the
Conference, and vast audience, and was frequently and loudly
cheered.
I was introduced heartily and eulogistically by Bishop Simpson, and
addressed the Conference. The latter part of my address was warmly
cheered.
Rev. Dr. Richey, President, and Representative of the Eastern
Conference of British America, was introduced by Bishop Simpson,
and made a very excellent address to the Conference.
Mr. Punshon preached powerfully and gloriously before the
Conference and an immense crowd to-day; all were delighted, and
seemed deeply affected.
On the 18th of May, Dr. Ryerson wrote again to me:--
Mr. Punshon has made a wonderful impression here by his addresses
and discourses, beyond any thing they have ever heard from the
pulpit and the platform. He is to lecture to-morrow evening in the
Opera House--the largest room in Chicago--and there is a great rage
to get tickets. He preached there yesterday afternoon to several
thousand persons, a great part of whom were affected to tears
several times. I trust that many sinners were awakened, while
believers were greatly comforted and encouraged.
We went out on Saturday on an excursion train to Clinton, in Iowa,
145 miles west of this, crossing the Mississippi there, by
railroad, and crossing the prairies. The people of
Clinton--Presbyterians, etc., and Methodists--united, and prepared
an excellent dinner for three hundred and six persons, after which
speeches were delivered. The North-West Railroad Company prepared
the excursion gratuitously for the General Conference.
Dr. Ryerson having addressed a request to the British Conference for the
re-appointment of Rev. W. M. Punshon to Canada, Rev. Gervase Smith
replied on the 17th of August:--
Your first request was complied with without much debate. Mr.
Punshon is transferred to you for a term. The second request raised
a long discussion; the result of which was that you should be left
to elect your own President next year. Mr. Arthur, Drs. Waddy and
Rigg, and others, pleaded for Mr. Punshon's appointment on the
ground that the preceding vote placed him under Canadian
jurisdiction. But there were others who were influenced by the
consideration that to leave you to elect your own President, would
doubtless lead to Mr. Punshon's election. I pray that you all may
be guided rightly at this important juncture.
Dr. Punshon's continued residence in Canada was a source of great
delight to Dr. Ryerson. Of the wonderfully beneficial effects upon
Canadian Methodism of that memorable visit, it is not necessary that I
should speak. The hallowed memories of those days are engraven on
thousands of hearts on both sides of the lines.
Rev. Dr. R. F. Burns, of the Fort Massey Presbyterian Church, Halifax,
in a letter to the _Presbyterian Witness_, gives the following graphic
account of the visit of Drs. Ryerson, Punshon, and Richey to the General
Conference at Chicago. The _Wesleyan_, of Halifax, speaking of Dr.
Burns' letter, says:--The reminiscence is of special interest to the
editor of this paper, as he was one of the party who lunched with Dr.
Ryerson at Dr. Burns' on the occasion mentioned. Dr. Burns says:--
A memory of the worthy man comes up which you will excuse me for
jotting down. In the summer of 1868, during my residence in
Chicago, the Quadrennial Convention of the Methodist Episcopal
Church was held. It was then that I first made the acquaintance of
Dr. Punshon, who came out as delegate from the English Conference
to that great gathering. Dr. Matthew Richey was there representing
the Methodism of Eastern, and Dr. Ryerson of Western Canada. Quite
a colony of Canadian Methodists came over, including my old friend
Rev. A. F. Bland, to whom the celebrated Robert Collyer expressed
himself more indebted than to any other living man.
I invited several of the Methodist brethren to luncheon--Drs.
Ryerson and Richey of the number--(Punshon had a prior engagement).
Ryerson had given his speech that forenoon, and Richey too, with
characteristic ability, representing the two Canadian Conferences.
Dr. Richey had, a little before, met with the accident, but yet
though he had aged and failed considerably since the days when I
counted him the beau-ideal of elegance in manner and style in
pulpit and on platform, he bore himself with much of his former
stately demeanour and fine felicity of diction. Ryerson was hale
and hearty as of yore, and with perhaps less of the old tendency to
tremble while speaking which surprised me so much when I first
witnessed it, for, under the influence of strong feeling, and a
sort of constitutional timidity, linked in him with indomitable
pluck, his limbs--indeed often his whole massive frame--so shook
that I have felt the platform quiver. The Rev. George Goodson told
me in an undertone of an unkind remark made by a distinguished
member of the Conference to his neighbour as Dr. Ryerson got up to
speak, and that he had rebuked him for it, not knowing at the time
who he was. This gentleman, it came out in course of conversation,
was closely related to Elder Henry Ryan, a well-known minister in
the old Canada Methodist Church, with whom Dr. Ryerson, in his
early days, carried on a keen warfare. The Ryan-Ryerson controversy
is one with which the older Canadian Methodists are familiar.
Without hinting at the rudeness of his relative, I alluded to Elder
Ryan when conversing with Dr. Ryerson, and got from him in graphic
detail, the history of that ancient controversy in which he was a
principal party. It was very keen while it lasted, but there was no
bitter animus in the recital--though the old war horse pricked up
his ears and seemed to "hear the sound of battle from afar." I then
discovered a reason for the sharp tone of the gentleman's remarks,
aforesaid, which drew forth Brother Goodson's rebuke. Though but
four years of age when he left Canada, he had imbibed a dislike to
his old relative's chief antagonist, and to the very people amongst
whom the Ryerson party had proved victorious. Hence his remark on
another occasion to a lady friend of mine, with reference to his
early connection with Canada, to the effect that he was "ashamed of
being born there," which so roused her patriotic spirit that she
promptly retorted: "Well, I am ashamed of you for saying so." The
gentleman was then one of the rising hopes of that great
denomination, and has since risen to a foremost rank in it. When
this little incident was mentioned to Dr. Ryerson, he richly
enjoyed it, and before leaving the house, with his native
gallantry, he expressed a desire to use the privileges of an old
man towards the fair defendress of her country's honour, saying,
naively, as we all stood, before parting in the hall, "I would like
to kiss you for your patriotism?" (See chapter vii.)
While at Peake's Island, near Portland, Maine, in 1869, Dr. Ryerson met
with a serious accident, which nearly proved fatal. In a letter to me,
he said:--
On Monday a plank from the wharf to a vessel, on the outside of
which lay our boat, fell and precipitated me some feet on the deck
of the vessel; I falling on my head, shoulder, and side. I was
stunned and much injured, and have suffered much from my side; but
I am now getting better and am able to dress myself, and to use my
right arm. My head came within six inches of the band which
surrounds the hatchway. There was thus but six inches between me
and sudden death! I am truly thankful for my deliverance, and for
my blessings.
CHAPTER LXIII.
1870-1875.
Miscellaneous Closing Events and Correspondence.
On the 23rd of April, 1870, Rev. Drs. Punshon, Wood and Taylor, Chairman
and Secretaries of the Central Board of Wesleyan Missions, addressed a
letter to Sir George Cartier, Minister of Militia, on the subject of
sending a Methodist chaplain with the Red River expedition under General
Lindsay and the present Lord Wolseley. In their letter they said:--
Believing that many who will volunteer to complete this enterprize
will be members of our own church, we are desirous of securing your
official sanction to the appointment of a Wesleyan Minister as
Chaplain to that portion of the military expedition who are
professedly attached to our doctrines and ordinances, upon such
terms as may be agreed upon, affecting personal rights and military
operations and duties.
This letter was merely acknowledged, and no action was taken upon it. In
the following June Conference, the subject was brought up, and much
feeling was evoked at Sir George Cartier's apparent want of courtesy to
the Missionary Board. Sir Alexander Campbell, on seeing a report of the
Conference proceedings on the subject, wrote a very kind note to Dr.
Ryerson, in which he expressed his opinion that some mistake must have
occurred in the matter, and that he was sure no discourtesy was thought
of on the part of Sir George Cartier. To this note Dr. Ryerson replied
on the 18th of June:--
I yesterday received your very kind letter of the 13th inst. I think you
know too well my high respect, and even affection for you, and my
expectations long since formed of your success and usefulness to the
country, as a public man, to doubt my implicit confidence in any
statement made by you, and my desire to meet your views as far as
possible.
In the matter as relating to Sir George E. Cartier, I may remark, that
the President of the Wesleyan Conference stated to me the week before
its annual meeting, that a communication had been addressed by himself,
and the Missionary Secretaries, to Sir George Cartier respecting our
sending a Wesleyan Minister with the Red River expedition, to supply
the spiritual wants of many members of our own congregations, and
proposing to confer with him (Sir G. C.) as to the arrangement; that he
regarded the treatment of their letter by Sir George as discourteous,
and that he thought the Conference should be informed of it, and that it
should take some action on the subject. The Rev. Dr. Wood, senior
Missionary Secretary, read to the Conference the correspondence and the
draft of four resolutions, on the subject of which he gave notice. I was
not in the Conference when this took place. On reading Dr. Wood's
resolutions, I suggested some modifications of them, and prepared
resolutions which he preferred to his own, and which I proposed for
adoption the day after giving notice of them.
As to Sir George's courtesy, I may observe that the letter addressed to
him, proposed a conference with him on the subject: that his Deputy, in
reply, by direction of Sir George Cartier, as he says, acknowledged the
receipt of the letter addressed to him, but though that letter was dated
at Toronto, and signed officially, the answer to it was addressed simply
to the "Rev. Mr. Punshon, Montreal," and no further notice taken of it
to this day. And it seems that Sir George did not think it worth his
while even to mention, much less submit the letter, to you and your
colleagues from Upper Canada.
In regard to the question of chaplain, our view is, and the proposal
contemplated by our President and Missionary Secretaries was, that the
Government should not pay any salary to the chaplain, but simply provide
his rations and accommodations. It is our view that the Government
should not pay or appoint any chaplain, but leave to each denomination
the right of doing so, if it should think proper. Each chaplain thus
nominated and paid, to be recognized by the military authorities, and be
subject, of course, to the military regulations. In such circumstances,
it is probable there would have been three Protestant chaplains--Church
of England, Presbyterian, and Methodist. I infer or assume this on the
ground of experience. In our Normal School of one hundred and fifty
students, each is asked his religious persuasion, and the chief minister
of that persuasion is furnished with a list of the names of students
adhering to or professing his Church, and the day, and hour, and place
where he can give them religious instruction. The result is, that by
mutual consultation and agreement of ministers, all the Presbyterians,
including even the Congregationalists and Baptists, meet in one class,
and receive religious instruction from one minister, the ministers
agreeing to take the labour in successive sessions--one minister
performing all the duty one session. The arrangement voluntarily exists
among the different classes of Methodists--though Wesleyan ministers do
all the work. A Church of England minister attends to the instruction
and religious oversight of the Church of England students, and the chief
Roman Catholic priest does the same in regard to the Roman Catholic
students. Nothing can be more fair, practical, and satisfactory than a
similar arrangement in regard to the Red River expedition. What may be
the peculiar views, habits, etc. of the Church of England chaplain
appointed and salaried by the Government, I know not; but you know as
well as I do that a man being a clergyman of the Church of England is no
longer a guarantee that he does not entertain and teach views and
practices more subversive of unsophisticated Protestant principles and
feelings than could be as successfully done by a Roman Catholic priest.
Besides, as a general rule, men, especially young men, do not regard,
and are not controlled, as to their own worship and pastorate, except by
the services and pastoral oversight to which they are accustomed and
attached; and without such influence and aid to the preservation and
strengthening of moral principles, habits, and feelings, more young men
are liable to be demoralized and ruined in military expeditions, such as
that of the Red River, than are likely to be killed in battle or die of
disease.
This is the view for which the Methodist body will contend, whatever may
be the result. The Secretaries of the Bible Society went among the
volunteers, while at Toronto, and proffered a Bible to each one that
would accept of it, and found on inquiry, that four-fifths of the
volunteers, even from Lower Canada, were Protestants, and a much larger
proportion of the volunteers of Upper Canada, and a large number of them
not members of the Church of England but Methodists and Presbyterians.
Of course, it answers the Roman Catholic purpose, and will doubtless be
acceptable to many members of the Church of England, for the Government
to appoint and pay chaplains of those persuasions; but I am persuaded
there will be little difference of a contrary opinion on the subject
among the ministers and members of the excluded persuasions. I wish I
could share with you in your expressed confidence in Sir George Cartier,
but I have no such confidence in him, and especially in the
ecclesiastical influence under the dictation of which he acts. Wherein I
may have been misinformed, and may not have stated matters correctly, I
shall be prepared to correct any such errors, when I come to reply to
the various attacks which have been made upon me, in vindication of
myself, and the Wesleyan Conference in regard to the complaint made, and
the position assumed in respect to Sir George E. Cartier, and the Red
River business.
On the 30th June, Mr. James Wallace, of Whitby, addressed Dr. Ryerson a
letter on the subject, in which he said:--
A stranger to you personally, although not so to your many able,
pungent, and truthful letters, connected with public matters, that
have from time to time appeared in the public press: I trust you
will excuse this liberty, and accept my congratulations on your
last effort in that connection as published in the _Globe_.
I have some knowledge of the Red River matter, having been there
during the first stages of the rebellion, and had, therefore,
chances of becoming acquainted with its origin and progress that
few men had; and when I see one in your position come forward so
bravely and lay bare the origin of that infamous revolt, I must say
that I feel proud of you as a Canadian, and not only of you, but of
the body with which you are connected, who so nobly sustained you.
On the 24th August, 1870, the corner stone of the Metropolitan Church,
Toronto, was laid. Dr. Ryerson felt that it was a memorable day in the
annals of Methodism in Toronto. I was honoured (he said) by being
selected to lay the corner stone of the Metropolitan Church. Rev. Dr.
Punshon, President of the Conference was present, and delivered an
admirable address. He also read one which I had prepared, but which I
was unable to deliver myself. The auspicious event of the day amply
repaid me for the anxiety which I had so long felt in regard to the
success of the enterprise, and for the responsibility which, with other
devoted brethren, I had personally assumed to secure the site, and carry
to a successful issue the erection of a building which would be an
honour to Methodism, and a credit to the cause in Toronto.
* * * * *
On the 17th March, 1871, Dr. Ryerson received a letter from the
venerable Rev. Dr. James Dixon, dated Bradford, Eng., 2nd inst. In it he
says:--In my eighty-third year, blind, deaf, and so paralyzed as to be
unable to walk without assistance, I feel that the world is fast
receding. Having sense and affection remaining, I feel desirous of
holding a little fellowship once more with you, my dear old friend. The
world to me looks like one of your forests with the trees cut down,
except here and there one a little stronger than the rest. I look upon
you as one of those, vigorous forest trees still remaining. And may you
long remain, a blessing to your country and the Church! After referring
to his own religious life and experiences, he concludes:--As long as I
live my affection for you will never vary. I also remember other
Canadian friends with great interest and affection. Farewell! my dear
old friend. We shall meet again before long in a brighter world. If you
can find time, I shall be most happy to receive a line from you.
[Illustration]
Dr. Ryerson did find time to respond to the letter of his dear and
valued friend Dr. Dixon. His venerable aspect was well remembered, when,
as President of the Canada Conference in 1848, he did good and valued
service for the Methodist Church in Canada.
* * * * *
On the 29th of June, 1871, Mr. John Macdonald and Rev. Dr. Evans having
asked Dr. Ryerson to enclose to Rev. W. M. Punshon a letter urging him
to continue his noble work in Canada, he did so most heartily, as the
letter to be enclosed expressed the real sentiments not only of the
ministers and members of the Church generally, but those of the country
at large. Dr. Ryerson accompanied the letter with a note from himself,
in which he said to Mr. Punshon:--To have the power, as God has given
you, to mould, to a large extent, the energies and labours of six
hundred ministers, and developments of the Canadian Church, and to
control largely the public mind in religious and benevolent
enterprises--looking at the future of our country--appears to me to
present a field of usefulness that Mr. Wesley himself might have coveted
in his day. All that God has enabled you to do already in this country
is but the foundation and beginning of what there is the prospect of
your doing hereafter by the Divine blessing. You know this is the old
ground on which I first proposed to you to come to this country, and
which I am sure you have no reason to regret. This is the only ground on
which I ought to desire your continued connection with it.
* * * * *
A pleasing episode in the _Globe_ controversy respecting Dr. Ryerson's
"First Lessons on Christian Morals," occurred in June, 1872. Bishop
Bethune, in his address to the Synod of the Diocese of Toronto, spoke of
the increasing spread of evil, and of the duty of the Church, under her
Divine Master, to cope with it. He said:
Her work is, confessedly, to lead fallen man to the true source of
pardon, and to teach him to aim at the recovery of the moral image
in which he was at first created. If the passions, and prejudices,
and divisions of professing Christians themselves are a distressing
hindrance to the attainment of this noble and dutiful aspiration,
we have much in the condition of the world around us to warn and
rouse us to a vigorous and united effort to arrest the increasing
tide of sin and crime. The developments of a grossly evil spirit at
the present day fill us with horror and alarm; the profligacy and
wanton cruelty of which we hear so many instances, make us tremble
for our social peace and safety.
It is but right to enquire to what all this enormity of wickedness
is traceable, that we may come, if possible, to the remedy. That is
largely to be ascribed, as all must be persuaded, to the neglect of
religious instruction in early life; to the contentment of peoples
and governments to afford a shallow secular education, without the
learning of religious truth, or the moral obligations that it
teaches. The child taught and trained for this world's vocations
only, without a deep inculcation of the love and fear of God, and
the penalty hereafter of an irreligious and wicked life, will have
but one leading idea--self-aggrandizement and self-indulgence, and
will be checked by no restraint of conscience in the way and means
of securing them. Gigantic frauds will be perpetrated, if riches
can thus be acquired; atrocious murders will be committed, if these
will remove the barrier to unholy and polluting connections, or
cast out of sight the objects of jealousy and hatred.
I have no disposition to reprobate this defect in the system of
education, prevailing with the authority and support of Government
among ourselves. I know the difficulty, the almost impossibility,
of securing the temporal boon with the addition of the spiritual;
how hard it must prove in a divided religious community to
introduce among the secular lessons which are meant for usefulness
and advancement in this world, that lofty and holy teaching which
trains the soul for heaven. The irreverent and fierce assaults
recently made upon a praiseworthy effort of the Superintendent of
Education in this Province to introduce a special work for moral
and religious instruction amongst our common school pupils, testify
too plainly the difficulty of supplying that want.
I have confidence in the good intentions and righteous efforts of
that venerable gentleman to do what he can for the amelioration of
the evils which the absence of systematic religious teaching of the
young must induce; so that we may have a hope that, from his tried
zeal and unquestionable ability, a way may be devised by which such
essential instruction shall be imparted, and the terrible evils we
deplore to some extent corrected.
In response to this portion of his address, Dr. Ryerson addressed the
following note to the Bishop on the 1st of July.
I feel it my bounden, at the same time most pleasurable duty, to thank
you with all my heart for your more than kind reference to myself in
your official charge at the opening of the recent Synod of the Diocese
of Toronto; and especially do I feel grateful and gratified for your
formal and hearty recognition of the Christian character of our Public
School System, and of the efforts which have been made to render that
character a practical reality, and not a mere dead and heartless form.
It has also been peculiarly gratifying to me to learn that your
Lordship's allusions to myself and the school system were very generally
and cordially cheered by the members of the Synod.
My own humble efforts to invest our school system with a Christian
character and spirit have been seconded from the beginning by the
cordial and unanimous co-operation of the Council of Public Instruction;
and without that co-operation my own individual efforts would have
availed but little.
Since the settlement of the common relationship of all religious
persuasions to the State, there is _a_ common patriotic ground for the
exertions of all, without the slightest reasonable pretext for political
jealousy or hostility on the part of any. On such ground of
comprehensiveness, and of avowed Christian principles, I have
endeavoured to construct our Public School System; such, and such only
has been my aim in the teachings of my little book on Christian Morals;
and such only was the aim and spirit of the Council of Public
Instruction in the recommendation of it,--a recommendation to which the
Council inflexibly adheres, and which it has cordially and decidedly
vindicated.
The Bishop replied on the 3rd of July, thus:--I have to thank you for
your letter of the 1st instant, received last evening, and to express my
gratification that I had the opportunity to bear my humble testimony to
your zealous and righteous efforts to promote the sound education of the
youth of this Province.
I believe that in the endeavours to give this a moral and religious
direction, you have done all that, in the circumstances of the country,
it was in your power to accomplish. I was glad, too, to give utterance
to my protest against the shameless endeavours to hold up to public
scorn the valuable little work by which you desired to give a moral and
religious tone to the instruction communicated in our Common Schools. If
more can be done in this direction, I feel assured you would assume any
allowable amount of responsibility in the endeavour to effect it.
Wishing you many years of health and usefulness, I remain, dear Dr.
Ryerson, very faithfully yours,
A. N. Toronto.
This correspondence affords a striking instance of the fact that the
very earnest discussions between the writers of these notes in past
years, had not diminished in any way the personal respect and kindly
feeling which happily existed between them. And it was so with the late
venerable Bishop Strachan, with whom Dr. Ryerson more than once measured
swords in days gone by. Among his very latest utterances on the Separate
School Question in the Synod of 1856, he thus referred to the Head of
the Education Department and his labours:--
One new feature, which I consider of great value, and for which I
believe we are altogether indebted to the able Superintendent, deserves
special notice: it is the introduction of daily prayers. We find that
454 schools open and close with prayer. This is an important step in the
right direction, and only requires a reasonable extension to render the
system in its interior, as it is already in its exterior, nearly
complete. But till it receives this necessary extension, the whole
system, in a religious and spiritual view, may be considered almost
entirely dead.
I do not say that this is the opinion of Dr. Ryerson, who no doubt
believes his system very nearly perfect; and so far as he is concerned,
I am one of those who appreciate very highly his exertions, his
unwearied assiduity, and his administrative capacity. I am also most
willing to admit that he has carried out the meagre provisions of the
several enactments that have any leaning to religion, as far as seems
consistent with a just interpretation of the law.--_Charge of 1856, pp.
15, 16._
* * * * *
In a note dated Toronto, 2nd October, 1872, Hon. W. B. Robinson sent to
Dr. Ryerson an extract from the Barrie _Northern Advance_ containing an
obituary notice of Dr. Ryerson. In enclosing it, Mr. Robinson said:--
I send you a Barrie paper that I think will amuse you. It is not
often we are permitted to "see ourselves as others see us" when
once we go "hence and are no more seen,"--but you are an exception,
and I congratulate you on such being the fact; and hope the Editor
will be satisfied that he is in "advance" of the times, and may
have cause to give you credit for much more good work in the
position you have so long held, with so much benefit to the
country. I observed the death of your brother William in the papers
a short time ago, which I suppose accounts for the mistake.
The extract from the Barrie paper is as follows:--
Most of our readers are aware of the fact that the great champion
of education in Upper Canada has gone to his rest. Coming
generations, so long as time lasts, will owe a debt of gratitude to
Dr. Ryerson, as the only real founder of a comprehensive school
system in Ontario. Through evil report and through good report he
has steadily worked on his way; neither daunted by the abuse he has
received, nor unduly elated by the unmeasured tribute of praise
paid to his efforts in the department to which his whole life was
devoted. He kept the even tenor of his way, and we think most
people, unblinded by partisan prejudice, will acknowledge that his
life purpose has, more than that of most men, been accomplished. He
leaves behind him a structure so nearly completed that men with a
tithe of his enthusiasm, and infinitely less knowledge of the
educational requirements of the Province, can lay the capstone, and
declare the work complete.
Hon. Marshall S. Bidwell died in New York shortly after his visit to
Canada in 1872. Hon. Judge Neilson, his friend, wrote to Dr. Ryerson for
particulars of Mr. Bidwell's early life, with a view to publish it in a
memorial volume. This information Dr. Ryerson obtained from Sir W. B.
Richards, Clarke Gamble, Esq., Q.C., and Rev. Dr. Givens, and, with his
own, embodied it in a communication to Judge Neilson. In a letter to Dr.
Ryerson, dated 30th April, 1873, the late Rev. Dr. Saltern Givens
said:--
A short time since, Hon. W. B. Robinson informed me that a letter
of condolence was written by the late Mr. Bidwell to Lady Robinson
and her family, on the death of Sir John, and that he thought it
would answer your purpose.... I am sure that you will peruse it
with as much pleasure as I have done.
It ought to be a matter of devout thankfulness and congratulation
with us Canadians, that two of our most distinguished statesmen and
jurists have left behind them such unequivocal and delightful
testimonies of their faith in Christ, and of their experience of
the power of His Gospel, in extracting the sting from death and in
comforting the bereaved.
I am sure that Sir John's letters to Mr. Bidwell, under his similar
trial, if you could obtain them, would be read with a thrill of
delight and profit by their many friends throughout Canada.
When witnessing--as we have done, some forty years ago--those
fierce political contests in which our departed friends were
involved, how little did we think that in the evening of their days
they would have been united in the bonds of Christian love and
sympathy, as this interchange of friendship evinces.
The following is Mr. Bidwell's letter to Hon. W. B. Robinson, dated 24th
February, 1863:--
I thank you for your kind and friendly letter, and for the
particular account of the closing scenes of the life of your
honoured and lamented brother. The wound inflicted by his death can
never be altogether healed. The grief which it produces is natural
and rational, and is not inconsistent with any of the precepts, or
with the spirit of the Gospel. It is a duty, however, to keep it
within bounds, and not to allow murmurs in our heart against Divine
Providence. The language of our hearts should be that of the
Patriarch, "The Lord gave, and the Lord taketh away, blessed be the
name of the Lord." Gratitude for the gift should be mingled with
our deep sorrow for the loss of it. In my own case, a consideration
of the unspeakable goodness of God in having bestowed upon me such
an inestimable blessing has been continually present to my mind,
and trust such feelings will abound in the bosom of Lady Robinson,
her family, and yourself. He, whose removal from earthly scenes
your hearts deplore, was all that you could have desired, in his
public and private character, and in the homage of universal
veneration and esteem. Where will you find one like him? Was there
not great and peculiar goodness in God's bestowing him upon you?
Was he not the joy and pride of your hearts continually? Did not
his presence irradiate his home, and make it like an earthly
Paradise? Every pang which you may suffer attests the value of the
blessing which you have so long had. Your gratitude to God, the
author of every good and perfect gift, ought to be in proportion to
your grief. It is to be remembered, also, that he was not cut down
prematurely in the midst of his days, but had passed the period
which Moses, the man of God, in his sublime and pathetic prayer
(Psalm xc.) considers as the ordinary boundary of human life, and
retained all his powers and faculties to the last; and that during
this long life he had not been absent from his family, at least not
from Lady Robinson (if I am not mistaken) except during the
transient separation when he was on the circuit. It is natural that
your hearts should yearn for him, should long to see him again, and
enjoy the pleasure of his company; yet death must sooner or later
have separated you, and longer life might have been a scene of
suffering. Would it not have been inexpressibly painful to you all
to have seen his mental and bodily powers decay and fade away? Such
a spectacle would have been distressing and mortifying. Now his
memory is associated with no humiliating recollections; but you
remember him as one always admired, respected and loved. Death has
set his seal upon him, and although he is removed from you to
return no more to earthly scenes, you know that it is only a
removal, and that he is now in a state of exalted and perfect,
though ever progressive, felicity. I trust you have the most
consolatory evidence that this is now his present and unalterable
state, and that you constantly think as David thought and said, "I
shall go to him, but he shall not return to me." In the meantime
you have the consolation of knowing that while you remember him
with the tenderest affection and interest, he has not forgotten
you, but has a more distinct and perfect recollection of you than
you have of him. That this is literally true is the conviction of
my understanding, founded not only upon reason and analogy, but
upon the irrefragable testimony of divine revelation. There surely
is nothing in such a thought that is improbable. We have daily
experience of the revival in our minds of past events long
forgotten; they lived there, though dormant. Then how many well
authenticated and well known instances, where persons recovered
from drowning have stated that before they lost consciousness, all
the scenes and incidents of their lives flashed instantaneously, as
it were, upon their minds, and appeared to be present to their
view. They had been treasured up there, though latent. Death does
not extinguish the mental faculties, thought does not cease, but
the conscious and thinking being passes from scenes present to
scenes eternal. "Mortality is swallowed up of life." There would be
good ground for this conviction, if revelation gave us no higher
proof; but it is explicit. "Every one of us shall give account of
himself to God." This necessarily implies a perfect recollection of
our lives. We are to answer for all the deeds done in the body; for
every idle word, for every secret and sinful thought and feeling.
This requires a perfect recollection of every event, sentiment, and
emotion of our lives. The soul, therefore, must carry into the
unseen world a perfect recollection of its associates and friends;
and as there will be no decay then of mental powers, this will be
an abiding, ever-present recollection. Every holy feeling will also
continue after death--conjugal, parental, filial, fraternal
affections are holy; they are expressly enjoined upon us by divine
authority. Love, indeed, pure, fervent affection, is the
characteristic element of Heaven. It is impossible, therefore, that
the holy affections should cease at death. I have, therefore, a
conviction that our departed friends, whose death we mourn,
remember us distinctly and with tender affection. I have dwelt upon
this subject because it has afforded me in my great affliction much
consolation, and if I had time, I might expatiate more fully upon
it, and adduce further evidence in support of its truth.
Yes! it is a truth, and therefore it is full of consolation. While
we are thinking of our departed friends with grief, they, too, are
thinking of us, with at least equal affection, and this they will
continue to do until we meet. In the meantime we may comfort
ourselves with the thought that, to use the language of a sober and
judicious commentator on the sacred Scriptures, "The separation
will be short, the re-union rapturous, and the subsequent felicity
uninterrupted, unalloyed, and eternal."
I have felt peculiar sympathy for Lady Robinson. I am sure her
affliction must be extreme. I hope the Son of God is with her in
the furnace, and that she has a consciousness of His presence. He
can give both support and consolation, and both she must greatly
need. He can gently, and imperceptibly, bind up and heal her
wounded and bleeding heart.
I wish that I could furnish reminiscences that would be interesting
to you, for I should be glad to testify my respect for the memory
of your brother, but I cannot tell you anything with which you are
not familiar. I remember distinctly his appearance the first time I
saw him. He had just returned to Canada, after his first visit to
England. I was a student at law, and had gone from Bath to Toronto,
to attend the Court of King's Bench at Michaelmas Term. He, and
Lady Robinson, came from Kingston in the steamer "Frontenac." I
think that Mr. Hagerman was on board also. From another passenger,
I heard that on the voyage they were overtaken at night by a storm,
which stove in the dead-lights, and poured a flood of water into
the cabin. It was a time of alarm, probably of danger; your brother
was perfectly composed. He came into court on his arrival, and upon
that occasion I saw him. His appearance was striking. His features
were classically and singularly beautiful; his countenance was
luminous with intelligence and animation; his whole appearance that
of a man of genius and a polished gentleman, equally dignified and
graceful. Altogether his features, figure and manners filled my
youthful imagination with admiration, which subsequent
acquaintance, and opportunities to hear him at the Bar and in
Parliament, only strengthened, and which was not diminished by the
difference between us in our views and opinions on public affairs.
I heard him frequently at the Bar, and upon some occasions, I had
the honour to be junior counsel with him.
He was a consummate advocate, as well as a profound and accurate
lawyer. He had extraordinary powers for a speech _impromptu_, and
needed as little time for preparation for an address to a jury, or
an argument to the Court, as any one I have ever known. But he was
never induced by this readiness to neglect a patient and careful
attention to his client's case.
No one could be more faithful. He studied every case thoroughly,
examined all the particular circumstances, made himself master of
its details, and considered it carefully, in all its aspects and
relations. I do not think he ever delivered a speech from memory.
He was self-possessed in the trial, his mind was vigilant, his
thoughts flowed rapidly, he had rapid association of ideas, great
quickness of apprehension, as well as great sagacity, and a power
of arranging anything in his mind, luminously and instantaneously;
his fluency was unsurpassed.
I was present upon those occasions in Parliament which aroused him
to great exertions.
He was at all times a correct, elegant, interesting speaker, but
upon those occasions he spoke with great force and effect.
The fire of his eye, the animation of his countenance and the
elegance of his manner, combined with dignity, cannot be
appreciated by any one who did not hear him. No report of his
speeches, no description of his manner and appearance, can convey
to others a just and adequate idea. To report him _verbatim_ was
impossible. His ideas flowed so rapidly, and he had such fluency of
language, that no reporter could have kept pace with his delivery.
He was an admirable parliamentary leader. He never exposed himself
by any incautious speech or act, and never failed to detect and
expose one on the other side. He was sincere and earnest in his
opinions, uncompromising, frank and fearless in the expression of
them. He never attempted to make a display of himself, or indulged
in useless declamation; but spoke earnestly and for the purpose of
producing an immediate effect. I heard that when he was in England
in 1823 (I think that was the year), the ministry had under
consideration introducing him through one of their boroughs into
Parliament. If it had been done, I have no doubt he would have
become a distinguished member of the House of Commons, and I think
it probable that he would have attained to the highest honours of
the land. During two years I had the honour to be Speaker of the
House of Assembly, while he was Speaker of the Legislative Council;
our official stations rendered it necessary for us to confer
together concerning the business before Parliament. He was always
courteous, communicative and obliging. The difference between us on
political questions while I was in Parliament precluded intimate or
confidential relations, but he was always pleasant and candid, and
more than once did I share in that elegant hospitality which was
dispensed so cordially and so gracefully by him and Lady Robinson.
I have had the honor to receive friendly letters from him
occasionally since I have been here, and after my great affliction
last spring he wrote to me two very kind letters for which I shall
ever be grateful.
I should be sincerely glad to evince my respect for his memory. I
have not space left to add anything respecting his judicial
character and career, but this is unimportant. Every one in Canada
knows it.
Writing to me after the Conference at London, in June, 1873, Dr. Ryerson
said:--The proceedings of the Conference were very harmonious, and the
discussions very able and courteous upon the whole. I received many
thanks for my labours in connection with the scheme for Methodist
Confederation and for union with the New Connexion Methodists. I trust I
have been able, through Divine goodness, to render some service to the
good cause.
* * * * *
In a letter to Dr. Ryerson from Rev. Dr. Punshon, dated 2nd December,
the latter expressed some fears as to one or two points in the future of
the General Conference arrangement. He says:--
I am looking with some solicitude to the result of the Appeal to
the Quarterly Meetings on the Union question. I hope it will be
carried, though your modifications of the scheme do not quite meet
my approval, as one who would like to see a statesman's view taken
of things. I do not see the bond of cohesion twenty years hence,
when those who are now personally known to, and therefore
interested in, each other, have passed off the stage. Then the
General Conference will meet as perfect strangers, having hardly a
common interest but that of a common name; and as there are no
General Superintendents, who know all the Conferences, there will
not be, as in the States, any link to bind them together. I trust
some remedy will be found for this, or the lack of such link will
be disastrous.
We are losing our prominent men. You will have seen that Mr. Heald
has passed away--also Mr. Marshall, another Stockport "pillar." I
am greatly concerned about my dear friend, Gervase Smith, the
Secretary of the Conference. He has overtaxed himself, and is very
ill. Absolute rest is enjoined for some time. It would be a sad day
for me, if dear Gervase were to pass from my side. We have just
heard of the loss of the "Ville du Havre," with 226 lives. Emile
Cook, from Paris, was on board, and injured by the collision. How
terrible! Now, my dear Dr. Ryerson, the good Lord be with you, and
make you always as happy in His love as you desire to be, and spare
you yet for many years, to counsel and to plan for His glory and
the benefit of Canada.
Writing from his Long Point Cottage to me on the 12th of April, 1873,
Dr. Ryerson said:--Some days I have felt quite young; but upon the
whole, I doubt whether the means which have been so successful in the
past in renewing my strength, can be of much use any longer to "stave
off" old age. A medical gentleman here from Port Rowan said yesterday, I
looked the perfection of health at my age; but my strength I feel
already to be "labour and sorrow." So true are the words of inspiration
to practical life.
* * * * *
The union question having been carried, and the General Conference
established, that body met in Toronto in September, 1874. Speaking of it
Dr. Ryerson said:--In 1874 I was elected the first President of the
first General Conference of the Methodist Church of Canada; consisting
of an equal number of ministers and laymen, and representing the several
Annual Conferences of the Dominion of Canada.
On his return home from the General Conference held in Toronto in 1874,
Hon. L. A. Wilmot, a former Judge, and late Lieutenant-Governor of New
Brunswick, wrote to Dr. Ryerson a note, in which he said:--How can we
ever repay you and your dear family for the warm-hearted hospitality and
the intellectual repast we so much enjoyed while with you? To me it is
much more than a sunny memory, as you have so enriched me with treasures
of thought, and words of wisdom. Really, I long to see you again, and I
cannot express to you the pleasure it will afford us to welcome you all
to our suburban home. We have room enough for you all, and sincerely do
we pray that we may all be spared to meet again. [Mr. Wilmot has since
then gone home to his reward.]
CHAPTER LXIV.
1875-1876.
Correspondence with Rev. J. Ryerson, Dr. Punshon, etc.
Dr. Ryerson went up to Simcoe to preach the anniversary sermons there,
in December, 1874, and hoped to have gone to Brantford to see his
brother John, but was prevented. He therefore wrote to him a New Year's
letter, on the 3rd January, 1875: I have often prayed for you, thinking
sometimes that I was even praying with you. We have spoken of you more
than once during the recent holiday salutations and good wishes, and
have wished you happy returns of this season of kindly greetings and
renewed friendships.
I feel to bless God that during the last several weeks I have
experienced, in a deeper and brighter degree than I ever experienced
before, "the love of Christ which passeth all knowledge." The pages of
God's book seem to shine with a brighter lustre and a more luminous,
comprehensive and penetrating power than I ever beheld in them. Without
care, without fear, without a shadow of doubt, I can now, through God's
wonderful grace, and by His Holy Spirit, rest my all upon Christ--lay my
all upon His altar, and say, "For me to live is Christ, and to die is
gain."
On Sunday afternoon we had the renewal of the Covenant Service, in the
Metropolitan, and the Communion. It was a good time. I think there were
more than five hundred at the Communion--the largest number I ever
witnessed in America, even at a camp-meeting. It took Rev. Dr. Potts and
I more than an hour to distribute the elements.
I am anxious to go up to my cottage for change and retirement, so as to
be quite alone for a few weeks with my books and papers.
I am at work, as hard as I can, upon my history. On New Year's Day I
worked at it for fifteen hours--writing upwards of twenty pages of
foolscap, besides researches, comparing authorities, etc. I am anxious
to complete the two volumes of the New England Loyalists, before I go to
England in May.
In reply to Dr. Ryerson's letter of 3rd January, his brother John
wrote:--
My health is still precarious.... My attention to religious duties
(reading the Scriptures, private and meditative self-examination,
etc.,) I unremittingly persevere in, but my religious enjoyment is
low and my faith weak.... This winter I have read the Life of Dr.
Bradshaw, an eminent clergyman of the Church of England, some time
Rector of Colchester, then of Birmingham, and then of a Rectory in
the suburbs of London, where he died in 1865, at the age of
eighty-nine. His ministry extended over more than sixty years. He
was one of the most devoted, and singularly pious ministers whose
memoirs I ever read. O! into what dwarfishness the morality, and
the spiritual and elevated attainments of most Christians sink in
the presence of such men! Dr. Bradshaw's life was written by Miss
Marsh, the authoress of the Life of Captain Vicars, and other
excellent books. I have also read the Life of Miss M. Graham, a
most eminently pious and devoted lady, also a member of the Church
of England. She died at the early age of twenty-eight. Another
memoir--of Mrs. Winslow, from the reading of which I ought to have
derived much profit, one of the holiest women of whom I ever read,
was a devoted member of the English Church. She was the daughter of
a wealthy West India planter, and born in the West Indies. Her
father died when she was quite young. She was married to a Captain
in the British army, in one of the regiments stationed in the
Island of Jamaica, but singular to say, not long after her
marriage, was wonderfully converted, and towards the close of his
life, was the means of saving her affectionate and devoted husband,
who was a nephew of the once Governor of the Colony of
Massachusetts. He was very wealthy, besides his West India
estate--owning a large estate in England. The wonderful piety of
this devoted saint, during the long years of her widowhood, ought
to humble pigmy Christians, like me, in the dust. Oh, can I ever be
saved, if such men and women are only saved?
I am now reading the life and labours of Rev. Dr. Shrewsbury, a
Wesleyan missionary to the West Indies and South Africa--then late
in life back to England, where he died in 1866, aged seventy-three
years. He was a man of ability, much industry and zeal, and of more
than the medium piety of Methodist preachers generally.
In reply to this letter, Dr. Ryerson wrote to his brother on the 21st of
February and said:--
You speak of the want of joy in your religious experience. I do not
pray for joy, I simply pray for the indwelling of Christ, for the
stamp of His image upon my soul, and for the harmony of every
desire, and thought, and feeling, with His holy will, and divine
glory; and there comes a "peace that passeth all understanding," a
rest of the soul from fear, and anxiety--a sinking into God,--and
now and then greater or less ecstacies of joy. I think we mistake
when we make what is usually termed joy, the end of prayer, or of
desire. I believe that even heaviness, and especially when
superinduced by bodily disease, is not only consistent with a high
state of grace, but even instrumental in its increase--especially
of faith; the faith which realizes things invisible, as visible,
and things to come, as things present.
I should like to read the biographies of which you speak,
especially that of Rev. Dr. Marsh, but my time is insufficient to
read what I have to read for my historical purposes. After all,
biographies are very much what the biographers choose to make of
their heroes. The writings of the Holy Apostles are the simple and
true standard of Christian experience, practice and privilege, and
help us also from sinking into despondency by the illustrations
they give of human imperfections and infirmities, and directing us
so plainly to the source of all strength and supply, as well as to
the "God of all consolation." We will talk more of these things
when I see you.
Rev. John Ryerson, in his letter of February 24th, said:--
I never pray for joy in religion; to pray or seek for such a thing
would be to begin at the wrong end; but truly pious persons might
have joy as the fruit of a real experience, as growing out of a
life "hid with Christ in God," joy in believing, joy in the Holy
Ghost--but what I do offer my poor prayers for, is to know my sins
forgiven, my acceptance with God; that I have a lot among the
sanctified, that I have peace with God, through our Lord Jesus
Christ. If I had an abiding evidence of such an experience, it
would produce more or less joy. Surely the Bible is the best book;
it is "The Book;" but still he may find many blessed illustrations
of its truths, of its morality, its spirituality, in the experience
and lives, not only of saints of ancient days, but many of modern
times. Rev. Dr. Marsh was one of these. He was a man of great
learning, and extensive reading, but he loved the Bible infinitely,
and above all books, read it (I was going to say) almost
continually, and died with the New Testament in his hand. I try to
read God's blessed Word. I am reading the Bible through by
course--five or ten chapters every day in the Old Testament, and
two or so in the New, besides on my knees, I read all the Psalms
through every month. But what does this amount to? Nothing, so long
as I am not saved from pride, irritability, selfishness, etc.,
within; the workings of which, more or less, I daily feel. This
greatly troubles and distresses me; besides the remembrance of my
sins of unfaithfulness, wanderings, backslidings, is grievous to
me, and sometimes a burthen too heavy to be borne. The temptations,
trials, sorrows, of true saints sometimes shed a little light upon
my dulness, and give some strength to my weak and wavering faith.
On the 28th of February, Dr. Ryerson replied:--
I thank you for your kind and interesting letter. I did not suppose
you had made joy an object or subject of prayer; but from the tone
of your letter, it appeared to me that the absence of joy, or
"heaviness of spirit," had led you to judge of your state too
unfavourably. I quite agree with the views you express on the
subject. I have not seen Rev. Dr. Marsh's life: but I can conceive
him quite worthy of what is written, and of the opinion you express
respecting him. During my attendance at the Wesleyan Conference in
Birmingham, in 1836, my host invited Rev. Dr. (then Mr.) Marsh,
Rev. John Angell James, and several other clergymen and persons of
note, to meet me. I was very much struck with Mr. Marsh's
appearance, and the more so from a circumstance mentioned to me by
the hostess. A short time before that, a publisher there wished to
get a portrait of the Apostle St. John, to have it engraved as an
illustration in some book or publication he was issuing; and Mr.
Marsh was solicited to sit for the artist, as his countenance was
supposed to reflect more strongly the purity and loveliness of the
Apostle than any ideal that could be found. In consequence of this
circumstance, I was told that Mr. Marsh was often called St. John
the Apostle, from his Apostolic character and truly lovely manner
and countenance. His praise was then in every mouth, as I was told,
among the Dissenters as well as members of the Church of England.
(See page 163.)
After Dr. Ryerson became President of the General Conference in 1874, he
was gratified at the many kind things said to him by his brethren and
other friends. None were more kind and loving than those contained in a
letter from his friend, Rev. Dr. Punshon, who speaks of his own
elevation to the Presidency of the British Conference. Dr. Punshon, in
his letter to Dr. Ryerson of the 19th of February, said:--
First of all, let me congratulate you most heartily upon your
well-merited elevation to the Presidency of the General Conference.
They did themselves honour, and you will do them honour in their
choice. My elevation here was unexpected, but very grateful,
although the responsibility and work which it entails make me long
for July, when, if God wills, I shall doff my regalia. I hope most
earnestly to have the pleasure of seeing the Canadian
representatives at the next Conference in Sheffield. I have already
spoken for a very sweet home for you. It will be a great
gratification to see you once again, and to enjoy sweet converse,
with you as of old. Mr. Gervase Smith and I are to be with
relatives just across the road. So please do not delay your coming
for another year, as no one knows to what place the Conference will
be carried. It seems almost improper to talk about it when we
remember the heavy loss into which, as into an inheritance, we have
all come by the death of dear Wiseman. You would, I am sure, be
very grieved to hear of it. It fell on all here like a
thunder-clap. But the Lord is good, and knows what is best for us
all. There is a sorrowfully-occasioned vacancy at the Mission
House, which the friends say I must fill, but I cannot tell how it
will go, and of course, all is premature as yet. The Lord will
direct us as He has always done.
By the way, I have been set seriously thinking by Mr. Wiseman's
removal, whether I had sufficiently secured, by the document I gave
to Rev. Dr. Rice, that the principal of the Testimonial Fund, given
to me on leaving Canada, should, at my death, pass to the Canadian
Conference for the benefit of the worn-out ministers and widows. I
found on enquiry that it was not so secured as to be beyond doubt.
I have been in consultation with my solicitor as to the best method
of effecting this. I have therefore given directions for a deed of
trust to be prepared, which will state that I hold this money in
trust for the "Superannuated Minister's Fund of the Methodist
Church of Canada." I advise you of this as the honoured President
of the General Conference. I was, on the whole, satisfied with the
proceedings of the General Conference. I felt a little pang at the
hasty change of name. It was inevitable to do it, at the same time,
but it showed rather a leaping desire of freedom, and a wish to get
as far as possible from the old mother at once, which might have,
perhaps, been spared. This was not, I dare say, present to all who
desired the change. I admit all the force of your able reasoning
for the present--but twenty years hence the General Conference will
meet as strangers, with no community of interest, and I dread the
result, without a visible bond of cohesion.
Writing to me from Port Rowan in September, 1875, Dr. Ryerson said:--My
friends here think that I am stronger, walk better, and appear more
active than when I was last in this village. This is a common remark to
me, and for which I cannot feel sufficiently thankful to my Heavenly
Father. He is my portion; my all is His; and I feel that He is all and
in all to me--my joy as well as my strength.
Writing from his Long Point cottage to me on the 13th April, 1876, Dr.
Ryerson said:--Next Sunday will be Easter Sunday--the 51st anniversary
of my ministerial life, and what a life! Much to lament over; much to
humble; with many exposures and hardships; full of various labours;
abounding in heavenly blessings.
* * * * *
Dr. Ryerson was appointed as a representative of the Conferences of
British America to the General Conference of the United States in 1876.
Being unable to go, he addressed a letter to Bishop Simpson, from which
I take these extracts:--
I regret that I have been unable to fulfil my last public mission in
behalf of our Canadian Church to the Conference of British Methodism to
go to Baltimore to look upon your General Conference, and bid a last
earthly farewell to brethren whom I esteem and love so much--with whom I
was first brought into church membership, by whose Bishop Hedding I was
ordained both deacon and elder, and with whom I feel myself as much one
this day as I did half a century ago.
My first representative mission was in 1828, to visit and urge upon the
late Rev. Dr. Wilbur Fisk, of Wilbraham, Conn., the request of our
Conference to become our first bishop; and had he consented, or Dr.
Bangs afterwards, I believe it would have been a great blessing to
Methodism in Canada; but an overruling Providence ordered it otherwise,
and the extension of the work of God, through our ministry and Church,
down to the present time, is one of the greatest marvels to ourselves
and to others.
For thirty-one years and upwards, by the annual permission of my
Conference, I have administered the governmental system of public
instruction in this country; but the Government and Legislature have at
length acceded to my request to retire, and have done so without
reducing my official allowance; and now, in the seventy-fourth year of
my age, and fifty-second of my ministry, I am enabled, in the enjoyment
of good health, to go in and out, as aforetime, among my brethren, with
a brightening hope and increasing desire of soon being permitted to
"depart and be with Christ, which is far better," and where I feel sure
of joyously meeting thousands of fellow-ministers and labourers whom I
have known in the flesh on both sides of the Atlantic.
* * * * *
In May, 1876, Dr. Ryerson went to England to consult works on the
history of America in the British Museum Library. Writing to me from
near Leeds, just after his arrival, he says:--I was most cordially
received by Rev. Gervase Smith, and Dr. Punshon. The latter insisted
upon my being his guest first, as he had the strongest claim upon me. I
was his guest for eight days--and they were very agreeable days to me.
When I came here I was enthusiastically received by the Methodist New
Connexion Conference--a most cultured, gentlemanly, and respectable body
of men--their whole body being not numerous, but select.
I have thus far enjoyed my visit to this country most thoroughly--free
from care, and surrounded by most kind friends and agreeable
associations.
Writing to me from London, on the 17th July, he says:--I experienced a
great pleasure in my visit to Ireland, in becoming personally acquainted
with many of the Irish preachers, and in witnessing their conferential
proceedings. They are a faithful, hard-working body of men; they have
hard work to do, and their success the last year has been in advance of
that of preceding years.
I have seen Mr. Longman in regard to publishing my history. He was very
cordial and complimentary. I explained to him in brief the origin and
scope of what I had written, and of what I intended to write, and gave
him the table of contents of the first fifteen chapters--to the end of
the reign of Elizabeth, and the 13th chapter on the "Protestantism of
Queen Elizabeth," as published in the _Canadian Methodist Magazine_.
I was at the Houses of Lords and Commons a part of one afternoon and
evening. Sir Stafford Northcote, hearing that I was there, came to me
under the Speaker's gallery, and conversed with me nearly half an hour.
Other members also spoke to me. Earl Grey recognized me in the street,
and stopped and conversed with me.
I go to the Wesleyan Conference at Nottingham next Monday, and may
probably remain there ten days. I attended four services yesterday--at 8
a.m. (communion), at the parish Church of St. James, near Piccadilly,
where I was lodging; at the Temple at 11 a.m., a grand service,
delightful music, and an excellent sermon from Rev. C. J. Vaughan,
Master of the Temple; at 3 p.m. at Westminster Abbey--prayers read by
the Dean of Lichfield, and sermon by the Dean of Richmond on the words,
"Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also,"--a plain,
practical sermon, but the music, etc., inferior to that of the Temple.
In the evening I went to one of the most fashionable and advanced
Ritualistic Churches; poor singing, poorer preaching. Everything
pretentious, and certainly not attractive to me. In all three churches,
the hymns and tunes were old Methodist hymns and tunes, and well sung.
Dr. Ryerson did go to the British Conference as President and
Representative of the General Conference of Canada. The London
_Methodist Recorder_, speaking of his presence there, said:--Rev. Dr.
Punshon, the President, gave a brief and discriminating introduction to
Dr. Ryerson. The Doctor's personal appearance is very prepossessing; he
is grey-haired; of a fine, healthy complexion; has a gentle eye; and a
full, emotional voice. He dresses in the style of the "fine old English
gentleman," with a refreshing display of "linen clean and white." One
scarcely knows which most to admire--the simplicity of the man, his
well-furnished intellect, or his practical good sense; which most to
wonder at, the real progress which has been made in this one lifetime,
or the boundless possibilities of the future to which that progress
leads. It is something to have rocked the cradle of an empire-Church.
The audience was several times deeply moved by the Doctor's allusions to
the memories of the past, but most of all when, in the conclusion of his
address, he said "farewell," with a tearful expression of his own
rejoicing "in the hope of eternal life."
Rev. D. Savage, who was also Representative of the General Conference,
in a private note, said:--It is a grand Conference, distinguished by
remarkable manifestations of Divine power. The reports which will come
to you through the press cannot do justice to the influence that is
abroad. Dr. Ryerson's address was eloquent and impressive. The fact that
Dr. Ryerson was representative to the British Conference in 1833, and
that after the lapse of forty-three years, he has returned in the same
capacity, is in itself a most extraordinary event. The words in which
Dr. Punshon introduced Dr. Ryerson were eloquent and kindly.
The following letters were addressed to me by Dr. Ryerson while in
London, at the dates mentioned:--
_September 19th._--My lodgings are just opposite the British Museum, the
library of which I find of great use to me. I am absorbed in revising
and completing my work. Whether it will be a success or not, is one of
the uncertainties of the future.
I am glad to be here, instead of being in Toronto, during the ensuing
session of our Legislature, as I do not wish to be where any party can
call upon me, or use my name in respect to any measure that the
Government may think proper to bring forward on the subject of
education.
_November 14th._--The Earl of Dufferin enclosed flattering letters of
introduction to the Earl of Carnarvon and the Dean of Westminster, both
of whom have received me with great cordiality. The Earl of Carnarvon
shook hands with me two or three times, and said how glad he was to see
and shake hands with an old Canadian, whose services to his country were
spoken of as Lord Dufferin has spoken of mine. His Lordship told me he
would give instructions, whenever I desired, to have every possible
facility and aid given me in the Record Office in referring to any
documents or papers there, relating to the history or affairs of the
British Colonies.
I submitted to the Dean of Westminster the last (14th), recapitulating
summary chapter on the "Relations of Early English Puritanism to
Protestant Unity and Religious Liberty," for his judgment. I last
evening received a kind note from him (returning the manuscript), in
which he says: "I have gone through the summary of the reign of
Elizabeth, and find it full of just views, rendered the more attractive
by the impartiality of judgment, and by the exact knowledge of the
subject which pervades the chapter." The Dean kindly suggests the use of
some neutral word, such as "Roman Catholics" for "Papists," and not to
use the words "Ritualists," "Ritualism," as all these words are terms of
reproach, and the use of them may lay me open to the charge of
partizanship. I shall adopt his suggestions.
_December 7th._--With your letter I received day before yesterday a long
letter from my brother John--a real news letter with some sparklings of
wit. He mentions that during each of two preceding Sabbaths he had
attended a quarterly meeting on neighbouring circuits, and on each day
he had conducted a love-feast, preached at half-past ten in the morning,
administered the Lord's Supper (one to-day to 150 alone) and preached
again at half-past six in the evening, riding several miles in the
afternoon between each appointment, which, I think, as he says, "is
pretty well for an old man in his seventy-seventh year."
I am wonderfully well--having no pain of back, or limb, or head. I am
careful of my living and exercise; but during the last three years I
have worked fifteen hours each day. I have every possible facility of
books, retirement, and an amanuensis; and am doing what I would have to
do under less favourable circumstances on my return to Canada. It is
singular that your History and other books are almost the only ones
which have been furnished to the British Museum, and are found on its
catalogue. I have read every word of your essay on a Central University
and think it admirable, exhibiting much research, acute observation, and
profound thought.
_December 14th._--My present purpose is to finish and publish my purely
Canadian History of the United Empire Loyalists as soon as possible, and
leave the other to my executors--yourself and others--to do as you
please. I am assured that my two volumes on the Puritans in Old and New
England will raise a storm on both sides of the Atlantic. I wish to
have nothing more to do with controversy, and I do not wish to die in a
storm. I am now popular with all parties. I am sure I am right and just
on the character and relation of the Puritans and their opponents; but I
am strongly inclined to believe what I have written in regard to them
(for I am done with them) will perhaps take better if left as a legacy,
than if now put forth by myself. My reputation, and the pleasure to my
country, will chiefly depend upon my United Empire Canadian History, and
to that my all of strength and time is now directed until I finish it.
_December 26th._--I heard Dean Stanley preach in Westminster Abbey, on
Christmas Day. His sermon was able and eloquent, but disappointed me by
the absence of all mention of the guilt and depravity of man, and the
"good tidings," including an atonement for the pardon of guilt, and the
power of the Holy Spirit to regenerate and sanctify. He is a very
amiable man, and looks at the good side of everything. He enumerated ten
blessings brought to man by the Incarnation of Christ, as distinguished
from all the advantages of science and philosophy; but I felt, if I had
not received through Christ the two blessings he omitted to mention, I
should never have received the blessings, to which I owe my all, of
renewal, pardon, strength and comfort and hope, in the religion of our
Lord Jesus Christ.
* * * * *
The award to the Ontario Educational Collection at the Centennial
Exhibition, at Philadelphia, was made during Dr. Ryerson's absence in
England. Being a government exhibit, no medal could be awarded for it. A
diploma was, however, granted by the Centennial Commission, which was
declared to be--
For a quite complete and admirably arranged Exhibition,
illustrating the Ontario system of Education and its excellent
results; also for the efficiency of an administration which has
gained for the Ontario Department a most honourable distinction
among Government Educational agencies.
Such was the gratifying tribute which a number of eminent American
educationists paid to the Ontario system of Education, and through it to
its distinguished founder, in estimating the results of his labours as
illustrated at the Centennial Exhibition.
Having communicated this to Dr. Ryerson, in England, he replied:--I
cannot sufficiently express my gratitude with you to our Heavenly
Father, for His abounding care and goodness in connection with the
Education Department, in prospering us in our past work, and in
sustaining us during all these years against attacks and adversaries on
all sides. It is a singular and gratifying fact, that the Centennial
Exhibition at Philadelphia should afford us, at this juncture (the year
of my retiring from office), the best of all possible opportunities, to
exhibit the fruits (at least in miniature) of our past policy and
labours. To you, with myself, equally belongs the credit, as I am sure
the pleasure and gratitude, of these signal displays of the Divine
goodness to us.
During his stay in England Dr. Ryerson received a note from Rev. Dr.
Jobson, dated January 25th, 1877, in which he said:--
It will afford me lasting pleasure to think that I have said or
done anything towards augmenting your enjoyment on what you have
been pleased to term your 'last visit to England.' I remember with
pleasure your former visits, and our associations together with
Princes in our Israel who have passed to "the better country--even
a heavenly." And, for more than a quarter of a century, I have
traced your course as an acknowledged leader and counsellor for
Methodism in Canada. The result of this has been to produce within
me deep reverential esteem and affection towards you, which have
been only slightly expressed by such attention and acts that you
are pleased to acknowledge. My best wishes will accompany you on
your return to Canada; and I am sure that I express the feeling of
all my ministerial friends when I say that your appearance among us
at our late Conference in Nottingham heightened its interests with
us and that your utterances in it render it joyously memorable to
us.
[Illustration]
[Illustration]
CHAPTER LXV.
1877-1882.
Closing Years of Dr. Ryerson's Life-Labours.
After Dr. Ryerson's return from England, he devoted some time to the
final revision of his principal work, in two volumes: _The United Empire
Loyalists of America_, and to two additional volumes on the Puritans of
Old and New England. These works cost him a good deal of arduous labour,
but their preparation was in many respects a source of pleasure to him,
and of agreeable occupation. After their completion, he lived in quiet
retirement at his residence, No. 171 Victoria-street, Toronto. His pen
was soon again employed in writing a series of essays on Canadian
Methodism for the _Canadian Methodist Magazine_, which were afterwards
re-published in book form. Immediately after his return from England,
his brother John addressed him the following letter on the 23rd March,
1877:--
I heartily congratulate you on your safe arrival in your native
land, and also that in health and strength you are spared to see
your seventy-fourth birthday. As age advances time seems to fly
more and more rapidly; and however it may be with others, certainly
we are to the "margin come," and how important it is that we live
in readiness, and in continual preparation for our departure.
[Illustration: Dr. Ryerson's Private Residence and Study (in the rear
building), 171 Victoria St., Toronto.]
On the 7th May, 1877, Dr. Ryerson received a letter from his brother
John urging him to commence a proposed series of essays on Canadian
Methodism. He says:--
I am glad that you think of writing a review of Church matters, and
that there are so many leading ministers who think you ought to do
so. The more I think and pray about the matter, the more I am
satisfied that is a path of duty opened up to you, the pursuit of
which will be a great blessing to the Church and the country in
coming time. The matters referred to and somewhat explained and
exhibited, with other things which doubtless will occur to you,
might be:--1. Missionary Society; 2. Ryanism; 3. Canadian
Conference formed; 4. Clergy reserve land matter; 5. _Christian
Guardian_ commenced; 6. Church Land and Marriage Bill; 7. Victoria
College; 8. Book-Room; 9. Centenary celebration and fund; 10. Union
with the British Conference; 11. Hudson Bay mission; 12. Disruption
with British Conference; 13. Re-union; 14. Superannuated ministers;
Contingents; Chapel Relief, and Childrens' Funds; 15. Remarkable
camp-meetings--Beaver Dams, some one hundred and fifty professed
conversion; seventy or eighty joined the Church. Ancaster Circuit:
Peter Jones converted. Yongestreet Circuit: Mrs. Taylor converted
under a sermon preached by Wm. Hay. Bay Circuit: Peter Jacobs, and
many other Indians saved. Hamilton, back of Cobourg, held in time
of Conference--Bishop George presiding; when and where the Rice and
Mud Lake bands were all converted; a nation born in a day! 16. The
first protracted meeting; held at the twenty-mile camp, by Storey
and E. Evans, and Ryerson, P. E.--no previous arrangement, between
two hundred and three hundred professed religion, the wonderful
work spreading through most of the Niagara district.
In a letter to me dated Guelph, 9th June, 1877, Dr. Ryerson said:--I
came here yesterday forenoon, and was most respectfully and cordially
received by the Conference. In the course of the day, Rev. J. A.
Williams, seconded by Rev. E. B. Ryckman, moved that I be requested to
prepare a history of the principal epochs of our Church, etc. The
resolution, with many kind and complimentary remarks, was unanimously
passed by a standing vote. I assented, and am now committed to the work,
and will lose no time in commencing--dividing my time between it and my
history, which I hope to complete in a few months. I hope before the
next General Conference to complete what this Conference has requested,
and what, from what I hear, will be repeated by other Conferences. As I
am endeavouring to do some justice to the founders of our country and
its institutions, I hope to do the same for the Fathers of our Church
and its institutions. I spoke last night at the reception of young men,
and my remarks were very favourably received.
In a letter to me from Whitby, dated 27th June, Dr. Ryerson
said:--To-day I had the great pleasure of laying the foundation stone of
an important addition to the Methodist Ladies' College at Whitby. Mr.
Holden kindly intimated that the trustees had decided to name the new
structure "Ryerson Hall." My remarks were few, and related chiefly to
the importance of female education. I referred to the great attention
which was now given to the education of women, on both sides of the
Atlantic. There were different theories, I said, as to how it should be
done, but all were agreed that women should be educated. Even the
English Universities were helping in the work. I did not believe, I
said, in Colleges for both ladies and gentlemen. They should be
separate. It was of vital necessity that the mothers of our land should
be educated. Woman made the home, and home made the man. If the
daughters were educated, the sons would not remain ignorant. Both
patriotism and piety should make people encourage these institutions,
which would be the pride of future generations.
* * * * *
On the 30th July Dr. Ryerson received an affecting letter from his
brother John, enclosing to him the manuscript of his "Reminiscences of
Methodism," during his long and active life. In regard to them, he
said:--
What I have written is entirely from memory. In speaking about many
things I had to do with, of course I had to speak a good deal about
myself, but I was writing for the public, not for you; and if any
of the facts I have referred to will be of any use to you in your
Essays, I shall be glad. That use, however, can be made without
mentioning my name, which I have dreaded to see in print anywhere.
By prayer, reading, reflection, and God's grace helping a poor
worm, I have so far overcome the natural pride of my evil nature,
as to be content, and sometimes happy, in my position of
nothingness. My circumstances give strength to these feelings of
contentment. My age and growing weakness show me that I am come
very near the margin of my poor life, and unfavourable symptoms,
from time to time, strongly remind me that, with me at least, "in
the midst of life, we are in death." I do not, however, deprecate,
nor pray deliverance from, sudden death. My prayer is that of
Charles Wesley's:--
"In age and feebleness extreme,
Who can a sinful worm redeem?
Jesus, my only help Thou art,
Strength of my failing, flesh and heart;
Oh I might I catch one smile from Thee
And drop into eternity."
Several years ago I read a poem, or part of one, written in old age
by the celebrated English poetess, Mrs. Barbauld, whose sweet words
I very frequently repeat. She says:--
"Life, we have been long together,
Through pleasant and through cloudy weather,
'Tis hard to part when friends are dear,
Perhaps 'twill cost a sigh, or tear.
Then steal away, give little warning,
Choose thine own time;
Say not 'good night,' but in some happier clime,
Bid me 'good morning.'"
These words were almost prophetic, for within three months after they
were written, Dr. Ryerson left Toronto for Simcoe to attend at the dying
bed of his beloved brother. Immediately after his death, Dr. Ryerson
wrote to me and said:--Nothing could have been more satisfactory than
the last days of my dear brother; and it was a great comfort to him and
all the family that I was with him for ten days before his departure.
His responses to prayer were very hearty. He seemed to dwell in a higher
region. He was so nervously sensitive that he could not only not
converse, but could hardly bear being talked to. On one occasion he
said, "Egerton, don't talk to me, but kiss me." One day I asked him if I
should unite with him in prayer; he answered (and this was the longest
sentence during the ten days I was with him) with some warmth, "Egerton,
why do you ask me that? You know I always want you to pray with me." One
day I repeated, or began to repeat, the fifth verse of the thirty-first
Psalm, "Into Thy hands I commit my spirit: Thou hast redeemed me, O
Lord God of truth." He said "I have uttered these words many times. I
have not a doubt upon my mind." Another day he seemed to be very happy
while we united in prayer, and after responding "Amen and Amen!" he
added, "Praise the Lord."
* * * * *
As the General Conference of September, 1878, approached, Dr. Ryerson
was anxiously hoping that the Conference would be favoured with the
presence of an able counsellor and friend, Rev. Dr. Punshon. Greatly to
his regret, he received a note from Dr. Punshon, saying:--
You will know by this time that I am not coming to Canada this
year, but that Mr. Coley is appointed Representative to your
General Conference. Among other things, Dr. Punshon said:--You will
see that our Conference has been a solemn one. A minister and a lay
representative were smitten with death on the premises, and died
before they could be removed. These shocks did not help my already
shaken nerves to regain their tone. Otherwise the Conference was a
memorable success. I shall have some of my heart with you in
Montreal. I trust you will have a blessed Conference, and will be
able to get some solution of the transfer question, and some
approach to a scheme for connexional superintendency on a broad,
practical basis, thus strengthening the two weak places of your
present system.
On the 31st August, 1878, Rev. Dr. Wood addressed the following note to
Dr. Ryerson:--
Thirty-one years ago, when appointed by the British Conference to
the office of General Superintendent of Missions in the Canada
Conference, I forwarded to your address some testimonials which my
brethren presented to me when giving up the chair of the New
Brunswick District. I now enclose to you the resignation of my
office as one of the General Secretaries of the Missionary Society,
which you can either present personally, or hand over to the
President. I have very pleasant recollections of the past
associations, especially in the early years of the Union of 1847,
to which you gave invaluable assistance in the working out of its
principles, which have resulted in the present wonderful
enlargement of the Methodist Church.
As was his custom, Rev. Dr. Punshon sent to Dr. Ryerson a kind note at
the New Year of 1879. Speaking of Methodist affairs in England he
says:--
The new year has dawned gloomily enough with us in England. I never
knew such protracted commercial depression. In spite of all,
however, Church enterprises are projected, and we have started our
Connexional Thanksgiving Fund auspiciously, both so far as spirit
and money go. It is proposed to raise £200,000 at least, and some
are sanguine enough to think, if times mend, that a good deal more
will be raised. There never was a meeting in Methodism like the one
at City Road. It was an All-day meeting. The first hour was spent
in devotional exercises, and then the contributions flowed in
without pressure, ostentation, or shame. We are beginning the
Circuit Meetings next week. Our Brixton one is fixed for Monday
evening, but the cream of our subscriptions was announced at City
Road. Dr. Rigg makes a good President.
Writing to a friend in December, 1880, Dr. Ryerson said:--
You speak of being old. I feel myself to be an old man. It is more
labour for me to write one page now, than it used to be to write five
pages.... We shall soon follow those who have gone before. With you I am
waiting and endeavouring to be prepared for the change, and have no fear
of it, but often rejoice in the bright hopes beyond.
* * * * *
Again, writing to the same friend on the 9th of August, 1881, he said:--
My latest attack has reduced my strength (of which I had little to
spare) very much. My desire is likely soon to be accomplished--to depart
hence.
Writing to another friend on the 24th of July, 1881, Dr. Ryerson
said:--I have to-day written a letter of affectionate sympathy to Rev.
Dr. Punshon on the decease of his son John William. I trust that his
last days were his best days.
It has always been a source of thankfulness and gratification, that I
was able to show him some kind attentions during his last visit to
Canada.
I have been deeply concerned to read in this morning's newspaper that
Dr. Punshon himself was seriously ill. I trust and pray that the Church
and nation may not yet, nor for a long time to come, be deprived of his
eminent services.
I cannot tell how deeply we all sympathize with Dr. and Mrs. Punshon in
this great trial.
* * * * *
From the last (almost illegible) letter written by Dr. Ryerson, two
weeks before his death and dated 6th of February, 1882, I make the
following extracts. It was addressed to Rev. Hugh Johnston, B.D., of
Montreal, (now of Toronto).
I am helpless myself--have lost my hearing so that I cannot converse
without a tube. I have been confined to my room for five weeks by
congestion of the lungs, from which I have only partially recovered. I
have not been out of the house since last September, so that I can take
no part in Church affairs. But God has been with me--my strength and
comforter. I am beginning to revive, but have not yet been able to go
down stairs, or move, only creep about with the help of a cane. I do not
know whether you can read the scrawl I have written, but I cannot write
any better.
Yours most affectionately,
Monday, February 6th, 1882. E. Ryerson.
The concluding words of Dr. Ryerson's story of his life were:--
In 1878, I was elected for the third time Representative of the Canadian
to the British Conference. After the fulfilment of these functions, I
have retired from all active participation in public affairs, whether of
Church or State. I have finished, after twenty years' labour, my
"History of the Loyalists of America and their Times." I have finished
the "Story of my Life"--imperfect and fragmentary as it is--leaving to
another pen anything that may be thought worthy of record of my last
days on earth, as well as any essential omissions in my earlier career.
* * * * *
At length the end of this great Canadian drew near; and the shadows at
the closing of life's eventide deepened and lengthened. I visited him
frequently, and always found him interested in whatever subject or topic
I might speak to him about. His congenial subject, however, was God's
providential goodness and overruling care throughout his whole life. In
his personal religious experience, he always spoke humbly of himself and
glowingly of the long-suffering tenderness of God's dealings towards
him. At no time was the character of his religious experience more
practical and suggestive than when laid aside from duty. Meditation on
the past was the subject of his thoughts.
To him God was a personal, living Father--a Brother born for
adversity--a Friend that sticketh closer than a brother--a great and
glorious Being, ever gracious, ever merciful. His trust in God was
child-like in its simplicity, firm and unwavering. His conversation
partook of it and was eminently realistic. He had no more doubt of God's
daily, hourly, loving care and superintending providence over him and
his than he had of any material fact with which he was familiar or which
was self-evident to him. He entirely realized that God was his ever
present friend. There seemed to be that close, intimate union--reverent
and humble as it was on his part--of man with God, and this gave a
living reality to religion in his life. To him the counsels, the
warnings, the promises; the encouragements of the Bible, were the voice
of God speaking to him personally--the very words came as living words
from the lips of God, "as a man speaketh to his friend." This was the
secret of his courage, whether it was in some crisis of conflict or
controversy, or in his little frail craft when crossing the lake, or
exposed to the storm.
To such a man death had no terrors--the heart had no fear. It was
cheering and comforting to listen to him (as I often did alone) and to
hear him speak of his near departure, as of one preparing for a
journey--ceasing from duty, in order to be ready to be conveyed away,
and then resuming it when the journey was over.
Thus he spoke of the time of his departure as at hand, and he was ready
for the messenger when He should call for him. He spoke of it
trustfully, hopefully, cheerfully, neither anxious nor fearful; and yet,
on the other hand, neither elated nor full of joy; but he knew in whom
He had trusted, and was persuaded, and was not afraid of evil tidings
either of the dark valley or the river of death. He knew Him whom he
believed, and was persuaded that He was able to keep that which he had
committed unto Him against that day.
Thus the end drew near, and with it, as the outward man began to fail,
the feeling of unwavering trust and confidence was deepened and
strengthened. At length hearing failed, and the senses one by one
partially ceased to perform their functions. Then to him were fully
realized the inspired words of Solomon: Desire failed, and the silver
cord was loosed, the golden bowl was broken, the pitcher broken at the
fountain, and the wheel at the cistern. Gradually the weary wheels of
life stood still, and at seven o'clock on Sunday morning, February 19th,
1882, in the presence of his loved ones and dear friends, gently and
peacefully the spirit of Egerton Ryerson took its flight to be forever
with the Lord!
Servant of God, well done!
Thy glorious warfare's past;
The battle's fought, the vict'ry won,
And thou art crowned at last;
Of all thy heart's desire
Triumphantly possessed;
Lodged by the sweet angelic choir
In thy Redeemer's breast.
In condescending love,
Thy ceaseless prayer He heard;
And bade thee suddenly remove
To this complete reward.
O happy, happy soul!
In ecstacies of praise,
Long as eternal ages roll,
Thou seest thy Saviour's face.
Redeemed from earth and pain,
Ah! when shall we ascend,
And all in Jesus' presence reign
With our translated friend?
CHAPTER LXVI.
1882.
The Funeral Ceremonies, Wednesday, Feb. 22nd, 1882.
Amid the tolling of bells, said the Toronto _Globe_, and the
lamentations of many thousands of people, the remains of the late Rev.
Dr. Ryerson were conveyed to their final earthly resting-place in Mount
Pleasant Cemetery, on Wednesday, the 22nd February. During the day large
numbers visited the sorrowing house, and gazed for the last time on the
features of the revered dead. As was to be expected, the larger number
were, like the venerable deceased, far into "the sere and yellow leaf,"
and many who had known him for a long time could scarce restrain the
unbidden tear as a flood of recollections surged up at the sight of the
still form cold in death.
No one present, probably, says the _Guardian_, ever saw so many
ministers at a funeral. Among the ministers and laymen were many
grey-haired veterans, who had watched with interest the whole brilliant
career of the departed.... All the Churches were well represented, both
by their ministers and prominent laymen. Bishop Sweatman and most of the
ministers of the Church of England were present. Nearly all the
Presbyterian, Baptist, and Congregational ministers of the city were
present; and even Archbishop Lynch and Father McCann, of the Roman
Catholic Church, showed their respect for the dead by their presence
during the day. Devotional service at the house was conducted by Rev. R.
Jones, of Cobourg, and Rev. J. G. Laird, of Collingwood.
The plate on the coffin bore the inscription:--"Egerton Ryerson born
21st March, 1803: died 19th February, 1882." The floral tributes
presented by sorrowing friends were from various places in Ontario, and
not a few came from Detroit and other American cities. The following may
be noted:--Wreath, with "Norfolk" in the centre, from Mr. E. Harris;
wreath, with "Rest" in the centre, from Dr. and Mrs. Hodgins; pillow,
with "Father," from Mrs. E. Harris; crown from the scholars of Ryerson
school; pillow, with "Grandpapa," from the grandchildren of the
deceased: wreath from Mr. C. H. Greene; cross, also scythe, with sheaf,
from Mr. and Mrs. George Harris, London; crown and cross from Rev. Dr.
and Mrs. Potts; anchor from W. E. and F. E. Hodgins; sheaf from George
S. Hodgins; lilies and other choice flowers inside the casket from Dr.
and Mrs. Hodgins.
Shortly before three o'clock the room was left to the members of the
family, after which the coffin was borne to the hearse by the following
pall-bearers, preceded by the Rev. Dr. Potts:--Dr. Hodgins, Rev. Dr.
Nelles, Dr. Aikins, Rev. Dr. Rose, Rev. R. Jones, Mr. J. Paterson.
Previous to the arrival of the hearse at the church, His Honour the
Lieutenant-Governor, the Speaker of the House, members of the
Legislature, which had adjourned for the occasion, and the Ministerial
Association, were in the places assigned to them. The members of the
City Council and Board of Education were also present in a body. The
pupils of Ryerson and Dufferin Schools marched into the church in a
body, wearing mourning badges on their arms. There were representatives
of all conditions in society, and it might be said of all ages. The
lisping schoolboy who was free from the restraint imposed by the
presence of his master; and the aged man and woman tottering unsteadily
on the verge of the grave--all were hushed in the presence of death.
Everywhere within the building were the evidences of a great sorrow.
Crape was seen wherever the eye turned--surrounding the galleries,
fronting the platform, encircling the choir. But there was one spot
thrown into _alto relievo_ by the sombre drapery of woe. In front of the
pulpit, on a small table, were the exquisitely beautiful floral tributes
of friendship and affection, whispering of the beauty and glory of that
spring-time of the human race, when this "mortal shall have put on
immortality."
Cobourg and Victoria College were well represented; the Rev. T. W.
Jeffery and Wm. Kerr, Q.C., and others, being present; also the
following professors and students from Victoria College:--Rev. Dr.
Nelles, Prof. Burwash, Prof. Reynard, Prof. Bain, Mr. McHenry
(Collegiate Institute), and Dr. Jones. The students from the
College--one from each class--were Messrs. Stacey, Horning, Eldridge,
Brewster, and Crews. The Senate of Victoria University walked in a body
immediately after the carriages containing the mourners. Upon entering
the west aisle of the church, Rev. Dr. Potts commenced reading the
burial service, the vast audience standing. The pall-bearers having
deposited their charge in front of the pulpit, Rev. Mr. Cochran gave out
the 733rd hymn,
"Come, let us join our friends above,
Who have obtained the prize."
Rev. Dr. Rose offered prayer, after which Rev. Wm. Scott, of Montreal
Conference, read a portion of the 1st Cor. xv., commencing at the 20th
verse. The choir of fifty voices, led by the organist, Mr. Torrington,
sang an anthem--
"Brother, thou art gone before us"
Rev. Mr. Telfer, from England, gave out the 42nd hymn, which was
fervently sung by the congregation. The Rev. Dr. Potts then delivered
the following funeral address:--
My place of choice on this deeply sorrowful occasion would be in the
ranks of the mourners, for I feel like a son bereft of his father.
Gladly would I sit at the feet of aged ministers before me, and listen
to them speak of one they knew and loved so well. I venture to address a
few words to you, in fulfilment of the dying request of my reverend and
honoured father in the Gospel.
Regarding the well-known wishes of the departed, my words must be few
and simple. To-day, Methodism, in her laity and ministry mourns over the
death of her most illustrious minister and Church leader. To-day, many
in this house, and far beyond Toronto, lament the loss of an ardent and
true friend. To-day, Canada mourns the decease of one of her noblest
sons. This is not the time nor the place for mere eulogy; in the
presence of death and of God eulogy is unbecoming. We would glorify God
in the character and in the endowments of his servant and child.
We cannot, we should not, forget the greatness of the departed. His was
a many-sided greatness. Dr. Ryerson would have been great in any walk in
life. In law he would have been a Chief Justice. In statesmanship he
would have been a Prime Minister. He was a born leader of his fellows.
He was kingly in carriage and in character. The stamp of royal manhood
was impressed upon him physically, mentally, morally. We cannot forget
the distinguished positions occupied so worthily and so long by our
departed friend. He lived for his country, spending and being spent in
the educational and moral advancement of the people.
As a servant of Methodism, he was a missionary to the Indians of this
Province, an evangelist to the scattered settlers, and a pastor in this
city long, long ago. He was President of Victoria College, and never
ceased to love and support that institution of learning. For it he
solicited money in England and in this country, and to it he gave the
intellectual energy of his early manhood, as well as ranking in the
front place as a personal subscriber to its funds. He was the first
Editor of the _Christian Guardian_, the connexional organ of our branch
of Methodism.
As a servant of Canada, he was for over thirty years Chief
Superintendent of Education in this Province. His monument--more
enduring than brass--is the Public School system of Ontario. When the
history of this country comes to be written, the name, the imperishable
name of Egerton Ryerson shall shine in radiant lustre as one of the
greatest men produced in this land.
But it is not of these things Dr. Ryerson would have me speak if he
could direct my thoughts to-day. Rather would have me speak of him as a
sinner saved by grace, as a disciple of our Lord Jesus Christ. I knew
him well in his religious life. His experience was marked by scriptural
simplicity, and his conversation was eminently spiritual. Of all the
ministers of my acquaintance, none spoke with me so freely and so
frequently on purely religious subjects as the venerable Dr. Ryerson. He
gloried in the cross of Christ. He never wearied speaking of the
precious blood of the Lamb. He was one of the most helpful and
sympathetic hearers in the Metropolitan Church congregation. Rarely, in
my almost six years' pastorate, did he leave the church without entering
the vestry and saying a kindly, encouraging word.
The doctor belonged to a class of men rapidly passing away. Most of his
companions passed on before him. But few linger behind. Grand men they
were in Church and State. Canada owes them a debt of gratitude that she
can hardly ever pay. Let us revere the memory of those gone to their
rest and reward, and let us treat with loving reverence the few pioneers
who still linger to bless the land for which they have done so much. We
may have a higher average in these times, but we lack the heroic men who
stood out so conspicuously in the early history of Canada.
Dr. Ryerson was a Methodist, but not a narrow sectarian. He knew the
struggles of our Church in this country, and shared them; he witnessed,
with gratitude to God, the extension of Methodism from feeble beginnings
to its present influential position. He desired above all things that
our Church should retain the primitive simplicity of the olden time, and
yet march abreast of the age in the elements of a Christian
civilization.
At the first General Conference which met in this church, after the
Union, and after that eminently providential event, the introduction of
laymen into the highest Court of the Church--at that time, when the
representatives of both ministry and membership desired a man to preside
over the Methodist Church of Canada, to whom did they look? To the man
whom Methodism delighted to honour--Egerton Ryerson.
Dr. Ryerson was regarded by the congregation belonging to this church
with peculiar respect and affection. While he belonged to all Canada,
we, of the Metropolitan Church, claimed him as our own especial
possession. He was a trustee of the Church, and one of its most liberal
supporters; for its prosperity he ever prayed, and in its success he
ever rejoiced. It is hard to realize that we shall no longer see that
venerable form--that genial and intellectual countenance.
The life of Dr. Ryerson was long, whether you measure it by years or by
service--service to his God, to his fellow-men, and to his native land.
He was a shock of corn ripe for the heavenly garner. He was an heir,
having reached his majority, and made meet for the inheritance of the
saints in light, has gone to take possession of it. He was a pilgrim,
who after a lengthened pilgrimage has reached home. He was a Christian,
who with Paul could say, "For me to live is Christ, to die is gain." In
such an hour as this, what comfort could all the honours of man give to
the sorrowing family as compared with the thought that the one they
loved so dearly was a man in Christ and is now a glorified spirit before
the throne. Henceforth we must think of him and speak of him as the late
Dr. Ryerson, and to many of us this shall be difficult and painful. We
have been so accustomed to see and hear him, we have so long looked up
to him as one specially gifted to lead, that a sad feeling comes over
us, left as we are without the guidance of our beloved leader and father
in the Church. The memory of the just is blessed, and our memory of Dr.
Ryerson shall be precious, until we overtake him in the better country,
that is the heavenly. Until then let us not be slothful, but followers
of them who through faith and patience inherit the promises. Could he
speak to us to-day from the heights of the heavenly glory to which he
has just been admitted, he would say to this vast concourse of friends,
"Follow Christ; seek first the kingdom of God; serve your generation;
build up in your Dominion a nationality based on righteousness and
truth; be strict in your judgment upon yourselves, but be charitable in
your judgment of others; live that your end may be peace, and your
immortality eternal blessedness."
Dr. Potts concluded by reading the following extract from a letter
written by Dr. Ormiston, of New York, to Dr. Hodgins:--
Dear Dr. Ryerson, I mourn thee as a son for a father. Thou wert very
dear to me. I owe thee much. I loved as I esteemed thee. I have no one
left now to fill thy place in my heart and life. Through riches of
Divine grace I hope soon to meet thee again. My dear Brother
Hodgins--You and I knew our noble-hearted friend better than most, and
to know him was to love him. You have been longer and more intimately
associated with him in social life and earnest work than I was. But I
scarcely think that even you loved him more, and I feel as if I was
hardly even second to you in his regards. Let our tears fall together
to-day, and in each of our hearts let his memory live ever fresh and
fondly cherished.
Hymn 624, "Rock of Ages, cleft for me," was then sung, after which
prayer was offered and the benediction was pronounced by the Rev. J. G.
Laird, President of the Toronto Conference. A musical voluntary and the
"Dead March" concluded the impressive service.
The remains were then borne to Mount Pleasant Cemetery, where they were
afterwards interred.[150] The concluding portion of the burial service
was read by the Rev. Dr. Nelles.
On the following Sunday the funeral sermon was preached by Rev. Dr.
Nelles. The _Guardian_ said:--
The discourse of Dr. Nelles was a masterly and eloquent review of
the salient points in Dr. Ryerson's life and character. We have
rarely listened to a sermon with greater satisfaction, and never to
a funeral sermon so discriminating in its statements and
characterization. It was distinguished by a broad mental grasp of
the great lessons and facts of history, in the light of which all
personal and local events must be viewed, to be seen truly and
impartially. His appreciative recognition of the privileges of
religious equality which we possess in Canada, and of the prominent
part taken by Dr. Ryerson in obtaining them, was very suggestive
and felicitous. We rarely follow to the grave so eminent a man as
Dr. Ryerson; and we seldom have heard a discourse so fully equal to
a great occasion.
Tributes to Dr. Ryerson's Memory.
After Dr. Ryerson's death kind telegrams and letters of condolence were
received by the family from many sympathizing friends, among which was
one from the Marquis of Lorne, Governor-General. The following letter
was also received by Mrs. Ryerson from the Rev. William Arthur, M.A.,
dated London, England, April 10th, 1882:--
The news of your great bereavement, a bereavement which, though yours in
a special sense, is not yours alone, but is felt by multitudes as their
own, came at a moment when a return of an old affection of the eyes
made writing difficult, and I did not like to give you a mere line. From
my heart I do condole with you on the removal from your side of one who
was pleasant to look upon, even for strangers, and whose presence was
not only a natural delight, but a stay, and an honour. Not many women
are called to sustain the loss of such a husband. But on the other hand,
not many women in the day of their great loss have the legacy left to
them of such a memory, such a career, and such appreciation of whole
communities of the merits of that career. Very few have such a
combination of true religious consolation, of full hope and unclouded
faith, with the sense of comfort derived from general sympathy and
universal public respect. Dr. Ryerson was the servant of God, and the
Lord blessed him. He was the servant of the Church, and the Church loved
and revered him. He was the servant of his country, and his country
delighted to honour him, and will hold him in permanent and honourable
remembrance. To many friends on this side of the Atlantic, as well as on
his own, he was a rarely honoured and prized representative of long and
noble services to the cause of God, and to general society, services
rendered with commanding abilities and unflinching vigour. To you and to
the children the loss is far different to what it is to others. To you
and to them have the hearts of others turned with unaffected sympathy.
You have had many praying for you; many hoping that blessings will rest
upon the name of Ryerson, and that it will long be represented in every
Christian work, and every branch of public usefulness. With truly
affectionate regards, and condolences to Mr. and Mrs. Charles, believe
me, dear Mrs. Ryerson, yours with heartfelt sympathy,
Wm. Arthur.
The Lord Bishop of Manchester, who was in Canada as one of the Royal
Commissioners on Education, in concluding his report on our Canadian
Schools, said: "Such, in all its main features, is the school system of
Upper Canada. A system not perfect, but yet far in advance, as a system
of national education, of anything we can show at home. It is indeed
very remarkable to me that in a country, occupied in the greater part of
its area by a sparse and anything but wealthy population, whose
predominant characteristic is as far as possible removed from the spirit
of enterprise, an educational system so complete in its theory and so
capable of adaptation in practice should have been originally organized,
and have maintained in what, with all allowances, must still be called
successful operation for so long a period as twenty-five years. It shows
what can be accomplished by the energy, determination, and devotion of a
single earnest man. What national education in England owes to Sir J.
K. Shuttleworth, what education in New England owes to Horace Mann, that
debt education in Canada owes to Egerton Ryerson. He has been the object
of bitter abuse, of not a little misrepresentation; but he has not
swerved from his policy or from his fixed ideas. Through evil report and
good report he has found others to support him in the resolution, that
free education shall be placed within the reach of every Canadian parent
for every Canadian child."