_EDUCATION IN UPPER CANADA FROM 1783 TO 1844--(Continued)._
Late in the year 1828, Sir Peregrine Maitland was replaced as
Lieutenant-Governor of Upper Canada by Sir John Colborne. About the same
time Sir George Murray, who had acted as Administrator of the Government
of Upper Canada in 1815, and who consequently knew something of Canadian
affairs, became Colonial Secretary in the Imperial Parliament. In
acknowledging receipt of the petition to His Majesty of the Assembly of
Upper Canada protesting against the King's College charter, Sir George
Murray, in a communication to Sir John Colborne, said:[26] "It would be
deservedly a subject of regret to His Majesty's Government, if the
University, recently established at York, should prove to have been
founded upon principles which cannot be made to accord with the general
feelings and opinions of those for whose advantage it was intended.... I
have observed that your predecessor (Sir Peregrine Maitland) in the
Government of Upper Canada differs from the House of Assembly as to the
general prevalence of objections to the University founded upon the
degree of exclusive connection which it has with the Church of England.
It seems reasonable to conclude, however, that on such a subject as this
an address adopted by a full House of Assembly, with scarcely any
dissentient voices,[27] must be considered to express the prevailing
opinion in the Province upon this subject.
[26] See copy of Sir George Murray's letter in D. H. E., Vol. I., pp.
257 and 258.
[27] The vote stood 21 for and 9 against.
"In the event, therefore, of its appearing to you to be proper to invite
the Legislative Council and House of Assembly to resume the
consideration of this question, you will apprise them that their
representations on the existing charter of the University have attracted
the serious attention of His Majesty's Government and that the opinion
which may be expressed by the Legislative Council and House of Assembly
on that subject will not fail to receive the most prompt and serious
attention."
Shortly after the receipt of this communication Sir John Colborne, as
Chancellor of King's College, convened the College Council and declared
that no immediate steps were to be taken toward active University work,
and that not one stone should be put upon another until certain
alterations had been made in the charter.
In 1829 the Chairman of the General Board of Education, Rev. Dr.
Strachan, presented to the Legislative Assembly his first annual report.
It is an able and very suggestive document. It showed 372 pupils[28] in
the eleven Grammar Schools, and 401 Common Schools with 10,712 pupils.
Dr. Strachan had personally visited each Grammar School during 1828, and
had incidentally learned something of the Common Schools. Referring to
Grammar Schools he says:[29] "It will be seen that in some places girls
are admitted.[30] This happens from the want of good female schools, and
perhaps from the more rapid progress which children are supposed to make
under experienced and able schoolmasters. It is to be wished, however,
that separate schools for the sexes were established, as the admission
of female children interferes with the government which is required in
classical seminaries; it is, nevertheless, an inconvenience of a
temporary nature, which will gradually pass away as the population
increases in wealth and numbers." This "inconvenience of a temporary
nature" persisted until 1868, when girls were formally admitted as
pupils in Grammar Schools.
[28] In 1827 there were 329 pupils, of whom 8 in the Cornwall School
were girls.
[29] See copy of Report in D. H. E., Vol. I., pp. 266 and 267.
[30] The Report for 1828 showed 25 girls in the eleven District
Schools.
Dr. Strachan pointed out very clearly in this Report that the Common
Schools could never improve very much until the teachers were better
paid. He also made an excellent practical suggestion.[31] "The
Provincial Board, therefore, would submit with all deference, that in
addition to the public allowance, even if increased beyond its present
amount, a power should be given to the Townships to assess themselves
for this special purpose."
[31] See original Report in Appendix to Journals of Assembly, U. C., pp.
16 and 17 of Appendix on Education.
Here we have laid down the correct principle of support for public
schools, and one cannot but feel that had Dr. Strachan followed up this
suggestion by pressing it upon the Legislature, and by discussing it
with school-managers and the general public, he might have secured its
early adoption.
When the Legislature convened in 1829, Sir John Colborne in the Speech
from the Throne[32] made direct reference to education as follows: "The
Public [Grammar] Schools are generally increasing, but their
organization appears susceptible of improvement. Measures will be
adopted, I hope, to reform the Royal Grammar School [the District School
at York] and to incorporate it with the University recently endowed by
His Majesty, and to introduce a system in that Seminary which will open
to the youth of the Province the means of receiving a liberal and
extensive course of instruction. Unceasing exertions should be made to
attract able masters to this country, where the population bears no
proportion to the number of offices and employments that must
necessarily be held by men of education and acquirements, for the
support of the laws and of your free institutions."
[32] See Journals of Assembly for U. C. for 1829, p. 5.
This message from the Governor may require some explanation. In the
first place let us note that Sir John Colborne was an able and
enlightened man, sincerely desirous of giving to Upper Canada a
government that would be acceptable to the mass of the people. He seems
to have realized clearly that the Assembly was a fairly accurate
reflection of public opinion, and that no policy could ultimately
prevail unless it was in harmony with its wishes. His action in
arresting the working of King's College was one proof of this, although
his subsequent action in founding Upper Canada College solely on his own
responsibility showed his belief in the power of the Crown to take
independent action. He saw that the District Grammar Schools were very
inefficient and were touching the lives of an insignificant proportion
of the people of Upper Canada. He foresaw that for some years the
revenue to be derived from the endowment of King's College would not
support a very pretentious institution, and that for such an
institution, even if it were in operation, there would be very few
students prepared by previous study to profit from its courses. In his
opinion the immediate wants of the country would be better served by a
high-class school than by a university. Hence his proposal to reform the
Royal Grammar School at York and incorporate it with King's College.
The Assembly of 1829 contained many eminent men, of whom it is
sufficient to mention Marshall Bidwell (the Speaker), William Lyon
Mackenzie, W. W. Baldwin (father of Hon. Robert Baldwin), and John
Rolph, the latter a graduate of the University of Cambridge. The
Assembly appointed a select committee on Education. This committee made
an extensive report[33] upon both District Grammar and Common Schools.
In regard to the former they were pronounced in their condemnation and
recommended their abolition. The report claimed that the District or
Grammar School Trustees, appointed by the Crown, were chosen to promote
the interests of the Anglican Church; that in many cases the schools
themselves were merely stepping-stones for the clergy of the Anglican
Church; that they were under no efficient inspection; that they were
quite as expensive to those parents who did not live immediately beside
them as much better schools in the United States; and finally that as
only 108 pupils in the whole Province were studying languages in these
schools, that their work could be done equally well by really good
Common Schools. The report lamented the low salaries of teachers in
Common Schools and suggested that no Government grants should be given
unless the managers of schools themselves raised by subscription equal
amounts. The report also protested against the payment out of public
funds of L300 a year to Rev. Dr. Strachan, as Chairman of the General
Board,[34] and against his assumption that reports of District Schools
should be made to him instead of to the Lieutenant-Governor. The report
expressed a hope that something might be done to encourage the
publication of textbooks in Canada, and concluded with expressing
approval of the Governor's plan to found a seminary of a high class,
which should be free from sectarian influences and afford advanced
instruction to the youth of Canada.
[33] See Report in Appendix to Journals of Assembly for 1829, p. 42.
[34] The General Board of Education had been organized by Sir Peregrine
Maitland wholly on his own authority and that of the Home Government.
The Assembly naturally refused to acknowledge any obligation to support
it with public funds.
Later in the session of 1829 this select committee on Education prepared
a series of resolutions which were adopted by the Assembly. The
following are the chief points in the resolutions:--[35]
1. That the Governor, or Lieutenant-Governor of the Province, not being
amenable for his conduct to any tribunal, ought not to be Chancellor of
King's College.
2. That it ought not to be required that the President of King's College
be a clergyman of the Anglican Church, and that he ought to be elected
or appointed for a stated term.
3. That the Archdeacon of York ought not by virtue of his clerical
office to become President of King's College.
4. That the President and Professors of King's College ought not to be
required to subscribe to the Thirty-nine Articles.
5. That the Degree of Doctor of Divinity ought to be conferred by King's
College upon any professing Christian who passed the required
examinations in Classical, Biblical, and other subjects of learning.
6. That wherever the charter of King's College is in any way sectarian
it should be amended.
[35] See Appendix to Journals of Assembly of U.C. for 1829, pp. 72 and
73.
The Governor asked the Legislative Council to consider in what way the
charter of King's College could be amended to make it more acceptable to
the people of Upper Canada. The Council in reply recommended that
instead of the Archdeacon of York any Anglican clergyman should be
eligible for President. They also recommended that tests for the Council
be dispensed with.
Having the sanction of the Home Government, and feeling sure of the
active support of the Assembly, Sir John Colborne immediately put in
execution his plan of forming a high-class school to replace the Royal
Grammar School at York. He caused advertisements to be inserted in the
British papers for masters. The head master was to have a house, L600
per annum, and the privilege of taking boarders. The classical and
mathematical masters were to receive L300 a year and similar privileges.
The Assembly had suggested that the new school should be known as
Colborne College, but the name adopted was Upper Canada College. The
school opened in 1830 with a staff of seven specialists, nearly all
chosen in England. The work was carried on in the buildings of the old
Grammar School until handsome and elaborate buildings were erected on
Russell Square, north of King Street. An endowment of some 60,000 acres
from the School lands was given the new institution. It was generally
felt that the new school would, for the present, supply the want of a
university, and also make it unnecessary for Canadian youths to complete
their education in the United States.
Before Upper Canada College had been working a year a very
numerously-signed petition was presented by some York patrons of the
school praying for some modification of the exclusively classical nature
of the programme for those boys destined for commerce and mechanical
pursuits. The Governor's attempt to give Canadians a high-class
collegiate school seemed only partially successful. The error was in
attempting to adapt to a new country a form of school that suited the
requirements of a select class in an old and highly civilized country.
Latin and Greek must be crammed into boys whether or not they had any
natural aptitude for language study, and quite irrespective of their
future occupations in life.
The founding and liberal equipment of Upper Canada College had one
effect that might easily have been foretold. Petitions came from almost
every Grammar School District praying for endowed and well-equipped
schools similar to Upper Canada College. The petitioners resented the
concentration at York of two important institutions, Upper Canada
College and King's College, deriving support from an endowment
originally set aside to give educational facilities to the whole of
Upper Canada.
The Assembly of 1833, through a select committee, made a minute
examination into the affairs of Upper Canada College, and passed a
resolution recommending that it be incorporated with King's College. I
give here quotations from two writers on Upper Canada College, showing
how differently things appear when viewed through different eyes. The
first is from a letter written in 1833 by Rev. Thomas Radcliffe.[36]
"Future generations will bless the memory of Sir John Colborne, who, to
the many advantages derived from the equity and wisdom of his
government, has added that of a magnificent foundation [in Upper Canada
College] for the purposes of literary instruction. The lowest salary of
any of the professors of this institution is L300 per annum, with the
accommodation of a noble brick house and the privilege of taking
boarders at L50 per annum."
[36] See copy of letter in D. H. E., Vol. II., pp. 120 and 121.
The next is from "Sketches," published by William Lyon Mackenzie,
London, 1833. "Splendid incomes are given to the masters of the new
[Upper Canada] College, culled at Oxford by the Vice-Chancellor, and
dwellings furnished to the professors (we may say) by the sweat of the
brow of the Canadian labourer. All these advantages and others not now
necessary to be mentioned, are insufficient to gratify the rapacious
appetite of the 'Established Church' managers, who, in order to
accumulate wealth and live in opulence, charge the children of His
Majesty's subjects ten times as high fees as are required by the less
amply endowed Seminary at Quebec. They have another reason for so doing.
The College (already a monopoly) becomes almost an exclusive school for
the families of the Government officers, and the few who, through their
means, have, in York, already attained a pecuniary independence out of
the public treasury. The College never was intended for the people, nor
did the Executive endow it thus amply that all classes might apply to
the fountain of knowledge."[37]
[37] See volume in Library of Parliament, Ottawa, pp. 190 and 191.
As time passed the College founded by Sir John Colborne did good work as
a secondary school for people of wealth, but all attempts to make it
popular with the mass of the people proved ineffective. The Legislature
gave it an annual grant somewhat unwillingly.[38] The buildings were
erected, and part of the annual expenses paid from advances made by the
King's College Council.
[38] See D. H. E., Vol. III., p. 123.
By an Act passed in 1839[39] there was an attempt made to raise the
College to the dignity of a temporary university. This action displeased
the Council of King's College because it tended to delay the opening of
lectures in that institution. In 1849, when the Baldwin University Bill
made an independent corporation of Upper Canada College, that
institution was indebted to the University for nearly $40,000, which was
never repaid.[40]
[39] See D. H. E., Vol. III., pp. 170 and 171.
[40] For the later history of Upper Canada College see "History of Upper
Canada College," by Principal George Dickson.
In 1831 the Methodists began to build at Cobourg the Upper Canada
Academy, which was to be open to all religious denominations. They felt
that although Upper Canada College was non-sectarian in a legal sense,
yet, inasmuch as the principal and professors were Anglican clergymen,
the institution was essentially an Anglican College.
At this time the Rev. Egerton Ryerson was editor of _The Christian
Guardian_ newspaper, the official organ of the Methodist Conference. In
an editorial, April, 1831, he thus refers to the proposed Upper Canada
Academy: "It is the first literary institution which has been commenced
by any body of ministers in accordance with the frequently expressed
wishes of the people of Upper Canada. The Methodist Conference have not
sought endowments of public lands for the establishment of an
institution, contrary to the voice of the people as expressed by their
representatives.... Desirous of promoting more extensively the interests
of the rising generation and of the country generally, we have resolved
upon the establishment of a Seminary of Learning--we have done so upon
liberal principles--we have not reserved any peculiar privileges to
ourselves for the education of our children; we have published the
constitution for your examination; and now we appeal to your liberality
for assistance.... On the characteristics of the system of education
which it is contemplated to pursue in the proposed Seminary, we may
observe that it will be such as to produce habits of intellectual labour
and activity; a diligent and profitable improvement of time; bodily
health and vigour, a fitness and relish for agricultural and mechanical,
as well as for other pursuits; virtuous principles and Christian morals.
On the importance of education generally we may remark, it is as
necessary as the light--it should be as common as water, and as free as
air.... Education among the people is the best security of a good
government and constitutional liberty; it yields a steady, unbending
support to the former, and effectually protects the latter. An educated
people are always a loyal people to good government; and the first
object of a wise government should be the education of the people. An
educated people are always enterprising in all kinds of general and
local improvements. An ignorant population are equally fit for, and are
liable to be, slaves of despots and the dupes of demagogues; sometimes,
like the unsettled ocean, they can be thrown into incontrollable
agitation by every wind that blows; at other times, like the
uncomplaining ass, they tamely submit to the most unreasonable
burdens.... Sound learning is of great worth even in religion; the
wisest and best instructed Christians are the most steady, and may be
the most useful. If a man be a child in knowledge he is likely to be
tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, and
often lies at the mercy of interested, designing men; the more knowledge
he has the safer is his state. If our circumstances be such that we have
few means of improvement, we should turn them to the best account.
Partial knowledge is better than total ignorance; and he who cannot get
all he may wish, must take heed to acquire all that he can. If total
ignorance be a bad and dangerous thing, every degree of knowledge
lessens both the evil and the danger."[41]
[41] See copy of letter in D. H. E., Vol. II., pp. 7 and 8.
Ryerson wrote this when he was only twenty-eight years of age, but it
foreshadows the fundamental principles upon which he later attempted to
base a national system of education.
It is interesting to note that in this same year the United Presbytery
of Upper Canada were discussing the establishment of a Literary and
Theological Seminary at Pleasant Bay, in Prince Edward County. This
seminary never was established, but the agitation for it led to the
founding of Queen's University, at Kingston.
While Methodist and Presbyterian clergy were forming plans for
academies, the members of the Legislative Assembly were debating a
series of resolutions on the School Reserves and the failure of the
people of Upper Canada to secure the free Grammar Schools for which the
Crown Lands were appropriated in 1798. Several things are made plain in
these resolutions regarding the attitude of the popularly elected branch
of the Legislature. The following stand out prominently:--
1. That the existing Grammar Schools were wholly inadequate to perform
the work for which they were created.
2. That the real intentions of the Crown in setting apart the immense
School Reserves in 1798 had never been carried out.
3. That the successive Canadian Administrations had been largely
concerned in appropriating the lion's share of these Reserves for
University education.
4. That the School Reserves of 1798, with proper management, would be
now (1831) sufficiently productive to give great assistance to education
if applied in accord with the real wishes of the people.
5. That the money received from these School lands from time to time
ought to be paid in to the Receiver-General and disposed of only by
vote of the Legislature.
Further protests were made against the exclusive nature of King's
College charter, and the Assembly was assured by Sir John Colborne that
some changes would be made. As a matter of fact, on the 2nd of November,
1831, Lord Goderich, the British Colonial Secretary, in a lengthy
communication to Governor Colborne, showed that His Majesty's Government
was fully seized of the situation in regard to the charter of King's
College. Lord Goderich said,[42] "I am to convey through you to the
Members of the Corporation of King's College, at the earnest
recommendation and advice of His Majesty's Government, that they do
forthwith surrender[43] to His Majesty the charter of King's College of
Upper Canada, with any lands that may have been granted them." Lord
Goderich then proceeds to intimate that a new charter will be granted by
the Legislature of Upper Canada. Lord Goderich further proceeds to give
some very sound advice concerning the necessity of mutual forbearance
among a people of diverse religious creeds.
[42] See copy of despatch in D. H. E., Vol. II., p. 55.
[43] This the College Council positively refused to do.
In the Assembly there was shown an intelligent grasp of the educational
needs of the country and a determination to secure better schools. Had
the Executive Council and Legislative Council been equally zealous in
the cause of education, the fathers and mothers of the generation which
profited from Ryerson's reforms might themselves have had the advantage
of good schools.
The following extracts from an address to His Excellency, Sir John
Colborne, will show the temper and wishes of the Assembly: "We, His
Majesty's dutiful and loyal subjects, the Commons of Upper Canada in
Provincial Parliament assembled, most respectfully beg leave to
represent that there is in this Province a very general want of
education; that the insufficiency of the Common School fund [the total
Government grant for schools in 1831 was $11,200] to support competent,
respectable, and well-educated teachers, has degraded Common School
teaching from a regular business to a mere matter of convenience to
transient persons, or common idlers, who often teach the school one
season and leave it vacant until it accommodates some other like person
to take it in hand, whereby the minds of our youth are left without
cultivation, or, what is still worse, frequently with vulgar, low-bred,
vicious, or intemperate examples before them in the capacity of
monitors."[44] The address proceeded to state that there was urgent need
of a Government fund to secure larger grants for teachers' salaries, and
asked His Excellency to lay before the Colonial Secretary a plan to set
aside one million acres of waste land in Upper Canada for the support of
Common Schools.
[44] See Journals of Assembly, U. C., 1831, p. 40.
In this Address the Assembly virtually said to the Crown, "Give us some
fixed capital as a source of revenue and we will speedily reorganize our
schools." The Assembly knew what was needed and knew how to remedy the
existing conditions, but was powerless because the Crown revenue was
subject only to the control of the Executive Council.
The session of 1832-33[45] was very active from an educational point of
view. The Assembly was informed by His Excellency that the Crown had
consented to give over to the Legislature, for the support of Grammar
Schools, control of the 258,330 acres of School lands, being the balance
of the original grant of half a million acres made in 1798, and from
which had already been made extensive grants to endow King's College and
Upper Canada College. Much of the remainder of this land, which was now
vested in the Legislature, was not of a superior quality. It had also
been selected in township blocks and naturally had very little value
until settlements were made in surrounding townships.
[45] The previous session, William Lyon Mackenzie had been expelled from
the Assembly because of his criticism of the Governor, in his newspaper,
the _Colonial Advocate_. It is interesting to note that Mackenzie's
criticisms of the Governor were largely based on His Excellency's
actions in regard to education.
The Assembly prepared an Address to His Majesty praying for a grant of
one million acres of Crown lands for the establishment and support of
Township Common Schools. As a measure of immediate relief for these
schools, a bill was passed by the two branches of the Legislature, and
assented to by His Excellency, providing for two years an additional
grant of $22,000. This sum was allotted to the several Districts,
approximately in proportion to population, but no Board of Trustees was
to receive any of this grant unless they secured for their teacher a sum
equal at least to twice the Government grant.
The most significant feature of the session, however, was a Common
School Bill, introduced into the Assembly by Mr. Mahlon Burwell, and
read a first time. The bill proposed to repeal all previous Common
School legislation; to establish a General Board and also District
Boards of Education; to grant L10,000 to Common Schools as a Legislative
grant and to assess a further L10,000 on the rateable property of the
Districts.
This bill, had it become law, would have anticipated Ryerson's
legislation by nearly twenty years, and it is interesting to note the
comments made upon it by that gentleman, who was at this time editor of
the _Christian Guardian_. The _Guardian_ of January 15th, 1834,
expressed a general approval of the plan of taxation but was totally
opposed to the _appointment_ of Boards of Education. After showing that
the principle of local taxation was borrowed from the New England
States, where it was working satisfactorily, Ryerson says: "The next
leading feature of the bill is the appointment of a General Board of
Education and also District Boards of Education. This is proposed to be
left to the Governor, or person administering the Government, a
proposition, in our opinion, radically objectionable. It makes the
system of education, in theory, a mere engine of the Executive, a system
which is liable to all the abuse, suspicion, jealousy and opposition
caused by despotism; and it withholds from the system of Common School
education, in its first and prominent feature, that character of common
interest and harmonious co-operation which, as we humbly conceive, are
essential to its success, and even to its acceptance with the Province.
Education is an object in which the Government, as an individual portion
of the Province, and the people at large possess, in some respects, a
common interest, consequently they should exercise a joint or common
control.... And in an equitable and patriotic administration of
Government, the more its agents and the people's agents are associated
together in promoting the common weal, the more strongly will mutual
respect and confidence and co-operation between the people and the
Government be established, the less room there will be for Executive
negligence, or partiality, or popular or local abuse; and the less
opportunity there will be for either despotic oppression or demagogue
misrepresentation."
In 1834 there was a General Election, which resulted in the return to
the Assembly of a large majority in favour of reform principles, and
wholly opposed to the arbitrary and aristocratic ideas of the
Legislative Council. Bidwell, Rolph, and William Lyon Mackenzie were
three leading spirits in the new House.
When the Assembly opened the Governor laid before the members a despatch
from the Colonial Office, stating His Majesty's readiness to transfer
240,000 acres in the settled townships in return for the School lands
which were in township blocks and not then saleable.
A bill was passed by the Legislature renewing for two years, 1835 and
1836, the increased grant of L5,650 for Common Schools.
A grant of L200 was also made to Mechanics' Institutes at York and a
grant of L100 to one at Kingston.
Considerable time was spent in the Assembly upon two bills which were
rejected by the Executive Council. One was a bill to regulate Common
Schools which would have given them a thorough organization and made
them subject to popular control by elected Boards and Superintendents.
The Executive Council had no faith in control by the people. They
doubted whether "the respectable yeomanry of the country" were capable
of choosing suitable Superintendents. The other was a bill to amend the
charter of King's College. These amendments were designed to remove all
religious tests and to have the College governed by a Council, half of
whom were to be appointed by the Assembly and half by the Legislative
Council. The only reasons given by the Council for rejecting these
amendments were that they knew of no university so governed and that a
university must have as a basis some established form of religion. In
the meantime, while the hide-bound worshippers of European traditions
who made up the Council were delaying the active work of King's College,
the youth of Upper Canada, preparing for the learned professions, were
compelled to seek university advantages in the United States or Great
Britain. More than this, owing to the lack of advantages in their own
country, many who could otherwise have afforded it were wholly deprived
of the higher education and training necessary for the professions they
had in view.
The Legislative Council at this time, and for many years afterwards,
made boasts of their loyalty to the Crown, and upon some occasions
arrogated to themselves and their friends a monopoly of all loyal spirit
in Upper Canada, and yet they firmly refused to surrender the charter
and endowment of King's College when requested and even urged to do so
by His Majesty's Colonial Secretary[46]. From 1831 to 1835, the Council
refused to accept any substantial amendments made in that charter
suggested by the Assembly, although Lord Goderich had, in 1831, made it
quite clear that His Majesty's Government wished the question of the
charter to be settled by the Upper Canada Legislature.
[46] See letter of Lord Goderich of Nov. 2nd, 1831, to Sir John
Colborne.
When, upon the 6th of May, 1835, Sir John Colborne sent to the Colonial
Secretary the King's College Charter Amendment Bill passed by the
Assembly, he urged the immediate opening of King's College, although he
had declared to the College Council that "not one stone should be placed
upon another" until the charter was amended. It may also be gathered
from this despatch to Lord Glenelg[47] that Sir John Colborne
accompanied it with a draft of amendments which he thought would be
acceptable to both branches of the Legislature of Upper Canada. His
Lordship was too astute a politician and too thoroughly informed
concerning Canadian public opinion to be easily misled. Sir John
Colborne, as a concession to the Assembly, proposed that five out of
seven of the governing body should be permanently of the faith of the
Church of England. The other two members were to be the
Lieutenant-Governor and the Archdeacon of York! Lord Glenelg, in reply,
says: "I cannot hesitate to express my opinion that this plan claims for
the Established Church of England privileges which those who best
understand and most deeply prize her real interests would not think it
prudent to assert for her in any British Province on the North American
Continent.... I would respectfully and earnestly impress upon the
Members of both these Bodies [Assembly and Council] the expediency of
endeavouring, by mutual concessions, to meet on some common ground.
Especially would I beg the Legislative Councillors to remember that, if
there be any one subject on which, more than others, it is vain and
dangerous to oppose the deliberate wishes of the great mass of the
people, the system of national instruction to be pursued in the moral
and religious education of youth is emphatically that subject."[48] Lord
Glenelg concludes by referring the question of amending the charter back
to the Legislature of Upper Canada and states that His Majesty will act
as mediator only if the two branches of the Legislature fail to agree
and then only upon their presenting a joint Address.
[47] See D. H. E., Vol. II., p. 214.
[48] See copy of letter in D. H. E., Vol. II., pp. 213 and 214.