Bishop Macdonell to convey to the College of Regiopolis an additional portion of the real property devised by him to them, and to enable the college to hold other lands than those conveyed to it under his will or belonging to his estate. Regiopolis College, like Victoria College and Queen's College, found it difficult to carry on educational work with a slender revenue, and repeated applications were made to Parliament for assistance. Petitions were sent in during the sessions of 1843-50, and in 1846, in answer to Lord Cathcart's letter* asking for an opinion. respecting King's College, Vicar-General Macdonell suggested that the Jesuit's estates in Lower Canada might be utilized as a source of relief.

The Parliament of Canada, in the session of 1866, at the request of the college authorities, passed an Act† conferring university powers on Regiopolis and making some other changes in its constitution. The corporation under that statute, consists of the Roman Catholic Bishop of Kingston, the Principal and professors of the College of Regiopolis, and the trustees, and is entitled "The University of Regiopolis." The powers of the Senate, as to conducting examinations and conferring degrees, are very similar to those of the University of Toronto under the Act of 1853, and the standard prescribed is that which obtains in the University of London, England. Under this constitution the University carried on its work till the withdrawal of its annual grant by the Ontario Legislature in 1869, after which it succumbed to its financial difficulties.

*See above, p. 46.

+29 and 30 Vict., cap 133.

Composed of the Bishop, the Principal, the professors, and the trustees.

OTTAWA UNIVERSITY.

This institution has enjoyed a corporate existence since 1849, in which year an Act* was passed by the Parliament of Canada creating the Roman Catholic Bishop and Curé of Bytown,† the Superior, the Director, and the professors of Philosophy and Belles Lettres, a corporation under the name of "The College of Bytown," with power to hold real property and to enact such regulations for its adminstration and for the management of the College as might be "deemed useful or necessary for the interests" of the institution. The property and functions of the unincorporated seminary already in existence under the same name were vested in the new corporation, which was required to report to Parliament annually the state of its finances, the character of its equipment, and the number of students in attendance. The change of the name of the city in which it is located from Bytown" to "Ottawa" necessitated a like change in the title of the institution, and this was effected by an Act‡ passed by the Parliament of Canada in 1861. The same Act, while it expressly provides that the corporation of "The College of Ottawa " is not a new one, but a continuation of the one already in existence, declares that the Bishop and Curé of Bytown shall no longer be members of it, and that its composition shall remain otherwise unchanged.

*12 Vict., cap. 107. +Now Ottawa.

24 Vict., cap. 108.

In 1866 University powers were granted by statute* to the College, the examining and degree-conferring powers being vested in a "Senate" composed of the President and Bursar of the College, the Prefect of Studies, and the Professors of Divinity, Philosophy, Rhetoric, and Belles-Lettres, with the Roman Catholic Bishop of Ottawa ex officio. The Act provides that the standard of attainments shall approximate as closely as practicable to that of the University of London, and that the Senate shall, with this proviso, have authority to confer, "after proper examination," the degrees of Bachelor and Master of Arts, Bachelor and Doctor of Laws, and Bachelor of Medicine. A public character is imparted to the institution by the fact that the Governor of the Province is created the "Visitor" of the University, and that the Senate is required to report to him on its "general state, progress, and prospect. The constitution of the University was modified in certain respects by two statutest passed by the Ontario Legislature in 1885 and in 1891, respectively. Their joint effect is (1) to enlarge the membership of the Senate by the addition of certain professors in the College; (2) to increase the number of different degrees which the Senate may grant after examination; (5) to confer on the Senate the right to grant ad eundem degrees; (4) to invest the Senate with authority to affiliate to the University, under certain limitations, other teaching institutions with a view to the admission of their students to exam

*29 and 30 Vict., cap. 135.

+48 Vict, cap. 92, and 54 Vict., cap 105.

J

inations for degrees, standing, or scholarships; and (5) to substitute the Lieutenant-Governor of Ontario for the Governor of Canada as the Visitor of the College.

ST. MICHAEL S COLLEGE.

In 1852 the religious order of St. Basil, in France, established an educational institution under this name in Toronto. As the attendance of students increased additional accommodation was from time to time provided, and the course of study was extended so as to include work of a University character in Philosophy and History. In 1881 St. Michael's was affili ated to the University of Toronto by statute of the University Senate. Under a special arrangement the subjects of Philosophy and History may be taken in the College, instead of the University, through the whole undergraduate course. When the University Act of 1887 was passed, St. Michael's was accorded the status of a "federating College," with increased representation on the University Senate, and certain privileges in the way of special options for such of its students as may choose to avail themselves of them.

*50 Vict., cap. 43,

CHAPTER X.

PROTESTANT UNIVERSITIES OF QUEBEC.

The Parliament of Lower Canada passed an Act* in in 1801, “for the establishment of free schools and the advancement of learning." This statute created the machinery for the administration of a system of public schools, but did not provide for their support, the King having announced his intention to make a suitable appropriation of lands for that purpose. Foundations of a more enlarged and comprehensive nature,” were contemplated, as well as "schools for the instruction of children in the first rudiments of useful learning." Each school, when established, was to be put in charge of a corporation by the name of the "Royal Institution for the Advancement of Learning," the members of which were to be appointed by the Governor† of the Province. In order to secure the advantage of the Royal appropriation the inhabitants of each local district were required to erect a school building at their own cost, the amount being collected by a public assessment.

MCGILL UNIVERSITY.

Hon. James McGill, of Montreal, died in 1813, leaving

* 41 George III., chap. 17.

See "Revised Acts and Ordinances of Lower Canada" (1777-1841), pp. 516-521.

The appointment of teachers and the fixing of their salaries were also vested in the Governor.