Canada; and the inhabitants of many Sections have submitted to all the forms and conditions required by the law, in order, if possible, to obtain the establishment of Free Schools; nay, more, the Local Superintendents have as ured the Department that the conviction is becoming very general among the people, that the Free School system is the only true one,-the only one that will ensure the education of their children,—the only one that will command good Teachers and lead to the erection of good School Houses throughout the Land. I indulge the sanguine hope, that the first year of the approaching half century will witness the establishment of Free Schools in many whole Counties, if not generally throughout the whole Province of Upper Canada.

4. Let every friend of sound and universal education be impressed with the fact that that object has never been, and can never be attained except where all the people of all ranks and classes are combined for the education of all. For more than thirty years has a general system of Common Schools been established in the neighbouring State of New York; and, yet, throughout the rural country parts of that State, official reports show, that comparatively little progress has been made in the character and efficiency of the Schools; while during the last few years the most astonishing advancement has been made in the Schools of Cities and Towns. The whole circle of legislative change and amendment has been completed in the State School Law ; go that, during the last year, or two, the school legislators have found themselves unconsciously adopting many of the leading provisions of the first State School Law, passed more than thirty years ago. The New York State School Law had undergone every variety of modification, yet a large proportion of the country Schools had undergone little, or no change. In 1844, a State Normal School was established at Albany to accomplish what legislative and ordinary exertions had failed to effect; but it was manifest that the grand fulcrum for intellectually uplifting the whole community was still wanting and the example of the Free School in Cities and Towns and other States was showing, with increased clearness, what that fulcrum was. It has at length been adopted, and, on it, is placed the lever of the whole State education machinery and to that is applied the concentrated power of public opinion, ambition and patriotism in the cause of education. The result cannot be mistaken, although the power of human imagination is inadequate to picture it.

5. And why may not the goal which has been sought for during more than thirty years by our New York neighbours be reached by the people of Upper Canada in five years? Why may we not march directly to the consummation which has cost others so many years of varied experiment and earnest disputation? In leading his army across the Alps, Napoleon protited by the experience and losses of Hannibal; and amateur travellers now avail themselves, as a pleasurable excursion, of the Simplon highway of Napoleon,-constructed at the expense of so much labour and treasure. Who would think of crossing the Atlantic in the petty Bark of Columbus since the invention of Steain Packets? We should not be less wise and less practical in the momentous affairs of Common Schools. They require the simple application of a few great principles; they demand, not legislative experiments, but patriotic exertion, -the united hearts and hands of all for the common interests of all.

6. A second encouraging circumstance connected with our Common Schools is the increased attention and interest which are beginning to be manifested in regard to School Legislation. A School Law is the mere instrument of establishing Schools on the best foundation. and of supporting and maintaining them in the best manner. The more simply and easily applied that instrument is the better; but no School Law can be self-operative, any more than any other law, and its efficiency essentially depends on the skill and energy with which it is wielded, and the provisions it contains for the development and application of that skill and energy with uniform accuracy, and to the best advantage. Hitherto comparatively little interest has been felt on the subject of School Legislation, it has occupied a very subordinate place in Executive deliberations; it has not commanded one really thorough, or serious, discussion in the deliberations of Parliament; important School Bills have been passed into laws without being either discussed, or understood. But a brighter prospect now opens. The Government has formally and publicly expressed its determination to bestow upon the subject of Common School Legislation that attention which its importance demands; the public Press is beginning to give more attention to the subject; and public interest has advanced perhaps fifty per cent. under the experience and facilities for information of the last two, or three. years. The elective authorities of the several Cities and Incorporated Towns have, with unexampled unanimity, evinced an earnest desire to maintain and mature the System of Schools recently established among them, and the pervading spirit of the entire public mind is, to have good Schools and universal education without regard to sect or party. The instances in which personal acerbity and party feeling mingle their bitter waters with the discussion of the subject, are marked exceptions to the general tone of the Press, and clearly meet with no response from the Country at large. But, in whatever spirit the subject may be approached, the discussion of it must tend to draw public atten

*And yet, instead of the "five years," as here anticipated, it took us in Upper Canada twenty-one years,-from 1850 to 1871,-to arrive at the consummation here so hopefully looked forward to by Doctor Ryerson.

tion to it; and past experience shows that the calm and deliberate decisions of the public mind at large are generally on the side of social elevation and intellectual progress. This has been most decidedly the case, thus far, in regard to our School Law and School System.

7. Our School Law, as well as that of every educating Country, requires the Head of the Department not only to administer the Law and to report its operations, but, from time to time, to report also as to the efficiency, or inefficiency, of its provisions, and to point out their defects, and suggest the proper remedies. The report of every Superintendent of Schools in the neighbouring States presents examples of the fulfilment of this duty; and the Chief Superintendent of Education in Upper Canada would fail in obeying the law under which he acts, and be unworthy of his position, did he not, at the most suitable times, plainly and fully state to the proper authorities the conclusions of his own experience and judgment in regard to what he may think defective in the School Law, and the best means of amending it. The Law which imposes this responsible duty on the Chief Superintendent assumes, of course, that some attention will be given to the subjects of his suggestions. The appreciation of the spirit of the School Law in this respect, by the leading and considerate men of all parties, affords assurance to all friends of Popular Education throughout the Land, that our School Law and School System will soon be placed upon a firm foundation, and not be hereafter disturbed in any of their parts without due inquiry and felt necessity.

8. Another ground of encouragement in our Country's Educational Work, is the practical proof already acquired of the possibility of not only improving our Schools, but of successfully emulating our American neighbours in this respect. Often have we heard this, both privately and publicly, pronounced Utopian; and often have we sought, in friendly discussion, to prove that it was neither impracticable nor extravagant to aim at rivalling our New York neighbours in our Common Schools. In addition to general reasoning, facts may now be adduced to establish this position; and these facts are as honourable to the people of Upper Canada, as they are cheering to every patriotic heart. (1), One fact is, that the average time of keeping the Schools open by qualified Teachers during the last two years, in the State of New York, has been eight months, while in Upper Canada it has been eight months and a half. (2), A second fact is, that the amount raised by school Rate Bills has been quite as large in Upper Canada, in proportion to the population, as in the State of New York. (3), A third fact is, that the amount raised by local assessinents has been as large in Upper Canada, in proportion to the population, as in the State of New York. (4), A fourth fact is, that the same has been the case in regard to the amounts raised by local voluntary assessments over and above what the Law has required in order to secure the apportionment of the Legislative School Grant,which, by-the-bye, is as large in proportion to the whole population in Upper Canada as is the Annual Common School Fund in the State of New York. (5), A fifth fact is, that the number of Student-teachers attending the Normal School in Upper Canada is larger, in proportion to the whole number of our Schools, and of our whole population, than in the State of New York. (6). A sixth fact is, that considerably more progress has already been made towards introducing uniformity of Text-books in the Schools of our rural districts, than has ever yet been effected in the State of New York. (7), A seventh fact is, that salaries are offered to, and obtained by, good Teachers from the Normal School at least twenty-five per cent. in advance of what was offered two years ago.

9. Now, these facts of a few years' growth in Upper Canada, in comparison with kindred facts of thirty years' growth in the much older State of New York, fully warrant the statement I have made, and indicate a noble spirit of intellectual progress and patriotism among the people, from which may be developed the indefinite improvement of our Schools, and the ready application of all facilities for diffusing useful knowledge which the wisdom of the Legislature may provide. For the sake of brevity, I will pass over several other less prominent facts of an encouraging character, and conclude by two practical remarks.

1. The first is, that no feeling of discouragement should, for a moment, be yielded to, in consequence of any of the unfortunate provisions of the new School Act of 1849. Its provisions will not seriously affect any of the local authorities and interests until the arrival of the period for collecting Rate bills, distributing the School Fund, and preparing the School Reports for the current year; and, before the arrival of that time, the Legislature will meet, and will no doubt make such provision as will promote the best educational interests of the Country.* Municipal Councils, School Trustees, and Teachers need not entertain any apprehension as to any loss, or diminution, in the amount of the Legislative School Grant for the current year; or, as to the requisite legal provisions to enable Trustees to fulfil all the engagements which they may enter into with Teachers.

10. The last remark is, that all the friends of education should continue to guard against the admission of anything like a sectarian, or party, spirit in our School Affairs. From whatever source it may proceed, or on whatever pretext founded, let it be frowned down as the worst

* Which it did, by the passage of the important School Act of 1850, which will be found on pages 31-49 of this Volume.

enemy of themselves and children. In every community, in almost every locality, there will be found individuals steeped in the spirit of extreme partizanship.-men of one idea, and that idea commonly one of proscription, or hostility, against some body, or party; and to realize that idea, no sacrifice of educational and public interest seems too great in the estimation of its possessors. These partizans of one idea have broken up many a School, deprived many a child of educational instruction, and impeded the progress of many an improvement in the relations and interests of society. The history of our Country affords ample evidence that the spirit of extreme partizanship has been its greatest bane; and in no respect is the blighting influence of that spirit so fatal as in the question and affairs of Common Schools, the very existence and character and advancement of which are so entirely depending on the combined feelings and mutual co-operation of the people, among whom they are established. In whatever matters difference of opinion may exist among us as a people, I am sure we may all agree in loving our Country, in loving our children, and in uniting to provide for them the best possible education. God grant that this one, grand, Divinely originated, and Divinely expansive idea, may, like Aaron's Rod, swallow up every serpent idea of petty partizanship, and impart to our posterity the noblest inheritance that parental wisdom and public patriotism can bequath.

TORONTO, January, 1850.

EGERTON RYERSON.

CHAPTER XV.

EVIDENCE GIVEN BEFORE THE FINANCE COMMITTEE OF THE HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY, BY THE CHIEF SUPERINTENDENT OF EDUCATION, 1850.

In 1850, one of those periodical movements, the object of which was technically designated as "Retrenchment in the Public Expenditure," took place, and a Finance Committee was appointed by the Legislature to inquire into the expenditure of all the Government Departments, including also the several Branches of these Departments. That inquiry into the expenditure of the Education Department, as also into the expenditure of the other Government Departments, took place in 1850. The following is a statement of the proceedings of the Finance Committee, so far as they related to the inquiry into the financial operation of the Education Department.*

THE CHIEF SUPERINTENDENT'S EVIDENCE BEFORE THE FINANCE COMMITTEE.

The Reverend Egerton Ryerson, D.D., Chief Superintendent of Education for Upper Canada was called in, and subunitted, on the 22nd of July, 1850, Answers to the Questions proposed to him by the Committee:

Question. Would you explain to the Committee the nature of the duties of the Clerks in the Education Office, and give your opinion as to the amount of salary which, consistent with the efficiency of the public service, should be granted to those Clerks ?

Answer. In answering this question, I think it proper to advert, in the first place, to the general duties of the Education Office. These are two fold, relating to the Schools in general, and to the Normal and Model Schools, in particular In reference to the former, each of the 2,871 actual Schools, (or rather 3,036 School Sections,) in Upper Canada, must be supplied with a copy of the School Act, and of the Forms and Instructions to execute it; so, also must each of the local School Officers, Councils, etcetera. Each of the Local School Superintendents and each School Corporation must be provided anuually with a blank School Report, All these blank Reports, Forms, etcetera, are prepared in, and sent out from the Education Office. With each of the Municipal Councils, each of the Local Superintendents, and with a large proportion of the 2,871 Schools, (either Trustees, or Teachers, or both,) more, or less Correspondence takes place, from time to time, and this Correspondence, in a majority of instances, involves general principles, or questions, of law, arising out of disputes,-a desire for information on doubtful points, modes of proceeding, or school improvements of some kind.

*This matter, so far as the Education Department was concerned, is referred to on page 15 of this Volume.

In this Correspondence, the object of the Department is: not to deal in dry technicalities, but to give every possible information, to impart correct views, and inspire proper feelings, in regard to the great objects and interests of the School System.* The Legislative School Grant is to be annually apportioned to each City, Town, Villlage and Township, as well as County, in Upper Canada, and notified to the Municipal Councils; and the data of that appointment must be annually collected from these localities and examined, which often causes considerable trouble and correspondence, in consequence of defective Returns, The financial supervision extends, (as the Official Returns in the Office will show,) not only to every Municipality, but to every Common School, receiving public aid in Upper Canada; and the various Statistical Returns must be compiled for my Annual School Reports,—a work for Mr. Hodgins, the Senior Clerk, of some months. In addition to this are the Contingencies and Quarterly Accounts, preparation of School Bills, correspondence on the School Law-which has hitherto been considerable, (as that printed by Order of the Legislative Assembly last year shows), but which, I hope, will be less in future,-various applications and calls at the Office for information, advice, etcetera, by persons interested in school matters, besides the usual routine common to all Public Departments. All the Letters, Reports, and other Documents received at the Office, must be endorsed and fyled away; all the Official Letters and Documents sent from the Office must be copied twice, by hand, from the original Drafts,-first, for the post, and secondly, into the appropriate Letter Books of the Office; many of them are copied a third time for special use.-as in respect to the whole of the Correspondence on the School Law laid before Parliament now, the mechanical part of these various duties and labours is performed by the two Clerks in the Education Office, the Senior Clerk being responsible, the Junior Clerk assisting him. Besides, the Senior Clerk affords much assistance to me daily in giving information to parties applying at the Office, and acts as my Deputy, in my absence,—he having thoroughly studied and mastered the School Law and School System, both in its principles and various details and applications.

In respect to the Second Branch of duties of the Education Office, -those relating to the Provincial Normal and Model Schools,-I observe that the creation of this most important department of our School System, has added much to the responsibilities and duties of the Education Office, much more than I had intended, or anticipated. It has, of course, fallen to me to originate and devise everything connected with the establishment and location of the Institution; the appointment of Officers and their duties; all the details of its government and system of management, and measures for improving its efficiency and usefulness. The deliberation and decision of these matters have required no little time on the part of the Upper Canada Board of Education.-(now the newly created Council of Public Instruction,) after they have been brought before it. And, although I have taken no part in teaching, nor in any way assumed the relation of the Masters to the Students in the Normal School, the Masters have, ever since its establishment, had almost daily consultations with me, respecting occurrences and matters connected with the operations of the Institution. The additional duties which have devolved upon Mr. Hodgins, Chief Clerk, from the establishment of the Normal and Model Schools, have almost been beyond anything which I had anticipated. The law simply provided that he should be "Recording Clerk to the Board of Education, and enter all its proceedings in a Book to be kept for that purpose." But, in addition to that, and giving notices of all Meetings of the Board. it has been found advisable not only to conduct the correspondence, but to manage all the financial affairs of the Normal and Model Schools, through the Education Office,- -a duty from which the Office and its Clerks are exempted in the neighboring State of New York. Of course, the execution of all the orders and plans of the Board is under my direction and upon my responsibility; and the Chief Clerk is responsible to me.

The system of management is as follows:

An

Everything done, or procured, on behalf of the Normal and Model Schools, including fittings, furniture, repairs, books and stationery,-takes place through the Education Office. order, according to a prescribed printed form, must be sent into the Office of the Department, sigued by the Masters of the Normal School, addressed to the Chief Superintendent, for every article required in either School, whether of Books, Stationery, or repairs about the premises. If it be a matter of ordinary contingency, the Chief Superintendent approves the order under a general regulation of the Provincial Board; if it involves any special expenditure, he lays it before that Board for its consideration and decision. In either case, the execution of the order is entrusted to the Chief Clerk, who purchases all the Books and Stationery required for about One Hundred students in the Normal School, and Two Hundred and fifty pupils in the Model School,-stores them away in a Room for that purpose in the Department,-gives them out on the order prescribed,-noting and filing away the orders, together with the bills of all articles

* This view of one of the duties of the Education Department was, in a somewhat varied sense, held by Judges of the Superior Courts in cases were appeals were made to these Courts on matters which the law authorized the Chlef Superintendent to decide. Thus, in the case of an appeal on the subject, Chief Justice Robinson said that he had some doubt whether [the law authorizing him "to decide upon all matters and complaints submitted to him which involve the expenditure of any part of the School Fund "] does not make the Chief Superintendpnt the proper tribunal for determining all claims upon any part of the School Fund " 10 Q. R. R. P. 472. show that the Legisla

Mr. Justice Burns also held that "the duties imposed upon the Chief Superintendent ture intended to provide a domestic forum for the settlemement of School questions."

purchased, or work done, so as to compare the items on each Bill with the orders and entries in the accounts furnished and audited at the end of each quarter. It also devolves upon the Chief Clerk to prepare all accounts laid by the Chief Superintendent before the Board of Education, at the end of each quarter to pay the same, as also the salaries of the Masters, Servants, and so forth, employed in the Normal and Model Schools; to keep the vouchers, arranging, numbering, and filing them away; to keep the Cash-Book, Ledger, Account Current, and other, Books required; to receive the fees, weekly, from the Model School Masters, also money for the Copy and other School Books sold there, and at the Department; to attend at the Normal School every Saturday during each Session, to pay and take the receipt of the Students to whom weekly aid is given; and generally to attend to all other mechanical duties required in connection with the Normal and Model Schools, embracing a variety of details, which it is needless to enumerate. I believe that hundreds of pounds have been saved by this system of careful and economical management; and it is by this means that so much has been done with so small a grant for the establishment of the Normal and Model Schools.

Then as to the salary of the Clerks, I think the salary of the Senior Clerk ought to be £250 per annum In the Common School Education Office of the State of New York, at Albany, the salary of the senior clerk is $1,000 per annum; and I have reason to know that his duties are neither so various, nor so responsible, as those of the same Chief Clerk here. The Senior Clerk in the Education Office there has nothing whatever to do with any matters connected with the State Normal School; nearly all the correspondence of the Office is conducted by means of printed forms, and its decisions and instructions given through the monthly State "District Common School Journal," a copy of which is furnished at the public expense, by order of the Legislature, to every School district, or section, in the State.

The Chief Clerk of this Office is a person of good classical education, —a man of general intelligence and ability,-has been selected on the ground of his fitness for the office; he went home to Dublin, at his own expense, and at the sacrifice of a year and a quarter's salary, and made himself familiar with the several departments of the great Educational Office of the National Board in Ireland, and returned with the high testimonials of the Board.* He has assisted me in the Office ever since I have had charge of it, except during his year's absence on my recommendation. The duties of the Education Office are very different from those of an Excise, or Post Office, and require a different class of qualifications. I desire those, and no other, to aid me who feel as deeply interested in the duties and objects of the Office as I do, and who will study and labour to advance the interests of education and knowledge in every possible way; and such, I believe, is the case in regard to both the Senior and the Junior Clerks. In regard to the salary of the Junior Clerk, I dare say a purely mechanical copyist might be obtained for less than £175. But I think in a Department, the whole object of which is to promote education, it is desirable and important that each person employed possess good attainments, and be worthy of implicit confidence, and cherish an intelligent and patriotic ambition for the educational and social advancement of the Country. It has been as much my object to seek out persons of this description as my Assistants, as to seek out persons of right feelings and proper qualifications as Masters of the Provincial Normal and Model Schools. I believe I have been successful in both cases. The efficiency of my Department is promoted by the talent, intelligence and zeal of each person connected with it; and I do not think that £175 per annum is too much to encourage and aid a young man, such as I have mentioned, to consecrate his time and his life to an employment, in which every accession of experience, talent and knowledge may be rendered extensively useful. A second Clerk was allowed, about two years since, on the unanimous recommendation of the Board of Education; and the new School Act greatly increases the duties of the Department.

Question. Can you suggest any means by which the Contingencies and other Expenses of your Office can be reduced, having due regard to the efficiency of the Public Service ?

Answer. I cannot. Having made it my study and ambition to do as much as possible at as little expense as possible.

Question. Are the Clerks employed in the Education Office in any way occupied in the printing, publishing, or getting up of the "Journal of Education."?

Answer. I write the Editorial articles and make the selections myself; the Senior Clerk collects and prepares the Educational, Literary, and Scientific Intelligence, contributes occasional Editorial notices, and articles; and reads the proofs,-which he usually does in the evenings, and after or before, Office hours. The Junior Clerk addresses the Journal of Education to persons, to whom it is sent, but only during Office hours, when haste is required. Every thing done in connexion with the Journal of Education, has been done as not appertaining to the duties of the Education Office, but as a gratuitous contribution to the public, for which, (preparing nearly four hundred closely printed octavo pages per annum,) neither the Clerks nor myself have received a farthing's remuneration, except the pleasure and hope of doing good; besides which, at the conclusion of each Volume, a considerable balance has been left against me

A copy of these Testimonials will be found on page 119 of the Fifth Volume of this Documentary History.