with the Chancellor regarding the payment of the allowances to the Commissioners of this Inquiry. The following Letter was, therefore, sent to the Senate by the Chairman : I have the honour to enclose for the information of the Senate, a Letter which I received from the Provincial Secretary on the subject of the payment of the account of the Commissioners of Inquiry into the Affairs of King's College. The Endowment Board had the subject under consideration, when the Members thought it advisable to communicate with the Senate in regard to it. I have, therefore, been instructed to call the attention of the Senate to their Statute, suspending all payments of Salaries to the Clerks of the Commission of Inquiry after April last, and to request that the Statute may be repealed, with as little delay as possible. TORONTO, 17th October, 1851. DAVID BUCHAN, Chairman. October 20th, 1851. October 27th, 1851. No business of any public interest was transacted. October 30th, 1851. Read a Communication from the Solicitor, enclosing a proposal from Mr. J. E. Small, late Solicitor, to liquidate the claims of the University against his Brother and himself by certain City Debentures and Public Debt Debentures; It was, Ordered, That Mr. J. E. Small be asked whether he intends to sell them at the Market value, or at par. Read a Letter from the Chancellor, requesting that the Board would remit to England the price of the Chancellor's Medal, and charge the amount against the Chancellor's fees received, or to be received, this year, and, if the amount of fees did not cover the remittance, he would transmit the balance; It was, Ordered, That the Chancellor be respectfully informed that the Board regret they cannot comply with his request, having no authority to make such a payment. November 3rd, 1851. No business of any public interest was transacted. No business of any public interest was transacted. No business of any public interest was transacted. No business of any public interest was transacted. No business of any public interest was transacted. No business of any public interest was transacted. No business of any public interest was transacted. No business of any public interest was transacted. December 1st, 1851. No business of any public interest was transacted. (Note. At all of these meetings, the whole of the business transacted related to the sale, or leasings, of the University Lands.) December 8th, 1851. Ordered, That a Book shall be kept, in which entries shall be made shewing the balances to the Debit, or Credit, of the "Income" and "Investment" Funds of the University and College,-together with the Cash balances at the Bank, and on hand, of each Institution, made up to every Saturday night so as to be laid before the Board at their following Monday's meeting. This arrangement to commence from the first week in January next. Ordered, That Two Thousand pounds, ($2,000,) of University Funds be invested in Government Debentures. December 11th, 1851. No business of any public interest was transacted. December 15th, 1851. Ordered, That the Bank of Upper Canada be requested to furnish quarterly a Statement of Interest on University and Upper Canada College balances. No business of any public interest was transacted. No business of any public interest was transacted. No business of any public interest was transacted. No business of any public interest was transacted. December 18th, 1851. COMMISSION OF THE CHAPTER XXVI. PROCEEDINGS OF THE VISITATORIAL COMMISSION The Forty-seventh Section of Baldwin University Act of 1849 provided for the appointment, by the Government, of five Persons as a "Commission of Visitation", for the purpose of making such "alterations and amendments" in the existing Statutes, Rules and Ordinances of the University, as they should think desirable to recommend " and to report a Code of proper Statutes, Rules and Ordinances for the government of the said University ". With a view to obtain the opinions, chiefly of University men, the Commission issued the following Circular on the subject*: A CIRCULAR FROM THE VISITATION COMMISSION, ON THE REVISION OF THE UNIVERSITY REGULATIONS. Her Majesty's Visitation Commissioners of the University of Toronto, being charged with the duty of reporting upon the various subjects specified in the University Act of 1849, passed in the Twelfth Year of Her Majesty's Reign, 14th and 15th Victoria, Chapter 82, are desirous of availing themselves of the information of those, whose experience and position, as well as acquaintance with the wants and wishes of the people of the Province generally, entitle their opinion to public confidence. Although the Visitation Commissioners are anxious to have the benefit of your advice communicated in such a manner as may seem to yourself best calculated to do justice to your views, they will feel particularly obliged by being favoured with your opinion on the following points, which have already engaged their anxious attention : I. The expediency of reducing the amount of Fees at present charged. II. The expediency of limiting the compulsory attendance of Students upon the University Lectures to two terms in each year, instead of being extended, as at present, to three terms. In this way, compulsory residence at the seat of University would be reduced to six months, (say, from November to May,) in each year, while the attention of absent Students to the subjects of the third term might be secured by requiring them to undergo an examination. III. Whether, under the present system, or, in the event of your concurring in the changes suggested in the last query, the course for the Degree of B. A. should be extended to four years, or should be limited, as at present, to three years. IV. The expediency of re-arranging the Course of Instruction at present pursued; of altering the principles upon which Degrees are conferred and rendering them real tests of merit ; of so regulating the Studies of the University as to render them at some period of the course, more directly subservient to the future pursuits of the Students. V. The best means of rendering the Scholarships, authorized by the University Act, available for the purposes contemplated; the Regulations which you would suggest, as to the mode of election to Scholarships; the period during which they should be held, and the emolument which ought to be attached to them; and, in relation to the last enquiry, whether it would be expedient to attach the same stipend to all the Scholarships, or to classify them in one or more grades. VI. The expediency of establishing Fellowships; the most eligible mode of election to that office; the tenure on which it should be held, and the stipend which ought to be annexed to it. VII. Whether the present Constitution of the existing faculties, viewed comparatively, is in your estimate, proper. * As I have not been able to get elsewhere a copy of the " Proceedings of the Visitation Commission ", I have had this Circular copied from The Church Newspaper of February, 1851. VIII. Whether rny re-arrangement of the existing Chairs in the Faculty of Arts would be expedient, and calculated to place that Faculty on a footing satisfactory to the public; or, whether an additional number of Professors therein be necessary. IX. What Regulations would be expedient for the purpose of securing the attendance of Undergraduates and Students upon Public Worship in their respective Churches, and other Places of Worship, and for securing to them the benefit of Religious Instruction from their respective Ministers, and according to their respective Forms of Faith. The Commissioners will be thankful to receive your suggestions, either orally, or in writing, as may be most agreeable to you at your earliest convenience. TORONTO, 28th of January, 1851. JOHN BURNS, Secretary of the Commission. NOTE. The following particulars, relating to the present establishment, is sent for your information : PROFESSORS IN THE FACULTY OF ARTS : The Reverend Doctor John McCaul, Professor of Classical Literature, Belles Lettres, Logic and Rhetoric.-Salary, £450. The Reverend Doctor James Beavan, Professor of Metaphysics and Moral Philosophy.— Salary, £450. The Reverend Robert Murray, M.A., Professor of Mathematics.—Salary, £450. Doctor Henry H. Croft, Professor of Chemistry and Experimental Philosophy.-Salary, £450. PROFESSORS IN THE FACULTY OF MEDICINE :- Doctor William C. Gwynne, Professor of Anatomy and Physiology.—Salary, £325. Doctor William R. Beaumont, Professor of Principles and Practice of Surgery.—Salary, £250. Doctor George Herrick, Professor of Midwifery and Diseases of Women and Children.- Doctor William B. Nicol, Professor of Materia Medica and Pharmacy.-Salary, £250. Doctor James H. Richardson, Professor of Practical Anatomy, and Curator of the Auatomical and Pathological Museum.--Salary, £350. PROFESSORS IN THE FACULTY OF LAW— Doctor Skeffington Connor, Professor of Law and Jurisprudence.—Salary, £250. The Commissioners beg leave to mention that the changes which have been most pressed upon their attention as, at once, necessary to the efficiency of the Institution, and possibly attainable with the present income are the following : Additional Professors in the Faculty of Arts, videlicet :-Professor of Natural Philosophy, Professor of Natural History, Professor of Modern Languages, Professor of Agriculture; a School of Engineering. (NOTE. No copies of the Replies to this Circular of the Visitation Commission are available.) RELIGIOUS INSTRUCTION OF STUDENTS IN THE UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO.* Arrangements, providing for the Religious Instruction of the Students of the University of Toronto, similar to those which are in operation in the Normal School, Toronto, were made in May, 1851, by the Visitation Commission of the University. The Statute on the subject is as follows: 1st. Be it enacted, That Candidates for matriculation, who, at the time of their applications, may be Students of any Affiliated College, must be furnished with Testimonials from their respective Institutions, and, upon admission to the University, shall be described as belonging thereto. 2nd. And be it enacted, That the Students, upon matriculation, shall either be designated as of the particular Religious Denomination to which they belong; or, without any such designations, in accordance with the direction of their respective Parents, or Guardians. 3rd. And be it enacted, That Candidates for any Degree, who, at the time of such application, may be Students of any such Affiliated College, shall be required before admission to such Degree, to produce Testimonials from their respective Colleges. *Copied from the Journal of Education for Upper Canada, for May, 1851. 4th. And be it enacted, That it shall be competent for the Constituted Authorities of any Church, or Religious Denomination, from time to time, to appoint a Clergyman, or Minister, to the office of Superintendent of Religious Instruction, to be called the Professor of Divinity of such Religious Denomination, or by such other title as any such Denomination may select; who, upon such appointment, shall have the spiritual charge and care of all Students designated, upon matriculation, as belonging to such Religious Denomination other than the Students of such Affiliated College, as herein before provided. 5th. And be it enacted, That each Professor of Divinity, so appointed, shall have power, with the occurrence of the authority making such appointment, to prescribe Regulations for the Religious Instruction of the Students under his care, and for securing their regular attendance upon Divine Worship; such Regulations, before coming into force, shall be laid before the Caput of the University, and certified by them as not interfering with the general discipline of the University; but, in case the Caput shall find that the said Regulations do interfere with such discipline, in such case, they shall have power to send back the same to such Professor of Divinity for reconsideration and amendment, in that respect. 6th. And be it enacted, That the President of the University shall cause a list of the names of all the Students under the spiritual charge of each Professor to be furnished to such Professor after each matriculation. 7th. And be it enacted, That each Professor of Divinity shall, at the termination of each Collegiate Session, report to the Caput on the general conduct of the Students under his spiritual charge, and on the manner in which the Regulations regarding such Students have been observed. CHAPTER XXVII. REMINISCENCES OF SUPERANNUATED SCHOOL TEACHERS, 1850-51. AND SKETCHES OF SCHOOLS IN THE OLDEN TIME. Among the most interesting Educational Records of the past are the personal reminiscences of the Pioneer Teachers of Upper Canada. Those given in this Chapter, relate to the transition period of School Teaching in the Province before the Teachers, (trained in the Normal School), had, to any appreciable extent, been placed in charge of Schools. What adds additional interest to the personal experiences given in this Chapter is the fact, that these experiences are those of Teachers of more than fifty years ago, when educational affairs were in their crude, formative, stage. With a view to give a preliminary birds-eye view of the state of the Schools, when the character of the teaching in them began to take a really definite practical shape, I insert the following graphic picture of these early primitive times, in school architecture and accommodation, by the Reverend John Gray, D. D., and experienced School Inspector of some years ago. It formed the introductory part of a paper written by him for the East Simcoe Teacher's Convention and published in the Orillia Packet, from which it has been copied. I have also added a recent Sketch of the Port Hope Schools. To understand the past of the educational system, let us visit a School Section such as existed more than forty years ago. There stands the School House, an ungainly looking Log Building, so constructed as to convey the impression that the builder had striven to make the place as ugly and rough as possible. As you enter the Building, the first thing that attracts your attention is a large Box-stove; and the atmosphere is so oppressive as to show that the laws of ventilation are neglected. At the far end is a small platform, on which stands a Chair and also a plain, substantial Desk; and behind it is seated the Master, with a rod, or pair of taws, lying beside him. In front of him are some rough unpainted Forms, without backs. Along the sides of the building are long, badly constructed Desks, which are used in turn by the pupils, while most practise the art of penmanship on their slates. The School Books are of various kinds, some having only the Bible, or New Testament, and other venerable looking vol ulmes known as "Collections" brought by their Fathers from the "Old Country ". The Teacher is usually advanced in years, and maintains strict discipline. The whole appearance indicates the strictest economy, as if education were a luxury, and not a right and necessity. And the Trustees were timid about any expense, as they had to face their constituents every year, many of whom were opposed to education, and called the Trustees to strict account for any expenditure which was deemed unusal, or extravagant. Books on Arithmetic were of various kinds and qualities; Histories were scarce rnd rarely used. There was no Geography, except that of Morse's which glorified the United States as the " greatest Nation in the World." And yet, amid such plain surroundings, were reared not a few scholars and Teachers, as well as numbers who became our future Legislators, Judges, and leading men. It was a day of small things, not to be despised. The system of Inspection was exceedingly simple. Each Township was usually under the charge of a "Local Superintendent," who had from two, up to twenty, Schools under his charge. He was in most cases, a Minister, who undertook the work from a sense of duty. This made the Religious Question in Schools easy of solution, and led to the introduction of the Bible into most of the purely Protestant Schools. In a good many cases, the Catechisms of the Churches, Protestant and Roman Catholic, were taught. Everything, however, was in a very imperfect state, and the friends of education were ready to despair unless some improvement soon took place. It was indeed an era in the history of Education in Canada, when the Reverend Doctor Ryerson became its chief head and promotor. He took in the situation at once. Borrowing several features of his system from other lands, he established what was, in its main elements, an organization of his own. He formed in each County an examining Board, composed of the Local School Superintendents and the Trustees of the Grammar Schools, who were then the par excellence educated class of the community. These kept a watchful eye on the Teachers, and gradually weeded out the incapable ones. (NOTE. The remainder of Doctor Gray's Paper refers to an improved state of things.) REMINISCENCES OF SUPERANNUATED SCHOOL TEACHERS. 1850-I first began to teach in 1850, in the Township of Arthur, County of Wellington. The first School House, in which I taught, was built of rough unhewn Logs, with the spaces between, chinked with moss, and roofed with shingles, two feet long. The floor was so rough and so loosely laid down, that most of the noon hour was spent in looking for lost pencils and other belongings of the pupils. The next place in which I taught, was the united Section of Sullivan and Holland, in the County of Grey. There was no School House, properly so called, at that date in the Section; but the Trustees secured the use of an old Methodist Meeting House for school purposes. It was a frame Building of sufficient capacity to accommodate all, but was so badly built, and loosely put together, that Teacher and pupils had to fly from it on every windstorm; and it was so cold, that, on cold days, study was impossible. In the Schools of these early days, the accommodation was, as a rule, fairly good; but there was usually a want of ventilation, which would be utterly condemned in a School of to-day. The Seating accommodation of these School Houses, consisted chiefly of a Desk round the walls, and a Bench, or Form, of sufficient height to reach the Desk. The last School, in which I taught, was in the Township of Maryborough. It was a very commodious Frame Building, furnished with all the "modern improvements" of the time. During the first five years, in which I taught, the series of School Books were :-Mavor's Spelling Book, the English Reader and Walkingame's Arithmetic; and any one well versed in the three was supposed to have sufficient education to enable him to transact any of the ordinary business of life After the expiration of these years the above mentioned Books were, in 1847, superseded by the Irish National Series: and it is my opinion that they were the best School Books we have had, because they stored the mind of the pupil with a very substantial knowledge of Scripture, of History and of Simple Natural Philosophy. To these may be added Lennie's Grammar and Hodgins' Geography and History of the British Colonies. There were no Maps at first, with the exception of those which the Text-Books supplied; but, in the later days, these, and Blackboards, and other Apparatus were supplied. PERRYTOWN. ROBERT ROONEY. 1850. During the year 1850, I spent the greater part of my leisure hours in preparing myself to pass the examination, which was to take place the ensuing Winter. Accordingly, on a day in December, I drove to Palermo. The examining Board were the Reverends Thomas Greene, and William King, Doctor William Craigie of Hamilton, and Mr. Arthur C. Verner, B. A. |