8. The theory, therefore. of Denominational Day Schools is as inexpedient on religious grounds, as it is on the grounds of economy and educational extension. The demand to make the Teacher do the canonical work of the Clergyman is as impolitic as it is selfish. Economy, as well as patriotism, requires that the Schools established for all should be open to all upon equal terms, and upon principles common to all,-leaving to each Religious Persuasion the performance of its own recognized and appropriate duties in the teaching of its own Catechism to its own children. Surely it is not the province of Government to usurp the functions of the Religious Persuasions of the Country; but it should recognizes their existence, and, therefore, not provide for Denominational teaching to its pupils in the Day Schools, any more than it should provide such pupils with daily food and raiment. or weekly preaching, or Places of Worship. As the State recognize the existence of Parents and the performance of parental duties by not providing children with what should be provided by their Parents-namely, clothing and food;-so should it recognize the existence of the Religious Persuasions and the performance of their duties by not providing for the teaching in the Schools of that which each Religious Persuasion declares should be taught by its own Ministers and the Parents of its children.

9. But, it may be asked, ought not Relgious Instruction be given in Day Schools, and ought not Government to require this in every School? I answer, what may, or ought to, be done in regard to Religious Instruction, and what the Government ought to require, are two different things. Who doubts that Public Worship should be attended and family duties performed? But does it, therefore, follow that Government is to compel attendance upon the one, or the performance of the other? If our Government were a despotism, and if there were no law, or no liberty, Civil, or Religious, but the absolute will of the Sovereign, then Government would, of course, compel such Religious and other Instruction as it pleased,- as is the case under certain despotisms in Europe.

But as our Government is a constitutional and popular Government, it is to compel no farther in matters of Religious Instruction than it is itself the expression of the mind of the Country, and than it is authorized by law to do. Therefore, in the "General Regulations on the Constitution and Government of Schools respecting Re'igious Instruction," referred to in a note on a preceding page, it is made the duty of every Teacher to incalcate those principles and duties of piety and virtue, which form the basis of Morality and order in a State, while Parents and School Teachers and School Managers are left free to provide for, and give, such further Religious Instruction as they shall desire and deem expedient. If with us, as in despotic Countries, the people were nothing politicaily, or civilly, but slaves and machines, commanded and moved by the will of one man, and all the local School Authorities were appointed by him, then the Schools might be the Religious teachers of his will; but, with us, the people in each Municipality share as largely in the management of the Schools as they do in making the School Law itself. They erect the School Houses; they employ the Teachers; they provide the greater part of the means of the support of the Schools; they are the parties immediately concerned, the Parents and Pastors of the children taught in the Schools. Who then are to be the judges of the nature and extent of the Religious Instruction to be given to the pupils in the Schools ?-these Parents and Pastors, or the Executive Government, counselled and administered by means of Heads of Departments, who are changed from time to time, at the pleasure of the popular mind. and who are not understood to be invested with any Religious authority over the children of their constituents?

10. Then, if the question be viewed as one of fact, instead of theory, what is the conclusion forced upon us? Are those Countries in Europe, in which Denominational Day Schools alone are established and permitted by Government, the most enlightened, the most virtuous, the most free, the most prosperous, of all the Countries of Europe, or America? Nay; the very reverse is the fact. And it here not difficult to show that those Denominational Schools in England, which were endorsed in former ages, have often been the seats of oppressions, vices, and practises, that would not be tolerated in the most imperfect of the Common Schools of Upper Canada. And when our Common Schools were formely, in regard to Government control, chiefly under the management of one Denomination, were the Teachers and Schools more elevated in their Religious and Moral Character than at the present time? Is not the reverse notoriously the case? And if enquiry be made into the actual amount of Religious Instruction given in what are professedly Denominational Schools, whether male or female, (and I made the enquiry), it will be found to consist of prayers not more frequently than in the Common Schools, although the ritual of each Denomination requires Catechetical Instruction to be given elsewhere and by other parties. So obviously unnecessary on Religious grounds are Separate Denominational Schools, that two School-Houses which were built under the ausspices of the Church of England for Parish Schools of that Church, -the one at Cobourg, by

* For these General Regulations, see pages 197, 198 of the Ninth Volume of this Documentary History.

the congregation of the Archdeacon of York, and the other in connection with Trinity Church, Toronto East, -have, after fair trial, been converted, for the time being, into Common School Houses, under the direction of the Public Boards of School Trustees in Toronto and Cobourg.

11. I am persuaded that the religious interests of youth will be much more effectually cared for and advanced, by insisting that each Religious Persuasion shall fulfil its acknowledged Rules and Obligations for the Religious Instruction of its own youth, than by any attempt to convert, for that purpose, the Common Day Schools into Denominational ones, and thus legislate for the neglect of duty on the part of Pastors and Parents of the different Religious Persuasions. The Common Day School and its Teachers ought not to be burthened with duties which belong to the Pastor, the Parent, and the Church. The education of the youth of the Country consists not merely of what is taught in the day School but also of what is taught at home by the Parents, and in the Church by the Pastor. And if the religious part of the education of youth is, in any instances, neglected, or defective, the blame rests with the Pastors and Parents concerned, who, by such neglect, have violated their own religious Canous, or Rules, as well as the express commands of the Holy Scriptures. In all such cases, Pastors and Parents are the responsible, as well as guilty, parties, and not the Teacher of the Common School, nor the Common School System.

CASE OF COLLEGES AND HIGHER INSTITUTIONS DIFFERENT FROM THAT OF ORDINARY SCHOOLS

12. But, in respect to Colleges and other high Seminaries of learning, the case is different. Such Institutions cannot be established within an hour's walk of every man's door. Youth, in order to attend them, must as a general rule, leave their homes, and be taken from the daily oversight and instructions of their Parents and Pastors. During this period of their education the duties of parental and pastoral care and instruction must be suspended, or provision must be made for it in connection with such Institutions. Youth attending Colleges and Collegiate Seminaries are at an age when they are most exposed to temptation, most need the best counsels in Religion and Morals, are pursuing studies which most involve the principles of human action, and the duties and relations of common life. At such a period, and under such circumstances, youth need the exercise of all that is tender and vigilant in parental affection, and all that is instructive and wise in pastoral oversight; yet they are far removed from both their Pastor and Parent. Hence what is supplied by the Parent and Pastor at home, ought, as far as possible, to be provided in connection with each College abroad. And, therefore, the same reason that condemns the establishment of Public Denominational Day Schools, justifies the establishment of Denominational Colleges, in connection with which the duties of the Parent and Pastor can be best discharged.

13. Public aid is given to Denominational Colleges. Not for Denominational purposes, (which is the special object of Denominational Day Schools,) but for the advancement of Science and Literature alone, because such Colleges are the most economical, efficient and available agencies for teaching the Higher Branches of Education in the Country: the aid being given not to Theological Seminaries, but for the support of Teachers of Science and Literature. Nor is such aid given to a Denominational College until after a large outlay has been made by its projectors in the procuring of premises, erecting, or procuring and furnishing, Buildings, and the employment of Professors and Teachers,-evincive of the intelligence, disposition and enterprise of a large section of the community to establish and sustain such an Institution.

14. It is not, however, my intention to discus the question of recognizing and aiding Denominational Colleges in a System of Public Instruction. My object in the foregoing remarks is to show that the objections against the establishment of a System of Denominational Day Schools, do not form any objection to granting aid to Denominational Colleges as Institutions of Science and Literature, and open to all classes of Youth who may be desirous of attending them.

15. The more carefully the question of Religious Instruction, in connection with our System of Common Schools is examined, the more clearly, I think, it will appear that it has been left where it properly belongs,-with the local School Municipalities, parents and managers of Schools- the Government protecting the right of each parent and child, but beyond this, and beyond the principles and duties of moralities common to all classes, neither compelling, nor prohibiting,-recognizing the duties of Pastors and Parents, as well as of School Trustees and Teachers, and considering the united labours of all as constituting the System of Education for the youth of the Country.

TORONTO, 27th September, 1852.

EGERTON RYERSON.

NOTE-The Returns in the foregoing table, up to the year 1847, are not very complete; but since that period they have been sufficiently so to establish a data by which to compare our
yearly progress in Educational matters. The returns are now pretty extensive, and embrace all Institutions of learning, from the Common School up to the University; but hitherto the sources
of information regarding the latter class of Institutions have been rather private than official. It is to be hoped, however, that future years will witness more complete and accurate information
on the subject of education generally in Upper Canada; and that the Chief Superintendent's Annual Report will present, in one comprehensive tabular view, ths actual state and progress of all
our Educational Institutions, Public, Private, and Collegiate.

CHAPTER IV.

PAPERS BY THE CHIEF SUPERINTENDENT ON THE STATE AND PROGRESS OF THE SCHOOL SYSTEM.

1. PERMANENCY AND PROSPECTS OF THE SYSTEM OF COMMON SCHOOLS IN UPPER CANADA.

Having in my Annual Report [contained in the preceding Chapter of this Volume] I am not in a position to enter further into details in respect to past educational progress; nor is it. necessary that I should do so, as that Report has been printed by order of the Legislative Assembly, and placed in the hands of each Municipal Council and School Corporation throughout Upper Canada. I shall, therefore, confine myself to a few general remarks and practical suggestions.

1. My first remark relates to the settlement of the general principles and great organic provisions of our School System. It has been a common, and not unfounded complaint, that there was nothing abiding, nothing settled, in the principles and provisions of our School Law. Perpetual change in a School law is perpetual infancy in a Public School System. Permanence and stability are essential conditions of gr. wth, whether in an oak of the forest, or in a System of National Education. But the works of man are not like the works of God,-perfect at the beginning. The history of all science teaches us, that experiments must precede the principles which they establish; and the period of experiment in anything is likely to be a period of change as well as of infancy. In no branch of Political Economy have more experiments been made, and with less progress toward the definiteness and dignity of a science, than in the department of public education. The chief reason I apprehend to be, not that it is more difficult than any other, but that it has received less attention than any other, in proportion to its magnitude and importance; that in very few instances has any one man, with zeal and capacity for the task, been permanently set apart to investigate the subject in all its aspects and applications, and to bring definitely and practically before the authorities, and Legislators, and citizens of his Country, the results of general experience and careful consideration, and embody them in actual recommendations and measures, and administrative policy. In New York and other States, the succession of temporary State School Officers has been accompanied with an almost corresponding succession of school laws; and every confident and adventurous theorist in the Legislature, who had, perhaps, never been out of the limits of his native State, or read half a dozen school laws, or who never studied a school system in his life, was ready with some new project, in which he imagined and insisted was embodied the sum of all human perfection, but which was no sooner tried than abandoned. In the State of New York, after almost annual legislation for nearly forty years, the general provisions of the last amended School Law of that State, are, I have been in formed, substantially, and almost verbatim, those of the School Law of 1811.--which was adopted on the recommendation of an able Committee that had devoted a year to the examination and consideration of the subject,-thus coming back to the place of beginning, after having made the whole circle in school legislation. But in Upper Canada our abnormal state of legislative experiment and change has been less protracted and tedious. We have had the great advantage of our neighbours' experiments and experience, and have reached, (and I hope have exceeded.) their results in legislation without the drawbacks of their many trials and disappointments; and some of the material changes in our School Law have been required by the introduction of a new system of Municipal Councils; and other portions of our recent school legislation have consisted in the introduction of new and necessary provisions, rather than the repeal of existing ones.

2. The careful inquiry which has been instituted into the whole subject during the last five years, the many consultations which have been held by the Chief Superintendent in the several Counties throughout the Country, the minute and careful attention which was bestowed upon it by the Government and the Legislature during the last Session, all warrant the assurance in the public mind, that no future legislation on the subject of our Common Schools will take place, except as new wants may suggest, and the experience and convictions of the Country shall require. I am the more convinced of the correctness of this conclusion from the fact, that every suggestion, whether friendly, or hostile, which I have seen in newspapers, proposing substitutes for certain provisions of our present School Law, has been tried and found unsuccessful in some one of the neighbouring States, - a fact of which the projectors might have satisfied themselves had they investigated the history of School legislation in those States, before undertaking to give lessons on the subject to Upper Canada. It cannot fail to be satisfactory