JOURNAL OF EDUCATION.

TORONTO, MARCH, 1850.

CANADIAN PATRIOTISM, THE LEVER OF
CANADIAN GREATNESS.

"Such is the Patriot's boast, where'er we roam,
His first, best country ever is his home."

We heard it remarked, a short time since, by an eloquent and powerful Christian orator, that one of the most serious impediments, if not the greatest hinderance, to Canadian advancement, was the absence of a true Canadian feeling-a feeling of what might be termed Canadian nationality, in contradistinction to a feeling of mere colonial or annexationist vassalage. The orator stated, that he did not like the term "British Canadian feeling," but he did like that of Canadian British feeling." It should be Canada first for the people of Canada, and Canada British, either by civil connexion or national alliance. It was in the depth, vigour, and energy of this feeling, the speaker maintained, that the hope and life of Canadian prosperity and greatness are bound up.

This subject demands the consideration of every man who claims Canada as his native or adopted country. When a man emigrates to Canada, his home, his interests and his hopes are no longer English, or Scotch, or Irish, or French, or German, but Canadian. He has left his father-land and joined himself to Canada, as a “man leaves his father and mother and joins himself to his wife, and they twain become one flesh." He respects, he venerates, he loves, he sympathizes with his parentage; but his cares, his interests, his heart, himself, his future, his all, are blended and identified with other objects and with another HOME. The wellbeing of home is the first object of his natural and dutiful solicitude. What is true in respect to an individual family and home, is equally true in regard to a people and a country. An injury done to the credit, the security, the character of a country, is an injury done to each inhabitant of it, except those who speculate in their country's misfortune, and rise by its depressions, like ship-wreckers and free-booters.

It was the first duty and the true interest of the earliest settlers in Canada to make the most of their adopted country-to look at home as much as possible, and to look abroad as little as possibleto devise every plan and employ every energy to create a supply in Canada for the inhabitants of Canada-to rely upon themselves for the management of their country, as well as of their farms and shops, and not upon foreign management in the one case any more than in the other. This is clearly the pervading spirit of the Colonial policy propounded on the part of HER MAJESTY's Government by Lord JOHN RUSSELL, in his late speech in the House of Commons; and it is the spirit which should actuate every colonist. Some of the ancient Greek and Phoenician colonies soon equalled their parent States, with which they ever maintained, with scarcely an exception, a filial friendship and intimate alliance; yet they looked to the territories they colonized as their homes, and relied upon themselves as the architects of their own fortunes and the founders of their countries' prosperity and greatness.

It cannot be too strongly impressed upon every mind, that it is on Canadian energy, Canadian ambition, Canadian self-reliance, skill and enterprise,-in a word, on Canadian patriotism-that depends Canadian prosperity, elevation, and happiness. The fact that some men by honest and intelligent industry, as tradesmen, mechanics, farmers, merchants and professional men have risen from poverty to comfort, and even affluence, shows what others

might have done by equal honesty, intelligence and industry. In agricultural productiveness, Canada is superior to New York; in water-power and hydraulic privileges it is equal to any of the New England States; in lumber it is a contributor to both the Ameri can and English markets; its mineral resources are ample to sup ply its own implements of industry, as its cattle and flocks aré equal to its wants for labour, food and clothing. Its sky is as clear as that of Italy, and its climate as healthy as that of Germany; its institutions are even freer than those of England, and it administration of justice confessedly more independent and impartial than that of the United States. The social and material advancement of Canada in former years was confessedly slow; but compare its progress for the last ten years in any and every respect with that of any of the neighboring States from Maine to Michigan, apart from the advantages some of them possess as being the sea-ports and thoroughfares for other States, and the results will be honourable to Canada. Compare every thing progressive in those States which is not adventitious but which depends upon home industry and enterprise, and Canada, with all its faults and short-comings, has much more reason to be proud than to be ashamed. It is true Canadian HIPPIASES have done much to disturb and retard its interests; but this spirit of defaming and conspiring against one's country on grounds of personal cupidity, ambition or resentment, instead of consulting and maintaining its honour and interests, even in exile, like an ARISTIDES and a CONON, is as alien to the general feeling as it is hostile to the general interests of Canada. But in as far as this (a foreign-selfish spirit, instead of home-patriotic spirit) exists-this spirit of crying to HERCULES instead of helping oneself— this spirit of idle lottery scheming instead of self-relying manly independence and industry—this spirit of degrading one's country instead of exalting it-Canadian enterprise will be damped, the value of Canadian securities and prosperity will be depreciated, and Canadian progress impeded. In the days of GRECIAN self-reliance, unity and patriotism, that little peninsula of half the territorial extent of Canada, repelled the most numerous armies recorded in history, and defied a power whose domains extended from the Indus to the Ægean and from the Euxine to the cataracts of the Nile.— Let each Canadian love his country and seek its glory as did the ancient Greeks during the era when private patriotism and public virtue were inscribed upon their national escutcheon. We have no strife of foreign war-no hostile rivalship of nations ;-our warfare is a domestic, bloodless one-a warfare of virtue against vice, of knowledge against ignorance, of self-dependence against foreigndependence, of public spirit against personal littleness, of the love of Canada as ourselves, instead of the love of self against Canada, of the dignified and generous industry of a CINCINNAtus instead of the selfish and protean adventures of an ALCIBIADES. Surely if

The shuddering tenant of the Frigid Zone
Proudly proclaims the happiest spot his own;
The naked negro, panting on the line,
Boasts of his golden sands and palmy wine;"

all true Canadians can say to the genial land of their birth or adoption,

"Our bosoms with rapture beat high at thy name,

Thy health is our transport-our triumph thy fame."

We will conclude our present remarks on this subject in the words of an address to the students of HARVARD COLLEGE, by the Rev. Dr. BETHUNE, of Philadelphia.

"Patriotism has been regarded by some as a visionary virtue, existing only in boyish dreams, romantic rhapsodies, and declarations of demagogues; by others it has been denounced as a narrow vice, the opposite of Christian philanthrophy. The first are at variance with the general sense of mankind; the last, with the moral economy ordained by God. That there are those who, while professing love for their country, would sacrifice

its welfare to the their selfishness, proves no more than their infirmity or hypocrisy. Human weakness is no argument against the reality of a virtue; on the contrary, a false pretence of a moral principle testifies to its value, for cunning bad men cloak their evil with the semblance of good. It were mere commonplace of quotation to cite instances showing the power of patriotic sentiment. Every page of history, and of none more than our own, records its courage in conflict, or its devotion under defeat. Poetry, the language which genius gives to the heart, exults with it pride, or saddens with its sorrow. The orator appeals to it, seldom in vain, as among the strongest passions of our nature. The ethical philosopher defines its limits and adjusts its rules. The Holy Scriptures sanctify it by their infallible authority, when they preserve for our learning' the mournful elegies of captive Judah, mingling her tears with the waters of Babylon; or, above all, exhibit the sympathy of Christ himself, the Divine perfection of humanity, who, on his way to die for the world, paused to lament over Jerusalem; and, as he sent forth the 'glad tidings which shall be for all people,' commanded that they should be proclaimed first throughout the land of his birth. One, who has been a companion and fellow of miscalled politicians, holding the base creed, that offices made for our country's advantage are the legitimate pay of successful, because unscrupulous, conspirators, until he has quite lost the divine quality of his first being,' may sneer at patriotism as a profligate does at conscience, or a wanton at modesty; but a little child, whose heart leaps at the word home, can lead us to a purer, more generous, uplifting, more philosophical sentiment.

"Love to all men is, indeed, the law of Christianity. God, who hath made of one blood all the nations of earth, for to dwell together on the face of the whole earth,' never meant that the brotherhood should be broken by territorial boundaries, or limited by expedients of trade. Yet none, but those who have gone mad upon remote generalisms and unities, will deny that kindred, vicinage and organized reciprocity impose peculiar obligations. The maxim, that 'charity begins at home,' though much abused, is true. While God is the great object of all obedience, each man is made the centre of his human relations. His regard for himself is the inspired rule and measure of the regard due from him to his fellows. Next to himself is his household, then the immediate community, in which he lives, then his country, then the world. Genuine benevolence is systematically expansive. It is educated in the family for the state, in the state for mankind. A disobedient child will not make a good citizen, nor one unfaithful to his countrymen a philanthropist. These affections are concentric circles, described by the hand of the All-Wise around the heart; nor is it possible for our love to reach the outer, but by overflowing the inner. Hence the mistake of the illogical communist is apparent, when to realize the idea, truthful in itself, of a universal family, he would destroy the germ from which the grand sociality must spring, and, with it, the household dependencies that teach a mutual well-being the household needs that urge a combination of effort. We sympathize with him in his aim, but we deny the wisdom of his process.

"For the very reason that these affections are concentric, they never clash. The Divine law, which assumes it to be right that a man should love himself because he is, under God, the guardian of his own welfare, enjoins upon him love for his neighbour; and, as the same authority requires his care for those to whom he is more immediately related in his own house, so should he care for his country, which is an enlargement of his home, and for the world, which is the common home of his heavenly Father's human family. But, as self-love becomes sinful selfishness when it prompts a man to war against, or even neglect, his neighbour's good, so does love of country become a vice when it seeks national aggrandizement by injury done the people of other lands. The same rule that measures duty between man and man is equally applicable to nations. As an individual is dependent upon his as a community is prosperous through a distribution of labor and a reciprocity of benefits, so must internal exchanges be for the good of each and of all; and, since it is a law of retributive providence, political science should adopt as an axion, The liberal deviseth liberal things, and by liberal things shall he stand."

N. Y. STATE LEGISLATION ON COMMON SCHOOLS.

On the forty-second page of this number will be found the Report of a Select Committee and Draft of Bill submitted to the Senate of the State of New-York for the amendment of the Common School Law, and providing for the thorough carrying out of the Free School system, which, it will be seen, has been established by the vote of fifty-five counties against four.

In the Report and Bill referred to, three things are worthy of special notice. 1. Requiring that schools should be kept open by

qualified teachers eight months instead of four in each year, in order to be entitled to a share of the School Fund. 2. Requiring County Councils or Boards to raise twice the amount of the State appropriation as a condition of receiving it. 3. The abolition of the office of Town (our Township) Superintendent, and the restoration of the office of County Superintendent, to be elected in each Assembly District (analogous to our Canadian County or Riding) for three years at a time, with a fixed annual salary of $500.

It will thus be seen that our New-York neighbours look upon the past progress of their School System as the starting point of future improvement; that the State Superintendent, as a part of the duties of his office, points out the defects of the School Law and submits the proper remedies, and the Legislature attentively considers his recommendations; that the whole subject is considered in the Legislature without reference to individuals, sects or parties, but simply with the view of educating and elevating the entire population of the State. It will also be observed, that no part of the School Fund is expended except on the condition of local effort; that local effort is the grand agency of the system, and that the School Fund is the instrument of developing and strengthening that agency. The Head of the Department guards the School Fund against every perversion or abuse, sees to its faithful application according to the provisions of the law, watches over the training of teachers, and imparts to all parties concerned in the administration of the School System, the results of his inquiries, observations and experience for the increased efficiency of the Schools and the diffusion of useful knowledge. But, as the State Superintendent in his last Report expresses it, "It remains that the efficient co-operation of the inhabitants and officers of the several School districts be secured in carrying into practical effect the provisions of the system, to diffuse throughout every section of the State the inestimable blessings of a sound, mental and moral education.”

We hope and trust that the same spirit which prevails in maturing the School System in the State of New-York, will prevail in placing the Canadian School System on a broad and permament foundation, and in providing for each child in the land the divine birth-right of "a sound mental and moral education." On the true principle of a system for attending this object, we again adopt the words of the Report just quoted:

"Every child between the ages of five and twenty-one, residing in the State, is entitled to free and gratuitous education in the common schools, now established, or which may hereafter be established in pursuance of law and the expense of such education, beyond the annual appropriations from the revenues of the Common School Fund, and the amount required by law to be raised by the respective board of supervisors, upon the taxable property of the several towns and counties of the State, is to be provided by taxation upon the real personal estate for the inhabitants of the respective school districts. Whatever differences of opinion may exist in reference to the particular mode of levying the tax thus authorized for the universal and free education of the youth of the State, the great principle that elementary instruction in our public schools shall, from henceforth, be free to all, without discrimation or restriction, has been definitely settled, and may be regarded as beyond the reach of controversy. The current of public opinion has long been tending towards this point and in various sections of the State including most of the cities and several of the larger villages, ample provisions have at different periods, been made for the free and gratuitous education of the young. Wherever the system has been put in operation, its results have signally vindicated the elightened policy by which it was dictated, and gladdened the hearts and excited the highest hopes of the philanthropist, the statesman, and the Christian."

THE AIM OF A GOOD TEACHER.--Dr. NOTT, the venerable President of Union College, Schenectady, has remarked--"If I can induce a boy to think, I feel assured he will ere long become a man."

IN THE SENATE, STATE OF NEW-YORK, FEB. 1, 1850.

REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE ON LITERATURE, IN RELATION TO

PETITIONS FOR AMENDMENTS TO THE ACT ESTABLISHING FREE SCHOOLS THROUGHOUT THE STATE.

The committee on literature, to which was referred various petitions, praying for amendments to the act establishing free schools throughout the State, passed March 26, 1849,

REPORT,

That it is evident from the memorials submitted to them that the present laws require, in some particulars, a careful revision to make them accomplish fully the ends of their enactment.

The complaint of a meeting of citizens of Orange county "that the school laws of this State, by repeated alterations and amendments have become voluminous and complicated almost beyond comprehension, so much so as to require radically revising, simplifying and abridging," is by no means unjust; and as the first step towards the permanent establishment of the free school system, this committee recommend a revision and simplification of the school laws by the Secretary of State.

It has become apparent, however, that much of the opposition to the new school law has arisen from a reluctance on the part of the tax-payers to vote the necessary money for the due maintenance of the free schools. Some districts have even voted to diminish the number of months during which their schools shall be kept open from eight months to four, content to give their children half the teaching which the law intended, rather than submit to the smallest

tax.

Rate bills are still regarded with favor, because they fall, not upon the property of a district, but upon the parents who have children to send to school. Many parents, however, under the old system, kept their children at home, because they could not afford to pay, and because they were not willing to confess the pauperism which alone entitled them to free schooling. It should be the aim of the State to make admission to its schools the absolute right of the child of every citizen, a right which it shall be no meanness in the rich man to enjoy, nor degradation to the poor man to claim.

By the ninth article of the constitution provision is made for the annual addition of $25,000 to the capital of the Common School Fund. The revenues of the canals will soon allow a portion to be devoted to the support of schools, beyond what is required for interest, repairs and accumulation. The rate bills for 1847 amounted to $489,696.63; and we have therefore to provide for raising a similar amount, which lessens every year until our School Fund becomes large enough to support the schools out of its incomes, without resort to taxation. The Governor of this State again recommends the restoration of the office of County Superintendent, which he had advised in his message of last year.

In his annual report for 1849, the State Superintendent presented strong testimony to show that the office of County Superintendent had been unwisely dispensed with. His predecessors, without exception, disapproved of the abolishment of the office, and were right in insisting that such an officer is needed, as the medium of communication between the department and the 900 towns and 11,000 school districts under his care. "The territory is too large," says the State Superintendent, "its subdivisions too many, its relations too diverse, the local officers too numerous, and the interval between the department and them too wide to permit that actual and minute supervision which is necessary to an efficient administration of the school laws."

The chief objection in the minds of those unacquainted with the subject to the plan proposed by the State Superintendent, was probably the expense. By the present system, the nine hundred town superintendents, at a compensation averaging $76 a year each, cost the State $67,500; or to be accurate, as the number of towns in 1847 was 873, the cost was $65,475. Deducting from the 128 Assembly districts those embraced within cities having Boards of Education or city superintendents in the way proposed by the Secretary of State, and set forth in the act herewith submitted to the Senate. At $500 each, the cost would be put £50,000, a positive saving of more than $15,000, while the system would give to the schools the constant supervision of competent men, paid for their whole time, and proud of an honorable office. The benefits of such a change cannot be easily overrated. The vast

array of school districts spread all over the State would be quickened into rivalry and good discipline. Reports would be more readily and correctly returned to the Department of State, and new energy everywhere infused. The present organization is like that of an army without officers between the corporal and the staff, its regiments without colonels, its companies without captains. This would be deemed but a sorry simplification of the art of war; yet almost such is the condition of our school system. This Committee, therefore, recommend that the suggestions of the State Superintendent, confirmed by another year's experience, be favourably considered and acted upon.

The objection to restoring the office of County Superintendent is simply that a county is often too large to permit the proper care of all its schools by one person. Assembly districts furnish more convenient divisions of territory.

The free school law has received a very large majority of the votes cast in this State in its favor. Fifty-five counties have voted for the law, and only four against it. Such an expression of the public will is not to be disregarded.

Thoroughly persuaded that free education is of the last importance to the welfare of the State, the committee on literature do not hesitate to recommend that the full provision by towns or districts according to law, for the maintenance of free schools, during at least eight months of the year, shall be the condition on which, and on which only they shall receive any portion of the public school fund.

The benefits of free education are not now for the first time to be doubted. Nothing valuable comes without toil and cost. Our hopes of political freedom, of personal security, of unforced conscience, all hold by the anchor of faith in the intelligence of the people. France has the opportunity of freedom, but not the people of which freemen are made; nor the schools which rear good citizens. The day is coming, we already see its dawning in our own State, when education shall be by all held as necessary as food; and whenever the reign of peace on earth shall begin, with the sword will also be laid aside the shackles of the convict, and our prisons shall be turned into colleges and free schools. At present we have but the alternative between prisons and schools; between a people educated, self-respecting, self-restraining, or an unreasoning populace, ignorant of the history of the past or of the learning of the present, ever ready to become the tools of a demagogue and to act over again the massacre of St. Bartholomew, or the Reign of Terror. Already the farmer is exposed to the midnight murderer, who, (as has just occurred in New Jersey,) climbs by an upper window into his house, and slaughters wife and husband in their bed-chamber. That murderer was an untaught stranger, who came, unblessed by a free school, to our shores, and revenged himself upon a prosperity he envied, by robbery and outrage. Almost three hundred thousand strangers, like him untaught in such schools as ours, land every year at the single port of New-York. Shall we not protect ourselves against their children, if we cannot against them? Between the standing army of school-masters, and the armed police; between the spelling book and the bayonet, there is no difficulty now in choosing. Let us seize the opportunity; let us insist upon upholding our schools, and New-York will sustain as proud a reputation for the best free education, as she now does for the best system of prison discipline.

The committee submit to the Senate the following Act, prepared under the direction of the State Superintendent of Common Schools. All which is respectfully submitted.

JAMES W. Beekman, SAMUEL MIller.

AN ACT FURTHER TO AMEND THE ACT ESTABLISHING FREE SCHOOLS THROUGHOUT THE STAte, passed MARCH 26, 1849,

The People of the State of New-York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows :

1. The second section of the act entitled "An act establishing free schools throughout the State," is hereby amended so as to read as follows:

§ 2. It shall be the duty of the several boards of supervisors, at their annual meetings, or at any special meeting duly convened (in pursuance of law,) to cause to be levied and collected from their respective counties, in the same manner as county taxes, a sum equal to

twice the amount of State school moneys apportioned to such counties, and to apportion the same among the towns and cities in the same manner as the moneys received from the State are apportioned. They shall also cause to be levied and collected from each of the towns in their respective counties, in the same manner as other town taxes, a sum equal to the amount of State school moneys apportioned to said towns respectively, (and such further sum as the electors of each town shall have directed to be raised, at their annual town meeting, in pursuance of law.)

§ 2. The sixth section of the act aforesaid is hereby amended BO as to read as follows:

§ 6. When the said voters of any district at their annual meeting, (or at a special meeting called for that purpose in pursuance of law,) shall refuse or neglect to raise by tax a sum of money, which added (to the sum apportioned to said district by the State,) and the money raised by the board of supervisors, under the second section of this act, will support a school in said district for at least eight months in a year, keep the school-house in proper repair, and furnish the necessary fuel, then it shall be the duty of said trustees to repair the school house, purchase the necessary fuel, and employ a teacher, or teachers, for eight months, and the whole expense shall be levied and collected in the manner provided in the third section of this act; and no district so refusing or neglecting to make provision as required by this act, for the proper support of a school for at least eight months in a year, shall receive any share of the public money.

§ 3. The Comptroller is hereby authorized to loan from the Common School Fund to the supervisors of any county in which the amount required by the second section of the act hereby amended shall not have been raised, a sum equal to such amount, on the production of a certified copy of the resolution of such board to apply for such loan: And it shall be the duty of such board, at its first annual session thereafter, to levy and collect upon the taxable property of the county, in the same manner as other county taxes are levied and collected, an amount sufficient to repay said loan, with interest, and when collected it shall be the duty of the county treasurer to pay over the same to the Comptroller; but such towns or districts in said county as shall have duly raised their share of the amount required by law, shall not be subject to the levy and collection of the county tax as hereinbefore provided.

§ 4. The ommission of the board of supervisors of any county to raise the additional amount required by the second section of the act hereby amended, at their last annual meeting, or to direct the loan hereinbefore provided for, to be made, shall not be construed in any manner to affect or invalidate the duties and powers conferred and imposed upon the trustees and inhabitants of the several school districts by the third and succeeding sections of said act : And all proceedings heretofore had in the several districts, under and in pursuance of the sections aforeside, are hereby confirmed. § 5. The office of town superintendent is hereby abolished on and after the first Monday of Novemer next.

§ 6. There shall in each Assembly district, except in those cities or villages which now have, or shall hereafter have, a city superintendent or board of education, a superintendent called the Assembly superintendent; he shall be elected by the people, and shall hold his office for three years. He shall receive an annual salary of $500, one-half of which shall be a county charge, and the other half shall be paid from the unappropriated revenue of the Common School Fund. He shall perform all the duties now required by the law from the town superintendent, except the receipt and disbursement of moneys.

§ 7. It shall be the duty of the supervisor of each town to receive and disburse the school monies belonging to his town.

§ 8. Assembly superintendents shall have appellate jurisdiction over all school district controversies, subject to review by the State Superintendent.

§ 9. The tax list and warrant for the collection of the respective amounts required to be raised under this act by the inhabitants or trustees of the several districts, shall be made out and delivered to the collector within thirty days after the expiration of the respective terms of school provided for, and shall embrace only such portions of the amount so raised as are required to meet the actual expenses of such terms. When collected it shall be the duty of the collector to pay over such portion of the moneys raised as may be applicable to the payment of teachers' wages, to the town superintendent of

the town in which the school-house of the district is situated, subject to the order of a majority of the trustees in favor of such duly qualified teacher as may have been employed by them; and the residue of the amount so raised shall be paid over to the trustees, to be by them expended in pursuance of the vote of the district, or for the purposes specified in this act.

§ 10. Section 16 of chap. 382 of the Laws of 1849, is hereby so amended as to read as follows:

§ 16. Sections fifteen, eighty-three, one hundred and six, one hundred and seven, and one hundred and eight, of chapter four hundred and eighty, Laws of eighteen hundred and forty-seven, and section three, chapter two hundred and fifty-eight, Laws of eighteen hundred and forty-seven, are hereby repealed."

§ 11. It shall be the duty of the Superintendent of Common Schools to cause to be prepared, published and forwarded to the officers of the several school districts of the State, and to each town clerk, and to each county clerk, a copy of the Revised Statutes relating to common schools, as amended by the several acts subsequently passed, with such digest, forms, instructions, and expositions as he may deem expedient, for the use of the inhabitants and officers of the several districts, counties, and towns aforesaid.

§ 12. All acts and parts of acts inconsistent with the provisions of this act are hereby repealed.

§ 13. This act shall take effect immediately.

LEGISLATIVE APPROPRIATIONS TO COLLEGES IN THE STATE OF NEW YORK. Geneva College, (Episcopalian) for 1848. Appropriated for ditto University of New York, Appropriated for ditto Madison University,

$3,000

1849.

3,000

1848.

3,000

1849.

3,000

1848.

3,000

Appropriated for ditto

1849.

3,000

In compliance with the provisions of the 5th section of the Act entitled "An Act appropriating the Revenues of the Literature and United States Deposit Fund," passed April 10, 1849, the Regents of the University, on the 28th day of February, 1850, appropriated to the several Academies herein after named the sum of money set opposite to their respective names, for the purchase of books and apparatus; an equal amount having been raised by each of said Academies, from sources independent of their corporate funds, for the same purpose :Brockport Col. Ins. Brookfield Cherry Valley Clinton Liberal Ins. Delaware

East Bloomfield
Elmira

Valley Seminary
Greenville
Kingsborough
Lowville

$240 00 Manlius

$25 00

By order of the Regents of the University.

75.00

82,385 95

T. ROMEYN BECK, Secretary.

ORDINANCE OF THE REGENTS, Passed, Feb. 28, 1849.-Every Academy to whom money shall be granted for the purchase of books and apparatus, is hereby required to report to the Regents, in its next annual report presented after said grant, the full and complete expenditures af all moneys, both raised and granted, for the above purpose; and, until they do so account, the Regents will withhold the amount unaccounted for, from the respective share of each Academy, in the distribution of the revenue of the Literature and United States Deposit Funds. T. R. B.

(A true copy.)

Educational Entelligence.

UPPER CANADA.

Victoria District Common Schools, 1849.-Compiled from the Report of the District to the Chief Superintendent:-No. of Schools, 112; average time open by qualified Teachers, 8 months each; amount paid Teachers, £2,580 18s. 04d.; No. of Pupils, 4,595-of boys, 2,523— of girls, 2,072; average attendance of pupils, in summer, 2,591-of boys, 1,374-of girls, 1,217; in winter, 2,757-of boys, 1,598-of girls, 1,159; No. of Children of School age, 8,844; Common School Libraries, 3; Vols. therein, 225; Sunday School do., 17; Vols. therein, 1,636; Public do., 2; Vols, therein, 200; total libraries, 22; total Vols. therein, 2,361; School visits by Supt., 132; by Clergymen, 49; by Councillors, 26; by Magistrates, 40; other visits, 358; total visits, 605. No Superior or Private Schools reported. The Superintendent remarks:"Upon comparing the present with last year's Report, you will observe a very great improvement; for though the School population has increased only about five per cent. the number of scholars in attendance exceeds twelve and a half per cent.; and the increase in the use of the National books is many hundred per cent. Wherever the Trustees are fortunate enough to procure a Normal School Teacher, or one having a knowledge of the system pursued at the Normal School, we see great energy and a spirit of emulation infused among the scholars, conducing greatly to their happiness, and the Schools are consequently well filled and regularly attended. The value of the Normal Institution is beyond all price; and if you never did any other good in the world as a public man than establish that school, and place it upon its present most effective position, you would deserve the lasting gratitude of your fellow-countrymen. The old Act is infinitely superior to the Common School Act of last Session, and was becoming well understood and very popular where the County Superintendents were zealous and efficient. It required very few amendments."

Brock District Common Schools.-Errata in last month's summary, page 28: For "Grammar Schools," &c., read, Grammar Schools, 1 Pupils therein, 40; Private Schools, 3; Pupils, 75; total Grammar Schools, &c., 4; Pupils therein, 125; total Educational Establishments, 140 total Pupils therein, 6,913. Average attendance at the Common Schools, in summer, 3,245-of boys, 1,715-of girls, 1,530; in winter, 3,239-of boys, 1,962-of girls, 1,277.

Mount Elgin Industrial Indian School.-We are happy to say that the buildings have been completed and considerable improvements made on the farm. The building and appurtenances will cost from twelve to £1500, and will be capable of affording accommodation for a large number of Indian youths, who will be taught in the School, the various branches of an English education, and upon the farm the practical parts of agriculture. The farm consists of 200 acres. About the middle of May the School will be formally opened.-[Christian Guardian, 20th March.

Industrial Indian School at Alnwick.-The Industrial School at Alderville is in successful operation. About sixty Indian boys and girls are being taught. Certain hours each day are spent in the school, and other hours are spent by the boys on the farm, while the Indian girls spend an equal number of hours in acquiring a knowledge of domestic economy.-[Ibid.

The New School House, Town of Brantford, was opened on Monday last for the reception of pupils. A large number of pupils was received, and short addresses delivered by Dr. Digby and others. We learn that a more formal opening will take place at some period in the next week, when D. Thorburn, Esq., the Rev. Dr. Ryerson, Pat. Thorntor, Esq., and several other gentlemen from the neighbouring towns, are expected to be present, and take part in the proceedings.-[Herald, 6th March.

J. L. Hughes, Esq., late Second Master of the Colborne District Grammar School, has been appointed Head Master of the Brantford School. The Peterboro' Weekly Despatch observes :-" We sincerely participate in the regret felt by almost every one in this town, interested in the cause of education, that the means at the disposal of the Trustees are too limited to enable them to offer such inducements to Mr. Hughes as would justify him in declining the liberal offer he has received from Brantford.-He will take with him, when he leaves Peterborough, the good wishes of many warm friends, and the grateful regards of all the youth whom he has had under his care. Many too who have known Mr. Hughes, in other capacities-as an active and able Magistrate, and as a most efficient and laborious member of the late District Council, in which he held a seat from its first organization till within the last year, will deplore the loss of a prominent and useful member of our community."

The Opening of a New School in Brantford.-The new School, according to announcement, was opened on Thursday last. The

Rev. Egerton Ryerson, Superintendent of Education, who was expected on the occasion to address the meeting, was unavoidably detained; but an able substitute was found in his stead in the person of John Willson, Esq., M. P. P., of London, who delivered an excellent address on Education. Mr. W. is a clear, distinct speaker, very happy in his address, and commands the attention of his hearers. David Thorburn, Esq., P. Thornton, Esq., the Rev. Messrs. Winterbotham, Lightbody, Byrne, and others, addressed the meeting effectively, with speeches replete with interest. P. C. Vanbrocklin, Esq., our worthy Mayor, presided as Chairman, and discharged the duties which devolved upon him in a highly creditable manner. The School room, (sufficient to hold, we should suppose, three hundred children) was crowded with a respectable and attentive audience. We were pleased to see such a large number of children present, and we trust the advice directed to them by Mr. Willson and others for their guidance, may not be lost; but that they will treasure it up, and act upon it, and in after life they will have no reason to regret that they have followed their advice. Obedience is the great thing! Unless a boy is obedient to his teachers and parents he need never expect to do any good in after life. On this his future welfare mainly depends. The edifice is large, and neatly constructed, and reflects much credit on the builder, Mr. Mellish. It is an ornament to that part of the Town in which it is placed.—[Courier, March 16th. [On Friday evening the Chief Superintendent of Schools also delivered an address on Education in Brantford.]

Schoolmasters' Meetings, Gore District.-At an adjourned meeting of the Teachers in the Gore District, held in the City of Hamilton on the 2nd ult., Resolutions to the following effect were passed :-That the Schools in Cities and Towns should be conducted as provided for by the Cities and Towns School Act which was so unceremoniously repealed last Session. That Trustees should be empowered to provide for the entire of the Teachers' Salary (including the public money) either by fees or rate bill quarterly: That rural Trustees be invested with similar powers, adding "voluntary subscriptions" to their means of raising the balance of the Teachers' salary: That Superintendents be selected by Township Councils from "persons who are, or have been, practically engaged in teaching": That Superintendents alone should grant Certificates: That Trustees should be personally liable, should they neglect to provide legally for the Teacher's salary: That the people, not Trustees, have power to dismiss a Teacher for any cause whatever: That Schools should be publicly examined half yearly: That the Provincial Board of Education should be composed in part of practical Teachers: That no alien be a Teacher: That separate Schools be not public Schools: That a Normal School is expedient; and that information which has already appeared in this journal "be disseminated." A meeting of Teachers was also held in Dumfries, at which Resolutions very similar to the foregoing were passed.[Condensed.

Free Schools, Town of London.The School Trustees of this town were induced to appeal to the inhabitants for an expression of opinion in regard to the course to be pursued towards the maintenance of the School recently established here. Meetings were held in the different Wards for that purpose, on Tuesday evening last. In St. Patrick's Ward a motion for taxing the inhabitants to support the School, and rendering it free to all, was passed by a large majority. At St. Andrew's the following was passed by a large majority :-" That all persons on the Assessment Roll for this Ward ought to be taxed to support the Common Schools of this Town, as Free Schools." The views expressed at the meetings in the other Wards were much the same as the foregoing.—[Times and Free Press, 7th and 8th March.

Ingersoll Grammar School.-The Board of Trustees have appointed Mr. O. Bartley of Woodstock, as Teacher of this School. He is an excellent classical and mathematical scholar.-[British American, 9th March.

University of Toronto.-At an open meeting of the Convocation on the 23rd inst., the Hon. Chief Justice Macauley was elected Chancellor, but refused to act, Mr. L. W. Smith, B. C. L., Pro-Vice Chancellor, and Geo. Crookshank, Esq., Member of the Caput. The several Faculties of the University have elected the following Deans :-Faculty of Arts: Rev. Dr. Beaven; Law, S. Connor, Esq., LL. D.; Medicine, Dr. Nichol.

Common Schools, City of Toronto.-The Board of Trustees of Common Schools in this City, have issued a tariff of charges for pupils, for the present year, varying from 3s. 9d. to 6s, 3d. per quarter; they have been compelled to adopt this course under existing circumstances, but, we regret to hear, a very great falling off in attendance is anticipated in consequence, particularly among the poorer children.-[Patriot.