to the objects of such meeting, as the District Superintendent of Common Schools is authorized by the Eighth Section of this Act to exercise :

Provided likewise, that the Municipal Council of the County shall designate the Member who shall call the first meeting of the Board of Examiners.

XXVI. And be it enacted, That each District Superintendent of Common Schools who may be in office on the first day of January, One Thousand Eight Hundred and Fifty, shall continue to exercise all the powers, and perform all the duties, which he is now authorized and required by law to perform, until the first day of March of the said year, One Thousand Eight Hundred and Fifty; on which day he shall deliver into the hands of the Superintendent of Common Schools for each Township within the District of his charge, all Common School papers and moneys (remaining in his hands,) which relate, or have been apportioned, to the Common Schools of such Township; and, for every refusal, on the part of any District Superintendent of Common Schools, to comply with this provision of this Act, he shall be subject to the forfeiture of twice the amount of the sum, or sums, of money, (exclusive of costs,) which may be involved in his refusal and the Superintendent of Common Schools for each Township concerned, is hereby authorized and required to sue any such defaulting District Superintendent of Common Schools, before any of the Courts of law authorized to take cognizance of such cases, and to add the amount collected, after deducting necessary expenses, to the Common School Fund of his Township.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT OF THE FOREGOING LETTER, WITH DRAFT OF BILL.

I have the honour to acknowledge, the receipt of your communication of the 23rd ultimo, enclosing a Draft of a School Bill for Canada West; also the last official Reports of the Normal and Common Schools of the State of New York; and to inform you in reply, that the subject of your Communication will not fail to receive the consideration of His Excellency the Governor General-in-Council.

MONTREAL, 3rd of March, 1849.

J. LESLIE, Secretary.

IV. REMARKS AND RECOMMENDATIONS, WITH A VIEW TO THE INTRODUCTION OF SCHOOL LIBRARIES INTO UPPER CANADA.*

I have the honour to submit to the favourable consideration of the Governor General-inCouncil, the following Remarks and Recommendations, with a view to the introduction of School Libraries into Upper Canada, as contemplated by each of the Common School Acts which have been sanctioned by the Legislature.

There can be but one opinion as to the great importance of introducing into each Township of Upper Canada, as soon as possible, a Township Library, with branches for the several School Sections, consisting of a suitable selection of entertaining and instructive Books, in the various departments of Biography, Travels, History, (Ancient and Modern,) Natural Philosophy and History, Agrilculture, Literature, Political Economy, Practical Arts and Practical Life.

It is not easy to conceive the vast and salutary influence that would be exerted upon the entire population, the younger portion especially,—in furnishing useful occupation for leisure hours, in improving the taste and feelings, in elevating and enlarging the views, in prompting to varied and useful enterprize, that would flow from the introduction of such a Fountain of Knowledge and enjoyment in each Township in Upper Canada.

But, in order even to commence such a noble and patriotic undertaking, two things are necessary. The first is, to obtain, and, for the Board of Education, to examine and select the proper Books. The second is, to render such Books easily and cheaply accessible to every part of the Province.

As the Books are not, and cannot be, published in this country, they must, for some time, at least, be obtained from abroad,-from England and from the United States. Arrangements must be made for that purpose, as the ordinary agencies of Book-trade are insufficient.

When in England in 1833, I made an arrangement with certain Booksellers in London, on behalf of the Wesleyan Body in Upper Canada, on the basis of which Books have been obtained from that time to this much below the printed wholesale prices. When in Dublin in 1845, I arranged with the National Board to obtain their Books for Schools in Upper Canada at cost prices,-much below the wholesale prices to the British Public; and, by means of that arrangement, those excellent Text Books are now sold in Upper Canada about twenty per cent. cheaper than they were three years since. And we now say to each of our Canadian Booksellers, that, if he will agree not to sell those Books at more than two pence currency for every penny sterling that he pays for them, we will give him a Certificate to the National Board of Education in

* In regard to School Libraries in Upper Canada see note on page 32 of this Volume.

Dublin, to obtain them at the reduced price as arranged. By this simple arrangement, private trade is encouraged, at excellent profits, rather than interfered with; and the Books are then sold in Upper Canada at much lower prices than heretofore. The selling prices of the Books are published in the printed Forms and Regulations for Schools, and are uniform in every part of the Province, and known to every Trustee and Teacher. A Canadian House has printed an Edition of most of these Books, (fac similes of the Dublin Edition), at even lower prices than the imported Editions.

Now I propose the adoption of an extension of the same arrangements to procure Books for School Libraries. I propose to make an arrangement with some of the Book Societies in London, (such as the " Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge," and the Cheap Library Publishers in London and Edinburgh, for procuring such of their Books as may be required for School Libraries in Upper Canada, at the lowest prices. I propose to make the same arrangement with the National Board of Education, in Dublin for procuring portions of the Series of Books which they have lately selected and adopted for School Libraries, that we have hereto. fore made, in order to procure their School Books. And, as but few of the Books composing the School Libraries in the neighbouring States of New York and Massachusetts are of an exclusively local and politically objectionable character, and as the greater part of their School Library Books are as suitable to the youth of Canada as they are to those of the United States, --many of the Books being reprints of English Works and Translations from the French and German.-I propose to make a similar arrangement with School Library, (and perhaps some other) Publishers in New York and Boston, that I have above proposed to make with English Publishers.

According to this arrangement, I hope to secure, at the cheapest rate possible, to the reading youth and people of Canada, the best popular works which emanate from the British and American press. There will thus be a British and American series, with the prices affixed to each, and directions where and how they may be procured, leaving the local Councils, or Committees, the option of selecting from either series, or from both, at their discretion.

In the Catalogue of these Library Books, I think a characteristic notice of each book should be inserted, (including two, or three, sentences, but, of course, requiring considerable thought, judgment and labour, in the preparation); a Catalogue should be furnished to each local Council, and the Books generally be also brought to the notice of the public in the columns of the Journal of Education, and personally, by the Chief Superintendent of Education, during his visits to the various Municipal Districts,-one of such visits I had intended to make during the latter part of the current year.

Should the plan, thus briefly explained, be approved of by the Governor General-in-Council, I propose to devote the next three, or four, months to its accomplishment, by going to the United States and England to make the arrangements suggested, and to select and procure specimen Books for the School Libraries to lay before the Board of Education for Upper Canada for their examination and judgment. My own personal expenses will, I think, in all, including difference of exchange, etcetera, be under £200, and that £250, or £300, will be sufficient to purchase copies of the books required.

It is not likely that many Townships will desire, at least for a time, a Library worth half of £200; but the School Authorities of several Cities and Towns will doubtless soon demand a Library of greater value than that sum represents. The sums mentioned,-in all £450, or £500, -would, of course, be deducted from the first money apportioned for establishing Public School Libraries in Upper Canada.

The Books, thus obtained and approved of by the Board of Education, would be either purchased to increase the Normal School Library, or be disposed of to any of the local Councils, or Committees, establishing Libraries, as part of their apportionment, and thus the only deduction from the Legislative Grant for School Libraries would be the amount of my travelling expenses, -which would be abundantly compensated by the importance and economical advantages of the arrangements which I would be able to effect, and which, in some shape, or form, are of course indispensable to the establishment of School Libraries. I look forward to the day when such Libraries will be increased and enriched by Canadian contributions and publications.

With these remarks, I submit this important subject to the favourable consideration of the Governor General-in-Council; and, should the task which I have proposed. be approved of, I will lose no time in prosecuting it. In the meantime, I would respectfully recommend that John George Hodgins, Esquire, (Senior Clerk in the Education Office, be authorized, by the Governor General-in-Council, to act as Deputy Superintendent of Schools for Upper Canada during my absence, - -as I have entire confidence in his integrity, knowledge and ability.

TORONTO, 16th July, 1849.

EGERTON RYERSON.

ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF REMARKS AND RECOMMENDATIONS, IN REGARD TO SCHOOL LIBRARIES.

I have the honour, by command of the Governor General to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 16th inst., submitting certain remarks and recommendations, with a view to the introduction of School Libraries into Upper Canada; and to inform you that the subject will receive His Excellency's attention. J. LESLIE, Secretary.

MONTREAL, 20th of July, 1849.

CHAPTER XIV.

THE ABORTIVE SCHOOL LEGISLATION OF 1849.

From the events which followed, and which were connected with the abortive School Legislation of 1849, I have thought it desirable to give full particulars of that singular episode in our educational history. It was unique in its character, and might have led to a prolonged controversy and consequent injury to our School System, had not the Government of the day taken prompt steps to avoid both.

It is true that the unprecedented course adopted by the Government, of suspending the operation of a Measure which had passed both Houses of the Legislature, without opposition, was strongly criticised, and the constitutional right of the Government to do as it had done, (even when the facts of a case would otherwise seem to justify, if not to warrant it,) were by many parties seriously questioned.

There is no doubt but that the results of the educational crisis of 1849 produced good fruit. It led to a more thorough examination by our public men of the foundation upon which the School System of Upper Canada had been placed, and the fundamental principles incorporated in it, and which characterised its principal provisions. It also led to the enactment of the comprehensive and popular School Law of 1850, which has been always regarded as the Charter of the School System of Upper Canada.

I have already, in Chapter IX, pages 166-167, referred to the spirit and object of the School Bill, as introduced into the House of Assembly, on behalf of the Baldwin Government, by the Honourable Malcolm Cameron, Assistant Commissioner of Public Works. It was assumed by Members of that Government, that Mr. Cameron's Bill was identical with, and a combination of the two Drafts of School Bills, sent by the Chief Superintendent of Education to the Provincial Secretary,— the first, on the 14th of October, 1848,-pages 83-94 of this Volume,-and the second, on the 23rd of February, 1849:-pagess 214-221 also of this Volume. This assumption was proved, however, not to be the case; but that advantage had been taken of the opportunity by Mr. Cameron to substitute a Bill, prepared by a friend of his in the Bathurst District, (hostile to the Chief Superintendent), for the Drafts of Bills sent by the Chief to the Provincial Secretary, and, by that Member of the Baldwin Government, placed in the hands of Mr. Cameron for combination and introduction, as the Government School Bill into the House of Assembly.

CORRESPONDENCE WITH MEMBERS OF THE GOVERNMENT AND LEGISLATURE IN REGARD TO THE PROPOSED SCHOOL LEGISLATION OF 1849

The Chief Superintendent, not having received any satisfactory information. as to what the Government proposed to do with the two Drafts of School Bills sent to it, wrote a private Letter, on the 27th of January, 1849, to the Honourable William H. Merritt, President of the Council, asking for information on the subject. Under date of the 1st of February, Mr. Merritt replied, and stated, that the Municipal Bill, into which the proposed School Legislation was to dovetail, was printed. He added:

I will request Mr. Cameron, who has the amended School Bill in charge, to send you a copy. You are aware, that I told you, it was my intention to give my undivided attention to the creation of a Fund for Common Schools; and not until after that was first secured could I give any part of my time to its management. (See page 116 of this Volume.)

Write to Mr. Cameron on the subject of your last Amendment of the School Act

as it is of importance that some person should attend to the various applications from your Department, and having the School Bill in charge, he is the proper person to apply to, or to any other Member, who may have leisure within the Executive Council and House. My hands are full, and, if I undertook one tenth of what offers, I should neglect the main point in view. MONTREAL, 1st of February, 1849.

W. HAMILTON MERRITT.

The Chief Superintendent, having waited some time for the desired information, in regard to the proposed School Legislation, wrote early in April, 1849, to Mr. Joseph C. Morrison, Member for the second Riding of York, and a Member of the Provincial Board of Education, on the subject. Mr. Morrison's first reply was to the following effect:

I have delayed replying to yours Letter of inquiry, expecting every day to have some definite information from the Government upon the introduction of the amendment to the School Act,— an abstract of which you were kind enough to send me.

I have pressed to know the intention of the Government. I was yesterday confidentially told that, in a day or two, the matter would be arranged, and an outline of the Cameron Bill was shewn to me. I expressed myself very strongly against charging our System of Education every year; and, as to some points of the Bill, I was strongly opposed, and, if they were not struck out, I should certainly oppose the Measure.

I shall write you at once, when the Bill receives the assent of the Members of the Cabinet. It is in charge of Mr. Malcolm Cameron; and I shall get you a printed copy, if possible, before it is delivered to Members. Anticipating the passage of the Municipal Bill, the new School

Bill will be introduced.

MONTREAL, 11th of April, 1849.

JOSEPH C. MORRISON.

On the next day, Mr. Morrison wrote as follows:Since I wrote you yesterday the most objectionable clause in the School Bill has been struck out. It will be printed in a few days. Notice has not yet been given in the House of its introduction. Before an answer can reach me, I shall be very likely in Toronto. intention, however, to return to Montreal. MONTREAL, 12th of April, 1849.

It is my

JOSEPH C. MORRISON.

A copy of Mr. Cameron's Bill having been obtained, Doctor Ryerson wrote, in The Story of My Life," about it as follows:

On examing the Bill I wrote down my objections to it, and laid them before the Government, and proceeded to Montreal to press them in person. I left Montreal in April, 1849, with the expectation that the Bill would be dropped, or essentially mended. Neither was done; the

Bill was passed in the ordinary manner of passing Bills, during the last few hours of the Session; and, within three hours of learning that the Bill was law, I informed the Honourable Mr. Baldwin that my office was at his disposal, for I never would administer that law.*

The following are the objections to the Cameron School Bill submitted to the Government by the Chief Superintendent, and to which he here refers:

I. OBJECTIONS TO THE NEW SCHOOL BILL OF THE HONOURABLE MALCOLM CAMERON.

The following are the topics discussed by the Chief Superintendent of Education in these "Objections" to the Cameron School Bill of 1849:—

GENERAL REMARKS ON THE NEW SCHOOL BILL OF Mr. CAMERON.

1. Inquiries which should precede further legislation on the subject of Common Schools. 2. Spirit of this New School Bill.

3. Difference in the principles of School Legislation between Upper and Lower Canada proposed by this Bill.-Exclusion of the Clergy in Upper Canada from being School Visitors, while they are continued, with extraordinary power, in Lower Canada.

4. This New Bill of Mr. Cameron does away with a Provincial System of Schools.

5. It is also prejudicial to certain great objects of the Normal School.

6. The modes of preparing School Reports proposed by this Bill, tedious, expensive and inefficient.

7. Its Financial provisions render Teachers liable to a loss of twenty-five, to forty, per cent. of the School Fund; and its provisions to provide for poor Schools are unnecessary and inefficient. 8. The Provisions of the Bill examined in detail, and various defects and anomalies pointed

out.

9. Practical remarks and recommendations submitted for the consideration of the Goverment.

When recently in Montreal, (where I arrived on the 29th ultimo,) the Members of the Government were so entirely occupied with matters growing out of the proceedings which have disgraced the City of Montreal, and inflicted irreparable loss upon the Province, that they were unable to give any deliberate attention to the great interests involved in a School Law for Upper Canada.

In accordance, therefore, with the suggestions of one, or two, Members of the Government, I proceed to submit in writing, for the consideration of the Governor General-in-Council, observations on the School Bill lately brought into the Legislative Assembly by the Honourable Malcolm Cameron,-observations which I should have preferred making personally, had it not been for the humilating events to which I have alluded. I make these observations the more freely because I was informed that some Members of the Government had not even read the School Bill introduced by Mr. Cameron, and because I am persuaded that many of its provisions will not be approved of by His Excellency-in Council, when the real character and operations of them are carefully examined.

GENERAL REMARKS ON THE SUBJECT OF SCHOOL LEGISLATION.

Previously to my entering into the details of the Bill, I desire to make some general remarks in regard to Legislation on School matters:

1. My first General Remark is, that, before undoing nearly all that has been done in School Legislation, and subverting our whole system of School operations, I think a Commission, or Committee, of Inquiry, should examine into what has been effected, and what causes have prevented greater success,-whether the provisions of the School Law, or other circumstances, which time and labour alone, and not law, can control. In such inquiries, Educationists and educational statesmen have always had recourse to educational statistics, when attainable. Minute and extensive statistics of Common Schools in Upper Canada, during the two full years of the operations of the present School Act, have been collected, as well as tolerably comprehensive financial statistics of our Common Schools during two, or three, years of the operations of the late Common School Act of 1843, for Upper Canada. Before doing what experience has

:

*From "The Story of my Life" by the late Reverend Egerton Ryerson, D. D., LD. D., page 424. + The burning of the Parliament House and its Library.

15 D.E.