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On the 29tli of December, 1874, the annual dinner of the Association was held in the College Hall. Among the numerous guests were gentlemen of eminence in letters and education ; and as the speeches were of more j)ermanent interest than those usually delivered on such occasions, the Committee have thought it well to give them, as far as practi- cable, a permanent form. The graceful tribute paid by the Provost to the memory of the founder and of the first Chancellor of our University, will be read with delight by those Trinity men who were denied the greater pleasure of hearing it spoken." The principal topic of the other speakci-s was the question of a Provincial University. We give some of the speeches iii extenso, and only regret that we are unable to do the same with those of Professor Wilson and Professor Cherriman, who handled the subject with great humour and dealt deserved sar- casms at the inevitable result of the indefinite mul- tiplication of Universities. 2 It will bo seen that the opinion is nnanimoua in favour of the consolidation of the existing Universi- ties of this Province into one on the Oxford and Cambridge model. The Chancellor, indeed, sug- gested a doubt, not as to the expediency, but as to the practicability of the scheme. To this the obvi- ous answer is, that it has never been attempted on the basis now proposed. To the other objection hinted at, that such a union would imply the de- ':oruction of the religious character of our University, we are bound to say that if such were the necessary result, the Association would never have discussed the project. Without its religious element Trinity would have no raison d'etre, even as a member of a Provincial University. It is because no such result need be anticipated, and because it will have the effect of bringing more men under the influence of its teaching, that friends of Trinity wish this scheme to be adopted. That Canadians who are deeply interested in the improvement of national education, sympathize with this movement, is shown by the article from the Nation which we print below. As Professor Ambery has already expressed his views on this subject in the daily press, we have omitted any mention of his speech, but have selected a few paragraphs bearing more immediately upon it, from one of his admirable letters. The communications we have received from mem- bers of the Corporation and other friends of Trinity, encourage us to hope that the authorities of our University will take this question into their earnest considei'fttion aiid rescue themselves from the re- proach of wasting the years operose nihil agendo. We would urge our fellow-graduates who have not already done so, to send in their names and addi^esses to the Secretary. Subscriptions should be sent to the Treasurer. Though (to use the words of Lord Dufferin), " we are strong in medicine," few Medical graduates have become members of the Association. This is probably due to a mistaken impression of its character. We would remind them that it is a University, not a College association, and express the hope that they will no longer stand aloof from us. A reunion of Trinity men at the College in the ensuing spring, for the discussion of matters of deep importance, is under the consideration of the Com- mittee. We are justified in stating that our last annual dinner was a great success, for which we are indebted \o a great extent to the assistance of Prof Ambery, which we are glad to have an opportunity of ac- knowledging. Signed on behalf of the Committee. CrEO. A. Mackenzie, Secretary, R. Gregory Cox, Treasurer. • t t rl--i n;*-"'^*'- ** - ' »r. . : ,-.*■:--» ;'■ 5 ANNUAL DINNER, 29th DEC, 1874. LIST OF TOASTS. THE QUEEN. Bevered, beloved ! O yon that hold A nobler offioe upon earth Than arms, or power of brain, or birth Could give the warrior kings of old ! * « « * « Her court was pure, her life serene : God gaye her peace ; her land reposed : A thousand claims to reverence closed In her as Mother, Wife, and Queen. THE FOUNDER. Ever witness for him Those Twins of Leabnxno that he raised in you. King Henry viii, THE CLERGY. To all the country dear ; And pu«»sing rich — with forty pounds a year. THE ARMY, NAVY, AND VOLUNTEERS. Halt ! Shoulder Arms ! Attention I Stand at Eaae 1 O Britain I my country ! Words like these Have made thy name a terror and a fear To all the nations. THE SISTER UNIVERSITIES. Facies non omnibus una. Nee diversa tamen, qualis decet esse sororum. TRINITY. " Floreat domus." THE BENCH AND BAR. The depths of lawe they searche with painf ulle toyle, Not cunning quirkes, the simple man to spoyle. THE LADIES. Propria quas maribus. No angel, but a dearer being, dipt In angel instincts, breathing Paradise. In response to the toast of " The Founder," the Provost said : Mr. President: It is with great satisfaction that I hear the toast which has just been announced proposed within these walls ; and there is no toast of the evening to which I should feel it so high an honour and so great a pleasure to respond. We must act in the present — we must provide for the future ; but we can do neither the one nor the other well and wisely, except we look with lov- ing and reverend eyes to the past ; and if this be our duly as men in all the relations of life, most assuredly it must be our duty as membei-s of this Society. The past on whicb we have, in this capacity, to look back, is not a very distant one, and it appeals most strongly to our sympathies. The place in which we are now assembled will bring before the minds of some here present the cere- mony of the inauguration of Trinity College, at which the revered and beloved prelate whose mem- ory we now recall presided nearly twenty- Ihree years ago. It will also remind them of many other subse- quent gatherings of a lighter character, at which, however, he did not disdain to grace our proceedings by his venerable and genial presence. I would ven- ture, then, to suggest that we cannot, as members of this Society, more truly honour his memory, or raise to it any more appropriate or acceptable tribute, than by using our best endeavour to carry out his plans and mature his de -gns in respect of this College. We know that the object contemplated by the late Bishop himself and by those who laboured with him, was to establish a college in which the sons of mem- bers of the Church of England might receive a high- er education, in accordance with the teaching of that Church, and so be enabled to serve God, not only in the sacred ministry of His Church, but also in the 6 several liberal professions and in the ordinaiy walks of life. When I look around me hero, and wh on I remember the men who have gone forth from ua during tlie last twenty years, some of them honour- ably known at home or in the remoter parts of the Empire, 1 cannot think that the work to which the late Bishop put his hand has failed to bear good fruit, notwithstanding the many difficulties and struggles through which Trinity College has passed. We must, I think, be satisfied that had no such work been undertaken, the position of the Church in this Province must have contrasted very unfavour- ably with that which it now occupies. For myself, I owe to the late Bishop a debt of most grateful and aflectionate remembrance. I received from him the kindness of a father. Amid the difficulties, which are inseparable from the conduct of a new institution, his kindly invita- tion was, " Always come to me if you are at a loss," and he was one to whom, under such circumstances, I never went in vain. Constitutional and responsi- ble government is, no doubt, an excellent thing in theory, but, for peraonal comfort and convenience, nothing is to be compared to a mild and equitable despotism. The late Bishop was, indeed, a man to rule, but he ruled for the benefit of those who were content to acknowledge his sway. Before I sit down, Mr. President, I must be allowed to mention, in connection with this toast, a name which I am satisfied the late Bishop woul desire should ever be associated with his own when we speak of him within these walls — the name of the late Sir John Eobinson. His memory, too, I must ever cherish with the deepest respect and gratitude, as that of a wise and sagacious counsellor — of a tried and steadfast friend. I know, too, the place which he held in the esteem of the late Bishop, who often spoke of him as his right hand. May we never forget the memory and the example of men like these. If we are true to ourselves and to the principles on which they laboured to erect this Collej^e, I am well assured that not only we ourselves, but our descendants in long years to come, will have cause to bless God that our country and our Church were peimitted in His good provi- dence, to number among their sons these two illus- trious names. (Applause). Mr. Goldwin Smith being called upon to respond to the toast of "The Sister Universities," on behalf of Oxford, said : He was entitled to respond to the toast of "Tu^ Sister Universities," if gratitude could constitute a title, for he had shared the bounty of Oxford Found- ers, first as a student in Magdalen College, the most beautiful of all the homes of learning, and afterwards in University College, which, though the story of its foundation by King Alfred is not to be relied on historically, may well be proud of being dedicated to the memory of a sovereign who was not only the political saviour of his country but also the restorer of English learning. Not long ago he had visited Oxford, and while he stood on the dome of the Rad- cliffe Library and looked down on the glories of the historic city with its twenty- five Colleges and Halls, it naturally occurred to him to ask when we should have a counterpart of those glories here. The grandeur of Oxford and Cambridge had been produced by concentrating the resources of learning and science in one place instead of scattering them over the country. This concentration had been due in the first instance to happy accident. In the Middle Ages there was no source of knowledge but the oral teach- ing of the professors, to the centre of which all stu- dents were obliged to resort. But th . same course had been pursued by the laier founders, and the result was a University rich not only in money and all the appliances of learning and science but in the advantages of intellectual intercourse, and that stim- ulating intellectual atmosphere which was as valua- ble as pecuniary endowments to the student. Here,, 8 '■' as in the United States, the opposite system had un- fortunately prevailed, wliich there sometimes led to the result that the observatory was found in one place, the observer in another, and the telescope in a third. While such a system of separation continued to pre- vail, it was impossible for Canada to have a really great University ; but it was most desirable that we should have a really great University in this country. At Oxford there were several Canadian students, amongst them some who would inherit great wealth, and probably exercise great social and political influ- ence i:? Canada. It was easy to see how much there was to attract these young Canadians to the great Universities of the mother countiy. But it was better that, if possible, thej" should be educated among those among whom they were to pass their lives and with whom they were to act, even if home education involved some intellectual sacrifice. If we could build up in course of time an Oxford in Canada, it would be our best tribute of gratitude for all that we owe to the Universities of the mother country. (Cheers.) Mr. T. Moss, M.P., Vice-Char cellor of the Univer- sity of Toronto, expressed his sympathy with the objects for which the Association had been estab- lished. After speaking in terms of encouragement of the Association, he said that he learned from a printed statement of its objects, which he had seen, and from somo of the remarks made by preceding speakers, that it intended to bring prominently be- fore its members the feasibility of the establishment of one great Provincial University. He was con- scious of the great difficulties in detail which sur- rounded this project. They might be unsuimount- able — he did not know ; but, speaking for himself, he would say that he had not abandoned the hope of yet seeing one central University, dispensing with equal hands her desjrees and honors. (Cheers.) Dear to her sons as Oxford or Cambridge is (and most eloquently have their praises been sounded this evening), he claimed equal pride in, and affection )/ )/ for, his own Alma Mater ^ the University of Toronto. He held with Mr. Gold win Smith, that, whatever their imperfections, the Universities of Canada were the best for Canadians. (Hear, hear.) Our Universi- ties could not, of course, assert, an equality with those of the older land ; still, they had already done good service, and, with the earnest efforts being made to improve them, they would, he had every confidence, kaep pace with the needs of the country. All our Universities could unite, even if that union which had been referred to were deemed impracti- cable, to work together for one common end — to oppose truth and learning to falsehood and igno- rance ; and if the greater union could not be real- ized, he trusted both University and Trinity College would always be found working harmoniously to- gether for the improvement of our common country. (Cheers.) The toast of "Trinity" having been given, the well-known College song "J/e^' Agona," was sung by the whole company. The Hon. J. H. Cameron, Chancellor of the University, in response, said that Trinity College would always be glad to meet the representatives of other Universities in frier.dly and social intercourse, as on the present occasion. Some of the gentlemen, whom they had listened to with interest, had touched upon a topic of great importance to the cause of education in this country. He meant the subject of a closer union between the various Uni- versities. It was always a pleasure to listen to the words of those who had devoted much thought to educational questions, and who were thoroughly qualified to speak upon such questions. He had, therefore, listened to the observations of Mr. Grold- win Smith and Dr. Wilson with attention. No person who desired the progress of higher education could help wishing that some such scheme as had been spoken of by the gentlemen he had named — some scheme whereby one strong national University should take the place of many scattered and weaker lb institutions — might be devised and promoted. But -while the friends of Trinity College would yield to none in an earnest desire to advance the general interests of education, it was impossible for them to forget the events which called Trinity College into existence, and the reasops which might still present an obstacle, as far as this College was concerned, to the consummation of such a union. Trinity Col- lege was founded by him whose memory had been reverently pledged that night, with an object which should be dear to the heart of every true member of the Church. That object she would never consent to forego. Any scheme of union which might en- danger the fulfilment of her mission could not be countenanced for a moment. Trinity College had endeavored faithfully to carry out the purposes of its founder. He trusted that, through great difficulty and discouragement she had, to a large extent, suc- ceeded. If it were possible to extend her sphere of usefulness by entering into a union such as had been referred to — if such a union could be shewn to be practicable, he thought that Trinity College would not hold aloof. He feared, however, that the advo cates of the project would be met by many difficulties — di^culties which might prove insurmountable. Laudable as the idea was — simple as it seemed in theory — he had too much reason to fear that at- tempts to carry it into practical effect would result in failure. But, speaking as Chancellor of Trinity College, although with no authority from the Corpo- ration so to speak, he considered that he might ven- ture to say that whenever it could be shewn that a plan of University consolidation, in which Trinity would be justly represented, and by which its pecu- liar sphere would not be circumscribed, could be realized, her authorities would be prepared to cast in her fortunes with her sisters in this Province. (Applause.) (From Professor Ambery's letter to the Glohe of January 15) : " I am not ashamed of the present condition of <&i ■4 11 M Trinity. Her funds are in good order and well looked after. Her roll of graduates numbers at least four hundred ; part in Holy Orders from Central India to Japan ; part in Law, in Medicine, in the higher branches of commerce ; some in high educa- tional positions ; and against not one lies there any stain of reproach for want of honesty or open immoral living. Trinity has done her duty to the State as well as to the Church. Within her walls, in our Society, " We hold debate — a baud Of youthful friends — on mind and art, And labour, and the changing mart. And all the framework of the land." We have done our duty to the State during the twenty-four years of our working. That we are labouring outside of State organization is a hardship to some of us ; but I hope the time is at hand when our claims will be recognized, and we shall be, with University College, breast-a-breast in the front ranks of a grand Provincial University. We both claim one founder — *• Ever witness for him Those Twins or Leaknino, that he raised in you." Onr difficulties have been constantly and persist- ently reported by our enemies ; and the theological teaching of our College — the best bulwark against the encroachments and innovations of the modern Church of Rome — is held up to uneducated and philistine prejudice as Romanizing and unprotestant. In addition to a staff in Classics, Mathematics, and Chemistry, equal numerically luo that of Univer- sity College, we have a Medical department with twelve professors, and outnumbering in students most Medical Schools in the Dominion. We have built at Port Hope an establislunent twice as large as Trinity itself — a thoroughly efficient public school, with more than one hundred boarders. Nor must I neglect to notice what we consider the character- istic feature of our University — the education rather than instruction of the youth committed to our 12 charge, in hall, in chapel, in lecture, in the field ; — that we attempt to form manners, to add moral strength to intellectual development ; and we feel convinced that when we join a national Univer- sity — as ray earnest prayer is we soon may — if we do not add many animate cyclopaedias to its roll, we shall present some sound bodies as well as sound minds — and if we bring not much ' light,' we may at least give some 'sweetness' to our new Alma Mater:' -•-•►- »- A PROVINCIAL UNIVERSITY. (From the Nation of February 12, 1875.) We ventured the other day, in reference to the exceptions not unnaturally taken by the Church As- sociation to the teaching of Trinity College, to sug- gest that the right course was not to run down the College, but to merge its intellectual narrowness in the amplitude of a great University. Trinity Col- lege itself seems not opposed to that policy. At the annual dinner of the graduates a short time ago the question was mooted, and the tone of the speeches and of the meeting was in favour of consolidation. The Chancellor, Mr. Hillyard Cameron, seemed to feel that there would be some practical difficulty, as no doubt there would, in carrying the plan of con- solidation into effect ; but he did not say that the difficulty was insuperable, and supposing that it could be overcome he appeared to admit the advan- tages of the plan. Of the advantages of the nlan in truth there can scarcely be a doubt. The French military axiom, petite place, mauvaise place, is as applicable to Uni- versities as it is to fortresses. Suppose a small Uni- versity to possess what hardly any small University does possess, adequate equipments in the shape of libraries, collections and scientific apparatus ; sup- pose it to possess what no small University can possess, a sufficient staff of first-rate teachers in all the different departments ; it would nevertheless be I 13 J unable to afford to its membei's the full benefit of a University education. "What the student learns in the lecture room is not all ; his intellectual character is formed quite as much by intercourse with a mul- titude of active-minded companions, and by the gen- eral atmosphere in which he lives. Still less is it possible that a University should do its work well as a place for the advancement of learning and science without the mutual stimulus, assistance and correction which a large body of learned and scienti- fic men afford to each other. It is well known that the most eminent of Canadian engineers is strongly of opinion that sources of wealth which are now lost to us might be secured to the country by the devel- opment of our higher scientific education, which can- not be brought about except by the creation of an effective department of science in the University ; while that again is hardly possible, in a country the wealthy class of which is so limited as it is in ours, unless all those who resort to Universities without distinction of creed, will combine their resources for the purpose. Any scheme for connecting our Uni- versities with our high schools and public schools, and for foiming in course of time a ladder of endow- ments by which merit may mount from the lowest grade to the highest would alsv require the organ- ization of the whole system on a national basis. Political considerations point in the same direction as the interests of learning and science. Nothing can be more conducive to national unity than the fusion of all the most active-minded youth, and those who are destined to be the leaders of society, in the same great place of final education. England has reaped the full benefit of this influence ; and as- suredly we, with our half-formed Confederation, and in face of so many disuniting forces both of race and religion cannot afford to disregard it. We hope it is no treason to add that a great University, such as consolidation alone can produce, would recall to Can- ada the Canadian wealth and talent which now naturally enough resort to the Universities of the 14 Mother Country, and there become half alien to the people among whom and with whom the student is to act for the remainder of his life. If any one deems a foreign education necessary to open the mind, as one of the speakers at the Trinity College dinner seemed to do, he should remember that our young men may travel in Europe, and what is of still more importance, that they will use European books. But it is a waste of words to argue without an opponent. Everyone admits that our present system of small local Universities owes its existence not to regard for the interests of learning or science but to denominational necessity. Everyone admits that though the local Universities may have met the exigencies of the special case, and thus rendered good service in their day, they now stand in the way of something much better than themselves. To the value of degrees the existence of these little institu- tions in which students are examined for literary honours by their own teachers, is manifestly fatal : and in a society which we have the Governor- Gen- eral's authority for calling essentially democratic, the depreciation of any genuine distinction is espe- cially to be deplored. The thing most to be desired is, that all our denominational or local Colleges should migrate to the central University of the Province, and there be federated into one great institution, as the Colleges of Oxford and Cambridge are, for the purpose of literary and scientific instruction, and for the main- tenance of common libraries and other requisite apparatus ; each College, at the same time, retaining the power of self-government within its own gates, and regulating, in accordance with the tenets of the denomination to which it belongs, its internal system of moral discipline and religious instruction. This, we say, is the thing most to be desired, and it would be as effectual a settlement as, under the present circumstances of the religious world, is possible of any diflficulty arising from the conflicting claims of University education and the Churches, while the i m ' Churches would escape the fatal contraction and emasculation of the intellect, which are the inevitable consequences of a secluded training, and which, in the great struggle between religion and infidelity, turn the balance against religion, by putting the mental weakness on her side and the mental strength on the side of the enemy. But if this were pro- posed at once, local interest would, perhaps, cry out ; although, so far as the mere ex|)enditurft of money in the locality is concerned, tiie conversion of the Colleges partly into a theological seminary for the clergymen of the denomination, partly into a large denominational school as a feeder to the central College, would probably be a sufficient indemnity. The same opposition would not he encountered in consolidating all the Universities for the purpose of examination and graduation. It is difficult, at least, to understand what interest the inhabitants of any locality can have in the general depreciation of degjees. If any one else has an interest in such an abuse of privilege, the Legislature, as the guardian of national interests, need not hesitate to interpose. Every charter must be granted on the condition implied, if no^ expressed, that the public objects of the Government in granting it are properly ful- filled. A charter empo veering an institution to grant national degrees in every department of science and learning, manifestly carries with it an obligation on the part of the institution to be pro- vided with all the proper means of teaching and examination. If these means are not jirovided and national honours are, in consequence, prostituted and and deprived of all value, public right will pro- nounce that the i)rivileges of the charter can no longer be maintained. The principle that chartered institutions must continue to serve their public purpose has, we apprehend, been abundantly asserted by the British Parliament, in the reform of the English Universities, and of many other chartered foundations in England. It is probably necessary that the first step 16 H^>-. ♦V ;.f ^^f! il4-* sliould We taken hy tlie Government ; and we can seldom expect a party Government, or any section-of a party Legislature, to take tlie initiative in a ques- tion upon which no votes depend. Colonel Wil- liams, in the late Assembly, illustrated the useful- ness of an inde|)endent member by taking the mutter up and pressing the Government to appoint a Commission of Inquiry. It was not surprising ■hat, at a late period of the session, and on the eve of the elections, the Prime Minister declined to embark in an undertaking seiious in itst'jf, and by which some electoral hornets' nest might possibly have been stirred. But we hope the postponement was not a final refusal. This is the time for action, • since, on the one hand, there appears to be a willing- ness on the part of some, at all events, of the local Universities, to entertain the proposal of consolida- tion ; while, on the other hand, the local system is rapidly striking roots which it will soon become very difficult to pluck up. There is no reason, so far as we know, why a Commission of Inquiry should not be appointed without delay, and be ready to report by the next meeting of the Legislature. When a question which has been the subject of Parliamentary discussion is consigned to a Commission, as in the case of the Pacific Railway Inquiry, constitutional principle requires that the opportunity should be afforded to Parliament of pronouncing an opinion on the measure. But a Commission of Inquiry merely for the information of the Government, or to prepare material for a bill, may, we conceive, be properly issued at any time. Whatever course may be deemed best, it is to be hoped that no mere in- difference or inertness will be allowed to interfere with the prompt and judicious treatment of a ques- tion which concerns not only the interests of learn- ing and science, but those of the country at large. Provincial patriotism may add its spur to more general motives ; for if 13 niversity consolidation does not take place now at Toronto, it will take place hereafter at Montreal. % ^■i ' •>*> $ fit; J: 1? • » i •m' ' l\ J^i t. ■■w; ^*' iiri li