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 •■c 
 
 Reprinted from "The Methodist Magazine," Sept., 1894. 
 
 s K B T c H 
 
 OF 
 
 THE REVEREND 
 
 DOCTOR RYERSON 
 
 BY 
 
 I (•. 
 
 JOHN GKORGE HODGINS, M.A., LL.D., 
 
 Education Department, Barrister-at-Law, Toronto. 
 
 ;v 
 
 A paper read by Dr. [. deor^je Modtjins, at the ceremony of unveiling 
 
 the portraits of the Kevs. Dr. Ryerson and Dr. Nelles, 
 
 at Victoria Univcr&ity, I3lh June, 1894. 
 
 ^ 
 
I 
 
iiii: iii:v. III!. i;(i i; iLTtt.N uvkuson. 
 
THE REVEREND DOCTOR RYERSON. 
 
 TIIK memories of frvoAXt and nol)le men are a rich lierita<jfe to 
 those who remain after tliey are g'one. Jiut it is no less true, 
 that the waters of Ijctlie, alas, too soon pass over the memories, as 
 well as the deeds, of even our y-reatest men. Who now speaks 
 of our first Governor Simcoe; or, with intclii-fent appreciation, 
 of Lord Elg'in,our accomplished constitutional (Jovernor-Cjieneral ; 
 or of Sir John Beverley Robinson, or Hohert Haldwin, as -jurists 
 and statesmen; for, to none of them has a sinjfle i)atriotic stone 
 been raised, or a public memorial erected, to periKituate their names 
 and memory in "this Canada of ours." Yet truer sons to all her 
 higher interests, and in their respective s})heres, this Dominion 
 has never known. 
 
 We have souj^Mit of later years to rescue from oblivion the 
 names and deeds and memories of some of our most noted men, 
 by erecting- statues of them in the open air, and in the broad 
 daylight, so that all may see the forms of those who have 
 "deserved well of their country." Conspicuous among these is 
 the statue of the subject of this sketch. 
 
 Having now been ttfty years in the public service, and all of 
 that time in connection with one of the most important depart- 
 ments of the Government, I have necessarily come in contact 
 with many of our foremost public men, and noted strangers. 
 Such a prolonged experience naturally enables one to estimate 
 men and things by a standard of comparison, more or less high, as 
 the years go by. That experience, and the moderating influence 
 on opinion of time and distance, enables me to look the more 
 dispassionately at the man we honour to-night, and at every side 
 of his character. For his was indeed many-sided. No man, to 
 my mind, better illustrated what may be termed the "evolution 
 of character "—of early training and discipline— than did Dr. 
 Ryerson. 
 
 As a youth, he was subject to many impulses, guided and 
 controlled, as they were, by a Mother's loving hand. To her, he 
 states, that he was "principally indebted for any studious habits, 
 
( 
 
 5 
 
 ) 
 
 nioiital eiier^'v, or even capacity, or decision of character." 
 From iier, too, came rcliyious itistruction, "poured into his mind 
 in chililh()(Kl (.-is he said) hy a niotiier's counsels, and inCnseil into 
 his jicart l)y a nioiiier's prayers and tears." Wlien lirst under 
 the influence of an awal<«'ned c(»nscience, lie Ix'canie !\n ascetic, 
 almost as pronounced in liis nietliodsof mental selfinortitication as 
 tlie veriest Trappist, with whose severe discipline Wesley himself 
 was somewhat eniunoured. When duty, however, called the youth- 
 ful Kf^erton hack to his father's farm, he obeyed " for the honour 
 of relijifion," as he said ; and in that spirit, he tells us, he 
 "pIou;:lied every acre (»f ground for the season, cradled every 
 Kt.ilU of wheat, rye and oats, and mowed every siKjar of ^-rass, 
 l)itched the whole, first on a wa^ifon. and then from the wajirgon 
 onto the h.iyinow, or stack/' While the nei^rhbours were as- 
 tonished at one man doiuff so much work, he said: "I neither felt 
 ftti^nie nor il»'press>ion, lor 'the joy (,f the Lord was my strenjjfth.'" 
 
 Then, as usher, or nnister, in liis j,''if'ted Brother's school, and as 
 missionary and farm instructor to the Indians at the Credit, in 
 1826, you see the same zcfil, the same self-sacrifice and devotion 
 to duty — never flinchinji; and never lioidinH- back. 
 
 Af^ain. as the hi«,'her calls of the ministry recjuired him to 
 apply hiuKself to acquire the necessary knowledge, he entered 
 into that j)ractic;d school of itinerancy, so noted in the history of 
 the early .Methodist preachers, and so celebrated in producinjtf noble 
 and heroic men in the early days of Methodism in this country. 
 
 And here I would piiy a williuff tribute, from my own 
 experience, to the self-denying labours of these devoted men — the 
 early Methodist preachers. It is now over sixty years ( 1833) since 
 I left my f.itlier's house, in Dublin, to settle in the backwoods — 
 first ne.u" London and afterwards in Trafalgar. The years which 
 I spent there afe fragrant with many memories, and with 
 pleasant associations of primitive farm life. And no less so, 
 for the tender recoUectiuns of the simple services in school-houses 
 in humble homes, or around the fires of the undisturbed camp- 
 meeting in the woods. My own strong conviction is that the 
 debt which Canada owes to the early Methodist preachers, to the 
 single-hearted exhorters and class-leaders, as well as the devoted 
 Presbyterians and Baptists, who come later into the field, can 
 never be repaid. To them is this country indebted for keeping 
 alive, in those early days, the deep religious feeling and devotion 
 which they themselves had created and developed. 
 
 In Dr. Kyerson's case, the contact with the writings of Wesley, 
 of Blair, of Fletcher, and also of Blackstone, Locke and Paley, 
 in that silent, thoughtful study, for which the long round of the 
 
( '• ) 
 
 circuit pfjivo Hucl) Minplo oi)iu)rtiinitv, iiiiiilaiiU'd in his very 
 nature tliosc jrcrnis of n<>l)ic and iol'iy views of constilutional 
 jind relif:;lous lV('('dt)ni, wliicli soon had a wider liehl for their 
 devehipnuMit. 
 
 No man's mental career and cxixricnco. however, more clearly 
 demonstrated the trntii of the trite adai;e tiiat "there is no royal 
 road to Iearnin;,^" tlian did Dr. h'ycrson's It was a lonJ,^ toilsome, 
 and upward road to liini, dnrin,;^' tlie lirst twenty years of his life. 
 He had little more than readied tiiat ajje, when he first crossed 
 swords with the then foremost (.•hani|)ion of the exclusive claims 
 of one Church to civil and rcliuMons ri^-jifs in ('[tper Canada. 
 
 And here, a slij,'-ht historical di>,n-('ssi()n will enabh' us to see 
 that what this youthful writer undertook, in the crusade on 
 which he had so courajjeously entered, was a much more serious 
 matter than men of today are {j^enerally aware of. 
 
 The jofrievance complained of ori<'inated twelve years before 
 Dr. Ryerson was born. It was embedded in the very Constitution 
 of Upper Canada in 1701. Tlie jrerni of that whole after evil took 
 root then; and, by the time tiiat tli.it evil was f,'-rai)pled with by 
 Dr. Kyerscm and others, between thirty and forty years had j)assed 
 by, and it had acciuired strength and power, so that it took as many 
 more years of anxious toil and labour, as well as succ(!ssive 
 assaults and active H<>;'htin<r, before the contest was brou^^ht to a 
 successful close. 
 
 Simcoe, our first Governor, was one of the most enli^'-htened 
 of his contemporaries, in reirard to the nutre practical and material 
 parts of his duty as (Jovernor. Yet he always seemed to b(! 
 haunted with a vaj^ue fear of "sectaries" jji-a in injf a foothold in 
 this Province. According- to his idea of colonial tjovernment, 
 the Church and the State; should be united; and, to accomplish 
 this, he bent all his enericies, after he came to I'pper Canada. 
 Even before he came amonjz' us as (Jovernor, he had formulated his 
 own theory as to wdiat civil and leliLfious form l:is own colonial 
 government should take. Asa member of the British l*arliament, 
 before he took oftice under the Constitutional Act of 1791, which 
 he had helped to pass, Ik; had an opportunity of expressinjif his 
 views, and of maintaining his theory of colonial {government in 
 the House of Commons. To him, and to the members who 
 sympathized with his views, were we indebted for what after- 
 wards proved to be an unjust and unfortunate provision in tlie 
 Constitutional Act of 17'.H, " for the support of a Protestant 
 clergy," and for the endownu-nt of Church of Kngland parishes 
 in Upper Canada, — a provision which, for more than half a 
 century, was the unceasing,'- cause of bitter strife and heart- 
 burning in this Province. 
 
( 7 ) 
 
 i 
 
 Diirin^jf, and after liis time, the ("linrcli of Knyland was alwaj's 
 oniciallN spoken of as the " Kstahlislied Church of Ippcr C.inada." 
 And in setting .ijiart the Hfty-Heven rectories in IH.lCi. Sir John 
 Colhorne {javo lin.il effect to the Sinieoe Act of 17!>1, wliich pro- 
 N'ided for Uie endowment of Church of l'.ii;.''land rectories in 
 rpper Can.idii. 
 
 Tlie Cliurcli and State views, so sirenuonsly put fortli by 
 (fovcrnor Simcoe and tliose who suiTounded, and tliose wlio suc- 
 ceeded, iiim, took strong- hold up(»n tlie pfovernin}; class of tliose 
 days. 'I^hey always maintain«'d,as he di<l, that tlie Constitutional 
 Act of 1791 pr(»vided f(.ra State Cliurch. and that tlie Act endowed 
 it witli r(!servcs and prosiKJctive rectories. As the years went on, 
 these views took a |)ractical shape. In IHJO, the I'.xecutive(i0vern- 
 nuMit under Sir Percijfrine Maitland.estal)lisli(!(i a system of Church 
 of Kn;,'-lan(l "National Schools." as in KiiirlMiid, without tlui know- 
 ledg'c or consent of the Le^fislature of I'pper CaiiJida, anti four 
 years after that legislature itself had passed a law estal)lishin<; 
 common schools in every settled township. In 1827 an exclu- 
 sively Church of Kn^-land Charter was ol)taine<l Ibr the projected 
 King's College. The application for this charter was accom- 
 panied by an ecclesiastical Chart — which afterward became very 
 notorious — in which the number of non episcopal cliurches, with 
 their memliers, was dwarfed to insignificance. When the chart 
 reached Upper Cinada, in IS'2H, it raised such an indifrnant feel- 
 ing; in the country, that the House of Assembly took the matter 
 up, and a report, strongly condemnatory of the chart, was prepared 
 by a select committee of the House, hased upon elaborate and 
 conclusive evidence, obtained from over fifty witnesses, including' 
 many ministers and lay members of all the Churches. Fnmi this 
 evidence Dr. T. 1) .Morrison prepared a revi.sed and correct chart, 
 and for this, V)eing also a .M(^tliodist, he was di.'smis.sed from his 
 employment. As a fitting protest against such treatment, Dr. 
 l^Iorrison was elected a menilx;r of the House of Assembly, and 
 was afterwards Mayor of Toronto. 
 
 The climax of this high-handed and partisan policy was 
 reached in 18.31, when, in response to a respectful address from 
 the Methodist Conference, Sir .John Colhorne reproached its 
 members for their "dislike to any church establishment, or to the 
 particular form of Christianity which is denominated the Church of 
 England." He taunted them "with the accounts of disgraceful 
 dissensi(ms of the Methodist Churcli and its separatists," and closed 
 by speaking- of what he term<'d the "absurd advice gfiven to the 
 Indians by the Metliodist Missionari(^s," and of their " officious 
 interference." The Indians had already been told by executive 
 sanction "that the Governor did not feel disposed to assist the 
 
( « ) 
 
 IndiaiiH, bo loii}? iih ilioy remained under their |)res(;nt |. Method istj 
 teachers. . . Hut sliould the natives come under the 8U|)erin- 
 tendence of the 108tal)lished Ciiurch, tlien the (Jovernnjent would 
 assist iheuj, as f.ir as lay in their power."* 
 
 Into the contests which arosi; out of the preceding (svenls 
 which I have mentioned, Dr. l\'yers(»n entered with all his heart. 
 In 1820 and 1827, he struck the first blow for ri^ht, and for 
 relijfious freedom, in his review of the Kev. Dr. Sirachan's 
 "Sermon on the Death of the lirst liishop (»f (^Uu'hee." No one who 
 now reads the youthful replies of tins '• Methodist Preat!.-'' " as he 
 sijjfiied himself, to the statements, so depreciatory of the .M(!thodists 
 and all Nonconformists, which that serui(»n contained, hut will he 
 struck with tlu; factth.ii it was the echo of the thouf^hts, somewhat 
 turgidly exi)ressed, of his early teachers to which Dr Kyerson jjave 
 utterance in the first series of his replies. As the discussion 
 pro<fres8e«l, and the numl)er of his assailants multiplied, the native 
 energy and the deep thinking; of the youthful "Keviewer" 
 asserted themselves; and they then had an impassioned and 
 elo<iuent utterance all their own. 
 
 Thus {gradually, and by this process, was slowly maturiiifjf the 
 intellect and mental power of the man who was destimid to leave 
 his mark U{)on the early institutions of our land. Altlion;,'-h his 
 insipfht into men and thinj^s was somewhat intuitive, yet it w.is 
 not by any means due to intuition alone that he a;rasped a situa- 
 tion, mastered .i difliculty, or mentally solved the social or civil 
 problems which constantly i)resented themselves to him in these 
 early years of his life. 
 
 In 1828, Dr. Kyerson wrote a second series of letters to the Wcv. 
 Dr. Strachan, over his own sijjnature, in rejfard to the ecclesias- 
 tical Chart. These letters were afterward reprinted in pamphlet 
 form, as were ailso those of 1820-27. 
 
 These successive letters, in defence of the rights of non-episcopal 
 churches, raised Dr. Kyerson to an eminence at the time to which 
 no other man had attained, so that when the plans were matured 
 for the establishment of the Chnstian (luardian newspaper, in 
 1829, Efferton Kyerson was appointed to be its fiist editor. 
 
 In 1832, Dr. Kyerson was deputed to attend the Mritish Confer- 
 ence so as to neo;otiate a union of the Canadian and Uritish 
 Conferences. He left Canada early in 1833, and was most success- 
 ful in his mission. On his leavin;? for England he was entrusted 
 with a petition to the King in favour of the equal rights of all 
 classes of His Majesty's subjects in Upper Canada, and signed by 
 upwards of 20,000 people. In the same year was laid the founda- 
 
 \ 
 
 / 
 
 *Rev. G. F. PLiyter's Ilinionj vf Method hm in Cmuula (1862), pago 337. 
 
( 9 ) 
 
 ^ 
 
 '\ 
 
 \ 
 
 tion stone at Culiour^ of the rpjuM* Caiuula Aciuleiuy, wlilt-h w«h 
 (Icstiiu'd, ten yciirs jif'terwiirds, to expand into the I'niversity of 
 Vlctoiiu College, or 'Old Vic," ns she was lovlnjfly called. On 
 lii.s return to('{inada, Dr. Uyerson wrote a ."wries of artich's In the 
 C'n'lutian (intnufinn, headed " Imprcs-tlons made l»y my late visit 
 to Knylaiid." These "impressions" were violently assailed l)y Mr 
 William Lvon Mackenzie and other editors of extreme views, as 
 ludii^ too favoraI)le to the public men and institutions of Kn{;lan<l, 
 and led to a i)rotract<'d discussion, which had the eff'ectof dividinff 
 into tw(t hostile camps the lil>erals of moih'iate and extrenu' 
 views — afterwards km.wn as liefornuMs and iv'adicals — the latter 
 of whom precipitated the rebellion of 1h;{7. 
 
 In 1H.*J5, the financial embarrassments of the Upper Canada 
 .Vcad<Mny necessitated urgent measures heiny tikc^n to collect 
 funds and Co secure a royal chart<'r for the in>tituiion, and Dr. 
 Kyerson was appointed to };o to laiylnnd to obtain both. 
 
 As a slijfhi digression in this narrative. I may mention that, 
 owinjf tothe p(!rsistent efforts of the revolutionary party in I'pper 
 Canada to influence the Hritish I'arliament a{?ain8t the moderate 
 and l.iw-al)5'!injj;' party in that province, the advocacy of Messrs. 
 IIuiiK! and Hoebuck, able and prominent members of the House 
 of Common}!, was secured. How their efforts were checkmatetf, 
 Dr. l^yersoti himself tells us. He said that "in presentinjf the 
 Canadian petition, Mr. Hume made an elaborate sfx^ech, full of 
 exayjfcrations and misstatements from bejfinninjf to end. I was 
 requested to take a seat under tlu; s-allery of. the House of Com- 
 mons, and while Mr. Hume was speaking", I furnished Loid 
 Sandoni and Mr. (Jladstone with the materials for answers to Mr. 
 Hume's misstatements. Mr. (JIadstone's (|uick perception, with 
 Lord S.indojn's promptiji«;s, kept the House in a roar of laug'hter 
 at .Mr. Hume's expense for more than an hour; the wonder being- 
 how .Mr. Gladstone was so tlioroujfhiy informed on Canadian 
 affairs. , , Mr. Huniu was confounded and made no reply, and 
 as far as I know, never after spoke on Canadian att'airs." Dr. 
 ]\'verson followed this up by a series of letters in the London 
 YVme.s-, signed "A Canadian." TheHritish North American Associa- 
 tion of Merchants in London, had these letters reprinted, and a copy 
 of them sent to the memliers of both Houses of Parli.imcnt, 
 
 It is unnecessary to dwell further on the stirring- events of 
 these troublesome times, in wiiich Dr. Kyerson took his full share 
 as the champion of moderation and of equal rig-hts. It endang-ered 
 his life, however ; and KIdcrsCase and Green and others prevented 
 him from g-oing on from O)l)ourgf to Toronto, on his way from 
 King-ston, for, as Dr. Kyerson states in his "Epochs of Methodism," 
 "it had been agreed by W. L. Mackenzie and his fellow-rebels in 
 
( 10 ) 
 
 1837 to hanj,' E^erton liyerson on the first tree they met with, 
 could thoy apprehend him." 
 
 I have referred to the union effected between the British and 
 Canadian Conferences by I^r. liyerson in 1833. A series of 
 niisun(h!rstandin,i>cs, as well as personal feelinj^ in the English 
 Confei-ence a^'ainst Dr. I^yerson, broug^ht that union to a close 
 in 18 to. The Canadian part of that painful event too]< place in 
 the old Adelaide Street church. Few only of the older Methodists 
 of to-day will renieml)er the memorable scene in that old church, 
 when so many of the ministers separated themselves from each 
 other, and into two bands, — those who, from old associations and 
 feelins-, adhered to the British Conference, and those who 
 remained I'aithful to the Conference in this country. All were 
 greatly moved, when they bade each other farewell, and many 
 (juiet tears were shed. At the close of the Conference, Dr. 
 Kycrson, who had been accused of self-seeking and ambition, 
 delivered a memorable speech in his defence. As he closed, he 
 referred to his disinterested labours for the Church of his youth, 
 and for the Academy, am' then quoted, with touching effect, the 
 following words from one of Wesley's hymns — 
 
 "No foot of land do I possess, 
 No cottage ill the wilderness ; 
 A pour wayfaring man. " 
 
 It would protract this narrative beyond the time assigned to 
 me, were I to go into particulars of Dr. Ryerson's interviews 
 and Intercourse with (Colonial Ministers, with IJeutenant-Governors 
 and (;overnors(Jeneral, on the aff'airs and gooci government of 
 this Province. Nor can I give any details of the speeches, 
 editorials, or other writings of Dr. liyerson, during the many 
 ye;'.rs of contest for civil and religious fi-eedom, or on the Clergy 
 Reserve and other questions which agitated Upper Canada from 
 1825 to 18-40. The Chrhtian Guardian, the general newspaper 
 press, and the records of the House of Assembly, contain ample 
 proof of the severity of the protracted struggle, which Anally 
 issued in the establishment, on a secure foundation, of the reliffious 
 and denominational privileges and freedom which we now en jo\ . 
 To tlie Presbyterians, Baptists, Congregational ists and others, 
 who joined with the Methodist leaders in the pi'olonged struggle, 
 the gratitude of the country must ever be due.* 
 
 *In his "Epochs of Methodism." page 1(>4, Dr. Ryerson says : "But 
 the burthen of that great struggle, together with the reproaches, abuse, 
 and, in some instances, ])ersecutions, had to be borne l»y the Methodists, 
 wlio— laymen and ministers wore a unit in the contest for e(|ual rights 
 and privileges in behalf of all religious denominations."' See also pages 
 101 and 212 of "The Story of My Life." 
 
( 11 ) . 
 
 I now turn from contemplntinj? Dr. Kyerson as one of the 
 foremost champions, in his day, of the civil and reli«jfious rig-hts 
 of his countrymen. Teople of the present day chiefly re^'ard 
 him as the lounder of a system of popular education, which, 
 under his hand, became the pride and f^lory of Canadians. This, 
 however, is but a partial view of what he did for his country. 
 When he assumed oftice in IHU, the brunt of the battle was 
 practically over, lie had been actively en«?affed in the struirf^le 
 for twenty years, and victory was then assured to the combatants 
 on the side in which he had been a conspicuous leader. 
 
 It was in his po-.ition as President of Victorii Colle},'-e, that the 
 practical and sympathetic sides of his character shone out so 
 brightly. On these points I can speak from personal knowledf>;e, 
 for I was at Victoria College for four years, and during the 
 whole time of Dr. Hyerson's incumbency thei-e. The motive, on 
 which he unconsciously acted, and which had influenced himself 
 in early life, was the one which moved him as Tresident of the 
 College; and which, in every form, lie sought to impress upon 
 his students. In its concentrated form it was embodied in these 
 ancient words: 
 
 "In scientia f,xcp:llkhe fuumihum kst; sr-:i) xescihe tuhpk." 
 
 It was with such a motto that he appealed to every young 
 man who entered colleire; and he himself gave practical proof 
 of it, by his own diligent study, .ind his mastery of the subjects 
 which he taught to the students. He had the happy faculty, too. 
 of investing these subjects with somewhat of a personal character, 
 and with a reality such as might have the effect of practically 
 influencing the after career of the student. Thus he modei-nized 
 Grecian and Roman history, and sought to find parallels in the 
 past for the events ot modern times. History, in his hands, was 
 shown to indeed repeat itself; and teaching of t'ns kind tended 
 to Hx and fasten the disjointed facts of general history on the 
 mind and memory of the student. 
 
 We will now speak of the silent yet potent influence of the Presi- 
 dent i;i forming and flxing the religious character of young men 
 at Victoria College. Ksto Perim:tua ; nia>- such an influence (sver 
 be potent in tins I'niversity ! — I shall not theorize upon this subject. 
 I shall speak of it particularly as it affected myself as a student, 
 and many others with me. What struck me particularly at the 
 time was the perfect oneness of spirit and feeling which character- 
 ized the social and religious gatherings of the studentsand teachers 
 alike. President, professor and student felt themselves, when in 
 that atmosphere, to be all alike children of the same Father, and 
 in the presence of Him who is 'no respecter of persons" in 
 
( 1-' ) 
 
 Christi.in worsliip and service. It was indeed there that the 
 President rev(,';iled the unnfTected simplicity of his Christian 
 ch.'ir.icter, the tender synii»;iiliy of liis lovin<,'' lieart, and the 
 lielj)rnl nnture of Ids reli'fioas experience, ;is expressed in his 
 suffocative counsels and practical advice. In his personal 
 relifi:ious inftuenee amonj^ the students, it niiy-jit truly be said of 
 him, as (joldsmith has said of the "Village Preacher": 
 
 " He Wilt chod and prayed and felt for fill . 
 He tried eaeli art, repmxed each dull delay, 
 Alliii'eil tit lirgliter worlil.s — and. led the way I" 
 
 There has often come back to me a strikinj? example of the 
 potency of the silent reliji;'ious influences of Victoria College in 
 those days. Amonf? our students was a larji^e hearted and kindly 
 younf? fellow, but somewhat of an exclusive Episcopalian. He 
 never would come to any of the voluntary relifj^ious meetinj^-s in 
 the Colleji^e. After I left Cobourjjf I lost sij^ht of him for many 
 years. Ilappeninji;' to be in the nei^'libourhood of his former 
 home, I asked about him, and was told that he was then one of 
 the most devoted evangelists ainon<f lumbermen and destitute 
 settlers. All at once, (knowinji^ the man as I did,) the truth 
 flashed upon me, and I said, "Ah, the ^-erm of that new life, 
 silent as it was, and unresponsive as it remained at the Collef>-e, 
 had at leng'lh asserted its vitality, and had borne this precious 
 fruit." I recalled many incidents which assured me that I was 
 right in my surmise. It also recalled a somewhat parallel case 
 of a youn^ soldier eidisted in the Federal Army, and leaving 
 home with his mother's teaching in his heart, and his mother's 
 blessing upon his head. The story is touchingly told in a few 
 verses which I shall (luote. They show how, that, in the young 
 soldier's case, as in that of the student, the silent influence of the 
 "alma mater," and the tender love of the soldier's mother were 
 identical in their eftective power for good. No doubt, the sweet 
 and softoied melody of the good old Methodist hymns, wafted up 
 to his (luiet room in the College, came back to the student with 
 tenfold force in after years, and flowed out again from a heart 
 "making melody" in itseif, and attuned to higher things. 
 
 The soldier-incident is thus told: 
 
 Beneath the hot niidsuninier sun, 
 Tlie men liad niarclied all dav ; 
 
 And now he.side a rippling stream 
 U])on the gi'asw they lay. 
 
 Tirina of game^< and idle je.sts, 
 .As swept the honrs along, 
 
 They ealled to i ne wlio iiiUbed apart, 
 " Come, friend, give ns a song."' 
 
 " I fear I eannot please," he said ; 
 
 "'I'heordy >ong8 I know 
 Are those my mother used to sing 
 
 For me, long years ago. ' 
 
 "Sing one of those," a rough \ oiee cried, 
 " There's none but true men here ; 
 
 To every mother's son of us 
 A mother's songs are dear. " 
 
( 1'5 ) 
 
 Then sweetly rose the singer's voice 
 
 Amid unwonted calm, 
 " Am I a soldier of the cross, 
 
 A follower of the Land) "' 
 
 "And shiilll fear to own His cause?" — 
 The very stream was stilled, 
 
 And hearts that never throbbed with 
 fear 
 With teniler thoughts were filled. 
 
 Ended the song ; the singer said. 
 
 As to his fet't he rose, 
 ' Thanks to you all, my friends ; good- 
 night, 
 
 (io<l grant us sweet repose. " 
 
 "Sing us one more,' 
 begged ; 
 The soldier bent his head, 
 
 " We'll sing this old familiar air, 
 
 Sweet as the bugle call, 
 ' Ail hail the power of desus' name, 
 
 Let angels prostrate fall. ' " 
 
 Ah ! wondrou. was the old tune's spell 
 
 As on the singer sang. 
 Man after man fell into line. 
 
 And loud the voices rang I 
 
 The songs arc done, the camp is still, 
 
 Naught but the stream is heard ; 
 But ah ! the depths of every .soul 
 By those old hymns are stirre<l, 
 the captain 
 
 And up fi'om many a bearded lip. 
 In whispers soft and low. 
 Then glancing round, with smiling lips, Rises the prayer the mother taught 
 " You'd join with me," he said, The l)oy h)ng years ago I 
 
 As to the later life-work of Dr. Ryersoii, I can only make a 
 brief reference. Noted as lie was as a skilful controversialist in 
 tlie momentous (luesiions which were as'itated in his early days, 
 yet his fame will ever rest upon the fact that he founded a great 
 system of public education for this Province. In doing- so, he 
 had to encounter unusual difficulties. He had to fight many a 
 battle, but it was with men brought up in the Old Land, and also 
 with foreign ecclesiastics. And he never had to cross swords in 
 these contests but with one Canadian, and that one is now a non- 
 resident of this country. The soil in which he had to sow his 
 seed was unpropitious, the country was somewhat unprepared. 
 English ideas of "schools for the poorer classes" prevailed. Free 
 schools were unknown, almost unheard of; and when proposed, 
 were denounced as an ''invasion of the rights of property ;" while 
 the leading newspaper of the day assailed them as "downright 
 robbery.' Yet all these didiculties were overcome in time, and 
 free schools are now a universal heritage. liandsome school - 
 houses, able inspector?;, and good teachers are everywhere to be 
 found; and all rejoice that the great problem of I'ublic Education 
 has been so successfully solved in this Province, and that too by 
 one of her own sons, born upon her own soil. 
 
 In a touching letter which Dr. liyerson wrote to me, for he could 
 not trust himself to speak, when, for the last time, he left the office 
 in February, 187(), where we had so often conferred together, he 
 thus summarized what had been accomplished: 
 
 " We have labouretl togetlier witii a siiado eye to promote the best 
 interests of our country, irre8|)ective of religious sect, or ptjlitical party, to 
 
( 14 ) 
 
 devise, develop and mature a system of instruction, which embraces and 
 provides for every cliild in tiie land a good education . . and which 
 makes jtrovision, whereby Municipal Councils and Trustees can proviile 
 suitably acconnnodation, teachers and facilities for imparting (Klucaticm and 
 knowledge to t!»e rising generation of tlie land." 
 
 Even Jifter he left oflice his heurt was in the work, and he 
 yearned for a time to be ay-ain labouring' as of old. Writino- to 
 me from England, at the close of 187('), he said : 
 
 " Had the (iovernment allows " us to work as we had done in former 
 yeais. and sustained us, we W( have done great things for our country ; 
 
 and I coidd have <llrd in the harness with you. But it vvas not to be. 
 I have no doubt it will be seen that the hand of (Jod is in this, as it has 
 been in all of our work for more than thirty years." 
 
 As a foremost Canadian who hits served his country well, we 
 are all proud of him ! 
 
 The career of such a man deserves to be iield up as worthy of 
 study and imitation, especially in those heroic acts of self abneg-a- 
 tion and self sacritice in the defence of our civil and religious 
 rights, and in the noble qualities of endurance and farsightedness 
 of the Christian statesman, which he disphiyed in performing^ the 
 great work of his life. 
 
 The piessun^ on the young men of the present day, and their 
 nervous anxi(^ty to launch into active life, unfits them for the 
 l)iactice of tlitir, severe selfdiscipline, tmd m.-istery of principles, 
 which was so marked a characteristic of Dr. K*ver.son. It also 
 leaves little time for tiie study of the career of such a man as he 
 was. This is their loss, and indirectly, it is ;i loss fo the country; 
 for in this day of restless change, we require thoughtful men, men 
 well furnished as vvas he. and also that heroic man, the h'ev. Dr. 
 Dougl.is, in :ill of those higher gifts which are largely the result 
 .study, of reading, and of intelligent oliservation. 
 
 A flistingui.-^lied career at college, without these, is not enough; 
 lor have we not often been grievously dlstippointed to see so many 
 men, who ttike tirst-class lionours in universities, utterly fail to 
 m.'ike their mark in after life, simply, in many cai--es, because 
 the\- have only cultivated a ptirt of their powers, and were 
 content to "rest upon their oars," ;iii(l to l)e satisfied with whtit 
 provt.'d to lie the ephemeriil honours won at eolli-tre ; and iliiHthev 
 have left their iiiti'lleetiiil powers un lial;inc(;d, nntr.iiiied and 
 undisciplined, and the end is distppointincnt ;md failure. 
 
 I have a i'ew words personal to Dr. b'veisoii and ni\sclf to ^ay 
 in conclusion : 
 
 l'"'or over lorty years, I enjoyed the pisrsonil friiMidship of the 
 distinguished man whose memory we honour here this evening, 
 
 I 
 

 Ii 
 
 ( 16 ) 
 
 thirty-two years of which were passed in active and pleasant 
 service under him. 
 
 As the head of a Department, he had, the rare jfift of attaching' 
 to himself a)l 6f those who seived under him. He differed also 
 from many other heads of Departments, in that, (metaphorically 
 speukinj;^,) he never assumed to be such a Colossus in power and 
 strenf^th, or such a Solon in wisdom and foresight, as to have 
 achieved all the success wiiich marked his administration. He 
 took pride in " rendering? to all tlieir dues," and espi'ci.illy, " honour 
 to whom honour." He was not a man to be absorl)cd in details. 
 He felt that his place was on the watch-tower of observation, so as 
 to be able to survey the whole educational field; and whatever 
 he saw was good and excellent elsewhere, to incorporate it in 
 our school system. Hence, it is to-day composite in its character, 
 and embodies in its structure most of what is valuable in other 
 systems. It thei'cfore rests upon a broad and solid foundation ; 
 and in its main features it is destined to last for many years as 
 the pride and glory of this young country. 
 
 I have spoken of Dr. Ryerson's desire for engaging in his old 
 work.' After his last return from England, however, he spoke 
 but seldom on that subject, and then only with a feeling of rcgi-et, 
 for he knew that it could never be. Finally, he would but larely 
 allow me to speak of his old life-work, as it was now in other 
 hands. It was only when he thought that events affected me in 
 any way, that he would refer to the subject; and then his face 
 would light up and he would express himself as though we M'eivi 
 once more together in the Depai'tmeiit. As lime went on, I could 
 see that he was failing, and that " the strong man was bowed down," 
 and that he began to droop. I often tried, by refening to active 
 and pleasant incidents in the past, to cheer the nolile old man; 
 but, as I did so, I felt an overwhelming sadness, for the old time 
 fire and interest in them were gone, and the -^nd was slowly, but 
 surely, coming. Then indeed, "the joy of the Lord,'' as of old, 
 was his strength, and he even rejoiced that the end was near. 
 
 At length, on one quiet Sunday morning in P'ebrnary, 1882, as 
 I and others sat at his bedside, he peacefully passed away; and 
 nothing remained to us then but the silent form of one of Canad.i's 
 noblest sons and one of the greatest of her children.