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PHILLIPS 1850. r**!**^ T the i Mr. Gre£ Rob M the I Schc ill tb lette A unte Cou Tho besK Mr. the . ;pagi A Rob lette Mr. he V lette M IStY [Set I mad INTRODUCTION. The following summary is drawn up with the view to facilitate the apprehension of the facts of the case which has arisen between Mr. Roberts, Head Master of the Collegiate School, and Mr. Gregory, the father of George Gregory, a boy expelled by Mr. Roberts from the Collegiate School. Mr. Gregory, believing his son fVilliam to have been wronged by the result of the manner of conducting certain parts of the Collegiate School examination, which took place on 22d June, 1849, published ill the Head Quarters newspaper, on the 27th of the same month, a letter signed Puer Preceptori. [See No. 34, page 28.] Again, conceiving that an unnecessarily strict and permanently untenable interpretation had been put on the Minute of the College Council, establishing County Scholarships, whereby his oldest son, Thomas, was excluded from the competition, and that the manner of bestowing the Scholarships was a matter of great public importance, Mr. Gregory wrote a letter signed " A Father," and published it in the Head Quarters newspaper on 11th July, 1849. {See No. 35, page 28.J Again, it having come to the knowledge of Mr. Gregory that Mr. Roberts had, in tiie interval between the publication of the letter ^' Puer Preceptori " and " A Father," spoken a good deal about the letter " Puer Preceptori," and imputed an offensive officiousness to Mr. Gregory at the Collegiate School examination before referred to, he wrote and caused to be published in the same newspaper the letter signed ^' J. Gregory." [See No. 36, page 31.] Mr. Roberts, in return, wrote and caused to be published on the 18th July, in the same newspaper, the letter signed "G. Roberts." [See No. 37, page 33.] This last mentioned letter, together with an anonymous attack made upon him in another newspaper, induced Mr. Gregory to write IV. and publish in the Head Quarters newspaper before tnentioncil, on the 25th of July, the letter which bears his signature. [Sec No. 38, page 35.] Mr. Roberts took no public notice of this last mentioned letter ; but on the 30th of the same month, expelled from the Collegiate School, Mr. Gregory's son George, a well behaved boy, then under ten years of age, and subsequently attacked his character, rfepre- senting him as a bad boy — one whom he had long wished to get rid of. Mr. Gregory, immediately after the expulsion, applied through his Lordship the Bishop to the School Committee for redress, and for a copy of the reasons assigned by Mr. Roberts for expelling his child. The Committee referred him to Mr. Roberts for the statement, but he refused to give it. On reporting this fact to the Comn)ittee, they remained silent as to the refusal, but expressed an adherence to a previously communicated intimation of their intention not to interfere on his behalf, and closed the correspondence. [See No. 4 to 11, inclusive, page 6.] Mr. Gregory then petitioned the College Council on the subject, praying, of course, for the re-admission of his son, who, he added, had been vilified by Mr. Roberts in a manner unworthy of him as Prin- cipal of the Collegiate School. [*See No. I, page 1.] Mr. Roberts being informed of this petition, put in a counter petition, accusing Mr. Gregory of all sorts of things in reference to himself and his School, and praying that the boy should not be re-admitted. \See No. 2, page 2.] The Colleo-e Council met on the 19th of October, and after some discussion, passed an order for the appearance of Mr. Roberts and Mr. Gregory on the 27th of the same month, " with any documents they may require." [See No. 3, page 5.] The parties appeared accordingly. Mr. Gregory opened the case on behalf of his son by complaining that Mr. Roberts' statement of the grounds of dismissal had been withheld, and that some of the witnesses he wished to be examined had declined to appear, and he had no authority to compel their attendance. He alleged that his son was a remarkably well behaved boy, and had been dismissed without fault : that the counter petition of Mr. Roberts was wholly V. inapplicable to the case, as ho was not suing for the first admission of a boy as a matter of right, but for the continuance in the School of a boy whose acJmission had been sanctioned, and which he had not forfeited by misconduct. On his own behalf, he briefly reviewed the statements of Mr. Roberts in his counter petition, and endeavoured to shew the falsity, groundlessness, and inapplicability of its allega- tions. Mr. Roberts was then heard. He denied having vilified Mr. Gregory's son. He then read a long private correspondence which had taken place between himself and Mr. Gregory in Februarv, 1849, and which had been submitted to the Collegiate School Committee eight months before, and disposed of by them, [see No. 12 to 23, incliisivc,] also th^; before mentioned letters published in the Head (Quarters newspai)er. [No. 34 io 38, inclusive.] He also j)ro- duced the letter No. 29 in support of his allegation of dictation and interference with his School. Mr. Gregory replied. He stated that the correspondence had nothing to do with the case, as his son George was not referred to, or interested in it, except in so far as it bore testimony to the amiability of his manners and conduct. He nevertheless produced other letters in refutation of Mr. Roberts' allegations, in particular letters No. 24, 25, and 26, the sequel to the correspondence in February, 1849, and the miscellaneous letters marked No. 30 to 33, inclusive. The case was here closed. Both parties were ordered to withdraw, which they did, taking their documents with them, and were not afterwards re-admitted. The Council deliberated for some time, and then passed the resolution No. 39, setting forth that they are of opinion that the cir- cumstances of the case afford a sufficient justification to Mr. Roberts for the course he had adopted, and are such as to prevent them from directing Mr. Gregory's son's re-admission. Mr. Gregory's objections to this decision are numerous ; but he thus briefly summed them up in a Petition to the College Council for a re-hearing by Counsel. First, Thaw the decision recognises the right of the Master of the Collegiate School to dismiss any boy, however well behaved, from the School, on account of a personal quarrel with his parent. VI. Secondly, That even In tlic application of such a principle to tho circumstances of his case, his son should not have been brought within it ; and Thirdly, That up to the present time he has been refused either the perusal or a copy of Mr. Roberts' written reasons for his pro- ceeding upon which the School Committee sanctioned his conduct, and which, for aught he knows to the contrary, may have strongly affected the decision of the same persons in concurring in the said resolution, and that against this possibility he was fairly entitled to protect himself by an opportunity of explanation at least. Since the filing of this Petition, the College Council have met and partially discussed the subject, but do not appear to have come to any decision. Meanwhile Mr. Gregory's sons, three of whom would in other circumstances have been attending the Collegiate School, have been deprived of the services of that institution ; and he feels himsplf to be practically debarred from applying to any respectable teacher to take charge of the elementary instruction of his children, stigmatised as he is by the resolution of the College Council with misconduct towards a teacher who receives their implicit and full approbation. The following schedule includes all the documents before the Col- lege Council on the 27th of October, 1849, so far as known to Mr. Gregory, and on which it must be supposed that their decision (No. 39) is founded. The connecting notes are written by Mr. Gregory. A. Petition of Mr. Gregory to the College Council. Numbered 1. B. Counter Petition of Mr. Roberts. Numbered 2. C. Minute of the College Council, 19th October, 1849. Num- bered 3. D. Mr. Gregory's correspondence with the Lord Bishop of Fredericton and Mr. Roberts, preliminary to his Petition No. 1. Produced by Mr. Gregory. Numbered 4 to 11, inclusive. E. Private correspondence between Mr. Roberts and Mr. Gregory had in February, 1849, arising out of a severe flogging given by Mr. Roberts to Mr. Gregory' son William, in direct viola- vu. lation of the Huies of the College Council. Produced by Mr. Roberts in support of his case. Numbered 12 to 23, inclusive. F. Sequel to the above correspondence. Produced by Mr. Gregory. Numbered 24 to 26, inclusive. NOTK.-A further lequel, namely, a letter by Mr. Gregory to lii. Honor the Maitcr of the Koll«, and the answer, not having been read, ii omitted, after having been numbered 27 and Zo, G. Letter from Mr. Gregory to Mr. aoberts, dated 6th October, 1848. Produced by Mr. Roberts to shew an improper interference with his School. Numbered 29. H. Letter from Mr. Gregory to Mr. Roberts, dated in December, 1844. Produced by Mr. Gregory to shew the nature of his inter- ference. Numbered 30. L Letters from Mr. Gregory to Mr. Roberts, and answer, dated in February, 1848. Produced by Mr. Gregory, to shew, first, that Mr. Roberts had in another instance besides that referred to in No. 18, enjoined secrecy on his sons; and secondly, that offensive remarks and reflections on himself had been made by Mr. Roberts in the public School. Numbered 31 and 32, inclusive. K. Extract of a letter from Mr. Roberts to Mr. Gregory, dated 15th January, 1849. Produced by Mr. Gregory to further disprove Mr. Roberts' assertion of all credit having been withheld from the teachers. Numbered 33. L. Letters published in Head Quarters newspaper. Produced by Mr. Roberts,, viz.. No. 34~« Puer Preceptori." No. 35— "A Father." No. 36— « J. Gregory." No. 37— « G. Roberts." No. 38—" J. Gregory." M. Minute of the College Council, on hearing Mr. Roberts and Mr. Gregory. Numbered 39. N. Petition of Mr. Gregory to the College Council for a re- hearing by Counsel. Numbered 40. CORRESPONDENCE ANU oTiii^K i>oi;iKni:i^Tf>>». [No. 1.1 (A) MR. GREGORY'S PETITION TO THE COLLEGE COUNCIL. To the Chancellor, President, and Scholars of the University of King's College^ in College Council assembled. The Petition of John Gregory, of Prcdcricton, in the County of York, Respectfully Siiewetu : ' That on Monday the 30th day of July hist, George, a son of yoin Petitioner, was, without previous notice, or charge, or complaint against him, dismissed from the Collegiate School hy the Principal, Mr. George Roberts. That your Petitioner applied to the School Committee, through His Lordship the Bishop, foi redress, and received for answer, that the Committee having called on Mr. Roberts for a statement of the grounds on which he deemed himself justified in dismissing the boy, and having considered the statement so made, they did not think themselves called upon to interfere. That on your Petitioner's application for a copy, or an opportunity of taking a copy, of the statement in question, he was referred by the School Committee to Mr. Roberts, who, however, declined com- pliance with the request, which was respectfully addressed to him for the purpose. That on the representation to the Comniittec of this non-compliance, your Petitioner received for final answer an adherence to the previous answer, and an intimation that the corres- pondence must there close. (^) That the right of your Petitioner's son to instruction in the Public Schools of the country has been thus invaded ; and he is necessitated to apply to your honorable Body for redress. Your Petitioner begs leave to represent, that his son, who was thus summarily dismissed from the Collegiate School and denied a hearing, is not ten years of age ; that he is a remarkably docile, well behaved boy ; that previous to his dismissal he had conducted him- self with much propriety in the School ; and your Petitioner had 2 been led t(i believe that he enjoyed the favor and good opinion of all the Teachers, and mor^ particularly of Mr. Roberts, who, on the 13th of February iJast, thus wrote to your Petitioner : '•' With regard " to your sons, 1 have never uttered the slightest hint to their dis- " paragenient, except in the defence of my own veracity, and I now " assert that tiie way to my friendship is freely open to them if they " shew a sincere desire to obtain it. With George there is nothing " of the kind to be gained — he already h:^s my sincere affection, and '•' 1 have repeatedly spoken of him as a boy to be loved by those " who know him besf."(-') Your Petitioner begs leave further to represent that he believes he is prepared to prove, if necessary, that since the dismissal of his son from the School, Mr. Roberts has vilified him, representing him as a bad boy — one whom he had for some time wished to get rid of — and that he himself was glad of the opportunity of dismissal which he alleged had occurred — allegations which are false in toto as regards the boy, and unworthy of Mr. Roberts as Principal of the Collegiate School. (3) Your Petitioner therefore prays that the services of the Collegiaie ' School may be restored to his son, and sn'^h relief afforded in the promises as to your honorable Body shall seem meet. GREGORY. T Filed with the Reaistrar on the 24th August 1849. [No. 2.] (B) COUNTER PETITION OF MR. ROBERTS. To the Honorable the Chancellor, President, and other members of the Council of the University of King^s College. Honorable Sirs : In the matter of a Petition presented to your Honors, by Mr. John Gregory, complaining of njustice done him by me, in dis- charging his son from the Collegiate School, without any reason assigned, and praying for his reinstatement by your authority. (4) Although I would not be considered as assuming that your honor- able Board will be induced, under the circumstances, to reverse the decision already made upon the case by the School Committee, who have been by yourselves entrusted with the immediate management of aH matters pertaining to that Institution ; and who, by a long con- tinued and faithful discharge of the duties devolving upon them, huve 3 inade themselves more Intimately accjuaintecl with the real state ot •the Collegiate School, than any other members of your honorable Board can he. Yet perccivini^f that Mr. Gregory has so curtailed the reply of the Committee, to his applioaiion to them for reinstate- ment, as to make it appear that they had tiieinselves transferred the decision from their own shoulders,(^) I beg to subjoin a correct copy of that reply, as it was officially communicated to me. " Fredericton, August 1, 1849. " Sir, — I beg to inform you that I have laid your application to " me, of July 3()th, before the School Committee. They have "called on Mr. Roberts to state the grounds on which he deemed '' himself justified in dismissing your son from the School ; and having " considered his statement, so made, they do not think they are "called on to interfere in the manner desired." (Signed) "JOHN FREDERICTON, " Chairman of the Committee J^ "To John Gregory, Esq." Should, however, your honorable Board deem it incumbent upon them to revise the matter, I beg to lay the following considerations before them : by which, I trust, they will he led to perceive that Mr. Gregory has no right to complain of the course I have adopted, or to consider my declining any further charge of his children, as imjustifiable. In the first place, I would respectfully ask if the privileges of a public school are so inalienably the right of every individual in the community, that no amount of misconduct towards that school, on the part of any such individual, can divest him of the right ? (<») Secondly, I would ask whether the jirivileges belonging to every individual, extend to the right of dictating to the masters of such an establishment, as to the mode of instruction they are to adopt, and requiring as a sine qua non, that a deviation from the authorized and approved system of management should be made, to meet their peculiar views ? (-"^^ Thirdly, I would enquire what amount of such unauthorized interference, accompanied by insulting language, degrading insinua- tions, vexatious and injurious misrepresentations, false and malicious statements, both verbal and written — both private and published to the world, all leading to the one object, viz., to the bringing the Masters of the School, and consequently the Institution itself, into contempt — will suffice to convict an individual of the amount of misconduct necessary to divest him of those privileges ? And unless it be answered, that no amount whatever of the above injuries, can justify a man's exclusion from the privileges he abuses, 1 think I II ill can. if permitted so to do, produce sufficient evidence oi tl)oni in Mr- Gregory's conduct towards myself, to satisfy your Honors that he has not been unjustly dealt with. C^) Independently of my own personal feelings, with which, perhaps, your Honors have no right to be troubled, 1 would respectfully ask, what must be the effect of Mr. Gregory's continued interference and connection with the School, under the circumstances, upon the School itself? What influence — what hope of usefulness can the Masters henceforth have over the other pupils, who lind that all Mr. Gregory's charges of incapacity, mismanagement, want of integrity, and habitual lying, are sanctioned, in the public eye, by the authority of your honorable Board ? What chance can we possibly have of gaining the necessary confidence and respect of Mr. Gregory's own children, should they be forced lack upon us, after so many months industriously spent by their father in endeavouring to lower us in their estimation ? With what feelings must we be condemned to spend our energies in the instruction of youths, whose father's con- ceit and injustice, deprive us of all the pleasure we might otherwise derive from their improvement, and who are themselves aware that ihey have more power over us, than we have over them ? The answer is obvious. The reinstatement of Mr. Gregory's .son, and consequently his influence for evil, in the Collegiate School, would complete the mischief, of which he has been for some time past, by all the means in his power, endeavouring to accomplish ; and which he has no doubt partially effected already, and convert all Ws hitherto comparatively harmless assaults upon the Institution, into acknow- ledged convictions and justifiable attacks. (9) With regard to the effect of the exclusion upon Mr. Gregory's son, we may surely be allowed to estimate the actual loss to him, at his father's valuation, which is literally nothing : since, in his own letter, dated July 2l3t, 1849, in the " Head quarters " of July 25th, he says, speaking of the Masters, in connection with one of his sons—" They exercise him with the other boys, and so serve to keep " him oui of his mother's way — I educate him at my leisure hours. " They operate upon his verbal memory — 1 cultivate his power of " attention, a matter of considerable delicacy, and not to be performed " by every bungler, in a boy of so volatile a disposition." As he could be kept out of his mother's way at a less expence, it is a matter of astonishment, that he should be so anxious to regain our worthless superintendence for him.(**^) With regard to any stigma that may attach to the boy's character, in consequence of his exclusion, it is evident that where, as in the present case, the cause is more generally known, than the fact itself, no such injury can arise to him ; and that if any difficulty should hereafter oppose itself to his admission into any other School, it must 1)0 attributed ratlier to tlie tioublcsotno character of the parent than to that of tlie boy himself. As I distinctly and positively disayow Mr. Gregory's last charije of vilifying his son's character, and beg to state, that without for a moment impugning the respectability of his authority in that instance, I am prepared to shew that the individual who was his informant, laboured under a mistake, of which he is now sensible.(^^) In justification of my refusal to give Mr. Gregory a copy of th(! statement I made to the School Committee, of my reasons for the course I had pursued, I beg to state that I did not conceal from him the nature of the reasons contained in that statement althouah I did not feel myself bound to furnish him with a written statement for further newspaper controversy — more especially as the document he required was no longer my property, nor was a copy of it in my possession. (^2) I have the honor, fee, (Signed) G. ROBERTS. POSTSCRIPT. As Mr. Gregory, although the real complainant, and real cause of the difficulty, has thought proper, by the substitution of his son's name, to raise the natural inquiry, why should the innocent suffer for the guilty ? I think it necessary to add, that punishment implies cither bodily harm, loss or disgrace, neither of which has been experienced by the youth in question, as I have already shewn, or am prepared to shew.^*^) That a boy should suffer for his father^s misconduct, is a thing of daily occurrence, and among the inscrutable arrangements of an all-wise Providence ; but that the injustice may be put upon the right shoulders, it is only necessary to look upon the proceeding of Mr. Gregory, for the last nine months, to perceive that it is he who has deprived his son of his privilege in the Collegiate School ; it is ho that has rendered it impossible that the present teachers can take any further interest in the insUuclion of his children. (^4) (Signed) G. R. [No. 3.] (C) At a meeting of the College Council, held at the Speaker's room in the Province Hall, on Friday the 19th day of October, 1849, at 3 o'clock, p. m., called by order of the Chancellor — presknt: The Chancellor, Thu Hon. Mr. I3lack, " Master of the Rolls, " " Judor Carter, '' Secretary, " " Mr. Kinnear, '' Attorney General, Mr. Street, The Registrar lays before the Council a communication he had received from John Gregory, Flsquire, enclosing a Petition to the College Conncil, complaining of the dismissal of his son from the Collegiate School, by Mr. Roberts, the Head Master. The Chancellor also lays before the Council, a communication he had received from Mr. Roberts, the Head Master of the Collegiate School, with a Petition to the Council upon the subject of the dis- missal of Mr. Gregory's son from the School. (^•'') Whereupon ordered, that the consideration of the matter of the said Petitions be deferred until the next meeting of the Council, and that Mr. Gregory and Mr. Roberts have notice to attend with any documents they may require. Adjourned till Saturday the 27th day of October, instant, at 1 1 o'clock, a. m., to meet at the Speaker's room in the Province Hall. A true extract from the Minutes. (Signed) CHARLES FISHER, Registrar. m .Hi ii! CORRESPONDENCE WITH IHE COLLEGIATE SCHOOL COMMIT- TEE—PRODUCED BY Mr. GREGORY.— No. 4 to No. U, Inclusive. [No. 4.] Fredericton, .My 30, 1849. My Lord,™ Referring to the conversation with which your Lord- ship has just honored me, relative to the expulsion by M.. Roberts of my son George from the Collegiate Grammar School, on the ground of the personal offensiveness of the recent public correspon- dence between Mr. Roberts and myself, as verbally stated to be the cause, by Mr. Roberts and Mr. Coster, on my personal post facto application to them, I respectfully solicit that your Lordship will, at your earliest convenience, procure me redress for this unjustifiable step, by the immediate re-admission of my son, until Mr. Roberts can find time and grounds, to bring whatever grievance he may con- ceive he has, belbre the constituted authorities, and pending their deliberation and decision. I have, Sec, (Signed) J. GREGORY. The Rt Rev. The Lord Bishop of Fredericton, [No. 5.] Frkdericton, August I, 1849. Sill, — I beg to inform you that I have laid your application to me, of July 30, before the School Committee. They have called on Mr. Roberts to state the grounds on which he deemed himself justified in dismissing your son from the School ; and having con- sidered the statement, so made, they do not think that they are called upon to interfere in the manner desired. I have, he, (Signed) JOHN FREDERICTON, Chairman of the Committee . J. Gkeoory, Esquire. [No. 6.] Fkedericton, August 1, 1849. My Lord, — 1 have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your Lordship's letter of this date, from which I understand that Mr. Roberts having made a statement of the grounds on which he deemed himself justified in dismissing my son from the College School ; and that the Committee, having considered the same, do not think that they are called upon to interfere in the manner desired by me ; which was, to cause Mr. Roberts to re-admit my son until he could bring his grievances before the constituted authorities. Adniitting the Committee to be the constituted authority, your Lordship will perceive that there is room for doubt as to the extent of the decision communicated to me, and that it must be a matter of anxiety with me, to be informed on this point, as also to be fur- nished with a copy or favored with a perusal of Mr: Roberts' state- ment. I now respectfully apply to your Lordship, for the information indicated ; and 1 beg to state, that I was not before aware that your Lordship was a member of the School Committee. I have (Signed) ^c, at The Right Re?, T.he Lord Bishop of Fredericton, &c. J. GREGORY. [No. 7.] • Fredericton, August 2, 1849. SiB, — It does not appear to me that any further explanation is needed, beyond the fact, that the Committee do not consider them- selves warranted in interfering in the case as it now stands. 8 liii ' m i Ab llicy do not consider thuuiselvcs as engaged in any judicial decision on the matter, ihey refer you to Mr. Roberta for any papers you may wish to obtain. I have, &£C., J. FUEDERICTON. (Signed) 3. GnEtJORY, Esquire. [No. 8.] Fredericton, August 2, 1849. Sir, — Having ajiphed to his Lordship the Bishop, for a copy, or tlie favor of a perusal of the statement of the grounds on which you deemed yourself justified in dismissing my son George from the Collegiate Grammar School, I have been referred by his Lordship to you, for any papers 1 may wish to obtain. I therefore request a copy, or an opportunity of taking a copy ol the statement in question. I am, Uc, (Signed) J. GREGORY. G. RouERTS, Esquire. [No. 9.] Fredericton, August % 1894. Sir, — 1 must decline sending you a copy of the statement I laid before the School Committee, of the grounds upon which I felt it necessary to dismiss your son from my charge. It is sufficient to state that it referred them to your own coniniunications, more especially to that dated July 21st, under your signature, in the " Head quarters " of July 25th. I am, &tc., (Signed) G. ROBERTS. J. Gregory, Esquire. [No. 10.] Fredericton, August 3, 1849. My Lord, — I acted on your Lordship's reference to Mr. Roberts, and applied to him for a copy, or an opportunity of making a copy of the statement he laid before the School Committee ; jUI he has declined compliance. In addressing your Lordship, I do not feel at liberty to examine the words or expressions used by your Lordship ; but to quiet my own apprehensions, I beg to disclaim any connection with the judicial r papers 'ON. 1849. copy, or lich you om the ^^rdsiiip copy of DRY. 1894. It I laid I felt it icient to IS, more 3, in the ;rts. 1849. Roberts, I a copy It he has examine quiet my with the anonymous communications published in the " Hutd quarters ot last Wednesday, or referred to by the Editor. I now respectfully apply to your Lordship, as Chanman of the School Committee, for the restitution to my son George, of the services of the Collegiate School, of which he has been deprived by Mr. Roberts, who dismissed him from the School on Monday the 30th ultimo. I have, &:c., (Signed) J. GREGORY. The Right llev. The Lord Lisiior of Fredebicton. [No. 11.] Fredericton, August 3, 1849. SiR,_The School Committee having already given you an answer to your application for the restitution of your son George to the Collegiate School, I beg to inform you that I have no authority in my individual capacity, to do what you request ; and not being desirous of taking part in the discussion, I beg respectfully to decline further correspondence on the subject. I have, &c., (Signed) J. FREDERICTON. J. Gregc lY, Esquire. (E) PRIVATE CORRESPONDENCE BETWEEN Mr. ROBERTS AND Mr. GREGORY-PRODUCED BY Mr. R0BERTS.-12 to 23, Inclusive. [No. 12.] Fredericton, February 8, 1849. Dear Sir,— My attention has just been directed to the bruised state of the back and one of the arms of my son William, occasioned by a flogging administered by you, for his inability to give a memo- riter verbatim recitation of an appointed Geography lesson from the Catechism. Although I conceive it to be in my power effectually to resist such unmerciful correction, I content myself on the present occasion with bringing it under your serious consideration, as well as the small profit my sons derive from the Geography Catechism lessons, by the frequent neglect to direct their attention to the position of the places on the maps, Scc^^^) I remain, &.C., (Signed) J. GREGORY. G. Roberts, Esquire. B 10 [No. 13. 1 Fredeuicton, Fclrmry 9, 1849. Dear Sir, — I have shown your letter of last evening, to my col- 'ioagues, at whose instance the punishment you complain of, was given, (although it appears that Master William forgot to mention the whole amount of his delinquency,) and their opinion fully coincides with mine, not only as to the necessity that existed for the punishment, to induce William to i)erfonn the duties required of him, but also, as to the inadequacy of any other mode of correction, to counteract the ill effects his neglect was producing, both on himself and others. (*'') It is certain, however, that notwithstanding the somewhat uncour- teous style in which you talk of your " power effectually to resist such unmerciful correction," we should not have come to the unanimous conclusion we have, viz., to abstain from any farther participation in the education of your sons, but for the repeated and unmerited insinuations that they are not properly taught.(i^) A more unfounded assertion could scarcely have been hazarded, than the one contained in your note, that the pupils of the Collegiate School are attempted to be taught Geography without a proper appeal to the maps ; (18) since that appeal is never omitted, unless in the case of those defaulters, who, from want of due preparation, forfeit the privilege.(W) My Geography classes, however, will speak, and always have done so, for themselves. It is to all of us a matter of deep regret that with such good materials to work upon, and so great a desire on our parts to make the most of them, as far as consistent with our duty to the School generally, we have so signally failed in eliciting from you a spark of approbation, or allaying for a moment that restless feeling of dissatisfaction, that seems to pervade every communication between us.(20) You cannot, therefore, be surprised that we are anxious, even at any expence, to release ourselves from a connection so painful, and that we have determined to request that you will immediately seek for some more tractable teachers for your children, and such as may be more able to enter fully into, and appreciate your own views.(?'> I am authorized by the other Masters to speak in their name.(22> I remain, &c., (Signed) G. ROBERTS. J. Grigort, Eaquire, [No. 14.] Fredericton, February 9, 1849. Dear Sir, — I have just received yours of this date, and regret that I am compelled to solicit at this late hour, the favor of a copy n 1849. my col- of, was mention on fully i for the J of him, ;ction, to 1 himself uncour- isist such lanimous nation in nmerited azarded, oUegiate I proper i, unless paration, II speak, naterials he most rally, we robation, ion, that cannot, >ence, to ve have tie more ore able ne.(22> RTS. 1849. d regrei a copy of the note I wrote you last evening on the view of the marks of the blows inflicted by you on my son's back and arm. Before I venture upon any answer, or attempt to get at the full meaning of your letter, 1 shall, with your permission, take the benefit of this niicht's reflection. <23) G, Roberts, Esquire. (Signed) 1 am, Sic, J. GREGORY. [No. 15.] Fredericton, February 10, 1849. Dear Sir, — On a careful perusal of my own note to you, of the 8th instant and your answer, I deem the following to be a proper reply, as well as indication of the correct course to be pursued by me unde." the circumstances. With respect to my note of the 8th, I claim the benefit of the indignation natural to a father, and to the mother of a large family, whose feelings were outraged by the marks on their child, of a flog- ging administered by you, in violation of the rules of the College Council ; and further, by the knowledge that the same boy, notwith- standing a faithful application to his lessons, for two hours every evening, has been repeatedly flogged by you for not going through his propositions in Euclid more rapidly than his powers of speech permit, and while you at the same time must have been sensible that he fully understood them, and had faithfully studied them. 1 intended no discourteousness by the allusion to my power to resist the unmerciful correction of my child, which is an ofFence against the common law, as well as against the regulations of the constituted authorities under which you serve. Submission in such a particular would argue unworthiness in mo as the head of a family. The mention of the Catechism Geography lessons was, I suppose, the quantity of bitterness necessary to be thrown ofF my system, before I could be induced freely to overlook what I thought, and still think, was an undue amount of correction for the non-recital of a lesson, particularly when the boy had been previously sentenced to confinement till he should learn it, by the Assistant to whom the correct recitation ought to have been made. With respect to your letter of the 9th, } -rtainly regret it should have been called forth, hut much more is u^jlied in it than the facts warrant. I. made no unfounded assertion. I merely brought under youi notice the small profit my sons (William and George) were deriving from the Catechism Geography lessons, by the frequent neglect to direct their attention to the position of the places on the maps. This 12 llii \\w\ is fi point which is susceptible of proof, and I do not recognize yoiii right to give it an unlimited scope, merely, as it appears to me, to make a paragraph or round a sentence. You arc well aware of my objections to all catechism exercises, as well as to my attributing the good (mental) material, which in my sons you acknowledge you have to work upon — to my carcful- uess to cultivate their intellect by appeals to their perception, in decided preference to their verbal memory. And as it was made a matter of special agreement with respect to Thomas, (^4) (the oldest) that he was not to be subjected to such exercises, I did not and do not think you shewed that lenity to William, which a little reflection ought to have insured for him. So far as your assertion may be correct, of the inadequacy of any other mode of correction, to counteract the ill effects William's neglect was producing on himself and others, you have done the boy, his school-fellows, their parents and myself, injustice. You have repeatedly spoken in terms of high commendation of ihe talents and conduct of my sons, and your present letter is not free from such allusions : but on no occasion did you ever intimate that my authority was required to aid you. On the contrary, in one of our recent conversations, (probably the last,) you complimented me on the slate of discipline in which 1 kept William; as you then remarked, that in future years, his natural vivacity — which you said you liked — might possibly lead him to participate too freely in the regretted dissipation of incipient manhood. But do not let us forget that we arc speaking of a boy who was only eleven years of age last November. Why talk of the ill effects on others, by the occasional neglect of a Geography lesson. Has he not in the space of nine or ten months attained to ability to read and understand any Geometrical demon- stration in a progressive course beyond Trigonometry ?, Are there more than four youths in your School who are better Arithmeticians, or more than two who are better Algebraists ? Is there one who can get up a mathematical lesson in a shorter lime, or with more intelligence ?(2''') '' A more unfounded assertion could scarcely have been hazarded, "' than that yourself and your Assistants have not received from mo ''a spark of approbation." I have said more on that head than I choose at present to repeat. That your system is not perfect, but still such as might, with a little, but in my opinion a most important alteration, be made very efficient, and conduce more to the substan- tial benefit of the scholars, and at the same time be attended with less trouble to the teachers, and flogging to the boys, I have stated to yourself and others, in private conversation, and I am fully pre- pared to justify myself.(26) In conclusion, I fully understand the general import of your letter ; in 13 but I must decline bocominK the aggressor, and so preclude niysclf from all hope of redress. My sons go to School, therefore, as usual, and yon must act on your own responsibility. This is an unpleasant business, but I shall not shrink from its publicity, being confident that however my sons may sulFer, good will result to the community from a fidl cxpost';. William is kept at home to-day, as ho was yesterday, in conso- quenco of his Laving a sore throat. 1 am, &:c., (Signed) J. CJKEGOIIY. G. RouEUTS, Es(iuire. 'g [No. 1(3.] Fredericton, February 10, 1849. Dear Sir, — In requesting you to remove your sons from under the charge of teachers in whose capacity to perform their duties you have not°full confidence, 1 was influenced by a sincere desire, at once to enable you to carry out your own views in some more congenial ((uarter, and to release ourselves from the disagreeable feelings neces- sarily attendant upon the above conviction being constantlv thrust upon us.(27) Neither can T now say, that those feelings are allayed by the perusal of your letter, received this morning, which has some- what of a patronizing air, though with a rod held in ierrorem. Your remonstrating with me on what you considered the undue (and I may add, unintentional) severity of your son's punishment, on Thursday, would have elicited from me a satisfactory acknowledg- ment, bad it not been accompanied with a threat and a misrepresen- tation.(28) Nor would even these have so entirely deprived me of all hope of giving you satisfaction, but for the insinuation at the close. There is no chance that I can see of any improved understanding between us, whilst such unfair assertions are listened to, as that " William has been repeatedly flogged by me for not going through " his propositions in Euclid more rapidly than his powers of speech "would permit." This is not true, either in the fact or in the cause, since I deny that he has ever been flogged by me for his Euclid, unless a slight rap occasionally given for carelessness and inattention can bo so called ; (29) and as for requiring any such rapid or parrot- like recitations as you describe, the fact will be denied by every boy in the class, except, perhaps, your own sons. The truth is, that your partiality for one part of our system, and your prejudice against another, prevent you from judging of it as a whole, and make it extremely desirable that you should either conform to my views, or seek some teacher that will conform to yours, which I would myself 14 most rendily Ho, were \ n privitc tutor in your family, witli no other persons' wishes to consult than your own. In your pn^udice against catechisms, and your often implied censure upon me for the use I make of them, it perhaps has never occurred to you that when my pupils are brought forward for examination, they are not questioned from the catechism, nor do they give their answers by rote, from any book whatever, which is a sufficient evidence that my verbatim recitations are not intended to supply til. boys with words instead of ideas ; in fact those who know me best an testify, that although I make the memory the ground-work of my instructions, I call in the judgment and intellect to raise the superstructure, and I have never seen nor heard any thing advanced to induce me to adopt a different course. That your son has improved in other things besides mathematics is evident to us, although not to the extent he would have done, had the necessity of his preparing his memoriter lessons at home been more enforced, since on their due preparation depends the amount of oral explanations we are enabled to find ti-ne for. A turned back boy, however, loses every privilege of the kiid, and must be content with the bare recitation after school, to a tired and dissatisfied auditor, who is made a prisoner by the boy's neglect.(30) The threat of a full expose with which you close your epistle, has with me no weight whatever, since, however disinclined to be dragged in any way before the public, especially by one who has no friendly motive for so doing, I have never conducted myself, in the manage- ment of the School, in any way that needs concealment, or which should make me shun the light. My only motive for wishing to discon- tinue the charge of your sons is the constant annoyances we are sub- ject to, from your own interference, for which theii' removal w^ l.l withdraw all pretext. If the evil can be got over in any other way, by all means let it be so ; but from past experience, I have too much reason to fear that thero is no hope of |)eace while the connection is kept up. (3^ With much regret ih-x^ our 'mcws in some respects differ so materially, as to rendt ' .vjs a ;y present capacity an unfit instru- ment to work out your w .siits, I remain, he, (Signed) G ROBERTS. J. Gregory, Esquire. [No. 17.] Fredericton, February 10, 1849. Dear Sir, — Divested of its euphemisms, our present correspon- dence is unworthy of the educational positions whicli we respectively hold. It is such as might afford pleasure to the malicious, excite 15 the lauijhter of the pliilosophic, ami llio pity of llic christian ; aiul till more candour, precision and simplicity of purpose, are made the staple of our letters, there is little hope that a hetter understanding will arise out of thenL^^'-^) VVc do not view things from the same point of vision, and it may be that we do not attribute to each other the samo sentiments which we claim for omselves. In this matter 1 have dealt ri'iither in compliments, threats, nor misrepresentations. You were the aggressor ; and while in the letters before me you make what I would have deemed a sufficient acknowledgment, (slight and inferential as it is,) you couple it with so unjust a character of my remarks, and mix it up with such inferences as compel me to reject it. As to future unmerciful punishment, 1 entertain no fear. Mr. Coster testifies to the kindness of your heart, and Mrs. Gregory |)rofesses herself perfectly satisfied. To Thomas you have never had occasion to lift the rod, nor to lay any impositions on him, except two for chewing gum, and for these 1 now thank you. And as to William and George, I believe they are above the average in con- forming to the rules of the School. My assertions, whatever they may be, are susceptible of proof, and all I require is, that should you think proper to investigate them, your procedure may be oper.; and above all suspicion. (38) The pupil of eleven years of age, who in some measure, as a voluntary lesson, gets up three or four of the propositions introductory'" to Trigonometry, and who takes a pleasure in demonstrating them, is not likely to be guilty of carelessness and inattention at the time of his mathematical recitation. No bounds to your authority are attempted to be set by me. The irlcn of the supremacy of the teacher, I hold to be essential to the progress of the pupil. The Collegiate Grammar School is not a private institution, and ray sons are very tractable. The reading of the 18th and 19th chapters of St. John's Gospel caused one of them to weep at a public school ; and another of them, while he prides himself on bearing the rod without exhibiting any uneasiness, can be brought to the same condition at almost any time, by an appeal to his feelings. I fear no injury to them from any scene in which 1 may place them, so long as they possess their present advantages of proper advice. — Disap- pointment in love has in many instances led to the cultivation of poetry ; and analogy and the Scriptures do not leave me in doubt, that attempts to discourage or oppress may be made instrumental to the early development of valuable principles. Our theories of education differ, but as both of ihem must be carried out by the study of the same subjects, their divergency is not to be known without careful consideration. I am convinced that mine will ultimately triumph ; but I do not expect you at the present 16 limu lo adopt it : you have seen some of its cfFects. I shall always allow my sons sufficient time to prepare their lessons, and if they go to School unprepared, you must deal witli them in the same manner as with othfat boys in similar circumstances. Adopting your own words, your theory is to " make the memory " the ground work of instruction, and call in the judgment and intel- *' lect to raise the superstructure." And you add — " I have neither "seen nor heard any thing advanced to induce me to adopt a different " course." My theory is, wisdom or judgment is founded on knowledge ; knowledge is founded on memory ; memory is founded on attention ; attention can he cultivated by means of the perceptive faculties alone. Stewart's dictum is tantamount to this : that we cannnot remember what does not interest some principle of our nature. My theory agrees with the philosophy of all the metaphysicians that I have read ; and it is not opposed to that of the phrenologists. There is a difference between teaching a boy to say 5-]-4=9 and training him to perceive that 5-] -4=9, ct sic omnia. As I do not wish to inflict a pamphlet on you, nor to offend you, 1 leave the matter to your own reflection. Fas est ah hoste doceri ! I am, &:c., (Signed) J. GREGORY. G. Roberts, Esquire. [No. 18.] FuEDEKicTON, February 10, 1849. Dear Sir, — As I find from Thomas that it is not likely that our correspondence is to cease, I beg you will release him from a promise of secrecy you exacted from him the other day at the Conic Section recitation. (^^) Yours truly, (Signed) J. GREGORY. G. RoBEBTs, Ksquirc. [No. 19.] Fredericton, February 12, 1849. Dear Sir, — There is no doubt but that our correspondence would have ceased by this time, had not your last letter reiterated your belief in an assertion which I had positively denied, and stated that it was susceptible of proof. I had, therefore, no other course left than to bring proof to the contrary, by an appeal to the rest of the II always f ihey go } manner memory md intel- e neitlier I different Dwledge ; ittention ; faculties emember hysicians nologists. =9 and end you, 3 doceri! ORY. 1849. that our I promise c Section ORY. 1849. ice would ted your ated that mrse left St of the 17 class, consisting of Masters Johnston, Rainsford, Murray, Kirby, Hart and Street, and by their unanimous voice in the presence of Mr. Coster, the charge was proved to be utterly unfounded.(^) 1 allude, of course, to the assertion concerning William's punishment in the Euclid class. 1 do not think that any good is likely to accrue from the habit of listening to ta ;>s brought home from School, even though there should be every guarantee for their veracity : but at any rate no assertion should be hazarded upon the strength of such reports until their cor- rectness has been put beyond a doubt. With regard to the secrecy said to have been enjoined upon Thomas, and which your note just put into u.y hands, requests a release from, the mystery is not a great one, although I could wish that a more ingenuous boy than I now find Thomas to be, had been the repository of it. The facts are these : On a certain Wednesday, I am not sure which, a difficulty occurred in proving the 2nd case of the 7th problem, concerning the Parabola, in Bell's Conic Sections, which, though by no means an insuperable one, required a litt'.e con- sideration, that there was not then time to bestow upon it, as the other Euclid classes were waiting to be attended to. I therefore frankly told Tom, as I should have done to my own son, that it would be better to postpone the further consideration of it till the next morning, and that in the meantime I would look it through. I then, having no conception of the dangerous character of the boy, and knowing that you were inquisitive about all the doings at School, said to him, if you are asked how you got over the difficult case, you may say that you hadn't time to finish it until to-morrow, which v/as true. This was all the mystery, and nothing but malice could twist it into any thing of which I need be ashamed. Let me, however, ask you, after the circumstances of the day, what confidence can exist between me and your eldest son, whom I must henceforth look rpon as a spy upon my words and actions, prepared not only to report them to willing ears, but also to put a wrong construction upon them. (36) It is unnecessary to add, that the meanness of the course implied by the note to which I have just referred, makes it more than incon- sistent for me to continue my charge of your sons, whose attendance at School I must request may be suspended until I can Ling the matter before the constituted authorities. I remain, &ic., (Signed) G. ROBERTS. J. GREOoRy, Esquire, 18 [No. iiO.] Fredericton, Fehmnj 12, 1819, ^ '20 min. ou ; and 1 on it, I rent does op at its ORY. 1849. e of last drop, this ir corres- d in the ig that he ly that he 3S. The you and ig of the rday. ll is fortunate that I am disposed to be unjust to you ui this niat- lor. I believe you spoke to him just as you would have done to your own son, and you are thus saved from the insinuation that you were guilty of the meanness to ask my son to lell a lie. The boy could have done you injury among the thoughtless and malicious, as you observed to him, but most scrupulously has he kept his word. The bantering of his school-fellows — for they saw that something was the matter— extracted nothing from him. When you were heaping obloquy on my innocent boy's moral ciiaracler, your candour might have prompted the admission, that the difllculty in the proposition did not lie on his side. And now with respect to the proof you instituted, and on which you pronounce one of my assertions to be proved unfounded : you surely do not take me for a child ! Was the form of yoiu- examina- tion open, and such as to be above suspicion, (question) as I requested it might be ? Did you not question the boys en masse 1 Did you not know that their cs]rrh ilc corps acts on both sides ? Suppose Murray had put a cracker in the stove, and admitting tliat every boy in the School knew it, aie you not perfectly aware that it is highly probable that no boy in the School, except Murray himself, would voluntarily admit that he knew who the culprit was? All you have done has been to put the boys on their guard, and very probalvly destroy the chance of proving the assertion m question. My sons know when they are baulked, hurried or struck. 1 used the expression, flogged : Thomas has suggested that perhaps you do not think three or four raps given in the course of one demonstration, amount to a flogging ; and I suggest that any hurrying or flogging while demonstrating a mathematical proposition, disturbs the mental vision, and renders success impossible. In nine cases out of ten, it; forces boys to lake refuge in mechanical memory instead of vital and strong perceptions. The matter now rests in some measure with you. My son is not without a character, and his intercom'se with mo is susceptible of a description of proof you little dream of I tell you my sons shall not be deprived of the services of the Collegiate Grammar School, if (Miergelic measures and truth can protect them. They go to School as us'ual, and one and all of them are prepared to ask a general pardon for whatever oifeuces they may have committed, and oblivion of the past. None of them, I believe, ever wilfully olTended you, and more of their spirit infused into the School-room, would lessen, if not sweeten, your laborious and trying duties. Should you still feel determined to expel them, be so good as to save me the trouble of waiting on you with witnesses, by giving them a line to that elfect. I am, he, (Signed) J. GREGORY, (i Roberts, E.'quirn. 20 [No. 22.] Fredericton, February 13, 1849. (38) Dear Sir, — I accept the hand of reconciliation as freely as I conceive it to be ofFercfl, and I trust that from henceforth all un- pleasant feeling on both sides may be dropped. In resuming, how- ever, the charge of your sons, which I considered myself as having virtually given up, I feel bound to say a word or two as to our future relative position, which will not, I am sure, elicit any other rejoinder than a cordial concurrence. With regard to your sons, I have never uttered the slightest hint to their disparagement, except in defence of my own veracity ; and 1 now assert that the way to my friendship is freely open to them, if they shew a sincere desire to obtain it. With George there is nothing of the kind to be gained — he already has my sincere affection, and I have repeatedly spoken of him as a boy to be loved by those who know him best ; yet he was chastised too, nor have I ever been influenced in my corrections, by likings or dislikings. Such conduct would be unworthy of the position I hold. With respect to yourself, 1 do not ask or expect that you should abandon your own views with regard to education — for unless you did so upon conviction, I should not respect you for it. Neither do I consider it a combat of prin- ciples that has been going on between us, for I stand up for an appeal to the perceptions as well as you, and in mathematics adopt precisely the same course you do, not requiring memoriter recitations any farther than that the enunciations of the propositions should be com- mitted to memory, as a ground work to reason upon. In the other branches )f a school education to which I am required to give as much attention as to these, if not more, I confess that I see more difficulty in carrying out your views, especially among the heteroge- neous mass of boys that require their simultaneous application. It is only the successful practical application of the principles you advo- cate, to the maiiy, and to all the branches we are required to teach, that can produce the conviction in my mind, of the expediency of their adoption in the Collegiate School. These things being premised then, and seeing that the system that is pursued there, will be beneficial in proportion to the cordiality with which it is acted upon, I must beg that you will not conceive it an abandonment of your principles, but rather as a matter of compliance with the circumstances you are in, that as there is no School within your reach where your theories are fully carried out, you will make the most of the advantages that do offer, by zealously co-operating with the teachers you entrust your children to, and thus strengthen their hands. There is no need of any reply to this note, as you may depend upon my conscientiously performing my duty to the boys, unin- fluenced by any prejudice arising from what has passed between us, so long as I perceive that they and you give me your confidence. 1849. 3ely as I I all un- ng, how- s having »ur future rejoinder itest hint ity ; and i them, if s nothing Dn, and I lose who ver been I conduct yourself, lews with I should of prin- in appeal precisely ions any be com- :he other I give as see more heteroge- Dn. It is ou advo- to teach, diency of stem that ality with ive it an mpliance ol within /ill make operating trengthen y depend ys, unin- ween us, lence. n 21 In extreme haste, arising from my being out till a late hour last ♦light, and begging you, in consequence, to excuse all carelessner :, I remain, Sec, (Signed) G. llOlilvllTS. J. Gregokv, Esquire. [No. 23.] Fredericton, February 15, 1849- Dhar Sir, — 1 detain William a minute, to say that I understood from Thomas I was to hear from you again, in order to remove from me the unjust imputation in your last, and to withdraw the only insuperable obstacle to the burial of our animosities.(39) On the spirit of the expected communication, depends the issue of our mis- understaliding, which thus rests with yourself. I am, &CC., (Signed) G. ROBERTS. J. GuEGORY, Esquire. Note.— ^s I did not answer this Utter quite so speedily as Mr. l{nberts wished, he submitted the correspondence to the School Committee. I became aware of this by a verbal message sent to me through my son. . p CORRESPONDENCE BETWEEN Mr. COSTER AND Mr. GREGORY- PRODUCED BY Mr. GREGORY AS THE SEQUEL OP CORRES- PONDENCE ( E ).— 24 TO 2G, Inclusi e. [No. 24.] Fredericton, February 27, 1849. Dear Sir, As you were present at the formal conversation, this afternoon, between Mr. Roberts and my son Thomas, 1 beg you will oblige me by conveying to Mr. Roberts the following remarks : Mr. Roberts' conduct, in our last correspondence, has been un pm dc trop. I gave him a fair opportunity of terminating it honorably to himself, by my letter of the evening of the 12th instant ; and all he had to do with reference to the continuation of that letter, written on the morning of the 13th, was to return it to me on the terms mentioned in the first paragraph, if he wished the matter to be dropped. He decided otherwise, and heaped unjust accusations on my son, and then made him the bearer of a letter which was suffi- ciently conciliatory, and would have put all to rest, had he not asked me to make a formal withdrawal of the letter which I had previously 22 i: \ p.nllioiized liim lo return to me. Neither my time at tliat moment, nor the agitation of my son, afTorded an oppoK mity of further action. I therefore told my son to say, that I did not think there would be any insuperable obstacle in the way of an amicable arrangement ; and that I would take an early opportunity of seeing Mr. Roberts, lousiness and the weather prevented me from accomplishing this on the 14th, and on the afternoon of the 15th — while confined to my bed-room by severe indisposition, from which I have not further recovered than to be able to transact the routine business of the day — 1 received a note from Mr. Roberts, stating suo more that accord- ing to my verbal message by Thomas, he had understood that he was to hear from me again, in order to remove an alleged unjust imputa- tion said to be contained in my la^t letter. This absurd and unfounded expectation, fixed my previous resolution, to write no more, but to have a verbal explanation in your presence ; for which, however, I have not yet found leisure. Mr. Roberts has, in the meantime, it seems, thougbt proper to submit our correspondence (in what shape, and to what extent, I cannot tell,) to the Committee for the Collegiate Grammar School, and left me to be informed by my son that they have approved of his conduct, and directed him to receive no more communications from me, except for the absence, &c., of my sons.i'^^) Be it so. It was a decision founded on ex 'parte statements, but still such a one as I shall not give him an opportunity of violating, unless he retrace some of his steps. I shall, nevertheless, find a channel of communication whenever his conduct justifies my interference, perhaps not the more agreeable, because the more unusual. I am credibly informed that our correspondence has had a salutary effect, and I do not doubt that futurb occasions will lead to equally satisfactory results. While I place implicit confidence in the veracity of my son, I am not disposed lo spirt hairs to impeach Mr. Roberts' conduct. ('^i) This I have already explained, and must now leave the matter to his own reflection. I desire to live in peace with all men, and shall, I trust, ever be ready to do what is right. I am, &c.. (Signed) J. GREGORY. C. Coster, Esquire, A. M., &c. &c. [No. 25.] Fredericton, February 28, 1849. Dear Sir, — I have this moment been informed that Mr. Roberts, after an indulgence according to agreement, has set Tom to learn the Qt: moment, ;r action, .'ould be gcment ; Roberts. ; this on d to my t further the day accord- It he was imputa- urd and write no ir which, roper to extent, 1 bool, and d of his )ns from It was )ne as I ace some inication ;he more salutary equally 3n, I am 1) This his own ever bo )RY. 1849. Roberts, learn the Latin Syntax and Prosody rules. This is the spirit of ))clty revenge,, and 1 shall not permit Mr. Roberts to exercise it, without reaping Us proper fruits. Truth shall be my guide, but if he afford evidence of an intention to annoy, 1 shall certainly address him on the subject, through the public prints, were it only to inform him that 1 shall bringliis conduct before the Collegiate School Committee. Tom has ouly^a few months to be with him, and that time may as well be spent pleasantly as in a state of warfare. This note cannot be otherwise than offensive to him, and as 1 really wish for peace, I shall be obliged by your cautioning Mr. Roberts in the way that is best calculated to secure what 1 believe you love — fair ])l(iy. Yours truly, , (Signed) J. GREGORY. p. S.— 1 shall not trouble you with any more similar communi- cations. J. G. C. CosTiu, Esquire, A. M., &c. &lc. [No. 26.] ,, . Wednesday Lvmi7ig. My Dear Sir, — Permit mo to acknowledge the receipt of your two notes, which were handed to me this morning by Thomas, in the presence of Mr. Roberts. I must pray you to excuse a short answer, as my position in the Collegiate School does not ai)pear to warrant my entering into a discussion of the matters treated of. Moreover, you intimate an intention of appealing to the public, through the press, and I have the strongest repugnance to figuring in a printed correspondence. 1 made the attempt to deliver the message to Mr. Roberts, as you requested, but he positively declined receiving it, or in any other way becoming acquainted with the contents of yom notes. I assure you that 1 consider no apology, for troubling me, at all needful. So far as I am personally concerned, I shall feel much pleasure in giving all due consideration to any communication with which you may think fit to favor me.(42) Believe me, dear sir, Very truly yours, T. Gbegory, Esquire. (Signed) CHARLES COSTER 24 (G) Mu. GREGORY'S LETTER TO Mr. ROBERTS-PRODUCED BY Mr. ROBERTS. [No. '29.] FiiEDERicTON, Octohcr 6, 1848. Dear Sir, — Thomas was detained at home yesterday by indis- j)osition, and prays, with my consent, for grace. ^^^) According to our agreement, I beg to request you will dispense with iiis standing up with the general cyphering and algebra chisscs, and permit him to follow his studies in these at his desk. Also that he may be allowed to discontinue the memoriter recitations of the Grecian History Catechism, and all his Geography, except the exercise in the general class. We shall find no difficulty in profitably employing the time thus set free, both in School and at home. William is anxious to be permitted to join the Trigonometry class, for which he has, in an almost incredibly short period, made very respectable proficiency for a boy of his years. He has gone through the regular course. I am, he, (Signed) J. GREGORY. G. Roberts, Esquire. (H) Mr. GREGORY TO Mr. ROBERTS-PRODUCED BY Mr. GREGORY. [No. 30.] Fredericton, December, 1844. (44)Dear Sir, — Thomas was quite too unwell last evening, owing 10 his having foolishly fasted all day, because you did not tell him to eat his luncheon — to attend to his propositions in Euclid ! He was moreover somewhat discouraged at the extent of the task. As your school is revising and preparing for examination I fear you will find it inconvenient to give him your accustomed attention ; in which case I would prefer delaying his attendance until after the Christmas holi- days ; but if you would rather that he should continue, now that he has commenced, I would like you to exa'nine him, find out where he is, and appoint his lessons in proportion to his strength : for you must excuse me for saying, that the first seven propositions in the 6th book of Euclid, for the night's task of a boy of the age of ten years and three months, is for the first revision an unreasonahle task, and such as I could not allow him to undertake, however confident I may bo of his ability to accomplish it, if the youth of seventeen years. 25 who superintended the first demonstrations, has been sufticiently attentive. He informs me that he has revised three propositions lor you, and will be able to accomplish that number daily. In short, my expectations in sending liim were, that he would receive a general exercising in his previous acquirements, and thus be in a better state for your operations after the holidays, than it allowed to have his own way altogether, for the whole interval. I cannot attend to him. I remain, &:c., (Signed) J. GREGORY. G. RoiiERTS, Esquire. (I) Mr. GREGORY TO Mr. ROBERTS, AND ANSWER-PRODUCED BY Mr. GREGORY. [No. 31.] Fredericton, February 7, 1848. Mx Dear Sir,— I regret exceedingly that you should have so far misunderstood what I said in reference to George, as to think it nec.ssary to make any inquiry on the subject of our recent conver- sation. Although 1 have reason to believe you are now satished that what I said was r.either intended to reflect on you or on your •^,,ed Assistant, Mr. Coster, or on Mr. Moore, I think it right, . 'or all, to state my belief, that the preceptors of the Collegiate < iai School, are indefatigable in instructing their pupils, and air -i/i many respc's, eminently successful. C^^) What I said in reference to George's want of progress, was not grounded on any reports he gave me of what he was doing, but on my own observation of the listless manner he has lately fal en into while getting his lessons at home ; and at present I am inclined to attribute this to physical causes, probably worms, rather than to any natural or acquired inactivity or success in evading the notice ot his teachers It is but justice to William to state, that he was very reluctant to inform me of what took place; and 1 would now submit to you the inconvenience of making such matters the subject of reijiark under an injunction of secrecy between a parent and his child. C "> You are certainly under a mistake with respect to the removal ol my children from one school to another. i regret exceedingly we do not know each other better. I remain, &.C., (Signed) J. GREGORY. G. Roberts, Esquire. 26 [No. 32.J Frkdericton, Fthruanj 8, 1848. (47) JVIy Dkau Sin, — Owing to my being incessantly occupied IVoni the moment 1 received your note of yest(?rday, until tliu time of my closing the School, 1 was unable to make an inmiediate reply to it — which 1 should otherwise have done, in order to remove from your mind the impression that 1 had put any question whatever to either of your sons, concerning what had passed between you and them at home. This is a course I should never think of adopting^ and 1 shall therefore explain exactly how the conversation occurred. In animadverting upon George's Latin lesson being not well prepared, I took occasion to warn him that henceforth I should be the more severe in punishing him for any delinquency of tlie kind, on account of my having learnt from you, that he did not exert himself as he ouglit to study his lessons at home, which I told him not only gave me much additional trouble at School, but subjected me to the severt- mortification of hearing from his father that he was acquiring habits of indolence, " and that he was doing literally nothing at School," (your own words). To this remonstrance no reply was made by George, but William voluntarily said, " The reason why father says " thai, is because when he asks George every day how many sums " he has done in his place, sometimes George says he couldn't get " through one, and then father is angry with him. "(^8) Upon this I stated that it was only a pumpkin growth that could be measured by such daily inspection ; and after a few other remarks upon the advantage of a parent's feeling confidence in a teacher, and letting the latter perceive that such was the case — with all which perhaps you are correctly acquainted — I dismissed the class. But reflecting that on account of William's observation, the conversation had taken a wider range that I had intended, I called them back for the purpose of warning tha two other lads (not your sons) that no remarks were lo be made on what had passed, as the object of it was to arouse them all from their lethargy, and not to form a subject of conversation elsewhere. Perhaps William may have thought this general prohi- bition was meant to restrict him from mentioning it to you ; but you will at once perceive that such was not my intention, and in fact no one can be more tender than I am, of the confidence that should exist between a parent and his children. With regard to your wish that we understood each other better, 1 am inclined to hope that we shall, after this ; and I feel convinced that nothing would tend more to the accomplishment of that object, than that you should sp6nd one week by my side, while engaged in teaching. Nothing short of this could give you an adequate idea of the ingenuity and watchfulness that are requisite to keep every depart- ment in full and steady operation among a number of pupils in such cave 27 various stages of advancement. I shonUl feel .luite assured mai after such a trial of the n,ana,.nnent of the School as a whole ou woiild not be afraid to trust me even with the use «1 1 mnock s C at i, - chisn.s, since I much douht if there »s another School m the 1 un ncc ^vhere so little dependence is placed merely on text books, and wheic oral instruction is so much used as in mnic. In iact, the advan ages resulting from the system I have adopted since my return from ;.ng- land, are sufliciently evinced by the genera .mprovcmcnt ot the School in all its branches sinmltaneously, and by the commendations of those competent judges who make their monthly visits ol mspection. With ihe assurance then you have given me, of your conhdence in me and my coadjutors, I am (pite satisfied, and shall have much pleasure in using my best exertions for the steady, if not rapid, advancement of your sons-requesting, however that you will not continue them under my diargo one term alter that conOdence has ceased to cxist.(i**) T am, &c., (Signed) G. ROBERTS. J, Greourv, Esqtnrc. (K) Mr ROBERTS TO Mu. GREGORY-EXTRACT READ BY Mn GREGORY. [No. 33.1 Fredericton. Jannanj 15, 1849. * * * * It is gratifying to find that one member of the estab- lishment has been able to elicit a word of acknowledgment on your part of successful attention to your son's intellectual advancement and I be^r to acknowledge this spark of light amidst the gloom In the meantime, " mc in mca vlrtnic invohcns,'' \ console mysell with the reflectior,, that throughout my whole (career of seventeen years in this Province, I have had no reason to complain of either my abilities or my exertions being inappreciatcd by the best educated men in the land. With the assurance that I shall use every possible exertion to carry out your wishes, and claiming credit for the same,(''^0) 1 remain. &c.. J. Gbegorv, Esquire. (Signed) G ROBERTS. If 11 28 I'UBLICATIONS IN TIIK UKAI) QUARTERS NEWSPAPER-PRO- DUCED HV Mr. ROBERTS.-N0. IJ4 TO .'J8, Inclusive. (No. 3^1. J Vnblished on 'Zlth June, 1849. (''•)Mii. Editou, — Any of your Correspondents will oblige a reader, by bis observations in answer to tbe followinn; fjuestions, wbicb arise out of an examination at a recent competition : — " What is the complement of an angle ?" Answer 1. — "That which, when added to it makes it, a right angle." Answer 2. — What it wants of a right angle ?" Which of these two answers is the more correct ? Arc they not identical, that is, do they not point to, and express the same fact ? *' How many parts of a right angle triangle (without the right angle) have you to find the relations between ?" Answer. — " Five parts, three sides and two angles." Is that answer correct ? Would any of the following not be more precise, and consequently more correct ? Isi. — Between none. You have to find the parts, and not the relations between them. 2. — You must know the relation between two parts, to enable you to find any one of the other parts. 3d. — Your question taken literally, and as a suggestive of an an- swer, is unintelligible. Does an examination of the kind of propositions contained in any book o( Euclid, and the definitions, constitute a mathematical or a literary examination ? Can any of your Correspondents inform me why no second Mathe- matical prize was given at a late examination of the Collegiate Gram- mar School, after having been put down for competition ? Why there was no prize for Algebra ? Why the prize selected for the third Arithmetic class was an " Arithmetic by question and answer," seeing it and all other catechisms, except religious, are mere way marks to the regions of duncedom. Your's truly, PUER PRECEPTORI. Frederieton, 22rf June, 1849. ii' I i' ■ ' M: m jNo. 35.] Published on llth July, 1849. (52) ]VIh. Editor, — The points involved in the awarding of the County Scholarship, to be enjoyed at King's College, appear of 29 seeing siiflicient importance to justify me in soliciting space in yourcoUmms for the following observations : — , ,> „ e ,i The competition, as already announced m the " Reporter ol tlio 29th ult., took place at the Collegiate Grammar School on the 2'^(l ; and terminated, agreeably to expectation, in favour of a young gen- tleman, who, in addition to his literary attainments, >s endowed witli pleasing manners and a manly bearing— no mean recommendations for the honor conferred on him. But while 1 do not question the general superiority of the successful candidate, over all who were permitted to compete with him, I think the method of conducting the competition, and the grounds on which the prize was awarded, lair subiects for public observation, particularly as the Collegiate Oram- mar School is an important public educational institution, arid any thing done in it, is likely to serve as an example, and acquire the authority of a precedent in other places, on similar occasions. The only tenable ground for the founding of Scholarships is the en- couragement of indigent talent, And as serious evils not unfiequent- ly flow from the withdrawal of ungifted youths from the sphere ot IMc for which Providence has qualified them, and as the poverty of the candidates for education at the public expence, is the plea for the foundation of the Scholarships, so it is incumbent, in awarding these honors and aids, to take care that the recipients be so talented as to leave little doubt that they will achieve a place for themselves in that society for which their superior education would not only fit them, but in some respects demand as the necessity of their happiness. The honor of Scholarship, however, is of itself too great to admit ot the exclusion of the sons of the wealthy from the competition ; and 1 for one bid them a hearty welcome. The inquiry now is, how these principles comport with the prece- dent which has been just established. The prizes for Geography and History, Encrlish Composition, and Mathematics, were not awarded to the holder of the Scholarship ; it follows then that he gained his prize by superiority in ihe Classics and in the translation of English into Latin. That the County Scholarship should be awarded on such grounds, most people will think objectional, unless assured that the competition has been conducted so as to ascertain beyond a doubt, and as a first fact, that the successful candidate does possess the amount of talent, knowledge and industry, which would be necessary to war- rant the poor man's son in staking his prospects and happiness m scenes of life, to succeed in which his circumstances would demand more than ordinary talents. The credit of the College, moreover, requires consideration in the disposal of the Scholarships: the mere fact of being the best scholar in a Grammar School when a vacancy occurs cannot constitute a right to one in a young Province like this. rpu^^^ :,«„«..♦„„* r^^'.ritc Mr F.flitnr. were in mv ooinion overlooked 30 hi the reconl competition. The course pursued was as follows: During the last six months the competitors had orally translated cer- tain portions of Latin and Greek info English, going over the whole of ic not less than three times, in the hearing of the teachers. At the competition, certain portions of the translations thus prepared were selected and orally translated under the careful supervision of the examiners, and a few lines were afterwards written out, on slate or paper, hy each competitor.C''^) This was the sum total of the com- petition in tile Classics ; and I need not point out how extremely hazardous it made the contest. No test was applied to ascertain how the work had been got up — whether the competitors could turn the tenses or voices — whether they perceived the peculiar concord and governments — apprehended the idiomatic uses of the participles and gerunds, or any of those principles of universal grammar, the knowledge of which is the only medium of transition in the classics from the tentative processes of the mere school-boy to the intelligence and clear-mindcdness of the scholar. This description of knowledge or perception is moreover of so much importance, that no sincere and intelligent person would ever advise the youth of small pecuniary means, and whose professional prosperity is to be dependent on his talents, to risk his intellectual cultivation to any considerable extent on the study of the classics, if in the course of three years, with average attention under a faithful and competent teacher, he has failed to attain it ; — a failure which is the more serious, as in consequence of it nothing is left, after a short time, for the beneficial result of all the labor, except the derivative meaning of scarcely two hundred words. Some of your readers, Mr. Editor, will be ready to reply that the translation of English into Latin exhibits the knowledge to the importance of which I have alluded. In some circumstances I admit it would ; but the manner in which that exercise is conducted in the School in question, for public examination purposes, jjiecludes the possibility of ascertaining the point without special inquiry on the spot. The competition translation of English into Latin is managed in this wise : Some three or four weeks before the examination, from ten to fifteen lines of English are from time to time given out to be done into Latin. The translation is afterwards at convenient times given in by the pupils and corrected by the teachers. The whole is then written out in a fair hand as a piece of composition, and in that shape handed to the examiners as the awarders of prizes. — Judge Sewall of Massachusetts refused to accept as a present a set of second-hand shoe brushes, lest at a future time it should have some undefinable kind of influence in determining his judgment ; and I can perceive no reason why a teacher should think himself capable of correcting his scholars' productions without altering their relative merits. I have igence 31 seen the iniquity of such corrections, and as a father I protest against them. In a coiiipetitiou, writings thus got up amount to nothing: the authors may or may not he scholars creditahle to the teachers. The only method of testing superiority in the classics amongst school- boys, and let me add, of saving two or three years of their time, is to have a single eye to the interests of the pupils irrespective of the glory of the teachers. In the present case the talented exanriiners know the literary difficulties they themselves had to contend with in their youthful days, and the means of the successive enlargements of their own minds. Had their attention been directed unreservedly to ascertain whether the like progression was being avoided on the one hand and taking place on the other, such means of competition as 1 am commenting on would not have been attempted; and if on future occasions they will observe the method I have pointed to, so sure as there is immutability in the laws of nature, nearly the whole lime lost in the tentative processes will be saved and the best possible results secured : the teachers will be compelled to adapt their instruction to the scope of the examination. 1 repeat my opinion, (vaguely founded I must confess,) that the young gentleman to whom the Scholarship was awarded, was the best general scholar of those who were permitted to compete with him ; and I beg to mention to his further credit, that the report is current that he generously (but unsuccessfully, from some technica- lities, I presume,) offered to give up the Scholarship to one less gifted with this world's goods. But notwithstanding this favorable opinion of his merits, I submit to your readers that on account of the insufficiency of the test of Scholarship, and the method of conducting an important preliminary exercise, the competition in question ought not to be received as a satisfactory precedent. The recent establishment of Scholarships is one of the most important measures of many years. But it depends upon the faith- fulness of those who have the conferring of them, and of those vho have the opportunity of watching their bestowal, whether their establishment shall be promotive of the public good. While I would maintain that the possession of more than average talents and industry is indispensable in the recipients of those honors, I would add as a concluding remark that integrity, thoughtfulness and amiability of manners are not less so. I am yours truly. A FATHER Fredericton, July 2, 1849. ■VM ing his [No. 36.] Also pubUshcd on 1 Uh July, 1849. Mr. Editor, — Mr. Roberts, of the Collegiate Granunar School It ill having made a public talk about my interference at the late examina- tion of his establishment, I beg the favor of your columns for the following statement of the facts : — While the Virgil class was competing, I privately mentioned to Mr. Coster that the boys ought each to be furnished with a book, and put sufficiently far apart to prevent prompting. Mr. Coster immediately acted on my suggestion. Again, while the Horace class was competing, I mentioned to Mr. Roberts that the boys were not on equal terms on account of the descriptions of text books they were using, and the prompting which was jioinii on. He admitted the fact, but look no remedial steps. Perceiving that the attention of the exammers was not directed to the circumstances, I mentioned them to the Archdeacon, and shewed wherein the inequality consisted. A satisfactory alteration was then made. Again, in the Mathematical competition I took the liberty of stating that a question had not been understood, and received for answer that the examiner could not help it. Again, when Mr. Roberts wished my son (eleven and a half years old,) to compete for the first Arithmetical prize, I stated that I would not allow him. My reason was simply this : the boy had challenged the first Mathematical prize under the regulation of the College Council, and 1 was dissatisfied with the scope of the examination ; and the decision which had been given, " that the scholar to whom it had been awarded had not been found inferior to any one," amounted to nothing ; and I knew that on similar principles my son might be deprived of the first Arithmetical prize by heavy sums in simple multiplication or division by some boy or other, four or five years his senior, who might or might not understand proportion. With respect to my interference with the Classical competition, I am fully persuaded the examiners would have interfered without suggestion, if they had seen matters as I did. But the result was simply this : that Collector Smith's son, a pupil of Dr. Paterson of Saint John, who had recently joined the School, won the Horace class prize, and Frederick, son of the Master of Rolls, won the Virgil class prize, in a style (^4) that sets suspicion at defiance. If I interfered with any arrangements, I must beg Mr. Roberts' pardon, and confess that it was annoying. But more than I have stated he cannot make of it. I am yours truly, J. GREGORY. Fredericton, July 5, 1849. 33 examina- 3 for the tioned to a book, '. Coster id to Mr. It of the ig which al steps, rected to d shewed tion was iberty of eived for lalf years 1 1 would lallenged College nination ; to whom ly one," 5 my son I sums in ir or five tion. )etltion, I without esult was terson of } Horace won the nee. Roberts' ti I have ORY. [No. :n.] Published on ISth July, 1849. [To THE Editor of the Head Quarters.] Sir,— Twenty years' experience in the management of school affairs, and the approbation of so many friends as it has been my good fortune to secure in this Province, might well entitle me to treat with contempt, and pass over in silence the inconsiderate and ill-judged attacks of your three-named correspondent, " Puer Preceptori, " A Father," and " J. Gregory." Indeed I am not quite sure but that by noticing him at all I am shewing a slight to the strong judg- ment, strict integrity, and unwearied zeal of those talented gentlenien whose duty and whose pleasure it has been, during the whole period of my management of the Collegiate Sr' ool, to watch over the minutest details of the system I pursue, anc. who h>.ve, by monthly visitations, ascertained and invariably acknowledged the faithfulness with which those details have been and are carried out. Having, however, reflected that " II n'y a pas de sot si sot qui n'en trouve un plus sot qui I'admire," and that the tribe of mere theoretical educa- tionists may be more numerous than I suppose ; having, moreover, perceived by your own tribute of approbation in applying the term " excellent " to one of these effusions, that you have not considered it with your usual judgment, I am disposed to make a few observa- tions upon it that may bring its right to that epithet in question ; m doino- which I shall consider the main points in which that excellence oufrln to consist, viz., the writer's motives, his candour, his style, and his° veracity. (55) His motive in applying three different signatures to his three compositions, speaks for itself, as leading us necessarily to suppose that others are of the same way of thinking as himself, and that the Collegiate School is unpopular. Of his motive, however, in writing the " excellent " letter of " A Father," a wrong judgment may easily be formed by a casual reader ; let us, therefore, examine it. It professes to be a precautionary measure against the ivant^ of consideration in the late disposal of a Scholarship in the Collegiate School, acquiring the authority of a precedent in other places on similar occasions. This consideration, albeit, was duly given to the subject, at a special committee meeting, by the Lord Bishop, the Venerable Archdeacon, the Honorable Master of the Rolls, and two of the Professors of King's College, who not only laid down the course to be pursued, but also, with one exception, carried it out. Your correspondent says, "The only tenable ground for the founda- tion of Scholarships, is the encouragement of indigent talent ;" a view of the case in which 1 most heartily concur, and which 1 hope yet to see acknowledged by those who founded them ; yet this assertion, which of itself would fully entitle the letter to the praise you bestow on it, is neutralized in the very same paragraph by the admission that ^' the honor of Scholarship is of itself too great to admit of the exclu- £ 34 , ii .1^ sion of the sons of the vvealtliy from the competition." What, then, was his object in making the first remark? Again, when he says " the mere fact of being the best scholar in a Grammar School, when a vacancy (in the Scholarships, of course,) occurs, cannot constitute a right to one in a young Province like this," I own myself at a loss to conceive what, in your correspondent's opinion, does consti- tute that right.(56) The motive, then, of this epistle was not, as it at first appeared, to defend the cause of indigent talent, since that defence is abandoned in the same paragraph in which it is taken up, nor does any other motive appear, on this being removed, than the true one, viz., the attempt to throw an imputation upon the attain- ments of the candidates and the integrity of their instructors, which leads me to call your attention to the candour displayed by your correspondent. [ndependent of the attempt made to shew that the County Scholarship was awarded on the ground of class! al attainments only, an attempt which every one who knows the holder and the circum- stances will at once pronounce futile, this candid writer, who thinks himself the Kaye Shuttleworth of the Province, (57) indulges his spleen by professing to narrate the course of training by which this classical proficiency was got up (for the occasion, of course.) " During the last six months," says he, (candour would have allowed only five, at most,) " the competitors had orally translated certain ])ortio7is of Latin and Greek into English ;" candour did not induce him to say that these portions were, in two instances, C7itire worlcs, " going over the whole of it not less than three times in the hearing of the Teachers," candour would have allowed what " A Father" well knew, that every duty performed in the Collegiate School is gone over at least three times, and would not have insinuated that in this tnstance any particular course had been pursued for a particular pur- pose. " No test," says he, " was applied to asc^rt in how the work had been got up, whether the competitors could turn the tenses or voices — whether they perceived the peculiar concords and govern- ments," Sic. &c. Did it never occur to the writer that the examiners were gentlemen, who knew by experience, not only that 1 was incapa- ble of getting up anything in the sense he insinuates, but also, that the young gentlemen under examination were far too well grounded in their knowledge of concord and government to have ventured on such an ungrammatical phraoe as the following extract from " A Father's " own letter : " It is incumbent to take care that the recipients be so talented as to leave little doubt that they will achieve a place for themselves in society, for which their superior educa- tion would not only fit them, but, in some respects, demand, as the necessity of their happiness." As this is enough said concerning the writer's motives, style, and candour, let us now proceed to speak it 35 , of his veracity. Why does he, under the signature of " J Gregory," intimate what he knows is untrue, " that the decision concermng the mathematical prize was given merely on the plea that the scholar to whom it had been awarded had not been found mfcnor to any one?"(58) Such an assertion is an insult to the common sense and judgment not only of the Rev. gentleman who pronounced the decision, hut of all the examiners who concurred m it. ihe rea decision was, that whereas Master Murray had sh^",^'";^^^^."^' inferior to any other in the more elementary parts of the Mathematics and had displayed a considerable proficiency in Conic Sections, ot which no other pupil then in School had as yet acquired any know- Ic 'ere, the prize was unanimously awarded to him by the examiners. 1 vv°ould again ask, why does J. Gregory boast of the result of his interference with the Horace class, in such terms as to make it appear that without such interference the prize would not have gone to the right person im Does not Mr. Gregory know that of the two text books ho compared, one of which was a Delph.n edition, with Latin notes, and the other, the Rev. Mr. Pemble's edition, with English notes, the latter was held by the very boy to whom he falsely ascribes the prize ?* The fact is, that although Master G. Smith obtained, and well deserved, two other prizes, the one in ques- tion was gained by Master T. Rainsford, who had not recently joined the Collegiate School from another, as so kindly insinuated by J. Jj. But why need 1 go any further to prove either the unfriendly motives, the unjust character, or the inconsistent style of your three- fold correspondent's communications ? 1 am most reluctantly induced to notice them at all, and I certainly shall not continue a correspon- dence from which I am sure that no good can result to any one.(6") Trusting to y3ur sense of justice for the insertion of this, my hrst and last letter, , , I am, sir, your s truly, . G. ROBERTS. Fredericton, July 16, 1849. [No. 38.] Published on 25th My, 1849. [To THE Editor of the Head Quarters.] (61)Mr. Editor,— As 1 do not think that the attentive reader can m If ;«, 36 be of opinion that the correspondence respecting the Collegiate Scliool is a private quarrel, I beg the favor of the insertion of the following remarks in your next number, as my answer to the letter of Mr. Roberts, published by you on the 18th instant. I could well afford to leave the matter to the judgment of the public, as it has been presented in your own editorial rt ; and in the letters signed, " Puer Preceptor!," " A Father," " J. v j ory," and "G. Roberts," but I think it right to enforce the subject as the most powerful means of effecting a reform in the Collegiate School, in which I feel a deep personal interest. Mr. Roberts has, with singular sagacity, detected in me the authorship, which no one in Fredericton who knows me ever doubted, of the letters to yourself, signed " Puer Preceptori," and " A Father ;" but it is truly surprising that his candour did not compel him to note the modesty of the first signature, and that my knowledge of the Seminary, of which he has the chief charge, entitles me, as a father, to speak in relation to it with some indjgnation. The artifice of writing three letters, under different signatures, was very deep, and It is truly wonderful that he was able to discover the design. He may rest assured, however, the correspondence will be quite°innocu- ous as to himself, if he has not given other members of the community cause to doubt his impartiality, his zeal, his integrity and his learning. The letter of " Puer Preceplori " was intended as a gentle hint, that the examiners of public schools, at which public prions are awarded, are amenable to public judgment, that the acceptance of the office implies a promise to use due diligence in its discharge ; and further, that while, as a general rule, the great body of the by- standers will be incompetent to call their proceedings and decisions in question, there will occasionally be found one among them who has both the spirit and ability to expose anything that savors of injustice, howsoever brought about. With respect to this letter, Mr. Roberts has, by his silence, admitted the correctness of all the matters hinted at, and your readers, I do not doubt, must have come to the conclusion that they are not satisfactory. I now re-affirra the letter signed " A Father." It is sound and triithful in its principles and statements. The suggestion of Scholar- ships, to pave the way for the poor man's son from the Parish School •to the honors of the College, originated, some years ago, with the present Attorney General, and was afterwards very properly adopted by Mr. d'Avray. But it would be a gross depreciation of the valuable and indefatigable exertions of the former gentleman, in behalf of popular education, to suppose that he ever intended to foment quarrels or expose the poor man's son to be smitten in the administering of the public bounty. The sons of the rich man, 37 certainly, ought to be excluded ; but the line of separation cannot be drawn. It is prudent, therefore, to admit them with a good grace. My sons might, with perfect propriety, assert that they come within the term of indigent talent, as 1 neither have, nor am likely to acquire, the means of giving them all a classical education ; but the assessors of poor rates would, at present, with perfect propriety, dispute my title to the appellation of a poor man. Moreover, the substantial interests of indigent talent are not injured by a general competition. There are equalizing circumstances inherent in the condition of the two classes of boys, and all that is requisite to make the competition just, is fair play, the specification of which is attended with no difficulty. , , Mr. Roberts, I think, need be under no apprehension of his not having shewn " a slight to the strong judgment, strict integrity, and unwearied zeal of the gentlemen " who superintend his school, by the notice he has taken of me. His letter is their direct impeachment, and I am much mistaken if they do not hold him answerable for it. The competition for the Scholarship was conducted exactly as I represented it ; (^2) and while it may be all very true thnt considera- tion was given to the subject, and that the gentlemen he has named, "not only prescribed the course to be pursued, but also, with one exception, (?) carried it out," it is equally true that that exception was the application of any test of Scholarship. He has not denied any of my statements, though they are definite and bold, but has, with an unhappy instinct, attempted to misdirect their application, by making general what was special, and wilfully misconstruing my words, by omission, substitution, or innuendo. I made no depreciatory allusion to the quantity of translation the competitors had gone through, and am quite at a loss to conceive why he should, in the face of the public, have yielded to his known cacoethes mentiendi. My candour had no room for operation where it is not exhibited, and all connected with the School know perfectly well that he has overstepped the boundaries of truth, in stating that the portions of translation " were, in two instances, entire works ;" they were entire works in no other sense than two of Horace's satires may be said to be so.(63) Again, he is so sensitive that, in the expression "no test was applied to ascer- tain how the work was got up," he can see nothing but a personal attack, whereas nothing of the kind is implied. Who does not know that boys ad( ,)t very different methods to get up their Latin or Greek translations, and that the mere ability, at a class recitation, to translate a passage more fluently, or even in some instances more correctly, is not a test of the relative ability of the scholars, much less so is it at a public examination, for which the work has been specially revised. The poor man's son may have only the plain text, an imperfect grammar, and an inferior and tattered dictionary 38 II wherewith to labor ; the more favored youtli may have his Delphin, his Anthon, his Clarke, his Pemble, or other efficiently edited text hooks; he may possess, also, several superior Grammars, several Dictionaries, a Gradus, a Translation, and all the other luxuries of the student's table; he may have, in addition to all these, the direct assistance of an intelligent tutor. Now no man can assert that superiority in translating a few sentences, studied under circum- stances so dissimilar, is a test of Scholarship. Common sense dic- tates the putting of the competitors on a par as to all aids, the selection of passages which none of them had ever studied, or, if possible, seen, and a comparison, after a given time, of the quantity, style, and all the details of what has been thus got up. This is the test I referred to, and in doing so I imputed no improper motive to any one for its omission. The neglect of it was important, and as it was the first competition for the County Scholarship, and likely to serve as a precedent, I think I performed good service to the public by calling attention to it. And here let me observe, in passing, that Mr. Roberts has found out the convenience, and it is certainly very imposing, of making reference to the watchfulness, talents, and excellent qualities of the examiners of his School, which he erects on all occasions as chevaux- de-frise to protect his assumed attribute of educational purity and infallibility ; henceforth these shall not serve him, unless they take the alternative. And to put an end to the inconvenience of such twaddle, fairly brought under review by Mr. Roberts' letter, I beg the attention of your readers to the following facts :— On the return of my oldest son from the Sackville Academy, it was made a sine qua non condition to his entering the Collegiate School, that, among other things, he should not be required to learn de novo the Eton Latin Syntax and Prosody Rules.(64) This condition was faithfully observed, until a difference between Mr. Roberts and myself arose out of an unjustifiable and unmerciful flogging he gave my second son, for not being able to give a memoriter recitation of a geography lesson, irrespective of the maps, that is a-la-hedge school. He then revoked the conditions as to my oldest son, and out of pure spite compelled him to commence learning the rules. The boy did so without a murmur, and entreated me to make no words about it. He prevailed with me, till I observed that the Prosody Rules con- sumed a considerable portion of his time, and the boy was made unhappy from other parts of Mr. Robei'ts' conduct to him. My feelings of annoyance were aggravated by the absurdity of the affair. During the whole time the boy had been translating Virgil and Horace, the scanning was little attended to, and was not proved by any rules whatever over four or five times ; and he and his class- mates were now translating Tacitus, and there was not the smallest 39 if ])iospect of their taking up any poetical work. A way of escape had to be provided. I knew the ground— took some active steps ; the College Statute as to age— probably founded in much wisdom- was repealed, and my son entered King's College. Surely there is a lesson here for conservatives— sic in scholis sic in imperils — like causes produce like effeots. These are facts, and if the examiners throw around Mr. Roberts the protection of their character, they must assume the direct responsibility of his conduct. Again, in connection with the same uncalled for justification of himself, he appeals to my knowledge " that every duty performed in the Collegiate School is gone over at least three times." He is welcome to all he can gain by this movement. When time is not taken into consideration, I should think it strange if every duty per- formed in the School was not gone over three times at least. He has, however, unwittingly started the more important question, which 1 do not doubt he thought he had propounded and satisfactorily solved by his bold appeal : Is every duty belonging to the Collegiate School ijerformedl This is the point he insiduously seeks to estab- lish by his appeal ; but, on every consideration, I give it an emphatic denial. Passing over many important elementary peculiarities, which are not fit for the present discussion, I seize upon the preparation of Students for King's College as a duty which all parties will agree belongs, in an especial manner, to the Collegiate School. Now, in the College one of the most important and difficult exercises is the writing of themes— one in Latin or in English, as may be prescribed, being exacted weekly from every student. Does Mr. Roberts mean to insinuate that he performs the necessary elementary duty in reference to these ? If so, I should like to know when and how ; and lurther, why neither my nephew nor my son, now matriculates of the College, ever received any instruction of the kind from him ? He cannot assert that he has publicly, that is, on the school premises and within the school hours, made the smallest attempt. My nephew and the other students who recently matriculated from the Grammar School, for all Mr. Roberts knows to the contrary, may or may not have any perception of the form of a theme, or of its constituent parts, or any apprehension of a legitimate sequence in composition ; and, consequently, unless their friends have privately provided against this neglect of duty, they run the risk of losing three-fourths of the benefit°of their Collegiate course. I think this a sufficient reason for a negative answer. — Some notable instances of positive failure in the Collegiate School to impart the smallest degree of mental cultivation are well known, and nothing but respect for the parties prevents me from naming them and detailing the evidence. In return for Mr. Roberts' hypercriticism of my style, aitempted to be made good by a misquotation, and instead of retorting by the 40 exposure of his verbal and grammatical blunders, I beg lo submit to your inspection a specimen of the Englisii he calls upon his pupils to transla^ mto Latin. 1 have preserved this piece as a literary " But in enumerating the advantages of the body it matters not to the subject we are treating of whether pleasure be or be not amonjr those thmgs which we think most especial according to nature for if as It seems to me pleasure does not rank among the good things of nature It is by right omitted but if there be in it what some pe^ons wish lor there is no objection to our comprehension of it in the summum bonum. ' Did mortal ever see such stuff given to boys to translate into Liatm t Common sense informs us that none but he who has folly in his educational theory ever would think of employing such trash, particularly when he knows that he has adopted no means to train his pupils to the intelligent reading of English of more di/Hcult apprehension than common historical narrative. The boy who, even with the aid of the whole context expressed in proper English, can, with the intermixture of such jargon, attain to the conception of the original author, is past Mr. Roberts' skill in education, and is entitled to walk forth from School and College uncontrolled by the fear of birch or imposition, rustication or expulsion. I shall say no more on the subject of the letter signed " A Father " He who runs may read it ; it covers no mean or sinister motive The letter signed '< J. Gregory" was written expressly to coun- teract the tattle of Mr. Roberts, and, as the draft expressed it because " 1 had neither time nor disposition to track him." He had no grounds whatever to make my interference the subject of con- demnatory or insulting remark. You have already explained the inadvertency as to the Horace class prize, and I beg to thank you for the considerate manner in which you did so. With respect to the incidental remark about the MathenMtical prize, on which Mr. Roberts has commented, while it is untrue that I knew, or even now Tcnow of any other grounds for the quasi decision than what I stated, although I now think it possi- ble that the Venerable Archdeacon did refer to the knowledge of Conic Sections possessed by my nephew, to whom the prize was awarded, how can Mr- Roberts make what I stated insulting to the common sense and judgment of the examiners : the " whereas" part of the story looks very unlike the Archdeacon. The examination was purely elementary, and much more of a literary than of a mathe- matical character ; and to assert that,it was such an examination as is coutemplaicd by the College Council regulations, under which the challenge was made, is certainly insulting to the common sense of every one, except, perhaps, of this pink of Schoolmasteis.(65) One 41 thing is certain, there can be little educajg)nal zeal where no flisposi- tionls shewn to inquire into so interesting an educational case. Ihe teachers of the Grammar School ought to know that the boy possesses more power than that of mere memory and precoption, that he can originate and hold in his mind's eye till he expresses five or s,k Mathematical sequences, and for ability to do that, and to translcr the abilitv to other subjects, y)hilosophical or literary, thousands ol men would part with their eye teeth. Since, however, they cannot appreciate such talent— cannot train to it, would find no pleasure m endeavouring to educate it, and have treated the boy so ungener- ously (66) they must content themselves with then- legitunate share of whatever credit might accrue to a school with which such a boy is connected : They exercise him with the other boys and so serve to keep him out of his mother's way ; I educate htm at my leisure hours— they operate on his verbal memory— I cultivate his power ot attention— a matter of cousiderable delicacy, and not to be formed by every bungler, in a boy of so volatile a disposition. I should like to have an answer to the following questions :— Du the Archdeacon ask Mr. Roberts if that was his highest class ? Did Mr. Roberts, seeing Murray standing in it, answer, no, it is the second f I think Mr. Roberts would scarcely like to answer these questions. In conclusion, I observe the Hounds are out, but if they think to wound me by allusions to my descent they are greatly mistaken. 1 am the son of a mechanic, who accumulated enough to enable him to retire from business, while in health and strength, several y3ars belore his death. He reared and educated at school and College without the aid of scholarships, a family of eleven children, and provided handsomely for his widow. Some of his orphan grand children live respectably in the house in which I was born, his own children being so far removed from poverty as to be in no haste to divide this por- tion of their inheritance, so long as it is a convenience for those who are not yet quite able, on account of their years, to provide for them- selves. His oldest son died a Surgeon in the Royal Navy, and as to myself, the youngest, had a lapstone been put on my knee, or a need e in my dingers, or a hammer in my fist, instead of a quill, I might have been tamed at an earlier period of my life, and had fewer things to look back to with regret. The Hounds, however, will find me invulnerable by any soubriquet, and that I have learned so much of the mysteries of trades and professions, that when 1 order and pay for a pair of dress shoes for my children, 1 shall not permit any one to palm on them a pair of brogues, whether sent from " Do- the-Boys'-Hall," or any other establishment. 1 am yours truly, J. GREGORY. Fredericton, 21st July, 1849. 4a MINUTK OF THE COLLEGE COUNCIL. [iVo. 39.] College Council, October "il, 1849. Resolved, That on hearing Mr. Greirory and Mr. Roberts on \\\v. subj'jct of a I'eiition presented to this Roard by Mr. Grerrory n-lative to the dismissal of his son from the Collegiate SchooCthis lioard, whde they do not allow the uncontrolled right of the Master ol the Collegiate School to dismiss any pupil for the misconduct of hjs parent, but every dismissal must be always subject to the super- miendence of the Board, are of opinion that the circumstances of the case afford a sufficient justification to Mr. Roberts for the course he has adopted with respect to Mr. Gregory's son, and such as to pre- vent the Board from directinL'' his re-admission. [.No. 40.] (IV) PETITION OF Mr. GREGORY FOR A RE-HEARING BY COUNSEL. To the Chancellor, President, and Scholars, of the University of King's College, in Council assembled. The Petition of John Gregory, of Fredericton, Respectfully Sheweth : l^iai by a resolution of your Honorable Body, dated 27th October, u A M '■^*^^'"*^»/\to your Petitioner's complaint against Mr. Roberts, Head Master of the Collegiate School, filed on the 24th of August last your Petitioner submits he is aggrieved in this, that by such resolution the principle contended for by Mr. Roberts is adopted bv your Honorable Body, viz., that the Master of the Collegiate School may dismiss any boy, however well behaved, from the'' School on account of a personal quarrel with his parent. Also in this that even in the application of such a principle to the circumstances of his case, your Petitioner'; son should not have been brought within u. Also in this that your Petitioner has, up to the present time, been refused either the perusal or a copy of Mr. Roberts' written reasons for his proceedings, upon which the School Committee sanctioned his conduct, and which, for aught your Petitioner knows may have strongly affected the decision of the same persons in con ' rurrmg m the said resolution, and against this possibility your 45 Potiiioiier feels that he was fairly entitled to protect himself by an opportunity of explanation at least. Your Petitioner, therefore, respectfully prays that a re-heanng may be granted to him before a full Board of your Honorable Body, and that he may appear by Counsel. GREGORY Fredericton, February 1, 1850. NoTE.-Thc following letters arc added to «hew the extent of oflicial information commu- nicated in relation to tl.e immediately preceding Petition for a re-heanng by Counaei.- Fbedekicton, 21th February, i860. Sir —I bee vou will inform me whether my Petition to the College Council for a r*- hea/ing in S case of the expulsion of my sol from the Collegiate School ha. been la.d before that body, and whether they have directed any answer to be given m ref-rence thereto. Thefavorofanearly answer will much oblige „ . .. Your obedient servant, J. GREGORY. The Hon. Charles Fisher, Registrar. Fredericton, 28th February, 1849. SiR,-In reply to your letter of yesterday, relative to your Petition to the Co"ege Council, praying a re-hea?ing of the case of your son, I have to state that your Petition was duly laid iiefore the College Council at the late meeting. Yonrs, &c., CHARLES FISHER, Regittrar. J. (iRegory, Esquire. NOTES. [the additional documents laid before the legislature, are noticed at the conclusion op these notes.] Note 1, Page 1. — See Correspondence, No. 4 to 11, inclusive. N. 2, p. 2. — Extract from letter, No. 22, page 20. N. 3, p. 2. — The vilifying of my son can be proved whenever the attendance of the Rev. W. JafFrey can be secured. The words of my petition were altered to suit Mr. Jeffrey's distinct recollection. N. 4, p. 2. — The greater part of this petition is as insulting as the letter N. 38, of which Mr. Roberts is understood chiefly to complain. No evidence was adduced in support of it, except such as can be found in the printed documents lettered E., G. and L. N. 5, p. 3. — In letter No. 7, pages 7 and 8, the Committee dis- claim any judicial decision ; and in No. 11 His Lordship the Bishop disavows the desire to take any part in the discussion. N. 6, p. 3. — It is contended that when admission is once granted to a boy, his continuance in the school depends on circumstances which affect himself. N. 7, p. 3. — This question is insiduously put ; but Mr. Roberts signally failed in his proof. The expression in the letlt^r No. 38, p. 38, quoted by him, as evidence, proves the reverse, and in No. 29, p. 24, the deviations asked for are expressly stated to be according to agreement. The whole insinuation is unfounded. Letter No. 30 was produced by me to shew the nature of the interferences that could be alleged against me. I made no objections to his excluding my son from a Catechism Astronomy class, got up expressly for the advantage of his own son ; but I condemn his ungentlemanly conduct at the examination : he asked the boy to stand up in the class at the examination, but finding by the boy's first answer that he would fail in exposing ignorance, he put no more questions to him, nor did he allow him to correct those who were standing above him ! I was present. N. 8, p. 4. — The Council refused nothing he asked for, and as his proof is not found in the documents he produced, and as he did not orally state any special matter, it may be inferred that this paragraph is mere talk. 46 N. 9, p. 4. — The whole ol' this paragraph deserves such a rejoinder as he met with in my letter No. 38. The proof of the foundation of the insinuations is wanting. 1 can have little respect for his feelings, seeing he shewed so little of any but of the malignant kind to my oldest son. As to conceit, it is well known that his vanity prevents him from allowing the school boys to remain in ignorance of any at- tention that is paid him ; and nt the Christmas examination, in 1848, his conceit led him incautiously to inform His Lordship the Bishop that he never fulfilled the duty imposed on him by No. 17 of the School regulations. It may be that Mr. Roberts' authority in the School is shght, but he must not impute to me the effect of his own imprudent exposure of foibles before witty boys. It is to be observed that in this paragraph he uses " We" instead of " I." He has adduced no proof that Mr. Coster or Mr. Moore approves of his expulsion of the boy. N. 10, p. 4. — Mr. Roberts, for an intelligent teacher, is singularly deficient in precision. The passage he quotes has no reference to the boy he expelled, and nothing but extreme sensitiveness could sug- gest more than a laugh in connexion with it. If he chooses to take it seriously he must consider it a retort for some of his own imperti- nence. N. 11, p. 5. — I pass over the insolence contained in the first part of this paragraph. Mr. Roberts draws very heavily on my disposi- tion not to judge him. In March 1849 he told Dr. Jacob that I had withdrawn my sons from the Collegiate School, and left so sure an impression that Dr. Jacob repeated the information.'. I must suppose that this too will admit of explanation. I learned the fact from Dr. Jacob, when unsuccessfully applying for instruction in the College to my oldest son, who could not then matriculate on account of his age. N. 12, p. 5. — If the statement in question was not in Mr. Roberts' possession it must have been in that of the Committee at the time they referred me to Mr. Roberts for it. I meet his insinuation about the newspapers with the insinuation that a consciousness of the falsity or frivolity of the statement was a very probable cause of his refusal. I never saw it till it was communicated to the Legislature. N. 13, p. 5. — The difficulty has arisen from Mr. Robert's unfair treatment and impertinence. If expulsion from the Collegiate School has ceased to be a loss and a disgrace it has become so under Mr. Roberts' management N. 14, p. 5. — That conscientious scruples induced me to delay the baptism of my youngest child, for the precise period stated by Mr. Roberts, is true, but 1 deny his riglit to assume the office of inter- preter of the inscrutable arrangements of Providence. I connect the injustice under which I now labor with nothing but his conduct and private and peculiar influence. 47 N 15 u 6 — Bv cxtta judicial favor I was pcrraiued to lake a convof Mr' Robms' Petitbn, before the hearing m October, but 1 cannot tlk ttot the common rnles for the admin.strat.on of just.ce were b e ved in withholding from me Mv. Ro>'-'^^J™™t"i was to the Chancellor, which contained a f ""g.^Xrihar otC the author of a published anonymous letter, with which I had notnio vl a ever to do a„d which in some measure *^«»'^"^VMr Robet it is to be rema ked, that the order for the appearance of Mr. Roberts l^d :^ limited .3 to t.ie pr^uction of a"-r{? ■IZ'tuTd ™:;rrLrdirXsCr"i::rargaL^ pphiittincr the statements of Mr. Roberts. -a^^^a N 16 n%-I submit that there is nothing that can be considered JS. lb, p. H. 1 suui f,_„„|„^ ^as very -evere, and was ad- offensive m etter. ihe tloggmg wdb ncij^ at 10 With minis' ered . xt violation of the School regulation No. 13. W th at the Maps. It is an educational question, and I leave .t lor decision of the School Committee. j._ V n D. 10.— I believe very little of this. *"■ V ju .„ ate^much'.;f this letter, and I cLnot tell what parts - a tieres to William had in the space of a few ™°"f''^»\"'"!„V Mathematical second or third in the Arithmetical, Algebraic and Mathematu^a classes, and Mr. Roberts never gave me the ^.'Sh'est hint that he was not conducting himself to his perfect satisfaction. To expect a doy ^o make equally rapid progres? in all "ranche. is to expe. an impo - sibility. His good example in some studies ought to have been con sidered satisfac^o^;^ paragraph is malicious, provoking, and false W^o e ^hJy'whTs e^k thus ? Where do they find 'l^e repe.te and unmerited insinuations to which they a lu.e. The put^shment was unjustifiable. I have used the word false. I justify t ^hus^ Mr Roberts had in his possession my letter No. 31, p. /a, '"*""=" . «ne?al acknow edgment is made. Mr. Coster had within the pre- ^io' Tona" ela complimentary letter from «>».»- -^f some themes, and Mr. Roberts knew this per eclly well, as he b^*^^ his not havinl>; ^^J ^, caution, on account of the almost un.versal la.lure of c pa^t cKamin^tions of school boys when conducted by eacl e ,. M Roberts adopted the very course my remarks were mtended to ^ua.d against. N 14 D 16 —After sending ray leitet, No. H, I hoped ibat tlw ,„a.t;> »oSi,l be allowed lo drop; but Mr. Robens appcar.ng to "av no su b intention, and as T was heartily ti.ed of the correspon- ence I wrote ibis note in hope of elictnig some new matt r. 1 wa aware of the form of investigation he had adopted, and felt ,uL dUsatiled with it. The succeeding letters e.pla.n .be crcnm- '"n^SS p. n.-Some of the parties named neverllieless, jeered mv son .mmediately after the examination, saying, " Yot, were not rLIZ Tou were only liked with a stick." One of the parties has Snot'lldged to me that be has seen William get five ov s,K raps with a stick at one demonstration. , N 36 n 17 -Mr. Roberts evades the points m this case, first, the i'njunctbn of secrecy, and secondly, a direction to my son to g.ve a narticular account of what had been done. % 37 p i8.-0n reflection I found I had been over generous when deahni with a person who conceals from his school boys UtlTtlm a^o^^^^ ot success. The absence of remark I knew wouwt construed into perfect -quiescence^ in h.spro^^^^^^^^^^^^ probably subject me hereafter to some disadvantage. Hence his lettei N. 38, p. 20— This letter was evidenly written before the receipt of No. 21 of the same date. , , i u^a N 39 p. 21.-Mr. Roberts here refers to a verbal message he had sen^ wifh Fetter No. 22, asking a formal withdrawal o^ ^^ter No 2 which I had authorized him to return to me, if he wished the rnatter o be dropped. In this letter the demand made upon me, is altered o a removal of an unjust imputation, said to be contained in my last ette It i difficult o tell what he refers to. He had mal^ned my on ^nd mputed meanness to my course of procedure. My reply mer'eW stages that he is saved from the insinuation of being guilty of Te ;~ of asking my son to tell a lie. This was retort, and I Inusrconfe" I feel heartily ashamed of having been seduced to follow Mr. Roberts in all his sinuosities. N 40 p. 22.— This is an exaggeration of the decision, ihe Masier of^he Rolls and Professor Jack have both '" formed me hat their decision amounted to this: that it was not desirable to protract the correspondence, and the latter added, that both of us ought to endeavour to think no more about it. N. 42, p. 23— This does not indicate a bad state of things. 1 he Ill 60 truth is simply this, thai Mr. Roberts entertains towards me a feehn" of restless jealousy because t have turned my attention to education, which he considers his department, and because my sons prosper under my private supervision. N. 43, p. 24. — Mr. Roberts produced this letter to prove unwar- rantable interference with his school. The words "according to agreement," shew the fact. He has no right to set up this agree- m°ent as an interference, after having made it for his own pecuniary advantage. There is an omission in this letter supplied by Mr. Roberts^'in the copy laid before the Legislature, which further dis- proved his assertion made in letter 13. See note 18. N. 44, p. 24« — This letter was produced to shew the nature of my interference. Letter 36 shews the occasional necessity of it. One would suppose that Mr. Roberts thinks a parent must stand by and see his child Improperly dealt by. without a murmur or attempt to save him. N. 45, p. 25.— In letter 13, p. 10, Mr. Roberts alleged that I had withheld even a spark of approbation. This and letter 33 were pro- duced to prove the contrary. N. 46, p. 25. I believe Mr. Roberts had this letter and expression in his recollection when he gave the substitute for the injunction of secrecy, as stated in letter 21. N. 47, 48, p. 26. — This letter was produced in confirmation of an allegation that Mr. Roberts had shewn little regard to the feelings of my Ions, and had sometimes even reflected on myself in his school. My sons did not admit the correctness of the account given by Mr. Roberts, and understood the expression " pumpkin progress," to refer directly and offensively to my mode of conducting the education of my children. School tales ! N. 49, p. 27. — Here is cumulative proof of the falsity of Mr. Roberts' assertion in letter 13. See note 18. N. 50, p. 27. — This extract was read to disprove Mr. Roberts' assertion. See note 18. N. 51, p. 28. — This letter is connected with the 4th and 5th paragraphs of letter No. 36, p. 32. I have no wish to expose the points unnecessarily, but if I am brought into judgment on account of it, I claim a fair hearing and a specification of the objections. N. 52, p. 28. I see nothing in this letter that I need be ashamed of. I believe it has put an end to a bad practice. Too little atten- tion appears to be paid to these competitions. In one which is about to take place in the College, one youth— the youngest save one of all now in the College — has 170 pages of Greek, and about 30 in Latin, to get up within two months, and in addition to the ordinary jlessons, without anv instruction,