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Les diagrammes suivants illustrent la mdtiiode. 1 2 3 II- I " II I ' ■ •• 1 2 3 4 5 6 Td ./ A NARRATIVE OF THE CONNECTION OF THE EEV. J. BETHUJSTE, D. D WITH M'GILL COLLEGE. AS PRINCIPAL Ol\ THAT INSTITUTION, 1 ADliUJjtjSBD XO THE. * ' 7 CONGREGATION OF mWlm CHURCH, MONTREAL, '^*i»*4Vfc^ , — ■ i,vn. -TiO THE ( CXEKGy AND LAITY OF' THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND, IN THE DIOCESE OP QUBBEC. PUmXED BY LOVELL AND GIBSON, ST. NICHOLAa STREET. 2|^ 1846. r. Jt ■^^■1 A ^" A R R A T I y E OF TUB COMNtCTlON ut 1 HM JIEY. J. BETHITNE, D. D. vntm M'GiLL COLLEGE, ▲8 PBINCIPAL OF THAT INSTITUTION. ▲Z>DB£68CI> TO THB CONGREGATION OF CHJtIST CHURCH, MONTREAL, AMZ> TO TUB CLERGY AND LAITY or zns CHURCH OF ENGLAND. IK xne DIOCESE OF QUEBEC. Montreal: PBtNTifiO BT LOVKLL ANI» GfBSOM, ST. NICHOLAS 5TBKI,T. 1846. JUNIS 1955 TO THE READEU. It must be almost superfluous to say that I have not undertaken to print the following Narrative without ex- treme reluctance, and most urgent necessity. For the abuse of Newspapers, on the one hand, or what is generally understood by popularity, on the other, I carebut little ; because lam well aware that themost faithful discharge of public duty cannot guard any man against the one, nor secure him in the possession of the other. The highest auLhority has said : « Woe unto you when all men speak well of you." The Narrative wiU shew that I have been authorita- tively forced into a position, in which I must either defend myself, or submit to dark suspicion, if not degradation of character. The first law of nature authorizes me to take the former alternative. JOHN BETHUNE. MoNTBEAL, 22nd June, 1846. A NARRATn^JL: «t TlIK CONXKcmo* •» THE REV. J. BETHUNE, D. D. WITH McGILL COLLEGF^ . AS PRINCIPAL OF THAT INSTITUTIOK. '**»'*'*'»^>^**VWA»MV1*MW/WW '^'^^^^H^tfWVV The difficulties in which I have been involved na connected with the Board of the iJoyal Institutioa for tJie Advancement of Learning, that an account of their proceedings nmst necessarily constitute a considerable iwrtion ol the history of my connection with that Uni- » troiiiy. The late Mr. McGill the founder of the College, died y^T^^ '^ V S?.",'^' ""'""Sh it was kno™ that, by a provision m his M'.ll, unless a College were ereeted on the Lurns.de property within ten years from his demise. his hequest must revert to his legatees, the Board of tliehoyal Institution was not constituted until the 8th Octobe^ 1818, when half the Ihaited time had expired Ihc Boai-d was ef course aware of this fact at the time I •'"'^^,''H'°"'t'ny'"-; tl'ey, nevertheless, suftered more than fifteen months to pass by before they applied to l«1.oT''' ""'^''' M^McGiU's Will, viz. l^th Jauuarjv Wm ' T. '"^'^^'■"«"t of the legacy in the terms of tlie niu. Ihelrustees appear to have responded to the demand with all possible promptitude, for wc find them applying on the 20th of the same month, to Mr. Des- nyieres for possession of the Bumside property ; and after some correspondence with that gentleman, which terminated m his refusal to surrender any portion of the !P f i I bcmic«t, they roadc over the property to the Royal Tnf^ti- tution, by deed, on the 20th June following, m order to civo to that body a title to prosecute the claim. And thus nearly seven of the ten >car» had passed away before any step was taken to secure Mr. ^IcGill's legfacy. The late Duke of Kichmond received a despatch from Lord liathurst, the Colonial Secretary, dated Utli ^larch, 1819, directing His Grace to adopt, with as little delay as possible, the necessary " measures for erecting upon the lands left for that purpose by Mr. jMcGill, an ade- quale building for the instruction of yo\ith," and autho- rizing him to " defray the exixjnsc which it may l)C necessary, in the first instance, to incur, from the funds which may be in the hands of the Keccivcr of the Jesuits' Estates." This appears to have given the first impulse to the Koyal Institution to move at all in the dlschurgo of a duty which required the most prompt, active, and energetic proceedings. Finding, however, that they could not get possession of Burnsidc without le^al process, thev procured the erection of a College by Charter, in 1821 ; and in that invisible erection, it will appear by the sequel, they seem to have been quite satisfied that the College should remain for ever; for, when they obtained possession of Burnsido in 1829. they took no step, that I ever heard of, to procure the erection of the necessary buildings to secure the legacy,* by neans of the funds provided for that purpose in the above-men- tioned Despatch to the Duke of Richmond—and thus they lost for ever the chance of erecting the College buildings, at a cost of probably £20,000, out of the Jesuits* Estates fund— because that fund was subse- quently transferred to the disposal of the Provincial Legislature. They also lost, by this piece of neglect, an annual income of about £900, m addition to what may now, or in future, be derived from the estate ; namely, the interest of the money which has been expended m the erection of the buildings. Instead of such a course of action, they lay on their oars, quietly awaiting the Issue of their suit for the recovery from the legatees of ** - — * Althou£?h sixteen years h&A elapsed since the rteath of the Testator, yet a» hit legatees had contested the bequest, the limitation in hi* WiU could not fairly couni from an earlier period than that at which the B«>>'al I&sUtutiott w«ro put ioCo posscssioa of Burnside, vis. in the jretur IS29. •i ' >\ 111 Tn-ti- n order to im. And iisccl away ll's lc«:ncy. >atc]i from it)i Mnrcb, littk delay ting upon II, nn adc- md autho- it may l)o t the funds ;he Jesuits* st impulse ) dischiirgo active, and that they ra\ process, Charter, in appear by istied that kvhcn they ey took no tion of the y ncans of above-men- ■~and thus ;he College out of the ivas subse- Provincial neglect, an what may D 5 namely, upended in ch a course vaiting the legatees of stator, yet a» hit I not t'airiy couni a w«ro put toto the £10,000 bequeathed by Mr. McGill-^ tolt which they suffered to languish nearly fifteen years. Aftei* possession had been obtained of the Bumslde property, the (iovcmors of the College and tlie Koyal Institution, in both of which Corporations the IHtthop o ' Montreal, tlien Archdeacon and Rector of Quebec, held the otKcc of l*rincipai, propounded various schemes for the establishment of a Gmmmar School in the old house on that pro|)erty, none of which were fortunately carried into effect. 1 say forttmatehf^ because such a diversion of Mr. McGiirs bequest from liis declared intentions must have led to its itiverting to the legatees of tliat L^ontleman, according to a pt^ovinion in his \t ill wiiicli iuis been already adverted to. Through the urgency of the gentle- men wlio constituted the Medical Faculty of the College, a draft of a new Charter had been drawn up, containing certain amendments to the present Charter, tlie chief of which related to the erection of a more numerous Board of Governors resident in Montreal. In the month of November, 18o5, 1 was appointed to the office of Principal of the College, vacant by the resignation of the Bishop of Montreal, in the same temporary way as all the other officers were appointed previously to the College being brought into operation. This appointment was made by Lord Gosford, the late llishop of Quebec, and the Chief Justice of Montreal, the Honorable James Reld. Long before my appointment to this office I hud heaixl complaints frequent and loud of the tm-dy ])roceed- ings of those concerned in the affairs of the College ; and when I came into office I felt it my duty to do wliat I could to remove these complaints. The first object of my enquiry was the proposed amended Charter. What hacl become of it? Nobody knew. I caused diligent search to be made for it, and it was at length drawn from a pigeon-hole in the Provincial Secretary's Office, covered with venerable dust. An examination of tliat document convinced me that the provision for ejc-officw Governors was such that the majority of them might, in the course of no very distant time, be Roman Catholics, and that, consequently, the whole Government of the College would probably fall into their hands. I repre- sented this very objectionable feature to the Bishop of Quebec, and I was requested to propose an auieridment, f\ i \\]i]('\\ I nccordiiigly did in the following terms : ** That " (jur trusty and well beloved the Governor-in-Chief of ** Lower-Canada, or the Lieutenant Governor, or person *• administering th ' Government thereof, for the time being " — the Protestant Lord Bishop of Quebec — the Kight *' Keverend George Jehoshaphat Mountain, Lord Bishop ** of Montreal, and his Successors Bishops of Montreal — " the Kector of Christ's Clmrch, Montreal, and his Suc- ** cessors Kectors of said Church — a Minister of the " Church of Scotland resident in ^lontreal,* to be ** selected for that purpose by the Presbytery of j\Iontreal, ** to be perpetually succeeded by a minister of the Church " of Scotland chosen in like manner — the Principal of the " College — the Honorable James Keid, the Honorable *' George Moffatt, the Honorable Peter McGill, William " Kobertson, M. 1)., Wm. Plenderleath Christie, Esq, ** Samuel Gerrard, Esq. and John Samuel McCord^ Esq. *' shall be the Governors of the said College — with autlio- *' rity to fill up all vacancies, as they may occur, by the " demise, incapacity to act, or removal from tlie District " of Montreal, of any of the Governors who are not such *' ex'ojjicioy by a majority of the votes of the Governors *' ]:) resent at a meeting convened for that purpose," &c. After some discussion, this amendment was adopted at a meeting of the Governors held at Quebec, 14th Novem- ber, 1836, Lord Gosford dissenting, on the ground that the system proposed of filling up vacancies was, in hia opinion, objectionable — his Lordship, for the same reason, refused to transmit the Charter, thus amended, to England, for the approval of the Crown. A copy of the amendment was innnediately communicated to the Board of the Koyal Institution, who made no objection to it, and who had agreed to all the other amendments in the draft Charter previously to its coming into my hands. Lord Gosford left this country in 1838, and was snc« ceeded in the Government 1/ Sir John Colborne ; and in the month of January, 1839, the draft of the amended Charter, as agreed to by the Koyal Institution and the Governors of the College, was transmitted through him * I was at i;iat time under the impression, which had been induced by the Acts of former Governors of the College, that it was not intended by the founder or by the Charter, that the management of the College should be exclusively in the hand* of Members of the Church of England. : "That i-Chief of or person lime being he Ki^ht id Bishop [ontreal — \ his Suc- 3r of the I,* to be ^lontreal, le Church ipal of the [lonorable , William 5tie, Esq, 'ordy Esq. ith autlio- IV, by the le District e not such jrovernors )ose," &c. idopted at h Novem- ound that is, in hia the same amended. ;opyofthe the Board ion to it, ts in the ly hands, was snc« )rne ; and ; amended and the )ugli him i by the Acts 'oundcr or by V in the hand» to the Secretary of State for the Colonies— was approveil of and prepared for the Royal signet, when it was arres- ted in that stage by the intervention of the Royal Insti- tution, under the pretence that they had not had an opportunity of seeing it; although, on the 8th March, 1836, the Honorable A. W. Cochran, then Principal of the Royal Institution, wrote to me as follows, in answer to my urgent request that he would get the amended Charter through the necessary forms in this coimtry as speedily as possible. " The Charter of McGill College, as ** amoided^remams still under the Attorney General's con- " sideration." I made frequent application to Lord Syden- ham on the subject of this amended Charter, but his Lordship appeared to be indisposed to make any move in the affairs of the College ; His Successor, Sir C. Bao-ot, thought it best to proceed under the present Charter' and Lord Metcalfe was of the same opinion; and althouo-h the College was opened and carried on under the )resent Charter, so much inconvenience has been ll^und to arise from the circumstances of the Governor General and the Bishop of Montreal refusing to act as Governors of the College, and the great distance of the Chief Justice of Upper Canada from Montreal, thus throwing the whole burthen of responsibility upon the Chief Justice of Mon- treal and myself, that I prepared a new draft of an amended Charter, which was adopted at a meetino- of the Corporation, held on the 25th April, 1846. (See Appendix No. 1.) A Committee was appointed to draft a Petition to the Queen to accompany the draft Charter, but before they could meet, the Despatch communicating Mr. Gladstone's decision with regard to myself was received and all fui'ther proceedings were consequently arrested. ' Having disposed of this matter of the Amended Charter, I revert to the proceedmgs of the Royal Institution and of the Governors relative to the property of the Colleo-e the erection of the College Buildings, and the bringiSo- of the Institution into actual operation. ^ ^ A short time after the Amended Charter of McGill College had been transferred by the Principal of the Royal Institution to my hands, I was informed that the suit against the heirs Desrivieres for £10,000, amountino- then to more than £22,000, had been determined in the Court of final appeal ; and being well aware that the Board of the Koyal Institution had put the Governor* into possession of the IJuraside estate so soon as it had been recovered by act^oii of ejectment, on the 2l)th June, 1829 the Governors of the (xille.u^e applied to thii Board for possession of tiie funds to enable them to proceed to the erection of the necessary buildino* for bringing the College into actual operation as speedily as possible. 1 he Board appeared to be of the same opinion then us they werein 182D, namely that the whole property should be put into the hands of the (Governors so soon as recovered fi-om the heirs of Mr. McGill, and as a preliminary measure tliey communicated to the Governors the following resolution passed at a meeting, in November 1830—" That in- ♦* asmucli as it appears to the Board that formal possession «* was duly taken by the Governors of the'College at Mon- '* treal, on the 21)thMune, 182D, of the house and estate of ** Burnsido, with the knowledge and consent of a sufficient « quorum of the Board of the Koyal Institution then being " also present at Montreal, hut of which delivery of pos-^ ** session no formal record has been made in the registry ot *' the proceedings of the Koyal Institution, this Board doth ♦^ a"-ree to cause an entry to be made in the Minute of its " proceedings in coniirmation of the act of possession so " granted and taken at J^lontreal on the 29th June, 1829, " and that the Board will hold itself ready to grant such " farther instrument of assurance as the Governors, upon '* legal advice, shall find necessary, in order to invest the " Governors with full and legal possession of the Burnside " Estate.'* Not long, however, after this conimunication, the Board of the Royal Institution refused to invest the Governors with the funds, alleging that the duty of erecting the College Buildings devolved upon them, but that so soon as that duty should be discharged, the Board would then formally convey the whole bequest to the Governors, and thus enable them to bring the College into operation. The Governors, after some "deliberation, consented to this arrangement for the sake of peace and expedition, and urged upon the Board the erection of the College Build- ings without delay. The Board, on the 9th May follow- ing, notified the Governors of their intention to proceed forthwith to the erection of the buildings. But instead of acting in accordance with that notification, they re- I r-^.„4^ Governor* as it had 2l)th June, the Board proceed to inging the uble. The m us they 3u1lI be put veied fi'om :^asure they resohitioii * That in. . possession ge at Mon- id estate of a sufficient then being rery of pos- legisti'V of Board doth Limiteofits )ssession so kme, 1829, grant such •nors, upon ) invest the ic Burnside I, the Board Governors recting the lat so soon would then ernors, and operation, iited to this dition, and liege Build- May follow- to proceed 3ut instead m, they re- I peatediy endeavoured to Torce the Governora to acquiesce m their scheme of establishing a School in Burnside House; and it was not until the 7th July, 1838, that they agreed to erect them to a certain extent, and adv^ertiseS for designs, which they received in the month of October following. After they had received those designs, they revived the scheme of putting into operation some kind of Scholastic Institution in Burnside House, and proposed it to the Governors of the College, who rejected it at once, and endeavoured to persuade the Royal "institution that unless suitable buildings /bra College were erected not later than 1831), «. ^., within ten years after possession had been had of Burnside Estate in 1829, they might have another tedious suit with the legatees of Mr. McGill. This was answered by a Resolution of the Board, 21st November, 1838, to proceed to the opening of a School m Burnside House as a sufficient fulfilment of the Will^ and they reiterated this intention on the lOtli December following ; to which the Governors sent an absolute re- fusal on the 1 7th of the same month, and urged again the erection of the buildings necessary for putting°the College Into operation. On the 15th January, 183?), the Royal Institution resolved to go to the extent of £1 5,000 m the erection of buildings ; but on the 5th of the foh lowuig month they returned to their old scheme of a School III Biu-nside House. The Governors again refused their concurrence, and once more urged the erection of build- ings suitable for a College. The Royal Institution then re-advertised for designs, and subsequently appointed a meeting to be held in Montreal, in June, 1839, tor the pur- pose ofdeciding upon the best design. There were present at that meeting several members of the Royal Institution, including the Bishop of Montreal, Sir John Colborne and myself, and the members of the Medical Faculty of the College. Instead, however, of proccedinr^ to the business tor which the meeting had been app> inted, I was astoun- ded to find that Sir J. Colborne, secretly persuaded by some of the members of the Royal Institution to give in to their plan of a School in Burnside House, opened the busiricss of the meeting (the plans all lying on the table) by reading from a paper what were his intentions,-! namely, to send to England for a competent Teacher to have the title of Principal, to preside over a School in B I ■"'I! r 10 Burnside House, the Tloyal Institution having agreed to appropriate £500 per annum for the payment of hi» salary. Astounded as I was at this announcement, having never heard a whisper of it before, although I was one of the Governors of the College, and had consequently as good a right as any one else to be consulted, I imme- diately made up my mind as to the course I should pursue in the matter ; and when the question of concurrence was put to me last of all, I positively refused, and declared that I would never become a party to a scheme which must have the effect of postponing indefinitely the erec- tion of suitable College Buildings and the opening of such an Institution as was contemplated in the Will of the Testator, and consequently of endangc ring the whole bequest. Sir J. Colborne and I being the only acting Governors of the College at the time, (there being no Chief Justice of Montreal) and I being dissentient, the plan was defeated, and the meeting proceeded to the examination of the designs. In the month of August following, the buildings were commenced, but were not ^.t for the reception of Students until the month of Sep- tember, 1843. Thus did the Royal Institution allow fully three years to elapse, after they had the means of erecting the College Buildings, before the first stone was laid, and occupied four years more in their erection, in all seven years to accomplish that which mighi have been easily effected in two years, A very serious and irreparable injury to the interests of the College arose out of this delay, — namely, the establishment of the High School, which, but for this delay, I am well aware, would never have been thought of, and all the interest of the leading families of the City, now concentrated in that Institution, would have been centered in McGill College, and she would have had her hundreds of Students at the outset of her operations. But this was not all. Pending the erection of the buildings, the Royal Institution, while under various pre- tences they withheld from the Governors the promised title to the Estate, took no step to procure from the Legis- lature those extended powers without which they could not materially increase its revenues ; nor did they seek those extended powers until they were driven to it by the Petition of the Governors for the same powers in 1845. I need not I I agreed to lent of hi» Qnt. havinfj 1 was one squently as !, I imme- ►uld pursue rrencc was e1 declared eine which '/ the erec- opening of lie Will of ^ the whole >nly acting being no nticnt, the led to the of August ; "were not th of Sep- allow fully [>f erecting .s laid, and all seven leen easily rreparable ut of this ;;h School, )uld never :ie leading nstitution, she would set of her on of the irious pre- promised the Legis- r could not seek those \Q Petition [ need not U say how different would have been the pecuniary resources ot the College, had the step which they took in 1845 been taken some two or three years earlier^and even when they did petition they had prepared nothing-^they had made no calculation—they had no plan,~-but contented them- selves, by means of which I shall speak he.-eafter, with getting their name substituted for that of the CJovernor.4 in the Bill which had been drafted and brought before the Legislature by the latter,— thus adopting the whole plan ol making the most of the Burnside Estate, which, It IS well known, was entb'e/f/ mine, I shall now state the measures which were taken to procure the substitution, in the Bill of the Governors, of the words *^ The Koyal institution for the advancement ot Learning," for the words " The Governors, Principal and 1 ellows of McGill College."-The Honorable T. C. Aylwin, who had been, lor Uvo years before, the professed Champion of the College authorities in the Legislature. and who was, moreover, placed, at his own particular re- quest to me, on the Committee to which the Petition of the GovernorsMvas referred, was talked over to the side ot the Loyal Institution, being chiefly influenced, as he told me, by the information which he said he had derived from the Bishop himself, that His Lordship did not con- sider McGiIl College a Church of England Institution. Ihe Governors of the College resident in Montreal, and myself in particular, were assailed in the columns of the J^ontreat Herald in a series of numbers, and villified in the most scurrilous and libellous language ; and every exertion was made before the Committee of the House to paint me in characters which might be denominated anything but white. Among others, the Bishop of Mon- treal was brought before the Committee to give evidence, i- I /" ^^ possession a letter from His Lordship, in Winch he says he was summoned before the Committee une,vpectedbj, and against his wilU-and yet I find, in the printed Minutes of that Evidence, that His Lordship put m, during his examination, a copy of several rather volu- minous documents which he must of course have had in ms possession when so unexpectedly summoned. One of these documents was a Minute of the Procedimrs of the Jx)ard of the Koyal Institution at a pretended Visitation I tne Cohcgc III the preceding- montli of November, 12 containing strong allegations against the character and conduct of the Goveraors of the College resident in Mon- treal, and of myself more especially, against whom in- deed the whole proceedings appear to have been got up — allegations which were subst^qnently fully rebutted, as the reader will be able to judge in the sequel of this nar- rative. I shall here quote some portions of the evidence given by the Bishop of INIontreal, in order to shew into what errors His Lordship liad fallen (inadvertently I must suppose) and how liable even the best men are to mistake, \/hen imder the influence of strong bias. Question, *' Is it not now many years since all the ob- " jects for which they were constituted have been taken out " of the hands of tlie Royal Institution, and other provi- " sion been made for education? — Not all the objects, but " the greater part of them; thei'e remain but' two, the *' Visitatorial control over McGill College, and the Jloyal ** Grammar School of Montreal" — that is to say, tlie Vm- tatorial control over McGill Colleije which was created by the Charter in 1821 was one of the objects for which tlie lioyal Institution was constituted in 1801 — twenty years before ! h\ another part of liis evidence, in reply to the (Question : *< Are you aware that the Royal Institution " have refused to pay the expenses necessarily incurred " for opening the College, for which the Governors living " in Montreal are being sued ; and have they not also " refused money for the purchase of the necessary fuel, so " much so, that the said Governors have been obliged to " procure some at their own expense, to prevent the Col- " lege doors from being closed," His Lordship says, " Tlie " facts are widely different from those supposed in the " question, /row /r^f to last," And in some supplemen- tary answers, afterwards transmitted by his Lordship to the Committee, he says, v/ith reference to the same ques- tion of the fuel,^ that the Board of tlie Royal Institution " had no suspicion of the existence of the inconvenience" -^this was in January, 1845. The letter-book of the College shews that on the 15th December, 1843, the Secretary of the College wrote to the Secretary of the Royal Institution as follows: " I am directed by the ** Governors of McGill College to request the favor of '^ your laying before the Board of the Royal Institution '' the accompanying account of the expenses Incurred in m racter and mi in Mon« 'j wliom in- en got up ebutted, as of tliis nar- le evidence shew into k^ertcntly I aeii are to ias, all the ol»- Q taken out tlier provi- objcctSjbut it tAVo, the the Jloyal y, tlie Visi- created by which the ':enti/ years eply to the Institution Y incurred nors livinir y not also iry fuel, so obliged to nt the Col. lays, "The 3ed in the upplemen- ordship to same ques- [nstitntion ivenience" lok of the 1843, the iry of the ted by the i favor of nstitation icurred in " making the necessary preparations for opening and ear- ** rying on the College, as well as a statement of (he " monies due to the Professors and other Officers thereof. " I am further directed to request you to express to " the Board, the desire of the Governors that tliey be " furnished with the means of defraying these sums, out " of the property of the College in the liands of the Board, " at their earliest convenience." On the 12th January, 1844, from the same to the .same. " I am directed to enquire whether it is the intention •* of the Board of the Royal Institution to return an ** answer to my communication of the 15th December "last." From the same to the same, 5th September, 1844, viz: at the commencement of the second Collegiate year. " I am directed to state that the Governors of tlic " College are indebted to certain persons for the fuel con- " sumed in the College during the past year, in the sum " of £100 — the Board are requested in the same letter " to furnish the Governors with that amount, together " with an equal sum to enable them to purchase tlie " necessary fuel for the approaching winter," From the same to the same, 20th September, 1844, requesting on the part of the Governors " the favor of an "answer to their application of the 5th instant," From the same to the same, 24th December* 1844. " J am directed to request you to call the attention of " the Board to my communication of the 2 Oth September " last." • Not one farthing of the money alluded to in those letters was paid for " the expenses necessarily incurred " for opening the College," or " for the purchase of the " necessary fuel," until the month of January, 1845, about two months after the Petition, out of which the questions above stated arose, was presented to the Legis- lature—although the Board of the Royal Institution, It IS apparent, were made aware of the whole matter, from time to time, from the 15th December, 1843. The Bishop also says, in another part of his evidence tliat the Governors of the College had borrowed money, on their own responsibility, " but were not placed under • tlto necessity hy any Act of the Royal Institution^' al- i t\ lOUgl 14 fully sli ^ , as will be more fully shewn in the sequel of this Narrative, they had absolutely refused in June, 1813, to place any money at the disposal of the (Jovernors to enable them to make the necessary provision for opening the College. Tlie Honorable A. W. Cochran was also examined before the Connnittee, and made several very erroneous statements, for wh'ch it is difficult, considering his oppor- tunities of knowing the truth, to account as simple unaffected mistakes — Let one example suffice. In reply to the same question about " the necessary fuel," he says '* with respect to the refusal of the l!oyal institution to " advance money to the Governors for fuel; it is nottnte " that such ica.s the facf — I shall make no other observa- tion on this than simply io refer the reader to the letters above quoted. Notwithstanding all these powerful efforts, the Com- mittee reported in favor of the most essential portion of the prayer of the Governors, and a Bill which had been drafted by the Governors Avas introduced, and in that form it passed the first reading— but the second and third readings took place late on the last night of tlie Session, when, by some side >\ind maiioiuvre wliich I Iiave never been able to discover, the substitution which 1 have al- ready stated was made-^and in that shape it was hurried, with a mass of other Bills, through the Upper House and received the Koyal assent the next day. I must now revert, in my narrative, to the period when tlie various schemes of the Royal Institution for substi- tuting a Grammar School for the College provided for in Mr, JMcGill's Will, were finally thwarted in the month of June, 1839. It will be recollected that the Koyal Insti- tution offered, on that occasion, to appropriate £500 per annum, for the payment of the salary of the Head Mas- ter or Principal of such an Institution. Tlie Medical Faculty of ]\IcGill College had then discontinued their lectures for about two years for %vant of funds—I there- fore proposed to Sir J. Colborne that we should appro- priate the same sum to the IMedical Faculty peudin^' the erection of the College Buildings, to which he at "once assented. A formal meeting was held and a resolution passed to that effect, a copy of which was immcdiatelv sent to the Koyal Institution; but tiiat body refused its I (t u 3quel of this ne, 1813, to lovernors to for opening examined y erroneous g his oppor- '< aa simple :. In reply el/' he says stitution to it is not tnte icr observa- > the letters ij the Com- 1 portion of i had been n that form and third he Session, have never 1 have al« ^as hurried, House and eriod when for substi- dded for in le month of oyal Insti- 3 £500 [xjr Head Mas- he Medical nued their i — I there- uld appro- 2uding the te at onc<} resolution [imediately refused its assent, on the ground tliat it could not proix;rly ai)propri- ate any portion of the funds to the support oi one bmnch of the University, unless the others were broucrht into operation at the same tiine~-altl»ough it was fpTitc pre- pared, a short time before, to make an equal approi)riation for an object never contemi)Iatcd by the Testator, nor even by tlie Charter ! Sir J. Colborne was so nuich annoyed at this procedure of the Board, that he wrote them a very severe letter on tlie subject (see Appendix iVo. 2,) and feeling the great importance to the connnu- mty, as well as to the securitv of the bequest, of putting' the Medical Faculty of the College into active operation" he assumed the responsibility, at my suggestion, of ap' propriating from the public funds £500 for tliat object, trustmg that the Special Council would sanction diat appropriation at their next meeting. The Medical Faculty in consequence, reconnnenced their regular Courses of Lectures in the month of November folloAving— and have ever since received the like assistance from the Len-isla- ture. '^ Sir J. Colborne left this country very soon after this last mentioned occurrence, and I have already stated that Lord Sydenham manifested no interest in thu affairs of McGill College. With the exception of the erection of the College Jiuildings (under the direction of the Honorable G, Moffiitt and myself who were tlie Commissioners appointed for that puri>ose by the Royal Institution, but we experienced so many diffi- culties with the Board that we both resigned before the buildings were finished) nothing flirther was conse- quently done until the arrival in this country of Sir C. Bagot, as Governor General, On the occasion of His Excellency's first visit to ]\Iontreal, two meetings of the Governors of the College were held, at which were present feir t. Bagot, the Chief Justice of Montreal aijd myself. — when it was resolved : „ y " That it is highly desirable to put McGill ColWe mtoimmediate operation to the extent that can be war- ranted by tlie present resources of the College." (( ^' " '^^^^^"^^ *^^^ ^^"^^ Justice and the Principal be a Committee to decide upon and submit to His Excellency, ^^ for his approval, the following subjects connected With tae opening of the College, viz : with respect to 1<> A . " the Professorships, Lectureships, &c., and other Oificers •* of the (Jollege. ^ With I'espect to the general Statutes " of tlic University — and with respect to the precise ** periixl at which the College can be opened." 3, ** That Mis Kxcellcncy the Governor General be " respectfully requested to reconnnend to the l*rovincial " Legislature, at the next Session, to grant £1500 per ** annum, in aid of the current expenditure of the; College, " and farther to grant £5000 for Philosophical Appai'atus, " the rudiments of a Library, and furnitui-e for the Col' " lege." 4. " That it is expedient, for the interest of the College, " that jncasure '^" taken to procure the passing of an ** Act at the nexo ession of the l*rovincial Legislature, ** repealing the Act 4 1st Geo. Ill, Chapter 17,* and vest- ** ing the bequest of the late Mr. :McGill in the Corpora- " tion of the Governors of JMcGill College-~and that the ** Chief Justice and the Principal be authorised to com- " municate with the P>oard of the Koyal Institution on ** the subject, and to take the necessary steps for carrying " this Resolution into effect." With reference to the Resolution marked 3, the Governor General recommended to the Legislature, at the ensuin"- Session, agrantof £1000to the Governors of the College', one half of which was for the Medical Faculty— and owing to the sudden termination of the Session by a change of the Ministry, the grant was passed only bi/ a vote of the Legislative Assembly^and the portion allotted to the Medical Faculty only was paid, on the ground that the vote couid only cover such grants as had'theretofore received the formal sanction of the whole Legislature. With reference to Resolution Xo. 4, the Bill was to have been intix)duced in the same Session, but was neces- sarily postponed for the reason above stated. Notice was given of its introduction by a member of the Government in the following Session, but was again postponed by the abrupt termination of that Session, occasioned by the sudden disruption of the Ministry, and its subsequent fate in the Session of 1844-5, has already been stated. With reference to Resolution No. 2, applications for Professorships, &c. were received, and Statutes werepre- ♦ The Act which constitutes the Royal Institution. • ther Officers irsil Statutea the precise General be ) Provincial £1500 per tlu; CoUc^-e, [ Apparatus, for tlie Col- the CoUef^e, ssing of an Legislature, ,* and vest- he Corpora- md that the icd to com- >titution on tor carrying 'le Governor the ensuing the CoUenre, culty — and 3ssion by u \ only bt/ a ion allotted ground that theretofore legislature. 3ill was to ; was neces- Notice was fovernment )ned by the led by the equent fate ited. Lcations for s were pre* .1 11 pared; but owing to the long iHness of the Governor General, feir C. Bagot, and the occupations of the Chief Justice of tpper Canada, no meeting of the Governors could be called for any period earlier than the month of July, 184;J. In the meantime the two Governors resident in Hon- trea 1 under the authority of the 2nd Resolution above cited, applied to the Board of the Royal Institution for possession of the property of Burnside, by the ^^ instru- ment or assurance" which had been promised. The Loard, after some delay, sent instructions to their A^ent and Attorney in Montreal, to prepare an Act of mlse en possessim ot Burnside Estate, and the buildings thereon, to the Governors of McGill College. In this *' Act," they instructed their Agent to insert certain conditions invof- vmg certain claims to authority over the Governors, which tiiey (the Governors) had before refused to recoo-nize as inconsistent with the provisions of the Charter, viz j Ihe Governors to be put in possession of the trusts and purposes of the Will and Charter, subject to and with the reservation of the rights and powers of the Royal lnstit,ution, as Irustees under the Will, and as Visitora, VIZ : the power of establishing Statutes and By4aivs for the government of the College or Colleges erected or to be erected, &c &c on the Estate, and to repealor annul any By-laws, c^-c, which may be made for that rrrpose by tJie hovernors of the College_to enquire from time to time touching the execution of the Statutes or the cowpli* ance of the Governors with the Charter. To remove as need be the Officers of the College, for misconduci or ne- fif// '^^' ^"^ ^^^'^'^/V^^'^' ^^^ generally to 6w;)m;z, tend the management of the trust created by the Will of the lestator and the provisions of the law and the Char- ter 2o superintend, manage and administer the proper- ty devised and bequeathed by the Testator's Will or othenvise given for the maintenance and support of Mc- GiU College as an Institution of Boyal foundation ; and tor the above purposes generally to enter upon and into the jsate, buildings and premises, by themselves, or their law. fid Agents o^ Attorneys." ^^ The Governors of course refused to accept such an Act, as inconsistent mth the provisions of the Char- ter, as contradictory in itself, and as reducing them to ' li mere iiistntments in the Imnds of the Royal Institution. I may here remark that when Sir C. Metcalfe was made aware of tliese preposterous pretensions, he refused to act aa a Governor of the College, on the ground that he ^^-ould not subject any act of his to be overhauled or called in question by such a body as the Board of the Royal Insti- tution. A meeting of Governors having been arranged to take place early in July, 1843, for the purpose of taking into consideration the '* Statutes, Rules and Ordinances." pre- pared as before stated by the Chief Justice of Montreal and myself, of making the necessary appointments of Pro- fessors, &c., and of determining the precise day on which the College should be opened, the Board of the Royal In- stitution were informed, on the 22nd June, 1843, of the intention of the Governors to open the College early in the following month of September, and requested to know what sum could be placed at their disposal for making the ;jecessary preparations for that object. The Board re- fused to make any appropriation for the required purpose, unless a detailed statement of the articles of furniture, &c. which might be required, and a particular estimate of their cost should be previously furnished by the Gover- nors ; — the Governors informed the Board, in reply, that they could not furnish a detailed statement or esti- mate, but would lay out whatever sum could be appro- priated, to the best advantnge, as far as it would go. The Board persisted in their refusal. The meeting of the GovTmors before adverted to, took place on the 12th July, 1843, and was continued on the 1 3th, 11th and 15th, at which were present the Chief Justice of Montreal, the Chief Justice of Upper Canada and the Principal. The Statutes of the College were passed, the Professors, &c. appointed, and the opening of the College, on the 7th September following, determined upon. The correspondence with the Royal Institution, which had taken place at various periods, having been submitted to the meeting, it was Resolved, that " It is evi- " dent to the Governors, from the tone adopted by the Roy- " al Institution, and the idea which they seem to entertain " of their powers and of the responsibility imposed upon " theiiij that no benefit is likely to arise from continuing " this correspondence." J 19 Institution. J was made fused to act at he ^t^ould )r called in ioyal Insti- ^f^d to take takin;,' into mces," pre* f Montreal jnts of Pro- ly on which e Royal In- 848, of the ^ge early in ted to know making the Board re- ed purpose, • furniture, ar estimate the Gover- , in reply, ent or csti- 1 be appro- Id go. The ted to, took ued on the b the Chief per Canada )llege were I opening of determined Institution, aving been b " It is evi- by the Roy- to entertain posed upon continuing -\ I It was further Resolved, at the same meeting, that " upon "the principles which they (the Royal Institution) have "advanced, «nd have iudocd acted upon, it is i)lain tliey " may obstruct every movement of the Corporation towards *« carrying the Charter into effect, until their opinion is " submitted to in regard to the necessity of purchasing a " table, or upon the price of a stove-pipe to be used in the " College • • • but it can hardly be imagined that "the founder or the Government believed that they were " committing to the Goveraors of .McGill College an au- " thority liable to such inteiference and ir.ipediments as " must make all proceedings by them impracticable" and further ".the Governors beg to express their hope that "His Excellency the Governor General may not think it "out of place to communicate to the Royal Institution the " opinions which he may form on the propriety of their " making over, without delay, to the Corporation of McGill " College all the property remaining in tlieir hands for the " use of the College." ^In the hope that the differences between the Royal In- stitution and them would be speedily settled, the Gover- nors borrowed £500 on their own responsibility for two years, towards defraying the cost of the necessary furni- turc for the College-^and of putting the buildings (left unfinished by the Royal Institution) into a sufficient con- dition for the residence of Professors, and the reception of Students. For this sum they are left personally re- sponsible to this day. In carrying out the necessary work in and about the College Buildings (exclusive of fur- niture) the Chief Justice of Montreal and myself found it necessary to become personally responsible to workmen, to the amount of £428, of which about £100 remain un- paid. In fixing the amount of Salaries for the Officers of the College, the Governors felt confident of receiving the sum of £500 granted to them by a vote of the Legislative As- sembly in the previous Session, which they had been in- formed would be paid so scon as the College should be in operation — that a like sum would be granted annuall}^ and that the Burnside Estate would speedily be made much more productive of revenue. From these sources, together with the actual annual income from the College property, they felt they might count upon an income of 11,; I n r £1,500— and under these circumstances, they felt justified in fixing Salaries to the amount of £1,100. On the 7th August, 1843, I informed the Bishop of Montreal that having been appointed Professor of Divi- nity in McGill College,! intended to commence a Course of Lectures in that Faculty on the 7th of the next month, and expressed a hope that His Lordship would " see good " reason to require the attendance of all Candidates for " Holy Orders in this portion of the Province at the only ♦' place in your Lordship's Diocese where they can now " attain the academical honours of their Profession." His Lordship replied, on the 8th of the same month : " That I " cannot, by any act of mine, either now or hereafter, re- " cognize, in any shape, the propriety of the recent ar- " rangements under which you have been appointed Divi- " nity Professor in the University of McGill College." Ab- sence from Town prevented me, from replying to that letter, until the 21st of the same month; I then said, " I am at a loss to determine whether your Lordship's " resolution is based upon any general objections to the " proceedings of the Governors, at their meeting on the *' 12th July and three following days, or whether your ob- " jection is in any degree, personal. Your Lordship will, " I trust, see the justice of giving me precise information " upon this point, as well as of affording me an opportuni- " ty of remarking upon any communication which you *' may see fit to make to the Government on the subject of " my ajDpointment." The Bishop replied, on the 25th of the sam.e month : " As the appointment of Divinity Profes- " sor was made by yourself and the two Governors, who, " upon that occasion, acted with you, without any kind of " reference to the Bishop in charge of the Diocese (who, " but fur a purely technical difficulty, would be also a " Governor, as it was the intention of the Crown that he " should be,) I could hardly have anticipated that I should " now be called upon to furnish my reasons for not acqui- ♦' escing, (in anything Avhich depends upon me,) in the *' effect of that arrangement, ortorenderan account of any *' proceedings which you may suppose that I adopt in rela- *' tion to it. Whatever may be your expectations upon " these points, I am constrained to say that I must be ex- " cused from gratifying them any further than by stating " that it is not on account of offence taken at my having I u (( a a feltjustified 2 Bishop of 5or of Divi- a Course of lext month, 1 " see good ididates for at the only ey can now ssion." His h : " That I srieafter, re- ; recent ar- Dinted Divi- )llege." Ab- ng to that then said, Lordship's tions to the ting' on the ler your ob- rdship will, nformation I opportuni- which you e subject of i 25th of the lity Profes- rnors, who, any kind of )cese (who, 1 be also a )wn that he lat I should L' not acqui- ne,) in the 3unt of any opt in rela- tions upon Qust be ex- by stating my having I I 21 I' been unconsulted in the matter, that I am withheld from recognizmg the choice which has been made." On the 27th of the same month I replied as follows : " I o-ather " from your Lordship's last letter, that one of your rea- II sons for refusmg your acquiescence in my appointment as Divmity Professor is based on an assumption which IS not only mconsistent with fact,but which no one could have a just right to entertain. My appointment was not made bi/ myselj and the other two Governors, as the mi- nutes will shew— It was made by the other two, who on thatoccasion, constituted a majority of the whole number who couid act in such a case. " With regard to your Lordship's other reason, when I ^^ compare the two last paragraphs of your letter, I find from the one that it was because the appointment was made without any reference to the Bishop in char^^e of ^^ the Diocese ; and from the other that it is not on account ot oltence taken at your having been unconsulted in the matter. " Your Lordship Avill perceive that I cannot come to any conclusion on this point Avithout farther assistance from yourself; and as it seems to me to have been your desire to inform me upon it, I take the liberty to ask for something more explicit. ^^ " With regard to the purely technical difficulty which your Lordship states,has prevented you from acting as a ^^ (governor of the College, you cannot surely cast bFame on that score on any one but yourself, as I understand ^^ the remedy if required, is in your own power, and if not required you could have claimed your right to sit ^^ at the Board. But I have always understood your ^^ Lordship to say that you had neither the right nor the desire to be a Governor. The control claimed by the Board of the Royal Institution over the Governors, ^^ your Lordship no doubt thought, would have clashed rather strangely, in your own person, in your double capacity of Prmcipal of the Royal Institution and Governor of the College. " I liave no objection to say to your Lordship that I do not covet the office in question. We all thouo-ht it ^^ our duty to establish a Divinity Professorship in the ^^ College; indeed that we could not do otherwise, in obe- dience to the veiy first object pointed to in the Charter \n " viz ; ' The instruction of the youth of the Province in ** * the principles of true religion/ The funds of the Col- " lege cannot afford the means of procuring a Divinity " Professor from one of the Universities at home, a mea- *' sure which I myself stated that I should have preferred. ** I therefore accepted ti,o office, without any present emo- *' himent, being on the spot, and consequently more able " to do so than any one else, merely for the sake of secu- " ring the establishment of the office in the College. No " one anticipated any objection on the part of the^Bishop " of the Diocese ; indeed,that was the last quarter from " which it could have been imngined to arise. I take it for " granted that you cannot possibly have any objection to *' the establishment of a Divinity Professorship of our " own Church, in any College within your Diocese. I must, " therefore, conclude that your objection must be of a ** personal nature— and if it be on the ground of my in- " com.petencij, I am very willing to say that I will only '* retain it until the means of the College can afford (af- " ter all the other necessary offices are amply provided " for) to make provision for a Professor of Divinity to " be procured from Oxford or Cambridge, if the Go- '' vernors should, under such circumstances, wish me to *' resiofn." On the 1st September following, the Bishop replied : " My Dear Sir, I cannot fail to see that it would open an " interminable discussion of a very painful and improper " kind, to meet, as they would require, the observations " contained in your letter of the 27th of last month, " and to rectify all the misapprehensions under which " you labour in relation to the Bishopric of Montreal, or " other points which you have touched upon. I must, " therefore, be permitted to close here our present corres- " pondence, only repeating, in the most distinct and II decided manner, what, upon a re-examination of my " last letter with a very moderate share of attention, you II will perceive to be perfectly consistent with every other 'I part of it, that ' it is not on account of offence taken *' ' at my having been unconsulted in the matter that I " I am withheld from recognizing' the appointment which *' has been made to the Divinity Professorship. To II this, however, I will add that I have never made nor * felt any objection in principle to the union of that Pro- i le Province in idsoftheCol- ng a Divinity home, a mea- ave preferred. r present emo- itly more able sake of secu- College. No of the Bishop quarter from . I take it for 7 objection to >rship of our Dcese. I must, nust be of a nd of my iu' It I will only m afford (af- ply provided i' Divinity to , if the Go- , "Wish me to lop replied : ould open an nd improper observations last month, mder which Montreal, or )n. I must, esent corres- distinct and ition of my tention, vou every other ffence taken latter that I ;ment which rship. To ^ T made nor of that Pro- i " f^ssorstup with the situation to which you were ap- " pointed, as an ad interim arrangement, in 1835." Oa the 9th of the same month I replied as follows: "Your " Lordship having desired, in your last letter, to close ** our correspondence on the subject in hand, I shall no " further press that upon j^ou. But the closing paragraph " of your letter, which brings up a different subject, rc- " quires a passing remark. You speak of a situation to ** which you say I was appointed, as an ad interim arran- " gement, in 1835~and this reminds me that I have been " informed your Lordship lays considerable stress upon the " supposed ''ad interim arrangement,* — to such an extent " indeed as to make it a ground of objection to my con- " tinuance in the office of Principal. To say nothing of " the explanation under which I accepted that office,1(of " which I remember I put you in possession) and taking " up the hypothesis, for argument's sake, of an ad inte- " rim arrangement, in the sense assumed by your Lord- " ship, it amounts to no more than this, that the Gover- " nors reserved to themselves the right of annulling that " appointment * if they should see fit to do so. ^They " have not seen fit to do so — but have confirmed it, and " given me my commission f in the same manner and " form as all other commissions have been mvQti to all " other Officers of the College." ^ On the 18th March, 1844, the Bishop of Montreal no- tified the Governors that he had become a Governor of the College by virtue of the Provincial Statute, 7th A^c- toria. Chap. 48, passed in December, 1843. It appears that by an Imperial Statute the Bishop of Quebec was au- thorized, under certain circumstances, to execute deeds for the exchange of Clergy Reserves for other lands. The Bishop of Montreal is empowered, by tlie Act first mentioned, to perform the same acts, in the absence of a Bishop of Quebec-«and " that the duties, powers and au- " thority conferred by the said Act or Acts, or by any " other authority whatsoever, on the Bishop of Quebec " for the time being, shall devolve upon the Bishop of " Montreal for the time being, so long as there shall not " be appointed a Successor to the said late Bishop of " Quebec." This is the foundation of the Bishop's claun II i f! M«i«in ISdJ. tV«j 10 July, 1843. 24 to be a Governor. How far it may be good I shall not say at present. But, on the 24th April following, the Bishop, in a letter addressed to me, cays : " I beg to say ** that in the actunl state of relations between the Govep- " nors of McGill College, and the Royal Institution, I ** have come to the conclusion that it is inexpedient for " me to act as a member of the former body, so long as I " may occupy the post of Principal of the latter." Considering the antagonism which had so long existed between the Royal Institution and the Governors, whose acts were supposed to be influenced by me (and this I certainly will not deny, if my utmost exertions could produce that influence,) and perceiving that the same feeling was created in the mind of the Bishop towards me for the same reason, His Lordship being Principal of the one antagonistic body, and I the Principal of the other, I was not much surprised at the opposition made to my appointment in the College, from that quarter— and was even prepared to expect some measures would be taken to get rid of me. I was i?ot, therefore, much suprised that, in a letter addressed to myself, 24th Sep- tember, 1844, on a subject to be brought before the Gov- ernors relative to another Officer of the College, the Bishop should say : ** I have only further to say now that, " in order to guard against all possible misconstruction of " my forbearance thus far upon the subjects of the per- " manency of your own appointment as Principal, or my " recognition of the arrangement respecting the Divinity " Professorship, it may be necessary to have it understood '* that my views upon those two points have not under- " gone any change." Having shewn this letter to my coUeague here, he agreed with me that if tlie Bishop had any objections to my appointment tipon public grounds, we could not understand how he exercised any ** forbear- " ance," in not having brought them forward before those who had made the appointment, unless he intended to adopt some other mode of proceeding. We there- fore wrote a joint letter to His Lordship on the 5th October folloAving, in which we stated, " That they (the " undersigned) are bound to hope that youp Lordship's *| sense of justice and of true and fair dealing will with- al hold you from seeking to procure the disallowance of any of the appointments which have been made by the '1 i r> U U <( ^ 1 1 shall not llowing, the I beg to say n the Govep- istitution, I xpedient for so long as I Ltter." ong existed nors, whose (and this I tions could it the same lop towards Principal of ipal of the sition made b quarter — lures would ;fore, much 24th Sep. re the Gov- 'ollege, the y now that, struction of )f the pef" pal, or my le Divinity understood lot under- tter to my bishop had ^ grounds, ** forbear- ird before e intended We there- n the 5th they (the Lordship's will with- tice of any le bv the ♦5; 23 " Governors, by any other means tlian a reference to the " tfriS "^'''"''''^'''''' """"^ ^^' "" ^'""^^^^ proceeding at « V '^ I^i«hop replied, on the 1.5th of the same month, ^^ I ou will, 1 hope, pardon my saying that when I am conscious of any dano-er of infniiging the priiiciiiles of justice m my proceedings or deviating from true and lair dealing, I shall be thankful for any suggestions ,, jyhich niay contribute to set me right. In thS mean- it ' 1, ,^ ^"^ observe, that I do not know to what ^^ you allude m speaking of ^ other means than a refer- ence to the Governors themselves, and a public pro- ^^ ^ ceeding at the Board, «to procure the disallowance u i *? ^^J ^^ ^"^ appointments which have been made by the Governors,' but that (without in the slightest ^^ degree, admitting that all other means are interdicted to me,) I shall be fully prepared to do, % the veru means ivhch you have indicated, ^XUyUdi my ludo-ment u fi • "^l ^,^'?,^^^^;^'^^ ^^ *^^^y ^^11 n^e to be necessary iit this behalt. Lefore we had received the Bishop's reply, 1 had communicated the extracts above quoted from tlie_ Bishop's letter, of 4th Sept,, and from our let- ter to His Lordship of the 5th Oct., to the Chief Jus- loir .RPP^^ Canada—upon which he says: 2Sth Xov « /\f f "' P^'^^^^i^ejl it is impossible that the Bishop it V ^4"?? '"'"''^ '^'^'^ ^^''^ ""'^y inclination to dissent from ^^ It. When you were appointed Principal of the Uni- *. j:^P^^y' f nd when the Divinity Professorship ^vas estab- lislied, the Lishop was not even a Governor of McGiU College Ihat His Lordship should object to our hav- mg uicluded m our arrangements, a Divinity Profes- sorship, can hardly be supposed. If upon any o^rouiid applying personally to yourself, His Lordship is resolved not to acquiesce in an appointment, which he had not. and could not have any share in makin-, under the ^^ Charter; and if His Lordship should feel liimself called ^^ upon to deviate so flir from what is usual, as to cno-acre ti P^ attempting to reverse appointments which took phiSe betore his becoming a Governor, I cannot for a moment ^^ suppose that he would think of acting in any other «* P!^^"^^;; than precisely as expressed in your letter to nim— .that is by an o^jen public proceeding at the Board. u u (i £■' I' I Hi 2a " For my o^vn part, I hope it may be plainly uiiderstooti, " that if the iJishop of Jfontreal has objections upon " public ^n-onnds to your appointment, I ani not sensible " of any * forbearance' in his not havinf^ hitherto brouf^ht " them forward, if it is His Lordship's intention, at any " time and in any manner, to advance them. To abstain " from a public declaration of the objections, (v/hatever " they may be) in the presence of tliose who, with the " best intentions and from the best motives, made the ap- " pointment (and w^ho I am sure would just as readily " unmake it, if sufficient reasons could be shewn) would " be any thing but forbearance, if it could really be in- " tended to urge the same objections in a manner and in " a quarter which would prevent their being openly known " and fairly met and considered. I take it for granted, ** however, tliat any such intention must be wholly out " of the question." Soon after the explicit declaration of the Bishop of Montreal above cited, namely, on the 12th November fol- lowing, the Board of the Koval Institution, with the Bishop at their head, assembled at Montreal for the pur- pose of visiting the College. This visitation was induced by a Petition from Dr. Lundy, then Mcc Principal, (against whom veiy serious charges had been previously urged by all the other Officers of the College,) containing complamts against the Governors and especially against me. This was the ostensible cause of the Msitation, although, in the Report which they made of their proceed- ings on that occasion, they admit that those complaints were of too trivial and vague a nature to require investi- gation. The Minute, however, of their proceedings, and their address to Lord Metcalfe, plainly shew that the real object was to get rid of me— for after endeavouring to prove me guilty of many things, (which will be shewn hereafter,) they pray His Excellency *'to use his influ- " ence with Her Majesty's Government to refuse the sanc- " tion to Dr. Betlmne's appointment." They also i-e- commend an alteration in the Charter, whereby the num- ber of Governors in Montreal should be increased, and they say that ^'' the public confidence would be greater if, " m the selection of these Governors, regard should be " had to different Protestant bodies in the Province." t ^ I « s A (I <( (( uiiderstoot!, ctions upon not sensible 3rto brought tion, at any To abstain i, (v/hatever a, with the aade the ap- as readily ewn) Avould •eally be in* nner and in enly known or granted, wholly oat I Bishop of •vember fol- I, with the "or the pur- ras induced Principal, previously containing dly against Visitation, dr proceed- complaints lire investi- idings, and lat the real vouring to be shewn le his influ- se the sane- ly also I'e- y the num- eased, and ! greater if, should be Province." if I The Address containing these recommendations is signed by the Bi.s/iop of Montreal'* In my reply to that Address, the whole of their accusa- tions and allegations against nie are «|uotcd. 1 shall there- fore content myself with here giving a copy of that re- ply, winch was addressed to Lord Metcalfe, as sufficient tor the mformation of the reader: May it pleasr Your Excellenct, It is with tlie deepest regret and embarrassment, that I find mjself impelled to address Your Excellency on the subject of those portions of a communication to Your Excellency, by the Board of the Koyitil Institution for the advancement of Learning, which relate to my- self ; a copy of which has been kindly furnished to me by the Provin- cial Secretary— I say with the deepest regret and embarrassment, because, xvhen I consider that the individuals composing that Board are persons from whom no deviation from truth and justice could, /iri- ma facie, be surmised, I cannot but feel most deeply the painfulncss of my position, in being forced in self-defence, the first law of nature, to shew that there is neither the one nor the other in the allegations against my character which they have thought proper to make In tltat communication. The communication to which I refer is a "Minute « from the Proceedings of the Board of the Royal Institution for the '• advancement of Learning, at a special meeting held on the 10th " day of December, 1844," at Quebec, and an Address to Your Ex- cellency founded thereon. They say, in their Address, that the « tiwiVe J testimony of the Col- « lege Officers induces the Board to beUeve that one main reason of " the College having received so little support is that the Acting Prin- " cipai does not enjoy that confidence on the part of the public, of " which an individual standing in his position ought to be possessed. »» On enquiry I find, as will appear by the annexed document marked A, Nos. 1 and 2, that no such ** U7iited testimony of the College Olli- « cers" was given. By this phrase, I understand the Board to assert that the testimony oi all the Officers of the College K«iW in establish- ing the same point. The College Officers were at that time, besides myself, Dr. Lundy, late Vice Principal and Professor of Classical Literature, since dismissed, Mr. Wiekes, Professor of Mathematics, &c., Dr. Falloon, Lecturer in Divinity, the Revd. Joseph Abbott! Bursar, Registrar and Secretary, and Mr. Chapman, Tutor. I do « • No intimation of the existence of these communications to Lord Metcalfe wa« or the Koyal Institution. Tiieir existence was a<>ciden»nl!v (i;c,.,,vi>r.vi n .- il-.. .uouth after they had been in llh Lordship's pes sessbn:^ some .1, And that h« igainst me, of timony against relative to his my testimony was not 8utn* etely disprove stimony of tho ■cat statement I. AVickes and rencc to their rd that " one itpport is that »n the part of ttion ought to ot llie wantof f as "among ^e,** but adda, n the conduct be entertain- ' Mr. Wickeg conclusion at ffercnt mem-t nuch greater ider the cir- e Institution U Dissenters tion to open oavd of tho mber of stu- ring its first r of the lat- >n, wliich In } about five 5 for McCrill ugh the rich 3e of tuition from tlip con» add that Mr, knj" distinctive little more than nominal. I l,ad been Principal of i^t'CiU QoXh^rQ t;,r the eight years preceding the period of its opening ; so that if my „n. popularity Jiad operated at all against the prosperity of the CoUocro, it must have done so at the outset ; and the effect must have been a smduer Instead of a larger number of matriculations than was anticipated. fhe causes of the present unprosperous state of tlic College are as well known to the Board of the Royal Institution as to tlic Gover- nors — I sliall not state them Jiere j they will come better from the Governors in the reply which will shortly bo prepared to those parts of the Report of the Board to Your Kxcellency which relate to them, in that capacity. * ThQ private opinion expressed by Mr. Chapman Jiad reference only to my not being a University man, a circumstance which was as well known at the opening of the College as afterwards. It was, moreover well known that I was not to be the Chief managing Teacher, but the Chief managing Superintendent of the internal affairs of the' Col. EXTI ..ex FHOM THE LETTER OF THE GOVEHNOIIS TO LOUD METCALFE • They complain that there is a very small numb.T of students— less thfin hnlf bo number on the books last year, ancl they endeavour to account for this diminl tion ,n their own ^-^y. They state that number to be seven, whereas it ten ^ Tl,rl f 1 ?r *''''"";', "^ ^^^ '■''™°''^' f'^ «'^ ra^")' ■^'"J'^nts are the following • Three found they could not attend the College Lectures in consenuenee of h!.-; private avocations. One j,ot a Commission in"the Army. One wasTmoved by hh father because he chose to find fault with the judgment of the Cinnt n n 1 ''^ r look by Dr. Lundy. Another was removed by his father who f|uarr..lled w t'h T r Lundy. Two on account of Dr. Lundy's treatment of thorn. T« o ere removed because, having been admitted bv the Vice rrincina] Dr lundv '" ™ '^^''"o^ed hfication. they found themselves in afalse positJ^n.^^'And twru^r^tmoved^^Bru't cause assigned, but supposed to have been occasioned by Dr. Lundy In tn.thU nuid^rprspir!' ''-'' '' ''-- '^--'^ ^^-'^--^'^ ^^^^-^^ ^^^^ ^«^- - ^^^^ .f3o°.""''"' of the Royal Institution having stated the number of matricul'iterl students, proceed, with extraordinrry ha"diliood, to assert that for this s3[ni"mS oi studen s "an establishment of five Instructors and other Offices as h^l llTfh r^^'^'^'^c' '' '' ™"'"^'^^' '^'^' '^'' '=°»1'1 "°t be the case An es^abHsh To Inn ^'""^'T' ^l- ^^'''^r'''"^'^ ^y '^'' Go^^rnorsboforeit wasknownorcoih be known what number of students would matriculate. Establishments of thU description cannot be and are not made for any given number of stmwJ i feel confident it will be allowed that a Collegelcfud not be nut L^^rtlon ? -Tf a smaller number of Professors and Teache'rs than that whic^constS 2 F abl.s liment of M'Gill College at its first opening. It c.>uld Lt be extctci tSi at the nrn^'' f'''' '^' ''^"'"''°" °^ ^""'"^ is generally considered toTe fini^,« Coun/rF f ^""^T ?"" ^'^^^."t'^en years, when they almost uniformly go to ie Counting house, the Lawyer's Office, or tho Surgery of the Medical man • it could not we say, be expected that an University°nto which the youth a?o'7n SEKUrTrTd"""^ ?*^ 'r- ''''"'' ^^'^" ''^y ""^ directly tm^ X 'G?amm": nVlonc {rades or Professions, can receive many students at tho outset — at least any number at all proportionate to tho necessary establishment of iST eors. Teachers and Officers, until the public taste, and the custom ™the coun trv in 1,8 respect underp a chann^e. But what is to effect this change ? '111^^1 Sin^ into operation and maintaining Universities, although at a cost altoo-ether d S porionato to the number of students for probably a number of ™s\lv^^^^ cmhbly informed that Windsor College, Jva ScotL. althoTiS. estaJS,H;i ^l man,' M'ten yearT'""''" ""'^' '"'''' "^^''''''^^''^ students at one time. withiTtli ao l€gc» as set foitli ia the Statutes. It seems evident then that truth ftiul justice re(iuire(l a ilirt'crent statement, t)n this point also, iVora that wliich has been made by tlie IJoard of the Koyal Institution. lu one part of thinr address the Board mention me as being "a Go. " vernor in consequence of his lioicb'ng the interim api)ointment of " Pi-ineipal." In anotlier, they say " Dr. IJcthune was never appointea " except temporarihi, and his api)ointment lias never received tlie tu> •' i^essary sanction of Iler Majesty's Government." In reply to the first part of this allegation I shall simply quote the following words from my Commission from the Governors ; *« to have, hold, exercise, '« and enjoy the said otiice of Principal therein, during our j)leasure," and add, that tlie appointment? of all the Officers of the Colh^ge arc made in tlie same way, namely, during pleasure, \ may also add that my appointment as Principal was notified to Ilcr Majesty, ulong with those of the Professors, through Your Excellency, in July, 1843, and that, if the Governors considered my a])pointraent to have been only " ndintenmr or ";>ro tempore.;' they would not have included it in that notification. (See also documents marked D. Nos. I and 2.) In reply to the second part of the assertion, I quote the words of the Charter from which Your Excellency will perceive that Her Majesty may disallow the appointment of Principal or Professors ; but that is a very different thing from saying that Her Majesty's sanction is neces- aary. An Act which Your Excellency sanctions in the name of Her Majesty may be disallowed, within a certain period, by Her IMajesty j but it does not follow from tlience that Her Majesty's personal sane-' tion is necessanj to make it law in the mean time. Tlie Charter, after providing for the election of a Principal and Professors « by the " said Governors, or by the major part of such of them as shall be pre- *' sent at any meeting to be holden for such election," provides that such appointments shall be notified "to us, our heirs and successors," and " in case that we, our heirs, &c., shall disapprove of any person '' so elected, and shall cause such disapprobation to be notified to " him," &c., " he shall cease to hold the office," &c. These assertions then of the Board with respect to the tenure of my oiRce are not correct, and it cannot be said or supposed that they had not the means of knowing that they are not correct. Truth and jus- tice required a diffijrent statement at their hands. In another part of their Address the Board make the following asser- tions with regard tome: "He appears, moreover, to be in°lebt to " the Institution,— to have collected monies belonging to the College " estate, for doing which no authority appears as given to him in the " College l)ooks, and to have entered no account of such intromissions '« in the Books of the Bursar." In reply to these assertions I refer to documents annexed, marked E. and F. From that which is marked E, hen that truth int also, iVoni stitiition. being "a Go« ppoiiitment of DVL'ra|)poiiitc(l :ceivL'il the no I reply to the llowing words lokl, exercise^ our ])Ieasure," c C()ll(!ge are also add that U ivlong with ly, 1843, and ivc been only included it in I and 2.) In words of the Her Majesty ! ; but that is 3tion is neces- name of Her ler Majesty j crsonal sanc- I'he Charter, lora " by the shall be pre- rovides that successors," ' any person i notified to enure of my lat they had ith and jus- Dwing asser- le in debt to the College ) him in the itroraissions IS I refer to i marked E, m It will appear that when the Hoard asserted I appeared to be "in debt " to tlic Institution," the Ccllege owed me the sum of £016 13s 8d • and from that which is marked F, a copy of which has been in no's' session of the Board since the early part of the year is;}7, it is clear that the proceeds of the Bunimle estate belonged to me until the CoL lege should " be completed and brought into actual operation." The College books, which contain the record of the Kesolutlon of the Governors to this eilect, were, moreover, before the Board when they asserted that no auMiority for my collecting monies belonging to the College estate appears rs given to me in the College books. In the " JMinute from Proceedings of the Board," they go into some particulars on the subject. They assert that I gave up possession of Burnmle estate in May. 1840. But the fact is, that when the Board of the Koyal InstitutioT) persuaded Sir J. Colborne, in June, 1839, to adopt their favorite scheme of opening a School in the house at Burtt- side, although I opposed the scheme, as one to which the bequest of the Testator could not be legally applied, I nevertheless agreed to vacate the premises on the first November following, fur the purpose of enabling Sir John Colborne, on his own personal responsibility, to put the aforesaid Schoo/ into operation pending the erection of the College buildings, which it was then agreed should be erected forth- with ; and I took a lease of the house in which I at present reside. Before, however, I had vacated the premises of Burmide, circum- stances induced Sir J. Colborne to abandon the School scheme ; and, b>/ his particular request, I retained possession of Burnside, although I did not occupy it after the 1st November, 1839. They were un(^. cupied during the ensuing winter. ^^ The Board further assert that " a paper in Dr. Bethune's hand- " writing was subsequently produced, pui-porting to be a statement of *• the sums received by him from Burnside estate from May, 1841, to " May, 1843, and of the expenditure of a part thereof." The annexed document, marked G, proves that this " paper" is a regular audited account, rendered by me to the Governors, at their meeting in July, 1843, of my receipts and disbursements anent the 5«/m*zal and Pro- n July, 184.3. nntonnation, ebitctl hiniseli* inir 1st Rfuv, been derived as8, while ho 'oyul Institu- sum he had o\v to be de- le in satisfac- t not to have ether the eir- i the whole proceeding on the ground, supposing them to be Visitors, that they had no authority to hold a meeting in Montreal. The 6th clause of the Act 41st George III. chap. 17, authorizes the Governor of the Province " by an instrument or instruments under "the Great Seal of the Province * * * to fix the place, times, and " manner, in Avhich the said Corporation shall assemble." There is such an "instrument" fixing Quebec as the place of Meeting, but no such instrument authorizes the Board of the Royal Institution to meet at Montreal. I also protested against their whole proceeding, on the ground that I did not admit them to be the legal Visitors of McGill College, " reser- " vinff my right of action against them in my capacity of a Governor "^ of McGill College, for trespass or forcible entry." Reservinrj one's right of action, and threatening legal proceedings, are two very dif- ferent thinius. It is more than insinuated that two of the Officers of the College were influenced by me to appear before them under protest ; whereas the truth is that those Officers were advised by the Chief Justice of Montreal and myself not to refuse the summons of the Board, but to give them every possible information, because Ihey could compromise no principle thereby.— (See annexed document, marked I.)* I believe I have now replied to all the allegations made against me in my separate and individual caj^acity by the Board of the Royal In- stitution ; and I shall abstain from any observation on the whole pro- ceeding of the Board until an opportunity shall be affi)rded me of doing so in conj unction with the Chief Justice of Montreal. I cannot, however, allow the calumny uttered by the Board of the Royal Insti- tution against the Chief Justice of Montreal to pass unnoticed by me " The Chief Justice of IMontreal" (say they) "is tinwilUng, as a Ro- " man Catholic, lo interfere more than he can avoid in the govern- " ment of a Protestant Institution." In answer to this most uncalled lor allegation, it is sufficient to say that the Chief Justice of Montreal has discharged his duty as Governor of McGill College as fully and as impartially as he could have done had he been a member of the Cnurch of Eng knd^^^id^ at it might have v ery materially advanced h,w'K ^r^'"??u ""^^t^. *°. ^^^ ^«>'^1 Institution for a copy of the evidence taken by them at their Visitation of the College, which was refused. iHist me were i ! complaints, 'tcr I had en- lid not tlirea- entcring the the ground, 'ity to hold a 1, autliorizes iraents imder e, times, and There is ting, but no ition to meet :ound that I 3ge, " reser- a Governor serving one's ivo very dif- the College St ; whereas jf Justice of Dard, but to compromise )* ! against me e Royal In- whole pro- rded me of I cannot, loyal Insti- iced by me. 7, as a Ro- he govern- st uncalled )f Montreal 3 fully and nber of the y advanced the evidence M the interests of the College, had any om of the members of the Board of the Royal Institution exhibited the tithe of the zeal, in its behalf winch has been uniformly manifested by tlie Honorable the Chief J.ist,ce of Montreal. Accusations of this sort come with a peculiarly bad grace from such an inert body as the Board of tlie Royal Institu- .on have ever proved themselves to be. Their object, in this case, .as led them beyond the bounds of common prudence,-that object is the practical result " which they desire to establish, viz : that the whole management of the Institution is - in the hands of Dr. Bethune." I have the honor to be, Your Excellency's IMost obedient humble servant, {Signed,) JOHN BETHUNE, D. D., MnnfrAol -.i t^ , ,„, Pn?icipal, J\P Gill College, iMontreai, oth Februaiy, 1845. \_Enclosures.~\ A. No. 1 . ^^'cGiLL College, 3 1*;. 7««zmr^, 1845. My Deak Sm,— With reference to the "united testimony" stated by the Board of the Royal Institution in its Address to His Excellency the Governor General, dated Quebec, December 11th, 1844, to have been givenby the Officers of tho College relative to tlic want of public conHdence in the Principal, I bog to inform you that I gave no testi- mony whatever on the subject. I remain, my dear Sir, Truly 3^ours, (Signed,) JOSEPH ABBOTT, The Rev. John Bethune, D. D. '^'''' '^''^'^' '''^^'^'' Principal, McGill College. A. No. 2. L. . . (Signed,) ED. CHAPMAN. The Rev. the Principal of McGill College. (A true copy.) J. J» C. Abbott, Acfff. Secy, McGill College. D. No. 1. . Montreal, 14th Fehruarrj, 1845. I do hereby certify that at a Meeting of the Governors of M'Gill College, on the 13th July, 1843, the appointment of the Rev. John Bethune, D. D., to the Office of Principal of said College, was intended to be made and was made as permanent as it is in the power of the Governors to make that or any other appointment. {Signed,) VALLlfiRES DE ST. REAL, Ch. J. Montreal, and Governor of McGill College. (A true copy.) J. J. C, Abbott, Actg. Secy. McGill College. D. No. 2. TonoNTO, I9th February, 1845. Sra,— In reply to your letter I have to state that I considered your appointment to be Principal of McGill College to be permanent in the same degree as tlie other appointments made at the same time. I have no copy of the Minutes of our Proceedings in July, 1843, but I think I recollect them clearly, and I hav. no impression on my mind that your appointment was intended to be otherwise than permanent. It appeared to the Chief Justice of Montreal and myself, that you had been appointed in fact, seven years before, by the Lord Bisliop of Quebec, Dr. Stewart, and Chief Justice Reid, and the correspondence respecting that appointment was before us. If it v/ere clear that that had been meant as a merely temporary appointment, still you had un- der it been for seven years exerting yourself strenuously to bring the College into operation, and considering that the resources of the In- stitution did not enable us to offijr any remuneration that would in- duce a stranger to come from Europe, to accept the charge, it .ap- peared to us to be fortunate that we could avail ourselves of the servi- ces of a person in your position in society as the nojJiinul head of the 38 College— making sucli arrangement for the practical conJuctofthe Institution, under the superintendence of a Vice-Principal, as had been made in the College here. I am, dear Sir, Yours very faithfully, T? T^ T, 1 ('^'^''^^') '^^^0. B. ROBINSON. Kev. Dr. Bethune, &c. &c. &c. (A true copy.) J. J. C. Abbott, Jctff. Secy. McCm College. I certify that at the time of the Visitation of the Royal Institution in November last, the College was indebted to the Rev. Dr. Bethune m the sum of (£616 13s. 8d.) six hundred and sixteen pounds thir- teen shillings and eight pence currency for monies actually paid, salary and liabilities incurred by him on account of the College. .T. J. C. ABBOTT, ,, ^ -^ctg- Bursary McGill CoUeqf. IM'Gill College, Srd February, 184o. F. Extract from the Minutes of a Meeting of the Governors of M'Gill College, held at Quebec on the 14th November, 1836. ''Resolved, That as no certain term of lease can now be given of " said premises" (to Avit, Burnside estate,) "the same be put in the "occupation and charge of the Principal of the College for the time " being, until the College be completed and brought into actual opera- « tion, on condition that the Principal shall keep the premises in the same state of repair as he shall receive them. ■ Adopted unanimously, and signed by the Chairman of the Meet- u ing. (A true copy.) 3rd Februarv, 184o. {Signed,) « GOSFORD, " Governor in Chief.'' J. J C. Abbott, Actg. Secy. McGill College. conduct of the cipal, as had BINSON. fe. 1 Institution )r. Bethunc pounds tliir- paid, salary 50TT, rill College, ofM'Gill c given of put in the r the time ;ual opera- ises in the the Meet- Chiefr 30 G. The Burnside Farm in (iccount with the Pnncijjal of Me Gill Collerjc. Dr. 1839. jC 8. d To balance of account not paid by Royal In* stitution, 40 May 17,— To paid Insurance on House,...., 2 10 O Dec. 17,~.To paid City Tax, * ' o o n April 29,-.To paid Insurance on House, 2 10 May 9,— -To paid Bourdon, for repairs, „„[ 2 12 2 Nov. 21,-~To paid Bethune and Kittson for advertising ''^"^^^''^^"^oP^^i^*^^*^''^* ""^^^^o"' •." 4 19 1 1841. April 29,— To paid Insurance on House, ., 2 10 June l.—To paid City Taxes, .'..' 3 15 q Bee. 24,—To paid Bourdon, for repairs, ,,».... 2 a c 1842. -.. w: « o To paid Bourdon*s account for making fences, 49 9 11 March, —To paid expenses of a journey to Kingston, on the business of the University,,..,...... 7 10 April I3,-.To paid City Tax, [^ 7 29, — To paid Insurance on House, 2 16 9 July l,-~To paid Chimney money, 7 6 Sept. —To paid expenses of a journey to Kingston, on the business of the University,..,,. 6 Nov. —To paid expenses to Toronto, on the business of the University,.,.....,, 8 14,— To paid Bourdon, for repairs,. oil a 1843. w u 8 To paid Pelton'3 account for expenses on ar- rears of sale to him,.. „. 11 7 5 May, —To paid City Tax, Z,.,Z 10 5 To balance received by the Principal in 3i years, making an average of £19 4s. I0|d, per annum, ^,, 67 7 £225 1841. £ 8. d May ^ 1,— By rents to date, 80 1842. May 1,— By rents to date,.... 80 O May 1, — By rents to date, 65 £225 40 '.ft I have compared this account with the original voucIicM, anJ cer- tify that they agi'cc. {Signed,) F. J. LUNDY, Act(f, SecTf. Mc Gill College. (A true copy.) J. J. C. Abeott, Actg» Bursar^ McGill ColUge. 3rd February, 1815. I hereby certify that the amount of the proceeds of the rent of Cunisidc estate, from August 1st, 1843, to May 1st, 1844, viz : for three quarters of a year, has becu carried to the debit of Dr. Bethunc's account iu the College Books. J. J, C. ABBOTT, Actg. Biirsavy McGill College. February 3rd, 1845. J* McGlLL COLLKGE, 4.th February y 1845- We, the undersigned, hereby declare that we were not influenced, either directly or indirectly, by the Principal of the College, in going before the Board of the Royal Institution zcnder protest, at their Visi- tation in November last. {Signed,) W. WICKES, Professor of Mathematics. E. CHAPMAN, Lecturer, Mc Gill College. (A true copy.) J. J. C. Abbott, Acting Secretary. K. No. 1. (Copy.) Montreal, 5th February, 1845. Rev. Sir, — I have to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 31st ult., requesting to bo informed, Istly, by whose authority I con- sider myself to have been put in possession of Burnsidc ; and 2ndly, the period up to which I have paid rent. In reply to the first question, I have to state that the sale of Burn" side in 1842, was after mature consideration, effected by the authority of the Boai'd of the Royal Institution, A plan of the ground, the conditions of sale, and every particular relative thereto, having been 41 , anJ ccr- Y. College. J rent of viz : for Bethuuc'd TT, College. K. , 1845. ifluenceJ, iu going leir Visi- in'cviously submitted to the said Board for its approbation ; and tliat directions for the sale of the said property were finally forwarded to the Governors of McGill College in a letter written by the authority of the said Board, dated April, 1842, and signed by the Rev. Mr. Barrage, Secretary to the Royal Institution. The sale took place on the premises on the day advertised, in the presence of a number of citizens, and was conducted throughout under the direction of the Governors of McGill College, represented by the Principal of said College on behalf of himself and remaining Gover- nors, whose sanction to the sale had previously been obtained ; and it was duly awarded to me as the highest bidder, and the possession dT the property waa by virtue of the conditions of the said sale, vested in me instanter. The amount of rent paid to you from the 1st May, 1842, to the 1st May, 1844, is £200, which includes sundry repairs of the house, fences, I remain, Rev'd Sir, &c. (Signed,) J. PELTON. The Rev. Dr. Bethune, &c. &c. &c. (A true copy.) Joa. Abbott, Acting Secretary. matics. llcge. K. No. 2. 1845. er of the ty I con- id 2ndly, )f Burn" authority unrl. the ing been Royal iNSTiiUTios Offick, Quebec, I9th April, 1842. To the Rev'd Dr. Bethune, D. D., Principal M'Gill College, Montreal. Sir,— Your letter of the 15th instant has been laid before a Special Meeting of the Board of the Royal Institution held this day. I am directed to inform you, in reply, that the Board concur in the arrange- ment and valuation proposed in your letter with respect to the disposal of 25^ acres of the Burnside estate. The Board suggest that it should be ascertained previously to the sale, what terms can be made with the Seminary for the adjustment of any claim that they may have in re- spect to the pronertv to be so disposed of. The Board propose to W' 42 communicate further with you in regard to the otlicr properly in time for the sale of the 28th instant* I hdve the honor to be. Sir, Yoar most obedient serv^t, (Signed,) R.B.BURRAGE, Secretary t ft' /• (True copy.) {Signedy) Joshua pEttOK. (A true copy.) Jos. Abbott, Acting Sec'y McGill College. l( i ? i ■ _ I ■ The address of the Royal Institution and my reply thereto, were duly forwarded to the Secretary of State by the Governor General ; and I received the following com- munication, in due course, relative thereto : <• Civil. Secretary's Office, '• Montreal, 15th May, 1845. Revekend Sir, " The Governor General having transmitted to Her Majes- ty's Secretary of State, copies of certain documents received from you on the question of your permanent appointment to the office of Principal of McGill College, I am directed to inform you that a despatch in reply has been received from Her Majesty's Secretary of State, and that His Lordship declines to interfere in the contro- versy which has unhappily arisen between the Governors of the Col- lege and the Board of the Royal Institution. " I have the honor to be, "Rev. Sir, " Your most obedient humble servant," (Sigfied,) « J. M. HIGGINSON." Here then was a failure of this attempt to get me out of office. The following letter from the Bishop to the Chief Jus- tice of Montreal, dated Quebec 15th March, 1845, may be considered in the light of at least a demonstration to- wards the same object : — " The reception of an official ' notice to attend a meeting of the Governors of McGill College at Montreal, on the 26th of the present month, " pn]-ninrl« inn that I ono-lit tn inforip vmj., -is the Senior " Governor resident in that City, of a step which I some (( ** tiiiie ago, t'clt it necessary to take in relation to such ** meetings.'* ** The dissatisfaction with which I am compelled to " view the proceedings of the Reverend Dr. Bethune in " his discharge of the duties of Principal of the College, " and thence, ex officio, as one of the Governors, has " been such as to prompt me to signify to His Excellen- " cy the Governor General, my purpose of abstaining " from taking my scat at the Board, so long as Dr» Be- ** thuno continues in office." The Chief Justice replied to this announcement, on the 18th of the same month : — " I respectfully acknowledge ** the receipt of your letter of the 15th Distant, signify- *' ing your intention of abstainii>g from taking your seat " at the Board, as a Governor of McGill College, so long " as Dr, Bethune continues in office. " I have the honor to be, " &c. &c." This announcement producing no perceptible cffiict, I remained unmolested until I received a letter from the Bishop of Montreal, dated 20th September, 1845, in %vhichHis Lordship says: — " A report being current which " it is highly important that I should have authority to " contradict,— namely that you have appropriated to ** your own use, upon the alleged ground of your being " entitled to a Salary as Professor of Divinity in McGill " College, a sum exceeding £200, out of the amount re- " mitted to the Governors of the College at Montreal, by " the Board of the late Royal Institution, for the pay- ** ment of certain demands, of which a list had been fur- ** nished by the Bursar, — I am placed under the necessity " of requesting distinct information from you respecting " the facts of the case. *' It must be quite superfluous for me to state that this " is an imputation requiring imperatively to be wiped " off from the character of a gentleman occupying the ** position which you hold in the Church, — the money " having been placed at the disposal of the Governors in " Montreal, simply, solely and expressly for the object of " satisfying demands, of which the specific statement had " been officially furnished for that end ; and in faith, as " none of the parties concerned could possibly fail to be 44 " aware, of its being applied to that purpose and no " other. " I may forbear, therefore, from pointin;^ out the aggra- " vation of this charge which arises from the circumstance " of your not being entitled to a salary as Professor — . " it being manifest that no such payment is borne out by ** the Minute of the Governors upon the subject, compar- *' ed with the actual condition of the funds available for " the support of the College — add to which that the fact " of your performing gratuitously the different duties " which you have undertaken, in connection with that In- '* stitution, is the only ground which has justified or could " justify me in forbearing to insist upon your keeping a " Curate in the Parish, in order to supply the deficiencies " caused by the occupation of your time iu College ai- " fairs." Feeling that the charge involved in the report was, not that I had received money on account of my salary as an Ofiicer of the College, but that I had, of myself without any other authority appropriated to my own use, money which was distinctly given for other purposes, I content- ed myself with simply denying the truth of the Beport — and with stating tliat " Your Lordship is in error in sup- " posing that any money remitted by the late Board of " the Royal Institution to the Governors of McGill Col- " lege, at any time. Was remitted on any other terms than *' that it should be at the absolute disposal of the two " Governors resident in Montreal, who always refused to " receive money from the Royal Institution on any other ** terms — and that Your Lordship is equally in error in (( supposing that I was not entitled to the payment of my " salary as Professor of Divinity on the ground of the " state of the College funds." Plis Lordship was not satisfied with this answer, and I consequently sent him the following documents. " Montreal, 4dded to their number, so as to " have rendered that institution a useful and active promoter of the " public interests. His Excellency had farther intended to propose to " the Special Council an Ordinance appropriating a sum of money " towards the erection of McGiil College. " I have the honor to be, &c., (Signed,) "THOS. LEIGH G OLDIE, "Civil Secretary." " The Secretary of the "Royal Institution, "Quebec." No. 3. (Copy.) " I hereby certify that the Rev. John Bethune, D. D., is perso- " nally liable to the payment of a debt amounting to upwards of £120, " for fuel for McGill College during this current Collegiate year, " Tiz : from the beginning of September, 1845, to this date." (Signed,) "JOS. ABBOTT, ^^ ^ ** Bursar^ Sfe. McGill College. ** McGill College, "May nth, 184t>." I . 55 " This is to certify that the Chief Justice of Upper Canaila, the " Chief Justice of Montreal, and the Principal of the College borrowed " £500, for the purpose of procuring the necessary furniture for opening ** the College, for the repayment of which, together with nearly three *' years interest thereon, they are still individually liable ; that the " Chief Justice of Montreal and the Principal of the College are per- •* sonally responsible also for the farther sunj of nearly £100, for the " out-buildings of the College ; and tliat the Principal, by his own " individual weans and credit, obtained and provided fuel for the " College when the funds belonging to it wea-e withheld during a con- '* siderable period, (Signed,) « JOS. ABBOTT, " Bursar, McGxH College. " McGill College, " May 27th, 1846." No. 4. Assets of the College, as stated by the Board of the Hoyal Institu- tion, on the 15th November, 1845. Montreal Bank Stock, £ 912 Deposits in Banks, 1,191 9 8 Rentes Constitucs'~-(\\xo, , 48 Rent of House in New Market due, 62 10 Arrears of Rent of Burnside, per J. Pelton, 175 :e2,388 19 8 To this amount might be added, from Sale of £129 Rentes Constilucs, which juight be sold for, £1,500 Total available assets, £3,888 19 8 Total amount of debts due by the College, including all Salaries due 1st October, 1845, £2,754 10 9| Balance of funds, £1,134 8 10^ The above balance of £1,134 divided by three, would give for three years, an annual income of, £ 378 O Income from Real Estate, 732 Total annual income, .,..,...£1,110 Annual Expenditure of the College at the same period, but now reduced: For Salaries, £ 915 For Contingencies, 173 £1,088 56 It may here be remarked, that, reckoning according to the average prices already obtained for lots on Burnside, the income of the College might, with proper exertion, bo increased to £3000 per annum, ia three years*. No. S, " We, the undersigned, Officers of th« University of McGill College, •* from our personal knowledge, as far as we have respectively beea " connected with it, do hereby certify that the Reverend John Bethune, •* Doctor in Divinity, has performed the duties of his office of Princi- " cipal of this Institution with a zeal, ability and moderation only " equalled by his patient and enduring perseverance under circum- ** stances of great and harassing difficulty, and that the opening and ** establishing of the College, and consequently its very existence, are " mainly to be ascribed, as we verily believe, to his active and indefa- " tigable exertions." (Signed,) " JOS. ABBOTT, A. M., " Ficc Principal and Secretary. (Signed,) «• E. CHAPMAN, " Late Professor of Classical Literature.*' « McGill College, " May nth, 1846." " My connection with McGill College has been of very recent date, " and I have no objections to add my testimony to the above." (Signed,) •♦ WILLIAM T. LEACH, " Professor of Classical Literatur0, ''McG,C"