IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) jf' ks- 4^1!^ 4^ ^.^ V 1.0 1.1 11.25 |iO ^^" ■■■ itt Itt 12.2 m — m u ■4.0 -► Photographic Sciences Corporalion ^JV 23 WIST MAIM STRSIT WnSTER.N.Y. 14SM (716? 172-4503 CIHM/ICMH Microfiche Series. CIHIVI/ICIVIH Collection de microfiches. Canadian Instituta for Historical IMicroraprodurtiont / inatitut Canadian da microraproductiona hiatoriquaa TMhnieal and Biblioaraphle NotM/NotM tadiniquM m MMIoflraphiquM Th« Inatitut* ha* attamptad to obtain tha baat original copy availabia for filming. Faaturoa of thia copy which may ba bibNognHMHeaHy uniqua. which may altar any of tha imagaa in tha raproduction, or wMch may significantly changa tha uauai mathod of filming, ara ohaekad balow. EZl D D D D D ColOurad coyara/ Couvartiira da coulaur rn Covars damagad/ Couvartiira andommag4a Covars raatorad and/or laminatad/ Couvartura raataurAa at/ou pallicuMa rn Covar titia misaing/ La titra da couvartura manqua Colourad mapa/ Cartaa gtegraphiquaa ^n coulaur Colourad ink (i.a. othar than blua or black)/ Encra da coulaur (i.a. autra qua blaua ou noira) rn Colourad plataa md/or illuatratlons/ Planchas at/ou illustrations it coulaur Bound with othar matarlal/ Rali4 avac d'autras documants Tight binding may causa shadows or distortion along intartor margin/ Laraliura sarria paut cauaar da I'ombra ou da la diatoraton la kmg da la marga faitAriaura Blank laavas addad during rastoration may appaar within tha taxt. Whanavar possibia, thasa hava baan omittad from filming/ II sa paut qua cartainas pagas blanchas aJoutAas lors d'una restauration apparaissant dans la taxta. maki, lorsqua cala 4tait possibia. caa pagas n'ont pas «t* film4as. Additional commants:/ Commantairas suppiimantairas: L'Inatltut a microfilm^ la maWaur axamplaira qu1l lul a 4t4 poaslMa da sa procurar. Las details da eat axamplaira qui sont paut-*tra uniquaa du pobic da vua Mbllographkiua, qui pauvant modif iar una imaga raproduita. ou qui pauvant axigar una modlfieatton dana la mMioda normals da f ilmaga sont indiqu4s d-daasous. Tl to rn Colourad pagaa/ Pagaa da coukHir Pagaa damagad/ Pagaa andommagAas Pagaa raatorad and/oi Pagas raataurias at/ou pailieulAaa r~| Pagaa damagad/ pn Pagaa raatorad and/or iamkiatad/ D Pagaa discolourad. siainad or foxad/ Pagas d4colorias, taohatias ou piquAas Pagas datachad/ Pagas d4tach«as Tl P« of fN Oi iM th si 01 fk si Of r~n Showthrough/ D Tranaparanca Quality of prin QualitA in4gala da I'imprassion Includas supplementary matarii Comprend du matirial suppi4mentaire Only edition availabki/ Saule Mition disponible rn Quality of print varies/ r~| Includes supplementary material/ pi Only edition available/ Tl s* Tl M dl en bi rif Pages wholly or pertieily obscured by errata slips, tissues, etc.. have been refiimed to ensure the best possible imege/ Les peges totaiement ou partieliement obscurcies per un feuillet d'erreta. una pelure, etc.. ont *t4 filmAes A nouveau da fa^on k obtanlr la meilleure imege possible. This item is filmed at the reduction retio checked below/ Ce document est film* au taux da reduction indiqui ci-dassous. 10X 14X 18X 22X MX aox J 12X 1SX aox 24X 28X 32X TIM 00^ fllfirad hww Hm bswi to tiM gMMvmity of : roprodueod thonko Ubrary Tno iiiM|00 o|ipoonfiQ novo Ofo tlio ooot ouoHCy of tno orifliMN oopy ono in kooplnfi niminQ oonwooi •poomoooons. OriQinol Gopioo in pnntoo aSQHiiNny wnn mv ivmii tlio loM poflo With a sion« Of ti(o bOQit oowov otnof ofifpnoi oopioo first pofo wMi o •Ion. and omUng on tho loot pogo wMi o printod Of iUiMtfatwl inipfMOion« printoo Of MuotvotM inipfoo* All on tho Tho Mot rooofooo lionM oi ohaN oontoin tho symbol "■^^inMoning *CON« TINUtO"). Of tho symbol ▼ (moonkig "END"). L'oxomplolfo fHmA fwt roproduit g4n4foolti do: SAmifMlra dt OhMmc flfieoAiO Us Nnogoo suivontoo ont 4t* ropfodtiltos svoe lo phM gfond soln. oompto tami do la condition ot do la nottoii do l'oxomplolfo fHmd, ot 9n oonfofmM avoe loa oondMoiM du eontrat do Laa ai Mm plalra a origlnouji dont io couvorturo un pap l af aat imp rim do sont fiimds sn common^ant pof lo p fomlof plot ot on tofminont solt pof la danMfo popo qui eomporto uno smpfointa dlmproaalon ou dlHuatratlon. soit pOf lo socond plot, solon lo SOS. Tows Iss sutrso mamplairos OflgifMux sont fHmdo on eommon^ant pOf lo pfamlAfO pogo qui eomporto uno amprainta dl m p r aaslo n ou dlNustratlon ot sn tsrminont por io ds m lifo pogo qui eomporto uno tsNo Un dos sy m bolos sulvoms sppor^tra sur la damli r a image da ehaque mierofleho. solon io caa: la symbolo ^-^ signMo "A 8UIVRE". lo symbolo ▼ signifio "RN". Mops, plotss. ehorts. stc*. moy bo difforant roduetion ratioa. inaao too entifely incMMMd in ono SRpooun JMolnnina in tho uooor loft bond right end top to bottom, oo mony raniilrail TIm foMMiiinQ dlaanuna Ot Isfgotobo loft to I tho Lee eartoa. pbmehee, toMaaux. ate., pouvent itre IHmda A dee taux da rdduction diffirenta. Lofsquo is doeumont eot trop grond pour Atre r spfo d uit sn un ssul eHehA. il est fNmd i psrtir do I'snglo supdrlour goueho. do gauche A droito. St do hout en bee. en pronont lo nombre d'imogoe ndessssirs. Lss diagrsmmss suivsnts UhMtrontio mithodo. 1 2 3 1 2 3 4 5 6 * . V. IM |j2?#^^#y J^ 4 » ♦ RENEWED BEMBKS "* OH THE STATE OF EDUCATION INTHX PROVINCE OP CANADA ; , BBINa X REPRINT or TWO ARTICLES WHIOX ATPEARBD IK TRB BRITUH AMERICAN JOTTRNAL OV MEDICAL AND PHYSICAL SCIRNOR VOR DECEMBER, 1848, AND JANUARY, 1849 : AND SATINa RSFBRBNCI TO TWO ARTICLES ON TRB SAME SUBJECT, IN THE SAME JOURNAL, IN TBS MONTN OV JANUARY AND MARCH, 1848. By " L." ** Knowledge is power." *' National rivalries or antipathies would here be completely out of place. The tme greatness of a people does not consist in bor- rowing nothing firom others, bat in borrowing from all whateTer is good, and in perfecting whatever is appropi^te."— Jlf . CotMiti't Report fe the French C^emment en Fuhlie ImtruetUnu MONTREAL: PRINTED BY J. C. BECKET, 311i ST. PAUL STItEET. MOCCXXUiIX. f ?^4 jyrtj if-i. i'i '^ri,. • li' i once towi dedU and Vi PREFATORY l«OtlCE. The Writer of the following renewed desultory ** Re. markt on, the State of Education in ^anaiiki'* having once before deemed the subject of sufficient importance to warrant his having respectfully taken the liberty of dedicating a Reprint of his observations thereon to His Excellency the Right Honorable the Governor General, and the Honorable the Members of the Legislature, he is again led to adopt the same course with their sequel, on a similar occasion, namely, the eve of another Session of Parliament. He has, however, been induced to omit the formality of a second Dedication, and he trusts that tne same ^ favourable consideration," and ** serious at- tention'"' which he earnestly invoked towards his former ** Remarks," will be condescendingly extended to this second respectful appeal to the same high quarters, in behalf of so all.important a public object as general popular Instruction, Actuated by the same disinterested patriotic motives as before, the Writer would only further humbly observe, that as he has been led to wind up the present Remarks in the concluding words of his former Observations, so he is similarly disposed to borrow the following candid paragraph from his former Prefatory Address, as equally applicable on the present occasion : " It may also be proper to add, with reference to its having been alleged that as the Writer has ventured so far in his strictures on the present state of our Educa^ tional System, he might as well have gone one step far- ^iS;. "*■ " ■»•« •dviiWe anS """"• •*" •hough MiMtrmi, 4th J«n««,y. 1849. •jthit though «ctful to the no particular wo, he wilj I and contri- «on> tn pro. "»«rttee Ihai <*<• But he :he may ti» 'ce'inrop. *?®> without "etjr which '•J.j'J 3.i FURTHER REMARKS ON THE STATE OF EDUCATION, &c. 'ifW,' *^^*^%^^^^^*^^*i^t0^*0^^^^^^^^^^' 1. Report of the SuperiiUendent qf Edveatum in Lower Canada, Jor the ScMattic Year 1846-7. Printed by order of the Legislative Aiiembly. Montreal: 1848* Pp.178. By Dr.J, B, Meiileur, Chief Superintendent of Educa- Hon, Lower Canada, 2. The Monthly Journal of Education for Upvet Canada; eight numbere ; commtnced in January, 1848. Pubtiehed at TbrontOy and edited by tKe Rev, Dr. E, Ryereon, D. D,, Chief Superintendent of Schoole, Upper Canada, Having in former numbers of this Journal ventured to throw together, for general consideration, some desul- tory observations on the existing state of Education in CWitada,* and having, during the last session of Parlia- ment, deemed the conclusions we had arrived at of sufficient public interest and value to merit being le- submitted, in a more connected form, to the indivulual attention of evpry meniber of the Government and Le- gislature, we are once more induced to revert to the same highly important topic, by the prevalent rumour of its being intended to introduce either a new or revised << Schod AcV^ during the approaching session, in tM hope that our humble patriotic labours may not prove altogether in yaia; and, as done on the two former occasions, we now propose taking as our guide the published official Reports on the subject. It will, how- ever, be seen, by a reference to the titles at the head of this article, that unfortunately tbe Report of the Su» perintendent ofLouxr Canada alone has as yet made its appearance ; — ^a circumstance greatly regretted by ' us, as doubtless that for the Upper Province would have * See the numbera of this Jottfnal for the months of January and March last. "'»•!»« •ta(. of a" ™,.ln ^ "^^ "'" '•"■«'» of .he 'o, and profit by, a nixnt^'l?- ?• •«• »o ad»ert and in,.n.eCX:!:."^'««io» -y^.an'ZS „;:r nad*. and th. other to t^e LTJ'S""!''' '» Ppper cV: «"ne that we left ou«eJv„ .r,^J?'''^>-««'fco.ai;e any argument, that "e conJ. ^^ *» "ake u«. of as a whole. OntbeZJ^!'^ applicable to h»th fd«P'ing.he,,„"eourrC r''''"" "• P'opo^d ing the order ofiirJ.»-r' "'• '™"' ""cessitv ~VZ under the present SchCTawU"?" "' «<'"cM'^n !!*""'• «-'*-eve^wSVeT:'„t^;.':^«'^'>- a better chaJc^of li^*'''**""' «• they SSuld ,^ ''L'""' ■»• '>f belnff subjected to ^ r""^*'*"»i<»« dori^ thl* ,iSS**^' ''»''« likely t^reault .^ A ""^ '"^Jperowl and enX^**'' '"•*««' bera de8jrin«^irK..» •'"■*'"»» <>» J^T Doini V« • / -f *** ""brd •••'^'ew of the J'/ more eaij, "I" more con. h deaired do. "•, 'o tdrert >«rfodic»;, of '«»t, namely. '««*'>" from nJMcb ufefuj »» tire Were ''ranches, ^Pper Ca- «| the same f«e uae of '« to both, • proposed fy* revers. commenc. education he Lower rt of 0r. f«diy des- t feel itself official re- I'nonf (lie wmal as- %» haw 't instead 'Won ever "> attoi). '.'•o. per. I«r aab. ent, the il be di. afford 'I niein. »a«e, to arfhere ny of »point. 7 tincd to meet with diffiouUies in (he very threshold of our undertaking ; for, on consulting that dooument, we unfortunately found it of so eUborately discurslTO a texture as to puzile us how or where to liegin. That the reader nrii^y be enabled to judge for himself how far this remark is well founded, we cannot do better than refer him at once lo the worthy Doctor's own introduction of his labours to the attention of the ** Governor General and the other branches of the Legislature,'' as embracing — 1st. A general Report upon Elementary Education in Tjower Canada, eetting fortii the eautct which naTe embarraMed and retarded and, in eunie loealitiei, even prevented the proper work- ing of the present Sohopl Law, and the asaendments which it has, perhaps, become necessary to make to that law, in order to obtain from it more perfect and eatisftictory results. 9nd. A Statistical Table of the Schools which have, under the said act, been held under the control of the School Commis- sioners and Trustees ; with the number of children who liaTo attended them, and the amount of the legislative grant which has been awarded to each municipality (as constituted for school piirpoees) during the school period between the let of July, 1846, when the present act came mto force, and the 1st of July, 1847, sliewing also the municipalities to whicR* no part of tha legisla- tive grant has been awarded, fur the reasons mentioned in tho Report. 3rd. A Table shewing the amount awarded to each county, out of the unappropriated balance of the legislative grant, for the scholastic > ears, 1843, 1843, 1844 and 1845^ under the provisions made in that behalf by previous acts, and m the 49th section of the present school act, as an aid towards building or repairinff BchooLhonses ; with the number of schooUhouset built or repaired nnder the control of schoot-commissioners, and the amount of the valuation of these schooLhouses, made, in every case, by three arbitrators appointed for the purpose. 4th. The circulars which 1 have issued under the operation of the present law ; because it may be deemed eipedient that their tenor should be known. Having so fitr given Dr. Meilleur*s own sketch of his theme, honest impartiality as reviewers compels us to enter at once our humble protest against the manner in which he treats the question, as tending rather to excite than allay existing discordant opinions, on so vitally important a popular subject, and to express our deep regret that one who has evidently the good of his 8 country much at heart, should adopt a line of proceed- ing 80 little likely to be productive of beneficial resuhs : for it appears to us, that, instead of the leading two- thirds of the 178 pages of which his Report is com- posed, being devoted to a wandering review of the various theoretic and antagonistic matters discussed therein, that document might have been mainly con- fined to the details embraced by the far shorter 2d section, with probably part of the 3d section, namely, the statistical tables and other documents illustrative of the actual working of the existing School Law, as exhibiting the number of schools in operation during the official year, the amount of money apportioned to each county and township, and any sums awarded to particular localities for extra purposes from the unappro- priated balances of former years ; and that, whatever else occurred to the worthy Superintendent as deserving the attention of the Executive, might have formed the subject of an altogether distinct and separate commu- nication. Indeed, it is but justice to add, that though we may not be altogether prepared to assent to all the conclusions at which Dr. M. has arrived, it is with the time and method, more than the matter, that we are disposed to find fault. Taking this view of the subject, we were naturally led to turn our attention, in the first instance, to the 2d section of the Report ; and what has been the result? The discouraging conviction that the information sup- plied in the few imperfect statistical tables of which it is composed will be found far from sufficiently expla- natory, — let alone satisfactory or encouraging, — there being no column showing either the amount of assess- ments or rates actually levied in the difierent localities,"^ or the aggregate number of children of school age, to be compared with the number of schools, and the pro- portion of children attending them ; and there yet ap- pearing, with an increasing population, to have been actually a considerable falling off in the number of child with reflex very] are latelj * Without such a column it is impossible to judge how far the people contribute their due proportion to the general fund. r proceed, al results : ^ing two. rt is com- iw of the discussed linly con. shorter 2d namelj, lustrative / LaWiSLs on during tioned to warded to unappro. whatever ieserving rmed the > commu- kt though to all the with the t we are naturally to the 2d 5 result ? ion sup. which it y expla. — there assess, alities,* age, lo he pro- yet ap- B been iber of /ar the -i 9 children attending school in the year 1847, compared with the preceding year. Nor is this all; for while reflecting on this discouraging state of things, as the very reverse of what ought to have been expected, we are insensibly led to the conclusion, irom Information lately elicited, that the proportion of the yearly parlia- mentary grant of £50,000, hitherto allotteil to Lower Canada, — namely, J629,000 — on the supposition of iti^ much greater population, must,of Idte at least, be^based on erroneous data, not a little to the prejudice of the Upper Province — as may be seen by a glance at the following unavoidably imperfect iiable, and note. Tn addition to which it would appear, on a chser examin. ation of the particulars given, that of a grant intended solely and exclusively in aid of the better payment of our ill-requited school teachers^ a sum amounting to no less than £6,444 had (we think soniewhat inconsist. ently, if not unjustly,) been from time to time diverted to a totally different purpose, namely, the building and i^e|)air of school Aot(se5 ; particularly, as in the Sister Province, these things are provided for by«peoial as. sessment, levied on the inhabitants of the particular localities requiring them : — Abstract view of the State of the Common Schools in the two great Divisions of the Province of Canada, con}?arcd with their estimated respective population, during the years lti4(3 and 7. Division. Upper Canada, Do. Increase in 1817, Year. 1846 1847 Estimated Population 640,000» No. of Children of School Age. 204.580 No. of Children attending School. 110.3)18 124.829 14,511 ©•3 2.905 2.727 10 Lower Canada, Do., 1846 1847 V750,000» Unascert. 69,887 63,281 1,830 1,613 DecreaBe, 1847, — 6,606 — Such being tbe whole of the scanty and imperfect information to be gleaned from the Lower Canada school statistics of the official year 1846-7, we are now reluctantly compelled to turn back to the medley of debateabl«* matter described in the first and main section of tV> Report, setting forth the various causes that have embarrassed and retarded, and) in some lo- calities, even prevented the proper working of the pre- sent school law; and in introducing this part of the subject, we shall first allow the doctor to speak for himself. After alluding to the various obstacles and difficul- ties thrown in the way of tbe operation of no less than three successive Elementary Education Acts, since 1841, as described in former general as well as spe- cial Reports^ Dr. M. proceeds to state that he consider- ed the principle of the existi^ amended law, (passed in 1846,) deserving of being preserved intact, as best calculated to insure the welfare of popular Education ; and that he therefore considers it his duty to set these principles in the clearest light. Concurring, as we do, in much of the feelings and opinions expressed by the worthy Superintendent, as applicable to at least the present state of Lower Canada, we cannot do better than quote liis own language on * In the absence of ofiicial data for fixing the actual population of the two Provinces at the poriods stated, the above is given as a tolerably close medium approximation to it, founded on current or published rumours of the lesult of the late census. Taking this for granted, the £50.000 would fall to the two Provinces in the proportion of about 7-13th8 to Lower and 6-13tbs to Upper Canada, which would give about X27,000 to the former, and £23,000 to the latter Province. the! occ| at our| ofi otti am i»i it W7 1,830 ».28I 1,613 ,606] — imperfect r Canada 7, we are e medley and main us causes some lo- f the pre- art of the peak for difficul. ess than Sf since as spe- onsider- as best cation ; t these >gs and ent, as Canada, age on ra'ation iven as current Faking ncea in Upper r, and the subject ; contenting ourselves with appending an occasional note, where his conclusions happen to be at variance with our own, — in addition to renewing our former earnest protest against the longer continuance of separate Education Laws for the two great sections ot the Province than may be possible, as being altogether alike uncalled for, impolitic, and unnecessary. *• The fvRiiamental principles of the present school act, like those of the acts which have been passed for Lower Canada since 1841, those of the present law in force in Upper Canada, and those of the other education laws which preceded it, are divisible into two main classps, viz : those of which the immediate object ts the creation of the necessary means of support, and those of which the object is the local or general government and manage, ment of the schools. But, to generalize less and to descend a little more into the practical detail of the principles of the present law, they may be divided into four classes, namely i Ist. Those relating to the means of support. 2d, Those under which the inhabitants contributing to such support are invested by the lav with the power of electing school commissioners. 3d. Thoie und^r which the board of examiners are constituted. 4th. Th|MO under which His Excellency the Governor Gleneral has the p^nrer of appointing, under the Great Seal fit the Province, a S< perty, according to the value thereof as determined by/valuators themselves subject to assessment, appointed by the ytnunicipal councils or by the school commissioners, such contribation form. - ing a sum at least equal to the portion of the legislative grant coming to each scholastic municipality, according p its popula. tion, and being applicable to the support of the ^choplji under control, and being over and above a monthly contribution of so much per head, for eight months in the year, /or the resident children of an age to attend school, varying froi;i three pence to two shillings a month, according to the means of the parents and the degree of progress made by the children. In Upper Canada, the sum to be thus raised by assessment must )ie at least double that offered by the Government.^ ** These principles, which form the basis of the whole law, are those which have been most wilfidly misrepresented and held up * This is a mistake. The amount required to be raised by as. sessment in Upper Canada is only *' at least equal to the amount of public monies apportioned to eaoh district :" the same as in the Lower Province. 12 . to the peopU^'or the cpuntry parts a« uAjuat, tyrannical, and vex. utious« ]t ifli against these that iickle and inconsiderate men, men of prrjudfce and without education, egotistical, and interested in keeping' the people in a hnmiliatmg state of ignorance and inca. pacity, have tho moat bitterly inveighed. <* Yet thews very principles form tlie basis of all good laws rela- tive to elementary education in thofie countries where it is neees. Hary that the people contribute their share to the work, as in Great Britain, France, Germany, the United States, Upper Canada, &.e. Thejf hA've bemi every where attended with a success which has admirably eontributed to the prosperity and happiness of the peoplob And this result, so honorable and so desirable, is due to the regulavity, the certainty, and the facility with which these principles operate, exciting an interest in ijiose who are bound to contribute towards the funds, and thereby tending to ensure the well woiicing of the law. ** The inhabitants of one only of the New England States in the Atnerican Union^ provided for the education of their children by vdluhtary contributions. But in spite of their zeal, and of the ttacrificeB they itiiade for thii object, they felt that this' system, in additioh to all its other inconveniences, had also that of an insuf . iikiemsy of funds ; and the local Legislature has lately enacted an ei^Cntary education li&w for the State, based as far as regards the^ pedfiniaty means of sOpport, on the principle of oumpulsory conti^ibirtiiott ; and (here, as elsewhere, this system is already work, ing i^ost successfully, under the able superintendence of the Hon. H. BWnardk '* 2^ The principles by virtue whereof the inhabitants liable to cunt^bution are by law empowered to elect a corporation of Hchool Oommissi^mers, are democratic provisions of a most impor- tant nattre of the highest value in ensuring the maintenance of popular rbhts and a direct and responsible local administration. The inhaottants, and mor6 especially the parentsj are thus by law invested with the right of creating the authority chaiged with the cntiM manai^ement of the schools under its control, and with the whole local forking of the law. The people have thus, in fact, the foremost share in the management of the schools, and are 4;nab1ed to exercise a most wholesome control over the persons who, by virtue of their election, are immediately entrusted with that managemeit. By Virtue of these provisions the school com- missioners ave in effect exclusively entrusted with the whole Jooal operation of the sshool law, and are responsible for their doings to their constituents, who are the very persons most interested in the well Working of any education law. ** There is not in the school law one provision more intimately connected with the constitutional rights of a free people and with their elective franchise, or one which ought to be more dear to the fathers of families, or which they ought more jealously to use wisely, honestly tod oonsoientiouuy, than Uiat hy which they are jegally called upon to choose fit persons to be school commissipn> crt; H ciated, ing wh •»Th' taunf< of not as soh cation »»U just an petty q| often dl posed tl workin] of their] electioff ■ometif tage tc honow edlVoi every , whom wise, itl andvil dices a the sue "Ik which tantsi makir petty choos were fitded acqm whei acco ors. ensure the i States in Bir children and of (he system, in 'f an insuf. enacted an «8 regards (inipn)sory ady work, f the Hon. mts liable ►oration of Mt impor« enance of iiatration. is by lavr with the with the 'i in fact, » and are persons ed with Dol com. lie Jooai oings to d in the imately ad with r to the to use liey are aias^n. . 18 era; and I am able to say^ that this pfoirfsiOn is genetitily'ttppM- eiated, and its exercise elahkied ^Hh a derive of interett and ftol. ingf wfci6h do hontour to the Y«ople. *• This proviskm,howev6r,80 Itberat and so hi|;hly to be valued, is unfwtanately aoccnnpanied by two gl^nd defects, namdy : that of not restrictinj^ the electors to the election of eehteaHd'MiH Otiljr as school commissionets ; and that of requiring in thom a tqualifi- cation in properly instead of knowiedge.t ** It wonkt have been impossible to msert a proViaiOn more un. just and more contrary to the very spirit of the act, than this pro. perty qualification required by its Slst section, which has, in (act. often deprived the country of the co.operation of the men bOst dis. posed to Carry out the law, and most able to contribute to its well workm^. This qualification, by depriving th6 people of a portion of their elective franchise, has frequently been the canae of the election of nicn very ill fitted to be school commissioners, and sometimes even morally incapable of performing, with any advan. tage to the children, the important duties of this most high and honoorable post. This property qualification has, in fact, exclud- ed l>om among the school commissioners, many of the clergy Of every profession, and a number of men of worth and education, whom the law has made ineligible, to make room for men, other- wise, it IS true, highly respectable, but whose want of edueation and «iperien6e in public business, and in soma oases theiir preju. dices and spint.of oppontion, made them absolute impedimenta to the successful operation of the law* ** Loud complaints have been made against the bad adeetiona which have been made of school commissioners ; and the inhabi- tants have been openly taxed as having been WtlfuUy oulpabfo in making these bad selections. Yet, in very many cases, the pro. perty qualification required left them no alternative, no liberty to choose educated and zealous men as school commissionera ; they were forced to elect men without education and without ray do*- oided wish to encourage education, or to elect none. I am even acquainted with a number of localities, new settlements espeeially, where it i^ impossible to find a sufficient number of men qualified, according to the requirements of the law, to be schoc^commiaaion- ors. Sometimes there is not even one.'** • * • • ** Srdly. The present act coutains prhioiplea by virtue whereof boards of examiners are established, and are in effective operation t So long as the present defective system exists in Lower Canada, Edueation^ to a certain extent, ahould be required as a qualification in all commissioners ; but that of property ahould not be required of members of. the clerical, medical, or legal profes. aions. * This exhibits a rather humiliating picture of the distribntioB of property, as well as of the absence of education in Lower Canada ; and, therefore, the sooner a more aofpiekntt aUte of Ihmgs is brought about the better. 14 for Um emnimUoii of tBtehMi,* and for their adiniMkib ■• loebi Thcw boftidf are oonpoaed of titalary and honorary monnbert* and the elervy, the people, the GoTemment, and the teaeiMn themeklTea, find their lepreaentatiTee there, tiBoe two members of the clngf and two teaehen form part of each board, ai titalary meraben. The titulary membeia of the board of ezami* ncrt are the aetite membera thereof, and the honorary membera are defatto the achool. Tiritora, eonitituted by the 83d eeetion, who ha?e, by law, the right of taking pert in the examination of achere, withoat being speeially boand eo to do. '* Theee boards of examiners are formed by the interrention of the superintendent of edneaUon, who is for this purpose the ad. riser and the organ of the Goremur. The supwintendent fur- nishes the boards with the seals and forms of eertificatee they require, and he is the official ehannel whereby poUicity is given to the admission of teachers, withoat subjecting the boards of examinors to one farthing of cost; the expenses incurred for ibis purpose being charged to the contingencies of his oSBiC^. ** Ne?ertheleM, these boards are, in their action, ind^Mndent of the local and govermental authorities; and by the nature of their composition,, and by that of the powers entrusted to them and of the duties imposed upon them by the aet, they afibrd a |;uarantee for a degree of integrity, uniformity and impartiality, in their proceedings, and of ability and moral character in the teaehen admitted, to which the systems of popular eduoation in practice elsewhere offer nothing comparable. ;>^: !t^-. ** These boards confer upon the candidates admitted, a ebarac. in, a permanence, and a title to the respect and confidence of C rents and of the school commissioners, which is not possessed the teachers in Upper Canada, in the Lower Provinces, or even in the United States, in France, or in Prussia. The certi- ficates of admisfion, which, after a satinfactory examination, are granted to candidates as teachers, are granted for life, and entitle thein to, act as such, under the eontrol of the sqhool commiaricMiers, throughout the whole of Lower Canada, without, however, fore, ing any individual upon, the school commissioners, who, in their chmce of teachers, are only confined to such as have certificates of qualification. Teachers are in this respect placed upon the same footing as the members of the other liberal profession^ and will c«rtiaJity, araeier in the >w edocation H a eharac. Bonfidenoe of notponeMed Pfovincet, or . The oerti. nination, are 'f and entitle nmianonen, ^eror, fonj. 'V. in their > oertificatea !d upon the ^miouK and tme respect ccordinn; tu U" to be at in the ab^ d that mVm a uniform litcfa, niore II '* Indeed, the etndidate for the offioe of tMoher cannot be nd« Imitted to examination without m the fint place producing to tlie board of examinen, a certificate of hie age, place of birth, and I moral character, iignod (aa regards the last item) bv the minister I of bis religions persuasion, or at least by three school commis- sioners of the plaoe^ where he has resided during the last six months. This formality being imperative, the caudidate cannot, widiout complying with it, be admitted to examination, howe? er well qnalified he may be with regard to the requisite acquire, ments. The clergy and school commissioners have therefure the initative in the admimlon of teachera, and hold in their hands the power of promoting the admission of all whose aequiremcnte or character may be such as are not inconsistent with the welL understood interests of education, morality, and religion. *< There are, besides, very honorable exceptions in the 50th section, in favour of persons invested with a sacred character, who bay be dispoasd to devote themselvee to the instructiy,fii«Mciag Mifin fiUinff meMt Qfiiabsiitmoe, »Q(I fMjr mfVM < of ftecfiMting ihemi^lv«^ i)i Uj« wtaoi Ivtohiog, bjF lb9.aitabliabin«nt.of NonMl Behoolt or oukiiwjie. and I kiu oonTiaoed thttt itbty will io » few veara inalM t(t««biiif ,wh«k it ought lo bo, /that is, a diplwot |mif«if iqn, influciAiM tii4.rei|M»tod, and an fli^to M honoiablo aa itia UMfuJ. Provided ooob wit^ a oartifioate of al^tv ood moral ohar»oter. a.T»il«ble Ifor \\fy, tbo edqoatad, wiae and leakHM Aeaober, w^eratandiiigthe nvture and importanee of bit miiiioni andtho hifDplaoe bo onghtto hold in ooclety, will know boW to give lohia prnfewi^MH a ohMaiitor, dig' nitv and.oJBoaey, wbiob wdl make teaobuig Imo tbeoflSoo of a pedagogue, than a kM of mag ifltraoy, a fpetiM ol prioMbood •urrounded bj reapaot and veneration. i , ** A oertifteate of moial diaraoter ia impliedlf inoluded in tbet of fitneea obtained firom either of the eaid V)Mda»i beoanao a eer?^ tifieate of moral oharaoter mult. baYobOen prfvioualj pfoduoed to the board: and, from the enum'eralion of < tho laffml'lvanQbMifif edueation, it i» evident that priraarv inirtrootion ia : divided ifilo two elaaaei^ namely^ elementary and anperiof, the IttUer of which il t(f,be given in tna oMMlel acfaml. ** I ought net to forget here to mention»itimt the boarda of exa. minora are of two aeparate and distinct kinchf} tbatialOffty, one of them ia CathoVor ibr the adnuliBion of GathoUe tenohoM, and the other Jfroleitaitf, lac the admiaaion. of Pnrteataiit teacherp. ** The boa»d* of Oiamintfra have power to preaoribe what booke are to be uaed'iB;the'aohoob whicb are under the eontiol of the law;* and the Mshool coauqiimmiara being; Qon6ncd to, one or other of the. claasea of teachers mantk>ned.ii| the 50th ^eqtion, and haTing no power to alk»w any booJia not approved by the boiirdB of flxamiaeia to be used in tho;aehQols under. their control, it fol< lows that the course of instruction to be pursued in each elemenn tary or mddeLscfaool^: ajpd the kind of booka t0 be lUsed thernn, are desifrnated by thelaw ; excepting alwayaMch bot^s as relate to morality or religion; tbeiseieQtion of which i« the exolupive pro. viuceof tiie lurieat or misister.of the locality^ aa regards the chiU diso .Qf bis own religious petsHSfion. This right, wi(h that of belong i^^school vij^itor, w|hich the law confers uppn him de fa^tg^ gives hip in the iPtphqol as in the churcti, that control .which he ought to .)Bxercise lOver th^ raorfti and religious instruction of the e|)Udren of his pemuasiqn, ^^^ Tlis is a blemish rather than a benefit ; and the same defect exists to a certain extent in the Upper Canada- school hi II. The power , of ipres0(»biog what books ahftU be used in the achoulH ehoul4 rffst .with e ponftrid board ^ educa^i^o alono, aa the best means of insuring tho a4opti<»i of a uniform eletnentary system throughout the who|e Province ; i|8 will be further noted eUe. where. 4thly. The preMnt lehool law eontaini priocipUM bjr virtue whereof the Goremor in Cooneil bee the power of eppoiDthif , for the tfluml direction of the common eehooto under the oontiol of , the law, a Superinteodent c^ edncation, having certain adminiatra- tive powere conferred upon him by the law, inch aa (among elheie) that of naming aehool eommieibanre, in eaae of default to elect them, dtc., with the obligation to render yearly an aecooit of hhi adminiitration to the Executive Government and the Provincial Parliament. ** In the ezeraiee of hie powers and the perfbrmanee of hia im. portent dotiee, the Superintendent of education haa, by lawt no right to interfere in the local managoroentLof echocla, except by way of advice, and genially a^ the epeoial inatance of the par. ticfl interested, unleee they have themeelvea neglected or reluaed to perform, within the time preecribed by the Abt, the dutiea which, in their torn, the law haa imposed upon them for educa- tional porpoaes; for it is necessary that the law riMuld be cafriad into effect. With thia exception, the Superintendent is, by hie position, only the adviser of the school commissioners and of the Government, and the ostensible interpreter of the. law. whether it be (at the general or for the local'direotiott of the common eehUol. '* The Siq>erintendent of Bdocation is, further, a medium of communication between the Government and < the Scbo^ Ck>m- missioners, and, in case of necessity, a medietor fdr.thelaUer with toe'Gdveroment, but, nevertheless, witliout being a political character, or subject to the action of the many influences of those considerationa which agitate and occupy ao many other puUio functionaries. ** I am, indeed, of opinion, that the Superintendent of Ednea. tion ought not to be a political character, so that he may be able to devote himself entirely to the department entrusted to him. I have, therefore, made it a point always to coiiduct myself m such a manner as not to allow my attention to be drawn from my duties by any considerations foreign to the important object to Ihe attainment wheieofvthe law has charged me to contribute.; and I have constantly endeavoured to do this with a view to the gen. oral good of all, without distinction of origin, party or religions belief. So that, according to my view or the subject^ if tlu ex* isting law is defeetive in its provisions relative to the Superinten- dttiit of Education, the effect oonsiats Only in the onilssion of enactments which should confer on him greater powers, empower- ing him to interfere tnon directly and absolutely in the local working of the law, whenever the School CommiMionerfi should neglect or refhse to perfonn the dotiee assigned to tiiem* ^ ** The Superintendent ia, moreover, a guide, by his (pinion -and advice, in the proceedings, of the School Comrawsioners ; and in ease of certain difficulties a judge, or nMwe properly a fri«adly pe* diatOT, ratiier than a master arbitrarily governing eveiy thing iby his orders. This is at least the view I hav« hitherto taken of the poiitidn nf the Superintendent of Education for Lower. Cavlada, and that according to which I have likewise endeavoured. to per<* 18 Ibrm mj duUet m tueh» in tho well undontood interest of popular edooalion ; iind I believe that I have been fortunate enooffh to obtain ip this roapect the entire approbation of my fellow^rabieeta of every origin. I owe it, therefore, to the feelinf of lively grati- tude by which I am animated, to atate in this plaee, that on all ocoaaiona the nomemus frienda of education have tfivm nae the moiit flatlering proofa of their confidence in me, and of their aatis- faction with my conduct aa a pablic Ainctionary. Their kindneaa towarda me hat only been equalled in generoaity bv their eObope. ration in aaerifiee* of everj^ kind, for the purpoae of givhig to the courage which it waa indiapentable that I ahootd have, and the eflbrti it waa imperatyre that I ihould make, the efficiency necoa. aary to aurmount, jointly with them, the innumerable difficnitiea wh ch the enemiea of the two lait education acta have raiaed up to oppoae ui. Wdl, therefore, may our amiable yiiuth, who for ao many conaecutire yeara have been the immediate object of ao much combined aolicitude and aaerifiee, join their voioea with mine to teatify, with one accord, their never-eiidtng gratitude to their K rente, to the clergy of every religious penuaaion, and to the sal authoritioi. Uia not unimportant to remark in thia place, that the aatarv cf the Saperintendent, and all the contingent expensea of hit office, are paid out of the public cheats and not out of the legiriativo grant for education, aa certain enemiea of the act have atated and published. Not one penny ia taken out of the fund lait named, the dest'nation whereof la special and sacred. It ia employed solely in aiding the people to give their children the instruction of which they stand in need. The 27th aection of the act contaira all the conditions upon which the share of the legislative grant coming to each munici- pality, acccMrdinsf to ita population, ia awarded to the School Com. missioners. The latter, in order to obtain their share of the grantj are bound to transmit to the education office, every aix montha, a return of the schools under their control ; and if, after examination, thia report ia found by the Superintendent to be in accordance with the reqoiremeota of the act, their share of the Erant ia aent, in the shape of a cheek, to their aocretary.treasurer, y the post and in a post-paid letter. Tho amount of theae checks is drawn from aohool funds which the Superintendent places in the chartered banks, aa he receives them under warrants of His Excellency the Governor General, on hia special application in favour of the localities whom he reports to have conformed to the requirements of the act. So that the School Commissioners have nothing to pay in order to obtain these checks, which are ncsocia. blc throoghout Lower Canada. Neither have they anythmg to pay (or the conveyance of their school returns, or upon their cor. respondenee with the Superintendent upon the subject of educa- tion. All these.cbargea are home upon the contingent expenaea of the education office. "The legialative grant hi aid^f aohoola under control in Lower Canada, ia a share of jC50,000, according to its population as 19 eompared with (hit of Upper Canada, which ireeeivei yetriy the other portioii for the Mme objeet. The portion coming to bower Canada upon this principle, haa varied from £29,000 to jC30,00O per annom, ainoe 1849, adeordinf to the fint aectiona of the act of 1841, eonfinned in foreebytfae 57th aeetiun of the preaent ichonl aet.-~[8ee Note, pa^e fO ] ** The halanee of the portion cominf to Lower Canada ii ap. propriated aa an aid towarda baiidlnff achooi-honaea, and ia diatrt- bnted upon the o^ditiona mentifmed in my cirentar No. 9, page 9. The inhabitanta and the School Comniaaionera generally have made ellbrta and aanrifieea worthy of all praiae, in order to obtain thia aid; and one hundred aiid fiv^ aehool.hottaea have already been built or repaired. *'fiaoh are the prinriplea and proviaiona of the preaent aehouf aiJt." From the above discursive j^ew of the principles and operation of the existing Education Law, Dr. M. pro* ceeds to indulge in a stHngof what he terms general* bi)t which we would be more disposed to regard aa for- iicular observations, through which it is out of our power to follow him ; but we cannot re^lM laying before our readers one or two ** CQses in point,'* illustrative of the shameful manner in which the best and wisest of purposes can be misrepresented and falsified by the machinations of unprincipled or recklecjs demagogues* " Out i»f 32 aoholaatic munrcipalitiea recognized by iaWt Ihe inhabitanta oi 32 petitioned the late Parliament, at its laat Sea. sion, on the subject of the present school act. Of these petitions, 22 prayed for the repeal of the law» without (except in one caae) asking the substitution of anything in ita place, and 10 prayed that the act migiit undergo certain amendments, which were, fur tiie most part, of a nature to atrenffthen its principlea. These pc- titions, of which 18 were presentedlo the House by Mr. J. Liiiurin, came chiefly from tlie Districts of Quebec and Three Rivers ; 11 bear the names of 274 persons in all, of which 34 only are ngned, or supposed to be signed, by the petitioners, tor there are namea which are wri'ten by the same hand. Among the remaining pe. titions, there are aome which have not one real signature ! These are facts offioially| recorded. And it is upon the act of thia num. her of municipalities, upon the strength of this number of ap^ parent petitionera that ao much theorizing has, more espeeialiy during some months past, been indulged in, that so many dif- ferent and discordant plana of education hafe been broached, and that, reaaoning from particular cases to general prupoaitionB, some parties have come to the conclusion, so humiliating to the country, that the law ia oppoaed everywhere and works wril, no- where. 20 *' In one partioular eaie, Um pariabM of St. Gervaia tnd Point IfOTy, in the Diilriot of Quebee, hava been eitad aa eumplaa, and it haa been alleged that the whole fnnda at the dinoaal of the School Commiieionen of the former, for the aopport of 18 achnola under their control, waa £395 48, and that thoee of Point Ltry had only J6365 le lOd for 1 3 iohoola } theae eume ariainf from their rcfpeotive eharea of the legislatiTC grant, and from the a ee e w. menta raited for the aame purpoie. •' Yet, aooording to the Ian iohool return for eaeh of the aaid pariahtf, upon which the amount coming to them out of the legii. lative grant wai calculated, it appeara that the former pariah had only 13 eehoola, and the latter 10, in operation : whence it followa that the school commiMioneri of St. uerraia had, out of the aum abofe mentioned, a much larger amount than £18 per annum for each of the teaehora in the eehools under their control, and that the earoo propoailion obtains with regard to the school commission, ers and teachers of Point Levy. ** Now, according to the last census, the number of children in the parish of St. Genrais, of an age to attend the eehoola (that is, between five years and sixteen years), is 985. The school com. missioners, by using the power conferred on them bv the act, may require at least onchalf of the monthly ratea fixed by the Slst section, that ia, one ehiiling per month during eight months* for each child (Which would yield them an additional sum of £394 for the support of the teachera of the schools under their control. The number of children between the same ages, residing in Point Iicvy, is 1130, which, at one shilling per month for eight monthi*, would give an additional aum of £448 for the support of the teachers. *< The school commissioners of these two parities, then, (and the mme is true in proportion in all others,) have, or majr have, at their disposal, for the support of the schools under their con- trol, a sum more than double that which is represented aa being the whole amount which they can use for this purpose. But this is not all : by virtue of the 25th section, the school commission, ers may also obtain for the same pnrpoee a portion of the annual revenue of the Fabrique^ a provision of which advantage haa been wisely taken in several parishes. The legislative grant is there- fore more than equalled by the local funds which may be raiaed for school purposes.* Well may the worthy Superintendent indignantly ex- clainiy << This is the way in which, despite of facts and * From the data above fumishe *. coupled with what ia stated in p. 37, of the Report, it would appear Uiat far from the teachers of these two pariahea being so ilLpaid, aa ropreaented by the pe. titionera, the funda at the disposal of the commissioners were such aa might have allowed those of St. Gervais being paid at tho rate of within a fraction of £40 ; and those of Point Levy upwards of £60! %1 iresitfaedeerieraof the Law— deeffiven tnd deceived, lake all kinda of utatementa to its disadriiitage, ia order to render it unpopular and uieleas/' , ^ , Passing over various intermediate matters, tve find at [p. 29, some observations on a vitally important branch of the subject to which we pointedly alluded In our for- mer ** Aemarks," and to which we are again induced to draw particular attention, as still far from being duly ap* predated among either the neighbouring United States, or in our own Province. We allude to the utterly ne- glected claims of Teaohers to far higher social considera- tion, and a far more liberal remuneration ibr their valu- able services, than is yet awarded them. On this subject Dr^ M. remarks as follows :•— ** The last report of the Superintendent of Educetifm fur Upper Cenada informs us that the average annual stipend of teaehers in that secticm bf the Province is j6S3 per innutn, while the annual stipend of fearers in Lower Canadd is j636. In the State of New York, in that of Vermont, and in the greatnr part of those known as Uie New England States, the annual stipend of leach, ers is also £36.' In this respect, at any rate, we are not behind Upper Canada and a number bf the United States. In France the teaehers have eatih a salary of 300 franes for an elementary and 400 tor a superior primary school. " But it is objected, that as the act does not insure a fixed salary to the teachers, it follows that the school commissiQi^erB cannot proome such as are properly oaalified ; and it is proposed thai the salary of teachers should be nxed by law as in some other countries. *' The salary of teachers is in fact f ^ in France, in Frussiaj and in Switzerland ; biit it is not so apm this contir mt ; and, under the peculiar eireumstanett of Lower Canada^ to fix the salai^ of teachers would be, to legislate to Uie prejudice of educa- tion Itself. From the want of normal liehbols and of many other means of educating teachers in the art of teaching, — and more espeoialiy from the email amomt of time which those in actual employment have at their disposal for the purpose of supplying any defects in their education, the teachers here are far from be- ing equal in respect of talents, requisite acquirements, or experience in their proi^ion. ^ ' ** But, in order that the salary of teaehers could be~ fairly fixed by law, they ought to be at least n^rly equal in; aoquinsments and ability, and able to give us in fact guajrcintecs for equaJl^ sue. cessfnl results fi-oin their teaching. Now, Under existing ci/cum- stanees, these things are moi'ally impossible in Canada ; for it is anything but certain that the qualifications of teachers will be 22 equal, or that the mme ^d results will attend their services. Xi follows, tbererore, that ir the salary of teachers were fixed by law at an invariable rate, the school commissioners would in many cases be obliged to give some teachers more than they deserved, and would not have the power of giving more to those whose merits were greater. The school commissioners would thus be compelled by law to pay an ilUeducated teacher of inferior ability as good a salary as to one well educated and able, or to deprive the cause of education of the services of one or the other ; be- cause, in the first case, the ill-educated teacher would insist upon the salary fixed by law, as his rightful remuneration for such ser. vice as he could render, — while on the other hand the well-quali. fied teacher would not be willing to give his services at the same rate, more especially as in different parts of the country the ne. ccssities of life vary much and constantly; so that the proper salary fur a teacher is a relative matter, depending both upon his qualifications and upon the necessities which local circumstances subject him to," &,c. Without Stopping to notice the unsatisfactory applica- tion of some of the above conclusions, we pass on to p. 32, — where, while "nevertheless" urgently advo- cating the establishment of Normal and Model Schools, Dr. M. further observes :•— '* I am also of opinion that allowing an increase of salary to the teachers of model schools, we ought at the same time to make it their business to train some of their pupils as teachers, in considera- tion of a certain premium to be allowed for each of them who should have gone through a satisfactory examination before one of the boards of examiners ; for I wish that all teachers, whether trained at the normal school, the model school or elsewhere, should equally undergo their examination before one or other of the said boards*' of Examiners. Not quite comprehending the drift of some of the above reasoning, we are, for the present, content to ob- serve, that Model School arrangements must emanate from a formal source, and that it appears to us that it would be futile to attempt to equalize or fix the salaries of Teachers farther than an equitable participation in the benefits of the general fund will allow, with the exception of assigning a reasonable minimum salary for any Teacher, (as advocated in our former Remarks) altogether indepen- dent of the number of children attending school; the latter in a great measure depending on the degree of denseness or sparseness in the population of a school section, and therefore entirely beyond the Teacher's their »crvice». ft '''ere fixed bj Jair « would in inaoy m they deserved, » to those whose ers would thus be of inferior abihty »ie, or to deprive • the other; be- vould insist upon •on for such ser. d the welLquali. wes at the same Boontry the ne. that the prf>per g both upon his * circumstances "Jtoiy applica- e pass on to gently advo- odej Schools, ofealarytothe me to make it 8i in considera* of them who ■ton before one ners, whether 'Where, should M" of the said [>nie of the itent to ob- St emanate o us that it he salaries ition in the exception preacher, r indepen- Joolj the degree ot I* a school reacher's 23 iontroul ; and that we are persuaded tbAt by holding out roper and juat emolumentary encouragement, after the [ndispensable introduction of regular Normal School raining, a sufficiently uniform and eifective standard of qualification would be introduced among the great body [of the Teachers, to insure to the country the most bene^ ficial results. But in that case, as already hinted, the [powers of the local Boards of Examiners must in a great degree give place to the more general superintendence of a Provincial Board of Education. But what, let us ask, can avail either the wisest move-* ments of a Legislature, or the most zealous efforts of in- dividuals, if tke great body of the people, for whose express benefit these exertions are made, either coldly stand aloof, or indifferently, or perversely-^we would almost^ say wickedly and diabolically, -—reject or oppose the almost gratuitous proffer of so inestimable a blessing as general Education ! And yet, such, alas ! would appear to be too much the case. Taken, however, in even the moEjt favourable point of view, what is the amount of the generous pecuniary patronage, or rather of the miserable annual pittance doled out to the honoured instructors of our hopeful offspring, either in British America or the United States, with the noble exception of Massachusetts, (and in a less prominent degree Penn sylvania and Connecticut,) neither more nor less than a paltry average of little more than £40 currency to male teachers, and less than half of that amount to those of the female sex ! Wages, which, unless board and lodg- ing also were furnished, our commonest farni labourers would reject with disdain ! In the application of this observation we, of course, refer to America alone : for, as is well known, in Europe these matters must be viewed and meted by an utterly different scale.* * We of course refer to the scale of wages given in Euiope to farm labourers, and village and town mechanics, as compared with other classes of the population : but a far more apposite view of what might reasonably be expected to be received by teachers in a Colony, may be formed by the Legislature and people of this Province, from the late liberal and enlightened movement of the Home Government in behalf of education in the small ci.de. vant French Colony of the Island of Mauritius, — to which, wo perceive, the Gcvcrnment have just dispatched several members 'wgM in British A^^'!'„°'^Je«ctotf„i9if^^ "-« *•» it right Sdi^?^. °"f ""'• •"e'fioB i ^ « «he nweip, of more tha^inn^"' "^ te«l"en beii* •he greater ^a« of o^ «|LlZ. r*' *»*«« W «li»t the, average a«ia,«l f^^- , y*"' '« "O preb^e *«' ?'««««l?«olelytX^„/' »,».'*' P^pw to State! ragS'iJCome of teach.™ into^rl"*™*" 'S^tli* av" oa St»tm. It^L^ J Jiu«m , - • 1^30 >^«a«cer.L ^ "^ • I 36 r»«edbut^<'.^o«JK| ii / i )ftbouti aaditioii. ; • I 38 ,«« «( (I «4 « ft additiS^'? " ?wng: and lodo*. 'Off alto found. PPper Canada, I*ower Canada, Nov» Scotia, •new Brunswick, State of Maine, . . New Hampghirej Vernaont, . ' MaaSachusetbi* ConneeticDt. ! PenntTlvania, SIS.S ■ JViiohiga n. I JBfcIuiire ol board. 35 In addition to the ibregoing hnmiliating vieiv of the ;muneration generaliy awvrded in America, to teachers if both sexes, we cannot refraiii from drawing the at- tention of our readers to the very low and ungalhnt es- timation in which the valuable services of the gentler sex, IS instructors of youth, are, with a few exceptions, held [by our American neighbours, as well as oufselves, averag* ing at less than one half of that of the male sex ; where- as in the National Schools in Ireland, the 4>roportion is more justly nearer four-fifths We may further add, that there, i. e,, in Ireland, the teachers are divided into three classes, in the two first of which the mate teachers receive from Government, in addition to their local school ilues, from SdO to £16; and the females from X24 to jS14, per annum. But it has been at the same time repeatedly declared by the Board of Commissioners, that they neither prof ens f nor care they authorised by the State to make-^anta of eaiaries to teachers, exc^t in aid of local contribuHons from the Patrons of the schools, and from the parents of the children : and thai the salaries suppUea by them are to be regarded as only supplemen- tary to these local payments. To return to the Report before u^.' Our limited space will not permit of our following Dr. M. through the whole of his rather discursive course, but we can- not refrain from quoting his pertinent observations on the alleged unconstitutional proceeding and dreadful hardship of compulsory contributions! which, according to the shajDoeless assertions of certain ignorant or un- principled demagogues, are so utterly repugnant to the rights, feelings, and habits of the worthy/* habitans" of Lower Canada. ** Compulsory contribution, in oaaes of necessity and for tho common good of the inhabitante, has from time immemorial been practised in Lower Canada. It is by this mode of contribution that, under the law of the country, they have, without foreign aid of any kind, built their churches and raised other . religious establishments, which testify so honorably to their good feeling and zeal for the advancement of religion. Now, the people havft never regarded as * taxes' anessments fur these purposes, nor as ' tazers' the Trustees appointed by a vote tff the majority to iin- pose them upon the aisass a ble property of the parisiiioncrs ae- 26 cording to value. And what -would have been their satisfaction and tl^ graiitiide, if the ^yenraient had* by an aet, come for. ward apdofl^d them on^, hfilf of the sum required ior aqy of these purposes, on condition that they should furaish the other hair ! what then ougrht, for the same reason, to bo the eagerness of the inhlkbitants to comply with the requiremente of the School Law, to obtaii* the aidjof which they stand in need in order 'to pro. cure for their children the advantages of education, which is above all material advantages. '* The (ace is, that the inhabitanis o^ Lower Canada were, be. fore the passing of the late education laws, habituated to contri- bute by aMeasroents, oompulsery or v6)(inilary according to cir- cumstances, towerds those objects of covnmon mtore^t most dear to them. Why, ^t,hen should any one take pleasure in exciting among them fear, troul^Ie and alarm on the subject of the School Law? ■■ '* lli'e sum retjfuited fayiiitw Ibv the purposes of ofduoation, is not, according to the tnae fmeaning of the word, * a <«»,' but a miere contributionttince it isqnJy required for the immediate bene^t of the children of Ihoso who pay it, — since it is expended in the locality itself under the eyes of the parents and parties interested, under the diiiection of those whom the inhabitants iiable<>to con- tribution have voluntarily chosen for the management of the sehools,— rsince, instead of being ci^ried out pf tbe~ localityi this sum has the effec^ of bringing into it an equal sum, to hp therein expended for the same purpose andMn the same manner, and has consequently the further effect of distributing money in the \oeii' lity and making it circulate there (instead of taking it away^ito the advanfage of the farmers and traders in the midst of whom beside the teitchers and theit families, who are so many consumers of agricultural aind other produce, which th^ydailjr'piiiAshaae with the pay they' receive,— since the School C3<^mmissfonensi are re. sponsible and are bound by ^aw to render an account to the par- ties interested of the application of both the sums in question, and of -all their proceedings." In spite of the foregoing indubitable truths, such is the perverse apirit engendered in various parts of the Lower Province by utterly reckless demagogues, and these not altogether confined to the same race as the ** confiding HabitanSy\ — that the great blessings de- rivable from even the present highly beneficial, though, of course,, still defective, educational law, are either altogether rejected, or made to fall far short of what they otherwise might be; and with sorrow are we compelled to add, that a few isolated spots in the Upper Province seem to be contaminated with the same poison- ous leaven ; among which we scarcely expected to find the good city of Toronto, or wiy portion of the loyal men of Gore. Of these, however, more hereafter, should our space permit.* But to return to the Report. Not cpntfifit with dis- cussing the many conflicting topics embraced by his general observations,^~Dr. M. next proceeds not only to maintain, for ten good reasons, which he gives at length, that the " principles" of the present school law should remain intact, though subject to no less than 29 proposed improvements, — but to marshal in a similar formidable decimal array, the various defects of that very law. And then, hcnribih didu ! — guided by the same cabalistic number, to enumerate in detail no less than ^e» different conflicting systems of education, which it would seem, have already been proposed to sopercede the law at present in operation ; but which, fortunately, he immediately afterwards, unceremoniously proceeds to knock down, like nine, or we would rather say like ten pins, ione after another. Not doubting that some of the defects, as well as im- provements pointed out, will deservedly meet with due attention by the Legislature, when the subject comes before it, we are content to pass them by ; and the same might also very well be the case with the greater part of the conflicting and somewhat crude systems that have been suggested, a»> superior to that at present in operation; but there are some observations, hinging on the eighth and tenth items, which we cannot allow to pass altogether unnoticed. In rejecting the idea of attempting to simplify the working of a public or National Educational system, (as proposed under the eighth head,) by leaving it more to the arbitrary discretion of a responsible Superintendent, guided by a brief Act embracing only the fundamental principles. Dr. M. justly observes, — as follows : " It is easy to say that the School |Act is diffase and compli. cated, obscure and unintelligible ; but under the peculiar and difficult circumstances in which the inhabitants of this country are placed with regard to one another, it is not so easy as people think to abridge and simpUry this act, and at the same time to * See pages 41 & 42 of this article. i9 An influential ^S^^'-^Jj" «'''»»? Vrfec^S,!?^ ^«t 'ha ""tjetdone with Z*'.""' "»'* '' "^eni thfffi.^'^.T"*' "»• Public Inslruciion k * '^Port^nt quesUon !L l®*"»'«tore haa 't. "nd if iik/J^ "" heretofore, aom. J' !!*"** "^fef «t mav be- 'SSSsisf'^^ S3iiS!"bS?S^ "--i-IT but thorougb/j. underaS'iy'r** «{ th"«e of S ?!{ V* governed? •ttainment • «,;. "^ '*'« object ami ikl *"°^ **<> "ol at Srni Act. a?iiiS,T.*iiL' "pp'*'*'^^ Shth":r r*^^** ^- si parte of Uie coiintrv S ?*^* *« '^^ P"^miT«of t*" ***« «°«d ye accustomedT^tL "','* '»";?' be truJ^aSl ?J f^^J" *"»e 'o 't«« to their h, '5®.'^*'''^'nff of a W «K °.^*"*' '^herj ?:,.. legWatJon eSy difib "'", "'*"" «"'«'« and discir"'^. ^^^^^^^e have acqS «? ^^^'^ *" 'he fruit of S„f ^""'^ have the ef m ** The inbabitanU of. Utwn Cwwiiu like ihim fl SeoUtnd. irhere thtntUm of elenientary i|Mtrac4joi^ JMseduc^.^^loli «4v ibid retuTti, Will loc^ contract by pEaelice the hi^bitof ptying iM attention to the IliW (ind to iU weik pomt«,— Icm lo tb« lega- ktjr of the means and proeeedinga of Ihoae who cikrry it intb ex. f eutiun,— leai to the rulea and. formalities to be .observed io the natter of contribution, than to the objects of the law« whioh thiBy nirsoon come to feel and know as \i by intuition.*' We should have been happy to have equallv ac- luiesf^&d in Dr. M.'s observations on the tenth head ; lUt, unfortunately, in discussing the merits of this arrange- lent, as a thing proposed, viz. ; -** To have but one Law [for all cases, and but one system of general Education, with a Superintendent Genera) and local Superintend- ents, t« t,f a Superintendent for each district or county," -^r; M. sBtots to have lost<«ight oUhefaeff that there was such k' section of our great Province as Upper Canada, — and that the very system to which he alludes, as in prpspeeiUy is, in spite of all opposition, now in active operation in that benighted quarter, in near a three-fdld more ^iicces^ut degree than that of which he is the directing head.— Nay more, we will evepi venture to tell the worthy Superintendent, for whose patriotism, zeal, and talents, we have a high respect, that we ane disposed to think tha^ he was stepping rather'out of his official way, when he ventured upon any obeervil^Dns tending to call iii question the merits of any part of the Educational Law of the Upper Pi^ovince, and more parti- culariy to depreciate the value of the services of that im- portant branch of its machinery, the District Superintend- ents; and that delicacy should rather have led him to re- frain altogether from alluding to the operation of the Upper Canada school law, if ijie could not do so in terms of commendation ; and further, that in tKus acting he would have only been following the cautious commend- able example of the Superintend considered on- t satisfied lyith • whidh contfiintea ainrf to them, the otherwiM j., like 5 ^« 0n ,« rteujtural jntr- »«rfa; ancfj^et their Common ' «o«* A«'*, «/. "^^l.intweat^J '«»^.eiuiei^t for ."B propo^d. tend greallj >ntendetat.m- «rintpndent8 'Jf disburse. and trouble, «W country ^^r we must I of educat- "houid not Btitins, iind lewlarthe ^ a 9oi?n. have a 3n to the B^heim d1 liMetorciekon upm tbtt nsgnlsrity aula mifttftnitywdeiira* in the #rorkinff of (M \uw, N^w, meni MPaeilinK Urn qvaU> itioni al^ve, mfl|ntion|^d« f^nd jyhogi tht.oi|fr of ft triflinf ffam iiuld not tempt, would' not ffenerally be wi{iinig to aeceptjui office 'this kind import theee induipcnflable edridiuene ; and it cannot concealed rthat, ai these ihdiipeiliable qnahfleatibns mitfht be Irsnting in- gome of the men who woukl owpr themaelves for the Iffioe, they would be incompetent to perform ite dutiM with ad* fanta^e, &c. *' From dll of#h'ieh it knay be inferred that tar from being able 'recicpniQptJniiieful hnd efficient co.opetMion on the part of ^he local .^{^pcrintcindents. we should have every reason to fear that they if ould contilbute to embamws the local worliiog of the law, and to ocoasbn an increase of expense without producing my efibet or refrult tending to the advancement of the cause, for leh would wlsh^lo iict upon his owri sytenk*^ Dr^ M. thcfn prtkseeds to inler that for j»o/tftW rea- I sons it ^otrtd ' ha eqtially untafe to entniat the appoint- i meht of thdif^ <^cer^ to eithei* the pecple, or the Govern. Iment: and'ye^ nfier^ M all hazards, projlMMing two modinoaiionS) viz^, either dividing the 36'Goumie8 of Lower Canada' ihto 20 Sehodl Districts, oi'- ap^inting a Superlniehdeni to each of the prdsebt^ great judicial Dis- tricts; be at length comes to the conclusion that^r'^^^-'^*" «• It isj) howe^o^ 'V^iy Msyto obtain an equally good reauft with^t the oo-optaration of such fiuperiM^denfs, by miMhs of the local Visitors provided, for by the Act, who without removal from their homes or ^y trj^velling ezpensea whatever, are aUe to visit the schools in their ire^pective localities with as much zeal, interest, and earttesth'eiB,' as pteasure. •'Let the present syitotn then have a trial of two br throe years, and if tho visitors fail in their doty, the clergy and the people will have no reason to be surprised, or cause to complain, if the Legislature should assign them maatere^ for the sake of the welfare of o|i^ youtli.'* Now> with every disposition to do justice to so valu- able and influential a class of honorary officers as local and general visitors, whether civil, judicial, or ecclesias- tical — without whose active and enlivening, a» well as wholesome co-operation and supervision no public Educational system can be regarded as complete, we would look uf ^A the substitutiim of such irrespoinsible Inspectors (otpaid District Superintendents, as prepos- terous and absurd, independent of their duties being altogether separate and distinct. 33 But fietling afide our own particular predilectiont or prejudieea, let us unhetitatingly refer to the renulta in the neighbouring States, and among these, to that of' New-Tork in particular,— regarding which, by the by, Dr. M. is in error in inferring (p. 87,) that the Educa- tional Department is there managed solely by the Secretary of State, (aa State Superintendent), with the aid of an assistant, there having, for the last seven years, been Superintendents to every County, who have proired the very life and soul of the Educational system.*** But if we would contemplate popular Education among our American neighbours, in its most extended and satisfactory light, let us at once turn to the tran. Bcendantly laudable example set by the New England States,->where, under the powerful iwpuliS^' of xbat best of all National arrangements, the Fret ScHiocl System, Jt has been in successful, yet gradually imprQving, opera- tion fpr near two centuries; and among, which, we believe, at least four, out of the six States, have lately been , led tp adopt the same improved plan of Superin- tendence m that of New- York, viz., a State Superinten- dent, with one or more County Superintendents, (yet retaining even a Superintenaent to each Township,) and Trustees to every School District. In fact, such is the general confidence in this recent improvement, that the Board of Education of the State of Massachussets, have been justlyjed to observe, that ** five of the New England States are now zealously engaged * Dr. Potter of N. Y., in his Prize Essaj on *• The School and Schoolmaster," well obaerves that, ** it was to supply that la- mentable defictenoy on the part of tru9tee», toi/miinipetiotB, and pitrentt, that the <^ce of county Superintendent was created ; — that the creation of this office seemed in be loudly called for from all parts of the State r that the law was franked ne.irly on the model of that which is conndered the best for securing school inspection that the world has yet seen, (that of Holland); and that it is now regarded by the most enlightened frieinds of poDular instruction throughout the country, and he might add throughout the world, as the one meaeure without which the State systent must have remained comparatively inert; but toith tehieh it Mttst, :/ properly euatained, rite to exeelUnee and cover itself toith honor** ediieetionfl nr »e renulto in »» to that of '**> by the by, the £duca- >'e»y by the nt), with the aeven yeare, have proved Item.* Education >»t extended the tran. »w England of that best ving, opera- which, we b«ve lately »f Superin- Superinten- denta, (yet nship,) and School and >ly that la. eetora, and created; d for from «rly on the itfg school '»«0; and nrougkoM 't« •jwteni whieA it ver iiMlJ \\n the promotion of a cause, from which posterity will receive ampler and more precioas blessings than if they were to inherit from their ancestors the richest mines of silver and gold, imbedded in a soil spontaneously teeming with the choicest productions of the earth I" But to return to the Report before us. After devoting ten pages to the rather unnecessary and possibly rather miscbievous discussion of the merits of this single de- bateable point, the worthy Superintendent is led to regard as a preferable proceeding: ** Moreover, it ia not mere Buperintendencebver the ■ehoola and tlioic to whom they are entrusted, however necessary and sue. cesfful this 'may be, which will procure us good teachers, or will even most contribute to crown their labours with success, if they are not themselves safBeientiy edncatcd ; this must be done by providina means for training and instructing them, and for paying them adequately for their services. The most important point, tiion, is first to find out what these means are, and then to put them ill practice for this double object. I am therefore of opi. nion that any one of the sums mentioned in the for/ner part of this head, whether it come out of the pockets of the people or of the Government, would be much more profitably employed if, instead of paying the local Superintendents, it were applied to the train, i ng of Teachers, by mean« of Normal Schools, and to their in> f«tructi(tn by means of a Journal of Education, and the Public Librariea to be established in each Municipality, as well as by means of travelling writing maatert, — and also to the proper re. tnuneration of the teachcrei, more especially of those who are placed at the head of model or superior schools.** Now, with respect to, and considering the sinister bearing ol parts of the above Quotation, we feel ourselves justified in hinting to Dr. M. that as far as Upper Canada is concerned, "the means'* alluded to by him, are there, not only clearly defined, but actually realized ; and that, therefore, Lower Canada has only, << to do likewise ;'' that the whole of the evidence adduced by us — and we could marshal much more— in favour of County Su- perintendents, goes io prove that such '< means** cannot be more eligibly or profitably employed than in paying these valuable local inspectors ; and that, if, instead of continuing to fish in troubled waters, the worthy Dr. had left the discussion of debateable points in the Lower Can$ujla Education Law to the wretched demagogues whom he so justly condemns and despises, and struggled • 8* County and Model SebooU^Li^^^' •"."* ^"'"« or Superintendeiu in .he We« 'C! " •?*'»"''' '"•»"'«' gaged in tuperintendin, .SrJ?' ^lil "■«' ^tively en- *«r cts, which he W^or^''''"'"'" '» "•« diflferent pwding a. ao very d^r«w * f^'^ y^» been re- compliahed. and Zi Z"^'; ^^' *5.» -"uch be ." ("I knowledge, the bSmLJ^ ^ **" «''ffi»'on of me »>». will aoone ™ Cr foil"""' "^ T'"'^P i»C •hat would remain to be iZ •7'"'' *}">»' >« honourable tbat Dr. M., after m .ln2 .i ?'*^'"> only observe rival systems X^^l S^ '"" '«» confl'S.;' formidable, array of his29 nrnt J '°"«*''> ""ougb lew vour of a few « ^e Act, ucceeded \n a Vmrict Of ' a Provin^ Btic brother ictively en- ^!^^f and 'e diflerent ' been re- '«ch be ae- on of use- ?> LiSrar. 'ndeed, aji *he pro- r smiting ©8^ novel hool Sv8- ^ an Act 'fine that be able rjted onj ^niaining interest- ofEdU' farther ofEdu- lal and making teach- ■•age a tials to urabie serve, icting 1 iht iooaJ remarks thereon ; tod then, somewhat in inverse order, [quotes from his official report for 1845-6, vanoui sup. piementary suggtations <*on the subject of legislation 'for public instruc^opy (the state of things being now in every respect precisely the same as it then was,"V— embracing oounUr academies, normal sohoo!% a oeaf and dumb school, uniformity of school books, elemen- tary schools for agriculture, and, though last, not least, a Journal of Education : — all, as we have admitted, doubtlessly desirable and important,^— but not expected to be so oflen recurred to,— unless to remind our Legis- lators of their persevering inattention to such proper and well weighed suggestions by a zealous and anxious friend of the people, and conscientious responsible ser- vant of the Government. In taking lesve, however,'of Dr. M., we cannot help adverting to one of his many observations in favour of the existing Iiaw»— in one part of which we cordially concur, — while in the other, we do not recognise the usual calm, good sense, due appre- ciation of facts, or dispassionate language which generally characterise the worthy Dr.'s writings. We allude to the dose of the following rather extraordinary passages in p. 89^ 90,'--Jhe italics in which, are^ oi course, our own : " It is not surpriiiag that, men should think tkat tome other ■yitem of public initruotion would have been better adapted to the Wants of the people of Lower Canada and to the pecuhar circamstances in which they are placed, or that the present law is imperfe^ and needs amendment ; tor it is difficult, not to say impossiblie, iot all the friends of popular education to be exactly of one mind upon a subject of commcm. mterest, and of such vital importance to all as tl)e subject of public instruction ;— but to say that the law works well nowhere, that there is not under its ope. ration ohe good school, and that "if the ilfan. Go(2 came again among us, we should not have a single good school to oflbr him ;' these are mere assertions which must surprise and astonish every one, bold and hazardous allefrations which can never meet with general aitsent, because to the personal knowledge of every oa» they are unfounded, and absolutely contrary to the real fkcts. I say, and I say it with a feeling of satisfaction mingled with pride, and because I know, it to be true, that the preaient law works gene- rally well, and better than any of the preceding laws haViC done ; so that t/ Christ thould^ come eigain titibly into the t0or(ii as a child, he might in Lower Canada select one good iehool firom among a thoutand Mueh, in which the teaching and diicipline are perfectly in accordance wit/^ the moral and intellectual loantt of humanity" ' Howfar such language is^ either advisable or appro- priate, we leave to others to decide. It aflbids us no small relief to turn from the forego- ing discordant view of the workings of our Educational system) to a subject most intimately connected with its success, on which there will be little difference of feel- ing — ^namely the proffer of a hearty welcome, and wishes for a long literary life to the useful and interesting, as well as valuable, Periodical named at the head of this article, — as likely to do more real good to the cause of Education, ** Holding as 'twere the mirror up to nature," by the progressive registry o( convincing factSt than all the theoretical writings in the world. Let ts then commence by, at once, observing that what Dr. M. has, with the best intentions been, year after year, wishing for, and writing about — namely, the establishment of a Journal of Education, his brother Superintendent in the West had contrived to carry into successful practice, at his oum pecuniary risk and per. sonal and mental labour, in January last, and has ever since, been not only furnishing the public monthly, with a choice miscellaneous mess of useful and instructive matter on the subject of Education, as far as the gene, ral reader is concerned, but also conveying to munici- pal councils, teachers, trustees, and other officials, more immediately concerned, in the most convenient, and, as regards the public, cheapest possible mode, every variety of information and explanation on whatever parts of the Law might be deemed obscure, contradic- tory, or ill understood. Did our remaining circumscribed space permit, we should be disposed to draw largely upon the many valuable original articles, as well as apposite extracts from public writers and documents, confirmatory of our own humble views on so important a subject, to be found interspersed throughout the eight numbers of the Journal now before us, but we are forced to forego that riety c Counc only tt school on th( towns the he Febru pound presei the C parati Bchoo numt the J excel land CUti peri] asf lighi witl lea( • me of Et an wi no ipliae are wantt of appro- forego- cational ivith its of feel- wishes iting, as of this luse of han all )g that n, year 5ly, the brother ry into a per. 18 ever ^ with iictive gene. iuoici. more nd, as every itever "adic- t, we nany racttt four > be the that 3t pleasure, and to content ourselves with referring to a few of the roost prominent articles, and assuring our patridtic reaaers that a leisure reference to the work itself, will prove highly satisfactory, and well repay the trifling expense of $1, per annum.* That, however, they may have something more than our mere word to encourage them, we beg to state that, with the appro- priate introductory article in the January number will be found incorporated an instructive letter from the chief Superintendent to Wardens of Districts, on a va- riety of subjects requiring the attention of Municipal Councils, — the hardships of school Trustees, and that only true principle of universal £ducation,~-supporting schools according to property ; together with an article on the system of schools for cities and incorporated towns^ embodying a circular from the Superintendent to the heads of city and town corporations. In that for February, is a letter to the Provincial Secretary, ex- pounding and recommending the original draft of the present School Bill, published by special permisdion of the Grovernor General ; and in that of March, a com- parative view of the powers of the Superintendents of schools in the United States and Canada. In the April number is given a reprint of an admirable article from the London Quarterly Journal of Education, on the excellent system of ** Free Schools" in the New Eng- land States, but more particulariy in that of Connecti. cut) which we would most earnestly recommend to the perusal of every patriotic Canadian, of whatever origin, as placing popular Education in its only true and proper light, opposed to the miserable ignis faiwus doctrines with which wicked demagogues would attempt to mis- lead a portion of our ignorant compatriots^ whether * We wuuld even go further, and maintain tliat no better '< manuaV* can be put into the hands uf our Members of Parlia. mont, — to prepare them for thoroughly understanding the merits of the Common School Question, than the " U. C. Journal of Education,** as far as pubhshed, — it containing a most valuable and instructive mass of information on every subject connected with the workings of different systems of public instruction, as now in operation in every part of the world. among the proverbially '*ioo confiding HabiUnu^^ on the one hand, or the more stUf^relying Anglo-Saxoo settlers on the other.* Nor would we pass by unnotiGed in the same number, the oommencement of a lierieB of interesting papers, (continued tn subsequent numbers^} on Agricultural Education, by H. Y# Hind, Esq.yinathen matioal mastefj Normal School ; or an/instruttive article in the ^itorial department^ on the system of free Schools in cities and .towns in the United iStates and Upper Canada, containing tables shewing the qompara^ live rate of the cost of schools^ and salaries ^ teachers in various cities and towns in the former. In that of JXlay, will also be found . a most gratifying \ account of the first M'oiimd S^hfvl Exanii$utHQn^ view of the highly favourable notices 1^ the wbde of the Toronto prevs ot that interesting ceremony, and of the appropriate addresses delivered on the occasion. In the June number, in addition to a portion of an able address delivered, by the chief Snperintendent before the Senate and Students, of Victoria Colle^, op the 2d of May, *^ Ontke (Migatiom of tdmated men,"— and a continu- ation] oC Mr. Hind's paper on << Agricultural Education," will 'be found in the editorial department, a strong ap«» peal to the Canadian publie in behalf of <^ The JoumaP^a itself,/rom which we cannot, refrnin from making the following short extracts, — as not only deserving of serious public attention, but highly creditable to its talented dnd public spirited, yet in some quarters, much maligned conductor. f ,; ) ** Six numbere of the Jmwnal of EdueatioM having now: been issued, the public are sufficiently apprised of its charaeti^ ^nd objects; audit now remains for all friendly to those dbjects to say, whiether the undertakinfr shall entail a heavy peduiliafy loss, in addition to imposing niudi mentil labour upon the conductors of it. '* It is the first undertaking of the kind in Upper Ganadik, to diffuse useful mental information on educational subjects. The * It is but justice to add, that Uiis discreditable opposition to the q^read of education, among the iaiter> race, has been chiefly manifiested in ports of the. counties of Beauharnois, Shefford, Sherbroooke, Stanstead, Drummond, Lotbiniere^ Meguitic, Otta. wa, and Two Mountains. on 39 Ubours of t|iQ coado^itorppf the Journal qf Education is merely voluntary and gratuitout. Every Bhilling of lubtpription which Hat been or iakj he received; has been and shaH be expended to defray the inaohanical elpeosee of the work* Those eitpenees very coiuideritbly exieeed the aniountof snb»oriptione. ^ The iesu- ing of each nufi^ber inflicts a serious loss upon the editors in ad- dition to their ^rsonaT labours. At whatever sacrifices, however, and under any oironiiistances, their engagements with the public will be honeurab^ fulfilled in continuing the publication through the year. At t^ .cl;Me of the volume a copious alphabetical index to the qat^ecte of it will be furnished, so that it may serve as a eonveiiient manual of references on all the principal subjects of populu educiation, as applicabte both 'to Canada and other coun. tries.** nmv : ■ ■;'" 'I • The Rev. Editor, then very appropriately proceeds to shew that of the nameroud Educational periodicals which have appesred in the neighbooring States/scarcely one has 8iirvijj^|Bd< for any condderable time, that has not re- ceived more of leas legislative aid ; and, to prove how difficult it is to sustain an EducaHonalJoumal, and the connequent necessity of extensive and active co-opera- tion to be able to do so, he gives a sufnmary account of the various School Journals which have from time to time been issued in the neighbouring States; from which it would appear, that out of 14 Educational periodicals ^set on foot in various parts of the Union since 1831 — 'only three now survive, — and that these, to their honour be it stated, are published in New England and New. York ; viz., the Common School Journal of Massachu- setts, commenced in 1838, the New- York District School /ouma/, commenced in 1842, and the Syracuse Teacher*s Jidvocaie (issued weekly), commenced in 1 846. It is, however, due to that noble pioneer of the cause of knowledge, the ,^erican J&Umal of Educa- tion of Boston, to state that, though now no more, it led the waj^^to tbem all, — it having been commenced so far back as 1826, and merged in the Annals of Education and Instructioft in 1831, — ^in which form it survived till 1839, when it finally gaye place to the existing Common School JournalmS\ iiB of humble origin who have risen to Eminence in life, — whether as states- men, philosophers, or men of letters — in the pulpit, or at the bar,--as warriors, mercliants, or agriculturists $ all equally tending to give a spur to a genial spirit of emula- tion among the rising generation, as well as to inspire with continued perseverance those who have already entered upon the busy stage of adult life. But to proceed with the remaining numbers of the Journal. In that of July, under the editorial head will be found some very pertinent observations on thejubject of Teacher'«i Conventions or Institutes, which, in the neighbouring States, have been found very useful aub- stitutes for Normal Schools, but which in Canada, if properly conducted, will happily prove only adjuncts to the invaluable Normal Institution already there in full operation. But we trust that even they will long con- tinue among the things *' to M" if likely to emulate the stiange example of certain wise pedagogues of the Gore District, who no sooner found themselves in dignified being as a ^* Teacher's Association*^ than they, in the plenitude of their reforming wisdom, set about voting the existing School Act a miserable abortion, the diief Su- perintendent an ignoramtts and a bore, and his labours, past, present, and prospective, utterly worthleiM. Far difierent, however, will be found the spirit pervading another article descriptive of the creditable feelih|p3 and doings of the inhabitants of London : and in ihe August number, besides other interesting matter, will be found a similar opportune contrast to the late ** extinguisher'^ proceedings of the ultra-wary worshipful fath^iis of the great, city of Toronto, in the far more considerate, |f fiot more enlightened conduct of the corporate authoritiea of the little town of Niagara.* ..U4. * Tp enable our readern to comprehend ; the application of Hue above remark, it is neceisary to mention, that in Jaly last a few nueiabers of a Teachers Awooiation, in the Grore District, taking; it into their heads to be displeased with the Chief Supeliiitendent, met at Dundas, and in defiance of every rule of iiE«i|Miitt& examine into the state f ^ Education. 5tli, (in which we most heartily coincide^ That a fostering government cannot reasonably be expected to succeed in so Hi^rculean a task, unl$$» a$iured by the hearty co-operatiim of the people I And 6th 9nd .lastly ; but not n^mbered or avoweOt though it ought to have ranked first,^ as evidently the ^rtmum f»o6t7e of their whole proceedings, — that the District Superintendent ought not to be subordinate to his Chief, but seljLhim and the School Law at defiance, and decide on all mattf^B occurri|[)g in his distript according to his wisdom* special parly feeling, and discretion !—— So much for the wise men of ** Goiiheh.*^ But our readers will not, perhaps, be much surprised at this, wben they are reminded that it was in the same District that (as noticed in our former Remarks) it was suggested that in ^he selection of teachers, a preference should be given to persons whose physical constitutions and decaying energies rendered them unfit for other pursuits ! Wit^ regard to the contrast between the good people of To- ronto' and Niagara, itiS sufficient to state, that it Would appear that in April or' May last, the worshipful City Fathers of Uie furrier, atiHiibling up6n a small blunder or misarrangement in the technical language, of the new Act, placing the humbler school Triislees m rather too authoritative a position in the carrying out of the levying of the school assessment on the free s^hlool principle^ ehose to shtit up the whole of tke com- mon schools in the city, rather thjin compromise ;omhined wi^ the eatablishment of Normal and Model Schdbls, and the exteiision of far greater pecunia.ry encoUragetndht to well qualified teachers throughout the Province at large; but^ In additiou to our alibied spiicie beifig already ex- hausted, we are constrained t& avow that there is one other air-important, becatise fundamehtal iniproVemen^, t^ which we feel bound to devote alew words, in pre^ ference. We allude to the great impolicy, if not follyx of continuing to have separate and distrnct Edueation Lawii for each of the two great seeiiohs of the Pr^yitiice, and'the cpuisequent evident expediency uf bur JD^ala- ture retracing their steps, and setting about the .laying of the foundation of whaitever permanent Sebolastio Sya- tem may be proposed, in the Wary conciliator]^ spirit bf the first Vnion School Bill of 1841, by at onc0 iiram|ng ONE well, digested geaeral Education, X^aw, adapted to the wants of the inhabitants of both divisions pf the ProviMce, and having it well understood, that, should Lower Canada not yet be considered quite prepared to J M ; J I 1^1 -r^ tiM tuwn ; andv ta< ptomote; the ezertiotia : of both toaohera sad papib^ (^nedtthtir Town-hali for a pablie ganerat esnminalion, and dit^tbatiOi|.of prize* to the moat maiitorious Boholan of the difForentitehoola ! w * See addendum at the end of thia artiele. ^sr^ 44 adopt every part of that law, whatever special Hubstitutes may be there found advisable, are to be regarded as merely temj^orary, and liable to be hereafter dispensed with, as soon as the people shall be disposed to adopt the liberal << self-governing" Municipal Institutions so long placed at their option. Should this politic course be adopted, we are per- suaded that no better model of a general school law can be adopted than, with a few modifications and im- provements, the existing Upper Canada Bill ; and then the only alterations necessary in the Lower Province, in addition to the introduction of a Central Board of Education, and Normal and Model Schools, would be the appointment of County Superintendents, and the foundation ot. respectable County Grammar Schools, wherever necessary,*" and that until the establishment of Municipal Councrls, there shall be County Boards of e(/«ca^e(/ School Commissioners, (componed of a Repre- sentative from each of its Townships, deputed by the r fellow Commissioners,) with which shall rest the power * The aboTO b«ing the first allusion to Grammar Schools in this Article, we think it rig^t to note, that having entered rather folly into the merits of that important branch of our subject in our former ** Refnarks,** we had intehtionaltv abstained from recur, ring to it ; but the opportunity having umred we cannot refrain from reiterating our earnest hope, that any revision of the lone neglected Grammar School system of Upper Canada, will be dis. cussed by Parliament, altogether independent of and prior to, the- introduetion of that hateful sectarian and political parly bone;Qf contention, — ^the Dnivereity Qtu»tion; and that, whatever other imimvements may be contemplated, these seminaries will be ex.* tricated froin their present anomalous isolated management, by distinct and separate Trustees, and placed under the direct joint supervision of the Cnief Superintendent and the Board of Rduca- tion ; and their nMsters 'suligected io a regular Normal School training, Ac., the same iLs the rest of oor Eduoational system. As sincere i practical Reformers, we are also not without hope that a searching investigation into the past results of the defec. tive Gl«mmar School arirahgemehts, will lead to a far more judi. cious and beneficial outlay of the funds devoted to the support of these seminaries than has often been the case in some parts of the country, where, as hitherto conducted, the Diitrict Grammar School has, at ««eA, sonwliinsa exhibited an empty ftiroe ; and the JCIOO annually granted to the Teachers been, therefore, a downright waste of the public money. * V 45 of regulating all assessments for school purposes, as now possessed by Municipal Councils in the sister Province. Keeping these leading points in view, the Legislature may be assured of one great /acf, that the nearer the revised Education Law approaches the ** Free School SyetemP in its purest form,* — the less will be the pe- * The foilowing excellent sketch of the Scottish lyfltem is given in the Report of a Select Committee of the House of Assembly ,1 Y of Nova Scotia, in 1836. See Young, on Col. Lit., p. 153 : — I " The plan of these schools is easily sketched and detailed. In every parish one of them must be of necessity founded : and besides the house or apartment, for teaching, a suitable dwelling under the same roof, or a distinct dwelling, must be provided for the master. No part of his income is derived from the publte funds ; but the freeholders in every parish are bound to furnish him with an annual sum called his salary, and to keep the school and his dwelling house in ordinary repair. The salary varies considerably, according to the size and worth of the parish ; be- ing in some as low as £20, and in others rising above this, by various gradations, according as landholders arc desirous of at- tracting men of the first talent to the instruction of their youth ; but the salary alone is the sum whidi the law compeb the inha- bitants to provide ; and the other emoluments, growing out of fees or wages, are paid by the parents who send their children thither for instruction. The parish then merely gives a partial contribu- tion to the support of the teacher, to enable him to accept a lower rate of wages from all without distinctiog ; and also to extend his care, gratis, to such children and orphans as would not other- wise be educated. The freeholders, many of whom never had families, or have families grown up and settled, are not burthened with the whole cost of maintaining their schools, but only with a eiwtain portion of it, so as to lower the rate of tuition and to make learning more acceptable to the middle and poorer classes ; and, accordingly, whenever their own sons and daughters are E laced underihe superintendence of the master, they have to pay im the customairy fees exacted from the rest of the community^ Whenever a vacancy occurs in a purochial school, candidates, by public advertisement, are invited to offer themselves, and a day of public examination is fixed, when such as appear undergo a com- parative scrutiny touching their qualifications and proficiencv ; and the teacher best qualified is forthwith installed into the situation, not liable to be dismissed afterwards, except for mis- conduct. For half a century past none have been allowed to enter into competition who were not capable of teaching the higher branches : and a thoroueh knowledge of the Latin tongue, with a moderate ehare of the Greek, u regarded a$ indw- penrible. In towns or villages which rise within the bounds of the parish, either from the introduction of manufactories or the ^ 46 cuniary sacrifice by the wealthy, as well as by the hum- blei' classes, and the greater will be the general blessing coriferred upon a fi'ee and independent spirited people ;— and that, in this respect, no model can, with a few modifi. cations, be more worthy of adoption than the liberal example set by the New England States.* Deeply impressed with this conviction, we are con- tent to allow our, perhaps crude, yet heartfelt opinions, to go forth to the public in company with the able writer in the British Journal, already alluded to, who has so clearly demonstrated that, under the auspices of such an alma mater, among a population (in New Eng- land) of two millions of souls, not less than from 10,000 to 12,000 schools are open every year, — or, on an ave- rage, one school for every 100 souls ; — all arising from the operation of a liberal system of Free Schools, di- rected and promoted by Law, and founded on a tax on property. Let jis then, at once, close our protracted remarks, in the appropriate language of the judicious writer referred to, and confidently leave the rest, — untrammelled by paltry party politics, — to the dispassionate good common s&Me of a patriotic Legislature, and a discerning British hearted public, such as, in spite of all our party feudsi, we trust, will ever be found the great body of the people of highly favoured Canada. " But the introduction of such a system, * * must, in order to produce all its good effects, be gradual, as must any change intended to reach and affect the character of a whole people ; fur such a change cannot be .brought about by the enactment of a statute, or tlie providing of a fund. It can he brought about only by gradually interesting the wholb population in^it ; by mak. ing each town, each village^ each neighbourhood assist tn it, ccntribute to it, and superintend and watch it, as a private in. natural growth of population, schools of all kinds, and many of them taught by females, spring up, which all are left to their own field, having no support other than the fees of tuition. With these the law in no way interferes, but confines its requisition to one public school, with a master of suitable attainments, in some central part of the parish." * fiy this, however, we do not mean to interfere with every child attending school, making a trifling monthly payment to the teacher. I tereat of \ hands, granted but a rig they havi lawst or i time, of h do it. thai fully, or r only wh( people, ui meatic w resulls in last, able As tt appeara ourselve ment of interval hers of i Oetober ful and We cai tion of lecture, of Edi torial n( of the Canadi •< Uih tion in ther le(! Educat also bu School the Lo't manus( matter system priate would. JV be hum- ople ; — /modifi. e liberal are con- opinions, the able to, who spices of Bw Eng- 1 10,000 an ave- jing fronn hoolSf di- I tax on narks, in p referred nelled by common ig British ly feuds, le people t, in order uy change eople ; fur ment of a about only i by mak. aist in it, >rivate in. 1 many of their own ^ith these on to one i« in some with every ent to the *S, 47 terest of their own, tohteh they toiU not truet out of their own hando. They muetfeel, too, that it ie not a charity , or a favour « ranted to thepilfy othere,or eent down from t/teir aneeetere, ut a right, pt^-ehaeed and paid roR by thimmlvm, to which they have ne dear a claim, ae they have to the protection of the law; or the officee of religion. Thi« ii, of eourae, Um work of time, of habh, and of expenenoe. The 8tatat6.book can no more do it, than it rOan oompei a man to manage his own burineai Bkil. fully, or regula^ his household with discretion. It is, therefore, only where pOpalar education has been the anxious care of the people, until it has become to them as a personal interest, or a do. mestic want, that we can expect from it the wide practical results in (he character and condition of a country, which it is, at last, able to produce.*' , L. iO^ . , ADDENDUM. As the great length of our Remarks precluded their appearance in a single number of this Journal, we avail ourselves of the opportunity afforded by the postpone- ment of the abovQ concluding portion, to add. that in the interval we have had tho pleasure of receiving the num- bers of the Journal of Education for September and Oetober, but tpo late to avail ourselves of the many use- ful and instructive articles with which they abound. We cannot, however, refrain from directing the atten- tion of our readers to the former, as containing an able lecture, by the chief Superintendent, on ** the importance of Education to an agricultural people ;^^ a short edi- torial notice of ihe contents of the forthcoming ^* Report of the J^ormalf Model and Common Schools^ in Upper Canada, for 1847 ;" and some interesting extracts of the '< 14fA Report of the Commissioners of J^ational Educa- tion in Ireland ;" and to that for October, as giving ano- ther lecture by the Superintendent on << the importance of Education to a manufacturing and free people.^* It is also but justice to add, with regard to the announced School Report for Upper Canada, compared with that for the Lower Province, that it is dencribed as containing 270 manuscript pages, of which 240 appear to be devoted to matter directly connected with the actual working of the system during the year, including 130 pages of appro, priate statistical tables,r~( which, if published earlier, would, doubtless, have thrown much additional light f?t^^^ ■ '^^^IPf? upon our twilight path ;) and that the raai ia dti^and to an appendix, containing ropiea of varioua iMinNil|v« or explanatory circular lettem, and rule* Md f ^ i M iom tor the better guidance of all connee|iM4''wil^1lM wak- ing of our Educational Syatem. ' We are also happy to perceive firopa thoaamo Num- ber, that the appeal of the worthy Edllor%iirD4t proved in vain,~inany district! of Upper Ganadi,hi|yif^ come liberally forward to the aupport of the Woij^ j ao that we may now confidently look forward to iia uaofnl exia- tence being prolonged for, at least, another year^ Having so far done a well merited act of jakice in one quarter, we trust we may be pardoned for venturing on a few valedictory words in our own behalf; and these are, to express an anxious hope, that whatever may be the defects of our humble advocacy of the noble cause espoused by us, — our Remarks, however desul- tory, will, at such a juncture, not be found altogether undeserving of favourable attention by the public, ana more especially by the members of our Legislature, — as having emanated from a single-hearted, disinterested) patriotic source, alike independent of sectarian or politi'^ cal party motives on the one hand, and unbiassed by private personal feeling on the other ; but guided solely, as far as the writer 4san be a judge, by the honest, fearless endeavour ** Naught to extenuate, or set down aught in malice." Proudly conscious of this impartial moving principle, we are content to bid our readers farewell, in thesLme words as formed the concluding paragraph of our first appeal to the public in behalf of Educational re- form. *< Should our efforts be crowned with the success, which so great and excellent an object deserves, we shall ever Took back with satisfaction, at having hunf- bly led the way in so good a cause. Should we, after all, be destined to fail, we shall still indulge the hope that we have not struggled altogether in vain ; and, even at the worst, we may be allowed to assume as our motto — that we have failed in a lauuable effort ; — or, in more classical phrase, — Magnis tamen excidit ausis." L.