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FRANCIS COLLEGE, RICHMOND, C.E. {Reprinted from, the Montreal Herald). Ptftttval : JOHN LOVELL, PRINTER, ST. NICHOLAS STREET. 1865. ^''>/,v'"V. :m' - \ t ■^ ) k' i :>•.. i * .«»' PEINCIPAL GRAHAM'S REPLY TO THE SUPERINTENDENT OF EDUCATION FOR LOWER CANADA. ,t:i. LETTER L :r " vi»;-;?'j>* ' 'i^ ■■l-'i« William Lunn, Esq., Montreal, Ghtdrman of the Provinoial Assooia- tion, &o. Sir, — It was after deliberate consultation that I identified myself with the initial movement for the promotion and protection of the Educational interests of Protestants in Lower Canada. Conscious that no one could justly charge me with illiberality towards those from whom I differ in religion or otherwise, and expecting to be called upon to vindicate what I advanced ; and, moreover, bielieving that the Montreal meeting of the 27th September would accomplish much good, I cheerfully accepted the proffered opportunity to make some stric- tures on the management of the Educational Department. The lateness of the hour and other reasons rendered it unadvisable at that tim ' tr> enumerate the more serious " counts in the indictment," or to suggot^iu amendments to the School system. The Superintendent has devoted much space in the Journal of Edu- cation in reply to a part of the paragraph containing my remarks, re- ported with tolerable correctness in the Herald^ Gazette, Witness, and other papers. I will now review the Hon. reviewer, seriatim. I. I repeat, that it was neither right nor expedient for Mr. Chauveau to supply mixed Boards for the examination of teachers of every religious persuasion with Les Devoirs Du, Chretien, &c." containing articles on the dogmas and practices of Roman Catholics, which are highly offensive to most Protestants. In no contingency ought candidates of opposing religious faith, be liable to be called upon to analyse, parse, read, and explain passages on purgatory, indulgences, confession, etc. A book in the French language might have been provided, which would have been acceptable alike to Catholic and Protestant. Prudence and common fairness would have dictated the latter course. II. I take it for granted that the Superintendent admits that the ques- tions for the examination of candidates in Canadian History were framed with special reference to Mr. Garneau's History of Canada, and that nil the teachers of Protestant children in Lower Canada arc thus virtually compelled to make it their text-book. This, the Superintendent asstJrts, ** is the best book on the subject." In reply thereto, I submit the fol- lowing passages to loyal and considerate men. Catholics and Protestants, believing that they will generally unite in the opinion that a History of Canada, to bo promotive of good in a British Province, ought not to be based on such principles, nor pander to sectional jealousies by such in- flammatory and semi-treasonable appeals and historical untruths as arc contained in the following ((notations taken at random from Mr. Garneau's " History of Canada."* " The destiny of Canada is dependent on the cause wc vindicate in this work ; namely — The conservation of our religion, our language and our laws." " No regard for treaties nor official acts drawn up for the protection of her (Great Britain's) Canadian subjects has prevented her agents from violating concessions which ought to have been all the more carefully respected for being regarded as forming an aegis to protect the weak against the oppression of the strong. But whatever may betide, the per- dition of a people is not so easily effected as her enemies may imagine." " The people of the United States have already more than once by their resisting attitude, prevented the uplifted hand of oppression from falling on the (French) Canadians." " Although the present work is in name a history of Canada only, it includes the annals of all the French (not British) Colonies on the con- tinent of America. " The history of Canada, under British domination, is signalised by parliamentary antagonism of the colonists to all infractions of their nationality and designs against their religion." " There remains this consideration, too, that if -Canada's future be menaced, who knows what its birth-time may bring forth?" " Islamism assured itself that the cause of Greece was lost forever, yet Byron sang the Maid of Athens and the Bride of Ahydos. The free breath of ancient Greece now stirs the folds of the Acropolitan standard." " The flag of the neighbouring republic possesses this advantage, that when waved abroad, it scares violence from its prey, and parr.lyzes the arm which would be exerted in effacing the name of a people from the roll of recognised nations." " Sir Francis Bond Head also armed almost all the Irish colonists, a great number of whom had made common cause, hitherto, with the op- positionists of the most red-hot principles ; thus evincing a versatility of nature in the character of the Irish, which may serve to account for the evil destinies of their country." " A return to that policy may become inevitable * * * Bell's Translation, — the only edition accessible to English students. by the prospects of a new revolution similar to that which paved the way to Independence for the United States." Such arc specimen extracts from M. Garneau's Ilistorv, formerly used by Normal pupils in the Preparatory Department of this College. Its use has been interdicted for reasons which must be too painfully obvious after reading the above. Since the Superintendent has pronounced this to be the " best book " on Canadian History, there seems to be just reason to conclude that ho believes its monstrous fallacies, anu it necessarily follows that he, as Superintendent of Education, incurs a fearful responsibility in giving his official sanction to such perilous dicta, or in causing, or suffering the Council of Public Instruction to introduce a work surcharged with dis- loyal and evon treasonable scntimeiits ; everywhere on whose pages arc to be found in a hundred different forms the pernicious ideas, — that Lower Canada alone, is Canada, — that Canadians are the French, and the British arc their enemies ; that Lower Canada belongs exclusively to the French Canadians, and that French Canadian nationality is to be conserved and perpetuated at all hazards, even, if need be, by a " new revolution similar to that which paved the way to Independence for the United States." This reveals one of the rocks on which the administration of Mr. Chauveau is being foundered, and I confidently expect that loyal, pru- dent and liberal French Canadian Catholics will hasten to repudiate the idea that any great number of their people endorse the mischievous and insurrectionary doctrines of M. Garncau. III. I re-affirm that neither duty, expediency nor necessity required the Superintendent, in preparing examination papers for general use, to put the Apocrypha on an equality with the volume of the Sacred Law. He knows, and every other Catholic member of the Council of Public Instruction knows, that Protestants do not consider the Jewish Apocry- phal books as a part of the Canon of Scripture. All the examination in Scripture History is liable to be in the Apocrypha alone, and the candi- date may be rejected in this branch from failure therein. Many Protes- tants are unwilling to use, or have their children use, Bibles supplemented with the Apocryphal books, and many aj)plicants say they could not even have access to these works. No prudent public officer would trample upon, and none will be suffered with impunity to trample upon or violate the dearly-bought rights of conscience of any class of British subjects, much less of those who are of the acknowledged religion of the Empire whose beloved sove- reign even, is under solemn oath, '' to the utmost of her power to " maintain the laws of God and the Protestant reformed religion." IV. Since the Superintendent seems to desire to shield himself under the authority of the Council of Public Instruction, it is therefore fitting in the interests of the St. Francis District, to allude to our members of it. Two of the ablest men in the district, and perhaps in the Province, have been appointed members of this Council — the Hon. T. L. Terrill, who resigned some time ago, and the Hon. A. T. Gait, who was appointed in his stead. These are known to have been so engrossed in private and public luattcrfl, that it is often enquired, " why were they appointed ? that thoy might attend its meetings, or that they might not attend?" PerhapH the Hon. Superintendent will bo so good as to enlighten the public in regard to this, and will also be pleased to state whether it ha.s ever been practicable for these gentlemen to bo present, and take a part in the deliberations of the Council, and if so, how often. A member of a Committee of the St. Francis District Teachers' Asso- ciation addressed a letter to our first member, the Hon. Mr. Terrill, en- quiring whether certain matters relating to the interests of the Protes- tant Schools could be brought before the Council through him. The Hon. member's resignation was said to have been accepted shortly afterwards. Our present member, the Hon. Mr. Gait, has given, during the past year, through the award of a committee of our Association, the sum of forty dollars for prize essays on Common School education, and therefore, perhaps, absolution ought to bo granted to him, even if it has not been convenient for him to promote our educational interests through the Council. It may well be asked, why have so many Protestant politicians been appointed members of this Council, which, to ?o great an extent, directs the educational destiny of the Province ? It is believed by not a few, that the affairs of the Council, as well as of the Education office, may with profit be ventilated a little. I have the honour to be. Your obedient servant, JOHN H. GRAHAM. LETTER II. 4 William Lunn, Esq., Montreal, Chairman of the Provincial Asssociu- tion, &c. Sir, — The Honourable Superintendent stands thoroughly convicted on his own testimony, in regard to another branch of learning which ought to be well and extensively taught in the Common Schools ; and which Protestants, at least, consider of great importance, — namely, theoretical and practical Arithmetic. In the programme of requirements for an Elementary School Diploma, there are, in English Grammar, one hundred and one questions ; in Geo- graphy, fifty-one ; Scripture and Apocrypha, sixty one ; .History of Can- ada, (mostly Lower Canada and the French settlement on the Mississippi,) sixty-six ; Art of Teaching, thirty-one ; but not a single qurstloii on the important subject of Arithmetic. Let it not be known abroad, at least that the following is the legnl re- quirement for teaching IVIental and Written Arithmetic in tlic District Schools of Lower Canada, — *' The candidate shall, moreover, as regards Arithmetic, solve a problem " in fractions and another in simple interest." If this standard alone were adhered to by Protestant candidates in pre- paration, and by Boards in examining, it would drive, in a decade of years, all practically useful study of Arithmetic out of our Protestant Common Schools, and reduce them to the level of Parish Schools, where- in are taught only the elements of reading, — the dogmas and ceremonies of a sect and few other things. Were the omission of Arithmetic from the programme of requirements, not intentional to favour his co-religionists or for some sinister purpose, the supposition of its being a careless or ignorant omission is certainly still less charitable. The Superintendent needed to be informed that not only the writer, who, as he says, has acted as Secretary of the Richmond Board, and " some of the gentlemen who took a part in the meeting, members of the " Montreal Board ;" but nearly all Protestant Educators in Lower Can- ada have anxiously desired, to know why Arithmetic was so nearly ignor- ed in the legal requirements for Elementary School Diplomas, and, in fact, for Model School and Academic Diplomas also. All that is demand- ed in this branch, in addition, for either of these higher diplomas, is that the candidate " shall solve a problem in compound interest." Not only is the above inexplicable, but the classical qualifications for teachers of Academies, (who ought to be able to fit pupils well for Col- 8 lege) would not enable a student to matriculate in this College, and pro- bably not in any other Protestant College in Canada, unless by favour which is sometimes granted to students otherwise unusually well prepared or considerably advanced in age. II. It seems best still to follow the Hon. reviewer in his " skipping" process, wherein he now quotes a sentence from my remarks as reported in the Gazette, and now, when it suited his purpose better, taking another clause from the Witness or Herald, making no allowance for any errors which even the most expert reporters sometimes make, as no one knows better than the alarmed Superintendent. It was my intention to have made a public correctiou of the mis-re- port — partly amusing and partly annoying to myself — about the " babies" being enrolled ; but as I did not. I will quote the words as reported in several of the Montreal papers, and I now appeal to the people of the Province in proof of the correctness of my statement: — " There is no (just) system in the distribution of public money to either Protestant or Catholic schools. * * * It is given in proportion to the number of names on the School list, whether the parties attended more than one day in a year." This per nom'ma disbursement of School funds is wrong in principle, and disastrous in its results. It makes the populous districts richer and the sparsely settled ones poorer. In some cases it prevents Schools from being maintained, and suspends not a few where they are most needed. It is a temptation to send children to School at other than the terms they would be likely to attend, only to get their names on the record, so that the proportion of the public money to their Schools may be unduly in- creased. It would have well become the Superintendent to have acknowledged the mischievous character of the above rule, for he knows, or might know, that the instance of a certain dissentient School getting nearly one-fourth of all the public money in a town wherein are about a dozen Schools, is by no means a solitary example. Some of the most prosperous Schools in this section are made so by the School authorities * virtually' ignoring the mandates of the Education office. The Common School reports contain little or no reliable information of ' length of attendance' but chiefly the number * enrolled.' Thousands at- tend but a very short period ; if only a day, just as much public money ' will be received as if the pupils attended a term or a year. In mixed communities this is made to resolve itself into a question of ** produc- tiveness of race," and legerdemain in getting names on the School roll. III. The Honourable Chief of the Educational Depatrment,'significantly styled of late — ''Minister of Public Instruction,"'^ deserves thanks also for challenging my strictures on the management of the Superior Institu- tions and their Funds. I therefore gladly take the opportunity to reaffirm that a greater ne- cessity for a true classification of the higher institutions could hardly ex- ist ; and it would be difficult to suggest a more false disarrangement than the present, or one better calculated not only to deceive but to afford aa L 1 •"Miniatre de I'lnstruction Publique." i t 9 admirable facility to disburse funds to favourites according to the will and pleasure of the Superintendent, through the Governor in Council. Superior Institutions are arranged as follows : 1st. Universities; 2nd. Classical Colleges ; 3rd. Industrial Colleges ; 4:th. Academies for boys, or mixed ; 5th. Academies fur girls, and Gth. Model Schools. In the first class are placed only the McGill College and Bishop's Col- lege, leaving out of the " Debtor" column of the " Ledger" the highly government-endowed, virtually, Catholic Seminaries. In McGill College are (286) *' matriculated students" reported, and against Bishop's College the figures " 1G3" are put down. Now, the Superintendent knows that 150 of these in Bishop's are young gentleman and lads in a Grammar School, and the remainder about " 13" only, belong or ought to be reported in this class. For what purpose is this done ? It certainly thoroughly deceives the people of the Province who do not investigate these things for themselves, or who have no means of knowing that the Report is not what it purports to be. The writer has known educators abroad to be utterly surprised at this thing, which has every appearance of intentional deceit. If the one thousand students and pupils of McGill and its affiliated Colleges and Schools were all reported under the head of University stu- dents it would be on a jjar with the above. Can such a course be suffered longer 'f In the second Class, or (Classical Colleges) are promiscuously mixed together High Schools and Faculties of a University ; and the Supt. naively informs the writer in his (now published) letter of April 18th, 1864, " that the rela/ive number of the pupils of each institution has been *' taken into consideration" in disbursements to them from the Superior Education Fund. Hence it follows that a jyre^niam is paid on numbers irrespective of age, length of attendance, or standing. It therefore makes no difference to the Hon. Superintendent, through the Governor in Coun- cil, whether the pupils in " Classical Colleges" be young lads or men, — students in elementary branches or " matriculants" in some faculty of a University. The Superintendent's reports of " Classical Colleges" and even of IJniversities, iiiake (to the uninitiated) no distinctions between boys so young and backward that " some of them have to be sent to a dame to learn spelling," &c., and Undergraduates in Arts, Law, Medicine or Divinity. Hence it now appears that had not the Trustees of Gt. Francis refused to adopt an arrangement, sanctioned by the Superintendent, to admit into its Grammar School, the so-called " Model," and Common School pupils of the village of Melbourne and vicinity, the College grant from the Superior Education Fund would have been greatly increased instead of being decreased ; for in lieu of its last report of one hundred and twenty pupils and students, it might have reported, in all, one third more under the above nice arrangement for increasing the numbers in the Prepa- ratory Department, and lowering the standard. The per nomina sola, principle of disbursing the public funds which has proved so ruinous to the Common Schools has been forced upon the higher institutions also ! ! The third Class consists oi fifteen Industrial (?) Colleges (?) only one of which is Protestant. Some of these are well known to be no better than many Common Schools. Does a big name secure a large grant ? 10 - In the 4th class are reckoned about sixty Academies, one half of which are Protestant. Some of these also, are excellent institutions, worthy of the name, Academy ; others are aiding in bankrupting the Superior Education fund by the grants given to them irrespective of their grade. This class of Schools is both the strength and weakness of intermediate Protestant education for boys and girls. The 5th class includes only Academies for girls — Nunneries I suppose. There are over sixty Catholic and one Frotestant. The relative numbers in this class are somewhat startling. Will Protestants learn herein a sad lesson ? Ten thousand, three hundred and ninety dollars were last year paid out of the Superior Education Fund to aid in supporting sixty nunneries, &c., and one hundred and fifty-two dollars to aid one Protestant Girl's School, placed in the same grade as the former. Principle involved : — They who educate the girls control the destiny of the country. The 6th class, bankrupting the Superior Education Fund, numbers about 160 " Model-Schools," so called, one eighth of which are Protes- tant. Some of the Catholic and Protestant Model schools get as much per capita as Classical Colleges. Many of them are mere infant schools, and have no claim whatever on the Superior Education Fund. The greater proportion of the pupils would be in the Common Schools, where they ought to be, but for the mis-management of those who are now controlling our educational aifairs. It is believed that proper investigation would show that many of the children in these Schools reckoned as Model School scholars, are also reported as Common School pupils, by being sent to the Parish Schools a portion of the time besides. Thus by the system perpetuated and built up by the Superintendent, of reporting per nomina, not reckoning attend- ance, nor scholastic results, children of school age can be made to draw public money for a year, for tjro, three, or more Schools, by simply having them attend each School for a short period. A Committee similar to that which privately investigated the Mechanic-Institute-Parish-Grant abuses throughout Lower Canada, would reveal many startling facts. I have the honour to be, Your obedient servant, JOHN H. GRAHAM. Richmond, C. E., Jan. 11th, 1865. f I ' r ii LETTER III. WiLLTAM LuNN, Esq., Montreal, Chairman of the Provincial Asso- ciation, &c. Sir, — If not only the revenues accruing from the Superior Education Fund, are being misappropriated ; but if the capital itself is being con- sumed, it is assuredly high time that the custodians of tliese public treasurers should give an account of their stewardship. I. The Hon. Superintendent committed the gravest of errors, if he beguiled himself into the belief that his lengthy articles in the Journals of Education, or his widely circulated pamphlet would be a finality in the discussion of the great question under consideration. The time has fully come to seek the redress of past educational wrongs and present grievances ; and it would be the part of wisdom for all now in power, political or other, to make an honest effort to right them. Some of the most grievous of these wrongs have been suffered by the British minority almost since " the conquest," by the dominant party frustrating several attempts of the Representatives of the Crown to create, and liberally endow National Institutions of Learning. It may not be amiss now, therefore, to remind our present rulers that, on the part of communities, as well as individuals, forbearance sometimes ceases to be a virtue. II. The Province is indebted to a sligh't reportorial error for the publi- cation of the brief but significant correspondence between the Superin- tendent and the writer in regard to the disbursement of funds, and the classification of institutions. For thus precipitately rushing into print, all enquirers into the present state of educational affairs, assuredly extend the Hon. gentleman thanks ; as it most clearly brings to light the evasive, unsatisfactory procedure at head quarters towards those seeking redress of grievances. What I aflSrmed at the Montreal meeting, was, that on enquiry at the Education office in regard to the arbitrary reduction of the Legislative grant to St. Francis College, the reply was received that " it had to be done to provide grants to new institutions." Be it understood that the writer is not to be held responsible for the correctness of the reasons assigned for such important matters by Mr. Chauveau's subordinates, whether they make them advisedly or otherwise. The published correspondence in which the onus is ostensibly made to fall on the Governor in Council, did not take place till some ,j_ — i.1,. Hl- pla WBTus \ bo biiab iUF. \jnauveau 5 oi/abenicuu that Qraham was told so at once," falls to the ground. ni ■^^^t^^ uiic i.a. ct U -Mr, 12 The Superintendent's reply and the documents incorporated in it, incontestablj prove, that there was no foundation whatever for the first answer received by me ; and as the Hon. gentleman's own explanation is as unsatisfactory, it is deemed worth the while to investigate the matter until all the movements " behind the scenes " are brought to light. The tabular " figures " show that more than was arbitrarily taken from the grant to this College, was given to increase the grant to old institutions instead of having been given to new ones. It is of great public importance to know, whence is the primal impulse in the mysterious movements involved in the management of the educa- tional affairs of this Lower Province. The old well understood and effective cry is being repeated, — " It was not I," — " non ego peccavi sed alter,^^ — but no such transparent subter- fuge will longer avail. Political mercenaries and others may cry " peace" ; but there can be no peace until governmental action in regard to all educational interests, is based on what is inherently right, just, and fair towards all. III. The affected hauteur of the chief of the Educational Department, in his references to the compreheui^ive statements of Dr. Wilkes, the Rev. Mr. Kemp and others, and also to the able articles in the Witness, Pres- hyterian, &c., is such that the Superintendent's friends will undoubtedly advise him not to repeat it, for all honorable men can entertain but one opinion concerning it. IV. In order that all Protestant Educators may unmistakeably learn the fruitlessness of further attemps at conciliatory co-operation and union with the educational " powers that be " (unless the policy of the past is materially cJianyed on vital points) it is deemed of Provincial impor- tance to make known the following personal efforts through a series of years, to promote the more harmonious and equitable working of our educational affairs, and to aid, if possible, in averting the storm that all thoughtful men otherwise saw approaching. (a.) In the years 1858 and 1859 the writer was appointed by the Teachers' Association of St. Francis District, Chairman of a Copamittee, to report at the next meeting, on the practicability of forming a general Teachers' Association for Lower Canada. Having consulted the Hon- ourable Superintendent in regard to this important movement which the experience of Great Britain and of the United States had proved to be of the utmost practical importance, — it was the cause of the greatest dis- appointment to find him raising numerous futile but significant objections to the proposition, and giving in substance, the well known reply — " non j)0ssumus." (b.) The important subject of securing a suitable series of School Books for the Elementary Protestant institutions of the Townships, having been carefully and anxiously considered, at different times, both by this Association and others, — the writer, in behalf of the Committee of the St. Francis, consulted with the Chief Superintendent whether it would not be possible to have some able educators from this and other sections, to co-operate with him through the Council of Public Instruction, in the preparation of a series of books, (especially Readers) for the Com- mon and Intermediate Schools. After a somewhat lengthy colloquy, .> 18 } during which the expediency and rightfulness of the proposal were sub- mitted to him, — the answer was received from the Hon. Superintendent, — that " he himself was about to have a series of readers prepared for the English Schools, and that after a time, he intended to make their use ohliqatory on all such Schools receiving public money." In view of the past, are Protestants and oiher non-Catholics quite prepared for the present Superintendent and Council of Public Instruc- tion, alone, to have the power of saying authoritatively, what books only shall be read by all the English speaking children and French Protestants (now numbering about 4000) in all the Public Schools in Lower Canada for years to come ? If the " Third Book of Reading Lessons" compiled by the Brothers of the Christian Schools, published by Sadlier & Co., New York, already in somewhat extensive use in the Province, and which is both Popish and anti-British — if this, or such as this, is the first of the promised series, then, indeed, the present Protestant agitation and action to redress our wrongs, and secure our educational rights, has not begun an hour too soon. It is of vital importance that the springs of intellectual and mq;ral life be not thus insidiously and Jesuitioally poisoned. Intelligent parents and professional educators well know that all children, and par- ticularly spirited boys and girls, are quite as much, or more influenced and moiildod by what they ordinarily read and commit to memory for reheaioai or declamation, than in any other way, and oftentimes much more than by all other influences combined. If there is truth in the aphorism, — " Let me make the songs of a people and I care not who makes its laws," with still greater truth, it may be said, — he who makes, the School Books for a people, with the power to make their constant use obligatory, " to the exclusion of all others," can in one age silently but eflfectively almost make or unmake the national character of any people. (c.) With the intention of testing to the utmost, the possibility of getting the Superintendent to co-operate in doing something towards harmonizing the conflicting bi-national elements ; it was further pro- posed to the Hon. gentleman, by the writer, that an attempt be made in this District, to bring together in the meetings of our Association, both English and French teachers, (many of whom in the Higher Institutions and Common Schools, speak both languages) for the mutual benefit of the instructors and the consequent improvement of the schools of both nationalities. The following answer was obtained : — " It is my intention to form a separate association for the French Canadian teachers of your District." The only conclusion deducible from these premises appears to be educational separation. To attempt longer to reconcile irreconcilables, to harmonize inherent antagonisms, is a bootless task. Admitting that the Honourable Superintendent has been actuated by the best of motives, that he has done as well as his " surroundings" would permit him, that he has even done better than any other available man, still the great issue would be unchanged ; for " no man can serve two masters." Mr. Chauveau cannot be expected to perform impos- sibilities. And since the Educational Legislative Union in Lower Canada has 14 evidently fulfilled its peculiar destiny, let us then, following the political example set before us, seek while we may peaceably, a remedy in Federal co-ordinate educational authorities ! ! V. We ask Parliament for certain concessions and guarantees because they are inherently right and expedient, and ought to be granted now, irrespective of what political changes are under consideration ; but if a confederation or union of several of the Provinces of British North America, is to take place and work peacefully and satisfactorily in regard to education as far as Lower Canada is concerned, the following or similar changes among others, are imperatively necessary : — I. That Protestants should not, in any case, be liable to be compelled by law, to contribute to the support of the Eoman Catholic Schools, (the objection is not to teaching Catholics but Catholicism,) — that Pro- testants living in contiguous municipalities or parishes should have by law, every facility for uniting, when necessary, to form a non-Catholio School ; — that non-resident proprietors should be permitted in an easily practicable way, to designate their taxes to the schools which they approve, and, in all cases of Protestant non-designation, the taxes from such pro- perty to be used only for the support of the non-Catholic Common Schools in the municipality or town wherein such property is situated, and, if no such schools exist in the locality, that such taxes be paid into the general non-Catholic District School fund of the Province : — that the School assessments due by commercial and such-like companies be equitably distributed ; — that the administration of Roman Catholic and Protestant Common Schools be entirely separate; — that the School Commissioners numbering perhaps one for each School District have powers granted to them similar to those now possessed by municipal authorities j (if it be really desirable to have two sets of town officers, as at present,) — that there should be some limited compensation paid to a small committee of the School Commissioners for a certain amount of School visitation and examination, and for the publication of a report annually by them of the condition, &c., of the Schools ; — that there be an equal or nearly equal distribution of the public money between the several School Districts in the town, so as to insure in each District a good school with the aid of the local taxation ; — these and other impor- tant changes of greater or less importance, will, it is expected, receive careful attention from the gentlemen who are now engaged in maturing the educational measures about to be submitted to Parliament, which, it is fervently hoped, will pass such a Common School Act as the impor- tance of the subject and the present crisis demand. II. There ought to be a strictly defined re-classification of the Inter- mediate and Higher Institutions, carefully prescribing the scholastic standard of each grade, not subject to modifications and re-arrangements at the will or pleasure of any educational officer ; that there should be a " weeding out" of some from the higher intermediate grades, to be placed on the list of " Model" School which, it is believed, ought to be but an extension of the Common Schools in populous and central localities, and supported in a similar manner, either partially or wholly by local taxation. Many of the crrants now siven from the SuDerior Kduf-atinn fund to lower institutions encourage (and often cause) the formation of little .% 16 J^ h petty schools for private ends, thereby greatly injuring, and sometimes almost destroying, the efficiency of the Common or Pubi.'c Schools in the same vicinity. The following would seem to be a tolerably comprehensive and natural <;raduation : — 1. Universities and Colleges (separate Faculties in Arts. Law or Medicine.) 2. Normal Schools. 3. High Schools, or (as they may happen to be named) Academies and Schools of Agriculture, 4. Grammu/ Schools, or as they are oddly called, *' Model" (?) Schools. 5. Common, or Elementary Schools. III, That there should be certain checks on the now one-man power of granting money for the erection of School buildings, &c., and for its distribution to so-called ^wor districts and municipalities; that the funds set apart for the higher institutions, and the moneys appropriated for the Common and other Public Schools, be kept separate and distinct ; and that there be no encroachment by one upon the other. IV . That there should be a separate Protestant Superintendent of Education and Council of Public Instruction, both in direct communi- cation with the Government. This should be granted to preserve peace; — to give a satisfactory guarantee to the Britisjh and other English speaking minority in Lower Canada; — and to permit the unfettered development of a Protestant system of Public Schools. We are already far, very ftir behind Upper Canada. It is high time that the great city of Montreal, and other cities and large towns in Lower Canada, had a system of graded Public Schools second to no other on this continent. When, under the present regime, can we expect a consummation so devoutly to be wished ? In regard to the additional expense of a separate Superintendency of Protestant Schools, — let there be reckoned what is now paid for the English Department of the present Education office, — the publication of Reports and of the Journal of Education in English ; the prize books for Protestant pupils and teachers, distributed by the Superintendent ; — the books in the English language issued under the auspices of the now Council of Public Instruction ; — what is paid for the present English Inspectorship, &c. ; and a proportionate reduction [if need he) of the salary of the present Superintendent ; and it will be clearly seen that the additional expense of so great a boon to Protestants, would not be so much greater than under the present management, as is often represented. What is now paid would go far towards sustaining a modified and more efficient separate system. Y. That the Protestant Universities and Colleges, i. e. Faculties in Arts, Law or Medicine, — should in justice and fairness receive such endowments or permanent annuities from Government as would insure their continued prosperity. That these institutions or their funds should not be under the direction or control of any Superintendent of Education, nor in the event of Confederation, ought they to be wholly under the control of Local Legislatures, and moreover that the " legal value" of their degrees should be held to be National and not Local or Provincial. Admitting that it may not have been expedient for the Government to have sequestrctted (and set apart for aiding the public endowment of the truly National Colleges) a portion of the vast estates of the Quebec Semi- 16 nary and University of Laval, including the Seigniory of Beauprd in the County of Montmorency, consisting of six or seven pnj'inhrs, — iho Seigniory of St. Paul's Bay, with its ten leagues on the river and mck depth as might he cvltlvnt'.d, — the Seigniory of the Isle-Jesus obtained in exchange for the Island of Orleans, and its numerous other possessions from which such immense and constantly increasing revenues are derived, — admitting that the " general welfare" did not demand such confiscation and expropriation or the sequestration of njxirt of the estates of the Sulpicians at Montreal, — is no compensation now to be made for the incalculable loss suffered by the ' burking,' in 1787 of the measure to lay broad and deep the foundations of a National System of Schools and Colleges on one of the best plans the world has ever seen ? — Is no compensation now to be made for the virtual overthrow in 1801-2 and o of a similar plan to create and endow, by lands and otherwise, a like system of truly Public Schools, and Higher Institutions ? — And is no emolumentary guarantee to be received from our Parliament as now constituted I'or the permanent support of Higher National Institutions, in view of the impending Constitutional changes ? VI. In the event of Confederation, it is submitted whether there ought not to be incorporated in the Constitution a clause granting to the professors and undergraduates of the several Protestant Universities and Colleges combined, tlie power of electing a " member''^ of both the Local and Confederated Pacliaments, whose j>'f/7ic»?ff/' duty it would bo to watch over and attend to the interests of Pjducation. The same privileges should, of course, be granted to the Catholic University and separate " Faculties." The present crisis in our political affairs affords an admirable opportu- nity for the exercise of magnanimity, on the part of the Lower Canada majority in conceding even-handed but tardy justice to the Higher Pro- testant Institutions of Learning and in granting all proper demands for the improvement and supervision of the non-Catholic Public Schools. Should this be done the cause of many fearful forebodings will be removed ; but if, by the faithlessness of some and the opposition of others, these important Educational interests of the minority in Lower Canada, are again " driven to the wall," the evil results sure to follow from discordant, unadjusted elements of powerful influence, cannot be otherwise than perilous to the welfare and perpetuity of the State. I have the honour to be, Your obedient servant, JOHN H. GRAHAM, A.M., Principal, St. Francis College. Richmond, C. E., Jan. 30th, 1865. •,'-B<;y '"t%- !.j! 'r, f? .'*'*-