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TO HIS EXCELLENCY SIR EDJmND WALKER HEAD, Bart, Governor General of Canada, ly'c., S,'C. » ^ » B'Y A.3Sra-XJS 33A.XiI-.A.S- « — » *• magna vis veritatia, qu(V contra hominum ingcnia, cuiuditatevfi, soleriiamy wn- tra^ue omnium insidias, facile se per seipsam defendat f " T0I103>TT0: PRIKTEB AND PUllLISIItD AT THE OFFICi: OF TIIK "CATHOLIC CITIZRH," COANKR OT COUiORNE STREET AND EXCHANOB ALLEY. — PRICE TEN CENTS. 1858. 4 'il iPPElL 0^ TIJE COMMOX SCUOOL LAW. May it please Your Excellincy : Seven years experience of the trerking of ihe Common School Act cf 1850, and it« Amentlmeiit-s, exhibits a contimious geiies 6f protestations and remonstrances, repoAled year after year, by religicus bodies and by individuals, without having received any other notice than contempt, nor ar^y other • reply than insolence fitm tht; officer who presides over the school depaKraent in this .>Hjei)tical as to the Christian religion itsolf." And when I showed, from an exposition of » Corre.pwndeiK e .I" "A Layman" and " A MMober of ibf Coiin< il of Publi/ Inittru«:tJoB." ia tU« Calvmst »»r 12lh August, 1H61. [the principle, operation and practical results cf ithe school system,* that it was imported I' from. Massachusetts and was designed for • a Republican and Unitarian community, and proved Irom official statistics that it had failed there and was a failure also here, tlie ordy reply was, that " the professed facts of this pamphlet are fictions, so far as they apply to our schools, and so lar as they re- late to myself personally and to the Normal School."! I have cited my own case here, not as exceptional, but as a specimen of the uniform treatment which others have received who, like myself, have not felt tiisposed to submit to a species of sckool despotism, which begins by violating the sacred rigltt of conscience, and ends in the lucrative emoluments enjoyed by the chief functionary v/hom the law has invested with a^Ditrary and absolute power. At- the commencement of the last eeeyion cf Parliament I addres.-ed tfie lion. Attor- ney Gcf;erii! .Mncdonald, not only on the malformatioti and nuiladministration of the Comnion School i.aw, but I likewise ad- duced su Illcieiit evidence to show that the Chiff Superintendent of Schools had misun- derstood the ditlerence between the objects of ])opular cdiieation in i::urope and the United Stales ; and that from this misun- derstanding had origljKited the whole of our co;rit!i,'a school misfortunes, and the disin- gentUHis artifices which have been employed for the purpose of concealing the latent and *The Cuniin.)ii 5.-l,ool SvMtiii, ii» Prmciirif, Operation andliteuila: Tlio.iip»i)ii At Co., J86.5. t Letter of (be CVimf Superintendfuf to tb« Hon AUwrnwy GtjueraJ Mfctdwiiald, 2nd April, \PPKAL ON THE COMMON SCIf(K7L i.WV. I inherent as well a« to {,'loss over the appa- rent defects of the school syrilem. Since l! -))onsibiIity where it properly should be. The additional facts wliich am about to sRpply will sustain that recora- mendatiou. In thr tneantiine, in appealing to Your Kxcellency through a public chan- nel, I do so for the pur[>ose of submitting \o Vonr Evcellency'si'oiisiileration, a series of spi'cilic char<,'es a^^aiiist the present admin- istration of the school law. Before coiidescencling on these sjiecific charges, which I shall notice seriatim ; and in order tn be abh; to estimate more fully the yrsituitous nature of tiie evils complained ot, i? may be proper to st.ito thai. ]irevioiis t(i the intnxhiclion oi the Massachusetts schooi system by the present Chief Superin- tendent, and its embodiment in the Provin- cial School Act (if 1850. the Common .ScIkxjIr were supported by rfite bill, aided by aiv annual j^^rant lioiu the provincial revenue on conilition that each county should raise, l)y local Irjxation, an amount equal to its share of :he i^raiil. These schcK>ls whether Protestant or Konian Catholic were placed on the same footiuir and enjoyed equally the protection, the privileyes and financial aid j^ranted by the Legislature. The unalloyed harmony wiiich then prevailed was the eiiect of spontaneous airencies adapted to the wants and necessities of a population consi.>tinfjt of various relifjious communions. This was the old Canadian system. It was general ; and aimed at the universal educa- tion oi the youth of the Province. It no doubt wanted developm\ IHE COMMON SCHOOL I-AW. I or rnoilmt limes. 'I'l.cii commciioed those ifiuls iiiitl lioart-liiiiniiiuf*, l)y wliicli the last sr\(Mi years hiive ln'cn si;.'M;ili/.e(l ; and tlicnee \\\f (k'focts, tin* inconsiMem'ies!, the pt'rv(M>iinii of facts :iml coiicenhneul of re- siihs, wMch 1 shall now profeod to specify in detail. 1. — Tilt: OrriciAi. Statistics not Re- 1.IA05.1:. Under this head are comprehended the Teachcrtii' records, th(.' Tmstees' returns, tlie report.- of the Local SupeiititeiidtMits, and Die Chief Superintendents' ;uiiiiiij| report. If would he unreasonable U) expect that, with » change of teachers (;very six months and an annual change of Trustees m\d Local Superintendents, and in the aksence at the same time of a stall" of vigilant (Government Inspectors, the statistics should be correct. Witli a defective .machinery the annual re- turns cannot be otherwise than imperfect. It would be unreasonable to look for any other resuh. We find, therefore, that they oofrespond with the pieviousiy ascertained conditions of their being. 1st. The Chief Superintendent says in his last annua! report for 1856 : '' The returns of tiie school poj)nlatio". between the ages of five anti sixteen years are too defective to be given;" and, "The returns in this table in regard to school houses, are so imperfect, and involve so many inconsistencies when compared with those of the preceding year, as to render them of little value;" and again : <' After making all these deductions, and accounting lor the employment of teachers trained in the Normal School in teaching other than Conmion Schools, the very imperfect returns rejwrt 430* Normal School teachers as employed in the Common Schools at the present time." Here, it will be observed, are three separate confessions, ♦The number so stated is delusive, for the official tables show only 142 Normal School Teachers employed ni all the Commuu Schools during the year 1S66. Vide the chapter ou the Normal School. that the returns of the school population, o: the number of school iiouses and the mua- ber of teachers are incorrect. 2d. From the extracts of the Local Super- intendents, contained in the same annual report, I take the following: " I am not without hojies ot' hrincing them (iho Trustcos) to uiulcr.-lniKl the lui-e.^sily ul licia»r ahle to lay before the [iciiple a cdiret't linaiifial return and an annual re[n)it." — It'. JJ. Im/i>, J^fij., EUwardjihin i^k. Puye 134. " Tlii-re aio, in tins townslnp, trusttt-t'S wli"» can neither read nor write. I mention tlii.s m urder to show that the sseleclion ol Mich iiei.Miiis i* mjiiri- oiis to the carryiiiff out ct' llie ('oiiiniini S'liool Act, and that men are a|i|>omlcd eiitiifly uiKil Icr that important mlice." — John Sp'u/L.', £"•»'/, Storringtoii. Page 112. " In spite of ail the lecliiriiig and advic* given. it seems impoMsible to obtain correct ininuie.'s ol school proceedinics ; indeed 111 some >ections there is not any minute book at ail, trustees are alraid of incurring expenses anddilhculties, and arbitra- tions are the result, i)urti<;iilarly a deletlive an- nual report." — Tlie Etc. John CI i)uu,Darl ivy- ton. Page 163. *' Education is rather backward amoni? us ; perhaps we would be tlie better of observing the regulations more strictly. To write this report from those of the triislces, as f would wish, is not possible, yet I know they have done their best*' — David Watson, Esq.^'Thora, Pa;je 157. " Although the report is not very flattering, the deficiencies are to be ascribed not to the arrange- ments but to the managers. Want of informa- tion and exactness, particularly in the transaction of business on the part of trustees, are sometime* a serious hindrance to 8U<;cess." — Tfit; Kev. Robert Rodgers, Norvirk, North.' Page Hti. "Although there are some imperfections in the reports I now transmit, yet I think Ihey are nioie comprehensive than those of last >ear. In many sections the trustees aie more alive to their duties and more prompt and accurate in dischargini; them, still it is to be deplored that there are many who are careless or incom|)etent, or both." — Tht Rev. Edmund Shtppeul, Bayham, Dorchester. Page 194. Now the responsibility for the defective, and in many cases fictitious returns, of thew ignorant and careless Trustees, cannot be got rid of, as has been attempted, by fasten- ing the blame on the parents and others by whom these Trustees are elected. So long as Trustees and Local Superintendents, whether detected or not, can act with im- punity in the non-performance of their pre- ■cribed duties, the prospect of amendment must be very remote. Under Government inspection these irregularities could not 6 ▲PPBAL ON THE COMMON SCHOOL LAW. occur. Herein we perceive the (lifierence between the New England and Canadian •jatem on the one ham!, which entrusts the local management exclusively to irrcspon- •ible and uninformed local authorities ; and on the other, the Irish,. English and German system, which places the Trustees under the immediate anil rigid supervision of Gov- ernment Inspectors. On the ineflicinncy of the Local Superintendence I submit the fol- lowing^ : " On thi.^ eroiintl I take the liberty of express- ing an opinion wilhregnrd to the ol'Ree of. Local SiipiTintemlent. Take my own "aae ns an ex- • mple. Threeyear* sini-e I wjis apprisied of my present cliarge. Tlie Connty Council allowed j£l 5» per school, and T hud 35 of them, making i»n annual silnry ot .£43 1y«. I had necewiarily to provide and keep a horse, with other tnvellini? irqnipnipiils, and to meet expenses and postage. For the (irst two years this wa."« my. only .wnrce of inooini'. Aficr the l.st April, 1Bji and tact, which constant practice and familiarity with difltrent plans of arrangement and i.iethod's are fitted to call forih.'" — Roln-t Bri/tlfjn, Esq., JJumfrirs North and Watf.itoo. Page 177. " I never fdt so folly the force of a remark made by my predecessor, with reference to the too frequent changing ot Superintendents, as T Hid in hiiing np. these reports. I had no idea af the extent of the siatisticnl information required by yon until the arrival of the forms. The few- nes" of offiiial visits may be accounted for by the fact of my prede(u'.«sor visiting none for the la.st half year, as he intended to resign hi.'* olRce on account of the in^■lllii^•lenc;/; ot remuneration, a circumstance whuiv, I (c(u'', will lead to similar re.suits in more cases t!-ian his." — 77t« R'v. Thomis MTr))he)soii, Cunnty of Perth. Page IS2. *< How can the former (the Local Superinten- dents), on thesMiall pittance allowed them, attend the County Hoards an tlie following correajwndence between tho' County Counoil and'Board of Instruction for the Count/ of York \* conclusive: "Mr. Gamble then proceeded to make nome remarks upon the returns of .vchonl nltendnnce made by the ^ii|>erir.lendents, and slid that al! the ntambers ot this Council would rememlnT that) he had always id)jet.-ted to ih? amployment of Ministers, m ■ because he ol.jfi ted to relicious men hawing the control of the .schools, but be- cause you cannot gel ministers of liie gospel lo take upon themselves mII the labor connected with the ofRce. Then again in the making up of the school returns, there wa.s a general coiiiplaint of ineflici»»ncy, and hf thought it would l)e well to consider whether they cculd not carry out a better system. Mr. Tyre'l followed upon the subject of i^^egu^^^ity of.'lhe returns, ncducing an in.atance in -which the ntimber of scholars hadi l)een exaggerated from pecuniary motives by the teacher; and several in which the return given exceeded the amount of the population in the section. It was not a' together the fault of the Local Superintamlunts that the returns were in- correct, because they ba.sed them on the reports made by the leacihers, without knowing whether they were right or wronir. He suecrested that the Assessors should be required to make the neces- sary returns, in iiddition to their presant duties." — Promtdins:^ af County Council in the Gloht of June 13th, KSy7."- " A communication from the Board of Instruc- tion for the County of York, stating that they had considered the question resrarding Local Su- perintendents, to which their attention was called by an extract from the proceedings of the Stand- ing Committee of this Council. The Board diti not con.sidcr the objections tangible; nttritmted the specific acts complained of to the nc:jlect rather of the Tru>tees and Teachers than of the Local Superintandent.s; and suggested that a change of peisons would be preferable to a ohanire of tlie system, where it was found the Local Superintendents did not do their duty." — Proree/tin^s of th« Coiniiy Council, in the Colonist of .Tnnuary 27, 1S58. " Tn reference to the raamorial from the mem- bers of the County Board of Public Instruction, the Coinmittec did not agree in the views .«et forth bv the Board in the'i (communication to the Coun- cil. On lookine to the minutes of the Council, the Commitie%llnd that the retiiedy suggested had been already tried with but little appa.'-ent suc- cess. The .salary of th-i Superintendents had been already incren.sed, and the duty devolving upon them materially lessened. Still, in many instances, the Committee had reason to believe the duties incumbent upon the Local Superinten- dents were much neglected in many ca.ses." — Prorffdinirs of the County Council, in the Cula- 7iist of 6th February, IS-OS. Now what is the value of the tables and statistics contained in the Chief Superinten- dent's annual general report, when with this. I APPEAL ON THF. COMMON SCHOOL LAW. evidence from official local eoHrces the tnie facts are, that the f^ocal Superintendents do not perform their diify, that they are unable H) act up to the requirements of the law, that the Teachers ajiil Trustees have conse- quently no check on their proceeding,'??, and consequently the returns from school sections are fabricated to suit the pecuni;iry ititerests or to conceal the incapacity or indo- lence of the persons makinjr said returns ? Based on such damnatory testimony, the tables cannot be otherwise thaji altogether fictitious. 3d. The internal evidence of the annual tabular returns of the Cliicf Superintendent, wherever there is a means of comparison and detection, bears out their fictitious char- acter. Tlio way in which the tables are made up, however, is calculated to evade and preclude an inspection of the real facts. In Ireland this evasion is not possible. Jn referring to the statistics of tlie Commissiuu- ers (if National Kducation in Ireland, I go back and take the returns tor 1846, the ysar In which our present Chief Superintendent ^sumed his present office. I do this more particularly, for the reason that it may be seen that the best digested, most perfect and concise statistical school forms were open for our acceptance at a time when the intro- duction of the present Canadian soliool sys- tem was prospective. From the Irish Com- missioners' report, for 1846, now lying before me, I find full statistical returns of the chil- dren, on the rolls, the number of teachers, the tinances, &c., &.c., of each school, com- prised in the 3,637 common schools then imder the control and supervision of the Commissioners. Tliey first give a tabular summary, or birds-eye view, of the working and financial condition of the schools through- out the whole of Irnland,, Next the same information for eaeh province? of the four provinces into « and publishes a mass of fiiruree, <'(n- ceiuing the accuracy of which he i«, in tiis turn , perfectly ignorant. And so the ( Jcvcrri- ment and the Country are without ariv guarantee, as io the characterof the OliuiaJ School Reports. The absence in o'lr school system, d I'liy means of detection such as thnse provided for in the Irish and European sy.stem, fnits it out of my power to test the annual statis- tics in the way that otherwise would rinve been possible. I must therefore content iny- self with the discrepancies, betweiMi tfie fiijures in the tables, and those in the verl^a! evtracts from the reports of the Local Super- intendents. These, however, are «u!ficieri{ to show, to some extent, the unreluihif cna- racterof the official general returns, 'i'hey are as follows : First. — The 44th Clause of the Common School Act, on thq granting ot Xoirnal ^hov'l provincial Certificates, cone hales thus :-^" Provided always, that no such certificate shall be given to any person who shall not have been a student in the Nc/imsl 9 APPEAL ON THE COMMON SCHOOL LA^AT tJchool." Notwithstanding, in the table of School Teachers, pages 43 and 45 of the Ijist Annual Report for 1846, the County of Dundas is represented as having 1 teacher holding such certificate who was never in the Normal School ; Grenville 2, Lanark 4, Prince Edward 3, the Town of Picton 1, Amherstburgh 1, the Villa:'e of St. Thomas 1, and the City of Hamilton 20. Second — Alexander Workman, Esquire, Local Superintendent for the City of Ottawa, t^ays in the extract from his lleport, page '•^03 : " Six of the teachers bearing first-cJass certificates, were trained at the Normal ?!chool in Toronto ; the others hold the same class from the County Board of Public In- struction." Yet on turning to the table, at page 43, the number stated as having at- tf iided the Normal School and holding its certiiicates is only 2 ; the number holding lirst-class certificates from the County Board is also only 2 ; while 13 are set down as holding second-class, and 2 as holding liiiid-class certificates from the same Board ; Hud 3 teachers more rank so low that they iire set down as unclassified. Third — John Nairn, Esq., says of the fcii(X)is in the ten townships of which he is J.ijcal Superintendent, page 183: <' Durhig liie hist SIX months thirty-five have changed teachers, and the evil results accruing from the.st' removals are really deplorable." On turning to the table, however, page 43, it stiito^, that of tlie seventeen townships com- prised in the whole county of Huron, in- cluJiug the ten of which Mr. Nairn is Siip-jriniuudent, only 5 schools had changed teachers during the year. Fourth — .lohn B. Denton, Esq., Superin- teiuleiit for the County of Prince Edward, rMiuuks, pagi^ 145: 'ame table, page 43, the staltMnenl is OS males and only 19 females. Fifth — The average attendance, in the schools of the township of Gloucester, is stated, by the Rev. Wm. McGill, at page 133, to be 717. Now a little calculation will prove this number to be exactly double of what is the truth, and of what should have been stated. First, the total number of pupils in all the schools of the ten town- ships of the County Carlton in 1856, was 5445. Second, the proportion of total pupils in Glou ester to the total pupils of the County in 1855 was 17 6-7 per cent. And, third, the proportion of total average attend- ance to the total pupils of the county in 1854, the last year for which the average attendance was given, was 42^ per cent. From these data it will be seen that 17 6-7 per cent, of 5445, and 42^ per cent, of the product, will be just about half the number, 717, stated in the Report. Sixth — To the exclusion of tabular re- turns for each school in the Province, the only safe check even where Government Inspectors are employed, the Annual Re- port is filled with long prosy diatribes that in most cases are tissues of baseless assump- tions. The space occupieil by extracts 51, 103, 126 and 128, would be suflicient to give a separate return, on the Irish plan, for every school in Canada West. In place of this practical business course, the Gov- ernment is treated every year with sermons on the blessings of book learning, on the right of the secularists to tax the property of all, on the consistfuey between the vol- untary principle anil compulsory practice, &c., &c., by a class, in most cases, of ex- temporized school authorities who have as much practical acquaintance or theoretical knowledge, touching the true principles of education and general polity, as the new- fledfred school teachers who emanate from the Normal School, after a five month's grinding. I have no hesitation in sayi'jg that the long extracts 103 and 128 (with others, in which statistics are given, and thereby an opportunity of detection ii Ai ^5^ APPEAL ON THE COMMON SCHOOL LAW. 9 afforded) are untruthful. Any one can dis- cover this by making a comparison with the returns of previous years. These cases and facts, gathered cursorily from the official documents, not only bear out my charge of the unreliableness of the annual general statistics, published by the Chief Superintendent ; but more, they de- monstrate that the returns, taken as a whole, are fictitious ; and testify, both in the choice and the working of the present common school system, to the grossest administralive incapacity. The Normal School an Expensive Fraud. The object for which the Normal School was established, in 1846, was to supply the 2736 Common Schools, then existing, wiih a better class of teachers. At the close of 1856 it had been exactly ten years in operation. In that time the number oi students admitted and who received in- struction, for the purpose of becoming teachers, is 1398. During the same period, to the clo»e oi 1856, the number of teachers employed m all the Common Schools in this section of the Province had increased from 2736 to 3689. So that the demand I'oi a belter class of teachers had consequently increas- ed in like proportion. Now the success or failure of the Normal School is to be determiiied Dy the number and character of the teachers, holding its certificate, who are found oHiciating in the Common Schools. And the rule by which this number and this character of the teachers is to be measured is the practical one existing in countries wherein Normal Schools have been long and suece.ssfully in operation, wherein they have been tho- roughly tested, and the lesults recorded in reliable official returns. lu my letteis signed *' A Prote;tant," I st 'ed the ru'es and practice m Europe with respect to the periods cf attendance and training, and also the guarantees for the continuance of the teachers in the profession. With these necessary safeguards, the Con'mon Schools in Europe have been supplied with the full compliment of teachers, which it was cal- culated the Normal Schools would be able to produce. In no case that I know of has there been disappointment on this Lead. Consequently, making all reasonable allow- ance for casualties aganiht which no human prudence is available, the number o! train- ed teachers employed in the Comuiou Schools in Europe is that which the Normal Schools have sent forth. Whether, as at Potsdam the number of students is limited by law, to 80, and the c<;urse of training' to three years, or as in Ireland the number of students is indefinite and the course ex- tends to only four months, the results cor- respond in each case, exactly with the cal- culations on which they had previously been based, both as to the number and competency of the teachers ; for, while at Potsdam the limited number in attendance and extended period of training are adapted to students who intend to become teachers, the case is very dillerent in Ire and where the students have been already teachers, and alteudthe Normal Schucl lor the purpose of becoming practically acquainted with the system of discipline. In each case the design, the means and the results are found to harmonize, however dillerent tiie cir- cumstances. Whh such a rule for our ^juidance, the course to be pursued in test- iiire undue ich certifi- Ic intend - at all City irintendent ;" or of a nination of Common 1 examin- and more t" having to a class not one in coppers it 'r, leaving turn to the ission and who have girls with iture, and obligation in a coun- imstances ptations to eculations ime issue, 3rs at pre- ;hools are^ most infe- } to whpin ates hay^; The- evil then is two-fold. In the first place the r« are only 142 certified teachers tmong the 3689 Common School teachers reported ;. and second, these 142, tested by lihe European standard, are of the most in- ferior grade. This too after the Normal School has completed its tenth years' operations, at f n expense to the Prormciai Revenue of over $122,240, exclusive of the cost of buildmgs and furniture; being $860 which each such teacher has cost. Let us now see what the Local Superin- tendents say about the number and quality of the teachers, and the absolute dearth of what they call for as an indispen- sable condition of a school system. The complaints of the Local Superintendents, on this head, are of annual repetition. Of late, however, they are becoming more general and the last annual general report, from which I make the following ex^txacts, exemplifies this : " I regret to state that I cannot transmit yon very fiaitering nccoiints of the procuress of ediu-a- tion in this township. In my ollicial visits and examination of pupils, instead of findinsr improve- ment and pronress, as J fuiticipated, I found rather an habitual sluggishness combined with carelessness and inattention, ifet, I found sever- al of the pupils who could read and spe!l correctly and distinctly, although I met with f"!;w who could give m« the detinition of a single word, or who seemed to comprehend the subject in their reading lessons. This stale of allairs in our Com- mon Schools is truly to be deplored. And the question arises ; to what cause* must be attri- outed this tardiness and lethargy so signally dis- played in. our schools ? The answer is i)bvi()us and easily solved. In the fi.stplace,a total want of elTicient teachers ; another, and not the least tause, is a want of will in the trustees and people to provide able teachers ;. and while our schools are taught by so.niany inetficient and untrained persons, who have neither system nor knowledge to i.npart, how can we hope to see them prosper, or education to advance? And if illiterate and seltish trustees arc empowered and sulieied to engage teachers of the lowest standan', and of the least capabili'.ies to be the instructors and ad- nionishers of youth, what els»* can be expected than a total failure of our expectations in school improvements " — Iltctor McRae, Esq., Charlot- teubnrg/i, County Glengarry. " f have much pleasure in .stating the Free School system prevails here ; and although it is lamentable to observe that a large nimiber of children of proper age in the township do not at- tend, it is not entirely owing to the inditlerence or negligence of parents, but in most rase* to the want of (fficient teachers." — Owen Q»igt*y% Esq., Lochiel, L'minty Glengarry. ''Another i.s that some teachers, althovgh they may most creditably pass an examination in order to acquire their county certificate, yet for want of diligence and a certain aptitude to leach are, a.s to success, far behind some of their brethr»*n whose mental endowments are inferior." — James Frithy Esq., JPUintagcnet South, County Fret- eott. " I should like to see the teacher elevated to a higher position in society, so that teaching w^'uld not become a stepping stone to something wise ; but a profession." — Rfv. Peter Lindsay, A- B.y. Cumberland, County Rvssell. " The idea gains on the public mind that the best teacher is the cheapest ; may it soon become a, settled opinion in every section of our land, that there must be a trained teacher in every school. We have the'raw material — workshops — books — prtt^rns, &c., br , we want artists of suflicient' skill to mould this valuable material into the meful and beautiful forms it is capable of assum- mg. In other words we want good teachers — Rev. JoJui Edv.i»lied with a belter class ol (pialitied teachers, and not until then, will our Common S( hools become what they should be." — Arsa Pnrish, Esq., Yonge and Escott Rear,. County Leeds. "Upon the whole I am sati.<-fied the schools are ill an improving condition, liiil it would be much, more rapid if the trustees could procure a belter, class of teachers. I believe llicy are willing to increr e the salaries, but from the pr^isent class of individuals who mostly resort to teaching with, no intention of making it a profession, very little can l)e hoped. Probably the inlluence of the Normal School may in course of time be bene- ficially extended to these parts." — Rev, John Bell Worrell, Elmsley North, County Laf.iri. "There is an evil which the school law, as it exists, does not seem to provide against, and that is, the admission of persons to the rank ol teach- ers, who are under age. Several mere boys have ol lata presented themselves at the County '^ 12 APPEAL ON THE COMMON SCHOOL LAW I Board fx exHiiiinatinn, and being iiiurally and mttflleo'ua ly ijiiaiiik-J, wc liiid no jiuwer to le- lusc liifiii certUJcule."'. Tlie.-e soiiietime.s obtain school* and aie luund, on account of tlieir youth, incapaljle otinaintuining order, or oi' securing the re'!'ii«ct ol" the older pnpil.-^." — kev. John MclMa- rtne, liamsay, County Lanark. " I am sorry that I cannot report very favora- bly o*' the state of our .schools during' tiie past year. In some cases a change of teachers and in others a want of conliiicnce in thcni, iiave con- tributed to interfere wiili the at'endnnce and pro- gress of the pupils." — R'^v. 6', C Fraser, A. M., Mei\cih, Cou)ity R'njrtw, "The '/rtat oh^lacle to the progress ol educa- tion ill tins township IS one wlucli is more or less fell in every locality, viz : the want of thoroughly educated and well-trnintd teachers." — R^v. R. M. Hammond, Wtstmeatli, County Renfrew. "I found that there was not a qiiaiitied teacher in the township. ??oine had once been, but had resorted to larming, and from fanning to teach- ing again. * * * The salaries of teachers have, in some instances, more than doubled ; tiiis is owing to a scarcity of the.se u.seful individuals." — John ^jirini,', -C'Sy , Slorrington, County Frontenai'. "I should be glad to see a rather higher quali- fication f'.T teachers generally ; in some instances that have come undei my notice there was great ri»otn for improvement." — "Daniel Fowler, Esq., Amherst Island, County Addington, " I cannot say that there is any great improve- ruent in the schools of tliis township; one great cause is the low standiiid ol' the qiialilicatinns o( teachers. The tri>tt:'es might obviiiie this, by not employing such iiicificient pcisoiis; but the} can be hired cheap, and that is too much the con- sideration. I think the Board of Public In.struc- tion sliould not triant third class certificates, as they are too low a ijualitication (or any teacher." — Freditrirlc \VoAv:%ck, Esq., Tiendinaga, Coun- ty Hastings. " In others, matters have been verv dilTerent, the I'auli chietiy aitribiilable to the Teacher, al- though not always no."— Rev. R. Monteath, Reach and Scugog, County Ontario. ''Four Common ai.d the Separate School are well taught, the remaining live but very indifl'er- enliy, but 1 hope to be able to improve the teach- ing by instructing the masters during my oflicial vi.-iit, and on such occasions as I can get an op- portunity."— ii«t^. John Camph'M, A. M., Not- tuwataga, County Simcot. "This will nevt.r be the case, however, while we are lelt to the miserable clioiee of ►'iiher em- ploying a third class teacher, or person of no class at all, or, as happened in several instances, sliut the school rooM." — John R. Stewart, Esq., Flamborough West, County Wentworth. " Theie appears to be a gradual and growing desire among all classes to emplcy efficient teach- ers. * # # The modes of leaching, however, are m mosl ca«es not so interesting and instruct- ive as they might be ; the object being more to impart a certain amount of information than to develop and cultivate the growth of the mind." — Riv, \Vni. Hay, Bui ford, County Brant, "Thf' habit which .some of our trustees have m employing a teacher lor a quarter or two, aiiu then cliaiiging liim tor another, is somt- liindraii'.-« to us ; but I trust this will soon U* done away with. I have ni> doubt it would if couipeteui teachers could be obtained." — Jacob Kennedy, Esq.,Gi'insb'jrungh, County Liinohi, " But the greatest evil is the want of properly qualified teachers ; a .speedy reformation in our sc'hools might be elfecttd by a sufficient numl)er of an earnest and energHic character." — Rev. R. Rodgers, 2^orwich ISorth, Count// O.cford. " We need a higher class of teachers, and if Normal school piolicienls would come this way they would be sure to lind employment." — F. Cameron, Etq , Norwit.Ii South, County Ou- ford, "The want of a better supply of etricient teach- ers is very greatly fnlt throughout this township. We find it impossible to meet the demand, and to a great extent the standard of ipialiticatiors, al- though meeting the requirements ot the law, is lamentably low." — Wm. Gunn, Esq., Bruce, Huron, (J-c, Cou?ity Bruce. "I would have been happy to report a larger number of schools opened in 18.56, and I assigned reasons in my last report tor believing ihat they would or could only come very gradually into operation. However, the increase would have been doubled but for the want of suitable teach- ers." — Joh7i Erkford, Esq., Brant, Carrich, dj-c, County Bruce, "While the literary qualilications of a majority of the teachers at'o tolerable, their professional ones are on the whole inferior. * * * The schools of the county mnv be cla.ssed as I'ollows : 10 good; 1.5 tolerable; 30 middlme; 20 bad."— David Mills, Esq., Camden, Chatiiam, 4<., County Kent. "In regard to the schools in this township, I would observe that they are not in such a llour- ishing condition as our advancement in other respects would lead us to expect. I impute this partlv to the indifference of parents, and partly to the low standard of teachers' qualiiicalions, who con.stquenlly are unable to perform their duties in such a manner as to give satisfaction to their em- ployers." — Rev, Alex. Williams^ Moore, County La niljton . "Another difficulty is a want of qualit'ied teach- ers. Many of the schools have not been kept open as long as they would have been on that account, and many of those who have been em- ployed as teachers are ill qualified for the olTic;." — Absato^m Dingman, Esq., Somhra, County Lanibtoit,. Many others of the Local Superintendents testify to the same effect, on the bad quality of the teachers, and the desire for a class possessed of Normal School training. But the e.xtracts I have adduced are sufficient to show the general condition of the schools, produced by this inferior character of the teachers. Now compare this testimony APPEAL ON THE COMMON SCHOOL LAW. 13 *lees have u, oi- twu, aiici rut- liinclraiii.-« (June away W cojjipfteiil ■oi Ken>iet/y, >i. It of properly laiioa 111 our ient number cter."— /^ef. t>/ Oxford. ■Iiers, and il' me tl)i« way ■ineiil." — b\ County Ox' (•ient teach- s townsliip. and, and U) licatiors, aJ- 1 the law, IS I'-sy-, Bruce, port a larger id I assiened ig that they radually into would have itable teaeh- JarricA, {^c, •f a majority prole.vsional * * The 1 as I'ollows : 20 ba iMlepen- dent of all official and profe.-, ■ • cstraint, either from inspectors or any ot; '" iuthork^'. In submitting the follow^ing .estimony I shall do so in chronological order, for the purpose of illustrating the dissimilarity or resemblance df each national copy with the original type. I begin^with France, because the French Government having adopted the German syiitem in 'every particular, tht APPKAL ON THK COMMON SCHOOL LAW. 15 onal dutivB unctionary ly, in the >) as it ia 3, secular sequence, lisms -are declared and with do in the e natural the pastor ; the lat- oom, and h at his said to be forms of of which one side ired to be ; 'is pre- i^ocation; authori- sxamina- i to con-- i^hy also, nd to the listed the While required lechani- nercises, lool pre- either a ;he Nor- 'lepping ' ;iepen' cstraint, !thori;;y. tnony I for the arity or vitli the because )ted the ur, tht iNormal School educational movement in l I>e ^ aware, liiat in fuiilidiny^ a child to your i-urc, • every fa.nily expet ts iliai you will send hini baik •an hune.'l man; the country, that he wil! be ' made a i;ood citizen. You know thai v riue does not always follow in the train oflii.ovvledjie, and ■that the lessjns received by children niisihl be- etnne dangeious to tliciu were ihey addiess-ed • exclusively to the under.-landing:. Leltlie tcaciier, ".hereiore, bestow his first care on the eullivation "■of the moral qncliiios olhiH pupils. He must un- ''ceaaingly endeavor to propagate and esiablioh 'thoae im|)eri»hable principles of inoralityr and rea- xun, without which univerMl order is in dan^'er } ■and to sow in the beans oi the yuung those aerds df virtue and honor, whieh age« riper yearh, and >ihe paaaiuns, will never destroy. # * * The intereuuriie between the teacher and parents can 'not fail of being frequent. Over this kindnrM 'must pre.sidK ; were a teacher not to p«>«»e»s tlie re^pect and fyuipathy of the parent:*, his authority over their children 'ie desirable than a perfect iuidcrs;anding between the minister of leli^'ion und the teacher; both are in po>ri'>n of inoial authority; boih require the coiitideice ol laiiiiies; both can as;ree in ex»*r(ising ovi«r the chillren coniinitied lo their care, iu sever&l wu>.s, acoinmon inltuenuu^' In the meantimo, Uhe adoption of the German system by France, awakened a spirit of en:juiry among .periodical writers both in England and 'the United States. The consequence was u prevalent dispo- sition to establish national systems (if edu^ cation ; travellers resorted to Swhzerland and Germany, to acquire ipersonaUy the necessary information ; while private socie- ties and governments were calculating the contingencies which might attend the edu- cational experiment, in countriesdis similarly circumstanced. The first permanent fruit of this agitation was the establishment iu 1836 of the Home and Colonial Infant and Juvenile School Society, for the training of teachers ; of whom, down to the year 1843, it had sent out over two thousand, thoroughly disciplined. The character of the Society's Normal and Model Schools, situated in j (jray'slnii RoatI, nitty be gathered from the fallowing exlructs taken from the regula- tions: — ♦' The Committee receive into their Institution, in Gray's 1 m Itoad, near Kind's Cro.«s, (or a limiied period, per.-ons either desirous lo enter (or the lirst lime upon the work, or those who, liaviiig emiiiiied in it, leel thmr own deiiciency, irid are anxious fur iinproveinent. * *= * The Coiiiiiiittee re< cive tandidatc.x. in the tirst in- stniur', on probation. * * # All candidates who arc lo b<:, iecoiiiJnend>id to schools are to re- main twcnty-lbur weeks in the house, and the Coiiiii.iUc < aiinot leccive any who will not come ill fur that time. The wives of married can- didaies reitiain su('4. time as the Conmiiiue de- cide in each case, if they cannot remain (as it is much to be flesired that they should) iho wb«>4e time. The charge is reduced to 78 a wee4r, making £8 8s. for the twenty-lour weeks, whitfti 16 APPEAL ON THE COMMON SCHOOL LAW. indntles rrrry expcniH', except washing. Mar- ried men are nowadmiued to be trained as ti'aoh- em of juvenile srhoola, withou* Iheir wives. * ♦ Unmarried men are not trained In the Institution. Six youn? females, not exceeding seventeen year* of age, are received as i>npil teachers, for one, two or three years, according to their age, at an annual charge of .£25, which includes washing and books." Here, it will be observed, no boys nor unmarried men are admitted ; and the six young female pupils have to pay £2.5 a year. They have to board and remain in the In- stitution, in order to acquire proper domestic and parental habits. And married men and their wives are selected, as candidates, on l!ie calculation that the married .itate indi- cates a settled life, not incident to clianjre, and more su.sceptible of tho.se parental sym- pathies which constitute tlie chief element of normal education. From the Syllabus of the lessons, the following evtraots will show that secular and religious in.'truction are not to be separated ; that, as they are both obli- gatory on the parent, they cannot be sepa- rated in the teacher, who fills the place of the parent to do what the parent has not the time, leisure or means to do himself. "Incidental and systemiitic education, differ- ence between — The teacher to form a good in- tellectual and moral i.tiiio.'S|)here round the child. Means of eflecting ihix— Not to teach religion alone, but all things religiously — Instruction com- municated (though the aubje'-l may be clearly explained) does not prcducethe sair„ good effect, as instruction employed as a means of mental dis- cipline — Public education united with priva'e and domestic — That is the best system which brings th»i powers of the mind under the best discipline — Education ought to be essentially organic and complete, and not mechanical,. super- ticial and partial ; it should penetrate and regu- late the entire being — Reasonableness of requiring the parental spirit in teachers — in what it con- sists— etTects oi' possessing the spirit manifested by God — Seen in Christ — The parental spirit should govern our schools — our debt to Pesta- lozzi for advo' ating it so powerfully — his funda- mental principle in all moral development and training." The Home and Colonial Infant and Juven- ile School Society adopted the system of Peetalozzi as a motlel, between which and the Prussian system the only diflference was, that the one was isolated and private, while the other was public and national. Pesta- lozzi's bad no other support than his oxrn private fortune ; while the Prussian was sustained by Government aid and local as- sessments, which necessitated a ramified governmental and popular machinery that constitutes the only difference between the two; and that difference not in the funda- mental principles but only in the adaptation of the machinery, the one tea limited and private, the other to an extended and na- tional field of operations. The principles of the system in Prussia are Pestaloz/.ian. After the disastrous campaign of 1806, when the Councils of the Prussian Government were directed by such men as Ilardenberg, Humboldt and Stein, and the revival of the national spirit had become an affair of the mcst pressing necessity, and popular educa- tion was decided on as one of the most effec- tual means to that end, C. A. Zeller, a young theologian and one of the most efficient teachers who had been trained by Pestalozzi, was invited to Koenigsberg, the Bominary, for teachers, of which city was placed under his charge. He afterwards organized the Normal establishment at Karalene, and was employed as a general agent by the Government, in visiting the educational establishments of the Kingdom, infusing his own spirit and ideas to the minds of the teachers. At the same time, numbers of young men, chiefly theologians, were dispatched by the Prussian Govern- ment to study under Pestalozzi ; and these were employed, on their return, in the same capacity as C. A. Zeller. So that with the exception of the national machinery, Prus- sia had thus imported and nationalized, prac- tically, all the fundamental principles of Pes- talozzi, whose system is consequently that of Prussia. I mention these facts for the purpose of explaining the reason why France, desiring a national system, borrowed from Prussia ; and why the Home and Colonial Infant and Juvenile School Society, requir- ing only a private establishment, copied from Peetalozzi ; notwithstanding that, in all essentials, both adopted the same system. T 1 APPEAL OIT THE COMMON SCHOOL LAW. n lan was local aa- ramified lery that veen the e funda- [laptation lited and and na- )rinciple3 lalozzian. 06, when v^ernment rdenberg, ra.[ of the lir of the ar educa- lost efl'ec- Zeller, a the most rained by sberjf, the city wag ifterwards iment at X general siting the Kingdom, as to the ime time, sologians, Govera- md these the same with the ry, Prus- zed, prac- es of Pes- ntly that Is for the y France, ed from Colonial r, requir- t, copied Ihat, in all lystem. In 1837, the JUasKachusetts Board of EiUication was formed. Following the ex- ample of France, au agent was dispatched to (iermany to get the information re(juired for the organization of a system of Common Scliools for the State. Unlike"the observant Cousin or the profound and philosophical Gui/.ot, Horace Maim could not perceive that the opposite and antagonistic elements of society are of divme ordination, and in- tended for a specific and good purpose. It did not ap])ear to him requisite tliiit legisla- tion should conform to the wants and neces- sities of a people professing different religi- ous creeds. And to this is to be imputed the wrong shape which the Common School system of Massachusetts assume^l. What he adopted from the Prussian Law, was the universality ot education ; government aid ; local assessments ; and compubovy atttrnd- ance. He rejected the parental character of the teacher ; claimed for th3 State lim righ'; to assume that character ; and, as a necessary consequencejjthe leach(3r became, ttiereby, a secular and mcichanical State machine ; religious instruction was discard- ei in sur- rounding tlie schools with a preponderating Prote.ilant influence. Only for this jealousy, tlie probability is, that the Irish schools would have been establislied on the basis of tho.-*e of Prussia — a Protectant Normal School fur Protestants, and a Catlioiic Normal Scfiooi for Catholics, with denominational common schools for each ; and mixed schools wherein Protestants and Catholics assemble together. only when the thinness of the popuiatiun, the madecinacy of financial means, or other liical cause should render the adoption of .such mixed schools an unavoidable alterna- tive. As it was, only one Normal School was established, and the Board of Commis- sioners was composed so as to satisfy the Protestant feeliu:; that the schools would have a Protestantizing tendency. Thon^'h * ?e« The Comm'n Sr/iottl Si-stein. Us Pr-.n- ^iplc., Ojwrettioii and llt&uUs, IS APPEAL ON THE COMMON SCHOOL LAW the parental character of the teacher has tmen adopted, and also his truinini,' ; and for ()) that purpose liis residence in the boarding establishment, connected with the Normal School, is .strictly enlbrced; ami notvvilh- -tanding that tlie cleriry, Protestant and Jioinan Catholic, are authorized to enter the school-room for the purpose of teaching the creeds and formularies of their respective churches, still the vant of separate denomi- national sohoo; juri>li;.:'» would prevail, and engenders suspicions and distrust, preju- dicial 10 the teacheis as well as inimical to the progriess of the schools. It is in this 'inly that the Irish si'iiool systein is defec- tive. In (!very other respect it i.> ailmirably adapted to IIkj purpose for which it is in- tended, uamely, the education nf the poor. As a naticnal system, for the whole people, >uch as in Fi.ince, it would not answer, i^ut it was not so intended. It has no local ;nachinery. Its primary object seems to liave been the repression of poverty and crime, by providin;,' schools connected with the work-houses of the Poor Law Unions, and the jails, with a suitable class of trained teachers. This should be borne in mind when referring to the Irish system, as a na- tional system of education. For, properly r-peaking, it is not what its title aflinus. It is a national system of education for the poor of Ireland. Regarded in this its special character, intenilcd not for a general educa- tional, but a specific and circumscribed educational object, great latitude is allow- able ibr peculiarities, that would be inad- missible in a .general national svstem. And iierem is visible the folly of a Chief Super- intendent of Schools assuming to incorporate in a national system, intended for the edu- cation ot all classes, wtiat Avas sj)ecially contrived lo suit the particular circum- stances of work-house and jail schools. In 1S39, after a great many fruitless at- tempts to introduce a general system of national schools to England, the Committee of Council on Education was appointed, and from this period may be dated the extended application of the government aid syRteiDw The Committee of Council selected, as Sec- retary, Dr. James PJiillip Kay, afterwards knighted by Her Majesty for his servicoa rendered while performing the duties of this oflice. Dr. Kay, who had previously visitotl Scotland, Holland, Belgium and France,on an educational lour, liad published some works on popular education and particularly that of the poor; and having acted as assistant Poor Law Commissioner, had some knowledge and experience of the work, in which he was about to I>e etnployod. At the time of his appointment as Secretary, he was en- gaged maturing the Rattersea Training School, for the training of parochial school- masters. As the administrative measures, ailopted by the Committee of Council, for the training of teachei s, were altogether tlie work of Dr. Kay, : .id were attended with ao large a measure of success, his testimony and e.\posilion of the true theory and prac- tice of education, endorsed by the Commit- tee of Council and carrying the sanction of the British (jovernment, may well be re- ceived by the })eoplo of Canada as some- thing truly British, and on that account no less than on its own merit, entitled to their serious consideration. Now see what Di. Kay says on the parental character of the educator, and the school as a sphere of house- hold duty : •' Tlie moral advantage «f a tax on the poor in the I'orm of school pence, is, that it appeals to the sense nl' paternal duty. It eat'orces a lesson ol" donu'stie pieiy. It establishes the parental anthurity, and indicated perisuual freeduiii. The child is neither wholly educated by religioiis charity, nor by the State. He owes to his pa- rents that honor and obedience, which are the sources of domestic tranquility, and to which the promise of long life is attached. Let no on« rudely interlere with jhe bonds of filial reverence antitiitioii_, in htfriiiniiy with the separate re.ifiious oryaiiiziUinii ii3 in H» ot thtf overning •ts oi thu which I Eli law of r proof of rstom ol luit It ex- tho edu- ihat from adietiona , I he<4 ti. isL'd Edi- )i Horace achu^olls on Free Report for sedings of Trustees, I. the PruB- he teach- md profi- ice of all ndini; the c'stimony ities from itud that ts unaui- ore satis- ittTs A- ho iated and ch makch represent tVest, be- •eport.s of ,nd Chief Normal s, to pre- narriage ; revenue of build- nance of 142 Nor- Q all the Common SchonJH ; and the local school au- thorities callinsf for competent teachers, complaining? of the existing irrei^ularitioH, and proscribing us many impracticable la- medies. The Grammar Schools. The Utopian idea of pystemizinjr and ceritralizinc;, ho as to make eventually a gra- dation of Free Schools from the Common Schools to the University, has had an (;lK'ci, which promises to be equally injurious to the Grammar Schools. Not satisfied with tlio old an'anirement of having these middlti seminaries located in places where I lie population was so iHciently dense lo guaran- tee, for them, a respectable support, it was conceived that every man should have a Grammar as well as a Common School at his own door. This could only be done by joining these two classes of schools, under certain circumstances. Absurd, as the proposal may appear, it was tarried, how- ever, into force by the Supplementary Com- mon School Act, and the amended Grammar School Act of 1853. Not only this, but the Grammaa Schools were to be supplied, not as formerly, with teachers who had gradua- ted at some Coll(>ge or University, but with certified teachers from the Normal School. No account was taken of the incompatibility of the powers of the two Boards of School Trustees ; and as little, of the inadmissibility of a union of two grades of schools, in their natures and functions essentially distinct. This change was to have been accompanied by another, which threatened to encroach on the prerogative ot the County Councils. It was the creation, by law, of independent Boards of Grammar School Trustees, for counties, similar to the independent Beards of Common School Trustees already exist- ing in cities, towns and villages. These Boards of Grammar School Trustees were to have been independent of the County Councils. They were to have been invest- ed with extraordinary fiscal powers. They were to have been authorized to erect and support (irammar Schools when and where tliey pleased. And to enable them to do tliis they, were to have authority to call on the County Councils for wliatever fundw fliey choose. Ther« was to be no limit to the amount. And the Councils, deprived of any consulting ^ ce, must have assessed for Ihat amount, wliatever it might be. This cxjieriment was no sooner attempted under t\w new law for that purpose, than its impracticability was at once made obvious. Failing in tliis, the last Annual Report, tor 185(1, now announces the desirableness of going back to the old arrano'cmL-nt ; that of having the Grammar Seliools separate, anil centering in populous localities. And, m place of County Boards of Trustees over- ruling the County Councils, as at first pro- posed, it is now intemled to create city, town and village Giammar School Boanis, to be invested with fiscal powers intlepen- dent of and .lUperior to those of the Munici- pal Corporations : So now tlie iVIunicipalities are to be cursed, in future, not with one only, but with two Boards of School Trustees, elected by (male and female) household suflrage, and acting independent of and controlling the Municipal Coi-poiations. But what folly to suppose that this scheme is more practica- ble than the previous one. As in the former case, it was found Ihat the County Councils would not be made the dupes of the species of official imposture which was attempted to be practiced on them, so will it turn out that the Municipal Corporations, equally alive to their interests, will be as little in- clined to tolerate a similar attempt, should it be made. That it M-ill be abandoned there cannot be a doubt. In the meantime, however, this doing and undoing — a conse queace, evidently, of the want of experi- ence, and a stubborn adhen^nce to visionary and impracticable plans, cannot be other- wise than injurious to the schools. The most weighty objection, however, to the present management of the Grammar Schools, with reference to any proposed c>3 APPEAL ON THE COMMON SCHOOL LAW. alterations, is the present condition of the Common Schools. If the Common Schools have been mismanaged, as I have shown in the previous pages, what guarantee is there that the Grammar Schools will not share the same late ? It is no secret that the denial of parental rights, and the doctrine of en- lightened citizenship, are to rule in the new Grammar School Department of the Normal School. And, as like causes produce like effects, it is no more than reasonable tluit we should look for the same complaints, of the fewness and incompetency of teachers, of Grammar as of Common Schools ; the same system of preparing young men and women for mercantile and domestic pur- suits, at the public expense ; the same amount of dy.jeitions from the profession of teaching ; and the same studious design to present the Grammar School Returns, so that the condition of each particular School may be concealed, and general defects and irregularities go without detection. Libraries and Text Books. That the State should supply reading matter for the community at large, is no more than a consistent extension of the theory that, to it, belongs the right to educate all. For enlightened citizenship, accord- ing to the American idea, is, no doubt, as rrmch dependent on literary reading, after having left school, as on secular instruction while there. The paternal care of the State authorities in Massachusetts, had therefore provided, at an early stage oi its educational progress, school section libra- ries, on the principle of an aid grant of one iumdred per cent for every equivalent raised by local taxation ; to which, no doubt, is to be imputed the transcendental enlighten ment of the people of thai State. Having adopted the other features of the Massachu- setts system, in our school law, it was natural ,that this appendage should also be sanctioned; and so it happens, that free libraries, on the one hundred per cent aid principle, came tu be established in this Province. The unfortunate habit of miistaking the ends, no less than the means, is a? conspicu- ous, in this, as m the other cases which 1 have noticed. It does not require any great stretch of the judgment to discover, that the books recommeiuit'd anil sold, for School Libraries, are not adaptetl to the capacities of children. For this reason, they are not read by the chiklren attending the schools. But they are read by the parents and the adult population of the school sections ; and even then, wily when, as in isolated cases, there are sufficient intelligenca and taste to nppreciate their value. But can it be said that this is the intention of the law — that the Canadian Government is to provide literary pabulum for the adult population ? If so, why are the libraries of the Mechanic's Institutes — educational establishments pa- tronized by the (lovernment aid, not also provided for out of the public reveime ? The connecting them with school sections will not conceal their real character. The book and publishing business con- nected with the schools, if properly scruti- ni/eil, will, I think, turn out to be of the same character as that of similar depart- ments, in the school machinery of the adjoining States. Whatever may be the ostensible object, it has been found that this library and book business is uniformly a commercial department for the benefit and agrandisement of the functionaries engaged in its management. 1 would not be justified in making an excejiliou of the Canadian li- brary and book department of the Common Schools ; because having found the irregu- larities existing under our school adminis- tration, in every other respect, analagous to those reported as pervading the school business of the adjoining States, I reason- ably expect to witness the same irregulari- ties in this particular. I have no means of knowing how the financial business of tho Canadian library and book department is APPEAL ON THE COMMON SCHOOL LAW. 23 led in this staking the I? conspicu- Bs which 1 e any great er, that the for School ! capacities ley are not the echoolg. nts and the ctions ; and lated cases, and taste to n it be said J law — that to provide wpulation ? Mechanic's iments pa- d, not also enue? The Bctions will mess con- erly scruti- u be of the lar depart- ry of the ay be the 1(1 that this niformly a jenefit and 3s engaged je justified inadian li- Common ne irregu- adminis- aiagous to iie school r icason- rregulari- means of ess of tho utment is. oonducted. During the last two years I have been trying, in vain, to reconcile the items and balances in llie Annual Reports of the Chief .Superintendent and tho Public Ac- counts of the Inspector Goneriil. I defy any accountant or anybody else to make out from the general returns how the monies have been managed ; and particularly whare larire balances have beun shown, as accru- ing from the transactions of eacli year, these iKilances do not appear to have been car- ried forward. My method of reasonmg is therefore indrctive. I find the figures in tlie tables and the statements in the reports cnjntradictory and irreconcilable, and, in many cases, the most d(;liberate and glaring l>erver?ions of the truth ; and 1, therefore, justiliably infer, that if 1 bad an equal opportunity of examining the accounts of tlie department, I should be able to detect irregularhies equal to those I have already pointed out. Having borrowed our State library and book system from the United States, and having witnessed the similitude between the parent stem there and its olf- spring her.3, let us now see what they have to say, respecting tho financial manage- ment, of these library and book departments among themselves. "Tlic subject ot tlio scloction of Text Rooks to bo used In the public schools, is one of iiicreiising inipoitance ami difficulty. Tho nunibev of persmis couipetent to examine them is so few — the labor of ex.iniiniug numerous series of l)Ool;s, oil all the bniiiclies titu!j;ht in the schools, is so greiit, — tli'i sensitiveness of tlie people to frequent chaiifies, is so keen, — mul the ccmipllcjited miichinery of btiok '!i:''i)ts ami publishers is wurkeil with sueli amaziiij; power, tliiit Committees s* il aghast, and the wlioli! Comiuonwealth, from one ei il to tlie other, is rinfriiii; with complaint. Abuses ami impositions of the must tla^'nint cbarattcr are (jf dnily oecurrancc. A more eUicieiit power nerds to lie erected ; and men who tlio- rou'/hly understand the sulijcct, and who shall be inde- pendent of authors, iiUblislin'^ houses, and atrents, n.'et bei;ins with 'Wayland's Moral Science,' an extraordii.iry work, anil ends with ' MSS. Doctrines (>f Forms,' which is not a book at all. The ' FatMi'ty,' however, seem to liav^- a trreat admiratiin fiir tlicir own produci'.ons. Professor Owen jiri'sents to the tender youth Ciiniinittoii to his charii'e bis werld-reiuiwie'd O'lilions of ' X''iio|.hon,' ' Iloiner^ and ' Thiieydid.'s.' I'ril'.ssor Ui-.-nicr ti a<.'hes theyonnir idea how to shoot in a Kicnch nu-eciion by aid of his ' Idioms' and ' Ke:ideis'— luur profitable volunu's in all. The (Jerniau I'rofi ssor bus also a 'Reader.' "iai' Spani^h I'rofcssor likewise h.'is a 'Reader.' Tlie Profes- sor of S'ure M.'itlie'uati.'s l'n"iii.~liis tline t( ;;t books oi' Alirelira. Geometry ond fiLoiioni' tvy, AH tliis nuist Iv KiMtif;. iiij; to tb,- i'. speclivc .•luthors, and ant unprolilablc to tliiir piililishe: r."' Now a monopoly for such a compilation as that of Mr. Hotigins is not here objectetl to, on the ground that no school functionary, who is capable, ought to be excluded, sim- ply by virtue of his olRce, from the enjoy- ment of the emoluments thence to Le derived. Ikit, because it happens uniform- ly in the United States as it lias happened here in this particular case, that the text books so compilcil, are below mediocrity and not lit for thescliools ; and would not be oillcially sanctioned, if their aiUliors were not oillcially copn^ctod with the schools. Tho adoption of the Geography, as a text book, for supplying 3634 school sections, is sufficient to secure, for its compiler, a pecu- niary independence, in-espectivo of other oflicial sources of emolument. But we have to do with the character and fitness of the book itself. Is it like the United States te.vt books, got up "in the same way ; ( r is it possessed of merit ? P^or an answ(,'r to this question, the best reference, because unexceptionable, is to a critique, favorable to the book, and to tho present organization of tlie schools for which it is inte'.ided. The Toronto Globe of l"2th November last, htw a notice of this Geography, in which it says : " Unfortunately in the very preface and iu the iuUtxluctory < words to tlie 24 APPEAL ON THE COMMON SCHOOL LAW. ^ teacher,' several errors have crept in, which the quick sighted school boy, much more the practiced t»^aclier, would at once notice and remark upon." After pointing out the general ungrammatical character of the book, tlie writer in the Globe proceeds : " On p.'icfP Ifi, for area of Lnke Erio, read 0000 nqnnro tnllcR for (iOOO. On tlie 5aiiio ]Mff) in nn error in calcu- lating t!io amount of watf-r ]iiissiii|T ovor tho Fall? of Ni- agara, which is statc'fl to lio 40,000,000 tons ficr hour, or f)00,000 per minute ! while the aiuoutit dis-charged by the St. Lawrence into tlio ocoan is imtUown iit ainucli smuller fit;iire. On pa^e 18, for (Jeorgina road (Jeorfjiaii, On pai^e 20, red and mnose deer arc i)laeed amongst the game of Upper Can;ida ; while on pairo 21, tho moosh DEKK is Raid to he I'Kcimjak to Lower C.'innda. It would \» an improvement if in sections DO to 6:i, either the pIii- fiilar or jiluriil noun were used throughout. On jingo 27, f»tratford is incliidod hotli in tho London and Hamilton district;;. On jiage 20, section 5 is not int..llii;il..k' — no ri>a.uoii iK'incr given why the names of .soveral places .arc repeated. On p;ige 41, the IJidoiiu CmiimI lias.Tii elevation of 437 f'et. Can this ])q so, if from Kingston to f,:il,c Kideau he an iis'^ont, and from Lake liiileiiu to Ottaw.i a descent? On prje 4(i, set'tioii fi, it is said 'forly fr POmetimes Fix Indiiins constituted a war party.' Surely war parties were rot cci'iiined to 'hose n'iin!K>rs On pfige .W. France if said to iia\t mled ('anad.i for SOU ve;'rs jirior to tho f;\ll of (Jueljcc. 'I'liis would hring us hii'k to a period anterior to (Ik- airiral either of Calir)t or Culir.n- Ims. Foi't Niair-'ira is s:iiil, on page fiO, to be rana^i:in. In the ) io,'r!!)ilui(iI sketches, Lord Durham, Lord .-iydcn- lia;n, ;ind Kev. I'etcr .iones .are placed anioirjst distin- guisiiid men now tivioL', while the Woi'iapliV of omcU closes v.-ith 'he di<'d ;Uid was t.nried.' 'He- lion. M. S. Ridwell is said to have Ijecn horn before tho American revolution." Such i.s tho char.icter of the text book, on (ieography, whicli has l)een authori.^ed and is now in the hands of Canadian youth. If tlie topography and history of these norlhorn regions be not tar.glitin the genuine Amori- ran Common Seliool style, h will not be tlio fault of the sage o-entlomen wiio preside in the Education OfTice or sit nt the Boanl of Public Instruction. I think, fo jnevent this prac(i(!e, a rule should be passed, in time, l)efore this manufacturing of lexf books be- come general, that no person connected with tho department of education be allowed to use his official influence, fot the purpose of monopolizing the trade, in any kind of te.\t books of an unfit and spuriniiP character. With reference to the numtier of books sold, the Chief Superintendent of Schools says, at page 18, of his last report : " This large increase during the last six months is chiefly owing to some discussion which took place at the beginning of 1857, rela- tive to the public libraries, and the applica- tion by municipalhies, of portions of the Clergy Reserve Funds to the purchase of libraries." What the Municipalities did, in this respect, was at the instigation of the Chief Superintendent himself. The recom- mendation on which they act'cd was illegal, and had it been tendered by a responsible officer of the Government, he would have had to answer for it on the floor of Parlia- ment. Here is a large sum of public money, diverted from the purpose to which it was to be applied by the intention of the legislature. In short a mis-ap{»[ication of public money. And what ha? been the ro.spon.se to those who remonstrated with the author of this proceeding ? Insult heaped upon insult, without stint or limit. And all this has taken place within the knowledge of Your E.vcellency, and in the face of pub- lic opinion ; and yet there has been no accountability, and no mjinifestation of a desire or intention to vindicate tho law and protect the public morals. Making all due allowance for the patron- age bestowed on school libraries, by that portion of the adult population, to whom the reailing of standard works is a source of pleasure ; it is questionable, if, to otherH, these books, from their cheapness, may not be estimated at a depreciated value in res- pect to their contents. Moreover, there is neither justice nor public policy in empow- ering a few trustees to assess a school sec- tion for a library, which is not fitted nor adapted to the capacities of children, and for which the parents and adult resident? have no desire. Yet this is too generally the case, as is evidenced by such te.stimony as the following : "As regards the librarioa in this township, thero ij> really no interest tak(.'n in thorn, as iB evident from the Keport."— iict). //. Jl. Ualcr, Albion, CouiUy "eel. "Tlic section or township libraries are almost failures, 1 am s.irry to say few books are taken cut to read, and little inteitst is manifested in this provision." — Rev. R. Junes h'ltlitims, Culedun, County PeeU "Tlie libraries also, I am sony to gay, are but little made use of." — Rev. Tlu/mas Leach, Toronto, County Peel. " lu some of the sections the inhabitants peruse the library books with seeming interest; while in otliira they leave them almost untoucliod ; whether this is owing to the nature of the books, or disposition of the iieopli; I cannot Hay ."—i!ei;..i.y. MMMulay, lfa$$ogateega.,ClomUg liifUvn. APPEAL ON THE COMMON SCHOOL LAW. 25 chase of s did, in 1 of the ( recom- 3 illegal, ponsible lid have ' Parlia- pubiic o which 3n of the nation of leen the with the t heaped And ail low ledge } of pub- been no lion of a law and e patron - by that rhom the 50urce of othuiH, may not e in res- there IS empow- lool sec- itted nor ren, and resident? generally pslimony _ then> tp from the •I. jst failnres, [read, (iiid -Rev. R. but little 'uuiity Peel. peruse the irs they ia owing |tlic iiooplu jOfCowUf I I"! am tiorry I cannot speak so faTorohlr of our public ibraries ; the |)Cople Htill show great indifference about avoiliu^ tlieniselves of the liberal assistance afforded by (lovernnient." — Richard H. Qradock, Esq., Anauter, Coun- ty Wtuttoirrlh. "I had anticipated much good ft'om the libraries, and expected ii ({pneral interest to be taken In them, but from the ifeport I find only 91 individuals returned as having made u.su of tlie books ; and supposing the reading popu- lation to 1)0 ld03, i ' leaves a total of 1412 who do not avail theniseh-os of this invaluable privilege."— fieo. Rich- ard Saul, JtUtaide, Ccurily Middlesex, "I cannot account for the apathy of the people with regard to the libraries. They do not seem to appreciate tlic use of books as was exjiected."— CArMto;>Aer jjliuidvii, Esq., rtymptoii, County Lambton. Educational Museum and School of Art and Design. These are, properly, industrial institutions, and have a commercial object. In Italy, Austria and the States of Germany, and in France, where they have long been fostered by the governments of these countries, they have contributed not only to the promotion of classical taste, but also to the manufac- turing industry of comparatively large sec- tions of the inhabitants. Schools of Art and Design were scarcely known in England, before the repeal of the Corn Laws find the practical adoption of free trade. The Man- chester commercial school of politicians, eager, then, to furnish all facilities lor the improvement of the tastes and capabilities of the designers employed in the public factories, and desirous of raising up a new and additional class of persons, possessing higher artistic attainments, decided on the establishment of these Museums and Schools as the most efficient means for the accom- plishment of their purpose. In a romraer- cial sense, this step had become necessary ; for the superiority of the designs ol foreign fabrics had secured, for them, a preference in the English market itself, and the manufac- turing interests of Manchester, began there" by, to be sensibly afl'ected. The Govern- ment also, for the same reason, directed its influence to the promotion of these Schools. Their establishment, therefore, in England, was the spontaneous effect of circumstances arising out of a reduced tariff on imported manufactureil goods. In like manner, the impetus since given to the foreign mission- ary movement, through Exeter Hall, by the Manchester manufacturing interest, was commenced, and is still regulated, by the commercial object of supplying the heathen with Manchester goods. Whatever the reason may be, there is some sense m adopting institutions, called for by national exigencies. Anid in this we always find the English people practical — never led away by specious theories ; anu seldom mistaking the end in view, or the means for its attainment. But tliere is something so decidedly out of place, in a Canadian Nor- mal School undertaking to exhibit Italian statuary and paintings ; and not only to exhibit but to teach the arts of the great classical masters of antiquity, that one is at a loss whether to smile at the pretensions or scorn the folly of such a proceeding. Not- witlistanding, tho Chief Superintendent, mistaking their purpose, says : " A collec- tion of such objects has double the value in Canada that it possesses in any city or town in Europe." Wherein is there evidence of a taste in Canada for such studies, or what is the use of specimens of art, that have no meaning for the class of persons that fre- quent the Nonnal School ? The Chief Sq- perintendent has produced a portion of the letter of advice, from Colonel Lefroy, on the selection of specimens for the Museum ; but he has withheld that part of the letter which refers to classical specimens, in particular. And seeing that Colonel Leiroy's advice was not followed — as the collection of antiques in the Museum is very large and forms its most prominent compartment, in justice to that gentleman it should have been stated that his advice was opposed to the selection which was made. Without the additional and exculpatory portion of that letter. Colo- nel Lefroy is made responsible, ostensibly, for having advised the large collection of antiques ; an assumption which is contrary to the truth. The paragraph immediately following the extract from Colonel Lefro) 'e letter, is as follows : ec APPEAL ON THE COMMON SCHOOL LAW. " In n.'ii!iril to tho choice of olijocts, I tlunk tlmt ponsi- Mi^ bcaiitv, jiiii'try or pJillidH, ivdlicr tlinn classic iirlrn..-.t Bh(>iil'l be till' ilitiTiiiiiiiiiLC iiriiicijU'. In H(nl|itiiio I s'lDui'l l)('(jriii with ini'ilcni works, !uij not vciitiin' to iii- troiliiri; iiMti(|iii's uiilil the h'j;itiiiiiili' !iilv;iiici' ol' ]mljlic tiist>', urid cliissicil fihiciitJDn I'lisiiicd tlii-ir r(>e(']itiels that to look at tho edecls of the school law, as pictured by the Local Superintendents, through any other than a distorteil medium, would be to con- demn the law as a whole and expose tho incompetency of its author. Nevertheless, tho unanimous testimony of tho Local Su- perintendents, is a protest against the law, that it is impracticable. Bricks alone are not sudicient to build a house. There must be mortar and timbers and fastenings, and not only these, but they must also be tem- pered and fitted, so as to correspond with the intention of the builder, in accordance with a preconceived plan. So it is with a school law. If the schools are free and yet as repulsive as if they were not, this free- ness, it is evident, cannot be suflicient of itself to make a good school, any more than the bricks alone would suffice to build a house. This fact, many of the Local Super- intendents, it seems, do not perceive ; and the Chief Superintendent, in place of help- ing them out of the dilRculty, has every motive to foster the delusion. What the Chief Superintendent stated in his Free School Essay, page 20.3, of his Re- port for 1850, has penetrated the minds of many who have not taken the trouble to question its truth. The statement is this : "It is not, therefore, surprising to find that wherevtj the Free School system lias been tried in L'](per Canada or elsewhere, the attendance of pupils at school has io" creased from tifty to three hundred i)er cent.' Independent of the evidence furnished in << The Common School System its Prin- ciple Operation and Results," from tho leport of Mr. Joseph McKeen, Superinten- APPEAL Olf THE COMMON SCHOOL LAW. Z7 .1 limits of ;ss conten- lere no de- of the law lin Roberts, Stamford — ^at peace il they are 'ith Protes- estion alto- tenilent no look at the ired by the any other 1 be to coQ- expose the jvertheless, Local Su- jt the law, 3 alone are There must snings, and so be tem- spond whh accordance it is with a ree and yet , this free- uflicient of more than to build a 5cal Super- ceive ; and ce of help- las every t stated in of his Re- minds of trouble to It is this : ;li.it whorevci '\)\>Qr Canada [•)iool has in» furnished n its Prin- from the uperinten- dent for the State of New York, and others, I have, in my letters signed " A Protes- tant," page 23, given a most signal refuta- tion to this statement, by shewing from the oilicial Annual Report, that the average at- tendance, in all the sectious reported, as having none but rate bill schools, was greater in proportion to the school population, than in all the sections reported as having none but free schools. I also, at ihe same time, sup- plied evidence from some of the Local Superintendents to the same purport. And now add from the last Report the following : "I have much plensure in stilting the Free School sys ti'in picviiils hero ; and ulthouj,'h it is hunuutiiblo to ol- serve that n large nunilHT of cliilUren of proinT aire in till' towiisbip do not attend, it is not eutirely owiiij^ to tiie iniiilleri'iice or neirli.i;once of jiiircnts, liiit in most ci.'^i'S to tlie want of elheient teachers. — Uwcn (^uigletj, Esii; Luc/iic/, Cuuiily Ulciignrrtj, ''Tlie sehools were in o|i('ratinn, upon tlie averacre, for W/t less tiian nine mouths, but tlie attcnilance of cldlilrcn was not sueh as I can report to you witli .satisfaction; this is the most serious evil which we have to contenil with, acting disadvantat^eously in various ways, upon both teachers and scholars, and does not apiiear to be Busce])tible of any easy or obvious remedy. Here, at least, the freedom of the school docs not appear to pro- duce a more favor.'ihle result." — Daniel Fouler, Esq., Am- herst Islii lid, Cuunlij Froiilenuc. *• I iiave little to remark except that tlie Victoria School beins free, and only on(^ year in operation, is at (jrcsent nithcr an experiment of the system, th.in an instance of its Bncciss. The i^reat dilliculty seems to be, that those cliil- dreii for who.se sjiecial benelit suth schools .are est:d)- ILsheil, will not avail themselves of tlie boon. Ou due ri'llection, I have come .o the conclusion tli.at the free system is unwise, unfair and inoper.itive, unU:.vancy. This was the puipuit of Judgu Hagarly's charge to the Ciand Jury ou ihu 8lh March of lust yeo rcirntti'd, eince tUey nro notftriously ineoni]ii't(Mit to pronoiinci' upon the meritnand donicritt! of nii institution of learn- ing. Hut the citizens of New Yorl; should see to ittiiat tliere lie some upriirht ti'iliiniMl, eii|iiilile and willing to ovor.«oe their sehools and iiradiinii'S— sioiic eonind-isioti, whoso roports should cnaliic tliciu to dciiilo wlici.' to H-ndthi'ir children toho tauirht, uml whicli sliould lici']i the public purse siifi.- Croui the drinidations of literary adventurers tind Iialf educated pedimts." — Acio I'wk Tri- bune, lOlk I'ebruurij, 1-58. It will bo said, that the mombers of the Board for Canada West, do not pocket the plunder from the appiopriatioii of school monies, in the way which is done by the New York Board. So f;ir, tliis is true. But is the expenditure regulated any better here than it is there ; and is our Board more vigilant in this respect than llie New York Board ? Certainly not. — Read the Cana- dian Annual Reports. — It is money, money, money, throughout. This is the criterion. The more money the more progress. See the 10th page of the last Annual Report for a definition of Canadian patriotism, which is tliere indicated antl measured by the increase of the legislative school grant, by the amount of local assessments, amounts paid for maps and apparatus, for books, the expenditures for sites and buildings, rents and repairs, fuel, stationery, &c. The Board acquiesces in the propriety of this criterion ; and while the Chief Superinten- dent's speculations and vast commercial enterprises, in books, maps, apparams, plaster casts, pictures, models, &c., are carried on, to the neglect and detriment of the proper business of the schools, the Board tolerates, assents and approves of all this, — conducts itself as the Chief Superin- tendent directs, and exercising no active power, exists in the condition of a passive instrument ot mischief. j and if we have not imbibed, from such re- presentations, an amount of the poison of self-conceit, sufficient to destroy the con- sciousness of our own defects, it has not been the fault of those who have traded, A Minister of Public Instruction, with a stair of District Inspectors, would remedy all this accumulation of mismanagement. And with a Ciovernmont Board of Exami- ners, for the granting of certilioates to teach- ers, the Common Schools might become, in a few years, the pride and the boast not of misinformed cntliu.siasts only, but of the educated ami enlii>htened of every sect and party. The extent of the educational busi- ness besides, requires a comprehensive department. I have ijidicated in my letters signed "A Protestant," the nature of the duties of the Minister and Inspectors, and need not hero repeat what the.«e are. 1 wish, however, to substitute a recommen- dation for a Government Board of Exami* ners in place of Local Boards ; because I find the former more general nnd more ellicient, in countries, wherein the best schools are reported to exist ; and because the observance of the conditions on which Government aid is granted, could not be ascertained, in any other way than by sub- jecting the teachers, trained at different nor- mal seminaries, to examination by a (iov- ernment Board. In looking forward to the growth and greatness of this yet youthful Province, many traits of its after character will be dependent on the shape which its earUer institutions are made to assume. He is no honest Canadian who, under the guise of an effete patriotism, seeks popular applause by pandering to the prejudices of the ignorant and fostering the sentiment of self-conceit. We are yet too young to have much to boast of; and for what we hare, we are in- debted to other countries. Our greatness is prospective. Let us, in the meantime, look to its foundations ; for, as we sow, so shall we reap. It has been said, and the saying has been promulgated through the British dominions, that, in Canada, there is a system of education "that is elevating the intellec- tual standard of the people to an elevation never before attained by any coirmunity ;" f: ' 32 APPEAL ON TH£ COMMON SCHOOL LAW. to gocd account, on Canadian credulity. The great sin of America, is the endeavor t'j sponge out all record of the past. The litrlo esteem manifested for the language of the ancients, has ahnost elliiced tiie desire to know much else relating to them. — ^Esthetic discipline is unknown. The stuiiy of art has, therefore, no habitation. While the future is to learn its lessons, not from the accumulated wisdom of former ages, comprised in the aggregate of humanhy ; but from the ephemeral uicidents of national life, developed within its own sectional sphere. As it will add nothing to our greatness to raise up divines who know nothing of mythology ; barristers who cannot make relierence to the corjius juris civilis, comprised in the Pandects, Institutes and Novels of Justinian ; or legislators and statesmen, who have formed no acquaintance with Cicero ; tliere- fore is it becoming to hold on by the one link which binds the present to the past, which has raised up great warriors and statesmen in other countries, and supplied a lasting and solid foundation for all tliat is illustrious and renowned in liieir annals. We must cultivate, what are called, the dead languages in our schools, if we wish to be- come an educated people. Without ignoring commerce, that generator of civilization and its attendants, immorality and vice, it is of the utmost consequence that it should be accompanied by the humanizing influences of the arts ; not by beginning at the wrong end and establishing a Museum, while we are yet ignorant of the language by which the works of the great masters are to be in- terpreted, but by learning their language so as to be able to interpret those works. — Whatever may be the extent of the rudi- mentary teaching of Latin and Greek in the Common Schools ; and it is a question with many whether it should be admitted ot not ; under all circumstaiices notwithstanding, the teacher, who should be a man and not boy^i should be capable to undergo an ex- amination in both these languages ; and moio particularly, with the Latin, his ao- quaintance should be thorough and familiar* It signities not that he is never to be called on to teach them. They are a key, in his hand, for derivation and reference; they refine his own taste, and incite to the prose- cution of higher studies ; and finally, they confer a degree of respect, which is of the utmost importance to the authority of the teacher. In making this appeal to Your Excel- lency, I confess that L have touched many sore places, which I would have preferretl to avoid if it had been possible. But the nature of the disease, the magnitude of the imposture, and the dangerous moral ten- dency of the law and its official administra- tion, obviously, require something more than ordinary treatment. My recommendation is not made with a view to destroy, but to modify the school system. In fine, to mahi it practicable by making it acceptable. It ought surely to be a matter of concern to the head of the Government in this Pro- vince, that our institutions should retain a British character, and that the sacred principles of civil and religious freedom, which constitute the safety and bulwark of the British nation, should not be violated. — As a watchful observer of the impartiality and fidelity with which Canadian interests have been guarded, under Your Excellency's administration, I am encouraged to hope that this appeal will receive that considera- tion, from Your Excellency, which its importance demands. I have the honor to be, Your Excellency's Most obedient and humble Servant, ANGUS DALLAS, Toronto, 10th March, 1858. •'i ^0 an ex- iges ; and n, his ao- i familiar* be called 9y, in his ce ; they the prose- lally, they ; is of the ity of the ar Excel- led many preferred But the ;de of the oral ten- [ministra- nore than lendatioa )y, bat to ,to mdk^ 'able. f conceru this Pro- retain a i sacred freedom, Iwark of dated. — )artidJity interests jllency's to hope nsidera- lich its Tant, (ILLAS,