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MAODONALD, I , ATTOBNEY GENERAL, <&c., &g. A PRO T !!&•!» A KTT, rn F: A 319.713 •St2 TORONTO: FED AT THE ' ^Fiv K OF THE CATHOLIC CITIZEN, POST OFFICE LAFI, -y^^S^ -^ -js&'m:-^mi:- STATISTICS or THE OMMON SCHOOLS: BEING A DIGEST AND COMPARISON OF THE EVIDENCE FURNISHED BT ^OCAL SUPERINTENDENTS AND THE CHIEF SUPERINTENDENT, IN THEIR REPORTS FOR 1855, WITH [GESTIONS applicable to THE APPROACHING CRISIS,' IN A SERIES OF SEVEN LETTERS, TO :e honorable john a. macdonald, fitc, &c.. &c. BT A PROTESTANT. TORONTO: |INTED AT THE OFFICE OF THE CATHOLIC CITIZEN, POST OFFICE LANE, AND SOLD BT ALL BOOKSELLERG. PRICE ^}^d. 1857. . il 'M m' i ^ I i PREFACE. i i '- \ In presenting the following letters, in pamphlet form, for general circulation, the object is simply to elicit inquiry. Recent events indicate an early change of the School system in this section of the Province. During the last session of the Provincial Parliament, an additional approximation was made to the European system of Common Schools, so far as to establish, in Canada East, a Normal School for Catholics and one for Protestants. Our Legislature had wisely decided, in that case, not only that general elementary education is a state necessity, but also that no system can be general which is not generally acceptable. And hence the -complete separation, in school matters, between the two main divisions of the Christian com- munity in that section of the Province. Now, as the argument employed to justify separation, in Canada East, is equally applicable to Western Canada, it is reasonable to conclude that this is the ground on which the contest will be decided here. And the cu'rent of events plainly shows, that the prostitution of the Education Office, to foment violent political and religious prejudices, is accelerating the crisis, in Western Canada, of a similar separation on religious grounds. The question to be decided by the Legislature is not whether Protestants or Catho- lics shall be dominant, but what is required to allay the existing animosities, so as to make a -school system acceptable and consequently practical and general. Assuming that the Legislature will be consistent, and that the circumstances attending the school requirements of the Eastern and Western sections of the Province are identical, and moreover, that the same line of argument will be employed here that has been applied there, the following letters, preparatory to the approaching change, are designed to assist enquiry by setting forth and classifying the principal facts in a clear and comprehensive, bi'.t, at the same time, epitomized form. It will be observed that the information relative to ibe ectual condition of the schools, is drawn from two sources. The facts of the Normal Schoo! from the Chief Superintendent ; those of the Common Schools from the Local Superintend- ents. It is of importance also that the Chief Superintendent's reports, in whatever refers to the operation of the Common Schools, should be based on what is contained in the local reports ; and therefore it follows that whatever contradictions and discrepancies exist between the two classes of reports, we are bound to place credence in the testimony of the Local Superintendents. Having, thus, decided on the legitimate sources from which the facta are to i>e ascertained, the next business js to arrange and compare the facts tbemselfes^ so as to ih# HH^i^ It able to determine their eiact import. This has been done here, in so far as 8|(ace would permit, by brief extracts ; and then, only of portions of such evidence as bears on the qualitj of the teachers, the irregularity of attendance, and the call for compulsion. No notice has been taken of the many cemplaiats against other eifects of the system ; nor of those made against the present mode of appointing the Local Superintendents ; against the limitation of icboo! districts ; against the separation of religious from secular instruction ; against the frequent changes in the forms of the school reports, &c., &c. Such complaints, against each and every part of the school machinery, are multiform and general, and can readily be appre- ciated by reference to the reports. They form no part, however, of the substance of the follovring letters, as their admission would have taken up too much space, and have interfered, in some measure, with the conciseness which was desirable, and which may be considered the best means to procure for any production of this kind a general and attentive perusal. They constitute, nevertheless, important testimony, as to the general unacceptableness of the system as a whole ; and, on this account, are not to be neglected, in forming our estimate of the purport of the local reports. On Protestant grounds, the argument of these letters assumes it to be the duty of every Protestant to assert the right of conscience against all usurpation, from whatever quarter it may come. And ou the practice of both Protestant and Catholic countries— on the organi- sation and management of all grades of schools, superior and inferior, in those countries, as well as on the authority of the Word of God, it is also assumed that education is a religious work ; to be supervised, throughout all its stages, by the constituted guardians of religion and public morality. And, furthermore, that with the exception of the political party with which the Education OfiSce is identified, this duty, this practice, this authority, and the necessity of this religious supervision is conscientiously acknowledged by the people of Upper and Lower Canada. I¥o. I. TO THE HONORABLE JOHN A. MACDONALD. :W Jl 4k Sir, — Your position in the Government, your practical acquaint- ance with the nature and requirements of Canadian society, anU the eagerness with which all parties look to you for tlie settlement of those contentions, heartburnings, and jealousies, inseparably associated with the present system of Common Schools, are the reasons which I offer for addressing you on the subject, in this public form. Whatever may have caused the existing difficulties, whether defects in the system, injudicious administration of the law, or both of these causes combined, of one thing at least there is a certainty, that the public mind is now so thoroughly convinced of the necessity of direct and immediate legislative action, that the Government can no longer escape the demand for a modification, in some sha])e, of the school system or school law, so as to reconcile and conciliate the various interests which are subject to its infiuence. In view of this emergency, and with the certain prospect of school legislation being forced on the Government at an early day, I may be excused for endervouring to analyze and simplify the facts of the official returns, in such a way that the actual results, compared with the time, labor and money expended, may be more readily estimated. A classification of the official data, indeed, becomes the more necessary when it is considered that the local reports are at variance with the inferences of the general report. It unfortunately happens, that too little importance has been ceded to the reports of the Local Superintendents. So much is this the case that it is scarcely possible to find an instance where their testimony is criticised or even cited. On the contrary, the custom has been, on the appearance annually of the reports, to take the abstract of accounts furnished by the Chief Superintendent with his general statements and remarks, as an epitome of the contents of the local reports. I refer to the editorial comments of the newspaper press, in general, for the tiuth of what I here assert. The consequence is that the mind of the reading public has not been 6 drawn to the perusal of tlie most valuable body of evidence which could possibly he su|)plic(l ; and which has (•onse(iuently been neglected, and, for any useful purpos«s been coniplettiy lost. Vet they ought to be the basis of the general report, as they are ilu; only legi' wnate means through which the eonditio)i of the schools can be ascertained. It it had been the case that the statements aiul remarks of the annual general report had been a faiihful summary of the statements aiul remarks of the Local Superintendents, it would luive signified little whether the local reports should have been noticed. Hut the vast discrepancy of the figures and statements of the one when contrasted with those of the other, makes it a subject of regret that the discre})ancy should have been so completely overlooked; for, thereby, the usefulni^ss of the Local Superintendents has not been properly aj")pre(iated and sustained, and the continuance of defects has been concealed when they might easily have been detected. The time has arrived when the Government must consider the school question from a dificrent point of view than hitherto has been customary. For the indiscretion of the friends and a;lministrators of the school system has brought alM)ut a crisis, which will sensibl/ affect the composition i d stability of any iuture Cabinet. Il is no onger what supplement or amendment of the school law will stave o.T for another Session the final settlement of the educational contest; but how any Ministry can be formed and can carry on the business of the country, without conceding sometliing to those now extensively organised agen- cies which demand that the school law shall be altered so as to do no violence to the conscientious scruples of those who put no faith in disputed theories of education. Moreover, the originators and advocates of the system having become identified with the party which has been carrying on a religious agitation for political purposes, the school authorities have thereby got int disrepute, and conseqently the chasm which hitherto separated the religious and the secular systems has now become too wide to admit of any further hopes of compromise. The secular school party has, thus, lost ground ; while the very means, by which this loss has been sustained, has added considerably to the influ- ence of those who regard a purely secular system of schools, as a nursery for infidelit These circumstances, it is evident, have produced a change in the relative strength of parties, that no doubt will be followed by an equal change in the mode of treating the subject when it again comes up for discussion. They are noticed here, because it is proper that they should be kept in sight, as bearing, though indirectly, on the manner in which the school law has been administered. Another consideration, and a most important one, is the attitude which the Church of England will assume in the approaching contest. The proceedings, at the last Convocation, held in Toronto, showed that party tactics of a political nature, on the part of a certain lay influence, •Wv, / - ''►•►'v. had succeeded in stifling, for a time, the solemn protest of the C'hurch, as a united body. Through the commend'.Lle I'orbcarance of the Lord' Bishop, who has proved himself a safe .)ilot in all such cases, the lay influence was allowed to prevail. Thnt . '-icnce has since played its part unsuccessfully ; and 1 believe, is mow thoroughly convinced that the course it pursued was the one most likely to defeat the object whicii it sought to accomplish. The Church was not then permitted to do what it had previously arran-ed should be dono, namely, record its protest against the school system. But circumstances have ince clianged. Th3 politico-religious crusade has been defeated, and as a consequence the contemplated alhaiK - which was to create a dominant Upper Canad. party is now repudiated aad formally abandoned. As, therefore, the former obstacle to the declaration of' a protest no lon-er exists, it is presumable tliat the Church will cany out its purpose and take action on the school question in accordance with its previously enunciated intentions. Looking at the position of the Church of England, with reference to the prospect of a satisfactory Separate School Act for the Ch rch of Rome, it is not possible that she would be satisfied to be classed under the head of the Protestant Common School division, while iuti other or separate division would be instituted for the Catholics exclusively. So that between a participation with the Catholics in the same Separate School privilege, and the obligation to support Common Schools, there appears to be no alternative than to embrace the former. li IS no longer a question whether the Catholics shall or shall not have a satisfactory Separate School Act. A great change has been produced on public opinion ; and the necessity of the measure is forced on t^s Government by the influence which the Separate Schools are exercising on party organizations among the more prominent members of the Legislature. The course, then, of the Church of England, irrespective of any choice in the matter, is one imposed by recent developments, independent of any positive or negative action on her part. Of the Church of Scotland it is scarcely necessary to make any remark, for notwithstanding her comparative state of quiescence on Common School affairs, still, hei attachment to the unrival'-' Parish Schools of fatherland, and appreciation of their sterling merits, are too vivid to permit even a suspicion that she would countenance a system that is their opposite in every particular ; not only with regard to the religion of the school-room, but also the status of the teacher and the practical results observable in the regularity of attendance and profi- ciency of the pupils. On this head, a little enquiry will be sufficient to demonstrate that the adherents of the Church of Scotland, in Canada, entertain the well-known opinions of the former Chief Superintendent, the late Reverend Professor Murray, whose t-periencc, and unostenta- tious but practical common sense, amply qualified him to form not only a correct judgment respecting the character of the present experiment, 8 but also to predict the conflict which has since taken place and is still going on, and also the final disintegration which, we are about at no distant day, to witness. In this state of the public mind, with a large majority opposed to the School law, the Government will have to consider the law on its ntonl bearings, with reference no less to the sectional claims of the various religious bodies, than to the general interests of the whole of Canada, as a°united Province. It is not, therefore, to be expected hat, as hitherto, the Chief Superintendent will be entrusted with the drafting of a Bill, or that any measure will be tolerated in which the preamble ^s a deceptive representation of the insidious contents of the accom- panying clauses. ^ This practice has been repeated so often, as to have, Kst produced its natural fruit, a determination on the part of those who ha?e siiffered by it that the same shall not be again attempted. And noth^^Lw remain^s but for the Executive and Legislature t.grupple wi h the question on its practical issues: on the one hand, with he state Tvuhhc^omnion regarding it; on the other, with the competency of ?he system, as a means of carrying out the intention originally conceived, of aC^ral and efficient educational machinery, at f. eomparatively small cost Of these two divisions of the general question, the facts of Tfir'rL to be sought in the different media through which the public mind expresses its convictions; w.hether they be the comments of the newsDauer press, the proceedings of public meetings, the remonstrances Zrgfous^ oTrpora^^^ the discord of the local School sections, or ?he d^nified contempt shown to the Schools by the clergy, magistracy and influential classes, in never entering themselves, nor suffermg their children to cross their threshold. The facts of the second are tbe official reports of the Local and Chief Superintendents. A^ith the first of tTese t^wo classes of facts, the public i.md is sufficiently conversant With the second, it is not. For notwithstanding the general circulat on of official documentary evidence, the abstract of the accounts to which reference is chiefly and almost exclusively made, for public purposes, is so prepared as to make prominent what is of secondary importance, wMe'the^llaterial data whk are indispensably necessa^ to be k„own before a correct estimate of the actual condition of the Schools can be formed^re in a manner concealed. My object in takmg in hand on the present occasion, to canvass the working of the School nj^e^j;;^^^^^^ for the purpose of introducing opinionative suggestions ^^ot j^^st^ined by the returns supplied through the legitimately -PP^^"^"^ ^^^^^^ ,/, ^ net intend to travel out of the Government record, ^hat I propose is to deal with the official reports exclusively, and to sho^v ^om their own internal evidence, from their own numeral and financial tables, what the pX wit to kiow, and what may tend to assist, in some measure, the pr"ospective action of the Provincial Parliament, namely , ^'^e purpor, ot the local reports, with respect to the character of the teachers, the irregu- ••r 1^ I 1 9 «■(• - ^'< larity of attendance, and the defective amount and^iiaiitT^fWuction TZ7 Z^'lt'rr':"^ ^^^*' *" **^^ public,oLach'^.hUdafctei^^^^^^^^^ that of th^ f5 f ^"^nl*^" greatexpense of the apparatus, includin| that of the Education Office with its publishing machinery also of hf Normal School, the annual legislative ^ant and munic^pe7«nent^ stU this Itself would be a point of little importance, if the mSne could be made to work profitably, or even if its performance, Wver defective, could be supposed to supply grounds of hope forTuture improvement But when we come to examine the tenor of the locll reports, and hnd the universal complaint of bad teachers and irreguLr attendance; and, on looking to the table of expenses asPPrt./„?w • some localities the cost to Ihe public for eacT hiiron t^^^^^^^^ r' 'f ?:'\^\^i''-''' -^1^' ^»^J "^or^over, find that the Averafe Roll of the Local Sur-intendents, the only criterion by wMch to measure the work done with the cost incurred, has been dlsconthmed m the last annual report for 1855 ; and that this discontinuance has been occasioned in consequence of the discor.raging statements exhibited by the Average Rol; it must be admitted that th°e duty of setthig on fodt a rigid investigation to discover the causes and determine t extent of the exis ing irregularities, is one that cannot be longer delayed! In taking on myself the business of classifying the evidence of the S/^L^'''-'- '^ -^^ - ^^' -set thrdt quent unsatisfactory state of the schools are sources^f complahit becond, that, in 1855, similarly as in previous years, the Local Superintendents, despairing of all chance of improvement by the ordinary sThools^rt^ " ''' "^r^"^'^ ^^^^^^ ^^ ' h^^^ recofnmended fS schools, based on a compulsory assessment for the whole Province as the only remedy. ^mi^o, as Third, and with reference to this recommendation of the Local Superintendents, I shall show that where free schools based on comput sory assessments are established, the schools are in a worse coSn and the returns are more unsatisfactory than in those places where the schools are supported by other means. ^ ® Fourth, the gross expense of the common schools, includino- interest on building fund, loss on the sale of debentures and ^ther items! The yearly cost of maintaining the Normal School, the number of students trained, the number of certificates granted, with the number of teachers which so trained at the public cost, have abandoned the profession ' I'ltth, concluding remarks and suggestions on the general question. I have the honor to be, sir. &c- &.c- Toronto, 30th December, 1856. ^ ^KOTESTANT- No. II. Sir, — The object of this letter is to show the extent to which bad teachers and irregularity of attendance, and the consequent bad state of the schools are sources of complaint. As this cannot, however, be done without reference to the local reports, I am necessarily obliged to occupy a large space with the evidence of these local witnesses. I find the Chief Superintendent's annual general report contains 140 extracts from the 269 local reports for Canada West ; being little more than one half. Assuming that these extracts are selected impartially, it appears that the Local Superintendents are persons friendly to the present school system. For wherever their comments are made, in a general way, and with reference to their individual aspirations, they are eulogistic, it will be observed, of its main idea. It is not then to be supposed that they would say aught to its disparagement unless necessitated to do so by what had come under their immediate personal observation. It is when they condescend on the special facts that the truth becomes manifest. And, in this, theory and practice are, at once, seen to be at variance. With their aspirations, however, we have nothing to do. We look for the fruits of the school system in its practical results ; and consequently those portions of the reports are really valuable which relate to the immediate facts, and which state in figures what has been definitely ascertained, irrespective of individual opinions. The same reiiiark is applicable to the annual general report, the legitimate purpose of which is to exhibit, on the one hand, a clearly defined summary of the work accomplished, during the year ; and, on the other, the exact amount of expenses incurred. Notwithstanding that this summary should be exclusively of a practical nature, what should constitute its special merit is, in a measure, neglected or imper- fectly performed, through a propensity to indulge opinionative laudations on the capabilities of the school system. A ten years experiment, however, should supply, at least, some data by which to compare its achievements with its professions. And so, equally in the case of the general as of the local reports, in order to get at the facts, it is necessary -„ -,.•• 1 w,.riiuLt ucincc-ii unai IS purely tneoreiicai and whax nas a practical basis. Bearing this distinction in mind, it will be seen that I if>n |. «-■■•? %,%'■■' ! 11 orL'f ^''*^''^' I" *l!' ^^"«^i"g ^^t'-actS' such portions as relate to matters of fact, and which are sustained by the tabular returns. Here is the evidence of the Local Superintendents :— ® year;'hVvro\ til ct r^Ss^d'b; t eS^ '^vj^ LT?^'e!,''dfoSc°';^'^'"^«.^' ^"""« *»•« P-^'* ment would have desired. One very great drawback « progress of education in this old and long csttled township, I can only Bay, tnat although perhaps in a few sections, improvement may be seen, in ithers much apathy still prevails, i ha,ve on former occasions referred to some of the many and various causes which I find still a»o-n°r!t "!''' ^° ""l^'^ ^'^'f K'®*' "^"^ °f I'^P"''^'' education ; and it is scarcely necessary here, to LIppMv lu'° " '«°8i'^t°''^ •^'"',''- i '"''^'' to^ever, remark that the want of competent teacheri is IZlZIo T i °«'^. °^ *^°^® employed are lamentably deficient in those attainments so essential to success "—John U'atson, Esq., Jdolphustown, Lennox County. "cu"»i lo ntt,oi!ll° n® °^ """■ ^^^V'°°^ "^ beginning to pay a reasonable salary ; still the principal qualification with ^loflM/ ^TIV n '■^""neration required.-persons teaching for the smallest amount of wages being hllJfn •' i^f Government grant and the County assessment meet the charge, all is well, a good bargain is seeured."-l;j/,rai/« J. Dunham, Esq., Richmond, Lennox County. 4i,o »!l!!Lf-^ getting a few excellent teachers in some of our best paying schools; but generally speaking «n«n Toi '' ^'^Z ''°'! "^^y '^"''•"'ed teachers scarce. My reports will afford vou the best commentary If ?f.:r • .u P''°(°"°d attainments in our common schools ; the great majority of these are taught SLl* 11'^ '°°°^r-'" '^e year by females, some of whom unfortunately are incompetent pioneers in the desert of youthful ignorance and imperfection3."-/oAn £. Denton, Esq., Prince Edward County. .♦»♦„" ^"' T^''^ ^® ''^J°'.''° ^ ^^® prosperity of some, we are grieved that many others are in a lingering ^?xh> TnZ\TT^ r'^'if"^' children attend irregularly, a^d parents manifest little care about tl^ rssult. —John Johnston, Esq., Hungerford, Hastings County. . ''^° my visits to schools ii. this township, I find some sections characterized by an apathy and want «o!f h?- "')> , ^"""'u^^ r?''"'^ '° °°,' '^°^'°^ ^^^'^ children to sc hool. There are many that have not seen the inside of a school for two or three yeais."-i). G. Bowen, Esq., Marmora, Hastings County. ,,,„ J'Ji'^7 ^r *f° °^^°y ^'^^°°^ sections in this township in proportion to the population, hence the progress of education is very much retarded. Another evil is employing teachers at low salaries."— Edward Scarlett, Esq., Brighton, Northumberland County. f J- S v- tb ai low salaries. «'«.„„oP^.^'^'^"°^f?^°l°^ common scJool education is also greatly hindered in this township by the too frequent change of teachers."— S^«£ same, 1/amora. uouii, ujr luo luo HaldiZd P"^"^"^^ °^ education is also much impeded by changing teachers too often."— Jy the same, «,. i!„^ln*°?'® °^^^'^ township are emphatically a willing people in the great cause of education : they err, however, in one important point, i. e., changing the teacher too often."-£i/ the sane, Murray. «,«„fL't^?^ ^^%?^^^. ^'°drances which obstruct the working of our excellent school system we will K hPPn ^r- 1 ^ "/ '' ^ "''"'' °^ *'^'^"'' <" '^ >^ "^ig^'t to apply this sacred appellation to those who whn P«nn\ K • ^^ '^°7°?^ ^'f" without any motive but the £ s. d. and almost without education) wfio cannot be improved themselves, and are a stumbling block in the way of those who would improve. «««„=♦, » *• Closely connected with these gentry is another class of cheap teachers who never E n! f ^""^ * '"""l''"* "?■'''"'* ^^^ ^^'1 °f boarding from house to house, and who instead of studying IrnfnS w'"°l'-'P'fiP''*"°"'^'^u'J°'''-^'"'°S' "' probably corrupting the manners of the children aititrwto^ty"brcin';?fer.^.; ^pIT'' """^ '''''''''' ^'^^^^^■^^^ ^^^^^^^^^^ ^^^^^^^^ 5,„.omnM?.f "."^ 1^° ^^^^I^ ^^^^} '"^ ^^i^ township education does not advance, in consequence of employing scho7hSe HeThn ^ g^'^^.t^'^eber is generally inclined to look for high wages and a comfortablf tSee of four'scSfo^ Inl^i '^' f'T'\ " "'f '"^^ ^""^ ^^'' '"''^"^y ' '^^ ^^««l^is that we have only I^It^inJ ^ -Any loggerhead who takes a notion to teach, marches into Peterborough to be fmZvei^n^ot''?),^ '"''"''. ?^T'".'"°'^H°'^^^'^^ ^1«^^ certificate on condition that there wfll be an ^^h-JT- If, '^^P'^-a if^pf f X months. The six months pass without making the slightest difference in his attainments."-Da?ue/ Su/tivan, Esq., Douro, Peterborough County. allowed^h^^t'hf Pmfnil/nf P Z^^'f *? the improvement of our schools is the low standard of qualification t^Zl. «/*l-^ ^ " °^ ?"^^"' Instruction. At every meeting of the County Board there are a great anSous t let . ?Cn?'\""' fr^^'^ to .ccupy school roomsfif they can find trustees who are more tIIJ^J ^ -I ^''^^'^ ^'""' ^ ^°°^ °°^ ! "^"d that in the present case is not very difficult to do. iTtK^n? ^"^"''^ J' ^^"® '-''^ *" S'^'^' "''™^^'^ °f ^'^^se teachers employed in the townships ; and almost Z^n^A t ^f '^^P^'O"' '? every section there are a number of pupils who are able to teach those whom the fhrrhn„l'T!f f "*'^°"f 'I ^' their instructors. Such pupils, not being able to derive any benefit from Iw/lnr nTf .. ?. ^ fTv,'- ^? t^'s there is very great injustice, the children not only suff.r consider- So Ln»fif ?.^^ ^ ^o °l^*^';"' education, but parents and guardians are obliged to support a school of r^obene&ttoihem."— P.H.Clarke, M.D., Mariposa, Victoria County. "I have during the past year paid eighty five official visits to the schools, and delivered twenty-three lectures on education. With regard to progress in this township, I have found two great obstacles. The .first arising from the very irregular attendance of children, and the next from the continual chaneine of .teachers every year; this last practice is the more injurious, in consequence of the want of unifbrmity o-serv.^, ..y vtie present race of ieacLcra in their method of insiiuctiou: thus at each annual chanee pupils have to unlearn the method of their late, and acquire that of their new preceptor ; this difficulty C t t IS ;onrendance of so n>a„,v children '£'.^^7,1 PriZ^TAllZtlZTo^ for th/ir*regu,ara„d instructors. Let the quali./ of the teaching be changed and the sSo? wHl n„t li ''k°'*'^ ''*'" °'^ attractire, but the amount and nature of thi instruction communicated ?i fTn!« r»,„ T ^'f""' T^ Will prove more solid and valuablC'-TA. Reverend' jZ GrTS'aS 0^7.We'Si^^"'"'^ "There is a liberal disposition among the people to raise the salary of the tparhpr if iha„ ij « a one who could earn it."-rA« Reverend Thomas Williams, Gla>..forTmntwXc^^^^^ ^ °^^^ ^""^ "In these townships there is a lack of well qualified teachers. Hieher salaries wnnlrl h,^^ \^ "The average salaries of teachers are considerably hieher this vear than fnrmori=. v«.. -n that we have no Normal School teachers in this township.^ We hLrbeeiobli«rby^hieherwT^e/?n press persons into the service from other pursuits, who altaough well enS quSdCteachTnf st?n B:^o^^^^;?;:^x;i::i^:^^j:^^^ *^-«^ *^«^-'« trainedri^'KiJ months, and by the time that he and his scholars have become mutuXacquaimed and iS^rL?// ^ "It is a great drawback to the hindrances of education, that the Schools are eenerallv konJ nr«» fhTs sfafe^of m°a«P« ^Z"'' '"'''"^ °^ ^^'°? •" °P^^^''°° -^"""g '^' ^"'■■^^ tSve mofth th^eSonTf «Phn^ l!5 " ?' '? """y '=?'^'' °'''°» ^° t'^' «<="<='ty of tsachers, but in others, particularrv weak iSr/y. ' °' '^' great hindrance."i-./?rcAi6a/d 'c«rrt«, Esl'Soroulhf e!^ "The scarcity of qualified teachers, in this vicinity, is, I believe, the main cause whv tlm «<«j,«„i- tzyiA7:tr ''"* ' ""' '""' *'' ^"' ^^"•"-'''^ '^^"^'^"^ E2aTike;;^jd^%if,:,t " In the course of my visits to the several schools of this township. I have observed that somn c,f ti,- i^ri!fnL'^T°f' "'r^'' P'°^^*''y possessing a sufficient amount of lea ning, so far as le fers and fi/ures are concerned, for the particular section in which they are teaching, and holding a certificate from fh« trZW.^'^'^M''"' "'^'"^ ^'^. y^' ^^'^''"^ b«'°E i^lifi«d to teach tL younffdnow toSt 5o tram children in he way they should go, or even to set a proper example before roseThom thev a^a trying to instruct."-TOomas McColl, Esq., Dunwich, Elgin County. ^ "* »,anilT!'^„T*ff* °^ ^1°^ teachers is very severely felt in this township, and the greater part of the trustees find that there is at present an advance in teachers' salaries of from 20 to 25 per cent , yet thrnumbers applying for examination before the County Board, are not sufficient to supply the schoolf and ?he7are „«^nr?iT P"''''"'^" lamentably deficient in those attainments and qualities of character which we essential to success and usefulness."- TAe Rev. A. Campbell, Chatham, Harmck, ^c, Kent County «^J\^^^i °^ V^3 schools in this township have been vacant for nearly half the year. We have acme &y ' ''' ^"*^' '"'"'"P* ^^"""^^ progression.''-rAo.. Sutherland, Esq., Afo^e, I^S As the principal cause of complaint, in these extracts, is the scarcity of competent teachers and the profusion of bad ones, we naturally turn *". -^^Y"«i ^j^iiv^ui, aa liic iiiSLituiion responsiDie lor this state of things. The more so because the other defects and irregularities are 14 — ■ altogether imputed to this as their original cause. To the Normal School is assigned the duty of providing the 3,225 Common Schools in this section of the Province with teachers. To what extent and in what way it has performed the work are seen in the tal)ular returns. Of the 1,318 students, admitted in the nine years from 1847 to 1855 inclusive, and who received Normal School training, certificates of competency to teach were awarded to 855.* It is expected that the whole number of students so trained should have become teachers ; but more particularly the 855 who received certificates. They are, in a manner. Provincial property, being trained at an expense to the Provincial revenue and especially for a Provincial purpose. In Europe where the efficiency of the Common Schools is made to depend on tlie effjciency of the Normal Schools, guarantees are provided for the continuance of the teachers in the profession. Indeed the least reflection is suflicient to convince any one who may not even previously have given the subject much consider- ation, that without such guarantee, the Normal School, in place of being a feeder to the Common Schools, in supplying them with teachers, a most necessary and indispensable part of a Governm.ent School system, must itself become a sort of select school for the gratuitous education of young men and women who are destined to follow afterwards the general avocations of commercial and domestic life. That this is pre- cisely the character of our Provincial institution of that name will appear by a perusal of the following statistics, which show the number of teachers employed in each year between 1850 and 1855, with the number so employed who had been trained in the Normal School :— Number employed who Number of were trained in Teachers employed. Normal School. 1850 3476 201 |«51 3277 233 ]l^l 3388 267 1853 3539 3r,5 3854 3539 375 1855 3565 ^374 The returns do not state what portion of the 374 teachers employed in 1855 had received certificates or had only been trained ; so that we are at a loss for means to ascertain precisely a very important, indeed the most important item in the annual statistics of the Normal School. K *^ This number 855 is reported in table L as having received certificates, of which 430 were awarded by the Masters in the Normal School prior to 1853, and 425 since that date by the Chief Sunerintfndent It will be seen, however, by reference to page 299 cf the report f..r 1855, ihat the last number 425 in table L, IS not correct i as, of this aumber, 44 certificates had expired and 25 were repeiitions The Statement at page 299 referred to, appears to be given for the first time ; so that table L, in the reports of previous years, must have conveyed an erroneous impression ; and if. in the report for 1855, the reader hv tthir? ,>,T!oV? 'A"™^'^ accidentally on the statement at page 299, he would still be led to suppose H^nl f!! ^ho A,o J^fi^*"! '""°"'*I i '^«'''.'fi<='i,'<^l ''hich had been granted by the Chief Superintendent. How far the 430 certificates awarded previously by the Master:, may be equally incorrect does not appear. They may have all expired which is very probable ; but as there is nothing to indicate that this is the case, I have taken the numbers as thty are set down in the table. The safest course, however, under the circumstances m to cnnsiHpr tho Vrirmol Sc on! ~.nnn-;M- r_. .u- .«,o _.. ' . , M """«:j *"" ^..»:->.i j_'.» j "~,"~". "-," -s-^yw! .vcponoiLfttj lor lue uio wiiu arc rcporiea lo have neeu eyumned, admitted and trained. ».« «tou 15 ' ■ If we assume the 374 to include those who were simply trained as students, as well as those who held certificates, and compare this number with the whole number trained since the commencement of the institu- tion, the difference will show the number of desertions as follows : Whole number trained in Normal Scbool since its commencement lain The number so trained, employed as Teachers in 1865 !".!!!!!!'.!!! 374 The number of desertions ""944 Or, assuming that the 374 held Normal School certificates, the desertions would stand thus : — Whole number who received Normal School certificates since its commencement 855 ine number holding certificates employed as Teachers in 1855 374 The number of desertions ~^ Thus we see that of 1,318 Normal School students, 855 of whom had received certificates of competency to teach, and who, of course, went from that institution with the object ostensibly of becoming teachers, only 374 are reported as following the profession in 1855, the last year for which official returns have been made. So that the balance, 944 trained, or 481 holding certificates, had betaken themselves to other callings and other means of obtaining a livelihood. Yet the Chief Superintendent says, in his last annual report :— " The efficiency of the Normal School has, in every respect, been maintained, and in some respects, I think improved." And again, " The table shows attendance at the Normal School during the last year to be in advance of that of the preceding year." Are not these general remarks deceptive ? That the school register should present an attendance of 137 students in 1855 against 86 in the year previous, could be no cause of gratulation, since even 137 is a falling off" from the attendance of former years. For the register shows that 144 attended in 1852, and 161 in 1853. And, moreover, the attendance in 1854 was the smallest of any during the four years from 1852 to 1 855. These general remarks of the last annual report, therefore, do not present a faithful statement of what is exhibited by a careful examination of the tables. In place of assuming satisfaction with the tabular returns, the truth should have been told, that the attendance had decreased since 1853, and was at a lower figure in 1855 than it had been even in 1852; and that of 1318 students trained, or 855 qualified teachers, produced at the Normal School, only 374 were engaged in the profession of teaching in 1855 ; being also one less than the number employed in 1854, notwithstanding that 45 additional teachers had been produced during that year. This feature of the inefficiency of the Normal School to supply teachers for the Common Schools, is vouched for in the report of the Locd Superintendent for the County of Leeds, cited above. Mr. Washburn says : — " The young men who have attended from this part of the country, after ha -ing received the benefits of the school, have 18 left for the United States, or engaged in some business." How much evidence of a similar kind could not the other 268 Local Superinten- dents have produced 7 Now as Normal Schools are the mainspring or chief controlling power for the efficiency of government Schools, wherever such have been established, it necessarily follows that where the former are defective the latter must be so likewise. It is unreasonable therefore to think of bettering the condition of the Common Schools while the Normal School remains in its present state. The complaints made in 1855 are similar to those made in every year since the government school system was first introduced to Canada. Similar complaints in like manner constitute the burden of the reports of the Local Superintendents in the United States. And they will continue yearly to be made, in this Province, despite the changes or modifications which may in future be adopted in the machinery of the Normal School under the present system. On this head, I will express myself more fully, in the sequel. In the meantime I have partly shown, and will afterwards prove, that whatever excellencies the Normal School may possess under a properly organized school system, the present one is now, what it hitherto has been, and will continue to be, a gigantic imposture, profitable only to those immediately engaged in its management, but ruinous to our educational prospects and detrimental to the interests of the rising generation. I have the honor to be, Sir, &c., A PROTESTANT. Toronto, 5th January, 1857. V No. in. -V • . SiH,— My last letter contained the evidence of the Local Suni.r. .ntendents on the general character of the teachers employed in the Conamon Schools, the consequent irregularity of attendance on the nlrt of the schools generally. I also showed, from the statisL., ,>f tv,. Norma School, that, with the inefficient and "bnoLarslm of fW .nsutution no other results could have been ex" The Local' Supenntendents do not seem, however, to have apprehended the exten to which the desertions from the profession of teaching!" carr ed bv the teachers trained at the Normal School. They do not anneaJ to Lv« been cognizant of the fact, that of 1,318 students tmLTexpresslt to supply he Common Schools with teachers, of which numhprS« = reported to have received certificates of competrncy to teS onfv 374 were employed in 1855 M.. Washburn is tL onlj one who Soses that some corrective should be applied. He sav/ " I »m „f „ " • they should procure bail to tea^ra certafnTumber oTyeai^Ta re^onable compensation " That the main cause of the ineffidency and rregularities complained of should be so completely overlookXnav in a great measure, be imputed to the arrineement^nXH ,'„ f/' l^IZf°,V '\ genera/tabular returns Tr'the yeaWglral emn oved w„nM S''"'" ""jT/r «<> certificates, and the number aSly aSnlkCii •, '''^^'>'''f ?' one glance, the amount of the wor^ accomplished and Its existing fruits. As before remarked, the exnense pe^rm'ed Tut°lT".l"^ '"'^'"'='"5^ '^ ">« ""'' could be effic?e„"ly periormed. But, with the ascertained facts so very dispararintr it SierfrrnT^,*"^*; in a general abstract, such L that sugeSed ine outlay should also form a distinct itpm TaHo t oi,^ i j ^ ' «nrtained, at least, two addition:rroIumn'", olelor the^n ™ber7f teachers employed, and another for the number deserted, in each year- ^the NormllTchooi" T'^''''''' '" ™""^^-«°" -"" the wo S^ rt« .h,j * u J °°'' **" ""e snumeration of the counties from which the students had come, which latter seems a comparativeTuIless ^e«esof intelligence. True, the number of trained tfSrslmplS m each municipality, is given in Table E. But that is norScS 8 la Its importance required that it should appear prominently in the general abstract. For what is the use of the Normal School if it is to train yearly a certain number of students, who, in place of becoming teachers, betake themselves to other employments after being so trained. The only criterion of its efficiency or usel'ulness, therefore, is the number of trained teachers officiating in the Common Schools. Compared with this, no specific fact is more necessary to be stated. Only by such statenient can be seen the fruits which the system has borne, as well as what it is capable of producing. It ought consequently, as I have said, to have formed a separate hoad in the general abstract, in place of being consigned exclusively to an obscure column in a table of details. That the extent of the desertions has not been perceived may, thus, be accounted for ; and the Local Superintendents may be exonerated from a charge of having overlooked the principal fact, indeed the fact by which the Normal School and the school system are to be judged. This oversight has led them, however, in many instances, to recommend a measure which present experience, sustained by official data, proves would be attended with positive and certain failure. The recommend- ation is a compulsory assessment for the whole Province. In view of the existing defective condition of the schools, the machinery is seen to be at fault somewhere, and, in order to supply the deficiencies, in short, to make the system complete, it is assumed that this compulsory assessment would accomplish the object. That there may be no mistake about the spirit in which this recommendation is made, and the extent to which it is ascertained, I think it necessary to adduce the following quotations, as testimony, from the Local Superintendents : "Our common school system will not have attained perfection, until the property tax b« the only mode of sustaining its operations, and coercive measures be added to secure universal attendance. These provisions, with competent teachers, cannot fail in giving character to our educational effort*: which otherwise can scarcely be attained.— IF/n. L. Eraser, Esq., Charlottenburgh, Glangarry County. " But much yet remains to be done, and until such time as our legislators will devise ways and means to put an end to the excitement and disquietude occasioned by diversity of opinion, respectinjr the mode of supporting the schools, and establish a universal system of taxation for all school puroose^ no regular progress can be expected."— Wm.itfcErfwarrfs, £sg.,Z;ances« «nd other well-wishers to the advancement of education w, I,? i '° «'^!.^'l*'8''^'«^^^ to yourself prM«nt system la intended to extend instruct on to alT the «oTiniV°"' """^ ^^*''' '''*^°" "«rit/ If the the Zo^r s^Lt^nXf Li;!;: Xfirs'r^r °' assessments; amouiitino- in irntli f n u ? '^?^ '^^^^o^s and compulsory A.- „« *u • ""'""J*""o» 1" truth, to a candid acknowlederi^nt tKaf «1 lar as their experience ha«i pnnKiori tv,..^ * • , """'/*^"5'''-"t inat so present school system wffL! 1 .[ "" *? J^^ge, they consider the comes the intimation thaVe reSvIs ^ot 1 >?/'''??'' '"'^ or so little understood. How fei fh" t°«» ? vf" *^' ""^W^hended occasioned by the wav i^ Ji.? wu ""^i^PPfehenmon may have been pared and exh^bi^ed, rsT/e"gitta ^ubJeTofi^i"' ClZT P"" own a,alys,s of the tabular feturns. sucl^ defic en ele TJf necessary inf7 mmher of free schools, &c., contained in table A of the repor?Z 1854 IB found ^n table C of the reoort fnr iS'i^ Ti,«« +1; ^®P0" lor 1S54, .■^'fL ,IiT„*!f.'i" ?»-"«*'!''' -y Local Supe'ri'ntetea^ ft««»,dthe-«..e-;irni;SsTw',:rr^^^^ namely, the average attendance, in 1855, is not given. And what is given, the number of free schools, is of no value without a statement of the average attendance. So that notwithstanding the vast importance imputed to free schools, and the spacp occupied in every annual report, during the last ten years, to extol their merits, no means have ever been furnished by which to get at the facts ; no returns are available by which to measure their comparative claims. What is known concern- ing them has to be got from the January reports of the retiring Boards of School Trustees, published in the local newspapers. Thus, while opinionative remarks, laudatory of free schools, have been set forth in every annual report, the ascertainable and reliable facts, capable of falsifying such opinionative remarks have been either negligently with- held or studiously suppressed. It is no wonder, then, that with ample available evidence to stamp the free schools, as the most inefficient and the most thriftless in the Province, so many Local Superintendents should still be found recommending their adoption. As the remedy proposed is the only one which, as a last resort, the friends of the present school system are desirous to see tried ; and since they assume that it would be an effective panacea for all the existing defects of the system, an examination o: *,he state of the free schools, in localities where they have been long enough in operation and have had the most favorable opportunities for their development, will serve to show how delusive is the notion that their general enforcement would remedy the present condition of the Common Schools and redeem the character of the school system. I shall begin with Toronto, for various reasons. First, because it was among the earliest to try the experiment. Second, because those who presumed to understand the free system pest and were its most enthusiastic advocates, were the active spirits in organizing, and managing the Toronto City Free Schools, from their commencement, in 1848, to the present time, a space of 8 years. Third, because the most lavish expenditure has been submitted to, on their account, far exceeding that of any other place. Fourth, because the acting Local Superintendent, G. A. Barber, Esq., who has filled the office for several years, was, from the first, by his experience and busi- ness habits, most competent to perform its duties ; and by unremitted effiarto, ;: .lio'.i lectures, school visits and personal superintendence, is know-\ to hi' ve neglected no opportunity and to have refused no sug- gestion vviiich could contribute in any measure to their success. Fifth, because being in the vicinity of the Normal School, the best opportu- nities have been afforded of procuring teachers. And, in the last place, because here, in a particular manner, the greatest exertions have been made, on public occasions, through the press and the machinery con- nected with the Education Office, to make the free schools of Toronto an example to be followed in other parts of Canada. These are strong reasons, why Toronto is tiie best place to take, for the purpose of test' N I i i I ( c i B ol fl 21 I:iLtt„r"'"" '''' '"^^^ ^^'"^ ^^^^^^''^ -PP-*-^ by compulsory m the City, is 8,884. And, by Mr. Barber's report for 1855 th« t^:T^"''"fT' ^" "^^ '}"' '''y free schools was f,570. f he Lson attendance and the number which ought to attend, the answer mav be sC'/hm '^ ' but the fact is officially recorded that in a populS of 8,884 children of school age, only 1.570 is the average daily attendance ?^5?S'childVn f'?1 «^,rP«P'^'"^^^'«^'^ ''' *b« '-'^ iLtructiop of Il1\ Tl aJ io'^ ^^^ ^^"'•^'^ ^^^"^ Table A of the annual general report of the Chief Superintendent for the year 1855, as follows.?! Paid Teacher»' Salaries do For Maps and Apparafui... £2347 13 5 do '"Rente and repair. ofHcbooiVouMa;::;:::;;;;:::::;:; }?5,s 5 do For Scbool Books, Sutionery, Fuel, and other eipenwi. . ! ! . . . .:;::: .' 3^] ' ] J '*'aihoo.*H°"°*' '^^ '"**""' ** « P« «•«". 0" ^15."1 13J 4d, th«ooit of^^'*^ ** ^'^ School Houses and Lou, MsUted in Mr. Barber's report '..!::.... f46 6 rr^rJ^^ Tu *^r';^ ^ ^^"y attendance of 1,570 children in the Free Common Schools of Toronto is £4 10s. 4d. per head, for the year 1855 • These are the figures. Now let us see what Mr. Barber says, con- cerning the actual condition of the schools : ^ " ''•"' "°°'-'Jf ; " to ^'"its to the school, on the part of pa ents and the public, do not exhibit a rerr -eouraglng result. .... It is to be deeply regretted that the communitr ir^^nerlrbnt Jl •spec. „ the wealth, and influential, have not manifested a wanner interest in'the pfogre" 'o popn ar education, inasmupb.as the absence of such a feeilng in favor of the CUy Schools operLs as lZ"t t'TT""^ to.their usefulness. Neither can it be said that the parent, of the children, wh6 rIceireTh. benefit of a free education, at the cit, school, take an.tbinglike the interest .bey ongh t drin. ul n. Iftl" 71/ T ''"' r ° "'^""^ •'"' ^^^PP'"*'^ ^•'~'^«'' ^»"' moral and intellectual train. Ing of the.r children. The want of regularity is a constant source of vexation to their teachers. Sow can a child be expected to learn anything tLoroughly who attends school by lit. and starts, present perhaps two or three days in succession, and then absent for Mveral days afterwards? And the want of punctuality in attendance is another serious drawback and great evil, for which parents are entirely to Now, notwithstanding, that the other illustrations which I mean to give of the working of free schools in other localities are much to the same purport, still it is worthy of remark that the results of the experi- ment m Toronto are comparatively of greater value, in a statistical point ot view, than those of all the other places combined ; for the very obvious reason, that this is the stronghold of the persons mo«l compe- tent to carry free schools into operation, and who have proved them- seives the most enthusiastic and unscrupulous in the employment of (sarDlt.te'; wi«n^h«°K'^*'' K- ^!™J°8'>'»°i. in juatifvinp this mode of computation, re^ ^a : "Just as the S« fn^ii? » K^T ^" '">ber pays an equaf prfce for that portion which he cuts away into umiIm •^*P»,»?/?' »•>»'. which remains in his finished work ; so that the cost of his roof or L fl *- !. -."IIT fcStion."™^'^ °^ "** **"'""'' " '^""^ ***•""' ^'""*'' ""* ''' "*• ^^^^^ quimtlty"r^,iirid"ia'iti 22 means to secure for them a favorable report. And any unbiassed excminer of the records of our city free schools, for the period of eight years, during which time they have developed all their good and bad capabilities, will necessarily conclude that, with the care evinced, the money expended, the use of every congenial instrumentality, and the favorable circumstances surrounding and pampering them throughout, and their now recorded failure, it is not possible that free schools can succeed anywhere else. In Toront. ; they have failed. They are past redemption. This fact, the greate: t fact in the history of Canadian free sci^ools, must be borne in mind. The second example is th?t of the County of Huron. John Nairn, Esq., the Local Superintendent has been very explicit in reporting^ numerically, the school population, the average attendance, and also the comparative attendance in the free and rate bill schools of the county. Mr. Nairn says : — " The children of school age numbered 7,471-while the number of those on the school registers, or who wre entered as scholars, in the whole county, was only 5,172-thu3 showing that last year there were 2,899 children in the county, that receired no education in the national schools. But, althouKh this result is to be deplored, yet still if there was a certainty that five thousand children, a. entered in oar regiiters, were getting a proper education, it would tend to diminish our regrets. Such however to not the case, for, although entered as scholars, the attendance of many is only for a few days from which, of course, no benefit can be obtained. This is placed beyond doubt, by the admirable regulations «■ to .Tcrage attendance. As attested by the trustees, the average attendance of the whole schools of the county, was last year 1,801, which gives an average of 25 to each of our 71 schools-a sad evidence of indiffcrenoeand carelessness on the part of many parents and guardians. But perhaps it may be said we would have a different result if all our schools were free, and if no rates were exacted. Now withi out here expressing asy opinion as to the merits of these two modes of supporting schools, it is certain that Ux this, the rate paying schools, in 1855, produced a larger amount of attendants than the free STl; « /' ^"^ u ,*^ ^'*' '°^°°^' ^""^ ^^ "''*" f^y'°^' ^""^ ^y ^^^^S the first 25 rate schools-and ^LTJL Z !T a r '°*"'^ '° ^°^ T^°°' ^°°^-^ ^""^ '^' ^°S^«8**« attendance for the rate schools to be 164,753, and the aggregate attendance for the free schools to be 114,116, giving in favor of the ratepaying, a difference of 50,607" ' >s s uxavoroi The annual general report, for 1855, is no farther available, for such mformation as that furnished by Mr. Barber and Mr. Nairn : and on account of the Table of the average daily attendance having been discontinued, no approach can be made towards a comparison of the free and rate bill schools in other places. It becomes necessary, there. fore, in order to get at the required facts, to go back to 1854, and take the annual general report for that year. But for the reason already jtated, that the Table does not define the diflference between schools fr«e and partly free, and in most places these two classes of schools, together with those supported by rate bill exist, simultaneously, along side of eaeh other m the same school sections, I am precluded from making use of the mass of examples which otherwise would have been ftVMlable. I am, therefore, limited, for my illustrations, to those places which are niarked jn^ the Table as having all their schools free. Of wiwoc i givv, iiufu, aii mat are contained in the annual general report for 23 S "Sclroir"'"" ' '""•"'^^ "" P'"-^ ->•-•• have C.tholic FRBB SCHOOtS. Hamilton. London. . , Simcoe. . . Berlin. . . . Paris Preston... Stratford. , Trenton.., Windsor. . Yorkville. , Children of School Age. 4326.... 3000.... 600 241.... • •• • • 613. • • • .... 320 •••. 409 • • • • 335 .... 246 .... 340 Registered Attendance. 2290.... ....mi.... • ■ • • o27a 226. ... 698. ... 239, ... 260. ... 308. ... 126., ... 164.. Dally AttendanM. ■ •> STs ......... OmO 146 160 266 • ■* 171 * • ••*•..« 121 • .* 138 4? 10» 10330 6115 2654 As a contrast to the above I shall now give examnlp^ frnrv. «n .i. places having exclusively rate bill ^rhnnuJ.JA-^ ^^^ ^" *^« report, for tL same yL 854 ^te^ a^^^^^^^ separate Catholic schools ; as follows : ^^^'^^ ^*^^"« RATB BILL SCHOOLS. Children of School Age. ^yto^n 2400 2°^°^r^S 961 PortHope 937 ot. tdtnarines 1323 ^"•"8... : 400::;;; Woodstock 661.. Bowmanville * " 507 5'^arnpton ". 212.'.'.'.'. ^^!e<^o°ia 2G2 ^^'PPewa 342 J'*''---- 609 Ingersoll 442. Oshawa .' 310.'. St. Thomas " 393 Smith's Falls 270.'.*.'." Registered Attendance. Average Daily Attendance. ..887. ..461., ..386., ..509.. ..247.. ..554.. .332.. .100.. .130.. ..142.. .684.. .305.. .172.. .217.. .164.. ,..635 ...289 ..192 ..465 ..111 ..284 ..122 .. 61 .. 84 ..104 ..273 ..127 ..137 ..145 .113 10,079 This comparison of these two classes of schools th^ fi.»f <- *i. second rate bill, exhibits the largest averaJe a^tnJp'nn *^ ^7®' *^® rect criterion, to lie on the side of^he rIL b^u' S ""'- more impartial test can be applied than L nnp rT u ^^^1^^ °°' For I have taken, in the on'e^lass,al^Ie peaces s'at'ed in^h.'^'^^^' having none but free schools ; and, in the o/bp? «n .[ u ^? ''^^''^> but what are supported bv v.t. hm' *^' °*^''' ^" ^*^««« ^^"^'^S none ipported by rate bill. tafvesrrrLott'bfe oS^^^^^^ t '""l ^"^^ Superintendents data, that the last St o-- thp S « '¥"•« ''f *!>« only admissible of the LocarS„;lSnd . t^a^^^'reTtSt''?.' 1 ^" T"^ panacea, is fallacious and deceptive ^ ^"^ *® ^^^ «"=''"<'' The extent and mischief of the delusion, can only, however, be 24 exactly measured and distinctly perceived by comparison of the exor- bitant assessments for free schools, and the small expense of those main- tained by rate bill. By such further comparison, the climax of the mischief becomes, at once, apparent. The case of Toronto may suffice for this purpose. I intended, under the treatment of free schools, to dispose of the collateral assumptions concerning compulsory attendance ; but the space already occupied, with the foregoing quotations and remarks, precludes the consideration of this branch of the subject, at this time. But in my next I shall state the reasons why compulsory attendance would be impracticable in Canada; and thereafter, and in the same communication, I shall give the figures showing the gross expense of maintaining the Normal School ; and the cost to the country of the 374 trained teachers employed in 1855. I have the honor to be, Sir, &c., A PROTESTANT. Toronto, 13th January, 1857. ■>li!t exor- main- )f the luffice )f the space jludes inmy lid be :ation, ig the ichers IXo. IV. .eoueteTflt;uirraresL:rht^:j''T''' '"^ " "~y of discussion ; and in connec,To„ thh £^ ^'"T-'' S^"'"''" «''«'"« the Province is likely to force i?selfo,^ it T"""} J»"«P™dence of The progress of crime amonV the jm *?» ? "/ l**" <^°™"»"ent. cities, towns, and villages, afdinutllitvnf^f.''' °/ *' POP^'^""" of common schools, as a preventive ». »ff "^ he free schools or the spun theories and visioCry colc^ntionf'i, "''1^ f "'l™^^'" ^" 'he fine report for 1850, was, in aJ^fn.T ^^ "^^'"^^ ^e annual General now going to blame Lord EfrinantDrT"'''' '''^«"f' *ed. I L ^ between them at that time S,^ h" v^rtue^oflT't'' *•"' """P''' ^°™ed cunningly devised, the mo t specious 1 it/lt'" f "'' ""''' *'><' '""^t the same time the most selfisff a"d ejll I?'"'"'' pretensions, but at of the whole Province. The fenacZ 1. ' T^i T""^ "^er the face this copartnership, which has ,ot v^ft^ P""'"^'^ *''™"«'' ^nd during for the purpose, L fu le p ate^ of ™ b ''SS'' ^^"^""^ «™P'»yed tional proportions, and the iuflaterli»? •''*''''''' Herculean educa^ education, eV. fr„«rf, f«, ?S«n4 £„?""' '"""'erning ««W.«; record But, in contrast vvhh*^"heories wb "'' "''' '*" *'''"g^ "P"" through experience at the fi^uits of ,,'ft ''''" T f ■"" ""^ '« 'ook, complaint of the Judges on the Beneh H.?t n*""''', ™' ""''' °" *»■« of accomplishing theh- nrofr.tdT^' I' '^* ''*'"<' '''='"'"''' have failed are swarming wifh juve^ if crTminlfrth^l, '"** ""^ ^/"^^ «'"' '°™ threshold of one of these free "cCn .' 7^ 7? "7'' ^<'<'" «''«>". the will be to blame, and that the presentVdn "'''"■'''''' *" Government with a neglect of the exercise of one ^f?^"""'!*!"" ^"" ''e chargeable .t permit the imposture to b^ lot/er conthuieT ""P"'""' ^™^""'"' '^ to form^ n:^^:f7:,r^^:LV'^%T'^^^ory attendance wa. educate all. Oh nr.. ,,f/^™"6 ot the School system which wa^ m The magnates who'a"d ^tedlhe'pr oTI.'^T^'""'" "'^^ ^^P"^ " not perceive that this was on'v one LTT'"""^ assessment, could system, consisting of two parts.'^H^^. Tit-' '""P'"'^ compulsory wuum not be separated Th»„;".;Vj ■'!.'"' ™'"'eas"ii and equity. *-d, by wUcK eomp„,sJr%::- r e^^dtVL*:^ iTS 4 26 the 2l:ZT:fV::;;Tt^l^^^^^^ ^nU...U^esi,. strongest inducenents for children, by the terrorVlglliairatf^^^^^^^^^ '^"^- ^^ -"Pe^ ^he education of the promoting universal education '•.. Wh hereflTr"' T'!' "^ ''"^ °' ^'^^ ^"^ '"«'^°<^ ^^ to .ach parent to keep his children from ihJ^ZTlt ' '^'."^T'^^y ^^'« ^'^ P" P"!''' '« a temptation parent with a correspond ngLduceZt to 1h'/'' IZ "'°°^ "■'*' "P°" P-'^P^^'y ''---'^- ^^ch providedfortheeducationof acrchTdnaSrhool^ * * ' The facilities thua parent without excuse for the ^:!^:^ l^ ^;r:L:;^^'^ Z:'''^ ''"^''-T' "°"""^^^ scorn pointed at him, will soon dfovp mnr-Tn^l r , *u ^" °^ universal reproof and individual right, will morali; comperLT c ne^i wth hltr^ c''^"';"' ' "''°"' ^°^^'"^"^^ ^^ to school." ' ^°°°«^°i W"n higher considerations, to send his children %R^'7i T I, ^"''''^vdh saia 111 18.5U. What does Dr. Rverson sav in people should proceed a sterfarXer and 1 not l" ^'^ !'"" •''"''""• ^"' ''' ''''' °' '"''''''' child, but that each child sLuTd re'ceVe Tn'Sl^^ that provision is made for the instruction of each • • • Thisisapowerwrwhichthes-tT^^^^^ invested-a power with which I p opoS to LSuht h '7'f T^'^^'P^''"- "^ the laad, should be to Government two years ago." ^ ''' ^'^''^ ^^ ^ '^'"^^ "^ ^"1 ^° i* .^'^^^/' person's surrender now of since the polTce ?o^rce fs to be n^ W '" f ^^"^''^"? *^^* ^^^^ ^^^^ ^'^i^^d, them ; and that the nrefp,lS """ ^^^compel the children to attend since 'the cSen o? rfs^^^^^ ^* the system is a humbug, children of the Tar Iron f nil P^^^'L ^" *^^ «"^ ^and, and the pale of its influen ^e^ Is not thi^. ^\f^''' ''' ^^^^"^ ^^^^^^ the which to find our^elVes ^1^^^^^^^^ pretences ! ''"^'^^^^^ ^" 1^57, after ten years of bombast and false Turning to Judge Hagarty's charge to the ^r«nr? i,,.. o, .i,. ^,,^^ - 27 ing of the present assizes at Toronto on ihf^fith ^I'+i. society It is not to be presumed that thfsJud'e H„l?., - 'T °^ Jual opinion Enough has been elicited o ndicateTha^ tf/VlM ' '"i Magistracy have had this view forced on thoi,';,. I- ^^ ■'"'•gesand increase of the criminal calendar Ad .h»- f te"""" by the gradual is that, in the present case J, rW wil *''«,"«'*' .''easonable supposition he kniws is LI. era minis nf f^ ^n'"^'""?'^ '"'"""ated what «uth the crim!„:,^rpljir„f t V^rrvtr' "co'mt: f """^\' S reS^a ^Z^- ^^ofif ^"^ ^^^^^^^^^ compulsory as^essmeu il the edu a ioT^rth^^'da?' ""''" f' '"' ^'* what becomes of Dr. Ryerson's Weas To.ft .!.» ''^"S"™"^ J=lass only, state and the subordinat^er ght o theCrent" ZT'"''-'^'''^ "/ 'i*"' whole fai;rirt.„bi:'loTh:Vot?Xedte the f ''t' f""" *^ fa ««d, that it would be m inter v!Z^l,7 , . °' *' '"'™ ""^l"' «»d asmsin. It law. Every citizen ha^ tn «„rn»r,^o . • regulated city all nuisances are removable bv Families of neglected childran grow fun n id 1^^^^^^^^ ^"^"^ °?--°- ^° --icipal laws, indecency, ' whoae mouth iq fnTl „7; 'dlejiessand ignorance, shocking the ear with o«th, and at the invitation Tt ' "e p n Lter^tJe . ?f ' '°' "'°" '"^ ^^^ ^"^^' '° ^^^<^ ^'°<' -°ffi"« peril to a community than t:^!^ tZ::^^:^::^^" ''' ' '^ ^^ ^^"^ ^^^ ^^ And again, on their specific office as an arm of the police : has to contribute, on the principle thltiLTuLf n TV l ''"^^''° '° '^'''- ^" '"^^^''^'l^ P^°P«rty education, and the bumaniz n/effects olT fr " '?' '^' '""'^'^ ^"^ '''' advancement oJ general of life and fortune. fZ 3 Sed men wZ ? f ' '''^''r' ^^« '=°°^«<5-'^* '""^ased security asabove. • • * It ilnZiZt .^ \ I ^^ "!' ^ streets are infested by n mCoT, ,dr L^ Z^^^^^ "'' ''T'' ^'^*' '^^'^ ^""' ^°°1 ^°-« the that we shudder to hear pro dfuff^^omTnT^v?.' Ty" '°J "*'' '^ ''' '"'"^'^'^ ^'^^^P'^'^'^y «°d filth happen in the highway, or a fire "Ls pTa e the ctw. T '* '' T^ '°"^ °' ^'^'^ '^^^' ^^ '^ ^<=<^i^«-t who should proLrly be atZTT'^-^'''^''''^^^''^^^^^^^^^ Toronto, who dTnot'des re o L Z-^^ . '" .^^°^*' '^^ ^'^^ ^^^^' '"-^^ ^f the Ratepayers of 28 reduced to a very intelligible state. ProDe ty T. com 1, el ' ^ .''""'"''' '''' '^^S"'"^°' «PP«"^ th.s bicssing-the only class of people that pro Zsaet^ - °''"' ''' "''^°' '' ''"J '^'"« to accept, and exercises its right of rejecting ' 1 e^blnrtU '!'"'''' " ''"'""'^' " "°' ^"-P^"^'! co-extensive with the legal obligations <.«.L Lid be th! \ T '"■ ^"^ P''^'" Proposition that, With some enactment of this nLro ra nil!.? r ,? ^"' °^^^^^^^ » . . .' Keformatorylnstitutiouforyoung imnaTs whch'el "' '''" "^^"°' ^'^'"^-°>' ^"^ - «-tabIe ;-;.e^ehool system mig^t ^e .adriS^^--^:^- ^^^^^ IndlryZVnltn.^^^^^^^^^ ^" ^T^^*^"^ ^'^^'^ ^^ House of dangerous class fs a wise^S^^^^^^^^^^^^ o^ the for a moment object. But here rnm^« ,..„ i? P'^°P'="y-''ol '? """P' attendance at quences? First, the vap^tdnlL^ IkedifT r", ''"'" '^^ ^<"'«^- been placed under a clasf of sec- lar » ,r i • • "'■'' *"'<'''*' """W ''^ve they could have no respect a^^whnl'f";^ mstrnctors for whom stai^e of coercion, theTcould relrd in nn'^'l, r' w f '™'''"" "'■""»- class of criminal ofBcers Se3 Vhl other light than a subordinate were to be filled wUh t"; younrva™trr::,?o7tV''1 *'" '^*°"'-^ have driven away a groat numblr of labn^'ef-^™ 1 , "" '"''"'*'' ■'™"''' who at present inake „p the school nnnnl,, "'"' "'"desmens' children of these conseqnences'n ust nece saX h^v""l "" "V"""'' '"• ^°'^' proof that the tree school" as thev 3 ! "'" ''''''''"«' ' '^ ^^k"'- ^standing that they s^ve^timLlTy^ , ? tS"ofTl'r'!;/""™""- who are able hut are tooinonn fn ,.v,t. v Y'^^^*-^^^ 0/ a cla.s.s of persons would be ill adapted o the ul'^S^ft'w^^^ ^^"^^^-"' schools are specially designS?^ "^'"^^'^ ^^'^'^^'^^ '^^^'^ ^^'^'^ With reference to his draft of a bill rii. i? to their individual parents he s„ ^oLi^ff 1°'!^;?' " "f "'"S mstnctioii." He could not hive ,-,,(„, i i.?;?, *'' *'"^"' '^ebgioui sory. attendance shrwT/e^lL^i^" ^t^tlVX:'-;?'' rrf"'- inadequacy of the fee vsteml/i^^^^^^^ *,'"^' '™-'"''<' of the of the Local Super inte.iit h li?fl" f'''.''^ "'" S'^"''''"' ™mp!aints law to do what )^<^::^:i^ ::^t^':zx ^^ T" 29 .end h,., children to these Lee schools B,,^ 'he pupils, he declines follow that his children shall go unednc^t. I "';"»«« ""' necessarily h.s means and drcumstances^ wTll nennT/ ' h' "* ""' "« P""lently, as few at a time to a private school TfT ' '"' """'^ alternately, a «p.rit of independence foTihctt^Ition Z" "'"'■''=^' PT "^"^ a home, sees that they revise their ^tl-^ ""^ receive, anci, when at be forgotten. This 7s tV.ll'""' '"'""'' "» that they may „ot ordinary circnmstance Now frc°yVo:r«'''°P'^'' ^^ P^S in having become law ; such I nS „? r > ^^^''T'^ draft of a bill constrained to «end his six children to a orivr t't'^"^ ^™"''' ^e his circumstances and means conld ,,„? I ^ f" ^''^°°^' a thing which compelled to send them to ?l e frel Jchoor'Tl^ ''^'"'\''' ^' -»»W be a ternative. Tlie .feelings -.f the parent wo„M,"'' T"''' ''"^ ''^'^" "o either his means would have been crinnlL 1 ^*''\';f?" outraged, and been undergoing a course of7ree scholf i^ *"' r'""''™ «""''<• have rth :"f':J"^'^ ''™"-' ""he d after of "the bnn'"^^'i™- • ^« "^at rights of the parent, the comfort of tl,.\i /■ . ^^at sign lied the tion of yicious habite by the ch if* ''"''' j "'''='«• ''■"' 'be incep! Stete, the education of^Al'! an the 'filCrrAlT'*'' *''^ "^^ts of th^e pi7rte-^\V£r4fr:H«^^^ by vagrancy, mendicancy or nettv il'f^ ^^'° ""'^ already subjecting thlm.Z^.of ^*"g«''0"S classes ' or such misdemeanor ^Ve^.i^^H^^^' °^ *^^ ^^ = ^^ ^^°- wh'oTatrn^o^^SrS-. iadusltTer.rh°oo'.r;i?hn""^^T^^-^^--.^ ^or^hefirst freed . " The l«„;or * ' ^ compulsory attendance : for the thirH J, ^,''*? ^°^°°^^ ■ ^or the second schools suhmenlL'nft"^'"*^ "^«<^«d- no means to pay for educadon or whni'""f'J' ''»"■■' "'•'° have uneonsciousnes's of moral Zomib^mv^'^ '^T'H "''■•'^'""stances and a>,d protection. As statedT;*^ ' ''^^ny to "' ^^^'''' "^''''"'y the education of the dangerous cla f o,dy* ^'l,"^ f'^ " ""^'•''•'ted in be;„stly assessed for the education of ay 'otl, ^'■^^^''-e P-'opcrty cannot being able to pay for their oweducSi'^vfr' "" """^^ '=^'"'<" mg, It IS eyident, that free schook i! , ?, *'"' P''"'^''*'' of reason- dangerous class, is an „frin.eme„ 01 the wl^ fq'"^ements of the necessary corollary, that tlfe frc" schn^ ""''/' °^ P™?*^'''^ ""<'' "« a Canada, is unjust and a tvrann,',.!^ system, as it now exists in the reasonable inference YsZth.""l"''P1".™- "'"' '^" '«g»l vie" free schools, farther tha„ thy may beT''"'' ^'" ''^^ to^disallow •n cities, as auxiliaries to the Le™i^on nf f'"^' 'ru" "™"*<' ««^nt, which Judge Hasarty has emhin„,f,i °f.'=".™- ^ he clearness with are admissible, Snd tl e noin TIhh' ^T'l^'l"" *'''='> fr<=« ^^hools becomes a violation otheStMeT,,''^ "T """'"""■ »^'^»^i«n bght^o dispel all doubt whe;f th'mtl.r ^1^!; Hay'e^S '" ^ eommtic3s"°of tlf/r S t "T^ '—^Tnty^four general reports of the C iefSuperintnden. n'i ?'"'!i °'" "'^ """"^' reader and to lead to the behef tha lh„ f h i '"'^'' '° ""P'''=^^ the teachers are efficient, and the Norma S^ho^^ "'? .P'-<'^P'^'-°"«. the with an excellent staff of teacher? On^h 'I'^PP'^'-g the country plaints of the Local Super mendems di J.^rf V"" "T^''^^ «°™- and assertions of the said annuar^enl , ^ falsifying the statements pulsory assessment law, a.ra , ml^dy .iT'''' ^l-^ <:«» f" a com- cond tionofthefree^ichAnt .J u ^ ' ,"' eomparative y, inferior and, finally, the a ar„ it t els'e ?nT"'' T' "'/'"' '^°™a' ^^hoo? the contra's. presented "ull'brrfo:" 'J!! rJ^^'l'L^f.J-^-'^ c^inals ;' facta oeing the opposite of what the ^^^^ :^C ZX;"!:^ 3d led to hclievo by the published atatomenta and official reports of the Chief Superititondcnt, the time lias arrived when the school system should be brought to account, should he made the subject of rigid parliamentary investigation, and should be dealt with in accordance with the disparity between its written pretensions and practical demerits. In my second letter, which contained a statement of the number of Normal school trained teachers employcd'in 1H55, compared with the whole number so employed in that year, the startling disclosure was made that 1,318 who had been so trained, 855 of whom are reported to have received certificates of competency to teach, only 374 were following the profession ; and that consequently 944 trained, or 481 holding certificates, had deserted and betaken themselves to other employments. These desertions being a serious affair, both in a pecu- niary point of view and in their effect on the condition of the schools, it is proper that the extent of the mischief should be exactly measured, so that it may be sufficiently understood. Taking the 374 teachers employed, in 1855, as the produce of something more than eight years' labor, their cost to the Province may be acertained by the expenditure during these years. By the official returns, the following is the amount : — EXPENSE OF THE NOEMAL SCHOOL. 1847. Government grant. , ^£1,500 1848. Do do l,.'500 1849. Do do... l,.500 1850. Do do 2,500 1851. Do do 2,500 1852. Do do 2,.500 1853. Do do 3,050 1854. Do do 3,050 1865. Do do 3,050 i:21,150 Four years' interest on j£25,000, the cost of ground and building, at 6 per cent. C,000 £27,150 This sum, £27,150, divided by 374, the number of teachers, ma' es the cost of each, to the Provincial revenue, £72 lis. lOd. This, b , it observed, does not include the annual grant of £500 for a Normal school library and museum ; nor the moiety of the annual salaries of the Chief Superintendent, the Deputy, and a clerk, amounting to i; 1,475 ; nor any portion of the annual expenditure of the printing and publishing . teachers. The returrn fr,/is^r" , . ' / , ""' '°^ stnnding of these provincial cen^fen e^VrJn ed by'Te CI.LV^'^'''' '"'=''t^ ^^« '"'""S ^^., z cha..ac.ro?i rsVLrreTa^r;ss'"af M»T ^'"S Second Class. F.^ ?. Male 123 Female_54 Female 12? 112 ~ above s;,o;^a7:^!'=|;^opoS' ^ull^v 1° "'T' °' •="''«-'-• «••« attainments are of a^o?;T„fe io 'nSe eh,. fitL^^ '"r'"'^; "''°'« inferior grade of schools 'Ihese 94J i ^ "''' ""'^ '^"'' "'« '"O'' first class male teachers cost the Prl ' ''°"''=>"='-' «« is no Provincial redreLs Th? .„, , u ^ ''"'"^ "'"''y '■V- ""d there trained teachers were employed nJsMaTd d "" ''? ''°™"" ^■'=''°°' had received certificates ma&S'>n„h„k ?' u^ "'" y"""" ^^ more in the following year 1855 Y,! f b^°k ''""J" ^"'^ >"=«» "mployed only 374 had blen emDloved 'hi ^'"^- \ ""^ '•«'"™= ^°' 1S55 that J am desirous of pre "ins^on the n° '5 f".""JJ ""« ^^"^ "6 desertions, defective feature rf trihole Comronlf ?°™™"'«"' ""«. 'He most lies concealed. The oVi^l.c mindHn ° '^'"''" ' '^°'' ">« '"""kage which has been p actic^d ye^ .fio v °.'°"'"°"'^ years the Normil School his bfn if^ ' ™,"'"="';-''''>'' ''"""g tlie"i"« adopted to check it^gowh no ^^In^""."""- ^° ""^""^ ^"^'^ ^^o» arre'st its continuancll 1^,^ l^uka' I'""' Tn '"^^" ^"F^^"^'' ■» arrangement of the Tables and the tC„e II A bsS "T'^''" "^/''^ in the most profound obscurity ■ while the Alffv ' '• " "™PP'=<* "P year officially reports what he knm!l , k ^'"^ -^upermtendent every year repeats,, n Ws epo t for ,855 thl'^ '"tT"^' ■ ""'' 'Z '""^ "^ '''^"' fa.Kpred^r^ ^ect'b'eef iUi^: sirLi't;ri' contiIi'7p„%:['SLtrc'aLl'''r-''J- >-"' --^- "^ I have the honor to be, Sir, &c. Toronto, January 20, 1867. A PROTESTANT. feurope, aaan indispensable mul he Z'tvitly.'''; g^-^^'nients of ?yeten), is the result of a lonrran, vnrio ulV 'r ' °'^" <"'<"'»on school '!> different countries, unC mfc .i f "'^''•'?''''"''™'^' <^°"<'ucted ?l.together, under the most dissS^'i ^'"'"'\'>{ go^':nm,e»t, and, "Hfatory steps for the Xntion T? \, f"' ° '^''■^•"'"stnnces. 7",° case, „i|, be ^.^^ „„" eZ mti™ t^lnv T'""*' '" ^"^'' P^'i^ lar and cvelusive reference to Xt "md Zl ?" '^""''uclcd with direct countries. If there is one feature more fl,l°"' ''.f ^'*^»ll>' i" other the European c^tperimentsvaluabe'nnd en, 1. .l""'''"' "''''^'' ""''«'« as guides to be followed it i<= ,hi v" ■ , ? ""="' ^"""^ confidence .» not strictly prac.ica an lich l?s Zfr" ^l ""''^"""g ^^ every one of its methods of anpli ca, on „™r """-""gWy tested in France and the Northern and ISu horn ;,,, '^•^""^ny, Switzerland, common schools are sifln,ili7e,l ;""""•"' """""S' Hio liistorics of their extent ,0 which the ri/pmn^'yo^.nr:;^^'''; "T""'' ^^ '^ paramount concern, and the exten o ^ J ,1 "■""''' "'^'" "''J'^cts of subsequent management have be " or,, I \ "'"^ organizatiin and distinguished and most prac ical statesln f *° ,""= =''''^^'' 'he most American notions It may appe" strafe ^h., '""' "°"'"''y- '' " °>" most despotic forms of ffove?nment ol^.p ? '" '=""""■'68 having the evinced m promoting thf education of ^,e'/ "<" S'^er solicitude is common people " at in otSriZ.n,, ''"'*'"' ^ "''''' '" called "the surprise ceased however, wienie ,c"Ltrr"''''''=i T''"''"'"- Our the prevention of pauperism and crime TnVH"'» "l"' ""' "o'ive is nconvenience. In free SwitzciCd and ,^1 .•'' ''"™''="'t expense and %""""■ T'' «"' school Pest?alozzf a '%^'"'''" ""> """'^^ '« children ; and thai of Fallcnberg at Hofvl nV V i ""' .7"" '"'"• P»"Per well as the common schools of Au,^r7l' ""^^ "'"■,'',»' Kruitzlingen, as the poor. The education of the chiZw^N''''''^''^''^'^ expressly for become a state necessity ithas thS '^""! P°<"e>- classes having attention which has bee^n be towed on „h' '"T""'^ "'^ ^"'"^ '^'nount of service in all these countries Int eat' do 'rii'T"'' "^ ""' P"''"<= no case do we hnd a government in I I c h t P ■ any public office. Popular e^luraZn^^r"''"': "'"" '""' "'"er filled .■n the same way n, every o,he"erc^? "'""■"■ "'"'" ''"I'' °f a"-! treatej 's conHdcl to the functio^nn ,>"if the sTnte ''if "'"n "" ■»'"'»g«n,ent praeticnl caracter which popular eluc-uronh„, "'" ."^^unt for the change, the definitenes, of he school b^ ^i "■''"""^''. the absence of bodies, and the universally acknowh^j^ffi'" ''"'"''.">' °f«''« --eligious example of the strictly Sic"n„Trf hv ,''T'',?'^'''''^'=''''°'»- Ono have been governe.l, will llu tratcTl ,t c' '"='' ''""P""" ^""•'^"'en Phdosophical Guizot, wi.en nTrojuc"' i'T«T.'°''i''" ""• The i>JP"..es, his Co,„.o„ School m^^/^^^:^^^^:'^^ ojganrzt''a„fcondr;"'.J!;ir^o"„^[ilTt^':.'='--tary education ^^ of the results calculated to proceed from hi "'"P^' ""'' "'<' '^^''-i-ty which, in America, He cntert ,°n » verv i . ""'""' "'"''' "'^ 'Wngs of erroneous concept on. S Ze m J ^"="'•'.'1"=''" "'"'• '" ■»»« ^a^e' estimate of wim has been done kWT , »"«' "-'th reference to our England and Scotland ami our mln, , '"'^ "^"'•''' "^ '"'o ^^a". in by which those efforts ha p „ "'f,P('f .'«"«'»■• "o less of the motive" the fitness of the machi,"'; "hth Y T"""'' '•'^^ P™™P" "*">'« "^ 'h" organized with as much reeardTo'inf»:i-! '"^'''."e constructed and house or arsenal. And hence the Zo IP'''"""' """'y ^^ ^ '=»^<»n trained in a government NormplTi, r*"^ no teacher who has been profession of tichinruntilheThallhav^; can lawfully abandon the years, or shall have fudfrnntfiVd'^X/irlt ?!!'«^.^ "-"-.of "-"-.g naa incurred. Thus, we see. Ihat ihe" whX'»ac"hke?,t 36 constructed in conformity with a preconceived plan, as ^^i^tohTtWv rnten^urt^^oltrivf ^Th^^H^' ^^^ T^^ '' ' ^s' pl^sTbt; ^ITr tS mgenmi} to contiive. The thorough comprehension of its aim and greS^^^^ 4iclands^eneral, inrpendU'f the Si?a^crnr Lp V\ I""''","!!""'"'- ,^" ^"S^^"^' unfortunately, the aominancy ol the Church and the mistaken opposition of the Noncon- forims s have proved a formidable barrier to its introduc^on burthese obstacles are not i isurmountable, and the day is not far distant w^^^^^^^ the continental system of elementary schools wi 11 f^rm tL blsis Tf an o^tri^trCls andT *^ ^" fully^appreciated by trie^dingremb^r^s oi DOtn the Lous and Commons, and its acceptability to a larie Doriinn of the most intelligent of the English people is visiblefirthecOTstituto^ and regulations of the various poor and industrial schoi and reformtorv e tablishinents, supported partly by voluntaiy and partly by government aid ; all of which are acknowledged by their founders and nIlZ?o have been framed on the plan of the continental primary "ch^ots my p^e°sr„f Zct^'="tl'^ro"'!if ™P''" ''^'' °^^°"'''^ ^^'""'' "•>'!'>'■'?. iny present Object is to show the incorrectness of the assei-tinn fhot in Uted bv"T^""p'°'"' ''''~' ^y^'*"" 'he plan of o ,rNo mZUoo ' is stated by Dr. Ryerson, was borrowed from Germanv I nmnn,» m K const, t Unhe I sr»f ' «T "f'"''?''"™' qualifications constraiLd mm lo consult United states School guides forthp faniv nnv,^. p.,„^ the": inlM' '^1i? '•'""'™'' '- Canada LIsUtut oft twedle of ' the principles of European elementary education of the kev ,nH?i undera veil of sophistry, to1,rt:;t1h1SCl~r Tbdi^fe' as I shall prove in what follnvv<5 tViat n,. t> ''t'i'^'^^^^S- -i oeiieve, . ., . .,... „,, v^upauiu OI inspeeuon, and cannot be defended e fi ii a a c! o: 37 Schools than on Ther dt^.t 3 pS^ TX"^ "" *f '"'''^ "^N"""^' discoursing on the four sources iVom which It f ""f' "IP""' ^°' '850, onr Comrn'on School system were derived n." p" ''^'''"S ''f'^^^ °^ system of training teacherT ami (!,?'• , %<=P°" stated that the the Normal School here were deriveST"'''?? '""' """'<^' ''<'«?'<'<' '» which this statement apnerred wT, ™li ■ k"'!* '^"'".^"y- The essay in for 1852. Now if I shalT^how Jh"^ » I'^tf "Sain in the annual report ever do so^^in anyone parti nl»r*h„ '' ■''^•P™'Pf'=* '''^"''^y "i'' manifest, that our educations en ' I '=°'""="°" "'" surely become ranee and stapMitv thaHn !l, T ''?■'"? "'"^ "^ "indness, igno- the successf C aborated .? 1 "^ ''"^I'l? ^'" ^'"''' ="«' P™*""! by dreaming, we iat bee. IheoTz^r,',, 7'','':;; °" '""""''' "^ ''''^^ ^eej^ I. TA< oA/frt w/iich the), are to serve Tl,ic fl„„* <■ . j T the character of all the otW rf f T/, ""'. feature determines erninff bndi»; ti,! '"'=.°'"ers. In short the constitution of the sov- tS^s'td 'th se" rS ZTT' "" ™™""""'' ">^ P«"»d «f are go^^ned by it It t th^ '/!, '^°»!"\""'S '" the profession, standing this ttr^lgh y, at the ouTset , STft''^^''""- ^^ ""''"■ pLLed of"l„tstrrs"l,atitsr"'"'' ""' P""""- '""^'^^ ""^^ ''««<'■»« are from tl,. ?"' """.*^ criminals in this city, old and youns ^J!i™'?J''iP"'"-!','- <^'».^^'^«- Not, be it observed, the absolutelv ^Z5- Of laborer; -'3 tha?th!.r f T"''"''/ ""'' '^'"'^^"«>" "' ^^ "^^ laoorers , and that their education and training had been so neglected 38 that comparatively fe^v have been reported able to read, ard fewer still possessed of any other indication of parental care. Thes Police and Jail records mark properly, the limit to which, but within which, the Municipalities and the general Government should be required, for the purpose of self-protection, to provide the means of education, by com- pulsory assessment, by compulsory attendance, or its equivalent, and by a trained body of teachers. A delineation such as this is, in miniature, precisely what exists on a national scale in Europe. Now as to the kind of education : In Germany and Europe it is elementary and industrial. It is expressly provided by the Normal School regulations, and pervades the whole atmosphere of the trainino- ot teachers, that the book learjiing and intellectual instruction are at all tinies and on all occasions understood to be subservient to the forma- tion of industrial habits, agricultural or mechanical ; and to be directed not in such a way as to puff up the mind of the recipient with false notions of the purpose of education, not to estrange him or make him dissatisfied with his position in life, but to form habits for manual labor, l^r. ^u"t-^ character that will fit the future husbandman, citizen, parent to fill his place in the social economy ; so that while the peace of society IS secured, his own happiness is the consequence of early industrial nabits that continue, with age, to become more firmly rooted."* No specific object, such ar, this, is assumed by either the Canadian or Massachusetts school authorities. But in its stead they lay down the rule that umversal edvcation is the duty of the state ; that every child eally Ihe SLTI".? 'Z^I^^ ""l »]'•• /"seph Kay, though made with reference to Switzerland, are idemi- assured bv Z nr;.«? • PP'""* by bim to Prussia, Germany, and the Continent generHly-'' I wm were abso^uLr; n\cest"y Vr° h:"e°d .c^Uoa'c'ra llf^^':^^^^' '^^f ^""^^'^ them that^^Kee years born into the world is pnfi'fl^^ f^^ ~T "'""'""""^'^' ~ =*» «t^e; that free educX'tddTe ^Sd^'^ ^'^ 7^^"^ «^ ^^^ of developing all the faculties and mtf . i?''' ^^^' ^^^ t^e purpose would otherwise be plain hnesmnf "^ intellectual citizens of what is no limitation, as to particular H 1 ™''' ^"^ mechanics. There enttle one class inore^hlntnottr o'th"' ''''r^^ lT:rfU' ^'^ ^"^^ ' exceptions arfei^^^^^^^^^^ ""' \^ ^d-ati^;! the parental duties of the state are Pm;.!! ? ' because they say that important duties is to elevate Vhf fir *^ ^^^^ highest standard of whisht ntitys su ^It ^^' ''' citizens 'toThe J^,.P"P^'l ancl the teachers that heTs -f. > ''^- ^' *^ ""^^^^^^ bv r'.'^',' they ought all to a p re to « iivfr'/r' ""' "" ^"^^"^r* f^y the drudgery of agriculture ^fni^ • ^ ^^ ^^^^^ ^its," and not routine. With s/ch a vague aXopLnidea\f?f *'l ^^"^^^^ -»^oo the consequences, as to Ichool reSanl.^Alu^^^ only what might reasonably be expected ^'"' ^^^^^i^t^ation, are Now, it will be nercpivp^ +1,0+ *• education is limited to one class of f 1.1' '" f "^. ^'^e' ^^^^^e elementary object, which is preventhl "^ 1 othS h' ''' ^^P^-fi-^ydefineS patrimony of all, the object h^l^.t^f ^^' "^ limitation, but is the of all the eitizens'alike ZltLt'LiS *^^ ^-^'^e^ of consequences which charactenVp ti? ^^^ ^^^^^^nce in the train which proceed from the otLr will hp . '^"'' ^^ompared with tho e 2. Their Governmental' r "/" ''^^"* ^^"«^«- religious training, has occasioned tSS/r.lJTif'S''"^"^ ''^ ^" e«rly whole system of elementary e u a Ln to bp I'^'t' ^^"^">^ ^^^^h the under the immediate control onrPP 1^ ^^^ law of Protestant Prussia^ ecclesiastical authorities. By the par^culLl^SLd^^^^ engrossed by one ,^efjf i« theredominancy of one sec nvP "'T '^ Particular sects, that the religion of the -sclfools is t b.t ''"'^*^''- 'r^^^^ ^' no law Christians; by which is mea„ ieit' TdT '' ''^ ^f --^nations of cal religion may be discardprl %f h ^^ ^"^^^^ of which, practi- are on an equal'^footinri tht eyi o'f ^hf r^"' -^"^ ^^^^^^^ Cheches same concern being Evinced for fL \u7\''' '^^^^^ "tatters, the Protestant and Catholic NomaT Set n]!'^^;f'"'"' ""^ «W«^t of larities of creed. In CalhSLtri. ttvT''^?"' "'^"^^"^^ *« Pecu- 40 and the inre.tigation of delinquencies. . • • • For tlie professors of ncn-Roman.st creeds, "es re spe tive functions are discharged, in their several gradations, by officers of the.r own persu.s^n ?hTp ot^ ta t seniors and superintendents are the district inspectors and the provincial -P-to" 8^^^^^^^ for their respective communities ; and the functions of the diocesan cons.stones are transferred to the central Oalvinistic and Lutherean consistories at Vienna." In Austria the Jews have the entire management, in like manner,of their elementary schools ; and have also a Normal School, at Prague, for the training of teachers in the Jewish faith. In Hanover, likewise, besides Protestant and Catholic Normal Schools, there is one for Jews, established in 1848. Of Catholic Bavaria, Mr. Kay says : «' I visited a priest, who directed one of the large educational establishments in the city. He told me that they had established eight Normal Colleges, in Bavaria, for the education °f teachers, and that two of these had been especially set apart for the education of Protestant teachers. He seemed to make yery light of all difficulties arising hom religious differences, and spoke of education as of a national work, which it was necessary to accomplish, by the joint efforts of all religious parties." The state of Wirtemberg is equaly impartial ; the Protestant and Catholic church authorities supervising and directing their respective elementary schools, aided by the government. The law in this State provides that sixty families of any religious faith, may establish a separate school at the expense of the whole community. Baden likewise makes no partial distinction between Protestants and Catholics ; their respective Normal Schools being aided by the government. Throughout the whole German nation there is one exception, and only one, to this universal toleration of all religious sects. Holland, governed by its strong Calvinistic feeling, supports only Protestant schools. And for the purpose of making them acceptable to Catholics, Jews and other bodies, or rather inducing children of these persuasions to attend tliem, the law prescribes that the children of proscribed persuasions may absent themselves at the school hours when the Calvanistic Catechism is taught, and other religious instruction is given. This, however, is not the German system, nor does it exist in any other part of Europe. The governing power in Germany, though, in its details, under the immediate practical management of the various religious authorities, is at the same time under the direct supervision of the respective govern- ments. The religious communions are unrestricted. Each carrying on the work of education in its own way. The interference of the State being limited to the enforcement of education by proper means ; and the distribution of the annual appropriations, for that purpose, from the public revenue. The total exclusion of doctrinal teaching from the Common Schools, before its adoption in Canada, existed, therefore, no where except in the United States. It originated in Massachusetts and was the natural upgrowth of the religious peculiarities of the people of Boston. It might reasonaoiy D^5 auppOHcu itiai ttsjoicni s-iOm mii- .- ^'~r is excluded would also exclude doctrinal teachers from its management 41 It creeds, rsuBsioD. s general id to the ner,of rague, ewise, Jews, He told and that 1 to make nal work, nt and jective s State jparate makes pective on, and [olland, )testant tholics, luasions scribed en the 3 given. y other Such, however, is not the case. The semblance of religion, it appears wh^trnkThatlh^'^^'^? ' T^ ^°^^^-^^ ^"^•"^^^"^ it ^'y «"e^ 'oC Who think that the parts of a system should correspond, the eovernin^ power of the schools of Massachusetts is in the hands of a RlnH«? Kt'wtfernfc^^^^^^ ^' ^'"^^^^^"' ^' ^^^^^^^^^ ^^^^^^^ wniie in Western Canada the supreme control, with a soecial Drovi<,ion of non-respons,b,hty to the people's representatives in pLr lament °" entrusted in like manner, to a Methodist preacher ; the appendaee of M^Tot IfSs: tr "ata?/tr ^ '" "' "^""^ ""'^ ^^'- t^u/ete^-^-rs^^^^^^^^^^^ express understanding and condition that, in the performance of The^ official duties and throughout their entire connection with the schooir uL^rXrusf^^^^^^^ P^^«^"^ possessed ofVotart: Germany ^^^^ ^'' 'P'"'"' ^^ ^ governing power derived from I have the honor to be, Sir, A PROTESTANT. Toronto, 27th January, 1857. ider the ities, is govern- rying on he Slate US ; and rom the Schools, licept in ; natural ;on. It religion igement. Xo. VI. NormaTsTh^otrJ m;;Sv °of7h '^•^','^"^!i '"' ">« «-«™"e„t of of eael> religious boclya^dihprohitoinl.'''^''™'- "'"''"■ '" Europe tfol exercised, in the fonner oni"=•' case the religion permitted to absent themselves durin/th^i ^^V "^'^^enlients being xs given The schools are ™h„ssmariai^Z^'r "''"""' instruction doctrinal, and consequenti; the schoo?, hii' ''^ 'S'ous instruction is suasion are under thi immedTate char^ nf ^i"^";^ '° ^^'^ ''^'Sions per- of that persuasion. This is aT./li,^ ■^^■"'"''"'S>' ""d congregations religiousadviseroftheedersandheadsofh'''' ^"^ '^ '^' P^^'"' *« "h« of moral training of youth the r S»,- '? '^''"Fegation, in all matters cannot be separated. Tl rconLt in 'f^'..''"''"' '*'"' ^o^Ponsibilities work together. So it is throX ^r u ?^'""' '•"'""' therefore, experiment going on here "/""S'"''''^ "le whole of Germany. The been tried i" Gerla"y a^d C been Iot'^-™'"'f '^Z™"- ^" °*ers, ^^ and final issue of the feuds occasioned hi f- "bandoued. The history have precluded the vain at emDrt„eS!M^ u' ".™'* a lesson that should Unfortunately, however ".th, as in f '''''■S'^M^™""? *" Canada, exclusiveism of our school ai thormeA m'" j"^, """"'' examples, the foreign experience andfhe ncenln J ''i'"/*''' "''"' "> the valie of element. Referring to the ordea ?h.^ '^'""r? '*™^^ "^ " foreign system passed, before the reco'nitio, nf f* '"^"^ ""^ ««""»■> school Mr. Joseph Kay, a high edraCaTa^uthorir:^!;! .'"'^^''"' J-"""?'-' I t I .^'C, -c 1 • 11 1 ii 1 M ,Kt„ ii.to.ni,nc., evra nor, tb,„ ,b„ ei.|||,,j ,„ ;„ ' """" "'"'I' llom.nl,., ,„d P,olest,„„ k,, J battH^r&^^i':;SZ^^^^^^^^^^^^^ countries, has been Germany as impracticable. It is only now th t^h r^'f" ^'^r^oned i„ Courts, and the Police Masistratesbv tTl; '"'^^' °f 'he higher increase of crime, have rous'ed pubu'c lemT' ?P°r' °*' "'^ '''*™ing our educational egotism or stupidity W Zl" """ ^''^^qne-'ces of Belgium before our eyes, the crS/^f i^l r l^^ ■^''^.™P'^' "^^^des, of their final oyerthrow and thrcons^oueL tril l'''V'r^ ^'='"'°' '"»««'«. and religious communions, 50,^0^0, sh^l1''''''','y''f''"^«^d; before adopting a course so strilduriy Malol.Kl *''' *"'" ""^ •<"^«'l It is not enough howeyer ' ^^ ^ '""°S""' ''^ o-"-^ P^mises to be.. has been accomplisfed suSu l^else vWe"»l ffT ■"'""'^'^ -^at oonflictmg experiments ; and the err Jr on o,f ' '."'•^ '^"" °'^ » series of ourselyes of a knowledee of thZ "P^''' '" "°* baying ayailed negligence ought to be as?ertai„e,l f ^''■P^"'"''"*^- The cause of his ^a„ possibly tL place,Tnt X ttrstanTnt''""'"- ""^"''^ 'eformaUon occasioned the abnormd state of the Common^'f '1 '*''"• ^''''^ bave satisfactorily explained. I stated in mTfast tt°°ll' f ?. '^'"'^y «"d to whom was intrusted the orffaniTaf !>„ 7f r? "^J^ "■*' ^r. Ryerson, Canada, notwithstanding h^'^WsuTEuronrf'""!?.^''""''^ <■" ^este™' ma ion, returned to this^Proyl, ce withon?1.5 ' "*' P".'"P°^« <"■ infor- which in Europe elementary orCommo,Sch„'?^ P'""'^'' ""^ °''><^' to serye. I stated, farther tb»f ti^! " oehools are specia ly desi-rned the principal feature oSp:I*'l^'";f„f^^''5''«ion of this fi/st feafure, have led to a misunderst„ZronhTaSf^,:Hr'T''""^'"«<=^^=arily The perusal of the first repor?, Ml sheff ?S47 °^"' T"™' ?«••«'• ideas and p ans, will satisfv th. „ . ■' ^"'^ embodyins his imagined ElpeL. dLenta^/stho"" 1^'^.'' /t?' ""'■ "y'^^o^ be designed for the education of all • and .f,^f °/ '^^f ""''"•'«"«' '» nanism was the rule and seetariaLm f'h! ^™ 'arly, that non-secta- this latter head, from which s^'mrrstrifecon^"- 7''* P^^J'""'-^ "" have been strong when the presence of th.v"T' «° «nianate, must could not be perceiyed. OrSZtlt ^tTlJ^ll'^'J^ «»oval ^4 « .mnUiJ p Jof putHc elcado^^^^^^^^ "•* "°"' instruction .hould Ja«l,' MtenairelyandthoX ;;r^aCu;p"«o^^^ '""""r"" """ "•• "'* b„ been, coa.munic.ted without any interferen^ whatever 3 ^^ 1 ^ T °T"*^' "''•^""^ "^ '''*» «' sectari.niam, and .wtiment, of enligh" nTwrite rEomai LTor^^^ /^^ ''^""" ''""'" " •""• ^'""' "• *"• wd .uch are the 'ewB and pra'ice oTboth Pr ? , .T°'' " '"" '"^P"'^"''" " Mon«chical ; laiity nor compromise of reH^U nrlil H f. *'-\«^'°" Catholic natio... Here i, n.ith.; «.. part of Government whihTJoundrd^^^^ ? 'J' e.tab ishment and administration of a system on •nd which interferes not with thl dol " i f>"'f«n>ental principle, of Christian truth and moraHty, •o^,per.tionofmeLrrsof;Se^lnt«E^" predilection of diversified sectarianism ; and here i, . la which they have a col n in errst * ZT^^^^ "" °"^"'" ^"°'' ''''' '"""^ "«» '»>"• i° common- «i.tence,-,he same L rgJsJors or M"^^^^^^^ co-opera.ion is in most instance, even essential to ..Urprise. of common agrment "^ necet^ty;.' ^^""""""'^ " Soldier, co-operate in mcMure. and P«,c'^"^ T^ ''^^'^'",^ *^^^ f^^'^^ge would necessarily suDnose that in tion, at the same time discarding the peculiar doctrines whTchdisin^uf.h Treating of the Government oft^lf^^^.Aofj^T^^^^^ in pretly equal pr^ortionCe of thesV ol l^L dtTdTt? ^P""'"'^"""'^*^ "<^ P"»«"*"«- othw to that of the Prote, ant If net?^" f th^^^^^^^^^ 1 V education of the Romanist teachers, th. Normal Colleges are devoted to theTduc! on "f ♦>. ^^ J " "^^^ *" °^ ""' ^"^'^'^'^ »^">« minority aree'ducated in on of he co leges o a ne ehbt °' 'H' "^'^ ' """^ ^'^^ ^«-'^«" "^ t^^- la Prussia, where Romanist and ProJe Unt tLrh!« ^ °.7- ^^"' """'^^^ two Normal College. th«e greal institution, are choTer f ramV^rthJc^^^^^^^^^^ ''"**'' ''''''''' ''''^ ^•-<'''>" <>' by the Romanist Bishop of the Provinc". ?n wWch he S J ♦ ^ "'" ^°""'»* ^°"^«« " «''«>"» College is chosen by th'eecclesiasticalVultir^^^^^^ however, in both cases, to the approbation of the Minrster of Educat.W n VK'' "''"'''^ '• '''^^'''' objecting, if an unsuitable or injudicious choice is mad The No^al Col^^^^^^^^^ ''"''"" *" Mpervision of the religious bodies. The Government itself diJ^Tw * "' ^^"'' P"* ""^^ *»>• imporunce of these colleges having a decidedly reTilifoh.^? i °\°'^«""""t- I* "cognises th, tiTen in them being of fhe mostlibSS S^ lh.« to the Clergy? and on the oS ha'd it reserve^^^^^^ intrusts the direction of the power of interfering, in case the «cWar lea" oTo the st^de^^ta^^^^^^^^^^^^ '' ''''^ Tat director of each College appoints all the rrnf«.„« i 7 u injudiciously curtailed. tb.r.fbr.aconsiderableshare'Sftrdi^ction thes^^^^^^^^^^^^ J''^ religious ministers have ^^^.. between the clergy and the teach^ ^S :" whS^ ^JS^ ^J t t^l^S the Jii: jaf t^i Th^ott ^:f ^^^^^^^ * '•• •"««• i»« IMC i3ti|iiC5 SCfiOOi room ; unless the school distrirt i. t,.^ ===== __^ when an exception is^rov ded to Jhe n.^T ° '"PP."" '"» »^''°«'». renunciation o( sectarian dUtinc^ion! r" , ''" ^"^^ ^^'^ "-ere is no school is that of the sect be ne inThe^"'" 1°"'"^^ ''''B'"" "^ the rule extending only to a perm"s!ion vL .T'tL^^" ««eption to the »hal| not be compelled to'^reTa ^n the cLtl roo^." "' '^'u '"■»°"'y religious doctrines of the raaiorrtv nr»?i ."''"""«"'« •'"'e the mitted by Dr Itverson nf ?iuVn^ T '"''»'<=«ted. The error com- believingorassuXlt inthe„!i„^^"7P'•'" ^°' 'he rule; tSd .chool L of Euro^? s s imSar .r haToft?''^'r'«°^""'"«»'' '^e pardonab e, when we cnn«;,l„l .kI ■ Massachusetts s scarcely was available^L^:°eot/w£en w'r.r/""''."'' '"'■''™ation wS Europe for the expre/rpurp^se of „ ' .^ ""°»'='=°"'» his visit to mation. ^ purpose ol procuring that necessary infor- equaHy m^s'^'SerCtrthf "" **-'»-This third feature Prussia. Bavaria. Saxony! Austria BadrH^''""" ^'""^ "•« other. I^ Switzerland and France the rJ.'h^"' """"ver. and also in Belgium. schools The pupTat the Cu^^% k '?«*" '" ''" 'he elemef ta?y nstrucion togelh^i^^'noV separate y so ttet'thtv"™ T^'"' '^"8'°"» each these doctrines to the chiE in th. »r ^ .^^ ^^ 1"*'''i«<' »<> IS the rule. How differ/nt ;,, iw u «'«">«utary schools. This where the Catechismtd doc in^ltea^t^^^^^ "'"' \*^""" C""""' the teacher requires to be a person ca^hrPf'T^^ and where every peculiarity which distin.S? P^ ^i" "l ''"'csling himself of from another. ^ distinguishes one body of professing Christians giumVi:;?arfe^d^7t;jlirs fr ^•'"^.^'- «^'- years. In Wirtemberg and R-ance itTtw. „ "' '?"U" « '^ 'hree Holland four years. And ,u Nassau five yeaTs ^ rTw ^".!"°"y ""<* time which each student on hir.j ■ ^ Besides the specified training, he is obliged under ceWn^'"™' ™S''S«' '° ""■"'""e in after leaving the tra n^nf Llf ?^ circumstances to remain longer, or himself in tho e brSchef in which'!.;?'" u^^'"' '" <""«' '^ K deficient. In Massachu: t^ T'^ UsSca'i^df ^r?™^ '° "e six or twelve months. I am not certa.n »".h . '■* *.*™ has been v^wnv^tt^?rtSa r ^^^^^ twelve months waslhTtet Sr rorl^slh'^l TthSte^'^ ^ know^he1S;{rchZt:r '" "^ r-^---^o 1 1 who in old countries! ifmaytemai?osT,r 'S"'^ <"• P™ ''^'sion to another! 46 .^„«..!l7 '' . "»«''" '"ch awUtance from a Normal School U obliged «t the end of hi. «lT.nce»ent, bowere,. mu.t alw.y. be held out to him in case of perseverance and good conSuCT .t..H J/*h„^''!''''^'"^ J'r'' *'?P^ °^ ^'''^ ^"■'"^" engagement which every «/ .i!l^J«*''*. ""''•"'*"!? ^7~ *»' *^ ' »'y ♦''«•* P'"«"»«. bind mywlf conformably with the ordinance S« wTth'l^hr o \ r'' ° ':"""""" """ «-•--''-' •"'J ""did affair,, /a,ed F«bru '; "tb^ 1835, witb the content of mj father (or guardian), who signs this with me • • . . . ' Le»m«rl'„;?"'"* three year, after my leaving the Normal School, at the disposal of the King'. gOTernment; and consequently not to subscribe any thing contrary to thi. engJemenf or in .u!h ewe, to refund to the Normal School the expenses incurred L, .ho Stale lor my mftrucMon' '' In France, the students are bound to serve, ns teachers, ten years after leaving the iNormal Schools ; or to reimburse the government foi^ the expense of their maintainanco, if they quit the profession before that time. These are examples of the nature of the precautions which are generalhr adopted Besides these, Prussia has discontinued the training of female teachers for the Protestant schools ; for the reason marrild^^ Thl''?'n?rr V'^'l y^^e 'nuch sought after, and soon got married. The Catholic female teachers, on account of an understandinff among themselves with respect to the nature of their mission, do not marry ; and consequently are in general training and are generally employed in the Catholic schools. Thus while the several govf rnmcZ ^Zt ^""^2 ''^T'^'^'y P'-ovision for the training of an efficient staff of teachers, they do not neglect the precaution of securing to the state the future services of those who have been so trained. Now look at the contrast presented to this in America. Massachu- twi?rrr ''"^P^ ^declaration from the student, on his admission, that his intention IS to follow the business of a teacher. The require- S;!?V»!i Y.'!^ ? 1,^"!^ !f ^^' f ''^'- ^^'''''^' it i« "«t a declaration that the student shall follow the teacher's calling, but an intention existing only at the time of making the declaration to do so. There is fnZli ^»^f*«^ obligation. In short, there is nothing obligatory l^i tn? k^'^k'''" ' 5' ^ '*"^'"* Ty subsequently alter his intention, and still be honorably exonerated from any liability. And this is exactly what is of daily occurrence, both in the Normal Schools of the adjoining States and here. Desertion appears to be the rule. Snn.f"r??r' ^' a teacher, ii the exception. I believe that a statistical 3 «l-5 * IP^"''^ ^"""g.^hich the male teachers, at present employed and said to have been trained in the Normal School, have officiated NZr^JZ **i"* '^'^' T' 5" i^^^^^^« i" the ProWnce before tie Norma School was instituted. If so, that they owe nothing to the Normal School ; having attended one of its sessions for the purpose of saving themgelves from proscription. And, if so, that the new male teachers, trained since the establishment of the Normal School, have 47 Vfotem, „il, continue to be a de epUve a" J .""''f .''"'' P"'*"' School of the original European type f, ,he fi J"")''"'*'" «P««ntatio„ charac er has estranged the ilergy of ,1 Ie»i ""T' "' """-"ligioue the majority of the population. Now a, ni?- "^^ denominations aSd o< can prosper that is not acceptable in .hf ? ^°^^'«meat School System nations, there is no hope thatTs systemV ,7''^"^ ""' '*"«"»« ""enom" character continues in ibrce 'rh„ !, '' ' "" '""8 «« "» "on-relieio . the clergy (brms a topic on„uc[ttersTiw!: """'"''' ""' ^^oZnn! tional guides as M. Guizot, Cousin ami M r^ ""'ingsof such educa- reated so elaborately and ^rofo^ndly and i?; n'"'?'' '^''?;- 1' has bee„ so ample, that I shoLld consider "t a 'wll,'^™"",'"' "'"^'^tions are ai'y thing to what has been said bv^hLl .^w' """"''' '■* »"«">?« to add the second place no teacher of a Common ^1"®",'*"? """'orities. fn for any other employment, will ^00^7 ,°°'' ""'^^^ "capacitated meut administered by the Truteero^ t, ^7 ''''^''' »'■«■"«•«'« »«*«- ordinary attainments requires protectLnT '"f ""': '* '^"'''•er of this, when his natural protector the nil ^° "''"m is he to look for circumstances it is b/ no means likelf^? " '^"'"^ ■ U»der such rem«in for any length of time ™ the nL'^' <^»"'P'^'«nt teachers will in a new country, such as thT, so manTaver" ' """'^ Particularly, as of talent to improve their fortunes Tn, I,! T T."?*" »» young men andpropersecurity of the parent, „; „,f i '^"■'' P''"^«' the necessary should follow the vocatbn!no doubt wo^tr ""f ']■« '"'^"ded teacher to prevent students from applykfforadii''^''''''^ '^'"''^^y' if enforced. This result must have been fore eln and ni^M '°- *' N"™"' School secun'y is demanded. '°''<'"'<'"' and probably is the reason why no has not':;;: ZVe ttch' ^etmblranvS'' "'^' ^ N"'™"' School Schools, and that consequeiXorSll '""■%"[ '^e G«™an Normal serious misapprehension when he stateS ^b",!"-.' ' ^'^ ^^^°''^ ""der a from the German system. I Lve shown f "^ /^^T' "ere dented that in their object, their government theirT,^' *'?°^^ comparison, period of training, and their .eTn.^ ' j "^eligious instruction, their are altogether dissimHar ' """' '''"^"*'' f™™ teachers! they why Gp tiSthti- flKe";: ;il"? '»»' L° T^- «•■« re.so„ of excellence, and why they have bee^l? ?''"'7'''y ""cy are models Europe, and are the theme ^ofculo^vhv? """''• '" ^"""^ '^'"'"^ *« th« nffloV. !.P™5A°^»''.''' T'ould occupy too mnch .„„ _..: r^:^-- *• mmmm by the unanimous testimony of Europe and America the German system is perfect, successful and satisfactory, and the Massachusetts system is acknowledged by the Massachusetts educational authorities them- selves to be defective and to be the reverse in practice of what, in theory, it ought to bo, why is it that in Canada, wo h;ive rejected practically every feature of the former and embodied every feature ot the latter in our system? Why is it that in organizing a Provincial Normal School, the wisdom and experience of the old world was . ^octed in toto, and preference was given to the untried theories and crude and undigested creations of the Boston school of educationists ? Do not these questions demand a reply? To the state of the Normal School I am desirous to draw particular attention, and lor this reason I have devoted more space to this the most important part of the whole machinery. The practical developments, as I have exhibited them, from the official reports, ought to be suggestive of a measure of immediate and thorough reform, at the instance of Government. What measure will that be ? Can it be reformed without changing the whole system of Common School education? Can a Normal School be successfully established on a school system that has a false basis ? These are grave questions. They are strikingly suggestive and significant. They admit of but one answer. I have the honor to be, Sir, &c., A. PROTESTANT. Toronto, 2nd February, 1857. Xo. Vli. the condition of the Normal Schonl ( „ '="-'="ni»'ances affecti g remarks and sucgestions o„ .1,. ? ' \ "* P'"' °» "» "ake somi the first plane, 1 aT Lc auUmli.v .-''°? T"" "' " ''''°'«- And, n secularelfcation L the busUrei%f1hestJp'''''r "r"'- "y«"°" '^at pot. I wish to know the arn!,„w n K u"",'' '•«'''«""» education i. every child is entitlertoakSrt-'^'?-.' "S"""" '"^'^ """ to a knowledge of the doctrinT, .F ? '''""''"f ""'' ""■'''"«• ^ut not ference of the^tate n nrovVd nfoMv ^^"'" ' •"" '"'''■'' ^"''''^ i»«er for the denial of its rh,ht t„ ^ a^ !""% ^P"""^ "^ '"«»"»' food, and have searched every fnlLV'','' "'T ^"' ""= *»'"' °'" 'he body I to sustain the as Zmp'.iSn"" 'ITe o'niv lu """ "° P""^'P''-' ""^""^d practice of Massachusets which DrLtT «', J"""«='"ion is the to hold up to the neonlp ni '1"''='' ,"'^- Kyerson has 1 oen at great pams afford space to qSo^^ no „ hiTl' "' " '"°''" '"°'' '""""'"=' ' «^"ot Virtues of this reirbh:=an com„,unu7- Z'?"°"'r °^ ""' t^-^-^cendant on free schools, in the onnuaTZTr,^^; ^«U'^ reference to the essay pathy for such autKeri l*^ i u, f^' ">« J"""""'"*' °'' li's sy»'- Horace Monn, may no, 'onl L '^""^"■' '^''""""'' '"''"«" «'"' we have been g"verned m^^ frh! »«=<•'; ained, but also how completely At one time, w^e Ire to,dthaM"'"'f'' ^' "'"l" '''"""' ''"thoritie,' cannot be taught the doctrine, ntrT .'""",''* ''■™'" ''^'=""»« «" it must be secuir r becausl ?h! ^ ? ?'°" 'T"'"' ^ t another, that religion : that beinff fit n I ''?''' """""^ '° ''o «"" 'eachina this! be it observed^is heTwofV'^ '^' T'"'' ""'^ ^'^^8^' ^nd aS Kdward Everett and Ho™.Im u '"'.*• ^^"'""^ *'«»'«' debater and we turn to Web"er „„H h ^^""r''*™''"''^''''^'' that so it should be Jf abstract pr°nciDl ".hulh ^''fr"^^'"") demand from them the^ with the C republicin dea?h rrti'^ "1'""''' ""« » ««ordance children of tl^^Cte their rith',,*" "'"'''™'' *""•" *»'° ""e world are the distinct from the De;uli»H,i».*f ™ ''°'"T° ' *"'*• therofore, being educate them in nn.'form if P"?"^ "■^.^"^^ °^ *••« ''^^ " t° eWDce of all thev havf »W f^* .T'^"' P'* '* "'» "-ncentrated Wife™ „H !7?,.5*r!.":!'i'"J'''t'fi""°'> of the school system b«n; '" •-'-■""")"»'» neceesity of discarding religion ud 50 making the schools purely secular. Without questioning the sincerity of Dr. kyerson's religious and political professions, it is a tit subject of en- quiry, how far he has been cognizant of the extent to which he has be- come the disciple, the creature and the instrument of such men as Daniel Webster and Horace Mann. If Dr. Hyerson can show the reason for the faith that is in him, why is it that he has not done so apart from his Boston platform ? Why is it that he refers us to Boston lor the validity of a Canadian school system founded on a republican and non-reHgious basis, and is unable to justify it on any other than republican and non- religious reasons ? We are officially instructed that the state is non-sectarian, the Government is non-sectarian ; and from these premises it is argued the individual members of the state should also be non-sectarian ; and that the best way to accomplish this object is to begin the work early in the school room, so that by training children betimes in a renuncia- tion of all the peculiar aspects of Christianity, they may afterwards, ■when grown up, become indifferent to all, be released from ecclesiastical restraint and the thraldom of external religious observances. In the struggle going on to unsectarianize the population, many are engaged who, it is to be hoped, are acting more in ignorance, than from choice. The war cry is secularization ! — Down with the sects ! — Down with those who have individual scruples ! — The state has one conscience ; individual members of the commonwealth have no right to exercise any other ! But while this is going on, on the one hand, a formidable body of objectors are found standing up in defence of their natural and civil rights, on the other. First, those who are opposed to state sciiools. Second, those who consider the present system founded on infidel principles. Third, those who hold it to be republican. Fourth, those who believe that it violates the Christian ^ iitiment of toleration Fifth, those who will not contaminate the morals of their children by sending them to a promiscuous school. Sixth, those who desn-e to bring np their children in their own religious faith and practice. Seventh, thoide who look on the schools as pauper schools. Eighth, those who consider the system of teaching and teachers as superficial. Ninth, those who desire to make religion the controlling and governing principle of secular conduct, in place of separating it. 7\3nth, those who think they have no obligation to pay for the education of the children of people who are able, but sufficiently unprincipled to shirk this performance of parental duty. Eleventh, those who prefer discip- line to pertness, and respect the teaching of antiquity more than that of modern times. Twelfth, those who, influenced by the experience of other countries, and the family resemblance of the beginning, progress and termination of all religious wars, beheve that the system is inipracti- cak/. J. These constitute some of the classes of objectors. People do not all entertain the same objection. Whai may be advanced by one, may 61 be unperceiyed by others. But, so it is, that the mind of the community IS sufficiently divided to indicate the existence of irreconcilable anta- gonistic elements vernring, at one and the same time, from so many different points. Ask the members of the clergy, of the magistracy, of the mercantile and trading class, aye, of the respectable portion of the advocates of state free schools, why they all educate their children at other seminaries and do not patronise the Common Schools The answers may be different, in so far as they are the answers of different classes ot objectors J but taken as a whole they are objections to the school system ; and, in this respect, the advocates of state free schools who have a position in society, may be made at any time to give practical testimony against the validity of their professions. 1 Y*^i*® **^is contest is going on, the system itself threatens to explode. 1 o avert such a calamity the state school doctors have lately recommended the immediate construction of two safety valves The one, compulsory attendance by means of the officers of justice/l have already examined. The other, is Sunday Schools. Now, the institu- tion of ^unday Schools is to be viewed from two dilTerent points; the one, its function as an accessory to a religious system of education ; and the other, its function as an independent institution, required by the wants of the state, but which the state is not to provide. Of these two kinds of Sunday Schools, the one can easily be identified as that of J!.urope, and the other, as readily of Boston. The former are unilormly surrounded by a parental and tutorial guardianship, which is simply an extension of that ex€ircised on the six working ^lays of the week. It is stern and exacting, but not more so than is required to curb the tendency of youth towards a lax state of morals. On the other hand, we are not without examples in Canada of the nature of the Boston system of Sunday Schools. They are the initiatory step to the soiree, thence to imprudent early marriages ;— thence to a squalid sickly progeny, and the fulfilment of the law that the sins of the fathers shall be visited upon the children unto the third and fourth generation. But our School doctors have decided that Sunday Schools are a public necessity. They have now gone to work to introduce the Boston sys- tem on a grand scale. A Convention is to take place at Kingston ; the Boston luminaries are to be there to instruct us benighted Canadians, how It is that Sunday School training can impart religion to secularized boys and girls. Thus we see that in connection with the movement for compulsory attendance, our Common School authorities are by no means idle. Their last hope is compulsory attendance and Sunday Schools. If these fail, then all is over. The present school system will thereafter be remembered in Canadian history as the Quixotic produc- tion of a few mistaken and narrow-minded bigots. But let us examine this Sunday School system a little more narrowly. It is admitted to be a public necessity, just in the same way that secular education is so 52 assumed ; yet, in the one case, the state is said to have a duty to per- form ; while, in the other, it is said to be divested of all obligation. Why so 1 How does it come that secular and Sunday Schools are admitted to be public necesssities, yet the int^^rference of the state becomes justifiable in the one case only ? We may search in vain for a solution of this paradox. Among the dicta of universal education^ ihe education of all, and the duties of the State, not one instance can be elicited to justify the claim of the secular schools on the State, and the denial of this claim for Sunday Schools. But in all cases we are referred to free school countries and to the practice of Boston. Well then let us turn to Boston ; let us see of what sort of stuff this exem- plary community is composed; let us measure their religion and morality by their own standard. A great deal has been said about ihe intelligence and morals of the people of Boston. Since the com- mencement of our present schocl system there has been no end to the fulsome eulogies by Dr. Ryerson and Lord Elgin. Indeed no longer back than the 30th November last, Lord Elgin repeated, before an Edinburgh audience, the often told fallacy that the free schools of Bos- ton which had existed there over two hundred years, had been the means of " raising, to a level unprecedentedly high, the standard for general morality and intelligence." Making every allowance for the strong personal motives which Dr. Ryerson and Lord Elgin are both known to have had, for hawking this assertion about, and continuing to pro- duce it on every favorable occasion, it cannot be presumed that the public can derive benefit from a belief which, notwithstanding that it has been officially impressed, is itself a most gross and deliberate false- hood. I shall, however, take Dr. Ryerson and Lord Elgin on their own jomt assumption, that the free school system of Boston has existed in operation in that city for two hundred years, and that it has produced the wonderful results that they have described. It is well known that, in Boston as well as in Canada, the chief actors interested immediately m the working of the Common Schools, always conceal and never at any time divulge one of their defects. Just as Daniel Webster and Horace Mann have pictured as a reality, what they fancied their Com- mon School system should be, so does Dr. Ryerson report annually that tlie system is established, that it is perfect, that the Normal School is efhcient, that it is fast supplying the schools with teachers, and that he IS sustained by the people at large with unparelleled liberality and unanimity. People at a distance and who have no means of knowing the precise facts believe these reports ; ihey thereby get currency •, and finally a boldness is assumed with respect to their authority that confers on them a semblance of truth. So it is with school reports which emanate^ from Boston and Western Canada, and likewise with every thing which comes from the parties directlv interested in uDholdin*' the system at all hazar4.8. Under such circumstances it is fortunate to meet 1 I < < 4 i t I I e il I P & a h V 1 If «( 53 with one credible witness, who has the honesty and the boldness to speak the truth, to lift the curtain that hides the den of free school iniquity, and to proclaim to his countrymen and to the people of Bos- ton that they have forsaken the true God and are treading in the foot- steps of the devil. No one will question Theodore Parker's devotion to the cause of State Schools, or his attachment to the institutions of his native city. A type of the true Boston educationist, he is the last person to impugn the results of secular education unless constrained to do so from the promptings of duty. Theodore Parker, -however; has spoken out, he has presented to the people of Boston their likeness, embracing their manifold vices, and their loss of every sentiment of religion. Bearing in mind that the intelligence and morality of Boston has been officially held up to the people of Canada as a model for imita- tion, and that in Sunday school organization it is said to be a paragon of excellence, let us read the emphatic words of Mr. Parker. The following is from his sermon published in 1851, entitled "The Chief Sins of the People." "Are the laws of Masaachusetts kept in Boston, then? The usury law says, thou sfaalt not toke more than six per cent on thy money. Is that kept? There are thirty-four millions of banking capital in Massachusetts, and I think that every dollar of this Capital has broken the law within the past twelre months I and yet no complaint has been made. Thsre are three or four hundred brothels in this city of Boston, and ten or twelve hundred shops for the sale of ram. All of them are illegal I some are as well known to the police as is this house I indeed, a great deal more frequented by some of them v-an any house of God. Does any body disturb them ? No. • • • When the old South Church was built, when Christ's Church in Salem street, when King's Chapel, when Brattle Square Church, they were respectively the costliest buildings in town. They were symbols of religion, as churchas always are ;— symbols of the popular esteem for religion. Out of the property of the people great sums of money were given for these houses of God. They said, like David of old, it is a shame that we dwell in a palace of cedars, and the Ark of the Most High remains under the curtains of a tent. How is it now ? A crockery shop over-looks the roof trees of the Church where once the eloquence of a Channing enchant- •d to heaven the worldly hearts of worldly men, alas ! to let them fall again under his successor. Now an hotel looks down on the Church which was once all radiant with the sweet piety of a Buckminster A haberdasher's warehouse overtops the Church of the Blessed Trinity I the roof of the shop is almost as tall as the very tower of the Church. These things are only symbols. Let us compare Boston, in this respect, with any European city you can name ! let us compare it with gay and frivolous Vienna, the gayest and most frivolous city of all Europe, not eetiing Paris aside. For, though the surface of life in Paris sparkles and glitters all over with radiant and irridescent and dazzling bubbles, empty and ephemeral, yet underneath there flows a stream which comes from the great fountain of nature, and tends on to the ocean of human welfare. No city is more full of deep thought and earnest life. But in Vienna It is not so. Yet even there, above the magnificence of the Herrengasee, above the proud mansions of the Esterhazys and the Schwartzenbergs and the Lichtensteins, above the costly elegance of the imperial palace, St. Stephen's Church lifts its UU spire, and points to God all day lon^' and all the night a still and silent emblem of a power higher than any mandate of the kings of earth ; aye, to the Infinite God Men look up 1o its Cross, overtowering the frivolous city, and take a lesson ! Here, Trade looks down to find the Church. I am glad thit the Churches are lower than the shops. I have said it many times and f say it now. I am glad they are not less magnificent than our Banks and Hotklb. I am glad that haberdasher's shops look down on them. Let the outward show correspond to the inward fact. If I am pinched and withered by disease, I will not disguise it from you by wrappages of cloth ; but I will let you see that I am shrunken and shrivelled to the bone. If the pulpit is no ntarer heaven than the tavern let that fact appear. If the desk in the counting-room is to give law to the desk in the Church, do not commit the bypoorisy of putting the palpit desk abova the counting-room. Let ns see where we are." 54 This is Boston, the city of secular state schools and Sunday volun- tary schools. The above is a candid acknowledgment of the fruits of secular education ; by which, it is seen, the counting house and the tavern are hold in higher estimation than the Church, and no vestige of an inward sentiment of religion remains to distinguish the descendants of the famous puritans. Indifferentism, the non-sectarian standard, has here reached its climax. They have parchment laws on morality, which are practically obsolete. Christianity is a mere name, an out- ward semblance, not a reality. Their true God is Mammon ; their appropriate object of secular worship. How characteristic is all this of the separation of religion from the business of the world. That society should follow its worldly occupations during six days of the week, and bottle up its religion for Sunday, and that children should be taught early to follow this course, is a novelty, never suggested in any other age or country. It has been reserved for the Boston and Canadian educational doctors to prescribe and carry into force the most ready means by which to sap the foundations of morality and religion. Sunday Schools of this sort and under such management are the sure precursors of youthful habits that lead to imprudence ; and on this ground alone, if on no other, the conduct of those who are foremost in getting up the present movement for Sunday Schools on a large scale, as a public neces ity, is in my opinion exceedingly reprehensible. But this is not the only objectionable ground. The chief objection consists in the extreme separation which is contemplated, of the secular from the Sunday Schools. It is only about a year jince Her Majesty Queen Victoria signified in a special manner, her approbation of the Rev. John Caird's protest against the separation of religion from the business of every day life. In Canada, however, the doctrine is officially pro- claimed, that in order to train up children in the way which they ought to walk in after life, when they enter on the business of the world, they must be instructed early, to separate the business of the seventh day from that of the other six days of the week ; so that what is religious and what is secular may be far enough estranged to prevent them from exercising a reflex influence on each other. It is presumed, of course, that this early inculcation is to form the habits which are to be retained and acted upon in after life. This is the latest importation. We are following rapidly the example of Boston ; and if it had so happened that we possessed no power in our midst to destroy, in due season, this hydra-headed monster of republicanism and inhdelity, a Canadian Parker might at some future day be able to make a similar comparison of our devotion to secular affairs and indifference for the symbols as well as the essence of religion. In addressing you, Sir, in this public form, I have done so for the nni'iT^SP* fif d>'awiii0- tVie atienlinn nf thp fT0vprnmf»>t of ^vlnVh vr\u are the most prominent member, to a state of things existing in one depart- 55 ment of its administration which is a foul blot and signal disgrace, to a country professing to be Christian, and boasting of its inherited gifts ot civil and religious toleration. My object is not to precipitate the Government into a popular collision, regardless of the certain conse- quences which would attend such a course. B j no means. All I aim at is to get those into whose hands the destinies of the Province are intrusted, to begin to look seriously at what is going on, under their direct sanction. I am not insensible, in common with many others who entertain the same opinion, that the evil referred to will cure itself It only allowed time to work out its own destruction. That it contains within Itself Its own antidote is admitted. But that is not sufficient. in the meantime the mind of the community is demoralized by the propagation both politically and religiously of the worst elements of J^ ourierism ; and this is effected through the channel of official Journals and Keports, which find their way gratuitously into every hole and corner of the Province ; into every township and every school section. 1 am not now going to presume to dictate to the Government what course it should adopt. I feel confident that a little reflection will be sufficient to point out the cause of the evil and also the remedy ; and that the first error and the whole course of error will be perceived to have proceeded from not having taken experience for the guide. Had bir Charles Metcalfe appointed a Minister of Education, with a seat in the Cabinet and directly responsible to the people's representatives, would the Province have been distracted in the way it has been during the last ten years, by a school functionary battling to force his peculiar school dogmas on the people, against their most solemn protests, and their most determined resistance ? Certainly not. Such a scene of strite could never have been witnessed. A Cabinet Minister would have had to consult their wishes, in the same way that every other Cabinet Minister has to do. Here is an anomaly existing in our svstem 01 responsible government, to which is to be imputed the whole of our Common School misfortunes. Had Sir Charles Metcalfe made reference to any country, where experiments on education had been thoroughly elaborated and satisfactorily determined, he would have found that the Minister of education is simply an administrative functionary, not a perpetual legislator. In making this remark I have no wish to imply censure ofLord Metcalfe's Government Far from it. Circumstances existed at that time which probably precluded the adoption of what otherwise might have taken place. But it is not too late to do now what should have been done then. It is not too late for the Government to think ol allowing the people to compromise their school differences, through the instrumentality of a responsible Minister of the Cabinet whose duty would be confined to the service of their general and sec- tional wants, according to the diversity of circumstances ; and who would be their responsible servant,— not their irresponsible master. 56 In bringing these letters to a close, I need to make no apology for havine performed the task of canvassing the practical and theoretica Snts of the Common School system. The subject is one of vast Importance to the future of Canada ; and if they can be instrumental, lo however small an extent, in exciting inquiry, 1 shall be satisfied. I have the honor to be. Sir, &c., &c. A PROTESTANT. Toronto, 10th February, 1857. Ite> »'■ SUGGESTIONS ON THE ORGANIZATION ' tr OF A SYSTEM OF COMMON SCHOOLS, ADAPTED TO THE CIRCUMSTANCES AND STATE OF SOCIETY IN CANADA, BEING A SERIES OF THREE LETTERS, ADDRESSED TO THE HONORABLE JOHN A. MACDOMLD, BY A PROTESTANT. TO THE HON. JOHN A. MACDONALD. ]¥o. I. Sir, — For the same reason as that stated in my former series of letters, I again have the honor of addressing you on the subject of Common School education. In that series I undertook to show that the system in Western Canada is constructed on a false basis, and is therefore deficient and, to a majority of the people, unsatisfactory and repulsive. I now propose to submit what I consider ought to form the governing principles of a Provincial system, the conditions to be observed in its organization, and the means to be employed for its per- manent stability. The duty of government to promote and control public education rests on two assignable grounds ; first, the necessity of accompanying the progress of national civilization by moral and humanizing agencies ; and second, the inadequacy of voluntary efforts to perform this office. Experience has demonstrated that the higher seminaries of learning no less than the lower, when - ft to depend on their own unaided r.eans of support, have uniformly diminished in number, and thereby become limited in the range of their usefulness. In the lower walks of life this is conspicuously manifested by the number of persons recorded, in the census reports, as unable to read and the much greater number unable to write. But while it is the duty of government to provide facilities for humanizing the progress of national civilization both in the higher and lower education of the people, the obligation is rendered the more imperative in reference to the inferior class of schools, by reason that the circumstances of parents, dependent for their subsis- tence on arduous bodily labor and the bringing up of large families on uncertain and precarious means, often necessarily constrain them to neglect parental duties of whose obligation they are in most cases too painfully conscious. Public education being, thus, a State necessity, an important duty is imposed on government to provide, not only means, but to exert its best energies to see that the means are the right kind, that they are calculated to accomplish the object for which public schools are instituted, and that they are capable of a general application to all sections of the country and of a' general acceptance by all sections of £ t a V s V a tl di w tl m b( ei ol af re G. Sc Sc ^I^ immediately adopted by the 80^^10^^ "^^^ ""T Calvanistic D«tc/schoo[systelTtr Ca\h"ouf;^H^^^^^^^ oSi„t r»tLi""*''i '^'"'h, ""'"''' '^""^ *''« '"»"'y resistance offered bl the f™ til attelT-:/'^' tw<.jty.„i„e years of this persistent L J and only ended ,^S, ^LT. , "" ^f!t "S"?'"^ "^ P™*^''^'"* intoleLce! isin f ,.l '^" V'« expulsion of the Nassau dynasty from BelEium in 1830 ; when under the new constitutional monarch/then formld free" establled wUb"" "Vr,'^''' f"'' °^ "" '«"sious^omm„™ons w^ estawished w th constitutional guarantees ; and since which date Eu ir N^ ? "' P'"''' r""S *^' ^"'^ educational nations ta fuDDOse' th^t ?r T"' "-'" ™""°"t«'J' by a government, than to seS ofM "i '•'' Ti"'^""^ *" "•« ^<''"^'' convictions of a large to i Teai tV^°f rf •"' ""*'"'"« prejudicial results that reflect to at least an equal extent, in some other way, on the public interests grafirof a'dZ™"';' !f?''''"™ 'f *P^"'^ ^''" ^' e^nc^d thir he f [p» „f f ''»"""*"' ^I'-J irresponsible department of the public ser- Itracted L Tbe'™"""*';"' r'^ "'^l" d^P^rtment of wh^h is con- structed on the principle of responsibility to the popular electoral The present aspect of educational affairs, in this Province, betokens an approaching crisis, which seems destined to completely revoluUoS the whole fabric of public education. Not alone the Common School ttie o^her TJ ":' ""t*"?' *""" '"Saged as steadily to undermine miudt tLt rl''"'T!:* ^,' P;;"'""* ^"'"'"S S'""™'' '» "le Canadian h^ ,.il!; *=" Common Schools, Grammar Schools and Colleges, should ^nminf /T ""'"'"''■'•P" ■•'''"■'''"*• *"<• should be subject to Gov- ernment interference no further than is necessary to ascertain tlL observance of the conditions on which public ail is granted t£: affiliation of religious denominational Colleges with a spurious and non- religious University, IS apparently as repulsive and as great a piece of Gothamite patehwork, as eitherthejunctionofGrammIr and Common Sch^^i p"^ j^' f^ <=°»J»ined management of Grammar and Common School Boards of Trustees, or an infidel and republican Common School j^>s«=m wnicii religious people in this British" Province are compelled by law to uphold. With the process of school tinkering whterS »4 btten going on for several years and which has been visited on all sides by ridicule and contempt, the public mind seems to be at last surfeited, and we now appear to be on the eve of some great change for which public opinion is fully prepared. In view of tliis critical stage of our educational history, it may not be out of place to take a glance at the materials with which the Government will have to deal, at the object which it ought to keep steadily in view, and the machinery best fitted as well for the ;vork to be accomplished as to insure general satis- faction. As the object of public elementary schools, with which I am at present more immediately concerned, is the promotion of moral and industrial habits among the great mass of the laboring population, care will be requiied to adjust the means to be employed so that they shall exactly serve that specific object ; and equal care will be necessary to guard against misapplication of these same means, through misappre- hension of what is or is not conducive to the desired end. Above all things the Common School must be regarded as an instrument through which the State aims at the prevention of ignorance and poverty, and their reflex consequences on the interests and well being of the State itself. The contrary ^mistaken notion to which I have formerly adverted, prevalent in America, that the duty of the State is to educate all for the purpose of paking enlightened citizens, and that every child born into the world is entitled^ to an education and has a claim for a free education at the expense of the State, has been prolific, as we have seen, of the worst effects here as well as in the United States. The erroneous notions produced, by a false system, on the rising generation, have operated to corrupt the minds of young men, the sons of farmers and others, and to seduce them from following the professions •of their parents, to seek, what they esteem genteel employ- ment in towns and cities. Since the present system has been in existence the scarcity of agricultural laborers has gradually become more and more a subject of complaint, while the influx of young men to Commercial, Railroad and Bar-room pursuits is a sad commentary on the universal system of education which Lord Elgin told the people of Glasgow was " elevating our intellectual standard to an elevation never before attained by any community." I was told last week by a person, \vho, seeing an advertisement of employ- rnent for about a month, to make up accounts, applied for the situa- tion, that in the space of about three hours from the appearance of the newspaper notice, upwards of seventy applications had been made. Some time before, I had a letter from a young man in the country soliciting my intercession to procure him a situation on one of the Railways, and was about to apply to one of the Directors of iiiY Tjiciiia i lUiiiv ivuiirOuu Vvompany, lor iiial parpuMu, wiicii an editorial of the Leader newspaper made the announcement that oyer four In.mlrc.l .ppliralions of u similar .lature were then in social di,,omp.r wh„.s. visible' 0^ so forth into „,„ country witrlj^rnullrnlst k "' 'thlX *„"/£ own importance They open .,ei,„ol« wl.,.rever a~t ,1 " IJZ' T"^ ^^ «"'>'^1;;"S and familiar intercourse cornbi ,ed wi I he example of nomadic hal.its, f;,r tliey seldom r..main lon<^r |rm orUr'nunMs ::,;" ","" "';"•"• ""•y «>'"' '-""t-ninate the mind/of he hnr .nfl ' r ' 1 • '?" " ^"""" '"''" ^^1'" '"''v reside in the nei;enship; and thus see Tl,i '1 ""'" ^"^f," *° '™"' •" ''i«'""' honest labor Herein we n?n„f f r ""^ ''''' "'?"'"'<• •'«' •■xistence of which the Govern ments of Europe strive most eneri;etically to provide and We studiously framed their Normal School Ke^^llatim^so as'mo" t effec' tuallyto prevent, ,s, with us, e,u.ouraK,!^l and K.stered by direct N S s'h^orl'""- 1 ''*'/ '"«*""»'■"'« •''""«!' which our cLiaS XrJ, ' °P''''«tes to perpetrate this wide spread evil are not who have n'?b*""='"'f T'!",?7 e-tificates, bu?all those besides Who have had their indnstrial habits corrupted by the discipline of that institution while within its walls ; and also the three thousand and more promiscuous teachers scattered over the Province who imbibe the doetrmes of enlishfened citizenship throu!fhthe"nsidXns Ke'S "Here"!'?, *'" 'r"™" "^ '^^'l'-*-" ai^' te Zta Ktport. Here, on the eonfraiy, as in Europe, the great aim of Seler™!" o^C'""/' '"l "•«?""'"y P"blic'^schooLs should be thf preseivation of the natural and normal relations of society. Bui detrimental to national prosperity, than the institution of artificial rd'S" hwT *<'" do™es«c hipp'! room nnd s 1 "'*'P«;<'en7, opposed to conventional vice, Bar- wWrtbelt^Tf ""•*""?"' l?«*';'^o'"« diseases,debt and dishonesty rnt»*trr : . °t;"V" ?' '^''-r '•-^-"- "'^"'^^'' constitution^ rl^>.+A'v.c' '"'"^ J 1 ?^ ^ ,i^' ^'^^^^^^ ^^ ^^^'^- 1 ake the list of insolvent debtors, engendered by Mr. Freeman's Insolvent Debtor's Act, as fiirniahed in the Gazette. Are tliey farmers ? No. Are they trauers ? Yes. And yet a cnrsory observer onlv sees p small part, or perceives only one aspect of the insolvent picture. The ramified effects of those nisolvencies are infinite. The amount of lef,ml business, the unjust confessions of judgment, the false assignments, the attempts at fraud, the false swearing, the injury suffered by connections and depencients, and the loss to thousands indirectly affected by them are things of which, in gross or in detail, we generally entertain a verv inadequate conception. They are, however, the consequences, and It will be found so on the examination of individual cases, of a departure from the path of honest industry to commercial adventures lor which those employed in them were not adapted. Therefore both on national and individual grounds, as well for the welfare of the individual members of society as for the protection of society Itself, the duty of the Legislature of Canada in framing a new school law will be to make it subservient exclusively to this moral and industrial object. Having defined the object to be kept steadily in view, while pre- paring a new law for the organization and management of public elementary schools, I now pass on to the consideration of the means by which that object is to be attained. And the first consideration IS, the nature and composition of the governing bodies. In this, as m the former case, we must submit to be guided by experience. In t-urope, under all the difierent forms of political government, -ve find that, uniformly and without exception, the government of the elementary common schools is placed, both theoretically and practi- cally, in the hands of the general governments, the municipalities and the clergy. 1 liese are the three governing bodies. The general government makes the law, and adininisters^it in so far as it has a general bearing on the appropriation of the general school fund, and the character and quantity of religious and secular instruction pre- scribed by law. The municipalities have complete control over all the schools within their respective jurisdictions, in local assessments. the erection and management of school houses, the selection of teachers and the appointment of local superintendents. The Clergv do not occupy the same distinctive sphere of a united authority, such as a general or municipal government, and therefore have not, like them, an independent action. They are, however, recognized by the law as the guardians and exponents of religion and public morality, and by virtue of this recognition they co-operate with the general and municipal governments to protect and supervise the religious charac- ter of the schools and of the teachers. However desirable it may be to follow the successful experience ot^ other countries in working out the details, still there are diversities o. Circumstances which require a suitable modification of the arrange- menls existing iu these countries. Amontr the irreflt««t nf fh of society, arrangements that would ma the re mins ol'fr, nti ners and associations in the old world wo.HH h„ kl i**' T"' the larse amount of freedom ^I^nc^h we ^n^Jy. Thesl^lfd"^ ^1l*° considerations mark the propriety of leaving educat in tw-rfiltlf and unfettered, and of Ummn/ «.,vern2nra, d ZS inte,* ference and control simply to the furnishing of facSL C 'hfi; the people can organiiie schools to suit their varimirta«t,./ m ' notwithstanding that it is the duty of the goyprZe t to n^^^i,! J fec'titi? hT;'"T^ 'tf^' " ^°"'<' perrrth:t'du't;c;lm;i"r' fectly ,f ,t did not make choice of the means most likely to ai^swJr the purpose. And that purpose cannot be ' '"' "" ''•""■'l '" that most absurd 7rin° tflf ^ P'T"' *^°'"'"°" '^''""" Law, which prescribes „™[form?y in the mode of organizing and managing the schools. The law ^ BaS-''Vhr"T ".'"''' ''1.°"''' ^' '^'■' *" *''^ discretion ormnnl;: palities . The Trustees enforce it simply because it is law and a state of disruption ensues which continues from one yearto an^ttr without intei-inission. All these consequences are produced by Jhe Goyernment taking upon itself to do, and authorizin/the local ^cV,S authorities also to do, what could be better done byaepeon?^ thef selyes if left to their own free action. \Vh ile, therefore tK„t.„? f what r""t"l™i*"\°' •".""'"P"' ^"H'O'auoiissh^W be confined to what^am.jt be done by voluntary association^ in all other resnectsthe fgeraiiroVlatf^^''^' '""' '""''' ^''"-'"- *'"' P^" prelili^rcoridt^^^^^^^^ Z t"pttardeS iftat IS, the nature and extent of ths rplJcmno oi -^3 pUDlIC morality rests as much on the iniluence oFe'cclesia'^SauJhorir;;: 8 on the teaching of the Scriptures, it becomes a concern of the first importance that the clergy of ail denominations should participate in the work of education. Indeed without this participation it is not possible that any system can ever become popular. Now how is the co-operation of the clergy to be secured ? Only in one way and on one specific condition ; namely, that what is truly and properly religion shall be taught in such a manner as each clergyman or each denomi- nation chooses to prescribe. Anything short of this, notwithstanding that it might chime in with the notions of a certain class of extem- porized preachers, will never meet with the acquiescence of the great ecclesiastical corporations or the congregations over which they preside. In the arrangement of the religious element we will be quite safe to follow the example of the European elementary schools, and make the religious denominational character of each school conform to the denominational peculiarities of the parents whose children are to be educated therein. There are some things that adjust themselves in accordance with natural laws, without any extraordinary effort of the mind to discern the adaptation. Such is the arrangement that Govern- ment should appoint the District Inspectors, because they are respoi* ^ sible for the performance of their duties to Government only. Or for a similar reason, that the Local Superintendents should be appointed by the Municipal Corporations. And so it is with the religious instruction given in the school, that it should correspond with the religious belief of the parents whose children are educated there. If the differences of religious creed, 'n the same school section, are assumed as an objection,— then enlarge the section or make the school divisions dependent on the voluntary denominational combinations of the different religious bodies, so that each school shall have a specific religious character ; which is the best guarantee, indeed the only guarantee, that the clergy and congregations, connected with it, will become collectively and personally interested in its prosperity. With Protestant, Catholic, Jewish or other distinctions, the Government can have no concern. Its duty, in pursuance of the object to be served, is to secure for the children of the humbler classes a religious and secular education, in the only way and by the only means that is possible to secure it, namely, by making it acceptable ; and notwithstanding that we are a Christian people and all our laws are based on Christianity, still if there are those among us who from conscientious belief profess any other than the Christian religion, they are entitled to the same educational privileges on the ground of state policy, if on no other ; for it ought to be the maxim of our Govern- ment, as it is of the older and therefore more experienced governments of the old world, that it is better to encourage Judaism than indif- ferentism, better for children to be brought up under some species of ecclesiaKtical rontrol, even though not Christian, than that they 65 I 4 which naturally con"s SS^\L fu iSo^"of";5; ^^'^ -^"^ *^* rations. The other, that ii. chary of thfr.n/ *^.™"""''P^' ''opo- this order I shall dispose oU^e^^^UnlTZf uZT"'''''- '" I have the honor to be, Sir, &c., &c. ^m^ Toronto, 24th March, 1857. A PROTESTANT. IVo. II. Sir,— I now proceed to the consideration of the administrative machinery by which the work of common school education s to be earned on. And first of that part which belongs to the Municipal i,K ""'• ^^,r Corporations should be constituted independen authorities, in all matters connected with the local management of schools, by virtue of the fiscal school jurisdiction which they exercise As the members of a iMunicipal Council are elected by the suflWes of a municipality to protect and promote its general interests ; its power ought therefore to be supreme within the municipality in CTeVacTof to Zr„l'"'' "^f '""r '7 '°™' P"P°^^^- And so it was previons to the Common bchool Act of 1850. That Act created an impercum immpeno. It constituted a Municipal Board of School Tru t^es^ ?t Jl,f:"'T'P i'"^ independent of the Municipal Council, and nvested It with a fiscal power, by which it has been enabled to controrihe Co inc.l in some of its most particular and necessary fhnctions. That f-1^ PIf'''ft'^'l °», ""o assumption that a Municipal Council was too cautions, about hazarding a large expenditure, where there was no cer° he I'^Ln'r"""'' 1';^ ""; °''J^'' "••'« •« o™'-"'!" the dispositL of do aVd wh 't J^r"'"'" "'° ,"'' ^°"""' '» ''^ ^"'at it did not want to do and what was considered at the time, and has been too truthfully Z r'T' '™' ?" <"'"-"™Sant and useless expenditure of publ c funds. But pray, why, was this anomaly grafted on our municipal svs- em of local self-government ! What right had the .School La Jthus 'o prLtoIe \'c of-is^gf t/"' """"'"^ of the Municipal Luw in force fnr^H^f) 5 ?Q ■ ^''^ """"'"" "* «'Ppliet of theorists who are prac- shrewd Sf^J"/K"'-"''"S 'he falsity of their own principles, b'Sof inXt "': '„!;i" ""iTv^l r^'r"^-."' "^«- holding the^ir^t rank ,„j . "~ ;'V- *-"! t"is iicad, ana in oruer to shew how difterent and how much more correct is the idea of municipal self-government I 12 / i .!!** in the old world, I extract the following from M. Victor Cousin's report to the French Government in 1831, when he was occupied along with M. Guizot, in digesting the system of primary schools which now exists in 1< ranee ; and I may remark that both Cousin and Guizot adoptea nothing and recommended nothing, according to their own acknow- ledgement, the safety and success of which had not been fully veiified by the experience of other countries : " The most difficult point in law on primary instruction is the determination what are the authorities to beemployea. Here also let us consult facts. The French administration is the glory and the master-work of the Imperial Government. The organization of France in maires and prefecture,, with municipal and depart- mental councils, is the foundation of government and of social order. This foundation has stood firm amidst so much ruin, that prudence and policy seem to point to it as the best and safest prop. Moreover this organization has just been reformed and vivified by rendering the municipal and departmental councils elective and popular. Thus the French administration unites all that we want-activity and popularity The administration, then, is what you must call to your aid. Recollect, also, that it is these local coun- cils that pay, and that you cannot fairly expect much from them unless they have a large share in the disbursement of the money they have voted. These councils are chosen out of the body of the people and return to it again ; they are incessantly in contact with the people ; they are the people legally reore' sented as ih^ maires anu the prefects are these councils embodied, if I may so say, in one person for the" „pake of activity ancl^dispatch. I regard then, as another incontestible point, the necessary intervention of the municipal and departmental councils in the mapagement of public instruction. Js there ouM to l>e a school in every commune, so there ou?ht to he for eSky communal school a special commUtee of superintend d^ceM ought to be formed out of the municipal council, and presided over by the maire. Ishullpe,hap, be told that men who are Jit to conduct the business of the commune are not fit to superintend the communal Zll'J/ry " /*"f' ' r"'"^-^"'" '^^'^ ^"^'"«'^«'^^«" 6ui zeal, and fathers of Jamilies cannot want zeal where their dearest interests are concerned." j j >. wum . The only reason assigned for the infringement of our municipal ^w is, thgt It is so infringed in the cities and towns of the United Mates. ..'^o says Dr. Ryerson ; and to this dictum we have all bowed down with humble submission. We certainly seem to have been a very enlightened people, to have been so successfully duDed ! The fear is fi'ir^]!!^^^^^^^^ "' ^ ^'^^* "^"^'^^'^ infideliz^d and republican- ;,Ke(f ,by pited States importations, without being in the least sensible mt such a process was going on. And it is a sad reflection that, at the present day, so many should be found unconsciously yielding sub- mission to the same deceptive influence. Notwithstanding, however that our municipal law has been violated, that in no way affects the validity of the principle that the Council should be supreme, and should exercise an undivided jurisdiction within the municipality in all matters of local concern. ^ ^ The County, Town, and City Councils are the three corporate powers into whose hands the whole local control should be placed. JLach Council could appoint a special committee on education from its own member.s, and also a Local Superintendent who should act as secretary. 1 he County Council should superintend and regulate the schools m the townships. For many reasons it is the proper authority, in the hrst^ place, because every township and incorporated village is repieseniea m iao county council by tke town reeve. In the second 13 circumstances, inlerer'nc pre , Sees rndi^'Th.' T ^' 1°^"' bcca,^e township divisions hav^ bVcn'Tund txc'eedin^i: tuJZi to the formation of proper school limit« ^u^ ^^""^jy ueinmental latter point are of a v^eryTerious natoe ^^' cmpla.nts on thi, .1,. n^" scliool fund should be derived from three sources namelv of whieTr'n ^"""' •^'^ '"""'^'P''' '''^^^^'"ent and schooHees'^: ^riat^e^^tiveTy^™™:; h?rehl.^Se?f^ '\t' "^ ^.^™- assessment to pa/for ^bJ^e'n^thi^t^J^ifdtrof 'setol hours"'"''^' The school buildings and their first outfit should be all paid for bv a res7d"enc?fo; fh/T"" t"' P^°f "''^ '?'' *^ """"^^ assess.S alsb aTZ ,^ > ,''* *f «<^f'«i-> or Its equivalent in money. In the town- ships partjeularly, the teacher ought to have a house and ga den pTot one Ja'cr Tie :;f l\''""' *" '"'T ^'^ P^™^""'"* rfsidene^' i*„' ^rltll u ^"^"'^^ '*°"^'^'* ""^y be either rented, or may be erected on sites purchased for the purpose, at the ootion of t),» 717ZW tie w ''\''T ''"^^.'^'^ '" Procurhrgrirbl^plo »Lf ' , 'u \l ^'^X "' Sift, in the townships, as every one is anxious to have the school as near his own door as possible and for that reason the ground is always easily attainable. left tlfteTSf ''? »";' '""'"cement of each school should be I ij V ;"'»""«"»« of the municipality. The heads of families shou d be leit perfectly free to form what^combinations they cWse of a strictly religious character. And this is precisely as itSd clhL J ™ffi^'ent number of heads of families desire to have a comb ned religious and secular school, the Council would be act?„^ SeTtt' r ^'^ '^ '' '''^'r' «-" 'he -eans of erabUshfngt"* in?prtlr» ? ? '' "'i'' ?''"™' Government can with propriety interfere, to enforce exclusively secular instruction. Because such a proceeding would be subversive of the religious and moral am of afi'theXrfJv'" ""f "7' '>''• f""'""^ *« ™°-' «'— . unacceoVabh. ft r ^^"'^'''T"''^'"°"=""' ™=''^i"-"? *e means rouKni:.- .'*' »eeessary,here, to recollect that fhe object of fZl And r '' *." '"''''f '' """■"' ''^ ^''" "' ^ ««"'"''>■ educated people. And as good morals cannot exist independent of religious mpressions, thai the duty of the State and of Municipal Councfss ZZT"^" m"^'""' instrncrion, as well as secular, in tL Com In fhe ,t '• A ^""'T'' ''' 'f •'""«' '"^'^^ »y^*era has for its oS, no" Tor.'* !"1;;r4? -^»" fr-*i™ of the'ehildren of school aie.l i"n to realise "tfe^i ^K "»'" "quire instruction. For these reaso'ns, and to realize these objects, the schools must be made acceptable, and 14 hence the necessity of ti.e heiids of families boin? left to make (heir own voluntary iirransements. We are to r>.c",lle,.l a so tha a national sy.sten. is not intended to make Prol-.^tants/ Neithe is its object to make Catholics. The Mmmipal (.'ouncil can have iiot^hi i^ to do with th>s or that |mrticular profession of iaith. Its " peck'i concern shonid be the protection of the public morals, bv mX of all available instrumentalities, whether Protestant or CatlTol c If numbers of the Protestant poor are ignorant, and w II nT c'eivc instruction except thronsh a Protectant channel by all „ cans let them be accommodated. So that they become pos.^e sea of a pr. , er ednc" uon, ,t ,s of iMtle consequence through what particular me li .m hey preter to receive it .Similarly vvi.h the numbers of the Utholic poor, who can neither read r,or write, but who would make better sub eets and belter citizens if eudowe.l with tin- ..intple rudirems of earning which are taught in a prhnary s, uool,\vo d be prudent, or would it be carrying out the aim of a pnbic school Z:^Z1 *''" ;■""""""•' °^ •'^^ i>egislature, to withi,, Id , ,lnc tton Certekly noV "' ''''''" " '" *"'^ "'^'^ "'"" '^ Catholic garb" As religion should form an element of instruction, and in order to secure this it is necessary to secure the co-operation of the clergy a, 2 congregations ; and as the only way to ' "'^"^ Protestant deno nhS, is !nS?i„^ ^ numerous to support a school it shouki have one on he application ot a determinate number of the heads of families. As he religion of the schoo should be that of the majority who" upport it the management should be in the hands of the clergyman andTelh^ious congregation of that majority ; an exceptional provision be n'mSe that no ehi d of another religious persuasion shall receive or le°pr"sen1 at the re igious lessons or exercises, if the parents object ; and also hat A Board of examiners would be required in each municipality to examine the qualifications of teachers, and for the grantingTcertifr cates. It should consist of the School Committee of the CouncTthe or M^yoTp're sMk."' ""'' "" «<'^^^"'"^"' Inspector, with the Wa den 15 the openi„g of schools To rent nr^h n "T? ''PP"'^«"o"« for school houses of the mun dpal V a, 1 '"'' '''S'"'" '^P^" t^^ teachers their por.ions of th^e GoVer,me„t Jran? ^\' J" P'^y •••« equivalent: To establish and m»nn r^f "' ■""'' "^^ assessed matory: To receive and ex'mi r f re:"r.^^" r'the^'lf 1°"' «^^- of the Common Schools • AnH tr. "~P^^^^ ^^ the local managers to the Minister of Sli' In Ll^nT'" '1 '^""^'"^^ ^"""^^^7 of the schools in X mur^J" ' n^ ^ correct report of the state Mayor. rnunicipality, signed by the Warden or The duties of the local school manao-ers shnnl.l 1.0 «. . a Secretary, who should keep a recorrof ih^^^^^^^ nianagers, and fill up all blank e turns to the^.hri'^''^'"^' ^^ ^^^ and to the Government Insnortnr fv, f V f ^"""^ Superintendent transaction, of n"o7Te tXer^^VhVt?^" ^'.^'^ ^^"^ Second, to choose and enffae-e a fllnll TK ^"^^ ^^ Secretary, of Examiners and possesseff .t^f f "^i'^ ^^' P^'«^^ ^^^ BoaM see that the qimm/rd naantUro/f ' ?^ ^«^Petency. Third, to by law, is lipphed. Frnr{o1ert£%\^^ are properly carried out wth respect to 1' 'r^"°^ '^^"^ations and general moral super;iJonore pupils wl^^^^^^^^ '.'^^^^^^^5} when absent from school Ami i^/T 1 . /^^ ^''^^^^ ^^^ annually to the Warden or Mayor LconditiornP^"'^ '°/^P^^ perity of tlie school • such renorf fo L ? v' P?§"^e,ss and pros- the congregationi ' ^'''^ ^^ ^' '^^"^'^ ^>^ ^he clergyman of the pdn^ipirSr'estf Xr opinion, should constitute cable, to 'nuuncipalitiei%r d. /^:.^^^^^^^^ j^ "X^' perceived, consists in relievina- the rn„Lii. „fT^ "■' " ^'" •>« oils from the difficulties aXernetuaistnfr '' Committee of Coun- wise necessary interference wTth the ^r'''''"''^ °" ^^"^ °*''«'- schools; and leavi„rth "or J,S.t/on n^ef 'r'',"?"^?'"^"* "^ the a natural process of "develo Cu WhL ?f r'"*"' *" '^™ "^^'^ by with its Se'cretary the Lot^S ; rinteXV, LdX^Di T 1 ^""""^ ment Inspector, would examine tho7„..i«:- } "'^'"et Govern- certiBcates of qualSioT t wonld ii ev " t^''^'^''' ""<' S^^"* duties confined to finance for Xh iH« T"^ "'t' '""'^^''^ ^ave its simplicity is another ?ecommendattr r"''""''"»hly competent. Its one Avhen we fake into ZTrderatZ' th^ en^r™ "" /"^gnificant indefinifeness of the present kwTt,„lfl-'' <^°">Plaints on the number of appeals frnlT.,"-' -"'t- --™ .'"''"^ '='^'"'^'' *« ^»«t .trued, and 'heV-ent ref.ren;;;teH^^f^;:S^^^^^^^ 16 to the judicial authorities for expositions of the letter of the law. It would conceal no loop-holes for the exercise of clerico-political craft • supply no facilities for covert and dishonest strategy ; and spread out no complicated cobweb to favor the personal schemes and theoretical legerdemain of any public officer. I have the honor to be, Sir, &,c., &c. A PROTESTANT. Toronto, 31st March, 1857. JXo. lU. othpr 1? * ? Government are constracted and related to each Sok sLlT.l'Tr^'' "f ^S-'ra^t^nd the whole eoZ of the scuoojs should be divided between the Municipal Counnil, »,„! Xo ^werl?°T"'"'"*' *?! ""'y *^» legitimate' ceutrso? aU fiscal of Trastei'^ttZ^f -m' '^''^ i^'^"- ^^^''^ ■♦''^* «" independent Board tive Wolatlon of th„ ""'""rt'y >« ?" imperium in imperio, a posi- irSeZdent rS" «P'^ of municipal government. What else n=7. V^Pendent Chief Superintendent within the iurisdiction of thp Sf^'-fi ^^^r'T""' *™ ^" independent sovereign y ; a pow"r in he State capable of controlling the Ministers of the state.'^and hoW- ^LThZu°'^ •''"' ^'T"' '^™^™' «"'• his adVisers. The toc£«rf»M.f„- iT.™''''-f'.'"''""'P''*'"« ™ith the duties and ranctions of a Municipal Council, is applicable to the power, patronage awinf ?hr°?'"''%'' Chief Superintendent, in influencing and over^ tb?^ • *T f- *" '^'=''*'''»' Government. Wo all know what canSln "h'*'' '' possessed by every Board of Trustees, th^Tu and cm^^"'''^'^'"^""*■"'^"°"<'y ■' "^"O"^'' without limitation Hn»1 r ^"l^^^eror do what it chooses with said money; the Muni- deman^lT"' ""'"^ "^^^''^ *" '^^^^ ^"td '^""ect in obed ence to the An™? 't^'^.l^ "** ^^y *'"''^' "« to the amount or its appropriation tlfhT^^l ^^^ ^""^^ "^ *'"' Chief Seperintendeut is differe"t oX s aniti 5^* ^^ ™?r' '^ ""'^'l ''y •''^^"'i the purposes to which U iallv^W "" "P"?'? *=• '^."*' *" "-"^'''y' his power is no less pract - cany than 111 nrinrMrwIoivMoli ~~-c5* — :-,- 1 r, • 1 ■- "" r^"^" limits nf rr^r^-r.'— K'^icii gxcatoi, ina«xaucn as, besides llie nominal limits of his jurisdiction, the institution of Independent Boards of 10 18 Trustees is so < evised as to mak.. these bodies second his purposes nn,l aequiesee n> h,s deeisions. The present eonstitutiono'fr Board, of School Trustees seems to have been designed with a view express- y to sustain the power of the Chief Superintendent. In Hk" mlnZ S: . I ?'"', '" """ "' «<"=""'>S tl'is same object. However in order to understand exactly the nature and extent of the "ronstitu" tional power which the Chief Superintendent is able to bring tS bear on the Governor General, on the Ministry and on eve"? Member of the House of Assembly and Legislative CounciUtLnece^sarv Lrfek'to'lsso™' T""^ "M'''* P»"«' ' -<> «<"•« !his weS werllnfluenced. '''"'"' ""^ '"°'"''' ^^ "'"'''• ''" «0"<=octois tion/pitrtLt^Utr];^: rreTeis-X^^^^^^^ eTeearthftUmeofg^r^"""*^ popularitr TheThe;, the" ^t ence at that time ol Dr. Ryerson over the Methodist Conference and as a popular agitator. The part played by Lord Elgin is „ot vet' pro- perly estimated ; but, as the instrument through whom and bv whom the rights of the Municipal Councils andX^ General GovernmeTt were bartered away and sold for a certain measure of^ommonSo D J f c T ,"S, ""^ ""^ indebted for the legacy of Independent m'teUtt Irf " ""'' ."" ^'!'i'^''*y clie/sVerintSem ut. Kyerson, in so far as personal considerations and a desire to im- prove his private fortune, coupled withthesomewhatexcusable vanittrf being considered a Canadian educational Goliah, may ^^id to have acted as any unscrupulous person would have doneTplaeed in his dr^ cumstances. Perceiving the object of Lord Elgin's ambition and also the suitableness of the position of each t5 exchange m,i?,f»l advantages, he embraced the opportunity nofonly to secure pat~ audits emoluments, but to intrench himself and fortiftr CoS position so as to be able to intimidate and to act defensively aS the Legislature whenever it should so happen that hi^ i/dfvTdual aspirations might require the exercise of such intimidation or defen WmseJf'and IZ^KT^"^ "'''* ^"^"P*"^ to intrench a^d for«?y himself, and by which he now exercises a power of intimidation over the Legislature, is that which I am desirous to show was unconstX tional. I am desirous to show that the creation of a ramified cd withlnr'sS: P.^'™"''Se was the creation of an indeprdent powS ^re and tta f'.hf °"P''"''J' "" * ""> independence of the Legisla- Denartment of I F^^P!- ''«P»^'t»ry of this patronage should be a beTs^onslble tl th!"""'"''^"'?^?''''"'' »^«' ^^ aMinistIr, who should pe responsible to the representatives of the people in Parliament and to the people themselves at th« l..,.t,„„, ^^ i-ariiamem, ana #' poses and ie Boards f express- B manner ned care- wever, in iconstitu- g to bear Member lecessary i we must oncoctors iconstitu- One, the the influ- ince, and yet pro- by whom ^ernment n School ilone, all ^pendent tendent. •e to im- v^anityof to have I his cir- on, and mutual itronage i official ■ against dividual r defen- i fortify on over onstitu- d chain power Legisla- ild be a should nt, and 9 which'."!; Mun^oZfc^LdlV'Lf """'-^ ol'^^^I^TTZIT^r the Councils woT. rLtZ so .« HLr^'r',''^ .possessed, and w/.ich at the same time hat i mX he fiZh M '^"i« !° 'i'T ''^ "Sht. ner to the puV- oT th^.l-L'^jS',,,:;^^"'''^"' '" " ^P^^' ">- which means the Local Siiperintendpnfs 'Zltt.f u ^^^^^^^^^* ^7 L-a ^'"-^^^ '- '"« -'"'— 'oii?^e te^;?;Ti.s„t with It, has produced and maintains a complicated net work of rm, vergent interests^ all tending, in like manner, to add to his indWid^»; omnipotence. By reference to the Public Accounts of he ProWne' Phi.fT'""?'"!' "^'' «^P«''diture of which brings influence to ?he S^fi^P™"!"'"*?' '"•<' "^ fol'^^^ =-I take the year 1855 in prefer- ence to any other, because what has been said, iu the precedi gWs on Common School statistics, has had reference to that yea" FW salaries of oflicers (exclusive of salaries of Chief and Depufy a„d two to ll'l'n °"f .^of-S-^'t expenses of the Normal ScCi, Toron" ^u ' A ' '"?/'«='.'"'"« «i« ♦"•ai'iing of teachers ill, 000; to procure plans and publications for the improvement of school arch tectSre and practical science, ^200 ; the Government grant, i;24,642 To" 6d further aid to the Normal School and for printing and dlstribntL the ™?„?? "^Education, i;i,000 ; for the purehase'of books a. d sLci- mens for a Canadian library and museum, i:500 ; for aid to schoX in new and poor townships, ^500; for a fund for poor and worn ou^ teachers, ^500 ; or grammar schools, f 7,483 10s. Od. ; for ZvWW the Grammar and Common Schools with maps, and apparatus" X2 5oS? ant librarians, &c., i:350; for the support and maintenance of suner- annuated teachers, ^500 ; for the payment of the salary of the iLpZor of Grammar Schools, i;250 ; and for libraries, X3,500. These ZneJ were paid to Dr. Ryerson in 1855, and the sime amn„nt"=~ ™??,„ him every year, to be expended for the purposes specified. ' By looking /■/■* 20 n>ore^»Ieeau''sfw.^,irwi,^' ™ig''ty . engine, made doubly money has been Xe/ ,t n, T ""■ T'^^"<;S effusion of public has worked nneeaSv t ^Hfl„ f '™ ' 'I'"?""''- ^""^ ^y "« "»« he eSv^ ""^'"'^ "^ '-'-^ --- in^^i:^ to . ,Se te ment'" h; iSpeSn/'.lir' "''■''.'' '" "°* '^'P'" ''- "> ?"'- not call him .oaceSt Because Kl'T""'*^^^ J^^^ ^''"■ such responsibility ^^"^ "'""^^ e*^ *« Act ignores been fully canied oiit n„ ik„T • i ■ ' ""^ 'erms of the treaty have tions. l'^MEIk Has left ,fl,' ""^ ^''^" '"i'' ""' """y mamfesta- Superintendent inrested w1 h n ^^'V'- '" "''' P'^''^''" "^ ^ Chief the LesislSe An f 1, ^r"' suthcent to control and intimidate . and constitution^ Ubertv Tl7ir ' "'n '•«^P''"«"'le government Rverson shnnl.l i,i . i -^^'i • '™sponsible power exercised by Dr. tiJe Gove m™t f 'n?'"f 'fPon^ible Department of the Execu: such a Department ml'dMs du^"^ """ "^ '=°-'''- *« --"'ution of pub.i?p:sr";hf st itiririh: T'n"' non,:SltrearalfthtSplZreT ^^'""^"^ ^PP-«'»ent should be 81 Nonnal and Common S(;hool3, and for the roturna nf th^ n- . - . r the attachment to the British constih in,?, ,,?, I "'."' .'^ "*'" encourage infidelity or indSlr^Sri X o!; Jllto^s^^^^^ lll^^y-^ S ru^eTdt'trho^l-Zt ''1 ''" ? " how the business of the Department^ht'tn rdmi^iSd! """"'"''^ Ihe duties of the District Inspecton '-^^ .j s^iifxhf «a»i, k„ ,.u of the Boards of Examiners in each municipality, and to assS> ?„ .hf examination of teachers. They should corre^nd wUh the Education and K^;ii^jJ.t,7"e ^'.^^'^^^^^tl therefore conld be best performed by a person of practical SV and ™trcTeSSrer„: •,:! '"'"" *^ ~' Adm^ni-atio^t^S^ school authorities specified in this letter and the one precedrnV The tuition fee should be a fixed amount and sufficiently low not t, nre^ heavily on poor parents who have many children to educate IfS cient for the payment of teachers' salaries, the annual erMt from the public revenue should be increased. The secular branch™ of educa- tion to be taught in the Common Schools, should be reXg! writtat arithmetic geography and Grammar; in short, such brancheriZ' indispensable in the ordinary business of life. But besides these ^d withm certain limitations, good effects would result in var^a^^ from allowing the teachers, for an additional tuition fee, to give "nsTra^ tion on the globes and also in the rudiments of Latin and Grik A mimmum salary to the teachers should be fixed UDon. AW» Vl-V we increase should be reguUted by the average attendance exhibit^ 22 here ''^:c::^7otz^ '^^zT,zi '"" Tr' ^•""''•p'- either during thi; or the ^exf Ses7o„ of fliTSovh L^P °r ' " '^ kind is immediate. Wliatever thTcha^r m^rbe i wi^\ f""! when it does take place, to consist inX' asTuLtion Vrthe GeZt fhJnTT^''^ "'f *f""'^'P^' C»»"<="^ of *e powers now vested Tn the Chief Superintendent and the Boards of School TrastT, Af this there can be no shadow of doubt Tbp ,>,.?,, „T.- "'**'"'': ^i the measure which may be brought foilard.t^d C^i g tg^" tf mate definite character of which there mav h^ .^1 !r^ l^ ■ . classification of Common Schol unLr^rotesta'^^nd^^ '^' distinctions, admitting only two classes of thlv ^ j Catholic tional schools entitling eacVTe^loTrpel^tt^^^^^^^ I'TrSl of establishing and managing Separate Schools. pnvilege Denominational Schools I considpr nrofo>.oki« t, secure, directly, the co-operation of the cW^y ""^nd 'jreTe'ad'^'^ families of the religious congregations. Withoufthat co-operS no S^sSe=;Lnrc:i^^^^^^^^^^^^ fte present law and its administration are replete.-" SomeTwL mu,; be speedily done to make the School Law acceutahip , ™f •"'"« must of 1,500,000 Protestants and 1,500,000 Ca'Ss none b^.t^'^Z^i'''"" or an inexperienced enthusiast c^uld e^r We d Teamed ^? Jf" able to make the one body hold the other in fet?Jrs FnTd PI ^ Buts:ttrrs^'";r''™^"'i^- • "'^ -<^^ f™"- dK„fSipuZ" But settmg aside the injustice, the intolerance of compelling cSics to receive education on Protestant conditions, where wasfs pSa^ heSdd makl* 1,500 000 PrnS{ffr TT^ ^"'^'^ calculation, that ■natters 1 Had irnXTTe::X\'T''' ^''^''^^''' '» "'too lar attempt by Lord Durham to m^rti.t.'"'"''^ "^^ somewhat sim' coerce the cifholics ofLower Catada? H !?*r<' "^^PP^' ^an da Rod forged by Lord Durham for this Jum^l " '"'P"*" '"'* *e hold of and made use of by the Hon ^f'^u i ^/ ''"«'-^"^<' 'hen no prospect is that the ProtesUntsaool BoHf ""/?* °^- Our present coerce Catholics, coiitains its own i?^ /°'^^'' ^^ ^^- ^YetBon to bothDr.Ryersoilandhrsystem and be fi'' *"* '' «" sn«ff out Catholic Schools free from Prot"stant nl,^ "!??"' °^ establishing Lord Durham, Dr. Rversrai w^ll fi„Ai, A "i''"'' ""crference. LikI data and reasoned 0?^ pT^lits He''' .^r/^i™'^'^'' »" ^o"! the means of damaging the Stan^'/'" *"^ *** >•« ^^^ been submi? them!':fthM: '^,l,° d^feT v ""'' '''' ?" ^''^ '''^' ^ judgment, and that the only motive bv which 1""''"^^' P'^"*'"^ IS a desire to relieve the (^nlri r-^ "^"^ ""^^ ^^^^ ''een dictated Councils, and the mimbers of the l' ^T^"™'"*' *"'' *^^ Municipal population and a numerrs bodv "I P f't' "! "f "^ *>'« Catholic and pernicious politicaTXncethfch 7,?'"*'' ^'^ 't S'S^"««= tration of the p'resent Common SelTooj Law. '" *' '^™"'- I have the honor to be, Sir, &c., &c. Toronto, AprU 7, 1857. A PROTESTANT.