At this point I resume the narrative which Dr. Ryerson had prepared for this volume in regard to his appointment:--In September, 1844, a vacancy occurred in the Professorship of Mathematics in the University of Toronto, by the resignation and return to England of Mr. Potter; and, as the gentleman who had been appointed to the Education branch of the Secretary's Office, was reputed to be an excellent mathematician, and had high testimonials of his qualification, he applied for the professorship; evidently feeling the anomalousness of his position, and his inability and powerlessness to establish a system of Public School Education.[127]

The Governor-General appointed him to the Mathematical Professorship, and formally offered the Education Office to me. I laid the official letter containing the offer before the executive authority (a large committee) of my Church, and was advised to accept it. But as I had determined to abide by the decision of the country as to the principles of its future government, on which I was then appealing to it, I determined not to accept of office until I should know the result of that appeal.

After the endors.e.m.e.nt of my views by all the const.i.tuencies of Upper Canada, with eight exceptions, I felt no hesitation, in accepting an office which had been some months before offered to me. The draft of my official instructions, stating the scope and design of my appointment and of the task a.s.signed to me, was written by myself, at the request of Mr. Secretary Daly, afterwards Governor in Australia.

During my connection with the Education Department--from 1844 to 1876--I made five educational tours of inspection and enquiry to educating countries in Europe and the United States. I made an official tour through each county in Upper Canada, once in every five years, to hold a County Convention of munic.i.p.al councillors, clergy, school-trustees, teachers and local superintendents, and thus developed the School system as the result of repeated inquiries in foreign countries, and the freest consultation with my fellow-citizens of all cla.s.ses, in the several County Conventions, as well as on many other occasions.

During the nearly thirty-two years of my administration of the Education Department, I met with strong opposition at first from individuals--some on personal, others on religious and political grounds; but that opposition was, for most part, partial and evanescent. During these years I had the support of each successive administration of Government, whether of one party or the other, and, at length, the co-operation of all religious persuasions; so that in 1876 I was allowed to retire, with the good-will of all political parties and religious denominations, and without diminution of my public means of subsistence.

I leave to Dr. J. George Hodgins, my devoted friend of over forty years, and my able colleague for over thirty of these years, the duty of filling up the details of our united labours in founding a system of education for my native Province which is spoken of in terms of strong commendation, not only within, but by people outside of the Dominion.

Note.--It is the purpose of the Editor of this book (in accordance with Dr. Ryerson's oft expressed wish) to prepare another volume, giving, from private letters, memoranda, and various doc.u.ments, a personal history of the founding and vicissitudes of our educational system from 1844 to 1876 inclusive.

FOOTNOTES:

[124] The second resolution adopted by the Victoria College Board, on the 24th October, 1843, says:--the n.o.ble and comprehensive objects of the amended Charter have been entirely defeated; and the abrogated, sectarian Charter has been virtually restored, by the partial and exclusive manner in which appointments to that inst.i.tution have been made, and its affairs managed; apart from the misappropriations of large portions of its funds.

[125] In September, 1839, Rev. Robert Murray, of Oakville, published a series of lectures on "Absolute Abstinence." From a review of these lectures, by Dr. Ryerson in the _Guardian_ of the 18th of that month, I make the following extracts:--

We confess we have seldom read anything so illiberal and sweeping....

The principle of total abstinence is wholly repudiated, and temperance societies are forbidden an existence.... But such a work ... shall not by us be allowed to go forth without the accompaniment of our decided reprobation. This is not the day for encouragement to be given to the drunkard, nor this the time when a Minister of the Gospel is ... to fill the cup of death and present it to his fellows without an attempt being made to dash it to the ground.

The following extract from the second lecture, relating to the fulfilment of a certain prophecy in the book of Jeremiah, is given by Dr. Ryerson:--

"Many of you, I am persuaded, have witnessed this prophecy fulfilled to the very letter. Have you never seen young men making themselves cheerful with malt liquors, while the young maids were producing the same effect with the blood of the grape? Nor is there the slightest doubt on my mind, that the prophet hailed this event as a special manifestation of the great goodness of G.o.d."

It was in reference to the author of such opinions, and the advocate of such views, that Rev. John Ryerson used the language quoted on the preceding page.

[126] On the 19th October, 1844, Dr. Ryerson was appointed Superintendent of Education for Upper Canada. Of his appointment, Rev.

Dr. Bethune, Editor of _The Church_, on the 25th October, said:--It was an impolitic and a heartless step, as regards the Church of England in this colony, to raise to the office of Superintendent an individual who has thriven upon his political obliquities, and who owes his fame, or rather his notoriety, to his unquenchable dislike to the National Church. In a moment of danger we can forget the injury; but it must not be thought that we shall sit quietly beneath the wrong.

Rev. Dr. Bethune subsequently changed his opinion of Dr. Ryerson, and, when Bishop of Toronto, referred to him in some of his public utterances in very kind and complimentary terms.

[127] In regard to this appointment, the Hon. Isaac Buchanan, in a letter to the Editor of this volume, dated March, 1883, said:--I was one of the first to see the necessity of our getting Dr. Ryerson to take hold of our Educational system, and I shared the somewhat delicate duty of getting our esteemed friend, Rev. Robert Murray (whom we had got appointed a.s.sistant-Superintendent of Education), to accept a professorship at the Toronto University, when Rev. Dr. Ryerson succeeded to the vacant post in 1844.

CHAPTER XLIV.

1844-1846.

Dr. Ryerson's First Educational Tour in Europe.

Dr. Ryerson left Canada for Europe in November, 1844, on his first educational tour through Europe. He visited and examined into the educational systems of Belgium, France, Italy, Bavaria, Austria, the German States, and Switzerland. He kept a full diary of his travels.

Much of it is out of date, but I shall give those portions of it which relate to his personal history, and his impressions of men and things.

The epitome of these travels which he had prepared is as follows:--

_England._--Scenery of Ess.e.x and Kent from the Thames; landing in Holland; its scenery, palaces, school system, schools, universities, museums, princ.i.p.al cities and towns, churches, ca.n.a.ls and roads.

_Belgium._--From Utrecht to Antwerp--cathedral, churches, schools, museums; Rubens' paintings; Brussels--schools; Hotel de Ville, etc.; field of Waterloo; Belgian school system; Howard's Model Prison; convent; university buildings.

_France._--Journey to Paris; curiosities and peculiarities of Paris; acquaintance with the Protestant clergy; my residence and employments there for three months, to qualify myself to speak as well as write official letters, etc., in the French language.

_From Paris to Rome._--Modes of travel; places viewed on the way; Orleans, Loire, Lyons, Rhone, Avignon, Nismes, Montpellier, Arles; antiquities; Ma.r.s.eilles, Genoa, Leghorn, Civita Vecchia, to Rome.

_Rome._--Three weeks among its antiquities, palaces, churches, colleges and schools.

_June 13th, 1845._--Naples; the peasants on the way from Rome to Naples; Vesuvius, Herculaneum, Pompeii, museums, hospitals, college, schools.

_June 20th._--In a steamer from Naples to Leghorn, thence in a hired coach to Pisa and Florence,--beautiful country, and highly cultivated. Employed four weeks in studying the inst.i.tutions and peculiarities of Florence; no beggars or Jesuits allowed in Florence; the grand Duke a father to his people.

_July 19th._--Proceeded to Bologna, re-enter the Papal dominions, and crossed the Appenines; views; a Normal School at Bologna, containing 1,000 pupils, and a Foundling Hospital with 3,000 children.

_July 23rd._--Left Bologna in a vetturina, in company with two agreeable gentlemen, a German and an American; Ferrara; reached the Po, where we entered Austrian dominions; when we entered the first custom-house in Italy, the head officers of which did not ask for money, and declined it when offered to them. Crossed the Adige; interesting places; thence to Venice, where I spend four days in that wondrous city.

_Bavaria._--In a stage by the Trent, through the Tyrolese Alps to Munich, capital of Bavaria, where I employed nineteen days in visiting its schools and museums, conversing with the professors.

From Munich by stage to Ratisbon; down the Danube to Luiz and Vienna--the most perfect city in its buildings, streets, and gardens I had visited. Gave a day to go down the Danube to the capital of Hungary.

_Bohemia._--From Vienna, through Bohemia, by the first train on the then new railroad to Prague; women working on the railroad.

_Saxony and Germany._--From Prague to Dresden--visits to schools; thence to Leipsic--visits to public buildings, schools, and university; thence to Halle--Franke's foundations, and other schools; to Wittemburg--Luther and Melancthon.

_Prussia._--Berlin, Sept. 8th.--Examination of its various inst.i.tutions, schools, and its university; Hanover, Cologne, Mayence, Wiesbaden, Frankfort, Strasbourg, Bale, Zurich; school of M. Fellenburg; Lausanne--Geneva--to Paris.

_Episode in my European travels, 1844, etc._--Acquaintance and travel with a Russian n.o.bleman, who becomes a Catholic priest--the Pope's Nuncio at the Court to have the Canadian school regulations for Separate School translated and published in the Bavarian newspapers; also requested me to be the bearer of a medal to Cardinal Antonelli. Rome; presentation to, and interview with, the Pope.

_London--February 22nd, 1845._--Started this morning in company with a young Russian n.o.bleman (Dunjowski), for the Continent. We commenced our voyage on the Thames, wending our way amidst shoals of craft of all descriptions. The most prominent object in the river was the new "Great Britain" iron steamer; she seemed to preside Queen of the waters; excelling every other ship, as much in the beauty and elegance of her form, as in the vastness of her dimensions. On our left lay Ess.e.x, rising gradually at a distance from the river; the undulating surface presents a high state of cultivation, variegated by stately mansions, farm-houses, and villages. On the right lay Kent, remarkable for its historical recollections. The chalk-hills near Purfleet, the men working in them, also the lime and sand, attracted my attention as a novelty I had never before witnessed. We had a tolerable view of Gravesend, the great thoroughfare of south-eastern England. We pa.s.sed the ancient village of Tilbury Fort, and Sheerness. We arrived at Holland on Sunday morning (about twenty hours from London), but could not ascend the river to Rotterdam on account of the ice. We therefore steamed to Screvinning, a village on the sea-sh.o.r.e, about three miles from the Hague. There were about fifty fishing-boats lying on the sh.o.r.e, high and dry, with their prows to the sea, as the tide was out. I was struck with their shortness, breadth, strength, and clam-like shape of their bottoms, with a portion in the centre perfectly flat. The speed of these curiously-constructed crafts is considerable; they sail close to the wind; having boards at the side as a subst.i.tute for a keel. Our mode of landing was novel. The boats were run aground, when several stout Dutch sailors jumped into the water nearly waist deep, and each took a pa.s.senger on his shoulders, soon placing him on _terra firma_. I have travelled in a great variety of ways, but I was never before placed on a man's shoulders, astride of his neck; but in this way I took my leave of the German Ocean. There is not a rock to be seen on the sh.o.r.e; which consists of fine sand thrown up from the sea, and forms a bank about twenty feet high; the highest land on the coast of Holland, forming a ridge from one to three miles wide along the northern coast. Screvinning is princ.i.p.ally inhabited by fishermen.

The road to the Hague is perfectly straight, level, and smooth, lying between two rows of oak trees, one row of which divides between it and a collateral ca.n.a.l--the accompaniment of every road throughout Holland. At 5 p.m. we went to the French Protestant Church, the place in which the famous Saurin delivered his eloquent discourses. The congregation was thin; my emotions and recollections of Saurin contrasted with the present preacher and congregation. The pulpit was at the side; the form of the church was amphi-theatrical. I noticed old Bibles, and Psalms; the text was Luke xxiii 27-28. A moderate preacher, calm, solemn and graceful; baptisms after the service. Went from the French to the English Church; only fifteen persons were present, including ourselves. I spoke to the clergyman (Mr. Beresford), introducing ourselves, and the object of our mission.

_February, 24th._--Went to the British Emba.s.sy with Rev. Mr.

Beresford; from thence to the Royal Library; and then proceeded to the Chinese and j.a.panese collection of curiosities; then on to the Gallery of Paintings; some very exquisite. From thence to the residence of the Russian (Greek) clergyman, Chaplain to the Queen of Holland, who kindly shewed us the Queen's private apartments--refined taste, and great magnificence. Then on to a Protestant school, of about 800 poor children, which is supported by subscription. The King is a subscriber to the amount of 1,000 guilders. The teachers consist of a head master and four a.s.sistants. No monitors; admirable construction of the seats; excellent order of the children; rod never used--shame, the chief instrument of correction; fine specimens of painting; Scriptures read, and prayers four times a day; salary of the head master 1,000 guilders, and a.s.sistants from 300 to 400; books furnished to the children, and all the stationery; an excellent building, well-ventilated, comfortably warm, and perfectly clean; the children remain from six to twelve years of age. Saw the British Charge d'Affaires, who procured me a general letter of introduction to teachers, etc., throughout Holland, from the Minister of the Interior. Visited the largest and princ.i.p.al free school at the Hague; it contains about eleven hundred children, girls and boys, taught by a head-master, aided by a second, and five other under-masters, and five a.s.sistants, lads from fifteen to eighteen years of age. No master ever sits, or has a seat to sit on. Were conducted by the Russian clergymen to the palace again; the state apartments were splendid indeed; collection of paintings extensive and most select; hot-houses and gardens delightful. Spent the evening with this gentleman, and was deeply interested in his conversation on his own labours, and the customs and character of the Hollanders.

_February 25th._--Left the Hague for Leyden. The country perfectly level, looking like a low meadow won from the empire of water by the industry of man, intersected by d.y.k.es and ca.n.a.ls, interspersed with villas and good private dwellings; here and there a wood of twenty or fifty years growth. On our way we visited Dr. de Rendt, who keeps the most select private school in Holland for the first cla.s.s of n.o.bility and gentry.

_February 26th--Leyden._--Attended the University, and conversed at large with the Inspector of Schools for the district, Mr. Blusse, who gave the history, and explained the whole system of elementary education in Holland. Visited six schools, admirable upon the whole. Three thousand poor children are taught in them, at an expense to the State. Visited the Museum, University, and Library; then proceeded to Haarlem, examined the schoolrooms of the celebrated Mr. Prinsen and afterwards heard his own views of the essentials of a good system of popular education: his remarks were profound and practical. He remarked, "a good system of education consists in the men. Theory and practice make the teacher. The government of the head, how acquired and how exercised. Few books; much exposition." His business for forty-four years has been to make school-masters. Religious instruction, history of his own career and of his own school. Afterwards examined Casler's monument and the church; heard the organ, and proceeded to Amsterdam.

_Feb. 27th--Amsterdam._--Had some talk with the Government Inspector of Schools. Visited a school, taught by a Roman Catholic, in which there were 950 children in one room, all quiet, and all attentive. There were four masters and twelve a.s.sistants. They have prayers four times a day.

_Feby. 28th._--Went to Saundau. Reflections on Peter the Great.

Visited the palace, its paintings and museum. Took supper with the Rev. Mr. Jameson, Episcopal clergyman.

_March 1st--Belgium._--Proceeded to Utrecht, thence to Antwerp.

_March 2nd--Sunday._--Went to the cathedral; paintings by Rubens; earnestness and oratory of the preacher. Went to St. Pauls; the streets very quiet.