CHAPTER XX.
Colonial Education and Prosperity.
Toronto is prettily situated, and looks flourishing and prosperous; the way in which property is increasing in value here is wonderful, and the hits some people have made are quite fabulous. A property which had been bought for 30,000l., was, within a month—before even the price was paid in full—resold in lots for 100,000l. The position of the town is admirably adapted for a great commercial city: it possesses a secure harbour; it is situated on a lake about 190 miles long by 50 broad; thence the St. Lawrence carries its produce to the ocean, and the Rideau Canal connects it with the lumberers' home on the Ottawa; the main trunk line of railway, which will extend from the western point of the colony to Halifax, passes through it; a local line, traversing some of the richest land in Canada, is now in progress to Lake Simcoe and Lake Huron; one iron horse already affords it communication with Waterloo—nearly opposite Buffalo—whence produce descends by the Erie Canal and the Hudson to New York: besides all which advantages, it enjoys at present the privilege of being one of the seats of government and the radiating point of education. Surely, then, if any town in Upper Canada ought to flourish, it is Toronto; nor is there, I trust, any reason to doubt that it will become a most wealthy and important place. The influence of the young railways is already beginning to be felt: the population, which in 1851 was only 25,000, amounted in 1853 to upwards of 30,000, and is still rapidly increasing. Having been fortunate enough to make the acquaintance of Mr. Cumberland, the chief engineer of the line of railway to Lake Simcoe, he was kind enough to ask me to accompany him to that lake on a trip of inspection, an offer of which I gladly availed myself. I was delighted to find that the Canadians had sufficient good sense to patronize first and second class carriages; and, also, that they have begun to make their own carriages and locomotives. The rails appeared very solidly laid down, and the road fenced off; but, despite the fences, an inquisitive cow managed to get on the line, and was very near being made beef of in consequence. The progress of cultivation gave the most satisfactory evidence of increasing prosperity, while the virgin forest-land told what a rich harvest was still in store for the industrious emigrant.
Ever and anon you saw on the cleared ground that feature so peculiar to American scenery, a patriarchal remnant of the once dense forest, as destitute of branches as the early Adam was of small-clothes, his bark sabled by the flames, the few summit leaves—which alone indicated vitality—scarce more in number than the centuries he could boast, and trembling, as it were, at their perilous weight and doubtful tenure, while around him stood stumps more sabled, on whom the flames had done more deadly work, the whole—when the poetry had passed away—reminding one of a black Paterfamilias standing proudly in the centre of his nigger brood.
There is a good iron-foundry established here, which turns out some excellent engines. Some of the public buildings are also fine; but, there being unfortunately no quarries in the neighbourhood, they are built of brick. The Lunatic Asylum is one of the best; but it is surrounded with a high prison-looking wall, which I believe modern experience condemns strongly as exercising a baneful influence upon the unfortunate patients. If it be so, let us hope it may be enclosed by something more light, airy, and open.
Several of the churches are very fine. I visited the Episcopal Church, which has been burnt down three times; and on my remarking to the architect the apparent clumsiness of the pews, which destroyed the effect inside, he smiled, and told me that by the contract he was obliged to replace them exactly as before. I told him I thought it was a specimen of conservatism run mad, to which he fully assented. Trinity Episcopal College is one of the finest edifices in the neighbourhood; at present it contains only thirty-five students, but it is to be hoped its sphere of usefulness may be extended as its funds increase. It has the foundation of a very good library, which is rapidly extending; the University of Cambridge sent them out a magnificent addition of 3000 volumes. The last building I shall mention is the Normal School, to visit which was one of my chief objects in stopping at Toronto.
THE NORMAL SCHOOL, TORONTO
The ceremony of laying the foundation-stone of this building was inaugurated with all due solemnity, and under the auspices of the able representative of our gracious Queen, on the 2nd of July, 1851. In his eloquent speech on that memorable occasion, when referring to the difficulties on the question of religious instruction, the following beautiful passage occurs:—
"I understand, sir, that while the varying views and opinions of a
mixed religious society are scrupulously respected, while every
semblance of dictation is carefully avoided, it is desired, it is
earnestly recommended, it is confidently expected and hoped, that
every child who attends our common schools shall learn there that he
is a being who has an interest in eternity as well as in time; that he
has a Father towards whom he stands in a closer and more affecting and
more endearing relationship than to any earthly father, and that
Father is in heaven; that he has a hope far transcending every earthly
hope—a hope full of immortality—the hope, namely, that that Father's
kingdom may come; that he has a duty which, like the sun in our
celestial system, stands in the centre of his moral obligations,
shedding upon them a hallowing light which they in their turn reflect
and absorb,—the duty of striving to prove by his life and
conversation the sincerity of his prayer that that Father's will may
be done upon earth as it is in heaven. I understand, sir, that upon
the broad and solemn platform which is raised upon that good
foundation, we invite the ministers of religion of all
denominations—the de facto spiritual guides of the people of the
country—to take their stand along with us; that, so far from
hampering or impeding them in the exercise of their sacred functions,
we ask, and we beg them to take the children—the lambs of the flock
which are committed to their care—aside, and lead them to those
pastures and streams where they will find, as they believe it, the
food of life and the waters of consolation.
"Permit me in conclusion, to say, both as an humble Christian man and
as the head of the civil government of the province, that it gives me
unfeigned pleasure to perceive that the youth of this country, of all
denominations, who are destined in their maturer years to meet in the
discharge of the duties of civil life upon terms of perfect civil and
religious equality—I say it gives me pleasure to hear and to know
that they are receiving an education which is fitted so well to
qualify them for the discharge of these important duties, and that
while their hearts are yet tender and their affections yet green and
young, they are associated under conditions which are likely to
promote among them the growth of those truly Christian graces—mutual
respect, forbearance, and charity."
The position of the building is well chosen, being surrounded with cultivated ground sufficiently extensive to be usefully employed in illustrating the lectures given on vegetable physiology and agricultural chemistry. The rooms are all very lofty, airy, and scrupulously clean. A notice at the entrance warns you—"The dirty practice of spitting not allowed in this building;" and as far as eye could discern, the notice is rigidly obeyed. I was told that a specific had been found to cure the filthy habit. I mention it for the benefit of hotel-keepers and railway-conductors, in all places where such a relic of barbarism may still find a welcome. On a certain occasion, the lecturer having received undeniable proof that one of the students had violated the above-mentioned regulation, stopped in the middle of one of his sublimest flights, repeated sonorously the notice, called the culprit by name, informed him that his endeavour to dissipate his filth into infinity by the sole of his shoe was useless, and ordered him forthwith to take his handkerchief out and wipe it up clean. Disobedience was expulsion: with crimson cheek he expiated his offence by obedience to the order, and doubtless during the hushed silence in which he completed his labour, he became a confirmed anti-expectorationist.
Great attention is very properly paid to cleanliness, inasmuch as if these young men, who are destined to teach others, acquire filthy habits, they naturally encourage the same vice in their pupils, and thus may be almost said to nationalize it. All the tables and stools are fitted like those in the schools of the United States, which is an immense improvement on the one long-desk and long form to match, which predominate all but universally at home. The instruction given is essentially by lecture and questioning; and I was particularly struck with the quiet modulated tones in which the answers were given, and which clearly proved how much pains were taken upon this apparently trifling, but really very important, point.[[AR]] You heard no harsh declamation grating on your ear; and, on the other hand, you were not lulled to sleep by dreary, dull monotony.
There are two small schools attached to the establishment, for these Normal aspirants, male and female, to practise upon, when considered sufficiently qualified. Those thus employed during my visit seemed to succeed admirably, for I never saw more merry, cheerful faces, which I consider one of the best tests of a master's efficiency. The little girls, taking a fancy for music, purchased among themselves a cottage piano, which, being their own instrument, I have no doubt increased their interest in the study amazingly. The boys have a kind of gymnasium under a shed, which, when released from school, they rush to with an avidity only equalled by that which the reader may have experienced in his early days when catching sight of a pastry-cook's shop immediately after receiving his first tip.[[AS]]
I believe that to this establishment, which was founded in 1846, belongs the honour of being the Pioneer Normal School in the Western Hemisphere. But while giving due credit to the Governor-General and the Government for their leading parts in its foundation, it should never be forgotten, how much indebted the establishment is to the unwearying zeal and patient investigations of Dr. Ryerson, the chief superintendent of schools in Canada. This gentleman carefully examined the various systems and internal arrangement of scholastic establishments, not only all over the States, but in every country of the Old World, selecting from each those features which seemed to produce the most comfort, the best instruction, and the greatest harmony. The result of his inquiries I subjoin from his own pen:—
"Our system of public elementary instruction is eclectic, and is, to a
considerable extent, derived from four sources. The conclusions at
which the present head of the department arrived during his
observations and investigations of 1845, were, firstly: That the
machinery, or law part of the system, in the State of New York, was
the best upon the whole, appearing, however, defective in the
intricacy of some of its details, in the absence of an efficient
provision for the visitation and inspection of schools, the
examination of teachers, religious instruction, and uniform text-books
for the schools. Secondly. That the principle of supporting schools in
the State of Massachusetts was the best, supporting them all according
to property, and opening them to all without distinction; but that the
application of this principle should not be made by the requirements
of state or provincial statute, but at the discretion and by the
action, from year to year, of the inhabitants in each school
municipality—thus avoiding the objection which might be made against
an uniform coercive law on this point, and the possible indifference
which might in some instances be induced by the provisions of such a
law—independent of local choice and action. Thirdly: That the series
of elementary text-books, prepared by experienced teachers, and
revised and published under the sanction of the National Board of
Education in Ireland, were, as a whole, the best adapted to schools in
Upper Canada—having long been tested, having been translated into
several languages of the continent of Europe, and having been
introduced more extensively than any other series of text-books into
the schools of England and Scotland. Fourthly: That the system of
normal-school training of teachers, and the principles and modes of
teaching which were found to exist in Germany, and which have been
largely introduced into other countries, were incomparably the
best—the system which makes school-teaching a profession, which, at
every stage, and in every branch of knowledge, teaches things and not
merely words, which unfolds and illustrates the principles of rules,
rather than assuming and resting upon their verbal authority, which
develops all the mental faculties instead of only cultivating and
loading the memory—a system which is solid rather than showy,
practical rather than ostentatious, which prompts to independent
thinking and action rather than to servile imitation.
"Such are the sources from which the principal features of the school
system in Upper Canada have been derived, though the application of
each of them has been modified by the local circumstances of our
country. There is another feature, or rather cardinal principle of it,
which is rather indigenous than exotic, which is wanting in the
educational systems of some countries, and which is made the occasion
and instrument of invidious distinctions and unnatural proscriptions
in other countries; we mean the principle of not only making
Christianity the basis of the system, and the pervading element of all
its parts, but of recognising and combining in their official
character, all the clergy of the land, with their people, in its
practical operations—maintaining absolute parental supremacy in the
religious instruction of their children, and upon this principle
providing for it according to the circumstances, and under the
auspices of the elected trustee-representatives of each school
municipality. The clergy of the country have access to each of its
schools; and we know of no instance in which the school has been made
the place of religious discord; but many instances, especially on
occasions of quarterly public examinations, in which the school has
witnessed the assemblage and friendly intercourse of clergy of various
religious persuasions, and thus become the radiating centre of a
spirit of Christian charity and potent co-operation in the primary
work of a people's civilization and happiness."
With reference to religious instruction at the normal schools, Dr. Ryerson has kindly furnished me with the following statement:—"A part of each Friday afternoon is set apart for this purpose, and a room allowed for the minister of each of the religious persuasions of the students, to give instruction to the members of his church, who are required to attend, as also to attend the service of such church at least once every Sunday. Hitherto we have found no difficulty, reluctance, or neglect, in giving full effect to this system."
The only difficulty in these matters that I have heard of, is a long dispute with the Roman Catholic bishop of Toronto; but such an event one must be prepared for when dealing with a church which claims infallibility. I have no doubt the tact and moderation of Dr. Ryerson have ere this thrown oil on the troubled waters, and restored the harmony which existed between the former Roman bishop and the reverend doctor. To those who take an interest in education, the report of the system used in Canada, drawn up by Dr. Ryerson, and printed by order of the Legislative Assembly, will afford much pleasure and information. It is, of course, far too large a subject to enter upon in these pages, containing, as it does, so vast an amount of matter worthy of serious reflection. I will, however, indulge such of my friends as were taught to read in the last century, with a quotation from page 67, which will probably astonish them.
Mr. Horace Mann, so long the able Secretary of the Board of Education in Massachusetts, after pointing out the absurdity of worrying a child's life out, in teaching the A B C, &c., and their doubtful and often-varying sounds utterly destitute of meaning, instead of words which have distinct sounds and distinct meaning, thus winds up:—"Learning his letters, therefore, gives him no new sound; it even restricts his attention to a small number of those he already knows. So far, then, the learning of his letters contracts his practice; and were it not for keeping up his former habits of speaking, at home and in the playground, the teacher, during the six months or year in which he confines him to the twenty-six sounds of the alphabet, would pretty near deprive him of the faculty of speech."
This extract, from the pen of one who has devoted so much talent and patient investigation to the subject of education, entitles it to the serious consideration of all those who are in any way connected with the same subject in this country, where the old A B C cramming all but universally prevails.—But to return to Upper Canada and its schools. Some estimate of the value of its scholastic establishments may be formed from the fact, that while its sphere of usefulness is rapidly extending, it has already reached the following honourable position: The population of Upper Canada is close upon 1,000,000; the number of children between the ages of 5 and 16 is 263,000; the number of children on the rolls of the common school establishments is 179,587; and the grand total of money available for these glorious purposes, is 170,000l. I feel conscious that I have by no means done full justice to this important subject; but the limits of a work like this render it impossible so to do. Let it suffice to say, that Upper Canada is inferior to none of its neighbouring rivals, as regards the quality of instruction given; and that it is rapidly treading on the heels of the most liberal of them, as regards the amount raised for its support. The normal school, I conceive to be a model as nearly perfect as human agency has yet achieved; and the chemical and agricultural lectures there given, and practically illustrated on the small farm adjoining the building, cannot fail to produce most useful and important results in a young uncultivated country possessing the richest soil imaginable. The Governor-General and the Government deserve every credit for the support and encouragement they have given to education; but, if I may draw a comparison without being invidious, I would repeat, that it is to the unusual zeal and energy of Dr. Ryerson, to his great powers of discriminating and selecting what he found most valuable in the countless methods he examined, and to his combination and adaptation of them, that the colony is mainly indebted for its present admirable system. Well may Upper Canada be proud of her educational achievements, and in her past exertions read a hopeful earnest of a yet more noble future.[[AT]]
But it is not in education alone that Canada has been shadowing forth a noble career. Emancipated from maternal apron-strings by a constitutional self-government, and aided by the superior administrative powers of the Earl of Elgin, she has exhibited an innate vitality which had so long been smothered by Imperial misrule as to cause a doubt of its existence; and if she has not shown it by the birth of populous cities, she has proved it by a more general and diffusive prosperity. A revenue quadrupled in four years needs no Chicagos or Buffalos to endorse the colony's claims to energy and progress. Internal improvements have also been undertaken on a large scale: railways are threading their iron bands through waste and forest, and connecting in one link all the North American colonies; the tubular bridge at Montreal will be the most stupendous work yet undertaken by engineering skill; canals are making a safe way for commerce, where a year or two back the roaring rapid threw its angry barrier. Population, especially in Upper Canada, is marching forward with hasty strides; the value of property is fast increasing; loyalty has supplanted discontent and rebellion; an imperial baby has become a princely colony, with as national an existence as any kingdom of the Old World.[[AU]] These are facts upon which the colonists may, and do, look with feelings of both pride and satisfaction; and none can more justly contemplate them with such emotions, than those through whose administrative talents these prosperous results have been produced, out of a state of chaos, in eight short years. Dissatisfied men there ever will be among a large community, and therefore questions of independence and annexation will be mooted from time to time; but it seems hardly probable that a colony which enjoys an almost independent nationality would ever be disposed to resign that proud position, and to swamp her individuality among the thirty-three free and slave States of the adjoining Republic. At all events, the colony, by her conduct with reference to the present war, has shown that she is filled with a spirit of loyalty, devotion, and sympathy as true, as fervent, and as deep as those which animate all the other subjects of our beloved Sovereign.
Farewell, Canada! May the sun of prosperity, which has been rising upon you steadily for eight years, rise higher and higher, and never know either a cloud or a meridian! Canada, adieu!
FOOTNOTES:
My observations at various schools in the United States satisfied me that no attention is paid by the teachers to the tone of voice in which the boys give their answers.
The females are regularly taught calisthenics, and the boys gymnastics, by a professor.
These remarks were made in 1853. The report for the year 1854 is now lying before me, by which I find that the attendance has increased to 194,376; and the money raised has also increased in a similar ratio, being at that date 199,674l.
Population of Canada 1841, 1,156,139 } Increase,
Ditto ditto 1851, 1,842,265 } 59.34 percent.
Population of Upper Canada 1841, 405,357 } Increase,
Ditto ditto 1851, 952,004 } 104.57 percent
The increase of the United States from 1840 to 1850 was only 37.77
percent.
Wheat crop, Upper Canada 1841, 3,221,991 bushels.
Ditto ditto 1851, 12,692,852 ditto,
Wheat crop, Lower Canada 1841, 1,021,405 bushels.
Ditto ditto 1851, 3,326,190 ditto.