Rev. Dr. Strachan's Career as a Teacher.
Having been appointed Minister at Cornwall in 1803, Dr. Fuller states that there he was:—
"Induced to resume his school, at the solicitation of the parents of those boys who had been in his school at Kingston, and of others, both in Lower and Upper Canada, who were desirous of placing their sons under a master so practical, wise and successful, as he had proved himself to be. Thus he commenced the school at Cornwall, which afterwards became so celebrated, and at which were educated the first men that Canada has produced, and of whom she may well be proud—such men as the late Sir J. B. Robinson, Judge Maclean, Sir J. B. Macaulay, Sir Allan MacNab, Judge Jones, Mr. Stanton, the Bethunes (Alexander, John and Donald), Sir James Stuart, and his brother Andrew Stuart, besides many others who have reflected credit on our country.
"The Bishop had a great faculty for not only attaching his scholars to him, but also for inducing them to apply themselves most assiduously to their studies. He told me he made it a rule, during the time he kept school, to watch closely every new boy, and at the end of a fortnight, to note down in a book his estimate of the boys who had passed through his hands.
"He was never afraid of having his dignity lowered by liberties taken with him, and he always felt every confidence in his position and entered warmly and personally into many of the boys' amusements, and thus gained an immense influence over them. The influence over his pupils has been shown in the fact, that almost all of them embraced his principles; and the love and affection for him of his celebrated Cornwall school was shown many years ago, when the surviving members thereof presented him with an address[30] and a most beautiful and costly candelabra. Nor did his more recent scholars entertain less affection for him, though they never proved it so substantially as did those of his Cornwall School.... He was an excellent teacher. His scholars were well grounded in their work. The grammar was well mastered, and every rule thereof deeply impressed on the memory. Every lesson was thoroughly dissected, and everything connected with it thoroughly understood, before we passed on to another lesson."[31]