In answer to this request, however, no immediate action was taken, for although the Home Government had a legal right to dispose of the Estates as they saw fit, they naturally wished to proceed slowly and tactfully in order to avoid religious friction or bitterness within the Province. In 1815, when, as already pointed out, it was intimated by the Colonial Office that the Jesuit Estates might possibly be appropriated in aid of the McGill bequest, there seems to have been no intention to limit the assistance which should be provided by this increased revenue to McGill College alone. On the contrary, the object appears to have been to use the additional funds in order that, irrespective of race or creed, the benefits of education might be diffused as widely as possible throughout the country. But delay again followed, and it was not until the next year that definite instructions were issued by Lord Bathurst for the transfer of the Jesuits' Estates to the Royal Institution for the Advancement of Learning. These instructions were contained in the following historic letter, destined to have so large a part in the establishment of McGill College and in Canadian education, and forwarded to the Officer Administering the Government of Lower Canada by Lord Bathurst from Downing Street on May 10th, 1816:
“I have already expressed to you the gracious intention of His Royal Highness, the Prince Regent, to forward the extension of education in the Provinces of Canada and I have pointed out the preliminary measures necessary on your part to give effect to that intention. In furtherance of this object, I have received the commands of His Royal Highness to instruct you to transfer to the Trustees of the Royal Institution for the Advancement of Learning all those estates which formerly belonged to the Society of Jesuits, which, since the abolition of that order, have been vested in the Crown, in order that the Royal Institution for the Advancement of Learning may possess present means for establishing and maintaining the Seminaries which it may be necessary to found and may possess the revenue which cannot fail progressively to increase in proportion to the improvement of the Provinces and the consequent demand for additional means of instruction.
“In transferring, however, those estates to the management of the Royal Institution for the Advancement of Learning, you will retain for the future disposal of His Royal Highness the accumulation of the rents and profits of preceding years which may be either in the hands of the Receiver of those estates, or which may have been by him paid to the Colonial Government, and you will with as little delay as possible transmit to me a detailed account of the amount of the Fund which has been so created.”
Meanwhile the executors of the will of James McGill had been again informed of the definite intention of the authorities to proceed with the erection and endowment of a College at Montreal, and on May 13th, 1816, John Richardson, one of the surviving executors, acknowledged on behalf of himself and his colleagues receipt of the information in the following letter, in which, remembering perhaps Lord Bathurst's letter of December 30, 1815, they emphasised the conditions imposed in the will:
“We have the honour of receiving your letter of the 9th inst., written by command of His Excellency, the Administrator in Chief, to acquaint us that His Majesty's Government have it in contemplation to erect and endow a College at Montreal and that it is their intention as soon as the plan of this establishment shall be definitely settled, to call upon us as Trustees of the Will of the late Mr. McGill for the application of the lands entrusted to us for that purpose.
“And further desiring to be acquainted for His Excellency's information, what are the extent and advantages considered with reference to the object proposed of the House and property of the late Mr. McGill in the vicinity of Montreal and whether the grounds are sufficiently extensive to have an adequate space for the formation of walks and gardens,—in compliance with His Excellency's desire, we have to acquaint you that the grounds above mentioned contain about forty-six superficial arpents in a very healthy, moderately elevated, and pleasant situation, well watered, at a convenient distance from the city towards the mountain, and consequently appear to be sufficiently extensive and well calculated for every purpose of the contemplated establishment. There are already upon the premises a good stone house of two and a half stories, a barn, office, and a large garden, which may be applied to the residence of the President or some of the Professors or to other useful purpose connected with the object in view.
“We have further to acquaint you for His Excellency's information that the devise by the late Mr. McGill is upon several conditions, one whereof is that 'one of the Colleges be named McGill College, or if only one College should be selected, then that the said one shall be called McGill College!' Another of the conditions is 'that it be erected upon the tract so devised.'
“We therefore take the liberty of suggesting that it will be needful in forming the plan of the establishment to attend to these conditions so as to enable the Trustees to act in conformity to the trust reposed in them by the will of the deceased.”
Two years of inaction followed, and even after the trustees of the Royal Institution were appointed, delay characterised the efforts of the authorities. There seems to have been considerable disagreement between the Home Government and the Provincial Government with regard to the exact objects for which the revenue of the Jesuits' Estates was intended, and on the method of distribution. The Home authorities would not agree to assign any of the revenue to aid in the establishment of McGill College. Finally, in 1819, Lord Bathurst directed the Duke of Richmond, the Governor-General, immediately to commence the building of McGill College, and he authorised him to defray the expense which it might in the first instance be necessary to incur “from any funds which might be in the hands of the Receiver of the Jesuits' Estates.” But this instruction was not carried out. Its object seems to have been merely to prevent the lapse of the McGill bequest in conformity with the expressed condition of the will that the College should be erected within a definite time. Further, the proposed assistance from the Jesuits' Estates seems to have been an advance and not a gift. It is unnecessary here to follow in detail the disagreement and the struggle arising from the distribution of the revenue of these estates. For several years the subject was one of controversy, and meanwhile the cause of education suffered. In 1823 Lord Bathurst recommended to the Lords Commissioners of the Treasury that a loan of £50,000 at 4% interest should be granted to the Royal Institution, but this recommendation was not complied with. In 1825 a system was proposed by Lord Dalhousie, and subsequently followed, by which the management of the estates was taken over by the Inspector of the King's Domain under the control of the Governor in Council. He was allowed an agent in each district to collect the rents which were then turned in at stated periods to the Receiver General. For several years, however, particularly in 1830 and 1831, the question of assigning the revenues from the estates for the purpose of education was repeatedly under discussion, but no pledge for such financial assistance was given by the Home Government. At last, in 1831, the Home Government surrendered the Jesuits' Estates to the Provincial Legislature, and against much opposition the schools were placed under the control of the House of Assembly. The salaries of teachers were greatly reduced; they were granted on an annual vote on condition that instruction be given by each teacher to at least twenty pauper scholars. As a result, it was stated by those opposed to this new plan that “the schools were nothing more than places of cheap education for the children of people in the lower walks of life.” But notwithstanding this criticism the schools of the Province seem to have flourished to some extent at least under the new system. But it should not be forgotten that the Jesuits' Estates which had so long been the subject of discussion and controversy had in the end a very prominent part in the early history of McGill College. It was because of the funds derived from them when all other sources of revenue were exhausted that the trustees of the Royal Institution, and the executors of the will of James McGill, were permitted to prove in the courts the legality of the McGill bequest and to prosecute successfully their claims to his Burnside estate.
In accordance with Lord Bathurst's instructions to the Duke of Richmond in 1819, the Royal Institution for the Advancement of Learning proceeded to have the McGill property transferred from the executors of the will to their own control. They gave a power of attorney to S. Sewell, who subsequently continued for several years to act on their behalf. But delay again characterised the efforts of the Royal Institution, and it was not until January 18th, 1820, that final application for the transfer of the McGill estate was made to the three surviving executors, Hon. John Richardson, Hon. James Reid, and the Rev. Dr. Strachan. The estate was then in possession of Francis Desrivières, the nephew of the first husband of Mrs. James McGill. He was occupying Burnside House, James McGill's former home, and he was in control of the lands, products and rents of the estate. On receipt of the request from the Royal Institution, the executors wrote to Mr. Desrivières on January 20th, 1820, informing him that a University or College was about to be erected and established “for the purpose of education as designated in the will and in conformity to the conditions therein presented,” and asking “when the tract of land and premises now in your possession can be delivered over without subjecting you to unnecessary inconvenience.”