The new Principal, Edmund A. Meredith, was the son of the Rev. Thomas Meredith, D.D., a Fellow of Trinity College, Dublin, and a mathematician of distinction. His mother was a daughter of the Very Rev. Richard Graves, also a Fellow of Trinity, Dean of Ardagh, and a theologian of note. He graduated in 1837 from Trinity College, Dublin, where he won the second classical scholarship, the prize for political economy, and the graduation medal in science. He then began the study of law, but before his course was completed he came to Canada in 1843. Here he resumed his legal studies, and on fulfilling the requirements he became a member of the Bar in both Upper and Lower Canada. When he was appointed Principal of McGill he was a lawyer in active practice in Montreal. In scholarship he was well qualified for his duties, as Lecturer in Mathematics and as Principal of the struggling College in which courses had to be arranged and the whole academic policy reformed. He was possessed, too, of unusual administrative ability and of legal knowledge of great value in that time of College chaos and disagreement; and he displayed uncommon tact and abundant patience and energy in his efforts to solve the delicate problems with which the University was then confronted. It was largely through his initiative that the movement was undertaken for the securing of a new Charter. In 1847 he accepted the post of Assistant Provincial Secretary, but as the seat of Government was then in Montreal he still remained Principal of McGill. After the burning of the Parliament Buildings and the violence in connection with the Rebellion Losses Bill, when the seat of Government was moved to Toronto, Mr. Meredith tendered his resignation as Principal on October 26, 1849. He was induced to retain the Principalship, however, although living in Toronto, until a successor could be found, and it was not until 1851 that he finally withdrew. His name appears as Principal in documents of that year. In recognition of his services the University conferred on him the honorary degree of LL.D. in 1857. When Thomas Workman gave the workshops to the Faculty of Applied Science he directed that a sum of $3000 be paid to the former Principal, Dr. Meredith, “inasmuch;” he said, “as I have long been convinced of the value of the services rendered to the University of McGill by Edmund A. Meredith, LL.D., during a very critical period of its history.” Dr. Meredith afterwards became Under-Secretary of State for Canada, and he was connected with the Civil Service until 1878.
The nine years between 1846 and 1855 were years of continuous financial perplexity during which the Governors had great difficulty in keeping the College in operation. There is little else to record than a discouraging battle with poverty and want. But in this period hope for ultimate success was not abandoned. The new Board of Governors had first to reorganize the teaching staff and make new appointments. In addition to his other duties the Principal undertook to conduct, as Lecturer, the classes in Mathematics and Natural Philosophy. The Professor of Classical Literature, the Rev. W. T. Leach, was made Vice-Principal in September, 1846. It was also realised that in a country of two languages instruction in French was an absolute necessity. No funds were available for the purpose, but Monsieur L. D. Montier accepted the position of Lecturer in return for lodging and fuel and a portion of students' fees, on the understanding that he was to receive a salary of £30 a year as soon as money was available. But students' fees, because of the small number in attendance, gave but little reward, and as a result the new French Lecturer was apparently not always as zealous and enthusiastic in his unremunerative labours as the Caput desired. It frequently happened that for several days he gave no instruction, and soon after his appointment the Caput censured him for neglecting his work and for “conduct highly reprehensible and subversive of all College discipline.” In recognition of his services, however, and perhaps to keep him from becoming weary in well-doing, the Governors allowed him half an acre of land “in the northeast corner of the College grounds, to pasture his cow and make a garden,” from the products of which they hoped he might receive some slight return for his work. The Rev. G. F. Simpson, Headmaster of the High School, consented to act as Lecturer in Mathematics without any salary or fees. In March, 1847, the Hon. Justice Badgley, LL.D., was appointed Lecturer in Law without remuneration other than fees, and instruction in Law which later led to the establishment of the Law Faculty was commenced during the following term. In July, 1848, a Lecturer in Hebrew and Oriental Languages was appointed without salary. It was decided not to appoint a Professor of Divinity in succession to Dr. Bethune, not only because of the lack of funds, but because the clauses in the Statutes bearing on the nature of the theological instruction to be given had not yet been agreed upon by the Home Government.
But the gravest and most important duty of the new administration was in connection with the serious financial condition of the University, and with efforts to improve the situation. When the Governors met in July, 1846, the Professors and Lecturers, some of whom had already retired because of resignation or dismissal, appealed to them for payment of their salaries. They had worked without pay for several months, and in some cases for a year and a half. It was even difficult for them to obtain fuel and candles. The Governors expressed their “sympathy with them in their embarrassment and distress,” but regretted that they were unable to relieve them. The Vice-Principal was given land behind the College to enable him to make a garden, “on condition that he would not interfere with the Bursar's garden.” The Governors and the Board of the Royal Institution were unwilling to encroach upon the meagre capital to pay for ordinary running expenses. They believed that if the burden of debt which the College carried could be removed they could meet in some way all current obligations, and that there would be no doubt about the future success of the University. In liquidating the debt they hoped for assistance from the Government. In November, 1846, the Secretary of the Governors wrote: “The prospects of the College are now in so promising a state as to lead the Governors to entertain the most sanguine hopes, if they would but be relieved from their present embarrassments, of succeeding in carrying into full effect the great object its benevolent founder had in view.” But their hopes for direct assistance from the Government or the Home authorities were not early fulfilled.
It was soon evident that the removal of the burden of debt without Government assistance would be an arduous task uncertain of accomplishment, and that a problematical period doubtless lay ahead. Many of the debts were of ten years' standing. Some of them had been incurred with mechanics and tradesmen in connection with the construction of the College buildings. Professors had long been unpaid. Since July, 1845, no money had been placed at the disposal of the Governors to meet expenses. The Statutes for the government of the College were still unsanctioned by the Crown, and this fact and the dispute between the Board of the Royal Institution and the Governors continued to furnish an excuse, whether valid or not is questionable, for paying no money for several months out of College funds. The Governors had borrowed from the Banks on their own personal security, and had obtained small sums at different times on their own personal undertaking to pay for fuel and to meet the most pressing demands made by absolutely necessary contingencies. Were it not for this timely assistance it is probable that the College would have been closed; its fortunes at best were precarious.
The Royal Institution had meanwhile concluded to transfer to the Receiver-General of the Province all sums paid to them on account of the College. But the Receiver-General would not pay them to the College authorities, pending the Crown's decision on the Statutes. The Governors urged the Royal Institution to a hasty consideration of their embarrassment. They did not blame or censure the Board for the extraordinary situation in which they found themselves. In the question as to the cause of the situation they were not primarily interested. Debating on the responsibility for it and on bygone disputes would not improve it. The fact was plain that the College's existence was in the balance because of financial conditions, and that this fact must be faced. “The buildings are becoming dilapidated and useless,” they wrote, “and those who inhabit them will be frozen or starved unless the Governors contribute from their private means.” They likewise vigorously called the attention of the Home Government to their incongruous and lamentable plight. “We desire earnestly,” they said, “to impress upon Her Majesty's Government that the attainment of the benevolent and noble object of the founder of McGill College has been unfortunately if not culpably delayed.” Yet they insisted that the present problem “will work out and the whole income will soon be available for expenditure.” There would then be no difficulty, they thought, “in maintaining the College on a scale large enough to be of use in a colony of a million people without means for obtaining education for youth.” And they declared with astonishing optimism, “the Governors have great hopes that when once fairly put in action this Institution will speedily attract patronage and support and will expand with the wealth of the country.” This note of courage and faith is all the more remarkable when we realise the exact condition of the University, without money, without Statutes, a fact which was used as an excuse for withholding funds, with but little sympathy from Provincial Government or Home Government, with its few Professors unpaid and pleading even for fuel and light, with unfinished and poorly equipped buildings falling rapidly into decay, with grounds uncared for, and with a very small enrollment of students.
The Governors were determined, however, not to decrease the capital funds of the College and that payments, if any, must be made out of surplus revenue. In this they had the approval and co-operation of the Board of the Royal Institution. Nor did they wish to dispose of any of the land until it was absolutely necessary to do so, and then only with a unanimous consent. They made an effort first to increase the value of their real estate. A large portion of the land had been let for pasture and for grass, but the leaseholders were slow to pay the rent and many of them were several months in arrears. The Board of the Royal Institution now endeavoured to collect all rents promptly when due. They decided to discriminate between their own various debts. They would pay tradesmen first, in the order of the age of their bills. When the tradesmen had all been paid they would then pay the Professors, but not until all other debts had first been liquidated. The Professors must wait. An agreement was then entered into with the various creditors to pay their debts off in installments. In order to secure more revenue the students' fees were increased. They had already been raised from £3 to £4 6s. 8d., of which £2 13s. 4d. went to the House Fund, 6s. 8d. to the Bursar, the same amount to the Library, and £1 to the servants. The fees were now advanced to £10. Every matriculant was also to pay £1 5s. to the Bursar for his use and benefit, and all students were to deposit 10s. “caution money,” to cover breakages and damages to furniture, this deposit or the portion of it not used to be refunded in the spring. Expenses during this period were reduced to a minimum. In 1845 the large dining-hall or refectory had been given over to the Medical Faculty, and one of the small rooms had then become the dining-room. In 1847, however, because of the financial loss incurred even the small dining-room was closed and, as we have seen, the students boarded with Professors. In 1848, when Law students were first permitted to reside in the College, it was on the express condition that “Professor Leach would board them.”
The necessity for much needed repairs to fences and buildings and for fuel for the College rooms called urgently for funds. But there was no money to provide these necessities. Permission was asked and received by the Governors to pull down and remove an old wooden hut on the College grounds, “which had long been considered an unsightly object and a nuisance fast falling to decay.” It was arranged that “the boards of the roof and floor would mend fences and that the old logs would be used for fuel.” It was later decided to sell the surplus furniture in the College, scanty enough at best, and also the sand that had been taken from the excavations for the buildings, the money from the sales to be put to “repairs to the spouts of the buildings and to the fences, also to bring water from the spring near the bridge [in the present “hollow”], to put a railing on the bridge, and to make passable the road between the College and Sherbrooke Street.” But in the midst of all their financial worries the determination of the College authorities to encourage students is evident from their establishing two exhibitions of the value of £10 each, to be awarded yearly to the two students standing highest in the matriculation examination. Professors might starve or freeze and creditors might wait, but ambitious and meritorious students must be practically encouraged.
The Governors were at last given some slight relief by the receipt of over £1400, on account, from the Receiver-General, to whom the revenues arising from College funds and properties were being periodically transferred by the Royal Institution. Of this amount only £50 was voted for current expenses; the remainder was used to pay off a portion of the debts, among them the amount borrowed from the Bank by the former Principal and the Chief Justice of Montreal. A further sum of £280 was received by the Governors from rentals, of which £100 was paid to the Vice-Principal, £100 to the Bursar, Registrar and Secretary, £50 to the Professor of Mathematics and £30 to the Lecturer in French, in part payment of their long overdue salaries. But it was decided that in consideration of these payments “no fuel could be provided for the present for any College officer.”
The relief resulting from the above receipts was of but brief duration. In November, 1848, the Governors had only the sum of £54 at their disposal. They divided it between the Bursar and the two Lecturers in proportion to the amount of salary in arrears, and as a result the Lecturer in French, M. Montier, received £2 14s. as his share from January 1st, 1848, to November 29, 1848. That was the full amount of salary received by him during the year; but he still had his cow and his garden! As if to increase the worries of the College authorities the College buildings caught fire on January 24, 1849. Fortunately the damage was only small, but any damage, however trifling, could at that time be ill-afforded. To add to the embarrassment, several of the few students enrolled failed to pay their fees, and the Bursar could not collect them. In February, 1849, he was in urgent need of funds, and on the 13th he sent out to the student debtors appealing letters of which the following is typical: “I beg that you will pay your fees this week if possible, as I have a heavy College claim to meet on Saturday without the wherewithal to pay it.” He supported this appeal by letters to parents, “I beg that you would be good enough to pay your son's College fees on or before Saturday next, as I have a heavy College debt to pay on that day and not sufficient funds to meet it.” These appeals were not always successful, and the revenue from this source remained indefinite. In the spring the students who had paid their dues were not given back the caution money they had deposited because “no funds were available.” There is a record of one student, more persistent than the others, who was difficult to placate. He was finally promised that his “caution money would be refunded when possible,” and he was assured that “funds would soon be available because the Statutes would soon be ratified.”
The gross revenue available to the College in 1849 was £494, made up of £70 from the rent of Burnside House, £274 from rents of building lots and other lands, and £150 from the rent of a large stone building known as the King's Arms or Mack's Hotel, situated on Jacques Cartier Square, formerly Nelson's Market. The rent of this latter building was first £250 a year, but from depreciation in value because of the removal of the Market it had decreased by £100. After deducting the amounts required for insurance, etc., the net revenue was only about £440. Only thirteen students were in attendance; two of these had obtained exhibitions and were admitted free, and the income derived from the fees of the remaining eleven was £110. The salaries, which, however, were several months in arrears, amounted to £292 a year. The Principal received no remuneration. The salary of the Rev. W. T. Leach, Vice-Principal and Professor of Classical Literature, was supposed to be £100; that of T. Guerin, Lecturer in Mathematics and Natural Philosophy, £50; the Hon. W. Badgley, Lecturer in Law, received no stated reward, but he was entitled to a fee of £2 per term from each student attending his lectures; the Rev. J. Abbott, Registrar, Bursar, Secretary, and Lecturer in Ancient and Modern History, Geography and Logic, was supposed to receive a salary of £100, and in addition several small fees from students, which amounted the previous year to only £4 5s.; L. D. Montier, Lecturer in French, received £30 a year, and the Beadle, F. Hewitt, was given £12; the Lecturer in Hebrew, the Rev. A. De Sola, received no salary. Later in the year a lecturer in Botany was appointed “without remuneration for the present.”