I am commanded by the Duchess of Kent to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 22nd inst., and accompanying statement of "The Upper Canada Academy, for the education of Canadian youth, and the most promising youth of converted Indian tribes—to prepare them for school-masters." Her Royal Highness is most happy in patronizing, as you request, so useful and benevolent an Institution, and calculated especially to promote the best interests of the native population, the British emigrants, and the aboriginal tribes of that valuable and important British Province. Her Royal Highness desires that her name be placed on the subscription list for £10.
Referring to the great importance of the Upper Canada Academy, and to the services rendered by Dr. Ryerson in connection with its establishment, Rev. William Lord said:—
There have been many circumstances and occurrences connected with this institution which, to my mind, are indicative of Providential interference. The bitterness manifested against it by the enemies of Methodism and of the peace of the country; the difficulties which stood in the way of its completion; the distressing, overwhelming, and unforseen embarrassments of its funds, which forced the Committee to send you to this country to seek relief, just at a time when the affairs of the Province had arrived at a crisis, and at a time when you could render special service, by communicating with the Home Government—service, allow me to say, greater than any other man could render, or than you could have rendered at any other time or place—the favourable turn which public affairs have recently taken, and, I know, in some degree through your instrumentality; the perplexing and most painful disappointments experienced in obtaining suitable teachers, now happily overcome; the share of public favour which the Academy has obtained on the commencement of its operations; and, lastly, the great services you have rendered the Missionary Society, in the advantage you have secured to our Indian Missionaries by your representations and applications to the Government, are to me reasons for believing God is in this business. You may, I think, take courage, and go on in the name of the Lord. I can sympathize with you; I have also suffered in this cause. I would not endure the anxiety and mental agony I have experienced on account of this institution for any earthly consideration. But if it flourish, I have my reward. And now the reflection that, at much personal risk, I have more than once saved innocent and deserving men from imprisonment, and Methodism from indelible reproach, is cheering and consoling. I will still stand by your side and share in your difficulties. My honour in this matter is united with yours, and the ruin of this institution will be mine.
In a letter from London, dated 21st July, 1836, Dr. Ryerson narrates the difficulties which he had encountered in obtaining a Charter for the Upper Canada Academy. The correspondence with the Colonial Office embraced twenty-nine letters, and extended over a period of six months. In conducting it, Dr. Ryerson states:—I found those in the Colonial Office, and those who retired from it (during that time) equally favourable to the object of my mission, and equally desirous of promoting the best interests of the Colonies. In his report of the negotiations for the Charter, Dr. Ryerson says:—
The Attorney-General assured me that not only Lord Glenelg, but every member of His Majesty's Government was anxious to accede to my application—that the difficulties were purely legal—that though the doctrines and rules of the Methodist body in Canada were doubtless very sacred, yet they were unknown in law, (in England.) I, therefore, laid before the Crown officers[48] a copy of the statutes of Upper Canada (which I had borrowed from the Colonial office), and showed the grounds on which we professed to be invested with the clerical character by the statutes of the Province, as well as by the formularies of our connexion, and were recognized as ministers by the Courts of Quarter Sessions; that we might be defined as ministers (for the purposes of the Charter) as in the Marriage Statute of U.C., which would be the same thing as being defined according to the Rules of our Discipline. Placing the question before the Crown officers in this simple light, their scruples were at once removed, and they cordially acceded to my proposition to recognize our ministerial character. As I was required to name in the Charter the first trustees and visitors, and as I had no list of those who had been appointed by the Conference, I was obliged to furnish names myself. I was also required to name in the Charter the time and place of the next Annual Meeting (Conference) of Ministers. I inserted the second Wednesday of June as the time of meeting; Cobourg, or Toronto, as the place of meeting.
With the aid of a professional gentleman (whom I could only get for a small portion of each day) the draft of Charter was prepared after a delay of five weeks. This draft was approved, with the exception of the words: Wesleyan Methodist Church, for which the Solicitor-General had substituted the words: Wesleyan Methodist Connexion, as the designation of the Body on whose behalf a Charter was to be granted. In a letter to Sir George Grey I stated my reasons why the word Church should be retained, as the Wesleyan ministers, under whose superintendence the Academy is to be placed, had been licensed (under the Provincial Statute referred to in the Charter) as Ministers of the Wesleyan Methodist Church in Canada. To these reasons the Crown Officers yielded, and thus the Charter was completed.
I then renewed my application for receiving aid from the Casual and Territorial Revenue of Upper Canada. In reply, I was assured that the Lieutenant-Governor would be directed to bring the claims of the Academy before the notice of the Provincial Legislature.
Dr. Ryerson concludes:—
Thus terminated this protracted correspondence of more than six months, during the whole of which time I was enabled to cleave to and maintain my original purpose; though I had to encounter successive, discouraging, and almost insurmountable difficulties. Not having been able to effect any loan from private individuals, on account of the agitated state of the Canadas—being in suspense as to the result of my application to the Government, I was several months pressed down with anxiety and fear by this suspense, and by reason of the failure of my efforts to obtain relief. In this anxiety and fear my own unassisted resolution and fortitude could not sustain me. I had to rely upon the unfailing support of the Lord, my God.
In my negotiations for the Charter, I was uniformly treated with courtesy and kindness in the Colonial office, and by the several members of His Majesty's Government. Praise God!