To this letter Rev. John Ryerson replied:—
I am very well pleased with the idea of your being appointed to the office of Superintendent of Education—an office for which, I think, you are better qualified than any other person in the Province, and an office in which you can be of more service to the Church, and the country generally, than in any other way.... You say the appointment is not political.... Yet, is it true, in point of fact, that the appointment is not political?... Would any person be continued in the office who would not support the Government for the time being?... Did not Lord Sydenham create this office for the very purpose of connecting the incumbent with the Government, and did he not have you in his mind's eye when he influenced this part of the enactment?... There is no doubt, however, that in case of the Baldwin Ministry again coming into power, the stool will be knocked from under you. And we should not forget that the success of the Governor-General, in carrying out his contemplated measures, respecting the University, Colleges, etc., depends upon the Parliament; and I have very little expectation of his being able to secure the support of the present Parliament, in connection with every other Ministry but the late ones; and what will be the result of another election, who can tell?
In corroboration of the foregoing statements, Hon. Isaac Buchanan, in a letter to the Editor of this volume dated 24th March, 1883, says:—
Being on the other side of the Atlantic from the fall of 1841 to that of 1843, I was not in circumstances to know to what extent the name of Dr. Ryerson was discussed prior to the appointment of Mr. Murray [in May, 1842]; but I cannot believe that the minds of many who knew him to be the fittest man, could have been otherwise than on Dr. Ryerson. On the contrary, I believe that nothing prevented him being gladly offered the originating of an educational system for Upper Canada—a Province which he knew so well and loved so much—but the most unworthy church prejudices of parties who had influence with the Government of the day, for it was known to be a herculean task which no one could do the same justice to as Dr. Ryerson, and which few men (however great as scholars themselves) could have carried through at all.
Thus from the foregoing statements of Dr. Ryerson, Rev. John Ryerson, and Hon. Isaac Buchanan, the following facts clearly appear:—
1. That Dr. Ryerson was offered the appointment of Superintendent of Education by Lord Sydenham in 1841, and "had he survived a few weeks [Dr. Ryerson] would likely have been appointed, with a view of organizing a system of Elementary Education" for Upper Canada.
2. That Dr. Ryerson's appointment as Superintendent was "the subject of conversation with Sir Charles Bagot and some members of his Cabinet in 1842."
3. That the failure to appoint Dr. Ryerson was due to the fact that the Cabinet of Sir Charles Bagot—the Governor himself being unable to act—"rejected," as Dr. Ryerson himself stated, "the application of every Methodist candidate for office;" or, as Hon. Isaac Buchanan states: "Nothing prevented [Dr. Ryerson] being gladly offered the originating of an educational system for Upper Canada, but the most unworthy church prejudices of parties who had influence with the Government of the day."
4. That the appointment of Dr. Ryerson by Sir Charles Metcalfe was due to the discussion on the comprehensive scheme of education which took place between Dr. Ryerson and Sir Charles Metcalfe, on the University question, late in 1843.
It may be proper to state that the appointment of Rev. Robert Murray in May, 1842, was a surprise to the public, as the Editor of this volume well remembers, and was, as Rev. John Ryerson states, "a most unwise one." Mr. Murray was a minister of the Church of Scotland at Oakville. He was chiefly known at the time as an anti-temperance writer[125]; but had never been known to have taken any special interest in education. He was intimate with Hon. S. B. Harrison, who owned mills at Bronte, a few miles west of Oakville, where Mr. Harrison resided for some years. To Mr. Harrison, the then leader of the Government, Mr. Murray was indebted, as was then understood, for the appointment.