Chancellor Fleming honored the name of Dr. Ryerson for having laid such a broad and national system of education as enables Ontario to rank among the first of enlightened nations.
Rev. Professor Clark thought that the spirit of Dr. Ryerson was to provide such a system of education as would make men of earnestness, character and patriotic ardor. The University with which he was identified honored the name of Dr. Ryerson, and he was there to add his tribute to the worth of so great a Canadian.
Professor Rand, eulogised also the elementary and secondary system of education in Ontario, declaring that its founder richly deserved to be commemorated by a public monument.[6]
The audience then sang the national anthem. Bishop Sweatman pronounced the benediction, and the statue of the great educationist was left to posterity to admire and to preserve intact and inviolate.
The report of The Empire necessarily traversed the same ground. I can therefore only give the salient points in addition to those referred to by the Globe, it said:—
The great educational lights of the Province were present in front of the Education Department building yesterday afternoon, when the statue of the Rev. Dr. Ryerson was unveiled. The day was appropriate for doing honor to the memory of a man who had so ably served his Queen and country. A large crowd of citizens witnessed the unveiling and listened to the addresses that were delivered.
The following relatives of Dr. Ryerson were present: Mr. Charles Egerton Ryerson, (his only son), Mrs. C. E. Ryerson and their two sons, (Egerton and Stanley), Mrs. Edward Harris, (his only daughter), Dr. G. S. Ryerson (his nephew) was absent with the Grenadiers at Berlin, Mrs. G. S. Ryerson and son were present; also, Mrs. Hardy (his niece) and her daughter, Miss Ethel Hardy, Dr. John Beatty, of Cobourg, and Mr. James R. Armstrong, (brothers-in-law), Mrs. J. R. Armstrong, Mrs. George Duggan, (sister-in-law), His Honor Judge McDougall, (a connection by marriage)."
The main points of The Mail report were as follows:—
It would perhaps be too much to say that, while the gay and thoughtless were seeking amusements in other parts of the city, it was only the wise who repaired to the grounds of the Education Department to take part in the unveiling of the Statue of the late Egerton Ryerson; yet it cannot but be admitted that those who assembled to witness and assist in this ceremony were men and women worthy to have the privilege of publicly honoring the memory of Canada's greatest educationist. Among those present were men who have attained to eminence in every department of public life, and it was but right that they should pay the tribute they did to the memory of him who was the founder and for many years the head of the greatest of all departments. There were men present who for years were associated with Dr. Ryerson in his great work; men whose characters were to a great extent moulded by his example, and men whose ambitions have been wakened and whose purposes have been inspired by the contemplation of his achievements.