Mr. Huguet-Latour, in his “Annuaire de Ville Marie,” notes some of the schools of this period as follows. It is interesting as showing the part then being played by the laity:
“On May 1, 1813, a school was founded for young girls by Mrs. Richard O’Keefe.
“About 1819 a school was founded by a Mr. Ryan in the house of the ‘Recollets.’
“In 1825 a school for boys was established by Mgr. Lartigue, on October 1st, on the ground floor of his Episcopal residence at St. James Church, and another for girls, on January 3, 1827, under the direction of his secretary, afterwards Bishop Bourget, in a house hired for the purpose. In 1828 the sewing classes began in this school under the direction of the ‘Association Bienveillante des Dames de St. Jacques.’ These lasted till 1853. In 1831 these ladies, while still maintaining the supervision, hired a mistress to teach the school. On October 1st of the same year, Mgr. Lartigue opened a school for English boys, in the basement of the Sacristy of his cathedral.
“In 1830 a third class for boys was added. The first schoolhouse of St. James (75 by 40 feet, with three stories) was built in 1831 on land given by Mgr. Lartigue in 1831. Thither the various classes connected with St. James were transferred in 1831 and 1832. This school suffered, with the Cathedral, destruction in the great fire of July 8, 1852. The school, which commenced in 1825 with sixty children, had reached 400.
“On July 7, 1834, a school was founded at No. 31 Beaudry Street by Mr. Joseph Bourgoin.”
As a summary of the general outlook on Canadian education in the Province of Quebec[3] at the time of the rebellion we may use Lord Durham’s own summing up in his famous report in preparation for the Union. “The bulk of the population is composed of the hard-working yeomanry of the country district commonly called habitants. * * * It is impossible to exaggerate the want of education among them; no means of instruction have been provided for them and they are almost universally destitute of the qualifications even of reading and writing. * * * The common assertion that all classes of Canadians are equally ignorant is perfectly erroneous; for I know of no people among whom a larger provision exists for the higher kinds of elementary education or among whom such education is really extended to a larger proportion of the population. The piety and benevolence of the early possessors of the country founded in the seminaries that exist in the different parts of the province, institutions of which the funds have long been directed to the promotion of education. Seminaries and colleges have been by these bodies established in the cities and in other central points. The education given in these establishments greatly resembles the kind given in the English public schools, though it is more varied. It is entirely in the hands of the Catholic clergy. The number of pupils in this establishment was estimated altogether at 1,000 and they turn out as far as I could ascertain between two and three hundred young men thus educted.”
Thus at the time of the rebellion of 1837, at least in the towns such as Montreal, the outlook on education was not so depressing as it is generally painted.
NOTE