McGill and its Story, 1821-1921
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Title: McGill and its Story, 1821-1921
Author: Cyrus MacMillan
Release date: March 5, 2009 [eBook #28253]
Language: English
Original publication: New York: John Lane Company, 1921
Other information and formats: www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/28253
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*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MCGILL AND ITS STORY, 1821-1921 ***
Produced by David Edwards, Marcia Brooks and the Online
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McGILL AND ITS STORY
[Illustration: _James McGill_
1756-1813
_Founder of McGill College_]
McGILL AND ITS
STORY 1821-1921
By CYRUS MACMILLAN
AUTHOR OF "CANADIAN WONDER TALES," ETC.
LONDON: JOHN LANE
NEW YORK: JOHN LANE COMPANY
TORONTO: CANADIAN BRANCH
THE OXFORD UNIVERSITY
PRESS
MCMXXI
Copyright, 1921, by JOHN LANE
TO
MY McGILL COMRADES
WHO FELL IN THE WAR 1914-1918
We who remain shall grow old,
We shall feel the snows of cheerless winter;
But you shall be forever young,
With you it shall be forever spring,
Where you wander through the willows
Of the valley in your West.
PREFACE
The following pages give in general outline the century story of McGill
University. They have no pretension to the title of detailed History,
for it has been possible to chronicle only the circumstances which
shaped the University in its infancy and the important events of its
succeeding years. The story is one of struggle and disappointment, of
discouragement and controversy, and of ultimate success and triumph. The
men who made McGill were men of far and clear vision, of unfaltering
courage and unwavering faith. They never doubted the final breaking of
the clouds; they were baffled only to fight better in their forward
march on behalf of national enlightenment. They believed in the future
greatness of Canada, and of the place of education in moulding their
country's destiny. The students of to-day who enjoy the advantages of a
great seat of learning are not always conscious of the toil and the
anxiety, the weariness and the fret of their College's early years; they
perhaps do not always appreciate their glorious heritage and the efforts
and the sacrifices of those who scorned delights and lived laborious
days in order to leave that heritage behind. The author's hope is that
the story of struggle herein recorded may deepen our gratitude for our
privileges, and our reverence for McGill and the men who made it.
It has been impossible here to enter into minute details of
organization or administration or personnel. The book is a story of
epochs rather than of individuals,--but epochs in which the sign posts
ever pointed onward. Biographical material has, therefore, been reduced
to a minimum and no attempt has been made to give names or notices of
Professors, many of whom, the writer is well aware, should otherwise
receive appreciative reference as among the makers of McGill. With the
exception of the portrait of the present Principal, too, the photographs
include of necessity only those who are already numbered with the
University's past.
The writer's deepest thanks are here expressed to those without whose
assistance this story could not have been told. He is grateful to
Professor Stephen Leacock for advice and encouragement; to the
Principal, the Governors, and the Secretary of McGill, Mr. A. P. S.
Glassco (Science, 1901), for permission to examine letters and minutes;
to Dr. J. A. Nicholson, (Arts, 1887) for his valuable aid in locating
and obtaining access to documents; to the staff of the Redpath Library,
especially Miss D. A. Lomer, for their unfailing and patient help in the
search for records; to Mr. J. W. Jeakins, Secretary of the Graduates'
Society, and to Mr. E. Ardley of the Redpath Museum for kind assistance;
to the attendants in Archives for many courtesies; to George B. Fraser,
Esq., for permission to photograph prints; to the late Rev. Dr. Robert
Campbell whose knowledge and memory of old Montreal was wide and vivid;
and particularly to John Lane, Esq., of the Bodley Head for his personal
interest and experienced advice in the preparation of this volume.
Since the information concerning the ancestry of James McGill is at
present meagre, I should be glad if any reader possessing information as
to his ancestry and early career would communicate with me in Canada, or
with my publisher, Mr. John Lane, The Bodley Head, Ltd., Vigo Street,
London, England, so that this section of the book may be amplified in
future editions.
C. M.
MCGILL UNIVERSITY,
July, 1921.
CONTENTS
CHAPTER PAGE
I. THE ROYAL INSTITUTION FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF LEARNING 15
II. THE DAWN OF MCGILL 29
III. DELAY AND DIFFICULTY 44
IV. THE COLLEGE OPENED 73
V. ANXIOUS YEARS 102
VI. THE COLLEGE IN THE FIRST MCGILL BUILDINGS 155
VII. THE STRUGGLE FOR EXISTENCE 184
VIII. COLLEGE LIFE IN MID-CENTURY 212
IX. SIR WILLIAM DAWSON AND THE MAKING OF MCGILL 221
X. HIGHER EDUCATION FOR WOMEN 248
XI. THE LARGER MCGILL OF OUR DAY 256
EPILOGUE 271
APPENDIX A. (THE WILL OF JAMES MCGILL) 277
APPENDIX B. (THE CHARTER) 281
APPENDIX C. (THE DAWSON MEMORIAL ADDRESS) 291
APPENDIX D. (THE PETERSON MEMORIAL ADDRESS) 299
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
JAMES MCGILL, FOUNDER _Frontispiece_
_From painting attributed to Gilbert Stuart_
FACING PAGE
MONTREAL IN THE DAYS OF JAMES MCGILL 32
_From a print in the collection of Sir Frederick
Williams Taylor_
THE BURNSIDE ESTATE, JAMES MCGILL'S HOME 42
THE REV. DR. G. J. MOUNTAIN, PRINCIPAL 1823-1835 74
DR. A. F. HOLMES, THE FIRST DEAN OF THE MEDICAL SCHOOL 86
_Copy by R. Harris of painting destroyed in fire at Medical
Building. Artist unknown._
THE REV. JOHN BETHUNE, ACTING PRINCIPAL 1835-1846 102
PLAN OF MCGILL GROUNDS 118
PROPOSED ORIGINAL BUILDING 134
_H. B. Parry, Architect_
THE REV. ARCHDEACON W. J. LEACH, VICE-PRINCIPAL 1846-1886 180
_From a painting by Wyatt Eaton_
E. A. MEREDITH, PRINCIPAL 1846-1851 184
MCGILL IN 1855 212
SIR WILLIAM DAWSON, PRINCIPAL 1855-1893 222
_From a painting by Wyatt Eaton_
WILLIAM MOLSON 232
_From a painting by John Phillips_, 1861
PETER REDPATH 236
_From a painting by Robert Harris_
SIR WILLIAM MACDONALD 238
SIR WILLIAM PETERSON, PRINCIPAL 1895-1919 240
JOHN H. R. MOLSON 244
DEAN ALEXANDER JOHNSON, VICE-PRINCIPAL 1885-1903 248
PERCIVAL MOLSON 252
LORD STRATHCONA 254
DR. CHARLES E. MOYSE, VICE-PRINCIPAL 1903-1920 258
SIR ARTHUR CURRIE, PRINCIPAL 1920- 266
DR. FRANK D. ADAMS, VICE-PRINCIPAL 1920- 268
MCGILL IN 1921 272
_The photographs from which the prints were made are the
work of Norman and of the Rice Studios._
THE ROYAL INSTITUTION FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF LEARNING
CHAPTER I
THE ROYAL INSTITUTION FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF LEARNING
The Charter under which McGill University was established, was obtained
on March 31st, 1821. The century mark in the University's history has
now been passed. One hundred years is a long period in the life of a
nation or a country; it is a longer period still in the life of an
individual; but it is perhaps longest relatively in the life of an
educational institution, particularly if that institution had its birth
in struggling pioneer days. It is a period in university life which
sees, as a rule, an undreamed of growth and development from small
beginnings to unlimited influence, from scanty resources and great
disappointments to a large if not always adequate endowment and
equipment, from a merely local service to a national and even a world
educational power. This is distinctly true of the century of McGill
University's story. It began as a College, intended to minister to a
very small community. It has grown in one hundred years to serve the
world. It has graduated over twenty-five hundred Bachelors, over
thirty-three hundred Doctors of Medicine, over nineteen hundred
Engineers, over eight hundred Lawyers besides holders of higher or
graduate degrees; it has given hundreds of graduates to high positions
in the Church, the State, and industrial and educational institutions.
It has drawn its students from all lands, and it has sent its products
in trained men and women into every country on the globe. Long ago it
divested itself of the merely local, and to-day the old term, _Studium
Generale_, used in the middle ages to designate a University, may well
be applied to McGill,--"a School where students of all kinds and from
all parts are received."
The establishment of McGill University was but part of a more
comprehensive plan to improve educational conditions in Canada in the
beginning of the 19th century. After the peace treaty of 1763, which
ended the Seven Years' War and gave Canada to the British, immigration
to the colony was comparatively small, and little effort was made by the
Home Government to provide educational opportunities for the children of
those who sought happiness or fortune in the new land beyond the ocean.
Indeed, in that time the authorities were too busy trying to solve
difficult problems at home to devote much energy to the internal
problems of the colony. They had no time and perhaps they had even less
care for their colonists. The treaty of 1763 had not brought peace. The
advocacy for political change was causing deep anxiety and the new
radicalism under the plea for the new democracy was making a slow but
steady advance which troubled the statesmen of the age. Then came in
quick succession the American Revolution, the French Revolution and the
Peninsular War, all of which absorbed the attention of the Home
Government. By her steadfast attitude in 1776, Canada had proved her
right to expect and to receive sympathetic attention and encouragement
from the Home Government, but it is perhaps not to be wondered at that
in the circumstances of the troubled period the educational advancement
of Lower Canada was neglected or ignored, and that educational
opportunities were practically non-existent.
In other parts of Canada education seems to have received more
sympathetic interest. Particularly in the Maritime Provinces good
schools had been established, largely, however, through the efforts of
the colonists themselves. A new impetus was given to education by the
arrival of many settlers from the United States during and after the
Revolution. These settlers had enjoyed in New England excellent
educational advantages; they had lived close to great universities with
their beneficent influence, the Universities of Harvard and Yale, of
Williams and Dartmouth and Brown, and they determined to establish in
their new home the educational facilities which they had already enjoyed
in another land. It was felt in Lower Canada that similar opportunities
should be speedily provided for the English-speaking children of the
country. The majority of settlers in Lower Canada were of Scottish
origin. They were largely soldiers or the descendants of soldiers who
had fought in the Highland Regiments during the campaign of 1759, and
who after the Treaty of Paris in 1763 had taken up the land assigned to
them by the Crown. Many of these soldiers, too, later became fur-traders
and entered the service of the North-West Company. These settlers were
all eager that their children should have at least an elementary
education. It was felt, too, that in the unrest and the uncertainty of
the period immediately following the American Revolution it was not
advisable to send students in search of higher professional training to
the universities of the United States, which in the days of their
British allegiance had attracted Canadian students in large numbers. But
above all, the settlers realised the necessity for the establishment of
schools in which the children of the French-Canadians should be taught
English. It was declared that from the national point of view such
training would have a far-reaching influence on the future of Canada as
an integral part of the British Empire, and that without such
instruction, which would result in a bond of language, Canada could
never be a united land.
Efforts were accordingly made to establish a system of free schools,
with the hope that later a university might be founded. As early as 1787
the matter received the serious consideration of the Legislative
Council, and a scheme of education in the Province was actually
prepared. But the scheme met with vigorous and determined opposition
from one section of the community and it was in the end abandoned by the
authorities after a somewhat bitter controversy. Some years passed
without further action. In 1797 General Simcoe, the first Governor of
Upper Canada, and his Executive Council decided to establish a Seminary
for higher learning in that Province. They invited Mr. Strachan, a
graduate of St. Andrews' University, Scotland, to organise the College
but before he arrived in Canada General Simcoe was removed from office
and the establishment of the proposed university was long delayed. The
plans of Upper Canada in 1797 to establish a university, although their
fulfilment was long postponed, inspired the people of Lower Canada to
greater efforts on behalf of education. They continued their agitation,
but their efforts had little immediate success. The conditions in Lower
Canada were earnestly and anxiously set forth in the following appeal
made to the Governor-General, Sir R. S. Milnes, by the Rev. Dr. Jacob
Mountain, Lord Bishop of Quebec, on October 19th, 1799:
"There is so intimate and obvious a connection between the education of
youth and the general state of public morals, that I trust I shall not
be thought to deviate from the duties that are more particularly
assigned to me, if I presume to solicit your Excellency's attention to
the disadvantages under which the Province has long laboured from the
want of proper schools for the instruction of the children both of the
higher and of the lower orders of the community.
"In doing this, it is by no means my intention to enter into the
examination of these disadvantages so far as they are common to us with
every other society which is without proper institutions for the
education of youth; I shall take the liberty of mentioning such only as
appear to be in a great measure peculiar to ourselves.
"Let me be permitted, then, to suggest the danger which may result to
the political principles and to the future character as subjects of such
of our young men among the higher ranks as the exigency of the case
obliges their parents to send for a classical education to the colleges
of the United States.
"In these Seminaries, most assuredly, they are not likely to imbibe that
attachment to our constitution in Church and State, that veneration for
the Government of their country, and that loyalty to their King, to
which it is so peculiarly necessary in the present times to give all the
advantage of early predilection in order to fix them deeply both in the
understanding and the heart.
"To obviate this danger, it would seem expedient to found at least one
good Grammar School in this Province and to invite able Masters from
England by the liberality of the endowment.
"It may not be improper to state here that there is already at Quebec a
respectable school, which offers the means of instruction to those who
are designed for the more accurate professions, or for the pursuits of
Trade and Commerce in which, together with the lower branches of
education, are taught the Latin language, Mathematics, and Navigation,
by a master well qualified for the task he has undertaken. I would wish
to suggest the expediency of insuring the continuance of this advantage
(which has not hitherto been duly appreciated) by some mark of the
protection of the Government.
"But it is not only good Grammar Schools for the education of such young
men as are designed for the learned Professions or who from their rank
in society may hereafter fill situations of great political importance
in the Province that are wanted; a more humble but a not less important
branch of the community seems to call also for your Excellency's
benevolent attention.
"It is well known that the lower orders of the people in this Province
are for the most part deplorably ignorant; that the very slender
portion of instruction which their children obtain is almost entirely
confined amongst those, who do not live in the Towns, to the girls
alone; and more especially, it is notorious that they have hitherto made
no progress towards the attainment of the language of the country under
which government they have the happiness to live.
"This total ignorance of the English language on the part of the
Canadians draws a distinct line of demarcation between them and His
Majesty's British subjects in this Province, injurious to the welfare
and happiness of both; and continues to divide into two separate peoples
those, who by their situation, their common interests and their equal
participation of the same laws and the same form of Government, should
naturally form but one.
"If the evils are confessedly great which arise from this want of a
community of language, it should seem expedient to endeavour to provide
an immediate remedy for the defect, and it should also seem that this
can only be done by facilitating as much as possible the means of
acquiring the English language to the children of the Canadians.
"The plan which I would beg leave to submit for this purpose is simple
and I trust practicable. Its aim may appear to be humble, but its
effects, I am persuaded, would be in a high degree beneficial and
important.
"It is briefly this:--that a certain number of English School Masters,
to be hereafter determined, should be employed and paid by the
Government; that one of these should be placed in each of the cities and
towns, and in the most considerable villages for the purposes and under
the express obligation of teaching the English language _gratis_ to a
certain number of the Canadian children, and writing and arithmetic when
required, at an easy rate; that Trustees or Commissioners should be
appointed to manage the fund which the Government in its bounty may see
fit to appropriate to the end, to determine the number of Masters that
may be required, their respective salaries, and the number of children
they shall respectively teach _gratis_, to fix the rate at which Writing
and Arithmetic shall be taught on, and to have the power of removing the
Masters for incapacity or neglect of duty, and of promoting them
successively to the more lucrative situations for able and meritorious
conduct.
"I would barely hint, by way of a leading idea upon this subject, that
the salaries might perhaps extend from £20 to £60 per annum according to
the number of inhabitants in the Village, Town, or City in which the
Teacher should be placed, and that it might perhaps not improperly be a
condition that he who received a payment of £20, should be obliged to
teach English _gratis_ to _ten_ Canadian children, he who received £30
to fifteen children, and so on in proportion.
"The importance and extent of this subject demand, I am well aware, more
local information and better judgment than I have been able to apply to
it;--I presume only to suggest it as an object not unworthy of immediate
consideration to your Excellency's superior wisdom."
This appeal was submitted by the Governor-General to the Executive
Council of Lower Canada and was approved by that body. It was then
forwarded to the Colonial Office for further consideration. As a
result, on July 12th, 1800, the Duke of Portland, sent to the
Lieutenant-Governor a long despatch from which the following extracts
indicate that the Home Government sympathised with the Lord Bishop's
suggestion:--
"With respect to making a suitable provision for the education of youth
in Lower Canada, and more particularly for laying a foundation for
teaching the English tongue generally throughout the Province, I not
only fully coincide with the sentiments expressed by the Bishop of
Quebec and concurred in by the Executive Council on this point, but I am
of opinion that the proposed Free Schools for this purpose should be
established under the express condition of teaching the English language
_gratis_ to the children of His Majesty's subjects resident within the
district for which such schools are established, without any limitation
as to the number of such children.
"The Master should certainly be authorised to make a reasonable demand
for teaching Writing and Arithmetic or, what would be still better, the
terms may be settled from time to time by the Trustees or Governors of
such Free Schools in the appointing of which it is His Majesty's
pleasure that the Governor, Lieutenant-Governor, or person
administrating the Government for the time being, the Bishop of Quebec,
the Chief Justice of the Province, and the Speaker of the Assembly
should always be of the number.
"In addition to the Free Schools for teaching the English language,
(which I consider to be of the first necessity, and for the
establishment of which you will consider yourself hereby authorised to
appropriate from the Provincial revenues such sums as may be necessary
to pay the salaries of the Masters who shall from time to time be
appointed by you), it will be necessary in one or perhaps two instances
to have recourse to others of the higher order and of the nature of our
Public Schools here, in order that neither the means nor the necessary
encouragement may be wanting to cultivate the study of the learned
languages. It appears to me that this establishment will be sufficient
for the present, although in due progress of time Foundations of a more
enlarged and comprehensive nature will be requisite for the promotion of
Religious and Moral Learning and the study of the Arts and Sciences.
With this view His Majesty, ever ready to manifest his paternal
consideration and regard for his subjects, and desirous to afford all
possible assistance and encouragement to his Province in carrying into
execution an object of such importance as the instruction and education
of youth, has signified to me his Royal pleasure that you should upon
consulting the members of His Majesty's Executive Council report to me
in what manner and to what extent it would be proper to appropriate a
portion of the Crown Land or revenues arising therefrom for this
purpose."
As a result of the agitation for the providing of educational
opportunities in Lower Canada, the Royal Institution for the Advancement
of Learning was established by Act of the Legislature in 1801. Under
this Act, the King gave directions for the establishment "of a competent
number of Free Schools for the instruction of children in the first
rudiments of useful learning; and also as occasion should require for
foundations of a more comprehensive nature." It was declared that "His
Majesty had further signified his intention that a suitable portion of
the Lands of the Crown should be set apart, and the revenue thereof
appropriated to these purposes." The Act provided that all property
which should thereafter be given, bequeathed or purchased for
educational purposes was to be vested in the trustees of the Royal
Institution, with the necessary powers of management. Provision was made
for the establishment of Free Schools at specified places throughout the
Province by the authority of the Government, and for the building and
repairing of schoolhouses, but not for the salaries of the masters.
Accordingly, elementary free schools were soon erected in different
parts of the Province, and several teachers were appointed by the
authorities.
Notwithstanding the passing of the above Act, educational advancement in
the Province for many years made but slow progress. There was no
adequate system of management. In 1803, Lord Hobart issued instructions
to the effect that a portion of the Crown Lands was to be set apart for
the promotion of education. These instructions were not carried out; at
best such a scheme would have been insufficient for the purpose;
subsequent experience in the case of the Clergy Reserves proved the
inefficacy of such an appropriation. There was a long delay in
establishing the Corporation which the Act of 1801 had in view. In 1815,
the Home Government directed the Provincial Government to proceed with
the election of trustees under the Act, but it was not until 1818 that
trustees were finally appointed. The trustees included the Lord Bishop
of Quebec as Principal; the Lord Bishop of Montreal; the Chief Justice
of Lower Canada; the Speaker of the Legislative Council; and the Speaker
of the Legislative Assembly.
It is unnecessary to enter here into the details of the early history of
the Royal Institution. Its first years were years of struggle. The
schools erected under its authority were one-room buildings of cedar
logs. Indeed, they were mere log-huts, but they provided the first free
English Education in Lower Canada, and laid the foundation for a
Canadian nationality. The records of the Royal Institution indicate the
determination with which teachers and officials battled sturdily with
poverty, and with discouraging conditions. The Secretary's salary was
always many months in arrears, and he frequently complained, with
unfortunately but little satisfaction, that not only had he given his
time for some years without remuneration, but that he had expended even
his own fuel and candles. In 1819, thirty-seven schools were in
existence in the Province; these were occupied by fifty-three Teachers;
the total expenditure for education was £883.10; the highest salary paid
was £100,--at Quebec and at Montreal; the lowest salary was £11.5; the
average salary was £18. It was pointed out by the authorities that these
salaries were not intended to be the sole support of the teachers, but
that they were meant "to operate as an aid and encouragement for the
exertions and contributions of the inhabitants themselves."
Although the salaries were small and the school-buildings and equipment
very poor and uncomfortable, the discipline of the Royal Institution
seems to have been surprisingly strict and exacting. Criticism of
teachers, their methods and the books they used, was plentiful and
continuous. It was not unusual for teachers to be censured "for not
keeping school at all," or for giving too many holidays, or for
tardiness in opening school in the morning and eagerness in closing it
in the afternoon. At least one teacher was warned that his arrears in
salary would not be paid, and that he would be instantly dismissed "if
he did not treat his wife with greater kindness." The teachers were
billetted among the inhabitants in their respective districts; after a
few days' sojourn in one house they moved on to another, thus making all
the settlers bear in turn the burden of providing their food and
lodging. In this way they managed to exist on their scanty salaries,
which were frequently unpaid for many months. The school-buildings were
used at times by travelling missionaries for religious services. This
seems to have been a source of much annoyance to the authorities; the
teachers rather than the inhabitants of the district were always held
responsible, and were frequently severely reprimanded for permitting
such use of the schoolhouses. It was not unusual for teachers to be told
plainly by letter from the Secretary that they would be dismissed or
"that no part of the salary hitherto granted by the Government would be
allowed, unless the Methodists were wholly and immediately excluded from
using the school-room as a place of worship."
The Royal Institution had many difficulties to contend with. Although
its methods were not always efficient and its management was not always
adequate, it is deserving of gratitude for laying the foundation of
English education in what was to be later the Province of Quebec. It not
only guided for many years elementary and grammar school education, but
it planned for the establishment of a State or Government College where
higher education could be obtained. But before the proposed plan was
carried into effect, provision was made by a citizen of Montreal for the
endowment of a College to bear his name. As a result, the Royal
Institution for the Advancement of Learning supervised the establishment
of McGill College and directed it in its infancy, for under the Act of
1801 all property and money given for educational purposes in the
Province of Lower Canada was placed under its control.
CHAPTER II
THE DAWN OF MCGILL
During the discussion in the Legislature of educational conditions in
Lower Canada which resulted in the establishment of the Royal
Institution for the Advancement of Learning under the Act of 1801, one
of the most prominent members of the Provincial Parliament was James
McGill, a merchant and fur-trader who represented the West Ward of
Montreal in the Legislative Assembly. Only meagre facts about the life
of James McGill are available and the documentary evidence bearing on
his career is scanty. He was born in Glasgow, Scotland, on the 6th of
October, 1744. His parents were natives of Banffshire. After an
elementary school education in his native town he entered Glasgow
University at the age of twelve, in accordance with the custom of those
days which permitted attendance at a University at a very early age. The
Matriculation Album of Glasgow University contains the following entry:
1756, Jacobus McGill, filius natu maximus Jacobi mercatoris Glasguensis.
Nine years later, his younger brother Andrew entered the University, as
indicated by the following record in the Matriculation Album:
1765, Andreas McGill, filius natu quintus Jacobi mercatoris
Glasguensis.
Like so many other adventurous Scotchmen of that period, after
completing his education James McGill determined to seek his fortune in
the new land beyond the horizon, from which wondrous stories of the
wealth and romance of the fur-trade were drifting to the old world. He
emigrated to the American Colonies, where he remained for some years,
and where he was later joined by his younger brother, Andrew. But before
the American Revolution the brothers moved to Canada and in 1775 they
were firmly and prosperously established in business in Montreal, where
the older brother became connected with the famous fur-trading
North-West Company. That he was at that time regarded as one of the
leading citizens is evident from the fact that he was selected for many
important and responsible civic duties. During the American Revolution
when Canada was invaded and General Guy Carleton withdrew all the troops
to Quebec and left Montreal to its fate, James McGill was one of those
who saw the folly and uselessness of resistance. He preferred to save
the city from unnecessary destruction and he was one of the twelve
citizens,--six French and six English,--who were selected to sign the
capitulation of the city to General Richard Montgomery on November 12th,
1775. His five associates were John Porteous, Richard Huntley, John
Blake, Edward Gray and James Finlay. On December 2nd, 1776, he married
Mrs. Marie Charlotte Guillemin, a French Roman Catholic lady, the widow
of a French Canadian gentleman, Joseph A. T. Desrivières. The ceremony
was performed by the Rev. David Charbrand Delisle, Rector of the
Protestant Parish of Montreal and Chaplain of the Garrison. The Church
record reads:--"1776, James McGill, Esq., and Mrs. Charlotte Guillemin,
widow, were married by Licence the 2nd December, 1776." Mrs. James
McGill was born in Montreal in 1747, the daughter of William Guillemin
and Claire Genevieve Foucault. She married Joseph A. T. Desrivières in
Montreal on the 19th of September, 1763, at the age of sixteen.
Soon after his arrival in Montreal James McGill acquired the Burnside
estate of forty-six acres, with the Burnside Manor, in which he resided
during the remainder of his life. He took into partnership, under the
name of "McGill and Todd," his friend, Isaac Todd, a man of keen
business ability and of civic prominence.
James McGill is described by his contemporaries as of "a frank and
social temperament," in figure "tall and commanding, handsome in youth
and becoming somewhat corpulent in his old age," and in his leisure time
"much given to reading." He was a prominent member of the Beaver Club,
the members of which were all fur-traders who had amassed considerable
wealth in their calling. A contemporary had a memory of him in jovial
mood at one of the festal meetings of this Club, "singing a voyageur's
folk-song with sonorous voice, and imitating, paddle in hand, in time
with the music, the action of the bowman of a canoe ascending a rapid."
Because of his pleasing personality, his prosperity and business
strength, and his marriage connections with another race and religion,
he was held in respect and popularity by all classes, irrespective of
nationality or creed. It was therefore but natural that he should enter
political life after the granting of the Constitutional Act by the Home
Government in 1791. He was selected, with J. B. Durocher as his
colleague, to represent the West Ward of Montreal in the first
parliament of Lower Canada which met on the 17th of December, 1792.
Later he became a member of the Legislative Council, and in 1812 he was
appointed one of the commissioners for removing from the city the old
walls which had been built in 1724. He took a prominent part in the
Militia organisation; during the war of 1812 he was honorary Colonel of
the Montreal Infantry Volunteer Regiment; later and before hostilities
ended, although he was too old for active service, he was promoted to be
Brigadier General, and he seems to have had a large part in directing
the administration of the various Militia units. After a busy, active
and strenuous life of unselfish service for his community and of devoted
efforts for the promotion of tolerance and harmony between races and
creeds as the one sure foundation for a united Canadian nationality, he
died in Montreal on December 19th, 1813, at the age of sixty-nine, and
was buried on December 21st. The official record of his death reads: "On
the nineteenth day of December, one thousand eight hundred and thirteen,
the Honourable James McGill, Colonel, Commandant of the Montreal
Militia, died, and was buried on the twenty-first following." The
certificate of death was signed by his partner, Isaac Todd, and by
Thomas Blackwood, a native of Lanarkshire, Scotland, who was at one time
employed in the firm of McGill and Todd, and who later formed a business
partnership with Francis Desrivières.
[Illustration: Thomas Pattendel--P. Canot Sculpsit
_Montreal as James McGill knew it_]
Mrs. James McGill survived her husband less than five years. She died in
Montreal on the 16th of April, 1818, aged seventy years and nine months,
and was buried on the 18th following. There were no children from the
marriage.
James McGill was born of Scotch Presbyterian parents and he grew up in
the church and religion of his fathers. When he settled in Montreal
there was no Church of Scotland in the city. The first Presbyterian
congregation in Montreal consisted of a small group of Scottish
settlers. It was organised without a church building in 1786 by the Rev.
John Bethune, who ministered to its members from March 12th in that year
until he moved to Upper Canada in May, 1787. But it was but a temporary
organisation and had no continuous status. From 1787 to 1790 there is no
record of the holding of a strictly Presbyterian service in the city.
The only Protestant body holding service regularly was known as "the
Protestant Congregation of Montreal," the pastor of which was the Rev.
David Charbrand Delisle, one of the three clergymen who had been
employed by the Church of England to labour among the French-Canadians.
He was Rector of the Parish of Montreal and Chaplain of the Garrison.
This congregation worshipped until 1789 in the Church of the Recollet
Fathers, which with great tolerance and courtesy was for twenty years at
their disposal; in 1789 they were given the Chapel belonging to the
Jesuits' College, then Government property; they opened it for public
worship in December under the name of Christ Church.
Like all the young Protestant Scotchmen living in Montreal at that time,
James McGill became by necessity a member of the Protestant Episcopal
Congregation. The adherents to the two Protestant creeds were tolerant
and harmonious in their relations one with the other and they were
content to worship together. In 1789 when the Bishop of Nova Scotia
visited Montreal an address was presented to him by the Church Wardens,
and by "a committee of the Protestant inhabitants of Montreal,"
irrespective of their former creed. The majority of the latter were
Scotch Presbyterians. The Bishop was met at Pointe aux Trembles by the
reception committee. One of the "Protestant inhabitants" who signed and
presented the address was James McGill. There is no doubt that the
larger number of this "committee of Protestant inhabitants," at that
time identified with the Protestant Episcopal Congregation of Montreal,
returned to the Church of their fathers as soon as a Church was built,
several of them becoming office-bearers. The precise action taken by
James McGill is uncertain. He seems to have divided his allegiance
between the two communions; while not severing his connection entirely
with the Church of England he gave his support to the establishment of a
Church of Scotland and later became identified with it. When the St.
Gabriel Street Church, the first Presbyterian Church in Montreal, was
built in 1792, he subscribed ten guineas towards the construction of the
building. He signed the call to the first pastor of the Church, the Rev.
James Somerville; he thereafter contributed three pounds a year to his
stipend and occupied pew No. 16 in the Church. His brother Andrew later
contributed five pounds towards removing the remaining debt from the
building. The Rev. Mr. Somerville, the pastor of the Church, officiated
at Andrew's funeral. There is little doubt from the records that James
McGill regarded himself as of the Church of Scotland although he was for
a time, in those days of somewhat surprising religious harmony and
tolerance, a member of the Protestant Episcopal Church of Montreal.
One of James McGill's most intimate friends and confidants in Canada was
the Rev. John Strachan, afterwards the Right Reverend Bishop of Toronto,
who was thirty-four years his junior. He was a native of Aberdeen,
Scotland. He received his M. A. from King's College, Aberdeen, in 1797,
and then attended for some months Divinity Classes at St. Andrew's
University, near which he had a post as a Parish schoolmaster. Towards
the end of 1797, he came to Canada by invitation to organise a seminary
of learning in Upper Canada, but the plan was abandoned and he became
tutor in a private family in Kingston, Ontario. He offered himself as a
candidate for the pastorship of the St. Gabriel Street Presbyterian
Church on September 21, 1802, but before his letter was received another
applicant, the Rev. James Somerville, had been accepted. Later he took
orders in the Anglican Church and was appointed to the Church at
Cornwall. He opened there a school and his fame as a teacher was soon
widespread. Among his pupils were the three sons of the Rev. John
Bethune who had established the first Presbyterian Congregation in
Montreal, one of whom afterwards became Rector of Christ Church and
acting-Principal of McGill University. In 1807, he married the widow of
James McGill's younger brother, Andrew, formerly Miss Wood of Cornwall,
and he was thus brought into closer relationship with the McGill
family. His enthusiasm for education and for its advancement in Canada
was unbounded and it is evident that he impressed his ideas as to ways
and means and methods on the mind of his wealthy merchant friend. James
McGill was a believer in the value of education; he knew what it had
done for his own home-land, and what Scotland, educationally, was doing
for the world. He determined that the torch which for him had been
lighted in Glasgow University should burn likewise for those who would
succeed him in the land of his adoption. He had indicated that
determination during the consideration of the subject in the
Legislature. But on the question of method he sought advice from his
young teacher friend, Strachan, whom he frequently visited in the
latter's home in Cornwall. During these Glengarry visits there was many
a happy and roseate night of mingled sociability and high seriousness,
after the custom of their race and time, when the two friends, the young
educationalist and the older man of wealth, with similar vision, sat
late in discussion of the Canadian educational problem and of plans for
its solution.
In a letter to the other surviving executors of James McGill's will,
written from York [Toronto] on May 31, 1820, seven years after James
McGill's death, the Rev. Dr. Strachan gave interesting information on
these discussions and their bearing on the circumstances leading up to
the practical working out of James McGill's dreams on education as
evidenced later in his will. He wrote: "It was, I believe, at Cornwall
during one of the visits which Mr. McGill made to Mrs. Strachan and me
that his final resolution respecting the erection of a College after
his name, endowing it, etc., was taken. We had been speaking of several
persons who had died in Lower Canada and had left no memorial of
themselves to benefit the country in which they had realised great
fortunes. And particularly I mentioned a University, as the English had
no Seminary where an Academical Education could be obtained. We had
repeated conversations upon the subject, and he departed determined to
do something and with some inclination to leave twenty instead of ten
thousand pounds, together with Burnside, and even to make some
preparations before his death, expressing at the same time a wish that
if he did anything I should take an active part in the proposed
College."
It was soon after the visit referred to that James McGill made his
will,--on March 8, 1811. He bequeathed to the Royal Institution for the
Advancement of Learning, in trust, the sum of £10,000 and his Burnside
Estate of forty-six acres, together with the dwelling house and other
buildings, for the erection on the estate, and the endowment, of a
University or College on the express conditions,--and these were the
only conditions imposed,--that the University be erected and established
within ten years of his death and that one of the Colleges to be
comprised in the University should be called "McGill College." If the
College was not erected in the time specified the conveyance to the
Royal Institution was to be null and void; and the estate and endowment
were to revert to his widow, and after her death to her first husband's
nephew, Francis Desrivières and to his legal heirs. He named as
executors of the will John Richardson, James Reid, John Strachan, and
James Dunlop.
These executors were all close personal friends of the testator. The
career of John Strachan has already been outlined. Although it was not
specified in the will that he should be connected with the proposed
College, it may be assumed that because of his close friendship, his
marriage connection, and his established reputation as a brilliant and
successful educationalist with definite ideas on Canadian nationality,
James McGill desired that he should have a prominent part in the
organization of the College and that possibly he should be its first
Principal. That this desire was stated to the trustees seems certain. In
a letter written from Toronto some years after James McGill's death,
while the trustees who knew the circumstances were still living, Bishop
Strachan said:
"If it had been my desire, it was certainly in my power to have been at
the head of it [McGill College] for it so happened that I had some
difficulty in prevailing with my friend, Mr. McGill, to forbear annexing
it as a condition to his bequest that I should fill that situation;" and
he added that "a Professorship in McGill College was never desired or
thought of by me, nor could any situation in that institution have
formed an inducement to me to leave this Province to which I have been
for so many years devoted."
The three trustees associated with the Rev. Dr. Strachan as
administrators of the will were all prominent in civic and provincial
affairs. They were all Scotchmen and were connected with St. Gabriel
Street Presbyterian Church. John Richardson, partner in the mercantile
house of Forsyth, Richardson and Co., was a native of Banffshire,
Scotland. He represented the East Ward of Montreal in the first
Parliament of Lower Canada, which met in 1792, and he took his seat at
the same time as James McGill, his colleague from the West Ward. With
the latter, he was one of the commissioners appointed for the removing
of the old city walls in 1802 and it was through his influence that the
bill providing for the construction of a canal to Lachine was passed.
The firm of which he was a member contributed £20 towards the building
of St. Gabriel Street Presbyterian Church and he personally subscribed
£3 a year towards the minister's stipend; he occupied pews No. 6 and No.
47. He was one of a committee of three formed to purchase the land on
which the General Hospital now stands; he was chairman of the committee
which superintended the construction of the Hospital and was later
chosen as its first president. He died in 1831, aged seventy-six.
The Honourable James Reid, the second trustee named, was admitted to the
Bar of the Province in 1794; he was raised to the Bench as a puisne
Judge in 1807, and later in 1823 he was made Chief Justice of Montreal.
He subscribed one guinea a year to the stipend of the first pastor of
St. Gabriel Street Presbyterian Church and occupied pew No. 14. He died
in 1848 at the age of seventy-nine. After his death, his widow erected
to the memory of her husband the southwest wing of the Montreal General
Hospital.
James Dunlop, the fourth trustee named, settled in Montreal in 1777 and
established a general store in St. Paul Street. He took an active part
in the military organisation during the War of 1812, and served as Major
under Brigadier General James McGill. He subscribed ten guineas towards
the building of St. Gabriel Street Presbyterian Church and his name
appears for ten pounds on a special subscription list for liquidating
the debt on the original building; he signed the manifesto in favour of
the first pastor of the Church, the Rev. James Somerville; he
contributed five pounds annually towards his salary and occupied pews
No. 19 and No. 99. He died in 1815 at the age of sixty.
James McGill's estate sloped from the base of Mount Royal towards the
St. Lawrence River. It consisted of forty-six acres of fertile land
extending south to what is now Dorchester Street and reaching from the
present University Street on the east to what are now McTavish and
Metcalfe Streets on the west. St. Catherine Street and Dorchester Street
were not then in existence and Sherbrooke Street was but a narrow road
running through the farm. East, west and south of the estate were open
fields and a few scattered houses, and the city proper lay a long
distance away, beside the water-front. A small stream of water passed
through the farm. It entered from the east near the present Milton
Street entrance on University Street; it then turned south and was
increased in volume by the water from a spring near the site of the
Macdonald Engineering Building. It passed on through the present tennis
courts in "the hollow" by the Physics Building, crossed Sherbrooke
Street where it was joined by another small stream from the southwest,
and then flowed close to Burnside House and on towards the city. It is
recorded that the name Burnside was given to the estate because of this
stream or "burn" as the Scotch called it. James McGill's home, Burnside
House, a large stone building, was situated on the present McGill
College Avenue, about midway between the present Sherbrooke and Burnside
Streets on the left-hand side looking south; it was demolished in 1860
to make room for the buildings now in that locality. A narrow road led
from near the front of the house to what is now St. Antoine Street. The
estate was divided into small sections which were later rented for
purposes of cultivation or pasture. It contained numerous trees and
shrubs, and was at that time regarded as one of the most valuable and
desirable parts of the district of Montreal.
In the days of James McGill, Montreal was a small town of from twelve to
fifteen thousand inhabitants, and of these the large majority were
French. Indeed, the whole province had but a scanty population.
One-third of the houses were wooden huts. The town stretched out along
the water-front in a series of narrow blocks and straggling streets. The
trade with foreign countries was exceedingly small. The entire carrying
capacity of ships annually arriving at Quebec did not exceed 12,000
tons, and only a few of these ships went on to Montreal. In 1813, the
year of James McGill's death, only nine vessels entered Montreal from
the sea, and their total capacity was but 1,589 tons. At the end of the
18th century, the exports of furs and other products from the entire
province was little more than half a million pounds sterling. Strange
and primitive customs were still in vogue in the city. The price of
bread was regulated by "His Majesty's Justices of the Peace," and bakers
were required to mark their bread with the initials of their name.
Slavery was not unknown, and a sale advertisement towards the end of the
century included in the articles to be sold "a stout, healthy negro man
about 28 years of age,--an excellent cook, and very fit for working on a
farm." A mail for England was dispatched about once a month. It went by
way of New York and took from three to four weeks to reach that city; it
was then forwarded by packet-ship to England, and usually at least four
months passed before an answer could be received. The incoming mail was
put off the New York packet at Halifax; it came overland from Halifax to
Montreal, this part of the journey alone taking nearly four weeks.
[Illustration: Photo Rice Studios
The Burnside Estate]
Such was the somewhat primitive city in which James McGill lived and
laboured and amassed his wealth. Such was the community to the service
of which he contributed unstintingly of his material substance, his
energy and his talent. Such, too, were the conditions in which this
hard-headed, practical business man dreamed a dream,--a dream of a
greater Canada with a distinctly Canadian nationality trained to solve
its own problems in its own way, and of the necessity for providing for
the youth of the great land mirrored in his mind the privileges of an
adequate education similar to that which he had enjoyed in his own
native country. For James McGill seems to have been a combination of the
practical Scottish business man and the dreaming Scottish mystic. Like
the other early Canadian pioneers of his race he was a hard-fisted man
battling by necessity in a hard-fisted new world, but he kept in that
new world the spiritual vision born of Scottish glens and mists and
hills. He worked like his ancestors for the building of churches and
schools and court houses, symbolic of religion, education and law, as
milestones of civilisation in a new land and without which no country
could make progress. He knew that without the torch of a free and
liberal education the land of promise to which he had come and from
which he had received much, could not advance to what he believed to be
its destined place of power and service in the world. And so he dreamed
of a great University which would not only be local in its usefulness,
serving a small city which his faith told him would one day grow to
giant size, but also national in its influence, and ministering to the
enlightenment of that larger Canada which his vision saw in the far and
dim distance. The making of his bequest two years before his death for
the establishment and the endowment of McGill College was the first step
towards the fulfilment of his hopes. But between the dream and its
ultimate realisation lay long and troubled years of baffling difficulty
and bitter discouragement, and at times, despair.
CHAPTER III
DELAY AND DIFFICULTY
Less than three years after he had made his bequest, James McGill died,
in December, 1813. Soon after his death the executors of his will sought
to fulfil his desire with reference to the establishment of a College,
and to ensure that the conditions imposed with regard to time would be
complied with as speedily as possible. But they were confronted by
obstacles over which they had no control. The will bequeathed the
Burnside Estate and the Endowment Fund to the executors in trust, on the
understanding that they should as soon as convenient after the
testator's death convey it to the Royal Institution for the Advancement
of Learning, to be used by them as provided under the Act of 1801. But,
as we have seen, the organization of the Royal Institution was bitterly
opposed by one section of the community. Every effort to have trustees
appointed and to have the Institution put in actual operation was
frustrated. The authorities feared to cause friction or discord, and
they preferred postponement. There was therefore no Royal Institution,
other than in name only, to which the McGill bequest could be conveyed.
There were no trustees. It was necessary first for the executors and
those interested in the establishment of the College to effect the
actual organization of the Royal Institution by securing the
appointment of trustees as called for by the Act. They continued, with
vigour, to impress this necessity upon the authorities in order that the
McGill bequest should not lapse, and they were promised prompt action.
But in that troubled period of warfare the Home Government was involved
in too many difficulties to devote time to the problem. Action was for
these various reasons consequently long delayed and it was not until
1818 that the promise was fulfilled and that the authorities at last
appointed Trustees and established in fact the Royal Institution. Were
it not for the fear of losing the legacy,--a misfortune which after all
was narrowly averted,--and the persistent efforts of the executors, the
appointment would have been doubtless longer delayed. The Provincial
Legislature could not appoint trustees without orders and they were
unwilling to make any grant of money without authority from the Colonial
Office.
But as a result of the hopeful promise made to the executors by the
authorities towards the close of 1814, the former began to discuss and
to put forward plans for the carrying out of the desire of the founder
of the College. The Rev. Dr. Strachan was their spokesman. On February
14, 1815, he wrote to three personal friends who were then members of
the Legislature of Lower Canada asking their co-operation and
assistance, advising haste, and setting forth his own ideas on the
establishment of McGill College,--ideas based on his knowledge of
educational conditions in Canada and on his own experience of nearly
twenty years in educational work. He urged the Provincial Legislature to
act independently of the Home Government and to grant the funds
necessary to put the College at once in operation, and he suggested
making use of the Jesuits' Estates or the Crown Lands for this purpose.
From this letter the following extracts are of interest:
"As we [the Executors] have sent the necessary documents to the
Commander of the Forces to point out the necessity of his acting
promptly in establishing a College according to the conditions of Mr.
McGill's Will, and as it is probable he may apply to the House of
Assembly upon the subject, I furnish you with my ideas.
"The scheme enclosed for the two Schools and College is as economical as
it can well be to render it respectable and useful. The number of
students will not be great for some years, nor will it ever be such as
to make the Professorships lucrative. Even the Principal will hardly
ever be able to reach one thousand pounds per annum, a remuneration
sufficiently moderate for the accumulated duties which he will have to
perform and to maintain in such an expensive place as Montreal the
dignity of his station. If the Provincial Parliament waits for something
to be done by the King all will be lost,--for the Government have too
many things to call their attention. But when the matter is once set on
foot, an address from the Legislature can at any time procure assistance
from His Majesty's Ministry. Yet six thousand pounds per annum appears
to me a trifle, considering the increased opulence of the country. It is
not probable that the Roman Catholics will object to such an
arrangement,--they have already three Seminaries said to be well
endowed,--but if any of them be poor the Legislature ought to grant them
pecuniary relief.
"I say nothing respecting religion, but in the Chapel of the University
Lectures on Theology may be given to Protestant students, which Roman
Catholics shall not be required to attend. There are many particular
regulations which I do not mention, I just furnish a crude outline.
"You are to recollect that if nothing be done, you will soon lose Mr.
McGill's donation. The time will never again be so propitious. I say
nothing about the nomination of Professors; men of some talent must be
selected and of great zeal for the promotion of the Sciences. The first
Principal will have many difficulties to encounter and may not live to
see the Seminary in a very flourishing condition, but it will ultimately
exceed the most sanguine expectations.
"I prefer the form of the Scotch and German Universities to the English,
or rather a mixture of both plans, because much more may be done at
one-fourth of the expense. In the English Universities the public
Professors seldom lecture more than once a week,--many of them not at
all; the whole system of teaching is conducted by Tutors and emulation
and a love of study is kept up among the students by fellowships, etc.
The great opulence of Cambridge and Oxford is far beyond our reach, and
although I should be sorry ever to see them lose a shilling, for I think
them wisely adapted to so rich and populous and learned a country as
England, I consider them unfit for this country. Our professors must
each during the session, give two, three, or even four courses of
lectures, till the funds afford the means of increasing their number.
"I must further add on the subject of finding Professors, that gentlemen
newly from England, and accustomed to the wealthy Universities of that
country, may not always possess the qualities necessary to make them
useful in this projected Seminary. Learning they may have in abundance,
but the industry, labour (I may say drudgery) and accommodation to
circumstances cannot be expected from them. There are several gentlemen
in this country qualified for the first race of Professors, and after
the Seminary is once set agoing there will be no risk in electing
Englishmen to fill vacant chairs, because the rules and regulations
being established, all must submit.
"I have only mentioned one restriction, the Principal to be of the
Church of England. This, I think necessary on many accounts. The
Seminary must and ought to have a distinct religious character, and this
simple regulation will confer it without circumscribing its liberality
and openness to all persuasions. I think also the Principal's department
should be Moral Philosophy or Theology."
In the same letter Bishop Strachan outlined his suggested scheme for the
organisation of McGill College. He pointed out "that the necessity of
sending young men out of the Province to finish their education has been
found both dangerous and inconvenient; that reason and policy equally
demand that our youth be educated in the Province, or in England, if we
wish them to become friendly to our different establishments and to the
Parent State; that few can defray the expense of sending their children
to England, and, if they could, the distance from parental authority is
dangerous to their morals; and that there is at present no Seminary in
which the English youth of Canada can obtain a liberal education."
To remedy these alleged evils, he therefore proposed that there should
be established "two Grammar Schools, one at Quebec, and one at Montreal,
each under a Rector or Head Master and three Assistants, at which the
following branches of education shall be taught: the Greek, Latin,
French and English languages, Writing, Arithmetic, Geography, and
Practical Mathematics. These schools, to be appendages and nurseries for
a University to be established on the model of the Scotch and German
Universities in the neighbourhood of Montreal, on the property
bequeathed for that purpose by the late Honourable James McGill, and to
be named as he desired, McGill College or University; that the following
branches of academical education be taught in the said University, (1)
Greek and Latin; (2) Natural History and Botany; (3) Mathematics and
Astronomy; (4) Natural Philosophy and Chemistry; (5) Moral Philosophy,
Logic and Rhetoric; (6) Surgery and Anatomy; (7) Civil and Public Law;
that the Professors of Surgery and of Civil and Public Law shall not be
required to reside within the College; that a house be provided within
the College for a Principal and four Professors; that the members of the
University be constituted a Corporation capable of sueing and being
sued, and of receiving donations of money and lands, etc., for the
benefits of the Institution; that the Principal be always a clergyman of
the Church of England; that young men of all denominations, as
Christians, be freely admitted to the different lectures; that new
Professorships be established as soon as the funds will admit; that the
University be represented in the House of Assembly by two Members; that
no degree be conferred upon a student who has not resided three years;
that an attendance of three years at the University shall entitle a
student to be called to the Bar one year earlier than any other,
provided he be of age; that a report of the state of the University be
annually laid before Parliament; that there be frequent Visitations by
the Bishop, the Chief Justice, the Speaker of the House of Assembly,
etc., appointed a committee for that purpose; and that there be two
public examinations every year."
Dr. Strachan estimated the expense of the necessary buildings to be
£18,000, "made up of £4,000 for each of the two Grammar Schools
including residence for the Head Masters, and £10,000 in addition to
James McGill's bequest of £10,000, an excellent site and house extremely
commodious for the Principal or one of the Professors." The annual
expense of the Grammar Schools was estimated at £2,000, "made up of £300
a year to each of the Head Masters, £200 a year to each of two second
Head Masters, £100 a year to each of four Under Masters, and £300 to
each school for servants, repairs, library, premiums, etc." It was added
that "this will render them desirable, and together with a moderate fee,
payable by each scholar to his respective Teacher, will make them an
object to men of talent!"
The total annual expense of the University was estimated at £4,000, made
up as follows: "The Principal to be also a Professor, £750; the Senior
Professor, £500; three Professors, £400 each; the Professor of Surgery
and Anatomy, and the Professor of Civil and Public Law, £200 each; in
addition each Professor is to enjoy a moderate fee from the students
attending his lectures; for the purchase of books for the Library,
£300; for the purchase of Philosophical and Chemical apparatus, £250;
for the purchase of Plants for the Botanic Garden, £100; Librarian's
salary, £100; Gardener's salary, £100; Servants and Contingencies,
£300." It was explained that smaller salaries were given to the
Professors of Surgery and Law because "they will be Professional men not
expected to reside in the College or to be exclusively confined to its
duties, but attending at the same time to their private practice."
Three reasons were given by Dr. Strachan for preferring Montreal to
Quebec as the place for the establishment of the University: "its more
central position; its greater suitability for a Botanic Garden; and the
large sum of money and a most beautiful estate already given for the
express purpose." In conclusion, Dr. Strachan wrote: "Thus it appears
that for an appropriation of £18,000, and six thousand pounds per annum,
an establishment may be formed of incalculable importance to the
Province, in a religious, moral and political light. The Legislature
might in a few years be relieved from the burden by procuring from the
Crown the Jesuits' Estates to be given for the support of the
Institution, and by grants of lands capable of becoming productive. The
allowance for Philosophical and Chemical apparatus will in a few years
become too great; the surplus may then assist the library."
The three members of the Legislature to whom this letter was sent by Dr.
Strachan at once brought it to the attention of their colleagues, and
the question was again referred to the Home Government. It seems to have
been pressed with earnestness and persistence but it was apparently not
regarded as very urgent by the Colonial Office. The authorities were
evidently too busy with the Napoleonic Wars in Europe and America, and
with their own internal problems to give much attention to Colonial
education, and the year passed without further action. Finally, on the
30th of December, 1815, Lord Bathurst wrote from Downing Street to Sir
Gordon Drummond, then administering the Government of Lower Canada, the
following letter asking for information about the Jesuits' Estates, and
intimating the intention of the Government to proceed with the
establishment of a College or Colleges in the Province, for the erecting
of which the revenues of these estates might be used:
"His Royal Highness, the Prince Regent, being desirous of marking by
some permanent establishment the high sense which he entertains of the
exertions made by the Provinces of Canada during the late war with the
United States, has been pleased to signify his intention of founding and
endowing in the Province one or more Colleges for the education of
youth. An establishment so necessary cannot be too early accomplished,
and although the details of such a measure are not completely arranged,
yet Montreal has been from its central situation selected as the town
best fitted for such a purpose. There does not appear any reason why the
commencement of the work should not take place immediately. You will,
therefore, lose no time in selecting such a spot in the immediate
vicinity of Montreal, taking care that the ground selected be
sufficiently extensive to leave an adequate space for the formation of
walks and gardens, and you will proceed without delay to enclose it for
that purpose. You will further take the necessary measures for
acquainting the trustees in whose hands the late Mr. McGill deposited by
will a sum of £10,000 in aid of this object, that it is the intention of
His Majesty's Government to commence such an undertaking and to call
upon them as soon as the plan shall have been definitely settled for the
application of the funds entrusted to them for the purpose of erecting
the building. I forbear in this first stage of the undertaking to
mention either the assistance which His Majesty's Government is prepared
or may be enabled to give or that which the Province may be disposed to
contribute. The benefits of such an establishment are such as must be
felt both in the Colonies and in the Mother Country, and when felt
cannot but ensure on the part of both a hearty co-operation and liberal
support.
"With a view to the endowment of a College, the estates lately belonging
to the Jesuits and now in possession of the Crown, afford a resource of
which His Majesty's Government are to a certain extent determined to
avail themselves. But previous to deciding upon the extent of the
establishment it is necessary that I should be informed of the present
value of these Estates, of their capability of improvement and of the
mode in which their revenues have hitherto been disposed of.
"I have therefore to desire that you will as early as possible furnish
me with adequate information upon these several points. Upon the receipt
of which His Majesty's Government will lose no time in entering upon the
final arrangement of an establishment calculated to afford to all
classes of His Majesty's subjects in the Province that degree of
education and those means of improvement which they have hitherto been
compelled to seek at a distance from home."
It is evident from the above letter that the writer had no knowledge of
the conditions of James McGill's will nor was he aware that before
Colleges could be established it was first necessary to appoint Trustees
for the Royal Institution and thereby to enable that body to assume
control of educational institutions established in the Province, as
already provided for by the Act of 1801. However, the Executors of the
McGill will were informed, as requested, of the Home Government's
intention, and the information asked for with reference to the Jesuits'
Estates was forwarded to the Colonial Office. Lord Bathurst was
apparently meanwhile made acquainted with the conditions of the will and
with the Act of 1801. A few weeks later, on March 14th, 1816, he again
wrote to Sir Gordon Drummond, as follows:
"My despatch of the 30th December will have informed you of the
determination of His Royal Highness the Prince Regent to avail himself
of the return of peace to forward the important objects of education and
instruction in His Majesty's Dominions, and especially in the Provinces
of Canada. When I then addressed you I had not had an opportunity of
perusing the will of Mr. McGill which afforded by the liberality of his
bequest such important assistance in carrying such an object into
effect. I have since been furnished with a copy of the will of which an
extract is enclosed for your consideration. You will no doubt observe
that the mode in which the bequest is directed to be made, no less than
the nature of it, superseded the necessity of carrying into effect the
instructions conveyed to you on the 30th December under an erroneous
impression of its contents. You will therefore consider that instruction
to be recalled and in lieu of adopting any measures for enclosing a spot
well fitted for the erection of the University, you will suspend all
measures of such a nature till the necessary preliminary arrangements
have been made in conformity with the Act of Parliament of the Province
of Lower Canada passed in the 41st year of His Present Majesty, entitled
'An Act for the Establishment of Free Schools and the Advancement of
Learning in this Province.' Those arrangements you will immediately
carry into effect, by appointing under the Great Seal of the Province
the following persons to be Trustees of the Schools of Royal Foundation
in the Province in the manner and for the purposes specified in the Act
and constituting them a Body Corporate by the name of the Royal
Institution for the Advancement of Learning. The persons to be nominated
in the first instance are the Governor, Lieutenant-Governor, or person
administering the Government for the time being; the Right Reverend
Jacob Mountain, Bishop of Quebec; Jonathan Sewell, Esq., the Chief
Justice of the district of Quebec; James Monk, Esq., the Chief Justice
of the district of Montreal; the Reverend J. O. DuPlessis,
Superintendent of the Romish Church.
"As soon as this preliminary arrangement shall have taken place you will
call upon the persons named in Mr. McGill's will for the execution of
the trust reposed in them, and you will by an early opportunity receive
detailed instructions for your future proceedings."
Three weeks later, on the 9th April, 1816, Lord Bathurst forwarded to
Sir Gordon Drummond the following despatch containing the names of
additional Trustees and cancelling for obvious religious, political and
racial reasons which would prevent criticism the former appointment of
the Governor:
"In my despatch of the 14th ult., I conveyed to you the instruction of
His Royal Highness, the Prince Regent, to nominate and appoint under the
Provincial Act of 1801 a Body Corporate for the Advancement of Learning,
and I communicated to you the names of several persons who appeared best
qualified for such a duty. It has since appeared more advisable to
increase the number of Trustees to eight in order to obviate the
inconveniences which if the number were less might arise from the
non-attendance of individual members. It has been deemed proper also in
order to obviate all objections which might be grounded on the
circumstances of the peculiar situation in which with regard to this
commission the Governor is placed, to withdraw from that commission the
name of the Governor or Officer administering the Government. You will
therefore take the necessary measures for inserting in the Patent the
following names in lieu of those which I have previously specified,
viz.--Jonathan Sewell, Esq., Chief Justice of the district of Quebec;
James Monk, Esq., Chief Justice of the district of Montreal; the Right
Rev. Jacob Mountain, Bishop of Quebec; Rev. J. O. DuPlessis,
Superintendent of the Romish Church; the Rev. Dr. Alexander Sparke of
the Church of Scotland; John Richardson, Esq., of Montreal, a member of
the Executive and Legislative Councils; William Bachelor Coltman, Esq.,
of Quebec, a member of the Executive Council; and John Reid, Esq., of
Montreal, one of the Judges of the Court of King's Bench."
Notwithstanding the above instructions the Provincial Government was
slow to act, for reasons already specified. Opposition to the
establishment of the Royal Institution continued to be powerful and
somewhat bitter, and two years passed before trustees were finally
appointed. The Rev. J. O. DuPlessis, the Superintendent of the Romish
Church, objected to becoming a member of the Board, and later declined.
Meanwhile vigorous efforts were made to have the grants for schools and
the McGill bequest augmented by the Crown, through the use of Crown
Lands or the revenues of the Jesuits' Estates as partly promised in Lord
Bathurst's letter of December 30, 1815.
As a result of these persistent efforts by some members of the
Legislature and by church authorities interested in education, the Home
Government realised that the funds devoted to educational institutions
were lamentably insufficient and that additional means should at once be
provided for the better equipment of schools and for the engagement of a
greater number of teachers. They seem to have realised, too, that the
bequest of James McGill was not in itself sufficient to provide for the
erection of College buildings and for a subsequent endowment. They
therefore decided after much consideration to make use of the estates of
the Jesuits which had reverted to the Crown on the extinction of the
order. For several years the assigning of the revenues of these estates
to educational and religious purposes under Protestant control had been
advocated and by the strange irony of history this was in time brought
about. Indeed, as early as February 10th, 1810, Sir Gordon Drummond,
then administering the Government of Lower Canada, wrote from Quebec to
the Colonial Office stating that the Anglican Cathedral in Quebec "was
badly in need of repair and that for the purpose of repair there was
little hope of obtaining from the inhabitants of Quebec any contribution
worthy of consideration." He therefore asked that the Home Government
should authorise him to devote to the purpose part of the revenue
arising from the Jesuits' Estates, the whole of which "to the amount of
more than £4,500 annually has hitherto been transferred to the Military
chest." And he added, "I beg leave to suggest my opinion that this is
the most proper source from which the means of repairing the cathedral
can be drawn, and indeed, that this fund might with propriety in the
future be applied to the general support of the places of worship of the
Established Church throughout the Province."
In answer to this request, however, no immediate action was taken, for
although the Home Government had a legal right to dispose of the Estates
as they saw fit, they naturally wished to proceed slowly and tactfully
in order to avoid religious friction or bitterness within the Province.
In 1815, when, as already pointed out, it was intimated by the Colonial
Office that the Jesuit Estates might possibly be appropriated in aid of
the McGill bequest, there seems to have been no intention to limit the
assistance which should be provided by this increased revenue to McGill
College alone. On the contrary, the object appears to have been to use
the additional funds in order that, irrespective of race or creed, the
benefits of education might be diffused as widely as possible throughout
the country. But delay again followed, and it was not until the next
year that definite instructions were issued by Lord Bathurst for the
transfer of the Jesuits' Estates to the Royal Institution for the
Advancement of Learning. These instructions were contained in the
following historic letter, destined to have so large a part in the
establishment of McGill College and in Canadian education, and forwarded
to the Officer Administering the Government of Lower Canada by Lord
Bathurst from Downing Street on May 10th, 1816:
"I have already expressed to you the gracious intention of His Royal
Highness, the Prince Regent, to forward the extension of education in
the Provinces of Canada and I have pointed out the preliminary measures
necessary on your part to give effect to that intention. In furtherance
of this object, I have received the commands of His Royal Highness to
instruct you to transfer to the Trustees of the Royal Institution for
the Advancement of Learning all those estates which formerly belonged to
the Society of Jesuits, which, since the abolition of that order, have
been vested in the Crown, in order that the Royal Institution for the
Advancement of Learning may possess present means for establishing and
maintaining the Seminaries which it may be necessary to found and may
possess the revenue which cannot fail progressively to increase in
proportion to the improvement of the Provinces and the consequent demand
for additional means of instruction.
"In transferring, however, those estates to the management of the Royal
Institution for the Advancement of Learning, you will retain for the
future disposal of His Royal Highness the accumulation of the rents and
profits of preceding years which may be either in the hands of the
Receiver of those estates, or which may have been by him paid to the
Colonial Government, and you will with as little delay as possible
transmit to me a detailed account of the amount of the Fund which has
been so created."
Meanwhile the executors of the will of James McGill had been again
informed of the definite intention of the authorities to proceed with
the erection and endowment of a College at Montreal, and on May 13th,
1816, John Richardson, one of the surviving executors, acknowledged on
behalf of himself and his colleagues receipt of the information in the
following letter, in which, remembering perhaps Lord Bathurst's letter
of December 30, 1815, they emphasised the conditions imposed in the
will:
"We have the honour of receiving your letter of the 9th inst., written
by command of His Excellency, the Administrator in Chief, to acquaint us
that His Majesty's Government have it in contemplation to erect and
endow a College at Montreal and that it is their intention as soon as
the plan of this establishment shall be definitely settled, to call upon
us as Trustees of the Will of the late Mr. McGill for the application of
the lands entrusted to us for that purpose.
"And further desiring to be acquainted for His Excellency's information,
what are the extent and advantages considered with reference to the
object proposed of the House and property of the late Mr. McGill in the
vicinity of Montreal and whether the grounds are sufficiently extensive
to have an adequate space for the formation of walks and gardens,--in
compliance with His Excellency's desire, we have to acquaint you that
the grounds above mentioned contain about forty-six superficial arpents
in a very healthy, moderately elevated, and pleasant situation, well
watered, at a convenient distance from the city towards the mountain,
and consequently appear to be sufficiently extensive and well calculated
for every purpose of the contemplated establishment. There are already
upon the premises a good stone house of two and a half stories, a barn,
office, and a large garden, which may be applied to the residence of the
President or some of the Professors or to other useful purpose connected
with the object in view.
"We have further to acquaint you for His Excellency's information that
the devise by the late Mr. McGill is upon several conditions, one
whereof is that 'one of the Colleges be named McGill College, or if only
one College should be selected, then that the said one shall be called
McGill College!' Another of the conditions is 'that it be erected upon
the tract so devised.'
"We therefore take the liberty of suggesting that it will be needful in
forming the plan of the establishment to attend to these conditions so
as to enable the Trustees to act in conformity to the trust reposed in
them by the will of the deceased."
Two years of inaction followed, and even after the trustees of the Royal
Institution were appointed, delay characterised the efforts of the
authorities. There seems to have been considerable disagreement between
the Home Government and the Provincial Government with regard to the
exact objects for which the revenue of the Jesuits' Estates was
intended, and on the method of distribution. The Home authorities would
not agree to assign any of the revenue to aid in the establishment of
McGill College. Finally, in 1819, Lord Bathurst directed the Duke of
Richmond, the Governor-General, immediately to commence the building of
McGill College, and he authorised him to defray the expense which it
might in the first instance be necessary to incur "from any funds which
might be in the hands of the Receiver of the Jesuits' Estates." But this
instruction was not carried out. Its object seems to have been merely to
prevent the lapse of the McGill bequest in conformity with the expressed
condition of the will that the College should be erected within a
definite time. Further, the proposed assistance from the Jesuits'
Estates seems to have been an advance and not a gift. It is unnecessary
here to follow in detail the disagreement and the struggle arising from
the distribution of the revenue of these estates. For several years the
subject was one of controversy, and meanwhile the cause of education
suffered. In 1823 Lord Bathurst recommended to the Lords Commissioners
of the Treasury that a loan of £50,000 at 4% interest should be granted
to the Royal Institution, but this recommendation was not complied with.
In 1825 a system was proposed by Lord Dalhousie, and subsequently
followed, by which the management of the estates was taken over by the
Inspector of the King's Domain under the control of the Governor in
Council. He was allowed an agent in each district to collect the rents
which were then turned in at stated periods to the Receiver General. For
several years, however, particularly in 1830 and 1831, the question of
assigning the revenues from the estates for the purpose of education was
repeatedly under discussion, but no pledge for such financial assistance
was given by the Home Government. At last, in 1831, the Home Government
surrendered the Jesuits' Estates to the Provincial Legislature, and
against much opposition the schools were placed under the control of the
House of Assembly. The salaries of teachers were greatly reduced; they
were granted on an annual vote on condition that instruction be given by
each teacher to at least twenty pauper scholars. As a result, it was
stated by those opposed to this new plan that "the schools were nothing
more than places of cheap education for the children of people in the
lower walks of life." But notwithstanding this criticism the schools of
the Province seem to have flourished to some extent at least under the
new system. But it should not be forgotten that the Jesuits' Estates
which had so long been the subject of discussion and controversy had in
the end a very prominent part in the early history of McGill College. It
was because of the funds derived from them when all other sources of
revenue were exhausted that the trustees of the Royal Institution, and
the executors of the will of James McGill, were permitted to prove in
the courts the legality of the McGill bequest and to prosecute
successfully their claims to his Burnside estate.
In accordance with Lord Bathurst's instructions to the Duke of Richmond
in 1819, the Royal Institution for the Advancement of Learning proceeded
to have the McGill property transferred from the executors of the will
to their own control. They gave a power of attorney to S. Sewell, who
subsequently continued for several years to act on their behalf. But
delay again characterised the efforts of the Royal Institution, and it
was not until January 18th, 1820, that final application for the
transfer of the McGill estate was made to the three surviving executors,
Hon. John Richardson, Hon. James Reid, and the Rev. Dr. Strachan. The
estate was then in possession of Francis Desrivières, the nephew of the
first husband of Mrs. James McGill. He was occupying Burnside House,
James McGill's former home, and he was in control of the lands, products
and rents of the estate. On receipt of the request from the Royal
Institution, the executors wrote to Mr. Desrivières on January 20th,
1820, informing him that a University or College was about to be erected
and established "for the purpose of education as designated in the will
and in conformity to the conditions therein presented," and asking "when
the tract of land and premises now in your possession can be delivered
over without subjecting you to unnecessary inconvenience."
This inquiry was the beginning of a long and wearying controversy which
resulted in protracted litigation and ended finally in an appeal to the
Privy Council. The reply to the above request indicates that the
Desrivières family was not inclined to give up the property without a
struggle. Francis Desrivières wrote, "I beg leave to mention that when
the demand for the property in question is made by the Corporation
referred to [The Royal Institution], I will determine how far a
compliance with that demand ought to take place on my part." The
executors forwarded this reply to the Attorney for the Royal Institution
with the comment "you will perceive that it is evasive." They further
stated their intention to proceed nevertheless with the conveyance,
"which, when completed, will be handed over to you; it will then rest
with your Corporation to pursue such measures as may be considered
proper on the occasion."
The necessary papers for the transfer of the estate, but not the
endowment fund,--from the executors of the will to the Royal Institution
were finally completed in May, 1820; on June 7th following, the
conveyance was effected and the Deed was recorded on August 3rd. It was
evident, however, to the executors that difficulties were in the way of
securing possession of the property. In a letter to the Rev. Dr.
Strachan, written on the 24th of May, 1820, the two remaining living
executors, John Richardson and James Reid, said: "We are sorry to say
that a general belief prevails, and we fear is too well founded, that
Mr. Desrivières, the residuary legatee, means to contest this bequest of
his venerable benefactor. If that shall be really his intention, it will
speedily be known by a refusal after a formal demand is made by the
Corporation for the delivery of possession of the aforesaid grounds and
premises,--whereupon a suit will be instituted against him in the
October term." To this letter Dr. Strachan replied, "I should hope that
Mr. Desrivières will have a greater respect for the memory of his
greatest benefactor than to contest a Legacy which goes to establish an
institution which he had so much at heart."
That the "general belief" and the fears above referred to were not
groundless was soon apparent. Formal application for the vacating and
the giving up of the estate was made by the trustees of the Royal
Institution. The application was curtly refused. Francis Desrivières was
in possession of the estate and he determined to remain in such
possession until the Courts should decide otherwise. His solicitors
based their claim, on his behalf, on the plea that a college had not yet
been erected, that no steps had been taken towards its erection, that
there was no intention to proceed with its establishment, and that it
was now too late to comply with the conditions of the will with
reference to time. With respect to the endowment fund, they claimed that
they were not obliged to pay it until a college had been actually
erected as provided in the will. As a result of these claims, a suit was
at once instituted in the Courts by the Royal Institution for the
purpose of obtaining possession of the estate, and on October 3rd, 1820,
the Board passed a resolution authorising their attorney, Mr. Sewell, to
secure the aid of Mr. Stuart as counsel in the case. Mr. Sewell
subsequently had the assistance of Mr. Ogden, Mr. Vallières de St. Real,
Mr. Griffin, and Mr. Cochrane.
The Board soon realised that if their suit was to be carried to a
successful conclusion they must have funds to meet necessary expenses.
They applied to the Governor-General for financial assistance, and as a
result a sum of £200 was advanced to them as a loan, from the proceeds
of the Jesuits' Estates. They realised, too, that it was necessary at
once to give the College some semblance of organisation. Their
solicitors advised the securing of a Charter without delay, and on
February 7th, 1821, the Secretary of the Board wrote to Mr. Sewell,
stating that "application for a Charter will be made to His Majesty's
Government without loss of time, but it is the unanimous opinion of the
Board that the case should proceed." The Charter [here included as
appendix B] received the sanction of the Crown on March 31st, 1821, and
formed the basis of the court plea of the Royal Institution. Two years
later the Board decided to secure a teaching staff, and by 1824 they had
appointed a Principal, who was to be also Honorary Professor of
Divinity, and four Professors. The latter held merely _pro forma_
appointments, and were intended to fulfil a technical legal requirement;
none of them ever lectured in the University, and when the College was
actually opened five years later those who still remained willingly
resigned to leave the Governors free to fill all Professorships as they
desired. But the fact of their appointment doubtless helped the Board in
the suit then pending.
It is needless here to outline in detail the litigation that followed.
In answer to the Desrivières claim, the Board contended that, as
required by the testator, McGill College had now been, to all intents
and purposes, erected and established by Letters Patent under the Great
Seal, and by the appointment of Professors. All the conditions of the
will had therefore, they said, been fulfilled. Accordingly on November
8th, 1821, they made a formal demand upon the executors, the Hon. John
Richardson and the Hon. Justice Reid, for the transfer of the legacy of
£10,000 with interest due since the death of the testator. Francis
Desrivières was in possession of this money, and on December 4th, 1821,
the executors called on him for its payment. He replied that it would
not be paid until the college had been built and established, as the
case connected with property only had not yet been decided, and he did
not regard the mere obtaining of a Charter as fulfilling the conditions
of the will. As a result the executors and the Board issued instructions
on December 26th, 1821, for the instituting of a second suit to obtain
possession of the endowment fund, and the two suits proceeded.
The settlement of the first case was long delayed, and was attended with
numerous discouragements. It involved, too, great expense, which the
Board was not always able to meet. The judgment of the Court of King's
Bench in Montreal was in favour of the Royal Institution. Mr.
Desrivières then appealed from this judgment to the Privy Council, and
again an irritating delay ensued before the appeal was heard. In July,
1823, the Board asked the Governor-General for a further loan of £300
from the revenues of the Jesuits' Estates as they were again in
financial straits. The advance was made, but it was soon expended, and
when forwarding a payment on account to Mr. Sewell on April 15th, 1824,
the Secretary of the Board wrote, "this payment exhausts within a few
pounds all the money of the Royal Institution. We are therefore in no
very enviable situation as to funds." Four more years passed before the
first suit was finally settled; they were years during which in the face
of obstacles that threatened the very existence of the College, the
Board frequently despaired of success. On August 17th, 1824, the
Secretary wrote to the Lieutenant-Governor of the Province, Sir F. N.
Burton, pleading for his assistance and co-operation in bringing the
case to a speedy conclusion, and asking for further financial
assistance. The following extract from his letter indicates that the
outlook was not entirely hopeful:
"The judgment of the Court of King's Bench at Montreal in favour of the
Institution in suit against Mr. Desrivières has been confirmed by the
Court of Appeals; but a further appeal has been made to the Privy
Council; the sum of £300, advanced by way of Loan, by order of His
Excellency, the Governor in Chief, in consequence of the address above
referred to (in addition to £200 before received), from the proceeds of
the Estates heretofore belonging to the late Order of Jesuits' has been
subsequently expended. Your Excellency is likewise aware that not only
is a question arising out of these complicated legal proceedings now
pending in the Court of Appeals, but also that the action for the
£10,000 which promises to be at least as expensive to the Institution as
that for the Estate of Burnside, is as yet undecided in the Court of
King's Bench at Montreal. Of the final result of these proceedings no
doubt can reasonably be entertained; but the Institution have before
them in the meantime the prospect of protracted Litigation without any
means whatever of meeting the heavy expense attendant upon it,--or even
of defraying their ordinary contingent expenses, however trifling their
amount. In these circumstances of unexampled difficulty, the Institution
once more humbly pray that your Excellency in transmitting their
Memorial to His Majesty's Government, will be pleased to accompany it
with such representations as to your Excellency may seem best calculated
to relieve them from the extreme embarrassment of their situation; from
which, if it is not speedily extricated, not only must all hope be
relinquished of the actual establishment of McGill College, already
erected by the Royal Charter, but their operations must be suspended
altogether and their very existence as a Corporation virtually cease."
The reply to this letter was unfavourable, or at least indifferent, and
on November 14, 1824, an appeal was made for a grant or a loan of £50
from the revenues of the Jesuits' Estates. Finally, towards the close of
1828, the judgment previously given in favour of the Royal Institution
was confirmed by decree of the Privy Council in Appeal, and early in
1829 the Burnside Estate was given into the Board's possession. The suit
in connection with the endowment fund was still pending. Because of the
judgment given in the first suit, there was no doubt, however, about its
ultimate result, but it was not finally settled by the Privy Council in
favour of the Royal Institution until 1837.
When the Board took possession of the Burnside Estate they decided to
lease to a farmer named O'Connor, the farm and garden for one year, "on
the halves," on condition that the lease could be cancelled by the Board
on three months' notice. The leasing of the property was frequently the
cause of controversy and annoyance. O'Connor contracted a bill for
garden seeds amounting to over £3. He was unable to pay it and the seed
merchant held the Estate liable, as the products of the seeds had
improved the property. There was a long and technical discussion, until
at last the bill was paid from the proceeds of the sale of wood from
apple trees O'Connor had cut down, apparently to end the trouble. On the
whole, the leasing was for a time profitable to the Board, but it was
not always attended with harmony. Later, the land was leased to another
farmer named Kelly for seven years, on condition that the lease could
be surrendered on four months' notice, "and that Kelly should cut down
the poplar trees." Subsequently, the estate was leased in smaller
sections.
In order to strengthen the claims then before the courts for the
possession of the endowment fund, it was desirable actually to open the
College in Burnside House as speedily as possible. It was decided that
the opening should take place on Wednesday, the 24th of June, 1829, and
notification of this intention was published in the press. In April a
committee of the Board was appointed to draw up a Code of Statutes for
the government of the College. The Rev. Archdeacon Mountain, son of the
Principal of the Royal Institution for the Advancement of Learning, had
been appointed Principal of the proposed University five years before.
But no arrangements had been made for the future. There was apparently
but little promise of a grant from the Government, and until the second
suit should be settled in the courts and money thereby made available,
it was obvious that all plans must be indefinite. The future would, it
was hoped, take care of itself; the main object to be considered for the
present at least was the opening of the College. With that accomplished,
and the endowment fund paid, all difficulties, it was thought, would
vanish, and the College would go forward to its intended place. But
before it lay troubled years of uncertainty and anxiety. It was only the
firm determination and the undefeated optimism of those who believed in
its destiny that kept it from being merely the hope or the dream of a
Scottish pioneer rather than a place of everlasting influence in our
national life. The struggle of those years was not always without great
disappointment, and even bitterness. But the product that emerged from
the turmoil was perhaps greater and stronger for that fact.
CHAPTER IV
THE COLLEGE OPENED
The Principal who guided McGill College in its infancy and for six years
after its opening, was the Rev. George Jehosophat Mountain. He was
appointed to the Principalship in 1824, while the University was a name
only. The family from which he was descended had won distinction in
education and in the church, and it was fortunate that the young College
should be cradled under the care of a guardian of his learning, his
traditions and his breadth of vision. His father, the Rev. Jacob
Mountain, was given livings by the younger Pitt in Lincolnshire and
Huntingdonshire in England, and later a prebend's stall in Lincoln
Cathedral. When a diocese was created in Canada his name was at once
suggested, because of his success at home, and in 1793 he came to Canada
to become the first Anglican Bishop of Quebec. He subsequently acted as
Principal of the Royal Institution for the Advancement of Learning and
as such he had an active part in the educational affairs of the
Province. His son, George, was born in England in 1789 and when he
arrived in Canada with his parents he was but four years old. He
therefore justly regarded himself as a Canadian. He received his early
education in Quebec and continued his studies in England, where he took
his B.A. degree at Trinity College, Cambridge. He then returned to
Canada and assisted his father as Secretary until he was ordained in
1816, at a time when the establishment of McGill College and the methods
of fulfilling James McGill's desire were under discussion. In 1817 he
became Rector of Quebec, and in 1821 Archdeacon of Lower Canada. When in
1824 the Board of the Royal Institution found that it was necessary, in
order to secure the McGill bequest, to appoint Professors to the
proposed College they selected Archdeacon Mountain as Honorary Professor
of Divinity and Principal of McGill College. But he gave no lectures and
received little or no remuneration for his work. His duty seems to have
been mainly to preserve the forms which the terms of the will required.
He laid the foundation for the creation of the Faculty of Arts, and
while he believed that instruction should be given in a manner
consistent with the English National Establishment, he desired that the
University should be open to students of all creeds with equal
privileges and that Professorships should be tenable by graduates of the
Scotch Universities. He retained the Principalship until 1835, when he
retired, to return for a time to England. It is unnecessary here to
follow in detail his subsequent career. In 1836 he was made coadjutor of
Dr. James Stewart, Bishop of Quebec and became thereby Bishop of
Montreal, the consecration ceremony being performed at Lambeth. After
his retirement from the Principalship he continued, as we shall see, to
devote much time and attention to the affairs of the growing University
as a Governor, and he lived to see the College of which he was the first
guardian advance to growth and usefulness even far beyond his dreams.
During his last years he occupied the Anglican See of Quebec, where he
died in 1863.
[Illustration: _Rev. George Jehosophat Mountain_ 1789-1863
_First Principal of McGill University_ 1829-1835]
The ceremony which marked the official opening of McGill University was
held on Wednesday afternoon, June 24th, 1829. It had been advertised in
the press for some time, and in addition special invitations were sent
out to many citizens interested in educational advancement. It was
therefore attended by what the contemporary press called a gathering of
"numerous and respectable individuals." Because of the historical
importance of this meeting, the report of it, which appeared in the
_Montreal Gazette_ in the issue of Monday, June 29, and which is similar
in its details to the Governors' minutes of the meeting, is here given
in full:
"In consequence of a notification having been published--that this
College would be opened, and that formal possession of the estate of
Burnside, upon which it was established, would take place on Wednesday,
a very numerous assemblage of the inhabitants of this City were present
at what we consider to be one of the most important and interesting
ceremonies lately witnessed in this part of the Province. Though there
was none of the gaudy appearance and display characteristic of religious
or Masonic Processions, yet to the mind of the philosopher and friend of
education, the simple and appropriate ceremony, an account of which we
are about to lay before our readers, presented more charms than if
decked out with all the pageantry of chivalry and romance.
"A large room in the house which has been for some time existing on the
estate having been fitted up, it was soon after one o'clock filled by
the numerous and respectable individuals who had assembled to witness
the ceremony. Among the company we noticed several officers of the
government, the principal members of the Bar, the lecturers at the
Montreal Medical Institution and several gentlemen, more or less
connected with the proposed College.
"The Right Reverend the Lord Bishop of the Diocese, attended by the Rev.
G. J. Mountain, D.D.; the Rev. J. L. Mills, D.D.; the Rev. B. B.
Stevens, A.M.; the Rev. A. Norman; and the Rev. A. F. Atkinson of
Montreal; the Rev. James Reid of St. Armand; the Rev. W. Abbott of St.
Andrews; the Rev. J. Abbott of Yamaska; the Rev. I. Braithwaite, A.B.,
of Chambly, and the Rev. H. Esson, and E. Black of the Kirk of Scotland
in Montreal having entered the Hall, the business of the day was soon
after proceeded upon.
"The Royal Charter incorporating the Governors and Professors of the
University being placed on the table, His Lordship the Bishop of Quebec
rose and addressed the assembled body. He stated that in consequence of
the absence of His Excellency the Administrator of the Government, who
was one of the Governors of the corporation of McGill College, it became
incumbent on him to make a few remarks on the present occasion. He
would, however, first state that he was commissioned by His Excellency
to express his regret that in consequence of the very late arrival of
the April and May mails he was unable to leave Quebec in time to assist
at the ceremony of promulgating the charter which had been conferred on
the College. His Excellency in his letter was pleased to add that he
would not fail to use all his exertions to promote the Institution.
Having fulfilled this duty, the Lord Bishop begged to observe that the
bequest which had been made in favour of this College by the late Hon.
James McGill consisted of the valuable estate of Burnside, comprising
the building in which they were then assembled, and the garden and
grounds adjoining, together with the sum of £10,000, in furtherance of
his benevolent intention. This liberal bequest was made in 1811 (two
years previous to the death of Mr. McGill), in trust to a corporation
called the Royal Institution which was contemplated by an act passed in
1801. This Institution was to transfer the bequest, when a College, in
pursuance of his views, was established and bearing his name. To this
most benevolent legacy, he could not help referring as characteristic of
its liberal donor, with whom he had the honour of an acquaintance, and
as furnishing an example which he hoped to see more frequently followed
in the Province. The late Mr. McGill, who had assumed a very
considerable fortune within the country, did not, like many others,
leave the Province and spend his money in some other part of the globe,
but having no direct heirs, he had left a very handsome legacy for the
laudable purpose of commencing a University in a country where such an
establishment was very desirable. The Institution was to bear the name
of its excellent founder, and he firmly hoped that it might prove a
blessing to many generations yet to come, that it might tend to
immortalise his name, and be the best monument that could be erected to
his memory. The Royal Institution was incorporated in 1818 and through
their instrumentality, this College was in pursuance of the will of Mr.
McGill incorporated in 1821 by a charter which would be read to them.
Under that charter the Governors of the College were the Governor and
Lieutenant-Governor of Lower Canada, the Lieutenant-Governor of Upper
Canada, the Chief Justices of Montreal and Upper Canada, the Bishop of
Quebec and the Principal of the College. It would be needless for him to
refer to the detentions and obstacles which had hitherto prevented the
College from going into operation; it was known that they arose from the
residuary legatee under the will of Mr. McGill disputing the legality of
the bequest, and carrying his opposition through all the Courts of the
Province, till His Majesty in his Privy Council had finally given the
decision in favour of the Institution, whose duty it had become to
prosecute for the recovery of the bequest. The suit in relation to the
money bequeathed to the College was still before the Council, but he was
happy to say that that unfortunate dispute would soon be terminated as
it was understood the residuary legatee intended to withdraw all further
opposition. It was the intention of the Royal Institution to transfer to
the Governors of the College the property of Burnside, and on the part
of the Governors, he was authorised to say that they were willing to
accept of it. A majority of them were either now present or consenting,
for he was charged with the consent of the Governor of this, and the
Lieutenant-Governor of the adjoining Province, both of whom had
expressed a desire to attend on the present occasion, and it was known
that there was now no Chief Justice in Upper Canada. On the part of the
majority, he accepted from the Royal Institution the Charter which the
Secretary of that body would now read.
"The Rev. Dr. Mills, Secretary to the Royal Institution for the
Advancement of Learning, then read at length the Charter of the College.
"The Lord Bishop then again rose and said that he was authorised on the
part of the Governors of the new College to state it to be their
intention as far as it was in their power to carry into effect the
liberal intentions of the late Mr. McGill. It was not a work in which
they themselves were solely interested, but it was an institution which
concerned every inhabitant of the Province, and under such feelings the
Governors were determined that no obstacles should deter them from
following up and prosecuting the views of the testator. He deemed it
unnecessary for him to exhort them upon the advantages of education, as
he was sure they were all of opinion that a moral and religious
education on Christian principles, and a scientific course of studies on
a true philosophical system were what it was their bounden duty to
promote. The Governors in assuming the Charter hoped that their
exertions would meet with the co-operation of every individual within
the Province.
"The Venerable Archdeacon Mountain then rose, and stated that as the
individual named to fill the honourable office of Principal of the new
College, it became his duty now to say a few words. He could not but
express his sense of his own unworthiness for such a distinguished
office, and he firmly hoped that he would be succeeded by a long line of
eminent and learned principals. He had it in charge for his colleagues
to state their anxiety to put the College into immediate operation, and
he might urge as a proof of their wish that they had not been idle in
this respect. With the assistance of the Honourable Mr. Cochrane then
present, they had been engaged in preparing and modelling a constitution
and rules for the government of the Institution. Although it was not
necessary to detail at present their precise nature, yet he could take
upon himself to state that they were liberal in every sense of the word,
imposing no test upon Professors or Students. In thus applying the term
liberal he wished it distinctly to be understood that he was not
conveying the charge of illiberality against those noble and venerable
Institutions of the Mother Country, in which a test was properly exacted
of conformity to the National Religion, but there were local
circumstances which required local adaptation; and according both to the
terms of the will and the provisions of the Royal Charter, all offices
whatever in McGill College were left freely open either to Protestants
or Roman Catholics, and Students of all denominations would be permitted
to attend. He deemed it necessary for him to explain how the present
Professors happened all to be members of the Church of England. When
found necessary to name Professors in virtue of the Charter of the
College, his late father, then Bishop of the Diocese, had submitted
several names to His Excellency the Earl of Dalhousie for these offices,
among which those of the Rev. Archdeacon Strachan and the Rev. Dr.
Harkness, having been proposed as eligible, either one or the other, to
the same Professorship, His Excellency, whether swayed by a feeling of
delicacy and desire to avoid the appearance of partiality, on account of
his being himself a member of the Church of Scotland, or from whatever
cause, decided in favour of the former gentleman. This circumstance was
mentioned in proof that the original as well as the present intention of
the Governors was in all respects to shew due respect to the intentions
of the will of Mr. McGill and the terms of the Charter. It had been
deemed necessary for the present to declare that the Professors should
be graduates of some British University, but that a preference should
hereafter be shown to those who had graduated within its walls. The
Governors would feel it to be their duty under all discouraging
obstacles to push on the great undertaking, and never to cease in their
exertions for its prosperity. They hoped they would meet with general
support and they trusted with confidence that they would be assisted by
all, when the very liberal terms of the will and Charter were
considered. It would be necessary for them to make a strong and powerful
appeal to the Mother Country, and they also expected great pecuniary
assistance from those resident near the establishment, and more directly
interested in its prosperity. They would as soon as possible establish a
system of collegiate education, and there was a predisposition to
engraft upon the College the well-known and respectable Medical
Institution now in existence in the city. The door of the building was
at length open, and it was the duty of all to proceed with vigour. They
might at first complain of a great want of means for such an
Institution, for it required much to place it on a respectable footing,
but while they thus looked forward with confidence, they should not be
unmindful that the Province was highly indebted to the very liberal
disposition of Mr. McGill, who had set such a praiseworthy example to
his fellow-citizens, whose duty it now became generally to aid his work
and follow up his munificent views. The Archdeacon concluded his address
by expressing his conviction that all who were present felt alike the
dependence of every human undertaking for its success upon the blessing
of Divine Providence, and would therefore be unanimously ready to join
in the religious services with which it was proposed to conclude the
business of the day; and in which he accordingly proceeded.
"The 8th chapter of Proverbs, which had been selected as appropriate to
the occasion, was first read; after which the following verses selected
from different Psalms were repeated in the way of alternation, the
responsive part being sustained by the other Clergy of the Church of
England who were present.
"'The Lord hath been mindful of us and shall bless us: even he shall
bless the house of Israel; he shall bless the house of Aaron.
"'He shall bless them that fear the Lord both small and great.
"'The Lord shall increase you more and more, both you and your children.
"'All the whole Heavens are the Lord's: the earth hath he given to the
children of men.
"'The lot is fallen unto me in a fair ground: yea, I have a goodly
heritage.
"'Lord, thou art become gracious unto thy land: thou sendest a gracious
rain upon thine inheritance, and refreshedst it when it was weary.
"'O pray for the peace of Jerusalem,--they shall prosper that love thee.
"'Peace be within thy walls, and plenteousness within thy palaces.
"'For my brethren and companions' sakes, I will wish thee prosperity.
"'Yea, because of the house of the Lord our God, I will seek to do thee
good.
"'Except the Lord build the house; their labour is but lost that build
it.
"'Not unto us, O Lord, not unto us, but unto thy name give the praise;
for thy loving mercy and for thy truth's sake.
"'Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost.
"'As it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be, world without
end. Amen.'
"The Archdeacon then proceeded with the following prayers:
"'O blessed and eternal God, who by wisdom hast founded the earth and by
understanding hast stretched out the Heavens--Father of Light and Author
of every good and perfect gift, from whom we receive all that we have,
and all that we are made capable of performing--upon whose pleasure both
we, and our works, and all creation depend--look down from the
habitation of thy holiness and glory, and favour the undertaking which
is here before us; let thy blessing rest upon it; let the cloud and
pillar of thy presence go with us; establish the work of our hands upon
us, yea, the work of our hands establish thou it. Our hope is in Thee
and thou art able to do for us, in things temporal as well as spiritual,
exceedingly abundantly above all that we can ask or think. Raise us
means, we beseech thee, to provide for the wants of this Institution:
dispose the hearts of men and order the course of events favourably
towards it: shed down the spirit of wisdom and of patient continuance
upon those who plant and those who water, and do thou give the increase
from on high. Sanctify all the instruction which shall hereafter be
given and all the studies which shall be pursued in this Institution,
and render them subservient to thy glory and the good of mankind. Grant
that all the stores of knowledge and science, which shall be here opened
to the minds of youth, may form them to the greater love of thy holy
name, and lead them to magnify thee in thy wonderful works. O righteous
Father, who hast hid the highest of all knowledge from the wise and
prudent of this world, and revealed it unto babes, grant that none may
be here spoiled, through philosophy and vain deceit, nor lifted up in
hearts through the opposition of science falsely so called, but give
them grace to cast down imaginations and every high thing which exalteth
itself against the knowledge of God, and to bring into captivity every
thought to the obedience of Christ. Yet, O Lord, while they are
subjected to this gentle and blessed yoke, enrich this Institution, we
pray thee, with ample streams of all sound learning and science; and as
we are taught in thy holy word that the Lawgiver of thy ancient people
was learned in all the wisdom of the Egyptians, and the blessed apostle
St. Paul, profited above his equals, as well in the studies of his time
and people, as in the learned lore of the ancients at large--and as thou
didst miraculously supply to the first planters of our holy faith that
knowledge which, under thy blessing, must now be acquired by labour and
length of time--grant that all beneficence and industry may be exerted
in the endowment and enlargement, the furtherance and prosperity of this
Institution; grant that the grain of seed which is here sown may
become, in process of time, a great and goodly tree; that Science and
Literature may spring up and flourish upon this dedicated spot, and bear
fruit a hundredfold.
"'With these our prayers, O Father of Heaven and Earth, we offer up our
humble thanksgiving for all thy mercies manifested to us, and especially
for that thou didst put it into the heart of thy servant, the Founder of
this Institution, to provide, out of the means which thou hadst given
him, for so needful a work. And, alike in thanksgiving or prayer, we
approach thy Throne in the prevailing name and through the powerful
mediation of Jesus Christ, whose own holy words also we couple still
with our imperfect address.' The Archdeacon here repeated the Lord's
Prayer.
"Then followed the Prayer for the Church Militant, from the Liturgy,
with some adaptations to render it immediately applicable to the local
authorities and to the occasion of the day. The assembly was dismissed
by a blessing pronounced by the Bishop.
"Before closing this subject, we deem it but justice to the Venerable
Archdeacon Strachan, to state, that to that Reverend gentleman the
Province is greatly indebted for McGill College, as to his suggestions
on this subject, his friend and relative the late Mr. McGill lent a
ready and willing ear, and was induced to frame the bequest, which is
now about to be employed according to the intentions of its donor. To
that gentleman, we understand, is also due the very liberal arrangement
which was announced by the Principal, with regard to the total absence
of any tests for the admission of Professors or Students...."
When the ceremony of formally opening the College and establishing the
Faculty of Arts, "as a place of liberal education," was ended and the
gathering dispersed, the Governors of the College met in the late
afternoon for the transaction of business. They received the Lecturers
of the Montreal Medical Institution, who formally placed before them the
plans for "engrafting upon the College the well-known and respectable
Medical Institution" as already indicated in the report above. The
scheme was acceptable to the Governors and the Montreal Medical
Institution became part of McGill University. The Governors' Minutes of
the meeting contains the following entry:
"The public business having been closed, the Governors of the
Corporation held an interview with the members of the Montreal Medical
Institution, who had been requested to attend the meeting for that
purpose. During this interview it was resolved by the Governors of the
Corporation that the members of the Montreal Medical Institution (Dr.
Caldwell, Dr. Stephenson, Dr. Robertson, Dr. Holmes) be engrafted upon
the College as its Medical Faculty, it being understood and agreed upon
by and between the said contracting parties that until the powers of the
Charter would be altered, one of their number only should be a
university professor and the others lecturers; that they should
immediately enter upon the duties of their offices. All of which
arrangements were agreed to."
[Illustration: _Andrew Fernando Holmes, M.D., LL.D._ 1798-1850]
The Montreal Medical Institution owed its origin to the Medical Staff of
the Montreal General Hospital, which was opened to patients in May,
1822. At that time there were no opportunities in Canada for the
obtaining of medical education. Realising the existing and urgent need
for such training, certain members of the Hospital Staff gave courses of
lectures to students during the winter of 1822-1823. Later, a memorial
was forwarded to the Lieutenant-Governor setting forth the necessity for
the foundation of a permanent school of medical education, and outlining
plans for the establishment and incorporation of the proposed Medical
Institution. The reply to this memorial stated that an endeavour would
be made to give assistance to a Medical School, and as a result the
Montreal Medical Institution was organised. It was opened in October,
1824. Efforts were then made to secure its incorporation, and in 1826 a
Charter was drawn up and forwarded through the Lieutenant-Governor to
the Solicitor-General for opinion or approval. A delay of several months
followed, and it was not until 1828 that a reply was received. The reply
was not favourable to the Institution. The Charter was refused for the
reasons that the School was not connected with any Seminary of Learning,
and that it had no foundation or endowment. No degrees could therefore
be conferred and the Institution had no standing in law. Meanwhile the
Privy Council had given judgment in favour of the Royal Institution in
the first Desrivières suit in connection with the Burnside Estate, as
already recorded, and it was clear that a similar judgment in the second
suit in connection with the endowment fund was but a question of time.
The establishment of McGill College was assured, and arrangements for
its opening had already been announced. It naturally occurred to those
interested in the Medical Institution that their problems of University
connection and of endowment referred to by the Solicitor-General could
be solved by "engrafting" the Institution on the proposed McGill
College. They accordingly forwarded a memorial to the Government,
suggesting that the Lecturers in the Institution be appointed
"professors of the University to be established at Burnside near the
city." The Government referred the suggestion to the Board of the Royal
Institution to whom formal application was then made by the Medical
body. A committee of the Board was appointed to consider the question.
The Medical Institution pressed for a decision, and on February 16,
1829, the Secretary wrote to Dr. Holmes, of the Hospital Staff, stating,
"The Committee to whom was referred the communication from the Montreal
Medical Institution have not, I am sorry to say, yet made their report;
but I trust the business will be proceeded in very shortly, and I shall
not fail to inform you of the result without delay. Of this be assured
that there is every desire on the part of the Board to meet the wishes
of the Institution as far as it may be found practicable to do so."
The Board had in 1824 appointed Dr. Fargues of Quebec Professor of
Medicine, but he expressed his willingness to resign in order to leave
the Board free to negotiate with the Medical Institution. On April 10th,
1829, the decision of the Board was conveyed to Dr. Holmes, in the
following letter:
"Referring to a former communication upon the subject, I lose no time in
transmitting to you the following Extract from the Report of a
Committee of the Royal Institution, to whom it was referred to consider
what measures it may be necessary for the Board to take, on having now
obtained possession of the Estate of Burnside.
"The Medical Institution at Montreal, connected at present with the
Montreal Hospital, having solicited the aid and protection of the Royal
Institution, and expressed a desire to become a branch of McGill
College, it is conceived that the gentlemen of that Institution might be
willing (in consideration of being so associated with a legally
constituted establishment) to execute gratuitously the duties of one or
more Professorships in the College, connected with the Faculty of
Medicine. The Professorships being limited to _four_, it is obvious that
there can be only _one_ Medical Professor, and I am happy to inform you
that Dr. Fargues, having been solicited to resign, has consented to do
so with the utmost readiness, and it is accordingly open to the
gentlemen of the Montreal Medical Institution to recommend for the
consideration of the Governors of the College any one of their members,
being a graduate in Medicine, as his successor."
As a result of this decision the Governors of the College agreed to
appoint one of the Lecturers in the Montreal Medical Institution to the
Professorship of Medicine vacated by the resignation of Dr. Fargues.
Meanwhile there was a misunderstanding between the Governors and the
Board over the number of Professors already appointed in 1824. The
Charter provided for a Principal and four Professors; the Governors made
these appointments, but also made the Principal Honorary Professor of
Divinity. The Board contended that five Professorships had thus been
created and filled, contrary to the provisions of the Charter. On April
22nd, 1829, Dr. Stephenson wrote to the Board on behalf of the Medical
Institution urging that the number of Professorships in the College be
increased to enable all the Medical Lecturers to be attached to McGill
College. The Secretary replied on May 19th, 1829, as follows:
"Your letter of the 22nd ult., was duly submitted by me to the Board of
the Royal Institution, and I am directed to inform you in reply, that
the Board having carefully considered the subject, are of opinion that,
as the matter actually stands at present, it is not in their power to
procure an augmentation of the number of professorships. They conceive,
however, that the Medical Professor of the University might deliver
Lectures in one particular branch of the Science, and that the other
Departments might be conducted by gentlemen, who should be named
Lecturers in the College, as is the case with respect to the different
branches of Learning and Science, which are taught in the Colleges of
the Universities at home. The words of the Charter are evidently
restrictive. The College shall 'consist of a Principal and four
Professors,' and in this view of the subject the Board are supported by
high legal authority. This limitation, for which it is difficult to
assign an adequate reason, is much to be regretted. The Governors of the
College have committed an oversight in some way or other. It had not
escaped the previous notice of the Board. The Bishop, the Archdeacon and
myself intend visiting Montreal next month, when we shall have an
opportunity of discussing the subject at full length. I have only now
to add that we all of us, both as a body and as individuals, feel
interested in the success of the Montreal Medical Institution, and that
we shall be most happy if it can be in any way promoted by a connection
with McGill College."
After the College was formally opened it was necessary for the Governors
and the Board of the Royal Institution to wait for the final decision of
the courts on the possession of the endowment fund, which was still held
by the Desrivières heirs. No money was available for salaries; no
building on the estate was suitable for classes. It was therefore
considered impossible, for the present at least, to undertake actual
teaching in the College. But meanwhile the Montreal Medical Institution
had received from the Royal Institution the "aid and protection" it
required, and it continued to carry on its work and to give instruction
to students as before, but with a definite connection with the
University as one of its Faculties. Pending the securing of the
endowment fund which would make possible the putting in operation of the
College proper, as provided for in the will, the Governors of the
College therefore decided to appoint, temporarily, and without
remuneration, the lecturers in the newly formed Medical Faculty to the
four professorships at their disposal, in order that degrees in at least
one department of the University could be conferred. To make this
possible the Professors who had already been appointed in the Faculty of
Arts, and whose duties could not yet begin, willingly consented to
resign. But before degrees could be granted it was necessary, under the
terms of the Charter, to draw up statutes for the government of the
University, such statutes to receive the approval of the Crown. The
Statutes, Rules and Ordinances for the Medical Faculty were agreed upon
by the Governors; and were submitted to the Colonial Office by Lord
Aylmer on March 8th, 1832. The Royal approval was forwarded to the
Lieutenant-Governor of the Province in a despatch dated May 2nd, 1832,
together with the confirmation of the appointment of William Caldwell,
John Stephenson, Andrew F. Holmes and William Robertson of the Medical
School to the four University professorships, "without specifying at
present the precise nature of each Professorship." They received no
remuneration from the College. Later, Dr. Stephenson acted for a brief
period as supervisor of the Burnside Estate.
The Home Government's knowledge of the exact circumstances and terms and
even the making of the Montreal Medical Institution into a Faculty of
McGill seems afterwards to have been somewhat hazy. On August 20th,
1834, the Colonial Office wrote to Lord Aylmer, the Lieutenant-Governor,
saying, "It would appear from Sir James Kempt's Despatches of 1830, that
it was contemplated to incorporate with the College an association of
Medical Practitioners but that difficulties arose as to the selection of
the Governors ... but I do not gather from your despatch whether the
incorporation of this association is still desired." He asked for a
report on the question--a question that had been decided five years
before. It was pointed out in reply that the Montreal Medical
Institution no longer existed independent of the College and that the
several Lecturers in that school now occupied all the four
Professorships provided for by the Charter. There was misunderstanding,
too, as we shall see, between the Governors of the College and the Royal
Institution with reference to the temporary or the permanent nature of
the above appointments, three of which the latter Board had never
ratified, and of which they were apparently not informed. For several
years the tradition of a distinct Institution, as it had already been
known, continued. The Medical Faculty carried on its work more or less
independently of the College, although it was incorporated with it and
was legally a part of it, but because of tradition it was not always
regarded as an integral part of the University. It was looked upon as a
well established teaching body now linked up with the new College. The
Rules and Ordinances of the University did not apply to the Medical
Faculty, and for several years after the actual erection and opening of
the College buildings the students of the Medical School were not
included in the statement of enrolment annually sent to the Home
Government by the Visitor to the University.
On the 24th of May of 1833, four years after the opening of the College,
the first University degree awarded was conferred in the Faculty of
Medicine on William Logie. On May 7th, 1833, Dr. J. Stephenson,
Secretary of the Medical School, wrote to Principal Mountain with
reference to the conferring of this degree:
"I am directed by the Medical Faculty of the University to inform you
that Mr. William Logie of Montreal, after having produced to the
Secretary of the Faculty credentials entitling him, was examined, as the
Statutes, Rules and Ordinances of the College direct, touching his
Classical knowledge and then got a general examination on all the
branches of Medical and Surgical Science. The Medical Faculty found him
well qualified to practise Medicine and Surgery and accordingly have
announced to him that they will forward his name to the Governors to
obtain the Degree of Doctor of Medicine and Surgery.
"In consequence I am directed by the Faculty to address you on the
following points:
"1st. That we will, with your approbation, have our Gowns made as that
of a Bachelor of Laws except the Cowl.
"2nd. That we will have the Theses printed by Mr. Armour of Montreal.
"3rd. The Faculty desire to know how the degree will be conferred on the
24th of May and the tenor of said Degree that they might be getting it
ready."
Under the rules of that time, it was necessary for a student proceeding
to a degree to defend before the members of Faculty a Thesis on some
previously approved topic. The Thesis was printed at the expense of the
student. The rules provided, too, that "the student be required to
attend the Hospital during the time required by the Statutes, and to
receive clinical instruction from the Professors at the bedside of the
patients." The legal power of the University to confer degrees on the
graduates of the Medical Faculty was questioned by rival authorities,
and was later tested in the courts, but the legality of the degree and
the privilege of the holder to practise Medicine in the Province was
upheld.
The Governors now decided that an effort should be made to begin actual
teaching in the liberal Arts and Sciences as called for in the will of
the founder. They determined to appoint professors and to conduct
classes, temporarily, in Burnside House. At a meeting of the Governors
held on the 4th of January, 1834, at which were present Lord Aylmer,
Governor in Chief, The Lord Bishop of Quebec, and the Principal of the
College, it was decided to ask that the Charter be amended, and that the
Governing Board of the College be changed to consist henceforth of the
following: The Governor in Chief, the Lieutenant-Governor or person
administering the Government; the Lieutenant-Governor of Upper Canada;
the Lord Bishop of the Diocese; the Chief Justice of Montreal; the Chief
Justice of Upper Canada; the Speaker of the two Houses of the Provincial
Parliament of Lower Canada; the Senior Executive Councillor residing in
Montreal; the Archdeacon of Quebec; the Solicitor-General; the Principal
of the College; the Rector of Montreal; together with four other
Governors to be named by the Governor in Chief, the Lieutenant-Governor
or the person administering the Government under a power to be
introduced into the Charter to that effect. Efforts were made afterwards
to have the Minister of the Church of Scotland added to this list,
ex-officio, but it was pointed out in reply that he was "not conceived
to have any perpetual capacity in law and thence cannot be an ex-officio
Governor." It was decided also that His Excellency be requested to
recommend to His Majesty's Government that power should be given in the
amended Charter to the Governors of the College to establish additional
professorships from time to time, at their discretion, according to the
exigencies of the University and the means at their command.
It was further resolved that in the meantime until endowments for
Professorships were available from the McGill bequest, "gentlemen
resident in Montreal qualified to give lectures should be appointed on
the same footing as the four Professors in the Medical Faculty and that
they should receive fees from their students ... with the duty annexed
of delivering occasional lectures, fees being paid by those who will
attend them according to a regulated scale, there being at present no
means of endowing Professorships with salaries." Professors were
recommended for the following subjects: Classical Literature and
History; Natural Philosophy and Mathematics; and Hebrew and Oriental
Languages--all to be appointed on the same footing as provided for by
the foregoing resolution. At this meeting, too, a recommendation was
made that a Vice-Principal should be appointed--or that one of the
Professors be empowered to act as Vice-Principal--because of the
frequent absence of the Principal on other duties. Later, the Chair of
Natural Philosophy was separated from that of Mathematics. As a result
of the Governors' decision an amended Charter was drawn up for
submission to the authorities, providing, among other things, for an
increased number of Professorships. It was prepared by the Professors of
the Medical Faculty, but it was greatly altered by the Governors at a
meeting called to consider it. The Colonial Office to whom it was
forwarded would not approve of it, and even the consideration of it was
very long delayed. The question was debated until January, 1837, when
the Colonial Office declared that it was impossible further to discuss
it.
In April, 1834, the occupation of the House and Premises of Burnside as
a "Classical School" was approved. But it was to be conducted by the
Professors in their private capacity and no provision was made for their
maintenance, and the occupation of the premises was to be subject to the
conditions imposed by the Governors and the Royal Institution acting
conjointly.
The Principal, Archdeacon Mountain, now expressed his desire to retire
from office. Other duties were calling for his attention. Indeed, at
intervals for several weeks in succession he had been obliged to take
little part in the management of the University, for his presence as
Archdeacon of Lower Canada was required in many places. Frequently, too,
it was necessary for him to be absent from the Province for a
considerable length of time. He felt, also, that he had been appointed
Principal mainly for the purpose of putting the College in operation and
that his work was now done. The Governors then decided to offer the
Principalship to the Rev. S. T. Wood of Three Rivers, and if he declined
to accept it, to offer it to the Rev. Thomas Littlehales of Christ
Church College, Oxford. But neither of these men would agree to occupy
the proffered post; indeed, the former entirely ignored the Governors'
letter. Archdeacon Mountain was induced to remain some months longer, or
until a competent successor could be found. The Professorship of
Classical Literature was offered to the Rev. James Ramsay, a graduate of
Trinity College, Dublin; that of Mathematics and Natural Philosophy to
Mr. Alex. Skakel of King's College, Aberdeen; and that of Hebrew and
Oriental Languages to the Rev. E. Black, of the University of Edinburgh.
Difficulties resulting from the Charter prevented these appointments
from being actually made at that time. Because of irritating delays,
the somewhat hopeless situation brought about by the refusal of the Home
Government to permit the increase of Professorships, and numerous other
differences of opinion, trouble was now growing between the Governors
and the Crown. At a meeting of the former held on November 14, 1834, at
which were present Lord Aylmer, Governor in Chief, the Chief Justice and
the Principal, the Governor was asked to bring to the notice of the
Secretary of State "the great inconvenience which it is feared may
result from the necessity of referring to His Majesty's Home Government,
as required by the Charter, every appointment of a Professor or even of
a Principal." This was the beginning of a bitter and prolonged
controversy which did not end until 1846, and which involved the College
in perhaps the gravest difficulty and uncertainty of its history.
Meanwhile, the case against the Desrivières heirs, James McGill
Desrivières, Henri Desrivières, Francis Desrivières, and Alex McKenzie,
had proceeded. Every effort was made to have the suit settled. On
December 21, 1833, the Governors authorised the Medical Professors to
join them in a Memorial on the subject to the Home Government. The Board
of the Royal Institution persistently urged haste, but delay followed
delay. At last, on February 7th, 1835, the Order in Council deciding the
case in favour of the Board was issued, but it was not forwarded until
the 21st of May. But notwithstanding the decision of the Privy Council
the heirs of James McGill were slow to accede to the demands of the
Royal Institution. On March 8th, 1836, the Secretary of the Board wrote
"as to Burnside we are extremely perplexed by the pertinacity of the
heirs in resisting and threatening further resistance to the payment of
any money on account of the debt due to the Royal Institution unless
terms are granted them ... which ... members of the Board think that we
could not accept without rendering ourselves personally liable if any
further loss should accrue thereby to the College. I should be strongly
disposed to try and borrow money to begin with, if I knew what tangible
security we could offer." A further delay resulted, and even after the
suit was settled the executors of the will hesitated to transfer the
money to the Board or the Governors until the Home Government fulfilled
certain promises which they understood to have been made. It was not
until October, 1837, that the case was brought to final conclusion. As a
result of delays, negligence, and unsatisfactory communications, the
Governors appointed a special agent in London to conduct their business,
with the frank comment, "If documents are sent through the Public
Offices to Great Britain by way of the Colonial Office, there will be no
end to the delay."
In July, 1835, two months after judgment was given in favour of the
Board, Principal Mountain retired from office in order to proceed to
England. Now that the possession of the endowment fund was assured he
believed that the College would soon be without difficulties and that
its infant days of helplessness had passed. The Principalship was
offered to the Rev. S. J. Lockhart, M.A. (Oxford), Chaplain and
Secretary to the Bishop of Quebec. He seems to have accepted the post,
but he never assumed the duties of his office. A meeting of Governors
was held in Quebec on November 18, 1835, attended by Lord Gosford, who
had meanwhile become Governor in Chief of Lower Canada, the Lord Bishop
of Quebec, and the Chief Justice of Montreal. It was there resolved
"that the Rev. John Bethune, Rector of Christ Church, Montreal, be
appointed Principal of the College _pro tempore_; and that it be
conveyed to him that his appointment shall not interfere with any future
appointment which the Governors of the College may see fit to make." The
office of Principal was accepted by Mr. Bethune on November 24th, 1835,
in the following letter:
"I cordially accept the appointment which the Governors of McGill
College have done me the honour to confer on me, of Principal of the
Institution _pro tempore_, under the explanation given to me by the
Chief Justice of Montreal of the following passage in your Lordship's
communication 'that the appointment shall not interfere with any future
appointment that the Governors of the College may see fit to make,'
viz., that if the funds of McGill College should at any future period
enable the Governors to offer the Principal a sufficient emolument to
secure his exclusive services to the Institution the present nomination
shall not interfere with any such future appointment--but that the
present nomination is not to be cancelled to make room for any future
_pro tempore_ appointment."
During the six years that had passed since the formal opening of the
College definite progress had been made. But apart from the activity of
the Medical School, which did not owe its origin to the University and
had merely changed its name, the progress was connected only with laying
plans for the future and with securing adequate resources and a
definite habitation. The Governors were harassed by litigation and by
not a little uncertainty; they were dismayed at times by the evident
lack of sympathy and the discouraging indifference of officials of the
Home Government. But they did not cease to hope, and they did not dream
of abandoning their educational scheme. They would struggle on to the
fulfilment of the founder's vision. It was the task of the newly
appointed acting-Principal to carry out these plans and to take up the
administration of the University in one of the most difficult and
critical periods of its existence. The years that followed were to be
troubled years of poverty, anxiety and controversy, not unmixed with
bitterness, during which, at times, extinction and oblivion threatened
the University's life.
CHAPTER V
ANXIOUS YEARS
The Rev. John Bethune, appointed acting-Principal of McGill in temporary
succession to Principal Mountain on November 18th, 1835, was a Canadian
by birth and education. His father, the Rev. John Bethune, a native of
the Island of Skye, Scotland, and a graduate of King's College,
Aberdeen, emigrated to America before the War of Independence. At the
beginning of the Revolution he served as Chaplain of a militia regiment
fighting in the Carolinas on the British side; he was taken prisoner by
Republican troops, and after his release by exchange he moved with other
British Empire Loyalists to Canada. He lived for a short time in Nova
Scotia, became Chaplain again of a Highland Regiment fighting in defence
of Canada against Montgomery's Army, and when the War ended he settled
in Montreal. Here he organised, as we have seen, the first Presbyterian
Congregation in the City, and ministered to it from March, 1786, until
May, 1787. He then removed to Williamstown in the county of Glengarry,
where he became minister of the Church of Scotland.
[Illustration: _Rev. Dr. John Bethune
Actg. Principal of McGill University_
1835-1846]
The future acting-Principal of McGill, the Rev. John Bethune, the
younger, was born at Williamstown, Glengarry County, in January, 1791.
He received his education at the school of the Rev. Dr. John Strachan
at Cornwall, already referred to. After serving in the War of 1812, he
entered the ministry of the Church of England, possibly through the
influence of his former teacher, who left a deep impression on the minds
and lives of all his pupils, and in 1814, he was ordained by Bishop
Mountain at Quebec. He was stationed for a time at Brockville and
vicinity, and in 1818 he was made Rector of Christ Church, Montreal,
where he remained for more than fifty years, eventually becoming Dean of
the diocese. He was acting-Principal of McGill from November, 1835,
until May, 1846. He died in August, 1872.
Soon after his appointment, the acting-Principal entered into
negotiations with the Board of the Royal Institution on the question of
the erection of a suitable building on the Burnside Estate for the
reception and instruction of students, as required by James McGill's
will. The Medical lectures, the only lectures given in the name of the
College, were given in a building far removed from the College property.
The College authorities did not even pay the rent of the building nor
did they pay the salaries of the Professors, and the School, except in
name, and for its own protection and the privilege gained thereby for
the conferring of degrees, was still, to all intents and purposes, a
private institution. Technically, it was contended, it was not a part of
the University at all. It was not situated on the Burnside Estate as the
will of the founder required, and it could not therefore be considered
as fulfilling any of the provisions of the bequest. Even the legality of
the degrees conferred had been questioned, and had been accepted on the
basis of equity and intention rather than on that "of justice and of
fact." The Principal and Governors realised the force of these
arguments, and the necessity of removing the cause. The situation could
only be met, they believed, by the erection of a building or buildings
on the Burnside Estate, as the terms of the bequest demanded, and the
Governors urged immediate action. They pointed out that "without
provision for resident students very little good can be expected to
result from the opening of the College, and without residence within the
College for one or more professors it cannot be expected that resident
students will be obtained." The acting-President of the Royal
Institution for the Advancement of Learning, A. W. Cochrane, wrote to
Principal Bethune on January 11th, 1836, stating "with respect to the
measures proper to be taken towards the speedy erection of a College on
Burnside property, it was my intention to have submitted to a meeting of
the Royal Institution which was fixed for Thursday next a proposal to
advertise for plans and estimates of a suitable building.... My own
opinion is that a new building calculated for 40 students (_intimus_)
with a suitable public apartment and accommodation for two professors
would be sufficient for the present demands of the country (perhaps even
beyond what is necessary) and that at all events it would not be
justifiable to exceed the expenditure of £4000 or £5000 out of the
bequest for such a purpose at the outset. The present building, Burnside
House, might be adapted to the residence of the Head of the College." He
added that, as promised in 1801, the Crown should give an endowment for
general education in the Province, in a way that would not rouse
political or sectarian feelings. "I should not," he said, "wish to see
the question connected with the proceedings of any political
association. If taken up in this general way, I think that some public
movement at Montreal in favour of it would not fail to have a good
effect; but great caution and moderation are requisite." But the Board
and the Governors could not agree on the kind of building required and
over a year passed without any action on the part of either body.
Further difficulty arose in connection with the amended Charter of 1834,
which had not received the approval of the authorities. Until it was
given confirmation no additional professorships could be appointed. That
it did not conform to the ideas of the Board of the Royal Institution is
evident from a letter written to Principal Bethune by the President in
June, 1836. Objection was taken to making the Governors a self-elective
body, and the necessity of making it essential that the Governors or a
majority of them should be of the Protestant faith was also insisted on.
That the discord between the Governors and the Board which led in the
end to unfortunate bitterness and disaster, was then developing is also
apparent in this letter. The President of the Board wrote: "Whatever
changes are proposed to be made in the existing Charter must, I should
conceive as a matter of course, be submitted for the consideration of
the Royal Institution, the Visitatorial body who are bound to see that
the views of the founder of the College are not defeated." The Governors
then decided to submit new amendments, and at a meeting held on November
14th, 1836, attended by the Lieutenant-Governor, the Chief Justice and
the Principal, the Charter recommended in January, 1834, was changed to
read as follows: "The Governors of the College shall consist of the
Governor in Chief of Lower Canada; the Right Rev. Charles J. Stewart,
Lord Bishop of Quebec and his successors, Bishops of Quebec; the Right
Rev. George J. Mountain, Lord Bishop of Montreal and his successors,
Bishops of Montreal; the Rector of Christ Church, Montreal, and his
successors of the said Church; a minister of the Church of Scotland
resident in Montreal, to be selected for the purpose by the Presbytery
of Montreal to be perpetually succeeded by a minister of the Church of
Scotland chosen in like manner; the Principal of the College; the Hon.
James Reid; the Hon. George Moffat; the Hon. Peter McGill; William
Robertson, M.D.; William P. Christie; Samuel Gerrard and John Samuel
McCord." Authority was given to fill all vacancies by a majority vote of
the Governors, seven to constitute a quorum. It was stipulated that all
Governors of the College must henceforth be residents in the district of
Montreal. The Chief Justice and the Principal agreed to the above
changes in the Charter, but the Governor of the Province "declined under
existing circumstances to give any opinion on the subject, and his vote
was not recorded." It was also decided at this meeting that the rents
from the Burnside Estate be expended on repairs and that the premises be
placed in the occupation and charge of the Principal for the time being,
he to keep them in a good state of repair. This latter decision was not
approved by the Royal Institution and it gave rise to further
controversy. Without the approval of the Board of the Royal Institution
the Governors forwarded their amendments to the Governor-General for
transmission to the Home Government, but at the request of the Board he
stayed proceedings.
Meanwhile, the ultimate possession of the endowment fund was causing
anxiety. The case was settled in favour of the College in 1835, but the
Governors were unable to secure the money. The Desrivières heirs who
were in control of the legacy demanded terms as we have already seen,
but their terms were refused. When the Executors at last secured
possession of the funds they declined to convey them to the Royal
Institution until certain promised conditions were fulfilled by that
body acting for the Home Government. On November 10th, 1836, a memorial
on the subject of the legacy was forwarded to the Colonial Office by Dr.
Strachan, one of the surviving Executors of the will of James McGill. He
pointed out that the original bequest had increased by the accumulation
of interest to £22,000. This amount together with the Burnside Estate
would, he said, be transferred to the Royal Institution when two
conditions were fulfilled--first, the contributing by His Majesty's
Government towards the erection and endowment of the proposed
University, and second, the carrying out of the intention of the
testator, to which Dr. Strachan stated himself to be a living witness,
that the proposed College should be essentially Protestant. To this
Memorial the Colonial Office replied that the will did not stipulate for
a contribution from His Majesty's Government towards the proposed
University, and added "nor can we perceive any disposition on the part
of the testator to impress on the Institution to which he so liberally
contributed a character of religious exclusiveness.... The testator did
not in his will either directly or indirectly introduce such a
condition, and adverting moreover to the even-handed liberality with
which his bequests were distributed between the poor Catholic and
Protestant inhabitants of Montreal, we apprehend it would be impossible
to impose such a restriction founded on mere verbal testimony as to the
intention of the testator.... His Majesty's Government cannot now advise
His Majesty to reconsider it for the purpose of narrowing the Charter of
1821." In November, 1836, the Board conveyed to the Governors of the
College the possession of the Burnside Estate, subject to the Board's
subsequent approval of all decisions affecting it. But the controversy
between the executors and the Colonial Office over the conveyance of the
funds, which the heirs had not yet given up, continued for several
months. It was not until October 20th, 1837, that the litigation finally
ended. In December following, a transfer of all monies, investments,
etc., was obtained by the Trustees of the Royal Institution, estimated
at the value of £22,000, the amount of the legacy and accrued interest,
and yielding an income of between £800 and £900. But in the meantime the
College suffered and its progress was retarded.
There were other worries than those of buildings and charter and
endowment fund. Since the College was opened in 1829 no repairs had been
made on the Burnside property. The buildings and fences were rapidly
falling into decay; the neighbours were complaining that the fences of
Burnside had disappeared and that through the property cattle wandered
at will to their lands and gardens, and the farmer who had leased the
premises "on the halves" had neither the money nor the inclination to
effect a remedy. There was also a demand for streets or roads through
the estate. The Governors had no money at their disposal; they must beg
every cent expended from the Royal Institution. The situation was
incongruous. On December 17th, 1836, Principal Bethune wrote to the
Secretary of the Board informing him that "there is a demand on the part
of the neighbours for fences, which on a close inspection are found to
be unserviceable with the exception of 170 cedar rails or rather logs
which will serve by being split into two for rails." The neighbours, he
said, preferred "a fence 10 feet high, but they will be satisfied with
one 6 feet high." He also advised that the Royal Institution should join
in the proposal of one of the neighbours, Phillips (who is remembered in
the present "Phillips Square"), "a man difficult to deal with if
thwarted by delay," for opening streets through the estate of Burnside.
As a result of this appeal the Board granted £75 to be expended on the
buildings and fences. The expenditure of this sum created further
friction between the Governors and the Board. The latter body was not
informed until February, 1837, of the Governors' decision at their
meeting on November 14, 1836, to put Burnside House and premises into
the occupation and charge of the Principal of the College. When they
received the information they wrote to the Principal asking him what use
he intended to make of the estate. The Principal in his reply questioned
the authority of the Board, and said: "With regard to the use intended
to be made by the Governors of the House, the Governors do not conceive
themselves in any way accountable to the Board in this respect ... yet
they feel no objection to communicating it for the information of the
Board." To this letter the Secretary of the Board replied: "The Board
was only originally induced to make the grant of £75 on the 14th of
November last, for the repairing of the Burnside House and fences in the
expectation that the same would be made tenantable and be let to the
advantage of the Trust, and have learned with much dissatisfaction that
the House is to be occupied by the acting-Principal without any
advantage to the Trust; and a personal interest thereby given to him to
prevent the College going into speedy operation; and that the Board do
also think it necessary to record their opinion that as the Visitors of
McGill College they are at all times entitled to inquire into the
management of the Burnside property, especially when a demand is made
upon the Board for a grant of money to be laid out on the said property.
It was ordered [by the Board] that Mr. Bethune be further informed that
under the circumstances disclosed to the Board for the first time in his
letter, the Board cannot feel themselves justified in advancing any
further sums for the repairs on the Burnside property." The Principal
answered that the Board had no right to act in any matter affecting the
College without consulting the Governors; that "the Governors cannot
recognise the Visitatorial powers of the Board to the extent claimed";
and that the Board was "illegally and unjustly detaining the funds." He
emphasised his desire "to effect a restoration of harmony and unanimity
between all the parties"; but it was clear that because of the rapidly
growing friction and misunderstanding a crisis was not very far off.
For several months thereafter no meetings of the Governors were held.
The Rebellion of 1837 and the struggle for Canadian autonomy required
all the attention and the energy of the Provincial authorities, and the
subject of Collegiate education was again somewhat neglected. But in
May, 1837, the Royal Institution announced to the Principal that they
were about to erect buildings for the University, and they asked for
suggestions which might guide them in calling for plans. But the
Principal and Governors declined to make suggestions. They denied the
right of the Royal Institution to undertake the erection of buildings,
and they contended that the whole property and management of the affairs
of the College devolved upon the Governors. They would therefore not
surrender into other hands what they conceived to be their own vested
rights. They pointed out, too, that the case between the executors and
the Royal Institution for the possession of the funds was not yet
settled. The Board replied that until a College was actually erected
they were in control, under the terms of the will. They were somewhat
inconsistent in their attitude. In the first suit against the
Desrivières heirs for the possession of the estate they had pleaded that
by the mere obtaining of the Charter the College was to all intents and
purposes "erected and established." The courts sustained their plea.
Now, however, they repudiated their own former contention; they
maintained that the College had not yet been "erected and established";
and that until buildings were actually constructed they had the sole
authority!
Discord continued to characterise the relations of the two bodies. The
Governors' meetings were usually attended only by the Principal and the
Chief Justice. The former had a double or casting vote in case of
dispute. He was virtually in control. The Board of the Royal Institution
declared that he did not represent the views of the Governors. Apart
from the disagreements arising from a dual management, other causes
contributed to the bitterness of the controversy. The period was not
conducive to harmony. Downing Street was not a name to conjure with, and
"Downing Street rule" had become in Canada a synonym for indifference or
coercion. The suspicion that the Royal Institution was but the
mouthpiece, or at least the meek and unprotesting agent, of Downing
Street only added to the irritation. The suspicion was not well founded,
for the Royal Institution did not willingly submit to dictation from the
Home authorities. But a new and sturdy Canadian spirit was evident in
education as well as in politics. It was apparent as early as 1815 when
Dr. Strachan outlined his plan for a University and expressed his doubts
on the suitability of English methods in Canada. It had grown rapidly
since that time. The year 1837 was a year of turmoil, with a cry for the
privilege of solving Canadian problems in a Canadian way by those who
were familiar with the requirements and conditions, and were not
dwelling thousands of miles away. In such a period, aside from the waste
of time, it was doubly distasteful to the Governors and to those
interested in education to have to submit all appointments and all plans
to the Home Government for ratification. The friction was, on the
surface, between the Governors and the Royal Institution, but its roots
lay deeper. Its cause was not far removed from the cause of the
political rebellion of the hour.
After several months of somewhat discordant discussion the Principal
finally agreed to submit to the Board suggestions on the proposed
buildings, and on June 30th, 1838, he forwarded an outline of what he
believed the College should include. He suggested that it should provide
"(1) Accommodation for 100 students, namely, 100 sleeping rooms, and 50
sitting-rooms, two students in one set of apartments; (2) apartments for
the Principal, and Vice-Principal, and family, and for four other
Professors. The present house of Burnside might, he said, be adopted for
the residence of the Principal; (3) a College Hall which for the present
may be used both for lectures, exercises and refectory; (4) a Library;
(5) a Chapel; (6) Steward's apartments." As an alternative to (3) he
suggested three lecture rooms with some adjacent small apartments. It
was proposed that prizes should be offered for the first and second best
plans with specifications and estimates, not only for the buildings, but
also for the laying out of College grounds on the northwest side of
Sherbrooke Street "in avenues and ornamental and kitchen gardens." It
was pointed out that this land consisted of about seventeen acres, and
was considered sufficient for the College grounds, and that the upper
side of Sherbrooke Street, which was then being opened to the width of
80 feet, was considered the best site for the College, as it was the
most elevated land on Burnside and had the best approach. It was desired
that the Building should include "a large room for the business of the
Professor of Latin and Greek which might also be appropriated to many
general purposes; a room for the Professor of Mathematics, Natural
Philosophy and Astronomy with suitable adjacent apartments for his
apparatus; a room for the Medical Department with suitable adjacent
apartments for Chemical apparatus." The Professorships proposed to be
established in the first instance were four: that of Divinity and Moral
Philosophy to be occupied by the Principal; that of Medicine, with a
suitable number of Lectureships in the different departments of Medical
Science; that of Mathematics, Natural Philosophy and Astronomy; and that
of Latin, Greek and History. It was pointed out that "in the present
state of the College funds the greater number of these Professors can
have little more allowed them than the fees derivable from pupils and
that their salaries will therefore be uncertain."
The Royal Institution refused, however, to proceed at that time with the
erection of buildings on so large a plan as suggested. On August 1st,
1838, they announced their intention to "proceed immediately on such an
extent as the limited resources at their command will justify." They
agreed to call for plans for a building containing lecture rooms and a
public hall, but no apartments for students or professors, the building
to cost not more than £5000. They contended that all the money in their
possession was required to endow professorships and that they could not
therefore make so great an expenditure as the large building suggested
by the Governors would entail. They stated, too, that only three
professorships could at present be established, those of Classical
Literature, Mathematics and Natural Philosophy, and Metaphysical and
Moral Philosophy, on the understanding that when the charter was
changed to permit it, each of these professorships should be divided
into two. They pointed out that their University scheme "in the absence
of the long hoped for assistance from Her Majesty's Government will not
embrace either Theology, Law, or Medicine." It was stipulated that the
Principal should be also one of the Professors. An interesting condition
with reference to the teaching of Theology was also set forth by the
Board in the following resolution:
"That it is not expedient that a Professor of Divinity be appointed
under the Charter, but that it be intimated to the Right Reverend the
Lord Bishop of Montreal on behalf of the Church of England in this
Province and to the Reverend the Presbytery of Quebec or the Synod of
Canada on behalf of the Church of Scotland that Lecture Rooms will be
set apart and that application will be made for such an alteration in
the Charter as will give all rights and privileges of the University to
such Professor or Professors as they may appoint and endow, or procure
endowments for, for the instruction of students of Divinity of their
respective churches; and that the authorities in both churches be
respectfully requested to recommend or to enforce on their students
attendance on the classes of general education in the College."
It was later decided that the Board of the Royal Institution and the
Governors of McGill should write a memorial to Her Majesty's Government
asking for the means of endowing at least four Medical Professorships;
that a similar memorial be prepared with respect to a Professorship of
Law; and that until such Professorships be established, every facility
be given within the College to Lecturers in the various branches of
Medical and Legal Science. These memorials had no response.
Another effort was now made by the Governors to secure the passing of
the new Charter as amended in 1834 and 1836, which had been ignored by
the Home Government. But Lord Gosford, the Lieutenant-Governor, refused
to give it his sanction. Application was then made to Lord Durham, but
no answer was received from His Lordship, who declared that he was "too
busy to consider the question."
The correspondence during this period indicates that the Board and the
Governors were working in harmony. But the peace was not of long
duration. It lasted but a few days. It was, however, of sufficient
length to permit of temporary agreement on the kind of building
required. As a result, plans for the laying out of the grounds and for
the erection of buildings were at last called for by the Board of the
Royal Institution, and the following advertisement appeared in the
_Mercury_ and the _Official Gazette_ on the 16th of August, 1838, and in
the _Quebec Gazette_ on the day following:
TO ARCHITECTS
OFFICE OF THE ROYAL INSTITUTION FOR THE
ADVANCEMENT OF LEARNING
Quebec, 16th August, 1838.
By order of the Principal and Trustees of this Board, Public Notice is
hereby given that they are desirous of obtaining plans, specifications,
and estimates for the erection of suitable buildings on the estate of
Burnside, near Montreal, for the McGill College; and that the sum of
fifty pounds currency will be paid for the plan which shall be accepted
by the Board as the best plan; and twenty-five pounds for the plan which
shall be adjudged as second best. The said plans to provide:
1ST. Apartments for 100 students: to consist of 50
sitting rooms and 100 sleeping rooms.
2ND. Apartments for a Vice-Principal and family,
and for 4 Professors.
3RD. College Hall.
4TH. Library.
5TH. Chapel.
6TH. Steward's Apartments.
With a connected plan for the distribution of the ground on the
northwest side of the continuation of Sherbrooke Street in avenues--with
ornamental and kitchen gardens.
The said plans to provide for the erection in the first instance of such
portions of the building as are specified below to be hereafter
incorporated with the general design when completed; the sum at present
disposable being limited to about £5000.
1ST. Two large rooms, each calculated for separate
classes of 50 non-resident students.
2ND. Two rooms available for medical students,
chemical apparatus, etc.
3RD. College Hall.
4TH. Library.
5TH. Steward's Apartments.
Information respecting the proposed site and grounds, with other
particulars, can be obtained on application to the Rev. Dr. Bethune,
Principal of McGill College, Montreal, to whom the plans are to be
delivered on or before the 1ST of October next.
WILLIAM S. BURRAGE,
For the Rev. R. R. Burrage,
(Sec'y to the Board of R. I.)
Plans were accordingly submitted by several architects, and were
forwarded by the Board to the Governors of McGill for their comments.
The Governors pointed out that even in the best and most suitable plan
submitted "no provision was made for retiring rooms for Professors!" The
plans provided for a Post Office at the entrance to the grounds, a
Botanical Lecture-house and "ornamental bridges" over the stream that
ran through the grounds near the present University Street. The Board of
the Royal Institution declined to accept any of the plans submitted on
the ground that they involved too great an expenditure, and building
operations were again indefinitely delayed.
[Illustration: _The Plan of the Proposed University_]
The Governors continued to urge with vigour the immediate erection of a
building. They tried to force the Board, for no apparent legal reason,
to have the building completed before the 29th of June, 1839, the tenth
anniversary of the opening of the College, and in October, 1838, the
Principal wrote to the Board: "I am well informed that it is the
intention of the heirs Desrivières, should not a College be erected on
Burnside property within ten years from the period of possession thereof
by the Royal Institution, to sue for the recovery of the whole bequest.
No legal advice has been taken on the subject, but we think it
prudent to avoid the contest." The Board sought legal advice on the
latter question and were assured that there were no grounds whatsoever
for such an assumption on the part of the heirs, and that such a
contention could not be defended in law. No attempt indeed was made to
put forward such a plea, and it is very doubtful if such an attempt was
ever contemplated. But that the Board feared this possibility is evident
from their determination speedily to establish the College on a more
real basis. They decided to begin instruction in Burnside House.
Difficulties, however, were in the way. The Principal was occupying the
dwelling house, and although he had taken possession of it without the
Board's approval they could not well compel him to leave. Moreover, he
had expended a considerable sum from his own private funds on repairs to
the estate. He had submitted a bill for the amount to the Board, but the
Board declined to pay it as they had not authorised the expenditure.
They contended, too, that he could reimburse himself from the products
of the farm. The situation was a delicate one, and gradually the evils
of a dual control were being disclosed. The Board knew that the
Principal would not vacate the building in which they wished to begin
instruction until his bill was paid. On November 21st, 1838, they voted:
"that a communication be made to the Governors of McGill College that it
is in the opinion of the Board expedient that a permanent Principal and
Professors be appointed and the actual working of the College commenced
as speedily as possible in Burnside House till such time as more
convenient buildings be erected, by which means the wishes of the
Governors to have the College established and in operation before the
29th of June next will be met, and that the Board will take into
consideration the claim of Dr. Bethune arising out of expenses incurred
by him on the estate of Burnside while in his possession on his vacating
the premises and rendering an account." Meanwhile the Governors'
meetings had dwindled to two, and sometimes to one member. There was
criticism that their meetings were no longer representative, and to
these statements, because of their own objection to the alleged Downing
Street methods of the Royal Institution, the Governors were sensitive.
To meet this criticism they established the "Corporation" of the
College, to include not only the Governors, but a number of the members
of the teaching staff, and certain citizens selected because of their
interest in education. The first meeting of this body was held on
November 27th, 1838. There were present Sir John Colborne, the
Governor-General; the Principal; Drs. Robertson, Stephenson and Holmes
of the Medical School, and the Hon. George Moffat. It was at this
meeting that the resolution of the Board above referred to was
considered.
The resolution was not received with applause nor with delighted
approval. The Governors doubted the efficacy of the plan. The Principal
was not eager to vacate Burnside House. The Professors in the Medical
School resented the suggestion that the "actual working of the College"
had yet to be commenced. In answer, it was resolved that "in the opinion
of Corporation it is expedient that a College be _built_ before the 29th
of June next on the Burnside Estate as the surest means of securing the
bequest of the late Mr. McGill." But the bequest had already been
secured; it had been paid over to the Royal Institution in December,
1837! Notwithstanding the Board's decision, the Governors insisted on
the erection of a building before the 29th of the following June. The
amended Charter had not yet been approved. There was still provision
only for four professorships, and these had been filled by the members
of the Medical School. Only one of them was now vacant. Until the
Charter was approved, then, and provision made for the appointment of
more professors, the building erected could only be occupied mainly by
Medical teachers. In December, 1838, the Royal Institution again
recorded their opposition to the Governors' desire for "the hasty
erection in a few weeks of a building adapted only for instruction in
Medical Science." They expressed their belief "that the first proper and
most pressing measure to be adopted in execution of the plain expression
of the testator's will and of the Charter is to commence forthwith a
course of general instruction in the ordinary branches of a learned
Collegiate education in the buildings now erected on the Burnside
Estate." They added that "they see no difficulty in accomplishing this
object before it would be possible to commence the erection of a new
building, and they are of opinion that it would be a nearer approach to
a real performance of the testator's intentions than the attempt to run
up a new building before the 29th of June, next, which even if it could
be finished by that time would not deserve the name of a University."
They did not consider that the terms "erect" and "establish" used in the
will "could with any propriety be interpreted as meaning the erection
of a material building." They declared that it was undoubtedly the
testator's intention to establish an institution for collegiate
education; they expressed their determination to apply the funds first
of all to the payment of "a Principal and of such Professors as may be
required, and to proceed in due course with the erection of a more
extensive building than even that suggested by the Governors."
To this the Governors would not agree; they urged that a decision on the
Charter be obtained at once. On February 5th, 1839, the Board again
expressed their views. They were sensible, they said, of the necessity
for the appointment of additional professors, but they emphasised the
folly of waiting for this permission before erecting a College building.
Approval of the amended Charter might be postponed indefinitely, and the
present Charter provided for a building for collegiate education. They
added: "The Board are not aware of the circumstances under which the
_Medical Faculty of Montreal_ became possessed of all the Professorships
of the College but they must suppose that it could only have been a
temporary arrangement, without remuneration, adopted with such
precautions as not to allow the present holders of Professorships
setting up the pretension to continue to fill them to the exclusion of
other branches of knowledge. The existing arrangement appears to the
Board to be clearly liable to the objection that it is contrary to the
terms of the Charter and the intention of the founder since an
institution of which the offices are so filled for the purpose of one
science alone cannot in law or in common parlance be considered as a
University where all the branches of literature are or may be
universally taught, and such an Institution is erected by the Charter
according to the express will of the testator."
Their plan was to appoint a permanent Principal who should be required
to lecture in some branch or branches of knowledge, and to establish
temporary Lectureships which could be changed to Professorships when the
amended Charter, permitting an increase in the number of Professorships,
was approved. Under this plan they saw "an easy means of opening at once
a course of public instruction which would meet the present wants of the
Province and be capable of future extension." They would devote the
endowment fund, they said, to the payment of Professors' salaries. The
house on the Burnside Estate was sufficient, they thought, "for the
limited purpose at present contemplated," and "in that building, if
nowhere else, a College should be put in actual operation," for by so
doing "an effective answer would be afforded to any demand or pretension
that might be raised to obtain the forfeiture of the property bequeathed
on the pretence of the College not being in operation." They promised to
proceed to the erection of a building "with all despatch consistent with
due caution. But at least a year from next summer must elapse before a
building suitable to the purpose of a University can be prepared for
occupation." They therefore urged the use of Burnside House for the
present, at least.
In answer to this letter the Medical Professors contended through the
Principal, that their appointment was not a temporary arrangement and
that it was not their intention to resign their commissions. The
Governors stated further, that they could not feel themselves justified
in pressing for the resignation of any of these Professors, who were
receiving no salary, but who "now had a near prospect of reaping some
advantage from their appointment." They condemned the Board for
unnecessary delay in erecting a building in which to hold classes and
their letters did not add to the harmony so desirable in that critical
period. The Principal and Governors did not approve of using Burnside
House for lecture rooms, because, in their opinion, it was unfit for
such a purpose "except on such a scale as would entitle it only to the
name of a Grammar School; because they believed a suitable building
could be erected within a year; because it was intended to be the
residence of the Principal; and because they could not see that any
object would be attained by such a temporary, insufficient and
unsatisfactory arrangement." They stated further, with some suggestion
of defiance, that they would be prepared to open the College with
suitable teachers as soon as the necessary building or buildings were
erected "on the most extensive scale and in the most efficient manner
which the funds that may be at their disposal will admit of, and that
until such a building was provided no instruction would be given."
The Royal Institution seems to have desired harmony and to have been
willing to meet the wishes of the Governors at least half-way. At a
meeting of the Board on February 20th, 1839, it was decided to call
again for plans to be submitted before the 10th of May following. It was
resolved at this meeting "that the accommodation of the Medical Faculty
be limited to two rooms for class rooms, these to form part of the
general building unless separate accommodation in detached buildings
could be obtained for them within the limits of the £5,000 allotted for
the whole edifice, and without interfering with or embarrassing the
general plan; and that if the Medical Faculty required other or larger
accommodation than was consistent with these conditions they must be
left to their own resources to obtain it, the Board, however, being
willing to allow them to build on some part of the grounds of Burnside
if they found funds for doing so." They had meanwhile petitioned the
Lieutenant-Governor, Sir John Colborne, and Council, for a Provincial
grant to aid in the construction of the building, but their appeal had
no success.
The Governors of the College then decided to agree to the erection of a
smaller building than that at first requested. The Medical School, too,
for various reasons concluded that they did not desire accommodation in
the new building. The Governors wrote to the Board stating that they
would be satisfied with the erection of a building for 60 students,
without sitting rooms; necessary class rooms; College Hall; Library;
Steward's Apartments and accommodation for the Principal and two
Professors--which could be built for £6,000. They pointed out that in
this estimate there was no provision whatever for the Medical Department
"nor perhaps will such provision be at all necessary. The present
Medical Professors are now of opinion that the situation of Burnside is
too remote from the centre of the population for this department,
because, besides the inconvenience to the Professors themselves, the
attendance there of Medical Students who will be generally resident in
the Town at 4 or 5 different Lectures daily will be attended with very
serious inconvenience if not insuperable difficulty. They would
therefore much prefer that a sufficient allowance should be made for
renting a building in Town for the Medical Department. To meet their
views in this respect the House on Burnside (which will not be required
for the residence of the Principal if accommodation be provided for him
within the walls of the College), together with that portion of the
premises on the southeast side of Sherbrooke Street, might be let for a
sum fully adequate to the expense of renting sufficient accommodation
for the Medical Department in Town."
To this latter suggestion the Board agreed. They were still determined
that pending the completion of the proposed building, Collegiate
teaching should be undertaken at once in Burnside House. But it was
first necessary that the Principal give up the house. A dispute then
arose between the Board and the Governors with reference to the
responsibility for the repairs to the estate. More money had been
expended than the Board had authorised. The Board contended that the
Principal should make an allowance for rent of the house, which he had
occupied for nearly two years, and they refused to pay the account
submitted for the expenses incurred. The Governors declined to admit the
justice of this claim. The Principal had already written to the Board in
January, 1839, stating that he would "keep possession of Burnside until
his full account was paid, and that he would vacate the premises when
required to do so by the Governors."
The Board then agreed to pay to the Principal the whole amount claimed
by him, "however liable to objection, with whatever deduction for rent
he himself should agree to," if he would consent to vacate Burnside
House. The Principal, in a somewhat scornful reply, declined for two
reasons, first that this proposal implied the necessity of bribing him
to vacate the premises; and second that by accepting it, he might be
considered as selling for the settlement of his account the possession
which the Governors held of the premises by reason of his occupancy. But
he again stated that he would vacate the premises when ordered to do so
by the Governors. The result was a protracted and bitter discussion
between the two bodies, with many recriminations on both sides and more
frankness than tact. The Lord Bishop of Montreal, the Rev. Dr. G. J.
Mountain, who was Principal of the Royal Institution and formerly
Principal of McGill, naturally interested himself personally in the
discussion. On February 25th, 1839, he wrote to the Principal, saying,
"I will tell you unreservedly what I think, which is that ... you are
apt to give colour to the transactions in which you are engaged.... I
say this without reserve because if you will receive it in good part I
think it may be of use to you and save upon occasion hard constructions
being put upon your proceedings.... It is very unwillingly indeed that
as Principal of the Board, I have been drawn into any sort of collision
with you."
To this the Principal promptly replied, accusing the Board of gross
neglect and unnecessary delay. "Indeed," he said, "their zeal for the
interests of the College has for some time past chiefly manifested
itself in their efforts and schemes for dislodging me from Burnside and
in their proceedings they seem to have adopted the favourite peroration
of Cicero which may be freely translated thus, 'and Bethune must be
ousted.'" He added: "I can afford to forgive the Board for any hard
constructions they put upon my proceedings; they may be necessary for
their own justification." To this Bishop Mountain replied: "I have had
quite enough of this painful collision."
The Principal declared his intention of remaining in possession of
Burnside House, and he wrote to the Board that "no precise period is
fixed for my vacating the premises." The Board contended that they
"desired an amicable adjustment of such differences as had unfortunately
existed"; but for several years no adjustment was made. It is
unnecessary to enter here into the details of the subsequent dispute
between the Board and the Principal and Governors over the occupancy of
Burnside House. It was but one of many unfortunate disagreements in
which each side contended for what they believed to be just. The
Principal's account for repairs to the property was in the end paid and
in November, 1839, he vacated Burnside House. But the controversy
between the two bodies did not then end.
In the summer of 1839, the Governors decided to ignore the Board and to
seek direct aid from the Provincial Government. They asked for a grant
of £5,000 for building purposes and £5,000 for the purchase of
philosophical apparatus, furniture and books for a Library. They
included also £100 a year for a Professor of Classical Literature and
£100 a year for a Professor of Mathematics; £50 each for two Divinity
Lecturers, one of the Anglican Church and one of the Church of Scotland;
£50 each for three Medical Professors; and £50 for a Professor of Law
"much wanted." They expressed their desire, if the building fund was
granted, to rent Burnside House and with the proceeds therefrom to pay
for a building in town for the Medical School. "The Medical Faculty,"
they said, "could then go into immediate operation, and all the other
Professors, with the exception of the Principal, could also commence
instruction at their respective residences." Apparently it was their
opinion that the Medical School had not yet begun to operate as an
integral part of the University. For obvious reasons the above appeal
failed. The Government declined to interfere. The grant was not made and
the Governors of the College turned again with reluctance to the Royal
Institution.
There was likewise further difficulty in connection with the amended
Charter, which the Home authorities had not yet ratified. The Board of
the Royal Institution had been asked by the Governor-General for their
detailed opinions and suggestions on necessary amendments. The Board was
slow to answer. The delay was preventing the appointment of Professors
and the growth of the College. The hands of the Governors were tied. On
August 11, 1839, the Principal wrote to Sir John Colborne, the
Governor-General, protesting against the continued failure to decide the
issue. "When I agreed to the appointment of another Principal in my
room," he said, "it was in the confident expectation that the amended
Charter would have been in our possession before this period. By that
Charter I should retain my office of Governor of the College even if
vacated by my resignation of the Office of Principal, but as obstacles
are thrown in the way of a speedy accomplishment of the wishes of the
Governors in respect of the amended Charter, I feel myself constrained
to retain the office of Principal until the Charter shall have been
procured." He also objected on behalf of the Governors to the
appointment of any Professors and to the opening of the College, except
the Medical Department, until approval was given to the Charter.
Possibly the fact that the amended Charter permitted the
acting-Principal, after his retirement, still to be a Governor of the
College as Rector of Christ Church, Montreal, influenced the Board in
their disapproval of it. For the quarrel was not always above personal
prejudices, to which the advancement of the College was often
unfortunately sacrificed.
On August 17th, 1839, the Board at last broke their silence, and in a
letter to Sir John Colborne they gave utterance to their reasons for
opposition. They blamed the Governors for not having first submitted the
Charter to them before sending it to the Colonial Office,--and in this
they were well within their rights. They had not, they said, even seen a
certified copy of the document. They now agreed, however, that the
existing Charter required alteration. They suggested that all the
Governors of the College should be residents of the Province, but they
objected to giving the Governors power to fill vacancies as they
occurred, as this would lead in the end to a clique or cabal rule which
would lead to abuses in the management of the Institution. The number of
Professorships should, they thought, be left unlimited, at the joint
discretion of the Governors and the Board. The Governors were to be
subservient in power to the Board, and all appointments were to be
ratified by the Crown. There should also be permission given for the
granting of Honorary degrees. The Visitatorial duties and powers of the
Royal Institution should be more clearly defined. "The Board," the
letter stated, "also think it important, seeing that the declared object
of the Royal Charter was the promotion of true religion, that the body
of the Governors should be Protestants, and they beg leave also to call
the particular attention of your Excellency to the necessity of
introducing some provision into the amended Charter for requiring not
only the Principal, Vice-Principal and Professors, and all others
engaged in the instruction of youth in the University, but also the
Governors themselves before being admitted to office, to make and
subscribe a declaration of their belief in the Holy Scriptures as the
Word of God, and in the doctrine of the Trinity of persons in the
Godhead, as held by orthodox Protestant Churches."
To the majority of these suggestions the Governors agreed. But they
denied the right of the members of the Board to exercise so great a
power as such suggestions, if carried out, would give them. They
protested against the necessity of having appointments ratified by the
Crown. There was a rapid cross-fire of correspondence to the
Governor-General, in which the various suggestions were presented and
answered by each of the contending parties. But into the details of this
long-continued and at times bitter correspondence it is unnecessary here
further to enter. Meanwhile the Charter waited.
In the autumn of 1839, the Medical School was in need of funds. They
appealed to the Governors. The Governors had no money, but they voted
£500, and on September 19th, they applied to the Royal Institution for a
grant of that amount "in order to enable them to commence a course of
Medical Instruction." The Board refused in the following letter
forwarded on October 12th: "The Board resolve with regret that they
cannot give sanction to this vote of the Governors, as they conceive
themselves bound in the first instance to apply the means at their
disposal for purposes of general instruction, and those means are so
limited as to render it impossible to grant the sum demanded by the
Medical Faculty without sacrificing general to one branch of
professional education.... The Board are, however, fully aware of the
advantages to McGill College and to the public generally which the
proposed course of Medical lectures cannot fail to be attended with."
They hoped at a later date "to be able to entertain the application," if
the appeal for funds recently made to the Government should succeed.
Principal Bethune desired to procure a legal decision before a competent
tribunal on the Board's refusal to make the above grant. The Governor of
the Province was appealed to, but as he was about to leave Canada at the
end of his term of off
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