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REV. EGERTON RYERSON, D.D., LLD.,
REV. EGERTON RYERSON, D.D., LLD.,
( Being Reminiscences of Sixty Years' Public Service in Canada .) PREPARED UNDER THE SUPERVISION OF HIS LITERARY TRUSTEES: THE REV. S.S. NELLES, D.D., LL.D., THE REV. JOHN POTTS. D.D., AND J. GEORGE HODGINS, ESQ., LL.D. EDITED BY J. GEORGE HODGINS, Esq. , LL.D. WITH PORTRAIT AND ENGRAVINGS. TORONTO: WILLIAM BRIGGS, 78 and 80 KING STREET EAST. 1884. Entered, according to the Act of the Parliament of Canada, in the year one thousand eight hundred and eighty-three, by Mary Ryerson and Charles Egert
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PREFATORY NOTE.
PREFATORY NOTE.
Twelve months ago, I began to collect the necessary material for the completion of " The Story of My Life ," which my venerated and beloved friend, Dr. Ryerson, had only left in partial outline. These materials, in the shape of letters, papers, and documents, were fortunately most abundant. The difficulty that I experienced was to select from such a miscellaneous collection a sufficient quantity of suitable matter, which I could afterwards arrange and group into appropriate chapters. This was no
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ESTIMATE OF THE REV. DR. RYERSON'S CHARACTER AND LABOURS.
ESTIMATE OF THE REV. DR. RYERSON'S CHARACTER AND LABOURS.
By the Rev. William Ormiston, D.D., LL.D. New York , Oct. 6th, 1882. My Dear Dr. Hodgins ,—It affords me the sincerest pleasure, tinged with sadness, to record, at your request, the strong feelings of devoted personal affection which I long cherished for our mutual father and friend, Rev. Dr. Ryerson; and the high estimate, which, during an intimacy of nearly forty years, I had been led to form of his lofty intellectual endowments, his great moral worth, and his pervading spiritual power. He was
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THE STORY OF MY LIFE.
THE STORY OF MY LIFE.
1803-1825. Sketch of Early Life. I have several times been importuned to furnish a sketch of my life for books of biography of public men, published both in Canada and the United States; but I have uniformly declined, assigning as a reason a wish to have nothing of the kind published during my lifetime. Finding, however, that some circumstances connected with my early history have been misapprehended and misrepresented by adversaries, and that my friends are anxious that I should furnish some in
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CHAPTER XIV.
CHAPTER XIV.
1835-1836. Second Mission to England. — Upper Canada Academy. Scarcely had Dr. Ryerson been settled at Kingston in the enjoyment of the freedom and pleasure of his new life as a pastor, than the exigencies of the Upper Canada Academy called him a second time to England. The causes of this sudden call upon his time and energies, on behalf of the Academy, were many and pressing. They were caused chiefly by the miscalculations, if not indiscreet zeal, of Rev. William Lord, who, as President of the
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CHAPTER XVIII.
CHAPTER XVIII.
1836-1837. Important Events Transpiring in Upper Canada . Dr. Ryerson was absent in England from 20th November, 1835, to 12th June, 1837. On the 15th of January, 1836, Sir John Colborne, by order in Council, endowed fifty-seven Rectories in Upper Canada out of the Clergy Reserve Lands. On the 23rd of that month Sir F. B. Head, the new Governor, arrived in Toronto. On the 14th of January following, he opened the Session of the Legislature. What followed was reported to Dr. Ryerson by his friend,
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CHAPTER XXXVIII.
CHAPTER XXXVIII.
1843. Episode in the Case of Hon. Marshall S. Bidwell . As mentioned in Chapter xxiv., page 188, an effort was made in 1843 to induce Hon. M. S. Bidwell to return to Canada. Copies of the correspondence on the subject were enclosed to Dr. Ryerson, by the Hon. Robert Baldwin, in a letter dated Kingston, 5th June, 1843, as follows:— I enclose you copies of letters which I am sure will afford you much pleasure. At present this communication of them must be confidential, as you will see by their dat
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CHAPTER XL.
CHAPTER XL.
1844. Preliminary Correspondence on the Metcalfe Crisis . With a view to a thorough understanding of the question at issue between Sir Charles Metcalfe and his Councillors, the following statement by Dr. Ryerson is necessary:— After the conversation with Hon. W. H. Merritt, in January, 1844, and after subsequent communications with him on the subject, I most carefully and minutely examined the documents and correspondence and other statements of parties, and was satisfied of the correctness of M
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CHAPTER XLII.
CHAPTER XLII.
1844-1845. After the Contest.—Reaction and Reconstruction . Dr. Ryerson naturally took a deep interest in political affairs at this time, and Sir Charles Metcalfe kept him fully informed of events transpiring at the seat of Government. In a letter, dated 19th August, 1844, Mr. Civil Secretary Higginson said to him:— You will be glad to hear that Hon. D. B. Papineau accepts a seat in the Council. The Inspector-General and Solicitor-General of Lower Canada are the only offices unprovided for. As t
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CHAPTER XLIV.
CHAPTER XLIV.
1844-1846. Dr. Ryerson's First Educational Tour in Europe . Dr. Ryerson left Canada for Europe in November, 1844, on his first educational tour through Europe. He visited and examined into the educational systems of Belgium, France, Italy, Bavaria, Austria, the German States, and Switzerland. He kept a full diary of his travels. Much of it is out of date, but I shall give those portions of it which relate to his personal history, and his impressions of men and things. The epitome of these travel
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CHAPTER XLV.
CHAPTER XLV.
1844-1857. Episode in Dr. Ryerson's European Travels.—Pope Pius IX. One of the many episodes in my European travels which I have been requested by many to narrate led to my presentation to Pope Pius IX., and is as follows:— On my arrival in England on my first educational tour, near the end of 1844, I was invited to a Christmas dinner party at the house of an English clergyman, where I was introduced to a young Russian nobleman, by the name of Dunjowski, who had attended lectures in several Germ
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CHAPTER XLVI.
CHAPTER XLVI.
1844-1876. Ontario School System.—Retirement of Dr. Ryerson . Although I hope to be able to prepare a record of the private and personal history of the founding of our System of Public Education, and of the vicissitudes through which it passed, as requested by Dr. Ryerson (page 350), yet in this chapter I give a brief outline of the principles of that System. After his educational investigations in Europe, in 1844-1846, Dr. Ryerson prepared an elaborate Report on a "System of Public Instruction
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CHAPTER XLVII.
CHAPTER XLVII.
1845-1846. Illness and Final Retirement of Lord Metcalfe . In a letter to Dr. Ryerson from Mr. Higginson, dated 27th May, 1845, he thus refers to Lord Metcalfe's increasing illness:— I wish that I could answer your inquiries about Lord Metcalfe's health in a satisfactory manner. The torturing malady with which he is afflicted is no better; and although there is no decided change for the worse, yet there is in my mind too much reason to apprehend that the disease, though slow in its progress, kee
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CHAPTER LIX.
CHAPTER LIX.
1861-1866. Personal Incidents.—Dr. Ryerson's Visits to Norfolk Co. During the years of 1861-1866, Dr. Ryerson was chiefly engaged in his official duties, and part of the time with the University question. There is, therefore, little to record during these years except personal matters. The following letters from two of his brothers indicate how strong was their attachment to him:— Brantford, 4th October, 1861. —Rev. John Ryerson writes: I have derived more benefit from reading Milner's History t
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CHAPTER LX.
CHAPTER LX.
1867. Last Educational Visit to Europe.—Rev. Dr. Punshon. In 1867 Dr. Ryerson made his last educational tour to Europe. On his return he prepared two elaborate reports—one on Systems of Education in Europe, and the other on the Education of the Deaf and Dumb. He also went to Paris as an Honorary Commissioner to the International Exhibition held in that city in 1867. While absent he constantly wrote to me. From his letters I make the following selections:— Paris, January 22nd, 1867. —The pretende
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CHAPTER LXII.
CHAPTER LXII.
1868-1869. Correspondence with Hon. George Brown.—Dr. Punshon. On the 24th of March, Dr. Ryerson addressed the following letter to the Hon. George Brown:— I desire, on this the 65th anniversary of my birth, to assure you of my hearty forgiveness of the personal wrongs which, I think, you have done me in past years, and of my forgetfulness of them so far, at least, as involves the least unkindness and unfriendliness of feeling. To express free and independent opinions on the public acts of public
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CHAPTER LXIII.
CHAPTER LXIII.
1870-1875. Miscellaneous Closing Events and Correspondence. On the 23rd of April, 1870, Rev. Drs. Punshon, Wood and Taylor, Chairman and Secretaries of the Central Board of Wesleyan Missions, addressed a letter to Sir George Cartier, Minister of Militia, on the subject of sending a Methodist chaplain with the Red River expedition under General Lindsay and the present Lord Wolseley. In their letter they said:— Believing that many who will volunteer to complete this enterprize will be members of o
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CHAPTER LXIV.
CHAPTER LXIV.
1875-1876. Correspondence with Rev. J. Ryerson, Dr. Punshon, etc. Dr. Ryerson went up to Simcoe to preach the anniversary sermons there, in December, 1874, and hoped to have gone to Brantford to see his brother John, but was prevented. He therefore wrote to him a New Year's letter, on the 3rd January, 1875: I have often prayed for you, thinking sometimes that I was even praying with you. We have spoken of you more than once during the recent holiday salutations and good wishes, and have wished y
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CHAPTER LXV.
CHAPTER LXV.
1877-1882. Closing Years of Dr. Ryerson's Life-Labours. After Dr. Ryerson's return from England, he devoted some time to the final revision of his principal work, in two volumes: The United Empire Loyalists of America , and to two additional volumes on the Puritans of Old and New England. These works cost him a good deal of arduous labour, but their preparation was in many respects a source of pleasure to him, and of agreeable occupation. After their completion, he lived in quiet retirement at h
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OPINIONS OF THE PRESS,
OPINIONS OF THE PRESS,
OF STATESMEN AND OTHERS, ON REV. DR. RYERSON'S "HISTORY OF THE LOYALISTS OF AMERICA AND THEIR TIMES, FROM 1620 TO 1816." From the Toronto Daily Mail , July 7th, 1880. In a lengthened review of more than two columns, the Mail says: "It is with great pleasure that we introduce and commend to our readers these portly volumes, which together contain nearly a thousand pages. Dr. Ryerson deserves well of his country on account of his long and inestimable services to the cause of popular education. He
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Canadian Methodism:
Canadian Methodism:
ITS EPOCHS AND CHARACTERISTICS, WRITTEN AT THE REQUEST OF THE LONDON, TORONTO, AND MONTREAL CONFERENCES. BY THE REV. EGERTON RYERSON, D.D., LL.D. This Volume is elegantly bound in Extra English Cloth, with ink and gold stamping, 12mo. size, containing 448 pages , WITH STEEL PORTRAIT, PRICE ... $1.25 This Volume is not a mere reprint of the Essays that appeared in the Magazine from month to month, but contains a large amount of new matter which has not heretofore appeared. It possesses also, to t
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The Loyalists of America
The Loyalists of America
AND THEIR TIMES. BY THE REV. EGERTON RYERSON, D.D., LL.D., Chief Superintendent of Education for Upper Canada from 1844 to 1876. This book is one of national importance. It is the most ample and minute account of the U. E. Loyalists and their Times which has hitherto been published. It describes very fully the early Colonial History of America, and traces the important distinction, often overlooked, between the Pilgrim Fathers and the Puritan Fathers in New England, who maintained separate Gover
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