Excerpt from Documentary History of Education in Upper Canada, Vol. 5: From the Passing of the Constitutional Act of 1791 to the Close of the Reverend Doctor Ryerson's Administration of the Education Department in 1876
The most striking incident in the Education History, which this Volume records, is the protracted discussion, both in and out of Parliament, which took place on the University Question.
In reviewing the educational events of the years embraced in this Volume, what has struck me as most singular was the fact that, although two of the ablest public men of the day, - the Honourable Robert Baldwin, and the Honourable William H. Draper, - made earnest efforts to settle this vexed questions, in 1843 and 1845, yet their efforts were of no avail, - for both failed in the attempt, but from two very different causes.
In 1846, I may further note, that an effort was made by Mr. Draper in the same direction; and, the following year, Mr. (afterwards Sir) John A. Macdonald also sought to solve the difficulty, but, with a like result, - a similar failure, but also from different causes.
And yet these efforts were not wholly fruitless in practical results. The prolonged discussions on the subject, both in the Legislature and in the Press, and notably by able Pamphleteers, narrowed the ground of the dispute, and lessened the points of difference between the contending parties in the contest.
The main obstacle, which lay in the way of those who thus earnestly sought to settle this question, was the difficulty which, these University Reformers experienced in effectively dislodging those who were in possession of the Royal Charter of King's College, and who had personal control of the funds arising from its Endowment.
It is true that those, who were thus in possession of the University, and had control of its funds, came into that possession and control legitimately and fairly, as well as legally, but it should also be remembered, that the Imperial Authorities, who gave them this possession and control, were evidently under a total misapprehension of the facts and circumstances of the case, and of the state of public feeling on this subject in this Country.
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