as an act of thanksgiving "for the re-election of this martyr." The man was, however, again expelled and eventually disqualified by act of the legislature.

As Prescott was leaving Canada, a letter was received from Portland, forwarding documents which granted to lord Amherst the jesuit estates, with instructions that the deed should be passed under the great seal, in order that the king's intentions could be carried out. Instructions were given that the law officers of the crown should be consulted to reconcile the alterations of tenure. † The matter was left for Milnes to act upon. Milnes replied, in January, 1800, that the council recommended the suspension of the order until the documents had been submitted to the home government. On all sides dissatisfaction was felt. Milnes did not fail to state the extent, as he had been assured, of the unpopularity of the proposed measure, and he dwelt upon the mischievous consequences which would arise from it. The view in the province was that the estates could only be applied to the purposes of education. Milnes drew the attention of the colonial office to the fact that, on the suppression of the order in France, this principle had been enunciated and had been also applied to the French colonies, and that the inhabitants in Canada trusted that their rights in this respect would be equally recognised by the British government. Milnes took advantage of the opportunity to direct attention to the deficiency in the province for extending higher education. From the want of proper institutions of this character, parents were compelled to send their children to the colleges in the United States. So deficient was the provision for education that, on a vacancy taking place in the council and in the higher offices, he expressed the opinion that it would be difficult to find native Canadians with the proper qualifications to fill them. He suggested, that

[Lieutenant-governor Milnes to duke of Portland, 1st of Nov., 1800. Can. Arch., Q. 85, p. 228.]

† [Can. Arch., Q. 82, p. 4, 13th April, 1799.]

[Can. Arch., Q. 84, p. 47, 31st January, 1800.]

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THE JESUITS' ESTATES.

479

only a certain portion of the estates should be granted to Amherst. In the meantime, he would take over the property, making a fit allowance to the surviving jesuit priest.

The council likewise made a report on the subject, the resolutions of which Milnes embodied in a despatch. He forwarded also the reports of the law officers of the crown, and petitions from the French Canadian and the Englishspeaking inhabitants, praying that the estates should be applied to the purposes of education. In February, Milnes reported that for a considerable period the jesuit estates could bring in only £3,400 a year. Consequently, he considered it expedient to withdraw his proposition for the division he had recommended. The true value of the estates would be known when they were taken in possession. He again submitted for consideration the impolicy of the intended grant.

It is particularly worthy of notice that, during the whole of this investigation and in the periods when the subject was discussed, no single person, lay or ecclesiastic, preferred the claim that the estates belonged to the jesuits as an order. All consideration of the jesuits in that respect was ignored, as if they had never existed.

The subject came before the assembly, which had been called for the 5th of March. Mr. Planté moved that the house resolve itself into a committee to obtain information concerning the rights of the province to the estates. Mr. Young, one of the executive council, from his place in the house stated that with the advice of the council the governor had given orders to take the estates in possession. The committee, nevertheless, continued its proceedings and voted an address for the production of the documents that gave information on the subject, particularly the report of the 30th of June, 1789, made by the commission, issued by lord Dorchester the 29th of December, 1787.

Milnes replied in an official message that the papers had been laid before his majesty, and that he had given orders to take possession of the property. Should the

assembly persist in their proposed investigation, he would comply with their request; but, doubtless, the house would deem it incumbent on them to consider whether it was consistent with that respect which they had hitherto uniformly manifested towards their sovereign, to reiterate any application on the subject. Although a motion was made to take into consideration his excellency's answer, the house resolved to postpone any further proceedings.

While these events were happening, father Cazot, the last of the jesuits, died,* so all question of claim on the estates by a religious body passed away. Cazot left a will, bequeathing his personal property and making donation of the church. plate which had remained in his possession. The will was unhesitatingly recognized as it affected the private legacies; and Milnes recommended that the distribution of the church plate should be also observed.

The deficiency of the means of higher education was thus earnestly brought to the attention of the home government; and it may be surmised that the proposed diversion of the jesuit estates to the benefit of Amherst was no little a prompting motive. Bishop Mountain, in October, 1799, had addressed the lieutenant-governor on the subject, and his letter had been referred to the council. The bishop, in dwelling upon the necessity of having recourse to the colleges of the United States, when the desire prevailed of obtaining a proper education, pointed out that it was not in these institutions youth would receive the early impressions of devotion to British interests and loyalty to the government. There was a respectable school at Quebec, where Latin and mathematics were taught, for which he asked some protection from the government, that its usefulness might be increased.

Not only were grammar schools necessary for the education of young men destined for professions and to take part in public affairs, but a more humble and equally important class called for consideration, that of the country

* [12th March, 1800.]

1800]

CONDITION OF EDUCATION.

481

population, of whom the girls alone received any instruction. The incapacity of the French Canadians to speak or understand English constituted them a race apart, so that in the province there were two peoples. Bishop Mountain proposed to place in the cities and large villages English masters, by whom English should be taught gratis. The council recommended the adoption of this plan.* Milnes sustained the views of the council, recommending the endowment of the schools from the crown lands and from "whatever may be reserved from the jesuits estates." He dwelt upon the popularity of the measure, and he instanced the general want of knowledge of English by stating that "there are but one or two English members in the house of assembly who ventured to speak in the language of the mother country, from the certainty of not being understood by a great majority of the house."

Portland, in acknowledging Milnes' letter, sustained the views of bishop Mountain, and suggested that crown lands should be appropriated to the establishment of the schools. † Concerning the jesuits estates Portland was silent. In consequence of this despatch, Milnes sent a message to the house, to the effect that his majesty had signified his intention to set apart a portion of the crown lands for the establishment of free schools, to instruct children in useful learning and the English tongue. A bill was introduced for this purpose, and also for "the incorporation of the Royal Institution for the Advancement of Learning."

No advantage resulted from this act, which remained upon the statute-book until the union of the provinces, to exercise little influence. No lands were ever appropriated, but its purpose was kept in activity by money grants from the assembly. The project never received countenance from the Roman catholic hierarchy, from the fact that the direction of it was controlled by protestants, with bishop Mountain placed at the head. There is no principle * [Ryland papers, Christie's History, Vol. VI., p. 38.]

+ [Ib., pp. 48-50.]

to which the Roman catholic clergy more pertinaciously adhere than the power to control the education of youth. At the present day the right of separate schools is still urged with all the strength that can be gathered, not only in the dominion, but likewise in the United States. There is no want of desire with the hierarchy to establish a high order of education, but it is on the condition that they control it.

In 1801, the bill was passed for removing the old walls which stood round Montreal. The act itself is a proof of the respect entertained for private rights by the constitution of the empire. The fact became established that when these walls were constructed in 1724 the land had been ceded by the company of New France and by private individuals without indemnity; on the principle that if the walls were demolished the ground should revert to the representatives of the original owners. Commissioners were appointed to superintend the demolition; the right of re-possession being affirmed to all whose claims could be established on examination by the court of king's bench.

The subject had been brought before the house in March, 1797, by a message from Prescott. He enforced the necessity of preventing by prevision all strife and litigation regarding the ground to be ceded, and he suggested that, as the occasion admitted the introduction of improvements for the salubrity and embellishment of the city, the newly obtained ground should be considered with this object. It was not until 1817 that all traces of the old fortifications were removed.

At the close of 1800 Milnes made an elaborate report of the condition of Canada. He explained the tenure of land and the position of the government with regard to the Roman catholic clergy, the whole patronage of the church being in the hands of the bishop, to whom alone the clergy as a body. deferred. He described the depressed character of the seigniors as a class; "very few of them on their own territory have the means of living in a more affluent and imposing style than the simple habitant," and scarcely