in which the University was situate should be the Visitor; the Governor, or Lieutenant-Governor, for the time being, the Chancellor; the President to be a clergyman in holy orders of the United Church of England and Ireland; and that the Archdeacon of York in this Province, for the time being, should, by virtue of such his office, be at all times the President of the said College."

In 1827, for Church purposes, Upper Canada was divided into two Archdeaconries. Dr. Stuart became Archdeacon of Kingston and Dr.

Strachan, Archdeacon of York.

In the year following his promotion to the Archdeaconry of York, Dr. Strachan began the great battle of his life. At the election the Reform party had as their election cries Clergy Reserves and the University, and Dr. Strachan was foremost in the fight on behalf of the Church of England.

In 1832 Asiatic cholera reached America and swept through the whole of Canada. It was a time to try men, and Dr. Strachan proved himself a hero. He never shirked his duty and fearlessly visited the sick and dying. His services at this critical time were as much appreciated as they had been during the war of 1812, and the inhabitants of York presented him with a piece of plate in recognition of the work he had done during the trying months of the plague. In 1833 he was to receive another token of the respect in which he was held. His old pupils of the Cornwall School still held him in reverence, and presented him with a valuable piece of plate to show how highly he was esteemed by them. "This was a massive silver Epergné, value 230 guineas; the base of which, particularly chaste and elegant in proportions and design, supports four classical figures, representing Religion, History, Poetry and Geography; and surrounding a column. around which twine the ivy and acanthus, the whole surmounted with a wreath. Within the square of the pedestal, not exposed to view, are engraven the names and place of residence of the gentlemen who presented this tribute." Among these names were such distinguished men as John Beverley Robinson, George Ridout, J. B. Macaulay, Jonas Jones and his biographer and successor in the See of Toronto, A. N. Bethune.

Archdeacon Strachan continued to put forth strenuous efforts on behalf of the Church, and among his other works was the establishment of a periodical, The Church.

He continued to occupy a place in the Legislative Council and his enemies strongly objected to this. They were making their influence felt with the Home government and Lord Ripon advised that the " Bishop of Regiopolis and the Archdeacon of York should altogether abstain from any interference in any secular matters which might be submitted in the Legislative Council." The Archdeacon of York was not one to give up what he considered to be a right without a battle, and he continued to take an active part in politics. However, matters were to undergo a change. The struggle which was going on at this time ended in the rebellion of 1837, and the Home government, through Lord Durham's report, saw the need of re-adjusting legislation in the Canadas to suit the growing needs of the country.

He was now to sustain, for the time being, what was to him a great personal loss. In 1839 the Church of St. James was burned, but the Archdeacon went to work with his usual energy and soon had a much more magnificent building rising from the ruins of the old church. In August of this same year he went to England, and was there consecrated the first Bishop of Toronto, and on the 22nd of December was installed in his new church, the Cathedral of St. James, which still stands a monument to his energy and zeal.

Mr. Poulett Thomson, afterwards Lord Sydenham, came to Canada to carry out the principles laid down in Lord Durham's Report. One of his first acts was to endeavor to settle the Clergy Reserves question. The message on this question sent down by the Governor-General was far from being satisfactory to the Bishop of Toronto, and he addressed a pastoral letter to the clergy and laity of his diocese pointing out that the step taken was "calculated to deprive the church of England in Canada of nearly threefourths of her lawful property, to render clergy stipendiaries and dependants on the Colonial government, and to foster and perpetuate endless division

and discord."

However, the House of Assembly passed the Bill by a majority of twenty-eight to twenty, and the Governor-General believed that the question was now forever settled. He said with regard to the Bil!: "By the Bill which you have passed for the disposal of the Clergy Reserves, you have, so far as your constitutional powers admit, set at rest a question which, for years past, has convulsed society in this Province. In framing that measure, you have consulted alike the best interests of religion, and the future peace and welfare of the people, for whose services you are called upon to legislate; and I rely on your efforts proving successful, notwithstanding any attempt which may be made to renew excitement, or to raise opposition to your deliberate and recorded judgment."

In

Bishop Strachan's work was to make itself felt, and when the matter came up before the leading members of the Lords and Commons the Bill was to undergo radical change, and when finally passed, August 7, 1840, it was one that gave considerable satisfaction to the Bishop of Toronto. considering this matter The Church newspaper was able to say: "It is with all well-disposed persons a subject for congratulation that a topic of grievance has thus been removed, and most heartily do we hope and pray that it will not soon be followed by another equally groundless and disquieting."

Dr. Strachan had for some years been agitating for a university. It had been deemed wise first to establish a school where pupils might qualify for the projected university, and Upper Canada College had resulted; but in 1842 the Bishop's desire was to be realized. In that year Charles Bagot, successor to Lord Sydenham, visited Toronto, and while there laid the corner-stone of King's College, and two months later the university of King's College was opened with fitting ceremony.

As Bishop of Toronto he had no sinecure. His work for the summer months of 1840 illustrates admirably the amount of labor he had to put forth on behalf of his widely-scattered diocese. Between June 10, and October 21, of that year he visited seventy-eight stations, confirmed 2,923 people, consecrated five churches and two burial grounds, and delivered 155 sermons and addresses. In doing this work he travelled 2,277 miles; and it must be remembered that he travelled, for the most part, over roads of the roughest type.

King's College was not to have a peaceful career. Scarcely was the corner-stone laid before the enemies of Dr. Strachan began to attack the institution. An attempt was made to remodel the College, and in 1848 when the Reformers were in power the name of King's College was dropped and that of the University of Toronto adopted. It was moreover decreed that there should be no faculty of divinity in the university, and that "there should be no professorship, lectureship or teachership of divinity within it."

Bishop Strachan now determined to work for the establishment of a Church University apart altogether from State Aid. He appealed to the clergy and laity of the diocese and headed a subscription list himself with a gift of £1,000. He endeavored to have Her Majesty's government disallow the act abolishing King's College. He failed in this, but succeeded in getting a charter for the new college he proposed to establish.

He was now an old man past the three score and ten, but he went to England and worked with such energy on behalf of his projected college, that he succeeded through the help of such men as Lord Seaton and Mr. Gladstone in raising the handsome sum of £15,000 for the new university. As a result of his efforts Trinity College was formally opened in January, 1852.

He continued for fifteen years more to work on behalf of his Church and the Province. He actively opposed the secularization of the Clergy Reserves in 1854, and in 1860 when the Prince of Wales visited Canada he was one of the most prominent figures at his reception.

When the Fenian Raid broke out he spoke with no feeble voice, but denounced the raiders as murderers and marauders. The end of his life was not far distant. He had been invited to attend the Pan-Anglican Conference of Bishops held at Lambert Place, September 24, 1867, but on account of his health was unable to do so. On October 19 he attended, for the last time, his beloved Cathedral, and on November 1, All Saints' Day, passed quietly away. He had been a force in the Church and State and friends and enemies felt that they should do him honor, and a public funeral was accorded the man who had based the education of Upper Canada, and who had done much to train many of the leading statesmen and business men of the Province.

CHAPTER XVIL

DR. EGERTON RYERSON.

Dr. Egerton Ryerson of United Empire Loyalist Stock-His Father Receives a Grant of Land in Upper Canada-Young Ryerson Early a Lover of Books-His Education-A Deeply Religious Nature-Joins the Methodist Communion-An Usher in the London District Grammar School-A Diligent Student-Returns to His Father's Farm-A Missionary to the Indians on the Credit-Crosses Swords with Archdeacon Strachan on the Clergy Reserves Question-His Attitude Towards the Church of England-The "Christian Guardian" Established-Goes to England in the Interests of the Canadian Methodist Church-Gives His Impressions of English Public Men-Denounced by William Lyon Mackenzie as an Apostate-His Active Opposition to the Rebellious Tendencies in Upper Canada—Sent to England in the Interests of Upper Canada Academy -His Words at the Close of the Patriots' War-His Battle with Sir Francis Bond Head over Grant to Upper Canada Academy-His Generosity to Political OpponentsAppointed Principal of Victoria College-Appointed Superintendent of Public Schools in Upper Canada-His Theory of Education-Establishes the "Journal of Education"— Completes his "History of the Loyalists of America and Their Times"-The Close of His Life.

A

FITTING companion study for Bishop Strachan is that of Dr. Egerton Ryerson. They were both scholarly men, both strong and somewhat stubborn men, and both were animated with a zeal for God and an exalted patriotism. In many ways they were, however, diametrically opposed to each other.

Dr. Ryerson was of United Empire Loyalist stock, his father having fought in the British army during the War of the Revolution. Much of Dr. Ryerson's austerity of character was inherited from his mother, who was a descendant of one of the earliest settlers in Massachusetts. When the War of the Revolution came to a close, and the Thirteen Colonies were victors in the struggle, Ryerson, with many other loyal Britishers, settled in New Brunswick. It was in these first years of his settlement in British North America that he met his wife. Not finding the climate or the soil of New Brunswick congenial, however, and attracted by the excellent offers held out