y in these matters that I have heard of, is a long
dispute with the Roman Catholic bishop of Toronto; but such an event one
must be prepared for when dealing with a church which claims
infallibility. I have no doubt the tact and moderation of Dr. Ryerson
have ere this thrown oil on the troubled waters, and restored the
harmony which existed between the former Roman bishop and the reverend
doctor. To those who take an interest in education, the report of the
system used in Canada, drawn up by Dr. Ryerson, and printed by order of
the Legislative Assembly, will afford much pleasure and information. It
is, of course, far too large a subject to enter upon in these pages,
containing, as it does, so vast an amount of matter worthy of serious
reflection. I will, however, indulge such of my friends as were taught
to read in the last century, with a quotation from page 67, which will
probably astonish them.

Mr. Horace Mann, so long the able Secretary of the Board of Education in
Massachusetts, after pointing out the absurdity of worrying a child's
life out, in teaching the A B C, &c., and their doubtful and
often-varying sounds utterly destitute of meaning, instead of words
which have distinct sounds and distinct meaning, thus winds
up:--"Learning his letters, therefore, gives him no new sound; it even
restricts his attention to a small number of those he already knows. So
far, then, the learning of his letters contracts his practice; and were
it not for keeping up his former habits of speaking, at home and in the
playground, the teacher, during the six months or year in which he
confines him to the twenty-six sounds of the alphabet, would pretty near
deprive him of the faculty of speech."

This extract, from the pen of one who has devoted so much talent and
patient investigation to the subject of education, entitles it to the
serious consideration of all those who are in any way connected with the
same subject in this country, where the old A B C cramming all but
universally prevails.--But to return to Upper Canada and its schools.
Some estimate of the value of its scholastic establishments may be
formed from the fact, that while its sphere of usefulness is rapidly
extending, it has already reached the following honourable position: The
population of Upper Canada is close upon 1,000,000; the number of
children between the ages of 5 and 16 is 263,000; the number of children
on the rolls of the common school establishments is 17