PROTESTANT CHRISTIAN MORALITY and the NINETEENTH CENTURY SECULAR AND NON-SECTARIAN BRITISH COLUMBIA PUBLIC SCHOOL SYSTEM by JOAN HELEN TOWNSEND B.A., University of Br i t i s h Columbia, 1970 A THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS in the Department of EDUCATION We accept this thesis as conforming to the required standard THE UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA January, 1974 In presenting t h i s thesis i n p a r t i a l f u l f i l m e n t of the requirements for an advanced degree at the University of B r i t i s h Columbia, I agree that the Library s h a l l make i t f r e e l y available for reference and study. I further agree that permission for extensive copying of t h i s thesis for scholarly purposes may be granted by the Head of my Department or by h i s representatives. It i s understood that copying or publication of t h i s thesis for f i n a n c i a l gain s h a l l not be allowed without my written permission. Department of Education The University of B r i t i s h Columbia Vancouver 8, Canada i ABSTRACT B r i t i s h Columbia has long been considered the only province i n Canada to have had a si n g l e non-sectarian public school system from Confederation to the present. This as-s e r t i o n appears to be confirmed by a study of l e g i s l a t i v e acts and s t r i c t u r e s against denominational teachings. I t i s also true that no overtly denominational schools received a i d from public funds except f o r a b r i e f period i n the ear-l i e s t days of the Vancouver Island colony. When t h i s system i s examined more c l o s e l y , however, i t appears to be more Protestant C h r i s t i a n than non-sectarian. F i r s t , when the Bible was read the system used the Protestant, or King James, version. Second, from 1872 to 1876 i t author-ized Protestant C h r i s t i a n prayers, from 1876 to 1882 i t al'~ lowed the Lord's Prayer and the Ten Commandments, and permit-ted the Lord's Prayer alone throughout the rest of the cen-tury. Third, i t condoned interchangeable use of the same premises f o r worship and f o r schooling. Fourth, i t named clergymen as o f f i c i a l v i s i t o r s to the schools. F i f t h , i t i n -v i t e d Protestant clergymen as honoured guests, honourary mem-bers, and frequent speakers to meetings of the Teachers' In-s t i t u t e s . F i n a l l y , i t charged i t s teachers to inculcate the "highest morality" while omitting any explanation of the phrase. i i i i i Thus confusion surrounded the term "non-sectarian." To some i t was synonymous with "non-religious" but to others i t meant "non-denominational," or r e l i g i o n without sectarian doctrines. In 1872 the Board of Education accepted the l a t -t e r and authorized prayers f o r use i n the schools. Changes i n the School Act of 1876, however, emphasized the former meaning. This act added the word "secular" to the non-sec-t a r i a n clause, barred clergymen from holding o f f i c i a l p o s i -tions w i t h i n the school system, and l i m i t e d prayers to the Lord's Prayer and the Ten Commandments at the option of l o c a l trustees. Ambiguities were not eliminated by these changes as arguments then raged over the meaning of "secular." L e g i s l a t i o n and public opinion i n general interpreted the word as "non-religious" while some teachers and commentators defined i t as "non-denominational." During the 1880's pub-l i c opinion began to demand the re-introduction of r e l i g i o n i n t o the public school system to counteract a perceived im-moral society and provide a s o l i d moral base f o r the youth of the province. L e g i s l a t i o n i n regard to the secular and non-sectarian clause, however, remained unaltered during the rest of the century, nevertheless, growing public ac-ceptance of the school system, with a corresponding decline i n denominational school popularity, indicated that a ma-j o r i t y of parents were generally s a t i s f i e d with the system. Possibly due to t h e i r continuing influence, most of the Protestant clergy also appeared to be i n accord with the public school system. Their acquiescence was no doubt i v enhanced by the knowledge that Protestant C h r i s t i a n doctrine was being taught i n the public schools by the Canadian Series of Readers and the W. J , Gage & Co. Educational Series. In a d d i t i o n , a l l the texts i n these series considered C h r i s t i a n morality as the highest form of e t h i c a l behaviour with a l l other v i r t u e s following from t h i s conception. In view of the influence of the Protestant clergy and the textbook teachings, the B r i t i s h Columbia school sys-tem remained Protestant C h r i s t i a n rather than secular and non-sectarian. Public funds, therefore, were used f o r the benefit of one branch of a p a r t i c u l a r r e l i g i o n while being denied to adherents of other denominations or f a i t h s whose conscience made i t mandatory f o r them to educate t h e i r c h i l -dren i n separate schools. In t h i s respect the B r i t i s h Colum-bia school system developed d i f f e r e n t l y from that of Ontario, and from those of other provinces, which admitted the sec-t a r i a n nature of t h e i r schools and provided f o r minority edu-cation i n a separate system. TABLE OP CONTENTS Introduction 1 1. The C o l o n i a l Experience 6 A. C o l o n i a l Society 6 B. Col o n i a l Schools 10 2. System, Re l i g i o n , and Morality, 1872 to 1883... 21 A. School Act of 1872 and R e l i g i o n 21 B. Operation of System and Morality 27 C. Change and Controversy 37 3. Textbook Rel i g i o n and Morality 46 A. Canadian Series, Adoption and Aim 46 B. Morality - Regulations and Texts 49 C. R e l i g i o n - Regulations and Texts 63 4. System, Re l i g i o n , and Morality, 1883 to 1899... 77 A. Religious need 77 B. Acceptance and expectations. 80 C. Church influence and Highest Morality 87 5. Textbook R e l i g i o n and Morality 101 A. Gage Series 101 B. The Highest Morality 103 C. Brotherhood, Industry, Temperance 107 6. Protestant C h r i s t i a n Schools 122 B i b l i o g r a p h i c a l Note 133 v ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS To Dr. John Calam of the Department of Education at the U n i v e r s i t y of B r i t i s h Columbia may I express my gratitude and deep appreciation f o r u n f a i l i n g l y cheerful and h e l p f u l advice and w i l l i n g expenditure of valuable time. Professors H e i l Sutherland and Jorgan Dahlie also merit a sincere thankyou f o r t h e i r many excellent sugges-tions and f r i e n d l y c r i t i c i s m s . Special thanks must also be given to the s t a f f of the Special Collections D i v i s i o n of the University of B r i t i s h Columbia l i b r a r y f o r pleasant and ready l o c a t i o n of necessary research materials. v i INTRODUCTION Ph y s i c a l l y separated from the res t of Canada by towering mountains and tumultuous waterways, B r i t i s h Colum-bians often consider themselves a d i f f e r e n t breed of people. Thus they have tended to emphasize and claim a uniqueness which i s usually a blend of myth and f a c t . This i s true, f o r example, of the proposition that, of a l l Canada's pro-vinces and t e r r i t o r i e s , only B r i t i s h Columbia has always enjoyed a u n i f i e d and t r u l y non-sectarian school system and never considered p u b l i c l y financed separate or r e l i g i o u s schools.''" While the l a t t e r part of t h i s statement can be accepted as f a c t the claim f o r a non-sectarian public sys-tem i s l a r g e l y myth. Most h i s t o r i a n s have argued f o r a de facto as w e l l as a de jure non-sectarianism as a r e s u l t of studying the o f f i c i a l acts and rules and regulations of the system, to-gether with the m u l t i - r a c i a l and multi-denominational char-acter of the society. Manoly R. Lupul, therefore, states that schools founded on a class and r e l i g i o u s basis p r i o r to 1865 were not compatible with a new type of population. Consequently, the government of Vancouver Island estab-l i s h e d a non-denominational system i n 1865 which was con-firmed by l a t e r l e g i s l a t i o n of the colony and province of "^ C. B. Sissons, Church and State i n Canadian Educa- t i o n (Toronto: The Ryerson Press, 1959), p. 371. 1 2 B r i t i s h Columbia. In addition, C. B. Sissons concludes that Church of England claims to dominance i n both England and Upper Canada had disappeared prior to the establishment of the Vancouver Island colony and that French influence was weak in the colony. Thereby non-sectarian schools were 3 f a c i l i t a t e d as no effective opposition existed. While con-sistent with Lupul's later interpretation of non-sectarian as non-denominational rather than non-religious, Sissons infers that the system became progressively more secular, or non-religious, after 1876 with the banning of clergymen from o f f i c i a l positions. 4 Henry Johnson agrees that B r i t i s h Columbia's pub-l i c school system was unique because of i t s unity and non-sectarianism and that non-sectarian meant non-denominational. However, he recognizes that many people believed that the schools were to be "Godless" and that, for this reason, teachers were encouraged to use recommended forms of prayer and the Ten Commandments as well as being instructed to "inculcate the highest morality."^ Later, Johnson appears to confirm Sissons * inference that the system almost com-pletely eliminated religious and church influence within p Manoly R. Lupul, "Education i n Western Canada Before 1873," i n Canadian Education: A History, eds. J. Donald Wil-son, Robert M. Stamp, and Louis-Philippe Audet (Scarborough, Ontario: Prentice-Hall of Canada, Ltd., 1970), pp. 251-52. 3 ^Sissons, Church and State, p. 371. 4 I b i d . , p. 381. ^P. Henry Johnson, A History of Public Education i n B r i t i s h Columbia (Vancouver: University of B r i t i s h Columbia, 1964), p. 39. 3 i t i n 1876 and became more secular i n intent." None of these historians, however, closely exam-ined whether or not church and religious influence was i n r e a l i t y abolished from the schools. Neither have they sur-veyed classrooms or the supposedly non-sectarian textbooks. Nor have they studied the meaning of the requirement that teachers inculcate the highest morality. Johnson links this regulation with prayer and the Ten Commandments, thereby i n -ferring religious morality, but only a study of the system and texts can help determine the actual meaning of "highest 7 morality." 1 Admittedly, any attempt to study what children might have learned i n B r i t i s h Columbia classrooms i s s e r i -ously hampered when daily work books and detailed school reports are not readily available. During the last quarter of the nineteenth century, however, every school used the same textbooks and i t i s f a i r l y safe to assume that the books were the curriculum i n the majority of schools. Ruth Mil l e r Elson observes that, i n the American school systems, the schoolbook i t s e l f occupied a central position i n most public schools throughout the century. Edu-cational theory, as well as the scarcity of highly trained teachers, required that most of the text-books be memorized word for word.8 c Johnson, John Jessop: Goldseeker and Educator (Vancouver: Mitchell Press Limited, 1971), p. 128. "^Johnson, History of Public Education, p. 39. 8Ruth M i l l e r Elson, Guardians of Tradition (Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 1964), p. v i i i . 4 V i o l a Elizabeth Parvin notes the same tendency i n the Upper Canada schools of the 1820s where reports showed that texts q and curriculum were synonymous. Two decades l a t e r the p r i n -ted word s t i l l symbolized education to many people and the textbook was the only vehicle of l e a r n i n g . 1 ^ B r i t i s h Colum-bi a experienced the same shortage of q u a l i f i e d teachers as noted by Elson i n the United States and school law required the " f a i t h f u l and d i l i g e n t teaching of the te x t s , " according to one teacher's i n t e r p r e t a t i o n of the regulation that tea-chers must "teach d i l i g e n t l y and f a i t h f u l l y a l l the branches required to be taught . . . . " 1 1 Another teacher condemned the whole system of textbooks which unnecessarily confined 12 teachers. Therefore, i t i s probable that the use of texts i n B r i t i s h Columbia i n the nineteenth century was l i t t l e d i f -ferent than i n the United States. When the system i s examined c l o s e l y and textbook content considered i t w i l l be found that the B r i t i s h Colum-bi a public school system was neither non-sectarian nor sec-u l a r , as required by law. S i m i l a r to the s i t u a t i o n pre-v a i l i n g i n much of the United States, according to the the? ^ V i o l a Elizabeth Parvin, Authorization of Textbooks f o r the Schools of Ontario (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1965), p. 7. " ^ J . Harold Putman, as c i t e d i n I b i d . , p. 22. i : L B r i t i s h Columbia, F i f t h Annual Report of the Pub- l i c Schools by John Jessop, Superintendent ( V i c t o r i a : 1876), p. 138. See also McKenzie's l e t t e r , p. 43, i n f r a . 1 2 D a i l y B r i t i s h Colonist ( V i c t o r i a ) , July 9, 1875. 5 ories of Timothy I . Smith and David Tyack, one can observe that the schools were Protestant and C h r i s t i a n i n f a c t . In t h i s respect the B r i t i s h Columbia system was not unique as the same was true of other Canadian systems. Other provin-ces, however, acknowledged t h e i r sectarianism and made pro-v i s i o n f o r the public financing of minority schools. On the other hand, the system was unique i n i n s i s t i n g that i t was secular and non-sectarian and, therefore, refusing public support f o r separate schools. As no via b l e public school system existed i n the province p r i o r to Confederation with Canada, only the sys-tem as i t obtained i n B r i t i s h Columbia during the l a s t quarter of the nineteenth century merits examination i n de-t a i l but the h i s t o r i c a l , geographical, and s o c i a l back-ground to the system deserve b r i e f a t t e n t i o n . S i m i l a r l y , as no uniform series of texts was used i n a l l schools p r i o r to 1872, only textbooks authorized a f t e r that date come i n f o r s c r u t i n y . In ad d i t i o n , as the readers were the primary texts used i n elementary schools a t t e n t i o n w i l l be focussed on the two series of readers supplied to the schools. 13 See p a r t i c u l a r l y Timothy L. Smith, "Parochial Edu-cation and American Culture," i n History and Education, ed. Paul Nash (New York: Random House, 1970), pp. 192-211; "Protestant Schooling and American N a t i o n a l i t y , " Journal of American History 53 (March, 1967):679-95; "Congregation, State, and Denomination: The Forming of the American R e l i -gious Structure," William and Mary Quarterly 25 ( A p r i l , 1968): 155-76; and David Tyack, "Onward C h r i s t i a n S o l d i e r s : R e l i g i o n i n the American Common School," i n History and Education, pp. 212-55; and "The Kingdom of God and the Common School," Har- vard Educational Review 36 (1966):447-69. CHAPTER ONE THE COLONIAL EXPERIENCE Two somnolent outposts of the B r i t i s h Empire awoke suddenly to the turbulence of an a l i e n host which conquered by sheer weight of numbers and i r r e v e r s i b l y a l t e r e d the ex-i s t i n g society and i t s i n s t i t u t i o n s . In 1849 a small com-pany of Hudson's Bay Company employees founded the colony of Vancouver's Island. U n t i l 1858 the Company and a small white population of approximately 1,000, predominantly B r i t i s h i n o r i g i n and concentrated i n southern Island centres, ru l e d an Indian population outnumbering them t h i r t y to one and a vast t e r r i t o r y of over 366,000 square m i l e s . 1 Seemingly over-night t h i s t i n y , homogeneous population was beseiged by 25,000 Europeans, Canadians, Americans, Jews, Negroes, and Chinese searching f o r the newly-discovered Fraser River gold. B r i t i s h armed forces and c o l o n i a l o f f i c i a l s soon augmented the newcomers and miners and adventurers continued a r r i v i n g i n large number. Mainland centres soon r i v a l l e d those of the Island i n s i z e and importance and the population of both colonies became a heterogeneous mixture of races and r e l i -gions which, f o r some time, remained l a r g e l y male and migra-t o r a f u l l account of t h i s period see p a r t i c u l a r l y Margaret A. Ormsby, B r i t i s h Columbia; A History (Macmillan of Canada, 1971). 2Harry Gregson, A History of V i c t o r i a 1842 - 1970 ( V i c t o r i a : The V i c t o r i a Observer Publishing Co. Ltd., 1970), p. 13. 6 7 tory. Generally, the population constituted one i n which 3 "the currents of r e l i g i o u s l i f e pulsate (d) but f e e b l y . " Nevertheless, the. p r i e s t s and ministers of the gospel followed s e t t l e r s , miners, adventurers, and others to the new land. For many years, however, the number of clergymen i n the colonies remained small i n comparison to the vastness of the task and t e r r i t o r y . Wesleyan Methodist ministers, f o r example, a r r i v e d i n 1859 but no s i g n i f i c a n t contingent appeared i n the province u n t i l 1880. S i m i l a r l y , the f i r s t Presbyterian minister came to V i c t o r i a i n 1861 and f o r many years t h i s f a i t h had only a few representatives resident i n the community at any one time. Roman Catholic p r i e s t s resided i n the Island colony from i t s inception but, again, they were only a few. French-Canadian residents par-t i c u l a r l y welcomed the p r i e s t s but Father Demers was forced to t r a v e l to Europe, s h o r t l y a f t e r h i s appointment as Bishop of Vancouver Island, to s o l i c i t funds and personnel f o r h i s diocese. No f i n a n c i a l help could be expected from the Hud-son's Bay Company and h i s only diocesans were "badly demora-l i z e d savages, with a few whites of various n a t i o n a l i t i e s , too often the scum of t h e i r own countries, grouped i n a s i n -gle attempt at settlement."^" Clergy of the Church of England f i r s t a r r i v e d i n 3 ^George Hiridle, The Educational System of B r i t i s h Columbia ( T r a i l : T r a i l Publishing and Printing"Co. Ltd., 1918), p. 17. ^Rev. A. G. Morice, History of the Catholic Church i n Western Canada 1659 - 1895, V o l . 2 of 2 v o l s . (Toronto: The Musson Book Company Limited, 1910), p. 297. 8 the colony as employees of the Company. Both the Reverend Robert Staines and h i s successor, Edward Cridge, served as schoolmaster and chaplain to Fort V i c t o r i a . Between 1857 and 1868 the Church of England and i t s missionary s o c i e t i e s sent twenty-eight ministers and missionaries to the colony plus Bishop H i l l s who r e c r u i t e d another eight workers. Only a few of these, however, remained f o r any length of time. Workers of a l l four churches reported and commen-ted on the general apathy or h o s t i l i t y to r e l i g i o n i n the colonies and which was most noticeable i n the mining com-munities which employed a large number of s i n g l e men. H i l l s , however, also reported that the church was r a r e l y of prime importance to the s e t t l e r s who were preoccupied with making a l i v i n g or to those who came to escape the confines of c i -7 v i l i z a t i o n . ' Church h i s t o r y sources c i t e many instances of Pro-testant inter-denominational co-operation but some evidence suggests that the Church of England tended to claim supremacy. H i l l s at one time reported to London that h i s church was alone i n the f i e l d but was t a r t l y rebuked by a correspondent who r e c a l l e d the p r i o r and continuing presence of the Roman "*A L i s t of the Pioneers Who Served Under Bishop H i l l s (n.p., n.d.) 6 For comments see Morice, History of the Catholic Church, p. 316; Frank Peake, The Anglican Church i n B r i t i s h Columbia (Vancouver: M i t c h e l l PressV 1959), p. 41; and Mervyn Ewart Kennedy, "The History of Presbyterianism i n B r i t i s h Columbia, 1861-1935" (Master's t h e s i s , U n i v e r s i t y of B r i t i s h Columbia, 1938), p. 32 and p. 102. 7 'Peake, The Anglican Church, p. 2 9 . 9 Catholic Church and the a c t i v i t i e s of the Methodists and Pres-8 byterians. Anglican Reverend J . B. Good challenged Metho-d i s t r i g h t s to operate Indian schools and the entire Indian mission f i e l d was sometimes claimed as e x c l u s i v e l y Anglican.^ Any such claims or attempts to e s t a b l i s h a "State Church" proved an anathema to the editors of the two leading c o l o n i a l newspapers. Reared i n Nova Scotia and Upper Can-ada, r e s p e c t i v e l y , both Amor De Cosmos of the Daily B r i t i s h Colonist, and John Robson, of the B r i t i s h Columbian, fought against B r i t i s h Columbia being made the ground where a l l our old b a t t l e s and sec-t a r i a n feuds must be re-enacted. . . . (and where) public sentiment w i l l be strongly opposed to 1 0 grants from the public revenue f o r sectarian purposes. De Cosmos deplored favoured treatment given to the Church of England and reminded the government that such favouritism was i n d i r e c t contravention of Colonial Office p o l i c y and Bishop H i l l s ' public statement i n support of voluntaryism as w e l l as being against the wishes of 90 percent of the popu-lation."''^ Robson joined De Cosmos i n condemning Governor Douglas' o f f e r of government grants to the Anglican churches at Douglas and L i l l o o e t — which an embarrassed H i l l s r e -fused — by reminding the Governor and the public that t h i s was money which by the most oppressive taxation he has screwed out of Presbyterians, Methodists, B a p t i s t s , Roman Catholics, Jews, Chinese, Otherarians, and Nothing-8 10 11 B r i t i s h Columbian 'B r i t i s h Colonist, ' B r i t i s h Columbian L B r i t i s h C o l o n i st, 10 12 arians, as well as Episcopalians. Similarly, both papers strongly opposed any form of sectarian education supported by public funds. Pew clues appear in the newspapers regarding the extent of general en-thusiasm for or antipathy to denominational schools but i t i s evident that these institutions were established, that some received government financing, and that a substantial part of the community sent their children to them. Formal educational f a c i l i t i e s appeared i n the col -onies coincidentally with the arr i v a l of church representa-tives. On or about September 14, 1849 an Oblate missionary opened the f i r s t school on the Island, for the wives and 13 children of the Hudson's Bay Company's Canadian servants, but Roman Catholic educational efforts were sporadic u n t i l 1858. In that year the Sisters of St. Ann opened a g i r l s ' school i n Victoria, accommodating students of a l l religions and races, and extended their efforts to other Island and Mainland centres as warranted by population growth. 1 4 Gov-ernor Douglas furnished personal, but no government, support and financial aid to the Sisters and the Colonist believed that the good moral and general education provided for g i r l s 1 2 B r i t i s h Columbian, July 11, 1861. Father lempfrit wrote to Oregon on that date ad-vising that he had begun his school. See "learning Began i n a Log Classroom," Province (Vancouver), July 19, 1971, Centennial Edition, p. 43. 1 4 F o r a complete account of the schools see Edith Emily Down "The Sisters of St. Ann, Their Contribution to Education i n the Pacific Northwest 1858 - 1958" (Master's Thesis, University of B r i t i s h Columbia, 1962). 11 and orphans deserved government financing. x° Oblate fathers opened schools f o r boys i n V i c t o r i a and New Westminster dur-ing the c o l o n i a l period and these i n s t i t u t i o n s proved as suc-c e s s f u l as were those of the S i s t e r s . S i m i l a r l y , however, no f i n a n c i a l support was provided by the government. Church of England chaplains to Fort V i c t o r i a and to the Royal Engineers also acted as schoolmasters. Thus, Robert Staines and h i s wife and the Cridges operated schools f o r the c h i l d r e n of the Company's "gentlemen" employees while the Reverend Mr. Sheepshanks conducted a school at Sapperton, the Engineers' base on the mainland. As " r e l i -gious i n s t r u c t i o n i n accordance with the doctrines of the Church of England"formed part of the Fort V i c t o r i a school curriculum the Staines and Cridge establishments were denom-16 i n a t i o n a l . Nevertheless, government funds financed part of t h e i r operation as evidence suggests that the Company guar-anteed Staines' annual salary, i f private funds f a i l e d to provide the f u l l amount, and that an annual grant of £100 17 was d e f i n i t e l y promised to h i s successor. Bishop H i l l s ' schools i n V i c t o r i a and Nanaimo and the mainland Anglican colleges stemmed from t h i s t r a d i t i o n but, un l i k e t h e i r pre-decessors, received no public f i n a n c i n g . 1 5 B r i t i s h Colonist, January 1, 1859. 1^G. H. S l a t e r , "Rev. Robert John Staines: Pioneer P r i e s t , Pedagogue, and P o l i t i c a l A g i t a t o r , " B r i t i s h Colum- bi a H i s t o r i c a l Quarterly 14(4) (1950), p. 191. 17 •D. L. MacLaurin, "Education Before the Gold Rush" B r i t i s h Columbia H i s t o r i c a l Quarterly 11 (4) (1938), p. 256. 12 Aware of the educational needs of children belon-ging to the Company labourers and the few independent set-t l e r s , Douglas recommended establishing elementary schools 18 to provide a good moral and religious training. Three of these Colonial Schools opened on the Island i n 1852 and 1853, government funds supplemented teacher salaries, and the Reverend Edward Cridge was appointed supervisor i n 1856. His reports indicate that scripture lessons received p r i -mary attention as more children were enrolled i n this than 19 i n any other subject. J As scripture was Church of England theology and the schools were modelled on the National, or Anglican, schools of England public funds again financed denominational education. Ostensibly government funds only financed non-denominational schools on the mainland and the Sapperton school only received aid after the departure of the Engin-eers and the re-opening of the school as one which was non-denominational. However, the Anglican Church remained i n -volved with this school through monetary help u n t i l 1868 when the Archdeacon of Columbia withdrew his sponsorship, at which time the school was forced to close. Rev. R. Jamieson, a Presbyterian, opened New Westminster's f i r s t school i n 1862 and turned i t over to a council of three, representing the 20 Methodist, Anglican, and Presbyterian churches, i n 1863. 1 fi MacLaurin, "Before the Gold Rush," p. 249. 19 -'Johnson, History of Public Education, p. 28. 20 A f u l l e r account of both these schools i s provided in Margaret Li ooet McDonald, "New W tminster 1859 - 1871," (Master's Thesis, University of B r i i s h Columbia, 1947). 13 In r e a l i t y , therefore, public funds supported Protestant Christian schools on the mainland, as they did on the Island, provided they were nominally non-denominational. Suspected of considering Colonial schools as the exclusive property of his church, Cridge incurred De Cosmos' righteous indignation. Questioning whether schools belonged to colony or Colonial Church and School Society, De Cosmos demanded information regarding the schools * relationship to the colony, the auspices under which conducted, and the sup-21 erintendent or board to whom teachers were responsible. Lack of knowledge regarding the schools made them irrelevant to the public who continued to support sectarian schools for this reason, according to De Cosmos. Therefore, the government should "further the establishment of a good common school sys-22 tern i n opposition to mere sectarian hotbeds" and inculcate a moral bias by virtue of sound elementary education. Likewise, John Robson fought for the principle that "government funds must only be devoted to the support of non-23 sectarian schools." No-one, i n Robson's view, had the right to object to privately funded denominational schools although they were "prejudicial to the common interest" while so few students resided i n the colony. 2 4 One well-devised, l i b e r a l , and non-sectarian system would provide effic i e n t schools and attack religious bigotry by the "social, p o l i t i -2 1 B r i t i s h Colonist, February 14, I860. 2 2 I b i d . , June 26, I860. 2 ^ B r i t i s h Columbian, February 13, 1864. 2 4 I b i d . 14 c a l , and r e l i g i o u s cementing of a heterogeneous population." 2^ Reports of public meetings i n V i c t o r i a , Yale, and New Westminster reveal that the majority of those i n atten-dance favoured non-sectarian schools. Support f o r the con-tention that a majority of the whole population agreed with such a system can be found i n De Cosmos' observation that a l l candidates f o r e l e c t i o n to the L e g i s l a t i v e Assembly pro-fessed themselves i n accord with a common, non-sectarian, 26 school system. C l e a r l y , however, the newspapers and part of the public interpreted non-sectarian as meaning non-re-l i g i o u s . Colonist reports of the V i c t o r i a school meeting noted that considerable opposition was expressed to Bible readings i n classrooms, to which view the edi t o r agreed as "no Bibl e 27 could s u i t a l l denominations and the Jews." At one point Robson denied that he opposed the B i b l e , r e l i g i o u s exercises, and the employment of q u a l i f i e d persons who also had s p e c i f i c 28 church a f f i l i a t i o n s . Nevertheless, approval of a motion that B i b l e readings be included i n the curriculum of New West-minster schools invoked h i s denunciation of such readings as being the " f i r s t wedge i n s p l i t t i n g the National school sys-tem." He argued f u r t h e r that provisions f o r the exclusion of objectors would only introduce "invidious comparisons and b i t t e r sectarian differences." 2 5 I b i d . , A p r i l 13, I864. 26, B r i t i s h Colonist, November 28, 1862. 2 7 I b i d . , A p r i l 11, I864. ^ B r i t i s h Columbian, A p r i l 13, I864. 2 9 I b i d . , July 16, I864. 15 Both the Roman Catholic Church and Anglican clergy-men denounced non-religious education. The former could never accept a separation of education and r e l i g i o n , the Anglican Archdeacon of Columbia took strong exception to ommission of r e l i g i o u s i n s t r u c t i o n from public s c h o o l s , 3 0 and the Reverend William S. Reece, Vice-President of the Anglican Collegiate School i n V i c t o r i a , preached on the subject. Naming secular education as one of the primary sources of e v i l , Reece stressed the necessity of B i b l e readings i n the schools. Bib-l i c a l education, he argued, could be imparted without denom-i n a t i o n a l bias but neglect of r e l i g i o u s education could lead only to i n d i f f e r e n c e to the c u l t i v a t i o n of v i r t u e s and weak-ening of other moral influences. Secular education, s a i d Reece, meant the beginning of moral and i n t e l l e c t u a l d i s i n -tegration and was "contrary to Reason, Experience, and Reve-l a t i o n . " 3 1 In s p i t e of the long campaign of the newspapers and t h e i r perceived public demand i t was not u n t i l l a t e 1863 i n Vancouver Island and 1865 i n B r i t i s h Columbia that committees were appointed to assess e x i s t i n g educational f a c i l i t i e s and make recommendations f o r public school systems. Under the provisions of Vancouver Island's School Act of 1865, drafted from the committee report, schools were to be "conducted 3 0McDonald, "New Westminster," p. 359. 3 1Rev. William S. Reece, Education ( V i c t o r i a : Even-ing Express O f f i c e , 1864). 16 s t r i c t l y upon non-sectarian p r i n c i p l e s " with textbooks selec-ted f o r the purpose of " i n c u l c a t i n g the highest morality while excluding r e l i g i o u s teachings and denominational dog-32 mas."^ Opposition to the t o t a l exclusion of r e l i g i o n from the schools, however, forced the i n c l u s i o n of a clause a l -lowing the clergy, at i n t e r v a l s f i x e d hy the Board of Educa-t i o n , to v i s i t the schools and impart, i n a separate room, r e l i g i o u s i n s t r u c t i o n to chi l d r e n of t h e i r respective per-33 s u a s i o n s . R e g a r d l e s s of Robson's objections, s c r i p t u r e reading, without comment, became part of the mainland school curriculum but provision was made f o r pupils to be excused at t h e i r parents' request. United i n 1866, the two colonies had no common school act u n t i l the Ordinance of 1869 which, together with the Act of 1870, confirmed both non-sectarianism and clergy p r i v i l e g e s . Island Colonial schools emerged as the f i r s t pub-l i c schools under the 1865 Act. Dedicated to the p r i n c i p l e of non-sectarianism, teachers such as John Jessop opened new schools but c o l o n i a l f i n a n c i a l chaos soon reduced or el i m i n -ated government a i d . In 1867 and 1868 s i x schools closed due to lack of funds, 175 ch i l d r e n , therefore, received no f o r -mal education, and the Board of Education resigned en masse i n protest against government d i s i n t e r e s t . 3 4 Two years l a t e r 32 B r i t i s h Colonist, December 1, 1864. 33 - ^ I b i d . Dr. Tolmie, an Anglican, noted the wide-spread f e e l i n g against the t o t a l exclusion of r e l i g i o n from the schools and moved an amendment to include t h i s clause i n A p r i l , I864. 3 4Johnson, History of Public Education, p. 37. 17 only s i x public schools remained open on the Island, four of them the old Colonial schools, with an average of 148 c h i l -dren attending i n f i v e locations plus an undetermined number at Lake. At the same time only f i v e public schools existed on the mainland, with an average attendance of seventy-six plus an unreported number at Yale. Only two Island l o c a l i -t i e s and one mainland community contributed l o c a l funds to 35 school operations. School reports included i n the Sessional Papers made no mention of subjects taught or textbooks used. I t i s , therefore, d i f f i c u l t to determine whether or not r e l i g i o u s and moral education took place i n the classrooms during the period from 1865 to 1872. Undoubtedly, no formal r e l i g i o u s courses were taught i n view of the Acts' ban on sectarian teaching and clergy p r i v i l e g e s allowed a f t e r regular school hours. On the other hand, r e l i g i o u s education was present i n the mainland schools, at le a s t u n t i l 1869, through B i b l e readings and most nineteenth century textbooks included r e -l i g i o u s references, p a r t i c u l a r l y the I r i s h National Texts recommended f o r the Colonial schools by Gridge, used i n Jessop's school, and generally employed i n a l l B r i t i s h Col-36 umbia public schools by 1870. Prepared by experienced teachers, under the d i r e c t i o n of the National Board of Edu-cation i n Ireland, these texts were used i n Ireland, Eng-35 • ^ B r i t i s h Columbia, L e g i s l a t i v e Council, Sessional Papers, 33 V i c t . , 1870, No. 11. 36 Lupul, "Education i n Western Canada," p. 257. 18 land, and many B r i t i s h Colonies. Egerton Ryerson considered the series imbued with the purest principles^^and the Na-t i o n a l Board esteemed i t eminently suitable f o r a "population of a mixed character as to t h e i r r e l i g i o u s persuasions."-^ Perusing the "Contents of the National Readers"-^ reveals separate sections i n the second, t h i r d , and fourth books which are devoted to "Religious and Moral Lessons" and d e f i n i t e l y l i n k r e l i g i o n and morality. In a d d i t i o n , these two concepts are present i n lessons teaching English gram-mar and l i t e r a t u r e , h i s t o r y , geography, and p o l i t i c a l econ-omy. In view of clergy p r i v i l e g e s and textbook content the schools thus proved C h r i s t i a n rather than non-religious. Further, i f the King James version was used f o r B i b l e rea-dings the schools were Protestant and not, therefore, non-sectarian. Protestant clergymen, representing the Anglican, Methodist, and Presbyterian churches, administered the f i r s t public examination at V i c t o r i a ' s Central school which i n d i -cates a continuing Protestant influence w i t h i n the system. 4^ Following establishment of the system i n 1865 no record of any Protestant clergy protest can be found, suggesting that opportunities f o r r e l i g i o u s and moral t r a i n i n g i n the schools was considered s a t i s f a c t o r y by that f a c t i o n . 37 Rev. Egerton Ryerson, D.D., Report on a System of Public Elementary I n s t r u c t i o n f o r Upper Canada (Montreal; L o v e l l and Gibson, 1847), p. 173. 38 Report of the National Schools i n Ireland as quoted i n Journal of Education f o r Upper Canada 1 (9) (September, 1848), p. 281. 39 J Z > J o u r n a l of Education 1 (11) (November, 1848), p.321. 19 With i t s present education system i n chaos B r i t i s h Columbia prepared to enter Confederation with Canada. A l -though considering new school legislation early i n 1871 some Legislative members placed education on a low priority as they recalled public apathy, particularly i n Victoria which had preferred to see i t s sctiool closed rather than pay taxes. 4 1 Whether the community was interested i n i t or not, however, education occupied a place of prime importance to the Colon- i s t and Victoria's neglect only proved the desperate need for government action to remove poor children from the 4.2 streets and prevent the idleness leading to public mischief. By August no progress had been reported on a new School Act and the Mainland Guardian prodded the government for the swift establishment of a free, non-sectarian school system. Reiterating the old argument that denominational schools could not be supported i n a small population area such as B r i t i s h Columbia, the newspaper noted that religion should be confined to Sunday School. At the same time, the Irish National series, or texts as nearly like them as possible, was recommended for the new system. 4 3 Apparently the editor was unaware that these texts would make the new schools as religious as their predecessors. This oversight i s not sur-prising, however, as no-one appears to have publicly con-sidered textbook content at any time during this period. 4°Johnson, John Jessop, p. 52 . 41, B r i t i s h Colonist, January 14, 1871. 43, 4 2 I b i d . , February 8, 1871. Mainland Guardian (New Westminster), August 16, 1871. 20 F i n a l l y f u l f i l l i n g i t s r e s p o n s i b i l i t i e s , the new p r o v i n c i a l government acted i n 1872 to e s t a b l i s h a v i a b l e school system. B r i t i s h North America Act provisions i n regard to educational r i g h t s f o r mi n o r i t i e s could not be i n -voked as no avowedly denominational schools had ever r e -ceived f i n a n c i a l support from public funds i n e i t h e r of the two colonies which now comprised the province of B r i t i s h Columbia. Almost c e r t a i n l y then the new system would con-tinue the established t r a d i t i o n of a single and non-sectar-i a n public e n t i t y . In the future l ay many changes but the early c o l o n i a l years set the broad pattern of development f o r both the province and i t s educational system as w i l l be observed i n the fol l o w i n g chapters. <0f: CHAPTER TWO '• y SYSTEM, RELIGION, AND MORALITY -yJ:'-:' 1872 to 1883 Controversies over the meaning of terms, morality, and the r o l e of the church and r e l i g i o n continued to plague a new public school system which was, i n law, as unequivo-c a l l y non-sectarian as i t s precursors. John Jessop, educa-ted i n Upper Canada, a devout Methodist, and ardent admirer of the Ryersonian school system, designed the major part of B r i t i s h Columbia's new School Act of 1872. As Johnson notes, Jessop v i r t u a l l y adopted the enti r e Ontario system, with ne-cessary modifications, f o r the new province. 1 Entrenched minority r i g h t s , however, had forced Ryerson to recognize, and provide public f i n a n c i a l support f o r , the Roman Catholic school system i n Ontario. As no c o n s t i t u t i o n a l r i g h t s ex-i s t e d i n B r i t i s h Columbia f o r minority group education i t was possible to e s t a b l i s h a u n i f i e d system which affirmed non-sectarianism and against which there could be no l e g a l appeal. Nevertheless, Roman Catholic Church a u t h o r i t i e s could never accept what they f i r m l y believed was a non-religious system f o r c t h e c h i l d r e n of t h e i r f a i t h . C e r t a i n l y , Ryerson's system was never intended to be non-religious as he extensively quoted the most competent a u t h o r i t i e s to prove "the absolute necessity of making Chris-"^F. Henry Johnson, "The Ryersonian Influence on the Public School System of B r i t i s h Columbia," B. C. Studies 10 (Summer, 1971): 26-34. 21 22 t i a n i t y the basis and the cement of the structure of public education," He f i r m l y believed r e l i g i o u s and moral i n s t r u c -t i o n as much a function of the public schools as i n t e l l e c -t u a l and physical education but that sectarian teachings must be excluded except i n homogeneous r e l i g i o u s communities. To Ryerson, the Holy Scriptures taught a general system of t r u t h and morals which could be communicated extensively and thoroughly, f o r a l l pur-poses of C h r i s t i a n morality, without any bias of sec-tarianism, and without any interference whatever with the p e c u l i a r i t i e s of d i f f e r e n t Churches or Sects.3 In view of Jessop's regard f o r Ryerson i t appears probable that h i s concept of non-sectarianism would not be too d i -vergent from the above. Others i n B r i t i s h Columbia, how-ever, as f i r m l y believed that non-sectarian equalled non-r e l i g i o u s . C l e a r l y , considerable opposition existed to any o f f i c i a l c l e r i c a l r o l e i n the new system. O r i g i n a l l y , the non-sectarian clause i n the 1872 Act stated that " a l l Judges, Clergymen, and Members of the Legislature s h a l l be school v i s i t o r s . " During debate i n committee, however, one. member proposed that clergyman be d i s q u a l i f i e d as v i s i t o r s and another member i n t e r j e c t e d "and Chinamen and Indians" to which the f i r s t l e g i s l a t o r r e p l i e d that they were simply dea-l i n g with another class of "Chinaman," namely the clergy. Continuing on to state that the term clergy "don't include 2 Ryerson, Report on a System, p. 32. 3 ^ I b i d . , p. 41. 23 Catholics," which caused a great deal of merriment among the members, he claimed that i f the schools were to be successful the clergy should be banned. A f t e r much debate, i n which other members averred that the schools needed the help of any educated men av a i l a b l e and that v i s i t o r s were i n such short supply that none should be denied, the clause was amen-ded to read that " a l l Judges, Clergymen, Members of the Leg-i s l a t u r e , and others interested i n education, s h a l l be school v i s i t o r s . " 4 According to C. B. Sissons, t h i s clause ef f e c -t i v e l y removed r i g h t of i n s t r u c t i o n enjoyed by the clergy under previous acts. On the other hand, Bishop Acton W. S i l l i t o e , f i r s t Anglican Bishop of New Westminster, noted that the remedy f o r a non-religious teaching system might l i e i n the "clergy f i n d i n g the opportunity to teach the Church c h i l d r e n f o r an hour a day i n the public schools." As the Bishop's statement was made i n 1881 i t suggests that school p r i v i l e g e s had simply not been s p e c i f i c a l l y stated rather than rescinded and that the clergy were ei t h e r not aware of these r i g h t s or merely not using them. No evidence can be found of a f t e r hours r e l i g i o u s i n s t r u c t i o n i n the public schools e i t h e r before or a f t e r 1872 but a continuing close connection between school and Protes-tant Church can be demonstrated. The Anglican minister i n 4 B r i t i s h Colonist, March 12-14, 1872. 5 Sissons, Church and State, p. 380. g Rev. Herbert H. Gowen, F.R.G.S., Church Work i n B r i - t i s h Columbia: Memoir of the Episcopate of"Acton Windeyer S i l l i t o e , F i r s t Bishop of New Westminster (London: Longmans, Green and Company, 1899), p. 71. 24 Vancouver, f o r example, held services i n the Hastings school the day a f t e r i t opened i n 1872 and the Reverend Ebenezer Robson, of the Methodist church, conducted worship services on the same premises.' The f a i r l y general nineteenth cen-tury equation of morality with r e l i g i o n also connected church and school as morality was seen as "goodness" and moral be-haviour as that which was i n accord with those laws or rules Q which had been prescribed f o r men by a divine being. Thus, one parent wrote that the schools could not be c a l l e d "god-l e s s " as the "genuine p r i n c i p l e s of s t r i c t e s t morality are q taught i n every school i n t h i s c i t y . " Another correspon-dent, however, pointed out that morality was not ne c e s s a r i l y the same as r e l i g i o n as morality consisted of rules of con-duct "tending to general well-being and happiness" while r e -l i g i o n was a system of morality combined with scraps of h i s -tory and biography which rendered i t d i f f i c u l t to d i s t i n g u i s h f a c t from f a n t a s y . 1 0 Further evidence of l e g i s l a t i v e antipathy to any c l e r i c a l influence i n the school system i s found i n the con-troversy surrounding the appointment of a Superintendent. The l e g i s l a t u r e adopted one member's proposal that no man be q u a l i -f i e d f o r Superintendent without at l e a s t f i v e years teaching 7 James M. Sandison, ed., Schools of Old Vancouver (Vancouver: H i s t o r i c a l Society Occasional Paper No. 2, 1971), p. 12. J. R. Coombs and L. B. Daniels, "Teachers, Moral Ed-ucation, and the Public Schools," i n Options: Reforms and A l t e r - natives f o r Canadian Education, eds. Terence Morrison and An-thony Burton (Toronto: Holt, Rinehart and Winston of Canada, Limited, 1973), pp. 158-70. q •'British Colonist, January 5, 1877. 1 0 I b i d . , January 12, 1877. 25 11 experience and the possession of a f i r s t class c e r t i f i c a t e . These q u a l i f i c a t i o n s e f f e c t i v e l y barred clergymen from appoin-tment to the p o s i t i o n of Superintendent and provoked a pro-test and p e t i t i o n from a number of V i c t o r i a ' s c i t i z e n s . At the same time an Anglican minister applied f o r the post of Superintendent and h i s example was immediately followed by clergymen of two separate Protestant denominations. In turn, these actions prompted the government to request that the Lieutenant-Governor return the b i l l f o r amendment of the re-12 s t r i c t i v e clause. Apparently, l e g i s l a t i v e assent to pro-posed r e v i s i o n could not be obtained as the clause remained i n the f i n a l Act as o r i g i n a l l y moved. One " C i t i z e n " con-gratulated the government on i t s return to sanity and gave thanks that the i l l i b e r a l and p r i e s t l y h o s t i l i t y shown to the Nanaimo teacher would not spread to and ir r e p a r a b l y harm the entire system as i t surely would i f a clergyman were ap-13 pointed Superintendent. ^ Argument also surrounded the appointment of a new Board of Education. Apparently the government experienced some d i f f i c u l t y i n overcoming the p r e v a i l i n g apathy towards both education and public service and f i n d i n g q u a l i f i e d men w i l l i n g to serve on the Board. 1 4 When s i x men were appointed at l a s t a "Nonconformist" immediately attacked an e x c l u s i v e l y Anglican cabinet f o r appointing an almost t o t a l l y Anglican i : L I b i d . , March 14, 1872. 1 2 I b i d . , A p r i l 9, 1872. 1 3 I b i d . , A p r i l 13, 1872. 1 4 I b i d . , A p r i l 23, 1872. 26 Board, four of whom were also enemies of a non-sectarian sys-tem. Accusing the government of a s i n i s t e r plot to destroy the new system, the correspondent reminded h i s readers that there were four C h r i s t i a n denominations plus Hebrews i n the province and that, i n fair n e s s to a l l , Anglicans, who repre-sented one-third or less of the population, should only have 15 two members on a s i x member Board. J While agreeing with "ETonconformist 's" arguments the Colonist expressed i t s con-fidence i n the new Board and i t s b e l i e f that no denomination 16 would be given favoured treatment i n the system. True to t h e i r basic C h r i s t i a n b e l i e f s , however, the Board members adopted the r e l i g i o u s view of morality and had no i n t e n t i o n of banning r e l i g i o n from a system which they con-sidered non-denominational rather than non-religious. There-fo r e , the Honourable Montague W. T. Drake's motion that the Board adopt r e l i g i o u s exercises f o r use i n the schools was 17 accepted without opposition. Opening and Closing Exercises, not Anglican i n form but c l e a r l y Protestant C h r i s t i a n , were thereby included i n the Rules and Regulations f o r the Govern-ment of Public Schools i n the Province of B r i t i s h Columbia 18 and c l e a r l y affirmed the ro l e of r e l i g i o n i n the system. In law, and i n the opinion of a segment of the population, there now existed a p r o v i n c i a l public school system which favoured 1 5 I b i d . , A p r i l 24, 1872. l 6 I b i d . , May 5, 1872. 1 7 ' B r i t i s h Columbia, Board of Education, Minute Book ( V i c t o r i a : May 7, 1872 - August 12, 1878), p. 19. B r i t i s h Columbia, F i r s t Annual Report of th e : P u b l i c Schools by John Jessop, Superintendent ( V i c t o r i a : 1872), p. 20. 27 no r e l i g i o n or sect but, i n f a c t , was a system as r e l i g i o u s and s e c t a r i a n as i t s forerunners. Enthusiastic support f o r educational f a c i l i t i e s also remained, as before 1872, conspicuous by i t s absence. Thus, of a possible school population of 1,768 c h i l d r e n aged 5 to 16, only 524 appeared on public school r e g i s t e r s i n 1872. Of the remainder, 350 enrolled i n private schools and 900 a t -tended no school, some 300 of these l a t t e r l i v i n g too f a r from e x i s t i n g f a c i l i t i e s to make enrollment f e a s i b l e . In a d d i t i o n , average attendance was only 50 percent of e n r o l -lment so that of the few c h i l d r e n reached by the public sys-tern fewer s t i l l attended r e g u l a r l y . * By 1881 the number of c h i l d r e n between the ages of 5 and 14 rose to 8,597 but pub-l i c elementary schools reported a t o t a l enrollment of only 2,579 and a s l i g h t l y increased average attendance of 53.16 20 percent. Jessop placed the blame f o r poor enrollment and attendance squarely on the parents whom he c l a s s i f i e d as " h a b i t u a l l y careless and d i l a t o r y " and unable to "look at t h i s t e r r i b l e drawback to school prosperity i n i t s proper 21 l i g h t . " Both Jessop and h i s successor, C. C. McKenzie, recommended that l o c a l d i s t r i c t s be required to pay some portion of education's cost as a d i r e c t tax would make par-ents more aware of the schools and more w i l l i n g to ensure • ^ B r i t i s h Columbia, F i r s t School Report - Supplement, p.36. 20 ^Canada, Census of 1931, V. 1, Table 9, p. 392; B r i -t i s h Columbia, Department of Education, One Hundred Years ( V i c t o r i a : 1972), p. 68; and B r i t i s h Columbia, T h i r t e e n ^ Annual Report of the Public Schools by S. D. Pope, Superin-tendent ( V i c t o r i a : 1884), p. 318. 28 t h e i r c h i l d r e n ^ attendance i n order to reap the value of tax 22 d o l l a r s . Many f a m i l i e s , however, did not l i v e long enough i n one d i s t r i c t to form any f e e l i n g of belonging or be en-r o l l e d on municipal tax l i s t s . Miners followed gold t r a i l s from the Praser to the Cariboo to the Similkameen; wood-workers followed logging and sawmill t r a i l s on the Island and mainland; and merchants, lawyers, and other service wor-kers followed migrants and established towns ephemerally based on f l e e t i n g prosperity and continuing e x p l o i t a t i o n of raw resources. When the natural wealth disappeared so did the workers and the towns. Settled communities, however, also struggled with economic d i f f i c u l t i e s which could cause f i n a n c i a l panic, the closure of f a c t o r i e s and shops, sharply increased unemployment, and r a p i d l y d e c l i n i n g revenues as i n 2 3 1873 V i c t o r i a . Often, therefore, f a m i l i e s had no other choice than to f o l l o w where employment opportunities might lead. Other parents could not a f f o r d the "luxury" of kee-ping children, needed f o r farm chores or to contribute f i n a n -c i a l support, i n school. ITanaimo's school p r i n c i p a l , f o r example, noted a d i s p o s i t i o n on the part of many parents to 2 1 B r i t i s h Columbia, Sixth Annual Report of the Pub- l i c Schools by John Jessop, Superintendent ( V i c t o r i a : 1877), p. 8. 2 2 B r i t i s h Columbia, Seventh Annual Report of the Pub-l i c Schools by C. C. McKenzie, Superintendent ( V i c t o r i a : 1878), p. 179. 2 3 Gregson, A History of V i c t o r i a , p. 59. 29 "send t h e i r c h i l d r e n i n t o the ' P i t ' at an early age" which exercised "a p r e j u d i c i a l influence on the r i s i n g generation by depriving them of the advantages of fur t h e r school edu-c a t i o n . " 2 4 Many parents who did value education, such as Dr. William Tolmie, also e n t h u s i a s t i c a l l y supported the pub-l i c school system but others preferred the denominational and private schools which continued to f l o u r i s h , p a r t i c u l a r l y on Vancouver Island where public schools s t i l l c a r r i e d the stigma of descent from the labouring class Colonial schools. Some parents, however, s i n c e r e l y believed that private schools provided a better education and higher standards f o r t h e i r c h i l d r e n . Thus, when Board members found themselves accused of non-support f o r the public system, one member of the Board of Education defended himself and h i s colleagues by st a t i n g that they knew the "ignorance of the teachers who 25 come seeking c e r t i f i c a t e s (to teach i n the public schools)." A possible a d d i t i o n a l reason f o r private school preference was the s t r i c t segregation of boys and g i r l s i n e n t i r e l y se-parate i n s t i t u t i o n s . In the nineteenth century most people believed that s t r i c t segregation was necessary to the moral behaviour of school c h i l d r e n . B r i t i s h Columbians were no exception and the Colonist e d i t o r i a l i z e d that high moral standards could only be assured by separating the sexes as "nature w i l l as-sert i t s e l f unless c a r e f u l watch i s kept."26 Where i t was 2 4 B r i t i s h Columbia, F i f t h School Report, p. 94. 2 5 B r i t i s h Colonist, May 10, 1876. 2 6 I b i d . , A p r i l 28, 1877. 30 necessary i n the public system to educate the two sexes t o -gether they were segregated as much as possible. V i c t o r i a ' s two story Central School, f o r example, taught boys, who en-tered through the back door, on the f i r s t f l o o r and g i r l s , entering from the f r o n t , on the second story. Segregating the playground was a board fence whose smooth side faced the 27 boys' sec t i o n of the yard. Jessop argued against segre-gation on the grounds of e f f i c i e n c y while s t i l l b e l i e v i n g that constant s u r v e i l l a n c e was necessary i n order to ensure proper conduct and demeanour. Nevertheless, he r e a l i s t i c a l l y reminded parents that boys and g i r l s mixed a f t e r school hours and that co-education could have the e f f e c t of g i r l s ameli-orating the boisterousness and rough a s p e r i t i e s of boyish natures while enhancing boys' "inherent t r a i t s of g a l l a n t r y , 28 a f f a b i l i t y , and desire to please." Bishop Seghers, of the Roman Catholic Church, v i -gourously opposed mixed schools but the Methodist Church agreed with Jessop. Claiming that objections to co-education were based " s o l e l y on man's barbarism," The C h r i s t i a n Guar- dian stated that no more danger existed i n schools than i n mixed v i s i t s to museums or picture g a l l e r i e s and that honour-able communion between the sexes would r e s u l t i n the highest 29 moral welfare of society and f u l f i l the Divine w i l l . J One Colonist correspondent echoed t h i s view but was an exception 2 > 7CJHS 1875 - 1954 ( V i c t o r i a : Central Junior High School Year Book, 1954), p. 8. 28 B r i t i s h Columbia, Fourth Annual Report of the Pub- l i c Schools by John Jessop, Superintendent ( V i c t o r i a : 1875), p. 9. 29 JThe C h r i s t i a n Guardian (Toronto), A p r i l 25, 1877. 31 to p r e v a i l i n g opinion. In one area of education, however, there was complete agreement on separation by sex. The dormitory system i t s e l f , according to the Guar- dian, was pernicious as i t removed ch i l d r e n from family i n -fluence and m u l t i p l i e d the temptations which would multiply 30 d i s a s t e r s . "Idle hours would lead to mischief" i n co-educational boarding schools, reported the Colonist corres-31 pondent, and Superior Court Judge Crease opposed plans f o r mixing the sexes i n B r i t i s h Columbia boarding schools. Ignoring these warnings the government and the Board pro-ceeded with the establishment of a co-educational boarding school at Cache Creek.- Intimations of misconduct became widespread soon a f t e r the school opened, the teacher and ma-tron were dismissed, and i t was recommended that one or one and a h a l f acres should be enclosed by a high board fence as a playground f o r g i r l s to which the boys would have no access whatever. This would . . . keep the sexes apart at a l l times except during school hours while i n class.32 Further trouble arose i n the f o l l o w i n g year with reports that the g i r l s had been v i s i t i n g i n the boys' room at night over a period of some months i n s p i t e of bolts on the outside of the 33 boys' door and the i n s i d e of the g i r l s ' door. ^ Deputy Superintendent Clemitson blamed the boar-ding school i l l s on the s o c i a l influence of town and d i s -3 0 I b i d . 3 1 B r i t i s h Colonist, May 2, 1877. 3 2 B r i t i s h Columbia, F i f t h School Report, p. 96. 33 -^For a f u l l account see John Calam, "An H i s t o r i c a l Survey of Boarding Schools and Public School Dormitories i n Canada" (Master's Thesis, U n i v e r s i t y of B r i t i s h Columbia, 1962). 32 t r i c t on children's mores. Correspondents to the Colonist and one member of the L e g i s l a t u r e , however, were more i n -c l i n e d to castigate the t r u s t e e s . ^ 4 Jessop also censured trustees i n other school d i s t r i c t s f o r lack of i n t e r e s t and reluctance to enforce attendance l e s t they upset friends i n the community.•JJ Neglect of duties could be seen i n Nanaimo when classroom chairs were donated f o r a t r a v e l l i n g show per-formance with school c h i l d r e n forced to e i t h e r stand or s i t 36 on the f l o o r f o r t h e i r lessons. Nearby Wellington pro-vided another example of neglect which residents protested i n a p e t i t i o n advising that more c h i l d r e n would attend the school i f i t were clean and i f c l e a n l i n e s s and decency should 37 be included as a branch of moral t r a i n i n g . Moreover, ac-cording to the p e t i t i o n , immorality was encouraged by the placing of water closets f o r boys and g i r l s within a few feet of each other, i n f u l l view, and provided with no par-38 t i t i o n s . Confirming parental complaints, a v i s i t o r r e -ported adversely on the mean, d i r t y , and melancholy ap-pearance of the school house; the f e t i d atmosphere and d i l a -pidated inner furnishings; and the unfenced, unsheltered 3 4 B r i t i s h Colonist, August 18, 1874 and May 13, 1876. 35 " ^ B r i t i s h Columbia, Third Annual Report of ^ the Pub- l i c Schools by John Jessop, Superintendent ( V i c t o r i a : 1874), p. io; ~ •^Vancouver Sun, July 19, 1971, Centennial E d i t i o n , p. 3 9 c 37 ^'Teaching c l e a n l i n e s s and decency was a teacher r e -quirement but no formal course was provided. See I n f r a , p. 54. 38 • ^ B r i t i s h Columbia, L e g i s l a t i v e Assembly, Sessional Papers, 43 V i c t . , 1880, p. 462. 33 yard l i t t e r e d with an "assortment of w i l d bushes, f r u i t , cow-horns, broken crockery, t i n s , boulders, and l o g s . " 3 ^ Trustee problems resulted from d i s i n t e r e s t e d , un-organized taxpayers ignorant of trustee q u a l i f i c a t i o n s due to s p e c i a l e l e c t i o n times and r e s t r i c t e d voting, according to a l e t t e r i n the Mainland Guardian. 4 0 In f a i r n e s s , however, other factors than trustee neglect were involved i n some-times deplorable school conditions. A maintenance budget of $15.00 per year did not permit employment of f u l l - t i m e j a n i -tors so that students competed,: and received, payment, f o r part-time j a n i t o r i a l duties. Brentwood, f o r example, paid pupils $6.00 per year, spent a f u r t h e r $8.00 f o r bi-annual cleaning, and possessed only $1.00 f o r necessary repairs and replacements. 4 1 Even t h i s small sum was endangered one year, according to the Colonist, when "the incompetents of James Bay" forgot to ask f o r a vote of supply to cover school i n c i -dentals.such as f u e l and c l e a n i n g . 4 2 In addition to ensuring the upholding of school law and caring f o r school property, trustee r e s p o n s i b i l i t i e s i n -cluded the employment of teachers possessing a good moral character and checking on conduct and management i n c l a s s -rooms. B r i t i s h Columbia, however, suffered a s c a r c i t y of competent teachers as, while high s a l a r i e s might lure many - ^ B r i t i s h Colonist, March 2, 1881. 4 QMainland Guardian (New Westminster), A p r i l 14, 1880. A T Saanich Peninsula and Gulf Islands Review, Feb-ruary 28, 1962. 4 2 B r i t i s h C olonist, September 11, 1878. 34 to the province, correspondingly higher s a l a r i e s i n other occupations made teacher retention d i f f i c u l t . Lake Public School, f o r example, enjoyed the dubious d i s t i n c t i o n of employing sixteen teachers i n f i v e years but other schools also experienced high s t a f f turnover. 4-^ Jessop intimated that only men u n f i t t e d f o r any other kind of work stayed on as teachers and were incompetent i n the classroom as w e l l . 4 4 In view of these circumstances i t i s hardly sur-p r i s i n g to f i n d trustees overlooking lack of character testimonials or c e r t i f i c a t i o n i n the event of being fo r t u n -ate enough to secure a teacher and not i n q u i r i n g too deeply i n t o classroom conduct. Nevertheless, the Act s p e c i f i c a l l y required s a t i s f a c t o r y proof of good moral character before c e r t i f i c a t i o n as most educators believed the moral example of a teacher, i n s p i r i n g reverence and regard as "superior heart, head, and arm," was the best means of moral education. Many teachers did f u l f i l t h i s expectation but con-d i t i o n s often conspired against them. Thus, reports i n d i -cate some teachers not above f a l s i f y i n g attendance records i n order to increase s a l a r i e s p a r t l y based on pupils pre-s e n t 4 ^ and others chastised f o r untidy, unclean classrooms and school grounds as w e l l as carelessness i n personal ap-4 ^ B r i t i s h Columbia, S i x t h School Report, p. 15. 4 4 B r i t i s h Columbia, Fourth School Report, p. 8. 4^F. Henry Johnson, "Changing Conceptions of D i s c i -p l i n e and Pupil-Teacher Relations i n Canadian Schools" (Doctor of Pedagogy D i s s e r t a t i o n , U n i v e r s i t y of Toronto, 1952), p. 114. 4 ^ B r i t i s h Columbia, Fourth School Report, p. 8. 35 pearance and hab i t s . 4 * 7 Pressures, l o n e l i n e s s , and f r u s t -rations encountered i n the school system drove some tea-chers to drink; another found himself suspended because of i r r e g u l a r i t i e s surrounding h i s divorce and remarriage; a second dismissed over accusations of i l l t r e a t i n g High School boys; a t h i r d investigated a f t e r charges of taking l i b e r t i e s with a half-breed g i r l were l e v i e d against him; and a fourth forced to re s i g n following complaints of lack 4.8 of d i s c i p l i n e and intemperance. Voted a d r a s t i c a l l y reduced salary and "blamed f o r every i r r e g u l a r i t y and f a i l u r e i n the country," Jessop f e l t compelled to resign i n 1878. * A few days l a t e r the ent i r e Board of Education quit under the same type of p o l -i t i c a l attack. Within two years Jessop's successor be-came embroiled i n a b i t t e r b a t t l e with h i s teachers and predecessors. Provisions of the 1879 Act vested powers to authorize textbooks and grant teacher c e r t i f i c a t i o n , pre-v i o u s l y the r e s p o n s i b i l i t y of both Superintendent and Board, i n Superintendent McKenzie alone. No appeal was allowed from McKenzie's decisions and a s p e c i a l teachers' meeting proved the only way to a i r grievances. Holders of f i r s t c l ass c e r t i f i c a t e s complained about being the objects of discriminatory re-examination procedures from which tea-chers with i n f e r i o r or temporary c e r t i f i c a t e s were exempt. One teacher s e r i o u s l y questioned McKenzie's r i g h t to avoid 4.7 ^ " B r i t i s h Columbia, Third School Report, p. 14. 4 8 B r i t i s h Columbia, Minute Book, pp. 136, 138, 152, 158-59, and School Inspector's Diary,"larch 13, 1874. 4 9 B r i t i s h Colonist, March 29, 1878. 36 examination of hi s own q u a l i f i c a t i o n s and trustees objected to h i s holding examinations and framing Rules and Regula-tions f o r the Board of Examiners before the appointment of 50 the entire Board. J Claiming that Jessop and the previous Board c e r t i f i c a t e d teachers who were obviously incompetent, McKenzie also asserted that teachers blocked reform and r e -mained rel u c t a n t , careless, and i n d i f f e r e n t about reports. Jessop wrote to the Colonist r e f u t i n g the former charges and teachers r e t a l i a t e d by accusing McKenzie of rudeness and discourtesy i n t r e a t i n g them as menials and of t e r r i f y i n g 51 pupils with h i s brusqueness. McKenzie fs experience and B. A. degree appeared a source of i r r i t a t i o n to teachers and newspapers and i n o r d i n -ate pride to the Superintendent. No doubt many teachers were un q u a l i f i e d by McKenzie fs standards but d i f f i c u l t i e s i n h i r i n g and r e t a i n i n g teachers, together with a t o t a l lack of p r o v i n c i a l teacher t r a i n i n g f a c i l i t i e s , rendered high q u a l i f i c a t i o n s of much l e s s e r importance than w i l l i n g n e s s . Most teachers proved quite competent to teach elementary sub-j e c t s , according to the Mainland Guardian, and experienced d i f f i c u l t i e s only when forced to teach subjects more pro-52 perly the concern of secondary education. Conditions and disputes such as the above, toge-ther with pupils being allowed to enter school at any time 5 G I b i d . , October 21, 1879. 5 1 I b i d . , A p r i l 8, 1880. 5 2Mainland Guardian, Hay 19, 1880. 37 of the year, combined to cause problems regarding d i s c i p l i n e and teaching methods. School reports reveal a t o t a l of 1,509 cases of corporal punishment i n the 1879-80 school year and that teachers r e l i e d mainly on rote learning r a -ther than s t r i v i n g f o r understanding of content and work-53 induced d i s c i p l i n e i n t h e i r p u p i l s . Government and school a u t h o r i t i e s recognized the flaws i n the school system and attempted to remedy some of them i n the School Acts of 1876 and 1879. F i r s t , i n ac-cordance with suggestions by Superintendents, a b i l l passed on May 1,.1876 which imposed a yearly p o l l tax of $3.00 on a l l males over the age of 18 and resident i n the province. This tax would help support the public system and also a i d taxpayer recognition of t h e i r r e s p o n s i b i l i t i e s but i t had the unforseen consequence of r a i s i n g Roman Catholic Church i r e . As the Colonist pointed out, the Church was quiescent when schools were supported from the general revenue but suddenly petitioned against a d i r e c t tax f o r the same pur-pose and requested Catholic exemption from a measure which was "both unjust and oppressive. Both Colonist and Guardian opposed such exemption as i t would prevent Catholics from f u l f i l l i n g t h e i r duties to the State which had an o b l i g a t i o n to ensure a guaranteed 53 - ^ B r i t i s h Columbia, Ninth Annual Report of the Pub-l i c Schools by C. C. McKenzie, Superintendent ( V i c t o r i a : 1880), p. 334. • ^ B r i t i s h Columbia, L e g i s l a t i v e Assembly, Sessional Papers, 39 V i c t . , 1876, p. 725. 38 education to a l l c h i l d r e n . While d e f i c i e n t i n r e l i g i o u s t r a i n i n g the public system, according to the papers, d i d teach c h i l d r e n r i g h t from wrong, thereby saving money which would otherwise be spent on j a i l s , workhouses, and the p o l i c e force and be n e f i t i n g a l l c i t i z e n s regardless 55 of r e l i g i o n . J Bishop Seghers denied Colonist charges that bona f i d e resident signatures on the p e t i t i o n were outnumbered two to one by non-residents, minors, sojour-56 ners, and foreigners^ but some truth adhered to the im-p l i c a t i o n that a l l Catholics i n the province did not sup-port p e t i t i o n statements. George Stanley, f o r example, notes that English-speaking Catholics, p a r t i c u l a r l y the I r i s h , resented French domination i n B r i t i s h Columbia and provided l i t t l e help to t h e i r Church i n the f i g h t f o r v i -57 able Catholic schools and government a i d . In any event, the L e g i s l a t u r e refused to excuse a l l Catholics from the tax but did exempt clergy, of a l l denominations, as they formed "a class who devote t h e i r l i v e s to a c a l l i n g that deprives them of a l l business advantages or opportunities 58 to 'lay up treasure on earth.'"^ This exemption incensed a newspaper correspondent to whom the Legislature's s t a t e -ment was 'pure moonshine" as clergy s a l a r i e s exceeded those ^Mainland Guardian, l a y 6, 1876. 5 6 B r i t i s h Colonist, A p r i l 30, 1876. 57 -"George F. G. Stanley, "French and English i n Wes-tern Canada," i n Mason Wade, ed., Canadian Dualism (Toronto: U n i v e r s i t y of Toronto Press, I960), pp. 344-45. 5 8 B r i t i s h C olonist , May 2, 1876. 39 59 of teachers who were "devoting t h e i r l i v e s to good."-^ Bishop Seghers r e i t e r a t e d the Catholic p o s i t i o n that a school must e i t h e r be godless and a t h e i s t i c , i f ex-cluding the profession of C h r i s t i a n i t y and the b e l i e f i n God, or Protestant, i f i n c l u d i n g readings from the Protes-tant B i b l e . While the Colonist affirmed that t h i s B ible was not prescribed f o r the s c h o o l s , ^ 0 the system could be considered Protestant i n view of recommended prayers and church influence. I t appears that f u r t h e r changes i n 1876 attempted to eliminate t h i s r e l i g i o u s bias. Second of the 1876 amendments was the i n s e r t i o n of Clause 14 i n the school Act. Providing that "no c l e r g y -man of any denomination s h a l l be e l i g i b l e f o r the p o s i t i o n of Superintendent, Deputy Superintendent, Teacher, or Trustee" the clause appeared designed to bar any o f f i -c i a l church influence i n the classrooms while s t i l l allowing v i s i t i n g p r i v i l e g e s . Third, the non-sectarian clause now stated that " a l l Public Schools established under the provisions of t h i s Act s h a l l be conducted upon s t r i c t l y secular and (my 62 emphasis) non-sectarian p r i n c i p l e s . " Previously confu-sion centered on the meaning of "non-sectarian" and l e g i s -l a t i v e debate confirms a continuing uncertainty which the word "secular" may have been intended to resolve as well as 5 9 I b i d . , May 13, 1876. 60, 'Ibid., A p r i l 29, 1876. 62 6 l B r i t i s h Columbia, F i f t h School Report, p. 48. "Ibid. 40 making c e r t a i n that the "true p r i n c i p l e s of non-sectarianism" 63 would be upheld more than i n the past. ^ During debate on the new Act a Mr. Evans " f a i l e d to see that the B i l l pro-vided f o r non-sectarian schools" and, when directed to the relevant clause, stated that t h i s merely said "no r e l i g i o u s dogma s h a l l be taught" which indicates much confusion over 64 terminology. ^ Following t h i s exchange came the f i r s t men-t i o n of the word "secular" with the concomitant passing of . Clause 41, g i v i n g credence to a correspondent's claim that the word was smuggled i n t o the Act with neither government 65 nor public f u l l y aware of i t s i n c l u s i o n or im p l i c a t i o n s . ^ I f the wording was changed i n order to c l a r i f y meanings, however, the attempt met with no success as debate now began on the d e f i n i t i o n of "secular." The Reverend Mr. Nicholson, P r i n c i p a l of V i c t o r i a High School, contended that the Bibl e was read i n almost a l l secular' schools i n which he had v i s i t e d or taught i n the United States and that " i n no Province of the Dominion i s the Free School secular i n the narrower and i l l i b e r a l 66 sense of the term." Mr. Nicholson quoted Professor Huxley i n support of h i s contention that the foremost advocates of secular education i n England and elsewhere viewed secular schools as ones providing education without theology but not 6 3 B r i t i s h Colonist, May 11, 1876. 6 4 I b i d . , May 11 and 12, 1876. 16, 1881. 66 ^Dominion-Pacif c Herald (New Westminster), March B r i t i s h Columbia, Sixth School Report, p. 158. 41 without r e l i g i o n . On the other hand, the Colonist declared that the Board of Education's i n t e r p r e t a t i o n of the word meant that r e l i g i o u s matters must be excluded from the pub-l i c schools and that t h i s was also the opinion of a large majority of school taxpayers. I f r e l i g i o n were allowed i n the schools, continued the paper, and f a i r treatment given a l l c h i l d r e n then the school day would be "wholly occupied by addresses and prayers from the s p i r i t u a l teachers of every creed" and the schools "converted i n t o churches sup-ported by public taxation."^* 7 Considered with the next change, the Colonist's assessment of government intent ap-pears correct. F i n a l l y , the Board deleted previously approved Opening and Closing Exercises from the Rules and Regulations, allowing only the reading of the Lord's Prayer and Ten Com-68 mandments at the option of trustees f o r each d i s t r i c t . Correspondence to the Colonist reveals public controversy over prayers i n the schools before passage of the 1876 Act. Claiming that opening and cl o s i n g prayers were not only sec-t a r i a n but also asserted the creed of the C h r i s t i a n church — the T r i n i t y — which many people considered blasphemous, "A Heathen" considered t h i s the t h i n edge of p r i e s t c r a f t . Once admitted to the schools i t would mean "good-bye to non-sectarian education" as, i f the Protestants were at l i b e r t y 67 ' B r i t i s h Colonist, September 15, 1876. 68 B r i t i s h Columbia, F i f t h School Report, p. 49. 42 to admit the worship of Jesus and the Holy Ghost, the Cath-o l i c s would f e e l they should have the power to include pray-69 ers addressed to the V i r g i n Mary and the Saints. "Three Star" r e p l i e d with a defence of C h r i s t i a n i t y ; another cor-respondent defended "Heathen;" and "A Parent" contended prayers should be continued as they suited the test of non-sectarianism as f a r as he and other orthodox Christians were concerned. 7 0 Possibly due to the d i v i s i o n of public opinion, elimination of recommended prayers occurred with such haste and secrecy that many, including teachers, remained unaware of the change. Jessop, f o r example, discovered Esquimalt's teacher s t i l l using s c r i p t u r e readings and prayer to open 71 school and requested obedience to new regulations. Mr. Nicholson was also reprimanded f o r using prayers not i n accord with the " s t r i c t l y secular" clause i n the Act. In resigning from a school system with which he had no sympathy, Mr. Nicholson advised he was only using prayers approved i n 72 1872 and that he considered these i n force u n t i l repealed. ^ e Colonist claimed o f f i c i a l notice had been given a few days a f t e r approval of new regulations but these were not passed by the Board u n t i l September 12 the date of Nicholson's 73 resignation. As t h i s teacher was also a minister of the 6 9 B r i t i s h C olonist, January 27, 1876. 7 0 I b i d . , February 10, 1876. 71 ' B r i t i s h Columbia, S i x t h School Report, p. 16. 7 2 I b i d . , p. 158. 73 '-'British Columbia, Minute Book, p. 124. 43 gospel he should not have been employed, according to Clause 14, which indicates a willingness to overlook regulations when necessary, but to enforce them when expedient. Furore over Nicholson touched o f f f u r t h e r quarrels over r e l i g i o n i n the schools with correspondents opposing both government and Colonist. Two writers averred that the greatness of nations depended on recognition of C h r i s t i -a n i t y and the open Bi b l e which l e d to freedom of thought and acti o n and cleared away mystery and s u p e r s t i t i o n . Only e v i l would b e f a l l the State which banned C h r i s t i a n i t y from i t s i n s t i t u t i o n s , prevented a l l i t s c h i l d r e n from learning any but gutter morality, and l e f t p upils i n ignorance of the Supreme Creator.' 7 4 A teacher noted that everyone within the school system appeared s a t i s f i e d with recommended prayers and, u n t i l he received a copy, refused to believe the new School Act capable of reaching such a degree of u l t r a i s m as to ban a l l r e l i g i o u s t e a c h i n g . ^ C l e a r l y then, the 1876 Act f a i l e d to -.clarify: s a t i s f a c t o r i l y the d e f i n i t i o n of "secular and non-sectarian" or to s t i l l the continuing controversy . over r e l i g i o n i n the schools. A curious omission i n a l l t h i s dissension was the neglect of authorized textbooks' content. This was never r e f e r r e d to, except i n Mr. Nicholson's l e t t e r of resignation, u n t i l l a t e i n 1876 when Mission Valley's teacher, A. McKenzie, wrote to the Colonist. McKenzie advised the public that he ^ B r i t i s h Colonist, September 16 and 2 9 , 1876. 7 5 I b i d . , October 24, 1876. 44 c o n t i n u a l l y taught God as creator and governor of the u n i -verse; our duty to f e a r , love, and obey Him; the Holy B i b l e as God's Book to be read with reverence and obeyed; that God sent His Son into the world to save us and those who love and serve Him w i l l be happy with Him forever; B i b l i -c a l anecdotes r e l a t i n g to the creation, the f l o o d , the h i s -tory of Joseph, Moses, and King David, the B i r t h of our Saviour; and a wide v a r i e t y of C h r i s t i a n duties, morals, and maxims. A l l these lessons could be found i n textbooks which every teacher was i n duty bound " f a i t h f u l l y and d i l -i g e n t l y " to teach, under the same law which prohibited r e -l i g i o u s teaching i n the "free, unsectarian, unreligious 76 schools." No record of any reply to t h i s l e t t e r can be located but a l e t t e r the following year answered another charge of "godless" schools by noting that God was present i n the classrooms "as the texts were teaching the highest 77 morality but no r e l i g i o u s dogma." In the same year Bishop Seghers again attacked the "godless" public school system from h i s p u l p i t and the Reverend Mr. Jamieson wrote a re-b u t t a l i n which he claimed the system was misrepresented i n newspapers. In h i s l e t t e r he apparently referred to t e x t -book content i n order to refute the Bishop's charges and also censured both Superintendent and Board f o r not p u b l i c l y r e -f u t i n g the calumny that r e l i g i o n had no place i n the public 7 6 I b i d . , October 24, 1876. 7 7 I b i d . , January 5, 1877. 45 system.' 0 Another Colonist correspondent, however, thought the administration wise to l e t the schools speak f o r them-selves as they were open to any member of the clergy or pub l i e to see with t h e i r own eyes and make t h e i r own de c i s i o n as to whether or not r e l i g i o n was t a u g h t . 7 9 Taking t h i s good advice the next chapter w i l l a l -low the texts to v e r i f y or deny a r e l i g i o u s presence i n "secular and non-sectarian" classrooms of B r i t i s h Columbia. f°Possibly Mr. Jamieson was the New Westminster Pres-byterian minister but unfortunately t h i s l e t t e r cannot be found although i t s contents can be deduced from r e p l i e s p r i n -ted i n the Colonist . 7 9 B r i t i s h C olonist , May 16, 1877. CHAPTER THREE TEXTBOOK RELIGION AND MORALITY I f a mind i s not f i l l e d with good i t w i l l of ne-c e s s i t y be open to e v i l . Education's duty, therefore, i s to f i l l the mind with good and u s e f u l notions which w i l l teach a man to do as he would be done by, to love h i s neighbour as himself, to honor h i s superiors, to believe that God scans a l l h i s actions, and w i l l reward or punish them, and to see that he who i s g u i l t y of falsehood or i n j u s t i c e hurts himself more than anyone else; are not these such notions and prejudices as every wise governor or l e g i s l a -t o r covet above a l l things to have f i r m l y rooted i n the mind of every i n d i v i d u a l i n h i s care? . • . What cannot be acquired by every man's reason must be introduced by precept and r i v e t e d by cus-tom . . . ( i n order to) influence t h e i r conduct and make them u s e f u l members of the s t a t e . i Such was the morality taught by the Canadian Series of Text-books authorized f o r use i n the B r i t i s h Columbia public school system and thereby r e l i g i o n assuredly comprised a large part of the classroom curriculum. B a s i c a l l y , these new readers constituted the o l d I r i s h National Texts revised f o r Canadian use by an appoin-ted committee of the Ontario school system. While i n c l u -ding more material s p e c i f i c a l l y d i r e c t e d to Canadian pu p i l s , the new Series retained many of the selections from the ^Canadian Series of School Books, Advanced Reader (Toronto: James Campbell and Son, 1871), p. 360. 2 Parvin, Authorization of Textbooks, p. 39. 46 47 I r i s h Series, p a r t i c u l a r l y s t o r i e s with a moral and r e l i g i o u s content. Jessop, however, based h i s recommendation of the texts on p r i c e rather than moral content. Low cost deter-mined that most parents could purchase the hooks f o r t h e i r c h i l d r e n and that the government could provide them f r e e of charge i n the few eases where f i n a n c i a l circumstances ren-3 dered parents unable to buy the texts. One i n t e r e s t i n g note i n t h i s regard i s that Jessop advised the Toronto publishers, James Campbell and Son, that arrangements would be made with the Wesleyan Methodist Missionary Society to s e t t l e the ac-count. 4 While t h i s may have been the most convenient method of payment, i t does suggest a rather close church and school r e l a t i o n s h i p . By the end of July, 1874 every school i n B r i t i s h Columbia, with the exception of Hope, employed the new Ser i e s . Used continuously i n every classroom f o r the next ten years, the Canadian readers proved the one constant i n the continuing r e l i g i o u s and moral controversies. As i l -l u s t r a t e d by the quote at the beginning of t h i s chapter, the texts conceived morality as character t r a i n i n g which aimed at the production of industrious, t r u t h f u l , neat and clean, l o y a l , obedient, and good c i t i z e n s cognizant of God's omni-presence. Further, rules of good conduct must be learned 3 -^British Columbia, Minute Book, p. 19. ^ B r i t i s h Columbia, P r o v i n c i a l Secretary, Board of Education Correspondence 1872-73, June 10, 1872. ^ B r i t i s h Columbia, Third School Report, p. 27. 48 when the mind i s most impressionable and not l e f t u n t i l the c h i l d has learned to reason. Therefore, the texts made no attempt to introduce moral problems which could be rea-soned through and merely presented simple and repeated moral ta l e s a u t h o r i t a t i v e l y r e i t e r a t i n g that the "good" or admir-able person behaved i n a p a r t i c u l a r manner and always received a reward while the "bad" i n d i v i d u a l i n disobeying the behavioural code i n v a r i a b l y earned punishment. On the whole, textbook ideas of morality and me-thod fundamentally r e f l e c t e d the p r e v a i l i n g s p i r i t of the nineteenth century. Thus, S i r Thomas Wyse, English member of Parliament and i n v e s t i g a t o r of educational matters, be-l i e v e d a c h i l d f i r s t f e e l s morality and i s incapable of con-s o l i d a t i n g i t with reason u n t i l a l a t e r age when character, depending on w i l l , i s formed and strengthened by t r a i n i n g , d i r e c t i o n and good habi t s . To Wyse, order and j u s t i c e could best be learned, under reasoned guidance, by what was seen and f e l t by the c h i l d i n the r e a l i t y of the school s i t u -a t i o n . As the character of the English Public Schools, how-ever, was not one from which the c h i l d could always learn these high standards, educators such as Matthew Arnold claimed that morality must be taught consciously as w e l l as by example and that to use knowledge f o r human welfare a man must i n general have f i r s t been moralized, and f o r mor-a l i z i n g him i t w i l l not be found easy, I think c S i r Thomas Wyse, Education Reform, p. 227 as c i t e d by E. B. Castle, Educating the Good Man (New York: C o l l i e r Books, 1962), pp. 223-27. 49 to dispense with those old agents, l e t t e r s , poetry, r e l i g i o n . 7 William T. H a r r i s , a United States Commissioner f o r Educa-t i o n , likewise stressed morality as beginning i n mechani-c a l compliance and developing l a t e r i n t o i n d i v i d u a l r e -s p o n s i b i l i t y f o r obedience, punctuality, r e g u l a r i t y , s i -Q lence, and industry. S i m i l a r l y , B r i t i s h Columbia's Rules and Regulations expected public school students to be taught and to le a r n an unquestioned and unreasoned set of behaviour patterns which would lead to the formation of a "good" character and a "good" c i t i z e n . F i r s t , teachers must "impress upon the minds of the pupils the great r u l e of r e g u l a r i t y and order — A TIME AND PLACE FOR EVERYTHING AND EVERYTHING IN ITS PRO-PER TIME AND PLACE. 1 , 9 Readers provided a p l e n t i f u l sup-ply of i l l u s t r a t i o n s to help i n the teaching and learning of t h i s great r u l e . Primary books simply reminded c h i l -dren that "we do not l a g on the way" to a destination" 1" 0 and that, while i t might be l o v e l y to spend a l l day play-ing and nursing one's d o l l , a g i r l must spend a good part of her time i n learning to sew and to care f o r her brother 7 'Matthew Arnold, Reports on Elementary Schools 1852- 1882, p. 178, as quoted i n I b i d . , p. 299. 8 W i l l i a m T. H a r r i s , Report of Committee on Moral Ed- ucation to the National Council of Education (1883), as c i t e d by I b i d . , p. 319. ^ B r i t i s h Columbia, F i r s t School Report, p. 19. "^Canadian Series of School Books, F i r s t Book of Read- ing Lessons, Part One (Toronto: James Campbell and Son, 1867), p. 17. 50 11 as w e l l as to read and s p e l l . S i m i l a r l y , a boy might en-joy playing i n the woods more than attending school but, as the crow pointed out, he was not as wise as one crow though as b i g as twenty f o r he, unlike the b i r d , could not b u i l d 12 h i s own home, provide h i s own clothes, or f i n d h i s own food. Therefore, i f he lazed away h i s time instead of learning how to support himself, the boy could end up l i k e the lazy f l y , who played and i d l e d a l l summer only to starve and freeze to death i n the winter, while the busy l i t t l e bee, who had wor-ked a l l summer, remained assured of a warm home and adequate 13 winter food. These early s t o r i e s and fables c l e a r l y defined the place of g i r l s and boys — and consequently of women and men — i n the world. Conceded some r i g h t s to play and l e i s u r e , which could f a c i l i t a t e l earning, childhood's p r i -mary task was preparation f o r the future. G i r l s might learn to read and write but t h e i r r i g h t f u l place was i n the home. There they would l e a r n the a r t s of home-making and c h i l d care as w e l l as necessary moral lessons which they would, i n turn, teach to another generation. Hence, one discovers L i t t l e Red Riding Hood caring f o r the needs of her grandmother when she learned that wasting time dawdling i n the woods had enabled the wolf to render her "^Canadian Series of School Books, F i r s t Book of Reading Lessons, Part Two (Toronto: James Campbell and Son, 1867), p. 18. 12 Canadian Series of School Books, Second Book of Reading Lessons (Toronto: James Campbell and Son, 1869), p. 63. 1 3 I b i d . , p. 34. 51 task redundant. 1 4 S i m i l a r l y , Bertha learned respect f o r pro-perty while at home making a d o l l ' s apron f o r which she took the ribbon from her mother's hat. Having l e f t the hat where the cat could proceed to play with and destroy i t , Bertha 15 was taught to leave other's possessions alone. Also com-prehending the same lesson i n a home s i t u a t i o n , Mary l o s t a pet canary a f t e r opening a box which did not belong to 16 her and Goldilocks learned not to meddle at the home of the three bears. No heroines appeared i n the readers with the pos-s i b l e exception of an Indian "female Crusoe" who deeply im-pressed Mr. Hearne with her s e l f - r e l i a n c e . Hearne c a l l e d her one of the f i n e s t women he had seen i n any part of North America and contrasted her "cheerful, a c t i v e , won-de r f u l s p i r i t " to the desponding helplessness which we too often wit-ness among women, and men too, who with every motive to industry and a c t i v i t y , and every en-couragement to exert both, lose a l l s e l f - r e l i -ance under the f i r s t shock of adversity, and pass t h e i r days i n useless indolence and r e -pining. 17 Even i n t h i s story the woman was doing woman's work with the exception of providing f o r her own food and s h e l t e r , which was generally considered a man's duty. Hearne's 1 4 I b i d . , p. 94. 1 5 I b i d . , p. 150. l 6 I b i d . , p. 136. 17 'Canadian Series of School Books, Fourth Book of Reading Lessons (Toronto: James Campbell and Son, 1867) p. 23. While not i d e n t i f y i n g Mr. Hearne, t h i s story was probably taken from writings of Samuel Hearne, the explorer. 52 c r i t i c i s m of helpless women was a r a r i t y and no other s t o r -ie s intimated that women might possibly occupy other r o l e s than wives and mothers. As g i r l s prepared f o r womanhood and t h e i r place i n the home so boys must learn to be men by preparing f o r l i f e ' s work and duties. In t h i s endeavour proper employment of time could be a key f a c t o r . Humphrey's "Observations on Time" v i s u a l i z e d a man's l i f e as a clock, with one o'clock corresponding to seven years of age, two o'clock to four-teen, and so on, and concluded that, i f a man were to ac-complish anything i n t h i s world, he must set about i t be-no fore time ran out. Used properly, time could enable a man to r i s e above h i s s t a t i o n and enjoy the success of a poor farmer who rose ear l y , worked hard, and caredfor h i s own business. Soon he found himself i n a p o s i t i o n to ex-pand h i s farm by buying land from a r i c h neighbour who was ra p i d l y l o s i n g h i s wealth because he rose l a t e , spent h i s days i n seeking pleasure, and hired others to do h i s busi-19 ness. A wise man, therefore, would do what must be done without.delay or procrastination or else Next day the f a t a l precedent w i l l plead, Thus on, t i l l wisdom i s push'd out of l i f e . P r o crastination i s the t h i e f of time, Year a f t e r year i t s t e a l s , t i l l a l l are f l e d , And to the mercies of a moment leaves 2 Q The vast concerns of an eternal scene. 18 Canadian Series of School Books, Third Book of Reading Lessons (Toronto: James Campbell and Son, 1869), p. 66. 1 9 I b i d . , p. 20. 20 Canadian Series of School Books, P i f t h Book of Reading Lessons (Toronto: James Campbell and Son, 1868), p. 392. Prom Edward Young's Night Thoughts. 53 Axiomatic to the readers was the f a c t of wisdom gained through knowledge, knowledge e s s e n t i a l for; man to p r o f i t from h i s labour, and labour necessary f o r happiness. Unpossessed of the a b i l i t y to read, w r i t e , and cipher man stood at the mercy of others who might not be as honest as they should be and, therefore, unable to plan i n t e l l i g e n t l y f o r h i s future. Likewise, without the sciences he would be at the mercy of nature and unable to use h i s labour to the best advantage. Hence, opportunities e x i s t i n g f o r educa-t i o n must be g r a t e f u l l y grasped and appreciated even i f i t s benefits do not seem immediately s e l f - e v i d e n t . John Adams, f o r example, could see no future benefit from the hated study of L a t i n . Nevertheless, a f t e r a short s t i n t at digging ditches f o r a l i v i n g , he decided that L a t i n was bearable a f t e r a l l and resumed the studies which, i n time, brought to him "the highest honors which h i s country could 21 bestow." Two f a b l e s , showing how a crow obtained water by dropping pebbles i n a jug to r a i s e the water l e v e l and how a cat acquired milk by dipping h i s paw i n the pitcher, f u r -op ther demonstrated the advantages accruing from education. Encouragement to p e r s i s t u n t i l the goal i s achie-ved also appeared i n f a m i l i a r t a l e s of The Hare and the Tortoise, Bruce and the Spider, and Timour and the Ant. Boys who only t r i e d once and gave up were s c o r n f u l l y d i s -21 Canadian Series, Third Book, p. 67. Presumably t h i s story referred to the United States President a l -though t h i s i s not s p e c i f i c a l l y stated. 22 Canadian Series, Second Book, pp 66 and 68. 54 missed as dreamers and sighers while those who learned that even though f a i l i n g f o r sixty-nine times "there i s yet hope 23 of success i n the seventieth e f f o r t " would go on to cer-t a i n success, t h e i r footsteps guided by the motto "never say f a i l . " 2 4 Second, having taught the great r u l e of order, teachers must "promote, both by precept and example, CLEAN-LINESS, NEATNESS, AND DECENCY."25 This duty included i n -specting c h i l d r e n every morning f o r clean hands, faces, and clothes and f o r combed h a i r . Teacher example was not a l -ways good, as noted i n Chapter Two, but textbooks gave a few precepts which could be stressed i n the classroom. Thus, boys and g i r l s always put t h e i r things away when the school 26 b e l l rang f o r playtime. Frequent s t o r i e s dogmatically equated cleanliness with goodness and d i r t i n e s s with bad-ness as i n one poem which asserted that The i d l e and bad Like t h i s l i t t l e l a d , May be d i r t y and black to be sure; But good boys are seen To be decent and clean, 2 7 Although they are ever so poor. Stories r a r e l y mentioned decency, i n the sense of language and conduct which does not offend good taste or custom. A few pointed out dangers inherent i n the consum-ption of alcohol and the tragedies which could r e s u l t . One 2 3 ^Canadian Series, F i r s t Book, Part Two, p. 26. 24 Canadian Series, Second Book, p. 114. 25 ^ B r i t i s h Columbia, F i r s t School Report, p. 19. 26 Canadian Series, F i r s t Book, Part Two, 027 Canadian Series, Second Book, p. 69. 55 such t a l e r e l a t e d the t e r r i b l e loss of a ship and her crew a f t e r the cargo of rum was broached and resulted i n the 28 helmsman's i n a b i l i t y to see the lighthouse or steer the ship. Only one story referred to bad language and contrasted Dick Pord, the dunce who didn't follow r u l e s , with Fred Hughes, 29 the smart, clean, and neat boy, who used no bad words. Third, the Rules and Regulations required a l l teachers to pay the s t r i c t e s t a t t e n t i o n to t h e i r students' morals by omitting "no opportunity of i n c u l c a t i n g the p r i n -c i p l e s of t r u t h and honesty; the duties of respect to su-p e r i o r s , and obedience to a l l persons placed i n authority 30 over them."-^ Wording of t h i s duty suggests that the f i r s t two i n s t r u c t i o n s referred to q u a l i t i e s which might be de-s i r a b l e but were not necessarily moral. Textbooks appear to confirm t h i s supposition as they devoted at leas t seven times as much space to t r u t h , respect, and obedience than to c l e a n l i n e s s , neatness, and decency. The p o s s i b i l i t y of space being a l l o c a t e d according to teaching or learning d i f -f i c u l t y also e x i s t s although there would seem to be l i t t l e difference between t e l l i n g and repeating back a story i l -l u s t r a t i n g honesty than one about cl e a n l i n e s s . On the other hand, as behaviour demonstrates the extent of actual l e a r -ning and p r e v a i l i n g wisdom considered a c h i l d ' s moral ac-2 8Canadian Series, F i r s t Book - Part One, p. 36. "^Canadian Series, F i r s t Book - Part Two, p. 49. • ^ B r i t i s h Columbia, F i r s t School Report, p. 19. 56 tions l a r g e l y as habits formed by repeated exposure to ex-ample, more: l i k e l y space would r e f l e c t the importance of desired behaviours. Virtues and rewards of t r u t h and obedience con-trasted favourably with i g n o b i l i t i e s and punishments accom-panying dishonesty and disobedience i n textbook s t o r i e s . Accordingly, "curly h a i r and pleasant eye," goodness, no-b i l i t y , and bravery marched hand i n hand with truthfulness and honesty while d i r t i n e s s , s t u p i d i t y , and cowardice skulked along with dishonesty. Likewise, love, t r u s t , and a kind of immortality rewarded t r u t h but physical pain, lack of t r u s t , and condemnation by both contemporaries and po s t e r i t y punished l i e s . Stories of great men, such as Petrarch and George Washington, best i l l u s t r a t e d t r u t h as candor and s t r i c t adherence to the t r u t h illuminated both t h e i r l i v e s . As "truthfulness i s one of the brightest or-naments i n a man's character, and one that may be attained 31 by everyone who chooses to exert himself f o r i t , " ^ Petrarch and Washington ennobled themselves and t h e i r countries, 32 leaving steps "that mankind may fo l l o w s t i l l . C o n -versely, men who followed dishonest ways and betrayed t h e i r country's t r u s t and the people's r i g h t s , as Verres had done i n ancient Rome, must be punished and "suffer condemnation i n the eyes of a l l candid men" or "undermine the very foun-dations of s o c i a l safety, strangle j u s t i c e , and c a l l down 3 1Canadian Series, Third Book, p. 17. -^Canadian Series, F i f t h Book, p. 469. 57 anarchy, massacre, and r u i n on the commonwealth." 33 Equated with v i r t u e , t r u t h should be prized above a l l material things as The f i n e s t c l o t h that man can s e l l Wears out when years are past; The pitcher o f t goes to the w e l l , But i t i s broke at l a s t : And both a l i k e t h i s moral t e l l VIRTUE ALONE STANDS PAST.34 Children also must learn obedience to superiors i n age or knowledge. As the f i r s t authority figures en-countered by the c h i l d , mothers and fathers u n f a i l i n g l y appeared as paragons of wisdom and v i r t u e , and disobedi-ence of t h e i r injunctions merited sw i f t punishment. So L i t t l e Carrie found when she took her new d o l l to school against her mother's express command and received prompt r e t r i b u t i o n as the d o l l ' s l e g was broken by Carrie's play-mates and a rainstorm and drain soaking completed the 35 d o l l ' s r u i n a t i o n . J S i m i l a r l y ignoring mothers* warnings a mouse and a lamb narrowly escaped the clutches of a cat and a wolf a f t e r straying from home. Therefore, "young people should mind what ol d people say and when danger i s 36 near them keep out of the way." Furthermore, one must always l i s t e n to and obey superior knowledge. Thus, a farmer asked a lawyer f o r ad-vice on how to succeed and received the caution "never put 33 I b i d . , p. 62. 34 Canadian Series, Second Book, p. 210 Canadian Series, F i r s t Book - Part Two, p. 18. Canadian Series, Second Book, p. 168. 35 36 58 o f f t i l l tomorrow what you can do today." -" Following t h i s dictum the farmer went home, worked u n t i l a l l h i s hay crop was gathered, and thereby saved i t from a storm which came during the night. Examples from m i l i t a r y h i s t o r y stressed over and over again t h i s instant obedience to superiors i n rank or knowledge and emphasized that instant obedience to commands brought army v i c t o r i e s and supremacy to the B r i -t i s h navy. Shipwrecks also provided ample proof that d i s -c i p l i n e d obedience resulted i n l i v e s being saved while orders disobeyed or questioned brought d i s a s t e r . Instant and unquestioning obedience was "good" and the s t o r i e s l e f t no room f o r discussion of t h i s assertion's t r u t h ; f o r the value of independent thought; or f o r any questioning of the status quo. Fourth, teachers must " c u l t i v a t e kindly and af-fectionate f e e l i n g s among the pu p i l s ; to discountenance quarreling, c r u e l t y to animals, and every approach to v i c e . " 3 8 Again, readers supplied a treasure chest of ta l e s to a i d i n t h i s endeavour. Many d i f f e r e n t types of s t o r i e s and poems taught kindness and concern f o r others and, as always, rewarded goodness and punished badness. Simple s t o r i e s i n the early texts encouraged respect f o r age and promoted charitable endeavours. Charity could manifest i t -s e l f i n a g i f t of money to an old beggar with no family to 3 7Canadian Series, Third Book, p. 20. 3 8 B r i t i s h Columbia, F i r s t School Report, p. 19. 59 help him or by a g i f t of s e l f to help an old man carry a load of wood up a h i l l , help a b l i n d man home , help an old lady who had broken her s t i c k and could not walk, or cut a wid-ow's firewood and c l e a r her walk. Bestowal of these g i f t s always earned a reward i n the form of money, t r e a t s , posses-sions, or deep inner enjoyment as the giver found that "the best fun i s always to be found i n doing something that i s kind and u s e f u l . " 3 9 A r r i v i n g at the t h i r d reader the c h i l d began to discover that kindness and concern must be extended f a r t h e r than the l i m i t s of personal experience. While espousing the brotherhood of man, however, the texts also fostered derogatory stereotypes and nationalism which could i n s t i l f e e l i n g s of s u p e r i o r i t y and pride of race. No attempt at r e c o n c i l i a t i o n of these opposites can be discerned i n the readers but perhaps i t i s true that " l i t e r a t u r e does not t r y to provoke i n us the response of ac t i o n , and therefore does not need to resolve i t s a m b i g u i t i e s . " 4 0 Nevertheless, ambivalence surrounded the concept of kindness or brotherhood. Thus, s t o r i e s of the Destruc-t i o n of the Red River Colony and C a r t i e r at Hochelaga por-trayed some native Indians as warlike, painted demons who preyed on the industrious, and thereby virtuous, s e t t l e r s . 4 1 On the other hand, "Industry and I n t e l l i g e n c e " pictured In-oq Canadian Series, Second Book, p. 195. 4 0 J . Bronowski, The Identi t y of Man (Garden C i t y , New York: The Natural History Press, 1965), p. 85. 4 1Canadian Series, Fourth Book, pp. 26 and 93. 60 dians as backward and indolent people who needed to be taught the value of labour i n order that they might p r o f i t from the abundance surrounding them and r a i s e t h e i r standard of l i v -42 ing to an approximation of that of t h e i r white brethren. At the same time, these c h i l d r e n of nature already possessed v i r t u e s which others would do w e l l to imitate and deserved the same respect and a f f e c t i o n which should be shown to a l l men. William Penn, f o r example, always treated Indians as equals, paid them a f a i r price f o r any land purchased, and scrupulously observed treaty provisions. According to the readers, Penn believed that kindness was both cheap and mighty and f a r more powerful than the sword i n compelling Indians to abide by t h e i r bargains, and saw h i s f a i t h r e-4-3 warded as the Indians responded to him i n l i k e manner. Nevertheless, many s t o r i e s of national heroes ex-a l t e d use of the sword. Well calculated to fan the embers of i n c i p i e n t nationalism, e x c i t i n g s t o r i e s t o l d of p a t r i o t s f i g h t i n g f o r t h e i r countries against a l i e n hordes who would impose themselves and t h e i r way of l i f e . S i m i l a r l y to de-p i c t i n g Indians as both savages and noblemen, however, the texts also interspersed p a t r i o t i c s t o r i e s with those which s a t i r i z e d or denounced nationalism and pa t r i o t i s m as con-cepts evoking a l l the treachery, c r u e l t y , and avarice of which man i s capable and destroying the natural bond of brotherhood. 4-2 Canadian Series, F i f t h Book, p. 356. 4 3Canadian Series, Third Book, p. 178. 61 Accordingly, one s e l e c t i o n s a t i r i z e d presumed na-t i o n a l t r a i t s as a "Baffled T r a v e l l e r " toured Europe. Be-having as h i s natural Yorkshire s e l f , he quickly encoun-tered a w a l l of immovable t a c i t u r n i t y i n Holland and so acted as a Dutch merchant i n France only to be castigated and scorned by the trade-despising French. Attempts to change character to meet expressed preferences i n each coun-t r y continued, with each nation despising what another p r i -zed, u n t i l the poor t r a v e l l e r desisted from h i s f u t i l e ef-f o r t s and simply begged the' Poles to " l e t me know what to say." 4 4 Another story denounced war as Tubal Cain, the arma-ments maker, suddenly r e a l i z e d the e v i l he had committed i n aiding those with a l u s t f o r conquering and carnage and turned h i s talents to the making of the f i r s t ploughshare so that . . . men, taught wisdom from the past, In fr i e n d s h i p j o i n ' d t h e i r hands; Hung the sword i n the h a l l , The spear on the w a l l , , j -And ploughed the w i l l i n g lands: 5 S t i l l , the e v i l s of oppression and tyranny must be countered whenever and wherever they appeared. So the sword and the spear must be kept i n readiness but better yet, c r i e d poets and w r i t e r s , remove man-made b a r r i e r s be-tween peoples and end one nation's power to enslave others. Allowing narrow waterways and mountains to form borders 4 4Canadian Series, Fourth Book, p. 203. 4 5 ^Canadian Series, F i f t h Book, p. 51. 62 and make enemies of men who would otherwise be joined by the "natural bond of brotherhood," those with power preyed upon t h e i r weaker f e l l o w s . But any man who was a man must necessarily "blush and hang h i s head, to think himself a man" when witnessing others of h i s kind chain, whip, arid degrade brothers whose only s i n lay i n possessing a d i f -ferent coloured s k i n . 4 ^ Extending t h i s brotherhood to animals, also crea-tures of God, the readers portrayed animals as having a sim-i l a r capacity f o r pain and hurt as did humans and stressed the necessity of kindness to animals i n human terms. As one would not w i l l i n g l y hurt parents or oneself so b i r d s ' nests must not be disturbed and cause pain to the parent birds who would lose t h e i r c h i l d r e n or to the baby birds de-47 prived of parents. F u l l recompense always accompanied love and consideration f o r animals. Thus, a v i c i o u s horse became a trusted f r i e n d following gentle and humane t r e a t -ment and a beloved dog saved h i s young mistress from death. On the other hand, punishment s w i f t l y ensued a f t e r c r u e l t y to animals as Jack discovered when thrown over a bank by a horse he had spurred with a pin stuck i n the heel of h i s shoe. S i m i l a r l y , a ship's Captain was rescued from the sea by a Newfoundland dog whose t a i l had knocked a dish from the table and been cut o f f by the Captain. While t h i s rescue 46 Canadian Series, Fourth Book, p. 253. 47 F i r s t Bo k - Part Two, p. 56. 63 might appear as a reward f o r c r u e l t y the Captain suffered the pangs of conscience as he repined that he would give h i s r i g h t arm to be able to r e p a i r the i n j u r y he had done and i t would be a source of g r i e f to him as long as he l i v e d , 4 8 Meddling and greed were the only vices s p e c i f i -c a l l y discountenanced i n the readers. Stories of Bertha, Mary, and Goldilocks i l l u s t r a t e d meddling J and simple s t o r i e s warned of greed. A boy t r i e d to take too many nuts out of a j a r and got none u n t i l he l e t h a l f go and a dog grasped at the meat held by h i s r e f l e c t i o n and l o s t what he already had so that c h i l d r e n should learn he who i s greedy, and grasps at too much, i s very apt to lose what he has. Be content with what you have, even i f i t be l i t t l e , and never give up the substance f o r the shadow.50 The c l a s s i c symbol of greed's f u t i l i t y was King Midas and the story of a miser who t r i e d to cheat the f i n d e r of h i s l o s t money out of h i s promised reward, only to lose the en-t i r e sum when a judge awarded i t to the discoverer, graphi-51 c a l l y illumined greed's penalty. According to the 1872 School Act, "the highest morality s h a l l be inculcated" but the Rules and Regulations made no mention of t h i s requirement. Possibly then the Board of Education intended the previously l i s t e d v i r t u e s 4-8 Canadian Series, Fourth Book, p. 93. 49 ^Supra, p. 51. •^Canadian Series, Second Book, p. 36. 51 Canadian Series, Third Book, p. 31. 64 and moral a t t r i b u t e s as an e x p l i c a t i o n of the highest moral-i t y . However, the Rules and Regulations of 1879 r e s t r i c t e d the l i s t of teacher duties, i n regard to moral education, to a simple r e i t e r a t i o n of the School Act clause that "the high-est morality s h a l l be inculcated but no r e l i g i o u s dogmas or creed s h a l l be taught." Now i t became the p u p i l s ' duty to be clean and t i d y ; to avoid idleness, profanity, falsehood, deceit, quarreling, and f i g h t i n g ; to be kind and courteous; obedient to h i s i n s t r u c t o r s ; d i l i g e n t i n h i s studies; and to conform to the rules of the s c h o o l . 5 2 This change appears to indicate that the sum t o t a l of the duties which had now become the students' r e s p o n s i b i l i t y d id not comprise the whole of morality. Nowhere i n the various Acts or Rules and Regulations could anyone f i n d a s p e c i f i c explanation of the highest morality which caused as much confusion f o r nine-teenth century teachers as f o r today's h i s t o r i a n . Neverthe-l e s s , the wording of clauses containing the phrase "highest morality" provides a c l e a r i ntimation of r e l i g i o u s morality without sectarian dogmas or creeds. The textbooks tend to support such an inference as they taught a p l a i n C h r i s t i a n doctrine and morality i n addition to the previously d i s -cussed v i r t u e s . B i b l i c a l s t o r i e s of the " B i r t h of our Saviour" and the healing acts and teachings of Jesus Christ presen-ted d e f i n i t e l y C h r i s t i a n i n s t r u c t i o n . More sectarian, or Protestant, teachings also occurred i n s t o r i e s such as the "Death and S a c r i f i c e of C h r i s t " from which ch i l d r e n 52 B r i t i s h Columbia, Ninth Annual Report, p. 349. 65 learned that Christ's death prevented the r u i n of mankind from the misery of g u i l t and the e v i l of s i n and that the awful mystery of redemption revealed the j u s t i c e of Divine Government. 3 Theology i n the texts concentrated on the next world rather than the present. In t h i s new world those reconciled to God, through C h r i s t , would r i s e i n a new s p i r i t u a l , i n c o r r u p t i b l e , and glorious body ready to "en-54. t e r i n t o the regions of immortality."-^ Re i t e r a t i n g t h i s theme throughout the readers assured t h e i r audience that while separation and the l o s s of friends occurred i n t h i s world There i s a world above Where parting i s unknown; A long e t e r n i t y of love, Porm'd f o r the good alone; And f a i t h beholds the dying here r r Translated to that glorious spherey. Moreover, t h i s world's miseries must be endured and not questioned as God sent them "as part of a d i s c i p l i n e 56 to improve our grace and prepare us f o r His presence."-^ Therefore, i n contrast to other types of s t o r i e s i n the readers which held out the hope of self-betterment as a r e -ward f o r hard work and s o l i d preparation, r e l i g i o u s s t o r i e s preached acceptance of l i f e ' s v i c i s s i t u d e s and one's s t a -t i o n i n l i f e as the w i l l of God. Hence, a b l i n d boy pos-53 Canadian Series, Fourth Book, p. 344. 5 4 I b i d . , p. 350. 5 5 I b i d . , p. 366. 5 6 I b i d . , p. 350. 66 sessed God's blessing i n spite of h i s handicap as he could s t i l l hear the song of the b i r d s , smell the scent of the roses, and hear the bleat of the sheep. Likewise, the b l i n d c h i l d whose f i r s t glimpse of l i g h t would be the g l o r -ious b r i l l i a n c e of heaven received a double blessing and the dumb c h i l d ' s soul opened wide f o r the g i f t s of joy and love and i t s a f f l i c t i o n taught others the value of tender-57 ness. S i m i l a r l y , death came as the great l e v e l l e r — consuming and corrupting the bodies of both high and low — which even kings could not escape as Thackeray g r a p h i c a l l y i l l u s t r a t e d i n "The Death of George the T h i r d . " 5 8 In view of death's i n e v i t a b i l i t y , one s e l e c t i o n i n s i s t e d that energy spent i n t r y i n g to change one's s o c i a l status or to a l t e r conditions was energy wasted. Par better to use i t i n developing honesty, t r u t h , goodness, the mastery of pas-sions, knowledge, and true friends and i n preparing the soul f o r death. S t r i v i n g f o r these v i r t u e s man . . . i s freed from s e r v i l e bonds Of hope to r i s e or fear to f a l l ; CQ And having nothing, yet hath a l l . Such a man would have everything as he would earn that ever-l a s t i n g l i f e which denied the v i c t o r y of the grave and the st i n g of death. But the wicked, l i v i n g as though t h e i r 5 7Canadian S e r i e s , F i f t h Book, pp. 223 and 234-36. 5 8 I b i d . , p. 278. 59 •^Canadian Series, Advanced Reader, p. 71. 67 mortal body were a l l and the soul nothing, having stored up only earthly treasure would not approach death i n f a i t h and hope. At the hour of t h e i r death would come the r e a l i z a -t i o n that the soul was everything and the body only cor-r u p t i b l e f l e s h and, i n a frenzy of fear and despair, the wicked would r e a l i z e that they must now face the dreadful judgement of God alone without being able to accept the Church's assurances of the continuing p o s s i b i l i t y of f o r -giveness and s a l v a t i o n . F i n a l l y tearing i t s e l f from the body of the e v i l man, the soul would f i n d i t s e l f alone at the foot of the awful t r i b u n a l facing the probable punish-60 ment of eternal damnation and separation from God. Thus, while men were given the choice of using wealth with pru-dence or i n a man's natural way or of hoarding i t , the best way was to give riches away to help those i n need.^ 1 Christ's teachings can r e a d i l y be discerned i n the above s t o r i e s which merely i n t e r p r e t such well-known di c t a as "take therefore no thought f o r the morrow" and "lay not up f o r yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and 62 s t e a l . " The best use of possessions i l l u s t r a t e s the par-able of the Talents. In ad d i t i o n , Christ taught that ene-mies should be treated with love and understanding. Thus the 60 Canadian Series, F i f t h Book, p. 239. 61 Canadian Series, Third Book, p. 1. 6 2Matthew 6:19, 34. 68 a f f l i c t o r would be r a i s e d to a higher moral plane rather than the a f f l i c t e d reducing himself to the l e v e l of h i s ad-versary. As an example of the miracles achieved by l o v i n g enemies one story r e l a t e d how Joe intended to obtain re-venge by t r i p p i n g F r i t z , who had wrecked Joe's boat, while he was carrying eggs to h i s home. Meanwhile, a cousin r e -minded Joe that Jesus had said to overcome e v i l with good rather than being overcome by e v i l and that " i f thine enemy hunger, feed him; i f he t h i r s t , give him drink; f o r i n so doing, thou shalt heap coals of f i r e on h i s head." These "coals" would burn up malice, envy, i l l - f e e l i n g , and a good deal of rubbish and leave cold hearts f e e l i n g as warm and pleasant as possible. Therefore, Joe changed hi s plans, treated F r i t z with kindness, and made a good f r i e n d as F r i t z became so ashamed of h i s conduct that he repaired the boat. P l a i n l y true happiness could only be found i n t h i s manner and " i f a l l f a m i l i e s were c a r e f u l to keep a supply of Joe Benton's coals on hand, and make good use of them, how happy they would be."v^' As w e l l as being taught the C h r i s t i a n idealism of s e l f - s a c r i f i c e and concern f o r others i l l u s t r a t e d by the foregoing c h i l d r e n constantly received the reminder that God created a l l things i n heaven and i n earth. Simple 64 homilies teaching that " i t was God that made us" * and "we owe a l l we have or are to God — He keeps us i n l i f e " J 63 Canadian Series, Third Book, p. 10. \ 65 ^Canadian Series, F i r s t Book - Part One, p. 12. 'Ibid., p. 13. 69 gradually gave way to more sophisticated s t o r i e s , Hymns, psalms, and verses continued the theme of God as Creator of the sky, the grass, the flowers, the sun, the b i r d s , the cows, the horses, the water, the f i s h , and the trees. Being created f o r h i s use and enjoyment, men should be pro-perly thankful and not abuse the great g i f t s bestowed on him. Accordingly, a man stopped a l i t t l e boy, i n the pro-cess of t r y i n g to drown a s q u i r r e l , and reminded him that God made that s q u i r r e l and l i f e i s sweet to i t as i t i s to you; and why w i l l you torture to death a l i t t l e innocent creature that God has made? . . . when tempted to k i l l any poor l i t t l e innocent an-imal or b i r d , remember that God does not allow us to k i l l h i s creatures f o r fun.66 Addison's "Creation" and Adam's "Morning Hymn" continued the commemoration of God as the author of a l l and Goodriel, M i l t o n , Coleridge, Moore, and others celebrated the g l o r i e s of the sea, of l i g h t , and of a l l the natural wonders made a l l the more glorious and awesome by the r e a l i z a t i o n that the one great Creator made them a l l . Science received recognition as a necessity f o r the understanding of nature but, at the same time, must also lead to a deeper appreciation of the Creator. Un-locking the mysteries of the world science l e d man to a deeper understanding of the i n f i n i t e wisdom and goodness of God as not a step can we take i n any d i r e c t i o n without perceiving the most extraordinary traces of de-sign; and . . . i f we knew the whole scheme of 66 Canadian Series, Third Book, p. 81. 70 Providence, every part would appear to be^in har-mony with a plan of absolute benevolence. ' Likewise, law, order, and good government came as the r e s u l t of God's actions and men's obedience to His w i l l . B e l i e v i n g that God gave the law to man through Moses and the i n s t i t u t i o n of the family, one s e l e c t i o n as-serted that, as "law's seat i s the bosom of God," a l l men admired her as the "mother of t h e i r peace and joy" and en-deavoured to obey the law as one means of doing God's w i l l . Great nations, such as B r i t a i n , achieved t h e i r stature only by v i r t u e of partaking " i n the highest degree of the mild 69 and peaceable s p i r i t of C h r i s t i a n i t y . 1 1 Thus, fortune, honour, and happiness f o r the people followed as C h r i s t i -a n i t y l e d to the acceptance of the p r i n c i p l e of j u s t i c e . Incumbent on the c i t i z e n s of any nation accepting these C h r i s t i a n p r i n c i p l e s were duties to labour that t h i s happy condition of existence may remain, . . . guard the piety . . . and watch over the s p i r i t of j u s t i c e which e x i s t s i n these times. F i r s t he must take care that the matters of God are not polluted, that the C h r i s t i a n f a i t h i s retained i n p u r i t y and i n perfection; and then turning to human a f f a i r s , l e t him s t r i v e f o r spot-l e s s , i n c o r r u p t i b l e j u s t i c e ; . . . .70 No hint of possibly d i f f e r i n g i n t e r p r e t a t i o n s of God and His Word appeared i n the t e x t s . In t h i s way they avoided any necessary explanations of church creeds or 67 Canadian Series, F i f t h Book, p. 19. 68 Canadian Series, Advanced Reader, p. 138. 69 Canadian Series, F i f t h Book, p. 320. 70 I b i d . , p. 306. 71 dogmas which, i f taught, would make the readers d e f i n i t e l y contrary to the r u l e of non-sectarianism. One story came p e r i l o u s l y close to the C a l v i n i s t i c doctrine of predestin-a t i o n by i n f e r r i n g God's s e l e c t i v i t y i n answering prayers f o r s a l v a t i o n . However, the t a l e gave no d i r e c t explana-t i o n f o r only eight passengers being saved from a storm-wracked ship i n spite of a l l victims praying f o r help, nor f o r only f i v e of the eight being l e f t a l i v e f o r eventual 71 rescue by a passing ship.' This story proved an excep-t i o n to the p r e v a i l i n g teaching that God would i n s t r u c t c h i l d r e n , through prayer and the B i b l e , i n such a way that no doubt would remain as to what His w i l l consisted of and by what means i t could best be accomplished. S i m i l a r l y , other selections assured c h i l d r e n of God's omnipresence and the sole necessity of c a l l i n g on Him i n f a i t h f o r sure and c e r t a i n a i d . Thus, one man r e -membered h i s mother's advice to " c a l l upon the Lord my dear son, when you are i n trouble" and was immediately f i l l e d with such energy that he saved h i s f r i e n d from 72 drowning. 1 Likewise, the p i l o t of the steamer "Lake E r i e " saved a l l the passengers and crew a f t e r c a l l i n g on God to give him the energy to remain at h i s post and steer the 73 fire-wracked ship to shore. L a t r e i l l e received d e l i v e r -ance by way of a beetle i n h i s prison c e l l as 71 Canadian Series, F i r s t Book - Part Two, p. 34. 72 Canadian Series, Third Book, p. 35. 7 3 I b i d . , p. 76. 72 i f i t pleases God to d e l i v e r anyone from prison or from death an i n s e c t may be His messenger . . . f o r the smallest and l e a s t of His creatures obey His w i l l and are not beneath His notice.74 Throughout these s t o r i e s c h i l d r e n were learning a C h r i s t i a n e t h i c . As i t i s impossible to divorce the ethic from i t s r e l i g i o u s base the f a c t s of God as the cre-ator, father, and judge; of Christ the son and redeemer; and of the Holy S p i r i t as helper and i n t e r p r e t e r had to be established. I t then became possible to teach the Chris-t i a n morality of love f o r God and man and the e s s e n t i a l brotherhood of a l l c r e a t i o n . In a d d i t i o n , a C h r i s t i a n j u s t i f i c a t i o n f o r moral behaviour could be established so that one attempted to obey the Bible's moral i d e a l s be-cause God wished i t so; i t pleased God; and i t also would g r a t i f y one's fellow man, also the c h i l d of God. Truth, honesty, obedience, and other v i r t u e s gave personal s a t i s f a c t i o n but could also grant a better reward consistent with a higher morality. So the c h i l d learned that i f he was good and did God's w i l l he would be 75 taken "as a lamb to His f o l d " whereas the bad could not go to Him. S i m i l a r l y , the good c h i l d t o l d no l i e s as un-truthfulness was against the w i l l of God and, therefore, a s i n . A l o v i n g , d u t i f u l , and mild c h i l d pleased parents, brothers, and s i s t e r s who would become, i n turn, more l o v -ing and considerate and God would r e j o i c e i n the r e s u l t i n g 76 happier family l i f e . Far better rewards too would be 7 4 I b i d . , p. 127. ^Canadian Series, F i r s t Book - Part Two, p. 9. 76 Canadian Series, Second Book, p. 106. 73 received by being kind and usefu l to others than could ever be gained by doing nothing except f o r monetary gain. John, f o r example, helped a man haul a cartload of corn up a d i f -f i c u l t h i l l and then endured the j e e r i n g of h i s peers f o r receiving no money f o r h i s services and obtaining a bad mark i n school f o r h i s tardiness. John's reward, however, was f a r greater than h i s friends r e a l i z e d as i n the f i r s t place, he had the approval of hi s con-science, which was worth something. In the second place, he had the pleasure of doing good, which was worth something. In the t h i r d place he had the gratitude and love of the man, also worth something. And l a s t l y and best of a l l , he had the approbation of God, who has promised that even a cup of cold j~ water given to a d i s c i p l e s h a l l not lose i t s reward. Re l i g i o n then had a d e f i n i t e place i n the c u r r i -culum of a supposedly secular and non-sectarian school sys-tem i n B r i t i s h Columbia and the highest morality appeared a synonym f o r r e l i g i o u s morality. A l l c h i l d r e n taught i n the system would be subject to these r e l i g i o u s teachings as i t can be safely assumed that teachers used the texts as the primary means of i n s t r u c t i o n as required by law. I t i s also safe to assume that a f i v e or s i x year old en-te r i n g the system would s t a r t on page one of the f i r s t part of the f i r s t reader and continue through to at least the l a s t page of the f i f t h reader i n completing elementary school. A study of the textbook s t o r i e s reveals no men-77 'Canadian Series, Third Book, p. 5. 74 t i o n of the Church, as a teacher, or i t s sacraments. In add i t i o n , s a l v a t i o n came to man by God's grace, through Jesus C h r i s t , by v i r t u e of f a i t h which rendered s a l v a t i o n a d i r e c t God-Man r e l a t i o n s h i p with only Christ as i n t e r -mediary. Together with the emphasis on the Bible as the means through which man came to know God, the omission of sacramental and l i t u r g i c a l tenets plus the espoused salva-t i o n doctrine made the r e l i g i o u s teachings not only Chris-t i a n but Protestant C h r i s t i a n . I t may be true that an Ontario Roman Catholic Archbishop directed the compilation and approved of the Canadian Series, as claimed by Mr. Jamieson, but i t i s also true that Roman Catholics could supplement textbook teachings with s p e c i f i c church dogma 78 i n the Ontario separate schools. B r i t i s h Columbia's public school system did not permit such sectarian teaching and, therefore, r e l i g i o u s i n s t r u c t i o n included i n the texts would be considered wholly Protestant by the Roman Catho-l i c Church i n B r i t i s h Columbia. Comparing the system and the t e x t s , i t i s c l e a r that the readers' morality did not always agree with the mi l i e u i n which i t was taught. Thus, texts stressed edu-cation's value while many parents only r e l u c t a n t l y sup-ported the school system and removed t h e i r c h i l d r e n as early as possible; neatness and cleanliness were i n s i s t e d on i n sometimes disordered and d i r t y surroundings; superiors de-78 Supra, p. 45» n. 78. 75 manded respect while becoming involved i n acrimonious and demeaning disputes; and an avowedly secular and non-sect-arian system taught a religious and Protestant f a i t h and morality. As pointed out by the Colonist, a good moral tone might be set i n the schools but the young people of the province s t i l l suffered from a sad deficiency in morals, character, and taste. Nothing i n a young society, claimed the editor, supported school morality i n a way which would lead to the gradual formation of a higher standard and, therefore, home training proved the essential ingredient in teaching children to cherish true values and rise above the prevailing evils of coarse li v e s , obsene language and 79 a c t i v i t i e s , irreverance, and discourtesy. In essence, texts taught a personal morality which attempted to create thoughtful, kind, clean, and decent citizens f i t to l i v e and work together i n an orderly and law-abiding society. Showing l i t t l e concern for the formation of a corporate ethic, readers pictured nations as collections of individuals whose actions could destroy or exalt. Hence, society could be destroyed by an accumula-tion of small wrongs i n the same way as a great ship sank SO because of the worms in one piece of wood. On the other hand, a nation could achieve greatness through the small actions of i t s good citizens just as one brick at a time 7 9 B r i t i s h Colonist, July 25, 1876. 80 Canadian Series, Second Book, p. 30. 76 b u i l t large e d i f i c e s ; one step at a time traversed mount-ains; countless drops of water composed the mighty ocean; and L i t t l e deeds of kindness, L i t t l e words of love, lake the earth an Eden Like the heaven above.81 I f small things could change the world i t i s con-ceivable that textbook teachings could improve the public school system. Therefore, i t might be expected that l e g -i s l a t i o n would amend the School Act i n accordance with the r e l i g i o u s and moral tenets of the texts and that parents, trustees, teachers, and the general public would a l t e r a t t i t u d e s and habits. Whether or not such changes did take place i s properly the concern of the following chapter which w i l l consider the school system following ten years exposure to the Canadian Series of School Books. I b i d . , p. 158 CHAPTER FOUR SYSTEM, RELIGION, AND MORALITY 1883 - 1899 Lit e r a t u r e ' s value rests mainly i n i t s a b i l i t y to depict and bring to l i f e the human condition. Perceptive portrayals of the many facets of humanity allow the reader i n s i g h t i n t o diverse characters so that we get inside them, and thereby understand better how to l i v e inside ourselves; we stretch.the s k i n of i s o l a t i o n inside which each of us l i v e s . But i t i s by no means evident that we know how to act better i n any s p e c i f i c encounter.! Thus, i t i s impossible to prove whether or not textbook l i t -erature exerted any influence on the school system and pub-l i c a t t i t u d e s and habits. I t i s c e r t a i n , however, that while much remained the same some changes could be noted, i n system and public opinion, during the l a s t few years of the nineteenth century. By 1881, f o r example, the pendulum of popular con-v i c t i o n appeared to be swinging to the support of r e l i g i o u s teaching i n the public schools. The Methodist Church passed a r e s o l u t i o n declaring that Protestants wanted the highest morality inculcated i n the public schools and, therefore, pupils should have the precepts and p r i n c i p l e s of Jesus p Christ impressed upon t h e i r minds. Noting that persecution 1Bronowski, The Ident i t y of Man, p. 69. 2 B r i t i s h Colonist, A p r i l 30, 1880. 77 78 i was as evident i n forbidding r e l i g i o n as i n enforcing i t , the Presbyterian Church c a l l e d f o r reinstatement of 1872 prayers, from which pupils could be excused on request. Reversing i t s stand of 1876, the Colonist declared that the " f a l s e step which banished r e l i g i o n from the schools" must be changed and prayers r e i n s t i t u t e d as the f i r s t step to-wards moral regeneration i n the province. 4 S i m i l a r l y , "Point Blank" envisioned the destruction of a l l r e l i g i o u s f e e l i n g pursuant to a ban on r e l i g i o u s education i n a sys-tem combining a l l classes and creeds i n one school. In turn, such a lack of b e l i e f would demolish the i n s t i t u t i o n of the family and impair order i n the S t a t e . J And "A.B.C." rejoi c e d i n the d e l i g h t f u l contrast to opinion i n 1876 when the secular reign had begun and God and r e l i g i o n s i n f u l l y c divorced from the schools. Perhaps the times seemed propitious f o r the r e -sumption of the Roman Catholic Church campaign f o r govern-ment ai d to church schools. In any event, s t a t i n g that the B r i t i s h Columbia school law favoured only the i r r e l i g i o n i s t s i n the province and that the absence of r e l i g i o u s i n s t r u c -t i o n was a source of e v i l bringing f o r t h immoral youths, the Catholic Bishops requested that B r i t i s h Columbia grant the same r i g h t s to Catholics as those ceded to the Protes-3 I b i d . , May 2, 1880. 4 I b i d . , February 25, 1881. 5 I b i d . , June 1, 1881. Dominion-Pacific Herald, l a r c h 5, 1881. 79 tant minority i n Quebec. 1 John Robson, e d i t o r of the Herald, admitted that banning r e l i g i o n i n the public schools was a blot on the system but claimed the intent had been to f a c i l -i t a t e accommodation of a l l r e l i g i o n s rather than to s a t i s f y i r r e l i g i o n i s t s . At the same time, Robson r e s i s t e d demands f o r a p u b l i c l y funded system of denominational schools, p a r t i c u l a r l y as no-one could guarantee that a majority of Catholics i n the province e i t h e r wanted or would support 8 separate schools. Nevertheless, one of the Colonist *s correspondents i n s i s t e d that denominational schools enjoyed the support of a large segment of the public and that a l l Catholics, together with a good percentage of Protestants, objected to sending t h e i r c h i l d r e n to schools where r e l i g -Q ion was excluded. Further l e t t e r s noted that, as the public school system had been condemned by both Protestant and Roman Catholic Bishops, the issue of r e l i g i o u s education needed serious and immediate consideration. Notwithstanding p e t i -tions and protests, however, the Legislature refused any aid to church schools, conducted no i n v e s t i g a t i o n of the r e l i g i o u s question, and made no changes i n wording of the secular and non-3ectarian clause i n ensuing School Acts. The sole r e f l e c t i o n of the alleged demand f o r r e l i g i o u s t r a i n i n g i n the public schools proved to be the gradually 7 B r i t i s h Columbia, L e g i s l a t i v e Assembly, Sessional Papers 44 V i c t . , 1881, p. 517. Q Dominion-Pacific Herald, March 9 , 1881. Q B r i t i s h Colonist, February 1, 1883. 80 increasing number of schools employing the Lord's Prayer as an opening or c l o s i n g exercise. Thus, a t o t a l of only 19 of 51 public schools using the prayer i n 1881 increased to 78 of 127 schools and d i v i s i o n s i n 1888. 1 0 In s p i t e of r e f u s a l s to allow a d d i t i o n a l r e l i g -ious education or exercises, the public school system en-joyed a growing acceptance i n the province. Census records show a t o t a l of 15,244 ch i l d r e n between the ages of 5 and 14 i n B r i t i s h Columbia i n 1891 and 26,895 i n 1901. 1 1 At the same time, elementary schools enroll e d 10,461 i n 1892 12 and 23,119 i n 1902 with average d a i l y attendance i n c r e a -sing to 63.29 percent, a record unequalled i n any province 13 except Quebec. A t t r i b u t i n g part of t h i s acceptance to the Public School Act of 1879 which extended the school franchise to the wives of voters, Superintendent S. D. Pope noted the "awakening of no l i t t l e enthusiasm i n both c i v i c and r u r a l d i s t r i c t s . " 1 4 Increased i n t e r e s t i n the workings and success of the schools appeared to augur well f o r pu-p i l s ' study and work habits and teachers' devotion to duty. 10 B r i t i s h Columbia, Tenth Annual Report of the Pub- l i c Schools by C. C. McKenzie, Superintendent ( V i c t o r i a : 1881), p. 270; and Seventeenth Annual Report of the Public Schools by S. D. Pope, Superintendent ( V i c t o r i a : 1888), Table A. i : LCanada, Census of 1931, Table 9, V. 1, p. 392. 12 B r i t i s h Columbia, One Hundred Years, p. 68. 1 3 B r i t i s h Columbia, Twenty-Sixth Annual Report of the Public Schools by S. D. Pope, Superintendent ( V i c t o r i a : 1897), p. 195. 1 4 B r i t i s h Columbia, Thirteenth Annual Report of the Public Schools by S. D. Pope, Superintendent ( V i c t o r i a : 1884), p. 317. 81 On the other hand, teachers s t i l l faced the prob-lem of population m o b i l i t y . In h i s annual report f o r 1889 Kamloops school p r i n c i p a l , E. Stuart Wood, commented on the adverse e f f e c t s of migratory habits. Wood noted that, of a t o t a l of 45 students, 12 had come from outside h i s d i s t r i c t and that by June there were 22 absentees of which 13 had l e f t the area, 6 had gone ranching, and 2 were i l l . More-over, c h i l d r e n accustomed to a nomadic existence and the l i f e of a mining camp suddenly found themselves expected to conform to school regulations. As a r e s u l t they became a constant source of d i s c i p l i n a r y problems, p a r t i c u l a r l y as most parents expressed l i t t l e i n t e r e s t i n school progress 16 or attendance. According to reports, home and s o c i a l environ-ments i n the c i t i e s also l e f t much to be desired and worked against teacher influence and authority. Hector Stramberg c r i t i c i z e d the "vicious system of home t r a i n i n g " of many of hi s New Westminster pupils as we l l as the effe c t of the 17 c i t y environment. V i c t o r i a Boys* School p r i n c i p a l , J. A. Hal l i d a y , likewise complained of the adverse influence of the streets on h i s students but noted that the problem was country-wide rather than a s t r i c t l y l o c a l i z e d concern. 15 ^ B r i t i s h Columbia, Eighteenth Annual Report of the Public Schools by S. D. Pope, Superintendent ( V i c t o r i a : 1889) , p. 223. 16 B r i t i s h Columbia, Twenty-Seventh Annual Report of the Public Schools by S. D. Pope, Superintendent ( V i c t o r i a : 1898), p. 1250. 17 B r i t i s h Columbia, Nineteenth Annual Report of the Public Schools by S. D. Pope, Superintendent ( V i c t o r i a : 1890) , p. 144. 82 H a l l i d a y believed the d i f f i c u l t y l a r g e l y due to "the l a x i t y of home d i s c i p l i n e and p a r t i c u l a r l y to the neglect on the part of parents to s t r i c t l y supervise the way i n which boys 1 ft and g i r l s spend t h e i r evenings." Comments of both Stram-berg and Ha l l i d a y l a r g e l y echoed observations and laments of the Colonist i n 1876. 1 9 Combined with m o b i l i t y and environmental problems, teachers often had to cope with older c h i l d r e n entering the system f o r the f i r s t time and each possessing varying s k i l l s . With many schools s t i l l ungraded teachers could be faced with s i t u a t i o n s , such as that described by Inspector Burns, i n which some childr e n i n the class could read and write but know nothing of arithmetic, immigrant c h i l d r e n from the Uni-ted Kingdom might be w e l l schooled i n a l l but Canadian sub-j e c t s , and child r e n from the United States d e f i c i e n t i n 20 grammar as w e l l as i n Canadiana. In a d d i t i o n , much of the population apparently s t i l l placed l i t t l e value on education except of the "prac-t i c a l " kind. Stramberg accused many parents of keeping t h e i r c h i l d r e n i n school f o r purely m a t e r i a l i s t i c , not edu-c a t i o n a l , reasons and regarding school as usefu l only i f i t prepared young people i n the kind of knowledge which would enable them to make a commercial p r o f i t from t h e i r B r i t i s h Columbia, Eighteenth School Report, p. 231 1 9Supra, p. 75. 20 B r i t i s h Columbia, Twenty-Seventh School Report, p. 1250. 83 21 higher education. Ebenezer Robson, i n a speech to the Teachers' I n s t i t u t e , also noted many people believed that emphasis on a l i b e r a l education i n the schools spoiled a 22 good number of p o t e n t i a l farmers and mechanics. Simi-l a r l y , the Mainland Guardian questioned the value of a progressively more pedantic public school system which neg-lected the elementary subjects whereby youth would be d i -rected towards the occupations p r e v a i l i n g i n the country. To the newspaper, knowledge of the p l a i n p r i n c i p l e s of the threshing machine, or the common sense routine of the merchant's o f f i c e , would be of more value to students than the dubious knowledge "of a Greek dipthong or the speeches of Mardonius and Artabanus at the Council Board of Susa." 2 3 C e r t a i n l y , education seemed a waste of time to older boys who could earn almost as much i n the mines, f o r work req u i r i n g l i t t l e strength or s k i l l , as adults earned i n the A t l a n t i c states. As the p r i n c i p a l of Wel-l i n g t o n school pointed out, even should a boy d i s t i n g u i s h himself i n h i s studies the future held l i t t l e f o r him un-less h i s parents could a f f o r d higher education. Graduation from public school only f i t t e d a boy f o r a clerkship or a teaching p o s i t i o n . Neither provided the monetary rewards of u n s k i l l e d labouring jobs and clerkships were few and not too 21 B r i t i s h Columbia, Sixteenth Annual Report of the Public Schools by S. D. Pope, Superintendent ( V i c t o r i a : 1887), p. 212. 22 B r i t i s h Colonist, July 13, 1889. 23 Mainland Guardian, February 5, 1881. 84 e a s i l y obtained. £ t f In the c i t i e s d i s s a t i s f a c t i o n with l i b -e r a l education could r e s u l t i n s i t u a t i o n s s i m i l a r to that described i n 1887 by New Westminster High School p r i n c i p a l Stramberg. Students i n that c i t y who found the " r e s t r a i n t s and tasks inseparable from the successful working of our present system of education" not to t h e i r l i k i n g were apt to escape the taedium v i t a e by "attending, i n turn, each of the s e c t a r i a n colleges we have here." J Denominational schools, however, had d i f f i c u l t i e s of t h e i r own i n attempting to remain operational. Possibly, the popular bias against l i b e r a l education played some part i n private school problems. A l t e r n a t i v e l y , d e c l i n i n g sup-port f o r sectarian schools could be a t t r i b u t e d to parents, forced to finance public schools by taxes, being pragmatic enough to believe they should derive some benefit from the public system by e n r o l l i n g t h e i r c h i l d r e n i n i t . Again, continued apathy towards r e l i g i o u s education might bear some r e s p o n s i b i l i t y f o r the p l i g h t of r e l i g i o u s schools. Bishop S i l l i t o e noted both these l a t t e r reasons i n h i s reports of continuing d i f f i c u l t i e s i n operating Anglican schools on the mainland. Columbia College f o r g i r l s and Lome College f o r boys i n New Westminster depen-ded on church funds from England and, when these were re-duced i n 1884, diocese and schools became p r a c t i c a l l y i n s o l -24 B r i t i s h Columbia, Sixteenth School Report, p. 221. 2 5 I b i d . , p. 212. 85 vent. S i l l i t o e reported that few of h i s parishioners were wealthy, that a good secular education could be obtained i n the public schools, and that people remained d i f f i c u l t to convince i n regard to the f a t a l defect i n a non-denomina-t i o n a l system of teaching — namely the lack of r e l i g i o u s i n s t r u c t i o n ~ which church schools had attempted to cor-rect at the express wish of the parish people. Now these same parishioners refused f u l l support of Anglican schools and sent t h e i r c h i l d r e n to Roman or free schools i n d i s c r i m -i n a t e l y , seemingly without caring what type of r e l i g i o u s 26 t r a i n i n g they received or i f they received any at a l l . Eventually Columbia College closed and the church concen-trated educational funds at Yale to counter a perceived i r -27 r e l i g i o n and public depravity. Including Indian educa-t i o n the Yale school received a government grant and |60.00 per Indian student which, together with a grant from the Society f o r the Promotion of C h r i s t i a n Knowledge and s t a f -f i n g by the S i s t e r s of the Community of A l l Hallow's, en-sured s u f f i c i e n t funds and the a b i l i t y to extend education to white c h i l d r e n i n Yale and d i s t r i c t . Another A n g l i -can school opened i n the Nicola V a l l e y and moved to Kam-loops i n 1885 but experienced continuing d i f f i c u l t i e s be-cause of the large number of bachelor ranchers i n the area who made a habit of marrying young lady teachers h i r e d by the ?6 Gowen, Church Work, p. 137. 2 7 I b i d . , p. 93. OQ Peake, Anglican Church, pp. 73-74. 86 29 school. F a i l u r e to open a hoys' school i n Vancouver i n 1892 led the Bishop to conclude that i t would be hopeless to attempt competition with the public school system u n t i l h i s diocesans cared f a r more f o r r e l i g i o u s education than 30 they did at present. Anglican schools on the Island continued to sur-vive f o r p r i m a r i l y h i s t o r i c a l reasons and the predominantly B r i t i s h character of the society. Roman Catholic schools also continued to e x i s t i n sp i t e of growing f i n a n c i a l d i f -f i c u l t i e s and lack of whole-hearted support from the Catho-l i c population, l a r g e l y due to being operated by teaching r e l i g i o u s orders. Presbyterian and Methodist schools were non-existent except f o r the s h o r t - l i v e d Methodist High School opened i n New Westminster i n 1881 and closed i n 1884 when a public high school opened. Columbia Methodist Col-lege also provided some secondary education, i n addition to i t s t h e o l o g i c a l t r a i n i n g , f o r boarders from outside the 31 c i t y . Bishop S i l l i t o e c l e a r l y considered public schools non-religious but they appeared acceptable to the majority of parents i n the province and apparently to most of the Protestant clergy as a g i t a t i o n f o r more r e l i g i o n i n the public system, noted i n 1880 to 1883, disappeared. As pre-vious demands had produced no government ac t i o n , however, 2 9Kamloops Daily Sentinel, June 29, 1968. 3 0Gowen, Church Work, p. 192. 3 1George C e c i l Hacker, "The Methodist Church i n B r i -t i s h Columbia, 1859-1900" (B. A. Essay, University of B r i -t i s h Columbia, 1933), pp. 166-68. 87 i t i s possible that most people simply gave up any hope of change. Ce r t a i n l y , only one protest against government p o l i c y can be located i n the nineteenth century a f t e r 1883. As noted, the School Act of 1876 had barred clergymen from o f f i c i a l positions i n the school system and t h i s ban was reaffirmed i n l a t e r Acts. Apparently the clause was over-looked u n t i l 1891, however, as only i n that year did the M i n i s t e r i a l Association of B r i t i s h Columbia p e t i t i o n against "unjust and offensive d i s c r i m i n a t i o n . " Basing i t s protest on the a s s e r t i o n that "any man who pays f o r govern-ment ought to have a l l the r i g h t s and p r i v i l e g e s of a c i t i -zen," the Association requested removal of the clause as "the character and education of the class proscribed should protect them from the stigma which t h i s clause casts upon them." 3 2 On the other hand, Protestant clergymen could have been f u l l y aware of the continuing, i f l a r g e l y u n o f f i c i a l , influence of t h e i r churches i n the school system. Thus, school buildings could s t i l l serve as church centres and church premises as public classrooms p a r t i c u l a r l y i n newer communities. Salmon Arm trustees granted the Methodist Church permission to use school premises f o r church ser-v i c e s and continued to do so i n s p i t e of teacher objections. Mr. Irwin, the teacher, contended that church people l e f t the classroom d i r t y and that church services upset the 32 B r i t i s h Columbia, L e g i s l a t i v e Assembly, Sessional Papers 54 V i c t . , 1891, p. 407. 88 school. Church a u t h o r i t i e s denied the f i r s t of Mr. Irwin's charges and counter-attacked with the claim that i t had been necessary to clean the schoolroom before services as well as a f t e r . A t t r i b u t i n g most of the trouble to p o l i t i -c a l s t r i f e e x i s t i n g between Mr. Irwin and some of the t r u s -tees, the Department of Education dismissed the teacher f o l -33 lowing an i n v e s t i g a t i o n . ^ Rossland's f i r s t school opened i n the Methodist Church i n 1895 and the pastor, D. D. Birks, was employed as teacher. This f i r s t school, opened by the s e t t l e r s i n view of government r e f u s a l to consider b u i l d i n g u n t i l assured of a stable community, was replaced by a gov-ernment school i n the following year and Mr. Birks resigned i n favour of a lay t e a c h e r . 3 4 Also worthy of note i s Hector Stramberg's teaching record as p r i n c i p a l of both the Metho-d i s t High School i n New Westminster and also of the public high school which replaced the church i n s t i t u t e . At the same time, Protestant clergymen played a very prominent part i n the Teachers' I n s t i t u t e s . Reports of I n s t i t u t e meetings prove the almost i n v a r i a b l e presence of clergymen, t h e i r treatment as p a r t i c u l a r l y honoured guests, and the opening of meetings with prayer. Hence, at the January 2, 1890 dinner meeting of the Mainland Tea-chers' I n s t i t u t e the four clergymen i n attendance sat i n the places of honour, together with members of the school 33 B r i t i s h Columbia, L e g i s l a t i v e Assembly, Sessional Papers 59 V i c t . , 1896, pp. 629-36. 3 4 R o s s l a n d Miner, March 1, 1962. 89 board. 3 5 At the following meeting teachers conferred honour-ary membership on the Reverend Messrs. Robson, Hobson, Ped-36 l e y , McLaren, and McLeod. Donald Fraser, minister of Second Presbyterian Church i n V i c t o r i a , a c t i v e l y p a r t i c i -pated i n meetings and addressed the Convention i n 1885 on "morality as i t should be taught i n our schools, confining h i s remarks to the demands of the School Act that no r e l i -37 gious dogmas or creed should be taught." In 1886 he again presented a t a l k on morality and made " v a l i d sug-38 gestions" f o r i t s teaching. Ebenezer Robson, of the Methodist Church, endorsed Fraser 1s views, i n advising tea-chers that they were l a y i n g the foundations of students' l i v e s both here and beyond. Therefore, precept and example must be employed as w e l l as sound scholarship and the highest morality must be i n c u l c a t e d . 3 9 Considering the many speeches on the subject, i t i s apparent that confusion continued to surround the meaning of "highest morality." However, as teachers c a l l e d on clergymen f o r explanations i t i s also c l e a r that a r e l a t i o n s h i p between morality and r e l i g i o n existed i n the 35 ^Vancouver Daily World, January 2, 1890. 3 6 I b i d . , January 4, 1890. 37 • " B r i t i s h Columbia, F i f t e e n t h Annual Report of the Public Schools by S. D. Pope, Superintendent ( V i c t o r i a : 1886), p. 184. 3 8 B r i t i s h Colonist, July 16, 1886. 3 9 I b i d . , July 13, 1889. 90 teachers' assumptions. At least one member of the public concurred with t h i s view as a l e t t e r i n the Colonist recom-mended that every school.should have two charts i n s c r i b e d , i n c l e a r type, with the Ten Commandments, the Golden Rule, the Proverbs of Solomon, and the Great Commandment as the basis of moral t r a i n i n g . 4 0 Whether or not clergy advice a l l e v i a t e d d i f f i -c u l t i e s and how many teachers a c t u a l l y taught s p e c i f i c moral lessons are l a r g e l y matters f o r conjecture. Most school reports consisted of s t a t i s t i c a l records of enrol-lment and attendance plus short reports of general progress, d i s c i p l i n e , and conditions. High schools, however, p r o v i -ded more de t a i l e d and philosophical discourses which re-veal that one p r i n c i p a l f i r m l y believed chil d r e n i n the pub-l i c schools received i n s u f f i c i e n t preparation i n moral edu-cation. Therefore, according to Stramberg, the r e s t r a i n t s and severe d i s c i p l i n e required i n higher education could not be borne by pupils which proved the necessity of an e t h i c a l catechism i n the high schools and higher grades of the elementary schools. In addi t i o n , he s t i p u l a t e d that "boys and g i r l s seeking promotion be required to pass an ex-amination i n p r a c t i c a l and t h e o r e t i c a l morality." 4*'" Re-ceiving no support f o r h i s suggestion and no catechism f o r the schools, Stramberg stressed the same need eight years 4 0 I b i d . , February 28, 1890. 4 1 B r i t i s h Columbia, Sixteenth School Report, p. 212. 91 l a t e r i n view of teachers' needs f o r help and guidance to unfold whatever of lat e n t good there i s i n the hearts of the young and so to develop the f r u i t s and form those i d e a l s that are the groundwork not only of a moral but also of a t r u l y r e l i g -ious l i f e . 4 2 V i c t o r i a ' s p r i n c i p a l also sensed a need f o r more moral edu-cation but proposed s t r e s s i n g vocal music and l i n e a r draw-ing rather than a catechism. . Adding these two subjects to the curriculum,he believed, would awaken the students to beauty and make them s t o u t l y zealous to show that grander beauty of moral sentiment and ac t i o n which t e l l s of an o r i g i n from that heavenly land which s i n has not d e f i l e d and sorrow has not defaced.43 Obviously, these two p r i n c i p a l s did not believe the public schools adequately trained students i n morality. Moreover, comments i n the reports d e f i n i t e l y equated morality with r e l i g i o n . As Inspectors seemingly f e l t impelled i n report a f -te r report to remind teachers not to overlook moral edu-cation, to stress i t s importance, and to enumerate i t s com-ponent parts, i t can be i n f e r r e d that teachers tended to avoid any e x p l i c i t moral t r a i n i n g f o r t h e i r students. Un-doubtedly many teachers remained wary of the whole realm of moral education, p a r t i c u l a r l y following the Nicholson controversy and the ambiguity of the "highest morality," and preferred to ignore t h i s teaching l e s t they inadver-4 2 B r i t i s h Columbia, Twenty-Fourth Annual Report of the Public Schools by S. D. Pope, Superintendent ( V i c t o r i a : 1895), p. 227. 4 3 B r i t i s h Columbia, Twenty-First Annual Report of the Public Schools by S. D. Pope, Superintendent ( V i c t o r i a : 1892;, p. 188. 92 t e n t l y stray into forbidden t e r r i t o r y . Such fears would be enhanced by the controversy aroused by a teacher accused of speaking s l i g h t i n g l y of r e l i g i o n and advising h i s students that they might go to church a l l t h e i r l i v e s and never l e a r n anything. P u b l i c l y c h a s t i s i n g the teacher, the Colonist reminded him, and the p u b l i c , that atheism or i n f i d e l i s m had no more place i n the schools than r e l i g i o n . 4 4 Meanwhile, teachers not only faced ambiguities i n regard to moral content but i n teaching method as w e l l . Reminding teachers that one of the main objects of school i n s t r u c t i o n should be to encourage "reasoning rather than mere memorizing" and thereby "evoke . . . the pupil's own e f f o r t s , to produce s e l f - r e l i a n c e , and to gain conscious-46 ness of capacity," Inspectors deplored rote learning as the predominant teaching method. Paced with constantly changing, unstable classroom populations, due to a migra-tory work force i n the province and lack of a f i x e d school entry date, many teachers considered rote learning the only f e a s i b l e method. To the Colonist, however, such teaching res u l t e d i n p u p i l s ' minds being treated as sponges, soaking up learning but not expected to do anything. Consequently, c h i l d r e n had no idea of how to use t h e i r brains outside the 4 4 B r i t i s h Colonist, November 7, 1885. 4-5 ^ B r i t i s h Columbia, Twenty-Second Annual Report of the Public Schools by S. D. Pope, Superintendent ( V i c t o r i a : 1893), p. 522. 4-6 B r i t i s h Columbia, Twentieth Annual Report of the Public Schools by S. D. Pope, Superintendent ( V i c t o r i a : 1891), p. 179. 93 classroom and must e x i s t i n an adult world by t r i a l and er-ro r . Therefore, as poring over books did not equal educa-t i o n the schools' aim should not be to turn out sponges but to produce men with trained bodies and minds. 4* 7 At the same time, no learning at a l l could be a c h i -eved without d i s c i p l i n e . Moral education s p e c i f i c a l l y r e -quired students to learn kindness and courtesy; obedience to i n s t r u c t o r s ; diligence i n study; and conformity to school r u l e s . As f a i l u r e to learn and practice these moral a t t r i -butes always resulted i n punishment i n the school textbooks i t would be natural to expect u n d i s c i p l i n e d behaviour to re-su l t i n chastisement i n the classroom. Teachers received d i s c i p l i n a r y powers from a clause i n the 1872 Rules and Re-gulations — and continued i n subsequent Acts — s t a t i n g that teachers must practice such d i s c i p l i n e i n School as would be ex-ercised by a judicious parent i n the family, avoi-ding corporal punishment except when i t s h a l l ap-pear to him to be imperatively necessary.48 Hector Stramberg reported that parents i n New Westminster w i l l i n g l y allowed the use of corporal punishment i n order to prove to t h e i r c h i l d r e n that the teacher had u n r e s t r i c -ted authority. As a r e s u l t , Stramberg continued, the threat was often enough to ensure d i s c i p l i n e without the 4-9 rod a c t u a l l y having to be used. ^ Nevertheless, Superin-4 7 B r i t i s h Colonist, March 31, 1889. 4.8 ^ B r i t i s h Columbia, F i r s t School Report, p. 19. ^ B r i t i s h Columbia, Nineteenth JSchool Report, p. 144. 94 tendent Pope reported an "alarming" t o t a l of 2,446 cases of corporal punishment i n the year 1894-95 and that more than h a l f had occurred i n less than twenty of the two hundred and 50 two schools i n the province.-' Severity of t h i s order prom-pted Pope to remind teachers that, while the "judicious parent" clause gave authority to use the rod, corporal pun-ishment should be avoided except when absolutely necessary. Too frequent use of the rod usu a l l y indicated incompetency and, according to Pope, only represented one means of d i s -c i p l i n e and not the only nor the best means at the command of the teacher. . . . The teacher who uses moral sua-sion e f f e c t i v e l y i n the government of h i s school w i l l accomplish the best r e s u l t s , not only i n the moral t r a i n i n g of the pupils but i n t h e i r i n t e l -l e c t u a l advancement.51 Certainly moral suasion rather than corporal pun-ishment would provide a better example of kindness -and courtesy f o r c h i l d r e n to follow . Teacher example s t i l l r e -mained the best method of ensuring moral learning, accor-ding to school a u t h o r i t i e s . Thus, Superintendents continu-a l l y reminded trustees of School Act provisions which demon-strated that the Legislature considered "the moral f i t n e s s of the candidate ( f o r teacher c e r t i f i c a t i o n or appointment) 52 to be of paramount importance." Therefore, high moral worth and culture are credentials which 50 B r i t i s h Columbia, Twenty-Fourth School Report, p. 201. 5 1 I b i d . 52 B r i t i s h Columbia, Twenty-First School Report, p. 152. 95 Trustees i n the proper discharge of t h e i r duties, cannot lose sight of. The applicant f o r a p o s i -t i o n i n any of our schools should be required, before r e c e i v i n g an appointment, to f u r n i s h sat-i s f a c t o r y evidence of h i s possession of these two very important q u a l i f i c a t i o n s . 5 3 Concerned teachers, such as Mary R. Davidson of New Westmin-s t e r G i r l s ' School, expressed unease at parental neglect of classroom v i s i t a t i o n and apparent unconcern regarding the type of person to whom they had entrusted the moral and i n -54 t e l l e c t u a l t r a i n i n g of t h e i r c h i l d r e n . Superintendent Pope also charged trustees with neglecting to check on teachers' conduct i n the classroom and, thereby, often r e t a i n i n g the services of apathetic or incapable i n s t r u c t o r s unable to 55 d i s c i p l i n e or i n s p i r e students. Possibly due to the f e e l i n g that trustees and parents were neglecting t h e i r school duties, Pope seemed impelled to lecture teachers on t h e i r moral duties. Accor-dingly, the Superintendent warned that i r r e v e r e n t or f l i p p a n t remarks by the teacher, i n or out of school, are a sure index of a shallow mind and of ignorance assuming s u p e r i o r i t y . The especia l care of the teacher should be to i n c u l -cate courtesy, f i d e l i t y , truthfulness, i n t e g r i t y , and thoroughness of work, together with the duty of showing reverence to a l l to whom i t i s due.5° S i m i l a r l y , two years l a t e r he underlined the importance of implanting moral p r i n c i p l e s i n students' hearts s t a t i n g i t 5 3 B r i t i s h Columbia, Twentieth School Report, p. 177. 54. " ^ B r i t i s h Columbia, Fourteenth Annual Report of the Public Schools by S. D. Pope, Superintendent ( V i c t o r i a : 1885), p. 317. 5 5 B r i t i s h Columbia, F i f t e e n t h School Report, p. 138. - ^ B r i t i s h Columbia, Fourteenth School Report, p. 311. 96 was a poor teacher who would not s t r i v e to infuse "some germs of goodness, and a love f o r t r u t h , honesty, and the 57 other v i r t u e s . " - " Moreover, Pope noted that while a tea-cher might rank high i n q u a l i f y i n g examinations he would not be equipped f o r h i s work unless he also possessed c u l - ture. This was p a r t i c u l a r l y important as teachers' manners and actions could have a r e f i n i n g influence on the charac-t e r of highly i m i t a t i v e c h i l d r e n and implant a love of v i r -tue and morality. Therefore, "there should be no room i n the profession f o r him who does not combine the gentleman 58 with the scholar."^ In s p i t e of Pope's dictum, however, some teachers s t i l l openly displayed ungentlemanly or unvirtuous behaviour. Superintendent McKenzie fs dismissal i n 1884 ended the pub-l i c d i splay of superintendent-teacher animosity which ten-ded to weaken the schools' moral d i s c i p l i n a r y f o r c e . P o l i -t i c a l issues continued to emerge, however, and often p i t t e d teacher against teacher or teachers against the Department of Education and the government. One such issue was the mat-t e r of teacher s a l a r i e s and the demand, according to James Wesbitt, f o r more money and l e s s work. During a l e g i s l a t i v e debate on the subject John Robson claimed that teacher de-mands amounted to insubordination which must be put down and Robert Dunsmuir c a l l e d many teachers "a disgrace to t h e i r so-57 ^ B r i t i s h Columbia, Fourteenth School Report, p. 311. • ^ B r i t i s h Columbia, Sixteenth School Report, p. 196. 97 59 c a l l e d profession" and "led by c r a n k s . " ^ Apparently s a l a -r i e s , at one time higher than i n other provinces, had drop-ped below those paid i n Ontario and Seattle i n 1895 while the cost of l i v i n g rose above that of comparable c i t i e s to V i c t o r i a . V i c t o r i a ' s school board, however, advised a pe-t i t i o n e r that i f teachers were not s a t i s f i e d they could leave 60 and took no acti o n to r a i s e s a l a r i e s . Further contention arose over the system of d a i l y marking i n the schools and soon embroiled teachers, news-papers, and p o l i t i c i a n s . Following a V i c t o r i a High School teacher's complaint over dismissal f o r not keeping proper records, the government opposition charged the M i n i s t e r of Education with f i r i n g teachers and c a n c e l l i n g c e r t i f i c a t e s 61 of those not i n favour of the government. Acrimonious controversy continued as the Mainland Teachers' I n s t i t u t e passed a r e s o l u t i o n expressing confidence i n both Superin-tendent and Department and p r a i s i n g the harmonious r e l a t i o n s Co e x i s t i n g between them. Far from quieting s t r i f e , however, the r e s o l u t i o n enhanced dispute. Alexander Robinson, a Van-couver High School teacher, accused teachers of passing the 63 r e s o l u t i o n i n fear of Inspector Wilson; a Moodeyvill tea-64 cher supported Robinson's charge; another teacher then 59 J^Vancouver Sun, August 22, 1970, p. 9. 6°Colonist ( V i c t o r i a ) , March 7, 1965, p. 11. 61 B r i t i s h Colonist, A p r i l 29, 1890. 62 Vancouver Daily World, January 12, 1891. 6 3 I b i d . 64. Daily News-Advertiser (Vancouver), January 11, 1891. 98 accused Robinson of being from the East — thereby being un-f i t to comment on p r o v i n c i a l matters — r i d i n g "roughshod" over other capable teachers, obtaining h i s B. A. "by accident," of being jealous of the high school p r i n c i p a l whom he thought had i n s t i g a t e d the r e s o l u t i o n , and of being u n f i t to teach ge because of v u l g a r i t y and "execrable language;" J and Robin-66 son defended himself by attacking the Daily World's grammar. Clearly someone was l y i n g or stret c h i n g the tr u t h i n the wel-te r of charge and counter-charge yet these teachers had a r e s p o n s i b i l i t y to " i n s t i l l the love of t r u t h and high p r i n c i -67 pies i n c h i l d r e n " under t h e i r care. I f teacher example could not be f u l l y r e l i e d on i n the teaching of moral behaviour then i t might be advisable to t r y a l i t t l e judicious bribery. Convinced that i n t r i n s i c r e -wards f o r moral and academic excellence would not prove suf-f i c i e n t to i n s p i r e students, Jessop attempted to introduce a system of e x t r i n s i c rewards, i n the form of school prizes and merit cards. Such a system, he believed, would be "a great inducement f o r teachers, trustees, and parents to en-go courage t h e i r c h i l d r e n i n t h e i r e f f o r t s to excel." In j u s t i f i c a t i o n of tangible rewards Jessop quoted Ryerson's b e l i e f that, as i n the Divine Government, everyone should be rewarded according to h i s works and that 6 5 D a i l y World, January 12, 1891. 66 Daily News-Advertiser, January 11, 1891. 6 7 D a i l y World, January 12, 1891. go B r i t i s h Columbia, Fourth School Report, p. 11. 99 i t i s the very order of Providence and a maxim of Revelation, that the hand of the d i l i g e n t maketh r i c h , while idleness tendeth to poverty; that to him that hath (that i s improved what he hath) s h a l l be given and the neglecter should be sent empty away. 69 Two teachers at the 1875 Teachers' Convention, however, con-demned b r i b i n g c h i l d r e n with candies, books, or any other means and t h e i r r e s o l u t i o n passed. 7 0 Therefore, no merit system existed u n t i l Pope became Superintendent i n 1884 and c i r c u l a r i z e d a l l teachers advising that a R o l l of Honor L i s t would be established f o r each public school i n the province. On t h i s r o l l would be the names of the three pupils who achieved f i r s t rank i n Deportment; Punctuality and Regularity; and P r o f i c i e n c y , with each of these s t u -71 dents also receiving a Card of Merit. A d d i t i o n a l l y , morality could be taught i n i n f o r -mal lessons more e f f e c t i v e l y than i n formal courses which existed i n Ontario but not i n B r i t i s h Columbia. As In-spector Burns stated, and as noted i n Chapter Three of t h i s paper, the school textbooks "furnish(ed) ample opportunities to anyone d e s i r i n g to use them" f o r informal moral educa-72 t i o n ; However, Superintendent Pope recommended and author-ized a new series of school books i n 1884 and i t remains to be seen whether or not the new texts provided the same or better moral lessons than the Canadian Series and whether 6 9 I b i d . 7 0 B r i t i s h Colonist, July 9, 1875. 71 B r i t i s h Columbia, Thirteenth School Report, p. 172. 72 B r i t i s h Columbia, Twenty-Second School Report, P. 522. 1 0 0 they supported the conclusion that the "highest morality" meant a r e l i g i o u s morality from which a l l other v i r t u e s de-r i v e d . CHAPTER FIVE TEXTBOOK RELIGION AM) MORALITY Containing a "number of p r a c t i c a l and moral l e s -sons given with a view to influence the p u p i l s ' every-day l i f e , " 1 W. J . Gage and Company's Educational Series r e -placed the Canadian Series i n the public school system of B r i t i s h Columbia. To be used i n a l l schools organized a f t e r 1884, the new series would be gradually introduced i n t o a l l schools, with w r i t t e n approval of trustees, u n t i l only the Gage readers would be authorized a f t e r June 30, 1885. Superintendent Pope gave no reason f o r the change i n Series except to say that the Canadian Series proved un-s a t i s f a c t o r y . Ontario had experienced s i m i l a r d i s s a t i s f a c -t i o n with the Canadian readers and authorized the Gage Ser-ies and the Royal Readers f o r p r o v i n c i a l schools. As book prices decrease as copy-runs increase and vice versa, cost probably played a large part i n B r i t i s h Columbia's de-sion i n favour of the Gage Series. Gage's readers were based on ones "prepared by J . M. D. Meiklejohn, Professor of Education at the Uni v e r s i t y of Saint Andrews i n Scotland, and edited by Canadian educa-^ B r i t i s h Columbia, Thirteenth School Report, p. 157. 2 I b i d . , p. 156. 3 Parvin, Authorization of Textbooks, p. 5 3 . 101 102 t i o n i s t s f o r use i n the Schools of Canada."4 Arrangement of the e n t i r e reading course i n the order i n which i t should be taught and c l a s s i f i c a t i o n of material according to i t s complexity provided two good reasons f o r adoption of the new series i n a country s t i l l s u f f e r i n g a shortage of experienced teachers. S i m i l a r l y , a l i s t of questions f o l -lowed nearly every lesson which equipped teachers with ready-made seat work or o r a l tests of reading comprehension. Unfortunately, however, questions predominantly required . only simple r e c a l l which tested only the most basic l e v e l of comprehension and provided no stimulus to independent thought• According to the B r i t i s h Columbia Rules and Regu-l a t i o n s of 1876, and a l l subsequent years, teachers' moral duties consisted simply of the requirement to "inculcate the highest morality" and students assumed r e s p o n s i b i l i t y f o r learning other v i r t u e s . At the same time, Superintendent and Inspectors warned that the teacher^s duty was "to t r a i n h i s pupils i n a l l those elements which contribute to the formation of a good character." He must also inculcate a l l the "virtues that grace childhood" and have students " as f a m i l i a r with the Golden Rule as with the m u l t i p l i c a t i o n table"because 4W. J . Gage & Co.'s Educational Series, The P i r s t Primer (Toronto: W. J . Gage and Company, 1881), t i t l e page. 5 •'Parvin, Authorization of Textbooks, p. 58. 6 Supra, p. 64. 103 the teacher has i t i n h i s power to so deeply en-grave a difference between good and e v i l upon the mind of h i s pupils that i t w i l l remain with them throughout l i f e . ' 7 Pope also reminded teachers of the recognized f a c t that "moral truths can be taught even i n the absence of secta-r i a n forms and without r e f e r r i n g to any dogma or creed." In l i k e manner to the "highest morality" clause i n School Acts and Rules and Regulations, Pope's wording i n regard to moral teaching i n f e r s a r e l i g i o u s morality. S i m i l a r l y , Inspector Burns separated v i r t u e s from morality i n s t a t i n g that the school's chief advantage lay i n the habits of study and a t t e n t i o n thereby f o r -med; of cleanliness and order there learned; of obedience, punctuality, and forethought there required; and of temperance and morality there im-planted i n t o t h e i r (the students) very nature.9 Therefore, teachers' duties and conceptions of moral edu-cation i n the schools appear l i t t l e changed from those p r e v a i l i n g during the years when the Canadian Series was used i n the public school system. I f Acts, Rules, and preconceptions envisioned an unaltered morality and set of v i r t u e s then did the Gage Series present the same un-changed view? As the Rules and Regulations merely required the teaching of the "highest morality" so the Gage Readers appeared to have one main theme, with three subordinate con-^ B r i t i s h Columbia, Twenty-Sixth School Report, p. 199. o B r i t i s h Columbia, Sixteenth School Report, p. 196. q B r i t i s h Columbia, Twenty-Second School Report, p. 522. 104 cerns, rather than emphasizing s p e c i f i c v i r t u e s or component parts of morality. Thus, b e l i e f i n God the Creator and Su-preme Being; f a i t h i n a f i n a l judgement and the necessity of atonement; and C h r i s t i a n teachings, i n various guises, per-meated the e n t i r e s e r i e s . Under t h i s a l l encompassing tenet could be found the subordinate themes of industry, brother-hood, and temperance which included w i t h i n them v i r t u e s de-manded i n the "formation of a good character." Conse-quently, i n retrospect at l e a s t , the Gage Readers appear much more subtle and sophisticated than the Canadian Series. An i n d i r e c t approach c a r r i e s with i t the p o s s i b i l i t y of i n -d i v i d u a l lessons f a i l i n g to make t h e i r point but the cumu-l a t i v e e f f e c t of the whole could produce a s i g n i f i c a n t im-pact on the student. Hence, a cursory examination of the two primers and f i r s t four books of the Gage Series could lead to the conclusion that r e l i g i o u s teachings had been v i r t u a l l y elim-inated. B i b l e passages comprised approximately ten of the over 1,500 pages of the readers and only one unabashedly th e o l o g i c a l s e l e c t i o n appeared. This purported to be an account of Archbishop Lynch 1s v i s i t to Niagara P a l l s but a c t u a l l y propounded C h r i s t i a n doctrine. So Lynch observed that no C h r i s t i a n could gaze on the f a l l s and not f i n d h i s heart r a i s e d "to that great and omnipotent being by whose a l l powerful f i n g e r these mighty waters "were created." Nor could he f a i l to be entranced "by the greatness of the most 105 High" and become so f i l l e d with God that he would ask him-s e l f "what i s man?" Then h i s answer would come i n the f a l l of water which seemed a kind of sign and an account of s i n andv struggles f o r the grace given by the blood of the Word Incarnate, through which he would hope to rest forever. In the f a l l s ' splendour Lynch also perceived love, j u s t i c e , anger, calmness of soul, beauty, and the breaking of souls 10 away from God. In a d d i t i o n , however, the primers asserted that "the Lord i s nigh" and "the Lord i s n e a r , " 1 1 and that the 12 happy family included B i b l e reading i n i t s d a i l y a c t i v i t i e s . The sun had "God's time to keep a l l over the w o r l d " 1 3 and a l i t t l e g i r l conquered her fear of the dark when assured that "God was everywhere, i n the darkness as we l l as the l i g h t , and that He would not allow any harm to come to h e r . " 1 4 S i m i l a r l y , a l l the great authors whose works appeared i n the readers assumed the existence and presence of God. Thus, Tennyson saw Christ as the author of a l l good — redress, 15 manners, t r u t h , r i g h t , and good f e e l i n g ; J Anderson's L i t t l e Match G i r l shivered and died but went to l i v e with God, never 1 0Gage Series, Book IV (Toronto: W. J. Gage and Com-pany, 1883), p. 215. 1 1Gage Series, F i r s t Primer, pp. 24-26. 12 Gage Series, The Second Primer (Toronto: W. J . Gage and Company, 1881), p. 64". 13 ^Gage Series, Book 11 (Toronto: W. J. Gage and Com-pany, 1883), p. 64. 1 4 I b i d . , p. 82. 1-'Gage Series, Book 111 (Toronto: W. J. Gage and Com-pany, n.d.), p. 141. T i t l e page missing. 106 again to f e e l cold, hunger, or f e a r ; i D Bayard Taylor's "Storm Song" celebrated God's wisdom i n making so vast an ocean that ships could manoeuver e a s i l y i n a storm, and 17 f o r His c e r t a i n guidance i n t h i s l i f e and the next; and Paul Hayne r e j o i c e d i n God as the author of such miracles that a Russian congregation's heart could open to a s t a r -ving boy and h i s s i s t e r and r e s u l t i n a contribution of two thousand rubles to the poor. S i m i l a r s t o r i e s and a l -lusions could be found i n a l l the readers celebrating God as the Creator and author of a l l true happiness and good-ness i n men and nations. of the Gage Series appeared f u l l of s p e c i f i c C h r i s t i a n doctrine t o l d i n story and al l e g o r y . Unless teachers ac-ted as guides i n explaining the s i g n i f i c a n c e of many se l e c -t i o n s , however, t h e i r basic meaning could e a s i l y be over-looked. Thus, Pilgrim's Progress needs i n t e r p r e t a t i o n to connect i t with the Bi b l e and the same i s true of Addison's "A Picture of Human L i f e . " Addison portrayed l i f e as a bridge along which people struggle and f a l l , at i n t e r v a l s , through trap doors to the r i v e r below while above them f l y birds of envy, avarice, s u p e r s t i t i o n , despair, and love. Carried along on the r i v e r many pilgrims landed on one side In contrast to the other readers the Sixth Book 16 I b i d . , p. 146. 17 I b i d p. 129. 18 I b i d p. 179. 107 and s e t t l e d i n peace and contentment on b e a u t i f u l islands while others vanished from sight i n t o the cloud-covered mystery of the other s i d e . 1 9 Anyone f a m i l i a r with the B i b l e and Church dogma could r e a d i l y unfold these a l l e g o r i c a l e n i -gmas but most students would require an i n t e r p r e t e r along the way. The same would be true, to a l e s s e r extent, of the a l l e g o r i c a l story of "The Changed Cross" i n which a man despaired of carrying the load required of him and grasped at the chance to change i t f o r another. Choosing f i r s t a cross set with sparkling jewels he found i t too heavy so selected another wreathed i n flowers only to discover i t too f u l l of thorns f o r comfort. F i n a l l y he again shouldered h i s old cross and decided that . . . henceforth my one desire s h a l l be, That He who knows me best choose f o r me; And so whate'er His love sees good to send, 2 n I ' l l t r u s t i t ' s best because He knows the end. As with r e l i g i o u s teachings so a C h r i s t i a n j u s t i -f i c a t i o n f o r "good" behaviour appeared only once i n a d i r -ect form when the F i r s t Primer t o l d c h i l d r e n t h a t . " a l l you 21 do and a l l you say, God can see and hear." Essays and s t o r i e s , however, i n d i r e c t l y stressed and j u s t i f i e d the highest C h r i s t i a n morality of loving one's neighbour as one-s e l f . In t h i s manner, the Reverend Mr. Punshon wrote that 19 ^Gage Series, Book VI (Toronto: W. J. Gage and Company, 1884), p. 146. 2 0 I b i d . , p. 134. 21 Gage Series, F i r s t Primer, p. 23. 108 God taught i n the Scriptures of a universa l brotherhood of man and so no man could release himself from h i s common bond with a l l mankind as God meant each man to be his bro-p ther's keeper and to love him even though hating h i s deeds. Accordingly, Abou Ben Adhem's name led the l i s t of those who loved the Lord following h i s prayer that the angel merely 23 record h i s name as one who loved h i s fellow-men. J L i k e -wise, S i r Launfal learned that even a leper i s made i n the image of God and that i n g i v i n g of himself to those i n need he had found the Holy G r a i l which resides In whatso we sha e wit another's need, In what we give and what we share — For the g i f t without the giv e r i s bare. Who gives himself with h i s alms f o r these three — Himself, h i s hungering neighbour, and Me.24 Such champions of love would walk unchallenged through the gates of Heaven and s i t beside the throne of God while the champions of va l o r , even though men gained freedom through brave deeds, must wait and show t h e i r scars and prove t h e i r f i g h t e r s of unjust wars came alone to death, with no guide or comforter, and must answer then f o r the kind of l i f e l ed on earth. Springing from the love of mankind, C h r i s t i a n v i r -tues consisted simply of doing ordinary things i n an extra-worth. 25 Meanwhile, the p r i d e f u l seekers a f t e r riches and 22 Gage Series, Book IV, p. 226. 23 I b i d p. 132. 24 Gage Series, Book VI, p. 311. 25 Gage Series, Book 111, p. 131. 109 ordinary way. Hence, the noble, gentle, and regal s p i r i t "over-rides and puts aside a l l petty, p a l t r y f e e l i n g s and 26 . . . elevates a l l l i t t l e things." So men achieved n o b i l -i t y and greatness from modest, genuine, transparent, and de l i b e r a t e l y pursued independent thought; from small kind-nesses done to others each day; from attempts to make others happy; from overcoming prejudices, d i f f i c u l t i e s , sin, and temptation; i n c l e a r l y perceiving t r u t h ; and walking a l -ways i n the cause of good. Thus, the good man came nearer to the l i f e of Christ and compelled others to follow i n h i s footsteps by h i s good example so that the good thoughts, the good deeds, the good memor-ies of those who have been the s a l t and l i g h t of the earth do not perish with t h e i r departure — they l i v e on s t i l l . 2 7 Brotherhood continued to be e x t o l l e d i n s t o r i e s which, while not overtly r e l i g i o u s , were based on C h r i s t i a n teachings. In t h i s way, s t o r i e s of heroes often demonstra-ted that "greater love hath no man than t h i s , that a man 28 lay down h i s l i f e f o r h i s f r i e n d s . " Thus, when only one man could be sent to safety before a dynamite explosion oc-curred i n a Cornish mine, W i l l unhesitatingly chose to re-29 main behind so that h i s partner might be saved. S i m i l a r l y , the Lake Erie p i l o t , i n the story also included i n the Cana-dian Series, chose to remain at h i s post and give up h i s l i f e 2 6 I b i d . , p. 131. 2 7 I b i d . 2 8 J o h n 15:13. 2 9Gage Series, Book IV, p. 92. 110 30 to save h i s f e l l o w crewmen and passengers; Dickens t o l d of the brave s a i l o r who died saving men stranded on a rock 31 a f t e r a shipwreck;-' and S i r P h i l i p Sidney though mortally wounded thought of others f i r s t i n g i v i n g h i s badly needed cup of water to another wounded s o l d i e r Without one leas t complaining word, Without one singe sigh, He y i e l d s the cup; he simply says, He needs i t more than 1.32 Giving one's l i f e f o r another was not confined to one race as i l l u s t r a t e d i n the story of Mungo Park who received s h e l -t e r , comfort, and food from a native A f r i c a n woman when no-one else would r i s k g i v i n g a i d to one who might prove an 33 enemy. I l l u s t r a t i n g both brotherhood and the Parable of the Talents, the story of the plum cakes demonstrated wise use of possessions. Giving h i s three sons twelve plum cakes each a farmer demanded an accounting twelve days l a t e r . W i l l reported that l i f e was short so he ate h i s cakes r i g h t away, a f t e r h i s brothers were i n bed, but suffered f o r i t the next day. Tom locked h i s cakes i n a box but found them mouldy and u n f i t to eat when he took them out. Jack con-fided that he had eaten one cake each day to satisfy, h i s d a i l y needs but also shared each with h i s friends and gained h i s father's love by h i s wise use of what he received. 3 0 I b i d . , p. 141. 31 Gage Series, Book V (Toronto: W. J . Gage and Company, 1883), p. 265. 3 2 I b i d . , p. 79. 33 -^Gage Series, Book 111, p. 55. I l l Under the general theme of brotherhood could be classed many s t o r i e s i l l u s t r a t i n g v i r t u e s obligatory f o r childre n to learn and teachers to teach. Some of these r e-quired a t t r i b u t e s , however, could not be taught s o l e l y by textbook examples as was possible with the Canadian Series. Cleanliness, t i d i n e s s , and decency (or avoidance of profan-i t y ) s t o r i e s , f o r example, occupied no part of the Gage readers. And truthfulness and honesty (or avoidance of falsehood and deceit) appeared i n only two selections — once i n an excerpt from King Richard 11 when John of Gaunt t o l d h i s son that "there i s no v i r t u e l i k e honesty," J J and once i n a fable of the fox and the crow which warned against flattery.- Obedience and respect f o r superiors received s l i g h t l y more attention i n s t o r i e s s i m i l a r to those i n the Canadian readers. Thus, the t a l e of the f o o l i s h mouse taught c h i l d r e n to l i s t e n to t h e i r elders, p a r t i c u l a r l y to mothers with a n e v e r - f a i l i n g love as demonstrated i n s t o r i e s of a mother sheep, cat, hen, and polar bear and celebrated by 37 W i l l i a n Cowper i n h i s poem "On My Mother's Pi c t u r e . " One se l e c t i o n also praised the d i s c i p l i n e which resulted i n the 3ft saving of many l i v e s i n a troop ship d i s a s t e r . Three more s t o r i e s praised an unthinking f i d e l i t y to duty and the 3 4 I b i d . , p. 40. 35 Gage Series 36 n o „ ~, 38, Book V, p. 179. Book 11, P. 95. Book VI, p. 76. Book V, p. 330. 112 c h i l d must commit to memory a poem e x t o l l i n g f i d e l i t y and perseverance i n which I l i v e f o r those who love me For those who know me true, For the heaven that smiles above me And awaits my s p i r i t too; For the cause that needs assistance For the wrong that needs resistance For the future i n the distance For the good that I can do.39 Not doing good or r i g h t required repentance and atonement before the c h i l d could regain communion with h i s fellow-men. Thus, Susan refused a crown of flowers as reward f o r being the best g i r l i n school and the most obedient when she r e -c a l l e d the l i e t o l d to her grandmother. U n t i l confession of her s i n her conscience refused her contentment and only r e -pentance brought Susan once again into a l o v i n g r e l a t i o n s h i p with her grandmother and f r i e n d s . 4 0 S i m i l a r l y , Charlie's father expressly requested that the peach tree's f r u i t not be eaten but Charlie allowed h i s friends to do so and joined i n t a s t i n g the forbidden f r u i t . His remorse was so great that he returned a l l h i s birthday presents and suffered ex-treme pangs of g u i l t u n t i l confession had been made and h i s father's respect r e g a i n e d . 4 1 In l i k e manner to the Canadian Series, kindness and courtesy received most at t e n t i o n i n the Gage Readers. As with the other v i r t u e s , i l l u s t r a t i o n s of kindness and cour-jyGage Series, Book 111, p. 43. 4 0Gage Series, Book 11, p. 110. 4 1Gage Series, Book 111, p. 97. 113 tesy employed animal s t o r i e s . Accordingly, tales appeared of dogs being tenderly cared f o r , making friends with cats, helping older dogs, and saving l i v e s ; boys learning not to k i l l or harm b i r d s ; a donkey saying thank you f o r h i s lunch; a g i r l r a i s i n g baby chicks whose mother deserted them; two goats deferring to each other on a narrow bridge; and a l i o n , fox, and ass teaching avoidance of the unjust and c r u e l . In a d d i t i o n , a family's New Year's r e s o l u t i o n consisted of prom-i s i n g to be kinder and more thoughtful; one hoped f o r a kind and d u t i f u l daughter; and four sunbeams spread joy and kind-ness to homes i n need of brightness. Kindness, or brother-hood, could also be taught together with new s k i l l s so that the c h i l d ' s f i r s t w r i t i n g lesson consisted of the i n j u n c t i o n to "do a l l the good you can, i n a l l the ways you can, j u s t 42 as long as you can, to a l l the people you can."^" Likewise, counting combined with kindness i n the verse One, two, three, four, f i v e , I caught a hare a l i v e ; Six, seven, eight, nine, ten, I l e t him go again.43 And the c h i l d learning to subtract also learned to share as "Peter had seven plums, gave three to h i s s i s t e r , and then was so kind that he gave the rest to me."44 While kindness and brotherhood might not always be repaid, proved by s t o r i e s of snakes being rescued by men and then turning on them, men must persevere i n t h e i r e f f o r t s . 42 Gage Series, F i r s t Primer, p. 24. 4 3 I b i d . , p. 27. 4 4Gage Series, Second Primer, p. 23. 114 In time then, men might turn from a world of s o c i a l i n j u s -t i c e , r e l i g i o u s intolerance, and p o l i t i c a l tyranny i n order to work f o r a Utopia i n which natural human v i r t u e would r e a l i z e the needs of s e c u r i t y , equality, brotherhood, and freedom, f o r which the very i n s t i t u t i o n of society was f o r -med. Left behind would be a society i n which the r i c h con-spired against the poor by private fraud and public laws, and i n which labour was doomed to a wretched existence which 45 made the l i f e of the beasts seem enviable i n comparison. J In that day perhaps Robert Burns prophetic words would come true and his d i g n i t y and worth recognized and respected. So amidst s t o r i e s of the great men of h i s t o r y could be found t a l e s ex-a l t i n g the labourer who subdued the earth i n mining f o r i t s hidden treasures; who made the woods r i n g with h i s axe; who made the clouds of care f l y away; the leprosy of crime and 47 tyrants decay; and want to pass away. John Bright defended labourers i n Ireland by a s s a i l i n g landlords who fought a g a i -nst any interference with t h e i r private property and t h e i r r i g h t s to do as they pleased with i t while, at the same time, i n t e r f e r i n g with the private property of t h e i r tenants, name-man to man, the warld o'er, Sh a l l brothers be f o r a' that. 46 Meanwhile, the labourer should receive laud and 45 Gage Series, Book VI, p. 182. 46 Ibid p. 225. 47 Gage Series, Book V, p. 24. 115 l y t h e i r labour. Such p o l i c i e s had brought a nation i n f i n -i t e l y blessed by God to the brink of r u i n and i t s people to s t a r v a t i o n so that i t s only s a l v a t i o n lay i n changed l e g i s -l a t i o n and the discovery that industry, hopeful and remunerated — industry free and i n v i o l a t e , i s the only sure foundation on which can be reared the enduring e d i f i c e of union and of peace.4° Continually e x t o l l e d throughout the Gage Series, labour's moral j u s t i f i c a t i o n could be found i n nature. The busy l i t t l e bee who "improves each shining hour" by hard work provided a lesson f o r c h i l d r e n who should pray that t h e i r f i r s t years could be passed i n such good study, work, and health-giving play that a good account could be given 49 f o r each day when the time came to answer f o r t h e i r l i v e s . Thus, love and respect f o r those who laboured would be dem-onstrated by youth following t h e i r good example as the l i t t l e snow shoveller showed by working merrily and without s h i r k -ing u n t i l the walk's snow flew away and he t r u l y earned h i s 50 recompense. G i r l s and women played an even l e s s e r r o l e i n the Gage Series than i n the Canadian texts but when they did appear s t i l l occupied themselves with being r e a l or surro-gate mothers and tending to the needs of men and f a m i l i e s . Boys, however, continued to need education i n order to learn s e l f - d i s c i p l i n e and the golden ru l e of "whatsoever thy hand 4 8Gage Series, Book VI, p. 108. 4.9 ^ vGage Series, Book 11, p. 141. 5 0 I b i d . , p. 36. 116 find e t h to do, do i t with thy might." 5 1 Possession of these a t t r i b u t e s would enable the man to do h i s duty and prosper both himself and h i s country. A d d i t i o n a l l y , time would be c a l l e d i n t o l i f e and given a moral being and a soul as the man of industry, be he c o t t e r , a r t i s a n , armourer, or king 52 organized the hours f o r h i s c r a f t . Labour resulted i n prosperity and happiness while idleness or unmerited wealth led s w i f t l y and surely to d i s -aster. Consequently, the vine dresser's sons found the "treasure i n the f i e l d " which he bequeathed to them. Sear-ching f o r gold, the sons dug, sieved, and cleaned, every inch of the vineyard r e s u l t i n g not i n the expected treasure but i n a threefold increase i n the next year's grape harvest. In t h i s way the sons learned that true wealth lay i n neces-53 sary labour w e l l done. On the other hand, Count Graff gained h i s wealth at the expense of hard-working boatmen, from whom he extracted t o l l s f o r use of the r i v e r , and of his peasants, whose corn he e i t h e r expropriated or bought at low p r i c e s . Refusing to share h i s stored corn with the people during a famine, the Count caused many deaths but did not l i v e to enjoy h i s i l l - g o t t e n gains as an army of starving rats crossed the r i v e r , attacked h i s granaries, and f i n a l l y k i l l e d the Count. 5 4 51 J Gage Series, Book V, p. 138. 5 2 I b i d . , p. 119. 5 3Gage Series, Book 111, p. 30. 5 4 I b i d . , p. 45. 117 Another e v i l leading to s e l f - d e s t r u c t i o n and so-c i a l r u i n assumed a v a s t l y increased importance i n the Gage Readers than i n the Canadian Series. As a growing concern of people attuned to society's wrongs and needs i n the l a s t quarter of the nineteenth century, alcohol's dangers natur-a l l y found a place i n the newer school books as reform groups considered the common school the best means of rea-ching c h i l d r e n . Inspector Netherby reported, i n 1898, reg-u l a r teaching taking place i n V i c t o r i a schools on the e v i l s of a l c o h o l i c stimulants and narcotics and s a t i s f a c t o r y pro-55 gress i n nearly a l l the s c h o o l s . J J In ad d i t i o n to the rea-ders, the Pathfinder Series on Anatomy, Physiology, and Hygiene provided an abundance of temperance education ma-t e r i a l f o r classroom use. While separated by Inspector Burns, temperance education formed part of morality i n many minds and also was d e f i n i t e l y l i n k e d with C h r i s t i a n i t y . Thus, temperance advocates claimed a r a p i d l y growing move-ment achieving r e s u l t s which would free men, women, and c h i l -dren from the e v i l s of drink by love, t r u t h , sympathy, and good w i l l to men. Soon, therefore, there would be great joy i n heaven "when the triumphs of a great enterprise usher i n the day of the triumph of the cross of C h r i s t . " Ac-cordingly, drinking became a s i n i n that i t led to neglect of C h r i s t i a n duties and retarded the coming of the Kingdom of God. 55 B r i t i s h Columbia, Twenty-Seventh School Report, p. 1254. " 5 6Gage Series, Book IV, p. 254. 118 Wisdom then dictated admonishments to "Look Not Upon The Wine" and ignore the blandishments of those who ex-t o l l e d i t s value. Many praised alcohol f o r i t s pleasant taste, i t s p a i n - k i l l i n g propensities, and merry-making a b i l -i t i e s but i n drink's pleasant-seeming depths lay a s t i n g i n g serpent which brought only madness, g r i e f , and woe.5*7 Not only did these e v i l s a f f e c t the drinker but also harmed those around him. As an example, one drunkard broke h i s wife's heart, forced h i s l i t t l e g i r l to dress i n rags, and sold everything the family possessed i n order to buy drink. Debased to the point of even s e l l i n g h i s daughter's L i t t l e Testament, which friends gave to the s i c k g i r l , the father f i n a l l y received s a l v a t i o n when h i s c h i l d ' s simple f a i t h refused to chastise him and merely asked what answer should be given a f t e r death i f Jesus should ask what had become of the Testament. Moved to repentance, the father dropped to h i s knees, begged forgiveness, and never touched another drop of l i q u o r . 5 8 Vague warnings and sentimental s t o r i e s gradually gave way to graphic medical essays depicting alcohol's ef-f e c t on the body. Each of the readers, from book three to f i v e , contained one of these medical s t o r i e s and a l l pre-sented much the same evidence but i n progressively more sophisticated and technical s t y l e s . Thus, medical fa c t s countered claims of alcohol's pleasurable e f f e c t s by "pro-•57 J Gage Series, Book 11, p. 115. 5 8Gage Series, Book 111, p. 139. 119 ving" that a l c o h o l i c pleasure was b r i e f and i n e v i t a b l y f o l -lowed by a depression which made l i f e an almost i n t o l e r a b l e burden to some while leading others d i r e c t l y to death or to a l i f e of g r i e f i n an insane asylum. Likewise, Dr. Rich-ardson r i d i c u l e d alcohol's medicinal and food value by st a t i n g that warmth occurred only because the blood was brought to the body's surface where i t quickly l o s t heat and resulted i n c h i l l s and a muscular weakness which, i n time, would become so aggravated that the body could not move. S i m i l a r l y , while adding f a t to the body the alcohol-induced weight placed an added s t r a i n on the heart and k i d -59 neys and impaired proper digestion. As w e l l as being detrimental to the drinker's own health, however, l i q u o r had undesirable and unrecognized s o c i a l consequences. According to the readers, nine of every ten crimes occurred because of l i q u o r ; work-houses overflowed with people who l o s t both t h e i r money and capa-c i t y to work through indulgence i n i n t o x i c a t i n g beverages; 60 and alcohol undermined the very structure of society. In a d d i t i o n , the l i q u o r trade created l i t t l e employment and hardly any nutriment when compared to the tremendous sums spent on the purchase of i t s commodity and the ensuing s o c i a l misery. Deprived of good food and c l o t h i n g , the l i f e of the drinker and the happiness of h i s family d i s i n -tegrated and s o c i a l l i f e could be as e a s i l y destroyed as 5 9 I b i d . , p. 205. 60 Gage Series, Book IV, p. 154. 120 proved by estimates that "two-thirds of the prisons, work-houses, and asylums now required i n England could be e l i m i n -6 l ated i f temperance and sobriety were embraced." Sweeping statements blaming a l l the i l l s of the country s o l e l y on alcohol weakened textbook temperance edu-cation. Neglect of other s o c i e t a l factors contributing to undesirable conditions tended to render teachings suspect as recognized by Inspector Wilson who warned that, while the schools' sentiment might be sound and that the e v i l s of alcohol and tobacco were u n i v e r s a l l y recognized, tea-chers, should "aim at clearness of statement and exactness of knowledge." Exaggerated notions acquired by the stu-dents and refuted by l a t e r knowledge could lead to " a 62 re-action of sentiment." Reviewing both the Canadian and the Gage series of readers, i t i s evident that l i t t l e r e a l change i n moral content appeared although format and s t y l e d i f f e r e d . A d e f i n i t e l y C h r i s t i a n morality was present i n both series as w e l l as a C h r i s t i a n theology which appeared more decidedly Protestant i n the Canadian than i n the Gage s e r i e s . Never-theless, the Roman Catholic Church would consider the texts of both series as Protestant i f not able to be supplemented by s p e c i f i c Catholic teachings. Under t h i s r e l i g i o u s mora-l i t y stood the other moral v i r t u e s , considered separately i n the Canadian Series but forming part of the three en-Gage Series, Book V, p. 255. 62 B r i t i s h Columbia, Twenty-Second School Report, p. 521. 1 2 1 compassing themes of brotherhood, industry, and temperance i n the Gage Series. Therefore, i n view of the continued Protestant churches' influence on the public school system and the Pro-testant C h r i s t i a n morality taught i n both the Canadian and Gage Series of readers, there can be no doubt that the sup-posedly secular and non-sectarian public school system of B r i t i s h Columbia continued to be both C h r i s t i a n and Protes-tant throughout the nineteenth century. CHAPTER SIX PROTESTANT CHRISTIAN SCHOOLS B r i t i s h Columbia f a i l e d to e s t a b l i s h e i t h e r a non-sectarian or a secular public school system during the nine-teenth century i n s p i t e of such a system being demanded by law. While unrecognized and unacknowledged, the public schools remained Protestant and C h r i s t i a n throughout the century due to ambivalent d e f i n i t i o n s of terms, Protestant church connections and influence, and use of text books im-bued with a general, but Protestant, C h r i s t i a n morality. Being under e i t h e r Roman Catholic Church or Church of England c o n t r o l , most Vancouver Island schools p r i o r to 1865 were d e f i n i t e l y sectarian and C h r i s t i a n . In ad d i t i o n , a Church of England minister directed the nominally non-denominational Colonial schools which included s c r i p t u r e classes, using Church of England material, i n the c u r r i c u -lum. Roman Catholic schools also existed i n the colony of B r i t i s h Columbia, together with non-denominational schools established under Protestant aegis and remaining connected to Protestantism through f i n a n c i a l support, governing coun-c i l s , and use of the King James version of the Bible f o r s c r i p t u r e readings. In early Colonial days school system and society existed i n f a i r l y harmonious agreement. U n t i l 1858 the white population of B r i t i s h Columbia and Vancouver Island 122 123 consisted p r i m a r i l y of Hudson's Bay Company or Colonial em-ployees roughly divided i n t o two classes — gentlemen and labourers — and predominantly B r i t i s h . A long h i s t o r y of church i n t e r e s t i n education, customary clergy control of schools i n B r i t a i n , and the absence of clergy from other churches led to a natural acceptance of Roman Catholic and Anglican control of c o l o n i a l education. S i m i l a r l y , c l a s s -based schools would evoke l i t t l e opposition i n a class con-scious society and B r i t i s h t r a d i t i o n supported government ai d to common, or working c l a s s , schools."1' Irrevocably changed by an i n f l u x of population dur-ing the gold rush years beginning i n 1858, the population of B r i t i s h Columbia became m u l t i - r a c i a l , multi-denomina-t i o n a l , and more secular i n outlook. At the same time, or-ganized r e l i g i o n became the subject of open antagonism or apathy and the Church of England experienced h o s t i l i t y to i t s dominance i n r e l i g i o u s and educational concerns. While Church of England and Roman Catholic Church clashed i n the Indian Mission F i e l d , no evidence can be found to support the conclusion that non-sectarian schools found favour be-cause of fears of Roman Catholic power. Timothy L. Smith and David Tyack considered such fears as one reason f o r Protestant support of public schools i n the United States but Catholic power i n B r i t i s h Columbia was fragmented due ''"Charity schools existed i n England i n the seven-teenth century and state subsidies were provided f o r school houses f o r the poorer classes i n 1833 at which time State r e s p o n s i b i l i t y f o r education was recognized. See G. Baron, Society, Schools and Progress i n England (Oxford: Pergamon, 1966.) 124 to r a c i a l and l i n g u i s t i c differences r e s u l t i n g i n l i t t l e sup-port from English-speaking Catholics f o r church schools. According to the leading newspapers, B r i t i s h Col-umbia's scattered, small, and heterogeneous school popula-t i o n necessitated a non-sectarian school system. Moreover, newspaper editors feared Church of England domination of any denominational or r e l i g i o u s system. Generally weak denomina-t i o n a l l o y a l t i e s , as evidenced by willingn e s s to send c h i l -dren e i t h e r to the best or cheapest school a v a i l a b l e r e -gardless of type or amount of r e l i g i o u s education, helped the newspaper campaign f o r a non-sectarian system. Oppo-s i t i o n came mostly from the Roman Catholic Church, which believed that non-sectarianism could not ex i s t and that gov-ernment funds should be used only to subsidize education f o r the poor. Some Church of England c l e r i c s also opposed non-sectarian schools i f they equalled non-religious schools. Opposition to the complete absence of r e l i g i o n resulted i n a compromise whereby the School Acts of 1865, 1869, and 1870 established a non-sectarian system but allowed r e l i g i o u s teaching i n the classrooms outside of regular school hours. Presumably the provision f o r r e l i g i o u s teaching included Roman Catholic p r i e s t s as w e l l as ministers from Protestant churches and teachers of non-Christian f a i t h s . One member of the l e g i s l a t u r e , however, claimed that the term "clergyman" did not include Catholics and Catholic Church o f f i c i a l s d e f i n i t e l y considered the public schools as 125 eit h e r Protestant, i f the King James Bib l e was used, or athe-i s t , i f no r e l i g i o u s teachings occurred. Further support f o r considering the schools Protestant a r i s e s from the f a c t of Protestant clergymen conducting the annual examinations at one school i n V i c t o r i a . In other communities school and church often occupied the same premises and i t i s reasonable to conclude, that as well-educated men, the clergy would assume an active part i n school a f f a i r s . School reports were e r r a t i c and gave l i t t l e i n f o r -mation regarding course content so that how much or what kind of r e l i g i o u s education took place i n the classroom i s l a r g e l y a matter of conjecture. However, many schools used the I r i s h National Texts which contained an abundance of r e l i g i o u s and C h r i s t i a n moral teachings. Most children i n the system, therefore, would be exposed to C h r i s t i a n doc-t r i n e through the tex t s . The f i r s t p r o v i n c i a l School Act, passed i n 1872, confirmed the non-sectarian nature of the public school sys-tem. As clergymen were apparently confined to the role of school v i s i t o r s under t h i s act, r e l i g i o u s teaching r i g h t s not being s p e c i f i c a l l y mentioned, i t i s also possible that the 1872 Act represented the f i r s t move to a non-religious system. L e g i s l a t i v e debates reveal a d e f i n i t e l y h o s t i l e f e e l i n g by some members toward any clergy r i g h t s but a pre-dominantly Anglican Board of Education authorized opening and c l o s i n g r e l i g i o u s exercises f o r the schools from which 126 students could be excused at parents' request. L e g i s l a t i v e debates, newspaper correspondence and e d i t o r i a l s , and the School Act of 1876 c l e a r l y reveal a con-tin u i n g confusion over d e f i n i t i o n of "non-sectarian." I t simply meant that no s p e c i f i c church dogmas or creeds could be taught but that a general r e l i g i o u s teaching was i n order, according to some of the population. To others i t meant that no r e l i g i o n at a l l could be permitted i n a non-sectar-ian system. Possibly the l a t t e r group included the school l e g i s l a t i v e committee members who added "secular" to the non-sectarian clause. "Secular," however, caused as much confusion as the previous term i n view of having two mean-ings — r e l i g i o u s but non-denominational or non-religious. According to the Colonist and Board actions, o f f i c i a l view defined secular as non-religious. Accordingly, authorized prayers were rescinded and s t r i c t u r e s invoked against tea-chers using any r e l i g i o u s teaching except the Lord's Prayer and Ten Commandments. Allowance of these two B i b l e s e l e c -tions meant, of course, that some r e l i g i o n s t i l l existed i n the classrooms i f desired by trustees but government intent appeared to be the removal of as much r e l i g i o n as possible, p a r t i c u l a r l y anything remotely sectarian, from the schools. C e r t a i n l y , newspapers and much of the public interpreted government actions i n t h i s way. lone of the School Acts mentioned r e l i g i o n e i t h e r p o s i t i v e l y or negatively except f o r the oblique reference that teachers must inculcate the "highest morality" without 127 reference to any p a r t i c u l a r creed or doctrine. This wording i n f e r s a r e l i g i o u s morality but lack of d e f i n i t e d i r e c t i v e s led to considerable confusion and a possible omission of any d i r e c t moral education by many teachers. Nevertheless, Protestant clergymen frequently addressed and advised tea-chers on how to teach morality; attended as honoured guests and honourary members; and opened Teacher I n s t i t u t e meet-ing with prayers. Apparently, therefore, a r e l i g i o u s — Protestant C h r i s t i a n — morality was assumed by church and teachers and never contradicted by government or education a u t h o r i t i e s . Readers used i n the classrooms also supported i n t e r p r e t a t i o n of the "highest morality" as "Protestant, C h r i s t i a n morality." Public Schools of B r i t i s h Columbia set out a l i s t of v i r -tues and morality f o r teachers to inculcate and students to l e a r n . Assuming a le a s t to greatest order i t i s possible to view the desired morality as a pyramid i n which order forms the base and the "highest morality" the top — Rules and Regulations f o r the Governing of the A Time and Place f o r Everything and Every-thing i n i t s Proper Time and Place — Order Truth and Honesty, Respect and Obedience Cleanliness, Neatness, and Decency Kindly and Affectionate Feelings — Brotherhood The HigEest Morality 128 Neither the Canadian nor the Gage Series supported a h i e r -archy of vi r t u e s i n so f a r as the order of the s t o r i e s i s concerned but did i n r e l a t i v e frequency. An assumption that men and women occupied d i f -f e r i n g but complementary roles i n l i f e — men as providers and women as homemakers — f o r which childhood must prepare underlay many s t o r i e s i n the Canadian Series. Frequent warnings against idleness and too much playtime underlined the necessity of preparation f o r l i f e ' s work. S i m i l a r l y , s t o r i e s stressed time's importance and, therefore, em-phasized promptness and the good use of each hour i n order that a good account of one's l i f e might be given when r e -quired. Only two selections s p e c i f i c a l l y mentioned clean-l i n e s s , neatness, and decency but a few references appeared i n other s t o r i e s and equated these v i r t u e s with goodness and t h e i r opposites with badness. Truth, honesty, obedi-ence, and respect f o r authority received approximately seven times the emphasis of the preceding v i r t u e s and kindness and concern f o r people and animals occupied at least three times the space of tru t h and obedience. Above a l l , however, Chris-t i a n teachings and morality enjoyed three to four times the prominence of kindness and, i n ad d i t i o n , many s t o r i e s tea-ching a s p e c i f i c v i r t u e assumed or i n f e r r e d C h r i s t i a n be-l i e f . D i s t i n c t l y C h r i s t i a n selections included several 129 B i b l e s t o r i e s , from both Old and New Testaments, and theo-l o g i c a l teachings i n the form of hymns and sermons which b a s i c a l l y portrayed a Protestant i n t e r p r e t a t i o n of the B i b l e . C h r i s t i a n moral teachings stressed knowing and doing God's w i l l , generally by way of the B i b l e , which would r e s u l t i n man enjoying a r i g h t r e l a t i o n s h i p with h i s fellow-man and nature, winning the approbation of God, and assuring the s a t i s f a c t i o n of a l i f e w e l l spent on earth and l i f e ever-lasti n g ; i n the next world. In proposing a d i r e c t r e l a t i o n -ship between God and man and between good works and salva-t i o n , the readers again propounded Protestant doctrine. S i m i l a r l y , s t o r i e s i n the Gage readers assumed a C h r i s t i a n b e l i e f and morality and attached importance to the v i r t u e s i n roughly the same proportion as the Canadian Series. Placing less stress on i n d i v i d u a l v i r t u e s , however, the Gage Series appeared based on a C h r i s t i a n morality ex-pressed i n three subordinate themes. Thus, brotherhood sprang n a t u r a l l y from the concept of God as creator of a l l things and encompassed many of the v i r t u e s such as kindness and concern. An emphasis on industry i l l u s t r a t e d the Prot-estant work ethic of hard work, preparation, and wise use of talents and wealth provided by God — an ethic not formally recognized u n t i l Max Weber's controversial examination i n the early twentieth century. And temperance would be a c h i -eved through the e f f o r t s of those Christians who poured out love and sympathy to t h e i r f e l l o w men. In t h i s way the un-130 fortunate victims would be rescued from the damnation of drink which had caused them to turn from God and so bring r u i n to themselves, t h e i r f a m i l i e s , and society. Inasmuch as l i q u o r made men forget duty to God and neighbour i t was an e v i l which the good of temperance must defeat by leading men back to God to do His w i l l and thereby hasten the com-ing of the Kingdom of God on earth. An i d e a l inseparable from i t s r e l i g i o u s base, C h r i s t i a n morality i s also highly i n d i v i d u a l i s t i c . Accor-ding to i t s tenets each man comes to know the love and w i l l of God, through the revelations of C h r i s t , i n a p a r t i c u l a r way, changes inwardly, and demonstrates h i s new s e l f i n love f o r mankind. Manifestations of C h r i s t i a n b e l i e f thus vary according to the man and the age i n which he l i v e s with only one basic guide e x i s t i n g f o r C h r i s t i a n moral behaviour — do unto others as you would wish others to do unto you. While la y i n g down no d e f i n i t e moral code, Christ provided examples of moral behaviour r e s u l t i n g from a love of God and man which various churches and people have interpreted i n d i f -f e r i n g ways. Hence, i n B r i t i s h Columbia regulations f o r public schools, supplemented by t e x t s , defined moral beha-viour as kindness, t r u t h , honesty, obedience, respect, indus-t r y , c l e a n l i n e s s , neatness, decency, order, and temperance. P r e v a i l i n g wisdom of the time, supported to some extent today, ruled that chi l d r e n learned moral behaviour by au t h o r i t a t i v e d i c t a and habit . In accordance with t h i s view, 131 textbooks f l a t l y informed t h e i r audience that the good per-son acted i n one p a r t i c u l a r way and r e i t e r a t e d moral lessons i n varied s t o r i e s throughout the readers. S i m i l a r l y , tea-chers r e l i e d mainly on rote learning and memorization and school inspectors seemed more concerned with correct pro-nunciation and expression than content. Likewise, ques-tions i n the Gage Series only tested simple r e c a l l and stim-ulated an already present tendency towards reliance on mem-ory work rather than reasoning. Moral education then consisted on moral abso-lutes based on a u t h o r i t a t i v e pronouncements. A presumed hierarchy of importance existed i n both Regulations and texts but no intimation appears of occasions a r i s i n g when i t might be necessary to break a lower order r u l e to s a t i s f y a higher one nor that such action could be j u s t i f i e d . Therefore, a c h i l d learned to always t e l l the t r u t h even i f i t should bring r e t r i b u t i o n upon himself but no mention occurred of a case where absolute t r u t h might cause pain or sorrow to ano-ther and break the higher rul e of kindness. In ad d i t i o n , a highly i n d i v i d u a l i s t i c morality attempted to mold the char-acter of the i n d i v i d u a l rather than reform society or form a corporate e t h i c . Often, therefore, c h i l d r e n would be con-fronted with a s o c i a l ethic at odds with the schoolroom moral education and unprepared to cope with the difference as rea-soning power had formed no part of hi s t r a i n i n g . How much influence the text book morality would have on students i s hard to determine. Ruth M i l l e r Elson 132 states that ideas and b e l i e f s most r e a d i l y adopted by c h i l -2 dren are those not contradicted by t h e i r own experience. Others state that tendencies to be prejudiced or t o l e r a n t , s e l f i s h or generous, co-operative or antagonistic a l l r e -f l e c t a t t i t u d e s learned through previous experi-e n c e d Combined with the f a c t of poor, e r r a t i c school attendance f o r a large part of the nineteenth century, the above would lead to the conclusion that home and society lessons would have a more l a s t i n g e f f e c t than those learned i n school. Regardless of t h e i r ultimate e f f e c t , however, Canadian and Gage texts preached a C h r i s t i a n morality, pre-dominantly Protestant. Moreover, Protestant clergy contin-ued an a c t i v e p a r t i c i p a t i o n i n the school system, s c r i p -ture readings were from the Protestant B i b l e , and prayer con-tinued as an opening or c l o s i n g excercise. Therefore, the B r i t i s h Columbia school system i n the nineteenth century remained secular and non-sectarian i n law but C h r i s t i a n and Protestant i n f a c t . Thus, uniqueness could not be claimed by v i r t u e of being the only continuously s i n g l e , non-secta-r i a n system i n Canada. Uniqueness, i n r e a l i t y , occurred only because one sect's teachings received public financing denied to avowedly r e l i g i o u s schools. In t h i s way, the f i c -t i o n of a secular and non-sectarian system allowed one branch of C h r i s t i a n i t y to propogate i t s doctrines i n the public schools, with public subsidies, while denying the p r i v i l e g e to others. 2 Elson, Guardians of T r a d i t i o n , p. v i i i . 3 "Tloyd L. Ruch, Psychology and L i f e , 6th ed. (Chi-cago: Scott, Poresman and Company, T963), p. 88. BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTE Pew authors have s p e c i f i c a l l y examined the ques-t i o n of r e l i g i o n and morality i n the B r i t i s h Columbia public school system. C. B. Sissons i n Church and State i n Cana- dian Education (1959) did note the Church of England i n f l u -ence p r i o r to Confederation but then confined h i s i n v e s t i g a -t i o n of church and state to the Roman Catholic Church's f i g h t f o r recognition and state a i d f o r t h e i r schools. Sim-i l a r l y , P. Henry Johnson's A History of Public Education i n B r i t i s h Columbia (1964) and h i s A B r i e f His'tory of Canadian Education (1968) both noted A n g l i c i n influence and r e l i g i o u s i n s t r u c t i o n p r i o r to 1865 on the Island and 1869 on the main-land, but assumed that church influence and r e l i g i o n were non-existent i n the schools a f t e r those dates. Johnson's l a t e s t book John Jessop: Goldseeker and Educator (1971) does, however, recognize that r e l i g i o u s education continued as a contentious issue during Jessop's superintendency. George Hindle's small book on The Educational System of B r i t i s h Columbia (1918) a l -so assumed r e l i g i o n was barred from the public system because of the general apathy towards r e l i g i o n on the part of the p u b l i c . Manoly Lupul's essay "Education i n Western Canada Before 1873" i n J . Donald Wilson, Robert M. Stamp, and Louis-Philippe Audet's Canadian Education: A History (1970) l i k e -wise echoes the above view. None of these authors, however, with the exception of Sissons, was inte r e s t e d s o l e l y i n t h i s one question and wrote more generally of the system's devel-opment as a whole. This was true also of D. L. MacLaurin's excellent doctoral d i s s e r t a t i o n on "The History of Education i n the Crown Colonies of Vancouver Island and B r i t i s h Colum-bia and i n the Province of B r i t i s h Columbia," (1936) and h i s l a t e r a r t i c l e "Education Before the Gold Rush," i n the B r i - t i s h Columbia H i s t o r i c a l Quarterly 11 (4) (1938). Neverthe-l e s s , these sources proved of immense assistance i n resear-ching the beginnings of the p r o v i n c i a l educational system. Church and School As educational h i s t o r i e s generally neglected church influence i n the schools so church h i s t o r i e s seldom r e f e r r e d to public education. The Reverend Herbert H. Gowen's Church Work i n B r i t i s h Columbia: A Memoir of the Episcopate of~Acton Windeyer S i l l i t o e , P i r s t Anglican Bishop or New Westminster (1899) aided i n assessing congregational support f o r denomin-a t i o n a l schools. S i m i l a r l y , the Reverend A. G. Morice's History of the Catholic Church i n Western Canada v.2 (1910) a s s i s t e d i n determining a t t i t u d e s of the Catholic church to-wards non-sectarian education. The Reverend E. A. Davis' 133 134 Commemorative Review of the Methodist, Presbyterian, and Con- gregational Churches i n B r i t i s h Columbia (1925) also proved h e l p f u l i n noting United Church positions on s o c i a l problems, such as alcohol consumption, but had no information on a t t i -tudes to the public school system. Prank Peake's The Anglican Church i n B r i t i s h Columbia (1959) provided u s e f u l information on Bishop H i l l ' s desires f o r Anglican schools but, again, r a r e -l y mentioned the public system. Likewise, theses written about the churches or church schools i n the province make few references to public schools. S i s t e r Edith Emily Down's "The S i s t e r s of St. Ann: t h e i r contribution to education i n the P a c i f i c Northwest 1858-1958" (1962), i s an excellent source f o r information on Catholic schools f o r g i r l s and f o r some documentation of Oblate schools f o r boys. George C e c i l Hacker's B. A. essay on "The Methodist Church i n B r i t i s h Columbia 1859-1900" (1933), provides u s e f u l information on Anglican-Metho-d i s t co-operation and r i v a l r y and the general a t t i t u d e en-countered by r e l i g i o u s workers i n the province. S i m i l a r l y , Mervyn Ewart Kennedy's master's thesis on "The History of Presbyterianism i n B r i t i s h Columbia 1861-1935" (1938), gives u s e f u l information on problems faced by missionary workers but none of these theses hin t at any church involvement i n the public schools nor mention r e l i g i o u s education i n c l a s s -rooms. An excellent source f o r early church and school re-l a t i o n s is' G. H. S l a t e r ' s "Reverend Robert John Staines: Pioneer P r i e s t , Pedagogue, and P o l i t i c a l A g i t a t o r " i n the B r i t i s h Columbia H i s t o r i c a l Quarterly XIV (4) (1950). Two a r t i c l e s on Edward Cridge appeared i n the Daily Colonist on September 12, 1948 and January 16, 1966 but both were more concerned with Cridge's church a c t i v i t i e s than with h i s du-t i e s i n regard to education. An invaluable source of A n g l i -can a t t i t u d e s to non-sectarian schools proved to be the Rev-erend William S. Reece's sermon on Education (1864). Early Schools A r t i c l e s on the Colonial Schools of Vancouver I s -land by J . Forsyth, the P r o v i n c i a l L i b r a r i a n , appeared i n the V i c t o r i a Times i n March, 1922 and i n the B. C. Teacher i n December, 1926. The Daily Colonist of December 18, 1910, September 30, 1956, August 21, 1949, July 22, 1962, March 7, 1965, September 15, 1968, and February 20, 1972 printed a r -t i c l e s on early schools, teachers, and p e r s o n a l i t i e s which were of some help i n researching issues and a t t i t u d e s as was true of a r t i c l e s i n the Saanich Peninsula and Gulf Islands Review i n March, 1948, August, 1950, February, 1954, and February, 1962; the Sidney Review of May 9, 1973; the Kamloops D a i l y Sentinel xn June and July of 1968; the Ross- land Miner of March 1, 1962; and the Vancouver Sun and Prov- ince Centennial Editions of July, 1971. Margaret A. Beck-with wrote a pamphlet on the "Craigflower Schoolhouse" (1958) f o r the Board of Trustees but most of the information con-135 tained i n t h i s pamphlet and the above a r t i c l e s has been i n -corporated i n the more general h i s t o r i e s of education. On occasion, however, some information of p a r t i c u l a r i n t e r e s t had not appeared elsewhere, as i n the case of the Rossland a r t i c l e and of the Central Junior High School Yearbook (1954) which provided i n s i g h t s i n t o moral a t t i t u d e s i n one school. Margaret L i l l o o e t McDonald's master's thesis on "New Westmin-st e r 1859-1871" (1947) aided i n an assessment of church i n -fluence i n and at t i t u d e s to early schools i n that c i t y . Sim-i l a r l y , James M. Sandison's Schools of Old Vancouver (1971) and K. A. Waites' The F i r s t F i f t y Years, Vancouver High Schools 1890-1940 (n.d.) assisted research into Vancouver att i t u d e s and elementary preparation f o r high school. Bio-graphical information on the two most vocal opponents of sec-t a r i a n schools was provided by master's theses by Margaret Ross on 'Amor de Cosmos, A B r i t i s h Columbia Reformer" (1931) and by James Gordon Reid on "John Robson and the B r i t i s h Columbian" (1950). P r o v i n c i a l Schools F. Henry Johnson's a r t i c l e "The Ryersonian I n f l u -ence on the Public School System of B r i t i s h Columbia" i n B. C. Studies, 10 (Summer, 1971) documents Jessop's v i r t u -a l l y complete adoption of the Ryersonian school system. Un-noted by Johnson, however, was the f a c t that the Ryersonian s p i r i t i n regard to r e l i g i o u s education i n the schools also became part of the B r i t i s h Columbia system. Ryerson's views on r e l i g i o n can be found i n Egerton Ryerson, Report on a System of Public Elementary I n s t r u c t i o n f o r Upper Canada (1847) and i n the Journal of Education f o r Upper Canada, only a few copies of which are ava i l a b l e i n the Special Collections D i v i s i o n of the Un i v e r s i t y of B r i t i s h Columbia Li b r a r y . On the other hand, Special Collections has a f u l l set of both the Canadian Series of School Books and the W. J . Gage & Co.'s Educational Series both of which were used i n both Ontario and B r i t i s h Columbia and through which r e l i g i o u s and moral education i n the public schools can be assessed. The Canadian Series consisted of The F i r s t Book of Reading Lessons, Part 1 (1867), The F i r s t Book of Reading Lessons, Part 11~('1867), the Second Book of Reading Lessons (1869), the Third Book of Reading Lessons (1869), the Fourth Book of Reading Lessons (1867), the F i f t h Book of Reading Lessons (1868), and the Advanced Reader (187l"T^ The Gage Series contained The F i r s t Primer (188T), The Second Primer (1881), Book 11 (1883), Book 111 (n.d.)7~Bbok IV (188"J7T Book V (1883), and Book VI (1884). A l l of these readers were complete.with the exception of Book 111 i n the Gage Series which lacked several pages, i n -cluding the t i t l e page. Also e s s e n t i a l to a study of desired school moral-i t y were the school reports of Superintendents Jessop, McKen-z i e , and Pope. Again, both the Special Collections and the Main Library have complete sets of these reports except f o r the second and eighth reports which are i n Special Collections 7 136 only. The F i r s t Annual Report of the Public Schools and i t s supplement (1872), the Second Annual Report of the Public Schools (1873), and the Eighth Annual Report of the Public Schools (1879) appeared i n separate volumes while other r e -ports have been bound i n volumes t i t l e d B r i t i s h Columbia Annual School Reports. Included i n these are the Third to Seventh Annual School Reports (1874-78), the Ninth to Th i r -teenth Annual School Reports (1880-84), the Fourteenth to Seventeenth Annual School Reports (1885-88), the Eighteenth to Twentieth Annual School Reports (1889-91), the Twenty-F i r s t to Twenty-Third Annual School Reports (1892-94), the Twenty-Fourth to Twenty-Sixth Annual School Reports (1895-97), and the Twenty-Seventh to T h i r t i e t h Annual School Reports (1898-1901). Jessop's reports proved of most value as l a t e r reports consisted mostly of s t a t i s t i c a l and general informa-t i o n . However, Inspectors provided quite lengthy discus-sions on moral education i n most of the reports from 1891 on and High School P r i n c i p a l s ' reports also greatly a s s i s t e d an evaluation of moral at t i t u d e s and t r a i n i n g . Published i n 1971 under the t i t l e One Hundred Years, a s p e c i a l supplement to the One Hundredth Annual School Report provided valuable s t a t i s t i c s comparing attendance, enrollment, and number of schools and teachers over ten year periods from 1871 to 1971. The P r o v i n c i a l Archives i n V i c t o r i a has Board of Education Correspondence (1872-73), Board of Education School Inspec- tor's Diary (1872-77), and the Board of Education School In- spector's Diary (1876-77) but these yielded l i t t l e informa- -t i o n not already included i n reports. The Board of Education Minute Book proved easier to read and also cleared up some points i n regard to the LeVaux and Nicholson controversies. This Minute Book i s complete f o r the l i f e t i m e of the Board -1872 to 1878. B r i t i s h Columbia L e g i s l a t i v e Council Journals, L e g i s l a t i v e Assembly Journals7 and Sessional Papers from 1864 to 1900 are also a v a i l a b l e i n Special Collections and the Main Librar y at U. B. C. and were scanned f o r information i n regard to school l e g i s l a t i o n and p e t i t i o n s . More data could be found i n newspapers, however, and these records are to be found i n the Government Publications d i v i s i o n of the U. B. C. Library on microfilm. Complete microfilm of the Daily B r i t i s h Colonist ( V i c t o r i a ) f o r 1858 to 1900; of the B r i t i s h Columbian (New Westminster); the Mainland Guardian (New Westminster); the Daily News-Advertiser (Vancouver); and the Vancouver Daily World provided a wealth of informa-t i o n on L e g i s l a t i v e debates, Teachers' I n s t i t u t e s , and both public and e d i t o r i a l opinion on school and r e l i g i o u s con-cerns. Complete indexing of these newspapers f o r the nine-teenth century, provided i n the P r o v i n c i a l Archives, im-measurably assisted the l o c a t i o n of relevant material. A few microfilm issues of the C h r i s t i a n Guardian, the Method-i s t Church paper, and the Canadian Churchman, the Anglican Church paper, were scanned but provided l i t t l e data on church and school i n B r i t i s h Columbia. Also a v a i l a b l e i n 137 Special C o l l e c t i o n s , the Dominion-Pacific Herald (New West-minster) provided valuable information i n the form of Bishop d'Herbomez' l e t t e r s and r e p l i e s from public and e d i t o r . Canada Census records f o r 1871, 1881, 1891, and 1931 also proved h e l p f u l i n providing r e l i g i o u s , education, and demo-graphic s t a t i s t i c s . Moral Education Morality i n the B r i t i s h Columbia schools has been mentioned i n few secondary sources. Charles E. P h i l l i p s ' The Development of Education i n Canada (1957) includes a chapter on " D i s c i p l i n e and Eth i c s " which mentions p r o v i n c i a l schools and was based on F. Henry Johnson's doctoral d i s -s e r t a t i o n "Changing Conceptions of D i s c i p l i n e and P u p i l -Teacher Relations i n Canadian Schools" (1952). A chapter on the Cache Creek boarding school i n John Calam's master's thesis "An h i s t o r i c a l survey of boarding schools and pub-l i c school dormitories i n Canada" (1962) provided the only other source of information on public school morality i n B r i t i s h Columbia which could be located. Before embarking on a study of moral education i t was necessary to c l a r i f y the meaning of morality and moral education. Only one work provides an h i s t o r i c a l study of moral education — the excellent Educating the Good Man (1962) by E. B. Castle — and proved extremely useful i n determin-ing nineteenth century and C h r i s t i a n ideas and expectations. A good sampling of present day views on the subject was ob-tained from the enlightening chapter on assessing the moral-l y educated person i n John Wilson, Norman Williams, and Barry Sugarman's Introduction to Moral Education (1967); from sev-e r a l selections i n Adrian Dupuis' Nature, Aims, and P o l i c y (1970); from Lawrence Kohlberg's chapter i n Martin L. and Lois W. Hoffman's Review of Child Development Research (1964); from R. S. Peter's essay i n W. R. N i b l e t t ' s Moral Education i n a Changing Society (1963); and from C. M. Beck, B. S. C r i t -tenden, and E. V. Sulliv a n ' s Moral Education; I n t e r d i s c i p l i n - ary Approaches (1971). One of the most i n t e r e s t i n g and provo-cative studies of morality i s that of Bernard Gert i n The Moral Rules (1970) i n which i t i s argued that morality i s a negative rather than a p o s i t i v e concept and consists of not doing c e r t a i n things rather than i n doing something and i n lovin g or helping others as i n the case of Utopian or Chris-t i a n moral idealism. J . R. Coombs and L. B. Daniel's "Tea-chers, Moral Education, and the Public Schools," i n Terence Morrison and Anthony Burton's Options: Reforms and Alte r n a - t i v e s f o r Canadian Education (1973) a s s i s t e d i n determining d i f f e r i n g perspectives on moral education. S o c i a l History For help i n understanding the society i n which the nineteenth century schools existed Margaret Ormsby's B r i t i s h Columbia: A History (1971) provides the best o v e r - a l l view. 138 More s p e c i f i c studies of places, people, events, and i n s t i -tutions are appearing, however, and are of value i n explor-ing the s o c i a l scene although much more research i s needed before material can be used as d e f i n i t i v e comment of s o c i a l climate. Among some of the most :.useful secondary sources are G. Pern Treleaven's The Surrey Story (1969); Fred W. Ludditt's B a r k e r v i l l e Days (1969); Harry Gregson's A History of V i c t o r i a 1842-1970 (1970); R. E. Gosnell's A History of B r i t i s h Columbia (1906) f o r background on some of the period's leaders; W. N. Sage's S i r James Douglas and B r i t i s h Columbia (1930) which provides a more sympathetic account than many other sources; S. W. Jackman's P o r t r a i t s of the Premiers f o r quick l o c a t i o n of f a c t s but otherwise not too r e l i a b l e ; John Shaw's A Century of Adventure (1971) g i v i n g i n t e r e s t i n g anec-dotes of leading p e r s o n a l i t i e s ; Barry M. Gough's The Royal Navy and the Northwest Coast of North America (1971) p r o v i -ding a much needed and excellent study of the naval r o l e i n B r i t i s h Columbia but of l i t t l e use f o r t h i s p a r t i c u l a r paper; Paul A. P h i l l i p s No Power Greater (1967) fu r n i s h i n g a com-prehensive review of B r i t i s h Columbia's labour movement; and Martin Robin's The Rush f o r S p o i l s : The Company Province (1972) a provocative and c o n t r o v e r s i a l view of p r o v i n c i a l p o l i t i c s as a Company vs. Labour class struggle. Marjorie C. Holmes' Library Service i n B r i t i s h Columbia (1959) pro-vides an excellent h i s t o r i c a l survey of an important educa-t i o n a l f a c i l i t y with valuable i n s i g h t s into the general a t -titude towards education. French settlement and problems i n B r i t i s h Columbia as discussed by George P.. G. Stanley's "French and English i n Western Canada" i n Mason Wade's Cana- dian Dualism (I960) and i n John Ray Stewart's master's thesis "French-Canadian Settlement i n B r i t i s h Columbia" (1956) as-s i s t e d i n the understanding of the ease with which a non-se c t a r i a n school system was established. Also h e l p f u l i n t h i s regard Walter Edmund Warren E l l i s ' master's thesis on "Some Aspects of R e l i g i o n i n B r i t i s h Columbia Politics"(1959) examines l e g i s l a t i v e and cabinet representation i n comparison with r e l i g i o u s a f f i l i a t i o n i n the province. Primary sources printed i n book form also proved extremely u s e f u l . I l l u s t r a t i n g h i s father's involvement i n the public school system, Simon Fraser Tolmie's appendix i n The Journals of William Fraser Tolmie (1963) helped to es-t a b l i s h Tolmie's a t t i t u d e to r e l i g i o u s education i n the schools and to education i t s e l f . D. H. Grigg's Prom One to Seventy (1953) provides an i n t e r e s t i n g account of l i f e i n B r i t i s h Col-umbia and the P r a i r i e s but should be read with a constant awareness of Grigg's fundamentalist r e l i g i o u s persuasion. William Ward Spinks' Tales of the B r i t i s h Columbia F r o n t i e r g r a p h i c a l l y i l l u s t r a t e s l i f e i n the i n t e r i o r where the author served as c i r c u i t judge from 1884 to 1889. George H. Turner's Before the Council (1891) gave Turner the opportunity to ex-press h i s C h r i s t i a n S o c i a l i s t views on capitalism's rape of B r i t i s h Columbia's resources at the expense of labour and the 139 churches* fundamental f a i l u r e to follow C h r i s t i a n i t y l e s t they offend the i n f l u e n t i a l c i t i z e n s . Bibliographies A comprehensive bibliography of source material f o r t h i s period, well indexed, i s provided by Barbara J . Lowther i n A Bibliography of B r i t i s h Columbia: Laying the Foundations, 1849-1899 (19687^ Other Works Probing church and school connection i n the United States, Timothy L. Smith and David B. Tyack f u r n i s h an i n -t e r e s t i n g and h e l p f u l model f o r Canadian studies. Some of t h e i r f indings are included i n Paul Nash's History and Educa- t i o n (1970); Harvard Educational Review 36 (4) (1966):447-69; The Journal of American History L l l l (June 1966-March, 1967): 679-95; and The William and Mary Quarterly 25 (2) ( A p r i l , 1968): 155-76. An excellent guide f o r textbook studies i s Ruth M i l l e r Elson's Guardians of T r a d i t i o n a review of textbook teachings i n the United States. Only one s i m i l a r Canadian study could be located but V i o l a E l i z a b e t h Parvin's Author- i z a t i o n of Text Books f o r Elementary Schools of Ontario 1846-1950 (1961) concentrates on text background rather than on content. Nevertheless much usefu l information was pro-vided on the two textbook s e r i e s used i n B r i t i s h Columbia.