deaf and dumb asylum, yet up to the present time, no public moneys have been applied to these objects. In 1858, however, a private school was opened in Toronto; and soon a society was formed to provide a permanent school for these unfortunates. The school is now in active operation, and is supported by public aid and private contributions, and educates about twenty out of the three hundred deaf mutes who are at present in Upper Canada.

3. Schools for Juvenile Criminals.

Until very recently, the only place for the confinement of convicted juvenile criminals was in the provincial penitentiary at Kingston. As their numbers increased, this place was deemed unsuitable for them, and a reformatory school was opened in the old government barrack at Penetanguishene. The institution is wholly supported by the government, and is well managed. The number of inmates at the end of 1861 was about one hundred.

CHAPTER VIII.

OTHER SUPPLEMENTARY EDUCATIONAL AGENCIES.

IN a paper of this character it would be scarcely proper to pass over, without some notice, those numerous supplementary agencies which, although not professedly educa tional in themselves, do, nevertheless, perform an important part in the education of the people. We therefore select the more prominent of these agencies, and briefly refer to them in the following order :

1. Mechanics' Institutes.

There are about ninety cities, towns and incorporated villages in Upper Canada. In nearly every one of these municipalities there is a mechanics' institute, in a more or less flourishing condition. The primary object of these

institutes is to afford to the industrial classes of the community permanent sources of intellectual instruction, relaxation, and amusement, by means of classes, popular lectures, and libraries. In some places these objects have been fully realized, and many young men have by their influence been attracted from the saloons and the theatre; but in a great many instances no such influence has been exerted, and the institutes exist only in name.

Foremost among these institutes is the central and controlling institution, called the Board of Arts and Manufactures. This board was established in 1857 by an act of the provincial legislature, for the purpose of affording "encouragement to arts and manufactures, and stimulating the ingenuity of the mechanic and artisan by means of prizes and distinctions," &c. The board consists of the minister of agriculture; the chief superintendent of education for Upper Canada; the professors and lecturers on physical science in the various chartered colleges; the presidents of boards of trade, mechanics' institutes, and arts associations; and one delegate for every twenty members of a mechanics' institute who are working mechanics or manufacturers. In order to give a practical character to its operations, the board has issued a programme establishing a system of annual examinations of the members of the mechanics' institutes, and awarding three grades of certificates in about twenty-six departments of study. The object of the board is to induce the formation of permanent educational classes in the various mechanics' institutes, and the sending up of members to compete by examination for the prizes and medals offered by the board. The board publishes a monthly Journal of Arts and Manufactures, and has in connection with its rooms a museum containing models of patented Canadian inventions and some specimens of Canadian and foreign manufactures. It has also an appropriate and valuable library of books of reference.

2. Various Literary Associations, etc.

In most of the cities and towns, and in the colleges of Upper Canada, a literary association of some kind exists, either as a debating club, or as a literary society, or both combined. The members are chiefly composed of young men seeking to cultivate their literary tastes, to add to their stock of knowledge, and to acquire a ready and effective style of public speaking. As a specimen of these societies, we may refer to the Ontario Literary Society of Toronto. This society was established in 1856, and incorporated in 1860. The ordinary weekly routine of its operations is thus classified: Essay writing; reading from English authors; public and private debates; public addresses by distinguished lecturers. In the various colleges, these societies take their tone and colour more or less from the ordinary pursuits of student life.

With a view to popularize the study of law, the Osgoode Club was organized by law students in Toronto in 1848. The object of the club is to cultivate the habit of essay writing and especially of public speaking in the discussion of legal subjects and constitutional questions. A literary association with a similar object in view, but on a wider basis, was established in Belleville, in 1855.

3. Young Men's Christian Associations.

These associations are of recent growth in Upper Canada, and are confined to cities. Their objects are similar to those of kindred associations in Europe, &c., viz.: the mental and moral improvement of young men (especially of those residing away from home,) and the development of Christian activity in various ways, such as tract distribution, &c. Associations of this kind exist at London, Toronto, and Kingston.

4. Scientific Institutes.

Of the higher class of scientific associations, only two

exist in Upper Canada; viz.: the Canadian Institute at Toronto and the Canadian Institute at Ottawa.*

The Canadian Institute, at Toronto, was established in 1849. At first its members consisted almost entirely of land surveyors, civil engineers, and architects; but in 1851 its constitution was changed and a royal charter obtained, so as to enlarge its sphere of operations and to remove the restriction of membership to the classes named above. In the charter, the objects of the institute were briefly described to be "for the encouragement and general advancement of the physical sciences, the arts, and the manufactures," "in our province of Canada." These objects have been steadily kept in view; and for the last twelve years from twenty to thirty original papers on various literary and scientific subjects have been annually read at the weekly meetings and afterwards published (with other information) in the Canadian Journal, the organ of the institute. The number of enrolled members is now about five hundred, and the annual income is upwards of twenty-five hundred dollars, including a parliamentary grant of one thousand dollars.

The Institut Canadien Français, at Ottawa, was established some years ago, and still receives an annual grant from the legislature. It possesses an excellent library. Its objects are chiefly historical. It has recently erected a spacious building for the meetings of its members, lectures, &c. The Emperor Napoleon recently made a donation to" the library valued at twenty-five thousand francs.

An effort was also made in December, 1861, to establish an historical society for Upper Canada, at Toronto, but it

* It may be interesting and proper here to state that in February, 1862, a scientific "Institute of Rupert's Land" was established at Assiniboia under the presidency of the Right Reverend M. Anderson, D D., Protestant Episcopal bishop of Rupert's Land. From the number and character of the papers read at the subsequent meetings of the institute we anticipate a useful career for this valuable auxiliary to the cause of science and literature in the north

western territories.

was not successful. A subsequent effort was also made in the following year to establish one at St. Catherines. 5. The Botanical Society of Canada.

The Botanical Society, at Kingston, was established in 1861, chiefly to aid in the advancement of botanical science in Canada, in all its departments,-viz., structural, physiological, systematic, and geographical,-and the application of botany to the useful and ornamental arts. Sir William Hooker, the eminent English botanist, at Kew, who has already written on Canadian botany, has given his valuable aid in the prosecution of the objects of the society. 6. Scientific Observatories.*

There are two observatories in Upper Canada, viz., the Magnetical and Meteorological Observatory, at Toronto, and the Astronomical Observatory, at Kingston. The observatory at Toronto was established as one of the British colonial observatories, in 1839, at the instance of the British Association for the Advancement of Science and the Royal Society. It was placed, by the British government, in charge of one officer and three sergeants of the Royal Artillery, and so continued for the specified period of fourteen years. At the expiration of that time, Captain (now LieutenantColonel) Lefroy, the officer then in charge, returned to England, and the observatory was assumed by the provincial government, and placed in charge of a professor of Univer sity College, Toronto. With him were associated the three former assistants, who were allowed to remain in Canada for that purpose. The observatory contains the usual scientific instruments, and is devoted to the investigation of

* It is proper, in this connection, to refer to the geological survey under Sir William Logan, F.R.S., so far as it relates to Upper Canada. The researches of Sir William and his associates have been of the greatest value in developing the mineral resources of the country. The display of these resources, which he was enabled to make at the Great Exhibitions of 1851 and 1862, attracted the attention of the scientific men of Europe to the nominal wealth of Canada, and has reflected the highest credit upon himself.