44 ROYAL SOCIETY OV CANADA 



" As the great majority of the inhabitants of this province are ot 

 members of the Church of England, we regret that the university char- 

 ter contains provisions which are calculated to exclude from its prin- 

 cipal offices and honours all who do not belong to that Church." 



" 1. In consequence of these provisions its benefits will be confined 

 to a few individuals, while others of His Majesty's subjects equally loyai 

 and deserving will be excluded from participating in advantages which 

 should be open to all." 



"2. Its influence as a seminary of learning on this account must be 

 and will be looked upon with jealousy by a large majority of the inhabi- 

 tants of the province." 



" That therefore it is expedient to present a humble address to His 

 Majesty praying that His j\Iajcsty will be pleased to cause the charter of 

 King's College to be cancelled and to grant another free from the objec- 

 tions to which our dut}^ to the people of this province has induced us to 

 advert." 



To this resolution and a later one to the same effect passed in 

 December, the Lieutenant Governor replied with the assurance that iie 

 " had reason to believe that either the exclusive provisions considered 

 exceptional in the charter of King's College had been cancelled, or that 

 such arrangements had been decided upon by His Majesty's Government 

 as would render further applications on this subject unnecessary. A 

 charter solemnly given cannot be revoked or its surrender obtained with- 

 out much delay and circumspection; but His Majesty's ministers have 

 long directed their attention to the great advantages which the pro- 

 vince will derive from a university being established upon principles 

 that may be approved by every good and enlightened person." 



When this reply was given. Sir John Colborne probably already 

 had in his possession the despatch of Lord Goderich dated November 

 2nd, 1831, and possibly was also aware of the reception it was likely to 

 receive from King's College Council. Of this lengthy and important 

 despatch it is sufficient to say that it regretted the failure of Sir George 

 Murray's proposals to bring about a settlement of the university ques- 

 tion; that it now proposed a settlement by mea.ns of a provincial consti- 

 tution of Upper Canada College as a university, an idea adopted as we 

 have seen by the Assembly nearly two years before; and that it finally 

 requested from the Council of King's College the surrender of the 

 charter and also of the endowment lands which have been conveyed to 

 them by deed. 



When this despatch was laid before the Council of King's College 

 on the 10th of March, they positively refused to surrender either the 

 charter or the endowment, pleading that they had received from the 

 King a charter for the promotion of higher education on certain well 



