86 THE ROYAL SOCIETY OF CANADA 



Unfortunately the colleges, through their Governors, became 

 involved in the bitter political struggles of the time, and their defence 

 of the privileges of the Church became an object of attack by the 

 Reformers. When the Governor and his Council resisted the aggres- 

 sions of the Assembly, upon his prerogatives, the college sympathized 

 with His Honour. When the Bishop was threatened with the loss 

 of the Clergy Reserves, he naturally expected protection from the 

 Governor and his Council. The Governor and the Bishop became 

 identified with the college and drew upon it not a little of the fire 

 intended for them. 



Again and again a little yielding by the Governor or the Bishop 

 might have permitted the college to escape. Ecclesiastical bigotry 

 called Dalhousie into being and twice prevented its union with 

 King's, and the beginning of a University of Nova Scotia. The 

 stubbornness of Dr. Bethune, pupil of Dr. Strachan, delayed the 

 development of McGill for more than a decade. The ability, in- 

 tolerance and energy of Bishop Strachan exposed King's College, 

 Toronto, to a storm of sectarian abuse that led to the establishment of 

 denominational colleges and delayed the establishment of a national 

 university for sixty years — until 1887. Nevertheless, his vision, 

 energy and enthusiasm for learning were responsible for the beginning 

 of both McGill and Toronto. 



The colleges suffered more from the claims of the Church of 

 England for exclusive privileges than they did from the political 

 character of their boards. The Church claimed a controlling voice in 

 the governing boards, requiring the President to be a member of that 

 Church, and the professors and students to subscribe to the XXXIX 

 Articles. The use of the Liturgy in college services was also pre- 

 scribed. 



It is curious to note that subscription to the XXXIX Articles 

 was also required by the old Virginian College of William and Mary, 

 which had been fashioned in the likeness of Edinburgh. Thwing 

 declares that the purpose of the subscription to this college was 

 "rather to promote loyalty to the home government" than ortho- 

 doxy .^^ 



The disclosed political purpose of the memorial to Lord North, 

 on behalf of a college in Nova Scotia, suggests a similar belief with 

 regard to the King's Colleges. Judge Croke, in his protest against 

 the abrogation of the objectionable statutes of King's College, Nova 

 Scotia, said: " I do hereby express my disapprobation of the repeal 

 of the said two statutes as injurious to the interests of true religion in 

 2'Thwing, p. 60. 



