spirit, that proud regard for duty,
infused into our press by such master-minds as John Neilson and Daniel
Wilkie, still continue to inspire the "Fourth Estate," whether confided to
Scotch or other hands.
Ladies and. Gentlemen, we have
uttered the word "education" in connection with the Scotch element in the
Province of Quebec and space commands us to be brief. Rest assured that
the love of instruction, which has in the past so powerfully helped to
mould the popular mind north of the Tweed, and has found a vent in the
Scotch parochial school system, had also its votaries on our shores.
Who has not heard of the liberal
endowments made by Scotchmen, in our commercial metropolis, Montreal? of
fortunes spent in founding seats of learning or building up that proud
city? fortunes accumulated in Montreal or in those great trading companies
of the Hudson Bay and the lone land of the North. Scotch capital and
enterprise formed colonies and settlements in these Northern latitudes,
such as Selkirk’s. Lord Selkirk was ably seconded by another Scotchman
knighted for his services and public spirit, Sir George Simpson, who died
in Montreal, in 1860. Monuments most creditable to the cause of education
were erected by them also. Who has not heard of the McTavishes,
McGillivrays, McLeods, McKenzies, McGills, McLaughlins and their
successors, as discoverers, merchants, travellers, barons in the bank
parlor, patrons of education. That noble seat of learning in Montreal, the
University of McGill College—who imparted to it the breath of life ? a
Scotchman, the Hon. James McGill!
* Born at Glasgow in 1744, a successful merchant, a
member of Parliament, subsequently, a member of the Legislative Council;
finally, an Executive Councillor, he served in the war of 1812, when he
became a Brigadier-General
