[60] The island within Long Point, which Mr. Ryerson's father obtained from the Crown, but which then belonged to him, was marked on old maps as Pottshawk Point, but designated on later maps, and more generally known, as "Ryerson's Island." CLOSING OFFICIAL ACTS AND UTTERANCES OF DR. RYERSON. An entire revision and consolidation of the laws relating to public and high schools took place in 1874, in which Dr. Ryerson took a leading part. But the revision related chiefly to details and to the supply of former omissions in the law. The last important official act of Dr. Ryerson was to arrange for the educational exhibit of the department at the Centennial Exhibition in 1876. That was most successfully carried out; and, at the close of that exhibition, the following highly gratifying "award" was communicated to the then venerable ex-chief, after he had retired from office. The award was made by the American Centennial Commission, and was to the following effect: For a quite complete and admirably arranged exhibition, illustrating the Ontario system of education and its excellent results; also for the efficiency of an administration which has gained for the Ontario Department a most honorable distinction among government educational agencies. This award was quite a gratification to the now retired chief of the Department, then in his seventy-third year, and amply repaid him, as he said, for many years of anxious toil and solicitude, while it was a gratifying and unlooked-for compensation for all of the undeserved opposition which he had encountered while laying the foundations of our educational system. In a letter to a friend toward the close of his official career, Dr. Ryerson thus explained the principles upon which he had conducted the educational affairs of the Province during his long administration of them. He said:-- During these many years I have organized and administered the Education Department upon the broad and impartial principles which I have always advocated. During the long period of my administration of the Department I knew neither religious sect nor political party; I knew no party other than that of the country at large; I never exercised any patronage for personal or party purposes; I never made or recommended one of the numerous appointments of teachers in the Normal or Model Schools, or clerk in the education office, except upon the ground of testimonials as to personal characters and qualifications, and on a probationary trial of six months. * * * * *