That was a grand purpose to which Rev. Egerton Ryerson pledged himself on accepting office as the first Superintendent of Education for Ontario in 1844, "To provide for my native country a system of education, and facilities for intellectual improvement, not second to those of any country in the world." The form and loftiness of the promise marked the courage, individuality and conscious strength of the man who made it. The statue in the Toronto Normal School grounds, which was unveiled with appropriate ceremonies on the 24th inst., will henceforth stand as the testimony of the people of Ontario, especially of its teachers and others interested in educational work, to the faithfulness and ability with which the pledge was redeemed through thirty-two years of indefatigable toil and struggle. The artistically wrought monument in bronze will also serve as a fitting reminder to all who visit the Educational Department that the people of Ontario do not mean to let those who faithfully served their country in its earlier days be forgotten. A monument "more enduring than bronze" stands out to view wherever a free public school is efficiently doing its work in training the young of both sexes and of all classes to become intelligent and patriotic citizens of this growing commonwealth. Whether it be literally true or not that Dr. Ryerson "placed his native Province in the van of all the States of America and all the colonies of the British Empire," as the Minister of Education avouches, his plan was certainly comprehensive and statesmanlike, and was followed out with a courage, perseverance and success, for which the Province must ever remain his debtor. The Toronto correspondent of the _Montreal Witness_, under date of 31st of May, says:-- One of the noblest public tributes ever paid to the memory of any man in Canada was paid the other day to the memory of the late Rev. Egerton Ryerson. From the time of his death, early in 1882, till now, the work of collecting subscriptions for the erection of a statue has gone steadily on. The amounts contributed were individually small, but the contributors were numerous, and now in front of the Departmental Buildings, in St. James' Square, stands a memorial of him which will fairly convey to future generations some idea of what the man himself was in personal appearance. The massiveness and rugged strength are there, and there were, after all, the most marked traits of Dr. Ryerson's personality, though he was by no means lacking in sympathy and intellectual ability.... The addresses were admirable alike for brevity and good taste, and nothing occurred to mar the success of the ceremony. The _Educational Journal_ of June 1st, said:--