Produced by Stacy Brown, Jason Isbell and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This file was produced from images generously made available by The Internet Archive/Canadian Libraries) [Illustration] "THE STORY OF MY LIFE." BY THE LATE REV. EGERTON RYERSON, D.D., LLD., (Being Reminiscences of Sixty Years' Public Service in Canada.) PREPARED UNDER THE SUPERVISION OF HIS LITERARY TRUSTEES: THE REV. S.S. NELLES, D.D., LL.D., THE REV. JOHN POTTS. D.D., AND J. GEORGE HODGINS, ESQ., LL.D. EDITED BY J. GEORGE HODGINS, Esq., LL.D. "His life was gentle; and the elements So mix't in him, that Nature might stand up, And say to all the world, This was a Man!" --Shakespeare. _Julius Caesar_, Act v., sc. 5. Justum et tenacem propositi virum Non civium ardor prava jubentium, Non vultus instantis tyranni Mente quatit solida-- --Horace. _Odes_, iii. 3. WITH PORTRAIT AND ENGRAVINGS. TORONTO: WILLIAM BRIGGS, 78 and 80 KING STREET EAST. 1884. Entered, according to the Act of the Parliament of Canada, in the year one thousand eight hundred and eighty-three, by Mary Ryerson and Charles Egerton Ryerson, in the Office of the Minister of Agriculture, Ottawa. CONTENTS. Page Preface ix Estimate of Rev. Dr. Ryerson's Character and Labours 17 CHAPTER I.--1803-1825. Sketch of Early Life 23 CHAPTER II.--1824-1825. Extracts from Dr. Ryerson's Diary of 1824 and 1825 32 CHAPTER III.--1825-1826. First Year of Ministry and First Controversy 47 CHAPTER IV.--1826-1827. Missionary to the River Credit Indians 58 CHAPTER V.--1826-1827. Diary of Labours among Indians 64 CHAPTER VI.--1827-1828. Labours and Trials.--Civil Rights Controversy 80 CHAPTER VII.--1828-1829. Ryanite Schism.--M. E. Church of Canada organized 87 CHAPTER VIII.--1829-1832. Establishment of the _Christian Guardian_.--Church Claims resisted 93 CHAPTER IX.--1831-1832. Methodist Affairs in Upper Canada.--Proposed Union with the British Conference 107 CHAPTER X.--1833. Union between the British and Canadian Conferences 114 CHAPTER XI.--1833-1834. "Impressions of England" and their effects 121 CHAPTER XII.--1834. Events following the Union.--Division and Strife 141 CHAPTER XIII.--1834-1835. Second Retirement from the _Guardian_ Editorship 144 CHAPTER XIV.--1835-1836. Second Mission to England.--Upper Canada Academy 152 CHAPTER XV.--1835-1836.