"Our great difficulty was lack of the sinews of war, and the seat of Government being, at the time, in Toronto, I was asked by the Governors to spend my first Christmas vacation in that city, with a view of securing some legislative aid. There was as yet no direct railway communication between Montreal and Toronto, and of course no Victoria Bridge. I crossed the river in a canoe, amidst floating ice, and had to travel by way of Albany, Niagara, and Hamilton. The weather was stormy, and the roads blocked with snow, so that the journey to Toronto occupied five days, giving me a shorter time there than I had anticipated. I received, however, a warm welcome from Sir Edmund Head, saw most of the members of the Government, and obtained some information as to the Hon. Mr. Cartier's contemplated Superior Education Act--passed in the following year--which secured for the first time the status of the preparatory schools, whilst giving aid to the universities. I was also encouraged by Sir Edmund and Cartier to confer with the Superintendent of Education and with the Governors of McGill on my return to Montreal, with reference to the establishment of a Normal School in connection with the University. This was successfully carried through in the following year." With the loyal aid of the Board of Governors the Principal at once undertook to arouse the interest of the general public in the University. He realised the necessity of securing their speedy co-operation and assistance. His belief was that the University should not be isolated nor removed from the stream of national life; his hope was that it should minister in a practical and tangible way to the community in which it was situated. On November 5th, 1855, he was inaugurated as Principal. A few days later he established the first real link between University and citizens, on the purely instructional side, by the commencement of a course of thirty popular lectures in Zoology, Natural Philosophy, Civil Engineering, Palæography and the Chemistry of Life. The fee for the course was £1. The course in Engineering was the origin of the department of Applied Science, which later expanded into a Faculty. Soon afterwards a course of lectures in Agriculture was given by the Principal, who, while Superintendent of Education in Nova Scotia, had given several lectures on that subject throughout the province. The fee for this course was £1 5s.