A Code of Statutes, Rules and Regulations for the government of the
College was now prepared by the Governors. Without the approval of the
Board it was forwarded to the Governor-General for submission to the
Crown for ratification. Six years passed before these Statutes, with
slight alterations, received Royal sanction, with the result that the
College opened without definite rules for its guidance. The reasons for
this delay will be outlined elsewhere. It is only necessary to mention
here that the first difficulty in connection with the Statutes arose
from requirements connected with religious instruction in the
University. Two of these, which were later disallowed by Her Majesty's
Government, provided first, that "no Professor, Lecturer or Tutor shall
teach in the College any principles contrary to the doctrines of the
United Church of England and Ireland," and second, that "on every Sunday
during the term, all the resident members of the University under the
degree of B.C.L. who have not obtained a dispensation to the contrary,
shall attend the morning service in the Protestant Episcopal Parish
Church of Montreal." It was also stipulated that "the prayers in the
College Chapel shall be said in rotation by such officers of the College
as shall be in Holy Orders of the United Church of England and Ireland."
These provisions, together with the fact that the acting-Principal, who
was also Rector of Christ Church, had just been appointed Professor of
Divinity, gave rise to critical discussion, and made Lord Metcalfe, the
Governor-General, pause before advising the Colonial Office to obtain
the Royal ratification of the Statutes. He wrote to Lord Stanley, "The
main point involved in these questions is whether the Religious
Instruction to be given at McGill College shall be exclusively that of
the Church of England....