"The grounds on which the Governors have adopted the affirmative of the
proposition, and appointed a Divinity Professor of the Church of
England, are ably stated in their letter to me. On the other hand, there
are strenuous remonstrances against this arrangement on the part of the
Ministers of the other Protestant persuasions in the Province, and a
strong feeling against it in the community; and the design manifested to
connect the Institution, in that respect, exclusively with the Church of
England will most probably deprive it of that support from the
Provincial Legislature without which it will necessarily be crippled.
The opinions on this subject, understood to be prevalent in the
Province, are likely to lead to discussions in the Legislature; and it
may become necessary to modify the Institution so as to make it more
suitable to public expectation and general utility. If, therefore, it
rested with me to determine on this reference, I should be disposed,
either to disallow the Professorship of Divinity, or to suspend the
decision until it could be seen that the Institution can stand on the
footing on which the Governors have placed it.
"I am, by the Charter, a Governor of the Institution, but have not acted
in that capacity; at first, simply because more urgent business
prevented my going to Montreal to take a part in the proceedings of the
Governors; but subsequently, on reflection, for the following
reasons:--I doubt the expediency of the Governor-General's taking a part
as one of the Governors of an Institution in which he may be overruled
by a majority, and apparently sanction measures which he disapproves.
The perusal of the correspondence between the Governors of the College
and the Royal Institution of Quebec satisfied me that I ought not to
place myself in a position which would render me liable to become a
party concerned in such a correspondence, and subject to the assumed
authority and control of another Institution. The Income of the
Institution having become a bone of contention between the Church of
England and the other Protestant Churches, it appears to me to be right
that I should perform my part as Governor-General without being
embarrassed by proceedings to which I might be a party as a Governor of
the College."
The action of the Governor-General was approved by Lord Stanley and
consideration of the Statutes was consequently postponed.