silent in his will
upon the subject of religion, and gave no direction to which these
Statutes will be repugnant. He was himself a member of the Church of
England, in communion with that Church. We do not feel at liberty to
imagine that he desired religious instruction to be excluded, and we
think it reasonable to believe that in selecting some Church whose
ministration should be recognised in the College which he intended to
found, he would naturally have desired the choice to fall on that Church
of which he was a member.

"2nd. The Charter which appoints us to be Governors declares that His
Majesty desired the erection of this University in order to provide for
the instruction of youth in the principles of true religion, as well as
in the different branches of Science and Literature; and whatever may be
the honest convictions of opposing Churches and Sects, we think it right
to assume that when the Sovereign speaks of the principles of true
religion, he means that which is the prevailing National Religion of the
British Empire, and which he must himself have solemnly professed. We
consider, therefore, that in placing McGill College on the footing
proposed, we have taken the only course which we could satisfactorily
account for, whatever may be the opinions or acts of others, whom it
does not rest with us to control.

"3rd. While other religious communities have their separate Colleges
closely connected with their form of doctrine and worship and partaking
of public support, there is none in the Province of Canada which is
bound by plain and acknowledged ties to the Church of England. We have
felt it not to be unjust or illiberal to allow to the members of that
Church this advantage so desirable to themselves in an Institution
founded by the munificence of one of their communion while the youth of
all other religious bodies may, in the discretion of themselves and
their parents, resort to it for instruction in the several branches of
Science, with the assurance that no attempt will be suffered to be made
to bias their religious belief; and with the satisfaction at the same
time of knowing, that whenever instruction in Religion may be desired,
it cannot be uncertain in what form it will be conveyed.

"We hope that our fellow-subjects of all persuasions will view, without
jealousy or alarm, the provisions which we have proposed to make on this
subject, and that they will carry their liberality so far as to give
effic