portion of
the Lands of the Crown should be set apart, and the revenue thereof
appropriated to these purposes." The Act provided that all property
which should thereafter be given, bequeathed or purchased for
educational purposes was to be vested in the trustees of the Royal
Institution, with the necessary powers of management. Provision was made
for the establishment of Free Schools at specified places throughout the
Province by the authority of the Government, and for the building and
repairing of schoolhouses, but not for the salaries of the masters.
Accordingly, elementary free schools were soon erected in different
parts of the Province, and several teachers were appointed by the
authorities.

Notwithstanding the passing of the above Act, educational advancement in
the Province for many years made but slow progress. There was no
adequate system of management. In 1803, Lord Hobart issued instructions
to the effect that a portion of the Crown Lands was to be set apart for
the promotion of education. These instructions were not carried out; at
best such a scheme would have been insufficient for the purpose;
subsequent experience in the case of the Clergy Reserves proved the
inefficacy of such an appropriation. There was a long delay in
establishing the Corporation which the Act of 1801 had in view. In 1815,
the Home Government directed the Provincial Government to proceed with
the election of trustees under the Act, but it was not until 1818 that
trustees were finally appointed. The trustees included the Lord Bishop
of Quebec as Principal; the Lord Bishop of Montreal; the Chief Justice
of Lower Canada; the Speaker of the Legislative Council; and the Speaker
of the Legislative Assembly.

It is unnecessary to enter here into the details of the early history of
the Royal Institution. Its first years were years of struggle. The
schools erected under its authority were one-room buildings of cedar
logs. Indeed, they were mere log-huts, but they provided the first free
English Education in Lower Canada, and laid the foundation for a
Canadian nationality. The records of the Royal Institution indicate the
determination with which teachers and officials battled sturdily with
poverty, and with discouraging conditions. The Secretary's salary was
always many months in arrears, and he frequently complained, with
unfortunately but little satisfaction, that not only had he given his
time for some years without remuneration, but tha