were released by Mr. Justice Carter on a writ of _habeas
corpus_. Doak and Hill both brought actions against the speaker, Mr.
Weldon, and the result was a decision of the Supreme Court of New
Brunswick that the House of Assembly had not the power to arrest and
imprison the publisher of a libel on a member of the House touching his
conduct and proceedings in the House.

CHAPTER VII

WILMOT'S VIEWS ON EDUCATION

Among the questions in which Wilmot took a deep interest was that of
education. His views on this subject were far in advance of those of
most of his contemporaries. Education was in a very unsatisfactory
condition in the province of New Brunswick when he entered public life,
and it continued in that condition for many years afterward. If we may
judge from the statute-book, the founders of the province had very
little appreciation of the advantages of education, for no law was
passed with a view to the establishment of public schools until the year
1805. In that year "An Act for encouraging and extending literature in
this province" was passed, under the provisions of which a public
grammar school was established in the city of St. John, which received a
grant of one hundred pounds for the purpose of assisting the trustees to
procure a suitable building for school uses, and also an annual grant of
one hundred pounds for the support of the master. The same Act provided
for the establishment of county schools, and the sections relating to
them, being limited in respect to time, were continued by 50th George
III, Chap. 33 to the year 1816, when they expired and were replaced by
"An Act for the establishment of schools in the province." This Act
expired in 1823, and in its place "An Act for the encouragement of
parish schools" was passed the same year. This last Act was repealed by
"An Act in relation to parish schools" passed in 1833, which continued
in force for many years. All these Acts were essentially the same in
principle, as they provided for government aid to teachers who had been
employed to teach schools in the parishes under the authority of the
school trustees. The Act of 1833, which was considered to be a great
improvement on former Acts, provided for the appointment of three school
trustees in each parish by the sessions, and these trustees were charged
with the duty of dividing the parishes into districts and directing the
discipline of the schools. They were required to certify once a year