reed were taught. In 1900, by Act
of the legislature, the Madras school property was handed over to the
diocesan synod of Fredericton, with the exception of about ten thousand
dollars, which went to the University of New Brunswick.

From the day when Wilmot became a member of the House of Assembly in
1835, he began to press upon the attention of that body the necessity
for an improvement in the schools of the province. But the same spirit
of apathy which prevailed with regard to purely political questions
affected the legislature with respect to education. The people
throughout the province were not prepared to make the sacrifices
necessary to obtain sufficient schools. Their attitude with regard to
education was well described in a speech made by Wilmot in 1846, when
Mr. Brown, of Charlotte, brought in his bill to provide for a normal or
proper training school for the education of those who were to become
teachers. This bill did not become law, in consequence of the opposition
raised against it in the legislature on the ground of expense. It was
estimated that it would cost an additional two thousand pounds to
provide a normal school, and this sum the men who were at the head of
the government were not willing to pay for the purpose of giving the
children of the province properly trained teachers. Wilmot's speech on
that occasion concluded as follows:--

{PARISH SCHOOLS}

"Before I sit down I must again revert to the greatest difficulty which
has to be encountered to render the provisions of that bill effective in
promoting a better system of education in the parish schools. This is a
difficulty which in this country legislation cannot reach--I earnestly
wish it could. I mean the apathy of the parents themselves. The
honourable member now in the chair can bear me witness as to the extent
to which this apathy prevails in this county at this day. That
honourable member, when out of the chair, could tell the committee that
in a certain district of this county where there is no schoolhouse, a
philanthropic individual told the inhabitants that if they would get out
a frame and provide the boards, he would at his own expense provide
nails, glass, locks, and the necessary materials for finishing a
schoolhouse. What was the result? They did get out the frame and raised
it, and when I and the honourable chairman had occasion to visit that
part of the county together, we enquired why they did not go on and
finish it. The wort