In July, 1872, the Hon. George L. Hatheway died quite suddenly, and this led to a re-organization of the Government. Attorney General King became Premier and the Hon. John J. Fraser was made Provincial Secretary, resigning his seat in the Legislative Council, and being elected to the seat in York made vacant by the death of Mr. Hatheway. Hon. Robert Young a member of the Legislative Council was appointed to the Executive Council, and took Mr. Fraser's place as President, thus the Government was filled up and remained as strong as before, for Mr. Young was probably the most influential member of the Legislative Council. Mr. Young was a resident of the County of Gloucester and had voted for an amendment to the school bill, which if carried, would have saddled separate schools on this Province, but he now fell in with the school policy of the Government and did his part to make it successful.

If the agitation against the school laws had been confined to the Province, it would have speedily subsided, for its advantages would have been perceived by the people as soon as it was given a fair trial. But when the law had passed the Legislature and was being put in operation, it was attacked in the House of Commons. Mr. Costigan, the member for Victoria, made himself the Champion and leader of the opponents of the measure. At the session of 1872, he moved in the House of Commons, that an humble address be presented to His Excellency, the Governor General, praying him to disallow the New Brunswick School Law. The grounds which he stated for the purpose of justifying this motion were, that the sections of the law " forbidding the imparting of any religious instruction to pupils was opposed to the sentiments of the entire population of the Dominion in general and to the religious convictions of the Roman Catholic population in particular. That the Roman Catholics of New Brunswick cannot without acting unconscientiously, send their children to schools established under the law in question, and yet are compelled, like the remainder of the population, to pay taxes to be devoted to the maintenance of these schools. That the law is unjust, and causes much uneasiness among the Roman Catholic population in general disseminated throughout the whole Dominion of Canada, and that such a state of affairs may prove the cause of disastrous results to all the Confederated Provinces."

This bold attempt to deprive the Province of its right to legislate with regard to education did not succeed. Although both Ontario and Quebec had separate schools for the Roman Catholic and Protestant minorities in these Provinces, a majority of members could not be found in the House of Commons to force such schools on New Brunswick. After much debate and the defeat of several amendments, a resolution was carried expressing regret that the School Act recently passed in New Brunswick was unsatisfactory to a portion of the inhabitants of that Province, and hoping that it may be so modified during the next session of the legislature, as to remove any just grounds of discontent. To this was added an amendment moved by Hon. Mr. Mackenzie and seconded by Hon. Mr. Blake, that this House deems it expedient that the opinion of the law officers of the Crown in England, and if possible the opinion of the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council, should be obtained as to the right of the New Brunswick Legislature to make such changes in the School Law as deprived the Roman Catholics of the privileges they enjoyed at the time of the Union, in respect of religious education in the common schools, with a view of ascertaining whether the case comes within the terms of the 4th sub-section of the 93rd clause of the British North America Act, 1867, which authorizes the Parliament of Canada to enact remedial laws for the due execution of the provisions respecting education in the said act. "

This resolution was very unfortunately worded, for it seemed to assume that the Roman Catholics had been deprived by the new school law, of some rights which they had formerly enjoyed. Much indignation was felt among the upholders of the law in New Brunswick, at what they regarded as an unwarrantable interference on the part of the House of Commons, with the rights of their Legislature. This indignation was increased, when at the session of 1873, the first session of the second Parliament of Canada. Mr. Costigan succeeded in carrying an amendment to the motion to go into supply, declaring it to be the opinion of the House that the parties aggrieved by the operation of the New Brunswick School law, should have an opportunity of bringing the matter, judicially, before the Privy Council, and that in the meantime it was the duty of the Government to advise the Governor-General to disallow the several acts passed during the last session of the New Brunswick Legislature to legalize assessments made under the Common School Act of New Brunswick, and an amendment of the Common School Act. This was carried against the Government, by a vote of ninety-eight to sixty-three, of which Quebec contributed thirty-four to the majority, and it showed clearly how little the upholders of the New Brunswick School Law could rely on the good will of the House of Commons. Three of the members of the New Brunswick Government, immediately went to Ottawa, and presented to the Governor-General, a remonstrance against the action of the House of Commons. The Governor-General declined to comply with the terms of the resolution and disallow the New Brunswick acts, but submitted the case to the Home Authorities. The Law officers of the Crown of England, advised that the acts in question, like the School Act, itself, were within the powers of the Legislature, and that the Canadian House of Commons could not constitutionally interfere with their operation by passing a resolution, as, if such a resolution was allowed to have effect, it would amount to a virtual repeal of the British North America Act. The acts therefore were not disallowed, but in the meantime, at the instance of the Government, the sum of $5,000 was voted to enable any party to appeal to Her Majesty in Council on the subject of the New Brunswick School Acts. This was something more than generous on the part of Dominion Government and the House of Commons, and was virtually putting a premium on resistance to a law which the Legislature was competent to pass, and which treated all classes and denominations alike. The result of the appeal to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council was, that the validity of the New Brunswick School Law was sustained.

The School law was resisted, either actively or passively, in all the Counties in which the Roman Catholics were in a majority, but it was in the County of Gloucester that this resistance assumed its most acute form. The census of 1871 showed that Gloucester had, 18,810 inhabitants of whom 16,078 were Roman Catholics and 12,680 were of French origin. Here, if, as the ecclesiastics claimed, the denominational system was the correct one, was the fairest possible field for its exercise. Yet the census of 1871, showed that this system had been a dismal failure, for out of 7,956 persons in the> County of Gloucester of 21 years of age and upwards 4,227, or more than half, were unable to write. Nor is this surprising when the state of the schools of Gloucester is taken into account.. During the last term under the old school law, that county had only 28 schools with 882 pupils on the register and an average attendance of 489. But these schools, few as they were in number, were very unequally distributed, so that the lack of educational facilities in some parts of the county was extreme. The parishes of Bathurst, Beresford and New Bandon, with a population of 9,972, had 19 schools and 682 pupils on the register, while the other four parishes with 8,838 inhabitants, had only 9 schools and 200 pupils on the register. The parish of Saumarez with 2,162 inhabitants, all of whom except 31 were Roman Catholics, had but one school with 32 pupils on the register and an average attendance of 16. In Shippegan there were 2,015 inhabitants, all Catholics except 136,. and here there were two schools with 42 pupils on the register, and an average attendance of 25. In the parish of Caraquet with 3,111 inhabitants, all Roman Catholics except 79, there were three schools with 73 pupils on the register and an average attendance of 36. If it was the duty of the Priests as they claimed, to supervise the education of their parishioners, then surely that duty had been most grossly neglected under the old school law. How could it be expected that the French Acadians of Gloucester, would be able to improve their condition or become an important factor in the Government of the Province, while so steeped in ignorance. To-day, although the population of that County is only about 50 per cent greater than than it was in 1871, the number of its schools has risen to 110 and they are attended by about 5,000 pupils. A new generation of French Acadians has risen who are well educated, intelligent and enterprising, and who are represented in the Legislature by eight members of French origin, worthy representatives of their race.

The following extract from the life of Sir George Cartier by Mr. DeCelles, a French Catholic, will convey to the reader some idea of the difficulties to some of the prominent politicians of Canada, involved in the New Brunswick School Question.

"The matter, however, that gave most concern to Cartier was the New Brunswick school embroglio. When, in 1871, the news spread that the Catholics of that Province had been deprived of their system of separate schools which had existed up to that time, and previous to Confederation, the press of Quebec at once took sides with the Catholics of New Brunswick. Without stopping to inquire what was the true legal position, the editors cried out that the minority was suffering persecution. Thus influenced, public opinion very soon followed in the same track, and the Government was at once importuned to interfere and protect the down-trodden minority. When Parliament met in the winter of 1872, Messrs. Costigan, Anglin, and Renaud, brought up the grievance of their New Brunswick friends, and protested against the proposed change which denied to the Catholics any share of the educational fund so long as their schools remained sectional. They requested the disallowance of the obnoxious law; but the Government resisted that request on the ground that educational legislation was vested solely in the Provincial Legislature; that although sympathy went out towards the aggrieved citizens of that province, it was out of the question to advise the Governor-General to veto the act. It was set forth by Sir John A. Macdonald, to make the situation clear, that when the Confederation scheme was under discussion, an attempt had been made to place education under Federal control, which attempt, the delegates from Quebec had entirely objected to, going so far as to declare that they could not accept any scheme of union in which education would pass from Provincial control. It was, however, decided that, in order to protect existing rights in Ontario and Quebec, an appeal should lie to the Central Government if these rights were interfered with by their respective local Legislatures. The Government was sustained in this position, and Cartier, feeling the great responsibility attached to his conduct in this matter, made a decided effort to convince his co-religionists how wrong they were in pressing the Government to interfere. The members were of one mind with him, but outside of parliament, the debate was waged between sentimental reasons and legal arguments and, with the masses, the latter seldom gain a victory. Cartier, with his usual vim and high spirit, when he was seeking Lower Canada's concurrence, led the public to expect from Confederation more than it could give, as a protection to minorities. Had he not stated in the House at Quebec, that any attempt upon the rights of the minorities would be visited by the interference of the Federal power? "Is it possible to imagine that the general Government or that the local administration would be guilty of arbitrary acts? What would be the consequence, supposing the latter should do any unjust action ? Measures of this sort would certainly be repudiated by the majority of the people. It is not probable, therefore, that a minority will ever be deprived of its rights. Under this system of federation which places in the hands of the Central Government all matters of general interest, and to whom question of races will be indifferent, religious or national rights will not be ignored. "

When confronted with the stern fact of the New Brunswick grievance, he took another stand, the only one justifiable in law, but not expected by his fellow-religionists of Quebec. After having demonstrated in the clearest manner possible, that disallowance was not in this case within the Province of the central power, he appealed to the egotism and self-interest of the French Canadians, who, of all the people united in Confederation, should be the last to ask for federal interference in local affairs. It was altogether contrary to the maintenance of their autonomy, to create a precedent which might be used against them later on. It was simply setting before the Protestant minority of Quebec, an example which they might imitate, if any measure were passed by the Quebec Legislature which caused discontent among them. Certainly all this was sound advice, and went far to strengthen the Provincial rights, but at the time it did not convince verv many. Of course his sympathies, like those of Sir John Macdonald, went openly with the aggrieved, but he gave them to understand that they had in their own hands the means of obtaining redress. They were an important minority, and if, with united efforts, they persisted in claiming their rights, these would before long be conceded to them. The Government was sustained in this course, and Carrier's suggestion, that the opinion of the law officers of the Crown in England be obtained on the contention of the Catholics, was accepted. With this ended Cartier's parliamentary connection with the matter, but the agitation waxed terribly strong against him in Quebec. Scarcely anything else was discussed in the electoral campaign of 1872; great questions like the tariff, protection to native industries, the Canadian Pacific Railway—questions of vast import to the advancement of the country—were scarcely mentioned. Matters of sentiment always take the lead in the Province of Quebec, and become the all-absorbing topics of the day."

"Let us give the sequel of that unfortunate incident, in order to draw from it a valuable moral lesson. It was again brought up at the session of 1873, when Mr. Costigan, not being satisfied with the decision adverse to his views given by the law officers of the Crown in England, again asked for the disallowance of the obnoxious legislation. He carried his point against the power of the Government. All the Catholic members of Quebec, save four, two of whom were Ministers, voted for the Costigan motion ; many did so reluctantly, simply obeying the dictates of public opinion and of the clergy, but thinking probably in their own minds, that they were pursuing a dangerous course. When the Liberals came into power another effort was made to obtain redress of the long standing grievance : but the new administration was adverse to anything which would look like high-handed proceedings. At the session of 1874, Mr. Costigan forced it again upon the attention of the Commons, with the help of the Quebec Conservatives, who, having suffered so much at the hands of their opponents from the agitation raised by this controversy, were bound now to use it against them to the fullest extent. The object of the new Costigan motion was to have the constitution amended, so as to secure to his co-religionists the privilege they claimed, and a violent debate ensued. Judge of the astonishment of the Quebec members, when the rumor became current that the Bishop of New Brunswick had made a compromise with the local Government, by which the Catholic children could receive, under certain conditions, religious instruction in the public schools. What offended the supporters of the Costigan motion was, that the Bishop allowed them to continue this long standing fight after he had brought the difficulty to an end, without giving them a word of warning, and without consulting them, after all the trouble they had taken to obtain redress for his flock. The fact of the matter is that for nearly five years, all the energies of Quebec had gravitated around this New Brunswick local affair, to the exclusion of all other interests. It was inferred from this want of consideration, that this active and sympathetic support was little appreciated when the need for it had passed. The The Quebec friends of the New Brunswick Catholics seemed then to have played a rather Quixotic part in this battle for redress of other people's grievances. They received an unmerited lesson, but one which was lost upon them. They were again found on several occasions to be more Catholic than the Pope, and more aggrieved than the real sufferer of the wrong.

The School Act has now been in operation for nearly forty years, and while no one can claim that it is perfect, its effects have been beneficial and it has been the means of banishing illiteracy from the Province to a large extent. Its main defect is that sufficient encouragement is not given to male teachers who would take up the work -as a permanent avocation, and that so many of the schools are taught by young females who have but little experience in teaching and who are liable to abandon the business and get married at an early age. These difficulties however, will no doubt, in time, be got rid of or amended, and the schools will be placed on a better footing whenever the people are prepared to pay a higher price for the education of their children. When the School Act was passed in 1871, it was not very strongly supported in the Legislative Council and an amendment, which would have neutralized its best effects, came near being carried in that body, the division being six to six. At the session of 1880, a singular debate took place in the course of passing the address in reply to the speech from the Throne, which seemed to show that some of the old hostility to free non-sectarian schools still existed in the Upper House. One of the paragraphs in the speech stated that there would be a measure presented to the Legislature relating to schools. Upon this Hon. Mr. Jones enquired in what way the school system was to be changed. The school bill he denounced as a tee-total failure. The Government, he said, should take hold of the matter and make radical changes, for they are sadly needed. As far as he was concerned he had always been willing to be taxed for the education of the youth of the country as far as the three arts, reading, writing and arithmetic were concerned, but he was altogether opposed to the present extravagant system, which was a benefit to the rich man's children at the expense of the poor man. He attacked the school trustees of St. John for their extravagance in erecting that costly school house on Duke street. He had hoped that after the fire such an expensive school house would not again be put up, but it was. The erection of costly school houses was a poorly devised scheme; neat little wooden buildings and plenty of them, would be much better.

Honorable Mr. Hibbard said that if we had extravagant trustees, the law was not to blame for the costly manner in which they conducted affairs. He did not believe in the erection of expensive buildings. He believed in all school children standing on the same footing, and if the poor man's child, by diligence and perseverance works himself head and shoulders above the rich man's child, he deserves it. But St. John has abused the school law, and the time must come when so much of the revenues of the country cannot be taken for the support of education.

The Honorable Mr. Ryan said that he believed that the schools were not as good then as they were ten years before, while the Honorable Mr. Lewis believed that ten or twenty years ago, the country was in a much better state as regards education, than it was in 1880. The school law was not working satisfactorily throughout the country, and he hoped the Government would take some steps to alleviate the crying evil. The law was a hardship to the poor of the country.

Honorable Mr. Lindsay believed that the Government of the day should make as liberal provision for the education of the masses as the finances of the country would permit. He did not believe, however, in the country bearing the expense of the education of those who wished to be lawyers, doctors, etc. Educational matters were in a much better state in the country districts than in cities, he knew, and he could thus sympathize with his friend from St. John.

Hon. Mr. Mclnerney said that the School Law throughout the country is not looked upon with favor, and under this law, the schools are not as efficient as they were before its passage. He failed to see that the system gave the same advantage to the poor as to the rich, inasmuch as the poor man had to bear the expense of the education of the children of those who could afford to pass them through the higher branches. Again, the Province has no right to give a grant to the University. It imposes a tax upon the poor man who receives no benefit from it. He believed, though, in every child receiving a fair education, at the expense of the Province. The law, in the first place had never been wished God speed, and could not have luck.

The Hon. John A. Beckwith said that when the question of free schools was first mooted many years ago, he conversed with Hon. Mr. Wark and Mr. Alex. Rankine, who did not favor it, on the ground that it would be improper for those who had no children, to be taxed. He (Beckwith) could not agree with them, as he believed it would be quite proper for them to bear a tax, and he now held the same opinion. But the country is now overtaxed for schools. It was never intended to give a real first-class education. He believed in the Province teaching every child to read and write, and at that state, if the child has perseverance and a fair share of ability, he will work out for himself a first-class education. He regarded the system as expensive and trusted the Executive would do something towards diminishing the cost.

These speeches on the question of education show that the views of our legislators in 1880 were very different from those that prevail at the present day. Yet, the school law, so far from being a failure in 1880 as stated by the Hon. Mr. Jones, had at that time doubled the number of pupils attending the schools in New Brunswick. No one now believes that the provision for advanced education favors the rich at the expense of the poor. The best proof of the demand for higher education, is found in the establishment of consolidated schools in country districts. The number of these schools is certain to increase. So far from the grant to the University being unpopular, or liable to be withdrawn, the people of New Brunswick are willing to increase it, for the purpose of establishing new chairs, so that our young men may be better equipped for the business of life. The cost of education to the people of New Brunswick instead of being less than that of 1880, has since then been more than doubled, the greatest increase being in the district assessment. The people of the Province have learned that they cannot obtain a good education for their children without paying for it. The amounts raised for school purposes by district assessment and by Municipal aid is now two and a half times as great as the amount of the Government grant in aid of schools.