RELIGION IN SCHOOLS AND THE SECULAR LEAGUE.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 1008, 24 December 1910, Page 17

RELIGION IN SCHOOLS AND THE SECULAR LEAGUE.

Sir,—l notice a report of the deliberations, etc., of the. "Secular. League"-in ; tho columns, ofy'cur 'paper/of DecG'mber 15, aiid desire, with your kind permission, to correct some misstatements mado. at that meeting by speakers, who have completely given the whole..concern awav. .The chairman, Mr. Gammell, stated that Ferrer, the anarchist,' had been put to a violent and cruel death by the clerical part}'. Nov,', sir, -the predominating religion in , Spain is the Catholic religion, and I,.as.a. member of that .Church, stigmatise; such an assertion," sd;,'.far as • itjmay.A'elato, to, my"Church, 'as'"a .cruel •slander. '* .Tho ..Anarchist's . trial".'was absolutely, a .Stato trial, i.e., a coiirt-mar-tiril similar to that, which - judged the other conspirators, and no criminal, ever' had a more open and fairer opportunity to vindicate his innocence, if he.'was innocent, than this man had. Mr. .Gammell is simply uttering'the distorted veision, as "circulated by M'Cabe. . And as lor the. secular education which Ferrer sought to establish/ my only- wish is that .this happy Dominion will never descend to tlio same depths, and, sir, the remarks were, I hear, applauded by some ■who have strong claims to propriety nnd respectability. It. is just as-well that your readers, who aro interested in true, national education, should bo afforded the opinion of somo reliable journals on the I errer system of secular education. The Paris "Temps/' which cannot be accused of any practical sympathy with Catholic- ' innn ' n issue of September 18, 1309, a few samples of tho sort of teaching which was imparted , in . Ferrer's schools. Hero, are a few choice tit-bits of sentiment, quoted by . that: journal, to instil into the minds' of-children of : a growing young nation like ours:—"Soldiers antl officers are murderers, whose mission is to kill and to sack";'-the national flag is " a filthv ra™ put on a no)e to deceive the people"; tho flag of one's country, again, is "a symbol of tyranny and misery. Poverty lias been created l »y spoliation. Religion is an apalling falsehood—there is no God, no Christ, no luturo state. Scienco has proved theso tacts. .. .' "U'o must abolish, every existing law, expel and exterminate ail monks and nuns and priests; wc must expel and-slay all magistrates and lawyers; wo must demolish every church; wo must confiscate all the money in the banks, and all tho money belonging to every class 'of citizens, " military or civil. ..." ".411 the existing Ministers, courtiers, and persons at the head of the Government, must be massacred, and a new. set of men elected in their places, who must bQ of our way of thinking." . Tho anti.-G'atholic journal -."EMmpar- • cial,". in its issue 'of October. 23, 190S, ■states: "Senor Perrci- first- started- his 'Barcelona .institute ■ under the title of 'School of. Liberty,'"'but. subsequently changed rts name ;to- that, oi: 'Modern School,' in. order..to escape .trouble with the Government. In a few months it became a.centre for the diffusion of.Anarchism aiid Atheism, and later, lie. organised similar, schools- throughout Spain." The same paper, while admitting the fairness of tho trial, states, that Ferrer fully deserved tho fate that befel liim. On . Jnly : 11, 1906, Ferrer wrote over his own signature in tho revolutionary organ, ■ "El Prcgrrsso," of Barcelona:—"l believe in the principles of anaTchy, and, so believing, I teach • that humanity can never accomplish' its mission upon earth so long as men credulously .believ,?. ia :a Supremo Being, and bow their necks to authority. Men can bo. freed only-through the extermination of, lungs, and rulers of every -sort, ami priests and parasites of cvsry kind." What a moo specimen of hero j He. secularist chairman, Mr- Gammell,; champions! ■ ~ ...

lerrors trial lasted nearly a month. It commcnccd parly in September, and was not concluded until October 8. when ll'o was condemned. Over sixty witnesses gave most conclusive and damning evidence against. th.e Anarchist—tho mail who deserted his wife and children, and lived openly with a wealthy paramour, lirnasliiia Meunier. According to the anti-Catholic paper, "Messnggero," Popo Pius X was tiie only .Sovereign in Europe who prayed that mercy should bo shown .to tho criminal Ferrer. Perhaps the reply given to tlifl eorresnoiulont of (lie Daily Chronicle," Mr. M. H. Donolice, by Senor Canalejas—wbo was. Leader of tlw Opposition when tho Maura Government .ratified; the decision of the Mililary Court, which found Ferrer guillv and sentenced him to death,, will surclv satisfy, those , i'jnorant of tho -subject" His reply jyns as ■ follows:-"r ; will teli you frankly, that I : consider was mcoatcstabiy.. a revolutionary, who was

condemned afteraffair and open trial. • • • have been condemned to death it my- Government had boni:.in pow€ fm * IIIOSt certainly, 4 Yes/ . . ."he'Clericals- hated his school and his. teachings, but to say. that they brought about his condemnation and death is an insult to tho Spanish nation and to tho honour of the Spanish officers of the army who tried him."

I now leave Mr. Gammell with his hero, and turn to Professor M'Kenzie, who is reported that the churches "bad relied too much on books, and preferred to'prepare people for the world to come than convey instruction of practical utility." And, "Real knowledge and learning had advanced Tathcr in spite of that by the aid. of the churches."' I can only say in pjain terms that such statements are twaddle—utter twaddle. Take; 'for instance, the ciireor. ..of St. Patrick's Co)» here, and let *us note the'numbers of lawyers, doctors, and commercial men whohavc been encouraged in these path's' of life. It "was'not* to secular-:instruc-tion that Claude .Bernard, Johann Muk ler, Laenner. Graves, Stokes, Sir Dominic. Corrigan, Theodore Schwann, AnenbrupKer Morgagm, Louis Pasteur, and M. and Madamo Curie, whose names shine so brilliantly in the school of medicine,' owe their early training, but to a &ouad, 1 practical Catholic education on' similar lines to what at the present day eitisU. Tho same applies in our great field-of research—electricity. Galvani, Volta, Ampere, Coulomb, and Rontgen. are also, the products of a Catholic education. It Was Galvani who said during the orgies of the Freuch Revolution that "a little philosophy led men away from God, but a good deal of it led them back to Him again." I would adviso Professor M'lCenzio to read up tho subject a little more closely, and think considerably before he figures, as your reporter' per- ; trayed him to your-readers. - And/,- sir, , in conclusion, • :the . Catholic ;Churcji,~ of I Now Zealand does 'not in the.islijjhtest hold with' the . views of any body or.: society which excludes the word of , God from tho education of the child. Quite.the contrary,. as our sacrifices-in the truest' and best interests of the young for many years will serve to show. And our Church will never ally herself to' anti-Christians—those who deny the divinity of Christ, and yet poss in the Christian senw. This is our position in ea*o your many Toaders may bo led to think otherwise. Apologising for lengthliness aud anticipating the kindness of insertion,—l am, etc. A WELLINGTON CATHOLIC. 1 Wellington, December 16, 1910. |