THE GRAMMAR SCHOOL AND HISTORY.

Daily Southern Cross, Volume XXVIII, Issue 4538, 12 March 1872, Page 3

THE GRAMMAR SCHOOL AND HISTORY.

To the Editor : Sir/— On. what grounds ofc justice or right can Bishop Croke object to the loading and remarkable facts which be ■culls from Collier's History o! England being taught in % the Grammar School ? What sort ; of a history will it be if these facto are suppressed ? Mention has beeja made of a disputant being stopped in his argument by an opponent objecting that the facts were against him j on which he rejoined, "So much the worse for the facts, 1" So Dr. Croke feels disturbed at such »u array of facets. He does not attempt to show that they are misstated, but summarily condemns the book as " ill- written (?)', bigoted, and offensive." He would hide these facts from " our Roman Catholio youth." This looks something vlry like bigotry.. In aP. 8. Dr. C^oke treats Andersons geography, "as in its way quite as offensive " as Collier's, and adds, " The othe* class books I have. n<Sfc seen." This ia a summons to the governing body to wait till the other class books have come in order before him, and he has weeded out in an index expurgatorius what he considers bigoted and offensive. When he is satisfied with this supervision, which he claims on behalf of his co-religionists exclusively, how will the residue of the teaching be in any sense nonsectarian ? Whether that is a right or intelligible principle ia another question. In the meanwhile, what will become of the governing body? But there is another phase of the question : Have i not Dr. Croke and his party throughout the j colony offered strenuous opposition to Mr. Fox's education scheme, which provided for the use of the Bible in the schools ? We Protestants take the Bible to be the great charter, of our liberties and privileges. Is there no bigotry in attempting to deprive " our Protestant youth " of this Divine light ?— -I am, &c, Historious. To the Editor : Sir, —Your correspondent " Laicus" writes respecting the Government educational policy and the Grammar School, i like a man who understands the true principles of freedom and policy. He shows clearly the Junsoundness and danger of the system which has been adopted, threatening' injury alike to the liberties and interests of the people, as to the free exercise of talent and effort in a wholesome competition. As he says, " Every scholastic institution ought to stand, upon its own merits." The present system will sink all into a dead level, discouraging effort, like the Trades Unions, who strive to prevent any of their own rank rising to eminence. I quite agree with "Laicus" that it ia a pretence to call the Grammar School " unsectarian" ; it is sectarian in the worst sense, because it excludes religion. What is the use of stuffiug the head, if the heart is left corrupt aud ignorant of the primary duties towards God or man ? Is this fitting for a Christian people ? or even for a free people ?"r^ or & mus * en^ in despotism. Elihu's "warning may well come homo to us: "That the hypocrite reign not, le9t the people be ensnared." — I am, &c, An Old Teacher. To the Editor : Sir, — A question was put some short time ago through the Gross to the Principal of the Auckland College and Grammar School inquiring if the books used in that institution, and the system of instruction generally pursued there, were calculated to. produoo any eccfcnrian taiaB in~tlnr Hflltrd~Of * the pupils, or not. May I take the liberty to repeat that question, and, if it were not asking too much, to request a reply through your pages from the Principal of the College himself— Mr. Mcßae ? I think that, as a citizen of Auckland and a parent, I have a right to put such a question, aud to obtain a definite and full reply to it in the most public manner possible. Were the Auckland College and Grammar School a private institution, or were it even a Government institution, with an avowed and definite religious charactor, of course I should not require to put any such question as I now ask. I ought to add that I do nob put such a query at the instigation or suggestion of any one, but entirely of my own free will and motive, and not epon with the knowledge of any other person. I have reasons both of a public and private nature for putting it, and which, if necessary, I may hereafter explaki at large. Since writing the above I have seen the important letter of the Bishop of Auckland, Dr. Croke, iv the Cross of Saturday. Notwithstanding that letter, however, I hope the Principal, Mr.- Mcßae, will still be so good as reply to my question, because his idea of what constitutes sectarianism may be widely different from that entertained by others. I should not at all be surprised to find him yet prepared to say that the school under his direction is a pure nou-sectavian school, fit for Catholic youths; and that Collier's History is quite impartial, not all sectarian, but equally well adapted -for the use of Catholic aa of all other pupils. I presume all tho other schools ia the province stand in a similar predicament to the Auckland College and Grammar School aa regards these books. For anything the Catholic public know to the contrary, Collier's History — or books even more offensive to Catholics, if that were possible -may be used in them. Catholics here being wise, and having a proper respect for themselves aud the religion they profess, they ought not to look to Government schools or Government money for higher education to their children. They ought to rally round their Bishop, and strengthen his hands to enable him to establish and support a school of their own, which might in due time rival, if it did not surpass, the Auckland College and Grammar School itself, high though the attainments of its teachers are. If they did so, Government and theirfellow-citizens would respectthem all the more for ib. From what I have seen of the Catholics of this city and province, I am well persnaded that their pie,ty» and their , pnhlio spirit are fully equal to such a work, and that they have m'ouey enough for it too ; and I do not despair of seeing it begun and well advanced before I die. — I am, &c, John Wood, Surgeon (late H.M.S.), Wel-lington-street. -,To the Editor: Sir,— The citations mentioned by Dr. Croke in his letter of Saturday embody a number of historical facts ; and, if I understood him rightly, the objecttfon is not raised against the fact 3 themselves, but against 4ste language which the writeriof Collier's British History applies to the Church of which Dr. Croke is a minister. You have disposed of the subject in few words. " The evil complained of is one that, calls, for rectification." The other point mooted by Dr. Croke is not "so easily settled, for.* the simple reason' that the jjjont. " Catholic" has long been' in usa'among? Protestants to denote*, J^niyersal Ohuxfch, as may be ' seen ' l>y reterence^o works <both* r aniicienlHandjiniodern, -and everv'obiW»trained in the Episcopalian scKdbi'i'-w sdpkd'&'sEy « "T borlieve in the holy Catholic Chur J ch.'»Uslore<xrer. -thencEomaHfe Catholic communities 2^ot%mmw^^AW m whafc '•s wtion of their-'Church i»,entit£? ( 4>spvshe full t end'fit of the jjhrase " catholic." Were it [xeeesaary -I might refer yoiipo&tfders . to ancient organisations, nominally: of the I toman CHifflrch,who cUintld to be'*cajihj&licj" »bub; II shall merely mention » modern inoveipeiitLJn the year 1846, when npwards of f 80,000 persons of; the iorraed themselves into tdigtiocfcibjQdy under their (/tergvmen—Drv Tneiner, Uzcrgki, LichLand dthers— abrogated the authorifcy pi the .Pope, qseH -them; and-^Btyl©d&Vth%in<telyGS the. 't'At'd^wjfcheMcellei^

Time*, is organising with Dduto|er and oth^r great dignitaries of thoirjaumorou* «dh*renw; : a»g; while vehemently denouncing in*|>y -of =- the Romi© r J3h|^, w *jMd>* avowing that "hj^to^ T wfll3^i|p^to.ii3U" eternity to protest' eherf eticElly IgtuftU the dogma of the Papftlinfa]libility,"|hWe*l«6 claim for themselves the Appellation' of the "Oitholio" Olfcrch. .It is plain, then, that the term-,* "catholic", cannot with propriety he said, to describe any body of Christian I*,1 *, bn| rather the universal Church composed of individuals "from evSry nation, and people, and< kindred, and tongue.'' Many are of opinion that the epithets "Romamlt," "Papist," &c, are not necessarily obnoxious, but of course in an institution supported by public funds it is not only advisable, but a duty to avoid offence. — Yours, Citizbk. To the Editor* Sir,— ln the Caoss,Ofi Saturday appeared a letter from T. W. Oroke, to which, in your local news,^you called the , attention of all interested in the cause 'of education. In reference to this I would crave your indulgence for the insertion of a few remarks thereon. The writer comments severely and unfairly on Dr. Collier's British History, which, he says, is used in the Auckland Grammar School, and,l he might have added, in all the well-conducted schools of the province, and says that it is an " illwritten and bigoted book," which conclusion he arrives at from a number of misquoted extracts—l say misquoted, for they are taken apart from the context, a most unfair * way of making quotations. It will not be necessary to repeat the " extracts ; " suffice itf to say they, are the clear historical record of events, that, happened in those times, that is, if we oxi to give any credence to historical facts. Dr. Collier has been enrolled as one of England's great historians, as witness the testimony of Dr. Hall, Commissioner of National Education, Ireland, in writing on "Nelson's School Series," of which this book is one:— "We have had the advantage of examining, with care, the entire series, and we cannot too strongly express the sense we entertain of the taste and judgment the books display, or of their great educational value." "The English Journal of Education" says :— "Dr. Collier's book is unrivalled as a school history of the British Empire. The arrangement is admirable." Many others might be quoted to prove this to be one of the best British histories. The important positions held by Dr. Collier stamp him as anything but a bigot : formerly English master in the Belfast Academy, where pupils of all denominations attended, and one of the best' conducted and moat successful institutions in the north of Ireland, and one which produced some of the most eminent men of the present day— now Head Master in the High School in Edinburgh. Is the historian who records plain historical facts, with his own comments thereon, without fear, to be branded as a bigot ? lam not writing in reference to the use of this book in the Auckland Grammar Schoof, but because I use the book, and be* cause 1 esteem the author, with whom I am personally acquainted, and consider him as a gentleman possessed with a catholic spirit, and his book one of the best on this subject in our language. Dr, Croke says, "The word Catholic or Roman Catholic" (a contradiction of terms) "is not found even once in this illwritten and bigoted book." This shows the > erodite reading of Dr. Croke, as the word "Catholic" occurs nearly one hundred times; and, to suit his own views, he (Dr. Croke), in giving one of the quotations in reference to the Gunpowder Plot, says, " The discontent of the Romanists ;" whereas Dr. Collier gives i£ <£The discontent of the Catholics." In Some pages the word Catholic occurs no less than five times (pages 233 and 211), and in several other pages two, three, and four times ; and yet this escaped Dr. Croke's notice. For what purpose ? Dr. Croke quotes these historical facts, but does not attempt to deny them. 1 would strongly advisq Dr. Croke the next [time he attempts to -criticise the writiugs of such a jnan as Dr. Collier, jtQread_ fiEe~\v67E~nToYff carefully. ""TSSHDrTTDrokenRB thus publicly condemned one of our best school-books, and stamped the author as a bigot— and calls in question the propriety of using auch a book in aßchool endowed out of the public funds— may I ask Dr. Croke whether he calls the following fact catholicity or bigotry ? A Roman Catholic Bishop ordered the withdrawal of aboy belonging'tohis Church from one of our public schools, ;and a purely unsectarian one, and told the parents to send him to the school in connection with the Romish chapel, which is also endowed oub of the public funds— for what ?To use the parent's own words, "To learn his * catechism and be able to pass the Bishop on his next visitation, which was to take place in three months." If Dr. Oroke wishes the boy's name, the parent's name, tho name of the school from which ho was withdrawn, tho school to which he was sent, I shall be most happy to favour him ; but if he taxes his memory he may know the names without troubling mo.— lam, &c, E. M. Houston, Otahuhu. i To tho Editor : Sir,— Your foot-note to " Scrutator's" letter solves the question. The fa".t is just as you say. In the earlier editions of " Collier's History" the objectionable sentences complained of by Bishop Oroke do occur ; but from tho later editions all such objectionable expressions have been very properly omitted. I think, but am not sure, that they do not occnr in any edition published since about 1856 ; because I have an edition containing a full account oP'the Indian Mutiny, &c, from which the faults in tho earlier editions are expunged, and, as I before said, very properly expunged. No book intended for use in unsectarian schools should be \rritten with a sectarian bias. I should have written on Saturday, but thought the facts of the case must be so well known to most qualified teachers and all historical scholars that there would be no need for me to do so. The event, however, has proved me wrong* In all the letters you have received, no information is given, and yet* how simple the explanation. The old edition of Collier read by Dr. Croke is not suitable for use in undenominational schools, but the present revised edition has been so carefully prepared that I think only the very bigoted could find anything to object to.— Yours, •Mary A. Colcloogh. v We have further letters on the subject from «.« Veritas" and "Anthropos." "Veritas" corrects "Scrutator, "as to the firfct and second editions from which the quotations were given, and further adds :—" Disputation of this kind ought to be avoided an muoh as possible, particularly in a community where the various sects act'with so much , good feeling towards each other as a rule, hut at the same time I think the Catholic Bishop was quite justified, ia the interests of the Church in which he presides in this diocese, to call public attention to what he conceives to be an abuse, and which it is unjust to tolerate." » "A.ntbropos" writes :— " The^'Veal ' question at issue regarding the. (Auckland Grammar School is simply 'wnetherj .ft, Vsphool, handsomely endowed out of then public of nnds of the province, and said to— be ' secular or 'unsectamu'.jn J^^chingCJßhould be »*> Vne permiUed,'blthe J B(Ja'ra'¥h f o l) cbntrol it, ■Tfir^iSMWBMWW^ so bigoted and insulting a work as Collier's History of England." Themomenia dignitary; huh' or" \6w, of thftjOatbUWif jCl«irch^gonies;ifqrward on any matter affecting^ thjajnterests of that Church, he is immediately set upon by a host of anonymH'sft{WjG i^l£L^&lnob v bourage c lough to give their-re«l~-narneii to their il lihJ%lf flß^lS'^ifiiMr e^"ffil'AssMii|" ♦just c^vmi'Mo^v^MmcM Mjm'fW o^' tle Auckiand-firamflfir .School i*jnot*» ' fit p [acefor f ih'e' l edtcatto« < of'onr'ftom»| Catholio t tadjljf in want- of-genwal drapary-nndfir^,. i idek of such goous^ in the "luoVr-rooms of ,1 ;r; r W, JDysan, j^ v 4&een'^r^, irh'ere ihey Wj being f9^^ffißfeffi !&s£' T ¥", e » c )hs,equent upon thyearly tjernunation of the