The Hastings Standard Published Daily. SATURDAY, MAY 16, 1896. NOISE AND NONSENSE.

Hastings Standard, Issue 18, 16 May 1896, Page 2

The Hastings Standard Published Daily.

SATURDAY, MAY 16, 1896. NOISE AND NONSENSE.

For the cause that lacks assistance, For the wrongs that need resistance, For the future in the distance, And the good that we can do.

There is a noiy faction now at work endeavouring to break up the national system of education which has proved such a blessing to New Zealand. Of all the fads now foeussed on the political white sheet, the proposal to introduce religious teaching into our public schools is the most dangerous. But the advocates of this proposal though few are noisy enough, and the din of their babbling tongues is apt to deceive the people. To tell this clerical faction that their proposal is nonsensical is to incur the displeasure of the ostentatiously pioivs, and in a small community one cannot afford to be too outspoken. Yet the proposal or rather

the alleged benefits which religious teaching are supposed to confer on the young are bogus. The morality of our scholars is equal if not superior in all respects to that of children in other countries. But this fact docs not satisfy the Bible-in-schools party ; they want to see the children stufled with something more, and to that end the Irish Scripture Text-book is proposed. The contents of this volume must be read in schools ; but the clerics magnanimously assent to a conscienceclause, which will relieve those who object to the book having to undergo the trouble of reading it. The Irish Scripture Text-book contains Biblical incidents and events treated in a popular manner, and it may be remarked, m that some of the incidents are of an unsavoury character, and totally unlit to be placed before young children. What good the mere reading of this book is going to do the scholars is difficult to determine, more particularly as the teacher will be precluded from making any comment upon the subject-matter ? The scholars must, in the absence of any explanation, speculate in the matter, and to their untutored minds the unsavoury passages will assume an importance in the speculation that will he detrimental to them. Mo one, however, suppose-; thai; the clerical party will be safislicd with the mere reading of a book. To obtain authority for the introduction of the Irish Scripture Te\l-1 ><>';k is to get the thin edge of the wedge for ultimately ramming home dogmatic doctrines. The Scripture Text-book is to pave the way for deiiominationali.sin, which is the goal the clerical party is seeking to reach. It is an admitted fact that education of whatsoever kind must, if it is to be worthy of the name, proceed upon a certain fixed plan, namely, that ideas must follow, not precede, intuition ; in other words that ideas must be built upon facts, and not ideas inculcated first and facta afterwards supplied to lit the ideas. The knowledge of facts possessed by children is necessarily exceedingly small, and the choice of subjects which may be taught them advantageously is limited, and comprise only those which are of an exact nature, where the facts are of such simplicity as to be capable of proof within the limited experience of the scholar. To work upon the opposite plane is to burden the child's head with a jumble of ideas, which not having the experience to assimilate be misapplies entirely by creating what may be called imaginary facts to lit them. For this reason, if for no other, so speculative a subject as religion should be rigorously excluded from our schools. We do not for a moment believe that there is any possibility of success for the clerics, but by unlimited shouting they attract the thoughtless and secure the zeal of apostates.