SECULAR EDUCATION.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume V, Issue 223, 10 August 1877, Page 15

SECULAR EDUCATION.

(From the Lenten Pastoral of the Vicar Apostolic of Bombay.) It is not our intention, dearly beloved brethren, to direct your eyes and thoughts to the impending evils which sooner or later must of necessity burst upon this wicked world. With history in our hand, we have asked ourselves the question : Whence does all this wickedness come ? what is its eource ? And it was not difficult to us to find the solution. When we find the waters of the stream polluted, from its mouth even to its fountain-head, we know that the source itself is polluted. Thus we discern in the general wickedness that raises high its head even among the nations that lay claim to civilisation, that the fountain-head of the spiritual life of nations, as well as of individuals, is infected with the poison which brings to light sights so hideous and so fatal. This fountainhead, dearly beloved brethren, of which we propose to address you, is the early education of youth.

" Knowledge," says the inspired writer, " is a fountain of life ;" but on the other hand, " the instruction of fools is foolishness." (Prov. xvi. 22.) Sound knowledge, true knowledge is life-giving, it contains the seeds of healthy life ; but false knowledge, erroneous instruction, can only bring to light falsehood, absurdities, contradictions sown broadcast over the deluded world, the fruit of which is wickedness ; the doctrine of fools causes fools to spring up, only fit tools for spreading confusion, terror, and calamity, in humble dwellings and over the face of kingdoms, if they are allowed to make their stand there.

There are not two opinions as to the value and importance of the education of youth in regenerating mankind, in stopping the progress of vice, in teaching man to know and serve the Lord his God, and thus to enjoy the sweets and fruits of order and peace. We are taught by God Himself, that "it is good for a man to carry the yoke of the Lord from his youth, because he will not readily depart in his old age from the path in which he enters in his youth" (Prov. xxii.) The enemies of God are fully aware of this, and it is for no other reason infidels and sectarians wage their eternal war against good religious establishments, and the enemies of order and virtue have conspired to deprive those men of the means of instruction who sacrifice their fife for the purpose of cultivating the mind of youth and of sowing the seed of virtue in the tender and innocent heart of childhood. Experience bears us out, that tho

mould to which the yet tender heart of the child has been shaped remains almost always through life, whether it be for good or for bad. Could we trace the chequered course of men of evil in our age, we Bhould in almost every case observe that their passions were not kept under control in early youth ; they advanced in iniquity with age, and, according to Job, " Their bones were filled with the vices of their Mouth " (Job xx. 11). They were a loathsome burden to themselves, pnd they became the ruin of many and the pest of society. If, therefore, the welfare of civil and religious society are to a great extent both depending on the sound education of youth, great ought to be the anxiety and forethought of parents in the education of their children in proportion to the responsibility imposed upon them by God. Often, however, do parents not at all realise the great obligation to educate the children God has blessed them with. Led away by an unreasonable affection for their offspring, parents too often, alas ! ignore the trust confided to them, to guard those tender hearts from evil influences and prepare them for heaven. We do not deny that all those to some extent share with the parents the heavy responsibility in a Christian education, to whom in any manner youth is confided for instruction. The teacher of secular learning shares it, the guardian of a child shares it ; so do the pastors of souls, so do others. For it is written : "He gave to every one commandment concerning his neighbour " (Eccles. xvii. 12.)