WHY JUSTICE IS REFUSED.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume X, Issue 494, 29 September 1882, Page 16

WHY JUSTICE IS REFUSED.

Catholics, it is said, must be refused the relief they claim in the matter of education, because, to aid them out of the taxes to which they contribute their fair share, would result in a destruction of our present system of education. This is the only objection our enemies dare to state publicly. We know it is not their real objection, bnt we also know they are ashamed to avow the real one. And because they arc ashamed to acknowledge that it is not through fear for the stability of the present system, but because they hate Catholicity, they refuse Catholics justice and by means of sheer force employ Catholic money in an effort to destroy Catholic faith, they have recourse to this palpable absurdity and hypocritical subterfuge. Every one sees that the handing over to Catholics, for the purposes of their own school?, a pro rata share of the education grant, as is done in Canada, England, Wales, and Scotland, would in no way interfere with our godless system. The Catholic body has nothing to do with this system at present, except to pay unwillingly for its maintenance. But surely our contributions are not essential to its maintenance. At present Catholic children are entitled by law to a free godless education. How would it destroy godless schools to give them a free education in their own schools ? To do so would not cost Government any more than they are entitled to at this moment, and would not reduce to ruins a single school building or withdraw a single pupil from the Government schools. True, it is said, but it is not in this way the destruction feared would be brought about, but by the demand that woald then be made by the sects for denominational schools. Is there a man in the community who really thinks there is the least fear of such a demand being made 1 What rational grounds are there for such a ftar 1 All the non-Catholic sects at this moment send their children to the godless schools ; all those are perfectly satisfied with them except in one particular. Many amongst them would prefer the Bible should be read in them to the pupils. • But they do not seem to care very much about the omission, or imagine it makes very much difference whether or not this sacred book is read. If any principle they cared about was involved in the omission, they would not, of course, allow their children to frequent schools established on a principle objectionable to them, and the universal cry that injustice to Catholics must be perpetuated lest the godless schools should be ruined, proves that those who raise the cry dearly love these godless schools. The fear, then, that justice to Catholics would cause them to abandon godless schools is a vain fear. We think we can give another Teason for saying that there is not the least fear of denominational supplanting godless education, so long as Government consents to give free godless education. With our enemies, after the determination to injure Catholicity by all possible foul means, it is entirely a question of the almighty dollar. This is plain to anyone acquainted with the facts of the case. With the exception of Catholics, all have gone over to the godless free school system, not one denomination in the country has, we may say, ft single denominational school. All, with the exception above stated, have closed whatever schools they may have had heretofore, and availed themselves of the free godless system. Is there any pro* bability such people would, so long as free godless schools are provided for them, even think of making the pecuniary sacrifices that denominational education would most probably impose upon them ? It is manifestly unnecessary to be at the trouble of writing down the answer to this question. There are some who say that Catholics have nothing to complain of — that the godless schools are as open to them as to others — that no religion is taught in them, and chat the Government has a right to compel all to pay for the maintenance of a system established for the public good. Who appointed these shallow men to be our guides ai)d prophets 1 We are better judges of what hurts us than the men who have their children educated fice, but at our expense. Who has authorised these selfish godless men to apply their arbitrary measure to our conscience and faith, and infallibly proclaim we have nothing to complain of ? By what right or reason can it be said that the Government schools do not interfere with religion, when it is notorious that the books used in them, and the teachers are pll anti-Catholic, and that the principle on which they are established and conducted is, if not an actual denial, certainly an ignoring of the very existence of God, in the education of children ? Then we are told that the Government has a right to tax all for the support of a system established for the public good. Indeed. Well, let this principle be tested a little. Suppose the Government undertook to feed the children free

of cost for four or five years daring their early life in order to secure the health and strength of the rising generation, and it could do so as legitimately as it can provide free education for all, for it would be equally, if not more conducive to the public good to do so. And suppose that it provided a good meat dinner every Friday for five years for all children. Would it be just to tax Catholics to pay for this dinner on the ground that they might partake of it if they wished 1 And suppose it was a dinner of pork. What would our Jewish friends say 7 Would they think 6uch a proceeding just ? And if not, why do they endeavour to compel Catholics to swallow godlessness in schools 1

As a further instance of the testimony borne by public examinations to the efficiency of Catholic Bchools, we find that at the last' intermediate examinations held in Ireland 34 out of 35 pupils sent up from the Carmelite College at TerenuTe, or 97 per cent., obtained passes— 2 being " exhibitioners," 4 " prizemen," and 1 a gold medallist, in modern languages. After all there may be some chance of a clue to the Phoenix Park murders being obtained from the confession of Westgate, alias O'Brien. The man, it seems, is a native of the North of England and a Presbyterian. He sailed from Dublin for London in a vessel called the Ibex, at 7.30 on the evening of the murders, but left the ship at Swansea, and joined the Gladstone as reported. His wife, who saw him off, says he had been very despondent for some time previously, and it is clear, as we from the first foresaw, that he is insane. But still he might, in some way or another, have gained an acquaintanceship with the murderers and their intended crime— in which, however, it is certain he could have had no part. A man oat of employment, and known to be in a reckless frame of mind, would be one likely to be picked out as a possible accomplice by the assassins— and Westgate's total separation from all suspicion of sympathy with the Irish national movement would make him appear more fitting still for thb purpose. The examination into the row between masters in the Wanganui High School produced some amusing revelations. A boy, for example, ordered by one master to stand up was caned by the other for doing so. And, again, the assistant master on one occasion delighted the school by declaring that he was a " man, not a stuck pig-" At the funeral of Miss Fanny Parnell, at Bordentown, the Ate Maria was sung by a professional singer on the conclusion of the first portion of the burial service, read by an Episcopalian clergyman. A bunch of shamrocks from Avondale was laid beside the head of the corpse on the pillow where it rested. The burning of tbe Garden Palace, in which the New South Wales International Exhibition of 1879 was held, has resulted in the destruction of a quantity of the public documents of the colony, and the Technological Museum. The lo3s is estimated at half a million sterling, and is supposed to have been the work of an incendiary. It is announced that Mr. John Dillon has resigned his seat in Parliament owing to the state of hie health. This news will be received with deep regret by our readers, since it is evident that only extreme illness could make Mr. Dillon retire from the contest. He has made a long and valiant struggle, hindered as he was all the time by the delicacy of his constitution, and Ireland owes to him the gratitude due to one who has sacrificed his life in her cause. On Sunday next, the Feast of the Rosary of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the precession of tbe Rosary will take place as usual at the Dominican Convent, Dunedin, commencing at 3 p.m. A meeting of ladies engaged in preparing for the bazaar in aid of the Dunedin Cathedral building fund will be held in St. Joseph's Schoolroom on Thursday next, October 6th, at 3.30 p.m. Ladies are requested to be punctual in their attendance. The most recent addition to notable buildings in Dunedin is the very handsome one now completed by Messis. Martin and Watson at the corner of the Octagon and Stuart street. The style of architecture is light, but at the same time handsome and imposing, and the house is an ornament to the locality in which it stands, and a credit to the city. The basement story is devoted to offices, and those above form an extensive private residence. Heavy floods have ocean ed ia Italy, in the Tyrol, and also in the Eastern States, especially that of New York. In every instance considerable loss has resulted to property, and in the Tyrol the consequences are also disastrous to life. Nine cases of English boots received the other day by a Nelson firm, ex s.s. Glendovver, were found on examination to be, for the most part, cases of English coal. There is no clue to the discovery of the thieves. A concert in aid of the organ fund of St. Patrick's Church, South Dunedin, will be given in Naumann's Hall on Thursday next, sth October. Arrangements have been made for a very effective entertainment, and it is expected that the attendance will be large. A lecture entitled " George Eliot, har principal characters analysed and criticised," will be delivered in the Temperance Hall, Don*

edin, on Monday, 9th Oct., in aid of the fund which is now being raised for the boy Webb. Mr. Donnelly, we need hardly remind our readers, is in every way qualified to do justice to the interesting subject he has chosen, and there is no doubt but that his lecture will be well worth listening to. The object, moreover, for which it is to be given is one that is most deserving, and which alone would call for a large attendance of people anxious to avail themselves of the opportunity of serving so good a cause. It does not appear that the victory in Egypt has caused much enthusiasm among the natives of the country. With the exception of the Khedive himself, no one there seems gushing in thanksgiving over it. It is strange so great a blessing to the country should be so coldly received by those who will, of course, benefit the most by it. But we must set it down to the account of Egyptian stupidity. We may add that out of fifty millions of money borrowed by Ismail Pasha, fifteen millions are said to have been appropriated in a perfectly legal manner, and without any suspicion of dishonest dealing, by the English men of business who managed the loan. We learn that the Bey. Father Purton, 0.5.8., has changed his residence from Main Road, South Dunedin, to Bay View Road, Musselburgh. The principal fire of the week has occurred at Wellington, where Croskery's auction mart, on Lambton Quay, has been burned down. At Oamaru a cottage took fire early on Sunday morning, and, although it was extinguished before the flames had done much damage otherwise, an infant was so severely injured that it died. A four-roomed cottage was burned down in the town alluded to on Tuesday morning, the occupants barely escaping. Two cottages were burned at Christchurch on Monday night ; on Sunday morning a stable at Inchclutha shared the same fate, and an unoccupied house near the kerosene bond in Dunedin f.ired likewise. During- the week a lad named Garrick suffered severe injuries at Messrs. Reid and Gray's works, Dunedin, and at the Victoria Foundry a man named Harris had his right elbow and wrist, and his right jaw fractured. Near Timaru a man named Jeffrey Robinson was found drowned, and a man named Leithman had his legs badly crushed by a fall between the railway carriages and the platform at the Winchester station. Mining is again going ahead as briskly as of old at Ballarat,— but it is now all deep sinking by large companies. The London Radicals are excited on the question of Chinese labour, and have had a meeting at Westminster, to denonnce its introduction into England. Southberg's claim at Skippers is well reported of. It is announced by the Tuaycka Times that Mr. Pyke has reBigned the editorship of the Dunedin Morning Herald, but will continue to contribute to its columns. The funeral of the late Very Rev. Dean Backhaus took place at Sandhurst on the 11th inst., the High Mass of Requiem being celebrated by the Vicar General of the Diocese, and seventeen other members of the clergy taking part in the solemn office. Four thousand people are said to have walked in the procession and the number of the spectators is estimated at 30,000. The large propeity amassed by Dean Backhaus has been left by him te the church he so long served. The Salvation Army, it seems, is to have its head-quarters in New Zealand, and most probably in Dunedin, whence it Las been invited to come here, and encouraged by a considerable donation to do so. Meantime we learn that even the Evangelical world is divided as to the merits of the host, and we find so well-known a leader of that world as Dr. Close, ex-Dean of Carlisle, writing as follows concerning the War Cry and the Little Soldier, which are published by the Army : " It appears to me that the teaching of these publications is the subversion of our 6ocial system, and tends directly to the uprooting of every Christian Church. Some of the writers and speakers are really like maniacs casting out fire and dirt ; and should this monstrous system prevail the consequences are truly appalling.'' Still the Army does but exercise the right of private interpretation and is as confident in its sense of conversion and justification by faith as can be even the ex-Dean himself. But as for the publications alluded to, no greater 6atire can be pronounced upon the education craze of the peried than the fact that some 300,000 people are found to subscribe to the War Cry, whose weekly issue amounts to about that number. Bad, however, as the Army is already, and we agree with every word Dr. Close has said concerning it, it will be only when the excitement it arouses collapses among the crowds who have been taught the monstrous blasphemies, and cant run mad, in which it revels, and some fresh cause of excitement .becomes necessary to them that we shall see what it really has effected. We may surely look forward with certainty to the sight of vice intensified — and a violent Teaction, brutalised by the horrible enormities with which the Army outrages the Christian religion, and which will be certain to lose nothing among its disbanded forces. It almost seems, indeed, as if " Evangelicalism," instead of dying out quietly, may be destined to perish in frightful convulsions— hardly, perhaps, less frightful than some of those which ushered its existence in. The prospect is not without its alarming circumstances.

The Wellington Post states that preparations are being made for the complete reorganisation of the volunteer force of the colony. The state of thankfulness shown by Timaru over the victory in Egypt has been, perhaps, the most remarkable in the colony. The great guns let off there, and the prayers and praises offered to heaven cannot soon fade from the memory of men, and will by-and-bye be narrated with admiration by the oldest inhabitant. In fact had Arabi had a fleet somewhere that threatened to utilise the new breakwater for the destruction of the settlement, the joy of its inhabitants at hearing of his downfall could not have been greater. Someone or another hazarded the opinion that the people of Timaru were Jingoes and up for a fight, but surely their unmitigated delight at the cessa. tion of hostilities points in the opposite direction. When men let go their breath, and ejaculate, " Thank God it's all over," we do not, as rule, conclude they have all the time been longing to have a fist in the scrimmage. — But really their position is very much exposed. A committee of the City Council appointed to inquire into the truth of certain charges brought against the management of the Wellington Hospital have found that the charges in question had no foundation in fact. Te Whiti and Tohu, it would appear, are beginning at length to discover that imprisonment is irksome, even to those who are supported by a divine effiatus. They were very much vexed the other day at being prevented from paying a visit to a pah near Nelson, and even went so far as to make an attempt to do so against the orders of their keeper. Te Whiti further complains that his wife is kept away from him by Mr. Bryce's soldiers. — Some of the soldiers we, however understand would not care to own a close relationship with Mr' Bryce. Spiritualism is, for the moment at least, under a cloud. The famous Dr. Slade in America has made a confession of his impostures and exhibited his method of performance. Mr. Thomas Walker, too, has come forward in Melbourne and denied that he ever was under the influence of spirits, although, being, as it ie evident, a youth of much softness, sentiment and imagination, he " wanted " to be influenced by spirits, and found it easy to fancy that he was so. Mr» Walker's childlike simplicity, moreover, appears to have been a little affected by his supporters going about and saying that he was only a good child when he was asleep ; they said, he complains, that he was ignorant and incompetent except when he was in a trance. But now, he appears anxious to let the world have the benefit of his knowledge and ability, with the full understanding that he is all the time wide-awake — a fact which, nevertheless, was always apparent to some of us. We shall see then what it is that Mr. Thomas Walker, with his eyes wide open, is accountable for — will it be anything besides some dreadful farrago of rubbish that any one with a good memory could write out and learn off by heart ; for that was all that Mr. Walker in a trance was capable of, even with the fancied assistance of the spirits. We heard the question asked here a little time ago as to whether spiritists were ever guilty of dishonesty; bnt for our own part, we now enquire whether they are ever capable of anything else. The suspects have now been released and Kilmainham gaol stands empty. For this the American Government may be thanked, for- their action led to the conclusion on Mr. Gladstone's part that it would be, on the whole, better to have done with the suspects as soon as they could be got rid of without the show of yielding. It is announced that Sir Garnet Wolseley and Sir Beauchamp Seymour are to be raised to the peerage. The Corporation of the city \oi Dublin also have voted the freedom of the city, and a sword to Sir Garnet. Those 5000 blacks under Abdullah did not succeed in rolling back the tide of war, and disposing of the English troops by providing them with a watery grave in the Nile, the Canal, or the sea. They in part surrendered, and in part ran away, when they had plundered the town of everything they could lay their hands on. What a glorious enemy we have gloriously conquered. — Rule Britannia ! The Jews at Timaru have also distinguished themselves by the vehemence of their thanksgiving, but then we can understand the rejoicing of the Jews. It is but natural they should bear in mind the hard heart of Pharaoh, and be thankful accordingly. A meeting of ladies was held last evening at Oamaru in connection with the approaching bazaar in aid of the building fund of the school-church, at which the Dominican nuns were present. A great variety of beautiful fancy articles, pieces of embroidery, etc., was exhibited, and several of the stall-holders went home laden with valuable goods. We have every reasen to hope that the bazaar, which will open on the Ist of January, will be a great success. The following ladies have kindly offered to preside at the various stalls :— Mrs Toohey, Mrs. Grant ; Mrs. Graham, Mrs. Beattie ; Mrs. Dodge, Mrs. Edwards ; Mrs. Joyce, Mrs. Markham ; Mrs. Humphrey, Miss Fitzgerald ; Mrs. Cagney, Mrs. Ford. The school children, under the superintendence of a lady who devoted her time to them before the arrival of the nuns, have done a quantity of needlework for the bazaar. They are to have a table, etc., all to themselves, which it is expected will not be the least interesting feature in the hall. The ladies show a most praiseworthy regularity in their attendance at the sewing-bee,