THE BISHOP OF DUNEDIN ON CATHOLIC EDUCATION.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XVIII, Issue 10, 4 July 1890, Page 18

THE BISHOP OF DUNEDIN ON CATHOLIC EDUCATION.

In St. Joseph's Cathsdral on Sunday evening the Most Rev. Dr. Moran again addressed the congregation od the education question. His Lordship Bpoke as follows :—: —

In continuation of the subject treated by me this evening week It is again necessary for me to remind you tbat in the reign of Queen Anne an enactment was made by the Legislature that all Catholic schoolmasters should be banished from Ireland, and that if they should dare to return they should be put to death as traitors. Hitherto although Catholic schools were strictly forbidden by law and every inducement was offered to apoatacy on the part of Catholics, Catholics had their children educated in their own homes, and thus was prevented the danger arising from anti-Catbolic institutions. In the eyea of a persecuting Government and Parliament from which all Catholics were excluded, the only thing that remained for them to do was to cut off the Bupply of Catholic teachers ; consequently a law was made in the reign of Quetn Anne by which all such teachers were banished from their native land and condemned to exile. And lest any should return, it was enacted that all who returned should forfdt their lives for daring to do so. Whilst these proselytising schools were scattered broadcast over the country, no meaDS of education remained for Catholic children, and thus by a Eolemn act of the Legislature of the country Catholics were condemned to perpetual ignorance in Ireland. But in prder to prevent any Catholic receiving in any way or even

by stratagem the least tincture of letters, or the least amount of education, it was further enacted that no Catholic should ba sent to a foreign country for education, and that all who should be sent shoulJ ba condemned to perpetual banishment from their native country, and if they dared to return should be most severely punished. Notwithstanding these horrible, cruel, and atrociously unjust laws, Irish Catholics not only sent their children to Continental countries to be educated as Catholics ought to be, but founded many noble colleges in tbese various countries, in which not only ecclesiastics, but laymen, were admirably educated. This, however, was done at the risk of property, liberty, and even life. Some of these colleges are still in existence, but others have fallen amidst the political and religious revolutions which overwhelmed the French nation at the end of the last centary and the beginning of this. In this terrible revolution all the Irish colleges were destroyed, and their property confiscated. After the downfall of Napoleon I. and the restoration of the Bourbons, England claimed compensation for the property that before the revolution had belonged to her subjects in France, and, after investigation, received the Bum of £500 ,00 J. £270,000 of this sum was the property of the colleges founded and endowed in France by Irish Catholics for the Christian and Catholic education of their children. What did the Government of England do with this sum of £270,000 of Irish Catholic money 7 Did it do as regards this sum as it did in reference to the balance ? The balance was paid over to those to whom it was proved it belonged . But not so as regards the money of the Irish Catholics. True to the persecuting policy and the spirit of hatred of Catholic education.tbe British Legislature confiscated this property, and, instead of paying this money, as it was bound to do in honour and honesty, to those to whom it belonged, it spent the entire amount in building Buckingham Palace for the sovereign of England, who had already palaces enough, and for whom a palace should not have been built out of funds given by Irish Catholics for the education of their children. The spirit that enacted this dishonesty still lives, not sd much in England of the present day as in the colonies. Here in New Zealand the money we pay for education is entirely spent on godless schools ; no share whatever is devoted to our own schools. We are in a minority in the country, and the majority, having the power, use it to tyrannise over us and to plunder us.' During the last thirteen years we, having our own schools supported entirely by oursalvep, have saved the Government and the country no less a sum than tour hundred thousand pounds. Who ought to reap the advantage of this enormous saving 1 Surely we have saved it. Ought \»e to reap the advantage of such an economy ? Certainly. But no; the majority has deprived us of this, and we are still compelled, whilst paying a large sum towards the education of their children, to provide ourselves for the education of our own children. And such is the case in Australia. There the action of Catholics has swed millions of pounds sterling for the Governments and people, and so far from this being in any way acknowledged, the Catnolics there are subjected to disabilities Bimilar to those under which we suffer. Some time ago I made an effort to show the injustice to which we are subjected in this colony. I considered that I was entitled to put before the minds of my fellow-citizens the motiveß which snould incite reasonable men to give aid to our schools, No reply was made to my argument for justice by any person who had the manliness to put his name to his production. Bigotry and cowardice indeed showed themselves, but the bigot and the coward took care not to let himself be known. A subtle attempt has been made to sow again the seeds of discord. All sorts of abuse have been hurled against us in iieu of answer to my appeal for simple justice. I certainly did nothing to provoke an outburst »f latent and immoderate bigotry. I did not on the first two Sundays in which 1 dealt with the question of education refer to statistics ot crime of any nation. I simply stated the case clearly, and made an appeal to the reason and sense r,f justice to my fellow-countrymen. If retaliation were desirable, or if the respect which I owe to the pulpit did not restrain me, facts might be stated which would bring the blu9h of shame to the cheeks of our calumniators. Many thiugs have been said. But even if the f alse assertions were really true, no conclusion against the justice of our claims can be legitimately drawn from them. Are we to be refused justice because mLiverpool, as some say, Catholics have more than their share of crimijality / Even if in New Zealand we have a large proportion of criminals, will this justify the State refusing us aid 1 Are we to blame because elsewhere the record is against Catholics — because in New Zealand those who are only Catholics in name are not what they ought to be? Have we done anything which would merit our being refused assistance ? Are our schools responsible for the vioe of so-called Catholics who have never been I educated in them 1 Why, it is the want of schools that is responsible for the ignorance that may be found amongst Irish Catholics. Their persecutors are to blame for the ignorance of those parents who have given criminals to the world. It is a miracle, all things considered, that our people have any real education. If all the criminals in New Zealand were educated at Catholic schools, and remained sufficiently long to imbibe Catholic principles and attend to Catholic practices, there might be Borne show of reason in what our opponents say. Have the Catholic criminals in New Zealand gaols been educated in New Zealand Catholic schools or in any Catholic schools ? la it not true that very few saw the inside of a Catholic school for a lengthened period, if they entered one at all? Add to the criminal neglect of careless parents the ignorance caused by unjust laws, and you account for the number, great or small, of Catholic criminals. I could return, if I wished, blow for blow. I forbear to do so through respect for the pulpit. I could unfold a tale of horror if the sacredness of this building did not restrain me. I shall refer, however, to one item which is constantly spoken of. Drunkenness is a sin to which some Catho ics, as the police records show, are prone. I feel great shame whenever one of our people is convicted for this vice, — I mention this matter to raise my voice once again in many times to exhort all my people to Christian temperance. Our people are not, I admit, free from blame in this matter, but they are not, I assert, on on a lower level than our neighbours. A few months ago the Chancellor of the Exchequer made a statement in reference to the consumption of spirits wbich may be interesting and instructive, la

England the proportiou of spirits drunk is 7 gallons for every man, woman, and child ; in Scotland it is i$ gallons, and in Ireland it is 3£ gallons. Ido not wish in this pulpit to speak of other crimes which, according to St. Paul, should not be mentioned amongst us. We find now people asserting that we should be compelled to remain as we are because the Catholic Church is the enemy of education. That is an extraordinary statement to make at this period of the world's history. We, who have put our han^s into our pockets and established many schools in the cause of education, are the enemies of education 1 Pray what have these men done in the cause of education that will entitle them to calumniate us? Have they built schools and colleges and educational institutions ? They go about the country loudly crying that we ought not to be assisted. Hare they contributed to the support of other people's children while giving their own an excellent education 1 Have secularists done anything that will entitle them to be heard at the bar of justice against us ? •• Oh, they are all for their Church " is the cry of those who, if they conld, would destroy Christianity itself. It is true that in our schools we give the first thoueht to the God who made us, and to the Saviour who redeemed us. Yes, we look upon religion as of paramount importance in the education of youth. It is our boast and our glory that we strive to be worthy of the forefathers who suffered ihe loss of liberty and even life in the cause of Catholic education. We make religion of first importance ; we are not forgetful of secular knowledge. Are our schools inferior to the secular schools ? That is the point. We teach the doctrines of Christianity in our schools, and we teach secular matters ; and I venture to assert that our schools are equal to the very best of the State schools. We are not afraid to stand the test, and no one but an itinerant scoffer without real knowledge of the country would now dare to assert that the Catholic Church is the enemy of education, and, therefore, that the Catholics cf New Zealand should not be aided. For four or five Sundays I have laid before you some thoughts on education, and no one has dared, above his own name, to meet argument with argument. We have been insulted and outraged by anonymous cowards, but not met by argument in manly fight. Here let me again state our case : We are citizens, we are law-abiding citizens. We pay our share of taxes — we pay our share of taxes for education— and we have a right to share in educational advantage?. We cannot in conscience accept the prevailing godless system of education. We simply ask for our own money to educate our own children. We have a right to ask this. We shall continue to ask for justice. We are aa sober as our fellow-citizens. We do not give any example of dishonesty. I assert that on the score of morality we are not inferior to those about us. I shall never weary of asking that justice be done to a people who have a right to expect it. But take courage ; a good time is coming. At all events, I can, I think, speak for New Zealand. I do not know so much about the state of public opinion amongst our neighbour?. Here the best, the must accurately informed men amongst us are favourably disposed towards our claim, and this disposition progresses year by year in an ever-increasing ratio. Wnereas, on the other hand, our opponents evince, by their public speeches and writings, that they are utter strangers to the progress that has recently been made in historical investigation and enlightened views. These opponents show that they possess no real learning, no decent discipline of either intellect or heart, and that their ludicrojs views as regards Catholics, their Church and policy, have been derived, not from any respectable source, but from the penny awfuls of the nursery. They seem to be conscious of this themselves, a3 for the most part they are ashamed to tign their names to what they write in defamation of us. The only thing in which they eeem to be adepts is in throwing mud. They have wit enough to suppose that if they only throw enough some may possibly stick, or that some poor dupes may be influenced by their folly. But their day is fast drawing to its evening. Investigation is abroad, the archives are opened industrious and candid men of all nations are at work, and it is already apparent to all scholars and reading men that the history of the last three hundred years has been what the Protestant historian, Denham, forty years ago declared it to be, viz., a huge conspiracy against truth.