THE EDUCATION QUESTION.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XXV, Issue 38, 21 January 1898, Page 5

THE EDUCATION QUESTION.

The Rev. Father Gillan, at the Sacred Heart Church, Ponsonby, Auckland, on Sunday morning, January y, delivered an eloquent and highly interesting discourse upon the all-absorbing question of education. The demands upon our space prevent its publication in e-rtenxn, but the following rrtunii' will be read with interest : —

The rev. preacher referred to the recent encyclical on the subject sent by the Holy Father to the Herman, Austrian and Swiss bishops on the occasion of the centenary celebrations of Blessed Peter Canisius, reminding them of the grave duty they had of seeing the young educated in proper schools— whether primary, intermediate, or university — where religion is never separated from secular instruction. It is, he continues, of the gravest importance that Catholics should have everywhere schools of their own, directed by Catholic teachers and permeated with dogmatic teaching. " Let no one," says the Holy Father, •• delude himself that a sound moral training can be separated from dogmatic teaching. ... To separate the training in knowledge from all religious influence is to pervert the very first principles of beauty and of right, and to form citizens to be the bane and pest of society, instead of being the bulwark of their country. . . . Moreover, it is not enough for youths to be taught religion at fixed hour-, but all their training must be permeated by religious principles." There is no compromise in his tone. Our schools must be Catholic. In every civilised government the legislators are vicing- with one another to perfect schemes of education that will bring the highest secular instruction within reach of all its subjects, to make the teaching e.isv and interesting and the results excellent. In this Coi«>i yof Xew Zealand ■-tndents are as closer and e luc.it ional pro-p cl- as bright and thorough as in mo>t other lands. But C.uholic i.irmls will ru\o nothing to do with th» State system. They lu\e It arned that the first ihing is to "seek (Joel and Him justice ' Cod* name is not heanl in such schools. Conscience wmih Catholic parents against them, and they are prep-iivel to make every sacrifice fer their consciences. Catholics at all times and in e\eiy land rune refused to take the godless g-iit so temptingly held out.

The Rev. preacher then reterred in eloquent terms to Bethlehem and Nazareth as the models of the Chiisti.m home and to the Holy Family as the bright e\empl,ir of the true Christian family, and proceeded to examine how Oat holier in \ arioiis landi had tried or were trying to fulfil their duties, w ith reference to this vital matter of education. In Belgium elementary education was first introduced by Pailiamt nt in systematic form — as we have it in the present day — in 1 .-> 1 2. The religious authorities were given a large \oioe in the management of the si lm"K This system lasted till IST'.), when the so-called Libei.ii p,>rty h ,d become strong enough to carry a new law. which secularised the -choiK This arbitrary law was pas.-cd by a mri/onf// nl on —and the law was immediately put into force with all that intolerance which characterises Coiitinent.il Liberalism. Citlndics did not betray their principles in this great emergency. Fit tern hundred teachers at once resigned their po-ts. Within IS months VXM\ Catholic schools were built, and 4.">.">.nuo children were in attendance at them. In about two years more the number had risen to :{;><>."> schools, with (122,000 children, all this work being dependent entirely on voluntary contributions, while only about halt the number ot children were left in the State supported communal schools. It was impossible to carry on under such a sy-tem. Accordingly, in ]ssl,aii Act was passed, putting the school management almost entirely in the hands of the local authorities. This led to the suppression of 802 communal schools, which had been entirely beaten out of the field by the Catholic schools. In 181)4 the Catholics obtained the right to dogmatic teaching in the schools-, and lor the time at least the question is at rest. The small minority of non-Catholics who attend these schools can always withdraw from the religious instruction.

The Manitoba question is still fresh in your minds. In 1871 Manitoba joined the Dominion of Canada, and at that time, and for several years afterwards. Catholic schools were in receipt of State aid. Protestants enjoyed a similar right. So late as 1S8(> the Superintendent of Education for the Protestant pare of the Central Board emphatically asserted the success of the existing system, in words which were quoted at length by the reverend speaker. Unfortunately, since that time, the Catholic, from being a majority, have become a small minority in Manitoba. An intolerant majority decided to crush the old system. The first Act of the majority made education secular. The Catholics made a successful

appeal to the Privy Council. They relied on the justice of their claim, as guaranteed by the treaty between France and England, at the conquest of Canada. The judicial committee of the Privy Council decided that they had a real grievance, and referred the matter to the Governor-General for him to provide redress. A remedial order was issued by him, but the Government of Manitoba refused to pay any attention to it. As yet the case is not settled ; the Bishops have sought advice at Rome, and probably they will in the end have to carry on their schools unaided, while paying their share for the education of their more favoured neighbours.

Still more instructive perhaps for us is the history of Catholio education in Ireland. For centuries past the strongest effort has been made to force an anti-Catholis or non-Catholic education on the Irish people. The work was begun by the '• Parliament " schools of 1537, while in Cromwell's days the Erasmus Smiths schools of 1657 were in work. The crusade was extended by the Charter schools of George 11., founded expressly to rob the people of their religion. The Act of Parliament, which was quoted by the preacher, was very explicit on this point. The Act met with ill success. The preacher then referred in feeling terms to the records written on " the fleshy tablets of your hearts," of those who courted persecution and death rather than allow their children to be robbed of the faith in the penal days. In the first decade of the present century, the work of Catholic education was begun by the foundation of the Irish Christian Brothers. Edmund Rice, a wealthy merchant of Waterford, introduced these Brothers to teach all the secular subjects necessary for the people, but "above all things to recollect that the instruction of the children in piety and religion was the main end of their institution." The schools founded by the new congregation spread rapidly all over Ireland. In 1867 they had 391 Brothers teaching and 26.871 children, and to-day their success is well known. The Government in 1811 made another attempt to induce the Irish people to accept a purely secular education. The Kildare Place Society was founded in that year, but its failure led in 1828 to the appointment of a Select Committee, which made a genuine effort to reach the people by establishing schools, in which secular subjects should be taught to all the children together, while the religious instruction should be given by the clergy to the children of their own flocks. This system was firmly established by the institution of the National Board of Education in 1831. But it haa only succeeded well when the schools were altogether separate, i.e., when Proi estants and Catholics each taught in their own. However, the Catholics gave the attempt a fair chance. Archbishop Crolly loyally supported the new system, and induced the Christian Brothers to adopt it, but they found the religious restrictions put upon them so onerous that, after fully discussing the matter at a special conference, they withdrew from all connection with the Board. Their view was summed up by Archbishop McHale in the memorable words : " Ireland is a Catholic country, and as such the vast majority of her people have a right to have a system of education based upon Catholic principles." Cardinal Cullen and Archbishop Walsh have followed these principles, and you will know now the present agitation for full justice for Catholics in Ireland.

About New Zealand I have no need to speak — you know only too well your struggles and your zeal to keep the Catholio schools efficient. The preacher quoted the warning words of Dr. Whateley, the Protestant Archbishop of Dublin : " If we give up mixed education . . . we give up the hope of weaning the Irish troru Popeiy,"and concluded an able and interesting discourse by appealing to his hearers to be ever true to the cause which the Church has so much at heart, the cause of Catholic education.