Some State School 'History'

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XXXVII, Issue 15, 15 April 1909, Page 569

Some State School 'History'

That useful and single-minded organisation, "the Australian Catholic Truth Society (312 Lonsdale street, Mel-_ bourne), has made our co-religionists once more its debtors by its compact and telling exposure of the sort of c history ' that is taught in public schools beyond the Tasman Sea. Tho work is done, and (considering the limited space of a penny-, pamphlet) thoroughly done, by Mr. Wallace. A similar work is much needed in New Zealand, dealing AVith the sectarian and legendary rubbish — written or compiled for the most part by mere literary hodmen — that is palmed off as 'history' in some of our public schools. One of .the worst samples of this sort of stuff that we~have yet come across was lately (and perhaps still is) used as a text-book in a High School in the South Island. Catholic as well as non-Catholic Jboys were required to read the wretched and semi-illiterate production, which spun, the discredited legend of Luther's 'discovery' of tlie Bible, made heroes -and demi-gods of the Elizabethan pirateprivateers, and had but two colors in its palette — gleaming white foT its Protestants, and the black of Erebus for its Papists. Yet this lately was (and perhaps still is) a text-book in a school system which is vaunted to be

'neutral' and ' unsectarian ' and",' undenominational.' In the New Zealand Parliament, on August 31, 1877, Mr. Curtis (a Protestant representative) spoke strongly of the ' sectarian histories in the schools ' of 'the time. ' ' The histories,' added lie, 'which we use in our schools -are sectarian histories, Protestant histories, histories from one point" of view, having no mercy whatever for the Roman Catholic faith. Now, it is not fair to - expect the Roman Catholics to send their- children to schools they would read sectarian histories altogether ' opposed to their teaching' (Parliamentary Debates, vol. XXV., p. 176). "We havo no longer in ' our ' schools the rough and offensive epithets and the crude and legendary barbarities of Collier. But our perusal of two or three of our publio school * histories ' has . amply convinced us that the schoolmaster lias not yet, -in this respect; been abroad to great purpose in New Zealand, and that the compilation of> our so-called school "histories' has been- to an extent, entrusted to men who do not seem -to know that writers of such eminence" as Brewer, Pocock, Blunt, Child, Creighton, Gasquet, Gairdner, and Maitland (to mention only a few original investigators «f the first rank) ever lived. The result is, that, in some important respects, our public" schools sery,e up, for history, liistorical romance — or hysteria.