The Sun.
London, England, 1868-01-25 00:00:00

13PIRri-OP EIBLIO: JO .±B.

But few, in the Opinion of th 6 will Valaiwltt
perfect equanimity the inccessive sacrificed made jn order
to fine education down to tile' national and uniform idea.
There go onelittei4nnotlier; liko 'dealt carg6 thrOwil over-
board in a istocil, Latin and Greek history, ancient and
modern ; moral philosophy ; grammar, at least as regards
its present place in the' teaching bi langtniges ;' theology ;
and, last of all, that knowledge of Scripture whichthe last
generation fondly hO-Ped even Papiatilind nltia-Piotes;
tants ctuld -pod-seta in Common. 471:irthiriP Oars; with
Dr. Whately to leid and to assist, We have heen. labouring
to " de-denominationalize " education in ]reland, but the
result, long denounced by Dr. Cullen and his friends,
is now described by Mr. Lowe is a Sort of Biblical Deism.
Whatever it is, it it has not made the Irish Protestants
loyal subjects, nor good Papists either. The result does
not recommend it for English imitation. When
all these are taken away, the Latin hexameters
and Greek iambics at one end of the school,
to the " Parables, Discourses, and Miracles " at the
other, what is left for the State to teach? It has to
give elementary knowledge, useful powers, and, as far as
it can, good habits. It has to educate so as to sharpen the
observation, to quicken the attention, to assist the judg-
ment, to improve the memory, to render its pupils less
easily imposed upon, less liable to take up with wrong
notions, and in all respects better qualified to make their
way in the world. No small part of the influence brought
to bear on the rising generation, and certainly no small
part of the circumstances into which :it is sure to be
thrown, is delusive and dangerous. The world is in
one great conspiracy to mislead, cheat, rob, and
destroy the continual succession of new-comers brought
in by Dame Nature. Sense, wit, reason, and all the
faculties ought to be trained for the opening encounter.
Nobody can pretend to say that this is even attempted
in any existing school, whether for high, low, or middle.
If this is to be now attempted, the common residuum
left to the State as the subject matter for national
education cannot be called too little. But, be It little
or great, how is it to be done ? In the present
stage of affairs it seems superfluous, and indeed
useless, to discuss any machinery proposed for a national
system of education. Some of the gentlemen at Liverpool
asked curious questions as to the working of such a system.
its compulsory character, and where the money was to
Come from, but they can hardly have remembered at the
time that what we have been calling for thirty-five years
the Reformed Parliament is now on its deathbed, and can
much more easily bequeath wishes and sentiments to its
survivor than pecuniary arrangements. By the time we have
arrived at some unity of action in these matters, it is possi-
ble the finance of the nation may be conducted on very dif-
ferent principles. There are, indeed, those who tell us
that the chief use of parliamentary reform is to inaugu-
rate a new era of direct taxation. In this case Mr.
Lowe's adhesion to the proposed support of schools
by union rating will be accepted with thankfulness
and utilised to the full. But, to all appearance, we
have to arrive at some recognised ideal of national
education before we can address ourselves to ways and
means.