The morning star and Catholic messenger. [volume] (New Orleans [La.]) 1868-1881, 1868-08-30
IRIBH PUBLIC EDUCATION.

a short time ago, VIC published an extract
from speech OF His Eminence, Cardinal
Cullen, in which he proved by the evidence
OF his daughter, that the late Protestant
Archbishop WhateIy had acknowledged his
premeditated intention to use the school
books of the national schools for the pur-
pose of undermining the faith of Catholic
pupils 1t seems now that little more
liberality had been used in getting up the
text books. According to the Nation:
Quite recently the education commits
siOners, apparently feeling the justice of
the charge that had been brought against
them on this score, ashamed, perhaps, of
the paltry endeavor that had been made to
extinguish the sense of patriotism in this
country, and convinced of its complete
failure, if not of the actual mischief it had
done to the English projectOf "unifcation,"
allowed a considerable change for the
better to be made in the books. New edi-
tons, published last year, exhibit some
very marked differences from the preceding
from their pages. Chapters have been in
troduced from which one can gather that
Ireland exi lists, and has some scenes worth
looking at. And there are passages in some
few places which suggest the notion that a
young fellow might love this land and yet
uoO NC d SSly Ddo pOI. TAaIdCUS tlTe given
from the writings of Gerald Griffin, Thomas
Moore, Rev. DIR. Murray, of Maynooth, d.
F. Mccarthy, Samuel Ferguson, j. c. Man
gan, and other Irish poets, as well as from
the prose works of several Irish writers,
and most of these extracts are distinctively
Irish in subject or in character, or in both.
Nor have eminent Catholic divines been
precluded from putting in an appearance.
We have met between the covers of
some of these books, a passage-non-
theological of course-from the pen of Car
dnal Wiscman, and another from that of
DIR. Newman. This was a really commend
able advance toward making the reading
books of the Irish national schools what
they ought to be, conformable in some de-
gree at least to the genius and spirit of the
people.
This species of liberality however, would
not be tolerated, and i'll compliance with
the protest of the Commissioners on Edu-
cation of the Presbyterian Church, the Ma
tional Board have rcscinded their action
and called in a large edition of their new
reading books. The Star, commenting on
these objections, thus dangerously alIudes
to these enlightened Presbyterians
What sort of a world would this be if it's
laws and literature We're carved about at
will by good folks, who confuse religion
even the very existence OF that which they
theologically .disapprove of J, To any per-
of sense, it would seem impossible to
hide from a Protestant pupil that there are
people who cross themselves, or to conceal
from Roman Catholic child that there are
folks who think the Pope a-pretendcr and
eat meat on n Friday. 1t must surely be n
strange child of either persuasion who, from
merely knowing these simple facts, should
be less Catholic Or Protestant than be-
fore. Yet the whole system of dcnomina-
tional education is too apt to be deformed
by precautions against the acquisition,
whether directly or by accident, of harmless
bits of information like this. The most ex-
traOrdinary example of this preposterous
notion of education that we have ever met
with has presented itself, not in connection
with UNCONVENTIONAL education at all, but
in the heart of that noble system Of mixed
primary education which, in Irish debates,
is so frequently lauded to the skies a
model of liberal culture as applied to the
poorest classes in the country. After read
ing parliamentary paper, just presented
to the House of Commons, we can only say
that it would be difficult to conceive de-
nominational system administered upon
principles narrower or sillier than have
been acted upon by the Education Commits
sioners in Dublin, at the instigation of the
Presbyterian General Assembly. 1t is oh
vious that children must have reading
books, and us education has always been
very much under the influence Of clergy of
different denominations, it would not be
practicable to carry on II mixed system of
education with the reading books commonly
in use before the establishment of such a
system. One of the principal and most del
icate duties of the Education Board, there
fore, has always been to draw up reading
books which would be acceptable to ali
parties. They have lately compiled new
reading book, and those who know the con-
dition of the Irish mind on questions of re-
ligion, may imagine the eagerness with
which its pages were scanned for matters
of offense. Whether the Catholics were
less sharp-eyed or more tolerant than the
Presbyterians, we know not, but it is diff
cult to imagine that they could have glanced
through a miscellaneous reading book with