Dodgeville chronicle. [volume] (Dodgeville, Wis.) 1862-current, 1870-01-07
EDUCATION In ENGLAND.
Ignorance and wrefc edness i'm LOn-
don-The School QuesttO

cit is needless to inform any American
who has sc EN- our large towns in England,
how fearfilly we are behind you in the
matter of education for the poor. Ii any
American correspondent of an American
paper, or any American writer resident in
England, was to walk down or through o
single district of score l could point out
in London. and was to give his fellow
countrymen simple but faithful account
of what he saw, Englishmen would put
down his words as being untrue, exagger-
ated, unfair and the like. And yet would
defy him, or any one who was merely a
word painter, and who never colored his
pictures, not to astonish his readers with
the drawing he set before them, provided
it was only true to the life. When l tell
you that we have here in London upwards
Of rs, 900 "gutter children who live in the
streets who never hear the name of their
Maker but in q blasphemous oath, and
who have no occupation but what they
make for themselves, no teaching but that
which educates them for the prison. the
reformatory, the thieves kitchen and for
ultimate penal servitude; when l tell you
this as simple statistical fact you will
hardly wonder if / say education for the
million is somewhat needed in this land
But when L add also as statistical fact
that to these 25, 600 wanderers there is an
addition of 5000 women of bad character
under Is years of age, and 5000 professed
thieves of the same tender years, you will
wonder now, with the immense wealth OF
London, God does not visit us for our sins
and that this huge overgrown Babylon of
bricks is not destroyed by Him as were the
cities of the plains. Has no effort been
made to redeem these children? Has no
one no set of men or women ever put on
foot an undertaking to educate them in
some measure, to teach them something of
honesty aud of their relative duties to God
and man.?
Efforts have not been wanting, but we di-
vide our forces, we will not act together,
and SO the evil goes on and is every year
increasing The established Episcopal
Church has many schools, and might have
the funds at its disposal to have many
more. The Baptists, the Wesleyans, and
the Roman Catholics have also their
schools; the latter the most energetic, and,
for the limited number of their commune
ty, the most efficient of all. But with the
great many of the well TODD classes in
England there is o most unaccountable ap-
athy upon that all important subject. Our
strength is divided; there is no law by
which parents are obliged to send their Off
spring to school, and from the thieves,
roughs, and fallen women one can only ex-
pect that they should, as they do, greatly
prefer that the children pick up here lit
tie and there a little-by odd jobs, by sell
ing matches, by thieveng, and by worse
which adds something, no matter how lit
tie, to the general funds of the household.
The radical party in England propose, as
a remedy for this, that an act of Parlia-
ment should be brought forward by which
rates should be levied from all household
ers for the payment of common schools;
that to these common schools it should be
made imperative for all persons whoare too
poor to educate their children to send both
boys and girls of their families; and that at
these schools no religious teaching be
either enforced or even allowed, so that up
on the score of different creeds no objection
should be raised. But to this there is the
opposition of religious denominations. The
Anglicans, the Wesleyans and the Catho-
lies say alike that education without relig-
ion is worse than no education at all. What
they demand is that the scheme, now prac-
ticed on comparatively small scale, and
called the UNCONVENTIONAL system, should
be greatly enlarged, and that to each relig-
ious persuasion grant of government
be given, with which to build schools, pay
teachers and general work out, under gov
eminent inspection, system of education
upon o large scale. - : -
The Roman Catholic Church in this
country has, up to the present time, shown
more energy, more activity, and has been
more successful in its schools than any
other denomination. And the clergy as
we'll as the laity of that church are. more
than any others, determined to oppose
anything like system of secular educa-
ton. They say, increase the funds you
allow us; where you have one Catholic
school enjoying government assistance we
will establish five or six, if you will only
extend the help you give u.s. Then, if you
like, make il compulsory upon all the
children of our faith to attend these
schools, and punish the parents who don't
obey your order. !" $50
The liberal press object to this. They
say that they will not pay any sect more
than another. They don't want and will
not have religious teaching mixed up with
secular education, and as to ''forcing chill
dren to be taught Popery" that would be
against the rights of Englishmen.
Every WE'LL" say the Catholics, sat the
next election, and even during the next
Parliament, we will help the tory side on
this question, and if you persist in your
bill, and it is made government measure
we will turn the political tide by voting
with the tories"
Mr.. Gladstone is fully alive to the gravity
of the position. Personally, he objects
very much indeed to education of the poor
without religion, and would be inclined
most decidedly to take part with the Angli-
cans, Wesleyans and Catholics, by bring
ing In measure which would allow each
denomination to educate their own poor,
and augmenting greatly the govern
ment grants for that purpose. But
the Premier is in great meas
ure, helpless He is surrounded by
ministers who are already pledged to the
proposed measure, and who will hear of
nothing but their favorite scheme But
now another element has been brought to
play. There is no doubt but that the Ecu
menical Council will take action on this
question, and that both in England and in
Ireland the s'thunders of the Church will
be evoked against all parents who send
their children to schools at which religion
forms no part of the teaching AT large
meeting of Roman Catholics, held last week
at Birmingham, the Earl of Denbigh,
leading man among the Catholics of this
country, declared that he would rather see
children sent to schools where Protestant
ism was taught than to schools where no
religion at all was inculcated; and the meet |
ing, of which the Roman Catholic bishop |
of the place was chairman, cheered him |
heartily when he made this remark