The Hawaiian gazette., 1870-05-04
L. National Educa,ionNecessarry !.
BY REV. RoBERr PATTERSON, D. D.

been the general and undisputed opinion until the
recent agitation begun by the Catholics and
prosecuted by the infdel portion of our commu-
nifty. Both now labor for the destruction OF our
existing public school system Catholics demand
ing schools under the control of their priests in
fdels demanding schools under the control Of
their philosophers. OF course the granting OF
control to the one class would exclude the other
and granting the control of education to the in
fdels would exclude the children of all other
Christians, as well as Catholics. To get rid Of
the difficulty, the State Of New York proposes
to substitute all denominations, and let each teach
its own way and large sum has already been
paid to denominational schools. This incenses
the Protestants to such degree that some excel
lent daily and religious papers have proposed the
entire abolition of State education. They say,
Let the parent, the natural guardian of the child
feed and cIothe and educate his child in his own
way, and lead him to his own Church. The State
has no more business to teach mans child let
ters than to teach him trade or to baptize him,
or feed him.
Now it is well not to decide aquestion of such
grave Importance as the education of q nation,
rashly. Abstract rights may be asserted for the
parent. or for the State, and nobody may be able
to say, just at first sight, whether these are exist
ing rights, or only notions claimed as rights. If
any abstract right can be undeniably asserted in
the case. it is that the safety Of The republic is The
highest la1o. If family education, the parental
providence will provide better for the education
of our children into good citizens than State con-
troll, then by all means let US adopt it. But if on
the contrary parents will not sufficiently care for
the education of their children unless under the
control and direction of the State, then the pub
lie safety demands national education and we
must not allow ourselves to cast it off in a pas
sion because few foreigners demand its destruc-
ton, and embarrass us in its management. This
question Of the suficiency of parental affection to
provide good education for the children, is en-
tirely one CT fact and experience Have the
people of those countries where education has
been left to parental instinct been sufficiently
educated for the welfare of the community?
We need not go far for demonstrations. The
natives of this continent have acted out fully the
principles Of leaving education entirely to the
parents and the condition of our Indians is the
ultimate result We are not quite ready for that
degree of freedom.
But it is alleged that the parental love, infu-
enced by religion, especially by the Catholic reli
gon, would certainly attend to the education of
the children, sufficiently at least for the purposes
.
of free government Let US then take the Cath
olic nations of Europe, and consider that for a
thousand years both these principles have opera
ted on them. The result is that type of charac-
ter which we observe in the Catholic Dutch and
Irish immigrants 1t is not necessary to discuss
the question, how long our republic institutions
could resist such an influence? 1t is a mere
question of chronology.
But still it is argued, You are stating hypo-
thetical state of matters Here we have parental
instinct, strengthened by Professionalism, and de-
veloped in the free Christian life of our commu-
nifty. The religious zeal and charity which have
SO well provided the land with Churches and
Sabbath-sehools may be trusted to supply the
people with primary education. n 81,
Now it is quite providential that just at this
crisis of the argument we are able to appeal to
the experience Of a Protestant country which has
had all the advantages of religious zeal and chart
ty we posess and which has had two centuries of
experience of their application in the primary |
education of the people, and which has recently |
been officially investigating the results, and pub
fishing the results of those official investigations
That country is England There, there is no
system of common free schools; but Government |
grants in aid Of sectarian schools yearly rated.
The English people are now publicly discussing
this subject in town meetings and the best tai
ent of the British empire fHds no theme more
worthy of its best efforts than the statistics of
education. On the lst, and on the Bird Of Feb
ruary, two meetings were held in Liverpool, both
presided over by the mayor, but in the interests
of the two contendihg parties; one advocating
sectarian, the other national, but not irrehgious
secular education. The National Education
Union advocates the public substituting of secta-
rian schools The National Education League
advocates national system of secular education
upon every child not otherwise edu-
Cateu, oue inviting NOiuutdtg fehSlOus euuCdliOu
by the several clergymen at stated times. We
shall not recite the arguments of either side for
the most part familiar to us but we claim atten-
ton to the facts developed in the Investigation
and discussions.
The miseraby insufficient education of England
is well shown up by Mr.. Mundella's examination
of the statistics of the Committee of the Council
on Education, at a public meeting in Liverpool
on the 3rd of February They have a revised
code as test of grade, and the sixth grade in the
revised code is ability to read a newspaper pa
ragraph integently, to write the paragraph cor
recty from dictation and to do sum in the first
four rules of arithmetic. But out of 100000 of
school children they have never yet had 10000 in
any year come up to that very moderate grade of
education. Mr.. Mundella sent copies of this
standard to the school authorities of Saxouy and
Switzerland, asking them how these results CON-
pared with their system of education. They re-
piled, "Ecry ctildM that ledres our schools has a
much higher grade Of education" Thus Eng
and receives only 10000 children every year from
schools able to read write, and cipher,
while Prussia with smaller population counts
100000 children of much higher standard of