Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1885-03-12
Mptrs Of Trarelin Gnrope.
OBSERVATIONS ON IRELAND.
Written for the Yorkville Enquirer.]
BY REV. Il. LATHAM.

BY REV. Il. LATHAM.
Written for the Yorkville Enquirer.l
Churches school houses and public roads
mark the existence of Christian civilization.
Not only do they mark the existence of
these churches, school houses and public
Christian civilization, but the character OF
roads indicate, with absolute certainty, the
progress which Christian civilization has
made in a nation, in a state, in a district
of country, or in a small community. In
every community dilapidated church is
accompanied by bad school houses, bad
roads, ignorant children and demoralized
and immoral and irreligious grown up peo-
pie. A church or school house in ruins is
like a lodge in an Oriental garden of cucum--
bers, the very embodiment of social and
religious desolation. In judging of the civ
il and religious civilization of Ireland it is
fain that the same tests be applied that are
used in judging of the civilization of any
other country. Perhaps, by law of ma
ture, we Judge others by our own standard.
1t is natural for Americans to compare 9TH
er countries with America and to regard
those countries great or small just in pro-
portion as they rise above or sink beneath
America. If we compare our Southern
roads with the roads of Ireland we will be
mortified. 1t would be very difficult to
find any country on which the sun shines in
which the roads are so generally bad, in all
seasons of the year, as they are in our South
ern country, and it would be just as diff
cult to find country in which the roads are
as good as they are in Ireland. Ihe roaos
are in Ireland until all the unoccupied
lands west of the Mississippi River are set
tled and there is no place left to when
those east of that river can 60 in search OF
"the best place." We Americans never re-
main in one place long enough to make
any permanent improvements, and asa rule
the mass of the people regard the labor and
time spent in improving the public roads as
so much time wasted. Worse than this, the
working of the roads devolve largely upon
the negro and poor white man.
/ cannot speak of the roads in Ireland
without appearing eXtravagant, hence VIII
simply say that they are firmer and smooth
er than the pavements in our cities. No
amount of rain and travel can ''cut them
up," neither can any amount Of dry wealth
er make them dusty.
The churches in Ireland are all built Of
stone. Except in the towns thereis very lit
tie ornament-that is, mere ornament, in
their construction. All, or nearly ALL are
built in the shape of the letter T, the pull
pit being in the lower stem. Possibly some
persons would be inclined to say that these
houses of public worship are cruciform. In
all OF them is gallery entirely around the
house, except on the end at which the pull
pit is placed. The seats are generally very
comfortable. In the Presbyterian churches
all the members of family generally sit in
the same seat. This is as it should be, not
as it is in many of our American churches,
the father and mother and little children
in one seat and the large children scattered
here and there all over the house, under no
parental control, or any other control eX-
cept the spirit of mischief. In Ireland there
are about four thousand churches, the most
of which are very good. In the cities there
are some splended churches, equal, if not
superior to any churches which can be seen
in our great commercial cites.
The schools of Ireland are managed on
plan different in some respects from the plan
on which schools are managed either IN
England or Scotland and very different, in
many respects, from the plan on which they
are managed in our Southern country. Soon
after the beginning of the present century,
there was formed, in Ireland, a society
which had for it's object the education of the
poor A grant of money was given this So
ciety by the government, but the scheme
failed, mainly because the Roman Catholics
refused to send their children to the schools
opened by the society. In 1910, the present
school system Of Ireland was inaugurated.
The object Of the system is to place the
means of acquiring primary education
within the reach of all the children of Ire
land, irrespective of the religious belief of
the parents. The means for the support of
these schools is obtained by grants made by
the Lord-Lieutenant of the island. The
eXpending of this grant is entrusted to "the
Commission of National Educati0n," which
is appointed by the English government
The local control of each school is in the
hands of patron. The schools are what
we call mixed schools-that is for males and
females-and also mixed in the sense that
they are Protestant and Catholic.
From what | saw, the only difficulty in
reducing to practice the school system of
Ireland, is not SO much a defect in the sys-
tenn as in the religious prejudices of the
people. The Protestants and Catholics Of
ireland, like the ancient Jews and Samari-
tans, have no social intercourse with each
other The Episcopalians and Presbyteri-
ans associate with each other as little as pos
sible, and the Methodsts, in Ireland as in
America, push ahead, attending to their
own business, leaving every one else to at
tend to his.
The schools generally, but not always, are
in connection with the church. The church
and school house very frequently stand with
in few feet of each other. l think there
are more school houses than churches in
Ireland. l rarely saw church without
school house near by, but | saw some school
houses where there was no church. The
patrons of the Presbyterian schools are gen.
orally Presbyterian clergymen !; of the Cath
olic schools, Catholic priests; of the Episco-
pal schools, Episcopal clergymen, and SO
with all the other schools. They are Ma
tional schools, but made, by the local gov
ernors or patrons, strictly denominational.
In perhaps the great majority of cases this
works no injury to any one. In some in
stances, however, it is productive OF evil to
a whole community. In strong Protestant
communities the Catholic children derive
but little advantage from the public schools,
and in strong Catholic ncighborhoods the
Protestant children are neglected.
In the same neighborhood it is no uncom-
mon thing to see in close proximity to each
other two school houses, one called the Epls-
copal school and the other the Presbyterian
school. The schools Of Ireland are divided
into three grades and the teachers selected
by the patron accordingly. The eXamina-
tion of teachers is national business, and is
conducted in a way that is entirely satiSfac-
tory to every one. In England there is a
Committee on Education which has charge
of the business of examining teachers. BY
this Committee, examination papers are
made out and sent to all the principal towns
and cities in the kingdom. Examiners are
sent to each place to conduct the eXamina-
ton. Applicants are given the questions,
and having written down the answers the
ed and reported upon. There is no possible
rhonrn far r,artiolitv The examiner and