The record-union., 1891-03-22
Another Answer.

EDS. SUNDAY UNION When replying
to Mrs. e. P. DIS article on "Woman
Suffrage" it was far from my intention
to open a religious controversy, but, as
member of that body which she attacks,
I naturally felt interested enough to make
feeble reply. Since the lady has taken
the trouble to note my sentiments, en-
tirely ignoring the very excellent article
by another correspondent, which con-
tanned some forcible expressions from
sermons delivered by dignitaries who
voice the sentiment OF the Catholic
Church in America on this subject, / ask
your forbearance to enlighten this lady
correspondent on some historical facts,
| which she appears to have quite over
| looked, while asserting she is fair
| minded and belongs to no sect whatever.
! 1t was tile Catholic Church that founded
and endowed literally almost all the
| great universities of Europe, and it may
| surprise you to hear that the Catholic
| Church was the first to establish COM
| mon schools for the free education of the
| people.
AS early as A. D. 529 we find the Coun-
Gil of Watson recommending the estab-
| fishing of public schools. Again, in every
street in Rome there are at short dis
tances public primary schools for the edu-
cation of the children of the middle and
lower classes. Rome, with population
| of only about 15S,000, has 372 public
primary schools, with 4S2 teachers, and
over IA, 900 children attending them; whilst
Berlin, with a population more than
double that of Rome, has only 264 and,
mark it well, this is Catholic Italy and
| Protestant Germany.
Need / speak of the patronage winch
this body has accorded to painting, sculp-
| ture, architecture, music and the other
\ arfS In Inh oil h,rr,,
mind? Allow me to quote you from
Bishop Tanner, an English Protestant
| Bishop, a man of liberal sentiments, in
his work on the "Monasteries of Eng
land" He says: ''In every great
abbey there was large room
writers made it their whole business to
transcribe books for the use of the Ii
brary. Even Acts of Parliament were
sent to the abbeys to be recorded" :"
Again, Bishop Tanner says of these alb
beys: "They were schools of learning
and education, for every convent had one
person or more appointed for this pur-
pose, and all the neighbors that desired it
might have their children taught gram
mar and music without any expense to
| them" These facts go to prove whether
we encourage ignorance and superstition,
or build schools for the privileged few
This lady would insinuate we had no
ceptional cases where we have loyal citi-
Zens Of the Catholic faith. | wonder if
the battle-fields Of America would not
testify as to the patriotism of thousands
of Roman Catholic soldiers, not to speak
of the claim of the noble Sisters of Char
ity and Mercy, who nursed the wounded
and dying soldiers, irrespective of creed
In our own State. who were the first to
bring civilization and teach the Indians
| the useful arts? That noble band of mis-
sionaries under the leadership of Junipero
Sierra, whom Mrs. Leland Stanford Ga
non-Catholic) has paid such a glowing
| tribute to in the erection of a splendid
monument, to commemorate what he has
done.
Granting Mrs. e. l.. d. that those
reverend gentlemen have expressed
/ themselves as you say, does that
prove they are destroying the
public school system? We build
schools for educating children of our
faith, where the moral and religious
trainings are considered as essential to
the making of good citizens as that of the
intellectual. We are not inducing mem
bers of other sects to join us, although we
see instances every day of nonCatholic
children being sent to those schools. On
this subject | will give you an extract
Herald. 1t reads thus: "No wonder
that Protestants of all denominations,
and of strong religious convictions, too,
send their daughters to convent schools.
Protestant parents know that while
under the care of these sisters their chill
dren are not exposed to risk or danger,
that they are morally safe. One may
hear it constantly remarked that there is
an indefnable something in the man
ner of girls trained by nuns which is
| imMeasurably superior to the artificial
finish of the best secular academy or col
lege."
hope the few facts I have written may
enlighten your lady correspondent some
what as to how we stand on the question
in controversy. For the benefit Of your
readers, who might think 1 express q
foreign sentiment, allow me to inform
them claim the proud privilege of being
an American mother, and, added to this,
a Native Daughter of the Golden West.
JUSTICE.