The Irish standard., 1897-07-24

sure tbat II VIII hc accepted
| However. rs We have rol ,aoso dca-
niue points authmrautry b,furc us,
we can only gather as hc,t .wc may,
from The debate 30 which We have re-
telr"d, The issues Of ,he oaso which
seem to be regarded as fundamental,
nud state our View upou ;Aem as
clearly and brcily as possible, rhcy
seem To he:
+, J. What should bc IN" proportion Of
nymrn To errlesla~ric- un tb. poNcrH-
Ing body OF the projected Catholic uu-
| iycrsity?
2 DO We ask an endowment for tho
"loGicaI teaching?
3 What security should b" given to
| professors and others against arbitrary
| dismissal?
| A. Are we prepared 10 accept the ap-
plicat!on of The University OF Dublin
Tests Act of 1873?
|. With regard to lhc constitution OF
/ the governing body we have tu remark
\ that the question of th" relative nUm-
\
| IS of very recent origin. For 40 years
! during which Irish Catholics were
engaged in asitatlng for redress in un-
| iNcrSity education, this question WAS
| sit!on between these classes even sug-
| Eested. and now we would impress up
Oh the government that nothing, in our
| opinion, would be more fatal to the flu
/ tre of the university than to approach
| its constitution In an anti-clcrcal spir-
| it, which is absolutely alien to thc
whole character and disposition of our
people.
If, however. such a spirit is excluded,
and there is simply II desire to Givi
! to the university the best and broad ST
constitution. with Il view to attaining
the highest educational results, we have
to say that. whatever may be the
thought of the relative merits of GO
rlcsiastirs and laymrn as the directors
of a university in the abstract, we do
not consider that in the particular cir
cumstanrcS in this ease II would be
reasonable tn propose that there should
he Il prerondrranrc of c@clrsi"s:ics on
the governing body
The new university will be called
upon principally to provide secular
teachings. Our Theological students are
provided for at Maynnulh and other
ecclesiastical colleges, and the need Ct
r..l ,,j t.,
secular knowledge to lay students.
But, on the other ha;.h, there are
som" considerations which it is We'll
no, to overlook. one Of III" advantages
which We expect from he foun,la-
ton of a Catholic university is the Op-
portunity il will afford of giving Il hiEh-
or education to the candidates for ;hr
priest hood in Ireland: and these alone,
it will be observed. will make, from the
first. a large accession tn the number Of
students in the university.
Then The whole system of secondary
education. IN which thousands Of Cath
ollie youths are now pursuing lhcii
studies, has come by the spontaneous
|
be almost entirely under ecclesiastical
direction. For many of these students
Il university course is the natural com
pIc.ion of t;;cir studies. and we should
hope that with our encouragement
large numbers of them would pass on
to the new university.
Finally. the Catholic university rol-
lcgcs, notably those of St. Stephen
green and Backrock and the Catholic
University School of Medicine, would
with our consent be merged in the con
tempIat"d university, and hence it will
be seen that we bishops approach the
settlement of this question, not empty
handed but that. altogether indcprnd-
people recognize as attaching to us :ls
their religious teachers, we have claim:
! to consideration which II would b,
neither Just nor reasonable to ignore
On this head, then, we have to say
that if, in other respects, the governing
body is properly constituted, we do moi
ask for prepOndcrancr. nor even an
equality in number Of ccccsinstics 'lp-
on it, but are prepared to accept Il ma
iority Of laymcn.
g. AS to Theological teaching, we ac-
ccpt unrcscrvcdly the solution suggest
ed by Mr. MOrlcy-a a solution whicn
was accepted In principle by all parties
in Il parliament in the yoar 1898 llamc!,
that the Theological faculty Should no
be excluded from the Catholic univ"r-
sily, provided that the chairs of tho
faculty are not endowed ont of public
funds. We are prepared to assent tC
such a provision and to any guaran
tees that may be necessary, that the
moneys voted by parliament shall II
applied exclusively to the teaching 0i
secular knowledge.
3. AS to the appointment and rcmov-
al of professors, Mr. I.ccky raised an
impor:"nl point ana at the same time
incidentally indicated the principle al
least of it's solution.
AS reported in "Iiansard'- he said
referring to the appointment of pro
fessors:-"Of course they would be