The Catholic bulletin. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1911-1995, 1920-10-23
CHURCH AND SCHOOL !

HN0WGu ~ MI t1OOlSb FnEACH
ER-EARLY SCHOOLS IN AMER
| lcA-cATHoLlcs ALWAYS LEAF
| THE WAY.
The founders of Methodism had the
| advantage of university training, and
must have realized the priceless value
of education, yet John Wesley was
forced BY circumstances to appoint
preachers who were more commend
able for their zeal than remarkable
for their learning. Indeed, the oppo
sition to theological learning was sc
great. that in 1884, when Methodists
established their first theological
school at Haxton, England, the de
nomination was rent asunder.
In 1841, American Methodists found
ed their first theological school at
Newbury, Vermont. That the lack OF
learning among their preachers is still
keenly felt i'm Methodist circles, is
shown in a recent issue of the Chris
tian Advocate, wherein the fact is de
plored that so many Methodist preach
ers are handicapped by their lack OF
university training.
While Rev. DR.. M E. Rice dis
cussed S'Freedom, Education and Re
hgion" at the Tabernacle last Sunday
evening, in Detroit, Mich, says the
Michigan Catholic, these thoughts
were. foremost The speaker, for ex
ample, referred to Thomas Arnold
Head Master of Rugby, as the great
forebear of the Public School. II
might have served DR.. Rice in good
stead, if, before quoting Rugby, he
looked up the Century Dictionary
wherein he might read:
In England Public Schools are Ger
tain classical schools, such as Rugby
80" patronized chiefly by the
wealthy and titled classes"
Had DR.. Rice taken this little pre-
caution, it is not conceivable that he
would have attempted comparison
of Rugby with the Public School oil
America!
DIR. Rice slipped another cog, too
when he declared that the Pilgrim
Fathers builded the church and schoo
side by side. He perhaps did moi
know that they also builded the tav
ern hard by, a tavern that furnished
'refreshment for man and beast Sc
firmly did the Fathers believe in the
Tavern, that in some instances, the
grant of land for the church was giver
only on condition that the tavern
would be erected on the adjoining
plot. Throughout New England church
and tavern are still standing side by
side in many localities. Indeed, some
profane writer's have suggested thai
the tavern was a necessity, in ordel
that the Fathers might there find the
warmth SO lacking in the church!
Then, too, it might be difficult fol
DR.. Rice to convince gathering Of
intelligent Americans, that the Pilgrim
Fathers were the founders of this
country. Most of us believe that Chris
TOPPER Columbus preceded them by
at least a year or two, planting the
cross that DIR. Rice and his followers
would now tear down from the Pa
rochial School.
Dr. Rice probably knows full vel
that the Catholic Church was ever the
friend of education, and that all the
art and architecture of which Europe
boasts, is the result of the fostering
care of the Popes of Rome. He may
be peeved to learn, too, that the frs
woman teacher in New England-anl
the first on record in America-wa
Mary Healy, referred to in the tow1
records of Cambridge, Massachusetts
for the year 1880, as 'the good Mis-
tress Healy.' In the now famous Uni
versity town the children of the Puri
tan families depended for their edu
cation upon the woman who probably
was driven from Ireland by Cromwell
The Roman Catholic Church still
leads the way, in educational matters
in New England. Exempt from dis
fractions within the fold, it has beer
free to develop along spiritual anG
practical lines. The Church in New
England presents to the nation a
large, record of numerical increase
and development of it's educational
philanthropic and practical religious
forces that makes it certain that re
ligion is a very vital factor in the
New England of today
In truth, the Catholic Church is the
only church that has 'kept the faith
in New England, if that church is tt
be measured by the standards sug
gested by DR.. Rice. 1t did not teal
down the handiwork of the Pilgrim
Fathers" It's schools are still there
beside the church-but what has
happened to Methodism and hesl seats
of learning?
Heretofore Catholics lived yer,
largely on a strong inherited faith;
conditions and circumstances have
changed; plans and methods Of wort
ho al - >