The Evening Star MONDAY, FEBRUARY 17, 1872.

Evening Star, Issue 3119, 17 February 1873, Page 2

The Evening Star MONDAY, FEBRUARY 17, 1872.

It,would have been more pleasant to our feelings to have suppressed, rather than published the correspondence between the Inspector of Schools and the Homan Catholic clergyman, pyrejy to save him .and his Bishop from -that condemnation which must inevitably be the cqnsequence of its being made kpown. JS T pt that as individuals they deserve sympathy from anyone—for wc (Cop.iider they havc : forfeited ail claim to that ~''V>vl hecapse wo were loth to believe so sad a could have been exhibited in tips pi, pc- 1 teenth century, as that of men who claim | to be leaders of religion and morals, showing so little knowledge of the requiremm,t« of cither, as to build grave charges a gain Ah, 1 ’ best efforts of their fellow-men, upon the iwwl' trumpery and unsubstantial foundations- The single charge brought against a schoolmaster at Tokomairiro may or may not he -,tee . That is something to he ascertained; id has nothing to do with the character of the', prpcecdings of the Bishop and the Homan Catholic pastor. It is admitted by jtho .latter font he does not know whether ;it as ; tr,pc or not: that H ls WW upon tjie.pp.s)V{ir gjycn by a gP’*- to a queslion put ip |ier mp cause ot her brother"* puuishiucut~ ravht vu.rpnpdabouiwayof getting up.U to found Bishop Mohan ’s grave : uceusu-| tions against a system. Father Coleman ' does not even condescend to tell the age $ the child, nor whether she herself was eallpd .ppon to do what her brother is alleged to luayy been punished for not doing. Ho docs say that he asked the father or mother otlhe -whether Uicy had rcmonstrp,ted or .nqt; J;ut, ; such an objection, wc ar ej gravely iojd that “both the Bishop and: ipyselt Coleman) told you (Mrj Hislop) we coplgl rely upon those people whp send tjiqir to the schoplsr’ So fjiat upon the; pf a mere l/iby, the child ofi persons .op wl*opi lip reliance ; is to be I placed, the people qi Otago arc , asked to I consent ton eomplpto subversion of their I educational system. It does pot seem: to strike the reverend pastor that i there is anything unseemly in this', mode of investigating matters. He wants to make out a case, and in order to do so, does not hesitate to accept the evidence o i child against parent, sister against brother. Eighteen centuries have passed

away since first the Christian Church I assumed shape and organisation. Purmg i eleven or twelve of those, the branch to ; which Bishop Moran and Father Cole- . MAN belong has claimed the exclusive | right to educate and supcri isc mankind, j And vet, so little hold has its clergy ob- . tained over their flocks, that they adopt a system of espionage, in which they are made to play the part of moral detectives. They have no faith in their followers, because they have not cultivated in them that sturdy Christian independence that is the consequence of Christian liberty. Although Father Coleman brands men and women as liars who prove their moral worth by seeking to have their children educated, and charges them with “endeavoring to conceal as much as possible from them” (the Bishop and father), the opinion of their fellow Colonists will in all probability differ very materially from the clerical estimate. It is not proved that there has been any attempt at concealment; it is not proved there was anything to conceal. All that lather Coleman’s statement shews is that they could get nothing out of them; all candid men will feel assured because there was nothing to disclose. The charges m Bishop Moran’s Lenten Pastoral arc all ot this shadowy character; they are founded on mere suspicion. Perhaps our .Roman Catholic fellow-citizens may imagine we are inclined to treat portions of the letter of Father Coleman too lightly, if we neglect to draw attention to other statements

in it. For instance, he states that Protestant prayers are taught to Bomau Catholic children in the schools, and that thenparents teach them to tell lies in order to conceal it from the pnesthood. What a sad picture of spiritual tyranny is here unfolded! Men claiming to be spiritual fathers, by their harshness and intolerance drive their spiritual children into hypocrisy and lying, and then denounce them ! It is not our painting that picture of spiritual and moral degradatum. It comes from the hand ot one who professes to know; but it is the most solemn condemnation of a system that tends to such a result. It may be true; but wc do not believe it. How arc these

crave charges arrived atr Hear r atuer Coleman— “This wo find out by qncsfcioning the children when they come to Sunday school, where they often recite Protestant prayers instead ot Catholic.” It would be interesting to know how many instances of this have occurred, or whether, in the face of such broad assertions based upon mere guess, this is not another inference founded upon suspicion. We have other reasons for doubting its truth, in the same letter. Father Coleman says Even when they admit that their children <ire present at Bible reading and prayers, if we make a move to have a formal complaint made, they beg to bo let alone. They dread lest they may lose their employment, knowing that tacre arc bitter feelings on this education subject.

Wc have sucli confidence in the desire of every employer to extend to his workmen that religious liberty that he claims for himself, that wc.do not belief there is a man in Otago that would do such a thing, as to dismiss a workman for acting conscientiously with regard to the education of his children ; nor a workman that imagines ho would be dismissed. We believe it to be a calumny that ought never to have been penned, and challenge Father Coleman to the proof. The clergy of the Homan Catholic Church claim rather too much; or at any rate they exercise their calling as if they had the right to fling the gravest charges broadcast their fellow-men, and proceeding as ff they were true, to separate their adherents from the common interests of the Colony. • ihe whole of Father Coleman’s letter is an endeavor to shew that Homan Catholics arc oppressed. We deny it; they arc not only not oppressed, but every desire is evinced by all classes to CNtejjd to them equal civil and religious •privileges pnjojed by those who differ from them/ $7% this they are not satisfied, but ,ask something more. Protestants subscribed tWr to assist them to build .their and Protestants now are oply anxious (that every cause of discontent, real or imaginary, may he removed. If they wer ( e im/t jn a like spirit, none of these disgraceful foavusj tonal exhibitions, tending to disunion .of v wquld take place.. Wo thunk Father for the explanations he has given. ghow how .cause ,tliei;e is for complaint ; but they shew also that, m oracr to remove the very last glxadpw of a ground for it, and to shield th® fcgclwJi s of Otago from undeserved aspersions, tJm educational system should be purely secular.