HISTORICAL CLASS BOOKS.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume II, Issue 109, 29 May 1875, Page 12

HISTORICAL CLASS BOOKS.

4-+ (TO THE "[ EDITOR OP 'NEW ZEALAND HERALD,' PEE FAVOUR OP" THE ' TABLET.' Sir, — In your late leading article on Mr. Gladstone's now celebrated pamphlet you say of certain claims made by Archbishop Manning on behalf of the Pope that these are bold pretensions of his to be put forth in this the nineteenth century, " when schoolboys read history, and know all about the acts of former Popes." Schoolboys read history. Yes, aud it is of the last importance that the histories tised in our schools should be truthful and impartial. Mr. Luskj I notice, in his report on the last examination of the High School, remarks on the meagre and unsatisfactory kind of class book used by the pupils in that establishment, and suggests ■ something more full and scholarly in future. ! The historical epitome used, if I mistake not, in the High School is Collier's. On glancing over some portions of it I notice nothing erroneously stated, but much important matter suppressed which it is material even for " schoolboys" to know. The suppressio veri, every one knows,jis at times even worse than the assertio falsi. One great objection Roman Catholics have to send their children to Government secular schools is founded on the fact that their mind is apt to contract a prejudice against their Church by reading histories so unfaithfully written. In Collier's History, and other popular historical epitomes used in secular or Protestant schools, Avhile all or the worst evil deeds of Catholic celebrities may be given, sometimes no hint is given of some of the very worst acts of Protestant rulers. I write under correction of course. The reader is led erroneously to believe or infer that persecution is a tenet of the Catholic Church, and that no Catholic evor suffered for his religion. He is not told that the cruelties in Mary's reign were done in defiance of Catholic principles, and not in accordance with them j-and that a Catholic priest, in open Court, reproached the Qtieen and the Government for attempting by such cruel means to bring men to forsake their error. He told them they were acting in opposition "both to the spirit and the letter of the Gospel ; that it was their duty to attempt to persuade the judgment, and not to take the lives of the unhappy persons they were persecuting. Circumstances such as; these are suppressed in Collier's history, with what fairness yoxiVourself shall judge. It is true he tells that Cardinal Pole, the ' Tope's legate, was opposed to such sanguinary measures as Mary's Government were adopting to suppress the Reformed creed. So far he is just. But this was not enough to place the transactions of that ;reign in jtheir [true light, and exonerate Catholics in general fromthe imputation of sympathising in acts of blood they abhor. The above is a mere specimen .of the wrong done to Catholics by the suppression of material historical facts in school histories and other more full histories -written for thej.use of Protestants. Catholic statesmen, both lay and ecclesiastical, in past ages, committed many crimes under the impulse of bad passions. But it is unfair to conceal or pass over in silence the ser. vices so many eminent Popes and other Catholics have ren. dered to liberty and the cause of Christian civilization generally.

rUIXS, "%*»**" **«» crimes and follies of bad S o^ the * el^ they profess, and to represent their evil deeds as the fruit of that .religion. The Catholic body in all ages, even the present, has exhibited some of the very best and some of the very worst specimens of human nature. But the might be said of the Jews of old. They were some of Temlhe very worst of sinners, but who would think of bringing any charge against then- religion on that account. When Mi° Gladstone %r SfoSS? Ifo a lui ?d to raise a prejudice against the Catholic S 'J * 7 S eVei< fail to Tefer to the transactions in Mary's S&e of thS h priSS s ? nmeS COmmitted ma " y ° atholiCa * n^. a k° u t the beginning o£ the present century, there was no full History of England written by a Catholic of any great eminence in the republic of letters. The late Dr. Lingard supplied that want, and his large history has been epitomized for the u?e of schools. The best proof of Ms fearless impartiality is that his history has offended both Catholics and Protestants He sparK 7 ' ?e? c coords the worst and best acts of Protestant and Catholic, extenuates nothing, and sets down nothing in malice. That he should be entirely free froia any bias was hardly to be expected. .As to the motives of the actors, he does not deal with them at all. He tells what they did and said, and leave/the reader to form his own judgment of the motive. He says the novelist pretends to a perfect knowledge of the motives of his characters. The historian can make no such pretensions. Hume's History he regards as a historical romance founded on facts and the reverse of candid and truthful, especially in Catholic matters. Yet this history is epitomized for the use of schools at which Catholic children may be expected to attend ; and we are thought hSSSs SCrupulous awe ob 3 ect to our children using such Histories should be impartial, not sectarian— least of all should histories for schoolboys suppress any material truth, as wf % ?Tv C t h °S ! l d f £ c that the worst as wen as the best acts of Catholics should be fully and fairly recorded in history A.B.

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