THE AUCKLAND COMMON SCHOOL ACT.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume IV, Issue 172, 14 July 1876, Page 13

THE AUCKLAND COMMON SCHOOL ACT.

Oub Common Schools Act has a certain show of liberality. It exempts from payment of capitation fees those parents who have their children efficiently educated at private schools ; but then it still makes them pay the household school tax. To Catholics this may prove a snare. They may say we are not going to pay to uphold Government schools, and get no benefit from them; we will send our children there, and throw conscience and the warning of the clergy to the winds. This is possibly the very thing the artful contrivers of the Act meant to bring about. Had they been just and honest men they would have exempted the class referred to from all payments whatever on account of Government schools. Money, or some other worldly advantage is the trap which a Protestant Government and people lay for Catholic consciences, and sooth to say it is a very dangerous trap, and too often catches the unwary or weak in principle. Now I would call a Government of this sort an immoral government, a deceitful government, a bad government — a government which sets up the golden calf, and seeks to force or entice all to fall down and worship it. It is no doubt here, as in America, all classes of non-Catholics are combined to keep up such schools as will, in their opinion, most likely succeed in shaking the faith of Catholics, and ultimately making them apostatise. They do not f rankly and openly avow such a design of course — any more than the late Protestant Archbishop of Dublin Dr. Whately, openly avowed it when he took the lead in establishing what is called the Irish National System of " Unsectarian " Schools. Yet his published private correspondence shows that such was his real design. In public he was always trying to make the Catholics believe, and did succeed in making even some Irish Catholic Bishops believe that the projected " Irish National " system of non-sectarian education would not in the least endanger the principles of Catholic youth. Yet , in private he used very different language. He told his friends that such a system, if well worked, might cure the Irish Catholics of their popery in time, and open their eyes to the light of Protestantism But he said his hands were tied partly at least, and he could not work the machine to his mind. This duplicity is clearly revealed in his " life," as published by his daughter, at least so I have heard, but I never saw the "biography" myself; some of your readers may know whether the statement be true. It is one seriously implicating the moral character of the deceased prelate. For myself I should like to see it authoritatively contradicted. From all accounts lam not quite sure if the Archbishop has not been partially successful in his design. If the National Schools of Ireland have not induced many to apostatise from the Catholic faith, they have I suspect cooled the religious feelings of many Irish Catholics, and begotten in them an irreligious and worldly spirit. So far they may have damaged the Catholic religion ; but have they in a corresponding degree benefitted the Protestant religion ? No ; when a Catholic from any cause becomes coldly affected to his church and religion, he is not likely to become either a Protestant in a good sense, or a more honest, faithful and trustworthy man in any sense — certainly not a more loyal subject. What he is likely, or rather certain to become by the change is a worldling and a trimmer, having one object principally in view his own pecuniary gain, for which he will sacrifice, if necessary, his religion or anything else. This is your " liberal" Catholic education in Government secular or pretended «on-sectarian schools. Ido not say they are all so. — God forbid. ''The grace of God can do much, and it can protect a Catholic child's faith even in a Government secular school provided his parents do their duty by him. But it is a dangerous place and no mistake and ought to be avoided by every Catholic parent when it is possible to have his child educated in a Catholic school — even though that Catholic school be in some respects inferior to Government schools. All that the bulk of Catholic children, and indeed any children really want, . is a knowledge of reading, writing, and accounts, and above all of the doctrines and duties of the religion their parents profess. It is not from the want of secular knowledge that youths or men become immoral, but from a want of religious knowledge, principles, and discipline. On that ground it is impolitic in Governments to withdraw their countenance fron religious schools, whether Catholic or Protestants. It appears that in their blind zeal against the Catholic Church they will en danger the public morals to any extent. The Protestant press and public are under the delusion that all Catholic parents would send their children to Government schools if only left to themselves — if they were not priest-ridden. That is a mistake. Every Catholic parent properly instructed in his religion, if faithful to it, would prefer having his child educated in a

Catholic school, and*|of his own accord would send him there. I speak as a layman myself ; but it musb be admitted that there are many, perhaps too many, Catholic parents ready to send their children to any school, regardless of the consequences to their faith and morals. Upon these no doubt priests may, and do put strong pressure, as it is their sacred duty to do, to get them to send their children to Catholic instead of other schools. The Catholics have no business to interfere with Protestants in the education of their children : yet as citizens they have a direct interest in all schools., in knowing that every school is subservient to the advancement of religion and good morals. If Government schools turn out irreligious and immoral characters, the Catholics will suffer, and the good influence of their own schools would be in a great measure counteracted. We cannot keep Catholics and Protestants apart -in the world, and '• evil communications corrupt good manners." That the bulk of Protestants fear the irreligious tendency of Government schools every where is shown by the luniversal efforts they are now making on behalf of Sunday Schools. That Sunday Schools are good and necessary under any circumstances is true j yet by themselves they are a poor substitute for the religious day school. I have the authority of Dr. Frazer, Protestant Bishop of Manchester, and a good authority in education, for saying that in England common Protestant Sunday Schools in spite of all their pretentions and parade, are a very inefficient means of religious instruction. The amateur lay teachers do not possess the necessary qualifications to teach and discipline the children. From certain things which have been said at Protestant religious meetings in Auckland of late, I think Bishop Frazer's remarks apply here also to some extent. If mere money could make good schools, in the sense of turning out good and moral pupils, the Government schools of this Colony, and of California, and America generally ought to be -the best that ever existed. The 'Herald' tells us that a quarter of a million yearly is spent by the Government of California on their schools ; and the money spent on Government schools in this Colony, all now to be conducted on a principle " exclusively secular," will soon be immense. Yet what are the fruits in a moral and religious sense of all this exclusively secular teaching — lavish outlay of public money ? Nothing to boast of if we judge from the state of the youths in California and America generally. A correspondent of the ' Herald/ writing from San Francisco, told how he was shocked at the horrid blasphemies which issued in his hearing from the lips of some of the Calif ornian hopefuls. The American press generally is filled with lamentations over the growing depravity of the people, the young especially. A late number of your paper gave a specimen of this. American rascality has become a by-word. The rascals are surely not all foreigners, Catholics, and Irish, which some would have us believe. The ' Herald ' itself has had occasion more than once to call public attention to juvenile profanity and depravity in this town. The secular schools are not likely to mend that, but rather make it worse and worse. If there be a defective morality among the young and the lower classes in this Colony and America, there is even more of it in the higher strata of .society, among the commercial and political magnates of the land, else the press greatly belie them. Let Catholics then look well to themselves and their schools if they would escape the general corruption. We in Auckland have not only religious day schools, but we have Sunday schools too. If our youths are not good, they should be so. Our Sunday Schools are under the immediate supervision.of the priests, and taught in great part by the "Christian Doctrine Society," the members of which, mostly young lay men, deserve the highest praise for their piety and zeal in the work. Mr. Firth lately hinted to some of the Protestant Sunday School lay teachers that they ought " to prepare themselves " for their duty more than they do. The members of the Christian Doctrine Society might consider, if such a hint apply to them to any extent, It is lawful to take good lessons from an opponent, and the Auckland Catholics should thank Mr. Errington for having called their attention to the prevalence of religious indifference among them, and religious indifference is the first step to practical infidelity. I say practical infidelity, for much of that exists among nominal Catholics. Auckland, May 9, 1876.