GREYMOUTH.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XXX, Issue 18, 1 May 1902, Page 5

GREYMOUTH.

(From our own correspondent.) At St Patrick's Church, Greymouth, a few Sundays ago, the Very Rev. Dean Carew, S.M., made an appeal to the congregation to reduce the debt on St. Patrick's school. He spoke in part as follows :—: — I am about to a^k you this morning for some assistance to reduce the debt on St. Patrick's pchool, lately erected. As you are aware it is a large and beautiful brick building 85ft by 30ft and 17ft walls, plastered inside and out with Portland cement. It has two large porches which may serve a« clasa rooms. The main room is divided into two compartments by glass folding partitions so that it can when necessary be made into one room. It has a permanent stage erected in one room for plays and concerts, and as a school it in fully furnished with all requisites, so that I have no hesitation in saying it is one of the finest Catholic schools in the Colony. It cost £1380. Of that amount the parish has so far subscribed close on £«00 so that a-debt of £780 remains yet to be provided for. As you are aware this school replaces one that was built of timber about 30 years ago. The old building was very much out of repair. It was. so draughty and cold that neither the teachers nor children could continue to work in it in winter time. Most of the interior was of white pine and so grub-eaten that to repair it would, according to the estimate of the architect, cost £300. So the church committee decided, very wisely I think, to crept the new school in brick. See how much the congregation has lost in building its first church and schools of timber. They are now perished and things of the past and must have cost £3000. That amount is now a total loss, although of course the buildings served their purposes for the time being. As we Catholics receive no external aid from Government or any other source in church or school matters, but must depend on ourselves for everything we do in that direction ; and as our churches and schools do not grow up like mushrooms, coming through the grourd gratuitously to up, it is customary at the opening of any such building that the people for whom the building has been erected should he called upon to con ribute what is possible for them to the co«t of its ere tic n. The school ert-cted in honor of our patron ht. Patrick w.-.s opt net on tlie 17th of March, of la?t year, but the customary ami nee -sury collection was omitttd, and that onii-Mon explains why we have such a large debt remainii g. I am in no way responsible for that ornibsion as I celebrated the feast of St. Patrick *ast year in Ireland, the emerald gem of the western sea. I regret it too, because on such occasions people contribute generously and willingly. But when the opportune moment is allowed to pass and not taken advantage of, it is not so easy to find people in so generous a mood at another time. And as I always found you most generous to meet every reasonable demand when called upon in church and school matters I trust you will be as generous to day as on all former occasions. As you are aware, the primary reason that we Catholics have in maintaining our schools is to give our children a or mplete education, that is, to give them such „n education as should prepare them to get on well in this world and enable them, if they follow it, to attain eternal life. That twofold object mu-t be always held in view if you desire to give a complete education. As we know, man is composed of a body and soul. The Doiy is purely material and is directed by the soul and vital principle. The soul is the recipient of all knowledge. It has two great faculties, the superior and inferior. The superior part possesses the memory, the intelligence, and the will. The inferior, the passions. The latter are to be restrained by right reason within the limits of the law of God. Each faculty of the former must be educated each in its proper knowledge. The memory to recall the past, the intelligence, the seat of knowledge, and the home of thought and the will which ia the executive power in man and the seat of moral life, should bo thoroughly imbued with the principles of Christianity. Secularists aim at educating the memory and intelligence only in mere secular knowledge. They make no attempt to educate the will, or in otber words to form the moral character by giving a child a Christian education. _ But whilst we must neglect nothing that secularists teach, to give a complete education we must go a step further and educate the will by giving it a complete training in the Christian religion. The will which is the executive power in man is the seat of all good or evil in him. And it is by teaching the human will to conform itself in all things to the will of God, to make the Christian religion the law of its life that the Christian child receives a complete moral education. The child's education is complete when the memory and intelligence are replete with knowledge and the will with principles of Christianity, which is the wisdom of God. When the human will does not receive this training it is not guided by the wisdom of God whL'h it was never taught. But other guides resident in human nature will attempt to direct the will and these guides are the passions some of which man possesses in common with inferior animals and when man is guided by passion he becomes the worst and most dangerous of all animals. It is to avoid such dangerous consequences that we Catholics make such Bupreme

efforts to maintain oar schools, that by giving a religious as well as a secular education our children may be fitted to get on in this lite and at its expiration to attain life everlasting. How we pucceed in giving this education in our Greymouth schools muat be judged from results. Nearly every year Rome of our children matrioulate for the New Zealand University. One has done bo this year. Some pass the Junior Civil Service. One has done 80 this year. For the last three years our boys' Bchoola have received 100 percent of passes from the Government Inspector in their annual examinations, and the convent t-chools very nearly the Bame. You have Been published in the presß the frequent successes of our convent schools in mnsic, drawing, etc. So much for the Becular knowledge imparted in our schools. An 1 as to religious results, I may state that I am a resident amongst you for the last 18 yearp. About 100 children on an average per annum have been confirmed during that time. That is, 1800 children have received in our pchools during that time a thorough Christian education Five of these have become priest*, and about 70 became nuns to continue the work of Catholic cdocati >n both here and in other parts of the Colony. A Catholic gentleman resident in Urf ymouth for some months lately remarked to me : 'I have Jived in this town for some time and also in many other parts of this Colony, and there seems to mo to be as much Catholic faith in your district as the rpst of New Z -aland combined. How well all feem to attend church, how ninny frequent th" Hacrnm -nt* ' Ido not want to say that all are saints. Far from it indeed. Occasionally the behaviour of some of our young peopl- l- Drought before the public, and this conduct cannot be prais»d. l'.nt our Divine Lord Himself selected twelve Apostles, and aft« r Jlis long personal education of them He said : ' Rave I not chosen you twelve. yet one of you is a devil,' and that one sold his D.vine Ma-tor for 30 pieces of silver. It is hard to make all goid who enjoy human liberty. But I must cay that the great measure of succe-^ in the maintenance and propagation of the Catholic faith in the place has come from our Catholic schools which wore built, taught, and maintained by the children of St. Patiick. the greatest Catholic race of the world, for which I hope the Lord will pour out upon them and upon their children forever all his choicest blessings St. Patrick taught the faith of Jesus Christ to our father? of old. Here to-day we have St. Patrick's Church and St Patrick's Schools amongst the grandest edifices of the Colony. In them our children are most successfully educated and the faith of our Father in all ite purity is imparted to them. And if you are a^krd to contribute a few pounds to reduce the debt on our mngn'fi -ent school, you are asked to pay only for what you have an I ar, ncei ving the very b. st value in return. The collection, which fol owed, amounted to £100.