No. 3 are five Protestant, and fifteen Roman Catholic schools, caeh frequented exclusively by Appendix, children of the religion of the master; other instances, though none perhaps so strong, might easily be adduced; it is very observable, however, that this habit prevails only in those parts of the country where the great mass of the population is Roman Catholic; where the Protestants and Roman Catholics are more equally balanced no such feeling seems to exist; for instance, we find, in the Returns of the parish schools, that in the parish of Ardtrea, in the dioceses of Armagh, thare are fifteen schools, of which it happens that seven are kept by Protestants of the established church, seven by Koman Catholics, and one by a Presbyterian; in every one of those schools are to be found both Protestant and Roman Catholic pupils, and in every one of them the child is taught the catechism of its own religion by the schoolmaster. The parish of Ardtrca seems to be a fair example of the habits of the North, but the parish of St. Nicholas does not seem to be an equally fair specimen of the practice of the South; on the contrary, this, and some other similar instances, appear more nearly as exceptions than illustrations of the general system, even in those parts of Ireland, for on examining the returns it appears evident, that, in the vast majority of instances, perhaps even in nine out of ten, the schoolmaster, be his religion what it may, has pupils of each persuasion; where the school appears to be of a better description, and particularly where surveying or mathematics are taught, the mixture will be found, I believe, invariably to take place. It appears also that there exists less disinclination on the part of the Protestants, than of the Roman Catholics, to intrust their children to masters of the opposite religion; nay, even in some parishes, where the majority of the pupils are protestant, the majority of the masters are catholic; for instance, in the parishes of Muckno, and of Magheracross, in the diocese of Clogher. In the parish of Drummully, in the same diocese, there is a Roman Catholic master with every pupil in his school a Protestant. In those places where there exists the greatest unwillingness on the part of the Roman Catholics to send their children to Protestants, it seems to be in consequence of the very active, and in most places recent, interference of individuals of the Roman Catholic Clergy for that purpose. It is in the southern Dioceses of Cloyne, Waterford, Ferns, Cashel, and Ossory, that this interference seems principally to have been exerted. A remarkable instance of this interference appears to have taken place in the parish of Fiddown in the diocese of Ossory, where, in 1807 a Protestant master had 50 Protestant and 100 Catholic scholars, when at the desire of the priest all the Catholics, except 18, left him. It is observable, however, that 18 did stay with him notwithstanding the prohi bition. It appears also, that even in those places the interference has been exerted in comparatively few instances, and not to an extent that can materially affect the conclusion, that in general the schools of Protestant masters are as yet attended freely by Roman Catholic pupils. It has been already observed, that the Protestant masters who are appointed to the English parish schools usually appear to have a smaller proportion of Catholics among their pupils than other Protestant schoolmasters; whether this originates from these mastersbeing less inclined to become the teachers of the Roman Catholic catechisms, or from a distrust in the parents, springing from the mode of their appointment, or from other causes, I do not pretend to determine. It is very evident, that an extreme jealousy exists among the Roman Catholics as to any interference with the religious tenets of their children, and that the slightest attempt towards it on the part of the master would be the signal for their complete abandonment of his, school. A curious instance of the extent of these feelings occurs in the parish of Brigoun," in the diocese of Cloyne, where a sunday-school, kept by a Protestant, was fully attended by Catholic pupils, until the scene of instruction was imprudently transferred to the church; their immediate and universal secession was the consequence; and it seems that the subsequent removal of the school to the market-house has not been able to recover any portion of their attendance: We may observe another example of the same feeling at toe opposite extremity of the Island: In the parish of Cloncha, in the Diocese of Derry, there are three sunday-schools, and kept in the church, the others not; the Roman Catholics resort freely to the latter, but do not go to the former. These circumstances have been adverted to, minute as they may appear, because they prove the necessity of our sincerely renouncing every idea of interference with the religious opinions of the Roman Catholics in any plan offered to their acceptance. By attempting it, we should fail of every thing,-by abstaining from it, I hope, and believe, that in other respects a vast deal may be effected. The following are the steps by which, as it appears to me, a permanent system of improved education might be established, with the fairest prospect of success ;-as the first and indispensable preliminary, a Seminary should be established for the instruction of young men as School-masters,-not merely because it would be difficult or impossible to find any sufficient number in Ireland qualified for the purpose, but also because it appears to me to be very important that the new system should avail itself of the great improvements in the art of teaching which have been effected by Doctor Bell and Mr. Lancaster, and which by means of such a seminary might effectually be introduced. I should propose to place the management of this instruction under the regulation of a Board of Commissioners of Education, who should also have the superintendence of such schools as should be afterwards. founded under their authority for these schoolmasters to teach in. These Commissioners should be enabled to accept or to purchase proper sites of ground for building school-houses, 47. 4 Y and Appendix, No. 3. and the possessors of estates.under settlement should be empowered to convey to them for that purpose. The funds necessary would, I hope, be considered by Parliament as a proper subject of annual supply. Of the numerous public institutious in Ireland, which are thus supported, no one seems to be a fairer object of legislative bounty. The Commissioners might then proceed gradually to build schools in such places as in their judgment might be desirable, and on a due exercise of discretion in this particular I should expect both the extent and period of final success materially to depend. The course of Instruction to be pursued demands the next consideration. In every system of education, and particularly one intended for the lower ranks in Ireland, it is surely of the last importance to provide that the acquisition of the art of reading shall at the same time be made the means of conveying proper principles into the mind. In Ireland however, this will be a work of some difficulty, owing to the necessity of founding all true principles of human action ultimately in the obligations of religion, coupled with the jealous feelings upon that subject with which we have to treat;-we have not, then, a perfect liberty of choice; and accordingly the plan, which in obedience to the desire of the Board, I venture to suggest, is not that which appears to me most perfect in itself, but merely as the best that there is any chance of being able to carry into practical effect, and at the same tine as one which might be carried into effect without much difficulty, and which would be productive of the most beneficial results,-under these circumstances, then, we seem to have a choice of but two general modes of proceeding, either to have separate Schools for the Roman Catholics and Protestants, and to teach them in each the principles of their respective religions, or to unite them in the same schools, within which the points of their religious differences must never be adverted to- the first, though it may appear to some the most plausible, may on consideration be found highly objectionable. To promote the intercourse between the Protestants and Roman Catholics in all possible manners, appears to me of the greatest importance, observing, as I always have, that their mutual prejudices abate in proportion as they become acquainted with each other, and that an increase, not of dislike, but of toleration, is the effect of their collision. The example of the parish of Ardtrea already cited, and indeed of the North of Ireland in general, with the superior prosperity and happiness of that part of the island, contrasted with the habits of the South, and their disastrous consequences, seems clearly to point out the expediency of mixing the Protestants and Catholics as much as possible in any plan to be adopted. And it would be difficult to conceive an intercourse more likely to be effectual for that purpose than that of children pursuing together a common system of education at the time of life when their earliest and most permanent impressions are received, nor any plan more calculated for ever to disconnect them than by setting the Protestant school against the Catholic school, and leaving the pupils in each to indulge in that esprit de corps which would be inseparable from such an arrangement. Recommending then, on those grounds, that the Protestants and Roman Catholics should be united in a common system of education, it follows, that the system must be such as will not in the slightest degree interfere with the religious tenets of the latter, and further, that it must be such as may give to them a well-grounded assurance that no after plan for their conversion is in secret reservation. With this view, I should recommend that every word to be taught or read within these schools should in the first instance be printed under the authority of the proposed Commissioners, and should constitute their course of education, public, fixed, and unalterable.— That this course should be taught without variation in all their schools, and that any of their masters departing from it in the slightest particular should instantly be dismissed. The contents of such a course would necessarily require great deliberation. To speak here merely of its general outline, it ought, I think, to comprise the teaching of reading, writing, and arithmetic, upon the improved system of Bell and Lancaster; a system peculiarly calcu Jated for the lower classes in Ireland, as much by the habits of order, method, and regularity, which it introduces, as by the vast saving of time and expense, which is its peculiar characteristic: ample care might easily be taken to guard this method, in the hands of the Commissioners, against an objection which has been urged by some (perhaps without much reason) against the Lancastrian practice, that it teaches reading as a mere art, without at the same time storing the young mind with proper principles. With this view, I should propose that the books intended for the readers in these schools should in the first place contain such extracts from the New Testament, as no candid Roman Catholic can imagine to have any bearing upon the points in dispute between them and the Protestants. The 5th, 6th, and 7th chapters of the Gospel of St Matthew, for instance, could, I apprehend, give offence to no Catholic parents: sure I am they would form most excellent lessons for their children; and I should most gladly purchase the opportunity of giving such to them, at the expense of omitting to insert in their school-books those passages which have been relied on by Protestants and Roman Catholics, in, their controversies with each other. It is hardly necessary to suggest how desirable it would be that some of the bishops of the Roman Catholic church should assist in making the selection. Some persons may perhaps suppose that even the limited communication of the Scriptures would form a ground of religious objection; but the returns seem decisive to the contrary: throughout the North, the New Testament appears to be thankfully received wherever it is offered to the Roman Catholics: in some pk.ces we are assured it is eagerly purchased by them. in No. 3. In the South, indeed, it appears, in some instances, to have been prohibited by individuals of Appendix, the Roman Catholic clergy; but this interference seems of rare occurrence, and if attempted in many other parts of Ireland would probably be unsuccessful. I beg, however, not to be understood as recommending that the religious instruction of Roman Catholics should be confined to these partial extracts of the Scriptures; such are proposed only for their schoolbooks. It is merely recommended to leave it to the Catholic pupils hereafter to study certain passages, unaccompanied by the gloss of the schoolmasters appointed by the Commissioners, and thus to remove the objections which Roman Catholics might reasonably feel if another course were attempted, and at the same time leaving it free to their pastors to supply the deficiency, when and where, and by any commentaries they may think proper. Assigning therefore to numerous extracts from the New Testament the first place in these school-books, and resting on them for the basis of that religious education which it would be for their respective pastors to complete, I should feel no hesitation in advising considerable extracts from the Old Testament also to be inserted in their class-books; they should, I think, further contain such familiar expositions and illustrations of their moral and social duties as might be best suited to young minds, impressing on them a sense of toleration for their neighbours, regard for the obligation of an oath, submission to the laws, respect for the British constitution, and a variety of other principles unnecessary here to detail. They should further contain, at least for the upper classes, such practical knowledge on a variety of subjects as might be of real use to farmers and mechanics. The numerous attendance which takes place in such schools as profess to teach mathematics has been already adverted to, and from this we may judge how eagerly any extent of instruction, which it might be thought advisable to give, would be embraced. I should propose to post in every school a recommendation to the pupils to resort to such Sunday or other schools as their respective pastors should direct, in thein to learn their catechisms and creeds. This supplemental instruction would be a necessary consequence of the general system already stated, and would no doubt be provided by those whose bounden duly it would become to supply it,to give it to children so prepared would not be a work either of time or difficulty; and however preferable it might be to administer it in the school, if the option were afforded, vet considering that as unattainable, the inconveniences of the proposed method appear to be far outweighed by the advantages which it holds out. A material subject remains for consideration. How far would such a plan, if fairly offered, be accepted by the Roman Catholics of Ireland? This I think would materially depend upon the mode in which the Commissioners should proceed in their first operation; if they were to send Protestant masters to certain places, there would indeed be no chance of their success, but one advantage of such a course of Education as is here recommended seems to be, that as it may be learned, so it may be taught, by a Roman Catholic, and I should hope that the seminary for the Education of schoolmasters would contain Roman Catholics as well as Protestants. There are parts of Ireland where the population is almost exclusively Roman Catholic. In the returns from some parishes in the Dioceses of Waterford may be observed 400, and even 500 scholars, without a single Protestant among them: what possible inducement could the Commissioners have for preferring the establishment of a Protestant to that of a Roman Catholic master, in such places? In these the same system of instruction might be administered through the medium of Catholic masters, at whose hands it would probably be thankfully accepted, and the very circumstance of its being known in other parts of Ireland, that the same course of instruction afforded in them by Protestants was in others dispensed by Catholics, would no doubt contribute to remove any scruples as to its acceptance. I should wish, however, to act on this principle still more extensively, and in every part of Ireland, even the most Protestant, it would, I think, be desirable to see some Roman Catholics among the Schoolmasters established by the Commissioners. And yet even on these terms, and under all possible precautions, it must be expected, that the introduction of this plan would meet with occasional and violent opposition; independent of religious jealousies, political apprehensions would be called into operation; and well might the enemies of the British connection endeavour by every misrepresentation to counteract a measure threatening to be so destructive to their views. Still, I think, that with judicious management it would succeed in most places at first, and in all finally; and that, even if generally forbidden by the Roman Catholic Clergy, (an event which is not to be supposed) the good sense of the people would ultimately get the better of the prohibition. The fact so clearly substantiated in our former Report,* that numbers of Roman Catholic parents voluntarily send their children to the charter schools, though with the certainty of receiving a Protestant education (a practice which probably is founded not in religious indifference, but in the view of obtaining, at all hazards, a good education for the children, and trusting to the probability of their being re-converted in due time to the religion of their families) proves that there are many Roman Catholics, who, in defiance of other considerations, are ready to receive education from a Protestant, provided that education be good: how much more extensive would be such a feeling if the education proffered was not only good in itself, but such as cautiously avoided the offending of any one Roman Catholic feeling? Even the examples of interference already referred to, tend to strengthen this opinion. Although four-fifths of the Catholics who were at the school of Fiddown deserted it at the * See Third Report of the Board. orders Appendix, No 3. orders of the priest, yet one-fifth continued to resort to it; perhaps, had the school been of a superior description, those who remained would have been more numerous. I should recommend that the pupils in the proposed schools should pay for instruction nearly the same low rates as they do at present, which, with the assist nce of the Lancastrian practice, would provide proper books, and leave a moderate profit for the master, in addition to his salary from the Commissioners. The Protestant and Roman Catholic elergymen should each be entitled to recommend a limited number of free scholars-the people at large would never accept of gratuitous education. The funds required for the establishment of the system must no doubt be ample, and could be effectually supplied by Parliament alone: an annual grant, as that made of late years to the House of Industry in Dublin, or even that to the Foundling Hospital, would probably be found sufficient, both for the gradual erection of the schools, and the salaries of the masters; besides, it would not be necessary, or even desirable, for the Board to establish such schools in every spot where a school might be required; if they were once in sufficient number to enter into general competition with the schoolmasters of the country, the latter, in their own defence, must improve their habits, and these new schools, while they occasioned the necessity, would at the same time supply the means, of amelioration. It may be hoped, then, that the expense of the proposed system would not be considered as an obstacle to its adoption. The history of the past might even induce a belief, that any expense of educating Ireland would prove the truest economy within the reach of the united Legislature. Lastly, I beg to offer it as my opinion, that whatever plan may appear to this Board most eligible, it should be laid before the heads of the Roman Catholic clergy, previous to our report. No person acquainted with the discipline of the Roman Catholic Church in Ireland can doubt, that on the sentiments of the Bishops will depend the degree of resistance or co-operation which such a plan would receive from the subordinate ministers of their religion. From such a communication great good might be expected; their assistance might point out practical modifications, which might otherwise escape our view; their authority, if exerted to forward our recommendations, would at once remove the main difficulties in our way; nay even in the event, which is not to be anticipated, of their absolute disapprobation of our object, it might possibly still be found that a great step would have been made towards its accomplishment, for their sentiments would no doubt be expressed with such clearness and precision, as to leave no room for misconception, as to the reason of their dissent; and it would then be for public opinion, (the ultimate and best judge in such a case,) to pronounce on the merits of the plan, the spirit in which it was proposed, and the grounds on which it was rejected. I have the honour to be, Sir, Your most faithful, and obedient Servant, To J. Corneille, Esquire. (A correct Copy) J. Corneille, Secretary to the Board of Education, INDEX. |