1.14.b. IRISH CRUSADE AGAINST KNOWLEDGE TILE Synod of Thurles has
resolved itself', if not into smoke, at least into a monster cloud of words; within which, however, are included two tangible and practical ideas. The reverend fathers have solemnly resolved, in the plenitude of their legatine powers, first, that the schoolmaster shall not be suffered to go abroad among their flocks from out of the portals of the Provincial Colleges ; and secondly, that the said schoolmaster shall be, as speedily as possi- ble set in the stocks of a new Romish University in Dublin. To what extent it may be possible to carry out either of these de- signs, it is not easy to predict ; but it needs little penetration to discover that they have not been adopted without much doubt and trepidation among their authors. Even the interdiction of eccle- siastical intercourse with the Colleges has been pronounced in oracular phrase, and no key is given for the deciphering of the rules that are to be framed for the withholding of the faithful from the unhallowed abodes of Knowledge. It is plain that the Papal agents are but feeling their way ; they are not yet sure of the po- sition they may be able to occupy in the battle which they fear will be offered in defence of the right to learn. They are determined to make the campaign one of manceuvre and stratagem, instead of tempting fortune in a decisive action. And, no doubt, they are wise in their generation. A sudden order to the laity to withdraw from the Provincial Colleges, and to fore- go not merely the prospective advantages of education but the im- mediate enjoyment of certain comfortable exhibitions and scholar- ships, would not be obeyed without murmuring, and might provoke an inconvenient comparison between the motives of a foreign priesthood in forbidding, and those of a national legislature in en- couraging, the acquisition of knowledge. There is no knowing, too, what may happen. It would be bad policy to erase institu- tions which, through the weariness or timidity of the Government, may in the end be made available for the desired uses. The word, therefore, has not been spoken for the lay interdiction of the Col- leges. It can be uttered at any convenient season, and the re- pirement of the Papal sanction furnishes a plausible excuse for itapostponement.
In the mean time, a skilful feint, -which may at a future oppor- tangy be converted into a real assault upon mental enlightenment, is made by the proposition of a Romish University. In pone this scheme may act as a diversion. It may tend to lead the leanian Catholic youthful mind to desire to pursue a phantom of know- ledge in the shades of an academy rendered venerable by the sanction of a bull under the seal of the Fisherman, rather than to -woo its substantial power in a Government-made College. In ease, if the Irish Sorbonne should ever arrive at that stage, its rulers will have ample authority to insure that its teachings shall not comprehend facts in anatomy or astronomy, history or geology, that cannot be easily reconciled with the dogmata of the Church. It will cost but a stroke of Primate Cullen's pen to demolish both Ptolemy and Copernicus, and to reduce the diameter of the Sun to its proper dimensions of two yards. With the advantage of such a leverage as an obseurantive university would afford, little diffi- culty would be found in thrusting poor Knowledge out of every Inst Roman Catholic door. Nor let any one suppose that her outlawed condition would excite secret sympathy in her favour. The brand of heresy would neutralize the distinction of outlawry in the popular mind. To consort with Knowledge in one of the Queen's Colleges, would be to take part with the English Govern- ment against the Church ; to follow her into the University of Dublin, would be to desert to the Protestant camp. Most perilous indeed would it be to allow the national and sectarian pride of the Irish Roman Catholics to be pledged to garrison and defend such a fortress of mediteval ignorance as the Synod of Thurles purpose to raise.
But what can be done towards foiling that design P The obvious answer is, engage the same feelings in another and worthier cause. Enlist the Boman Catholic youth into the service of Knowledge under a flag of which they will be proud both as an old national standard and as a banner of literary independence. Useful as the Provincial Colleges may, and if they be rightly managed will be, they could not subserve this purpose. Their newness, and still more their entire dependence upon the Government, preclude them from all pretensions to the position of republics of letters. A change of Ministry, or a hostile vote of the House of Commons, would in a moment dissolve them in foundation and superstructure. Their succession as a corporation depends upon the will of the Govern- ment of the day to appoint or continue their members. They pos- sess no internal principle of growth or endurance. They offer un- friended merit no access to their offices of authority. It is different in the University of Dublin. In it the humblest Protestant youth can and daily does raise himself to the highest academic offices, (with the single exception of the Provost- ship, which is in the gift of the Crown,) with no other friend or aid than his own industry and ability. Station in life, or poverty, or political opinions, do not stand in any man's way in that career. At this very moment, that loyal society numbers among its Fel- lows a gentleman well known as the author of a song the publica- tion of which formed a main link in the chain of pohtieal offences for which Mr. O'Connell and his associates were oondemned to a lengthened imprisonment. A veritable and independe.2. )ommon- wealth, the University exists upon its own resources, and is con- tinued by the working of its own vitality. It has so endured for three centuries, and has survived more than one national revolu- tion. Under the banner of this commonwealth the Roman Catho- lics have not hitherto shown any indisposition to serve, to the limited extent for which permission has been granted them. The Synodical address does not even now forbid the University to the faithful ; and indeed, one of the Arch-Prelates who signed that document is himself numbered among its masters. It would seem, then, that here is the very institution needed for the occasion,—an ancient, national, independent university, occupying the ground upon which it is proposed to construct a new, foreign, and priest- ridden academy of superstition and ignorance. Surely we may hope the commissioned guardians of Knowledge will permit no point of vantage to remain unoccupied on their behalf: they will do so if they miss any opportunity of rallying every Irishman to the defence of their noble cause. A mode in which the pride and national feelings of all might be engaged in the cause of the National University, without damaging its peculiar Protestant character, is pointed out in broad features in the letter of a corre- spondent, which will be found in another page, and which we re- commend to the attention of those concerned.
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