LETTERS TO THE EDITOR.
UNIVERSITY EDUCATION IN IRELAND.
[To TIER EDITOR OF THIN " SPICTATOR."] SIR,—The letter of " Catholicus " on this subject, which appeared in the Spectator of November 19th, contains much with which not a few in this corner of Ireland would heartily coincide if only his proposition went a little farther. That steps ought to be taken to put University education of the true type within the reach of all Irish Roman Catholics who wish to enjoy it without the sacrifice of any principle on their part, I readily admit; and the broad lines on which "Catholicus " proposes that this should be done are the only lines, in my opinion, on which Parliament will ever settle this thorny question. But the proposed measure must go further if it is to have any chance of passing. Let "Catholicus" amend his suggestion thus : Instead of a Parliamentary Com- mission of Roman Catholics to settle the details of the pro- posed St. Patrick's University, let a mixed Commission be appointed to frame a scheme for two new Universities,—one, as proposed by him, for the South of Ireland, with its seat in Dublin ; and the other, ou precisely the same lines in every respect, for the North of Ireland, with its seat in Belfast, and, I submit, you have not only a broader and more states- manlike measure, dealing with the needs not of a section of the population but with the whole country on equal terms; but you make an addendum the absolute necessity of which a moment's thought will make clear.
The creation of the proposed St. Patrick's University would of necessity involve the disestablishment and disendowment of the present Royal University (the disappearance of which few would regret), because with the withdrawal from it of the Roman Catholic element, its chief raison d'elre, for which, indeed, it was brought into being, would disappear. It would, therefore, become absolutely needful to provide a University for the large body of students from Ulster who, along with the Roman Catholics, constitute the mainstay of the Royal University, and this would best be done by the erection of the second University of which I speak. A demand for this, indeed, might, independently of other considerations, be expected to be put forward in the near future by the rapidly growing city of Belfast, the present population of which is over three hundred thousand, and by the widely known and renowned Queen's College of Belfast, on whose books, I learn, stand the names of nearly six thousand men (of all creeds) who have received their education within its walls, and who would form a splendid initial constituency for the proposed new seat of learniug. Probably " Catholicus" would have no objection to such an addendum to his scheme as I thus suggest. Whether this be so or not, I take the liberty of saying that no proposal which omits all reference to Ulster has, or ought to have, any chance of passing, while, on the other hand, a measure which pari passe would propose to provide University education for North and South, for Protestant and Catholic, at the same time, on the same lines, and the same terms, would so commend itself to Parliament and the country that its prospects from the first would be bright, its passage into law might confidently be hoped for, and its outcome in the promotion of the education of the whole of Ireland might be expected to be of the happiest
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