A Dublin correspondent sends us a fresh warning as to
the proceedings of the officials at the Education Board.
"I have excellent reason for believing that the Government are about to throw Archbishop Whately over, and to bundle him and his Scripture Lessons and Evidences of the truth of Christianity very unceremoniously out of doors. . Mr. Blackburne has withdrawn his resolution against the tabooing of all knowledge of the historical facts of Christianity in the Model Schools of the National Board ; and instead thereof, a milk-and-water amendment of Baron Green, calculated to make matters worse than they are, is to be substituted. But upon this there are other amendments proposed-1. To restrict the use of the Scripture Lessons, 'Lessons on Christianity,' and Sacred Poetry,' to children whose parents shall expressly demand that they shall be per- mitted to read them ;. 2. to declare that if any schoolmaster or mistress feels a prick of commence respecting the reading of those books, he or she shall be at liberty not to read them in his or her school ; and 3. to expel the Archbishop's work bodily from the list of books sanctioned by the Board, and to consign it here, as it has already been consigned at Rome, to the ln dex Expurgatorius. You will perceive that this course is in effect to accom- plish in Ireland what the Church has long striven for in France, Switzerland, and Belgium—to place education altogether under clerical control."
For the good faith of our correspondent we can vouch; but we cannot repel a suspicion that some bias adverse to the present Irish Government colours both his perception and his account of what is passing. It seems scarcely possible to believe that Ministers can really countenance any change in a system which was so lately and so triumphantly vindicated for its perfect success—can permit a course which would, as our corre- spondent says, hand over the control of education to the priests.
Previous page
