Lord Stanley disapproves of the introduction of the Irish system
of education into the Corporation Schools of Liverpool, for reasons which are stated in the folluwing extract from a letter to Mr. Adam Hodgson, who had written to him on the subject- " In toy humble judgment, all the rirentaxtances which justified and ren- dered necessary the Irish ariangements for Ireland, are wholly wanting, when
the parallel is attempted to be established in England. I regt et, thereMre ex.
tremely, that the Corporation should have withdrawn their schools fr their former management, for the purpose of introducing a system never intended, except for the peculiar case of Ireland ; and I should be very sorry that my opinion, however unimportant, should be liable to be quoted in favour of the
transfer."
Lord Stanley displays gross ignorance of the subject on which he writes. So far from " all the circtunstances" which justified the Irish arrangements being " wholly wanting" in Liverpool, it is the town of all others where similar circumstances exist. In Liverpool a very large body, probably half, of the labouring classes are Irish Catholics; and if the Corporation Schools ate not to be exclusive in- stitutions, it is as necessary and justifiable to substitute Lord Stan- hers Bible extracts and lessons for the Bible itself, in Liverpool as in Dublin. There is not an argument in favour of introducing the sys- tem into Dublin, that may not be urged with almost equal force in favour of the course taken by the Liberal Town- Council of Liver- jmol. We say " almost," for we are aware of one peculiar claim which Irish Catholics have in their own country both to the education- funds and the religion-funds, and the mode in which they shall be used—in Ireland, they constitute the vast majority of the whole people.
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