323

NATIONAL EDUCATION,

PROTESTANTS, BEWARE! for now is the trial of your principles; PROTESTANTS, BE FIRM! and your final victory is certain! But yield one jot of principle, or waver for one moment, and all is lost! We lift our warning voice louder than ever, and not without reason; for as "Satan is transformed, (transformed in figure, not converted in heart) into an angel of light," so may the Board of Education be changed in appearance, yet not one whit improved in principle. The Board of Education is said to be changed. The Bible, we are told, may now be read in school-hours: yet the Board, after all this pretended change, we like as little as heretofore. But if the Board admit the Bible in school-hours, what more do we then require? Just one single point. Let that one point be conceded, (and if Protestants do not apostatize, it must be conceded) and we ask no more. Let that one point be conceded, and we will join the Board, heart and hand, in the great work of national education; but let that one point be refused, and we will continue to denounce the Board as the greatest evil that ever was inflicted upon this dark and unhappy land.

But what is this single point? It is merely this-that we neither be bribed nor compelled to renounce Protestantism! And we do here record, once more, our most deliberate and advised opinion, that before any man even yet, after all its fancied changes, can join the Board of Education, he must cease to be a true Protestant! This is the one point-the great pointthe point least regarded, and least understood, to which we would direct the eye of our readers.

True it is, then, Protestants, the Board of Education have been at last compelled to say-the Bible may be read by all who choose it in school-hours. But what price must you pay for this boon? You must pledge yourselves to adhere to all the conditions embodied in the original regulations of the Board, without the least alteration or reservation.* Now if we rightly understand these regulations, (and we have been at some pains to decipher their meaning,) you must, in order to get permission to read the Bible, join with the Priests of Rome, and pledge yourselves, at the discretion of the Board, to turn your children out of the school during fifty-two days in

* The omission of the registry of the attendance of the children upon worship on Sundays, is the only change from the original regulations.

the year, and allow the Board, under your approbation, to encourage" the teaching of Popery in the schools you have thus surrendered. Protestants! can you, for any bribe, unite yourselves to a system that compels you to "encourage" the teaching of Popery? It should not be but if it will be, we have exposed the sin, and are, in this matter, "clear from the blood of all men."

We now proceed to put on record some important documents relative to the Board. By these will be seen the unwearied efforts of the Synod of Ulster to reform and Protestantize the Board-efforts in which they have, so far as we know, received no Presbyterian aid, except that of the Secession Presbytery of Tyrone, and the Western Presbytery of the Reformed Synod, and the insulated petitions of a few zealous congregations.*

Propositions of the Deputation of the General Synod of Ulster, presented after a conference with the Chief Secretary in Dublin.

THE deputation of the General Synod of Ulster, appointed to confer with the Right Honorable E. G. Stanley, on the proposed system of education for Ireland, have the honour to submit for his consideration the following propositions, which they would respectfully, but earnestly, press upon the favourable attention of Government, in order that the Presbyterian body may avail themselves of the advantages of that system. In presenting these propositions, the deputation, on behalf of themselves and their brethren, utterly disclaim all political motives, as actuating them in their opposition to the proposed system of national education. On the contrary, they feel the deepest gratitude to his Majesty's Government for the public provision hitherto afforded, and now so liberally enlarged to the congregations of the Presbyterian Church. But an imperative sense of duty compels the Synod to resist all interference with the great general principle of liberty of conscience, or of their own church discipline, both of which they believe to be infringed by the new system of education. The deputation beg leave respectfully to urge upon Mr. Stanley's consideration the following propositions, the first and fourth of which they consider as fundamental; and if fully conceded, they are willing that, if necessary, the others should undergo some modification.

I. That his Majesty's Government recognise the right of all who choose it, to read the Scriptures in the national schools during school-hours. II. That no person superintending any school shall, in any case, prevent the exercise of this right, when it is claimed by the children, their parents, or their guardians.

III. That whilst the deputation recognise the duty of every Government to provide the means of religious instruction, they conceive that all

* We have now the pleasure of adding the aid at last received from the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland in their resolutions and petition.

that can be expected in the circumstances of Ireland, of which the population is so widely divided in religious sentiment, is the privilege of free and uninterrupted access to the Holy Scriptures, on the divine origin of which, all religious parties are agreed; and therefore respectfully propose and earnestly recommend to his Majesty's Government to abstain from all farther interference with the religious instruction of children in the national schools, by which means every idea of compulsory reading of the Bible will be avoided on the one hand, and the fullest liberty of conscience will be conceded on the other.

IV. That it is inconsistent with the principles of Presbyterianism to admit, in any degree, the exercise of such a power over books of religious instruction as has been vested in one of their body, a member of the Board of Education; and the deputation are therefore directed to require that the selection of books for the religious instruction of the children of the Presbyterian people do remain as heretofore in the hands of Ministers, subject merely to the control of the Synod.

V. That instead of having only one model school in Dublin, it be recommended to Government, as a measure highly conducive to the interest of education in this country, to establish four provincial model schools and four provincial committees, with four depots for books; and that all candidates for the office of schoolmaster shall be licensed by one of these committees appointed by Government; and that no one shall be eligible to the charge of any national school until he shall have been examined and approved of by one of these committees.

VI. That the appointment or dismissal of schoolmasters shall be vested in the local patrons, whether individuals or committees.

VII. That the choice of books for literary education be vested in the patrons or local committees subject to the approval of Government.

SIR,

PHENIX PARK, September 10, 1832.

I HAVE to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 1st inst. covering a copy of the propositions made to me by the deputation from the Synod of Ulster, to which I expressed my wish rather to give an answer in writing, than simply to assent or to object to a report, drawn up by any other person, of the views of his Majesty's Government, as detailed by me in a very lengthened discussion.

To these objections I will endeavour to reply, as plainly as possible, in the present communication. Before I do so, however, I must be permitted to refer to that part of your letter, in which you state your wish that I should deal "especially with this objection to the Government plan of education, viz., that at no period during these hours, which are allotted for the combined moral and literary education of the children in the nafional school, and which hours alone are under the controul of the Board, is it permitted to a class, whether to Protestants exclusively, or of Protestants and Roman Catholics conjointly, who may wish to read the Scriptures to enjoy their inalienable privilege."

Although this passage forms no part of the communication to me from the Synod, yet as I presume I am to consider my correspondence with you, as with the accredited organ of the deputation, I cannot pass over it

without noticing a remarkable misapprehension that occurs in it. The hours of combined education are not "those which alone are under the controul of the Board." The Board insists on certain hours being set apart for a combined education. They do not insist (except on particular days) upon any hours being set apart for separate instruction; but whether they are, or are not, the Board claims a controul over all studies, and a veto upon all books, at all hours, within their schools. Nor would it be possible for them to make themselves responsible for the management of schools, over which they had not this power of constant and uninterrupted superintendence. With this explanation, I proceed to answer the accompanying propositions, in the order and in the terms in which they are now brought before me.

1. His Majesty's Government fully recognizes the right of all who choose it, to read the Sacred Scriptures: but the exercise of this right, in the case of infants, must be subject to the controul of their parents and natural guardians; and in point of time in the national, as in all other schools, it must be limited by the appropriation of certain hours to certain other branches of study. The proposition that any child, at any hour, and in the midst of any other allotted employment, should be permitted to read the Bible, is a proposal so perfectly novel and unheard of, and so totally impossible, as appears to me, to be reduced into practice, that I should not have noticed it, but that such appears to be the express sense of the words of the proposition No. 2, and seemed to be sanctioned by some, at least, of the deputation from the Synod.+ The national schools are not so much the schools of the Government as of local patrons and managers, who submit voluntarily to certain regulations, in order to en

* In explanation of this point we supply the following extract from Mr. Kirkpatrick's letter, transmitting to the Moderator Mr. Stanley's reply. "In reference to what Mr. Stanley calls a remarkable misapprehension' on my part, in that I speak of the hours of combined moral and literary education, as alone under the control of the Board, I cannot but think my apprehension to be perfectly correct. I meant simply this, that in the arrangement of the Board with patrons or managers, they must expressly stipulate, that from the ordinary school-hours of those days appointed for the combined moral and literary education of the children-in which hours the masters appointed by the Board must preside the Bible shall be authoritatively excluded, and that it is admissible only on those days or hours in which no determinate provision is made for its perusal. That, in fact, the exclusion of the word of God from school, in those school-hours in which the attendance of any scholar is required, is absolute and necessary, while its admission at any other depends on mere contingency.'

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+ That a child, "in the midst of another allotted employment, should be permitted to read the Bible," never entered into the mind of any member of the deputation. No one child can have a right to interrupt another: each must wait its time for instruction. Yet we do not hesitate to assert, that if a parent give his child no book but the Bible, (a fact we have often witnessed some thirty years ago, when religion was as well taught in schools as it is likely to be under the new Board) that it would be the duty of a Christian master to hear that child read as often as its turn of reading recurred. If Mr. Stanley disprove this assertion by the Bible, we will withdraw all future opposition to his system,

title them to receive aid from the Government. They are therefore at liberty to lay down their intended course of study; they are free to appoint certain hours, during which certain studies are to be carried on, in some of which Roman Catholics and Protestants may-in others of which they cannot, object to join. There appears to have been a considerable ambiguity in the use of the expression, "school-hours," which has given rise, probably to some misconceptions. The phrase might (and perhaps in strictness ought to) apply to all hours in which instruction is given to the children. In this sense the portions of time set aside for religious instruction, may be called school-hours. These hours (as I have already observed, and as may be seen by the printed regulations*) are not exempted from the controul of the commissioners; and the Scriptures, as well as the authorized catechisms, &c. of any church, are expressly permitted to be used at these times. But the expression, "ordinary schoolhours," has been generally employed to denote these portions of time which are devoted to the combined instruction of children of various persuasions, and at which all the children belonging to the school are expected and required to attend. Those hours, be they more or be they fewer, will be allotted to other studies; and in them, of course, neither the Bible, nor any other book, could be employed, to which the parents or guardians of any of the children would object, on the grounds of religious scruple. To introduce the reading or hearing of any such book during the ordinary school-hours, viz., those during which all the children of all denominations are expected to attend, would be a palpable violation of religious liberty of conscience. But there is not (nor ever was) any objection to the reading of the Scriptures, or the giving of any other religious instruction, on days and hours to be specified by the local patrons, to those children whose parents choose that they should attend. Those days and hours, however, must be specified, in order to remove from the mind of the Roman Catholic parent the possibility of a suspicion, that his children may be influenced to join in studies of which he does not approve. Nor is there any objection to the term "school-hours" being applied to these portions of time, provided they are distinguished from the hours of universal and necessary attendance.

2. The second proposition seems involved in and answered with the first.

• We have attentively read the printed regulations, but are not able to discover the ground of this statement. That others may judge, we insert the only regulation on the subject:-" III.-They will require, that the schools be kept open for a certain number of hours, on four or on five days of the week, at the discretion of the Commissioners, or moral and literary education only; and that the remaining one or two days in the week be set apart, for giving, separately, such religious education to the children as may be approved of by the clergy of their respective persuasions. They will also permit and encourage the clergy to give religious instruction, either before or after the ordinary schoolhours, on the other days of the week." Now the only portions of time here set aside for religious instruction are those allotted to the clergy-"one or two" whole days, and "before or after school-hours" every day; but neither of these can possibly be under the control of the Commissioners.