weary of the doubts that rose at his tread, falls back on the faith of his parents and makes that unquestionably the surest path. He is almost devoid of bigotry and we believe would invest a Catholic subject with its proper drapery did he attempt one. "Down the chill street, that curves in gloomiest shade, What marks betray yon solitary maid? The cheek's red rose, that speaks of balmier air; The Celtic blackness of her braided hair, The gilded missal in her 'kerchief tied; Addressing then a young Presbyterian : "True the harsh founders of thy Church reviled The whitened skull of old Servetus smile But 'De profundis' blessed her father's grave; He needs but a due degree of information, and that we are sure he will acquire before he attempts to portray. In our review we have found one writer entirely Catholic, others willing to be so in their pictures, but too ignorant; a third class capable, but unwilling. Longfellow will however find imitators, and there is a prospect that ere long a small shelf may be filled with books, which will redeem English literature from the heavy charge of being "a conspiracy against Catholic truth.” CATHOLIC EDUCATION FOR CATHOLICS. LECTURE DELIVERED IN CINCINNATI, MAY 11th, BEFORE THE YOUNG MEN'S CATHOLIC LITERARY INSTITUTE, BY VERY REV. E. MCMAHON. Ladies and Gentlemen :—The subject of this evening's lecture has been considered of such magnitude, that it has engaged the attention of some of the ablest and most distinguished men of our country. Indeed they have almost exhausted the vast resources of their mighty intellects in portraying its great importance, and in urging upon the consideration of Catholics its pressing necessity. Their luminous views and irresistible arguments on the subject, have been felt and appreciated not only by us who are of the household of faith, but even by those who are without, so that it may be truly said of them "In omnem terram exivit sonus eorum: et in fines orbis terræ verba eorum." The subject of my lecture, therefore, having been treated of by such men, it is, you may rest assured, with no ordinary diffidence that I approach it. But I am some *Poems by O. W. Holmes. Ticknor: Boston, 1823. what encouraged by the conviction that the moral world is arranged in a manner somewhat analogous to the physical world, and that as in the latter there are various grades of planets, so in the former the lights of the human intellect vary in vast proportions-some being brilliant and dazzling-others, tame and weak, descending even so far as to be almost imperceptible. There is this, however, connected with it calculated to make us satisfied under the circumstances, that this variety in the moral as well as in the physical world is necessary to constitute the beauty and perfection of the whole. Hence notwithstanding my diffidence, I will endeavor to make some remarks on Catholic education for Catholics, hoping that the adage, “every little helps," will be verified in this instance. But, before I proceed, it may be well to observe that this lecture was prepared for Catholics, or rather for Catholic parents, exclusively. And as I wished to be entirely practical, I have carefully avoided all abstract views and reasoning on the subject. I have constantly kept in view our present position and our immediate wants. And in doing this I have preferred to convince Catholics of their obligations to select Catholic schools for their children, by showing them that they cannot conscientiously send them to any other. This course appeared to me more desirable, as it would strike them more forcibly than any direct argument I might adduce in favor of Catholic education. For the inference is irresistible, that Catholic education is the only alternative for Catholic children, if they cannot conscientiously avail themselves of any other, in consequence of the danger to their religious principles from attending such schools. This much being premised, I will now proceed. Much, very much has been said on the nature and science of mind. Mental philosophers have wasted their strength in useless, and unmeaning conjectures, and arguments in relation to it. Believing that in discussing the subject, they must examine the essence of mind, they were led into many fruitless speculations, which contributed in no useful respect to the discovery of truth. They invented theories and made hypotheses which can neither be proved nor refuted, inasmuch as there is nothing in nature, with which the mind can be compared. The camera obscura, the mirror and storehouse, with which the mind has been sometimes compared, may or may not be true as the case may be. The science of mind has nothing to do with them. Such speculations, to say the least of them, do not throw any additional light on the subject. The only purpose they can serve is to show the genius of man and to render his intellect more acute, and therefore more capable of appreciating the refined distinctions of the schools. Discussions like these are not the proper sphere of philosophical inquiry, inasmuch as they are beyond the reach of the human faculties. Consequently the object of true science on this subject is the investigation of facts respecting the operations of the mind itself, and its intercourse with the external world. All that we know of the mind is that it is an active, thinking principle-that it wills, reasons, and remembers, and that it carries on intercourse with, and receives impressions from the external world through the senses. Beyond this we know nothing of the mind. "So far shalt thou go and no farther," therefore should be the rule of all, whenever it is question of the essence of mind. But whatever may be said of the nature of mind, its essence or occult qualities, we know for certain that it can be cultivated and improved, that it can be formed and strengthened. Something similar to what takes place in reference to the body happens with regard to the mind. The mother teaches the child to speak and walk, she watches its first attempt, she hangs with breathless silence on its incipient efforts to lisp the words that she has uttered. She extends her hand to enable it to make the necessary motion that approaches to a walk-she exhibits before its dazzled gaze something that will act as an incentive to do so. She witnesses the daily progress the child makes with commingled feelings of pride and pleasure, until she sees him walk, yea, run with ease, and hears him utter all the words that are used in the common parlance of the day, and connect them together with propriety in conversation. In the same manner is the mind to be trained and formed—cultivated and improved. It should be disciplined early, as it is of great advantage in strengthening its powers to be practised a little in thinking and reasoning on various subjects correctly. Correct opinions should then be formed on the nature of religion and on the subject of human duty. It is vastly more important that our views should be correct with regard to divine faith than on any other subject. If our minds are thoroughly imbued with sound religious principles, we will very naturally, nay, almost instinctively apply them in whatever circumstances we may be placed. But besides the principles of faith which should be explained and inculcated in the time of youth, the frame-work of the moral system is to be constructed, around which the character is to be formed, and by which our opinions on almost all other subjects are to be modified. It is in the season of youth that we should be taught to conform our conduct to the principles of true religion-to do what is right because it is right, and to live in this world with the constant object in view of pleasing God, and accomplishing His holy will by keeping His commandments, and believing in the revelation which He has given us and which religion teaches us. But how are all those advantages to be gained? What are the most effectual means of imparting them? I answer by education. And to Catholics I say that it is only by receiving a Catholic education they can be secured. For if it be true, as our Church teaches, that the genuine revelation which God has given to man-the divine faith absolutely necessary for salvation, is not to be found elsewhere, the Catholic child cannot find its principles inculcated and explained by those who are not only not members of his Church, but bitterly opposed to it, (as is the case with almost all who are without.) If our faith then is dearer to us than our lives-if we should value it more than any thing on earth, can Catholic parents conscientiously send their children to any school where they may be exposed to suffer the least injury in that respect. I do not stop to inquire whether this is done by a direct attack upon the Church of which the children are members, or whether it is done by delicate inuendos, by sneers, or ridicule. The effect is the same; nay, the sneers and ridicule may be more powerful in making the child ashamed of his religion, in causing him to deny that he is a Catholic, and thus sapping the foundation of faith in him, than any other means that may be adopted. But I prefer to show the propriety and fitness of a Catholic education for Catholics rather than the strict obligation which the rigid line of argument I have been pursuing implies. There are various kinds of education—the military, the medical, the legal, the mercantile and the mechanical. Suppose, then, a father wishes to educate his son for the army or navy-what kind of an education will he give him? will he send him to study law or medicine, or will he put him in a mercantile house, or in the shop of a master mechanic? Certainly not. On the contrary he will very naturally, and properly say-I intend my son for the profession of arms, and consequently it will be necessary for him to know how to wield the sword and cutlass with skill and dexterity-to use the musket and rifle with unerring aim, and to be inured to hardships and dangers in the camp and in the field. Of what avail then would it be for him to be able to quote Blackstone, Coke or Littletonto talk of digests and statutes? His business is to fight, to meet the enemy sword in hand, and not to talk or parley. What use can it be to him to add up dollars and cents in a counting-house, which would altogether unfit him for the profession he is to pursue? No, the father will very properly remark, I will send him to a school which is expressly opened to teach his profession. And he would justly pursue this course with ten, with a hundred-fold more determination, if any or all of the other professions were inimical to the military-if they were constantly attacking and misrepresenting it in season and out of season. You see the inference from this illustration. You must admit its truth, nay, you would blame the father alluded to were he to adopt any other course than the one he has pursued. You would say that he would act unjustly towards his son, in sending him to learn any other profession than that which he intended him to pursue, and especially if that other profession made it a point, on every possible occasion, to ridicule and condemn the profession of arms, and to induce the whole class or school to do the same. "Mutato nomine fabula de te narratur," I say to the Catholic parent. To you it applies with redoubled force. You wish your child to be a Catholic— you wish him to have a thorough knowledge of his religion—to be well instructed therein, not only so far as general principles are concerned, but in all the details of faith and morals. If you do not wish this, you do not value the immortal soul and eternal welfare of your child—you fall far short of the conduct of the father alluded to, in a matter infinitely inferior to that which should engross your whole attention. If this were the case, you would be undeserving the name of father, and monster not man should be your appellation. But I am unwilling to admit that there can be any father deserving the name of this description. Therefore, I must suppose that you are deeply interested in the Catholic education of your child. But where is this Catholic education to be obtained? Is it in a school where they make profession of teaching no religion at all, where religion is entirely eliminated? The tendency of this is to make your child a pagan or an infidel. Such a system differs in nothing from the schools of the ancient pagans where the name and nature of the true God, as well as the duties and obligations of man to Him, were never mentioned—were entirely unknown. And alas! it is of such schools that we hear some persons boast, as a proof of liberality in this our enlightened nineteenth century, although we know that they are the prolific source of the latitudinarian principles that are so rife amongst us. Is not this the origin of much if not of all the infidelity that pervades our land,—that lifts its haughty head and stalks abroad with majestic air, sneering and scoffing at all religion as fit only to amuse women and children? Whether all these awful consequences to religion and morality be the result of such schools or not, one thing is certain that the direct tendency of them is to make learned pagans or infidels, if you will, but not to make good Christians. "Do men gather grapes from thorns or figs from thistles?" As well might you expect the grapes from thorns, or figs from thistles, as to expect that such schools would produce any thing but irreligion and impiety. The common saying, "where ignorance is bliss, it is folly to be wise," is eminently applicable and infallibly true in this case. For ignorance of profane learning accompanied with the simplicity of faith and a knowledge of the divine truths which it teaches, is infinitely preferable to all the pagan education which such schools impart. In a word, education that is not based upon religion is a curse, instead of a blessing, to any nation or people amongst whom such system is pursued. Can a Catholic parent then send his child to such schools? I answer, no.* But is the other alternative safer for him, and for the religion of his child? Can he send him to a sectarian school, where there is an open Bible without note or comment, which is interpreted according to the religious views of the teacher? I mean, of course, the Protestant Bible. The child in this case would be in danger of suffering the shipwreck of his faith, by falling into the arms of paganism or infidelity, on the one hand, or of dangerous and fatal error on the other. I wish not, however, to be understood as depreciating the written Word of God, or as placing on an equal footing the infidel or pagan, and any of the Christian sects with which we are surrounded. No; on the contrary, I revere the true written Word of God-I believe it to be divinely inspired and as such I hold it sacred-I receive its teachings with all the simplicity of faith. And further I hold that any form of Christianity, however erroneous, is better for the morals of the community than the paganism or infidelity which must follow, at least, indirectly from education not based upon religion. But what I mean to say is this, that if a Catholic child loses divine faith, it matters little whether it was in the infidel or sectarian school he lost it. Can then a Catholic parent, I repeat it, send his child to a sectarian school even where the teacher makes profession of not interfering with the religion of the child? I answer no! first, for the reason assigned when speaking of the father who wished to give his son a military education. For as that father would not send his son to the schools of law or medicine, because they do not teach the science necessary for his profession, so the Catholic father who wishes his son to know his religion cannot send him to schools where it is not only never taught, but where he knows that he will never hear a favorable word concerning it. And second, because although no direct attack may be made upon it, yet the very atmosphere which he breathes there, is infected with hostility to his creed-all his associates are uncompromising enemies of his religion. Will any parent who loves his child, send that child for some trifling advantage into a country infected with malaria, whose fœtid atmosphere may cause a lingering disease which will make him drag out a sickly existence for a few years, and finally eventuate in death? Certainly not. How then can a Catholic parent expose his child to an atmosphere impregnated with heresy or fatal error which stealthily though surely may produce a spiritual malady causing disease and death to the soul-a malady, whose malignant form may not develop itself until the child reaches maturity, when the bad passions add strength and vigor to the influences that were set to work in these sectarian schools. Oh how many been lost to Catholicity from causes similar to these! Where are our hundreds, our thousands, of young men who were baptized in the Church-who often knelt at their mother's knees lisping the sweet accents of Catholic prayers, and learning the first rudiments of their holy faith? Alas! Where are they now! Our large cities and perhaps our towns are thronged with them. But, alas! they are gone-they have lost their faith. The Church weeps over them, not for herself but for their souls. Like Rachel weeping over her children— noluit consolari quia non sunt. And will you, Catholic parents expose your children, the present rising generation in whom, under God, all our hopes are centred *The lecturer no doubt supposes, in these remarks, that the schools in question not only impart a merely secular knowledge, but are dangerous to faith and morals.-Ed. Met. |