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 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 IN writing my late book, Christicmity in the United 
 States from the Earliest Settlement to the Present 
 Time,^ mucli material came into my hands which could 
 not be appropriately introduced into that volume, but 
 which is of value to American citizens. 
 
 Yaluable articles in the editorial and other columns 
 of the Christian Union, in May, June, and July, 1888, 
 have rendered much aid to the author. 
 
 The recent amtation of the Cathohc school contest, 
 in Boston and elsewhere, prompted me to enter into 
 the discussion, for the benefit of my own congregation, 
 and also for the public at large. The result is this 
 little book, which I hope will help to an understanding 
 of the questions involved ; questions soon more fully to 
 engross public attention. 
 
 The discussion, it is hoped, will commend itself to 
 all as candid and fair, if not as sharp and severe as 
 
 * Phillips & Hunt, 805 Broadway, New York city. 800 pages, Bvo, 
 1888. 
 
4 Pkeface. 
 
 some M^ould desire. Yet it is not wanting in positive- 
 ness. 
 
 There are points of radical divergence, indicating 
 that two peoples are struggling in the womb of the 
 nation. Vituperation and abuse cannot settle these 
 points, but may postpone the settlement. In some 
 localities the contest is hot. The author has decided 
 views, and he does not intend to put either shavings 
 or kerosene upon the fire, but rather the solid fuel of 
 facts and principles. 
 
 Many American citizens do not yet seem to realize 
 the need of awakening to these matters. The history, 
 the expansion, and present proportions of this contest 
 have, therefore, been sketched at considerable length, 
 that all eyes may be fully opened. Wliile the author 
 does not share in the alarm of many good people, as to 
 the country at large, he does, nevertheless, think that 
 there are localities (and the number will soon be in- 
 creased) where the case is urgent. Our greatest fear 
 is from the political maneuvering of Rome. 
 
 Daniel Doechester. 
 
 Boston, Mass. (Roslindale P. 0.), Nov. 1 0, 1 888. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Preface 3 
 
 PART I. 
 History of the Contest. 
 
 Section 1. Its Inception 9 
 
 " 2. The Expansion 20 
 
 " 3. The Bible in Schools 40 
 
 " 4. Attempts at Compromise 55 
 
 ' ' 5. Attempts to get Public School Funds 63 
 
 ' ' 6. Constitutional Amendments 81 
 
 " 7. Recent Papal Acts and Utterances enforcing 
 
 the Parochial School System 94 
 
 *' 8. Statistical Exhibits of the Parochial Schools 
 
 of Romanism in the United States. ........ 120 
 
 PART II. 
 Questions Involved in the Contest. 
 
 1. As to the Right and Duty of tlie State to Educate. . . 135 
 3. As to Religious Instruction in the Public Schools. . . 150 
 3. As to a Parochial School System for all Parties 171 
 
6 Contents. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 4. As to whether tlie Public School Funds can be 
 
 Divided 186 
 
 5. As to whether, as a Matter of Comity, we ought not 
 
 to find some way to Divide the School Funds. . . 204 
 
 6. Is a Compromise Possible ? 211 
 
 7. Can both Parties patronize the Public Schools Harmo- 
 
 niously, and on what Basis ? 224 
 
 8. What may we expect Romanists to do in the Future, 
 
 and how shall we Preserve our School System ? . 238 
 
 9. As to the Pretensions of Rome as an Educator 243 
 
 (1.) The Historic Record of Rome in Respect to Edu- 
 cation 244 
 
 (2.) Rome's Record in Respect to Education in the 
 
 United States 255 
 
 (3.) The Quality of the Education afforded by the Ro- 
 man Catholic Church , 258 
 
 (4.) The Roman Catholic Church does not Believe in 
 
 the Education of the Masses 291 
 
 10. Has Romanism Adopted a More Enlightened and 
 
 Liberal Policy in our Times and in our Country ?. . 295 
 
PART I. 
 
 HISTORY OF THE CONTEST. 
 
PART I. 
 History of the Contest. 
 
 SECTION L 
 Its Inception* 
 
 A SKETCH of the history of the Eoman Catholic 
 school contest will help American citizens to 
 more fully understand the character and proportions 
 of this great struggle, and the unyielding spirit with 
 which it is pushed. The struggle had its origin in 
 the city of New York, and Bishop Hughes was its 
 first conspicuous Roman Catholic champion. 
 
 Many may be surprised to learn that the first ap- 
 peal for a division of the public school funds in this 
 country was made by a Protestant denomination, and 
 the first sectarian division actually made was to that 
 body. The other Protestant Churches, instead of ob- 
 jecting, attempted to obtain their share of the public 
 school funds. At that early period, and back into the 
 last century, it was a common thing for legislative 
 bodies to grant pecuniary aid to the higher educational 
 
10 Romanism vs. The Public School System. 
 
 institutions, such as academies and colleges, many of 
 which had grants of public lands. These were not 
 aided out of public school funds raised by taxation, 
 but they were denominational institutions and were 
 officially aided. 
 
 There is one instance in which specially-designated 
 school funds were divided in the interest of a sectarian 
 school of a Protestant denomination, the other Prot- 
 estant bodies assenting, and even desiring to receive 
 their share also. This occurred before the Roman 
 Catholic school contest came on, and before the 
 American people saw what it might lead to. That 
 very act was the means of opening the eyes of Prot- 
 estants to see the practical results of such a course — 
 the destruction of the common school system. It was 
 this act which Bishop Hughes, of N^ew York, cited 
 when he made his first demand for a part of the 
 school money for Roman Catholic schools. 
 
 It should be premised that in the early part of this 
 century, prior to the establishment of the common 
 school system for the State of New York, which oc- 
 curred in 1812, the raising and distribution of school 
 funds was by methods very different from those of 
 more recent years, and more irregular. The whole 
 matter varied greatly in different counties and local- 
 ities, many things being left optional. In the city of 
 New York the school funds could then be distributed 
 
Inception of the Contest. 11 
 
 among certain schools and societies named hj the 
 Legislature, and such incorporated religious societies 
 as then supported or might thereafter establish charity 
 schools. This system was defective on account of the 
 inequality of the distribution, the absence of inspec- 
 tion and accountability, and a liability to abuse. 
 
 It was while this system was in operation that an 
 organization which for about a half a century per- 
 formed a most beneficent work was formed in the 
 city of 'New York. 
 
 The New York Public School Society 
 
 was an association of benevolent gentlemen, formed in 
 1805, for the education of poor and neglected children. 
 In its schools probably a half million of children re- 
 ceived the elements of a sound education connected 
 with instruction in the holy Scriptures. It was largely 
 aided by the School Fund of the State. Besides edu- 
 cating poor and forsaken children, it performed two 
 other important services — it trained up many excellent 
 teachers and watched over the general interests of the 
 educational cause. This latter function brought it 
 before the public on many very important occa- 
 sions. Its annual expenditures amounted to about 
 $130,000. 
 
 The first ripple of disturbance in the management 
 of this society, it should be said, came from the 
 
12 Romanism vs. The Public School System. 
 
 Protestant denominations, when the Baptist Bethel 
 Church, in 1823, sought and obtained its share of the 
 public money for its schools. An agitation was 
 awakened all the steps of which need not now be dis- 
 tinctly traced ; but the question went to the Legisla- 
 ture in some form, where it was argued, and a pro- 
 vision enacted that once in every three years the 
 Common Council might name such schools and insti- 
 tutions as should be entitled to receive the school 
 moneys, the city Corporation being still responsible to 
 the State for the faithful application of its funds. 
 The disbursement of the greater part of the funds 
 was intrusted to the Public School Society, incorpo- 
 rated for the purpose, which, in addition to the public 
 moneys, obtained other loans from life membership 
 fees, etc. By the act of the Legislature, the question 
 of a division of the funds was to be decided by the 
 Board of the City Corporation. That body appointed 
 a committee to hear the parties to the case. It is re- 
 markable that the Episcopalians, Methodists, Baptists, 
 and Roman Catholics, at that time, sought for a par- 
 ticipation in the School Fund, just as the Roman 
 Catholics have since done. After the hearing, the com- 
 mittee made a report which settled the principle for 
 the time, that sectarian schools were not to be 
 sustained or aided from the public money. This de- 
 cision seems to have " convinced every body of the 
 
Inception of the Contest. 13 
 
 impolicy and injustice of such a division of the school 
 money, except the Roman Catholics." 
 
 In 1831 the " Roman Catholic Benevolent Society " 
 succeeded in obtaining, through the " Sisters of 
 Charity," the grant of $1,500, which has been annually 
 made by the Corporation of the city for a long series 
 of years, for the orphan asylum schools under their 
 care, notwithstanding the opposition of the Public 
 School Society. This, however, did not satisfy the 
 Roman Catholics, 
 
 Up to 1840 the Public School Society had estab- 
 lished about one hundred schools ; but the Catholics 
 continually complained that Protestant ideas were more 
 or less inculcated in the public schools. The Roman- 
 ists had then had a considerable number of parochial 
 schools in operation for, probably, twenty years, and 
 the number was constantly increasing. 
 
 It is correctly claimed by intelligent Roman Cath- 
 lics that this controversy did not begin with them, 
 but Math the Baptist Bethel Church already referred 
 to. They also justly claim that certain influential 
 Protestants, at the opening of this controversy, gave 
 them encouragment. Among these the distinguished 
 Rev. Dr. Eliphalet Nott, for a very long period pres- 
 ident of Union College, at Schenectady, is cited as one 
 who was open in the advocacy of a denominational 
 school system, by which each denomination would 
 
14 EoMANiSM VS. The Public School System. 
 
 share, in due proportion to its pupils in schools, in the 
 common school fund. He is said to have even advo- 
 cated the providing of schools for children of different 
 nationalities. 
 
 Eev. De. Nott and Hon. William H. Sewaed. 
 
 Dr. JSTott had been the tutor, and was the life-long 
 friend and adviser, of Hon. William H. Seward, and 
 freque%tlj expressed his views on the school question 
 to that eminent statesman, during his occupancy of 
 the gubernatorial chair of the State of New York. 
 
 Governor Seward, it is said, on one occasion re- 
 quested Dr. l^ott to reduce his views to writing, 
 promising to embody them in a message to the Leg- 
 islature and to recommend their adoption. This he 
 did in 1839, before Bishop Hughes had entered into 
 the contest, and the Governor, in his message to the 
 Legislature in January, 1840, presented the subject 
 in the following remarkable passages : 
 
 Although our system of public education is well 
 endowed, and has been eminently successful, there is 
 yet occasion for the benevolent and enlightened action 
 of the Legislature. The advantages of education 
 ought to be secured to many, especially in our large 
 cities, whom orphanage, the depravity of parents, or 
 some form of accident or misfortune seems to have 
 doomed to hopeless poverty and ignorance. These 
 intellects are as susceptible of expansion, of improve- 
 ment, of refinement, of elevation, and of direction 
 
Inception of the Contest. 15 
 
 as those minds which, through the favor of Provi- 
 dence, are permitted to develop themselves under the 
 influence of better fortunes ; they inherit the lot to 
 struggle against temptations, necessities, and vices ; 
 they "are to assume the same domestic, social, and 
 political relations; and they are born to the same 
 ultimate destiny. 
 
 The children of foreigners, found in great numbers 
 in our populous cities and towns, and in the vicinity 
 of our public works, are too often deprived of the 
 advantages of public education in consequence of 
 prejudices arising from differences of language or 
 religion. It ouglit never to be forgotten that the 
 public welfare is as deeply concerned in their edu- 
 cation as in that of our own children. I do not 
 hesitate, therefore, to recommend the establishment 
 of schools in which they may be instructed by 
 teachers speaking the same language with tliemselves 
 - and professing the same faith. There would be no 
 iiiequahty in such a measure, since it happens from 
 tlie force of circumstances, if not from choice, that 
 the responsibilities of education are in most instances 
 confided by us to native citizens, and occasions seldom 
 offer a trial of our magnanimity, by committing that 
 trust to persons differing from ourselves in language 
 or religion. Since we have opened our country and 
 all its fullness to the oppressed of every nation we 
 should evince wisdom equal to such generosity by 
 qualifying their children for the high responsibilities 
 of citizenship. * 
 
 Tliese passages do not present the grounds on 
 which Roman Catholics base their claims, namely, 
 the riglits of conscience, as obedient children of 
 
 * AssevMy Documents. 1840. Vol. I, p. 5. 
 
16 EoMANisM VS. The Public School System. 
 
 Eome, and the equal rights of citizenship ; neverthe- 
 less they open the door sufficiently wide to admit 
 what the Romanists ask for. 
 
 Father Schneller, pastor of the Roman Catholic 
 Church at Albany, after conversation with Governor 
 Seward and other officials at the State-House, wrote 
 to the Very Rev. Dr. Power, then administering the 
 concerns of the New York diocese during the ab- 
 sence of Bishop Hughes in Europe, expressing the 
 opinions entertained in Albany, that if petitions were 
 presented asking for the participation of Catholic 
 schools in the School Fund the measure could be 
 carried. The trustees of the Catholic churches in 
 New York city were called together and the subject 
 laid before them. Dr. Power visited Albany and, 
 from personal interviews, inferred the probability of 
 success. Returning to New York, a Roman Catholic 
 Association was formed in order to secure uniformity 
 and concert of action. Weekly meetings were held, 
 and a petition for a share of the School Fund was 
 presented to the Board of Assistant Aldermen. Nor 
 were the Catholics the only parties in this movement. 
 Other religious bodies also participated. The Board 
 denied these petitions, but the agitation continued, 
 with much diversity of sentiment and recrimina- 
 tion. A Catholic paper, T/w Truth- Teller, charged 
 the leaders with political designs, which was like 
 
Inception of the Contest. 17 
 
 a fire-brand thrown into the already excited meet- 
 ings. 
 
 Bishop Hughes. 
 At this time a stronger hand took up the contest. 
 In 1838 Rev. John Hughes was appointed coadjutor 
 bisho]^ of the New York diocese, on account of the 
 failing health of Bishop Dubois. To obtain pecuniary 
 aid for his diocese Bishop Hughes visited Europe in 
 1839, returning early in July, 1840, at the time when 
 the school contest was well under way. An impor- 
 tant meeting was held by the Catholics on the 20th 
 of July, the Yery Bev. Dr. Power presiding, and 
 Bishop Hughes, for the first time, addressed his 
 people on the subject, advising careful but firm 
 action. August 10 the Roman Catholics issued an 
 address to the public, to which the Public School 
 Society made a reply, ^n a general meeting, on the 
 21st of September, the Catholics adopted a petition 
 to the Common Council for relief, complaining of the 
 sectarian character of the public schools, on account 
 of which the Catholics had been compelled to erect 
 schools of their own, which they offered to submit to 
 the conditions of the law in regard to religious teach- 
 ing. They specified seven Catholic schools which 
 they prayed the Council " to designate as among the 
 schools entitled to participate in the Common School 
 Fund, upon complying with the requirements of the 
 
18 Romanism vs. The Puclic School System. 
 
 law," or " for such other relief as should seem meet.'" 
 Tills petition was followed by two remonstrances, one 
 by the trustees of the Public School Society, and the 
 other by a committee of the pastors of the Methodist 
 Episcopal churches of the city. 
 
 At this time the Protestants had fully thought out 
 the question of the integrity of the public scliool sys- 
 tem, and had reached the conclusion that there could 
 be no successful maintenance of that system, if the 
 funds were divided among the different denomina- 
 tions. That would end the system. 
 
 The Debate. 
 
 The Corporation determined to have the question 
 discussed before the full P)oard of Aldermen and As- 
 sistant Aldermen, which was done in the evenings of 
 Oct. 28 and 29, 1840. In behalf of the Catholics 
 Bishop Hughes appeared. In behalf of the Public 
 School Society, Tlieodore Sedgwick, Esq., and Iliram 
 Ketchum, Es(]. On subsequent evenings Kevs. Drs. 
 Thomas E. Bond, Nathan Bangs, and David Reese, 
 M.D., appeared for the Methodist Episcopal Church. 
 Rev. Dr. Gardner Spring, for the Presbyterians ; and 
 
 Rev. Dr. Knox, for the Dutch Reformed Church. 
 
 When the others had ended Bishop Hughes replied 
 at length, from which, in justice to the Rouian 
 Catholics, an extract is given : — 
 
Inception of the Contest. 19 
 
 It is the glory of tins country that when it is 
 found that a wrong exists there is a power, an irre- 
 sistible power, to correct the wrong. They have 
 represented us as contending to bring the Catholic 
 Scriptures into the public schools. This is not true. 
 They have represented us as enemies to the Protest- 
 ant Scriptures, without " note or comment ; " and on 
 this subject I know not whether their intention was 
 to make an impression on jonr honorable body or to 
 enlist a sympathetic echo elsewhere ; but, whatever 
 their object was, they have represented that even 
 here Catholics have not concealed their enmity to 
 the Scriptures. Now, if I had asked this honorable 
 Board to exclude the Protestant Scriptures from the 
 schools, then there might have been some coloring 
 for the current calumny. But I have not done so. 
 I say, Gentlemen of every denomination, keep the 
 Scriptures you reverence, but do not force on me 
 that which my conscience tells me is wrong. 
 
 I may be ^yrong, as you may be ; and, as you exer- 
 cise your judgment, be pleased to allow the same 
 privilege to a fellow-being who must appear before 
 our common God and answer for the exercise of it. 
 I wish to do nothing like what is charged upon me ; 
 that is not the purpose for which we petition this hon- 
 orable Board. In the name of the community to 
 which I belong I appear here for other objects ; and, 
 if our petition is granted, our schools may be placed 
 under the supervision of the public authorities or 
 even of commissioners to be appointed by the Pub- 
 lic School Society ; they may be put under the same 
 supervision as the existing schools, to see that none 
 of those phantoms, nor any grounds for those suspi- 
 cions, which are as uncharitable as unfounded, can 
 have existence in reality. There is, then, but one 
 simple question — Will you compel us to pay a tax 
 
20 Romanism vs. The Public School System, 
 
 from which we can receive no benefit, and to fre- 
 quent schools which injure and destroy our religious 
 rights in the minds of our children, and of which in 
 our consciences we cannot approve ? This is the sim- 
 ple question. ^ 
 
 Roman Catholics have claihied that their position 
 in this stage of the contest has been misunderstood, 
 DeCourcj says : f 
 
 While they proposed to keep their own schools they 
 proposed to conform them to the law, to subject 
 tliem to State supervision, to arrange the instruction 
 according to the State requirements, and did not 
 ask for the exclusion of the Bible from the schools of 
 the Public School Society, but asked for their share 
 of the public money. 
 
 Pending the decision, negotiations for a compro- 
 mise were interchanged, in which the Catholics of- 
 fered to appoint no teachers except such as the Public 
 School Society upon examination should find duly 
 qualified ; to afl[:ord every facility for visitation and 
 inspection to the duly-appointed agents of the 
 Board ; to guard against abuses, and to render their 
 schools in every respect free from objection. The 
 Public School Society also offered terms — to let the 
 schools be attended and managed as they were car- 
 ried on, but to strike out of the school-books all pas- 
 
 * Eeport, p. 4. Also works of Archbishop Huglies. 
 
 + History of the Catholic Church in the United States, p. 417. 
 
Inception of the Contest. 21 
 
 sages to which the Catholics objected, and to have 
 only such passages of the Bible read as are translated 
 the same way in the Protestant and Romish ver- 
 sions. But no agreement was reached ; and so, after 
 numerous hearings, negotiations, and visitations of the 
 schools, the case was decided adversely to the Ro- 
 man Cart;holics, Jan. 12, 1841. But the Catholics 
 did not rest their case at this point. 
 
 Hon. John C. Spencee. 
 
 Petitions were thenceforth drawn up and pre- 
 sented to the Legislature, headed by Bishop Hughes. 
 The memorial was referred by the Senate to Hon. 
 John C. Spencer, Secretary of State and ex-officio 
 Superintendent of Public Schools. The report of 
 Mr. Spencer proposed an entire change in the system: 
 that a Commissioner of Public Schools was to be 
 elected in each ward of the city ; to these Commis- 
 sioners the Public School Society was to be trans- 
 ferred, and the general School Laws of the State 
 were to be extended to the city. The Commissioners 
 were to receive and apply the public moneys to the 
 support of the public schools, which were to be 
 placed under their control. 
 
 Seeing that it was impossible to carry their meas- 
 ure for a participation in the" Public School Fund the 
 Catholics advocated Mr. Spencer's proposition, on the 
 
22 Romanism m. The Public School System. 
 
 ground that it was tlie least objectionable system they 
 could get, and at least possessed the merit of exclud- 
 ing sectarianism from the schools. The Catholics 
 favored the measure ; Protestants opposed it. Con- 
 troversy ran high. The newspapers were full of it. 
 A disgraceful " hull of excotmnunicatlon^'' from 
 "Tristram Shandy" appeared in the Journal of Com- 
 nurce. The result in the Legislature was the post- 
 ponement of the question from May, IS-il, to January, 
 1842, in order that the intervening State election might 
 afford an expression of the popular sentiment. 
 
 In the election followmg (November, 1841,) Gov- 
 ernor Seward narrowly escaped defeat, because of the 
 stand he had taken on the school question. The Cath- 
 olics ran independent candidates for the Legislature in 
 New York city, because both the political parties 
 held mixed positions on .the school question, not mak- 
 ing it an issue, and 2,200 votes were cast for the in- 
 dependent ticket — a significant lesson to the old 
 parties. In his message Governor Seward reiterated 
 the views uttered the previous year, recommended the 
 abolition of the Public School Society and the crea- 
 tion of a Board of Commissioners, to be elected by 
 the people, whose duty it should be "to apportion 
 the school moneys among all the schools, including 
 those now existing, which shall be organized and con- 
 ducted in conformity to its general regulations and 
 
Inception of the Contest. 23 
 
 the laws of the State iu the proportion of the number 
 of pupils instructed." 
 
 His recommendations were in substance adopted. 
 The school system of the State w-as extended to New 
 York city. This led to the formation of " Ward 
 Schools," under the direction of officers chosen in each 
 ward, while those of the Public School Society re- 
 mained under its control, the two systems operating 
 side by side. As might have been expected, however, 
 experience soon demonstrated that such a plan was 
 attended wath many difficulties. Tliis led the Public 
 School Society to propose to retire fi'om the scene, 
 M'hich was allowed ; and on the 22d of July, 1853, 
 it transferred its schools and property to the Corpora- 
 tion of the city, to be managed by the Corporation's 
 Board of Education, just as the ward schools were 
 administered. The surrender was made after forty- 
 eight years of valuable service to poor and neglected 
 children, and after a long resistance against the de- 
 mands of the Romish hierarchy, under the leadershi]^ 
 of Bishop Hughes. At that time the Bible had been 
 ejected from more than eighty of the public schools 
 in New York city. The Romanists had not suc- 
 ceeded in obtaining a division of the School Fund for 
 the benefit of their sectarian schools; but the disband- 
 ing of the Public School Society was a Roman Cath- 
 olic triumph. In this contest Bishop Hughes man- 
 
24 Romanism vs. The Public School System. 
 
 aged with consummate tact, persistence, and ability, 
 sustaining his cause in the Municipal Council and 
 in the Legislature, and teaching tlie politicians the 
 value of the Roman Catholic vote — a Lesson which they 
 soon learned to appreciate. 
 
 End of the Public School Society. 
 
 On the occasion of the delivery of the Public 
 School Society property to the Corporation of the 
 city Hiram Ketchum, Esq., delivered an appropriate 
 address, in which he used the following language : 
 
 Now, my friends, I have to say here, and I hope 
 that it will pass throughout the country, that there is 
 no satisfying the Roman Catholics on this subject ; 
 aijd here 1 would proclaim loud enough, if I could, to 
 bo heard in California, that the Roman Catholic 
 pi-iesthood are opposed to Protestant children and 
 Roman Catholic children sitting side by side in com- 
 mon schools and learning from the same forms. 
 That is the objection. They did not want to expel 
 the Bible ; they did not want to blot out the offensive 
 passages ; but they wanted to separate their children 
 from the Protestant children of the country, and to 
 receive a portion of the School Fund to enable them 
 to educate their children by themselves. For this 
 object, we may rely upon it, the Roman Catholic 
 priesthood will steadily and perseveringly exert them- 
 selves. I say the " priesthood ; " for I do not believe 
 the Roman Catholic laity desire any such separation. 
 They, with us, desire that the children of this repub- 
 lic may study side by side in common schools, in 
 
Inception of the Contest. 25 
 
 order that they may have the advantage of all that 
 union of sentiment and feeling that grows from boy- 
 ish intimacy. 
 
 Mr. Ketchum terminated his speech with the fol- 
 lowing serious M-ords, which deserve to be well 
 pondered by every friend of our public schools ; ill 
 fact, by every true friend of the country : 
 
 In this great struggle, which is to shake the coun- 
 try from Maine to California, we must stand up and 
 oppose error with all our force, and cleave it down in 
 its place, and preserve the purity and integrity of our 
 institutions. For, if this republic is not preserved, 
 where shall we go ? What shall we do 'i What wall 
 there be left for our children ? Let us, then, contend 
 always for the right, being assured that such labor is 
 never finally lost. 
 
2G Romanism vs. The PuiiLic School System. 
 
 SECTION II. 
 The l^jcpansioji, 
 
 SOON after the closino- np of tlie Public Sdiool 
 Society the New York Independent s;iid : 
 
 Now the question is, Are our public schools still 
 to be tampered with at the iustig-ation of Romish 
 priests? And how far is this pusillanimous com- 
 pliance Muth their demands on tlie part of our School 
 Connnissioners to be cari-ied ? Shall the whole sj's- 
 tem be first sacrificed and then Romanized? The 
 object of this crusade against the public schools is, 
 first, to bring them into contempt and suspicion, as 
 irreligious and ungodlj^, and, next, to build up Romish 
 schools on theii' ruins. 
 
 The instinctive hatred and jealousy of Romanism 
 against the Bible teach us very clearly the power 
 of an education in which scriptural truth is an ele- 
 ment and a fixture. 
 
 "Expel the Bible from our schools!" exclaimed 
 Mr. Choate. "Never, so long as a piece of Plymouth 
 Rock remains big enough to make a gun-fiint out 
 of!" 
 
 The Amen<xm and Foreign Christian Union the 
 
 same year said : 
 
 Not content with the right which the Roman 
 Catholic Church has, in connnon with every other 
 
Expansion of the Contest. 27 
 
 religioQS denomination in the land, to establish as 
 many schools as she can, at her own expense, and 
 conduct them in any manner she pleases, she has the 
 presumption to think that Protestants will consent 
 to the destruction of our public schools — conducted, 
 as at present, on a non-sectarian basis — and to allow 
 her a share of the public school funds proportion- 
 ate, not to the taxes which Roman Catholics pay 
 (which are for the most part very far less than those 
 of the Protestants), but to the number of children 
 which they have, or which they may be able to 
 gather into their schools. In other words, they wish 
 to make Protestants contribute largely, directly or 
 indirectly, to sustain tlieir sectarian schools. 
 
 There is unmistakable evidence that a concerted 
 movement has been set ■ on foot which ramifies 
 throughout every portion of our country where a 
 public school system exists. The agitation has been 
 commenced and prosecuted with vigor at Boston, 
 I^ew York, Newark, N. J., Detroit, Chicago, Cincin- 
 nati, Pittsburg, and Baltimore. It is the old war-cry 
 of Rome against all education except what is carried 
 on under her own control and direction. The first 
 charge against the public schools was that they were 
 " sectarian," because the Bible was read daily at the 
 opening and closing of them. Well, after having 
 succeeded in getting a faithful superintendent put 
 out of office, and a tool of the priest chosen in his 
 place, and the Bible banished from eighty schools, 
 the charge is now made that the public schools are 
 "godless." 
 
 After the act of 1842 Bishop Hughes devoted 
 himself more fully to the establishment of Catholic 
 schools for Catholic children, calling to his aid in the 
 
28 KoMANisM VS. The Public School System. 
 
 work of instruction the Brothers of the Christian 
 schools and the ^isterlioods of the Church. The 
 Romanists have paid their proportion of taxes for the 
 support of the public schools, in which tliey say 
 " thej cannot conscientiously educate their children," 
 and at the same time have provided parochial schools 
 of their own. 
 
 It has been stated by a good authority that in the 
 year 1853 the Roman Catholics demanded State aid 
 for their schools in eight different States — Massachu- 
 setts, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Mary- 
 land, Michigan, Ohio, California. Since that time 
 the demand has been repeatedly made elsewhere in 
 some form. 
 
 In the same year that the Public School Society 
 surrendered its property in New York city, in 
 Michigan, and Ohio, the subject was carried to the 
 polls, but the result was unfavorable to the Roman- 
 ists. The existing school law was sustained by large 
 majorities, the German Catholics in great numbers 
 standing with the Protestants. The attempt was re- 
 peated in Maryland. Hon. Mr. Kearney, member of 
 the Legislature from Baltimore, introduced into that 
 body a bill, accompanied with a flourishing report, to 
 make a similar division of the school moneys, as 
 asked for in New York city. The movement met 
 with great opposition in Baltimore, one-fourth part 
 
Expansion of the Contest. 29 
 
 of whose population were Roman Catholics. An im- 
 mense mass-meeting was held in the hall of the Mary- 
 land Institute. Addresses of great power were de- 
 livered by Rev. Drs. Plummer, Fuller, Johns, and 
 others, and the proposed measure was unanimously 
 condemned. 
 
 At the time the Public School Society surrendered 
 itself and its position (1853) some kind of distinctly 
 Roman Catholic schools had been in existence in 
 New York city something over twenty -five years. 
 The first school established by them was on Pri!ree 
 street (between Mulberry and Mott streets,) some 
 time prior to 1830. In 1830 St. Paul's School, 
 Brooklyn, St. Peter's, on Barclay Street, and St. 
 Stephen's, East Broadway, were opened. Two more 
 commenced in 1833. St. John's College (Jesuit) was 
 opened in 1841 and raised to the rank of a university 
 in 1845. The College of St. Francis Xavier soon 
 followed. What was their number at this time ? 
 
 A Statement for 1854. 
 
 The editor of the American and Foreign Christian 
 TJnion^ a very careful, reliable magazine, for Jan- 
 nary, 1854, said : 
 
 We have in our possession a most remarkable 
 document. It is a tabular view of the Roman Cath- 
 olic schools and institutions, both those held during 
 
30 Romanism m. The Public School Svstem. 
 
 the week and those lield on tlie Sabbath, in the city 
 of New York, inchiding Elai'leiii. This document 
 was prepared by a trustworthy person, who took pains 
 to visit all these schools, and make the requisite in- 
 quiries on the spot. We have no doubt it is as accu- 
 rate as it is possible to make such a statement. A¥e 
 will give a summary of this document in as i^w 
 words as we can, and acconqxiny it with a few re- 
 marks. 
 
 1. These schools and institutions are 28 in number, 
 and are connected with Roman Catholic churches, 
 and bear the names of these churches — such as St. 
 Vincent, St. Bridget, St. Nicholas, St. Anne, St. 
 Patrick (the Cathedral), St. John the Baptist, St. 
 Stephen, etc., etc. 
 
 2. The number of these schools which have hoarders 
 as well as day-scholars is six, and the number of 
 boarders is 920. 
 
 3. The number of pupils is IO5O6I, including the 
 920 boarding-scholars. 
 
 4. The number of youth in the Sunday-schools at- 
 tached to these churches, and held, we believe, in the 
 same school-rooms, is 9,G49. 
 
 5. The number of priests who liave the charge of 
 these schools, either as instructors or directors, or 
 both, is sixty. 
 
 6. The number of teachers in these schools, male 
 and female, is 143. 
 
 7. In 22 schools the instruction is in English ; in 
 four it is in English and German ; in one it is in 
 French and English, and in one it is in German. 
 
 8. The teachers belong to Jive orders — Christian 
 Brothers, Sisters of Charity, etc. 
 
 9. Four of these schools are called "District 
 Schools," and receive aid, if we are rightly informed, 
 from the public treasury. These are (unless we have 
 
Expansion of the Contest. 31 
 
 been misinformed) the schools -of St. Mary's, St. 
 Francis Xavier's, St. Patrick's, and St. Vincent de 
 Paul. We believe that Mr. Ketcluim explained this 
 ill his speech last summer {see Ar/ierican and Foreign 
 Christian Union for the month of October). 
 
 10. In several of these schools are children belong- 
 in <j^ to various Protestant denominations ! How many 
 it is not possible to ascertain; but the number is be- 
 lieved to be considerable. And this in a city where 
 no Protestant family can possibly live very remote 
 from a good public school, in which, whatever may 
 be taught, or not taught, as it regards religion, their 
 children would not be exposed to being made ac- 
 quainted with the dreadful errors of Rome. 
 
 11. In not one of these twenty-eight schools, it is 
 believed, is either the Bible or the -New Testament 
 read by the scholars or read to them by the teachers ! 
 When the Protestant version is used in any public 
 school, the Romish hierarchy cry out that this is 
 sectarianism ! When the Bible is put away to please 
 them, then they cry ont that the school has become 
 godless! But when they establish their own schools, 
 expressl}^ on the ground that the public schools are 
 godless, then they will not use in them even the 
 Douay version or any other ! So true is it that 
 Rome dreads the Bible in any translation whatever ! 
 To this conclusion we have to come at last. 
 
 12. The books used in these schools are elementary 
 primers, spelling-books, catechisms, grammars, geog- 
 ra])hies, etc., about which there is little to say. Oc- 
 casionally one finds in the geography used (that of 
 Pinnock) some statements which show, as might be 
 expected, a Romish bias ; but in the main the book 
 is sufficiently correct. The reading-books found in 
 these schools are three: The Third Book of Reading 
 Lessons ^ A New Treatise on the Duty of a Christian 
 
32 Romanism vs. The Public School System. 
 
 towards God, and The Doctrinal and Scriptural 
 Catechisin / or. Instructions on the Principal Truths 
 of the Christian Religion. 
 
 The first of these books was compiled by the 
 Brothers of the Cliristian Schools. The second is 
 " an enlar<;ed and improved version of the original 
 work of the venerable J. B. de la Salle, founder of 
 the Christian Schools." The translation is from the 
 pen of Mrs. J. Sadlier. The third is a translation 
 (also by Mrs. Sadlier) from the original French work 
 of the Rev. P. Collot. The Urst is a collection of 
 pieces for reading in schools, and has but little that is 
 objectionable in its character. The last two are, of 
 course, full of the peculiar doctrines and practices of 
 the Roman Catholic Church. They are duodecimo 
 volumes of some 350 or 400 pages. The third and 
 last, we will only add, is a very complete, and even 
 minute, exhibition of the dogmas and sentiments of 
 the Roman Catholic Church on ever_y topic supposed 
 to be connected with the Christian system of faith 
 and morals. All the exclusiveness of Rome is here 
 fully developed and inculcated, as well as in the 
 smaller catechisms. The child is taught that there is 
 no salvation out of the Church (of Rome), and that 
 there is no hope for what she calls " heretics " and 
 "schismatics." No less than twenty-two pages of 
 this Doctrinal and Scrij.)turcd Catechism are devoted 
 to the subject of baptism, seven to confirmation, 
 forty-seven to the eucharist, thirty to penance, and 
 thirty to other subjects. The reader will conclude 
 from this that the work descends to the usual ex- 
 planations and subtle distinctions of the Romish 
 doctors. 
 
 Our chief object is to give our readers some idea of 
 the character of the instruction in tlie schools for 
 which the Roman hierarchy demanded the aid of the 
 
Expansion of the Contest. 33 
 
 State in New York, Massachusetts, Michigan, Ohio, 
 Pennsylvania, Maryland, New Jersey, and California, 
 last winter, and will demand it again! _ It is our 
 opinion that the State should aid no sectarian schools, 
 whether Protestant or Roman Catholic. 
 
 A Statement foe 1858. 
 
 Pupils. Teachers. 
 
 In higher schools for females 708 84 
 
 " Colleges and higher schools for males 530 48 
 
 " Free schools for females 6, 100 84 
 
 *' " " " Males...... 4,800 54 
 
 " Orphan asylums, etc 800 46 
 
 Total ..., 13,938 316 
 
 Capital Invested. 
 
 Female high schools $780,000 
 
 High schools for males 250,000 
 
 Female, free schools 228,000 
 
 Male " " 228,000 
 
 Orphan asylums 462,000 
 
 Total $1,948,000 
 
 About half under mortgage. * 
 
 The editor of the American and Foreign Christian 
 Union (April, 1858), made a statement that shows 
 the rapid progress the Roman Catholics were making 
 in the control of the public schools in that city : 
 
 "We will state, upon what we regard as good 
 authority, that the papal members of the Board of 
 Education amount to about one quarter of the whole 
 number ; that the papal members of the ward 
 
 * The above statement has been abridged from the New TorJc Herald, 
 January 22, 1858. 
 
34 Romanism ^6-. The fviiLw School System. 
 
 boards ainouiit to nearly one half of their number 
 respectively, and tliat at least one third of all the 
 teacliers now employed in the public schools are 
 members of the Komish organization." " It is 
 manifest that Rome is making gigantic efforts to 
 e^tablish herself hrmly in this land." "' At least 
 150,000 children are more or less affected by tiiis 
 state of things in New York, every day." 
 
 A Statement for 1871. 
 
 The !New York IJaily Tribuiie, September 11, 
 1871, under the head '"'' I^ublic School Abuses,''' gave 
 an exhibit for that time. Some idea of the article 
 may be judged from its sub-headings : " Decrease in 
 Attendance ; " " Corruption in the Board ; " " The 
 Old Board of Education Destroyed that the Ring 
 might Rule ; " " The Extravagance of the New 
 Board Fully Revealed ; " " A New Field for Ring 
 Corruption," etc. It shows very clearly that the 
 Board of Education was under the control of the 
 same spirits who had so manipulated the city finances as 
 to pocket scores of millions of tlie people's money. 
 It reveals also how entirely subservient to Roman 
 Catholic influences was the management of the 
 Public School System. We insert tlie part of the 
 article under the sub-head, " The Bible in the Schools^ 
 It says : 
 
 Section 44 of laws governing the public schools 
 reads thus : 
 
Expansion of tfie Contest. 35 
 
 "All the public schools of this city under the 
 jurisdiction of the Board of Education shall be 
 opened by the reading of a portion of the Holy 
 Scriptures, without note or comment." 
 
 It is well known that this rule is gradually be- 
 coming obsolete, principally through Catholic in- 
 fluences. There is much difference of opinion, among 
 the most religious people even, as to the propriety of 
 enforcing this rule, and it is no part of the plan of 
 this article to war against the disposition to exclude 
 the Scriptures from the schools. The facts in the 
 case will be brought forward to help in the pres- 
 entation of a complete illustration of the illegal and 
 fraudulent methods used by the opponents of the 
 present school system to break it up. The state of 
 affairs in this connection in several of the wards is as 
 follows : 
 
 In the Sixth Ward the Catholics make up three 
 fourths of the population, and these are controlled by 
 the priests. Here Mr. Muliany, who has been prin- 
 cipal of Ward School No. 23 for twenty -Ave years, 
 says that the Bible has not been read for twenty 
 years at least ; and yet he reports his delinquency 
 every month. There was a disturbance about the 
 matter in 1861, and the salaries of all the teachers in 
 the schools of the ward where the reading was not 
 maintained were suspended for six months ; but the 
 dereliction was finally acquiesced in. Mr. Muliany 
 said that his school and that in Elm Street would be 
 closed in a month if the Bible- was read in them, 
 " Father Curran, of the church across the way, has no 
 parochial school, but if he hadn't perfect confidence 
 in us he would open one and reduce our attendance 
 by three fourths in a single week." Sometimes a 
 rumor would be started that Curran was to begin a 
 school, and all the teachers of the public schools were 
 
86 Romanism vs. The Public School System. 
 
 at once in terror for fear they would lose their places. 
 James Campbell, who has a grog-shop at No. 82 
 Centre Street, is one of the school trustees in the 
 Sixth Ward. He said to a reporter, " AVhin I went 
 into my place here, an' that's a-goin' on eight year, 
 the Bible wasn't a bein' read ; an' shure I didn't ax 
 any questions about it. I guiss it's all right, it is, and 
 they've fixed it up wid the Board of Eddycashun so 
 as there won't be nothing said about. Anyhow I 
 couldn't, 'pon me honor, tell ye any thing about it, 
 sur." The power of Catholicism is so great in this 
 ward that a vote of censure was nearly passed in 
 1868 by the male principals against Thomas Hunter, 
 principal of Grammar School Ko. 35, for ridiculing 
 the style of teaching in vogue in Catholic schools. 
 
 In the Twenty-first Ward, Sara J. J. McCaffrey, 
 Principal of Primary School No. 16, uses a Catholic 
 Bible, and is in high glee because, after long badger- 
 ing the Board of Education, she and her backers in 
 the ward obtained the book from the Department of 
 Instruction, it being duly labeled by them, and they 
 paying $25 20 for it. 
 
 In the Fourth Ward schools there has been no 
 Bible-reading for eleven years. Here again the pay 
 of teachers was stopped on account of the omission. 
 There was much excitement, and the teachers brought 
 suit for their salaries. The suit finally went by de- 
 fault. In one case a trustee carried oft' a Bible from 
 School No. 1 under his arm, to decide the matter. 
 An evidence of the real animus and intention of the 
 Romanists is found in the fact that a reporter, visit- 
 ing this %(ih.oo\ found the pupils engaged in celebrat- 
 iny the CatholiG festival of Ascension Thursday^ hy 
 singing and other exercises. The teachers in this 
 ward are nearly all Catholics. 
 
 li\ the Fourteenth Ward there is no Bible-reading. 
 
Expansion of the Contest. 37 
 
 In ^cliool No. 21, this has been the case for fifteen 
 years. The teachers are nearly all Catholics, but they 
 are very jealous of the parochial schools. All the 
 trustees are also Catholics. 
 
 The five schools of the Nineteenth Ward are ruled 
 by Catholic and Democratic trustees, with one ex- 
 ception. The priests are trying hard to build up 
 parochial schools here, and keep their children away 
 from the public schools on religious holidays, and 
 also keep them at home for months together to pre- 
 pare for yearly confirmation or " first communion." 
 Nothing but the great superiority of the public 
 schools enables them to withstand the competition of 
 the parochial schools. Some parents even pay the 
 price of tuition in the latter while they send their 
 children to the former. 
 
 In the Twenty-first Ward two schools still use the 
 Protestant Bible. The recitation of the Lord's 
 Prayer ceased in 1870. John Stephenson, the car- 
 builder, fought for this custom, and, though a warm 
 fi'iend of the schools and a trustee for many years, 
 has not since been returned to office. Nearly all the 
 trustees are Catholics. The priests of St. G-abriel's 
 Church fight the public schools very hard. They 
 induce the children who attend their schools to call 
 all who go to the others " Little Protestants," and one 
 of their preachers proclaimed in the pulpit that 
 parents who wished their children to " learn to steal 
 or swear, or do all kinds of evil, should send them to 
 the public schools." One priest came near being 
 expelled for speaking favorably of the free schools. 
 
 In the Sixteenth Ward an illiterate Irish Catholic 
 named McNiernay proclaims himself the champion 
 of Romanism, and strives in every possible way to 
 drive out Protestant teachers and observances. He 
 has kept up a sort of guerilla fight against one 
 
38 EoMANiSM VS. The Public School System. 
 
 principal — lias used his influence to so break down 
 the standing of the school that the principal would 
 be forced to resign. Tiie means lie has used have been 
 the forcing of incompetent teachers and a worthless 
 janitor upon the school. 
 
 The Fifth Ward was formerly strongly Protestant, 
 but the Catholics are getting the upper hand. A 
 specimen of what American Democrats may' expect 
 from their Irish political associates is shown by the 
 following reply of the " Hon. " Mike Murphy to the 
 friends of a stanch American Tammany Democrat, 
 wlio had been a trustee and wished the nomination 
 again : " Yis, gintlemin, this is all very good, beshure, 
 but the time is past whin American Dimicrats are 
 agoin' to be elicted to offices in the Fifth Ward ; an' 
 bedad, ye may make yer minds that it w^on't come 
 again very seon. We don't want any American 
 Dimicrats ; bedad an' we don't. We kin git along 
 widout 'em." 
 
 Father Quinn, of the First Ward, who is a candidate 
 for the Bishopric of New York, delivers furious 
 tirades against free schools, and frightens hundreds of 
 children into his own by this means. The trustees of 
 this ward are prophecies of the good time coming. 
 They are Peter Disch, emigrant boarding-house 
 keeper; Patrick Baldwin, liquor dealer; William 
 Keimy, ostensible undertaker, is a gentleman at large, 
 with political influence ; John O'Connor, junk-store 
 and politics, and Dennis Keenan, liquor-dealer. 
 
 The wards mentioned are some of those that are 
 most thoroughly under Irish Catholic influence ; but 
 many others are rapidly running in the same direc- 
 tion. 
 
 This was five years after Hon. V. M. Rice, Super- 
 intendent of Public Instruction of the State of New 
 
The Expansion. 39 
 
 York, had rendered an official decision against tlie 
 use of the Bible in the public schools. The year 
 following the date of the document just quoted, in 
 1872, Hon. Mr. Weaver, Superintendent of In- 
 struction of the State of New York, officially pro- 
 nounced a similar decision. 
 
40 KoMANisM VS. The Public School System. 
 
 SECTION III. 
 The Bible in Schools. 
 
 THE rejection of the Bible from the schools of New- 
 York was clearly contrary to the intentions of 
 the founders of the Public School System, and con- 
 trary even to many explicit legal provisions. 
 
 Governor George Clinton, of New York, in 1802 
 and 1803 recommended the subject of education to 
 the Legislature because of the advantage wliich would 
 come to morals, religion, liberty, and good government. 
 Governor Lewis, in 1804, said : 
 
 In a government resting on public opinion, and 
 deriving its chief support from the affections of the 
 people, religion and morality cannot be too sedulously 
 inculcated. Common schools, under the guidance of 
 respectable teachers, should be established in every 
 village. 
 
 So prominent was the idea of inculcating morals as 
 a part of common school education in the minds of 
 the founders of this system. 
 
 The first law establishing the Common School 
 Fund of New York State was passed in 1805, the 
 same year in which was passed the act of incorporation 
 
The Bible in Schools. 41 
 
 of the Public School Society of ISTew York City. In 
 the first address to the public by the founders of the 
 city free schools, dated May 18, 1805, it was stated 
 that — 
 
 It will be a primary object, without observing the 
 peculiar forms of any religious society, to inculcate the 
 sublime truths of morality and religion contained in 
 the holy Scriptures. 
 
 This object was kept in view, and the Bible was 
 read and its lessons inculcated in an niisectarian way. 
 In 1810 Governor Tompkins said : 
 
 I cannot omit this occasion of inviting .your atten- 
 tion to the means of instruction for the rising gener- 
 ation. To enable tliem to perceive and duly estimate 
 their rights, to inculcate correct principles and habits 
 of morality and religion and to render them useful 
 citizens, a competent provision for their education is 
 all essential. 
 
 The next year Governor Tompkins renewed his 
 appeal so effectually that five commissioners were ap- 
 pointed to report a system for the organization and 
 establishment of the common schools in the State of 
 New York. They reported the following year. 
 
 The remarkable success of the Public School 
 Society of New York city, in the first seven years of 
 its existence, was the strongest incentive to the Legis- 
 lature, in 1812, to make provisions for free schools 
 throughout the State. The idea of inculcating 
 
42 Romanism vs. The Public School System. 
 
 morality with secular education was prominent in tlie 
 minds of the Commissioners, as is evident from the 
 lani^uage of their report : 
 
 The expedient devised by the Legislature is the 
 establishment of common schools, which, being spread 
 throughout the State and aided by its bounty, will 
 bring improvement within the reach and power of 
 the humblest citizen. This appears to be the best 
 plan that can be devised to disseminate religion, 
 morality, and learning throughout the country. 
 
 Connected with the introduction of suitable books, 
 the Conmiissioners take the liberty of suggesting that 
 some observations and advice touching the reading of 
 the Bible might be salutary. In order to render the 
 sacred volume productive of the greatest advantage, it 
 should be held in a very different light from that of a 
 common school-book. It should be regarded as a 
 book intended not merely for literary improvement, 
 but as inculcating great and indispensable moral truths 
 also. With these impressions the Commissioners are 
 induced to recommend the practice introduced into 
 the New York free schools of having select chapters 
 read at the opening of the schools in the morning, and 
 the like at close in the afternoon. This is deemed the 
 best mode of preserving the religious regard which is 
 due to the sacred writings. 
 
 In accordance with the recommendation of this re- 
 port the common school system of the State of New 
 York was founded in 1812. In confirmation of this 
 view that eminent statesman, Hon. John C. Spencer, 
 Secretary of State of New York and also Superin- 
 tendent of Public Instruction, said, in 1839 : 
 
The Bible in Schools. 43 
 
 The people of this country have a right to bring up 
 their cliildren in the practice of publicly thanking their 
 Creator for his protection and invoking his blessing. 
 
 Again, in a communication to the Legislature, April 
 26, 1841, called forth by the religious difficulty at the 
 time in the schools in New York city, he said : 
 
 It is believed to be an error to suppose that tlie 
 absence of all religious instruction, if it were practi- 
 cable, is a mode of avoiding sectarianism ; on the con- 
 trary, it would be in itself sectarianism, because it 
 would be consonant to the views of a peculiar class 
 and opposed to the views of other classes. ... It is 
 believed that, in a country where the great body of 
 our fellow-citizens recognize the fundamental truths 
 of Christianity, public sentiment would be shocked by 
 the attempt to exclude all instruction of a religious 
 nature from the public schools ; and that any part or 
 scheme of public education, in which no reference 
 whatever was had to moral principles founded on these 
 truths would be abandoned by all. 
 
 An act of the Legislature was passed April 11, 
 1842, which might at first thought appear to favor 
 the exclusion of the Bible from the schools. By this 
 act it is provided that 
 
 'No school shall be entitled to or receive any portion 
 of the school money, in which the religious doctrines 
 or tenets of any particular Christian or any other re- 
 ligious sect shall be taught, inculcated or practiced, or 
 in which any book or books containing compositions 
 favorable or prejudicial to the particular doctrines or 
 tenets of any particular Christian or other religious 
 
4-i KoMANiSM VS. The Public School System. 
 
 sect, or which shall teach the doctrines or tenets of 
 any other religious sect, shall be used. 
 
 This jDrovision was doubtless secured bj the oppo- 
 nents of the Bible in New York city, with the inten- 
 tion of using it for the expulsion of the Bible and all 
 other religious instruction from the schools. At all 
 events, determined efforts were made in the city, 
 under cover of this provision and other similar enact- 
 ments, for the ejection of the Scriptures, which had 
 been employed daily for nearly forty years. To meet 
 the efforts an amendment to the law of 1842 was ob- 
 tained in 1844, mainly by the efforts of Colonel Stone, 
 City Superintendent, which declared : 
 
 Nothing herein contained shall authorize the Board 
 of Education to exclude the holy Scriptures without 
 note or comment, or any selections therefrom, from 
 any of the schools. 
 
 Thus the efforts against the Bible resulted in the 
 more explicit legal sanction of its use. Subsequently, 
 however, this important feature of the law was in 
 danger of being obliterated, and still later was utterly 
 ignored. The opposition to the Bible gathered 
 strength witli every renewed attack upon it. After 
 the Bible had maintained its place for sixty years, a 
 decision from Hon. V. M. Eice, Superintendent of 
 Public Instruction for the State of New York, was 
 rendered against the use of the Bible in the public 
 
The Bible in Schools. 45 
 
 schools. This was in 1866. In 1872 a similar de- 
 cision was obtained from Hon. Mr. Weaver, then State 
 Superintendent of Instruction, who strangely mis- 
 quoted Hon. J. C. Spencer as authority in support of 
 his decision. Armed with such official documents, it 
 is no wonder that school officers and teachers, especially 
 in Roman Catholic wards, but not wholly conhned to 
 them, defied the law. 
 
 In the meantime the controversy which has been 
 sketched in New York city had broadened out into 
 the whole country, particularly into the large centers 
 of population, in which the Roman Catholic Church 
 was massing its people. In every instance, however, 
 the first point of irritation was the use of the Protest- 
 ant Bible in the public schools. 
 
 In Connecticut 
 the reading of the Bible, prayer, and other religious 
 exercises, were neither required nor forbidden by 
 law, these things being left to be regulated by school 
 boards or the people of the various municipalities. 
 
 In Massachusetts. 
 As late as 1855 Rev. Dr. Sears, Secretary of the 
 Massachusetts Board of Education, said: 
 
 The Roman Catholics seldom raise any objection 
 to the use of the Bible in our schools. In one man- 
 ufacturing town the school committee allow the chil- 
 
46 Romanism vs. The Public School System. 
 
 dren of Eouuin Ciitholic parents to use the Doiiay 
 version if tliey prefer. In Lowell there is nt least 
 one Roman Catholic teacher, the children being from 
 such families. But a single instance of the Romanists 
 maintaining separate schools has been recently known, 
 and that was in Fall River, 'ihe children have left 
 those schools in many cases because they are inferior 
 to the public schools. 
 
 The General Statutes of Massachusetts formerly 
 read : 
 
 The School Committee shall require the daily read- 
 ing of some portion of the Biljle in the common En- 
 glish version ; but shall never direct afiy school-books 
 calculated to favor the tenets of any particular sect of 
 Christians to be purchased or used in any of the town 
 schools. 
 
 The first part of this section was distasteful to the 
 Roman Catholics, but the State law did not specify 
 whether the reading shall be by the teacher, or by one 
 or more of the scholars, or by both teacher and schol- 
 ars. In 1859 there was an organized resistance to 
 "the enforced use of the Pi'otestant version of the 
 Bible," to'the " enforced learning and reciting of the 
 Ten Commandments in their Protestant form," and to 
 the "enforced union in chanting the Lord's Prayer 
 and other religious chants " as they were then prac- 
 ticed in the Boston public schools; and about four 
 hundred pupils were, for a time, withdrawn or expelled 
 from the schools ; but the greater part soon returned. 
 
The Bible in Schools. 47 
 
 In 1862 and 1880 the law was amended, and now 
 reads as follows (Chap. M, sec. 32) : 
 
 The School Committee shall require the daily read- 
 ing in the public schools of some portion of the Bible, 
 without written note or oral comment; but they shall 
 not require a scholar, whose parent or guardian in- 
 forms the teacher in writing that he has conscientious 
 scruples against it, to read from any particular ver- 
 sion or to take any personal part in the reading ; nor 
 shall tiiey direct to be purchased or used in the public 
 schools school-books calculated to favor the tenets of 
 any particular sect of Christians. 
 
 The Famous Cincinnati Contest. 
 
 We have referred to the question of the Bible in 
 the public schools as it was agitated, in a mixed form, 
 in connection with the question of the division of the 
 school moneys in New York city. In some cities the 
 Bible question assumed a more distinct form, as in 
 the Cincinnati controversy in 1869. The reading 
 of the Bible without note or comment had been a 
 daily exercise in the schools of that city from their 
 first establishment forty jenrs before, and instruction 
 in the elementary truths and principles of religion 
 was always given without any sectarian interference 
 with " the rights of conscience. As early as 1842 
 Bishop Purcell complained that the school text-books 
 contained passages obnoxious, to Roman Catholics, 
 thattheirchildren were required to read the Protestant 
 
4S Romanism vs. The Public School System. 
 
 Testainent and Bible, and tliat the district libraries 
 contained objectionable works to which their children 
 liad access without tlie knowledge of their parents. 
 
 The School Board invited the Bishop to point out 
 any thing that was offensive in the text-books in the 
 English and German schools. They also ordered that 
 no pupil be required to read the Testament or Bible, 
 if his parents or guardians desired them excused from 
 that exercise, and that no child should take books 
 from the libraries, except at the request of the parent 
 or guardian at the beginning of the session. . 
 
 "When the controversy was opened, in 1869, it was 
 stated that the rule adopted in 1842 had long been 
 inoperative, and had been for twenty-live years omit- 
 ted from the standing rules of the Board. In 1852 
 the School Board ordered that the opening exercises 
 of the schools should comprise the reading of the 
 Bible and appropriate singing, the pupils to read such 
 version as their parents or guardians might prefer; 
 but that no notes or marginal readings be allowed, nor 
 comments by the teachers. In 1862 the Board's report 
 says there are intimations that the division of the 
 School Fund will be again agitated, but that they are 
 relieved from any apprehensions by " the fact that 
 the Constitution of the State imperatively forbids the 
 right or control of any part of the school funds by 
 any religious or other sect." " The threat is accom- 
 
The Bible in Schools. 49 
 
 panied hy reproaches ntterlj^ groundless," because for 
 twenty years the Board has had " a standing request 
 that any offensive exercises or books, or passages in 
 books, used in our schools be made known to us, which 
 has never been answered ; that for nearly ten years we 
 have offered to supply teacliers and schools in every 
 orphan asylum whatever having a sufficient number 
 of children to warrant the employment of a teacher; 
 that we have always carefully excused pupils, whose 
 parents desired it, fi-oni attending the religious exer- 
 cises with which our scliools are daily opened, and 
 that in order to encourage pupils to attend the relig- 
 ious teachings which their parents prefer, we have 
 expressly required that they shall be excused from 
 school one half day or two quarter days each week." 
 
 The rule adopted in 1852 remained in force until 
 l*^ovember 1, 1869, when the Bible was formally ex- 
 cluded from the public schools of the city by the 
 adoption of the following resolutions by " The Board 
 of Education : " 
 
 Resolved^ 1. That religious instruction and the 
 reading of religious books, including the Holj^ Bible, 
 are prohibited in the common schools of Cincinnati, 
 it being the true object and intent of this rule to 
 allow the children of parents of all sects and opinions 
 in matters of faith and worship to enjoy alike the 
 benefits of the Common School Fund. 
 
 2. TJiat so much of the regulations, in the course 
 4 
 
50 Romanism vs. The Public Suhc.ol System. 
 
 of study and text-books, in the Intermediate and Dis- 
 trict Schools (p. 213 Annual Report), as reads as fol- 
 lows : "The opening exercises in every department 
 shall commence by reading a portion of the Bible, by 
 or under the direction of the teacher, and appropriate 
 singing by the pupils," be repealed. 
 
 These resolutions were adopted, * after a long 
 and exciting contest, by a vote of twenty-two to 
 fifteen. One member absent desired his name to 
 be recorded with the minority. John D. Minor and 
 others instituted a civil suit, and an order was issued 
 the next day restraining the promulgation and en- 
 forcement of the resolutions. The case came for 
 trial before the Superior Court of Cincinnati, No- 
 vember 30, 1869, Judges Storer, Taft, and Hagans 
 being on the bench. It was ably argued by six law- 
 yers, three on each side, and on the 18th of Febru- 
 ary following judgment was rendered for the plain- 
 
 * POLITICAL ANALYSIS OF THE VOTE. 
 
 For liescindli''/. 
 
 Democrats 12 
 
 Kepublicuns lU 
 
 Totiil 22 
 
 A/jaiiid Rescinding. 
 
 Demoprats f> 
 
 K(jpul)licui)s 12 
 
 Total . 
 
 RELIGIOUS ANALYSIS. 
 
 /b/* Rescind ill fj. 
 
 ratholips 10 
 
 Freo-Thinkers 3 
 
 Jews 1 
 
 I'rotestants 3 
 
 Unknown 5 
 
 Total 22 
 
 Affairist Reseiriding. 
 
 Protestants IS 
 
 Free-Thinker 1 
 
 Jew 1 
 
 Total 15 
 
The Bible in Schools. .51 
 
 tiffs. This judgment set forth that the resokitions 
 were passed without warrant or authority of law and 
 in violation of the seventh section in the first article 
 of the Bill of Eights in the State Constitution, and 
 are therefore null and void. Judge Taft disssented. 
 A motion for a new trial was overruled by the 
 court, and the reading of the Bible was practically 
 restored. 
 
 It has been stated, on what seems to be good au- 
 thority, that not more than' two hundred petitioners 
 asked for the exclusion of the Bible, and that a re- 
 monstrance against it was sent in with more than 
 ten thousand names upon it. The leading person 
 prompting and sustaining the onset against the Bible 
 was Rev. Thomas H. Yickers, a free-thinking Unita- 
 rian minister. Rev. A. D. Mayo, D.D., a prominent 
 Unitarian minister of the " right wing," was an able 
 and efficient defender of the Bible in the schools. 
 
 Three weeks after tlie action by the Cincinnati 
 School Board, and before the suit had been argued in 
 the Com-t, the TaUet* said (November 20, 1869); 
 
 If this has been done with a view to reconciling 
 Catholics to the common school system its purpose 
 Avill not be realized. It does not meet, nor in any 
 degree lessen, our objection to the public school sys- 
 tem, etc. 
 
 * New York City Eoman Catliolic paper. 
 
52 Romanism vs. The Public School System. 
 
 December 25, the same paper said : 
 
 We hold education to be the function of the 
 Clnirch, not of the State ; and, in our cause, we do 
 not and will not accept the State as educator. 
 
 December 11 the Frceinanus Journal said : 
 
 The Catholic solution of this muddle about Bible 
 or no Bible in schools is " Hands off ! " No State 
 taxation or donation to any schools. You look to 
 jour children and we will look to ours. We don't 
 want you to be taxed for Catholic schools. We 
 do not want to be taxed- ft)r Protestant or godless 
 schools. Let the public school system go to where it 
 came from — the devil. 
 
 The Catholic World for August, 1871, shows how 
 little was gained by the liberality which allowed the 
 exclusion of the Bible from the schools : 
 
 This proposed remedy (says the World) will prove 
 worse than the disease. ... Exclude your Protestant 
 Bible and all direct and indirect religions instruction 
 from your public schools, and you will not render 
 them a whit less objectionable than they are now, for 
 we object not less to purely secular schools than we 
 do to sectarian schools. . . . There is only one of two 
 things that can satisfy us — either cease to tax us for 
 the support of the public schools, and leave the edu- 
 cation of the children to us, or give us our propor- 
 tion of the public schools in which to educate them 
 in our own religion. We protest against the gross 
 injustice of being taxed to educate the children of 
 non-Catholics, and being obliged, in addition, to sup- 
 port schools for our own children, at onr own expense, 
 or peril their souls. 
 
The Bible in Schools. 53 
 
 Many will inquire, Does not this argument prove 
 too much ? Do not the things here claimed involve 
 a recognition of a particular religion by the State and 
 a discrimination in its favor which necessarily carries 
 with it the converse right to discriminate against it ? 
 
 The New Haven Contest 
 
 will be related b}'' another : * 
 
 You know what New Haven lately resolved on, 
 after a keen debate between her Romish and her 
 Protestant schools. There was a party, represented 
 in that college city by honored men, in favor of 
 excluding tlie Bible from the common schools, in 
 order that Romanists might make no objection to the 
 management of the education of the children. That 
 party is not a weak one among Protestants in this 
 country. It once mastered the city of Cincinnati. I 
 suppose that I shall offend many if I say that political 
 parties may easily connect their vote with strong eccle- 
 siastical prejudices concerning the American school 
 system, and that a great majority of our Romish pop- 
 ulation is in one of the political parties. I know over 
 what blazing plowshares I am walking; but, as I 
 am no politician, and have no political bias in what I 
 am saying, you will pardon me for asserting that 
 in such a city as Cincinnati a democratic municipal 
 government is almost certain to be under the manipu- 
 lation of Romish ecclesiastics. That is true in New 
 York city. I will not say it is true in Boston or Chi- 
 cago ; but our great towns already occupy one fifth 
 of the land, and the largest of them are notoriously 
 under the control of the political party which has in 
 
 * Euv. Josepli Cook, Decoiiiber, 1879. 
 
54 IloMANisM VS. The Public School System, 
 
 it friends of this foreig-ii priesthood. In New York 
 city about five seventlis of the most important ofKces 
 are in tlie hands of Romanists. A practical division 
 of the school funds has occurred in New York city in 
 several cases. 
 
 New Haven had before her the same question 
 which Cincinnati discussed, but she decided it pre- 
 cisely in the opposite way : to have the Scriptures 
 read, and to have the Lord's Prayer offered by tlie 
 children. The Scriptures are read in the Protestant 
 version ; but no teacher in New Haven has any ob- 
 jection to a Romish child reading out of the Romish 
 version. There is notliing really sectarian in the 
 present religious exercises, which New Haven, after 
 long debate, has adopted, unless it be the exclusion 
 of a prayer recognizing Mary, the virgin, as in 
 some sense divine. That prayer was really recom- 
 mended by one or two astute theologians in New 
 Haven, and it is to the amazement of all America. 
 Shut out, I say, from public use the prayers that rep- 
 resent sectarianism, not only in Romanism, but in 
 Protestantism. 1 would take what is common to all 
 sects — the Decalogue, the Sermon on the Mount, the 
 Bible, as a text-book of morals — and I would sink 
 them by public reverential exercises into the youth- 
 ful heart of this nation. To that platform New 
 Haven has come back after long discussion ; but if 
 you can't come up to that platform I will ask you 
 to come up to one next to it — that is, local option. 
 If 1 could only re-arrange our population, put tlie 
 infidels in wards by themselves, the extreme Roman- 
 ists in wards by themselves, and American Protest- 
 ants in w^ards by themselves, I would allow the law of 
 the survival of the fittest to determine whose schools 
 are the best, and whose literature, whose newspapers, 
 whose politics, whose science. 
 
Attempts at Compeomise. 55 
 
 SECTION IV. 
 Attempts at Couiproniise, 
 
 ABOUT 1870 tlio impression was upon tlie mmds 
 of many intelligent Protestants, gathered from 
 some things darkl}^ shadowed forth bj Eoman Catho- 
 lics, that papists were about to work out a plan which 
 would modify the public school system, and furnish 
 a common ground on which Protestants and Eoman- 
 ists could meet and better utilize the existing system, 
 without impinging upon the rights of either. In 
 view of the immense expense prospectively involved 
 in undertaking to establish every-where a system of 
 parochial schools, there was a strong inducement to 
 Catholics. to try to iind some common ground. 
 
 Rev. Henry Ward Beecher, in the Christian 
 Union, in 1870, said : 
 
 Their plan, which now for some time the\^ have 
 been discussing in secret conclave, is so admirable, 
 that it will take time to thoroughly understand 
 its character and appreciate its merits. We are 
 not sworn to secrecy, and we speak what we do 
 know. 
 
 The plan, then, which is now under considera- 
 
56 Romanism vs. The Public School System. 
 
 tion, and wliicli awaits only some perfecting of de- 
 tails before it is ofticially promulgated, is this : It 
 will be proposed that any private association may 
 open a public school. Its doors shall be thrown 
 open to the public. There shall be no conditions of 
 admission other than those which the Board of Edu- 
 cation may prescribe. Its teachers shall all be sub- 
 ject to the examination of the Board, and shall re- 
 ceive their certilicates from it. The schools shall be 
 at all times open to its visitation, and subject, within 
 reasonable bounds, to such regulations as it may enact. 
 In the school-house proper there shall be no I'eligious 
 teaching. But when the session is ended, the teachers 
 may employ additional houi's in giving such religious 
 instruction as they see fit. Attendance on these extra 
 hours shall not, however, be compulsory. Scholars 
 may attend or not, at the option of their parents. 
 Such schools, thus established, may draw from the 
 school fund an amount in proportion to the number 
 of scliolars in actual attendance. Such, in its sub- 
 stantial features, is the plan at no distant day to be 
 proposed as a compromise between the contending 
 ])arties. 
 
 " The advantages of this scheme," said Mr. Beecher, 
 "are manifest. It will involve the State in no addi- 
 tional expenditure. It will, indeed, save something, 
 for the association will provide the rooms and the 
 text-books. Secular instruction will be furnished at 
 the expense of the State. It will be furnished 
 under the direction of the State. At the same time 
 an opportmiity is afforded to the Church to instruct 
 its own children in religious truth. Thus religious 
 and secular instruction will go hand in hand. Brot- 
 estantism and Romanism will liv^e in peace. The 
 lion and tiie lamb will lie down together, and a little 
 child shall lead them." 
 
Attempts at Gompeomise. 57 
 
 This plan to which Mr. Beecher referred as inchoate 
 in 1870, and in prospective development, had al- 
 ready taken a partial form in some cities in Connec- 
 ticut. In New Britain, Conn,, the Roman Catholic 
 school was adopted by the town November 12, 1862, 
 and was known as " the t9wn school." It was sup- 
 ported by the town for the school year ending Au- 
 gust 31, 1870, at an expense of over $3,000. It was 
 then, as since, known and reported in the Sadlier's 
 Catholic Almanac as St. Mary's Parochial School. 
 In 1871 it reported, boys, 170 ; girls, 132, with lay 
 teachers. Its male principal was a graduate of the 
 State jSTormal School, with six female teachers, all 
 Eoman Catholics, selected by the priest or other au- 
 thority, and approved by the school visitors of the 
 town. It works under the general regulations of the 
 other town schools, and was supported at public ex- 
 pense, but was a thoroughly denominational school. 
 In 1888 Sadlier's Almanac gives the following item, 
 under the head of " Parochial Schools " : St. Mary's, 
 ISTew Britain, Sisters of Mercy, boys, 570; girls, 
 551. 
 
 In the city of New Haven the Roman Catholics 
 gained their object at a school election, September 
 16, 1867, when their ticket was elected by a majority 
 of seventy votes. The Wew Englander'^ said : 
 
 * October, 1S67. 
 
58 EoMANisM VS. The Puulic School System. 
 
 The day before the balloting two of the Eomaii 
 Catholic pastors of the city exhorted their parishion- 
 ers to show their strength against " the Yankees ; " 
 and in the third of the churches, the pastor being 
 absent, the Catholic ticket was distributed through 
 the children of the Sunday-school. One of the priests 
 is reported to have said that he had been trying to 
 secure public money for his parish school, and now 
 was the time to demand it. 
 
 The Hamilton or St. Patrick's school was soon 
 adopted and supported at public expense. The steps 
 leading to its adoption are related in the Report of 
 the Board of Education of New Haven, for the year 
 ending September 1, 18GS. They say: 
 
 Early in the year Rev. Matthew Hart, in behalf of 
 parents residing in the eastern part of the district, 
 made application to the Board to receive the pupils 
 of St. Pati'ick's school (about six hundred children) 
 and instruct them as pupils of tiie public schools. 
 The Board, after due consideration, believing it to 
 be their duty to provide for the instruction of all 
 children, residents of the school district, who make 
 application, so far as it is in their power, decided to 
 comply with the request, if suitable accommodations 
 could be secured. The reply of the Board was com- 
 municated in the following resolutions: 
 
 Whe7'eas, Application has been made to this Board 
 by Rev. Matthew Hart, requesting it to provide for 
 the education of scholars now in St. Patrick's School, 
 and for other children in that neighborhood now un- 
 provided with seats in any school ; and whereas, this 
 Board recognizes the duty of furnishing to all suita- 
 ble applicants the opportunities for education in the 
 
Attempts at Compeomise. 59 
 
 public schools under its charge ; and, whereas^ it has 
 at this time no suitable building immediately availa- 
 ble for the purpose of a school in that part of the 
 district ; therefore, 
 
 Resolved^ 1. That the Board is ready to rent for 
 temporary use the building now occupied bj^ St. Pat- 
 rick's School, or any building eligible for the purpose, 
 and to commence and maintain therein a public 
 school for the children of that neighborhood, on ex- 
 actly the same basis as all other schools under their 
 charge. 
 
 2. That the Committee on School Buildings be re- 
 quested to inquire and report to the Board as to a 
 controlling lease of one or both the buildings now 
 occupied by the St. Patrick's School, what alterations, 
 if any, will be necessary to lit them for the use of a 
 public school and the expenses attending the same ; 
 said lease to commence in time, so that the rooms can 
 be prepared for occupancy by the district for the May 
 term of 1868. 
 
 An agreement having been made for the rental of 
 the building previously occupied by the school, after 
 a thorough reconstruction at the expense of the own- 
 ers, the school was opened under the charge and in- 
 struction of ten teachers,* who had been previously 
 examined by the Superintendent of Schools and found 
 duly qualified for their duties. The studies and ex- 
 ercises were regulated like all other schools of the dis- 
 trict by " time-tables," containing a programme of 
 recitations covering the whole time Of each school- 
 day. Frequent visits have been made by the Super- 
 intendent, members of the Board, citizens, and stran- 
 gers from abroad, and the results thus far are quite 
 satisfactory, exhibiting regularity of attendance, good 
 
 * All Sisters of Mercy. 
 
GO EoMANiSM VS. The Public School System. 
 
 order, and earnest attention to duties, liigliiy com- 
 mendable to teachers and pupils. In all respects the 
 school has been conducted in the same manner and 
 governed by the same rules as all other schools of the 
 district. 
 
 Moreover, this school is understood to be an exclu- 
 sively Koman Catholic school, the teachers being all 
 Sisters of Mercy, and, with all the scholars, under the 
 spiritual direction of the Roman Catholic Bishops, act- 
 ing through the pastor of St. Patrick's Church, and 
 securing to the pupils, by the opportunity of impart- 
 ing religious instruction freely to the school out of 
 school hours, a thoroughly Roman Catholic training. 
 Under the head of Parochial Scliools Sadlier''s 
 Catholic Year-Book for 1871 has "St. Patrick's, 
 New Haven, pupils, 730, under the charge of the Sis- 
 ters of Mercy." In 1888 the same appears: "Boys, 
 400 ; girls, 460." Here is a Roman Catholic parochial 
 school, supported at public expense, complying with 
 the letter of the school law, but holding religious ex- 
 ercises out of school hours. 
 
 In Waterbury, Conn., a parochial school was or- 
 ganized by Rev. Father Thomas F. Hendricken, 
 pastor of the Church of the Immaculate Conception, 
 but it was taken under the care of the Board of Edu- 
 cation, of which Father Hendricken was usually a 
 member, with the understanding that it was to con- 
 
Attempts at Compeomise. 61 
 
 sist, as before, of Roman Catholic children and 
 teachers, and the opening and closing exercises were 
 to be distinctively Roman Catholic, as they had been, 
 though the school was to conform in all respects to 
 the laws of the district. In 1871 Sadlier's CatJiolic 
 Year-Book reported it under the head of Parochial 
 Schools, with 200 boys and 175 girls. In 1880 
 it reported 1,100 pupils under lay teachers. Sisters of 
 Charity. 
 
 In Manchester, N. H., according to Sadlier''s Cath- 
 olic Year-Booh, for 1870 there were fourteen pub- 
 lic schools kept by fourteen Sisters of Mercy. The 
 Year Book for 1888 shows 2,665 pupils in parochial 
 schools in that city taught by Brothers of the Chris- 
 tian schools. Sisters of Mercy, Sisters of the Holy 
 Name, and Gray Kuns. 
 
 "While the plan which Mr. Beecher, in 1870, more 
 than hinted at was tentatively, but partially and in- 
 formally introduced in some places, it has never been 
 officially adopted or even recognized by the leaders 
 of the Roman Catholic Church ; and all hope of such 
 a compromise measure has now utterly vanished. 
 Probably there never was any good ground for Mr. 
 Beecher's suggestion. He doubtless consulted chiefly 
 with his hopes and his imagination. The truth is, the 
 Church of Rome is in toto opposed to the American 
 Public School System. She is fully intent upon edu- 
 
f)2 Romanism vs. The Public School System, 
 
 (rating her children in her own way, and means to 
 gather them into her own schools. She hates our school 
 system, and would be glad to overthrow it. Take 
 out the Bible, and she is not then satisfied, as we have 
 seen. The Roman Catholics do not introduce their 
 own Bible, the Douay version, into their own schools. 
 Tliey have never been anxious to have their people 
 read their own Bible. The reading-books in tlieir 
 schools have generally been such avowedly Catholic 
 works as, Za Salle's Treatise on the Duty of Chris- 
 tians towards God, and Collofs Doctrinal and Scrijjt- 
 ural Catechism, which were used as class-books for 
 reading and study. Their schools are always strictly 
 denominational schools. 
 
 The concessions to Romanists in New Haven and 
 the other cities just cited was ill-advised, and never 
 afforded any basis for any thing really hopeful, and 
 it is, moreover, of doubtful legality. To consent to 
 the use of public property and funds, directly or indi- 
 rectly, in aid of sectarian schools is contrai-y to the 
 spirit and letter of our unsectarian institutions. 
 
Attempts to Get Public School Funds. 63 
 
 SECTION V. 
 Attempts to Get Puhllc Sehool Fmids. 
 
 WE have seen that as early as 1840, in New York 
 city, many Roman Catholic children were taken 
 out of the public schools and gathered into parochial 
 schools. From 1840 to 1850 there was a similar 
 movement in other large cities, though the number 
 for the whole country was scarcely appreciable. 
 
 As the work of organizing parochial schools yvent 
 on, demands were made for their portion of the pub- 
 lic school money raised by taxation ; not the portion 
 raised from their own people, which would have been 
 quite small, but in proportion to the number of chil- 
 dren they could muster. 
 
 In 1853 • this demand was made in eight different 
 States — JSTew York, Massachusetts, New Jersey, 
 Pennsylvania, Maryland, Ohio, Michigan, and Cali- 
 fornia. If they had succeeded in these demands 
 they would have gained two important objects : they 
 would have drawn large sums from Protestant purses 
 to support Poman Catholic schools ; and they would 
 have thus effected a partial union between Church 
 and State — objects dear to every Pomanist. The 
 
G-i: II0.MANISM VS. The Public School System. 
 
 money of the Stute would liave been devoted 
 to the payment of sectarian teachers, all of whom 
 impart rigidly sectarian instruction. It was also ex- 
 pected that if they succeeded in this object, all other 
 religious denominations would ask for their share of 
 the public school money. 
 
 Thus, the funds provided in common for all being 
 dissipated among the different sects, the Common 
 School System would perish. This demand was not 
 foj-mally acceded to, but by degrees, in New York 
 city and a few other places, the Catholics have suc- 
 ceeded in getting some appropriations of money 
 which have aided their institutions. 
 
 As late as about 1860, it is believed, there was no 
 sectarian instruction in the public reformatory and 
 charitable institutions of New York. All denomina- 
 tions shared, without jealousy, in the work, in an 
 unsectarian way. But in the year 1863, at the instance 
 of Rev. Dr. Ives, a pervert to Romanism from the 
 Protestant Episcopal Church, a charter was obtained 
 for a " Roman Catholic Protectorate" for destitute or 
 unfortunate children, to be supported by a public tax. 
 All its officers and instructors were to be of one 
 faith — the Roman Catholic, and they were to receive 
 annually $110, instead of $70, per cajnta, as before. 
 This was a papal triumph, invading the province of 
 the Common School System. 
 
Attempts to Get Public School Funds. 65 
 
 On the 12t]i of May, 1869, the tax levy law for 
 ]^ew York city was passed by the Legislature, allow- 
 ing " an annual amount equal to twenty per cent, of the 
 excise moneys received from said cities for 1868, 
 to be distributed for the support of schools educating 
 children gratuitously in that city." Another Eoman 
 Catholic victory. 
 
 Nearly all Protestants declined to receive these 
 funds, protesting not only against tlie unequal dis- 
 tribution proposed, but also against the principle rec- 
 ognized in the " Bill," of appropriating money to 
 sectarian schools, as fatal to the Common School Sj^s- 
 tem. The people thus found themselves taxed for 
 the support of sectarian education, the Roman Cath- 
 olic faith being taught in the schools thus supported. 
 The State and the Churcli were virtually united. A 
 powerful agitation followed, and, through the vigorous 
 efforts of Francis Lieber, LL.D., and the Union 
 League Chib, this law was repealed in 1870. 
 
 There arose a demand tliat many Roman Catholic 
 asylums, protectories, etc., should be aided from the 
 public treasury. Many of these were in part chari- 
 table institutions, but a considerable number of them 
 were of a mixed educational and industrial character, 
 and some were purely parochial schools, Hon. Dexter 
 A. Hawkins, A.M., a late member of the New York 
 Bar, devoted much time to careful research into this 
 5 
 
GO liOiiAxiSM vs. The Public School Svstsm. 
 
 subject, compiling data collected from the public 
 records in the offices of the Comptroller of the city of 
 New York, of the Board of Education, of the Board 
 of Apportionment, of the Commissioners of Emigra- 
 tion, of the Comptroller of the State, and the State 
 Commissioners of Charity, showing under what guises 
 or names the Roman Catholic Church has drawn 
 public money from the city and State treasuries. The 
 following is a condensed exhibit : * 
 
 MoxEYS Donated in Seventeen Years (1869-1885, inclusive) to 
 THE Roman Catholic Church from the Public Treasury in 
 THE city of Xew York. 
 
 Tcital Amount 
 Total for 17 Years, $10,915,371 81. (.aid k. raoh 
 
 In>titiUiuii. 
 
 New York Catholic Protectory $:),-l'Jl,5.S2 57 
 
 Foundling Asylum of Sisters of Cliarity 2,872,474 89 
 
 Institution of the Sisters of Mcrev ) 
 
 Sisters of Mercy ". [• 81(;,230 95 
 
 Institution of Mercy ) 
 
 St. PJlizabeth Hospital Dispensnry 5,836 00 
 
 Societyof St. Vincent de Paul of tlie city of New York. 80,5:50 50 
 
 St. Vincent Industrial Home fur Girls 8.547 00 
 
 St. Vincent Home for Boys 5,975 00 
 
 St. Vincent de Paul Orphan Asylum 21,445 43 
 
 Free School of St. Vincent dc p'anl 7,642 00 
 
 St. Vincent's Hospital 60,692 00 
 
 St. Vincent's Roman Catiiolic Orplum Asylum 15,000 00 
 
 Free School of St. Vincent ' 2.500 00 
 
 Home fdr the A^ed of Lifle Sisters of the Poor 39,600 00 
 
 St. Stephen's Home for Children 205,001 24 
 
 St. Stephen's Orphan House 17,244 43 
 
 St. Stephen's Homo 2,150 00 
 
 * See pamphlet by Mr. Hawkins. Phillips & Ihmt, 805 Broadway, 
 New Y-ork city, N. Y. Last edition, lSs7, pp. ls-'2L The last c.litiou 
 contains a reply to criticisms upon a i>re\"ious (.'dition made in the Vutholic 
 World. 
 
Attempts to Get Public Scpiool Funds. G7 
 
 Total amount ■ 
 paid to eacU 
 Institution. 
 
 St. Francis's Hospital $78,911 75 
 
 S^ Francis's Male Parochial School 3,750 00 
 
 St. Francis's Female Parochial School 4,250 00 
 
 Roman Catholic Orphan Asylum 306,504 80 
 
 Asylum of the Sisters of St. Dominic 265.961 1 7 
 
 Sisters of St. Dominic 25,722 20 
 
 House of the Good Shepherd 297,983 36- 
 
 Mission of Immaculate Virgin for Protecting Homeless 
 
 and Destitute Children 308,532 15 
 
 Missionary Sisters of the Order of St. Francis 161,023 06 
 
 Sisters of'the Holy Cross 750 00 
 
 House of Our Lady of the Rosary 6,125 25 
 
 Asylum of Dominican Convent of OurLady of the Ptosary 65,698 63 
 
 St. Joseph's Home for the Aged. . . .^ 46, 154 57 
 
 St. Joseph's Industrial Home for Destitute Cliildren.. . 173,638 97 
 
 St. Joseph's Orpiian As^ium 35,463 87 
 
 St. Joseph's Improved Institute for Deaf Muies 151,792 69 
 
 St. Joseph's Hospital of the Poor of St. Francis 1,800 00 
 
 St. James's Home 49,457 38 
 
 St. Ann's Home 19,301 24 
 
 St. Agatha's Home 7,975 7 1 
 
 St. Michael's Home 2,504 1 5 
 
 Association for Befriending Children and Voin g Girl<. 57,352 43 
 
 Baby's Shelter and Day Nursery '. 1,31 00 ' 
 
 Day Nursery and Lod'g House lor Respectable Women. 266 00 
 
 That the steady increase, year by year, during the 
 
 last eleven years, may be seen, we give the yearly 
 totals : 
 
 1869 $771,612 04 
 
 1870 676,495 55 
 
 1871 502,592 65 
 
 1872 421,674 03 
 
 1873 • 338,336 24 
 
 1874 ■ 326,797 90 
 
 1875 • 459,187 48 
 
 1876 554,285 98 
 
 1877 588,677 31 
 
 1878 ,. .. $710,350 98 
 
 1879 .'. 693.616 29 
 
 1880 719,957 06 
 
 1881 748,989 48 
 
 1882 817,520 93 
 
 1883 814,182 84 
 
 1884 862,190 85 
 
 1885 908,904 20 
 
 The next table will show no less than 56 Roman 
 Catholic schools, besides other institutions, aided by 
 
68 Romanism vs. Tii?: Public School System. 
 
 donations from the J3ublic treasury in four years, 
 
 1869 to 1872, inclusive, all of wliicli is additional to 
 the preceding table. 
 
 Money Donated from tue Public Tkeasury of New York City 
 TO THE Catholic Church — Continued. 
 
 Totiil AiiKiunt 
 paid to each 
 Ir ftiuilion. 
 
 St. Joseph's Church $5,206 58 
 
 St. Joseph's Parish School, Manliattauville 12,954 00 
 
 St. Josepli's Parochial Male School 6,222 00 
 
 St. JosepJi's Parochial Female Sciiool G,S52 00 
 
 Sisters of St. Joseph 10,000 00 
 
 St. Joseph's Industrial School 900 00 
 
 St. Joseph's German-Aniencaii Industrial Seliool 828 00 
 
 German Free Schools of St, Joseph's Church, 125th Sueet 
 
 and 9th Avenue : 420 00 
 
 St. Joseph's Home 12,000 00 
 
 C(mvent of the Sacred Heart 10,000 00 
 
 Charity Week-day School Academy of Sacred Heart 6,170 00 
 
 House of Mercy, Bloomingdale 12,500 00 
 
 Church of Dommican Fathers 5,549 46 
 
 Dominican Church, Lexington Avenue 7,000 00 
 
 Sciiool of St. Nicliolas, Order of Si. Dominic 6,800 00 
 
 St. Nicholas School 16,700 00 
 
 St. Nicholas Cliurch a64 60 
 
 St. Patrick's Orphan Asylum 8.153 44 
 
 St. Patrick's Cathedral 17,857 08 
 
 St. Patrick's Cathedral School 19,8:50 00 
 
 St. Patrick's Orplian Asylum, UoU and Prince Streets 15,000 00 
 
 St. Bridget's School 58,168 00 
 
 St. Bridget's Church 5,000 00 
 
 Sister Helena 4,317 85 
 
 St. Teresa's School 22,135 00 
 
 St. Teresa's Church 1,280 00 
 
 School of St. Teresa's Chapel ■ 5,000 00 
 
 In aid of school attached to St. Teresa's Churcli 5,000 00 
 
 St, Ann's Parochial School 9,890 00 
 
 St. Ann's Church, Eighth Street 2 173 33 
 
 St. Peter's Free School 17.015 00 
 
 German-American School, St. Peter's Cliurcli 1,500 00 
 
 German-American Free School 1 8,456 00 
 
 St. Paul's Church Parochial Schools 5,316 00 
 
 Free Sciiool of St. Mary's Assuinpiion Chinch . 840 GO 
 
Attempts to Get Public School Funds. 69 
 
 Tdtal iiiiKiuiit 
 jiaid to fach 
 Institution. 
 
 St. Lawrence Church f L5U0 00 
 
 Si. Lawrence Parish School 1 ii, 1 1 8 00 
 
 St. Mary's School 55, 1 2'J 00 
 
 St. Mary's Church, Grand Street 4 00 00 
 
 Sisters of Charity, St. Mary's Churcli 140 00 
 
 School of the Most Holy Redeemer 38,088 00 
 
 St. Michael's Parochial' Scbool 10,462 00 
 
 In aid of school attached to St. Michael's Gliurch 5,000 00 
 
 St. Michael's School 5,000 00 
 
 St. Gabriel's School 34,840 00 
 
 Church of Transfiguration 387 75 
 
 Transtia:uration Free School 39,596 00 
 
 St. Janies's Parochial Male School 12,900 00 
 
 St. James's Parochial Female School 31,548 00 
 
 St. James's Clnirch 80i» 00 
 
 School of our Lady of Sorrow 22,400 00 
 
 St. Columba Charity and Week-day School 23.966 00, 
 
 Church of the Holy Innocents 1, 1 24 50 
 
 St. Andrew's Church 2,014 02 
 
 Ciiurch of the Immaculate Conception 5,182 43 
 
 School of the Immaculate Conception 38,878 00 
 
 Church of St. Paul the Apostle 10,004 64 
 
 German-American School, 19th Ward 5,850 00 
 
 Church of St. Boniface 965 70 
 
 St. John the Evangelist Free School for Girls 8,048 00 
 
 Parish School Church of the Nativity 639 60 
 
 Roman Catholic Church, Second Ave., Second and Third Sts. 645 45 
 
 Church of the Holy Cross 8,565 35 
 
 Parochial School Church of t!ie Holy Cross 1,272 00 
 
 Church of the Holy Name, or St. Matthew 463 12 
 
 Church of the Assumption 918 26 
 
 Church of St. John tlie Baptist 1,035 31 
 
 Parochial School of St. John the Baptist 1,560 00 
 
 Free School of Sisters of Notre Dame 1,296 00 
 
 Free German School 13,080 00 
 
 German Mission Association 15,000 00 
 
 College of St. Francis Xaxier 7,272 00 
 
 St. Peter's 1,042 90 
 
 St. Columba Church 1,987 28 
 
 Church of the Covenant 652 60 
 
 Cliurch of the Nativity 645 45 
 
 Church of the Epiphany 765 71 
 
 School of Bethlehem "770 00 
 
 St. Boniface Church School 4,270 00 
 
70 Romanism vs. The Public School System. 
 
 Total ainoiint 
 paid to fiiuli 
 Institiitioii. 
 
 St. Patrick's Free School $7,384 00 
 
 St. Francis Xavier Male School H,8G1 OO 
 
 St. Francis Xavier Female School 21,370 00 
 
 Sacred Heart Female Academy 3,000 00 
 
 Chiircli of the Annunciation 3,174 00 
 
 Clinrch of the Annunciation School 7,372 00 
 
 St. Gabriel's Male School 7,449 00 
 
 St. Gabriel's Female School 27,5!) 1 00 
 
 St. Alphonsus's School 8,524 00 
 
 Church of the Holy Redeemer 1,000 00 
 
 Scliool of St. Francis oC Assisi 8.140 00 
 
 School of the Holv Cross 0,744 00 
 
 School of the Nativitj^ 700 00 
 
 School of St. Chrysostom 2,165 00 
 
 Orphan Asylum,' Prince and Mott Streets 10,000 00 
 
 Sisters of St. Marv's 3,000 00 
 
 School of the Order of Sisters of Si. Dominic 5,000 00 
 
 Other Roman Catholic Institutions, New York Ciiy 202,095 00 
 
 Total $1,101,344 01 
 
 Total in the two tables * 12.010,7 15 82 
 
 Of the above $712,469 were given to scliools, an 
 amount much larger than tlie endowment of many 
 Protestant colleges. AVlien has Home ever hesitated 
 to pnt her hand into public treasuries ? 
 
 Mr. Hawkins says : 
 
 Some of the Protestant religious denominations re- 
 ceive a small donation from the public treasury in this 
 city for their charities, but they are opposed to the 
 whole business, as recognizing the principle of a union 
 of Church and State, and would be glad to have each 
 tub stand on its own bottom — that is, each Church 
 support its charities with its own money, and not with 
 the money of others, but the Roman Catholics op- 
 pose it." 
 
Attempts to Get Public School Funds. 71 
 
 Mr. Hawkins then shows: 
 
 How the Koman Gatiioltcs Evaded the Consti- 
 tutional Amendments. 
 
 In this cit}^ tliis Church was subsidized by the 
 " Tweed Eing," and nearly $800,000 paid to it in a 
 single year, 1869. In 1870 petitions from more than 
 one hundred thousand citizens caused the Legislature 
 to repeal the law, the repeal to take effect near the 
 end of that year, imposing a perpetual tax of nearly 
 $250,000 on this city for their parochial schools. 
 Hence a falling off the next year, 1871, in the sub- 
 sidy. On Washington's Birthday, 1872, a detailed 
 exposure of this " Tweed Eing " subsidy for the three 
 preceding years, to the extent of $1,396,389 51, was 
 made by the writer, and the subsidy in consequence 
 fell that year to $421,674 03. In tlie autumn of 1872 
 the "Tweed Ring" were driven from powder in both 
 the city and State. The writer remained at Albany 
 nearly the entire sessions of 1873 and 1874, to expose 
 and denounce this class of legislation, and the annual 
 sectarian appropriation bills, that had grown to over 
 $1,000,000, were wholly defeated. This subsidy in 
 this city was in consequence reduced for 1873 to 
 $338,336 24, and for 1874 to $326,797 90. Consti- 
 tntional amendments were prepared in 1873, and 
 finally adopted in 1874, which, had they not been in- 
 terfered with, and two pestilent clauses Jesuitically 
 introduced into the amendments to Article VIII, by 
 the skill and influence of a Catholic membei' of the 
 Constitutional Commission, would have cut those sub- 
 sidies up by the roots. 
 
 These two legal wolves in sheep's clothing were the 
 apparently harmless phrase, "and juvenile delinquents" 
 in Section 10, and the sentence, "This section shall not 
 
72 IloMxiNiSM VS. The Public School System. 
 
 prevent such country, city, town, or village from mak- 
 ing sucli provision fur the aid oi' support of its poor as 
 may be authorized by law," in Section 11. 
 
 Under the " juvenile delinquents," this Church 
 saved chapter G47, Laws of 18H6, giving the Roman 
 Catholic Protectory annually out of the city treasuiy 
 $50 per head; and chapter 428, Laws of 1867, giving it 
 annually $60 more per head (total $110 per head, or 
 double the actual cost) of its inmates, thus securing a 
 subsidy of from two to three hundred thousand dollars 
 per year from the taxpayers, and, if well managed, a 
 clear profit to the Church of at least $100,000. So 
 profitable to this sect is this protectory that they keep 
 sentinels on the watch at each police court to induce 
 commitments to the protectory, and have had laws 
 enacted compelling justices to commit to it. They 
 made war on a public school connected with the city 
 alms-house, and, by act of Legislature, broke it up, for 
 the purpose of getting possession of a portion of the 
 inmates to swell their own numbers and profits. 
 
 Charity is the using of one's own means for the 
 good of others. It is the highest Christian virtue, 
 and the duty especially of all Churches ; but to get 
 hold of and use the public money to make a profit and 
 to build up a sect under the pretense of charity, is 
 hypocrisy. 
 
 Mr. Hawkins further sliows how the Ca,tholics again 
 got into the public treasury : 
 
 Immediately after the above amendment to Section 11 
 of the Constitution was adopted this Church made haste 
 to set its skilled talent to devise schemes to connect 
 whole broods of their institutions by a sort of sectarian 
 suction-hose with the pul)lic treasury. It accomplished 
 this under the word " poor " in the above sentence in 
 
Attempts to Get Public School Funds. 73 
 
 Section 11. It had the word " poor " defined by 
 chapter 221, Laws of 1875, so as to include, araono; 
 others, " the sick, destitute, friendless, and infirm," 
 and the occupants of their enormous boarding-house, 
 built on land given bj the city, and improperly called 
 the " Foundling Asylum of the Sisters of Charity ; " 
 and by the same statute they grabbed the excise 
 moneys, thus adding several hundred thousand dollars 
 more to their annual subsidy. 
 
 These so-called " foundlings " may be two years old 
 when received by the " Sisters," and may board with 
 them, or under their control, till eighteen years old, if 
 girls, and twenty -one years old, if boys. They may be 
 indentured to this institution, if half orphans, by 
 either the father or mother, and the mother may 
 board there also to look after the children. For every 
 child boarding there these " charitable Sisters " draw 
 from the city treasury $138 70 per year, and for 
 every mother boarding there $216 per year; total for 
 a mother and child, 1354 70 per year, besides having 
 the work of the children and mothers. 
 
 Most of the hard-working laborers throughout 
 the country would be glad to turn "j90w" and sup- 
 port themselves if they could draw from the city 
 treasury at this rate. These advantages to this sect 
 are secured by chapter 635, Laws of 1 872 ; chapter 
 611:, Laws of 1874, and chapter 43, Laws of 1877. 
 The cost to the city treasury of this Church boarding- 
 house of the Sisters of Charity is now between two 
 and three hnndred thousand dollars per year, and if 
 well managed brings annually not less than $100,000 
 net profit to the Church. 
 
 By concentrating their forces, and by a change of 
 name or of statement as to what they are doing, so as 
 on paper to appear to be " aiding or supporting the 
 poor," nearly all their organizations have got back 
 
74 HoMANiSM VS. The Public School System. 
 
 into the public treasury again, and the annual subsidy 
 to this Church is now as great as in the palmy days of 
 the " Tweed Ring." In the last two years in this city 
 it drew from the public money $1,403,967 27. 
 
 The}^ may call any persons in their schools and in- 
 stitutions " the poor,'' and so pension them upon the 
 public treasury. There is no investigation of their 
 statements or accounts or supervision of their in- 
 stitutions by any public officer, as common safety 
 requires where the public money is paid out to them ; 
 but whatever statement under oath they choose to 
 make is accepted as the basis of payment to them. 
 
 An amount of jniblic money equal to two and one 
 half per cent, of the entire tax levy., or six per cent, 
 of the administrative expenses of the entire city 
 government., is thus paid annually to this Church in 
 this city. 
 
 Any taxpayer can from his tax bills readily calculate 
 how much of this is exacted from him ; and this, too, 
 in a country where a State Church is prohibited by the 
 Constitution, and in a State where the organic law 
 forbids "discrimination or favor" to any Church. 
 
 An examination of the roll of taxpayers in this city 
 shows that those belonging to the Roman Catholic 
 Church pay about one-tenth part of the public taxes ; 
 while they draw from the public treasury for the 
 societies belonging to their churches nearly ten times 
 as much as those of all the other religious sects to- 
 gether. 
 
 The fact that Roman Catholics excel all other sects 
 in the number of their paupers and criminals, in this 
 city, is no reason for thus pensioning this denomination 
 upon the public ti'easury, but, on the contrary, is a 
 reason against doing it; for the interests of the tax- 
 payers, and of society, and of civilization all require 
 that public support should not be given to a sect that 
 
Attempts to Get Public School Funds. 75 
 
 has made sucli a signal failure in reducing pauperism 
 and crime among its adherents. 
 
 There is but one effectual remedy for these subsidies, 
 and but one effectual way of putting a stop to this in- 
 direct building up a State Clmrch with the public 
 treasure, and enabling its satellites and dependents to 
 liv^e on the public without work. 
 
 It is for the taxpayers and the opponents of a State 
 Church and a State religion, and all friends of toleration 
 in religion, to insist upon the striking out of these two 
 Jesuitical clauses in the State Constitution, and the 
 repeal of the statutes they protect. 
 
 The Roman Catholics have attempted to answer * 
 Mr. Hawkins's allegations ; but, having examined both 
 statements, we are unable to see that Mr. Hawkins has 
 been impeached. 
 
 In 1885 there was appropriated on State grants, out 
 of the JSTew York city treasury and from the Excise 
 Fund, about $1,600,000. Of this amount about 
 $224,000 went to non-sectarian institutions, about 
 $92,000 to Hebrew institutions, about $356,000 to 
 Protestant institutions, about $933,000 to Roman 
 Catholic institutions. f 
 
 In the 'New York Legislature, January, 188 Y, a bill 
 was introduced by Plon. Michael G. Murphy, which 
 provided that " The schools established and maintained 
 
 *The Eoman Catholic vindication, entitled Grants of Zand and nifU of 
 Money, etc., was published in a pamphlet of 54 pages by the Catholic 
 Publication Society Co., 8 Barclay Street, New York'city, 1880. 
 
 t Eev. J. M. King, D.D., in an address before the Committee on the 
 Affairs of Cities, Albany, 1885. 
 
76 Romanism vs. The Public School System. 
 
 by the New York Catholic Protectory shall participate 
 in the distribution of common school funds in the 
 same manner and degree as the common schools of the 
 city and county of New York " — a plain demand for 
 sectarian appropriations and the destruction of the 
 conunon school system. The bill failed, but it is a key 
 to the piir23oses of the Roman Catholic Church. 
 
 In August, 1887, the Roman Catholics in Lowell, 
 Mass., apphed to the School Board of the city for a 
 supply of school-books for their parochial schools, on the 
 plea that they are bought by money raised by general tax 
 for the free use of pupils. The reply was made that 
 the Constitution of Massachusetts forbids the use of 
 money raised for school purposes in aid of any denom- 
 inational or sectarian scliools. 
 
 A little later came the request of the Roman Cathohcs 
 in the city of Maiden, Mass., that certain unoccupied 
 public school rooms might be leased for a compensa- 
 tion to the authorities of the Roman Catholic Church, 
 for the use of their parochial schools. As these rooms 
 had been emptied by the withdrawal of the children 
 of Catholic parents from the public schools in order to 
 place them in parochial schools, it was supposed that 
 the same answer might have been returned as in the 
 Lowell case ; but a subservient city council granted, 
 almost unanimously, the request, fixing the rent at a 
 merely nominal sum. These incidents have served to 
 
Attempts to Get Public School Funds. 77 
 
 aroiise public attention to the encroachments of 
 Romanism, and awaken apprehensions that in many 
 places, through unscrupulous politicians, American in- 
 stitutions may be periled. 
 
 An important decision has just been rendered by the 
 courts in Illinois adverse to the Roman Catholic 
 Church, defeating a shrewd scheme for obtaining the 
 public money for the support of their Industrial School 
 for Girls. The result of the trial apj^eared in the 
 Chicago Tribune^ October 2,1888. Under provisions 
 of a law shrewdly pushed through the Legislature, 
 presumably in the interest of the Romanists, depend- 
 ent children can be committed to industrial institu- 
 tions by the courts, their " tuition, maintenance, and 
 care" to be paid for, by the county, at the rate of ten 
 dollars per month. A large number of dependent 
 girls were committed to the Roman Catholic Industrial 
 School for Girls in Chicago. In process of time the man- 
 agers of the institution presented a bill for settlement 
 to the county treasurer, who declined to pay the bill. In 
 the lower court the Roman Catholics gained their case. 
 The Board of Commissioners of the county apjiealed to 
 the Supreme Court, by which the decision of the lower 
 court was reversed, on the ground that it would be an 
 appropriation of public money in aid of a sectarian in- 
 stitution, which would be contrary to the Constitution 
 of the State of Illinois. The third clause of the eighth 
 
78 RoMAJS^isM vs. The Public School System. 
 
 article provides that "neitlier the General Assembly nor 
 any county, etc., shall ever make any appropriation 
 or pay from any public fund whatever, any thing in aid 
 of any church or sectarian purpose, or to help suj)- 
 port or sustain any school, academy, etc., controlled 
 by any church or sectarian denomination whatever." 
 It was fully shown in the trial that said institution was 
 controlled by the Roman Catholic Church, and that the 
 instruction it furnished was of a sectarian character. 
 To pay said bills would be an appropriation of the tax- 
 payers' money for sectarian purposes. 
 
 This question is likely to assume another phase, if we 
 may accept what the J^reeman's Journal says. They 
 are aware tliat the public school n)onoys in a consider- 
 able number of States are guarded by constitutional * 
 prohibitions against division for sectarian schools, and 
 that if relieved from the burden of expense they must 
 seek it in some other way. There are intimations that 
 they will seek it by relief from what they call double 
 taxation for schools. A very recent number of the 
 Freemai^s Journal says of the school question : 
 
 It is not really a question for the politicians, but a 
 question for the courts. Can a large body of the people 
 of Ne.w York and Brooklyn be forced to bear adoui>le 
 tax, because the authorities insist that they must acecjit 
 a non-Christian education or go without any ? This 
 burden is forced on them now. Plow long, as the pro- 
 
 * Sec Section of this volume. 
 
Attempts to Get Puelic School Funds. 79 
 
 testing population increases, and as 'public opinion be- 
 comes more enlightened, can it remain 'i If the Bap- 
 tists, Methodists, and Presbyterians prefer Cliristless 
 schools to the loss of money made necessary by the 
 founding of schools of Christian morality, their de- 
 mands for a share of the school fund, on conscientious 
 grounds, might well be looked on witli suspicion. In 
 our political system numbers count. The majority is 
 supposed to settle all political questions. But the 
 opinion of a large minority has weight in proportion 
 to its numbers. As Catholics we are bound to have 
 what we want, for tAvo reasons — we are right and we 
 are numerous. Moreover, we have always been con- 
 sistent on this public school question. Catholics ask 
 for what they save the State. It is an enormous sum. 
 With the multiplication of Catholic schools it becomes 
 greater every year. If the Protestant Episcopalians 
 build schools, let them have what they save the State. 
 When the Congregationalists or the Hebrews can show 
 schools like ours, they may consistently make the de- 
 mand that we are making. 
 
 The Catholic Citizen^ of Milwaukee, in a recent is- 
 sue emphasized the statement that the Catholic paro- 
 chial schools of that city save the city $1 5,000 a year. 
 This is a bold hint that, therefore, they should be ex- 
 empted from taxation for the support of the public 
 schools. 
 
 The subject of relief from taxation will be discussed 
 under Question lY, Part II. 
 
 As to the purposes of Romanists, Rev. Dr. McGlynn 
 said : * 
 
 * North Amtrlcan Review, August, 1887, p. I'JO. ' 
 
so Romanism va. The PuiiLic School System. 
 
 The hope is not concealed that when the so-called 
 "Catholic vote" shall become larger, the politicians may 
 be induced to appropriate, tlu'ough State legislature or 
 local government, all the funds necessai-y for the support 
 of these schools. This has already been accomplished 
 in Pouglikeepsie, New Haven, and elsewhere, and for 
 a brief period during the offensive and defensive alli- 
 ance between a certain set of priests and the Tammany 
 Ring of the days of Tweed, Comiolly, and Sweeny, 
 an appropriation procured by a legislative trick and 
 fraud, under the management of Peter B. Sweeny, 
 aw'arded several hundred thousand dollars to the paro- 
 chial schools of New York city. . . . The extraor- 
 dinary zeal manifested for the getting up of these sec- 
 tarian schools and institutions is, first of all, prompted 
 by jealousy and rivalry of our public schools and in- 
 stitutions and by the desire to keep children and other 
 beneficiaries from the latter ; and, secondly, by the de- 
 sire to make employment for and give comfortable 
 homes to the rapidly-increasing hosts of monks and 
 nuns, who make so-called education and so-called charity 
 their regular business, for which a very common ex- 
 perience shows that they have but little qualification 
 beyond their professional stamp and garb. It is not 
 risking mncli to say that if there were no public schools 
 there would be very few parochial schools; and the Cath- 
 olic children, for all the churchmen would do for them, 
 would grow up in brutish ignorance of letters ; and a 
 commonplace of cliurchmen here would be the doctrine 
 taught by the Jesuits in Italy, in their periodical mag- 
 azine, the Chiilta Cattolica^ that the people do not 
 need to learn to read ; that all they do need is bread 
 and the catechism, the latter of which they could man- 
 age to know something of even without knowing how 
 to read. 
 
Constitutional Amendments. 81 
 
 SECTION VI. 
 Constitutional Amendments, 
 
 DURIISrG the famous Know-JNTotliing excitements 
 the need of constitutional prohibitions against 
 the appropriation of school funds for sectarian schools 
 was deeply felt and agitated. As the result, in some 
 States, they were obtained. In 1855 the Constitution 
 of Massachusetts was amended by adding the following 
 provision: 
 
 ARTICLE XVIII. 
 
 All moneys raised by taxation in the towns and 
 cities for the support of public schools, and all mon- 
 eys which may be appropriated by the State for the 
 support of common schools, shall be applied to and 
 expended in no other schools than those which are 
 conducted according to law, under the order and super- 
 intendence of the authorities of the town or city in 
 which the money is to be expended ; and such moneys 
 shall never be appropriated to any religious sect for 
 the maintenance, exclusively, of its own schools. 
 
 The new Constitution of Pennsylvania, adopted in 
 1874 by an overwhelming majority in the popular 
 vote, contained the following : 
 
 ARTICLE X. 
 
 Section 1, The General Assembly shall provide for 
 the maintenance and support of a thorough and 
 6 
 
82 Romanism vs. The Public School Svstem. 
 
 efficient system of public scliools, wherein all the chil- 
 dren of this Comnionwealth above the age of six years 
 may be educated. 
 
 Sec. 2. No money raised for the support of the 
 public schools of the Commonwealth shall be appro- 
 priated to or used for the support of any sectarian 
 school. 
 
 In the winter of 1867-68. under the influence of 
 the Roman Catholics, the following bill was intro- 
 duced into tlie Legislature of Kew Yoi-k, " referred 
 to the Committee on Colleges and Schools, was re^jorted 
 back and printed." This bill, if it had been passed, 
 would have ruined the public school system : 
 
 An act entitled, An Act to amend the School Laws 
 of the State of New York. The people of the State 
 of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, 
 do enact as follows : 
 
 Section 1. The schools of the various religious 
 societies within the State of New York shall partic- 
 ipate in the distribution of the school moneys in the 
 same manner and to the same extent, so far as relates 
 to the teachers of said schools, where tlie number of 
 scholars regularly attending number 100 or more. 
 
 Sec. 2. The schools of the said societies shall be 
 subject to the rules and regulations of the connnon 
 schools in the said State, but shall remain under the 
 immediate management and direction of the said 
 societies as heretofore. 
 
 Sec. 3. That said societies furnish the necessary 
 building for said purpose. 
 
 Sec. 4. This act shall take effect immediately. 
 
 The bill was defeated. 
 
COKSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENTS. 83 
 
 An amendment to the Constitution of New York 
 was proposed in the Assembly, at Albany, by Mr. J. 
 D. Brown, of Cayuga, January 3, 18Y2, forbidding 
 an appropriation of public money for the benefit of 
 sectarian schools, in these words : 
 
 That no gift, loan, or appropriation of public money 
 or property shall be authorized or made by the Legis- 
 lature or by the corporate authorities of any county, 
 city, town, or other municipal organization, to, or in 
 favor or aid of any institution, association, or object, 
 which is under ecclesiastical or sectarian management 
 or control. 
 
 On the 12th of April this amendment passed the 
 Assembly, ayes 78, noes 14. 
 
 May 10, in the Senate, the amendment passed, ayes, 
 23 ; noes 5. 
 
 It was necessary for this measure to pass the 
 Legislature the second year, but its history w^e have 
 been unable to clearly trace. It appears, however, to 
 have been swamped with some other measures near 
 the close 6f the legislative session. 
 
 In the Congress of the United States several amend- 
 ments to the national Constitution have been proposed, 
 for the purpose of prohibiting the appropriation of 
 public moneys to sectarian schools or institutions. 
 April 19, 1870, Hon S. S. Burdett, of Missouri, pro- 
 posed a new article to the United States Constitution, 
 in the following words : 
 
84 EoMANisM VS. The Public School System. 
 
 Section 1. No State or municipal corporation 
 witliin any State of the United States shall levy or 
 collect any tax for the support or aid of any sectarian, 
 denominational, or religious school or educational 
 establisliment ; nor shall the Legislature of any State 
 or the corporate authorities of any municipality within 
 any State appropriate any money or make any dona- 
 tion from the public funds or property of such State 
 or municipality, for the support or aid of any sectarian, 
 religious, or denominational school or educational 
 establishment. 
 
 Sec. 2. Congress shall have power to enforce this 
 article by appropriate legislation. 
 
 December 19, 1871, Hon. William M. Stewart, 
 Senator from Nevada, proposed the following amend- 
 ment to the Constitution of the United States : 
 
 Section 1. There shall be maintained in each State 
 or Territory a system of free common schools, but 
 neither the United States nor any State, Territory, 
 county or municijDal corporation shall aid in the sup- 
 port of any school wherein the peculiar tenets of any 
 denomination are taught. 
 
 Sec. 2. Congress shall have power, etc. 
 
 Strong disapproval of the proposition was expressed 
 by many, on the ground that such a measure was both 
 unnecessary and mischievous — unnecessary because no 
 danger could arise in any State from such action ; and 
 mischievous because it would only tend to provoke a 
 controversy over a question which, by the silent con- 
 sent of all, was acquiesced in, if not agreed to. But the 
 trend in the direction of constitutional action was too 
 
Constitutional Amendments. 85 
 
 strong to be at once suppressed. During the Cen- 
 tennial year the national perils and needs were closely 
 studied, leading to a revival of this question. 
 
 The memorable utterance of General Grant during 
 our Centennial year helped forward the movement. 
 He said : 
 
 If we are to have another contest in the near future 
 of our national existence I predict that the dividing 
 line will not be Mason and Dixon's, but it will be 
 between patriotism and intelligence on one side and 
 superstition, ambition, and ignorance on the other. 
 In this Centennial year the work of strengtliening 
 the superstructure laid by our forefathers one hun- 
 dred years ago, at Lexington, should be begun. Let 
 us all labor for the security of free thought, free 
 speech, free press, and pure morals, unfettered relig- 
 ious sentiment, and equal rights and privileges for all 
 men, irrespective of nationality, color, or religion. 
 Encourage free schools, and resolve that not one dol- 
 lar appropriated to them shall be applied to the sup- 
 port of any sectarian school. Resolve that every child 
 in the land may get a common school education un- 
 mixed with atheistic, pagan, or sectarian teachings. 
 Keep the Church and State forever separate. 
 
 On the 14th of December, 1875, Hon. James G. 
 Blaine, in the House of Representatives in Congress, 
 proposed the following amendment to the Constitu- 
 tion of the United States : 
 
 ARTICLE XVI. 
 
 No State shall make any law respecting an estab- 
 lishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise 
 
86 KoMANisM VS. The Public School System. 
 
 thereof ; and no money raised by taxation in any State 
 fur the support of piibhc schools, or derived from any 
 public fund therefor, nor any public lands devoted 
 thereto, shall ever be under the control of any relig- 
 ious sect (or denomination) ; nor shall any mone}^ so 
 raised, or lands so devoted, be divided between relig- 
 ions sects or denominations. (This article shall not 
 vest, enlarge, or diminish legislative power in Con- 
 gress.) 
 
 August 4, 1876, the above was reported from the 
 Judiciary Conmiittee, with the additions included in 
 the brackets. 
 
 The record says, " After a brief debate," the resolu- 
 tion as reported, was agreed to, yeas, 180 ; nays, 7 ; 
 not voting, 98. 
 
 In the Senate, August 7, the above article was 
 referred to the Committee on the Judiciary, with sev- 
 eral substitutes offered for it. August 9, Hon. Mr. 
 Edmunds, from the Committee on the Judiciary, re- 
 ported the joint resolution with an amendment, in 
 the nature of a substitute, as follows : 
 
 ARTICLE XVI. 
 
 No State shall make any law respecting an estab- 
 lishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise 
 thereof; and no religious test shall ever be required 
 as a qualification to any office or public trust under 
 any State. No public property, and no public reve- 
 nue of, nor any loan of credit by or under the au- 
 thority of the United States, or any State, Territory, 
 district, or municipal corporation, shall be appropri- 
 
Constitutional Amendments. 87 
 
 ated to or made or used, for the support of any 
 school, educational, or other institution under the con- 
 trol of any relio-Ious or anti-religious sect, organization, 
 or denomination, or wherein the particular creed or 
 tenets of any religious or anti-religious sect, organiza- 
 tion, or denomination shall be taught. And no such 
 particular creed or tenets shall be read or taught in 
 any school or institution supported in whole or in 
 part by such revenue or loan of credit ; and no such 
 appropriation or loan of credit shall be made to any 
 religious or anti-relio-ious sect, organization, or de- 
 nommation, or to promote its interests or tenets, itiis 
 article shall not be construed to prohibit the reading 
 of the Bible in any school or institution ; and it shall 
 not have the effect to impair rights of property al- 
 ready vested. 
 
 Sec. 2. — Congress shall have power, by appropriate 
 legislation, to provide for the prevention or punish- 
 ment of violations of this article. 
 
 August 11 the subject was briefly debated, and the 
 substitute of the committee was agreed to, yeas, 27; 
 nays, 15. August 14 the Senate voted on the pas- 
 sage of the joint resolution as amended, when it was 
 disagreed to, yeas, 28 ; nays, 16, two tliirds being neces- 
 sary. So the joint resolution failed for the want of 
 two votes. In the House the political parties voted 
 fro and con without drawing party lines ; in the 
 Senate every affirmative vote was Republican and 
 every negative vote was Democratic* 
 
 * Tliese ftiels uuiy be verified by reference to McPliersoa's Haiid-Booh 
 of Politics tbl- 1S76. 
 
88 Romanism vs. The Public School System. 
 
 In the platform of the national Republican party, 
 in 1876, the following plank (No. 7) occurs : 
 
 The Public School system of the several States is 
 the bulwark of the American Republic, and, with a 
 view to its security and permanence, we recommend 
 an amendment to the Constitution of the United States, 
 forbidding the application of any public funds or prop- 
 erty for the beneht of any schools or institutions un- 
 der sectarian control. 
 
 The Democratic National Convention, held soon 
 after, adopted the following plank, in which the above 
 is specified and condemned as " a false issue : " 
 
 The false issue with which they (the Republicans) 
 would enkindle sectarian strife in respect to the 
 public schools, of which the establishment and sup- 
 port belong exclusively to the several States, and 
 which the Democratic party has cherished from their 
 foundation, and is resolved to maintain without prej- 
 udice or preference for any class, sect, or creed, and 
 without largesses from the treasury to any. 
 
 In the platform of the national Republican party 
 in 1880, after a plank on the general subject of edu- 
 cation, comes the following : 
 
 4. The Constitution wholly forbids Congress to 
 make any law respecting the establishment of relig- 
 ion ; but it is idle to hope that tlie nation can be 
 ]:)rotected against the influence of (secret) sectarian- 
 ism, while each State is exposed to its domination. 
 AV'e, therefore, recommend that the Constitution be 
 so amended as to lay the same prohibition upon the 
 Legislature of each State, and to forbid the appro- 
 
Constitutional Amendments. 89 
 
 priation of public funds to tlie support of sectarian 
 schools. 
 
 In tlie same year (1880) the Democratic National 
 Convention in its platform declared itself in favor of — 
 
 Separation of Church and State for the good of 
 each ; common schools fostered and protected. 
 
 In the platforms of the State Conventions of the 
 Republican party in Massachusetts in 1887 and 1888 
 a strong utterance appeared against sectarian schools. 
 
 Thus it appears that the Republican party in Con- 
 gress, in 1876, attempted to pass an amendment to 
 the Constitution of the United States, prohibiting 
 the appropriation of public moneys to any sectarian 
 schools or institutions, and the measure, after passing 
 with the necessary majority, in the House of Repre- 
 sentatives, failed in the Senate for the want of two 
 votes, the Democrats voting solidly against it, and 
 the Republicans solidly for it; and, in the ]^ational 
 Republican Conventions in 1876 and 1880 planks 
 were put in the platform, calling in strong terms for 
 such an amendment. In the year 1876 the Demo- 
 cratic National Convention put into its platform a 
 plank protesting against such an amendment, and in 
 1880 it only very feebly declared itself in favor of 
 fostering and protecting the common schools. 
 
 The question has remained an open one. The 
 
90 EoMANisM m. The Public School System. 
 
 danger to the common scliool system, from the divis- 
 ion of its funds, should not be lost sight of. The 
 enemies of tlie public school system are wide awake. 
 They are too prudent to attempt to carry out their 
 purpose at present, but they lose no opportunity to 
 instill their ideas into the minds of those with whom 
 they have influence. The Roman Catholic Church 
 is persistently pushing forward to that end. There 
 are, however, watchful statesmen who are ready for 
 necessary action. 
 
 In the Senate of the United States, May 2.5, 1888, 
 Mr. Henry W. Blair introduced the following joint 
 resolution, proposing an amendment to the Constitu- 
 tion of the United States respecting the establishment 
 of i-eligion and free public schools. The resolution 
 was read twice and ordered to lie on the table. 
 
 liesolved, hy the Senate and House of Representa- 
 tives of the United States of America in Congress 
 assembled {two thirds of each House concurring 
 therein\ That the following amendment to tlie Con- 
 stitution of the United States be, and hereby is, pro- 
 posed to the States, to become valid when ratified by 
 the legislatures of three fourths of the States as pro- 
 vided in the Constitution. 
 
 ARTICLE. 
 
 Section 1. No State shall ever make or maintain 
 any law respecting an establishment of religion, or 
 prohibiting the free exercise thereof. 
 
 Sec. 2. Each State in this Union shall establish and 
 
Constitutional Amendments. 91 
 
 maintain a system of free puljlic schools adequate for 
 tJie education of all the children living therein be- 
 tween the ages of six and sixteen years, inclusive, in 
 the common branches of knowledge, and in virtue, 
 morality, and the principles of the Christian religion. 
 But no monej' raised by taxation imposed by law, or 
 any money or other property or credit belonging to 
 any municipal organization, or to any State, or to the 
 United States, shall ever be appropriated, applied, or 
 given to the use or purposes of any school, institution, 
 corporation, or person,whereby instruction or training 
 shall be given in the doctrines, tenets, belief, ceremo- 
 nials, or observances peculiar to any sect, denomina- 
 tion, organization, or society, being, or claiming to be, 
 religious in its character, nor shall such peculiar doc- 
 trines, tenets, beliefs, ceremonials, or observances, be 
 taught or inculcated in the free public schools. 
 
 Sec. 3. To the end that each State, the United 
 States, and all the people thereof, may have and pre- 
 serve governments republican in form and in sub- 
 stance, the United States shall guarantee to every 
 State, and to the people of every State and of the 
 United States, the support and maintenance of such a 
 system of free public schools as is herein provided. 
 
 Sec. 4. Congress shall enforce this article by legis- 
 lation when necessary. 
 
 The author has been anxious to ascertain how many 
 of the States have constitutional restrictions or prohi- 
 bitions against the appropriation of public school 
 moneys for sectarian schools. He is at last able to 
 make a statement on a high authority. The case is 
 well covered by the following classified summaries : * 
 
 * American Statute Law, by Fiederick J. Stinson, 1886. 
 
92 Romanism vs. The Public School System. 
 
 1. By the constitutions of thirteen States no public 
 money can be appropriated for the support of any 
 sectarian or denominational school. 
 
 ]^ew Hampshire, Texas, 
 
 Massachusetts, Missouri, 
 
 Pennsylvania, California, 
 
 Illinois, Colorado, 
 
 Michigan, Alabama, 
 
 Wisconsin, Louisiana, 
 Minnesota. 
 
 2. By the constitutious off our tee?i States no money 
 can ever be taken from the public treasury in aid of 
 any Church, sect, or sectarian institution. 
 
 Pennsylvania, Texas. 
 
 Indiana, Califoi'uia, 
 
 Illinois, Oregon., 
 
 Michigan, Colorado, 
 
 Wisconsin, Georgia, 
 
 Minnesota, Mississij^jn, 
 
 Missouri, Louisiana. 
 
 T^hefour Stat(>s printed in italics are not included 
 in the previous list. 
 
 3. In six States money cannot be appropriated for 
 sectarian purposes or education by any municipal cor- 
 poration. 
 
 Illinois, Missouri, 
 
 Virginia, California, 
 
 West Virginia, Colorado. 
 
 The two States printed in italics are not included 
 in either of the previous lists. 
 
 4. Nor in six States can property of the State ever 
 be appropriated for such purpose. 
 
Constitutional Amendments. 93 
 
 Illinois, Missouri, California, 
 
 Michigan, - Texas, Colorado. 
 
 5. I^or in four States can the ])rojpeTty of any 
 iiiunicijpality be so appropriated. 
 
 Illinois, California, 
 
 Missouri, Colorado. 
 
 6. In one instance the State cannot accept or grant 
 a bequest to be used for sectarian purposes. 
 
 Nebraska. 
 
 7. In four States no public money can be appro- 
 priated for any school not under the exclusive control 
 of the State or its school department. 
 
 Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, 
 
 Maine, California. 
 
 Maine is not included in any of the previous lists. 
 
 8. In four States no sect shall ever have any ex- 
 clusive right to, or control of, the State School Fund. 
 
 Ohio, South Carolina, 
 
 Kansas, Mississippi. 
 
 Here are three States not before mentioned. 
 
 9. In six S'tates no sectarian instruction is permitted, 
 directly or indirectly, in any of the State schools. 
 
 Wisconsin, California, Colorado, 
 
 Nebraska, Nevada, South Carolina. 
 
 10. In two States no money can be appropriated 
 
 for religious services in the legislatures. 
 
 Oregon, Michigan. 
 
 By looking through the foregoing lists it will be seen 
 that the appropriation of moneys for the aid of sec- 
 tarian schools or institutions is substantially prohib- 
 ited in twenty States, by constitutional provisions. 
 
94 lioMANisM VS. The Public School System. 
 
 • SECTION VIL 
 
 Hecent Papal ZTttevances and Acts En fore- 
 iuff the Parochial School Systefn. 
 
 THE official utterances of Rome have ever been 
 unqnalilieclly against the pubHc school system. 
 We have noticed that the First Provincial Council, 
 in 1 829, expressed the wish that " schools might be 
 established where youth might imbibe principles of 
 faith and morality along with human knowledge." 
 The Second Council, in 1833, appointed a committee 
 " to revise and enlarge the books intended for Cath- 
 olic youth." The First Plenary Council, in 1852, 
 condemned the system of public schools where chil- 
 dren of all denominations are admitted and religious 
 teaching is excluded, and the bishops were instructed, 
 if possible, to establish a school by the side of every 
 church. 
 
 In 1858 Bishop Hughes, in a public lecture in New 
 York city, said : 
 
 The Public School System is a disgrace to the civil- 
 ization of the nineteenth century ; I hope to see the 
 day when New Yoi'k will look Ijack upon it with 
 shame and horror, that such a gross and miserable de- 
 
Recent Papal Utterances. " 95 
 
 lusion could ever have been suffered to take possession 
 of the public mind. 
 
 The pope, in his famous Encyclical Letter, issued 
 Decembers, 1864, specified certain "errors" which 
 he officially condemned, among which are the follow- 
 ing: 
 
 The entire direction of public schools in wdiich the 
 youth of Christian States are educated may and must 
 appertain to the civil power, and belong to it so far 
 that no other authority shall be recognized as having 
 any right to interfere in the discipline of the schools, 
 the arrangement of the studies, etc. 
 
 The most advantageous conditions of civil society 
 require that popular schools, open without distinction 
 to all children of the people, and public establishments 
 designed to teach young people letters and good disci- 
 pline, and to impart to them education, should be freed 
 from all ecclesiastical authority and interference, and 
 should be fully subjected to the civil and political 
 powers, for the teaching of matters and opinions com- 
 mon to the times. 
 
 These principles, so fundamental to the educational 
 system of the United States, are condemned as 
 " errors " by the pope, and the Roman Catholics of 
 our country are enjoined to oppose them. 
 
 Soon after the issuance of that famous Encyclical 
 Letter the Second Plenary Council of .the Roman 
 Catholic Church in the United States assembled in 
 Baltimore, in the autumn of 1866. In this Council 
 " parochial and industrial schools were recommended 
 
9G Romanism vs. The Public School System. 
 
 and commanded, where possible, in two distinct 
 decrees." 
 
 This subject is treated under Title IX : De 
 Juventute Instituenda Pleoque JEmdienda. The 
 Council deplored that many Catholic children were 
 exposed to evil influences in reformatory schools, in 
 addition to the accumulated stock of such influences 
 derived from their former habits of life. It was ad- 
 mitted in the Pastoral Letter of 1866 that it was a 
 melancholy fact that a very large proj)ortion of the 
 idle and vicious youth of our principal cities Avere the 
 children of Catholic parents, and it was there stated 
 that the only remedy for the evil would be to provide 
 Catholic protectories or industrial schools. Accord- 
 ingly decrees as aforesaid were passed. 
 
 Other high Roman Catholic authorities follow. In 
 March, 1870, the TaNet said : 
 
 There is no help but in dividing the public schools 
 or in abandoning the system altogether. 
 
 In their periodicals and lectures the common scliools 
 have been ridiculed and denounced as " pits of de- 
 struction," and "public soup-houses where children 
 eat with wooden spoons." 
 
 The editor of the Freemaii^s Journal said : 
 
 Every such school is an insult to the religion and 
 virtue of our people. 
 
Recent Papal Uttekances, 97 
 
 A Roman Catholic orator said : 
 
 The prototype of the American school system is 
 seen in the institutions of paganism. 
 
 During the winter of 1872-Y3 the Roman Catholic 
 children were taken out of the public schools in Holy- 
 oke, Mass. The Bishop of Cleveland, O., just before 
 the Lent season, in 1873, published a "pastoral" 
 which attracted considerable attention. It required 
 Roman Catholic parents to send their children exclu- 
 sively to their own church schools, under severe 
 threats. In case of refusal to comply, the bishop 
 " authorized confessors to refuse the sacraments to such 
 parents as thus despise the laws of the Church, and 
 disobey the commands of both priest and bishop." 
 The public press commented severely uj)on this action, 
 and the bishop replied, giving his %Llt'hnatum, which 
 we here insert as taken from the Brooklyn CatJiolic 
 Review , March 22, 1873 : 
 
 Finally the bishop submits the following propo- 
 sitions to the School Board of Cleveland, promising 
 that if they are accepted he will put the Catholic 
 schools under the control of the Board ; if they are re- 
 jected, Catholics will know that they have notliing but 
 injustice to look for : 
 
 1. We shall build our school-houses and collect 
 into them our children. When there we shall place 
 them and their teachers, during school hours, under 
 the entire control of the School Board, receiving from 
 the School Board such directions as it may give. 
 7 
 
98 Romanism vs. Tiiic Puhliu School Svsticm. 
 
 2. During school lioiirs no religion or religious in- 
 struction of any kind shall be given. 
 
 For these concessions, which certainly are all that 
 could be demanded, we will only ask that either be- 
 fore or after school hours we shall be permitted, in 
 our own way, to instruct our children in their religion. 
 And secondly, t/iat the teacJiers shall he Catholics and 
 paid Ijy the School Board. The italics are ours. 
 
 At the opening of a new Roman Catholic school in 
 Worcester, Mass., in January, 1875, Bishop McQuaid 
 said : 
 
 We are going to have a desperate struggle on this 
 question all over this country for the next generation. 
 Not one with the musket, but with the ballot and all 
 the levers of public opinion. I know the American 
 people are sometimes slow to give up their strong 
 prejudices, but they are always ready to listen to fair 
 argument. 
 
 The Sacred Congregation de rropaganda Fide., 
 in a letter to the bishops of the United States, in 
 1875, assigned t\\'o fundamental reasons for its con- 
 demnation of our jniblic school system : 
 
 1. The system . . . excludes all teaching of re- 
 ligion. 
 
 2. Certain corruption likewise ensues from the fact 
 tliat in the same schools, or in many of them, youths 
 of both sexes are congregated in the same room for 
 the recitation of lessons, and males and females are 
 ordered to sit on the same bench {in eodem, scamnd), 
 all which have the effect of lamentably exposing the 
 young to loss in faith and endangering of morals. 
 
Recent Papal Utterances. 99 
 
 The Last Plenary Council. 
 
 Mucli lias been said of late about tlie action of the 
 Roman Catholic Plenary Council in Baltimore, Novem- 
 ber, 1884. Its utterances were not new, but were more 
 explicit and decided than those of previous councils, 
 and it concerted measures for carrying out more fully 
 the policy of Rome in regard to parochial schools. 
 
 In the Prize Essay before the Council, entitled, 
 " The Catholic Church in the United States," by John 
 A. Russell, A.B., M^e find the following declarations : 
 
 For thirty years and more the Catholic population 
 of this country have been forced to pay tribute to a 
 system of godless education of which no one can con- 
 scientiously take advantage. The Catholic protests 
 against paying for the education of other than their own 
 children were made in the earliest days of the Know 
 Nothing era, and were hurled back as arguments in 
 favor of the enmity of Catholics to free institutions. 
 But Know-Nothingism has passed away, and the school 
 question still remains in all its glaring injustice. Mill- 
 ions of money are annually taken from Catholics for 
 the support of schools in which they have no interest. 
 The Catholic considers it unfair to tax him for the sup- 
 port of schools from which all ideas of religion are 
 excluded, nor can he accept those in which a false re- 
 ligion is taught ; for between godlessness and error the 
 choice is only slightly in favor of the latter. 
 
 The formal declaration of the Plenary Council of 
 1884 was : 
 
100 Romanism vs. The Public School System. 
 
 The friends of Christian (that is, Catholic) educa- 
 tion do not condemn the State for not imparting re- 
 ligious instruction in the public schools, as they are 
 now organized, because they well know it does not 
 lie within the province of the Stnte to teach religion. 
 They simply follow their conscience by sending their 
 children to denominational (that is, Catholic) schools, 
 where religion can have its rightful place. Two ob- 
 jects, therefore, dear brethren, we have in view — to 
 multiply our schools and to perfect them. We must 
 multiply them until every Catholic child in the land 
 shall have within its reach the means of education. 
 There is still much to do ere this be attained. There 
 are still thousands of Catholic children in the United 
 States deprived of the benefit of a Catholic school. 
 Pastors and parents should not rest till this defect is 
 remedied. No parish is complete till it has schools 
 adequate to the needs of its children, and the pastor 
 and people of such a parish should feel that they ha've 
 not accomplished their entire duty until this want is 
 supplied.* 
 
 In a sermon by Rt. Rev. Bernard J. McQuaid, 
 
 D.D., Bisliop of Rochester, N. Y., before the same 
 
 Plenary Council, a freer utterance was given to the 
 
 feelings of the Roman Catholics on this subject. He 
 
 said : 
 
 Scarcely had the work of building churches for 
 our rapidly-increasing population been taken in hand 
 by priests and people than a yet heavier task was 
 imposed upon them. Churches might suffice for the 
 elders of the flock, who, trained to religion in a Catli- 
 
 * Memorial Volume of the Third Pknar// Council. Baltimore rublish- 
 iiigCo. 18S5. bvo. Pastoral Loiter, p. 17. 
 
Recent Papal Uttekances. 101 
 
 olie atmosphere at home, could neither be cajoled nor 
 deterred from its practices ; but wliat was to become of 
 children growing up in an atmosphere not simply 
 innocuous, but positively dangerous and hurtful ? 
 Bishops and priests were most unwilling to add to the 
 burden already weighing down their congregations. 
 They sought, as well in justice they might, that a 
 portion of their own money paid to the State might 
 come back to them. Unkindly, rudely, contemptu- 
 ously, their reasonable request was spurned. Poli- 
 ticians and parsons were our fiercest antagonists. 
 When passions are aroused, it is useless to argue. 
 The i3assions of a nation cool slowly. There Avere 
 some Catholics who hoped that an education purely- 
 secular might.be made to answer. No doubt it will 
 give to the children of secularists the husks of edu- 
 cation — all they ask. They wonder that Catholics 
 seek for more. They cannot comprehend our doc- 
 trine, that the school for the child is as necessary as 
 the church for the parent. Without further argu- 
 ment or dispute, but, nevertheless, grieving and 
 groaning under the wrong put upon us, l)y process 
 of law and the vote of the majority. Catholics gath- 
 ered their children into their own schools, that 
 therein they might breathe a Catholic atmosphere 
 while acquiring secular knowledge. 
 
 Without these schools in a few generations our 
 magnificent cathedrals and churches would remain as 
 samples of monumental folly — of the unwisdom of a 
 capitalist who consumes his future, year by year, with- 
 out putting it out at interest or allowing it to in- 
 crease. The Church has lost more in the past from 
 tlie want of Catholic schools than from any other 
 cause named by me this evening. The 2,500 schools, 
 with a half million scholars, which now bless our 
 country, tell Catholics and non-Catholics that the 
 
Iu2 Romanism vs. The Public School System. 
 
 question of religions edncation is settled so far as 
 we are concerned. The good work so well advanced 
 will not halt until all over the land the children of 
 the Church are slieltered under her protecting 
 care.* 
 
 Other Catholic Authorities. 
 Not long ago the Catholic Review said : 
 
 There is no longer a school question for Catholics. 
 It is closed. The door of discussion, which was 
 slightly ajar prior to 1884, was closed, locked, bolted, 
 and barred by the Plenary Council held in that year, 
 which directed that Christian schools should be main- 
 tained by all the parishes in the United States not 
 prevented by extreme poverty from -cari-ying them 
 on. The decree is law for priests and people. 
 
 In an address delivered in Boston on the 22d of 
 December, 1887, Rev. Father F. T. McCarthy, S. J., 
 read from a work by Father Connolly, S. J., the fol- 
 lowing : 
 
 The Sacred Congregation of the Inquisition in a 
 detailed instruction to the bishops of the United 
 States concerning the public schools, June 30, 1876, 
 after quoting the last sentence of the above citation, 
 adds the folloMnng words : These words, inasmuch 
 as they are based on the natural and divine law, 
 enunciate a general principle which holds universally, 
 and refers to all places where this most destructive 
 system has been unfortunately introduced. It is, 
 therefore, necessary that the illustrious prelates should 
 by all possible means keep the flock intrusted to their 
 
 * Memorial Volume of the Third Plenary Council. 1684. Baltimore 
 Publishing Co., p. 174. 
 
Recent Papal Utterances. 103 
 
 charge aloof from the corrupting influences of the 
 public schools. In the opinion of all, nothing is so 
 necessary for this end as that Catholics should every- 
 where have their own schools, and these not inferior 
 to the public schools. Every effort must, therefore, 
 be made to erect Catholic schools where such do not 
 exist, or to enlarge them and make them more use- 
 ful and efficient, that in the course and method of 
 training they may be in no sense inferior to the pub- 
 lic schools. The Sacred Congregation grants that 
 there may be circumstances in whicli Catholic parents 
 may in conscience send their children to American 
 public schools ; namely, when no Catholic school is at 
 hand, or when that which is at hand is not fit to give 
 the children an education suited to their station and 
 conformable to their age. 
 
 Father McCarthy then proceeds : 
 
 It is to be remembered, however, that the fre- 
 quenting of the public schools can be permitted even 
 in these cases, according to the declaration of the 
 Sacred Congregation, only when the danger of per- 
 version can be rendered remote. On that the decision 
 is left to the bishop, and not to the parents of the 
 children. So that even in the circumstance that I 
 have described, even where there is no Catholic school 
 at hand, it is not lawful for Catholic parents to send 
 their children to these public schools, unless they can 
 and unless they will make the danger of perversion, 
 from being approximate, become remote. And when 
 there is a doubt at all with regard to the matter the 
 judge in this case is not to be the parent ; he is not 
 to be the judge, but the bishop of the diocese. 
 
 ISTow, in order to show you that this legislation ex- 
 tends to the whole country and that it extends to this 
 part of the country, I may mention a fact that ought 
 
104 Romanism vs. The Public School System. 
 
 to have a great deal of weight with you Catliolics of 
 the Diocese of Boston. In the synod which was held 
 within the past year and a half in this diocese the 
 archbishop expressly declared that in all parishes 
 Catholic schools were to be built ; that they were to 
 be built as soon as possible ; that they were to be 
 under way, at all events, 'within two years., and that 
 a, pastor having the ahility to huild such schools., and 
 failing to do it., would give sufficient canonical cause 
 for his removal from that jyarish. This is the utter- 
 ance of the highest ecclesiastical authority in this 
 State of Massachusetts. 
 
 Now^, dearly l^eloved, here is the sense of the Cath- 
 olic Church. Here is her teaching from the pope 
 and the council general, down to the bishops and 
 to the priests, that Catholic schools are to be built. 
 Catholic schools are to be supported, that the chil- 
 dren of Catholics are to be sent to these schools and 
 to no other, that religion must be taught in the 
 schools, that religion and education must go hand in 
 hand, that there is no education worthy of the name 
 without the teaching of religion, and this must be 
 done without any let or hinderance on the part of any 
 one whatsoever. This is certainly to impose a great 
 burden upon you. We appreciate it. But, dearly 
 beloved, at the same time we impose a great burden 
 upon ourselves. It would be a great deal more for 
 our comfort if we were simply to allow our children 
 to go to the public schools, to pay our school taxes, 
 and to give ourselves no concern about the matter 
 any further. 
 
 The Record^ (Boston) quoted the following late 
 utterances from the Freeman^ s Journal: 
 
 * August, 18S8. 
 
Recent Papal Uttekances. 105 
 
 Look at Catholic scliool-lionses throngliout the 
 country, supported by the exertions of our priests and 
 the hard work of our people, and say whether public 
 opinion ^n consistently hold that Catholics have not 
 proven their sincerity in the matter. They have 
 gone down deep into their pockets. We want justice. 
 We want a fair per capita share of the school funds. 
 We want to be on an equal footing with our fellow- 
 citizens, who, if they have children, receive a return 
 for the taxes they pay. Let our Protestant friends 
 awaken to the danger' wliicli godless schools threaten 
 the American people, and join with us, insisting that 
 the school is the church of the little ones, and that it 
 should be sacred to Christ. 
 
 The Transcript^ (Boston) quotes from the M''ee- 
 
 maoi's Journal : 
 
 The Catholic attitude on the school question is un- 
 compromising. We will not permit our money to be 
 used for the propagation of lies like those noticed in 
 Boston, and in Brooklyn by Father Donahoe. Igno- 
 rant Calvinistic ministers — and when they are igno- 
 rant how ignorant they are ! — must broaden their 
 views. They protest in vain. Swinton's lies about 
 indulgences must be put out of schools for whose sup- 
 port we pay. Sectarianism shall not be taught in a 
 professedly " colorless " school while there is justice 
 in the courts. The State has no right to educate, but 
 every right to protect itself against parental careless- 
 ness. As the State taxes us for schools we must be 
 represented in them ! As American citizens we can- 
 not submit to taxation without representation. As 
 Catholics we cannot allow the State either to teach 
 sectarianism to our children, or to increase a school 
 
 * August 1, 1888. 
 
106 Romanism vs. The Public School System. 
 
 system of which we cannot approve with our money. 
 There is no divergence betvi^een our duty as citizens 
 and our dutj' as Catholics. 
 
 Enforcement. 
 In tlie autumn of 1879 serious trouble occurred in 
 Sr. Mary's parish, Cambridge, Mass., Father Scully 
 pastor. Four or five years previously a parochial 
 school had been established, and all Catholic parents 
 had been ordered to senjd their children to the 
 Church schools and to contribute to their support. 
 The quality of the instruction imparted was soon 
 found to be inferior to that of the public schools, 
 on account of which some children were with- 
 drawnj and sent again to the public schools. 
 Against these parents Father Scully directed all the 
 ecclesiastical weapons at his command. He taught 
 his people to shun and ignore such parents and their 
 children * as if they were Protestants, and refused them 
 the sacraments. Some parents went to other priests in 
 other parishes for the spiritual consolations which 
 Father Scully denied them. These priests were openly 
 blamed by Father Scully. He made war upon them, 
 claiming that by tlie canons of the Church he had the 
 sole charge of tlie people of his parish, and no one 
 but he and his assistant could " forgive their sins and 
 
 * One boy is said to liavo been so severely floj^ged that he was unable 
 to sit up for two weeks. 
 
Recent Enforcement. 107 
 
 send them to heaven." For this claim to an exchisive 
 celestial monopoly he cited the authority of the 
 archbishop, and sent to him the names of all the of- 
 fending parents, children, and priests. 
 
 It is a remarkable fact that Archbishop "Williams 
 seemed to give his support to the belligerent priest. 
 He refused to receive a committee sent from the 
 parish to present complaints against Father Scully, 
 but a committee sent in his behalf he received, and 
 said that Father Scully's coui'se met his entire ap- 
 proval. In a speech in a parish meeting, Father 
 Scully said that other priests in the diocese were 
 about to follow his example, in the erection of paro- 
 chial schools, and that for him to give the sacraments of 
 the altar to those who were sending their children to 
 the public schools would be "to incur for himself 
 eternal damnation, and leave them without salvation, 
 too." His short and distinct answer to those hesitat- 
 ing or expressing dissent, in his congregation, was, 
 " Do as I bid you, and I will forgive your sins and 
 send you to heaven ; disobey me, an.d jou will be 
 lost." 
 
 A Boston daily, commenting on the case, said : 
 " The archbishop, in our judgment, has made a se- 
 rious mistake in sustaining Father Scully''s mischiev- 
 ous procedure, by the sanction of his high authority." 
 But the bishop's action, and Father Scully's action. 
 
108 Romanism vs. The Public School System. 
 
 too, are perfectly logical from tlie premises on which- 
 their religion is predicated." 
 
 The Boston Journal * said in an editorial : 
 
 There is some ground to hope that the more liberal 
 and intelligent Catholics will not yield abject obedience 
 to the new policy, and that there may be developed 
 within the Catholic Church snch a degree of resist- 
 ance as may make the full execution of such measures 
 impracticable. In Belgium the priests, being excluded 
 from the control of the public schools which they 
 have long enjoyed, have established schools of their 
 own — many of them grotescpiely weak and inadequate 
 — and have ordered the exclusion from the sacrament 
 of. teachers, pai'ents and children who continue to 
 support or attend the government schools. The course 
 of Archbishop Williams is calculated to make a Bel- 
 gium out of Massachusetts. But the Belgian gov- 
 ernment schools are maintained, notwithstanding, and 
 Catholic children are sent to them. There is at least 
 as much liberty and individuality in Massachusetts as 
 in Belgium, and it would hardly be supposed that a 
 policy which proves too arrogant to accomplish its 
 purpose among Belgian Catholics would be tried here. 
 The attempt to do it is interesting, and in a certain 
 sense startling, and the outcome of it will be closely 
 watched. 
 
 This agitation led to a formal proclamation of the 
 archbishop's views by his Yicar-General soon after, 
 sustaining and enforcing the parochial school policy 
 of the Church. 
 
 In 1879 the Very Eev. William Byrne, Vicar-Gren- 
 
 * November 12, 1879. 
 
Recent Enforcement. 109 
 
 eral of the Archdiocese of Boston, prepared a paper 
 upon the parochial school question, of wJiich we give 
 a part of the abstract as printed in The Pilot (Roman 
 Catholic), November 15 : 
 
 From the decrees of the Second Plenary Council 
 of Baltimore the following propositions are, we think, 
 fairly deduced, and will be accepted by all Catholics : 
 
 1st. That the Church is solicitous for the proper 
 education of the young. 
 
 2d. That she does not approve of a system of pop- 
 ular education that seeks to impart a knowledge of 
 earthly things ouly, and that, too, apart from her over- 
 sight and iniluence. 
 
 3d. That pastors of souls may properly concern 
 themselves with the education of the children of the 
 flock. 
 
 4th. That the American Public School System is 
 defective in theory, inasmuch as it does not provide 
 for the culture of the moral faculties, and in practice 
 tends to evil results. 
 
 5th. That this system, by its very nature, tends to 
 indifierentism in matters of religion, and in the hands 
 of designing men can easily be used as an engine of 
 perversion. 
 
 6th. That the manner in which tlie public schools 
 are, in most places, conducted, renders them a source 
 of danger to the faith and morals of the Catholic 
 children attending them. 
 
 7th, That Catholics should endeavor to correct the 
 evils and counteract the dangers of the public schools. 
 
 8t]i. That the best safeguard against these dangers 
 is the Catholic parochial school. 
 
 9th. That pastors and parents, where the public 
 schools are, as a matter of fact, dangerous, and espe- 
 
110 Romanism vs. The Public School Systejl 
 
 cially wliere these evils are great, should labor to the 
 best of their ability and means to establish Catholic 
 schools for Catholic children. 
 
 Where suitable Catholic schools are accessible the 
 parents' duty is plain. 
 
 The practical question licre arises as to whether we 
 Catholics, holding these views, can with a safe con- 
 science use the public schools at all, even in the ab- 
 sence of any better. 
 
 The question involves a matter of principle and a 
 matter of fact. 
 
 The principle is settled, and is easily stated. 
 
 Where the public schools are in fact so dangerous 
 that the result is, or, according to common experience, 
 most likely to be damage to faith or morals, they can- 
 not, of course, be prudently used, and must be avoided 
 at all hazards and at whatever cost. No person can 
 without sin voluntarily expose himself to the prox- 
 imate occasion thereof. 
 
 Where the public schools are not positively harm- 
 ful, and the danger is remote, they can be used in the 
 absence of suitable Catholic schools, prudent precau- 
 tion being taken to avert such danger as there is, and 
 reasonable care being taken to supply the defects of 
 the system in some efficient way. 
 
 The doubt hangs on the matter of fact. 
 
 Are our public schools here in Boston so dangerous 
 that a prudent Catholic is in duty bound to keep his 
 children away from them, where no Catholic schools 
 exist and cannot conveniently be built? 
 
 This doubt has never been settled b}' any formal 
 decision of a competent authority. The tolerated 
 usage of the public schools that obtains here is the 
 nearest approach to a solution that we have. 
 
 Kome has given no decision as to the gravity of the 
 danger in this country, and, whenever appealed to, has 
 
Elcknt Enfoecement. Ill 
 
 referred tliis matter of ilict to the jiidi^nnent of the 
 bishops in council, or to each bishop in and for his 
 own diocese. 
 
 Several bishops have decided the case for their own 
 dioceses, with a thorough knowledge of the facts as 
 they were in their districts, and have declared that the 
 obligation of withdrawing Catholic children from the 
 public schools where Catholic schools exist was of the 
 gravest character, and that the duty of providing 
 Catholic schools was of such prime importance that 
 the establishment of a school should accompany the 
 erection of a church in a parish. 
 
 The Council of Baltimore has decided that danger 
 inheres in the very system itself, but has not under- 
 taken to say what the amount of danger is in any 
 given place. Manifestly the system, as reduced to 
 practice, varies enormously as to its danger, in differ-- 
 ent places, and even in the same place, for different 
 persons. 
 
 The schools we are warned against, as specially and 
 seriously dangerous, are those in which Catholic chil- 
 dren are induced to read the Protestant version of the 
 Bible, to join in heretical forms of prayer, and to sing 
 tiie hymns of the sects, or where the Catholic religion 
 is attacked, her doctrines controverted, and the facts 
 of history distorted, to vilify and render odious the 
 Catholic Church and her institntions. 
 
 Apart from the dangers inhering in the system itself, 
 which arise chiefly from defect, most of these in- 
 cidental evils are absent from the public schools of 
 Boston. The children are not required to read the 
 Protestant version of the Scriptures or to recite un- 
 Catholic prayers. The books in use are now pretty 
 thoroughly purged of all sectarian or anti-Catholic 
 leaven ; the mouth of the reviler is closed, and at least 
 no open or direct attempts at proselytism allowed. 
 
112 HoMANisM V6: The PuiiLic School System. 
 
 That the spirit of proselytism is abroad we know full 
 well, and it has full play in some quarters, notably in 
 the State Reform Schools. The proposed action of 
 the Legislature would go far to remedy that abuse. 
 
 Our use of the public schools, or our co-operation 
 in carrying them on, when given with a view of cor- 
 recting the evils in them, cannot fairly be construed 
 into an approval of them. I can use a poor road in 
 the absence of a better without being said to approve 
 the bad construction of the road or the ruts that in- 
 fest it. 
 
 We are not quite content with the public schools 
 as they are, and yet, in most of our parishes the bur- 
 den of church debts carried, tiie pressing calls for the 
 support of our hospitals, orphanages, asylums, and 
 homes for the poor, are so urgent and imperative that 
 little can be done toward establishing Catliolic schools 
 even by those who hold that they are the safest for 
 our Catholic children. . 
 
 We admit that the education of the children of the 
 "vvhole people, in schools connnon to all and frequented 
 by all, has many temporal advantages, but we can 
 never reasonably or conscientiously consent to sacrifice 
 or seriously endanger our eternal interests for worldly 
 advantage. 
 
 The rapidly-growing fairness of public opinion may 
 ere long discover a M^ay of making a system of com- 
 mon school education acceptable to Catholic minds 
 and safe for Catholic consciences. 
 
 That the problem is not absolutely insolvable is 
 shown by the success of some other countries in deal- 
 ing with it in somewhat similar circumstances. Bel- 
 gium, Holland, England, and Lower Canada, are cited 
 as instances. 
 
 Prussia, before she became blinded by pride, was an 
 illustrious example. 
 
Recent Enfokcbment. 113 
 
 The foregoing document lias been given at sucli 
 length in the interest of fairness, and to facilitate the 
 close study of the problem which manj are deeply 
 pondering. 
 
 About the same time The Pilot contained a state- 
 ment, authorized by his Grace the Archbishop,* set- 
 ting forth substantially what his vicar-general had 
 given in his paper. He added that Catholics are 
 agreed on the principle and purpose of establishing 
 parochial schools, and " differ, if at all, only as regards 
 the feasibility, opportuneness, or best methods of giv- 
 ing these principles practical effect ;" and he urged 
 that these schools " be established wherever practicable 
 in every parish, and as far as possible made equal to 
 the public schools." " Parochial schools are regarded 
 as practicable," continues the archbishop, " where 
 their establishment and support would not create any 
 
 * Eev. Joseph Cook, commenting upon the case of Father Scully, said : 
 " When a boy is stretched on a table, yonder at Cambridgeport, and his 
 back lashed till for two weeks the boy cannot lie down on account of his 
 ■wounds [sensation], the eyes of the mother and fatioer of that boy are 
 very likely to be opened. His only crime was attending a ])ublic school, 
 "when the priest had given warning that he should attend the parochial. 
 . . . Archbishop Williams, of Boston, whisj^ers to Father Scully, of Cam- 
 bridgeport, : 'Hist! No noisy barking against the American public 
 schools. A still-hunt is what the Church wants. The pai-ochial schools 
 are to be defended and the public schools assailed unflinchingly, but with 
 prudence, ■with suavity, with opportuneness.' The manly outspokenness 
 of the priest is preferred to the politic indii'ection of the archbishop. [Ap- 
 plause]. Bunker Hill, Faneuil Hall, the Old South, listen to this col- 
 loquy and whisper to each other: ' Whom the gods would destroy tliey 
 first make mad.' O, Lord ! now let the prayers of our fathers be fulfilled 
 abundantly, that the love of good learning may not be buried in their 
 graves.'' 
 
114 KoMANisM VS. The Public School System. 
 
 serious financial embarrassment or impose too griev- 
 ous a burden on the resources of the faithful." Fur- 
 ther on we have these astonishing declarations, in 
 which' much is contained between the lines: "Any 
 priest hearing confessions in the private tribunal of 
 penance is free, in the exercise of his faculties, in this, 
 as in all other cases, to give or withhold absolution, 
 guided by the disposition of the- penitent and his own 
 judgment and discretion, and his knowledge of the 
 facts and principles involved." 
 
 At West Chester, in Pennsylvania,* the priest of 
 St. Agnes Church excommunicated two pew-holders, 
 Philip Maguire and William S. Bowen, because they 
 withdrew their children from a parochial school and 
 sent them to a public school. The priest gave his reasons 
 for this action at mass, and this is what the priest said : 
 
 These gentlemen were excommunicated on my own 
 authority and the authority of the archbishop, with 
 whom I had consulted in the matter. I took their 
 pews from them, because I do not propose that any 
 one sliall hold a pew in this church who is in open 
 rebellion against its laws, when there are faithful and 
 obedient members who are willing to occupy them. 
 Mr. Bowen had the audacity to apply for communion 
 last Easter morning, and was pul)licly refused. I had 
 consulted with the archbishop months l)efore in refer- 
 ence to this matter, and it was on the strength of this, and 
 of a letter from his grace, that the refusal was made. 
 
 * The Boston Trarif^cript, June, 1S8S. * 
 
Kecent Enfokcement. ^ 115 
 
 And this is what Mr. Maguire says : 
 
 The reverend gentleman saw fit to use my name in 
 connection with my refusal to send my child to the 
 parochial school, and also notified those of his con- 
 gregation present that I was formally excommunicated 
 for this refusal ; but he wisely took good care not to 
 state the reason for my refusal to have the boy longer 
 educated at the parish school. I took the boy away 
 because, in my judgment, the school was far inferior 
 to the public schools of West Chester, and because the 
 penalty for missing a lesson in catechism was a severe 
 whipping. When I inquired, through a letter, about 
 the severity of the lesson, and the punishment in- 
 flicted, I received, in reply, a letter from his reverence 
 telling me to mind my own business, and that he 
 would not tolerate interference from me. I replied in 
 a letter, which was answ^ered with a notice that my 
 boy was turned out of the Sunday-school because I 
 w^ould not send him to the parish school ; and, later 
 on, the priest met me on the street, and in the most 
 overbearing way threatened that he would deny the 
 child the sacraments of the Church. ISTine tenths of 
 the j)arents sending their children to the parish school 
 do so rather from a sense of fear than an under- 
 standing that it is good for them to do so. Many of 
 them have told me of their troubles, and of the bad 
 discipline in the school, and of the poor progress their 
 children make. There is a great deal of smothered 
 dissatisfaction. 
 
 The Boston School Trouble. 
 On the 8th of May, 1888, Eev. Theodore A. Metcalf, 
 rector of the Gate of Heaven Roman Catholic Church, 
 South Boston, complained to the Boston School Board 
 
116 Romanism vs. The Public School System. 
 
 tliat Charles B, Travis, a teacher in the English High 
 School, in the course of his instruction in history, had 
 made offensive statements in regard to the Homan 
 Catholic doctrine and practice of indulgences, and 
 asked for a remed}^ After investigation, the com- 
 mittee concluded that the complaint of the Roman 
 Catholic priest was, in their judgment, well founded, 
 and that the book, Swintori's Outlines of Modern 
 History., was also faulty, particularly in a foot-note 
 explaining the doctrine and practice of the Romish 
 Churcli, in the matter of indulgences. They there- 
 fore ordered Mr. Travis to be removed to another 
 position in the school, and that Swintoii's History be 
 discontinued as a text-book. 
 
 This Roman Catholic interference aroused the citi- 
 zens of Boston, and numerous public meetings were 
 held during the summer and autumn, in the largest 
 halls and churches, with immense audiences. Able 
 speakers enlisted in the contest, and it was carried 
 into other towns and cities in Eastern Massachusetts. 
 Powerful addresses and appeals were made ; and the 
 interest in the school question was so great as to over- 
 top the excitement incident to the State and national 
 elections. 
 
 In Massachusetts women are allowed to be enrolled 
 and vote on the election of school boards. Antici- 
 pating the annual city election, in December, there 
 
Eecent Enforcement. 117 
 
 was a large registration of women in September, 
 Protestant and Catholic women competing with each 
 other, so that of the 23,000* women registered the 
 two classes were supposed to be nearly equal in number. 
 It is impossible to give a full history of all the 
 details of this great contest. Most Protestants claimed 
 that the complaint against Mr. Travis was without 
 good foundation ; that it was an unwarranted med- 
 dling with our public schools, by Roman Catholic 
 priests, and a part of their policy to rule and ruin the 
 system ; that the people must be aroused to resist the 
 encroachments of Rome, etc. The agitation, now 
 continued for about six months, has not yet abated 
 in interest, and all phases of the Romish question 
 have been freely discussed. In the meantime the 
 Catholics have made few replies, but steadily pushed 
 forward the erection of buildings for parochial schools 
 in Boston, Waltham, Watertown, and other cities, and 
 several thousand more of pupils were gathered into 
 them when the autumn term opened. The election 
 in December is awaited with great interest, and both 
 parties are actively preparing for the contest. It 
 now looks as though the greatest protest known for a 
 long period will be made against the interference and 
 aggressiveness of Rome in the affairs of our public 
 institntions. 
 
 * In no previous year had more than 2,000 women registered. 
 
118 E.OMANISM VS. The Public Scpiool System. 
 
 Similar movements against Swinton''s History have 
 been incepted by Eoman Catholics in Lowell, Mass., 
 and Troy, N. Y. 
 
 Mnch interest has also been excited within the past 
 few months in Pittsbui'g, Pa., by the performances of 
 the Catholic priests, in connection with parochial 
 schools. 
 
 A year ago Father McTighe liad himself elected 
 principal by the school-directors of the Twenty-sixth 
 Ward, a strong Roman Catholic ward, and undertook 
 to establish a parochial school under the sujjport of 
 the city funds. This was found to be illegal, and 
 aroused so much opposition that he was obliged to 
 abandon his position in a month. Another experi- 
 ment has followed, somewhat different, in the Fourth 
 Ward. Rev. Father Sheedy opened a parochial 
 school, on the 4th of September, in four rooms which 
 he rented from the Ward School P)oard. Each room 
 contained fifty pupils in charge of a nun. Professor 
 Sullivan and his three lady teachers, who compose the 
 public school staff in that ward, have only fifty-one 
 pupils nnder their care, the two schools being sepa- 
 rated by a narrow hallway. 
 
 The foregoing statement was sent through the 
 country by the Associated Press. Inquiry * made in 
 Pittsburg upon two points — whether the nnns were 
 
 * By the Editor of The Christian Advocate, New York city, N. Y. 
 
Recent Enfoecement. 119 
 
 paid from tlie public scliool funds, and whether the 
 priest paid rent for the room — brought tlie following 
 reply : The nuns are not paid from the public school 
 funds, but belong to an unsalaried order of workers, 
 supported by the Mother Superior, from contributions 
 and endowments. The Roman Catholics pay the 
 public school directors a stated sum of money, per 
 month, as rent for* the rooms. 
 
 Father Sheedy is represented as one of the most 
 aggressive priests in the city, and it is conjectured 
 that should his experiment succeed there are at least 
 three other wards in the city, with a Catholic majority 
 on the school boards, in which the experiment in 
 Ward 'No. 4 will be repeated. The w^hole city is 
 aroused upon tlie subject. The Protestant pulpits of 
 Pittsburg are echoing with sermons on Parocliial vs. 
 Puhlic Schools, and the whole country lookg, with in- 
 terest to see the result. 
 
120 RoxMANisM VS. The Public School System. 
 
 SECTION VIII. 
 
 Slntistical Exhibits of the Parochinl Schools 
 of Rornanvisni iit the United States, 
 
 THE data we are about to 23resent have been col- 
 lated from Sadlie/'^s Catholic Directory., Ordo 
 and Almanac. They will show the present magni- 
 tude of the movement, and in what sections of the 
 
 country it is largest, 
 
 ROMAN CATHOLIC PAROCHIAL SCHOOLS IN THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 B.iltinuire 
 
 »;iiarU'ston 
 
 UicliiiHind 
 
 Savannah 
 
 tsi. Augustine . . . 
 
 Wlii-elinff 
 
 \VilininL;ton. ... 
 NurtU Carolina. . 
 
 Boston 
 
 Burlinjjton 
 
 Hartfoicl 
 
 Mancliester 
 
 Portland 
 
 Providence 
 
 SpriugUeld 
 
 Chicago 
 
 Alton 
 
 Peoria 
 
 Cincinnati 
 
 Cleveland 
 
 Schools. 
 
 Pupils. 
 
 87 
 
 10,000 
 
 
 
 600 
 
 ■&i 
 
 1,993 
 
 4* 
 
 1,.500* 
 
 \G 
 
 1,2.38 
 
 13 
 
 1,800 
 
 0* 
 
 530* 
 
 3 
 
 
 153 
 
 23,661 
 
 43 
 
 22.2,50 
 
 17 
 
 3,981 
 
 m 
 
 13,282 
 
 yo 
 
 5,600 
 
 14 
 
 3,671 
 
 17 
 
 9,000 
 
 21 
 
 7,330* 
 
 205 
 
 6.5.114 ! 
 
 113 
 
 40,000 
 
 100 
 
 11,000 
 
 41 
 
 7,050 jl 
 
 253 
 
 58,0.50 
 
 80 
 
 21,7.-7 il 
 
 127 
 
 25,791 1 1 
 
 Columbus 
 
 Covinston 
 
 DeiroU 
 
 Fort Wayne. . 
 Grand Rapids 
 
 Louisville 
 
 Viucennes 
 
 Milvi'auliee. . . 
 
 (i reen Bay 
 
 La Crosse 
 
 Marquette 
 
 St. Paul 
 
 N. Minnesota. 
 
 New Orleans . 
 
 Galve.ston 
 
 Little Rock . . . 
 
 Mobile 
 
 Natchez 
 
 Natchitoches . 
 San Antonio. . 
 Brownsville. . 
 
 Pnpih 
 
 6,(M9 
 5,723 
 
 11,470 
 8,696 
 5,786 
 9,100* 
 
 14,000 
 
 108,972 
 
 8,000* 
 8,406 
 5,000* 
 1,400 
 11,289* 
 2,000* 
 
 332 28,095 
 
 ll,Ono 
 1,200* 
 1,255 
 1,200 
 2,107 
 
 300 
 1,000* 
 
 500* 
 
 140 I 18,563 
 
Statistical Exhibits. 
 
 ROMAN CATHOLIC PAROCHIAL SCHOOlS.-ConUnued. 
 
 121 
 
 New York . . 
 Albany.. .. 
 Brooklyn . . . 
 
 Buffalo 
 
 Newark 
 
 Ogdensburg 
 Rochester . . 
 Syracuse . . . 
 Trenton. . . . 
 
 Oregon 
 
 Helena 
 
 Nesqually 
 
 Vancouver's Isl'ds, 
 Idaho 
 
 Philadelphia . 
 
 Erie 
 
 Harrisburff. . . 
 
 Pittsburg 
 
 Scranton 
 
 Schm.Is. 
 
 PupilB. 
 
 146 
 
 41,139 
 
 50 
 
 14,r.00 
 
 97 
 
 27,000 
 
 58 
 
 15,000 
 
 75 
 
 23,404 
 
 15* 
 
 2,878 
 
 27* 
 
 8,000 
 
 14* 
 
 4,590* 
 
 24 
 
 5,800 
 
 506 
 
 142,311 
 
 3 
 
 1,065* 
 
 8 
 
 300* 
 
 19 
 
 155* 
 
 2 
 
 68* 
 
 32 
 
 1,538 
 
 68 
 
 25,000 
 
 58 
 
 5,837 
 
 29 
 
 4,252 
 
 71 
 
 21,000 
 
 18 
 
 4,490* 
 
 244 
 
 60,579 
 
 St. Louis 
 
 Cheyenne 
 
 Concordia. . . . 
 Davenport . . . 
 
 Dubuque.. 
 
 Kansas City . . 
 Leavenworth. 
 
 Lincoln 
 
 Nashville 
 
 Omaha 
 
 San Francisco. 
 Los Ang-eles. .. 
 Sacramento . . . 
 Utah 
 
 Sante F6 
 
 Denver 
 
 Arizona 
 
 Indian Territory. 
 
 Aggregate. 
 
 4 
 34 
 54 
 40 
 50 
 
 2 
 16 
 25 
 
 322 
 
 13 
 
 15 
 
 42 
 
 13 
 
 21 
 
 6 
 
 8 
 
 48 
 2,847 
 
 Pupils. 
 
 20,450 
 
 175 
 
 345* 
 
 3,940 
 
 6,676 
 
 2,600* 
 
 4,000 
 
 100 
 
 2,500 
 
 2,251 
 
 43,087 
 
 8,000 
 
 1,566 
 340 
 
 9,906 
 
 2,000* 
 4,250 
 500* 
 165* 
 
 6,915 
 
 567,740 
 
 * These beins omitted in the Year-Booh for 18SS, have been supplied from the 
 Year-Books of 1SS6 and 1SS7. 
 
 The enrollment of public school children in the 
 nation is about one fifth of the total population. If 
 the Catholic children of school age bear the same 
 proportion, thej cannot be less than 1,500,000, leav- 
 ing 932,260 not yet gathered into their schools. This 
 is upon the basis of 7,500,000 Catholics in the United 
 States when the Year-Booh for 1888 was made up. 
 If the larger estimates of 8,000,000 or 10,000,000 
 Catholics are true, then they have only about one 
 third of their children in their parochial schools. 
 
122 KoMANisM VS. The Public School Syst 
 
 EM. 
 
 The revised statistics sliow the following suHiniaries :• 
 
 Pupils. Schools. II Pupils. Schools. 
 
 In 1S60 57.011 GGD In lS?;n.. 427,230 2.288 
 
 In 1870 257,000 1,214 || In 18SS. 567,740 2,b4I 
 
 The sections of the country in which these paro- 
 chial schools are most numerons arc as follows: 
 
 States Parocliiiil „ ., 
 
 states. Scliools. ^ "P"^- 
 
 New Eiijiknd 205 65. 114 
 
 New York 407 113,107 
 
 New Jersey 99 29,204 
 
 Pennsylvania 244 00,579 
 
 Maryland 87 16,000 
 
 Ohio 237 52,271 
 
 Indiana 144 22,696 
 
 Illinois 253 58,050 
 
 Total 1,076 417,021 
 
 There are outside of the above thirteen States 1,17L 
 schools and 150,723 pupils; fifty-seven per cent, 
 of the schools and se v en tj' -three per cent, of the 
 pupils are in thirteen States, This shows where the 
 contest is likelj'' to come soonest and sharpest. 
 
 For the purpose of conveying to the mind of the 
 reader a more distinct idea of the parochial schools, 
 the following exhibit is furnished of the number of 
 the schools and pupils, and the religious brotherhoods 
 and sisterhoods intrusted with the "work of instruction, 
 in two important dioceses, Cleveland and Newark, as 
 reported in Sadlier's Catholic Almanac for 1881. 
 
 DIOCESE OF CLEVELAND. 
 
 Rdi{)ious Orders in Charge of Parochial Schools. 
 
 BROTHERHOODS. 
 
 Brothers of Mary 9 brothers. II Franciscan Brothers 3 brothers. 
 
Statistical Exhibits. 
 
 123 
 
 SISTERHOODS. 
 
 Sisters. 
 
 Ursulines 52 
 
 Sisters of Notre Dame 67 
 
 Ladies of the S cred Heart of Mary. 30 
 
 Sisters of the HiimiJity of Mary 231 
 
 Total 12 brothers, 200 sisters. 
 
 Sisters. 
 
 Sisters of St. Joseph 14 
 
 Sisteis of St. Francis (Tiffin) 6 
 
 Sisters of St. Francis (Joliet) 8 
 
 Parochial Schools and Average Attendance of Pupils. 
 
 Cleveland : St. Jolm's Cath'i. 
 
 St. Augustine's 
 
 St. Bridget's 
 
 Holy Family 
 
 Immaculate Conception. . . 
 
 St. Joseph's 
 
 St. Malachi's 
 
 St. Mary's (Annunciation). 
 
 St. Mary's (Assumption)... 
 
 St. Mary's (Holy Eosary).. 
 
 St. Patrick's 
 
 St. Peter's 
 
 St. Procop's 
 
 St. Stephen's 
 
 St. Wenceslas 
 
 Akron : St. Bernard's 
 
 St. Vincent de Paul's 
 
 Ashtabula*. 
 
 Avon 
 
 Bellevue 
 
 Berea : St. Adalbert's 
 
 St. Mary's 
 
 Berwick 
 
 Bethlehem 
 
 Big Springs 
 
 Brier Hill 
 
 Canal Fulton .- 
 
 Canton : St. John Bapiist 
 
 St. Peter's (German) 
 
 Carey 
 
 Chicago Junction 
 
 CoUinwood 
 
 Crawf ordsville 
 
 Crestline 
 
 Custer 
 
 Defiance : St. John the Evan. 
 
 Delphos 
 
 Elyria 
 
 Euclid 
 
 Findlay 
 
 Florence* 
 
 Fostoria 
 
 Fremont : St. Ann's * 
 
 St. Joseph's * 
 
 French Creek 
 
 ,0.50 
 
 219 
 
 180 
 
 300 
 
 271 
 
 383 
 
 550 
 
 140 
 
 384 
 
 529 
 
 .558 
 
 385 
 
 2(53 
 
 374 
 
 2So 
 
 1801 
 
 146[ 
 
 lOo! 
 
 30! 
 
 78 
 
 Sij 
 
 95 
 
 75 
 
 54 
 
 25 
 
 100 
 
 127 
 
 130 
 
 255 
 
 25 
 
 35 
 
 31 
 
 45 
 
 113 
 
 40 
 
 112 
 
 270 
 
 110 
 
 40 
 
 66 
 
 50 
 
 60 
 
 100 
 
 220 
 
 Gallon ; St. Joseph's 
 
 St. Patrick's* 
 
 Glandorf .*. 
 
 Grafton 
 
 Harrisburg 
 
 Hubbard 
 
 Kelley's Island 
 
 Kirby. 
 
 Landeck 
 
 Leetonia 
 
 Liberty 
 
 Lima 
 
 Liver'pool 
 
 Louisville. . . 
 
 Mansfield 
 
 Masslllin : St. Jobeph's 
 
 St. Mary's* 
 
 Milan 
 
 Millersville 
 
 Monroeville 
 
 Napoleon 
 
 New Cleveland 
 
 New Riegel 
 
 New Washington 
 
 Niles 
 
 North Ridge 
 
 Norwalk : tit. Mary's 
 
 St. Paul's ' 
 
 St. Peter's 
 
 Ottawa 
 
 Ottoville 
 
 Painesville 
 
 Perrysbui'g 
 
 Peru 
 
 Randolph 
 
 Ravenna 
 
 Reed 
 
 Ridgeville 
 
 Rockport : St. Mary's. 
 
 St. Patrick's 
 
 Rootstown 
 
 St. Patrick's Settlement 
 
 St. Stephen's Settlement,. . . 
 Sandusky City: St. Mary's. 
 
 SS. Peter and Paul 
 
 2 
 
 73 
 
 7 
 
 300. 
 
 1 
 
 28 
 
 1 
 
 29 
 
 2 
 
 138 
 
 ■1 
 
 .50 
 
 1 
 
 50 
 
 2 
 
 90 
 
 3 
 
 280 
 
 1 
 
 28 
 
 4 
 
 260 
 
 2 
 
 69 
 
 3 
 
 138 
 
 2 ! 140 
 
 92 
 357 
 37 
 39 
 102 
 90 
 100 
 120 
 160 
 107 
 30 
 80 
 162 
 
 m 
 
 55 
 
 210 
 
 146 
 
 75 
 
 76 
 
 55 
 
 89 
 
 26 
 
 39 
 
 36 
 
 43 
 
 12 
 
 48 
 
 32 
 
 395 
 
 250 
 
 * Report of 18T8. 
 
124 Romanism vs. The Public School System. 
 
 Parochial SchooU and Average Attendance.— Continued. 
 
 Sandusky City : Holy Angels 
 
 Sheffield 
 
 Shelby Settlement 
 
 Sherman * 
 
 Six-Mile Woods 
 
 South Toledo 
 
 Strasburg 
 
 Thompson's 
 
 Tiffin : St. Joseph's 
 
 St. Mary's 
 
 Toledo: St. Francis de Sales's 
 
 Good Shepherd's — 
 
 c 
 
 
 .2 
 
 w 
 
 
 ■^ 
 
 
 
 
 Cc 
 
 1 
 
 100 
 
 1 
 
 4.5 
 
 2 
 
 56 
 
 a 
 
 110 
 
 2 
 
 100 
 
 2 
 
 11.5 
 
 1 
 
 ■i2 
 
 :! 
 
 130 
 
 7 
 
 340 
 
 3 
 
 no 
 
 5 
 
 250 
 
 2 
 
 100 
 
 Toledo: St. Uedwig's 
 
 Immaculate Conception. 
 
 St. Joseph's 
 
 St. Mary's 
 
 St. Patrick's 
 
 St. Peter's 
 
 Upper Sandusky 
 
 Vienna 
 
 Wooster 
 
 Youngstown : 
 
 St. Coluiiiba's 
 
 St. Joseph's 
 
 100 
 315 
 115 
 
 619 
 
 ma 
 
 240 
 115 
 05 
 103 
 
 600 
 
 80 
 
 RECAPITULATION. 
 
 Churches 
 
 " building 
 
 Chapels 
 
 Stations (without churches) 
 
 Secular priests 137 
 
 Regulars 34- 
 
 Total number of priests 
 
 Seminarians 
 
 Seminary 
 
 Academies for girls' 
 
 Number of girls attending acad- 
 emics and select schools, 
 
 Hospitals 
 
 Orphan asylums 
 
 Reformatory for girls 
 
 199 
 
 6 
 
 20 
 
 65 
 
 Homes for the aged poor 
 
 Orphans 
 
 Male religious communities 
 
 Female " '■'' 
 
 Brothers 
 
 Professed sisters, novices, and 
 postulants 
 
 Religious having charge of paro- 
 chial schools 
 
 Parochial schools 
 
 Parochial schools taught by re- 
 ligious 
 
 Average number children attend- 
 ing parochial schools. . .about 21. 
 
 Catholic population about 1.50. 
 
 3 
 
 683 
 
 21 
 39 
 
 603 
 
 212 
 
 113 
 
 64 
 
 ,000 
 
 DIOCESE OF NEWARK. 
 
 Parochial Schools. 
 
 
 Pupils. 
 
 Taught by 
 
 St. Patrick's Cathedi-al Schools, 
 
 670 
 302 
 400 
 ],](X) 
 326 
 700 
 560 
 168 
 146 
 1.56 
 410 
 460 
 217 
 425 
 191 
 
 5 Brothers of Christian Schools ; 6 Sis- 
 ters of Charity. 
 
 St. John's, Newark 
 
 St. Mary's, Newark 
 
 6 Sisters of St. Joseph and lay teacher. 
 5 Sisters of St. Benedict and lay teach'r. 
 
 
 7 Sisters of Charity ; 7 lay teachers. 
 
 St. Aloysius's, Newark 
 
 4 Sisters of Charity. 
 
 
 10 Sisters of Notre Dame ; 1 lay teacher. 
 
 
 8 Sisters of Charity. 
 
 
 2 Sisters of St. Benedict. 
 
 St. Columba's, Newaik 
 
 2 Sisters of Charity. 
 
 St. Augustine's, Newark 
 
 3 Sisters of Christian Charity. 
 5 Sisters of Charity. 
 
 St. Pius's, East Newark 
 
 5 Sisters of Charity and 2 lay teachers. 
 3 Sisters of Charity. 
 
 St. Mary's, Bergen Point 
 
 Sacred Heart, Bloonifleld 
 
 6 Sisters of St. Joseph. 
 3 Sisters of Charity. 
 
 * Eepoit of 18T8. 
 
Statistical Exhibits. 
 
 ParocMal Schools.— Continued. 
 
 125 
 
 
 Pupils. 
 
 Taught l)y 
 
 St. Mary's, Bordentown 
 
 St. Paul's, Burlington 
 
 207 
 
 117 
 
 350 
 
 120 
 
 98 
 
 55 
 
 320 
 
 168 
 
 1,110 
 
 188 
 
 190 
 
 125 
 
 110 
 
 195 
 
 138 
 
 65 
 
 639 
 
 150 
 
 830 
 
 1,200 
 
 510 
 
 175 
 
 668 
 
 600 
 
 340 
 
 92 
 
 30 
 
 275 
 
 135 
 
 85 
 
 250 
 
 37 
 
 75 
 
 750 
 
 81 
 
 50 
 
 685 
 
 300 
 
 80 
 225 
 582 
 24-J 
 120 
 
 50 
 220 
 
 100 
 125 
 
 225 
 87 
 100 
 106 
 .50 
 
 5 Sisters of Mercy. 
 
 3 Sisters of St. Francis. 
 
 7 Sisters of St. Joseph. 
 
 SS. Peter and Paul's, Camden. . 
 St. Joseph's, Carlstadt 
 
 3 Sisters of Notre Dame. 
 3 Sisters of St. Benedict. 
 1 lay teacher. 
 
 St. Mary's, Elizabetb 
 
 5 Sisters of Charity and lay teacher. 
 
 St. Michael's, Elizabeth . . 
 
 St. Patrick's, Elizabeth 
 
 St. Henry's, Elizabeth 
 
 2 Sisters of Christian Charity. 
 
 8 Sisters of Charity and lay teachers. 
 
 4 Sisters of St. Benedict. 
 
 St. Cecelia's, Englewood 
 
 4 Sisters of Charity. 
 
 St. Rose of Lima, Freehold 
 
 St. Mary's, Gloucester 
 
 St. Joseph's, Guttenberg 
 
 St. Joseph's Chr., High Bridge. 
 
 2 Franciscan Sisters. 
 
 6 Sisters of St. Dominic. 
 2 Sisters of St. Francis. 
 
 1 lay teacher. 
 
 7 Sisters of Charity and 2 lay teachers. 
 
 
 St. Peter's, Jersey City 
 
 St. Mary's, Jersey City ... 
 
 St. Joseph's, Jersey City 
 
 St. Boniface's, Jersey City 
 
 St. Michael's, Jersey City 
 
 St. Bridget's, Jersey City 
 
 St. Paul of the Cross, Jersey City. 
 
 8 Sisters of Charity and 4 lay teachers. 
 
 4 Brothers Christian Schools and 8 Sis- 
 
 ters of Charity. 
 8 Sisters of Charity and 1 lay teacher. 
 
 5 Sisters of St. Dominic. 
 
 8 Sisters of Charity and 2 lay teachers. 
 
 6 Sisters of Charity and lay teacher. 
 5 Sisters of Charity and lay teacher. 
 
 St. Joseph's, Keyport 
 
 St. John's, Lambertville 
 
 1 lay teacher. 
 Lay teachers. 
 
 2 Sisters of Charity and lay teacher. 
 
 St. Rose's, Milburn 
 
 3 Sisters of Notre Dame. 
 
 Our Lady's, Morristown 
 
 St. Mary Magdalen, Millville. . . 
 
 St. Bernard's, Mount Hope 
 
 St. Peter's, New Brunswick — 
 St. John the Baptist's, New 
 
 2 Sisters of Charity and lay teacher. 
 
 1 lay teacher. 
 
 3 Sisters of Charity. 
 
 6 Sisters of Charity and 3 lay teachers. 
 
 2 Sisters of Christian Charity. 
 
 St. Ann's, New Hampton 
 
 St. John's, Orange 
 
 1 lay teacher. 
 
 5 Sisters of Charity and 2 lay teachers. 
 
 Our Lady, Orange Valley 
 
 St. Rose of Lima's, Oxford Fur- 
 nace 
 
 St. Nicholas's, Passaic 
 
 St. John the Baptist's, Paterson. 
 
 2 Christian Brothers and 4 lay teachers. 
 
 1 lay teacher. 
 
 3 Sisters of Charity. 
 8 Sisters of Charity. 
 3 Sisters of Charity. 
 
 St. Mary's, Totawa, Paterson. . . 
 St. Joseph's Hospital School — 
 St. Boniface's, Paterson 
 
 St. Bonaventure's, Paterson 
 
 St. Mary's, Perth Amboy 
 
 St. Paul's, Princeton 
 
 5 Sisters of St. Dominic. 
 
 1 Sister of Charity. 
 
 3 Sisters of St. Dominic and 3 Brothers 
 of Mary. 
 
 2 Brothers of Mary. 
 
 3 lay teachers. 
 
 4 Sisters of Mercy. 
 
 
 2 Sisters of Charity. 
 
 St. James's, Bed Bank. 
 
 Lay teacher. 
 
 2 Sisters of St. Francis. 
 
 1 lay teacher. 
 
 St. Peter's, Riverside 
 
 St. Mary's, Salem 
 
120 lloMANisM VS. The Public School System. 
 
 Parochial SchnoU.— Continued. 
 
 
 Pupils. 
 
 Taught by 
 
 Sacred Heart, Sliadyside 
 
 St. Mary's, South Aiiiboy 
 
 Our Lady, South Orange 
 
 152 
 40 
 130 
 
 ro 
 
 610 
 
 5ir 
 
 1.50 
 122 
 109 
 50 
 360 
 
 43 
 
 2 Sisters of St. Francis. 
 
 1 lay teacher. 
 
 2 Sisters of Charity. 
 
 Oui' Lady of Mt. Carmel. Tenafly 
 St. John the Baptist's, Trenton. 
 
 St. Mary's, Trenton 
 
 Sister of Charity. 
 
 7 Sisters of Charity and 4 Brothers Holy 
 
 Cross. 
 4 Sisters of Charity and lay teacher. 
 4 Sisters of St. Francis. 
 
 Our Lady of Lourdes, Trenton.. 
 
 Holy Family, Union Hill 
 
 Holy Family, Watei ford 
 
 Our Lady, West Hoboken 
 
 2 Sisters of St. Francis. 
 
 3 Sisters of St. Francis. 
 3 Sisters of Charity. 
 
 5 Sisters of Charity and 4 Cliristian 
 
 Brothers. 
 1 lay teacher. 
 
 St. Mary's, Plalnfleld 
 
 Being remodelled. 
 
 A new diocese (Trenton) now takes a part of the foregoing. 
 
 GENERAL STATISTICS OF NEWARK DIOCESE (YEAR-BOOK, 1888). 
 
 No. 1 1 Ni). 
 
 Priests : Regular .55 I , uf^ljchurches 103 
 
 Secular 125 ) ^°"|;Stations visited 15 
 
 Brothers 23 / n^^, Monasteries 3 
 
 Sisters 95t ( "Iconvents 9 
 
 Ecclesiastical Students in seminary 25 1 seminary 1 
 
 Colleges (Boys) 3 
 
 Academies (Young Ladies) 18 
 
 Parochial schools . 73 
 
 Industrial schools and reformatories 3 
 
 Total. 
 
 Orphanages 5 
 
 Hosviitals, cases treated during the year 4 
 
 Asylums 4 
 
 Total 
 
 Catholic population of diocese by recent census, about 
 
 Pupils. 
 
 2^3 
 
 1,420 
 
 23,214 
 
 190 
 
 25,112 
 
 Inmates, 
 
 627 
 
 4,.536 
 
 380 
 
 5,543 
 160,000 
 
 DIOCESE OF BOSTON. 
 
 Parochial schools. 
 Teachers : 
 
 Sisters 
 
 Lay 
 
 Brothers 
 
 I8S8. 
 43 
 
 370 
 31 
 
 10 
 
 1S77. Inc 
 18 
 
 166 
 11 
 
Statistical ExiniiiTs. 127 
 
 City of Boston. 
 
 1SS8. 1811. Increase. 
 
 Parochial schools 16 11 5 
 
 Teachers : 
 
 Bisters 110 94 
 
 Lay 18 11 
 
 Brothers 
 
 Total teachers. , 134 105 ;?9 
 
 Pupils r,lt)9 5,086 2,083 
 
 CHlLDRE.Nf IN BOSTON. 
 
 1885. 1875. Inere.ase. 
 
 Between 5 and 15 years, inclusive • 75,988 71,195 4,793 
 
 Forei.s;n in first or second degree 50,000 
 
 In parochial schools 1 in 7 
 
 Of the parocliial schools in the dioce::;e of Boston 16 are in Boston and 13 more 
 in Salem, Lowell, Lawrence, and Haverhill— 28 in 5 cities, leavin.s 14 in the 
 diocese outside of 5 cities. But there are 105 towns and cities in the diocese, 
 100 of which have only 14 parochial schools ; they are now being rapidly organ- 
 ized in other towns and cities. 
 
 CITY OF NEW YORK. 
 
 Kfi. 1 1 No. 
 
 Parochial schools C5 Colleges (two Jesuit) 4 
 
 Teachers (sisters and brothers). 550 Teachers 1 10 
 
 Pupils 29,149; :PupiIs 996 
 
 Select schools 19^ Homes, asylums, etc., for children 11 
 
 Teachers (sisters and brothere). 116! Teachers 426 
 
 Pupils 1,073 Pupils 2,331 
 
 CITY OF ST. LOUIS. 
 
 No. 
 
 Parochial schools 46j 
 
 Teachers (sisters and brethren) . 251 1 
 
 Pupils 14,.522| 
 
 Select schools 7| 
 
 Teachers (sisters and brethren) . 294 
 Pupils 985: 
 
 No. 
 
 Colleges (one Jesuit) 
 
 Teachers 23 
 
 Pupils 699 
 
 Homes, asylums, etc., for children 9 
 
 Teachers. 227 
 
 Pupils 1,045 
 
 The Catholic Citizen, of Milwaukee, gives the fol- 
 lowing census of the pnpils in the Catholic schools in 
 that city : 
 
 1882— Total Catholic school enrollment 5,180 
 
 1883— " " " " .5,870 
 
 1884— " " " " 6,.520 
 
 188.5— " " " " 7,118 
 
 1886- " " " " 7,797 
 
 1887- " " " " 8,4.57 
 
 1888- " " " " 9,096 
 
128 Romanism vs. The Public School System. 
 
 It will be noted that the increase per year has varied 
 from eight to ten per cent. This increase is in keep- 
 ing with the increase in population. During the past 
 year five new Catholic schools were opened in the city, 
 four of which are located on the south side. The 
 present number of Catholic schools in Milwaukee is 24. 
 
 The Higher Educational Institutions 
 Of Romanism in the United States are as follows : 
 
 students 
 Institutions, of al! grades. 
 
 Jesuit colleges ; 26 5,258 
 
 Other colleges 60 8,749 
 
 Theological seminaries 19 3,645 
 
 Female colleges 19 1,214 
 
 Total 124 18,806 
 
 Of the 86 colleges many are but little more than 
 foundations for colleges, in an exceedingly undevel- 
 oped condition, and the students comjn-ise those in 
 the academic or preparatory course, their plan of col- 
 lege studies comprising seven years. The better class 
 of their colleges numbers little more than 50, and the 
 students in the course for the degree A.B., as near as 
 can be ascertained, are 4,647. The non-Roman Cath- 
 olic denominational colleges in the United States are 
 252, with 21,301 students in the course for A.B. In 
 addition are the undenominational colleges, number- 
 ing 61, with 6,819 students.* 
 
 * For fuller information see Chridianify in. tlif Uniteil States, by the 
 author of this volume. Phillips & Hunt, 805 Broadway, New York city, 
 N. Y. Pp. 604-609, 611-613, 726. 
 
Statistical Exhibits. 129 
 
 But the cniTicLilum of studies in the Catliolic col- 
 leges is much inferior to that of most Protestant col- 
 leges. (See Part II, Chapter IX,) 
 
 That the reader may see the relative situation, the 
 colleges and students of three other denominations 
 are given in comparison : 
 
 CuUeges. Students for A.B. 
 
 Roman Catholics 57 4,647 
 
 Methodists (all kinds) 67 4,938 
 
 Fresbyteriaus (all kinds) 46 4,060 
 
 Baptists (all kinds) 45 3,728 
 
 To aid in the work of education, as well as asylums, 
 etc., the Pomish Church has already in tliis country 
 24 orders of priests, 11 ordei's of brothers, and 77 
 orders of sisters — 112 in all. 
 
 Geowth. 
 The increase* of the Eoman Catholic Churcli in this 
 country is one of the striking religious phenomena of 
 this century. Conceding heavy losses in Europe, it 
 has been their habit to boast of large gains in the 
 United States. Its churches, schools, convents, eccle- 
 siastics and adherents have increased many fold, and 
 it has become a conspicuous factor in the main cen- 
 ters of the population. It exerts a large and, in some 
 localities, a controlling influence in politics. Never 
 v;as it plotting more deeply and determinedly than 
 now, and some persons have grave fears for the safety 
 of our free institutions. Let us be wisely active. 
 
 *By immigration ; but smaller relative increase since 1870 than before. 
 9 
 
130 Romanism tw. The Public School System, 
 
 
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PART II. 
 
 QUESTIONS INVOLVED IN THE CONTEST. 
 
PART IL 
 Questions Involved in the Contest. 
 
 IK discussing tlie vital questions involved in the 
 Catholic school contest, and in the form in which 
 the writer apprehends they are likely to be developed 
 in the near future, it will be noticed that the subject 
 revolves around the following points : 
 The Roman Cathohcs claim — 
 
 1. That all education, secular and religious, is tlie 
 exclusive function of the Church (the Papal Church), 
 to be administered in parochial schools under the sole 
 direction and supervision of the Church, and that, in 
 a free republic like ours, the Church has a right to 
 establish and maintain such schools. 
 
 2. Eoman Catholics contend that they have a right 
 to a share of the public school moneys, and demand 
 that the funds be divided, and their portion appropriated 
 for their schools. 
 
 3. And that, so long as the pubhc schools exist on 
 their present basis, no sectarian text-books or instruc- 
 tion should be allowed in them. 
 
 Protestants claim — 
 
134 HoMANisM VS. The Public School System. 
 
 1. That secular instrnctioii is the function of the 
 State, and that reKgious instruction belongs to religious 
 institutions and the home. We allow the right, to all 
 denominations who desire to do so, to establish and 
 maintain churcli schools, seminaries, and colleges at 
 their own expense ; but we do not consider it either 
 wise or equitable, or consistent with true loyalty to the 
 republic, for any denomination to maintain schools in 
 which supreme allegiance to a foreign pontiff is daily and 
 prominently inculcated, or hierarchical dogmas taught. 
 
 2. We also claim that no sectarian, parochial, or 
 denominational school is entitled to the moneys raised 
 or funded for the public schools ; and that to divide* 
 and appropriate a portion of those moneys to sectarian 
 scliools would be fatal to the integrity of the public 
 school system and the welfare of the republic. 
 
 3. We furthermore protest against the introduction 
 into the public schools of sectarian text-books, or books 
 showing a sectarian bias, or the impartation of sectarian 
 instruction, or the employment, as teachers in the pub- 
 lic schools, of members of religious brotherhoods or 
 sisterhoods* wearing the costume or any insignia of 
 any church ; and also insist that there shall be no sec- 
 tarian interference with the administration. 
 
 Such are the leading points of difference between Ro- 
 man Catliolics and Protestants on the school question. 
 
 * This has been clone in some instances. 
 
Duty of the State to Educate. 135 
 
 QUESTION I. 
 
 As to the Might and Duty of the- State to 
 Euucate, 
 
 AT this point, so vital to the repubhc, the Eoman 
 Cathohc Church sqaarelj joins issue with the 
 educational policy of this country. In the preceding- 
 pages the attitude of that Church has been seen ; but 
 a few more official utterances will help some minds to 
 more clearly apprehend the unmistakable policy of 
 Rome. 
 
 In his famous Encyclical Letter, before quoted, 
 issued December 8, 1864, the pope specified certain 
 " errors " wdiicli heofticially condemned, among which 
 were the following, bearing directly on this cpiestion : 
 
 The entire direction of public schools in which the 
 youth of Christian States are educated may and must 
 appertain to the civil power, and belong to it so far 
 that no other authority shall be recognized as having 
 any right to interfere in the discipline of the schools, 
 the arrangement of the studies, etc. 
 
 The most advantageous conditions of civil society 
 require that popular schools, opened without distinction 
 to all children of the people, and public establishments 
 designed to teach j^oung people letters and good disci- 
 pline and to impart to them education, should be 
 
136 TtOMANisM vs. The Public School System. 
 
 freed from all ecclesiastical authority and interference, 
 and should be fully subjected to the civil and pohtical 
 powers for the teaching of matters and opinions com- 
 mon to the times. 
 
 The CatJwlic World '^ said : 
 
 As there is for us Catholics only one Church, there 
 is and can be no proper education for us not given by 
 or under the direction and control of the Catholic 
 Church. 
 
 A writer in the Catholic Woi'ld f said : 
 
 The superintendence and direction of the public 
 schools, as well as those wherein the iiiass of the people 
 are instructed in the rudiments of human knowledge 
 and those wherein secondary and higher instruction are 
 given, is the right of the Catholic Church. She alone 
 has the right of watching over the moral character of 
 those schools, of approving the masters who instruct 
 the youth therein, of controlling their teaching, and 
 dismissing without appeal to any other authority those 
 whose doctrines or manners are contrary to the purity 
 of the Clnristian doctrine. 
 
 lu a public address:}: Chancellor Kev. Thomas S. 
 
 Preston, Yicar-General of the Diocese of 'New York, 
 
 said : 
 
 I will state, briefly, the position in which the Cath- 
 olics stand in regard to elementary and popular instruc- 
 tion. "We have been misunderstood, and often inten- 
 tionally so, for our explanations have not been received 
 with candor or considered with justice. We only de- 
 
 * April, 1871. i- Septembei-, 1875. ~~ 
 
 X Before the " Young Men's Local Catholic Union " of New York city, 
 November, 1876. 
 
Duty of the State to Educate. 137 
 
 sire to practice our religion, and we defy any man to 
 call US in question for our love for our country, , . . 
 We cannot approve the divorce of education and re- 
 ligion, and, so far as our children are concerned, we 
 must teach them, with secular knowledge, the truths of 
 revelation and the mysteries of our faith. [Great ap- 
 plause.] Because we do this do we prevent our neigh- 
 bors from doing it likewise, or from not doing it at all, as 
 they please ? Ko. We interfere not with their rights, 
 and surely they, in justice and in reason, ought not to 
 interfere with ours. [Applause,] So far as the com- 
 mon schools are concerned, it is a calumny often re- 
 peated, and no doubt to be repeated still, that we are 
 opposed to schools for those who want them. It is not 
 true. We are not opposed to the common schools for 
 our Protestant friends, if they want them, but they 
 will not answer for us, for the schools we want are 
 those in which our children shall be taught the mys- 
 teries of their faith. 
 
 The Catholic Theoet Stated, 
 One of the latest and fullest utterances of the 
 Roman Catholic Church on this subject was by Eev, 
 F. T, McCarthy, S, J,, of Boston. This gentleman's 
 statement and vindication will be given at considerable 
 length, that the subject may be brought more fully 
 and intelligently before our readers. He said : * 
 
 There is no State that has ever received the com- 
 mission to educate. God never gave a commission 
 to the State to educate. The function of the State 
 
 * December 22, 1887, in the Church of our Lady of Perpetual Help, 
 Boston Highlands. The extracts are from the Boston HeralcL December 
 23, 18S7. 
 
7 38 Romanism vs. The Public School System. 
 
 with regard to education is simply tliis — to protect 
 the citizen in natural and acquired rights, and to fur- 
 ther and to promote the temporal welfare of the 
 citizen. 
 
 A word now with regard to the origin of civil so- 
 ciety. This will throw more light upon the subject. 
 In the beginning, when there was but one family — 
 Adam and Eve and the children immediately born to 
 them — that was all the civil society that existed. 
 Adam was the head. By the law of nature he 
 was the head. By divine ordinance he was the head. 
 In the family his will was law, so long as that will 
 was not in opposition to the will of God. But they 
 begat more and more children, and their children 
 married, and they multiplied, and they covered the 
 earth. Now, it was discovered that there was need 
 of some public authority, some one chosen to admin- 
 ister the government. There were felt certain wants. 
 Those wants could be best supplied by association, 
 and accordingly they entered into association. 
 The individual surrendered a certain amount of his 
 individual right, in exchange for certain protection 
 that he received from the government of civil so- 
 ciety. And this is the origin of civil society. Civil 
 society is created by individual men, and the cession 
 of the rights of individual men was only in as far as 
 the cession of those rights was for the common weal. 
 Hence we hear people talking now about the Com- 
 monwealth of Massachusetts — common weal ; com- 
 mon welfai-e. That is what it means, the common 
 welfare, and the common welfare is best secured by 
 the yielding up by the individual of certain rights. 
 But the Government is not to take rights, to usurp 
 those tliat the individual has never given up, and 
 the individual has certain inalienable rights that he 
 cannot give up. And one of the rights that the in- 
 
DuTv OF THE State to Educate. 139 
 
 dividual and the parent cannot surrender, is tlie riglit 
 to educate the cliiidren that are born. 
 
 How, then, does the State come to possess this 
 right ? Does it belong to the protective function of 
 the State ? But it is supposed that the parent, in 
 educating, is in his right ; therefore there is no 
 question of the State protecting his right. Does it 
 belong to that function which is promotive of tlie 
 welfare of the individual and of the family ? 'No. 
 It is not to the interest of the individual qv of the 
 family to have the State as the educator. Let us 
 suppose that the State is atheistical. Let us suppose 
 that the State is hostile to religion. Let us suppose — 
 and the fact exists in a great many places — that the 
 State is hostile to the Catholic Church and to those 
 who profess Catholic doctrine and submission to 
 Catholic authority, I have already said that any 
 body that undertakes to teach teaches by the choice 
 of the parent, and according to the mind and accord- 
 ing to the conscientious convictions of the parents; 
 but how is a State that is atheistical, how is a State 
 that is opposed to Catholicity to teach Catholic chil- 
 dren, to till the place of Catholic parents with regard 
 to such children, to bring them up as the parent 
 would have them brought up, and as the parent is 
 bound in conscience to have them brought uj) ? How 
 can the State do that? The State cannot do it. But 
 the State has not the right to do it, and when the 
 State steps in and assumes the role of the school 
 teacher then there is the invasion of the individual 
 right, the invasion of the domestic right, the invasion 
 of the rights of the Church, and the invasion of divine 
 rights. But is there no circumstance under which 
 the State is allowed to teach ? No. Tliere may be 
 circumstances when the State may look after the 
 education of children that are neglected, evidently, by 
 
140 EoMANisM VS. The Public School System. 
 
 tliose who h'ave the lawful right to teach them. Or- 
 phans, for example, foundlings, paupers — tliej are to 
 be_ taught. By the State? No. If the Church or if 
 private charity does not attend to it the State must 
 do it ; but the State does not become the teacher. 
 The State is simply to see that that child, thus aban- 
 doned, has the education tliat it has a right to. But 
 that does not make the State the school-teacher. 
 
 The State Theory Yindicated. 
 
 Here is a full statement and defense of the theory 
 of the Koman Catholic Church in regard to education. 
 A close observer will detect the fallacies in Father 
 McCarthy's reasoning. He says that " God never 
 gave a commission to the State to educate." After 
 referring to the first family, with Adam as its head, 
 he says, where families multiplied there was some 
 need of public authority, some one chosen to admin- 
 ister government. There were "certain felt wants, 
 which could be best supplied by association, and ac- 
 cordingly tliey entered into association. The indi- 
 vidual surrendered a certain amount of his indi- 
 vidual right, in exchange for certain protection he 
 received from the government of civil society. 
 This is the origin of civil society." Hence the 
 term " Commonwealth, Common Weal, Common 
 Welfare." 
 
 Father McCarthy thus far states very well the logi- 
 cal basis of free republics. This is the basis on 
 
Duty of the State to Educate. 141 
 
 whicli the Commonwealtli of Massachusetts was 
 organized. The " Bill of Rights " says : 
 
 The body politic is formed by a voluntary asso- 
 ciation of individuals ; it is a social compact, by 
 which the whole people covenants with each citizen, 
 and each citizen with the whole people, that all shall 
 be governed by certain laws for the common good. 
 
 "When the individual citizens of Massachusetts 
 "associated" themselves for the purpose of forming 
 " civil society " or the Commonwealth, by " surren- 
 dering " " a certain amount of individual rights," etc., 
 and defined and fixed the limits of that surrender, in 
 the Constitution of the State, and adopted the Con- 
 stitution by the 'votes of the individual citizens, to 
 w^hom it was submitted, they specified the education 
 of the young according to the system then in use, 
 particularly mentioning * " public schools and gram- 
 mar schools in the towns " — a clear recognition of 
 our public school system. They assigned as the 
 reason, that " wisdom and knowledge, as well as vir- 
 tue, difiased generally among the body of the people, 
 being necessary for the preservation of their rights 
 and liberties ; and as these depend on spreading the 
 opportunities and advantages of education," etc. 
 
 Something similar is found in the history of all the 
 United States. Tlie people have relinquished the 
 
 * See Constitution of Massachusetts, chapter v, section ii. 
 
142 Romanism vs. The Public School System. 
 
 right and duty of secular education to the States. 
 The States hold it as committed to them by the people 
 — a fundamental principle in our republic. Hence, 
 however Father McCarthy's theory may apply to 
 monarchical governments, and even republics differ- 
 ently constituted, it does not apply to this republic, 
 for the parents, as citizens, at the outset, relinquished 
 the right and duty of secular education to the State. 
 
 Does Father McCarthy reply that the people, 
 under God, have no right to thus relinquish the work 
 of education to the State ? Does he state this as an 
 assumption ? Where is the authority which condemns 
 the relinquishment ? If scriptural, where is the 
 text to be found ? If his answer is that the Roman 
 Catholic Church holds to that doctrine, that may 
 satisfy him, but non-Catholics ask for some other 
 proof. 
 
 But, says Father McCarthy, suppose the State is 
 "atheistical" or "hostile to religion," "would it be 
 for the interest of the individual or the family to 
 have the State as the educator ? " That is a suppo- 
 sition which does not apply in this i*epublic, and 
 must, therefore, be ruled out of this argument. 
 
 But again he says, " Let us suppose — and the fact 
 exists in a great many places — that the State is hos- 
 tile to the Catholic Churcli, and to those who profess 
 Catholic doctrine and submission to Catholic author- 
 
Duty of the State to Educate. 143 
 
 ity." We answer, that is not the case in this re- 
 public or in any individual State of this republic. 
 Our national Constitution forbids any " law respect' 
 ing an establishment of religion or prohibiting the 
 free exercise thereof." The Constitution of Massa- 
 chusetts says : 
 
 ISTo subject shall be hurt, molested, or restrained 
 in his person, liberty, or estate, for worsliiping God 
 in the manner and season most agreeable to the dic- 
 tates of his own conscience, or for his religious pro- 
 fession or sentiments, provided he does not disturb 
 the public peace or obstruct others in their religious 
 worship. 
 
 Similar provisions are in the Constitutions of all 
 the States. 
 
 The Catholic Assumption. 
 
 But the point underlying the whole is the Roman 
 Catholic assumption that religion and secular educa- 
 tion must be taught together ; should never be sepa- 
 rated. But may not ihe parents, the citizens, in a 
 free republic, where there exist diverse forms of 
 religion, which complicate and make impossible the 
 teaching of religion in the public schools, agree to re- 
 linquish to the State the right and duty of teaching 
 secular education, and reserve to themselves and to 
 the Churches the work of imparting religious in- 
 struction ? May they not do this as a wise arrange- 
 ment, in the interest of harmony ? This is what we 
 
144 Romanism vs. The Public School System. 
 
 understand has been done, to afford our Roman Cath- 
 olic fellow citizens, and others, the privileges of our 
 school system. 
 
 But the hierarchy steps in — not the mass of the 
 Roman Catholic laity — and says "No; the exclusive 
 function of all education, secular and religious, is in 
 my hands — there must be no separation." This is a 
 part of the absolutism of the papal Church. She 
 claims absolute supremacy in all things : in education, 
 in legislation, in government ; that the State and the 
 Church should be united ; that the Church should 
 control the State ; that all legislation should be sub- 
 ject to her dictation. This is the logical basis of the 
 papacy, and she carries out the lines of her policy 
 wherever she can, and varies from it only where she 
 cannot help herself. Her demand wholly to control 
 education, secular and religious, is a part of her abso- 
 lutism, the " thin edge of the wedge " which the 
 Church of Rome is driving into our republican in- 
 stitutions for the purpose of splitting the republic. 
 This, at least, is the logical trend of her move- 
 ment. 
 
 This imperious hierarchy comes into our republic, 
 knowing what it is, its government and usages, and 
 asserts unblushingly these demands of an absolutism 
 engendered amid the darkness and mold of the 
 Middle Ages, demanding that which must ruin our 
 
Duty of the State to Educate. 145 
 
 most valued institutions. Then, if not gratiiied, they 
 twit us of the falsity of our boasted liberty, as though 
 freedom were unbounded license. Said one prominent 
 papal ecclesiastic in New York city : 
 
 'Now, in this country, that boasts its freedom, 
 shall a man rise and tell me, " All this is very well, 
 but you shall support the common schools, no matter 
 whether you like them or not ; and if you don't wish 
 to send your chikh-en to them, we are in the majority 
 and you shall pay anyway?" Is this in accordance 
 with righteousness and justice ? Is this a free country, 
 or is it not ? 
 
 Strange are the fallacies resorted to to overturn our 
 institutions. Papists fail to appreciate the genius of 
 a free country. They live in the atmosphere of ec- 
 clesiastical absolutism. Absolutism is the warp and 
 woof of the system in which they have been reared. 
 They overlook entirely that it is the prime duty of a 
 popular government to perpetuate itself by adopting 
 measures promotive of the greatest freedom and the 
 highest good of all. To accomplish this, restraints 
 and requirements must be imposed upon its inhabi- 
 tants. The " free country " the Romanists talk about 
 does not recognize such necessities. The imposition 
 of taxes, laws for restraining the vicious, and laws re- 
 quiring men to do what they do not like to do, are, in 
 their estimation, incompatible with the gloriously 
 
 " free country " upon whicli they discourse. The 
 10 
 
IttG Romanism vs. The Public School System. 
 
 logical result of such freedoui is anarchy. The 
 American people are not anarchists. 
 
 'We cannot too distinctly emphasize the principle 
 that self-preservation is the primal law of govern- 
 ments as well as of nature. What does history show 
 to have been the bane of past republics, and the cause 
 of tlieir overthrow, but ignorance ? Of necessity the 
 State must devote primary attention to elementary 
 education, compelling its children to have such in- 
 struction as will prevent their becoming instruments 
 of danger. To accomplish this, scliools must be sup- 
 ported at necessary expense, and in the least conflict 
 with the rights and ideas of the parents. Said 
 
 IloN. Theodore Roosevelt : 
 
 There is but one point in reference to which any 
 feelings of alarm are in the smallest degree justifiable — 
 this is the public school system. We could suffer no 
 national calamity more far-reaching in its effects than 
 would be implied in the abandonment of our system 
 of non-sectarian common schools ; and it is a very un- 
 fortunate thing for any man, or body of men, to be 
 identified with opposition thereto. But it must be 
 borne in mind that hostility to the public schools is 
 not really a question of sects at all ; it is merely an 
 illustration of the survival or importation here of the 
 utterly un-American and thoroughly Old-World idea 
 of the subordination of the layman to the priest. Not 
 a few Protestant clergymen oppose our public scliools 
 on the one hand, and an ever-increasing nun)l)er of 
 Catholic laymen support them on the other. At my 
 
Duty of the State to Educate. 147 
 
 own home on Long Island, for instance, the chief op- 
 ponent of the pubhc schools is not the Catholic priest, 
 but the Episcopalian clergyman ; and he re-enforces 
 his slender stock of tritely foolish arguments by lib- 
 eral quotations from the work of a Presbyterian theo- 
 logian. 
 
 The fight is not one between creeds ; it is an issue 
 between intelligent American laymen of every faith, 
 on the one hand, and ambitious, foolish, or misguided 
 supporters of a worn-out system of clerical government 
 on the other — these supporters including Episcopa- 
 lians and Presbyterians as well as Catholics. Our pub- 
 lic school system is here to stay ; it cannot be over- 
 turned ; wherever hurt, even, it is only at the much 
 greater cost of the person hurting it. The boy brought 
 up in the parochial school is not only less qualified to 
 be a good American citizen, but he is also at a distinct 
 disadvantage in the race of life, compared to the boy 
 brought up in the j^ublic schools. 
 
 The theory that the entire work of education is the 
 exclusive function of the Church is a sequence of 
 the old mediaeval papal dogma that the Church is the 
 prime, supreme, and all-embracing source of authority 
 — that the ofiices of the State are subordinate to and 
 dependent upon the supreme will of the Church, and 
 that all functions, religious, civil, and social, must be 
 administered under her direction and dictation. It 
 does not require great logical insight to see that such 
 a theory cannot be worked in the American republic. 
 For the proper discharge of the functions of Ameri- 
 can citizenship there must be an American education. 
 
148 Romanism vs. The Public School System. 
 
 A Plain Necessity. 
 
 It is a plain necessity tliat in a republic every boy 
 should be educated to understand something of the 
 pohty of the Government, its structure and aims, in- 
 stead of being educated to ideas and methods of abso- 
 lutism, as in the parochial schools of Romanism. He 
 should know something of business relations and trade ; 
 something in relation to criminal enterprises and 
 moral enterprises, and trained- to use his knowledge 
 honestly for the good of his country. It is easy to 
 show that where the education of the child is left 
 wholly to the parent and to the Roman Catholic 
 Church, as in Italy, Spain, etc., large masses grow up 
 uneducated. In the hands of such people free insti- 
 tutions cannot safely rest. They cannot intelligently 
 exercise the franchise. On that account the free State 
 is in duty bound to educate its youth. To educate a 
 large body of children outside of the institutions which 
 educate the masses, as, for instance, in the Catholic 
 parochial schools, is to build up classes and castes in 
 our midst. 
 
 Confessedly it is the function of the State to corre- 
 late human forces, all the varied elements of society, 
 so far as they need to be adjusted. There are neces- 
 sities of the adult population for which the State must 
 care, not merely as charities, but as acts of justice. 
 
Duty of the State fo Educate. 149 
 
 Many are the equalizing tasks of civil government. 
 Certain obligations must be made to rest mutually 
 upon the rich and the poor — upon nobles apd peas- 
 ants, upon vi^illing and reluctant parents. The State is 
 the aggregate, unified personality, in a representative 
 way, particularly in a republic, correlating and admin- 
 istering whatever might otherwise remain unorgan- 
 ized and become disintegrating and ruinous.. The 
 children of the State, brought into existence without 
 ability or wisdom to care for themselves, with parents 
 often unfitted to wisely direct their education, and 
 often utterly indifferent to it, must be conserved and 
 provided for by the civil power. In a republic, re- 
 quiring intelligence in order to the performance of 
 the duties of citizenship, it is an imperative necessity 
 that the State should provide for the education of the 
 whole body. It must not be left to chance. 
 
150 Romanism vs. The Public School System. 
 
 QUESTION II. 
 
 As to Heligious Instruction in the PuJdic 
 Schools, 
 
 IN the early period of the New England colonies, 
 when the Church and State were united and there 
 was only one * denomination, the Catechism was gen- 
 erally taught in the public schools ; not every day, 
 but more or less every week, and often by the parish 
 minister. The appointment of teachers very gener- 
 ally depended upon the approval of the local minister. 
 In those days the first officers of the Ancient and 
 Honorable Artillery Company were not appointed 
 until they had passed a satisfactory examination in the 
 doctrines of justification by faith, the office-M'ork of 
 the Holy Ghost, etc. But that time has passed away. 
 No one can believe more sincerely and strongly 
 than the writer of this volume that a complete edu- 
 cation must comprise religious instruction and train- 
 ing ; that the religions faculty must be cultivated ; 
 and that instruction in religious truth is an abso- 
 lute necessity. But this is not the work of the public 
 
 * There were very few churches of other denominations tlian the Con- 
 gregational down to the Kcohition. 
 
Religious Instruction. 151 
 
 school system. Teachers are not selected with refer- 
 ence to an J particular kind of Christian faith. The 
 course of study is secular. The home and the 
 Church are the places for distinctively religious in- 
 struction. 
 
 The course of the Koman Catholic Church, in the 
 early part of this school contest, impresses us as having 
 been false and insincere, or, at least, the course of 
 many of those who, in her own name, championed her 
 cause. The objective point in many cases, and for a 
 considerable time, was that the public schools were 
 " sectarian," because of the use of the Bible in tliem. 
 After the school boards had yielded, in many places, 
 and withdrawn the Bible, or closely circumscribed 
 it, then the Romanists declared they were not satis- 
 fied. The Tablet said : " This action does not 
 meet, nor in any degree lessen, onr objection 
 to the public school system." The Catholic World 
 said, "• Exclude your Protestant Bible and all di- 
 rect and indirect religious instruction from your 
 public schools, and you will not render them a whit 
 less objectionable than thej^ now are ; for we object 
 not less to purely secular schools than we do to secta- 
 rian schools." Then came the cry that our schools were 
 " godless," and the plea, " We hold education to be 
 the function of the Church, and not the State," which 
 has become the point since emphasized. 
 
152 Romanism vs. The Public School System. 
 
 What a Komanist said : 
 
 A candid Romanist, in a letter to a ISTew York sec- 
 ular paper, gave these reasons for protesting against 
 reading the Bible in the public schools : 
 
 The Bible is the chief and sole source of Protestant 
 beliefs ; it is the potent weapon of the Protestant 
 power. The most powerful engine of Protestantism 
 is the Bible. The Bible, the whole Bible, and nothing 
 but the Bible is the slogan and w^atchword of the 
 Protestant chieftains. In this Bible is the foundation, 
 the superstructure, the inside and outside, the length, 
 width, height, and depth of the Protestant system. 
 Now you have put this tremendous instrumentality, 
 this chiefest thing in your religious system, into the 
 public schools. By so doing you have Protestantized 
 tliem ; you have put them in specific opposition to 
 Catholic principles. 
 
 When, early in July, 1888, Rev. Dr. McGlynn was 
 interviewed by a correspondent of the Christian 
 Union, and the fact was referred to that the chief ob- 
 jection recently heard from Catholic priests against 
 the public schools was not that they taught the Prot- 
 estant religion, but that they taught no religion at 
 all, Dr. McGlynn said: 
 
 Yes, that is the point which they are urging now, 
 but this is merely to keep in accord with the demand 
 that all the children must have a religious education. 
 The earlier Councils never objected to any thing in 
 the public school system, except the giving of in- 
 struction antagonistic to their religion, and the con- 
 
Religious Instruction. 153 
 
 ducting of religious exercises and the using of forms 
 of prayer unfamiliar to Catholic children, if not for- 
 bidden them. 
 
 The object of the Roman Catholic crusade has been, 
 first, to bring the public schools iuto contempt and 
 suspicion, as irreligious and ungodlj, and then to 
 build up Roman Catholic schools on their ruins. 
 They have complained that they were taxed to sup- 
 port " sectarian" schools. JSTow they want our school 
 money to support their sectarian schools. When in- 
 terviewed on this question, in 1875, Rev. Bishop 
 McQuaid, of Rochester, said : 
 
 Archbishop Hughes did agree to some compromise 
 on the exclusion of the Bible, but long before his 
 death he saw the error of such a step. I was brought 
 up very religiously, and remember being on my 
 knees ten minutes each day while the New Testa- 
 ment was read to us. I do not want the Bible ex- 
 cluded from schools not frequented by Catholics ; in 
 fact, I think the teaching of any religion is better than 
 none at all. No man could be more surprised than I 
 was, when the Board of Education of Rochester voted 
 the Bible out of their city schools. 
 
 In 1858 Archbishop Hughes, in a public lecture in 
 New York city, made extraordinary allegations against 
 the public school system, as not only " godless," but 
 a powerful promoter of crime, because religious in- 
 struction was not imparted in connection with secular 
 knowledge and training. He said : 
 
154 KoMANisM VS. The Public School System. 
 
 The public scliools of New York, under the pretense 
 of bestowinii:,- the blessings and benelits of education 
 upon the cliildren of the metropolis, in fact connnu- 
 nicate to them the rudiments of knowledge, accompa- 
 nied with just so much intellectual skill and sagacity 
 as to enable them to prey with more success and 
 greater impunity upon the community; to become 
 more finished and accomplished scoundrels, more in- 
 genious forgers and counterfeiters, more polished 
 murderers and assassins. 
 
 The public school system is a disgrace to the 
 civilization of the nineteenth century ; and I hope to 
 live to see the day when the citizens of New York 
 will look back upon it with shame and horror that 
 such a gross and miserable delusion could ever 
 have been suffered to take possession of the public 
 mind. 
 
 The teacher in the utmost exercise of his authority 
 can only appeal to the intellectual faculties of his 
 pu])ils; and if those faculties, sharpened by incessant 
 and skillful use, choose to look upon dishonesty, fraud, 
 or crime as innocent and commendable, the case is 
 taken at once beyond the jurisdiction of the teacher, 
 who is restrained, by the positive enactment of law, 
 from appealing to any higher standard of religion or 
 morality than the intellect alone can compass. The 
 legitimate consequences of this state of things, thus 
 induced, are frightfully apparent in the alarming 
 increase of vice and crime which now stares us in the 
 face ; the burglars, the robbers, the incendiaries, the 
 murderers, assassins, garroters, and rioters, who infest 
 our streets and alleys, rendering property and per- 
 son alike insecure, and threatening to deluge our 
 streets with blood, and convert our boasted civiliza- 
 tion into the most fearful anarchy, are but the ma- 
 
Religious Instkuction. 155 
 
 tured graduates of the public schools, the repre- 
 sentatives of its morality, the finished specimens of 
 its powers. 
 
 A most astounding indictment ! Bishop Hughes 
 was capable of making bolder and balder statements 
 than any other papal ecclesiastic, and those just 
 quoted are a grave affront to American citizens. It 
 requires so little acutcness to answer his allegations 
 that it is hardly worth while to dwell upon them ; yet 
 we cannot l(3t the bishop's statements pass unnoticed. 
 More frank was the pastoral letter of the Second 
 Plenary Council at Baltimore, in 1866, addressed to 
 the Roman Catholic clergy and laity of this country: 
 
 It is a melancholy fact, and a very humiliating 
 avowal for us to make, that a very large proportion 
 of the idle and vicious youth of our principal cities 
 are the' children of Catholic parents. 
 
 Cardinal Antonelli is quoted as saying : '"' The cate- 
 chism alone is essential for the education of the 
 peopled 
 
 The process pursued in the Catholic schools dwarfs 
 the intellect of the pupils, fitting them for the coarser 
 occupations of life. Many Catholic parents have 
 seen this, and removed their children from the 
 Church schools. When threatened by the priests, they 
 have answered, " My children have been in your 
 schools three years, and have learned little besides the 
 
156 EoMANiSM VS. The Public School System. 
 
 catechism ; I prefer to send tlietn to the public 
 schools, where they will learn how to get a living in 
 this world, since they must spend their lives here." 
 
 Dexter A. Hawkins, Esq., * has demonstrated 
 that so far does the training in the priests' schools 
 fall short of fitting pupils to earn an honest living, 
 that the Irish, who have largely attended these 
 schools in New York city, in a term of years fur- 
 nished more than three times as many paupers and 
 criminals, according to their number, as the Ameri- 
 cans, who, as a body, attend the public schools. In 
 the city of New York, from 1871 to 1675, inclusive, 
 the Department of Charities and Corrections cared 
 for the following paupers : 
 
 Ratio. 
 
 Americans 63,178 1.00 
 
 Irisli 98,787 3.50 
 
 Gorninns 24,273 -1.33 
 
 All others 17,5G3 1.50 
 
 The Roman Catholic parochial school sends forth 
 its pupils with three and a half times the chances of 
 becoming paupers which they would have if they had 
 attended the public schools. 
 
 Mr. Hawkins continues : 
 
 But, says the Komish priest, in answer to the re- 
 monstrance of the parent, " If the catechism and the 
 dogmas and practices of the Church taught in the 
 
 * See pamphlet, The Roman Cathnlic Church iv. New York City and 
 Public Land and Public Money. By Dexter A. Hawkins, 1887, pp. 12, 13 
 
Religious Instkdction. 15Y 
 
 parochial scliool don't enable the children to earn 
 their livino; as well as does the course of instruction 
 in the public schools, they at least correct their morals, 
 and so make them better members of society." 
 
 This is a great mistake, for the facts show just the 
 opposite. 
 
 In this city, in fifteen years and four months, end- 
 ing December 31, 1875, the record of arrests gives 
 the following: 
 
 Number of Irish arrested 571,497 
 
 Number of Americans arrested 387,154 
 
 Number of Germans arrested 1 19,659 
 
 Number from all other races arrested 92,934 
 
 And the names of those arrested show that a large 
 percentage of those classed as Americans in the above 
 table are of Irish parentage, and hence, to a large ex- 
 tent, attended the parochial schools. But taking the 
 table just as it stands, and reducing the figures to a 
 comparative ratio, based on the number of each race in 
 this city, as fixed by the last United States census, and 
 adopting the American as the unit, gives the following : 
 
 Americans 1.00 I Germans 1.07 
 
 Irish 3.28 | All other races 1.27 
 
 In other words, a child trained in the parochial 
 schools of the Roman Catholic Church is more than 
 three and a quarter times as likely to get i7itojail as 
 the child trained in the free puMic school. 
 
 The above tables are the outcome of so large a 
 generalization, running through so many years, that 
 they are safe and sure indications of the tendency of 
 the two systems. 
 
 Parents desire the welfare of their offspring ; they 
 see plainly the difference between the parochial school 
 boy and the public school boy ; hence it requires the 
 constant application of the spiritual, and often of the 
 
158 Romanism vs. The Public School System. 
 
 corporeal lash of the priest, to compel them to with- 
 draw their children from the feast of knowledge 
 offered free at the public schools, and to send them 
 to meager and mediaeval diet of daily catechism doled 
 out in the parochial schools. 
 
 Pauperism and crime are the two most troublesome 
 evils tliat infest and afflict society. This Church has 
 raised mendicity from a vice to the dignity of a vir- 
 tue ; and its more ignorant followers believe that 
 tlirough the confessional and penance its priests have 
 the power to pronounce absolution of crime; hence 
 its failure to repress these two evils. 
 
 Such is the failure of the Poman Catholic system 
 of religious education for which the priests plead in 
 behalf of their parochial schools. 
 
 What has been the state of morals in those counti'ies 
 where all the popular education that existed was in the 
 parochial scliools of Pomanism, or where the people, 
 if uneducated, have been under her almost exclusive 
 care ? AVe give statistics based upon official censuses : * 
 
 Committals for Murder for Each Million of the Population. 
 
 Protestant England 4 to 1,000,000. 
 
 Roman Catholic Bel<>iinn 18 '' " 
 
 Roman Catholic Ireland 19 '" " 
 
 Roman Catliolic Sardinia 20 " " 
 
 Roman Catholic France 31 " " 
 
 Roman Catholic Austi'ia 36 " " 
 
 Roman Catholic Louibardy 45 " " 
 
 Roman Catholic Tnscini}- 56 " " 
 
 Roman Catholic Bavaria 68 " " 
 
 Roman Catholic Sicily 90" " 
 
 Roman Catholic Papal Slates 113 " " 
 
 Roman Catholic Naples 174 " " 
 
 * Collated by Rev. M. lli)l)art Spencer, a. clergyman of the Clmich of 
 England. Censuses next preceding 1854. 
 
Religious Instkuctiox. 159 
 
 Rev. Mr. Seymour, to whom we are indebted for 
 
 the above statistics, says: 
 
 Kame any Protestant country or city in Europe, 
 and let its depths of vice and immorality be measured 
 and named, and I will name a Roman Catholic coun- 
 try or city whose depths of vice and immorality are 
 lower still. 
 
 Stockholm was said, a few years ago, to rank the 
 lowest, in respect to illegitimacy, of any Protestant 
 city in Europe — namely, twenty-nine per cent, of all 
 the births. But the following Roman Catholic cities 
 outrank this, the worst of all Protestant cities : Paris, 
 33 per cent. ; Brussels, 35 per cent. ; Munich, 48 
 per cent. ; Yienna, 51 per cent. ; Lai bach, 38 per 
 cent. ; Brumi, 42 per cent. ; Lintz, 46 per cent. ; 
 Prague, 47 per cent. ; Lemberg, 47 per cent. ; Klagen- 
 fort, 56 per cent. ; Gratz, 65 per cent. 
 
 Illegitimate Births for every ],000 Births.* 
 
 Protestant Conntnes. 
 
 Denmark 110 
 
 Kns:land, Scotland, and WaN'S. 67 
 Holland (35 per cent. Roman 
 
 Catholic) ... 40 
 
 Prussia, with Saxony, and 
 
 Hanover S.T 
 
 Sweden and Xorwa}- 96 
 
 Average 79 
 
 Roman Catholic Conntries. 
 
 Baden 162 
 
 Bavaria^ 225 
 
 Belgium 72 
 
 France 75 
 
 German Anstiia 181 
 
 Average 143 
 
 A few years ago Roman Catholic Dublin con- 
 tained one prostitute for 301 inhabitants, and Lon- 
 
 * l^eu) Englander, January, 1870. 
 
100 Romanism vs. The Public School System. 
 
 don one to 579. The Roman Catholic chaplain of the 
 jail in Liverpool reported 1,812 Protestant women 
 committed and 3,083 Roman Catholic women com- 
 mitted in the year 1864* 
 
 The following f shows where the criminals belong 
 ecclesiastically : 
 
 In the penitentiary at Joliet, 111., July 22, 1888, 
 fifty convicts were confirmed by Bishop Spalding, of 
 tlie Catholic Church. They had been receiving 
 special instruction for a month, so tliat tliey might be 
 prepared to receive the rite. Confirmation, it will be 
 remembered, is one of the seven sacraments of the 
 Catholic Church, and it admits the recipient into full 
 relations with the Church. Two years ago, at the 
 same prison, one hundred and seventeen convicts were 
 contirmed by Archbishop Feehan of Chicago. 
 
 Bishoj) Hughes had passed away before the astound- 
 ing defalcations of Bishop Purcell, in Cincinnati, and 
 the Augustinian fathers, in Lawrence, had come to puli- 
 lic notice, involving the ruin of many households :{: who 
 had confided their funds to priestly hands. But why 
 pursue this sul^ject any further ? Such are the facts in 
 regard to the character of the people Rome has had 
 under her training. How do her pretensions of great 
 concern for the religious education of the young appear 
 in this light ? Can the young be trusted to her influence ? 
 
 * New Engla.ndei\ JiUiUMry, 1870. 
 + An item of cui-rent news in the newspapers. 
 
 X It is stated on good autliority that tlie losers by Archbishop Purcell 
 were all persons ef the poorer class, no rich man being involved. 
 
Religious Instruction. ~ 161 
 
 How TO Supplement the Schools. 
 
 Bare secular instruction, unattended by religion, is 
 sometimes declared to engender worldliness, forget- 
 fulness of God and moral relations, and to lead to 
 agnosticism. Some leading minds have pronounced 
 sncli culture one-sided and mischievous. The moral 
 sense, it is claimed, should be cultivated while the 
 intellectual faculties are trained. Guizot, Portalis and 
 Cousin have been quoted in support of this view. 
 How to meet this question in non-sectarian schools is 
 the problem. Non-sectarian the schools must certainly 
 be, in a free republic, composed of such diverse 
 religionists and nationalities. 
 
 Surrounded by Sunday-schools, churches, and Chris- 
 tian families, it is morally certain that few children 
 vdll be left wholly without religious instruction, even 
 if there are no religious exercises in the public 
 schools. The sentiment is gaining ground that re- 
 ligious instruction is the function of the parent and 
 the Church, and the extension of city missions and 
 mission Sunday-schools, and the multiplication of 
 religious agencies of many kinds is bringing the 
 masses of children and youth more and more under 
 some measure of religious instruction. But the moral 
 wastes are still many, large, and alarming. 
 
 Within a few years many have felt that much 
 11 
 
162 Romanism vs. The Public School System. 
 
 more should be done, and tliat something can be done, 
 in inculcating morality in the public schools. The 
 Presbyterian Synod* of N^ew York four years ago 
 adopted a resolution urging the incorporation into 
 State and secular education, of moral and religious 
 truth founded on the following basal projjositions : 
 a j)ersonal God ; individual responsibility to him ; 
 immortality; a future judgment; and the Ten Com- 
 mandments, as interpreted by the Sermon on the 
 Mount. The Synod appointed a committee to inquire 
 as to the practicability of securing a union of different 
 denominations on such a basis. Rabbi F. de Sola 
 Mendez, representing the Orthodox Jews, indorsed 
 the plan heartily, with the exception of the last 
 proposition, which he thought might be open to 
 misapprehension in that form. Rabbi Gottheil, 
 representing the radical Jews, took substantially the 
 same position. 
 
 The xlrchbisliop of New York was interviewed, 
 and responded as follows, through his Yicar-General : 
 
 Archbishopric of New York, ) 
 
 Chancery Office, 2(56 Mulberry' Street, y 
 
 New York, J)ec. 12, 1885. ) 
 
 Rev. Dear Sir : The most reverend apostle 
 desires me, in his name, to say, in response to your 
 letter, that the Catholic Church has always insisted, 
 
 * The Evatifjelioal Alliance of Boston Ministers lias agitated the question 
 of a book on morals for schools. 
 
Religious Instkuction. 163 
 
 and must always insist, upon the teaching of religion 
 Avitli education. For this reason we cannot patronize 
 the public schools, and are forced to establish our own 
 parochial schools. The question of religion, where 
 there are many different denominations, each with its 
 own creed, is a difficult one to settle. We could be 
 satisfied with nothing less than teaching our whole 
 faith. Protestant denominations, if they value their 
 own creeds, ought to feel as we do. Denominational 
 schools are, to our mind, the only solution of the 
 question. This plan should satisfy every one, and 
 would save the State a vast outlay of expense. 
 
 The points you propose, while better than nothing, 
 would never satisfy us, and we think they ought not 
 to satisfy many of the Protestant Churches ; while the 
 infidels, who are now very numerous, would certainly 
 reject them. 
 
 We believe that the country will yet see the ruin- 
 ous eifects of an education from which religion has 
 been excluded. 
 
 With sincere respect, on the part of the archbishop 
 and myself, Yours very truly, 
 
 T. S. Preston, Y. G. 
 
 Rev. Geo. Payson, Ch., etc. 
 
 It is plain that no compromise is possible with 
 Iloman Catholics. Still the question remains. 
 
 Judge Robert C. Pitman,* of Massachusetts, speaks 
 in a manner showing close, clear discrimination, 
 worthy of much attention. 
 
 Can we teach ethics without religion? Probably. 
 I say probably because there is not much experi- 
 
 * Forum, May, 1888. 
 
IC-i Romanism vs. The Public School System. 
 
 mental proof. We hear more than we see of that 
 kind of teaching. But we cannot teach with author- 
 ity; we cannot teach with impressiveness, without 
 thought of Him who is the Absohite Right. The 
 peculiarity of Christianity itself is not in the reve- 
 lation of neM^ ethical truth, but in bringing to us that 
 new sense of God, and of our relation to him, which 
 makes the idea of duty regnant in the heart. Matthew 
 Arnold very inadequately defines religion as " moral- 
 ity touched with emotion." But, although it is much 
 more, it is that ; and without religion morality has 
 neither emotion nor motion. It will stay in the text- 
 book. 
 
 And so, coming to the heart of the problem, I say 
 that I would have religion taught as a part of our 
 public education. What religion ? The only religion 
 tliat is a part of the common law, the only religion 
 that permeates our literature, and the religion that is 
 related to all our modern civilization — Christianity. 
 But it should be the Christianity of Christ, not that of 
 sects ; the Christianity M'liich, in its practical aspects, 
 is fitted to be the universal religion of mankind ; 
 which appeals, as did the Master, for its test to the 
 common judgment of what is right. Can the public 
 scliool teach such a common Christianity? It were 
 indeed a scandal to our religion, if there were no 
 ground upon which its nominal adherents could stand 
 together. Can it be that our schools must be left 
 pagan because we are sectarian ? Sucli a conclusion is 
 repulsive to the common sense of the conmiunity. 
 All the tendencies of the age are toward breadth and 
 unity. I think there are but very few who call them- 
 selves Christians, who would prefer that our schools 
 should be godless, rather than that they should confine 
 themselves to the Lord's Prayer as their liturgy, the 
 two great commandments as the rule of holy living, 
 
Religious Insteuction. 165 
 
 and the doctrines of the Sermon on tlie Mount as tlie 
 inspiration and comfort of the souL 
 
 Kev. Drs. Seelye, of Amherst College, Bartol, of 
 Boston, and others, hold similar yiews. In regard to 
 this proposition The PUot (R. C.) editorially says : 
 
 As to the Catholics, they would, at least, have no 
 new grievance, and many of them would see a 
 distinct gain in removing from the public schools the 
 reproach of godlessness. But should they still object — 
 as assuredly they would — to availing themselves of 
 the public schools. Judge Pitman would favor hand- 
 ing over "these departments for the instruction of 
 their children to teachers of their own faith, under 
 such arrangements as should insure an intelligent, 
 systematic, and faithful performance of that duty." 
 In other words, the writer would have Catholic 
 teachers visit the public schools, at fixed times, for the 
 special religious and moral instruction of the Catholic 
 pupils. This, however, should be not in recognition 
 of a right, but merely as a concession, creating no 
 claim for compensation, since the State had already 
 provided, according to its best judgment, for the 
 religious instruction of all, 
 
 . But why this awkward and unsatisfactory com- 
 promise — which means, in effect, to set up a State 
 religion in the schools at tlie expense of all the tax- 
 paj^ers, and discriminate against the Catholic tax- 
 payers, because they cannot in conscience accept it — 
 when a simple and well-tested solution of the difficulty 
 is offered by the denominational system. Still, every 
 word that deepens the growing sentiment in favor of 
 reHgion in popular education is a distinct gain ; and 
 Catholics have no fear but that, once the American 
 
16G Romanism vs. The Public School System. 
 
 mind is tlioroiiglily convinced on this important 
 question, it will lind an equitable settlement for it. 
 
 Judge Pitman's plan, therefore, will not be ac- 
 cepted by Roman Catholics nor by the Jews, and it 
 remains a delicate matter to introduce any religious 
 instruction into the public schools. A common 
 method, in Massachusetts and other I^ew England 
 States, is for the teacher, at the opening of the school, 
 to read a few devotional passages from the Psalms 
 and offer the Lord's Prayer, those of the pupils 
 joining who choose to do so, and those who prefer 
 remaining outside until the close of this brief exercise. 
 This plan generally works without friction. 
 
 The provisions of the national and State Con- 
 stitutions are such that the matter of religious exer- 
 cises in the public schools is restricted within very 
 narrow limits, specific instruction being ruled out. 
 
 The Constitution of the United States says : 
 
 Congress shall make no law respecting an estab- 
 lishment of religion or j^rohibiting the free exercise 
 tliereof. 
 
 Massachusetts says: "No sul)ject shall be hurt, 
 molested, or restrained in bis person, liberty, or estate, 
 for worshiping God in the manner most agreeable to 
 the dictates of his own conscience, or for his religious 
 profession or sentiment." 
 
 Its Bill of Rights says also : " All religious sects 
 and denominations demeaning themselves peaceably 
 and as good citizens of the Commonwealth shall 
 
Religious Instkuction. 167 
 
 be equally under the protection of the law ; and no 
 subordmation of any one sect or denomination to 
 another shall ever be established by law." 
 
 A statute, in the same spirit, forbids the intro- 
 duction of any text-book "favoring the tenet of any 
 particular sect of Christians." These are in harmony 
 with the act of the people which, in 1833, finally 
 destroyed the power of towns or the State to tax the 
 people for the supi3ort of churches. 
 
 An Able Discussion. 
 
 Said Eev. A. H. Quint, D.D.,* after quoting the 
 foregoing : 
 
 These provisions declare a perfect equality of 
 religious denominations, that no one shall be put in 
 power by law, and that no tenet of any sect shall be 
 favored. This necessarily rules out of the schools 
 religious instruction, if it is consistently carried out. 
 A Komanist cannot impose his tenets uj^on a Prot- 
 estant child, and a Protestant teacher cannot impose 
 his tenets upon a Catholic child. A Baptist teacher 
 cannot teach immersion, and a Congregational teacher 
 cannot teach endless punishment. Whether we like 
 this or not, it is the fact. No "common law" even, 
 no theory of some unwritten power in the State, can 
 override the constitutional fetters wliich the American 
 Revolution produced. No clearer authority is needed 
 than that of Judge Story, in his opinion in the great 
 Girard will case, where he declares this new limitation, 
 and where he says, of the equality stated in the Penn- 
 sylvania Bill of Rights (like others), that "the lan- 
 guage must have been intended to extend equally to 
 
 * Congregatioiialist, July 26, 1S88. 
 
1G8 EoMANiSM VS. The Public School System. 
 
 all sects, whether they believe in Christianity or not, 
 whether they were Jews or infidels." 
 
 It is not the spirit of American government for 
 the State to select and jDay, from public taxes, minis- 
 ters of the Gospel to preach even sound doctrine, 
 however much it might be for the public good. On 
 the same principle it is not foi: the State to employ 
 school-teachers at the expense of the taxpayers to 
 teach the Gospel of Christ to children ; and any 
 religion less than that is not worth fighting over. 
 
 It has been said that the State has inherent right 
 and duty to determine what the education of chil- 
 dren shall be. There is much truth in this, but it 
 needs very careful limitations. Did the Protestant 
 world approve when the Catholic authorities in Italy 
 (if I remember), seizing from his parents the Jewish 
 boy Mortara, educated him in the Pomanist faith ? 
 The truth is, the State must insist, for its own exist- 
 ence and welfare in a republic, on the instruction of 
 children in all needed branches, and for the diffusion 
 of general intelligence as against ignorance. This 
 grand idea demands the school system ; but let it stop 
 when it interferes with religious faiths. 
 
 From tliesc premises Dr. Quint reasons very con- 
 clusively that, 
 
 Any satisfactory religious instructicm in public schools 
 is absolutely impracticable, and we may as well ac- 
 knowledge it. An avowedly secular system is far 
 better for religion than a formal sham. We cannot 
 teach the distinctive tenets of any Christian denomi- 
 nation. Then, without tenets, what is there to teach ? 
 Our own Churches cannot consent to the Pomanist 
 papal authority as a tenet on one hand, nor to the de- 
 nial of Christ's divinity on the other; and neither of 
 
Religious Insteuction. 1G9 
 
 these will leave the field to us, nor to all the denomi- 
 nations combined, who hold the " doctrines commonly 
 called evana:;elical." There is no possible common 
 ground. Eliminate all except what all hold in com- 
 mon — I^omanist, Protestant, indifferent, Jew, free- 
 thinker — and the remainder ! Are majorities to rule ? 
 There is nothing more dangerous than majorities 
 unfettered by constitutions. 
 
 It may be said that we have the Bible read in 
 schools. A law of 1855 required it, and a law of 1880 
 forbade all " note or comment," and excused from it 
 all pupils whose parents objected to it. Plow much 
 Bible is that ? One teacher reads of Moses in the 
 bulrushes and of David and Goliath ; and another 
 reads colorless Psalms. Suppose the law be changed, 
 and note and comment be made lawful — whose doc- 
 trine is to be taught by the teacher to our children ? 
 
 No. The safest way, the wisest way, is to secular- 
 ize the schools. It is simply asserting the American 
 principle that no Church or anti-church shall use for 
 its own purpose the public schools maintained by the 
 taxation of the people. It makes them no more irre- 
 ligious than a State blacksmith shop would be. It 
 would teach the ordinary branches at the public ex- 
 pense and leave religious teaching to parents, where 
 (iod himself placed it. God established the family ; 
 men established the public school system. 
 
 It must not be understood that secularizing the 
 schools excludes teaching and training in the moral 
 virtues. These lie at the basis of all beliefs or no 
 beliefs. They enter necessarily into the government 
 of every school and the daily intercourse of one pupil 
 v/ith all other pupils. They cannot by any possibility 
 be put out of sight. They are proper subjects of 
 direct instruction. The Massachusetts Constitution, 
 which prohibits so plainly the tenets of every sect 
 
170 Romanism vs. The Public School System. 
 
 and denoiniiiation, expressly directs all teachers to 
 " inculcate the principles of humanity and general 
 benevolence, public and private charity, industry and 
 frugality, honesty, and punctuality in their dealings ; 
 sincerity, good humor and all social affections and 
 generous sentiments among the people." Nor is 
 there any doubt that this subject should be empha- 
 sized even farther than it now is. 
 
 It is plain that if all classes are to use the public 
 school there must be no specitic religious instruction. 
 It cannot be imparted consistently with the American 
 system of government. If religious instruction is 
 given, it will be almost certain to savor of some par- 
 ticular sect ; and moneys raised by taxation upon the 
 whole people cannot be rightfully used for that pur- 
 pose. Religious education must be taught elsewhere 
 — in the Church and the home. Neither the State, 
 nor the Church, nor the home singly can do the whole 
 work, the complete work, of education. 
 
 A writer in the Catholic World,^ himself a Roman 
 Catholic teacher, under the caption, " Send the Whole 
 Boy to School^'' in asserting that the Church can im- 
 part complete education, makes the fatal assumption 
 that the Church can annihilate the school, and even 
 the home, assuming the prerogatives both of the 
 parent and the State. 
 
 * August, 1888. 
 
A Paeochial School System. 171 
 
 QUESTION III. 
 
 As to a Farochial School System for all 
 Parties, 
 
 THIS inquiry is entertained, tentatively, by some 
 persons as a possible alternative, hoping it may 
 afford a safe and satisfactory solution of a difficult 
 question. Nor is it strange that some should thus 
 inquire. The Lutherans in this country, it is stated, 
 have 150,000 pupils in parochial schools, and 1,621 
 teachers, with 500 more in training. These schools 
 are in the non-English portion of the Lutheran 
 churches, the object being to prepare their children 
 for a transition to a new language and new customs. 
 The Episcopalians have some parochial schools. 
 About 1815 the O. S. Presbyterians undertook to 
 form such schools — quite an extensive effort — but the 
 plan did not succeed. 
 
 Until quite recently there was no public provision 
 for education in England. Private or parochial 
 schools were all, but subject to no State authority or 
 control. In districts where such schools did not 
 exist, and among classes outside of the influence of 
 any religious denomination, there was no public pro- 
 
172 Romanism vs. The Public School System. 
 
 vision for supplementing this deficiency. All ele- 
 inentarj education, until the act of 1870, was depend-, 
 ent on voluntary enterprise or casual endowment.* 
 The first approach to a public system of educa- 
 tion was by means of grants in aid of private 
 schools administered by a committee of the Privy 
 Council. This system was not superseded by the 
 act of 1870, but means were taken to insure the 
 existence, in every school district, of a " sufficient 
 amount of accommodation in public elementary 
 schools." t 
 
 Under this parochial system — all the schools tliere 
 were, for a time — there grew uj) a lai'ge uneducated 
 class, not directly associated with any religious body ; 
 and it became necessary to establish what were called 
 ■'rate schools," supported by taxes, etc., to meet the 
 needs of this heretofore neglected class. The Na- 
 tional Education League was formed, insisting that 
 " all schools aided by local rates should be unsecta- 
 rian." So England has been suffering from these 
 diverse classes of schools^— the unsectarian schools, 
 the Roman Catholic schools, the Church of England 
 schools, tlie Wesleyan schools, the Baptist schools, the 
 Presbyterian schools, all educating the rising people 
 differently, fostering class distinctions, with multiply- 
 
 * Scotland remained wholly under the parochial school system until 
 1872. 
 t Sec Britannica, article Education. 
 
A Parochial School System. 173 
 
 ing and widening divergences, and with no broad, 
 deep, unifying influences in the schools. 
 
 The English Government has found it necessary to 
 adopt a non-sectarian secular system of State educa- 
 tion in India. It is to be conducted by government 
 institutions, in which British specialists will supervise 
 and direct an enlarged system of technical education. 
 Moral training will be provided for by a text-book 
 based on natural religion. This means that the Gov- 
 ernment will endeavor to hold a neutral position be- 
 tween Mohammedanism, Buddhism, and Cliristianity 
 — the great conflicting religions in her vast Eastern 
 empire — and will inculcate morality based on such 
 grounds as are common to all these forms of faith. 
 
 Three Prominent Testimonies. 
 
 Almost simultaneously, in the year 1871, three of 
 the most prominent men of the time (see the Chris- 
 tian World, January, 1872,) proclaimed their views 
 from widely different points of observation upon the 
 public school question. The flrst was a voice from 
 the Vatican, which the so called Ecumenical Council 
 had declared infallible, and must be received by loyal 
 Catholics as the voice of God. It pleads for sectarian 
 or parochial schools. The pope, writing by Cardinal 
 Antonelli, his secretary, to the Bishop of Nicaragua, 
 printed in the IN'icaragua Gazette, Jan. 1, 1870, says : 
 
174 KoMANiSM VS. The Public School System. 
 
 We have lately been informed hei-e that an attempt 
 has been made to change the order of things hitherto 
 existing in that republic, by publishing a programme 
 in which are enunciated " freedom of education " and 
 of worship. Both these principles are not only con- 
 trary to tlie laws of God and of the Church, but are 
 in contradiction with the Concordat established be- 
 tv/een the holy See and that republic. Although we 
 doubt not that your most illustrious and reverend 
 lordship will do all in your power against maxims so 
 destructive to the Church and to society, still we deem 
 it by no means superfluous to stimulate your well- 
 known zeal to see that the clergy, and, above all, the 
 curates, do their duty, G. Cardinal Antonelli. 
 
 This language needs no explanation. " Freedom 
 of education and worship are contrary to the laws of 
 God and of the Church ! . . . destructive to the 
 Church and to society." Infallibility makes this 
 declaration with respect to one American republic. 
 Logically it holds equally with regard to all republics. 
 
 Next comes another utterance. It is from France, a 
 Roman Catholic country which two hundred years ago 
 drove out the Protestant Huguenots with the rack and 
 sword. It \vas her most prominent statesman, Gam- 
 betta, who spoke in an address, Nov. 15, 1871 (in St. 
 Quentin), on the subject of a comprehensive measure of 
 general education, as one of the most important means 
 for improving the internal situation of France, the most 
 pressing and urgent of all reforms. What system does 
 he recommend ? He knew all about the Eoman Catli- 
 
A Paeochial School System. 1Y5 
 
 olic parocliial system. Does he recommend that ? 'No. 
 He wants to abolish all " class distinctions." He was 
 for " absolutely gratuitous, obligatory, lay instruction." 
 He was not only for the separation of Church and. 
 State, but for the entire separation of the schools from 
 the Churches, He considered that not only a question 
 of political, but of social order. He utterly denied 
 the force of the objection that partisans of lay in- 
 struction wanted to breed up atheists. In his prop- 
 osition, he said, there was nothing hostile to religion. 
 But he strenuously denied the right and opposed the 
 pretension of a dominant party in the Catholic Church 
 to impose the innoculation of their peculiar faith or 
 profession, as a necessary concomitant of the lay educa- 
 tion of which all stood in need. " Let religious educa- 
 tion," he said, " whether Catholic, Jewish, or Protest- 
 ant, be given in religious temples, according to the 
 choice of parents ; but let not the Catholics, Math their 
 claims to exclusiveness, have any thing to do with that 
 propagation of necessary knowledge which it is the 
 State's duty to see imparted to every citizen." 
 
 It is not strange that France, after learning by her 
 painful failures, under the old parish school system, and 
 witnessing the success of the United States under her 
 common school system, should borrow our system of 
 education, and hope thereby to build up and sustain her 
 republic. 
 
176 EoMANisM VS. The Public School System. 
 
 JSText we have tlie testimony of the oldest and most 
 eminent statesman of Europe, at the time of its utter- 
 ance, only five days from the time that Gambettamade 
 his gi'eat educational deliverance. I refer to Lord 
 John Ivussell. Writing to a member of the House of 
 Commons, he commends his speech in favor of the 
 " National Educational League," which insisted that 
 " all schools aided by local rates should be unsectarian." 
 He did not object to the reading of the Bible in an un- 
 sectarian way, but decidedly favored it, in the schools. 
 He then proceeded to say, " My wish and hope is that 
 the rising youth of England may be taught to adopt, 
 not the Church of Rome, nor the Church of England, 
 but the Church of Christ." 
 
 ISToble words from a statesman of ripe wisdom, full 
 of honors and fame. In an atmosphere of freedom, free- 
 dom of education and freedom of worship, Rome can- 
 not succeed. How different this plan from molding 
 the childhood of the race in the Roman Catholic 
 machine ! In view of these testimonies, an intelligent 
 people will not long hesitate in deciding between the 
 parochial and the public school system. 
 
 A Questionable Right. 
 
 It is often said that the Catholics have ii ri(//)t to 
 their parochial schools if they want them, for tliis is 
 a free country. Of course, under the Constitution, this 
 
A Parochial School System. 17T 
 
 is true. And yet, on certain ethical and prudential 
 grounds, it is not wise policy for the children of a re- 
 public, in the plastic period of life, to be separated into 
 class schools of a strongly sectarian character, where 
 the lesson is taught that the highest civil and religious 
 authority is a foreign potentate. The future welfare 
 of the country depends ujdou making our diverse pop- 
 ulations homogeneous. And the American public 
 school is one of the chief factors for producing this re- 
 sult. Our government recently issued an order re- 
 quiring that no instruction be imparted to the Indians, 
 except in the Enghsh language. Why ? Because this 
 method of instruction would help to make them 
 American citizens more quickly. For this reason 
 objection might be made to juvenile schools in the 
 French, German, and Scandinavian languages, because 
 they would so far postpone and prevent the process of 
 making these foreign elements homogeneous, and fit- 
 ting them for enlightened harmonious American 
 citizenship. So, too, the Homan CathoHc parochial 
 schools, calling off a large portion of our young pop- 
 ulation into class schools aj^art from the mass of the 
 people, and then drilling them under a regimen essen- 
 tially un-American and mediaeval ; instilling into their 
 minds the theory of church supremacy over the State, 
 with supreme reference to the will of a foreign pontiff ; 
 
 teaching them to believe that all persons not Catholics 
 12 
 
178 KoMAxisM vs. The Public School System. 
 
 ;ire continually in mortal sin, heretics and scliisniatics, 
 ^vllom the Roman Catholic Church is in duty bound to 
 exterminate ; such instruction stands directly in the 
 way of the process of assimilation so necessary, in this 
 country of diverse peoples, in order to make the homo- 
 geneous citizenship on which the future welfare of the 
 country depends. For this reason we do object to the 
 parochial school system, though we cannot deny it on 
 the ground of abstract right to Roman Catholics, 
 
 To us it would appear to be wise legislation to for- 
 bid the gathering of children into private schools of 
 any kind. Catholic, Jewish, Protestant, or any other, 
 until they shall have reached their fourteenth year. 
 If any denominations desire to maintain educational 
 institutions for those who have passed that year, tliey 
 might safely be allowed to do so. The law we would 
 recommend would be entirely unsectarian. It would 
 make attendance upon the public schools compulsory 
 for all children under fourteen years of age, with no 
 exceptions for any private schools. 
 
 Such legislation at first will seem to many radical 
 and impossible ; but it is just what Mexico and Chili 
 have done, after a long experience with the parochial 
 schools of Romanism. In Mexico " parochial schools 
 are prohibited, and although the clergy still exercise 
 a powerful influence among the common people, whose 
 superstitious ignorance has not yet been reached by 
 
A Parochial School System. 179 
 
 the free scliools and the com23ulsoiy education law, in 
 politics they are powerless." "^ In Chili the '• Liberal 
 Majority has established non-sectarian schools, and 
 passed a compulsory education law, nnder which all 
 citizens who send their children to the priests and 
 nuns to be taught have to paj- a tax or line to the 
 State." t 
 
 In an elaborate address :}; delivered by Eev. Father 
 T. J. Conaty, of Worcester, on the occasion of laying 
 the corner-stone of a parochial school in Jamaica Plain 
 (Boston), July 22, he said, " We are not in favor of 
 Romanizing the public school, but we are in favor of 
 Romanizing the education of our children." We claim 
 that to the extent their education is Romanized, to that 
 degree it will unfit them to make good American 
 citizens. 
 
 A Catholic Testimony. 
 
 The necessary influence of the public school system 
 in fitting the rising youth for American citizenship was 
 well stated by a young Roman Catholic to a rej)orter 
 of the Boston Herald. % 
 
 I was educated in the public schools of Boston, and 
 was always a Ronian Catliolic. I am very free to tell 
 you what I think of public as compared with jjarochial 
 schools. I was educated in the former, and every step 
 
 *See The Capitah of Spanish America, by W. E. Curtis. Harper 
 Brothers. 1888. Page. 4. t Ibid., Page 494. 
 
 X Boston Pilot, July 28, 188S. 
 §See Boaton Herald, July 14, 1SS8. 
 
ISO RoMAxisM 'VS. The Public School System. 
 
 of my schooling but endeared them to me and made 
 me a warmer advocate of them. The studies were such 
 as to make me tolerant. I became acquainted with 
 children of all classes, under all conditions. I became 
 tilled with admiration for the institutions of my coun- 
 try. To this education I owe all I am or hope to be. 
 To this education I attribute the individual scope 
 which, as tiine progresses, I iind broadens out into a 
 love of fair play for all, and an antagonism toward every 
 thing which tends to hedge in or prevent the fullest 
 development of whatever in a man tends to further his 
 interests, and makes him a good and obedient citizen of 
 a free country. This is my opinion of what our pub- 
 lic school system tends to do. 
 
 Now what benefit is to be derived from the paro- 
 chial school as compared with the public school 'i I 
 say that, in one case I grow up acquainted with the poo- 
 pie of every degree of caste and of every nationality. 
 I see what is good and what is bad in all. I become 
 tolerant of faults incidental to the individual, and 
 look upon him as a part of the people who have a 
 common interest at stake. In the parochial system I 
 should have seen onW one side. My acquaintance 
 "would be only with those who are like myself, and who 
 believe as I do. Say what you may, in a moral sense, 
 I should be only disposed to look on those as right, and 
 all as wrong who do not believe as I do. From the 
 outset I should have been on the defensive and sus- 
 picious of others. I should look coldly upon them. I 
 should become indifferent to their wants and grow up 
 to despise them, simply because I did not know them. 
 Much can be said, I will admit, on the side of the duty 
 which the parent owes to the child, the child to the 
 parent, and the parent to the State ; but I look upon 
 this I'epublican form of government simply as a com- 
 pact of all the people for a common good. Hence, it 
 
A Parochial School System. 181 
 
 does not permit the education of the masses free from 
 the control of the State. Since its security rests in the 
 individual intelhgence of the people, it must know that 
 the tendency of education does not undermine the 
 very foundation of its institutions. I mean, that an 
 anarchist cannot be permitted to open a college free 
 from State control, or to teach a doctrine which, if 
 followed out, would end in confusion and disrespect 
 for the laws. 
 
 The school question is simply, "Can I obtain a 
 better education for my children, to tit them to go 
 out into the world to light the battles of life, from a 
 public or a parochial school ? I say, unhesitatingly, 
 judging from my own experience, and from the his- 
 tory of the lives of my school-fellows, from the public 
 school. That acquaints a child with every kind of 
 people, and teaches, indirectly, love and respect for 
 the doctrine that all are equal before the law, and 
 have a right to individual opinion and the full en- 
 joyment of freedom. For a republican form of gov- 
 ernment a public system of education must be kept 
 up, no matter wdiat other system is permitted. The 
 State. must always know the plan of education which 
 is taught, and must, for its own safety, be the judge 
 of what is right and best calculated to perpetuate its 
 institutions and make its people peace-loving and 
 loyal. 
 
 There is evidently a wise philosophy in what this 
 Roman Catholic says. This is the reason why /we 
 cannot favor parochial scliools. 
 
 Other Testimonies. 
 A writer in the Popular Science Monthly last July, 
 in view of the corruption and the mismanagement 
 
182 Romanism vs. The Public School System. 
 
 connected with the adiiiinisti";ition of the Scliool Board 
 of Kew York city, expressed the opinion that it may 
 yet be found better to resort to the voluntary meth- 
 ods, by the private or parochial systems. Referring 
 to this article, an editorial writer in the Boston 
 Herald * said : 
 
 This is flying in the face and eyes of the Ameri- 
 can system of education ; the system that lies at the 
 basis of our government, the system that seems to be 
 bound up with the development of a free people. It 
 is certainly a step in socialism for the State to educate 
 the youth at the public expense; but it is indispensa- 
 ble to the fair and proper working of our institutions, 
 and it is one of the first principles of our national life. 
 To break up this system and to go back to education 
 through private parties, religious or secular, is to turn 
 toward the sunset and to forget the conditions on 
 which our institutions ai'e to be maintained. The 
 editor of \\\q Science Monthly has a bee in his bonnet, 
 if he thinks that the education of a great people like 
 our own is to go back again into private hands, or if 
 he thinks it would be possible to obtain any thing like 
 the results which are now reached, by depending upon 
 the parents for the payment of the school rates for 
 their children. 
 
 Mr. E. C. CarrigaUjf of the Boston Public Scliool 
 Board, said : "I believe if a vote of the Irish-Ameri- 
 cans of Massachusetts, especially Boston, was taken, 
 nine tenths would give the public schools the first 
 place. . . . I have never had any sympathy with 
 
 * August 1, 1888. t -Boston Herald, August 6, 1888. 
 
A Parochial School System. 183 
 
 any other school system than that established by the 
 State and maintained by public taxation. In my 
 opinion it is neither necessary nor desirable that pri- 
 vate schools should he established, especially for chil- 
 dren who are mentally and physically able to do the 
 work of our public schools. I should be happy if 
 the children of .all classes were taught the common 
 branches of learning prescribed by law in public 
 schools, for these schools are good enough for every 
 child in the State, and if they are not, then it is 
 clearly our duty to make them so." 
 
 Two Hostile Camps. 
 
 The Roman Catholic theory of parochial scliools 
 separates the children into two nationalities, and al- 
 most into hostile camps. Several instances of hostile 
 demonstrations, by hootings and even blows, by pupils 
 of the Roman Catholic schools toward those of the 
 public schools, have already occurred, greatly to the 
 disturbance and embarrassment of the latter. There 
 is no growing up of habits of increasing toleration and 
 respect, but rather of suspicion and hatred. What a 
 misfortune thus confronts the State ! ISTot merely a 
 variance in religious doctrines, but separation in sym- 
 pathy, in types of life, in ideas of government, pro- 
 ducing a divergence, widening from infanc}' to child- 
 hood, and through childhood to manhood. 
 
184: Romanism vs. The Public School System. 
 
 Do Roman Catholics point to the sectarian schools 
 of some Protestant denominations? We reply that 
 in those schools these denominations teach no snch 
 distinctively sectarian dogmas, with radical hierarchi- 
 cal assumptions and supreme allegiance to a foreign 
 potentate, etc., etc., as are taught in the parocliial 
 schools of the papal Church. 
 
 We cannot therefore look with favor upon the 
 adoption of a system of parochial or church schools 
 for all denominations as a possible alternative. The 
 prime thing sought in the parochial schools of Ro- 
 manism is ecclesiastical instruction. Separated from 
 State control, the influences which mold the pupils 
 are, first and last, sectarian. The Roman Catholic 
 Clnirch is ranked above the State and the countiy; 
 but it is not the "seeking first the kingdom of God 
 and his righteousness," which Christ enjoins upon all. 
 It is rather the absolutism, and exclusiveness, and ex- 
 treme functions of the Roman hierarchy which are 
 distinctively inculcated. These things are to be 
 taught by teachers for the most part foreign by birth 
 and training, un-American in spirit and ideas, so that 
 the Catholic parochial schools are sure to be nn- Amer- 
 ican in character. If not purposely unpatriotic, nev- 
 ertheless from tlie very fact of the avowed purpose 
 as a papal institution, from the character of the 
 teachers and the course of instruction, it is ill adapted 
 
A Parochial School System. 185 
 
 to make intelligent and genuine American citizens. 
 Its bias is positively against American institutions. 
 Here lies one of the fatal defects of the parochial" 
 school. When it is considered that most of the chil- 
 dren are of foreign-born parents, who especially need 
 the patriotic and molding influences of the typical 
 American public school, it is not difficult to see that 
 the parochial school antagonizes the public school 
 system, and that its phenomenally rapid growth, as an 
 institution, is a menacing danger. We make no com- 
 plaint against the parochial school on the ground that 
 it teaches religion, hut because it teaches the theories 
 of a ^politico-ecclesiastical hierarchy directly and ir- 
 reconcilably hostile to a republic, and rigidly drills 
 those ideas into the minds of its pupils, by long-con- 
 tinued reiterations. Its crying defect is that its teach- 
 ing is not only un-American but anti-American, and 
 will remove every one of its pupils, in their ideals, 
 far from a proper mental condition for American 
 citizenship, and enliance the already too difficult task 
 of making them good citizens of a republic. It is 
 Aicrgoij political instruction, in which the pope is the 
 sovereign ruler whose dominion is not to be ques- 
 tioned. 
 
 To cramp and compress the mind, while young and 
 plastic, in the rigid molds prepared in the Middle 
 Ages is what Komanism means to do. 
 
ISO KoMANiSM VS. The Public School System. 
 
 QUESTION IV. 
 
 As to Whethet' the Public School Funds 
 can be JJlvlded. 
 
 THIS question takes us into the heart of tlie 
 problem. It is proposed by several classes of 
 persons. 
 
 1. Some well-meaning but timid people, seeing the 
 sharp feeling that exists, and desiring to avoid trou- 
 ble, but who have not thought the question through, 
 ask if we cannot let the Catholics have what thej 
 want, and thus end the matter. 
 
 2. Another class make this inquiry because they 
 fear the disastrous effects upon our public school 
 system if the school moneys should be divided, and 
 they will be relieved, if they can be assured tliat 
 there are legal or constitutional guarantees to pre- 
 vent it. 
 
 3. Tlie other class are Eoman Catholics, who pro- 
 pound the inquiry in a more assertive form, and in 
 a spirit which indicates a determination to get the 
 money at all hazards. 
 
 The question, tlien, fully stated, is, Can the public 
 school moneys be divided, and a portion be given to 
 
Public School Funds. 18Y 
 
 aid Roman Catholic pai'ocliial schools — that is, can it 
 be done consistently with the spirit and letter of our 
 national and State constitutions? 
 
 I will not pause to ask what may be done, under 
 possible Catholic ascendency, in some localities, in 
 defiance of law and constitutional guarantees. 
 That would be a condition of anarchy from which 
 we hope to be spared. In a time of anarchy there is 
 no knowing what M'ill happen. Let us notice briefly 
 what are some of the provisions of the constitutions : 
 
 The Constitution of the United States says: 
 
 Congress shall make no law respecting an estab- 
 lishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise 
 thereof. 
 
 But to appropriate school fund moneys to Catholic 
 parochial schools, which make so prominent in their 
 course of study the distinctive inculcation of Eoman 
 Catholic dogmas, even the hierarchy, as we shall soon 
 show, is a plain violation of this article of the Consti- 
 tution of the United States. Such an appropriation 
 of moneys would be an official act aiding in the es- 
 tablishment of religion — that is, the Eoman Catholic 
 religion. The letter of the article says : " Congress 
 shall make no law respecting the establishment of 
 religion." But the siyirit of the article prohibits 
 any thing which would help the establishment of 
 religion. 
 
188 Romanism vs. The Public School System. 
 
 The Constitution of Connecticut declares (Art. I, 
 Sec. 4) : 
 
 Ko preference shall be given by law to any Chris- 
 tian sect or mode of worship. 
 
 But if school moneys are appropriated to distinc- 
 tively Roman Catholic schools, teaching the peculiar 
 dogmas and ecclesiasticism of Rome, preference is 
 thereby given to that Chui-ch. 
 
 In 1855 the Constitution of Massachusetts was so 
 amended as that no money can be " appropriated to 
 any religious sect for the maintenance, exclusively, of 
 its own schools." 
 
 The Constitution of the State of New York 
 (Art. I, Sec. 3) forbids "any discrimination or pref- 
 erence " for any "religious profession or worship." 
 But to aid parochial schools, as they are conducted, 
 and as the Third Plenary Council instructs that they 
 shall be conducted, as we will soon show, is exercis- 
 ing "a discrimination or preference" for a particular 
 "religious profession or worship." 
 
 In 1874 Pennsylvania, by the overwhelming majority 
 of a popular vote, adopted an amendment to her Consti- 
 tution which declares that "no money raised for the sup- 
 port of public schools shall be appropriated to or used 
 for the support of any sectarian school." Siiid a writer 
 recently, citing these sections in the Christian Union : 
 
Public School Funds. 189 
 
 I venture to suggest that, if the common schools 
 of everv State in tlie Union were as iirmly intrenclied 
 and protected in the organic law of the respective 
 States, the coming battle with the subtle enemies of 
 free institutions would be virtually deferred for a 
 hundred years to come, by which time the threatened 
 crusade would be postponed indefinitely. 
 
 Such- provisions simplify the problem, forestall 
 and neutralize the friction of open controversy^, and 
 greatly discourage sub 7'osa plotting. In Section VI, 
 Part I, other State constitutional provisions are cited, 
 showing that in twenty of the States such a division 
 and appropriation of public moneys is prohibited. 
 
 The kind of education for which Roman Catholics 
 desire a division of the school money by the State 
 involves the recognition of a particular religion by 
 the State, and a discrimination in its favor whicli 
 necessarily carries with it the converse right to dis- 
 criminate against it. 
 
 Catholic Books. 
 
 The religious books used in the Catholic schools are 
 not merely religious, treating upon practical religious 
 matters, pertaining to the character and the common 
 life, but they are distinctively doctrinal and politico- 
 ecclesiastical, inculcating the fundamental tenets of 
 the papal hierarchy — as clearly and distinctively sec- 
 tarian and anti-republican as they can well be. For 
 
190 Romanism vs. The Public School System. 
 
 instance, these among others, and perhaps chiefly, are 
 nsed : A. New Treatise on the Duty of a Christian 
 Towards God i^ The Doctrinal and Scriptural Cate- 
 chism^ or Instruction in the Principal Truths of the 
 Christian Religion, f These two books are full of 
 tlie peculiar doctrines and practices of tlie Rouiish 
 Church. The last is a minute and complete exhibit 
 of the dogmas of the papacy. All the exclusiveness 
 and absolute political supremacy of Boine is fully 
 developed and inculcated. The child is taught that 
 there is no salvation out of the papal Church ; that 
 there is no hope for what she calls " heretics " and 
 " schismatics." Twenty-two pages are devoted to the 
 subject of baptism, seven to confirmation, forty-seven 
 to the eucharist, thirty to penance ; in all of which 
 the book descends to the usual explanations and subtle 
 distinctions of the Roman Catholic theologians. 
 
 It is for the maintenance of such instruction in their 
 parochial schools that the Roman Catholics ask the 
 State to appropriate public school moneys. When 
 the State does that, how far shall we be from having 
 a union of Church and State — a Church supported 
 and built up l)y funds appropriated by the State? 
 
 Bishop McQuaid avowed this strengthening of the 
 Church as their object when he said in the l*lenary 
 Council, " Without these schools in a few generations 
 
 * By Kev. P. Collot. t A Church Catechism. 
 
Public School Funds. 191 
 
 our mao:nificent cathedrals and clinrches would remain 
 as samples of monumental folly — of the unwisdom of 
 a capitalist who consumes his fortnne every year, with- 
 out putting it out at interest or allowing it to increase. 
 The Church has lost more in the past from the want 
 of Catholic schools than from any other cause named 
 by me this evening." * 
 
 After all this already ample evidence showing that 
 the parochial schools are distinctively identified with the 
 Roman Catholic hierarchy, and consequently so pos- 
 itively " sectarian " that, under the laws and Constitu- 
 tion of the United 'States and of the several States, 
 the division or appropriation of public moneys for 
 their benefit amounts to a " discrimination or prefer- 
 ence'' for a particular "religious profession or wor- 
 ship " equivalent to governmental action for " the 
 establishment of religion," it may be claimed that 
 these schools are only constructively identical with 
 the Church in their teachings. 
 
 The Third Plenary Council. 
 
 "We, therefore, now ask attention to still stronger 
 and more direct proof, which shows that the Roman 
 Catholic schools are officially and organically con- 
 nected with and a part of the Roman Catholic Hier- 
 achy. "We refer to the official action of the Third 
 
 * Memorial volume of the Third Plenary Council, p. 174. 
 
192 Romanism vs. The Public School System, 
 
 Plenary Council, in 1884. The authority for the 
 statements about to be made is official : " Concillii 
 Plenarii Baltvfnorensls III. Acta et Decreta,''^ ap- 
 proved by tlie Supreme Pontiff, Leo XIII., on tlie 
 10th of September, 1885 ; recognized by the Sacra 
 Congregatio de Propaganda Fide on the 21st of the 
 same month. Published by John Murphy & Co. 
 Baltimore, 1886. 
 
 This Council was held in Baltimore, November 9 
 to December 7, 1884, Archbishop Gibbons presiding 
 as delegate apostolic. Associated as members of 
 tlie Council were 14 archbishops, 56 bishops, 1 vicar- 
 apostolic elect, 3 procurators, 1 archabbot, 6 abbots, 
 and 1 superior-general. In addition to these the 
 Council was attended by 31 superiors of religious 
 orders, 11 heads of seminaries and 38 theologians — a 
 total of 212 ]icrsons constituting the entire body, not 
 including the protonotaries, etc. Cardinal McCloskey 
 and six bishops were absent on account of sickness. 
 These figures in this connection speak volumes, show- 
 ing tlie prime rank and authority of the Council, but 
 all subject to the pope, and its acts of no binding effect 
 until approved by the pope and liis associates in 
 Italy. 
 
 In the Appendix to the Acts and Decrees of this 
 Third Council we find the ^^Instructio de ScJioUs P'uh- 
 licis ad Episcopos Americae Septentrionalis Foed- 
 
Public School Funds. 193 
 
 eratae^'' from which we take the following, which 
 shows the animus and object of the parochial school 
 movement : 
 
 Yery often the Sacred Congregation for Propagat- 
 ing the Faith has been informed that the very gravest 
 losses are impending over the Catholic youth in the 
 United States of North America, from what they 
 call there the public schools. This sad information 
 caused the aforesaid Sacred Congregation to determine 
 to propose to the bishops of that jurisdiction {ditionis) 
 not a few questions, which looked, partly, to the causes 
 why the faithful allow their children to frequent non- 
 Catholic schools ; partly, to the means by which youths 
 can be more easily kept from schools of this descrip- 
 tion. 
 
 It Comes feom Kome. 
 
 This shows that the head of this opposition to our 
 public schools is in Rome, and that foreign interfer- 
 ence incepts and pushes the movement. This shows, 
 too, that the chief concern is loss of Catholic youth 
 from the Catholic Church. While, further on in this 
 papal document, there is allusion to liability to cor- 
 ruption in morals, yet tlie chief emphasis is laid 
 upon " loss on the side of faith," " perversion " from 
 the Church. They say, " They (the schools) have 
 seemed full of danger, ex se, and thoroughly averse 
 to Catholicism." " The children neither learn the 
 rudiments of the faith nor are interested in the pre- 
 cepts of the Cliurchr They also complain of the 
 13 
 
194 Romanism vs. The Public School System. 
 
 public schools as ^''disjointed from the authority of 
 tlie Church^'' with '* tcuchcrs employed from every 
 sect indiscriminately." This document closes with a 
 menace to " contumacious parents who continue to 
 patronize the public schools." 
 
 These are the reasons why that papal body, " The Sa- 
 cred Congregation fur Propagating the Faith," pressed 
 this subject upon the bishops of the United States. 
 Such is the official source and animus of the move- 
 ment. It comes from the papal hierarchy in Rome. 
 
 Now we are ready to look at the specific instruc- 
 tions of the Plenary Council, as presented in their 
 official "Acts and Decrees." Title VI reads, "i>d 
 CatJiollca Juventutls Instltutlone'''^ (concerning the 
 Catholic institution for youth). This topic is divided 
 into two chapters, on the parochial and the higher 
 schools respectively. After citing the evils of a ■mere 
 secidar education, and such texts as, "No man can 
 serve two masters," and " lie that is not for me, is 
 against me," they say (No. 19G) : 
 
 Therefore we not only of our parental love exho/t 
 C\itholic parents, but we even charge them by all the 
 power we jiossess that they procure for their dearly 
 beloved offspring, given to them by God, born again 
 to Christ in baptism, and destined for heaven, an 
 education truly Catholic and Christian ; and that they 
 defend their children during the whole period of in- 
 fancy and boyhood from the dangers of a emrely sec- 
 
Public School Funds. 195 
 
 %dar education ', • • - and tliat for that purpose tliey 
 send tliem to parochial or other tridy CcUJiolic schools, 
 nnless by chance the Ordinary judge that in a partic- 
 ular case something else can be permitted. 
 
 The second section of this chapter treats upon " the 
 ways and means for promoting parish schools. (Sec- 
 tion Ko. 201, fin.). " And first, as regards priests, we 
 have determined tliat the candidates for holy orders now 
 in tlie seminaries be sedulously taught that one of the 
 chief duties of the priest, especially in these our times, 
 is the Christian instruction of j^outh, and that that 
 is oiot ]?os8ible without eWier parish schools o\ others 
 tridy Catholic.'''' The priest must love his schools, 
 ^'sicut pupillas oculorum " (as the apple of his eye), 
 must visit them frequently, must teach history and 
 the catechism himself, if possible, and must take care 
 " that books compiled {concijinati, skillfully put to- 
 gether) by Catholic writers be always used in the 
 school." 
 
 Section 'No. 202 instructs the laity that the school 
 is a7i integral ])art of the parish, " without which the 
 very existence of the parish, in the future, is endan- 
 gered." The laity are to liberally support the schools, 
 and to have certain rights and privileges in regard 
 to the schools, to be more accurately defined hereafter 
 by diocesan statutes — " saving ecclesiastical rights, as 
 to appointing and dismissing teachers, as well as 
 
106 Romanism vs. The Public School System. 
 
 rewards, discipline, and direction of teaching {doG- 
 trmce).''^ 
 
 Section ]^o. 203 provides that each bishop is to 
 nominate a Diocesan Commission of Examination, to 
 examine teachers and award a diploma, without which 
 no teacher can be engaged in any parish school. 
 This diploma is to be good iive years, and in every 
 parish. At the end of this period the teacher is to 
 be re-examined. Section No. 204 provides that be- 
 sides this Board of Examination, school commissioners 
 are to be appointed, composed of one or more priests^ 
 for the inspection of schools, and snch commissioners 
 are to make full reports to the hishop of the diocese. 
 
 Section No. 207 says that these decrees must be 
 " pondered and observed with religious zeal, that our 
 parochial schools may more and more increase in 
 number and worth, and daily stand forth not only as 
 a hope and pillar of the Church, but also an honor 
 and glory to the republic." 
 
 "We have thus seen, on prime official authority — the 
 Acts and Decrees of the Third Plenary Council of 
 the Roman Catholic Church in the United States, and 
 duly approved by the pope and cardinals — that the 
 parochial schools are a distinctive part of the plan of 
 the Roman Catholic hierarchy, designed to promote 
 and build it up. The movement is pushed forward 
 from Rome. The ol>ject is declared to be to save 
 
Public School Funds. 19T 
 
 the Church from loss by lapses from the faith. The 
 complaint against our public school system is that it 
 is " disjointed from the autliority of the Church." 
 The Catholic schools are enjoined upon parents "by 
 all the authority we (the Catholic hierarchy) possess." 
 " None but Catholic books, skillfully put together 
 {concinnati), shall be used in the schools." They de- 
 clare that the school is an integral j)art of the parish, 
 " without which the very existence of the parish, in 
 the future, is endangered." The " examining, ap- 
 pointing, and dismissing of teachers, as well as re- 
 wards, discipline, and direction of teaching {doG- 
 trincB) " are " ecclesiastical riglits " not allowed the 
 laity, but reserved for the hierarchy. And the desire 
 is expressed that these schools may stand forth " as a 
 hope and pillar of the Church." 
 
 The Qctestion Involved. 
 
 Now to the point involved. If the public school 
 funds are divided and appropriated in aid of the 
 Catholic parochial schools the money will go directly 
 to build up the Roman Catholic Church — not re- 
 motely or indirectly, but directly. And, moreover, 
 that Church is very largely a political institution, a 
 powerful combination of political and religious ele- 
 ments, and, as an acute Frenchman once remarked, 
 " it is more of a political than a religious institu- 
 
198 EoMANisM VS. The Public School System. 
 
 tion, and tlie instruction has a direct bearing upon 
 political life." 
 
 It teaches that the Church and State are not to be 
 separated ; that the Church is rightfully superior to 
 the State and to the government of all States ; that 
 this is the teaching of tlie infallible Church. Lot 
 the application of this doctrine to their conduct 
 as citizens be made at some later period in life, and 
 who can doubt, if they are " good Catholics," that tliey 
 will decide that their first allegiance is due to the 
 Catholic Church rather than to their country ? Let 
 the issue be distinctly made whether in these United 
 States the Government shall control the Catholic 
 Church or the Catholic Church shall control the Gov- 
 ernment ; and every good Catholic is bound to do all 
 in his power to subject the Government to the Cath- 
 olic Church. This doctrine Mill find approbation at 
 the polls ; in city, town, state and national govern- 
 ment ; in legislative and congressional and judicial 
 action ; in all which relations the sons of Rome will 
 seek to promote her interests — the logical conse- 
 quences of her hierarchical assumptions. 
 
 Profoundly wise and full of deepest insight ai'c the 
 following words : 
 
 The movement of modern society is toward the . 
 winning of victories by the subtile arts of legislation 
 rather than by the crude expedient of physical force ; 
 
Public School Funds. 
 
 and it is safe to say that since the Catholic Church 
 was stripped of its temporal power and has been at 
 liberty to devote more attention to the intellectual 
 battles of legislation, it has gained more than it has 
 lost through the carnal victories of its opponents. It 
 is very busy and very successful in winning these vic- 
 tories, and we have only to open our eyes to what is 
 going on about us to see that this is so. For testi- 
 mony on this point, I will refer the reader to the 
 Session Laws of the State of New York, where he 
 will find that, by successive steps of legislation, the 
 Catholic Church has it pretty well estabhshed that it 
 is entitled to special legislation for the promotion of 
 its interest. It is no longer content to have its mem- 
 bers controlled by the general laws that apply to the 
 body of citizens in general, but at every session of 
 the Legislature bills are introduced, with reference to 
 the Catholic Church or some of its institutions, by 
 which the principle is recognized that this Church 
 constitutes a body separate and apart from the rest of 
 the community, and must be legislated for by itself. 
 The ordinary course of legislation is not good enough 
 for it; it must have better; and it gets it. Does 
 any body doubt that by this process the Catholic 
 Church is exalting itself above the State in this State 
 of JSTew York ? Does any body doubt that the germ 
 .of its power for this end is found in its teaching of 
 the doctrine of the infallibility of the Church in mat- 
 ters of "faith and morals?" Does any body doubt 
 that the primary motive for the establishment of 
 Catholic schools is that this and similar doctrines may 
 be the better instilled into the mind of the young as 
 a means toward the acquirement of power ? Does 
 the non-Catholic citizen think it would be a good 
 thing to have these schools sustained by his money, 
 taken from him by the arbitrary power of taxation ? 
 
200 Romanism vs. The Public School System. 
 
 This is the practical form in which the subject of 
 Catholic schools presents itself to us, and it is by ncy 
 means unimportant to know what is taught in them.* 
 
 Mistakes Made by States. 
 
 Is it asked, Has not the State sometimes appro- 
 priated funds to aid mixed educational and charitable 
 institutions ? Yes ; and also to mixed religious and 
 philanthropical institutions, to industrial protectorates, 
 to Indian schools, etc. The moneys thus given, how- 
 ever, were not regular school funds. These appro- 
 priations have sometimes been made, in part, from 
 considerations of convenience, because it seemed the 
 easiest way to do something for a needy class. This 
 system of charity-giving by the State has grown up, 
 as many evil systems have developed, by a series of 
 accretions, and possibly accidents, because it has been 
 found easier to give money to institutions already 
 existing than to found new institutions for such ends. 
 But we are sure that it is a mistaken policy for the 
 State to appropriate money to institutions and agen- 
 cies not under the control of the State. '' State and 
 private enterprises, whether religious or non-relig- 
 ious, should not go into partnership, with the State, as 
 a sleeping partner, furnishing in whole or in part the 
 capital." 
 
 * Article in tlic Christian Union, July 26, 1888, by John Kockwell. 
 
Public School Funds. 201 
 
 Notwithstanding what has been said is it still 
 asked, Are not the Catholics entitled to their share 
 of the school money, if thej want it ? An objection 
 pnt in this form is very popular in a republic, and it 
 is pressed with great effect on some minds. Again 
 and again, in a variety of forms, we hear the reitera- 
 tion that Catholics " are forced to pay tribute to the 
 public school system, in which they do not believe.'' 
 " The Catholic considers it unfair to tax him for the 
 support of the public schools, to which he cannot 
 send his children." " The Catholics protest against 
 paying for the education of other than their own 
 children." 
 
 Fallacy of the Plea for Exemption from 
 Taxes. 
 
 But how is it with a large class of wealthy bache- 
 lors, who pay large taxes but have no children to edu- 
 cate ? How many childless couples, also, there are, 
 holding large property and paying large sums into 
 the public treasury ! And how many wealthy families 
 send their children entirely to private schools, at large 
 expense ! In every large city there are many such 
 schools, supported at great cost by parties who also pay 
 immense taxes for the public schools. Moreover, 
 there are not a few who theoretically do not believe 
 in the public school system, but who, nevertheless, pay 
 
202 RoiiANiSM vs. The Public School System. 
 
 taxes for its support. The Baptists, Congregation- 
 alists, Methodists, Presbyterians, Episcopalians, etc., 
 liave numerous academies, seminaries, etc., which 
 rank with the best high schools, wiiich are supported 
 entirely by those who choose to send their children 
 to them, while at the same time they pay the taxes for 
 public schools. If these unnumbered classes could be 
 tabulated they would make a large body. Many of 
 them have no choice in the matter, and some of them 
 com])lain of injustice ; but they excite no sympathy. 
 Why ? Because the public school system fosters the 
 general intelligence, promotes public order, and con- 
 tributes to the moral poise of our citizenship. In 
 many ways it helps the general moral and social in- 
 terests of the country and its material prosperity. 
 All these classes get a full return for the taxes they 
 pay. They can only complain of the compulsion ex- 
 ercised upon them, and that will be in vain until they 
 find something better than a government by ma- 
 jorities. 
 
 The appropriation of money to the support of dis- 
 tinctively Roman Catholic schools would be very 
 unjust to those citizens and taxpayers who conscien- 
 tiously believe that the Roman Catholic system is 
 wrong in itself, and injurious in its consequences to 
 individuals and to communities. It would be such a 
 union of Church and State as is forbidden by the 
 
Public School Funds. 203 
 
 spirit aud tenor of American institutions. Protest- 
 ants liave political and civil rights as well as Roman 
 Catholics, and the support of distinctively Roman 
 Catholic schools, at public expense, would be a viola- 
 tion of those rights, just as the support of a distinct- 
 ively Methodist, Episcopal, Baptist, or Congregational 
 school, with money drawn from taxes upon the whole 
 people, would be a violation of the rights of individ- 
 uals not represented in the denomination receiving 
 the funds. 
 
204 Romanism vs. The Public School System. 
 
 QUESTION V. 
 
 As to wlietliev, as a matter of co^nity, we 
 ought not to find some ivay to divide the 
 School Funds. 
 
 WITH great show of candor tlie inquiry is made, 
 whether our Roman CathoHc fellow-citizens, 
 who make this demand, are not so large and respect- 
 able a minority that we ought to cease to tax them for 
 the support of a system in wdiich they do not believe, 
 and which they feel they cannot patronize. Or, if 
 still taxed, can we not find some way to give them 
 their share of the school funds ? 
 
 It must be admitted that in a republic like ours 
 the majority ought to treat with deference a large and 
 respectable minority, especially in matters upon which 
 men are so sensitive as in respect to taxation and 
 questions of conscience. Nevertheless, sometimes 
 there are matters at stake too sacred to be surren- 
 dered to minorities, however large and respectable. 
 "VVe are ready to charitably entertain all alleged con- 
 scientious scruples ; but when the conscience is the 
 creature of a hierarchy, dependent upon the dictum 
 of foreign ecclesiastics, and this minority is dragged 
 
Shall the School Funds be Divided? 205 
 
 and coerced into its attitude, the case is very differ- 
 ent. 
 
 We cannot qnite say with Dr. Lyman Abbott, in a 
 recent nnmber of the Chridicm Union, "If our 
 Eoman CathoHc fellow-citizens objected to the Amer 
 ican public school system, it would be very question- 
 able whether we should have the right to put their 
 children into the public schools, or even to do this 
 indirectly, by taxing them ... to support such schools:" 
 But we go on, with Dr. Abbott, to say, "Though 
 great regard is to be paid to the opinions of a large 
 and reputable minority in a repubhc, no such regard 
 is due to the opinions of a close corporation under 
 the control of a foreign potentate. And the decrees 
 of the Plenary Council are the decrees of a close 
 corporation under the control of a foreign potentate." 
 We ought to respect the wishes of our German fellow- 
 citizens. "But if a German Bund existed in America, 
 all of whose officers were appointed by Bismarck, and 
 Avere answerable for their action only to Bismarck, 
 their opinions on public affairs would not be entitled 
 to any political deference." » 
 
 Hieearohy vs. Laitt. 
 
 There is good reason to believe that the action of 
 the Roman Catholic hierarchy in regard to the 
 parochial schools does not represent the laity of 
 
206 Romanism vs. The Public School System. 
 
 that Churcli. The Catholic Chnrch does not claim to 
 be a representative body. The hierarchy does not 
 speak yb/' but to the laity. It does not express what 
 the laity want, but tells them wdiat they must take. 
 The pope commands his children — does not consult 
 them. The pope appoints the cardinals, and the 
 cardinals elect the pope, and the pope and the 
 cardinals control the Church. The Plenary Council 
 was not a convention of representatives of Roman 
 Catholic congregations, and all its doings, before 
 becoming obligatory upon the priests and laity, had 
 to be approved and confirmed by tlie pope and his 
 associates in Italy. The Plenary Council at Balti- 
 more represented, not American Catholic opinion, 
 but Roman papal opinion, and is entitled to just so 
 mnch wciglit as the opinion of any other foreign 
 potentate, namely, according to his character. More 
 than this, we have a right to resent his unlawful 
 interference in our affiiirs. 
 
 So far from representing the sentiment of the 
 American Catholics, we have reason to tliink that the 
 Plenary Council and, tlie hierarchy represent the 
 reverse opinion. It is a familiar fact that more than 
 once — many times — the priestliood has attacked the 
 public schools, and yet against persuasions and 
 commands, from tlie ]mlpit and in person, the laity 
 have voted to sustain them, and have continued their 
 
Shall the School Funds be Diyided? 207 
 
 children in attendance upon tlieni. Again and again 
 Lave priests and bishops attempted to compel Roman 
 Catholic parents, under threat of excommunication and 
 privation of tlie sacraments, to withdraw their children 
 from the common schools, and ever and again liave 
 tiie priestly commands and threats been disregarded. 
 
 Slow Geowth of Paeochial Schools. 
 
 It is to be presumed that the oldest parochial 
 schools in the country are the best developed, 
 namely, those of New York, Brooklyn, Boston, etc. 
 But in neither of these cities is a majority of even 
 Roman Catholic children found in the parochial 
 schools. And yet how strenuous have been the 
 endeavors of tlie priesthood, by coaxing and coercion, 
 to bring them into their schools ! In Boston there 
 are probably 40,000 to 45,000 Roman Catholic 
 cliildren between the ages of five and fifteen 
 inclusive; but only a little more than Y,000 are in the 
 parochial schools.* All this notwithstanding this 
 school contest lias been going on from thirty to fifty 
 7/ears, in different parts of the country. How slow is 
 the increase, too : 
 
 From 1860 to 1870 their pupils increased 200,000 \ 
 From 1870 to 1880 " " " 169,000 
 
 From 1880 to 1886 " " " 140,510 
 
 * The nnmhcr has boen increased during this year, 
 t See Section VI II, Part L 
 
20S Romanism vs. The Public School System. 
 
 These are the statistics of Sadllerh Catholio Year- 
 Book. 
 
 In July, 1888, Father McGlynn, of New York, 
 said : 
 
 A large part of the fanatical clamor for church 
 schools comes from foreign priests, M'ho care more for 
 their foreign language and foreign ideas than they 
 care for the Church itself. They do not wish their 
 people to be Americanized. Their opposition to the 
 public school is disloyalty. National common schools 
 are indispensable to a common nationality. 
 
 And a young Catholic layman, educated in the 
 public schools in Boston, said to a reporter of the 
 Boston Herald: 
 
 It is unquestionably true that a very large number 
 of people educated in the Catholic faith — people, let 
 me say, who are loyal to the teachings of the Church 
 in which they have been raised — are unalterably 
 opposed to any thing that savors of a change in the 
 method of educating their children. They are not in 
 favor of parochial schools, and have the courage of 
 their convictions to such an extent that the advocates 
 of parochial schools within the Church have quite all 
 they can do to answer the objections offered by this 
 class to which I refer. How foolish it is, then, to 
 alienate these people and force tliem, by ungenerous 
 and bigoted attacks upon the Church which, from 
 their youth, they have been taught to regard with 
 reverence, to go over to the side of the more intolerant ! 
 My belief is, and it is shared by a majority of those 
 who were educated in the public schools, that re- 
 ligious teaching should have no part in the public 
 
Shall the School Funds be Divided? 209 
 
 school system of education. 1 do not want my 
 children taught any thing but what strictly belongs 
 to secular education. 
 
 What stronger evidence that their people are most 
 obstinately holding back from the Catholic schools 
 and tenaciously holding on to the public school 
 system ? Why? Because they do not believe in the 
 Catholic school system. 
 
 The specious plea, therefore, that we ought to 
 respect the sentiments of a large mass of Roman 
 Catholics, the majority of their laity, is not well 
 founded, either in fact or in principle. And the 
 hierarchy, which has presumed to speak for the 
 Church, only represents a foreign, self-assuming, 
 imperious corporation. We do not ask them what is 
 for. the good of this republic. The great mass of 
 Roman Catholic people favor the perpetuation of our 
 American common school system. 
 
 As to the question of tolerance, we ask, Who is the 
 
 intolerant party ? It looks as though either Catholic 
 
 consciences or Protestant consciences must be hurt. 
 
 We see no tliird alternative. The Catholic conscience, 
 
 however, in this matter is not the conscience of the 
 
 masses of Catholics, who do not object to the public 
 
 school system, but rather favor it, but that artificial 
 
 ecclesiastical conscience which the foreign hierarchy 
 
 has produced. And those representing this kind of 
 14 
 
210 Romanism vs. The Public School System. 
 
 conscience are a very small minority, whom it is bet- 
 ter to hurt, in this extreme case, than to hurt the con- 
 sciences of the overwhelming majority of the nation. 
 The nation has rights of conscience as well as irrecon- 
 cilable minorities. It is as intolerant that a small 
 hierarchical minority should dictate our national pol- 
 icy, as for the Orange Lodges of Ulster to attempt to 
 rule all Ireland. A part can never be greater than 
 the whole. The rights of a minority pushed to an 
 extreme become the wrongs of the majority. 
 
 It is a self-delusion to say, " You must not take my 
 money in public taxes, and then use it for any object 
 of which my conscience disapproves." What non- 
 sense ! No civilized government could be adminis- 
 tered on such a basis. The Quaker disapproves of 
 war, but he must pay the war-tax all the same. Gov- 
 ernment could not be carried on a single day if this 
 principle were observed. " The conscience of the 
 minority can never be allowed to become the tyrant 
 autocrat of the nation." 
 
 In a New England city, some intelligent Catholics 
 desiring to liberalize some of their church matters 
 asked the bishop if it could not be done if the major- 
 ity of the parish favored it. Straightening up into a 
 lordly attitude the bishop answered, "/ a7/i the ma- 
 jority ! " 
 
Is A COMPBOMISE POSSIBLE? 211 
 
 QUESTION VI. 
 Is a CowiproTtiise JPossible ? 
 
 IS it possible to harmoniously adjust the differences 
 involved in this great controversy ? I think I 
 voice the sentiments of the mass of American citi- 
 zens when I say a settlement would be hailed with 
 delight, if placed upon an honorable basis, and if it 
 could give security for the integrity and welfare of 
 our civil institutions. I am sure none of us desire to 
 take advantage of our majority in the popular vote. 
 We do not wish to force the question against the 
 Koman Catholics. It is chiefly a question of self- 
 preservation — preserving the integrity of our institu- 
 tions. 
 
 What are some of the plans for a compromise ? 
 
 The one which meets us first is the old proposition 
 we have been combating — namely, to divide the 
 school funds ; giving to Koman Catholics their share, 
 and to Protestants their share. This proposition 
 keeps re-appearing like Banquo's ghost. But it is no 
 compromise. It is the ultimate demand of the Cath- 
 olics, with no concession whatever. 
 
 But Protestant Churches do not want their part of 
 
212 Romanism vs. The Public School Svstem. 
 
 the funds divided off to them, for they do not want 
 to set up parocliial scliools. They prefer State 
 schools for their children and for the masses outside 
 of all denominational relations. They think the best 
 interests of the republic require the public school 
 system, and that the welfare of the whole country 
 should be considered rather than the wishes of a 
 single denomination, and especially when the de- 
 mands of that denomination are stimulated by the 
 dictation of a foreign hierarchy. Who are most en- 
 titled to be considered, in a republic like ours : the 
 Roman Catholics, who constitute only about 12|- per 
 cent., or the non-Catholics, who constitute 87|- per 
 cent, of the total population ? We need not press an 
 answer. The Protestants do not want a share of the 
 school funds divided to them. They do not want the 
 school system dismembered ; and, more than this, we 
 have before shown that we have good reason to think 
 the majority of Roman Catholics are opposed to such 
 a division. 
 
 The Real Point. 
 
 The issue is not between Roman Catholic educa- 
 tion and Protestant education as such ; if it were 
 there might be some plausibility in the demand. 
 But the question is whether we will make our national 
 education ecclesiastical, as would be the case if the 
 
Is A Compromise Possible? 213 
 
 funds were divided and distributed among the de- 
 nominations. We are not ready for this. We ob- 
 ject to education controlled by the various Protestant 
 denominations as truly as we do to education controlled 
 by Roman Catholics. " There is, indeed, a differ- 
 ence, and an important one, " as has been well 
 stated ; * " the former would be ruled by Americans, 
 and in the interest of America; the latter by the 
 pope, and in the interest of the papacy ; the former 
 by a body of men themselves ruled by the public 
 sentiment of their nation ; the latter by a foreign 
 potentate, having no interest in American well-being, 
 and not amenable to American public opinion, nor 
 even to American law. But hotli would he ecclesias- 
 tical. And it is to ecclesiastical, not merely to 
 Romish ecclesiastical, control of our systems of edu- 
 cation that we object." It is in the interest of re- 
 ligion^ and of education^ and of the repvMic that we 
 make this protest. 
 
 Another proposition f is, " To leave all the schools 
 under the control of the State, to allow the State to 
 build the school-houses, to select the text-books, to 
 adjust the curriculum, and even conduct the examina- 
 tions, provided the Church of Rome may select and 
 appoint the teachers." Rev. Bishop McQuaid % de- 
 
 * Christian Wnion, May 31, 1888. \ Christian Union^ May 31, 1888. 
 X In an interview in December, 1875. 
 
214 EoMANisM VS. The Public School System. 
 
 scribed the working of this plan in Lima and Pough- 
 keepsie, N. Y. : 
 
 Repokter. How was the parochial school incorpo- 
 rated at Lima ? 
 
 Bishop. Thej had no room for all the pupils who 
 wished to attend the district school, and therefore 
 proposed to the Catholics that the latter should re- 
 open theirs, which had been closed. This was done, 
 and at first lay teachers gave instrnction at the paro- 
 chial school, the authorities paying all expenses. On 
 the 1st of January we said : " Will you pay sisters 
 as well as lay teachers ? " And they consented, pro- 
 vided the sisters could pass the necessary examina- 
 tion. I was asked if the sisters should submit to such 
 a test, and replied, " Certainly. We want no teachers 
 who are unable to show abundant familiarity with 
 the ordinary studies required." The superintendent 
 of Livingston County appointed a day for the examina- 
 tion, which was to take place at Livonia, and two 
 sisters were sent there. But, unfortunately, the poor 
 sisters in some way missed the train, and, not wishing 
 to fail in the appointment, hired a carriage and rode 
 the entire distance of twenty-six miles on as cold a 
 day as we had last winter. The examination lasted 
 two hours and proved satisfactory. The school is 
 still in active operation. No religious instruction is 
 given during ordinary school-hours, and any body 
 can come to see that there is no violation of this 
 rule. The school authorities pay the salaries- of two 
 sisters, but a third is paid for by the parents. Cath- 
 olic children outside of the village attend school and 
 pay a rate therefor. There is a parochial school at 
 Corning conducted on the same plan. Li Pougli- 
 keepsie the plan has been in successful operation for 
 two years. All Catholic pupils attend a single school 
 
Is A COMPKOMISE POSSIBLE? 215 
 
 in whicli no religious instruction is given during or- 
 dinary school-hours, but the teachers are selected by 
 the authorities and paid by the city school author- 
 ities. 
 
 It is believed that this plan has not worked satis- 
 factorily to either party ; for, as has been well said, 
 " whoever controls the teachers really controls the 
 school. For the school is a teaching institution, and 
 to control the teachers is to control the quality, and 
 character, and spirit of the teaching. Let who will 
 determine the creed* of the Church; he who chooses 
 its ministry shapes its future. The power of the 
 school is the personal power of the teacher ; whoever 
 exercises that power exercises the real control over 
 the school. Compromises should be equal. What 
 would the hiei-archy say to the proposition that the 
 Church should fix the curriculum, and the State se- 
 lect the teacliers? A skillful Protestant could so 
 teach the Roman Catholic catechism as to turn half 
 her pupils out, at the end of the year, impregnated 
 with Protestantism." * 
 
 Another proposition which has been considered is 
 to leavB the school-houses in control of the State, and 
 allow the ministers of religion to teach religion before 
 and after tlie session of the school. Rev. Bishop 
 McQnaid, in the interview just referred to, said : 
 
 * Christian Union., May 31, 1880. 
 
216 Romanism vs. The Public School System. 
 
 The State cannot reach all these children, but we 
 can, and we do not ask the State to pay for the relig- 
 ions influences we throw around these children, but 
 simply for the secular teachings they receive. We 
 erect the buildings, provide the teachers, who shall, 
 however, be subject to the examinations required by 
 the State ; and then for a nominal i-ental we allow 
 the State full control of these schools, during the or- 
 dinary school-hours, in which time only secular in- 
 struction shall be given. Before and after such hours 
 we propose to give the pupils such religious teaching 
 as we deem essential in the education of youth. The 
 plan is already in practical operation at Corning, 
 Elmira, and Lima, and by the co-operation of Repub- ' 
 licans, and still more markedly iii the schools of the 
 Children's Aid Society in New York. The same 
 principle is carried out in most of the public schools 
 of the State, in which, before and after school-hours, 
 religious exercises in harmony with the convictions 
 of the parents are commonly held, where they are 
 not as a rule the practice during school-hours. 
 
 But the hierarchy has rejected this plan, and that 
 wisely, for, as Dr. Abbott has said, " Religion cannot 
 be done up in a separate parcel and handed out to 
 the pupil after school is over. Religion is not a 
 fringe that can be tacked on or left off a garment. 
 It is a dye impregnating every thread of the pattern." 
 
 Another Scheme 
 
 has just come to'public attention. A large influential 
 journal * gives the following fact : 
 
 * Boslon Journal, October 27, 1888. 
 
Is A COMPEOMISE POSSIBLE? 217 
 
 The report of the Superintendent of Public In- 
 struction for the State of New York for the cur- 
 rent year contains an interesting account of a Cath- 
 olic school experiment. For twenty years St. Ea- 
 phaeFs CathoKc Church in Suspension Bridge has had 
 a parish school. In 1885 the church asked the local 
 Board of Education to take this school under its care 
 and maintenance and to allow the sisters in charge to 
 remain as teachers. This was done. The school was 
 continued as before, under sisters in their garb, but at 
 the public expense, the board leasing the building 
 from the church at a rental of a dollar a year. In 
 1886 the acting State Superintendent decided that this 
 arrangement was an illegal discrimination in favor of 
 a certain class, and void. Some minor change was 
 then made, and the lease continued for five years. 
 The matter was again appealed to the State Superin- 
 tendent, and he concluded that a decided discrimination 
 was made in favor of the Catholic Church in employ- 
 ing sisters who dressed in the garb of their order, with 
 beads and crucifix, and were addressed as " Sister Mary," 
 " Sister Martha," etc. The Superintendent says : 
 
 The conclusion is irresistible that these things may 
 constitute a much stronger sectarian or denomina- 
 tional influence over the minds of children, than the 
 repetition of the Lord's Prayer or the reading of the 
 Scriptures at the opening of the schools ; and yet these 
 things have been prohibited, whenever objection has 
 
218 Romanism vs. The Public School System. 
 
 been offered' by tlie rulings of this department from 
 the earHest days, because of the purpose enshrined in 
 the Jiearts of the people, and embedded in the funda- 
 mental law of the State, that the public school system 
 shall be kept altogether free from matters not essential 
 to its primary purpose and dangerous to its harmony 
 and efficiency. 
 
 The Superintendent directed that the sisters, within 
 fifteen days, should put off their rehgious costume, 
 and should be addi'essed by their names, as Miss So- 
 and-so. As they would not do so the connection of 
 the school with the public schools ceased. 
 
 In November, 1876, Eev. Father Preston, Vicar- 
 General of the New York Diocese, attempted to state 
 
 Two Possible Solutions : 
 
 There are only two solutions to this difficulty — 
 either exempt from taxation those who do not desire 
 to send their children to common schools, or else give 
 to every private denominational school its proportion 
 of the taxes generally raised. "Where is the difficulty 
 in the way? Where the objection to either solution? 
 There can justly be none. If yon can exempt us 
 from taxation, then of course we shall have nothing 
 to complain of. Let those who want schools liave 
 them ; but if the State tliinks it best and most expe- 
 dient to impose a tax for the support of education, 
 then let it divide the sums so raised by taxation in a 
 manner as^reeable to itself amonof all classes of its 
 citizens. 
 
 It is urged as an objection that it would be difficult 
 for us to establish a system on which taxation should 
 
Is A Compromise Possible? 219 
 
 be divided, as there are many poor Catholics who 
 have children to be educated but no taxable property, 
 personal or real estate. Well, we only ask what is 
 just. We are not begging for a donation. But I 
 know of poor Catholics who have to help to support 
 the common schools for rich Protestants' sons, and 
 have to help build and support Catholic schools be- 
 sides. 
 
 These propositions are only slightly different from 
 others. But at the risk of repeating somewhat, they 
 will be noticed. It requires but a moment's consid- 
 ei'ation to see that Father Preston's arguments, how- 
 ever plausible they may have seemed to the Catholic 
 audience to whom they were addressed, overlook the 
 prime duty of popular government to perpetuate it- 
 self, and that in consulting in regard to securing the 
 greatest freedom it must also consult tlie greatest 
 welfare of all. To accomplish this some restraints 
 and requirements must be imposed upon the inhabit- 
 ants. If Catholics are to be relieved fi'om taxation 
 because they do not believe in the policy of non-sec- 
 tarian schools, tlie Methodists, Baptists, and all other 
 denominations may make the same demands. So may 
 those who pay the largest tax, and send no children 
 to the schools, inquire if this is a free country. The 
 result of this proposition would be, that there would 
 be nobody left to be taxed to support schools for the 
 great mass of children whose parents are too poor to 
 
220 EoMANisM vs. The Public School System. 
 
 educate them at their own expense, and could not 
 pay taxes necessary to support the proper schools. 
 
 The other proposition is no less mischievous. 
 Suppose the Catholics to be allowed their portion of 
 the school money, could other denominations be de- 
 nied the privilege, should they demand it? If this 
 were done would not the whole school fund be frit- 
 tered away, while there yet remained a large class of 
 children, most needing schools, for whom no adequate 
 provision could be made ? Besides, what manner of 
 teaching could we expect in schools exclusively sec- 
 tarian ? 
 
 The Separate Schools Act, 
 
 adopted in the Province of Ontario, Canada, is an- 
 other plan of compromise. It provides that a given 
 number of Roman Catholic or Protestant or colored 
 " rate- payers " petitioning to be permitted to set up 
 " separate schools," will be allowed to do so. They 
 may then produce certificates showing that they are 
 tax-payers, and be excused from the payment of their 
 portion of the public taxes which goes to support the 
 public schools. The schools which they shall thus 
 set up are to report their registers to the Public 
 School Board, etc. 
 
 This system is a residuum from a prior s^'^stem un- 
 der the old Legislative Union (1841-1867), and per- 
 
Is A COMPKOMISE POSSIBLE? 221 
 
 petuated under the British l^ortli-American Act. 
 But we are informed that even this system does not 
 relieve the public school system of the province from 
 Romish interference and maneuvering. The priests 
 bring their influence to bear upon the public school 
 system, and endeavor to promote their interests in 
 ways often very irritating. 
 
 Kadical Antagonism. 
 
 The antagonism between the two systems is so 
 radical that they cannot be compromised without the 
 destruction of one or both. "It is a question of 
 supreme control,* and who can show how supreme 
 control can be divided ? The American theory is 
 that the public school system, supported by the 
 State, must be controlled by the State, and that such 
 management is necessary to the maintenance of re- 
 publican institutions. The papal hierarchy claims 
 that the ChuToh holds the exclusive function of di- 
 recting and controlling education. Americans claim 
 that education must be American in its ideas and 
 spirit, that it must be controlled by Americans, and 
 administered to make loyal citizens of America. Tlie 
 hierarchy claim that it must l^e Roman Catholic — 
 controlled by Rome and administered to make loyal 
 children of Rome." * How can such contrary issues 
 
 * See editorial in CJirisiian Union, May 31, 1888, p. 675. 
 
222 Romanism vs. The Public School System. 
 
 be harmonized ? They must be settled one way or 
 the other. There seems to be no middle ground. 
 The hierarchy will not be satisfied unless we concede 
 its claims — a question of absolute self-surrender — in- 
 volving, in its sequence, the surrender of our repub- 
 lican institutions. Most effectively and powerfully 
 is this question put in the Christian Union : * 
 
 " The real question at issue between the republic 
 and the hierarchy is not, What shall be taught f nor 
 who shall teach? but in what spirit and to what end 
 shall the teaching be conducted ? The Roman Cath- 
 olic hierarchy declares that our free school system is 
 Protestant ; and it is more than half right. The 
 object of the hierarchy is to teach submission ; the 
 object of our free school system is to teach independ- 
 ence. The one forbids questioning ; the other stim- 
 ulates it. The one conducts every inquirer to an 
 infallible Church ; the other throws him back upon 
 himself. The one bids him listen and obey ; the 
 other bids him investigate and learn. The one 
 teaches him to submit ; the other teaches him to 
 think. The one drills him to be a private in a 
 magnificent army ; the other invests him with poM^er 
 of self-command in a self-governed community. The 
 one, as we have already said, makes him an obedient 
 child of Rome ; the other an authoritative citizen 
 
 *May 31, 1888. Two articles, in successive nuiiil>ers. 
 
Is A COMPEOMISE POSSIBLE? 223 
 
 of a free republic. To him who asks for the truth 
 Home gives only authority ; to him who asks for 
 authority the republic gives only truth. These roads 
 do not lead in the same direction, and cannot conduct 
 to the same goal. Rome has never made an inde- 
 pendent people ; she never can. That independence 
 w^hicli is our pride is her anathema. That individ- 
 ualism of judgment which we seek to create she 
 seeks to destroy. It is idle to propose a compro- 
 mise between two systems thus antagonistic, in their 
 origin, their methods of administration, their spirit 
 and scope, and the ends which they severally pursue. 
 The American citizen must decide between the eccle- 
 siastical and the non ecclesiastical systems of educa- 
 tion — between the system which has produced Italy, 
 Spain, France, and Ireland, and the system which has 
 produced the northern half of the United States. 
 He cannot combine them. Keither compromise nor 
 alliance is possible." 
 
 The conditions demanded by the papacy involve 
 the certain destruction of the public school system. 
 
224 EoMANisM vs. The Public School System. 
 
 QUESTION VII. 
 
 Can hoth parties patronise the JPiihUc 
 Schools harmoniously, and on what 
 basis ? 
 
 THE answer to this question is found in the plain, 
 familiar facts of our public school history. This 
 is what has been done all along, for many years, with 
 very little irritation, only occasional disturbance, and 
 that not amounting to much, except under these re- 
 cent demands by the hierarchy for a division of the 
 school funds. And even now, notwithstanding these 
 demands, so far as the adir>inistration of the work 
 of the schools and tlie scholarly drill and improve- 
 ment of the pupils are concerned, and these are the 
 chief things, the schools are doing well, quite as 
 well as ever. The exceptions, if any, are exceedingly 
 rare. 
 
 Almost all parties seem to be well impressed with 
 the importance of harmonizing the administration 
 of the public schools, so that Catholics and Protest- 
 ants and the diverse nationalities may pursue their 
 studies together without embarrassment. In a re- 
 public like ours all classes must be mingled together, 
 
' Patronize the Public Schools. 225 
 
 and tanglit to work together, in every possible way, 
 from cliildliood upward. It is the only way to make 
 them homogeneous, especially while receiving such 
 large immigration. The earlier in life this fusing of 
 diverse nationalities is begun the better, for it is com- 
 paratively difficult in advanced years. The public 
 schools can undoubtedly be harmoniously conducted 
 on the plan of making American citizens, not Roman- 
 ists or Protestants, if both parties will treat each 
 other equitably. Civil and religious liberty must be 
 held inviolable. Any attempt at intolerance, in the 
 working of either our political or educational system, 
 by Catholics against Protestants, or by Protestants 
 against Catholics, will hinder the working of the as- 
 similating process, so necessary to make a homogen- 
 eous people, and imperil our institutions. 
 
 Ultkaism. 
 
 In times of excitement it is natural that some 
 persons will give utterance to ultra and unreasonable 
 views. I call attention to two specimens — one by a 
 Roman Catholic periodical and the other by a Prot- 
 estant mass-meeting, and both quite recent : 
 
 Within a few weeks the Catholic Review made a 
 very ultra utterance. It said : * "It is impossible to 
 teach modern history in a mixed school. Every inch 
 
 *July, 1888. 
 15 
 
226 Romanism vs. The Public School System. 
 
 of it (modern history) is contested ground, and er^p;.;- 
 cially liave the annals of tlie last fonr centuries 
 been covered and swamped by swarms of malignant 
 falsifiers, and twisted into fantastic shapes in the 
 heat of fierce coiUroversies. No teacher can teach 
 this history to a child of a different faith without 
 wonnding the hitter's feelings, and attacking her re- 
 ligion ; and just in proportion to the person's earnest- 
 ness of belief will be the harshness of the wound and 
 the bitterness of the attack. The remedy for 
 Catholics can only be found in our parochial 
 schools." 
 
 This is a very nltra position. It is certain that 
 modern history cannot be radicall}'^ changed. In 
 coming out of a condition of mediseval ideas and civ- 
 ilization into a condition of newer thought and ad- 
 vanced civilization, and in tracing the conflicts and 
 wrecks of the old fabrics, consequent upon putting 
 new wine into old bottles, some things will be found 
 in the records of tliat progress not complimentary to 
 some classes of people. But we ought all of us, how- 
 ever related to the past, to be able to look upon the 
 history of those events with calmness, and treat each 
 other magnanimously. The kind of education which 
 teaches people to do this is the very kind most im- 
 portant to enable diverse peoples to live and act to- 
 gether in a republic. The argument is in favor of 
 
Pateonize the Public Schools. 227 
 
 our public scliool system, and sliows why and how 
 it should be maintained. 
 
 The Protestant ultraism to which I referred declared 
 that " No Koman Catholics should be elected to the 
 School Board; that no Roman Catholic teachers should 
 be employed in the public schools " — an absurdity 
 which cannot be allowed in a country where all re- 
 ligions are equally tolerated and education is equally 
 provided for all. We Protestants will have our pref- 
 ences, and will show them in our votes, but we can- 
 not afford to advocate such dogmas as those just 
 quoted. In so doing we would ourselves introduce 
 sectarianism into the public schools — the very thing 
 we complain of the Poman Catholics for doing. 
 
 How TO Do It. 
 
 If all classes are to use the public schools several 
 conditions must be faithfully observed. 
 
 1, There must be no religious instruction in them. 
 If attempted it will be likely to savor of some par- 
 ticular sect. To attempt it would be inconsistent 
 with the American system of government, and peril- 
 ous to the successful administration of the school 
 system. A purely secular basis is the only basis on 
 which all citizens can unite. Then no one's doctrines 
 are assailed or slurred. There is abundant oppor- 
 tunity for parents, Sunday-schools, and churches to 
 
228 KoMANisM vs. The Public School System. 
 
 look after tlie religious education, the public school 
 occupying only about one sixth of the hours of the 
 year. The public school can succeed oidy on a com- 
 pletely non-sectarian, absolutely secular basis. On any 
 other plan it is doomed. 
 
 We have no doubt that some great elements of mo- 
 rality may and should be taught — reverence for God, 
 honesty, loyalty to law and government, the duty of 
 worship, chastity, rights of property, etc. Morality 
 relates to right action, right relations between man 
 and man. There are many of these elements of 
 morals common to all religionists. 
 
 2. The administration must be without sectarian 
 bias or partiality. The people will never knowingly 
 consent to have any sect or denomination interfere 
 with, control or bias the public school. Every de- 
 nomination must be served alike ; otherwise it will 
 justly claim its share of the funds. This must be 
 honestly and squarely done. 
 
 3. In the department of historical studies — almost 
 the only one where differences are likely to arise — an 
 unswerving rule must be adhered to. All necessary 
 facts should be taught with perfect indifference to 
 the likes or dislikes of any Church. Historical truth 
 cares for nothing but cold facts. Says Rev. Di-. 
 Quint, in the Congregatioytalist : * " If, in the study of 
 
 * August 2, 1888. 
 
Pateonize the Public Schools. 229 
 
 history, tlie school comes against some incident which 
 ought to be taught, the plain fact should be stated, 
 whatever it may be — taught naturally, and in the 
 right spirit, with no intent or appearance of slurring 
 any body, and no effort to misrepresent present views. 
 It should make no difference whether it is oris not 
 unpleasant reading for any nation or for any sect. It 
 would not be at all agreeable to Congregationalists to 
 have it stated that their Puritan forefathers impris- 
 oned Baptists and hung Quakers ; but, if that is a 
 fact, it cannot be blotted out of history, and if it is 
 presented -as a mere fact, and without an attempt to 
 shadow any body but those who did it, we cannot 
 complain. Tetzel did something in regard to indul- 
 gences which was the occasion of a tremendous con- 
 flict in the world's history. What he did is easily 
 ascertained, and school history cannot ignore it. If 
 his Church sustained or did not sustain him in what 
 he did, that, too, is a matter of history. There is no 
 difficulty in stating the facts in a calm, unimpassioned 
 judicial manner. If, for any reason, the facts should 
 be unpleasant to his Church, that Church must do as 
 the Congregationalists do when the treatment of the 
 Quakers is referred to. The State cannot inquire 
 whether any Church likes or dislikes the record of 
 past ages. This is a fair platform upon which all 
 citizens can stand ; and on that platform they will 
 
230 Romanism vs. The Public School System. 
 
 stand, and not pervert nor ignore history, either from 
 policy or fear. Its teachings should not, however, 
 ascribe to any denomination an interpretation of its 
 doctrines, either by inference, omission, or direct 
 statement, whicli that Church disclaims. Pupils 
 must not be taught that Congregationalists now be- 
 lieve in hanging Quakers because Congregationalists 
 hung Quakers two hundred years ago." 
 
 4. In the selection of teachers the School Board 
 should know no denomination. Instances have been 
 known where, for a number of years, every teacher 
 in the public schools belonged to one particular de- 
 nomination, and every member of the school com- 
 mittee also. Not long ago there was a teacher in the 
 high school of one of our New England State capi- 
 tals who had a Catholic wife who was an assistant, 
 teaching French and botany, and a very superior 
 teacher. This gentleman, himself a Protestant, and 
 attending a Protestant church, was dismissed solely 
 because he had a Catholic wufe. These things should 
 not be allowed to occur. 
 
 5. Great wisdom should be exercised, in the admin- 
 istration of the public school affairs, to guard against 
 the appearance of unfairness. When sectarian ques- 
 tions arise they should be met openly, carefully, with 
 cautious examination, and full statements should be 
 frankly made to the people. If there is an unseemly 
 
Patronize the Public Schools. 231 
 
 haste, or an appearance of privacy, or a disposition to 
 shun a franlc statement of the case, a sensitive people 
 will suspect some sectarian or political maneuvci-. 
 Perfect fairness, inflexible firmness, and an unques- 
 tioned frankness will succeed, 
 
 6. The public schools must not only be managed 
 in a non-sectarian, but also in a non-partisan, way — 
 kept free from the control of any political party, 
 however dominant. In New York city, the public 
 school sj'stem is thoroughly honeycombed at every 
 point by the vermin of party politics, and such pol- 
 itics — saloon-dominated, priest-ridden, and money- 
 grabbing politics — as have long characterized that 
 locality. Tiie best thing for the schools is not done, 
 but " soft " places are given to unworthy persons, 
 and school appointments are made for the ends of 
 the dominant party. Tliis evil has reached a pitch 
 where a voluntary committee of citizens is said to 
 be forming for the purpose of watching the educa- 
 tional authorities, and bringing the State machine 
 into accord with the reasonable demands of the com- 
 munity. "The same influence," said the Boston 
 Herald of August 1, " is creeping over the schools 
 in Boston, where it seems to be the height of am- 
 bition with some to get an election to a place on the 
 School Board, and it is not unknown in other cities. 
 This possibility of corruption exists in the very na- 
 
232 KoMANiSM vs. The Public School System. 
 
 ture of a free government. It is not the fault of 
 State education as such." The people should wisely 
 discriminate and select, where such sacred and impor- 
 tant interests as the education of the young are to be 
 intrusted to men in responsible positions, that they 
 be not committed to such persons as will wrestle 
 with one another over the appointment of their 
 favorites to posts of responsibility in the schools. 
 
 Things to be Avoided. 
 
 The sectarianism which must be avoided, if Cath- 
 olic and Protestant children are to be educated to- 
 gether in the same schools, and if the public school 
 system is to be preserved in its integrity, is of a two- 
 fold character. 
 
 First, there is the Roman Catholic sectarianism 
 which continually echoes the demand for a share of 
 the public school money ; which, in some instances, 
 has put members of brotherhoods and sisterhoods into 
 the public schools as instructors, breathing the relig- 
 ious airs and wearing the garb and other insignia of 
 Rome ; which on the Sabbath preceding school 
 elections has advocated its candidates from Cath- 
 olic pulpits and distributed its ballots in the churches; 
 which allies itself with the low saloon and money- 
 grabbing element, as in New Yoi-k city, for the ac- 
 complishment of Catholic ascendency and the control 
 
Pateonize the Public Schools. 233 
 
 of school matters ; which improves every opportunity 
 in the schools to push historical, sectarian, and ethical, 
 questions into disputed and sensitive arenas ; and 
 which so administers the work of school boards and 
 school instruction as to provoke suspicion that they 
 are seeking to Romanize the common school system. 
 Secondly, there is a Protestant sectarianism, no less 
 baneful in its influences, which denies to Roman 
 Catholics a place upon the School Board or as teach- 
 ers in the public schools, notwithstanding, in some in- 
 stances, one half of the pupils are from Roman Cath- 
 olic families ; which insist upon retaining as a part 
 of the public school system forms of worship to 
 which Roman Catholics object; which would retain 
 in the text-books passages touching upon disputed 
 grounds between Protestants and Roman Catholics ; 
 w^hich is continually on the qui vive for the slightest 
 suspicions of any purpose of the Romanists to cap- 
 ture the public schools ; w^iich foams at the mouth 
 whenever reasonable concessions are made in favor of 
 conscientious scruples ; which is intolerant toward 
 estimable, experienced, broad-minded men who ad- 
 vocate fair-play when heated controversialists rave ; 
 which sometimes denies to Roman Catholics the 
 rights of citizenship, and w^iich, at this late day, in- 
 sists upon putting the Protestant Bible back into the 
 public schools. 
 
234: Romanism vs. The Public School System. 
 
 Examples of Intolerance. 
 
 I will now cite two instances of intolerance — one 
 Protestant and the other Roman Catholic — both of 
 them examples of what is to be deprecated and 
 avoided. 
 
 The first, a case of Protestant intolerance, we 
 qnote from the Christian Register. * It occurred 
 some years ago, in Charlestown, Mass. '' A graduate 
 of Harvard College was appointed to the position of 
 sub-master. He was a thorough schohar, a natural 
 gentleman, an excellent teacher. After a while, 
 however, it was discovered that he was a Catholic, 
 although he did not introduce his special religious 
 beliefs into the school-room. At the close of the 
 year the question of his re-appointment came up. 
 The School Board was made up entirely of Protest- 
 ants, and they declined to re-elect him. One meml)er 
 .of the Board asked a postp(^nement of the nuitter for 
 two weeks. In that time he secured the signatures 
 of the parents or guardians of every child in the 
 school, favoring his re-election. Nevertheless, in 
 spite of tliis overwhelming appeal from the constitu- 
 ency of the-school, the committee, under the lead of 
 a narrow-minded Baptist clergyman, dismissed him 
 because he was a Catholic. Of the sixty teachers, if 
 
 * July 19, 1888. 
 
Pateonize the Public Schools. 235 
 
 we I'einember the number correctly, nnder the juris- 
 diction of that Board, every one was a Protestant. 
 It would be hard to find any thing in the annals of 
 Catholicism more humiliating or disgraceful than 
 such a course of action in an American school. This 
 is an example of the extreme of injustice to which 
 Protestantism may go when it yields to the sectarian 
 spirit in the management of the public schools." 
 
 Some years ago a correspondent of the New Yorh 
 Evangelist gave an instance of Poman Catholic intol- 
 erance in the public schools of Pennsylvania, in a 
 locality where the Romanists held the sway. 
 
 Loretto, in Blair County, on the summit of the 
 Alleghanies, was originally a Romish settlement, and 
 named in honor of '• Our Lady" of that name. To 
 this day the Romish catechism is taught in the regu- 
 lar course in the public schools, supported by the 
 people, under the school law of the State. When 
 Protestant parents, of whom there is a sprinkling in 
 the town, protest, they are summaril)^ told, " if they 
 do not like it they may keep their children at home." 
 
 Such intolerance as these two cases show must be 
 discarded, if we are to keep all our children in the 
 public schools. 
 
 An Example of Good Sense. 
 
 I will now cite another instance in which a Protest- 
 ant teacher and a Roman Catholic priest both showed 
 
236 Romanism vs. The Public School System. 
 
 great forbearance, commendable discrimination and 
 wisdom — an example of the spirit to be cherished in 
 order to make our public school system acceptable 
 to both Catholics and Protestants. I quote fi'om an 
 editorial in the Christian Register : * 
 
 "One of the most successful teachers in Boston 
 taught forty-seven years in the public schools. He 
 had a school in which eight out of every ten were 
 foreigners, and from fifty to sixty per cent, of the 
 whole number were Catholics. In this term of nearly 
 half a century, this master of a Boston school never had 
 any trouble with his pupils on the question of relig- 
 ion. He managed with tact and discretion. Instead 
 of compelling his scholars to recite the Lord's Prayer 
 with him, he simply required that they should main- 
 tain a respectful deportment while he said the prayer 
 aloud himself, those being permitted to join in who 
 wished to. The only time when there seemed any 
 danger of a religious collision was when he punished 
 a Catholic boy, not for refusing to say the prayer, but 
 for not maintaining a respectful deportment when 
 prayer was said. The priest to whom the boy 
 appealed wrote a note to the teacher, thanking him 
 for the action lie had taken. Yet this same priest 
 was at that very time suing the city of Boston be- 
 cause another school-master, under direction of an in- 
 
 * July 19, 1888. 
 
Pateonize the Public Schools. 237 
 
 judicious member of the School Committee, had 
 whipped a boy for refusing to say the Protestant ver- 
 sion of the Lord's Prayer. The priest saw the dif- 
 ference between the two cases. In one case, the boy 
 was punished for refusing to say a form of prayer 
 which was contrary to the usages of his own church. 
 In the other case, he was simply punished for bad 
 behavior. The incident showed that the Protestant 
 school-master and the Catholic priest could see dis- 
 tinctions with a difference, and yet have no difference 
 over their distinctions." 
 
 Such a spirit will help to conserve the public 
 school system. For the continuance of the public 
 school system we plead, and ask that Protestants 
 and Catholics may so combine and harmonize in its 
 management and use that it may be preserved. We 
 believe that the existence of this system, supported 
 and controlled, absolutely and entirely, by the State, 
 is a fundamental need of this Republic, and that the 
 logical trend of the Poman Catholic demand is the 
 destruction of this school system. 
 
238 lloMANisM VS. The Pcblic School System. 
 
 QUESTION VIII. 
 
 What may ive Expect Homanists to do 
 ill the Jfiituref and How shall ive Pre- 
 serve our School System ? 
 
 THE liierarcliy will doubtless take out of tlie public 
 schools all the chiltlrcn they cau iuflueuce by all 
 the arts they cau briuj^ to bear upou the pareuts. 
 Bishop McQuaid said, "The Catholics will go ou 
 supportiug their parochial schools, as they have a rii^ht 
 to do, trustiug to the sober second thought of the 
 Auierican people to do them justice." A large num- 
 ber of Catholic children, however, will remain in the 
 public schools. 
 
 The Romish population is too open to the influ- 
 ence of American ideas not to have a tendency to 
 revolt from this heavy burden, and from the manifest 
 disadvantage on the part of their children in those 
 schools, however severe the priestly infliction. This 
 tendency to revolt from priestly dominance will be 
 skillfully manipulated. The power of the confes- 
 sional, of the pulpit, of pastoral visitation, and the 
 awful power which belongs to men who can deny the 
 sacraments, wall all be used to draw the Catholic 
 
What to Expect of the Romanists. 230 
 
 population into absolute acquiescence with the p.i- 
 vocliial school demands. This tendency to revolt 
 should be adroitly as well as vehemently supported 
 by Protestant discussion, clear, broad, kindly and co- 
 gent. 
 
 But whether they continue to patronize the public 
 schools or not, one of their papers* says that Roman- 
 ists will continue to elect their candidates to pul)lic 
 school boards, will put in all the Roman Catholic 
 teachers they can, and in every possible way exert a 
 controlling influence in public school matters, so long 
 as they are taxed for the support of the system. The 
 hierarchy will still maintain an attitude of persistent, 
 determined opposition. The Churcli of Rome w^ill 
 propose no compromise, but will persist in lier course, 
 as she has done in the past, only more determinedly. 
 It is a long contest upon which we have entered. We 
 must adjust ourselves to it. We must not deceive 
 ourselves with vain hopes of speedy peace, nor be 
 deceived by Rome's specious maneuverings. 
 
 The editor of the CJiristian Union has, put the 
 points very effectively : 
 
 The universal diffusion of Catholic education means 
 something more than the opening of schools in every 
 parish ; it means a steady and unrelenting attack on our 
 common schools ; not on that abstract thing called the 
 
 * The Pilot. 
 
2iO EoMANisM 'VS. The Public School System. 
 
 Common Scliool System, but on every school in every 
 locality v^^liere the Catholic voting population has any 
 strength. This result was inevitable. Catholics have 
 the same indisposition to pay taxes which character- 
 izes the great majority of men of all faiths. They 
 are compelled to support their own Church schools ; 
 they are not disposed to support the common schools 
 in addition. Wherever the way is open they will, as 
 a matter of course, use their power to control or crip- 
 ple the common schools. The great struggle between 
 our schools and this vigilant, uncompromising foe, will 
 not be fought out in Congi-ess or in legislatures, in 
 newspapers or pulpits. It will be fought in every school 
 district in the country. There will be no great or 
 decisive battle, but a long series of skirmishes. Every 
 school-meeting will be contested, and on the result of 
 these minor contests the struggle itself will turn. 
 Henceforth eternal vigilance will be the price we shall 
 pay for our common schools ; henceforth no man who 
 cares for his community or his country can afford to 
 shirk a duty which has been more honored in the 
 breach than in the observance. 
 
 In many communities these foes of the common 
 schools will not lack for allies who will, consciously or 
 unconsciously, work with and for them ; men who will 
 fail to see that they are being used as tools by a power 
 which has never failed of the highest sagacity in 
 using those who ai-e too short-sighted or too seltish to 
 comprehend the real issues involved. The only reply 
 whicJi nnist be made to the establishment of the paro- 
 chial school must be the increased efficiency of the 
 common school. Sooner or later the best school will 
 win. Our Catholic fellow-citizens know the value of 
 education; they love their children, and after the Jlrst 
 stages of this movement are past they will care more 
 for the interest of their children than for the com- 
 
What to Expect of the Eomanists. 241 
 
 mands of the Cliurcli. In matters not distinctively 
 religions, the great body of American Catholics will 
 never submit to dictation from Rome ; they are too 
 intelligent and too independent. In the long run, there- 
 fore, the best school will win ; and the only way to 
 meet the parochial school is to meet it with a common 
 school so superior to it in its educational opportunities 
 and facilities, that no citizen can be in doubt where 
 his children will gain most. In many communities 
 there are those who fail to see this obvious truth, and 
 wdio see in the reduced attendance upon the common 
 schools, in consequence of the establishment of the 
 parish schools, an opportunity to cut down school ex- 
 penses. This is a time to spend, not a time to save ; 
 and all intelligent men know that there are times 
 when liberal expenditure is not only the higJwst 
 economy, but the only economy. These persons are 
 ignorantly falling into the net spread for their feet, 
 from which they will extricate themselves with great 
 difficulty hereafter. If they alone were to fall in 
 the loss would be small ; but there is danger that com- 
 munities may be dragged in with them, and that in- 
 terests of the very highest irtiportance may be perma- 
 nently sacrificed. 
 
 The foes of our schools will strive in every district 
 where they can command sufficient strength either 
 to elect their own committees, and so control the 
 schools, or to cut down the annual expenses, and so 
 reduce their efficiency. There are two important and 
 obvious duties which no man will neglect who cares 
 for his country or his community ; namely, he will 
 attend every school- meeting, and will oppose, in sea- 
 son and out of season, every effort to reduce the 
 efficiency of the schools by reducing the taxes. Let 
 us clearly understand what this struggle means, and 
 let every man choose between the common school and 
 16 
 
242 EoMANisM vs. The Public School System. 
 
 tlie parochial school. The men who neglect their 
 duties, or who strive to cut down necessary school 
 expenditures, are the enemies of our school system. 
 If economy must be enforced let it be enforced at 
 
 some other point. THE COMMUNITY WHOSE 
 
 ECONOMICS ABE IMPOSED ON ITS 
 
 CHILDREN IS A COMMUNITY WHICH 
 
 HAS YET TO LEARN THE RUDIMENTS 
 
 OE PUBLIC WELL-BEING. 
 
Educational Pbetensions of Rome. 24£ 
 
 QUESTION IX. 
 
 As to the Pretensions of Home as an 
 JEducator, 
 
 WHO is this Church of Rome, that comes to us 
 with this demand? Who is this that ckims 
 that our school system is godless and impious, unfit 
 for the education of her children? Who is this that 
 would rend asunder our public school system, the 
 palladium of the American republic? Who is it 
 that claims that God has given to her the exchisive 
 function of educating the rising youth ? What has 
 been her record in the work of education? What su- 
 perior enlightenment has she imparted to the nations 
 that have long been under her dominion ? What 
 morals and piety has she taught them ? What type 
 of civilization has she imparted ? What progress in 
 the sciences, and in philosophy, and in social ameni- 
 ties? How has she treated the profound original in- 
 vestigators, like Galileo, who have pushed their 
 inquiries beyond the old dusty beaten paths into 
 new realms of thought and discovery ? Has Rome 
 been the patroness of learning? And have the 
 countries over which she has held sway been the 
 
244 lioMANiSM VS. The Public School System. 
 
 best developed nations in education, morality and 
 religion ? 
 
 We only need to ask these questions in any intelli- 
 gent presence. The answer is ready in every mind, 
 a negative answer — the consensus of the average 
 thought, outside of Romanism, every-where — and in- 
 dorsed by many Roman Catholics themselves. That 
 such a body, with such a record, should come before 
 this great Protestant nation with such demands as 
 she makes is not only an absurdity, but an affront. 
 It is hardly necessary to turn on the light of history 
 to make the absurdity of her claims appear more 
 clearly than they already appear. 
 
 And yet it is well to refresh our minds, that our 
 convictions may be clear and strong. 
 
 Let us look at — 
 
 I. — The Historic Record of Rome in Respect to 
 Education. 
 
 Rome. has one thing in her favor. She is old, and 
 has lived long enough to place herself unmistakably 
 on record. Her record runs mostly through the 
 period since the decay and destruction of ancient lit- 
 erature. The facts of her history are largely in the 
 hands of the world. 
 
 We ask how it has been under an exclusive Roman 
 Catholic regimen, continued for many centuries, as 
 
Educational Pketensions of Rome. 245 
 
 in some nations? Has tlie Church of Rome been 
 a conspicuous promoter either of secular education 
 or of morals ? If her theory, that all education is 
 tlie exclusive function of the Church, is true in prin- 
 ciple; if it is productive of the best results, and 
 develops the best communities ; then she presents 
 strong claims to be permitted to work out her plan 
 at almost any reasonable sacrifice. 
 
 It must not be denied that the Church of Rome 
 has always done educational work, but chiefly among 
 limited classes of people. The education of the Mid- 
 dle Ages was either that of the cloister or the castle, 
 standing in sharp contrast to each other ; the object 
 of the one, to form the young monk ; and of the 
 other, the young knight. The illustrious monaster- 
 ies — Monte Cassino, Fulda, and Tours — kept alive the 
 torch of learning through the Dark Ages; but while 
 their services should be acknowledged they should 
 not be overrated. Their instruction was limited to a 
 small class, was not of a very high or general char- 
 acter, and was confined chiefly to ecclesiastical mat- 
 ters. Beyond those a few rudiments were taught in 
 a narrow circle. 
 
 Under the renaissance and the .Reformation there 
 was some advance and improvement. The fourteenth 
 and fifteenth centuries witnessed the rise of universi- 
 ties and academies in almost all of Europe. Still 
 
246 Romanism vs. The Public School System. 
 
 this culture was only for a few, and, under the lead- 
 ersliip of Rome, was never extended to the masses. 
 
 Luther brought the scliool-raaster into the cottage 
 and laid the foundation of the German system, by 
 which the child of the humblest peasant may receive 
 the best education the country affords. Other Prot- 
 estant reformers followed this plan. The Protestant 
 schools became the best in Europe, and the monkish 
 institutions of Rome decayed. The Catholics would 
 have remained behind in the race if it had not been 
 for the Jesuits. 
 
 The Jesuits. 
 
 The sons of Loyola for a time made great improve- 
 ment upon the old monkish methods. " They gave 
 the best education," says the Britannica, " of their 
 time, in order to acquire confidence ; but they became 
 the chief obstacle to the improvement of education ; 
 they did not care for enlightenment, but only for the 
 influence they could derive from a supposed regard 
 for enlightenment." After a while governments 
 found it necessary to check and suppress their 
 colleges. 
 
 Their methods " degenerated into surveillance," 
 " tracking the soul to its recesses, that they might 
 slay it there and generate another in its place," a 
 " tool subservient to their purposes." " They taught 
 
Educational Pretensions of Rome. 247 
 
 the accomplisliments which the world loves, but their 
 chief object was to amuse the mind and stifle in- 
 quiry." " Whatever may have been the service of 
 Jesuits in past times," says the Brltannica, " we have 
 little to hope for from them, in the improvement of edu- 
 cation, at present. Governments have, on the whole, 
 acted wisely by checking and suppressing their col- 
 leges. The ratio studiorum is antiquated, and difficult 
 to reform. In 1831 it was brought more into ac- 
 cordance with modern ideas by Roothaan, the general 
 of the order, Beckx, iiis successor, has, if any thing, 
 pursued a policy of retrogression. The Italian Gov- 
 ernment, in taking possession of Rome, found the 
 pupils of the Collegio Romano were far below the level 
 of modern re€|uirements." 
 
 The Masses Ignorant. 
 
 In short, the story of Roman Catholic education in 
 past centuries has been that very few outside of the 
 nobility, the priesthood, and the religious orders have 
 been educated ; that even their education has not 
 been of the highest order ; that the bright, scholarly 
 men of Romanism have been rare exceptions, even 
 among her best-educated sons, and that the masses 
 of the people have been left in ignorance. 
 
 Dextor A. 11 iwkins, in The Christian Advocate y^ 
 
 * Nuw York city, January 1, 1880. 
 
248 EoMxiNisM vs. The Public School System. 
 
 Some years ago, wliile spending a winter in Rome, 
 at the house of a cousin of the late Cardinal Anto- 
 nelli, papal Secretary of State, I investigated, under 
 a commission from one of our States, the condition 
 of public education in Rome and the papal States, 
 where the Romish Church had absolute control of all 
 affairs, both spiritual and temporal. 
 
 The public schools had accommodations for only a 
 small portion of the children of school age. The in- 
 struction was of the most meager character, consist- 
 ing chiefly of the catechism, witli very little reading 
 or writing, a smattering of the four simple rules of 
 arithmetic, and little geograpliy beyond that of the 
 papal States — a territory containing 3,000,000 of in- 
 habitants, and about three times the size of the State 
 of Connecticut. The mass of the people could neither 
 read nor write. 
 
 A primary school in a log school-house in the back 
 settlements of our country, in its instruction, course 
 of study, and proiiciency of its pupils, was far superior 
 to the parochial schools even in the city of Rome. 
 
 I described to Cardinal Antonelli the free public 
 schools and the state of public education in Massa- 
 chusetts, giving that as a model of the American s_ys- 
 tem. His reply was that he " thought it better that 
 the children siiould grow up in ignorance, than to be 
 educated in such a system of schools as the State of 
 Massachusetts supported ; that the essential part of 
 the education of the people was the catechism; and 
 while arithmetic and geography, reading, and writing, 
 and other similar studies might be useful, they were 
 not essential." 
 
 His cousin, in speaking of the state of society in 
 tlie Holy City, remarked that "its leading and most 
 important institutions were a church, a monastery, a 
 nunnery, and a foundling asylum." 
 
Educational Pretensions of Kome. 249 
 
 The same eye-witness, after long official residence 
 in Rome, said : * 
 
 While visiting Ireland a few years ago I was grat- 
 ified to see the island dotted over with national school- 
 houses, neatly built of brick or stone by the British 
 Government, in order to try to elevate the Irish race 
 from the slough of ignorance, idleness, and bigotry 
 into which centuries of priestly instruction had 
 brought them: But while driving across the country 
 one day 1 found standing by the roadside, near one 
 of these school-houses, a Catholic priest with a switch 
 in his hand, with which he scourged home tlie Cath- 
 olic children as they approached tlie national school- 
 house. On conversing with this priest, I found he 
 appeared to sincerely believe he was doing God's 
 work in preventing the children from attending the 
 free public school. I did not suppose such a spectacle 
 would ever be seen in our country. But I learn that 
 a child in Massachusetts has within a few weeks been 
 scourged upon his naked back by a Catholic priest for 
 attending a free public school. 
 
 The state of public education in the Catholic part 
 of Ireland, when taken hold of by the English Gov- 
 ernment a few years ago, was nearly as low as in the 
 papal States when Victor Emmanuel took possession, 
 turned the priests out of the schools, and, advised by 
 the American Minister, began the establishment of a 
 national system modeled after that of ISIew England. 
 
 Under the parochial schools of the Romish Churcli 
 both the Irish and the Italians had fallen in intelli- 
 gence so far behind other races that they were be- 
 coming mere " hewers of wood " and " drawers of 
 water," and occupiers of the most menial positions 
 
 * TJie Chnd'iaii Advocate, Januiiry 1, 1880. 
 
250 EoMANisM 'VS. The Public School System. 
 
 for the nations that sustain a system of free public 
 education abreast of the age. 
 
 The Stoky of Italy', Spain, etc. 
 What is the story * of Italy's ignorance ? Under 
 the new Italian Government, in ISGO, there were 
 opened 33 great model schools, since which time the 
 condition has begun to improve ; but in 1864, out of 
 a total population of 21,703,710 people, there were 
 16,999,701, or about 80 per cent., who could neither 
 read nor write. And yet Italy has 22 institutions 
 called universities, 12 founded between 1119 and 
 1443, having, in all of them, 12,580 students in 1878. 
 These are chiefly fitting for priests and monks, the 
 masses not being educated. Why, we will soon see. 
 What is the educational condition of Spain? In 
 1860, out of a total population of 16,301,851, 
 11,800,000, or 70 per cent., could neither read nor 
 write. Spain has 58 institutions which are called 
 colleges, with 13,881 pupils, and a few institutions of 
 a higher grade ; but the masses are left uneducated. 
 Brazil, dominated by the papacy for centuries, 
 presents a pitiable spectacle in respect to education. 
 The Statesman's Year-Book says : " Notwithstanding 
 the efforts of the Legislature, in recent years, for the 
 spread of education, it is still in a very backward 
 state, and the public schools were frequented, in 
 
 * The Slatesmaii''s Year-Book, 1881. 
 
Educational Pketensions of Rome. 251 
 
 18Y4, by only 140,000 pupils." But the population 
 in 1872 was 9,448,233. The institutions in Italy and 
 Spain called colleges are all of them, in quality and 
 scope of education, very inferior to the colleges we 
 are acquainted with in Protestant countries. 
 
 In our day the Church of Rome reiterates her 
 claim that the exclusive function of both secular and 
 religious education is the divine right and duty of 
 the Church. If it is, indeed, the divine right of the 
 Church, as she has always claimed, is she willing to 
 be tested by the results? Confessedly, the actual 
 outcome from the working of any divinely-con- 
 stituted system should be beneficent. What are the 
 exhibits from the countries which for long centuries 
 have been wholly Roman Catholic ? Do they present 
 the highest morals and intelligence ? Surely, either 
 the Church of Rome has not worked the system she 
 has always claimed as her exclusive right, or, working 
 it, the system has failed. Which horn of the dilemma 
 will Rome accept? In either case her claim to this 
 exclusive function has nothing to commend it. 
 
 YiCTOE Hugo's Testimony. 
 
 Victor Hugo knew the record of Rome well, and 
 when the Roman Catholic ecclesiastics, not long ago, 
 tried to get control of education in France he broke 
 out in his characteristic apostrophes : 
 
252 Romanism vs. The Public School System. 
 
 Ah, we know you ! We know the clerical party ; 
 it is an old party. This it is which has found for the 
 truth those two marvelous supporters, ignorance and 
 error. This it is which forbids to science and genius 
 the going beyond the Missal, and which wishes to 
 cloister thought in dogmas. Every step which the 
 intelligence of Europe has taken has been in spite of 
 it. Its history is written in the history of human 
 progress, but it is written on the back of the leaf. 
 It is opposed to it all. 
 
 For a long time the human conscience has revolted 
 against you, and now demands of you, " What is it 
 that you wish of me?" For a long time you have 
 tried to put a gag upon the human intellect. You 
 wish to be the masters of education, and there is not 
 a poet, not an author, not a thinker, not a philosopher, 
 that you accept. All that has been written, found, 
 dreamed, deduced, inspired, imagined, invented by 
 genius, the treasures of civilization, the venerable 
 inheritance of generations, the common patrimony of 
 knowledge, you reject. 
 
 You claim the liberty of teaching. Stop ; be 
 sincere ; let us understand the liberty you claim. 
 It is the liberty of 7iot teaching. You wish us to 
 give you the people to instruct. Yery well. Let us 
 see your pupils. Let us see those you have produced. 
 What have you done for Italy ? What have you done 
 for Spain? For centuries you have kept in your 
 hands, at your discretion, in your school, these two 
 great nations, illustrious among the illustrious. What 
 have you done for them? I shall tell you. 
 
 Italy, which taught mankind to read, now knows not 
 how to read. Yes ! Italy is, of all the States of 
 
Educational Peetensions of Eome. 253 
 
 Europe, that where the smallest number know how to 
 read. 
 
 Spain, magnificently endowed Spain, which re- 
 ceived from the Komans her first civilization ; from 
 the Arabs her second civilization ; from Providence, 
 in spite of you, a world — America — Spain, thanks to 
 you, rests mider a yoke of stupor, which is a yoke of 
 degradation and decay. Spain has lost the secret 
 power it obtained from the Romans, the genius of 
 art it had from the Arabs, the world (of America) it 
 had from God ; and in exchange for all that you have 
 made it lose, it has received from you the Inquisi- 
 tion ; the Inquisition, which certain of your party try 
 to-day to re-establish ; which has burned on the funeral 
 pile millions of men ; the Inquisition, which disin- 
 terred the dead to burn them as heretics; which 
 declared the children of heretics infamous and in- 
 capable of any public honors, excepting only those 
 who shall have denounced their fathers. . . . 
 
 This is what you have done for two great nations. 
 "What do you wish to do for France ? Stop ! you have 
 just come from Pome ! I congratulate you ; you have 
 had fine success there ; you have come from gagging the 
 Poman people, and now you wish to gag the French 
 people. . . . Take care ! France is a lion, and is alive. 
 
 After this master-piece of sarcasm by this great 
 writer (if more is needed) look all over Mexico, 
 Central America, and South America, after nearly 
 four centuries of almost unlimited dominion, by the 
 Poman Catholic Church, See the deepest, densest 
 ignorance, the grossest morals, and the most un- 
 pardonable loitering in the march of human prog- 
 ress which can be found in any part of Christendom. 
 
254 EoMANisM vs. The Public School System. 
 
 Rome does not come with the riglit kind of a 
 record to justify American citizens in periHng their 
 educational system at her behest. If the entire work 
 of education is the exchisive riglit and function of the 
 papal Church, under divine appointment, where was 
 there ever such recreancy to a high trust as has been 
 exhibited in the history of that Church ? Such is the 
 Church which, under the pretentious claim of a 
 divine right, now asks the most enlightened nation on 
 earth to dismember and ruin her school system — the 
 bulwark of her intelligence, liberty, and progress — 
 and resign the rising youth into her ignorant and 
 sacrilegious hands. 
 
 Scientific Innovation Punished. 
 
 Some one, perhaps, asks : " Has not Pome produced 
 great men in every department of science?" I an- 
 swer in the language of an ex-Pomanist : " Pome can 
 show us a long list of names which shine among the 
 brightest lights in the firmament of science and philos- 
 ophy. She can show us her Copernicus, her Galileo, 
 her Pascal, her Possuet, her Lamennais, etc., etc. Put 
 it was at their risk and peril that these giants of in- 
 telligence raised themselves into the highest regions 
 of philosophy and science. It is in spite of Pome 
 that those eagles soared up above the dark and ob- 
 scure horizon where the pope offers his big toe to be 
 
Educational Peetensions of Eome. 255 
 
 kissed and worsliiped as the ne j^lus ultra of human 
 intelligence ; and thej have been punished for their 
 boldness." 
 
 We are familiar with the storj of Galileo, how he 
 was treated. Tliat mighty intellect was bruised, fet- 
 tered, degraded, and silenced. Do I need to cite Pas- 
 cal, Lamenais, and others, excommunicated for ad- 
 vanced ideas? What kind of a chance would Sir 
 Isaac Newton and Benjamin Franklin, Stephenson, 
 Fulton, Morse, and Ericsson, have had in the Roman 
 Catholic Church, which stifles private judgment, con- 
 science, and intelligence in the search of truth ? Be- 
 sides, while Protestant nations are marching with such 
 giant strides to the conquest of the w^orld, why is it 
 that papal nations remain stationary or settle into de- 
 cadence? Is it not because their religion stifles the 
 noblest impulses of the human mind ? 
 
 Such is the past record of Rome outside of the 
 United States in respect to education. We see, how- 
 ever, some indications of a somewhat different policy 
 pursued by this Church in this country. Let us ex- 
 amine and understand it. 
 
 II. — Rome's Record in Respect to Education in 
 the United States. 
 
 The first Roman Catholic College in the United 
 States was the Jesuit College founded at Georgetown, 
 
250 Romanism vs. The Public School System. 
 
 D. C, in 1TS9. In 1830 tlie Romanists had four col- 
 leges. In 1886 her record shows eightj-six colleges,* 
 so-called — that is, they bear tliat designation. Many 
 of them are in their infancy — foundations for colleges. 
 As with other colleges, theirs must have a beginning, 
 and it is often, with such institutions, small and feeble. 
 Some never come to maturity. Probably not over 
 sixty of them can be said to have approximated to 
 tlie rank of colleges. Most of them include prepar- 
 atory departments and even schools of lower grade, 
 the students of all classes being reckoned in the total. 
 Considering that the Romanists have been building 
 so many churches all over the land this is a strong 
 record. They had also in 1886 nineteen theological 
 seminaries and nineteen female colleges, the latter in 
 no case, however, deserving to be considered, even 
 approximately, with Wellesley and Smith Colleges, 
 either in number of students or quality of education. 
 Besides these the Roman Church has academies, se- 
 lect schools, and conventual schools. In the three 
 liigher classes of institutions the students reported 
 are : 
 
 111 colleges , 14,007 f 
 
 lu theological seminaries 1.214 
 
 In female colleges H.('i45 
 
 Total 18,866 
 
 * See pp. 128, 129. 
 
 t Comprising those in the prupnratory course. 
 
Educational Pretensions of Rome. 257 
 
 It is due that we say these statistics sliow that 
 Romanism has not been idle or sparing of efforts in 
 educational lines in this country. 
 
 When we look at these facts as they stand alone 
 they seem extraordinary. But compare them with 
 other denominations. Take the three highest classes 
 of institutions : 
 
 Institutes. students. 
 
 Roman Catholics 124 18,866 
 
 Methodist Episcopal Cliurch (Xorth) 144 26,491 
 
 Methodist Episcopal Church, North aud South. . 217 31,337 
 
 Baptist, North and South 125 16,420 
 
 Lutherans 81 5,549 
 
 Comparison. 
 The Baptists have but one college older than the 
 first Roman Catholic college at Georgetown, D. C, 
 dating only twenty-two years further back than that 
 institution ; namely, Brown University. The Luther- 
 ans founded a theological seininaiy about the same time 
 the Roman Catholics established their first college, 
 and the first Methodist college dated forty one years 
 after the first of the Roman Catholic, at a time when 
 they had four colleges. Romanism had been in Amer- 
 ica two hundred and seventy years before Methodism 
 came ; had the first chance to the whole of North and 
 South America, to the fertile fields and the rich mines 
 of gold and silver. But now the J^orthern Methodist 
 Church has twenty more higher institutions of learn- 
 ing and eight thousand more students ; and the two 
 17 
 
258 Romanism vs. The Public School System. 
 
 leading Methodist Chnrchos, North and South, have 
 ninety-three more institutions and forty thousand 
 more students than the papal Church. And, more- 
 over, Methodism lias not ti'ansferred eight or ten mill- 
 ions of people from the Old World to help build her 
 up here ; nor has she obtained, as Romanists have 
 done, large sums of money from Europe and Mexico 
 to aid her in her work. Methodism has been re-en- 
 forced by few accessions from abroad, but has gone 
 forth into the highways, the hedges, the frontiers, and 
 gathered her people by moral and spiritual trans- 
 formations. 
 
 Relatively, then, considering her large educational 
 pretensions, her opportunities, and her foreign help, 
 the Roujan Catholic Church has nothing to boast of 
 in the line of education. 
 
 So much for the numerical exhibit of the educa- 
 tional institutions of Romanism in the United States. 
 
 It is important next to consider : 
 
 III. — The Quality of the Education Afforded by 
 the Roman Catholic Church. 
 
 While we talk of the more advanced educational 
 institutions of the Roman Catholic Church, we must 
 not overlook the fact tliat the instruction imparted in 
 them is inferior to that of other American colleges 
 and seminaries of the Sivme reputed rank. Only in one 
 
Educational Pretensions of Eome. 259 
 
 study do Roman Catholic college's exceed iion-Catiiolic 
 colleges — the Latin. As to logic, they seem to devote 
 more attention to that than non-Catholic colleges ; but 
 it is the old logic of the school-men, its tricks, etc., 
 and not the broader views of later and better treatises. 
 As to Greek, many non-Catholic colleges we are ac- 
 quainted with require more Greek, in order to admis- 
 sion to their lowest classes, than most Catholic colleges 
 give their students in their whole college course. In 
 only a few of them does the Greek course equal that 
 in Protestant colleges. Catholic colleges do little in 
 the department of the natural sciences. An atmos- 
 phere of mediaeval sentiment pervades their institu- 
 tions, and the catechism receives more prominence in 
 their curriculum than any thing else except Latin. 
 
 It must be confessed that it is impossible to speak 
 on this question with all the deiiniteness that may be 
 desired in regard to some of the practical details ; but 
 the main features are clear and convincing. 
 
 Taking, first of all, the colleges and universities, 
 the question which arises is. How does the curriculum 
 of studies in the best Catholic colleges compare with 
 that of the best non-Catholic colleges? We are 
 aware that this, of itself alone, cannot fully decide 
 the quality of the education given ; but it is an im- 
 portant part of the question, showing the scope and 
 breadth of the field traversed. It is generally under- 
 
260 Romanism vs. The Public School System. 
 
 stood that the Jesuit colleges maintain the highest 
 rank for scholarship of any of the Roman Catholic 
 colleges. I have lying before me the latest catalogues 
 of eighteen Roman Catholic colleges, among which are 
 those of five Jesuit colleges; namely, the Georgetown 
 College, D. C, founded in 1789, and chartered as a 
 university in 1815 ; the St. John's College, Fordham, 
 N. Y. ; the St. Francis Xavier's College, Cincinnati, 
 0., founded in 1831 ; the College of the Holy Cross, 
 Worcester, Mass., founded in 1843 ; and the Boston 
 College, 761 Harrison Avenue, Boston, founded in 
 1863. In these institutions, following the method 
 of other Roman Catholic colleges, a seven years' 
 course of study is prescribed, the last four years cor- 
 responding to the usual classical collegiate course, in 
 iion-Catholic colleges, for the degree of A. B. These 
 five Jesuit colleges do not vary much in their courses 
 of study. The following is an abbreviated state- 
 ment of the collegiate course of study in the St. 
 John's College at Fordham, New York : 
 
 LATIN. 
 
 1st year: Syntax reviewed. Idioms. Prosod\\ Exercises in 
 Prose and Verse. Sallust. Virgil. Cicero in 
 Catilinam. 
 
 '2,(1 year : Principles of Latin Style; Prose and Verse Compo- 
 sition. Livy. Horace. Virgil. Cicero. 
 
 Sdyear: Cicero's Orations — De Oratore, Ad Brutum. Horace. 
 Juvenal. Persius. Tacitus. Prose and Verse 
 Composition. 
 
 4:t?i year : No Latin. 
 
Educational Pretensions of Rome. 2G1 
 
 GKEEK. 
 
 1st year: Grammar (completed). Prosody. Xenophon's Cy- 
 ropedia. Herodotus. Homer's Odyssey. 
 
 %dyear: Principles of Greek Style; Prose and Verse Compo- 
 sition. Plato's A-pologia. Demostlienes's Olyn- 
 tliiacs. Homer's Iliad. Sopliocles's OEdipiis Rex. 
 
 M year : Demosthenes. Thucydides. Sophocles. Pindar. 
 Longinus. ^schylus. Prose and Verse Com- 
 position. 
 
 4^A year : No Greek. 
 
 MATHEMATICS. 
 
 1st year : Algebra and Geometry. 
 
 3i year : Trigonometry. Surveying. Analytical Geometry. 
 
 %d year : Calculus. 
 
 A.t1i year : Dana's Mechanics. Astronomy. 
 
 1st year : Ancient. 
 %d year : Modern. 
 3^ year : Modern. 
 
 ENGLISH. 
 
 1st year : Prosody. Composition. 
 
 2<i year : Du Cygne's Precepts of Literature. Lectures on Style 
 and Poetry. Analysis of selections from the best 
 authors. Critical Study of Shakespeare's Macbeth. 
 Epistolary, Descriptive, and Narrative Composi- 
 tion. Essays, Poems, etc. Jenkins's History of 
 English Literature. 
 
 Zd year : Du Cygne's Principles of Rhetoric. Lectures on the 
 Principles of Rhetoric, the Construction of a Dis- 
 eoui'se, etc. Critical Study of the best speeches 
 in Goodrich's "British Eloquence" and of Shake- 
 speare's " Julius Caesar." The utmost attention is 
 given to English composition. Debates are held 
 every week. 
 
 Atli year : No English exercises. 
 
 ELOCUTION. 
 
 l&t year : One hour a week. 
 2d year: " " " 
 
 Zdyear: " " " 
 
 Uhyear: " " " 
 
2v''2 EoMANiSM VS. The Public School System. 
 
 KATURAL SCIENCES. 
 
 Id year : Nothing. 
 
 1(1 1/ear : Avery's Chemistry. 
 
 '6(1 year : Avery's Chemistry. 
 
 4itlL year : Olmstead's Natural Philosophy. 
 
 In addition to tlie foregoii)g, in the fourth year the 
 following philosophical studies are pursued : " Jouin's 
 logic, metaphysics, and ethics. First term : Logic 
 and ontology. Second Term : Cosmology, psychol- 
 ogy, and theodicy ; the general principles of ethics 
 and of civil society. The lectures are given in 
 Latin. The students are required to speak Latin and 
 defend their theses every week in tliat language. 
 Such defense is often public before the faculty." 
 
 RELIGIOUS INSTRUCTION. 
 
 Ist year: De Harbe's Catechism. 
 
 2d year : " " 
 
 3tZ year : Lectures ou the Evidences of Religion. 
 
 Ath year : " " " " 
 
 An examination of the foregoing curriculum will 
 show the character and extent of the culture contem- 
 plated in tlie Jesuit institutions, except their univer- 
 sities, which have law, medical, and other depart- 
 ments. Its inferiority to the courses of study in other 
 American colleges will be readily seen. 
 
 1. The standard of admission is inferior. Harvard, 
 Boston, and Weslej^an Universities, Amherst and 
 Dartmouth Colleges, and others of like rank, do not 
 differ much in their requirements for admission. Six 
 
Educational Pketensions of Eome. 263 
 
 books in Virgil's ^neid, with the Eclogues, four 
 books of Caesar, five orations in Cicero, and in some 
 a portion of Sallust and Ovid, besides Arnold's Latin 
 Prose Composition, are required, in Latin ; four bot)ks 
 of Xenophon's Anabasis, three books of Homer's 
 Iliad, the Greek Reader, and, in some of them, one 
 book in Herodotus, are required, in Greek ; in alge- 
 bra, through quadratic equations in all, and in some 
 of ihem the whole of Greenleaf's, Loomis's, or Olney's 
 larger books, and plane geometry. But in the fore- 
 gx>ing Catholic curriculum we find Sallust, Yirgil, and 
 Cicero in the studies of the freshman and sophomore 
 years. The list of preparatory studies, in some eJesuit 
 colleges, makes no mention of algebra or geometry. 
 Four Jesuit Colleges — Georgetown, D. C , St. Francis 
 Xavier's, Cincinnati, Boston College, and the College 
 of the Holy Cross — include algebra, but not geom- 
 etry ; while St. John's, at Fordliam, N. Y., omits 
 geometry until after the collegiate course is com- 
 menced. In some colleges the Greek Reader is the 
 only preparatory Greek read. 
 
 2. The courses of study are not as broad as in the 
 non-Catholic colleges. Les^ attention is devoted to 
 natural sciences, mental and moral philosophy, politi- 
 cal economy, etc., and the elective system of studies 
 has been only sparingly adopted. Nor do they fur- 
 nish as ample or as valuable facilities for pursuing 
 
2G4: EoMANisM vs. The Public School System. 
 
 such inquiries. With the larger departments of mod- 
 ern investigation tlie Clmrcli of Rome has had little 
 s^'mpathy, preferring to confine herself to an old 
 routine. 
 
 3. Most Roman Catholic institutions devote little at- 
 tention to the Greek, and more to the Latin language 
 than the non-Catholic colleges. The study of Latin 
 in Catholic colleges generally continues through four 
 years, while Greek seldom occupies more than two 
 years. In some of them the students are required 
 to converse and to conduct extemporaneous discus- 
 sions in the Latin language. JS^o such exclusive promi- 
 nence is given to any single language by the non- 
 Catholic colleges; but it is believed that the drill in 
 translation and construction is not less thoi'ough, 
 wliile the knowledge of the Greek gained hy the 
 graduates is far superior to that imparted by the 
 Catholic institutions. 
 
 Thus far the Jesuit colleges. Other Roman Cath- 
 olic colleges are considerably inferior to these. In 
 the Augustinian College at Villanova, Pa., the 
 studies of the freshman year ai"e English grammar, 
 parsing in Pope's " Essay on Man," arithmetic, and 
 algebra commenced. In Latin, Sallust and Virgil's 
 Bucolics ; and, in Greek, the grammar and the Gospel 
 of St. John. Csesar is the only Latin autlior read 
 before admission to college ; and in Greek onlv the 
 
Educational Pretensions of Rome. 2C5 
 
 first and second parts of Arnold's exercises. Latin, 
 Greek, and mathematics extend through the four 
 years of the college course. Natural philosophy is 
 studied only in the sophomore year, and the only 
 other natural science specified is chemistry, in the 
 junior and senior years. Logic is a study in the 
 fourth year. Besides these, rhetorical, historical, 
 and religious studies are continued through the en- 
 tire course. 
 
 In St. Yincent's (Benedictine) College, in West- 
 moreland County, Pa., only the Latin Grammar is re- 
 quired in Latin, and no Greek or algebra, prior to 
 admission to the college course. 
 
 Arithmetic and English grammar are studies of 
 the first and second year in some of these lower 
 grade colleges. In many of them, biology, zoology, 
 geology, mineralogy, astronomy, and political econ- 
 omy are wholly omitted. Aside from the Latin 
 language tlie quality of the drill in these institutions 
 is not very well known. The instruction in the nat- 
 ural sciences in almost all Catholic colleges is meager 
 and imperfect, though they are advancing somew^hat. 
 The moral and mental philosophy is that of the papal 
 scholastics of the olden times, based upon peculiar 
 dogmas of Rome. The subtleties and sophistries of 
 logic receive particular attention. 
 
 Among the Catholic colleges of highest rank may 
 
266 Romanism vs. The Public School System. 
 
 be inentioued tlie Uiiiversitj of Notre l);unc, at 
 Notre Dame, Indiana, magnificently provided witli 
 buildings and grounds, and Saint Francis College, 
 Baltic Street, Brooklyn, N. Y., the latter under the 
 Franciscans (O. S. F.), and the former under the 
 Congregation of the Holy Cross (C. S. C). Others 
 of these so-called '• colleges" are inferior to the best 
 Protestant academies and high schools. The dis- 
 cipline in the Catholic colleges is severe, rigid, and 
 peculiarly exclusive, having supreme refei-ence to the 
 promotion of the Catholic taith. In all of these in- 
 stitutions which have boarding departments no stu- 
 dent is permitted to leave the grounds without per- 
 mission. No books, other than text-books and works 
 of reference recommended by the professors, may be 
 held by the students, unless by permission of the 
 president. Students are not allowed to receive news- 
 papers except from the reading-room, which is under 
 the direction of the president. Letters received and 
 sent away are subject to the supervision of the college 
 authorities. No private pocket-money is allowed, 
 but must be deposited with the treasurer. 
 
 An Interior Inspection. 
 A recent writer in the Christian Union * gives 
 an interesting interior view of a Catholic College. 
 
 *June 14, 1S88. 
 
Educational Pretensions of Rome. 267 
 
 It does not need to be said that the Catholics do not 
 believe in co-education. Even in the lower schools 
 the sexes are kept carefully apart, though putting 
 them together would generally enable the parish to 
 have graded schools, giving to each recitation just 
 double the time without making the classes any too 
 large. But this educational gain would be at the sacri- 
 fice of a principle of most vital importance. The 
 Sacred Congregation de Propaganda Fide, in its letter 
 to the bishops of the United States in 1875, assigned 
 two fundamental reasons for its condemnation of our 
 Public School System : 
 
 "1. The system excludes all teaching of religion. 
 
 " 2. Certain corruption likewise ensues from the fact that 
 in the same schools, or in many of them, youths of both sexes 
 are congregated in the same room for the recitation of lessons, 
 and males and females are ordered to sit on the same bench 
 {in eodem scamno) ; all which have the effect of lamentably 
 exposing the young to loss in faith and endangering of 
 morals." 
 
 Such being the dangers involved in teaching the 
 little tots of both sexes together, the Church of course 
 avoids the greater scandal of educating young men 
 and women in the same building {in eodem domo). 
 
 In order to get some impression as to what the 
 Catiiolic colleges for men were like, I visited one 
 morning that of St. Francis Xavier, on Sixteenth 
 Street. This college, by the way, is but one of four 
 which the Catholics maintain in this city. The build- 
 ing is a costly and imposing one. On being presented 
 to the president, a large man with an imperious 
 bearing — a typical prelate — I stated the name of the 
 paper which I represented, and my desire to visit 
 some of the recitations, in case such visits were per- 
 mitted. " What are your qualifications for the task 'I " 
 was the somewhat overwhelming question immediately 
 
208 EoMANisM vs. The Public School System. 
 
 pat to me. When I recovered my mental equilibrium 
 I spoke of my university degree — the lirst time I had 
 ever had occasion to make use of it. This seemed 
 satisfactory, and the prelate himself conducted me 
 through the college. 
 
 Tlie first recitation we entered I found that my 
 degree was not so all-sufficient as I had supposed. 
 Though the subject was rhetoric the recitation was 
 entirely in Latin. As I had only spent seven years 
 upon this branch, and in tiiat time, like most college 
 boys, had only managed to stammer through seven or 
 eight hundred pages of Latin literature, I had to con- 
 fess that I knew practically nothing about it. The 
 president was not at all displeased at this, and took a 
 great deal of pride in the Latinity of the class. Mean- 
 while I borrowed a text-book and followed the recita- 
 tion as best I could. I found that the young men 
 were quite familiar with the book, but did not dis- 
 cover any particular readiness in the expression of 
 ideas of their own. In case there is mental discipline 
 in cramming the memory with words which the stu- 
 dent does not care to remember after the period of 
 recitations, then this drill in rhetoric was valuable. 
 This question, however, the reader has probably set- 
 tled for himself, and upon its stettlement must depend 
 his estimate of the educational value of a Catholic 
 college. 
 
 After leaving the recitation in rhetoric the presi- 
 dent asked me if I would not like to attend one in 
 philosophy, and I gladly assented. We found the 
 class discussing Hume's famous argument against 
 miracles. Again I borrowed a text-book and man- 
 aged to catch the drift of the discussion. Meanwhile 
 the president talked with me of the advantages of 
 using Latin instead of English in the study of these 
 bi-anches. It cultivated, he said, clearness in think- 
 
Educational Peetfnsions of Eome. 269 
 
 ing and conciseness of expression, since the English 
 language was no such medium for philosophical 
 thought as the Latin. To all this I hstened politely, 
 thinking of the days when Latin was considered a 
 better medium for the expression of every kind of 
 thought. The president himself was remarkably famil- 
 iar with Latin, and there was no doubt as to his sincerity 
 in regarding it as a superior medium of instruction. 
 Very soon, however, his opinions received a curious 
 comment. The professor suddenly changed the reci- 
 tation from Latin into English. The president ex- 
 pressed his surprise at this, and the professor explained 
 that when he had gone over the lesson once in Latin, 
 he found it well to review it in English, " in order 
 to make sure that the class thoroughly understood 
 what they had been reciting." 
 
 I did not ask to be conducted into any more reci- 
 tations. I had formed a much more definite impres- 
 sion of the teaching than I had expected in so short a 
 time. Unfortunately, it was not an iuipression which 
 I can expect others to accept, since my own expe- 
 rience in college and out of college had rendered me a 
 prejudiced witness. To those who have admitted 
 that students should either learn twice as much Latin 
 in our American colleges or none at all, and have pre- 
 ferred the former alternative, the course at St. Xav- 
 ier's will commend itself. The students were twice 
 as familiar with Latin as I had ever been, and the in- 
 numerable difficulties of that language did not retard 
 them one half as much in their study of rhetoric and 
 philosophy, as they had retarded me in the study of 
 classic literature and history. xTevertheless, there 
 was a gross sacrifice of the knowledge of rhetoric and 
 the knowledge of philosophy, to the knowledge of 
 facts about a dead language which could throw no 
 light upon any subject in which men of to-day are 
 
270 Romanism vs. The Pl-I3l:c School System. 
 
 interested. The Catholic Church, in its reh'g-ious in- 
 struction of the connnon people, held on to tlie Latin 
 language long after it had ceased to be the language 
 of the common people ; and in its intellectual instruc- 
 tion of students it has held on to the same language 
 long after it has ceased to be the language of 
 students. The teaching was adapted to a time when 
 all literature worth reading was in Latin. That time 
 passed away several centuries ago. 
 
 After visiting the recitations I had a talk with the 
 president respecting various points of interest relat- 
 ing to the scope of the instruction. There was one 
 point which impressed me favorably, not because it 
 was a new idea, but because it was a good idea which 
 seemed to have been well carried out. Attention was 
 given to the gentlemanliness- — I might almost say 
 courtliness — of the manners of the students. This, too, 
 maybe survival from the time when the clergy of the 
 State Church were cultured courtiers, allied to the 
 aristocracy and out of sympathy with the people. 
 But, whatever its origin, there is no doubt as to its 
 value. 
 
 Only one other point is worthy of mention, and this 
 is merely of a piece with the other mediae valism of 
 the curriculum. In St. Xavier's College there is no 
 regular professor of science. In one of the Catholic 
 colleges of this city (St. John's, Fordham), there are 
 four, but usually the curriculum is marked by the 
 comparative absence of such instruction. There was 
 also no professorship of history and political economy. 
 In short, the spirit of the old cloisters still prevailed. 
 It was intellectual life apai't from the world, not intel- 
 lectual life in the world and for the world. The stu- 
 dents were separated as far as possible from the cur- 
 rents of thought of to-day. 
 
Educational Pretensions of Rome. 271 
 
 The Highee Education of Catholic Women. 
 
 The Roman Catholic academies, select scliools, and 
 colleges for females, have been supposed by many 
 American parents, particularly in wealthy and aris- 
 tocratic circles, to afford advantages for education 
 superior to our non-Catholic schools of like grade ; 
 and many daughters have been sent tliither for in- 
 struction. Academic departments connected with 
 convents have also been patronized for such supposed 
 advantages, and daughters of Protestant parents have 
 thus been lured into the Roman Catholic Church, 
 Close inquiry in regard to the education imparted in 
 these institutions leads to the conclusion that instruc- 
 tion in the line arts, in the languages, and in the sciences 
 is far inferior in all elements of true culture to that 
 imparted by the n on -Catholic schools. They pander 
 to the vanity of wealthy and aristocratic patrons, and 
 aim to make tlieir daughters showy rather than truly 
 cultivated. The whole system is superficial in its 
 plan and execution. Those who come forth well edu- 
 cated become such not by any superior advantages 
 furnished by Roman Catholic schools, but by reason 
 of natural ability or personal application. 
 
 The same writer just quoted in the Christian 
 Union, and in the same article, gives an interior 
 view of this department of education : 
 
272 RoMANisii vs. The Public School System, 
 
 For the higher education of Catholic women I vis- 
 ited the Academy of the Sacred Heart on Seven- 
 teenth Street. This is one of the two CathoHc 
 scliools for women which are given in the City Di- 
 rectory under the head of colleges. I was graciously 
 received by the Lady Superior, who assured me that 
 she would take })leasure in conducting me through 
 her school. Tliis slie did, talking all the wliile with 
 a pleasino; enthusiasm about different features of 
 the Academy, telling me the history of the educa- 
 tional sisterhood to which she belonged, explaining 
 the character of the instruction which it aimed to give, 
 and, above all, telhng of the devotion of the schol- 
 ars, narrating little incidents showing how deep it 
 was, and how it lasted until after the children had 
 grown into womanhood. I cannot tell all this as it 
 was told me, but must content myself with summing 
 it up in as few words as possible. 
 
 In the first place, this Academy of the Sacred 
 Heart is not a college at all, nor even a high school. 
 In its curriculum some of the higher brandies, such 
 as geometry and philosophy, do indeed appear, but the 
 classes in them are extremely small, there being only 
 one in the class in geometry. The aim of the school 
 is not so much education as " finish." The Order of 
 the Sacred Heart is French in its origin and its con- 
 trol. The system of education is not very different 
 from that in France under the ancient regime. 
 Then, as we know, the series studies were avowedly 
 given less importance than the accomplishments. 
 Two hours would be devoted to writing, geograpliy, 
 history, and arithmetic, and four to catechism, draw- 
 ing, dancing, and music. A thorough grasp of the 
 principles of one of the higher branches would have 
 jarred with this notion of what was becoming to a 
 tine lady. In the place of these she was trained in 
 
Educational Pketensions of E,ome. 273 
 
 the art of entering a room, of courtesying, of manag- 
 ing her train, and all the little niceties of speech, 
 manner, and address which went to make up a grand 
 lady. It was of this ancient schooling that the conrse 
 of instruction at the Academy of the Sacred Heart 
 reminded me, though these characteristics were not 
 so strongly accentuated. The superioress assured me 
 that only a few minutes each day were devoted to 
 religions exercises, and that Protestant and Jewish (!) 
 pupils were not obliged to study the catechism and 
 church history. 
 
 I was taken every-where — into the beautiful little 
 chapel, into the play-rooms, the music-room, the reci- 
 tation-rooms. But I heard no recitations. The supe- 
 rioress told me that visitors were never invited to 
 these, and that if they should be the girls would be 
 so embarrassed that they could not do themselves 
 justice. I was, however, taken into a play-room where 
 nearly thirty of the little girls were singing in concert 
 French songs as they went through different figures. 
 The exercise corresponded to the marching in college 
 gymnastics, but was infinitely prettier and more pleas- 
 ing. The superioress told me that there .were no 
 classes in dancing ; but these games employed many 
 of the steps and cultivated quite as much grace of 
 movement. The sister in charge was a bright, sweet- 
 faced young French woman, and it was perhaps her 
 spirit which made the young girls enjoy the games so 
 thoroughly. 
 
 The girls of the school ranged apparently from five 
 to seventeen. This fact emphasized the comparative 
 absence of any higher education. The course for the 
 older pupils did not compare with that in a I^ew 
 England or western high school, and not a great 
 many of the pupils were of the high school age. 
 This fact, however, is not so significant in New York 
 18 
 
27J: Romanism vs. The Public School System. 
 
 city as it would be in tlie educationally more pro- 
 gressive sections of the country, for in New York, 
 excepting one large normal school and one city col- 
 lege, there are no public high scliools, though there 
 are, of course, numerous private schools which give a 
 corresponding education to the daughters of the rich. 
 
 There was one thing which })leased me in the 
 appearance of the girls. Though they were all the 
 children of wealthy jiarents (the tuition being one hun- 
 dred dollars a year, with instrumental music sixty dol- 
 lars extra, vocal music eighty dollars, drawing sixty 
 dollars, etc.) nevertheless they were all dressed in a 
 simple though pretty blue uniform. The superioress 
 said that they had just introduced it this year, and 
 had found, somewhat to their surprise, that the girls 
 and their parents gladly adopted it. It put an end to 
 vulgar competition in dress. Some of the girls wore 
 blue ribbons and some red. The superioress explained 
 that (like the old French convent schools again) they 
 M^ere divided into two parties, and that the contest 
 between them was respecting mistakes in French. 
 Even at recess-time the girls were expected to speak 
 French, and if a " blue" heard a " red " make a mis- 
 take she immediately demanded her ribbon. Those 
 who did not lose their ribbons at all in a given time 
 — I forget how long — were awarded prizes. 
 
 But the supreme aim, the avowed aim, of the entire 
 course of instruction was neither education nor finish, 
 but the winning of the girls to the love of the Church. 
 The sisters in charge w^ere line types of womanhood, 
 and the spirit of the school was cliarming. The lady 
 superior told me, and I believed it, that the girls often 
 came to them with their troubles, and sometimes came 
 in tears merely because a sister had seemed severe, 
 when the sister herself had no recollection of it. 
 Every little while the superioress would herself have 
 
Educational Pketejstsions of Rome. 2Y5 
 
 a talk with each of the girls alone, and at these times 
 she, too, gained their friendship. Defective, there- 
 fore, as I found the intellectual education — the train- 
 ing to think and to know — there was nevertheless 
 something about the instruction which might well be 
 imitated in our public schools. It cannot, howevei", 
 be imitated while people tolerate that teacherships 
 shall be in any respect the patronage of school boards. 
 It cannot even be insured when competitive examina- 
 tions are made the test of fitness. It can only be se- 
 cured when school boards and superintendents have 
 the same loyalty to the municipal corporations that 
 the Catholic clergy have to their ecclesiastical cor- 
 porations, and through their loyalty select teach- 
 ers according to merit, taking into account some- 
 thing else besides intellectual qualifications. The 
 real education of girls includes sweeter manners and 
 purer tastes, and these come only from personal con- 
 tact with fine women. If the public schools are to 
 have all the good qualities of the finest of Catholic 
 schools, then Protestant young women of cultivation 
 and refinement must give up the immoral idea that 
 their position exempts them from the obligation to 
 earn their own living by service, and must remember 
 that the greater their advantages the greater their 
 obligations toward those who are without them. 
 
 Paeochial Schools. 
 
 The parochial schools of Romanism are the lowest 
 class of their educational institutions, and, as might 
 be expected, the condition, previous advantages, and 
 social surroundings of the mass of the pupils are, for 
 the most part, of a very low grade. The character of 
 
270 Romanism vs. The Public School System. 
 
 the educational drill, as observed bj visitors, lias been 
 pronounced to be of an inferior quality, the course of 
 study meager and very imperfect, and the discipline 
 harsh. Exceptions there doubtless are, in schools and 
 in pupils, some of which have been highly com- 
 mended. The educational institutions of Romanism 
 are feeling the stimulating influence of the higher 
 attainments of Protestant institutions, and are doubt- 
 less in course of improvement. But their histories, 
 geographies, reading- books, and other text-books, 
 afford evidence of Roman Catholic manipulation. 
 Papal ideas, dogmas, and versions of history are infil- 
 trated through them. Catholic saints, holy days, in- 
 stitutions, and the mediaeval ages are glorified. The 
 minds of pnpils are thus turned backward rather than 
 forward, belittled rather than enlarged, and fiicts of 
 history long and well-established are presented in a 
 distorted light and often wholly omitted. Pupils in 
 these institutions are thus educated out of joint with 
 their times and in conflict with the facts of universal 
 history. 
 
 Religious Instruction. 
 
 Roman Catholic tenets form a part of the daily in- 
 struction in all their educational institutions of every 
 class. No distinction is made on the ground of relig- 
 ious belief, but all are required to be present at the 
 
Educational Pretensions of Rome. 277 
 
 public exercises of religion. The Catliolic catechism 
 and lectures on the Catholic religion are specified 
 each year in the collegiate courses of study, and are 
 also found in all their schools of every grade. Out 
 of eighteen catalogues of Roman Catholic colleges in 
 my hands only one or two contain any thing like 
 the following. " Students who are not Catholics will 
 not be required to participate in any distinctively 
 Catholic exercise, nor will any undue influence be ex- 
 erted to induce a change of belief." Some other cat- 
 alogues say : " The exercises of religious worship are 
 Catholic, and every student, no matter of what de- 
 nomination he may be, will be required, for the sake 
 of order and uniformity, to attend them." This is 
 the usual practice in all Catholic institutions. The 
 religious education — by^ catechism, lectures, prayers, 
 and other processes distinctively Catholic — is con- 
 nected with secular training. Tlie catalogue of the 
 Georgetown College says : " No distinction is made 
 in the reception of students on the ground of religious 
 belief, but all the boarders are required to be present 
 at the public exercises of religion." " Catholics are 
 instructed in their religion by means of the catechism, 
 which forms one of the regular recitations, and 
 weekly catechetical lectures, which are attended by 
 all." The catalogue of Seton Hall College says: 
 " All students are required to assist at mass twice a 
 
2TS Romanism vs. The Public School System. 
 
 week, and Catholics to go to confession and commun- 
 ion montlily, unless their spiritual director should 
 otherwise direct them." Mass is observed regularly 
 in all these colleges. 
 
 Roman Catholic Text-books, 
 
 as seen by an eminent critic/^ are at least very pecul- 
 iar and defective. He says : 
 
 Here is a Catholic school-book used in high schools 
 and sometimes in colleges, a modern history by Peter 
 Fredet, Professor of History in St. Mary's College, 
 Baltiuiore. I turn to the appendix of it and come 
 upon a most amazing series of notes. Here are dis- 
 sertations pouring copious, loathsome, mucilaginous, 
 but not adhesive, whitewash on the massacre of St. 
 Bartholomew and on the Inquisition. Here are 
 apologies for the greatest atrocities Rome has com- 
 mitted. We are told here deliberately that Romish 
 priests had nothing to do with the death of most of 
 those who suffered in the Inquisition ; that at the 
 moment of execution the priests appeared at the side 
 of the man only to inspire him, if possible, with 
 sentiments of repentance ; that all the priestly council 
 did was to pronounce the individual guilty and de- 
 liver him over to the secular authorities. We are 
 told here in a foot-note that John Huss was placed 
 under the custody of the magistrates of Constance, 
 who, following the jurisprudence of the age with re- 
 gard to such transgressors, consigned him to the 
 flames. You think that I exaggerate, but here I 
 read, when the Spaniards are reproached for the rig- 
 
 * Rev. Joseph Cook. 
 
Educational Pjbetensions of Rome. 279 
 
 ors of the Inquisition, their answer is that by punish- 
 ing a few obstinate individuals they saved their mon- 
 arclijfrom the civil wars which desolated Germany, 
 Switzerland, and Holland, and did not, after all, cause 
 so ranch blood to flow as the Calvinistic reformation 
 did. That is what is stuifed down the throats of the 
 brightest Catholic youth in this country. 
 
 He says Bismarck was justified in his horror, when 
 he said that the saddest sight in France was the ma- 
 nipulation of the historical text-books by Eomish ec- 
 clesiastics. 
 
 Here is a Fifth Reader, which I bought lately at the 
 Romish bookstore in this city, and it is full of por- 
 traits of Romish archbishops, and the contents have 
 been carefully selected to give sectarian impressions. 
 I open this Sixth Reader and I find it also full of foot- 
 notes and of selections such as indicate the sectarian 
 bias of the whole work. There is Michael Angelo 
 making a picture before one pope, and here I turn 
 to some of the foot-notes and I read a little biogra- 
 phy of the Most Rev. John Hughes. It is in un- 
 guarded places that the jDurpose of the Roman jDriest- 
 hood comes out, and the last sentence in this short 
 notice of the archbishop reads : " Both by speech and 
 pen he labored untiringly to secure that Catholic 
 training for Catholic children on which the future of 
 the Church must, humanly speaking, depend, and his 
 labors are still bearing most abundant fruit." I turn 
 on here to a little notice of Mrs. Jameson, and the 
 statement I find of most importance is the following : 
 " Though not a Catholic, Mrs. Jameson pays graceful 
 homage to that faith which has been the basis of all 
 that is true and noble in art since the beginning of 
 the Christian era." Just so, indeed. And I ask your 
 attention to the following important statement : 
 " Orestes Augustus Bronson, the most original and 
 
280 Romanism vs. The Public School System. 
 
 philosopliical thinker that America has yet produced." 
 Now wliat if I were to call up the scholars out of the 
 two or three thousand parochial schools in the United 
 States and ask them to recite? Why, what they 
 would give ns in answer to our questions would be 
 these text-books — these precious statements about the 
 Catholic authorities, and these whitewashed pages 
 concerning the Inquisition, the edict of Nantes, and 
 the massacre of St. Bartholomew ; these subtle insin- 
 uations of Catholic doctrine concerning mariolatry 
 and the infallibiHty of the pope, and these presenta- 
 tions of American history in such a manner as to 
 make the impression that the Jesuits were the fathers 
 of the best part of our civilization here. This is what 
 we should hear from these young lips. 
 
 Another eminent critical authority * says concern- 
 ing An Ahridged History of tlie United States, by 
 John R. G. Ilassard, LL.D., with an introduction by 
 Rt, Rev. J. L. Spalding, D.D., Bishop of Peoria: 
 
 This volume belongs in " The Young Catholic's 
 School Series." It is written with the definite pur- 
 pose, avowed by Bishop Spalding in the Introduction, 
 of giving a Roman Catholic interpretation of the Uni- 
 ted States history. Without charging on the manual 
 any violent perversion of facts it is enough to say that 
 this end is very adroitly carried out in the book. 
 Catholic agencies are magnitied, frank criticism is 
 employed where it counts for little, matters of greater 
 importance are passed over in silence, the edge and 
 nobleness of the Protestant history are blunted, and 
 the point is pretty effectively made to stand out every- 
 where that what the country needs for the perfection 
 
 * The Indi'penderd. 
 
Educational Peetensions of Eome. 281 
 
 of citizenship is Koman Catholicism, and that the best 
 that is in it has come from this source. 
 
 Strange are the omissions and misleadings of the 
 Catholic text-books. One of them, in its preface, 
 complains that " The manuals of geography hitherto 
 used, in our schools • are not only objectionable on 
 account of their misstatements, but are still more 
 objectionable and defective on account of what they 
 suppress or fail to state." 
 
 It is interesting (says Mr. Edwin D. Mead) * to 
 go through these books and observe what they "fail 
 to state," and then observe some of the things to 
 which they are able to give so much space. There 
 is room to state that Ireland " is noted," among many 
 other things, " for the unwavering fidelity of its peo- 
 ple to the Catholic faith ; " but there is not room to 
 state that the JSTetherlands are noted for any thing 
 besides their "low situation, numerous canals and 
 windmills." There is room to speak of "many 
 Catholics " exiled to Siberia, but of nobody else ; to 
 note that the States of the Church are " at present 
 usurped" by the King of Italy, but to say almost 
 nothing else about the whole histor}'' of Italy. A 
 primarj^ object every- where is to make these books for 
 school children serve the purposes of theological and 
 sectarian controversy. 
 
 How about America ? Here is Sadlier's smaller 
 geography f — a very popular book in the parochial 
 
 * Address on The Roman Catlwlic Church arid the School Question. 
 Boston: George H. Ellis. 1888, pp. 37, etc. 
 
 t Sadlier''s Excelsior Introduction to Geografphy. Designed for Junior 
 Classes. By a Catholic Teacher. New York : William H. Sadlier. See 
 also 0'' Shea's Coimpreheiisive Geographies. New York : T. O'Sliea. 
 
282 Romanism vs. The Public School System. 
 
 schools, and, like the other books in tlie series, a 
 beautiful book. It contains proljably all the history of 
 the United States that some of the younger and poorer 
 children, who leave school early, ever get. If they do 
 get more I could quickly show you that they are quite 
 likely to get what is worse. Let me read to you the 
 section devoted to the history of the United States 
 (Lesson XX XIII, p. 22) : 
 
 What can you say of the United States? — It is the most p"p- 
 ulous and powerful country in Ameiica. 
 
 By whom was this country originally inhabited?— By the In- 
 dians. 
 
 By whom were the Indians dispossessed of their lands? — By 
 the Spanish, English, and French colonists. 
 
 Who were the first explorers of great portions of our coun- 
 try? — Catholic missionaries. 
 
 Who discovered and exi)lored the upper Mississijjpi? — Father 
 Marquette, a Jesuit missionary. 
 
 Where, in many of the States, were the first settlements 
 formed? — Around the humble cross that marked the site of a 
 Catholic mission. 
 
 What political division is the United States? — A republic. 
 
 How long has it been a republic? — One hundred years. 
 
 To what nation did the thirteen original States belong? — To 
 England. 
 
 When did they declare tliemselves independent? — July 4, 
 1776. 
 
 Why did they declare their independence? — Because they 
 W'Cre unjustly oppressed by England. 
 
 What is the war called which occurred at this time between 
 the United States and England? — Tlie War of the Revf)lution. 
 
 What Catholic nation very materially assisted the Americans 
 during this war? — France. 
 
 How long did the War of the Revolution last? — About eight 
 years. 
 
 At its close who became the first President of the United 
 States? — George Washington. 
 
 This is the whole lesson. This is the general 
 account of the colonization and early history of the 
 
Educational Pketensions of Eome. 283 
 
 United States. And this is a good sample of the pro- 
 portion of the rolo assigned to Jesuit missionaries all 
 through these books. . . . The descendant of the ISTew 
 England Puritans, or of other worthies whom some 
 of us have been in the habit of thinking as standing 
 for something in this American enterprise, is moved 
 to ask the Jesuit, when he reads of all his accomplish- 
 ments in these books, " Did any body help you found 
 the American republic? " 
 
 Under the special head of ISTew England, in this 
 particular geography, comes this further historical 
 information, so admirably calculated to clear up any 
 thing left doubtful as to the genesis and signiiicance of 
 l^ew England in particular : 
 
 What was the first settlement in the New England States? — 
 A Jesuit mission on Mount Desert Island (in 1612). 
 
 By whom was this settlement destroyed? — By the English. 
 
 What people made a permanent settlement in Massachusetts 
 in 1620?— The Pilgrim Fathers. 
 
 Who were they?— English Protestants who, being persecuted 
 by their Protestant fellow countrymen, took refuge in America. 
 
 How did they act in their new home? — They proved very 
 intolerant, and persecuted. all w'ho dared to worship God in a 
 manner different from that which they had established. 
 
 That is all. The important significant thing about 
 the founding of ]^ew England is supposed to be told — 
 there is no room for any thing more than the leading 
 facts. ISTow, ladies and gentlemen, you do not need to 
 be told, and the makers of this book do not need to be 
 told, that this is not history. History is not history at 
 all save as its proportions are preserved. The Jesuit 
 missionaries were heroic men, and they are most in- 
 teresting figures — we are glad our own Mr. Parkman 
 has written so much and so well about them. But 
 their settlements and efforts were sporadic, and have 
 had almost no influence upon the main currents of our 
 
28-J: Romanism vs. The Public School System. 
 
 American life and the development of our institutions, 
 whose sources are here left almost unnoticed. The 
 " Jesuit mission on Mount Desert Island " should not be 
 mentioned in a primary text-book. It is questionable 
 whether even Father Marquette should be mentioned 
 in a book which has no space to tell how the present 
 North-west became what it is. The boy or girl who 
 learns history from such books learns no history. 
 
 These geographies are stamped on the title-page as 
 by a " Catholic teacher." Many of the books are 
 marked as belonging to a "Catholic Educational 
 Series." Here is the Voung Catholic's Fifth Reader ; 
 almost every portrait in it is that of a bishop. " This 
 Third Reader., in common with other books of the 
 Cathohc IS^ational Series, has one chief characteristic," 
 says the preface, " namely, a thoroughly Catholic tone, 
 which will be found to pervade the whole book." * 
 About that there is no doubt. From the first story, 
 on " Bessie's First Mass," to the pieces on " How to be 
 a Nun," "Saint Bridget," and "The Saint Patrick 
 Penny," the " thoroughly Catholic tone " never fails. 
 The Catholic name and atmosphere and effort are 
 every-wdiere. Ladies and gentlemen, that is bad. My 
 good Catholic friends, that is bad for you, bad for j^our 
 cliildren. It is not good for any of us to let our de- 
 nominationalism be the " chief characteristic " of any 
 of our books, much less our children's books. We do 
 not want, any of us. Catholic reading-books, nor 
 Quaker spelling-books, nor Jewish geographies, nor 
 Baptist histories, nor Presbyterian grammars, nor 
 High Church cook-books, nor Unitarian geologies, 
 nor Trinitarian arithmetics. 
 
 My Catholic brother, are you doing your duty as a 
 
 *The Third Beadi-r. Catholic Nationiil Series. By Ri,?lit Rev. Eichard 
 Gilmour, D.D., Bishop of Cleveland. New York: Benziger Bros. 
 
Educational Pketensions of Rome. 285 
 
 citizen of this free republic ? Are you doing your duty 
 to your children if you let them get their history from 
 books in which every " stronghold of bigotry and in- 
 tolerance " is always an anti-Catholic place 'i Is it right 
 to let them be taught that " the holy see has been 
 God's instrument in conferring upon Europe all the 
 real good she enjoys ? " Is it right to teach them that 
 " to Catholics are due nearly all the valuable inven- 
 tions we have ? " Is it right to teach them that " the 
 only bond of unity among Protestants is a common 
 hostility to Catholicity ? " Is it right to teach them 
 that the English free-thinkers, from whom Kousseau 
 and Voltaire drew some of the ideas which wrought 
 the French Revolution, were men who " denied the 
 difference between good and evil ? " Is it right to 
 represent the Thirty- Years' War as a Lutheran rebell- 
 ion assisted by " the Protestants of France," saying no 
 word of Cardinal Richelieu's hand in the matter ? Is 
 it well to harp so mncli on Salem witchcraft, and to 
 say nothing of the six hundred condemned in one 
 district in France by Boguet, of the fifty who suffered 
 at Donay, of the fact that the " witches' hammer " — one 
 of the inventions not catalogued by Bishop Gilmour — 
 was the work of two German Dominicans ? Is it right 
 to record the reported answer of the Duke of Guise to 
 his Huguenot would-be assassin, " If your religion 
 teaches you to assassinate me, mine obliges me to par- 
 don you," and to fail even to mention the assassination 
 of William the Silent by the paltry wretch Gerard, an 
 assassin fortified for his task by " holy communion," 
 and applauded as the doer of a laudable and generous 
 deed by his most Catholic majesty of Spain, who, upon 
 the assassin's execution, elevated his family to a place 
 among the landed aristocracy ? Is that the honest way 
 of teaching history ? 
 
286 Romanism vs. The Public School System. 
 
 But it may be urged that tliis is all nobody's busi- 
 ness. The Catholic priest may say that he has nothing 
 to say about any books used in any Protestant private 
 school, and that people have a right to do what they 
 please in their own affairs. My good friend, that ar- 
 gument is quite out of date. You are a hundred 
 years behind the times when you say that. You shall 
 go to school to my friend's tive-year-old boy if you 
 have not got beyond that. '' Let Jack alone," AVill 
 said to Dick, who was quarreling with Jack about his 
 sled ; " the sled is his, he has a right to do whatever he 
 will with his own." " No, sir," retorted Dick, firmly; 
 " he has not a right to do whatever he will with his 
 own ; he only has a right to do what is right w4th his 
 own." It is not our policy in this republic to foolishly 
 or hastily or oppressively meddle with any society or 
 with any man. There will never be any interference 
 with any man who, for religious reasons or any other, 
 chooses to educate his children otherwhere than in the 
 public schools, so long as that education is done in any 
 just, proper, and respectable way. But our people do 
 not recognize the right of any body to do whatever he 
 pleases with his own. The interests of the State are 
 paramount to the caprice of any man or any l.>ody of 
 men ; the whole community is under sacred obligations 
 to eacli child born into it, and every one of us is on his 
 good behavior. There is no society among us whose 
 affairs are or can be simply its own affairs; and if 
 rank abuses or the teaching of palpable and baneful 
 untruths become common and regular in any private 
 school in Boston, whether on Moon Street or Chest- 
 nut Street or Marlborough Street, then it is inevitable 
 that sooner or later there shall be such State super- 
 vision as shall stop it. 
 
Educational Pketensions of Rome. 287 
 
 Inferiority Acknowledged by Eminent Roman 
 Catholics. 
 
 A very candid and eminent Roman Catholic, Mr. 
 Orestes A. Bronson, LL.D., confirms this view. 
 Speaking of Roman Catholic colleges, he said : 
 
 They ]3racticallj fail to recognize human progress. 
 . As far as we are able to trace the effect of 
 the most approved Catholic education of our day, 
 whether at home or abroad, it tends to repress rather 
 than quicken the life of the pupil, to unfit rather 
 than prepare him for the active and zealous discharge 
 either of his religious or his social duties. They who 
 are educated in our schools seem misplaced and mis- 
 timed in the world, as if born and educated for a 
 world that has ceased to exist. Comparatively few 
 of them (Catholic graduates) take their stand, as 
 scholars or as men, on a level with the graduates of 
 non-Catholic colleges ; and those who do take their 
 stand do it by throwing aside nearly all 'they learned 
 from their Alma Mater, aijd adopting the ideas and 
 principles, the modes of thought and action they find 
 in the general civilization of the country in which 
 they live. . . . The cause of the failure of wdiat 
 we call Catholic education is, in our judgment, the 
 fact that we educate not for the future, but for the 
 past. 
 
 We do not mean that the dogmas are not 
 scrupulously taught in all our schools and colleges, 
 nor that the words of the catechism are not duly in- 
 sisted upon. We concede this, and that gives to our 
 so-called Catholic schools a merit which no others 
 liave or can have. There can be no question that 
 
2SS Romanism vs. The Public School System. 
 
 wliat passes for Catholic education in this or any other 
 country has its ideal of perfection in the past, and 
 that it resists, as un-Catholic, irreligious, and opposed 
 to God, the tendencies of modern civilization. . . . 
 The work it gives its subjects, or j5repares them to 
 perform, is not the work of carrying it forward, but 
 that of resisting it, driving it back, anathematizing 
 it as at war with the Gospel, and either of neglect- 
 ing it altogether or taking refuge in the cloister, in 
 an exclusive or exaggerated asceticism, always border- 
 ing on immorality, or of restoring a former order of 
 civilization, no longer a living order, and which hu- 
 manity has evidently left behind and is resolved shall 
 never be restored. 
 
 The Christian World '^ bears the following testi- 
 mony : 
 
 Some statistics have lately been in circulation 
 through the press which are calculated to convey 
 very erroneous impressions respecting the part of 
 Koman Catholicism in American education. Of 303 
 colleges and nniversities in this country it is said that 
 the Koman Catholics have 54, the Baptists 48, the 
 Methodists 32, the Presbyterians 25, the Congrega- 
 tionalists, Lutherans, and Episcopalians 16 each, M'hile 
 the remainder are distributed among the less influen- 
 tial and numerous denominations. Now any one who 
 has even a superficial knowledge of our educational 
 institutions knows that these figures mean little or 
 nothing ; tliat many, if not most, of the colleges here 
 enumerated are little more than high schools, and 
 that it is pre-eminently true of the Koman Catholic 
 " colleges " that of the fifty-four there is not one that 
 is a first-class institution worthy to be named by the 
 
 * October, 1872. 
 
Educational Pketensions of Kome. 289 
 
 side of Harvard, or Yale, or Princeton, or the uni- 
 versities of Virginia and Michigan, or a score of other 
 institutions under Protestant influence in and around 
 our own city. In fact, any one who will take the 
 pains to examine their curriculum will find that, save 
 in the single branch of the Latin language, they are 
 scarcely above Phillips Academy, at Andover, or the 
 Boston High School. Now, it is in the very nature 
 of things that such institutions can exert only an in- 
 signiticant influence upon the community in the way 
 of promoting the higher education. 
 
 The GatJiolic World was only a little in advance 
 
 of the Christicm World ^ in confessing the same 
 
 facts : 
 
 It is high time for us to apply to our own publica- 
 tions a little of that free examination which we have 
 bestowed upon others, and to let argument among 
 Catholic writers be something more than the foolish 
 wrangling of ambitious rivals. In the article to 
 which we have alluded we said that few of the Cath- 
 olics papers had a circulation of more than 10,000 ; 
 and some people found fault with us for that. "We 
 wish we could give them 25,000 or 50,000 apiece ; 
 but it will not mend matters to say that all Catholic 
 papers are powerful organs of public opinion when 
 we know that they are nothing of tile sort. Most of 
 them are doing excellent service within their own 
 sphere ; but why affect to deny that their sphere 
 is a narrow one and their means are small ? 
 We have tried to impress upon the Catholic public 
 the duty of supporting the Catholic press to the ut- 
 most of their ability. We have shown that where 
 
 * June, 1872. 
 19 
 
290 Romanism v^. The Puulic School System. 
 
 Protestants attack us in a niilliun printed slieets we 
 gis'e a feeble* answer in perhaps ten thousand. We 
 luunber 8,000,000 souls, yet our newspapers,Avith very 
 few exceptions, languish for want of readers, and our 
 colleges are not creating a literary class among the 
 laity. 
 
 The Catholic Review ^ published a statement by 
 Bishop Cosgrove, of Davenport, Iowa, in which, 
 complaining of the small support given by Catholics 
 to lioman Catholic papers, he says: "We find that 
 about one Catholic in forty is a subscriber to one of 
 them. We find the combined circulation of all the 
 Catholic papers of the country to be less than that of 
 a single issue of the Police Gazette. We find it less 
 by thousands than the journal [The Christian Advo- 
 cate) published by another single establishment, the 
 Methodist Book Concern. Protestant exchanges 
 charge that our people are ignorant; that they lack 
 intelligence, . . . and usually they have the best 
 of the argument, for the facts are very stern and hard 
 to face." The editor of the Review declared these 
 complaints well founded. 
 
 In 1881 the Freeman's Jovrnal called the paro- 
 chial schools "apologies, compromises, systemless 
 pretenses," in which " a smattering of the cate- 
 chism is supplied to fit tlie children for the duties of 
 life." 
 
 * Scarcely over 5,000,000 at that time. + March 7, 1885. 
 
Educational Pketensions of Rome. 291 
 
 A. point Las cropped out, more than once, in our 
 discussions which should receive more distinct notice, 
 though it will be briefly treated. 
 
 IV. — The Roman Catholic Church does not 
 beheve in the education of the masses. 
 
 There are good reasons for making special mention 
 of this point. When did she ever exhibit a concern 
 for the education of the people? We have noticed 
 that wherever she has done her educational work in 
 other countries it has been in certain classes and for 
 specific ends. Her ideal of civil government does 
 not require the education of the whole community. 
 Why, then, is the Roman Catholic Church pursuing 
 such a different policy in this country from that she 
 has followed in the countries where she has long 
 been in the ascendency? Jn those countries, we have 
 noticed, the masses have been left in ignorance ; but 
 here she professes a great concern for the education 
 of her people. Why? Rev. Dr. McGlynn, who 
 claims that he is still a good Roman Catholic in all 
 the essentials of that religion, shall answer this 
 question. He said (in part before quoted) : 
 
 The extraordinary zeal manifested for getting up 
 these sectarian schools and institutions is, first of all, 
 prompted by jealousy and rivalry of our public 
 schools and institutions, and by the desire to keep 
 children and other beneficiaries from the latter ; and, 
 
292 Romanism vs. The Public School System. 
 
 secondly, by the desire to make employment for and 
 £:ive comfortable homes to the rapidly-increasing 
 hosts of monks and nuns who make so-called 
 education and so-called charity their regular business, 
 for wliich a very common experience shows that they 
 have but little qualification beyond their professional 
 stamp and garb. It is not risking much to say that if 
 there were no public schools there would be very few- 
 parochial schools, and the Catholic children, for all 
 the churchmen would do for them, would grow up in 
 brutish ignorance of letters ; and a commonplace of 
 churchmen here would be the doctrine taught by the 
 Jesuits in Italy, in their periodical magazine, the 
 Civita Cattolica, that the people do not need to learn 
 to read ; that all they need is bread and the catechism, 
 the latter of which they could manage to know some- 
 thing of even without knowing how to read, A con- 
 firmation of this is to be found in the very general 
 illiteracy in countries where churches and churchmen 
 have been exceedingly abundant and have exercised 
 temporal control. It is a remarkable fact that in 
 Italy, France, and other so-called Catholic countries, 
 in- spite of the hostility to the government schools, 
 the clergy do not establish parochial schools. The 
 ecclesiastical authorities of Italy, while willing enough 
 to impose on our Catholic people of America so 
 heavy a burden, do not dare to try to impose a similar 
 burden upon their people nearer home. * 
 
 Thus spoke Father McGlynn only one year ago. 
 It is not often that Roman Catholics are as frank 
 in declaring their real sentiments as the CatholiG 
 World was, when, a few years ago,f it said : 
 
 * North American Heview, August, 1887. t April, 1871. 
 
Educational Pketensions of Rome. 293 
 
 "We do not indeed prize so higldy as some of our 
 countrymen appear to do the simple ability to read, 
 Ma-ite, and ciplier. . . . Some men are born to be 
 leaders, and the rest are born to be led. . . . The 
 best ordered and administered State is that in which 
 the few are well educated, and lead, and the many are 
 trained to obedience, are willing to be directed, con- 
 tent to follow, and do not aspire to be leaders. . . . 
 In extending education and endeavoring to train all 
 to be leaders, we have only extended presumption, 
 pretension, conceit, indocility, and brought incapacity 
 to the surface. . . . We believe the peasantry in old 
 Catholic countries two centuries ago were better 
 educated, although for the most part unable to read 
 or write, than are the great part of the American 
 people to-day. . . . For the great mass of the people 
 the education needed is not secular education, which 
 simply sharpens the intellect and generates pride and 
 presumption, but moral and religious education, . . . 
 which teaches them to be modest and unpretending, 
 docile, and respectful to their superiors. 
 
 Such is the language of the Catholic World, edited 
 and conducted by the Paulist Fathers, of which 
 Fathers Hecker and Hewitt are conspicuous, prob- 
 ably the most progressive and literary of all the 
 orders of the Koman Catholic priesthood. 
 
 One time, in a large town in Indiana, a company of 
 gentlemen were interested to introduce a new railway 
 into the place. One of the number called upon the 
 Roman Catholic priest to secure him not to oppose 
 the coming of the road into the town. The gentle- 
 
291 Romanism vs. The Public School System. . 
 
 man was unfortunate in one of his suggestions to the 
 priest, for he said, among other things : " This new 
 road will add to the general intelligence of the 
 place." " I don't want it," said the priest, instantly ; 
 " my people know too much already. If they know 
 any more I can't do any thing with them." 
 
 Pope Gregory XVI., in his celebrated encyclical of 
 August 15, 1832, said : 
 
 If the holy Church so requires, let us sacrifice our 
 6wn opinions, our knowledge, our i7itelligence, the 
 splendid dreams of our imagination, and the most 
 sublime attainments of the human understanding. 
 
Can lioME Change? 
 
 QUESTION X. 
 
 Has Homanism adojyted a More Enlight- 
 ened and Liberal I^olicy in our Times 
 and in our Country ? 
 
 11^ discussing this question we are first of all brought 
 face to face with the utterances of the famons 
 papal encyclical, issued only twenty-four years ago, 
 in which the Pope formally set at naught some of the 
 most vital principles of modern society. 
 
 This letter, issued December 8, 1864:, condemned as 
 errors eighty of the leading and ruling principles of 
 modern civilization. He stated them negatively, but 
 we take the liberty to put them into the correspond- 
 ing affirmative form,* retaining the original numbers 
 of the encyclical. 
 
 The fundamental principle of democratic govern- 
 ment is that all civil jpowiiv emanates from the people 
 — they are the sovereigns ; but the Romish Church 
 denies this, and holds that : 
 
 (39.) The people a7'e not the source of all civil power. 
 
 (19.) The Romish Church has a right to exercise 
 its authority, loithout having any limits set to it hy 
 the civil power. 
 
 * We give it in the form and with the commeuta of Dexter A. Hawkins, 
 Esq., a late member of the New York Bar. 
 
296 Romanism vs. The Public School System. 
 
 (24.) The Romifih Church has the right to avail 
 itself of force^ and to use the temporal 2:>otver for that 
 pwi'jpose. 
 
 (26.) The Romish C%urch has an innate and legit- 
 imate right to acquire^ hold^ and to use property 
 toithout limit. 
 
 In our coiintiy, cliurches and religions corporations, 
 as well as all other corporations, can hold property 
 only when authorized so to do by statute, and for 
 the uses specified by statute, and then only to the 
 amount fixed by statute. The Romish Church op- 
 poses all this, as it prevents it from swallowing 
 up the property of the country. In England, be- 
 fore the statutes of mortmain, it had got possession 
 of one third of tlie property of the kingdom ; and so 
 astute were the priests in evading these statutes that 
 it took four hundred years to perfect them sufficiently 
 to protect the public against the rapacity of this 
 Church. 
 
 Blackstone says that but for those statutes ecclesi- 
 astical corporations would soon have engulfed the 
 whole real estate of England. With all these pre- 
 cautions the civil power had finally to resort to con- 
 fiscation to restore enough of the lands to the people 
 to insure the prosperity of the realm. 
 
 In Italy, Spain, and Mexico the civil government, 
 for like reasons, though it was Roman Catholic, has 
 been compelled to resort to confiscation. 
 
 In this country, if we should admit that this Church 
 has the innate power of acquiring, holding, and using 
 property without limit, we should soon have to resort 
 to confiscation to save something for the people. His- 
 tory repeats itself. 
 
 (27.) The j)ope and the priests ought to have do- 
 minion over the temporal affairs. 
 
 Hence, in all countries, when not prevented by law, 
 
Can Rome Change? 297 
 
 they always have and always will interfere in polities 
 and elections, and threaten with spiritual penalties 
 voters of their faith id order to get control of the 
 State. 
 
 (30.) The Romish Church and her ecclesiastics 
 have a right to immunity from civil law. 
 
 An essential principle of our Government is, on the 
 contrary, that every person and every corporation, 
 wdiether lay or ecclesiastic, is equally answerable to 
 the civil law. 
 
 (31.) The Romish clergy should he tried for civil 
 and criminal offenses only in ecclesiastical courts. 
 
 In 1853, just after the free governments in Italy 
 had been crushed out, and the influence of this 
 Church restored, I attended trials in the courts in 
 Florence for a month, and almost daily questions and 
 cases arose involving in some way the Church or ec- 
 clesiastics ; and in every instance the judges promptly 
 held that the civil power could not entertain any case 
 or question ajffecting tlie Church or ecclesiastics, but 
 that all such must be referred to the tribunals of the 
 Church. 
 
 (42.) In case, of conflict between the ecclesiastical 
 and civil powers the ecclesiastical powers ought to 
 prevail. 
 
 Under this principle the Romish Church, in coun- 
 tries where it is in full power, has set aside and an- 
 nulled laws and judgments on the ground that they 
 were in conflict with the policy and rules of the 
 Church. 
 
 (45.) The Romish Church has the right to inter- 
 fere in the discipline of the public schools, and in the 
 arrangement of the studies of the public schools, and 
 in the choice of the teachers for these schools. 
 
 It has exercised this right in every country where 
 it had the power to do it. If it had the power here 
 
2'JS Romanism vs. The Public School System. 
 
 it would re-write or throw out froui our public schools 
 a large part of the text-books, and substitute the cate- 
 chism ; and no teacher would be permitted to instruct 
 in either public or private schools unless first approved 
 by this Church, as was the case formerly, but not 
 now, in Italy, Spain, and Austria. 
 
 (47.) Puhlic schools open to all children for the 
 education of the young should he under the control of 
 the Romish Church, and should not he suhject to the 
 civil power nor made to conform to the opinions of 
 the age. 
 
 In countries where it has the power no school is 
 allowed to exist, nor is any one allowed to teach, un- 
 less lirst approved and permitted by this Church. 
 Many schools have been closed and teachers punished 
 in Italy, Spain, and Mexico for attempting to go on 
 without this approval and permission. In our free 
 country any one has a right to establish a school and 
 to teach in it without the permission of any Church 
 or even the civil authorities. To acquire and impart 
 knowledge is one of the sacred and inborn rights of 
 our people. 
 
 (48.) While teaching primarily the hnowledge of 
 natural things the puhlic schools must not he sepob- 
 rated from the faith and power of the Romish 
 Church. 
 
 (53.) The civil power has no right to assist persons 
 to regain their freedom who have once adopted a re- 
 ligious life — that is., hecome priests., monhs, or nuns. 
 
 (54.) The civil power is inferior and subordinate 
 to the ecclesiastical power., and in litigated questions 
 of jurisdiction should yield to it. 
 
 (55.) Church and State should he tmited. 
 
 (78.) 2^he Roman Catholic religion should he the 
 only religion of the State, and all other modes of wor- 
 ship should he excluded. 
 
Can Rome Change? 299 
 
 In every country, wlietlier monarchy or republic, 
 where the Romish Church has obtained sufficient 
 power it has excluded all other forms of worship and 
 made public worship in any other form than their own 
 a crime severely punishable. Under the present con- 
 stitution of the Romish Church it cannot change these 
 guiding and ruling principles, even if it would ; for 
 that would destroy the doctrine of infallibility. It 
 cannot refuse obedience to these doctrines without 
 ceasing to be itself. 
 
 Under such a regimen what opportunity is there 
 for the progress of society ? 
 
 Some who have followed this discussion may be 
 inclined to think that I have not been sufficiently 
 liberal toward the Roman Catholic Church as it 
 stands before the public at the present time. They 
 recognize the fact that her former history has been 
 bad, and substantially as I have described it, but are 
 disposed to more charitably construe her present atti- 
 tude, especially in the United States. 
 
 The Catholic University at Washington, D. C. 
 
 ' It may seem strange to some, just in the wake of 
 the laying of the corner-stone of a great Roman Cath- 
 olic university in our national capital, to which so 
 much attention has been given of late by the public 
 press, that either the amount or the quality of Roman 
 Catliolic education should be called in question. On 
 the 24th of May last a most imposing ceremony of 
 
300 KoMANisM VS. The Public School System. 
 
 laying tlie corner-stone of this American Catholic 
 Tiniversitj was conducted in the presence of a great 
 a)'ray of prelates and statesmen, and of President 
 Cleveland. The Right Rev. John Lancaster Spald- 
 ing, D.D., Bishop of Peoria, 111., delivered an elo- 
 quent address, in which he discoursed upon the debt 
 of modern science to Christianity, the advantages of 
 a " True University," the qualities of a " Cultivated 
 Christian," etc. 
 
 The Catholic World* in setting forth the reasons 
 for this university, and for locating it in Washington, 
 D. C, says : " The Church is an intellectual body," 
 etc. " That this is not known to non-Catholics is the 
 greatest misfortune that the Church suffers from." 
 Indeed ? Is it not the greatest misfortune to the 
 Church that, after having been so long in the world 
 and so prominent before the public and in all history, 
 it has never yet impressed the world that it " is an 
 intellectual body?" The Church has at last reached 
 the period, says the Catholic World, when " the in- 
 tellectual side of Catholicity can only be adequately 
 revealed by a university," and that, too, at a point 
 " when the supreme activity of American life — the 
 political — reaches its culmination." It is, indeed, 
 high time that " the intellectual side of Catholicity " 
 was " adequately revealed. " But what a confession 
 
 *Augnst, 1888. 
 
Can Rome Change? 301 
 
 the statement implies for a Church claiming such great 
 antiquity ! If Eomanism was one of the younger 
 religious bodies, as the Disciples, or the Free Will 
 Baptists, or some other denomination which has 
 come into being within fifty or one hundred years, 
 the language would not imply such a humiliating 
 acknowledgment. This writer is not through with 
 confessing ; but, in his case, privacy is removed from 
 the confessional, and it is the ear of the world into 
 which the confession is poured. He expresses the 
 hope that henceforth there will be " a gradual cessa- 
 tion of that distrust and suspicion that Catholicity is 
 inimical to free institutions — a sentiment which is 
 the greatest obstacle, in many minds, to Catholic 
 truth." A great task is this which he assigns to Ro- 
 manism, to live down so bad a record of hostility to 
 freedom, extending through so many centuries, writ- 
 ten in blood and torture, authenticated in all history, 
 perpetuated in monuments, again and again renewed, 
 every decade, by fresh utterances against the right of 
 private judgment, and the re-assertion of the very 
 same old dogmas, whose logical sequence is intoler- 
 ance toward all non-papal ideas and institutions. 
 
 It was, indeed, the more necessary for the Roman- 
 ists to make this act conspicuous, because the Church 
 of Rome has suffered in its reputation as an educator 
 from the palpable facts of her own history. The 
 
302 Romanism vs. The Public School System. 
 
 practical results of her long exclusive sway in South- 
 ern Europe, South America, etc., etc., have not been 
 favorable to her reputation. Unlike Protestantism, 
 the history of the Roman Catholic Church may be 
 searched in vain, through some centuries, for another 
 example of the founding of a university on a scale 
 at all proportionate to what is claimed for the one to 
 be established in Washington, D. C. Romanists 
 needed to make an educational demonstration. It 
 was eminently spectacular in tinsel and titles, but con- 
 spicuously wanting in the scientific spirit and method. 
 But tiie most glowing prospectus of this new Roman 
 Catholic university falls far below many of the 
 American universities, both State and denomina- 
 tional. If the curriculum of studies in this new 
 papal university is based upon fundamental principles 
 of tlie "infallible Church," its students will be faced 
 toward mediaeval times; and, blindfolded by absolute 
 authority, and with ears closed to the ringing notes 
 of modern progress, they will be driven backward 
 over the dusty pathways of tradition and decay. No 
 university foundation, with however generous endow- 
 ment, or imposing structures, or high-sounding titles, 
 can deliver Rome from her rigid, iron bondage. 
 Her education is cloistered in offensive, unalterable 
 dogmas, limited by the Missal and cramped by 
 scholasticism. 
 
Can Rome Change? 303 
 
 Aee New Ideals Possible? 
 
 Her ideals are all in the past, ill-timed, and coldly 
 rigid. Corner-stones, and high battlements, and tur- 
 rets, and domes, and magniticent endowments, and 
 titled professors, will not compensate for cloistered 
 thought, iron-clamped dogmas, and a medigeval at- 
 mosphere — the invariable products of a policy dic- 
 tated from the Yatican ; for no Roman Catholic, all 
 over this habitable globe, can get away from tlie lead- 
 ing-strings of the propaganda at Rome. 
 
 Does some one say that the founding of that uni- 
 versity may be an attempt to inaugurate a new era 
 in Romanism? Roman Catholics will not thus speak. 
 Intelligent papists know that Rome has no new eras ; 
 that new eras do not enter into her conceptions. She 
 discounts the new, and bestows all her premiums upon 
 the old. There may be new phases in her external 
 liistory, but no new doctrines, no new policy, no break- 
 ing away from any thing which is her essential self. 
 She may dispense with fire and fagot, with the sword 
 and gibbet, and allow her Inquisitions to slumber, when 
 she is obliged to, having no power to use them. But 
 she enforces upon her people the same old dogmas, and 
 absolute submission to her autliority. She does this now, 
 as evei', by the arts of the confessional, by withholding 
 the sacraments, by the terrors of excommunication. 
 
30i EoMANisM VS. The Public School System. 
 
 But some will ask, Did not Bishop Spaulding, in that 
 corner-stone address, eloquently portray a new policy, 
 more in harmony with American ideas of progress, 
 which was to characterize that university? In that 
 corner-stone address Bishop Spaulding presented a 
 singular spectacle, though not altogether novel, of a 
 papal ecclesiastic posing before the American public 
 in the attitude of one struggling to tlu'ow off bondage 
 to the past, and present the Roman Church in harmony 
 with the spirit of modern progress. He said, " Like the 
 old, the Church can look to the past." Yes, indeed, 
 its visual focus has been long fixed upon the past, 
 and she has continually pointed her people to past 
 ages for their ideals, their standards, their authority. 
 He then says, "Like the young, she can look to the 
 future." Whether she can do so is yet to be seen. 
 Born in the Dark Ages, and all her ecclesiastical and 
 doctrinal theories shaped, hammered, and fixed by the 
 schoohnen, the logicians of that murky period, her 
 mental vision, like the eye of the owl, is adapted to 
 see only in the dark. How can minds long accustomed 
 to seek for truth amid the shadows and mists of the 
 Dark Ages bear the brighter light of modern ideas ? 
 
 But do some inquire, "Will not a new country, a 
 republic, like the United States, call for some modi- 
 fications of Romanism here ? " Her possibilities will 
 doubtless be, and indeed are already, limited by her 
 
Can Home Change? 305 
 
 environment, so that she cannot act the part she used 
 to act m the old papal countries in Europe. But that 
 is a different matter from changing her fundamental 
 dogmas, and the inevitable logical sequence of those 
 dogmas. Still living on that old basis, if the old 
 opportunities return, who can affirm that Rome will 
 not reproduce the terrible scenes of the olden times ? 
 
 But we will let Bishop Spalding speak again. He 
 proceeds, "If there are Cathohcs who Hnger regret- 
 fully amid glories that have vanished, there are also 
 Catholics who, in the midst of their work, feel a 
 confidence which leaves no place for regret, who 
 understand that the earthly environment in which the 
 Church lives is subject to change and decay, and that 
 new surroundings imply new tasks and impose new 
 duties.'' "Well said, Bishop Spalding! But how do 
 Roman Catholics succeed who turn their faces to their 
 new environments, and attempt the "new tasks" 
 which "new surroundings" "im23ly?" How far do 
 they break away from Rome's old paths? What 
 opportunities has Romanism had afforded her amid 
 the favoring circumstances of the new civilization of 
 the United States, and how often have many Amer- 
 ican Protestants looked to see the sons of Rome im- 
 prove these splendid opportunities for rehabilitation ! 
 Many Protestants have sincerely looked and hoped for 
 it, and have construed, as favorably as possible, every 
 20 
 
306 Romanism vs. The Public School System. 
 
 indication wliicli has afforded a chance for a favorable 
 construction of her pohcy. But each break of light 
 through the clouds has been followed by a darker 
 overcast of the ecclesiastical lirnminent. 
 
 Papal Infallibility Indorsed by American Prel- 
 ates. 
 
 When, within the clear recollection of many of us, 
 the dogmas of the innnaculate conception and the 
 infallibility of the pope came uj) for decision and 
 formal proclamation at Eome — the former in 1854 
 and the latter in 1870 — it was felt, now the American 
 prelates have an opportunity to resist the retrograding 
 policy of Rome, and insist upon turning the face of 
 the papacy toward the advancing sun. These dogmas 
 were as purely mediaeval as any that could have been 
 cited, as pernicious in their influence, and by logical 
 sequence, too, the most relentless and odious in prac- 
 tical results. Though held in some form for centuries, 
 they were brought up for formal definition and proc- 
 lamation in two sessions of the Ecumenical Council at 
 Rome. How did the American bishops perform their 
 part ? One by one, some very reluctantly, but, finally 
 and fully, all assented to the monstrous dogmas. They 
 lost their opportunity. 
 
 AVlien the dogma of the infallibility of the pope 
 was proclaimed eighty -eight meml)ers of the council 
 
Can Rome Change? 307 
 
 voted against it. Who were thej ? Were tliey prel- 
 ates from the United States, the nation of advanced 
 ideas of hberty and progress ? Let us see. Twenty- 
 five were from Austria, 25 from France, 11 from 
 Germany, 8 from the British dominions, 6 from Italy, 
 6 from Turkey and Persia, and only 4 from the 
 United States, out of over 50 present from this 
 country. Roman Catholic jjrelates from this country 
 of liberal ideas fell behind those of even Austria, 
 France, and otiier portions of papal Europe, in the 
 spirit of modern progress. 
 
 What was the object in view in proclaiming the 
 infallibility of the pope? It was, says the CatholiG 
 World, "to give the papacy more complete spiritual 
 supremacy over the conscience," When the council 
 was called every bishop, archbishop, and cardinal all 
 over the world was required to be present. To be 
 absent without due cause, the reason to be decided by 
 an authority, was to expose the absentee to a heavy 
 penalty, A circular was sent out intimating that 
 although the right and duty of proposing matters to 
 he acted upon hy the Council helonged only to the pope 
 and his associates in Italy, yet others might be submit- 
 ted to the committee intrusted with the programme of 
 business at Rome, who should exercise the right of 
 deciding what they considered most important to the 
 general Church ; but it was distinctly stipulated that 
 
308 Romanism vs. The Public School System. 
 
 sucli matters " mnst not run counter to the constant 
 belief of the Church and her inviolable traditions." 
 There was, then, no chance for any reform meas- 
 ures. 
 
 The council came together in December, 1869, and 
 the discussion of the question of the infallibility of the 
 pope was reached May 13, 1870. The proposition was 
 to proclaim that the pope is infallible when he teaches 
 cx-cathedra.^ This was not wholly a new doctrine, but 
 the Church was to define and proclaim, in formal 
 words, a doctrine which had always been held and 
 acted on in some form, but not with the exclusive ^ 
 power with which he was now to be invested. It did 
 not refer to the jjope's life and conduct, but to his 
 official teaching of doctrine, and means that in such 
 teaching he cannot fall into error. 
 
 When the vote on this proposition was taken, 
 July 11, 451 voted in favor of it, 62 conditionally in 
 favor of it (yplacet juxta inoduin\ and 88 uncondi- 
 tionally against it. Of these 88 four out of over 50 
 were from the United States (the Archbishop of 
 St. Louis and the Bishops of Pittsburg, Little Rock 
 and Rochester). Of 62 who voted conditionally 
 against it 4 were from the United States (the 
 Archbishops of Oregon City, and New York, and the 
 
 * See Dehnrbe's Catrcfiism, pp. 142, 143. 
 
 t See paragraphs near the close of tiiis cliapter, where it is more fully 
 e.N plained. 
 
Can Eome Change? 309 
 
 Bisliops of Monterey and Savannah). Three Ameri- 
 can bishops were absent and one had died. 
 
 How came the absurd dogma to be approved? 
 Many bishops went to the council opposed to its 
 proclamation — conspicuously some American bishops. 
 Said a correspondent of the New York Tribune^ de- 
 scribing the work : 
 
 On the arrival of the fathers in Rome they found 
 themselves in the position of boys in a public school. 
 Their business was cut out for them — what they were 
 to do, how they were to do it, and to what limits they 
 might go, was accurately laid down. The head 
 master kept them well in hand. They fretted and 
 remonstrated, but were compelled to submit- Kew 
 regulations, still more binding, were issued. Remon- 
 strances were sent in ; some very energetic action was 
 contemplated. " Should they leave Rome ? " " Sliould 
 they absent themselves from the council ? " were 
 questions deeply pondered. " Gross and unmannerly 
 interruptions, hisses and howls, and harsh epitliets 
 greeted speakers who exercised a little freedom in 
 uttering adverse views, while the cardinal president 
 rung tlie bell to call the speaker to order, and if he 
 failed to succeed, the speaker was pulled down from 
 the pulpit." "In short, the man who ventured to 
 differ from the Roman court was regarded almost as 
 a criminal by a portion of the council and by the 
 pope." " The council," it was said, " was summoned 
 not to discuss, but to obey." 
 
 Those who differed from the managers of the 
 council were called " heretics," " Jews," " Galileans," 
 
olO Romanism vs. The Public School System. 
 
 " falsifers," " Protestants." Tims was tlie approval 
 of the dogma wrung out of the council, every Amer- 
 ican bishop at last giving his assent. So that 
 it was currently said in Rome, " The bishops who 
 came as ' pastori ' (shepherds), leave Rome as ' pe- 
 core ' (sheep), and may go and gambol; for, having 
 shorn themselves, they are light as lambs." 
 
 This is but a single instance in which the bishops 
 of the United States, the land of the advancing sun, 
 have ignored the sentiment of Bishop Spalding, that 
 " new surroundings imply new tasks and new duties," 
 and indorsed one of the darkest and most retrograd- 
 ing dogmas of the Middle Ages. 
 
 Medieval Ideas of American Romanism. 
 
 Bishop Spalding goes on to say : " The splendor 
 of the mediaeval Church, its worldly power, the pomp 
 of its ceremonial, the glittering pageantry in which 
 the pontiffs and prelates vied with kings and em- 
 perors in gorgeous display, are gone or going ; and 
 were it given to man to recall the past the spirit 
 whereby it lived would be wanting." But the dog- 
 mas of the mediaeval Church remain, all reiterated, 
 taught, and enforced. The triumph of the dogma of 
 the infallibility of the pope shows the power of the 
 mediseval spirit and the mediaeval logic. Its formal 
 proclamation was the inevitable logical sequence of 
 
Can Rome Change? 311 
 
 premises laid down in mediaeval times and continually 
 cited even to our day. 
 
 The trouble is a logical one. The theory of the 
 papacy was wrought out and its premises laid in the 
 Dark Ages, and not until tlie premises are discarded 
 can Romanism radically change. Tliese old premises 
 they have long drilled into the priesthood and young 
 students of theology ; and they propose to drill all 
 their children and youth, from the pai'ochial schools 
 to seminaries, colleges, and universities, in the same 
 dogmas, and thus hold them in the iron clamps of 
 mediaeval logic. What is the reason ? The American 
 school system, they fear, w^ill loosen them from the 
 old moorings. 
 
 Dr. Orestes A. Bronson wrote : 
 
 The opposition to us represented by "Native Amer- 
 ican " and "Know Nothing " sorties or movements is 
 not in opposition to us as orthodox Christians, nor, in 
 itself considered, to us as foreigners, but simply as the 
 representatives of a civilization different from the 
 American, and in many respects inferior and opposed 
 to it." 
 
 Mr. Bronson also said : 
 
 What passes for Catholic education prepares its 
 subjects for neglecting civilization, taking refuge 
 in an exaggerated asceticism always bordering on 
 immorality or restoring a former order of civiliza- 
 tion. 
 
312 Romanism vs. The Public School System. 
 
 The pcjlar star of Rome is still fixed in the old 
 mediseval firmament. Even the most advanced Ro- 
 man Catholic writers in our times continue to glorify 
 the Dark Ages for their superior virtues. 
 
 The editor of the American Catholic Quarterly 
 Jieview, the leading periodical of Romanism in the 
 United States, in July, 1888, said, "the most promi- 
 nent characteristic of them (the Middle Ages) was 
 their faith. They were emphatically ' Ages of Faith.' 
 In this respect they present a marked contrast with 
 the skepticism, the infidelity, and disbelief of modern 
 times." The writer admits that there was " barbar- 
 ism, darkness," etc., even among Roman Catholics, 
 but among those who " disobeyed the faith which they 
 believed ; " nevertheless, he says, " in their Christian 
 Catholic aspects " they were well nigh perfect, and 
 " the most prominent .characteristic," " under those 
 aspects, was their faith." 
 
 How much evidence of a new liberalizing spirit 
 does this leading Catholic periodical exhibit? Was 
 it " faith " or an unquestioning credulity which is here 
 glorified ? 
 
 What else can the proposed great University at 
 Washington do than follow in the same old methods ? 
 Nothing could please Protestants more than to see it 
 break away from the old ideals ; but how can it ? 
 It will be held in the leadiuff-strings of Rome. 
 
Can Eome Change? 313 
 
 What a Catholic Layman Says. 
 
 A Eoman Catholic layman said, in the Independent 
 of August 9,* tliat it is impossible for a member of 
 that Church to express an opinion which does not co- 
 incide with the governing powers of the Church. It 
 is prohibited. What chance is there for any mental 
 progress in such a body ? How can a man look to a 
 future essentially different from the past? How can 
 Bisliop Spalding's ideal for the new University at 
 Washington ever be realized ? He says " the face of 
 hope turns to the future," " leaving their dead with 
 their dead ; " and yet papists are continually busy with 
 " schemes for bringing back the things that have 
 passed away." 
 
 This writer in the Independent says : " The Prot- 
 estant, who can speak his mind socially, politically, and 
 morally, cannot realize how utterly impossible it is 
 for a Roman Catholic, be he priest or layman, to say 
 what he really thinks. A curious and very interest- 
 ing evidence of this was given quite recently by Arch- 
 bishop Walsh, in connection with recent pronounce- 
 ments on Irish affairs. He said that while Protestants 
 were obliged to decide on such matters f according 
 to their conscience, Poman Catholics were bound to 
 obey the voice of God as made known by the pope, 
 
 * 1888. + Eeferring to the last papal pronouncement. 
 
314 Romanism vs. The Public School System. 
 
 and were not allowed the exercise of a private con- 
 science. ' Happy Protestants ! ' a Roman Catholic 
 friend of the writer's exclaimed, with some emphasis; 
 ' they are allowed to have a conscience, and are in- 
 formed that it is their duty to use it ; whereas we 
 Catholics are denied a conscience, practically, since 
 we are not to use that which we possess.' In fact, it is 
 the plain teaching of the Roman Catholic Church that 
 the cojiscience, once submitted to Rome, must remain 
 forever submitted.'''' 
 
 On such a basis as that, and affirmed, too, by a 
 Roman Catholic, and verilied by the Roman Catholic 
 catechism, how can the great University projected at 
 Washington ever become anj^ thing but a mausoleum 
 of the ideas of the dead past ? How can there be any 
 great change or reform in the papal Church, even in 
 the favorable circumstances afforded in America, ex- 
 cept by some great moral convulsion like the Lutheran 
 Reformation? How, then, can Bishop Spalding's ideal 
 of a new order of things amid the " new surroundings" 
 be realized, so long as it is true that the change and 
 decay of earthly environment makes no change in the 
 essential character and elements of that Church ? 
 
 This layman proceeds, " It is unhappily the case in 
 America that there is a very strong feeling against 
 any change of religious opinion ; and this feeling nat- 
 urally finds an outcome on individuals who change. 
 
Can Kome Change? 316 
 
 It is also an unhappy fact, uudeuiably and infinitely 
 harmful, that a considerable number of priests who 
 have abandoned the Roman Catholic Church are of 
 immoral character and degraded habits. Men of 
 honor and self-respect do not wish to be classed with 
 such men, and would endure any sufferings sooner 
 than have the name of being one with them, even in 
 sympathy. Hence an immense and crushing difSculty 
 lies in the way of those who see the many evils in the 
 Roman Catholic Church. They are powerless to re- 
 form it from within, and equally powerless to reform 
 it from without." . . . 
 
 " Any other tody of men may effect a reform in 
 the discipline of their Church, or may leave it with- 
 out reproach, if they believe that their conscience 
 prompts them to do so. But it is not so with tlie 
 Roman Catholic, be he priest or layman, be he ever 
 so honorable, be his career ever so blameless, be his 
 convictions ever so strong. He is maligned, sneered 
 at, and persecuted by the Church he was striving to 
 reform, and for the prosperity of which he would 
 give his life blood ; and he is suspected and discour- 
 aged by the very men who denounce this Church for 
 refusing liberty of conscience to her children, and 
 yet, such is human nature, discourage those who act 
 on this principle." . . . 
 
 "One of the best and most amiable bishops 
 
316 Romanism vs. The Public School System. 
 
 of the Roman Catholic Church was a friend of the 
 writer. He went to tlie Vatican Council,* and in- 
 tended to vote against transferring the collective f in- 
 fallibility of the Church to the personal infallibility 
 of the pope. His determination was strong and 
 resolute, and there were, as it was known later, a 
 large mimber of bishops who had formed a similar 
 determination. They w^ere marked men. Every in- 
 fluence was brought to bear on them to change 
 their determination — personal persuasion, entreaties, 
 threats. The eyes of the world were on the council, 
 and it was necessary to make it appear absolutely free 
 and absolutely unanimous. I saw that bishop after 
 his return, heart-broken, infinitely sad. He died soon 
 after. 'But why,' I said, 'did you vote against 
 your conscience?' 'What was my conscience,' he 
 replied, 'in comparison with the conscience of the 
 pope? How could I believe myself right when so 
 inanv wiser and holier men believed me to be wrons; ? ' 
 "It is well known that Dr. Newman offered some 
 serious private objections to this definition, and it 
 is said that Archbishop Kenrick simply left the 
 council, rather than vote against his conscience or 
 against the holy father's desire. 
 
 * The Council that atit in Eome 1869-70, and proolaimed the docrma of 
 the infalHbility of the pope. 
 
 t The old doctrine was that the Church in its councils, etc., was in- 
 fallible. 
 
Can Rome Change? 317 
 
 " A letter by Bishop Strossmajer, published in the 
 Kolnische Zeitung soon after the council, puts this 
 fact very clearly : 
 
 '" TheVatican Council was wanting in that freedom 
 which was necessary to make it a real council, and to 
 justify it in making decrees calculated to bind the 
 consciences of the whole Catholic world. . . . 
 Every thing which could resemble a guarantee for 
 the liberty of discussion was carefully excluded. . . . 
 And, as though all this did not suffice, there was 
 added a public violation of the ancient Catholic prin- 
 ciple — quod semper^ quod uhique, quod ah omnihus. 
 The most hideous and naked exercise of papal infalli- 
 bility was necessary before that infallibility could be 
 elevated into a dogma. If to all this be added that 
 the council was not regularly constituted ; that the 
 Italian bishops, prelates, and officials were in a mon- 
 strously predominating majority ; that the apostolic 
 vicars were dominated by the propaganda* in the 
 most scandalous manner ; that the whole apparatus 
 of that political power which the pope then exercised 
 in Rome contributed to intimidate and repress all 
 free utterances, you can easily conceive what sort of 
 liberty^ that essential attribute of all councils, was dis- 
 played in Rome.' " 
 
 Thus was the personal infallibility of the pope de- 
 
 * The cardinals in Rome and vicinity. 
 
318 Romanism vs. The Public School System. 
 
 clared and defined as a dogma. " It is only now that 
 the pe7'S07ial jyoiver and tlie personal claim of the 
 pope to exercise that power in politics is being en- 
 forced, that the mnltitnde has begun to realize what 
 was done in the Vatican Council." 
 
 Under such a regimen as that, what grounds are 
 there for confidence that any amelioration can take 
 place in the essential character of Romanism ? There 
 is no chance for reform. The Roman Catholic 
 Church is ruled by a knot of determined, dark- 
 minded, desperate men in Rome, who hold the 
 Church close to her mediaeval moorings, and will let 
 nothing slip from their relentless grasp. The paro- 
 chial school system is a part of their plan. It means, 
 more than anything else, the instilling of the most 
 ultra mediaeval dogmas of Rome, through the cate- 
 chism, into the minds of the children — not mere in- 
 struction in regard to morals and practical religion, 
 but the dogmas pertaining to the hierarchy, the abso- 
 lute authority of the Church, bishops, and priests, 
 subjection to the pope and to whatever orders may 
 come from Rome. 
 
 We have been accustomed to read the extreme 
 declarations of absolutism by European Romanists, 
 and to make some allowance for them, on the ground 
 that they were proclaimed by men w^lio had all their 
 lives been so fauiiliar with absolutism in civil gov- 
 
Can Rome Change? 319 
 
 erament that tlieir ecclesiastical ideas had been un- 
 consciously tinged and shaped by their surroundings. 
 Many of our good American citizens have thought 
 such' sentiments could not be proclaimed and toler- 
 ated even by the Catholic Church, in the United 
 States, amid the modifying inJfluences of American 
 ideas and American society. They will probably be 
 surprised at the list of utterances which have been 
 made, not by European Romanists, but by represen- 
 tative Romanists in the United States. We therefore 
 ask careful attention to declarations made by 
 
 Ameeican Romanists on the Right of Private 
 Judgment and Civil and Religious Liberty. 
 
 In 1852 the Rambler, a Roman Catholic periodical 
 in England, contained the following remarkable ut- 
 terances : 
 
 Religious liberty, in the sense of a liberty possessed 
 by every man to choose his own religion, is one of 
 the most wicked delusions ever foisted upon this age 
 by the father of all deceit. The very name of liberty 
 — except in the sense of a permission to do certain 
 definite acts — ought to be banished from, the domain 
 of religion. It is neither more nor less than false- 
 hood. iVo man has a right to choose his religion. 
 . . . ISTone but an atheist can uphold the princi- 
 ples of religious liberty. . . . Shall I therefore 
 fall in with this abominable delusion ? Shall I foster 
 tliat damnable doctrine that Sociuianism, and Calvin- 
 
320 Romanism vs. The Public School System. 
 
 ism, and Anglicanism, and Judaism, are not, every 
 one of them, vw?'tal sins, like murder and adultery ? 
 Shall I hold out hopes to my erring Protestant 
 brother that I will not meddle with his creed if he 
 will not meddle with mine? Shall I tempt him to 
 forget that lie has 7io more right to his religious 
 views than he has to m,y purse, to my house, or to 
 my life-Mood ? I*^o ; Catholicism is the most intol- 
 erant of creeds. It is intolerance itself, for it is truth 
 itself. We might as rationally maintain that a sane 
 man has the right to maintain that two and two do 
 not make four as this theory of religious libei'ty. Its 
 impiety is only equaled by its absurdity. 
 
 The above extract was indorsed by the leading 
 organ of the Roman Catholic Church in the United 
 States. The FreemarCs Journal^ of New York, 
 Archbishop Hughes's own paper, in its issue of June 
 26, 1852, referred to the above extract, and said, 
 " We willingly indorse every word of itP 
 
 The Shepherd of the Valley, published in the in- 
 terests of the papacy in St. Louis, also indorsed it. 
 
 Tliat excellent magazine, the American and For- 
 eign Christian Union, is an authority for the follow- 
 ing utterance, in its issue for March, 1852, in which 
 the whole paper can be found, as quoted from the 
 Shepherd of the Valley, a Roman Catholic organ at 
 St. Louis, Mo. : 
 
 The radical tendency which has taken such universal 
 and firm hold upon the American people is without 
 doubt hurrying ics to the pit. Radicalism is simply Prot- 
 
Can Rome Change? 321 
 
 estantism pnslied to its last consequence — Protestant- 
 ism as it really is — not a religion, not a positive sys- 
 tem or collection of systems, but the incarnate demon 
 
 of rebellion against all autliority and law 
 
 " The doctrine of the right of private judgment is 
 the most ohsurd of cdl doctrines. . . . "The 
 Catholic has no mission to propagate democracy. It 
 is not the Gospel, and he who thinks that the tem- 
 poral or eternal welfare of man depends upon its 
 spread had better give to his catechism some of that 
 time which he has hitherto devoted to his daily 
 paper." 
 
 November 23, 1851, the Shepherd of the Valley 
 had uttered even more startling sentiments : 
 
 The Church is of necessity intolerant. Heresy she 
 endures when and where she must ; but she hates it 
 and directs all her energies to its destruction. If 
 Catholics ever gain an immense numerical majority 
 religious freedom in this country is at an end. So 
 our enemies say ; so we believe. 
 
 Who will say that such declarations are not the 
 logical sequences of Catholic dogmas ? 
 
 The New York Tablet, another Koman Catholic 
 periodical, has been quoted as uttering these views : 
 
 No self-appointed missionaries of self-created so- 
 cieties have any rights against the national religion of 
 any country, and no claim even to toleration. The 
 Catholic missionary has the right to freedom, because 
 he goes clothed with the authority of God, and 
 because he is sent by authority that has from God the 
 right to send him. To refuse to hear him is to refuse 
 21 
 
322 RoMANIs^[ vs. The Public School Systejl 
 
 to liear God, and to close a Catholic churcli is to sliut 
 np the house of God. The Catholic missionary is 
 sent by the Church that has authority from God to 
 send him ; the Protestant missionary is sent by 
 nobody, and can oblige nobody in the name of God 
 or religion to hear him. Our Protestant friends 
 should bear this in mind. TAei/ have as Protestants 
 no authority in religioii, and count for nothing in the 
 Church of God. . . . They have from God no right of 
 propagandism, and religious liberty is in no sense 
 'violated wlien the national authority, whether Cath- 
 olic or pagan, closes their mouths or their -places of 
 holding forth. 
 
 About thirty-five years ago, when Rev. Mr. Haet- 
 ings was the chaplain of tlie American Embassy at 
 Rome, the Freemaris Journal declared that, if he 
 should " make a single convert, he would be kicked 
 out of Rome, though Mr. Cass should bundle up his 
 traps and follow him." 
 
 Mr. Bronson, in his Quarterly Revieio for Oc- 
 tober, 1852, expressed similar views. He said : 
 
 All tlie I'ights the sects have or can have are derived 
 from the State, and rest on expediency. As they have, 
 in their chai'acter of sects, hostile to the true religion, 
 no rights under the law of nature or the law of God, 
 they are neither wronged nor deprived of liberty, if 
 the State refuses to grant them any rights at all. . . . 
 
 The sorriest sight to us is to see a Catholic throwing 
 up his cap and shouting, "All hail, Democracy ! " 
 
 Again Mr. Bronson "■'' said : 
 
 * Quarteihj Rrvicw, April, 1S5L 
 
Can Rome Change? 323 
 
 The power exercised over sovereigns in the Middle 
 Ages was not an usurpation, was not derived from the 
 concessions of princes or the consent of the people ; 
 but it was hers (the Church) by divine right ; and ^vho 
 so resists it rebels against the King of kings and Lord 
 of lords. This is the ground on which we defend the 
 power exercised over sovereigns by popes and councils 
 in the Middle Ages, . . . All history fails to show an 
 instance in which the pope, in deposing a temporal 
 sovereign, professes to do it by the authority vested in 
 him by the pious belief of the faithful, generally 
 received maxims, the oj)inion of the age, the con- 
 cessions of sovereigns, or the civil constitution and 
 public laws of Catholic States. On the contrary, he 
 always claims to do it by the authority committed to 
 him as the successor of the prince of the apostles, by 
 the authority of his apostolic ministry, by the authority 
 committed to him of binding and loosing, by the au- 
 thority of Almighty God, of Jesus Christ, King of 
 kings and Lord of lords, whose minister, though 
 unworthy, he asserts that he is ; or in some such 
 formula which asserts that his power is held by divine 
 right, etc. . . . The principal Catholic authorities are 
 certainly in favor of the divine right. . . . The Gal- 
 ilean doctrine was from the beginning the doctrine of 
 the courts, in opposition to that of the vicars of Jesus 
 Christ, and should therefore be regarded by every 
 Catholic with suspicion. 
 
 Soon after, a writer, over the signature " Apostol- 
 icus," in the Baltimore Clipper, said : 
 
 I say, with Bronson, that if the Church should 
 declare that the Constitution and every existence of 
 this and any other country should be extinguished, it 
 is a solemn audience of God himself, and every good 
 
32-i Romanism vs. The Public School System. 
 
 Catholic would be bound, under the penalty of the 
 terrible punishment pronounced against the disobe- 
 dient, to disobey. 
 
 The Frceviari's Journal^ January 14-, 1854, said : 
 
 Trembling mayors and embarrassed governors shall 
 yet appeal to Catholic bishops to lend them their most 
 active exertions toward poising on its basis the fabric 
 of our republic and the hopes of the Constitution. 
 
 Scarcely ten years later, the Mayor of New York 
 called upon Archbishop Hughes • to assist him in 
 quelling the Irish riot. The American people will not 
 soon forget that during the late civil war liis holi- 
 ness, Pius IX., was the only European ruler that 
 officially recognized the Southern Confederacy* as 
 an independent government, that he made haste to 
 interfere in the civil affairs of this country, most 
 presumptuously proceeding to appoint Archbishops 
 Hughes, of New York, and Odin, of New Orleans, 
 as arbitrators to settle our national difficulties, and also 
 volunteered a solemn admonition to the chief rulers 
 and people of the United States. 
 
 Passing to a later period, we find similar utterances 
 in the Catholic World : f 
 
 * He addressed Jefferson Davis as the " Illustrious Honorable Presi- 
 dent." This action, following soon after Archbishoi) Husfhes's visit to 
 Kome, in the second year of the war, coupled with the fiicls that after 
 that the enlistments among the Catholics nearly ceased and the papal 
 population became hostile to the war, are very significant. 
 
 t January, 1870. 
 
Can Eome Change? 325 
 
 My right of conscience is tlie law for the State, and 
 prohibits it from enacting any tiling that violates it. 
 My Conscience is my Chdech, the Catholic Chdkch ; 
 and any restriction of her freedom, or any act in 
 violation of her rights, violates or abridges my right 
 or freedom of conscience. 
 
 The Catholie World * said : 
 
 The Catholic Church is the medium ,and channel 
 through which the will of God is expressed. . . . 
 While the State has rights, she has them only in 
 virtue and by permission of the suj)erior authority, 
 and that authority can only be expressed by the 
 Church. 
 
 The same periodical declared, at another time : f 
 
 She (the Church) does not and cannot accept, or in 
 any degree favor, liberty, in the Protestant sense of 
 liberty. 
 
 In 1870 a Roman Catholic priest in St. Louis 
 absolutely refused to give testimony in a court of 
 justice, on the ground that by the authority of the 
 pope the priesthood were under no obligation to obey 
 the civil law. Roman Catholic authorities declare : 
 " A priest cannot be forced to give testimony before a 
 secular judge. " :j: " The rebellion of priests is not 
 treason; for they are not subject to civil govern- 
 ment." § 
 
 The CaiJiolic World \ said : 
 
 * July, 1870. t April, 1870. \ Taherna, Vol. II, p. 228. 
 
 § Emmanuel 8ea. | December, 1870. 
 
32G KoMANisM vs. The Public School System. 
 
 4 
 
 It has always been the Cathohc interpretation of 
 this passage (Matt. 17, 23-26) that the successors of 
 St. Peter are by divine right sovereigns, owing no 
 subjection, even in temporals, to any civil authority; 
 and that whatever obedience they have voluntarily 
 rendered at certain times to emperors has been merely 
 a condescension, like that of our Lord himself on the 
 earth, practiced for the sake of the common good. 
 
 Amekican Pomanism Offensive in Acts. 
 
 When we have been compelled to read of collisions 
 between the clerical and secular authorities in some 
 European countries over the question of education — 
 as in France or Belgium — we have been accustomed 
 to assure ourselves with the thought that under the 
 conditions of American society, with its freedom, 
 tolerance and enlightenment, there is no opportunity 
 for such friction and antagonism — that there is no 
 likelihood that Roman Catholic priests in Amei'ica 
 will attempt to exercise very arbitrary powers or that 
 their laity will submit to them. But, as before 
 noticed, we have liad numerous cases with shadings as 
 dark as in many papal counti'ies. 
 
 A correspondent of the Lntlieran Ohserver gave * 
 the following succinct account of the Roman Catholic 
 church case, at AVilliamsport, Pa. : 
 
 'Father Stack, who is the priest of the "non German 
 Catholics " of this city, has somehow been administering 
 
 * January, 1872. 
 
Can Rome Change? 327 
 
 the affairs of his parish so as to displease his bishop, 
 O'Hara, of Scranton. Without specifying any reasons 
 for his action, the bishop ordered Father Stack not 
 to "exercise any priestly functions in Williamsport. 
 This prohibition binds suh grcmir This phrase, suh 
 gravi, was explained to mean, under penalty of the 
 divine displeasure. The bishop ordered the German 
 priest here, Father Koepper, to take possession of the 
 keys of the Church of the Annunciation and hold 
 them until further orders. But Father Stack, without 
 having the fear of the bishop before his eyes, and not 
 even dreading the sub gravi, procured a set of dupli- 
 cate keys and went into his church and held service, 
 and with a boldness which gives the conduct of the 
 priest an air of the heroic, he applied to the court for 
 a preliminary injunction to restrain Bisliop O'Hara 
 from exercising extra-judicial authority in displacing 
 him without due process of trial, as required by the 
 canons of the Church. It seems the bishops of the 
 Romish Church of this country have been in the habit 
 of exercising the most absolute power in displacing 
 and removing their priests, and often to the disgust 
 and injury of these subordinates. Though others have 
 dared to complain of the arbitrary power of the 
 bishops, yet no one has had the courage thus far to 
 resist them, by apjDcaling to the courts for protection, 
 but Father Stack. At first he was joined in his appli- 
 cation for an injunction by a number of the members 
 of his church, but after reflection they became alarmed 
 at the boldness and impiety of resisting their bishop, 
 and withdrew their names from the application, and 
 left the priest to go to law by himself. Nothing 
 daunted by being thus forsaken of his friends, he 
 proceeded alone to the encounter. 
 
 Father Stack was aware that there is a law of the 
 Church, enacted by the Council of Trent, requiring, 
 
32S Romanism vs. The Public School System. 
 
 tliougli practically disregarded, that "the superior 
 must inquire against his subject respecting those 
 things only founded upon evil report, and then cite 
 him and give him the chief points of the accusation, 
 and make known the evidence and names of the 
 witnesses, and shall receive the legitimate defenses of 
 the same subject, and only on the proof of a grave 
 offense shall he remove him from his administration. 
 The father knew that he had enjoyed no such right 
 of trial, and was not going to permit himself to be 
 put under discipline without a hearing. He says he is 
 testing the legitimacy of a prevalent jurisdiction, not 
 only for his own sake, but for the sake of the entire 
 Catholic priesthood in the country ; and it is gratify- 
 ing to the popular sense of justice to know that Judge 
 Gamble sustained iho. injunction, and permitted Father 
 Stack the use of the Church of the Annunciation and 
 the liberty of "exercising priestly functions in Will- 
 iamsport," himself not fearing the s^ih gravi. 
 
 Tlie Right Rev. Bishoj) justified himself in his 
 affidavit before the court for not heeding the exact 
 jirovisions of the canon law enacted by the Council of 
 Trent, on the significant ground, " That because of 
 the want of tem-poral power to establish the same by 
 the holy see, and for want of sovereign legislative 
 enactments of the States in this Union, in which they 
 are restricted, as well by the Constitution of the 
 United States as those of the several States, the 
 Catholic Church is and only can be a missionary 
 church in the United States." That is to say : 1. That 
 'if the holy see had ^Hhe temporal power'''' and 
 " sovereign legislative enactments " in this country^ it 
 loould use civil force, when necessary, in the adtninis- 
 tration of ecelesia sliced discipline ; and 2. Because 
 the Constitution of the United States and those of the 
 several States do not lend themselves to tlie Church of 
 
Can Eome Change? 329 
 
 Rome, as instrwfiients of religious tyranny, that the 
 Church must itself assume unusual and despotic 
 
 power. 
 
 In April, 1873, the Cincimiati Gazette gave an ac- 
 count of the sad and strange death of a Roman Cath- 
 olic citizen of Kalamazoo, Michigan. It seems the 
 man lent a priest a sum of money to help build a 
 parish church, which the Catholic bishop refused to 
 recognize subsequently as a loan. " The poor man, 
 fearing a foreclosure of the mortgage on his farm, 
 brought suit in chancery against the bishop. For 
 doing this he was forbidden to partake of com- 
 munion by the bishop during the episcopal visit, and 
 the edict of excommunication was read to him. 
 Fearfully frightened, he asked what his oifense had 
 been, and was told that he was excommunicated for 
 having sued a bishop of the Church. Being a devout 
 believer in the powers of the clergy he was friglitened 
 nearly out of his wits, and implored the bisliop to re- 
 voke the excommunication. This was done on con- 
 dition that he would withdraw his suit. He complied 
 with the demand, and the interdict was removed. It 
 was too late, however, and the wretched man sank 
 lieneath the weight of his fancied guilt and died. 
 The matter lias created much excitement in Michigan, 
 ns might be expected. Senator Emerson has intro- 
 duced in the Legislature a bill punishing by a fine of 
 
330 EoMANisM vs. The Pculic School System. 
 
 one to live thousand dolhirs, or imprisonment from 
 one to five years, any bishop or ])riest who shall ex- 
 communicate, or threaten to excommunicate, any 
 member to prevent him from commencing any suit 
 or collecting any claim." 
 
 The case of Mr. Parker, of Holyoke, Mass., against 
 Fathei- Dufresne of that city, was well stated in the 
 Boston Daily Advertiser, November 12, 1S79 : 
 
 It appears that Parker went to hear Father Chin- 
 iquy, a French Catholic convert to Protestantism, 
 preach, as did others of Father Dufresne's parish. 
 When Father Dufresne heard of it he called on all 
 who had gone to hear Cliinicpiy to acknowledge it. 
 Parker did not confess, and was exconnnunicated. 
 Afterward the priest, as the complaint phrases it, 
 " f randulently, willfully, violently and maliciously in- 
 tending to injure the plaintiff in his business," pub- 
 licly in the church forbade any person belonging to 
 liis church " having or nsing any hacks belonging to 
 that liackman that has been to Chiniquy's church," 
 threatening to turn them out of the church, and to 
 refuse to baptize their children, marry them, or at- 
 tend their funerals. It was alleged that a funeral 
 party which came to the church in Parker's carriages 
 was turned away, the priest saying that he would per- 
 form the service " wlien they knew better than to 
 come in those hacks, and not before." 
 
 The answer of the priest was that, if it should ap- 
 pear that he uttered the words alleged, the acts were 
 done " in the proper exercise of his priestly duties 
 and authority as the duly settled and installed pastor 
 of the French Roman Catholic Church, of which the 
 
Can Eome Change? 331 
 
 plaintiff was a member ;" tliat the language was not 
 uttered unlawfully or maliciously to injure liis busi- 
 ness, but " in the lawful exercise of his authority, and 
 for tlie proper regulation and discipline of his said 
 church and tlie congregation worshiping therein, and 
 by the authority and consent of his ecclesiastical su- 
 periors, and in the proper discharge of his duties and 
 functions." Tlie real question, it will thus be seen, 
 was whether church discipline could legally be exer- 
 cised in a manner to interfere with a man's right to 
 conduct a lawful business and break it up by forbid- 
 ding patronage of him. 
 
 The case was tried before Judge Bacon, who, in 
 his charge to the jury, presented the law of the mat- 
 ter substantially as follows : The law provides a rem- 
 edy for a man whose lawful business is interfered 
 with by fraud or threats which injure it. It is not 
 lawful for any one to interfere with another's busi- 
 ness by threatening and intimidating those who trade 
 with him. The case must be considered, not with 
 regard to any religious communion, but solely with 
 regard to the law and the evidence as affecting the 
 common rights of all American citizens. He in- 
 structed the jury that, before they could return a ver- 
 dict for the plaintiff, they must be satisfied that the 
 defendant used the language charged, at least the 
 material part of it constituting a threat, and that the 
 threats were made to deter the defendant's customers 
 from employing him, and maliciously either in fact 
 or in law. If he had no ill-feeling or spite toward 
 the plaintiff, yet if the declarations were without 
 justifiable cause, and were of a nature tending to in- 
 jure the plaintiff, they were malicious in a legal sense. 
 It would be no excuse that he believed it to be his 
 duty, nor that ecclesiastical authority upheld him. 
 " There is no ecclesiastical authority to be recognized 
 
332 Romanism vs. The Public School System. 
 
 under our Government whieli allows a wanton and 
 unreasonable interference with a man's private busi- 
 ness, not connected with the Church from which he 
 has been excommunicated. The Church may ex- 
 communicate liim, but must not pursue him further 
 and interfere with his private business. ... In other 
 words, our laws do not allow any ecclesiastical author- 
 ity to interdict a man from pursuing his ordinary 
 business, or to prevent even the members of the same 
 denomination from which he has been excommuni- 
 cated to deal with him." 
 
 Father Scully, in tlie enlightened city of Cam- 
 bridge, within three miles of the State-house of 
 Massachusetts, is a priest who asserts the exclusive 
 power of forgiving the sins and saving the souls of 
 his parishioners, and of inflicting eternal damnation 
 upon those who disobey and refuse to send their 
 children to his parochial schools. What would not 
 such an ecclesiastical tyranny do if it had the civil 
 power on its side? What physical pains and penal- 
 ties would it not resort to to enforce its behests ? One 
 boy w\as currently reported, in tlie best journals, as 
 having been flogged by this priest so badly as to be 
 disabled from sitting up for some weeks. Put with 
 this the terrible anathemas and excommunications 
 prompted by a freak of personal pride and passion, 
 and nothing can be conceived more alien to our in- 
 stitutions or more repugnant to American ideas of 
 liberty. More than this, when complaint was at- 
 
Can Eome Change? 333 
 
 tempted before the archbishop, it was credibly re- 
 ported that parties calling were refused a hearing. 
 Yes, an archbishop who is a graduate from Boston 
 public schools, who has been credited with unusual 
 breadth, good humor, intelligence and candor, gave 
 his indorsement not only to Father Scully's purposes, 
 but also to the means he used for carrying them out. 
 These items were currently mentioned in the news- 
 papers and elsewhere, and we have seen no denial of 
 them. These things are significant of the spirit and 
 tendency of the papal priesthood in the United States. 
 What guarantee have we that these methods will 
 be limited to educational matters? They will be 
 formidable enough if aimed only against the public 
 school system so fundamental to American life and 
 institutions. But they are applied to other matters. 
 How many priests have attempted a spiritual coercion 
 over their flocks in regard to voting in elections ? 
 
 Pope Leo XIII. on Liberty. 
 
 The latest, and one of the most important ency- 
 clical letters of Pope Leo XIII. was issued from 
 Pome on the 20th of June, 1888. It is an exposi- 
 tion of the doctrine of " Liberty " as held by the 
 Church of Rome. But such a doctrine of liberty ! 
 It is only liberty to submit to Pome and do what 
 Pome dictates. I am not slurring the document. 
 
334 RoMAxisM vs. The Public School System. 
 
 There can be no otlier rational interpretation of it. 
 Look at the premises laid down in the first para- 
 graph. When reasoning with Roman Catholics we 
 must remember that thej are skillful logicians — that 
 is, in the old tricks of logic laid down by the school- 
 men of the Middle Ages. Now let ns notice the 
 argument* introduced as the basis for the whole 
 letter. The Pope says : 
 
 Man, indeed, is free to obey his reason, to seek 
 moral good, and to strive after his last end. Yet he 
 is free also to turn aside to all other things, to follow 
 after false dreams of happiness, to disturb established 
 order, and to fall headlong into the destruction which 
 he has voluntarily chosen. 
 
 He says man's will is naturally free, but has an in- 
 firmity or weakness under which it is liable to act 
 wrongly and fatally wrong. He then proceeds : 
 
 The Redeemer of mankind, Jesus Christ, having 
 restored and exalted the original dignity of nature, 
 vouchsafed special assistance to the will of man, and 
 by the gifts of his grace and the promise of heavenly 
 bliss he raised it to a nobler state. 
 
 Christ having made this provision for enabling 
 and strengtliening man's will, Pope Leo says, he has 
 committed it to his Church to dispense. I will give 
 his words : 
 
 * We quote from the letter as published in the Boston Pilot 
 August 11, 1888. 
 
Can Eome Change? 335 
 
 This great gift of nature has ever been, nnd always 
 will be, constantly cherished by the Catholic Chni'ch ; 
 for to her alone ha^ heen comynitted the charge of 
 handing down to all ages tlce benefits ])UTchased for 
 lis hy Jisus Christ. 
 
 Here we have the pivotal point of this great En- 
 cvclical. The Catholic Church is the repository, the 
 dispenser, of this grace which enables men to exercise 
 true liberty. It " has been committed " '^ to her 
 alone^^ and can be obtained only in her fold, in im- 
 plicit, unquestioning obedience to her dictation. 
 
 This is the latest utterance of Rome. The pope 
 discourses upon the necessity of law and conformity to 
 it — a doctrine w^hich Protestants recognize ; but we 
 teach a voluntary obedience to law, the act of indi- 
 vidual choice — very different from a blind unquestion- 
 ing submission to the dictation of an imperious hier- 
 archy. 
 
 He contends that " the profession of one religion is 
 necessary in the State ; that one must be professed 
 which alone is true,^'' the religion of the ^'"Catholic 
 States^ " This religion," therefore, " the rulers of the 
 State must preserve and protect." He speaks of the 
 theory of "the separation of Church and State" as a 
 " fatal theory." He says that " liberty of conscience 
 should be restricted to the true religion " (the Roman 
 Catholic) " and within these Imiits boldly defended." 
 
336 Romanism vs. The Public School System. 
 
 That is the whole story about Hbertj — there is no hb- 
 erty to be recognized, or which has any claim to be 
 respected, outside of the Roman Catholic Church. 
 Pope Leo XIII. did not need to proclaim this doctrine 
 at this late day. It has for centuries been the de- 
 clared policy of Rome, and has been illustrated in 
 flames and blood, and the agonizing tortures of the 
 Inquisition. These utterances, in the year of grace 
 1888, are specially commended to the candid attention 
 of such Americans as think Romanism is essentially 
 modilied in our times and in our country. 
 
 We hear much about the attachment of the Roman 
 Catholics to the political institutions of the United 
 States. The American Catholic Quarterly Review ^ 
 says it is " because under those institutions they enjoy 
 greater religious freedom than they do in Europe, and 
 also because the Catholic Church in this country is 
 less trammeled and less interfered with, and is much 
 more prosperous than it is under most of the govern- 
 ments of European countries." Euroj^ean countries 
 have had bitter experiences with Romanism, and have 
 found that it cannot be trusted. Hence the close 
 restrictions there environing the papacy. The larger 
 liberty enjoyed by the Church in the United States 
 should certainly be ap]3reciated, but the ad cajytandum 
 utterances complimentary to American institutions 
 
 *Ju]y, 1888. 
 
Can Kome Change? 337 
 
 are too illogical, from a Eoman Catholic standpoint, 
 and consequently too specious and insinuating, to be 
 trusted. This Review further says that Archbishop 
 Ryan, of Philadelphia, "has expressed these ideas, 
 not only in this countr}^, but also in Europe, and 
 notably in Eome, only a few months ago, in his ad- 
 dress to the sovereign pontiff of the Church, at the 
 formal presentation of a copy of the Constitution of 
 the Ilniled States by President Cleveland, in honor of 
 the fiftieth ordination to the priesthood of Leo XIII. 
 ... In confirmation of this we make the following 
 brief quotations from that address : 
 
 In your holiness's admirable Encyclical, '^Lnmor- 
 tale Dei^'' you truly state that the Church is wedded 
 to no particular form of civil government. Your 
 favorite theologian, St. Thomas Aquinas, has written 
 true and beautiful things concerning republicanism. 
 In our American republic the Catholic Church is left 
 perfectly free to act out her sacred and beneficent 
 mission to the human race. . . . We beg your holi- 
 ness, therefore, to bless this great country, which has 
 achieved so much in a single century ; to bless the 
 land discovered by your holy compatriot, Christopher 
 Columbus ; to bless the prudent and energetic Presi- 
 dent of the United States of America ; and, finally, 
 we ask, kneeling at your feet, that you bless ourselves 
 and the people committed to our care. 
 
 In reply to Archbishop Ryan his holiness said : 
 
 As the Archbishop of Philadelphia has said, they 
 (the Americans) enjoy full liberty in the true sense of 
 22 
 
338 Romanism vs. The Public School System. 
 
 the term, guaranteed by the Constitution — a copy 
 of wliich is presented to me. Religion is there free 
 to extend continually, more and more, the empire of 
 Christianity, and the Church to develop) her benefi- 
 cent activities. As the head of the Church I owe 
 my care and solicitude to all parts of the world, but I 
 bear for America a very special affection. . . . Your 
 country is great with a future full of hope. Your 
 nation is free. Your Government is strong, etc. 
 
 This is the way American citizens are flattered, and 
 the dust fully blinds many eyes. We ai'e familiar 
 with this kind of glorification of the liberty of our re- 
 public. We do not fully credit them when papal 
 prelates utter their compliments and their jiatronizing 
 platitudes about the institutions of the United States. 
 We cannot forget Rome's dogmas, Rome's logic, 
 Rome's record, Rome's diplomacy, and Rome's sub- 
 tlety in all the past ; nor can we ignore the inevitable 
 trend of her administration. May heaven forgive us 
 if we inflict any injustice. We have sincerely tried 
 to appreciate all they have said ; but we cannot see 
 how an intelligent logical person can harmonize their 
 politico-ecclesiastical dogmas with the platitudes with 
 which they seek to disabuse American minds. If the 
 fault is ours we must rest under the aspersion, until 
 the prelates of Rome shall have so lived down their 
 long and oft confirmed record as to fui"nish a rational 
 basis for confidence. 
 
Can Rome Change? 339 
 
 "We ask if there are not clearly-defined utterances 
 from high Roman Catholic authorities which justify 
 us in withholding confidence ? Yes. Pope Leo XIII. 
 himself states the attitude of the Church on this ques- 
 tion in a way that excites the deepest distrust. He 
 says, in his late Encyclical on Liberty, June 20, 1888 : 
 
 Although in the extraordinary condition of these 
 times the Church usually acquiesces in certain modern 
 liberties, not hecaitse sJie prefers them in theinselves, 
 but because she judges it expedient to permit them, 
 
 IN BETTER TIMES SHE WOULD USE HEE OWN LIBERTY. 
 
 Yes, doubtless. This apparently quiet utterance 
 has a deep meaning. "In better times" — that is, 
 when the Church possesses the power, " she will use 
 her own liberty." Will American citizens giv^e her 
 this supreme power? Answer, ye loyal sons of 
 America ! 
 
 He speaks in one place of " the excesses of an un- 
 bridled intellect.' ' Every son of Rome is hridled in 
 intellect ; and what excesses of bridled intellect we 
 have in the example of Alexander VL, in the St. Bar- 
 tholomew massacre, in the slaughter of the Walden- 
 sians and the Huguenots ; in the burning of Latimer, 
 Cranmer, John Rogers, etc. ; in the tragic, heart-rend- 
 ing scenes of the Inquisition ! If such the excesses of 
 bridled intellects, directed by Rome, let the intellect 
 of the world be '^«^bridled. Do Bishop Spalding and 
 
340 KoMx\.NisM vs. The Public School System. 
 
 tlie founders of the new Catliolic University propose 
 to throw off the bridle of the papacy ? No. They 
 are still to be Pope Leo's nags, bridled and driven by 
 him. And they propose to gather the children of 
 papists into parochial schools, that the Konian hier- 
 arch may bridle them and drive tliem along the dusty, 
 deeply rutted paths of the papacy in abject submission 
 to the dictation of foreign ecclesiastics. Thus curbed 
 and reined, they propose in due time to thrust these 
 children and youth upon us as American citizens, 
 with their eyes turned askant to Pome, obeying every 
 look and nod of the pontiff' whose lust for dominion 
 covets the submission of these United States to his 
 dictation. 
 
 Such is the Encyclical. "We join with the Inde- 
 pendent in saying, " It is really not an essay about 
 liberty, but an essay against liberty of thought and 
 speech and worship." 
 
 The reason why we have introduced this latest papal 
 Encyclical is that the American people may have the 
 latest Roman Catholic utterance of the highest author- 
 ity in regard to lilierty, that they may also see that 
 Pome has not essentially changed, and that they may 
 know how utterly disqualified is the Poman Cath- 
 olic Church to train the children, or any part of the 
 children of this free repTiblic. The more of them she 
 trains in her domnas the more difficult will be the 
 
Can Rome Change? 341 
 
 work of molding, establishing, and conducting the 
 affairs of this repubhc. 
 
 Revolt. 
 
 Said a Catholic layman in a recent article ' in the 
 Independent^^ " There is at present a deep stirring of 
 thought among Roman CathoKc laymen, which is 
 none the less earnest because, for obvious reasons, it 
 cannot voice itseK exteriorly. And this opinion is 
 the result of careful consideration, on the part of one 
 who has had special and exceptional opportunities of 
 knowing the ojDinions of both priests and laymen of 
 the Roman Catholic Church." But he says no jDublic 
 expression of opinion at all at variance with the gov- 
 erning powers of the Church is tolerated. He thinks, 
 however, it must yet break out into utterance. He 
 further adds, " How deeply the papal questions of the 
 hour are trying men's souls will never be known until 
 the day of account. . . . There is as deep an agita- 
 tion in the Roman Catholic Church to-day as there 
 has ever been. The fire smoulders ; when and where 
 the flames will break forth God only knoweth. But 
 for those who desire truth to prevail there is a terrible 
 responsibility, if they 'break the bruised reed or 
 quench the smoking flax.' " 
 
 The New York Herald, edited by a gentleman of 
 
 * August 9, 1888. 
 
342 Romanism vs. The Public School System. 
 
 the Boman Catholic faith, and of princely generosity 
 to the poor of Ireland, said (October 14, 1880), " The 
 people have an opportunity to see just what sort of 
 an institution the (Roman) Catholic Church is in pol- 
 itics, and to understand what a farce it would be to 
 pretend that free government can continue where it 
 is permitted to touch its hand to politics. . . . This is 
 a Protestant country, and the American people are a 
 Protestant people. They tolerate all religions, even 
 Mohammedanism ; but there are some points in these 
 tolerated religions to wdiich they object and will not 
 permit, and the vice of the (Roman) Catholic Church, 
 by which it has rotted out the political institutions 
 of all countries where it exists, which has made it like 
 a flight of locusts every-where, will be properly re- 
 buked here when it fairly shows its purpose." The 
 article added an assurance that the Herald was " in 
 the fullest possible sympathy with American ojiinion 
 on this important tojjic," and a few days later (Oc- 
 tober 30, 1880), the editor, recurring to this subject, 
 wrote, " In all it then said the Herald has the 
 sympathy of many loyal and devoted (Roman) Cath- 
 olics." Will not such sentiments soon find fuller and 
 freer utterances among Romanists ? 
 
 On Christmas day, 1881, Pope Leo XIIL, address- 
 ing his cardinals, sent to the Christian world a greet- 
 ing which contained the following utterances : 
 
Can Rome Change? 343 
 
 It is with deep regret and profound anguisli that 
 we behold the impiety with which Protestants propa- 
 gate freely, and with impunity, their heretical doc- 
 trines, attacking the most august and the most sacred 
 dogmas of our very holy religion, even here at Rome, 
 the center of the faith and the seat of the universal 
 and infallible teacher of the Church ; here, where the 
 integrity of the faith should be protected and the 
 honor of the only true rehgion should be secured by 
 the most efficient means. 
 
 It is with sorrow of heart that I see the temples of 
 heterodoxy multiplying under the protection of the 
 laws, and liberty given in Rome to destroy the most 
 beautiful and most precious unity of the Italians, their 
 religious unity, by the mad efforts of those who arro- 
 gate to themselves the imjoious mission of estabhshing 
 a new Church in Italy, not based on the stone placed 
 by Jesus Christ as the indestructible foundation of his 
 heavenly edifice. 
 
 Theory of the Papacy. 
 It is an old dogma of Rome, never changed or 
 modified, that both the ecclesiastical and temporal 
 authority, exercised and still claimed by the popes, is 
 invested in them by divine appointment. In support 
 of this doctrine they appeal first to the ]^ew Testa- 
 ment, and next to the tradition of the Church, handed 
 down, as they claim, in unbroken continuity from the 
 apostles to the present time. According to their the- 
 ory, the apostle Peter was indicated by Christ as 
 superior to the rest of the apostles in faith and spirit- 
 ual discernment, and as the one invested with special 
 
34:4: E.OMANISM vs. The Public School System. 
 
 ])i'e-eminence. The Clnirch, too, wliicli Peter was to 
 found and preside over (at Rome, as they claim), was 
 predestined to a superiority among otlier churches, 
 and St. Peter's personal superiority w^as to be vested 
 in perj)etuity in his successors at Rome. 
 
 Such is the theory at the basis of the exclusive 
 authority exercised by the Roman Catholic Church. 
 The evidence on which these claims rests is very am- 
 biguous and conflicting, most of it of more than doubt- 
 ful genuineness, and scattered through a period of so 
 much obscurity that the conclusions reached, after the 
 greatest research, are feebly conjectural, too indefinite 
 to constitute the basis for the monstrous assumptions 
 on which the papacy is predicated and acts. But 
 Roman Catholics have accepted the basis as sufficiently 
 genuine, and on these premises, logically, unblushingly, 
 and always, they plead supreme authority and power. 
 How, then, can Rome change in her essential char- 
 acter ? 
 
 Popery is wholly 
 
 Out of Sympathy with Modern Ideas and 
 Pkogress. 
 
 The evidence abounds. That enliglitened statesman, 
 Count Cavour, prime minister of Victor Emmanuel, 
 showed a thorough comprehension of the genius of 
 Romanism for the repression of free thought, and de- 
 
Can Eome Cuaxge i . 345 
 
 clarecl that lie would seek tlie overthrow of the papal 
 dominion, not by fire and fagot, the favorite weapons 
 of Home for long ages, but by the introduction of 
 modern improvements. He said : 
 
 I will attack Rome by railways, by the electric tele- 
 graph, by agricultural improvements, by establishing 
 national banks, by gratuitous education on a large 
 scale, by civil marriages, by the secularization of con- 
 ventual property, by the enactment of a model code 
 embodying the most lenient laws in Europe, and by 
 the suppression of corporeal punishment. I will place 
 the spirit of modern expansion face to face with the 
 old spirit of obscuration ; I am quite certain the for- 
 mer will triumpli. I will establish a blockade of new 
 civilization around Rome. If she undergoes a modi- 
 fication she will come to us ; if she remains unchanged 
 she will, by constant comparison, become so disgusted 
 with her state of inferiority that she will throw her- 
 self into our arms to escape destruction. 
 
 This policy has extended in Italy, and internal im- 
 provements are visible ; but the noble administrator 
 passed away in the midst of his labors, and the new 
 policy has felt the loss of his vigorous hand. 
 
 Reform and PuoaRESs Handicapped by Recent 
 
 Action. 
 
 The world has never seen organic Romanism so far 
 removed from the infiuence of modern progress as 
 since the Yatican Council of 1869-18Y0. Prior to 
 that time a collective infallibility was indeed ascribed 
 
346 KoMANisM vs. The Public School System. 
 
 to tlie pope, but his personal official infallibility 
 had never been formally proclaimed as a dogma of 
 the Church. Heretofore all matters of dispute in 
 regard to doctrine and ecclesiastical affairs were settled 
 by an Ecumenical Council, which was the supreme 
 tribunal. As a typical illustration may be cited the 
 action of the Council of Constance (141tl— 1418), depos- 
 ing three popes from their positions. That council 
 held every thing in its own hands, claimiii^ and exer- 
 cising supreme jurisdiction in matters of faith and 
 administration, to which all parties, popes included, 
 must submit in obedience. Pope Martin V. himself 
 formally assented to and indorsed the attitude of that 
 body. 
 
 The Council of Trent (1545-1563), if it did not 
 create, confirmed and established the essential features 
 of the modern Romish Church, giving a stamp of per- 
 manency to some tilings before more or less problem- 
 atical. Since then the Romish Church has rested 
 her dogmas, laws, and regulations upon the decisions 
 of that council. The Church, dating from Trent, has 
 at least one point of difference from the Church ante- 
 Trent. The strong reformation current within the 
 Church, in the prior period, was expelled by the action 
 of the Council of Trent, and the Church has since 
 borne the stamp of an anti-reformation character. 
 " Ever since," says Uhlhorn (Das rumische Council), 
 
Can Eome Change? 3i7 
 
 " lier course lias been onward to a more perfect suppres- 
 sion and elimination of all reformatory and evangelical 
 elements. Out of tlie mediseval Catholic Church has 
 issued the specifically Eomish Church, and the direc- 
 tion of her development is set forth by the statement 
 that the Catholic character retreats more and more be- 
 hind the specifically Romish." 
 
 Uhlhorn allows that there has been a species of im- 
 provement in the Catholic Church since the Council 
 of Trent, such as in the general character of her clergy 
 and a correction of the more scandalous abuses, and 
 there has been a small measure of progress. But 
 there has been a retrograde in dogmas, as seen in the 
 authoritative sanction of two such dogmas as the im- 
 maculate conception of the Yirgin Mary and the infal- 
 libility of the pope (both during the pontificate of 
 Pius IX.). 
 
 By the recent Vatican Council the most extreme 
 ultramontane theory was established, the jjope being 
 raised to the character of an absolute infallible mon- 
 arch, without peer, rival, or associate in authority, to 
 whom even an Ecumenical Council stands only in an ad- 
 visory relation, with no power to amend his decrees nor 
 even to convene for advisory purposes except as sum- 
 moned by his mandate. What more explicit asser- 
 tion of unqualified sovereignty than the text of the 
 doirma : 
 
3i8 Romanism 6'6'. The Public School System. 
 
 If any sliall say that the Koman pontiff has the of- 
 fice merely of inspection or direction, and not full and 
 sti'prerne power of jurisdiction over the universal 
 Churchy not only in things which belong Xo faith and 
 morals^ but also to those which relate to the discipline 
 and government of the Church spread throughout the 
 world, or assert that he possesses merely the principal 
 part and not all the fullness of this supreme power 
 . . . let him he anathema. 
 
 The Vatican decree of papal infallibility declares : 
 
 . . . "We teach and define that it is a dogma divinely 
 revealed tliat the Roman pontiff, when he speaks ex 
 cathedra — that is, when in discharge of the oftice of 
 pastor and doctor of all Christians, by virtue of his su- 
 preme apostolic authority, he defines a doctrine regard- 
 ing faith or morals to be held by the universal Church, 
 by the divine assistance promised to him in blessed 
 Peter — is possessed of that infallibility with which the 
 divine Redeemer willed that his Clmrch should be en- 
 dowed for defining doctrine regarding faith or morals; 
 and, therefore, such definitions of the Roman pontiff 
 are irreformable of thennselves^ and not from the con- 
 sent of the Church. 
 
 Since the aforesaid declaration was made, the most 
 eminent Roman Catholic prelates have interpreted it as 
 having a well-nigh universal breadth, bringing witliin 
 the scope of papal infallibility, for decision by his 
 short ex cathedra process, matters of science and his- 
 tory, if the pope is pleased to regard them as related 
 to faith and morals. Thus it is proposed to supersede 
 the old processes of reasoning, examination, and in- 
 
Can Kome Change? 349 
 
 vestigation, and receive the oracular decision of the 
 Roman pontiff. Eeceptiveness and docility are to 
 supplant individual thought and pains-taking inquiry. 
 How does such a theory comport with modern prog- 
 ress ? 
 
 Cardinal Manning defines the Vatican dogma as 
 maintaining that infalhbility extends to all that is op- 
 posed to revelation, to all that is scandalous or offen- 
 sive to pious ears, and to all matters pertaining to the 
 proper custody of Catholic belief. He says : * 
 
 It extends to certain truths of natural science, as, 
 for example, the existence of substance, and to truths 
 of natural reason, such as that the soul is immaterial, 
 that it is " the form of the body," and the like. It 
 extends, also, to certain truths of the supernatural 
 order which are not revealed, as the authenticity of 
 certain texts or versions of the holy Scripture. There 
 are truths of mere human history which are not re- 
 vealed, without which the deposit of the faith cannot 
 be taught or guarded in its integrity. For instance, 
 that St. Peter was Bishop of Rome, that tiie Council of 
 Trent and the Council of the Vatican are ecumenical 
 —that is, legitimately celebrated and confirmed ; that 
 Pius ^ IX. is the successor of St. Peter by legitimate 
 election. . . . That there is an ultimate judge in such 
 matters of history as affect the truths of revelation is 
 a dogma of faith. 
 
 In pleading for papal autocracy and infallibility the 
 argument, from need, is very prominent with Catholic 
 
 *7%e Vatican Cou7icil audits Definitions. 1871. 
 
350 Romanism vs. The Public School System. 
 
 writers. They have this ridiculously short cut : '* An 
 infallible tribunal is needed ; therefore there is an in- 
 fallible tribunal ; " or as Mr. J. II. Newman* puts it : 
 "The absolute need of spiritual supremacy is at present 
 the strongest of arguments in favor of the fact of its 
 supply." 
 
 HEREAFTER, IF ANY PRIESTS OB 
 PRELATES OF ROME DESIRE TO II A VE 
 THE CHURCH MAKE ANY MODIFICA- 
 TION OR ANY INNOVATION IN DOC- 
 TRINE, OR CHANGE IN HER ESSEN- 
 TIALLY ROMISH POLICY, THEY ARE 
 UTTERLY POWERLESS 
 
 This is evident, because by the absurd action of the 
 notorious Vatican Council they have surrendared that 
 power to the pope, giving to him full and absolute 
 authority in such matters. But the pope cannot j)ro- 
 claira any doctrine contrary to the teachings of the 
 Council of Trent, because that was an Ecumenical 
 Council, and the dogmas of Ecumenical Councils are 
 held to be infallible. There is, therefore, no chance 
 for any progress or essential reform. The way is 
 blocked. The ratchet is set. Nothing but a convul- 
 sive upheaval can break up and destroy the iron 
 clamps Mdiich now bind the papacy. 
 
 * Essay on Development. 
 
Can Rome Change? 351 
 
 Professor George E. Fisher, D.D., "^ says : 
 
 Tlie proclamation of tlie poi3e's infallibility in re- 
 ligious doctrine and in ethical teaching has raised, as 
 far as we can now see, a new barrier in the way of 
 Christian union. It sharpens the antagonism between 
 the Pi^otestant and the Roman Catholic position. The 
 boundary between the two religions is no longer in a 
 degree vague and fluctuating. An absolutely tangible 
 issue is presented. As long as this dogma of papal 
 infallibility is upheld we can see no room either for a 
 gradual reformation of doctrine in the Roman com- 
 munion or for a reunion of the two sundered branches 
 of the Western Church. 
 
 In this retrograde movement in the Romish Church, 
 handicapping all progress, modification, and reform, the 
 Catholic prelates of the United States, as we have seen, 
 acted a prominent part — a relatively larger and less 
 enlightened part than the prelates of the old countries 
 of papal Europe — in the Vatican Council. So hope- 
 less is it to look for any material modification and im- 
 provement of the essential character of Romanism in 
 the United States at the close of the nineteenth century. 
 
 In the light of these facts, let American citizens 
 seriously ponder the hostile attitude of the Roman 
 Catholic Church toward our public school system, and 
 her pernicious influence upon the future prospects 
 and citizenship of the multitude of children trained in 
 her parochial schools. 
 
 * In the Congregationaiist. 
 
THE LIQUOR PROBLEM IN ALL AGES, 
 
 By Rev. DANIEL DOBCHESTEB, D.D. 
 
 A New Edition, Eevised, and Including the Newest Phases of the 
 
 Temperance Movement, from 1883 to 1888. 728 Pages Octavo, 
 
 Beautifully Bound, and Printed with Large Type. 
 
 Price, $2 50, Sent by Mail on Keceipt of 
 
 Price. Subscription Agents Desired. 
 
 COMMENDATIONS OF THE NEW EDITION, 1888. 
 
 The Boston Journal said : " Dr. Daniel Dorchester's work upon The 
 Liquor Pi'ohkm in All Ages, revised, and in a supplementary chapter 
 brought down to the year 1888, presents a valuable account of liquor legis- 
 lation and other efforts made toward temperance in this country and 
 abi'oad. The tables of statistics, reports, and other evidence are of great 
 use in estimating the growth of the temperance movement. Doctor Dor- 
 chester's historical accuracy is well known, and his enthusiasm upon this 
 subject enables him to comment with much force upon encouraging facts." 
 
 i//'.s. J. Ellen Foster, President of the W. C. T. U. of Iowa, said: "I 
 thankfully welcome the new edition of your great work, The Liquor 
 Problem in All Ages. The volume of temperance sentiment in our age 
 and country is so great; its crystallizations in society, in law, and in pol- 
 itics are so many and varied ; its related issues in our changing civiliza- 
 tion are so multiform, that we do well to study foundation pnnciples and 
 historic data. In this I have been greatly helped by your book. I feel 
 the bed-rock of truth under my feet as I read its pages. Surely, one needs 
 to find the 'sure foundations' in these troublous times. Tlie author has, 
 with great care in detail, brought the work down to the last acts of this 
 Drama of Progress, and with characteristic judicial poise set forth this 
 many-sii-led contest of the powers of darkness with the ever-rising sun 
 of truth. I'd like, if it were possible, to turn book-agent, and go from 
 house to house with this wonderful volume." 
 
 Rev. Albert H. I'lnmb, I>. Z>., said : " The new edition of TJie Liquor 
 Problem is greatly increased in value. The mass of recent information 
 packed into the long supplement makes the volume complete as a com- 
 pondiuiu of the freshest and weightiest facts up to the present year. I 
 liave turned to it again and again for needed implements in temperance 
 work. The entire book, with its histories, its diagi-ams, its tables, its 
 voluminous testimonies and powerful nasoning, is a characteristic mon- 
 ument to the patient research and judicial wisdom of its industrious and 
 able author." 
 
 The Watchman said: "Dr. Dorchester's eminence as a statistician 
 assures his readers that where facts are concerned he speaks with care, 
 and is unassailable. An important feature of the book is eleven colored 
 I iiagrams strikingly illustrating the economic aspects of intemperance and 
 its relative progress to the population in the British Isles and in the 
 United States. It is a storehouse of facts and principles worthy to be 
 meditated on by thoughtful readers and serviceable to temperance work- 
 ers. It is a handsome as well as useful volume, copiously illustrated." 
 
 PHILLIPS & HUNT, Publishers, 805 Broadway. N. Y. 
 
Christianity in the Ijmb ^tates 
 
 FROM THE 
 
 pirst Settlement dou/p to tl^e present Jime. 
 
 By DANIEL DORCHESTER, D.D. 
 
 800 pages. Svo. , with Maps, etc. 
 In Cloth, - - $4 50. Half ^Morocco, - - $6 OO. 
 
 PHILLIPS & HUNT, 805 Broadway, New York City, and 
 CRANSTON & STOWE, Cincinnati, O. 
 
 com:]me]vi"s. 
 
 The Watchman says: "The author has placed all interested in the 
 study of religion in this country under great obligations. The phin of 
 the work contemplates a succinct .iccount of every considerable religious 
 movement in our land since the discovery of America. . . . The reader 
 will be especially impressed with the impartiality of the chapters recnunt- 
 iug the origin and growth of the Roman Catholic Chuich in this country. 
 . . . He seems to have risen to the iiliilosophieal conccjition which was 
 foreign to the mind of D'Aubigne, and which is imperfectly perceived by 
 the average controversialist." 
 
 The Western Christian Advocate nays: "It is the work of an investi- 
 gator, and may be made to do invaluable service in the hands of students 
 of the religious history of our country. In all respects the work is 
 wort ly of the highest commendation." 
 
 The Eev. Philip Schaft', D.D., LL.D., says: '■'■Christianity in the 
 United States is a most valuable contribution to our American church 
 history. It more than tills the place for our generation which Dr. Baird's 
 book did for his." 
 
 The Rev. Joseph Cook says: "You have made what ouojlit to be a 
 great and growing circle of readers profoundly your debtors bv tl.is con- 
 tributi'>n to the study of the wiiys of Providence in the education of the 
 foremost Christian republic of all time." 
 
 The Independent says: ^'■Christianity in the United States, bj' Dr. Dor- 
 chester, is a really great book. I have looked over it (in proof sheets) 
 and am atnazed at tlie thoroughness and accuracy which characterize this 
 stupendous undertaking. It is a perfect mine of information, und I am 
 glad that so competent and careful a man as Dr. Dorchester has had the 
 courage and patience to work out such a splendid result." 
 
 The Christian Union says: '■ Thoroughly fair-minded, it is full of facts, 
 which, judged from the stand-point of the secular reader, are of the greatest 
 importance and interest. . . . The volume tills its niche, and will be of serv- 
 ice in popularizing a knowledge of the past and present of our churches." 
 
 The Examiner (Baptist) says: "The history of various Christian bod- 
 ies in (he United States is more candid, comprehensive, and accurate than 
 we should know how to find in any other single book." 
 
THE WHY OF METHODISM. 
 
 By DANIEL DORCHESTER, D.D. 
 
 16mo. 'T'O cents. 
 
 PHILLIPS & HMT, - 805 Broadway, New York Oity. 
 
 "WIIA.T IS SJ^IJD OF IT. 
 
 The Boston Daily Traveler s,a,y&: "Dr. Dorchester has made clear to 
 thou.sands of the great Church of whiuh he is one of the leadh:^ clergy- 
 men the reasons for theii- own faith which many have perhaps only dimly 
 seen. Methodist Episcopal polity is a puzzle to outsiders, and is not 
 always clear to insiders. Both these classes will find Dr. Dorchester's 
 volume of great interest." 
 
 The California Christian Advocate says : " It is tlie most powerful and 
 convincing argument on Methodism ever issued, and it is in a form so 
 condensc'l that any one can read it througii in a day. If, after reading 
 this book, any Methodist wants to get out of the Church, all the doors and 
 windows ought to bo opened, so that he may go quickly." 
 
 The Rev. W. F. Warren, D.D., LL.D., President of Boston University, 
 says: "It ought to be placed in the Reading Course of the 'Oxford 
 League ;' also, in the proposed course for the class-leaders of our Church." 
 
 The Michigan Christian Advocate says : " The view is by no means nar- 
 row and technical, but is a comprehensive and intelligent survey of Meth- 
 odism. ... It would be a good book to scatter broadcast in the Church, 
 and will be especially appropriate ia our Sunday School libraries." 
 
 The Northern Christian Advocate says: 'Dr. Dorchester worthily 
 represents his Church. . . . The book is well worthy of a wide circula- 
 tion." 
 
 The Peninsula Methodist says : A most opportune and valuable volume. 
 . . . This is another book that should be in every Methodist home and in 
 every library under Methodist control." 
 
 The Central Christian Advocate says: "The chnpter on 'Polity' is of 
 especial value. The pastors will do well to place this volume' in the 
 hands of persons who have rec-ntly joined the Church and those about 
 to join. It is an admirable volume." 
 
 T/ie Christian Advocate says : We give this little book, in its statements 
 rmd figures, the strongest commendation, and wish that it could be cir- 
 culated among our laymen and preachers as widely as possible." 
 
 T7ie Methodist Review says : "Viewed as a brief and popular presenta- 
 tion of the question, it is one of the best books of its class hitherto pro- 
 duced. In strong and pithy style it treats of the origin, the character, 
 the inference, and the polity of Methodism." 
 
THE ?\mm OF I^ELIGIOUS FI|OGI[ESS, 
 
 By DANIEL DORCHESTER, D.D. 
 
 603 Pages. Price, $2. 
 
 PHILLIPS & HUNT, 805 Broadway, New York City. 
 
 COM.M:E3SrTS. 
 
 This is pre-eminently a book for the times. — ChvMian Guardian. 
 
 Whoever tal\es up this book intending only to glance at a few of the 
 statistics will probably he mistaken, for, having begun to read, he will 
 ■wish to keep on to the end. This at least was our experience, notwith- 
 standing the work is so largely one of statistics, by which we are not 
 easily entranced. The reader is impressed with tlie great care taken in 
 preparing the computations, the evident candor with which they have 
 been prepared, and the magnitude of the problem to which they have 
 been applied. — llie Watchman. 
 
 A remarkable book. Nothing issued from the press in recent years 
 can surpass it in interest for the Christian Church. . . . The book can- 
 not fail to have an extensive sale among all Christian denominations. 
 No brief notice can do justice to its contents. Its pages must be studied. 
 Its ciiapter on missions is worth many times the price of the book. — 
 Methodist Mission Rooms. 
 
 One of the best books that has appeared recently. — Western Christian 
 Advocate. 
 
 Dr. Dorchet^ter deserves much consideration as a collator of facts and 
 a cl"se reasoner upon them. . . . The general result of his reasoning is 
 instructively re-assuring. . . . As the main value of the tables necessa- 
 rily resides in their accuracy it is interesting to note the unwearied pains 
 with which Dr. Dorchester has supplied Iiimself with the freshest and 
 most authentic returns, and the skill with which — when such a course 
 was the only one — he has freshened outworn estimates into what may 
 fairly Ik- taken as present probabilities. . . . We hesitate not to say that, 
 in our judgment, this is the most important contribution which has thus 
 far been made to a subject grave and full of interest. Every clergyman 
 needs the pluck which such a volume is calculated to breed. — Congrega- 
 tionallst. 
 
 If any one doubts the permanency of the Christian religion, or imag- 
 ines tliat it is to be swept a«ay by a few blatant infidels, he has only to 
 turn to the pages of this valuable volume to be re-assured. — New York 
 Evening hxpress. 
 
 We scarcely remember to have read a book so well sustained through- 
 out,_ and containing so nnich clear thinking and so many valuable facts 
 in similar compass. Let every minister read it, and every despairing 
 Christian use ii as a tonic, and especially should those who have to con- 
 tend with skeptics and revilers fortify themselves by the mastery of its 
 contents. — Rev. .J. M. JSuchleij, D.D. 
 
 The book embodies a solid array of facts, the force of which cannot be 
 evaded. — The Methodist.