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Protestant element , 119 Protestant exclusively , and 918 schools almost wholly Roman Catholic , in which the admixture did not exceed 6 per cent ., making a total of 59 per cent . But at all events it may be -argued these modifications were made to suit the -condition of the country , and if a good secular edu--cation can be enforced in these sectarian offshoots , let the Commissioners not be harshly judged for this change in their system , the result of causes beyond * heir control . They will at least have the 29 per cent , of schools vested in themselves wherein throughout Ireland they can foster a model form of education , uniting all sects in friendly intercourse , and impaf ting in common with secular knowledge those unsectarian truths of relig ion and jmorality which are common to every form of Christianity . Not so . The party which has grasped , and successfully , at the control of education in France ( in spite of the passionate eloquence of a Victor Hugo in the Assemblee Nationale , in 1850 ) , in Austria through the Concordat , which raises at this very moment the war cry of sect in Sardinia , at the possibility of losing the control of its national education—the * parti pretre' in fine—induced the Commissioners , in 1840 , so far to reverse their order , that the moral and religious element , as contained in the ' Scripture extracts , ' was not in future to be considered a necessary part of the regular instruction , and was to be omitted altogether , if any parent or guardian objected to its use . In 1842 any one child could effect the total exclusion of this element from any vested national school . In 1853 the ' Scripture extracts' were excluded from the authorised list of books , and the other two courses of lessons were to be used only before or after the regular school hours upon the requisition of any one child in the school . After this Dr . Whately and the Right Honourable Mr . Blackburne resigned their seats at the Board , and the National system has become split as it were into three sections , embracing Presbyterian , Roman Catholic , and secular schools , in which Roman Catholic influence preponderates . The mixed system , as recommended by the Board , and as sanctioned by the Privy Council Committee of Education , scarcely exists . Why , then , should 4 he Liberal party be called onto reject the claims of any school or system of schools in Ireland to the ¦ b enefit of Government aid , upon the plea of interference with a successful (?) National scheme . Why should the Liberal party be induced to fight the battle of the Irish ultramontane priest against the diffusion of Scriptural schools , to which statistics prove the Irish Eoman Catholic people have no bigoted enmity ? The ' Kildare-place Society' support a number of schools throughout Ireland , in which between 80 , 000 and 90 , 000 children are at at the present moment being educated , with the Scriptures constantly read ; and of this number upwards of 15 , 000 are Roman Catholics . Is there any reason why these schools should be left to voluntary support— -schools in which mixed education , with the consent of the parents , is , at least , better carried out than in the non-vested national schools ? Is there any plea capable of weighing with the Liberal party why these children should be deprived of the benefit of Government inspection , of Government trained teachers , and school apparatus ? Is the Liberal party of England interested in withholding the Scriptures from the Irish people as a dangerous book , opposed to the spirit of progress , of independence , of good citizenship ? Were the Christians of India the revolters ? Are the million and a half Protestants of Ireland the supporters of Ribbonism , and the admirers of the Sepoys ? But let me not be mistaken ; deeply as I have learned to modify my opinion of Roman Catholicism since my residence here , I would less than ever advocate a departure from even-handed justice . Let the national system be continued and extended , where practicable , in the * vested 'Jbrm , but let all schools in which , say not less than thirty pupils attend , be admitted to all the advantages of connexion with the National Board , provided the teachers and the taught are submitted to a searching periodical examination in secular knowledge by competent and impartial inspectors . Under this modification , the Church of England schools on the one hand would receive their fair share of support , the Presbyterians would extend their system in Ulster , and the ( Roman Catholic ) Christian Brothers schools , so well spoken of in the south of Ireland , would also bo encouraged and multiplied , while the State , through the healthy competition , would be more securo of having its children , whether Protestant or Roman Catholic , imbued with sound secular knowledge * , „ r " ^ ii « firSir 7 ymir ( 5 lJe'aient '' S"ervrtnt ; ~ An Englishman heshdknt in Iiikland . Dublin , April 5 , 1858 .
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NOTICES TO CORRESPONDENTS . Several artioles are unavoidably postponed this week . Wo notice can be taken of anonymous correspondence Whatever is intended for insertion must beauthenticated by the name and address of the writer ; not necessarily for publication , but as a guarantee of his good faith . It is impossible to acknowledge the mass of letters we receive . Their insertion is often delayed , owing to a press of matter : and when omitted , it is frequently from reasons quiteindenendent of the merits of the communication .
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« . EMANCIPATION OF THE LIBERAL PARTY IN PARLIAMENT The patience of the country is being tried , and its temper more than a little rubbed by the present state of things in Parliament . A Government holding office from day to day , in obedience merely to the tactics , or to the temporary necessities , of an overwhelming Opposition , is not a gratifying sight to the country at the present moment , when the most natural of its desires must be the possession of a powerful and unequiyocally Liberal Government . It returned a large Liberal majority , — -almost for a special purpose , it is true ; but the inherent virtue which was in it impelled it to devote itself to larger uses than those for which it was originally intended ; and that majority belongs still to the country , which looks to it for representation , in spite of the malversation of the leader for whose support it was brought together . Lord Palme esxon neglected the cause with which he was specially entrusted , but his followers refused to become parties to his default . True to their trust , they remain on the field , but leaderless . But not only are they leaderless , they are apparently averse to making choice of a leader . In Mr . HonsMAu ' opinion , this is a position not altogether objectionable , and it is certainly one that may aiford it serviceable experiences ; but it is anomalous . The work which has to be done is done by incompetent hands , and results have in consequence to be accepted that are the reverse of satisfactory . From the hour of Lord Derby ' s accession to office to the present time he has not made one step forward on the way towards firmer ground , but he lias been obliged to accept conditions and , to offer compromises humiliating to his opponents no lesB than to himself ; the crowning humiliation to his government—at least so far—being the puerile eagerness displayed b y Mr . Disbaeh on Monday night to get rid of the responsibility of the Indian Bill , by adopting the suggestions of Lord John RussEiiL to bring the principles of the bill before the House in the form of resolutions , leaving the ultimate form of the measure to be ^ determiffe ' d ^ iff ^ comimittcei—Well ~" mightthe House laugh when Mr , Disraeli said it would be more agreeable to him if Lord John Russell would himself propose the resolutions . But to what end is the powerless Ministry of Lord Derby kept in office ? Until it is convenient to the Liberal party to decide between the claims of Lord Palmerbton
and Lord John Russell to the premiership ? The duty of the Liberal party at the present hour is of too pressing a kind to wait for conveniences of time or circumstance Nothing has occurred to mend the position of Lord Palmebston since his removal from power , and but for the impossibility of uniting the independent members with the tenacious ex-officials , there could be no difficulty in at once placing the party under the leadership of Lord John Russell , who is the natural leader of the Liberal party , and who upon the whole , possesses the confidence of the country . But what is to he done to secure the harmony and working efficacy of the divided party ? The answer to this inquiry is perfectly clear . Do not let us forget the real position of the country and of the principal questions under the force of prejudices against Lord Palmeestok . "What have been his antecedents ? Let us remember that he has never been the leader of the Liberal party during any active career on the subjects of domestic policy . We do not believe that he is a ' traitor ' to his country—that he betrays us to Russia , or intends to bring about the downfal of England . We admit a certain degree of verisimilitude in the great Uequhart epic , but some years back we accounted for it on principles which are quite sufficient ; and it is against all logic to advance larger reasons than those which suffice . Lord Palmerston is not a statesman trained in the school of English government , but in the school of diplomacy ; he belongs more to the diplomatic circle than to the circle of thoroughly English statesmen . His manner , as a political artist , has been shaped by the school in which he has been bred , and to which he has adhered through . out his life . It is a great art in that school to keep different powers or influences in such a state that they balance each other ; and Lord Palmerston ' s ' spirited policy , ' accompanied by great astuteness and prudence , has always tended to make the power of England felt without committing the country to positive courses . If he did so in the case of the Russian war , it was because the state of affairs at home offered a splendid opportunity for signalizing himself ; and a positive course happened to be peculiarly safe , as we have seen by the result ; while we have also seen that lie returned to a passive position as soon as possible . The time has passed by when a Minister of this kind is appropriate to the head of the Government . It has been tor want of political guidance , and for too great reliance in diplomatic guidance , that he has deviated into those inconsistencies on other questions which have broken up the Liberal party . The Liberals went with him ; he did not go with them ; and as they were sent up by the country to follow Jus guidance on a question then paramount , they have too many of them somewhat slavishly construed their duty to follow him wheresoever he might go ; countenancing him oven while he applied diplomatic shifts to our home politics . The Liberal party , therefore , has been betrayed into a false position . J'iei Liberal conviction and purpose of the country are , in point of fact , unrepresented at the present moment . Nobody expects that , it Lord Dicimr wore to fall into difficulties , no would reaort to a dissolution ; because a uis-SDlution-vrould-mosfc-lilcely-result ^ in-. ft-so > ia = _ ing up of a , larger balance of Liberal members , impatient to pub their opinion into action . On many accounts , a dissolution jb a turmoil that should be avoided just yot ; but the course for the statesmon to whom tlio lead of the Liberal party is lapsing is na «' ? as if they wore to ' appeal to the count ry * They must , iu fact , appeal to the country by
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• Tho sources of tho above statistical information arc the * Evidence taken beforo the Select Committee of the House of Lords , 1864 / tho reports of tho ' Kildareplace Society , ' and National Education of Ireland , ' n pamphlet , by Dr . Dwyer Farguaon , lato Aselstant-GomxnlBsioner of tho Endowed Schools Commission , 1858 .
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SA . TURDA . Y , APRIL 17 , 1858 .
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rhere is nothing so revolutionary , because there si nothing so unnatural and convulsive , as the strain to keepthings fixed when allthe vorld is by thevery lawof itacreationmeternal progress . —Du . Abnoi / p
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372 THE LEADER , [ No . 421 , April 17 , 1858 .
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Leader (1850-1860), April 17, 1858, page 372, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2239/page/12/
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