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CIHM/ICMH 
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 ■■'■ -■<':.:: * 
 
 894 
 rOR/\L LETTER 
 
 
 OF TifKIK LORDSHIPS THE 
 
 
 ^ARCHBISHOPS AND BISHOPS 
 
 li* 
 
 ♦ :■ f- 
 
 I I 
 
 F 1:.;. 
 
 V '■ ' \ 
 
 ar ;,'rit?AL PROVINCES OF QUEBEC 
 li.AND OTTAWA 
 
 9 ■• 
 
 ON E:uaCATION 
 
 I 
 
 
 >:■* 
 
 I 
 
 V,- 
 
 
 ?J5 
 
 --WSlW*^" 
 
 
 
 
 1894 
 
i"^*-'- 
 
 '*$: 
 
 • •••($ 
 
 '• • • » 
 
 • ••• 
 
 %.• 
 
 ^1 
 
 / ;- 
 
PASTORAL LETTER 
 
 OF THEIR LORDSHIPS THE 
 
 ARCHBISHOPS' AND BISHOPS 
 
 1. I' '■■ 
 
 t i' !- W U 
 O 
 
 
 THE ECCLE&JASTlAli 1»R0VIXCES OF QUEBEC 
 MONTREAL^^ AJ^6 OTTAWA 
 
 O 
 
 o o 
 
 o 
 
 ON EDUCATION 
 
 O O V ri A 
 
 O 
 
 o 
 
 o o o • • 
 
 ia?4 
 
 ■aaKz. 
 

 • • 
 
 • • • 
 
 • • • • • 
 
 • •••. 
 
 • • • • • 
 
 • • • 
 
 • • • • • 
 
 • •• • 
 
 • • • • 
 
 • • • 
 
 
 Imprhnatur. 
 
 Quebeci, die iQa^M^rtii 1894. ? 
 
 t L.-Ntl^nr^/V/. Cyrenen., ^J 
 
 *Coadj. Em?. Card. Taschereau. |4J 
 
 • • 
 
 e e • • • 
 
 • • 
 
 #y*/y 
 
PASTORAL , LETTER 
 
 OF THEIR LORDSHIPS THE ARCIPBISHOPS AND BISHOPS 
 
 I I t t ■» 
 
 (F THE ECCLESIASTICAL .PROVINCES OF QUEBEC, 
 MONTREAL AND" tTT TAWA, 
 
 ON EDUCATION. 
 
 # » * * 
 
 ■- 4 • ' 
 
 « « 
 
 • • 
 
 We, BY THE GRACE OF GoK.AND OF THE APOS- 
 
 TOLic See, the Archbishop's , and Bishops of the 
 
 ECCLESIASTICAL PROVINCES OF QUEBEC, MONTREAL, 
 
 AND Ottawa, :.;.. 
 
 To the Clergy, Secular and Jicgular, and to all the 
 Faithful of Our respective dioceses j Greeting and 
 Benediction in Our Lord. 
 
 Our Dearly Beloved Brethren, 
 
 This century proudly styles itself the century 
 of enlightenment ; it boasts of its polished man- 
 ners and the splendours of its ci'^"* ligation ; it 
 exalts its progress, which would seem to have 
 thrown into the shade the wonders of the past. 
 On no account do we wish to question what, in 
 justice, is its principal title to fame; we are 
 
— 4 — 
 
 even glad to be able to proclaim that, from a 
 material standpoint, in the domain of natural 
 science, industry and mecanics, it has truly made 
 gigantic steps and justly claims our admiration. 
 
 Careful observers, hovvey-or, those who are not 
 influenced by a dqceptii^e nfirage, but thoroughly 
 study the progress of society, realize and deplore, 
 in the midst of all the^hMidour of our century, 
 an abasement of charattt^r, corruption of morals, 
 an insatiable thirst foi.*'c6mfort and pleasure, a 
 return to a state of revjcjU. against all authority, 
 whether of the familyVthe State or the Church. 
 Happy would we be, could we here proclaim, 
 that our country has enlir*ely escaped the current 
 of foul ideas, that plagiie 6f the greater number 
 of European nations ; unfortunately many alarm- 
 ing symptoms, many "events now taking place 
 under our eyes, convince, us, that those subver- 
 sive ideas have, of lat(^,^nlade their appearance 
 in our midst. 
 
 Why are we forced to admit, in contrast with 
 unquestionable progress on the one hand, evident 
 retrogression from a spiritual and moral point 
 of view, on the other ? How explain this species 
 of opposition or better this series of progression 
 ascending in the one case and descending in the 
 other? 
 
 Ah ! the reason is that, in the Old World more 
 than in the New, wholesome religious belief, 
 
 rV^-i 
 
 H 
 
.Hi 
 
 n 
 
 -5- 
 
 undermined by a hostile press or by a degraded 
 state of society, is fast becoming weaker and 
 weaker ; that the toleration of error and vice has 
 been continually on the increase : that morals 
 liave altered, by haviiig been brought in contact, 
 with a tliousand elejripr^s of corruption ; that 
 men will no longer redog^ize its authority, what- 
 ever be the State in which it resides, that super- 
 natural and divine o^i^gyj which alone renders 
 it worthy of our respt^Ct and submission. In 
 regard to our own country, we find the cause of 
 this retrogression, foc^t^e greater part, in de- 
 fective education in the Family : children are 
 no longer reared in p^Vciples of obedience, in 
 the love of duty, in tfce avoiding of danger, in 
 the practice of the pregeptS of the Gospel. Where- 
 fore, in order to a vert^ as^ «iuch as possible the 
 dangers Avhich threaten our people, and to apply 
 an efficient remedy tol tlije evil, from which we 
 are already greatly suftering, and which rightly 
 alarms all good catholics, we liave resolved. Our 
 Dearly Beloved Brethren, to speak to you on 
 the christian education of youth, firstlyi in the 
 family circle and secondly in the school. Tlie 
 mutual duties of pastors and the faithful, the 
 dangers to which faith and morals are exposed 
 by the reading of bad books, the fatal divisions 
 which the enemies of the Church are endea- 
 vouring to sow in our midst, in order to weaken 
 
— 6 — 
 
 
 our strength and sap our faith, are so many 
 foundamental subjects,which can only be touched 
 upon now, but may be developed later in greater 
 detail. 
 
 The subject of Education^ ,0\ir Dearly Beloved 
 Brethren, is not one of irpj^jliive or temporary 
 importance, one, which, ^^^ "-good citizen may 
 overlook with indifferenq*e';*fti^ the contrary, it 
 is one of vital and constant inierest to all class- 
 of society. Parents, to %hom God has given 
 children and whom he Ite .invested with His 
 authority to rear theni"* properly ; pastors, 
 ordained to teach and see the divine law carefully 
 observed ; the Heads of the -Statt, whose duty is 
 to furnish intelligent and"^ eiiicient support to 
 parents and pastors ; — the educators of children, 
 who have been entrusted "Mth the mission of 
 
 , I. 
 
 completing, in the school, ,tl>c work of parents ; — 
 all who love the Church unrf their native land 
 should have at heart, that there be everywhere 
 give' . wholesome education, capable of forming 
 excellent christians, honest, virtuous and intel- 
 ligent citizens devoted to their native country. 
 
 >--• :: 
 
 EDUCATION IN THE FAMILY 
 
 Saint Gregory Nazianzen, in his admirable 
 style of language ^ describes man created by and 
 
 I— Orat. XXXVIII and XLIII. 
 
>^- ■; 
 
 Ifl^ 
 
 — 7 — 
 
 for God, as the necessary link between all 
 corporal beings, and their immediate end ; it is 
 tlirough man that they return to God, their 
 principle, since it was for man they were created. 
 He styles man, an abridgment of the universe, 
 an angel of a new ^rjier partaking somewhat of 
 heaven and earth,**a *pontiff standing between 
 the visible and th6 divisible, the king of a 
 corporal world having no superior but God 
 himself. By his bodv; his intellect, his heart, 
 man is the abridgment of all creation, possessing 
 within him a triple existence, physical, intellec- 
 tual and moral, which it is the mission of intel- 
 ligent education to Jlevdop. 
 
 vi O J 
 
 EDUCATION, PHYSICAL, MORAL AND INTELLECTUAL. 
 
 Nature itself, Our Dearly Beloved Brethren, 
 imposes on parents, by inspiration, the care of 
 rearing children and of giving them a physical 
 education. The mother understands the bodily 
 weakness of the fraii being, to whom she lias 
 given birth ; she lavishes upon it the treasures 
 of her love, she watches over it wdtn untiring 
 and constant care, she guides its first steps, she 
 teaches it to lisp its first syllables, she neglects 
 nothing to develop its strenght and assure its 
 health ; the father takes an active and direct 
 share in this gradual development by his labor 
 and the ascendency of his greater authority ; — • 
 what a wondrous spectacle ! which shows forth. 
 
i 
 
 in bold relief, theallwise laws which the Creator 
 has engraved on the heart of parents ! 
 
 Corporal education is however insufficient for 
 a creature gifted wdth reason. The child has a 
 soul, created to the image^and resemblance of 
 God, but vitiated by o^i^irfal sin ; it possesses, 
 it is true, germs of intellig*^ice, but they are, as 
 it were, sparks hidden <m*t'lie stone ; its heart, 
 like a nugget of native' ;gf)|d, has yet a rugged 
 envelope ; — its imagin^^tion, its memory, its 
 will require the culti.v*^trpn of an intelligent 
 kind : — its cliaracter ho\VfeVer amiable must be 
 rendered pliable and gj^j^^jn, through prudent 
 and firm direction, that*;^lish and fini«h, the 
 result of careful rearing. To this soul must be 
 imparted an intellectuaL a^id moral education, 
 which, if withheld or bestowed sparingly, will 
 leave this soul in its ppimitive ignorance, with 
 all its faults, oftentimes becoming a refuge for 
 every vice. It will never produce that develop- 
 ment of virtue, which characterizes the true 
 christian. Experience shows us that the absence 
 of moral education begets depravity in indivi- 
 duals, disgrace and ruin in families, the progres- 
 sive decline and fall of nations. 
 
 4" 
 
 V. • r 
 
 CHRISTIAN EDUCATION OF CHILDHOOD. 
 
 To ensure salutary effects, education must be 
 christian, that is to say that the doctrine of 
 
^ 
 
 -9- 
 
 Salvation taught men by Our Lord Jesus Christ 
 must be its foundation. To rear a child in a 
 christian manner, is simply developing his 
 intellectual and morar-faculties, according to 
 the principles of reai^on ^nd faith, by directing 
 his thoughts and a^eqtions towards the end 
 assigned his existence in this world and towards 
 that final term for wh^co.iie was created. Parents, 
 the educators of the lamily, have a sublime 
 though very difficult .,»p4ssion to fulfil ; — they 
 would underrate the. greatness, the dignity of 
 their task, were they to proceed by chance and 
 without definite order ;ji?spiration is a necessity : 
 to guide their eftbrts, Uiey require the divine 
 compass of revealed t^*uth. They must labor, not 
 only to develop the bodily strength of the child 
 and adorn his mind with useful knowledge, but 
 again and specially, tlvey ^nust strive to establish 
 in his heart the reign of Jesus Christ, to mould 
 liim according to that perfect model, to induce 
 him by his conduct, to reproduce the virtues of 
 the Saviour. Is it not in fact necessary that man, 
 created to the image of God by the faculties 
 given him, should reproduce his resemblance as 
 faithfully as possible in his moral life ? Does 
 not Our Lord incite us to this species of imita- 
 tion, when he says : . " Be ye perfect asy our 
 Heavenly Father is perfect." ^ Can christian 
 
 i-Matth V. 48. 
 
J 
 
 — 10 — 
 
 patents foirget that God has given them, in the 
 person of His Divine Son, the true ideal of 
 moral life, the accomplished type of all those 
 virtues which they arCi^^fcound to practice 
 personally and in their f^^jil^^ 
 
 It is essential to initiat*e..trbe child, while yet 
 young, in the knowledger;0^* his duties towards 
 God, towards his fellow "ctedlures and towards 
 himself, as also in the dogmatic truths on which 
 moral law is founded, Tiiisjiowever is not all : 
 his will has to be formeiJ.*and directed in its 
 action ; it must be accustomed to respect the 
 dictates of conscience anSVtb draw its inspira- 
 tion from that spiritual Enlightenment his intel- 
 lect has received from nature and from a 
 christian education. " * " 
 
 The work of formation raust begin at the mod 
 tender age. It is a knoj^yij-'fact that all acts, 
 whether materially good or bad, will, in course 
 of time, engender in the young child habits of a 
 similar nature. Should they be pernicious, they 
 must necessarily be repressed. Who can des- 
 cribe the uneasiness, the trouble of all kinds, 
 the suftering to which parents would be a prey ? 
 The bitter tears those unfortunate children 
 would have to shed ? It is therefore all-impor- 
 tant to accustom them, while yet young, to 
 faithfully fulfil their duties. The practice of 
 virtue will thus become easy ; it will be their 
 
 T 
 
T 
 
 — 11 — 
 
 brightest ornament, their purest pride as also 
 the most precious element of their happiness. 
 
 AUTHORITY AND OBEDIENCE IN THE FAMILY. 
 
 The education given in a great number of our 
 families, especially in cities, is vitiated by a 
 lack of authority in parents, by excessive weak- 
 ness, granting everything, giving way to the 
 caprice of the child, studying to exempt him 
 from the least sacrifice and contradiction and 
 inevitably making him the slav of a thousand 
 fanciful wants. In many cases, it can be said, 
 in all truth, that it is not the parents who rear 
 ^ heir children, but the children who rear them- 
 selves, according to the bend of their inclina * ions. 
 It is a grevious mistake; and what would 
 appear to be an act of goodness, is in reality the 
 proof of criminal weakness and an act of cruelty. 
 
 We cannot too strongly enjoin on you. Our 
 Dearly Beloved Brethren, to form your children, 
 from an early age, in the principle of o5e(]?^6r^c6 ; 
 let them be made to always respect your will ; 
 to realize that your hand is strong enough to 
 repress their every whim. If, whilst providing for 
 their wants, their legitimate needs, you make 
 it an inviolable rule to oppose all sensuality, 
 indolence, weakness and disobedience, j^ou will 
 soon have redressed the first err<>rs of nature, 
 you wisely will have begun their education. As 
 
iMfiCiitfttiriWjaiiiwiii 
 
 „ ^i m i m ^ - 
 
 i ■■■' 
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 1^ 
 
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 — 12 — 
 
 soon as they can nnderstand your coniniands, 
 or interpret them in your gestures or tone of 
 voice, command them with dignity, and oblige 
 them to obey. Be gjarded against yourselves, 
 dread above all Uiat dangerous weakness, — the 
 result of too intense aflfection ; — be ^ ^ blinded 
 neither by the talents, the exterior qualities, the 
 intelligence nor the merits of your children ; 
 wero your minds so disposed, you would surely 
 lead them to ruin. Never reverse a command once 
 given after mature reflection ; ne^er revoke, 
 tlirough fickleness, a refusal dictated by reason. 
 Their prayers and caresses should find you in- 
 flexible ; never tolerate on their part murmur- 
 ing nor bad humour. Let your authority be 
 stamped with firmness and mildness ; let it be 
 exercised without deviation and in constant 
 uniformity, in a high spirit of justice tempered 
 by afl'ection, both reasonable and rightly under- 
 stood. 
 
 The mother of a family should in particular 
 put in practice this salutary advice ; she can 
 never too soon acquire over the will of her 
 children that ascendency which later she shall 
 so greatly need, to exact obedience. Without 
 authority, what is a mother capable of? She, 
 the constant guardian of the household, she, the 
 first instructor of the family, she, almost conti- 
 nually aloiie with h^r children ? If she has not 
 
 
 HI 
 
m 
 
 \ 
 
 — 13 — 
 
 the gift of making them ohey her, tliey will 
 become more and more unruly, refractory and 
 insubordinate; they will become her greatest 
 cross, and with profound affliction, she will be 
 the helpless witness of anarchy reigning around 
 her. 
 
 Your children have grown up, christian 
 parents, in submission and love of duty ; you 
 have repressed the evil inclinations of their 
 nature : vou have watched with aliectionate 
 and vigilant care this first development ; they 
 have attained the period of youth. Do not, even 
 yet, renounce your authority over them : main- 
 tain it carefully ; they will greatly need its 
 influence to preserve them from the great dan- 
 gers that threaten them in this second stage ' f 
 life. '1 hey will obey and respect you, as for- 
 merly, if you mutually respect one another, and 
 ever give them the example of every virtue. 
 
 Contradiction should never exist between 
 father. and mother, in the exercise of their 
 authority ; unity of action is absolutely necessary 
 to ensure efficiency. Difference of opinion, 
 fchould there exist any between you, as to the 
 manner of rearing your children, the corrections 
 to be inflicted, the favors to be granted or denied, 
 should never be made noticeable in their pre- 
 sence ; to give way, under their eyes, to violent 
 reproach, to blame or censure with bitternesS| 
 
ffgftmwimnaamxm^iW 
 
 I 
 
 HI 
 
 ^^1 
 
 :| 
 
 t 
 
 — 14 — 
 
 the punishment which the father or mother 
 may have thought fit to impose, to operily side 
 with a chastised child, would be to commit an 
 act of folly, whilst becoming guilty of a grevious 
 fault ; it would be the voluntary ruination of 
 that authority, with which God has invested 
 parents ; it would be to practically abdicate tho 
 direction of children and encourage them in 
 insubordination. If you be closely united and 
 your conduct christianlike, free from all re- 
 proach; if you be neither weak nor fretful . 
 suspicious, you will enjoy their entire confi- 
 dence ; your firmness will restrain theni in the 
 path of duty and induce them to cherish it. 
 Your spirit of justice, united with af!*ectionatc 
 kindness, will assure you their hearts. 
 
 Sincerely love your children, but love them 
 equally, love them with dignity ; mairtain 
 towards them a wise and prudent reserve ; 
 never descend to the level of familiarity ; it 
 would endanger the respect and confidence they 
 should place in you. 
 
 Even, when they have attained the later years 
 of youth^s estate, that stormy period, alas! so 
 pregnant with wreck and ruin ; after having 
 been thus reared in a christian manner, accus- 
 tomed to firm and constant direction, your 
 children will hardly think of seeking their 
 jfreedom. They ^ill not shun your company ; 
 
 ■ 
 
 -. 
 
 T 
 
 iiii 
 
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 It 
 
 ^^^ 
 
 7* 
 
 — 15 — 
 
 on the contrary, they will love to be constantly 
 near yon, because tliey will lind, tinder the 
 paternal roof, more true liappiness tlian in 
 wovWly company. Moreover, you are etill pos- 
 sessed of tlie right to be obeyed ; nor can you 
 renounce it, because you cannot exempt your- 
 selves froiii the duty of governing your family. 
 
 PRACTICAL RELIGION IN THE FAMILY. 
 
 But never forget. Our Dearly Beloved Brethren, 
 tha^if you have the right and the obligation to 
 claiiri 'r<?sp( ct for your authority, since it conies 
 from God, — you are not the less obliged to 
 enforce respect for the authority of God himself, 
 to establish and maintain liis reign in the midst 
 of those who are closely united to you by the 
 bonds of nature. You are christians, and as 
 such, every day you address your liumble sup- 
 plications tc» God : — You have taught your 
 children to knoAV and pray Our Lord and Father, 
 Avho reigns in Heaven, and whose desire is to 
 reign in our hearts by His grace ; you have 
 convinced them of the greatness and extent of 
 their duties towards Him ; it is still your duty 
 to see to their fulfilment. You have shown 
 them the definite end assigned by Providence to 
 their terrestial life, as also the rewards and 
 chastisements reserved for the next ; — direct 
 them unceasingly towards the great object of 
 
jiiiB i Mn mmt . i nwLUlJJilni ' iiL ^ "' 
 
 M 
 
 ill 
 I ill 
 
 ^: I 
 
 '3 I 
 
 
 
 — 16 — 
 
 their creation ; tarn their thoughts, desires and 
 affections towarda this supreme end. Even in 
 their earliest years, see that every day they 
 pray to God ; bring th^in to church ; explain 
 to thorn the touc nng ceremonies Avhich take 
 place under your eyes. Later, lead them with 
 you to the tribunal of penance, to the eucha- 
 ristic banquet, to mass and parochial instruc- 
 tions. Make of your home a sanctuary, wherein 
 every thing breathes of faith, piety, love of God 
 and of His Church and Saints, Let your immej 
 and those of your children be inscril>eil among 
 the members of the worthy association of the 
 Holy Family, so strongly recommended by Our 
 Holy Father Pope Leo XI TI ; always have 
 prayers said in common, and God shall be in 
 your midst to hear and bless you. When, in 
 later years, your children shall have been 
 obliged to leave the paternal home, they wull 
 carry with them and sacredly cherish, — during 
 all their life-time,— the saintly habit of being 
 faithful to their religious duties, regularly and 
 scrupulously,— morning and evening. 
 
 DANGEROUS CONVERSATIONS. 
 
 Never allow, Our Dearly Beloved Brethren, to 
 be indulged in under your roof an unchristian 
 language, or those conversations so little in con- 
 formity with the spirit of the Gospel :•— let your 
 
 i 
 
 W 
 
t 
 
 ^ 
 
 - 17 - 
 
 children be treated to other subj^ct« than those 
 discourses, wherein are entliousiastieally praised 
 the perishable things of this life, the pleasures 
 of the world, the follies of luxury and good chr-er. 
 — Banish for ever from vour homes those daii- 
 gerous and criminal conversations, in which 
 one's neighbor is odiously mltreated, the priests 
 of the Lord despised, the most sacred principles 
 ignored, the most delicate questions treated in 
 passion • never tolerate words of blasphemy, 
 cursing, rii'i«.id songs, unguarded expressions 
 opj[>osetli() faith and morality. What soul ever 
 so reiigiou?]y. inclined could resist such perni- 
 cious exaraples ? can an education imparted 
 under such unfavorable conditions be called 
 christian? Certainly not ! for all the fundamental 
 principles of christian education are outraged 
 and despised. 
 
 THE CORRECTION OF CHILDREN. 
 
 Correction is equally necessary to the proper 
 education of the child. Should he have strong 
 evil inclinations that nothing jan arrest in their 
 onward progress, he will contract fatal habits 
 which, becoming stronger in years, will even- 
 tually end in his final "perdition. Should he be 
 endowed with an inclination towards what is 
 good, as he is not impeccable, he may happen 
 to fall, and should there be no one to direct him 
 
4^ 
 
 — 18 — 
 
 in the tight path, he will become familiar with 
 evil, to the great danger for liis salvation. 
 
 To be efficient, correction should be given with 
 extreme prudence, and in earlier years, before 
 evil shall have so taken root as to have become 
 incurable. Never correct your children under 
 the influence of violent emotion ; you then might 
 be too severe, too cruel or unjust ; — your action 
 would only tend to exasperate your child ; — 
 your reprimand would produce no salutary effect. 
 Always act calmly j let your paternal aff*ectio)i 
 appear as a ray of sunshine in the midst of your 
 severity. 
 
 There is as much variety in character as in 
 the talents and qualities of individuals ; to suc- 
 ceed in their improvement, requ-res that they 
 be well understood and treated accordingly ; 
 ortherwise, one would incur the risk of spoiUng 
 and compromising all. 
 
 Corporal correction is the least successful of 
 any. Though there are numbers of parents too 
 weak and too indulgent, there are however still 
 too-many whom their excessive severity con- 
 demns. They scold and abuse for trifles ; they 
 punish with equal severity an act of awk-ward- 
 ness, as they would a deliberate fault ; thought* 
 less disobedience, as open insubordination. 
 Towards a child of a quiet and timid nature, one 
 w^hom an affectionate word would restore to a 
 
 i 
 
^ 
 
 — 19 — 
 
 sense of duty, iliey use the same rigor as if he 
 were of an insolent and headstrong character, 
 which tlie strongest arguments could not subdue. 
 Such a mode of correction is generally fatal ; 
 oftentimes it stamps out the noblest sentiments, 
 it turns one away from the right path and whilbv 
 exasperating, it quenches in the heart all filial 
 love and respect. It is easy to realize that aflec- 
 tion cannot be conciliated Avith that terror which 
 cruel treatment inspires. 
 
 It would be preferable to strive to prevent the 
 commission of f^iults, than to have to correct 
 them afterwards ; the secret of success is in active 
 Avatch fulness, in good advice, in timely encour- 
 agements and in the incentive of rewards. These 
 means, combined with divine grace, are generally 
 of powerful efficiency. 
 
 THE DANGKK OF BA'^ COMPANY. 
 
 Never permit your children to frequent suspi- 
 cious and (dangerous company. How many youths 
 who, at the beginning of their career, had given 
 hopes of promise, who seemed to have been des- 
 tined to be the joy of their family, an honor to 
 the church, the bulwark of society, — have strayed 
 from the right path ? Instead of edifying, they 
 have strewn their route with ruins ; their life 
 has been most miserable ; they have become the 
 disgrace of those whose pride they should have 
 
I 
 
 --20 — 
 
 been. At tlie outstart virtuous, sincerely reli- 
 gious and honest, they had the misfortune to . 
 meet, in their passage through life, a corrupt and 
 depraved friend ; their habits of piety, that per- 
 fect regularity still restrained them for a M'hile 
 in the bounds of duty ; but by degrees tliey 
 became familiar witli evil, with tlie sarcasms of 
 irreligion, with the taint of vice ; there was a 
 lime when they breathed the serene atmosphere 
 of virtue ; the purity of their soul shown in their 
 face and looks ; they fell by degrees to the 
 lowest depths and became as perverted as they 
 once had been a source of edification. Had their 
 parents been vigilant, had they closely observed 
 their conduct, had they kept them aloof from 
 those dangerous friends, had their authority had 
 suiiicient strength to break those disastrous 
 acquaintances, they would not have had to shed 
 Si> many bitter tears over an almost irremedia- 
 diable misfortune. 
 
 • 
 
 The greater number of erring young men have 
 been lost by bad company, too familiar connec- 
 tions, beyond the watchful eyes of their parents, 
 in those pernicious reunions, wliereGod is often- 
 times forgotten and the devil works out his ends. 
 Your children w^ill eventually resemble those 
 whom they habitually frequent : if their friends 
 be blasphemers, degraded, frequentera of saloons, 
 drunkards, they will slowly contract their 
 
 h 
 
■ -—' -jT : 
 
 u X 
 
 vices : you will have to weep over their way- 
 wardness, but the evil will have been irremedia- 
 ble; your cross and disgrace they will be, until 
 in after years they be that of their wives and 
 children. 
 
 BAD READINU TO BE AVOIDED. 
 
 Be ye equally watchful as to tvhatyonr children 
 read. Bad books and journals, publications 
 hostile to our faith, licentious and obscene novels 
 :ire being spread in our cities, and even in our 
 peaceful and simple country places ; those 
 immoral productions, which should be banished 
 from every christian country, and whose authors 
 deserve the severest chastisement, here as else- 
 whore, are accomplishing their fatal work; they 
 instil the poison Avhich inevitably causes the 
 death of society. Those dangeroub books are for 
 sale on railway trains and on steamboats ; book- 
 sellers, catholics in name only, exhibit in their 
 showcases books whose very title page is an. 
 incentive to crime and a menace U. ^jublic moral- 
 ity. 
 
 How many young people find in those unheal- 
 thy sources the deadly poison of their souls ? 
 They therein seek recreation, a pass-time, lite- 
 rary style, only to find ruin or at least that w^hich 
 greatly weakens their faith and strikes a serious 
 l)low at the purity of their hearts. It is in those 
 
f 
 
 W" 
 
 1 I 
 
 1 ! 
 i I 
 
 " 
 
 — 22 — 
 
 infamous books, in those impure newspaper 
 serials, in the shameless descriptions of the 
 most awful crimes, that unfortunate children 
 become familiar with vice. They excite and 
 taint their imagination, corrupt their heart, 
 lately so innocent and pure, and lead them to 
 contract criminal habits which will follow them 
 to the grave. And there are parents, so little 
 impressed with a sense of duty, who ask not 
 what their children read ! There are booksellers 
 so perverted as to import from Europe disgust- 
 ing publications, novels and papers, and who 
 sell them even to the first comer, to young girls, to 
 children of fourteen and fifteen, thus poisoning 
 our population. Like the real assassins of the 
 soul that they are, public malefactors, they only 
 aim at acquiring a passing profit and have no 
 shame in engaging in their infamous trafic. 
 
 *' The evil caused by the press is immense, 
 *^ lately WTote Leo XIII ; its ravages must be 
 '' stopped ; the ruins which it has accumulated 
 " may be seen the world over ; intellectual ruin, 
 ^' iu the loss of faith and depravation of reason ; 
 ** moral ruin, iu the corruption of the heart; 
 *' social ruin, in the very principle of authority 
 '^ which has sunk out of sight and of true liberty 
 " which has been destroyed.^' 
 
 " In the domain of ideas, wrote the illustrious 
 " cardinal Pie, what do we find? A single writer 
 
 ;lv 
 
 ,^ 
 
99! 
 
 23 
 
 U 
 
 a 
 
 a 
 
 a 
 
 a 
 
 (( 
 
 u 
 
 '' of inferior talent may, by the means of ft jour- 
 " nal, do more harm in one half hour than a 
 " huncked others, of superior ability, can repair 
 *•' in a year. From their ambush in the journal, 
 ^' envy, calumny, hatred, revenge, impiety, 
 " sensuality throw their poisoned darts on the 
 purest ofreputations, the noblest of characters, 
 the most respected institutions, on the holiest 
 things. E V A minded insinuations, . perfidious 
 items of news, deceitful correspondence, libel- 
 lous articles, such are the formidable weapons 
 which flic journal places Svithin reach of the 
 evil-disposed.' ' . . 
 
 The Fathers of the Fourth Council of Quebec, 
 had already drawn attention to the danger con- 
 tained in bad journals ** whose editors and cor- 
 respondents have learned, at the knees of a 
 chrisiian mother and on the benches of a catho- 
 lic school, the dogmas and precepts of our Holy 
 church and who are now in open revolt against 
 
 h er Those men , enem ies of true faith and 
 
 forgetful of their own salvation, continually 
 
 introduce indifferentism in their writings 
 
 They easily find jrai^e for whatever is done 
 outside the catholic church and even against 
 it. They complacently repeat the calumnies of 
 heresy and incredulity Avhich, too often, they 
 invent themselves. They willingly echo the 
 lying accusations made against the catholic 
 
'U 
 
 -.24 — 
 
 clergy ; but they either reject or distort the 
 defence of the accused. The studied silence 
 which they aftect on occasions when a child of 
 the church should necessarily speak, again 
 proves the anti-religious character of the papers 
 they publish. 
 
 It is therefore, on our part, an imperious duty 
 of conscience to warn you of the danger of an 
 evil disposed press, whilst it is yours, Our 
 Dearly Beloved Brethren, in the protection of 
 the faith and morals of your family, to positi- 
 vely forbid under your roof, irrespective of poli- 
 tical parties, the reading of journals, whether 
 openly or hypocritically hostile to the teachings 
 of catholic faith or to its clergy, — as also the 
 reading of bad books and dangerous novels ; — 
 you assuredly would never do any thing to 
 endanger the bodily life of your children, nor 
 anything in the least way detrimental to their 
 health ; and is it not a thousand times more 
 important for you and for them, to take proper 
 care of their soul, of their salvation, and to 
 insure the preservation of their supernatural 
 life ? The body is but dust wich soon shall find 
 its place in the tomb, but the soul is a spirit 
 immortal, and redeemed by the blood of a God, 
 it is the noblest part of our being ; should it not 
 then be protected with infinite care against the 
 poisonous influence of deadly writings* You 
 
wmmmR 
 
 — 25 
 
 !e 
 )f 
 11 
 
 'S 
 
 should therefore erect a sanitar}^ bulwark about 
 your home, beyond which you should never 
 permit to penetrate, neither book nor journal 
 which might have a pernicious iniluence in the 
 heart of your family. 
 
 The advice just given you in view of the hap- 
 piness of your children, should quite convince 
 you of our desire to see you encourage good 
 papers, serious and orthodox reviews, works, ^ 
 equally well conceived and well written. A 
 good press is a powerful element in the diffu- 
 sion of truth ; a great lever for good ; it opposes 
 error and vice, and spreads every where the love 
 of self sacrifice, respect for religious and civil 
 authority, the principles of social order, of jus- 
 tice and honesty in public as in private life ; it 
 treats adversaries with charity, moderation and 
 impartiality ; it avoids mockery, sarcasm, 
 unfounded accusations ; finally, it is inspiration 
 to the mind, wholesome food to the soul. You 
 should not then withhold your support from 
 those catholics, who place at the disposal of 
 the cause of truth, their learning and literary 
 ability ; they fulfil a mission of salvation for 
 society, they are the apostles of good anent 
 your children ; those who, in those later times, 
 have nobly done their duty and bravely fought, 
 have a right to the encouragement and congra- 
 tulations of all true children of the Church, 
 
 &-S' 
 
 W- 
 
^■1 
 
 r' 
 
 li 
 
 , 11! I 
 
 Hi; 
 
 --26 
 
 RESPECT FOR AUTHORITY 
 
 By example, more than by word, Our Dearly 
 Beloved Brethren, ever instil into the i inds of 
 your children the greatest respect for autho7'ity- 
 Our age is a prey to a fever of independence, to 
 a desire for ill-conceived liberty ; all authority 
 being irksome, it casts off its yoke and relapses^ 
 into a state bordering on anarchy. Europe ill 
 succeeds in governing its turbulent nations, she 
 is, as it were, over an ever active volcano. Those 
 ideas of insubordination have found their way 
 even here ; and quite recently we have liad to 
 witness the painful spectacl<5 of episcopal autho- 
 rity ignored in one of its most inviolate and 
 sacred rights : that of protecting the faithful 
 against the great danger of pernicious doctrines. 
 
 The spirit of evil is therefore making progress 
 among us, it treacherously introduces ideas of 
 revolt against authority, it sows unjust suspi- 
 cions, and labors to sever the ties which bind 
 together the pastor and the faithful. It assumes 
 to sit in judgment on the Episcopacy and its 
 teachings ; it rejects its condemnation and ques- 
 tions its rights. It strives to overthrow the 
 reign of God in souls and in society. 
 
 The number of free thinkers, of false brethren, 
 of adventurers of the press is fortunately still 
 limited; thei^ influence is hardly felt beyond 
 
-27 
 
 the large cities ; their unwholesome ideas, 
 however, like the inilltration of water through 
 the soil, instil themselves slowly in the mind, 
 and without serious attention on our part may 
 succeed in creating terrible havoc. 
 
 Fail not to rear your children in principles of 
 order, justice and respect for all authority. 
 Remind them particularly that it is the Hohj 
 Ghost tvho has established Bishops to govern the 
 Church of God, ^ ; that it was to the apostles 
 and their successors, the Bishops, that Jesus 
 Christ said: " As my father hath sent me, so 
 also I send you. All power has been given me 
 in heaven and onearth; go ye therefore, and 
 teach all nations, baptizing them in the name 
 of the Father, and of the^on, and of the Holy 
 Ghost, teach them to observe all things whatso- 
 ever I have commanded you, and behold I am 
 with you even unto the consummation of ag^s ^ ; 
 he who heareth you, heareth me, and he who 
 despiseth you, despiseth me, and he who des- 
 piseth me, despiseth my Father who hath sent 
 me ^ If any one heareth not the Church, let 
 him be as a pagan and publican ^. 
 
 I— Act. XX, 28. 
 2-MaUh. XXVIII, 19, 20. 
 3— Luke X, 16. 
 4-Matth, XVIIl, 17. 
 
'*-.l 
 
 — 28 — 
 
 To the Bishoy of Bishops, the Sovereign 
 Pontiff, successor of Saint Peter, has been 
 entrusted, with the supreme power of the keys, 
 the mission oi feeding all the flock, of governing 
 the universal Church, of confirming his brethren 
 in the infallibility of faitli ; he is the funda- 
 mental stone on which Jesus Christ has built 
 His Church and against which the gates of hell 
 shall never prevail. 
 
 These truths require to be deeply impressed in 
 the soul of your children, that they may serve 
 as a rule for their conduct, as a torch to light 
 their path. Remind them that the catholic 
 Bishop is iihe head and father of his diocese, 
 the pastor of the faithful, inve^ited with divine 
 powder; that he has the right to command, 
 govern, administer and be obeyed ; that like 
 unto a sentinel on the remparts, he must be 
 ever vigilant and signal the ennemy^s approach. 
 Lead them to love the Holy Church, their 
 mother, and inspire them with stead-fast confi- 
 dence in her all-wise direction. Let them bear 
 in mind, all their lifetime, those beautiful words 
 of the martyr Saint Ignatius : — " Respect ye the 
 " Bishop as you would Jesus Christ. Let you all 
 *^ obey the Bishop as Jesus Christ obeyed his 
 <^ Father... In ecclesiastical matters, let no one 
 " act without the Bishop." ^ And those others 
 
 If 
 
 -'t 
 
 
 I— Ep. ad Trallian, c. II. 3 ; ad Smyrn, c. VIII. 
 
— 29 — 
 
 ■A 
 
 5 
 
 e 
 
 1 
 
 s 
 
 e 
 
 :s 
 
 of Saint Cyprian : " Schisms and heresies occur, 
 " because the Bishop, who alone presides over 
 *' the church, is despised through the proud 
 " presumption of others.'' ^ 
 
 n 
 
 EDUCATION IN THE SCHOOL 
 
 So far, Our Dearly Beloved Brethren, we have 
 only spoken of the education of children, as 
 confined within the family circle, entrusted, to 
 the constant care of those whom nature has 
 invested with this sublime duty, whose obliga- 
 tions they cannot decline without committing a 
 grevious fault in the eyes of God, of society and 
 of themselves. 
 
 But, as it can easily be understood, it is an 
 impossibility, except in rare cases, for parents, 
 however intelligent and devoted they may be, to 
 carry out by themselves and in its entirety this 
 great work of education ; a thousand cares and 
 exterior distractions interfere. In conformity 
 with the decrees of our Councils, they are 
 therefore obliged to have recourse to auxiliaries 
 of their own choice, who in their name will 
 impart that religious and moral training which 
 every father must provide forhis children. Here 
 it is that the Church of Christ enters oh the 
 
 I Ep. 69 ad Florent. 
 
^m 
 
 -so- 
 
 Scerte ; its mission being essentially one of 
 education and civilization, it is calculated to 
 inspire the greatest confidence. 
 
 In this age of moral abasement and religious 
 decline, when the clearest and most essential 
 truths have become dim and easily effaced from 
 the mind. We deem it expedient, Our Dearly 
 Beloved Brethren, to recall your attention to 
 the fundamental principles on which are based 
 the sacred rights of the Church in educational 
 matters, to point out the salutary influence of 
 its action on souls, as also the means and 
 methods it employs to better fulfil its mission 
 of teacliing christians. 
 
 RIGHTS OP THE CHUPCH WIT!i REGARD 
 TO EDUCATION. 
 
 The Church, in virtue of the will of its divine 
 Founder, has essentially the power to teach. 
 That right, which the Church possesses in an 
 exclusive and elirect manner, with regard to 
 religious and moral instruction, slie also pos- 
 sesses indirectly w^ith regard tq science w^hether 
 natural or profane. Since she has been established 
 to lead man and society to their final end, 
 happiness in heaven, the Church must necessa- 
 rily take the proper means to prosecute and 
 attain that end. She can therefore, of herself, 
 open and establish schools, centres of learning, 
 
— 81 — 
 
 not alone for the preparing of her ministers and 
 the study of sacred science, but also for the 
 general welfare of the faithful and the study of 
 profane science. Truth being always the same, 
 all the elements of human knowledge are inti- 
 mntely bound together by the closest ties ; and 
 the surest means, the most efficient method 
 which the Clmrch possesses to impart those 
 wholesome religious ide<as, Avhich it i& her 
 mission to diftuse, is to seriously undertake 
 lierself the great work of education. She entrusts 
 it to her priests, to her devoted congregations 
 both of men and women, to persons of unques- 
 tionable morals and admitted ability, and thus 
 slie simultaneously carries out, in harmonious 
 development, both religious and purely civil 
 education. 
 
 In regard to schools founded by parents o; 
 private individuals, — or even established by the 
 Btato, when circumstances call for its interven- 
 tion, — it is the duty of the Church to attentively 
 watch over them, in order to prevent the teach- 
 ing of anything contrary to catholic belief. 
 Moreover, religious and moral instruction having 
 necessarily to advance hand-in-hand with intel- 
 lectual culture, the Church, in virtue of her 
 authority, could and should insist upon no one 
 being chosen to teach christian doctrine, without 
 tjie previous approbation of those ^hom Jesvis- 
 
- 82 — 
 
 Clirist has commissioned to maintain intact tlie 
 sacred trust of faith. 
 
 In conformity with tliese principles, Our 
 Dearly Beloved Brethren, and the provisions- of 
 the civil law itself, in this Province, the Pastor 
 of every parish has the right to visit and inspect 
 tlie scliools within his jurisdiction. It is a safe- 
 guard, a salutary guarantee for the welfare and 
 moral progress of children ; and certainly tlie 
 church of Canada nmst be greatly congratulated, 
 on being enabled, in the person of her ministers, 
 to follow with maternal care the elementary 
 developpement of those in whom are pleaced the 
 hopes of religion and our native country. It is 
 her legitimate joy to witness here in activity a 
 system of education, which though perhaps not 
 absolutely perfect, nor possessing all desirable 
 conditions, is based on a cordial understanding 
 between both civil and ecclesiastical authorities, 
 conferring on the latter, in the approbation given 
 to teachers and methods, a portion of that in- 
 fluence, the necessary safeguard of the essential 
 interests of the family, of conscience and of 
 fv,ith. May this influence long exist and never 
 diminish! Let all true catholics, far from imped- 
 ing its action, extend and support it ! and our 
 people will not regret, by protecting the sacre( 
 and inalieanable rights of the church in the 
 development of souls, — of minds and of hearts ! 
 
 f: 
 
-33- 
 
 
 having helped to continue the diffusion of that 
 christian spirit, without which society tends to 
 depravity and ruin. It is our duty and deter- 
 mination to maintain in all their entirely those 
 sacred rights of the church. 
 
 Undouhtedly, Our Dearly Beloved Brethren, 
 in a mixed community like ours, composed of 
 religious elements at variance Avith each otheri 
 it would perhaps he difficult to expect the Roman 
 Catholic Church to be granted certain preroga- 
 tives she might enjoy in an exclusively catholic 
 country. But one thing appears to us very clear 
 and above all discussion : that is, that the 
 Catholic Church, whose origin on this continent 
 dates from the cradle of ameri can civilization, 
 and which has not ceased during more than 
 three centuries, through her apostles and mi&- 
 sionaries, to spread the light of Christianity over 
 this country, can legitimately claim, without 
 therefore being subjected to a double-school tax, 
 the right of bringing up the children entrusted 
 to her care in the faith of their fathers, and of 
 giving these children an education consistent 
 with the religious principles they profess. There 
 is in that, we proclaim it, a question of justice, 
 of natural equity, of prudence and of social eco- 
 nomy which is intimately connected with the 
 vital interests of the country. The Canadian 
 Episcopate has never hesitated, as is well known, 
 
 2 
 
Ji 
 
 - 34 - 
 
 Crown, anci it loZ\T' ^'' "" ^"*^''' 
 
 «»<' firm intervem?on *^;' "^ '" "'« ^^"« 
 
 t'^anks also to Z ?ln/"' ^^^^''^tora, and 
 
 -filiation of the evem[T *"'' 'P'"* "^' ««»- 
 
 "P. «- population :7 c rr;: "''^^^^ ^'^'^^ 
 
 ^^■J'»ch actually exists in eeS p' ""^'^i"^*' 
 »«on be replaced by a fldinl "/'°^-""^^« «''«" 
 fection. ^ leeung of general satia- 
 
 ^01 THE CHUKCH ON EDUCATION. 
 
 . -tfaving establiahed the nVht i *, 
 imprescriptible of the Churl .w, 'T'^ """ 
 o^youtJj, We would b«Jr?L ' ^'le education 
 
 time to enlargHn Its -nfl "^ ^' ' ^''^^'^ ''' 
 f^n effects of its 1 1"'^"?^^' «" ^'^e wonder- 
 
 ^eart,werenor^r^",r:n:iir^^^^"^"- 
 
 BrShrenhSlt ^^^^^^ Beloved 
 
 tional matters^ ItT«, L? • ^^"'"^ '" e<J"ca- 
 education its strength TtlTT ""^'"'^ ""P^'"*'^ *- 
 
 t«ges of rational dSion ?"'""' '^^ ^'^™"- 
 considered only from hi" . f '"""" '^^'Sion 
 
 fvine. is she no I he^df'f '""* ^' ^''"'^^ 
 factor in the develolenrJ . ™^'* P'^^^'^^"! 
 youth? whatinflXXf f ^^oodand "^ 
 
 uence docs she not hold over 
 
— 85 — 
 
 the various faculties of the soul, by the truths 
 she teaches, by lier sublime and pure morality, 
 by the models of virtue she proposes to our imi- 
 tation, by the splendor of her worsliipjthe mehv 
 dious harmony of her hymns and the sublime 
 character of her ceremonies ! The child lives on 
 in this atmosphere of piety and grace; he there 
 soon finds, amid the principles of justice, virtue 
 and duty, the food which nourishes his Liind, 
 enobles his character, penetrates and revives his 
 heart. 
 
 This is much, but it is not all! The influence 
 of religion is still further felt; it rules and 
 embraces, in fact, the entire work of the deve- 
 lopment of youth. It is religion. Our Dearly 
 Beloved Brethren, that gives your children those 
 teachers of both sexes, whose science and ability 
 are vouched for by serious study, by the long 
 . and patient labors they have undertaken, through 
 inclination and duty. Their life is a continuous 
 one of example, their habit, — if they be of a 
 religious order, — authority in itself, command- 
 ing obedience ana imposing resi)ect. lleligion, 
 more than all human science, alone established 
 the price, the value of a soul, its sublime destiny, 
 the importance of its advancement and deve- 
 lopment. See what marvels ofsacrifice and zeal, 
 of charity and patience she produces in the per- 
 son of the humble friar, of the timid virgin ; in 
 
IH! 
 
 — 36 — 
 
 the person of those christian teachers of both 
 . sexes, in town and country, who look upon the 
 sacred duty of the ^education of children as the 
 work of a sublime apostleship! For them, it 
 docs not suffice to give the mind the requisite 
 polish ; it is the soul they have in view, forming 
 and framing it, like unto the image of its creator, 
 sowing therein the noble seed of faith and inte- 
 grity, of justice and christian honour, of which 
 the Church and society at large shall one day 
 gather the fruit. 
 
 It is our duty and our happiness to gratefully 
 acknowledge here the great services rendered 
 our cities and even our most distant country 
 parishes, by the many truly catholic lay teachers, 
 both male and female, who devote themselves 
 to education with zeal and ability far beyond 
 our greatest praise. We ardently hope that 
 their efforts, at once so painful and so deserving, 
 may be better appreciated by all and more gene- 
 rously rewarded in future. 
 
 We will not undertake to enter into detail, on 
 w^hat the clergy and Religious Orders, — in imit- 
 ation of the Papacy itself, — have accomplished 
 either for the advancement of science and letters, 
 or the instruction of the lower classes. It 
 would be too long ; it is one of these theses to be 
 sought for in the history of christia* societies 
 themsel v«es. Let us rather repeat here the words 
 
— 37 
 
 both 
 the 
 the 
 
 fi, it 
 
 
 -A 
 
 of Our well beloved Pontiff Leo XIII, that 
 worthy promotor of science, both human and 
 divine. In one of his immortal eftbrts ^, he 
 establishes the countless benefits derived from 
 the influence of the Church in educational 
 matters. " Ever anxious to encourage whatever 
 is noble, good and worthy of praise, the catholic 
 Church, says he, realizing the utility of human 
 letters, has never ceased to encourage their 
 study to its greatest extent and to devote to this 
 end a great portion of her care. As a question 
 of fact, all the Holy Fathers of the Church were 
 men of letters, in as much as the times permit- 
 ted ; and there are among them many by no 
 means inferior to thr^ greatest celebreties of 
 Greece and of Rome. It is to the Church, that 
 the world owes the priceless benefit of the 
 almost integral preservation of the works of the 
 ancient greek and latin poets, orators and histo- 
 rians. And is it not a well known fact that, 
 when all over Europe, the culture of letters 
 abandoned, neglected and so to speak stifled by 
 the clash of arms, was about being lost for ever, 
 alone amid the tumult of barbarism, the monks 
 
 and clergy offered them an asylum In the 
 
 long succession of Sovereing Pontiffs, can there 
 be found, even one, who has not rendered some 
 service to the cause of letters ? Thanks to their 
 
 I — Brief P/ane Quidem, 
 
4 
 
 1 I 
 
 v\ 
 
 1 i I 
 
 — 38 — 
 
 care and munificence, schools and colleges have 
 sprung into existence opening wide their portals 
 to studious youth ; libraries have been founded 
 to promote study, at the request of the Bishops, 
 literary circles have been created in their res- 
 pective dioceses ; — learned men and scholars 
 have been highly favored and encouraged iii 
 their labors by worthy rewards." 
 
 It is not only in the sphere of higher studies 
 and in sciences that the catholic Church has 
 taken a prominent part : her action in the edu- 
 cation of the people has not been less real, less 
 visible nor less bountiful. Had she even only 
 taught the masses, the doctrines of faith, the 
 precepts of morality and the duties of life, it 
 would alone have been accomplishing a work of 
 civilization in a high degree. But the history 
 of every age shows her joining as well in the 
 general movement of society, tempering the 
 coarse habits of the barbarian, organizing 
 schools, either in episcopal residences or in the 
 cloister, in cities and in the country ^ institu- 
 ting, even to meet the more numerous and inore 
 pressing demands of modern times, those admi- 
 rable congregations of teachers, male and female, 
 especially entrusted with spreading among the 
 people those necessary ideas of workj govern- 
 ment and life. 
 
 r 
 
 I— Rohrbacher, XI, 
 
— 39 
 
 >ve 
 
 laJs 
 led 
 
 les- 
 
 ITS 
 
 ly^ 
 
 The influence of the Church on national edu- 
 cation, and consequently on social progress, is 
 particularly visible and remarkable in the 
 annals of the Canadian people. Who can deny 
 it ? It is to the zeal and charity of the. sons of 
 Saint Francis and of Saint Ignatius ; to the 
 boundless devotion of the daughters of the 
 Venerable Mother Mary of the Incarnation and 
 of those of the Venenble Mother Marguerite 
 Bourgeoys ; to the learning and virtues of the 
 disciples of Mr. Olier and to the inheritors of 
 the faith, courage and self-sacrifice of the Vene- 
 rable Frangois de Laval, that our people owes 
 its first formation, that sound education which 
 has not only made it what it is,— a religious and 
 profoundly christian people,— but by the solid, 
 enlightened and patriotic training it has receiv- 
 ed, has preserved entire its language, its tradi- 
 tions, its love of intellectual pursuits, its stead 
 fast attachment to its nationality. This bene- 
 volent and enlightening action of the Church 
 has gone on continually increasing with the 
 development of our society, through the pov/er- 
 ful help of those religious communities of later 
 origin,-^what more suitable, than to compare it 
 to the [[ark of the Old law,— the guardian and 
 protector of ourdestinies ! Woe be to him, who, 
 victim of a fatal error or of odious ungratiful- 
 ness, should dare to day to injure it or to raise 
 
i 
 
 I 
 
 ii 
 
 V 
 
 ji' 
 
 — 40 — 
 
 against this national and religi\ms palladium 
 an imprudent hand ! The glory and hopes of 
 our race would be with the past. 
 
 In accordance with the wise injunction of the 
 Fathers of the Third Provincial Council of 
 Quebec, never allow your children to frequent 
 '* institutions where the principles of catholic 
 faith are set aside, even if perchance they are 
 not openly attacked, where evidently their faith 
 would be endangered... The danger would be 
 still greater were they placed in certain institu- 
 tions avowedly created for the perversion of 
 catholics. The feigned charity which offers 
 them a refuge where they are gratuitously fed, 
 clothed and taught, has in reality no greater 
 end than to deprive them of the precious gift of 
 faith. What terrible judgment must await those 
 guilty parents, who there send their children 
 and ignore to such an extent their duty towards 
 those whose eternal salvation should be most 
 dear to them ! '' 
 
 I 
 
 1 
 
 fi«» 
 
 i 
 
 METHODS. 
 
 There are many, Our Dearly Beloved Brethren, 
 who, whilst admit irig the rights of the Church 
 in educational matters, and the elhciency of its 
 action, at least in the past, reproach her with 
 hot endeavoring to adapt her methods of teach- 
 ing to the wants Of the times J with persisting 
 
41 
 
 1 
 f 
 
 •. 
 
 1 
 
 ^^ 
 
 Vi 
 
 ; 
 
 f 
 
 ill following the one beaten track, without 
 taking into account the progress of the age. 
 These reproaches may be inspired by good 
 motives, but assuredly they are not the echo of 
 proper and judicious ideas on the nature and 
 character of education. 
 
 Education, Our Dearly Beloved Brethren, in 
 the broadest sense of the word, may be either 
 physical or moral ; physical, inasmuch as it 
 refers to the state of the body ; moral, -in con- 
 nection with the soul. 
 
 PHYSICAL EXERCISES. 
 
 It is certainly necessary in the development 
 of man, that the body should be the object of all 
 the care this essential part of our being requires. 
 Exercises and games, adapted to the develop- 
 ment of muscular strength, to the maintainance 
 of health and as a stimulant to life, are advisable 
 in any well directed school or college. But one 
 should not f^n tliitt account share the exageratcd 
 ideas of those, who seem to think that the prin- 
 cipal part of a good system of education should 
 consist in gymnastics and athletic triumphs 
 In as much as the mind is superior to the body, 
 so should intellectual and moral education be in 
 regard to purely physical training; However; 
 whilst not striving to train athletes, we must 
 endow our native country with men^ at cmc© 
 
s 
 
 —-~~^ 
 
 — 42-- 
 
 strong and vigourous, but at the sante time 
 learned, virtuous and able to face the struggles 
 of life. . 
 
 PRIMARY EDUCATION. 
 
 To properly form man and to lead him, if 
 neceissary, through successive stages, to the 
 summit of superior education, it is of prime im- 
 portance to start his ideas from a solid basis. 
 This basis is . elementary instruction, equally 
 placed within reach of all children, because all, 
 in whatever state of life to w^hich Providence 
 may call them, may require ; especially, in the 
 social condition of the age, the first elements 
 of human knowledge. Wherefore, Our Dearly 
 Beloved Brethren, we can never too strongly 
 exhort you to take every means and make evejy 
 possible sacrifice, to procure your children this 
 primary education which will be so useful to 
 them and for which they will be eternally grate- 
 ful.'* Unquestionably, your are not bound, thus 
 the Fathers of the Fourth Council of Quebec 
 express themselves, you are not bound to any 
 thing beyond your mean$ ; but take heed lest 
 you exagerate, in your own eyes, your poverty, 
 and have to grieve, some day, too la.te, alas ! on 
 your neglect of so important a duty as that of 
 rearing your children.*' We consider it an essen- 
 tial obligation which parents are bound to fulfil. 
 
— 43 — 
 
 On the other hand, We enjoin on all teachers of 
 both sexes, to set forth, in the humble though 
 important discharge of their duty, or better still, 
 their ministry, that constancy and devotion 
 which society expects of their zeal. One thing 
 which should not be lost sight of in this essen- 
 tial work, is to place foremost religious instruc- 
 tion, to instil in children principles of obedience, 
 of labor, -of duty, of christian honor, of aversion 
 for vice, never to encumber their still feeble 
 memory and intellect with a multiplicity of 
 subjects. • 
 
 Among those who leave the elementary school, 
 the greater number join the great army of labor, 
 others take the direction of the school especially 
 adapted to the science of industry and of com- 
 merce ; others, called by God to a higher social 
 mission, seek admission in classical colleges. 
 
 AIM OF CLASSICAL STUDIES. 
 
 The intention of the Church, Our Dearly Be- 
 loved Brethren, is not that a classical college 
 should be an institution intended to form spe- 
 cialists for any particular branch of human 
 aciiyity. No, it is an institution of a more gene- 
 ral character, an establishment whose end is to 
 give to youth, be he hereafter a future minister 
 of the Gospel, or member of the governing classes 
 gf society, that superior development of in* 
 
-^44 — 
 
 tellect, to which are added professional studies 
 resting on it as on a natural foundation. Where- 
 fore, whilst not omitting those subjects com- 
 monly called practical, and which are taught 
 either in elementary or special schools, the 
 Church wishes to develop the mind of youth by 
 the study of languages and classical models, 
 which the continued experience of ages has 
 proved to be the most efficient agents in intellec- 
 tual development. Not only does our intimacy 
 with ancient authors set before our eyes the 
 most magnificent result of the labors of literary , 
 genius, in the realm of goodness and truth, but 
 also the analysis and study of their works, whiJfct 
 developing the faculties of the mind, help us in 
 a signal manner to understand even modern 
 languages themselves. 
 
 We may add that it is rot without cause, that 
 the Church attaches such great importance to 
 the serious study of philosophical science, whose 
 scope and utility are so general. Is it not a fact, 
 that it is from philosophy the principles of 
 inferior sciences are derived ? Is it not on its 
 conclusions so sure and so clear that are based, 
 in a special manner, the science of right and the 
 science of man ? It is therefore desirable that all 
 whose vocation call them to professional studies 
 should, before entering upon them, draw from 
 theenli ening fountain-head of philosophy thos© 
 
 <JZ 
 
— 46 — 
 
 principles and knowledge calculated to forni 
 welltbinking, jiidicious minds, capable of rising 
 above the sophistry of error and to fill an im- 
 portant position in the government of nations. 
 It is but just to render our institutions^ both 
 
 classical and otherwise, the well merited testi- 
 mony that applied sciences are taught with 
 increasing success and in proportion to the 
 needs of the country ! that they neglect nothing 
 to develop those studies most useful in daily 
 intercourse* 
 
 Moreovf r. Our Dearly Beloved Brethren, that 
 superior, classical, literary and philosophical 
 culture which we recommend is in perfect keep* 
 ing with the character, natural inclinations and 
 aptitudes of our race, and of catholic nations in 
 general. The love of the true and beautiful, in 
 letters as in religion, has been, even from its 
 birth, the characteristic feature of our Canadian 
 civilization and it would be committing a gre- 
 vious mistake, a species of forfeiture and natio- 
 nal abdication, to willingly and deliberately 
 renounce a clain^ so just and so glorious. 
 
 Let us thankfully bless divine Providence, 
 Our Dearly Beloved Brethren, for having per- 
 mitted and intended that, in this Province, reli- 
 gion should hold so efBcient a control over the 
 work of education, and let us pray Almighty 
 
II 
 
 — 46-— 
 
 God to ever maintain in our midst a state of 
 things at once so comforting and encouraging. 
 It is a great safeguard for faith and morals ; it 
 is also, and we loudly proclaim it, a motive of 
 firm confidence in the intellectual future of our 
 beloved country. 
 
 THE CHURCH THE FRIEND OF TRUE PROGRESS. 
 
 The Catholic Church is never opposed to real 
 progress; on the contrary, she seeks it, and 
 ardently desires its extension not only in science 
 and literature but also in industry, in commerce, 
 in agriculture, in fact in anything calculated to 
 better the condition of man. She looks approv- 
 ingly upon the creation of schools destined in a 
 special manner to promote our material inte- 
 rests ; she even spare no pains to perfect this 
 branch of study provided it be not against the 
 interests of superior studies, more important 
 and more necessary ; she confers her blessing 
 on the scholar, on the indefatigable student, 
 who, after having forced nature to yield up its 
 secrets and the treasures of its fecundity, turns 
 them to his advantage and to that of his fellow 
 men. . 
 
 Lend your attention to the eloquent and poe- 
 tical language, on this subject, of cardinal Pecci, 
 later Our great Pope Leo XIII. '^ How majestic 
 " and grand does not man seem, when he com- 
 
-47- 
 
 " mands lightning itself, and casta it powerless 
 '^ at his feet ; when he evokes the electric spark, 
 *' and, faithful messenger of his will, he sends it 
 " through the depths of tVie ocean, over, the 
 " most rugged mountains and boundless deserts ! 
 *^ How he appears in all his glory, when he 
 " commands steam to put on wings, so to speak, 
 " and transport him with the rapidity of light- 
 *^ ning over land and sea ! How powerful is he 
 " not, when by ingenious processes, he himself 
 " produces this power, then chains and leads it 
 " by ways wonderfully combined, communica- 
 ^* ting life and almost intelligence to rough 
 ** matter, by which man is thus replaced and 
 " spared fatiguing toil. Tell me, does there not 
 *^ reside in him, as it were, a spark of his Creator 
 ^' when he evokes light to dispel the shades of 
 '^'night and gild with its brightness, vast halls 
 " and palaces ? The Church, our loving mother, 
 " realizing such great progress, is so far from 
 " placing the least obstacle in its way that, on 
 *' the contrary, on beholding it, she feels within 
 
 *' her a thrill of joy and gladness And again ! 
 
 "what reason could the Church have to be 
 " jealous of the wonderful progress of the age, 
 " the fruit of study and discovery ! Is there in it 
 " anything even in a remote way, possibly inju- 
 '^ rious to our knowledge of God and of faith ^ ?'' 
 
 I— Pastoral letter on the Church and civilization 1877. 
 
• i 
 
 li :i 
 
 I 
 
 — 48- 
 
 These remarkable words are but the develop- 
 ment of the doctrine of the Vatican Council, on 
 the subject of harmony between faith and rea- 
 son. '* Far from the Church being opposed, 
 *' thus the Father of the Council express them- 
 " selves, to the study of arts and human science, 
 *' she, on the contrary, favours and extends it in 
 *' a thousand different ways. For she does not 
 " ignore nor undervalue the advantages to be 
 *' derived from it by man ; more than that, 
 '•' knowing as she doeis that since arts and 
 " sciences come as gifts from God, the master of 
 '' all science, if they be properly directed, they 
 *' will lead to Him, with the aid of his grace ^ .*' 
 
 Well may we exclaim with Saint August in : 
 " holy Catholic Church, true mother of Chris- 
 " tians, it is thou who formest the education of 
 " mankind ; thou who becomest a child with 
 " children, strong with youths, placid with the 
 
 aged, thus following succ ely the progress 
 " not only of the body b' .^o of the soul '-^ .'* 
 
 CONCLUSION. 
 
 Such, Our Dearly Beloved Brethren, is the 
 direction We nave thought expedient to give 
 you, in order to procure your happiness and the 
 
 i—Conc. Vat. Cap. IV. De Fide et Ratlone, 
 2— Saint Augustin, De moribus EccL 
 
— 49 — 
 
 velop- 
 3il, on 
 i rea- 
 posed, 
 bhein- 
 ience, 
 i it in 
 s not 
 to be 
 
 that, 
 I and 
 ter of 
 
 they 
 
 stin : 
 'hris- 
 on of 
 with 
 the 
 prress 
 
 7} 
 
 the 
 le^ive 
 the 
 
 eternal salvation of your children. Watch care- 
 fully over them ; keep them from bad com- 
 pany ; — ^never allow them to read anything 
 dangerous. May your lives, by being truly 
 christian, ever be for them a constant instruc- 
 tion, inspiring them with a love of duty, a spirit 
 of sacrifice, fidelity to the practice of religion, 
 the greatest honesty and respect for authority. 
 Profit of the powerful aid of the Church to 
 develop the intellect of your children, and form 
 their hearts. To succeed the better, always 
 respect the legitimate influence of the Church 
 in educational matters, and never forget, that 
 by divine right, she is the giiardian of the souls 
 of your children. 
 
 May the Almighty extend to you and your 
 families his most bountiful blessings! May your 
 dear children ever be your joy and consolation 
 in this life, and later your crown in heaven ! 
 
 The present Pastoral Letter shall be read and 
 published, entire or in portions, at the prone of 
 all parochial churches and chapels in Our res- 
 pective dioceses, immediately after its reception. 
 
 Given and signed by Us, this nineteenth day 
 of March, on the feast of Saint Joseph, the glo- 
 rious Patron of Canada, in the year one thousand 
 eight hundred and ninety -four. 
 
— 50- 
 
 E.-A. Card. TASCHEREAU, Archbp. of 
 
 Quebec, 
 t 6douari>Chs, Archbp. of Montreal 
 t J.-Thomas, Archbp. of Ottawa, 
 t L.-N., Archbp. of Gyrene, Coadjutor to H. E. 
 
 Card. Taschereau. 
 t L.-F., Bishop of Three River , 
 t L.-Z., Bishop of Saint Hyacinth, 
 t N.-Ze:phirin, Vic. Apost. of Pontiac. 
 t Elphege, Bishop of Nicoiet. 
 t Andr6-Albert, Bishop of Saint Germain of 
 
 Rimouski. 
 t Michel-Thomas, Bishop of Chicoutimi. 
 t Jo8EPH-M6dard, Bishop of Valley field, 
 f Maxime, Bishop of Druzipara, Coadjutor to 
 
 H. L. the Bishop of Saint Hyacinth, 
 t Paul, Bishop of Sherbrooke. 
 
 By command of His Eminence and Their 
 Lordships, 
 
 B. Ph. Garneau, Pst, 
 Secretary of the Archbishopric of Quebec. 
 
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