iament, magistrates, high sheriffs, clergymen, wealthy merchants,
and land-owners; of men distinguished in the various scientific and
literary professions or pursuits; of country gentlemen, traders,
artisans, and of all the classes that constitute the bone and sinew of
the country. In a word, the requisition is signed by more than 30,000
Catholics of every degree. May it not be considered as a great
plebiscite? Is it not a proof that the laity and clergy are all of one
mind? Is it not a solid refutation of the foolish assertion of some
Presbyterians, that the Catholic laity take no interest in the
education question, and that, were it not for the priests, the laity
would be perfectly satisfied to accept godless instruction for their
children? Those who attribute this baneful indifference to the laity,
misrepresent and calumniate them, and show their ignorance of their real
feelings, and of the efforts which Catholics in Ireland, in Belgium, in
Germany, and in other countries, have made to have and to preserve a
good Christian education for their children. The principal Catholic
gentlemen in Ireland some time ago published an important declaration,
presented afterwards to Parliament, in which they proclaimed their
adhesion to the principles held by the true Church in regard to
education.

As for the Catholic laity of Ireland in general, feeling, as they do in
a special manner, the signal blessing they enjoy in possessing the true
faith, and knowing that it is a priceless treasure with which, far more
precious than worldly substance, they can enrich their children, their
love for Catholic education is proved to evidence by the multitudes of
their sons and daughters who throng every Catholic school, and
especially every school in which the presence of Christian Brothers or
of Nuns gives a guarantee that religion shall have the first place, and
shall impregnate the whole atmosphere which their little ones are to
breathe for so many hours of the day. They have proved, also, their
dislike and fear of mixed education, by turning their faces away from
schools in which no expense had been spared, on which thousands of
pounds of the public money had been squandered, but against which their
Bishops deemed it their duty to warn them. Hence, in several Model
Schools erected in populous cities and towns, where the great majority
of the inhabitants are Catholics, sometimes not ten, sometimes not two
of their children are found within