, and it was for some time largely patronized by
Roman Catholics. It is certainly by no means deserving of the
contempt which some writers have bestowed on it, and if measured by
the spirit of the time in which it was founded it will appear both
liberal and useful.... The object of the schools was stated to be
united education, "taking common Christian ground for the
foundation, and excluding all sectarian distinctions from every
part of the arrangement;" "drawing the attention of both
denominations to the many leading truths of Christianity in which
they agree." To carry out this principle it was a fundamental rule
that the Bible must be read without note or comment in all the
schools. It might be read either in the Authorized or in the Douay
version.... In 1825 there were 1,490 schools connected with the
Society, containing about 100,000 pupils. The improvements
introduced into education by Bell, Lancaster, and Pestalozzi were
largely adopted. Great attention was paid to needlework.... A great
number of useful publications were printed by the Society, and we
have the high authority of Dr. Doyle for stating that he never
found anything objectionable [to Catholics] in them.[23]

Take, again, as an evidence of the progressive spirit of the Irish
thinkers on education, the remarkable scheme of national education
which, after the passing of the Catholic Emancipation Act, was
formulated by Mr. Thomas Wyse, of Waterford. In addition to elementary
schools, Mr. Wyse proposed to establish in every county, 'an academy for
the education of the middle class of society in those departments of
knowledge most necessary to those classes, and over those a College in
each of the four provinces, managed by a Committee representative of the
interests of the several counties of the provinces.' 'It is a matter of
importance,' wrote Mr. Wyse, 'for the simple and efficient working of
the whole system of national education, that each part should as much as
possible be brought into co-operation and accord with the others.' He
foresaw, too, that one of the needs of the Irish temperament was a
training in science which would cultivate the habits of 'education,
observation, and reasoning,' and he pointed out that the peculiar
manufactures, trades, and occupations of the several localities would
determine the course of studies. Mr. Wyse's memorandum on educatio