They will not teach them modesty, which is the
brightest ornament of woman, and renders the relation of man with his
fellow-man harmonious and pleasant. They will not teach them industry
and purity, which insure peace and happiness in the family circle. They
will not teach them the fidelity which the espoused owe to each other,
nor the obligations contracted by parents towards their children, nor
will they teach them to know, love, and serve God in this world, in
order to be happy with Him forever in the next.

For fifteen hundred years Christians served God and loved man, before,
as yet, they received this cultivation of our age; and we, because we
have it so profusely, are forgetting the deeper and diviner lessons. The
tradition of Christian education in this country is, as yet, unbroken.
It has, however, been greatly undermined. It will be completely broken
if we Catholics do not strive, to the best of our power, to preserve it.
We Catholics, therefore, believe that it is our most sacred duty to
bring up our children in "the discipline and correction of the Lord." We
hold that it is our most conscientious obligation to bequeath to our
children the most valuable of all legacies--good religious impressions,
and a sound religious education. We hold that religious education is
the most essential part of instruction.

Now we know that religious education _is not_, and cannot, be given in
our present school system. Our present system of common-school education
either ignores religion altogether, or teaches principles which are
false and dangerous; and if it gives any religious education, it
consists merely in certain vague, unmeaning generalities, and is often
worse than no education at all. Instruction without religion, is like a
ship without a compass. Ignorance is, indeed, a great evil; but of the
two evils, it is even better, in some respects, for our children to
remain ignorant, than to acquire mere worldly knowledge without any
religious training; for without religion they grow up a burden to
themselves, and a pest to society.

Human nature is prone to evil; and the rising passions, especially in
youth, need religious influence to check them. There is a vast
difference between teaching the child's _head_ and forming his _heart_.
Mere instruction in reading, writing, and arithmetic will never teach a
young man to control his passions, and to practise virtue. Such
instruction may do for Pagans, but it will never do