.

[219] See the latter part of Chapter XI.

Besides the schools assisted by Government for the education of the
lower orders, there are, of course, many private schools in the
Australian colonies; and it is believed that these important
establishments are no longer so commonly under the direction of men
that have been convicts as they formerly were. Undoubtedly, one who
has been transported _may_, perchance, turn out afterwards to be a good
instructor of youth, but what christian parent would willingly risk his
child's religious and moral progress upon a chance, a possibility, of
this kind? The King's School at Paramatta is an excellent establishment,
founded and conducted upon the principles of the Church of England.
Sydney College is another well-conducted school, but its principles are
more open to objection. "It is to be believed," as has been remarked,
"that a desire to gain the support of men of all religious principles,
led to the Sydney College being founded on none;" and it was scarcely
possible to fall into a greater error than that of passing almost
unnoticed the one thing needful. It is true, that prayers are used daily
in this school, and there seems, from Judge Burton's account of it, to
be much that is good and praiseworthy in its management and details. But
a school where the children of Protestants, Roman Catholics, and Jews,
meet together, must be, at best, an odd jumble; and the religious
tendency of such an education must be very questionable.

The Australian College is said by Dr. Lang, its founder, to be the
most promising establishment in New South Wales, being more likely to
resemble in course of time a small university or college in Europe than
the others are. It is chiefly in the hands of the Presbyterians, and
appears to be a thriving and well-conducted school of general learning.
Religious instruction is not neglected, but all this department of
education is arranged in a vague and general way, so as to avoid as much
as possible disputed points; and if parents or guardians object to
children receiving this kind of instruction at all, these pupils are
allowed to withdraw at the times when it is given. If no essential
points of Christianity had ever been brought into dispute, it might
have been wise to avoid those unessential points that had been; or if
religion were a matter of indifference or secondary consequence, then it
might be well to provide for pupils withdrawing beyond the reach