The Irish Schoolmaster before Emancipation [pp. 243-254]

252 IRISH SCHOOLMASTER BEfiRE EMANCIPA TI4To. [Nov.,
the river that will taich yez how to behave yerselves, as it is a thing ye
won't do for me.'
"The class separated, and a hundred anxious eyes were directed toward
the opening door. It afforded a glimpse of a sunny green and a brawling
stream, over which Mr. Lenigan, followed by his brother David, was pick ing his cautious way. At this apparition a sudden change took place in
the disposition of the entire school. Stragglers flew to their places, the
impatient burst of laughter was cut short, the growing bit of rage was
quelled, the uplifted hand dropped harmless by the side of its owner, merry
faces grew serious and angry ones peaceable; the eyes of all seemed poring
over their books, and the extravagant uproar of the last half-hour was
hushed on a sudden to a diligent murmur. Those who were most profi cient in the study of' the masther's' physiognomy detected in the expres sion of his eyes, as he entered and greeted his assistant, something of a
troubled and uneasy character. He took the list with a severe counte nance from the hands of the boy above mentioned, sent all those whose
names he found on the fatal record to kneel down in a corner until he
should find leisure to haire them, and then entered on his daily func tions."
From these quotations the reader can gather some idea of the
nature of the schools which previously to Emancipation formed
the mind of Irish youth. And it is right to say that the remarkably fine criticism of Mr. Lenigan's assistant, above given, was
characteristic of very many of the better class of Irish schoolmasters of that day.
These educational straits were not the effect of chance, but
the result of deliberate design. " By the seventh William III.
no Protestant in Ireland was allowed to instruct a papist. By
the eighth Anne no papist was allowed to instruct another papist. By the seventh William III. no papist was permitted to be
sent out of Ireland to receive instruction. Owing to these acts
the darkest and most profound ignorance was enforced under the
severest penalties in Ireland" (Jonah Barrington's Rise and Fall
of thle Irish Nation, p. 1 32).
The moment Emancipation was granted an educational revolution took place in Ireland. "National schools" supported by
government grants were established in every parish-not from
love of the Irish people, but from fear of the Catholic clergy.
The ruling class in England feared lest the education of the
entire population should fall into the hands of the Christian Brothers and religious orders. This is what they most
dreaded. The religious orders, during ages of persecution, had
saved money in their several convents. For when a friar died
his little savings-whatever their amount-went into the common fund, and swelled it, slowly and gradually, into something