Then from a distant country, little, poor, and despised, was heard the voice of Him who said: Come to me all you that labor and are heavy laden, and I will refresh you. Take up My yoke upon you, and learn of Me because I am meek and humble. of heart; and you shall find rest to your souls." Oh joy! Jesus of Nazareth passes by. Rome is penitent and proud no more. She sees on the eastern horizon the dawn of Pax Christiana.

ROBERT SETON, D.D.

THE CATHOLIC EDUCATIONAL EXHIBIT AT THE

COLUMBIAN EXPOSITION.

HE Columbian Exposition was a series of surprises. Not

cation. This was specially surprising to those who, having in mind only the subtle processes of mental action, declare that education cannot be exhibited. They forget that behind all that is manifest of man to the eye there is a spirit; that, corresponding to all that is external and visible, there is the internal and unseen, which cannot be exhibited apart from its natural manifestations. In a sense, the real man is never seen by mortal eye; and yet, we are always discoursing about seeing men. The power of speech itself, by which the spirit declares its sentiments in words, depends very much upon what is unsaid, but suggested. The value of all exhibitions turns upon the power of the sense of sight-that "most perfect of all our senses," to which they appeal. For centuries, fairs used this sense in aid of trade. Articles were brought together in greater or less numbers or variety for inspection, sale, or purchase; but, in recent years, their service in the way of instruction has been recognized. Thus, great exhibitions now, not only mark epochs, but give incalculable impulse to progress. has been said, that the great exhibition in London, in 1851, in which instruction was first made so prominent, was inspired by Prince Albert to help tide Great Britain over threatened industrial revolution. In this higher function, this use of educative power, education itself has become an object of exhibitions, not its subtle processes to be sure, any more than the unseen and inde

1 Matt, xi.

It

scribable processes of inventing the telephone, are set forth when that instrument is presented to the eye. If we reflect a moment, we notice that every time we compare teachers, schools, or their methods, or principles, in choosing for ourselves or our children, we are taking into account what can be seen, estimated, or measured. On this basis rests the setting forth of all educational claims. We can see and compare grounds, buildings, text-books, desks, laboratories, the thousand and one school appliances; the work of pupils which can be preserved in writing or drawing, and their work in wood, metals, textiles, clay, or stone, or the varied facts represented by statistics, or the manifold conditions which the camera can reproduce and preserve for examination. Indeed, in the Chicago exhibition we learned that the stenographer could report for us every word uttered by pupil or teacher, and describe every incident of the school-day's experience; and that the phonograph could report for us, in their very tones, the questions and answers, and the lessons in reading and music.

The Catholic exhibit of education was, moreover, a surprise for those who believe that the Catholic Church seeks its ends by concealed means. Here there was no concealment. Here, for the examination of every one who came, was the work of students in every subject taught, from those in the kindergarten to the most. abstruse and profound in the professions-in the common branches, in history, local and general, ancient and modern, political and ecclesiastical; in church doctrines and sacraments; in the obligations of patriotism, and the sacredness of the oath. Here was the work; sometimes, in a most unchanged condition, just as it came from the hand of the pupil; and again, with the correction of the teacher added, showing both the work of the pupil and the method of the teacher; again, artistic illuminations were added, with pen and pencil. The work in wood was for the most common use, or for the sacred purposes of the altar; again, there are specimens of needlework, for the most common uses, or delicate laces and rich embroideries, or sacred vestments for priests or bishops; or, in crayon or oil, are the portraits of those eminent in the Church. At hand, were the schedules of schools in which the time occupied in each subject was given. The whole was an appeal to the American boasted fairness. It was saying to all the world, "Here is what we do; judge ye!"

Moreover, it was on the same floor, and in close proximity to the great public-school exhibitions; thus affording an excellent opportunity for comparison, which the friends of each should make without injustice to either. Few of the most devout Catholic visitors failed to find something unexpected as they studiously and reverently wandered through its alcoves and sought to gather

its lessons. They did not know that their own schools were so numerous, or comprehend the vastness of their work. Not only the great cities, and remote corners of the United States, but Hawaii, Mauritius, France, and other distant lands were represented. That the vastness of the collection faithfully represented the work done in the schools participating, could not be doubted by any one who, like the writer, had visited not a few of them, and reported many of them annually for half a generation.

Clearly, the exhibit is phenomenal; there has been none of church education like it. No one, who would estimate aright the educational force of the times, can ignore its significance. Its objects, manifestly, are manifold; but pre-eminently, it is an appeal to the judgment of mankind. There is no civil authority of city, state, or nation behind it; yet one idea pervades it, one authority. has called it together and rules throughout the work it represents. This idea, this authority, has established the schools from which this material was collected, over against public schools and other private schools, and comes for an inspection of results.

Says the eminent Bishop Spalding in an able article, urging participation, "We shall thus place before the eyes of the millions who will visit the Exposition a clear demonstration of the great work the Church in the United States is doing to develop a civilization which is in great part the outgrowth of religious principles, and which depends for its continued existence upon the morality which religious faith alone can make strong and enduring. There can be little doubt that many are opposed to the Catholic system from the fact that they have never given serious attention to the principles upon which it rests or to the ends which it aims to reach. It is the fashion to praise education, and hence all declare themselves favorable to it; but those who have it enough at heart to make it a matter of thoughtful and persevering meditation, are like the lovers of truth, but few. But those who do not read seriously or think deeply may be got to open their eyes and look, and what they see may arouse interest and lead to investigation. Opinion rules the world, and the Catholic exhibit offers a means to help mould opinion on the subject of education, which is, in importance, second to no other; and in an age in which the tendency is to take schools from under the control of the Church and to put them under the control of the State in such a way as to weaken their religious character, nothing which may assist in directing opinion to true views upon this subject may be neglected by those who believe that education is essentially religious."

Here is a frank, direct statement for all, whether agreeing with it or not, and may well awaken thought and turn attention to the exhibit.

This is a period of facts, hard facts, if you please; and the exhibit, as a great fact, was intended to arrest attention and turn it to these schools and their methods. No statement, no statistics, no discussion ever conveyed such an idea of Catholic education as was here disclosed. It was a great object-lesson-not, indeed, education itself, but so near to it as to require no added description; but if that were desired, the catalogue could be procured of the indefatigable manager, or one of his assistants was at hand to answer questions.

The thoughts revealed by the exhibit in its many forms to the millions who saw it, are now on their travels through the civilized lands of the world, and will continue travelling while the memory of the collection remains in human minds. No one can compute its propagating power. It cannot, will not, everywhere produce the same impression. Some may be impelled only to find fault with it, to assail its object, to dwell on its deficiencies; but that is not attempted in this writing. Here it is sought to promote its influence in the direction of progress.

Improvement in education has in it a sign of betterment for mankind, which may hope to find a measure of favorable response even in those minds which are not attuned to the highest notes in the scale of service for our race.

Look more closely into the great collection.

Here are 29,214 square feet of floor-space so divided into 114 compartments or alcoves, and provided with shelving as to furnish 60,000 square feet of wall-surface and desk-room for the installation of an uncounted number of articles illustrating educational progress and conditions. One who undertook to record the enumeration of articles from 68 schools of the Christian Brothers found 5086 copy-books, 79 volumes of class work, 1008 separate sheets of drawings, 419 drawing books, 148 volumes of students' drawings and thirty large maps, together with 42 specimens of woodwork, 79 in iron, 14 in map engraving, 17 musical instruments, 24 in printing and binding, and 20 annals of agronomical stations, and so forth. Shall I enumerate the subjects taught in this group alone? In one of these schools, pupils are offered training in nineteen different trades. Schools for boys exhibit fifteen arts and twenty-six distinct and separate industries. In the schools under the direction. of the Roman Catholic Church, in the United States alone, there may be said to be enrolled 800,000; a single society, the Sisters of Notre Dame, Milwaukee, showed by a great rising structure of bricks pictured on the wall, an attendance of 73,703.

The inscriptions of arch-diocese and diocese over the alcoves pointed at once to the subdivision of material in its installation, and illustrated the ecclesiastical loyalty of the teaching bodies. Twenty

dioceses were represented, seventeen teaching orders and a considerable number of separate institutions or schools, such as the Catholic University of America, Washington, D. C., the University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, Ind., the Papal College Josephinum, Columbus, Ohio; Miss M. L. Ash's Art School, Nashville, Tenn.; Catholic text-books, the Columbian Library of Catholic Authors, and the League of the Sacred Heart.

The three diocesan exhibits which most impressed visitors were those of Chicago, San Francisco and New York. The central attraction of the first was the statue of the archbishop in Carrara marble bearing the inscription, "Protector of our Schools." The statistical tables with the New York exhibit tell us that its schools possess $4,000,000 of property and that their annual cost is $260,000 and that there are within the diocese one hundred and sixty-eight parochial schools. The Fort Wayne diocese adds to the interest of its parochial schools exhib ted by giving something of their history.

The general public never before had such an opportunity to gain so distinct an idea of the educational work of the several Catholic orders. Here one may study how each conducts instruction in its own sphere and all work in harmony and under one supreme authority. The influence of the exhibit upon the pedagogical principles and methods of the teachers of these schools, so evidently constantly in the minds of its chief promotors, was of incalculable importance.

Bishop Spalding, with effective urgency, declared: "The exhibit will help also to enlighten and stimulate teachers by diffusing among them a more real and practical knowledge of the various educational methods and appliances. It will arouse new interest in pedagogics as a science and an art. We may easily become the victim of the fallacy that a Catholic school is Catholic because this adjective is affixed to its name, or because in it prayers are said and catechistn is taught. A poor school cannot exert a wholesome influence of any kind. Idle, inattentive, listless and unpractical children will not become religious however much they are made to pray and recite catechism. In a truly religious character self-respect, truthfulness, a love of thoroughness and excellence, a disinterested ambition are as important as a devotional spirit. When the natural virtues are lacking the supernatural have no proper soil in which to grow. A right school system does not of necessity make a good school. The aim is to advance the cause of Catholic education. We care little where or by whom the work is done."

No one would expect the work to be of uniform merit. Here was the inferior over against the superior. A brief statement like