§ Mr. Goulburnwished to ask the noble Lord (Lord John Russell) a question respecting New South Wales. He observed from the newspapers of that colony, that there had been in the legislative council a measure propounded by the Governor for the general education of the youth of that colony. It appeared that by that measure the Roman Catholic youth of the colony were to be educated in one school, in the principles of their own religion, but that all the other youth of the colony were to be educated in one common school, in which, in order to avoid religious dissensions, no religious instruction was to be given, therefore giving to the Roman Catholics the benefit of religious instruction, but withholding it from the children of parents professing other religions. This proposition had, however, not met with the approbation of the Legislative Council. Now, what he wished to ask was, whether this proposition had been made by the governor in consequence of any directions from the Government at home?
§ Lord John Russell,in the first place, wished to observe, that he had received no despatches on this subject from the governor of that colony; therefore all the information which he had on the subject was probably derived from the same source as that from which the right hon Gentleman had derived his information, namely, from private letters and the colonial newspapers. He, however, gathered from them a somewhat different conclusion to that which the right hon. Gentleman had arrived at. He understood that the governor had made a proposition to the legislative council of the colony, on the subject of the education of the youth of the colony. He proposed that there should be one system of general instruction to all classes of Protestants, in conformity with the plan acted upon by the 767 British and Foreign School Society. The right hon. Gentleman stated, that this was a system of which religious instruction did not form a part. Now, the fact was, that a part of the instruction imparted in the British and Foreigh Schools was reading in the Bible. If the right hon. Gentleman adopted the language of another person, who stated that there was no religious instruction in connexion with this society, and that instruction in the Bible did not in itself constitute religious instruction, he could understand his observation. The proposition of the governor was, that all the Protestant children should be taught reading in the holy scriptures according to the system pursued in the schools belonging to the British and Foreign School Society. With respect to the Roman Catholic children, he understood that it was proposed that there should be separate schools for them, and that the religious instruction to be imparted to them should be by their own teachers. Great objections were made to this proposition in the colony, and the governor did not persist in it. He did not find that any instructions had been sent out to the governor of that colony authorising him to make this proposition.
§ Mr. Goulburnobserved, that the question was as to whether or not any religious instruction was to be given in the schools proposed to be established for the Protestant children; but it was whether the children of Roman Catholics were to have provision made for their education in their exclusive schools in the Roman Catholic religion, while the children of the members of the Church of England were to be educated in schools from which religious instruction, in connexion with the Church of England, was to be excluded.
§ Lord John Russellreplied, that he had received no official information on the subject, but he imagined that it was proposed that the religious instruction to the children of Protestants was to be given in their schools, and that they were to be taught to read the holy scriptures, and of course not excluding them from religious instruction by their respective clergymen. The instruction in the Roman Catholic schools was to be in conformity with the faith the children professed. He, however, could only repeat, that he had received no official information on the subject.