The Catholics of New York subscribed, in 1868, $132,000 for the support of their own school, and, besides, they had contributed a million and a quarter of dollars for the sites and the buildings of Catholic schools. Nothing but the deepest sense of the many dangers to which the religious and moral principles of the children are exposed, could prompt Catholic parents to make such pecuniary sacrifices, or assume such onerous burdens; for it has to be borne in mind that, while they are thus obliged, through conscientious motives, to support their own schools, they have, at the same time, to bear their share of the taxation imposed for the support of the Public Schools. All this is true; yet I can scarcely refrain from expressing my surprise at the extremely abnormal lethargy manifested by so many Catholics, both in high and low places, regarding a duty, the chief one incumbent upon them as members of the family, as citizens, as Christians and as Catholics. Now the cause for the indifference existing among our people on the question of Catholic education, may be attributed to a false process of reasoning. They argue: it will cost money. True; but it is not by _State_ aid, or _City_ aid, that the work of Catholic daily instruction and education in parochial schools is to be carried on. These schools are to be supported, as our _churches_ are, by the alms of the faithful. The Catholics of other countries have their duties to perform, different, in part, from ours, but demanding great self-sacrifice. We, too, except we be "bastards, and not sons," must make our great sacrifices. The first, the most pressing, is that of supporting a good Catholic education. In neglecting Catholic education, we lose that which money cannot buy. Can we conceive of a parent, a Catholic parent, so cruel, so depraved, and so God-forsaken as to sacrifice his child, both body and soul, and devote him to eternal destruction, through eagerness to spare the paltry pence that a proper education might cost? It seems quite certain that if we wait for just appropriations from the State before we shoulder the burden ourselves, wait for it to compel us to accept of Catholic education, we shall find ourselves in a very unfit condition to appreciate the favor; and from present indications, this generation, at least, is likely to pass away before such interest will be manifested in our behalf. Now we must be persuaded that if we allow one generation to be brought up in unbelief, and the course of tradition to be once interrupted, the following generations will fall into a darkness and ignorance worse than that of Paganism; living here without a God, and quitting this world without any consoling hope of a blessed immortality.