Page 119 - March On! God will Provide by Brother Aubert

Chapter 16

MISSION IN ENGLAND

T\ EGTNNTNc rN 1833 rnE, EI.IcLrsrr GovsRN[{rNr had
lJ U".r, granting financial aid to schools that passed
inspection but limiting the eligible schools to those con-
trolled by the "National Society of the Church of Eng-
land" and the "British and Foreign School Society."
In Decembet, 1847, the Council on Education, four min-
isters of the 'Crown, proposed that with the approval
of Parliament, the scope be widened to include all
Christian schools. The Vicars Apostolic of England and
Wales lost no time in organizing the Catholic Poor-
School Committee to deal with Whitehall.
This startling good news with its possibilities became
the topic of consuming interest to'the Xaverian com-
munity in Bruges especially after Brother Ryken an-
nounced that he had received two more requests for
Brothers, one from York and anothff from Bolton.
Living at "ffet Walletje" at this period was a Father
Ross from across the Channel. Ife was only too h"ppy
to be able to help Brothers Alphonse, Ignatius and
Alexius, the three selected for Bury, in their eftort to
read, speak, and write his mother tongue.
Father Ross did more than serve as tutor. Through
his three pupils he fired the whole community with a
holy enthusiasm. An article in the "Tablet" from Lon-
don, which he translated and elaborated on as part o[
a lesson in English, dealt with the number of Catholic
boys and girls in England and Wales deprived of all
education. Soon everybody in the house knew the
details.