requirements laid down by the University for the obtaining of its degrees. Including the students of the present year who will obtain their degrees on June 14 one hundred and thirteen candidates presented to the University by the Sisters College received the Bachelor of Arts degree, seventy-five received the degree of Master of Arts, and six the degree of Doctor of Philosophy.

The effect of the Sisters College is already felt throughout the United States and Canada. It has tended to improve methods, to raise the standard of scholarship, to standardize our institutions of various grades, to awaken enthusiasm for Catholic ideals in the field of education in both pupils and teachers, and above all it has tended to bring about cohesion and unity among our teaching forces. The most striking illustration of this is to be seen in the movement for affiliation of our Catholic secondary schools and colleges to the University.

As a direct result of the Sisters College nine colleges and more than one hundred and thirty of the leading high schools conducted by the teaching Sisterhoods of the United States have been affiliated to the Catholic University. This does not include the colleges and high schools conducted by men, whether secular, diocesan clergy or members of religious orders, that have been affiliated with the University. It is hard to estimate all that this means for unification of our Catholic educational system and for strengthening the individual schools. The program for all these secondary schools is outlined by the University and the written examination of all the pupils is conducted under the direction of the University and all the examination papers examined in detail by University professors.

During the past five years the work of organizing the Sisters College has been carried on under the direction of the trustees of the Catholic University. Fifty-seven acres of land adjoining the University were purchased. Two convents to provide accommodations for Sisters who

wish to attend the Sisters College have been erected on the Sisters College grounds, one by the Sisters of St. Mary of Lockport, New York, the other by the Sisters of Divine Providence of San Antonio, Texas. The Anthony Brady Memorial Hall has been erected and paid for by the generosity of the Brady family. The temporary building which has heretofore served to furnish scant accommodations to the academic life of the Sisters College will continue to be used for laboratory and lecture halls. The necessary grading has been done, the sewer and water mains have been brought into the grounds, the telephone and electric light have been extended to meet the needs of the College. All the improvements thus far made have been paid for and all the expenses of conducting the College have been met. There remains only a debt of $60,000, the original purchase price of the property, which it is hoped will be removed in the near future.

The Sisters College has been organized as a separate corporation to be governed by a Board of nine Trustees selected from the Board of Trustees of the Catholic University. The members of the first Board of Trustees of the Sisters College are: Cardinal Gibbons, Archbishops Moeller, Blenk and Keane, Bishops Canevin and Shahan, Monsignor Lavelle, Walter George Smith and Charles Bonaparte.

The instruction in the Sisters College is given almost entirely by professors of the Catholic University. The academic activities of the institution are controlled by a Board of Studies and Discipline appointed by the Board of Trustees.

The Sisters College obtained the blessing and hearty approval of Pope Pius X and continues to enjoy the favor and blessing of the reigning Pontiff. Cardinal Falconio, who was Apostolic Delegate to the United States, was deeply interested in the Sisters College and did much to foster its development during his sojourn

with us. The present Delegate, His Excellency Archbishop Bonzano, and the heirarchy of the Catholic Church have expressed and continue to express their approval of the work of the Sisters College.

The Sisters College, however, is only in its infancy. Great as have been its achievements there are much greater things still to be accomplished, but one can scarcely doubt that a work that is so intimately serviceable to the interests of Jesus Christ and of His Church will receive the hearty support of our Catholic people no less than of the clergy and the laity.

The greatest need of the College at present is money which will wipe out its present indebtedness and build up some endowment to lighten the financial burden on the struggling Sisters who have made such heroic sacrifices during the past five years to avail themselves of the opportunities offered in the Sisters College for the training of teachers for all our Catholic schools. Several thousand Catholics have enrolled their names in the Sisters College League and pledged their support to the College and an annual contribution of at least one dollar. It is to be hoped that the membership of the League will increase rapidly. Every Catholic should be interested in the work of the Sisters College and every Catholic can afford to give at least one dollar a year to so worthy a cause, while those who are more abundantly blessed with this world's possessions will surely come forward with substantial donations. They will either erect new buildings which will render it possible for the College to reach out in the various lines of academic work which lie before it or they will endow the institution so as to lessen the expense on the students who attend.

The Anthony Nicholas Brady Memorial was dedicated by His Eminence James Cardinal Gibbons on May 4. There were assembled in the chapel a number of friends of the institution. The mass was celebrated by His

Grace Archbishop Moeller. Cardinals Gibbons and Farley were present in the sanctuary. Cardinal Gibbons delivered the address on the occasion in which he voiced the thoughts uppermost in the mind of the audience: the great future that lies before the Sisters College, and gratitude to the children of Anthony Nicholas Brady for their timely aid. Among those present were: Archbishop Hanna, of San Francisco; Bishops Canevin, of Pittsburgh; Allen, of Mobile; Currier, of Matanzas; Shahan, Rector of the University; Monsignor Lee, of Washington; Mrs. Nicholas Brady, Mrs. John A. Jackson, Mrs. George Cabot Ward and Mr. and Mrs. Agar, of New York; Walter George Smith, of Philadelphia; Mr. and Mrs. Wm. Perkins and Miss Perkins, of Baltimore; the Misses Cogan, of Brooklyn; Mr. John R. Hennessy, of Jersey City; the superiors of the religious houses in the neighborhood of the University and the professors and instructors of the University, besides the pastors and many of the distinguished members of the Catholic laity of Washington.

THOMAS EDWARD SHIELDS.

THE AIM OF CATHOLIC EDUCATION1

This cathedral parish school has not been erected by the Catholics of this city in opposition to any other state or public schools only in this--here the teaching of religion as the only solid basis of morality, will be given an honored place. This Catholic school therefore has been built to meet the demands of Catholic conscience, which regards religious training as essential to complete character formation. Every penny spent in this school represents a sacrifice to conscientious principles, and America put the stamp of approval on our sacrifice when she guaranteed religious liberty and freedom of conscience to every child of the republic.

THE IDEA OF EDUCATION

Education has been called a system of preparation for "complete living." The "be-all and end-all" of the child is not here below. God created us for Himself, and this life is but a time of preparation for another, unending, life. If, therefore, education is to be adequate to and commensurate with the demands of our nature, it must take cognizance of the here and hereafter of life. The very word education tells us its object and aim. It means to evolve, to lead out. It is a system of training whereby all the faculties of the individual soul are developed, resulting in well-rounded character. Any system of education which neglects features and faculties of soul life must necessarily be an imperfect system, good as far as it goes, but yet incomplete.

In the human soul there are the illative sense, or power of reasoning, the aesthetic sense or ability to appreciate the beautiful, the moral sense, whereby we distinguish right from wrong, and finally, the religious sense, by which we recognize and fulfill our duties and obligations to our God. Character, Christian character, is the result of the proper, wellbalanced development of these senses or faculties of the soul, and education, if it has not for its purpose the formation of

'An address delivered at the dedication of the Cathedral High School, St. Augustine, Florida, April 30, 1916, by Rt. Rev. Michael J. Curley, D.D.