Schools

Schools, BROTHERS OF CHRISTIAN, a congregation in the Roman Catholic Church, composed of lay-brothers who devote their lives to the instruction of the poor, after receiving a preliminary training in the nonnal schools of the order. The society was set on foot by the Abbe de la Salle, who in 1684 resigned his canonry at Rheims in order to give himself wholly to this work. The schools are now doing a good work both in France, Italy, the south of Germany, and other parts of Europe, and in North America and Africa. The INSTITUTE OF IRISH CHRISTIAN BROTHERS, founded by a Waterford merchant named Rice in 1802, and recognised by the Pope in 1820, is now in a very thriving condition. The number of pupils attending the primary and other schools of the Order is at least 40,000. The methods of teaching have been highly commended by various royal commissions.