^^.
 
 L I E) RARY 
 
 OF THL 
 
 U N I VLR5 ITY 
 
 or 1 LLI NOIS
 
 m 

 
 MTIOML EDUCATION. 
 
 Preached on the 2nd Sunday after Epiphany, January 19th, 1902, 
 
 in St. Margaret's, Westminster, on the occasion of the 
 
 first Sunday in the Session of ParUament. 
 
 BY 
 
 H. HENSLEY HENSON, B.D., 
 
 Canon of Westminster and Bedor of St. Margarefs, 
 Westminster. 
 
 PKINTED^BY REQUEST. 
 
 LONDON : 
 Feinted by WIGllTMAN MOUNTAIN & ANDRE^VS, Ltd., 81, Victokia Stuket, SAV,
 
 NATIONAL EDUCATION. 
 ^exxnoxx 
 
 Preached on the 2nd Sunday after Epiphany, January 19tli, 1902, 
 in St. Margaret's, Westminster, by the 
 
 Rev. CANON H. HENSLEY HENSON, B.D. 
 
 "And wisdom is justified by her works." — *S'. Matfheir xi. 19. 
 
 THE occasion on which these words were spoken by Christ 
 was of singular and pathetic interest. The message which 
 the imprisoned Baptist sent to Him,wliom he had publicly 
 acknowledged as Messiah, seems to uncover to view a spiritual 
 conflict, which it is not hard to understand, and with which it is 
 impossible not to sympathize. Christ, in the full tide of His 
 transient popularity, seemed strangh^ forgetful of the desert 
 preacher, whom He had displaced in the po]nilar favour, and to 
 whom, none the less, He stood bound by great obligation. Did 
 Ho disown, and desire to forget, that great ministry of repentance 
 which liad prepared His advent? He \vas the Messiah, whose 
 way in the world must thus be made straight ; how, then, could 
 He ignore and leave to his fate in Herod's dungeon the Messenger 
 of the Covenant ? Or, could the truth be rather that the Baptist 
 had been deceived by the ardour of his own (Mithusiasm, that he, 
 too, had mistaken the signs of the time, and that Messiah was 
 yet to come ? 
 
 '''' Noir I'-lien John heard in the priso/o the ii-orl'>< of the Chrii^t, he 
 sent hy h-is disciples, and said, imto Jiim, Art Thou he that cometh., or 
 look ire for another ? " Our Lord replies by bidding the envoys take 
 back a faithful description of His works, adding a very gentle 
 message, half remonstrance, half benediction -" A'ltd blessed is he, 
 irhosoever shall findj none occasion of sttiniltling in Me." The 
 
 263
 
 SERMON. 
 
 messengers having retired, Christ pursues the train of thought 
 which their arrival has started in His mind. The personal failure 
 of the Baptist, following upon a public ministry of extraordinary- 
 power and success, was suggestive of melancholy speculation as 
 to the conditions under which such ministries must be fulfilled 
 in the world. 
 
 Christ Himself was even then engaged on the same task as 
 that which had carried the Baptist to the impotence and obscurity 
 of imprisonment. He was preaching to the same imstaljle 
 multitude, and, though His manner of life and ministry were 
 different, yet there were even then signs that He would be no 
 more successful in winning or retaining the popular approbation. 
 The same persons who complained of the Baptist's asceticism 
 were now finding fault with Christ's social tolerance. Their 
 attitude was that of petulant children, who will not be satisfied. 
 " Wltereunto shall I Wien flm generation ? It is lilie unto children 
 sitting in the marhet places, irhicJi call unto their fellows, and sniij, 
 We piped unto you, and ye did not dance : we ivailed and ye dAd not 
 inourn. For John came neither eating nor drinldng, ami they say. 
 He hath a., devil. The Son of man came eating and dnnJiing and 
 they say. Behold a gluttonous 'nia,n and a irinebihher ! Andj wisdom' is 
 jastijied hy her irorhs.^^ 
 
 We have the key to the meaning of the text in some words 
 which may, perhaps, be a comment of St. Luke, Ijut which, 
 I think, may very well l^e understood to be part of Christ's 
 speech. Having described the greatness of John the Baptist, the 
 Evangelist, or Christ Himself, notices the endorsement of his 
 message which the penitents, who received it, freely rendered. 
 '^And all the people, when they lieard, and the piidMcans, justified 
 God, being baptized irith the baptism of John. But the Pharisees and 
 the lairyers rejected for themselves tJie counsel of God, being not 
 baptized of hiany 
 
 In like manner the vindication of Christ's own ministry 
 would be found in the free acknowledgments of " the children 
 
 264
 
 SERMON. 
 
 of irisdoiii ,'' those simple and honest Iblk, who without prejudice 
 would lace the " iror/i'i^ " of wisdom, and draw the inevitable 
 inference f«om their quality and efi'ect. It makes no real 
 difference to the sense of the text whether we read, with the 
 Revisers, " irorls,^' or with the " many ancient authorities," to 
 whom they refer in their margin, " c/dldren." In a true sense, 
 the ^^ children of vAsdom''^ are also the worlcs of wisdom; and, 
 certainly, they are the agents through whom those works are 
 wrought. But I nuist not detain you longer with questions of 
 interpretation, for our Saviour's words must serve us on this 
 occasion rather as a general statement of principle, which 
 holds good in the wliole sphere of human action, than as a 
 particidar judgmeiit on an episode of the Evangelic history. 
 " Wisdovi is justified by her vhrhsy The demonstration of the 
 rightness of any course of conduct, of any policy, of any system, 
 lies in its actual effects. 
 
 You will permit me to apply this truth to the case 
 of our national education. A whole generation has passed 
 since the present system was established, and we are, as 
 citizens, faced by the necessity of revising it ; nay, I 
 do not go beyond the facts, or pass outside the general 
 agreement, when I say that the Government stands towards 
 the nation pledged, as deeply as any Government could be 
 pledged, to deal promptly, effectually, and, as far as human 
 wisdom can secure, finally, with the problem of revising the 
 existing educational system. 
 
 At such a time, therefore, it would se(Mn the duty of every 
 good citizen to ajiply his mind, and, so far as his iuHuence 
 extends, to induce otliei's h) do as much, to this subject, in 
 order thai the action of Government may be stinudat(^d, 
 sustained, and sanctioned by a watchful, intelligent, and steady 
 public opinion. It does not seem an extravagant claim, that 
 of all citizens the Clergy are on this (juestion especially Ijound 
 to express their minds; for th(3 Clergy, under the; existing 
 
 265
 
 SERMON. 
 
 system, arc gcnerall}' responsibh^ for the maintenance and 
 conduct of the elementary schools. 
 
 It is the case at this moment that most of the 'elementary 
 schools in tlie conntr}- are to a very lai'ge extent mider clerical 
 control; and, therefore, it would he imreasonable to accuse a 
 clergyman of travelling outside the lines of his duty, when (as 
 I intend to do this morning) he directly considers educational 
 questions in the puljiit. On this occasion my parochial duty 
 coincides with the general oljligation which I have described. 
 I have to ask you, not merely to contiiuie 3'our support of the 
 National Schools in this parish, l)ut substantially to increas(^ 
 it. The Churchwardens and I have decided to allot four 
 Sunda3's in the year for making collections for these schools, 
 instead of three as heretofore ; and even so, 1 liave to tell you 
 that unless your contributions are more li'oeral than in the 
 past, our schools must fall into debt, and, witliin a few years, 
 fail altogether. 
 
 You will understand, therefore, that I am compelled, 
 against my wishes, to draw your attention to a matter, which, 
 at least in its most prominent aspect, is less religious than 
 political. 
 
 Now the situation which I have described in this parish 
 is representative. All over the coinitry the Voluntary Schools 
 are in sore straits. 
 
 If I were an advocate of merely secular e.lucation, or 
 for what, in principle, is the same thing, for universal School 
 Boards of the existing type, I should simply adopt a policy 
 of educational obstruction. Maintain the pres(Mit law for a 
 few years longer, and the " intolerable strain " will have done 
 its Avork. One after another the Voluntary Schools are perish- 
 ing; many have perished within the last tew months: many 
 more will perish within the next few years. It is a mere 
 matter of time when the whole system collapses. 
 
 Even this is not the wliolt^ truth. Poverty is having its 
 effect on our scliools. Our school buildings are generally 
 
 266
 
 SERMON. 
 
 inferior ; our teachers are, for the most part, worse paid, and, 
 as an inevitable consequence, we do not often get the ablest 
 teachers; our educational plant is, as a rule, not equal to that 
 of the rate-supported schools. Religious teaching is becoming 
 associated in the popular mind with educational inefficiency; 
 and we cannot wonder if the shallower sort of politician infers 
 that the association is natural and inevitable, instead of being 
 the consequence of untoward conditions. There is no likeli- 
 hood of any improvement. In spite of what optimists may 
 say in pul)lic, it is well known and freely confessed in private, 
 that tlie reluctance of the Anglican laity to contril^ute to the 
 support of voluntary schools grows daily greater, that their 
 resentment against the injustice implied in the' necessity to 
 conti'iljute is becoming stronger than their desire, at all hazards, 
 to maintain religious schools, that they are more and more 
 disposed to leave the education question to take its course. 
 
 The Voluntary Schools, then, are in a 'critical condition ; 
 as I see the facts, and I know well that I am expressing 
 opinions which are frankly confessed in assemblies of Church- 
 men, there is, under existing circumstances, nothing l^efore 
 them but steadily waxing inetficieney, caused Ijy lack of 
 requisite income, and, sooner or later, ignominious extinction. 
 The question, therefore, must be asked, and pressed — What 
 is the actual worth of those schools to the Nation? Ought 
 they to be slowly starved out of existence, and their places 
 takiMi l)y the Board Schools we know so well ? Oi-, do tlu>y 
 represent something of enduring value, whicli ouglit to l)e 
 estal)lished in a re\'ised national system? Shoi'tly, I would 
 answer that the Voluntary Schools embody two thoroughl)'- 
 sound principles. In tlu^ first place, they eni])ody the principle 
 that school management ought to be ]iermanent and personal. 
 TIku'c is, ])erhaps, no sphere within wlileh continuity is more 
 important than in the spluM-t^ of e(lucation. The salutary 
 influence of a seliool is far more the creation of settled 
 traditions and moral atmosphere than of syllabuses and didactic 
 
 267
 
 SERMON. 
 
 methods. In a good Vohmtarj^ School, where the Clergy do 
 tlieir duty, there grow up a public spirit, a tone of manliness 
 and deference, a settled temper, Avliich wonderfully colour the 
 education, and affect for good tlic children educated in it. 
 
 No dou1)t the teachers, and especially the head teachers, 
 are mainly responsil^le for this ; but the Clergy also are teachers, 
 and they are generally the principal managers ; and they often 
 represent in tlieir own ]un'sons great educational traditions and 
 a distinterested zeal for education ; and their influence is only 
 less than that of the teachers. I am, of course, well aware 
 that in many Board Schools wonderful (^fleets are wrought by 
 high-minded teachers ; but broadly it is the case that a system 
 which is subjected at short intervals — every third year — to 
 the disturbance and, often, change of a popular election is 
 unfavoural>le to the creation of sound traditions and a healthy 
 atmosphere of education. 
 
 I have named the Clergy, l^ecause, as a matter of fact, they 
 do at present mainly carry on the management of the schools ; 
 but I do not doubt that there are many laymen of character 
 and leisure who might be brought into the educational service 
 of the nation as School Managers, if only thej'^ were set free 
 from the distasteful and humiliating necessity of a popular 
 election at frequent intervals. 
 
 In the next place, the Voluntary Schools, or rather, to 
 s}ieak more exactly, tlie denominational schools, embody the 
 principle of religious education. I know well that great 
 numbers of Christian people believe that the Board School 
 system, as it now exists, is capable of providing such religious 
 and moral education as satisfy the Christian conscience. Far 
 be it from me to deny, or belittle, the excellent effects of eflforts 
 which have been made, notably in London, to make the most 
 of tlu^ scanty liberty of religious t(\aching given by our present 
 laws ; but, when all is said, th(n'(^ art^ hard facts which leap to 
 tlu^ eyes of any impartial student of the Board School syst(>m. 
 Religion has no '" security of tenure " in the Board Schools ; 
 
 268
 
 SERMON. 
 
 it may he banished altogether if the local majority so wills ; 
 in point of fact it has been so banished in the schools of some 
 fifty School Boards. Religion has no gnaranteo of character, 
 no measure of adequacy, no test of efficiency. It may not be 
 expressed in creeds and catechisms, apart from Avhich, none 
 the less, any serious and systematic teaching is really impos- 
 sible ; it need not l)e entrusted to religious teachers ; it must 
 not be included in the general education, which His Majesty's 
 Inspectors may examine and appraise. Religion, in fact, is 
 tolerated within the schools, but forms no part of their 
 educational system. I do not doubt that, even under such 
 disadvantages, there are many Board Schools in which religious 
 teaclun-s make good use of the time set apart for religious 
 instruction, and bring to bear on their children daily the 
 salutary influence of the Christian character; but this precious 
 element is not due to the systiair, nay, the system steadily 
 tends to discourage it. I will not conceal from you my anxiety 
 that the religious teaclier is a vanishing type in our elementary 
 schools. There are forces at work, whicli I may not )iow 
 describe, which are affecting the teacliei's, notably the male 
 teachers, especially in our Board Schools. They ar(> becounng 
 less religious and more professional. -Tlie system is working 
 as might have been expected, and we are steadily moving 
 towards secular education, pure and simple. 
 
 And yet, I l)elieve, it is true (to l)orrow the woi'ds of the 
 Royal Commissioners of 188s) tliat " all tlie e\-idence is ])raeti- 
 " cally unanimous as to the desire of the parents for the 
 " religious and moral training of their children "* ; that " if 
 " the' State were to secularize' elementary education it would 
 " be in violation of the wishes of llie parents, whose views 
 "in such a matter are entitled to the first consideration."'*' 
 
 Religious i^oliticians. who are steadily m-ging the nation 
 towards the goal of secular education, do connnonly justify 
 their policy by the assumption that religious and moral training 
 
 * Vide Report, p. 113. t Report, p. 124.
 
 SERMON. 
 
 will ])e provided elsewhere than in the schools. The home, the 
 Church, the Sunday-school will do all that is necessary. Non- 
 conformists for the most part take this view. Th(\y are religious 
 men, valuing, no less than we, the religious basis for morality 
 which Christianity gives, but they take sides against us on 
 this question, because they are persuaded that the religious 
 teaching we desire in the schools will be best provided 
 elsewhere. Doubtless this will be so in many cases — in all 
 cases where parents are serious Christian folk, who luring up 
 their children in the fear of God ; Init I would affectionately 
 urge Nonconformists to consider the case of those nuiltitudes 
 of children, derelict on the ocean of life, cursed from their 
 cradles with drunken or vicious parents, hindered and polluted 
 by the thousand circumstances of daily life, who must find 
 whatsoever knowledge of God and duty which they shall have, 
 in the schools to which the merciful severity of the law drives 
 them. The mnnber of such children is very large. In Bir- 
 mingham alone it Avas testified before the Royal Commissioners 
 of 1888 that '• tlun-e were 26,000 wdiose names were on the roll 
 " of some day school who attended no Sunday School."* 
 At the same ratio tlu're must l)e more than a (juarter 
 of a million such children in London. In view of such 
 considerations, will any thoughtful Christian acquiesce lightly 
 in the total elimination of the religious principle from our 
 elementary education? The failure of the Voluntary Schools 
 will mean nothing less, and that failure is inevitable so 
 long as the organized forces of Christianity in the country 
 are at cross purposes on educational i^olicy. The fate of the 
 denominational schools is in the hands of the Protestant 
 Nonconformists, and they (with one notaljle and honourable 
 exception) stand at present in an attitude^ of implacable 
 opposition. Is this necessarily a linal attitude? I cannot 
 Ijelieve it. I would venture to mak(^ aliectionate appeal to 
 the Nonconformists to consider whether their relentless hostility 
 
 * Vide Report, p. 124. 
 
 !>70
 
 SERMOiV. 
 
 to the (IcnoiuiuatioiKil sclionls is not really iueuiisistrnt with 
 tlicii' own solemnly m\-oW('(1 jji-inciplcs. Tin* Ev^angelical Free 
 Churcli Cateehisni, issued two years ago, was drawn up l)y 
 representative Congregatioualists, \\'(>sleyaii Methodists, ]ia])tists, 
 Primitive Methodists, Pr(»sl)yteriaiis, members of the Methodist 
 New Connexion, Biltle Christians, and United Methodist Free 
 (Minrehmen. It elaims to re]»resent "' th(^ 1)eliefs of not less, 
 " and p)rol)ably many more, than sixty millions of avowed 
 •' Christians in all parts of the world." It eonsists of fifty-two 
 ({uestions and answin's, and, after reading it over thoughtfully 
 more than onee, I eannot discover a single answer wdiieh seems 
 to me properly inconsistent with the Church Catechism, or 
 miacceptable to the mass of English Churchmen. If that 
 Cat(K'liism were honestly taught in the State schools there 
 would be no reason left for tliis weary struggle to maintain, 
 as it were in opposition, a ri\'al set of denominational schools. 
 But be that as it may, I ask Nonconformists to consider the 
 answers to questions 37 and 38 with reference to th(^ presi'nt 
 situation. Tliose questions and answers read thus : — 
 
 " 37. Q. What is the duty of the Church to the State ? 
 
 "A. To oljserve all the laws of the State unless contrary to 
 the teaching of Christ ; to make intercession for the people, 
 and particularly for those in authority ; to teach both riders 
 and sul)jects the eternal principles of righteousness, and to 
 imbue the nation with the spii'it ol' Christ." 
 
 We of the Church accept frankly every word of this state- 
 m(Mit ; it embodies the view we take of our own duty; but we 
 ask our Nonconformist brethren to consider how their doctrine 
 can justify a policy which practically prohibits its application 
 to the most spiritually necessitous section of the piniple. 
 
 " 38. Q. What is the duty of the State to th(> Church ? 
 
 " A. To protect all branches of tlie Churcli and their 
 individual members in the enjoyment of liberty to worship 
 God, and in efforts to [iromote the Religion of Christ, which 
 do not interfere with the civil rights of others." 
 
 :37i
 
 SERMON. 
 
 We find no fault with this doctrine ; if it be open to 
 criticism, it is rathin- as defective than as erroneous ; but 
 accepting it frankly, I appeal to Nonconformists to consider 
 how their own doctrine of State duty is to justify a policy 
 whicli involves the stultification and final extinction of the 
 immense, and protracted, and self-sacrificing efforts to promote 
 the Religion of Christ, which are represented by the creation 
 and maintenance of the denominational schools. How are 
 " the civil riglits of others '' interfered with by securing to 
 Christian parents the right to have their children taught in 
 the schools the faith which they themselves hold to be 
 Divinely true and eternally precious ? Who is injured in any 
 article of his citizensiiip when the Church of Christ, in any 
 or in all of its organized sections, is permitted to teach the 
 poverty-stricken and morally deri^ict children of England the 
 truth as it is in Jesus ? In all honesty, is not the civil injury 
 inflicted rather on the Christian parent compelled to accept 
 for his children an education whicli he holds to be essentially 
 defective ; on the Christian Clergy, restrained in the exercise 
 of their sacred and most salutary duties ; most of all on the 
 children of England, defrauded of the best, perhaps the only, 
 protection they have against the moral perils of their life ? 
 I implore Nonconformists to believe that — whatever a hand- 
 ful of fanatics may write or say — we of the Church do earnestly 
 desire to get into friendly relation with them on the c^uestion 
 of the schools ; we will not stand on denominational privileges ; 
 we are ready (as far as I can judge of our general feeling) to 
 make great sacrifices of everything short of the principles at 
 stake. I do not speak for myself only when I say that we 
 desire the unification of the Educational System on the basis 
 of reasonaljle compromise. The ol)stacle to the final settle- 
 ment of the issues at stake will not be found in us. 
 
 " Wisdom is justified hy Iter (/'orA's." We are able to trace 
 through a whole century the fruits of that non-Christian system 
 of education, to which, as things now stand, we in England 
 
 272
 
 SERMON. 
 
 are surely drifting. I must not enter on this question, at the 
 end of a sermon, but I cannot refrain from beseeching you to 
 consider it. 
 
 We stand to-day at the beginning of a new session of 
 Parliament. We have united once more in that familiar and 
 solemn " Bidding Prayer," which carries so precious a freight 
 of sacred and elevating associations to English folk. We pray 
 for the Nation, ordered as a Christian State, and our prayer 
 in this famous Church receives special significance from the 
 presence here, by accustomed right, of those who directly 
 represent in their own persons the solemn and anxious task 
 of government. My Brothers, you will not resent it, if I 
 remind you that of all the subjects which our Sovereign 
 announced at the opening of Parliament for your consideration, 
 this subject is by far the most important and far-reaching. 
 
 Wars are common incidents of the national life ; and, though 
 they inflict heavy burdens and exact terrible sacrifices, they 
 pass and leave the people wiser and stronger for their coming ; 
 but the issues of an educational policy are of another kind. In 
 no merely rhetorical sense, we English folk stand at the parting 
 of the ways, and tlie choice of our road lies with you. We 
 have the opportunity now of creating one National System, 
 which shall absorb the denominational schools without injustice, 
 by frankly accepting the principle which those schools repre- 
 sent ; we can now, if we will, remove from the body politic a 
 civic hardship, which, for a whole generation, has oppressed 
 and exasperated great numbers of good citizens ; we can now, 
 if we will, make an end of a continuous and long-standing 
 quarrel between Churchmen and Nonconformists, and thus at 
 last make possible their frank co-operation in the holy and 
 necessary work of bringing the faith and morals of the Gospel 
 into the national life. I pray God that the supreme interest 
 of the National Education may no longer be sacrificed to the 
 miserable fanaticisms of political partisanship, and the still 
 more disgraceful jealousies of religious sectarianism. 
 
 273