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 WRONGS AND EEMEDIES; 
 
 OB, 
 
 THE WRONGS OF THE 
 
 ELEMENTARY EDUCATION ACTS, 
 
 AND 
 
 HOW TO REMEDY THEM. 
 
 BT 
 
 FREDERICK CALVERT, ESQ., Q.C. 
 
 " Be just, and fear not." 
 
 LONDON: 
 WILLIAM EIDGWAY, 169, PICCADILLY, W. 
 
 1877. 
 
 Price Three Pence. 
 {Or fifty copies for 5s.)
 
 WRONGS AND EEMEDIES. 
 
 Introduction. 
 
 Many months have now passed away since the 
 prorogation of 1876» There has been time for 
 cahning the excitement which arose in the heat 
 of debate: and matters which dming the last 
 session could scarcely be mentioned without caus- 
 ing irritation, may now be temperately discussed. 
 Elementary Education interests every one. The 
 well-being of the millions who are to be educated, 
 and the morality and religion and consequently 
 the prosperity of the entire nation depend upon 
 it, and make the subject far too serious for any 
 indulgence in personal bitterness or party feelings. 
 The simple question is, What is right to be done? 
 This question must be answered with reference to 
 its own intrinsic merits, and with reference to 
 them only. 
 
 In February, 1876, I ventured to publish a tj^^ 
 pamphlet under the title of " Denominationalists object of 
 
 and Secularists."* I was then told that I had pam- 
 phlet, 
 * JDenominationalists and SecAilarists, by F. Calvert, Esq., 
 
 Q.C. Ridgway, 187G. 
 
 1
 
 made clear tlie existence of very serious defects 
 in the law upon Elementary Education ; but that 
 I had omitted to suggest any kind of remedy for 
 them. The omission was intentional. I thought 
 it right to leave the suggestion of remedies to 
 those who were in positions of authority and 
 influence. In the last session, several improve- 
 ments were proposed by Lord Sandon ; and some 
 of them were carried through Parliament. They 
 were steps in the right direction, and were calcu- 
 lated to be beneficial, as far as they would go. But 
 they failed to provide all the remedies which 
 were required by the defects in the Act of 1870. 
 I will therefore attempt to supply the omission, 
 which I intentionally made in my former pamphlet. 
 My object is to propose such a measure as may 
 satisfy the just claims of those large classes of 
 persons who have been unjustly treated in the 
 provision of that Act: and nothing beyond that 
 limit. 
 
 But, before I come to a statement of existing 
 
 grievances and to the proposal of a remedy, I will 
 
 make some preliminary remarks. 
 
 ■^Q Some persons have suggested that the Act of 
 
 com- 1870 was the result of a compromise. If it was, 
 
 promise • i o a i 
 
 in when was the compromise made r As late as the 
 
 passing ig^ of j^iy^ lg7Q^ gij, Stafford Northcote made 
 
 Act of a motion in Conunittee to confer upon School 
 Boards perfect freedom in respect of religious 
 teaching; in this respect to restore the. bill to its 
 
 1870. 
 
 u,uc
 
 original state. There was a division upon this 
 motion, and Sir Stafford was defeated by a large 
 majority. Clearly there was at that time no com- 
 promise. After that time the Opposition acted, as 
 all defeated parties must necessarily act : simply 
 they took what the victorious party allowed them 
 to have. Since the Act was passed the supporters 
 of School Boards, instead of treating the Act as 
 an Act not to be altered, because a matter of 
 compromise, have proposed very important altera- 
 tions: — For instance, the abolition of the 25th 
 clause, universal school boards, and universal 
 direct compulsion. If anything passed in the 
 nature of agreement or compromise, it is found 
 in the assurance which was given, that Board 
 Schools should be established merely to ^' fill up 
 gaps," to "supplement, not to supplant'^ Volun- 
 tary Schools. No pains were spared to persuade 
 the members of the Legislature, that the bill was 
 intended to have this and no further effect. Upon 
 receiving this assurance, members of all parties 
 joined in supporting the bill. 
 
 Yet in the mode in which the Act has been 
 carried out, this idea has in many places been lost 
 sight of ; in Birmingham especially, and in places 
 under the influence of the principles which prevail 
 at Birmingham. AVe are told even by moderate 
 men,* that the Denominational and Board systems 
 are rivals ; that the public are to choose between 
 
 * Lord Hartington, Times, 5th Aug. 1876.
 
 them; that the preference of the public will be 
 signified by the establishment of one or the other 
 system in districts and parishes ; that the Board 
 system is sure to be preferred, and that the De- 
 nominational will gradually become extinct. 
 Nothing Upon these considerations, I cannot admit that 
 hamper any compromise was ever made. But if there 
 ment in ^^^^ ^^^ ^ compromise, it has been long since 
 IS^''- abandoned by the supporters of Board Schools. 
 Nothing therefore of this nature can hamper the 
 Parliament of 1877 in making any improvements, 
 which they may think advisable. 
 
 Progress of Education since 1870. 
 
 Events Early in this century, the Legislature first 
 embarked in the promotion of Elementary Educa- 
 tion. The views then entertained are patent upon 
 the public documents of the day. Lord Russell 
 in his letter to Lord Lansdowne in 1839, conveys 
 the Queen's wishes upon the subject. '' Four* 
 principal objects must be kept in view: First, 
 religious instruction : second, general instruction ; 
 third, moral training: fourth, habits of industry.'* 
 His lordship adds, '' It is Her Majesty's wish that 
 the youth of the kingdom should be religiously 
 brought up^ and that the rights of conscience should 
 
 * National Education and Puhlic Elementary Schools, by 
 J. R. Ri^g, D.D.
 
 he resj^ectedr In the model school that was to be 
 
 established, *^ religion was to be combined with 
 
 the whole matter of instruction, and to regulate 
 
 the entire discipline." In 1846, Sir James Shut- 
 
 tleworth, writing on behalf of the Government, 
 
 says, *' The* Government has never wavered in its 
 
 adherence to the principle adopted in 1839, that 
 
 religion should be mixed with the entire matter of 
 
 instruction in the school and regulate the whole of 
 
 its discipline; and the perseverance of successive 
 
 Governments in the adoption of the principle, that 
 
 religion is the foundation on which education 
 
 must be built, has vindicated statesmen from the 
 
 suspicion to which we have previously alluded, 
 
 that they valued education chiefly because of 
 
 their confidence in the influence of pure secular 
 
 learning." 
 
 Working with religion as an indispensable hasis^ Accom- 
 
 the Denominationalists had before 1870 pi'ovided ^^^^^ 
 
 school accommodation for 1,875,584 children. Schools 
 
 We have not materials for accurately calculating 
 
 what proportion this amount of accommodation 
 
 bore to the entire amount then actually required ; 
 
 but we know that in the year 1874 the number of 
 
 children accommodated in the Voluntary Schools 
 
 was 2,715,062, while in 18711 the demand for 
 
 accommodation! was on behalf of 3,225,500 
 
 * Rigg, p. 302. 
 
 t This is the year of the last census. 
 
 X See Report of the Education Committee, 1875-6, p. 13, 
 note.
 
 6 
 
 cliildren. In other words, the supply of accommo- 
 dation in 1874 exceeded, by upwards of twenty- 
 seven thousand, five-sixiJis of the entire demand of 
 1871. 
 Public If in 1870 an attempt had been made to abolish 
 in 1870 Denominational Schools, the favour with which 
 as to they were viewed by the public would, according 
 national to Mr. Forster^s own admission, have insured the 
 Schools, defeat of the bill. But before that time the 
 subject had been in its infancy; it was working 
 onwards to a state of things, which would have 
 provided all that the country required in the way 
 of Elementary Education ; nor would instruction 
 in extra subjects have been wanting, if they had 
 been required by the Education Department,* and 
 if proper payment had been offered. Before 1870 
 there were no means of compelling the attendance 
 of children. There was no sufficient pecuniary 
 aid to poor parishes and districts. A scanty grant 
 for setting a school on foot, and payment by results 
 upon a meagre scale for maintaining it, were all 
 that could be obtained. 
 
 The language of some people would lead us to 
 suppose that no effective steps towards the educa- 
 tion of the lower classes were taken before School 
 Boards came into existence; and that they alone 
 have shown a capacity and a desire for its advance- 
 
 * The term "Education Department," means the Lords of 
 the Committee of the Privy Council on Education. See 33 & 
 34 Yict. c. 75, s. 3.
 
 ment. No supposition can be farther from the 
 truth. The Secularist party established scarcely 
 any schools before the rate was legalized. Almost 
 all the elementary schools which existed, before 
 1870 were established by members of religious 
 bodies, and upon the basis of religion. These 
 persons gave money from their own resources, 
 while the Secularists were merely talking. If these 
 religious bodies had had the assistance of a rate, 
 and a power of compulsion, accommodation would 
 have been afforded by them for all the children in 
 the kingdom before 1870; and a great, in many 
 cases, an extravagant outlay would have been 
 avoided. 
 
 But suppose that in 1870 the Government, Claim of 
 instead of attempting to abolish Denominational national 
 Schools, had said, " We think that the puWic are pchooh 
 
 . . . . . t^ equal- 
 
 not satisfied with the working of the existing ity of 
 
 religious schools. We propose, therefore, to es- ^^^ 
 
 tablish schools, in which all distinctive religious 
 
 teaching shall be forbidden, and in which the 
 
 exclusion of all religion whatsoever shall be 
 
 permitted: these new schools shall be in rivalry 
 
 with the existing schools, and shall compete with 
 
 them : the public shall judge between them, and 
 
 show their preference by maintaining or neglecting 
 
 one or the other class of schools." If such an 
 
 announcement had been made, what would have 
 
 been the general reply ? Would it not have been
 
 8 
 
 irresistibly argued^ that the two classes of schools 
 must, in common fairness, be placed upon equal 
 terms? That, in point of finance especially, such 
 equality must be established: that, if this wer© 
 not the case, parishes or individuals might prefer 
 the one system or the other, not on account of its 
 intrinsic merits^ but on account of the difference in 
 the incidence of the burden of the cost incurred. 
 The Denominational Schools had up to that time 
 done good service in the cause of education, bearing 
 the burden and the heat of the day, and working 
 with little encouragement and scanty help from 
 the State. Would it not have been the universal 
 opinion that their title to equality of treatment 
 with that of any schools which might be created 
 under new legislation was absolutely undeniable ? 
 treat- -^^ ^^^ ^h.0 is acquainted with the working of 
 
 ^ent the Education Act of 1870 will affirm that such 
 noraina- equality of treatment has really been established. 
 «^wio ^^ make my meaning clear, I will illustrate it by 
 an hypothetical case. 
 
 Suppose that in any parish there existed two 
 schools^ one of them a Dissenters^ School, the 
 other a Church School ; both supported by volun- 
 tary subscriptions. Suppose a law were to be 
 passed, allowing the formation of a School Board, 
 and the imposition of a school rate, to be compul- 
 sorily levied on all householders in the parish, 
 whether they subscribed to either school or not ; 
 
 Schools.
 
 9 
 
 but with tills proviso, that the Dissenters' School 
 should receive no benefit from the sums paid by 
 Dissenters to the rate, but that the entire proceeds 
 of It should be applied In payment of the expenses 
 of the Church School. What would the several 
 classes of Dissenters have said ? Would they not 
 have renewed all the arguments which were used 
 against Church Eates? Would they not have 
 raised a cry of Injured consciences ? Yet this Is 
 precisely the principle of the existing law ; only It 
 is applied conversely. The injustice is done, not 
 to Dissenters^ but to Churchmen. I shall mention 
 a case in which the injustice is strongly marked. 
 In the working of the School system It has become 
 too much the custom to speak and act as if 
 the consciences of Dissenters alone were to be 
 respected, while those of Churchmen are to be 
 treated with Indifference and neglect. My con- 
 tention is that the consciences of all classes should 
 be equally respected. 
 
 Pkogress of Education after 1870. 
 
 I now pass to the year 1875. I have shown Accom- 
 what Denominationalists accomplished before 1870, ^^^^^ 
 Avhen they encountered no competition. The expe- August 
 rlence of the subsequent years will show what 
 they have accomplished in the face not merely of
 
 10 
 
 competition, but of competition supported by funds 
 practically unlimited. These statistics* are taken 
 from the last returns which have been issued by 
 the Education Department. 
 
 The total number of Schools actually 
 inspected in the year ending Aug. 3 1, 
 1875, was 14,067 
 
 Of which Voluntary Schools were 12,903 
 „ Board Schools „ 1,164 
 
 Accommodation in Voluntary Schools, 
 
 Aug. 31,1875 . . . 2,839,902 
 
 Accommodation in Board Schools, 
 Aug. 31, 1875 .... 389,210 
 
 The entire accommodation . 3,229,112 
 
 Thus the Voluntary Schools mentioned in these 
 
 returns afforded more than seven-eighths of the 
 
 entire existing accommodation ; and it must be 
 
 remembered that, in addition to these schools, 
 
 there were many other Voluntary Schools which 
 
 received no Government Grant, and were not 
 
 included in the returns. 
 
 Increase Next as to the increase of accommodation in 
 of ac- 
 
 * I am obliged in all my statistics to limit the inquiry to 
 the year 1875, as the returns for 1876 are not yet published.
 
 11 
 
 schools, which are in receipt of Government commo- 
 Grants, the figures are as follows :— between 
 
 1870 and 
 1875. 
 
 
 Year ending 
 Ang. 31, 1870. 
 
 Year ending 
 Aug. 31, 1875. 
 
 
 Accommo- 
 dation. 
 
 Accommo- 
 dation. 
 
 Cliurcli of England Schools 
 British, Wesleyan, &c., „ 
 Roman Catholic ,, 
 School Board „ 
 
 1,365,080 
 411,948 
 101,556 
 
 2,009,626 
 561,162 
 189,236 
 386,400 
 
 
 1,878,584 
 
 3,146,424 
 
 The above figures show that from the date of 
 the passing of the Education Act in 1870 to 
 August 1875 additional accommodation was 
 provided by the Church in efficient schools 
 for 644,548 children ; while all the other religious 
 bodies and Board Schools together provided for 
 only 623,294. Thus the increase in Church 
 Schools exceeded that of all other religious 
 denominations and Board Schools combined. 
 
 The comparative efficiency of the different Effi- 
 schools may be tested by the avera2:e amount of ^^^^^J ^^ 
 
 •^ . schools 
 
 Government Grants paid on the result of the tested. 
 examination by Her Majesty's Inspectors. The 
 average amount is as follows : —
 
 12 
 
 Cliurcli of England Sctools . 
 Britisli and Wesleyan ,, . 
 Roman Catholic „ . 
 
 Board „ . 
 
 Average 
 
 amount of 
 
 Government 
 
 Grant. 
 
 s. d. 
 
 12 8i 
 
 13 Oi 
 12 lOi 
 11 H 
 
 Excess of 
 
 Grant over 
 
 amount 
 
 earned in 
 
 Board School. 
 
 s. d. 
 
 1 3 
 
 1 7 
 
 1 5J 
 
 A further test is that of the number of passes. 
 The following table gives the percentages of passes 
 in reading, writing, and arithmetic of the children 
 who were presented for examination. 
 
 Churcli of England Schools 
 Britisli and Wesleyan „ 
 Roman Catholic „ 
 
 Board „ 
 
 Reading, 
 
 88-45 
 88- 
 89-12 
 87-36 
 
 Writing. 
 
 79-62 
 79-62 
 81-01 
 82-64 
 
 Arithmetic. 
 
 70-07 
 71-87 
 71-02 
 
 74-04 
 
 Percent- 
 age of 
 school 
 children 
 pre- 
 sented 
 for ex- 
 amina- 
 tion. 
 
 The Board Schools appear in these returns 
 inferior to the Voluntary Schools in reading, but 
 slightly superior in writing and arithmetic. This 
 slight superiority of the Board Schools in the latter 
 subjects disappears, when it is found that the 
 Voluntary Schools present for examination a much 
 larger number of the children who are in average
 
 13 
 
 attendance than do the Board Schools, 
 returns are as follows : — 
 
 The 
 
 Clinrcliof Eng. Schools 
 British. & Wesleyan „ 
 Roman Cathohc „ 
 Board ,, 
 
 Average 
 attend- 
 ance. 
 
 1,175,289 
 328,180 
 106,426 
 
 227,285 
 
 No. pre- 
 sent at 
 Exami- 
 nation. 
 
 907,384 
 
 259,523 
 
 84,640 
 
 157,590 
 
 Percent- 
 age pre- 
 sent at 
 Exami- 
 nation. 
 
 77-2 
 79-07 
 79-53 
 69-33 
 
 Percent- 
 age over 
 No. pre- 
 sent in 
 Board 
 Schools. 
 
 7-87 
 9-74 
 10-2 
 
 Moreover the average attendance as compared 
 with the number on the rolls of the Schools is also 
 much higher in Voluntary than in Board Schools, 
 although the latter have hitherto had almost ex- 
 clusively the aid of compulsion. 
 
 Chnrchof Eng. Schools 
 British & Wesley an ,, 
 Roman Catholic „ 
 Board ,, 
 
 
 
 Percent- 
 
 Total 
 
 Average 
 
 age in 
 
 No. on 
 
 attend- 
 
 average 
 
 Rolls. 
 
 ance. 
 
 attend- 
 ance. 
 
 1,735,895 
 
 1,175,289 
 
 Q7'1 
 
 492,588 
 
 328,180 
 
 66-62 
 
 163,850 
 
 106,426 
 
 64-95 
 
 351,967 
 
 227,285 
 
 64-57 
 
 Percent- 
 age over 
 Board 
 Schools. 
 
 3-13 
 
 2-05 
 •38 
 
 In the specific subjects taught under the New Test on 
 Code, such as geography, grammar, history, Subjects.
 
 14 
 
 algebra^ languages, &c., there is a great superiority 
 on the part of the Voluntary Schools. 
 
 Churcliof Eng. Schools 
 Britisli & Wesleyan ,, 
 Roman Catholic ,, 
 Board „ 
 
 Average 
 attend- 
 ance. 
 
 1,1''5,289 
 328,180 
 106,426 
 
 227,285 
 
 No. of 
 
 passes. 
 
 70,396 
 
 26,540 
 
 3,080 
 
 8,727 
 
 Percent- 
 age of 
 passes. 
 
 5-98 
 8-08 
 2-89 
 3-83 
 
 Percent- 
 age over 
 Board 
 Schools. 
 
 2-15 
 4-25 
 
 systems 
 
 in 
 
 finance 
 
 Com- Turning to the question of finance, it is calcu- 
 
 of The^ lated that the total sum expended by the Church of 
 different England between the years 1811 and December 
 31, 1874, in the site and building of schools was 
 considerably more than twelve millions sterling ; 
 and that during the same period the cost of main- 
 tenance of the same schools amounted to upwards 
 of fifteen millions. Thus for site, building, 
 and maintenance the entire sum amounted to 
 £27,000,000 and upwards. 
 
 According to the Government returns the Church 
 has during the six years ending in August 1875, 
 contributed for education the sum of £3,682,173, 
 while all the other religious bodies have contributed 
 the sum of £833,709. 
 
 The incomes of Voluntary and Board Schools 
 for the year ending 31st August, 1875, were as 
 follows : —
 
 15 
 
 Income of Voluntary and Board Schools, 
 August 31, 1875. 
 
 Voluntary Schools — 
 
 1. Total Income . . . £2,581,269 
 
 2. Grants from Government . £941,285 
 
 3. Rates .... £5,432 
 
 Total State Aid (Rates and ( i.e. little more 
 
 Government Grant) . £946, 71 7 | than | of total. 
 
 Board Schools— 
 
 1. Total Income . . . £412,842 
 
 2. Grants from Government . £79,254 
 
 3. Rates .... £230,682 
 
 Total State Aid (Rates and U.e. f 
 
 Government Grant) . £309,936 ( 
 
 about f of 
 total. 
 
 The scJiools erected by the Board cost 
 £9. 85 Ad per head for buildmg only. Voluntary 
 Schools in London have cost on the average for 
 buildmg little more than £5. IO5 per head. 
 
 The cost of maintaining Board Schools per 
 head is £2. II5 GfcZ: the cost of maintainins" 
 Voluntary Schools for the whole of England and 
 Wales is £1. 12s per head; and, as far as can be 
 ascertained, the rate in London only slightly 
 exceeds £1. 125. 
 
 It appears from these returns that in the entire Si_ 
 extent of accommodation, in the increase of accom- ^^^^ ^^ 
 
 1 • 1 ' n n T . A compari. 
 
 modation during the live years endmg m August, sons. 
 1875, in the number of children upon the rolls, in 
 the average of attendance, and in the proportion of 
 
 Him.
 
 16 
 
 Infe- 
 rences 
 from 
 facts 
 stated. 
 
 children presented for examination^ the Voluntary 
 Schools are decidedly superior to the Board 
 Schools. Their superior efficiency is still further 
 proved by the excess of Government Grant which 
 is earned, and by that of the passes which are 
 obtained for extra as well as common subjects by 
 the children who attend them. While at the same 
 time the expense of the Board Schools is much the 
 greater, and also the proportion of the expense 
 which is defrayed by the rates and Government 
 Grant. On the other hand the pecuniary contri- 
 butions of Churchmen in the establishment and 
 maintenance of their schools have been enormous. 
 From these facts, two inferences must be drawn. 
 One of them is, that it is quite at variance with 
 the public interest, that all further school ac- 
 commodation should be supplied exclusively by 
 schools established upon the principle of the 
 existing Board Schools. Indeed, the fair inference 
 is precisely the contrary ; namely, that wherever 
 Denominational Schools can be set on foot, they 
 ought to receive all possible encouragement : that 
 the principle upon which the Act of 1870 was 
 passed ought to be faithfully acted upon; and 
 therefore that schools such as the present Board 
 Schools ought not to be thought of, until it has 
 been ascertained that, through the want of suffi- 
 cient accommodation in Denominational Schools, 
 there is a gap to he filled^ a system to he supple- 
 mented.
 
 17 
 
 The other inference is that the Denominational 
 Schools have produced such results between 1870 
 and 1875, that they have established with in- 
 creased strength their claims upon the Legislature 
 to receive a treatment at least as favourable as 
 that which is given to schools of the character of 
 the existing Board Schools. 
 
 Grievances arising under the Act of 1870. 
 
 The treatment which Denominational Schools 
 actually receive is of quite an opposite nature. I^- 
 Indeed the inequality of the present law is glaring, of griev- 
 and presses severely upon these schools. ^^^,®^ 
 
 . . . . . under 
 
 In illustration of that inequality I will men- the ex- 
 tion the circumstances of two parishes which ^*^^o 
 have been brought to my notice. In parish B. Parisli 
 there was formerly one mixed school for both 
 boys and girls, — a Church School. The religious 
 difficulty was never heard of. When the Inspector 
 of the Education Department visited the parish, 
 he reported a deficiency of accommodation. It 
 could not be supplied, because one principal land- 
 owner, a Churchman, refused to subscribe. The 
 consequence was, that a Board was forced upon 
 the parish, a rate imposed, and a new school built. 
 The new school is used for girls and infants. The 
 old school has continued to be a Church School, 
 and is used for boys. The Vicar has always been 
 chairman of the School Board, and also has 
 
 2
 
 18 
 
 superintended the Churcli School. The Board 
 consists of five members, of whom four are 
 Churchmen, and the fifth the Dissenting* Minister. 
 The education-rate amounts to about £240, of 
 which Churchmen pay about £210, Dissenters 
 about £30. Parents who have children of both 
 sexes send their boys to the Church School, their 
 girls and infants to the Board School. The feeling 
 throughout the parish is almost universally in 
 favour of Church teaching : but the girls are not 
 allowed to receive the same Church teaching as 
 the boys, for one reason and one reason only, 
 namely that the law forbids it. The whole of 
 the £210. paid by Churchmen is applied in pay- 
 ment for the school of which they disapprove ; 
 and to this school, with w^hich none except Dis- 
 senters are satisfied, Churchmen are compelled to 
 send their daughters. Is this justice or equality? 
 Is it not a case, in which the law sets at defiance 
 the feelings and consciences of the great bulk of 
 the community^ and the best principles of legis- 
 lation ? 
 Borougli In the borough of 0. there have long been 
 several Church Schools, and one school in con- 
 nexion with the British and Foreign Society. 
 The Inspector of the Education Department re- 
 ported that there was deficiency of accommodation 
 for the children of the borough. Churchmen 
 supplied it, and added, moreover, accommodation 
 for thirty children extra. The Town Council
 
 19 
 
 decided bj two to one against the establishment 
 of a Board. Then the supporters of the British 
 and Foreign School shut up their school, in order, 
 as they avowed^ to create such a deficiency of 
 accommodation as would oblige the Inspector to 
 require the formation of a Board. The scheme 
 was successful. A Board has been formed. The 
 majority of it are Churchmen ; so are the large 
 majority of the rate-payers. The largest portion 
 of the rate is paid by Churchmen : yet they are not 
 allowed to devote one farthing of it to the school of 
 which they approve. All their payments are taken 
 to support the school of which they disapprove. 
 Here, again, is an instance of the great injustice 
 of the law, and of an offence against the con- 
 sciences of the great majority of the ratepayers. 
 
 The circumstances of these parishes show the irregu- 
 
 worldnp; of the law. Thev show that there is ^^^'^^J ^^ 
 ^ \ tJie Law. 
 
 in the treatment of the two rival systems of schools 
 an inequality which absolutely demands correc- 
 tion. Lord Sandon,* in speaking of the state of 
 public feeling upon subjects of this kind^ said that 
 " the people of this country had a strong feeling 
 of justice, and that, if a real case of injustice were 
 made out, they would not allow it to remain." 
 I believe the remark to be perfectly correct. It 
 encourages me to hope, that such a measure as I 
 am about to suggest may ultimately be carried. 
 
 * Times, 5tli Aug. 1876.
 
 20 
 
 Indeed I am convinced that the feeling of dis- 
 content which has arisen from the present law 
 cannot subside as long as the law remains in its 
 present state. But before I suggest any remedj, 
 I will state more specifically some of the griev- 
 ances which are the subject of complaint. 
 Finan- First, as to the establishment of schools. If 
 ^^^. the provision for education in any parish or dis- 
 
 griev- ^ -J ^ 
 
 ances. trict is decided by the Inspector to be deficient, 
 the Board can raise money for a new building or 
 for additions to the old one by loan. They can 
 assign the rate as security. On the other hand 
 voluntary subscribers can raise no loan on the 
 security of future subscriptions. Whatever money 
 is required must be supplied in the form of imme- 
 diate donation. Yet the same Act, which gave to 
 the one party the power of raising loans^ took 
 away from the other, after a period of six months, 
 the assistance of building grants. The supporters 
 of Denominational Schools are compelled to pay 
 the rate for the establishment of Board Schools ; 
 but are denied any share of even their own pay- 
 ments for the establishment or enlargement of 
 their own schools. 
 
 Second, as to the maintenance of schools. The 
 supporters of Denominational Schools are com- 
 pelled to contribute their full share of the rate 
 to the maintenance of Board Schools although 
 they have subscribed to their own schools; and 
 are not allowed to derive any benefit from the
 
 21 
 
 money whlcli tliej tliemselves pay by way of rate : 
 while the supporters of Board Schools contribute 
 nothing to the maintenance of Denominational 
 Schools, but use the rate paid by the supporters 
 of the latter in carrying on their own competition 
 against them. 
 
 Third. The rate of which the supporters of 
 Denominational Schools are compelled to pay 
 their share, furnishes to the Board School not 
 merely a bare maintenance, but a fund practically 
 unlimited. The Board can overbid their rivals 
 by giving high salaries to teachers, and underbid 
 them by accepting the lowest fees from parents; 
 and can recoup themselves out of the rate for the 
 losses thus incurred, and for every disregard of 
 proper economy ; while the subscribers to the 
 Voluntary Schools, having to pay both rate' and 
 subscription, cannot afford to make a correspond- 
 ing outlay on their own schools. 
 
 Fourth. Consider the nature of the result Confisca. 
 which would ultimately ensue in carje the san- *^°^- 
 guine expectation and hopes of some of the Board 
 School party were to be realized, and the 
 Denominational Schools were to be extinguished. 
 The building of Church Schools alone has cost 
 £13^500,000. We have no calculation of the 
 sums which other Denominational Schools have 
 cost. All the sums together must be enormous. 
 If the supposed result were to ensue, these enor- 
 mous sums would be virtually confiscated; and
 
 22 
 
 tlie confiscation would be the direct consequence 
 
 of tlie partiality of the law. 
 Denomi- Fifth. The grievance which I will next men- 
 teacHni ^^^^^ ^^ ^^ ^ distinctly religious character. Although 
 
 for- the Board and the ratepayers of a parish, by 
 
 bidden. -i ... • i i i i 
 
 a large majority, or even unanimously^ should 
 
 desire denominational teaching in the rate- sup- 
 ported school, the law forbids them to introduce 
 it ; nor will the concurrence of the great bulk of 
 the parishioners make any kind of difference. 
 Perhaps it will be said that where such unanimity 
 prevails, recourse need not be had to a School 
 Board; that the Schools may be maintained by 
 voluntary contributions. Not always: in man]/ 
 cases, indeed, it is not so. There are many 
 parishes^ in which the heavy cost of building 
 and maintaining a school^ such as it is now re- 
 quired to be, cannot be met except by a rate. 
 The burden of a voluntary subscription usually 
 falls on a small number of the parishioners, often 
 upon persons of limited income. It frequently 
 happens that no real difference of opinion prevails ; 
 but some parishioners are absentees, and indifferent 
 to the claims of the parish ; some are penurious ; 
 some are devoid of means. Is it reasonable that, 
 in order to obtain from all parishioners their fair 
 share of payment towards public education, those 
 who would pay their shares readily should be 
 compelled to support a system of education from 
 which the religion desired by all is excluded ?
 
 23 
 
 Why should they not be able to enforce such a 
 payment, without submitting- to a restriction which 
 is quite inconsistent with religious liberty ? 
 
 Sixth. But suppose the parish or school dis- 
 trict is not unanimous. Suppose the ratepayers 
 are about evenly divided, but a School Board 
 having been created, the Secularist party are in 
 the majority : then they may appoint, as has 
 been the case in instances which have been 
 mentioned to me^ a Socinian^ a Jew, or a Free- 
 thinker to be master or mistress of the school : or, 
 whoever may be master or mistress, they may for- 
 bid all mention of religion in the school, as is the 
 case at Birmingham and in not a few other Board 
 Schools throughout the country. Nevertheless, 
 the Church of England rate-payers are compelled 
 to pay their rates to this school, and fo this 
 school alone ; and, if there is no second school, 
 the Church of England parents are compelled to 
 send their children to it. 
 
 Against this evil — Education wttliout Religion — 
 no conscience-clause is any protection. 
 
 Let it not be said that a child who attends a 
 purely secular school will be taught religion else- 
 where and at some other time, I have already 
 answered this suggestion.* I need not repeat what 
 I have said. Truth however requires this addition. 
 For elsewhere read nowhere. For some other time 
 read no other time, 
 
 * Benominationalists and Secularists^ pp. 27, 28.
 
 24 
 
 Case Birmingham is a warning to all England, 
 
 ming- During three years the experiment has there been 
 ham. tried of a school education without religion. It 
 has been tried under favourable circumstances, 
 because a society, such as could be found in only 
 a few places, has during that time been labour- 
 ing to give religious education to as many of the 
 children as possible. The result has been, that out 
 of 17,253 children 5,600* have been instructed in 
 religion of some kind; 11,653 have learnt no 
 religion at all. 
 
 Birmingham now renews the experiment for 
 three years more ; if with the same results, there 
 will be 11,653 children, who have learnt nothing 
 of the duties, or guidance, or comfort of religion. 
 Who can foresee of what sins or crimes these 
 children may be guilty ; what sorrows may await 
 them without one ray of comfort ? And at whose 
 doors will these offences and miseries be properly 
 laid ? At the doors of those « legislators, who, in 
 passing the Education Act, abandoned the religi- 
 ous basis which was required by the Queen and 
 laid down by the Government in 1839, f and set at 
 defiance the indisputable maxim, that education 
 without religion is education without its most 
 precious blessing. Let any one of these legisla- 
 tors, who sets a value upon religion, ask himself 
 
 * See Times, 20th Jan. 1877. See also Appendix, page 39. 
 t See page 5,
 
 25 
 
 what would be his feelmg, if he were compelled to 
 educate his child from his sixth to his twelfth 
 year in complete ignorance of his duty towards 
 God, and of God's love to him? Then let him ask 
 himself this serious question, " Was I justified in 
 inflicting upon these poor children and their 
 parents a privation, which in my own family I 
 should regard as the gravest of calamities ?" 
 
 Seventh. The wrongs which arise out of the Effect of 
 Elementary Education Act affect all reli2:ious *^® ^^^ 
 
 •^ ® upon 
 
 denominations, but affect most sensibly the Church Churcli 
 of England. The extent to which they affect the ^^^ 
 Churcli is constantly underrated. Take the case 
 of parents, who wish in training their children, to 
 comply implicitly with all the requirements of 
 the Church. The Church, speaking through the 
 Prayer Book; which has been sanctioned by Act 
 of Parliament, requires every minister who baptizes 
 a child to charge the parents and sponsors to 
 " see that the child is instructed as to the vow 
 which has been taken for him ; in the Creed, the 
 Lord's Prayer, and the Ten Commandments ;" and 
 in "all other things which it is necessary for him to 
 know for his soul's health." Further, the Church 
 directs that a child, who has been baptized, shall 
 be instructed in the Catechism, before he be 
 brought to be confirmed; and also, that none 
 shall be admitted to the sacrament of the Lord's 
 Supper, " until such time as he has been confirmed 
 or is ready and desirous of being confirmed :"
 
 26 
 
 wliile at the same time she teaches that the sacra- 
 ment of the Lord's Supper, as well as Baptism, is 
 '' generally necessary to salvation." Can a greater 
 grievance be inflicted upon sincere and obedient 
 members of the Churchy than to require them to 
 send their children to a school in which all this 
 teaching is distinctly prohibited ? The action of 
 the law is to destroy the very foundation on which 
 this part of the Church system entirely depends. 
 The law violates the liberty of conscience not 
 merely of parents, but of sponsors, clergy, bishops, 
 school-masters and school-mistresses; indeed of 
 all persons who in respect of the child's educa- 
 tion are anxious to conform to the Church's 
 discipline. Such is the grievance which is inflicted 
 upon Churchmen, in schools which they are obliged 
 to maintain in addition and in opposition to their 
 own schools. At the same time, they are, looking 
 at the country at large, more numerous than any 
 of the many various classes of Dissenters, if not 
 than all of them added together. 
 
 The mode in which the Legislature has dealt 
 with the Prayer Book deserves further notice. 
 How to teach and expound the Bible has been 
 long a subject of controversy; but during three 
 centuries and more the Prayer Book has been 
 accepted by the ablest English divines as the 
 best interpreter of the Bible, as well as the safest 
 standard of sound religious knowledge. That this 
 book should be proscribed by the Vatican is easily
 
 27 
 
 understood. But that the British Legislature 
 should prohibit the use of it in the Elementary 
 Schools of England could hardly have been 
 anticipated. Nor can it be matter of surprise if, 
 while this prohibition is enforced, children are 
 drawn away to Eomanism on the one hand, or 
 infidelity on the other. 
 
 The law upon these subjects is strongly in 
 contrast with the law before 1870. Before that 
 time education was optional; the support of it 
 voluntary; freedom of religious teaching complete. 
 Thanks to Lord Sandon, the parent's duty to edu- 
 cate his child is now recognized by statute ; the 
 support of education is compulsory, but freedom 
 of religious teaching has been to a great degree 
 suppressed. 
 
 Eemedy Pkoposed. 
 
 Eor the evils which I have enumerated I pro- Remedy 
 pose to find a remedy in the establishment Qf P^^P^^® 
 'perfect equality between schools formed upon the 
 principles of the Board Schools, and Denomina- 
 tional Schools. The remedy is of the following 
 nature. Let every parish or district determine 
 by vote of the ratepayers, whether the schools 
 situate within it shall be supported by voluntary 
 contribution or by rate. If the determination is 
 in favour of a rate, let it be a necessary conse- 
 quence that every Elementary School situate within 
 the parish or district, and approved of by the
 
 28 
 
 Education Department as efficient, shall receive 
 a share of the rate ; the share to be proportioned 
 to the number of children in each school. 
 Let the same rule be applied, if a rate is forced 
 upon a parish or district under the powers of 
 the Act. 
 Remedy I may remark upon this plan that there will be 
 ticable. ^^ difficulty in carrying it into effect. The ne- 
 cessary information will be found in the returns 
 which are regularly made by the inspectors to the 
 Education Department. The statement of the 
 attendances at all the different schools added 
 together will regulate the amount of the entire 
 aggregate rate to be raised in the parish. The 
 number of attendances in each individual school 
 will determine the proportion of the entire rate to 
 which each school will be entitled. 
 
 Not only is the plan practicable, but also it does 
 not interfere with any of the work which has 
 already been accomplished. The Board Schools 
 already existing will remain untouched. If they 
 are preferred by the parents, they will, in spite of 
 the adoption of this plan, gradually supersede their 
 rivals. 
 
 A plan of this description would require the 
 creation of a governing body or Board in every 
 parish or district which has decided to support its 
 schools by a rate. One of its duties would be to 
 settle in the first instance the aggregate amount of 
 the rate ; and next the proportions of it due to each
 
 29 
 
 scliool. Under the present law the governmg body, 
 that is the Board,* may delegate to managers " then- 
 power of managing and controlling schools ;" they 
 " may remove them, increase or diminish their 
 number ;'' they " may continue or discontinue 
 schools," " receive transfers of schools^ or re- 
 transfer them." It is their duty " to build and 
 furnish schools, and provide a sufficiency of them 
 for the entire parish or district." All these powers 
 they are to exercise under the immediate control 
 of the Education Department. 
 
 My desire is that they should go one step ^^^e 
 farther ; and, while they provide Undenomina- to Reli- 
 
 tional or Secularist Schools for those who prefer ^^^^ 
 
 f Educa- 
 
 them, they should also be at liberty to provide or tion. 
 to maintain Denominational Schools for those who 
 prefer them. For instance, if a requisition is 
 presented to the Board by an adequate number of 
 ratepayers, for the establishment of a Denomina- 
 tional or Secularist School, let it be their duty to 
 provide it, and to appoint managers by a similar 
 delegation of authority, always selecting as 
 managers persons identified in religious opinion 
 with the school to be managed. Let such appoint- 
 ment of managers be subject to the control of the 
 Education Department. In case the requisition is 
 refused, let an appeal lie to the same Board."!" 
 
 * See 33 & 34 Vict. c. 75, et seq. 
 
 t In some cases the new school built in compliance with the 
 requisition may include so many places for children, that these
 
 30 
 
 There may be some parishes or school districts 
 in which the managers of a Voluntary School may 
 decline to accept for it any share in the rate ; such 
 school will continue to be managed as before, and 
 to be^ as before, independent of the Board as to 
 finance and management. 
 General If such a plan as I have here suggested were 
 plan pro- ^^ be carried into operation^ the general result 
 posed, would I believe be, that in every parish or district 
 the schools would be all maintained by voluntary 
 subscription, or all aided by rates ; and in every 
 school the teaching would be Denominational, or 
 Undenominational, or Secularist, according to the 
 choice and decision of ratepayers and parents. 
 But all schools, equally, would be bound to carry 
 on such a system of secular education as would 
 satisfy the requirements of the Education Depart- 
 ment. And there would be this great advantage ; 
 that the schools would be in accordance, not with 
 a hard and fast system devised by the Legislature 
 for the whole country, but with a system adapted 
 to the religious opinions of the ratepayers who 
 supply funds for the schools, and of the parents 
 whose children are to be educated. The great 
 defect of the Board system^ that is, its narrow and 
 
 places being added to those wMcli existed before, the whole 
 may exceed the total number of places required. Wherever 
 this is the case, the requisitionists must bear the expense of 
 the excess, either by agreement, or under the arbitration of 
 the Education Department..
 
 31 
 
 restrictive character, would be removed. The 
 Board in administering the Education Fund would 
 act in favour of all persons by whom it is con- 
 tributed, instead of acting in favour of some and 
 adversely to others. And instead of having a 
 policy confined to a section of the community, it 
 would have a public policy for public benefit. 
 
 A remedy, such as I have proposed, would, T Removal 
 believe, remove all the e-rievances which I have ^,,£^^^^" 
 mentioned. Were it adopted, the supporters of 
 Undenominational Schools would be unable to 
 throw upon others the expenses of their schools 
 without contributing in return to the schools of 
 their neighbours. There would be one common 
 rate of payment by all and for all. There could 
 be no unfairness of competition ; no confiscation of 
 property in consequence of the poverty* of sub- 
 scribers ; and, if a loan could be obtained for one 
 school, it could also be obtained for another. 
 Above all, the offences against conscience would 
 cease. The Secularist would have no cause to be 
 offended because his rate went to the support of 
 the Methodist School ; nor the Methodist because 
 his rate went to the support of the Secularist 
 School. There would be the same absence of a 
 cause of displeasure between Churchmen and 
 Dissenters. The feelings of parents would be as 
 far as possible consulted in the child's religious 
 education. The clergy and the ministers of diffe- 
 rent denominations would enter without con-
 
 32 
 
 stralnt upon the task, wliich is an essential part 
 of their duty, and which is best discharged by them, 
 that is, the instruction and training of the youth 
 of their flocks. 
 
 Systems of Education in different 
 Countries. " 
 
 Infer- It is no part of my object to obtain for one class 
 
 from ^^ schools any advantage over any other class. All 
 ^F- , I ask is equality of treatment^ a fair field and no 
 book. favour. Let the schools, which under equality of 
 treatment establish their superiority, fully enjoy the 
 benefits of pre-eminence. But I think that I ought 
 to call attention to some information given by Dr. 
 Eigg in the work which I have already quoted. 
 He is an eminent Wesleyan Minister, and was 
 lately a member of the London School Board. He 
 gives us the results of experience in foreign coun- 
 tries, in which Undenominational Schools have been 
 extensively tried. He shows that after a sufficient 
 trial Denominational Schools have been uniformly 
 preferred \ except in Holland, where Secularism has 
 been adopted. The inference from his work is 
 that if Denominational Schools were to be forcibly 
 supplanted in England, the loss of them would be 
 a great public calamity. 
 
 United ''In the United States/'* he says, ^' Denomina- 
 States. 
 
 * Dr. Rigg, p. 139.
 
 33 
 
 tional Schools of all classes appear to be somewhat 
 on the increase, owing to the growing complaint as 
 to the absence of religious tone and of moral power 
 and discipline in the common schools. "We* 
 must expect to see these Voluntary (z.e., De- 
 nominational) Schools increase and multiply in 
 the large and growing towns of the United States 
 in future. I find that in some quarters a demand 
 is arising that all such schools should participate 
 in the State bounty in some form or other ; that, on 
 the principle of payment for well-tested results^ 
 they should receive a certain proportion of aid from 
 public funds." 
 
 " As originally projected,! the educational Prussia. 
 system of Prussia was designed as far as practicable 
 to proceed upon the principle of united education, 
 and as little as possible upon the principle of 
 separate Denominational Schools." " This pro- 
 ject, however, failed in Prussia, as it failed after- 
 wards in France and in Ireland." 
 
 In Prussia :j: some schools have existed in which 
 the teachers were taken, one from Protestant, 
 another from Eoman Catholic Schools ; that is, they 
 were Mixed Schools. "* But there is a growing 
 feeling against these Mixed Schools ; so strong that 
 it is unlikely that any Commune will hereafter 
 agree to have schools of this kind." In the 
 Prussian schools the article in the Constitution is 
 
 * Dr. Rigg, p. 140. t Ibid., p. 171. 
 
 X Ibid., p. 174-5. 
 
 3
 
 34 
 
 " that in the ordering of the public people's schools 
 regard shall be had as far as possible to denomi- 
 national relations." 
 
 '^ In Germany the plan" (of Undenominational 
 Schools) " after trial had already been set aside in 
 Crer- 1832." '^ In Wurtemberg* and some other countries 
 of Southern Germany primary education is a matter 
 of ecclesiastical control and arrangement under the 
 sanction of the general law of the country, the 
 Church being only another aspect of the State." 
 " Prussia and Wurtemberg are probably the best- 
 educated countries in Germany." " In Switzer- 
 Switzer- land "j" the ecclesiastical authorities immediately 
 land. inspect — not, however, alone — and largely direct 
 Holland. ^^^ schools." " In Holland J the mixed system 
 having been discarded; education has become 
 secular. At the same time it has been considered 
 impossible to use compulsion in favour of schools 
 where no religion is taught ; and, on that account, 
 compulsion in Holland is entirely abandoned." 
 Ireland. With regard to Ireland Dr. Rigg says,§ '' Until 
 the way was opened for the reception into the 
 national system of the denominational schools, 
 the National system made slow progress." '' JBy 
 force of circumstances the original conception, 
 as set forth in 1831, has proved to be on the 
 whole impracticable. The diverse elements of 
 
 * Dr. Rigg, p. 180. t Ibid., p. 200. 
 
 + Ibid., p. 213. § Ibid., p. 248.
 
 35 
 
 Irish ecclesiastical and religious life could not be 
 held in neutral solution within the school-room ; 
 the process of crystallization would proceed ; it 
 has in fact taken place ; and instead of a common 
 unsectarian system we have an aggregate of schools 
 under denominational influence and management, 
 which to some eflective extent^ yet with many 
 failures and drawbacks, are nationalized for 
 educational purposes." 
 
 I do not find in any one of the countries men- 
 tioned by Dr. Rigg a single instance, in which the 
 undenominational system has been permanently 
 successful. On the other hand in Canada there Canada. 
 is a denominational system supported by rate or 
 public funds, which is still prevailing after the 
 experience of many years.* It assumes different 
 forms in Upper and Lower Canada according to 
 the different circumstances of the two provinces. 
 There is in both provinces a power of establishing 
 schools in conformity with the views of the Church 
 of England, or Roman Catholic, Presbyterian, 
 Baptist, or Congregational bodies. Any such 
 schools are established on the application of an 
 adequate number of freeholders or householders 
 resident Avithin a school district. There has 
 always been a rate in Upper Canada : but the 
 ratepayer has been able to assign his rate to the 
 
 * See Report on the Cominon School System in the United 
 States and Canada^ by the Bishop of Manchester, 18G6, 
 pp. 205-313.
 
 36 
 
 class of schools wMcli he has preferred. Canon 
 Gregory* has published a very able pamphlet^ in 
 which he has shown two alternative schemes, by 
 either of which the principle of Canadian schools 
 may be adopted in England. I strongly recom- 
 mend to my readers the perusal of this pamphlet. 
 They will see in the example of Canada, how the 
 exercise of freedom in religious education may be 
 extended with perfect justice to all classes in this 
 country. 
 
 Conclusion. 
 
 Danger -^^^ ^^^ what is the general aspect of Elemen- 
 *o. tary Education? It was remarked by the late 
 
 * Sir Benjamin Brodie, that a child's mind is always 
 full of something : and if not of something good^ 
 then of something had. Is not this remark correct 
 in respect of religion ? If the principles of religion 
 are not instilled into a child's mind, irreligion 
 takes possession of it. The preachers of infidelity 
 are always near at hand. Shops containing their 
 tracts establish themselves in the neighbourhood 
 of Board Schools. The Archbishop of Canter- 
 bury, in a recent charge, told his clergy that 
 their great duty at this period is to contend 
 
 * See Is the Canadian system of education rates possihle in 
 England ? By Robert Gregory, M.A., Canon of St. Paul's. 
 National Society, Sanctuary, Westminster.
 
 37 
 
 against the progress of infidelity. Surely parents 
 should receive encouragement to preserve their 
 children from its contamination. * 
 
 * " A writer in tlie Contemporary says : ' All the garbage 
 that belongs to the history of crime and misery is raked 
 together to diflfuse a moral miasma throngh the • land, in the 
 shape of the most vnlgar and brutal fiction.' The Bishop of 
 Peterborough, the other day, stated that ' He had seen some 
 of these publications, cleverly written, and largely circnlated 
 among the working-classes of this country, which for foulness 
 of denunciation, virulence of abuse, and rancour of hate 
 against not merely the doctrines of Christianity, but the very 
 Person of its Blessed Founder, were unparalleled in literature, 
 and were not to be exceeded by the most horrible utterances 
 of the last century, even amid the horrors of the Erench Revo- 
 lution.' . . . Four of these sensational periodicals circulate 
 a million copies weekly (a large proportion on the Sunday 
 morning) representing a weekly expenditure, mainly by the 
 working classes, of more than £200,000. The London Glohe, a 
 few weeks since, in a leader, called attention to the noteworthy 
 fact that ^wherever a new Board School was opened, there in 
 the immediate vicinity, would be found a shop where the 
 Boy Highwayman and other pennyworths, with villanously 
 coarse pictures on the front, and villanously vile teaching 
 within, might be obtained.' One of the sellers remarked to 
 a good man who said ' that he thought education would soon 
 indispose the young to buy the rubbish offered in these 
 shops :' ' You don't know what you are talking about. You 
 and your School Boards have been the making of such as me. 
 The children used to come round the window, blocking the 
 pavement, just for the sake of a peep at the pictures ; but it's 
 different now ; you've learnt 'em all to read ; now they buys 
 'em. Where I used to sell one BluesMn or Boy Highwayman^ 
 I now sell half a dozen.' " — Woman's Worh, No. for January , 
 1877.
 
 88 
 
 Prin- Lord Eussell laid down great principles in 
 
 b?main ^^^^ 5 first, religious instruction 5 second, general 
 tained. instruction ; third, moral training ; fourth, habits of 
 industry. Those principles were established by 
 statute in 1839. They remained on the statute- 
 book until 1870. They have prevailed in the 
 Voluntary Schools until the present time. Few 
 great principles have received more signal proofs 
 of public approbation. They have produced their 
 fruits, as we have seen, in a vast amount of educa- 
 tion given at extensive self sacrifice. Until 1870 
 religion was regarded as a necessity in education. 
 Is it not a necessity now ? 
 
 Why may not the freedom which formerly pre- 
 vailed with so much advantage be re-established ? 
 Why not enlarge the system ? Why not extend 
 the benefit of the rate to all classes of persons 
 who are compelled to pay it ? Why not make the 
 system liberal instead of restrictive? Why are 
 not ratepayers to be allowed to determine the 
 application of the money which they are them- 
 selves compelled to pay ? The children are the 
 children of the parishioners; the rate is their 
 money; the parishioners manage the schools and 
 manage them with the approbation of the Educa- 
 tion Department. Why may they not in the 
 management of them consult their own wishes and 
 opinions ? Above all, why these offences against 
 men's consciences? The Secularists would com- 
 plain, if their money were applied in support of a
 
 39 
 
 Church School. But one man's conscience is as 
 much entitled as another man's to the protection 
 of the Legislature. Why is the Churchman or the 
 Weslejan to be offended by the outlay of his 
 money in support of the Secularist School ? There 
 is a complaint that bitterness prevails in the School 
 Board elections. But can bitterness cease while 
 the law is one-sided ? It is for the Legislature to 
 allay the bitterness by an impartial deference to 
 the feelings and wishes of the entire people who 
 are subject to their government. Let the Legis- 
 lature cease to impose restrictions upon the 
 religious teaching of any class of the commu- 
 nity ; give free course to religious opinion in the 
 management of schools ; respect the consciences 
 of all denominations, and make and administer 
 laws upon the strictest principles of justice. * 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 (Note upon page 24.) 
 
 Since this Pamphlet went to the press, I have been 
 informed that after the appearance of this statement in the 
 Times, a change was made by the Religious Education Society : 
 a change founded upon the principle of giving half the amount 
 of education to double the number of children. There are 
 now ten schools : and, except in the boy's department of one 
 school, the teachers are to attend once a week instead of 
 tivice for three-quarters of an hour. No proof of efficiency
 
 40 
 
 in past years has been published. Efficiency can hardly 
 be promoted by this change. 
 
 At the same time the number of the Board School children 
 has increased. 
 
 There are on the books 20,891. 
 
 Accommodation is provided for 18,958. 
 
 Religious instruction upon the footing which I have men- 
 tioned is offered to 9,354. 
 
 Those who are familiar with the education of children will 
 judge whether the change is for the better or the worse. 
 
 BY THE SAME AUTHOR, 
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 DENOM I NATIONALISTS 
 
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 lokdo:n'. 
 
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