XV THE SCHOOL BOARDS 383 



man Catholicism on the one hand to Unitarianism on the 

 other. It was not, perhaps, hard to see that this difficulty 

 would be started ; and to those who, like Professor Huxley, 

 look at it theoretically, without much practical experience 

 of schools, it may appear serious or unanswerable. But 

 there is very little in it practically ; when it is faced deter- 

 minately and handled firmly, it will soon shrink into its 

 true dimensions. The class who are least frightened at it 

 are the school teachers, simply because they know most 

 about it. It is quite clear that the school managers must 

 be cautioned against allowing their schools to be made 

 places of proselytism ; but when this is done, the case is 

 simple enough. Leave the masters under this general un- 

 derstanding to teach freely ; if there is ground of com- 

 plaint, let it be made, but leave the uiius pruhandi on the 

 objectors. For extreme peculiarities of belief or unbelief 

 there is the Conscience Clause ; as to the mass of parents, 

 they will be more anxious to have religion taught than 

 afraid of its assuming this or that particular shade. They 

 will trust the school managers and teachers till they have 

 reason to distrust them, and experience has shown that they 

 may trust them safely enough. Any attempt to throw the 

 burden of making the teaching undenominational upon the 

 managers must be sternly resisted : it is simply evading the 

 intentions of the Act in an elaborate attempt to carry them 

 out. We thank Professor Huxley for the warning. To be 

 forwarned is to be forearmed." 



A good deal of light seems to me to be thrown 

 on the practical significance of the opinions ex- 

 pressed in the foregoing extract by the following 

 interesting letter, which appeared in the same 

 paper: — 



" Sir, — I venture to send to you the substance of a corre- 

 spondence with the Education Department upon the ques- 

 tion of the lawfulness of religious teaching in rate schools 



