XV THE SCHOOL BOARDS 387 



of this clause how a distinct denominational tone 

 could be honestly given to schools nominally gen- 

 eral." There speaks the honest and clear-headed 

 man. " Any attempt to throw the burden of 

 making the teaching undenominational must be 

 sternly resisted." There speaks the advocate 

 holding a brief for his party. " Verily/' as Trin- 

 culo says, " the monster hath two mouths: " the 

 one, the forward mouth, tells us very justly that 

 the teaching cannot " honestly " be " distinctly de- 

 nominational; " but the other, the backward 

 mouth, asserts that it must by no manner of means 

 be " undenominational." Putting the two utter- 

 ances together, I can only interpret them to mean 

 that the teaching is to be " indistinctly denomina- 

 tional." If the editor of the Guardian had not 

 shown signs of anger at my use of the term " theo- 

 logical fog," I should have been tempted to suppose 

 it must have been what he had in his mind, under 

 the name of " indistinct denominationalism." But 

 this reading being plainly inadmissible, I can only 

 imagine that he inculcates the teaching of formu- 

 las common to a number of denominations. 



But the Education Department has already told 

 the gentleman from Steyning that any such pro- 

 ceeding will be illegal. " According to a well- 

 known rule of interpreting Acts of Parliament, 

 ' denomination ' would be held to include ' denomi- 

 nations.' " In other words, we must read the Act 

 thus: — 



