396 THE SCHOOL BOARDS xv 



For, leaving aside the more far-seeing minority 

 on each side, what the " religious " party is crying 

 for is mere theology, under the name of religion; 

 ■while the " secularists " have unwisely and wrong- 

 fully admitted the assumption of their opponents, 

 and demand the abolition of all ^'religious" teach- 

 ing, wlien they only want to be free of theology — 

 Burning your ship to get rid of the cockroaches! 



But my belief is, tliat no human being, and no 

 society composed of human beings, ever did, or 

 ever will, come to much, unless their conduct was 

 governed and guided by the love of some ethical 

 ideal. Undoubtedly, your gutter child may be 

 converted by mere intellectual drill into " the 

 subtlest of all the beasts of the field; " but we 

 know what has become of the original of that 

 description, and there is no need to increase the 

 number of those who imitate him successfully with- 

 out being aided by the rates. And if I were com- 

 pelled to choose for one of my own children, be- 

 tween a school in whicli real religious instruction 

 is given, and one without it, I should prefer the 

 former, even though the child might have to take 

 a good deal of theology with it. Nine-tenths of a 

 dose of bark is mere half-rotten wood; but one 

 swallows it for the sake of the particles of quinine, 

 the beneficial effect of whicli may be weakened, 

 but is not destroyed, by the wooden dilution, 

 unless in a few cases of exceptionally tender 

 stomachs. 



