240 STUDIES, SCIENTIFIC AND SOCIAL chap. 



ment, which has grown, with the nation's growth, and has 

 from time immemorial formed an essential part of the 

 body politic, and to separate from it everything that can 

 impair its efficiency or check its healthy development. I 

 claim for every Englishman a share in this great pro- 

 perty, devoted by our ancestors to the relief of distress, 

 the protection and advancement of the people, the 

 example of morality and virtue, the teaching of the 

 highest knowledge of the age, and the inculcation of 

 doctrines which were once universally accepted as abso- 

 lute truths of the first importance for the welfare of 

 mankind. I claim that it shall be preserved to our suc- 

 cessors for analogous purposes, and that it shall be freed 

 from association with all sectarian teaching, and from 

 everything that can impair its value. Let it be reformed, 

 not destroyed. 



The Proposed National Church. 



I will now proceed to show how it can be so reformed, 

 and how it may be made a means of national advancement 

 more efficient than all ordinary educational machinery, 

 because its sphere of action will be wider, and because it 

 will carry on a higher education than that imparted by 

 schools, not for a few years only, but throughout the en- 

 tire life of all who choose to profit by it. I will first 

 sketch out what I consider should be the status and 

 duties of the man who will take the place of the existing 

 clergyman as the head and representative in every parish 

 or district of the National Church. 



First, as to his designation ; he might be termed the 

 Rector, a name to which we are already accustomed, and 

 which does not necessarily imply a religious teacher. He 

 should be chosen, primarily, for moral, intellectual, and 

 social qualities of a much higher character than are now 

 expected. Temper and disposition would be carefully 

 considered, as his usefulness would be greatly impaired if 

 he were not able to gain the confidence, sympathy, and 

 friendship of his parishioners. His moral character 

 should be unexceptionable. He should be specially 

 trained in the laws of health and their practical application, 



