XV THE SCHOOL BOARDS 383 



it may appear serious or unanswerable. But there is veiy little 

 in it practically ; when it is faced determinately and handled 

 firmly, it will soon shrink into its true dimensions. The class 

 who are least frightened at it are the school teachers, simply be- 

 cause 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 under- 

 standing to teach freely ; if there is ground of complaint, let it 

 be made, but leave the onus probandi on the objectors. For ex- 

 treme 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 par- 

 ticular 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 evad- 

 ing the intentions of the Act in an elaborate attempt to carry 

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

 forewarned is to be forearmed. " 



A good deal of light seems to me to be thrown 

 on the practical significance of the opinions 

 expressed in the foregoing extract by the following 

 interesting letter, which appeared in the same 

 paper : 



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

 spondence with the Education Department upon the question of 

 the lawfulness of religious teaching in rate schools under section 

 14 (2) of the Act. I asked whether the words 'which is dis- 

 tinctive,' &c., taken grammatically as limiting the prohibition 

 of any religious formulary, might be construed as allowing 

 (subject, however, to the other provisions of the Act) any 

 religious formulary common to any two denominations any- 

 where in England to be taught in such schools ; and if practi- 



