368 LIFE OF PROFESSOR HUXLEY chap, xxiv 



things," which he called the scientific aspect, for want of a 

 better name. 



" It had been very justly said that they had a great mass of 

 low half-instructed population which owed what little redemp- 

 tion from ignorance and barbarism it possessed mainly to the 

 efforts of the clergy of the different denominations. Any sys- 

 tem of gaining the attention of these people to these ijiatters 

 must be a system connected with, or not too rudely divorced 

 from their own system of belief. He wanted regulations, not 

 in accordance with what he himself thought was right, but in 

 the direction in which thought was moving." He wanted an 

 elastic system, that did not oppose any obstacle to the free play 

 of the public mind. 



Huxley voted against all the proposed amendments, and in 

 favour of Mr. Smith's motion. There were only three who 

 voted against it ; while the three Roman Catholic members re- 

 frained from voting. This basis of religious instruction, prac- 

 tically unaltered, has remained the law of the Board ever since. 



There was a controversy in the papers, between Prof. Hux- 

 ley and the Rev. W. H. Freemantle, as to the nature of the 

 explanations of the Bible lessons. Huxley maintained that it 

 should be purely grammatical, geographical, and historical in 

 its nature ; Freemantle that it should include some species of 

 distinct religious teaching, but not of a denominational char- 

 acter.* 



In taking up this position, Huxley expressly disclaimed 

 any desire for a mere compromise to smooth over a diffi- 

 culty. He supported what appeared to be the only work- 

 able plan under the circumstances, though 'it was not his 

 ideal ; for he would not have used the Bible as the agency 

 for introducing the religious and ethical idea iiita-education 

 if he had been dealing with a frtsh and untouched popu- 

 lation. 



His appreciation of the literary and historical value of 

 the Bible, and the effect it was likely to produce upon the 



* Cp. extract from Lord Shaftesbury's journal about this corre- 

 spondence (Zz/i? and Work of Lord Shaftesbury, iii. 282). "Professor 

 Huxley has this definition of morality and religion: 'Teach a child 

 what is wise, that is morality. Teach him what is wise and beautiful, 

 that is religion!'' Let no one henceforth despair of making things 

 clear and of giving explanations ! " 



