The Express.
London, England, 1867-02-18 00:00:00

THE RELIGIOUS DIFFICULTY IN

EDUCATION.

TO THE EDITOR OP THE REPRESS.

Sin,---May I ask you to publish the enclosed cor-
respondence, which, as containing Mr. Mill's opinion upon
the errata wurstic of a religious or secular system of educa-
tion, cannot fail to be of interest. The difficulties which
Mr. Mill points out are such as, I feel confident, time and
increased knowledge--e. g.. as to the exact relations of the
Book of Genesis to scientific or historic truth—can and
will remove. I should like to add that the description of
the religious teaching in these schools applies only. to that
part of it which I myself superintend. The ordinary
I church of England teaching hi carried on as usual for all
those children who do not dissent from it, as under the
present system we are obliged to do. I mean, for instance,
that if the catechism were nut taught to church of England
children we should lose our grant. But this port of reli•
gious teaching under :I new system would either .vanish
altogether, or, what is at once more just and more pro-
hable, would be left to the clergy at certain fixed hours, as
in America.— I am, &c., T. W. FOWLE.
Holy Trinity Parsonage, Boston, N.

Holy Trinity Parsonage, Horton, Feb. 7, 1567.
Sir,—l feel that lam guilty of considerable presumption
in venturing to ;address you. especially at this busy season,
but I hope the importance of the subject may plead my
excuse. I should say that I have taken some small part in
the question of national education, and that I gave evi-
dence More Sir J. I'akington's committee upon the possi-
bility of a liberal system of religious education under the
protection of the conscience clause. The question which I
desire respectfully to put to you is this—" Are there not
principles laid down in your inaugural address at St.
Andrew's (an address which it would be the merest im-
pertinence in me to praise) which entirely settle the diffi-
culty as to the kind of education, religious or not, which
the state should furnish to all who may claim it at her
hands? No thinking man can possibly be satisfied with
the present condition of national education in England,
but there is a kind of feeling at the present moment that
any resolute attempt to amend it would be defeated by
what is called the religious difficulty. Now, the question
that I have set myself to solve by practical experiment in
this obscure corner of London is this :—ls there no way by
which the religious instincts of the country and the
opinions of liberal educationists can be combined in some
national system of education which shall take into fair
account the claims of both ? I could not but rejoice to
find that your address seemed to lay down principles by
the application of which this question might be answered
in the affirmative. The siacial passage to which I allude
is this—" Christianity being a historical religion, the sort
of religious instruction which seems to me the most ap-
propriate to a university is the study of ecclesiastical
history." Apply this—apply, indeed, the whole of your
wise and kindly remarks upon this subject—to thequostion
of national education, and the result would be something
like this :—The Bible, whatever else it may be, contains
the two first colonies of religious history. It should
therefore be taught in a state school, not dogmatically,
but historically, and exactly under those conditions
and in that spirit which you have prescribed
as legitimate in national universities. State schools
arc the university of the working chases, and what is right
in the education of the wealthier classes must be right in
the education of the poorer. The Bible is the text-book
of religious history which is in the hands of everyone. It
contains the noblest, the most inspiriting, the most edify-
ing histories and biographies. It contains something upon
which the poorest person in all England should have the
opportunity and the requisite information to enable him
to decide for himself whether he will believe it or no.
Now it seems to me the grossest abuse of liberalism to
withhold this knowledge from the children of the working
classes because different religious bodies have different
opinions about it. lam afraid it makes little matter to
the unhappy victim whether the Bible is put into a liberal
or into a Roman catholic Index Expurgatmius if the result
be practically the same, that he is ignorant upon subjects
which are at once the easiest to learn, the most sutiafac.
tory to teach, the most useful to know. As a mere matter
of English style and composition, it is a sin to rob the
working classes of the best antidote against modern de-
basements of the English tongue. Nor, again, do I
believe that the question presents any practical difficulty.
I teach the ltible as a history to some 500 children of all
ages and denominations without the slightest difficulty or
suspicion. The conscience clause, by which a parent can
withdraw his child from the religious instruction of the
school, gives ample protection to individual rights, and
would act as a check upon any possible tendency of the
teacher to make the Bible a bundle of dogmas instead of a
history of events. Does not all this present a hope of a
reformation in our national education more speedily, and
not less completely, than the secular system, against
which the instinct of the country resolutely rebels? It is
with the earnest hope that you will not refuse your con-
sent to this application of your own wise and tolerant
principles that I have taken the liberty of thus addressing
you.—l remain, sir, your faithful servant,
J. S. Mill, Fag., M.P. T. W. Fowi.e.

Feb. 9, lft67.
Dear Sir,—l agree entirely with the general principles
and spirit of your letter received yesterday. I think it
highly clearable that the New Testament and those parts
of the Old which are either poetical or properly historical
should be taught as history in places of education ; and,
so far my only difference with you would be that nearly all
teachers, both churchmen and dissenters, being as yet very
far short of the enlightened views which you entertain on
the subject, would at present be sure to teach and inculcate
all that is contained in those books, not as matter of his-
tory but of positive religious belief. There are, however,
other parts of the Old Testament, viz., those which scien-
tific knowledge or historical criticism have shown not to
be, in any proper sense of the word, historical, the book of
Genesis for example ; snit I do not think it right to teach
these in schools, even as history, unless it were avowedly as
merely what the Hebrews believed respecting their own
origin and the early history of the world.—l am yours
with great respect, J. S. MILL.
The Rev. T. W. Fowl.

EAvr SUFFOLK ELterioN. —The poll in connexion
with the contest proceeding in this division will be taken
to-clay. On Saturday, Colonel Adair, the liberal candi-
date, issued an address to the effect that, after carefully
considering the returns made, and the circumstances of
former elections, be bad decided that it was due to the
cause of refonn and to the liberal electors to take the sense
of the constituency.
LONDON TAVERN COMPANY (LIMITED). —The
report of the directors for the year ending 31st December,
Deki, shows that after payment of trade expenses end
other charges, and an ad interiffi dividend at the rate of 10
per cent. per annum for the half-year ended 30th June,
iStifi, the net profits of the company for the year ended 31st
December last, including the balance from the previous
year, amount to 2,983/. 1 ls. Bd. The directors, there-
fore, propose to declare the guaranteed dividend at the
rate of 10 per cent. per annum for the half-year ended 31st
December, Wei, free from income tax, which will absorb
the sum of 2,4410/. • to write off preliminary expenses,
2001.; to carry forws:rd, 383 f. Ha. Sd.; total, 2,9tidi. 1 ls. Sd.
The directors have arranged with Mr.Chater's son (Mr.Wil-
ham Center) to continue as manager of the London Tavern,
and have appointed for manager at the Albion, Mr. Jen-
nings, who has been connected with the establishment for
upwards of 20 yearn. • _.

TUE krEEN'S HOTEL, HA.:TINGS.—The ordinary
general meeting of the Queen's Hotel Company, Holdings
(Limited), was held at Hastings on the 6th inst. ; Mr. W.
T. Agar in the chair. There was a considerable num•
ber of the shareholders present. The report showed a net
profit for the year of 2,040. Us. lld., out of which a divi-
dend for the six months ending the 30th of June last, at
the rate of 8 per cent., ha,, already been paid. A similar
dividend is declared for the last six months, making a
total of 8 per cent. per annum. The retiring directors,
Messrs. Robert Hempstead and Thomas Imlay, were re-
elected.

DEATH THROUGH INTEMPERANCE.—Mrs. Eliza
Holden, of 12, Queen'.-road, Bayswater, an eccentric lady,
of intemperate habits, who some years ago was in posses-
sion of :30,0011/., was found burned to death in her bed-
room on Friday morning. She had been reeding, and it is
supposed drinking a portion of her usual "every other
day allowance," a bottle of wine, a bottle of brandy, and a
quart of ale, when the bed-clothes caught fire, and smoul-
dered. The unfortunate woman tumbled under the bed,
and was discovered there, suffocated. The coroner's jury
on Saturday returned a verdict of " Accidental death.