The Sun.
London, England, 1839-05-27 00:00:00

ME SUN, LONDON, MONDAY, MAY 27, 1839

stantly suspended—all party divisinng imaied—a nume- !
rous Committee e-- '
for --pointed, and the House adjourned
tew hours, that resolutions adequate to so extra-
ordinary an occasion might be framed. We required no
time for deliberation, it was enough that our Sister Pro-
vince was in danger.—(Hear, hear.) Our hearts told
us what we ought to do. I wish, Sir, that the British
Government could have witnessed the scene of that
night. We unanimously voted 100,0001., a very large
sum, when compared with our whole revenue of 65,000/. ;
and put 8,000 men of our militia at the disposal of the
Commander-in-Chief. The immense multitude which
thronged every avenue of our Province Hall, greeted
these resolutions with cries of enthusiastic ardour, which
plainly showed that we were representing in the Legis-
lature the genuine feelings of the people —( Cheers,
and Hear, hear.) Sir, Great Britain, in some unhappy
hour of divided councils, or ignorant negocistion,
may perchance forget what is due to us and to herself.
She may cast from her the warm hearts that would
cling to her with the fondest affection, and the strong
arms that are nerved for her defence in the New
World. She may, perchance, abandon us—we will
never voluntarily abandon her. Abandon our rights as
Englishmen ! Never, never !—(Great cheering.) Here I
have a right to speak as one of the Delegates of Nova
Scotia. I landed a fery days ago at Falmouth, anti touched
for the first time the English soil. I proceeded into De-
vonshire—in the morning surveyed in the Ply-
mouth dorky ard all the triumphs of modern art, ad% anted
to their highest perfection, and in the evening of the same
day was struck with astonisinto nt and awe by the an-
cient ma2nificetice of the cathedral at Exeter.—(Hear,
hear.) Sir, lam not much given to the indulgence of
strong emotions, my temperament being rather of a
sober and rt flective cast. But as I stood in silent con-
templation, I felt my heart swell within me—swell with
a proud sense of superiority, that I was a native and
subject of this mighty empire. Which of the
two, 1 asked myself, is more worthy of admira-
tion—the English genius of the eleventh century,
that struck out this magnificent creation, or the
British genius of the nineteenth, that has matured these
noble combinations of power, and opulence, and skill ?
(Hear, hear.) And think you, Mr. Chairman, that we
will easily separate from a land that has held so glorious
a career for centuries, and still exhibits all the signs of
au en4uring and youthful vigour ? No, Sir—l have
gauntly described to you my own feelings ; they are
shared by thousands ; I may say, indeed, they
are universal in the Lower Provinces, with whose
opinints and sympathies I am intimately acquainted.
—( Cheers.) One of the main objects of our Society is
to propagate and strengthen this truly British feeling,
by instructing the people and enabling them thoroughly
to apprehend the important truth, that the security of
life and property and true happiness are enjoyed in
higher perfection under a limited constitutional monarchy,
than under any form of Republican Government.( Hear.)
Your Noble President, the Marquis of Breadalbane, when
he headed the deputation to the Colonial Office in our
behalf, little imagined that the President of the new
branch in Nova Scotia, sat with him on the same forms
at Glasgow College, and imbibed the same lessons of
philosophy. I recollect as it were but yesterday the
first speech his Lordship ever delivered, and, as Lord
Glenorchy, he then displayed the germ of those talents
which have since been so happily matured, and endeared
himself by the same unassuming manners and virtues
which I was happy to hear eulogised to-night.—( Hear,
hear.) With his powerful influence, and that of the So-
ciety, I trust that some effective measure may be aided
by the co-operation of Government, and that a province
rich as ours confessedly is with mineral wealth, and in-
habited by a population of 200,000 souls, many of whom
may be considered as the pioneers of civilization, will
not be altogether neglected because it is at a distance.—
(Hear.) This,Sir,l feel to be a subject of the deepest in-
terest, and susceptible of a great extent and variety of il-
lustration. But I have already encroached too much on
the time dedicated to social purposes.—( Cries of " No.")
Here then I must pause, with the assurance that at no
moment of my life have I felt more highly honoured
and gratified than by the reception I have met with at
this board, and which the body whom I represent will
receive as the most flattering compliment that could
have been paid to themselves. As such I account it,
for I am far from supposing that any merits of my own
could have obtained for me so gratifying a distinction.—
(Great cheering for some minutes.)
Several other speeches followed, and the remainder
of the evening passed off with right good Highland
fellowship, the bagpipes occasionally playing up to the
spirit of the scene, which was enlivened by—" The garb
of Old Gaul, and the fire of Old Rome."

Liktided and Commercial Interests of this country ;"
" The Wooden Walk of Old England ;"" The Alt-
mory of the late Earl of Eldon ;" " Ships, Colonies, and
Commerce ;" and " Prosperity and Perpetuity to the
Pitt Club," followed.
The Chair was vacated at a quarter past eleven
o'clock, and the Noble Chairman and the other guests
retired.

cation, from the benefits of which any number of
children shall be excluded by religious tests.
In adopting measures for the improvement of the
existing methods of instruction, by the foundation
of a normal school, with the public funds, the
rights of Conscience %voted have beets violated if the
members of religious communities not connected
with the Established Church had been deprived of
the secular benefits of such an institution, by the
adoption of any religious tests excluding them from
a participation of those benefits.
The controversy which has arisen upon this sub-
ject appears, therefore, to relate rather to the detail
of the arrangements necessary for this object, than
to the principles on which those arrangements
should be bascd, if the preceding premises be ad-
mitted ; and respecting those details it ought to be
remembered, th,t the plan adopted by the Com-
mittee of Council was approved, subject to such
alterations as experience might thereafter suggest.
That part of the arrangements in the Normal
School which is the chief subject of animadversion
in your letter, is comprised in the extracts
from the minutes of the
.Committee of Coun-
cil, Nos. 3,4, 5,6, 7,8, and 9. By these
minutes the Committee avow their intention
primarily to make ample provision for the religion,i
instruction of the children trained in the model
school, whose patents or guardians belong to the
Established Church, by the appointment of a
chaplain, who is to be a permanent officer of the
normal school. " The religious instruction of the
children is to be considered as general and special ;"
and you appear to view with suspicion that part of
the religious instruction which is described as ge-
nera; yet I may be permitted to remind you that
our Saviour, who left 'us a form of prayer, has also
given us an example of instruction in his Sermon
on the Mount, by which we are taught how the
practical duties of life may be inculcated with
the sanction of his authority. In such instruction
heresies are not found; and it is to prevent their
introduction into the school, and it the same time
to carry into execution " the wish expressed by her
most gracious Majesty, both that the youth of
this kingdom should be religiously brought up, and
that the rights of conscience should be respected,' "
—that provision is made for " periods to be set
apart for such peculiar doctrinal instruction as may
be required for the religious training of the chil-
dren, while at all other periods, following the
example of our Divine Teacher, " religion is to be
combined with the whole matter of instruction, and
to regulate the entire system of discipline."
You will permit me to observe, that I am unable
to reconcile the approval you express in the early
part of your letter, of the grants made to the
British and Foreign School Society, in which
religious instruction is professedly confined to the
reading of the Scriptures without comment,
and the observations at the close of that letter, in
which you insist on direct doctrinal instruction
being mingled with the whole course of teaching,
as essential to asound education.
As respects the hours of special religious instruc-
tion, it is provided, that " the parent or natural
guardian of any" child, " not belonging to the
Established Church," may "be permitted to secure
the attendance of the licensed minister of his own
persuasion, at the period appointed for special
religious instruction, in order to give such instruc-
tion apart," that is, in an apartment separate from
the school. Precisely similar arrangements are
prescribed by the Poor Law Amendment Act, in
clauses which were amended and modified at the
instance of the Archbishop of Canterbury and the
Bishop of London, far the special religious instruc-
tion of children of inmates of workhouses, not be-
longing to the Established Church, and they have
not been found to be the source of any inconve-
nience; nor have I heard that they have been ob-
jected to by the clergy.
The minute which proposes to appoint a licensed
minister to give such epecial instruction whenever
the number of children in the school belonging to
any particular sect is such as to appear to the
Committee to- require such special provision, is a
conditional arrangement, which, it should be care-
fully borne in mind, relates only to the model
school, in common with the preceding provisions
for special religious instruction. Such an appoint-
ment is not intended in any other school, because
in all other schools the assistance of the Govern-
ment is to be regarded as coining in aid of private
or public voluntary exertions, chiefly for the
purpose—of- procuring an improvement_ in
the meth-rids of instruction ; and in reference to '
the observations respecting this provision, made by
a Right Rev. Prelate whose opinions are entitled
to the most respectful attention, I must remind von
that it forms one of the prominent features of the
plan proposed to be adopted, that a chaplain should
be appointed as a permanent officer of the normal
school, while the appointment of any other reli-
gious teacher is conditional.
At the hour of special religious instruction in

the model school, it the parents or natural guar
dians of any child, being Roman Catholics, reques'
that he may be withdrawn to a separate apartment;
in order to seceive such religious instruction apart,
the child, under such circumstances, may be per-
mitted to read the Catholic version of the Scrip-
tures—a provision which appears a necessary corol-
lary from the permission of docrinal instruction,
with due respect to the rights of conscience.
These are the arrangements by which it is in-
tended that 450 children shall be " religiously
brought up, while the rights of conscience are re-
spected," in a public institution founded for the
purpose of more effectually preparing a body of
teachers for the instruction of the poorer classes in
different parts of the country. It is scarcely ne-
cessary to repeat that the model school is not in-
tended to be applied as, in all respects, a type
of schools in other parts of the country, the circum-
stances of which may materially differ, but its ar-
rangements are to be regarded as applicable
solely to the children trained in this school. That
part of the plan which relates to the candidate
teachers provides for the religious instruction of
those belonging to the Established Church, by the
chaplain of the normal school, and commits the
religious instruction of the rest, when required, to
their own religious teachers.
I do not presume to pretend that there are no
" difficulties opposed by existing religious differences
to the benevolent object contemplated in these pa-
pers, the extension of the blessings of a sound and
religious education ;" but am I presumptuous in
the hope that it it be conceded, that a paramount
necessity exists for the immediate adoption of ex-
pedients for this purpose by the creation of a
normal school, those who " ylament that any of
their fellow-subjects dissent from the doctrine and
discipline of the National Church," yet " cordially
subscribe to the wish expressed by her most Gra-
cious Majesty, both that the youth of this king-
dom should be religiously brought up, and that
the rights of conscience should be respected," will
apply themselves rather to the suggestion of alte-
rations in the details not liable to graver objections
than those started against the arrangements of the
foregoing plan, than to the imputation of monstrous
designs to its authors ?
When you gravely assert that the minutes of the
Committee provide a 4. summary way" for super-
seding the clergy, for diminishing the number of
children educated by the Established Church, and
destroying her influence ; or when you " say, with
all the solemnity of conviction. that its effect, if
carried out, will be not only to subvert the National
Church, but to destroy all pure religion in the land;
to produce general scepticism and infidelity ; and
to pave the way for the restoration of popery ;" I
venture to hope that a plain exposition of those de-
tails which concern religious instruction, and the
relative position of the religious teachers in the
normal school, may relieve your mind, and the
imaginations of those to whom You have addressed
Yourself, from some monstrous conception which
has no foundation in fact.
The objects of the Committee of Council would
be defeated if the normal school failed to provide,
in the most effectual manner, "the blessings of sound
and religious education" for the teachers trained
there, or to ensure that the children of the model
school "should be religiously brought up, and that
the rights of conscience should be respected."
If this letter narrow the grounds of controversy,
by removing any misconceptions of the views and
intentions of the Committee of Council hitherto
entertained, and if it be found in all respects con-
sistent with the respectful deference which is due to
the Established Clergy in what relates to the reli-
gious instruction of those who are committed to
their spiritual care, the object a the writer will
have been fulfilled.

I have the honour to be your obedient servant,
JAMES PHILLIPS KAY.
London, May 2b, 1832. . -