The Sun.
London, England, 1839-06-20 00:00:00

tempted to bar his passage with the Thirty-nine Articles.
He wished to take a practical instance. A large propor-
tion of the population of the town of Manchester con-
sisted of the poorest, the most ignorant, and demoralized
of the Irish labourers—people who not only suffered
from want and precarious employment, but also from in-
tense ignorance and degradation, and who to the vice of
drinking had introduced the attendant horrors of the
peculiar vice of the Irish, illicit distillation. The first
care of a wise and good Government would be to make
that class of persons good citizens, instead of dangerous
neighbours. Their priest tells them that they must read
no version of the Scriptures but the Douay one; and the
Noble Lord (Stanley) having discovered some discrepan-
cies in some 18 or 20 chapters between it and others, said
that no system of education should be permitted where
the Douay version of the Bible was santioned. The
consequence was that education was utterly denied to that
unhappy class. Did that make them more virtuous?--
( Hear, hear.) Did that induce them to read the other
and more correct version ? Did it get rid of the influence
of the priest ? No; it merely still further rivetted their
chains. Would any Hon. Member tell him that the
Catholic religion was so had that there was no difference
b Aween a Catholic brought up in the Catholic Cant ni of
Lucerne in Switzerland, or the Southern States of Ger-
many, and a Catholic brought up in Spain or Portugal ?
Would it be said that these two persons were not as diffe-
rent in the scale of civilization as any two human beings
could be ?--( Hear, hear ) What then was the result of
keeping men in that state of ignorance? It merely showed
Tarn parva sapientia regitur mundus. It was quite absurd
to any that any particular branch of knowledge had any
thing to do with a peculiar form of religion. Take, for
instance, instruction in law or medicine. He (Mr. Buller)
had been with a special pleader arid a conveyancer, and he
had never thought it necessary to inquire into his religious
opinions, and he believed he might safely say that it was not
the custom with student; of the legal profession.-4 Hear.)
He would ask the most stanch Protestant father whether,
in having his daughters taught music or French, he had
thought it necessary to inquire into the religion of the
teacher ? There were some persons he believed so con-
scientious that they preferred having their daughters
taught most villanous Swiss French, in order that they
might have the benefit of a Protestant governess. Why
then should it be contended that neither geography nor
history, nor arithmetic; could be taught, because religious
scruples or obstacles intervened? It was bad enough to he
separated by religious prejudices in after life ; but it was
something gained if the hostilities of that after life could
be softened by the recollection of a common education in
youth. If the Church of England, and its friends were
wise, they would see in that common education and corn
mon schooling something that must tell for the benefit of
the Church. How did it tell in the upper classes where
the decided majority belonged to the Established Church ?
Take, for instance, the son of a Dissenter, who had rea-
lized an independence, and who was sent to Oxford or
Cambridge—in a short time it turned out that he con-
formed to the religion of the majority.—(Hear.) It was in
vain to expect any such wisdom from those who directed
the councils of the Church of England at the present
moment. He wished to speak with great respect of that
Church, because he conscientiously believed, on political
grounds, that it was most desirable to maintain the Esta-
blished Church, and he had never been an advocate for
the voluntary system. It appeared to him, however, that
never since the time of Sacheverel, and the mobs of Queen
Anne, was the conduct of the Clergy more mischievous, and
never since the time of Laud were their doctrines so alarming,
so dangerous and so hostile to the interests of civil and
religious liberty.—( Cheers.) Let the Members look at
the efforts that were making, and the doctrines that were
being promulgated at the University of Oxford.—([fear.)
fort them recollect that those who were promulgating
these doctrines had the means of increasing their influence
among the parochial clergy. When they knew that they
had already invaded the chairs of the professorships, and
taken into their hands a great portion of the education of
the country, and when they saw such able representatives
of :hese parties in that House, he must say that it was time
that every one who was the advocate of civil freedom should
look about him. They would find that the doctrines
broached by these parties, had the greatest affinity to the
Church they most reviled. He wished the Wesleyan
Dissenters joy of their new allies, but he begged of them
to be upon their guard against men who preached the
obnoxious doctrines of. absolution and penance, and
the puerilities of Catholicism, as exemplified in the
virtues of the sign of the Crosse-4 Hear, hear, hear )
Let them look at the mariner in which he there lays down
the doctrines--the fundamental doctrines—of Prates•
tantism—the doctrines of free inquiry and private judg
merit—let them look at that and see how, by the exquisite
reasoning of his lion. Friend, the right of private judg-
ment dwindled simply into the right of agreeing in ail the
doctrines of the Church of England.—( Loud cheers. )
He asked and warned the friends of freedom to look well
t 3 those pernicious doctrines which were now making such
rapid progress throughout the land, and refrain from
placing education under the entire superintendence of the
Church.—(Cheers.) Those considerations must make
them ask for some guarantee against efforts and doctrine,,
than which ['apse:, eve.i in its worst days, never advanced
any more degrading to the human mind, or more destruc-
tive of human liberty.—( Loud cheers.)
Mr. ACLA ND r said the House of Commons ought
Not to be made the arena of theological discussions.—
(Cheers ) lie would not be led away from the Constitu•
tional question before the [louse by the discussions to
which the House was invited by the Hon. Member .for
Liskeard. In the county of Cornwall there were more
Wesloyans than in any other part of the country, and he
was afraid much of it was owing to laches on the part of
the Church ; but he could assure the lion. Member that
those poor bard-working men would not be led away by
the opinions or doctrines of the Hon. Gentlemen. They
would warmly receive spiritual education, and would
not be led from true religion by any squabbles about
creeds. The question before the House was, whether the
functions of the Established Church should be made over
to a Committee of the Privy Council. It struck his mind
as a question, whether, 20, 30, or 40 years hence, we shall
have a Minister of Pubiic Instruction or an Established
Church ?—(Cheers.) No lawyer would say that the
heads of the Church had not some general superin-
tendence over the education of the country. No one,
he believed, would contradict that. The Noble Lord
( Lord John Russell) had said that the Toleration
Act, the Test and Corporation Act, and the Roman Ca•
tholic Relief Bill had altered the law in that respect. He
believed that in that he would not be borne out by any
lawyer. Those Acts left the law in the same state as
before, and the heads of the Church are still the legal
superintendents of education in this country.—( Hear.)
Then came the question whether there was any ground for
the supplanting the Church in the superintendence of the
education of the people, and handing it over to a body as
yet unknown.—( Hear, hear.) He did not mean to say
the Church had educated all who required education, far
from it ; but the assertions of the Hon. Member
for Waterford were not quite correct when he said there
aa, not above lin 30 educated. They ought to consider
what the progress of education had been in comparison
with the increase of population. The Bishop of Norwich
on the occasion of a recent visitation expressed the grati-
fication he felt at learning that two-thirds of the people in
his diocese were educated by the clergy, and stated he
found that, in 1,040 parishes in that diocese, there were
900 schools maintained by the clergy.—( Hear, hear.)
With respect to the improvement of masters, he thought
•he Government right in addressing themselves to that
subject, although he thought their plan could not be
brought to any successful result. He wished to throw
out one suggestion to the Government. The practical
difficulty was to furnish the masters with any prospects of
promotion in active life, and remuneration for their services
after retirement. If the Government would take some
plan into consideration for giving retiring pensions to those
who had spent their life as teachers, they would confer a
great benefit on society.--( Hear, hear.) It had been said
that the Church possessed no machinery for education.—
that it was merely a voluntary association. It was true
that the National Society was a voluntary association, but
by Royal Charter it comprised every Bishop on the
Bench. This Society furnished machinery for the pur-
poses of education, and in consequence of this machinery,
diocesan schools had been established in upwards of eighty
districts, and he was happy to say that among the sup-
porters of those schools were to be found many of the
most intelligent members of the middle classes in this
country, and he thought it would be deserving of
the consideration of the Government, whether
they would not find that the Church did
possess this machinery for the purposes of education. An
Hon. Gentleman opposite hal accused the Church of ex-
elusiveness.—( Hear, hear.) As an answer to that charge,
he would refer him to a parish in his own immediate
neighbeurhoocl, in order to show him how unjust
were his taunts. He accused the Church of turning
away the Dissenters from the benefit of her schools,
lie had shown that the Church had, by the Constitution of
he country, a right to the superintendence of the educa-
tion of the people, and that it had not, either by exclusive-
ness or neglect, forfeited that trust. lie contended that
there was no necessity for a State Education. What would
be the consequence of placing the whole superintendence of
education under a Board c sntrolled by the House of
Commons? Why, that some future economist might,
by cut off the supplies devoted to this purpose.
Uniformity of system was another advantage held out by
the proposed plan. For his part be did not consider uni-
formity on this subject as of any advantage ; it would never
produce the great moral and intellectual results that would
be produced by emulation. It had been said that this sys-
tem had succeeded in foreign countries ; he denied the fact.
In Prussia there was no such thing as united education. In
Ilol!and, it was true, that under the French influence, during

the existence of the Batavian Republic, a united system of
ducation was introduced, by which all religions were
placed on the same footing; but in Holland, altboagh there
were several stipendiary churches, there was no established
one ; and in Holland no one could keep a school without
having first obtained a license for so doing; but the fact
was, the system had not succeeded, and all who were not
verging towards rationalism, or in other words, deism,
protested against the system as one in violation of all
true religion. He objected to the direct influence of the
State in education, and on this subject he would appeal to
the authority of Mr. Brougham in 1820, who had pro-
posed that the Bishop of the Diocese should be the visitor
of the schools, with power of removing the master, who
might appeal to the ordinary, and from the ordinary to the
metropolitan, who was to investigate the case privately,
because by the ancient laws of the land he was entitled so
to do. The Church had never objected to the system in-
troduced by the Government of Lord Grey, of granting
aid to voluntary societies ; but they could not acquiese in
the creation of a new body unknown to the Con-
stitution, and with powers undefined. ( Hear.)
No clear conception could be formed at present of the
measures which the Government intended ultimately to
adopt, though some dark hints had been thrown out.
What he (Mr. Acland) wished was,:that the subject should
be practically dealt with.—( Hear, hear.) If any class
of her Majesty's subjects were excluded from the full be-
nefits of education, let a plan be specifically brought
forward to remedy that evil. Let it be clearly
defined, and accurately' described as to its exc.
cution.—( clear, hear, hear.) In the meantime he