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oil bft Education . He sketched the history of the educational grant from 1832 , and the opposition which had been made in 1839 to the placing it in the hands of the Privy Council , at which time the present Lord Derby had imputed every kind of dishonourable motive to the then Administration . The then proposed arrangement had , however , been carried , though by small majorities ; hostility and Jealousy had gradually been allayed , and a decided improvement had been made in popular education . More recent changes had again been made , chiefly with a view to satisfy the advocates
of the voluntary principle ; but the Church of England had no reason to complain of an arrangement which left her schools seventy-eight per cent , of the whole grant , and allowed no inspection of them without the sanction of the archbishop of the province . Yet even this had elicited no complaints from dissenters . It had , however , been distinctly decided that in the committees of management , no absolute power over secular education was to be left in the hands of the ciergy . A certain small , but very active , portion of the clerical body had struggled for sole power , but a satisfactory state of things had continued until the accession of
Lord Derby to office . He ( Lord John Russell ) thought it would have been wise in the present Government not to have altered general rules , but onl y to have listened to particular applications . But the words of the recent minute were such as to include every possible objection which could be raised against a schoolmaster . His objections to the alteration were threefold- ^—first , because it tended to degrade and lower the condition of every schoolmaster in the country ; secondly , because it tended to weaken the influence of the lay members of committees , whereas our policy ought to be to make such members take an active interest in the schools :
and thirdly , that , as regarded the Church itself , it introduced an element of danger , the strength of the Church lying in the cordial co-operation of clergy and laity . : .. .. ¦ . ' . ¦ . ¦ ¦ ¦ . ¦ ¦ . ' . ' . . ¦ ¦¦ ¦ ¦ . " Sir , the Church of England has its elements of strength , and it has also its elements of danger . I am of opinion that its elements of strength are very much greater than itsi elements of danger . Its elements of strength are , when it carries with it the co-operation , the confidence , and the affection of the lay members of the Church : and its element of danger is , the being separated
from the laity of the Church , seeking other means of gaining power and authority , and not resting its power and influence upon that general concurrence of sentiment on the part of the laity that has hitherto proved its best strength . ( Cheers . ) The effect of the alteration in the minute is , in my opinion , to diminish , the strength and increase the danger of the Church . Its effect is to diminish the natural disposition of the clergy and the laity to act together , and to induce the clergyman , by the mere exercise of his authority and wi ll , to direct the education of the people of this country . "
Therefore he considered this step very objectionable ; bnt , at the same time , he conceived that its pernicious effects would not be felt for some time , and , indeed , Lord Derby had said that no step was to be taken until Parliament should have had to consider a further grant . But this was but a beginning made by a Government which , not strong in the present Parliament , had undertaken to adopt humblo and useful measures only . This measure was one neither of hilmility nor utility , but was an earnest of what was to be expected should the Government obtain greater power , when a series of minutes might issue , totally subversive of the system of popular education . His lordship alluded to the general alarm and expectation of dissensions which had been excited when Archdeacon Denison announced the
recent minute , and proceeded to meet , by anticipation , defences which might bo mode for it . The peoplo would , he said , keep in view the fact that the Church of England consisted of the united clergy and laity . He concluded a speech of nearly an hour by contending that Government ought to be most careful not to send forth an impression that schools were to depend on the sole will of the clergy , and by urging that it was of great importance not to disturb a system which was working ho well .
Mr . Secretary Walpole was glad to have an opportunity of removing illusions upon the subject of this minute , which it seemed Lord John Itussoll himself had not fully comprehended . The minute merely proposed to restore to member ^ of the Church of England what Parliament had always intended they should have . It had been decided , when the grant was first mode , ' that thero should bo no inspection of Churoh schools except as regarded financial and statistical
question ' s ; and when , in 1839 , an alteration in tins system had been . proposed , so great a stir was raised that tho Government of tho day was obliged to surrender its first Intentions . But in 1840 an arrangement was made between tho Privy Council and tho Church , hy which it was provided that thero should bo no further control or inspection of tho Church school * than was necessary to ascertain tho duo application of tho Parliamentary grunt . And so matters remained until
1846 , when the late Government effected an entire change , nojb , however , through Parliament , but by means of private letters , by which the management clauses were forced into adoption by threats that any share in the grant would be conditional on their acceptance . This was decidedly in contravention of the understanding of 1840 . The restoration of the latter would promote harmony , in the Church . He met Lord John iJusseH ' s triple objections , and declared that the sum and substance of the alterations was that the
clerical and lay promoters of schools should be at liberty to agree to constitute such schools as they pleased , and he dwelt upon the importance of preserving this principle of liberty . "Without the proposed relaxation of the rules , he conceived that a check was offered to the foundation of new schools . He adverted to the dissensions which had existed in 1846 in the National Society , and pointed to the fact that the introduction of this minute had at once prevented such dissensions .
He advocated the allowing people to endow schools in their own way , and urged that the elements of strength might be found in the Church if her members would agree to work together without calling in the interference of Government . Parties were now for the first time put upon a fair equality , and he trusted that the policy in question would be found wise and beneficial , and added that , if it tended to allay differences in the Church , a greater boon could not be conferred upon her .
Sir Haeby VerneY said the honour of the country was pledged to the former minutes . Mr . Gladstone thought that the mountain in labour Of a mouse was represented by the hopes and fears which had been excited in reference to this matter . He must emphatically dissent from the doctrine which the Home Secretary appeared to have advancednamely , that an unlimited freedom shoxild exist on the part of the founders of schools ; but as regarded the recent changes , he thought them far from unreason ^ able . He could have understood Lord John Russell's argument as regarded dissensions , had it now been
proposed to introduce control on religious , and not on moral grounds , as divisions might arise from one clergyman holding that to be orthodox which another considered heterodox ; but he was not aware that the dissensions in the Church extended to questions of morality . Nor did he see any fear that all kinds of questions might be construed into moral ones ; for it was not proposed to leave to the clergy any definition of such questions ; and if they interfered improperly there was an appeal to the Privy Council . It was only designed to extend their jurisdiction from teaching to conduct ; and this he thought right , for a man ' s
teaching might be sound , while his morals were lax . He admitted the necessity of enlisting the greatest possible amount of lay agency in promoting these schools . But he reminded the House that it was necessary to _ deal , not only with large towns , in which intelligent committees could be procured , but with thousands of little country parishes , where there were , perhaps , not above three or four parishioners above the grade of a labourer . He conceived that the alteration might actually encourage tho formation of committees . As regarded tho temporary power of suspension proposed to be given , he thought this might bo
useful to prevent scnndnl ; but it might also be abused . Ho was most anxious to elevate the character of tho schoolmaster ; but these minutes were only experimental—tho honour of tho House was in no way pledged to them , and they wore constantly under alterution ; and wq were feeling our way gradually to tho details of a system which , when developed , must come under the notice of Parliament , and then wo could give to the schoolmaster a status winch was impossible while he existed under those minutes . Meantime tho
question must be looked at as a whole , and ho remarked that , though thero might bo a difference of opinion as regarded tho tenets of tho clergy , there could bo no doubt that thoy wore thoroughly in earnest in tho cause of education . Ho saw no ground for impeaching this minute , or the animus which had dictated it . Ho urged that while tho principle of public control should bo properly kept in view , tho details of such a question should bo calmly and kindly considered , and that thoy should not bo exaggerated by inllnuntinl members .
Mr Hume , Mr . J . A . Smith , Mr . Poitlktx bonorx :, Mr . Evans , and Mr . Slanky condemned tho minute ; and only Mr , W . Mixes approved of it . Tho debate was then dropped .
THE COLONIAL CIIV 11 C 1 I . Our readers will remember that , on tho second reading , tho Government intimated thut they could not support Mr . Gladstone ' s hill on tho Colonial Church . Tho bill was not read a nocond tiino accordingly . Th « subject seemed to havo been dropped , hut a motion stood for Wednesday , in accordance with which tho
House , on the motion of Mr . Gladstone , resolved itself into committee on Colonial Ecclesiastical Laws , in order to hear from that gentleman what he proposed to do with the Colonial Churches Bill . After an observation from Sir John PaKING-ton , who imputed deviation from ordinary forms , Mr . Gladstone explained that no such deviation had taken place . His object was to introduce certain amendments into the bill , and to have it printed in a
complete form , and transmitted to the colonies , so that they might consider it during the recess , in order to its being laid before the House in another , and he hoped an early , session . He felt that , in the present state , of public business and of Parliament , he could not hope , as an independent member , to carry a bill so opposed , and he should therefore not press the second reading . But the notice the bill had attracted , and the interest it had excited in the colonies to be affected by it , rendered it incumbent upon him to send it thither in the best form . The bill he had already
introduced had not been rejected , but stood waiting for a second reading . He did not ask the House to sanction that measure further than it had already done , but to let him reintroduce it , in an amended form , as a separate bill , to be read a first time and printed . He was satisfied with the position in which the question stood , and with the universal admission that legislation for the purpose of devising means for the management of the ecclesiastical affairs of the colonies was absolutely necessary . And the kind of legislation which must be
adopted had also become clear , namely , the enabling the parties who were interested to relieve themselves from their difficulties in their own way , and to regulate their affairs as circumstances might require . He adverted to this , because words of ominous import had , on the former discussion , fallen from the Colonial Secretary , referring to the Church Discipline Act , and the possibility of framing a measure for the colonies on the model of that act . This course he strongly protested against , and believed that no House of Commons would accede to such an interference with the domestic
regulations of the colonies . The question was between a permissive bill and doing nothing , and the sense of the House had been distinctly declared in favour of the former . He then adverted to . the communication of the Bishop of Sydney , formerly referred to by Sir J . Pakington , and cited a passage ( which the latter had not quoted ) as distinctly to the effect of what lie ( Mr . Gladstone ) had communicated to Sir J . Pakington , and as 'contrary to a passage Sir John had read . He then proceeded to reply to the Colonial Secretary ' s objections to . the bill , and to regret the tone of exaggeration which had been adopted in regard to it . Among other
points , Mr . Gladstone said that when it was recollected that the bill required subscription to the Thirty-nine Articles , the charge that it went to destroy the Royal supremacy became ridiculous . It was another question whether he was right in declining to require that the oath of supremacy should be taken . Defending the course he had pursued with reference to the bill , he said that its essence was in its relieving clauses , and he had no fear that the connexion of the Colonial Church with the establishment at home would be endangered .
In explaining the amendments ho proposed , Mr . Gladstone said that tho necessity of subscription to tho articles would remain absolute , but that , as regarded tho imposition of tho oath of supremacy , it was proposed to leave that question to tho colonial Churchthat tho relation between tho Crown and tho colonial Church , in regard to patronage , should remain—and that tho words of the bill should be altered so far ns to make it manifest that the measure was relieving and permissive . He also proposed tin addition which would make the words a " declared" member of the Church
clearer to English understandings . Sir John Pakinoton , after acknowledging tho conscientious motives which hud dictated Mr . Gladstone ' s conduct , charged him with having' endeavoured to prevent answers to his speeches on this measure Ho said that he could , under no circumstances , 1 ) 0 a party to such a mark of disrespect to tho Archbishop of Canterbury and tho Bishop of Sydney , ns to legislate in a matter in which they had been consulted , without waiting for their opinions . Ho denied that there was any discrepancy in tho letter of tho latter prolate , and
said that tho conference , tho minutes of which the bishop had wished should bo received n . s an indication of tho wishes of clergy and laity , had caused alarm among both classes iu many of tho colonies , and ought , therefore , not to bo accepted as a busis of legislation . He could not , on consideration , recede from his former opinion that this bill had tendencies of an objectionable nature , ono of which was its tendency to break up tho Church of England into fragments , and to invade tho supremacy of tho Crown , in which latter opinion he was confirmed by tho Attoriioy-Genoral , Sir W . P . Wood , and Mr . Bctholl . Ho did not beliovo tho bill to bo iu
Untitled Article
JuyE 2 e , M 52 >] THE LEADER , y ? 599
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), June 26, 1852, page 599, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1941/page/3/
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