Papurau Newydd Cymru

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FRIDAY.

Newyddion
Dyfynnu
Rhannu

FRIDAY. In the House of Lords, the Lord Chancellor moved the second reading of the High Court of Justice Bill, and explained, in de- tail, the changes which the measure proposed to effect. After some discussion, the Bill was read a second time, and their Lord- ships adjourned at 7.40. In the Commons, the debate on the second reading of the Education Bill was resumed by Mr Vernon Harcourt, who strongly supported Mr Dixon's amendment. He denounced the conscience clause as an imposition and a sham, and as an illogi- cal invention to justify an indefensible system. Sir C. Adderley supported the Bill, believing that aggrieved minorities might obtain relief by an appeal to the Privy Council. Mr Mundella also supported the Bill, although there were several provisions which he wished to see amended. The debate was continued by Sir Henry Hoare, Sir S. Ibbetson, Mr Jacob Bright, Mr Howard, and Colonel Beresford. When the hon. gentleman sat down an extraordinary and almost unprecedented scene occurred, not less than half the members in the House springing instantly to their feet, in the desperate hope of catchine the Speaker's eye. The spectacle of whole rows of hon. gentlemen, who a moment before had been quiet in their seats, starting up thus simultane- ously, and shouting out the name of Mr Speaker with more or le emphasis and persistence, was a striking evidence of the illimitable capacity of the House for speaking on educational questions. After an obstinate contest, and many conflicting cries- Mr RICHARD (being loudly called for) proceeded to address the House, as the representative of the numerous body of Welsh nonconformists, all of whom viewed the measure of the Govern- ment with anxiety, apprehension, and alarm. A great many petitions against it had been presented from the Principality, and in private letters to their representatives Welshmen had ex- pressed the prayer of these petitions in language of a very energetic and incisive character, nor could any ministry, he thought, venture lightly to regard the feelings and opinions of those classes of the population whom the Bill would principally affect. The situation of Wales was peculiar. She owed it to dissent that she was not at this moment a moral and spiritual wilderness—a fact that had been candidly admitted a few years ago by the Bishop of Llandaff, who said that had it not been for the existence of the dissenting bodies, our people must have been consigned to practical heathenism, and have been living in ignorance of the name of Christ, and without hope and without God in the world." It had happened, however, that until within the last few years the nonconformists of Wales had paid less at- tention to day schools than to the erection of places of worship and the organization of Sunday schools, and that was to be ex- plained by various reasons. First, they had a great deal to do in building their own chapels, and building their own Sunday schools and other institutions, much of which was done for the Church of England out of the national endowments. Moreover, the Sunday schools in Wales had for a long time past been more, far more, perfectly organized than in England. They were at- tended, not only by children, but by a large proportion of adults, and in them the great bulk of the population had learned to read fluently and intelligently, at least, their own Welsh Bible. Many landlords had set themselves to refuse sites on which British or unsectarian schools should be erected, and though many hundreds of British schools had been erected by Dis- senters, yet there was a majority of what were called national schools. To call such a school by such a name was very much like lucus a non lueendo, for the national schools belonged to the small minority of the people, though they received three- fourths of the annual Government grant. He desired to give the promoters of these schools all credit for their exertions, though he wished these schools were less subordinated to purposes of proselytism. The children attending these schools were ex- pected to learn the church catechism, and to attend the church Sunday school. It might be said that there was the conscience clause but that did not protect the poor man. His right hon. friend (Mr Forster) had fallen into the error into which many statesmen fell; he did not allow for the depth of religious con- viction among the people. (Hear, hear.) He could only suppose that statesmen were themselves sometimes persons of rather easy religious belief. ("Oh, oh," from the Opposition.) They seemed to think that, "For forms of faith. Let none but graceless bigots fight." It had been said that this religious objection did not originate with the parents, but that it was stimulated by ministers of religion. So far as Wales was concerned this was not correct. Sbme 15 years ago Mr Bowstead, the inspector of British schools in Wales, inserted a paragraph in his report to the effect that National schools were unsuited to the Welsh, inasmuch as the great majority of them being dissenters they did not like to send their children to these schools. The Bishop of St. David's-and in mentioning his name he would refer to him with profound respect—(hear, hear)—in his next charge contradicted the state- ment of Mr Bowstead, but that gentleman reiterated the state- ment, and in confirmation of it alleged the statements of 300 persons in South Wales, comprising ministers and other persons who showed a consensus of opinion in favour of Mr Bowstead's statement. Mr Bowstead dwelt upon the fact that in Wales the feeling pervaded almost the whole mass of the common people. In fact there were some persons who, after having suffered the deduction of a certain portion of their wages for the support of a school of which they did not approve, sent their children to another school, and thus paid twice over for the education of their families. (Hear, hear.) They had been informed more than once that religious instruction in some schools was con- sidered a matter of minor moment. (Hear, hear.) He honoured his countrymen because they were not indifferent to religious education. (Cheers from both sides of the house.) Let them take the case of a nonconformist child who was obliged to learn the church catechism. Take the case of a Baptist child being called on to say he was regenerated when he had never been baptised, or that of another noconformist child, who was obliged to say that his godfather and godmother had promised certain things for him when he had never had either the one or the other. From such lips the statement would be nothing but a deliberate falsehood. There was another fact to which he must advert, though he did so with great delicacy, and that was to the marvelous development that had gone on within the last 20 or 30 years in a direction especially obnoxious to Protestant dis- senters. (Hear, hear.) In North Wales there was a normal school established for training young persons to teach national schools in North Wales. At the head of the institution was the Rev. Sidney Bouchier. This gentleman had provided a number of papers from which young persons were to be examined, and he had defended them at great length. These questions ad- verted to the administration of the Sacraments and kindred topics, and the rev. gentleman after laying down that Church principles were not conformable to the world, and that therefore the world hated them, called upon his pupils to give illustrations of that truth. They could not be surprised that the noncon- formists of Wales should object to have their children exposed to such teaching as this. (Hear, hear.) His right hon. friend said they had the protection of the conscience clause, but they must remember that there was no conscience clause for the ratepayer. The conscience clause was at best but a bungling und unsatis- factory expedient. It might do very well for a period of transi- tion. It constituted a kind of educational toleration act. But he trusted they had got beyond the state of things when any one would say to any body of his fellow-subjects, We will tolerate you in worshiping God according to your conscience." He had to acknowledge that considerable difference of opinion existed amongst his fellow-countrymen with respect to the religious ques- tion in education, but there was a large and increasing body who felt the inextricable difficulties that surrounded the question on all sides; and they had been forced to the conclusion that the only satisfactory solution was to make State-aided education purely secular. Amongst those who had come to this conclusion were people who had as large a reverence for the old English Bible as his right hon. friend (Mr Forster) or Dr Newman-or rather for the old Welsh Bible, which was a much finer Bible than the English one just as the Welsh language was a much finer language than the English. (Laughter.) He believed that if the Government would concede the amendments of his hon. friend the member for Stroud the dissenters of Wales as well as of England would be satisfied. It must be remembered, how- ever, that outside the battle of the churches there was the great mass of the working men. who in England were unhappily out- side all the churches. Their claims in the matter ought not to be forgotten. No man in that House placed a higher value upon religion than he did, but the question was not whether they should give religious instruction to their people, but what was the best way of giving it. Allusion had been made to Germany during the course of the debate. In Prussia they had a strictly religious system of education, including instruction in the Bible and the catechism, prayers, the learning of hymns and the direct services of the parish minister. Yet in spite of this system he was afraid they must admit there was no people in Europe so utterly indifferent to the doctrines and observances of religion as the Prussians. The inference he drew from that fact was the danger of forcing people to learn things in schools to which they objected. He agreed with hon. gentlemen opposite that to allow a population to grow up among them ignorant of Christian truths would be a still greater calamity if they were to have frowing up amongst them an anti-Christian population. He elievea that the best mode of imparting religious instruction to a people was not by any mechanical instrument established by the State, but under the influence of the spontaneous action of Christian faith and love; and he did not believe, supposing all the schools in the kingdom were to become secular schools, that there was any danger of religious truth being lost or ceasing to be valued as highly as it was present. (Hear, hear.) The PRIME MINISTER commenced by justifying the Govern- ment, which had been much reflected upon on account of the support given to the Bill by the members of the Opposition, and excited loud cheers, mingled with laughter, by describing Mr Fawcett as having "risen to the sublimest heights of dogma," when he "laid down the principle that whatever pleases you must displease us." He reviewed some portions of the discus- sion—reminding Sir C. Dilke, who had made a point of Mr Forster's opposition to the Permissive Liquor Bill of last year, that in that Bill there was no conscience clause "—and in order to meet the wishes of Mr Dixon and his friends, intimated that in Committee the Government would not be unwilling to re-consider the details of the provisions as to religious education. He went so far as to say, that in his opinion the separation in time of religious from secular instruction, might be more advan- tageous than the imposition of a conscience clause; and that in all cases the school authorities ought to be required to permit the use of the school buildings for the religious instruction of the minority. -Mr Hardy guarded himself and his friends against any assent to these proposals; but they proved so satisfactory to Mr Dixon that he at once asked leave to withdraw his amend- ment. This permission was refused by a few voices, and the amendment having been negatived without a division, the Bill was read a second time. Some other business was disposed of, and the House adjourned.

MONDAY.

TUESDAY.

WEDNESDAY.

[ THURSDAY.

PORTMADOC.

TOWYN.

DOLGELLEY.

HUNTING APPOINTMENTS.

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