New Zealand Times. (PUBLISHED DAILY.) SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 10, 1877.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXII, Issue 4957, 10 February 1877, Page 2

New Zealand Times. (PUBLISHED DAILY.) SATURDAY, FEBRUARY 10, 1877.

No dovibt the proceedings of the Church of England Synod, now sitting at Nelson, are fraught with considerable interest to churchmen. Matters of great moment to the Anglican Church, viewed as a religious body, have been discussed and disposed'of. This is a matter in which all true Christians of .whatever creed will rejoice. But when that , body goes out of its way, and steps beyond the bounds __ of its legitimate functions to interfere in the question of State education by passing such resolutions as those which appear in another column, we venture to say that its decrees cease to be acceptable to the general public. _ The subject of general public instruction, is one with which religious bodies, as such, have nothing to do. The members of these bodies, as individual constituents of the commonwealth, have an equal right with all others to enunciate their views on important questions of the day ; but' when the Synod presumes to give’ forth its utterances on the subject? of religious instruction in schools; it is taking an unfair advantage t pf, its peculiar position in order to bring an undue influence to bear upon public opinion. Clergymen as a rule afe slow to recognise the spirit of the ! ago, and slower still to admit the teachings' of science. When they have yielded to an obvious fact, or abandoned an untenable theory, it has' been because , of the “pressure from without.” Perhaps they are not entirely to blame for this, as the peculiar nature of their professi'on.renders them conservative. We have iO.'a’large extent got rid of the denominational system, with its attendant evils; and we rely upon the good sense of ’Parliament to nip in the bud any proposal' for its revival. The question of public instruction is one of vast before which all 'others sink' into !, insignificance. We have not space/to .discuss; this subject at length, and ior .Jtfto sake^ : '6f brevity we will put our objections.to.the . proposal of the Synod in.the shape of pro-.' ■ positions, enlarging them as fully as bur space will admit. In the.- firstplace it is not the duty of the State tO; provide religious instruction for the’people. The body politic is composed, of/men of'all 1 creeds and phases of Teligibus/ppinion. Therefore a system of' tion which would give satisfaction ’ to one section of the community/.would give serious, offence to one or . more of the other sections. All men; have the right to think as they like on . questions apper-: tabling to' religion. They have also the right to do as they like, : so long as their? doing so does not interfere-with the rights' and privileges of other people. It follows, therefore, that we do. grevipus wrong to, those whose conscientious’/scruples, will not allow them to send/ their' children to school during the hours of religious instruction. Theirchildrenlose fr6mha}f-an-ho,iir. to an hour daily, time for, which the public, through the general revenue, pay. It has been said “Insist upon.religious instruction in our schools, and let those who disapprove of it keep their children away.” This is the .very thing objected to. It is too late in the day for “ might to overcome right.”. Our second objection is, “that if religious bodies desire the religious instruction of the, rising generation, it is their duty to instruct them.” We-have.. a-number of religious societies in, this colony, who are represented more - or- less in every' township, village, and hahilet; there are places of worship which are supplied by clergy or recognised laymen ; there are Sundayschools ad libitum in town arid country; then why wish 'to Oftll/ in the/aid of ‘the secular teacher 1 , If 'the extensive machinery at their command does not, meet the religious requirements of the ,people, then we say we are i sorry for it, and are-'quite siire'-the general community will assist them witlrthe ways and means, if an appeal ’ is ; made to them in the proper' spirit. We are no advocates for irreligion. By all'means let the rising generation be instructed in the Scriptures; but we contend the public school is not the place, to impart.it. There is another view , of the case. Under the Mosaic economy One day in seven was- set apart for religious services. • This would ’ appear > to indicate that the Great Giver of the law' considered- that a sufficient time to iippropriate to the* jmrp’dse/ /True/there were certain, feast days” which were, reli-., giously observed. But the unanimous? voice of Christendom has declared that the latter were riot intended to. be of “.permanent obligation.” But the advocates of religious instruction in schools would make every day more or less a Sabbath. We are of opinion that this is fai more likely to disgust the rising generation “with? the whole subject. One rev. advocate for the cause remarked the other day ’at Nelson that he attributed the ; growing “larrikinism” of the present day to the exclusion of religious’ instruction from the Common ' schools. We think .the reverend gen tie man must have been at a loss for an argument to support his case. We might .with equal right attribute “ larrikinism” to a want of zeal on the part of the reverend advocate and his colleagues. . We'assume no . such thing, but willingly bear testimony that they are zealous and earnest men. To lay the cause at the door'of public instruction’ is ; siraply begging J the and it is going beyond, the region of legitimate arguriient. Our third’ proposition is, that as a rule the schoollife of children is too short to admit of them doing more than master the secular subjects. ; Let religions instruction be introduced by law, and some of those essential subjects’ which: constitute the eleinents of a sound 1 English education inust of necessity suffer, or the really zealous, teacher will be tempted to devote ’. a' pqrtidri of his ’ short time for ’rdcredtion 'to' ' niake 1 good the loss. It will, we think, bo admitted .by every tight - minded person that it is the duty of the teacher to keep himself aloof as far as possible from religious and political’ discussions .of. all kinds. Let the teacher become' an expounden of the Scriptures/ and he will necessarily,'altho ugh ■ perhaps unconsciously, impress his own peculiar views upon! the children. Let these views clash with the opinions of the parents, and his usefulriess as a teacher is impaired. There/is nothing in''the wide world more to ? be regretted than-religious controversy, especially between a teacher and his people. . He has undoubtedly a perfect right to ’enjoy hisi own opinions on the religious Questions of the day. But if he bo wise he will, keep them ;for the most part to Himself. / It is no'iecret.tha.t.tho majority. , 'of/schoolmasters object to having, this, diity imposed upon them. ’ The laW point to which we will direct, the attention of ouf readers- is the'-fact that . where secular and religious instruction together , have been tried, it has not proved a success. Of course there are exceptions to this rule, as there are energetic men who will bring their pupils on :

under difficulties which would utterly confound others.: In Scotland, where perhaps the scheirie succeeded, it is now generally adlnitted. that it, will be for the benefit of the children to exclude religious instruction altogether. In the old parochial schools iri"Erigland,'‘wliere, accord-' ing to Dean Dawes,,, Gill, and other, authorities, fully a third of the • school* life of the children was occupied by Scripture and other, kindred subjects, the result was, that .’half.. a...century ago the mass of the peasant population of the agricultural districts: of England were grossly ignorant of the simplest elements of an English education. We lay these facts before the public in the hope that they will not be lost sight of, and are fully confident that the sentiments enunciated will be endorsed by a vast majority of the community. Hitherto, we, have spoken of all denominations alike, but we are well aware that some important sections of the Christian Church are in accord with us on this subject-