13 JANUARY 1906, Page 17

[TO THE EDITOR OF THE " SPECTATOII."1

SIR,—In reply to some of your correspondents who advocate that the religious instruction in the public elementary schools should be given by the clergy, may one be allowed to mention that in this parish there is one Council school with 1,618 children, a second Council school with 1,284 children, and a Church school with 471 children, on roll (Return for November, 1905) P Of these 3,373 children at least half are Church children. Assuming that every clergyman is as competent to teach children as the trained day-school teachers who give their whole time to the work, -what staff of clergy would be required in this parish to carry out the work of religious instruction effectively ?—I am, Sir, &c.,