LETTERS TO THE EDITOR.
THE APPEAL TO PARENTS.
[TO TIM EDITOR OF TIM EPROTATOR."]
SIE,—It is impossible to overestimate the importance of the cultivation by parents of the sense of responsibility for their children, and especially for their religious education. In a truly Christian country parents of every degree would make this education their chief concern, and would themselves take part in it. But in modern England there is a grievous neglect of this paramount parental obligation. Religious home-training is rapidly on the decline, even among mothers; while hosts of fathers, to their immense moral loss, never dream of attempting either to create a keligious atmosphere or to impart religious knowledge in their households.
Happily for the nation and its children, religious education still survives in our day-schools ; but not quite happily, a keen debate is just now raging as to the extent to which parents shall control this education. In appraising the value of this de- bate it is not unworthy of notice that the most ardent advocates of parental rights are comparatively new recruits in the cause; and that so long as denominationalism reigned supreme their plea for parents was far less loudly heard. It is noteworthy, too, that Romanists should be the leaders in the fray, seeing that with them the priest is the Chief Magistrate in education; seeing also that among them parental wishes. count for so little when converts to their faith are in prospect. Milton said that in his day "new presbyter was but old priest writ large " ; in our day one danger of the new cry on ,behalf of parents appears to be that while the mouth is the mouth of the parent, the voice should be the voice of the priest.
Yet notwithstanding this danger, there is no question that parents have indefeasible rights in the religious education of their children,. and that justice demands that these rights should be acknowledged, and acknowledged with equal fulness for poor and rich ,alike. Every religious parent obliged. by the State to 'send his children to school has the right to require that religious education be given them there, and also that this religious education be not contrary to his own con- victions. Every parent, too, whether Secularist, Traditionizt, 'oi.Word-of-God man, has the right to withdraw his children
from the religions lesson. But parental rights, although . .
inalienable, are not free from limitations. Among the .chief of these limitations is the national well-being. . The rights of parents do not include the rigbt to wrong the nation.
All appeals to parents, then, if they are. to .carry weight .with. the national mind, should definitely recognise not only . the rights of parents but the weal of the nation also ; and if a refe,rendum,is made to parents, it should be an all-round re- , ferendum, not a referendum formulated by advocates of only one side of the question at issue. All appeals I have seen so far have been partial appeals addressed to parents chiefly in- terested in denominational schools. . I have not yet come across any appeal addressed to parents on behalf of simple Scriptural instruction. Bat until a real referendum has been submitted to parents, a referendum including provided as well as non-provided schools, and which places fully and squarely before parents the choice of (a) secularism with supplemen- tary facilities ; (b) simple Scriptural teaching with devotional exercises as part of the school curriculum without supplemen- tary facilities; (c) the same 'curriculum with supplementary facilities, I am afraid it is impossible to attach any decisive value to other referendums which are not full and complete, but merely partial and limited, presentations of a great national question.
I trust that nothing I have written is contrary to either liberty or charity. I earnestly desire to pay the profoundest .homage to both these sovereign virtues ; but for some years
I have been growing—reluctantly, indeed, yet increasingly— certain that a propaganda is spreading, especially in the Centre and South of England, from which the schools -are by no means exempt, which, if not arrested, will both injure the nation and contaminate the Church. And it seems to me not improbable that, decoyed by the fascination of an appeal to parents—which if complete would be dependable,• but being incomplete is misleading—large numbers who are heartily opposed to this propaganda may find themselves unwittingly promoting it.—I am, Sir, &c., - We hope to be able to deal with this aspect of the question ourselves on some future occasion, but meantime publish with great satisfaction the Bishop of Carlisle's wise warning as to the danger of using the appeal to the parents for tactical purposes.—En. Spectator.]
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