AN APPEAL TO NONCONFORMIST LAYMEN.
[TO TUE EDITOR OF THE "SPECTATOR."]
SrR,—In your issue of May 19th you publish "An Appeal to Laymen" setting forth the principles on which laymen of the Church of England must co-operate to bring about a real settlement of the education difficulty. Might I suggest that a similar manifesto drawn up by Nonconformists might be of great value in strengthening the hands of the Government in making such modifications in their Bill as would make it the basis of a lasting concordat on this question P On both aides the extremists make so much noise that they are apt to be mistaken for the majority, instead of the small minority they really are. The position of the great bulk of moderate Non- conformists, I believe, is this. As far as they personally are concerned, they regard the Government Bill as a fair and just measure; but they are most anxious, without sacrificing their own principles, to meet the objections of Churchmen to the measure, and thus they would be glad if amendments could be adopted on such points as making Clause IV. mandatory, allowing teachers to volunteer for denominational teaching in cases where it would not interfere with the giving of the ordinary Bible teaching, and making the religious teaching to be technically within school hours. These amendments would go far to satisfy all but the extreme Churchmen, who regard simple Bible teaching as "a new religion," and most Nonconformists would, I believe, be prepared to accept them for the sake of peace, even though 'they prefer the Bill as it [We most heartily approve of Mr. Fordbam's suggestion, and trust that Nonconformist laymen who agree with him—and we are sure there are many—will write to him at the above address and express their willingness to co-operate. If such a body of Nonconformist laymen could be formed, and they could then co-operate with the Church laymen—each body- working on its own lines, but with a common purpose—we believe, as we have said above, that practical results of the greatest importance might be achieved.—En. Spectator.]
Previous page
