Later in the evening the House wandered into a discussion
of undendminational teaching, during which Mr. Birrell defended the syllabuses of the County Councils, and affirmed once more that they satisfied the great majority of parents. He contended that after the Bill bad passed it would be found that the religious education given in the transferred schools would be very much the same as now. Just before one o'clock the Chancellor of the Exchequer moved the Closure, and Clause I. was carried by a majority of 203 (365 to 162). We cannot leave the subje of the debate without expressing the opinion that even if the opposition has been cleverly con- ducted from a party point of view, it has been very badly conducted from the point of view of those who, like ourselves, are keenly anxious that the Bill shall not pass without certain
moderate amendments. The prospect of carrying such amend- ments is, in our opinion, jeopardised by the violent and partisan character of the opposition offered by Mr. Balfour, Mr. Wyndham, and their supporters.
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