"NE QUID N1MIS "—A PROTEST.
[To THE EDITOR 07 TIM .'SsecrAinal
SIR,—Unless you have finally closed your columns to corre- spondence bearing on the education question, may I (as a Churchman but no partisan) utter a word of protest before it is too late ? Long views and temperate language are as telling in politics as in other things; but Dr. Clifford and his political friends have overlooked, or do not care to consider, the effect which their intemperate zeal and still more intem- perate language may produce in the minds of the thousands of silent but observant voters in the country, who desire indeed to understand the Nonconformist position, but desire, above all things, justice. On the strength of a crushing majority in the House of Commons, are they not putting a pressure on the Government which is not justified by a majority of less than five hundred thousand in a total poll of six millions P It is not a small minority, then, but nearly half the voters, on whom they are seeking to impose their own view. Surely the Presbyterians and Independents of the seventeenth century were hardly more intolerant, and intolerance breeds indigna- tion, and indignation spells reaction. History is full of instances. Nor can the language in which Dr. Clifford and others express their views be anything but provocative. It is not the language of just or Christian men. Just men respect their opponents' scruples, allow for their environment, and try to understand their position. Can this fairly be claimed for the political Nonconformists of to-day ? Christian men abstain from attributing motives, strain every nerve to judge fairly, do as they would be done by, and try at least to imitate the patience, truthfulness, and moderation of "the first true gentleman that ever breathed." Can this be truly said of the political Nonconformists of to-day ?—I am, Sir, &c.,
AUDITOR. TARTU-AI?
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