The signs that the Dissenters of England have made up
their mind to the necessity of that national system of education of which they were once so jealous are numerous and decisive. We have spoken of the great Voluntaryist's, Mr. )Mall's, conversion before. Dr. Hoppus, an influential Congregationalist minister, writes to Thursday's Times to say that the most influential men among the Congregationalists—especially Mr. E. Baines, M.P., and Mr. Samuel Morley,—acknowledged at an autumnal meeting of the Congregational Union in Manchester on Friday week that their opinions had changed, and were now favourable to national secular education ; and Mr. Baines's speech, Dr. Hoppus adds, evi- dently met with acceptance on the part of the majority, though some still hold out. Dr. Hoppus hopes that the converted leaders of Congregationalism will carry the great bulk of the body with them.
Previous page
