(To THE EDITOR OF THE " SPEOTITOR.1 SIR,—At the risk
of being excluded by "B. K. A." from the shrewd Nonconformist laymen, and of being classed among those "excellent friends" of his who, "in the delirious paroxysms of their zeal, have temporarily parted with their senses," I venture, with your permission, to say that, deep as may be the penetration of "B. K. A." in matters which more immediatly concern him, his remarks upon the conduct of the Nonconformist "clergy " and "laity," in reference to the education question, and upon their relations to each other, are the remarks of a dilettante and a mere outsider. I have rarely read a production in which the author has been so successful in showing that he is perfectly satisfied with his own position, and perfectly ignorant of the position of his opponents.
Utterly ignoring the vast difference between the old denomina-
tonal make-shift and a truly national system, and sagaciously opining that the straightforwardness and apparent justice of a formula are usually in inverse proportion to its practical utility, he proceeds to assume that this dictum will apply to the simple formula, "united secular and separate religious instruction." And as an instance of a simple, straightforward, and apparently just formula, which is, at the same time, unworkable, he intro- duces the dogma of Papal Infallibility. Then, with a sigh of -despairing pity at the callousness which he foresees, he offers for our instruction (and it would be uncivil in us to deny to "B. K. A." -his own definition of this word) what he assumes to be a fact, that Mr. Dale and Dr. Begg, being extremes, will meet, and are therefore fit and proper subjects for mutual annihilation. When he draws his lively picture of these two worthy gentlemen "shaking hands across the whole breadth of the educational battle- field, and uniting to denounce rational and temperate legislation," he might as well draw another of Paul and the preachers of another gospel hobnobbing together to denounce the established religion of Pagan Rome.
But it is chiefly as a Nonconformist layman (" sensible/ -"shrewd," or not) that I decline to look upon "B. K. A." as the Delphic oracle. It is impossible to affirm that there is nothing new under the sun, when we find your correspondent asserting that Nonconformist laymen are bullied, cowed, and led by the nose by their clerical teachers. Does my memory fail me, or was not the old story against us somewhat different? Who has not -heard and heard again that Nonconformity has two deformed chil- dren,—the domineering deacon and the meek, time-serving minister? May we, then, be forgiven for thinking that "B. K. A.'s " inclin- ations have had just the least effect upon his intuitions when he rhapsodizes about the "intrepidity" of a prominent lay Noncon- formist? Or may we say, with "B. K. A.," that when " extremes meet they are apt to neutralize or annihilate each other " ? -The prominent lay Nonconformist has indeed something to be proud
; he has not only led astray the First Lord of the Treasury and the Vice-President of the Council, but has actually succeeded in throwing dust in the eyes "B. K. A." himself, who, in common with the rest, has mistaken prominence for representativeness.
Again, it is new—and were it not for the suspicious company with which the compliment is associated, we would fain hope it were true—to hear that the majority of Nonconformists are too shrewd and sensible to share, at any rate for long, in a movement the life of which is so vigorous and violent that, as "B. K A." auggests, it must necessarily have breathed the most stiflingly -clerical atmosphere. These sidelong glances and pretty insinua- tions,—are they the result of _a new revelation to "B. K. A.," or must we say, " Timeo Danaos et dona ferentee " ?
If your correspondent had clearly understood Mr. Dale's (remarks in the Congregationalist, he would not have quoted them. Mr. Dale is responsible for his own words, not for "B. K. A.'s " inferences ; and Mr. Dale does not define a religious man to be a an "pronounced regenerate" by any Church. It is not sur- prising that "B. K. A." should altogether misconceive the mean- ing attached by Nonconformists to the "supernatural functions .and supernatural powers which Christ has committed to his -Church."
Even if the agitation were mainly "clerical," as your cone- apondent supposes, he would have no right to apply what seems to him a natural inference to the case of Nonconformists, and assume that it is therefore "wrongheaded." Let him rather, on the basis of his own supposition, conclude that Nonconformist ministers are not unworthy of the position they hold as teachers and leaders of their people. The success of the agitation among the " shrewd " laity might well suggest to him a flaw in his reasoning. The portrait he draws of Mr. Dale and Dr. Raleigh as "clerical," -"headlong," "foolhardy," "fanatical," will not prevent Non- conformists from trusting to their own objective view. It has been said that "even Milton, looking for his portrait in a spoon, must be content to see the facial angle of a bumpkin." The asser- tions that their inspirations are spells and contagions which will pass suddenly away, that the division on Mr. Dixon's motion proved their object to be impracticable, that Nonconformists have by this agitation lost ground for themselves and the country, are assertions not too consistent with facts to be consistent with the general tenor of "B. K. A.'s " letter.
This agitation may have been the agitation of a minority once. So was the agitation for free trade, the abolition of slavery,—nay, even for Christianity. But it is the agitation of a majority now, as Mr. Babes himself bears witness. It is the majority now that has the "zeal of conviction," and the majority, ever increasing, will yet make the educational system truly national.—I am, E" B. K. A." is himself a Nonconformist layman, and it was for that reason we regarded his letter as having, besides its ability, a certain authority in this matter. The question of majority or minority on secular education is one of fact. The evidence of the North-West Riding election is not in favour of "Cantab.'s" opi nion. —En. Spectator.]
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