27 JANUARY 1933, Page 28

. ,, THE QUARTERLIES

Mrs. Edgar Dugdale, the late- Lord Balfour's literary executor, reveals in = the Quarterly the parts played by Mr. Balfour; as he then was, and Mr. (afterwards Sir Hobert) Morant in the drafting of the epoch-making Education Act of 1902. Morant's power of initiative and Balfour's resolute courage are well brought out. Chamberlain was hostile,,in private ; Lord Salisbury was fearful of putting Church schools on the rates ; the rest of the Cabinet dreaded a loss of Nonconformist votes. But Balfour, advised by Mount, set his mind on passing the Bill and did so, to the great lie.nefit of English education, though to the disadvantage of his party. Other notable articles in a good numbet Are Miss Elizabeth Haldane's study of Victorian governesses, Sir Reginald Blomfield's defence of Greek sculpture against some trivial recent criticism, Sir Ian Malcolm's eulogy of the Champagne country and its wine, and Mr.,Algernon-Cceil's im- pressive character sketch of the late Lord Oxford and Asquith. Mr. Edvvyn Bevan in the Hibbert Journal deals w)th " Bishop Barnes on Science and Superstition " roan instructive fashion. Mr. Bevan does not defend the religious beliefs which Dr. Barnes attacks. Ile merely points out, with much force, that Dr. Barnes uses an irrelevant argument in con- tending that a belief, say, in Transubstantiation, is in conflict with natural science or with `.` reason." " To suppose_ that you can make physics or chemistry or biology a barrier to religious _belief is like supposing that you could prevent aeroplanes from flying over your garden by erecting a wall round it." Ptofessor P. Clarke, of Montreal, contributes an important article on " The Mature Significance of ` New' Countries," in which the differenees between- the Canadian point of view and-our owe, especially in education; are clearly explaffitd.