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other instruction. In these instances the visits are
paid once a week.

In six other schools the minister is stated to pay
casual or occasional visits, and to take part in the
religious instruction.

In a few instances the master conducts a religious
service on Sundays, and in nine cases teachers in the
week-day schools are teachers in Sunday schools.
In one case the school is taught by the clergyman
of the parish.

The arrangements with regard to schools in con-
nection with the Presbyterian Church, contemplate
the management of schools by local committees, ap-
pointed by the congregation in their different locali-
ties, subject to the general regulations of a central
committee presided over by the acting head of the
denomination.

In only two instances do the local committees ap-
pear to take any active part in the management of
the schools in their respective districts; the appoint-
ment of teachers has for the most part rested practi-
cally with the acting head of the denomination.

In no instance
does it appear that the ministers of religion take any
part in the religious teaching. In two instances the
master conducts a religious service on Sundays.
The master in one of these cases is a member of the
Church of England, and the service is attended by
members of different religious communities.

In four cases the master teaches in the Sunday
school as well as in the day school. Out of nine
schools in connection with the Presbyterian Church,
three are conducted by members of another denomi-
nation.

In the arrangements for the management of
schools in connection with the Wesleyan Church,
provision is made for the constitution of local sub-
committees of management; while the general con-
trol rests with a central committee appointed by the
quarterly meeting of the Wesleyan Church, the
Superintendent Minister being chairman.

In one case a local committee has the entire man-
agement of their school, receiving from the central
committee their portion of the government grant.
In two cases there appear to be local sub-commit-
tees with powers very ill defined, and in two or three
instances no local committees appear to have been
appointed.

The appointment of teachers and other matters of
administration rest with the central committee. No
part is taken by the ministers of religion in the im-
parting or controlling of the religious teaching given
in the schools in connection with the Wesleyan
Church.

The committee satisfy themselves as to the reli-
gious and moral character of the teachers they ap-
point, and leave the adjustment of details to the
judgment of the teachers.

Of ten teachers employed in teaching in Wesleyan
schools, six are of other denominations than that
with which the schools are connected. In three in-

stances the masters conduct occasionally a religious
service on Sundays and one teaches in a Sunday
school.

It remains to consider, in the third place, what has
been the character of the religious teaching under
a system based upon the recognition of the claims of
rival religious sects, with a view to ascertain how
far the religious teaching, as it exists in the present
schools, is owing to that system, and how far it is in
accordance with the principles on which it was origi-
nated.

The religious teaching in the week-day schools
does not appear in any case to have assumed so con-
troversial a character, or to have become so far distinc-
tive as to offend the conscientious convictions of those
parents who belong to other religious denominations
than that of the teacher. In only one school have the
Commission heard of offence being taken on con-
scientious grounds at the course of religious instruc-
tion given by the master. The grievance in this
case was rather imaginary than real. Two children
were removed on religious grounds without any in-
timation having been previously given as to the
scruples of the parents.

The teachers have maintained a wise discretion in
forbearing to give undue prominence to the distinc-
tive doctrines of their denominations, and in abstain-
ing from obtruding their own peculiar tenets upon those
belonging to another religious persuasion. The
schools have, for the most part, been opened with
prayer, and the Bible has been read daily with such
comments and questions as might be necessary to
give an intelligible meaning to the text in the minds
of the young children, without entering upon doc-
trinal teaching of a sectarian character.

In six schools in connection with the Church of
England, the church catechism is not used on week-
days. In one school it is said not to be used on
Sundays, out of respect to the wishes of the owner
of the room in which the school is held. In other
schools where church catechism is taught, children of
other denominations are either excused from atten-
dance in class, or such an arrangement is made by
the master as exempts them from learning those
parts of it which contain matter on which the
several bodies of Christians hold different views.

In five out of nine schools in connection with the
Presbyterian Church, no catechism is used; in one
of these five schools the teacher is a member of the
Episcopal Church of Scotland, and in two cases the
catechism of the denomination is taught by members
of the Church of England.

With respect to the religious teaching in the Pres-
byterian schools, and the catechism in use, the
following is a communication made by one of the prin-
cipal members of the Presbyterian Church to the
Commission:—

'In Scotland, the parish schools, where the Bible
and shorter catechism are taught, have been attended
by children of all religious denominations. The same
is the case in the Free Church schools. I have never'