in either case heard charges of proselytism. I have repeatedly known children of Roman Catholic parents attend the schools, and that without either tampering on the one hand or complaints on the other, religious scruples were always respected.

In one district east of Edinburgh where dissent was very strong from the middle or end of last century, no schools existed till lately, except the parish schools; while dissent continued to maintain and develop itself.

"The parish school system in Scotland is at once national and christian. The catechism taught is not ecclesiastical nor denominational, but only doctrinal. The doctrines are in harmony with the articles of the Church of England, and of all the Reformed Churches."

In those in connection with the Wesleyan Church, the catechism of the denomination is not used. In a fourth three different catechisms are taught to three several denominations by a teacher who is a member of the Church of England. In the fifth the catechism of the denomination is taught by a member of the Church of England.

The Commissioners have obtained returns of all Schools in the various schools receiving Government aid. The religious books, other than the catechism, where in use, are uniformly of an uncontrovertial character. In thirty-two schools the books of the Irish National Society or Nelson’s School Series are the text books in use.

A few books published by the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge are used in some instances in Church of England schools.

SUGGESTIONS.

It will be seen by the sketch given of the different systems of education adopted in the various localities referred to in this report, that one of the greatest, if not the very greatest, difficulty with which their framers have had to contend, has been the feeling of jealousy and distrust which has existed on the part of the public. That fear lest the body charged with the administration of educational affairs should betray its trust and abuse its powers improperly. Whilst in other matters of the most vital concern to the community, all are willing to repose a certain amount of confidence in the ordinary action of the constitution; and while it is assumed that the safeguards thereby provided are, as a general rule, practically sufficient in ordinary cases, yet, as soon as it is sought to rely upon them in matters connected with education, they seem in the eyes of many to lose all their virtue. Thus the question of education has come to be considered as one, subject to laws different from those applicable to every other question of public interest, and it has been considered necessary to devise special machinery, and to lay down exceptional rules for the conduct of affairs relating to it.

This peculiarity, distinguishing as it does, questions connected with education from every other question, is a peculiarity which requires more especially to be recognised and examined in considering the constitution of the body which is to be charged with the direction and general supervision of the education of the province. Any system which ignored this peculiarity, or which treated a law asserting itself so universally as though it did not exist, would be manifestly and in its very nature a system at variance with, and antagonistic to, the feelings of the people to whom it was to be applied.

It is worth while, therefore, shortly to examine how far this distrust of government in matters relating to education is reasonable, how far it is unreasonable, and how far its causes may be removed.

The reason of this distrust is as obvious as the fact itself. It is the fear of proselytism—the fear lest some particular form of religious truth should be presented to, and accepted by, the minds of the pupils to the exclusion of other truths still more important—lest the exaggeration of the one, and the neglect of the other should result in dangerous error.

It would hardly have been necessary to insist upon this point, were it not that it suggests a view of education which is very often lost sight of, and not unfrequently denied altogether.

The very fact that fears of this nature prevail so generally, and have so great a bearing on all questions affecting education; the fact that so many and such various contrivances have been invented for preventing education from becoming the vehicle of religious doctrines obnoxious to any portion of the community, appears at least to establish this, that in the mind of the community at large there is a most intimate, and almost necessary connection between religion and education. It is remarkable that the only one of the Australian systems which proceeds on the assumption that the two are not necessarily connected, and professes to be a purely secular system, yet recognises this connection in fact, by laying down rules for the constitution of the Central Board based upon the religious denomination to which its members belong. In the colony of Victoria the only provision contained in the Act limiting the power of the Governor in the appointment of the Board expressly relates to questions of religion. In the first place all the members must be laymen, and secondly, no two of them must belong to the same religious denomination.

It is said, on the other hand, that however truly this connection may exist in the minds of Englishmen, yet that it does not apply universally; for that other nations have succeeded in establishing purely secular education, and thus dissociating it altogether from religion. The system pursued in Prussia is a favourable illustration of this view of the case, and upon the assumption that religion has nothing to do with education in Prussia, opposite conclusions are drawn by reasoners on opposite sides as to the excellencies and defects of a purely secular system of education.