which were left in the minds of the children, after the more important work had been done. He lamented the division between secular and religious knowledge, which allowed him only to see a fragmentary part of the mental training to which the child had been subjected. This may seem exaggerated, but I would ask you to consider, if you really want to train the mind, the immense importance and usefulness for that purpose of what is called religious knowledge, that is, the knowledge of the Old and New Testament. Consider how splendid these Books are simply for educational purposes. They are both historical and literary. They contain the whole of a nation's history and literature. They contain that literature in all the various forms in which it was developed; and, moreover, the nation in whose history they interest us is as remote as possible from our own modern life. If the object of education is to give mental versatility, width of knowledge and largeness of outlook, if it is to create intellectual curiosity and suggest subjects of study, what can be more desirable for such purposes than a study of the Old and New Testament? It takes the child away from his ordinary surroundings, and causes him to look into the life and manners and customs of people who lived centuries ago under quite different conditions from his own. An immediate demand upon the child's imagination and intellect is made. From one point of view, education may be considered as mental gymnastics, which aim at training the mind so as to bring into play all its activities. For this purpose religious teaching far excels any other mechanism which we are able to use; and

therefore looking at the question merely as one of educational utility, I maintain that religious education is positively necessary for the proper training of the child.

Again, apart from the great value of the Bible as a means of literary and intellectual training, we must consider also its great value as a basis for moral training. I have heard of attempts made in Italy to meet the difficulties which arise from a purely secular education. A teacher finds himself without any basis for reproving a child for doing wrong. He has nothing to put before him as an encouragement for doing good, or as an explanation of what he wishes. the child to consider bad. There is nothing to give the child's mind the capacity for understanding the difference between right and wrong. Punishment may impress the teacher's point of view on the child's mind, but the resort to brute force alone is naturally repugnant to a good teacher. To meet this difficulty a text-book of morals has been introduced and circulated among the children in Italy, so that the teacher when he reproves a child can point him to a special section of the text-book to explain the reasons of his reproof. I need not ask you to stop and consider how futile such an appeal to a child's mind must be. It is impossible that morality can be taught, among children certainly, and even among the community at large, without the appeal to religion. Religious teaching must be the basis of moral teaching. Take away the religious teaching, and the moral teaching will either disappear or become exceedingly attenuated and end by shrivelling away. This is the reason why we advocate so

strongly and so decidedly the maintenance of religious teaching in our schools. It opens up a new sphere to every one who comes under its influence. Any one who has been introduced to religion has gained a glimpse of a spiritual life which it is impossible for him to neglect, but upon which it is possible for him to enter, and those who have once entered upon it know that they have gained the greatest possession which life can give.

I should like to urge upon the pupil teachers who are present, to remember the greatness and the importance of religious knowledge in comparison with secular knowledge, and also to remember that the one does not interfere in any way with the other. The more subjects people can study at the same time, the better they will get on with every one of them. increasing your religious knowledge you gain a larger background, and then your other work will surely go on better.

By

The more you try to realise the greatness and importance of the work you are undertaking, the more the great truth will be borne in upon you, that it is useless to teach religion unless you have a religious mind. If I were to have to choose between two systems of education, in one of which purely secular teaching was to be given by a religious man, and in the other religious teaching by a secular man, I have no hesitation in saying which system I would choose in the interest of religion as well as of education. I would rather have the religious-minded teacher though the subjects he taught were secular, because I know that the devotion of his heart would penetrate what

ever he did, and perchance the fire that was in him might fall on those with whom he came in contact, and kindle a corresponding flame in their hearts. But remember, that you will not become teachers able to teach religion either directly or indirectly, unless you work with God and study His Word. Do not take a low view of your calling, but devote yourselves more and more to the highest aims of which your nature is capable.

And lastly may I urge upon the children not to look on the Bible as a book which must simply be learnt like a geography book, but as a book that they must learn to love for what it teaches them. Love

it because it has a message for you, and tells you of the love of the Lord Jesus Christ. Study it always more and more, and by studying it, you will gain a vast amount of knowledge for yourselves, which all through your life will be of the greatest possible value to you.1

1In the fragments of this address which alone remain, religious teaching is spoken of in a general way. Reference to Dr. Creighton's Primary Charge" (The Church and the Nation, p. 134) will show that he believed that religious teaching to be really effective must be denominational.

II.

RELIGIOUS EDUCATION AND VOLUN

TARY SCHOOLS.

ADDRESS GIVEN AT MARKET HARBOROUGH, 30TH NOVEMBER, 1893, ON THE OCCASION OF LAYING THE FOUNDATION-STONE OF A NEW VOLUNTARY SCHOOL.

EVERY problem we have to face can be solved by a body of men who are sufficiently resolute. All depends on their resoluteness, and men are not usually resolute unless they have a principle to fight for. A principle gives them courage and strength. We hear a great deal about the voluntary system in connexion with elementary schools, and countless schemes are suggested by which the maintenance of the voluntary schools can be secured. It is difficult to keep pace with them all. On one page of a newspaper we find a new scheme floated, and on the next an impassioned appeal to the Bishops to frame a policy. The general notion seems to be that, in order to formulate a plan, there must be something to criticise, and the managers of voluntary schools seem to me to be exceedingly good critics. But the great danger of criticism is lest, while engaging in discussion, the critics should forget to act. The best way is to do as has been done here, to let wise men argue and legislators legislate,