Page:Dr Stiggins, His Views and Principles.pdf/57

 maintain that Protestant character which has made the nation what it is. We know (for Miss Corelli has told us) that a great conspiracy is on foot, that Romish gold is being lavished throughout the country, that most of the parsons are in direct correspondence with the Vatican. Indeed, it is impossible for the most casual observer to avoid the impression that mischief is in the air; as one passes along the streets one sees church doors open on every side, the mutter of the confessional sounds like the hiss of some venomous snake through the wholesome turmoil of business, and only the other day a friend of mine pointed out to me that a piano organ in the street was playing a Popish anthem called Gloria in excelsis. Are we not to strike a blow for our homes and hearths? Are the men of England asleep? Unless we are beware we shall wake up too late, and find the monasteries have replaced factories, that the brave glow of the blast-furnace has given way to the infernal fires of the Inquisition.

I ask, then, for a scheme of education