Page:The Conscience Clause (Oakley, 1866).djvu/24

12 perceive that the present juncture has been reached by no change of policy, least of all by the arbitrary will or fixed prejudice of any individual or any ministry, but by the accumulating force of circumstances and the inevitable advance of a system along a given line of proceeding. Lords Lansdowne, Salisbury, Granville, or Russell, Mr. Lowe or Mr. Bruce, Sir J. K. Shuttleworth or Mr. Lingen, have been equally, with varying degrees of conscious co-operation, no doubt, almost involuntary agents in the acting out of a principle. In fact, the form of Conscience Clause (for an alternative is still offered) which, in my humble judgment, is most likely to be acceptable to the Church at the present moment, when one is formally adopted for Church schools, is one which shall be almost a reproduction of the original ones framed in 1839-40. And adopted I believe that some form of Conscience Clause must be and will be by the National Society, unless its subscribers prefer that all schools intending to be in union with it shall be absolutely disqualified for Government aid.

But the course of the later stages of the correspondence may be very advantageously traced. The deputation of April 9, 1862, was followed up by a letter from Mr. Lonsdale, placing on record what appeared to the deputation to have been the result of the interview.

The Secretary to the Council Office replies confirming the impression which has been received, "that no change has been made in the rules under which the Committee of Council act with reference to such cases, but that with a view to economy, and to prevent a needless multiplication of schools, more particularly in places of small population, those rules have been of late years applied with greater stringency than at first."

He next reminds them of the censure of the Education Commissioners on the cases of "manifest injustice" certain to