Page:The Conscience Clause (Oakley, 1866).djvu/42

30 nothing of the sort, but only said that the one might possibly be objected to, and that a particular method of conveying the other might also perhaps be objected to, but only in certain circumstances, which he and his questioner and everybody else knew perfectly well are almost certain never to arise; while, on the other hand, the maintenance of this shadowy right, if such it be, in practice conciliates Dissenting parents, by conceding a natural right dear to every parent, especially the religious parent, has procured the erection of many schools which would not otherwise have been erected, and enables the dispensers of the Parliamentary grant to feel that they are carrying out the first condition of their trust, namely, making effectual provision for the education of all classes of the community.

Such is the literal interpretation of the actual terms of the Conscience Clause. In a word, everything may be taught to a scholar to which its parent does not object. The only limit to the discretion of the clergyman is the discretion of the parent; and the discretion of the parent is limited to a veto upon distinctively denominational doctrine, and upon that alone. Thus, although a parent might conceivably object to the teaching of the Creed, he could not withdraw his child from the mere reading and exposition of the Scriptures.

I cannot, in an assembly of Churchmen, turn away from this question of the interpretation of the clause without referring to a letter on the subject bearing the well-known initials "J. T. C," which made a great impression on me at the time of its appearance in the Guardian newspaper, and which has since been published in Mr. Hubbard's pamphlet, with the sanction of its honoured writer. Sir John T. Coleridge. This letter, I confess, astonishes me. "J. T. C." says, "I am afraid, therefore, that we must take Mr. Lingen as announcing in effect this: that any clergyman accepting the Conscience Clause is prohibited from teaching to the children of Dissenters, however numerous they may be