Page:The conscience clause (Bickersteth, 1867).djvu/11

 National Church, the education of the children of the poor occupies a very prominent place. And it is certainly satisfactory to know that in this part of her work she is not behindhand. There are at the present moment 12,594 Schools in connexion with the Incorporated National Society, attended by 1,199,534 children. And even these figures, large as they are, do not by any means represent all that the Church of England is now doing in the matter of education.

Your Grace is aware that the conditions of union with the National Society are, that the children shall be taught the Church Catechism, and that they shall attend the services of the Church. Provision is in fact made, that Religion, according to the doctrine and discipline of the Church of England, shall be the basis of all the teaching. But in the application of this principle to the circumstances of different parishes, the position of the Clergyman of the Parish is duly recognized; and, in practice, a liberal and wise discretion is left to the Managers, or rather to the Clergyman, in dealing with individual cases, the Clergyman being assumed to be the best judge of the mode of imparting religious instruction to those children of his flock whose parents entrust them to his care; and the result is, that in most instances the education so provided is thankfully accepted. As a rule, the present