Nonconformist Resistance to the English Education Bill
FOR a considerable time a religious tempest has been gathering in England, in the form of antagonism on the part of the nonconformist churches to the new educational bill, which gives the Church of England an ecclesiastical monopoly in the public schools. The bill is now seemingly on the point of being passed by Parliament, and feeling throughout the country is at a high tension, there being talk of open resistance to the enforcement of the statute. The old conflict between state and nonconformist churches is being reopened, and the ancient volcano, which was thought to be extinct, seems on the eve of a new eruption. The following from the British Weekly represents the sentiment that is felt and expressed on the side of the nonconformists:— We can truly say that we desire no controversy with the Church of England, no revival of the old, angry, sloughing sore. But it may be well that the matter is brought at last to a definitive issue. Unfortunately, the one attitude which we can now maintain to the Church of England is that of armed watchfulness. . . . The authors of the bill knew very well what they were doing. We shall give them clear and unmistakable proof that they have been detected, that they will be checked, and that in due time they will be punished. When we find Guy Fawkes among the powder barrels, when the train is laid before our eyes on the ground, when the lighted match is in his hands, it is nonsense to say that we do not know what he is about. We do know. We shall act according to our knowledge. We shall never capitulate to this vile conspiracy. There seems to be no opposition to the bill on the part of English Catholics.