PUBLIC SCHOOL RELIGION
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
[Correspondents are requested to keep their letters as brief as is reasonably possible. The most suitable length is that of one of our `..6 News of the Week " paragraphs. Signed letters arc given a preference ever those bearing a pseudonym, and the latter must be accompanied by the name and address of the author, which will be treated as confidential.—Ed. THE SPECTATOR] .
[To the Editor of THE SPECTATOR] SIR,—You may be prepared to welcome some comments on Mr. Veagh's interesting article from one who, though not himself A schoolmaster, his had considerable opportunity of observing the religious life of our public schools. My conviction is that the great majority of headmasters care intensely about the Christian life of their schools, and that neither they nor their colleagues are obscurantist in their methods of commend- ing Christian belief and life and character to their pupils.
In the schools with which I am acquainted the masters do not say to the boys " this is what we believe and what you are to believe too." They are not shocked by honest doubt or difficulty. , Their endeavour is to help the boys to gain a foothold on firm spiritual ground, so that they may leain what they believe, or rather in Whom they believe, and may put their faith to the test not only of intelligence but also of piaCtical experience. There is no " taboo on the discussion of religious problems."
As to the boys themselves, it is obvious that their religious attitude depends, in large measure, on the homes from which they come. Doubtless some boys are quite indifferent to religion and do not readily react to spiritual influence. But this is not true of the majority. Other bishops would join me in testifying that, to most of the candidates, confirmation is a deep reality. In one public school it was my privilege to celebrate Holy Communion in the early morning of the day on which an enlarged chapel was to be consecrated : two hundred boys made their ,Communion : of course their action was entirely voluntary. I. cannot remember how many of the masters were present : those who came were certainly not animated by the unworthy motives which are (not very worthily) attributed to them.
As to the chapel services, it is difficult to imagine what schools supply Mr. Veagh with his evidence. To judge from the schools which I know, his strictures are not justified by the facts.
- :Pas est et ab hoste doceri, and Mr. Veagh's criticisms and suggestions (though he is not, I hope, hostis) will doubtless receive consideration. But I do not believe that his picture of present-day school life, taken as a whole, is a true one.—
I am, &c., J. A. KEMPTHORNE
(formerly Bishop of Lichfield).
Maris House, Trumpington,. Cambridge.
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