The Scotch Education Bill is nearly through the House of
Commons, the Government having defeated various amendments in relation to the clauses affecting religious teaching. On Tues- day Mr. Anderson moved the exclusion of "all religious catechisms and formularies distinctive of any particular sect "from the schools, as in the English Act, the Government objecting that in almost every Scotch school the Shorter Catechism is taught, and its teaching desired by the parents, and that it would be a real hardship to exclude it. Mr. Dixon denied strongly that you were to consult the religious feelings and prejudices of a country for which you were legislating,—a view which would soon render our rule both in India and Ireland a moral impossibility,—but Mr. Anderson's amendment was defeated by a majority of 120 (250 to 130). Mr. McLaren proposed to enact that the teaching of the Bible should always form part of the religious instruction of every school, and was defeated by 50 (189 to 130). Mr. Crum-Ewing proposed to add a proviso that the religious instruction should all be separately paid for out of voluntary subscriptions,—the Anti- State-Church amendment,—but was defeated by a majority of 145 (230 to 85).
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