SOME BOOKS OF THE WEEK.
[Under this heading ice notice such Books of the week as have not teen reserved for soviets in other forms.] Truth, Unity, and Concord. By Elizabeth Boyd Bayly. (Jarrold and Sons. is. net.)—Mrs. Bayly puts forth an eirenicon on the Religion in Education question. "We must agree," she says ; "for the sake of the children, we must"; and she suggests "a plan, recognised by the State, for Voluntary inspection, inspira- tion, supplementing and regulation of the religious teaching to be given in the State schools." We quite appreciate the spirit in which she writes, and can go some way with her. But when she bars all denominational teaching in State hours and on State premises, we must pause. Anything taught out of hours would be penalised, and if use of the building is prohibited; would in thousands of eases become impossible. Regarding the matter from the standpoint of Church interests, it would be better to revert to the status quo before the Act was passed. If Churchmen were absolutely determined, they could keep up the schools without State or rate kelp. That was Archdeacon Denison's plan, and it has the merit of being thorough. One word of protest we are bound to write. "We Protestant Non- conformists were slightly more than half the religious population of the land when the census of 1901 was taken." Where does this " fact " come from? The Nonconformists most angrily protested against including this matter in the Census Returns. It is a little too bad to claim official authority for their own enumeration.
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