PAROCHIAL SCHOOLS (SCOTLAND) BILL. (Hansard, 26 June 1856)

§ SIR GRAHAM MONTGOMERY
said, he must insist upon the right of the Presbytery to test the religious opinions of the parochial schoolmaster in order to insure that the religious instruction of the children educated in those schools should remain intact. He should, therefore, move that, after the word "thereof" in page 4, line 30, the rest of the clause be left out, and the following words inserted— Who shall declare when elected that he is not of the Established Church of Scotland, shall not be required, as a condition of his admission to or enjoyment of the said office, to sign before the Presbytery of the Bounds the formula of the Church of Scotland required by the 16th section of the 43 Geo. III., c. 54, but shall in lieu thereof make the following declaration:—'I, A. B., do hereby declare, that I do sincerely own and believe the whole doctrine contained in the Confession of Faith approven by the General Assemblies of the National Church, and ratified by law in the year 1690, and frequently confirmed by divers Acts of Parliament since that time, to be the truths of God, and I do solemnly and sincerely, in the presence of God, profess, testify, and declare, that as schoolmaster of—, in the discharge of the said office, I will not exercise the functions thereof to the prejudice or subversion of the Church of Scotland as by law established, or the doctrines and privileges thereof.'

§ MR. HAMILTON-NISBET
said, he thought it absolutely necessary that some test for securing religious instruction should be established.

§ THE LORD ADVOCATE
said, he quite agreed that there ought to be some security that religious instruction would be imparted by the schoolmaster, and, if a test were the best way of insuring it, he would agree to the Amendment proposed by his hon. Friend; but his opinion was that a test was of no use whatever. Tests such as that proposed were a stumbling-block to honest and conscientious men, while they were readily taken by the unconscientious. It was perfectly well known that nothing was more common than for a person to sign the Confession of Faith though at the very time he never meant to adhere to it. If that were the case with existing tests, how could they at this time of day set to work to devise other tests? It was with much pain, therefore, that he declined to accede to the proposal of his hon. Friend. His opinion was that 1992 no security was required for the religious instruction of the people in Scotland. The religious character of the people themselves gave them all the security they could require.