[ Sir T. C. Hope and 'Religious Equality'.] Autograph Letter Signed ('Theodore C Hope') discussing religious education in schools, together with four pamphlets by him on 'Religious Equality'.

Author: 
Sir T. C. Hope [Sir Theodore Cracraft Hope] (1831-1915), British civil servant of the Government of India [Religious Equality; Religous Nineteenth-century Education in Schools]
Publication details: 
LETTER: on letterhead of 21 Elvaston Place, Queens Gate, S.W. 28 June 1908. PAMPHLETS: 1906 (2), 1907 and 1908. The first three printed by Church Printing Co., London.
£250.00
SKU: 20846

Hope calls (Item Four below) for 'a frank recognition of the fact that the faith of the nation is to be found under various, and in some cases discordant, forms, which each require cultivation in conformity with the conscientious beliefs of those who hold them', this being the only way that religion 'as a national institution' can be saved from 'eventual submergence under the floods of indifference and infidelity which are yearly making way in our own as in other European peoples'.The five items attached by a piece of string. The autograph letter is somewhat aged, and Item Four is worn along fold lines, with slight loss of text. Otherwise the collection is in fair condition. ONE: ALS to unnamed individual. 2pp., 12mo. Bifolium, with heavily-corrected draft of reply by unnamed recipient on one blank page. Hope is returning 'the leaflet of 1893', which he thinks he remembers, 'as I was much engaged in the struggles against the Board School system, then & since.' On the question of 'the Creed' he writes that it is 'now absolutely ruled out in almost all Council Schools, see the London C[ounty]. C[ouncil]. Syllabus, though never intended to be so, & now the only remedy is the repeal of the Cowper-Temple clause, for which we must never cease to strive.' Other topics: 'Allocation' ('unworkable' as an 'effective remedy'), 'the battles over the 1896 Bill', his letters to 'The Times or Guardian', a 'memorandum' which he lent to the recipient at their meeting ('Confidential, and also not quite completed'). He ends, with reference to Items Two to Five below, by stating that he is enclosing 'some papers (which you are welcome to keep) shewing what scheme my friends & I do consider to be quite practical & workable, & on the only basis which can produce a just settlement. To understand it, the principle that in all cases “the pater follows the child”. If the parent expresses his wish as to religious teaching when he enters his child, & the child gets that kind of teaching accordingly, a true & complete allocation is attained.' The following three leaflets are all printed by the Church Printing Co., 11 Burleigh Street, Strand, W.C. TWO: 'Religious Equality | The only true solution | by | Sir Theodore Hope, KC.S.I., C.I.E.' 2pp., 12mo. Dated from 21 Elvaston Place, S.W., 28 May ['1906' added by Hope]. THREE: [Sequel to last.] 'II. | Religious Equality | by | Sir Theodore Hope, K.C.S.I., C.I.E.' 4pp., 12mo. Bifolium. Addressed from Elvaston Place, 24 September ['1906' added by Hope]. Sequel to last, laid out in same style. FOUR: 'Religious Equality based upon the Right of the Parent to decide what Religious Instruction his Child shall receive'. Hope is one of four authors signing in type at the end, together with John L. Darby, Dean of Chester; Clement Rogers, Lecturer in Pastoral Theology, King's College, London; and A. F. Eden [added by Hope 'Board of Education & S Davids']. Dated 5 December 1907. 4pp., 4to. Bifolium. FIVE: '(Reprinted from “The Times” of April 14th 1908). | Religious Equality | To the Editor of The Times'. Signed in type: 'Theodore C. Hope. | Bel Ritiro, San Remo, April 11th, 1908.' 2pp., 12mo. One minor autograph emendation. Takes as its starting point his satisfaction at 'a Bill granting to Roman Catholics in Ireland that justice as to education for which they have so long striven'.