The recent agitation in England of questions relating to religion has not escaped the caricaturist. For two centuries or more the caricaturists of Great Britain have been hearty Protestants, though not long Puritan, and we still find them laughing at the fulminations of the testy old clergyman who lives in the Vatican. Nor have they failed to reflect upon the too evident fact that it is the contentions of clergymen in England that have blocked the way into the national school. The old-fashioned penny broadside, all alive with figures and words, has been revived by "Gegeef," to promote the secularization of the schools. In one of them all the parties to the controversy are exhibited--the candidate for the mastership of a Government school, who "believes in Colenso and geology, but don't mind teaching Genesis to oblige;" the minister who holds up the text, "One faith, one baptism," but demands that the baptism taught should be _his_ baptism; Thomas Paine, too, who points to his "Age of Reason," and says, "When you finish, _I_ shall have something to say;" the compromiser, who is willing to have Bible lessons given in the schools, provided they are given "without comment;" and, of course, the radical Bradlaugh, who demands secularization pure and simple. The same draughtsman, whose zeal is more manifest than his skill, has attempted to show, in various penny sheets, that amidst all those sectarian conflicts the one true light for the guidance of bewildered men is Science. The only hit, however, in caricature, which these controversies have suggested is the "Soliloquy of a Rationalistic Chicken." It has had great currency in England among the clergy, many of whom have assisted in spreading it abroad; and even secularists have found it passable--as a caricature. Another recent "sensation" was the caricature by Mr. Matt Morgan, in the _Tomahawk_, which represented the Prince of Wales "_following_" the ghost of his predecessor, George IV. It had a great currency at the time, and may have served a good purpose in warning an amiable and well-disposed prince to be more careful of appearances. [Illustration: Soliloquy of a Rationalistic Chicken. (S. J. Stone, London, 1873.) How do I know I ever _was_ inside? Now I reflect, it is, I do maintain, Less than my reason, and beneath my pride, To think that I could dwell In such a paltry, miserable cell As that old shell. Of course I couldn't! How could _I_ have lain, Body and beak and feathers, legs and wings, And my deep heart's sublime imaginings, In there? I meet the notion with profound disdain; It's quite incredible; since I declare (And I'm a chicken that you can't deceive) _What I can't understand I won't believe._ What's that I hear? My mother cackling at me! Just her way, So prejudiced and ignorant _I_ say; So far behind the wisdom of the day.