"In Holland, they have come to precisely the same conclusion. There they have adopted a system of secular education, because they have found it impracticable to unite the religious bodies in any system of combined religious instruction"

This quote by Richard Cobden is describing the concept of nonreligious education, which is the idea of education that is not based upon any specific religion. In Holland, the federal government has actually adopted a system of secular education because they found it impossible to unify the various spiritual bodies in a system of combined spiritual instruction. This recommends that the various religious bodies in Holland were unable to come to an agreement on how to offer spiritual direction in schools, so the federal government decided to supply nonreligious education rather. This quote highlights the importance of religious tolerance and understanding in order to produce a unified system of education. It likewise reveals that the government of Holland was willing to put aside spiritual differences in order to offer a quality education to its people.