New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1850-09-03

I'll and social evils. Tho Address says; e" leHmply
requires the attention OF every child for thirty noars
! per week to intellectual cnlFure,' &c This Ia AL
that is promised the part of The School teacher
! in order to produce the wonderful results Of she
new aystem.
This shows that the writer Of the A1dreas had
pretty correct idea OF the practical condition Of
/ Common Schools, and knew, 10 a hair, how far he
could ndorse Tor them He rings the chaugsa upon
/ intellectual culture; but az to moral culture tho
/ child must get it somewhere else than in these
schools or go without it; ii is an article not dealt
4 in at these moral shambes True, the Teachers
must poskess certificates of good moral character
! there the matter ends. They one and all, unYef-
eAly or nearly 80, most emphaticaly deny that the
incucation or enforcement Of manners or morals Is
| any part of their duty do not mean the lncuica
ton of religious precepts, butthe plain, comprehen
siye moral principles, in that general sense OF the
word wherein all religious sects agree. vice, az
such, ia rot punished as violation OF the school
y1,les and only when the vicious act amounts to
breach of the peace within the walls-not out OF
them. The consequence Is that cnudren are ~
danger of losing whatever OF manners ana morals
they possessed before entering these schools; WIN
out aby chance, or ground Of hope, that their NOR
ais W iii be improved by attending therei and the
rising generation, instead Of growing better, are
growing up act of perfect rowdies, many OF them
already ripe for the House of Refuge" YET tney
are the instructors which are to mould tine chafac'
tiers Of the future youth Of our State and 20 saca
nurseries OF vlrtue, parents are to be compelled 70
entrust their children
Should it be objected that the Address leaves all
the time, not occupied by the School, for sucn
purely religious nurture as parents may cnooBe TOR
their children" reply, that the Address had al
ready denounced parents as 30 utterly untrust
worthy that to stake the education OF our States
future rulers and mothers, such parents ideas of
their own ability TO school their chdren) and
their childrens moral needs, would be madness,
&c. And further the very doctrine that such pa.
= I'D ling mot n M
with the charge OF the mere culture OF their chll
drens intellects, for want OF character enough to
render the trust safe in their hands-snd so the
duty must devove upon the State both Ehese
charges, If @ue, presuppoRe The utter nnhtness ot
parents for rendering these leisure hours Of any
use 70 their children; and small indeed s the boon
thus conceded. And yet, these parents, such as
thew are i'll make good enough ms sructors in the
1ntmDOrtdnt matter of Religion! They are nos
fit to have the care of their intellects-but each
and all of them are quite competent to be trusted
with their immortal souls The schoOl ia not to
furnish the children with any moral culture; and
the parents are unfit for the duty-how then, the
schools should become ever 30 Free and should be
kept every week day in the year how can the
natures of the childrenl become so changed, that,
when they grow up, crime and pauperlsm shal be
banished from the land, and all the expenses of dis
pensing criminal Justice be saved for the pockets
OF the peope2 'Ohl there will be The Churches
and the Sunday Schools for auch All choose TO at
tend them!' Ali true-And thank God that it
is Afser all shn flourish then, it resulta in this
at aat: Upon the social Influences Of the freslde
the religious instructions Of tie pulpit, and the
moral teachings of the Sunday School, these great
tereats of Society are to depend. From the
bottom of my heart, am thankful that, after hav-
ing wandered so long among the burning sands OF
the desert, we have at last arrived at we'll OF
living watera, whose supply will never fall-a
green spot where hope may rest with confidence.
Rnf heva DOx6rtui
already in operation. We had them long before
this law was thought Of; and shall continue 20
have them, utterly independent OF Free Schools,
and Of the fate of the Free School law. Ii Is to
these, and other kindred means, and not to this
law or the teachings under it, that wa can look
with any confidence for the melioration of society
Intellectual culture is indeed valuable auxiliary,
and not to be neglected; but it is chiefly valuable
az an auxiliary only Unless it ia accompanied
and directed by the restraining influence of moral
and religious culture, it only increases tho power
of bad man for evil. 1t ID like putting sword in
the hands of a maniac A FARMER.
Remarks.
"A Farmer has been emitting darkness
on this subject for some weeks past, and
now changes to The Tribune, for reasons
satisfactory to himself. He wants, it seems
to slash at che doctrines of the Syracuse
Address, and thinks the readers of The
Tribune ought to see how well he does it.
Very WELL come ahead
We ask the public to observe that the
anti-Free School cause here unmasks itself
as ne Of decided, uasparing, im1pzacabls
hostility to oar Common School System.
Every point taken in the above attack,
though ostensibly made against Free Schools,
is just as applicable to our Common School
System of 1916 as that 1850. The Free
School law has made no change in a single
particular that this attack touches. In
every point affecting or approaching Morals
and Religion, our School system remains
now as it was before the passage of the
Free School act. The only material change
made was that Of rendering our Common
Schools really common-that is, open and
free to all needing their manifestations, like
the light and air Of Heaven, Che Property
of all citizens of the several Districts being
taxed to defray the entire expense beyond
the annual revenue of the School Fund.
And this taxation ID the handspring of the
hostility which the Free principle has de-
Yeloped, no matter what moral or reli-
gious' pretexts may be conjured up. A
Farmer himself confessed this in his own
case by stating, in one of his earlier ARTICLES,
that his School,Tax for the present year ex-
ceeded the aggregate of his other taxes.
That is where the shoe pinohes, and not
on his moral end religious corns, which
seem to have been set to shooting so sudden
". But no matter: we have here delib-
erate and wholesale assault on the utility,
....u- 4 4 han "