The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1854-06-19

loon In Ednburg. And tho training Of the children
In these sch0ols u admirable. Why, every little
boy in any Of them has the idea that be win some
day b the President Of the United States and
mani The whole training Is well fitted to deve-
LOPEZ not only the mental faculties but to incuoate
the duties Of citizenship There ID an energy and vgor
and an apparently precocious thoughtfulness and
free 0ut-spOkenness, in even q boy of the age of
twelve that makes him appear already little man.
They must be debaters and even the political ques-
tons OF the day are often debated under the manage
ment Of the schoolmasters This is the training
which these children are to great extent UNDER
going for American citizenship AS to another part,
the Christian part Of it, how Is this managed? 1t
differs exceedingly in different States and districts
and it would require whole night to 60 into the
discriminating differences, and | can scarcely at
tempt to scratch even the surface But here let me
advert to the interference Of Popery with our COM
mon school system. The Americans, some twenty
or thirty years ago, thought Of Popery that it was
an efete antiquated thing, come over from the old
world, that would soon be dissolved and disappear
in their free land. It had been found, however, q
tougher thing than that, and q harder bone to be
digested. They gradually began to find out that,
the pretence OF liberty of conscience, right OF cti
zenship, and all that nomenclature which Papists
know 30 well how to employ when it suits their
purpose. clear, hear) But liberty of conscience
Pole coming out Of the heat of the solar BEAMS the
flowers, and fruits, and stately palm trees Of the
tropics sprngng out of the ices of the North Pole.
(Applause) The one is as true as the other. The
American citizens, however, believed them at first
Practically they said, We won't interfere with
another mans conscience, and 30 ON. And by and
by the Papsts take them in and say, These schools
syly, that some of the.directors and board of ma
nagement Of the schools 80 far conceded the point
before they were fully aware what they were doing
And had the curiosity to bring over two old school
books to exemplify the kind of thing they did de-
m "a n In
one Of these school books there was section upon
Martin Luther and they said, There are things
there that are distressing to our consciences but
been thrown of; what shall we dot It would be
terrible loss to sacrifice the thousands of printed
volumes and the stereotypes. Oh, but you can blot
out the thing Of which we conscentiously complain.
Now, just look at the way they have blotted or
blackened the obnoxious pages paragraphs Of the
book (holding up aschoOl book with the page black
ened with ink, amid the laughter Of the Assembly,
The next chapter he exhibited was long one,
and two opposite pages Of it are Of such an 0dious
kindto the Papists, that they have pasted them all
together, 30 as to form one thick leaf (holding up
the pasted leaf to the amusement of the Assembly,.
That was on account of the illusions to Cranmer.
Then there Is the famous speech Of Chatham on the
American war in which allusion is made to the
Popish atrocities. That sentence is blotted in the
sane manner In poetry, too the system is adopted.
In Goldsmith Traveller there is o couplet blOtted
out (holdng up the book amidst renewed laughter).
People at last began to say, "Our children bring
home black-patched books;' and they thought that
looked rather odd; but, not to break up the stereo
t0pe in the next edition they simply broke up that
partOf it which contained these secti0ns the next
edition comes out with white blank leaf, or white
blank spots here and there, in this way. Here the
reverend Doctor held up another specimen with the
pages blank amidst cheers and r0ars of laughter So
that with this blank spot leaf 1t was not odious
to the eye the black patch you might think
one had stuck in the page, did the paging not show
the real state Of matters. Well all this going on,
1Nfv,vf
thing underths; and by and by the Papsts began to
speak of the use of the Bible in the schools as an Of
fence to their cOnsciences We have no objection to
the Bible. You may read it as much as you like, Of
that we object to. Well, so far to meet the humor
of the Papists about this they entered into this ar
rangement, that henceforth, at the opening of the
school, chapter of the Bible should be simply, but
ment, by the master or mistress, and the Lords
Prayer rehearsed to them so that it was agreed
there could be no reasonable objection, since the
Bible is not sectarian work, OF Protestant work,
of the world. / alude to these things because it
was in this stealthy manner the Papists came to
unnnsk what was really religious system, and
evauate it OF its more special religious instruction
Still the Papists would not be satisfied till the Bible
were banished altogether. When it came to that,
in some cases the thing was done; but being left
by the State to the local boards to do as they
thought proper, they generally said, you Univer-
lians Presbyterians, and all other sects, you
all believe in the Bible, and nobody can
object to the Bible being read in the school
without note or comment. And, in fact, nobody did
object but the Papsts. Even the infides and athe-
ist did not usually at least object to it, as they
thought it would teach their children good morals.
Bntlothing satisfies the Papiss but the Bible must
be bnished altogether. The Americans, as body,
muchagainst the Bible it must be because the Bible
Is against you, and we cannot stand that" (Hear,
hear) Even the great statesman Webster comes
forward to defend the Bible as part OF unsectarian
instruction to be established in the schools. Then
he las it down as principle that Christianity is an
integral, component part Of the American constitu-
ton This flows through the State I; and now it is
growing up to be the dominant dogma. We do not
ask foreigners to come to us-they pitch themselves
on uswhether we will or no but II they come and
submit to our laws and become American citizens,
they ire welcome If otherwise, we must see to it
that hey shall not be allowed to subvert those free in
sttutons set at the cost of fathers blood and
undelwhich we have 80 fourished. They lay it down
pnciple-I the great bulk of the real living
mass Of American citizens lay it down as principle
that hc Bible is the corner stone of the American
systeR-that the Bible is the foundation of Ameri.
can citizenship. 1t is repeated by the thousands
and TINS Of thousands of the American citizens,
that he Bible in the vernacular tongue in the
hands of every man is Americanism. Therefore,
whoever wants to be an American citizen must sub
init tOthe condition Of an American citizen Hence,
they ae bound and resolved that the English Ian
guageshall be permanent amidst all the Babel of
toDgue. No man can attain to Office in the State,
unlesshe can transact business in the English lam
guage, There is strange transformative process
going IN yonder. For the first generation you have
all thu old medley of tongues-quite a Babel Of
them-with the ten thousand varying habits and
prejudces Of their different sects and nations;
there hey get up their own newspapers, get up
their own Journals their own discussions their own
Bible, through whole variety of tongues. All
but tn chdren-they mingle with other children,
and tie children all hope one day to be magis-
trates governors, and presidents of the United
StateL What are we to be shut OUT? eyes,
unless you learn the English language-unless
you cone to the common school, and there read what
we learn on history, the principles Of our consti-
tuition, on true, Christian morality" Well, it is
perfectly astonishing with what power and rapidty
this process is telling; how it is melting and fusing,
and moulding down these strange, Heterogeneous
masses Generally the great bulk of them are
moulded down in the second or third generation,
and all tic Babel of tongues disappear; and II not
thoroughly Christianized, they are undone with re-
gard to German Pantheisms and Irish Poperies,