Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, Va. [W. Va.]) 1852-1859, 1858-05-19

forget il.
THE BIBLE AND rus CoMMoN SCEooLs.-In
the 4th Ward Public Schools of New York city,
the other day. the following resolution WAS pas
ged by the school officers, viz:
RstOyred ThNt The reading Of s Bale dispensed Eith
In al tar Schools Of t'!s Ward
Tie passage Of this resolution has created
profound sensation in New York, and shudder,
so to speak, from the Journals there and else
where in the Eastern cities. We have rarely
seen in the press such earnest and digniiied
words of condemnation and depreciation. 1t IS
the first instance known to us, IN the country,
of the Bibles having been formally bauished
from any place Of learning. 1t is kindling
feeling-an intense feeling, too, which will no
doubt bring about a reaction in that Ward, aud
place the control Of the schools in other hands.
But it will not stop thcrcit wi'i have the effect
To introduce the reading ci the Bible in many
schools in the country, where it has been ne.
elected, so much excited will the populnr mind
become by such an attempt as this. God for
bid that the day should come, when the
Bible and the Common Schools cannot fruternizc.
We notice that lengthy report upon the
subject, signed by some of the prominent men
of New York, has been made on the subject,
and from which we extract the following:
1t is highly desirable and necessary that our
Public Schools should nc kept alonf from all
party politics and partisan directions. The
School House, next to the Church OfCiod, should
be free alike from merely scctarian and political
influences. This is duo to those who support
the Schools by the taxation imposed upon the
common property Of the people, and to the
parents OF children who represent MI forums Of
religion. 1t is desirable also that every child
regardless of parental faith and Opionion, should
BE- educated. The Public Schools are meant for
NIL, ARE open to all, and they are intended to
benefit all.
Lattrrly as the School Officers have been
selected on the grounds Of partisan qnnlitiCn-
tions, and without regard to moral nr intcllectu-
al fitness, the Schools have 6egencrated, until,
and quite in proportion to the increased burden
of expense, they have in some parts Of the city,
drteriorAted in efficiency and usefulness.
This new effort 10 Danish the Bible from the
Schools is one OF the last and heaviest blows at
the system itself Itis. however, only the nat
ural consequence of the objectionable apathy II
the tax payers and citizens in the selection Of
School Officers. Ignorance and Yicc,-the nat
urzl companions nf each other. year after year,
enter the doors of our School Houses select our
teachers. and control the expenditure of the
twelve hundred thousand dollars raised in this
this city for the noble purpose Of Common
School education. 1t i this pCrnciuus power
which is gradually undermining she foundations
of system which rest the best hopes Of the
Government Enemies Of good caunot tolerate
that chart, which il the common law of chris
tianity,-which is placed every cabin, on board
Of every christian ship, in every fort, in every
tent, and by every christian bed side,-whirh
Ministers of the Gospel preach from, and Mis-
sionaIies of the Cross carry TO the ends of tho
eArth-which has established National and
State Bible Societies, and whehiS printed in al
most all languages, because adapted 10 every
class OF people upon the face Of the earth
should he read in its simplest text In the
free schools OF the chief commercial Me.
tropolis of the United State>l What do
they fearl Who has been ipjuredg Who can
be harmedg Citizens Of New York Fathers,
Mothers, Children, the subject Is one which adj
dresses itself to you! Remember that eternal
vigilance is the pTice oflibrrtyl Ii i taught in
lhc New Testament, that ~ whatsoever things
are written afnreIi;ne, were written for our
LEARHINu," End in the Old, that Day unto Jay
uttered, spCseh, and night GHio night sboWCth