The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1858-12-06
THE BIBLE IN OUR SCHOOLS.
The Charter Election in the Pulpit-Sermons Yes
terday Relative to the Bible in the Public
Schools Suggestions to Voters
The Election of School
Officers.
SERMON BY REV. DIR. ARMITAGE.

the all absor bing topic Of excitement among the
gious public at the present tme namely the attempt to
exclude the Bible from the public schools
The exercises by the choir singing the
1,o33d hymn, two Of which are subjoned--
Judges, who rule the world by laws,
Will ye hesplse the righteous cause,
When the oppressed before you stands2
Dare ye condemn The righteous poor.
And let rich sinners 20 secure,
While gold and greatness bride your handsY
Have ye forgot never knew,
That God will judge the judges tooY
High in the heavens His Justice reigns,
Yet you invade the rights Of COL,
And send your bold d. sres abroad
To bind the conscience IN your chains.
young divine then offered up appropriate prayer,
after which the congregation sang national and patriotic
song of praise, commencing "My native country"
The reverend gentleman said his text would be found
in the 7s,h Psalm from the 5 to the sth verse; which
reads as follows
For he established a testimony in Jacob, and appoint.
ed law in Israeli which he commanded onr fathers
that they should make them known to their chldren
that the generation to come might know them,
even the children which should be born, who should
arise and declare them to their children: that they might
set their hope in God and not forget the works OF God
but keep his commandments; and might not be their
fathers stubborn and rebelous generaon-a genera
that their heart Alright and whose
not steadfsst with God
He said propose taking these words a sort of cen.
tire, around which will throw a few remarks this
evening upon the subject Of the of the Bible
public schools And ii is right, before proceed DIS
the question: that should understand t-hen may
We hope to treat with some degree of intelligence aud
aceeptabity. What is the question before usY II
relate TO the moral and religious education of children
abstract question 1t does not relate to the moral
and intellectual education of children by the church.
by the parents of these children by the Sunday
school, nor in any other place, nor in any other
way than that laid down and practised in the
law relating to the intellectual and moral development Of
children in the public schools And the question before
: O he Of In thp Dublic
schools The Bible is there the Bible has been there for
years, with limited exceptions IN the schools of this city.
The question II, shall II stay thereY Ought 10
tbereY Shall II be driven out OF The sco0lsg Shall So
600 children assemble in the schools every morning in
the year without word Of instruction from the sacred
volume which is Divine authority from heaven address
ed to tAem2 Our question not whether shall put the
Bible into the hancs OF every scholar u those schools
is not whether the Bible shall be made n text book in
those schools but whether the teacher opening the schools
in the morning sha take IN his hand the precious Word Of
God and read portion of 1t for the cdticaton and in
stfucton Of those children. That is all. Nothing more
nothing less And suppose we arc to decide at cleo
ton on Tuesday NEXT perhaps not in the wisest
way, perhaps not in the best way, but yet 10
decide this question once more, TO whether
the School Commissioners of the city OF New
York shall use one million two hundred and
1fty thousand dollars paid in taxes for tho
education Of the chidren in driving the Bible OF the
My cbiloren attend the common schools your children
attend the schools you graduates OF these
schools you indebted TO those schools for many
privileges and for many Of the abilities which you possess
You viii be called upon TO decide whether your children
shall walk in your footsteps aud inherit those privileges
We ready then, to bauish the Bible from the
common schools for these reasons-hrsi tho Bible
Of We do not continued
the speaker speak of Bible as piece OF magic or
charm as n the very presence of the book or the
mere reading OF its chapters, would in themselves, ab.
stracily considered, accomplish all tina, claim for the
Bible Nothing OF this sort The ground that N
this Thai ihc commonwealth based upon the great
mort princips OF the Bible, upcn the common law OF
the Bible upon the majestic doctrines OF tho Bible upon
the holy morality of the Bible, upon the legal civil
rights conceded by the hhie upon the life, the
truth the energy Of the Bible, and not t mere letter
We take the ground OF srWam Jones' the great iurist
"that there no poetry, no philosophy, no history
morality, no Intellectual education competent com
pete with the word OF the living God for moment AMI
u Is for this vitality for which we contend in tho
public schools In the history Of the world there had
never been nation people who had thoroughly
fully ana clearly embodied these four principles the
sub strata Of the foundation on which their liberties res,
as the American people, yiz;-the popular franchise,
definite consituton fratcrnal oonfederaey, and
heh,cned and equitable jndcnry. Il out Of those
principles that the common schools had grown. And
would you have, inquired the reverend gentleman
the common schools in their might traitors 10
ihcr Iarenage, and bsnsh the great principles which
tn birth from t r doors and gates and repudatc
The Bbe from whch they draw their being. their life
their Character their protection, and their savaoni lie
thought not They could not bansh the Bible from the
common schools, because the stoutest bul-
wark q the commonwealth There be q
moral and religious well as an intellectual
education make good citizens. child could be made
intellectual giant and stl be- moral monster. Those
nations who dsrcgardcd the Bible went To ruin among
wanted the Bible excluded from the pubic scboosS Not
Bapss, The nctaodtts, all the other denominations
did the moraist and the patriot want Il removed
do not know, said he, any Who insists nanshng
the Bible from the common schools, democrat, M
American, NJ republican, rs politician. 10 not know any
who insists on banishng the Bible from the
schools, lawyer mechanic, tradesman, sailor
doctor or minister. The only man that attempts the
hanishmcn of the Bible from the schools the
man, Romanss, Catholic, the who pays ALE
glance 10 the Pope of Rome-tiods vcegerent Gods
rtprcsfntaiivethc who claims that tho priest has
command &c bis The bishop binds the priest
90 allegiance, and the bishop is bound alcg 10 the
ropc: and every stream from the fountain
" pepish ambition contrary 10 nature,
liberty aad right, and, II permitted would
nupdate tho world with fury, wrath AMI What did
the Romanst want The speaker insisted that the qucs
ton not Of religious translation of n,erpre
tation, and thought thai Mr. ketchnm committed biun.
der the other night at the Cooper Institute in giving tho
revsors thrust he had hooked the subject care
fully he would have that the question of translation
did not enter into the controversy at all Tho Rmanist
ead Dr ATmiage, docs want Bible the schools,
he docs not wat his Bible the schools and he docs
lot want any other Bible in the schools He does no,
want the schools al all This sentence delivered with
great force, and produced thrilling upsn the su-
dcucc.l The speaker continued this strain and sad
that be would have Objection to allow the Catholic
Children 10 read The nouay Bible the schoos but as
serted that the desire Of the Romanss have the
Bible entirely excluded from the schools In
conclusion he oxboftcd his hearers 70 their utmost
efforts 10 prevent the Catholics from accomplishing their
object.
After singing and prayer the congregation we're dis
missed with the btnediction.