American citizen. [volume] (Butler, Butler County, Pa.) 1863-1872, 1866-04-04
COMMUNICATIONS.
Our Common Schools.
our wnnts-No. a.

our wanfS--S o. d.
We want as Directors men of sterling
christian character. The incubation of
christian principles is absolutely essential
in the great system of Common Schools
established We are protessedy, chris
tian people, though practically, VIC fall
far below that standard of christian eth
les which should characterize 'people
whose God is the Lord Still, were it
not for the christian principles which
constitute the corner stone Of the great
Temple of Liberty which has been plan
ted on the Western shores, we should not
now occupy our proud position among the
family of nations. From the landing of
the Pilgrim fathers until the present.
time. amid the fearful exhibitions of un-
belief and forgetfulness of God, all under
current of christian truth and christian
principles has never ceased to flow cary
ing forward our great country to her glo
rieus destiny. 1t is to the unwearied
efforts of our noble ancestry to imbue the
minds and hearts of their children with
true christian sentiments that VIC now owe
our greatness. That our Government
was founded by christian men, and that
the institutions of religion were regarded
bs them as the very life of the nation, ,all
their acts fully establish. Then it fol-
lows that if this Government is to be per-
pe;uated and fulfill her great mission, the
same pure principles of Divine Truth
must be migrated upon our Common
School system. We must have men un-
der whose supervision the various depart
ments of this system are placed who are
christians both in theory and practice
Let us here be properly understood By
the phrase, christian both IN theory and
IN practice, We do not wish to imply thst
formal connection with some branch of
the christian church should be the criter-
ion of fitness for this office as there are
many such whose theory and practice are
both defective. Nor do we wish to imply
that all not thus identified with the chris
tian church should be rejected, for there
are many such whose theory and practice
are both unexceptionable, and who would
exert most happy influence upon the
schools.
What We are insisting upon, is. that
School Directors should be men who arc
controlled by christian principles, aud
should feel the imperative necessity OF
having the schools brought under the
preserving aud clevating influence of these
principles. And let it be further under
stood that it is not proposed to ingraft
upon our school system the tenets of sec
tarianism, but simply those broad princi-
pies of christian truth which constitute
the common faith of all churches. Our
Common Schools, from necessity, must be
pitsSifSo itOiti seet0ttttHttHts Dut tU 10
this, We must be careful lest we run into
a algreatsr peril. We must, as the guar
dians Of the school system, be vigil,nt
lest in guiding our noble vessel clear of
the rocks of religious sectarianism, we
are swept into the frightful whirlpool of
unieiief and atheism. That we arc in
danger of the latter, is seriously appre-
hended by many good md earnest friends
of education. Our Common School sys-
tenn has been denominated "heathenish,1
because of the absence of any positive re-
'ligfous character With such sentiments
We can have no sympathy. Though in
some cases there are no lessons oil morali-
y and rsfgiss iaeulsptsd ~ the tsrsksr.