The central Presbyterian. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1856-1908, 1868-06-17
SCHOOLS UNDER PRESBYTE-
RIAN INFLUENCE"


The extraordinary number of young men de-
string to enter the ministry, and seeking the
aid of the Church to enable them to do so,
was the subject of leading editorial In this
paper last week. Ii is unQuestiOnably mat
ter of the most profound interest and one well
adapted to move, and we trust by the grace OF
God, it will move the heart of the Church
with the feelings and aspirations which such a
manifest token of Divine favor towards our
Zion is calculated to awaken.
The resolution from which we have taken
the caption of this article is In the same hne
of providential indication that seemed to lead
the General Assembly along in that pathway
of mental development under religious inHu-
ence, and the guidance Of sound doctrine,
which has ever been one of the bulwarks OF
our Church. 1t is as follows:
''That our people be urged to establish and
encourage schools under Presbyterian lntiu-
ence, aud earnestly advised not to send their
children to schools where they are likely to be
estranged from the church"
Whatever differences of opinion may exist
as to ecclesiastical control, ali will hail the re-
commentator OF our highest judicatOry as
pertinent to the great end Of sound education,
and at the present time, seasonable and ap-
prOpriate to meet the dangers that threaten
us from the insidious efforts which are used to
ALLEVIATE our youth from the Church of their
fathers, and to corrupt them by false teaching.
If the resolution shall apparently do no more
than direct public attention to the subject,
that direction guided by such high ecelesiasti-
cal authority may achieve solid results. 1t is
something, yea a great deal, for those who in
their personal and perhaps limited sphere
have undertaken to warn their fellow Chris
tians as to a threatening evil to be sustained
by such endorsement in the combined wisdom
of the whole Church, as represented in our
highest court; and to be able to assure the
many who seem so strangely insensible in so
grave matter, that it is an affair of such
magnitude as to have affected the minds and
hearts of our brethren in all parts of the coun-
try with a common sentiment Of anxious soil
eitude, and to have harmOnized conflicting
voices in a unanimous note of warning as to
the main question and the chief peril.
Upon a subject about which in some of its
aspects there are differences of opinion we
con6ne our remarks in this practical discus
sion to elementary proceedings in respect to
education as to which no two intelligent
Presbyterians will disagree. Casting our eye
over the loved and cherished field occupied by
our Church, We see quiet, pleasant town, for
example, in which are several congregations,
viz, one of each of the leading orthodox Pro-
teStant denominations and one Catholic. The
Catholics OF course have a school. Their tut,
ton fees are low, and their school has repu-
tatiOn for discipline and thoroughness, togeth-
err with certain boasted collateral advantages
of en- broidery, drawing, &c, which in the
eyes of some feeble Professionals seem more
than claw, mercy, and faith, or Judgment
and the love of God" OF course these Pro
testants profess a due regard to the religious
culture of their children, and deprecate the
influence of Popery. They have been assured
that no efforts will be used to interfere with
the religious belief Of the scholars, and they
make il their business carefully to watch their
children to see if their doctrines have become
corrupted, or if the promise of non-interference
goes on, and those who take pains to examine
some of these pupils, cannot for their lives
perceive the evidence OF superior literary pro-
6cency And as TO the religious part of their
education, it leaks out that the ROmiSh Cate
chiSm is a daily exercise in the school, and
that while the Protestant children are not re
quired to reeite it, it is recited in their
hearing, they are told that if they do not
choose to recite the CatechiSm they may in
lieu thereof write a composition of certain
disagreeable length-a thing which children
generally hate: and to which they prefer the
Cateehism. One little girl reports this pro-
ceeding to her parents and is taken away
Another whose parents are not particularly
concerned about the matter, remains subject to
ecclesiastical control and being a smart
child, becomes thoroughly versed in the repe-
titiou by rote Of all the arguments in favor of
the worship of the Virgin Mary, Confession to
the Priest, the real presence of the Lords
body in the Sacrament, &c. She says that
Sister - says, the Roman Catholic is the
only true religion, and when her young friends
endeavor to teaze her by telling her she is be-
coming a little Catholic" she only looks
grave: and one can read in her countenance
that the young mind is working for its saliva
ton towardsthe dismal refuge of vain and
idolatrOus superstition.
Against such an influence we want school,
We want it under the best literary and reli
gious control Aud If VIC can say q corps Of
highly intelligent, refined, and pious ladies
reared in the bosom of the Presbyterian
Church has one in successful operation we
shall breathe treer, we shall feel safer. If its
discipline and order are good, and its inStrue
ton thorough, we have in 1t powerful agent
to counterfeit the inSidious efforts to which we
have alluded. And when the Presbyterian pa
rent sends his daughter to reside at this school
he sends her to be thoroughly instructed on
Sabbath in the Shorter Catechism, and in the
Bible Class as taught by PresbyterianS, and to
attend the Presbyterian Church and receive
the private ministratiOnS and counsels of the
Presbyterian pastor; and, by the blessing of
God, to become a subject of delightful season
of grace, such as during the sessions are so Of
ten enjoyed in the Presbyterian Church
Other pupils of the school are permitted to so
on Sabbath to the churches of their choice;
and beyond the unconscious influence of associa-
ton, no efforts are known to be used to peIvert
them from the faith in which they were trained
at home.
In another part Of the field suppose that we
should find town of large size and com