The Stark County Democrat. [volume] (Canton, Ohio) 1833-1912, 1869-01-13
For the Democrat
BIBLE
THE nth RULE.

After the example of the highest
authorities in the world on education
al matters, our school directors have
introd uced q rule excluding religious
exercises from the schools of this city.
During the months that have elapsed
since the adoption of that rule, the
Repository has been silent on the SUBJ
ject. 1t was, however, far from be-
ing Indifferent in the matter. 1t was
ali along highly dissatisfied with the
new rule, but il ''nurSed its wrath to
keep it warm" till provoked by the
taunt of 4 local clergyman, it could
restrain itself no longer, and it has at
length exploded, we are sorry to say,
with more warmth than decOrum.
The Repository c~onfesSes its ''lack
both of preparation and OF DISPOSE
ton" to discuss this question and
we must admit that the article under
our notice ~justifes ouT contemporary
in this estimate of its abilities, But
if 1t is not skilled IN argument, it can
vituperate. If it cannot reason, it
can throw dirt. Accordingly, it pro-
ceeds to prove the improperly of the
new rule by applying as many de-
tractive epithets rs iT c6n think of to
the author Of that rule. 'fUnmitiga=
ted demagOguc," "~arTful," ''inviting
peculiar contempt 'apOstate,"
these are among the weapons with
which 1t wages war. Now we would
suggest, with all the Difference the
ase admits of, that eve If the gen.
tleman deserved all these nicknames,
they would not prove his rule to be
wrong. To have taken up his recent
address to the ministers of this place,
and to have shown Its reasoning to be
f~allaciOus, would have been to the
purpose, But that would have been
a somewhat difficult and even haZar-
dous experiment ; it was easier to
make ar impertinent and unmanner-
ly attack. Some of the nicknames
used by the ReposiLOTy are a little eX-
traOrdinary, and show the lengths to
which we may be carried by the sud,
den Outburst of pent-up indignation.
The author of the obnoxious rule is
called a demagOgue, for example, be-
cause a large Glass of those who have
known him long esteem and follow
him. In public spirit, and zeal for
the Improvement of this town, he is
second to none; he is first among the
foremost in every movement that has
for It's object the relief of human mis-
cry around him. a large section of
an industrious and intelligent commu-
nifty have therefore given him their
confidence, and for hat very conf
dence he is pronounced an ''unmiti-
gated demagogue." This is not sim
ply an abusive attack upon a member
of the board of education ; it is a gra-
tuitOus; insult'to q large class OF our
citizens.
The Repository goes on to say las
usual, without assigning a reason,)
that the rule sis un-Amerfcan and
unchristian," that ''our history and
traditions as a nation are against it,"
&c. 'tOur history as a nation" takes
its origin in the attempt to compel,
not school children, but men, to be
present at, and to join in forms of re-
ligious service which they disappro-
we'd. 1t was such an attempt that
drove the Pilgrim Fathers out of Eng
land. The spirit Of that attempt pre-
sided over the martyr fires in Old
England and in New. That spirit
dictated the Act of Conformity, the
Act of Uniformity, the Penal Laws,
and all the disabilities that British
Dissenters have zibeen revolving
against for two hundred and fifty
years, and have not yet, wholly e
moved.
The rule, or rather the absence of
rule, under which a teacher may COM
pei children to be present at religious
exercises which neither they nor
their parents approve, is surely not
consistent with the freedom of Amer
lean institutions 1t is the last vestige
of an intolerance that for two centu-
ries rent Britain with civil disorders,
and even with civil war, but which
now happily belongs to the past. 1t
is the ghost Of q dead and buried IA
naticism which the school hoard has
done well to exercise. -.. g. :.
1t was not in Canton that this ques-
ton was raised for the first time. 1t
has been receiving q very consldera-
bic amount of.attention in Britain for
over thirty years, and the matter
has been settled there Just as our "re-
creant officers have settled it here.
The Queens University and the Ma
tional schools have been established
with a view to giving an exclusively
secular education. There + some
who disapproVe Of these institutions,
but they number among their sup
porters SUCH men as Gladstone, Mill,
Bright, D'Israeli, Derby, Russell,
President McCosh of. Princeton, anG
Rev. DIR. Hall, of New York, meI
who are the highest products,of Brit
ism culture, and tho 1rues exponent,
of British thought, With examples
like these to keep them in counte
nance, our school directors need no
vince greatly under the singular log
ic OF the depository. H.
-u. +.