Watertown republican. [volume] (Watertown, Wis.) 1860-1906, 1870-02-16
Education in England Bible Biog-
ranhipS.

The Education League, OF whose organ
izatlon few weeks ago | sent you full |
account has now list of l. 500 subscrib. |
ers-17 of Ell 900 each; Is of $500 each; 20 !
from e400 to e100; SO of e100 each The |
fund amounts to over ESQ, 900. There are /
sixty three branches organized; seventy
two III progress of organization It has
already circulated documents to the extent
OF 100, 600 copies, to say nothing of news
paper reports and articles, and held innu-
nerable meetings, lectures, etc. The Eng
lish have regular machinery for such ag-
itations, and IN this case they are working
| it with great vigor. Some of the Secular
! lists refuse to go with the League becausei it
! does not go far enough to suit them. But
as rule, the Secularists, Rational
lists, Methodists and other dissenters
work well together for unsectarian
compulsory education. The chief reason
why the Presbyterians and Methodists Join
the League is, that he Established Church
and Roman Catholics unite against it
They want the Church disestablished, and
Popery destroyed. The Church of Eng
land has the control of three-fourths of the
schools, and the Roman Catholics will in
any case have their own. Then the League
has conciliated them by allowing the read
ing Of the Bible in schools to be settled by
the local authorities The bill to be intro.
duced in Parlian ent is now in the hands
of the professional craftsmen, or architects
, of laws, and is said to have the support of
/ fifty members of Parliament, 500 ministers
5 of religion, and 5000 or 8, 900 members of
l the League.
The church of England schools for the
common people are not of character to
impress one very strong y with the benefits
i of the religious education they give. Poor
q little children are'trained to answer ques-
tons in Old Testament scripture history,
: and learn stories of the Jewish Kings
: which they cannot remember long, and
which would do them no good if theJ did.
9 Rev. Mr. Best, of Leeds, in League lee
= ture few nights ago, gave specimens Of
a the Bible biographies written by scholars OF
d the national schools. They would do cred
!, it to the writer's of the sermon leaders
u which [ have seen copied from some Amer
Il lean papers. Here is one about the Proph
l. ct Daniel: $50 ~
o "Daniel was put into the lions den an6
- the lions eat him up and then his father
u told him to go and mind his sheep and he
Is went to mind them on the field and while
70 he was tending the sheep lion and a beal
Il came out to kill the sheep and the sheer
q ran away and he turned back and saw tht
70 , lion and the bear and ran of q running
Il and catch them both and then he came
. back to the sheep and prayed to God tt
y forgive his SINS" ....
4 Nearly as graphic is the following &C
/, count of the Prophet Elisha:
"a "Elisher was barn in cainen and wa
u brught from cainen to egypt and he becam
king of egypt and he went with his soul
10 gers TO conkor another country and the,
IL came home beaten and he had u great pow
10 erful country and elisher went to speak t.
), | Il al whom hox J,,{h a lionc
a slisher said to him Daniel how earnest tho
hear and he said the king put me hear AM
70 elisher was good man and he had goot
= many soulgers.
y But it is said that Leagues cannot Away
VI accomplish their objects. There is, for ex
10 ample, the Church Association, -establishe
70 to put down Ritualism and Rationalism
~ with its 200 branches, 20, 900 members, an
lO fund of ESQ, 900, This association is 30
. likely to carry out its own objects, but
70 will go almost in a body against the Educa
= ton League. Still, something must b
=, done. If education were universal, woul
~ our newspapers contain such paragraph
% as the following:
u ga non-unionist employed at the Thorn
LII cliffe Galleries, near Sheffield, was NAL
10 treated few days ago in a most bruta
10 manner by nearly dozen of the unionist
who we e on strike. After beating hin
a numerically the cowardly ruffians threI
=; the poor fellow into pond, where h
b would have been drowned had not his erie
ie attracted man who was passing by, au
% by whom he was rescued. An invasion b.
the police of the GOLFERS village, with
view of identifying the assailants, was
signal for general rising of the inhabit
at ants, and the officers were compelled t
p beat a retreat under a volley of stones.