The Cambria freeman. [volume] (Ebensburg, Pa.) 1867-1938, 1873-12-26
COfli2ltJss3 I tcGt:0as.
THE COMMON SCHOOL SYSTEM.
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THE COMMON SCHOOL SYSTEM.
+ To tee Editor u tie Cambria Freeman:
( DEAR SRA system of education and
the character OF those teaching under it are
80 distinct that 10 cCLIOuHd them IS to de
Iuue or Uc deluGsd. = good teacher under
a bad system may lessen, in one way or an
other, the evils resulting from it, bat this
lcsseniug OF the evils cannot be referred TO
the system, but to the teachers own efforts
/ know many good men and women teach
efs, Gdt 1 also Know that many are far from
tCiHg good. ! know, rs well that the ex-
Isrng system does not, cannot. give us Sccjg-
r'Ty ON this point such as the dread nature
OF the responsibility demands But, indie
pendentfy Of the good or bad character Of
the teachers, the very system is objection
aoie, aud this is rile ground that / took in
my previous communication.
Education ana INSTRUCTION in the ele-
mvntS of certain arts and sciences III them
selves highly useful, but not in themselves
either moral or immoral" ;" are not identical.
Education embraces this instruction aud
something more, and this something more, like
"Ebensburg etc in sentence three of
paragraph three, is just the difference be-
tween pagan, irreligious. goddess, immoral
instruction and genuine education. This
something more this ''etc., is religion, with
out which there is, there can Oe, no moral
lty. The duties OF man to his Creator, his
Redtemer, his Saucutier, are the first, the
most sacred and the most momentOus for
the life here and hereafter. Morality is CON
cerned primarily with these. a doctrine of
right aud wrOng-a doctrine of the duties of
man that ignores those that refer to God, or
is not based on them, that does not draw its
sanction from them-is not morality. But
TO teach the duties we owe to God is impos-
Sible without religion. To receive inStruc-
tion on our duties to God from one whose re-
ligion is not our religion is prepoSterous
il is the widest kind Of talk to say that
religious education is to be confined to the
pulpit, the Sabbath school and the tireside.
slI
ligiOn is not an affair that can be or ought 10
be separated from any action or period OF
our lives. Religion is not Il mere Sunday
matter, or a purely domestic virtue Rel-
giOu should penetrate Our whole beiug-it
should vitalize and energize the whole soul
-it should be the spring Of all our actions,
influence all our thoughts, and regulate our
every word. One Of the greatest educators
Of man says: "AlI Whatsoever you do in
word or in work, all things do ye in the name
of the Lord jesus Chris" and whether
You eat or drink, or whatsoever else YOU do;
do all TO the glory Of God" If then, reli-
giOn should be the master principle, the
ruling element in our lives. aSSuredly ought
il he most insisted on when the mind Is fresh
est and most open to its haIiOwed influence.
IteligiOu's influence ought to encircle the
child, ought 10 envelope u and penetrate its
every hidden recess OF heart; IL ought to be
the most prominent feature in the SchOo.,
ought to be exercised not merely by Il tOJTll0i
instruction, bur by indirect means rs well,
SO that the child would live beneath its at
mOsphere, and become every hour more and
more saturated with it. Now here "EbauS-
burg" falls into blUudcr as widespread as
it is erroneous. When we cry out against
the system as irrelgioUs, il IS not because a
rCgUiui instruction in this or that religious
creed is excluded: to tell ms no religious in
structiou is given Is enough TO condemn it.
1t is not merely a creed we want to be taught
and explained ; we desire this, but re-
quire more. We would not be satisfied with
this--we could not be satisfied with this.
Learning and recIting Il formula Of belief is
not religion. Religion is concerned with
our works, with or lives as we'll as with
our belief The evil spirits believe, but they
are not religious: they believe all that Sec
TIDn Of Article | OF the Constitution re-
quireS, yet they are OUtcastS, cursed OF God.
We want Our children TO be taught to think,
10 speak, To act on all occasions aS Christ
iaus learn ana 10 obey ali the laws Of
God, % be taught and encouraged TO live up
10 every smallest requirement of their
church. TO love aud revere her rs the spouse
OF our Lord Jesus Christ, and 10 listen 10 her
voice with childlike docility. To accustOm
them to 50 live is the province Of true edu-
cation, and this cannot be done under the
existing unjust aud expensive system. l
know that this has been felt by many of the
admirers of the system, and hence they en-
graft on il Bible reading and prayer. But
this is q contradiction. 1t Is a violence OF
fcred 10 very many consciences as well rs
an Inconsistency. ! do not want school
teachers to take the place Of other religious
instructors, but l would have them take
their own part in the work OK education.
| will close with two sentoHces-oHe By
Lord Derby, the second by GuiZOt: "Reli-
giou is not a thing apart from education, but
is interviewer with its whole system; it is
principle which controls and regulates the
Whole mind and happiness of the people.
Popular education, to be truly good and
socially useful, must be Fundamentally reli-
giOus. ID. L II.