The Stark County Democrat. [volume] (Canton, Ohio) 1833-1912, 1875-12-09

BEECHER'S PERFORMANCES.
ARRAIGNMENT OF. BR0OKLKN'S
TEACHERS OF SCHOOLS. T
ZHUNDERBOLT FROM PLYMOUTH CHURCH
PULPIT-SOHOOL COMMISSIONERS
AND HOW MR.. BEECHER
SAYS THEY ARE IN ..
...- FL UENCED. ,....r# u

Plymouth Church was artistically dec
GRATED on Thanksgiving day, and every
available foot of space was occupied. Mr..
Beecher looked admiringly at the col
lection of fruits and flowers as he step
ped upon the platform. The choir sang
Haydn's marvellous Work." from the
Creation" The text was part of the
sixth verse of the thirty-third chapter of
Isaiah:
And wisdom and knowledge shall be the sta
bility of thy times and strength of salvation.
Mr.. Beecher announced as his subject
"The Common Schools Of the Country"
And he said that the democratic wave
spoken of by De Tocqueville had not run
it's course. The people stood in the
month of April looking only at the ex-
perience of the February and March of
the past, and forgetting the rich autumnal
harvest of the future. When that time
arrived people must change their views
on the policy of conducting common
schools. There should be no class ofdis-
tinction among the pupils "Your dun
ces and nine" said he, Should sit side
by side on level with one another.
There must be distinctions, but they
should be such as the spelling book, the
arithmetic, and the copy book make, and
not what wealth or social position de-
mand. The common schools should be
SO comfortable, so fat, so rich, so COM
plete, that no select school could live un-
der their drippings." This sentence Mr..
Beecher delivered with enthusiasm, and
it drew out round of applause, and the
preacher enjoyed it. He was afterward
frequently compelled to pause, because
of new outbreaks, and after an unusual
manifestation he said. 1.-TWO yeare ago
the utterance of that sentiment would
not have met with the approval of your
feet, which it does now" ..'.
He spoke of excluding the Bible from
the public schools, advocating it tearnest-
ly as the only fair policy. twas not fair,
he said, to compel a Jew to pay taxes to
support schools where the New Testa-
ment, in which he did not believe, was
read every day to his children. Neither
was it fair to his Roman Catholic brother
to tax him to sustain system of public
education in which the Protestant Bible
was conspicuously used. 1t was not right
either, should Catholics gain the ascend
ancy in the affairs of State, to tax Prot
estants in support of schools where the
Douay version of the Scriptures was read
to the pupils. Fair play" cried he, sis
the motto. But said some, will this
not make our schools godless?' Yes in
one sense, Just as hat store or furniture
establishment is goddess. The schools
are not religious institutions, and should
not be made SO, any more than a store.
What would you think of mans going
into furniture mandatory and asking
the proprietor, DO you make chairs p
Yes DO you make bedsteads?' Yes
'Do you make BiblesP' No, SIR well,
then, won't patronize you. Your con-
cern is a goddess one.'" The Congrega-
ton laughed at the illustration.
There were persons, Mr.. Beecher ex-
planned, who thought our forefathers
were goddess because the word God was
not in the Constitution. The same per-
sons contended for the Bible in the pub
lie schools. This was Pharisaism run
mad. There were mothers work, church
work, and common school work in the
education of man and each was sepa-
rate from the other. He believed in in
culcating principles of honesty, kindness,
virtue, charity, and the like, the fuuda-
mental principles of morality, but not
sectarianism or even Professionalism.
These were topics that belonged exclu-
sively to the different churches, and
were not properly a part Of common
school education. Besides having the
school houses comfortable and particular
religions excluded, the public should see
that proper Commissioners of Education
are appointed. II know Of cases near
here" said Mr.. Beecher, and his voice
dropped and his face assumed serious
expression, "where Commissioners have
hired female teachers, and have made
their employment depend upon their
willingness to surrender their bodies tc
crafty the lust Of their employers; and
in some cases the teachers themselves
were foul mouthed and foul handed
Then, stretching himself up to his full
stature and stepping backward from his
desk, he said with stamp that shook
the dust out of the carpet, nlThis is BIAS.
phemy against the Holy Ghost of intel.
lipeIlce ndipIFl l1 llf1il lh1di sfiWUdIpYO |
Enthusiasm, he further explained, wat
an essential element in the controversy