The Rutland weekly globe. [volume] (Rutland, Vt.) 1873-1877, 1876-05-19
The B BILE and Prayer in the Public
Schools.


tor May 8, appears a communication
from North Glare ndon, on this subjt o.
of such an extraordinary character as to
demand some reply. Accepting the facts
as stated in that document it appears that
the school district in that village had by
the enormous number of three votes at
tempted to prohibit both prayer and the
reading of the scriptures in its school.
Oar object is to review some of the state
ments which are there made.
In the first place when a man undertakes
to quote any document or author, and es-
pecially to cite them as authority for any
views which he is defending, he should do
it fairly, so as to give the precise sentiment
of the witness he calls to testify. Has your
correspondent done this in the article now
under review We think any candid and
well informed man must answer this in
quiry in the negative. He processes to
give us the 81 article of the bill of rights,
but he omits both it's beginning and its end
ing, and these directly reverse the conclu-
sion he would deduce. Here is the whole
article, with the portions which he has
omitted included in brackets.
That all men have a natural and ina
lienable right to worship Almighty God,
according to the dictates of their own con-
sciences and understanding, as in their
opinion shall be regulated by the WORD OF
God and that no man ought to, of right
can be compelled to attend any religious
worship, or erect or support any place Of
worship, or maintain any minister contrary
to the dictates of his own conscience, nor
can any man be justly deprived or abridged
of any civil right as citizen on account of
his religious sentiments or peculiar mode
of religious worship, and that no authority
can or ought to be vested in, or assumed
by any power whatever that shall in any
way interfere with, or in any manner con-
troll the rights of conscience in the full ex-
ercise of religious worship; nevertheless
every sect or denomination of christians
ought to observe the Sabbath or Lords
day, and keep up some sort of religious
worship, which to them shall seem most
agreeable 10 the revealed will of God
Here it is clear that those parts of the ar
ticle which this writer omits completely, de-
stroy the conclusions which he attempts to
draw. 1t is expressly asserted that the
right to worship, is to be regulated by the
word of God" The Lords day." and chris
tianity are distinctly recognized, and the
observance of that day as the Sabbath is
declared to be obligatory, and all this is to
be done agreeable to the revealed will of
God" We all know what the expressions
"thc word OF God" and 1.-THE revealed will
of God. imported at the time the bill of
Rights was framed. They were in continual
use, and had been in continual use for CEN
turtles, to designate the holy scriptures, or
words, thus incorporated into the bill of
rights, expressly recognize christianity as
the true religion, declare obligatory the OBJ
servance of its day of rest, and accept it's
Holy Book as the only standard and mea-
sure of all religious worship and duty.
So much for one specimen Of fairness
and honesty in quoting authority on the
part of this correspondent, now let us look
at another example. He cites the Hon. j..
S. Adams as endorsing his position because
he decided that there was no legal author
ity for compelling the pupils of any school
to read the Bible as a school exercise. So
much is true, but why as before does he
suppress part of the TRUTH Why does he
not tell us that on the very points which
his resolution raises, the reading of the
scriptures, and prayer in the school by the
teacher, THE opinion of Mr. Adams, and
of the then existing board of education,
was directly opposed to his position. The
1859, say, "moral culture, resting upon
Bible truth it's only safe basis, is a matter
of the highest moment in our schools, and
therefore scripture lesson read by the
teacher, is in the highest degree desirable
as an opening or closing exercise in the
school," Mr.. Adams Gays of this declar-
alton of the Board, "There can be little
doubt of its correctness" Report, for 1861
page %. The same report assures
us that in the institute for tha
year, held in Rutland, an address
was delivered, at the request O.
Mr.. Adams, "urglng the desirableness o
opening all our schools with a voluntary
exercise IN reading of scripture, prayer ant
singing" Again, on page 80 of his report
for the same year, he says, "The schoo
systems Of New England have concurred il
declaring that the Bible as the only basis o
moral culture should be used in the schools.
Thus much for the position of Mr.. Adams
and the board of education, which Is seel
to be tquarely opposed to that contained