, 1876-10-21
a Religion that may Il" TnW2hi
in The SCHOOLS.

the various sectS shouId attach supreme
importance to the subject Of religious
teaching in the schools. The youthful
mind is plastic and imprcssionabe, easy
moulded into almost any form. What
is once strongly imprinted upon it re-
mains. in .he minority of cases, indcllibc
during life. This is especially true ot
religious impressions, because, unlike
those resulting from instruction in secu-
lar matters, they are associated with the
proioundest mysteries and enforced by
the most awful sanctions. When the
moral nature is once so worked upon
and stimulated by excitement that it
surrendcrs itself fully to these imprcs.
sions, it is only. the shallowest and most
tickle minds, or those Of extraordinary
power, that are ever able to free them.
selves from their domination.
The man who in his maturity abmdons
the creed OF his youth is often visited by
seasons of doubt and reaction, and not
unfrcqucntly, after u period cf cstrange,
ment. he turns to the early faith. The
backslidcr who has sluckened IN his III.
lcgiancc to his religion experiences at in.
tcrvuls more or less feels revivals Of his
first enthusiasm, and struggles to rekndlc
it. A dogma rcnounccd Mt the dictate OF
reason is again accepted in periods OF
sickness or aifliction, and mutitudes ot
men in the solemn hour Of death profess
anew the faith of their childhood, after
long years Of denial or neglect.
These things are true OF all religions,
and no less 50 OF all supelstitions. The
hold which the belief has upon the mind
does not depend upon its truth or its
excellence. The believers in the Koran,
the Veda and the Analett5 hold as tena-
ciously to the doctrines impressed upon
their minds in youth as do the believers
in the Bible Hence the religious belief
of men us rule depends upon the coun-
try in which they are born and educated.
If the majority Of our church goers had
been born and brought up in Turkey
they would have been devout Moham-
mcdans; if ia Siam, Buddhists; if in
Ashantee, Fetichists. Thus the religious
faith of most depends upon the accident
OF birth. In countries like ours, where
numerous sects, all animated by prose
lytng zeal, contend for the mastery, it
seems maniiestly unjust to give either the
immense advantage Of being permitted
to impress its dogmas upon the suscept-
iblc minds OF the Children in the public
schools.
And there is another injustice still
more fragrant, which seems to have been
over looked. The children themselves
are wryngcd when given over to the in
fluence OF any particular sect in the pub
lie school. None but the parents, or
teachers authorized by them, should as
sumo the tremendous responsibility OF
fastening upon the opening mind sys
TEN of doctrine before the powers Of
thought and judgment have been reason
ably developed. Since the teachings of
the schoolroom are so indeliblc in their
they should be, so far as prac-
ticable, confined to those things which
are matters Of acknowledgement merely OF
opinion; matters about which there is no
dispute among intelligent men, and Of
which the truth and usefulness are un-
questionable, leaving each pupil to choose
his own creed when his intellect has been
sufficiently developed TO qualify him to
grapple with the vexed questions Of
theology.
But in the meantime there is kind of
religious teaching which is not dogmatic
or theological, in which all can believe
and to which none can reasonably oh.
ject. The noble sentiment of "personal
honor can be appealed to and strength
ened. If the Bible may not he taught
in the schools, who can oppose veto to
a Scripture which shall consist in the
record of brave deeds done by true men
and women under sense of duty or the
OF the best impulses OF hu-
man naturel Let it tell OF Leonidas,
Nelson and Lawrence, who fell fighting
for their country OF Bruno going to the
stake rather than renounce the truths
revealed to him by science; of Howard