The morning star and Catholic messenger., 1876-03-12
Goddess Education and It's Fruits.

| question involving tne 8reatest Sou in"oo
constant anxiety is: How can rear them 30
that they will not disgrace their family by
fagrant misconduct, 80 that they will even
be honorable and estimable members OF
society. Let any one faithfully revolve
this question in his mind, let him have
proper recourse to the lights of history, let
| him defer its decision until many years OF
experience in the ways of men shall have
shown him the inner workings of human
nature in its countless phases, and we are
s.fe In saying that he will pronounce it 9
hard one.
There are plenty of theoretical answers
to it. Sanguine young philanthropista
count largely on education. Educate the
people, say they, and the people will be
moral. Set the children good example,
say others, and they will follow it. Let the
women be good, says another, and the men
will be heroes. Give us freedom of con-
science, bawls the fanatic, let religion
be an open field for every sect and religion
will be brought to all the population. The
Bible, the Bible, shouts your Methodist
colporteur, print the Bible by millions
and scatter it broadcast, and the result
| will be public and private morality.
| But the man of experience has seen all
this tried and seen it all fail therefore he
shakes his head and says it is knotty
question, that of knowing how to rear a
generation so that it shall not be a raecally
one, but shall be good.
1.-THE people have run mad. They want
mental education to come by hard work and
4 morality to come by accident. They are
desirous of having honesty and virtue con-
spicuous among the generation which shall
succeed them, yet take no steps to secure
so important an end. Why do they expect
their children to grow up honest and vir-
tuous7 Does not every page of history,
every incident of experience with those
children and in their own persons tell them
that it requires all the available influences
ofreligion to control the vicious inclinations
of humanity In early childhood all the
vices of maturity betray their incipiency.
There is selfshness, violence, pride, stub
| bolnness, disobedience, falsehood, the ten
dency to take what belongs to others.
These infirmties develop with passing
years. The parent is discouraged, alarmed.
| How shall he counteract the inborn poisorq
His example has been thrown away, his
words of warning are unheeded, his punish
ments are forgotten.
| If he is Christian he finally remembers
that religion can control all that, provided
the children be properly instructed in it.
If heis an unbeliever, he swallows his
fears, trusts to time and sends his children
to the public school or some other entirely
secular place where they will never hear of
| God, but will at least acquire q certain
amount of worldly polish. They shan't
Disgrace him by their boorishness, at any
rate.
! What becomes Ct his fears Z Are they
dissipated as time rolls on, or, are they
realized3
A good reply to this may be found in a
most interesting article under the caption
'Crime in High Places" published in the
editorial columns of the N. 0. Price Current
of last Wednesday. We have no space for
the details there graphically given. There
is first a long quotation from the N. Y.
|
to nine revenue collectors and inspectors,
aud ak distillers, convicted and sentenced
to the penitentiary at Indianapolis alone
to the violent efforts of the general govern
ment to shield others from conviction, aud
to the universal corruption in official life
Then comes passage from an article Of
the Chicago Tribune, under the heading
! "Tbe Vicious Wave" Therein the story
: is told of two life insurance managers, whC
had been appropriating company funds tt
their own uses; of members of the common
council selling their powers of others to
gether with another official indicted as RIM
thieves of a mayor usurping Office be
yond the time for which he had been elect
, ed of the control of public offices by gam
b blers, bunko men, and .disreputable char
i acters.
t From a Memphis paper is selected I
i commentary on ecclesiastical immortality
in which figure the namea of WipaloVy