, 1877-04-07

and he Is M Sthtcsmhn VINO cannot lls'
ccrn how deeply stirred is the American
mind On tins question of the schools. and
how inevitable is the great and grave
debate that mnsi Cnsuc un the relations
of CIurch and State. Tie Evangelical
policy is to mninmin that "unSccturian
Christianity" Chat is, Protestant Evan
gecuism minus nll inrersccr rian dis
putrsJ is tie jeligjoo IF tie United states,
and must be defended by the United
States Government and Constitution.
Doubt or disbrIicve it who may, that is
to b. hrnCciOrth the position OF the great
EvangtlIcnl party, already indicated by
signs which are legibe to all that know
how to read
Now this position is not going to he
conceded easily hy the American people
rs II whole, since there is great mass of
nAorganlzrd liberals who understand
and prize The secular principle Mt pres
ent embodied in the national Constitu.
tlan. 1t cannot be. no, We will not be.
lieye, that tins great nation so littIr com.
prehcndS its priceless heritage as 10 sur
render it to bigotry without struggle
Sooner or later it must be that the lib
erals will organic on u vast scale, and
assert this great secular principle at all
ha2lr,ls--though it may he 80 late MS to
make the struggle tcntold us hitter and
dangerous rs il need be The friends of
State education will thus he arrayed
against each other, one party striving to
make the schools Evangelical. Protestant,
and the other to make them secular, by
Constitutional provisions M matter
which party triumphs, the hold of the
public school system on the popular
heart will be perilousy weakened. Even
II the secular party triumphs, it can only
be after Il large portion of the people
will have become so much cmbttered
against State schools by the progress of
the contest as to withdraw from them
their patronage; and it will be long
time before the public schools can be
fully reinstntcd in the public affections.
But il the Evangelical party triumphs,
the public school system will he ground.
ed on essential injustice and defiance of
equal rights in religion; it will be an
anomaly in secular State; it must
gradually compel the State also to be-
come Christian, 10 the destruction OF re-
lgiOus liberty, or must be conformed at
last, rs the secular party demand that it
should be now, to the secular principle
For the Secular State and the Secular
School must in the long run share the
same fate; they must both stand or both
fall side by side; and he struggle over
the schools must ultimately decide
whether American civilization shall 90
on in natural development or perish in a
return Of mcdiUval harbarism.
Now the Catholic hierarchy are far too
shrewd to expect that they can at pres
ent become actual masters OF the State
schools of this country but they hope,
nevertheless, to tOment such discord
among the friends of these schools as
shall sicken the people OF the very prin-
ciple OF State education. They follow
the old axim--Digide et impera' divide
and conquer y 1t is so eyidelA that
they cannot themselves really decide the
destinles Of the public schools until they
can command u majority Of votes, that
many liberals are utterly incredulous as
to any serious designs on their part
against the school system it seems 81
impolltic and absurd for only six or
seven millions to attempt openly the de.
structlon of great institution establish
ed and maintained by a nation Of forty
millions, that surRlce-obseryers declare
such an attempt to be incredible. Those
who reason thus, however, betray their
own incapacity to understand the willy
Roman Catholic Church. II the Papal
hierarchy can only succeed in creating
an open rupture or schism among the
upholders Of the State school system,--
it it can only entrap the Evangcica'
party into making a united and decided
demand for State school system which
shall be "Christian' and not goddess, -
then the Pope's objects, audacious as
they are, will be in fair way to accom-
Dlishmpnt TrnohIn Pa ,lnatrnv tlp Dub.