St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1888-10-04
SCHOOL QUESTION IN BOSTON.

The people of Boston are a good
deal exercised over the act of the Cath
Ollie element in the school board ex-
Guiding certain text books from the
public schools because of the claim
that they are sectarian. One effect of
this act is to cause the registration of
over q, 900 women who will thus be
entitled to vote on the school question.
1t is claimed that about half this new
registration is Catholic. Last Sabbath
three leading clergymen of the city
preached directly or Indirectly upon
this theme. Rev. DR.. Gregg of the
Park street church, took for his even
ing text, "Patrio tism the duty of the
hour" and after reading the parable of
the trees, in Judges, where the bram
BILE was the only tree in all the forest
which could spare time from it's ordi-
nary avocatiOns to be king over the
trees, he gave most excellent and pa
triotic discourse. Among the other
things he said God intends that every
full to it. The man who has no coun-
try has no soul and nothing too severe
can be said of him. Such a man is
purely selfish, and if there is one thing
God hates it is man wrapped up in
self love. If we would please God we
must come out of self, must live for
our country, live for patriotism. We
have now great nation in which we
live and it behOoves us to ask whether
it will be successful and glorious one
or merely speck on the page of his
tory. 1t cannot succeed unless it keeps
to God and His word. 1t has sown the
Protestant religion and has reaped
from it the broad, civil and religious
liberty that has always followed in it's
train. Let us now SOW Roman Cathol-
icism, and it will reap the ignorance
and bigotry that have followed that
church. The country will become one
ignorant stain; cursed and priest
ridden Mexico; a blot upon Christian
civilization.
A man should ask Gods guidance
for his vote as we'll as for his religious
life. What will become of the man
who, though faithful to the church,
fails to carry his Christianity into his
patriotism True patriotism also re-
quires that we guard the national ideas,
and chief among them is the idea of
individualism. 1t is the American ma
ton that has assured the greatest
rights to the individual and given in
dividual liberty of conscience. In 9TH
er days the individual was lost when
king or priest so willed. In this
country we have fought down the idea
of the divine right of kings, and so
now it behooves us to fight down the
idea that one man is infallible and that
one man can do the thinking for ALL
In doing this the right of free and
open discussion must be maintained.
When imported teachers with import
ed ideas come to our country and plant
schools by the side of our own nation
al institutions, we have the right to
discuss them, their ways and their
methods, their past and their record.
Free speech is not yet free, even in
New England, and the man who dares
to discuss these foreign matters is liza
BILE to a torrent of abuse from politi-
clan or ribald priest. In view of this
it is the duty of the hour for the patri-
OF to guard the public schools. Make
them so good that no man can afford
to do without them keep them clear
of sectarian faint and elect to super
wise them only those known to be in
their favor-frst, last and all the time.
1t is also the duty of the patriot to
guard the ballot box; to see that only
those qualified can aspire to its use.
Keep it in plain view that it may not