The Irish standard. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn. ;) 1886-1920, 1892-02-13

8 I now enter upon the proof of 10,
i proposition, that parents have a natural
strict and ina!ienable right to educate
7 their children.
This proposition is the logical conse
4 quence of my previous proposition: Il
is the duty Of parents to educate their
children.
! Duty and right are in their very na
I ture correlative and proportionate; that
is, where there is duty to perform an
act, there is also the right to perform it,
and, where there is strict and natural
duty, there is also strict and natural
| right, for it is absurd to maintain th< I
have moral obligation to do certain
1 thing, if / have not the moral power to
do it, It anyone can justly hinder me
from doing it. Now parents, as we say,
have natural duty of educating their
/ child; the natural relation in which par
ents stand toward their child imposes
1 upon them that duty. They have given
| life to their child, human life; they are
| bound, therefore, to give to their child
whatever is necessary to lead human
4 life. But the child cannot lead a human
life, such as it's nature and destiny re-
quire, unless it receive bodily, mental
and moral education. Nature, therefore,
has placed upon the parents the duty OF
giving to their child such an education.
But if nature has imposed upon the par
ents hat duty, it has bestowed also upon
them the right, for nature cannot impose
duty, without beetowing that which is
| necessary for the fulflment of that duty,
namely, corresponding right.
Parents have strict right to educate
their children, that is, right to which
they have clear title, a right, therefore,
! which is inviolable, of which no one can
justly deprive them.
! Their clear title is the duty which God
has imposed upon them. God has placed
upon parents strict obligation to edu-
cate their children; the primary end for
which God united the parents by the
holy bonds of matrimony is, that they
should raise children for the glory of God
and for the childrens own happiness.
That end has been irrevocably determin-
ed by God; no one therefore, can exempt
or hinder pareuts from working for that
end ....>..~s ..%s...v !.
I But if parents have strict duty to
edu. ate their children, they have also a
strict right; it no one can exempt them
from fulfilling their duty, no ono can
Justly prevent them from exercising their
right
Finally parents have an inalienable
right to educate their children. Not
only can they not be deprived by any one
of their right, but they themselves can
not renounce that right. Their right, as
we saw, is based upon their duty: but
they cannot exempt themselves from that
duty, because it has been imposed upon
them by God. But if they cannot
exempt themselves from their duty, they
cannot renounce their right. Ii they
should renounce their right and transfer
it to some one else, they would no longer
have the power to see to it that their
children receive right education. But
they have the duty of seeing to it that
their children receive Alright education.
It is true they can entrust the education
of their children to some one else, pro-
vided they are certain that some one else
will give to their children the education
which their nature as human beings, and
the end for which they are destined, re-
ouire, But it always remains the duty
of parents to see to this. If parents
should see that the person to whom they
have entrusted the education OF their
children does not give them the right
education, they are in duty bound to
withdraw their children. But it is evi-
dent that they would be unable to COM
ply with this duty if they had given up
their right.
It is evident then that parents have a
natural, strict and an inalienable right
to educate their children. right bestow-
ed upon them by God himself, a right OF
which no human power can deprive them,
q right which they themselves cannot
give up.
Mr.. Sellit-Wsll, Uncle Eph, how are
you gettin' along these days?"
Uncle Eph-Oh, I'm gettin' along fine,
It's mighty poor day 1 don't make my
two or three dollars.
Mr.. Sellit-Yos1 must be gettin' rich.
,Spose you pay me that little bill you
owe me.
Uncle Eph-WeA. you'll have 70 ex-