The Portland daily press., 1893-08-08

have done as Jephthah did" If today
you were standing on the banks of the
Ganges and you had been born in India,
you might have been throwing your
children to the crocodiles. It is not be-
cause we arc naturally any better, but
because we have more gospel light.
SACRIFICES OF TODAY.
Now, mske very practical use of this
question when tell you that the sacri-
fee Of Jephthah's daughter was type
Of the physical, mental and spiritual
sacrifice of 10000 children in this day
There are parents all uuwittingly bring
ing to bear upon their children class of
| Influences which will as certainly ruin
! them as knife and torch destroyed Jeph-
thah's daughter. While I speak, the
out shame looks upon the stupendous
sacrifice
| In the first place. remark that much
of the system of education in OUR day is
o system of sacrifice. When children
spend six OF seven hours day in school,
| and then must spend two or three hours
| In preparation for school the next day,
will You tell me how much time they
| will have for sunshine and fresh AR and
| the obtaining Of that exuberancs which
Is necessary FOR the duties OF coming fife?
No one can feed more thankful than /
do for the advancement Of common
school education. The printing of books
appropriate for schools, the multiplied
ton Of philosophical apparatus, the es-
+,hIsahv,npf oP r,ory,,ol coIan1o ruhfs.1,
provide for our children teachers Of lar
| gest caliber, are themes on which every
| philanthropist ought to be congratu-
| lated. But this herding Of great multi
tudes ofNchildren in i'll ventilated school
rooms and poorly equipped halls Of in
struction is making many OF the places
| Of knowledge in this country huge holo-
causts.
Politics in many of the cities gets into
educational affairs, and while the two
political parties are scrabbling for the
honors Jephthah's daughter perishes.
It is SO much so that there are many
schools in the country today which are
preparing tens of thousands Of invalid
men and women for the future, SO that
in many places by the time the child's
education is finished the child is finishedl
In many places, in many cities Of the
country, there are large appropriations
for everything else and cheerful appro-
priations, but as soon as the appropria-
ton is to be made for the educational or
moral interest of the city we are struck
through with an economy that is we'll
nigh the death Of us.
SPARE THE DELICATE BRAIN.
In connection with this mention what
I might call the examining system of the
common schools and many Of the acade-
mics children of delicate brain COM
PEELED to tasks that might appall a ma
ture intellect, children going down to
school with strap of books half as high
as themselves. The fact is, in some of
the cities parents do not allow their
children to graduate for the simple rea-
son, they say, eve cannot afford to al
low our children's health to be destroyed
in order that they may gather the honors
Of an institution"
Tens of thousands Of children educated
into imbecility, SO connected with many
such literary establishments there ought
to be asylums for the wrecked. 1t is
push and crowd and cram and stuff
and jam until the child's intellect is be-
wildered, and the memory is wrecked,
and the health is gone. There are chill
dren turned out from the schools who
once were full Of romping and laughter
and had cheeks crimson with health who
are now turned out in the afternoon pale
faced, irritated, asthmatic, old before
their time. Tt is one of the saddest sights
on earth, an old mannish boy or an old
womanish girl.
Girls 10 years of age studying algebra!
Boys 10 years of age racking their brains
over trigonometry! Children unacquaint-
ed with their mother tongue crying over
their Latin, French and German lessons!
Ali the vivacity Of their nature beaten
out of them by the heavy beetle Of
Greek lexicon! And you doctor them
for this. and you give them little med
icine for that, and you wonder what is
the matter with them. / will tell you
what is the matter with them; they are
finishing their education.
In my parish in Philadelphia child
was so pushed at school that she was
thrown into a fever. and in her dying
delirium, all night long, she was trying
to recite the multiplication table. In
my boyhood I remember that in our
class at school there was one lad who
knew more than all of us put together.
If we were fast in our arithmetic, he
extricated U.s. When we stood up for
the spelling class, he was almost always
the head of the class. Visitors came to
his fathers house, and he was almost
always brought in as a prodigy. At IS
years of age he was an idiot. He lived
10 years an idiot and died an idiot, not
knowing his right hand from his left. or
day from night. The parents and the
teachers made him an idiot.
THE RIGHTS OF CHILDHOOD.
You may aatter your pride by forcing
your children to know more than any
other children, but you are making
sacrifice Of that child if by the additions
to its intelligence you are making sub
ohS will