The Portland daily press., 1893-12-06
COMMON AND PARocHIAL SCHOOLS.
Rev. MIR. Hughes Replies to the Letter of
Mr.. j. A. MCGOWAN.
To the Editor of the Press.


Mondays issue of your paper discloses
the fact that Mr., Joseph A. MCGOWAN
has taken his pen in hand. He finds no
occasion for Thanksgiving in my sermon
on 1.-THE Common Schools He regards
the theme as extremely inappropri-
ate for the day. He imparts the intelli-
gence that the hour cometh and now is
in New England when, upon a national
feast day it is no longer allowable to dis
cuss public questions. Mr.. MCGOWAN
almost tearfully asks, ''if it be in keep
ing with the spirit of Thanksgiving
day OF family reunions; of peace and
happiness-the old New England Christ
mas-to stir up religious hatred.'' am
sorry to have stirred up Mr.. McGowan's
religious hatred" but I have some
comfort in knowing that am not the
only offender On the same day that
discussed the subject, Archbishop Satol-
Ii, the supreme Roman Catholic authori-
ty in the United States, selected the
same topic as one appropriate to Thanks
giving day. His deliverance upon the
subject was published in the press. Was
Mr.. MCGOWAN sincere in his attack upon
me for my alleged ill-chosen subject? If
he made his charge with any other pur-
pose than that of pumping up prejudice,
1 have a right to demand Of him as an
honorable man that he write card de-
nouncing Monsignor Satolli for stirring
up religious hatred If Mr.. McGow-
an was simply stirring up religious ha-
tired himself, he merits the contempt he
would manufacture for others.
The good people of Portland who at
tended services at the First Parish church
on Thanksgiving day no doubt feel deep
ly chagrined that it became necessary for
Mr.. MCGOWAN to rebuke their unseemly
behavior in the sanctuary. 1t was also
good of him to sign his article, so that l
might know, as he artlessly says, that it
was not written by Gan emissary of
Rome" have no response to make to
the offensive personalities which inter-
lard the letter. There is an utter disre-
gard of all the usages and courtesies of
discussion. Perhaps, Mr.. MCGOWAN has
been so engrossed in the study of church
etiquette that he has neglected other
highly important branches The public
will give proper valuation ito personal
abuse, remembering that abuse is the
shoddy substitute for argument. Lay
ing aside, therefore, my personal incli-
nation, which would pass such an article
unnoticed, for the sake of the cause I
will endeavor to write as though reply
ing to gentlemanly letter.
The sermon, which, it is needless to
say, Mr.. MCGOWAN did not hear, was
based on two fundamental propositions.
These were, first: General intelligence is
essential to the ssperpetuity of our gov
eminent; second, self-preservation is the
first law of a nation. Are these denied?
No, they are not mentioned. If general
education is essential to the life of the
Nation, the Nation has the right to edu-
cate, as truly as it had the right to ex-
pend millions of treasure and hundreds
of thousands of lives for the sake of self
preservation during the war of the Re-
bellion. The state then demanded of
the family, not children alone, but
fathers, husbands and brothers. Who
denies that right?
But Mr.. MCGOWAN seeks information
Without mentioning these incontroverti-
BILE propositions, he weakly calculates:
'sWhere does the state get its right to
educator 1 ask, "Where does the state
get it's rightto exist?" Its right to edu-
cate comes with right to exist. He
quotes three authorities in favor of the
parent against the state. One of them is
Chancellor Kent, who lived in the first
part Of this century; Blackstone, of the
| 18th century; and Aristotle, who was
born nearly 400 years before the Chris
| tian era. AS an educational authority,
Aristotle is scarcely up to date. He
| taught that woman was naturally inferi-
or, and opposed Plato's championship of
| female education.
! But this is not a question of authori-
ties or theories. What has been the re-
suit of the practical workings of this
! beautiful theory? 1t is gross failure.
General education under parental auspi-
| ces is dream. Parents actually stand
in the way of education too frequently.
| Here, in the United States, with free
books, free teachers, and free school
houses, we maintain a school police to
get all the children to school, The
states have been obliged to pass compul-
sorry school laws to save children from
the greed of their parents. Many par
ents are too poor to educate, and many
are too negligent.
If the parent has the sole right to edu-
cate, then the parent has the right not to
educate. That cannot be. If the parent
abuses the body of child the state in
terferes. If the parent wrongs the intel
ligence of child the state has a right to
protect both itself and the child. Paren-
| tai instruction was in yopue in the South