Freeland tribune. (Freeland, Pa.) 1888-1921, 1894-08-13

"ho lido q lllSll stlloG vi IC-
sponsibility in this matter, will often ask
himself, "Are the arrangements of my
school calculated to promote truthful
ness, manliness, sense of honor, the
feeling of moral obligation? Are the re-
lations of my pupil to me such as to en-
courage him to treat me with confidence?
Is he being trained in my school not
merely to obey when the pressure of
authority is upon him, but also to use
freedom rightly when he himself is the
law-giver? Is the virtue of courage
taught not as an abstract lesson, but
silently in the discipline and habits of
the SCHOOL," All untruth comes from
cowardice. All idleness, desutory read
ing-nearly all, in fact, of the faults
which teacher most desires that school
boys and girls should avoid-come from
lack OF boldness to say mo- when the
temptation comes, and to make a reso-
lutte effort to do what is known to be
right.
Trace out the consequences of nerve
less, soft and too indulgent discipline
when it comes to bear fruit in after life
consider what man is likely to be
worth who has not resolution enough to
resist public opinion, to refuse to
pronounce the follies of his party, to
abstain from display and expense which
he cannot afford, to emancipate himself
from bigotry which he feels to be
narrow and selfish. And when we
think of these things we will see that in
the microcosm of good school there
should be real training in courage and
self restraint, and that such training is
often as effective when it is connected
with the actual difficulties and tempta
tions of school life, as when it forms
part of formal scheme of bible reading.
Further, it must be borne in mind that
every one of the departments of teaching
with which we deal in schools carries
with it its own special ethical lessons.
Those intricate though graceful drills
that delighted the audience at the opera
house few months ago carry their own
load OF merit. We saw in considering
the practice which they involved, how
the scholar learned obedience, exact at
tention to rule, self-subiugation, defer
ence for others, and the habit of losing
sight of his individual claims, while
working towards the attainment of re-
suits in which others besides himself
had common interest. The study of
language, too, when rightly conducted,
is essentially a discipline in veracitv.
In careful statement, in abstinence from
exaggeration, in thinking before we
speak. Mathematical science teaches
lessons in exactness, in perfect honesty,
and in patience.
History is large field that is covered
with golden examples by which moral
character may be developed. One looks
back over the annals of our race and re-
calls the past. The echoes of far-ofr
contests and of ancient heroisms come
down to us through the ages. We haye
heard with our ears, and read from
books, how the Saviour nailed to the
cross, his life-blood pouring out like
water and the rabble and scofIing about
him, turned his blood stained face to
heaven and asked his heavenly Father
to forgive them for they knew not what
they did? We hear of the revolution
ary general, thirsty and dying on the
held OF battle, refusing the cup of water
and giving it to poor soldier with the
words "Thy necessity is greater than
mine," Or we think of Wolfe, the
young soldier, on the heights of Quebec,
spent and wounded after hard fight,
aroused by the cry, "They run" "Who
run?" 'The French" "Then I die
happy" And as the children realize
these scenes, they know that this world
is better world for us to live in because
such deeds have been done in it. They
see all the more clearly what moral
duty and true human greatness are, and
are helped by such examples to form a
nobler ideal of the possibilities of their
own little lives.
And thus it is quite possible that in a
school in which few moral lessons are
given on morals and conduct the sense
of higher presence and the habitual
recognition of the highest motives of
action may suffuse the whole of the
teaching, or run through its entire tex
ture like golden thread without the
use of the bible.
The introduction of this bible into our
common schools is grevous fault. 1t
has disturbed the hitherto quiet equili-
brium of the religious feeling of our
schools; it has added insult to all the
other outrageous actions of our directors.
1t is fair sample of the calibre of these
men. Oh, ii ever angels visit this
earth and hover unseen around the
gathering of mortals, to survey their
actions and contemplate their destiny as
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