The record-union., 1894-06-14
GoDLEss SCHOOLS.

Some months ago Congregational
Church College President, in a sermon,
pronounced the common schools god
less" Another college President of
Methodist institution told the people that
wise parents were those who sent their
children to UNCONVENTIONAL schools only.
In the present year Catholic Bishop in
q pastoral spoke of the common school as
the "first fruit' of the ''pernicious doc
trines of the French revolution" and he
commanded parents in his church to send
their children to their church schools
only.
In the american Journal Of Politics for
June w. w. Quatermass takes these
three declarations as text for defense
of the goddess schools" We do not re-
member having read in recent years
more vigorous and sound argument upon
the subject. The key to the whole mat
ter is in hand when he declares that what
each religious denomination that pro-
nounces the free schools goddess" wants
is that the schools shall be ''godly," but
godly only under the administration,
form and belief Of each its own partic-
ular denomination or creed.
Mr.. Quatermass takes the church OBJ
jections to goddess schools by the
throat when he asserts that the common
schools educate their pupils in broader
morality than the church schools do or
can. This is an aggressive position, but
if the public schools are to be defended at
all it should be done aggressively. If, as
he says, the public schools are to be de-
nounced as goddess the people are en-
titled to know what is meant by the cpl
thet If only the "wise" send to church
schools we want to know wherein re-
sides the unwisdom of those who do not.
If the free schools are "mischievous,"
'baneful," !" immoral u ''irreligious' and
goddess" wherein are they so? What
do they teach or how do they train in
vice, immortality or irreligion?
The schools are legitimate subjects of
criticism; whoever believes them to be
"banefuP' and Immoral" is to be COM
mended for saying so boldly, but his
declaration should be great deal more
than assertion. Mr.. Quatermass' essay
is too long to be considered in all its
phases in this article or in several, and is
quite too compact, strong and vigorous to
be mutilated by condensation. 1t has
the splendid virtue that it is not abusive;
that it assails no religion, impugns no
motive and charges no unholy purpose
upon those it replies to. It recognizes
the right to criticise the school system as
goddess" and in the same spirit the
right to show such criticism to be error.
If. he concludes. the schools are god
less, in the same sense so are the execu-
tive, judicial. legislative and administra-
tive departments OF Government; then
they, too, should be made "godly,"
which, of course, means godliness under
the churchly doctrine that can most i'm
press itself upon the Government
What we need to keep clearly in view
in these times when prejudice is being
stimulated, un-American methods
adopted to discuss American questions,
and religion being forced into political
issues to the ostracism of men for faiths
sake, is that the free schools are based
upon principles that can and will with
stand legitimate assault-if not they ought
to go down.
They need no appeal to passion, no aid
from embittered prejudice, and their de-
Tense does not call for hot blood, denun-
citation for conscience sake, nor ostra-
cism because of faith. The States pur-
pose in the free school is clear, open.
definite. The state, through the COM
mon school. seeks. as Mr.. Quatermass
says, its own welfare and preservation
and the peace and prosperity of the whole
commonwealth. The churches that de-
nounce the schools as goddess" assume
that the absence of creed teaching is
goddess" and therefore a vicious
omission and not in the interest of the
preservation of faith" That is the
whole question. and that it is likely ever
20 be decided by the state against the
state is absurd.