The Worcester spy. [volume] (Worcester, Mass.) 1898-1904, 1898-10-09

son why it invariably should be. Be
cause the grand stories OF the Testa-
ments are object lessons in righteous
ness and unrfghteousness is no reason
why they should never be anything
else.
AS an integral an inexhaustible ele-
ment in the culture of Christendom,
the Bible has it's place in modern educa-
ton entirely apart from the question
Of morals. To deprive a child of an
acquaintance with the history and lit
erature Of the Bible is to deprive him Of
an important share of his birthright.
As mere matter of everyday informa-
ton, as a fraction of his Intellectual
equipment for life, as q source of Gull
ture, he needs it. To insist that the
facts shall always be made to prove
or teach something ethical is to
put upon them a burden some of them
cannot bear, and not only to shoot over
the child's head, but very often TO
weary him. The reproach Of old-fash-
toned people that the younger genera
lions are growing up without know
ledge of and love for the Bible is just
enough They are, not because they are
not taught, but because they are not
taught properly The stories of the
Bible are and can be made just as in
teresting to children and young people
Of Europe and the myths Of Greece,
only provided that they are not tagged
and labelled with moral truths. If the
Sunday school could and would teach
the Bible as we'll as The public schools
teach American history, even If 1t did
nothing else, it would lay society under
an everlasting obligation.
Mrs. Kate Gannett Wells thinks she
has found in nature studies the anti
dote for the fancy work which in the
hands Of the average woman is so
pathetic" q spectacle. This is view
of the situation which has probably
never occurred to DR.. Hodge, but it may
be rational, for all that,
There was a speaker at one of the
state declarations of Women's clubs re-
Gently who said. in connection with
Beauty in the home" or some such
subject, that she could count the sue
ceesive stages in the history Of a fam
lily by the deposits of fancy work left
in the rooms by time. There was the
waXwork flowers under glass-that
meant one era; picture frames Of splint
work belonged to another, notices of
perforated cardboard worked in coli
ored worsteds and framed as pictures
typified yet another epoch; machrame,
crazy patchwork, embroidered storke
standing on one leg, gilded gridirons
and rolling pins and hand painted"
chopping trays-each was to her the
earmark of distinct wave of decora-
tive impulse that had swept over the
land.
There are few houses in rural parts
without more or less of just such ar
tistic sediment. and as most of US were
once country people ourselves, 1t is not
surprising If with all the art exhibit
lions and teachers can do, the GRO
chetted tidy and the "hand-painted'
stork continue to flourish lin our
midst"
Mrs. Wells accounts for the enor-
nous annual fancywork output OF
American women by the theory that
women have an innate desire for self
expression; that fancy work is an
honest expression of their longing for
the beautiful; that they do it from
desire to add to their income or the
need for self support; and lastly, that
the eternal feminine energy requires a
vent A reaction is coming, she thinks,
in which the public schools and libra
ries, the women's clubs and Chautau-
qua circles have each q share. and
she draws the nappy conclusion lhat
it will be Impossible for the young
girl OF today, trained in nature studies
and skilled in geometrical drawing, to
commit (thel solecisms in fancy work
which her mother does"
As yet the Worcester public schools
have not displayed marked dexterity
in suppressing the tidy and the braided
mat in the homes of their pupils. but
this may be because some Of the teach
ers still cherish an affection for them
Considering its size and age, Worces-