Ceredo advance. [volume] (Ceredo, W. Va.) 1885-1939, 1899-04-19

they must execute them. perform them,
whether they were wicked or good.
There were two wrong things about
jcphthah's VOW. First, he ought never
10 have made il. Next, having made il,
IL were better broken than kept. But
do not take on pretentious airs and say:
81 could not have done as Jephthah
did" If in former days you had been
standing on the banks OF the Ganges
and YOU had been born in India, YOU
might have thrown your children TO
tie crocodiles. II is not because we are
naturally any better, but because we
have morc Gospel light.
Now | make very practical use OF
this question when | tell you that the
sacrifice of Jephthah's daughter was "a
type of the physical. mental and spirit
ual sacrifice OF 10000 children in this
day. There are parents all inviting
~ bringing TO bear upon their children
"A class of Influences which will as Ger
tainly ruin them as ilnife and torch de
stroycd Jephthah's daughter. While I
speak, the whole nation. without emo
ton and without shame. looks upon the
stupcndous sacrifice.
In the first place. | remark that much
of the system of education in our tav
is system OF sacrifice. When children
spend six or seven hours in school and
then must spend two or three hours in
preparation for school the nest day.
will YOU tell me how much time they
will have for sunshine and fresh air
and the obtaining OF that cNuberance
which is necessary for the duties of
coming life? No one can feel more
thankful than do for the Advancement
of common school education. The
printing of books appropriate for
schools, the multiplication of philo-
sophical apparatus. the establishment
of normal schools, which provide for
our children teachers of largest calibcr,
are themes on which every philanthro-
piSt ought To he congratulated. But
this hcrding of great multitudeS of
children in disseminated schoolrooms
and poorly equipped halls of instruction
is making many of the places of l<nowl-
edge in this country n huge holocaust.
Politics in many of the cities gets into
educational affairs and while the two
political parties are scrabbling for the
honors Jephthah's daughter pcrishes
1t is so much so that there are many
schools in the country to-day 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 fin
ished! In many places, in many cities
of the country, there are large appro-
priations for everything else and cheer
full appropriations, but as soon as the
appropriation is to Ice made for the edu-
cational or moral interests of the city
we are struck through with an economy
that is well-nigh the death of us.
In my parish in Philadelphia little
child was 50 pushed at school that she
was thrown into Il fever and i'm her
dying delirium. all night long. She was
trying to rccitr the multiplication ia
BILE. In my boyhood remember that i'm
our class mt school there was one lad
who knew more than all OF us put to-
%cthcr. If we were fast in our arith-
mctic, hc eNtricatcd us. When we stood
mp for the spelling class, he was almost
always the head of the class. Visitors
came TO his fathers house. and lac was
always brought in as Il prodigy. At Is
years of age he was an idiot. He lived
ten 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
You may iiutter your pride 10y forcing
your child TO know more than any other
children. but YOU are making Il sacri-
flee of that child if by. the additions to
lis Intelligence you aanuking ii sub
- y 'hc child will