It does not seem necessary to offer an argument in support of the
position that the public school is not unfavorably affected, morally, by
the fact that it is subject to the popular judgment. This judgment can
be rendered only at stated times, and under the forms and solemnities of
law. The history of public schools would probably furnish but few
instances of wrong in this respect. The people are usually sensitive in
regard to the moral character of teachers; they contribute liberally for
the support of the schools, are anxious for their improvement, and there
is no safer depositary of a trust that is essential to a nation in which
is the hope of freedom and free institutions.
And, last, a school cannot be truly said to be destitute of moral
character and influence in which the sacred Scriptures are daily read.
The observance of this requirement is a recognition of the existence of
the Supreme Being, of the Bible as containing a record of his will
concerning men, and of the common duty of rational creatures to live in
obedience to the obligations of morality and religion.
It has been no part of my purpose, in this discussion of the public
school as an institution fitted to promote morality, to deny the
existence of serious defects, or to screen them from the eyes of men.
The public school needs a more thorough discipline, a purer morality, a
clearer conception and a more practical recognition of the truths of
Christianity.
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