5o6 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



attack any form of religious belief. Happily, the scientific metliod 

 equally forbids doing either of these things^ and, if strictly ad- 

 hered to, will prevent all possibility of such quarrels between 

 religious sects as have recently agitated Boston, and have from 

 time to time interrupted the work of many schools in this country. 



Our position on this question occasioned wide-spread com- 

 ment, and, among the clergy of the more ignorant and bigoted 

 sects, there arose an opposition, instinctive rather than out- 

 spoken. 



The Missionary Society voted us a Bible, and I received a for- 

 mal note from the secretary announcing the fact, and requesting 

 me to appoint a time for the presentation to take place. I had 

 been informed privately that, as soon as I fixed the time, a public 

 meeting was to be called, and an address made denouncing our 

 neglect of religious observances. In answer to the secretary, I 

 informed him that our library was richly supplied with Bibles, 

 but that, as a token of confidence and good-will, their gift would 

 be highly prized, and we would gratefully receive the promised 

 Bible at the president's ofiice in the normal-school building, at 

 such time as was most convenient to the secretary. The Bible 

 never came. 



Prof. Campbell, of our faculty, gave testimony of considerable 

 significance concerning the moral atmosphere of our school. He 

 had been educated in a sectarian college, and had been graduated 

 at a theological seminary. All his prejudices were enlisted in 

 favor of a daily religious service. He said : " I am at a loss to 

 account for the uniform good feeling existing between teachers 

 and pupils here. No student seems disposed to annoy or vex a 

 teacher, and the moral tone of the school is much higher than I 

 have before known." At first, he had thought that the good-will 

 prevailing was in spite of the omission of religious services, but 

 a more careful study had convinced him that the system, in its 

 integrity, had created the moral atmosphere that pervaded the 

 school. 



Examinations, as usually conducted, had proved fruitful of 

 serious evils. They gave opportunity for cram, and were often an 

 occasion for cheating. When formal and stated examinations are 

 held, on which class promotion depends, there is a strong induce- 

 ment to make spasmodic efforts of memory serve in place of 

 sound learning. We avoided these evils by a simple device. 

 Examinations were held at irregular intervals, and were of such 

 a nature that no miraculous feat of memorizing could meet our 

 requirements. Repetitions of text-book formulas were habitually 

 in disfavor, and necessarily there grew up habits of genuine study. 

 These reviews were found sufficient aids in. testing progress, and 

 we dispensed with all other examinations. 



