PERILS. — KELIGION AND THE PUBLIC SCHOOLS. 100 



distinction cainiot be sustained. Archbishop Ireland, 

 in his address to the National Educational Association, 

 (St. Paul, July, 1890) said: "There is and there can be 

 no positive religious teaching* where the principle of non- 

 sectarianism rules. " But over against this opinion we 

 will cite that of Daniel Webster, who says: "This 

 objection to the multitude and difference of sects is but 

 the old story, tlie old infidel argument. It is notorious 

 that there are certain great religious truths which are 

 admitted and believed by all- Christians. All believe in 

 the existence of a God. All believe in the immortality of 

 the soul. All believe in the" responsibility in another 

 world for our conduct in this. . . . And cannot all 

 these great truths be taught to children without their 

 minds being perplexed with clashing doctrines and sec- 

 tarian controversies? Most certainly they can." i 



Such an amount of religious instruction would not be 

 deemed adequate in an ideal society. But we must dejd 

 with society as it actually exists, and existing society is 

 not ideal. As long as men think differently and have 

 different and conflicting interests, society must be a com- 

 promise. 



Of course j^arents and the Church may give as much 

 added instruction as they wish, but for the State to go 

 beyond the inculcation of the fundamental truths com- 

 mon to all monotheistic religions would probably lead 

 to the division of the school fund, which would be a 

 great calamity. On the other hand, to secularize the 

 schools is to invite the corruption of popular morals and 

 thus endanger the very foundations of our free institu- 

 tions. Moreover, the secularists are unwittingly play- 

 ing into the hands of those who desire a division of 

 the school funds and the destruction of our existing school 

 system. Most Protestant immigrants have been trained 

 in denominational schools. The Lutherans, who number 

 1,000,000, naturally incline to them; and there are many 

 other Protestants so deeply impressed with the neces- 



1 Webster's Works, Vol. VI. p. 16L 



