THE BIBLE IN THE PUBLIC SCHOOL AND NATION
The two following chapters, relating to the supreme importance of
reading the Bible daily in every public school of the land, are a
supplement to the brief discussion of this subject, that appears in the
introductory part of this volume.
"Truth crushed to earth shall rise again,--
The eternal years of God are hers;
But Error, wounded, writhes in pain,
And dies among his worshippers."
"Truth forever on the scaffold;
Wrong forever on the throne;
Yet that scaffold sways the future;
And behind the dim unknown,
Standeth God, within the shadow,
Keeping watch above his own."
Queen Victoria said to the King of Siam: "England owes her greatness to
this book--The Open Bible."
The Bible, and the public school to make known to all the children its
moral principles and religious truths, have brought liberty, greatness
and enlargement to the United States of America and Great Britain.
These two instrumentalities--the open Bible and public school--will
bring the needed blessings of intelligence, happiness and prosperity to
the people of the United States of Mexico, of Central and South America,
when they are accorded a fair chance.
XLVII
THE PUBLIC SCHOOL
AN OUTGROWTH OF THE REFORMATION.--PORTO RICO.--MISSION
SCHOOLS.--COLONIAL SCHOOLS.--MASSACHUSETTS AND CONNECTICUT.--NEW YORK
AND PENNSYLVANIA.--THE BIBLE, THE STANDARD OF MORALITY.--RISE AND FALL
OF INTOLERANCE.--DANIEL WEBSTER.--THE BIBLE, THE FREEDMAN'S BEST
BOOK.--THE CHURCH, SUNDAY SCHOOL, PUBLIC SCHOOL.--ENCOURAGING MOVEMENTS.
"Education is the cheap defense of a Nation."--Garfield.
"Wisdom is the principal thing, therefore get wisdom. The fear of
the Lord is the beginning of wisdom."--Solomon.
The public school is the general and permanent agency for the education
and uplift of the colored people. Religious and independent schools may
do a splendid work in their several localities, but the public school is
intended to be state-wide. It alone reaches the masses of colored
children, and it should receive its due share of the public funds. The
fact that they have not received any thing like a fair share of the
public funds, for their equipment and support, has already been stated.
This, to a great extent, is an act of injustice. Conditions however are
gradually improving. They are made better as a good use is made of
present educational facilities, and earnest appeal is made for more and
better ones. A vast amount of self-sacrificing work, on the part of
teachers and parents, is needed to bring the schools of the Freedmen up
to their proper standard, and to secure them, where they are still
needed both in city and rural district.
The Freedman alone cannot do all that is needed, to provide adequate
educational facilities for all his people; but there is so much that may
be done, in the way of awakening local interest, supplying local
deficiencies, and appealing for more and better equipment, as to enlist
the united and persistent co-operation of all intelligent, public
spirited Freedmen.
AN OUTGROWTH OF THE REFORMATION
The public school system, in the United States, is an outgrowth, or
by-product of the Protestant Reformation of the sixteenth century in
Europe. Harvard college was established at Cambridge, near Boston, in
1639, less than twenty years after the first arrival of the Pilgrim
Fathers. Its object was to provide a supply of trained ministers and
christian teachers, to meet the rapidly growing needs of the colony.
The Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign parts,
organized in London, England, in 1701, aided the colonists in the
establishment of free schools, by sending them donations and supplies of
bibles and testaments. Christian teachers were employed in these free
schools and two of the text books used were the Bible and the New
England primer. This primer was illustrated with Bible pictures and
contained the shorter catechism.
These colonial free schools of New England were gradually extended to
the other colonies, but not without calling forth some opposition in
some of them, especially where there was opposition to the use of the
Bible. This fact has been rendered quite memorable, by the rather
unenviable remark of Governor Berkeley of Virginia in 1670, to the
effect, "I thank God, there are no free schools in Virginia."
The scattered condition of the population rendered difficult and greatly
retarded the progress of free schools in the south. Planters were often
widely separated, and many of them preferred to send their children away
to school, or employ a private tutor for them. They did not care to
provide schools for the Negroes.
When, by the adoption of the Constitution the colonies became states,
the protection of religion and encouragement of education were left as
they had been, as matters to be considered by the legislatures of the
several states. As one state after another has been admitted to the
Union, extending it over a vast extent of country, a system of public
education has been adopted in each, ranging from the rural school to the
state university. The system in every state is quite complete and more
or less efficient to accomplish its objects. The entire system is due to
the presence of the Bible in our land, and especially during the
formative period of our government. The states have deemed it necessary
to train the young and rising generation in the interest of good
government and progress.
As the church of the Reformation in Europe, and of our forefathers in
New England, found it necessary to establish academies, colleges and
theological seminaries, in order to train a constantly increasing supply
of christian teachers, statesmen and ministers, the states have realized
that it is their duty to maintain public and high schools, in order to
have an intelligent and prosperous citizenship; and to maintain normal
schools and universities, in order to provide a sufficient number of
professional teachers, legislators, jurists and efficient captains of
industry.
The system of public education in all the states is one, of which every
citizen of the land may well be proud, and endeavor to take every
possible advantage of it as teachers, patrons and pupils.
PORTO RICO 1898-1913
A splendid illustration of its inestimable value has just been received
from Porto Rico. In 1898 when the United States received the transfer of
Porto Rico from Spain, it had been for centuries under the control of
Romanism. There was then only one building on the island, specially
erected for school purposes, and more than eighty per cent of the
population could neither read nor write; and only 26,000 children had
been enrolled as attending school. So rapid has been the progress toward
enlightenment and a better civilization under Protestant American rule,
that at the end of fifteen years there are 40 school buildings and
162,000 children are enrolled as attending school; and the number of the
illiterate has been reduced from 80 to 11 per cent.
THE BIBLE AND CHRISTIAN TEACHERS
One is now ready to inquire, "Wherein does our splendid system of public
education differ from that provided by the various Protestant
denominations, in their mission schools, academies, colleges and
universities?"
Both are essential to the well-being of the state. They are two strong
pillars that, supplementing and standing near each other, support the
power and promote the material prosperity of the state. Their mutual
relation is aptly expressed, by the sentiment of the two brothers on the
shield of Kentucky, "United we stand, divided we fall." They look so
nearly alike in buildings and equipment, the passing observer sees
little or no difference in their outward appearance.
Nevertheless there is often a difference in their objects and products,
which has already been noted, and in the means employed to accomplish
these objects. This difference is fundamental. It is found in the law of
their establishment.
In the admirable system of public education in the state of Iowa, which
is second to none in the land for the goodness and greatness of its
beneficent results, there is found the following statute, and it is a
fair illustration of similar statutes in other states.
"The Bible shall not be excluded from any public school or institution
in this state, nor shall any pupil be required to read it contrary to
the wishes of his parents or guardian." Sec. 1764.
This statute takes it for granted the Bible is in the schools, and that
is excellent; it has also a concession and the latter often prevails.
Many Jews read only the old Testament, and many Catholics out of regard
for the pope, a foreign potentate, think they ought not to read any part
of the Bible. The state is a secular power and the result, of this
concession to religious freedom, is, that the Bible and the Christian
teacher, in many localities, are not regarded as essential features of
its educational work.
This leaves the moral character and relative value of our public
schools, to a considerable extent, to the caprice of those who are in
the majority or authority, as directors and teachers in any particular
community. In christian communities they are invariably found exerting a
christian influence.
The Bible and the christian teacher are essential for the accomplishment
of the greatest good. These are seldom separated, and when they are
found together in the public school, it becomes a fountain of elevating
christian influences. This privilege is enjoyed by many of our
communities, where the supply of christian teachers is equal to the
demand.
This discussion of the public school has been included here, for the
general knowledge of christian families among the colored people. Since
the enactment of laws, limiting the teachers in the public schools of
the colored people, to those of the "colored persuasion," there is now
and will continue to be, an ever increasing demand for capable christian
teachers. Christian teachers come from christian homes and christian
schools.
COLONIAL SCHOOLS
The historic facts, showing that the open Bible has been the
corner-stone of the American public school system, have been so
interesting and suggestive to the author, as to lead him to take the
initiative, in effecting and maintaining a local Bible society in Fonda,
and to make the distribution of the Scriptures among the people, a
special feature of his ministry there, and later at Oak Hill Academy.
The hope is indulged, that the following facts, relating to the place
accorded the Bible in the schools of the colonies, will prove of
interest to every reader, especially among the Freedmen.
Our fore fathers and the stalwart statesmen of their day, were not led
astray by the "higher" or more properly called destructive criticism and
infidelity, that is now permeating much of the literature of our day to
the great injury of all who are influenced by it. Indebted to the
Scriptures for their ideas of "life, liberty and the pursuit of
happiness," and, prizing them as the foundation of their civil and
ecclesiastical privileges, they manifested both their sense of
obligation to them and dependence upon them, by making them the corner
stone of every institution they established. The word of God in their
hand, like a pillar of cloud by day and of fire by night, led them to
locate in this land, awakened in them the spirit of heroism amid all
their privations and sufferings, and served as their common guide and
comforter, in all their struggles and progress.
If there are any who have the right to judge and to have their judgment
respected, as to the nature of the education needed in this republic,
surely those men of sagacity, patriotism, piety and comprehensive
statesmanship, who founded both the system of education and the
Republic, are among the number.
During the Colonial period the towns were little republics, with the
Bible for their foundation, and their schools were established for
general instruction in that book. The exclusion of the Bible from those
early schools would have been repugnant to their founders. They regarded
the Bible not merely as an authoritative book in all matters of
conscience, but as the charter of their liberty and their guide to the
independent ownership of land.
MASSACHUSETTS
The Colony of Massachusetts Bay, as early as 1647, less than twenty
years from the date of their first charter, made provision by law, for
the support of schools at the public expense; for instruction in reading
and writing in every town containing fifty families, and grammar schools
in those containing one hundred families. This noble foundation suggests
the religious foresight that laid it. The preamble to this school law
contained the following motives: "It being one chief object of Satan to
keep men from the knowledge of the Scriptures, as in former times
keeping them in unknown tongues, therefore, that learning may not be
buried in the graves of our fore fathers, the Lord assisting our
endeavors, it is ordered," etc.
Horace Mann, secretary of the Massachusetts Board of Education, has left
on record this noble testimony for all the teachers of our country. "As
educators, as friends and sustainers of the common school system, our
great duty is to impart to the children of the commonwealth the greatest
practicable amount of useful knowledge; to cultivate in them a sacred
regard for truth, to keep them unspotted from the world; to train them
to love God and also their fellow men; to make the perfect example of
Jesus Christ lovely in their eyes; to give to all so much religious
instruction, as is compatible with the rights of others and the gains of
our government, so that, when they arrive at the years of maturity, they
may intelligently enjoy the inviolable prerogatives of private judgment
and self-direction, the acknowledged birthright of every human being."
Rufus Choate, the eminent statesman and jurist in one of his orations
very emphatically exclaimed: "Banish the Bible from our public schools?
Never! So long as a piece of Plymouth Rock remains big enough to make a
gun-flint." This is an expression of true patriotism on the part of one,
who knew well the history and cost of American freedom. "He is the
freeman, whom the truth makes free."
CONNECTICUT
In the Colony of Connecticut as early as 1656, explicit laws were added
to the general law by which the schools were first established, and
constables were required to take care, "That all their children and
apprentices, as they grow capable, may through God's blessing attain at
least so much as to be able to read the Scriptures, and other good books
in the English tongue."
"The schools of this state" says the state school Journal, "were founded
and supported chiefly for the purpose of perpetuating civil and
religious knowledge and liberty, as the early laws of the colony
explicitly declare. Those laws, published in the first number of this
Journal declare, that the chief means to be used to attain these
objects, was the reading of the Holy Scriptures."
This enlightened policy of the Puritans, in regard to the establishment
of free schools, for the general dissemination of a knowledge of the
Bible and the development of a pure morality among the young, was a
great step in advance of all the countries in the old world. The results
have wonderfully justified their wisdom and forethought. The schools
they established, having the Bible as a universal text book and basis of
moral instruction, became nurseries of piety and knowledge. The very
thought of excluding the Bible from schools, they had established with
great sacrifice for its special study, would have been received with a
shudder of horror.
"The interests of education," says Chancellor Kent, chief justice of New
York, "had engaged the attention of the New England colonists, from the
earliest settlement of the country, and the system of common and grammar
schools, and of academical and collegiate instruction, was interwoven
with the primitive views of the Puritans. Everything in their genius and
disposition was favorable to the growth of freedom and learning. They
were a grave, thinking people, having a lofty and determined purpose.
The first emigrants had studied the oracles of truth as a text book, and
they were profoundly affected by the plain commands, awful sanctions,
sublime views, hopes and consolations, that accompanied the revelation
of life and immortality. The avowed object, of their emigration to New
England, was to enjoy and propagate the Reformed faith, in the purity of
its discipline and worship. They intended to found republics on the
basis of Christianity, and to secure religious liberty, under the
auspices of a commonwealth. With this primary view, they were early led
to make strict provision for common school education, and the religious
instruction of the people. The Word of God was at that time almost the
sole object of their solicitude and studies, and the principal design,
in emigrating to the banks of the Connecticut, was to preserve the
liberty and purity of the gospel. We meet with the system of common
schools, in the earliest of the Colonial records. Provision was made for
the support of schools in each town, and a grammar school in each
county. This system of free schools, sustained by law, has been attended
with momentous results; and it has communicated to the people, the
blessings of order and security, to an extent never before surpassed in
the annals of mankind."
STATE OF NEW YORK
George Clinton, the first governor, in presenting the matter of public
education to the first legislature of New York, used the following
language: "Neglect of the education of youth is one of the evils
consequent upon the evils of war. There is scarcely anything more worthy
your attention, than the revival and encouragement of seminaries of
learning; and nothing by which we can more satisfactorily express our
gratitude to the Supreme Being for his past favors, since piety and
virtue are generally the offspring of an enlightened understanding."
Later, when the phrase "Common schools" had come into use, he emphasized
morals and religion as their fore-most objects. "The advantage to
morals, religion, liberty and good government, arising from the general
diffusion of knowledge, being universally admitted, permit me to
recommend this subject to your deliberate attention."
In 1804, his successor, Governor Lewis, emphasized the necessity of
establishing common schools in the following words: "In a government
resting on public opinion, and deriving its chief support from the
affections of the people, religion and morality cannot be too sedulously
inculcated. Common schools, under the guidance of respectable teachers,
should be established in every village and the poor be educated at the
public expense."
In 1810, his successor, Governor Tompkins, brought the matter anew to
the attention of the legislature. "I cannot omit inviting your attention
to the means of instruction for the rising generation. To enable them to
perceive and duly estimate their rights, to inculcate correct
principles, and habits of morality and religion, and to render them
useful citizens, a competent provision for their education is all
essential."
In 1811, in response to these successive appeals, the legislature of New
York appointed five commissioners, to report a system for the
organization and establishment of common schools to carry forward the
educational work, that had been previously maintained by the voluntary
contributions of christian people in their various communities.
These commissioners, in their report, recommending the establishment of
common schools for the state of New York, expressed their own sentiments
and those of the people they represented, as follows:
"The people must possess both intelligence and virtue; intelligence to
perceive what is right, and virtue to do what is right. Our republic
may justly be said to be founded on the intelligence and virtue of the
people, and to maintain it, 'the whole force of education is required.'
The establishment of common schools appears to be the best plan, that
can be devised, to disseminate religion, morality and learning,
throughout a whole country."
In referring to the branches to be taught there is added in this report,
as follows: "Reading, writing, arithmetic and the principles of morality
(Bible) are essential to every person, however humble, his situation in
life. Morality and religion are the foundation of all that is truly
great and good and are consequently of primary importance."
After calling attention to the "absolute necessity of suitable
qualifications on the part of the master," the report continues in
regard to the Bible, as one of the books to be used:
"Connected with the introduction of suitable books, the commissioners
take the liberty of suggesting that some observations and advice,
touching the reading of the Bible in the schools, might be salutary. In
order to render the sacred volume productive of the greatest advantage,
it should be held in a very different light, from that of a common
school book. It should be regarded not merely as a book for literary
improvement, but as inculcating great and indispensable moral truths.
With these impressions, the commissioners are induced to recommend the
practice, introduced into the New York Free School, of having select
chapters read at the opening of the school in the morning and the like
at the close in the afternoon. This is deemed the best mode of
preserving the religious regard, which is due to the sacred writings."
This admirable report closes with these significant words: "The
American empire is founded, on the virtue and intelligence of the
people. The commissioners cannot but hope that Being, who rules the
universe in justice and mercy, who rewards virtue and punishes vice,
will graciously deign to smile benignly, on the humble efforts of a
people in a cause purely his own; and that he will manifest this
pleasure, in the lasting prosperity of our country."
The public school system of New York, with the Bible as its corner
stone, was established the next year, 1812. Ten years later, Governor
DeWitt Clinton, encouraging their liberal support, said, "The first duty
of a state is to render its citizens virtuous, by intellectual
instruction and moral discipline, by enlightening their minds, purifying
their hearts and teaching them their rights and obligations."
STATE OF PENNSYLVANIA
The status of the Bible, in the early schools of Pennsylvania, may be
gathered from the following extract from a report, approved by the
National Convention of the friends of public education, that met in
Philadelphia in 1850.
"In the common schools, which are open for the instruction of the
children of all denominations there are many whose religious education
is neglected by their parents, and who will grow up in vice and
irreligion, unless they receive it from the common school teacher. It
seems to us to be the duty of the state, to provide for the education of
all the children, morally as well as intellectually; and to require all
teachers of youth, to train the children in the knowledge and practice
of the principles of virtue and piety.
"The Bible should be introduced and read in all the schools in our land.
It should be read as a devotional exercise, and be regarded by teachers
and scholars, as the text book of morals and religion. The children
should early be impressed with the conviction, that it was written by
inspiration of God, and that their lives should be regulated by its
precepts. They should be taught to regard it, as their manual of piety,
justice, veracity, chastity, temperance, benevolence and of all
excellent virtues. They should look upon this book, as the highest
tribunal to which we can appeal, for the decision of moral questions;
and its plain declarations, as the end of all debate."
It was about the year 1840, that the Catholics in Pennsylvania began to
manifest opposition to the reading of the Bible, in the schools of that
state. In view of this opposition the board of directors, for the Fourth
section in Philadelphia, adopted the following resolutions:
(1) "That we will ever insist on the reading of the Bible, without note
or comment in our public schools; because we believe it to be the Word
of God, and know that such is the will, of the vast majority of the
commonwealth."
(2) "That we look on the effort of sectarians to divide the school fund,
as an insidious attempt to lay the axe at the root of our noble public
school system, the benefits of which are every day manifested in the
training of our youth."
(3) "That we will use every means proper for christians and citizens to
employ to maintain our present school system, and to insure the
continuance of the reading of God's holy word in all our schools."
BOARD OF NATIONAL EDUCATION
The constitution of the Board of National Popular Education contains in
its sixth article, the following pledge, as one required of teachers, as
well as the board. "The daily use of the Bible in their several schools,
as the basis of that sound christian education, to the support and
extension of which, the board is solemnly pledged."
In its fifth annual report, which is for the year 1852, the necessity of
a free and open Bible in our common schools was emphasized as the only
possible way, in which our nation can continue to be self-governed. The
Bible, for the masses, is God's great instrument for governing men and
nations. "There is but one alternative," said Mr. Sawtell, "God will
have men and nations governed; and they must be governed by one of the
two instruments, an open Bible with its hallowed influences, or a
standing army with bristling bayonets. One is the product of God's
wisdom; the other, of man's folly; and that nation that discards or will
not yield to the moral power of the one, must submit to the brute force
of the other. The open Bible, in our schools, is the secret of our
ability to govern ourselves. Take from us the open Bible and, like
Samson shorn of his locks, we would become as weak as any other people.
Take away the Bible, and like Italy, Austria and Russia, we would need a
despot on a throne, and a standing army of a half-million to keep the
populace in subjection."
JESUS, THE GREAT TEACHER
It was our Lord Jesus himself, who said, "Suffer little children to come
unto me, and forbid them not." He did not suggest, that they be sent for
moral instruction to the schools of the Pharisees, or the unbelieving
Sadducees, but that they should come to him, and receive his word and
blessing. He saw no sectarianism in the message of love, life and
forgiveness, he brought from the Father; for he described it, as,
"living water," "living bread which came down from heaven," "the light
of the world," and its object, "that they might have life more
abundantly." He knew, it was a matter of utmost importance to every
individual, to receive that message in childhood and youth.
THE BIBLE, THE STANDARD OF MORALITY
The Word of God is supreme in all matters of conscience or morality. The
man, whose conscience is in harmony with the Word of God, must be
recognized as on the side of God and right. Elijah on Mount Carmel,
having only the Word of God, prevails over four hundred misguided
prophets of Baal. When those, who were prejudiced against the gospel in
the days of Peter, imprisoned and undertook to silence him and others,
he gave the right answer, when he said, "We ought to obey God rather
than men." Peter and Elijah, teaching the Word of God, were progressive
up-builders of the Kingdom of God, while their suppressors were merely
blind opposers and destructionists. The enlightened consciences of Peter
and Elijah were of more value and more to be respected, than those of
the hosts of souls, in the darkness of unbelief, arrayed against them.
Whilst the work of Peter and the apostles tended to make the world
better, and better men of all their opposers, the work of the latter,
tended to put a real check, on the cause of human progress. Those, who
oppose the reading of the Scriptures in the public schools of this, or
any other land, commit the very same folly.
The Bible is the Word of God to all mankind. It is his provision for our
intellectual, moral and spiritual natures, as the light, air, water and
food have been provided for our physical natures. It was originally
written in the language of the people to whom it was given, the Old
Testament in Hebrew to the Hebrews; and the New Testament in Greek to
the Greek speaking Jews, in the time of Christ.
Our English version was made from the original languages in the time of
King James, and it is an error in judgment to call it, either a
Protestant or Sectarian Bible. There is, indeed, a sectarian version of
the Bible in use in this country. It is printed in the Latin language,
the language of pagan Rome, which the common people no longer use or
understand.
[Illustration: HOME OF THE LATE CAROLINE PRINCE.]
[Illustration: NEW HOME, MRS. SAM HARRIS.
Representative Homes of Choctaw Freedmen, near Oak Hill.]
[Illustration: Airy View Farm
Rockwell City, Iowa, 1911
Robert E. Flickinger
Mary A. Flickinger
G. H. Patterson, Manager
Telephone 7 on 967
A VIRGIN PRAIRIE, IMPROVED BY MR. AND MRS. FLICKINGER, 1884-1914.
At the left: Grove of maples and walnuts, orchard, grapes, garden,
oat-bin, double corn-crib, house, front yard, chick-yard, bees, barn,
implement shed, hen-house, pigpen, calf and pig pastures. Two and a half
miles of tile drains.]
It seems a queer freak of our human nature, that those who use the Bible
in a dead, foreign language, unsuited for use in our public schools,
should call our English version of the scriptures a sectarian book, and
then oppose its use in our public schools.
Our English version of the Scriptures is no more a sectarian book, than
are the ordinary books on astronomy, geology, botany, and natural
history. Nevertheless when Romanists oppose its use, others of all sorts
in the community, who like them need its gracious message of light, life
and love, but instead profess not to regard it as a message from God,
are liable to unite with them in their unfortunate opposition.
No one has an inherent right, to exclude the Bible from the public
schools of America. As the one authoritative book of God, it ought to be
there. As the charter of American liberty, and the corner stone of our
system of public education and jurisprudence, it ought to be there. No
one has any more right to exclude the Bible from the public schools of
America, than he has to exclude the sun, for both are God's own
provision of light. It is intended of God to be the one unchanging
standard of morality and purity, for old and young; and to be as free
for all, as the common air that we breathe. Its use, at an early age,
tends to develop the conservative principles of virtue and knowledge,
which serve as the world's best protectors against ignorance, barbarism
and vice.
RISE AND FALL OF INTOLERANCE
Excluding the Bible, from the public schools of America, is an old world
innovation. In some countries of Europe, books on science, literature or
philosophy have not been permitted to be published, without the previous
approval of the government. "The Bible itself, the common inheritance,
not merely of Christendom, but of the world, has been put exclusively
under the control of government, and has not been allowed to be seen,
heard, or read, except in a language unknown to the common inhabitants
of the country. To publish a translation in the language of the people,
has been in former times a flagrant offense." (Story on the
Constitution, page 263.) [Internal link: page 263.]
The popes, as early as the eighth century, condemned the circulation and
reading of all writings unfriendly to the papacy. In 1515, after the art
of printing had been invented, the papal decree was issued, "That no
book should be printed without previous examination by the proper
ecclesiastical authority, the Inquisition." The books prohibited by it
included the bible in the English and German languages, and all the
books published by Luther, Calvin, Zwingli and other Reformers. While
the Reformers were called, heresiarchs, they proved themselves to be the
world's greatest benefactors, by giving the people the Bible.
When Roman Catholicism was the state religion of Italy, France, Spain
and Britain, it was intolerant, and by massacres and persecutions
endeavored to suppress the reading of the Bible and also its publication
in the language of the people.
In 1531, when the bishops were almost universally statesmen, lawyers or
diplomats. Henry, the King of England, by an act of parliament, which
consisted of a convocation of the clergy, became the recognized head of
the church in England, instead of the pope at Rome. The principle now
begins to prevail, that "Truth possesses the power to defend itself." As
a result Wiclif, Tyndale, Sir Thomas More, Thomas Cromwell, Archbishop
Cranmer, Miles Coverdale and others, with the approval of the king
successively, encourage the translation, publication and circulation of
the Scriptures among the clergy and people. It was at this time and in
this way, that the principle of toleration in matters of religion had
its beginning, and the first check was put upon the cruel intolerance of
the church of Rome in England. The church of England, episcopal in form
then became the established, or state church; and it is so still, but
the king is no longer the head of it and the parliament no longer
consists of the clergy, as in the days of King James. It was in 1566
that the Puritans, followers of Calvin and other foreign reformers,
withdrew from the established church of England, because they did not
approve all the forms and ceremonies, then required in the public
worship of the established church.
The official act of religious toleration in England was passed during
the reign of William III, 1689-1702, (and Mary), who, as the prince of
Orange and founder of the Dutch republic in 1680, had previously
distinguished himself as the friend of liberty.
Roger Williams, founder of the Colony of Rhode Island 1636 to 1647,
established there the first government in America, upon the principle of
universal toleration. William Penn, founder and proprietor of
Pennsylvania, in 1684 incorporated the same principle in the government
of that colony; and, as the expression of his own views and sentiments,
respecting religion and civil government. These men exercised
government, by instilling into the minds of the people the principles of
religion, morality, forbearance and friendship. Americans do well to
cherish the memory of these men, who wrought so nobly a century before
the American Revolution.
NOBLE DEFENSE BY DANIEL WEBSTER
Our American public school system represents the accumulated wisdom of
many generations of Bible readers, and in promoting it we preserve for
future generations the foundations so wisely laid in the earlier years
of our history.
Daniel Webster, one of the advocates of the system and early defenders
of the Bible in it, stated its fundamental principle when he said, "In
all cases there is nothing, that we look for with more certainty, than
this general principle, that Christianity is part of the law of this
land." He explained its object and motive in the following passage,
which is worthy to be repeated in every generation.
"We seek to educate the people. We seek to improve men's moral and
religious condition. In short, we seek to work upon mind as well as upon
matter; and this tends to enlarge the intellect and heart of man. We
know that when we work upon materials, immortal and imperishable, that
they will bear the impress which we place upon them, through endless
ages to come. If we work upon marble, it will perish; if we work upon
brass, time will efface it. If we rear temples, they will crumble to the
dust. But, if we work on men's immortal minds--if we imbue them with
high principles, with the just fear of God, and of their fellow men,--we
engrave on those tablets, something which no time can efface, but which
will brighten and brighten to all eternity."
The exclusion of the Bible from the public schools in New York state
had its rise in 1838 and concerning this movement, Mr. Webster said,
"This is a question which in its decision is to influence the happiness,
the temporal and the eternal welfare of one hundred millions of human
beings, alive and to be born in this land. Its decision will give a hue
to the character of our institutions. There can be no charity in that
system of instruction from which the Bible, the basis of Christianity,
is excluded."
The public school, with daily instruction to the young in the Bible, is
an American system of education. It had its origin in the belief of its
founders, that general instruction in the Bible was essential to the
permanency of that freedom, civil and religious, and that independent
ownership of land, they came to America to enjoy. If the early Pilgrims,
more particularly those of Massachusetts and Connecticut, had not
struggled and toiled for this great object, and if they had not been
immediately succeeded by men, who imbibed a large portion of the same
spirit, the free school system of New England would never have been
extended to all parts of our land. We have inherited the public school
through the Bible, and the feeling prevails, that only by maintaining a
general knowledge of the Bible, among the young and rising generation
through it can the countless blessings, that flow from it, be conserved
for future generations.
THE FREEDMAN'S BEST BOOK
These historic facts, relating to the original establishment of free
schools among the colonies, during the period of the early settlement of
this country, and the place accorded the Bible in them by their faithful
founders, are well suited to be suggestive, and to prove an inspiration
to every friend of freedom, to promote the good cause of maintaining
the daily reading of the Bible, in all of our public schools at the
present time.
Christian parents among the Freedmen, having children that are bright
and studious, are encouraged by these facts, to train one or more of
them to be teachers and helpers, in promoting the educational and moral
uplift of the race. All are encouraged to co-operate with your teachers,
in making the public school of your neighborhood, an attractive and
inviting place for your own and your neighbor's children.
Send the children regularly to school during the term, for the terms are
short. Do all you can, as long as you live, to supply your public
schools with bibles and christian teachers, in order that they may
attain the highest degree of efficiency, and bring the greatest amount
of public good, to you and your children. Remember, that the Bible is
the mother of the public school and that it awakens a desire for more
knowledge, drives back the darkness of ignorance and inspires the
courage to do right.
Many have been led astray by reading bad books and papers, but none from
reading the Bible. Its blessings of comfort and guidance to individuals,
and of civil and religious liberty to nations, have come to us like the
dew of Hermon, that made "the wilderness and solitary place to be glad,
and the desert to rejoice and blossom as the rose."
In view of these important historic facts, it is certainly strange that
any parents, who permit their children to read all sorts of trashy and
worthless books, without protest, should pretend they do not want them
to read the Bible, the one infallible and incomparable book, that does
not become old and out-of-date like the best of other books, but is as
fresh and life giving to day as twenty centuries ago. The number of
those, who have opposed the reading of the Bible in the public schools
have comprised but a small part of the entire population of our land,
and they have always represented that part of it, that have most needed
its enlightening and uplifting influence.
One million immigrants from other lands are now coming to our shores
every year, that they may enjoy the civil and religious privileges, that
have here been secured, through the influence of the Bible. One of their
greatest needs, immediately on their arrival, is faithful instruction in
the living and eternal truths of God's Holy Word, that they may know and
understand the genius or spirit of our American, civil and religious
institutions.
There is urgent need to day for more of that holy compulsion that Jesus
exercised, when, surrounded by a lot of hungry people, he required the
disciples to "Make the men sit down," and then added, "Give ye them to
eat."
THE CHURCH AND SUNDAY SCHOOL
When Jesus said, "The son of man came not to be ministered unto but to
minister," he gave to the world one of its clearest visions of the
Kingdom of God, and his own, the highest ideal of life, the one that
produces the noblest type of manhood.
It is the great business of the church to bring all its children and
youth to this true conception of life, and it aims to do this through
the christian home, the Sunday school, young peoples' meetings and
church services. But these alone are not adequate, to reach all the
children and youth of the land, including those of the one million
immigrants, arriving annually from other lands.
Margaret Slattery in the Charm of the Impossible has very truly
remarked:
"Men of all creeds and of none agree, that religious instruction
ought to be given, to all the children and youth of the land, but
the task of attempting it is a tremendous one, and the best manner
of doing it is not clear to all. Some say religious instruction
should be given in the home. This is usually done, in the
intelligent christian home; but there are many homes, where it is
impossible, and others indisposed. The fact that the church has
seen, as if with a new vision, the method of Jesus, the Great
Teacher of all men, reveals itself more clearly in the Sunday
school, than in any other department of its work. There it attempts
the task of religious education by instruction from the Bible, and
endeavors to inspire the child, youth and man with the purest and
greatest motives for action."
MAKE THE PUBLIC, A BIBLE SCHOOL
There is, however, no instrumentality in our country, so convenient and
favorable for giving all the children and youth of our land a general
knowledge of the Bible, as the public school. The Bible is the
embodiment of all lofty ideals, and when it is daily read in all of our
schools, there is in them a uniform standard of morals. Schools, that
neglect or suppress the daily reading of the Bible, do not keep the
vision of those attending them on the christian ideal, or develop the
christian motive in them, during the most impressionable period of their
lives.
The Bible is the light of the intellect, the fore runner of
civilization, the charter of true liberty and secret of national
greatness. The Bible is the one, all-important book for the Freedmen and
their children. Its weekly use, in the church and Sunday school, is to
be appreciated and promoted; but the home and the public school are the
golden places, where its daily use should be required, and the
opportunity be magnified.
American patriotism relies on the public school, conducted with moral
and social aims, as the one pre-eminent, assimilating agency to bind
together the older and newer elements of our population, in a common
devotion to our common country. It has been "America's greatest civil
glory and chief civil hope." The enthusiasm, that led to its
establishment, was well nigh sacred. It needs to day the support of a
public spirit, that will insist on the restoration of the daily reading
of the Bible, as the basis of moral instruction in it.
Concerning its educational value President Woodrow Wilson has recently
very truthfully said, "The educational value of the Bible is, that it
both awakens the spirit to its finest and only true action, and
acquaints the student with the noblest body of literature in existence;
a body of literature, having in it more mental and imaginative stimulus,
than any other body of writings. A man has deprived himself of the best
there is in the world, who has deprived himself of the Bible."
How true to day is Paul's description of the people that were living
without the Bible in his day. He describes them as "filled with all
unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness;
full of envy, murder, deceit, haters of God, despiteful, proud,
boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents, without
understanding, unmerciful."[4]
Our own and every heathen land furnishes abundant proofs, that whenever
the gracious promises of the Bible are gratefully received, the proud
become humble, the disobedient dutiful, the drunkard sober, the
dishonest, honorable; the profligate, prudent; and the miserable become
happy. Nothing else has ever done this, but the gospel of Christ always
does it, when gratefully received.
ENCOURAGING MOVEMENTS
The legislature of Pennsylvania, in 1913, restored the use of the Bible
in the public schools of that state, by a statute requiring the daily
reading of at least ten verses of the Bible, in the hearing of all the
pupils under every teacher, and making a neglect of this duty a proper
cause, for the suspension of the teacher.
The National Reform Association at its last meeting in Portland, Oregon,
in 1913, resolved to raise $25,000, for the purpose of undertaking to
place a copy of the Bible, in every public school in the land, from
which it may have been excluded; and to aid in keeping it, where it is
now adopted, as the standard of moral instruction.
Commissioner Claxton, in welcoming the members of the council of church
Boards of Education, representing fourteen denominations, at their third
meeting in Washington, D. C., in January 1914, very correctly stated the
leadership of the church in the educational work of our country, and the
importance of its continued relation to it, in the following language:
"The church has been the leader in educational development, at a
time when the state was unable and unwilling to pay the large cost
for education. Honor should be given the church for its splendid,
formative work in education, during the time the state was occupied
in building up its political relations. It is indeed a happy thing,
that the church is so deeply interested in education, as to maintain
national agencies, known as boards."
In regard to the secondary schools he prophetically added, "The day will
come, when the Bible will be read in the public schools, just as any
other book. There is no good reason, why the Bible should not have its
rightful place, in our public school curriculum."
The Gideons, an organization among traveling salesmen, are endeavoring
to place a copy of the Bible in every bedroom of all the public hotels
in the United States. At the end of 1913 they had supplied bibles for
220,000 rooms, and had reached all but three states, Utah, Nevada and
Washington.
These are movements in the right direction and suggest the proper
attitude of every christian parent, teacher and legislator. Do not
hesitate to advocate the daily reading of the Bible, and the employment
of christian teachers, in all the public schools, provided for the
Freedman and his children.
"There's a dear and precious book,
Though it's worn and faded now,
Which recalls those happy days of long ago;
When I stood at mother's knee
With her hand upon my brow,
And I heard her voice in gentle tones and low.
Blessed book, precious book
On thy dear old tear-stained leaves I love to look;
Thou art sweeter day by day,
As I walk the narrow way,
That leads at last, to that bright home above."
--M. B. Williams.
[4] Rom. 1. 27.
XLVIII
A HALF-CENTURY OF BIBLE SUPPRESSION IN A NATION, OR FRANCE, DURING THE
PERIOD, 1572 TO 1795.
THEISM, DEISM, PHILOSOPHISM.--APPEAL FOR BREAD.--MORAL AND FINANCIAL
BANKRUPTCY.--FIRST POPULAR ASSEMBLY.--REPUBLIC OF FRANCE.--REIGN OF
TERROR.--PEOPLE UNPREPARED FOR FREEDOM.--INSURRECTION OF
WOMEN.--RESULTS.--LAND OF JOHN CALVIN.--LAFAYETTE.--ROMANISM, BEHIND THE
TIMES.--HUMAN REASON, BLIND.--LIGHT, LIFE AND LIBERTY.
"The entrance of thy word giveth light, it giveth understanding to
the simple. Open thou mine eyes, that I may behold wondrous things
out of thy law."--David.
An American citizen does not need to go to far-off India or Africa to
learn how people live without the Bible. Every heathen nation, living in
ignorance and degradation furnishes a practical illustration. This
illustration may be found by visiting the countries on the other side of
the southern boundary line of the United States, where for several
centuries under dominant catholic influence the Bible has been a
forbidden book in the few public educational institutions of the
country. The result may now be seen in the general prevalence of
ignorance, poverty and oppression; the ownership of land limited to a
comparatively few persons, corruption and rapacity on the part of public
officials, general improvement checked and the country impoverished by
frequent insurrections and revolutions, that indicate incapacity for
stable and prosperous self-government.
France, however, once made the actual experiment of suppressing the
Bible and Bible readers for two centuries, during the period from 1572
to 1795, while the Reformation of the 16th century was progressing in
Germany, Switzerland, Britain and other countries.
Thomas Carlyle, in his history of the French Revolution, that occurred
1788 to 1795, has very dramatically portrayed scenes and incidents,
which become pregnant with new and thrilling interest, when briefly
summarized to illustrate the folly and sad consequences of suppressing
the Bible and Bible readers in that nation. The historic value of these
incidents should make this story interesting and instructive to every
student and teacher.
ATHEISM, DEISM, PHILOSOPHISM
Louis XV, king of France, at the end of a reign of fifty-nine years,
dies unwept and unmourned in 1774. Affirming there is no God or heaven,
at the beginning of his long reign, and not permitting any of his
courtiers to mention the word "death" in his presence, he abandons
himself to a life of forbidden pleasure, humiliates and scandalizes the
people of France instead of enlightening and elevating them. He inherits
and maintains the tyrannous and oppressive feudal system, that prevents
the common people from acquiring ownership of land. His career has been
described, "as an hideous abortion and mistake of nature, the use and
meaning of which is not yet known." The persecution of Bible readers, or
Protestants, is begun with a general massacre at Paris, on the
anniversary of Saint Bartholomew in 1572. Those who escape the bloody
horrors of that occasion, are commanded to emigrate from France, on pain
of death. The following events occur, during the latter part of the
last half century, preceding the French Revolution.
The leaders in thought are the shameless and selfish infidels and
deists, Voltaire, Rosseau, Robespierre and others like them. Paris
admires her deistical authors and makes them the objects of
hero-worship. They are called "Philosophs," and Bible readers must not
stand in their way. Philosophism sits joyful in glittering saloons, is
the pride of nobles and promises a coming millennium. Crushing and
scattering the last elements of the Protestant Reformation, they blindly
and falsely talk of a Reformed France. The people applaud, instead of
suppressing these false teachers. The highest dignitaries of the church
waltz with quack-prophets, pick pockets and public women. The invisible
world of Satan is displayed and the smoke of its torment goes up
continually. No provision is made for the general education of the
common people and yet the government is fast becoming bankrupt.
In 1774 Louis XVI succeeds his father, as the last King of France. He is
youthful, uneducated, imbecile. He is wedded to a giddy superficial
queen. Both are infidels and incapable of any intelligent acts of
government. With imbecility and credulity on the throne, corruption
continues to prevail among high and low. Instead of individual thrift
and general prosperity, poverty and famine prevail throughout the land.
APPEAL FOR BREAD
In 1775, impelled by a scarcity of bread, a vast multitude from the
surrounding country gather around the royal palace at Versailles, their
great number, sallow faces and squalid appearance indicating widespread
wretchedness and want. Their appeal for royal assistance is plainly
written, in "legible hieroglyphics in their winged raggedness." The
young king appears on the balcony and they are permitted to see his
face. If he does not read their written appeal, he sees it in their
pitiable condition. The response of the king is an order, that two of
them be hanged. The rest are sent back to their miserable hovels with a
warning not to give the king any more trouble.
Mirabeau, a French writer, describes a similar scene that occurs later
that same year. "The savages descending in torrents from the mountains
our people are ordered not to go out. The bagpipes begin to play, but
the dance in a quarter of an hour is interrupted by a battle. The cries
of children and infirm persons incite them, as the rabble does when dogs
fight. The men, like frightful wild animals, are clad in coarse woollen
jackets with large girdles of leather studded with copper nails. Their
gigantic stature is heightened by high wooden clogs. Their faces are
haggard and covered with long greasy hair. The upper part of their
visage waxes pale, while the lower distorts itself into a cruel laugh,
or the appearance of a ferocious impatience."
These proceedings are a protest of the common people, of whom there are
twenty millions, against government by blind-man's-buff. These people,
paying their taxes, are protesting against corrupt officials depriving
them of their salt and sugar, in order to maintain royal and official
extravagance. Stumbling too far prepares the way for a general overturn.
MORAL AND FINANCIAL BANKRUPTCY
There is no visible government. Its principal representative is the
Chancellor of the Exchequer, or king's treasurer; and "Deficit of
revenue" is his constant announcement, to the feudal lords, who exercise
local government. In 1787 Cardinal Lomenie becomes the king's new
treasurer. His predecessor has been ousted because the treasury was
bankrupt, but his unscrupulous methods continue to be adopted because no
better ones can be devised. As late as the next year the cardinal
demands the infliction of the death penalty on all Protestant preachers.
The period has become one of spiritual and moral bankruptcy. The Bible
has been suppressed and blind human reason has been exalted. There is no
bond of morality to hold the people together. Men become slaves of their
lusts and appetites, and society, a mass of sensuality, rascality and
falsehood. Infidelity, despotism and general bankruptcy prevail every
where. There is no royal authority and the palace of justice at
Versailles is closed.
The poverty and misery, experienced by the peasants in their comfortless
hovels, awakens a feeling of discontent and protest. This feeling of
protest, among the poor and illiterate, permeates upward and becomes
more intense as it proceeds. In this unorganized protest the hand of one
is arrayed against his fellow man. The common people are arrayed against
the nobles; the nobles, against each other, and both nobles and people
are bitter against the government. Townships are arrayed against
townships and towns against towns. Gibbets are erected everywhere and a
dozen wretched bodies may be seen hanging in a row. The mayor of Vaison
is buried alive; the mayor of Etampes, defending a supply of food, is
trampled to death by a mob exasperated with hunger, and the mayor of
Saint Denis is hung at Lanterne. The ripening grain is left ungathered
in the fields, and the fruit of the vineyards is trodden under foot. The
bloody cruelty of universal madness prevails everywhere.
A frightful hail storm, that destroys the grain and fruits of the year
at the beginning of harvest, is followed by a severe drought in 1788.
Foulon, an official grown gray in treachery and iniquity, when asked,
"What will the people do?" makes response,
"The people may eat grass."
The royal government is now described, as existing only for its own
benefit; without right, except possession; and now also without might.
"It foresees nothing, and has no purpose, except to maintain its own
existence. It is wholly a vortex in which vain counsels, falsehoods,
intrigues and imbecilities whirl like withered rubbish in the meeting of
the winds."
Commerce of all kinds, as far as possible, has come to a dead pause, and
the hand of the industrious is idle. Many of the people subsist on
meal-husks and boiled grass. Armed Brigands begin to make their
appearance and a "reign of terror," is ushered in.
FIRST POPULAR ASSEMBLY
On May 4, 1789, the first popular assembly meets at Versailles, more
churches than other buildings having been used as polling places, at
this first election in France. The assembly is composed of nobles,
clergy and commoners, the last representing the people.
Six "parlements," consisting only of nobles, have previously been
convened by the king's treasurer, and as often have been dismissed by
the king, because they were not willing to tax themselves more, to
increase the revenues of the king. In this assembly, there are six
hundred commoners, who, when the king dismissed the assembly, under the
leadership of Mirabeau refused to be dismissed, and bind themselves by
an oath, to remain in session, until they have framed and adopted a
constitution.
This act of the commoners is the beginning of the French Revolution.
This Revolution has been defined, as "An open, violent rebellion and
victory of unimprisoned anarchy, against corrupt worn-out authority;
breaking prison, raging uncontrollable and enveloping a world in fever
frenzy, until the mad forces are made to work toward their object, as
sane and regulated ones."
These commoners are shut out of their hall and their signatures are
attached to their oath in a tennis court. They are later joined by
Lafayette, the friend of Washington, and by other nobles and 149 Roman
clergy. They are treated offensively, but cannot be offended. They are
animated with a desire to prepare a constitution, that will regenerate
France, abolish the old order and usher in a new one.
Paris, always very demonstrative under excitement, grows wild with
enthusiasm for the commoners, and others, who compose their first
National Assembly. They go simmering and dancing, thinking they are
shaking off something old and advancing to something new. They have hope
in their hearts, the hope of an unutterable universal golden age, and
nothing but freedom, equality and brotherhood on their lips. Their
hopes, however, are based on nothing but the "vapory vagaries of
unenlightened human reason," instead of the unchanging truths and
principles of Divine Revelation. They experience an indescribable
terror, of the unnumbered hordes of Europe rallying against them, in
addition to the constant dread of their own cruel, armed brigands and
inhuman official executioners.
Unfortunately the commoners had not been previously trained in the art
of statesmanship, and after a long session, that lasted until September
14, 1791, the constitution then proposed was still incomplete; and had
to be submitted to another assembly to be completed. They however
accomplish some things worthy of note. In 1789 they abolish feudalism,
root and branch; and the payment of tithes. The latter meant the
separation of church and state, in matters of support and government;
and this event seemed to the deists, like a time of Pentecost.
REPUBLIC OF FRANCE
On Sept. 22, 1792 the Republic of France is declared. On Jan. 1, 1793,
King Louis XVI, who had become a runaway king, and on October 16th
following, Marie Antoinette, the queen, are executed. These events are
followed by another reign of terror, the plundering of churches and a
war with Spain.
The Republic of France, when first established, proves to be one of a
mob, robbing and murdering those, who had property. The people become
despotic as soon as they have disposed of their useless king, and queen.
There were only nine prisoners in the Bastille, when it was destroyed,
but now in two days and under the name of liberty, eight thousand
innocent persons are massacred in prison. Walter Scott in his Life of
Napoleon adds: "Three hundred thousand other persons, one third of whom
are women, are ruthlessly committed to prison," the executioners
usurping the place of the judges and, without trial, "pronouncing
sentence against them." Their watchwords, while the Revolution
continues, are, "Unity, Brotherhood or Death." These principles are
enforced by edicts of exile, imprisonment, or death by the guillotine.
REIGN OF TERROR
This reign of terror continues until July 28, 1794, when the cruel
hearted Robespierre and his consorts are condemned to death on the
guillotine, a cunningly devised beheading machine, on which he had been
practicing with innocent and helpless victims, for twenty-two years.
In 1795 a new constitution is adopted, and after the suppression of a
number of bloody riots and insurrections that year, by the young
Napoleon with his batteries of artillery, public order is restored and
the Revolution is regarded as ended.
PEOPLE UNPREPARED FOR FREEDOM
These are but a few of the many riotous and disorderly events that
occurred in France just at the close of the American Revolution, in
which Lafayette co-operated with so much honor to himself and his
country. These suffice to show how unprepared the people were for any
great or concerted movement, and how destitute the nation was of men,
fit to serve as leaders in thought and action, until the rise of
Napoleon with his genius for military affairs. Mirabeau, their first
trusted leader, dies before the end of their first assembly. Lafayette,
a prominent member of the first assembly, when made military commander
at Paris, finds the rabble will not listen to his counsels, and he
resigns. In 1782 he makes another attempt to re-instate authority in
Paris, and the attempt proving a failure he retires from further
participation in public affairs.
No one is able to anticipate the next movement of the populace, or win
and hold their confidence, any length of time. One event follows another
"explosively." Men, fearing to remain longer in their huts or homes,
fugitively rush with wives and children, they know not whither. Under
the leadership of the infidels, Rosseau and Robespierre, they experience
terrors such as had not fallen on any nation, since the fall of
Jerusalem.
INSURRECTION OF WOMEN
An insurrection of women is suddenly started in Paris, in October 1789,
at the call of a young woman who seizes a drum and cries aloud, "Descend
O Mothers; Descend ye Judiths to food and revenge!" Ten thousand women,
quickly responding to this call, press through the military guard to the
armory in Hotel de Ville, and when supplied with arms march on foot to
Versailles, and, taking the king and his family captives, bring them and
the National Assembly to Paris the next day, October 5th, followed by a
good natured crowd, estimated at 200,000. Now that the king occupies the
palace of the Tuileries at Paris, the people hungry, but hopeful, shake
hands in the happiest mood, and assure one another "the New Era has been
born."
RESULTS
The principal results of the French Revolution may be briefly summarized
as follows:
Good riddance of a half century line, of worse than useless, atheistic
kings and queens; the suppression of the tyrannous feudal system, that
prevented the common people from acquiring ownership of land, the
suppression of the Bastille, a feudal prison and robber den, and of the
guillotine; the suppression of religious persecution, and the separation
of church and state in matters of government and support; and the
adoption of a constitution, that provides for the people to have a
voice, in the management of the affairs of the government.
LAND OF CALVIN AND LAFAYETTE
France is the land that gave birth and education to John Calvin, the
pioneer advocate of civil and religious liberty, and in his day the good
work of the Reformers had gained an encouraging foot hold in his native
land, but after the lapse of a century of cruel extermination, one
looks in vain to see the expected fruits of his great work. A century,
of Bible suppression and persecution of Bible readers, has left the
people in ignorance of the Word of God, which is the Light and Life of
the World, and in its place catholicism and infidelity, like hoar frosts
or destructive black clouds, have spread over the land. Oppressed with a
feeling of need and seeking something not clearly defined, the people
grope in darkness and stumble on events, as if playing blind-man's-buff.
The one hundred and forty-nine Roman clergy in the first assembly are so
lacking in intelligence and patriotism, they exert no special influence
worthy of note.
Very different were the scenes that Lafayette witnessed, during the
period he co-operated with the colonies of America, in their struggles
for liberty and independence. Here he met many of the descendants of the
very people, whom the bitter persecutions in France had driven to this
country. Many of them, as early settlers in New York, Pennsylvania,
Delaware and Virginia, exerted a considerable influence, in moulding the
character of the American people. He found all the people engaging
intelligently in the cause of freedom. Their leaders knew what they were
endeavoring to achieve, and every movement was characterized by good
order, patriotism and superior wisdom.
ROMANISM BEHIND THE TIMES
This historic contrast of the good fruits of the open Bible among the
people in America, with the sad and deplorable results of Romanism and
infidelity in France, previous to the great revolutions, that occurred
in both countries in the days of Lafayette, is certainly very
interesting and instructive.
Other countries in which Romanism has been dominant and the Bible
suppressed, as Ireland, Spain, Mexico, the Philippine Islands and the
states of Central and South America, show a similar unfavorable
contrast. In South America, where Romanism has suppressed the Bible for
centuries, only two percent of all the college students in 1913,
according to Bishop Kensolving of the Episcopal church in Brazil,
"affirm their allegiance to any religious faith."
In Spain, according to a recent issue of the Herald of Madrid, there are
30,000 towns and rural villages, that are yet without schools of any
kind. There are thousands of the people whose homes can be reached only
by bridle-paths. They lack schools, roads and railroads. Seventy-six per
cent of the children and youth are unable to read and write. In Spain,
Mexico and South America, Romanism has proven itself to be, but little
more than a pious form of paganism, an oppressive and widespread relic
of ancient, pagan Rome.
During the two hundred years preceding the Revolution in France no one
was ever persecuted for being an atheist, deist, infidel or Roman
catholic, but all of these united in suppressing the general use of the
Bible and the presence of Bible readers, to the great injury of the
public welfare. If that country had not foolishly and wickedly
exterminated the people, that were fast becoming Bible readers at the
time of the Reformation, it would no doubt have been saved from many of
the blind and bloody scenes of the period of the Revolution.
Romanism, by suppressing the Bible, encourages ignorance, superstition
and bigotry. It also tends to break down the sanctity of the Sabbath as
the Lord's day; winks at the liquor traffic, and by its confessional
strikes at the very foundation of free manhood, freedom of thought and
liberty of conscience.
This contrast, shows clearly that Romanism, whatever good it may have
done, is now many centuries behind the times. This is a very serious
defect. It has the Bible, a Latin version called the Vulgate which it
claims as its own. It has the New Testament and for that reason it is
classed as a christian religion. It has however, opposed and suppressed
the reading of the Bible by the people, lest the spread of intelligence,
through a personal knowledge of its contents, would lessen the respect
and obedience of the people to the false claims of the pope, clerical
orders and priesthood.
Several generations of slave holders in this country gave this same
reason, as a good one for not providing educational facilities for their
slaves, fearing that intelligence, which greatly increases the value of
the workman, would tend to lessen their authority over them. It serves
to illustrate the old worn-out adage, that "might makes right," instead
of the newer and better one, "God is with the right."
The ability to rule, in both cases, is based on the ignorance, instead
of the intelligence of the subject. When thus expressed in plain words,
it certainly does not sound very creditable, or as if it were the best
policy. It is not uncharitable to say, that as a policy, it is "out of
date." Our Lord Jesus was a teacher as well as Saviour. He went from
place to place, teaching and encouraging the people to "search the
scriptures," that they might know, what to believe concerning Him, in
order to inherit eternal life and "have life more abundantly."
This is one of the good features of Protestantism. It is based on a
personal knowledge of the Bible and the general intelligence of the
people. Its motto is "Let the Light Shine." Truth is mighty and in the
end will prevail, for "justice and judgment are the habitation of God's
throne."
HUMAN REASON BLIND
When the Bible was suppressed in France and human reason exalted, all
the infernal elements of a depraved human nature held high carnival.
Enthusiasm and fanaticism, the allies of ignorance and superstition,
caused the people to think and act wildly. If in his heart there is no
devout faith, to develop the sense of personal responsibility and duty,
man becomes ready for any evil under the sun. Sin, however, has been and
always will be the parent of misery. "The wages of sin is death." This
one terrific experiment, of a half-century in France without the Bible,
should be enough for a thousand worlds, through countless years.
LIGHT, LIFE AND LIBERTY
The life-giving word of Divine Truth is the salt, that preserves
learning and a sense of personal obligation to do that which is right,
amid the changing scenes of time and life. Learning is knowledge based
on fact, and not on fiction or unbelief. Duty as a practical matter has
regard for that "righteousness, that exalteth a nation," as well as the
salvation that saves the individual.
"Ye shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free." A knowledge
of the truth tends to produce that self-restraint, that is essential to
freedom; and that sense of duty and right, that results in faithful
public service. Genuine liberty has never been realized, where there has
not been also an intelligent self-restraint.
The fundamental principle of the Reformation was expressed by Luther as
follows: "The Word of God, the whole Word of God, and nothing but the
Word of God."
This was based on the following passage from Augustine in the fourth
century: "I have learned to pay to the canonical books alone, the honor
of believing very firmly, that none of them has erred; as to others, I
believe not what they say, for the simple reason, that it is they who
say it;" and the previous saying of Paul, "Should we, or an angel from
heaven, preach any other gospel unto you, than that which we have
preached unto you, let him be accursed, for it is written, the just
shall live by faith."
This principle of the Reformation appears in our common form of
attestation, "The truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth;" and
in the patriotic motto of Pennsylvania, "Virtue, Liberty and
Independence."
Think on these things. Search the scriptures. Know that the Bible is the
Word of God to all people, that it is the sword of the Spirit, and the
Truth that makes you free. The Master hath need and calleth for thee. Be
of good courage. Be loyal to the truth and let it shine through you.
THE END
INDEX
Ahrens, Bertha L. 127, 154, 289, 300, 310
Aid Society 300
Allen, Fredonia 149
Allotment of lands 3, 154
Alverson, Noah S. 289, 342
Apiary 294
Arch of Character 257
Arnold, Olivia, Mrs. R. D. 378
Baird, Phil C. D. D. 226, 325
Bartholomew St. Massacre 77
Bashears, Charles 287
Beatty, Doll 353
Bees, Double Swarm 299
Becker, Mary O. 141
Benediction, Endeavor 259
Bethel, M. L. 226, 353
Bethesda Mission 70
Bibbs, Samuel S. 151;
Lee, Charles 287-9
Bible, first book, 71;
Cause of Reformation, 76;
in Public School, 35, 391;
Memorized, 173;
Uplifting Power, 181;
Only Standard of Morality 406
Biddle University 70
Boggs, V. P. Mrs. 90, 158
Boll Weevil 218, 290
Books, Value of 256
Book Marks 267
Boys' Hall 135, 204, 217
Brasco, Livingston 192
Brackeen, Rosetta 275
Brown, Lucretia C. 151, 224;
Matt 379
Buds of Promise 146
Buchanan, Solomon 160, 224, 300, 322
Building the Temple 227
Burrows, Emma 137
Butler, William Rev. 148, 183, 226, 290, 370;
Elijah 378, 381
Calvin, John 72, 427
Campbell, Anna E. 108, 112, 119
Candidates for Ministry 276, 342
Carroll, William H. Rev. 159, 224, 289, 327
Character, Formed 33, 157, 227, 241
Chautauqua, First 277
Cherokees 7, 19
Chickasaws 7
Choctaws 7, 14
Claypool, John Mrs. 159, 318
Clear Creek 11
Churches: Beaver Dam, Oak Hill (101), New Hope, St. Paul, Mt. Gilead 345
Colbert, Richard D. Rev. 146, 353, 373
Concert, Closing 326
Constitutional Amendments 49
Cowan, Edward L. Rev. 91
Craig, Carrie 137
Crabtree, James R. 277, 353
Crawford, Dan 40
Creek Indians 8
Crittenden, Henry 101, 109, 377
Crusaders 67
Crowe, Carrie, Mrs. M. E. 116, 137, 142
Daly, Sam 200
Decision Days 183, 192
Doaksville 29
Domestic Training 198
Donaldson, Mary A. 160, 321
Donors, Oak Hill 305
Early, Lou K. 137, 193
Eaton, Adelia M. 155, 159, 288, 315
Education 62, 93
Edwards, John Rev. 15, 22, 105
Elliott, Alice Lee, David IV, 212
Elliot Hall II, 205, 208, 210, 326
Emancipation Day 42, 292
Farewell 331
Farmer's Institutes 287
Fields, Rilla 137
Fisher, Jessie 137
Flag, Salute 268
Flickinger, R. E. and Mrs. 155, 160, 308
Flournoy, William R. 329, 353
Folsom, Iserina, Martha, 137, 149;
Samuel, 150, 160, 224;
Simon 330, 378
Forest Church 125, 130
Fort Towson 28
France, Bible Suppressed 418
France, Republic of 425
Freedmen, Homeless, 42;
Choctaw 65
Fruits, Bulletin 256, 330
Gaston, John Rev. 91
Gideons 417
Girls Hall, Weimer Photo 109, 132, 210
Gladman, Samuel Rev. 373
Going to School 274
Gordon, Mary, Lela, Inez 137, 275
Gossard, Verne 137
Graces at Meals 279
Grandfather Clause 51
Green, Fannie 137
Hall, Malinda A. 149, 224, 277, 289, 320
Harris, Nannie, Sam, 149, 300, 379;
New Home of Catherine 406
Hartford, Eliza 107, 115, 121
Haymaker, Edward G. and Mrs. 108, 134, 339, 379
Haymaker, Priscilla G. 108, 111, 118
Hawley, Rev. F. W. 301
Headache 299
Health Hints 298
Hen House 295
Highland Park College 199
Hodges, Celestine 147, 149
Homer, Wiley Rev. 148, 226, 277, 302, 360
Homer, Hattie, Mary, Susan 147
Homes Representative 406
Huguenots of France 75
Hunter, Anna, Mattie 116, 137
Huss, John 70
Idleness 247
Improvements 166, 202
Independent Ownership of Land 78, 193, 197
Indian Schools and Churches 15
Indian Territory, Slavery 7, 19, 106
Inquisition, The 76
Intolerance, Rise and Fall 408
Investments 272
Johnson, Isaac 277, 291, 378
Jones, Edward T. 149;
Josie, 137, 379;
Fannie, Marie, Martha 147, 149
Key Words 260
Kingsbury, Cyrus, Rev. 28, 65, 105
Knox, John 75
Lafayette, Land of 427
Land Funds 303
Lee, Lilly E. 137
Liberty, Civil, Religious 81, 431
Licentiates 276
Lincoln, Abraham 172
Lincoln University 71, 88
Log House, Old 109, 257
Luther, Martin 72, 431
Massacres of Bible Readers 77
Maxims, Character, Success 241
McBride, James F. and Mrs. 131, 136
McGuire, James 117
McNiell, Sadie B. 224
Meadows, Plant S., Rev. 326, 353
Memory Trained 175
Methodism, Rise of 80
Ministers, Dearth of, Teachers 340, 342
Moore, Ruby 160
Mottoes, Wall 259
Murchison, Fidelia 148, 287
Mexico 418
Negro, American, Voices 39, 59, 96
Newspapers, First 82
Normals, Summer 275
Oak Hill, Church, School, 12, 101, 103;
Groups in 1902 and 1903 299
Orchestra, Buchanan, Flournoy, Dixon, Ashley and Alonza McLellan,
Clarence and Herbert Peete, Harris, Smith 274
Painting 297
Park College 194
Perkins, Charles, Fidelia 149, 355, 378
Perry, Ora Maxie 160, 294
Picnics 282
Pig Pen 203, 295
Pledges, Endeavor, Self-help 169
Porto Rico 394
Prayers, Forms of 280
Presbyterian Church, Board 84, 90
Presbytery, Indian, Meetings 17, 282
Presbytery, Kiamichi; at right, Homer, Onque, Bibbs, Alverson, Bridges,
Starks, Crabtree, Frazier, Harris, Richard; 3d row, Elisha Butler,
Mills, Wm. Butler, Edmunds, Lewis 335, 352
Prince, Caroline, Henry 406
Pulling Stumps, Percy, Ashley, Alonza, Dee, Mark, Herbert, Thomas 207, 298
Reformation, The 72, 392
Reid, Alexander, Rev. 15, 23, 105, 146
Richard, Everett 224
Romanism, Behind Times 428
Rules, Mottoes 259
Rutherford, Matthew 121
Sands, Rev. Marie Jones 148
Schools, Colonial 395
Scott, Mary 137, 299
Seats, Celestine 275
Seed Corn, Cotton, Improved 298
Self-control, Education 174, 244, 247
Self-help, Support 163, 185
Shaw, Sadie 137
Shoals, John Ross, Johnson 149, 277, 287, 378
Shoals, Virginia Wofford, Perry 148, 160
Study, Course 268
Success, What, How Attained 260
Sunday Schools 80, 271, 413
Sweepers, Rosetta, Mary, Helen, Beatrice, Emma, Evelina, Ellen 274
Synod of Canadian 382
Spain 429
Teachers, Christian, Aim of 36, 266, 270
Teachers in 1899, Mr. and Mrs. Haymaker, Anna Hunter (sitting), Mrs. M.
E. Crowe, Visitor, Josie Jones; photo by Mattie Hunter 379
Uncle Wallace 25
Uplifting Influences, Inventions 65, 82
Vacation Workers 188
Valliant 12
Voice Culture 157
Wallace, Sarah L. 160
Waldo, Waldenses 69
Washington, Booker T. 199
Watt, Lizzie 150
Webster, Daniel 410
Weimer, Mary I. 159, 193, 275, 318
Weith, Rev. Charles C. 278
Westminister Assembly 79
Wiclif, John 70
Williams, Henry, Virginia 147, 149
Wit, Humor 257
Wheelock Academy 21
Wolcott, Jo Lu 159, 320
Working by Rule 162, 208, 264
Women's Miss. Soc. Oak Hill, 304;
Synod 386
* * * * *
CORRECTIONS
Page 208, Line 22, read "pigpen," instead of "loghouse."
Page 403, Line 9, read "1812." instead of "1892."
End of Project Gutenberg's The Choctaw Freedmen, by Robert Elliott Flickinger