model of the Lord's Prayer as the nature of the case will admit. And in all this he is bound to respect the conscientious scruples of the parents of the children before him, as he would have his own conscientious scruples respected by them in return; always, of course, taking care that in the means he uses to show his respect for the consciences of others he does not violate the law of his own conscience.

In regard to the use of the Bible in schools, two observations occur here. If the committee prescribes or the teacher wishes to have the Bible read in school, it should not be forced upon any children whose parents have any objections whatever to its use. In most cases the teacher will have no difficulty with the parents on this subject if he conducts with proper kindness and courtesy.

CONNECTICUT.

Charles D. Hine, secretary of the State board of education, Hartford, Conn., under date of July 17, 1896, writes:

In most schools of the State the Bible is read, or some part of the Bible recited; often it is a portion of the Psalter. There is, however, no uniform practice. In most of the best schools the only opening exercise is the Lord's Prayer or some devotional exercise, with singing. As I have said, however, in most schools the Bible is read and always has been read. Generally there is no objection to it.

Hartford, Connecticut's largest city, has a rule for Bible reading, which, it may be unnecessary to say, is observed.

Bridgeport and Meriden (with a population of 48,856 and 21,230, respectively) have each a carefully observed rule requiring Bible reading. Although left to the teacher's discretion, so far as the reports received show, in the other cities of the State, Bible reading is carefully observed in all of them, with one exception, and in many of the schools of that one.

The early legislation of Connecticut is similar to, when not identical with, that of Massachusetts.

From the summary of the system of public instruction in Connecticut at the opening of the eighteenth century, made by Dr. Henry Barnard, notice the following:

It is an obligation on every parent and guardian of children "not to suffer so much barbarism in any of their families as to have a single child or apprentice unable to read the Holy Word of God and the good law of the colony," and also "to bring them up to some lawful calling or employment," under a penalty for each offense.

NEW YORK.

The great metropolis of the Empire State has a positive law concerning Bible reading in public schools. It stands as follows:

RULE FOR BIBLE READING IN SCHOOLS IN THE CITY OF NEW YORK.

[All schools to be opened by reading the Bible.]

SEC. 134. All the schools of this city under the jurisdiction of the board of education shall be opened with reading a portion of the Holy Scriptures, without note or comment.

Further instructions relating to this subject in the city are:

SEC. 1062. No school shall be entitled to or receive any portion of the school moneys in which the religious doctrines or tenets of any particular Christian or other religious sect shall be taught, inculcated, or practiced, or in which any book or books containing compositions favorable or prejudicial to the particular doctrines or tenets of any particular Christian or other religious sect shall be used, or which shall teach the doctrines or tenets of any other religious sect, or which shall refuse to permit the visits and examinations provided for in this chapter. But nothing herein contained shall authorize the board of education to exclude the Holy Scriptures, without note or comment, or any selections therefrom, from any of the schools provided for by this chapter; but it shall not be competent for the said board of education to decide what version, if any, of the Holy Scriptures, without note or comment, shall be used in any of the schools: Provided, That

nothing herein contained shall be so construed as to violate the rights of conscience as secured by the constitution of this State and of the United States.

The rule for Brooklyn, which she has observed with no record to the contrary since her schools were established, is as follows:

Part III, section 5.—(At the opening of school.) A portion of the Holy Scriptures shall be read aloud by one of the teachers in each department, without note or comment.

Returns from 91 school officers, residing in 48 of the 59 counties of New York, are received. About one-half of them, as school commissioners, speak for a section of a county each. Fifty-three of these report Bible reading as an opening exercise in all of their schools. Two others think the custom is universal, it being the expressed wish of the superintendents to have the Bible read. Twelve others report that the Bible is read in nearly all or in a very large per cent of their schools, and the statement is generally made that the custom is as old as the schools. Three report written or unwritten local rules prohibiting Bible reading. Nine others report no Bible reading. In these schools, with two exceptions, it is stated that the Bible was formerly read in them. Three state that the Bible is read less than formerly, while two report that the custom seems to be growing, a larger per cent of teachers in the counties reading the Bible than formerly. In the rest the Bible is read to some extent. As teachers do not usually report concerning this custom, data are not so easily obtained nor so reliable as on some less important subjects. The reports show unmistakably that New York in its public schools is a Bible-reading State.

The early records of New York afford many proofs that its tendencies were not very different from those of its more eastern sisters. The following facts and statements are found in Morris's History of the Character of our Civil Institutions: The first emigrants (to New York) were those who had fled from the severity of religious persecution in the seventeenth century in the French-Belgic provinces, and came with a faith tried in a fiery furnace.

The East India Company, formed in 1621, stipulated that "where emigrants went forth under their auspices and that of the States-General of Holland, it should be their duty to send out a schoolmaster, being a pious member of the church,' whose office it was to instruct the children and preside in their religious meetings on the Sabbath and other days, leading in the devotions, and reading a sermon, until the regular ministry should be established over them.

The first settlers of New Rochelle and West Chester counties were said to have such regard for the sanctity of the Sabbath that they would take up their march of foot Saturday noon for public worship 20 miles away, engage in the services, remain until after midnight, and then take up their homeward way, relieving the monotony and weariness of the journey with the singing of hymns.

An order for the opening and closing exercises of a school at Long Island, adopted October 8, 1682, contains the following:

"ART. 2. When school opens, one of the children shall read the morning prayer as it stands in the catechism, and close with the prayer before dinner; and in the afternoon the same. The evening school shall begin with the Lord's Prayer and

close by singing a psalm."

In a letter written on the 11th of August, 1628, by Rev. Jonas Michaëllus, the first minister of the Dutch Reformed Church in the United States, there is found the following statement:

"We must have no other object than the glory of God in building up His kingdom and the salvation of many souls. As to the natives of this country, I find them entirely savage and wild, proficient in all wickedness, who serve nobody but the devil. Let us, then, leave the parents in their condition, and begin with the children who are still young and place them under the instruction of some experienced and godly schoolmaster, where they may be taught especially in the fundamentals of our Christian religion."

The constitution of the State as formed in 1777, and also as re-formed in 1821, contains the following:

"This convention doth further, in the name and by the authority of the good people of this State, ordain, determine, and declare that the free exercise and enjoyment of religious profession and worship, without discrimination or preference, shall forever hereafter be allowed within this State to all mankind: Provided,

That the liberty of conscience hereby granted shall not be so construed as to excuse acts of licentiousness or justify practices inconsistent with the peace or safety of the State."

In 1838 the legislature of New York, by a vote nearly unanimous, declared that— "In all countries some kind of religion or other has existed in all ages. No people on the face of the globe are without a prevailing national religion." Magistrates have sought in many countries to strengthen civil government by an alliance with some particular religion and an intolerant exclusion of all others. But those who have wielded this formidable power have rendered it a rival instead of an auxiliary to the public welfare-a fetter instead of a protection to the rights of conscience. With us it is wisely ordered that no one religion shall be established by law, but that all persons shall be left free in their choice and in their mode of worship. Still, this is a Christian nation. Ninety-nine hundredths, if not a larger proportion, of our whole population believe in the general doctrines of the Christian religion. Our government depends for its being on the virtue of the people—on that virtue that has its foundation in the morality of the Christian religion; and that religion is the common and prevailing faith of the people. There are, it is true, exceptions to this belief; but general laws are not made for excepted cases. There are to be found, here and there, the world over, individuals who entertain opinions hostile to the common sense of mankind on subjects of honesty, humanity, and decency; but it would be a kind of republicanism with which we are not acquainted in this country which would require the great mass of mankind to yield to and be governed by this few.

"It is quite unnecessary to enter into a detailed review of all the evidences that Christianity is the common creed of this nation. We know it, and we feel it, as we know and feel any other unquestioned and admitted truth.”

NEW JERSEY.

writes:

C. J. Baxter, superintendent of public instruction, Trenton, N. J., Many boards require the Bible to be read. A few do not. It is read in nearly all of the schools, and has been as far back as I can remember.

Bancroft writes:

The people (of New Jersey) rejoiced under the reign of God, confident that he would beautify the meek with salvation. The motto on the provincial seal was, "Righteousness exalteth a nation."

With this early record it is not surprising to learn that the following rule is to be found in the school laws of the State of New Jersey, 1895, page 45, section 123:

It shall not be lawful for any teacher, trustee, or trustees to introduce into or have performed in any school receiving its proportion of the public money any religious service, ceremony, or forms whatsoever, except reading the Bible and repeating the Lord's Prayer.

Jersey City has the following rule:

The principals of the several departments shall open their schools each morning by reading a portion of the Scriptures, without note or comment.

From 21 reports received, 19 state that the Bible is read in all the schools. Of this number, 12 cities have special laws requiring Bible reading. One report states that it is read in nearly all, and the other that only the Lord's Prayer is used. The rule for the Hoboken schools is:

RULE LVII.

SEC. 81. The opening exercises of each department shall consist of the reading of a chapter out of the Bible (no comments to be made) and repeating the Lord's Prayer. During the above exercises the doors shall be kept closed and good order shall be observed.

RULE LVIII.

SEC. 82. The opening exercises shall close at 9.15 a. m.

The Passaic rule is:

At the opening of the morning session each day they shall read, or cause to be read, without comment, a selection from the Bible. This exercise may be accompanied by singing a hymn and repeating the Lord's Prayer.

In Long Branch City schools are opened with Bible reading and cnanting the Lord's Prayer.

PENNSYLVANIA.

The Book of School Laws and Decisions for the State of Pennsylvania contains the following decisions, page 146, Nos. 114 and 115:

114. The Scriptures come under the head of text-books, and they should not be omitted from the list.

115. Sectarian works and all books of controversial or immoral tendency should be excluded. The common school is no place for controversy or the implanting of the habit of it, either on religious or political subjects, much less for books or lectures of questionable morality.

In the report of the superintendent of the State for the school year ending June 3, 1895, the total number of schools in the State is 18,019. The number in which the Bible is read is 15,780, or more than 87 per cent.

Pennsylvania, taking advantage of this principle for the good of the schools, presents accurate reports upon the subject. Other States may wisely give this item a place in their reports in the interest of character building.

The rule for Bible reading in the schools of Philadelphia is as follows:

At the opening of each session of the schools at least ten verses of the Bible shall be read, without note or comment, to the pupils by the principal, or, in his or her absence, by one of the assistants. A suitable hymn may also be sung.

Of the 50 reports recently received from city and county superintendents in the State of Pennsylvania, 41 state that the Bible is read in all their schools, 1 in all but the primary, 4 that it is read in many of them, and 5 that it is not read at all. These reports show also that Bible reading has been a custom from time immemorial in most of the schools. Only 2 state that it has never been read in them. Few report it as a modern custom three, five, ten, fifteen, twenty, and twentyfive years old. Many schools have special rules requiring the reading; some, the unwritten law of Christian community; others, custom, public sentiment, inclination of teachers, etc.

Maine, with her supreme court decision; Massachusetts, with her model State law; Rhode Island, with her watchfulness for the morality and virtue of teachers and pupils; New York, with her law forbidding the exclusion of the Scriptures; Pennsylvania, with her requirement that Bible reading should be reported by all teachers; these, and all the other States of the North Atlantic Division, are in accord with the great jurist, Rufus Choate, who declared:

We would have the Bible read not only for its authoritative revelations and its commands and exactions, obligatory yesterday, to-day, and forever, but for its English, for its literature, for its pathos, for its dim imagery, its sayings of consolation and wisdom and universal truth.

SOUTH ATLANTIC DIVISION.

DELAWARE,

Hon. C. C. Tindal, State superintendent of schools, Dover, Del., writes:

I think I am safe in saying that Bible reading at opening of school is well-nigh or quite universal in Delaware schools.

A loyal spirit of confidence in Bible principles as essential to good citizenship has led her to honor the Scriptures from her earliest colonization. One qualification to be possessed by every officer of the State, required by her first constitution, was belief in the inspiration of the Holy Scriptures.

MARYLAND.

The superintendent of schools, Baltimore, Md., writes as follows:

The Bible is read daily in our schools; the Lord's Prayer is also recited. I inclose a copy of the rule which has been in force for over thirty years:

"Each school, either collectively or in classes, shall be opened by the reading of a chapter or part of a chapter in the Holy Bible and the use of the Lord's Prayer. The Douay version may be used separately by those pupils who prefer it."

The Bible has been read in all the schools in the city of Frederick for twenty years or more. Westminster has no Bible reading in her public schools.

THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA.

On the subject of Bible reading and moral instruction the city of Washington has the following rule:

32. They (teachers) shall practice such discipline in their schools as would be exercised by a kind and judicious parent in the family, always firm and vigilant, but prudent. They shall endeavor, on all proper occasions, to inculcate in their pupils truthfulness, self-control, temperance, frugality, industry, obedience to parents, reverence for the aged, forbearance toward the weak, respect for the rights of others, politeness to all, kindness to animals, desire for knowledge, and obedience to the laws of God; but no teacher shall exercise any sectarian influence in the schools.

The opening exercises in every school shall consist of reading by the teacher, without note or comment, a portion of the Bible, repeating the Lord's Prayer at the option of the teacher, and appropriate singing by the pupils.

VIRGINIA.

The following words of George Washington fittingly introduce the report received from his native State:

Of all the dispositions and habits which lead to political prosperity, religion and morality are indispensable supports. In vain would that man claim the tribute of patriotism who should labor to subvert these great pillars of human happiness, these firmest props of the duties of men and citizens. The mere politician, equally with the pious man, ought to respect and to cherish them. A volume could not trace all their connection with public and private felicity. Let it simply be asked, Where is the security for property, for reputation, for life, if the sense of religious obligation desert the oaths which are the instruments of investigation in courts of justice? And let us with caution indulge the supposition that morality can be maintained without religion. Whatever may be conceded to the influence of refined education on minds of peculiar structure, reason and experience both forbid us to expect that national morality can prevail in exclusion of religious principle. It is substantially true that virtue or morality is a necessary spring of popular government.

Hon. John E. Massey, State superintendent of public instruction, Richmond, Va., writes that he believes the Bible to be read in nearly all the Virginia schools; that this has been the custom since their organization.

Richmond reports the Bible as read in all her schools since their establishment. Manchester and Roanoke report fully observed rules requiring Bible reading. The rule in Roanoke specifies reading some portion of Scripture, the singing of a suitable hymn, and repeating the Lord's Prayer. No exposition allowed.

The Bible is read in all the schools of Staunton also. Two others report the custom as general, but not universal.

Perhaps the position of superintendent of schools in Virginia can not be more correctly expressed than by Bushrod Rust, superintendent of schools, Roanoke, Va. Mr. Rust writes:

*

I am strongly opposed to setting aside the dear old Bible as it stands for all the books in Christendom. * I believe in having the entire work at hand and in reading such selections as would “establish our youth in habits of truth, purity, uprightness, unselfishness, and goodness." I believe in being absolutely nonsectarian in and around our schools, and at the same time I would have all our