Eclectic Educational Series.

ECLECTIC SYSTEM OF PENMANSHIP-The simplest and most busi

ness-like and practical system published:

Eclectic Elementary Course, Nos. 1, 2, 3, per copy..... $0.10

$0.08

Eclectic Copy-books, 9 numbers...

.15

.10

Eclectic Primary Copy-book..

Eclectic Exercise-book.....

The Eclectic

Educational Series

Stands adopted wholly or in part in every county in the State. It is also used in the best schools throughout the country and is warmly indorsed by the best teachers. In urging the further introduction of the series by the schools of Indiana, the publishers invite attention to the following

POINTS (OF SUPERIORITY:

1. A Complete Series.-The Eclectic Series embraces a full line of textbooks in the branches of study usually taught in schools and colleges.

2. A Practical Series.-The authors are teachers of acknowledged ability, and of large and varied experience. The books stand the test of the class-room, as shown by their long continued use where adopted.

3. A Progressive Series.-It embodies the latest reliable scientific data and the most approved methods of teaching.

4. A Popular Series.-It is more widely recommended by prominent educators, and more extensively introduced and used than any other in America.

5. An Artistic and Durable Series.-In the manufacture of these books the best material and the most skilled artists in the various departments of the work are employed, insuring thorough excellence in all mechanical features.

6. A Cheap Series.-The long experience of the publishers in the manufacture and publication of school text-books exclusively, and the wide introduction and use of the Eclectic Series enable them to offer their list at the lowest prices.

Teachers and school officers are invited to correspond with the publishers for further information as to terms of introduction, etc. State what books are now in use, and'give in full your name, postoffice address, county and State. Descriptive circulars on application.

WILSON, HINKLE & CO.,

PUBLISHERS,

CINCINNATI, O., AND NEW YORK, N. Y.

GEOGRAPHY-Cornell's Unrivalled Series. Revised Edition. Three Books. Primary, Intermediate or Grammar School, Physical.

ARITHMETIC-Appleton's Popular Series. Primary, Mental, Practical. GRAMMAR-Quackenbos'. Two Books Primary and English. Quackenbos' First Lessons in Composition.

HISTORY- Quackenbos'. Elementary and Illustrated.

Krusi's New System of Inventive Drawing.

Adapted to the requirements of all grades of schools. Part 1.-Synthetic Series, consisting of Four Drawing Books and a Manuel for Teachers. Price of books, 20 cents each; Manuel, 75 cents. Part 2.-Analytic Series, consisting of Six Books and a Manuel. Price of books, 25 cents each; manuel, 75 cents.

SCIENCE PRIMERS-For the purpose of facilitating the introduction of Science Teaching into Common Schools. Under the joint editorship of Profs. Huxley, Roscoe and Balfour Stewart. Six books now issued, viz: Chemistry, Physics, Physical Geography, Geology, Physiology, Astronomy. Price 50c each.

MORSE'S FIRST BOOK OF ZOOLOGY,

YOUMAN'S CLASS BOOK OF CHEMISTRY,

LOCKYEAR'S ELEMENTARY ASTRONOMY,

QUACKENBOS' REVISED NATURAL PHILOSOPHY,

YOUMAN'S FIRST AND SECOND BOOKS OF BOTANY,

HARKNESS' LATIN SERIES,

HADLEY'S GREEK GRAMMAR,

HARKNESS' FIRST GREEK BOOK,

HUXLEY & YOUMAN'S PHYSIOLOGY,

QUACKENBOS' COMPOSITION AND RHETORIC, ETC.

For Catalogue, Price List and Educational Record, address

D. B. VEAZEY,

AGENT,

No. 18 West Washington Street, Indianapolis, Indiana.

THE

VOL. II.

BEDFORD, IND., OCTOBER, 1876.

NUM. 2

WHO OPPOSE COMMON SCHOOLS ?

Some one will say that nobody oppose | speak of the Romish hierarchy, to conthem. That is not true. Opposition is cunning. It does not come to the surface when it is not good policy to come. There is open, outspoken opposition to our schools in almost every community; but the most of the opposition is folded up in what is the appearance of truth and reason.

demn it, we mean in the same terms and with the same emphasis to condemn all other hierarchies, church despotisms, as dangerous to the best interests of the people and the genuine education of our children. All, alike, partake of the same principle of selfishness and party glorification. The American 1. We mention first the open, violent people must rise above all this, if we and persistent opposition of the Romish ever accomplish the grand destiny to hierarchy. The priesthood of this hier-which God has called us. archy lead the van of all the opposition 2. We mention an opposition that to our common school system. They comes to us in the form of politics. It are the native, inborn sons of evil who is a kind of politics that appeals to the ever stand, with club in hand, ready to prejudices and baser passions of the peoknock the brains out of our republic, ple. It speaks something in this way : and destroy the fair fabric offepublican | Education only makes the boy capable, liberty. Under the garb and sanctity that when he becomes a man, he can of religion they are ready to destroy and do more wickedness than if he did not smother down every god-given impulse have it. Sometimes this happens to be and endeavor after a higher intellectual the case. But this is not the general and spiritual life. We say this is the rule. Then again we hear something genius of the opposition that comes like this: I don't want to be taxed to from Rome. Many of the priests, in-educate other peoples' children. There dividually, may be truly the friends of is something, at first blush, of fairness popular education. We suppose many in this. But it will not 'bear criticism. are. But the tendency of Romanism is The child is not being educated solely to dwarf, and lead the people into ignor- or mainly, for the benefit of its parents, ance, and consequently superstition. All but mainly for the State, that it may history proves it. Now, we tell the make a safe and useful member of the friends of popular education to guard State. But what does the State do for against this insiduous foe to our people this man who says he don't want to and our liberties. While we have pay tax to educate other peoples' chilchurch hierarchies in the world, so dren? Why it protects him, and gives long will we have in them opposition all the value to that property on which to common school education. They he is called to pay tax to educate the will inevitably demand that the chil-children. If the children were not eddren be educated, if educated at all, in ucated we would have no State worth parochial schools, which means teach- the name. Now it generally happens ing the doctrins of our church. This is that these men take a certain political no education in the proper sense of the sympathy which leads in the direction term. We mean to be just. When we of breaking down our system of popular

education. Demagogues take advantage of these prejudices and false views and pander to them to get into power. Beware of any such pandering. It means hatred to popular education. It means ruin to the State.

3. We mention only one other class of persons who are opposed to common schools. We do this rather reluctantly, because we feel sure the most of them have not investigated fully the nature of their position. We mean, now, those who are giving their might and main to building up high schools at the expense of the State. This class of persons have become one-ideaed on this subject, as it seems to us. They seem to want the State to give more than a fair proportion of the school funds to the building up of high schools and colleges. If this is so these people are arranging themselves on the side of the enemies of our common schools. We do not charge that they mean to do so, but we do say that the inevitable result will be to defraud the little children, and the poor, for the benefit of a favored few.

Special Study.

In our last we promised to show how special study would be of the greatest advantage to the teacher of the common school. It is important that the necessity of such study be clearly seen in order to appreciate the advantages. It is highly important that the teacher devote a part of his time to study outside of text-book work, for his own sake and with a wise reference to those committed to his care. It is important, in the next place, that the teacher of the common schools of our country enjoy a high degree of culture, not only for his own account and for his own sake, but because the common school is the guardian of American liberty; nay, more than that, it ought to be made the source from which American freedom would draft its life-giving support.

As universal freedom rests upon universal education, and as education to be of any advantage to the individual or the community must be broad and thorough, the teacher who desires to be true to himself and to his profession must rise higher in knowledge than the text-book he essays to teach. Hence we see the necessity of the study of Rhetoric on the part of the teachers of the country, not only in its technical form, but in its highest forms as found in the masters of the English language. The art of discourse as "an art" must first be studied in a work which professes to teach it, but after the princi

First of all, as is the letter and spirit of all our schools in all the States, let a good, thorough, common school education be given to our children, then as for us we can provide for the higher education. But the provision for higher education must be kept subordinate to the provision for the common school education. We must not reverse this. If we do then we become unfriendly to the education of our children in the dis-ples are learned then comes the use of trict school, and array ourselves with them-that is the application of what Romish opposition and all others who we have learned in a written exercise. forget the welfare of the people. Eter- This exercise of one's powers involves nal vigilance is the price of liberty. not only a knowledge of what a comWe must watch as well as pray. As a position ought to contain as to subject public journalist we intend to sound matter, but makes it necessary, also, the alarm when the foe approaches, that one know the general usage of the and we will not give any uncertain masters of composition. This carries sound. We must guard our common the teacher from the study of Rhetoric, schools. If we do not we will go down as a text, to the study of Literature as as other republics have gone down-in embodying the principles of which he popular ignorance, and become a prey has learned. In this he finds not the to demagogues and general ruin. statements of the things which most easily engage our sympathies, and through these cause us to act in this

"BLESSED are the slow, for the more haste the less speed."

Let us Have Peace.

way or that way, but he finds rather pit of Protestantism, the Catholic the words and sentences of the geeat Church has been falsely and foully acmen whose sayings have swayed the cused of designing the destruction of the people to whom they were given, and common school system. With the faint whose compositions are taken as models hope of making our voice heard above of style and dictive. More anon. the din of slander on every side, when the school question is discussed, we beg leave to state categorically the position Under the above caption, the Nation- of the Catholic Church in relation to al Teacher's Monthly (A. S. Barnes & the common schools." He then states Co.,) publishes "in the interest of relig- the position as follows: 1. "The Cathoious toleration," a short editorial, and lic bishops and clergy have no intensubjoins a pronunciamento of Archbish- tion whatever to interfere with the pubop Purcell, of Cincinnati. It seems lic school system. 2. If Americans that the Monthly published an article wish their schools not to be sectional or on the same subject that the Archbish- sectarian, free from religious influence, op writes upon, and the Monthly seems the Catholic episcopate says, do as you proud of the companionship. The please with your children. 3. But Monthly says: "The idea of a division Catholics wish their chidren to recieve of the school fund is as visionary as the religious instruction in school. Theretheory of the communists, and will one fore, while they would leave the manday or other be forever set at rest by an agement of schools in the hands of the amendment to the constitution. The people, they claim the right of having notion of a Popish plot against the pub- schools of their own, from which religlic schools, is as great a delusion as that ion shall not be excluded. 4. This right of the Salem witchcraft. This delusion is claimed because they are a religious is half the time an honest one and half body in this free country etc. Therethe time a pretense put forward by men fore the Catholic people do not want to whose positions are menanced. True, a be molested in their schools, but to be prelate occasionally sputters against the protected. 5. No doubt justice and system; but such invariably die soon equality would entitle the Catholic peoafter, of a softening of the brain. The ple of this country to exemption of taxattitude of the hiearchy as a whole, is ation for the support of other schools, or one of indolent and superlative indiffer- to a share of the public school fund, in ence. See what honest and fearless proportion to the number of pupils in purpose can accomplish! Bishop Mc- their schools. 6. There are no reasons Quaid must henceforth and forever to fear the effect of the Catholic system hold his peace; The Catholic Telegraph on the commonwealth, as the students is converted; the N. Y. Tablet abashed, of their schools have proved themselves the Freeman's Journal compelled to do as useful as those of any other schools. penance to read daily the Seven Peni 7. He expresses a fear that, notwithtential Psalms during a month of Sun-standing this sincere, precise, and soldays and harmony restored between emn declaration, there will yet be found the Catholic episcopate and the Public fanatical men and political speakers School System-and all brought about by his grace Archbishop Purcell of Cincinnati, and The National Teacher's Monthly."

who will endeavor to excite their hearers by asserting the imaginary oppositon of the Catholic clergy to the public schools of the country. It is one of the The Archbishop says: "For years misfortunes of the world that it can not the attitude of the Catholic Church to- get rid of men who, like Don Quixote, wards the public schools has been either are perpetually fighting against windknowingly or ignorantly misrepresent-mills, under the plea of imminent daned. By the press and in the forum, in gers to their fellow men.”

the halls of legislation and in the pul- This the gist of the Archbishop's let