CHAPTER XVIII

Trustees; Religious Instruction

In New York the decisions of the State Department have uniformly denied the right to insist upon religious exercises of any kind.

In the year 1853, Margaret Gifford, a common-school teacher in South Easton, Washington county, ordered William Callaghan, a pupil aged twelve years, "to study and read the Protestant Testament" He declined to do so on the ground "that he was a Catholic, and did not believe in any but the Catholic Bible". The teacher consulted the trustees on the subject, and on the next day again required the boy to read out of the King James Bible. The boy declared "his unwillingness to disobey the orders of his parents and violate the precepts of his religion", whereupon the teacher "chastised him severely with her ferule and then expelled him ignominiously from the school."

An appeal was taken to Henry S. Randall, then Superintendent of Common Schools, who quoted and endorsed the following opinion of his predecessor, John C. Spencer:

"Prayers cannot form any part of the school exercises, or be regulated by the school discipline. If had at all, they should be had before the hour of 9 o'clock, the usual hour for commencing school in the morning, and after 5 in the afternoon. If any parents are desirous of habituating their children to the practice of thnking their Creator for his protection during the night, and invoking his blessing on the labors of the day, they have a right to place them under the charge of the teacher for that purpose. But neither they nor the teacher have any authority to compel the children of other parents who object to the practice from dislike of the individual or his creed, or from any other cause, to unite in such prayers. And, on the other hand, the latter have no right to obstruct

the former in the discharge of what they deem a sacred duty. Both parents have rights; and it is only by mutual and reciprocal regard by each to the rights of the other that peace can be maintained or the school can flourish. The teacher may assemble in his room before 9 o'clock the children of those parents who desire him to conduct their religious exercises for them; and the children of those who object to the practice will be allowed to retire or absent themselves from the room. If they persist in remaining there, they must conduct with the decorum and propriety becoming the occasion. If they do not so conduct, they may be dealt with as intruders."-Orders and Decisions, viii. 102.

Superintendent Randall, after stating that this is the first instance in which an appeal in regard to the reading of the Bible has been brought before the Department, then goes on to discuss the general question of the connection of intellectual and religious instruction, and concludes as follows:

"I believe the Holy Scriptures, and especially that portion of them known as the New Testament, are proper to be read in the schools by pupils who have attained sufficient literary and mental culture to understand their import. I believe they may, as a matter of right, be read as a class-book by those whose parents desire it. But I am clearly of the opinion that the reading of no version of them can be forced on those whose consciences and religion object to such version.

"Assuming the facts stated in the complaint to be true, I consider the conduct of the teacher, Margaret Gifford, to be not only unwarrantable but barbarous. That she should not only 'ignominiously expel' the pupil, but that she should gratuitously inflict a preliminary castigation on a child of tender years, who plead the 'commands of his parents and the precepts of his religion' against the obeyal of her orders, betrays feelings as unusual to her sex as repugnant to the mild precepts of that Gospel which, I trust, with honest though certainly with mistaken zeal, she attempted to uphold. Perhaps she deserves a lesser measure of reprehension if she acted, as would appear, though it is not expressly stated, under directions of the trustees. But neither the

trustees, the majority of the people in the district, the town superintendent, nor all of these united, would have power to authorize such an outrage."-N. Y. Teacher, ii. 279-282.

In accordance with this decision, it has been uniformly ruled that pupils cannot be compelled to attend religious services (D 1753, 1763), and that the law gives no authority, as a matter of right, to use any portion of the regular school hours in conducting any religious exercises at which the attendance of pupils is made compulsory (D 185, 13 Barb 400). As to religious garb, see page 79.

Religious opening exercises prevail in a large proportion of New York schools, Catholic children being permitted to remain outside till the exercises are concluded if their parents choose to have them, which is seldom the case.

This last permission is usual where Bible reading is permitted (12 Allen 127, 64 Ia 367), but it has been held in Ill. that a boy could be expelled for studying his lessons while the Bible was being read (95 Ill 263), in Mo. that the trustees could compel the reading of the Bible (38 Mo 679), and in Me. that a child could be expelled for refusing to read it (38 Me 376).

In 1900 the city of Utica rescinded the rule permitting reading the Bible and appropriate singing.

In other states usage depends upon the interpretation of the courts of what may be considered sectarian instruction.

"Sectarian instruction is instruction in religious doctrines which are believed by some religious sects and rejected by others." "Reading the bible is sectarian instruction, and the fact that the children are not obliged to remain in the schoolroom during such reading does not remove the cause for complaint." (76 Wis 177)

New York gives this definition. "Any school of which the charter, by-laws or rules provide that the students, teachers, trustees, or the voters who elect the trustees, shall belong to any particular religious body, or any school in which any distinctly denominational tenet or doctrine is taught, shall be deemed and treated as sectarian. The name of the school, the sources from which its funds are derived, or the denominational connection of its trustees, teachers or students, shall not be construed as determining its character if under its charter, by-laws and rules the official positions named are not in any way limited to any denomination. Any school of which the principal and the president of the trustees shall certify that under the terms of this rule it is unsectarian shall be considered till after special inspection and report the regents shall declare it to be sectarian."

In 1869, the Cincinnati school board was restrained from permitting the reading of the Bible (2 Ohio St 386, 4 Ohio St 571); in 1875 the Chicago board was upheld in forbidding it (95 Ill 263). New Haven forbade it in 1878.

(20 Am St 41, 59 L R A 927, 91 N W 846)

Wash. prohibits Bible-reading; Ariz. revokes the certificate of any teacher who conducts religious exercises in school.

In other states it is held that the Bible is not a sectarian book.

(12 A len 127, 7 Am L R 417, 179 Am St 599,95 Ill 262, 38 Me 379 2 Ohio 56, 7 Pa St 585, 109 S W 115)

It has been held that while the Bible itself is sectarian, a book of selections from it is not sectarian. (29 Am S 41)

A teacher who to quiet the pupils and prepare them for their work repeats the Lord's prayer and the 23d Paslm as a morning exercise does not conduct a form of religious worship. 105 Am St 148, 117 Am St 599, 66 L R A 166)

Carl S. Bitner was imprisoned in the police court of Morrisania, N. Y. city, for refusing to send his son Carl to No.62 The teacher had given for dictation this sentence from Longfellow: "Let us do our work well, both the seen and the unseen, make the house where God may dwell beautiful, entire and clean." Young Bitner left out the word "God", saying that his father had forbidden him either to utter or write the word. The teacher sent him home. Bitner said he was an atheist and did not wish any "nonsensical" ideas inculcated in his children. The case was dismissed on condition that Bitner should send the child to school.- New York School Journal, March 3, 1900.

The school law of Ark. forbids granting a certificate to a teacher who does not believe in a Supreme Being, and that of R. I. advises the rejection of any teacher who is in the habit of ridiculing, or scoffing at religion, while Ill. says the authorities may select a teacher belonging to any church or to no church as they think best. (121 Ill. 297)

In N. D. and S. D. the Bible may not be deemed a sectarian book, or excluded from any public school. It may at the option of the teacher be read without sectarian comment, not to exceed 10 minutes daily.

In 1904 Judge J. P. Herbeson of Ky. dismissed petition for injunction against the school trustees of Brookville against reading the Bible and offering prayer, holding that the Bible is at the foundation of christian government.

The supreme court of Nebraska holds that the right of all persons to worship Almighty God according to the dictates of their own consciences is declared by the constitution of that state to be a natural and indefeasible right. There is nothing in the constitution and the laws of the state, nor in the history of its people, upon which to ground a claim that it is the duty of the government to teach religion. The whole duty of the state with respect to religion is "to protect every religious denomination in the peaceable enjoyment of