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 The secularization of American education 
 
 olin 
 
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Cornell University 
 Library 
 
 The original of this book is in 
 the Cornell University Library. 
 
 There are no known copyright restrictions in 
 the United States on the use of the text. 
 
 http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924030604346 
 
THE 
 
 SECULARIZATION OF AMERICAN 
 
 EDUCATION 
 
 AS SHOWN BY STATE LEGISLATION, STATE CONSTITU- 
 TIONAL PROVISIONS AND STATE SUPREME 
 COURT DECISIONS 
 
 BY 
 SAMUEL WINDSOR BROWN. A.B., PH.D. 
 
 TEACHERS COLLEGE, COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY 
 CONTRIBUTIONS TO EDUCATION, NO. 49 
 
 PUBLISHED BY 
 
 ®fatlfn-a ^alUge. (Hainmbia Uttivitsxts 
 
 NEW YORK CITY 
 
 1912 
 
r 
 
 7 
 
 Copyright, 1912, by Samuel Windsor Brown 
 
 PRESS or 
 
 FRANK H EVOKY & CO 
 ALBANY N Y 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 CHAPTER PAGE 
 
 Introduction i 
 
 I The Religious Aim of Education 2 
 
 II The Religious Instruction of Orphans and the Inmates 
 OF Industrial Schools, Reform Schools, and Penal In- 
 stitutions .* 26 
 
 III The Ecclesiastical Control of Education 33 
 
 IV State Support of Schools Owned or Controlled by the 
 
 Church, or Existing for Religious Purposes 43 
 
 V The Close Association of Education and Religion, the 
 
 School and the Chxjrch in the Public Mind 51 
 
 VI Laws Prohibiting Religious Instruction and the Estab- 
 lishment OF Departments of Theology S6 
 
 VII Laws Forbidding the Use of Sectarian Text- Books 68 
 
 VIII Laws Forbidding the Establishment of Religious Tests... 82 
 
 IX Laws Forbidding the Appropriation of Public Funds to 
 
 Schools under Ecclesiastical Control 93 
 
 X Constitutional Provisions Concerning the Aim of Educa- 
 tion 98 
 
 XI State Constitutional Provisions Forbidding Either Sec- 
 tarian Religious Instruction or Religious Tests in 
 Public Schools, or the Appropriation of Public Funds 
 to Schools Under Ecclesiastical Control or Not Under 
 the Absolute Control of the State 103 
 
 XII State Supreme Court Decisions Favoring the Religious 
 
 Ideal of Education 120 
 
 XIII State Supreme Court Decisions Favoring the Secular 
 
 Ideal of Education 13S 
 
 Conclusion iSS 
 
 Bibliography iS9 
 
THE 
 SECULARIZATION OF AMERICAN EDUCATION 
 
 INTRODUCTION 
 
 For somewhat over a century there has been going on in the 
 United States a gradual but widespread elimination of religious 
 and church influences from public education. During the early 
 years of our history, especially during the colonial period, educa- 
 tion and religion, the school and the church, were close allies. 
 One of the aims of elementary education was to inculcate religious 
 beliefs; of higher education, to prepare religious teachers. The 
 subject matter of instruction was largely religious in its nature. 
 Church authorities exercised considerable control over educational 
 affairs. The warmest advocates of education were those who had 
 in view the needs of the church. Today we find in every state a 
 system of public education in which civic and industrial aims 
 are dominant, in which religious instruction is either entirely 
 eliminated or else reduced to the barest and most formal elements, 
 and the control of which is vested well nigh exclusively in the 
 state or some sub-division thereof. 
 
 Two factors have been dominant in bringing about this trans- 
 formation. The first of these is the conviction that a republic can 
 securely rest only on an educated citizenship ; the second is a 
 sacred regard by the state for the religious opinion of the indi- 
 vidual citizen. 
 
 So long as suffrage depended upon property, or some other 
 qualification than mere manhood, the state needed to concern it- 
 self little about education. To private enterprise and religious 
 zeal, assisted and encouraged at times by the state, could usually 
 be intrusted the care of instructing the children and youth. But 
 immediately manhood suffrage became universal, education 
 began to assume too great an importance from the standpoint of 
 
2 The Secularization of American Education 
 
 civic and national welfare for the state any longer to neglect it 
 or intrust it to any other than its own agents whom it could hold 
 responsible for standards and results. 
 
 So long as population regions were relatively homogeneous in 
 matters of religious faith nothing could be more natural than that 
 the public school should be used to transmit unto the children 
 the faith of the fathers. For centuries, under an alliance of 
 church and state, more or less close, the schools had been so used. 
 But with the influx of immigration which set in about the third 
 decade of the last century and continued to grow with ever 
 increasing volume during the succeeding decades, composed 
 of the oppressed of all nations, our population regions, from be- 
 ing relatively homogeneous in religious matters, rapidly became 
 imost heterogeneous. The territories upon our western borders 
 rapidly filled with streams of settlers drawn from the original 
 sea-coast states as well as from various European countries. Nor 
 were the original states unaffected by this influx of European 
 immigration. All this resulted in a thorough mingling of diverse 
 religious and sectarian elements. 
 
 Education immediately began to assume great importance as 
 a means of Americanizing the diverse racial and cultural elements 
 composing our population, and the state began more and more to 
 foster schools and the means of instruction. The great variety 
 of religious opinion and belief existing in every state or terri- 
 tory made the question of religious instruction in the schools 
 a crucial one. On the one hand thefe was a widespread belief 
 that the chief purpose of all education was the formation of 
 character and that religion was a necessary element therein. On 
 the other hand, there was a tenacious adherence by the represen- 
 tatives of every shade of religious belief, to the particular tenets 
 of their creed. To allow their children to be taught less than they 
 believed, or other than they believed, was to them unthinkable. 
 So long as the determination of the instruction to be given and 
 the books to be used could be left to each individual community 
 a certain amount of adaptation was possible. The majority at 
 least in each community could have its preferences therein carried 
 out. 
 
 But with state support and state control of education came, too, 
 centralization and uniformity, which were demanded by consid- 
 
Introduction 3 
 
 erations of efficiency and economy. Compulsory taxation for 
 schools, compulsory attendance laws, and state or county courses 
 of study, adoption of text-books, and certification of teachers, 
 tended to minimize and to eliminate entirely the element of re- 
 ligion from the schools. As the units of administration widened 
 from the lone community or district, where naturally there was 
 the greatest degree of religious uniformity, to the state, made 
 up of many communities, differing widely in their religious be- 
 liefs and practices, the majority vote became of less and less avail 
 as a solution for our difficulties. Too many of our immigrant 
 citizens had suffered from Old World intolerance to be willing to 
 intrust to the state as a whole the determination of the nature 
 of the religious instruction of their children. Rather than do this 
 they were willing to forego religious instruction in the public , 
 schools altogether. Many of our native bom citizens too and 
 their fathers before them had sufiFered because of the union of 
 the temporal and spiritual powers in the colonial governments. 
 A majority must not be allowed to determine the religion of the 
 minority. Of the two conflicting principles, freedom of religion, 
 and majority rule, the more fundamental is that of religious free- 
 dom and it must prevail. 
 
 So it has come to pass that necessity has led the state to pro- 
 vide for education ; and sectarian differences have made it neces- 
 sary that this education should be non-sectarian or non-religious. 
 The state has insisted upon the school just as it has insisted upon 
 an army and a navy. And since a majority could not be appealed 
 to to determine which religion, of the many prevalent among our 
 people, should have a place in the public schools, it has been neces- 
 sary to eliminate everything of a sectarian or religious nature. 
 While the non-religious elements have no doubt frequently allied 
 themselves with the movement toward secularization, yet it can 
 hardly be said that they have been the controlling factor therein. 
 Differences of religious belief and a sound regard on the part of 
 the state for individual freedom in religious matters, coupled 
 with the necessity for centralization and uniformity, rather than 
 hostility toward religion as such, lie at the bottom of the move- 
 ment toward the secular school. 
 
 I propose to show from our colonial school legislation, and 
 occasional instances of state legislation, the prominent place oc- 
 
4 The Secularization of American Education 
 
 cupied by religion in determining the aim and purpose of educa- 
 tion during our early history, and the control exercised by the 
 church thereover. I propose to show from our state legislation 
 and state constitutions how we have attempted to substitute for 
 this education, dominated in large measure by the church, an edu- 
 cation dominated by the state. In addition I shall present some 
 of the most important state supreme court decisions in which these 
 laws and constitutional provisions, dealing with the subject of 
 religious instruction and ecclesiastical control of education, have 
 been interpreted by the courts. 
 
CHAPTER I 
 
 THE RELIGIOUS AIM OF EDUCATION 
 
 That the aim of education in America as conceived at various 
 times in our early history by our highest legislative authorities 
 was largely religious, can be abundantly shown by citations from 
 the enactments of the said authorities. Sometimes this purpose 
 is set forth in the preamble to a law providing for the establish- 
 ment of schools by some legislature ; sometimes it is found in the 
 royal instructions delivered to a governor; again it occurs in a 
 charter granted to some school ; still again we find it in a state- 
 ment accompanying a grant of public money for some particular 
 educational purpose. It shows itself in laws of a general educa- 
 tional nature, aiming at a common school education for all youth, 
 as well as in provisions of a more limited scope looking to the 
 education of the Indians, or to the preparation of ministers of the 
 gospel. 
 
 Most of the enactments in which this religious purpose and aim 
 is distinctly affirmed, or in which provision is made for religious 
 instruction, bear dates prior to 1776. For this reason the date of 
 the attainment of American nationality may well be taken as the 
 dividing line between the dominance of the religious aim and that 
 of the secular in educational affairs. It was six or eight decades 
 later before the secular movement was in full swing, having 
 gradually acquired momentum during the intervening period ; but 
 with 1776 the incorporation in our educational laws of distinct 
 avowals of religious purpose or distinct provisions for religious 
 instruction practically ceased. For this reason the few instances 
 of the same which I have been able to find bearing dates subse- 
 quent to 1776 will be listed separately. 
 
 Connecticut: The legislation of Connecticut, from the middle 
 of the seventeenth century till toward the close of the eighteenth, 
 is especially clear as to this religious aim. The code of 1650 con- 
 tains the following : " It is therefore ordered by this Court and 
 
 5 
 
6 The Secularization of American Education 
 
 authority thereof, that the Select men of every Towne in the sev- 
 eral precincts and quarters where they dwell, shall have a vigilant 
 eye over their brethern and neighbors, to see, first, that none of 
 them shall suffer so much barbarism in any of their families, as 
 not to endeavor to teach by themselves or others, their children 
 and apprentices so much learning as may enable them perfectly 
 to read the English tongue, and knowledge of the capital 
 laws . . . ; also, that all masters of families, do, once a week, 
 at least catechise their children and servants, in the grounds and 
 principles of religion ; and if any be unable to do so much, that 
 then, at the least, they procure such children or apprentices to 
 learn some short orthodox catechism, without book, that they 
 may be able to answer to the questions that shall be propounded 
 to them out of such catechism. . . ." 
 
 " It being one chief project of that old deluder, Satan, to keep 
 men from the knowledge of the Scriptures, as in former times, 
 keeping them in an unknown tongue, so in these latter times, by 
 persuading them from the use of tongues, so that at least, the 
 true sense and meaning of the original might be clouded with 
 false glosses of saint seeming deceivers; and that learning may 
 not be buried in the grave of our forefathers, in church and 
 commonwealth, the Lord assisting our endeavors:" it is ordered 
 by the authority of the Court that the means of education shall 
 be provided for the children of the colonists. (Quoted from 
 Hinsdale, American Educational History in Report of the Com- 
 missioner of Education, 1892-3, p. 1241-1242.) In the New Haven 
 code of 1655 we find : " Whereas too many parents and masters, 
 either through an over-tender respect to their own occasions and 
 business, or not duly considering the good of their children and ap- 
 prentices, have too much neglected duty in their education while 
 they are young and capable of learning, it is ordered that the depu- 
 ties for the particular court in each plantation within this jurisdic- 
 tion for the time being, or where there are no such deputies, the 
 constable or other officer or officers in public trust, shall from time 
 to time have a vigilant eye over their brethren and neighbors 
 within the limits of the said plantation, that all parents and mas- 
 ters do duly endeavor, either by their own ability and labor, or 
 by improving such schoolmasters or other helps and means as 
 the plantation doth afford, or the family may conveniently pro- 
 
The Religious Aim of Education • 7 
 
 vide, that all their children and apprentices, as they grow cap- 
 able, may, through God's blessing, attain at least so much as to 
 be able duly to read the Scriptures and other good and profitable 
 printed books in the English tongue, being their native language, 
 and in some competent measure to understand the main grounds 
 and principles of the Christian religion necessary to salvation. 
 And to give a due answer to such plain and ordinary questions 
 as may by the said deputies, officers or others, be propounded con- 
 cerning the same. And when such deputies or officers, whether by 
 information or examination, shall find any parent or master, one 
 or more, negligent, he or they shall first give warning, and if there- 
 upon due reformation ifollow, if the said parents or masters shall 
 thenceforth seriously and constantly apply themselves to their 
 duty in manner before expressed, the former neglect may be 
 passed by; but if not, then the said deputies or other officer or 
 officers, shall three months after such warning, present each such 
 negligent person or persons to the next plantation court, where 
 every such delinquent upon proof, shall be fined ten shillings to 
 the plantation, to be levied as other fines. And if in any planta- 
 tion there be no such court kept for the present, in such case the 
 constable or other officer or officers warning such person or per- 
 sons before the freemen, or so many of them as upon notice shall 
 meet together, and proving the neglect after the warning, shall 
 have power to levy the fines as aforesaid. But if, in three months 
 after, there be no due care taken and continued for the education 
 of such children or apprentices as aforesaid, the delinquent (with- 
 out any further private warning) shall be proceeded against as 
 before but the fine doubled. And lastly, if after the said warn- 
 ing, and fines paid or levied, the said deputies, officer or officers 
 shall still find a continuance of the former negligence, if it be 
 not obstinacy, so that such children or servants may be in danger 
 to grow barbarous, rude and stubborn, through ignorance, they 
 shall give due and reasonable notice, that every such parent or 
 master be summoned to the next Court of Magistrates, who are 
 to proceed as they find cause, either to a greater fine, taking 
 security for due conformity to the scope and intent of this law, 
 or may take such children and apprentices from such parents or 
 masters, and place them for years, boys till they come to the age 
 of one and twenty, and girls till they come to the age of eighteen 
 
8 The Secularisation of American Education 
 
 years, with such others who shall better educate and govern 
 them, both for public conveniency, and for the particular good of 
 the said children or apprentices." {New Haven Col. Rec. 1653- 
 1665, p. 583-84.) 
 
 In 1659 again we find the general court legislating in the inter- 
 est of education for the avowed purpose of training men for the 
 service of the church as well as the state. " The court looking 
 upon it as their great duty to establish some course, that (through 
 the blessing of God) learning may be promoted in the jurisdiction 
 as a means for the fitting of instruments for public service in 
 church and commonwealth, did order that £40 a year shall be paid 
 by the treasurer for the furtherance of a grammar school for the 
 use of the inhabitants of this jurisdiction, and that £8 more shall 
 be disbursed by him for the procuring of books of Mr. Blinman 
 such as shall be approved by Mr. Davenport and Mr. Pierson as 
 suitable for this work. The appointing of the place where this 
 school shall be settled, the person or persons to be employed, 
 the time of beginning, etc., is referred to the Governor, Deputy 
 Governor, the magistrates and ministers settled in the jurisdic- 
 tion, or so many of them as upon due notice shall meet to con- 
 sider of this matter." {Records of the Colony or Jurisdiction of 
 New Haven, p. 301.) 
 
 In 1676 the general court recommended to the ministry to look 
 into the state of religious instruction in families and urged the 
 townsmen to assist the ministry for the reformation and educa- 
 tion of the children, in good literature and the knowledge 
 of the scriptures. {Conn. Col. Rec. 1665-1676, p. 281.) In 1680 
 the court urged the ministers to catechise young people under 
 twenty in some orthodox catechism on the Sabbath days. {Conn. 
 Col. Rec. 1678-1689, p. 65.) 
 
 In 1690 the court enacted the following : " . . . observing that 
 notwithstanding the former orders made for the erudition of 
 children and servants, there are many persons unable to read the 
 English tongue and thereby uncapable to read the holy word of 
 God, or the good laws of the colony, which evil, that it grow no 
 farther upon their majesties subjects here, it is hereby ordered 
 that all parents and masters shall cause their respective children 
 and servants, as they are capable, to be taught to read distinctly 
 the English tongue, and that the grand jurymen in each town 
 
The Religious Aim of Education 9 
 
 do once in the year at least visit each family they suspect to 
 neglect this order, and satisfy themselves w^hether all children 
 under age and servants in such suspect families can read well the 
 English tongue, or be in a good procedure to learn the same or 
 not, and if they find any such children and servants not taught 
 as their years are capable of, they shall return the names of the 
 parents or masters of the said children so untaught, to the next 
 county court, vi^here the said parents or masters shall be fined 
 twenty shillings for each child or servant whose teaching is or 
 shall be neglected, contrary to this order, unless it shall appear 
 to the satisfaction of the court, that the said neglect is not volun- 
 tary, but necessitated by the incapacity of the, parent or masters 
 or their neighbors, to cause them to be taught as aforesaid, or 
 the incapacity of the said children to learn." {Conn. Col. Rec. 
 1689-1706, p. 30-31.) 
 
 An act of the legislature in 1714 " for the Encouragement and 
 Better Improvement of Town Schools," makes it evident that the 
 religious aim had an important place in the establishment and 
 support of the public schools of the colony. " Forasmuch as the 
 upholding and good ordering of the schools erected in towns by 
 order of this Assembly, and partly maintained out of the public 
 treasury, is of great importance to the public weal, and the neg- 
 lect thereof will be the occasion of much ignorance, disorder, and 
 profaneness. Be it therefore ordered and enacted by the Gover- 
 nor, Council, and representatives, in General Court Assembled, 
 and by the authority of the same, that the civil authority, together 
 with the selectmen in every town, or major part of them, shall 
 inspect, and they are hereby empowered, as visitors, .to inspect 
 the state of all such schools as are appointed in the said town 
 from time to time, and particularly once in each quarter of the 
 year, at such times as they shall think proper to visit such schools, 
 and inquire into the qualifications of the masters of such schools, 
 and their diligence in attending to the service of the said schools, 
 together with the proficiency of the children under their care. 
 And they are hereby further required to give such directions as 
 they shall find needful to render such schools most serviceable to 
 the increase of that knowledge, civility and religion which is 
 designed in the erecting of them. And it is further enacted, that 
 if, in this inspection of the said schools, the said inspectors 
 
10 The Secularization of American Education 
 
 observe any such disorder, or misapplication of the public money 
 allowed to the support of such schools, as render the said schools 
 not so likely to attain the good ends proposed, they shall lay the 
 same before the Assembly, that the proper orders in such cases 
 necessary may be given." {Conn. Col. Rec. 1706-1716, p. 462.) 
 
 That this religious aim was the dominant one in the favorable 
 attitude of the colony toward Yale College is clearly evident. 
 The original act of incorporation of Yale is prefaced by the fol- 
 lowing : " Whereas several well-disposed and public spirited per- 
 sons, of their sincere regard to and zeal for the upholding and 
 propagating of the Christian protestant religion by a succession 
 of learned and orthodox men, have expressed by petition their 
 earnest desire that full liberty and privilege be granted unto cer- 
 tain undertakers, for the founding and suitably endowing and 
 ordering a collegiate school, within this his Majesty's Colony of 
 Connecticut, wherein youth may be instructed in the arts and 
 sciences who, through the blessings of Almighty God, may be 
 fitted for public employment both in church and civil state. To 
 the intent therefore that all due encouragement be given to such 
 pious resolutions and that so necessary and religious an under- 
 taking may be set forward, supported, and well managed: Be it 
 enacted by the Governor and Company of the said colony of Con- 
 necticut in general court assembled,'' etc. {Conn. Col. Rec. 1689- 
 1706, p. 363.) 
 
 This religious aim is again set forward in an act of the Gover- 
 nor and council in 1703 granting to the trustees permission to 
 raise money by brief throughout the colony for the maintenance 
 of a tutor and the promotion of a college building :".... fur- 
 thermore the Governor and Council considering the very hopeful 
 progress the reverend trustees have already made in the said 
 affair, and the comfortable appearance that the said school under 
 the present conduct of the said trustees will (through the divine 
 blessing) conduce to the advancement of the interest of religion 
 and general good of the colony, do therefore hereby recommend 
 the aforesaid approved measure to all persons within the said 
 colony, not doubting but that there will be in all a general readi- 
 ness in their respective stations, and according to their respective 
 circumstances to forward so good a work." {Conn. Col. Rec. 
 1689-1706, p. 454.) 
 
The Religious Aim of Education ii 
 
 In the preamble to an act passed in 1744, confirming and extend- 
 ing the powers of the trustees of Yale College, the general court 
 expressed itself as follows: "And whereas, the said trustees, 
 partners, and undertakers in pursuance to the aforesaid grant, 
 liberty, and license, founded a collegiate school at New Haven, 
 known by the name of Yale College, which has received the favor- 
 able benefactions of many liberal and piously disposed persons, 
 and under the blessing of Almighty God has trained up many 
 worthy persons for the service of God in the state as well as in 
 the church," etc. {Conn. Col. Rec. IX, p. 113-118.) 
 
 In 1753 the legislature recommended the college unto the liber- 
 ality of the people, and in doing so expressly avowed its religious 
 aim : " Whereas one principal end proposed in erecting and sup- 
 porting Yale College in New Haven was, to supply the churches 
 of this colony with a learned, pious, and orthodox ministry, to 
 which purpose it is requisite that the students of the said college 
 should have the best instruction in divinity and the best patterns 
 of preaching set before them ; and whereas the settling a learned, 
 pious, and orthodox professor of divinity in the said college would 
 greatly tend to promote that good end and design : And whereas 
 the present incomes of the said college are but in part sufficient 
 to support such a professor : This assembly being desirous to pro- 
 mote and encourage such a good design, do hereby grant and 
 allow of and order a general contribution to be made in all the 
 religious societies in this colony, and recommend the same both 
 to ministers and people, and order that the money raised thereby 
 be remitted to the president of said college, to be improved by 
 the corporation towards the support of such a professor." {Conn. 
 Col. Rec. X, p. 213.) 
 
 From time to time the general court of Connecticut expressed 
 in its legislation this religious aim as one of the motives for the 
 education of the Indians. In 1723 Captain John Mason was urged 
 " to set up a school among them and acquaint them in the Chris- 
 tian religion." {Conn. Col. Rec. 1717-1725, p. 429.) In 1727 
 the following law was enacted : " Whereas this Assembly is 
 informed that many of the Indians in this government put out 
 their children to the English, to be brought up by them, and yet 
 sundry of the persons having such children, do neglect to learn 
 them to read and to instruct them in the principles of the Christian 
 
12 The Secularisation of American Education 
 
 faith, so that such children are still in danger to continue heath- 
 ens ; which to prevent. Be it enacted by the Governor, Council and 
 representatives, in General Court assembled, and by the author- 
 ity of the same, that every person in this colony that hath taken 
 or shall take any of the Indian children of this or the neighboring 
 governments into the care of their families, are hereby ordered 
 to use their utmost endeavor to teach them to read English, and 
 also to instruct them in the principles of the Christian faith by 
 catechising of them, together with other proper methods. And 
 the selectmen and grand-jurors in the respective towns shall make 
 diligent inquiry, whether the Indian children that are or may be 
 put out as above, are by their masters or mistresses that have the 
 care of them instructed and taught as abovesaid. And if upon 
 inquiry the said officers shall find that any such master or mis- 
 tress hath neglected their duty herein, after due warning given, 
 then said officers, or any two of them, shall inform the next 
 assistant or justice of the peace, upon which the said authority 
 shall summon such master or mistress so informed against, to 
 appear before them ; and if upon examination it appear that said 
 master or mistress hath neglected to instruct any Indian child or 
 children put to them as aforesaid, they shall be fined at the dis- 
 cretion of said assistant or justice, not exceeding the sum of 
 forty shillings, to be to the use of the school in the town where 
 the master or mistress lives." {Conn. Col. Rec. VII, p. 102-103.) 
 In 1736 the following law regarding the education of the 
 Indians was passed : " And to the end that so good a work may 
 be furthered, be it enacted by the Governor, Council and Repre- 
 sentatives, in General Court assembled, and by the authority of 
 the same, that at the next public Thanksgiving that shall be 
 appointed in this colony, there shall be a contribution attended in 
 every ecclesiastical society or parish in this government, and 
 that the money that shall be raised thereby shall be improved for 
 the civilizing and Christianizing of the Indian natives in this 
 colony (exclusive of the Moheags who are already provided for) ; 
 and that his Honor, the Governor, send forth his order to the 
 ministers of the respective parishes accordingly; and the Gover- 
 nor and Council, for the time being, are hereby appointed to 
 receive the said contribution, and they are hereby directed care- 
 fully to improve the same for the end abovesaid; and they shall 
 
The Religious Aim of Education 13 
 
 give an account of their doings therein to this Assembly, that no 
 farther care from time to time may be taken. And whereas this 
 Assembly are now informed that the said Nahantick Indians desire 
 their children may be instructed, thereupon it is resolved that, the 
 colony treasurer do pay out of the public treasury unto Messrs. 
 Thomas Lee, of Lyme, and Stephen Prentiss, of New London, 
 the sum of £15, who are appointed to receive the same, and there- 
 with they shall hire some, suitable person to instruct the said 
 children to read, and also in the principles of the Christian 
 religion, and also render an account to this Assembly of their 
 disbursements of the money aforesaid." {Conn. Col. Rec. VIII, 
 P- 37-38.) 
 
 The preamble to an act of the General Court in 1742, " Relat- 
 ing to, and for the better regulating schools of learning," is as 
 follows : '■ Whereas, by sundry acts and laws of this assembly, 
 they have founded, erected, endowed and provided for the main- 
 tenance of a college at New Haven, and inferior schools of learn- 
 ing in every town and parish, for the education and instruction 
 of the youth of the colony, which have (by the blessing of God) 
 been very serviceable to promote useful learning and Christian 
 knowledge, and, more especially, to train up a learned and ortho- 
 dox ministry for the supply of our churches; 
 
 " And inasmuch as the well ordering of such public schools 
 is of great importance to the public weal, this Assembly by one 
 Act entitled. An Act for the encouragement and better improve- 
 ment of town schools, did order and provide, that the civil author- 
 ity and selectmen in every town should be visitors to inspect the 
 state of such schools, and to inquire into the qualification of the 
 masters of them and the proficiency of the children, to give such 
 directions as they shall think useful to render such schools most 
 serviceable to increase that knowledge, civility and religion, which 
 is destined in the erecting of them; and in case those visitors 
 shall apprehend that any such schools are so ordered as not to be 
 likely to attain to those good ends proposed, they shall lay the 
 state thereof before the assembly, who shall give such orders 
 thereupon as they shall think proper ; as by the said act may more 
 fully appear; And whereas fhe erecting of any other schools, 
 which are not under the establishment and inspection aforesaid, 
 may tend to train up youth in ill principles and practices, and 
 
14 The Secularization of American Education 
 
 introduce such disorders as may be of fatal consequence to the 
 public peace and weal of this colony; which to prevent," etc. 
 {Conn. Col. Rec. VIII, p. 500-501.) 
 
 In 1763 the following action was taken: The Assembly " seri- 
 ously considering the present new and extraordinary prospect 
 (by the blessing of Heaven on his Majesty's arms) doth greatly 
 encourage an attempt to promote Christian knowledge and civility 
 of manners among the Indian natives of this land, . . . grant 
 and order a brief throughout this colony, recommending it to all 
 inhabitants charitably and liberally to their ability to contribute 
 to such pious and important purposes, and that the moneys so 
 collected, be by the persons therewith intrusted, delivered to John 
 Ledyard of Hartford, John Whiting of New Haven, David 
 Gardiner of New London, David Rowland of Fairfield, Samuel 
 Gray of Windham, and Elisha Sheldon of Litchfield, Esquires, 
 each counties collections to their own respective receivers; which 
 receivers are hereby directed to deliver the same to the treasurer 
 of this colony . . ." "And it is further resolved, that said 
 Mr. Wheelock do at his discretion as occasion may be, apply to 
 Jonathan Trumble, Daniel Edwards, and George Wyllys, Esquires, 
 for such moneys, parcel of such contributed sum as he shall 
 apprehend to be necessary; which said committee, or any two of 
 them, are hereby appointed, authorized and directed, to draw 
 orders on said treasurer for such sum or sums thereof as shall 
 be shown to them to be useful and necessary in the then present 
 exigencies of said affair, until the whole is exhausted. Provided 
 nevertheless, that if the state and circumstances of said undertak- 
 ing by any means hereafter become so altered, as in the opinion 
 of said last mentioned committee, to render the further prosecu- 
 tion or support of said affair impracticable or doubtful whether 
 it may answer the good end and design, in such case they are 
 hereby directed to desist drawing as aforesaid, and by the earliest 
 opportunity to advise this Assembly thereof, to the end that such 
 further order in the premises be taken as the present emergencies 
 may recommend. Always provided such moneys be ultimately 
 and wholly applied to the pious design of propagating the gospel 
 among the heathen. 
 
 " And it is further ordered, that printed copies of this act be 
 seasonably delivered to the several ministers of the gospel within 
 
The Religious Aim of Education 15 
 
 this colony, who are hereby also directed to read this same in 
 their respective congregations, and thereon appoint a time for 
 making such collection." {Conn. Col. Rec. XII, p. 151-152.) 
 
 Delaware: The charter granted in 1640 by the Queen of 
 Sweden for the settlement of a colony in Delaware set forth this 
 religious aim of education in a provision that the patrons of the 
 colony should be obliged to support at all times as many instruc- 
 tors and schoolmasters as the number of the inhabitants should 
 seem to require; and to choose moreover, for this purpose, per- 
 sons w'ho had at heart the conversion of the pagan inhabitants to 
 Christianity. (Penn. Archives, 2nd Series, p. 760, Harrisburg, 
 1877.) 
 
 Again in 1642 the following royal instructions were given to 
 the governor : " Before all the Governor must labor and watch 
 that he renders in all things to Almighty God, the true worship 
 which is his due, the glory, the praise, and the homage which 
 belong to him, and take good measures that the divine service 
 is performed according to the true confession of Augsburg, the 
 Council of Upsal, and the ceremonies of the Swedish Church, 
 having care that all men, and especially the youth, be well 
 instructed in all parts of Christianity, and that a good ecclesias- 
 tical discipline be observed and maintained." (Penn. Archives, 
 2nd Series, p. 773.) 
 
 Maryland: The " Petitionary Act for Free Schools," enacted 
 by the legislature of Maryland in 1696, mentions the propagation 
 of the gospel as one of the chief purposes of education : " II. 
 And may it be enacted, by the King's most excellent majesty, by 
 and with the advice, prayer and consent of this present General 
 Assembly, and the authority of the same, that for the propaga- 
 tion of the Gospel, and the education of the youth of this province 
 in good letters and manners, that a certain place or places, for a 
 free school or schools or place of study of Latin, Greek, writing, 
 and the like, consisting of one master, one usher, and one writing 
 master or scribe, to a school, and one hundred scholars, more or 
 less, according to the ability of the said free school, may be made, 
 erected, founded, propagated and established under your royal 
 patronage." (Bacon's Laws 1696, XVII.) 
 
 In a letter of the Maryland Assembly, directed to the Bishop 
 
i6 The Secularization of American Education 
 
 of London in 1694, is set forth very definitely this religious aim 
 of education : " May it please your lordship, under so glorious 
 a reign, wherein by God's providence, his true religion has been 
 so miraculously preserved, should we not endeavor to promote 
 it, we should hardly deserve the name of good protestants or 
 good subjects; especially considering how noble an example is 
 set before us by their Majesties' royal foundation now vigor- 
 ously carried on in Virginia. We have therefore in Assembly 
 attempted to make learning an handmaid to devotion, and' provided 
 free schools in Maryland, to attend on their college in that coun- 
 try. We only beg their Majesties' confirmation of an act we have 
 proposed for their establishment and of your lordship a share of 
 that assistance and care you have taken in promoting so great 
 and so good a design as that of the college. So charitable a 
 founder of a school in opposition to that shop of poisoning princi- 
 ples set open in the Savoy, we are confident will favor our like 
 pious designs in this province, wherein, instructing our youth in 
 the orthodox, preserving them from the infection of heterodox 
 tenets and fitting them for the service of church and state in this 
 uncultivated part of the world, are our chiefest aim and end." 
 (Hist. Collection relating to the American Colonial Church, Wm. 
 S. Perry, IV, p. 1-2.) 
 
 " An Act for the Encouragement of Learning and Erecting 
 Schools in the Several Counties within this Province," passed 
 October 26, 1723, states this aim as follows : " Whereas the pre- 
 ceding Assemblies for some years past have had much at heart 
 the absolute necessity they have lain under in regard both to duty 
 and interest; to make the best provision in their power for the 
 liberal and pious education of the youth of this province, and 
 improving their natural abilities and acuteness (which seems not 
 to be inferior to any), so as to be fitted for the discharge of their 
 duties in the several stations and employments they may be called 
 to, and employed in, either in regard to church or state," etc., all 
 of which had succeeded so well, that this legislature (1723), 
 for the same purposes, provided that there should be erected one 
 school in each county of the province, and provided for the man- 
 agement and government of the same. {Bacon's Laws 1723, 
 XIX.) 
 
The Religious Aim of Education 17 
 
 Massachusetts: The general court of Massachusetts in 1641 
 recommended that the elders make out a catechism for the 
 instruction of youth in the grounds of religion. {Ma^s. Col. Rec. 
 I, p. 328.) By the law of 1642 the chosen men of each town in 
 Massachusetts were empowered to, " take account from time to 
 time of all parents and masters and of their children concern- 
 ing their calling and employment of their children, especially of 
 their ability to read and understand the principles of religion 
 and the capital laws of this country, and to impose fines upon such 
 as shall refuse to render such accounts to them when they shall 
 be required," etc. {Mass. Col. Rec. II, p. 8-9.) 
 
 In 1642 again an act of the General Court ordered that those 
 having control of the college at Cambridge should " have from 
 time to time full powers and authority to make and establish all 
 such orders, statutes, and constitutions as they shall see necessary 
 for the instituting, guiding, and furthering of the said college and 
 the several members thereof from time to time in piety, morality 
 and learning," etc. {Mass. Col. Rec. II, p. 30.) In 1652 the 
 court requested voluntary contributions from the colonists for the 
 assistance of Harvard College, on the grounds of the necessity 
 of education for the purposes of the commonwealth and of the 
 church. {Mass. Col. Rec. IV, Part I, p. loo-ioi.) In 1654 
 because of its benefit to church and state the court made an appro- 
 priation of iioo to Harvard besides renewing the grant of the 
 profit of a ferry formerly granted unto the college. {Mass. Col. 
 Rec. IV, Part I, p. 205.) 
 
 The law of 1647 ordering, " that every township in this juris- 
 diction, after the Lord hath increased them to the number of fifty 
 householders, shall then appoint one within their town to teach 
 all such children as shall resort to him to write and read " was 
 avowedly, in part, prompted by religious considerations. {Mass. 
 Col. Rec. II, p. 203.) The law of 1712, "An Act against intem- 
 perance, immorality and profaneness, and for reformation of 
 manners," dealing in part with education, provides that none shall 
 teach " but such as are of sober and good conversation and have 
 the allowance and approbation of the selectmen of the town," on 
 the grounds that " the well educating and instructing of children 
 and youth in families and schools are a necessary means to 
 propagate religion and good manners." The preamble to an act 
 
i8 The Secularization of American Education 
 
 of 1768 — An act in further addition to the several acts for the set- 
 tlement and support of schools and school masters — runs as fol- 
 lows : " Whereas, it may happen that where towns or districts 
 consist of several precincts, some such precincts may be disposed 
 to expend more for the instruction of children and youth, in use- 
 ful learning, within their own bounds, than, as parts of such 
 towns or districts, they are, by law, held to do, and no provision 
 has hitherto been made to enable precincts to raise money for 
 that purpose; and whereas the encouragement of learning tends 
 to the promotion of religion and good morals, and the establish- 
 ment of liberty, civil and religious;" etc. {Acts and Resolves 
 IV, p. 988.) 
 
 New Hampshire: In 1769 George III granted a charter to 
 Dartmouth College in New Hampshire, one of the purposes of 
 which institution as expressed in this charter was, " to promote 
 learning among the English, and be a means to supply a great 
 number of churches and congregations which are likely soon to be 
 formed in that new country, with a learned and orthodox min- 
 istry . . ." For this purpose it provides that the trustees 
 thereof shall, " elect, nominate, and appoint a professor in divin- 
 ity, who shall and may read lectures in theology, instruct the 
 students in the science of divine truths and the knowledge of the 
 Holy Scriptures, who also may be president of the college, or not, 
 as the trustees shall see meet and convenient." A second purpose 
 is set forth in the words, " considering the premises and being 
 willing to encourage the laudable design of spreading Christian 
 knowledge among the savages of our American wilderness," etc. 
 (Quoted by Smith in History of Dartmouth College, p. 457-464.) 
 
 New Jersey: In the royal instructions to Governor Bernard 
 of New Jersey in 1758 the religious aim of education is clearly 
 shown. " Sec. 67. And it is our further will and pleasure that 
 you recommend to the assembly to enter upon proper methods 
 for the erecting and maintaining of schools in order to the train- 
 ing up of youth to reading and to a necessary knowledge of the 
 principles of religion." {New Jersey Archives, ist Series, Part 
 IX, p. 68-69.) The charter granted to Queens College, New 
 Jersey, by George III in 1770 states that it is intended, " to provide 
 learning for the benefit of the community and advancement of 
 
The Religious Aim of Education 19 
 
 the Protestant religion of all denominations ; and more especially 
 to remove as much as possible the necessity our said loving sub- 
 jects have hitherto been under, of sending their youth intended 
 for the ministry, to a foreign country for education, and of being 
 subordinate to a foreign ecclesiastical jurisdiction." {The Char- 
 ter of Queens College in New Jersey, with Appendix, printed for 
 the Trustees at New Brunswick, quoted by Qews, p. 336.) 
 
 New Netherlands: In 1664 the Director-General and Council 
 of New Netherlands enacted the following ordinance : " Ordi- 
 nance of the Director-General and Council of New Netherlands, 
 for the better and more careful instruction of youth in the prin- 
 ciples of the Christian religion. Whereas it is highly necessary 
 and most important that the youth from childhood up be instructed 
 not only in reading, writing, and arithmetic, but especially and 
 chiefly in the principles and fundamentals of the reformed religion, 
 according to the lesson of that wise king Solomon, — train up a 
 child in the way he shall go, and when he is old he will not depart 
 from it, — iso that in time such men may proceed therefrom, as 
 may be fit to serve their Fatherland as well in the church as in the 
 state. This then being taken into particular consideration by the 
 Director-General and Council of New Netherlands, because the 
 number of children is, merciful blessing of the Lord, considerably 
 increasing here, they have deemed it necessary, in order that so 
 useful and God-acceptable a work may be the more effectually 
 promoted, to recommend and command the schoolmasters, as we 
 do hereby, that they shall appear in the church, with the children 
 committed to their care and intrusted to them, on Wednesday, 
 before the commencement of the sermon, in order, after the 
 conclusion of Divine Service, that each may in the presence of 
 the reverend ministers and the elders who may be present, examine 
 his scholars as to what they have committed to memory of the 
 Christian commandments and catechism, and what progress they 
 have made; after which performance, the children shall be dis- 
 missed for that day, and allowed a decent recreation." {Laws 
 and Ordinances of New Netherlands, p. 461.) Among the laws 
 confirmed by the delegates to a convention at Hempstead, Long 
 Island, in 1665, was a provision which shows the religious aim of 
 education : " The constable and overseers are strictly required 
 
20 The Secularization of American Education 
 
 frequently to admonish the inhabitants of instructing their child- 
 ren and servants in matters of religion and the laws of the 
 country." (Col. Laws of New York, I, p. 26.) 
 
 New York: The charter granted by George II to the College 
 of the Province of New York in 1755 contained the following 
 provision : " Know ye that of our especial grace, certain knowl- 
 edge, and mere motion, we have willed, granted, constituted, and 
 appointed, and by these presents, do will and grant to the Gov- 
 ernors of the College of the Province of New York, in the city 
 of New York, in America, and to their successors, that from 
 time to time, and at all times hereafter forever, there may, and 
 shall be in the said college, a professor of Divinity of the 
 Reformed Protestant Dutch Church, for the instruction of such 
 youth as may intend to devote themselves to the sacred ministry 
 in those churches, in this our province of New York, that are in 
 communion with, and conform to the doctrine, discipline, and 
 worship established in the United Provinces, by the National 
 Synod of Dort; and any other students that may be desirous to 
 attend his lectures." The selection of such professor of divinity 
 was left to the judgment of the ministers, elders, and deacons 
 of the Reformed Protestant Dutch Church in the City of New 
 York, with the single condition that he should always be a member 
 of and in communion with the said Reformed Protestant Dutch 
 Church. {Charters, Acts, and Official Documents Relating to 
 Columbia University, compiled by John B. Pine, New York, 1895, 
 p. 26-28.) 
 
 North Carolina: In 1766 the legislature of North Carolina in 
 the preamble to an act incorporating a society for promoting and 
 establishing a public school at Newbern and making it a grant 
 of public funds states the religious purpose of the school as fol- 
 lows : " Whereas a number of well disposed persons, taking into 
 consideration the great necessity of having a proper school or 
 public seminary of learning established, whereby the rising gene- 
 ration may be brought up and instructed in the principles of the 
 Christian religion, and fitted for the offices and several purposes 
 of life, have at a great expense erected and built, in the town of 
 Newbern, a convenient house for the purposes aforesaid; and 
 being desirous that the same may be established by law on a per- 
 
The Religious Aim of Education 21 
 
 manent footing, so as to answer the good purposes by the said 
 persons intended;" etc. (Revisal 1773, p. 359-361.) 
 
 Pennsylvania: The religious aim of education is shown in a 
 law passed in Pennsylvania in 1683, part of which reads as fol- 
 lows : " all persons in this province and territories thereof, hav- 
 ing children, and all the guardians or trustees of orphans, shall 
 cause such to be instructed in reading and writing ; so that they 
 may be able to read the scriptures;" etc. (Charters and Laws 
 of the Province of Pennsylvania, p. 142.) The Friends Free 
 School received from the proprietary government of Pennsylvania 
 in 171 1 a charter which declares in a portion of the preamble the 
 religious purpose of public schools. " Whereas the prosperity 
 and welfare of any people depend, in a great measure, upon the 
 good education of youth, and their early instruction in the prin- 
 ciples of true religion and virtue, and qualifying them to serve 
 their country and themselves, by breeding them in reading, writ- 
 ing, and learning of languages, and useful arts and sciences suit- 
 able to their sex, age, and degree; which cannot be effected in 
 any manner so well as by erecting public schools for the purposes 
 aforesaid." (Quoted by Wickersham, p. 44-48.) The charter 
 granted in 1753 to the Academy and Charitable School in the 
 Province of Pennsylvania by the proprietary government states 
 in its preamble, the religious aim of education. " Whereas the 
 well-being of a society depends on the education of their youth, 
 as well as, in great measure, the eternal welfare of every indi- 
 vidual, by impressing on their tender minds principles of morality 
 and religion, instructing them in the several duties they owe to 
 society in which they live, and one towards another, giving them 
 the knowledge of languages, and other parts of useful learning 
 necessary thereto, in order to render them serviceable in the sev- 
 eral public stations to which they may be called."^ 
 
 Rhode Island: The act of 1764 incorporating the University of 
 Rhode Island and Providence Plantation provided that " sectarian 
 differences of opinion shall not make any part of the public and 
 classical instruction; although all religious controversies may be 
 studied freely, examined and explained by the president, pro- 
 
 1 Quoted in Circular of Infontiation, No. 2, 1892, issued by the U. S. 
 Bureau of Education, entitled, Benjamin Franklin and the University of 
 Pennsylvania, p. 68. 
 
22 The Secularization of American Education 
 
 fessors, and tutors in a personal, separate, and distinct manner, to 
 the youth of any or each denomination ; and above all, a constant 
 regard to be paid to, and effectual care taken of, the morals of the 
 college." {Records of the Colony of Rhode Island and Provin- 
 cial Plantations in New England, VI, p. 385-391.) 
 
 South Carolina: In 1710 the legislature of South Carolina 
 passed "An Act for the Founding and Erecting of a Free School 
 for the Use of the Inhabitants of South Carolina," which began 
 as follows : " Whereas it is necessary that a free school be 
 erected for the instruction of the youth of this province in gram- 
 mar and other arts and sciences and useful learning, and also in 
 the principles of the Christian religion ;" etc. (Statutes at Large 
 of South Carolina, T. Cooper, 1837, ^^> P- 342-346.) 
 
 In 1712 there was passed by the proprietary government an act 
 establishing a free school in Charleston, in which the schoolmaster 
 should be capable to catechise and instruct the youth in the prin- 
 ciples of the Christian religion. (Statutes at Large of South 
 Carolina, II, p. 389-396.) An act of 1734 for establishing a free 
 school at the town of Dorchester, in the parish of St. George, 
 Berkeley County, likewise contained a provision that the master 
 should be capable, " to catechise and instruct the youth in the 
 principles of the Christian religion." (Statutes at Large of South 
 Carolina, III, p. 378-383.) 
 
 Virginia: In 1618 the following instructions were given by the 
 Council of the Virginia Company to the Colonial Governor of Vir- 
 ginia: " Whereas by a special grant and license from his Majesty 
 a general contribution over this realm hath been made for the 
 building and planting of a college for the training up of the 
 children of those infidels in the true religion, moral virtue, and 
 civility, and for other godliness, we do, therefore, according to a 
 former grant and order, hereby ratify, confirm and ordain that a 
 convenient place be chosen and set out for the planting of a uni- 
 versity at the said Henrico in the time to come, and that in the 
 meantime preparation be there made for the building of the said 
 college for the children of the infidels according to such instruc- 
 tions as we shall deliver. And we will and ordain that ten 
 thousand acres, partly of the lands they impaled and partly of the 
 lands within the territory of the said Henrico, be allotted and set 
 
The Religious Aim of Education 23 
 
 out for the endowing of the said university and college with con- 
 venient possessions."^ 
 
 The Grand Assembly in 1660-1661 enacted the following: 
 " Whereas the want of able and faithful ministers in this country 
 deprives us of these great blessings and mercies that always attend 
 upon the service of God, which want, by reason of our great dis- 
 tance from our native country, cannot in probability be always 
 supplied from thence, Be it enacted, that for the advance of 
 learning, education of youth, supply of the ministry, and promo- 
 tion of piety, there be land taken upon purchases for a college 
 and free school, and that there be with as much speed as may be 
 convenient, housing erected thereon for entertaining of students 
 and scholars." (Hening II, p. 25.) At the same session it was 
 ordered that the several county courts subscribe such sums as they 
 might see fit and take the subscriptions of such persons as should 
 see fit to subscribe for the establishment and maintenance of a 
 college of students of the liberal arts and sciences, " for, the 
 advancement of learning, promoting piety, and provision of an 
 able and successive ministry in this country." (Hening II, 
 P- 37-) The charter granted by William and Mary in 1692 to 
 the College of William and Mary declared : " Forasmuch as our 
 well-beloved and faithful subjects, constituting the General 
 Assembly of our Colony of Virginia, have had it in their minds, 
 and have proposed to themselves, to the end that the Church of 
 Virginia may be furnished with a seminary of ministers of the 
 gospel, and that the youth may be piously educated in good letters 
 and manners, and that the Christian faith may be propagated 
 among the Western Indians, to the glory of Almighty God; to 
 make, found, and establish a certain place of universal study, or 
 perpetual College of Divinity, Philosophy, Languages, and other 
 good arts and sciences ;" . . . " We taking the premises seriously 
 into our consideration, and earnestly desiring, that as far as in us 
 lies, true philosophy, and other good and liberal arts and sciences 
 may be promoted, and that the orthodox Christian faith may be 
 propagated ;" etc. (History of the College of William and Mary 
 from its Foundation, 1660 to 1874.) 
 
 1 Quoted by Neill, History of the Virginia Company, p. 137. .frop 
 manuscript instructions to Yeardley, Virginia Records, small folio m 
 Library of Congress. 
 
24 The Secularization of American Education 
 
 I have been able to discover the following laws in which the 
 religious aim is incorporated bearing dates subsequent to 1776. 
 
 Connecticut: An act of the Connecticut legislature entitled, 
 "An Act for the Educating and Governing of Children," con- 
 tains the following : "All parents and masters of children, shall 
 by themselves or others teach and instruct, or cause to be 
 taught and instructed all such children as are under their care 
 and government, accotding to their ability, to read the English 
 tongue well and to know the laws against capital offenses ; And 
 if unable to do so much, then at best to learn some short ortho- 
 dox catechism without book, so as to be able to answer to the 
 questions that shall be propounded to them out of such cate- 
 chism, by their parents, masters or ministers when they shall 
 call them to an account of what they have of that kind." {Laws 
 1796, Hudson and Goodwin printers, p. 60.) 
 
 Georgia: The preamble to an act of the legislature of Georgia, 
 incorporating Oglethorpe University, passed in 1835, reads as 
 follows : " Whereas, the cultivation of piety and the diffusion of 
 useful knowledge greatly tfend to preserve the liberty and to 
 advance the prosperity of a free people, and whereas these 
 important objects are best obtained by training the minds of the 
 rising generation in the study of useful science, and imbuing 
 their hearts with the sentiments of religion and virtue; and 
 whereas it is the duty of an enlightened and patriotic legislature 
 to authorize, protect and foster institutions established for the 
 promotion of these important objects ;" etc. {Act Dec. 21, 1835.) 
 The same views were repeated in the Act of December 24th, 
 1836, incorporating the Southern Baptist College. 
 
 Illinois: The Illinois legislature in 1836 incorporated the Chat- 
 ham Manual Labor School providing that each and every denomi- 
 nation of Christians might establish in connection therewith a 
 professorship in theology for the promulgation of their peculiar 
 religious tenents, they severally furnishing the funds for the sup- 
 port of the same. {Act Jan. 9, 1836.) 
 
 Maine: In 1821 the legislature of Maine made it the duty of 
 the presidents, professors and tutors of colleges, and the pre- 
 ceptors of academies, and all other instructors of youth, to take 
 
The Religious Aim of Education 25 
 
 diligent care and exert their best endeavors to impress on the 
 minds of children and youth committed to their care and instruc- 
 tion, the principles of piety and justice, and a sacred regard to 
 truth, love to their country, humanity, and universal benevolence. 
 {Act March 15, 1821.) The Revised Statutes of 1903 provide for 
 the teaching of the fundamental truths of Christianity in the 
 state normal schools. {Revised Statutes 1903, Ch. 15, Sec. 109.) 
 
 New York: The Act of 1784 establishing the University of 
 New York contains the following : " Whenever any religious 
 body or society of men shall deem it proper to institute a profes- 
 sorship in the said university for the promotion of their religious 
 tenents, or for any other purpose not inconsistent with religion, 
 morality, and the laws of the state, and shall appropriate a sum 
 for that purpose, not being less than 200 bushels of wheat per 
 annum, the regents shall cause the same to be applied as the 
 donors shall direct." {Session Laws 1784, Ch. 51, Act May i, 
 1784.) 
 
 South Carolina: The Revised Statutes of 1873 of South Caro- 
 lina provided that one of the departments of the University of 
 South Carolina should be a school of mental and moral philosophy, 
 sacred literature, and evidences of Christianity. {Revised Stat- 
 utes 1873, Ch. XLII, Sec. 13, Par. 5.) 
 
CHAPTER II 
 
 THE RELIGIOUS INSTRUCTION OF ORPHANS AND 
 THE INMATES OF INDUSTRIAL SCHOOLS, RE- 
 FORM SCHOOLS, AND PENAL INSTITUTIONS 
 
 The problem facing the state in the education of these special 
 classes is radically different from that in the education of ordi- 
 nary children and youth. When religion is excluded from the 
 course of study of our public schools and colleges it is common 
 to justify the exclusion in part on the ground that the home and 
 the church rather than the state should provide for religious 
 instruction. But in the case of orphans and the inmates of 
 industrial schools, reform schools, and penal institutions, the 
 parents having been removed by death, or the children and youth 
 having been taken out of the control of the parents, the state 
 must assume full responsibility for their moral and religious 
 training. If the state fails or refuses to provide it, or to allow 
 others to provide it, then these classes are excluded, absolutely, 
 from all benefit of such instruction. 
 
 The problem is further intensified by the fact that the inmates 
 of the institutions above named, and frequently the orphans also, 
 make up morally the weakest element of our population. The 
 refusal or inability of the state to impart religious instruction 
 unto them brings about the curious phenomenon of trying to pre- 
 pare for citizenship, an element of society in the education of 
 which, the religious element, if it has any value an)rwhere, must 
 be of supreme worth, without any employment of the same. 
 
 The wording of our laws shows that the state has realized the 
 responsibility resting upon it, and while, as I shall show later, 
 religious instruction has been very generally entirely eliminated 
 from the education of normal children, in dealing with the delin- 
 quent classes the state has not failed to make use of religion as 
 an instrument and help in moral instruction. Incidentally, this 
 fact substantiates one of the things for which I am contending, 
 namely, that it is not hostility to religion on the part of the state 
 26 
 
The Religious Instruction of Orphans, etc. 27 
 
 which has prompted it to exclude religion from the schools, but 
 rather sectarian dififerences, coupled with the feeling that, nor- 
 mally, the home and the church can more adequately provide for 
 religious instruction than can the public school. \ 
 
 The few cases of legislation which I cite, dealing with the 
 religious education of orphans, all bear dates within the colonial 
 period, and reveal a concern on the part of the state not only for 
 moral and religious instruction, but often for sectarian religious 
 instruction as well, seeing to it that the children are educated in 
 the particular religious tenets of their deceased parents. While 
 most of the laws already cited, in which the religious aim of edu- 
 cation is set forth, belong to the colonial period, those having to 
 do with the education of the morally delinquent, since the insti- 
 tutions provided for the care of the same are of relatively recent 
 date, have been enacted since the middle of the nineteenth cen- 
 tury and frequently are the laws in force at the present time. 
 
 In these laws, provision is made for religious instruction and 
 for holding religious services for the benefit of the inmates of the 
 institutions in question, and there frequently is discernible the 
 same care that children shall be instructed in the religious ten- 
 ets of their parents, as is shown in the laws cited dealing with the 
 care of orphans during the colonial period. Care is taken that 
 representatives of all religious denominations shall be accorded 
 equal privileges in the imparting of religious instruction and the 
 holding of religious services therein, and that no sectarian views 
 shall dominate the same. Only rarely do we find religious 
 instruction as such forbidden in these institutions. The control 
 of all such institutions, however, which receive state aid must be 
 exclusively in the hands of the state. 
 
 During colonial days it was a common practice to bind out or 
 apprentice orphan children, so that frequently, no doubt, the 
 laws containing the expression, "masters of apprentices," or 
 " guardians of children," occurring in Chapter I, have to do with 
 the education of orphans. In a few instances, however, laws 
 passed during the colonial period make direct reference to the 
 religious education of this class of children. 
 
 Maryland: The colony of Maryland enacted in 1671 that 
 " care must be taken to have the children educated in the religion 
 
28 The Secularisation of American Education 
 
 of the deceased parents." (Maryland Archives, Proceedings and 
 Acts 1666-1676, p. 325.) In 1715 a most stringent law was 
 passed strongly favoring the Protestant faith, " provided always 
 that where any person, being a Protestant, shall die, and leave a 
 widow and children, and such widow shall intermarry any per- 
 son of the Romish communion, or be herself of that opinion and 
 profession, it shall and may be lawful for his Majesty's Gov- 
 ernor and Council, within this province, upon application to them 
 made, to remove such child or children out of the custody of such 
 parents, and place them where they may be securely educated in 
 the Protestant religion." (Bacon's Laws 1715, Ch. XXX,IX.) 
 
 North Carolina: A law of North Carolina in the early eigh- 
 teenth century provided, " that all orphans shall be educated and 
 provided for according to their rank and degree, out of the income 
 or interest of their estates or stocks, if the same shall be suffi- 
 cient; otherwise such orphan shall be bound apprentice to some 
 handicraft trade, (the master or mistress of such orphans not 
 being of the profession of the people called Quakers) until they 
 shall come of age." (A Collection of All the Public Acts of the 
 Assembly of the Province of North Carolina, Newbern 1752, p. 
 30.) 
 
 Pennsylvania: A Pennsylvania law passed in 1683 reads in 
 part as follows: "All persons in this province and territories 
 thereof, having children, and all the guardians or trustees of 
 orphans, shall cause such to be instructed in reading and writing ; 
 so that they may be able to read the scriptures;" etc. (Charters 
 and Laws of the Province of Pennsylvania, p. 142.) 
 
 Virginia: A law of the Virginia legislature of 1643 provided 
 that all overseers and guardians of orphans should " educate and 
 instruct them according to their best endeavors in Christian 
 religion and in rudiments of learning." (Hening I, p. 260-261.) 
 
 The following laws provide for religious instruction or religious 
 services in industrial schools, reform schools or penal institutions. 
 
 Colorado: With regard to its Parental or Truant Schools the 
 state of Colorado has enacted the following : " No religious 
 instruction shall be given in such schools except such as is al- 
 lowed by law to be given in public schools ; but the board of edu- 
 
The Religious Instruction of Orphans, etc. 29 
 
 cation shall make suitable regulations so that the inmates may 
 receive religious training in accordance with the belief of the 
 parents of such children, either by allowing religious services to 
 be held in the institution or by arranging for attendance at public 
 service elsewhere." (Acts 1901, p. 365, Par. 4, Mills Annotated 
 Statutes, Rev. Sup. 1891-1905, Sec. 4015 K.) 
 
 Connecticut: Coimecticut has enacted the following : " Equal 
 privileges shall be granted to clergymen of all religious denomi- 
 nations to impart religious instruction to the inmates of the Con- 
 necticut School for Boys, and the Connecticut Industrial School 
 for Girls ; and every reasonable opportunity shall be allowed such 
 clergymen to give such inmates, belonging to their respective 
 denominations, religious and moral instruction; and the teachers 
 of each of said institutions shall prescribe reasonable times and 
 places, not inconsistent with its proper management, when and 
 where such instruction may be given, which shall be open to all 
 who choose to attend." (Code 1902, Sec. 2847.) 
 
 Georgia: In Georgia we find the following law with regard 
 to the powers and duties of the principal of the Academy for the 
 Deaf and Dumb : " He shall be the sole official medium of com- 
 munication between the board and the subordinate officers and 
 employees of the institution and shall have the exclusive direc- 
 tion and control of the system of religious and moral instruc- 
 tion." (Code 189s, Sec. 1322.) By Section 1320 the principal 
 is made responsible to the trustees and his acts made subject to 
 their veto. 
 
 Idaho: In Idaho the following is the law with regard to the 
 Industrial Training School : " The superintendent shall provide 
 for the holding of religious services on the Sabbath day for the 
 inmates of said school but no sectarian views shall control the 
 services." (School Lazvs 1905, p. 21, Sec. 13.) 
 
 Illinois: The law of Illinois respecting Parental or Truant 
 Schools is as follows : " No religious instruction shall be given 
 in such school except such as is allowed by law to be given in 
 public schools; but the Board of Education shall make suitable 
 regulation so that the inmates may receive religious training in 
 accordance with the belief of the parents of said children, either 
 
30 The Secularization of American Education 
 
 by allowing religious services to be held in the institution or by- 
 arranging for attendance at public service elsewhere." {Act 
 April 24, 1899, Sec. 4, Revised Statutes 1906, Sec. 436.) With 
 regard to Industrial Schools for Girls the following is found: 
 "All industrial schools for girls in this state shall be subject to 
 the same visitation, inspection and supervision of the Board of 
 State Commissioners of Public Charities as the charitable and 
 penal institutions of the state, and avoiding as far as practicable, 
 sectarianism, suitable provision shall be made for the moral and 
 religious instruction of the inmates of all industrial schools for 
 girls in this state." {Revised Statutes 1906, Ch. 122, Sec. 333.) 
 
 Massachusetts: In an act of the Massachusetts legislature 
 incorporating the Boston Farm School is the following : " All 
 boys so taken and admitted into the school, shall be maintained, 
 employed and educated therein, and shall be instructed in their 
 moral and religious duties and in the knowledge usually com- 
 municated in the common town schools." {Session Laws 1833, 
 Ch. CXXXV, Act March 19, 1833.) 
 
 Minnesota: In 1870 the legislature of Minnesota enacted the 
 following with regard to the Minnesota State Reform School: 
 " The board of managers shall establish such regulations respect- 
 ing religious and moral education, training, employment, disci- 
 pline, and safe keeping of its inhabitants as may be deemed expe- 
 dient and proper. 
 
 " All persons committed to the Minnesota State Reform School 
 shall be allowed, in all cases of sickness, spiritual advice and 
 spiritual ministrations from any recognized clergyman of the 
 denomination or church to which said inmates may respectively 
 belong; such advice and ministration to be given within sight of 
 the person or persons having charge of such inmates ; but if the 
 sick person or persons seeking it, desire religious consolation out 
 of hearing of any oificer of said institution, they in such case, 
 shall not be debarred the right by any rule of such school." {Act 
 March 3, 1870, Sec. 3 and 8.) By a subsequent act this privilege 
 of spiritual advice and consolation was extended to all inmates 
 and made much more specific, and it was made much more man- 
 datory that the school authorities allow it. "All persons com- 
 mitted to any prison or reform school or other place of confine- 
 
The Religious Instruction of Orphans, etc. 31 
 
 ment in said state shall be allowed spiritual advice and spiritual 
 ministration from any recognized clergyman of the denomina- 
 tion or church to which said persons so committed or received 
 may respectively belong, and have belonged prior to their being 
 so committed or received into such state prison or reform school 
 or other place of confinement; such advice or ministration to be 
 given within the prison or reform school or other building where 
 the inmates thereof are required by law to be confined or impris- 
 oned, in such manner as will secure to such persons the free 
 exercise of their religious belief, and such religious consolation, 
 advice and ministration shall be allowed separate and apart and 
 out of the presence and hearing of any person other than the 
 clergyman who is ministering to such inmates. 
 
 " It shall be the duty of the Board of Managers or persons or 
 officers having control and management of said institution to set 
 apart not less than one hour (and more if necessary) on the first 
 day of each week in which any clergyman in good standing of 
 any church or denomination may freely minister to and impart 
 moral and religious instruction to those of the said inmates or 
 children who respectively belong thereto or have belonged thereto 
 prior to their being so committed or received therein; and to 
 afiford and grant to such clergymien such reasonable and proper 
 facilities as may be necessary to enable them to freely and prop- 
 erly discharge their duties as ministers and spiritual advisers to 
 the said inmates, and to provide and furnish to such clergymen 
 on such occasions a room or apartment where they may be enabled 
 to freely and properly discharge their duties as such clergymen." 
 (Act March 5, 1874, General Statutes 1894, Sec. 3633-3634.) 
 
 Montana: The Montana law with regard to the Industrial 
 School reads as follows : " No religious instruction shall be 
 given in said school except such as is allowed by law to be given 
 in public schools; but the board of trustees may make suitable 
 regulations so that the inmates may receive religious training in 
 accordance with the belief of the parents of such children, by 
 arranging for attendance at public services elsewhere." {School 
 Laws 1903, p. 90, Sec. 1925.) 
 
 New Jersey: By an act of the New Jersey legislature in 1831 
 religious and well-inclined persons of any Christian denomination 
 
32 The Secularization of American Education 
 
 were to be admitted to the state prison on Sundays to perform 
 divine service. {Act J;an. 25, 1831.) By an act of i860 in the 
 same state a moral instructor at the state prison was provided for 
 at an annual salary of $600. {Act March 22, i860. Session 
 Laws i860, Ch. CCX.) 
 
CHAPTER III 
 
 THE ECCLESIASTICAL CONTROL OF EDUCATION 
 
 Laws granting the church or its representatives more or less 
 control over education are a natural corollary of laws in which 
 religion is recognized as a major aim of education. 
 
 The church is the special repository of religion. Her ministers 
 are assumed to be religious experts. Hence who could be better 
 qualified to set standards and determine proficiency in religious 
 education than the minister? If the^chool exists for inculcating 
 the religion of a particular church, why should there not be a 
 religious test to assure the orthodoxy of the teacher ? And espe- 
 cially when the school exists for training the ministry of a par- 
 ticular church, who could be better qualified to control the teach- 
 ing of the school than the representative of the church? 
 
 Moreover, the ministry have ever been as a rule a relatively 
 highly educated class. Before the development of a special set 
 of officials for supervising education what more natural than that 
 the state should make use of these learned men, eminently quali- 
 fied, and having sufficient leisure, to perform the supervisory 
 function ? In a society where the church and state are intimately 
 related, what more natural than that the church and its machin- 
 ery, organized specifically for imparting religious instruction, 
 should be depended on by the state to control education when the 
 state had as yet evolved no other special agency of control? 
 
 As with the laws favoring the religious aim of education, the 
 laws recognizing or authorizing ecclesiastical control in educa- 
 tion were most numerous during the colonial period. They were 
 enacted in at least nine of the original thirteen colonies, but in 
 only half a dozen or so of the state governments out of a total 
 of forty-eight have they ever been in force. Such laws belonging 
 to the colonial period may be summed up under three heads: 
 ( I ) The Examination, Certification, or Appointment of Teachers 
 by Some Church Authority. (2) The Establishment of Religious 
 
 33 
 
34 The Secularization of American Education 
 
 Tests for Educational Officers. (3) The Delegation of Super- 
 visory, Administrative, or Teaching Powers to Church Authori- 
 ties. The few instances of such legislation of dates later than 
 1776 will be listed separately. 
 
 I. The Examination^ Certification, or Appointment of 
 Teachers by Some Church Authority 
 
 Massachusetts: In 1701 the legislature of Massachusetts en- 
 acted that every grammar school master should be approved by 
 the minister of the town, and the ministers of the two next adja- 
 cent towns or by any two of them. {Acts and Resolves i, p. 
 470.) 
 
 New Jersey: In 1758 the following instructions from the 
 Crown were received by the royal governor of New Jersey : " We 
 do further direct that no schoolmaster be henceforth permitted 
 to come from England to keep school in the said province with- 
 out the license of the said bishop of London," etc. {New Jersey 
 Archives ist Series, IX, p. 68-69.) 
 
 New York: In 1663 the provincial government agreed to pay 
 twenty-five florins heavy money in support of a teacher in the 
 village of Bushwyck on condition that he be examined by the 
 ministers of the city and found competent. {Albany Records 
 XX, p. 297.)! The royal governor in 1686 received the 
 following instructions : " And we do further direct that no 
 schoolmaster be henceforth permitted to come from England and 
 to keep school within our province of New York without the 
 license of the said Archbishop of Canterbury." {New York 
 Colonial Documents, III, p. 372.) In royal instructions of 
 January i, 1689 {New York Colonial Documents, III, p. 688), 
 March 7, 1692 {New York Colonial Documents, III, p. 821), 
 August 31, 1697 {New York Colonial Documents, IV, p. 288), 
 and December 27, 1709 {New York Colonial Documents, V, p. 
 135), the license was required to be had from the Bishop of 
 London instead of from the Archbishop of Canterbury. The 
 charter granted by William III in 1696 to the Reformed 
 Dutch Church contains the following : " And our will and 
 pleasure further is, and we do hereby declare that the 
 
 1 Quoted by Clews, p. 218. 
 
The Ecclesiastical Control of Education 35 
 
 ministers of said church, for the time being, shall and 
 may, by and with the consent of the elders and deacons 
 of the said church, for the time being, nominate and ap- 
 point a schoolmaster and such other under-oiBcers as they 
 shall stand in need of." {Ecclesiastical Records of the State of 
 New York, Vol. II, p. 1136-1165.) In 1755 George II, in grant- 
 ing a charter for the establishment of a professorship of divinity 
 in the College of the Province of New York, provided as fol- 
 lows: "And we do, by these presents, will, give, grant, and 
 appoint, that such professor shall be from time to time, and at 
 all times hereafter, nominated, chosen, and appointed by the 
 ministers, elders, and deacons of the Reformed Protestant Dutch 
 Church in the City of New York, for the time being, when they 
 shall see fit to make such nomination, choice, and appointment. 
 And they are hereby empowered and authorized to make such 
 nomination, choice, and appointment; and they are hereby re- 
 quired to certify such nomination, choice and appointment, to 
 the governors of the said college, under their corporation seal." 
 {Charters, Acts and Official Documents Relating to Columbia 
 University compiled by John B. Pine, New York, 1895, p. 26- 
 28.) 
 
 Virginia: In an act for incorporating the Borough of Nor- 
 folk in 1752, the legislature of Virginia, after providing for a 
 schoolmaster, specified as follows : " Which said master, before 
 he be received or admitted to keep school, shall undergo an 
 examination before the masters of the College of William and 
 Mary, and minister of Elizabeth parish, for the time being, and 
 produce a certificate of his capacity, and also a license from the 
 Governor, or commander-in-chief of this dominion, for the time 
 being." {Hening VI, p. 265.) An act passed in 1756 provid- 
 ing, among other things, for founding a free school in each of 
 the parishes of Abingdon and Ware, and empowering trustees 
 and governors to appoint schoolmasters specified as follows: 
 " Which masters, before they be admitted to keep school, shall 
 undergo an examination before the minister of the parish in 
 which the school he shall be appointed master of shall be situated, 
 and produce a certificate of his capacity, and also a license from 
 the governor or commander-in-chief of the dominion, for the 
 
36 The Secularization of American Education 
 
 time being," etc. {Hening VII, p. 4I-43-) I" ^759 an act for 
 better regulating Eaton's Charity School, empowered the trustees 
 and governors of the school, " to nominate and appoint when, and 
 as often as they shall think good, such person as they shall ap- 
 prove of to be master of the said charity school, such master 
 having been first examined by the minister of the said parish for 
 the time being, and producing from him a certificate of his capac- 
 ity, and a license from the governor or commander-in-chief of 
 this dominion, for the time being," etc. {Hening VII, p. 317- 
 320.) 
 
 2. The Establishment of Religious Tests for Educa- 
 tional Officers 
 
 Laws requiring teachers and members of boards of control to 
 be of some particular religious faith were a common feature of 
 colonial school legislation. They must hold such faith in order 
 to be eligible to appointment and sometimes provision was made 
 that in case of a change in their religious views they should for- 
 feit their office. 
 
 Maryland: An act of the legislature of Maryland, passed in 
 1723, provided for the distribution of public funds to schools in 
 which the teachers were to be members of the Church of Eng- 
 land, " and the visitors aforesaid are likewise hereby directed to 
 take all proper methods for the encouraging good schoolmasters, 
 that shall be members of the Church of England, and of a pious 
 and exemplary lives and conversations, and capable of teaching 
 well the grammar, good writing, and the mathematics, if such 
 can conveniently be got." {Bacon's Laws 1723, Ch. XIX.) 
 
 Massachusetts: The following measure was passed by the 
 General Court of Massachusetts May 31, 1654: "Forasmuch 
 as it greatly concerns the welfare of this country that the youth 
 thereof be educated, not only in good literature, but sound doc- 
 trine, this court doth therefore commend it to the serious con- 
 sideration and special care of the overseers of the college and 
 the selectmen in the towns, not to admit or suffer any such to 
 be continued in the office or place of teaching, educating, or 
 instructing of youth or children in the college or schools that 
 
The Ecclesiastical Control of Education 37 
 
 have manifested themselves unsound in the faith or scandalous 
 in their lives, and not giving due satisfaction according to the 
 rules of Christ." (Colonial Records IV, Pt. I, p. 182-183.) 
 
 New Jersey: In 1770 George III granted a charter for the 
 establishment of Queens College in New Jersey in which appears 
 the following provision for a religious test to be observed in the 
 selection of a president: "And also, we do hereby for us, our 
 heirs and successors, will, give and grant unto the trustees of 
 Queens College, in New Jersey, and their successors forever, 
 that the said trustees from time to time, and forever hereafter, 
 do elect, nominate, and appoint such a qualified person, being a 
 member of the Dutch Reformed Church aforesaid, as they or 
 the major part of any twelve of them, convened for that pur- 
 pose, as above directed, shall think fit, to be the president of the 
 said college." (Charter of Queens College in New Jersey, with 
 Appendix, printed for the Trustees at New Brunswick.) ^ 
 
 New York: The original charter granted by George II to 
 the trustees of the College of the Province of New York in 1754 
 states that in consideration of a gift of land from the " rector 
 and inhabitants of the city of New York in communion of the 
 Church of England, as by law established," etc., for the benefit 
 of the college, " the president of the said college, for the time being 
 shall forever hereafter be a member of and in communion with 
 the Church of England," etc. (Charters, Acts and Official 
 Documents Relating to Columbia University, compiled by John 
 B. Pine, New York, 1895, p. 10-24.) 
 
 North Carolina: By an act of the legislature of North Caro- 
 lina in 1766 incorporating a society for promoting and establish- 
 ing a public school in Newbern it was provided that " no per- 
 son shall be admitted to be master of the said school, but who is 
 of the Established Church of England." (Revisal of the Laws 
 of North Carolina 1772), P- 359"36i-) In 1771 the legislature 
 passed an act incorporating Queens College, in the town of Char- 
 lotte, Mecklinberg County, in which the following proviso with 
 regard to the president appears : " And provided further that 
 no person shall be admitted to be president of the said college 
 but who is of the Established Church and who upon being nom- 
 
 1 Quoted by Clews, p. 336. 
 
38 The Secularization of American Education 
 
 inated and appointed by the fellows and trustees as aforesaid or 
 the majority of them shall be duly licensed by the governor or 
 commander-in-chief for the time being," {Colonial Records 
 VIII, p. 486-490.) 
 
 The charter granted in 1708 to a public school in Philadelphia 
 by William Penn, he being the proprietary governor of the col- 
 ony, provided " that there should be forever thereafter fifteen 
 discrete and religious persons of the people called Quakers, over- 
 seers of the same public school, to be incorporated and made one 
 body politic and corporate — to have perpetual succession for- 
 ever."i By the charter of 171 1 the religious provision was 
 broadened to the following : " Fifteen discreet and religious 
 persons shall be overseers of the said school, who, with their suc- 
 cessors, shall forever hereafter be one body politic and corporate 
 in deed, name and law," etc.^ 
 
 Rhode Island: In 1764 the legislature of Rhode Island passed 
 an act incorporating the " Trustees and Fellows of the College 
 or University of Rhode Island." The act specifically states this 
 to be intended for a " liberal and catholic institution " and that 
 no religious tests were ever to be admitted thereto. It is very 
 evident, however, that this legislature's idea of what constituted 
 liberality and catholicity and freedom from religious test as 
 applied to a university was not the same as we of today, in our 
 laws at least, conceive it to be. It provides that the members of 
 all denominations of Protestants shall be eligible to any ofifice in 
 the university, except the presidency, which must always be filled 
 by a Baptist, and in case he shall change his religious views after 
 his election, the corporation is empowered to declare his place 
 vacant. Thirty-three trustees were provided for, twenty-two of 
 whom were to be Baptists, five Friends, five Episcopalians, and 
 four Congregationalists, to hold office for life, and in case any 
 one of them should see fit to change his religious views the cor- 
 poration was empowered to remove him and substitute another 
 in his place, taking care always to maintain the same proportion 
 of membership in the various denominations named. • The fel- 
 lows were to be twelve in number of whom eight were to be 
 Baptists and the rest indifferently of any or all denominations. 
 
 '1 Quoted by Wickersham, pp. 44-48. 
 2 Ihid. 
 
The Ecclesiastical Control of Education 39 
 
 {Records of the Colony of Rhode Island and 'Provincial Planta- 
 tions in New England VI, p. 385-391.) 
 
 South Carolina: In 1710 an act of the legislature of South 
 Carolina for the founding and erecting of a free school provided : 
 " And be it further enacted by the authority aforesaid, that the 
 person to be master of the said school, shall be of the religion 
 of the Church of England, and conform to the same, and shall 
 be capable to teach the learned languages, that is to say, the 
 Latin and Greek tongues, and also the useful parts of the mathe- 
 matics." {Statutes at Large of South Carolina II, p. 342-346.) 
 An act of 1712 providing for a free school in Charleston directed 
 that the schoolmaster should always conform to the Church of 
 England. {Statutes at Large of South Carolina II, p. 389-396.) 
 
 3. The Delegation of Supervisory, Administrative^ or 
 Teaching Powers to Church Authorities 
 
 Occasionally a certain amount of control over education 
 coupled with certain duties and authority in regard to enforcing 
 school attendance, or in regard to the supervision of schools and 
 education, is vested by law in the minister or some other church 
 officer. 
 
 Connecticut: In a law enacted in Connecticut in 1659,1 we 
 find the school books subject to the approval of the ministers. 
 In the law of 1676 it is the ministers who are recommended by 
 the general court to look into the state of education in families, 
 {Connecticut Colonial Records 1665-1676, p. 281) and in a law 
 of 1680 it is the ministers who are urged to catechise the young 
 people on the Sabbath days. {Connecticut Colonial Records 
 1678-1689, p. 65.) 
 
 Maryland: In the " Petitionary Act for Free Schools," en- 
 acted by the Maryland legislature in 1696, it was provided that 
 the most reverend father in God, Thomas, by Divine Providence, 
 Lord Archbishop of Canterbury, Primate and Metropolitan of all 
 England, should be chancellor of the said schools. {Bacon's 
 Laws 1686, Ch. XVII.) 
 
 Massachusetts: In 1641 the general court of Massachusetts 
 
 1 Quoted in part on p. 8. 
 
40 The Secularization of American Education 
 
 recommended that the elders should make out a catechism for 
 the instruction of youth in the grounds of religion. {Massachu- 
 setts Colonial Records I, p. 328.) 
 
 New Netherlands: The ordinance of the Director-General 
 and Council of New Netherlands for the better and more careful 
 instruction of youth in the principles of the Christian religion, 
 enacted in 1664,1 provides for the examination of the children, 
 by the teacher, in the presence of the ministers and elders. 
 
 Virginia: By an act of the legislature of Virginia passed in 
 1756, " the ministers, church wardens and vestrymen " of the 
 parishes of Ware and Abingdon were constituted a body cor- 
 porate by the name of the " Trustees and Governors of Peas- 
 ley's Free School," whose duty it was and who had power to 
 take over and manage certain property devised for the benefit 
 of a free school, and to establish a free school in some conveni- 
 ent part of each of the parishes of Ware and Abingdon. {Hen- 
 ing VII, p. 41-43.) An act of 1759 constituted the ministers 
 and church wardens of the parish of Elizabeth City together 
 with the justices of the peace of the County of Elizabeth City, 
 trustees and governors of Eaton's Charity School. {Hening 
 VII, p. 317-320.) 
 
 The following instances of legislation in which some form of 
 ecclesiastical control of education is provided for bear dates sub- 
 sequent to 1776. 
 
 Georgia: The legislature of Georgia in 1785 enacted the fol- 
 lowing : " All officers appointed to the institution and govern- 
 ment of the university shall be of the Christian religion; and 
 within three months after they enter upon the execution of their 
 trust shall publicly take the oath of allegiance and fidelity and 
 the oaths of office prescribed in the statutes of the university; 
 the president, before the governor or president of the council 
 and all other officers before the president of the university." 
 {Act Jan. 27, 1785, Sec. 9.) The Code of 1861, while still requir- 
 ing all officers of the university to be of the Christian religion, 
 omitted the provision regarding the taking of the oath, and 
 provided against the exclusion of any one from the advantages 
 of the institution on religious grounds. " All officers elected or 
 
 1 Quoted in part on p. 19. 
 
The Ecclesiastical Control of Education 41 
 
 appointed for the university shall be of the Christian religion, 
 but no person of any religious denomination shall be excluded 
 from equal advantages of education and the immunities of the 
 university on account of their speculative sentiments in religion 
 or being of a different religious profession from the trustees or 
 faculty." {Code 1861, Sec. 1127.) 
 
 Massachusetts: In Massachusetts a law of 1835 made it the 
 duty of the ministers to enforce the school attendance : " It 
 shall be the duty of the resident ministers of the gospel, the 
 selectmen, and the school committees in the several towns, to 
 exert their influence and use their best endeavors, that the youth 
 of their towns shall regularly attend the schools established for 
 their instruction." {Revised Statutes 1835, Pt. I, Title 10, Ch. 
 23, Sec. 8, Act of 1827, Ch. 143, Sec. 3.) The same provision 
 is found in the General Statutes of 1859 (Ch. 38, Sec. II), and 
 in the Public Statutes of 1882 (Ch. 44, Sec. 16.) 
 
 Minnesota: An act of the Minnesota legislature in 1867 amen- 
 datory to the act incorporating the Minnesota Central University, 
 provides : " No religious tenet shall be required of any person 
 to entitle him or her to all the privileges of the institution, but 
 two-thirds of the board of trustees shall be connected with 
 churches of the Baptist denomination." {Act March 9, 1867, 
 IX, Sec. 4.) 
 
 , New Mexico: In New Mexico the faculty of St. Michael's 
 College in Santa Fe was authorized by the legislature to issue 
 teachers' diplomas to all graduates of the college who might 
 apply for the same. " Such diplomas shall be and the same are 
 hereby considered as first class teachers' certificates in any and 
 all counties of New Mexico to the same extent as diplomas or 
 teachers' certificates issued by faculties of the territorial univer- 
 sity," etc. {Compiled Statutes 1897, Par. 1625.) In the same 
 volume we find the provision that the governor of the territory 
 of New Mexico, his Grace the most reverend Archbishop of 
 Santa Fe, and others shall be constituted a board of supervisors 
 for the Orphans Home and Industrial School of the Territory 
 of New Mexico, and it is made their duty to visit said institution 
 from time to time and faithfully look after the moral and intel- 
 lectual progress of the inmates. {Compiled Statutes 1897, Par. 
 
42 The Secularization of American Education 
 
 1618.) There is also a provision that the Governor, the Superin- 
 tendent of Public Instruction, the President of St. Michael's Col- 
 lege of Santa Fe, etc., shall constitute a territorial board of educa- 
 tion and exercise the powers and duties usually exercised by such 
 boards. {Compiled Statutes 1897, Par. 1514-) 
 
 New York: The act of the New York legislature in 1784, 
 establishing the University of New York after naming certain 
 regents for the control of the university, proceeds : " and it shall 
 and may be lawful to and for the clergy of the respective relig- 
 ious denominations in this state to meet at such time and place 
 as they shall deem proper after the passing of this act, and being 
 so met shall by a majority chuse and appoint one of their body 
 to be a regent in the said university, and in case of death or 
 resignation to chuse and appoint another in the same manner, 
 and the regent so chosen and appointed shall have the like powers 
 as any other regent appointed or to be appointed by virtue of 
 this act." {Session Laws 1784, Ch. 51, Act May i, 1784.) By 
 an act of 1875 the sisterhood of Grey Nuns, an incorporation 
 in the state of New York, was authorized, "to grant diplomas 
 and honorary testimonials in such form and under such regula- 
 tions as its board of trustees may determine, to any person who 
 shall have or may hereafter be graduated from any seminary of 
 learning of said corporation located within this state; and any 
 such graduate to whom a diploma may be awarded may file such 
 diploma or a duplicate thereof in the Department of Public 
 Instruction, and the Superintendent of Public Instruction may 
 thereupon in his discretion, issue a certificate to the effect that 
 such a graduate is a qualified teacher of the common schools of 
 this state." {98th Session, Ch. 353, Act May 15, 1875.) 
 
 South Carolina: In the Revised Statutes of South Carolina of 
 1873 appears the following with regard to the University of 
 South Carolina : " The board of trustees shall take care that 
 one of the professors provided for shall be a minister of the gos- 
 pel, who shall also be charged with the duties of chaplain to said 
 university, under such regulations and with such additional sal- 
 ary as may be fixed by said board." {Revised Statutes 1873, Ch. 
 XLII, Sec. 14.) This wording is repeated in an act of the ses- 
 sion of 1877-1878. {Session Laws 1877-1878, No. 492.) 
 
CHAPTER IV 
 
 STATE SUPPORT OF SCHOOLS OWNED OR CON- 
 TROLLED BY THE CHURCH OR EXISTING 
 FOR RELIGIOUS PURPOSES 
 
 In a number of the states the state legislatures have from time 
 to time aided in the support of educational institutions more or 
 less under the control of the church or existing for distinct relig- 
 ious purposes. This practice, begun by some of the Colonies, con- 
 tinued to be a fairly common feature of state legislation down 
 to about the middle of the nineteenth century, straggling in- 
 stances of the same occurring even later. 
 
 Sometimes this legislation takes the fonn of a direct grant of 
 state money; again the income from some designated source will 
 be set aside ; still again it will be some item of equipment that the 
 state will furnish to such institutions. Occasionally we find 
 funds loaned by the state to religious bodies for the support of 
 education. Very frequently when such grants are made, the 
 state exacts in return that a certain number of students shall be 
 educated free of all tuition charges in the schools so aided. Insti- 
 tutions controlled by ecclesiastical authority, and existing espe- 
 cially for charitable purposes, — orphans' homes, industrial 
 schools, and the like — have been frequent beneficiaries of this 
 practice. Sometimes where state funds are forbidden to be 
 appropriated to educational institutions not under the exclusive 
 control of the state, specific exceptions are made in favor of insti- 
 tutions having such charitable or benevolent designs. 
 
 As the states began to accumulate school funds from the sales 
 of public lands and to provide the same from public taxation, 
 along with the possibility of universal public education thus pre- 
 sented was the tendency to dissipate these funds among a large 
 number of ecclesiastical claimants. Some of the specific instances 
 of such diversion of public money, property, or credit to church- 
 controlled educational institutions, it is the purpose of this chap- 
 ter to indicate. 
 
 43 
 
44 The Secularization of American Education 
 
 California: An act of 1870 appropriated state money to vari- 
 ous charitable institutions. Among other items was one of $1500 
 to the St. Joseph Schools of Sacramento. (Session Laws 1869- 
 1870, Ch. rXKX, Act April i, 1870.) 
 
 Connecticut: By an act of the legislature in 1715 there was 
 appropriated to the trustees of the Collegiate School, Yale, whose 
 religious purpose has already been indicated (p. 10) 500 pounds 
 derived from the sale of public lands, to be used for building 
 purposes. (Connecticut Colonial Records 1706-1716, p. 528- 
 529.) In 1742 a grant of twelve pounds was made for repairing 
 the school established by the Society for the Propagation of the 
 Gospel, at Mohegan. (Conn. Col. Rec. VIII, p. 509.) A grant 
 of twenty-five pounds was made in 1755 to provide dinners for 
 the Indians at the school at Mohegan conducted by the Society 
 for the Propagation of the Gospel. (Conn. Col. Rec. X, p. 384.) 
 A grant of £40 was made in 1760 to pay the salary of the teacher 
 of the Mohegan School conducted by the Society for the Propa- 
 gation of the Gospel. (Conn. Col. Rec. XI, p. 414.) In 1766 a 
 further grant of £15 was made to the teacher of the same school. 
 (Conn. Col. Rec. 1 762-1 767, p. 485-486.) 
 
 Indiana: An act of 1855, while not specifically mentioning any 
 religiously controlled school, nevertheless has its provisions broad 
 enough to allow religiously controlled schools to share in the dis- 
 tribution of the public school funds. It reads in part as follows : 
 " It shall be lawful for any such city or town to recognize any 
 school, seminary or other institution of learning, which has been 
 or may be 'erected by private enterprise, as a part of their system, 
 and to make such appropriation of funds to such schools, semi- 
 nary, or institution of learning, and upon such terms and condi- 
 tions as may be deemed proper." (Session Laws 1855, Ch. 
 LXXXVII, Act Mar. 5, 1855.) 
 
 Maryland: An act of the legislature in 1723 appropriated cer- 
 tain moneys to the visitors of certain county schools established 
 for the training of youth for the service of the church and state 
 and in which the masters were to be of the Church of England 
 if such could be secured. (Bacon's Laws 1723, Ch. XIX.) By 
 resolution adopted in 1818 the commissioners of the school fund 
 of Baltimore County were required to pay over the school fund 
 
Support of Schools Ozvned or Controlled by the Church 45 
 
 received by them, in such proportion as they should see fit, and 
 as would most effectually promote the education of poor children 
 in the city of Baltimore to the following : Union Board of Dele- 
 gates Male Sabbath School Society of Baltimore, Female Union 
 Society for the Promotion of Sabbath Schools in the City of Bal- 
 timore, Orphaline Charity School and such other institutions 
 of a similar character in Baltimore as were or should be formed. 
 {Session Laws 1818, Res. No. 24.) These societies and institu- 
 tions reveal by their names their religious nature. The Orpha- 
 line Charity School was a Roman Catholic institution which was 
 incorporated under the laws of the state in 1819. {Act Jan. 27, 
 1819.) 
 
 An act of 1826 made it the duty of the levy court to pay the 
 share of Frederick County's distributive portion of the school fund 
 belonging to the town of Frederickstown, in equal portions, to 
 the president and directors of the Frederick Free School and to 
 the pastor of St. John's Church in Frederickstown for the use 
 of the Frederick Benevolent Female School, taking such security 
 for the faithful application of the same as they should deem 
 necessary. {Act Feb. 15, 1826.) Again in 1828 we find the 
 legislature enacting the following : " Rev. John McElroy shall 
 annually report to the superintendent of free schools in the City 
 of Frederick the number of white minors within the taxable limits 
 of Frederick, gratuitously educated in St. John's benevolent school. 
 It is made the duty of the superintendent to pay to him a por- 
 tion of the money raised for the establishment of free schools 
 in Frederick equal to the amount paid for the same number of 
 charity pupils who may be educated at any other free school in 
 Frederick. Provided that in estimating the amount to be paid 
 St. John's benevolent school the superintendent shall include the 
 sum now paid annually, for the benefit of said school out of the 
 school fund for Frederick County." {Act Feb. 9, 1828, Sec. 
 II.) Again in 1833 a legislative resolution directs the treasurer 
 to pay Rev. John McElroy, principal of St. John's literary insti- 
 tution, $400 annually for the assistance of the same. Coupled 
 with this grant is a declaration on the part of the legislature, in 
 which it is declared to be the policy of the state to patronize and 
 encourage establishments distinguished for general benevolence 
 and unquestioned public utility. {Resolution No. i, Jan. 17, 
 
46 The Secularization of American Education 
 
 1833.) By a resolution adopted by the legislature in 1834 the 
 Orphan's Court of Charles County was authorized to pay an- 
 nually to the trustees of St. Paul's Chapel Free School in Charles 
 County, $200 out of the Charles County share of the school fund, 
 provided at least twenty-five poor children were educated during 
 the preceding year before each donation. (Resolution No. 27, 
 March i, 1834.) A loan made by the state to St. Peter's Free 
 School, Baltimore, in 181 1, has an interesting history as revealed 
 in the legislation of succeeding years. A resolution passed in 
 1818 regarding the same reads : " The loan hitherto made by 
 the state to the trustees of St. Peter's Free School, Baltimore, 
 is hereby continued for three years from the time the same 
 became due." (Sessiojt Laws 1818, Res. No. 26, Dec, 1818.) In 
 1822 it was enacted that the loan made St. Peter's School in 
 Baltimore by the state should be continued for three years from 
 the time the same should become due, provided the interest 
 should be paid annually. (Session Laws 1822, Res. No. 54, Feb. 
 23, 1822.) The next year a resolution was adopted releasing the 
 trustees of St. Peter's School from payment of the interest upon 
 the loan heretofore made to them by this state. (Session Laws 
 1823, Res. No. 24, Feb. 20, 1823.) In 1836 came the culmi- 
 nation, when the trustees of St. Peter's Free School, Baltimore, 
 were released, exonerated, and discharged from the debt due by 
 them to the state for monies advanced to them by virtue of Reso- 
 lution No. 55, November session of 181 1. (Session Laws 1836, 
 Res. No. 4, January 29, 1836.) 
 
 Massachusetts: In 1654 the general court " besides the profit 
 of the ferry formerly granted to the college, which shall be con- 
 tinued," orders " that there shall be yearly levied, by addition to 
 the county rate, one hundred pounds, to be paid by the treasurer 
 of the county to the college treasurer, for the behoof and main- 
 tenance of the president and fellows, to be distributed between 
 the president and fellows according to the determination of the 
 overseers of the college, and this to continue during the pleasure 
 of the country." The religious purpose and control of Harvard 
 College has already been sufficiently emphasized. The law mak- 
 ing this grant, however, specifically mentions the religious pur- 
 pose of the institution. (Mass. Colonial Records, IV, Pt. I, 
 p. 205.) 
 
Support of Schools Owned or Controlled by the Church 47 
 
 Mississippi: In 1878 the legislature enacted the following: 
 " When suitable school buildings and a library of two hundred 
 bound volumes of well selected miscellaneous literature are 
 furnished without expense to the state; and where a faculty 
 of one or more teachers of good moral and educational standing 
 in the state shall have associated themselves as a faculty in such 
 school, students attending such school from any county in the 
 state shall be entitled to draw from the school fund of his or her 
 county, the pro rata amounts to which such student would have 
 been entitled had he attended a first class public school in his 
 own county." {Session Laws 1878, Ch. XX, Act Mar. 5, 1878.) 
 The foregoing, while not specifically mentioning religious con- 
 trol, has its provisions broad enough to admit religiously con- 
 trolled schools to share in the public school funds, and was for 
 this reason declared unconstitutional in Otken vs. Lamkin. (See 
 P- 151-) 
 
 New Hampshire: An act of the state legislature in 1845 
 donated to the New Hampshire Conference Seminary at North- 
 field, one of Carrigan's maps of New Hampshire. (Session 
 Laws 1845, Ch. 283, Act June 26, 1845.) -^ similar donation 
 was made to the Gilmanton Theological Seminary at Gilmanton 
 in the same year. (Session Laws 1845, Ch. 284, Act July 2, 
 1845-) 
 
 New Jersey: An act passed in 1846 provided that if the 
 patrons or proprietors of any school already organized under 
 the care of any religious society or denomination of Christians 
 were unwilling to relinquish such school, every such school should 
 be entitled to receive its just and ratable share of the money 
 assigned to the township out of the income of the school fund, 
 and such additional sum as might be raised by or appropriated by 
 the township for schools. (Act April 17, 1846.) 
 
 New Mexico: In the territory of New Mexico we find the fol- 
 lowing law : " The asylum of the Sisters of Charity of Santa 
 Fe shall be constituted an orphans home and industrial school 
 for the care, support, and education of the orphan and indigent 
 children of the territory of New Mexico and to be known and 
 l^ally designated as the Orphans Home and Industrial School 
 of the Territory of New Mexico. 
 
48 The Secularisation of American Education 
 
 " Said orphans home and industrial school shall be under the 
 care, charge, control and custody of the Sisters of Charity of 
 Santa Fe, subject to the general supervision and orders of the 
 board of supervisors hereby created. 
 
 " Said sisters of charity under whose care, custody and con- 
 trol said orphan and indigent children of the territory are hereby 
 placed, are to board, clothe and instruct said children in the com- 
 mon school branches and shall receive as compensation therefor 
 the sum of ten dollars per month for each child so boarded, 
 clothed, instructed, and cared for." 
 
 The expense of the above to be defrayed out of the territorial 
 treasury. {Compiled Statutes 1897, Par. 1617-1618, 1619-1620- 
 1621.) 
 
 New York: New York's school legislation is especially rich 
 in instances of public money being granted for the support of 
 schools under the control of religious authorities or in which 
 religious instruction is provided for. An act of 1801 provided 
 that the mayor, aldermen, and commonalty of the City of New 
 York should pay to the vestry of the Episcopal Church, the ves- 
 try of Christ's Church, the trustees of the First Presbyterian 
 Church, the minister, elder, and deacons of the Reformed Dutch 
 Church, and trustees of the Methodist Episcopal Church, the 
 Scotch Presbyterian Church, the African School, the United Ger- 
 man Lutheran Church, the German Reformed Churches, the First 
 Baptist Church, and 'the United Brethren or Moravian Church, 
 each one-eleventh part of all money remaining in their hands 
 from the Acts of 1795 and 1799. The income from the said 
 apportionment to be used for the education of poor children. 
 {Act April 8, 1801.) By the Act of 1813 the commissioners of 
 the school funds were to distribute the income from the same, 
 plus an equal amount to be raised by tax on the city, to the trus- 
 tees of the Free School Society, the trustees or treasurer of the 
 Orphan Asylum Society, the Society of the Economical School in 
 the city of New York, the African Free School, " and of such 
 incorporated religious societies, in said city, as now support or 
 hereafter shall establish charity schools," the distribution to 
 be on the basis of the number of children from four to fifteen 
 years of age taught free therein during the preceding year. 
 
Support of Schools Owned or Controlled by the Church 49 
 
 {Laws 36th session, Ch. LII, Act Mar. 12, 1813.) "By a law of 
 1820 the commissioners were required to pay a share of the fund 
 to the Roman Catholic Benevolent Society. {Act Apr. i, 1820.) 
 By a law of 1851 it was made lawful for any academy or high 
 school, erected for literary, scientific, charitable or religious pur- 
 poses, which had erected a building for high school purposes of 
 the value of $2000 and which had complied with all the conditions 
 prescribed by the law authorizing the regents to incorporate 
 academies, to enjoy all the rights and privileges conferred by 
 law on the academies of the state. One of these privileges was 
 to share in the distribution of the literary fund. {Session Laws 
 1851, Ch. 544, Act July II, 1851.) 
 
 Another act of 1851 appropriated out of the literary funds 
 $250 each to Oneida Conference Academy, the Genesee Wesleyan 
 Seminary, two institutions whose religious control is evidenced 
 by their names. {Session Laws 1851, Ch. 291, Act June 25, 
 1851.) These grants were made under an existing law which 
 provided for an annual donation from the literary fund to such 
 academies as should instruct twenty persons at least in the art of 
 teaching for a term of four months. These grants were to be 
 limited to $250 per county. {Session Laws 1849, Ch. 175, Act 
 Mar. 30, 1849, Sec. 2.) In 1852 a grant of $225 was made 
 under the same law to the Oneida Conference Seminary. {Ses- 
 sion Laws 1852, Ch. 161, Act Apr. 7, 1852.) An act of 1871 
 appropriated altogether $150,000 to a long list of orphan asylums, 
 homes for the friendless, and other charitable institutions of like 
 character. To the parochial school attached to the Church of 
 St. Peter and St. Paul, Brooklyn, $750; to the parochial school 
 attached to St. Joseph's Church, Brooklyn, $5000 ; to St. Patrick's 
 Parochial School, Brooklyn, $375; etc. {Session Laws 1871, Ch. 
 869, Act Apr. 28, 1 87 1.) 
 
 Pennsylvania: In 1789 an act was passed granting to the 
 corporation of the ministers, trustees, elders, and deacons of the 
 German Reformed Congregation in the City of Philadelphia cer- 
 tain lands for endowing a free school for the use of the poor of 
 said congregation. {Act Sept. 23, 1789.) The following was 
 passed at the legislative session of 1837-38 : " When a free 
 school of the common school grade shall be hereafter maintained 
 
50 The Secularization of American Education 
 
 in any accepting school district under the care and direction of a 
 religious society it shall be lawful for the school directors to 
 cause to be paid for the support of such school any portion of 
 the school money not exceeding the ratable share of the taxable 
 inhabitants whose children or apprentices shall be taught in the 
 school. Provided they shall think it not injurious to the common 
 school of the district." (Session Laws 1837-38, No. 57.) A 
 similar law of 1849 provided that where a free school of the com- 
 mon grade should be under the care and direction of any religious 
 society it was lawful for the directors of the district to cause 
 to be paid to the proper person or persons for the support of 
 the same any portion of the school funds of said district which 
 they might deem just and reasonable not exceeding the ratable 
 share of the inhabitants whose children or apprentices should 
 attend the same. Provided it was not considered injurious to the 
 common school of the district, and be open to the visits of the 
 directors of the district, and conform to the common school 
 system of the state. (Session Laws 1849, No. 316.) 
 
 Texas: In Texas we find the following enacted in 1874: 
 " Provided, that in any school district where the trustees of said 
 district find it impracticable for want of suitable buildings, or 
 impossibility of obtaining teachers competent to instruct for the 
 minimum price required by law, such trustees m.ay contract with 
 any private or public school of requisite qualifications for the 
 instruction of all children within the scholastic age for the pro 
 rata portion of the school fund, allowing such private or public 
 schools the privilege of collecting their tuition fees exclusive of 
 such pro rata portion of the school fund, from the parents or 
 guardians of such children willing and able to pay." (Session 
 Laws 1874, Ch. CLVI, Act May 2, 1874, Sec. 8.) This seems 
 to open a way for church-controlled schools to share in the dis- 
 tribution of public funds. 
 
CHAPTER V 
 
 THE CLOSE ASSOCIATION OF EDUCATION AND 
 
 RELIGION, THE SCHOOL AND THE CHURCH 
 
 IN THE PUBLIC MIND 
 
 The wording of our laws very frequently reveals a close asso- 
 ciation in the public mind of education and religion, of the school 
 and the church. Sometimes this is shown in a purely incidental 
 fashion by reference to the use of a single building for both 
 church and school purposes; at other times, provision will be 
 made for the joint control of a church and a school by one cor- 
 porate body ; more frequently still, laws have been passed author- 
 izing public schoolhouses to be used by religious denominations 
 as places of religious worship. 
 
 In so far as such laws show a failure to differentiate distinctly 
 the educational from the religious function, in so far as they 
 reveal a tendency to combine the two, they deserve a place in our 
 consideration of the secularization of education, as' showing a 
 condition and a tendency which must be overcome before com- 
 plete secularization can prevail. So long as schools and churches 
 are provided for in one building, so long as the state recognizes 
 societies which exist for joint religious and educational purposes, 
 so long as public school property is commonly used by church 
 societies for religious worship, just so long may we expect the 
 state to divide with the church, to a certain extent, educational 
 control and educational purpose. 
 
 A dozen or more states still authorize in their laws the use of 
 public school buildings under certain conditions and restrictions 
 for holding denominational religious services. In nearly all thd 
 states it is a common practice, there being little prohibitory legis- 
 lation. Such use of public property is a last remnant of that 
 close union of the school and the church, of education and relig- 
 ion, which formerly prevailed so widely, and which subjected 
 education so thoroughly to the control of the church, before the 
 state began to assert its claims thereto. 
 
 51 
 
52 The Secularization of American Education 
 
 Alabama: An act of the legislature of Alabama in 1866 pro- 
 vided for the repeal of an act permitting the sale of liquors within 
 three miles of Friendship Church and Academy. {Session Laws 
 1865-1866, No. 363, Act Jan. 26, 1866.) 
 
 Connecticut: In Connecticut the law of 1805 provided that 
 " every town within this state wherein there is but one ecclesias- 
 tical society and wherein there are seventy householders or fami- 
 lies or upwards, and every ecclesiastical society constituted, or 
 that shall be constituted by the general assembly of the state, 
 wherein there are the number of seventy householders or upward 
 shall be at least eleven months in each year provided with and 
 shall keep and maintain one good and sufficient school for the 
 teaching and instructing of youth and children to read and 
 write." {Laws 1805, p. 371. Printed by Hudson and Good- 
 win.) Again in 1838 we find: "All inhabitants living within 
 the limits of ecclesiastical societies incorporated by law, shall con- 
 stitute school societies." Power is given these when assembled 
 in legal meeting to levy taxes, build and repair school houses 
 and support schools, and to make any lawful agreement for such 
 purposes. {Revised Statutes 1838, Title LXXXVIII, Ch. I, Sec. 
 I.) This law seems to have continued in force till July i, 1856, 
 when the new law made towns responsible for schools. An act 
 of 1872 provides that " any school district or town may by a 
 vote of two-thirds of those present at any legal meeting allow 
 its school house or houses, when not in use for school purposes, 
 to be used for any other purpose." {Session Laws 1872, Ch. 
 LXXVII, Sec. 78, Act July 25, 1872.) The same wording is 
 found in the Revised Statutes of 1902, Section 221 1. 
 
 Illinois: The legislature of Illinois in 1872 enacted a law giv- 
 ing the directors of any school district power to grant the tem- 
 porary use of school houses, when not occupied by schools, for 
 religious meetings and Sunday schools, for evening schools and 
 literary societies and for such other purposes as they should 
 deem proper. {Act July i, 1872, Sec. 39.) 
 
 Indiana: The legislature of Indiana in 1859 passed the fol- 
 lowing : " If a majority of the legal voters of any school district 
 desire the use of the school house of such district for other pur- 
 poses than common schools when unoccupied for common school 
 
The Close Association of Education and Religion 53 
 
 purposes the trustees shall upon such application authorize the 
 directors of such school district to permit the people of such 
 district to use the house for any such purpose, giving equal rights 
 and privileges to all religious denominations and political parties, 
 without any regard whatever to the numerical strength of any 
 religious denomination or political party of such district." {Act 
 Mar. 3, 1859.) This law is repeated in the Annotated Statutes, 
 Revision of 1894, Sec. 5999. 
 
 Kansas: " The district board shall have the care and keeping 
 of the school house and other property belonging to the district. 
 They are hereby authorized to open the school house for the use 
 of religious, political, literary, scientific, mechanical, or agricul- 
 tural societies belonging to the district for the purpose of holding 
 the public meetings of said societies." {General Statutes 1901, 
 Sec. 6194.) This is repeated in the General Statutes of 1905, 
 Section 6716. 
 
 Maryland: By an act of the Maryland legislature in 1817 cer- 
 tain parties were authorized to draw a lottery for the purpose of 
 raising funds for building an academy or school house and free 
 church (one house) in or near Taney Town, Frederick County. 
 {Act Jan. 16, 1817.) A few days later certain parties were author- 
 ized to draw a lottery for the purpose of purchasing land and erect- 
 ing thereon a building to be used as a school and meeting house 
 near Coxe's town. ( ^4 cf Jan. 28, 1 8 1 7. ) An act of 1 834 relating to 
 the election of a board of trustees for Linganore School House 
 and house of public worship provided that said house should be 
 open and free for all Christian denominations to worship in, pro- 
 vided no one denomination should occupy it oftener than once in 
 every two Sabbaths, and provided no meeting for public worship 
 should interfere with the school hours except by consent of the 
 trustees. {Act Feb. 17, 1834.) 
 
 Minnesota: An act of the Minnesota legislature reads as fol- 
 lows : " The trustees of any common school district may when 
 petitioned therefor by a majority of the legal voters of the dis- 
 trict permit and authorize the school house in their district to be 
 used for purposes of divine worship. Sabbath schools, and such 
 other purposes as in their judgment will not interfere with the 
 use of the school house for school purposes." {General Statutes 
 
54 The Secularization of American Education 
 
 1878, Vol. 2, Ch. 36, Par. 23a. Also Act Feb. 17, 1881, and 
 General Statutes 1894, Sec. 3682.) 
 
 Mississippi: An act of the Mississippi legislature in 1840 
 incorporating Almucha Academy and Free Church provides; 
 " The trustees may procure such house or houses as they may 
 deem necessary, which house may be used for a place for reli- 
 gious worship for all Christian denominations at such times and 
 under such regulations as may be prescribed by the trustees." 
 (Session Laws 1840, Ch. 75, Act Jan. 27, 1840.) 
 
 Missouri: " Nothing in this section shall be so construed as 
 to prevent the use of any school house for religious, literary, or 
 other public purposes, or for the meeting of any farmer or labor 
 organization or society for educational purposes, whether the 
 same be secret or otherwise, when such use shall be demanded by 
 a majority of the voters of such district voting at any annual 
 or special meeting where such question was submitted." 
 (Revised Statutes 1899, Sec. 9763.) 
 
 New Hampshire: "A school district or the school board 
 thereof may grant the use of any school house in the district for 
 a writing or singing school and for religious and other meetings 
 whenever such use will not conflict with any regular school exer- 
 cise." (Public Statutes 1901, Ch. 91, Sec. 18.) 
 
 North Dakota: It (District School Board) may permit a 
 school house when not occupied for school purposes, to be used 
 under careful restrictions for any proper purpose, giving equal 
 rights and privileges to all religious denominations. (Political 
 Code 1899, Sec. 700.) 
 
 Ohio: "When in the judgment of any board of education it 
 shall be for the advantage of the children residing in any school 
 district to hold literary societies, school exhibitions, singing 
 schools, religious exercises, select or normal schools, the board of 
 education shall authorize the opening of such school houses for 
 the purposes aforesaid." (Bates Annotated Statutes 1906, Title 
 III, Ch. 8, Sec. 3987.) 
 
 Oregon: The board (district) may, when authorized by a 
 majority of the legal voters present and voting at the annual 
 meeting called for that purpose, permit a school house when not 
 
The Close Association of Education and Religion 55 
 
 occupied for school purposes to be used under careful restric- 
 tions for any proper purpose, giving equal rights and privileges 
 to all religious denominations, etc. (School Laws 1907, p. 62, 
 Sec. 119.) 
 
 Pennsylvania: By an act of the legislature in 1842 there was 
 incorporated the Union Church and School Society of New 
 Holland. The state treasurer was authorized to pay to the trus- 
 tees of the same out of money remaining in the school fund, 
 $200.00 for repairs, etc., to the building of which they were the 
 trustees, and for the improvement of the means of education 
 therein, provided, that should the district of Manchester adopt 
 the common school system, the directors should be entitled to use 
 the Union Church and school building free of charge. (Session 
 Laws 1842, No. 89.) 
 
 South Carolina: An act of the legislature in 1850 declared the 
 " church and school " at the Nation Ford a body corporate. 
 (Session Laws 1850, No. 4005, Act of Dec. 20, 1850.) 
 
 Utah: The school district board may permit a school house 
 when not occupied for school purposes to be used for any pur- 
 pose which will not interfere with the seating or other furniture 
 or property. (Act Mar. 13, 1890, Sec. 45. Also Revised Stat- 
 utes 1898, Sec. 1822.) 
 
 West Virginia: " Trustees of sub-districts shall not without 
 the permission of the district board of education allow said school 
 houses to be used for any other purpose whatever except for the 
 purpose of holding religious or literary meetings and Sunday- 
 schools equally by the various religious denominations that may 
 apply for the same." (Code 1887, Ch. 45, Sec. 15. Also Code 
 1906, Sec. 1587.) 
 
 Wisconsin: A majority of the district board of any school dis- 
 trict in this state shall have the right to permit the school house 
 to be occupied by religious meetings, temperance meetings, and 
 any other meetings which in the judgment of the majority of the 
 board will aid in disseminating intelligence and good morals 
 among the inhabitants of the district. (Act Mar. 4, 1875, Sec. i.) 
 They may grant the request of any responsible inhabitant of the 
 district to occupy the school house for such public meetings as 
 will, in the judgment of the board, aid in disseminating good 
 morals. (Statutes 1898, Sec. 435.) 
 
I 
 
 I 
 
 CHAPTER VI 
 
 LAWS PROHIBITING RELIGIOUS INSTRUCTION AND 
 
 THE ESTABLISHMENT OF DEPARTMENTS 
 
 OF THEOLOGY 
 
 The colonial period of American educational history we have 
 already shown to have been largely dominated by the religious 
 purpose and aim of education. The period immediately succeed- 
 ing, ending approximately with the middle of the nineteenth cen- 
 tury, was in many respects an intermediate, a transition period in 
 educational affairs. It was in this period that the necessity of 
 education as a preparation for citizenship began to be felt with 
 greater intensity on account of the multitudes of European immi- 
 grants who swelled our citizenship lists; it was in this period 
 that the states, especially the rapidly developing middle-western 
 states, rich in public land, began to respond with great liberality 
 to the demand for educational funds and equipment; it was in 
 this period that the problems involved by school systems and edu- 
 cational institutions, partly civic and partly religious in their aims 
 and control, began to press themselves upon the American con- 
 sciousness. The legislation of this period as a rule, in so far as it 
 attempted to deal with these problems, was of a purely local 
 nature. There was comparatively little state legislation in which 
 the subject of religious instruction was mentioned. We have 
 already shown that so far as favoring the religious element in 
 education was concerned the state legislation of this period was 
 confined to some half-dozen states; so far as opposing this ele- 
 ment was concerned the state legislation of this period is con- 
 fined to about the same number of states. 
 
 The full tide of the secularization movement is seen in the 
 legislation enacted from about 1850 on. 
 
 The solutions of a legislative nature evolved to meet these 
 problems took on a variety of forms. One feature is character- 
 istic of practically all of this legislation — its negative, prohibi- 
 56 
 
Laws Prohibiting Religious Instruction, etc. 57 
 
 tive nature. If there were no other evidence to show that prior 
 to its enactment sectarian religious teaching had been common in 
 the public schools, the stringent prohibition of the same in prac- 
 tically all of the states within a decade or two after 1850 would 
 alone raise a suspicion that such had been a common practice 
 even though few direct legal sanctions for the same were enacted 
 after the close of the colonial period. It was not so much actual 1 
 state legislation that this new legislation enacted in the period* 
 beginning about 1850 was repealing, so much as current practice'' 
 which it was seeking to rectify. 
 
 The aim of education as set forth in this later legislation was 
 civic, industrial, professional, not religious or ecclesiastical. 
 Morality, character, knowledge, skill were emphasized, but to 
 prepare leaders for the church, to supply a ministry, or to propa- 
 gate the principles of the Christian religion no longer are men- 
 tioned as aims. Law schools, medical schools, normal schools, 
 agricultural schools, and mechanical schools are provided for but 
 no favorable mention is made of schools or departments of 
 theology. 
 
 This legislation dealt with the nature of the instruction offered 
 in the public schools, the establishment of theological departments 
 in institutions of higher learning, especially those enjoying the 
 privileges of incorporation, the nature of the text-books used, 
 the establishment of religious tests, and ecclesiastical control of 
 schools supported in whole or in part by the state. In this chap- 
 ter I shall consider only that legislation which forbade religious, 
 or sectarian religious instruction in the public schools, and the 
 establishment of departments of theology in higher educational 
 institutions. 
 
 Alabama: The Alabama Code of 1852 contains the following 
 with regard to sectarian instruction in the University of Ala- 
 bama : " No sectarian tenets or principles must be taught or 
 inculcated at the university, by any officer or instructor therein." 
 (Code 1852, Title XI, Ch. II, Sec. 851.) In 1854 an act to estab- 
 lish and maintain a system of free, public schools in Alabama, 
 makes it the duty of the state superintendent of education, " to 
 carefully guard that no sectarian religious views shall be incul- 
 cated in such schools." (Session Laws 1853-1854, No. 6, Act 
 Feb. 15, 1854, Art. 2, Sec. 3.) In 1856 this duty is transferred 
 
58 The Secularisation of American Education 
 
 from the state superintendent to the various county superintend- 
 ents, of each one of whom it is made the duty, " to carefully 
 guard that no sectarian religious views be taught in any free pub- 
 lic school under his charge." (Session Laws 1855-1856, Art. 2, 
 Sec. 9, Par. 4, Act Feb. 14, 1856.) Twenty years later in the 
 code of 1876 the same wording is retained. (Code 1876, Title 
 XI, Sec. 899, Par. 4.) 
 
 Arizona: In Arizona the legislature forbade in 1879 the 
 teaching of any " sectarian or denominational doctrines " in the 
 public schools, and declared that any school violating this pro- 
 vision should not receive any of the public school funds. (Ses- 
 sion Laws 1879, No. 61, Sec. 38.) The law of 1883 in a similar 
 prohibition uses the expression " sectarian doctrine," and pro- 
 vides the same penalty. (Session Laws 1883, No. 33, Sec. 62.) 
 The law of 1895 in addition to repeating these provisions of the 
 law of 1883 makes it the duty of the county school superintendent 
 upon satisfactory evidence of the violation of this law by any 
 school to withhold all apportionments of school moneys from 
 said school. (Revision 1895, Ch. X, Sec. 88.) The law of 1901 
 contains the following with regard to instruction in the territorial 
 university : " No sectarian tenets, opinions, doctrines, or prin- 
 ciples shall be taught in any of the departments of said univer- 
 sity," etc. (Revised Statutes 1901, Par. 3638.) The law of 1905 
 contains a different penalty for sectarian teaching from that 
 usually employed. It provides that any teacher who shall " teach 
 any sectarian doctrine or conduct any religious exercises in his 
 school, . . . shall be deemed guilty of unprofessional con- 
 duct and it shall be the duty of the proper authority to revoke his 
 or her certificate or diploma." (Revised Laws 1905, Sec. 112.) 
 
 California: The legislature of California in 1855 in an "Act 
 to Establish, Support and Regulate Common Schools," provided 
 as follows ; " nor shall sectarian or denominational doctrines be 
 taught therein ; nor shall any school whatever receive any of the 
 public school funds, which has not been taught in accordance 
 with the provisions of this act." (Session Laws 1855, Ch. 
 CLXXXV, Sec. 33, Act May 3, 1855.) The same act provides, 
 with regard to incorporated cities and towns : " The common 
 council on petition of fifty heads of white families, citizens of the 
 
Laws Prohibiting Religious Instruction, etc. 59 
 
 district, shall establish a school or schools in said district and 
 shall award said school or schools a pro rata of the school fund, 
 provided no sectarian doctrines are taught in said school or 
 schools," etc. {Session Laws 1855, Ch. CLXXXV, Sec. 22, Act 
 May 3, 1855.) The law of 1870 provides as follows: "neither 
 shall any sectarian or denominational doctrine be taught therein ; 
 and any school district, town, or city, the ofiScers of which shall 
 knowingly allow any schools to be taught in violation of these 
 provisions shall forfeit all right to any apportionment of state or 
 county school money," etc. {Session Laws 1869-1870, Ch. DLVI, 
 Sec. 58, Act Apr. 4, 1870.) 
 
 Dakota: The legislature of the Territory of Dakota in 1887 en- 
 acted, that in cities, towns and villages, no sectarian doctrine 
 should be taught or inculcated in any of the public schools, and 
 provided that " no sectarian doctrine shall be taught in any pub- 
 lic school." {Political Code 1887, Sec. 1829 and Sec. 1706.) 
 
 Idaho: In Idaho the law of 1907 with regard to the state uni- 
 versity reads : " But no instruction either sectarian in religion or 
 partisan in politics shall ever be allowed in any department of 
 the University." {School Laws 1907, p. 10, Sec. 934.) "... 
 any and every political, sectarian, or denominational doctrine is 
 hereby expressly forbidden to be taught therein" (public schools). 
 {School Laws 191 1, Art. XXI, Sec. 186.) 
 
 Illinois: An act of the Illinois legislature passed in 1836 
 incorporating the Franklin Institute has the following section: 
 " Provided however that nothing herein contained shall authorize 
 the establishment of a theological department in said institution." 
 {Act Jan. 18, 1836, Sec. 14.) Likewise with the Franklin 
 Manual Labor College it was provided : " Nothing herein con- 
 tained shall authorize the establishment of a theological depart- 
 ment in said college." {Act Jan. 18, 1836, Sec. 4.) 
 
 Indiana: The Indiana legislature in 1853 enacted the follow- 
 ing with regard to its school for the education of the deaf and 
 dumb : " No sectarian tenets of religion shall be taught in such 
 institution to any pupil thereof." {Annotated Statutes Revised 
 1894, Sec. 3070, Act May 6, 1853.) With regard to the state 
 university it was enacted at the same date : " No sectarian ten- 
 
6o The Secularisation of American Education 
 
 ets shall be inculcated by any professor at such university." 
 (Annot. St. Rev. 1894, Sec. 6072.) In 1865 it was enacted with 
 regard to the state normal school: "A high standard of Chris- 
 tian morality shall be observed in the management of the school, 
 and as far as practicable be inculcated in the minds of the pupils ; 
 yet no religious sectarian tenets shall be taught." (Annot. St. 
 Rev. 1894, Sec. 6045.) 
 
 Kansas: The legislature of Kansas in 1876 enacted with 
 regard to cities of the first and second class that no sectarian or 
 religious doctrine should be taught or inculcated in any of the 
 public schools therein. (General Statutes 1905, Sec. 6816 and 
 6850, Act April 7, 1876.) 
 
 Kentucky: The legislature of Kentucky in 1893 enacted the 
 following with regard to the Colored Normal School : " No 
 religious tenets shall be taught in said normal school, but a high 
 standard of Christian morality shall be observed in its manage- 
 ment, and so far as practicable, shall be inculcated in the minds 
 of the pupils." (Statutes 1903, Sec. 4532, Act May 22, 1893.) 
 With regard to the common schools an act of 1893 provides : 
 " nor shall any sectarian, infidel, or immoral doctrine be taught 
 therein." (Statutes 1903, Sec. 4368, Act July 6, 1893.) 
 
 Louisiana: The legislature of Louisiana in 1855 forbade 
 " any course of religious instruction (to) be taught or allowed 
 of a sectarian character and tendency " in the state university. 
 (Revised Statutes 1870, Sec. 1358, Acts 1855, No. 320, Sec. 8.) 
 
 Maine: The Revised Statutes of Maine for 1903 contain the 
 following in regard to state normal schools : " Such schools 
 while teaching the fundamental truths of Christianity, and the 
 great principles of morality, recognized by law, shall be free 
 from all denominational teachings," etc. (Revised Statutes 
 1903, Ch. 15, Sec. 109, Par. IV.) 
 
 Michigan: The Compiled Laws of Michigan for 1897 contain 
 the following : " No school district shall apply any of the money 
 received by it from the primary school interest fund or from 
 any and all other sources for the support of any school of a sec- 
 tarian character, whether the same be under the control of any 
 religious society or made sectarian by the school district board." 
 (Compiled Laws 1897, Par. 4676.) 
 
Laws Prohibiting Religious Instruction, etc. 6i 
 
 Minnesota: The School Laws of Minnesota for 1907 forbid 
 the teaching of "anything sectarian" in the state university. 
 {School Laws 1907, p. 130, Sec. 322.) 
 
 Missouri: An act of the Missouri legislature in 1835 reads 
 in part as follows : " In all schools established according to the 
 provisions of this act there shall be taught reading, writing, arith- 
 metic, geography, English grammar, and such other branches of 
 education, (theology excepted) as the funds may justify." {Act 
 Mar. 19, 1835, Sec. 35.) 
 
 Montana: The legislature of Montana in 1872 enacted as fol- 
 lows : " neither shall any political, sectarian, or denominational 
 doctrine be taught therein ; and any school district the officers of 
 ■which shall knowingly allow any school to be taught in violation 
 of these provisions shall forfeit all right to any county apportion- 
 ment of school moneys, and upon satisfactory evidence of such 
 violation the county superintendent shall withhold its county 
 apportionment. {Session Laws 1872, Ch. LXXXVIII, Sec. 35, 
 Act Jan. 12, 1872.) The above provision is repeated in the Com- 
 piled Statutes of 1887, Sec. 1893. An act of 1893 regarding the 
 state university provides : " No instruction, either sectarian in 
 religion or partisan in politics shall ever be allowed in any 
 department of the university." {Pol. Code 1895, Sec. 1545, Act 
 Feb. 17, 1893.) The law of 1895 increases the penalty for viola- 
 tion of the anti-sectarian law. " Nor must any sectarian or 
 denominational doctrine be taught therein. Any school district 
 the officers of which knowingly allow any school to be taught in 
 violation of these provisions forfeits all rights to any state or 
 county apportionment of school moneys ; and upon satisfactory 
 evidence of such violation, the superintendent of public instruc- 
 tion and the county superintendent must withhold both state and 
 county apportionments." {Pol. Code 1895, Sec. 1863, Act Mar. 
 II, 1895.) 
 
 Kfehraska: In an act relative to schools in the city of Omaha the 
 legislature of Nebraska provided as follows : " No sectarian or re- 
 ligious doctrines shall be taught or inculcated in any of the public 
 schools of said city." {Session Laws i870-i87i,p. 177, Act June 
 6, 1871.) The act of 1875 relating to public schools in cities of 
 the second class provided : " No sectarian or religious doctrine 
 5 
 
62 The Secularization of American Education 
 
 shall be taught or inculcated in any of the public schools of any 
 district contemplated in this act." {Session Laws 1875, p. 208, 
 Act Feb. 25, 1875, Sec. 20.) 
 
 Nevada: In Nevada the General Statutes of 1885 contained 
 the following : " nor shall sectarian or denominational doctrines 
 be taught therein (public schools) ; nor shall any school whatever 
 receive any of the public school funds which has not been taught 
 in accordance with the provisions of this act." ( General Statutes 
 1885, Sec. 1338.) The Compiled Laws of 1900, Sec. 1323, con- 
 tain this same provision. 
 
 New Mexico: In New Mexico the Compiled Laws of 1897 con- 
 tain a provision that no sectarian doctrine shall be taught or 
 inculcated in any of the public schools of any city or town of the 
 territory. {Compiled Laws 1897, Par. 1582.) 
 
 New York : An act of the New York State legislature relative 
 to schools in New York City, passed in 1842, reads as follows ; 
 " No school above mentioned, or which shall be organized under 
 this act, in which any religious, sectarian doctrine shall be taught, 
 inculcated or practiced, shall receive any portion of the school 
 moneys to be distributed as hereinafter provided ; and it shall be 
 the duty of the trustees, inspectors, and commissioners of schools 
 in each ward, and of the deputy superintendent of schools, from 
 time to time and as frequently as need be, to examine and ascer- 
 tain, and report to the said board of education whether any relig- 
 ious sectarian doctrine or tenet shall have been taught, incul- 
 cated or practiced in any of the schools in their respective wards." 
 {65th Session, Ch. 150, Sec. 14, Act April 11, 1842.) The act 
 of 1844 makes a slight change in the wording of this prohibition : 
 " But no school shall be entitled to a portion of the school moneys 
 in which the religious sectarian doctrine or tenet of any par- 
 ticular Christian, or other religious sect shall be taught, incul- 
 cated or practiced," etc. {67th Session, Ch. 320, Sec. 12, Act 
 May 7, 1844.) This was repeated in 1846 {Revised Statutes 
 1846, Pt. I, Ch. XV, Sec. 208), in 1851 {y4th Session, Ch. 
 386, Sec. 18, Act July 3, 1851), and in 1882 {105th Session, Ch. 
 410, Sec. 1062, Act July i, 1882.) By the act of 1844 it is made 
 the duty of the county superintendent in the City of New York ; 
 " To examine and ascertain and report to the board of education 
 
Laws Prohibiting Religious Instruction, etc. 63 
 
 whether any of the provisions of the act in relation to religious 
 sectarian teaching . . . have been violated in any of the 
 schools in the different wards of the city." {67th Session, Ch. 
 320, Sec. 44, Act May 7, 1844.) 
 
 This provision was repeated in the act of 1851 {74th Session, 
 Ch. 386, Sec. II, Act July 3, 1851.) An act of 1850 relative to 
 the schools of Brooklyn reads : " No school in said city shall 
 be entitled to any portion of the school moneys in which the relig- 
 ious sectarian doctrine or tenets of any particular Christian or 
 other religious sect shall be taught or inculcated," etc. {73rd 
 Session, Ch. 143, Sec. 19, Act April 4, 1850.) An act applicable 
 to the City of New York passed in 185 1 and amended in 1853 
 and 1854 reads as follows: " No school shall be entitled to, or 
 receive any portion of the school monies, in which the religious 
 doctrines or tenets of any particular Christian or other religious 
 sect shall be taught, inculcated, or practiced," etc. {Act July 3, 
 1851, as amended June 4, 1853, ^^r. 31, 1854, and April 15, 
 1854.) An act of 1854 made it the duty of the superintendent 
 in New York City to examine, ascertain and report to the board 
 of education whether the provisions of the act in relation to sec- 
 tarian teaching, etc., have been violated in any of the schools of 
 the city. {77th Session, Ch. loi, Sec. 11, Act Mar. 31, 1854.) 
 An act of 1864 made it the duty of the inspectors of common 
 schools to report any violation of the law in respect to teaching 
 sectarian doctrines, etc. {Act April 25, 1864.) 
 
 North Dakota: The Political Code of North Dakota for 1899 
 contains the following with regard to the state university: 
 " But no instruction either sectarian in religion or partisan in 
 politics shall ever be allowed in any department of the univer- 
 sity." {Pol. Code 1899, Sec. 881.) 
 
 Oklahoma: The territorial legislature of Oklahoma in 1890 
 enacted the following with regard to the university : " The board 
 of regents shall determine the moral and educational qualifications 
 of applicants for admission to the various courses of instruction, 
 but no instruction either sectarian in religion or partisan in poli- 
 tics shall ever be allowed in any department of the university." 
 {Revised and Annotated Statutes 1903, Ch. 77, Art. 17, Sec. 6384, 
 Act Dec. 19, 1890.) In an act of 1895, entitled "An act to Create 
 
64 The Secularization of American Education 
 
 and Maintain U/nion or Graded School Districts," we find : " No 
 sectarian doctrine shall be taught or inculcated in any of the 
 public schools of the union district," etc. {Rev. and Annot. St. 
 1903, Ch. yy, Art. 8, Sec. 6247, Act Feb. 19, 1895.) In the School 
 Laws of 1901-02 we find the following with regard to cities of the 
 first class: "No sectarian doctrine shall be taught or incul- 
 cated in any of the public schools of the city," etc. {School Laws 
 1901-02, Art. IX, Sec. 20.) The same is repeated in the Revised 
 and Annotated Statutes of 1903, Ch. jy. Art. 9, Sec. 6267. In 
 the School Laws of 1901-02 we find : " No sectarian or religious 
 doctrines shall be taught or inculcated in any of the public schools 
 in this territory," etc. {School Laws 1901-02, Art. IV, Sec. 25.) 
 The Revised and Annotated Statutes of 1903, Ch. yy. Art. 3, Sec. 
 6189, .contain the same, as do also the School Laws of 1908 
 except that in the latter " territory " becomes " state." 
 
 South Carolina: The Session Laws of . South Carolina for; 
 1870-1871 contain an "Act to Establish and Maintain a System 
 of Free Common Schools for the State of South Carolina," 
 which makes it the duty of the state superintendent of schools to 
 forbid sectarian or partisan instruction in the schools. {Session 
 Laws 1870-1871, No. 346, Sec. 10.) This is repeated in the 
 Revised Statutes of 1873, Ch. XXXV, Sec. 5, the Session Laws 
 of 1877-1878, No. 516, Sec. II, the Revised Statutes of 1894, 
 Sec. 1034, and the Code of 1902, Sec. 1175. On page 25 we have 
 already noted an act of 1865 with regard to the University of 
 South Carolina providing for the establishment therein of a 
 " school of mental and moral philosophy, sacred literature, and 
 evidences of Christianity " as one of the departments. {Session 
 Laws 1864-1865, p. 313, No. 4748.) At the session of 1877-1878 
 an act was passed which authorized and required the board of 
 trustees of the University to organize each branch of the Uni- 
 versity by establishing such schools in each of them and prescrib- 
 ing such courses and mode of instruction therein as they may 
 think fit, and by electing competent professors and tutors of the 
 several schools, governing themselves in the number of schools 
 and of the professors in each branch of said university by the 
 requirements and necessities of each. {Session Laws 1877-1878, 
 Act No. 492, Sec. 13.) No mention is here made of sacred litera- 
 
Laws Prohibiting Religions Instruction, etc. 65 
 
 ture and evidences of Christianity as in the earlier law. The only 
 restriction as to the departments to be established, is one requir- 
 ing the establishment of an agricultural department in said uni- 
 versity. {Ibid. Sec. 25.) 
 
 South Dakota: The Political Code of South Dakota contains 
 the following with regard to the state university : " No instruc- 
 tion either sectarian in religion or partisan in politics shall ever 
 be allowed in any department of the University." {Pol. Code 
 1903, Sec. 578.) In the Code of 1903 under the title, "Cities, 
 Towns, and Adjacent Territory, Organized as Independent Dis- 
 tricts " is the following : " No sectarian doctrine may be taught 
 or inculcated in any of the schools of the corporation," etc. {Pol. 
 Code 1903, Sec. 2423.) 
 
 Texas: By an act of the Texas legislature passed in 1870, 
 teachers conducting private schools might under certain condi- 
 tions be contracted with, by boards of trustees, to instruct the 
 children of the district, but subject to the following: " and pro- 
 vided further that no sectarian doctrine shall be taught in said 
 private schools." {12th Legislative Session, Ch. LXVIII, Act 
 Aug. 13, 1870.) The law of 1876 is a very strict one: "No 
 school in which sectarian religion is taught shall be entitled to 
 any portion of the available school fund, nor shall any form of 
 religion be taught in any public free school in this state." {Ses- 
 sion Laws 1876, Ch. 120, Sec. 16, Act Aug. 19, 1876.) The 
 act of 1881 establishing the state university provided that no 
 course of instruction of a sectarian character should be taught 
 therein. {Session Laws 1881, Ch. 75, Act Mar. 30, 1881.) The 
 Revised Statutes of 1895 contain the same provision. {Revised 
 Statutes 1895, Art. 3853.) 
 
 Utah: The legislature of Utah in 1892 enacted the following: 
 " No atheistic, infidel, sectarian, or denominational doctrine shall 
 be taught in any of the district schools of the state. Moral 
 instruction, tending to impress upon the minds of pupils the 
 importance of good manners, truthfulness, temperance, purity, 
 patriotism and industry shall be given in every district school." 
 {Act Mar. 10, 1892, Sec. 65.) The Revised Statutes of 1898 
 modify this slightly : " No atheistic, infidel, sectarian, religious, 
 or denominational doctrine shall be taught in any of the district 
 
66 The Secularization of American Education 
 
 schools of this state. Moral instruction tending to impress upon 
 the minds of the pupils the importance of good manners, truth- 
 fulness, temperance, purity, patriotism, and industry shall be 
 given in every district school," etc. {Revised Statutes 1898, Sec. 
 1848.) 
 
 Virginia: An act of the legislature of Virginia passed in 1839, 
 " Concerning Devises made to Schools, Academies and Colleges," 
 provided " that nothing in this act contained shall be so construed 
 as to give validity to any devise or bequest to any theological semi- 
 nary." {Session Laws 1839, Ch. 12, Sec. 7, Act Apr. 2, 1839.) 
 The purpose of such a law as this was no doubt to prevent undue 
 influence being brought to bear by representatives of the church 
 upon those about to make their wills. A series of acts by the 
 legislature of this state incorporating Richmond College {Ses- 
 sion Laws 1840, Ch. 115, Sec. 8, Act Mar. 4, 1840) ; Bethany Col- 
 lege {Session Laws 1840, Ch. 116, Sec. 14, Act Mar. 2, 1840) ; 
 Northwestern Academy {Session Laws 1841-2, Ch. 147, Sec. 9, 
 Act Mar. 26, 1842) ; Marshall Academy {Session Laws 1844- 
 
 1845, Ch. 119, Sec. 12, Act Feb. 21, 1845) ; Virginia Collegiate 
 Institute {Session Laws 1844-45, Ch. 120, Sec. 4, Act Jan. 20, 
 1845) j Shenandoah College {Session Laws 1848-9, Ch. 237, Sec. 
 14, Act Feb. 21, 1849) ; ^iid Roanoke College {Session Laws 
 1852-3, Ch. 344, Sec. 9, Act Mar. 14, 1853), forbade the estab- 
 lishment of any theological professorship or theological school in 
 said institutions. An act of 1847 amending the Act of Feb. 25, 
 
 1846, for the counties of Londonn, Fairfax, and Kanawha, pro- 
 vides that no instruction shall be given in the public schools cal- 
 culated to favor the doctrinal tenets of any religious sect or 
 denomination. {Session Laws 1846-7, Ch. 33, Sec. 5, Act Mar. 
 10, 1847.) Another law of this state passed in 1850 incorporat- 
 ing the Academy of Visitation provided that : " Nothing herein 
 contained shall be construed or taken as at any time to authorize 
 the establishment of a nunnery or a theological professorship in 
 or connected with said academy." {Session Laws 1849-50, Ch. 
 192, Sec. 9, Act Mar. 14, 1850.) 
 
 Washington: The legislature of Washington enacted the fol- 
 lowing in 1883 with regard to its common schools : " Neither 
 shall any political, sectarian, denominational, or infidel doctrine be 
 
Laws Prohibiting Religious Instruction, etc. 67 
 
 taught therein ; and any teacher who shall violate these provisions 
 shall forfeit his permit or certificate for the period of one year." 
 (.Act No. 28, 1883, Title IX, Sec. 53.) 
 
 Wisconsin: The legislature of Wisconsin in 1880 passed a 
 law amending the act of 1854 by which the German and English 
 Academy in Milwaukee was incorporated. This provides that 
 no sectarian instruction whatever shall be given in said school. 
 {Session Laws 1880, Ch. 61, Sec. i, Act Feb. 28, 1880.) With 
 regard to the state university of Wisconsin we find the following 
 in the statutes for 1898 : " But no instruction either sectarian 
 in religion or partisan in politics shall ever be allowed in any 
 department of the university.'' {Wisconsin Statutes 1898, Sec. 
 381.) 
 
 Wyoming: The legislature of Wyoming enacted in 1886 the 
 following with regard to the state university : " No sectarian 
 tenets or principles shall be taught, instructed, or inculcated at 
 said university by any president, professor or tutor therein." 
 {Session Laws 1886, Ch. 37, Sec. 45.) In 1899 the Revised 
 Statutes read : " But no instruction either sectarian in religion 
 or partisan in politics shall ever be allowed in any department of 
 the university," etc. {Revised Statutes 1899, Sec. 491, Session 
 Laws 1890-91, Ch. 75, Sec. 6, Act Jan. 10, 1891.) With regard 
 to its agricultural college the following was enacted in 1891 : 
 " No sectarian tenets or principles shall be taught, instructed or 
 inculcated at said institution, by any president, professor or tutor 
 therein." {Session Laws 1890-91, Ch. 92, Sec. 11, Act Jan. 10, 
 1891.) The same is repeated in the Revised Statutes of 1899, 
 Sec. 513. 
 
CHAPTER VII 
 
 LAWS FORBIDDING THE USE OF SECTARIAN 
 TEXT-BOOKS 
 
 Closely related to legislation forbidding the teaching of sec- 
 tarian or denominational religious tenets, is legislation forbid- 
 ding the use of text-books in which such tenets are either 
 favored or opposed. With the adoption of uniform series of 
 text-books, often for a whole state, embracing sections of widely 
 divergent religious opinion, such laws became essential to the 
 welfare of the public schools. 
 I So long as each individual community could determine for 
 I itself what books should be used in its school, a certain amount 
 of adaptation to individual community desires in religious mat- 
 ters was possible. The religion of the majority, at least, in each 
 i community, if there was a decisive majority, could be favored. 
 But centralization and the accompanying requirements of uni- 
 formity, with which American school legislation abounds, made 
 this no longer possible. In most of the states, text-books for 
 state-wide or county-wide use are today adopted by state or 
 county authorities. With the provision for such centralized 
 authority, has come about legislation forbidding the use of 
 books in which any particular religious tenets are either favored 
 or opposed. 
 
 One Book very commonly used in the schools of practically all 
 the states has been the Holy Bible. Frequently books containing 
 extracts therefrom have been used for reading purposes. A 
 common practice has been for the teacher to read a portion there- 
 from as a part of the opening exercises each day of school. 
 Sometimes responsive readings therefrom by teacher and pupils 
 have been employed. Very often objection has been raised by 
 those of different religious views from those dominant in particu- 
 lar communities, against having their children forced to read or 
 listen to the reading of the particular version of the Bible 
 68 
 
Laws Forbidding the Use of Sectarian Text-Books 69 
 
 employed in the schools where they attended, or of any version 
 whatever, or of books containing extracts therefrom. The con- 
 test over the use of this book has been one of the most wide- 
 spread, longest continued, and most bitter in which our people 
 have engaged. 
 
 Two general lines of policy can be detected in state legislation 
 dealing, therewith ; one forbidding the use of any sectarian books, 
 leaving it to the courts to determine in any particular case 
 whether or not a book is sectarian; the other, either forbidding 
 sectarian books or not, but in either case providing that the 
 Bible shall not be so considered nor excluded. Sometimes under 
 this second policy the law has left the reading of the Bible to the 
 option of the individual community, or to the teacher of the 
 school. No law has ever been passed by any state legislature 
 specifically forbidding the use of the Bible in the schools. Some- 
 times it is provided that the Bible shall be read by the teacher for 
 a certain number of minutes daily, without written note or oral 
 comment thereon. Again we find a proviso that children whose 
 parents object to their being present while the Bible is being read 
 shall be excused from attendance on the reading thereof. The 
 common method of securing compliance with these laws is, as 
 with those forbidding sectarian instruction, to threaten to with- 
 hold the state school funds. 
 
 To the first policy named, by far the most general, that for- 
 bidding the use of any sectarian books, leaving it to the courts to 
 determine in any particular case whether or not a book is secta- 
 rian, belong the following laws : 
 
 Alabama: An act of the legislature of Alabama passed in 
 1903 to create a text-book commission and to procure a uniform 
 series of text-books, provided that none of said books should 
 contain anything of a partisan or sectarian character. {General 
 Public School Laws 1908, Sec. 181 1, Act Mar. 4, 1903.) 
 
 Arizona: " No books, tracts or papers of a sectarian or 
 denominational character shall be used or introduced in any 
 school established under the provisions of this act, . . . nor 
 shall any school whatever receive any of the public school funds 
 which has not been taught in accordance with the provisions of 
 this act." {Session Laws 1879, No. 61, Sec. 38.) "It shall be 
 the duty of the Board of Trustees to exclude from schools and 
 
yo The Secularisation of American Education 
 
 school libraries all books, publications or papers of a sectarian, 
 partisan or immoral character." {Session Laws 1883, No. 33, 
 Sec. 10.) The law of 1883 contained the same provisions as that 
 of 1879 above quoted. (Session Laws 1883, No. 33, Sec. 62.) 
 In the revision of 1895 the wording of the penalty attached is 
 slightly changed. " No books, tracts or papers of a sectarian 
 character shall be used or introduced into any school established 
 under the provisions of this title . . . nor shall any school 
 whatever . . . which has not been taught in accordance 
 with the provisions of this title, receive any of the public school 
 funds, and upon satisfactory evidence of such violation the 
 county superintendent must withhold all apportionment of school 
 moneys from said school." {Revision 1895, Ch. X, Sec. 88.) 
 "Any teacher who shall use any sectarian or denominational 
 books ... in his school . . . shall be deemed guilty of 
 unprofessional conduct and it shall be the duty of the proper 
 authority to revoke his or her certificate or diploma." {Revised 
 Laws 1905, Sec. 112.) " It shall be the duty of the board of trus- 
 tees to exclude from schools and school libraries all books, pub- 
 lications or papers of a sectarian, partisan, or denominational 
 character." {School Laws 1908, Ch. VI, Sec. 50, Par. 13.) 
 
 Arkansas: " No teacher employed in any of the common 
 schools shall permit sectarian books to be used as a reading or 
 text-book in the school under his care." {Digest 1874, Sec. 5453, 
 Act April 29, 1873, Sec. 52.) This law is repeated in the Digest 
 of 1884, Sec. 6244. 
 
 California: "An act to Establish, Support and Regulate Com- 
 mon Schools : No books, tracts or papers of a sectarian or 
 denominational character shall be used or introduced in any 
 school established under the provisions of this act : — nor shall 
 any school whatever receive any of the public school funds, 
 which has not been taught in accordance with the principles of this 
 act." {Session Laws 1855, Ch. CLXXXV, Sec. 33, Act May 
 3, 1855.) " Trustees may receive donations of books, maps or 
 charts from any person; provided, no books of a sectarian char- 
 acter shall be placed in the library, and that any such books found 
 therein shall be removed by order of the county superintendent." 
 {Session Laws 1869-70, Ch. DLVI, Sec. 73, Act April 4, 1870.) 
 
Laws Forbidding the Use of Sectarian Text-Books yi 
 
 The same law makes it the duty of the state board of education 
 to prepare a list of books suitable for school libraries, in which 
 no work of a sectarian character shall be included, etc. {Session 
 Laws 1869-70, Ch. DLVI, Sec. 71, Act April 4, 1870.) The 
 same law specifies among the powers and duties of boards of 
 trustees and boards of education, to exclude from schools and 
 school libraries all books, tracts, papers, or catechisms of a sec- 
 tarian character. (Session Laws 1869-70, Ch. DLVI, Sec. 11, 
 Act April 4, 1870.) " No books, tracts, papers, catechisms or 
 other publications of a sectarian or denominational character 
 shall be used or distributed in any school or shall be made a 
 part of any school library . . . ; and any school district, town, 
 or city, the officers of which shall knowingly allow any schools 
 to be taught in violation of these provisions shall forfeit all right 
 to any apportionment of state or county school money," etc. 
 (Session Laws 1869-70, Ch. DLVI, Sec. 58, Act April 4, 1870.) 
 
 Colorado: Among the powers of school directors enumerated 
 in the General Statutes of 1883 are : " To exclude from schools 
 and school libraries all books, tracts, papers or catechisms of a 
 sectarian character." (General Statutes 1883, Ch. XCVII.) 
 
 Idaho: It is made the duty of trustees in Independent school 
 districts, " To exclude from the schools and school libraries 
 of said districts, all books, tracts, papers and catechisms of a 
 sectarian nature." (School Laws 1907, p. 82, par. 10.) " No 
 books, papers, tracts or documents of a political, sectarian or de- 
 nominational character shall be used or introduced in any school 
 established under the provisions of this Chapter . . . nor shall 
 any teacher or any district receive any of the public school moneys 
 in which the schools have not been taught in accordance with the 
 provisions of this Chapter." (School Laws 191 1, Art. XXI, Sec. 
 186.) 
 
 Indiana: In an act passed in 1889 providing for the selection 
 of a series of text-books by the state board of education we find : 
 " Provided, that none of said text books shall contain anything 
 of a partisan or sectarian character." (Annotated Statutes 
 Revision 1894, Sec. 5853. Acts 1889, Ch. L, Sec. i, p. 74.) 
 
 Kansas: " Provided, that no text-books shall be adopted that 
 
72 The Secularization of American Education 
 
 contain anything of a partisan or sectarian character." {General 
 Statutes 1905, Sec. 7908, Act March 19, 1897, Ch. 179, Sec. 4.) 
 
 Kentucky: " No books or other publications, of a sectarian, 
 infidel, or immoral character shall be used or distributed in any 
 common school," etc. (Statutes 1903, Ch. 113, Sec. 4368, Act 
 July 6, 1893.) With regard to the County Board of Examiners 
 the law specifies : " The said board shall not adopt any text- 
 books of an immoral, sectional or sectarian character for use in 
 the common schools." (Statutes 1903, Ch. 113, Sec. 4423.) 
 With regard to district libraries we find : " But no books of a 
 sectarian, infidel, or immoral character shall be placed in the 
 library; and any such books found therein shall be removed by 
 order of the trustees or the county superintendent." (Statutes 
 1903, Sec. 4521.) " No teacher employed in any of the common 
 schools shall permit sectarian books to be used as a reading or 
 text-book in the school under his care." (Statutes 1904, Sec. 
 7654-) 
 
 Maryland: " School books shall contain nothing of a sect- 
 arian or partisan character." (Session Laws 1872, Ch. X, Sec. i. 
 Act April I, 1872.) 
 
 Massachusetts: " The school committee shall never direct 
 to be purchased or used, in any of the town schools, any school 
 books which are calculated to favor the tenets of any particular 
 sect of Christians." (Session Laws 1827, Ch. 143, Sec. 7, Act 
 March 10, 1827.) The same is found in the Revised Statutes 
 for 1835, Pt. I., Tit. 10, Ch. 23, Sec. 23. 
 
 Mississippi: In the Code of 1892 there is enumerated among 
 the duties of trustees of separate school districts : " To exclude 
 from schools and school libraries all books, publications, or papers 
 of a sectarian, partisan, denominational or immoral character." 
 (Annotated Code 1892, Sec. 4006.) " Provided that none of said 
 text-books so selected or adopted shall contain anything of a par- 
 tisan or sectarian character." (School Laws 1906, p. 4, Sec. 
 4595-) 
 
 Montana: " No books, tracts, papers, catechisms or other 
 publications of a partisan, sectarian or denominational character, 
 shall be used or distributed in any school ; and any school district. 
 
Laws Forbidding the Use of Sectarian Text-Books yji 
 
 the officers of which shall knowingly allow any school to be 
 taught in violation of these provisions shall forfeit all right to 
 any county apportionment of school moneys, and upon satis- 
 factory evidence of such violation the county superintendent shall 
 withhold its county apportionment." (Session Laws 1872, Ch. 
 LXXXVIII, Sec. 35, Act Jan. 12, 1872.) The above is repeated 
 in the Compiled Statutes of 1887, Sec. 1893. Section 27 of the 
 same law reads as follows : " Every board of trustees unless 
 otherwise especially provided, shall have power and it shall be 
 their duty: To exclude from schools and school libraries all 
 books, tracts, papers or catechisms of a sectarian or political 
 character." (Session Laws 1872, Ch. LXXXVIII, Sec. 27, Act 
 Jan. 12, 1872.) An act of 1895 reads as follows : " No publica- 
 tion of a sectarian, partisan, or denominational character must 
 be used or distributed in any school or be made a part of any 
 school library ; . . . Any school district, the officers of which 
 knowingly allow any school to be taught in violation of these 
 provisions, forfeits all right to any state or county apportion- 
 ment of school moneys; and upon satisfactory evidence of such 
 violation, the superintendent of public instruction and the county 
 superintendent must withhold both state and county apportion- 
 ments." (Political Code 1895, Sec. 1863, Act March 11, 1895.) 
 
 Nevada: " No books, tracts or papers of a sectarian or 
 denominational character shall be used or introduced in any 
 school established under the provisions of this act ; . . . nor 
 shall any school whatever receive any of the public school funds 
 which has not been taught in accordance with the provisions of 
 this act." (General Statutes 1885, Sec. 1338.) This provision 
 is repeated in the Compiled Laws of 1900, Sec. 1323. 
 
 New Hampshire: " No book shall be directed to be used as 
 a school book which is calculated to favor any particular religious 
 or political sect or tenet." (Revised Statutes 1842, Ch. 73, Sec. 
 12.) The Compiled Statutes of 1853, Ch. 77, Sec. 13, contains 
 the same provision. In 1895 the following was adopted : " No 
 book shall be introduced into the public schools calculated to 
 favor any particular religious sect or political party." (Session 
 Laws 1895, Ch. 50, Sec. 5.) This is repeated in the Public Stat- 
 utes of 1901, Ch. 92, Sec. 9. 
 
74 The Secularization of American Education 
 
 New York: The following provision applies to the schools of 
 New York City only : " But no such school shall be entitled to a 
 portion of such moneys ... in which any book or books 
 containing any sectarian composition shall be used in the course 
 of instruction. . . ." {Laws of 66th Session, Ch. 216, Sec. 
 15, Act April 18, 1843.) 
 
 North Carolina: " The state board of education may recom- 
 mend the course of study to be pursued, the text-books, and 
 other means of instruction to be used in the public schools : Pro- 
 vided, that no sectarian or political text-books or influences shall 
 be used in any public school." (Revisal 1873, Ch. 68, Sec. 59.) 
 " The state board of education shall recommend a series of text- 
 books to be used in the public schools for a term of three years 
 and until otherwise ordered . . . ; Provided further, no sec- 
 tarian or political books shall be used in the public schools." 
 (Code 1883, Vol. 2, Ch. 15, Sec. 2539. Act 1881, Ch. 200, Sec. 
 9.) " None of such text-books shall contain anything of a par- 
 tisan or sectarian character, and all shall be written or printed 
 in English." (Revisal 1905, Sec. 4060.) 
 
 North Dakota: An act of 1891 under the duties of district 
 school boards provides as follows : " But it shall exclude there- 
 from (school library) all books unsuited to the cultivation of 
 good character and good morals and manners, and no sectarian 
 publication devoted to the discussion of sectarian differences 
 and creeds shall be admitted to the library." (Political Code 
 1899, Sec. 694, Acts 1891, Ch. 56, Sec. 14.) 
 
 Oklahoma: In an act of 1908 providing for state uniformity 
 of books, etc., we find the following: "Provided, that none of 
 said text-books shall contain anything of a partisan or sectarian 
 character." (Laws 1908, No. 331, Art. XXXII, Sec. 2.) 
 
 South Carolina: An act passed by the legislature of 1870-71 
 amending an act to " Establish and Maintain a System of Free 
 Common Schools for the State of South Carolina," specifies as 
 one of the duties of the state superintendent of schools : " He 
 shall forbid the use of sectarian or partisan books and instruc- 
 tion in schools." (Session Laws 1870-71, No. 346, Sec. 10.) 
 The above is repeated in Revised Statutes of 1873, Ch. XXXV, 
 
Laws Forbidding the Use of Sectarian Text-Books 75 
 
 Sec. 5; Session Laws of 1877-78, No. 516, Sec. 11; Revised 
 Statutes of 1894, Sec. 1034; and Code of 1902, Sec. 1175. 
 
 Tennessee: In 1899 the following was enacted with regard 
 to a uniform series of text-books : " Provided, that none of said 
 text-books shall contain anything of a partisan or sectarian char- 
 acter." (Session Laws 1899, Ch. 205, Act April 13, 1899.) 
 
 Virginia: An act of 1847 to amend for the counties of Lon- 
 donn, Fairfax, and Kanawha, the act of February 25, 1846, 
 establishing Free Schools, provides : " No books shall be used 
 nor instruction given in the public schools calculated to favor 
 the doctrinal tenets of any religious sect or denomination." 
 (Session Laws 1846-7, Ch. 33, Sec. 5, Act March 10, 1847.) An 
 act of 1847 amending an act of Feb. 25, 1846, establishing Free 
 Schools in the counties of Frederick and Jefferson provides: 
 " No books of an immoral or irreligious tendency, and none of a 
 strictly sectarian character shall be used therein." (Session 
 Laws 1846-7, Ch. 32, Sec. 9, Act March 20, 1847.) An act of 
 1849 establishing Free Schools in the County of Albermarle 
 states : " The board may prescribe the methods of instruction 
 and the books to be used, provided, That they shall not be 
 immoral or irreligious in their tendency or of a sectarian char- 
 acter." (Session Laws 1848-9, Ch. no. Sec. 9, Act March 14, 
 1849.) I'^ ^^ ^<^t °^ 1^49 ^°^ ^^^ establishment of a Free School 
 System in King George County we find : " No books of an 
 immoral tendency and none of a strictly sectarian or partisan 
 character shall be used therein." (Session Laws 1848-9, Ch. 
 113, Sec. 8, Act March 8, 1849.) 
 
 Washington: " Every board of directors unless otherwise 
 especially provided by law, shall have power and it shall be their 
 duty : ... To exclude from schools and from school libraries, 
 all books, papers, tracts or catechisms of an infidel, sectarian, or 
 partisan character." (Act Nov. 28, 1883, Title IV, Qi. 38.) 
 " No books, tracts, papers, catechisms or other publications of a 
 partisan or denominational character shall be used or distributed 
 in any school ; . . . and any teacher who shall violate these 
 provisions shall forfeit his permit or certificate for the period of 
 one year." (Act Nov. 28, 1883, Title IX, Sec. 53.) "Every 
 
y6 The Secularisation of American Education 
 
 board of directors unless otherwise specially provided by law 
 shall have power and it shall be their duty; ... To exclude 
 from schools and school libraries all books, tracts, papers and 
 other publications of any immoral or pernicious tendency, or of 
 a sectarian or partisan character." (Hill's Annotated Statutes 
 and Codes 1891, Ch. V, Sec. 791, Act March 27, 1890.) The 
 same provision is found in Ballinger's Annotated Codes and 
 Statutes of 1897, Sec. 2311.^0 
 
 Wisconsin: An act of 1883 relating to the adoption of and 
 change in text-books provides : " But no text-books shall be 
 permitted in any free public schools which would have a ten- 
 dency to inculcate sectarian ideas." {Session Laws 1883, Ch. 
 251, Sec. 3, Act March 31, 1883.) " The board of education in 
 any city shall determine what text-books shall be used in its 
 schools, make a list of such books, file a copy with their clerk 
 or secretary and keep a copy posted in each school building. But 
 no text-books which would have a tendency to inculcate sectarian 
 ideas shall be used in any public school." {Statutes 1898, Sec. 
 440a.) 
 
 To the second policy mentioned — that forbidding the exclu- 
 sion of the Bible as a sectarian book and prescribing the method 
 of its use, belong the following laws : 
 
 Dakota Territory: " No sectarian doctrine shall be taught or 
 inculcated in ariy of the public schools of the corporation — but 
 the Holy Scriptures without note or comment may be used 
 therein." {Session Laws 1887, Ch. 47, Sec. 141, Schools in 
 Cities, Towns and Villages.) " No sectarian doctrine shall be 
 taught in any public school ; but the Bible may be read in school 
 not to exceed ten minutes daily, without sectarian comment ; and 
 no pupil shall be required to read it contrary to the wishes of his 
 parent or guardian or other person having him in charge." 
 {Session Laws 1887, Ch. 47, Sec. 19.) 
 
 Florida: " The reading of the Bible in, and short devotional 
 exercises of a non-sectarian character at the opening of school, 
 are not to be prohibited but no pupil is to be required to engage 
 in them against his conscience, or contrary to the wishes of his 
 parent or guardian." {2nd Session 1869, Act January 30, 1869, 
 
Laws Forbidding the Use of Sectarian Text-Books yj 
 
 Sec. 30.) Twenty years later in 1889 the clause excusing stu- 
 dents who were opposed to reading the Bible was dropped from 
 the law, which then read as follows: " The reading of the Bible 
 in, and short devotional exercises of a non-sectarian character 
 at the opening of the school are not to be prohibited." {^2nd 
 Session 1889, No. 26, Act June 8, 1889, Sec. 31.) 
 
 Georgia: " The county board of education shall prescribe^ 
 from time to time, what text-books and books of reference shall 
 be used in the common schools of the county : Provided : that the 
 Bible shall not be excluded from the common or public schools of 
 the state. The county board shall not be permitted to introduce 
 into the schools any text or miscellaneous books of a sectarian 
 or sectional character. No teacher shall receive pay for any 
 pupil who is allowed to use any other than the prescribed text- 
 books." {Code 1895, Sec. 1365.) 
 
 Indiana: " The Bible shall not be excluded from the public 
 schools of the state." {Annotated Statutes Revision 1894, Sec. 
 5980, Act Mar. 6, 1865.) 
 
 Iowa: " The Bible shall not be excluded from any school or 
 institution in the state, nor shall any pupil be required to read 
 it contrary to the wishes of his parent or guardian." {Revised 
 Statutes 1873, Sec. 1764.) This is repeated in the Code of 
 1897, Sec. 2805. 
 
 Kansas: " No sectarian or religious doctrine shall be taught 
 or inculcated in any of the public schools of the city ; but noth- 
 ing in this section shall be construed to prohibit the reading of 
 the Holy Scriptures." {General Statutes 1905, Sec. 6816. Also 
 General Statutes 1901, Sec. 6284, Act April 7, 1876. Cities of 
 first class.) " No sectarian doctrine shall be taught or inculcated 
 in any of the public schools of the city, but the Holy Scriptures 
 without note or comment may be used therein." {General Stat- 
 utes 1905, Sec. 6850; 1901, Sec. 6318; Act April 7, 1876. Cities 
 of second class.) 
 
 Louisiana: " The Bible shall not be excluded from any school 
 or institution in this state, under the control of the board, nor 
 shall any pupil be required to read it, contrary to the wishes of 
 his parent or guardian." {Revised Statutes 1870, Sec. 1288.) 
 6 
 
78 The Secularization of American Education 
 
 I Massachusetts: " The school committee shall require the daily 
 /reading of some portion of the Bible in the common English 
 version; but shall never direct any school books calculated to 
 favor the tenets of any particular sect of Christians to be pur- 
 chased or used in any of the town schools." {General Statutes 
 1859, Ch. 38, Sec. 27, Acts 1855, Ch. 410.) " The school com- 
 mittee shall require the daily reading of some portion of the 
 Bible, without written note or oral comment, in the public schools ; 
 but they shall require no scholar to read from any particular 
 version, whose parent or guardian shall declare that he has con- 
 scientious scruples against allowing him to read therefrom, nor 
 shall they ever direct any school books, calculated to favor the 
 tenets of any particular sect of Christians, to be purchased or read 
 in any of the public schools." {General Laws 1862, Ch. 57, Act 
 March 6, 1862.) " The school committee shall require the daily 
 reading in the public schools of some portion of the Bible, with- 
 out written note or oral comment; but they shall not require a 
 scholar whose parent or guardian informs the teacher in writing 
 that he has conscientious scruples against it, to read from any 
 particular versi6n, or to take any personal part in the reading; 
 nor shall they direct to be purchased or used in the public schools 
 books calculated to favor the tenets of any particular sect of 
 Christians." {Public Statutes 1882, Ch. 44, Sec. 32.) "A por- 
 tion of the Bible shall be used daily in the public schools, with- 
 out written note or oral comment; but a pupil whose parent or 
 guardian informs the teacher in writing that he has conscientious 
 scruples against it, shall not be required to read from any par-, 
 ticular version, or to take any personal part in the reading. The 
 school committee shall not purchase or use school books in the 
 public schools calculated to favor the tenets of any particular 
 religious sect." {Revised Laws 1901, Pt. i. Title I., Ch. 42, 
 Sec. 19.) 
 
 Mississippi: " Be it further enacted, That the Bible shall not 
 be excluded from the schools of the state." {Session Laws 1870, 
 Ch. I, Sec. 50, Act July 4, 1870.) " Be it further enacted that 
 the Bible shall not be excluded from the public free schools of 
 this state." {Session Laws 1878, Act March 5, 1878, Sec. 43.) 
 
 New Jersey: " It shall not be lawful for any teacher, trustee 
 
Laws Forbidding the Use of Sectarian Text-Books 79 
 
 or trustees to introduce into or have performed in any school 
 receiving its proportion of public money, any religious service, 
 ceremony or forms whatsoever, except reading the Bible and 
 repeating the Lord's Prayer." {General Statutes 1895, Sec. 220, 
 Act April 30, 1894, Ch. CII, Sess. of 1894.) " No religious ser- 
 vice or exercise, except the reading of the Bible and the repeating 
 of the Lord's Prayer shall be held in any school receiving any 
 portion of the money appropriated for the support of public 
 schools." (Session Laws 1900, Ch. 96, Art. VIII, Sec. 115.) 
 This is repeated in Session Laws of 1902, Ch. 36, Art. VIII, Sec. 
 108 and School Laws of 1908, p. 51, Sec. 114. 
 
 New York: " But no school shall be entitled to a portion of 
 the school moneys, in which the religious, sectarian doctrine or 
 tenet 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 
 doctrine or tenets of any Christian sect, or which shall teach the 
 doctrine or tenets of any other religious sect, or which shall 
 refuse to permit the visits and examination provided for in this 
 act." (Laws of 67th Session, Ch. 320, Act May 7, 1844.) The 
 above is repeated in the Revised Statutes of 1846, Pt. i, Ch. XV, 
 Sec. 208, in the Laws of the 74th Session, Ch. 386, Sec. 18, 
 Act of July 3, 1851, and in the Act of July i, 1882, and applies 
 to New York City. By the act of May 7, 1844, it was also made 
 the duty of the county superintendent of schools to examine and 
 ascertain, and report to the board of education of New York 
 City whether any of the provisions of the act in relation to relig- 
 ious sectarian teaching and books had been violated in any 
 of the different wards of the city. (Laws of 67th Session, Ch. 
 320, Sec. 44, Act May 7, 1844.) The foregoing was repeated 
 in the Laws of the 74th Session, Ch. 386, Sec. 11, Act of July 3, 
 1851. 
 
 By this same act of May 7, 1844, it was made the duty of the 
 commissioners, inspectors and trustees in each ward, from time 
 to time and as frequently as need be, to examine, ascertain and 
 report to the board of education of the City of New York 
 whether the provisions in relation to the teaching of sectarian 
 doctrine or the use of sectarian books had been violated. 
 
8o The Secularization of American Education 
 
 (Laws of 6ph Session, Ch. 320, Sec. 13, Act May 7, 1844.) 
 The foregoing was repeated in the Revised Statutes of 1846, Pt. 
 I, Ch. XV, Sec. 209. In 1882 the duty was imposed upon the 
 inspectors or a majority of them only. {Act July i, 1882.) 
 
 The same law of May 7, 1844 contained the following : " But 
 nothing herein contained shall authorize the board of education 
 (New York City) to exclude the Holy Scriptures without note 
 or comment, or any selections therefrom, from any of the schools 
 provided for by this act; but it shall not be competent for 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 
 said 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 the United States." (Laws of 
 dyth Session, Ch. 320, Sec. 12, Act May 7, 1844.) The same 
 provision was repeated in the Revised Statutes of 1846, Pt. i, Ch. 
 XV, Sec. 208 ; in the Laws of the 74th Session, Ch. 386, Sec. 18, 
 Act of July 3, 185 1 ; and in Act of July i, 1882, Ch. 410, Sec. 
 1062. 
 
 In 1850 the following was enacted with regard to the schools 
 of Brooklyn : " No school in said city shall be entitled to any 
 portion of the school moneys, in which the/ religious, sectarian 
 doctrine or tenets of any particular Christi^ or other religious 
 sect shall be taught or inculcated, or which shall refuse or pro- 
 hibit visits or examinations by the city superintendent or mem- 
 bers of the board of education of said city; provided, that this 
 section shall not be deemed to prohibit the use of the Holy Scrip- 
 tures without note or comment." (Laws of 7jrd Session, Ch. 
 143, Sec. 19, Act April 4, 1850.) 
 
 North Dakota: " The Bible shall not be deemed a sectarian 
 book. It shall not be excluded from any public school. It may 
 at the option of the teacher be read in school without sectarian 
 comment, not to exceed ten minutes daily. No pupil shall be 
 required to read it nor be present in the schoolroom during the 
 reading thereof contrary to the wishes of his parents or guardian 
 or other person having him in charge." {Political Code 1899, 
 Sec. 754, Laws of 1890, Ch. 62, Sec. 134.) 
 
 Oklahoma: " No sectarian doctrine shall be taught or incul- 
 
Laws Forbidding the Use of Sectarian Text-Books 8i 
 
 cated in any of the public schools of the city ; but the Holy Scrip- 
 tures, without note or comment, may be read therein at the dis- 
 cretion of each teacher." (Revised and Annotated Statutes 
 1903, Ch. y-y, Art, 9, Sec. 6267. Applying to cities of the first 
 class.) By the act of Feb. 19, 1895, the same provision was 
 made to apply to public schools in union school districts. 
 {Revised and Annotated Statutes 1903, Ch. yy, Art. 8, Sec. 6247, 
 Act Feb. 19, 1895.) " No sectarian or religious doctrine shall 
 be taught or inculcated in any of the public schools in this terri- 
 tory, but nothing in this section shall be construed to prohibit 
 the, reading of the Holy Scriptures." {Revised and Annotated 
 Statutes 1903, Ch. yy, Art. 3, Sec. 6189.) In the School Laws of 
 1908 the above section remains the same with the substitution of 
 " state " for " territory." 
 
 South Dakota: In an act entitled " Cities, Towns, and Adja- 
 cent Territory, Organized as Independent Districts " we find : 
 " No sectarian doctrine may be taught or inculcated in any of 
 the schools of the corporation; but the Bible, without sectarian 
 comment may be read therein." {Political Code 1903, Sec. 
 2423-) 
 
 West Virginia: "All teachers employed in the public schools 
 of this state shall read or cause to be read at least one chapter 
 from the Bible, in a language understood by the scholars, every 
 day at the opening of the school; inculcate the duties of piety, 
 morality and respect for the laws and government of their coun- 
 try." (Session Laws 1866, Ch. 74, Sec. 29, Act February 26, 
 1866.) 
 
CHAPTER VIII 
 
 LAWS FORBIDDING THE ESTABLISHMENT OF 
 RELIGIOUS TESTS 
 
 I The elimination of ecclesiastical or sectarian control or influence 
 
 / from public education has been sought in many states through 
 
 / laws forbidding the setting up of any particular religious belief 
 
 / or affiliation with any particular religious sect as a necessary 
 
 qualification for or bar to, membership on boards of trustees, 
 
 positions as school administrators or instructors, or the right to 
 
 attend public schools as students. Sometimes the law has gone 
 
 so far as to prevent even private schools which have enjoyed the 
 
 privileges of incorporation from setting up such tests. 
 
 Alabama: We find the following in the Code of 1852 relating 
 to the University of Alabama : " No religious qualification or 
 test must be required from any student, trustee, president, pro- 
 fessor, or other officer of such university, or as a condition for 
 admission to any privilege therein." (Code 1852, Title 11, Ch. 
 II, Par. 850.) 
 
 Arizona: The Revised Statutes of 1901 contain the following 
 with regard to the territorial university : " Nor shall any sec- 
 tarian tenets or opinions be required to entitle any person to be 
 admitted as a student in said university; and no such tenets or 
 opinions shall be required as a qualification for any person as a 
 regent, tutor, or professor of such university." {Revised Stat- 
 utes 1901, Par. 3638.) 
 
 Georgia: With regard to the state university we find the fol- 
 lowing enactments : " The trustees shall not exclude any per- 
 son of any religious denomination whatsoever from free and 
 equal liberty and advantages of education, or from any of the 
 liberties, privileges and immunities of the university in his edu- 
 cation, on account of his, her or their speculative sentiments in 
 religion, or being of a diflferent religious profession." (Act 
 82 
 
Laws Forbidding the Establishment of Religious Tests 83 
 
 Jan. 27, 1785, Sec. 11.) "All officers elected or appointed for 
 the university shall be of the Christian religion, but no person 
 of any religious denomination shall be excluded from equal 
 advantages of education and the immunities of the university on 
 account of their speculative sentiments in religion or being of a 
 different religious profession from the trustees or faculty." 
 (Code 1861, Sec. 1127.) A radical step toward secularization is 
 seen in an act of 1877 : " Be it enacted by the General Assem- 
 bly of the state of Georgia and it is hereby enacted by the 
 authority of the same : That section 1203 of the Code of Georgia 
 be amended by striking out the words, — ' all officers elected or 
 appointed for the University of Georgia shall be of the Christian 
 religion.' " (Session Laws 1877, No. XII, Act Feb. 26, 1877.) 
 This same act of 1877 ^l^o released the chancellor of the univer- 
 sity, its professors and tutors from taking certain religious oaths 
 prescribed in the charter of the university. (Act Feb. 26, 1877, 
 Sec. 17.) This is repeated in the Code of 1895, Sec. 1293. 
 Freedom of religious belief on the part of students at the univer- 
 sity is assured successively by the Act of 1785 quoted above and 
 by the Law of 1877 in these words : " No person of any relig- 
 ious denomination shall be excluded from equal advantages of 
 education and the immunities of the university on account of 
 their speculative sentiments in religion, or being of a different 
 religious profession from the trustees or faculty." (Act Feb. 
 26, 1877.) This last provision is continued in the Code of 1895, 
 Sec. 1292. 
 
 Idaho: With regard to the Albion State Normal School v/i 
 find the following : " No religious or sectarian tests shall be 
 applied in the selection of teachers, and none shall be adopted in 
 said school." (School Laws 1903, p. 17, Sec. 37.) This samu 
 provision is found with regard to the Academy of Ida'j 
 (School Laws 1903, p. 20, Sec. 51), and the Lewiston State 
 Normal School (School Laws 1905, p. 9, Sec. 961.) With 
 regard to the State University the law reads : " No sectarian or 
 partisan test shall ever be allowed or exercised in the appoint- 
 ment of regents or in the election of professors, teachers or other 
 officers of the university or in the admission of students thereto 
 or for any purpose whatever." (School Laws 1907, p 10, Sec. 
 934-) 
 
84 The Secularization of American Education 
 
 Illinois: In the legislation of this state we find a number of 
 illustrations of the practice of forbidding the setting up of relig- 
 ious tests in schools enjoying the privilege of incorporation. 
 In an act incorporating Alton Female Institute it is provided that 
 no particular religious faith shall be required of those who 
 become trustees of the institution. {Act Jan. 9, 1835, Sec. 2.) 
 An act incorporating Bloomington Female Seminary of Learn- 
 ing provided that said institution and its preparatory department 
 should be open to all denominations of Christians, and the pro- 
 fession of any particular religious faith should not be required 
 of those who became students. {Act Jan. 9, 1836, Sec. 9.) An 
 ""aWHto^incorporate Danville Academy provided that no particular 
 religious faith should be required of those who should become 
 trustees, students, teachers, officers, or servants of said institu- 
 tion. {Act Jan. 15, 1836, Sec. 3.) An act incorporating Burst 
 Prairie Manual Labor Seminary provided that said institution 
 should be open to all denominations of Christians, and the pro- 
 fession of any particular religious faith should not be required 
 of those who became students. {Act J.an. 15, 1836, Sec. 6.) 
 Similar provisions are to be found in the acts incorporating Mt. 
 Carmel Academy {Act Jan. 16, 1836, Sec. 5), Carmi Academy 
 {Act Jan. 16, 1836, Sec. 7), Franklin Manual Labor College 
 {Act Jan. 18, 1836, Sec. 4), Fayette County Manual Labor Semi- 
 nary {Act July II, 1837, Sec. 6), and Hamilton Primary School 
 {Act Feb. I, 1840.) 
 
 Indiana: Concerning the State University we find the follow- 
 ing : " No religious qualification shall be required for any stu- 
 dent, trustee, president, professor or other officer of such univer- 
 sity, or as a condition for admission to any privilege in the 
 same." {Annotated Statutes Revision 1894, Sec. 6071, Act Ma} 
 6, 1853.) 
 
 Iowa: An act of 1842 incorporating Mt. Pleasant Institute 
 provided that said institution should be under the charge of the 
 Methodist Episcopal Church but there should be no religious 
 test for the admission of students. {Act Feb. 17, 1842, Sec. 
 9.) A former act of incorporation did not contain this provi- 
 sion. {Act Jan. 23, 1839.) An act incorporating Iowa City 
 College under the control of the Methodist Episcopal Church 
 
Laws Forbidding the Establishment of Religious Tests 85 
 
 specified that it was to be conducted on the most liberal 
 principles, should be accessible to all religious denominations, 
 and that it was designed for the benefit of " our citizens in gen- 
 eral." The youth of every class of citizens and of every religious 
 denomination were to be freely admitted to equal advantages and 
 privileges of education. {Act Feb. 15, 1843, preamble and Sec. 
 I.) Mt. Pleasant Institute, incorporated by an act of Feb. 15, 
 1844, became by an act of 1855, Iowa Wesleyan University. 
 This act of 1855 provided that " said university shall be forever 
 open on equal terms to all who may wish to avail themselves of 
 its advantages, irrespective of religious opinion." {Act Jan. 25, 
 1855, Sec. 12.) 
 
 Kentucky: Regarding its Agricultural and Mechanical Col- 
 lege we find the following : " In the appointment of presidents, 
 professors, or instructors no preference shall be shown to any 
 religious denomination." {Statutes 1903, Ch. 3, Sec. 19.) 
 
 Louisiana: Referring to the board of regents of the State 
 University we find the following : " They shall not make the 
 religious tenet of any person a condition of admission to any 
 privilege or office in the university." {Acts 1855, No. 320, Sec. 
 8.) This is repeated in the Revised Statutes of 1870, Sec. 1358. 
 
 Massachusetts: " No person shall be excluded from a public 
 school on account of race, color or religious opinion of the appli- 
 cant or scholar." {General Statutes 1859, Ch. 41, Sec. 9.) This 
 is repeated in Public Statutes of 1882, Ch. 48, Sec. 10. In the 
 Revised Laws of 1901 we find : " No child shall be excluded 
 from a public school of any city or town on account of race, 
 color or religion." {Revised Laws 1901, Pt. I, Title I, Ch. 44, 
 Sec. 3.) 
 
 Michigan: An act of 1837 changing the name of Michigan 
 and Huron Institute to Kalamazoo Literary Institute, states: 
 " Said institute and departments shall be open to all Christian 
 denominations and the profession of any religious faith shall not 
 be required of those who become students." {Act March 21^ 
 1837, Sec. 5.) In 1855 there was passed a law providing the 
 terms on which colleges, academies and other institutions of 
 learning might be incorporated. This provided that no religious 
 test whatever should be required of any pupil in such institu- 
 tions. {Session Laws 1855, Act Feb. 9, 1855, Sec. 6.) 
 
86 The Secularization of American Education 
 
 Minnesota: " In the selection of professors, instructors, offi- 
 cers, and assistants of the university, in the studies and exercises, 
 and in the management and government thereof, no partiality or 
 preference shall be shown on account of political or religious 
 beliefs or religion." {School Laws 1907, p. 130, Sec. 322.) 
 
 Missouri: An act of 1825 providing for the management and 
 protection of school lands and the establishment and government 
 of public schools reads : "And in the choice of visitors, instruc- 
 tors and pupils, no preference shall ever be given on account of 
 religious opinions ; nor shall any ordinance, by-law, or regulation 
 ever be made in any wise to control or interfere with the rights 
 of conscience, or belief on the subject of religion, or the free 
 exercise of religious worship." {Act Jan. 17, 1825, Sec. 29.) 
 An act of 1835 for the establishment of public schools contains 
 a similar provision. {Act March 19, 1835, Sec. 35.) An act 
 of 1840 incorporating Polk County Academy provides : " No 
 preference shall be given nor discrimination made on account of 
 religious opinion nor shall any by-law be enacted that will, or 
 may, in any wise control or interfere with the exercise of con- 
 science, or the free exercise of religious worship." {Act Dec. 
 12, 1840, Sec. 7.) An act of 1841 incorporating Union Academy 
 reads : " Provided, no preference shall be given or discrimina- 
 tion be made in the choice of trustees, professors, teachers or 
 students, on account of religious opinions, or the exercise of 
 religious worship." {Act Jan. 2, 1841, Sec. 5.) An act of 
 184S, incorporating an Academy in the town of Perryville, speci- 
 fies that " No trustee, professor, or teacher, shall at any time 
 make or enact any by-laws, ordinance, rules, or regulations that 
 will or may in any wise control or interfere with the right of free 
 exercise of religious worship." {Act Feb. 25, 1845, Sec. 7.) 
 An act of 1845 incorporating Liberty Institute reads as follows : 
 " No preference shall be given, or any discrimination made in 
 the choice of trustees, or other officers or students, on account of 
 religious sentiments or the want of them; nor shall the trustees 
 make any by-laws, or other regulations that may interfere with 
 the rights of conscience, the free exercise of religious worship or 
 the enjoyment of innocent amusements." {Act March 15, 1845, 
 Sec. 7.) An act of the same date as the above incorporating an 
 academy in the town of St. Ferdinand contains the following: 
 
Laws Forbidding the Establishment of Religious Tests 87 
 
 " In the choice of trustees, professors, teachers, and students, no 
 preference, distinction or discrimination shall be made on account 
 of religious opinions or professions of faith, nor shall the trus- 
 tees at any time make any by-laws, ordinances or regulations that 
 may in any wise control or interfere with the rights of conscience 
 or the exercise of religious worship." {Act March 15, 1845, 
 Sec. 10.) 
 
 Montana: With regard to the State University the following 
 was enacted in 1893 : " The state board of education shall 
 have power to determine the moral and educational qualifications 
 of applicants for admission to the various courses of instruction ; 
 but no sectarian or partisan test shall ever be allowed or exer- 
 cised in the appointment of professors, instructors, officers or 
 employees of the university, or in the admission of students 
 thereto, or for any purpose whatever." {Political Code 1895, 
 Sec. 1545, Act Feb. 17, 1893.) 
 
 Nebraska: An act of 1857 incorporating Brownville College 
 provides that said college and its preparatory and other depart- 
 ments shall be open to all denominations of Christians ; and the 
 profession of any particular religious faith shall not be required 
 of those who become students. {Act Feb. 9, 1857, Sec. 12.) 
 Similar provisions are found in acts incorporating Dakota City 
 Collegiate and Preparatory Institute {Act Feb. 12, 1857), Oneida 
 College {Session Laws 1857, P- 212, Sec. 14), and St. John's 
 University {Act Feb. 13, 1857). An act of 1871 supplementary 
 to an Act of June 20, 1867, entitled, "An Act to Locate, Establish 
 and Endow a State Normal School " provides as follows : " No 
 religious or sectarian test shall ever be applied in the selection of 
 teachers, and none shall be adopted in the school." {Session 
 Laws 1870-71, Act March 3, 1871, Sec. 10.) This provision is 
 repeated in the Session Laws of 188 1, Sub-Division XIII, Sec. 
 9, Act of March i, 1881, and in the Laws of 1907, Sec. 5579. 
 
 New Jersey: One of the earliest instances of the enactment 
 of a provision forbidding the establishment of religious tests in 
 education is found in the charter granted by the royal govern- 
 ment of New Jersey in 1746 to the College of New Jersey. It 
 provided that no person of any religious denomination whatso- 
 ever should be excluded from the free and equal liberty and 
 
88 The Secularisation of American Education 
 
 advantages of education, or from any of the liberties, privileges, 
 or immunities of the said college, on account of his or their 
 being of a religious profession dififerent from the said trustees of 
 the said college.^ An act of 1881 provides as follows : " No 
 child between the ages of five and eighteen years shall be excluded 
 from any public school in this state on account of his or her 
 religion, nationality or color. Any member of a board of dis- 
 trict trustees or member of a board of education excluding any 
 such child on such grounds is declared guilty of a misdemeanor.'' 
 (General Statutes 1895, Sec. 131, p. 3036, Act March 23, 1881, 
 Sec. I and 2.) By a later law the age limits in the above were 
 changed to four to twenty years. (Session Laws 1900, Ch. 96, 
 Art. IX, Sec. 126.) This provision was repeated in the Session 
 ■ Laws of 1902, Ch. 36, Art. IV, Sec. 119, and in the Session Laws 
 of 1903 (Special Session), Ch. i. Art. IX, Sec. 125. 
 
 New York: The charter granted to Kings College by George 
 II, in 1754, forbids the governors of the college to make any 
 laws " to exclude any person of any religious denomination what- 
 ever from equal liberty and advantage of education, or from any 
 of the degrees, liberties, privileges, benefits, or immunities of tht 
 said college, on account of his particular tenets in matters of 
 religion." (Charters, Acts and Official Documents, pp. 10-24, 
 compiled by John B. Pine, New York, 1895.) By an act of 1784 
 it was specified that the president of Columbia University was 
 henceforth to be elected from among the professors of the sev- 
 eral Colleges of the universities, and no professor should be 
 accounted in any wise ineligible because of any religious tenet 
 or tenets that he might or should possess, or be compelled to take 
 any religious test oath. (Act May i, 1784, Ch. 51.) An act of 
 1787 reads : " No president or professor shall be ineligible for 
 or by reason of any religious tenet or tenets that he may or shall 
 possess." (Act April 13, 1787, Ch. LXXXII, Sec. 20.) Thite 
 was repeated in the act of April 5, 1813, Ch. LIX. An act of 
 1826 changing the name of the Free School Society of New 
 York City to the Public School Society of New York City states 
 its purpose to be to educate all children, whether the proper 
 objects of gratuitous education or not, and without regard to the 
 
 ^ Given in the History of the College of New Jersey, i, 90-7. John 
 McLean, Philadelphia, 1877. 
 
Laws Forbidding the Establishment of Religious Tests 89 
 
 religious sects to which they or their parents might belong. 
 (Act Jan. 28, 1826.) The Revised Statutes of 1846 contain the 
 following : " No religious qualification or test shall be required 
 from any trustee, president, principal or other officer of any incor- 
 porated college or academy or as a condition for admission to 
 any privilege in the same." (Revised Statutes 1846, Ch. XV, 
 Tit. I, Art. 5, Sec. 64.) 
 
 North Dakota: An act of 1883 contains the following with 
 regard to the university : " No sectarian or partisan test shall 
 ever be allowed or exercised in the appointment of trustees or 
 in the election of professors, teachers, or other officers of the 
 university or in the admission of students thereto or for any 
 purpose whatever." (Political Code 1899, Sec. 881, Acts 1883, 
 Ch. 40, Sec. 5.) 
 
 Oklahoma: With regard to the University of Oklahoma we 
 find the following legislation : " No sectarian or partisan test 
 shall ever be allowed or exercised in the appointment of regents 
 or in the election of professors or other officers of the university, 
 or in the admission of students thereto, or for any purpose what- 
 ever." (Revised and Annotated Statutes 1903, Ch. yj, Art. 17, 
 Sec. 6384, Act Dec. 19, 1890.) With regard to the Normal 
 School at Edmond we find : " The board of education in their 
 regulations and the principal in his supervision and government 
 of the school shall exercise a watchful guardianship over the 
 morals of the pupils at all times during their attendance on the 
 same, but no religious or sectarian tests shall be applied in the 
 selection of teachers, and none shall be adopted in the school." 
 (Revised and Annotated Statutes 1903, Ch. yj, Art. 19, Sec. 
 6450, Act Dec. 25, 1890.) An act of 1897 relating to the Colored 
 Agricultural and Normal University contains the same provision. 
 (Revised and Annotated Statutes 1903, Ch. yy, Art. 23, Sec. 
 6503, Act Mar. 12, 1897.) 
 
 Oregon: " No political or sectarian test shall ever be allowed 
 or applied in the appointment of regents, professors, teachers, or 
 employees of the university, nor shall the majority of the regents 
 be, at any one time, members of any one religious denomination 
 or be appointed from or reside in any one county of the state." 
 (Codes and Statutes 1902, Tit. XXXIII, Ch. VI, Sec. 3119. Also 
 Session Laws 1876, p. 57, Sec. 11.) 
 
90 The Secularization of American Education 
 
 South Carolina: An act to establish and provide for the sup- 
 port of a state normal school provides : " No religious test 
 shall be required of any one connected with the state normal 
 school," etc. (Session Laws 1872-3, No. 333, Sec. 10.) The 
 Revised Statutes of 1873 contain the following with regard to the 
 University of South Carolina: " Neither the said board of trus- 
 tees nor the faculty of the university shall make any distinction 
 in the admission of students or the management of the univer- 
 sity on account of race, color, or creed." (Revised Statutes 
 1873, Ch. XLII, Sec. 34.) 
 
 South Dakota: The Political Code of 1903 contains the fol- 
 lowing with regard to state normal schools : " The board ot 
 regents in their regulations and the principals in their super- 
 vision and the government of the schools shall exercise a watch- 
 ful guardianship over the morals of the pupils at all times during 
 their attendance at the same, but no religious or sectarian tests 
 shall be applied in the seletcion of teachers and none shall be 
 adopted in the schools." (Political Code 1903, Sec. 603.) 
 
 Texas: Under the republic the following laws were enacted: 
 "An act incorporating the trustees of Washington College in 
 which it was provided that, the privileges, benefits, and facilities 
 of the said college should be equally accessible to all without 
 regard to peculiarity of opinion." (Act June 5, 1837, Sec. 7.), 
 "An act to establish and incorporate the College of Decalb, in 
 which it was made the duty of the trustees to ' take effectual care 
 that students of all religious denominations may and shall be 
 admitted to equal advantages, and that they receive alike fair 
 and generous treatment during their residence thereat.' " (Act 
 Jan. 26, 1839, Sec. 5.) The act of 1881 by which the University 
 of the state of Texas was established provided as follows : " No 
 religious qualifications shall be required for admission to any 
 office or privilege in the university." (Session Laws 1881, Ch. 
 75, Act March 30, 1881, Sec. 20.) The same provision is found 
 in the Revised Statutes of 1895, Art. 3853. 
 
 Virginia: An act of 1839 incorporating Emory and Henry 
 College declares that no person " shall be ineligible to any office 
 or trust appertaining to the college, or be excluded from a full 
 and free participation in the privileges and benefits of the college 
 
Laws Forbidding the Establishment of Religious Tests 91 
 
 on account of his religious tenets." {Session Laws 1839, Ch. 
 184, Act March 25, 1839.) An act of 1842 incorporating Green 
 Bank Academy and the Trustees of Northwestern Academy pro- 
 vided, with regard to the latter, that no person should be 
 ineligible to any office or trust appertaining to the academy, or 
 be excluded from a full and free participation in the privileges 
 and benefits of the academy on account of his religious tenets. 
 {Session Laws 1841-2, Ch. 147, Sec. 8, Act March 26, 1842.) 
 
 Washington: An act of 1890 concerning the Normal School 
 at Cheney states : " The board of trustees in their regulations 
 and the principal in his supervision and government of the school 
 shall exercise a watchful guardianship over the morals of the 
 pupils at all times during their attendance upon the same, bu- 
 no religious or sectarian tests shall be applied in the selectic. 
 of teachers, and none shall be adopted in the school." (Hill's 
 Annotated Statutes and Codes 1891, Tit. X, Ch. XVI, Sec. 922, 
 Act March 22, 1890, Sec. 17.) 
 
 Wisconsin: An act passed in 1857 for the encouragement of 
 academies and normal schools provides that the income from 
 twenty-five per cent of the gross proceeds arising from the sale 
 of swamp and overflowed lands granted by Congress to Wiscon- 
 sin shall be distributed to such normal schools and academies and 
 in such ratio as the Board of Regents shall designate, and no 
 religious test shall ever be required of any student or scholar 
 in any of the institutions or schools receiving any of the said 
 funds. {Session Laws 1857, P- 93) Act March 7, 1857.) -A" 
 act of 1858 providing for the incorporation of academies and 
 other institutions of learning states that no religious test or 
 qualification shall ever be required of any trustees, officer, teacher, 
 or pupil therein. {Session Laws 1858, p. 53, Act April 21, 1858.) 
 An act incorporating Jefferson Liberal Institute runs as fol- 
 lows : " No religious tenets or opinions shall be requisite tq 
 entitle any person to be admitted as a student in such institute, 
 and no such tenets or opinions shall be required as a qualification 
 for any professor, tutor, or teacher of said institute; and no 
 student of said institute shall be required to attend religious wor- 
 ship in any particular denomination." {Private and Local Laws, 
 Session 1866, Ch. 516, Sec. 10, Act April 12, 1866.) An act 
 
92 The Secularisation of American Education 
 
 of the same year incorporating Prairie de Chien College pro- 
 vides : " No tests of a political or religious character shall be 
 required of any professor, teacher, or student in the institution." 
 (Private and Local Laws, Session 1866, Ch. 513, Sec. 5, Act 
 April 12, 1866.) An act of 1880 amending an act of 1854 incor- 
 porating a German and English Academy in Milwaukee provide 
 that no religious test shall be required of the teachers or scholars 
 of said school. (Session Laws 1880, Ch. 61, Sec. i, Act Feb. 28, 
 1880.) The Statutes of 1898 contain the following with regard 
 to the state university : " No sectarian or partisan tests si- 
 ever be allowed or exercised in the appointment of regents or in 
 the election of professors, teachers, or other officers of the uni- 
 versity, or in the admission of students thereto or for any pur- 
 pose whatever." (Statutes 1898, Sec. 381.) 
 
 Wyoming: The following was enacted regarding the ter- 
 ritorial university in 1886: "No religious qualification or test 
 shall be required of any student, trustee, president, professor, 
 tutor, or officer of such university or as a condition for admis- 
 sion for any privileges of the same." (Session Laws 1886, Ch. 
 37, Sec. 45.) An act of 1890 contains the following: " In the 
 employment of teachers in the public schools in this state, 
 no discrimination shall be made in the question of pay on 
 account of sex, nor on acount of the religious belief of the appli- 
 cant for the position of teacher when the persons are equally 
 qualified and the labor is the same." (Revised Statutes 1899, Sec. 
 64. Session Laws 1890-91, Ch. 21, Act Dec. 31, 1890.) Regarding 
 the Wyoming Agricultural College we find : " No religious qual- 
 ification or test shall be required of any student, trustee, presi- 
 dent, professor, tutor, or officer of said institution or as a con- 
 dition for admission to any privilege in the same," etc. (Revised 
 Statutes 1899, Sec. 513. Session Laws 1890-91, Ch. 92, Sec. 11, 
 Act June 10, 1891.) Regarding the university there is the fol- 
 lowing : " No sectarian or partisan test shall ever be exercised 
 or allowed in the appointment of trustees, or in the election or 
 removal of professors, teachers, or other officers of the univers- 
 ity, or in the admission of students thereto, or for any purpose 
 whatsoever." (Revised Statutes 1899, Sec. 491. Session Laws 
 1890-91, Ch. 75, Sec. 6, Act Jan. 10, 1891.) 
 
CHAPTER IX 
 
 LAWS FORBIDDING THE APPROPRIATION OF 
 
 PUBLIC FUNDS TO SCHOOLS UNDER 
 
 ECCLESIASTICAL CONTROL 
 
 In our early history it was a common practice, as we have 
 already shown in Chapter IV, for states to contribute funds to 
 schools entirely or in part under church control. At times these 
 grants were unconditional; at other times they were given with 
 the understanding that a certain number of indigent children 
 were to be educated free of tuition charges; again the condi- 
 tions of the grants were that the schools assisted should make 
 certain reports to the state authorities or submit to inspection 
 thereby. 
 
 With the establishment of large school funds derived chiefly 
 from the sale of public land, and with the increased revenues 
 derived from taxation, the question of the proper disposal of 
 this state aid became an important one. The vision of uni- 
 versal education, the logical corollary of universal manhood 
 suffrage, began to be caught sight of by more and more of our 
 leaders. The increasing revenues from funds and taxation 
 made the realization of this vision seem more and more a possi- 
 bility. But with the increasing religious heterogeneity of our 
 population centers the problem of an equitable distribution 
 of these funds began to be increasingly difficult of solution. 
 To grant funds to one denomination for supporting schools 
 meant that funds must be granted to all denominations 
 that chose to establish schools and apply for help. Those whol 
 had dreamed of universal education supported by state funds 
 saw that there was great danger of the realization of their 
 dream being frustrated through the frittering away of these 
 funds among a horde of petty denominational schools. Econi 
 omy demanded concentration. Moreover, schools directly conj 
 trolled by the state could be much more easily maintained at 
 
 93 
 
 7 
 
94 The Secularization of American Education 
 
 \ any given standard the state might desire than schools con- 
 I trolled by any ecclesiastical power. There was, too, an increas- 
 ing number of those who either claimed no church affiliation or 
 else found too few of like faith with themselves in certain com- 
 munities to think of carrying on schools. For these, if educa- 
 tion was to be universal, the state must provide schools. So in 
 the interest of economy, in order that the state funds might be 
 used to the greatest advantage in the effort to bring about uni- 
 versal education, it was necessary that state support should be 
 limited to schools controlled by the state. We find therefore 
 in the legislation of a considerable number of states laws for- 
 bidding the use of public school funds, sometimes the use of 
 any public funds, for the support of schools controlled by the 
 church, or, to use the more general term, for the support of 
 schools in which the control of the state is not absolute. 
 
 Alabama: An act of the Alabama legislature passed in 1854 
 for the regulation of a system of public schools in Mobile pro- 
 vided: "The whole revenue arising to said board (Board of 
 School Commissioners of Mobile) shall be employed as a com- 
 mon fund for the instruction of the youth of said county; no 
 portion thereof shall be diverted to the maintenance or support 
 of any school that is not strictly common to all children of the 
 county or to any that is under sectarian influence or control." 
 (Session Laws 1853-54, No. 307, Act. Jan. 16, 1854.) 
 
 Arizona: An act of the Arizona legislature passed in 1883 con- 
 tained the following : " . . . nor shall any school whatever under the 
 control of any religious denomination or which has not been taught 
 in accordance with the provision of this act, receive any of the 
 public school funds." (Session Laws 12th Session 1883, No. 33. 
 Sec. 62.) In addition to the above the revision of 1895 contains 
 this provision : " . . . and upon satisfactory evidence of such viola- 
 tion the county school superintendent must withhold all appor- 
 tionment of school moneys from said school." (Revision 1895, 
 Ch. XI, Sec. 88.) 
 
 California: In 1855 the legislature of California enacted the 
 following with regard to the Establishment, Support and Reg- 
 ulation of Common Schools in Incorporated Cities and Towns : 
 " The common council on petition of fifty heads of white fami- 
 
Laws Forbidding the Appropriation of Public Funds, etc. 95 
 
 lies, citizens of the district, shall establish a school or schools 
 in said district and shall award said school or schools a pro rata 
 of the school fund, provided . . . and said schools so estab- 
 lished shall be under the supervision and control of the com- 
 mon council as are all other common schools within their juris- 
 diction, under the provisions of this act." {Session Laws 1855, 
 Ch. CLXXXV. Act May 3, 1855, Sec. 22.) 
 
 Illinois: The following detailed and complete prohibition of 
 the donation of public funds to church-controlled schools was 
 enacted by the Illinois legislature in 1872 : " No county, city, 
 town, township, school district, or other public corporation shall 
 ever make any appropriation or pay from any school fund what- 
 ever, anything in aid of any sectarian purpose, or to help sup- 
 port or sustain any school, academy, seminary, college, uni- 
 versity, or other literary or scientific institution, controlled by 
 any church or sectarian denomination whatever; nor shall any 
 grant or donation of money or other personal property ever be 
 made by any such corporation to any church or for any sec- 
 tarian purpose." {Act July i, 1872, Sec. yy.) 
 
 Iowa: An act of the Iowa legislature in 1847 providing for 
 the establishment of a state university at Iowa City, contained 
 the following provision which was repeated in an act of 1858 : 
 " Said university shall never be under the exclusive control o± 
 any religious denomination whatever." {Act Feb. 25, 1847, Sec 
 10, and Act Mar. 12, 1858, Sec. 79.) In 1872 an act was passed 
 containing the following : " No appropriation of public money 
 or other property shall be made, and no gift, loan or appropria- 
 tion of money or property shall be authorized or made by the 
 corporate authorities, supervisors, or trustees of any county, 
 township, city, or town, or municipal organiation of this state, to 
 or in favor of, any institution, school or association or object, 
 which is under ecclesiastical or sectarian management or con- 
 trol." {Act April 17, 1872.) 
 
 Louisiana: The legislature of Louisiana in 1855 enacted the 
 following with regard to the State University : " The board of 
 trustees shall not permit the seminary to be subject to the-con- 
 trol of any religious denomination." {Act 1855, No. 317, Sec. 
 14.) In 1894 the following was enacted with regard to the 
 
96 The Secularization of American Education 
 
 parochial school boards of the state : " The parish boards of 
 directors of the several parishes of this state are prohibited 
 from entering into any contract, agreement, understanding or 
 combination, tacitly or expressly, directly or indirectly, with any 
 church, monastic or other religious order or association of any 
 religious sect or denomination whatsoever, or with the repre- 
 sentatives thereof, for the purpose of running or to defray the 
 expenses for the running of any public school or schools of this 
 state, together or in connection or in combination with any pri- 
 vate or parochial school or other institution of learning which 
 may be under the control, authority, supervision, administra- 
 tion, or management of any church, monastic or other religious 
 order or association of any religious sect or denomination what- 
 soever." {Acts 1894, No. 52, Sec. 14.) Practically the same 
 provisions are contained in an act of 1902. {Act No. 214, Ses- 
 sion of 1902.) 
 
 Michigan: An act of the Michigan legislature reads as fol- 
 lows : " No school district shall apply any of the money 
 received by it from the primary school interest fund, or from 
 any and all other sources, for the support and maintenance of 
 any school of a sectarian character, whether the same be under 
 the control of any religious society, or made sectarian by the 
 school district board." {Compiled Laws 1897, Par. 4676.) 
 
 Nevada: " No portion of the public school funds nor of 
 money raised by state tax or specially appropriated for the sup- 
 port of public schools shall be devoted to any other object or 
 purpose; nor shall any portion of the public school funds nor 
 of money raised by state tax for the support of public schools, 
 be in any way segregated, divided, or set apart for the use or 
 benefit of any sectarian or secular society or association." {Gen- 
 eral Statutes 1885, Sec. 1332. Also Compiled Laws 1900, Sec. 
 1713-) 
 
 Neiv Jersey: The legislature of New Jersey enacted a pro- 
 vision in 1881 providing that no portion of the public school 
 funds should be used for the support of sectarian schools. 
 {General Statutes 1895, Sec. 129, Act Mar. 16, 1881.) 
 
 New York: An act of the legislature of New York in 1871 pro- 
 
Laws Forbidding the Appropriation of Public Funds, etc. 97 
 
 viding for the local government of the City of New York 
 declared : " It shall not be lawful for the mayor, aldermen, 
 and commonalty of the city of New York or the board of super- 
 visors of the county of New York, or the board of apportion- 
 ment herein created, to appropriate or apply any portion of 
 the tax herein authorized to be raised, in aid of any private 
 or sectarian school or to any institution or enterprise that is 
 under the control of any religious denomination, or to borrow 
 any money on the faith or credit of the city to be applied to 
 any such purpose . . " ( The foregoing not to apply however to a 
 long list of charitable institutions.) (p^th Session, Ch. 583; 
 Act April 19, 1871, Sec. 6.) An act of 1882 provides that no 
 money belonging to the city, or city and county of New York 
 raised by taxation upon the property of the citizens thereof 
 shall be appropriated in aid of any religious or denominational 
 school. It likewise prohibits the sale of public property to 
 such schools except at public auction to the highest bidder, and 
 prohibits leasing city property to any such school except upon 
 such terms as city property may be leased to private parties 
 after the same has been duly advertised. (lOjth Session, Ch. 
 410, Act July I, 1882.) 
 
 North Dakota: The legislature of North Dakota provided in 
 1891 that the state normal schools should be free from sectarian 
 control. (Laws 1891, Ch. 89, Sec. 13, also Pol. Code 1899, 
 Sec. 913.) 
 
 Texas: In 1884 the legislature of Texas declared that no 
 part of the public school fund should be appropriated to or used 
 for the support of any sectarian school. (Laws Special Ses- 
 sion 1884, Ch. 25, Act Feb. 1884.) 
 
 Washington: The legislature of Washington enacted the fol- 
 lowing with regard to the State University in 1890 : " The 
 university shall never be under the control of any religious or 
 sectarian denomination or society whatever." (Hill's Annotated 
 Statutes and Codes, 1891, Title X, Ch. XVII, Sec. 947, Act 
 March 27, 1890, Sec. 5.) The same act provided that all schools 
 maintained or supported wholly or in part by the public funds 
 should be forever free from sectarian control or influence. 
 (Hill's Annotated Statutes and Codes 1891, Title X, Ch. IX, Sec. 
 816, Act March 27, 1890.) 
 
CHAPTER X 
 
 CONSTITUTIONAL PROVISIONS CONCERNING THE 
 AIM OF EDUCATION 
 
 Not only our laws, but our state constitutions as well, fre- 
 quently contain provisions in which the aim of education is 
 definitely set forth. All of the constitutions in force to-day, as 
 well as a number that have been superseded, contain provisions 
 for public instruction. It is in connection with these provisions, 
 frequently as prefaces thereto, that we find these statements as 
 to the purpose of the state in establishing schools. As with the 
 laws enacted since the beginning of the national period, the 
 provisions in which religion is mentioned as an aim of education 
 are relatively few, while in almost all, the civic, professional, 
 or industrial aims are emphasied. Knowledge, morality, virtue 
 are recognized as essentials of good citizenship, and it is 
 assumed to be the function of the school to impart the same, but 
 little is heard of religion or the service of the church in this 
 connection. 
 
 The following citations from various state constitutions set 
 forth religion as one of the aims of education. 
 
 Massachusetts: ". . . and whereas the encouragement of arts 
 and sciences, and all good literature, tends to the honor of God, 
 the advantage of the Christian religion and the great benefit of 
 this and the other United States of America," the powers, authori- 
 ties, rights, privileges, etc., of the president and fellows of Har- 
 vard College are ratified and confirmed unto them and to their 
 successors forever." {Constitution 1780, Part II, Ch. V, Sec. I, 
 Art. I.) 
 
 Michigan: "Religion, morality, and knowledge being neces- 
 sary to good government and the happiness of mankind, schools 
 and the means of education shall forever be encouraged." 
 {Constitution 1909, Art. XI, Sec. i.) 
 
 98 
 
Constitutional Provisions Concerning Aim of Education 99 
 
 Mississippi: " Religion, morality, and knowledge being nec- 
 essary to good government, the preservation of liberty, and the 
 happiness of mankind, schools and the means of education shall 
 forever be encouraged in this state." (Constitution 1817, Art. 
 VI, Sec. 16, and Constitution 1832, Art. VII, Sec. 14.) 
 
 North Carolina: " Religion, morality, and knowledge being 
 necessary to good government and the happiness of mankind, 
 schools and the means of education shall forever be encouraged." 
 (Constitutions 1868 and 1876, Art. IX, Sec. i.) 
 
 Ohio' "... But religion, morality, and knowledge being 
 essentially necessary to the good government and the happiness of 
 mankind, schools and the means of instruction shall forever be 
 encouraged by legislative provision, not inconsistent with the 
 rights of conscience." (Constitution 1802, Art. VII, Sec. 3.) 
 Article I, Section VII, Bill of Rights of the Constitution of 1851, 
 contains practically the same. 
 
 In the following citations from state constitutions the aim of 
 education is set forth without any reference to religion. 
 
 Arkansas: " Knowledge and learning generally diffused 
 through a community, being essential to the preservation of a free 
 government . . . and diffusing the opportunities and advantages 
 of education through the various parts of the state being highly 
 conducive to this end ... it sliall be the duty of the general 
 assembly to provide by law for the improvement of such lands as 
 are or may hereafter be granted by the United States to this 
 state for the use of schools." (Constitution 1836, Art. VII, 
 Sec. I.) " Knowledge and learning generally diffused through- 
 out the community being essential to the preservation of 
 a free government, and diffusing the opportunities and advant- 
 ages of education through the various parts of the state being 
 highly conducive to this end, it shall be the duty of the general 
 assembly to provide by law for the improvement of such lands 
 as are or hereafter may be granted by the United States to this 
 state for the use of schools, and to apply any funds which may 
 be raised from such lands or from any other source, to the accom- 
 plishment of the object for which they are or may be intended. 
 The general assembly shall from time to time pass such laws 
 as shall be calculated to encourage intellectual, scientific, and 
 agricultural improvement . . . and countenance and encour- 
 
100 The Secularisation of American Education 
 
 age the principles of humanity, industry, and morality." (Con- 
 stitution 1864, Art. VIII, Sec. i.) "A general diffusion of 
 knowledge and intelligence among all classes being essential to 
 the preservation of the rights and liberties of the people; the 
 general assembly shall establish and maintain a system of free 
 schools," etc. (Constitution 1868, Art. IX, Sec. i.) " Intelli- 
 gence and virtue being the safeguards of liberty and the bul- 
 wark of a free and good government, the state shall ever main- 
 tain a general, suitable and efficient system of free schools," etc. 
 (Constitution 1874, Art. XIV, Sec. i.) 
 
 California: "A general diffusion of knowledge and intelli- 
 gence being essential to the preservation of the rights and liberties 
 of the people the Legislature shall encourage by all suitable means 
 the promotion of intellectual, scientific, moral, and agricultural 
 improvement." (Constitution 1879, Art. IX, Sec. i.) 
 
 Idaho: "The stability of a republican form of government 
 depending mainly upon the intelligence of the people, it shall be 
 the duty of the legislature of Idaho to establish and maintain a 
 general, uniform, and thorough system of public, free common 
 schools." (Constitution 1890, Art. IX, Sec. i.) 
 
 Indiana: " Knowledge and learning generally diffused 
 through a community being essential to the preservation of a 
 free government, and spreading the opportunities and advant- 
 ages of education through the various parts of the country being 
 highly conducive to this end, it shall be the duty of the general 
 assembly to provide by law for the improvement of such lands 
 as are, or hereafter may be, granted by the United States to 
 this state, for the use of schools, and to apply any funds which 
 may be raised from such lands or from any other quarter, to the 
 accomplishment of the grand object for which they are or may 
 be intended." (Constitution 1816, Art. IX, Sec. i.) " Knowl- 
 edge and learning generally diffused throughout a community 
 being essential to the preservation of a free government, it shall 
 be the duty of the general assembly to encourage, by all suitable 
 means, moral, intellectual, scientific and agricultural improve- 
 ment and to provide by law for a general, and uniform system 
 of schools," etc. (Constitution 1851, Art. VIII, Sec. i.) 
 
 Kansas: "A general diffusion of knowledge being essential to 
 
Constitutional Provisions Concerning Aim of Education loi 
 
 the preservation of the rights and liberties of the people, schools 
 and the means of education shall be forever encouraged in this 
 state." {Constitution 1857, Art. XIV, Sec. i.) "The stability 
 and perpetuity of free republican institutions depend upon the 
 intelligence and virtue of the people, therefore, it is declared to 
 be the duty of the State to establish by law, at the earliest possible 
 period, a uniform system of free schools," etc. (Constitution 
 1858, Art. VII, Sec. i.) "The legislature shall encourage the 
 promotion of intellectual, moral, scientific, and agricultural im- 
 provement by establishing a uniform system of common schools," 
 etc. {Constitution 1859, Art. VI, Sec. 2.) 
 
 Maine: "A general diffusion of the advantages of education 
 being essential to the promotion of the rights and liberties of 
 the people, to promote this important object, the legislature are 
 authorized, and it shall be their duty to require the several 
 towns to make suitable provision, at their own expense, for 
 the support and maintenance of public schools, . . ." {Constitu- 
 tion 1820, Art. VIII.) 
 
 Minnesota: " The stability of a republican form of govern- 
 ment depending mainly upon the intelligence of the people, it 
 shall be the duty of the legislature to establish a general and 
 uniform system of public schools." {Constitution 1857, -^rt. 
 VIII, Sec. I.) 
 
 Mississippi: "As the stability of a republican form of gov- 
 ernment depends mainly upon the intelligence and virtue of the 
 people, it shall be the duty of the legislature to encourage, by 
 all suitable means, the promotion of intellectual, scientific, moral, 
 and agricultural improvement, by establishing a uniform system 
 of free public schools," etc. {Constitution 1868, Art. VIII, 
 Sec. I.) Compare the above with the Constitution of 1832, Art. 
 VII, Sec. 14, in which the religious element is emphasized. (Page 
 
 99-) 
 
 Missouri: "A general diffusion of knowledge and intelli- 
 gence being essential to the preservation of the rights and liber- 
 ties of the people, the general assembly shall establish and main- 
 tain free schools," etc. {Constitution 1865, Art. IX, Sec. i, and 
 Constitution 1875, Art. XI, Sec. i.) 
 
 New Hampshire: " Knowledge and learning generally dif- 
 fused through a community being essential to the preservation 
 
I02 The Secularization of American Education 
 
 of a free government ; and spreading the opportunities and advant- 
 ages of education through the various parts of the country being 
 highly conducive to promote this end, it shall be the duty of the 
 legislators and the magistrates, in all future periods of this gov- 
 ernment, to cherish the interest of literature and the sciences, and 
 all seminaries and public schools," etc. {Constitution 1784, 
 Part II, Encouragement of Literature, etc.) Almost the same 
 wording is found in the Constitution of 1792, Pt. 2, Sec. 83. 
 
 North Dakota: "A high degree of intelligence, patriotism, 
 integrity, and morality on the part of every voter in a govern- 
 ment by the people being necessary in order to insure the con- 
 tinuance of that government and the prosperity and happiness 
 of the people, the legislative assembly shall makfe provision for 
 the establishment and maintenance of a system of public 
 schools," etc. {Constitution 1889, Art. VIII, Sec. 147.) 
 
 Rhode Island: " The diffusion of knowledge as v/ell as of 
 virtue among the people being essential to the preservation of 
 their rights and liberties, it shall be the duty of the general 
 assembly to promote public schools," etc. {Constitution 1842, 
 Art. XII, Sec. i.) 
 
 South Dakota: " The stability of a republican form of gov- 
 ernment depending on the morality and intelligence of the 
 people, it shall be the duty of the legislature to establish and 
 maintain a general and uniform system of public schools." 
 {Constitution 1889, Art. VIII, Sec. i.) 
 
 Tennessee: " Knowledge, learning and virtue being essential 
 to the preservation of republican institutions, and the diffusion 
 of the opportunities and advantages of education throughout 
 the different portions of the state being highly conducive to the 
 promotion of this end, it shall be the duty of the general assem- 
 bly in all future periods of this government to cherish literature 
 and science." Constitution 1834, Art. XI, Sec. 10.) 
 
 Texas: "A general diffusion of knowledge being essential to 
 the preservation of the rights and liberties of the people, it shall 
 be the duty of the legislature of this State to make suitable pro- 
 visions for the support and maintenance of public schools." 
 {Constitution 1845, -^rt. X, Sec. i. Also Constitution 1866, 
 Art. X, Sec. i.) Practically the same wording is found in 
 the Constitution of 1876, Article VII, Section i. 
 
CHAPTER XI 
 
 STATE CONSTITUTIONAL PROVISIONS 
 
 Forbidding Either Sectarian Religious Instruction or 
 Religious Tests in Public Schools, or the Appropriation 
 OF Public Funds to Schools Under Ecclesiastical Con- 
 trol or Not Under the Absolute Control of the State. 
 
 Constitutional provisions forbidding either sectarian religious 
 instruction or religious tests in public schools or the appropriation 
 of public funds to schools under ecclesiastical control or not under 
 the absolute control of the state exist in almost every state consti- 
 tution in force at the present time. Inese represent, as a whole, 
 the culmination of the struggle in which the American people 
 have sought to establish and maintain the secular ideal 'of pub- 
 lic education as a necessary instrument of democracy as opposed 
 to that view which would make the aim and control of education 
 wholly or partly ecclesiastical. Ordinary legislation is too easily 
 reversed; it has been necessary to imbed these provisions for 
 the security and permanence of our educational system and 
 institutions in these fundamental instruments of government, 
 the Constitutions, where they are safe from the dangers of mere 
 legislative caprice, and where usually they can be altered only by a 
 direct appeal to the people of entire states and by a substantial 
 majority of their votes. 
 
 These constitutional provisions take on a variety of forms. 
 Some are detailed and specific in their wording; there can be no 
 doubt as to their intent. Others are general, vague, and must 
 be supplemented by specific legislation and interpreted by the 
 courts in order to determine just what they cover. A few 
 include all three of the prohibitions mentioned in the title 
 of this chapter. Others contain only one or two. The most 
 common form is that prohibiting the appropriation of public 
 funds to sectarian institutions. This is found in the constitu- 
 tions of over forty states. Sometimes this prohibition may be 
 
 103 
 
I04 The Secularisation of American Education 
 
 set aside by a two-thirds vote of the state legislature. Some- 
 times the prohibition is limited to the income from special school 
 funds, or to money appropriated by the state to smaller political 
 divisions for educational purposes. Again the prohibition 
 extends to all funds, however derived, and to all political sub- 
 divisions of the state, as well as to the state itself. The com- 
 mon method for enforcing the prohibitions against sectarian 
 instruction, and the establishment of religious tests is to threaten 
 to withhold the state appropriations from the offending school 
 authorities. 
 
 Alabama: " No appropriation shall be made to any charitable 
 or educational institution not under the absolute control of the 
 state, other than normal schools established by law for the profes- 
 sional training of teachers for the public schools of the state, 
 except by a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each 
 house." (Constitution 1875, ■'^rt. IV, Sec. 34.) " No money 
 raised for the support of the public schools of the state shall be 
 appropriated to or used for the support of any sectarian or de- 
 nominational school." (Constitution 1875, Art. XII, Sec. 8.) 
 These provisions are repeated in the Constitution of 1901, Sec. 73 
 and Sec. 263. 
 
 Arizona: " No public money or property shall be appropriated 
 for or applied to any religious worship, exercise, or instruction, 
 or to the support of any religious establishment." (Constitution 
 1910, Art. II, Declaration of Rights, Sec. 12.) " No tax shall be 
 laid, or appropriation of public money made in aid of any church, 
 or private or sectarian school, or any public service corporation." 
 (Constitution 1910, Art. IX, Sec. 9.) " No sectarian instruction 
 shall be imparted in any school or State educational institution 
 that may be established under this Constitution, and no religious 
 or political test or qualification shall ever be required as a condi- 
 tion of admission into any public educational institution of the 
 State, as teacher, student, or pupil ; but the liberty of conscience 
 hereby secured shall not be so construed as to justify practices or 
 conduct inconsistent with the good order, peace, morality, or 
 safety of the State, or with the rights of others." (Constitution 
 1910, Art. XI, Sec. 7.) " Provision shall be made by law for the 
 establishment and maintenance of a system of public schools 
 which shall be open to all the children of the State and be free 
 
State Constitutional Provisions 105 
 
 from sectarian control and said schools shall always be conducted 
 in English." {Constitution 1910, Art. XXII, Sec. 7.) 
 
 Arkansas: "... but no religious or other sect or sects shall 
 ever have any exclusive right to, or control of, any part of the 
 school funds of this state." {Constitution 1868, Art. IX, Sec. i.) 
 The foregoing is omitted from the constitution of 1874 where 
 we find the following : " No money or property belonging to 
 the public school fund, or to this state for the benefit of schools 
 or universities shall ever be used for any other than for the 
 respective purposes to which it belongs.'' {Constitution 1874, 
 Art. XIV, Sec. 3.) 
 
 California: "No public money shall ever be appropriated for 
 the support of any sectarian or denominational school or any 
 school not under the exclusive control of the officers of the 
 public schools; nor shall any sectarian or denominational doc- 
 trine be taught, or instruction therein be permitted, directly or 
 indirectly, in any of the common schools of this state." {Con- 
 stitution 1879, Art. IX, Sec. 8.) 
 
 Colorado: " No appropriation shall be made for charitable, 
 industrial, educational, or benevolent purposes, to any person, 
 corporation, or community not under the absolute control of 
 the state, nor to any denominational or sectarian institution or 
 association." {Constitution 1876, Art. V, Sec. 34.) " Neither 
 the general assembly nor any county, city, town, township, school 
 district, or other public corporation shall ever make any appro- 
 priation or pay from any public fund or moneys whatever, any- 
 thing in aid of any church or sectarian society, or for any sec- 
 tarian purpose, or to help support or sustain any school, acad- 
 emy, seminary, college, university, or other literary or scientific 
 institution, controlled by any church, or sectarian denomination 
 whatsoever; nor shall any grant or donation of land, money 
 or other personal property, ever be made by the state or any 
 such public corporation to any church or for any sectarian pur- 
 pose." {Constitution 1876, Art IK, Sec. y.) " No religious test 
 or qualification shall ever be required of any person as a condition 
 of admission into any public educational institution of the state, 
 either as teacher or student; and no teacher or student of any 
 such institution shall ever be required to attend or participate 
 
106 The Secularization of American Education 
 
 in any religious service whatsoever. No sectarian tenets or 
 doctrines shall ever be taught in the public schools, nor shall any 
 distinction or classification of pupils be made on account of 
 race or color." {Constitution 1876, Art. IX, Sec. 8.) 
 
 Connecticut: " The fund called the school fund shall remain 
 a perpetual fund, the interest of which shall be inviolably appro- 
 priated to the support and encouragement of the public or com- 
 mon schools throughout the State, and for the equal benefit of 
 all the people thereof. The value and amount of said fund shall 
 as soon as practicable be ascertained in such manner as the 
 general assembly may prescribe, published, and recorded in the 
 controller's office; and no law shall ever be made, authorizing 
 said fund to be diverted to any other use than the encourage- 
 ment and support of public or common schools, among the sev- 
 eral school societies as justice and equity shall require." {Con- 
 stitution 1818, Art. VIII, Sec. 2.) 
 
 Delaware: " No portion of any fund now existing or which 
 may hereafter be appropriated, or raised by tax for educational 
 purposes, shall be appropriated to, or used by, or in aid of any 
 sectarian, church, or denominational school; provided that all 
 real or personal property used for school purposes, where the 
 tuition is free, shall be exempt from taxation and assessment 
 for public purposes." {Constitution 1897, Art. X, Sec. 3.) " No 
 part of the principal or income of the public school fund, now or 
 hereafter existing, shall be used for any other purpose than the 
 support of free public schools." {Constitution 1897, Art. X, 
 Sec. 4.) 
 
 Florida: " No preference shall ever be given by law to any 
 church, sect, or mode of worship, and no money shall ever be 
 taken from the public treasury directly or indirectly in aid of 
 any church, sect, or religious denominations, or in aid of any 
 sectarian institution." {Constitution 1887, Dec. Rights, Sec. 
 6.) " The state school fund, the interest of which shall be exclu- 
 sively applied to the support and maintenance of public, free 
 schools shall be derived from the following sources," etc. {Consti- 
 tution 1887, Art. XII, Sec. 4.) " No law shall be enacted author- 
 izing the diversion or the lending of any county or district school 
 funds, or the appropriation of any part of the permanent or avail- 
 
State Constitutional Provisions 107 
 
 able school fund to any other than school purposes ; nor shall the 
 same nor any part thereof, be appropriated to or used for the 
 support of any sectarian school." (Constitution 1887, Art. Xll, 
 Sec. 13.) 
 
 Georgia: " No vote, resolution, law, or order shall pass, grant- 
 ing a donation, or gratuity, in favor of any person, except by the 
 concurrence of two-thirds of each branch of the general assembly, 
 nor by any vote to a sectarian corporation or association." (Con- 
 stitution 1868, Art. VI, Sec. VI, Two.) " No money shall ever 
 be taken from the public treasury, directly or indirectly, in aid of 
 any church, sect, or denomination of religionists, or of any sec- 
 tarian institution." (Constitution 1877, Art. I, Bill of Rights, 
 Par. 14.) 
 
 Idaho: "The public school fund of the state shall forever 
 remain inviolate and intact; the interest thereon only shall be 
 expended in the maintenance of the schools of the state and 
 shall be distributed among the several counties and school dis- 
 tricts of the state in such manner as shall be prescribed by law. 
 No part of this fund, principal or interest, shall ever be trans- 
 ferred to any other fund, or used or appropriated except as 
 herein provided. The state treasurer shall be the custodian 
 of this fund, and the same shall be securely and profitably 
 invested as may be by law directed. The state shall supply all 
 losses thereof that may in any manner occur." (Constitution 
 1890, Art. IX, Sec. 3.) " Neither the legislature nor any county, 
 city, town, township, school district, or other public corpora- 
 tion shall ever make any appropriation or pay from any public 
 fund or moneys whatever, an5^hing in aid of any church, or 
 sectarian or religious society or for any church or sectarian pur- 
 pose, or to help support or sustain any school, academy, semi- 
 nary, college, university or other literary or scientific institu- 
 tion controlled by any church or sectarian or religious denom- 
 ination whatsoever; nor shall any grant or donation of land, 
 money or other personal property ever be made by the state or 
 any such public corporation to any church or for any sectarian 
 or religious purpose." (Constitution 1890, Art. IX, Sec. 5.) 
 " No religious test or qualification shall ever be required of 
 any person as a condition of admission into any public educa- 
 
io8 The Secularisation of American Education 
 
 tional institution of the state, either as teacher or student; and 
 no teacher or student of any such institution shall ever be 
 required to attend or participate in any religious service what- 
 ever. No sectarian or religious tenets or doctrines shall ever 
 be taught in the public schools, nor shall any distinction or classi- 
 fication of pupils be made on account of race or color. No 
 books, papers, tracts, or documents of a political, sectarian or 
 denominational character shall be used or introduced in any 
 schools established under the provisions of this article, nor shall 
 any teacher or any district receive any of the public school 
 moneys in which the schools have not been taught in accordance 
 with the provisions of this article." {Constitution 1890, Art. 
 IX, Sec. 6.) 
 
 Illinois: " Neither the general assembly nor any county, city, 
 town, township, school district or other public corporation 
 shall ever make any appropriation or pay from any public 
 fund whatever, anything in aid of any church or sectarian pur- 
 pose, or to help support or sustain any school, academy, semi- 
 nary, college, university, or other literary or scientific institu- 
 tion, controlled by any church or sectarian denomination what- 
 ever; nor shall any grant or donation of land, money, or other 
 personal property ever be made by the state or any such 
 corporation to any church or for any sectarian purpose." 
 {Constitution 1870, Art. VIII, Sec. 3.) 
 
 Indiana: " The principal of the common school fund shall 
 remain.^ perpetual fund, which may be increased, but shall 
 never be diminished, and the income thereof shall be inviolably 
 appropriated to the support of common schools and to no other 
 purpose whatever." {Constitution 1851, Art. VIII, Sec. 3.) " No 
 money shall be drawn from the treasury for the benefit of any 
 religious or theological institution." {Constitution 185 1, Art. 
 I, Sec. 6.) 
 
 Iowa: " The general assembly shall encourage by all suita- 
 ble means, the promotion of intellectual, scientific, moral, and 
 agricultural improv£ment. The proceeds of all lands that have 
 been, or hereafter may be granted by the United States to this 
 State for the support of schools . . . shall be and remain a per- 
 petual fund, the interest of which, together with all the rents of the 
 
State Constitutional Provisions 109 
 
 unsold lands, and such other means as the general assembly 
 may provide, shall be inviolably appropriated to the support of 
 common schools throughout the State." (Constitution 1857, Art. 
 IX, Par. 2, Sec. 3.) 
 
 Kansas: "... but no religious or other sect or sects shall 
 ever have any exclusive right to or control of any part of the 
 school funds of this state." (Constitution 1855, Art. VII, Sec. 2.) 
 " No religious sect or sects shall ever have any right or control of 
 any part of the school funds of this state." (Constitution 1858, 
 Art. VII, Sec. 5.) " No religious sect or sects shall ever control 
 any part of the common school or university funds of the state." 
 (Constitution 1859, ^rt. 6, Sec. 8.) 
 
 Kentucky: " The capital of the fund called and known as 
 the Common School Fund, . . . shall be held inviolate for the 
 purpose of sustaining a system of common schools. The inter- 
 est and dividends of said fund together with any sum that may 
 be produced for that purpose by taxation or otherwise, may be 
 appropriated in aid of common schools but for no other pur- 
 pose." (Constitution 1850, Art. XI, Sec. i.) "The bonds of 
 the commonwealth issued in favor of the Board of Education 
 for the sum of $1,327,000.00 shall constitute one bond of the 
 commonwealth in favor of the board of education, and this 
 bond and the $73,500.00 of the stock in the Bank of Kentucky 
 held by the Board of Education, and its proceeds shall be held 
 inviolate for the purpose of sustaining the system of common 
 schools. The interest and dividends of said funds together with 
 any sum which may be produced by taxation or otherwise for 
 purposes of common school education shall be appropriated to 
 the common schools and to no other purpose." (Constitution 
 1891, Sec. 184.) " No portion of any fund or tax now existing 
 or that may be hereafter raised or levied for educational pur- 
 poses shall be appropriated to or used by or in aid of any church, 
 sectarian, or denominational school." (Constitution 1891, Sec. 
 189.) 
 
 Louisiana: The growth of public sentiment in favor of secular 
 schools is well illustrated in the successive constitutions of Louisi- 
 ana, beginning with that of 1845. " The legislature shall establish 
 free public schools throughout the state, and shall provide means 
 8 
 
I lo The Secularization of American Education 
 
 Tor their support . . ." (Comj/«^j(^jom 1845, Title VII, Sec. 134.) 
 " The proceeds of all lands heretofore granted by the United 
 States to this State for the use or support of schools . . . , and 
 the proceeds of the estates of deceased persons to which the State 
 may become entitled by law, shall be held by the State as a loan 
 and shall be and remain a perpetual fund on which the State shall 
 pay an annual interest of six per cent; which interest together 
 with all the rents of the unsold lands, shall be appropriated to the 
 support of such schools, and this appropriation shall remain in- 
 violable." {Constitution 1845, Title VII, Sec. 135.) Practically 
 the same provision is found in the Constitution of 1852, Title 
 VIII, Art. 137, and in the Constitution of 1864, Title XI, Art. 
 144. " No appropriation shall be made by the legislature for the 
 support of any private school or institution whatever, but the 
 highest encouragement shall be granted to public schools through- 
 out the State." {Constitution 1864, Title XI, Art. 146.) The 
 Constitution of 1868 contains practically the same provision in 
 Title VII, Art. 139-140. " No funds raised for the support of 
 the public schools of the state shall be appropriated to or used for 
 the support of any private or sectarian schools." {Constitution 
 1879, Art. 228. Also Constitution 1898, Art. 253.) 
 
 Maine: " No donation, grant or endowment shall at any time 
 be made by the legislature to any literary institution now estab- 
 lished, or which may hereafter be established, unless at the time 
 of making such endowment, the legislature of the State shall have 
 the power to grant any further powers to grant or alter, limit or 
 restrain any of the powers vested in any such literary institution 
 as shall be judged necessary to promote the best interests 
 thereof." {Constitution 1820, Art. VIII.) 
 
 Massachusetts: "All moneys raised by taxation in the towns 
 and cities for the support of public schools, and all moneys 
 which may be appropriated by the State for the support of com- 
 mon schools, shall be applied to and expended in no other 
 schools than those which are conducted according to law, under 
 the order and superintendence of the authorities of the town or 
 city in which the money is to be expended: and such moneys 
 shall never be appropriated to any religious sect for the main- 
 tenance, exclusively, of its own school." {Constitution 1780, 
 Amendment to Art. XVIII, Adopted 1855.) 
 
State Constitutional Provisions iii 
 
 Michigan: " No money shall be drawn froin the treasury for 
 the benefit of religious societies, or theological or religious semi- 
 naries." (Constitution 1835, Art. I, Sec. 5.) " No money shall 
 be appropriated or drawn from the treasury for the benefit of any 
 religious sect or society, theological or religious seminary, nor 
 shall property belonging to the state be appropriated for any such 
 purpose." (Constitution 1850, Art. IV, Sec. 40, and Constitution 
 1909, Art. II, Sec. 3.) 
 
 Minnesota- "... nor shall any money be drawn from the 
 treasury for the benefit of any religious societies or religious or 
 theological seminaries." (Constitution 1875, Art. I, Sec. 16.) 
 " But in no case shall the moneys derived as aforesaid or any 
 portion thereof, or any public moneys or property, be appro- 
 priated or used for the support of schools wherein the distinc- 
 tive doctrines, creed, or tenets of any particular Christian or 
 other religious sect are promulgated or taught." (Constitution 
 1857, Art. VIII, Sec. 3. Adopted Nov. 6, 1877.) 
 
 Mississippi: " No religious sect or sects shall ever con- 
 trol any part of the school or university funds of this state." 
 (Constitution 1868, Art. VIII, Sec. 9.) " No religious test as 
 a qualification for office shall ever be required; and no prefer- 
 ence shall be given by law to any religious sect or mode of 
 worship; but the free enjoyment of all religious sentiments and 
 the different modes of worship shall be held sacred. The rights 
 hereby secured shall not be construed to justify acts of licen- 
 tiousness injurious to morals or dangerous to the peace and 
 safety of the state, or to exclude the Holy Bible from use in 
 any public school of this state." (Constitution 1890, Art. Ill, 
 Sec. 18.) "No law granting a donation or gratuity in favoi 
 of any person or object shall be enacted, except by the con- 
 currence of two-thirds of each branch of the legislature, nor 
 by any vote for a sectarian purpose or use." (Constitution 
 1890, Art. Ill, Sec. 66.) " No religious sect or sects shall ever 
 control any part of the school or other educational funds of 
 this state; nor shall any funds be appropriated toward the sup- 
 port of any sectarian school," etc. (Constitution 1890, Art. VIII, 
 Sec. 208.) 
 
 Missouri: " Neither the general assembly, nor any county. 
 
112 The Secularization of American Education 
 
 city, town, township, or school district or other municipal cor- 
 poration shall ever make an appropriation or pay from any pub- 
 lic fund whatever, anything in aid of any religious creed, church, 
 or sectarian purpose, or help to support or sustain any private or 
 public school, academy, seminary, college, university, or other 
 institution of learning controlled by any religious creed, church, 
 or sectarian denomination whatever; nor shall any grant or 
 donation of personal property or real estate ever be made by the 
 state or any county, city, town, or other municipal corporation, 
 for any religious creed, church, or sectarian purpose whatever." 
 {Constitution 1875, Art. XI, Sec. 11.) 
 
 Montana: " No appropriation shall be made for charitable, 
 industrial, educational or benevolent purposes to any person, 
 corporation, or community not under the absolute control of the 
 state, nor to any denominational or sectarian institution or asso- 
 ciation." {Constitution 1889, -^^t. V, Sec. 35.) " Neither the 
 legislative assembly nor any county, city, town, or school dis- 
 trict or other public corporation shall ever make directly or indi- 
 rectly any appropriation or pay from any public fund or moneys 
 whatever, or make any grant of lands or other property, in aid 
 of any church or for any sectarian purpose, or to aid in the sup- 
 port of any school, academy, seminary, college, university, or 
 other literary or scientific institution controlled in whole or in 
 part by any church, sect, or denomination whatever." {Consti- 
 tution 1889, Art. XI, Sec. 8.) " No religious or partisan test or 
 qualification shall ever be required of any person as a condition 
 of admission into any public educational institution of the state, 
 either as teacher or student; nor shall attendance be required at 
 any religious service whatever, nor shall any sectarian tenets be 
 taught in any public educational institution of the state," etc. 
 {Constitution 1889, Art. XI, Sec. 9.) 
 
 Nebraska: " The legislature shall make such provision by 
 taxation or otherwise as with the income arising from the 
 school trust-fund will secure a thorough and efficient system of 
 common schools throughout the State; but no religious sect or 
 sects shall ever have any exclusive right to or control of any part 
 of the school-funds of this State." {Constitution 1866, Art. II, 
 Education, Sec. i.) " No sectarian instruction shall be allowed 
 
State Constitutional Provisions 113 
 
 in any school or institution supported in whole or in part by 
 the public funds set apart for educational purposes ; nor shall the 
 state accept any grant, conveyance, or bequest of money, lands 
 or other property to be used for sectarian purposes." {Constitu- 
 tion 1875, Art. VIII, Sec. 11.) 
 
 Nevada: " The legislature shall provide for a uniform sys- 
 tem of common schools by which a school shall be established 
 and maintained in each school district at least six months in 
 every year; and any school district neglecting to establish and 
 maintain such a school, or which shall allow instruction of a 
 sectarian character therein may be deprived of its portion of the 
 public school fund during such neglect or infraction." {Con- 
 stitution 1864, Art. XI, Par. 150.) " No sectarian instruction 
 shall be imparted or tolerated in any school or university that 
 may be established under this constitution." {Constitution 1864, 
 Art. XI, Par. 157.) "No public funds of any kind or charac- 
 ter whatever, state, county, or municipal, shall be used for secta- 
 rian purposes." {Constitution 1864, Art. XI, Par. 158. Added 
 in 1880.) 
 
 New Hampshire: " No money raised by taxation shall ever be 
 granted or applied for the use of the schools or institutions of 
 any religious sect or denomination." {Constitution 1792, Art. 
 82, Amendment of 1877.) 
 
 New Jersey: " The fund for the support of free schools, . . . 
 shall be securely invested and remain a perpetual fund; and the 
 income thereof, except so much as it may be judged expedient 
 to apply to an increase of the capital, shall be annually appro- 
 priated to the support of public, free schools for the equal benefit 
 of all the people of the state, and it shall not be competent for 
 the legislature to borrow, appropriate or use the said fund, or 
 any part thereof, for any other purpose, under any pretence 
 whatever." {Constitution 1844, Art. IV, Sec. 6. As amended 
 1875-) 
 
 New Mexico: " No appropriation shall be made for charitable, 
 educational, or other benevolent purposes to any person, corpora- 
 tion, association, institution, or community not under the absolute 
 control of the state, but the legislature may, in its discretion, make 
 appropriations for the charitable institutions and hospitals for the 
 
114 ^^^ Secularization of American Education 
 
 maintenance of which annual appropriations were made by the 
 legislative assembly of nineteen hundred and nine." {Constitu- 
 tion 191 1, Art. IV, Sec. 31.) "The schools, colleges, universi- 
 ties, and other educational institutions provided for by this con- 
 stitution shall forever remain under the exclusive control of the 
 State, and no part of the proceeds arising from the sale or dis- 
 posal of any lands granted to the State by Congress, or any other 
 fund appropriated, levied, or collected for educational purposes, 
 shall be used for the support of any sectarian, denominational, or 
 private school, college, or university." {Constitution 191 1, Art. 
 XII, Sec. 3.) " No religious test shall ever be required as a 
 condition of admission into the public schools or any educational 
 institution of this State, either as a teacher or student, and no 
 teacher or student of such school or institution shall ever be 
 required to attend or participate in any religious service whatso- 
 ever." {Constitution 1911, Art. XII, Sec. 9.) 
 
 New York: " Neither the state nor any sub-division thereof, 
 shall use its property or credit or any public money, or authorize 
 or permit either to be used, directly or indirectly, in aid or main- 
 tenance, other than for examination or inspection, of any school 
 or institution of learning wholly or in part under the control or 
 direction of any religious denomination or in which any denomi- 
 national tenet or doctrine is taught." {Constitution 1894, Art. 
 IX, Sec. 4.) 
 
 North Carolina: " The proceeds of all lands that have been or 
 hereafter may be granted by the United States to this State, . . . 
 also all money, stocks, bonds, and other property, now belonging 
 to any State fund for purposes of education; also the net pro- 
 ceeds of all sales of the swamp lands belonging to the State, and 
 all other grants, gifts or devises, that have been or hereafter may 
 be made to this State . . . ; together with so much of the ordi- 
 nary revenue of the State as may be by law set apart for that 
 purpose, shall be faithfully appropriated for establishing and 
 maintaining in this State a system of free public schools, and for 
 no other uses or purposes whatsoever." {Constitution 1876, Art. 
 IX, Sec. 4.) 
 
 North Dakota: "A high degree of intelligence, patriotism, 
 integrity, and morality on the part of every voter in a govern- 
 
State Constitutional Provisions 115 
 
 ment of the people being necessary in order to insure the main- 
 tenance of that government and the prosperity and happiness of 
 the people, the legislative assembly shall make provision for the 
 establishment and maintenance of a system of public schools, 
 which shall be open to all children of the state of North Dakota 
 and free from sectarian control. This legislative requirement 
 shall be irrevocable without the consent of the United States 
 and the people of North Dakota." {Constitution 1889, Art. VIII, 
 Sec. 147.) "All colleges, universities, and other educational 
 institutions for the support of which lands have been granted to 
 this state, or which are supported by a public tax, shall remain 
 under the absolute and exclusive control of the state. No money 
 raised for the support of the public schools of the state shall be 
 appropriated to or used for the support of any sectarian school." 
 {Constitution 1889, Sec. 152.) 
 
 Ohio: "But no religious or other sect or sects, shall ever 
 have any exclusive right to or control of, any part of the school 
 funds of this state." {Constitution 1851, Art. VI, Sec. 2.) 
 
 Oklahoma: " Provision shall be made for the establishment 
 and maintenance of a system of public schools, which shall be 
 open to all the children of the state and free from sectarian con- 
 trol." {Constitution 1907, Art. I, Sec. 5.) " No public money 
 or property shall ever be appropriated, applied, donated, or used, 
 directly or indirectly, for the use, benefit, or support of any sect, 
 church, denomination, or system of religion, or for the use, 
 benefit, or support, of any priest, preacher, minister, or other 
 religious teacher, or sectarian institution as such." {Constitution 
 1907, Art. II, Sec. 5.) " The interest and income of the perma- 
 nent school fund, the net income from the leasing of public lands 
 which may have been or may be granted by the United States to 
 the state for the use and benefit of the common schools, together 
 with any revenues derived from taxes authorized to be levied for 
 such purposes ; and any other sums which may be added thereto 
 by law, shall be used and applied each year for the benefit of the 
 common schools of the state, and shall be for this purpose appor- 
 tioned among and between all the common school districts of the 
 state, in proportion to the school population of the several dis- 
 tricts ; and no part of the fund shall ever be diverted from this 
 purpose, or used for any other purpose than the support and 
 
Ii6 The Secularisation of American Education 
 
 maintenance of common schools for the equal benefit of all the 
 people of the state." {Constitution 1907, Art. XI, Sec. 3.) 
 
 Oregon: " No money shall be drawn from the treasury for 
 the benefit of any religious or theological institution, nor shall 
 any money be appropriated for the payment for any religious 
 services in either house of the legislative assembly." {Constitu- 
 tion 1857, Bill of Rights, Art. I, Sec. 5.) 
 
 Pennsylvania: " No money raised for the support of the pub- 
 lic schools of the commonwealth shall be appropriated to or used 
 for the support of any sectarian school." {Constitution 1874, 
 Art. X, Sec. 2.) 
 
 Rhode Island: " The money which now is or which may here- 
 after be appropriated by law for the establishment of a perma- 
 nent fund for the support of public schools, shall be securel> 
 invested, and remain a perpetual fund for that purpose. The 
 general assembly shall not divert said money or fund from the 
 aforesaid uses, nor borrow, appropriate, or use the same, or any 
 part thereof, for any other purpose under any pretense whatso- 
 ever." {Constitution 1843, ^^- ^H) Sec. 2-4.) 
 
 South Carolina: " No religious sect or sects shall have exclu- 
 sive right to or control of any part of the school funds of the 
 state, nor shall sectarian principles be taught in the public 
 schools." {Constitution 1868, Art. X, Sec. 5, and Constitution 
 1894, Art. X, Sec. 5.) 
 
 South Dakota: " No money or property of the state shall be 
 given or appropriated for the benefit of any sectarian or religious 
 society or institution." {Constitution 1889, Bill of Rights, Art. 
 VI, Sec. 3.) " The income and interest of this fund, etc., shall 
 be faithfully used and applied each year for the benefit of the 
 public schools of the state, . . . , and no part of the fund, either 
 principal or interest, shall ever be diverted even temporarily, from 
 this purpose, or used for any other purpose whatever, than the 
 maintenance of public schools for the equal benefit of all 
 the people of the state." {Constitution 1889, Art. VIII, Sec. 3.) 
 " No appropriation of lands, money, or other property or credits 
 to aid any sectarian school shall ever be made by the state or any 
 county or municipality within the state, nor shall the state nor 
 any county or municipality within the state accept any grant, con- 
 
State Constitutional Provisions 117 
 
 veyance, gift, or bequest of lands, money, or other property to be 
 used for sectarian purposes, and no sectarian instruction shall be 
 allowed in any school or institution aided or supported by the 
 state." {Constitution 1889, Art. VIII, Sec. 16.) 
 
 Tennessee: " The fund called the common school fund, . . . 
 shall remain a perpetual fund, the principal of which shall never 
 be diminished by legislative appropriation; and the interest 
 thereof shall be inviolably appropriated to the support and encour- 
 agement of common schools throughout the state, and for the 
 equal benefit of all the people thereof; and no law shall be made 
 authorizing said fund or any part thereof to be diverted to any 
 other use than the support and encouragement of common 
 schools." (Constitution 1870, Art. XI, Sec. 12.) 
 
 Texas: "And it shall be the duty of the legislature to set 
 apart not less than one tenth of the annual revenue of the state 
 derivable from taxation, as a perpetual fund, which fund shall 
 be appropriated to the support of free, public schools, and no law 
 shall ever be made diverting said fund to any other use." 
 {Constitution 1845, Art. X, Sec. 2.) "The principal of all 
 bonds and other funds, and the principal arising from the sale 
 of the lands herein before set apart to said school fund, shall be 
 the permanent school fund; and all the interest derivable there- 
 from and the taxes herein authorized and levied shall be the 
 available school fund, which shall be applied annually to the 
 support of the public free schools. And no law shall ever be 
 enacted appropriating any part of the permanent or available 
 school fund to any other purpose whatever; nor shall the same 
 nor any part thereof, ever be applied to or used for the support 
 of any sectarian school ; and the available school fund herein pro- 
 vided shall be distributed to the several counties according to 
 their scholastic populations and applied in such manner as may 
 be provided by law." {Constitution 1876, Art. VII, Sec. 5. 
 Added 1891.) 
 
 Utah: " No public money or property shall be appropriated 
 for or applied to any religious worship, exercise, or institution, 
 or for the support of any ecclesiastical establishment." {Con- 
 stitution 1895, Art. I, Sec. 4.) " The legislature shall provide 
 for the establishment and maintenance of a uniform system of 
 public schools which shall be open to all children of the state 
 
1 18 The Secularisation of American Education 
 
 and free from sectarian control." {Constitution 1895, Art. X, 
 Sec. I.) " Neither religious nor partisan test or qualification 
 shall be required of any person, as a condition of admission, as 
 teacher or student, into any public educational institution of the 
 state." {Constitution 1895, Art. X, Sec. 12.) " Neither the 
 legislature nor any county, city, town, school district or other 
 public corporation shall make any appropriation to aid in the 
 support of any school, seminary, academy, college, university, or 
 other institution, controlled in whole or in part by any 
 church, sect or denomination whatever." {Constitution 1895, 
 Art. X, Sec. 13.) 
 
 Virginia: " No appropriation of public funds shall be made 
 to any school or institution of learning not owned or exclusively 
 controlled by the state or some political division thereof; pro- 
 vided, 1st that the general assembly may in its discretion con- 
 tinue the appropriations to the College of William and Mary; 
 . . . 3rd counties, cities, towns, or districts may make appropria- 
 tions to non-sectarian schools of manual, industrial, or technical 
 training and also to any school or institution of learning owned 
 or exclusively controlled by such county, city, town or school dis- 
 trict." {Constitution 1902, Art. 9, Sec. 141.) 
 
 Washington: " The principal of the common school fund shall 
 remain permanent and irreducible. The legislature may make 
 further provision for enlarging said fund. The interest accruing 
 on said fund together with all rentals and other revenues derived 
 therefrom, and from lands and other property devoted to the 
 common school fund, shall be exclusively applied to the current 
 use of the common schools." {Constitution 1889, Art. IX, Sec. 
 3.) "All schools maintained or supported wholly or in part by 
 the public funds shall be forever free from sectarian control or 
 influence." {Constitution 1889, Art. IX, Sec. 4.) 
 
 West Virginia: " The existing permanent and invested school 
 fund . . . ; all grants, devises, or bequests that may be made to 
 this State for the purposes of education, . . . ; this State's just 
 share of the literary fund of Virginia . . . ; and such sums as 
 may from time to time, be appropriated by the legislature for the 
 purpose, shall be set apart as a separate fund, to be called the 
 ' school fund,' . . . ; and the interest thereof shall be annually 
 applied to the support of free schools throughout the State, and 
 
State Constitutional Proznsions 119 
 
 to no other purpose whatever." (Constitution 1872, Art. XII, 
 Sec. 4.) 
 
 Wisconsin: " Nor shall any money be drawn from the treas- 
 ury for the benefit of religious societies, or religious or theologi- 
 cal seminaries." (Constitution 1848, Art. I, Sec. 18.) "The 
 legislature shall provide for the establishment of district schools 
 which shall be as nearly uniform as practicable ; and such schools 
 shall be free and without charge for tuition to all children 
 between the ages of four and twenty years, and no sectarian 
 instruction shall be allowed therein." (Constitution 1848, Art. 
 X, Sec. 3.) " Provision shall be made by law for the establish- 
 ment of a state university at or near the seat of state government, 
 and for connecting with the same from time to time such col- 
 leges in different parts of the state as the interests of education 
 may require. The proceeds of all lands that have been or may 
 hereafter be granted by the United States to the state for the 
 support of a university shall be and remain a perpetual fund 
 called the university fund, the interest of which shall be appro- 
 priated to the support of the state university, and no sectarian 
 instruction shall be allowed in such university." (Constitution 
 1848, Art. X, Sec. 6.) 
 
 Wyoming: " No money of the state shall ever be given or 
 appropriated to any sectarian or religious society or institution." 
 (Constitution 1889, Art. I, Sec. 19.) " No appropriation shall 
 be made for charitable, industrial, educational, or benevolent pur- 
 poses to any person, corporation or community not under the 
 absolute control of the state, nor to any denominational or sec- 
 tarian institution or association." (Constitution 1889, Art. Ill, 
 Sec. 36.) " Nor shall any portion of the public school fund ever 
 be used to support or assist any private school, or any school, 
 academy, seminary, college, or other institution of learning 
 controlled by any church, or sectarian organization or religious 
 denomination whatsoever." (Constitution 1889, Art. VII, Sec. 
 8.) "No sectarian instruction, qualification or tests shall be 
 imposed, exacted, applied, or in any manner tolerated in the 
 schools of any grade or character controlled by the state, nor 
 shall attendance be required at any religious service therein, nor 
 shall any sectarian tenets or doctrines be taught or favored in any 
 public school or institution that may be established under this 
 constitution." (Constitution 1889, Art. VII, Sec. 12.) 
 
CHAPJER XII 
 
 STATE SUPREME COURT DECISIONS FAVORING 
 THE RELIGIOUS IDEAL OF EDUCATION 
 
 Since 1850 the supreme courts of no less than twenty-one states 
 have been called upon to decide at least thirty cases involving 
 in some form the question of the proper relation of religion and 
 public education. Of these, seventeen cases, in fifteen states, 
 have been decided in favor of the secular view ; thirteen cases, in 
 nine states, in favor of the religious view. In four instances there 
 were handed down dissenting opinions, two favoring the former 
 and two the latter view. 
 
 Chiefly, the courts have been concerned with determining : ( i ) 
 What constitutes religious or sectarian religious instruction? 
 (2) What constitutes the use of public school property for sec- 
 tarian purposes? (3) What constitutes a sectarian school within 
 the meaning of the constitutional provisions forbidding the appro- 
 priation of public funds to such ? Some decisions have dealt with 
 only one of these three phases, others have included all of them. 
 Some have studiously confined themselves to the particular ques- 
 tion at issue ; others have faced the whole of the problem involved 
 and have sought to lay down sound principles for dealing 
 therewith. 
 
 In presenting the conclusions and most significant portions of 
 these decisions, the above arrangement into three groups will be. 
 followed as far as practicable, those favoring the religious view 
 being given first, followed by those upholding the secular view. 
 
 I. What constitutes religious or sectarian religious instruc- 
 tion f 
 
 Illinois 
 
 In McCormick vs. Burt decided by the supreme court of Illi- 
 nois in 1880, it was. held that a rule of a board of education 
 requiring a teacher to read a chapter from the King James' ver- 
 
Court Decisions Favoring Religious Ideal of Education 121 
 
 sion of the Bible as a part of the morning exercises was a reason- 
 able exercise of the powers vested in the board, and neither the 
 teacher nor the board were liable for damages for excluding from 
 the school a pupil who refused to observe the proper decorum 
 during such reading. (95 Illinois, p. 263.) 
 
 In the case of North vs. The Board of Trustees of the Uni- 
 versity of Illinois decided by the supreme court of Illinois in 
 iSgi.-it was held that a rule of the trustees of the state univer- 
 sity, requiring students to attend non-sectarian religious exercises 
 in the university chapel, was not in conflict with the provisions of 
 the state constitution, that " no person shall be required to attend 
 or support any ministry or place of worship against his consent." 
 (Constitution 1870, Art. 2, Par. 3.) The court further remarks 
 that there is nothing in the constitution so far discountenancing 
 religious worship that colleges and other public institutions of 
 learning may not lawfully adopt all reasonable regulations for 
 the inculcation of moral and religious principles in those attend- 
 ing them. (27 Northeastern Reporter, p. 54.) 
 
 In People ex rel. Ring et al vs. Board of Education of District 
 24, decided in 19 10 by the supreme court of Illinois, there was a 
 dissenting opinion concurred in by justices Hand and Cartwright 
 from which the following are excerpts : 
 
 " The Bible is not mentioned in the Constitution, nor is there 
 found therein any express inhibition against the giving of 
 religious or moral instruction in the public schools, and while the 
 Constitution is silent upon these subjects, it has been from the 
 formation of our state government to the present time universally 
 recognized by the people that there are certain fundamental prin- 
 ciples of religion and morality which the safety of society requires 
 should be imparted to the youth of the state, and that those prin- 
 ciples may be properly taught in the public schools as a part of the 
 secular knowledge which it is their province to instill into the 
 youthful mind." 
 
 " It has always been understood that those general provisions 
 found in the several state Constitutions which usually appear in 
 what are designated as a " bill of rights," and which provide that 
 the enjoyment of the free exercise of religious profession and 
 worship, without discrimination, shall be forever guaranteed to 
 the people, and that they shall not be required to attend upon or 
 
122 The Secularization of American Education 
 
 support any ministry or place of worship against their consent, 
 were primarily designed to prevent the establishment of a state 
 religion or the compulsion of the citizen to support, by taxation 
 or otherwise, an established ministry or places of established wor- 
 ship, it being the object of such constitutional provisions to work 
 a complete divorcement of the state and the church, and to sever 
 the relation between the state and church which had existed in 
 the mother country prior to the Revolution and secure to the citi- 
 zen freedom of conscience in the matter of religious belief and 
 worship, and that the instruction which was to be imparted in the 
 public schools did not fall within those provisions of the Constitu- 
 tion unless the instruction sought to be imparted degenerated into 
 what may be properly designated as denominational or sectarian 
 instruction, and falls within the inhibitions of those provisions of 
 the Constitution which were enacted with a view to placing all 
 religious denominations or religious sects upon an equality before 
 the law. . . ." " We think it obvious, therefore, that all 
 must agree that there can be no rational constitutional basis upon 
 which this court can hold that the Bible can be excluded from 
 the public schools of the state other than upon the ground that 
 it is sectarian in character and falls within those inhibitions of the 
 state Constitution which prohibit teaching in our public schools 
 the beliefs and doctrines of the different denominations or sects 
 into which the believers of the Bible have in the course of time 
 divided." 
 
 " None of the courts of last resort have held that the Bible, as 
 an entirety, could be excluded from the public schools, upon con- 
 stitutional grounds, as none of them have held that all parts of it 
 were sectarian." 
 
 " The Supreme Court of every state of the Union which has 
 spoken on the subject, with the exception of Wisconsin and 
 Nebraska, has held that the reading of the Bible in the public 
 schools is not prohibited by constitutional enactment, and the 
 Supreme Courts of Wisconsin and Nebraska each hold that only 
 portions of the Bible may be excluded." 
 
 " We think it is apparent that it must be held, from a constitu- 
 tional standpoint, that all parts of the Bible can be read in the 
 public schools, or that it must be excluded as an entirety from 
 the public schools," etc. 
 
Court Decisions Favoring Religious Ideal of Education 123 
 
 " We do not think the Bible can be said to be a sectarian book 
 or that its teachings are sectarian. Its plan of salvation is broad 
 enough to include all the world, and the fact that those who 
 believe in the Bible do not agree as to the interpretation of its 
 teachings and have divided into sects, and are therefore sectarian 
 in their beliefs, does not change the Bible or make it a sectarian 
 book. To make the Bible sectarian it must be made to appear 
 that it teaches the dogmas of some particular sect, and it is not 
 sufficient, to show that it is sectarian, to establish that its teach- 
 ings are so comprehensive that different phases of belief may be 
 founded on argument based upon some of its parts which, when 
 perhaps only imperfectly examined and partially understood, may 
 seem to tend to support the doctrines of a particular sect and to 
 overthrow the doctrines of some other sect." 
 
 " We think the great weight of authority sustains the position 
 that the Bible, or any version thereof, may be read in the public 
 schools of this state, without comment, without violating those 
 inhibitions of the Constitution which prohibit the giving of secta- 
 rian religious instruction in the public schools. The opinion of 
 the Supreme Court of Wisconsin which holds only portions of the 
 Bible may be read in the public schools was repudiated by this 
 court in North vs. Trustees of the University of Illinois, supra." 
 
 " It is urged, however, that the children of relators were 
 required to bow their heads and assume a devotional attitude dur- 
 ing the reading of the Bible and the recitation of the Lord's 
 Prayer and the singing of sacred hymns. This is true in part; 
 but the petition does not allege the relators' children were required 
 to participate in the recitation of the Lord's Prayer or in the 
 singing of said sacred hymns. At most, according to the aver- 
 ments of the petition, the children of the relators were required 
 to remain quiet during the exercises, and the fact that they were 
 required to bow their heads and fold their hands during the exer- 
 cises did not convert the school into a place of worship." 
 
 " It is also said that some of the children in the school were 
 asked to explain certain passages of the Bible which were read. 
 It does not appear from the petition what the passages were which 
 were required to be explained, what the explanation was, or that 
 the children of relators were ever called upon by the teacher to 
 make such explanation. We think, therefore, that the fact that 
 
124 The Secularization of American Education 
 
 some of the children in the school were required to explain the 
 meaning of certain passages of Scripture which were read in their 
 presence did not convert the school into a place of worship." 
 
 " Our conclusion is that the exercises which were conducted 
 in said school did not convert the school into a place of worship 
 which the relators' children were required to attend or the relators 
 who were taxpayers were required to support." 
 
 " It is said in the majority opinion that a child cannot hear 
 the Scriptures read in the public schools without being instructed 
 as to the divinity of Jesus Christ, which would be an affront to 
 a large and intelligent religious denomination whose members do 
 not admit that it teaches such a doctrine, and the same may be 
 said of the other sectarian beliefs mentioned in the opinion. 
 Freethinkers and atheists do not constitute a sect which is an 
 organized religious body, and the prohibition against sectarian 
 instruction, which relates only to the teaching of the doctrine 
 of a particular sect, has no application to them. The Constitution 
 is not directed against the Bible, but applies equally to all forms 
 and phases of religious beliefs. If the Bible is to be excluded 
 because it pertains to a religion and a future state, heathen 
 mythology must go with it. Moral philosophy must be discarded 
 because it reasons of God and immortality, and all literature 
 which mentions a Supreme Being, or intimates any obligations to 
 Him, must be excluded. We cannot conceive that the framers of 
 the Constitution, or the people, intended that the best and most 
 inspiring literature, history, and science should be excluded from 
 the public schools, so that nothing should be left except that 
 which has been sterilized, so as not to interfere with the beliefs or 
 offend the sensibilities of atheists." 
 
 " The majority opinion seems to proceed upon the theory that 
 the people cannot be trusted to determine, through their constitu- 
 tionally-elected school officers, the question whether the Bible 
 shall be read in the public schools of the state, for fear that 
 where Protestants are in the majority the King James' version 
 will be read and where the Catholics are in the majority the 
 Douay version will be read, and that by leaving the question to 
 the determination of the school boards (where it has heretofore 
 rested) a religious contest may be expected at each election of a 
 school director. The principle which lies at the basis of our 
 
Court Decisions Favoring Religious Ideal of Education 125 
 
 government is that majorities must control in the determination 
 of all questions which affect the public, and that principle applies 
 here as it does in the decision of all public questions. The state 
 of Illinois is a Christian state. Its people as a people are a 
 Bible-reading people, and its citizens who are students of and 
 believers in the Bible are not all found in the churches. We are 
 of the opinion the decision of the question whether the Bible 
 shall be read in the public schools should be left where it has 
 rested from the foundation of the state and through its entire his- 
 tory, i. e., with the local school, boards, — and this court, with a 
 view to foreclose the people by its decisions upon the question 
 whether they desire to have the Bible read in the public schools, 
 should not read into our state Constitution, as the majority 
 opinion does, a provision excluding the Bible and all its transla- 
 tions from the public schools, and that especially should this be 
 true in view of the well-known historical fact that the framers 
 of the Constitution of 1870 expressly refused to incorporate into 
 the Constitution a provision excluding the Bible from the public 
 schools when that provision was offered in the convention, and 
 declared by its action in declining to incorporate into the Con- 
 stitution such provision, in view of the members of that conven- 
 tion, the question whether the Bible should be read in the public 
 schools should rest with the several school boards of the state, 
 where it had rested under the Constitutions of 1818 and 1848. 
 While it is true this court may construe the Constitution, it has 
 not the power, and it should not, under a pretext to construe the 
 Constitution, amend it, and certainly not in a case like this, where 
 the effect of the amendment will be to deprive many thousands 
 of children living in this state of any knowledge of the principles 
 taught in the Bible, as the Bible is not taught in all the homes of 
 the state, and the only knowledge which a large number of 
 children in this state will ever gain of the Bible must be through 
 the public schools, and if they do not get such knowledge there it 
 will be lost to them entirely. We therefore most respectfully 
 dissent from the majority opinion, and earnestly protest against 
 a result which excludes the Bible from the public schools of the 
 state."! 
 
 1 People ex rel. Ring et al. vs. Board of Education of District 24. North- 
 eastern Reporter, Vol. 92, No. 5 August 2, 191a West Pub. Co. St. Paul, 
 Minn. 
 
126 The Secularization of American Education 
 
 Iowa 
 
 In Moore vs. Monroe decided by the supreme court of Iowa in 
 1884 the facts were as follows: The plaintiff, a citizen ana 
 patron of the Bloomfield Independent School District, brought an 
 action against the teachers of the school and the directors of the 
 district praying for an injunction to prevent the reading of the 
 Bible or any part thereof in the school and to prevent the singing 
 of religious songs in school. The teachers were accustomed to 
 occupy a few minutes each morning in reading selections from 
 the Bible, in repeating the Lord's Prayer, and singing religious 
 songs. The plaintiff had two children in school but they were 
 not required to be present during these exercises. The plaintiff 
 objected to this procedure and requested the teachers to stop it; 
 they refused to do so, and the directors refused to act in the 
 matter. 
 
 The court held that under section 1764 of the Code of Iowa 
 it was a matter of individual option with the teachers whether 
 they would use the Bible in school or not, such option being 
 restricted only by the provision that no pupil should be required 
 to read it contrary to the wishes of his parent or guardian. 
 
 The purpose of Art. I, Sec. 3, of the Bill of Rights was not to 
 prevent the casual use of a public building as a place for offering 
 prayer, or doing other acts of religious worship, but to prevent 
 the enactment of law whereby any person could be compelled to 
 pay taxes for building or repairing any place designed to be used 
 distinctly as a place of worship. It was designed to secure citi- 
 zens against taxation for religious purposes, and not for the 
 purpose of suppressing religion itself; and it does not afford a 
 ground for enjoining religious exercises in public schools where 
 it appears that the burden of taxation is not increased and that 
 plaintiff's children are not required to be present and take part 
 in such exercises. The court refused to interfere. (64 Iowa, 
 P- 367-) 
 
 Kansas 
 
 In Billard vs. Board of Education, decided by the supreme 
 court of Kansas in 1904, the following were the facts : A boy 
 who was disorderly during the opening exercises of the school, 
 consisting of repeating the Lord's Prayer, a psalm, and music, 
 
Court Decisions Favoring Religious Ideal of Education 127 
 
 was first warned and then expelled from the school. The school 
 board notified him that he could not come back until he was read}' 
 to comply with the regulations of the school. He was required 
 only to be orderly and to refrain from studying during the open- 
 ing exercises. 
 
 The court declared that there was nothing in the state consti- 
 tution excluding the Bible from the public schools, and that a 
 teacher who for the purpose of quieting the pupils, and prepar- 
 ing them for their regular studies, repeated the Lord's Prayer 
 and the Twenty-Third Psalm as a morning exercise, without com- 
 ment or remark, in which none of the pupils were required to par- 
 ticipate, was not conducting a form of religious worship or teach- 
 ing sectarian or religious doctrine. (76 Pacific Reporter, p. 422.) 
 
 Kentucky 
 
 In Hackett vs. Brookville Graded School District, decided in 
 1905, the State Court of Appeals of Kentucky held that a public 
 school opened with prayer and the reading, without comment, of 
 passages from the King James' translation of the Bible, during 
 which pupils are not required to attend, is not a place of worship, 
 nor are its teachers ministers of religion within the meaning oi 
 the constitutional provision that no person shall be compelled to 
 attend any place of worship or contribute to the support of a 
 minister of religion. 
 
 A prayer offered at the opening of a public school, imploring 
 the aid and presence of the Heavenly Father during the day's 
 work, asking for wisdom, patience, mutual love and respect, look- 
 ing forward to a heavenly reunion after death, and concluding in 
 Christ's name, was not sectarian and did not constitute the 
 school a sectarian school within the meaning of the constitutional 
 provision prohibiting the appropriation of funds in aid of secta- 
 rian schools. 
 
 " The King James' translation of the Bible, or any edition of 
 the Bible, is not a sectarian book, and the reading thereof, with- 
 out comment, does not constitute sectarian instruction within the 
 meaning of the Kentucky Statutes of 1903, Par. 4368, providing 
 that no books of a sectarian character shall be used in any com- 
 mon school nor shall any sectarian doctrine be taught therein." 
 
 " We believe the reason and weight of the authorities support 
 
128 The Secularization of American Education 
 
 the view that the Bible is not of itself a sectarian book, and, when 
 used merely for reading in the common schools, without note or 
 comment by teachers, is not sectarian instruction ; nor does such 
 use of the Bible make the school house a house of religious wor- 
 ship." (87 Southwestern Reporter, p. 792.) 
 
 Maine 
 
 0|ne of the earliest decisions is that of the supreme court of 
 Maine in the case of Donahue vs. Richards, decided in 1854. The 
 superintending school committee of the town of Ellsworth, Maine, 
 directed that the English Protestant version of the Bible should 
 be used in all the public schools of the town and that all who were 
 of sufficient capacity to read therein would be required to read 
 that version in school. 
 
 A child of Catholic parentage refused to read from the version 
 of the Bible prescribed, but offered to read from the Douay ver- 
 sion, alleging conscientious scruples. The child was expelled 
 from school by the school committee for such refusal. It was 
 argued that a religious test was thus set up in order to enable one 
 to enjoy the benefits of the public schools. 
 
 The court held that the power to select books and require them 
 to be read was vested by law in the school committee and that the 
 court could not interfere therewith. That uniformity of reading 
 books was a reasonable and necessary requirement. That the use 
 of the Bible as a reading book was not interference with religious 
 belief any more than was the reading of Roman or Grecian 
 mythology. 
 
 " The common schools are not for the purpose of instruction 
 in the theological doctrines of any religion or of any sect. The 
 state regards no one sect as superior to any other and no theologi- 
 cal view as peculiarly entitled to precedence. It is no part of the 
 duty of the instructor to give theological instruction — and if the 
 peculiar tenets of any particular sect were so taught it would fur- 
 nish a well-grounded cause of complaint on the part of those who 
 entertained different or opposing religious sentiments." 
 
 " But the instruction here given is not in fact, and is not 
 alleged to have been, in articles of faith. No theological doctrines 
 were taught. The creed of no sect was affirmed or denied. 
 
Court Decisions Favoring Religious Ideal of Education 129 
 
 The truth or falsehood of the book in which the school were 
 required to read was not asserted." 
 
 "As the existence of conscientious scruples as to the reading 
 of a book can only be known from the assertion of the child, its 
 mere assertion must suffice for the exclusion of any book in the 
 reading or in the hearing of which it may allege a wrong to be 
 done to its religious conscience. The claim, so far as it may rest 
 on conscience, is a claim to annul any regulation of the state, 
 made by its constituted authorities. As a right existing on the 
 part of one child, it is equally a right belonging to all. As it 
 relates to one book, so it may apply to another — whether relat- 
 ing to science or morals." 
 
 " The right as claimed undermines the power of the state. It 
 is that the will of the majority shall bow to the conscience of the 
 minority, or of one." (38 Maine, p. 379.) 
 
 Massachusetts 
 
 In Spiller vs. Inhabitants of Woburn, decided by the supreme 
 court of Massachusetts in 1866, it was held that the school com- 
 mittee of a town might lawfully pass an order that the schools 
 thereof should be opened each morning with reading from the 
 Bible and prayer, and that during the prayer each child should 
 bow his head, unless his parents requested that he should be 
 excused from doing so; and might lawfully exclude from the 
 school a scholar who refused to comply with such order, and 
 whose parents refused to request that he should be excused from 
 doing so. 
 
 " No more appropriate method could be adopted of keeping in 
 mind of both teachers and scholars that one of the chief objects 
 of education, as declared by the statutes of this commonwealth 
 and which teachers are especially enjoined to carry into effect, is 
 to impress on the minds of children and youth committed to their 
 care and instruction, the principles of piety, and justice, and a 
 sacred regard for truth." 
 
 " In the first place it did not prescribe an act which was 
 necessarily one of devotion or religious ceremony. It went no 
 further than to require the observance of quiet and decorum dur- 
 ing the religious service with which the school was opened. It 
 did not compel a pupil to join in the prayer but only to assume 
 
130 The Secularisation of American Education 
 
 an attitude which was calculated to prevent interruption by avoid- 
 ing all communication with others during the service. In the 
 next place the regulation did not require a pupil to comply with 
 that part of it prescribing the position of the head during prayer, 
 if the parent requested a child to be excused from it." (12 Allen, 
 p. 127.) 
 
 Michigan 
 
 In the case of Pfeiffer vs. Board of Education of Detroit a 
 majority of the justices of the supreme court of Michigan held 
 in 1898 that the use in the public schools for fifteen minutes at 
 the close of each day's session as a supplemental text book or 
 reading of a book entitled, " Readings from the Bible," which was 
 largely made up of extracts from the Bible emphasizing the 
 moral precepts of the ten commandments, where the teacher was 
 forbidden to make any comment upon the matter therein con- 
 tained, and was required to excuse from that part of the session 
 any pupil upon application of his parent or guardian, was not a 
 violation of the state constitution. Article IV, Section 41, pro- 
 hibiting the legislature from diminishirig or enlarging " the civil, 
 or political rights, privileges and capacities of any person on 
 account of his opinion or belief concerning matters of religion." 
 
 Nor was it a violation of the constitutional provision that " no 
 money shall be appropriated or drawn from the treasury for the 
 benefit of any religious sect or society, theological or religious 
 seminary, nor shall property belonging to the state be appropri- 
 ated to any such purpose." 
 
 Neither was it a violation of Article IV, Section 39, providing 
 that the legislature should pass no " law to prevent any person 
 from worshipping Almighty God according to the dictates of his 
 own conscience, or to compel any person to attend, erect or sup- 
 port any place of religious worship or to pay tithes, taxes, or 
 other rates for the support of any minister of the gospel or teacher 
 of religion." 
 
 " The precise question is . . . whether such reading of ex- 
 tracts from the Bible, at which reading pupils whose faith or scru- 
 ples are shocked by hearing the passage read are not required to 
 attend, constitutes the teacher a teacher of religion, or amounts 
 to a restriction of the civil or political rights or privileges of such 
 students as do not attend upon the exercises." 
 
Court Decisions Favoring Religious Ideal of Education 131 
 
 The provision in the constitution of 1835 "meant simply that the 
 inhabitants of the state should not be required to attend upon 
 those church services which the people of Virginia had been by 
 this same enactment relieved from, and that no one should be 
 compelled to pay tithes or other rates for the support of minis- 
 ters." It did not refer to schools at the time of adoption at all, — 
 hence it does not now, is the reasoning of the court. 
 
 " In my opinion the reading of the extracts from the Bible in 
 the manner indicated by the return, without comment, is not in 
 violation of any constitutional provision." (118 Michigan, p. 560.) 
 
 Pennsylvania 
 In Hysong vs. Gallitzin Borough School District, decided in 
 1894 by the supreme court of Pennsylvania, the facts were svib- 
 stantially as follows: The Sisters of St. Joseph had for some 
 years taught in the public schools at Gallitzin. For some years 
 previous to 1894 the public school board had rented a building of 
 the Catholic church authorities and four sisters had been employed 
 to teach it. Protestant patrons objected to their children being 
 put into rooms taught by the sisters. They were told there was 
 no alternative. These teachers held certificates in their religious 
 names granted by the county superintendent of schools after pri- 
 vate examination at the mother house. They contracted with the 
 directors in their religious names and used them in the transac- 
 tion of any business connected with their occupation as teachers. 
 They wore the distinctive garb and insignia of their sisterhood 
 at all times. There was not sufficient evidence that they used it 
 to impart sectarian, religious instruction. The Catholic cate- 
 chism was taught daily in the public school room after school 
 hours to children of Catholic parents. This was allowed by the 
 directors. The children often studied their catechism during 
 school hours, though the teachers forbade it. There was no reli- 
 gious instruction during the regular school hours. The teachers 
 did not attend the regular institute. The school was closed on 
 Catholic holidays. The pupils usually addressed the teachers 
 as " Sister " and when priests visited the school they addressed 
 them as " Father." Such teachers were employed as were 
 detailed by the mother superior of the order to reside at Gal- 
 litzin. It was clearly the intention of the board of education to 
 employ none other than Catholic sisters for this particular school. 
 
132 The Secularization of American Education 
 
 A majority of the court held that the school directors might 
 employ as teachers, sisters of a religious order of the Roman 
 Catholic church and permit them while teaching to wear the garb 
 of their order, providing no religious sectarian inotruction was 
 given or religious, sectarian exercises engaged in. Ihe dis- 
 tinctive garb did not constitute sectarian instruction. 
 
 "Are the courts to decide that the cut of a nun's coat or the 
 color of a woman's gown is sectarian teaching because they indi- 
 cate sectarian belief? If so, then they can be called upon to go 
 further. The religion of the teacher being known, a pure unsel- 
 fish life, exhibiting itself in tenderness to the young and help- 
 fulness for the suffering, necessarily tends to promote the relig- 
 ion of the man or woman who lives it. Insensibly in both 
 young and old there is a disposition to reverence such a one, 
 and at least to some extent, consider the life as the fruit of the 
 particular religion. Therefore, irreproachable conduct, to that 
 degree, is sectarian teaching. But shall the education of the 
 children of the commonwealth be intrusted only to those men 
 and women who are destitute of any religious belief?" (164 
 Pennsylvania, p. 629.) 
 
 Texas 
 
 In Church vs. Bullock the supreme court of Texas decided in 
 1908 that the " holding of morning exercises in the public schools, 
 consisting of the reading by the teacher without comment of 
 non-sectarian extracts from the Bible, King James' version, and 
 repeating the Lord's prayer and singing of appropriate songs, 
 in which the pupils are invited but not required to join does 
 not convert the school into a sectarian or religious society, theo- 
 logical or religious seminary, or a sectarian school," within the 
 meaning of the articles of the constitution, (Art. I, par. 7 and 
 Art. 7, par. 5) "providing that no money shall be appropriated 
 from the treasury for the benefit of any sectarian or religious 
 society, theological or religious seminary, or for the support of 
 any sectarian school." 
 
 " Though the citizens are entitled to the protection guaranteed 
 by the constitution. Art. I, par. 6-7, and Art. VII, par. 5, provid- 
 ing that no one shall be compelled to support any place of wor- 
 ship, and that no money shall be appropriated from the treasury 
 for the benefit of any religious society, yet one or more Individ-, 
 
Court Decisions Favoring Religious Ideal of Education 133 
 
 uals do not have the right to have the courts deny the people 
 the privilege of having their children instructed in the public 
 schools in the moral truths of the Bible because such objectors 
 do not desire that their own children shall be participants 
 therein." 
 
 In this case the children were not compelled to join in the 
 repetition of the Lord's Prayer but were requested to do so. 
 They were required to be present and were marked tardy if 
 absent from the opening exercises. The objectors were non- 
 believers in the Bible, Roman Catholics and Jews. 
 
 The court proceeds : " In fact Christianity is so interwoven 
 with the web and woof of the state government that to sustain 
 the contention that the constitution prohibits reading the Bible, 
 offering prayers, or the singing of songs of a religious char- 
 acter in any public school building of the government would 
 produce a condition bordering upon moral anarchy." (109 
 Southwestern Reporter, p. 115.) 
 
 2. The use of Public School Property for Sectarian Religious 
 Purposes. 
 
 Connecticut 
 
 In Scofield vs. the Eighth School District decided by a major- 
 ity of the supreme court of Connecticut in 1858 there was a 
 dissenting opinion written by Justice Ellsworth and concurred 
 in by Justice Sanford. The following is an extract from this 
 opinion : 
 
 " It appears that the present and former school houses of the 
 district for more than half a century, have, as is usual in the 
 country, been used occasionally by the members of the district 
 for Christian worship and of late years for Sabbath schools. 
 This practice they wish to continue. 
 
 " Why now, I ask, may not these people be left to enjoy this 
 incidental advantage of what is their own, subject of course 
 to the vote of the district? Why not let them promote the hap' 
 piness of their families and the religious training of their chil- 
 dren as they judge wise and best? 
 
 " There is a manifest difference between a district laying a 
 tax to build a church edifice and occasionally using a school 
 house for an evening meeting, for religious edification, or instruc- 
 
134 The Secularization of American Education 
 
 tion in sacred music. The latter is merely incidental to the main 
 use of the building, but the former is a positive act, without 
 law and against law." (27 Connecticut, p. 499.) 
 
 Illinois 
 
 In Nichols vs. School Directors the supreme court of Illinois 
 in 1879 decided that the statutes whereby the supervision and 
 control of school houses were vested in district school directors 
 who might grant the temporary use of school houses when not 
 occupied by schools, for religious meetings and Sunday schools, 
 for evening schools and literary societies and for such other 
 meetings as they might deem proper, was not in violation of 
 the state constitution. 
 
 " Religion and religious worship are not so placed under the 
 ban by the constitution that they are not allowed to become the 
 recipients of any incidental benefit whatsoever from the public 
 bodies or authorities of the state." (93 Illinois, p. 61.) 
 
 Iowa 
 
 In Townsend vs. Hagen the supreme court of Iowa decided in 
 1872 that the electors of a school district might legally permit 
 the school houses in the district to be used for the purposes of 
 religious worship and Sunday schools. The statute confers 
 authority on the directors when legally assembled to direct the 
 sale or other disposition of school houses that may belong to 
 the district. (35 Iowa, p. 194.) 
 
 A similar decision was reached by the supreme court of Iowa 
 in 1878 in the case of Davis vs. Boget. (50 Iowa, p. 11.) 
 
CHAPTER XIII 
 
 STATE SUPREME COURT DECISIONS FAVORING THE 
 SECULAR IDEAL OF EDUCATION 
 
 I. What constitutes religious or sectarian religious instruc- 
 tion? 
 
 Illinois 
 
 In the case of the People ex rel. Ring et al. vs. Board of Edu- 
 cation of District 24, decided by the supreme court of Illinois, 
 June 29, 1910, objection was raised by tax-payers, residents of 
 the district, whose children attended the public school, to the 
 practice of the teachers of reading before the school selected 
 portions of the King James' version of the Bible, and requiring 
 tiie pupils to recite the Lord's prayer as found in the King James' 
 version and to sing sacred hymns, on the grounds that they and 
 their children were members of the Roman Catholic Church, 
 believers in its doctrines, faith and forms of worship, and that 
 their church believed that the version of the Bible so used was 
 an incorrect and incomplete translation; that the Lord's Prayer 
 as used was different in wording from that taught by the Roman 
 Catholic Church ; that the laws of Illinois compelled them to 
 send their children to school, and since there v/as no private or 
 parochial school in the county, they were thus compelled to attend 
 a place of worship against their consent, all of which was in 
 violation of the constitutional provision securing to all the right 
 of the free exercise and enjoyment of religious profession and 
 worship. In a lengthy decision sustaining these objections a 
 majority of the court uses in part the following language: 
 
 " Our Constitution guarantees the free exercise and enjoyment 
 of religious profession and worship without discrimination. 
 The exercises mentioned in the petition constitute worship. 
 They are the ordinary forms of worship usually practiced by 
 Protestant Christian denominations. Their compulsory per- 
 formance would be a violation of the constitutional guaranty of 
 
 135 
 
136 The Secularization of American Education 
 
 the free exercise and enjoyment of religious profession and wor- 
 ship. One does not enjoy the free exercise of religious worship 
 who is compelled to join in any form of religious worship/' 
 
 " The wrong arises, not out of the particular version of the 
 Bible or form of prayer used — whether that found in the Douay 
 or the King James' version — or the particular songs sung, but 
 out of the compulsion to join in any form of worship. The free 
 enjoyment of religious worship includes freedom not to wor- 
 ship." 
 
 " It is further contended that the reading of the Bible in the 
 schools constitutes sectarian instruction, and that thereby the 
 provision of the Constitution is also violated which prohibits the 
 payment from any public fund of anything in aid of any sec- 
 tarian purpose. The public schools are supported by taxation, 
 and if sectarian instruction should be permitted in them, the 
 money used in their support would be used in aid of a sectarian 
 purpose. The prohibition of such use of public funds is there- 
 fore a prohibition of the giving of sectarian instruction in the 
 public schools." 
 
 " Christianity is a religion. The Catholic church and the vari- 
 ous Protestant churches are sects of that religion. These two 
 versions of the Scriptures are the bases of the religion of the 
 respective sects. Protestants will not accept the Douay Bible 
 as representing the inspired word of God. As to them it is a 
 sectarian book containing errors and matter which is not entitled 
 to their respect as a part of the Scriptures. It is consistent with 
 the Catholic faith but not the Protestant. Conversely, Catholics 
 will not accept King James' version. As to them it is a sectarian 
 book inconsistent in many particulars with their faith, teaching 
 what they do not believe. The differences may seem to many 
 so slight as to be immaterial, yet Protestants are not found to 
 be more willing to have the Douay Bible read as a regular exer- 
 cise in the schools to which they are required to send their chil- 
 dren, than are Catholics to have the King James' version read 
 in schools which their children must attend." 
 
 " The reading of the Bible in school is instruction. Religious 
 instruction is the object of such reading, but whether it is so or 
 not, religious instruction is accomplished by it. The Bible has 
 its place in the school, if it is read there at all, as the living 
 
Court Decisions Favoring Secular Ideal of Education 137 
 
 word of God, entitled to honor and reverence. Its words are 
 entitled to be received as authoritative and final. The reading 
 or hearing of such words cannot fail to impress deeply the pupils' 
 minds. It is intended and ought to so impress them. They can- 
 not hear the Scriptures read without being instructed as to the 
 divinity of Jesus Christ, the Trinity, the resurrection, baptism, 
 predestination, a future state of punishments and rewards, the 
 authority of the priesthood, the obligation and efifect of the sac- 
 raments, and many other doctrines about which the various sects 
 do not agree. Granting that instruction on these subjects is 
 desirable, yet the sects do not agree on what instruction shall be 
 given. Any instruction on any one of the subjects is necessarily 
 sectarian, because, while it may be consistent with the doctrines 
 of one or many of the sects, it will be inconsistent with the doc- 
 trines of one or more of them. The petitioners are Catholics. 
 They are compelled by law to contribute to the maintenance of 
 this school, and are compelled to send their children to it, or, 
 besides contributing to its maintenance, to pay the additional 
 expense of sending their children to another school. What right 
 have the teachers of the school to teach those children religious 
 doctrine different from that which they are taught by their 
 parents ? Why. should the state compel them to unlearn the 
 Lord's Prayer as taught in their homes and by their church and 
 use the Lord's Prayer as taught by another sect? If Catholic 
 children may be compelled to read the King James' version of 
 the Bible in schools taught by Protestant teachers, the same law 
 will authorize Catholic teachers to compel Protestant children to 
 read the Catholic version. The same law which subjects Cath- 
 olic children to Protestant domination in school districts which 
 are controlled by Protestant influences will subject the children 
 of Protestants to Catholic control where the Catholics predom- 
 inate. In one part of the state the King James' version of the 
 Bible may be read in the public schools, in another the Douay 
 Bible, while in school districts where the sects are somewhat 
 evenly divided, a religious contest may be expected at each elec- 
 tion of a school director to determine which sect shall prevail 
 in the school. Our Constitution has wisely provided against any 
 such contest by excluding sectarian instruction altogether from 
 the school." 
 
138 The Secularization of American Education 
 
 " We have been considering the case of the Protestant and the 
 Catholic. Let us consider that of the Christian and the Jew. 
 The Christian believes that Judaism was a temporary dispensa- 
 tion, and that Christ was the Messiah — the Savior of the world. 
 The Jew denies that Christ was the Messiah and regards him 
 as an imposter. It is not the teaching of sectarian doctrine to 
 his children to read to them daily from the New Testament, 
 every chapter of which holds up Christ crucified as the Savior 
 of men? " 
 
 "The only means of preventing sectarian instruction in the 
 school is to exclude altogether religious instruction, by means 
 of the reading of the Bible or otherwise. The Bible is not read 
 in the public schools as mere literature or mere history. It can- 
 not be separated from its character as an inspired book of reli- 
 gion. It is not adapted for use as a text book for the teaching 
 alone of reading, of history, or of literature, without regard to 
 its religious character. Such use would be inconsistent with its 
 true character and the reverence in which the Scriptures are 
 held and should be held. If any parts are to be selected for use 
 as being free from sectarian differences of opinion, who will 
 select them? Is it to be left to the teacher? The teacher may 
 be religious or irreligious, Protestant, Catholic, or Jew. To 
 leave the selection to the teacher, with no test whereby to deter- 
 mine the selection, is to allow any part selected to be read, and 
 is substantially equivalent to permitting all to be read." 
 
 " It is true that this is a Christian State. The great majority 
 of its people adhere to the Christian religion. No doubt this is 
 a Protestant state. The majority of its people adhere to one or 
 another of the Protestant denominations. But the law knows 
 no distinction between the Christian and the Pagan, the Protes- 
 tant and the Catholic. All are citizens. Their civil rights are 
 precisely equal. The law cannot see religious differences, because 
 the Constitution has definitely and completely excluded religion 
 from the law's contemplation in considering men's rights. There 
 can be no distinction based on religion. The state is not, and 
 under our Constitution cannot be, a teacher of religion. All 
 sects, religious or even anti-religious, stand on an equal foot- 
 ing. They have the same rights of citizenship, without discrim- 
 ination. The public school is supported by the taxes which each 
 
Court Decisions Favoring Secular Ideal of Education 139 
 
 citizen, regardless of his religion or his lack of it, is compelled 
 to pay. The school, like the government, is simply a civil insti- 
 tution. It is secular, and not religious, in its purposes. The 
 truths of the Bible are the truths of religion which do not come 
 within the province of the public schools. No one denies their 
 importance. No one denies that they should be taught to the 
 youth of the state. The Constitution and the law do not inter- 
 fere with such teaching, but they do banish theological polemics 
 from the schools and the school districts. This is done, not 
 from any hostility to religion, but because it is no part of the 
 duty of the state to teach religion — to take the money of all, 
 and apply it to teaching the children of all the religion of a part 
 only. Instruction in religion must be voluntary. Abundant 
 means are at hand for all who seek such instruction for them- 
 selves or their children. Organizations whose purpose is the 
 spreading of religious knowledge and instruction exist, and 
 many individuals, in connection with such organizations and 
 independently, are devoted to that work. Religion is taught and 
 should be taught, in the churches, Sunday schools, parochial and 
 other church schools and religious meetings. Parents should 
 teach it to their children at home, where its truths can be most 
 effectively enforced. Religion does not need an alliance with 
 the state to encourage its growth. The law does not attempt to 
 enforce Christianity. Christianity had its beginning and grew 
 under oppression. Where it has depended upon the sword of 
 civil authority for its enforcement it has been weakest. Its 
 weapons are moral and spiritual and its power is not dependent 
 upon the force of a majority. It asks from the civil govern- 
 ment only impartial protection and concedes to every other sect 
 and religion the same impartial civil right." 
 
 " The Kentucky and Kansas decisions seem to consider the 
 fact that the children of the complainants were not compelled to 
 join in the exercises as affecting the question in some way. That 
 suggestion seems to us to concede the position of the plaintiffs 
 in error. The exclusion of a pupil from this part of the school 
 exercises in which the rest of the school joins, separates him 
 from his fellows, puts him in a class by himself, deprives him 
 of his equality with the other pupils, subjects him to a religious 
 stigma and places him at a disadvantage in the school, which 
 
140 The Secularisation of American Education 
 
 the law never contemplated. All this is because of his religious 
 belief. If the instruction or exercises is such that certain of 
 the pupils must be excused from it because it is hostile to their 
 or their parents' religious belief, then such instruction or exer- 
 cise is sectarian and forbidden by the Constitution." 
 
 " In our judgment the exercises mentioned in the petition 
 constitute religious worship, and the reading of the Bible in the 
 school constitutes sectarian instruction."^ 
 
 Michigan 
 
 In the case of Pfeiffer vs. the School Board of Detroit decided 
 by the supreme court of Michigan in 1898 there was filed a dis- 
 senting opinion written by Justice Moore from which the fol- 
 lowing are extracts: 
 
 " We all agree that children should be carefully educated in 
 religion. They should be taught to fear God and to love their 
 fellow men. They should be made familiar with the truths of 
 the Bible. They should be instructed to remember their Creator 
 in the days of their youth, and to observe His commandments. 
 But this is a branch of education which is not within the province 
 of the state. It belongs to the parents, the home, the Sunday 
 school, the mission and the church." 
 
 " The elements of our population are so diverse, comprising 
 as it does Protestants, Roman Catholics, Hebrews, atheists, 
 orthodox Christians, heterodox Christians, and all shades of reli- 
 gious belief, that no system of religion can be taught which 
 would not be objectionable to many of them." 
 
 " It is said that the school board has removed all objection to 
 the religious exercises embraced in the stated reading of this 
 religious book by excusing those children whose parents may 
 request it, from joining in it. If it is the duty of the schools 
 under the ordinance of 1787 to teach religion it is not easy to see 
 how this duty can be abdicated : how some can be excused from 
 it." 
 
 He quotes from the evidence the report of the committee on 
 school text-books made to the school board of Detroit in rec- 
 ommending for adoption this book, " Readings from the Bible." 
 
 1 Northeastern Reporter, West Publishing Co., St. Paul, Minn, Vol. 92, 
 No. S. Aug. 2, ,1910, ,p. 251-266. 
 
Court Decisions Favoring Secular Ideal of Education 141 
 
 Your committee . . . desires to invite the consideration 
 of the board to the matter of securing in our schools an increased 
 attention to the principles of ethics or morals ... an atten- 
 tion which should inculcate those principles of morality, and 
 even religion, in which the great masses of our people believe 
 and which should prevail.' " 
 
 " To so frame religious instruction or a religious exercise in 
 the public schools as to exclude or tend to exclude any portion 
 of the community from their enjoyment would to that extent 
 make the teaching of the schools sectarian." 
 
 " If the state is bound to provide religious instruction, it has 
 the right and it is its duty to decide in what religious education 
 consists, and to say what shall be accepted as religious truth and 
 what rejected as religious error. This, in so far as relates to 
 schools, can only be decided by the officers under whose control 
 the law places the schools. The result will be, where the Prot- 
 estants are in the majority religious teachings acceptable to 
 Protestants will be taught; and so, where Roman Catholics, or 
 the Hebrews, or the people of any other religious belief, or of 
 no belief at all, are in the majority, the minority will find taught 
 to their children doctrines which they regard as error. A state- 
 ment of the situation would seem to lead to the inevitable con- 
 clusions that religious instruction is no part of the duty of the 
 state." 
 
 " It is said that to grant the prayer of the petitioner is, in 
 effect, to say that the schools shall not have the benefit of the 
 lofty truths contained in the Bible and will be deprived of its 
 many literary and historical excellences. I cannot agree with 
 the contention. There is a plain and practical distinction between 
 using these selections from the Bible as the basis of a stated 
 religious exercise, and using extracts from it incorporated into 
 the text-books of the schools because of the moral teaching and 
 literary excellence contained therein." 
 
 " Never at any time in the history of the world was there 
 so much pure religion as to-day. In no country in the world 
 are religious truths more generally entertained than in our own. 
 In no country in the world is there so complete a separation of 
 church and state as with us. The growth of religious truth is 
 encouraged by religious freedom. These things were recognized 
 
142 The Secularization of American Education 
 
 and acted upon by the framers of our organic law. The religious 
 beliefs of all pejsons were not simply tolerated, but were placed 
 upon an equality by them." (ii8 Michigan, p. 560.) 
 
 Nebraska 
 
 In the State ex rel. Freeman vs. Scheve the supreme court of 
 Nebraska decided as follows in 1903 : " The right of the relator 
 has been infringed. Without his consent and over his protest 
 his children have been compelled to attend Divine worship 
 and to participate in it. 
 
 " The regular morning exercises of the school consisted of a 
 formal or improvised prayer, followed by the singing of Gospel 
 Hymns. In these exercises the pupils were compelled to join, 
 and it was their custom when prayer was offered, to rise from 
 their seats, and stand in an attitude of reverence. 
 
 " The school being in session the right to command was 
 vested in the teacher and the duty of obedience imposed upon 
 the pupils. Under these conditions a request and a command 
 were identical. A request from one in authority is understood 
 to be a mere euphemism. It is in fact a command in inoffensive 
 form. These children were forced to take part in religious 
 services. 
 
 " The Bible was not read as mere literature. The reading, 
 the prayers, and the hymns were intended to be devotional. The 
 teacher felt it was not right to open school in any other way. 
 It was a matter of conscience with her. It was an act of wor- 
 ship." 
 
 The court holds it was sectarian instruction. Exercises by a 
 teacher in a public school, in a school building, in school hours, 
 and in the presence of the pupils, consisting in the reading of 
 passages from the Bible, singing of songs and hymns, offering 
 p^'ayer to the Deity, in accordance with the doctrines, beliefs, 
 customs, or usages of sectarian churches or religious organiza- 
 tions are forbidden by the constitution of this state. 
 
 The law does not forbid the use of the Bible in either version 
 in the schools. Because its use may be abused is no reason for 
 shutting it out. The alleged violation must in every case be 
 proved. 
 
 The point where the courts may rightfully interfere to pre- 
 
Court Decisions Favoring Secular Ideal of Education 143 
 
 vent the use of the Bible in a public school is where legitimate 
 use has degenerated into abuse, — " where a teacher employed to 
 give secular instruction has violated the constitution by becom- 
 ing a sectarian propagandist." (93 Northwestern Reporter, p. 
 169.) 
 
 New York 
 
 In O'Connor vs. Hendrick decided by the New York court of 
 appeals in 1906 the facts were as follows: The plaintiffs duly 
 licensed to teach entered into contracts with the board of school 
 trustees of school district No. 9 in the town of Lima, County of 
 Livingstone, to teach in the public school of the district for 
 thirty-six weeks. While so engaged in teaching they wore the 
 distinctive dress or costume of a religious society connected with 
 the Roman Catholic church of which they were members, which 
 society is known as the " Order of the Sisterhood of St. Joseph." 
 
 On May 28, 1903, the state superintendent of public instruc- 
 tion promulgated a decision made by him upon an appeal under 
 the Consolidated School Law of 1894, p. 1278, ch. 556, Title 14, 
 in which he declared that the wearing of an unusual dress or 
 garb, worn exclusively by members of one religious denomina- 
 tion for the purpose of indicating membership in that denomina- 
 tion, by the teachers in the public schools, during school hours, 
 while teaching therein, constitutes sectarian influence and the 
 teaching of a denominational tenet or doctrine which ought not 
 to be persisted in. The decision further declared it to be the 
 duty of the school authorities to require such teachers to discon- 
 tinue the wearing of such dress or garb while in the public 
 schoolroom and in the performance of their duties as teachers 
 therein, and notified one of the trustees to notify the teachers 
 forthwith to discontinue the wearing during the school hours 
 of each school day the distinctive dress of the sisterhood to which 
 they belonged, and commanded him to dismiss them if they 
 refused. 
 
 The court decided that " a regulation of the superintendent 
 of public instruction prohibiting teachers in public schools from 
 wearing a distinctively religious garb while teaching therein 
 is a reasonable and valid exercise of the powers conferred upon 
 him to establish regulations as to the management of public 
 
144 ^'^^ Secularization of American Education 
 
 schools because the influence of such apparel is distinctively 
 sectarian, and the prohibition is in accord with the public policy 
 of the state as declared in the constitution, Art. IX, par. 4, for- 
 bidding the use of the property or credit of the state in aid of 
 sectarian influence." {yy Northeastern Reporter, p. 612.) 
 
 Ohio 
 
 In the Board of Education of the City of Cincinnati vs. Minor 
 decided by the supreme court of Ohio in 1872 the question 
 involved was as to the legality of an action of the board in 
 abolishing the reading of the Bible as a portion of the opening 
 exercises in the schools of the city. 
 
 "The plaintiffs allege that a large majority of the children 
 in said city, who receive any education are educated in said 
 schools, and of said children large numbers receive no religious 
 instruction or knowledge of the Holy Bible except that com- 
 municated as aforesaid in said schools, and that the enforce- 
 ment of the resolutions first aforesaid will result in leaving such 
 children without any religious instruction whatever. And 
 plaintiffs allege that such instruction is necessary and indispen- 
 sable to fit said children to be good citizens of the state of Ohio 
 and of the United States, and is required by the third article of 
 the Act passed by the Congress of the United States, July 13, 
 1787 entitled, ' an ordinance for the government of the territory 
 of the United States, northwest of the River Ohio ' to be for- 
 ever encouraged." 
 
 With regard to the meaning of the expression, " Religion, 
 morality and knowledge," etc., found in the constitution the 
 court holds as follows : " The meaning is that true religion, 
 true morality, and true knowledge shall be promoted by encour- 
 aging schools and means of instruction." " No direction is 
 given as to what system of general knowledge or of religion or 
 of morals shall be taught. These matters are left to legislative 
 discretion subject to the limitations of the legislative power." 
 
 The court holds that religion does not necessarily mean the 
 Christian religion. 
 
 "There is a total absence therefore of any legislation looking 
 to the enforcement of religious instruction or the reading of 
 religious books in the public schools and we are brought back 
 
Court Decisions Favoring Secular Ideal of Education 145 
 
 to the question — ^What is the true meaning and effect of these 
 constitutional provisions on this subject? Do they enjoin reli- 
 gious instruction in schools? and does the injunction bind the 
 courts in the absence of legislation? We are unanimous in the 
 opinion that both these questions must be answered in the nega- 
 tive." (23 Ohio, p. 211.) 
 
 Pennsylvania 
 
 In 'Hysong vs. Gallitzin School District determined by the 
 supreme court of Pennsylvania in 1894, there was a dissenting 
 opinion written by Justice Williams, with regard to the sectarian 
 influence of the robes of the Catholic order worn by the teachers. 
 We quote from this opinion : " No priest or bishop in full 
 canonical dress more plainly declares his church and his office 
 therein, than do these non-secular and ecclesiastic persons when 
 they come into the schoolroom of a public school wearing the 
 peculiar uniform and insignia of their sisterhood." 
 
 " If a school so conducted is not dominated by sectarian influ- 
 ences, and under sectarian control, it is not easy to see how it 
 could be." (164 Pennsylvania, p. 652.) 
 
 Wisconsin 
 
 In the case of the State ex rel. Weiss and Others vs. The 
 District School Board of Edgerton the supreme court of Wis- 
 consin rendered in 1890 a unanimous decision concerning the 
 constitutionality of the use of the Bible in the public schools. 
 We quote from the decision : " The use of any version of the 
 Bible as a text-book in the public schools and the stated reading 
 thereof in such schools by the teachers, without restriction, 
 though unaccompanied by any comment, has a tendency to incul- 
 cate sectarian ideas within the meaning of Sec. 3, Ch. 251, 
 Laws of 1883, and is sectarian instruction within the meaning 
 of Sec. 3, Art. X of the constitution." 
 
 "In considering whether such reading of the Bible is sectarian 
 instruction the book will be regarded as a whole, because the 
 whole Bible without exception has been designated as a text- 
 book for the use in the Edgerton schools, and the claim of the 
 school board is substantially, that the whole contents thereof 
 may be so read therein if the teachers so elect. This being so 
 
146 The Secularisation of American Education 
 
 it is quite immaterial if the portions thereof set out in the return 
 as the only portions thus far read are not sectarian." 
 
 " The term sectarian instruction in the constitution mani- 
 festly refers exclusively to instruction in religious doctrines, and 
 the prohibition is only aimed at such instruction as is sectarian: 
 that is to say, instruction in religious doctrines which are believed 
 by some religious sects and rejected by others. Hence to teach 
 the existence of a supreme being of infinite wisdom, power, 
 and goodness, and that it is the highest duty of all men to adore, 
 obey, and love him, is not sectarian, because all religious sects so 
 believe and teach. The instruction becomes sectarian when it 
 goes further and inculcates doctrines or dogma concerning 
 which the religious sects are in conflict. This we understand 
 to be the meaning of the constitutional prohibition." 
 
 " Children of poor parents who are practically obliged to 
 attend the public schools would if sudh reading were permitted, 
 be compelled to attend a place of worship, contrary to Sec. 18, 
 Article I of the constitution." 
 
 "The fact that children of the petitioners are at liberty to 
 withdraw from the schoolroom during the reading of the Bible 
 does not remove the ground of complaint." 
 
 " Furthermore there is much in the Bible which cannot be 
 characterized as sectarian. There can be no valid objection to 
 the use of such matter in the secular instruction of pupils. Much 
 of it has great historical and literary value which may be thus 
 utilized without violating the constitutional prohibition. It may 
 also be used to inculcate good morals, — that is, our duties to 
 each other — which may and ought to be inculcated by the dis- 
 trict schools. No more complete code of morals exists than is 
 contained in the New Testament, which reaffirms and empha- 
 sizes the moral obligations laid down in the ten commandments. 
 Concerning the fundamental principles of moral ethics the reli- 
 gious sects do not disagree." 
 
 " Text-books founded upon the fundamental teachings of the 
 Bible or which contain extracts therefrom, and such portions 
 of the Bible as are not sectarian, may be used in the secular 
 instruction of the pupils and to inculcate good morals." 
 
 A supplementary opinion was written by Justice Orton from 
 which the following are extracts : " This case is important and 
 
Court Decisions Favoring Secular Ideal of Education 147 
 
 timely. It brings before the courts a case of the plausible, insid- 
 ious, and apparently innocent entrance of religion into our civil 
 affairs and of an assault upon the most valuable provisions of 
 the constitution. Those provisions should be pondered and 
 heeded by all our people, of all nationalities and of all denom- 
 inations of religion, who desire the perpetuity and value the 
 blessings of our free government. That such is their meaning 
 and interpretation no one can doubt, and it requires no citation 
 of authorities to show. It is religion and sectarian instruction 
 that are excluded by them. Morality and good conduct may be 
 inculcated in the common schools and should be. The connection 
 of church and state corrupts religion and makes the state des- 
 potic." 
 
 " It is said if reading the Protestant version of the Bible in 
 school is offensive to the parents of some of the scholars, and 
 antagonistic to their own religious views, their children can 
 retire. They ought not to be compelled to go out of the school 
 for such a reason for one moment. The suggestion itself con- 
 cedes the whole argument. That version of the Bible is hostile 
 to the belief of many who are taxed to support the common 
 schools and who have equal rights and privileges in them. It 
 is a source of religious and sectarian strife. That is enough. It 
 violates the letter and spirit of the constitution." (76 Wisconsin, 
 P- ^77-) 
 
 2. The use of public school property for sectarian religious 
 purposes. 
 
 Connecticut 
 
 In Scofield vs. The Eighth School District the supreme court 
 of Connecticut held that the inhabitants of a school district had 
 no right to use the school house of the district for religious meet- 
 ings and Sunday schools against the objection of any tax payer 
 of the district even though the district may have voted to allow 
 such use. In this decision three out of five justices concurred. 
 {2^ Connecticut, p. 499.) 
 
 Kansas 
 In Spencer vs. The Joint School District No. 6, the supreme 
 court of Kansas decided in 1875 that the use of a public school 
 
148 The Secularization of American Education 
 
 house for any private purpose, such as the holding of religious 
 or political meetings, social gatherings and the like was unau- 
 thorized by law and might be restrained at the instance of any 
 party injured thereby, and this though a majority of the electors 
 and tax payers of the district assent to such use and an adequate 
 rent is paid therefor. The use of a public school house for a 
 s.ingle religious or political gathering is, legally, as unauthor- 
 ized as its constant use therefor. (15 Kansas, p. 202.) 
 
 Missouri 
 
 In Dorton vs. Hearn decided by the supreme court of Mis- 
 souri in 1878 it was held that "the board of directors of a school 
 district cannot authorize the school building put up and furnished 
 under the school law to be used for the purpose of teaching a 
 Sunday school. If the precedent be established it may lead to 
 great abuses and disagreeable altercations between different reli- 
 gious denominations which it is the purpose of the common 
 school system to avoid." (67 Missouri, p. 301.) 
 
 Pennsylvania 
 
 In Hysong vs. Gallitzin Borough School District decided by 
 the supreme court of Pennsylvania in 1894 one of the points 
 was that " a school house having been erected for a particular 
 corporate purpose the corporate authorities cannot authorize its 
 use for any other, and any diversion is illegal and must be 
 restrained when complained of." (164 Pennsylvania, p. 649.) 
 
 In Benden vs. Strabick the supreme court of Pennsylvania 
 decided in 1897 that school directors have no authority to per- 
 mit public school buildings to be used for sectarian religious 
 meetings, for the holding of public lyceums, or for any other 
 purposes other than school purposes directly relating to the 
 instruction of the pupils of the schools, or for lectures or debates 
 which are made a part of the course of instruction. If school 
 buildings may be used for the convenience, pleasure, or instruc- 
 tion of the general public all other school property may be so 
 used, and it is only a step further to apply funds to the same 
 use. (182 Pennsylvania, p. 251.) 
 
Court Decisions Favoring Secular Ideal of Education 149 
 
 3. What constitutes a sectarian school within the meaning 
 of the Laws and the Constitutional provisions forbidding the 
 appropriation of public money to such? 
 
 Illinois 
 
 Under an act of 1879 entitled "An act to Aid Industrial 
 Schools for Girls," etc., 189 female infants were brought before 
 the county court of Cook County at various times between April 
 I, 1886, and June 4, 1887, on charges of being dependent girls. 
 They were committed to the Industrial School for Girls at Chi- 
 cago " to be in such school kept and maintained " until they 
 arrived at the age of eighteen unless sooner discharged there- 
 from according to law. Suit was brought to recover for cloth- 
 ing and care, and tuition of said girls at the rate of $10.00 per 
 month each. The Board of Commissioners of Cook County 
 refused to pay the amounts asked, on the grounds that they were 
 forbidden by the constitution to pay out any money in aid of 
 sectarian schools. 
 
 It was charged by the County of Cook that the Chicago Indus- 
 trial School for Girls never had any existence except on paper. 
 It was a feeder for the " House of the Good Shepherd " and 
 " St. Joseph's Orphan Asylum." All commitments nominally 
 made to the former were in reality made to the latter two insti- 
 tutions. The former never furnished any clothing or rendered 
 any service to these girls. The girls were really placed under 
 the charge and care of the two latter institutions; they were 
 taught, maintained and clothed by them alone. The House of 
 the Good Shepherd was conducted by the Sisters of the Good 
 Shepherd, a Roman Catholic order. St. Joseph's Orphan Asylum 
 was conducted by the Sisters of Charity, a Roman Catholic order. 
 
 The supreme court of Illinois, in considering this case, known 
 as the " County of Cook vs. The Chicago Industrial School for 
 Girls," in 1888 decided as follows : " It follows from the fore- 
 going statement of evidence that the House of the Good Shep- 
 herd and the St. Joseph Orphan Asylum are controlled by a 
 church. Being such, they are necessarily sectarian in their char- 
 acter and in their objects. One of the definitions given by Web- 
 ster of sectarianism is ' adherence to a separate religious denom- 
 ination.' " 
 
150 The Secularization of American Education 
 
 The only creed taught was the Catholic creed. Those who 
 might not be instructed in the Catholic faith were not instructed 
 in any faith. No provision was made for instruction in such 
 creeds, other than the Catholic, as might be preferred by any 
 of the inmates. " If the instruction is of a sectarian character 
 the school is sectarian." 
 
 " The fact that an institution of learning teaches the doctrines 
 of a particular church or sect, and that all exercises of a religious 
 character are those of such church, will render the institution 
 sectarian, within the meaning of Sec. 3, Art. 8, of the Constitu- 
 tion prohibiting payment from any public fund of anything in 
 aid of any church or sectarian purpose, although all its pupils 
 may not be instructed in such sectarian doctrines." 
 
 " The refusal to admit a judge of a court having the power 
 to commit dependent girls to an industrial school into the place 
 where such school is alleged to be kept, unless he should first 
 obtain a permit from a bishop or member of the Roman Catholic 
 church, is a strong circumstance tending to show that such school 
 is controlled by that church." 
 
 " It cannot be said that a contribution is no aid to an institu- 
 tion because such contribution is made in return for services ren- 
 dered or work done." 
 
 " If they are entitled to be paid out of the public funds even 
 though they are under the control of sectarian denominations 
 simply because they relieve the state of a burden which it would 
 otherwise be itself required to bear, then there is nothing to pre- 
 vent all public education from becoming subjected, by hasty and 
 unwise legislation to sectarian- influences. It is an untenable 
 position that public funds may be paid out to help support sec- 
 tarian schools provided only such schools shall render a quid pro 
 quo for the payments made to them." (125 Illinois, p. 540.) 
 
 Maryland 
 
 In the case of St. Mary's Industrial School for Boys vs. George 
 S. Brown, William G. Harrison and others ; the Maryland Indus- 
 trial School for Girls vs. Same; the St. Vincent's Infant Asylum 
 of the City of Baltimore vs. Same ; the Maryland Institute for the 
 Promotion of the Mechanic Kris,. vs. Same; decided in 1876, the 
 Maryland Court of Appeals held that the Mayor and City 
 
Court Decisions Favoring Secular Ideal of Education 151 
 
 Council of Baltimore had no authority to make appropriations, by 
 the exercise of the taxing power to sustain or aid institutions, 
 however benevolent and charitable in their character, which did 
 not owe their creation to the municipal power conferred on the 
 City of Baltimore, and were not created by the Legislature of the 
 State, as instruments of municipal administration, but which were 
 separate and distinct corporations, composed of private indi- 
 viduals and controlled by officers and agents of their own, and 
 over which the city had no supervision or control, and for the 
 management of which there was no accountability to the city 
 whatever. Even though the State and city might be allowed to 
 appoint representatives upon the boards of control of the first two 
 of these institutions did not change the fact of their being private 
 institutions, and as such ineligible to share in public funds. 
 " The fact that the institutions may be under denominational or 
 religious control, can in no manner affect their qualifiaction for 
 assuming such relation to the city, or for the full and faithful 
 discharge of the duties that they may contract to perform. Char- 
 ity, to say the least of the matter, is quite as likely to be fully 
 and faithfully administered under such auspices as it could be 
 under any other. It could therefore be no objection that the 
 institutions are or may be under the control and influence of those 
 belonging to any particular church or denomination." (45 Mary- 
 land, p. 311.) 
 
 Massachusetts 
 
 In Jenkins vs. The Inhabitants of Andover, decided in 1869 by 
 the supreme court of Massachusetts, it was held that a free school 
 maintained as a charity under the direction of trustees elected 
 by the town, who were to be members of certain religious socie- 
 ties, was not a public school entitled under the Massachusetts 
 constitution to money raised by taxation for the support of pub- 
 lic schools, which it provides shall never be appropriated to any 
 religious sect for the maintenance exclusively of its own schools. 
 (103 Massachusetts, p. 94.) 
 
 Mississippi 
 
 In 1879 the Mississippi Supreme Court had to pass upon the 
 validity of the act quoted in part on page 47- The case was that 
 of Charles H. Otken vs. J. S. Lamkin, County Superintendent, etc. 
 
152 The Secularisation of American Education 
 
 "An act of the Legislature passed March 5, 1878, entitled 'An 
 Act to encourage the establishment of high schools and colleges 
 in this State,' provides in effect, that whenever a child has at- 
 tended a private institution of learning, which has secured a suit- 
 able building and a library of two hundred bound volumes of 
 miscellaneous literature, and is conducted by a teacher or teachers 
 of good moral and educational standing, such child, whether the 
 school so attended by him be within or without the school district 
 in which he resides, may receive from the common school fund 
 the same pro rata share thereof to which he would have been 
 entitled if he had attended the public free school of his district. 
 The act contains no requirement that the private institutions 
 therein contemplated shall be free from sectarian or religious con- 
 trol, nor that they shall be under the supervision of the State or 
 county superintendent of public education, nor that they shall be 
 free from the charge of tuition ; but it does require that the pupils 
 shall pay the tuition which may be exacted by the persons con- 
 ducting the institutions ; and, as it makes such institutions wholly 
 private, the persons conducting them are permitted to exclude any 
 pupils they may choose to reject. Held, that this act is in con- 
 flict with Article 8 of the State Constitution, and is therefore 
 void." (56 Mississippi, p. 758.) 
 
 Nevada 
 
 In The State of Nevada vs. Hallock, decided by the supreme 
 court of Nevada in 1882, it was held that the Nevada Orphan 
 Asylum of Virginia City, Nevada, which was owned, controlled 
 and presided over by a religious organization known as the Sis- 
 ters of Charity, all of whom must be Catholics, and in which 
 Catholic children were instructed in the doctrines of the Catholic 
 church, while no special provision was made for giving religious 
 instruction to Protestant children, was a sectarian institution and 
 as such forbidden to draw any money from the state treasury by 
 the constitutional provision forbidding the payment of any money 
 from the state treasury for sectarian purposes. (16 Nevada, 
 
 P- 373-) 
 
 New York 
 
 In The People vs. The Board of Education of Brooklyn, New 
 York, the supreme court of that state decided in 1851 that the 
 
Court Decisions Favoring Secular Ideal of Education 153 
 
 act of March 7, 1848, which declared that the orphan asylum 
 societies of the City of Brooklyn should participate in the distri- 
 bution of the school moneys raised in said city, in proportion to 
 the number of children between the ages of four and sixteen years 
 who had been under the charge of said societies and instructed in 
 such manner as was usual in common schools, on the same basis 
 as the common schools of said city, did not intend to bestow upon 
 the asylum societies a share of the moneys arising from the 
 revenues of the common school fund. 
 
 " If such were the design of the statute," says the court, " it 
 would conflict with Art. 9, of the constitution, which provides that 
 the capital of the common school fund shall be inviolate and that 
 the revenue thereof shall be applied to the support of common 
 schools." 
 
 The court held that the schools maintained by the Roman 
 Catholic Orphan Asylum Society of the City of Brooklyn were 
 not common schools within the meaning of the constitution. 
 
 " If the object of this special legislation is to afford them such 
 education as the state furnishes to all it may as well and better 
 be obtained through the ordinary channel. If the object is to fur- 
 nish them with instruction of a partial or sectarian character, the 
 state ought not and cannot constitutionally contribute to such a 
 purpose." 
 
 The funds granted by the act in question were limited to those 
 raised by the City of Brooklyn by tax upon its property. (13 
 Barbour Supreme Court Reports, p. 400.) 
 
 Likewise in St. Patrick's Orphan Asylum vs. The Board of 
 Education of Rochester, New York, the supreme court decided 
 in 1867 that money devoted by the constitution of the state for 
 the support of common schools could not lawfully be appropriated 
 to the support of incorporated orphan asylum societies, or for 
 the support of common schools therein, as the latter are not 
 common schools within the constitutional meaning of the term 
 common school. (34 Howard's Practice Reports, p. 227.) 
 
 South Dakota 
 
 In The Synod of South Dakota vs. The State of South Dakota 
 it was held by the supreme court of South Dakota in 1891 that 
 the fact that the plaintiff corporation was organized and existed 
 
154 The Secularization of American Education 
 
 to maintain and promulgate the doctrines and belief of the Chris- 
 tion religion known as Presbyterianism, and that it had offered 
 and given secular and sectarian instruction to divers and numer- 
 ous students under its control, constituted it a sectarian school as 
 used in the constitution. 
 
 " Held that the law, in so far as it authorized the designation of 
 sectarian universities, colleges, or academies, by the territorial 
 board of education, in which classes should be instructed in 
 methods of teaching, was inconsistent with and repugnant to the 
 provisions of the state constitution and became inoperative and 
 ceased to be of binding force or effect after the adoption of the 
 state constitution within the state. 
 
 " Held that the prohibition in the constitution of any money or 
 other property to aid any sectarian school applied to all appropria- 
 tions to such schools, whether made as a donation or in payment 
 for services rendered the state by such schools." (14 Lawyers 
 Reports Annotated, p. 418.) 
 
 Wisconsin 
 
 In The State ex rel. Weiss and Others vs. The District Board 
 of Edgerton, decided by the supreme court of Wisconsin in 1890, 
 it was held that the stated reading of the Bible in a public school 
 rendered it a religious seminary within the meaning of the Wis- 
 consin constitution, Art. I, Par. 18, which prohibited the drawing 
 of money from the treasury for the benefit of religious 
 seminaries. 
 
 " The stated reading of the Bible as a text-book in the public 
 schools may be worship, and the school house thereby become, for 
 the time being, a place of worship, within the meaning of Sec. I, 
 Art. I, of the constitution, and to such use of the school house the 
 tax payers, who are compelled to aid in its erection and in the 
 maintenance of the school, have a legal right to object. 
 
 " Such reading being religious instruction, the money drawn 
 from the state treasury for the support of a school in which the 
 Bible is so read is for the benefit of a religious seminary within 
 the meaning of said section." (76 Wisconsin, p. 177.) 
 
CONCLUSION 
 
 The foregoing citations from laws, from constitutional pro- 
 visions, and from judicial decisions portray rather definitely some 
 of the more important phases of a process which has been going 
 on in this country for something over a hundred years, the 
 secularization of education. 
 
 The laws cited, which bear dates prior to 1776, and occasionally 
 one within the early national period, show as a rule the close 
 connection of church and school, of religion and education during 
 colonial days and the early years of the republic. They show the 
 largely religious aim of education, the largely religious nature of 
 the subject matter of instruction, and the considerable part played 
 by the church in the control of schools. They show the state 
 beginning to recognize the importance of education for her own 
 welfare and beginning to contribute to the support thereof, but 
 leaving unto the church a large measure of control in the super- 
 vision and administration of schools. 
 
 In the laws and constitutional provisions enacted subsequent to 
 about 1850, following an intervening period devoted largely to 
 local legislation, in which there is state legislation relating to 
 religion and education in but few states, we see the preponderance 
 of the church in educational affairs supplanted by that of the 
 state. The dominant aim of the school becomes a civic one, the 
 subject matter of instruction is purged of everything savoring of a 
 sectarian or denominational religious nature, and control shifts 
 from the church and her ministry to the state and her officials. Con- 
 trol of education becomes largely centralized, uniform series of 
 text-books and courses of study are provided for, provision is 
 made for state and county certification of teachers, and all forms 
 of religious tests for teachers or school officials are forbidden. Most 
 of the constitutional provisions have to do with safeguarding the 
 school revenues, derived from permanent funds and taxation, 
 against diversion to contending religious educational claimants. 
 
j56 The Secularization of American Education 
 
 and with protecting the schools themselves from the zeal of con- 
 tending religious sects, who have sought from time to time to use 
 the public agencies of instruction for the propagation of their own 
 peculiar tenets. 
 
 In no less than thirty-five states has there been enacted specific 
 legislation or constitutional provisions against either sectarian 
 religious instruction or the use of text-books containing sec- 
 tarian religious material, in state supported schools. While 
 usually the prohibition has been confined in the enactments to 
 " sectarian religion," yet practically this has come to mean all 
 religious instruction. The reading of the Holy Bible, which is 
 specifically provided for in the laws of at least fourteen states 
 and in the constitution of one, is practically the only remnant of 
 religious instruction now sanctioned by our state laws. Even 
 this is frequently limited by provisions specifying that those who 
 object to reading it or hearing it read shall be excused therefrom, 
 and the reading must be unaccompanied by any comments. 
 
 The question as to whether or not the reading of the Bible as a 
 part of the opening or closing exercises of the public schools con- 
 stitutes sectarian religious instruction or the use of a sectarian 
 text-book has been passed upon in at least eleven of the twenty- 
 eight cases cited in Chapter XII. In all but three states in 
 which the supreme courts have passed upon this question, they 
 have held that it was not a sectarian book, and such use did not 
 constitute sectarian religious instruction within the meaning of 
 the legal or constitutional prohibitions. The exceptions are 
 Wisconsin, Nebraska, and Illinois, Usually the decisions 
 have been rendered, however, with the proviso that no comments 
 should be made thereon by the teacher, or that pupils who 
 objected should not be required to take part. I have found only 
 one case where reading from a specified version of the Bible was 
 held to be compulsory on all who attended school. This was in 
 Dtonahue vs. Richards, a Maine case decided in 1854. Fre- 
 quently the courts have shifted the responsibility of determining 
 this question on the grounds' that the selection of text-books was 
 a function of the local school board or that the reading of the 
 Bible in school was not in itself religious instruction of any kind. 
 In all the cases cited but one the issue has been raised by those 
 who objected to the Bible being read. The exception is that of 
 
Conclusion 157 
 
 the Board of Education of the City of Cincinnati vs. Minor, in 
 which objection was raised to the discontinuance of Bible reading 
 in the schools. 
 
 There is a great mass of controversial literature bearing on this 
 subject of religious instruction in the schools. Objection to and 
 criticism of " Godless " public schools, etc., as well as articles, 
 pamphlets, editorials, and books in defense of the secular school, 
 but these lie outside the limits set for this study. State legisla- 
 tion, state constitutional provisions and state supreme court deci- 
 sions seem best suited to give us the matured judgment of our 
 people as a whole upon this subject. 
 
 At present there seem to be three fairly well defined attitudes 
 according to which the American people can be classified in this 
 connection: ist. Those who are advocates of religious instruc- 
 tion in the public schools. Holding that character is more impor- 
 tant than all else, and that religion is a necessary element in the 
 process of forming right character, they would make religion one 
 of the required subjects for all pupils. 2nd. Those who advocate 
 religious, sectarian schools, in which sectarian doctrines may be 
 freely taught by orthodox, denominational teachers. They claim 
 that in educating the youth in such schools they are rendering to 
 the state a distinct service, and are relieving the state of an obli- 
 gation and a burden, and for this reason are entitled to state 
 assistance. The state should be willing to reimburse them for 
 the expense they are to in supplying schools and teachers. They 
 will not be satisfied with non-sectarian religious instruction, but 
 insist upon thorough indoctrination of the pupils in the doctrines 
 of their particular church. 3rd. Those who have accepted the 
 secular public school ; who hold that it is no part of the duty of the 
 state to teach religion ; that under conditions such as exist in this 
 country there is no other practicable course than the elimination 
 of religious instruction from the public schools entirely, leaving 
 it to the church, the Sunday-school, private enterprise, and the 
 home to inculcate religious truth. 
 
 The secularization of public education represents but one phase 
 of the differentiation and separation of the ecclesiastical and the 
 civil powers which has been going on in this country from the 
 earliest years of its history. The educational function has been 
 especially dear unto the church and she has clung to it with the 
 
158 The Secularization of American Education 
 
 greatest tenacity, and in turn the church has had certain ele- 
 ments to contribute unto education which the people as a whole 
 have been very loath to relinquish. But conditions have been 
 such as seemingly to allow of no alternative to secularization, and 
 to-day the principle of the secular school, however unwillingly 
 and hesitatingly at first, has come to be accepted by a majority of 
 our people in every state in the union. That some interpret this 
 principle more liberally or more narrowly than others is true, but 
 throughout the union such changes as have been made within 
 recent years have been almost without exception in the direction 
 of secularization. Some states have gone much farther with it 
 than others. The older states have tended as a rule to abide most 
 closely by the old practices and ideals. Some of the newer states 
 of the West have taken the most advanced positions therein, others 
 have lagged the farthest in the rear. Nowhere has there been a 
 return to religious control, once the state has taken over the edu- 
 cational function. Nowhere has sectarian or denominational 
 religious instruction been reinstated by any state after having been 
 excluded. Nowhere has the work of education by the state for 
 citizenship been acknowledged a failure and abandoned. Every- 
 where more and more of the revenues of the state are being 
 devoted to educational ends. The American states have 
 unbounded confidence in their ability to educate for their purposes. 
 
BIBLIOGRAPHY 
 
 The following is a partial list of the sources cited or consulted 
 in the course of this study. 
 
 Primary Sources 
 
 Enactments of Colonial Legislative Powers. 
 
 Various forms of charters granted during the Colonial Period. 
 
 Session Laws of State and Territorial Legislatures. 
 
 State Codes and Revisals. 
 
 State School Laws. 
 
 State Constitutions. 
 
 The Federal and State Constitutions, Colonial Charters and other Organic 
 
 Laws of the United States — Ben. Perley Poore. 
 State Supreme Court Reports. 
 Digests of Judicial Decisions. 
 Law Reporters. 
 
 Annual Reports of State Superintendents of Schools. 
 Governors' Messages. 
 Presidents' Messages. 
 The Annals of Education. 
 
 Annual Reports of City Superintendents of Schools. 
 Barnard's Journal. 
 
 Proceedings of the National Education Association. 
 The Catholic School System — Bums. 
 The Parochial School — Crowley. 
 The American Catholic Review. 
 Papers of the American Historical Association. 
 Charters, Acts and Official Documents Relating to Coltimbia University, 
 
 Compiled by John B. Pine, New- York, 1895. 
 The Niles Register. 
 Newspaper Files. 
 
 Educational and General Magazine Files. 
 Reports of the New York Public School Society. 
 
 Secondary Sources 
 
 History of Education in Alabama — Clark. 
 
 History of Education in Arkansas — Shinn. 
 
 History of the Public School System of California — Swett. 
 
 159 
 
i6o The Secularization of American Education 
 
 The History of Education in Connecticut — Steiner. 
 
 The History of Education in Delaware — Powell. 
 
 History of Education in Florida — Bush. 
 
 History of Education in Georgia — Jones. 
 
 Higher Education in Indiana — Woodburn. 
 
 Higher Education in Iowa — Parker. 
 
 History of Higher Education in Kentucky — Lewis. 
 
 The History of Education in Lotiisiana — Fay. 
 
 History of Higher Education in Maine — Hall. 
 
 History of Education in Maryland — Steiner. 
 
 History of Higher Education in Michigan — McLaughlin. 
 
 History of Education in Mississippi — Mayes. 
 
 Higher Education in Missouri — Snow. 
 
 History of Education in New Hampshire — Bush. 
 
 History of Education in New Jersey ■ — Murray. 
 
 History of the Common School System of the State of New York — ^Randall. 
 
 History of Higher Education in the State of New York — Sherwood. 
 
 History of Education in North Carolina — Caldwell. 
 
 A History of Education in Pennsylvania — Wickersham. 
 
 History of Education in Rhode Island — Tolman. 
 
 History of Higher Education in South Carolina — Meriwether. 
 
 Higher Education in Tennessee — Merriam. 
 
 History of Education in Texas — Lane. 
 
 History of the Virginia Company of London — E. D. Neil. 
 
 Thomas Jefferson and the University of Virginia — Adams. 
 
 History of Education in West Virginia — Morgan and Clark. 
 
 The Evolution of the Massachusetts School System — Martin. 
 
 The Making of Our Middle Schools — Brown. 
 
 History of Education in the United States — Dexter. 
 
 Educational Legislation and Administration in the Colonies — Clews. 
 
 The Free School System — Adams. 
 
 Illustrative Educational Documents — Hinsdale. 
 
 Reports of the United States Commissioner of Education. 
 
 Federal Aid to Higher Education — Blackmar. 
 
 Economic Influences on Educational Advance — Carlton. 
 
 The Labor Movement in America — Ely. 
 
 Church and State in the United States — Schaff. 
 
 Columbia University Studies in Economics, History and Public Law, 
 
 No. VI and No. XIII. 
 Johns Hopkins University Studies, Vol. XVII. 
 The Dutch and Quaker Colonies in America — Fiske 
 Atlantic Monthly, August, 1876.