Self-government only possible with the Bible and its hallowed influences

“God will have men and nations governed by one of the two instruments—AN OPEN BIBLE, with its hallowed influences, or A STANDING ARMY WITH BRISTLING BAYONETS. One is the product of God’s wisdom, the other, of man’s folly; and that nation or people that dare discard, or will not yield to the moral power of the one, must submit to the brute force of the other. Herein we discover the secret of the ability to govern ourselves. Just so long, and no longer, than we preserve the open Bible in our schools, shall we be capable of self-government.” Sawtelle, quoted in The Right of the Bible in our Popular Schools, published in 1854