Fisher Ames - the Bible in Public School

One of our lesser-know but quite important founders, Fisher Ames, is considered the author of the First Amendment. He said the following about the value of the Bible in education:

"... we have a dangerous trend beginning to take place in our education. We're starting to put more and more textbooks into our schools. ... We've become accustomed of late to putting little books in the hands of children containing fables with moral lessons. We are spending less time in the classroom on the Bible, which should be the principle text in our schools. The Bible states these great moral lessons better than any other manmade book."

See:
Ames, Fisher, The Mercury and New England Palladium, Vol. XVII No 8, Tuesday, January 27, 1801, p. 1