The enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1804-1815, 1811-02-26
COLLEGE OF WILLIAM & MARX.

| r PURPOSE 10 deliver a course oflect,Ires IN
| Geography aud II istoryto the students Of
this college, as already minated to the public
| these lectures will be given on two evenings of
| the week, and may be about twenty four Iii num-
Der, they will comprehend,
| list. All the parts of Astronomy. and of 6s-
economical Geography, use of the Globes. Mans
| &c. which can be understood without the aid of
| Mathematics
| ID. The general outline topography of all
| the countr les in the known world ;includnp the
governments (; their natural or acquired adyan
| tages, and their systems of civil and religious
policy; SO tar as our sources of intelligence will
permit.
! Sd. The causes of the rise and fall of GER
tain states. and the effects which their reyolu
| tons have had upon the manners Of men, in what
| cases they have proved favorable to. liberty and
the rights Of man subversive of them; and
! in what they have promoted true religion and
| virtue or error, superstition, intolerance, and
| persecution.
To the members of a:great republick, know.
| ledge OF these subjects IS indspensaby necessa-
I ry; II may be obtained with little labour and is
perhaps, in the present state of society, more
important than some speculations which REQUIRE
deep research However commendabie it NAV
be to excel in mathematics, this must ALWAYS be
the province of few, but the subjects which
these lectures will embrace, ought to consti-
tute part OF the common place requirements OF
every well informed citizen. !.
1t is my wish and my duty, as a publirk
teacher, to give to these lectures all the interest
IN my power / shall therefore endeavour TO
render them subseryient to the cause of virtue,
and OF publlck utility My exertions to ameIi-
crate the condition of the department committed
to my care, and to lead my scholars by the rea-
diest paths into the rig ht road to Mathematical
excellence, have not been without success;
have already overcome some apparently insupe
rable difficulties, and may perhaps surmounf
them all. shal-be equally jealous in impart-
ing TO them this less difficult but not less useful
kind OF information.
The tedium of an anchorite life, devoted to
abstract aides the dull otony resulting
from the constant reitera,ion of the same lessons.
ina place too where the pursuits to which I
have givenfmy existence, do not excite any great
interest, and where the principal stimulus to
exeruon Is sense of duty, have induced me TO
seek recreation in this lighter kind of reading
what have found pleasant TO myself shall try
to render useful to those young men who are
IN part, confided 10 my care. These lectures
are intended TO furnish rational instruction, in
the intervals of severer studies, without the re-
cessiIy of great application. Should some of
our young men find them sufficiently attractive
to induce their serious att ention to them a few
months OF every course, shall be Satisfied that
have rendered some service to those for whom
am most interested--the. youth Of Virginia,
Parents and Guardians who wish those whom
they have placed here to attend the lectures will
please W tntlF intention by letter.
thtrwise, before the end of this month as it
| will be necessary to discontinue them in the
month Of june.
take this opportunity to repeat nv wish
that students who enter my school would come
! qualified to commence the studies proper to the
department it is really idle to presume that
| any valuable improvement can be made in Ma
| themsticks and Natural Philosophy without
some kind Of preparation Arithrnetick and
algebra AZ least are necessary such as are un
acquainted with these, may safely reckon upon
making very little progress they will attend TN
willingly and with small advantage and their
endorsements will, almost uniformly, induce
their Abandonment ofthe object which, with due
| preparation, they might easily obtain of this
the instances are numerous.
| Parents should also reflect that O college ia
not the most proper place for lessons, merely e.
| Elementary; the sciences can be taught here no
other way than by lecture, under existing repu-
lstlons and such would understand them
ought to be in some degree Initiated
AS it is impossible to procure mathematical
books here, recommend tina. those who in.
tend coming to college the ensuing wear will use
endeavors to be furnished with them 2 want, in
the junior class, Hutton's Mathematics, Q vols
| 3 vo. Friends or Bonnycastle's Algebra Vince's
| Comic Sections Keitb's or Bounycastles Tri-
! gonometry; SimpscD's Fluxions in short all
the elementary works OF Hutton, BOnnycastle,
Vince and simpson. shall shortly give a fuller
! statement of the nature of this department, aud
the objects it ought to embrace the advance
which it has made in improvement since UNI
dertook the management OF il and those Of
which it is still susceptible under different ma
nagements at present shall only say thar its
existing state and that in which found it are
widely dIffereht. Let it not heundertood that
make the most remote ausi0n 10 the worthy
men who have held tbs Office sntecedent 70 my
appointment / speak from experience
have encountered almost Dsuperabe difficulties
at every step, and have generally surrounded
them This declaration might SAVIOR Of selfadu
i2tion 1t were not known that make yer,
moderate estimate OF my own genius ard talents
however claim the merit Of good intentions, &
Of undated zeal for the Improvement Of IN,
scholars.
GEORGE BLACKBURN, ~ P.