Richmond enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1815-1867, 1818-02-19

course Of instruction &c few seminaries. I
which IL belongs "a tue people TO have or not,
with OF without their conitol tor tlie right ot
establishing independent semina,ies is IA no
respect iuiIiHgeS. With respect To the pow
crS which grow out az the voluntary establish.
nent OF Seminafies, the wiItercontents himSelt
with the bare enumeration, without pointin.
eat the dangers which they involve. Indeed
the reason he is obliged to give Tor hs belle: OF
their disastrous consequences. sufficiently
proves that he could discover nothing ~ their
own nature or character In Justify has Susp, q.
onS. Let ms hear hiu,. thar out OF has ow.s
mouth he may condemn hlinseii.
Considering that the ierm instruction Is Intended
to comprehend cyeu thing " ch can tsud TO Improve
en,brliish the mnd body of ali the yoH,h vi The
commonwealth and that the disri pne Ia enforce H. is
ef solely 10 the discretion of the boaid wilton, iimiia
ton To time, and without the responsibility 10
means It is thought. that these atone would be
dee,Bed liberal grants of power, especially since they in
cude amongst them monopoly of rights, which have
heretofore been held dear othc heart OF the patent and
which nothing but the most refined philosophy could
quire to he surrenrredA philosophy too ieiHed is
feared, IN these philosophical times, for unposh
cd instructive nature I" succub 10, without some heart
felt signs will these sigs of mature be less ardent
sincere when recolSced tina, the surrender OF
these rights is forever"
The above quotation contains the concentrat-
ed force of the Arguments against the board OF
public instruction, and is nothing more than a
repetition OF the errors in relation TO tine word
instruction, responsibility, parental rights, and
perpetuity which have already been exposed
and reiuted. AS the reason then Tor the thing
does not exist, neither does the thing itself
The Constituent does not seem To be aware
that in his overweCning anxiety 10 attain his
end, and 10 fix upon the members OF the last
General Assembly who supported ,he system
at education i'll question, the obloQuy of
criminal design to defraud the people of their
rights, he INDUCES III \ latitude of assertion
and an extravaganza OF hypeTbOle Which must
defeat his o~n object. He should recollect
the maxim: Qaodcmqae osteadismihi sic incredn-
los ODD, and be more moderate in his incuipa-
tons He should make smaller drafts on the
stock OF public credulity, and indOrse them
with better arguments. After asserting, with.
out even AN attempt at proof, and in the faca
OF the law which declares that " children shall
be eHtittd 10 feceire tuition, &c. that it WAS iu-
tended 10 uSurp the rights ut parents, no one
will be surprised al the declaration that" the
collegiate corporations rest upon the priuc-
pie OF hereditary succession" which he relates
himself by telling that IL is unknown TO
nnr constitution and government, by which il
has been seen, that al, the powers granted in
the bill, are limited. This declaration of the
ingenious critic as founded on the omission to
give expressly TO the trustees OF the colleges
the right TO I'll! their own vacancies, surprising
this 10 exclude Them from that right would il
not have been fair at least 20 infer that the
perpetual succession WAS Ia he kept up by the
right 81 appointing trustees, conferred on the
hoard OF public instruction instead ct intro
dncing the ridiculous SuppOsitio ion OF hereditary
successIoh' Such idle pneriiities are really
beneath the dignity of criticism. 4 hat the
writer is aware of this power, cannot be in
terred from the general suppOsitisn that he
has read the bill; uOr il is very doubtful whe-
ther he has read it) but because he cites the
passage aud asks why they should not also
appoint the trustees 10 the primary schools"
THIS enquiry abuBdantly proves that b. has
not perceived single object of the bill, and is
wholly unacquanted with its spirit. The an
swer TO the question is simply this that those
"a as No
the very advantage of the hoard OF pablo in
Struction aud the origin of all its powers, is,
tllat no one can perform the functions com
United TO their charge as well as themselves.
10 superintend a system of public education,
To examine and appoint professors who arc to
teach the higher branches of science and trus-
tees WHO are to see that thcy are taught pro.
perlN, TO select with Judgment and discfirnIna-
ton the best elementary trcatises out of the
innumerable works that the multiiarious lite
nature OF the civilized world has supplied must
be task OF no ordinary facility, aud would
certainly require the exercise OF she highest
talents which tue country could afford. This
object 1t was thought wUuid be best attained
by selecting out OF the nation few of the most
enlightened and scientific citizens and by con.
fnng the right of selection itself to all enlirht-
ened body ; aud certainly better wav to at
tain this object could not be adopted The
creation of board of public instruction. or
some similar body grows necessarily out of the
admission, that there ought 10 be system of pub
feet aChich the present state Of science CiH admit
The bill creating that board does not aspire TO
perfection, but by containing within itself the
means of Improvement, by securing the indepen-
dent and uiTtuOus eIerti0n of the best talents,
rendered lnnoXious by responsibility, unambi-
tious by the removal of the temptations of
power or avarice, and active by the noble ends
TO be obtained, it promises as far as any human
institution can do so, To reach it. 1t may per-
haps be from want of ingenuity to discover
them but only three modes essentially ,.iner-
ent from that which was proposed present
themselves to my mind by which system of
public education can be carried into effect,
namely, 10 vest the supervising power in the
legislature, in the president and directors of
the literary fund, or in the county courts. Be
sides the general objection, that neither of
tific men, in as much as they have not been APP
pointed with view to that quality, there are
inAnmerable objections peculiar to each of
which few of the most prominent only Shall
be noticed. Although there are doubtless sci.
entlfic men in every legislature, yet tits chiefly
composed of men who are not of that charac-
ter, and who would be very incompetent to re-
gulate the details of general system of edu-
cation. The size of tile body and the conse-
auent Slowness and eXpensiveness of its opera
tons, its meeting only once year, and its
then having multiplicity OF intricate uues-
lions TO decide, Incompatible with that divi-
Sion OF labor which alone can ensure perfec.
ton, and its general responsibility not appIi-
cable TO any particular portion Gifts duties, are
all objections not easily surmounted to say
nothing of the place OF its meeting which is at
the seat of government, where the university,
the particular object of the immediate con,
troll of tie board of public instruction ought
never TO he. The same objection of incomDe.
tence may apply to the president and diree.