Richmond enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1815-1867, 1818-02-12

10 do il through ihisfyrannical discretion
OF the trustees. He will make friends o
the ii,ammon # unriglfeousness. To a,
| this, he must become their humble suito
and supplant, tending at once TO ,iegrad,
himself and pan The pride & insolencc o.
| ONCE; and hence the high-minded hon
orable Flrglnian people, justly boasiiss
of the enjoyment of every civil and i'm Ii
,idual right, will be reduced to the hum
bic supplicanis iortbe fayors ofpetty corpo-
raiions. Your Consii,ucn, has no small!
curiosity toknow upon what dana the G. en-
eral Assembly has concluded that ther,
are not already school-houses enough in
Virginia. Your Constituencies no, heard
ofany representations 10 il, complaining
ofany deficiency and if there should be.
IT cannot he the fault of the government,
because the people are now at liberty TO
have as many as they please, and if thew
have them not, II il their own fauli-bui
Tie presumption Is, that there are pre-
cisely as many schOolh houses as there
oUght To he IN the STATE, and that adding
morewould be work OF Supereroga,ion.
Ailiioushif is not pretended Fiat there is
positive proof OF this fact, yet tlieprcsump-
ton is grounded upon almost inlaliible
data. These data are-the people are not
restrained from building ihem-the peo-
pie are the best judges oftheir individual
wants-there Is no want of disposition i'm
the people to educate their children. II
~ believed this disposition is INDUCED
too far. For. many an able bodied son,
who would shine as mechanic, is ruined
by the fond partialiiy of The parent, TO
make HIM great man, and more especi-
ally a great statesman. Withall these in
ducemenis TO build school-houses, would
II not be AN extraordinary conclusion, hat
they are not built? Besides, the people
are better judges upon this subject, in all
It's relations the number of school .hous-
es wanted, the proper sites for them, the
sclleol-masters 10 be employed, their a
geS, and every other circumstances, than
any five petty trustees upon earth. Why,
then, all these extraordinary cxpences,
these vexaious regulations and these ar
bitrary powers, TO perform duties for The
people, which they can do infinitely bet
ter for themselves in their individual cha
racters
But the most fauciful, although not the
most miscellaneous of the modern notions,
for improving the condition of man is,
that of obtaining great statesmen, to
conduct the affairs of the commonwealth
by aprocess of filtration TO be practiced
upon poor children; although there is not
perhaps any case directly i'll point with
tile one in question, yet there is case
bearing SO much resemblance to it, as to
afford some tolerable data, for drawing a
conclusion as 10 The probable success of
this notion: il is the free school system
IN Great Britain. In G. Britain and Ire
land, there are probably above 1000 free
schools at thiS time.-Some of these have
been in operation above century-They
turn out at this time annually, probably
more than 5000 boys, educated according
TO the discipline of those schools. Sup
pose that to have been the average annu-
ally discharged from school for the last
century, and it would amount 10 one mil
lion of poor boys educated at free schools
within that time. This is suppositieus
statement, not varying from truth i'll so
material degree as TO effect the illustra-
ton and con fusion. Yet it is believed,
that these schools have not furnished one
single premier 10 Great Britain within all
that time; nor have they been at all cele-
brated for turning out statesmen of any
kind. 1t Great Britain has been so long
without a single great statesman from free
schools, how long may Virginia with her
diminished numbers, expect TO be before
ShC UlCSSllIUS from
this process of filtration ? The adv0-
Gates for this system triumphantly refer TO
the experience of Connecticut, case
nearer home for the support of their the
ores. They are not generally, very nice
observers III their analogies, and they
have never adverfed to the difference in
the moral sentiment of the people of Con-
necilcut, and Virginia in regard TO labor.
Their laboris honorable and practiced by
all, from the chief magistrate TO the poor
est man III the state; and idleness in any
sphere OF society is dlsrespectable Here
unfortunately, such is not the moral SEN
timent-Let then Connecticut with this
Incalcuiable advantage, be resorted TO for
eXperience-Let the enquiry be made !:
How many presidents has Connecticut
furnished since the establishment of the
government of tue u. States! How ma
ny extraordinarily great statesmen of any
description within the same time! How
many of these have been poor bows and
educated upon charity Probably moi
one. Does not then this fayorite exam
pie OF Connecticut, throw still darker
shade over the promised advantages of
this theory! Your Constituent feels great
respect for the body of the people of Con.
necticut, and particularly for her able and
vIrtuous representatives ; but who has not
heard of the peculiar national trait of the
lower orders of people in that state? 10
wlt:-Ihelr adroitness in obtaining mo-
ney without labor, by chicanery, and by
slight of hand tricks and conirvanees.-
If this national trait has been the effect
OF the free school education upon that
description of people, it cannot be con-
sldered as any great recommendation Of
The system. Ii is certainly not calculated
TO excite envy, nor to call for imitation.
1t Is not improbable, but that this kind of