Richmond enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1815-1867, 1818-01-08

/ lfd laws OF tnis STATE, or OF tue ODiteu NIdfeS
norwith such &c neral regulations aStbe boar
| otpublic instruction may provide for the ge
| neral government OF the academies of tn
| commonwealth.
| EXTRACT NO. 3.
| +" HID be a. further enacted, That, soon as
the board of public instruction shall have a.
! greed upon proper settle tor amy one ut the
colleges aforesaid, they shall design proper
l,ans for the structure thereof, aud they shall
appoint tweniy-tv trustees OF such college
who shall at their first meeting, elect preSi-
| dent aud vice president from their own body,
and thereafter be styled. The president and
trustees OF the college ofPendetpn. VI ythe, or
| Henry" Gas the case may be- ia which name
| they shall have a common seal and perpetual
| succession shall be capable of suirs X Dem.
| sued, pleading aud being iinplcalci ana shall
have and ENJOY all the rights amt privileges OF
| a corporation. \ majority OF the said trustees
| shall constitute board for the transaction of
| business. aud shall have everypOwcr IN reia-
| ton to their own proceedings; To the eTccti-
! or ofpubiic e'litces Of their respective Guile
/ geS the appointment and removal Of their
professors and teachers; aud tue instruction
| and discipline of the students OF Snch college,
as the trustees of the several academies atore
said are empowered to exercise in relation TO
their resi- ective academies; ani 10 make such
rules and regulations, relative 10 all or any of
these subjects, as may seem 10 item eApedent:
Provided, they are not Inconsistent with the
constitution and laws OF this state or Ot the u
nitcd STATES, nor with such general regulations
aS the board at public instruction may provide
Tor the general government OF Oh, several cole
e.eS OF tins commonwealth.
The most serious attention of the Gen
eral Assembly is first solicited TO HE or
CARNATIONS oftheSc three descriptions of
corporations. The iiist observation which
arrests the attention IN this view oil The
subject, is, that each one is essentially
different IN this respect from line other.
The board of pubic instruction, Which
IN ~
10 borrow from the fashionable system of
banking, d more appropriate figure drawn
from nature, the mother corporation, IS
nominai!y made dependant upon the Cen
erai Assembly, in virtue oi the power re-
served 10 thai body, TO appoint IFS mem
bcrs annually, except the governor Tor the
time being, who Is a member and presi-
dent OF the corporation, eX Ottclo, and
who is, lktwisc, dependant upon the Cen
eral Assembly for his annual appoint
ueut. This is the only responsibility re-
quwcd Of this whole assemblage of cor
porallons-and this merely nominal, as
will be shown hereafter. The academical
corporations are made dependant upon
the board Of public instruction for their
creation, and the first election OF their
respective members but the duration of
their Office is unlimited and each corpO-
any vacancies, which may happen in its
members, from death, resignation, re-
mOval from The district, inability, or any
other cause ; but the office itself Is left
lntermnable, there being no provision
made for new elections. Nor Is The Vari-
ETY. of phrascology employed in giving
duration 10 these three descriptions OF
corporations unworthy of remark. The
board OF public Instruction., anu the col
legIate corporations are 10 have perpetu-
al succession, III express terms when the
academlcal corporations are left to infer
their perpetuities III consequence Of The
absence of co press limitations upon their
dhratlOns The trustees of each beingon-
~ deemed body corporate, without
any express authorization of perpetual
succession : but as lie corporations are
created without limitation, and ample
provision made for their continuance. this
observation is made more 10 show one "a
mongSi many examples, of The eXuberance
and versatility OF lie genius, 10 which
mankind is indebted for this brilliant
plan OF public education, than in conse-
guence of any operative influence, which
the omission might he supposed to pro-
duce. Upon approaching the collegiate
corporations, another remarkable variety
OF organization presents itself Whilst
they, like the academicai corporations,
are made dependant upon the board of
public instruction for ille first election oil
their respective members; after which the
elective principle isSeen no more in relation
TO theni--the hereditary principle hereto
fore Unknown III every other ase under OR
constitution and government, is substitu-
ted. For ii is highly worthy OF obselya-
| ton, that whilst the collegiate are made
| TO derive all their powers by reference,
aud analogy to the academical corpora
tons they are stripped OF The particular
| power filling up va ancies IN their own
| bodies respectively Hence it becomes an
inevitable cons equence, thatas, after their
! creation, perpetual succession is guar
| antced 10 them and there is 10 mode
| pointed cut for filling vacancies by cleo
| ton, this perpetual succession can only
| be preserved, ca necessiiote rei upon the
| hereditary principle another striking in
| stance of the variety and IuxuriaHcy of
| genius employed upon this grand and
! brilliant design.
| Upon review of these respective de
scriptl0ns of corporations, il will lsc found
| that the board of public Instruction. ,
| rests npon lie principle of annual cleo
| lions for lis basis. The academicaI cor
| poratiSns, Hpon the principle of filing up
their vacancies by tIieirrespectlye bodies;
| and the collegiate corporations, upon the
| principle Of hereditary succession. Can
there be more variety IN tie fundamental
| principles of these respective corporate
| onS? Still more interest will he found by
the General Assembly, in devoiing its at
tentiOn TO The powers proposed to be be-
slowed upon these corporations. The
pc" ers of the board of public instruction,
or mother corporation, call for the most
attentive consideration. These consist