Constitutional Whig. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1824-1832, 1825-02-01

""y J"S'y eNPe'' u"t Sol JOB 30 will soon b,
added to she capital of the fund. Nav, should ex
periencc demonstrate that the ,s,;,,a, -
hibited should prove deficient, or thnt = ,l;rd ~
lessor ought 10 be added to each of the COLLEGES th
SITUATION OF our literary finances will prohablv no
sucn as TO answer any such augmented demand =
And the further surplus of the revenue of the J;,.r
airy FUND wou' then be unfcttered from the claims
OF the colleges, aud might be applied to the third
branch OF our system of public instruction. upo,
such enlarged and improved principles as tho GO
of the land are doubtless competent to device r.
the march OF the entre scheme of national inst,,c
ton towards It's final completion would be greatly
accelerated; and consistency of design aud unity ~.
action would reign throughout the consecutive la
oours OF succeeding sessions of the General As
sembly.
That the diffusion of institutions. such as arc
here recommended, would be of incalcuIablc ,d :
vantage to the education of our youth, is Il promo
siuon tee clear 10 require thar any argument
Shouio DE urged IN its deieuce. To make the at
tempt, would he to insult the intelligence of vour
honorable body. Were arguments necessary. they
might be found abundantly i'll the numerous peti-
tons now crowdng yonr table.
What the advantages of the rI,u or ,r.,e-
ferring all the funds Of William and Marv 10 the
city of Richmond, compared to the benefits or ,b
schcme Of division and diffusion?
The Richmond plan takes every thing from the
ancient metropolis. and abandons To utter lose an,
ruin the present College ediiice
The general scheme leave W'msburg & the other
surrounding country on an equal footing with the
or the state, preserves for useful nurposes
the College buildings.
The Richmond plan transfers to the tnetr,,oI;
an institution of high grade, the utility of which in
the actual state OF things, WILL to say the least he
very li.iited; and concentrates at one Doin, j.; tho
east, all the disposabe College funds now held
by the state.
Thp ccIo
those funds to the country beyond the Allcghapv
to the valley and to all parts of the commonwealth
ihd Richmond plan would promote, in a very
Limited degree, and IN partial manner system
ofpuhlic instruction for the state at large to ybc
the people OF Virginia have SO long looked for
ward with anxious expectation.
The general scheme advances directly and p, !
pldly the system OF public instruction in which
the state is cmhnrked; and by carrying home TO the
doors OF our yeomlnry facilities Of education for
thelr sons, reScues our literary establishment fon
the InputaiIon OF conducting to the instruction only
of the paupers and of tie nabobs OF the land.
By the Richmond plan the light ct science win
blaze forth with redundant spendor at two points
in the state.
by the general scheme there will be one great In,
mhafy IN the centre, and lesser lights kindled uu
over the whole extent Of our territory
By the Richmond plan the surplus revenue of the
Literary iund VIII stand mortgagcd to the colleges
to tile exclusion of the primary schools for an indo
finite series of years yet to come.
By the general. plan you will a once nearIv ca
tsfy the wants OF the colleges and lberate and law
open the surplus to the claims OF the primary
schools.
Under circumstances such as these, can the Gem
era Assembly of Virginia hesitate TO make itsel.c
ton.
What then are the obstacles to the adoption of
a scheme OF such wide spreading and ncalculable
dement's to the whole people of Virginia?
Is not the money our own, Does not the corpor-
alton the college of William and Marv exist for
us, and not we for the corporation? Are the crown
lands which the king gave the college to be consi-
dered private donation, when they were held bv
MN as our governor for the time being, and were
conferred at the request of our forefathers who
tered the Wilderness drove OFF the Indians and Con-
quered these very lands No, Representatives: toll
not your constituents that these royal donations
were not the property of the brave foreiathers of
the people of Virginia.
The objections which are supposed to arise from
the charter of the college, and the rights OF the cor
poration cannot be justified IN the light ofreason or
onthe ground of authority.
Were this the case of a private seminary cor
poration, like liampden Sidney or Washington,
college, these objections would be entitled to the
highest consideration: but they are Believed to be
entirely inappcahle TO the public corporation of
F" illIan and Mary, which chartered at the in
stance OF the General Assembly, and endowed by
the executive functionary Of the time the pb-
c lands and the public Golfers, for public and GEN
erai objects, and not for private and individual
purposes The small medium of private donations,
constituting perhaps tcnth,or twelfth mart of the
college property should he considered as following
rather than leading and stamping the character of
this public institutions. HstOrYproycs that the first
anu greatest OF the private donations, That of Gov
erhor Nicholson and the Council, was intended
mainly to give an impulse to The General Assembly.
and to enlist the public authorities of the colony in
the support of the project, without whose aid as the
historian expressly states, the protector well knew
that nothing efficient could be accomplished Ii is
worthy of observation that the Central College orr
gnated in similar manner, after lapse of up
wards OF Il century from the foundation of the col
lege of William and May.
Is there any good reason that an institution thus
founded, and thus endowed, should not come within
the pale of Legislative controu as much as the cor
poraton OF the Literary Fund or of the University
of Virginia?
The experience of the country is rapidly develop
ing. How many preudiccs have existed on this sub
Ject' and how idle are the supposed dangers of civ
ing the Representatives of the people an efficient
controul over our literary institutions The actual
situation of the college of William and Mary, and
the petition of the Visitors and professors furnish
the strongest proofs of the absolute necessity of
regulating power liz the hauds of the REPRESENTATIVE
body Ofths the petitioners seems to be duly sem
sible, provided you will limit its exercise to the
sanction of the plans Of policy which they propose
to estdblisb but if you, gentlemen. should all hap
pen to differ with them in opinion, they will tell you
to attend to your appropriate duties that you are
not qualified to discuss the relations of cause and
effect; to settle the controversies of Hume Paine,
or a Noltaire; to enter into the perplexug labyr-
inti's of metaphysical inquiry; to pursue the de-
yious comet in his flight through the trackless re-