Daily Richmond Whig. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1828-1831, 1829-02-09

publican vgour desencaey IN these is caler which
rats the heart of its laws and PERSON
Education taken in It's widest sense, is the main
prop and support OF republic. nation, TO reap the
peaceful fruits olibcry mus, he teaiiied up in true
Wisdom and virtue. Mark it, nation; not few n
dividuas, whether poor wealthy. III education be
confined to small class, while the great body of the
people without the Of instruction, our hlp
| py republic VIII most eSSuredy degenerate into Il
monarchyi the fegns government viii allinto the
hands OF Pricsfedcd O,tie!: otmen who have ENJOY
cal the blessing o; Instructors and who only know now
to employ 1t for the worst of purposes.
The fate Of all countries adno:ish us tha, national
strength consists not III extent ri territory not In
physical resources, in dense populations; but IN
people possessing elevated tone OF moral feeling,
and e,Stonsi,o intellectual a,tpuments. How mpor-
taut, then, is il for this nation. above all others,
pay scrupulous attention 10 tho dissemination Of useful
knowledge. With the whole burthcn OF govern
ncnt rests the peOpic-They called on repeat
edly, either by election by auction to express
their opinions OH subjects which would demand the
elaboration of wes statesmen. II their minds are
not well balanced by educstiuu they are constantly
liable 70 be led astray hv designing tcra rorlcs
And rnurc especially they Liable 10 be led into en-
ror by artful newspaper editors and their correspond
cnts not only TO be poisoned with untruth but even
tn be inirriaicd and maddcned with ali the venom,
that can ranka in the human breast. The iniu cncc
OF thc press is mcalcu!abc. u is the lever by
which the moral world is TO h. moved Its PERM
ciunS influence Is no less powerful than It's rood The
niidC presses II France converted christian nation
kind, like cankcrS eating the heart of its laws
and constitution. But on the other hand the reli-
gious and moral publications. of the day, are pouring
forth like hcaliilfl streams to refresh and pur the
land To avoid the evils of liccntiousncss we must
cnbghten the people. Give them thoughts and the
poisoned drcSs ola wnptoncupcan have ne effect. Al
vice is ignorance, all virtue, knowledge" The peo-
PIE r1st be taugmto reason; TO think and to act for
themselves.
ffthe great mass ofpopuln.ion have not crcated in
'hein love oil knowledge, aud Il preference for the
society and conversation Of the mighty dead thew
must spend their leisure hours in 6Sr,,s aud ssipa
ton, become the elements of corruption and disson
tion and the Fit tools OF dcsros and dc,ror-pcrcs-
But before any real and lasting improvement can be
made in our moral and intellectual condition there is
another mighty engine that must b., BROUGHT to hear
IN all It's force mean the education of yoiith-ofthe
rising generation which is shortly To come forward
and take the place we occupy. Education to be
made general aud useful must be as cheap and thor
ough rs possible. Now what have we done "a accom-
pish this end? The Legislature as on all irnnortn,,t
subjects have manifested disposition to act; and to
do all III their power TO promote the great cause of
learning. They have set apart fund devoted ex-
culsiveiy to that purpose But unfortunately tho nro
ceeds ofhc fund have been badly applied-Isav unf,r
tunatcly for no Legislative body how far soeyer they
may see into the things of futurity can exactly fore
tell the operation ftheir own measures. Time and
circumstances often cause results directly cortra, 70
what was expected. The main business of LEGISLATION
is doubtless pro bono pwLLico-lor the GOOD of the
whole. When therefore an act, intended to dispensc
blessing TO MI the people is found in its operation to
effect not Iundrcdh part; most assurev that act
is detective. The machine does not work wel ther,
Is too MUCH friction somewhere; it must be taken 10
pieces, examined, and put together anew.
The literary fund was intended for ''iIe encourage-
0ient # iC1ra0g generally Its disposable revrnun
has been annually about $4,000; of tbs moro than
halfs appropriated to the education of poor children
Now ! would he among tie last TO wish a repeal of
this phianlropc act Of our Legislature, provided the
benefits derived TO the poor any thing like equal
to such vast expenditure of money. But this is Ger
tainy not the case. Who are entitled TO share in
the above mentioned appropriations The law does
not define who are INDECENT Children; but has left it
entirely 20 the discretion OF school commissioners to
say who entitled to its benefits and who are not
That the commissioners have ITO fixed rule to r,,ide
them in this Xlattcr, may be learned from the fact
that III some Counties where the white population does
not exceed 5OJO soUis, they will report about 10 poor
chibrcn and the very next year viii report upwards
of one hundred entitled to the public charity.
OF this number considerable proportion reject the
oher OF gratuitous education; another part, from
me want OF convenient schools, entirely neglect
c md third part, after accepting the offer fail to
attend school SO that on an inspection of the conf
Miss ncrs reports FOR series OF years together it
WI. be found that not more than HqC of the poor
children reported derive any benefit whatever from
the school fund.
Now who knows whether those on whom the public
money is actually expended, educated as the law
requires? in some few counties where the business
IN the hands If conscientious men, il goes on oc-
raby wei. The poor really benefited in some
degree. But every where else have searched and
euqnrcd for any good that has been experienced by
The parent, the child, the pubc but have never yct
boon able to find an individual who thought that the
money expended was beneficial either TO the poor or
80 The community at large
Nor is this thing at all assembling, Tic Law does
not make any one responsible for the real instruction
Of tie children. And it you search the world over
VIII be found that men never do more than is reou
rcd Of them. Iou only ask Of the school commits.
soers to hunt ont the subjects of the law-scnd them
to some ncghbOring school pay the teachers fee
and TO make his annual report 20 the board this he
doc and no more. licrevnr visits the school knows
nothing about the qualifications of nc teacher nor
thc progress OF the scholar he does not know even
whether tbc boy Tor whose tuition he pnys attends
school more than half Of his time. And il il rene
rally the tlIot charity children do not attend more
than half the year for which they are engaged. In
This land Of abundance, no man jmIoys under extra
oHlnoTy circumstances is brought 10 poverty by I'M
av1idable accidents. in nine cases DOT Of ten tho
patents arc idle and dssipatcd, lost 10 all regard
Tor the welfare Of those dependent them, that they
brlncslame and distress upon their families without