The Arkansas advocate., 1831-08-24

ter Plenipotentiary To France. Tn 179.
 lie was recalled, wftl m implied censure
 upon soHe ot his acis, in reply to whicl he pnnhshed his whole correspondence j with lls own government aistas that that oi france. Two years afterwards fin I7ggi
 he was elected Governor of virsinia. in winch office he remained for the constitu. l tional period of three years. His nomina. ton to that office was made by Mr. Madi-
 son, ,thena q member of the Legislature
 Immediately after this@term expired, he
 wassappointed hy Ais @x=-.Ie .ss,:., slsss.- i junction with Mir. Livingston, Minister to
 France, to negotiate for the purchase ol Louisiana. As soon as the Louisiana req ty was formed, he was translated to iifsng- Hand as the successor of Mir. isufas King. lie arrived there in 1903, and in Is64 went to Spain with the same rank, assot,is. ed with Mr. Charles Pinckney. liter a stay of six months, he returned to London where he remained until l8eS. when his foreign servicestermina&e ed and lie ret0rn- cd home. He continued iu private life un- ri April, lSl0, when he was again chosen Goyerhor Of Nirginia, aud in tile next year appointed Secretary ofsstafe under IT. Madison, which office he hetd until is i7s His election as President of the united States took place in that year, and m m te@t9, alter serving two terms in flat high station, his political life closed. Af- fer his retirement from this distinguished station, hesfilled the humble office fips- tlee of the peace in the county ofilondon. was associated with Jefferson and Afadi son n the founding of the University of Hglnla, and subsequently, was chosen member of the Convention for amending the constitution of his native state, bys wtach body he was elected to preside over their deiiberatious. This was the last public office that he filled. TtwiA:bo seen that, with tie exception of few Short in. terYais, he has spent FoRrY-NINE YEARS of his life in tie public service,
 4,e have before us thesahnual report oi the board Of visitors invited by the war department 10 attend ihe annnal ex- od cadets at the United States academy at West Point. which commenced and ended last month"; The document Is copious, interesting. and satisfactory, but occupies too much space to be inserted-entire.
 An opinion is prevalent with some, who have not8iyen attention to the sub- Iect, that the education acquired bv3 young men at West Point is wholly mil itary. The impression is erroneous.- We are quite within bounds when we as- sert, that at no college or seminary with in the unions can youth be better fit- ted for the various pursuits of life, than at the United States academy.a
 Among the most important, because most useful science, comprised in the course of studies, is civil engineering; and the board express their entire satis- faction with the knowledge eyineedsby the first class, whose course of instruc- ton is completed therein.
 At the present time, when every month gives birth to some new project for railroad or canal, the service of these young men-mnst prove valuable to the community and profitable tothen- selves.
 The board recommend further aid and encouragement to this highly impor- tant branch of education, which we trust, since the iegitimacy1of the insti- tuition is fully recognised, will not be withheld.
 We give below few extracts from the report, which, it is not doobted, will be perused with pleasure by the friends of this fayorito national institution.
 s.in the branches of ethics, rhetoric, national and constitutional law, the class acquitted themselves with great credit, eyincflg by their answers, a familiarity with the prlaeiples of tieir text books, acquired and retall4e1 not so much by the mere effort of memory, as by tic ,,f- plicatIon of the mind 10 their thorough investigation.
 "fhe studies eomprehended in the course of the second class. are natural philosophy, chemistry and drawing. s ssiifl the first of these braneI1es. com prisihg nsagnetisu, electricity, mechan- ics, optics, and astronomy, the class gave proofs of considerable attainment. In the solution of the most difficult pro- blems, their demonstrations at the black board, were neat, clear and conclusive, and executed with pronptitude and coolncss, which, nothing short of full confidence in their own attainments, could inspire. The board have no hes itation in expressing their belief, that TO class of equal numbers can be found in any university in the union, moro thoroughly conycrsant with subjects up- on which they have been examined" :"
 ssThe course of instruction pursued lru tho thirA clncr or,h 70 coc ,,,ath hn.,,n-