Richmond enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1815-1867, 1841-12-14

Mledic:l College.
After getting through the reports, Professor Hard
moved the adoption Of the following resolutions. Wins,
were agreed 10:
Resoietd, That this Convention listened v;,h \,
greatest satisfaction 10 the eloquent and well d,,.>r.,
address delivered last (Frrday) evening, by our ,.".
ruble President, James NJ. Garnett, Esq.
Resoircd, furthermore, That n committee of ,hrse l.,
Amounted to express the gratitude Of this Convent,
to the President, for his excellent address, and renna,,
a copy of the same for publication, in such a form i
may hereafter be directed.
In pursuance Of the second resolution, the followin,
gentlemen were appointed I omrnittee-Pcof,.s.
Hardy, DR.. Frank Carr, and MIR. John d. Minor
On motion of Mr.. Minor,
Resolred lst, That the President, wee President.
and Secretaries of this Convention, and JUDGE John y
CIop,on, r. G. Scott, Esq, DR.. Lewis W. Chanbe,.
Jayne, Thomas Richie, Esq, J. b. Thornton, Esq, am
DR.. Thomas +. Mitchell, be a committee 10 embody ,ha
principles approved by this Convention, (adoplin, 4.
far as possible the language employed by the Conyeu.
ton in a memorial to the Legislature and take The nro.
per steps 10 have it duly presented to the General a..
sembiy)
Res0'red, I'd. That The primary education Of al! Le.
ing, in the opinion of this Convention, pre-eminentIy
important, that subjcc, should be separately presented
10 the Legislature and the people, for their APPRECIATION
without being necessarily involved in the fate ii a pro'
position TO extend the public bounty to higher classes ii
seminaries.
Resoired, Sd. That a committee of be appointed
to prepare an address to the people of Virginia, recon.
mending the subject of primary Education 10 their s..
Tenn consideration.
And Mesrrs. Thos. Richie, B. NJ. Smith and R. G
Scott, were appointed a committee IN accordance w,t,
the last resolution.
On motion of Rev. Mr.. Ryland,
Resoired, That the Superintendent and Teachers d,
Sabbath Schools, throughout Virginia, be requested 10
visit all the adult white persons who cannot read, N
their respective neighborhoods, and urge item y Al.
tend Sabbath Schools.
On motion of DR.. Plumer,
Resoiced, unanimously, That the thanks of this Con.
vcntion be respectfully rendered 10 its officers, who
have so ably, impartially, and patiently served i, in.
ring lis protracted discussions.
On motion of Mr.. b. NJ. Smith,
Rcsoired, That the thanks OF the Convention are
hereby rendered to the House Of Delegates for the use
of their Hall, and to the Trustees of the FIRST Baptist
Church for the use of their Lecture room during the
meeting of this Convention. The Convention then al.
lourned sine die, the members evlnclng the best feeling,
and separating in n spirit SO cordial us TO shew that tie
occasion had been the means Of 4 social intercourse cut
Of which had grown high sentiments OF esteem and re.
spect.
The highly intelligent body Of gentlemen which form.
ed the Convention are now bound together in a league,
upon which rest solemn obligations to advance the
great cause Of education. The Convention, il is true,
has resolved itself into its original clements; but every
member of it assumed by the act of meeting here, le.
sponsibility to the State, and 10 his immediate section Of
country, to use his efforts, earnestly and on all proper
occasions, 10 advance the objects for which the Conyeu.
ton assembled And may they be impressed with the
truth that that assemblage was the mere beginning OF
their work, indeed, that IT but cut out work for them
and that they must return home and commence their
labors-tIat they must enlist their people IN the cause,
themselves leading the way-that they must work upon
public sentiment and make It warm and active in tie
enterprise. This they must do or thcir action Will come
10 nought. For unless the people be interested IN the
matter-unless there be vigilance and industry III the
prosecution of plans for primary education in the rom.
lies, among the people at home, the State may contribute
millions Of dollars, and il will be like pouring water into
a seiye, it VIII all be lost.
EDUCATION St coSS sf:GengS se ciss;1r Proceedings.
This body closed its labors Saturday night, after 4
protracted session of the day, from > O'Clock A. NJ. 10
I p. NJ. Several motions for 4 recess were made dur
ing the day, but the unanimity with which they we're
voted down, is an evidence Of the indomitable spirit
which pervaded the assemblage, and exhibited 4 COM
mendable determination in the friends OF the general
systems presented, not TO leave the good work unttnish-
ed, so far as untiring labor and denial Of creature com
forts could accomplish an end so desirable. That the de-
alterations of this body have been wise, and II carried ont
BY the Legislature, before whom the whole subject, az
c considered by the Conventions, will be presented in The
form Of a memorial, will rebound to the lasting honor
and glory to the Commonwealth, We have not a gltm-
mering doubt. All Of the reports Of the committees
bear the impress of minds stored with valuable stats
tics upon the various subjects consIdercd-of minds
that have thought long and deeply upon the subject Of
education, and their reflections should claim the serious
utLGHlIOh Va tbC Nho uN ~ ~ ia'
and must apply the remedy to the diseased system.
The Convention met Saturday morning in the Lee
ture Room of the Second Baptist Church at Q o'clock,
and was opened with prayer (by the Rev. Mr.. Jeter)
The subject Of the Report of the Committee on Pr
mary Education being under consideration at the last
adjournment, was again resumed.
The Rev. b. Nj. Smith closed his argument IN sup.
port OF the report of the Committee. X. e.. Scott, Esq,
ably defended the report. DIR. Plumer reJoined, fol.
lowed by several gentlemen for and against it, until 3
o'clock, r. Nj.
mir. Richie then tooa the floor, but said he should
not abuse its privileges-tha. he would not bore the Con.
vention with q speech, though he was armed with 4
multitude Of statistics, and was prepared TO make a
long speech. He appealed to the Orators of the As.
sembly TO waive their wishes to address the Chair, and
permit the Convention to act, to 60 into the Report and
amend it.-He remarked, that if they wasted their
precious time this day, (when the labors OF the
Convention would probably close) in long debate,
nothing might be done, and the Convention might
have met in vain-Ile stated, that lie had pre-.
pared several material amendments TO the Report
of the Committee, though he conceded fully in the
great principle which they had proposed-that he
was ready TO submit these amendments 10 The
Convention, and had no doubt that other members
were prepared with other amendments that these
would require much time 10 consider; and that unless
they would forbear much speaking, and practice much
Cancellation and concession, and act forthwith, the
Convention would not bring its proceedings 10 an ei-
fcient and happy close. -Enqnircr.l
On motion, it was then resolved, to read the report,
by paragraph. Zach paragraph being read, various
amendments were offered, mostly by MIR. Richie, the
greater bulk of which were adopted. As the report
was altered greatly, though not affecting the main pm,
ciples, we shall not trace the amendments, but shall
await the official publication Of the proceedings. The
report was then adopted, as amended, with unanimiy
1t advocates the free district system. The first princi.
pie of the report is, "That Primary Schools, accessible
without fee to every white child of proper age, should
be maintained at the public charge" though "clrcuin.
stances may demand the modification of this principle
so as 10 require a tuition fee for each child, SO small as
to leave but u few unable 10 afford it, who might be adj
mitted gratuitously;" all of which is left to the wisdom
of the Legislature, and of the people at the polls. THIS
is not exactly the present posture of the Report!
qurer.
The Report of the Commit,e on Academies was
then taken up and ably supported by Mr.. A. w. Nena'
BILE. lie commended that it was impossible to render
Primary Education successful, without fostering the
Academies, (Which was in fact hut part Of the SYSTEM
viii a view of supplying Teachers, now sought from
other States. fe concluded by offering an appendage,
by way Of detail to the Report, which was accepted, and
tho ,rho1a odnntpd