Richmond enquirer. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1815-1867, 1843-03-21

pared with the corresponding quarter o leal; wh!ist
the number of Mtainate children born haze teen tTc
! blcd IN some if not all of the districts.
But what of all this ignom'ny this wllful SHINING
apains: conviction by Great Brain, by which such
suits eyc bsea occasinned; VIXEN Sic can boast, that
from the earles, period 10 the present moment, history
records no parallel 10 nation ) wealthy ard power
;ul: {" Nero flAled While Ranc was burning" Was
he less ae.cu, less regardfu Of human offering, than
our uufeenr mother: AGRlCOiA
Foa THE Enquirer.
/ LETTERS on EDUCATION - EIRGiNiA-lNo. VI
| TO Governor .acDoroii:
Sir In the Illustrations Of the state Of Education in
Virginia, presented, may 5e readily traced those
proxmac which have occas:oned evil or pre-
vented Improvement But, the enquiry arises, why is
it. tina, these causes have existed, and operated Pc
cuarly, in Iirginia-Shy does such Indifference, TO
such important interests, characterize our population
why have suffered severely, in the want of qua
lifted teachers and suitable booksand why have modes
OF instruction and ltscpiine liable TO such great ob
iectioas found place among as Other portions Of
Confpderacy, less Distinguished and less weigh,v III
the political scale favored by fewer natural advantages
for the Of population, aud the acquisition OF
wealth. and actually At this day, poorer, have out.
stripped Virginia IN popular improvement Such have
been exposed the similar e"!!s, TO whose
operation have seen ourselves subjected; aud yet,
by means, they have overcome orremoved them,
far greater extent, than have been able 10 DO.
Complete details Of the ultimate causes, which form
the solution of such enquiries would require greater
tax on the time, both Of writer and reader, than the
plan of these letters permits. And yet my task will
have been performed very mperiecty fthey passed
| by entirely unnoticed
l. A very striking difference in the characters Of
the original settlers of the two leading divisions OF
the Colonial Provinces, is obvious, even 10 superficial
observer. distinguished F.c3cB writer on tins coun
Try, Mr.. Chevaer (whcse work, oy the bye, is far
superior Ia the lrpant and ridiculous productions o
the enhes aiartneaus, aud Dickens has daneatsd
the ngio American character of the u. States, under
the designation Of Ale Firs'nen Ell he Yankee; and
wisely refers one the other OF these prominent
names, the notifications Of English character, pre-
scented in the Union One very prominent reason tor
this classification is found the fact, that the internal
emigration has been chiefly from Virginia and New
England. Another, and that which has suggested
this reference to NJ. Cheyaler is the very marked Pc
cuaries pertaining TO the national character, in the
preservation TO this day, Of those distinctions which
indicate the Puritan and the Cavalier OF the days OF
The Stnarts. The settlers OF New England, were hum
BILE refugees from persecution, designing 10 secure Tor
themselves and descendants, al the expense OF eApo-
riaton and hardships, the religious and civil freedom
denied them in the father land They were less ln;en;
the accumulation of fortune than The organization
al society, ngreeaby To their principles BY no means
conscious Of the distinguished fame which awaited
Them aud perhaps with not even dream, IN the mo-
men,s OF the mos, heated imagination, that they were
laying the foundation OF great and prosperous naton,
they yet adopted of all Others the best plan to secure
these very results They came with their old men,
their robust and energetic farmers their women and
children to setic not TO gather gold dust or speedily
acquire fortunes They not only brought with Them
their principles, but the resolution 10 pcser7c, deiena
and propagate them. Churches, schools, academies,
and colleges, the engines q! their moral power
! Whatever be views OF these men, religons's,
they eyinced the sound principles OF Repnbca"Sin as
politicians However may smile at Their decisions,
rdcule their cant, al their pretensons, or con-
denim their ba0..ywe must admit the Repub!icanSil
OF their policy, and the wisdom OF their plans they
avowed eorthy supremacy beyond that OF the peo-
PIE, but when they constituted themselves their rulers
they determined those rulers should be intelligent
On the other hand, the real settlement of Virginia
was a second thought and truly ''sober second
thought" The permanency Of the Colony was long
precarous. The land was dug, but it was in search
of gold; the country explored, but it was TO seek
mines like those of Peru or Poos. Commercial spec
ratons ainred the emgraDts; and, after SAD ex
perence taught the leaders that peranency could only
be secured hy actual settlement, Adventures for tor
tune rather thar 'aboreTs, sought the shores oil the
Cncsnpeake and the banks Of the Powhatan. The
evil commo.ions of England. which, under one phase
expelled The Puritan to the rock -bonnd coast o Mas
.achusel,s. under aGGtbcr, drove the unfortunate IL"
lowers I'll The uaris 10 The sunny Plains Of the South
Wnlc England was sierny Republican hy necessity,
Virginia prepared 10 welcome the exed monarch
10 her shores and al ork the standard winch ao
fallen Naseby; aud while, n!ier the restoration, the
Colonat Government of Connecticut almost conn'ved
al the protection afforded the refugee Judges IN s'gh'
oil New Haven that OF Virginia exuited lOyattY
winch had never bowed 10 The Common wealth. ana
has cn;aed her terri ory tie title Of tho sold Do
nnnon. 10 these different portions OF Colonial Anne
rca, tn cords pcolic nd pcgT suggested different
ideas In the The Government was nr the people,
In the other tie people for tie Government. In Nirgi-
MA u is true, find the first Specimen Of popular Co
vefnnsnt established hy Colonial aulhoriiv-bul II was
on the English model and strongly speed with arso
critical features. J; Westminster miniature; a
Governor ior King. cornci for House ot Lords
.af.a
not from the people In Massachusetts,, the contra
ry, the popular Government existed long before the
, Colonial policy of England established the forms
Among the earliest acts of the settlers of Ply
mouth Rock the establishment Of schools We
! have evidence that the Colonial Government Of
Virginia mcdltated such measure This was
consistent with The sketch above given. In the
earliest periods there need of schools where
children formed but small Hem of calculation. Al a
= subsequent period, there was no proper estimate oil
= their value, III the minds of men, who, with English
habits. customs, principles, preudices aud predlec
toEs of the astocratcal order, viewed the distinction:
Of society too great, TO admit all participation in
egc7y benefit For those, whom they thought proper
f subjects of educatiou the State vas not called on
legislate they cond provide for their own wants-anC
for the others Sir W Berkeley opinion, that printing
presses and fee schools tu; colleagues in The
work of sedition one propagang the mlschefs engen
dered BY the o.herevinces, that the State felt OBJ
f legation 10 provide.
The Revolution which resulted in our national in
l dependence, rather legislative than popular here
and rather popular than legislative in Massachusetts Al
consequence and evidence of the fact we find, II
this day, in the spiri, Of laws and statute
the habits of people, Il mean particularly Eastern
Virginia the social structure of the community,
the emphatic of the word famiiy still common
though less than 20 years since, striking illustrations
e of The old English feeling. Virginia less Re
publican yea, perhaps far more than Massachusetts
al the period of which speak-but she less Demo
? cratic. She abolished the law Of entails and prnoge
nure, but retained and would that she had
h lnquished.l tho free hold suffrage. Hers became
popular Government and yet strictly representative
giving to the people election but,ha, law makers
With all that love and admire in her excellent Con
stitution, GOD grant, perpeuty, 1t ISL cannc
fail see, that in all the Colonial and revoutionar
history, there is wanting that full recognition of cyi