The Farmville herald. (Farmville, Va.) 1957-current, 1958-03-25

With the increase in population
and wealt n which marked the
eighteenth century. educational IA.
cillties improved SO nj Of the
ablest clergymen. in order To in
crease their meager incomes.
/ opened classical schools to which
/ they admitted limited number Of
boarders as well as day scholars
Many families solved the prob
lem Of educating their children by
employing tutors possibly. like
Philip Flthlan. grad ua Tie Of
Princeton, possibly young Scots
man Just over from Glasgow. Or St
Andrews. possibly the neiShhoring
rector The tutor was treated with
respect by his employer, ate with
The family browsed at viii in the
library My father sent us To-
Latin and Greek schools, wrote
4 Judge Francis 7 Brooke. but
finally engaged "a private tutor. a
Scotch gentleman. by whom We
were taught Latin and Greek in
which he was a ripe scholar Ma
/ lor Thomas Hansford. the first man
70 die on the scaffold in the cause
Of American liberty. studied under
a tutor named Jones.
i College Established
Despite >.its many shortcomings
the school system of colonial Vir-
GINA sent up many youths TO the
College OF William and Mary. a
score or more to oxford OF Cam
bridge. few TO Princeton and
OF er northern colleges. Among
them were Thomas jefferson. John
Marshall James Madison, Richard
Henry Lee, and Thomas Nelson.
1t was in June. 1891, that the
Verend James Blair. Com
mlssary for the Bishop Of London
IN Virginia. set sail for England to
win the interest Of the great pre-
latcs and Of King william and
Queen Mary III A proposed college
Although the Virginia planters had
subscribed literally it was ncccs-
sary 10 look 10 the King and Queen
for financial backing King william
told Blair he was glad the colony
was upon 50 good a design while
Queen Mary when the Bishop of
Worcester laid the matter before
her. was enthusiastic in her APP
prevail
The royal pair gave about 1000
pounds fIoln the quit rent fund in
the colony together with several
valuable perqmsitcs. granted a
charter and gave thcir assent to
the naming of the college william
and Mary in their honor SO Blair
returned in triumph, not only with
his charter but with the plans for
college building drawn by the
architect Sir Christopher Wren
The college, unlike Harvard. Yale.
and Princeton. which drew their in
splration from the English dissent
ing academies went t9foxford and
Cambridge in plannin9ts course Of
study
The lad WHO left his father
plantation to enter william and
Mary became first a scholar in the
grammar school to study Latin and
Greek When he had passed his
examinations IN those Subjects. he
donned cap and gown to become a
student" and to begin work in
physics, m G tap ysicS mathe-
mates, rhetoric, logic. and ethics
After graduation, those youths who
wished to enter the ministry con
tinued at college until they had per
fected themselves in divinity and
theology
Debt To Princeton
Education in Virginia owes much
to Princeton. This college. founded
by PrcSbyterians in l744, became
the educational as we'll as religious
capital of all Scotch-IriSh America
When the young circuit riders went
out from Princeton, With the Bible
and his notes ION President Withcr-
spoon S lectures in hand. they were
begged by various communities on
their way to remain as permanent
ministers. Having esta bllshed him.
self in his crude house the mini
ster's first care was to erect a
place Of worship. and the next to
establish a classical school 1t was
a strange sight, and inspiring sight.
the building Of I b csc frontier
academies. where the teacher as
scmbled a group around him to
drill them in Latin and Greek. and
expound moral philosophy
Il was Samuel Stanhope Smith
who founded the Prince George
Academy which became Hampton
Sydney College, and who served as
its first president. assisted by three
other Princeton men Not less than
one hundre d and ten students
gathered for the first session. re-
citing in the unfinished buildings.
and erecting their own log CABINS
as dormitorie John Brown.
II her Princeton graduate es
tablishcd a grammar school in the
Valley of Virginia. which later be
came Liberty Hall, which in turn
Became Washington and Lee Uni
vcrsity