Whereas it appeareth that however certain forms of government are better
calculated than others to protect individuals in the free exercise of their
natural rights, and are at the same time themselves better guarded against
degeneracy, yet experience hath shewn, that even under the best forms,
those entrusted with power have, in time, and by slow operations, perverted
it into tyranny; and it is believed that the most effectual means of preventing
this would be, to illuminate, as far as practicable, the minds of the people
at large, and more especially to give them knowledge of those facts, which
history exhibiteth, that, possessed thereby of the experience of other
ages and countries, they may be enabled to know ambition under all its
shapes, and prompt to exert their natural powers to defeat its purposes;
And whereas it is generally true that that people will be happiest whose
laws are best, and are best administered, and that laws will be wisely
formed, and honestly administered, in proportion as those who form and
administer them are wise and honest; whence it becomes expedient for promoting
the publick happiness that those persons, whom nature hath endowed with
genius and virtue, should be rendered by liberal education worthy to receive,
and able to guard the sacred deposit of the rights and liberties of their
fellow citizens, and that they should be called to that charge without
regard to wealth, birth or other accidental condition or circumstance;
but the indigence of the greater number disabling them from so educating,
at their own expence, those of their children whom nature hath fitly formed
and disposed to become useful instruments for the public, it is better
that such should be sought for and educated at the common expence of all,
than that the happiness of all should be confided to the weak or wicked:
Be it therefore enacted by the General Assembly, that in every county
within this commonwealth, there shall be chosen annually, by the electors
qualified to vote for Delegates, three of the most honest and able men
of their county, to be called the Aldermen of the county; and that the
election of the said Aldermen shall be held at the same time and place,
before the same persons, and notified and conducted in the same manner
as by law is directed for the annual election of Delegates for the county.
The person before whom such election is holden shall certify to the
court of the said county the names of the Aldermen chosen, in order that
the same may be entered of record, and shall give notice of their election
to the said Aldermen within a fortnight after such election.
The said Aldermen on the first Monday in October, if it be fair, and
if not, then on the next fair day, excluding Sunday, shall meet at the
court-house of their county, and proceed to divide their said county into
hundreds, bounding the same by water courses, mountains, or limits, to
be run and marked, if they think necessary, by the county surveyor, and
at the county expence, regulating the size of the said hundreds, according
to the best of their discretion, so as that they may contain a convenient
number of children to make up a school, and be of such convenient size
that all the children within each hundred may daily attend the school to
be established therein, distinguishing each hundred by a particular name;
which division, with the names of the several hundreds, shall be returned
to the court of the county and be entered of record, and shall remain unaltered
until the increase or decrease of inhabitants shall render an alteration
necessary, in the opinion of any succeeding Aldermen, and also in the opinion
of the court of the county.
The electors aforesaid residing within every hundred shall meet on the
third Monday in October after the first election of Aldermen, at such place,
within their hundred, as the said Aldermen shall direct, notice thereof
being previously given to them by such person residing within the hundred
as the said Aldermen shall require who is hereby enjoined to obey such
requisition, on pain of being punished by amercement and imprisonment.
The electors being so assembled shall choose the most convenient place
within their hundred for building a school-house. If two or more places,
having a greater number of votes than any others, shall yet be equal between
themselves, the Aldermen, or such of them as are not of the same hundred,
on information thereof, shall decide between them. The said Aldermen shall
forthwith proceed to have a school-house built at the said place, and shall
see that the same be kept in repair, and, when necessary, that it be rebuilt;
but whenever they shall think necessary that it be rebuilt, they shall
give notice as before directed, to the electors of the hundred to meet
at the said school-house, on such day as they shall appoint, to determine
by vote, in the manner before directed, whether it shall be rebuilt at
the same, or what other place in the hundred.
At every of these schools shall be taught reading, writing, and common
arithmetick, and the books which shall be used therein for instructing
the children to read shall be such as will at the same time make them acquainted
with Graecian, Roman, English, and American history. At these schools all
the free children, male and female, resident within the respective hundred,
shall be intitled to receive tuition gratis, for the term of three years,
and as much longer, at their private expence, as their parents, guardians
or friends, shall think proper.
Over every ten of these schools (or such other number nearest thereto,
as the number of hundreds in the county will admit, without fractional
divisions) an overseer shall be appointed annually by the Aldermen at their
first meeting, eminent for his learning, integrity, and fidelity to the
commonwealth, whose business and duty it shall be, from time to time, to
appoint a teacher to each school, who shall give assurance of fidelity
to the commonwealth, and to remove him as he shall see cause; to visit
every school once in every half year at the least; to examine the schollars;
see that any general plan of reading and instruction recommended by the
visiters of William and Mary College shall be observed; and to superintend
the conduct of the teacher in every thing relative to his school.
Every teacher shall receive a salary of____ by the year, which, with
the expences of building and repairing the schoolhouses, shall be provided
in such manner as other county expences are by law directed to be provided
and shall also have his diet, lodging, and washing found him, to be levied
in like manner, save only that such levy shall be on the inhabitants of
each hundred for the board of their own teacher only.
And in order that grammar schools may be rendered convenient to the
youth in every part of the commonwealth, Be it farther enacted, that on
the first Monday in November, after the first appointment of overseers
for the hundred schools, if fair, and if not, then on the next fair day,
excluding Sunday, after the hour of one in the afternoon, the said overseers
appointed for the schools in the counties of Princess Ann, Norfolk, Nansemond
and Isle-of-Wight, shall meet at Nansemond court house; those for the counties
of Southampton, Sussex, Surry and Prince George, shall meet at Sussex court-house;
those for the counties of Brunswick, Mecklenburg and Lunenburg, shall meet
at Lunenburg court-house; those for the counties of Dinwiddie, Amelia and
Chesterfield, shall meet at Chesterfield court-house; those for the counties
of Powhatan, Cumberland, Goochland, Henrico and Hanover, shall meet at
Henrico court-house; those for the counties of Prince Edward, Charlotte
and Halifax, shall meet at Charlotte court-house; those for the counties
of Henry, Pittsylvania and Bedford, shall meet at Pittsylvania court-house;
those for the counties of Buckingham, Amherst, Albemarle and Fluvanna,
shall meet at Albemarle court-house; those for the counties of Botetourt,
Rockbridge, Montgomery, Washington and Kentucky, shall meet at Botetourt
court-house; those for the counties of Augusta, Rockingham and Greenbrier,
shall meet at Augusta court-house; those for the counties of Accomack and
Northampton, shall meet at Accomack court-house; those for the counties
of Elizabeth City, Warwick, York, Gloucester, James City, Charles City
and New-Kent, shall meet at James City court-house; those for the counties
of Middlesex, Essex, King and Queen, King William and Caroline, shall meet
at King and Queen court-house; those for the counties of Lancaster, Northumberland,
Richmond and Westmoreland, shall meet at Richmond court-house; those for
the counties of King George, Stafford, Spotsylvania, Prince William and
Fairfax, shall meet at Spotsylvania court-house; those for the counties
of Loudoun and Fauquier, shall meet at Loudoun court-house; those for the
counties of Culpeper, Orange and Louisa, shall meet at Orange court-house;
those for the counties of Shenandoah and Frederick, shall meet at Frederick
court-house; those for the counties of Hampshire and Berkeley, shall meet
at Berkeley court-house; and those for the counties of Yohogania, Monongalia
and Ohio, shall meet at Monongalia court-house; and shall fix on such place
in some one of the counties in their district as shall be most proper for
situating a grammar school-house, endeavouring that the situation be as
central as may be to the inhabitants of the said counties, that it be furnished
with good water, convenient to plentiful supplies of provision and fuel,
and more than all things that it be healthy. And if a majority of the overseers
present should not concur in their choice of any one place proposed, the
method of determining shall be as follows: If two places only were proposed,
and the votes be divided, they shall decide between them by fair and equal
lot; if more than two places were proposed, the question shall be put on
those two which on the first division had the greater number of votes;
or if no two places had a greater number of votes than the others, as where
the votes shall have been equal between one or both of them and some other
or others, then it shall be decided by fair and equal lot (unless it can
be agreed by a majority of votes) which of the places having equal numbers
shall be thrown out of the competition, so that the question shall be put
on the remaining two, and if on this ultimate question the votes shall
be equally divided, it shall then be decided finally by lot.
The said overseers having determined the place at which the grammar
school for their district shall be built, shall forthwith (unless they
can otherwise agree with the proprietors of the circumjacent lands asito
location and price) make application to the clerk of the county in which
the said house is to be situated, who shall thereupon issue a writ, in
the nature of a writ of ad quod damnum, directed to the sheriff of the
said county commanding him to summon and impannel twelve fit persons to
meet at the place, so destined for the grammar school house, on a certain
day, to be named in the said writ, not less than five, nor more than ten,
days from the date thereof; and also to give notice of the same to the
proprietors and tenants of the lands to be viewed, if they be to be found
within the county, and if not, then to their agents therein if any they
have. Which freeholders shall be charged by the said sheriff impartially,
and to the best of their skill and judgment to view the lands round about
the said place, and to locate and circumscribe, by certain metes and bounds,
one hundred acres thereof, having regard therein principally to the benefit
and convenience of the said school, but respecting in some measure also
the convenience of the said proprietors, and to value and appraise the
same in so many several and distinct parcels as shall be owned or held
by several and distinct owners or tenants, and according to their respective
interests and estates therein. And after such location and appraisement
so made, the said sheriff shall forthwith return the same under the hands
and seals of the said jurors, together with the writ, to the clerk's office
of the said county and the right and property of the said proprietors and
tenants in the said lands so circumscribed shall be immediately devested
and be transferred to the commonwealth for the use of the said grammar
school, in full and absolute dominion, any want of consent or disability
to consent in the said owners or tenants notwithstanding. But it shall
not be lawful for the said overseers so to situate the said grammar school-house,
nor to the said jurors so to locate the ·said lands, as to include
the mansion-house of the proprietor of the lands, nor the offices, curtilage,
or garden, thereunto immediately belonging.
The said overseers shall forthwith proceed to have a house of brick
or stone, for the said grammar school, with necessary offices, built on
the said lands, which grammar school-house shall contain a room for the
school, a hall to dine in, four rooms for a master and usher, and ten or
twelve lodging rooms for the scholars.
To each of the said grammar schools shall be allowed out of the public
treasury, the sum of pounds, out of which shall be paid by the Treasurer,
on warrant from the Auditors, to the proprietors or tenants of the lands
located, the value of their several interests as fixed by the jury, and
the balance thereof shall be delivered to the said overseers to defray
the expence of the said buildings.
In these grammar schools shall be taught the Latin and Greek languages,
English grammar, geography, and the higher part of numerical arithmetick,
to wit, vulgar and decimal fractions, and the extraction of the square
and cube roots.
A visiter from each county constituting the district shall be appointed,
by the overseers, for the county, in the month of October annually, either
from their own body or from their county at large, which visiters or the
greater part of them, meeting together at the said grammar school on the
first Monday in November, if fair, and if not, then m the nexr fair day,
excluding Sunday, shall have power to choose their own Rector, who shall
call and preside at future meetings, to employ from time to time a master,
and if necessary, an usher, for the said school, to remove them at their
will, and to settle the price of tuition to be paid by the scholars. They
shall also visit the school twice in every year at the least, either together
or separately at their discretion, examine the scholars, and see that any
general plan of instruction recommended by the visiters of William and
Mary College shall be observed. The said masters and ushers, before they
enter on the execution of their office, shall give assurance of fidelity
to the commonwealth.
A steward shall be employed, and removed at will by the master, on such
wages as the visiters shall direct; which steward shall see to the procuring
provisions, fuel, servants for cooking, waiting, house cleaning, washing,
mending, and gardening on the most reasonable terms; the expence of which,
together with the steward's wages, shall be divided equally among all the
scholars boarding either on the public or private expence. And the part
of those who are on private expence, and also the price of their tuitions
due to the master or usher, shall be paid quarterly by the respective scholars,
their parents, or guardians, and shall be recoverable, if withheld, together
with costs, on motion in any Court of Record, ten days notice thereof being
previously given to the party, and a jury impannelled to try the issue
joined, or enquire of the damages. The said steward shall also, under the
direction of the visiters, see that the houses be kept in repair, and necessary
enclosures be made and repaired, the accounts for which, shall, from time
to time, be submitted to the Auditors, and on their warrant paid by the
Treasurer.
Every overseer of the hundred schools shall, in the month of September
annually, after the most diligent and impartial examination and enquiry,
appoint from among 'the boys who shall have been two Years at the least
at some one of the schools under his superintendance, and whose parents
are too Poor to give them farther education, some one of the best and most
promising genius and disposition, to Proceed to the grammar school of his
district; which appointment shall be made in the court-house of the county,
on the court day for that month if fair, and if not, then on the next fair
day, excluding Sunday, in the presence of the Aldermen, or two of them
at the least, assembled on the bench for that purpose, the said overseer
being previously sworn by them to make such appointment, without favor
or affection, according to the best of his skill and judgment, and being
interrogated by the said Aldermen, either on their own motion, or on suggestions
from the parents, guardians, friends, or teachers of the children, competitors
for such appointment; which teachers shall attend for the information of
the Aldermen. On which interregatories the said Aldermen, if they be not
satisfied with the appointment proposed, shall have right to negative it;
whereupon the said visiter may proceed to make a new appointment, and the
said Aldermen again to interrogate and negative, and so toties quoties
until an appointment be approved.
Every boy so appointed shall be authorised to Proceed to the grammar
school of his district, there to be educated and bearded during such time
as is hereafter limited; and his quota of the expences of the house together
with a compensation to the master or usher for his tuition, at the rate
of twenty dollars by the year, shall be paid by the Treasurer quarterly
on warrant from the Auditors.
A visitation shall be held, for the purpose of probation, annually at
the said grammar school on the last Monday in September, if fair, and if
not, then on the next fair day, excluding Sunday, at which one third of
the boys sent thither by appointment of the said overseers, and who shall
have been there one year only, shall be discontinued as public foundationers,
being those who, on the most diligent examination and enquiry, shall be
thought to be of the least promising genius and disposition; and of those
who shall have been there two years, all shall be discontinued, save one
only the best in genius and disposition, who shall be at liberty to continue
there four years longer on the public foundation, and shall thence forward
be deemed a senior.
The visiters for the districts which, or any part of which, be southward
and westward of James river, as known by that name, or by the names of
Fluvanna and Jackson's river, in every other year, to wit, at the probation
meetings held in the years, distinguished in the Christian computation
by did numbers, and the visiters for all the other districts at their said
meetings to be held in those years, distinguished by even numbers, after
diligent examination and enquiry as before directed, shall chuse one among
the said seniors, of the best learning and most hopeful genius and disposition,
who shall be authorised by them to Proceed to William and Mary College,
there to be educated, bearded, and clothed, three years; the expence of
which annually shall be paid by the Treasurer on warrant From the Auditors.
Continue to Part II: 80. A Bill for Amending
the Constitution of the College of William and Mary, and Substituting More
Certain Revenues for Its Support (1779)
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