90

an act of that year, it was for the first time appropriated to
its legitimate use as a doaation to Lower Marlboro' Academy.
Each of the other Academies mentioned, received as they
were successively established, a share of this donation, until
by repeated divisions and subdivisions, a sum, that was orig-
inally barely sufficient to maintain one reputable school, was,
by its dilution, rendered comparatively useless to any. Dur-
ing the period under consideration, these five Academies
constituted down to the establishment of the Free School
Fund in 1816, our only public schools—system there was none:
We were in a transition state as regards Education. From
the year last named, the Academies began to lose their dis-
tinctive character, and either from their inefficiency, or the
increasing necessities of the people, numerous private schools
erected by individual, or neighborhood enterprise, were
springing up to compete with them for a share of public
patronage. Under the acts of 1816, '21 and '27, nine Com-
missioners were annually appointed by the Legislature, for
the distribution of the Free School Fund in our County, at
the rate of $10 per capita, per annum, for the education of
each 'indigent' scholar, who might, at the discretion of the
Commissioner, be assigned to any school, public, or private;
most of the so-called private schools were largely dependent
on the Free School Fund for their support. The only fur-
ther change affecting our schools during the remainder of
this mediaeval period, was, that by the act of 1837, the Or-
phans' Court was made the custodian of the Free School Fund,
and given the power, in lieu of the Legislature, of appoint-
ing the Commissioners for its distribution; a change of doubt-
ful utility, as it did not prevent a very loose administration
of the funds. The teacher's account for the attendance and
tuition of 'charity scholar?,' as they were styled, had, before
payment by the Orphans' Court, to he endorsed by a com-
missioner, and attested by the claimant; yet even these pre-
cautions were not always sufficient to insure its correctness,
in evidence of which, many of these accounts now in my pos-
session, show an attendance of the same children credited to
two different schools at the same time; such errors might
readily escape the notice of the Orphans' Court—engrossed as
it generally was at the time of auditing these accounts
with its ordinary legal duties.

THIRD PERIOD.

We have now reached a period when the fragmentary ele-
ments, ('ruri nantes in gurgite rasto,') that had been accu-
mulating for more than seventy-five years, were to be given
shape and be embodied into some degree of system. In 1854
an act was passed "for the establishment of Primary Schools
in Calvert County, and the consolidation of its Primary and