Imágenes de páginas
PDF
EPUB

MASSACHUSETTS POLICY OF INCORPORATED ACADEMIES.

THE earliest schools in Massachusetts, technically known as Free, Grammar, or Town schools, imparted secondary as well as elementary instruction; but the needs of families not residing within towns on which such schools were made obligatory by law, led to the establishment of a class of institutions known as Academies, the public policy of which is set forth in the following document :At the General Court of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, held on the 25th day of January, 1797,

ORDERED, That the secretary be, and he hereby is, directed to cause the report of a committee of both houses on the subject of grants of land to sundry academies within this Commonwealth, to be printed with the resolves which shall pass the general court at the present session.

And be it further ordered, That the grants of land specified in said report shall be made to the trustees of any association within the respective counties mentioned in said report, where there is no academy at present instituted, who shall first make application to the general court for that purpose: provided, they produce evidence that the sum required in said report is secured to the use of such institution: and provided, that the place contemplated for the situation of the academy be approved of by the legislature.

Report on the subject of Academies at Large. Feb. 27, 1797.

The committee of both Houses, to whom was referred the subject of academies at large, and also sundry petitions for grants of public lands to particular academies, having accordingly considered the subject on general principles, and likewise the several petitions referred to them, submit the following report:

On a general view of this subject, the committee are of opinion that the system hitherto pursued, of endowing academies with State lands ought to be continued-but with several material alterations; first, that no academy, (at least not already erected,) ought to be encouraged by government, unless it have a neighborhood to support it of at least thirty or forty thousand inhabitants, not accommodated in any manner by any other academies, by any college or school answering the purpose of an academy; secondly, that every such portion of the Commonwealth ought to be considered as equally entitled to grants of State lands to these institutions, in aid of private donations; and thirdly, that no State lands ought to be granted to any academy, but in aid of permanent funds; secured by towns and individual donors: and therefore, previous to any such grant of State lands, evidence ought to be produced that such funds are legally secured, at least adequate to erect and repair the necessary buildings, to support the corporation, to procure and preserve such apparatus and books as may be necessary, and to pay a part of the salaries of the preceptors.

In attending to the particular cases, the committee find that fifteen academies have already been incorporated in this Commonwealth; also Derby School, which serves all the general purposes of an academy, but that the academy at Marblehead probably will only serve the purposes of a town school. And the committee are of opinion that the three colleges established and endowed by the State and private donors, will serve many of the purposes of academies in their respective neighborhood, so that if four or five academies more shall be allowed in those parts of the Commonwealth where they may be most wanted, there will be one academy to every 25,000 inhabitants, and probably, therefore, they must struggle with many difficulties until the wealth and population of the State shall be very considerably increased; for however useful colleges and academies may be for many purposes, yet it is very obvious that the great body of the people will and must educate their children in town district schools, where they can be boarded or supported by their parents.

The committee find that of the fifteen academies already incorporated, seven

of them have had grants of State lands, that at Fryeburgh of 15,000 acres, and the other six, at Machias, Hallowell, Berwick, Marblehead, Taunton, and Leicester, one township each. To extend this plan of a township to each academy to those academies already allowed, and to those which from local circumstances may be justly claimed, would require the grants of twelve or thirteen townships more. The committee think this number too large, and therefore propose half a township of six miles square, of the unappropriated lands in the district of Maine, to be granted to each academy having secured to it the private funds of towns and individual donors before described, to be laid out or assigned (with the usual reservations) by the committee for the sale of eastern lands.

Of the eight academies already incorporated and not endowed by the Commonwealth, part appear to have been endowed by towns and individuals; and as to part, no satisfactory evidence is produced of such endowments.

It appears that Dummer's Academy, in Newbury, has legally secured to it a permanent fund for its support, by a private donor, to the amount of $6,000; and that Phillips Academy, in Andover, has a fund something larger, secured in like manner; that each of these academies was established in a proper situation.

It appears that the academies in Groton and Westford are about seven miles apart, both in the county of Middlesex, and with a neighborhood perhaps not so adequate as could be wished to the support of two; that each of them has received the donations of towns and individuals to the amount of about $2,500, and that each of them is now much embarrassed for want of funds, but both of these academies have been incorporated and countenanced by the legislature, and must be considered as fully adequate for the county of Middlesex.

On the whole the committee propose an immediate grant of half a township of the description aforesaid, to each of these four academies. As to the academies at Portland, Westfield and New Salem, and in the county of Plymouth, the committee propose that half a township, of the description aforesaid, be granted to each of them: provided, each of them shall, within three years, produce evidence that there is a permanent fund legally secured to each by town or individual donors, to the amount of $3,000, and that the Act establishing an Academy in the town of Plymouth be, repealed, and an Act be passed establishing an Academy in the county of Plymouth, on the principles of the petition from that county; and that half a township of land be granted to each of the counties of Barnstable, Nantucket, Norfolk, and Dukes County, and Hancock, for the purpose of an Academy; provided they shall, within three years, severally furnish evidence that funds are secured by towns or individual donors to the amount of $3,000, for the support of each of the said academies.

The Joint Standing Committee on Education (Hon. Charles W. Upham, Chairman,) in a Report dated March 30, 1859-after reciting the above report, as proceeding from a Committee "composed of leading and experienced men, of whom Nathan Dane of Beverly was one,"-"and as published by the General Court, containing most decisive and emphatic annunciation of the policy of the State"remark:

The following principles appear to have been established, as determining the relations of academies to the Commonwealth. They were to be regarded as in many respects and to a considerable extent, public schools; as a part of an organized system of public and universal education; as opening the way, for all the people, to a higher order of instruction than the common schools can supply, and as a complement to them, towns, as well as the Commonwealth, were to share, with individuals, the character of founders, or legal visitors of them. They were to be distributed, as nearly as might be, so as to accommodate the different districts or localities of the State, according to a measure of population, that is, 25,000 individuals. In this way they were to be placed within the reach of the whole people, and their advantages secured, as equally and effectively as possible, for the common benefit.

ACADEMIES AND SECONDARY EDUCATION.

SECONDARY EDUCATION IN PRUSSIA.

PRELIMINARY REPORT.

THE following pages contain a preliminary paper on the System of Incorporated Academies and Classical Schools of New England, and particularly of Massachusetts; and an elaborate exposition of the System of Secondary Education in Prussia,, drawn up by a Director of one of the most distinguished Gymnasiums of that kingdom. In the thorough scholarship obtained in this class of institutions in Prussia, it is possible to find the basis of the real scientific culture given in the Universities of Germany.

28

[blocks in formation]
[blocks in formation]

484

484

487

Royal Institution for Teachers of Learned Schools, by F. Gedike, in 1787,

487

489

492

492

[blocks in formation]
« AnteriorContinuar »