SCHOOL REPORT. Sjlt 



from age to age and from country to country. Through this 

 medium, the treasures of learning and science are brought 

 down to us, from the remotest ages past. Through this same 

 medium, these treasures accumulating, as they are borne along 

 down the stream of time, will be conveyed to the remotest 

 ages yet to come. 



Gratitude, to those who have gone before us, for their la- 

 bors in the fields of learning and science, duty to ourselves 

 and to those who are to come after us, call on us for a system 

 of education for confimon schools, so framed, that genius, to 

 whomsoever given, by the allwise and beneficent Author of 

 our existence, may be drawn forth from its abode however ex- 

 alted or however humble that may be, to enlighten mankind 

 by a divine radiance. 



" Full many a gem of purest ray serene, 

 " The dark unfalhomed caves of ocean bear, 

 " Full many a flower is born to blush unseen,- 

 " And waste its sweetness on the desert air." 



Is it not the duty of the legislature to explore the recesses 

 of the ocean of distress and poverty, and to draw forth the 

 gems of genius and place them before the public eye ? Ought 

 not the field of learning to be so far extended as to enclose 

 within its limits, those beautiful wild flowers of genius which 

 are now wasting their sweetness on the desert air? 



But it may be asked, how shall we effect this desirable 

 object? Where are our means of doing it? The committee 

 answer, that nearly one thirty-sixth part of our territory has 

 been granted by congress, (for a fair equivalent it is true) 

 to the state, in trust for the support of common schools. Had 

 this fund, been properly managed, the committee are of the 

 opinion, that a great permanent one would have been created, 

 the interest of which would have done much towards the sup- 

 port of common schools. The committee deeply regret, that 

 the school lands have been, in many instances, leased out, 

 for different periods of time, to persons who, in numerous in- 

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