INTRODUCTION. I I 



quities, callisthenics, chemistry, composition, conic sections, criticism, drawing, 

 embroidery, ecclesiastical history, the French language, geography, geology, his- 

 tory, logic, music, mechanics, mineralogy, natural history, natural philosophy, 

 moral and intellectual philosojahy, painting, rhetoric and technology. 



For the impulse which the jiublic mind has received in I'avor of female educa- 

 tion, it is only just to acknowdedge obligations to JVIrs. Emma Willard of Troy, 

 the founder of the first successful institution on a scale commensurate with the 

 importance of the object ; and to James Kent, John N. Campbell and their asso- 

 ciates, the founders and patrons of a similar institution at the capital.* It is also 

 due to the conductors and patrons of the female academies, to acknowledge, that 

 \vith far less pretension and more limited public aid than our colleges, they are 

 successful in maintaining a high standard of pure education ; and that their puj)ils 

 exhibit proficiency and acquirements comparing favorably with the best results of 

 collegiate education. The female academies have very careful puljlic exam.ina- 

 tions and annual celebrations, in ^vhich essays written by pupils are read by per- 

 sons appointed for that purpose, and medals and other testimonials of merit are 

 awarded. The benign influences of these institutions are already observable in 

 the more frequent employment of women as instructors of youth, in the increasing 

 respect which the sex receives, and in the greater refinement of society. 



The tendency, however, of a jiopular government, is to favor rather the 

 diffusion of general knowledge, and that which is immediately useful, than the 

 advancement of pure science, and the cultivation of liberal and ornamental arts. 



In a conjmunity where each individual shares the responsibilities of govern- 

 ment, there is an obvious necessity for universal education. This jjrinciple may 

 be discerned in the earliest lesdslation at the close of the revolution. In 1789, 

 two lots were set apart in each township of public lands, to constitute a local 

 fund for the support of religious instruction and pojjular education. The regents 

 of the university, in 1793, submitted to the legislature the importance of "insti- 



* Notes concerning female education were furnished by A. Crittenton, Principal of the Albany Female Academy. 



