287 



ation, (and about the constitutionality of whose endow- 

 ment there may well be some scruple, though for aught 

 I know it has never yet been weighed) was founded un- 

 der the superintendance of General Williams, in 1802; 

 and has already had a decided effect even upon the pri- 

 mary education of the country. This Academy was the 

 first to bring into notice the recent authors of France and 

 Germany, in Mathematical and Physical Sciences, and 

 Descriptive Geometry was taught orally to its students 

 by Professor Crozet, as far back as 1817, when the name 

 of that science was scarcely known in the elder seats of 

 learning. At that time, in our colleges and academies, 

 the text books were nearly as old as the time of Newton. 

 Simpson and Bonnycastle, and Maclaurin, and Vince, 

 and Enfield, were then the divinities both in pure and 

 mixed mathematics. These have since given place to 

 the better adapted treatises of modern times, and all those 

 who have noticed the progress of this improvement must 

 be aware that the example of the Military Academy, and 

 the increased value of its instruction, contributed in no 

 small degree to hasten the period of this judicious change. 

 This instance may serve to show the elTect of government 

 patronage on such subjects. 



If w-e consider merely the effect of competition, the 

 contest in this country will not only be between the free 

 literary associations, but those incorporated for purposes 

 of education, in which the defect incident to the old uni- 

 versities of Europe, does not so much obtain, or will be 

 corrected in the rivalry between them. It would be use- 

 less to enumerate all of either class. The American 

 Philosophical Society founded in 1769, has distinguished 

 itself by the extent of its correspondence and consequent 

 value of its collections, and in this has been ably sup- 

 ported by others. Among us, however, these societies 

 have hitherto failed or faded with the genius from which 

 they originally emanated, and the vigor of an association 

 of many individuals seems to have been limited to the 

 life of a single man. Franklin founded the American 



