26 
able to procure it, or poffibly might from 
that have obtained the infcrmation I now 
iolicit. Iam, your’s, &c. 
Ludlow, Dec. 20, 1797. ° N.S. T. 

To the Editor of the Monthly Magazine. 
STR, 
"]°HE ettablithment of national fchools in 
France may at leaft be confidered as 
one benefit arifmg out of the progrefs of 
the revclution, and in prcportion as the de- 
fign matures and beconves general, mutt 
eminently promote the ends cf a good go- 
vernment, inafmuch as every citizen will 
be taught to feel his weight and confe- 
quence in a flate where talents and virtue 
form the criteria of promotin. Such in- 
fittutions, on a fimilar plan, have long been 
the défideratum ot this country. In Eng- 
land, the education of youth bas been uni- 
formly, except in fome few inffances, in- 
trufted to the moft ignorant and incapa- 
bic, orto fchoolmen who heated with the 
prejudices of a college, view the progrefs 
of the mind with diftruft, and treat its ap- 
titude with neglect. 
- A few benevolent men, but whofe funds 
were too {mali to realize their defigns, 
lately had a plan in contemplation, which 
though, perhaps, impraéticable under an 
adminiitration jealous of the advancement 
of knowledge, was certainly calculated to 
effec: much good. 
The benehts of their eftablifhment ex- 
tended toall degrees of people, who were 
to partake equally in their plan of inftruc- 
tion. 
the experiment was fir& 
country, to which every man in the vici- 
nity or at a diftance, was at liberty to fend 
his children. The {y@em of education 
was likewife diferent from that generally 
purfoed, it being more the objeét of the 
eftablifhment to render its pupils practi- 
cally wife’ than philologically learned ; 
and as thofe who formed the fociery were 
fenfible, that ‘‘ es danger is io be appre- 
_ bended from ignorance than error,’ a pure 
and unadulrerare fyfem of morality thouid 
be taught, divefted of fcholaftic indu&tion, 
and arifiag imply out.of principles, of con- 
ciliation and mutual juftice. It was like- 
- wife intended to inftruét the boys in the 
common law of the land, and to give them 
fuch a necefary infight into the conftiru- 
s tution of their country, as might enable 
e. them tovdppreciate the value of its funda- 
ovmetidal priacioles; and qualify them for 
the difcharge of ‘their duty. Ail diftinc- 
tions,. but shofe of fuperior merit, to be 
carefully avoided; while their leifure 
~kours, as recommended by Rouffeau, 
to be tried in the 
~& 
Plan. of National Education.sJr. Dyer on Cains. 
A {chool-houfe was to be erected ; 
- [jane 
fhouid be devoted to fuch as might. inure 
them to fatigue; or, occupied with fuch 
amufements as might ufefully direé& their 
future labours. 
But thefe are {chemes of national im- 
provement to which fociety at prefent does 
not feem competent. Prodigal and luxu- 
rious, tenacious of rank and fond of dif- 
tinétions, we facrifice dignity of charaéter 
and the economy of virtueto ufelefs and 
{plendid exhibitions, which fink and de- 
{troy the elevation of moral fentiment and 
the fenfe of public duty. Governments 
likewife tremble at the throb of. public 
virtue, and feel fhaken to their centres 
when mankind fhow the leat difpofition to 
fhake oif their mental fiupor, or to affert 
the dignity of the human underftanding. 
If, however, to inform the mind and yet 
dire it, fo that it may be ufeful to the 
community and honourable to its country ; 
and thar,-while it feeks the enjoyments 
of literary and philofophical inftruéticn, 
it may contemplate without difyuft the 
{ubordinate offices, neceliity and want of 
fortune compel us to recur to; are ob- 
jects worthy the confideration of the le- 
gitlator and philanthropift, we fhould adopt 
fome fuch inftitution as that propoied, and 
thus prepare the way for the happinefs of 
mankind. Let, fir, the members of any 
flate, who oughr all to be the equal care 
of a wife government, mingle with one 
another; let them be taught in the fame 
fchools, where’their daily toil will be mu- 
tual, their emulation kindred. The dif. 
ferent {pecies of inftruétion are open to ail, 
and the dread, that im proportion as you 
enlighten a people, you unfit them for the 
laborious concerns of life, will nor be feir/ 
where the affections are cherifhed as reci- 
procal, and where obedience is Je{s the ef- 
tect of duty, than the inclination of re- 
gard. 
Fan. 15) 1798. rae W.. R. 
ee EE ee \ 
To the Editor of tbe Moanthiy Magazine. 
SIR; 
ANY months back, appeared-in your 
“** Magazine, fome good obfervations cn 
PROVINCIAL COINS. _On_ perufiag 
them, I was led to pay the fubject a more 
ferious attention, than I had been. ac- 
cuftomed to du, and wifhed to give the 
ftudy an uief.! direction; being well aware 
thar many,both writers and collectors,have 
trifled about medals, and expofed them- 
felves to deferved ridicule. . 1 fent-a fhort 
‘letter on the fubject to your Repofitory, ac- 
. bai de = . ~ 
companied with a medal facred to the caufe 
of FREEDOM ; it being defigned to pre- 
ferve the remembrance of the independent 
-CONCUCE 
