National education in the United States of America 1923

Front matter

MINN

THE LIBRARY

The Ontario Institute for Studies in Education

Introduction

HIS scheme for national education, written

at the request of Thomas Jefferson more than a hundred and twenty years ago and never translated till now, must be of interest to all students of the science of education, especially as some of the methods suggested by Du Pont de Nemours are now being tried with apparent success in the very excellent schools of the middle west.

But this book is something more than the educational ideas of a learned Frenchman. It probably contains the theories of both Jefferson and Du Pont de Nemours modified to form one carefully detailed plan. It was written before Jefferson’s election to the presidency, when as vicepresident he was living in Philadelphia and Du Pont de Nemours was in New York and they had frequent opportunities of meeting.. They had been warm friends for more than fifteen vi INTRODUCTION years; they were both eager students of Greek and Latin and mathematics,—Du Pont was the better educated in scientific subjects, Jefferson in modern languages; both were thoughtful and honest patriots; each had seen the institutions of his country shaken to their foundations by the most important revolutions in history and each had played an important part in those revolutions. It was inevitable that two such men should try to formulate a plan to educate their country-men for their new opportunities.

It is not the purpose of this introduction to give a detailed biography of Jefferson or Du Pont de Nemours, but some account of their knowledge of the subject of this book may add to its interest.

Pierre Samuel du Pont was born in Paris in 1739. He was not a robust child and read with his mother in preference to playing with other children; she was sufficiently interested in his education to study Latin with him and they became good Latin scholars together. When he was sixteen years old, his mother died and his father allowed him to leave home, making him a small allowance. He lived for some months with a young man who was dying of tuberculosis and became so interested in caring for him that at the suggestion of the attending physician he

INTRODUCTION vil decided to study medicine. He worked hard at his profession, but, to quote his own Memoirs, “was not rich enough” to buy a practice in Paris. In the meantime he was writing a little, dancing, playing in theatricals,—amusing himself quite wholesomely. He met men of affairs and became increasingly interested in political economy and in agriculture; he was a member of the Société d’Agriculture de Soissons.

Then, when twenty-two years old, with no money except the allowance from his father, he became engaged to marry a young lady with no dowry. He tried to find a profitable outlet for his knowledge and his theories, but without success until Francois Quesnay, the celebrated political economist, happened to read a pamphlet by Du Pont called Richesse de Etat and sent for the author. Du Pont says in his memoirs, “for eleven years he was my master, my instructor, my father.” Quesnay was then physician to Madame de Pompadour and his influence was very great. He convinced her of the necessity of encouraging agriculture, and the work that he and Du Pont had accomplished was beginning to bear fruit when Madame de Pompadour died after a short illness and Du Pont’s hope of a position in the financial department of the government was disappointed.

Vill INTRODUCTION

But Turgot had become interested in Du Pont’s pamphlet on Le Commerce des Grains, sought him out and offered him employment. So successful were his writings and the paper that he edited in support of Turgot’s doctrines that in 1766 he was at last able to marry. In 1772 he went to Poland as secretary of the council of public instruction, at the request of Stanislas Poniatowski, King of Poland; but two years Turgot became financial minister in France and sent for Du Pont to return and work with him. In 1776 Turgot’s reforms became irksome to the court and he was dismissed. Du Pont retired to his estate near Nemours and occupied himself with the education of his two sons, the development of his estate, the translation of Ariosto and his Memoirs of Turgot; he also employed much of his time and endeared himself to his neighbors by practicing his profession of medicine with much success.

In 1782 Vergennes, then minister of foreign affairs, sent for him to negotiate with Dr. James Hutton, the English minister, for the recognition of the independence of the United States and afterward for a French-English treaty of commerce. As a reward for these services Du Pont was made Councillor of State; but he was even better rewarded by the opportunity of form-

INTRODUCTION IX ing friendships with such men as Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Jefferson.

Jefferson was four years younger than Du Pont. He was born and had always lived on his father’s estate in Virginia, where he afterward built his own home, Monticello; he was fond of study, graduated from William and Mary College at twenty and was admitted to the bar at twenty-four. He was sent to the Virginia house of burgesses in 1769 and was from that time always in the service of the colony until he was appointed a member of the Continental Congress in 1775. His pamphlet, 4 Summary View of the Rights of America, was widely read, gave him a place among the revolutionary leaders and earned for him the authorship of the Declaration of Independence. In October, 1776, having resigned his seat in the Continental Congress and declined to go to France as a commissioner with Benjamin Franklin, he re-entered the Virginia Legislature. ‘There he worked eagerly for a revision of the state laws,—for the repeal of a law of primogeniture, and of the support of an established church, and in 1786 for a system of general education. The Encyclopedia Britannica says,—‘District, grammar and classical schools, a free state library, and a state college were all included in his plan. He was the first

£ INTRODUCTION

American statesman to make education by the state a fundamental article of democratic faith. His bill for elementary education he regarded as the most important part of the code, but Virginia had no strong middle class and the planters would not assume the burden of educating the poor.”

In 1779 Jefferson was made governor of Virginia; in 1783 he was again in Congress; the following year he went to France to succeed Franklin as minister. There his position and his sympathies made for him friendships in court circles as well as with the more moderate of the revolutionists. He returned to America in 1789 with every intention of going back to France, but was urged by Washington to remain as Secretary of State and finally accepted. Partly because of political rivalries and partly because his long absence was being felt in the administration of his estate, he resigned in 1793 and retired to Monticello where he lived quietly and happily until his election to the vice-presidency in 1796, when with great reluctance he returned to public affairs.

In the meantime Vergennes had appointed Du Pont commissioner general of commerce,—the general administrator of foreign and domestic commerce with some authority in agricultural

INTRODUCTION xl matters. He continued to work with the ministers during the session of the Assembly of Notables, of which the King appointed him secretary. When the States General was summoned, he was elected a member of the Third Estate from the baillage of Nemours and was afterward a member of the Constituent Assembly. At that time he wrote innumerable pamphlets,—on the best way of obtaining loans; on ecclesiastical property ; on a constitution for the city of Paris; on the revenue produced by the sale of tobacco; on the lottery; on national education, &c., &c. These pamphlets were signed Du Pont (de Nemours) to distinguish him from Du Pont (de Bigorre) who was sent to the States General from Bigorre, and he used the whole name thereafter as did his sons.

Du Pont hoped and worked for a constitutional monarchy. On the tenth of August, 1792, he and his younger son— the elder son was in America—fought for the safety of the King and, as a result, Du Pont, who had been recognized, was concealed by his friends in the neighborhood of Paris until he could go quietly to his home in the country and resume his practice of medicine. Two years later he was found by Robespierre’s agents, was arrested, imprisoned, and

X11 INTRODUCTION only escaped execution by the fall of Robespierre.

Soon after his release he was elected to the Council of Five Hundred; but his continued resistance to the Jacobin party and his criticism of the government of the Directory made life in France too difficult. He made elaborate plans for the purchase of land in Virginia that should offer homes to those of his countrymen who felt, as he did, that there was no place in Europe for men of their convictions. For that purpose he formed a stock company of which he and his sons were the directors. Much money was promised him,—some was paid. He and his family sailed from France in 1799 and were in New York in January, 1800. In a letter to his daughter, dated “Philadelphia, January 17,” Jefferson says,—“M. du Pont, his wife and family are arrived at New York, after a voyage of three months and five days. I suppose after he is a little recruited from the voyage we shall see him here. His son is with him, as is also his son-in-law, Bureau Pusy,* the companion and fellow-sufferer of Lafayette. I have a letter from Lafayette of April; he then expected to sail for

* Bureaux de Pusy, the son-in-law of Du Pont’s second wife.

INTRODUCTION X1li

America in July, but I suspect he awaits the effect of the mission of our ministers. I presume that Madame de Lafayette is to come with him, and that they mean to settle in America.”

It was a serious blow to the plans of Du Pont de Nemours when Jefferson assured him that all real estate prices were at their very highest and that to buy the land offered to him would mean ruin. The two men saw much of each other at this time, for Du Pont was frequently in Philadelphia and Jefferson was probably in New York occasionally. In August of that year Du Pont wrote to a cousin in Europe,—“I have written at the request of Mr. Jefferson, a work on national education in the United States.” ‘That was the first edition of this book, which was printed in Paris because Du Pont could not write in English and French was perfectly easy to Jefferson. Many of the ideas suggest the education bills that Jefferson had offered in previous years to the Virginia Legislature; many of them show the careful elaboration that characterized Du Pont’s methods ;—but one of them we may feel very sure was not Jefferson’s. ‘The idea of a national university was not suggested in any of his earlier plans, which were all for education directed by the authorities of the individual state. But it was not a new idea; in his annual address

XIV INTRODUCTION to Congress in December, 1796, Washington said,—“T have proposed to the consideration of Congress the expediency of establishing a national university and also a military academy. The desirableness of both these institutions has so constantly increased with every new view I have taken of the subject that I cannot omit the opportunity of once for all recalling your attention to them. . . . . Amongst the motives to such an institution, the assimilation of the principles, opinions, and manners of our countrymen by the common education of a portion of our youth from every quarter well deserves attention. The more homogeneous our citizens can be made in these particulars the greater will be our prospect of permanent union; and a primary object of such a national institution should be the education of our youth in the science of government.” That argument would unquestionably recommend itself to Du Pont, whose experience had all been gained in a centralized government ; it is not improbable that it was one of the subjects on which Washington and Jefferson could not agree.

But Jefferson and Du Pont discussed other matters of grave importance, for when Du Pont returned to France in 1802 he went as an author-

INTRODUCTION el ized representative of the President of the United States.

(President Jefferson to Du Pont de Nemours)

Washington, April 25, 1802.

Dear Sir,—The week being now closed during which you had given me a hope of seeing you here, I think it safe to enclose you my letters for Paris, lest they should fail of the benefit of so desirable a conveyance. They are addressed to Kosciuszko, Madame de Corny, Mrs. Short and Chancellor Livingston. You will perceive the unlimited confidence I repose in your good faith, and in your cordial dispositions to serve both countries, when you observe that I leave the letters for Chancellor Livingston open for your perusal. The first page respects a cypher, as do the loose sheets folded with the letter. These are interesting to him and myself only, and therefore are not for your perusal. It is the second, third and fourth pages which I wish you to read to possess yourself of completely, and then seal the letter with wafers stuck under the flying seal, that it may be seen by nobody else if any accident should happen to you. I wish you to be possessed of the subject, because you may be able to impress on the government of France the inevitable consequences of their taking possession of Louisiana; and though, as I here mention, the cession of New Orleans and the Floridas to us would be a palliation, yet I believe it would be no more, and that this measure will cost France and perhaps not very long hence, a war which will annihilate her on the ocean, and place that element under the despotism of two nations, which Iam not reconciled to the more because my own would be one of them. Add to this the exclu-

XVI INTRODUCTION sive appropriation of both continents of America as a consequence. I wish the present order of things to continue, and with a view to this I value highly a state of friendship between France and us. You know too well how sincere I have ever been in these dispositions to doubt them. You know, too, how much I value peace, and how unwillingly I should see any event take place which would render war a necessary resource; and that all our movements should change their character and object. I am thus open with you, because I trust that you will have it in your power to impress on that government considerations, in the scale against which the possession of Louisiana is nothing. In Europe, nothing but Europe is seen, or supposed to have any right in the affairs of nations; but this little event, of France’s possessing herself of Louisiana, which is thrown in as nothing, as a mere make-weight in the general settlement of accounts,—this speck which now appears as an almost invisible point in the horizon, is the embryo of a tornado which will burst the countries on both sides of the Atlantic, and involve in its effects their highest destinies. That it may yet be avoided is my Sincere prayer; and if you can be the means of informing the wisdom of Bonaparte of all its consequences, you have deserved well of both countries. Peace and abstinence from Euro- | pean interferences are our objects, and so will continue while the present order of things in America remain uninterrupted. There is another service you can render. I am told that Talleyrand is personally hostile to us. This, I suppose, has been occasioned by the X Y Z history. But he should consider that that was the artifice of a party, willing to sacrifice him to the consolidation of their power. This na-

INTRODUCTION XV tion has done him justice by dismissing them; that those in power are precisely those who disbelieved that story, and saw in it nothing but an attempt to deceive our country; that we entertain towards him personally the most friendly dispositions; that as to the government of France, we know too little of the state of things there to understand what it is, and have no inclination to meddle in their settlement. Whatever government they establish, we wish to be well with it. One more request, —that you deliver the letter to Chancellor Livings with your own hands, and moreover, that you charge Madame Du Pont, if any accident happen to you, that she deliver the letter with her own hands. If it passes only through her’s and your’s, I shall have perfect confidence in its safety. Present her my most sincere respects and accept for yourself assurances of my constant affection, and my prayers, that a genial sky and propitious gales may place you, after a pleasant voyage, in the midst of your friends.

His land development plans proving hopeless, Du Pont de Nemours returned to France in July of 1802, leaving his sons and their families in America, in business for themselves. He made some commercial shipments to his elder son in New York and sold some cargoes for him in Europe, but his principal occupations were at the office of the Chamber of Commerce, of which he was secretary, and in editing the works of Turgot. He had sold his estate in the country and lived very quietly in Paris. At the abdication of

XVIII INTRODUCTION

Napoleon in 1814 he was made secretary of the provisional government and, when the King returned, Councillor of State. But on Napoleon’s return from Elba the next year he left France for the last time and joined his sons in America.

Shortly before Jefferson’s term of office ended in 1809 he wrote to Du Pont de Nemours,—

“Within a few days I retire to my family, my books, and farms; and having gained the harbor myself, I shall look on my friends still buffeting the storm with anxiety indeed, but not with envy. Never did a prisoner, released from his chains, feel such relief as I shall on shaking off the shackles of power. Nature intended me for the tranquil pursuits of science, by rendering them my supreme delight. But the enormities of the time in which I have lived have forced me to take a part in resisting them, and to commit myself on the boisterous ocean of political passions. I thank God for the opportunity of retiring from them without censure, and carrying with me the most consoling proofs of public approbation. I leave everything in the hands of men so able to take care of them, that, if we are destined to meet misfortunes, it will be because no human wisdom could avert them. Should you return to the United States, perhaps your curiosity may lead you to visit the hermit of Monticello. He will receive you with affection and delight; hailing you in the meantime with his affectionate salutations and assurances of constant esteem and respect.”

Early in December of 1815 Du Pont de Ne-

INTRODUCTION 5 Ah 4 mours and his son Victor went to Monticello. They were there for about a week and on the way home stopped at Washington to dine with the President and with the Secretary of State. The visit to Monticello was a great pleasure to him. He was then seventy-six years old, Jefferson seventy-two; but both men loved the great out-of-doors, loved the young people of whom the house was full, loved the long talks of revolutions, of treaties, of Napoleon, of schools and universities. And for Du Pont it was almost the end. He died at the home of his son in Delaware, in August 1817, of an attack of gout, from which he had suffered for many years. One of his last thoughts was to send Jefferson a pamphlet on education.

(Thomas Jefferson to E. I. du Pont)

Dear Sir.—Your letter of the 11th of Aug. after a long detention at Monticello, is received at this place, where I have now been upwards of a month. I had seen in the public papers the unwelcome event it announced, & also the obituary notice to which your letter refers; it was but a modest sketch of the worth of M. Du Pont, for of no man who has lived could more good have been said with more truth. I had been happy in his friendship upwards of 30 years, for he was one of my early intimates in France. I had witnessed his steady virtue,

XX INTRODUCTION and disinterested patrictism thro’ all the varying seenes, regular and revolutionary, thro’ which that unhappy country has been doomed to pass. In these, his object never varied, that of the general good. for this no man ever labored more zealously or honestly; of which he has left abundant monuments. altho’ at the age he had attained we were aware that his close could not be very distant, yet the moment of it’s arrival could not fail to afflict us with those sentiments of regret which the loss of a beloved friend, a patriot, and an honest man, must ever excite. I sincerely condole with yourself and his family on the great void in their society produced by his loss, of which they will be long deeply sensible.

I duly received the pamphlet of M. Jullien on education, to whom I had been indebted some years before for a valuable work on the same subject. of this I expressed to him my high estimation in a letter of thanks which I trust he received. the present pamphlet is an additional proof of his useful assiduities on this interesting subject, which, if the condition of man is to be progressively ameliorated, as we fondly hope and believe, is to be the chief instrument in effecting it. I salute you with sentiments of great esteem and respect.

Th. Jefferson.

For Jefferson nine years more were left and they were devoted almost wholly to his university. In 1816 the establishment of Central College was authorized by the Virginia Legislature with Jefferson one of the trustees. In 1817 the corner stone was laid; Jefferson was rector of

INTRODUCTION XXI the board of trustees and the legislature adopted his suggestion of renaming it the University of Virginia. Until its completion in 1825 he rode almost every day to watch the work and when he could not ride he sat on his terrace with a telescope to see the building grow. The University opened with seven schools in 1825. He died in 1826, and his own opinion of his life’s work is shown in the epitaph that he wrote,—

Here was buried Thomas Jefferson Author of the Declaration of American Independence,

Of the Statute of Virginia for Religious Freedom, And Father of the University of Virginia.

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