第64章

Sensibleofthisdilemma，fromthemomentofcomingintoofficeI

laiditdownasaruletoleavetheapplicantstocollecttheiranswerfromthefacts。Toentitlemyselftothebenefitoftheruleinanycaseitmustbeobservedineveryone：andIneverhavedepartedfromitinasinglecase，notevenformybosomfriends。

Youobservethatyouare，orprobablywillbeappointedanelector。

Ihavenodoubtyouwilldoyourdutywithaconscientiousregardtothepublicgood&tothatonly。Yourdecisioninfavorofanotherwouldnotexciteinmymindtheslightestdissatisfactiontowardsyou。OnthecontraryIshouldhonortheintegrityofyourchoice。

InthenominationsIhavetomake，dothesamejusticetomymotives。

Hadyouhundredstonominate，insteadofone，beassuredtheywouldnotcomposeforyouabedofroses。Youwouldfindyourselfinmostcaseswithoneloafandtenwantingbread。Ninemustbedisappointed，perhapsbecomesecret，ifnotopenenemies。Thetransactionofthegreatinterestsofourcountrycostsuslittletroubleordifficulty。Therethelineisplaintomenofsomeexperience。Butthetaskofappointmentisaheavyoneindeed。HeonwhomitfallsmayenvythelotofaSisyphusorIxion。Theiragonieswereofthebody：thisofthemind。Yet，liketheofficeofhangmanitmustbeexecutedbysomeone。Ithasbeenassignedtomeandmademyduty。Imakeupmymindtoittherefore，&abandonallregardtoconsequences。Acceptmysalutations&assurancesofrespect。

BLUEPRINTOFTHEUNIVERSITY

_ToLittletonWallerTazewell_

_Washington，Jan。5，1805_

DEARSIR，——YourfavorofDecember24nevercametomyhandstilllastnight。It’simportanceinducesmetohastentheanswer。

NoonecanbemorerejoicedattheinformationthatthelegislatureofVirginiaarelikelyatlengthtoinstituteanUniversityonaliberalplan。Convincedthatthepeoplearetheonlysafedepositoriesoftheirownliberty，&thattheyarenotsafeunlessenlightenedtoacertaindegree，Ihavelookedonourpresentstateoflibertyasashort-livedpossessionunlessthemassofthepeoplecouldbeinformedtoacertaindegree。Thisrequirestwogradesofeducation。Firstsomeinstitutionwherescienceinallit’sbranchesistaught，andinthehighestdegreetowhichthehumanmindhascarriedit。ThiswouldprepareafewsubjectsineveryState，towhomnaturehasgivenmindsofthefirstorder。Secondlysuchadegreeoflearninggiventoeverymemberofthesocietyaswillenablehimtoread，tojudge&tovoteunderstandinglyonwhatispassing。Thiswouldbetheobjectofthetownshipschools。I

understandfromyourletterthatthefirstoftheseonlyisunderpresentcontemplation。Letusreceivewithcontentmentwhatthelegislatureisnowreadytogive。Theotherbranchwillbeincorporatedintothesystematsomemorefavorablemoment。

Thefirststepinthisbusinesswillbeforthelegislaturetopassanactofestablishmentequivalenttoacharter。Thisshoulddealingeneralsonly。It’sprovisionsshouldgo1。totheobjectoftheinstitution。2。it’slocation。3。it’sendowment。4。it’sDirection。OneachoftheseheadsIwillhazardafirstthoughtortwo。1。It’sobjectshouldbedefinedonlygenerallyforteachingtheusefulbranchesofscience，leavingtheparticularstothedirectionoftheday。Scienceisprogressive。Whatwasusefultwocenturiesagoisnowbecomeuseless，e。g。onehalftheprofessorshipsofWm&Mary。Whatisnowdeemedusefulwillinsomeofit’spartsbecomeuselessinanothercentury。Thevisitorswillbethebestqualifiedtokeeptheirinstitutionupinevenpacewiththescienceofthetimes。EveryoneknowsthatOxford，Cambridge，theSorbonne，etc。arenowacenturyortwobehindthescienceoftheage。2。Thelocation。Thelegislatureistheproperjudgesofageneralposition，withincertainlimits，asforinstancethecountyinwhichitshallbe。Tofixonthespotidenticallytheywouldnotbesocompetentaspersonsparticularlyappointedtoexaminethegrounds。

Thissmalldegreeoflibertyinlocationwouldplacethelandholdersinthepowerofthepurchasers：tofixthespotwouldplacethepurchaserinthepowerofthelandholder。3。It’sendowment。Bankstock，orpublicstockofanykindshouldbeimmediatelyconvertedintorealestate。Intheformofstockitisadeadfund，it’sdepreciationbeingequaltoit’sinterest。Everyonemustseethatmoneyputintoourfundswhenfirstestablished(in1791)withallitsinterestfromthatdaywouldnotbuymorenowthantheprincipalwouldthenhavedone。Mr。PittstatestoparliamentthattheexpensesoflivinginEnglandhave，inthelast20years，increased50。percent：thatisthatmoneyhasdepreciatedthatmuch。Eventhepreciousmetalsdepreciateslowlysothatinperpetualinstitutions，ascolleges，thatoughttobeguardedagainst。Butincountriesadmittingpaper，theabusiveemissionsofthatproducestwo，threeorfourcoursesofdepreciation&annihilationinacentury。Landswillkeep_advancing_nominallysoastokeep_even_really。Canalsharesareasgoodaslands，perhapsbetter：butthewholefundsshouldnotberiskedinanyoneform。Theyshouldbevestedinthevisitors，withoutanypowergiventhemtolessentheircapital，orevento_change_whatisreal。4。TheDirection。ThiswouldofcoursebeinthehandsofVisitors。Thelegislaturewouldnamethefirstset，&

laydownthelawsoftheirsuccession。OndeathorresignationthelegislatureortheChancellormightnamethreepersonsofwhomthevisitorsshouldchuseone。Thevisitorsshouldbefew。Ifmany，thosehalfqualifiedwouldbytheirnumbersbringeverythingdowntotheleveloftheirowncapacities，byout-votingthefewofrealscience。Idoubtiftheyshouldexceedfive。Forthisisanofficeforwhichgoodsensealonedoesnotqualifyaman。Toanalysescienceintoit’sdifferentbranches，todistributetheseintoprofessorships，tosuperintendthecoursepracticedbyeachprofessor，hemustknowwhatthesesciencesareandpossesstheiroutlinesatleast。Cananystateintheunionfurnishmorethan5。

mensoqualifiedastothewholefieldofthesciences。TheVis