because it receives pupils from a large extent of country
Nor is there any good reasoning in the statement that a school is public
because it receives pupils from a large extent of country. Dartmouth
College is a private school, though its pupils come from all the land or
all the world; while the Boston Latin School is a public school; though
it receives those pupils only whose homes are within the limits of the
city. The first is a private school, because it was founded by President
Wheelock, and has been controlled by him and his successors, holding and
governing and enjoying through him, from the first until now; while the
Boston Latin School is a public school, because it was established by
the city of Boston, through the votes of its inhabitants, under the laws
of the state, and is at all times subject, in its government and
existence, to the popular will which created it. When we speak of the
public we do not necessarily mean the world, nor the nation, nor even
the state; but the word _public_, in a legal sense, may stand for any
legal political organization, territorially defined, and intrusted in
any degree with the administration of its own affairs. And the public
character of a particular school, as the Boston Latin School, for
example, may be determined, by a process of reasoning quite independent
of that already presented. The State of Massachusetts, a complete
sovereignty in itself, has provided by her constitution and laws, which
are the expressed judgment of her people, for the establishment of a
system of public schools, through the agency and action of the
respective cities and towns of the commonwealth. These towns and cities,
under the laws, set up the schools; and of course each school partakes
of the public character which the action of the state, followed by the
corporate public action of the city or town, has given to it. Thus it is
seen that our public schools answer to the requirement already stated.
They are established by the public, supported chiefly or entirely by the
public, controlled by the public, and accessible to the public upon
terms of equality, without special charge for tuition. Nor is the public
character of a school changed by the fact that private citizens may have
contributed to its maintenance, if such contributors do not assume to
stand in the relation of founders. It is well understood that the
beneficial founder of a school is he who makes the first gift or bequest
to it, and the legal founder is the government which grants a charter,
or in any way confers upon it a corporate existence. If a town establish
a high school, as in Bernardston to-day, and accept a gift or bequest,
the character of the school is not changed thereby. Mr. Powers did not
attempt to establish a new school. He gave the income of ten thousand
dollars for the aid of schools then existing, and for the aid of a
school whose existence was already contemplated by the laws of the
state. No change has been wrought in your institutions; they are still
public,--your generous testator has only contributed to their support.
And, in considering yet further the question, 'How can the advantages
of a high-school education be best secured?' I shall proceed to compare,
with what brevity I can command, the public high school with the free
high school or academy upon a private foundation. My reasoning is
general, and the argument does not apply to all the circumstances of
society. It is not everywhere possible to establish a public high
school. In some cases the population may not be sufficient, in others
there may not be adequate wealth, and in others there may not be an
elevated public sentiment equal to the emergency. In such circumstances,
those who desire education must obtain it in the best manner possible;
and academies, whether free or not, and private schools, whether endowed
or not, should be thankfully accepted and encouraged. Nor will high
schools meet all the wants of society. There must always be a place for
classical schools, scientific schools, professional schools, which, in
their respective courses of study, either anticipate or follow, in the
career of the student, his four years of college life. With these
conditions and limitations stated, the point I seek to establish is that
a public high school can do the work usually done in such institutions
more faithfully, thoroughly, and economically, than it can be done
anywhere else.
title=France
