The judges are entitled to receive, in addition to their salaries, 25 cents a mile for necessary travel. The Court of Appeals holds two sessions annually; one at Lewisburg, Greenbrier county, for the counties lying west of the Blue Ridge, commencing on the 1st Monday in July, and continuing 90 days, unless the business shall be sooner despatched; the other at Richmond, for the counties lying east of the Blue Ridge, commencing at such times as the court may, from time to time, appoint, and continuing 160 days, unless the business shall be sooner despatched. General Court. The state is divided into 10 districts, and each district into two circuits, and a Circuit Superior Court of law and chancery is held twice every year in each county and corporation; the courts sitting until the business is despatched. There are 20 judges, having each a salary of $1,500, and their names, with the number of their respective circuits, are as follows: 1. Robert B. Taylor, 3. Abel P. Upshur, 8. William Daniel, 15. Benjamin Estill, 7. Wm. Brockenbrough, 14. Daniel Smith, EDUCATION. In an interesting article in the London " Quarterly Journal of Education," on the subject of " Education in Virginia," said to have been written by a gentleman who was formerly a professor in the University of Virginia, it is remarked; -"Education seems never to have been an object of public concern in Virginia, before her separation from Great Britain; nor is there a single statute in the colonial code in which the subject is mentioned, unless, perchance, in some special enactment concerning the College of William and Mary." In accordance with this statement is the following extract from the answer of Sir William Berke ley, (the most distinguished governor that Virginia had during her colonial state, and once a fellow of Merton College, in Oxford University,) to the Committee for the Colonies: - "I thank God there are no free schools nor printing; and I hope we shall not have, these hundred years; for learning has brought disobedience, and heresy, and sects into the world, and printing has divulged them, and libels against the best government." But after the declaration of independence," as is stated in the article above mentioned, "education seems to have been one of the first subjects which engaged the attention of the leading politicians of Virginia." From the same article we select the following facts. A general system of education for all classes of the community comprehending elementary schools, colleges, and a university, was prepared by Mr. Jefferson; but it appears to have been too extensive for that early period. But the part of it which related to elementary schools, was adopted by the legislature in 1796; yet it was never carried into execution, apparently because it imposed a tax on the rich for the education of the poor. In 1809, an act was passed providing for a Literary Fund, by appropriating all fines, escheats, and forfeitures of every description to a permanent fund" for the encouragement of learning." In 1816, Virginia appropriated the principal part of a large claim on the government of the United States, for military services during the war with Great Britain, to this Fund; and commissioners were appointed to devise a system of education. In the session of the legislature, 1817 – 18, it was found that the Fund amounted to upwards of $900,000, yielding an income of more than $50,000; and a permanent appropriation was made of $15,000 a year for the support of a university, and $45,000, annually, for the education of the poor, to be distributed among the several counties and corporate towns of the state, according to their free white population; and to be placed under the management and control of school commissioners, who were to be annually appointed by the courts of the several counties and towns. The number of poor children instructed, in 1822, in 48 counties, under the operation of this law, was 3,298, at the average cost of $7.03, for each child; in the year 1830, the number of children instructed, in 95 counties, was 14,169, at the average cost of $2,82 for each child. It appears from the Auditor's Report of 1831, that the number of poor children in the state according to the returns of the school commissioners amounts to 27,598, which is about one 25th of the whole white population, and probably about one 5th of the whole number of children between the ages of 8 and 15. From the mass of evidence exhibited to the legisla. ture in the auditor's Report, it appears that, although the plan has been attended with different degrees of success in the different coun ties, there has been a steady and continued improvement through the state in the execution of the law. It has already imparted the knowledge of reading and writing, with all their moral tendencies, probably to 50,000 human beings; and, before many years, it will have conferred the same inestimable blessings on twice that number. In 1820, a law was passed authorizing the extension of the system of primary schools to all classes, but leaving it discretionary. This law gave authority to the school commissioners of each county, whenever they thought the purposes of education would be thereby promoted, to lay off their county into districts, of from three to seven miles square ; and as soon as the inhabitants of such district shall have raised threefifths of the sum required to build a school-house in the district, the commissioners are authorized to contribute the other two-fifths, so, however, as not to exceed ten per cent. of the county's annual quota of the $45,000. They are further authorized to pay a sum not exceeding $100 towards the salary of a teacher, provided the inhabitants of the district contribute an equal or greater amount; and, at the school thus provided, every white child in the district may be taught gratis. Each school is to be placed under the control of three trustees, of whom the school commissioners are to appoint one, and the private contributors two. Academies and High Schools. Academies in Virginia are private schools, commonly established by a few public-spirited individuals in a county or neighborhood, who erect suitable buildings and provide requisite teachers. The ordinary number of scholars is from 30 to 50. There are about 55 of these academies in the state. The grammar schools are conducted solely by their respective teachers. In some of them Latin, Greek, and mathematics are taught. But the largest part of the youth of both sexes are taught in domestic schools. A teacher can be procured for 200 or 300 dollars exclusive of his board, while the children of the neighbors will come in as scholars, and some of them as boarders. The chief difficulty in carrying on any of these schools is that of obtaining suitable instructors. There has been recently great improvement in female education in Virginia. There are more than twenty female academies, of which there was not one before the Revolution; and three-fourths of them have been established within the last 30 years. UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA. The legislature of Virginia at the session of 1817-18, adopted measures for establishing an institution then proposed to be named Central College, and 24 commissioners were appointed to select a site for it. They accordingly selected a pleasant and elevated spot nearly two miles from Charlottesville, in the county of Albemarle, not far from the centre of the population of the state. Their choice was confirmed by the legislature in 1819, and an act was passed incorporating the institution by the title of the University of Virginia, which went into operation in 1825. It was erected and endowed by the state; and it owes its origin and peculiar organization chiefly to Mr. Jefferson. It has a fine collection of buildings, consisting of four parallel ranges about 600 feet in length, and 200 feet apart, suited to the accommodation of 9 professors and upwards of 200 students; which together with the real estate, cost $333,996. It possesses a very valuable library of 8,000 volumes, and a philosophical apparatus, which together cost $36,948. The state gives annually $15,000 for the support of the institution. The whole annual income of the university is about $18,500. The professors are paid partly by a fixed salary and partly by fees received from the students; but the sums which they severally receive are widely different, varying in ordinary years from $1,600 to $3,500. The plan of this university differs materially from that of other institutions of the kind in the United States. The students are not divided into four classes, with a course of studies embracing four years; but the different branches of science and literature here taught are styled schools. The following particulars are extracted from the " Regulations," &c. Students are not admitted under 16 years of age; every one is free to attend the schools of his choice, and no other than he chooses; provided, that if under the age of 21, he shall attend at least three professors, unless he has the written authority of his parents or guardian, or the Faculty shall, for good cause shown, allow him to attend less than three. In each school there are three regular lectures a week; besides which, there are in most of them extra lectures suited to the several classes into which the school is divided. The mode of instruction is by text-books and lectures, accompanied by rigid examinations. Three honorary distinctions are conferred by this institution; a Certificate of Proficiency, — that of Graduate of any class, and that of Master of Arts of the University of Virginia. No particular period of study is prescribed for the acquisition of these honors. The student obtains them whenever he can undergo the rigid examination to which the candidates for them are subjected. The title of Doctor of Medicine is conferred on the graduates of the Medical Department. There is but one session annually, commencing on the 10th of September, and ending on the 20th of July. Commencement is on the last day of the session, when there are public exercises, and at the same time the certificates and diplomas are awarded. - Number of students, in 1833, 157. The first degree was conferred in 1828;-number of graduates in 1828, 10; in 1829, 12; in 1830, 30; in 1831, 20; in 1832, 46. —total 118; of these 16 were graduates in the ancient languages; 14 in mathematics ; 23 in natural philosophy; 9 in chemistry; 17 in moral philosophy; ១១ in medicine; and 17 in law. The title of "Master of Arts of the University of Virginia" was conferred on one student at the commencement of 1832. Ancient Languages from 1825 to 1833, 519; in 1833, 58 Modern Languages, 1825 to 1833, 425; in 1833, 22 Mathematics, Number of Natural Philosophy, students in the school Chem. and Mat. Med., 1825 to 1833, 410; in 1833, 83 1825 to 1833, 407; in 1833, 69 1825 to 1833, 238; in 1833, 40 1825 to 1833, 183; in 1833, 35 1825 to 1833, 252; in 1833, 38 Law, 1825 to 1833, 201; in 1833, 37 Annual expenses ; -board, including bed, washing, and attendance, during the session, from September 10 to July 20, $100; fuel and candles $15; room-rent $8; use of library and public rooms $15; fees to three professors (to one only $50; to two $30 each; if more than two, $25 each) - $75 : - total $ 213. Faculty in 1833. Gesner Harrison, Prof. Anc. Lang. Thomas Johnson, Prof. Anat. & Surg. George Tucker, Prof. Mor. Phil. John P. Emmett, Prof. Chem. & Mat. Med. J. Herve, Tutor Mod. Lang. Chairman of the Faculty, in 1833, Professor Tucker. — The chairman is annually chosen from the professors by the rector and visitors. Board of Visitors.—James Madison, Rector; James Breckenridge, Chapman Johnson, Joseph C. Cabell, John H. Cocke, Thomas J. Randolph, and William H. Brodnax. — Frank Carr, Secretary. — The Visitors are appointed by the governor and council every four years. This institution, which is at Williamsburg, formerly the capital of Virginia, and is, next to Harvard College, the oldest in the United States, derives its name from William and Mary, sovereigns of England, by whom its charter was granted in 1691. It received with its charter a grant of £1,985, 20,000 acres of land, and a penny a pound on tobacco exported from Virginia and Maryland; and it was further aided by private donations, particularly by the munificence of the Hon. Robert Boyle. In 1693, the Assembly of Virginia ordered that it should be built at Williamsburg, and made some additional grants, so that its annual |