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tion of whose children it has had in charge. By degrees, the most distinguished citizens, becoming interested in the operation of the society, enrolled themselves among its members, and, devoting themselves gratuitously to the discharge of their self-imposed duties, were the means of effecting a greater amount of good in the aggregate, it is believed, than has ever yet been effected simply by private benevolence.

It was, however, contended, by the opponents of this system, that there were a number of evils inherent in it-that it was not adequate to the increased wants of the community, and that the plan-which had promised well at its inception, when the limits of the city were circumscribed, and its population comparatively small and more homogeneous than at present, and when, above all, there was no adequate public provision for popular education-was unsuitable, and ill adapted to its present circumstances. It was also contended that the great power possessed by a corporation which was declared to be irresponsible, composed of private individuals, receiving and expending large amounts of public money, under the control only of their own judgments, gave umbrage to many of our citizens, who contended that the money of the people should be received and disbursed only by agents chosen by the popular will; and the excitement upon this subject, heightened by some extraneous circumstances, to which it is not necessary now to refer, increased to such an extent that the action of the Legislature was invoked by numerous petitions, and the Committee on Colleges, Academies, and Common Schools of the Assembly, on the 14th of February, 1842, through their chairman, Mr. Maclay, presented a report, in which what were believed to be the causes of the evils of the system of common school instruction in the city of New York were clearly set forth, and the proper remedies designated. A bill, entitled "An Act to Extend to the City and County of New York the Provisions of the General Act in relation to Common Schools," was introduced with the report, and speedily passed into a law.

The various objections to the system of the Public School Society and to its practical effects are enumerated in the report. We will content ourselves with a brief quotation, sufficient to show the nature of the evils complained of, and the purposed remedy:

"All that appertains to public instruction in the city and county of New York is substantially under the control of an incorporated institution, known as the Public School Society. The extraordinary powers of this society have been ably and elaborately set forth in the reports made to the Legislature at its last session. The control of the public education of the city of New York, and the disbursement of nine tenths of the public moneys raised and apportioned for schools, are vested in this corporation. It is a perpetual corporation, and there is no power reserved by the Legislature to repeal or modify its charter. From the petitions of many thousand inhabitants of New York, it appears that objections are widely prevalent against this organization of schools in the metropolis, and that the system so far fails to obtain the general confidence, that a very large number of children are left destitute of education.

"There is something exceedingly incongruous with our republican habits of thinking in the idea of taking the children of a population approaching half a million of souls-taxing them, at the same time, for the support and maintenance of schools-and, when both the children and the taxes are furnished, withdrawing both out of the hands of guardians and tax-payers, and handing them over to an irresponsible private chartered company. Such a concentration of power into mammoth machinery of any description is odious to the feelings, and dangerous to the rights of freemen.

"It is too late to argue that private chartered corporations, with extraordinary powers and privileges, are more suitable or efficient agents for public objects than the community itself acting under general laws. But the question is not upon the merits or defects of other institutions; it is whether the Public School Society has or has not failed to accomplish the great object of its establishment-the universal education of the children of the city of New York. That it has signally failed has been shown by the statistics of the schools; and there is, moreover, incontrovertible proof in the fact that nearly one half of the citizens of the metropolis protest against the system, and demand its modification.

"Such, then, is the evil to be corrected. It is apparent that it began with a departure from the confessedly equal and just system of common school education which prevails in all the

other parts of the state, and it can only be effectually and satisfactorily corrected by bringing home the education of the young of the city to the business and bosoms of their parents. The common school system of the state successfully and admirably accomplishes that object, and the committee, therefore, recommend that the system shall, as far as practicable, be extended to the city and county of New York."

By the new act, passed April 11, 1842, and amended subsequently, April 18, 1843, two commissioners, two inspectors, and five trustees of common schools, were to be elected in each ward of the city of New York, and appropriate duties were assigned to each of these classes of school officers. The commissioners were organized as a Board of Education, whose duties were to distribute the moneys arising from the school fund and from the proceeds of the school tax among the several ward schools, and to found new schools whenever they should be needed. The trustees were appointed to examine the schools, and to grant certificates to teachers; while the former, in conjunction with the commissioners, appointed the teachers, and were responsible for the proper financial management of the schools under their charge. It was also the duty of all the school officers to supervise carefully the schools in the different wards, by whose inhabitants they were chosen.

The advocates of the new system assert that it has fulfilled all their expectations. Twenty new schools, consisting of forty-four district departments, have since been established under the direction of the commissioners, inspectors and trustees elected in the several wards, and applications for additional ones are continually made to the Board of Education. The following table, compiled from the official returns, will indicate clearly the increase in the number of children attending the common schools in the city since the passage of the act of 1842, and also show that each separate year exhibits a progressive augmentation:

VOL. I.-O

A Table, showing the average actual attendance of Scholars, and the whole number taught, in the Public Ward Schools of the City of New York during the years 1839, 1840, 1841, 1842, 1843, 1844, 1845, and 1846.

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During the session of the Legislature of 1842, Mr. Maclay's attention was drawn to the unpublished journals of the Provincial Congress of the State of New York, for the sessions of 1775 and 1776, which were lying in manuscript in the office of the Secretary of State. These journals, relating to the most interesting portion of the legislative history of the State of New York, contained many original and unpublished letters from Washington, Franklin, Hancock, Greene, Warren, Montgomery, Jay, Ethan Allen, and many other distinguished actors in the drama of the Revolution. To rescue these precious memorials of the devoted patriotism of that period from loss or mutilation was the grateful task of Mr. Maclay, who ultimately succeeded in obtaining the passage of a resolution authorizing their publication by the state. They form two elegant folio volumes, the value of which was known only to the few antiquarians "who had brushed away the dust and cobweb accumulations of half a century." Thurlow Weed, the editor, of the State of New York, in commenting upon the subject, remarks, that to the Hon. Mr. Furman, chairman of the Library Committee in the Senate, and to the Hon. Mr. Maclay, chairman of the Literature Committee of the Assembly, the people are indebted for the rescue of these unpublished memorials of the patriotism, gallantry, and wisdom of their revolutionary fathers. The schools organized under the law of 1842 are designated as Ward Schools.

Mr. Maclay has been three times elected to Congress, having been chosen by large majorities at each recurring election since the organization of the state into Congressional Districts. Indeed, the hold which he has upon the people of his district was strikingly exhibited in the circumstances connected with his second election. This took place during the excitement in relation to what is commonly called Native Americanism. The party adopting this name at the time swept the city of New York as with a whirlwind, electing from that city the thirteen. members of the Legislature, three members of Congress, and, in fact, every candidate for any office except Mr. Maclay. This did not arise from the fact that he was more favorably regarded by them than any of the other candidates. On the contrary, perhaps there was no one more objectionable to them, no one whose defeat was more ardently desired. He had taken frequent occasion to denounce this party as narrow, proscriptive, and intolerant in their views; and, averse as he seems to be to contests in such an arena as the House of Representatives, yet he warmly opposed the motion of Mr. Levin to raise a select committee in reference to this subject.

Mr. Maclay was an early advocate of the annexation of Texas. His views were fully expressed in a letter written in 1845, in reply to an invitation to attend a mass-meeting held on the subject in the city of New York. He recurred to it, also, in another letter, written in defense of the existing war with Mexico.

During the Oregon controversy [see title, S. A. DOUGLAS], he expressed his views with equal clearness on that question, sustaining the position taken by the President, and eliciting from General Cass the remark, "Mr. Maclay has given the clearest brief statement of our title to Oregon which I have ever yet seen, and in language which must find a response in every bosom."

When the question of the reduction of postage was first agitated, and measures to accomplish the object were adopted at a meeting held in the Merchants' Exchange of the city of New York, Mr. Maclay addressed several letters, in reply, to a committee then raised, the substance of which was afterward embodied in an article published in Hunt's Merchants' Magazine. The expediency and propriety of the proposed reduction were strongly enforced, and the whole subject was examined with

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