Jefferson's University
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 November 2011
Summary
“That the legislator should especially occupy himself with the education of youth, no one can dispute; for when this is not done in States, it is a cause of damage to the polity. For a State must be administered with reference to its polity; and that which is the peculiar characteristic of each polity is that which preserves and originally constitutes it; as, for instance, the democratical principle in a democracy, and the oligarchical in an oligarchy; and that which is the best principle always constitutes the best polity.”
—Aristotle. Politik: Book viii.The existence of the University of Virginia is scarcely recognised by British travellers. I was welcomed there as the first who had ever visited it. Charlottesville lies out of the ordinary route of tourists; but Monticello, the seat of Jefferson, is within sight of his favourite institution; and Mr. Madison's residence is only about thirty-five miles off; and it seems surprising that such a combination of interesting objects should not have drawn more pilgrim feet that way.
It was between five and six in the morning when we entered the stage at Orange Court House, which was to deposit us at Charlottesville before an early dinner. The snow had wholly disappeared; and I looked out eagerly to see what aspect the far-famed Virginia wore. For the greater part of the way, all looked very desolate: the few dwellings were dingy; large mansions, with slave-dwellings clustered near.
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- Retrospect of Western Travel , pp. 19 - 35Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2010First published in: 1838