“Wisdom and knowledge, as well as virtue, diffused generally among the body of the people, being necessary for the preservation of their rights and liberties, and as these depend on spreading the opportunities and advantages of education in the various parts of the country, and among the different orders of people, it shall be the duty of legislators and magistrates… to cherish the interest of literature and the sciences, and all seminaries of them.”

"It shall be the duty of legislators and magistrates… to CHERISH the interest of literature and the sciences." That's fine; however, compulsory education by the State is a far cry from 'cherishing' an interest in literature and the sciences. People need an education, yes, but we need to LEARN what's so. Once again, it is a personal responsibility to figure this world out, a blessing to have help, and a curse to be conned.

Archer, well said. The build-up of the quote was great, then - - -. The primary "duty" of a representative is to represent. In a representative republic of individual sovereigns that "assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them" (Declaration of Independence), those within the capacity of hired servants would do well to cherish the interest and rights of their boss sovereigns and restrict their activities to the administration thereof.

A societal ideality, realizable only under the aegis of Sovereign Virtue.

Lamentably, in this day of the ineffable impoverishment of spirituality, morality and ethics, a chimera.

Education is not a duty of the federal government. It is a duty of parents and their state. This duty was usurped to 'standardize education' which hasn't done anything to improve education. Never have we produced so many thoughtless and illiterate people in my 80 years on this planet. Government control is just that...control, not teaching. Read NEA The Trojan Horse in Public Education, and The Deliberate Dumbing Down of America by Charlotte Thomson Iserbyt (RIP and thanks for the information). Don't get the revised and abridged edition  if you can find an original.