So early as 1793 W. Rivet, a French missionary, “a polite, well-educated, and liberal-minded enthusiast, banished to this country by the French Revolution,” had conducted a school successfully at Vincennes. A system of county seminaries was introduced early in the nineteenth century, and such schools were organized in about half of the counties; and between 1825 and 1850 seventy-three private and incorporated schools were opened, traces of which remain. These were known sometimes by the name of the founder, or were identified with the name of the town in which they were situated. The democratic idea that secondary and higher education could not properly be provided by the State found early and wide acceptance. It was believed that the obligation of higher education should be undertaken by private enterprise and by religious organizations; and out of this spirit came a group of seminaries, similar to those of the counties, and representing the several churches that had established outposts on the frontier. Many of these grew into colleges. Hanover and Wabash colleges thus began under Presbyterian auspices, DePauw (Asbury) University under the Methodists, and Franklin College under the Baptists; and while their beginnings were not strictly in the seminary, Notre Dame, a Catholic university, and Earlham College, an institution of high character allied to the Society of Friends, were of like origin. Late in the period during which the seminaries flourished there rose a number of schools for women, of the academic grade, and all of them private or denominational. Institutions for higher education often precede schools for primary and intermediate training; and in Indiana care had been taken to provide seminaries and colleges before the important matter of establishing a common school system had received intelligent attention. David Starr Jordan, long identified with education in Indiana, has remarked that “the growth in educational systems is from above downwards. In historical sequence Oxford must precede Rugby, and the German University must come before the gymnasium.” Nearly half a century after the organization of the first territorial government, no system of common schools had been perfected in Indiana. Efforts had been made and the subject had not been wholly overlooked by the lawmakers, but a prejudice existed in the minds of many against free schools as undemocratic. The principle that enlightenment must be a condition precedent to the intelligent exercise of citizenship was not grasped by the populace; and as a result of inattention the Hoosier, as Eggleston’s schoolmaster found him, was appearing on the scene. And yet, in 1837, while this type was increasing, a member of the legislature declared, during the discussion of a proposed school tax, that “When I die I want my epitaph written, ‘Here lies an enemy to free schools.’”[33]