Despite this idealistic view of the progress of sciences and arts, the reality of the world at that time, to me, seems much different. While technology did improve agriculture, the "yoke of his labours" seems to be more that humans enslaved other humans to do their work for them, to become the animals. Chattel slavery was only enhanced by all of these new advances in the sciences and arts, which, while beneficiary, were lacking in moral application. "The comforts of life" were not extended "to a much enlarged circle", in fact, for some, it was removed, and compared to today, the life expectancy in the colonies was horrendous.

The Rockfish Gap Report says here that basically, any person can improve and better themselves. The use of the word chimæra is most interesting as well, which does not have its usual meaning of the Greek mythological creature here that has multiple creatures mixed together. Chimæra here, according to a dictionary, means "a thing that is hoped or wished for but in fact is illusory or impossible to achieve." Thus, what the Rockfish Gap Report is saying here is that improvement of students is not just something hopeful, but is indeed possible, and should be sought after. The technique of grafting, of inserting or transplanting a part of a sapling onto a branch to for it grow, also refers to knowledge. However, the diction used here has some troubling implications, such as "the wild and uncultivated tree" and "the savage stock". The authors of the Report seem here to be arrogant, elitist and snobbish, looking down on those they deem as uncivilized, ignoring their own (many) faults and assuming that by inserting their views onto potential students, it will make them into 'civilized,' 'cultivated' yet chained subjects.

This is an interestingly phrased passage, particularly "the circle of attendance." While it refers to the relatively mundane task of scheduling, the use of the word circle is interesting. It reminds of the wholeness of the education that the writers of the report envision for their students. We might now say that they are getting a "well rounded education." Hints at the completeness of the education they are striving to create can be found even in reference to scheduling.

We tend to think of arts and sciences as separate and incompatible things, but this sentence indicates that way of thinking is a modern concept. Art and science were closely tied together in the 18th century, and before that. Major advances in science have been closely tied to art, and vice versa. This includes Renaissance times and the Age of Enlightenment, which had enormous influence on Jefferson.

I think the reason behind why they first stated "Spanish is highly interesting to us" instead of just the reasons is because Spanish is only interesting to the U.S. since there are many Spanish-speaking inhabitants. Without them perhaps Spanish wouldn't even be interesting let alone a language which we would likely learn rather than others. Because it is useful in our own country many Americans are inclined to learn it but looking at other countries around the world it goes to show that Spanish in general is not that popular in other countries but rather English and Chinese. Spanish does, however, have a large base since almost the entire South America speaks it.