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.

This is an interesting paragraph. It reveals that primary education was not a basic that most people had access to. The founding of the University requires that primary education also be readily available to those wishing to attend. Education at any level was not something people were guaranteed access to. Public schools didn’t become more common than private one until the end of the nineteenth century. This is something so prevalent in most of our lives now that we don’t think of what a novelty it is.

I find the different spellings and irregular capitalization and punctuation throughout the document fascinating. It shows how languages are constantly evolving. Not even 200 years ago, the style of writing and the rules of the language itself were drastically different than they are now. Language also reflects social patterns as well. An email to a professor, for example, will be far more formal than a text to a friend. Language evolves over time, but it also differs widely depending on circumstance.