The considerations which have governed the specification of languages to be taught by the professor of Modern Languages were that the French is the language of general intercourse among nations, and as a depository of human Science is unsurpassed by any other language living or dead: that the Spanish is highly interesting to us, as the language spoken by so great a portion of the inhabitants of our Continents, with whom we shall possibly have great intercourse ere long; and is that also in which is written the greater part of the early history of America.
I found this excerpt very admirable, as it emphasizes the importance of teaching and learning different languages. This not only broadens the possibilities for someone, but in this day and age, it is necessary to be at least bilingual given the amount of languages people speak in the U.S. alone.