50 BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



tant features of the bill. In our haste to develope the mind we 

 have forgotten the body. The one has been constantly forced by 

 a kind of hot-bed process, while the other has been neglected or 

 cramped in all its powers, and so we are dying for want of physi- 

 cal culture. It is the great American want. The National Gov- 

 ernment now offers the military drill and prescribes instruction in 

 military tactics. 



If such discipline and knowledge had generally been imparted, 

 the present war would not have found us all unprepared. It mi-ght 

 have been prosecuted more successfully, terminated more speedily, 

 and saved millions of money and thousands of lives. 



The errors of the past are irremediable. The present and future 

 can only be molded by our influence. The time has not yet come 

 to deprecate the military spirit. The lion has not yet shown any 

 disposition to lie down peaceably with the lamb, hence we cannot 

 safely turn the swords into plowshares or the spears into pruning 

 hooks, however desirable such a consummation may be to agricul- 

 ture, but we must, at least for the present, be a nation of soldiers 

 or give up our liberties. Hence, in the proposed institution, am- 

 ple instruction in military science must be imparted, and all the 

 studeTits required to practice all the exercises the manual of arms 

 directs. This exercise by the military drill, and daily labor upon 

 the farm or in the work-shop, would secure ample physical devel- 

 opment and preserve the health, while the mind is intently applied 

 to the acquisition of knowledge, and thus not Only would seden- 

 tary habits be prevented and the constitution be unimpaired, but 

 the muscles of the body and the faculties of the mind would be 

 strengthened and developed at even pace, the one reacting upon 

 and promoting the vigor of the other, and the whole man would 

 be prepared in the best manner for the arduous duties of subse- 

 quent life. 



As the National Government has offered to the 5tate such a 

 munificent gift, it devolves on the Legislature to determine 

 whether it will accept it with the annexed terms and conditions. 

 " It is rare that a question of more immediate or more far reaching 

 consequences is submitted to its action." 



If it would obtain this bounty, it must provide the college and 

 furnish the necessary buildings. Vast benefits to the age and to 

 the race hang on the decision. The time has already arrived to 

 locate the lands. The acceptance must be signified within two 



