ANNUAL REPORT. 131 



greatly to the beauty of the scene. It is worthy of note that 

 they have taken the most lively interest in the agricultural 

 operations of the surrounding vicinity, attending and par- 

 ticipating in the essays and discussion of the agricultural 

 organizations, and serving as judges, and writing reports on 

 different departments of their exhibitions. The good has 

 been mutual. The farming community has taken much 

 more interest in the young men as such, as students of 

 agriculture, and in the college, its work and progress. 



An invitation having been extended to the college battal- 

 ion to attend and participate, as a military organization, in 

 the ceremonies attendant on the celebration of the settlement 

 of Boston on the 17th of September, and our late president, 

 Charles L. Flint, and Isaac Farnsworth, Esq., having gener- 

 ously oifered to defray the expense of transportation, the 

 invitation was accepted. Under the command of its military 

 instructor, Lieut. Charles Morris, it left Amherst on Thurs- 

 day, Sept. 16, after college exercises, and returned and 

 broke ranks for home duty on the 18th. There was a doubt, 

 in the minds of some of the college officers, of the propriety 

 of the excursion, and fears of its influence on the students 

 individually, and on the institution ; but the result was 

 altogether favorable. By the quiet and gentlemanly deport- 

 ment of the young men when out of the ranks, and the sol- 

 dierly appearance, the precision of movement, and admirable 

 drill exhibited by the battalion in the procession and on the 

 line of march, they won the highest praise of their com- 

 manding officer, and the warm encomiums of both friends 

 and strangers. In the exhibition of all the qualities which 

 combine to make an efficient military organization, it was, 

 by the best judges, accredited as second to but one in the 

 immense military array of the occasion. 



The devotion of the officers of the different departments, 

 and the alacrity and cheerfulness with which they discharge 

 their increased and arduous duties, was never more marked 

 than at present. In this connection it should be remem- 

 bered, that, though the teaching-force has been seriously 

 decreased, the regular course of instruction according to the 

 curriculum has been retained. The branches of study taught 

 by the discharged professors, nearly all of which were of the 

 highest importance, have in some cases been assigned to 



