370 STATE BOARD OF AGRICULTURE. 



pursued. As to mniiual labor he thinks " it ought chielly to board the student, 

 leaving but a few expenses incumbent on him." 



"At the outset we are met with the objection that all attempts at associat- 

 ing labor with the acquisition of knowledge, in seminaries of learning, have 

 proved failures. Sometimes, however, the labor has been mere steady drudg- 

 ery in close apartments, and was illustrative of no truth. Sometimes labor 

 has been permitted to a portion of the students, who thus elected to eke 

 out their means, while a larger class of daily associates were entirely exempt. 

 Thus castes were created, where, of all the world, there should exist a warm 

 and brotherly sympathy. That manual labor is incompatible with intellectual 

 growth, is contrary to philosophy and experience. Sedentary employment is 

 much more likely to be so. Vigor of body gives vigor to the brain. In the 

 Polytechnic schools of Europe, and at the military academy at West Point, in 

 our own country, the student is often engaged in severe physical exercise for 

 many hours daily. But there, culture of mind and body are indissolubly 

 connected, and the exercise becomes with many, the charm of their student 

 life. Surely the labor that creates instead of destroys, and which causes the 

 earth to bloom with luxuriance and beauty, and groan under its abundance, 

 should be as captivating as that which is bestowed in reducing butchery to an 

 exact science, and which recognizes occasional desolation of the earth, and 

 wholesale destruction of the race, as a necessary and normal condition." 



"But if manual labor has failed in all other colleges, it ought not to fail 

 here, where it is inseparably connected with the acquisition of knowledge. 

 Thus allied, the employment should be a charm instead of a drudgery. 

 Practical labor in this institution is the vital, cementing, invigorating influ- 

 ence, that will give it dignity, and it is hoped, complete success." 



At the close of President Williams's inaugural. Governor Bingham addressed 

 the assembly. He spoke of the new college as designed "to elevate and dignify 

 the character of labor." He spoke of science, saying: "Science and art are 

 now uniting their labors, and are drawing mutual aid from each other on the 

 farm, as they have for some time been doing in the manufactory and in the 

 shop of the artisan. A new era is dawning upon the vision of the farmer — 

 new light is illumining his path, and a new interest and new pleasures are 

 urging him on to improvement. His intellect comes to the aid of his hands; 

 and as he traces effects to their causes, searches for the reason of his failures 

 and disappointments, familiarizes himself with the operations of nature, and 

 devises improvements in his art, his interest is increased, his profits are greatly 

 enhanced, and he appreciates the full dignity of his chosen pursuit. Science 

 is probably capable of rendering more important aid to husbandry than to 

 any other branch of labor, and presents a wider field of useful study to the 

 cultivator of the soil, than to any other class of society." Gov. Bingham 

 closed with saying : 



"Thus, with the liveliest anticipations, and highest hopes of success, we 

 welcome the free Agricultural college among the institutions of learning of the 

 State of Michigan, and bid it God-speed. Long may it flourish, an honor to 

 its founders and an honor to the State." 



The Board of Education consisted of Hiram L. Miller, Saginaw; John K. 

 Kellogg, Allegan; Eev. Geo. Willard, Battle Creek; Ira Mayhcw, Superin- 

 tendent of Public Instruction, Secretary ex-officio. 



All these gentlemen took an active part in the enterprise. Mr. Miller 

 resigned his place in July, greatly regretted by the board, and Mr. Witter J. 



