98 HENRY HILL GOODELL 



paration of addresses, traveling to every corner of the 

 Commonwealth, and appearing before committees of the 

 legislature. In his addresses on agricultural education he 

 had an apt text which he used to illustrate: "How can he 

 get wisdom that holdeth the plow and glorieth in the goad, 

 that driveth oxen and is occupied in their labors, and whose 

 talk is of bullocks?" : — and in answering the question he 

 adjusted his address to the character of his audience. Many 

 of these popular addresses in the early days of his presi- 

 dency are out of tune with the spirit of to-day, and would 

 excite a smile, not on account of the manner of handling 

 the subjects, but on account of the subjects themselves. 

 They had to do with what would seem to us the petty and 

 trivial, the creatures of a persistent hostility or ignorant 

 criticism. It seems impossible to-day that such objections 

 should be raised against such an institution; but they had 

 to be met and the work had to be done over and over 

 again for years. It was a pleasure to him to meet the peo- 

 ple and answer their honest questions, but men soon found 

 that it was not safe to trifle with him. Pages might be 

 filled with smart questions intended to put him and his 

 cause in a ludicrous position ; but his ready wit and good- 

 natured replies were sure to turn the tables on the ques- 

 tioner and leave him in a very undesirable situation. 



A few of the graduates of the College had entered the 

 ministry, and the chairman of one of the committees of the 

 Massachusetts legislature before which he had to appear, 

 said to him: "I notice you have some ministers among 

 your graduates. Will you please tell me what the connec- 

 tion is between agriculture and theology?" 



1 Wisdom of Jesus the Son of Sirach: xxxviii, 25. 



