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HENRY HILL GOODELL

HENRY HILL GOODELL

THE STORY OF HIS LIFE

WITH LETTERS AND A FEW OF HIS
ADDRESSES

BY
CALVIN STEBBINS

CAMBRIDGE

PRINTED AT THE RIVERSIDE PRESS
1911

COPYRIGHT, 1911, BY CALVIN STEBBINS

TO
JOHN GOODELL AND WILLIAM GOODELL

SONS OP PRESIDENT GOODELL

AND TO

WILLIAM SEYMOUR TYLER

CORNELIUS BOARDMAN TYLER

CHARLES DICKINSON

AND

EDWARD RITTENHOUSE HOUGHTON

SONS OP HIS LIFE-LONG FRIENDS

THIS STORY OF A STRENUOUS LIFE

IS AFFECTIONATELY

DEDICATED

M12SC35

INTRODUCTION

IN preparing this sketch of the life of President Goodell
it has been the author's aim to make it as far as possible
autobiographical. The letters written during the Civil
War are a soldier's letters, written by camp-fires, amid the
confusion of army life, and sometimes with the booming of
great guns ringing in his ears. They are printed as he left
them, without correction, omitting personal and family
matters of no interest to the public. The letters are some-
times arranged so as to appear like a diary, but he did not
keep a diary. He wrote to his friends of what was going
on around him; he has very little to say of matters that did
not come under his personal observation.

President Goodell was very careless about his manu-
scripts and seems to have looked upon them as of tempo-
rary value; and except the addresses and papers which
found their way into print, only a few out of many have
been preserved. Those printed in this volume are se-
lected as illustrative of the tone of his mind and his method
of handling the subjects he studied. It will be pleasing to
those to whom they were addressed to read his farewells
to the graduating classes.

It will be impossible to mention all the friends who have
contributed to this story. It is sufficient to say that Mrs.
Helen E. Goodell has been untiring in collecting material
illustrative of the work and character of her husband.
The sons of the late Colonel Mason W. Tyler of Plamfield,

vi INTRODUCTION

N. J., have kindly loaned letters addressed to their father;
many thanks are due to M. F. Dickinson, Esq., of Boston,
for letters, papers, and valuable suggestions. Major Thomas
McManus of the 25th Regiment of Connecticut Volunteers
and the Honorable William R. Sessions, for many years
Secretary of the Massachusetts Board of Agriculture,
have contributed important facts, one in regard to the
soldier, the other in regard to the affairs of the College.
Professor William P. Brooks and Professor George F. Mills,
for many years associated with President Goodell in the
Faculty of the College, have been very kind in furnish-
ing information of great value on important subjects; and
many of the graduates of the College have contributed
interesting incidents and characterizations.

CONTENTS

MEMOIR

I. YOUTH 1

II. SOLDIER 12

HI. EDUCATOR 79

IV. CONCLUSION 134

ADDRESSES

How THE PAY OF A REGIMENT WAS CARRIED TO NEW
ORLEANS 155

THE CHANNEL ISLANDS AND THEIR AGRICULTURE . . .172

REMINISCENCES OF THE ORIENT 194

THE INFLUENCE OF THE MONKS IN AGRICULTURE .... 228
THE MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURAL COLLEGE .... 254

RELATION OF THE STATE BOARD OF AGRICULTURE TO
THE MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURAL COLLEGE . . . 268

ADDRESS BEFORE THE ASSOCIATION OF AMERICAN AGRI-
CULTURAL COLLEGES AND EXPERIMENT STATIONS . . 284

viii CONTENTS
WHAT SHOULD BE TAUGHT IN OUR COLLEGES OF AGRI-
CULTURE . , 295

REPORT OF THE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE, TWELFTH CON-
VENTION, 1898 304

REPORT OF THE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE, FIFTEENTH CON-
VENTION, 1901 309

ADDRESS TO THE SENIOR CLASS, 1887 314

ADDRESS TO THE GRADUATING CLASS, 1888 316

ADDRESS TO THE SENIOR CLASS, 1890 319

CAPTAIN WALTER MASON DICKINSON, U. S. A 322

MEMOIR

Bright wits and instinct sure,
And goodness warm, and truth without alloy,

And temper sweet, and love of all things pure,
And joy in the light, and power to spread the joy.

HENEY HILL GOODELL

i

YOUTH

THE family name of Goodell appears in the Colonial Re-
cords and in the Record of the soldiers who enlisted from
Massachusetts during the Revolution, in some twenty
different forms, Goodale and Goodell taking the lead. The
stock from which Henry Hill Goodell sprang was of the
genuine Puritan type, robust, healthy, brave, earnest,
and religious. The first settler of the name in New England
was Robert Goodale, who with his wife Katharin and three
children, "Mary four years old, Abraham two, and Isaac
one half," embarked at Ipswich, England, in the ship
Elizabeth on April 10, 1634, and came to Salem, where he
soon established himself among those who were called
" the genteel." Before leaving England both he and his wife
took a solemn oath to be loyal subjects of his Majesty,
King Charles I. But while his descendants did not remain
loyal to the English throne, they apparently clung to their
Puritanism. Of the eighty or more Goodales or Goodells
who served as soldiers in the Revolution, all but seven were
named after the lawgivers, the warriors, the singers and
prophets of Israel, or the evangelists, disciples and writers
of the New Testament.

£ HENRY HILL GOODELL

His grandfather, William Goodell, a soldier in the Re-
volution, one of the seven of his "kith and kin" in the
army, who did not have a name borrowed from the Scrip-
tures, was born in Maryborough, Massachusetts, July 9,
1757, spent most of his active life in Templeton, Massa-
chusetts, and died July 4, 1843, at Copley, Ohio. He had
a family of ten children, of whom William, the father of
Henry Hill, was the second child and first son. This Wil-
liam seems to have inherited all the pluck and grit of his
race. He was a man of great practical wisdom and of cour-
age that never failed. His father was not able to help him
in his ambition to acquire an education, but he contrived
to fit for college, to graduate at Dartmouth in 1817, to study
theology at Andover, and then devoted his life to the work
of a missionary, and for forty years worked in the Otto-
man Empire. Turkey was then a frontier position, and his
trials came not "in single spears, but in fierce battalions."
The enumeration of his trials and perils by the first great
missionary of the Christian faith to his disciples at Corinth
is almost equaled by those endured by William Goodell. He
suffered from fire and flood, from plague and pestilence,
from the bigotry of the Greek Church, and lived in hourly
expectation of an outburst of Moslem fanaticism; yet he
stood to his post and did his work bravely and well.

He saw the humorous side of life and enjoyed it. His
humor was spontaneous and came out as oddly as a Puri-
tan quoted Scripture. "His sense of humor," says Dr.
Jessup, "was refreshing, bubbling over all on occasions
and sparkling even in the darkest hour of persecution and
tribulation." 1 Dr. Hamlin, as quoted by Dr. Jessup, says
1 Fifty-three Years in Syria, i, 47.

YOUTH 3

of him: "His wit and mirthfulness made perpetual sun-
shine."

The first account we have of Henry Hill is in a letter of
his father to a friend announcing his birth. The quaint
humor, mingled with a fervent yet anxious piety, is charm-
ing, and will throw a side-light on the character of the man.

"On the 20th inst. a new missionary joined us. He came
without a partner, and without any outfit; and, as is usual
with all newcomers, he boards for the present in my family,
till he shall become acquainted with the language and cus-
toms of the country; so that, what with his entire ignorance,
and what with his entire dependence on us for even his
ordinary clothing, we are full of business these days. In
other words, a week ago yesterday morning, a third son
and seventh child was added to my family; and we pray
that they all may be like the seven lamps, which burn for-
ever before the throne of God . I had looked forward to this
event with more than ordinary anxiety, but the Lord was
better to us than our fears, and instead of diminishing our
numbers hath added thereto; and if Job could say, * Blessed
be the name of the Lord/ how much more should we ! 'He
hath not dealt with us after our sins, nor rewarded us ac-
cording to our iniquities.'

"The children have looked through the whole Old and
New Testament, with all history, ancient and modern,
for a name, but without success. This, however, is not our
greatest trouble. Our principal concern is, that he may
have that new name which no man knoweth, save he that
receiveth it; and that his name, whatever it may be*
may be written in Heaven. May the day of his death be:
better than the day of his birth ! "

4 HENRY HILL GOODELL

He was born at fifteen minutes past twelve on the morn-
of May 20, 1839; and was christened, three days later,
Henry Hill.

The family ultimately consisted of nine children : four
sisters and two brothers older than himself and a brother
and a sister younger. When three years old, he lost a brother
eight years older, and he survived all the family but a sister
next older and a sister next younger, than himself. The
ties of blood were very strong in him, and his position in
the family, with older and younger brothers and sisters,
was a fortunate one for the development of the peculiar
relations that really constitute the family, which, as Emer-
son says, " makes a man love no music so well as his kitchen
clock."

During his early teens the Crimean War broke out, and
Constantinople became the centre of interest to the whole
western world. The soldiers of three great nations, England,
France and Sardinia, in their various uniforms, together
with the great warships and innumerable transports hurry-
ing to the scene of conflict, left an impression on his mind
that years did not efface. He saw most of the great comman-
ders, both of the land and sea forces, and beyond this many
of the diplomats representing many nations and distin-
guished visitors from the West. It is related that one day
he heard that Lord Stratford de Redcliffe was going to call
on his father, and running home he rushed into the room
without noticing that any one was there and burst out:
"Papa, Lord Stratford de Redcliffe is coming to call on
you." — "My son," said the father, "Lord Stratford de
Redcliffe is already here," introducing him to the dis-
tinguished caller. The great ambassador, whom Tennyson

YOUTH 5

lescribes on his monument in Westminster Abbey as "the
voice of England in the East," put his hand on the little
fellow's head and gave him the patriarchial blessing.

His letters to his brother William, who had come to this
country to study for his profession and who had begun the
practice of medicine, were full of war news and the doings
of soldiers. Dec. 19, 1853, he writes from Constantino-
ple, giving an account of the beginning of the war: —

MY DEAR BROTHER WILLIAM, — May your shadow never
be less and may you soon have plenty of patients, — not that
I wish folks might get sick, but that you might have practice.

A week or two ago the Turks and the Russians had a
naval engagement in which the Turks were utterly defeated.
The circumstances were these: 13 of the Turkish fleet,
mostly small vessels, went up into the Black Sea for a
cruise; they came to Sinopi and anchored there for a few
days, and not apprehending any danger they took no pre-
cautions in case of a surprise. Well a Russian steamer saw
them and went off and brought down upon them eight of
the largest-sized Russian vessels. The vessels came in with
a strong wind in their favour and immediately opened upon
the Turks with red-hot shot. The Turks tried to get out
of the way so as to let the battery from the town play on
the enemy, but did not succeed, and every one of them ex-
cept a steamer was either blown up or sunk. This steamer
managed to get up her steam and slipt out in the midst of
the action; she was pursued by R. steamers, but she used
her stern guns upon them and when they came too near
she would turn and give them a broadside, and thus she
escaped, but in a somewhat shattered condition.

6 HENRY HILL GOODELL

An English merchantman, which was lying up there at
the time of the engagement, was sunk and two of her crew
killed. Immediately upon hearing the news here, an Eng-
lish and a French steamer of war were despatched up with
surgeons and bandages and medicine for the soldiers who
survived. As soon as the battle was over, the Russians
hoisted sail and went off. The Greeks (the little rascals)
at Sinopi were so delighted at the issue of the battle that
they hoisted the Russian flag; this so exasperated the Turks
that they went and burned down all their quarters.

May 27, 1854, he writes: "Last week Friday we went to
the * Sweet Waters' of Europe; almost all the great folks
were there. Of the latter, there were the American, English,
French, Dutch, Persian, and Austrian ambassadors; there
was also the Duke of Cambridge, Lord Raglan, Prince Na-
poleon, and plenty of English officers."

June 10: "I have been to the review — it took place
last week. The Sultan was there to see them, the High-
landers were there, they were really beautiful, and when
they marched before the Sultan they played on their bag-
pipes; the music was very fine and the cavalry eclipsed
everything; even one of the generals said so. The music
was splendid, they played 'God save the King and Queen,'
the * Sultan's March,' * Scots wha hae,' and several others."

Henry did not attend school in Constantinople, but
studied at home. In English, mathematics and literature,
his sisters were his teachers. He studied Latin with his
father, Greek with his father's Greek translator of the New
Testament, and history was read every night and questions
were asked about it at the breakfast table the next morn-

YOUTH 7

ing. French he picked up in the street, as it was the lan-
guage commonly spoken.

But his parents were too wise to continue this method
long. The growing boy must have more air and a larger
world. Accordingly, at the age of seventeen, " a tender age,"
as he used to say, he left Constantinople, July 30, 1856, in
company with an older sister, in the Race Horse, a sailing
vessel, and after a voyage of sixty-seven days arrived in
New York, October 5.

He went immediately to Williston Seminary, Easthamp-
ton, and for the first year studied with both the Junior and
the Middle Classes and graduated with the class of 1858,
doing the work of three years in two. In the Seminary he
was very quiet, did nothing to attract attention, seemed to
have few friends, or even acquaintances, and was almost
unknown to those who became at once on entering college
his companions, and lifelong friends after college days had
become a matter of the past. He was looked upon as a
hard-working student. Perhaps in the minds of some of
his fellow-students there was a certain mystery about him,
born as he was in a strange land, under a strange civiliza-
tion, and so far from friends and home. And then the new-
ness of the new world may have had a repressing influence
upon him.

He entered Amherst College in the fall of 1858, and was
graduated with the class of 1862. In college the real man
came to the front, with a large percentage of the boy. He
found friends everywhere, — in his own class, in the higher
classes and among the Faculty. He was always good-
natured, always cheerful, at times rollicking, and ready to
take a hand in any good fun or practical joke. He was still

8 HENRY HILL GOODELL

a worker, maintained a good standard of scholarship, read
a good deal and to the purpose, and when the time came,
took up one study that was to be a great service to him in
after life, the study of botany. During the Freshman year
he accepted an invitation to become a member of the Psi
Upsilon Fraternity. The spirit of Fraternity seems to have
been in accord with his nature, as he took a personal inter-
est, not only in his associate members but in the new mem-
bers, long after he left college.

During the last years of his college life the great storm
that had long been gathering burst suddenly upon the
country. By a cannon shot in the harbor of Charleston,
South Carolina, the great issue between free and slave labor,
involving the preservation of the Union, was brought into
the court of last resort. In this great contest, which grew
greater as it went on, until it assumed proportions perhaps
up to that time unsurpassed in the history of mankind,
Goodell took a deep interest. It seemed to him to involve
the highest interests of civilization and all that he held dear.
He said but little, but evidently thought a great deal as to
his duty. The following letter addressed to his brother-in-
law, Mr. James Bird of Hartford, Connecticut, will give
his own account of his feelings. It was written more than
five months after the Massachusetts troops went through
Baltimore, and two months after the first battle of Bull
Run, which General Sherman declared "one of the best-
planned battles of the war, but one of the worst fought."
He had had plenty of time to think.

YOUTH 9

AMHERST, Sept. 30, 1861.

MY DEAR JAMES, — I want to ask your advice on a sub-
ject I have been thinking on very strongly the past weeks,
viz: the advisability of my going to the war. The ques-
tion has come home so strongly to me that I feel as if I must
decide it one way or another immediately. It 's no use at-
tempting to study while in such a state of indecision. Be-
lieve me, this is no sudden question that has come up in
my mind. It has scarcely been out of my thoughts since
returning here this term. Within the past few weeks we have
bade God speed to a dozen or more college-mates, who have
gone to assume honorable positions in our regiments now
forming, and I suppose during the present week some six or
seven more will leave. It 's the very life-blood of the Col-
lege we are sending; some of our best and noblest men.
The other morning a letter was read to the College from
Governor Andrew, strongly advising us not to enlist as
privates, but if we could get commissions, to go, stating
that the great want of our armies is officers of intelligence
to take the lead and direct. Now, James, the question
that arises is this. Here I have been drilling, and have
drilled men, for the past three months, and ought I to stay
here, when perhaps I can be of service to my country? I
am not thoroughly posted, and don't pretend to be, but
I feel confident that I know more than one-half the officers
that are being accepted. Why, in Colonel Lee's regiment
now encamped at Springfield, except the Colonel, Lieuten-
ant-Colonel and Major, there is not a single officer besides
our College boys that knows anything about modern
tactics, and it is our fellows that are drilling the men. As
Governor Andrew says, there are not officers enough found

10 HENRY HELL GOODELL

for the troops. I have had a lieutenant's position offered
me, but declined it, as I could not give any immediate
answer. It is hard to tell what is one's duty to do. The
faculty are very much adverse to the students' leaving, but
then on the other hand, the minister here, and other persons
in whose judgment I place the strongest confidence, urge
their going. A company left Amherst the other day, and
when I saw husbands leaving their wives and children, it
fairly stirred every particle of blood in my veins, and made
me feel as ashamed as could be to be staying at home,
when there was no one in the world dependent upon me.
Don't think that I am fired with ambition or glory or any-
thing of the sort. An officer's position is a dangerous one,
and I cling too tenaciously to life and its pleasures to rashly
throw mine away. No such motive I assure you influences
me. I have not yet written to Mr. Robert, but shall await
replies from you and William [his brother], to whom I
write by this same mail, before sending to him. If you and
he think favorably of this, I shall hold myself in readiness
for whatever may turn up.

Please write me as soon as convenient. Perhaps you had
better not say anything about this to Eliza [his sister] and
the rest of the family just at present, as it will only worry
them. Your aff. brother,

HENRY.

From this letter it appears that he had made up his mind
as to his duty. His friends, however, thought he had bet-
ter complete his college course; and he reluctantly yielded
to their wishes, and gave increased attention to gymnastics
and military drill, which he afterwards said was of great

YOUTH 11

advantage to him. At the time of his graduation the cause
of the Union was under a dark cloud. During the last of
June, 1862, even the President of the United States did
not know for days where the Army of the Potomac was.
The gloom was deep but the people were not discouraged.
At the request of the governors of eighteen loyal states
President Lincoln, on July 2, called out three hundred
thousand men for three years, and on August 4 ordered
a draft for three hundred thousand men for nine months.

II

SOLDIER

ON leaving College Goodell opened, on July 23, 1862,
a recruiting office in the City of New York; but his ex-
pectations did not materialize. He informed a friend that
most of the men who called at his office came to see how
he was getting along, or to sell him something that would
be indispensable to him in campaigning. Only once did he
feel sure of a recruit, but the feeling lasted only a moment.
With all the patriotic enthusiasm and power of persuasion
he possessed, he worked one fellow up to consent to enlist;
"but when the papers were brought out he declined to
sign that day, and when he left he threw down a card on
which was written: 'If you want a good wife, 1st. Keep
a good conscience; 2nd. Pay your honest debts; 3rd. Pur-
chase your shirts at 263 Broadway ' ; remarking as he evac-
uated, "That is my business'; and was followed by 'You
stupid blockhead ! you infamous wretch ! ' or words to that
effect."

Abandoning the scheme of raising a company in New
York, he went to Hartford and enlisted August 16 in the
25th Regiment of Connecticut Volunteers, then forming
under Colonel George P.Bissell,for a service of nine months,
and was appointed second lieutenant in Company F. It
was the smallest company in the regiment and was chris-
tened by the other soldiers "Napheys's Brigade," in honor

SOLDIER 13

of the captain, George H. Napheys. The regiment was
mustered into the service of the United States November
11, and three days later sailed from Hartford to Centre-
ville on Long Island, the rendezvous of an expedition to be
commanded by Major-General N. P. Banks, destination
unknown.

There is no place that reveals the real character of a man
so quickly and so clearly as a shelter tent in an army in
the field. All there is in him, be it noble or base, strong
or weak, is brought to the front by the peculiar experiences
of the soldier. This test Goodell could stand, and it has
been said by one who had a good opportunity to know, that
"he was, from first to last, a favorite with every officer and
private in the regiment." This means that he was the same
in the field that he was before he left the state, and that he
made himself respected as a disciplinarian because he was
one. No private under his command could make the com-
plaint of Birdofredum Sawin: —

I don't approve of tellin' tales, but just to you I may state
Our ossifers ain't wut they wuz afore they left the Bay-State.

The experiences of life in a camp of instruction are tedi-
ous and wearisome, but when a regiment starts for the field
under a government not prepared for war and unused to
handling and providing for large bodies of men, the real
trials of the soldier begin. Even under these circumstances,
however, his cheerfulness did not desert him. When the
regiment arrived at the camp at Centreville after a march
of about ten miles, they found that no provision had been
made for them, and it was the last of November. The next
morning he writes that he "slept in the guard-house on the

14 HENRY HILL GOODELL

bare floor, with nothing under him but his blankets, and in
the small hours of the morning he ran a mile on the race-
course to get warm."

The regiment was ordered to embark on November 29.
In a letter written on the Atlantic Dock, Brooklyn, dated
December 4, he gives an account of what had happened.

Our regiment was to have left last Saturday, when lo,
just as we were drawn up in battle-line preparatory to a
start, General Banks's orderly gallops up and brings an
order for Go's. C, D, F, and G to remain behind and go
with the 26th [Connecticut]. Here was a pretty go, for
tents, baggage and everything had already gone! We in-
stantly sent down to the depot for them, but they had al-
ready gone. To add to our troubles, up came one of the
heaviest rain-storms, such as Long Island only can pro-
duce. As there was no other place, we all went into the
guard-house, and there have we been lying ever since
on the hard boards; not even a wisp of straw did we have
till Tuesday, for it was so wet we could not bring it. The
26th boys were very kind and accommodated a whole
company. We officers were not so well off as the privates,
for we did not have our blankets with us. Yesterday I was
sent down here with a guard to take care of our baggage,
which is lying piled upon the dock. It was bitter cold last
night, but we managed to keep comfortable in some empty
R.R. cars that were convenient. The regiment received
marching orders last night and I expect them down every
minute to embark on the Empire City with the 26th Ct.
The rest of the regiment, or rather five companies, sailed
in the Mary Boardman, day before yesterday morning,

SOLDIER 15

and so crowded that part of the men are compelled to stay
on the upper deck.

Good-bye, all hands, with ever so much love to all.

HENRY.

P. S. I ' ve found out where our expedition is going. It 's
going to sea. One thing is certain — we are going pretty
far South.

There was considerable confusion and much delay in
getting off. Some of the transports were so crowded that
the captains refused to sail. Part of the remaining com-
panies of the 25th were taken on board the Che Kiang.
Goodell, with one hundred and twenty men of his regiment,
sailed from New York December 18, in the Merrimac,
with fifteeen hundred troops on board. The passage down
the Atlantic coast was very rough, the machinery of the
ship was disabled, and they were obliged to put into Hilton
Head for repairs. From here he writes December 27 to
a classmate a very realistic account of his experience.

"You would have laughed the first day, could you have
seen the guards of the vessel from stem to stern lined with
anxious sea-gazers, their knees knocking together, their
countenances ashen, and a very intimate connection evi-
dently existing between the stomach and the mouth. Even
my risibles were excited, though myself not entirely in-
sensible to the attractions of Neptune. Thou hast heard,
friend of my soul, of that unhappy man mentioned in the
Holy Writ, who had seven women hanging to the skirts of
his coat; but his condition was not a circumstance to be
compared to that of the unfortunate Quartermaster and

16 HENRY HILL GOODELL

Commissary of this ship, your humble servant in propria
persona. Each day I growl and say, 'Oh, men, why will
you eat so much?' Over three thousand pounds of rations
do I have to issue from that hold each day. It is no small
job, with the vessel pitching everything hilter skilter, to get
provisions up; and I assure you it is very disturbing to the
equanimity of my temperature and requireth great nerve
and presence of stomach to go below into the bowels of
the ship and hear some hundred or two puking above you.
Occasionally, I grieve to relate, I get disembowelled in the
operation. Hilton Head is the most God-forsaken, misera-
ble old hole yours respectfully ever got into. The sand is
ankle-deep everywhere, and such a lot of negroes, — shift-
less, lazy dogs, black as the ace of spades and twice as
natural. But the little nigs kill me outright. Excepting a
young elephant I know of nothing so comical. I can sit
half the morning looking at them and hearing them jabber.
We expect to sail to-night or to-morrow morning; but I
must close as I have a chance to send this ashore."

The Merrimac did not reach New Orleans until some
days after the arrival of the other transports. Part of his
regiment went immediately up the river to Baton Rouge,
and part of it was left at New Orleans. On the arrival
of the Merrimac, Goodell was employed in superintend-
ing the unlading of the ship, and had a very definite im-
pression that the "Native Brethren" did not like the "New
Massa"; for his ideas of a day's work were very different
from those to which they had been accustomed. He had
time, however, to visit many places in the city. He was
attracted to the slave-market, and noticed the signs of the
various dealers in human chattels. He made an excursion

SOLDIER 17

to Fort Jackson, — rowed, or rode, over the country for
fifteen miles. He had an exquisitely fine sympathy with
vegetable life in all its forms and especially with trees,
and the country charmed him. "I wish you could see the
orange and lemon groves," he writes, "with the trees per-
fectly bowed down with their weight of fruit. Such oranges !
Citrons almost as large as my head and lemons as would
make the heart of a thrifty house-wife rejoice. Upon my
word, I am in love with the sunny South. Don't be as-
tonished if, finding my affinity, you should hear that
Gibraltar had surrendered and I had settled down for life."

But he was not likely to find an assailant of his fortress
among the then inhabitants of New Orleans. He writes:
"The ladies wore 'secesh' cockades in their bonnets. Oh,
but it was amusing to see the curl of the lip and the un-
pleased nose with which they would sweep by us. Of course
I used my privilege of staring them full in the face." He
was master of a peculiar facial expression of a serio-comic
character, which he may have used, but he never had any
success with what he called, "my bran-new, two-for-a-
quarter smile."

The object of the expedition was to cooperate with
General Grant in the reduction of Vicksburg. But General
Banks did not know until he arrived at New Orleans that
Port Hudson was fortified and manned by almost as large
a force as he could bring against it, or that fifty miles or
so west of New Orleans was a force of five or six thousand
men ready to move on the city and cut his lines of communi-
cation the moment he moved up the river. In addition to
this, he was furnished with transportation for only one
division of his army, and a letter from General Grant was

18 HENRY HELL GOODELL

forty days en route. There was only one thing that could
be done, and that was to destroy the Confederate army
west of the Mississippi, before he could with safety leave
New Orleans in his rear and advance on Port Hudson.
So, concentrating his army at Donaldson ville, he marched
across the country to Berwick Bay and followed up the
Bayou Teche to Alexandria on the Red River; then, follow-
ing down the Red River to the Mississippi, he advanced
upon Port Hudson from the North. The story of this long
march with its various vicissitudes will be given in Good-
ell's letters to one of his sisters, with an occasional note to
classmates, to illustrate the spirit with which he endured
the trials of an exceedingly tedious and fatiguing campaign.

On the 15th of January, 1863, the companies of the 25th
Connecticut at New Orleans were sent up the river to Baton
Rouge, and joining their old companions, were brigaded
with the 13th Connecticut, the 26th Maine and the 159th
New York, under Colonel H. W. Birge as brigade com-
mander. These regiments formed the Third Brigade of
the Fourth Division of the 19th Army Corps, General
Grover division commander.

They were now in the presence of the enemy, and the
position assigned to the 25th was on the extreme left in
advance, and Goodell gets his first taste of active service.
On January 26, he writes from Baton Rouge : —

"Our camp is about half a mile from the town, just on the
edge of a dense forest and cypress swamp. Last night I went
out for the first time on picket duty, with forty-five men.
Had fifteen posts to look after, extending over some mile
and a half through the centre of the forest. It was no joke,
I assure you, going the rounds all night visiting the posts,

SOLDIER 19

for it was dark as a pocket, and I lost my way quite a
number of times and would wander hither and thither,
stumbling over vines and branches, till some sentinel
would bring me up with a round turn, with a click of his
musket-lock and 'Who goes there?"

In closing the letter he could not help adding: "Tell
Mrs. B. that her nephew has improved so wonderfully in
camp morals that he actually told me he thought if he
could get a good chance to hook a hen, he should do it."

In a letter to a classmate written January 27, he made a
few additions to the story of his first night on picket.

The woods are plentifully stocked with game and we
could hear most every sound, from the hooting of owls and
rooting of wild hogs to the snarl of the wild-cat and cry
of the possum. You should see the vines that encircle
the trees or festoon from tree to tree. Some of them are
gigantic, as large round as my body, and their folds look
like the coils of an immense snake. The smaller vines are
so pliable you can twist and tie them like a rope. I slept
an hour or two under a magnolia tree while my sergeant
kept watch. You can't think how tough I am getting. I
lie down on the ground with nothing but my overcoat on,
and using a log for a pillow sleep very comfortably. Adieu,
my pirate of the deep blue sea.

Affectionately,

YOUR BLOOMING DAFFODIL AND FRAGRANT >
PRIMROSE OF A SOUTHERN CLIME.

For some weeks after the arrival of the regiment at
Baton Rouge, the officers and men were busy with picket

20 HENRY HILL GOODELL

and guard-duty and acquiring the use of fire-arms, which
they did not receive until after they arrived at New Or-
leans. Goodell soon adjusted himself to the situation. He
writes February 7: —

"Everything is peaceful and quiet round here just now,
but it's frightfully cold. It is very singular weather here.
Just about so often we have a terrific rain-storm; when it
clears off, it will be intensely cold for three or four days,
then it will get unpleasantly hot and we have another
storm to subdue it. I don't think that these changes agree
with the men, for we have a large number on the sick-list.
The officers' ranks are so reduced by resignation and sick-
ness that, out of twenty lieutenants, we have only eight
for duty; the consequence is we have to work like Trojans,
for every day we detail two lieutenants, one for picket and
the other for guard. You would laugh to see me start out
on picket. First I have my overcoat on, and my sword
and fixings over that; then in my sling I carry my nine-
pound woolen blanket and my rubber blanket; then I have
my haversack with a day's rations, and lastly my canteen.
Oh, but you ought to see some of my dishes that I get up.
I should n't know how to name them, but they are luscious.
The other day I managed to get hold of some codfish, and
being in an experimenting frame of mind, made a delicious
fry. Soaked the critter over night, and next morning threw
the pieces into the frying-pan along with some pork; to this
I added a little concentrated milk instead of butter. Then
toasted some bread and poured the whole over it. Why, it
was a dish fit for a king ! We are lucky in being able to pro-
cure bread now. At first we could get nothing but hard-
tack. Fresh meat I have not tasted since we landed, till the

SOLDIER 21

other day, when out on picket, one of the men caught a
young pig and forthwith flayed and roasted him. That same
day, when on picket, a contraband brought us some fresh
eggs and some sweet potatoes; but such instances are few
and far between. Why, I became a nine-days' wonder on
returning to camp and relating my experience."

Hard as he worked, he seems to have enjoyed himself
and got all the fun there was in the life he was living, and
to have made some besides. On February 21 he writes to
a classmate of a dream that carried him back to college
days, and all the old boys were there and each had his own
peculiar characteristics and the fun grew louder and louder,
until he awoke to find his captain sitting up and wondering
what had got into his usually staid and sober lieutenant.

"With my elevation to my present elevated and highly
honorable position I have acquired a dignity of mien and
aldermanic rotundity of person highly gratifying to the
beholder. But I will tell you what I do miss, and that is
books. It would be a perfect luxury to get hold of some-
thing readable occasionally. Here we have nothing but
army tactics and regulations, a faithful study of which is
daily enjoined, which are very good in their way, but
not very improving to the mind. I'm flourishing like the
owl of the desert and the pelican of the wilderness. My
nocturnal excursions in Amherst dodging the professors
have developed in me a strategical skill which wilPno doubt
cause my military genius soon to be recognized. But me-
thinks I hear you growl, 'What a cussed Goodell it is!'
so I will just dry up."

22 HENRY HILL GOODELL

BATON ROUGE, Feb., 22, 1863.

BELOVED IN ISRAEL, — Again (thou art owing me an
epistle) have I taken up my pen, this time to request thee
to forward the enclosed to Calvin Stebbins. I hate, Dick,
to have to send my letters franked as soldier's letters, but
nary a stamp have I and nary a one can I buy on these
benighted shores.

I have just been drilling my men in a sad duty in re-
versed arms and rest, a duty which we are having to per-
form quite often nowadays. It is sad to see men stricken
down in their strength by the fever; one by one they drop
off, many of them without ever having had a sight of the
enemy — poor fellows ! It is a sickening sight to go over
the hospitals and see the parched and wasted sufferers,
many of them stretched on the floor with only a blanket
and scarce a comfort or luxury of any kind.

Mortar and gun-boats are daily arriving at this port.
We have six of the former and four or five of the latter.
They are continually making reconnaissance up the river
and occasionally give Port Hudson a touch of their balls,
but most of them give her a wide berth. Oh, Dick, you ought
to see us on our brigade drills! Such brilliant bayonet
charges as we perform ! Your uncle whooping and yelling
and waving his sword, men howling like so many Indians
and tearing over the ground as if the old scratch were
after them. It is exciting in the extreme, and it is just
about as much as I can do to hold in from dashing ahead
and cutting up my didoes. I verily believe that on a real
charge, whatever else my feelings, I shall hold my own with
the swiftest of them. Can't help it! It is so exciting! My
blood gets regularly up in the seventh Heaven and I chafe

SOLDIER 23

like a mettlesome steed. Inbred sin will stick out and I am
no exception. . . .

By the way, Dick, I should be very much obliged to you
if you would occasionally send me a weekly Springfield
"Republican." Reading matter we have none, and when
New York papers arrive they command 25 and 30 cents, so
that we poor devils, who have not yet received a cent of
pay, are forced to go without. You don't know what it is
to be cut off from all communication with the outer world
for a week or ten days at a time, and during that interval
hear nothing but the discouraging rumors and reports in-
dustriously circulated by the rebels. However, we are fast
getting over our first refreshing verdure and are learning
to disbelieve everything we hear.

I am in a confoundedly cross state of mind to-day for
ye following good and sufficient causes: 1st. I have just
come off guard in a soaking rain, and though being neither
sugar nor salt, have yet nearly melted away. 2nd. Having
a prisoner consigned to my tender mercies to be fed on ye
bread of affliction and ye waters of repentance until further
orders, ye same prisoner did at ye dead hour of noon break
in ye guard-house and abscond to his quarters, did there
fare sumptuously on hard-tack and salt-horse; that this
same coming to ye ears of ye colonel, he did up and sour
on ye officer of ye guard, and sending him a pair of hand-
cuffs did order forthwith to arrest ye delinquent and confine
him in close quarters; that in ye performance of ye said
duty a spirited encounter did there and thereupon take
place, in which ye offender did get upset in one corner and
ye officer very nearly in the other; that ye criminal, being
finally secured, did create such a row, ye same was forced

24 HENRY HILL GOODELL

to be gagged and bound hand and foot. 3d. That ye weather
hath proved unpropitious for several days, raining heavily
when ye humble servant did hope to go round and view
ye beauties of ye delicate upturned nose of Baton Rouge.
4th. That ye three commissioned officers of Co. G not
knowing better than to all fall sick at once and go to ye
hospital, ye subscriber was immediately detailed to take
charge and command of ye Co. to be obeyed and respected
accordingly; an honor by no means congenial since being
alone it bringeth many cares. That ye paymaster, that
much-desired individual, hath again disappointed ye ex-
pectants and left us, like Patience on ye monument, to
regret ye continued absence of ye "root of all evil."
6th. That ye reasons and ye causes multiply so fast we
would fain subscribe ourselves in bonds of Auld Lang Syne.
With lots of love to thyself, thy family and Sister Eben-
ezer, Daddy,

H. H. GOODELL.

We had a division review ordered to-day but it has been
countermanded. I wrote you and Furnald on the receipt
of your letters, somewhere about the 12th of this month.

But this camp-life was not to last. Admiral Farragut
wished to run his fleet past the batteries of Port Hudson,
that he might intercept the Red River traffic and cooperate
with General Grant at Vicksburg; and he asked General
Banks to make a demonstration behind the fortress. The
movement was intended as a diversion. General Banks at
once put his army in motion, and the 25th Connecticut,
with a squadron of horse and a battery of regular artillery-
men, commenced the advance on March 10. Five miles

SOLDIER 25

up the road from Baton Rouge they had a sharp skirmish
with the enemy and found a bridge to build. Goodell was
not one of those men who do not know what fear is,
but he had moral strength to do his duty without regard
to danger. "I was under fire," he writes, "for ten or fifteen
minutes, the bullets zipping in the trees over my head. I
flatter myself that my hair rose to a reasonable height
on that occasion."

The army came within cannon-shot of the Confederate
works, but could not get their guns up in time to be of any
service. But they were auditors and witnesses of a terri-
ble scene. At 11.20 P.M., two rockets burst into the air, and
in an instant all the guns of the fortress lit up the dark-
ness with their flash. The fleet replied, and until 35 minutes
after midnight the roar of one hundred and fifty guns was
incessant. To add terror to the anxiety of the awful scene
in the mind of the soldiers, "the U. S. Frigate Mississippi"
grounded, and to save her from capture, she was fired
in all parts, and when wrapped in flames that lit up the
scene for miles around, went up with a terrific explosion in
fragments to the sky. Goodell's account of this daring and
brilliant affair has been lost. Farragut's little fleet for this
desperate enterprise consisted of four ships and three gun-
boats, which were lashed to the port side of the forward
ships. But only the Hartford, which flew the Admiral's
"dauntless blue," and her consort, the little Albatross,
succeeded in running past the batteries. The other ships
were disabled by the enemy's fire and dropped down the
stream. The Mississippi, which had no consort, grounded,
became a target for the enemy's guns, and to save the
lives of her men was abandoned and fired.

26 HENRY HILL GOODELL

On the return march Goodell had a hard time. A heavy
rain-storm flooded the country, and he writes from Baton
Rouge on March 22: —

"Once more back at our old camping-ground, black as
Cherokee Indians, ragged as any old-clothesman, somewhat
fatigued but still jolly, we resume the thread of our narra-
tive and send you our salutations. On March 16, seven
miles from Baton Rouge, on our retreat, we were encamped
in a mud-puddle of pudding consistency. We managed to
get some rails and dry off in the sun, though I was so well
soaked it took me nearly all day to get thoroughly dried.
Towards noon, Billy Wilson's Zou-Zous hove in sight, his
white nanny goat marching at the head of his brigade as
complacently as you please. This goat he brought with him
from New York, and it has accompanied him in all his
marches, always stalking along in advance of the column.
At 3 P.M., we fell into line and marched one and one half
miles to the banks of the Mississippi, where we encamped
on a cotton plantation. It was about as pleasant a place
as I have been in in Louisiana, on a high bluff overlooking
the Mississippi, which spread out before us like some broad
lake. The banks were lined with live-oak, and back of us
were dense forests and impenetrable swamps. Hardly had
we arrived when I was detailed officer of the brigade guard.
Pretty rough on a fellow who had n't slept any for forty-
eight hours; but we were most of us in the same predica-
ment. Then there were three of us lieutenants, so we had
two hours on and four off, but the 13th lieutenant was sick
and I stood for him, and the Maine lieutenant unaccount-
ably disappeared, so I had a weary watch of it till 3 in the
morning, when our cavalry was driven back upon us but

SOLDIER 27

no one hurt. At three I was relieved, and lying down on
the bare ground, I slept like a rock till eight, when the new
guard came. Here let me say that that rain of Sunday,
which so tired us, was probably the saving of many of our
lives ; for the rebs, when they found that we were retreat-
ing, turned out infantry, cavalry and artillery and pressed
hard upon our heels, but the rain providentially deterred
them. The 13th and 25th covered the retreat. March 17
found us still in Camp Allen, for so we had named our
camp. In the afternoon I took six men and started on a
foraging expedition. We laid a couple of cows over pretty
quick. Leaving four men to dress them, I started for a
sugar plantation a mile or so distant. I found it entirely
deserted, but lots of sugar and molasses. As this had not
been confiscated to the United States government, we laid
in and managed to get a small cask of the sweetening elixir
up to the camp. On our return I found I was detailed to
take command of Co. G., whose officers still remained sick.
(Since we started I had been acting 1st lieutenant in Co.
A.) We held dress-parade at sunset in marching costume.
I was very ragged, having burned the legs of my pants
nearly off, and my blouse was well torn while skirmishing
through the woods.

"March 18, spent most of the day in mending the
breaches in my breeches. Visited the 52nd Mass, and saw
lots of Amherst boys, smoked the calumet of peace, and
had a good time generally. After dress-parade took out
Co. G. on a fatigue-party after wood. I am sure the rebs
have some need to bring railing accusations against us, for
I am certain there is not a rail to be found within twelve
miles of Baton Rouge.

28 HENRY HILL GOODELL

"March 19, there was ordered an inspection of arms in
the morning. While waiting for the colonel to come round
to my company, the adjutant came along and said that
the colonel, relying on my discretion and judgment, had
ordered me to take picked men from the regiment and go
out foraging after corn, and that if I got into any muss he
would be ready to lend a helping hand. In a few minutes
we were under way. Went out two miles and accomplished
our mission satisfactorily.

"March 20, received marching orders. At 3 o'clock got
under way, and after a weary, hot march we reached our
camp-ground at Baton Rouge at 7 o'clock. As we marched
past Banks's head-quarters, he came out and saluted,
while the bands of the different regiments played and
we marched past at shouldered arms. We lay in the open
air again all night, for it was too late and the men were
too tired to pitch our tents that night."

"March 21, was busy all day getting up our tents and
fixing ourselves generally, and that will complete the thread
of my tale up to to-day. Excuse all moral reflections on
the object of this expedition and what it has accomplished,
for I am writing at lightning speed, having just received
marching orders again, and all is packing and confusion
around me. Where we are going to, nobody knows, so I
can't enlighten you."

DONALDSONVILLE, Sunday, March 29, 1863.

At last, after being over a week packing up, waiting for
orders, we are on the move. We left Baton Rouge last night
at 6.30, and reached this place at 9 (as our luck would have
it) in a rain-storm. Lay under the trees all night, and this

SOLDIER 29

morning are endeavoring to enjoy ourselves drying off. I
am writing on a drumhead to let you know where we are
and where we are going. I suppose our present destination
is Brashier City, Berwick Bay, but beyond that nothing
is known. Rumor says Texas and Red River. We have
taken tents and all our baggage and do not expect again
to see Baton Rouge or Port Hudson. There is a steamer
coming up the Mississippi, so I must hurry to get this off.
Did n't I enjoy last night's meal on the boat ! It was worth
paying fifty cents for a meal to see a white table-cloth and
sit down in a Christian manner. We drank coffee to such
an unlimited extent that positively we could see each other
visibly swell like the woman at the tea-drinking described
in the " Pickwick Papers." Donaldsonville is an exceedingly
pretty, very old-fashioned shingle-roofed town. There is
a bayou runs through its centre some three hundred yards
wide, that runs clear to the gulf, and so deep that a frigate
lies in it about a mile from where it sets in from the Missis-
sippi. The catalpa and China-ball trees are in full blossom
and the pecans are leafing out. There is a Catholic church
that looks like a barn outside, but is quite tasty inside, and
thither the inhabitants, who are mostly French and Spanish,
are flocking. We have enjoyed the unwonted luxury of
seeing ladies, white ladies, perambulating the streets in
clean white petticoats. Don't laugh, but actually those
white petticoats are the most homelike thing I have seen
for months. Billy Wilson's Zouaves are in our division, but
the whole regiment is under arrest and their arms taken
away. They got drunk coming down on the boat, and
mutineered. Since we returned to Baton Rouge from our
expedition to Port Hudson, we have done nothing except

30 HENRY HILL GOODELL

lie round in a most uncomfortable state, with everything
packed up, expecting to start every day. You can't think
how beautiful everything is now. Cherokee roses, jessa-
mines, jonquils, and a great variety of flowers, are in blos-
som. We live out under the trees, with the rain pattering
down upon us, and you shiver by your fires. We are greatly
pestered with wood-ticks and it is almost impossible to
pick them off. They stick so closely to the skin and burrow
in. lam quite comfortable; campaigning evidently agrees
with me. I have gained ten pounds since I left New York.
The only thing I could wish for would be a havelock, —
it's so fearfully hot; but it would be a good two months
before I should get it, so I will try and make one for myself.

From Bayou Boeuf, seven miles from Brasbier City,
writing on April 3, he continues his story : —

"We have had some terribly hot and fatiguing marches,
and the boys are many of them so foot-sore and blistered I
doubt whether they could march much further. I have held
out wonderfully. Have not so much as raised a sign of a
blister, though carrying a rubber blanket and a thick over-
coat in a sling on my shoulders, my canteen full of water,
a haversack with two days' rations — provisions — in it,
and my sword and revolvers; by no means a small load as
you can imagine and as I found after the first few miles.
My nose and cheeks underwent one skinning operation in
our Port Hudson expedition and it grieves me to relate
that they are again peeling. I am writing on a wooden
mallet which I have improvised into a writing-table for the
occasion. But I will return to Donaldsonville and write up
the march. — March 30, we crossed over the Bayou La

SOLDIER 31

Fourche to the main part of the town and spent a couple
of hours in exploring it. It must have been an exceedingly
beautiful place, though now many of the houses are lying
in ruins from the bombardment last summer.1 Then there
is an exceedingly pretty cemetery, embowered in red and
white roses which hang in clusters over the monuments. I
noticed on many of the tombs fresh wreaths of roses and
myrtle, and before many there were pictures hanging, re-
presenting the survivors weeping beneath a willow. Blue
pinks seem to be a very favorite flower and were planted
around almost every monument.

"March 31. We were packed up and on the move at 8.30
A.M. Our road (in fact the whole way to Thibodeaux) lay
along the Bayou La Fourche, a very deep and cold stream
along which our steamers were passing bearing the sick and
baggage. As we wound along under the China-ball and
catalpa trees, the inhabitants were all on the piazzas watch-
ing us, and that appeared to be their principal occupation
everywhere. Such a slovenly, indolent set you never saw,
— the women especially, with frizzled hair, unhooked
dresses, and slipshod shoes. They were evidently poor
white trash. But oh, the clover fields we passed ! The heart
of an Alderney cow would have leaped into her mouth at
the sight, and a butcher's mouth would have watered in

1 During the summer of 1862 the people of Donaldsonville pursued the
uniform practice of firing upon our steamers passing up and down the
river. Admiral Farragut reports August 10: "I sent a message to the in-
habitants that if they did not discontinue the practice I would destroy
their town. The next night they fired on the St. Charles. I therefore
ordered them to send their women and children out of town as I certainly
intended to destroy the town on my way down the river, and I fulfilled
my promise to a certain extent." 19 W. R. 141.

32 HENRY HILL GOODELL

anticipation, and it was just so all the way to Thibodeaux.
Such a luxurious growth I never saw. After marching
twelve miles we encamped at Cottonville [Paincourtville]
pretty well fagged out. There were plenty of chickens,
pigs and sheep running round loose, of which fact we were
not slow to avail ourselves. The last vision I had as I
closed my eyes was that of a porker squealing at the top
of its lungs and charging blindly among the camp-fires,
over the couches of the slumbering soldiers, pursued by a
rabble of shouting youths discharging sticks, bayonets
and other deadly missiles.

"April 1. We were off at 7 A.M., still among clover fields
and fig trees. On our march we passed some beautiful
plantations, one of them especially so. It was perfectly
embowered in trees, had a smooth-cut lawn, on which
were a couple of deer feeding. There was a fountain play-
ing and some swans swimming in a pond before the house.
On the veranda a couple of ladies were working and some
pretty little children were playing round. By George! it
was the prettiest sight I have seen in Louisiana. It fairly
stilled the clamor of the men, seeing these little children,
and I heard more than one tough fellow ejaculate, ' God
bless them!' At another little white cottage we passed,
a lady whose husband had fallen in the Union ranks sent
her slaves down the road with pails of cool water for us.
It was a simple act, but we could not help blessing her for
it, as we resumed our dusty way. Oh, the heat and the
dust! Not a breath of air stirring. We marched fourteen
miles [twelve miles to Labadieville] and encamped on a
sugar plantation, where we just had sugar and molasses
to our hearts' content. The nights were extremely cold,

SOLDIER 33

and in the morning I would wake up and find my overcoat
as wet as if it had been dipped in water. I have slept bare-
headed in the open air every night, and yet strange to say
have never caught the least particle of cold. But if ever
I start again I'll carry a woolen nightcap; a man needs
something of the kind.

"April 2. Our brigade being in the advance, we were off
at 5.30 A.M. in a flood of moonlight that silvered the dew-
drops in the meadows far and near. There is something
very pretty in the camping-out of an army. The camp-
fires far and wide, the hum and bustle, and last, the cry
of that ridiculous creature, the mule. We reached Thibo-
deaux at noon, passed directly through the town, and en-
camped three miles beyond. It was the hardest day's march
of all [fourteen miles]. The men staggered and reeled about
the road from fatigue and blistered feet. We all took hold
and helped carry guns and knapsacks, but such a relief it
was when we passed from the hard road into a clover field
and lay down ! At 6 P.M. came the order to fall in, and we
marched back to the R.R. station [Terre Bonne Station
on the New Orleans and Opelousas R.R.] and took cars
to Brashier City. It was very cold, and we were perched
on top of the cars, while the 13th rode inside. Such a
forsaken piece of country as we passed through, marshes
and swamps on both sides of us ! Reached Bayou Boeuf at
11, and were ordered to encamp. Was detailed to unload
the cars, and worked till 2 in the morning unloading and
stowing away; consequently, as I was up at 5 A.M., I do
not feel very smart. We shall probably rest here for a few
days." [They remained here until the 9th.]

From Brashier City, under date of April 10, he writes

34 HENRY HILL GOODELL

to a classmate who had sent him Victor Hugo's account of
the battle of Waterloo: —

I received your letter last night after a hot, dusty,
weary march of twelve miles from Bayou Bceuf , and was
so tickled at seeing the well-known hand of my Calvinistic
friend that forthwith I sit down to reply to it. Thank you
a thousand times, old fellow, for your kind offers. The
battle of Waterloo came safely to hand. It is a most mag-
nificent thing — the finest description of the battle I ever
read. Tired as I was, I was so fascinated I sat up half the
night till I had finished it. You would have thought it was
a pursuit of knowledge under difficulties, could you have
seen me last night rolled up in my blanket in the dewy grass,
reading by my lantern that swung from the friendly branch
of a tree hard by. I am beginning to count the days when
I shall see dear old New England hills once more. This
confounded country we are marching in is nothing but a
vast plain of swamp and forest, infested by mosquitoes
that present bills prodigious, in fact twice as long as any
a Philadelphia lawyer would have the conscience to pre-
sent. Such vermin ! my gracious ! I '11 bet you, if these were
Homeric days, the old cock never would have died trying
to solve the fishermen's enigma. By the way, speaking of
Homer, I confiscated the other day in a secesh house a
pocket edition of Pope's "Iliad" and revived my classic
love, reading of

the twice twenty heroes fell
Sent by great Ajax to the shades of hell.

I am writing under great difficulties in the open air,
on a log, and everybody jabbering around me like so many

SOLDIER 35

bees. I'm so fearfully demoralized, don't know as I shall
succeed in getting this done so as to be intelligible. Since
I last wrote we have been marching here and there and
everywhere. Went within sight of the rebel fortifications.
Lost one man the first night out. Our regiment led the
advance the first three days. Our two divisions, Grover's
and Emory's, are now after the rebs at Paterson and ex-
pect to have a fight there.

But I must close, for we shall soon be marching and
I must get my duds together. Allow me in conclusion to
quote the celestial bard of " Scots wha hae," —

I am a son of Mars who have been in many wars
And show my cuts and scars where'er I come.
This fight was for a wench and that other in a trench
When welcoming the rebs to the sound of the drum.

Affectionately,

DADDY GOODELL.

Among his college friends he was known by the sobriquet
of "Daddy." When, where or why he got it, is not known,
but he at once appropriated it and used it to the day of
his death as his rightful designation, and made a good deal
of fun out of the use of it.

On Board the St. Mary's, GRAND LAKE,
3 miles from INDIAN BEND, April 13.

While they are landing troops from the other transports,
I will try and write a few lines to return by this boat. At
Bayou Bceuf we were encamped several days. There are
some old tombstones at that place. On one is the follow-
ing curious inscription, —

36 HENRY HILL GOODELL

Afflictions sore long time I bore,
Physicians was in vain,
Till God did please that death should come
And ease me of my pain.

Bayou Boeuf was a most forlorn place, and we were glad
enough when at 3 o'clock, April 9, we received orders to
strike our tents and stow them away, also all baggage what-
soever, as we should carry nothing but a blanket and our
rations. At 9 we started for Brashier City, ten miles away,
our brigade in advance, We had a frightfully hot and dusty
march. The first two or three miles there was scarcely any
road at all, a mere foot-path, passing now amid sugar plant-
ations and now through potato fields. Several miles were
through a dense wood, where the heat was perfectly
stifling. I noticed pinks, verbenas growing wild along the
roadside, also the myrtle. Soon we came out on the broad
road running along the Bayou, and here we halted for an
hour at noon and snatched a dinner and a bath. Reached
Brashier City at 3 o'clock and put up our shelter tents, ex-
pecting to cross in a few hours. Emory's division was then
crossing. Here we lay, expecting every minute to leave,
till Saturday at 3 o'clock, when we were ordered aboard
the St. Mary's. Although it was a small boat, yet the
52nd Massachusetts, the 24th and 25th Connecticut, and
a battery with horses, were stored on board. Just imagine
how we were dove-tailed and crowded together. We
steamed out of the bay at 9 o'clock Sunday morning, —
the Clifton, flagship, ahead, then the Calhoun, Arizona,
St. Mary's, Laurel Hill, and two or three little tugs, — up
through the succession of little lakes that chain together
from Berwick Bay, through inlet and outlet, till we emerged

SOLDIER 37

at noon into Grand Lake. Here the Arizona got stuck,
and after vainly trying for two or three hours to get her
off, we pushed ahead and about sundown came to an an-
chorage in a pretty little bay. But after sending a party
ashore to reconnoitre, we discovered it was the wrong place,
and General Grover signaled to heave anchor and stand
off and on. This morning at daybreak we ran in, surprising
the enemies' pickets, and a brisk skirmishing has been
going on. We are landing under the cover of the Calhoun,
which is shelling the woods. Our object I suppose is to cut
off the retreat of the rebels, which Emory's and Sherman's
division crossed Berwick Bay to attack.

As he wrote these lines he probably little thought what
a day might bring forth, and he could not have realized
the scene if he had thought. The next morning, April 12,
came the hard-fought battle of Irish Bend. In the evening
he writes to all near and dear to him: —

MY DEAR BROTHERS AND SISTERS, — Through the mercy
of God, I am spared to write you of my safety. We have
had a terrible battle and the 25th has suffered severely.
For an hour and a half, we were under the hottest fire en-
tirely unsupported; then the rebs succeeded in flanking
us and we had to fall back a short distance, but the tune
soon changed and the rebs retreated. We went into battle
with 380 men and lost 73 wounded, 10 killed and 14 miss-
ing. Our brigade, was about the only one engaged, and we
lost over 300 men killed, wounded and missing.1 Colonel

1 In the official returns the 25th Conn, is reported to have two officers
killed and seven wounded, seven enlisted men killed, seventy-two wounded
and ten missing. 15 W. R. p. 319.

38 HENRY HILL GOODELL

Birge had his horse shot under him, also Captain Norton.
We had two officers killed and four wounded. I had a ball
pass through the sleeve of my left arm without so much as
scratching me. Another crossed my breast, cutting nearly
in two the strap coming over my shoulder to support my
sword-belt. It seems almost a miracle that I escaped unhurt.
When we fell back I was endeavoring to bring in a wounded
man, and a second ball laid him lifeless in my very arms.
The shots fell so thick and fast, we could see them strike
within a foot or two all around us. This is no exaggeration.
April 15. I have had no chance to send this, but as I find
I can probably send it soon, I will try and add a few lines
by the bivouac fire. We have formed a junction with
Emory's division and Weitzel's brigade, and are in close
pursuit of the flying rebs, seven miles from New Iberia.
We have taken something like five hundred prisoners, three
pieces, and five or six caissons, and the rebs, fearful of the
Diana and the Queen of the West falling into our hands,
burned them. In addition to this, the Arizona, when
aground, engaged and blew up a reb gun-boat. But I can
write no more. Will try in my next to send a plan of the
battle-field with a detailed account. We are in hot pursuit,
our advance skirmishing with General Moulton's rear
guard.

" April 18, 1863. Two miles from Vermillionville. As
we are halting to repair a bridge that the rascally rebs have
burned I will try and write a few lines. Enclosed is a small
plan of the battle of Irish Bend, which in my letter of
April 15 I promised to send. I will now go a little more into
detail of the events of April 13. We landed about 11 o'clock

SOLDIER

39

Artillery
+ t + t f

A.- Skirmishers of 25th nirsPadvancing-tBro the fields.
B - Reg. as it begau to getfunderjfireiand sw
C C - 25th actually engaged in battle.
D - Where the rebs. came down and flanked us.

and immediately marched up through the woods to the
edge of a cane-field, where we halted till 4 in the afternoon.
Meantime our forces were skirmishing with the rebs and
gradually driving them back, just saving the bridge over
the Bayou, the flames of which we succeeded in extin-
guishing. At 4 we started, crossed the bridge and advanced
a mile, when we were drawn up in a field in line of battle;
but the 26th Maine and the 159th New York soon drove in
the skirmishers, and night coming on, we lay on our arms.
It was quite cold and showery, but we did n't dare build
fires to dry us or make coffee.

" At 4 A.M., April 14, we started, the 25th in advance,

40 HENRY HILL GOODELL

thrown out as skirmishers on the right of the road; the
left was protected by the Bayou. We advanced for about
two miles through cane-fields without meeting anything,
till at 6.30 we entered the main plantation, the mill on our
extreme left close to the road, while on our right were
thick woods. Here we first encountered a dropping fire, and
our line of skirmishers gradually swung round till finally
they occupied the place marked C — C. But for an hour,
till reinforced, our line extended also over the space occu-
pied by the 26th Maine. As we swung into position, we sud-
denly heard the cry, 'Attention Battalion, take aim, fire!'
and immediately the woods seemed to spring into life, while
a perfect storm of canister, grape and minie balls was
rained down upon our ranks.

" Taking advantage of every little ridge and furrow, we
slowly advanced, loading and firing, while our artillery en-
gaged the rebel battery. Here we were in an open field for
an hour and a half, seen but not seeing, for the rebs were
concealed in the woods and did not needlessly expose them-
selves, so the most of the time we could only aim and fire
at the flash and the smoke. The men now began to be
carried out pretty rapidly. About 7.30, the 26th Maine
came up on our left, while the 13th crossed the road and
tried to capture the reb battery. About 8 o'clock suddenly
there was a terrific yell and 1100 men rushed in on our flank
and commenced peppering us well. I have heard men speak
of a hail-storm of bullets; but I never imagined it before.
We were between two fires and the way the balls whisked
and zipped among the cane-stalks and ploughed up the
ground around us was truly astonishing. In less than ten
minutes two thirds of all the loss we experienced on that

SOLDIER 41

day occurred; still, though under a tremendous fire, scarce
a man left the ranks, till the order was given to fall back.
My former orderly, Holden, fell by my side pierced by three
balls, my sergeant lost his leg, my first corporal had a ball
pass through both jaws, cutting off his tongue, my second
one had a flesh wound in his thigh, and one of my men
was slightly wounded in the arm, as he stood behind me
and passed me a cartridge (for I used a gun all through the
action). There is scarcely a man in the regiment but what
has a bullet-hole to show in some part of his clothing, and
some have two or three. One had his life saved by his
metal tobacco-box, which received and stopped the ball.
Sergeant Goodwin of Co. A was wounded in his foot. It
is a wonder Colonel Bissell was not shot, as he constantly
passed up and down the line encouraging the men. Colonel
Birge and all four of his staff officers had horses shot under
them. But there was no use in our remaining under a
cross-fire, and we were ordered to fall back, which we did
while three other regiments advanced and drove our flank-
ers in; at the same time the 13th succeeded in flanking their
right and they decamped.

"We halted for an hour, forming round the colors, and
then advanced by the road into the woods and here we re-
mained till 5 o'clock P.M., when the rebs burned their gun-
boats and skedaddled; but almost all the time we were con-
stantly annoyed by their skirmishers and shells from their
gun-boats and battery. Soon after entering the wood I
was ordered to the front with four men, to keep concealed
and send back reports of what the rebels were about; no
very pleasant job, for the balls were flying thick. I never
suffered so from thirst in my life as I did during the con-

42 HENRY HILL GOODELL

flict. It seemed as though my throat would burst. I had
eaten nothing since the night before, a sick headache came
on, and I could scarcely move after the real excitement
was over till I got an hour or two of sleep there in the woods.
At 5 P.M. we marched back to the Bayou and encamped.

" April 15, we started for Newton or New Iberia, distance
thirty-one miles, reaching there on the eve of the 16th. It
was a terribly hot and dusty march and the men were very
foot-sore. Emory's Division was ahead of us and skir-
mished all the way with General Taylor's forces (for he
commands the rebel forces and is a son of old Z. Taylor).
They took some five hundred prisoners. At Newton we
found most of our missing men, who had been paroled
by General Taylor and left there. New Iberia is a very
pleasant place of some fifteen hundred inhabitants. There
are some very beautiful mansions, with grounds laid out in
fancy style. There is a small foundry in the place and a
couple of magazines; one of its three churches was stored
with powder and ammunition abandoned in the flight.
The people were more Union than any we have previously
seen, and were of a better class than the ordinary run.
Provisions were at almost fabulous prices. Eggs fifty cents
a dozen, coffee six dollars a pound, and flour one hundred
and fifty dollars a barrel ! Just think of that ! By the way,
we found out from our rebel prisoners how their men lived.
They had only one commissary wagon drawn by six oxen
for an army of six thousand men. They lived upon the
plantations as they passed along.

" April 17, we were aroused at 3 A.M., but through some
delay we did not start till 6 o'clock. Our division was alone,
Emory's division having taken a circuitous route. We made

SOLDIER 43

a terrible march of twenty miles. The men fell out by scores,
but we pushed the rebs so hard, we captured their officers'
baggage-wagons. At 5 P.M. they made a slight stand, and
an artillery duel of an hour's duration ensued, in which
we lost two or three men. The rebs then retired burning
the bridge over the Bayou. We halted for the night and
have been most of the day constructing a new bridge. It 's
a very good rest for the men, but those confounded rebs
will just escape us, I am afraid. I supppose we are bound
for Alexandria via Opelousas. By to-morrow or to-night
we shall be off again. I must close, for there is an opportun-
ity, I hear, to send back."

For once his guess was correct. They drove the Con-
federates before them, and on April 20 occupied Opelousas,
which since the capture of Baton Rouge had been the capi-
tal of the State of Louisiana. Here General Banks gave his
worn and weary army a rest until May 5. The 25th Con-
necticut took position about ten miles east of headquarters,
at Barre's Landing, now called Fort Barre. While the
privates enjoyed the suspension of active operations the
officers seem to have been unusually busy, as their num-
bers had been greatly reduced by resignation, sickness and
death.

With a little rest his natural exuberance of spirit burst
out afresh.

BARRE'S LANDING, April 28, 1863.

Daddy Goodell has been jubilant this morning and in
a state of unwonted excitement. Cause, the receipt this
morning of the "Atlantic" for April, and seven letters in-
cluding yours of April 4. Thrice-happy dog of a Goodell !
Sweet Singer in Israel, why recall to my mind the touching

44 HENRY HILL GOODELL

farewell sung in the streets of Springfield at midnight. It
harrows up my soul and leaves me high and dry on a waste
of mournful reflections. Don't speak to me of currency of
any description. That infernal paymaster has not yet
blessed us with his appearance, and despair drives me in a
single night to swearing in bad German. Don't ask me
where I am? Know then, Friend of my Soul, that we are
seven miles from Opelousas, the rebel capital of Louisiana;
that it has surrendered at discretion and lies prostrate at
the feet of the American eagle, while that most eccentric
bird flops its broad wings from end to end of this most
rebellious state and retires to brood in silence over the de-
fiant aspect of Port Hudson. Since the battle of Irish Bend
we have pressed the rebels hard all the way to O., fighting
with their rear guard and taking prisoners all the way;
and they were so completely demoralized that they scat-
tered in every direction. Our cavalry made a splendid
charge at New Iberia, with bridles hanging loose and sabres
drawn, waving, shouting at the top of their lungs, they
galloped into the Texicans, hacking them hilter-skilter.
It was a grand sight and stirred my very blood, I tell you.
We are now at the port of Opelousas and are shipping cot-
ton by the scores of bales. We have sent some two thou-
sand bales and have about five hundred now on the landing
and more coming in hourly. At one place we found nine
hundred bales. I was on picket the other day and had the
good luck to fall upon one hundred and fifty rebel sabres,
not a bad haul altogether.

He had a classmate who at this time was studying
theology, of whom he made a world of good-natured fun.

SOLDIER 45

Sometimes he would write in ludicrous and pathetic strains
on the importance of the ministerial office, and then, as-
suming the position of a penitent sinner, would ask ad-
vice for the guidance of his conduct, as absurd as to ask
for a dispensation before drinking a glass of water from
the Mississippi River. From Barre's Landing he writes
to this friend:

BELOVED D. D., — How was my heart delighted yester-
day on receiving the "Atlantic " directed in thine own hand.
It smacked so strongly of a bookseller's shelves, that Daddy
Goodell, like some worn-out war horse at the sound of a
trumpet, pricked up his ears and for the space of an hour
sat sniffing the leaves without reading a single word. I am
promising myself all manner of feasts when I come to read
it, but just at present I am terribly busy, for in addition
to being the only officer in command of Co. A (both its of-
ficers being put hors de combat on the field of Irish Bend),
I am sitting on a court-martial, trying those thrice un-
happy cusses who have violated all law, civil, religious
and military. We are in a very interesting condition, for
our baggage-trains were seized at Franklin to carry ammu-
nition, and all our baggage left there; consequently, this
being the llth hour, in which my shirt is washed, your
uncle has to lie abed while it is drying. I have numbered
my shirt No. 6, but it is a pleasing delusion from which I
constantly awake to naked facts. Had a letter from Pater
Gridley 1 the other day. He is in for three years. Asked
all about you and what you were doing. I wrote him that
our D. D. was fighting the devil at Cambridge right man-
1 Henry Gridley, a classmate.

46 HENRY HILL GOODELL

fully, and was succeeding admirably in subduing his carnal
appetites and passions.

Bless me, the steamer is whistling and I must close.
As ever

DADDY GOODELL.

Some time about the first of May the paymaster arrived.
It was an occasion of great interest to the soldiers, as they
had not been paid for nearly six months. Many wished
to send money to their families, who in many cases were
sorely in need of it. But they were more than two hundred
miles from New Orleans, the nearest point from which they
could send it with any safety. There were no Confederates
in arms between them and New Orleans, but the country
was full of men who had broken with law and order, and who
held any human life very cheap except their own, and who
would take great risks with that when money was at stake.
How to send the money the men could spare to New Orleans
became a vital question. It not only required an honest
man and a good accountant, but it required a man of cour-
age, whose head was level, and would be under any cir-
cumstances, and whose resources were at command in any
emergency. The colonel nominated Lieutenant Goodell,
and the regiment confirmed the nomination by unani-
mous vote. This tells its own story of the position he had
won for himself in the minds of his fellow soldiers, both
officers and privates.

In a paper printed in this volume entitled, "How the pay
of the regiment was carried to New Orleans/* he has made
it very apparent that the responsibility he felt made the
duty imposed upon him a very arduous one. During his

SOLDIER 47

absence, which was longer than he had expected, the army
had marched a hundred miles in three days and four hours,
had occupied Alexandria, and in cooperation with the navy
had destroyed the Confederate fortresses and scattered their
forces to the wind, and had started down the Red River on
their way to Port Hudson. Goodell met them at Simsport
and here he begins his story of the advance upon that
fortress.

On May 21, we received orders to march, and at 12
embarked on board the Empire Parish along with the 13th
Connecticut and the 159th New York. You can imagine
how crowded we were and add to this the fact that a good
many men of the . . . were drunk and inclined to be
quarrelsome. Poor Colonel Bissell was quite ill and had to
seek a berth immediately. Soon after 3 P.M., the rest of
the boats being loaded, we slipped from our moorings and
away up the Atchafalaya to the Red where we passed the
Switzerland 1 and the Estrella watching for rebel craft from
Sheveport. Down the Red to the Mississippi, where we
came upon the grim old Hartford [Rear-Admiral Farragut's
flag-ship]. The band of the 13th saluted her as we ap-
proached, playing 'The Star-Spangled Banner, 'and * Yan-
kee Doodle.'

At 12 at night we disembarked at Bayou Sara some six-
teen miles from Port Hudson. The rest of the brigade

1 The U. S. S. Estrella had made its way up from Berwick Bay with the
army. The U. S. Ram Switzerland had on the morning of March 25, in
company with the U. S. S. Lancaster, undertaken to run by the batteries
at Vicksburg. The Lancaster was destroyed by the enemy's fire and the
Switzerland received a 10-inch shell in her boilers, but escaped, to join
Farragut and take a part in blockading the Red River.

48 HENRY HILL GOODELL

marched on and left our regiment to unload the boats.
It was 2 A.M. before any of us lay down and at 4, May 22,
we marched breakfastless to overtake the brigade. The
colonel we left at a house with a guard, the major as-
suming command of the regiment. We marched one and
a half miles, and found the brigade encamped at St. Francis-
ville, which is set on a high hill, the first we have seen since
coming to Louisiana, and here we actually saw some stones.
The boys welcomed them as old friends, and picked them
up admiringly. Soon after 9 our column was set in motion,
the 2nd brigade in advance. As we passed through the
town of St. Francisville the people thronged to the doors
and windows, some cursing and swearing, others welcoming
and others again passive. One woman in a very spiteful
tone calls out to a friend: " Come in, Mrs. Lewis, for God's
sake and don't stand there staring at those Yankee devils ! "
I could n't resist taking off my cap and making her a low
bow, which so exasperated her that, calling me some foul
name and kicking out her feet in a most indecent manner,
she vanished into the house. The manners of these Southern
women are truly astonishing. They will curse and revile
and call you foul names and call upon heaven to smile on
a just cause. We had a terrible march up and down hill,
between magnificent hedges of cape jessamine in bloom,
very beautiful but terribly oppressive, for not a particle of
air could reach us and the dust was stifling. We advanced
very slowly, for it was a terrible country for skirmishes.
We had a couple of men wounded but that was all the loss
we experienced that day.

At 4 P.M. we halted and our regiment was ordered to
the front as an advance picket for the night. We deployed

SOLDIER 49

on a plain by a beautiful creek (Thompson's), where the
water was knee-deep and ran clear as crystal. Co. K. was
ordered across to hold the roads on the edge of the adjoin-
ing woods, and after a short skirmish succeeded in effecting
their object. It rained quite hard, and of course we had to
be upon the watch most of the night.

May 23, we started at 4 A.M., our men pretty well
fagged-out by two nights' duty; but no mercy was shown,
and the 25th was ordered to take the advance as skirmish-
ers; and a terrible time we had of it straggling through sand-
banks and ravines, forcing ourselves through bamboo
brake, pushing under and over vines, wading through
water, scratching and tearing ourselves with thorns, and
stumbling over ploughed fields. It was thoroughly ex-
hausting work and many a strong man gave out. At 9
o'clock A.M. we met the advance of Colonel Grierson's
cavalry,1 and our poor wearied column of men was called

1 The name of B. H. Grierson, Colonel of the 6th Illinois Cavalry, is
connected with one of the most daring enterprises of the Civil War.
While General Grant was manoeuvring to secure a position behind
Vicksburg, he wished to distract the attention of the enemy and wrote
to Major-General Hurlbut on February 14, 1863: "It seems to me that
Grierson with about 500 picked men might succeed in making his way
south and cut railroad east of Jackson, Miss. The undertaking would be
a hazardous one, but would pay well if carried out. I do not direct that
it shall be done, but leave it for a volunteer enterprise" (24 W. R. P.
Ill, p. 50). Colonel Grierson was not a man to decline such a chal-
lenge from the commanding general, and without doubt the general knew
it. He started from La Grange, Tenn., April 17, with about seventeen
hundred men, and four days later detached six hundred of them to destroy
the railroad between Columbus and Macon and make their way back to
La Grange. This move threw the enemy into confusion, and with the re-
mainder of his command he pushed on, making a march of some six hun-
dred miles in sixteen days, destroying as he went railroads, telegraphs,

50 HENRY HILL GOODELL

in. Advancing one mile, we halted in a field near a well of
deliciously cold water, about two miles from Port Hudson.
In a few minutes General Augur rode up and the generals
held a conference together.

At 7 P.M. I was suddenly detailed with forty men to go
on picket. Pretty rough on a fellow to be three nights on
duty; but a soldier's first duty is to obey without grumbling,
so I went, though I could hardly keep my eyes open. It was
a magnificent moonlight night and I sat and watched the
bombs from the mortar boats for hours, curving round
in the heavens and bursting in a fiery shower. The night
passed without disturbance, save one or two false alarms.

At 4 A.M. May 24, 1 started out black-berrying, and in
a very few minutes had more than enough for a good meal.
Fancy me peacefully gathering berries under the guns of
Port Hudson. At 8 A. M we were called in and at 9 we
commenced making a Sunday advance on the centre forti-
fications. The 2nd Brigade was in the advance, and the
24th Connecticut lost a few men. At noon the first earth-
work was taken and we deployed in the woods to the right
and stacked arms. We lay here a couple of hours while
shells exploded and burst around us and over our heads,
but we were mercifully preserved though in great danger
for a time. Soon after 4 P.M. the right wing was ordered out
as picket-skirmishers, — that is, we were stationed behind
trees, one to a tree all through the woods, to keep the enemy
back. On our right was the 13th Connecticut, and on the
left we joined the 24th Connecticut. This was the fourth

and an immense quantity of public stores, arrived at Baton Rouge, May 2,
and was detained to cooperate with General Banks in the operations
around Port Hudson.

SOLDIER 51

night I had been on duty and I was thoroughly worn out,
but they had n't done with the 25th yet. May 25, we were
called in and relieved at 9 A.M. by the 12th Maine. As I was
relieving my men, followed by the 12th Maine, we had to
pass over a plateau commanded by the sharpshooters of
the enemy. The bullets whistled most unpleasantly near
and killed one of the 12th. I saw him fall and called upon
his comrades to bring him in, but not one started, and I
actually had to go myself with one of my own company and
pick up and bring in the dying man. We naturally sup-
posed after being relieved we should get some repose; but
hardly had we come in, when we were ordered to fall in.
We marched out of the woods and up over the hill and the
intrenchments taken the day before, and immediately
came under a sharp fire from sharpshooters. The . . .
having disgracefully abandoned their position, we were or-
dered in to drive the rebels out, and after a sharp skirmish
of half an hour we drove them clean out of the woods and
into their rifle-pits, while we occupied the woods, — the
extreme edge of the woods, — and kept up such a sharp
fire that not a mother's son of them durst lift his head above
the works. We were just in time to save the 12th Maine
from being flanked and cut to pieces. In the afternoon
General Weitzel's brigade attacked, and after a severe
fight drove the rebels out of the woods. This was going on
on our right and we could hear the yells and hurrahs, the
crackle of musketry and roar of artillery, and other con-
comitants of the fight, but we could see nothing and we sat
and fidgeted round, not knowing when our turn might
come.

At 8 P.M. we were relieved by the 159th [New York],

52 HENRY HILL GOODELL

and so tired out was I that I fell right down on the bare
ground and never woke till 8 or 9 o'clock next morning.

May 26, we remained on the reserve till 4 P.M. when the
three right companies were ordered to the front. We had
a splendid sight of an artillery duel going on in which the
practice of Nims's battery was perfect. They dismounted
two or three guns, and altogether were so sharp that the
rebel gunners did not dare load their pieces.

May 27. We were relieved at 5 A.M. by the 13th [Con-
necticut], but were almost immediately after ordered out to
the support of a new section of Nims's battery which had
just been got into position. Here we lay for five or six
hours flat on our faces, while the enemies' shells burst in
most unpleasant proximity. Then our regiment and the
159th [New York] were ordered over to the support of
General Weitzel on the right. We marched almost on the
double-quick through the woods, and were ordered by
General Grover to advance to the front and carry an earth-
work. We were told there were hardly any rebels there,
and Mayor Burt of the 159th, who was in command, was
told that his regiment alone was sufficient to carry the
works, and to send back the 25th if it was not needed. A
more bare-faced lie never was got up, as the sequel will
show. We pushed on through the woods, rushed down a
hill swept by the enemy's artillery, turned a sharp corner
and emerged on the entrance to a plain. I shall never forget
that sight : the valley was filled up with felled trees, ruins
of houses and debris, while thick and heavy rolled the
battle-smoke. There was a hill on the left strongly in-
trenched, and from its centre loomed up a big gun, black
and gloomy, threatening to annihilate us; just below, on a

SOLDIER 53

little bridge, was planted a stand of the stars and stripes,
the glorious old banner, and clustered around it stood a
handful of brave men pouring a stream of balls upon that
piece; and for seven long hours the gunners did not dare
approach to load, and that frowning gun kept silence.

It was a sort of floating panorama that passed before me,
a hideous dream in which I was a mere spectator. There
was a roaring and crashing of artillery and bursting of
shells, a crackle and rattle of muskets with hissing and
whistling of balls, and battle-smoke lowering and settling
down upon us. There were men dropping here and there,
headless trunks and legless, armless unfortunates, and all
the horrid concomita of war, and still we kept on. A short
turn to the right, and in single file we commenced ascending
through a water-course. Wading through water, stumbling
under and over logs, we finally emerged in a square pit,
some six foot deep; climbing out of that, we were on the side
of the hill. Oh, but it was a wicked place to charge, — the
nature of the ground such we could not form battle line
and had to make the attack in three columns, while felled
trees were criss-crossed in most inextricable confusion.

We lay for two or three moments with beating hearts
waiting for the forward charge. The word came, and with
a terrific yell we rose to our feet and rushed forward. I
headed the left column. It was a terrible moment when,
bounding over the last tree and crashing through some low
bushes, we came out not ten yards from the intrenchments
and a hundred rifles cracking doom at us. Why, we were so
near they actually seemed to scorch us in firing ! It was too
deadly for men to stand against, and our brave fellows,
mowed down as fast as they could come up, were beaten

54 HENRY HILL GOODELL

back. Here occurred one of those heroic deeds we some-
times read of. The colors of the 159th were left on the hill,
their sergeants killed. Corporal Buckley, Co. K. of our
regiment, hearing of it, calmly walked back in that terrific
fire, picked them up and brought them in, turned to pick
up his gun, and was killed. He was a noble fellow and
much beloved in the regiment.

Resting a short time, we made a second charge, but with
like result. Our two regiments lost 75 killed and wounded.
It was a horrid old place we were in. Sharpshooters on the
left picking us off. Sharpshooters on the right giving it to
us; and in front the rifle-pits. Here we lay till 10 o'clock
at night, when we were ordered to fall back, which we did,
bringing off most of our wounded. I had fallen asleep and
barely woke in time to get off. One or two did sleep through
till morning, and then managed to get away. I had one
killed and three wounded in my little company.

As this is getting too long I will carry on the narrative
in my next.

For Eliza's special benefit, though I have answered it
three or four times already, I will state that Co. F. has not
been dissolved and that I am at present acting adjutant,
which office I have been endeavoring to f ulfill the last three
weeks, our adjutant having been sick almost ever since we
came here. Our colonel we miss sadly, and do earnestly
hope to welcome him back one of these days. Our regiment
numbers 167 for duty and 9 officers. I am glad you did n't
send any camphor, for I procured some in N. O. Thanks for
the Springfield ["Republican"]. It comes quite regularly
and is a great treat. If you make any extracts from my
letters I wish you would please not put my name to them.

SOLDIER 55

They get back here to camp and it is exceedingly pro-
voking. With ever so much love,

HENRY.

May 28 he writes :

As there is an opportunity to send letters, I will write
a few lines to let you know of my safety. This is the sixth
day of the siege and we are pretty well played out. We have
had to fight for every inch of ground, but have carried the
first two earthworks by storm. It has been one continual
fight since we commenced, but there is a cessation of hostili-
ties for a few hours, and the lull is a perfect relief, for my
ears have been half -stunned by the deafening roar of artil-
lery and the crack of musketry. We have lost four killed
and twenty wounded and some thirty in our regiment
missing. Again, in my little company, have four been
wounded — one fatally, so I am afraid. My life has been
in great danger several times, but a kind Providence has
kept watch over me thus far and I trust will bring me out
safe to see you again. The regiment is now under the com-
mand of Major McManus. The colonel is prostrate with
a remittent fever at Bayou Sara, and the lieutenant-colonel
is sick at New Orleans. The colored regiments have fought
splendidly and made several brilliant charges.

In haste, HENEY.

The next letter is dated June 20 and carries the story
to a day or two after the second assault on the rebel works,
and was probably written from the camp of the storming
column; but not a hint as to that subject. A chaplain's
wife writing to her husband says, "We get no letters from

56 HENRY HELL GOODELL

the soldiers these days." To which he replied, "The sol-
diers have no time and no material to write with and are on
duty the whole time." The truth is, the siege was being
pressed with the utmost vigor. Goodell entered into the
spirit of the time, and we are told that, when his regiment
was not employed, he would ask to be allowed to join some
company where he had friends, and was once seen return-
ing covered with blood ; aid was sent out to him, but it was
found to be only an attack of the nose-bleed.

I left off in my last with the unsuccessful charges made
by our regiment and the 159th on the 27th. About 10
o'clock that night we silently withdrew, bringing away all
the wounded we could reach, but there were some poor
fellows lying up under the breastworks it was impossible
to reach. Every time we tried to get to them the rebs would
fire on us. We threw them canteens of water and the in-
human rebs fired on them when they tried to reach them.
We marched back and lay on the battle-field of the pre-
ceding day among wounded and dead men.

May 28, at 4 A.M., we marched back into the woods,
and lay in support of a battery. It was very trying, for the
rebs had a perfect range, and five or six times a day they
would throw those immense eleven-inch shells right over
into our midst. We could hear them coming for several
seconds, and we lay flat behind trees. Luckily none were
hurt, though we had some very narrow escapes. There was
a cessation of hostilities all day to bury the dead.

At 7 P.M. the enemy made a fierce onslaught on the
right, but were driven back with heavy loss. We fell into
our places, expecting momentarily to be called into action,

SOLDIER 57

but we were spared it. At this place we remained till the
1st of June when we were ordered quarter of a mile to the
rear. Colonel Weld came up from New Orleans and assumed
command of the regiment. It makes me heart-sick and in-
dignant every time I think of the way some things have
been managed here and the cowardice displayed by officers ;
but I may not mention it here. On the 3d [June] we were
attacked in the rear and two brigades were despatched to
attend to the case of the rebs; but on reaching Clinton they
found they had skedaddled and fled. While lying here in
the woods, an awkward adventure happened to me. Being
acting adjutant, I was sent one dark night to report a
fatigue party to General Grover's headquarters. Returning
I lost my way. First, I found myself back at headquarters.
Started again, and found myself out to the front, most un-
pleasantly near the rifle-pits. My next essay took me to the
watering-place for the horses, and from there I found my
way in, after a couple of hours wandering in the woods.
June 7 we were ordered to the front to relieve the 159th
in the rifle-pits. We went out at night, as the enemy's
sharpshooters rendered it dangerous going in the day-
time. We had pits dug on the crest of a hill about two hun-
dred yards from the rifle-pits of the rebs, and had loop-
holes from which to fire out. About one hundred yards
back of us on another hill was planted one of our batteries,
and as they fired over our heads you can imagine what a
terrible report rung in our ears. It was truly deafening.
Our boys got the range of the rifle-pits opposite perfectly,
after a short practice, so that Mr. Secesh did n't dare show
his head, though from his hiding-places he would annoy us
all day long. After dark we usually held some interesting

58 HENRY HILL GOODELL

conversations across the ravine, our boys telling them that
if they wanted any soft bread, we would put some in a mor-
tar and send it over, etc., etc. Our meals were brought out
at 3 o'clock in the morning, and after dark at night. We lay
here three days and were relieved on the 10th by the
159th. I was very much interested the last day in watching
a snake swallow a toad. It was astonishing how wide he
opened his jaws and pushed a toad down, three times his
diameter. Rather a curious place to study natural history,
under the guns of Port Hudson. We returned to our old
camping-ground. June 11, between 12 and 1 P.M., a general
assault was planned, but owing to some misunderstanding
the scheme failed and we were repulsed.

June 14 we were under way at an early hour, for we
formed the reserve to the attacking column on the centre.
Colonel Birge was in command of the reserve. We rose at
2 A.M., had coffee, and started under the guidance of Cap-
tain Norton at 3. In a few moments we heard a terrific yell
and the crash and roar of artillery and musketry. Soon the
wounded and dead began to be brought in, some faint and
pale, others cursing and swearing and vowing they would
go back for revenge. All kinds of conflicting rumors were
rife as to the success of our brave fellows. Then General
Paine was wounded and Colonel Birge assumed command,
we, forming the reserve, being under Colonel Morgan. Soon
we were ordered forward. On through the scene of our first
day's fight, then down through a ravine where a road had
been cut. Halting at the foot of a hill we formed line of
battle and charged, but it was a great mistake, for instead
of creeping round the hill we had to charge over it, down
through the ravine and up the next before we could reach

SOLDIER 59

the breastworks. The consequence was we were exposed
to a raking fire as we went over the crest. Here we lost
two lieutenants and seventeen men wounded. We arrived
at the other side in great confusion. There were parts of
twelve or fifteen regiments all mixed up together and en-
tangled among the fallen trees. After several hours straight-
ening, line was once more formed; but the order to charge
was countermanded, and we lay up there in a terrible sun
all day. I was quite sick when we started, with violent
vomitings, and had to lie down, but rejoined the regiment
during the charge. At 8 P.M. we were ordered up into the
outer ditch of the breastworks, but we had been there but
a short time when we were ordered to the right, to our old
position in the rifle-pits, which we reached about midnight.
Poor General Paine had been wounded in the leg in the
early part of the day, but we could not reach him to afford
him any aid and he lay there in the burning sun till night,
when we brought him off in safety. It was a fearfully hot
day and quite a number were sunstruck, some fatally. I
wore wet leaves hi my hat, but about two in the afternoon
could stand it no longer and had to lie down in the shade.
This was a miserable Sunday scrape, and like all scrapes
commenced on Sunday ended disastrously. The loss of life
was frightful.

June 15. We were relieved at night by the 28th Con-
necticut and returned once more to our old camping-
ground, where we remained till June 19, when we were
ordered a mile and a half to the right, to support the col-
ored brigade, where we are still, June 20.

As ever, with oceans of love,

HENRY.

60 HENRY HILL GOODELL

June 15, the day after the second assault on Port Hud-
son, General Banks issued his famous general order no. 49,
the only one of the kind issued during the war, calling for
volunteers fora storming column of a thousand men, "to
vindicate the Flag of the Union and the memory of its
defenders who had fallen! Let them come forward . . .
every officer and soldier who shares its perils and its glory
shall receive a medal fit to commemorate the first grand
success of the campaign of 1863 for the freedom of the
Mississippi. His name will be placed in general orders
upon the Roll of Honor." l

The next day the order was promulgated and two days
later, on the 18th, Goodell wrote to a classmate: —

In the words of Prof. Tyler in his 19th disquisition on
Homer, "The battle still rages. Omnipotence holds the
scales in equal hand, but vengeful Hera upsets them." This
is the 25th day of the siege and we are still stuck outside
the fortifications. Last Sunday we made a general assault,
but were repulsed with terrible loss. We got inside three
times, but for want of support were driven out. Oh, but it
was a terrible place where we charged, — a perfect murder
the way it was managed. Instead of creeping round the hills
and starting directly for the breastworks, they ordered us
to charge across two hills and two ravines before coming
to the base of the last; and consequently we were exposed
to a withering fire as we went over the crest of each hill,
men were mown down right and left. It is wonderful how
I have been preserved. I have been in four direct assaults
on the works, half a dozen skirmishes and one fight, and yet

141W.R..56.

SOLDIER 61

not a scratch have I received. Washington Allen [a class-
mate] was slightly wounded on Sunday by a piece of a
shell, but nothing dangerous.

There has been a call for a thousand volunteers to storm
the works, and officers to lead them. I have volunteered
among the number. Don't think me rash. I thought the
matter over a whole day before signing my name, and it
seemed too clearly my duty, to refuse. If I fall, " Dulce est
pro patria mori." Your "Atlantic" I received safely. Many
thanks. It was indeed a treat to get something to read.
There were some capital things in Gail Hamilton's "Spasms
of Sense," especially what she says of married women being
heard from only six times in ten years and each time a
baby. " Reminiscences of Buckle " were good; but is n't
the author a conceited, egotistical wretch ! But was n't
I living over college and Easthampton days when I read
Ik Marvel's pastorals ! I could most hear the bees humming
round the Castilian fount. Do you want to know how we
are living in the woods? Well, we have scarce nothing at
all for breakfast, and have the leavings for supper. We have
become ardent students of botany, but it is trees we study,
and in proportion as the shells fly thick so do we hug and
admire some thick and sturdy magnolia. Yes, "paradoxical
as it may appear," the larger the specimen, the greater our
admiration. I am now acting adjutant. I am happy to
report that I have been promoted to first lieutenant.
In the bonds of Antiquity,

H. H. GOODELL, DADDY.

The use of the word "paradoxical " here is an illustration
of the fact that nothing ludicrous ever escaped his notice.

62 HENRY HILL GOODELL

One of the tutors, while conducting devotional services in
the College Chapel, in his prayer waded into the deep
waters of theology, lost his foothold and slipped in all over,
and after floundering about for a while came to the surface
with a statement in flat contradiction to what he had been
saying. But he took in the situation and very dexterously
extricated himself by saying: "Paradoxical as it may seem,
oh, Lord!" This was too much for Goodell; he never en-
tirely recovered from the shock and "Paradoxical as it may
appear" became with him a favorite phrase, good on all
occasions and for all purposes.

June 23 he writes to a classmate : —

Before PORT HUDSON, June 23d, 1863.

There have been two especial reasons for my not writing
you before. One is that we have been told no soldiers'
letters are allowed to leave for the North, and the other is
that I have delayed hoping to write you of the fall of this
stronghold; but still the siege drags its slow length along.
Our days are divided betwixt rifle-pits, making assaults, and
repelling sallies. The rebs hold their rifle-pits and we ad-
vance ours or remain stationary. Yesterday the colored
brigade carried a hill by storm and have held it, notwith-
standing the repeated and great efforts made by the rebs
to retain it. Sunday, June 14, we attacked the fort at three
points but were beaten back with a frightful loss. It was
perfect murder, the way affairs were managed; where we
charged at the centre, instead of creeping round the base
of the hill and starting a few yards from the breastworks,
they made us charge over a hill, down through the ravine

SOLDIER 63

and up the next side. The consequence was we were exposed
to a sweeping fire and everything got jumbled and mixed
up, so that by the time the ditch was reached there were
parts of eight or ten regiments in the direst confusion,
without head or tail. It took several hours to straighten
matters out, and just as we were ready to go at them
again the order was countermanded. We lay there in the
burning sun until night, and then withdrew with our
wounded and dead under cover of the darkness. Ah, Dick,
these Sunday attacks are worse than useless! They are
criminal. It was with a heavy heart I went in on the 14th,
for I felt we could do nothing.

General Banks has now called for a thousand volunteers,
with officers, to lead in storming the works. Old Daddy has
volunteered, not from any desire of reputation or honor,
I assure you, but only because there seemed to be a lack of
officers and it seemed my duty to go. It is a desperate
undertaking, but I am in the hands of One who is able to
avert the deadly missiles if he sees fit. Captain Allen of
the 31st Massachusetts was wounded but slightly on Sun-
day, and Clary of '61 was killed. Captain Bliss of the 52d
Massachusetts was badly wounded and has subsequently
died. Ceph Gunn and Frank Stearns are all right, but Jut
Kellogg and Severance are both sick in New Orleans and
have not been up here at all during the siege. I had a letter
from Pater Gridley the other day. He is still in Baltimore.
Wishes to meet some of the fellows this summer, but I do
not expect (if I am alive and well) to reach home before
September for our time is not out until the llth of August.
However, nothing preventing, I shall make a tour among
the fellows when I get back. Along with your letter I got

64 HENRY HILL GOODELL

a nice one from old Stebs the other day. ... I have re-
ceived five or six Springfields ["Republican"] lately from
Charlie. Tell him I will try and write him soon. I am so
glad Mase [M. W. Tyler] and Rufe [R. P. Lincoln] came
out of their baptism of fire and blood safely. God preserve
them to the end ! My kindest remembrances to Professor
and Mrs. Tyler when you see them. I see by the papers
that the Faculty are up and preparing for themselves man-
sions in Amherst. What demon of extravagance has seized
them in these war times? — Confound these flies! I can't
write any more. They are the greatest pests going. There
is no putting off their importunity.

With ever so much love, in bonds of antiquity and '62,

DADDY, H. H. GOODELL.

The newspaper reporters soon got hold of the list of
volunteers and of course it was given to the winds. On the
26th of June he wrote the following letter to his brother-in-
law, Mr. James Bird of Hartford : —

"For fear Abbie and Eliza should see in the papers my
name among the list of those who have volunteered to
storm the works of Port Hudson, I will write to you of it
myself. I did not intend you should any of you know any-
thing about it till it was all over, but some confounded news-
paper correspondent has got hold of the list. If it is a pos-
sible thing, keep the list out of Eliza and Abbie's hands.
It will only cause them unavailing anxiety. I have volun-
teered, and also, because there was a lack of officers, to lead.
I assure you no other considerations would have induced
me to put my name down. I trust it was nothing but a
clear case of duty that impelled me to take this step. The

SOLDIER 65

charge will probably take place in a day or two, and I will
try and write as soon as possible afterwards. In the event
of my falling I have prepared a letter with some slight
instructions about my things which I have placed in the
hands of Quartermaster Ives. He has kindly promised to
look after my traps here and bring them to Hartford on the
return of the regiment.

' 'There is nothing particular going on just now. Yesterday
the rebs made a charge on the centre, endeavoring to cap-
ture Terry's marine battery, but they were repulsed with
considerable loss. The darkies have behaved splendidly.
Two days ago they carried some rifle-pits by storm, and
ever since there has been sharp fighting, the rebs making
ineffectual attempts to regain them. We are all in good
health and spirits and hope for a speedy termination of
this terrible conflict. One of the 4th Wisconsin captured
on the 14th of June escaped two or three days since, and
he is to pilot us in. He represents them as having pro-
visions for only a week longer. Would that they had them
for only a day!

" Please send this letter to William [his brother] when you
have perused it, and do as you think best about letting
A. and E. see it; but it would be better if they could know
nothing of the storming-party till it was over. Colonel
Birge leads us in person and General Grover leads a strong
suppport."

This body of men was made up principally from New Eng-
land and New York regiments, with something like a hun-
dred and sixty from the Corps d' Af rique . "Two regiments
in this corps, the First and Third Louisiana Guards, ex-
pressed their willingness to go. But a selection was made."

66 HENRY HILL GOODELL

What position Lieutenant Goodell held is not known. On
June 28, the colonel commanding, H. W. Birge, informed
General Banks that the organization was complete. "I
have to report that the volunteers for the storming column
are organized in two battalions of eight companies each,
strength of company about 50 enlisted men; three and
in some cases four, commissioned officers to a company.
Battalion officers are, to each, one lieutenant-colonel com-
manding, two majors or acting as such, one adjutant, one
quartermaster. One surgeon (from One hundred and Six-
teenth New York) has reported. Present strength for duty
is, Commissioned officers 67, enlisted men 826. Total
893."1

These men had had two, and some of them three, dread-
ful experiences in charging earthworks within a few days,
and yet they were willing to assault those same works
again. "The stormers" as they were called were gathered
in a camp by themselves and put on a regimen calculated
to promote physical strength, celerity of action, and en-
durance. By every conceivable device did they prepare
themselves for the work they were expected to do. They
knew that all the arrangements for their support had been
made, but the expected order did not come.

If ever a body of men deserved recognition from their
country this column of stormers did. From June 18 to
July 8 they waited for the word that meant death to many
of them. General Gardner, the Confederate commander in
Port Hudson, knew of their existence and confessed that
he dreaded their assault. Some twenty years afterwards
the subject of the medal promised in the general order
1 41 W. R., 603.

SOLDIER 67

was brought to the attention of Congress, and although it
was eloquently championed by the Hon. Henry Cabot
Lodge, the House of Representatives refused to make the
required appropriation on the ground that the men did
not make the charge. A man who is willing to engage in a
service of peculiar peril for his country in her hour of need,
and waits twenty days in hourly expectation of the call to
discharge that duty, it would seem, ought to have some
recognition of his willingness to serve; for in this case, it
was not his fault that he did not make the terrible exposure
of all that man holds dear in life.

On July 4, Goodell wrote his last letter from Port Hud-
son. As will be seen, he had no idea of what was going on
two hundred and forty miles up the river at Vicksburg,
or fifteen hundred miles away at Gettysburg, At Vicks-
burg General Grant was quietly smoking a cigar as he
wrote a dispatch to be sent to Cairo to be telegraphed to
the General in Chief at Washington: "The enemy surren-
dered this morning. The only terms allowed is their pa-
role as prisoners of war." The same dispatch was sent to
General Banks. At Gettysburg the Army of the Potomac
had inflicted a terrible defeat on the Army of Northern
Virginia.

PORT HUDSON, July 4, 1863.

I verily believe this is the quietest, most matter-of-fact
4th of July I ever spent; positively not as much powder
burnt as in New York or Boston; yea, verily, Hartford it-
self, with its swarms of ragged brats, can outstrip us. All
is supremely quiet along the lines. Every now and then a
boom, a bang and the bursting of a shell, for we must keep

68 HENRY HILL GOODELL

the besieged from falling asleep and stir them up occa-
sionally. Then pop goes a rebel; anon some white-eyed
ebony "t'inks he sees suffin' moving on dat ar hill," and ac-
cordingly lets drive; or perchance some red-breeched Zou-
ave, spying a mule wandering round in the fortifications,
swears by the beard of Mahomet he '11 spoil the rebel beef,
and forthwith downs the critter. Noon. The music is be-
coming lively, the gun-boats are walking in and the batteries
are pitching in, and altogether we are giving them "Hail
Columbia," to the tune of "Yankee Doodle."

For the last fortnight we have been in an enviable frame
of mind expecting each day to be ordered the next to par-
ticipate in another general assault, but the orders have not
come and each night we have drawn a long breath and said
one more day of grace. "Very improper, Jane!" Well so
it is, but while we are sp'iling for a fight we have a singular
desire to avoid charging on the breastworks. We 've seen
the elephant, some of us four times, and each time have got
bitten. On the 1st General Banks made us a stunning
speech, assuring us that within three days Port Hudson
should be ours; but the three days have waxed and waned
and those confounded rebels still persist in keeping us out
in the cold (a figure of speech, as it is the dog-days with a
vengeance). There is no mistake about it; the rebs are
mighty short off for provisions, and though the fortifi-
cations could probably now be stormed any day, yet why
waste life when a few days will fetch the recreants to their
milk? They are reduced now to mule-meat and a little
corn. Deserters come in thick and fast. One day as many
as a hundred came over, vowing they could n't stand mule-
meat. I feel confident in my next of being able to take up the

SOLDIER 69

triumphs over the fall of Port Hudson. General Gardner,
who commands, was a West Pointer with Generals Grover
and Goodin, and they were together at the time the war
broke out, as captain and lieutenants in the 10th Regiment
at some frontier fort. Gardner sent in his resignation and
immediately deserted (well knowing the penalty), leaving
his wife behind. General Grover escorted her in safety to
the north, and she has since rejoined her husband in Louisi-
ana. She is now residing in Opelousas. When we were
there General Grover called upon her. She expressed the
hope that he might not be called upon to meet Frank in
battle, but that appears to be a hope not realized. Since
coming here the two former companions in arms have
met during the flag of truce. The rebs army use our rear
continually. Their cavalry from Clinton and Jackson
hover about, striking here and there, and picking up
stragglers and forage parties. Day before yesterday they
dashed into Springfield Landing, whence we draw all our
stores and ammunition from New Orleans; but our cavalry
were after them so sharp that they found pressing business
elsewhere, and could only stop a few minutes. On the other
side of the river quite a force has come down. They at-
tacked Donaldsonville (of white-petticoat memory) a few
days ago, demanding the surrender of the town and the
fort, but the spirited provost-marshal, gathering together
his forces amounting to about one hundred, got inside his
fortifications and bid them come on. The unequal contest
was kept up from midnight till daylight, when the sudden
appearance of a gun-boat caused the rebs to skedaddle leav-
ing a hundred dead on the field, several hundred wounded
and one hundred and twenty prisoners, including one

70 HENRY HILL GOODELL

colonel, two majors, four captains and several lieutenants.1
Our loss was exceedingly small. Since then the little garri-
son has been strengthened.

Now comes the cream of everything. The rebs have got
into Bayou Boeuf and captured or destroyed the whole of
our division property there stored. Tents, baggage, knap-
sacks, company and regimental books, all swept away.
We are all as poor as Job's turkey, or as that unfortunate
damsel who had "nothing to wear." Except the rags that
cover us we have not a thing. In common with the other
officers, I have lost my blankets, overcoat, valise, dress-
uniform and sash, and a hundred little knick-knacks picked
up here and there. Were we near you I should write a feel-
ing address to the soldiers' aid society for some pocket-
handkerchiefs, being reduced to the last shift, that is the
flap of an ancient shirt picked up in a deserted mansion.
The adjutant has now returned to duty. I have gone back
to my own company, or rather the first three, A. F. and D.
being without officers, have been consolidated with F, and
Captain Napheys and myself are in command. From Colo-
nel Bissell we heard not long since. He is slowly and steadily
improving, and we are hoping to count the days before
we can welcome our colonel back. We have missed him

1 The incident here alluded to ought not to be forgotten. The provost-
marshal, Major H. M. Porter, reports, that "at 1.30 on the morning of
the 28th, the enemy, about 5,000 strong, attacked both the fort and the
gunboat, with infantry and artillery, and continued fighting until 4.30
A.M. There were about 180 men in the Fort and this was the first engage-
ment of most of them. Nobly did the officers and men acquit themselves."
The loss of the enemy he puts at probably 350 killed and wounded. In
short the little garrison, with the gun-boat, put hors de combat about
twice their own number. 41 W. R. 205.

SOLDIER 71

sadly. But I really believe his sickness has saved his life.
He never would have come out alive from the charge the
regiment made on the 27th of May.

We are having just the tallest kind of dog-days. We
spend all our time in trying to keep cool. You would laugh
if you could see us at meals, in simply shirt and drawers,
while our respected colored boy, Oliver, squats on his heels
in front of us and keeps off the flies from our precious per-
sons. This same Oliver is a case. Speaking of Mobile the
other day he said, "Reckon you could n't feel dis nigga
much in dat are town; specks he was born and raised dere,
yah, yah, yah! Reckons he knows ebry hole dere from
de liquor-shops to de meeting houses," etc.

We see by the papers Pennsylvania is again in danger.
Were we only home, some of us would again be up a-girding
on our armor and be marching along. But we trust you
will do it without our aid and the Southerners will get so
blessedly licked they won't know which end they are
standing on.

Excuse this scrawl, but being a little under the weather
have been writing lying flat on my back.
As ever with love,

HENRY.

I have got some potatoes, 10 cents, a bit of mackerel,
and a couple of bottles of porter, and mean to celebrate the
4th to-night.

Three days after this letter was written, the dispatch
from General Grant, just referred to, was received. The
booming of great guns, the cheers of the Union soldiers and
strains of patriotic music informed the besieged that some-

72 HENRY HILL GOODELL

thing had happened, and they were not slow to divine the
cause of the rejoicing. General Gardner sent under a flag
of truce to General Banks to know if the report that Vicks-
burg had fallen was true, and received in reply a copy of
General Grant's dispatch. The garrison had done their
duty with courageous fortitude. The Union lines were al-
ready in many places up to their breastworks, starvation
was already beginning to pinch, and should the expected
assault be delivered it would be a waste of life, for they
could not expect to hold their position. The 8th was spent
in arranging the terms of surrender, and on the 9th "The
Stormers" led the advance as the victorious army en-
tered Port Hudson to put the stars and stripes in the place
of the stars and bars. President Lincoln's long-deferred
hope was realized, and he could now say, "The Father of
Waters again goes un vexed to the sea."

The time of the nine-months' men was soon to expire and
the 25th Connecticut left almost immediately for New Or-
leans, but was detained at Donaldson ville for a few days.
The following letter will state the reason.

DONALDSONVILLE, July, 1863.

Once more, O Dick, at Donaldsonville. Three months
ago, March 29th, on Sunday, I received an epistle from
thee, and lo ! on my second advent, on a Sunday, a second
missive reaches me. To thy lares and penates I decree a
hecatomb. Accept, my rustic pedagogue, my humble
offering. You at the North are probably in a frenzy of ex-
citement, we at the South have learned to take things cool,
although the "canicula damnosa reigns supreme"; a phrase
which, being translated into the vernacular a la H. W.

SOLDIER 73

Beecher, signifieth "damned hot." Vicksburg, the stum-
bling-block to glory, hath fallen, Port Hudson hath caved
in. Lee and his army have gone to one eternal smash.

Port Hudson has scarcely gone under when we are called
to take the field again. The confounded rebs don't know
how to stay whipped, and General Taylor, reenforced by
General Magruder's Texicans, has again taken the field.
He attacked us at Donaldsonville with a force in propor-
tion to ours as 50 to 1, and got soundly thrashed. We,
strongly reenforced, came out to meet him and got licked,
and so the matter rests at present. It was a disgraceful
affair our getting licked a week ago. The commanding
colonel of the brigade suffered himself to be flanked through
carelessness, being dead drunk, and they had to fall back
with the loss of two cannon. Our brigade was on the reserve ;
we fell in and double-quicked it to the rescue, but too late,
for they were in full retreat. A new line of battle was formed
and the 25th was deployed and sent forward as skirmishers,
but beyond a shot or two, we failed of falling in with the
scoundrels. So after advancing about three quarters of a
mile through the corn, we were ordered back and our whole
force fell back about one quarter of a mile, where we oc-
cupied, and still hold, a strong position. The rebs meanwhile
have skedaddled, but are probably fortifying at Laborde-
ville, distant some twenty miles. What we are delaying
here for, I can't imagine, unless it is to give time to a part
of our forces to get in their rear. I hope it is so. By the
way, I am happy to inform you that, Colonel Bissell being
in command of the brigade, I have been appointed one of
his staff as aide.

Dick, I must say that though I volunteered on the storm-

74 HENRY HILL GOODELL

ing party at Port Hudson, yet it gives me great pleasure not
to have my services required. Those works were con-
foundedly strong, and one half or two thirds of us would
have paid the penalty of our attempt with our lives. War
is not the glorious thing it 's cracked up to be. Though we
get used to all kinds of horrid sights, yet we can't get per-
fectly calloused. I could tell you some things that would
fairly make your blood curdle with horror. I will omit all
description as that is best learnt in familiar discourse.

The 25th Connecticut regiment, after one of the most
trying campaigns of the war, was now to take another sea
voyage and was mustered out at Hartford, August 26, 1863.
Scant justice has been done to the Nineteenth Corps. The
field of their action while in Louisiana was far away, and,
until the fall of Port Hudson, was cut off from the North
except by the sea. The public attention was absorbed by
the operations in the states along the border, and even their
great victory at Port Hudson was eclipsed and looked upon
as a consequence of the fall of Vicksburg. But they did
a great deal of hard fighting, and made hundreds of miles
of hard marching in a climate to which the men were not
accustomed.

Goodell had entered the regiment as second lieutenant,
but he had acted in many capacities. He had officiated as
first lieutenant in his own and other companies, had often
discharged the function of captain, and had acted as ad-
jutant of the regiment. He was promoted to first lieutenant
on the 14th of April, and became aide-de-camp on the staff
of Colonel Bissell, commanding the 3d Brigade of the 4th
Division, on the 8th of July.

SOLDIER 75

He said little about his army experience after he came
home, and seldom spoke of it even to his own family. Oc-
casionally some incident would bring out a scrap of his
experience. The following will serve to illustrate the stories
he sometimes told. Some years ago, but long after the War,
at an educational convention at Baton Rouge, his next
neighbor at the banquet said to him, "This country is new
to you?" — "No," said Goodell, "I served in Louisiana in
'62 and '63, and was at the siege of Port Hudson." The
gentleman said that he was taken prisoner there by a com-
missioned officer. Goodell asked if he remembered the
officer's name and regiment, to which the gentleman re-
plied: "Yes, it was Lieutenant Goodell of the 25th Con-
necticut." — "Then," said Goodell, "You are Captain

— ." "How do you know that?" asked the gentleman
with some surprise. "Because I am the Lieutenant Goodell
you speak of." Their last meeting was undoubtedly much
more pleasant, especially to the Confederate gentleman,
than their first.

There is every evidence that he discharged his duty as
a soldier with ability and with a high sense of loyalty to the
cause he loved and to his superior officers. He never was
absent from his company for twelve consecutive hours,
except on duty, from the time the regiment was mustered
into the service until it was mustered out. His idea of
a soldier, of his calling, the principles he ought to hold,
the duties he ought to be ready to discharge, and the senti-
ment which should animate his conduct on all occasions,
is stated, perhaps unconsciously, in his address at the
memorial services of Captain Walter Mason Dickinson,
which is given in this volume.

76 HENRY HILL GOODELL

Of him personally one of his fellow officers of higher
rank, Major Thomas McManus, writes: "His whole life,
his whole conduct during our army experience, was so con-
sistent and admirable that I am actually puzzled to dis-
sect from it any special detail to memorize as an incident or
saying even. You know he never was oracular. He never
posed. He simply did everything perfectly and easily. I
actually think that, if he tumbled off a roof, he would have
done it gracefully. He never once complained, however
great the hardship, on the march or in action. He never
adversely criticised another officer, or harshly reproved a
private, or murmured at a privation. He was on duty where
he belonged, all the while. Nothing spasmodic in his service,
but when an emergency did arise at Port Hudson, that
called for volunteers for the Forlorn Hope, he was with the
very first to offer himself for a service that promised nothing
but death as a result. Thank God, the service after all was
not required !

"He was everything good that could be desired in a sol-
dier and he was so all the time. You may portray in him
every admirable quality that man can possess and you may
rival Chrysostom himself in eloquence, yet you cannot
exaggerate, hardly equal his deserts."

After the experience in the army he took a year to re-
cuperate. He did not care to study any of the professions,
and it is safe to say that then he had no idea what his work
in the world would be; but he did not merely vegetate, nor
was he "waiting for something to turn up." Hard work
was mingled with recreation. A good deal of time is given
to the study of German, or as he puts it, "studying high
Dutch, low Dutch and German, three variations of the

SOLDIER 77

Teutonic"; and he does not find the mixture palatable.
He dips into literature, both grave and gay; reads Charles
Lamb's works with great delight; Kenan's "Life of Jesus,"
— finds the author "an arrant doubter," and wants a good
review of him. Ticknor's "Life of Prescott" he thinks
"capital." "That's a curious thought," he writes, "that
Prescott expresses in a letter to Ticknor on the greater
difficulty of representing happiness than misery, and the
faultiness of the Scripture in that respect, offering nothing
but singing and dancing as the happiness of Heaven, an idea
which he says to many would be positively disagreeable.
I can't help laughing every time I think of it, and yet the
criticism is just." He reads Kirk's "Charles the Bold"
and finds it as fascinating as a novel, and is interested in
the articles in the "North American Review," especially in
the one on McClellan; thinks "it uses him up most com-
pletely as a politician and a soldier." The article was by
James Russell Lowell.

To turn to the other side of his nature — he keeps in close
touch with his classmates, especially with those in the army.
He hears that one of them (Captain Rufus P. Lincoln, of
the 37th Massachusetts, afterwards a distinguished surgeon
in New York) had been wounded, and writes : "Those boys !
I am thinking of them all the time. May they come out
safe from these horrid battles! I am as uneasy as a fish
out of water here at home, lying round like an old cow at my
ease and all these brave fellows periling their lives." He paid
flying visits to those of his class who were near him, and
writes of one after another, "the same good fellow as ever."
He calls on his "beloved D.D." at Cambridge, and informs
him by letter that he "found the Theologi-cuss out."

78 HENRY HILL GOODELL

In the fall of 1864, he received and accepted an invitation
to return to his old preparatory school, Williston Seminary,
Easthampton, as teacher of modern languages and instruc-
tor in gymnastics. For this work he was well equipped, and
had time to devote to favorite studies, for he was begin-
ning to have something like a passion for books.

While teaching at Easthampton he was associated with
such men as General Francis A.Walker, M. F. Dickinson,
Charles M. Lamson, Judson Smith, and Charles H. Park-
hurst. It was indeed a brilliant and inspiring corps of
teachers, such as any institution has a right to be proud of.
Goodell seems oftener than occasionally to have disturbed
the gravity and decorum of the faculty meetings by his
remarks, although Dr. Henshaw, the principal, did not
always perceive the suggestiveness of Goodell's sugges-
tions. There was once a proposition made to appoint some
member of the Faculty to do some particular duty, and
Goodell said, with that peculiar innocence of which he was
consummate master : " Dr. Henshaw, if you want a man who
possesses both the suaviter in modo and the fortiter in re, I
would suggest the name of "

Ill

EDUCATOR

DURING the last decade of the eighteenth century the
attention of many thoughtful and far-seeing men was di-
rected to creating a more intelligent culture of the soil. This
resulted in the formation of the Massachusetts Society for
the Promotion of Agriculture, hi 1796. Through the influ-
ence of this organization, societies of a similar purpose were
organized in the various counties of the Commonwealth,
and cattle-shows and horse-shows became a feature of the
industrial life of the people. Public-spirited and wealthy
men offered prizes for the best products of the farm, and
subscribed money to collect and diffuse information on
matters pertaining to agriculture.

The printing-press was called into requisition, and on the
2nd of August, 1818, "The American Farmer" was pub-
lished at Baltimore; three years later came "The Plough
Boy " (spelled Plow Boy), published at Albany; the follow-
ing year "The New England Farmer" appeared in Boston;
and soon papers devoted to this subject appeared in many
localities. As the nineteenth century advanced men began
to talk of schools of agriculture. Prominent educators, like
Edward Hitchcock of Amherst, a man of great practical
wisdom, advocated the teaching of this great branch of in-
dustry in academies and colleges, and as early as 1843 the
Trustees of Amherst College appointed Charles U. Shep-
ard, Professor of Agricultural Chemistry and Mineralogy.

80 HENRY HILL GOODELL

The governors of states recommended to the legislatures
to take such action as would advance this great utility.
Our presidents have recommended the subject to the con-
sideration of Congress. Washington, who, whatever he was
besides, was a farmer by nature, took a deep interest in
this subject, and in his last annual message recommended
to Congress that appropriations should be made, to en-
courage an interest in it. President Jefferson in his first in-
augural, when enumerating the objects of government,
puts the encouragement of agriculture among them. But
so negligent had Congress been in fostering the interests
of this great phase of the national life, that President Lin-
coln, in his first annual message December 3, 1861, said
that "Agriculture, confessedly the largest interest of the
nation, has not a department, nor even a bureau, but a
clerkship only, assigned to it in the government. While
I make no suggestions as to details, I venture the opinion
that an agricultural and statistical bureau might profit-
ably be organized." In pursuance of this suggestion Con-
gress passed an act May 4, 1862, creating a Bureau of
Agriculture. The President immediately set about organ-
izing it and refers to it in all his annual messages; and in
the very last one he speaks of it as "peculiarly the people's
department, in which they feel more directly concerned than
in any other. I commend it to the continued attention
and fostering care of Congress."

The next step in the national recognition of the import-
ance of agriculture was an act of Congress, February 11,
1889, making the bureau a department, and the commis-
sioner a secretary, with a seat in the President's cabinet.

While these steps were being taken by the national

EDUCATOR 81

government, thoughtful and progressive men of high stand-
ing and character were urging with eloquent earnestness
that education in agriculture was as important as education
in the so-called liberal professions. But as Walter Bagehot
has said, "One of the greatest pains to human nature is the
pain of a new idea. It is, as common people say, 'so up-
setting, it makes you think that, after all, your favorite
notions may be wrong, your firmest beliefs unfounded.' " 1
But the whole subject was put in a new light by the Hon.
Justin S. Morrill, then a representative in Congress from
Vermont, himself a farmer's boy, then a merchant, and
afterwards a farmer. He brought in, December 14, 1857, a
bill devoting large areas of the public lands to the states
which should within a given time establish colleges for
the benefit of agriculture and the mechanic arts. The bill
passed the House by a vote of 105 to 100. Some thirteen
months afterward, on February 7, 1859, it passed the Sen-
ate by a vote of 25 to 22. President Buchanan returned it
to the House with a long veto message, the sum and sub-
stance of which was stated in the first sentence: "I deem
it to be both inexpedient and unconstitutional."

The fact that such a bill had passed both houses of Con-
gress gave new inspiration to the friends of the movement,
and it is said that in the next contest for the presidency
two of the leading candidates, Mr. Lincoln and Judge Doug-
las, were pledged to favor the bill. The people now began
to talk of agricultural colleges, and two of the states went
forward and established them.

Mr. Morrill, on December 13, 1861, again presented his
bill. It passed both houses, and on July 2, 1862, received
1 Physics and Politics, 163.

82 HENRY HILL GOODELL

the sanction of President Lincoln and became a law. This
bill, known as the Merrill Act, had a tremendous influence
upon agricultural education. Mr. Morrill lived to see in-
stitutions of this kind established and sustained by this
act in every state of the Union.

This law was strengthened by the "Hatch Bill "approved
by President Cleveland, March 2, 188QJ creating experiment
stations in connection with the land-grant colleges; and
four years later, Senator Morrill brought in a bill, approved
by President Harrison, August 30, 1890, for a more com-
plete endowment of the land-grant colleges. All the bills
for the advancement of industrial education were cham-
pioned by the practical wisdom and consummate tact of
Mr. Morrill; and he will stand at the bar of history as
one of our greatest national benefactors.

A gentleman was once introduced to Mr. Morrill as a
friend of President Goodell, and the Senator, taking his
hand in both his own, said, with an earnestness not to be
mistaken, " I congratulate you sir, most heartily, on having
such a man for your friend." When George F. Hoar pub-
lished his "Autobiography of Seventy Years," the attention
of President Goodell was called to the chapter on some of
the Senators with whom Mr. Hoar had served. After read-
ing it he wrote: "All this is very beautiful, but as I went on
from one splendid characterization to another, I began to
fear that he would get exhausted and break down before
he got to Senator Morrill. But he rose to the occasion. It
was the last, and fine as the others were, this was the best of
all. It was beautiful beyond any words of mine to describe,
and it is as true as it is beautiful. It is a mystery to me how
a man could write such a chapter as that."

EDUCATOR 83

President Goodell had occasion often to consult with
Senator Morrill, but unfortunately little that passed be-
tween them in writing has as yet been discovered.

The story is too long to be told here of the many sugges-
tions and plans which engaged the attention and occupied
the minds of men, which eventually led up to the estab-
lishment of the Massachusetts Agricultural College. It will
be sufficient to say that in his annual message to the Gen-
eral Court, January 6, 1865, Governor Andrew announced
that the Massachusetts Agricultural College had been lo-
cated at Amherst, and added : " I beg to commend the sub-
ject of agricultural education, and the patronage of this
institution of the State to your liberality. I should deeply
regret to see an institution which bears the name of Massa-
chusetts and will be held to be representative of the Com-
monwealth, especially of the highest aspirations of her
yeomanry, allowed, for want of generous support, to de-
generate into a mere industrial school."

In his concluding remarks on this subject his Excellency
states the spirit in which the Commonwealth should pursue
the work she has begun; and his words so completely de-
scribe the feelings which animated President Goodell in
his long service at the institution then inaugurated that
they may be quoted as eminently applicable to him and
his work : —

"When the Commonwealth touches such a subject, she
ought to feel herself to be like the priestess, advancing to
handle the sacred symbols, and on holy ground. She should
remember her own dignity, the immortality always pos-
sible to states, the error of which she is the promoter here-
after, if she commits herself to error now, the boundless

84 HENRY HILL GOODELL

scope of her good influence, the millions of men on whom
her influence may be made to tell through all the ampli-
tudes of space and time. When I contemplate such a sub-
ject, the reason is content to yield to the imagination. I
remember the photograph, the magnetic telegraph, the
discovery of vaccination, the painless operations of surgery,
— the triumphs, the miracles of genius. I seem to see, for
the Earth herself and her cultivators, the coming time,
when husbandry, attended by all the ministries of science
and art, shall illumine and rejuvenate her countenance,
and recreate our life below."

Notwithstanding the magnificent appeal of his Excel-
lency the Governor, the inauguration of the new college
dragged slowly on until the election of William Smith Clark
to the presidency in 1867. Clark was by nature and culture
a man of science. He had for several years been professor
of chemistry and had also occupied the chairs of botany
and zoology in Amherst College. He had made a brilliant
record in the Civil War, as Colonel of the Twenty-First
Massachusetts Volunteers, and had had some experience
in political life. He brought to his new duties fine abilities
as an organizer and administrator, was possessed by an en-
thusiasm, founded on moral convictions, that a great work
could be done, of lasting benefit to the people, and that he
could help do it. He wielded a graceful pen, possessed ad-
mirable powers of persuasion and a knowledge of men
which came both by instinct and a large experience of the
world. He was emphatically a man of affairs and knew how
to meet men.

The unexpected is among the certainties in the lives of
men. "No man," said Oliver Cromwell, to the agents

EDUCATOR 85

of Henrietta Maria, who were sounding him as to his am-
bitions, "no man ever climbs so high as the man who does
not know where he is going." We left Goodell quietly
teaching at Williston Seminary, with perhaps no idea of any
change in his position in life, at least for the present, and
certainly no idea of the change that was about to come.
But President Clark's eye was upon him. At an Alumni
dinner of the Agricultural College in 1886, while he was
acting as president, he was called upon to speak of Presi-
dent Clark, who had recently died, and in his remarks he
indulged in a bit of personal reminiscence. He said: "It
was in the summer of 1867 that I received a brief note from
him [Clark] asking me to come to Amherst and see him.
No building had as yet been erected, and the several farms
of which the college property was composed had not yet
been thrown into one. Leading me out into the fields,
very near where South College now stands, he unfolded his
plans, and turning to me with his hand on my shoulder
said: 'There is a great and glorious work to be done. Will
you come and help?' And what could I do with that eye
looking straight into mine and that hand resting on my
shoulder, but say, 'I will'?"

To be in at the beginning of a new movement, or a new
departure from the beaten track of common experience,
which proves successful, is a matter of congratulation when
success has been attained. But it requires more courage
than men usually get credit for, to start with a movement
that is in advance of the common thought, when there is
liability that one may be buried in the ruins of the under-
taking. The new college had not only to face ignorant
prejudice, but it had the more difficult task of vindicating

86 HENRY HILL GOODELL

its right to be, and this was no easy matter, for the results
of its work might not be manifest for years to come.

The Faculty of those early days was not a formidable
body in numbers. It consisted of the President, William
S. Clark, Professor E. S. Snell, of Amherst College, teach-
ing mathematics, Henry H. Goodell, Professor of Modern
Languages and English Literature, and the farmer, Levi
Stockbridge, who gave instruction in agriculture. This was
indeed rather a small crowd to face an indifferent and some-
times hostile world; but indifference was to them far more
dangerous than hostility.

Goodell's department was very congenial to his feelings
and tastes, especially English Literature. But during its
early years the College, although a state institution, was
handicapped in many ways. It was poor, and as a natural
consequence its appliances were insufficient and the corps
of teachers too small to meet the demands of even a small
number of pupils; so that at the beginning some important
branches of study were not provided with any instructors.
Goodell seems to have been called upon to fill the gap. It
seems almost impossible for a man to adjust himself to so
many different relations. "He was instructor in military
tactics and gymnastics from 1867 to 1869, lecturer on ento-
mology in 1869, instructor in zoology from 1869 to 1871, in
anatomy and physiology from 1869 to 1871 and again from
1882 to 1883, instructor in rhetoric and English language
from 1871 to 1873 and from 1883 to 1885, and in history
from 1872 to 1883; and in addition to this he was secretary
of the Faculty for four years, and librarian from 1885 to
1899."

Had all these branches of instruction been in accord

EDUCATOR 87

with his tastes, his work would have been very confining
and laborious. But his tastes were literary rather than
scientific. It is doubtful whether he really enjoyed any of
the sciences, with the single exception of botany; but the
work he did enabled him to grasp something more than the
rudiments of the sciences as taught in the ordinary college
course, and to understand the interdependence of the
sciences and their federal relations to each other. This was
of great importance to him in after life. It was a hard school,
but no other could have better prepared him for his future
work. It was with sufficient cause that Amherst College
conferred upon him the honorary degree of Doctor of
Laws in 1891.

While discharging these various duties he acted as sec-
retary of his own class (the Class of '62 in Amherst Col-
lege), and published in 1872 a little booklet giving an ac-
count of all who had ever been connected with the class,
telling how far each had advanced in the ten years since
graduation in professional, commercial and matrimonial
life. It was a tedious bit of work. His own description
of the booklet is correct so far as the history of each one
is concerned. "I have brought you up from the 'mewl-
ing infant in the nurse's arms' to 'the lover sighing like a
furnace, with a woful ballad to his mistress's eyebrow.' "
But while his story of each one was told with fidelity and
accuracy, his way of telling it was characteristic, both of
himself and of the person of whom he wrote. In writing of
one who had a genius for getting conditioned at the end
of every term in Latin and Greek, he says: "He studied di-
vinity, wrestling with the Hebrew, and prevailing mightily
with the Greek." He gave the statistics of the professions

88 HENRY HILL GOODELL

and occupations of his classmates and over every list put
a motto of his own choice. Heading the list of lawyers we
have : —

Here lies a lawyer, rude and bold:

He by his trade subsisted.

Reader, think! How many lies the rascal must have told!

Over the list of bachelors, and he was then among them,
he put this bit of good advice : —

Thanks, my good friends for your advice,
But marriage is a thing so nice,
That he who means to take a wife
Had better think on 't all his life.

Goodell acted not only as secretary of the class, but as
treasurer, and was actively instrumental in raising money
to establish a Class scholarship at Amherst College. It
was a fund of two thousand dollars, the income of which
was to aid indigent students. It was called the Henry
Gridley Scholarship of the Class of '62, in Memory of a
classmate, Lieutenant Henry Gridley of the 150th Regi-
ment of New York Volunteers, who fell on June 22, 1864,
in an engagement which General Sherman calls the "affair
of the Kolb House, where the enemy received a terrible
repulse." 1

Colonel Ketchum in his report of the battle says: "First
Lieutenant Henry Gridley, a valuable officer, was killed in
this engagement." 2 The scene of this battle was some three
or four miles from Marietta, Georgia.

After the death of President Goodell his classmates
established another scholarship of equal value, called the
Henry Hill Goodell Scholarship of the Class of '62.
» W. R., 38, P. n, 68. « W. R., 38, P. n, 79.

EDUCATOR 89

It is not a little singular that after all the contempt
with which the ladies of the Crescent City treated him in
'63, he should have won the hand and the heart of Helen E.,
daughter of John Stanton, of New Orleans. They were
married December 10, 1873. This event was quickly fol-
lowed by the establishment of a home. He was very happy
in his home, which stood on rising ground overlooking
the valley of the Connecticut. The outlook was delightful.
The varied scenes of meadows and fields, of hills and the
mountains beyond, had a restful influence upon his spirits.
He had a sensitive ear for the sounds of Nature. He loved
to listen to the gossiping of the wind with the leaves on the
trees about his house, and he took great pleasure in the
roar of the advancing storm, as it came up from the west,
or down from the north. He would call attention to those
moments of quiet, when Nature seemed to be listening, and
he enjoyed the solemn stillness. Indeed, he had an eye to
see, an ear to hear and a spirit to feel, "what he could n't
near express but could not all conceal." "It is a delightful
rest," he used to say, "to look on that landscape." The spot
he chose for his home illustrates one side of his character.

Their two children, both boys, were a great delight to
him, and he always attributed their good conduct to the
influence of their mother, who, he said, understood the art
of inculcating good principles without making them dis-
agreeable by tedious lectures ; but he would add with a smile,
that he was sometimes afraid that the boys were not al-
ways getting "the sincere milk of the Word." He lived to
see one of them started in the world. Here is the introduc-
tion his father gave him as he went out to try his hand in the
affairs of real life. It was written to a college classmate, a

90 HENRY HILL GOODELL

life-long friend, an eminent lawyer practicing in New York
City.

AMHEBST, MASS., October 7, 1898.

COLONEL MASON W. TYLER,
Plainfield, N. J.

DEAR MASON, — A boy — family name Goodell, Chris-
tian name John — accompanies this letter. Just out of the
Troy Polytechnic, but without experience. He is seeking a
place into which he can thrust his lever and turn the world
over. Civil-engineering his profession, railroading his de-
light. He is seeking for some railroad magnate who will
adopt an orphan, side-track him in some fat office where
he can try his little lever. Do you know any such people
to introduce him to? If you do, help him, and believe me

Yours gratefully,

H. H. GOODELL.

Although Goodell had little, if any, ambition to figure in
political life, he was faithful in the discharge of his civic
duties. He usually attended the caucus of his party, es-
pecially in his early days, and while he never sought office,
he was always ready to serve on committees where he
thought he could be of any assistance. But at the Republi-
can caucus held October 27, 1884, things were in some con-
fusion, to say the least, and he was nominated to represent
the then Fourth Hampshire District in the General Court,
not as "a dark horse," but as a man whose personal pop-
ularity was likely to unite conflicting interests and secure
victory for the party at the polls. He declined the honor
and refused positively to allow his name to be put in nomi-

EDUCATOR 91

nation against a gentleman who, he said, "had been a father
to him." But the caucus insisted upon its action, and before
election day matters were so arranged that he accepted the
nomination and of the 793 votes cast he received 517, or a
majority of 241. It was fortunate that he was persuaded
to withdraw his objections, for he was able to be of vastly
greater service to the College in the hall of representatives
at Boston, than he would have been in the recitation room
at Amherst.

The Legislature of 1885 was a very able body of men.
Several of his associates attained eminence in political life
and many were afterwards distinguished as men of affairs.
Here he made the acquaintance of men interested in indus-
trial education, several of whom afterwards became trustees
of the College. He served on the standing committee on
education. This session of the legislature was really the
turning point in the interests of the College. It has been
said by one who had ample opportunity to know whereof
he spoke, Hon. William R. Session, who was then serving
as Senator and who was for many years Secretary of the
Board of Agriculture and a trustee of the College: "I am
convinced that the favorable change in the temper of the
Massachusetts legislature toward the College, which set in
at that time and has continued ever since, was very largely
due to President Goodell's influence on the representative
men from all over the state, with whom he was brought in
contact during that season's service at the State House."

During the winter South College was destroyed by fire,
and the friends of the College were very much depressed ; but
Goodell was equal to the exigencies of the case. He se-
cured the necessary appropriations not only to rebuild and

92 HENRY HILL GOODELL

refit, but also to make improvements and repairs, amount-
ing in all to fifty thousand dollars. This was a large sum
for those times and a great triumph when we consider the
feeling against the College, which was widespread and quite
strong.

From that time Professor Goodell began to attract the
attention of men interested in industrial education. When
the presidency of the College became vacant, one of the
trustees, on his way to Amherst, happened to meet at Palmer
the Hon. Levi Stockbridge, a veteran agriculturist and ex-
perimenter, and asked him whom they should elect as
President? Mr. Stockbridge replied without a moment's
hesitation: "If you choose Professor Goodell you will make
no mistake."

On the death of President Chadbourne in 1883, Professor
Goodell was chosen acting president, and served in that
capacity from February to September of that year. On the
retirement of President Greenough, three years later, in
1886, he was elected president. He was very reluctant to
accept the position, but finally yielded to the solicitation
of his friends and the friends of the College; but he looked
upon it as a temporary appointment and expected to be
relieved at the end of the year, if not before. He had a very
modest estimate of his own abilities and his success was
always a mystery to him. But his resources were greater
than he knew and were at once recognized by others. His
health was not firm, and after serving for about nine months
he sent the following letter to the trustees: —

EDUCATOR 93

AMHEBST, April 9, 1887.

To the HONORABLE BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF THE MASS.
AGR'L COLLEGE: —

GENTLEMEN, — I hereby tender my resignation of the
Presidency of the Mass. Agr'l College, to take effect July
1st, 1887. When you did me the honor last year to elect
me to that position, I hesitated long before accepting it,
feeling that my health was inadequate to the responsibili-
ties and care attending it, and it was only at the earnest
solicitation of my friends that I yielded. But I feel that my
strength will not permit of this continued drain upon it,
and that it is merely a question of time when I shall be
compelled to lay down these duties. I therefore tender
my resignation now, before the time comes when I can
neither be a credit to yourselves nor to myself. Thanking
you for the consideration and support I have rec'd at your
hands, I am,

Very faithfully yours,

HENRY H. GOODELL.

The letter was read at a meeting of the trustees held
June 22, 1887; and they immediately referred the whole
matter to the Committee on the Course of Study and
Faculty, to confer with the President and report at an ad-
journed meeting of the board to be called together at the
option of the committee. The following Resolutions were
then presented by Mr. Root and unanimously adopted : —

"Whereas, we the Trustees of the Massachusetts Agri-
cultural College one year ago unanimously elected Prof.
Henry H. Goodell as President of the College; and, Whereas,
President Goodell has during the year just closed performed

94 HENRY HILL GOODELL

the many and arduous duties as the chief executive of the
Institution with rare ability and eminent success, and to the
entire satisfaction and hearty approval of this Board, and
we believe of the entire Faculty, Alumni, students of the
College, and the public at large; and, Whereas, it is with
the most sincere regret that we have received his resigna-
tion as President of the College, expressing a desire to be
relieved from the Presidency of the Institution, therefore,
RESOLVED, That we as trustees most earnestly request
that President Goodell withdraw his resignation and con-
tinue to act as President of the College, in which position
he has done so much to bring it into complete, successful,
harmonious, and effective working condition during the
past year; that we pledge to him our hearty and earnest
support in the future as in the past: that we pledge our-
selves that we will do all that is possible to release him from
some of the many duties that now rest upon him, trusting
he will consent to withdraw his resignation.

At a meeting of the Board held June 19, 1888, the Com-
mittee on Course of Study and Faculty reported that Presi-
dent Goodell had consented to withdraw his resignation
upon the following terms: That he be relieved from the
duty of instruction in declamation and composition with-
out increase of work or decrease of compensation on the
part of any other member of the Faculty. This proposi-
tion was agreed to and President Goodell withdrew his
resignation.

Even with this amelioration of his labors the position
was an exceedingly trying one. The College was as yet an
experiment and had to prove its right to be. But the presi-

EDUCATOR 95

dent was equal to the emergencies as they came. He pos-
sessed in a remarkable degree that important factor in deal-
ing with men called " tact." There was little of the dogmatic
in his nature, although he had very decided opinions of his
own and he valued them. He had great reverence for the
past, for an institution, a custom, or an opinion

That carries age so nobly in its looks;

but with all he was progressive. The windows of his mind
were opened not only toward Jerusalem but toward all
points of the compass. He seems to have followed, perhaps
unconsciously, Lord Bacon's advice: "Men in their inno-
vations should follow the example of time itself, which in-
novateth greatly, but quietly and by degrees scarce to be
perceived."

The new president understood the situation perfectly.
The College was in a state whose leading industry was
manufacturing and whose stingy soil could not compete
with the plains of the West. The first enthusiasm of some
of its early friends had subsided. The air was pervaded with
the chill of disappointment and the proposition was made to
give the College away. He knew perfectly well that it would
be a long struggle to excite any enthusiasm in regard to it
and to make the people feel its importance to one of the
industries of the state. For long years he worked with ex-
uberant cheerfulness and unabated enthusiasm, facing dis-
couragements of every description. Proper buildings and
apparatus were wanted, his teachers were overworked and
underpaid, new problems were presenting themselves for
which he was not prepared, the people were disappointed
because they did not see immediate results and complained

96 HENRY HELL GOODELL

that the College educated men away from the farm and that
comparatively few availed themselves of the opportunity
it afforded to acquire an education. But he so managed
affairs as to have the support and encouragement of an able
and wise board of trustees, who had confidence in him and
faith in the mission of the College, and he was backed by a
corps of teachers after his own heart. But it was not until
1896, twelve years after he assumed the presidency that he
could report to the Governor and Council that, —

"Reviewing the past, we cannot but feel that the stage
of experiment is over and we enter upon this the first year of
its fourth decade with quickened hope that from a broader
foundation the College will continue to rise and fulfil its
mission of providing that * liberal and practical education
that shall fit the industrial classes for the several pursuits
and professions of life.' "

President Goodell believed with all the energy of his in-
tellectual and moral nature that behind the farmer should
be the educated man. Hence he was anxious to maintain
a high standard of scholarship. But the class from which
recruits are drawn for our agricultural colleges, as a general
rule, is not the same as that which recruits our classical
schools. A season of stringency in the money-market makes
no perceptible difference in the number of students at our
great academic institutions, but the case is very different
with the agricultural colleges. Their ranks are recruited
from families which often have little, if any, reserve capi-
tal to fall back upon, and in times of stringency are com-
pelled to retain their sons at home, or recall them to join
the army of bread-winners. This want of reserve capital
may account in part for the neglect of early training com-

EDUCATOR 97

plained of by President Goodell in one of his reports of the
number of young men who had presented themselves but
failed to pass the required examination. He remarks that
"the ignorance displayed of the very rudiments of grammar
and arithmetic would almost lead to the conclusion that
the grammar school had been suppressed throughout the
state."

He was ever anxious to make the College useful to the
people, and inaugurated, as its means would permit, courses
of study for those who wished to do advanced work, and
also courses of instruction, during the three winter months,
in practical farming for those who could not take the full
course; and for these courses no examination was required.
The growing interest of women in agriculture and flori-
culture led to courses for their benefit.

The work of the College was continually increasing. Ex-
perimental work of great importance had been carried on
ever since its establishment, and in 1882 the Massachu-
setts Agricultural Experiment Station was organized, with
Dr. C. A. Goessmann as director. The Hatch Experiment
Station, under the direction of President Goodell, was
organized in accordance with an act of Congress in 1888,
as the Experiment Department of the Massachusetts
Agricultural College. The two stations maintained a sepa-
rate existence until 1895, when they were united under the
name of the Hatch Experiment Station of the Massachu-
setts Agricultural College, under the directorship of Pre-
sident H. H. Goodell.

The first duty of the new president was to let the people
know what the College was for, and how it would affect
them. This involved an immense amount of work, the pre-

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,
thatdriveth 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.

EDUCATOR 99

When the laugh had subsided, in which he undoubtedly
joined, President Goodell replied: "I have just received a
letter from one of these ministers in which he says, ' I know
of no more perfect illustration of original sin than the pus-
ley I used to dig on the college farm.'"

Of course the relationship between agriculture and theo-
logy was settled in a roar of laughter at the expense of the
chairman.

President Goodell was patient in dealing with the limita-
tions of men, but persistent in meeting their objections.
It was by pressure and not by blows that he carried his
point and made his mark upon his hearers. It was not until
after years of discussion that he could feel that the College
had passed its experimental stage. It was a long and weary
way, but he was bravely supported by the friends of the
best interests of the people and of civilization itself. Too
little credit is given to men who stand for an institution
devoted to the benefit of those who do not wish to be bene-
fited in the only way in which their situation can be per-
manently improved.

His annual reports are a striking illustration of the ever-
widening scope of the work he was doing. In the first report
he describes briefly the actual state of things, the improve-
ments that have been made, and the pressing wants of the
College. He pleads for a labor fund out of which indigent
students could be paid for work done. "It would be," he
says, "one of the noblest of charities. It would not sacri-
fice the students' feeling of self-respect, for they would be
giving an honest equivalent for money received." He calls
attention to the changes in the course of studies, "to carry
out more fully the intention of the original bill, to give a

100 HENRY HILL GOODELL

thorough practical knowledge of agriculture and horticul-
ture and at the same time liberally educate the man." More
time is to be devoted " to the study of one's mother tongue " ;
and in this connection he adds: "Too much value cannot
be placed upon the Library. It is now only the nucleus of
what it ought to be, and a thousand dollars should be ex-
pended at once in furnishing the latest scientific works in
the several departments."

In his next report we have a new feature. A list is given
of some thirty lectures by experts, not connected with the
College, on various subjects, ranging from the nebular hy-
pothesis and evolution to the various breeds of cattle and
the culture of bees. The labor fund is again presented, with
such force and cogency of reasoning that it did not escape
the attention of the legislators. The culture of "one's
mother tongue" is again emphasized: "A knowledge of
English composition, the power of adequately expressing
thought in words, lies at the base of all education." An-
other appeal is made for the library: "'Gyf to ye foke ye
beste and muche of it and they will stomak no thing else,'
is as true now as when penned well nigh two hundred and
fifty years ago."

These annual reports are a striking illustration of the
practical nature of the man and his growing breadth of
view. With one or two exceptions they were accepted and
adopted, without change, as the report of the Board of
Trustees.

This may be a fit place to introduce some account of
President Goodell's ideas of the functions of an agricult-
ural college. It will be remembered that the mechanic arts,
as provided for in the Morrill Act, were taught in the Massa-

EDUCATOR TO!

chusetts Institute of Technology, which shared in the funds
allowed the Commonwealth by the national government.
By this arrangement the College was left to teach what
pertains to agriculture. At the tenth annual convention of
the Association of American Agricultural and Experiment
Stations, held in the City of Washington, November 12,
1896, four college presidents from different parts of the
country were appointed to discuss the question, "What
should be taught in our Colleges of Agriculture? " In these
papers the individuality of the writers stands out clearly,
and in none more prominently than in the paper presented
by the representative from Massachusetts. President
Goodell presented the subject as it had been developed at
Amherst, and the reader is referred to his address printed
in this volume. It is to be noticed that, in his schedule of
studies, he made English an important factor in fitting a
man to be a farmer. Some of the speakers dismissed the
subject at the end of the first year, while he carried it
through the whole course. His reason for this is thus co-
gently stated: "The student's mind being brought in con-
tact with the great minds that have adorned the pages of
American and English history, his mind, his powers are
quickened and developed thereby, his mental horizon is
enlarged, and thus a most important educational advantage
is secured."

Dr. E. W. Allen, Assistant Director in the Office of Ex-
periment Stations at Washington, and a graduate of the
Massachusetts Agricultural College, in a private letter,
which he has kindly allowed to be published, has summed
up the whole subject of President GoodelPs ideas of agricul-
tural education, in a most admirable way, as will be seen

-HENRY HILL GOODELL

by comparing the letter with the address above referred to.
Dr. Allen writes : —

"Among President Goodell's services to the Massachu-
setts Agricultural College it seems to me none have been
more far-reaching than the high educational ideals which
he contended for. He never forgot that the institution was
a college, and not a farm school ; that its prime object was
the education of men for real life — not merely the giving
of superficial training, which would make its graduates
simply skilled technicians. He contended that the college
must teach facts and principles as well as things, and that
the true agricultural education rescues man from the rule-of-
thumb only as it gives him an intellectual grasp of his sub-
ject and the ability to use knowledge with discrimination.

"To him more than to any other single man, it seems to
me, is due the high conception of the educational aims of
the College which have prevailed almost from the first, and
which have differentiated it quite sharply from most of the
agricultural colleges. To understand the courage which
this required it is necessary to realize the wave of enthusi-
asm which has swept over the country for the more super-
ficial kinds of instruction at these colleges. This superfi-
cial instruction, which dealt with things mainly rather than
with principles, and gave a minimum of attention to the
general educational features, was spectacular and attract-
ive to the uneducated man, and from its popularity rather
than its pedagogic value it came to be adopted very widely.
The Massachusetts College stood almost alone in its per-
sistency in holding to some of the old ideas of education,
and the wisdom of its course is every year becoming more
evident.

EDUCATOR 103

"Aside from this very potent influence in holding the
college to a high education standard, it is difficult to enume-
rate his special services to the institution, they were so many
and so varied. I think he more than any other man con-
tributed to an esprit de corps among the students and the
alumni. For many years he gave much time to keeping in
contact with the graduates, purely as a voluntary under-
taking, and he made many of them feel what they really
owed to the college. The vast amount of work which he put
upon the college library resulted in the building up of the
best selected and arranged agricultural library in this coun-
try, which I think is only surpassed at the present time by
the Library of the National Department of Agriculture
It is his most conspicuous monument.

" In his plans for organization and development President
Goodell built symmetrically, aiming to develop the vari-
ous departments uniformly, rather than one or two de-
partments at the expense of all others. He was exceedingly
just and broad in his sympathies with all departments of
the institution, believing that each had its place and that
together they made a strong, symmetrical whole . His policy
seemed to be to give quite large liberty to the heads of
departments in order that they might have the inspiration
of the field, and to hold them accountable for the results.
He stamped upon all the necessity for a clear and definite
plan, and for thoroughness in all that was undertaken."

After the establishment in 1886 of the Hatch Experiment
Stations in connection with the land-grant colleges, it
became at once apparent to the leaders of agricultural
education, that cooperative action was necessary to secure
the best results, not only in work but in legislation. It was

104 HENRY HILL GOODELL

felt that if they could go to Congress as a body, they would
have more influence than they would if colleges presented
their cases singly . To this end an association of the execu-
tive officers of these institutions was formed, called the
American Association of Agricultural Colleges and Experi-
ment Stations. With this very important movement Presi-
dent Goodell was intimately connected from the beginning.
The confidence reposed in his judgment and abilities is best
illustrated by the positions of responsibility assigned to him
by his associates. Here it will be sufficient to cite the testi-
mony of two of his fellow workers. The editor of the Ex-
periment Station Record, in the June number for 1905,
gives the following account of his relations with the associ-
ation : —

"With the organization of the agricultural colleges and
experiment stations of the country into an association,
President Goodell became a conspicuous figure in the na-
tional association, and was prominently identified with all
the movements supported by it during the first fifteen years
of its existence. He was a member of its executive commit-
tee from 1888 to 1902, and for the last eight years of that
period was chairman. As a member of that committee he
had a prominent part in securing the legislation leading to
the establishment of agricultural experiment stations in
every state and territory, and the further endowment of the
land-grant colleges.

"As chairman of the executive committee he devoted
much time to the business of the association and to looking
after the interests of the institutions represented in it. He
was conservative in his action, and his management helped
to economize the time of the association and to make its

EDUCATOR 105

meetings effective. He urged a strict interpretation of the
Morrill and Hatch acts, and a careful use of the privileges
conferred by them. He pointed out the dangers to the col-
lege and station funds of legislation which reduced the in-
come from the sale of public lands : and his committee was
instrumental in securing the passage in 1900 of a clause pro-
viding that, if at any time the proceeds from the sale of pub-
lic lands should be insufficient to meet the annual appropri-
ations for the colleges and experiment stations, the same
should be paid from any funds in the Treasury, thus plac-
ing these funds on a sure foundation.

"President Goodell was President of the Association of
American Agricultural Colleges and Experiment Stations
in 1891, being the third to hold that office. His address be-
fore the convention of that year dealt with some of the
achievements of the agricultural experimentation and the
guiding principles underlying it. It led up to an apprecia-
tion of the work of the Rothamsted Experiment Station,
concluding with the presentation of Dr. R. Warington,
who came as the first representative of the English station
to deliver a course of lectures under the provisions of the
Lawes trust. Two years later, when Sir Henry Gilbert
came to this country on a similar mission, President
Goodell arranged to have these classic lectures delivered
under the auspices of the Massachusetts Agricultural Col-
lege, the pressure of other business making it impractica-
ble for more than an introduction to them to be delivered
at the meeting of the association."

In an address delivered at the request of the association,
President W. E. Stone of Purdue University, Indiana, gives
the following account of his work: —

106 HENRY HELL GOODELL

"In the work of this association, and in the establish-
ment of the foundations of the land-grant colleges and ex-
periment stations, President Goodell had an important and
almost unique part. A full comprehension of this can only
be had by those who shared with him these labors. With the
passage of the Hatch Act it became apparent that an organ-
ization of the executive officers of these institutions was a
necessity. The attention of Congress could be secured only
by the presentation of matters of national scope in concrete
and unified form. The plan of education and research
mapped out for the land-grant colleges was too broad,
varied and comprehensive, and too vital, to permit of its
development without organized direction. It was necessary
on more than one occasion to urge upon departments of the
government a consideration of conditions which led to fair
and beneficial rulings with regard to these institutions. The
questions of jurisdiction and of the relations between the
separate institutions and governmental departments were,
and have ever been, of greatest importance. The heads of
these colleges were pushing out into new and unexplored
regions, and felt the need of mutual aid and advice. All of
these considerations emphasized to Goodell and his col-
leagues the necessity of an association for mutual aid and
protection, as well as for the general advancement of the
interests to which these institutions were devoted. In the
organization of this association he was a moving spirit, and
in its subsequent work always an active participant. He was
a member of the executive committee from 1888 to 1902, and
during the last eight years of this time was chairman of the
same. In this capacity he labored untiringly, not only in
the broader duties of the position, but in multitudinous de-

EDUCATOR 107

tails which contributed to the success of the organization.
One can recall distinctly his methods of preparing and pre-
senting the business of the association in a complete and
finished manner, which expedited the routine of its work,
even at the cost of apparent omciousness on his part. His
rare tact and insight into human nature; his broad outlook
upon the field of agricultural education; his wide know-
ledge of public men, and thorough familiarity with the his-
tory of the land-grant college movement, fitted him for the
place of leader in the work of the executive committee and
enabled him to render inestimable service.

" The attention of Congress and of governmental depart-
ments has been favorably moulded by the wisdom and firm-
ness of this committee. The threatening danger to the Fed-
eral appropriation for the colleges and experiment stations,
through the gradual diversion of the proceeds of the sale of
public lands, was foreseen and averted through his efforts
and leadership in securing protective legislation in 1900.
His conservative and wise but energetic action averted
many dangers and laid foundations which will sustain our
institutions for a long time to come. That we have passed
through this period of development so safely is due to a
strong organization and able leaders, among whom Henry
Hill Goodell stands conspicuous. To few, if any, of these
do the agricultural colleges and experiment stations owe
a greater debt than to him."

President Stone, in the address just quoted, remarks that
President Goodell took so important a part in the delibera-
tions of the association as almost to expose him to the sus-
picion of being officious. At one of the annual meetings in
Washington, besides delivering an address, he is reported

108 HENRY HILL GOODELL

to have been on his feet some twenty-five times, not how-
ever to make a speech, but to make a brief explanation of
the action of the executive committee, to call attention to
pending business, or to suggest new business prepared by
the committee. It is said that a new member, then present,
asked, with perhaps pardonable irreverence, "Who is that
little cuss who seems to run the whole business?"

From the nature of the case it is difficult to get a clear
idea of the work of the executive committee, but this at
least is certain, it must have been very onerous.1 A single
item will throw a little light on the subject. President Good-
ell in one of his reports incidentally notes the fact that the
committee had written 383 letters during the year in the in-
terest of the association. They prepared the business to be
submitted, made reports of what they had done, and re-
commended measures that would be of advantage to the
colleges and experiment stations, which often required the
accumulation of a good many data and much hard thinking.
They also kept a sharp watch on the national legislation.
This brought them into close connection with almost every
department of the national government, and called upon
them to appear before many committees and joint commit-
tees of the House and the Senate.

A single illustration will give some idea of their work, at
least so far as legislation is concerned. For some years after
the passage of the first Morrill Act in 1862, the public lands
were a subject of great anxiety to the executive committee,

1 As an illustration of the nature of the business that came before the
executive committee and of the chairman's way of presenting it, the re-
port of the committee to the twelfth convention, 1898, is given in this
volume.

EDUCATOR 109

for Congress was prone to devote the income accruing from
their sale to other purposes than that to which they were
devoted by that act, — the cause of agricultural and me-
chanical education, — and it was foreseen that the revenue
from that source would soon be exhausted and that the col-
leges and experiment stations would be left without the
income upon which their usefulness and life depended.

To save the colleges and experiment stations from utter
ruin, Senator Morrill presented in 1890 a bill known as the
Second Morrill Act, which provided that the annuity to
these institutions should be paid from the Treasury of the
United States, To secure the passage of such a bill a great
variety of opinions and interests had to be reconciled.
There is many a pitfall in the way of a bill through Con-
gress. After the friends of this bill thought their work was
done and were resting upon their oars, Senator Morrill
informed President Goodell of the situation as follows : —

WASHINGTON, D. C., June 16, 1890.

MY DEAK SIR, — As you may perhaps have seen, I at-
tempted to get up the College Bill on Saturday last but
had to consent to its going over until Thursday next. I
find that there are various amendments to be proposed.
Alabama wants one to take care of a colored institution
established by the state, and I regret to say your Senator
Hoar desires to put in some provisions so that he can get
in an institution at Worcester, I suppose of some techni-
cal or mechanical character, and this I very much regret.
I think your institution ought to have the whole of the
appropriation as well as all others, for I do not want to
raise the question in all the states as to where the addi-

110 HENRY HILL GOODELL

tional endowment should go. It would be well for you to
do everything you can.

Yours very truly,

JUSTIN S. MORRILL.

While this bill was pending, another subject came up, of
great importance to the land-grant colleges, — the proposi-
tion to establish schools of mines and mining. It was a very
popular movement. The executive committee of the asso-
ciation at once caused a bill to be drawn to connect these
schools with the colleges in such a way "as to secure the
most desirable end of maximum advantage at a minimum
of expense." The bill was in charge of Senator Tillman of
South Carolina, who was very much interested in it. Every-
thing seemed to be going well for a time, but objection soon
came to the front and the Senator wrote to President Good-
ell on April 26, 1900, as follows: -

DEAR SIR, — I have your letter of April 25th. I have
been looking out for a favorable opportunity to call up the
bill, but as yet have not seen one. Hale of Maine is opposed
and I think will "object," and Senator Allison of Iowa also
told me this morning that it was a serious matter and
he would have to consider it before he would be willing to
allow it to go to a vote. Urge your friends to press the mat-
ter upon Senators from then: states. I am practically cer-
tain there will be a majority for it if we can get a vote on
the question, but you know when objection is made it pre-
vents present consideration. I shall let no grass grow under
my feet as soon as I return from the West, whither I start
to-night to be gone until Monday.

Yours truly, B. R. TELLMAN.

EDUCATOR 111

In his report next year to the association, President
Goodell thus describes the result: "An old Norse proverb
runs 'The must-be goes ever as it should-be.5 The bill es-
tablishing schools of mines and mining in connection with
the colleges for the benefit of agriculture and the mechanic
arts has evidently not been a must-be, for it has gone ever
as it should not"; and he adds: "The situation was such
that it required the presence of the entire committee in
Washington four times, and individual members ten and
twelve times."

But at this session of Congress a great victory was won
for the land-grant colleges by the passage of the Second
Morrill Act, and Senator Morrill from his home in Ver-
mont wrote President Goodell a letter which tells its own
story.

STEAFFORD, VERMONT, Aug. 31, 1890.

MY DEAR SIR, — Please accept my cordial acknowledge-
ments for the valuable aid you rendered in promoting the
passage of the Agricultural College Bill. A veto would
seem impossible, but I have not yet noticed that the Presi-
dent has signed the bill.

Very sincerely yours,

JUSTIN S. MORRILL.
PRES. GOODELL

Mass. Agric. College,
Amherst, Mass.

As president of the Agricultural College President Goodell
was ex-officio a member of the State Board of Agriculture,
and as such always attended the meetings of the board,
served on committees and was, during his entire connection

112 HENRY HILL GOODELL

with the board, a member of the standing committee on
Institutes and Public Meetings. This involved the selection
of subjects for discussion, and his wide and intimate ac-
quaintance with men eminent in agricultural matters helped
materially in selecting and procuring speakers. During the
ten years that the campaign against the gypsy moth was
carried on by the State Board of Agriculture, he made many
arguments in favor of appropriations for the extermination
of the pest. He eloquently warned the legislators of the re-
sults of a cessation of the work, and the present condition
of the war and its heavy cost are sufficient proof of the
wisdom of his unheeded warning.

The real position of President Goodell in the estimation
of his fellow citizens is perhaps as well stated as it could be
in the following letter of introduction to President Cleve-
land from His Excellency, Governor Russell: —

COMMONWEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS,
EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT, BOSTON, Jan. 9, 1893.

HON. GROVER CLEVELAND, New York.

MY DEAR MR. CLEVELAND, — Mr. H. H. Goodell,
President of the Massachusetts Agricultural College, has
been appointed by the association of agricultural colleges
of the country as a committee of one to wait upon you and
lay before you its views in reference to making the office of
Assistant Secretary of the Department of Agriculture a per-
manent office, and to suggest the name of Major Alvord as
their candidate for the position.

I am very glad to say that Mr. Goodell is a man of the
highest character and position here in Massachusetts,
thoroughly fearless and independent in his views of polit-

EDUCATOR 113

ical and public questions, and one who has been most suc-
cessful as the head of a great institution. His views upon
a question of this nature are entitled, and I am sure will
receive, careful consideration.

As I have known Major Alvord for some years as a most
able and uncompromising Democrat, I cannot refrain from
speaking a word of recommendation in his behalf.

I have not, nor had I intended to, bother you with re-
commendations of candidates for office. While scores of
men apply to me for recommendations I have uniformly
refrained from giving them, because it seemed to me that
you were already sufficiently beset with matters of this
character.

With kind regards, I am,

Sincerely yours,

WILLIAM E. RUSSELL.

As the natural result of overwork and the burden of the
great experiment he was carrying, which pressed very
heavily for years, admonitions came, of a very serious na-
ture. His health while in college seemed to have been good,
and according to his account improved during his service
in the army. But after going to Amherst weaknesses de-
veloped of so serious a character as to demand periods of
entire rest. As early as 1880 he was in the Adirondacks from
June 4 until deep into September; the next year he went
to Georgia for two months; the following year he made a
flying trip to Europe with his brother, Dr. William Goodell,
visiting France and the Netherlands; in 1887 he resigned
the presidency of the college on account of his health; in
1891 he went to England; early in 1894 he was obliged to

114 HENRY HILL GOODELL

submit to an operation for appendicitis, and in July went
abroad with family friends, Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Gil-
man Stanton of Winchester, Mass., but was home again
the last of August; in 1903 he went to Nassau and Florida,
and in 1905 to Florida. The last three years of his life he
was obliged to wear a corset, or as he called it "a harness, "
for osteo-arthritis. His life was one long fight with disease,
but the moment there was any improvement in his condi-
tion, he was back at his post, for he felt that a necessity
was upon him and he must work. His indomitable energy
could not be restrained, and he never knew how to hus-
band his strength. The talent of repose was denied him.
He could not do nothing; he could not lie by.

The trustees of the College did everything in their power
to relieve him of work. They voted him vacations without
loss of salary; and when he was elected chairman of the ex-
ecutive committee of the Association of Agricultural Col-
leges and Experiment Stations, they allowed him the neces-
sary time to attend to those duties, which often required
long absences from the college; as in the case of the Second
Morrill Act hi 1890, when he was in Washington most of
the time for more than two months. These are only illus-
trations, among many, of their thoughtfulness.

Some account may now be given of four of his enforced
pauses, the only ones of which any record is left. He sailed
for England August 31,1891, in company with his wife,
who remained with him at Southampton until October 11,
when she returned to America, as he was sufficiently re-
covered to be left alone. On October 13 he wrote: —

"I skipped down to the island of Jersey for four or five
days, and took notes which I hope to work up into a lecture

EDUCATOR 115

sometime. It was a most enjoyable trip and a unique one
to me. I went round among the farmers and saw the cattle
at home. I was lucky in going with a man who has im-
ported Jerseys for over fifty years, and he took me round
with him on his buying trips. It was about as instructive
and pleasant a trip as I ever took. Sunday I attended
service in a church about eight hundred years old. The
English garrison marched in in full regimentals and the
music was by the full band. You can't think how it echoed
and rolled around in the stone arches. It happened to be
Harvest Home festival and the church was filled with flow-
ers, fruits and vegetables."

A lecture entitled "The Agriculture of the Channel
Islands " was prepared on his return to America, and is given
hi this volume.

From London, November 11, he wrote: "I am, I hope,
entirely recovered. Have pulled up steadily ever since I
left America and hope before long to be turning my face
towards the States." But his hope of recovery was not to
be realized.

During his visit to England in 1894, he was very much
interested at Oxford in the Bodleian Library, at Stratford
in everything pertaining to Shakespeare, and in the Isle of
Wight, in Carisbrooke Castle, now mostly in ruins, with
its historical associations* its foundation going back to
Saxon times, its keep of Norman times, its walls and tower
of the thirteenth century, and its residential buildings
added during the reign of Elizabeth. Here King Charles I
spent a year, a prisoner of the Parliament, scheming to
pair off the Parliament against the army, and made his last
move on the checkerboard of Fate, in an attempt to bring

116 HENRY HILL GOODELL

a Scottish army into England, which led to his trial, and,
as Oliver Cromwell said, to the "cruel necessity" of his
execution.

In the year 1895 came a period of terrible and torturing
anxieties, which made his life, for months, an awful night-
mare, bristling with horrors. The son of a missionary, he
knew something of the exposures of a missionary, even in
the near East. He had a sister in Armenia with her family,
who was particularly exposed, as her husband was a mis-
sionary. He knew the character of the Armenians and of
the wild tribes of the mountains, and the character of
the Sultan, Abd-ul Hamid II, "the assassin," as Gladstone
called him. When the Sultan let loose the savage Kurds and
supported them with Turkish soldiers, inspired by Moslem
fanaticism, upon a clever and industrious, but unpopular
and unwarlike people, Goodell knew full well what would
be the result, and his imagination pictured such scenes
as Milton described as taking place in the valleys of Pied-
mont, two hundred and forty years before. "Atrocity,"
says the great poet, "horrible and before unheard of!
Such savagery — Good God, were all the Neros of all times
and all ages to come to life again, what a shame they would
feel at having contrived nothing equally inhuman!"

He not only prepared an address, which was published,
but he appealed to the Governor of the Commonwealth to
use his influence with the authorities at Washington, and
addressed letters to influential members of Congress. But
nothing came of it. The great powers, for one reason or
another, declined to interfere. But the next year came
the Turkish St. Bartholomew Day, or days, in the streets of
Constantinople, and Lord Salisbury, then at the head of

EDUCATOR 117

the British Government, "solemnly and publicly warned
the Sultan of the consequences of his misgovernment and
suggested the eventual necessity of the employment of
force." Happily Goodell's sister and her family escaped the
brutalities they were obliged to witness.

Amid all his trials he had many things to cheer him. At
Commencement, 1897, he was presented with a very large
and beautiful loving cup, with the following inscription:
"By the Alumni and Former Students of the Massachusetts
Agricultural College, June 22, 1897. In recognition of
Thirty Years of Faithful Service to our Alma Mater, and
in loving remembrance as a friend and teacher." It was a
tribute he greatly appreciated, and he could not speak of
it without emotion.

In the fall of 1902 it became alarmingly apparent to his
friends that his condition was critical and demanded im-
mediate attention, although it did not seem so to him. He
thought that if he could get away for a week or two, it would
do him a world of good, but he did not see how even that
was possible. His friends, however, so arranged matters
that there could be no reasonable excuse on his part, and
one of them, Colonel Mason W. Tyler of Plainfield, N. J.,
offered to relieve him of any financial difficulty. This move-
ment was generously seconded by the trustees, who unani-
mously voted him leave of absence without loss of salary.
When he was informed of what was going on, he expressed
at least a part of his feelings in the following letters.

AMHERST, MASS., December 18, 1902.

MY DEAR BLESSED MASON, — Truly am I blessed above
all others in my friends. Stebs has just sent me your generous

118 HENRY HILL GOODELL

offer, but I cannot accept it, much as I would like to. My
annual report to the legislature is due in about two weeks,
I have only just commenced it. Then I shall have three bills
in the legislature whose wild career must be watched over.
After that, if I could get away for a couple of weeks, it
would greatly build me up. I have had a little whack of
bronchitis and to-day was out for the first time. So you
see I am improving and my back, under the gentle treat-
ment of a corset, is slowly limbering up.
Heaven bless you for your kindly thoughts of me.

Affectionately,

Your DAD.

A few days later, when the whole scheme was revealed
to him, he wrote: —

AMHEKST, MASS., December 23, 1902.

MY DEAR MASON, — They say corporations have no
souls. I am beginning to doubt it. The committee of
trustees with whom for six months I have been a co-worker
met last Saturday unbeknownst to me (but I suspect
Stebs); agreed to take upon themselves the duty of care
of our bills in the legislature this winter, and voted to
recommend to the full board of trustees to give me leave
of absence immediately after presentation of my report.
Verily my cup runneth over, and when I think of the beau-
tiful friendship that has bound you and Dick and Stebs
and myself together for so many years, my eyes grow quite
shiny and I thank the Lord that I have been permitted to
be one of you. And so, my dear Mase, sometime after New
Years I will come down to Plainfield and report for orders.

EDUCATOR 119

May all the joys of Christmas and the brightness of the
New Year descend upon you in a four-fold measure, and
what an aureole will be yours!

With love to Mrs. Mase,

Ever thy DAD.

After completing his annual report to the legislature, he
started January 16, 1903, for Nassau. He saw many things
that interested him and as usual the vegetation attracted
his attention. January 27 he writes : —

"This is a wonderful little island. The temperature has
not fallen below 70 and it has twice gone up to 79. It has
showered every day but one, and what with the warm
debilitating atmosphere, filled with moisture, one does not
care to move much. But sitting on the piazza, looking off
upon the water, there is a most delicious breeze and it is
hard to realize that at home you are all shivering over 10 to
20 temperature. The two most delightful things here are
the fruits, — grape-fruit, three kinds, shaddocks, paw-
paws, . . . bananas, and cocoa trees, — and the bathing.
The latter is simply delicious. I go in every day and come
out feeling like the morning star. It (the water) is so pure
and fresh and green that you can look down a good many
feet. They have one or two boats constructed with a glass
bottom, and as you are towed along by a small tug you can
watch the coral, the sponge and the star-fish on the bot-
tom. I have not yet tried it but they say it is most beauti-
ful in effect.

"The star excursion is a kind of combination one. You
are rowed a mile across to Hog's Island, furnished with
bathing suit, and take a swim, eat all the fruit you care to,

120 HENRY HILL GOODELL

and then rowed back, all for twenty-five cents. Here is
richness for you! There are no troops here and the police
are colored. They look funny enough in their helmets and
red stripes. They are either very effective or else the people
are very good. I think it must be the latter, for I am told
they all eat oatmeal in the morning, and you know what
a penitential diet does for me. I don't know just what to
say about myself. Caught some cold yesterday and don't
feel like the morning star to-day, — short breath and puffi-
ness, — but I hope for the best."

Writing again from Nassau on February 7, he gives this
account of himself: —

"I am just out of the water from a swim and find your
cheery letter, but my hand is so shaky that I have taken
to a pencil. My friends have been more than kind to
me, for the post-office to-day brought me seven letters;
three of these, it is needless to say, came from my wife.
And here let me stop to say: Heaven bless our wives!
What in the world could we possibly do without them?
The worst, or the best, of it is that they treat us so well.
We get the swelled head and think we are some pumpkins,
when we are not worthy to kiss the ground on which they
stand. I am afraid you may think this is somewhat Van-
cien, but I have been thinking all this morning how she,
i. e. my wife, has had to watch over and take care of me
all the time, and how little I have been able to do for her.

"An interesting item to you may be that there are no
taxes here except on glass. Hence you may drive through
the coon quarter of the city, namely, in the quarter where
11,000 live, and you will not see a single glass window, —
nothing but wooden shutters. At night, after six o'clock,

EDUCATOR 121

it is very gloomy. Every house and store shut up tight,
without a gleam of light. Contrary to all precedent, it has
rained every day but three since my coming here, and I
cannot truthfully say anything more about my health
than that my bark is on the island."

It would seem from this parody on Byron's line and pun
on the word "bark" that his cough had not subsided.

The weather was unfavorable, and finding that his stay
on the island was not likely to prove beneficial, he crossed
over to the mainland and settled for a few days at Jensen,
Florida. There was at once a marked change in his con-
dition and he writes March 7 : —

"Here I am in this beautiful little town on the Indian
River drawing in life and health with every breath I draw.
Have ceased coughing, — can breath like a major and even
survey the intricacies of my collar-button, or the lacing
of my shoe-strings without a quiver. A narrow island
separates us from the ocean, and I fall asleep to the mur-
muring of the wind and the steady beat of the surf. No one
could help getting well in the soft, balmy air and beautiful
sunshine. But the old problem of steering by the North
Star confronts me worse than ever, for the sun rises in the
South and the Big Dipper is upside down. How can I
right myself when all signs fail? I think I shall stay here a
week longer and then go to Jacksonville.

"The Indian River — horrible misnomer, for an arrant
arm of the sea that has lost its way and goes wandering
along some hundred miles or more — is chuck-full of
fish, and you cannot look upon it without seeing half a
dozen or more splendid red mullets leap into the air and
fall back with a splash into the water. All manner of tropi-

122 HENRY HILL GOODELL

cal fruits grow here. In our hotel garden are seven or eight
different-hued hibiscus in bloom, orange trees, limes, gua-
vas, all in fruit, plum trees, Australian oaks and pines, the
camphor and cinnamon. The last two have very fragrant
leaves. But alas ! that amid all this beauty there should be
any offset. But there surely is. A depraved microscopical
red spider called * Jigger* [chego] inhabits the vegetation
and burrows in the person of the unwary spectator. I have
met the jiggers and I am 'theirn.' They have rioted and
are still rioting over my blameless body. From my waist,
in fact my neck, down to my toes I am a spotted leopard,
and in fact I find it as hard as he does to change his spots.
I counted 153 burrows of these sinful miscreants and gave
it up. But, oh, the blissful luxury of a scratch ! Job and his
potsherd are nowhere. I have been told to grease myself,
and I have done so till I can wiggle through the smallest
hole a politician ever found. I think I am heading them
off, but the race is a hot one, for they got a mighty fine
start. From Jacksonville I shall go to Asheville to acclimate
myself, and so North and homewards which I am forbidden
to reach till the 12th or 13th of April."

JENSEN, FLORIDA, March 14, 1903.

MY DEAR , — I have been having a most delight-
ful time here hi Jensen. Allen * has returned, and we see
each other almost every day. The old friendship and
associations have been renewed, and as we skimmed the
waters in our light boat we have talked and laughed over
the old times. I have questioned him closely about the
' paragogic nu, ' and as he professed an entire ignorance of
1 W. Irving Allen, a classmate.

EDUCATOR 123

the subject, I owned up that it was a terra incognita to
me. He owns a fine plantation of pineapples and about
ten acres of bean-land across the river, on the island that
separates us from the ocean. ... A pineapple plantation
is a very beautiful sight, for you see bud, flowers and per-
fect fruits at the same time in the plantation. The flowers
come out singly on each scale of the half-grown apple.
They are of a deep blue and contrast with the brilliant red
of the inner leaves and the red brown of the fruit. How the
mischief such a luscious fruit ever grows out of the pure
white sand gets me, but Nature beats us all, and I am not
going to set myself in opposition to her laws. The beans
do not grow in this sand but in a fine soil on the island.
They are shipping at this station about a thousand crates
a day to New York. The leaves of the pineapples termi-
nate in a very sharp, aggressive thorn, and as the edges
are alive with thorns it is no joke to gather the fruit. The
picker goes in with leather gaiters, gray duck trousers and
long gauntlets, and throws the apples to the catcher, who
follows him up in small paths that have been cut or left
across the field twenty or thirty feet apart. Then they are
taken to the packing-house on wooden tram-ways that
bisect the field, and there they are sorted, packed and
crated. There are about four miles of this pineapple plan-
tation skirting the river-front. But how Nature, — Well,
there; I'll sure just leave Nature to work out her own sal-
vation alone in her own sweet way, without interference
on my part. The planters all up and down the coast line
recognize me as Captain Allen's friend, and I have received
many courtesies from them.

I shall stay here till Wednesday the 17th, then go to Jack-

124 HENRY HILL GOODELL

sonville, stay a couple of days to see Sam Vance, thence to
Asheville for a fortnight's stay to harden myself, and so
work my way slowly North, for the Drs. won't hear to my
getting back before the 9th or 10th of April. You will be
delighted to know that I have not coughed nor had an at-
tack of short breathing since coming here.

I don't know when I shall be at Asheville, but I think
old General Delivery will take care of my mail.

My very best love to Mrs. and believe me,

Yours always.

This is our first rainy day since reaching here.

From Asheville, N. C. March 22, he writes: "Your letter
warning me of Asheville found me here. To tell you the
truth I think a little cold will do me good. I have found
it rather warm and enervating, and want to be able to do a
little walking without perspiring to beat the band, and feel
my collar and bosom melting away. I shall be sorry indeed
not to stop over and see you, but I cannot tell. The Chinese
Ambassador has brought five boys with him for education.
He wants me to take one into my own family, provide
places for the others, and be their guardian. I have agreed
to stop in Washington and see him."

The Ambassador was Sir Chentung Liang-Cheng, who
now (1911) represents the Celestial Empire at the Court of
Berlin. When a boy he was sent to America for education,
and while here, pursuing his studies, became very intimate
in Professor GoodelTs family. A friendship grew up be-
tween the professor and the boy, which was cherished by
both with ever-increasing admiration and affection until
the hand of one had withered.

EDUCATOR 125

On April 13, President Goodell arrived in Amherst, but
not very much improved in health. A council of physicians
was called and on the 27th he writes : —

"I have delayed writing until I could give you the re-
port of the Doctors. They have now pinched, punched and
rapped at the seat of life. They have listened to the pro-
longed expulsion of the air from my lungs and they have
twisted, pulled out sideways and shut up like a jack-knife
my legs, and they all with one accord declare there is no-
thing the matter with me except 'that tired feeling.' They
have given me a mixture of iron, quinine and strychnine to
take three times a day. They have given me nitroglycerine
and strychnine pills to take when I feel my breath is com-
ing short and fast; and they are building on an ingenious
plan a new corset to fit more tenderly around my ribs.
Well, now, my dear M., all this is literally true. They find
no organic disease, but declare me to be worn out and
without strength to expel the air from my lungs; and hence
the struggle, in which the impure air gets the better of me.
It is very mortifying to know that I am not sick but only
tired, and so I am slapping into my sacred person all sorts
of poisonous and sedative drugs and trying to sleep eight
hours a night. Please don't think I am exaggerating, for
I do not believe I have one single word. But when Dr. S.
in New London, Dr. H. in Amherst, and Dr. G. in Boston,
all tell me the same thing, I can't help feeling a little bit
easy round the edges as if I had been babying myself —
and yet they all hint at all sorts of abominable things if I
don't let up on work. It 's dreadful hard when there is so
much to be done.

"Dick was here yesterday for ten or fifteen minutes.

126 HENRY HILL GOODELL

What a pleasure it is to get back once more into the midst
of our circle ! I did n't know how dear you all were to me
till I came away, and then M. and D. and S. tugged at my
heart-strings. The Bible says, * Every heart knoweth its
own bitterness.' I think there ought to be something like
this: * Every heart knoweth its inability to express its in-
most feelings.' For I can't measure out in words my thank-
offering. I can only thank God for giving me so dear a
friend as you, who have been loyal to me so many years."

From this attack he gradually recovered strength to at-
tend to the ordinary business of the College; but the brisk
step and spontaneous activity, so characteristic of him, were
gone. It was very apparent, even to a casual observer,
that every movement was the result of a conscious effort of
the will. But the blithe, mirthful spirit was still clearly in
evidence, and he faced the duties of his position with the
cheerfulness and self-possession of a man in full health.
This probably led many to think that his condition was
not so serious as it really was. But for two years the stu-
dents lost something of his cheering and inspiring person-
ality. Yet there seems to have been no failure in his
mental grasp. His last report, that of 1905, which must
have received its finishing touches after his final and fatal
attack, shows no loss of intellectual power or enthusiasm.
Indeed it is the most potent of them all, especially in his
statement of the needs of the College.

In the meantime he was really hovering so near the edge
of life that an exposure of any kind was pretty sure to prove
fatal. It seems impossible that he should not have been
aware of his condition; but if he was, it did not seem to
have disturbed him in the least, and probably did not. His

EDUCATOR 127

personal friends and the trustees, however, were not with-
out grave apprehensions. About the middle of December,
1904, while waiting for a car at Holyoke, he took a chill
which utterly prostrated him. This attack was much more
alarming than any he had as yet experienced. Again his
friend Colonel Tyler made it financially easy for him to go
wherever it was thought best, and have his wife as his
companion. The trustees were not to be outdone, and at
a meeting held January 2, 1905, voted to give him six
months' leave of absence with full pay. The motion was
made by Mr. William H. Bowker, one of the graduates of
the first class sent out from the College, who spoke with a
good deal of feeling, and there was a very warm expression
of sympathy and affection for the president in this new
trial.

Here is his own account of his condition, written Decem-
ber 27, 1904:-

"This last attack seems to have knocked things upside
down and left me as far as health is concerned in a pretty
shaky condition. To state very briefly, there is a slight ef-
fusion of serum in the lung cavity, which is gradually being
absorbed. Then there is a constant emphysema of the lung
which keeps me short-breathed. My limbs are slightly
swollen, but the most serious trouble is some irritation of
the urinary organs. Anyway, as near as I can find out the
doctors propose to keep me in the house until everything
is cleaned up and then send me South till warm weather.
For eleven days I have not had a bit of anything solid, —
nothing except milk and soda water, — and I think I am
slowly improving, but it is not absolutely strengthening.*'

The improvement he looked for was very slow and on

128 HENRY HILL GOODELL

January 15, 1905, he expresses his feelings and states his
condition : —

"No human being has ever had so many friends as I have.
It is almost worth falling on evil days to see how they rally
round me. God bless and keep you all. Pardon my delay
in not answering your last, but I have had three very bad
days without any breath to speak of. The serum hi my
chest has stopped being absorbed and I don't know when
the Doctor will let me start."

Ten days later, January 25, he writes: "In regard to the
time of my going South, I am sorry to say I can tell you
nothing about it. I got into a pretty miserable situation
with certain features that were rather alarming. They sent
for a specialist from Boston. He was here Tuesday night,
looked me over, and pronounced it as his opinion that I
shall pull up from this provided I give myself complete
rest, — and so he commenced giving me rest by sending
me to bed and ordering me to remain there — or on the
lounge — until such time as it seems feasible to let me
loose on Florida."

It would give a very erroneous impression as to the state
of his mind if the letters here cited were thought to be wholly
given to describing his various symptoms. His references
to his condition are a very small part of them. The great
burden of the letters from which extracts are made is given
to making fun of the friend he happens to be writing to, or
to some personal matters which interest him, and especially
to expressing his gratitude to his friends. It is all told in
this sentence, although expressed in many different ways :
"It is very delightful to see how my friends rally round
me and I assure you I appreciate it to the uttermost."

EDUCATOR 129

He had a friend to whom the spelling of ordinary Eng-
lish words was an inscrutable mystery, who happened to
dictate a letter to a typewriter for him, and he wrote in
reply February 20: "Thanks for your good long letter of
February 13. The neatness of your letter and the accuracy
of your spelling leads me to think that the use of the type-
writer is a means of grace to you. I am still housed here in
Amherst. * Afflictions sore long time I bore/ but rough
breathing seems to hang on worst of all. I have been hop-
ing against hope, to leave here next week, about the end of
March, but I am very much afraid that the doctor will put
me off another week. I think we will settle down for our
health at Fort Pierce. When we get comfortably settled,
I will let you know just where we are, and then I shall
expect frequent messages."

The last letter written in Amherst, the day he left for Flo-
rida, shows that he knew that his case was serious, but it
has in it the ring of courage that never fails. He was not
of those who accept Longfellow's sentimental metaphor : —

And our hearts, though stout and brave,
Still, like muffled drums, are beating
Funeral marches to the grave.

It was written to his amanuensis: "For all your hopes
and prayers in my behalf, accept my thanks. I need them
all. For verily I have been down into the depths and my
head is barely above the waves now. * Yes,' said the doctor,
'there is not an organ in your body performing its functions
properly, sir.' Hence you may know why I closed up my
note so hurriedly last week. The spirit indeed was willing
but the flesh was almighty weak. We expect this afternoon
to proceed to New York and take boat for Jacksonville.

130 HENRY HILL GOODELL

I do not know whether serving two masters is another case
of God and Mammon, but anyway I commend to your care
Professor Brooks. Deal gently with him — and hold the
fort." (Professor Brooks had been appointed president
pro tempore.)

But at last, to use his own expression, he was "let loose
on Florida"; or, as he states it in another place: "I am to
flee to the mountains of Hepsidam." He felt great confi-
dence that the climate would have an invigorating influ-
ence, and said that it was the only place that did him any
good before. He left Amherst in company with his wife,
on March 6, and sailed from New York the next day for
Jacksonville on the way to Fort Pierce. They arrived at
Jacksonville Saturday morning, March 11, spent the day
in the city, and went on to Fort Pierce in the evening,
arriving there about 8 o'clock.

The journey was very tedious and irritating. He writes
March 17: "We have fairly comfortable quarters at this
hotel. I am afraid your good wife would have something
to say about the beds, — the same as mine does, — but
that is one of the things that has to be endured. As we sit
in our room, in the second story, the oleanders in the garden
are flush with the windows — there are palmetto, rubber
and lemon trees, and the garden slopes down to the water,
where are colonized something like a hundred pelicans, and
it is our great amusement to watch them dive and catch
the fish, which they lay neatly away in their pouches for
future reference. I am sorry to say that my legs began
swelling again as soon as I left home, so that I am confined
quite severely to the house. The weather to-day is all that
one could ask and I shall hope now to improve."

EDUCATOR 131

A few days after his arrival he wrote: "If I had had the
strength of a flea and the perseverance of an ant, I should
have written you before this, but the fact was that two of
the old symptoms came back on me after reaching here,
the swelling of my legs and increased difficulty in breathing.
The weather is not altogether what one could wish. Yes-
terday we had a day to make one dream, temperature 79,
with a fine breeze blowing most of the day. I expect as soon
as the weather becomes settled and warm that I shall brace
up and take a fresh hold. I shall trust in my next letter to
be able to say: * Behold how long a letter I, Dad, have
written unto my Calvin."

If fine spirits and courage could have saved a man in his
condition he would surely have pulled up.

He had expected to stay at Fort Pierce a month longer,
but as the season was over and the hotel was closed, there
was nothing for him to do but to go to St. Augustine. This
he did the more readily for, as he said, it was a larger place
and there he was sure of finding a good physician. But the
journey was very tedious and aggravated all his symptoms.
Almost immediately on arriving, the doctor ordered him
to the hospital. The evidences of failing strength were very
apparent. On April 10, he asked his wife to write at his
dictation, but when he came to the case in hand he did not
feel equal to it. She writes the same day : " He is very cheer-
ful as usual."

The next day he put a postscript to her letter: "I hardly
know what I can say to you. I came down here hoping and
expecting to improve immediately, but instead of that I
had to go to the hospital and it is too soon to speak of re-
sults. My doctor used to know my brother William, and

132 HENRY HILL GOODELL

took care of him in his last days of life, when he was here
in St. Augustine. He is a man wonderfully well posted and
there seems to be no end to the reserve forces that he is able
to fall back on. As soon as I learn anything from him, or
can speak favorably myself of my condition, I will write
you more fully. My breathing this morning is much easier,
but the swelling has not gone down very much but is im-
proved somewhat."

His next letter is written with pencil and simply says
that the doctor has recommended that he go North. He
was disappointed as he wished to stay longer at St. Au-
gustine. His wife writes April 19: "The doctor advises
us to get nearer home. We go by the Savannah line of
steamers direct and will arrive in Boston Monday the
24th." She understood what the doctor's advice meant,
for it had been evident to her for some time that the end
might come at any moment, although he showed no sign
to the last, by word or look, of anxiety on that point.

When within a few hours' sail of Boston Bay, at 1.45 on
Sunday morning, April 23, while in the full possession of
his faculties, he was relieved of "the turmoil for a little
breath," so gently that he probably mistook the Angel of
Death for the Angel of Sleep.

Like a shadow thrown
Softly and lightly from a passing cloud,
Death fell on him.

The funeral services were conducted in the College
Chapel at Amherst, on the afternoon of April 27, and were
of the simplest kind. The casket was covered and surrounded
with many beautiful tributes of esteem and affection, and
the audience was one whose very presence was the finest of

EDUCATOR 133

tributes. Such a concourse of intelligent, active and enter-
prising men is seldom seen together, and among them was
the conspicuous figure of the minister of the Chinese Em-
pire. He had been informed of the death of President
Goodell just in time to take the train that made it possible
for him to reach Amherst in season for the funeral; and can-
celling all his social engagements for fourteen days, he came
to pay the tribute of his presence to a friend of whom he
said, "He has been as a father and a brother to me."

While the remains were being escorted to their final rest-
ing place in West Cemetery by the battalion of college cadets,
the bells of his Alma Mater and of the College of which he
had been President sent out, to slow and measured beat,
sounds that to some in that company of friends did not seem
to have the solemn, funeral toll, but rather the tone of the
bells that Bunyan's Pilgrim heard as he approached the
gate of the Celestial City. A few words were offered of
prayer, of thanksgiving that "the song of woe is after all
an earthly song," of heartfelt thanks for what we had had,
and for the hope immortal; and Mother Earth received to
her safe keeping all that was visible to the mortal eye.

When the cadets returned they gathered round the flag-
pole in the college Campus, where the beautiful symbol of
the Republic, which he had followed when it was being
torn by shot and shell, hung at half-mast, and taps were
sounded. It was both a beautiful and a significant service.
The soldier, in the army and out, had fought the good
fight, had finished his course, had kept the faith. The
world was all before them, to be made better by their
words, or works, or both, and the music that calls to duty
after taps is inspiring.

IV
CONCLUSION

IT has been the general purpose in this sketch to let
President Goodell, so far as possible, give his own account
of things, events and persons as he met them from time
to time. There are, however, certain traits of character
that lent an indescribable charm to his conduct and re-
lations with men, which deserve special notice. After he
resigned the presidency in 1887 he consented to reelection
on condition that, when he was relieved of certain work
himself, it should not result in increasing the labors, or di-
minishing the pay, of any of his associates in the Faculty.
This is illustrative of his whole career. Thoughtfulness of
others was ever in the foreground of his mind. It may be
safely doubted whether he ever consciously sought an
advantage for himself which would result in an injury, or be
unjust, to any one else. Indeed, the various positions which
he held were not of his own seeking, but were thrust upon
him, and whatever honor, or emolument, was connected
with them was earned by bearing the great responsibilities
they imposed and the hard work they entailed.

An unobtrusive guardianship of the interests of others
was characteristic of his generous nature and manifested
itself in many ways. He took a deep interest in the children
of missionaries who were sent to this country to be edu-
cated. He kept in touch with his college classmates and

CONCLUSION 135

took a lively interest in their varying fortunes, and the same
spirit was extended to the students of his own college both
before and after graduation. The bright boy struggling for
an education could have no better friend than the presi-
dent, and the drain on his resources was sometimes very
great. There is always a liability of pecuniary loss in such
cases, which he could ill afford to bear; but like all generous
men, he never learned anything by his own experience or
the experience of others. When the student had gone out
into the world, he was still an object of personal interest.
President Goodell often did, to help others, what very few
men even of a generous nature would have done, especially
if they had a reasonable excuse for taking no interest in
the matter.

Reference has already been made to the effort to estab-
lish schools of mines and mining in connection with the
land-grant colleges. Of President Goodell's part in this
undertaking it has been said: "Nothing, perhaps, better
shows President Goodell's conscientious devotion to the
duties of his office, regardless of the interest to him per-
sonally and to his institution, than his persistent efforts, as
chairman of the executive committee, to secure the passage
of a bill to provide a school of mines in connection with the
land-grant colleges. This was a matter in which most of the
institutions represented by the Association were greatly
interested, and President Goodell worked long and faith-
fully in its interests, although knowing full well that the
school if provided would become a part of the Massachu-
setts Institute of Technology. It never seemed to occur to
him to labor less diligently on that account, and he spent
weeks in Washington during the sessions of Congress,

136 HENRY HILL GOODELL

and made frequent trips back and forth, when the condition
of his health would have been abundant excuse for less
strenuous effort."

He was a keen observer of men, and his large experience
in legislative business caused him to recognize the value to
a cause of its being well stated. This undoubtedly led him
to emphasize strongly, as it was natural for him to do, "the
study of one's mother tongue," and to give it a larger place
in the curriculum than is usual in our agricultural colleges.
In this respect he was master of what he admired. Resolu-
tions referred to a committee of which he was a member
were usually returned to the assembly much shorter and
very much clearer. His annual reports to the Governor
and Council, and especially his report as chairman of the
executive committee of the National Association of Agri-
cultural Colleges and Experiment Stations, show a full
knowledge of the subject and a conciseness and lucidity
of statement which reflect the nature of his mind. Hard-
headed business men, who usually have strong convictions
that their ideas are right, found him clear and just in his
statement of the point in controversy.

A contractor had a large bill against the College, which
had been running some three years and had been the sub-
ject of much angry altercation. It was hanging over the
College when Professor Goodell was elected president, and
he (the contractor) thought that, before having recourse to
the law, he would present his bill again. To use his own
words: "I stated my side of the case and then President
Goodell stated what he thought would be right for the Col-
lege and just to me, and I thought so too, and we settled
in half an hour."

CONCLUSION 137

Professor Goodell was a teacher par excellence, but after
he became president, the work of administration gradually
increased to such an extent that after 1890 he did little
work in the class-room. But that he was a great success
there is the unanimous testimony of all who entered his
room. The testimony of three of his old pupils who have
attained eminence as educators will give a clear idea of
his relations with the students in and out of the class-
room.

A professor of agriculture writes: "His relations with the
young men were of the closest. He made them feel his love
and his interest in them, while at the same time he retained
their thorough respect. His great ability and sound scholar-
ship, combined with his great warm heart, his bright and
genial personal characteristics, his quick and clear percep-
tions and excellent judgment, made the students feel ab-
solute confidence in him. They knew he was equal to any
emergency. They not only felt he was their friend, but
knew it. He was a rare teacher. He always had perfect
command of his subject, and the students under him soon
came to feel a strong desire to work in his subjects."

The president of an agricultural college writes: "I take
pleasure in saying that he was one of the most animated
and inspiring teachers that I ever knew. His class-room
was always filled with radiations of animation and wit. He
had an original way of putting things, and expounded every-
thing with such vim and snap that no one could sleep in his
class-room and all must listen and learn. As an illustration
of his quick wit, I remember that a classmate of mine was
reading German one day, when he unwittingly translated
the word 'bauer ' as pheasant, whereupon Professor Goodell

138 HENRY HILL GOODELL

immediately remarked: * Don't make game of him, don't
make game of him/"

The eminent diplomatist who represented with distin-
guished ability the Chinese Empire for some years at
Washington, Sir Chentung Liang-Cheng, writing from
Berlin, pays the following tribute to the influence of the
character of President Goodell : —

It was my good fortune in my boyhood days spent as a
student in America, to have enjoyed the friendship and ever-
inspiring influence of Professor Goodell. And now I avail
[myself of] the opportunity to express my deep satisfaction
that a memoir of his life is being written, to perpetuate the
memory of one whose life of usefulness may be well fol-
lowed by others.

Professor Goodell possessed all the human good quali-
ties which won for him the respect and love of his students,
his neighbors and his acquaintances. He was a man with a
big heart, always ready and most cheerful to assist or do a
kind turn to his fellowmen. He oftentimes sacrificed his
own wants, in a quiet way, in order to relieve the more ur-
gent needs of those who were under his charge. Duty to
his college, which he had served so faithfully and admir-
ably, was his foremost interest. He labored incessantly for
its betterment, notwithstanding his f ailing health demanded
a relax of his energies. His cheerfulness never seemed to
forsake him even under the most perplexing circumstances.
He was ever ready to have a sympathetic word and impart
his counsel to the youthful student who sought his guid-
ance; and was always able to inspire hope and courage. To

CONCLUSION 139

be in his association was to survive in an atmosphere of
cheerfulness and enlightenment.

A soldier, as well as educator, one cannot fail to be im-
pressed by him. The highest citizenship is public welfare
first and private interest secondary. Nor can one be re-
strained to be imbued from him that sense of honor, justice,
duty, and fraternity — all essential qualities for the make-
up of a successful and a happy life.

Professor Goodell, in his long valuable service to the
Massachusetts State Agricultural College, during which
time a number of my countrymen have received his watch-
ful care, has moulded the lives of many a sturdy young
man for the world of usefulness. His life will be cherished
with grateful memory by all. No profusion of words is
sufficient to exalt his noble character. And the same grate-
ful sentiments will be reechoed from the fields of distant
Manchuria and from the far-off shores of the Orient.

CHENTUNG LIANG-CHENG.

BERLIN, 25th April, 1911.

And still another says: "President Goodell was an in-
spiring teacher, very thorough and exacting in his work,
and spared himself no pains in making his subjects thor-
oughly understood by his students. He had a great faculty
for discerning very quickly whether or not a student under-
stood the matter he was trying to present, and had little
patience with shamming or superficial work. From the
earliest days he evidently had a very strong influence over
the boys. He was to them a counsellor and companion, one
whom they admired and trusted. He always impressed me
as being eminently just. He divorced personal feeling from
official duty."

140 HENRY HILL GOODELL

To help his classes in history and literature he drew up
and published "A List of Fictitious Works illustrating His-
toric Epochs," giving the century when and the country
where the scenes of the stories were laid. There are some-
thing like five hundred and fifty entries. He prepared also
a Chart of Contemporary Sovereigns of Europe.

Discipline hi an army and discipline in a college is an es-
sential feature in the success of both. President Goodell
seems to have understood how to get on with young men.
As a disciplinarian it has been said by one who had been long
associated with him in the Faculty: "He was patient and
long-suffering, but when patience was exhausted and trans-
gression was continued, he was firm and unyielding in in-
flicting punishment. He knew when to compromise, and
the kindness of his heart prompted him to search for every
avenue of compromise not inconsistent with justice and
equity. He knew too when not to compromise, and when
this time came he was ready to stand his ground regardless
of the consequences personal to himself."

The faculty of a college are not always " a happy family,"
and it is sometimes more difficult to govern them than the
student body. One of President Goodell's predecessors
is said (on good authority) to have remarked, that "the
students did not give him half as much trouble as the
professors and their wives." In answer to the question,
"What were President Goodell's relations to his Faculty ? "
the following answer was received from one who had full
knowledge of the case.

"In all his relations with his Faculty, President Goodell
was uniformly kind and considerate. He respected the
dignity and authority of his Faculty as a governing body.

CONCLUSION 141

In cases of severe discipline he always allowed the students
to have a fair and impartial hearing; but when the Faculty
had reached a decision and passed sentence, he insisted
that there should be no appeal and that the sentence be
executed. He had great sympathy with inexperienced
teachers. Many an hour did he give in counsel and advice
to them, trying to bring them lessons from his own experi-
ence. Even when he thought that the archer would never
be able successfully to "teach the young idea how to shoot,"
he would hope against hope and give the unfortunate an-
other chance. Among the many hearts saddened by his
death not a few were those whom the President had helped
in the trying task of teaching college students."

His acquaintances were very numerous. There were
probably very few men interested in industrial education
whom he did not know personally; and beyond this, from
year to year he had been accustomed to appear before
committees of the Massachusetts Legislature and of the
National Congress, and became acquainted with the leading
men in those shifting assemblies, and he never forgot their
looks or their opinions. Such was his nature that the casual
acquaintance was so favorably disposed toward him as to
proceed naturally to esteem and friendship. His circle of
friends was very large, and included the representatives
of all conditions, all parties, all races, and all religions. Dif-
ferences of opinion on important points, and even sharp
contests where large pecuniary interests were involved, did
not disturb his feelings toward the friend who opposed. In
the contest between the Massachusetts Agricultural College
and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, in regard
to the division of the money granted by the Federal govern-

142 HENRY HILL GOODELL

ment for agricultural and mechanical education, the two
contestants, President Goodell and President Francis A.
Walker, came into court every morning, shook hands, chat-
ted together and addressed each other by the old familiar
names of "Frank" and "Harry." Yet each one was dead
in earnest that he was right, and the other was wrong;
but when the smoke of the contest had cleared away, it did
not leave even the shadow of a light cloud on their spirits.
Indeed his loyalty to his friends was chivalrous. He could
not desert a friend even when that friend was guilty of
an unpardonable mistake or even a crime. He illustrated
in his conduct Emerson's declaration, "A friend may be
regarded as the masterpiece of Nature."

President Goodell was a man of deep, strong and active
humanitarian sentiments. He knew what it cost to be pa-
triotic in the true sense of the word, in "tunes that tried
men's souls," and his interest in his old companions in
arms was green and fresh to the last. He was a member
of the Loyal Legion and of the Edwin M. Stanton Grand
Army post, was commander at one time of the post and
for many years a member of the relief committee. He
looked after the memory of the dead with tender care; the
unfortunate were always an object of his solicitude, and
his apology for the old soldier, who had lost not a leg or an
arm, but his self-control, is a fine bit of writing on a high
plane of morality.

Insight as keen as frosty star
Was to his charity no bar.

He had a profound sympathy with the toiling millions
of earth, whose names are writ on water, who have done so

CONCLUSION 143

much for man and his advancement, and when talking
of their situation would often repeat the lines of Bayard
Taylor, which seem to have been favorites with him.

The healing of the world
Is in its nameless Saints. Each separate star
Seems nothing, but a myriad separate stars
Break up the night and make it beautiful.

He was very much interested in the views of Prince
Kropotkin, especially hi his articles on "Mutual Aid"
which appeared in the "Nineteenth Century." In these
articles the Prince brought out the fact that the great
principle of mutual aid gave the best chance for the
survival of those who best support each other in the
struggle for life. He began with the lower animals and
traced it through savagery, barbarism, and every stage
of civilization. The wealth of illustration and the tri-
umphant march of the argument cleared up some vexed
questions in GoodelFs mind and strengthened his opti-
mistic views by showing that the realization of the golden
rule was a part of Nature's plan.

His sympathies were not of a sentimental nature. There
was hardly a movement for social betterment in his time
in which he was not interested. But what he did was usu-
ally done quietly, with the hope to secure a better under-
standing of the case. His ideas of woman as wife and mother
have been made sufficiently evident, but he did not con-
fine her activities to those important functions and was
desirous to illustrate her contributions to civilization in
another direction. For this purpose he gathered materials
for a paper on "Woman as an Inventor," but failing health
compelled him to abandon the project for the time being.

144 HENRY HILL GOODELL

In 1891, he called the attention of the Executive of the
Commonwealth to the "sweating system," sending refer-
ences, to which Governor Russell replied: "I thank you
very much for your letter of March 9 with its references on
the * sweating system/ which I shall be glad to examine."

In his immediate environment he was a transcendent
power of beneficent action, but this action was silent in its
operations and shunned publicity. Indeed, he was one of
those rare spirits, "who passing through the valley of
Baca make it a well."

He was one of the most grateful of men, and his grati-
tude extended beyond the courteous or kindly act done per-
sonally to him to the heroes who had struck a blow for
right, or ennobled life by a heroic deed or beautiful thought.
This enabled him to appreciate every institution, or opin-
ion, that had done anything to ennoble the lot of men. He
probably thought that the monks were men "whose chief
distinction was to be unmanly"; but he saw one phase of
their life, and in his address on "The Influence of the Monks
on Agriculture," he speaks of them as fellow workers. It
was a luxury to do him a favor, not because he never forgot
it, but because he made you feel that he stood on that high
vantage ground where a "grateful mind by owing owes
not."

He saw the beauty in the common relations of life, in
noble conduct, in heroic deeds, in wide sympathies and in
the aspirations of mankind. Of the invocation at the end
of the Governor's Proclamation for the annual Thanks-
giving,— "God save the Commonwealth of Massachu-
setts," — he said, "It always fills me with uncontrollable
emotions, and I wonder how anybody can read it in public."

CONCLUSION 145

He loved to read that stirring Lyric of Brownell, "The
Bay Fight," when "Farragut's Flag was flying," but he
could never get beyond the passage beginning: "Up went
the white." What follows is a vivid description of the sud-
den change that comes over brave men, all savage with
fight, when they come to look at the cost of victory, the
dead, the dying, the wounded, and think of the heartrend-
ing sorrows that come to men, women and little children
in some far-away and once happy home.

Although not "a book man," or a collector of books, in
the ordinary sense, he was a lover of books and familiar
with the great masters of our speech from Chaucer to
Tennyson. Literature was to him not so much an inter-
preter of nature and man, as a revelation of the widening
possibilities of human life, of finer modes of feeling, and of
nobler thoughts. Of the older writers, Edmund Spenser
seems to have been a favorite, and as he entered the long
picture-gallery of the "Faerie Queene," he felt as Milton
did: "Our sage and serious Spenser is a better teacher than
Scotus or Aquinas." The old dramatists, who are known
to the great majority of modern readers only by name, were
a mine in which he worked, and he made extensive studies
of some of them. Massinger seems to have been his favorite.
He possessed in a remarkable degree "retentiveness,"
which George Eliot calls " a rare and massive power, like
fortitude." It is indeed a happy gift to be able to enjoy and
profit by a good book and keep both the enjoyment and
the profit as a perpetual inheritance. He had a remarkably
retentive memory which served him well both in work and
play. The scenes he had witnessed, the persons he had met,
the heroic deeds and noble thoughts of which he had heard

146 HENRY HILL GOODELL

or read, seemed to hang to it as clusters of grapes to their
stem, always ripe and ready for use. But, more than this,
he had a peculiar memory for queer things and odd scraps
of poetry, old saws, bits of simon-pure nonsense, the blun-
ders or unfortunate speeches of his friends, and he had an
abrupt way of addressing them, suggested by some curious
thing in the past. One of his students, now the president of
an agricultural college, he usually accosted with some long
German compound, as — " Constantinopolischerdudel-
sackspleikugesellschaf t ! "

While this love of literature left a charming impression
upon his reports and addresses, and, as we have seen, was
carried into the curriculum of the college, it made itself felt
in another and very practical way. Year by year we find
a statement in the annual report of the value of the library,
and the statements grow stronger with advancing years.
"What tools and stock are to the workman," he says,
"books are to the professor and students. The library is
the right arm of the instructor and the most important
factor in the education of the pupil. There is no one thing
which conduces so powerfully to intellectual growth and
activity in a college as a general and intelligent use of the
library." Again, "In its relations to education the library
goes hand in hand with the instruction in the recitation
room and is its strongest support. It touches the pupil and
the teacher alike, and is the fountain-head from which each
department draws its inspiration." In the last report but
one he says: "The library should be kept up to the very
highest state of efficiency. It is really the pivot on which
the whole college turns and should be the very centre of
college life." He acted for many years as librarian, and gave

CONCLUSION 147

a good deal of thought and the best part of his spare time
to building up and strengthening the library along the
lines of study pursued in the college. As the result of his
untiring efforts it became one of the best equipped libra-
ries for its purpose in the country, and one that the people
of the Commonwealth have a just right to be proud of.
Toward the last he began to call attention to its limited
quarters and said that a new fire-proof building would be
needed in the near future.

But his interest in libraries was not confined to that of
the college. He lent a helping hand in building up the li-
brary of the town of Amherst. With this institution he
was connected in various ways for twenty-seven years, and
here as everywhere he was not a figure-head, or contented
to give a little good advice, but a worker. It is said that the
card-catalogue contains some seven thousand entries in
his handwriting. He thought that the libraries of the land-
grant colleges should be enriched by the publications of the
government, and that so important a matter should not
be left to the representatives of the various states in Con-
gress but should be upon a firm basis. To accomplish this
he commenced a campaign with great earnestness. In
reply to his appeal Senator George R Hoar writes : —

February 24, 1900

MY DEAB PRESIDENT GOODELL, — I think the Land-
Grant Colleges should all be public depositories of public
documents, and I will endeavor to have the pending bill
so amended as to accomplish the purpose.

I am faithfully yours,

GEO. F. HOAR.

148 HENRY HILL GOODELL

Many of the symbols of religion in common use were ex-
ceedingly distasteful to him on account of what seemed
to him their coarse and vulgar materialism, and he did
not possess the faculty of spiritualizing that which had
no possible suggestion of the spirit. Of religion itself he said
little and of theology nothing, especially in his later years.
His early impressions on the subject were calvinistic in their
tone and temper and would probably seem rigid from the
standpoint of to-day. But Calvinism was in its best days
one of the finest schools for the education of the domestic
affections the world has ever seen, and his loyalty to the
memory of his father and his teachings may have led to
his reticence on this subject. During freshman year (No-
vember 14, 1858) he united with the church connected with
Amherst College, and seems never to have severed his
relations with it. But after his marriage, as there was no
church of the denomination his wife preferred in town, a
compromise was made and they worshiped at the Episco-
pal church. Although he was never a communicant he held
several offices in the society and was clerk of the parish
long after his position as president made it incumbent on
him to attend services at the College chapel, although he
always maintained that the college, being a state institu-
tion, should not be connected with any particular form of
religion. There is every evidence that he was attracted by
the preacher more than by any dogmas he might or might
not teach. When a young man he used to attend, as oppor-
tunity offered, services at the West (Unitarian) Church,
Boston, and he wrote that when his family heard of it they
were both shocked and alarmed, but he said that he did not
know that he was walking in the paths of Satan until they

CONCLUSION 149

told him. The truth was that the preacher's poetic inter-
pretation of things and events, and the light he threw on
the hidden beauty and inner meaning of the common re-
lations of life, fascinated him. He was looking for what the
preacher suggested concerning the significance and reality
of daily life, rather than for either of the doxies, and he saw
neither. His mind was so liberal that there was probably
not a church in Christendom with whom he could not have
worshiped, but it is very doubtful whether he would have
united with any of them.

When asked what he thought of death, he replied: "It is
a perfectly natural event and that is all we know about it."
To funerals as usually conducted he had an instinctive
aversion. His cheerful and hopeful nature recoiled from
the amount of doleful and depressing Scripture commonly
read, and the dark symbols of mortality so often exhibited
were not in accordance with his feelings or thoughts on
such occasions. "How easy," he said in going away from
the funeral of one of his friends, "how easy it would have
been to have selected some Scripture that would have
cheered and comforted instead of that which was so chilly
and heartless! It was enough to give one the nightmare."

It is easier to get a look at the true inwardness of the
moral and religious tone of a man's mind and nature by
what he loves than by what he says. In talking with a
friend as they sat on the piazza of his home, the conversa-
tion turned on favorite passages in literature; and after the
exchange of quite a number, he went into the library and
brought out a copy of Edmund Spenser, and turning to the
8th Canto of the second book of the " Faerie Queene," read
not without emotion the two opening stanzas : —

150 HENRY HILL GOODELL

And is there care in heaven? And is there love
In heavenly spirits to these creatures bace
That may compassion of their evilles move?
There is: else much more wretched were the cace
Of men then beasts. But 0! th' exceeding grace
Of highest God that loves his creatures so,
And all his workes with mercy doth embrace,
That blessed Angels he sends to and fro,
To serve to wicked men, to serve his wicked foe.

" How oft do they their silver bowers leave,
To come to succour us that succour want!
How oft do they with golden pineons cleave
The flitting skyes, like flying Pursuivant,
Against fowle feendes to ayd us militant!
They for us fight, they watch and dewly ward,
And their bright Squadrons round about us plant:
And all for love, and nothing for reward.
O! why should hevenly God to men have such regard?"

A man who really feels what these lines express, — that
there is an eternal guardianship of the individual and his
highest interests by an infinitely wise and intelligent good-
ness; that the air of this world is filled with ministering
powers and helpful judgments, — has arrived at a very
high altitude of experience. Come what may, be it sun-
shine or storm, victory or apparent defeat, it is all the same
to him. Cheerfulness, hopefulness and courage will inspire
him to the work that is before him, and no stormy night,
however dark, can quench the genial light that emanates
from the thought of a living God in a living Humanity.

Henry Hill Goodell did the work of a true man. He was
a brave soldier, an inspiring teacher, an able administra-
tor, an active citizen, and a dear good friend. Into all these
relations and duties he put a fine spirit of mingled cheerful-
ness, hopefulness and courage. The monuments he has

CONCLUSION 151

built in the hearts of his many friends may seem even now
to be crumbling to the dust; but things are not as they
seem; they will stand "while time and thought and being
last and immortality endures." He was an important fac-
tor at the beginning of a great work destined to be of in-
calculable importance to a great people; and when its his-
tory is written he will appear as a wise and courageous
pioneer and be assigned to his rightful place by an admiring
and grateful posterity.

ADDRESSES

HOW THE PAY OF A REGIMENT WAS
CARRIED TO NEW ORLEANS1

You have done me the honor to ask me to address you
to-night on some personal incidents connected with the
late war, and I accept the more gladly because, when those
stirring scenes were being enacted, you who sit before me
to-night were only a possibility and had not then become
an actuality. It seems hard to believe that a generation
has passed away — a whole generation of breathing, speak-
ing men; and when another thirty years has gone, there will
remain few if any survivors to tell the story of those days.
It is fitting then, before the whole has faded into a dream
of the past, enveloped by that haze which time eventually
throws round everything of bygone times, to try and recall
some few of its features. What was worth fighting for dur-
ing four years is worth talking about now — not boastingly,
but reverently, forever and forever and forever.

If law and order, honor, civil right —

If they wan't worth it, what was worth a fight?

Happily all strife is ended. The loyal common sense of
the nation demands and will have a real peace, that means

1 This address was prepared for the Grand Army post in Amherst, and
was afterwards repeated, with some alterations, at the request of the
students of the Agricultural College. As here printed it was delivered to
the students.

156 HENRY HILL GOODELL

a peace of political life, not the peace of political death.
"No North! No South! No East! No West! But one
people," — as our lamented Governor, in his matchless ad-
dress at Chattanooga, puts it, — " but one people, animated
by one purpose as splendid as ever the heart of man con-
ceived, — with one destiny, so grand and high that it fills
the future with a glory such as the sons of men never looked
on before."

Old Homer in his blindness understood this when he put
into the mouth of the gallant Trojan these words : "Tell me
not of auguries. Let your birds fly to the East or to the
West. I care not in this cause; we obey the will of Zeus who
rules over us all, and our own best omen is our country's
cause."

Did you ever think how large a part sentiment plays in
the great crises of the world? In the ordinary affairs of life
one acute Yankee peddler mind is worth more for service
to his day and generation than forty poetic souls ; but when
the storm and strife of politics split states, and we are where
steel and not gold will get us honorably and honestly out,
and the world is war, then it is that the sentimental side
of human nature, that sentiment that poets and thinkers
feel, steps to the front and leads where the peddler nature
dares not lead the way. The men who hold the widest sway
in the hearts of humanity, who have defended liberty when
assaulted, who have poured oil and healing balm into her
wounds after battle, are the men of this sort, men of this
deep, poetic instinct, this moral tenderness, this apprecia-
tion of the immortal. It is all that survives of the influence
of Greece and Rome, of every ancient state. Sparta, a land
of soldiers and slaves, gave us nothing; but the airy-minded

ADDRESSES 157

Athenian, the antique dreamer, holds the ear and the eye
of the race to-day. Philip and his phalanx drove Demos-
thenes to death; while Demosthenes touches the lips of
every fiery-souled orator that has ever stirred us to tears
or rage. It is Plato's page against the sword of Sparta. It
is the difference between Hamilton, the financial savior of
a poor and struggling nation, and Jay Gould, the mere
dancing bear of a stock-market, — the statesman versus
the speculator. It is Napoleon at Wagram, riding up and
down his shot-riddled ranks to save his crown, as opposed
to Winthrop or Shaw leading the assault to save his coun-
try. It is the man who thought and fought for all time as
opposed to the man who fought only for himself and his
little hour. It is spirituality against sordidness; it is high
thoughts against low; it is the visible against the invisible;
it is the dollar against the whole duty of man; it is the world
and its baseness against heaven and its purity.

There has been a great amount of nonsense written about
the war and its heroes. In books, war is most dramatic
and poetic reading; in life it is horrid cruelty, pure, unadul-
terated cruelty — the savagery of wild beasts. The harvest
blackens beneath its breath, the sweet, fair flowers cower
and pale at its approach. The springing grass is crushed
under the ceaseless roll of artillery wheels, or is dyed a
crimson red, drunk with the blood of heroes. Leonidas and
his brave three hundred, dark with the dust and blood of
conflict, — that was real war, and yet fair ladies who have
read their story with kindling eyes and burning cheek would
have thought them no lovely sight in their hour of travail.
The hero of a Sunday-school book is sometimes a muff or a
milk-sop, sometimes a fair ideal; but the hero of a battle-

158 HENRY HILL GOODELL

field, grimed with powder, ay, sometimes black with guilt,
is life, — half-humanities, half-brutalities. Shakespere
makes Norfolk in the play say: —

"As gentle and as jocund, as to jest
Go I to fight."

There are natures, I suppose, occasionally, who really
feel the joy of conflict and go as jocund to a fray as to a
feast; but in my heart of hearts I cannot help suspecting
them. Thank heaven! they are few and far between. No-
body sane and fairly intelligent ever went out to try conclu-
sions with death in this dancing humor, and the heroism
of the boys in blue had little of pride and pomp, of sounding
music and streaming banner and "Vive PEmpereur" bois-
terousness about it. No! there was nothing of the kid-
glove review or pomp and finish of a dress parade about
their battles. With faces drawn and gray, with heart in
mouth and pulse beating like a trip-hammer, men stood and
fought, wondering whether they could possibly hold on a
single moment longer, wondering whether it were possible
they could ever get out alive, and yet fixing their unyield-
ing feet as firmly in the earth as a badger's claws and mak-
ing a badger's bitter fight, simply because it was the hard
but single road to their full duty. Homely heroes they were,
but as genuine specimens as ever fought at the front and
fell where they fought.

It is not pleasant to think that a man with heroism
enough to rally a losing fight by personal exposure should
not be noble all the way through, but human nature is often
like a pocket-mine out of which may come great nuggets,
but no continuous yield. So the man who astonishes you

ADDRESSES 159

by taking his life in his hands and heroically exposing it
may often disappoint you by sordidness when you expect
continuous and consistent sacrifice. There was none of
the romance of historical heroism about our boys : in camp
there was something of the meanness, something of the
hypocrisy, something of the cowardice and blatant boast-
ing found among mankind out of camps; but this was ex-
ceptional where suffering and privation and peril were
daily probing every man to the very marrowbones of his
manhood. There is sturdy, admirable manliness in dying
bravely for error, but there is more than manliness, there
is magnificent moral sense, in dying for truth. Courage
alone is not a patent of nobility, for Macbeth, steeped to
his lips in crime, teemed with valor, with desperate, Satanic,
self -preservative, not self-abnegating instinct. Martyrdom
is of itself no proof of morality; many a so-called martyr's
ashes are not worth collecting; the smoke of his sacrifice
only vexed the sweet air of heaven, and his blood was the
seed of no church that was worth humanity's sustaining.

The poor drunken wretches in tattered clothes, reeling
through our streets to-day, but wearing the button of the
Grand Army of the Republic, are not pleasant objects to
contemplate and are too often dismissed with sneer and
scorn. But never forget the debt of gratitude you owe them.
Life was just as dear to them as to you, but they risked it.
Death was just as much an object of fear to them as to you,
but they dared it. And for what? For a mere bit of senti-
ment? For a bit of bunting bearing a square of blue, sown
with stars, and barred with stripes of red and white? No!
not that. But for an idea, a principle, eternal as the ever-
lasting hills, — for right, for justice, for humanity. Forgive

160 HENRY HILL GOODELL

them then for the sake of the victory they won. Forgive
them for the blood they lavishly poured out. Forgive them
for the lives they freely offered.

Martyrs for freedom cannot die.

When marches end, when strifes are o'er,
In deathless deeds they live, whose sleep

The roll-call shall disturb no more.

I have wandered far from my subject, but I could not
help giving expression to the thoughts that have so often
burned within me, as sitting on the chapel stage I have
looked down into your faces and realized how little you
could possibly know or feel the great heart-throbs of your
country during the years 1861 to 1865. But you have asked
me for some personal reminiscence, and discarding those
of general interest, I have selected an incident which may
be entitled, "How the pay of a regiment was carried to
New Orleans."

It was the spring of 1863, and General Banks had inau-
gurated the campaign which ended in the capture of the
last rebel stronghold. We had marched to the very out-
works of Port Hudson and engaged the Confederate forces
on that historic night, when, lashed to the main-top high
above the boiling surges, stout-hearted Farragut drove his
vessels through the storm of shot and shell that was hurled
upon him from the heights above, and cut the rebel com-
munications between Port Hudson and Vicksburg. These
two fortified places were the only ones left oo the Missis-
sippi not in our hands. Grant was already hammering at
Vicksburg, but before Port Hudson could be invested, it
was necessary to dispose of General Taylor and his forces,

ADDRESSES 161

who from their position in the south could fall upon our un-
protected rear or make a dash for New Orleans. Returning
then to our camp at Baton Rouge, after a few days' rest,
we were suddenly divided into two forces, one marching
down through the country to engage the enemy at New
Iberia, and the rest of us sent round by water and up through
the Atchafalaya to intercept and cut them to pieces.

It was only a partial success. Driven from their position
in Fort Bisland, they fell upon us in their retreat before
we were fairly in position, and held us in check while the
whole army slipped by. Then commenced the long pursuit,
enlivened by daily skirmish and fighting, which lasted
from the shores of the Gulf to Shreveport in the extreme
northwestern corner of the State, where they were driven
across the border into Texas.

It was on this march that the incident occurred which I
am about to narrate. We had been marching all day, in
fact from before the dawn, trying to reach the Bayou Ver-
milion before the enemy could destroy the bridge. Men fell
out by the score, but still we hurried on with all the speed
our wearied limbs could support. Just as it was growing too
dark to see, a battery opened upon us and there was a sharp
charge of cavalry. We were hastily thrown into position
to receive them, but in an instant, wheeling, they had
dashed across the bridge, destroying it in our very faces
before it could be prevented.

The next day was Sunday, and while we camped there,
waiting for the construction of a new bridge, about half
the advance division took the opportunity to strip and go
in bathing. Suddenly, without an instant's warning, a troop
of cavalry dashed down the opposite bank and opened fire

162 HENRY HILL GOODELL

upon us. Such a spectacle never before was seen. The long
roll was sounding, and naked men in every direction were
making a dash for their guns, trying to dress as they ran.
Some, with their trousers on hindside before, did n't know
whether they were advancing or retreating and ran the
wrong way; others, with simply a shirt and cap, were try-
ing to adjust their belts. Officers were swearing and mounted
aides were dashing about trying to bring order out of con-
fusion. It was the foundation of the story Kipling tells of
the parade after the taking of Lungtungpen. "Thin we
halted and formed up, the wimmen howling in the houses
and Lif t'nint Brazenose blushin' pink in the light av the
mornin' sun. 'T was the most ondasint parade I iver tuk a
hand in. Foive and twenty privits an* a officer uv the line
in review order, an' not so much as wud dust a fife betune
'em all in the way of clothin'. Eight av us had their belts
an' pouches on; but the rest had gone in wid a handful of
cartridges an' the skin God gave thim. They was as nakid
as Vanus."

The next day we were ordered to Barrett's Landing to
act as guard for a steamer coming up through the bayous
with supplies, and here my story properly begins.

It was April 22, 1863, and the regiment, exhausted by
the conflict of the 14th and the rapid march ensuing, fol-
lowing hard upon the track of Taylor's flying forces, from
Franklin on to Opelousas, was resting at Barrett's Landing,
when suddenly the whole camp was thrown into a ferment
and fever of excitement by the news that the paymaster
had arrived and would be at headquarters at twelve o'clock.
Oh, welcome news to men who had been without pay for
six months ! How the eye glistened, and the mouth watered

ADDRESSES 163

for the leeks and fleshpots of Louisiana! What visions of
sutler's delicacies opened up once more to those whom long
tick had gradually restricted to a Spartan diet of hard tack
and salt pork! What thoughts of home and the money that
could be sent to loved ones far away, suffering perhaps for
lack of that very money ! But how to do it — there^was
the question. Here we were in the very heart of the rebel
country, two hundred miles at least from New Orleans,
in the midst of an active campaign. No opportunity to
send letters except such as chance threw in the way,
and no certainty that such letters would ever reach their
destination. Added to this came the order to be ready to
march at four o'clock. Whither we knew not; but the foe
was ahead, and our late experience had taught us that
life was but an uncertain element and that a rebel bullet
had a very careless way of seeking out and finding its
victims.

In the midst of all the bustle and confusion, the sergeant-
major came tearing along through the camp, excitedly
inquiring for Lieutenant Goodell. That estimable officer, I
am sorry to say, having received no pay, owing to some
informality in his papers when mustered in from second to
first lieutenant, had retired into the shade of a neighboring
magnolia tree and was there meditating on the cussedness
of paymasters, mustering officers, the army in general. In
fact everything looked uncommonly black, and never be-
fore had he so strongly believed in universal damnation.
To him, then, thus communing, came long-legged Symonds,
the sergeant-major, and said: "You will report for duty at
once to head-quarters. You are directed to receive the pay
of the regiment and proceed forthwith to New Orleans,

164 HENRY HILL GOODELL

there to express it home, returning to the regiment as soon
thereafter as practicable."

Gone at once were my sulks, — vanished in an instant
my ill-humor, black demons and everything. Though I
could not help wondering how in all creation I was going
to perform a journey of several hundred miles, that would
occupy a week at least, without a cent of money in my
pocket. A clerk was detailed to asist me, and for the next
hour I counted money over a hard-tack box, jamming it
away instantly into my haversack, while he entered in a lit-
tle book the amounts received from each person, the sums
given to pay for its expressage, and the addresses to which
it was to be sent. No time to make change. Even sums
were given, counted, and tucked away with a rapidity
which, it seems to me now, could not have been equaled
even by the deft cashier of our own First National.

At the landing was a little stern-wheel steamer, captured
from the rebels, which was to leave for Brashear City in an
hour or two. The sick and wounded were hastily transferred
to it, and as the regiment marched off, I stepped on board,
with my precious haversack, now swollen out to unwonted
proportions. Not a stateroom, not a berth was to be had.
There was no safe in which I could deposit valuables. Too
many knew what I was carrying, and I dared not for an
instant lift the weight from my shoulders, or remove my
sword and pistol. Like Mary's lamb, where'er I went, the
haversack was sure to go.

Never shall I forget the beauty of that sail, and, but for
the feeling of distrust and suspicion that made me look
upon every man that approached me as a personal enemy,
I should have thoroughly enjoyed it. We were dropping

ADDRESSES 165

down one of those little bayous that intersect the State in
every direction. The spring freshets had swollen the stream
and set its waters far back into the forests that lined its
banks on either side. Festoons of Spanish moss drooped
like a mourning veil from bough to bough. Running vines
with bright-colored sprays of flowers twined in and out
among the branches of the trees. The purple passion flower
flung out its starry blossoms to the world, the sign and sym-
bol of a suffering Saviour, — while the air was heavy with
the scent of magnolias and yellow jessamines. Crested
herons, snowy white, rose from the water, and, stretching
their long necks and legs out into a straight line with their
bodies, winged their flight above the tree-tops; pelicans
displayed their ungainly forms as they snapped at the pass-
ing fish and neatly laid them away for future reference in
their pouches; strange birds of gaudy plumage flew from
side to side, harshly screaming as they hid themselves in the
dense foliage. Huge alligators sunned themselves along
the shore, or showed their savage muzzles as they slowly
swam across our path. Frequently, at some sharp bend, it
seemed as if we must certainly run ashore; but, the engine
being reversed, the current would swing the bow round, and
by dint of hard pushing with poles, we would escape the
threatened danger, and start again in our new direction.

Sunset faded into twilight, and twilight deepened into
the darkness and silence of a Southern night, — and then
the entire loneliness and responsibility of my position sud-
denly overwhelmed me. I had no place to lie down, and
hardly dared sit, for fear of falling asleep. It seemed as
though I could hear whispers behind me, and every now
and then I would catch myself nodding, and wake with a

166 HENRY HILL GOODELL

cold chill running up and down the small of my back, as I
felt sure that some unlawful hand was tampering with my
burden. With the coming of the dawn, I breathed more
freely, but the day seemed interminable, and it became a
very burden to live. Twice we broke down, and tying up
to a friendly tree repaired the damage. Night came again,
and found us still miles away from our destination. It was
horrible. I walked the deck — drank coffee — pinched my-
self— ran pins into my legs. "Oh, if I can only keep
awake!" I kept repeating to myself. But at two o'clock in
the morning we broke down again, with the prospect of being
detained some hours. I knew that, if I did not reach Brashear
City by seven o'clock, I should be another dreary day on
the way, and lose my connections with the single train for
New Orleans. Time was an element of importance, for I
should lose the mail steamer for New York and be delayed
in my return to the regiment, which I had left in the heart
of Louisiana, marching onward — I knew not where, but
with faces set towards the North.

Finding that we were distant from eight to twelve miles
across country, according to the different estimates, I deter-
mined to make the attempt to reach it on foot. Any danger,
anything seemed preferable to staying on the boat. With
the first breaking of the dawn, when I could get my bear-
ings, I slung myself ashore. A private in my regiment,
discharged for disability, begged to accompany me. With
weapons ready for instant use, we pushed along, afraid of
our own shadows, looking for a lurking foe behind every
bush; and when some startled bird suddenly broke from its
covert, the heart of one, at least, stood still for a moment,
and then throbbed away like a steam-engine. If a man was

ADDRESSES 167

seen, however distant, we dropped to cover and watched
him out of sight before we dared move. For the first mile
our progress was very slow — now wading through water,
now sinking in the mud, floundering about as best we could,
while the mosquitoes and gnats settled down on us in
swarms, uttering a triumphant buzzing as though they
recognized the fact that they had fresher blood to feed on
than that offered by the fever-stricken victims of the
South, and were determined to make the most of their oppor-
tunity. But the open country once reached, we lengthened
out our steps and struck into a six-mile gait. Soon my com-
panion began to falter and fall behind. But I could not af-
ford to wait. Telling him that I presumed he was all right,
but I could not run any risks, I stood him up by a tree, and
taking his gun, marched off a couple of hundred yards, then
laying it down, I shouted to him to come on, and, setting
off at the top of my speed, saw him no more. Whether he
ever reached his destination, or whether — wandering
helplessly along — he was swooped down upon by some
guerilla and led away to starve and die in a Southern
prison, I did not learn for many years. But at the last re-
union I attended, having been called on to respond to the
toast, "The postal service of the regiment and what you
know about it," at the conclusion of my remarks, a stout,
grizzled veteran grasped my hand and said: "Loot, I'm
glad to see you. I thought it pretty cruel of you to leave
me alone in Dixie, but you had warned me beforehand,
and I guess you were right."

Avoiding the houses and striking across the fields, I made
the last part of the way at full run, and drew up panting and
exhausted at Berwick Bay shortly after six. Not a moment

168 HENRY HILL GOODELL

was to be lost. I could hear the engine puffing across the
waters. Shouting to a darkey who seemed to rise up pre-
ternaturally out of the ground, I ordered him to row me
over; and a more astonished man I think I never saw, than
he was, when, on reaching the opposite shore, with but
ten minutes to spare, I bolted from the boat without a word
and started on the run for headquarters. The general was
asleep, but an aide carried in my pass, signed by General
Banks, brought it back countersigned, and in five minutes
more I was aboard the train moving on to New Orleans.

Of this part of my journey I have a very indistinct re-
membrance. My impression is that I dozed whenever I
sat down, and I was so dog-tired I could hardly stand. I
had had nothing to eat since the night before, and was faint
and exhausted with hunger and my exertions. Nothing
but the special training my class had taken in the gymna-
sium during the previous year for just such an emergency
pulled me through the long run and long fast following it.
It was only a run of one hundred miles, but I think we must
have stopped to wood and water at every cottonwood grove
and swamp along the way; and I remember at one of these
periodical stops going out on the platform and there f ailing
into an altercation with a little red-headed doctor, who —
whether he had scented my secret or not, with that divine
intuition for discovering the hidden peculiar to the craft,
— had made himself officiously offensive to me, and now
wanted to borrow my revolver to shoot a copper-head that
lay coiled up by the side of the track. Refused in that, he
next wanted to examine my sword; and when, under some
trifling pretext, I abruptly left him, and, going inside the
car, sat down as near as possible to a bluff-looking lieuten-

ADDRESSES 169

ant, whose honest face seemed a true indication of char-
acter, his wrath knew no bounds and was quite out-spoken.
Peace to your injured spirit, oh fiery-headed son of Es-
culapius, if you are still in the land of the living! I here
tender you my humble apologies. Doubtless you intended
nothing more than to compare the efficiency of my leaden
balls with one of your own deadly boluses, or to see how my
cleaver compared in sharpness with one of your own little
scalpels. But at that particular time I should have been
suspicious of my own brother had he desired to inspect or
use my arms.

It was late Saturday afternoon, when, tired, and faint,
the ferry landed me in the city. Pushing straight to the
office of the Adams Express Company, I told them I had
the pay of a regiment to express home, and wanted five or
six hundred money-blanks and envelopes. I shall never
forget the look of incredulity with which the clerk looked
at me. I was dirty and ragged, just in from the front —
wore no shoulder-straps, for we had been ordered to remove
them and diminish the chances of being picked off by the
sharp-shooters, but had sword and pistol and an innocent-
looking haversack hanging at my side. However, he said
not a word but passed over the papers.

My next adventure was in a saloon, where, on calling
for a drink of whiskey, I was informed that they were not
allowed to sell to privates. On my throwing down my pass
signed by General Banks, the courteous keeper acknow-
ledged his mistake, and invited me to take something at his
expense. Immediately after supper, to which — it is hardly
necessary to say — I was accompanied by that confounded
haversack (I fairly loathed it by this time), I retired to my

170 HENRY HILL GOODELL

room, locked the door and went to work. Excitement kept
me up and by two o'clock everything was done; the money
counted and placed in the envelopes, and the blanks filled
out, and the footing correctly made. Then only did I know
how much I had carried with me, and how precious were
the contents of my haversack. Barricading my door with
the table, and wedging a chair in between it and the bed,
I thrust the haversack between the sheets, slid in after it,
laid my revolver by the pillow, and in an instant was sound
asleep. The next morning, on going down to breakfast,
I innocently inquired of the clerk in the office if he would
give me a receipt for valuables. "Certainly," was his smil-
ing rejoinder, "for how much?" — "$24,346," I replied,
and half -opening my haversack, showed him the bundles of
express envelopes, explaining that it was the pay of a regi-
ment. "Where did you keep this last night? " was the next
question. "In my room." — "You d — fool, it might have
been stolen." — "True, but I thought it would be safe
enough, and besides I did not know how much I had."

Breakfast over, I repaired at once to the office of the ex-
press company, and by noon, with my receipts in my
pocket, I stepped forth feeling as if a gigantic load had
been rolled from my shoulders.

Of my journey back there is no need to speak : but suf-
fice it to say that two or three weeks thereafter, one night
as the sun was setting, I stood with beating heart on the
levee, outside of Simsport on the Red River, waiting for
the coming of the regiment on its march down from Alexan-
dria. Column after column passed and still I waited. But
suddenly I caught the roll of drums and there came a dim-
ness over my eyes, for I recognized familiar forms. The

ADDRESSES 171

colonel riding at the head — the little drum-major — the
colors and each well-known face. As they came up and I
saluted, some one recognized me and called my name.
Instantly the cry, "Lieutenant Goodell has come!" swept
down the line, and with one mighty shout the boys wel-
comed back the bearer of their pay. That night I went
from campfire to campfire and gave to each orderly ser-
geant the receipts for his company. Of all that money only
one envelope went astray, and the express company made
good the loss.

But one more incident remains to be told, and then my
story is done. It seems that, owing to my delay in returning
to the regiment (having to wait for transportation more
than a week), the men began to get uneasy, and finally one
day a man hinted that I had made off with the money.
Instantly the little drum-major, whom I had once rescued
in an evil plight in Hartford where we were encamped,
leaped at him, knocked him down and gave him such a
licking as he had not had since his childhood days, when,
stretched across the maternal knee, he shed bitter tears,
as the shingle sought and found him every time.

THE CHANNEL ISLANDS AND THEIR
AGRICULTURE

THE subject assigned me to-night is the Channel Islands
and their agriculture. There is no more interesting spot on
the face of the globe, and none that displays sharper con-
trasts. Geographically belonging to France, territorially
they form an outlying dependency of the British crown.
Apparently most barren and unfertile of soil, they yield
crops rivaling in richness those of the virgin plains of our
own great West. Rent and torn by the waves that rush in
upon them from the Atlantic, lashed by the refluent surge
from the coast of France, and swept by the boiling tides that
under favoring circumstances rise to a height of over forty
feet, they find in the floating sea-wrack of the very waves
which threaten their existence the chief element of their fer-
tility. Lying at the very entrance of the English Channel,
just where it broadens out and loses itself in the immensity
of the ocean, and exposed to every wind that blows, they yet
enjoy a climate so equable and mild that the flowers of the
tropics bloom there the year round in the open air.

No less remarkable hi their characteristics are the people.
Calling themselves Englishmen, they yet speak a patois of
French impossible to be understood by any one not native
born, and compel its use in school and court. Blindly adher-
ent to ancient law and custom, they have made themselves
known the world over for the advanced position they have
taken on all matters pertaining to agriculture. Jealously re-

ADDRESSES 173

sisting every encroachment upon their liberties, and so inde-
pendent that all laws affecting them have first to be passed
upon and approved by their own States before becoming
valid, they yet are the most loyal of subjects and tena-
cious in their support of the crown. The last of the great
French possessions united to England when William the
Conqueror crossed the Channel and overthrew the Saxon
dynasty, they have remained through all these years
unshaken in their fidelity to the representatives of their
hereditary sovereigns. Race, language, contiguity of terri-
tory, would seem to have allied them to Norman France;
yet so slight was the bond that held them, that shortly after
the separation we find this added petition in their litany:
"From the fury of the Norman, good Lord deliver us."
Undoubtedly in bygone ages, before subsidence had taken
place, these islands formed a part of the continent, and were
actually joined to France; but now they stand like sentinels,
lone outposts, surrounded by rushing tides and raging seas,
which in their ceaseless action have eaten out and swept
away the softer and more friable rocks, leaving only a "fret
work of those harder barriers that still resist attack, and are
enabled to present a bold and serried front against their
relentless enemy."

The Channel Islands are six in number, namely, Jersey,
Guernsey, Alderney, Sark, Jethou and Herm, and lie one
hundred miles south of England and fifteen from the shores
of France, being well within a line drawn parallel to the
coast, from the end of the peninsula on which Cherbourg is
built. The two largest of these — Jersey and Guernsey —
are the ones with which we shall concern ourselves to-night.
Small in area, mere dots on the surface of the globe, they

174 HENRY HILL GOODELL

yet have won for themselves a name and place in the agri-
culture of every civilized nation of the world. The first,
some eleven miles in length by five and a hah* in breadth,
covers an area of 28,717 acres; the second, nine and a half
miles in length by six and a hah6 in breadth, contains about
19,705 acres. Of these areas scarce two-thirds is land that
can be cultivated, for we must bear in mind that the forma-
tion is mostly granite, rising in cliffs from two hundred to
four hundred feet, with deep indentations and wide encirc-
ling bays where the sea has eaten into the shore. From
the elevated crest to the water's edge is a "wide margin of
descent upon which fertile soil cannot accumulate, and a
poor and scanty pasturage, its only possible produce, is gen-
erally more or less overpowered by brake, gorse and heath."

As you approach the Jersey coast nothing more pictur-
esque can well be imagined. Ten miles of granite cliff stretch-
ing along its northern exposure, two hundred and forty to
four hundred and eighty-five feet in height, while on the south
eight miles of similar formation rise from two hundred to
two hundred and fifty feet, and against this the waters madly
foam and break and dash their spray far up the sides, rend-
ing and rifting them in every possible manner, or wearing
out dark chasms and overhanging arches. There results
from this formation a general slope and exposure to the
south very favorable to vegetation. Furthermore, the whole
island is intersected from north to south by a succession of
ravines or valleys, gradually widening and increasing in
depth, and forming a natural channel for the small streams
taking their origin in the springs which everywhere abound.

It has been said that the three primary elements necessary
to the success of agricultural operations are skilf ul hus-

ADDRESSES 175

bandry, a well-constituted soil and a genial climate. All
three of these requisites Jersey possesses in the highest
degree. Though resting on a bed of primary rocks of gran-
ite, syenite, and schist, absolutely wanting hi organic re-
mains, yet the soil is a rich loam, varying in lightness with
the character of the underlying stratum. Even in the bays,
where the sand driven by the winds has encroached upon
the soil, the land is so successfully tilled, that St. Clements
Bay has won for itself the title of the "Garden of Jersey.*'
The climate is one of the most equable and mild in the world.
Rarely does it fall below the freezing point, and there is
but one instance on record of its reaching 83 degrees. The
ground seldom freezes more than an inch or two, and the
slight snows serve to keep off the frost altogether. Winter
there is none, but the spring is usually cold and late. The
mean daily range of the thermometer is exceptionally small.
Taking the average of ten years, it is found to be but 8.1 de-
grees. The days of summer are not very hot, but the nights
are comparatively warm, and there is hardly any chill in the
night air at any season of the year. There is no recorded
climate, and probably no climate whatever in north temper-
ate latitudes, on either side of the Atlantic, that presents so
small a daily range of the thermometer. Such is the opinion
of an enthusiastic traveler.

As a result of this, many kinds of plants and shrubs are
at least a fortnight earlier than even in the warmer parts
of England, and the ripening of fruit in the open air during
July, August and September is invariably some days ear-
lier than at Greenwich, although the summer is cooler than
at that place. Another striking peculiarity, which doubt-
less has its effect upon vegetation, is the rainfall. Taking

176 HENRY HILL GOODELL

the average of six years, rain is found to fall on one hun-
dred and fifty days, but it most frequently occurs at night
or early in the morning, seldom lasting through the day,
thereby securing the maximum of sunshine. The mean an-
nual rainfall is about thirty-three inches. Under these
favorable conditions of temperature and moisture a flora
that is almost tropical prevails. Fuchsias reaching the pro-
portions of shrubs, rhododendrons twenty to twenty-five
feet in height, araucarias, — or monkey-trees, as they are
popularly designated, — oleanders, yuccas, palms, azaleas,
and camellias flourish in the open air, while climate and soil
appear to be particularly suitable for the cultivation of the
dahlia. Finer specimens I have never seen. The lauresti-
nus was in bloom in November, and fig trees and oranges
were everywhere to be seen trained against the south walls
of enclosures.

It is a climatic law that in all places where the mean
temperature is below 62.6 degrees, the revival of nature in
spring takes place in that month of which the mean tem-
perature reaches 42.8 degrees. On the island of Jersey this
occurs in February. This again is a very important factor
in the agricultural development of the place, fer the early
spring and the proximity of the great markets of London
and Paris enable the inhabitants to dispose of their produce
at a great profit. It is no uncommon thing for a man to
pay for a piece of potato land as high a rental as two to
three hundred dollars an acre, and to sell his crop of four or
five hundred bushels for $1,000 or $1,100. But this is not
the end, for immediately after the gathering of the first crop
the land is freshly manured and a second crop is planted,
yielding from two-thirds to three-fourths the amount of the

ADDRESSES 177

first. These results can be secured only by the application
of large quantities of manure. Barn-yard manure and also
artificial fertilizers are used; but the main dependence is
placed upon the vraic or sea- weed. The old legend runs:
"No vraic, no corn; no corn, no cows; no cows, no bread
for children's mouths." This is either washed ashore by
the action of the waves, or, at the period of maturity, is
separated by bill-hooks or sickles fastened to long poles
and drawn in by rakes with a head two or three feet wide
and handles twelve to twenty feet long. The cutting and
gathering of the vraic is a general holiday, terminating
usually in a frolic. It is only allowed twice a year: once in
February, beginning with the first new or full moon and
lasting five weeks; and again in June, beginning in the
middle of the month and closing on the 31st of August.
Whole families will frequently unite, and, going to some
spot previously selected, work hard all day, the men stand-
ing up to their waists in water, using their unwieldy sickles
and rakes, and the women and children dragging the prize
up beyond the reach of the tide. With the coming of night
the sea-weed is removed in carts, and then all hands, meet-
ing at the house of some one of their number, spend the
hours in dancing and singing. During the first four weeks of
the summer cutting, only the poor, or those having no
cattle, are allowed to gather this harvest of the sea. That
cast up by the waves may be taken at all seasons by any per-
son between the hours of sunrise and eight o'clock at night.
About sixty thousand loads are gathered annually, valued
for manurial purposes at about fifty cents per load. It is
applied either fresh at the rate of ten loads to the acre, or
in the form of ashes obtained by burning it, a load yielding

178

HENRY HILL GOODELL

about three bushels of ash. There are two species of this
vraic, the Fucus and the Laminaria, and the following
analyses will give an idea of their value : —

ANALYSES OF VRAIC

Laminaria
digitata

(Per cent)

Fucus
vesiculosua

(Per cent)

Water in the undried weed ....
Dry Weed

82.00
70.11

71.00
80.36

23.56

14.08

6.33

5.56

Composition of Soluble Ash
Sulphuric acid
Chlorides of Potash and sodium
Potash

100.00

2.13
21.53J
6.89

100.00

4.17
11.40
2.04

0.48

0.01

The drift weed belongs to the Laminaria, of which there
are two varieties, and the cut weed to the Fucus, of which
there are three. The latter is considered the more valuable,
perhaps from its containing a larger percentage of organic
matter.

The population of Jersey, according to the last census, is
a little over 65,000. The area of the island is, as already
stated, 28,717 acres. Of this, only 19,514 are under cul-
tivation, so that practically three persons are supported
to each acre. It may not be uninteresting to note the
acreage of the different crops, and compare it with the
amount of produce exported. In 1891, the corn crops

ADDRESSES 179

(wheat, barley, oats, rye, beans, and peas) occupied 2,199
acres, wheat leading with 1,700; green crops, including
potatoes, turnips, mangolds, cabbages, and vetches,
7,816, potatoes leading with 7,000; clover and grasses under
rotation, 5,247; permanent pasture, 4,053; flax, 3; small
fruits, 158; and uncropped arable land, 38. Horses num-
bered 2,360; cattle, 12,073; sheep, 305; and pigs, 7,618.
In that same year there were exported, into England alone,
2,300 cows and calves, or a little over one-sixth the en-
tire number; 25 tons of butter; 1,863,165 bushels of po-
tatoes, an average of 266 bushels to every acre under cul-
tivation; 86,000 dozen eggs; 74,969 bushels of fruit and
vegetables, to the value of $400,000; the whole footing up
to the snug little income of $3,700,000, to be distributed
among the 2,600 farmers owning or cultivating land. It is
a noticeable fact that, while the cattle were valued at
£40,000, the potatoes were placed at £447,134, or eleven
times that sum.

The above figures are equally applicable to Guernsey,
except that there a greater amount of fruit is grown, the
yearly export of grapes footing up to more than 500 tons.
Tomatoes are raised in immense quantities for the Lon-
don market, but no reliable statistics were available. As
compared with our best varieties, they are very inferior
in size and quality. The vines are trained up against the
sides of the houses, and continue bearing sometimes more
than one year. The principal fruits are grapes, apples and
pears. Jersey cider was at one time so celebrated that the
agricultural society of the Department of the Lower Seine
in France sent over a commission to learn the methods of
manufacture; but the apple trees are now giving way to the

180 HENRY HILL GOODELL

potato, though still 30,000 to 40,000 bushels ,of the fruit
are exported annually. Climate and soil seem especially
adapted to the cultivation of pears, of which there are some
fifty varieties grown, — bergamottes, doyennes, beurres, etc.
But the most remarkable are the chaumontel, whose fruit
frequently reaches proportions that are truly wonderful.
For fear you should think I am drawing on my imagination,
permit me to quote from official records : —

"These pears are usually plucked about the 10th of Octo-
ber, but are not fit for use for several weeks, being in per-
fection about Christmas. Those weighing sixteen ounces
are regarded as first-rate, and fetch good prices. Pears of
this size average in value twenty-five to thirty dollars per
hundred in the island markets; but as they diminish in size
and weight the value falls rapidly, the numerous small fruit
being considered only fit for baking, although in point of
flavor they are little inferior. The largest and best grown
fruit on record was raised at Laporte in Guernsey in 1849.
It measured six and one-half inches in length, fourteen and
one-half in girth, and weighed thirty-eight ounces. As a
group of pears from a single tree, there is perhaps no more
remarkable instance recorded than one occurring in the sea-
son of 1861, when, of five fruit obtained from one tree in
the garden of Mr. Marquand of Bailiff's Cross, Guernsey,
four of them weighed together seven and one-half pounds.
It is worthy of remark that in this case the tree, though
usually prolific, bore only these five fruit. The pears in
question weighed respectively thirty-two and one-half,
thirty-three, thirty-one and one-half, and twenty-two
ounces."

Equally remarkable among the vegetables are the great

ADDRESSES 181

cow cabbages. They reach a height of eight to ten feet. I
myself measured one that was over eleven, and at the agri-
cultural rooms at St. Helier there is preserved the record
of one whose stalk measured sixteen. It takes a year for
these plants to mature. They are set in November or De-
cember, about two feet apart, and grow all through the
following season. The ground is hoed up against them when
they have reached a certain height, having been previously
enriched with sea-weed. The leaves are stripped off as
they become large, being used either for feeding cattle or
packing butter, and the plants are left to spindle up with a
small crown at the top. The stalks, which occasionally take
on tree-like dimensions, are used as palisades for fences or
poles for beans, but most frequently they are shellacked
over or varnished and made into canes, selling readily to
tourists at prices ranging from fifty cents to a couple of
dollars.

From what has been said it will be readily conjectured
that the potato is the chief crop. The greatest care is taken
in the selection of seed, and they are handled as tenderly as
the choicest fruit, each tuber being picked up separately and
placed in an open crate, only one layer deep. In some
sheltered spot or in a shed these crates are piled up one
above the other till ready for use. When preparing for
planting, these are placed in some warm corner and the
potatoes allowed to sprout, selection being made of those
shoots which have formed a healthy top and spring from
a good eye. About twenty-two hundred-weight of seed per
acre is used, being set about ten inches apart, and in rows
some twenty-two or three inches wide. Cultivated in the
open air, they are ready for market in April and May, but

182 HENRY HILL GOODELL

with the glass-house system now in vogue they are matured
much earlier. Previous to the inroads of the potato disease,
which greatly affected the crops, it was no uncommon thing
to have a yield of twenty tons to the acre, and the average
was fourteen; but it has now dropped to ten or eleven. So
great is the demand for these potatoes that few are retained
for home use, and large quantities are imported from France
into Jersey for consumption; but, owing to the early crop
being exported at a very high price, and the French potatoes
purchased when the price is lowest, the balance of profit
remains very largely in favor of the island.

Some idea of the fertility of the soil may be formed from
the following figures: Hay averages three and one-half tons
to the acre; a good return of one-year-old clover is over four
tons, of two-year-old not more than three and one-quarter;
wheat averages thirty-five bushels, though in some favored
fields the yield has reached sixty; mangolds fifty tons, occa-
sionally reaching seventy; parsnips twenty-five to thirty;
and carrots thirty. Wheat is sown in January, and that
is followed by parsnips and potatoes; oats in February, and
mangolds in April. The rotation of crops is a five-year one,
namely, turnips, potatoes, wheat, hay, hay. The grass is
top-dressed in January or February with sea-weed, and that
is followed later in the season by an application of liquid
manure. Everything is turned to getting the most possible
out of the land; and a recent writer, with just a touch of
sarcasm, remarks: "Jersey still remains a land of open-
field culture, and yet its inhabitants, who happily have not
known the blessings of Roman law and landlordism, and
still live under the common law of Normandy, obtain from
their land twice as much as the best farmers of England.

ADDRESSES 183

Besides their potatoes, they grow plenty of cereals and
grass for cattle; they have more than one cow to each acre
of meadows and fields under grass; they export every year,
besides a large amount of dairy products, some 2,300 milch
cows; and, on the whole, obtain agricultural produce to the
amount of $750 to each acre of the surface of the island/*
So much has been said and written of late years respect-
ing the cattle of Jersey that it would seem almost unneces-
sary to make mention of them. A few facts, however, in
regard to their management and care, may not be unin-
teresting. In round numbers, twelve thousand are scattered
over the island, but nowhere are large herds to be seen.
Bunches of two or three, at most five or six, are found on the
different farms, rarely more. This is easily accounted for by
the small holdings of the farmers, the 19,000 acres of arable
land being distributed among 2,600 owners. Of the entire
number, according to the returns of 1891, 6,700 were cows
and heifers in milk or in calf, 668 were two years and over,
and 4,600 were under two years. Cows are considered in
their prime at six and continue good until ten. After that
they deteriorate rapidly. The first calf is usually dropped
when the animal is two or under, and this has been offered
as a reason for the small size of the breed. Cattle are al-
lowed to remain out from May to October. After that they
are housed at night, being driven in at four and let out at
nine the following day. They are fed morning and evening,
their ration being the same, three-fourths bushel of roots
and a little hay, and are milked three times a day during
the summer. When out at pasture they are never allowed
to roam, but are close tethered by a rope about four yards
in length. Three times a day the stake to which the tether

184 HENRY HILL GOODELL

is attached is moved eighteen inches on a line parallel to the
side of the field. In this manner the most economical use is
made of the pasturage, and every blade of grass is cropped
close. The whole care of the cattle devolves upon the women,
who make great pets of them. As a result, they become
singularly gentle and docile.

Since 1789, when a very stringent law was passed, the
breed has been kept absolutely pure, a fine of one thousand
dollars being imposed for every head of foreign cattle intro-
duced, besides confiscation of cattle and boat, the cattle
confiscated being killed on the spot, and the meat distributed
sold for the benefit of the poor of the parish where it is
seized. In addition to the above heavy fine imposed on
the captain, each sailor is liable to a fine of two hundred
and fifty dollars, or in lieu thereof to six months' imprison-
ment. Up to 1833 no one had thought of improving the
breed by any system or fixed rule, but on the formation of
the Royal Jersey Agricultural Society, a scale of points for
judging cattle was adopted, premiums were offered and the
following regulations laid down: "Any person withholding
from the public the service of a prize bull shall forfeit the
premiums; and all heifers having had premiums adjudged
them shall be kept on the island until they have dropped the
first calf." These efforts and the increasing demand for the
stock have led to the improvement of the breed in certain
definite directions. The following scale of points has been
adopted by the society : —

RATIO SCALE OF POINTS FOR BULLS
Articles Points

1. Registered pedigree .5

2. Head fine and tapering, forehead broad 5

3. Cheek small 2

ADDRESSES 185

4. Throat clean 4

5. Muzzle dark, encircled by light color, with nostrils high and open 4

6. Horns small, not thick at the base, crumpled, yellow, tipped with

black 5

7. Ears small and thin, and of a deep orange color within . . 5

8. Eyes full and lively 4

9. Neck arched, powerful, but not coarse and heavy ... 5

10. Withers fine, shoulders flat and sloping, chest broad and deep . 4

11. Barrel-hooped, broad, deep, and well ribbed up ... 5

12. Back straight from the withers to the setting on of the tail . 5

13. Back broad across the loins 8

14. Hips wide apart and fine in the bone 3

15. Rump long, broad and level 3

16. Tail fine, reaching the hocks, and hanging at right angles with the

back 3

17. Hide thin and mellow, covered with fine, soft hair ... 4

18. Hide of a yellow color, 4

19. Legs short, straight and fine, with small hoofs .... 4

20. Arms full and swelling above the knees 8

21. Hind quarters from the hock to point of rump long, wide apart,

and well filled up 3

22. Hind legs squarely placed when viewed from behind, and not to

cross or sweep in walking 3

23. Nipples to be squarely placed and wide apart .... 5

24. Growth 4

25. General appearance 5

Perfection 100

No prize to be awarded to bulls having less than 80 points. Bulls having
obtained 75 points shall be allowed to be branded.

RATIO SCALE OF POINTS FOB COWS AND HEIFERS
Articles Points

1. Registered pedigree 5

2. Head small, fine and tapering 8

3. Cheek small, throat clean 4

4. Muzzle dark, and encircled by a light color, with nostrils high and

open 4

186 HENRY HILL GOODELL

5. Horns small, not thick at the base, crumpled, yellow, tipped with

black 5

6. Ears small and thin, and of a deep orange color within . . 5

7. Eye full and placid 3

8. Neck straight, fine, and lightly placed on the shoulders . . 3

9. Withers fine, shoulders flat and sloping, chest broad and deep . 4

10. Barrel-hooped, broad and deep, being well ribbed up . .5

11. Back straight from the withers to the setting on of the tail . 5

12. Back broad across the loins 3

13. Hips wide apart and fine in the bone; rump long, broad and

level 5

14. Tail fine, reaching the hocks, and hanging at right angles with

the back 3

15. Hide thin and mellow, covered with fine, soft hair ... 4

16. Hide of a yellow color 4

17. Legs short, straight and fine, with small hoofs .... 8

18. Arms full and swelling above the knees 8

19. Hind quarters from the hock to point of rump long, wide apart

and well filled up, 3

20. Hind legs squarely placed when viewed from behind, and not to

cross or sweep in walking 3

21. Udder large, not fleshy, running well forward, in line with the

belly, and well up behind 5

22. Teats moderately large, yellow, of equal size, wide apart and

squarely placed 5

23. Milk veins about the udder and abdomen prominent . . 4

24. Growth 4

25. General appearance 5

Perfection 100

No prize shall be awarded to cows having less than 80 points.
No prize shall be awarded to heifers having less than 70 points.
Articles 21 and 23 shall be deducted from the number required for per-
fection in heifers, as their udder and milk veins cannot be fully developed.

We have thus far dealt only with open-air cultivation,
but there is another phase, still more interesting, in which
everything is grown under cover. Until the glass-houses of

ADDRESSES 187

Jersey and Guernsey have been visited, no one can fairly
appreciate the possibilities of intensive gardening. Origin-
ally erected for the purpose of growing grapes, they now
combine that with the raising of all crops grown in the open
air. These glass shelters are of the simplest construction,
in most cases mere frames of glass and wood, sometimes
heated, but oftener not. But they yield enormously, crop
after crop, throughout the entire season. Hardly is one out
of the way than another takes its place. Before the potatoes
are out of the ground, beet or broccoli is set between the
rows, etc. The whole island of Guernsey is dotted with
them : here mere lean-tos against the sides of the buildings,
there more substantial structures in the fields, or again
rising tier upon tier up the steep hillsides. The grape crop,
of which the annual exportation from the island of Guernsey
is over five hundred tons, valued at some two hundred thou-
sand dollars, and on which the inhabitants chiefly relied for
an income, has now become a side issue, and is entirely
eclipsed by the immense quantities of potatoes, tomatoes,
peas, beans, and carrots raised under these shelters. It was
not my good fortune to visit these glass-houses in the early
season: but in November, on the island of Jersey, at Goose
Green, in a house some nine hundred feet long by forty-one
or two broad, I saw them ploughing down the centre while
they gathered tomatoes from the vines on either hand,
and picked the pendent bunches of grapes from the trellis -
work on the sides.

No more interesting description of the vegetable houses
has been written than that by Prince Kropotkin, and you
will, I am sure, bear with me for a few moments if I quote
from his recent article on the "Possibilities of Agriculture."

188 HENRY HELL GOODELL

"I saw three-fourths of an acre, covered with glass and
heated for three months in the spring, yielding about eight
tons of tomatoes and about two hundred pounds of beans
as a first crop in April and May, to be followed by two crops
more during the summer and autumn. Here one gardener
was employed, with two assistants; a small amount of coke
was consumed; and there was a gas engine for watering
purposes, consuming one dollar's worth of gas every month.
I saw again, in cool greenhouses, pea plants covering the
walls for a length of a quarter of a mile, which already
had yielded by the end of April thirty-two hundred pounds
of exquisite peas, and were yet as full of pods as if not one
had been taken away. I saw potatoes dug from the soil in
April to the amount of five bushels to the twenty-one feet
square, and so on. And yet all that is eclipsed by the
immense vineries of Mr. Bashford in Jersey. They cover
thirteen acres, and from the outside these huge glass-houses
and chimneys look like a factory. But when you enter one
of the houses, nine hundred feet long and forty-six feet
wide, and your eye scans that world of green embellished
by the reddening grapes or tomatoes, you forget the ugli-
ness of the outside view. As to the results, I cannot better
characterize them than by quoting what Mr. W. Bear, the
well-known writer upon English agriculture, wrote after a
visit to the same establishment; namely, that the money re-
turns from these thirteen acres * greatly exceed those of an
ordinary English farm of thirteen hundred acres.' The last
year's crops were twenty-five tons of grapes (which are cut
from May till October, ranging in price at wholesale from
one dollar a pound to eighteen cents), eighty tons of toma-
toes, thirty tons of potatoes, six tons of peas, and two tons of

ADDRESSES 189

beans, to say nothing of other subsidiary crops. On seeing
such results one might imagine that all this must cost a
formidable amount of money; but not so. The cost of Mr.
Bashford's houses, most excellently well built, is only $2.34
per square yard (heating pipes not taken into account) ; and
all the work is done by thirty-six men only; three men to
each acre of greenhouses seems to be a Guernsey average.
As for fuel, the consumption amounts to no more than one
thousand cart-loads of coke and coal. Besides, one can see
in the Channel Isles all possible gradations, from the well-
constructed greenhouses just mentioned, to the simple shel-
ters made out of thin planks and glass, without artificial
heat, which cost only ten cents per square foot, and never-
theless allow of having the most surprising crops quite ready
for sale by the end of April. Altogether, the glass-house is
no more a luxury. It becomes the kitchen garden of the
market gardener."

One of the most noticeable features of these islands is the
appearance of thrift everywhere discernible. Everything
speaks of ease and prosperity; paupers there are none. The
poor are rarely seen. Roadside, garden, and house alike
betoken comfort and sufficiency. Not only are the out-
skirts of the town filled with substantial buildings, but the
homes of the farmers are solid granite structures, it may be
with cement floor instead of boards, the roofs thatched or
tiled, showing red against the dark, rich background of foli-
age, but all comfortably, neatly furnished, the windows cur-
tained with cambric or lace, while outside they are bowered
in roses, jasmines, or myrtles. There is a feeling of home, of
ownership, of pride in possession that strikes one at once;
and who that has once enjoyed the simple, hearty hospitality

190 HENRY HILL GOODELL

of those kindly people will ever forget it? The loaf of cake
proffered by the good housewife, with a half apology perhaps
for its not being as light as it ought to be; the "jersey
wonder" (a species of doughnut) melting away in the
mouth before one fairly knows it is there; the pitcher of
cider or bottle of wine, — everything is freely offered, and
the guest made welcome to the best. The exquisite neatness
which characterizes the house is just as plainly visible in its
out-door surroundings. The well-kept walks, the neat,
orderly barns and sheds, the gardens with then* flowers and
fruit, and, above all, the trim, cleanly roads, all bespeak the
same care and thrift. Everything is turned to account; the
droppings of the horses and cattle along the roads are care-
fully swept up and placed on the manure heap, the twigs
broken by the gales are picked up and put away for fuel,
and the leaves falling from the trees are gathered together
and carried away to enrich the land. Nothing is lost, and
the waste, except in questions of labor, is reduced to a
minimum. But the tools are heavy and clumsy, and to
this day most of the farmers work their ground with a
plough that has a wooden mould-board with an iron point,
the horses being hitched tandem.

The roads and lanes deserve special mention. The former
are well built, and as a general thing follow the windings of
the valleys, while branching from them in every direction
are an infinity of lanes, so narrow that at intervals bays are
constructed to allow teams to pass each other. No weeds
along the margins are to be seen, for both road and lane are
macadamized and bordered, sometimes by stone walls or
well-trimmed hedges, but oftener by earth-banks, upon or
beside which are rows of trees. These high, earthen banks,

ADDRESSES 191

taking the place of fences, with trees growing on top, and
covered all over with the greenest and most luxuriant of
ivies, give to the lanes the appearance of trenches cut in the
soil, and this effect is heightened by the arching of the trees
overhead and the interlacing of their branches, which even
in midday cast a shade that is almost twilight; and for
miles you ride along through these leafy bowers, sheltered
from the sun, protected from the wind, listening to the song
of birds, till at last the vista opens, and suddenly you see
the waves rolling madly in, and catch the thunders of the
surf upon the granite cliffs.

The question is often asked, To what do the Channel
Islands owe their prosperity. Given an equable climate, a
fertile but not rich soil, and a skilful husbandry, and you
have the three prime requisites of success. That is true as
far as it goes, but there is still a factor wanting to make the
explanation complete. Other writers have placed it in the
possession of a race of cattle popular throughout the world,
a climate which is perfection, and a ready market almost at
their very door. To these combined, I would add, "A
diffused property, a diffused capital, and a diffused intelli-
gence." The 19,000 acres of arable land of Jersey are
divided among 2,600 farmers; only six have farms of one
hundred acres; some fifty or more own twenty acres;
but the great majority have small holdings from one-half
acre to five or six. Land does not often change hands. If
inherited, it cannot be devised by will, but must follow the
line of succession, the law requiring that at death every
child shall receive a part, the oldest son having the house
in addition. The land laws thus discourage aggregation of
property, and favor its distribution among the members of

192 HENRY HILL GOODELL

the family. Every man is at the same time a land-owner, a
capitalist and a laborer. To this "diffusion of property,"
and to the universal thrift and industry naturally following
such diffusion, I attribute the general prosperity of the
people. It is natural that a man owning his little piece of
land should improve it to the utmost, and make it yield the
largest income possible. The man occupying temporarily
another's land will not lay out upon it any more than he can
possibly help. There results, then, from these small hold-
ings, an intense cultivation not possible on large estates.

How different the case is in England may be seen from
the following figures : of the 36,000,000 acres comprising
England and Wales, 4,500 persons own 20,000,000; 288
hold over 5,000,000; 52 hold over 9,000 acres apiece; 204
hold over 5,000 and 2,432 hold over 1,000. More than one-
half is owned by private individuals, holding 1,000 acres
and upward. In Scotland this aggregation of land by the
few is still more striking. Of its 19,000,000 acres, nine-
tenths are held by less than 1,700 persons, and one-half of
the whole of its area is held by 70 persons. The whole num-
ber of land-owners is 131,530, but of these 111,658 own
less than an acre apiece. The largest estate is held by the
Duke and Duchess of Sutherland, and amounts to 1,326,-
000 acres. With such a distribution of property, and with a
poor law costing thirty-five million dollars annually, what
outlook is there for the English farmer? What hope of ever
acquiring possession of the little plot of land on which he
works and spends his days, or what motive to induce him to
improve property he cannot leave to his children? A recent
writer puts it in an nutshell when he says: "In England

ADDRESSES 193

the agricultural laborers, with the lands about them all
taken up and so unsalable, and with a poor law to provide
for them under all the calamities of life, whether brought
about by mishap or by their own wilful vice, have but little
motive, even if they had the opportunity, for saving."

REMINISCENCES OF THE ORIENT

"MANY a traveller will remember, no doubt, a sudden
thrill on awakening suddenly in the midst of his first night
on Eastern soil — waking as it were from dream into dream.
For there came a voice, solitary, sweet, sonorous, floating
from on high through the moonlight stillness, the voice of
the blind Muezzeen, singing the Ulah or first call to prayer.
And at the sound, many a white figure would move silently
on the low roofs, and not merely, like the palms and cy-
presses around, bow his head, but prostrate, and bend his
knees. And the sounds went and came: 'God is good!
God is great! Prayer is better than sleep! There is no
God, but God, and Mahomet is his prophet! La elah il
Allah! Mahomet racpul Allah! He giveth life and he
dieth not! O thou bountiful! Thy mercy ceaseth not!
My sins are great! Greater is thy mercy! I extol thy
perfections!' And then the cry would be taken up and
prolonged by other Muezzeens, and from the north and
the south, the east and the west, came floating on the
morning stillness this pious invitation to prayer, — this
proclamation to all the world of the embodiment of the
Moslem creed: 'There is no God, but God, and Mahomet
is his prophet.'"

Who that has ever been in the East can for an instant
lose the impression of that first moment, so vividly por-
trayed in the above sketch? It is perhaps the most charac-
teristic feature of Eastern life, and one that is repeated daily,

ADDRESSES 195

again and again, in every Turkish city. A creed so simple
and yet so bold in its utterance ! Its very strength lies in its
simplicity; and the millions who have lived and died in the
profession of its faith have carried its tenets triumphantly
from the shores of the Atlantic to the great wall of China
and the heart of further India.

Reminiscences of the East: of the land of the fig-tree and
olive, the vine and the pomegranate, the myrtle and rose,
the musk and the ottar of Araby the Blest, and the delicious
notes of nightingales warbling as though intoxicated with
their own sweet song. What images rise up before me and
return to my memory! Out of all this luxuriance, what
shall I select as my theme?

Shall I tell you of that wondrous city, "alone of all the
cities of the world, standing on two continents," massed on
its seven hills, and rising tier on tier of swelling domes and
burnished minarets, each one a centre of refulgent light, yet
so toned down and softened under the light of a sky known
in no other clime than in the East, so circled round by masses
of dark verdure which cluster round the sacred edifices, that
the eye finds no inharmonious point, but wanders with re-
curring delight over the whole?

Or shall I tell you of the great war between the crescent
and the cross, when, lying almost within sound of the great
guns whose iron hail was crashing upon the doomed city of
Sevastopol, we watched the transports sailing by, carrying
reinforcements to the allied troops or bringing to the city
the thousands of unhappy wretches, gashed and maimed,
battered out of the semblance of humanity, or who, stricken
down by the insidious attack of disease, had been brought
there to linger a while and die?

196 HENRY HILL GOODELL

Or, once more, shall I tell you of the land itself, its
products and resources, the people and their ways, their
lives and occupations, their various methods of gaining
their daily bread?

It has seemed to me that perhaps this last was the more
appropriate. And yet I almost despair of giving you an
adequate idea of a country and a people where everything
is done in a manner so exactly opposite to our own. The
distinction they make between the religious and the moral
character is very singular. With us there can be no religion
without morality; but with them the religious has nothing
to do with the moral character. The pirate committing
murder on the high seas, and taken red-handed, refuses to
eat meat on Friday and thus imperil his soul, even while his
hands are yet wet with his brother's blood. The robber
stripes you to the skin, takes everything you possess, mal-
treats and threatens you with death, and then calmly
ejaculates as he leaves you, * May God save you, my lamb,
if in danger! I give you into His keeping."

No one is ever supposed to be the less covetous, the less
a cheat, a gambler, a liar, a def rauder, a robber, a murderer,
because he prays. Nothing is further from his own thoughts
or the thoughts of the bystanders, than that his prayers
should exert any transf orming influence upon his own char-
acter. And why should they? For when they have busi-
ness to transact with their neighbors on temporal matters,
they use a language which all can understand, but whenever
they have any business with their Maker about their eternal
interests, it is always done in a language they do not under-
stand. Outwardly pious and sincere, inwardly they are
whited sepulchres and full of dead men's bones. The

ADDRESSES 197

traveler in the highway, the artisan in his shop, the mer-
chant in the bazaar, the lounger in the cafe, when the hour
for prayer arrives, hastens to spread his little carpet on the
ground and goes through the required formula. But he is
keenly alive all the time to whatever is going on about him,
and when his pious ejaculations are ended, will be found to
have lost not an iota of anything that may have been said
during his temporary fit of piety. If a professional story-
teller has been amusing the crowd with some entertaining
tale while he was praying, he will be found not to have lost
the point of the story, or the pith of any joke.

The writer of the article entitled "Baron Hirsch's Rail-
way in Turkey/' tells the following story: A peasant one
day sent in all haste for an American missionary to come
and pray for him. Not a little surprised at the unusual re-
quest, the missionary went, and the peasant remarked,
"Your prayers are more efficacious than those of our
priests.'' The missionary was somewhat surprised at this,
and after modestly murmuring something concerning faith,
was preparing to comply with the request, when the man
continued, "I have taken a ticket in the Vienna lottery.
If I win through your prayers, you shall have one-half."

It was apparently a perfectly natural thing, this copart-
nership of earth and heaven, and the peasant could see no
impropriety in invoking the prayers of those he considered
more potent than he. He put up the money, the missionary
furnished the prayers, and they went divvys on the result.
What harm?

But to turn from the moral side to the customs of every-
day life. The barber, for example, pushes the razor from
him; ours draws it to him. The carpenter draws the saw

198 HENRY HILL GOODELL

towards him, for all the teeth are set in; ours does the re-
verse, for the teeth are set out. The mason sits while he lays
and trims his stone, ours stands. The scribe writes from
right to left, usually upon his hand or knee; ours from left to
right, upon the table or desk. Even in the matter of build-
ing a house, the same law prevails. We begin at the bottom
and finish at the top; the Turks begin at the top, and fre-
quently the upper rooms are entirely finished and habit-
able, while all below is a mere framework like a lantern.

The Oriental uses a pipe so long that he cannot hold a
coal to the bowl and at the same time draw a whiff of to-
bacco smoke from the other end. We use one so short that
the scent of burned hair too often mingles with that of the
fragrant weed. We polish our boots with elaborate care;
but these people, whose religion, perhaps, will not allow
them to use brushes made from the bristles of the unclean
beast, wipe up their shoes with their hands, and then put
on the last finishing touches with their handkerchiefs, or
the slack of those wonderful things denominated Turkish
trousers. Burnaby, in his "On Horseback through Asia
Minor," quotes a missionary as saying: "The Turks about
here are just the bottom-side-upwardest, and the top-side-
downwardest, the back-side-forwardest, and the forward-
side-backwardest people I have ever seen. Why, they call
a compass which points to the north, * queblen,' or south,
just for the sake of contradiction; and they have to change
their watches every twenty-four hours, because they count
their time from after sunset, instead of reckoning up the day
like a Christian." One more striking point of difference, and
we have done. The Turks through long ages led a roving,
wandering life in the immense plains of northern and cen-

ADDRESSES 199

tral Asia. Rising from the position of slave and subject to
that of master, they gradually fought their way down to
the shores of the Mediterranean and occupied the entire
territory. But the inherited instincts of so many genera-
tions have never been completely laid aside. As in their
warlike, migratory state, the tent was to them simply a
sleeping-place to which they retired for the night, so the
house has been to them ever since. Home, in our sense of the
word, with all its beautiful associations, has no answering
equivalent in their mind, and, in fact, there is no word in
their language which can convey such an idea.

To add to the difficulty of giving any adequate idea of the
people of Turkey, is the fact that they do not form a single
race, amalgamated and blended into one, though made up
of different race-elements, but are composed of Turks, Jews,
Greeks, Armenians, wild tribes of Koords, Turcomans,
Kuzel Bash, and the Bulgarian, Croatian, and Slavonian
tribes of the Danubian principalities, each retaining its dis-
tinct nationality, its own religious rites, and its own peculiar
customs and ways. Of the population of eight millions in
round numbers in European Turkey, the Turks number
about 3,600,000, and the rest are Christian and Jews. In
Asiatic Turkey the proportion is about the same. Of these,
the Greeks and the Jews are the tradesmen; the Armenians
the artizans and bankers; the Bulgarians and Croats are
agricultural in their tastes, while the Koords and Turco-
mans live largely by plunder and by the produce of their
herds. In such an assemblage of races you would naturally
expect to find great differences; and yet, after all, certain
distinct features will be found peculiar to all, and certain
customs that are common to all.

200 HENRY HILL GOODELL

As a rule, the Turk will be found to be honest and truth-
ful, and living up to the command laid down by Mahomet
in the earlier days of his inspiration : " When thou hast given
thy word, stand fast by it, and let the words of thy mouth
be even as thy written agreement." Of the other races we
cannot say as much. The Jews, as in all ages, are the
money-getters, and live and thrive in then* quarters, as in
the Ghetto of Rome, in a squalor and filth that would
quickly exterminate any other race. The Greeks are shrewd
and enterprising, but the characterization of the Cretans by
St. Paul is no inapt description of their character: "The
Cretans are always liars, evil beasts, slow bellies." Their
own countryman, Euripides, even before the time of the
apostle, wrote: "Greece never had the least spark of hon-
esty"; and Lord Byron, twenty centuries after, one of the
most enthusiastic in their cause, exclaims: "I am of St.
Paul's opinion, that there is no difference between Jews and
Greeks — the character of both being equally vile."

The Armenians, on the other hand, are a purer, simpler
race, retaining much of that individual nationality which
made them formidable in the days of the Romans. But
contact with the outer world — with the foreigners pouring
into Turkey — is changing their character for the worse.
It need hardly be said that the farther you go from the capi-
tal and the large cities, the simpler and more innocent the
lives of the people.

In nothing is this difference of nationality so strikingly
manifested as in the cemeteries. The Turks plant theirs
with the cypress, and at the head of a grave where a man is
buried, a stone is erected crowned with a turban, or, in more
recent times, with the national emblem — the fez. At the

ADDRESSES 201

foot of the grave a plainer stone marks the resting-place of
the woman. The turban is absent, and in its place the top
of the stone is rounded or pointed, while a running vine is
worked around the outer edge. The inscription is very
simple — only the name of the family of the deceased, and
a recommendation of his soul to the only living and true
God. A beautiful custom prevails, both among the Turks
and the Christian population, of hollowing out two small
cavities in the tablet covering the grave itself, which are
kept filled with seeds and fresh water to attract the birds to
come and build their nests near by and sing their songs over
the graves of the departed.

The cemeteries of the Jews are in keeping with their daily
life. As their object is so to live as not to attract attention
and thus call down upon themselves the persecution of their
neighbors, so the resting-places of their dead display the
same neglect and want of care. Nothing drearier or more
desolate can be imagined. Not a tree or shrub to relieve the
melancholy waste. Nothing but the barren hillsides, strewn
for miles around with gray slabs, lying in the most terrible
confusion.

Not so the Greeks and Armenians. Choosing some beau-
tiful site, as in the " Grand Champ des Morts" at Constan-
tinople, overlooking the Bosphorus and the Marmora, they
plant the stately palm or the graceful terebinthus [turpen-
tine], erect a coffee-house, and make it a fashionable
resort. Its cool and airy situation, its agreeable shade and
the convenience of comfortable seats afforded by the tomb-
stones, make it a pleasant promenade. Here, on the flat
tablets, the elders mark out a rough board and play games
of chance or checkers, or perchance discuss the merits of

202 HENRY HILL GOODELL

their ancestors sleeping quietly beneath. Here lovers wan-
der arm in arm and whisper their fond nothings, undis-
turbed by ghosts of former days. And here the gallants, as
they sip their wine, order so many Roman candles burnt in
honor of their ladies.

The occupation of the deceased is always portrayed
upon his tombstone : an adze or saw representing a carpen-
ter; a lancet, a barber; an anvil, a blacksmith; an inkstand,
a scribe or lawyer; and if, perchance, his end has been
hastened by violence, the manner of his * 'taking off" is
faithfully portrayed. Here you may see a representation
of the deceased upon his knees, holding his head in his
hands, while jets of blood spout from his neck in stiff curves,
like those issuing from a beer bottle on a tavern sign. There
you may see the fatal bowstring adjusted about the neck
as he awaits the tightening of the cord. These representa-
tions carry with them no associations of infamy or crime.
They are but the heraldic quarterings to be found among
the aristocracy of other nations, and if they had a name
would be called the "scimetar pendant, or the bowstring
displayed in a field azure." Only, instead of being blazoned
upon the carriages of the living, they are placed upon the
tombstones of the dead; for they signify that the wealth
of the deceased was sufficient to excite the avarice of the
reigning power. "To die, then, by the sword or bowstring,
implies the possession of wealth, and the surviving relatives
glorify themselves in perpetuating this record of financial
standing and consideration."

To the observant traveler in the East, one of its most
noticeable features is the absence of farm life among its in-
habitants. Between village and village you rarely meet

ADDRESSES 203

with isolated farm-houses or cultivated areas. You pass
directly from the town or hamlet, with its surrounding
gardens and arable land, into a wild, unbroken territory, in-
fested only by wild beasts and lawless men. From motives
of security, the people all live together in the villages; the
farmer going to his farm, two or three miles away, every
morning, and quitting work an hour before sundown, to re-
turn to his distant family. Even in the neighborhood of
large cities you find this to be the case; and within fifteen
miles of Constantinople itself, with its million or more of
population, could still be shot, only a few years ago, wild
boars and wolves in the dense forests surrounding the Bents
of Belgrade.

Another very noticeable fact is the utter disregard of fer-
tilizers. Great heaps of manure accumulate in the sheep-
folds, the poultry yards and horse-stables, which are allowed
to waste from lack of knowledge of their value. It is true
that on the banks of the Euphrates and Tigris, where are
grown the celebrated melons, three of which make a camel's
load of, say, six hundred pounds, a hole is scooped in the
sand, a handful of hen or pigeon manure thrown in, the seed
planted, and Nature left to do the rest. But this is the ex-
ception to the rule. Nor should we blame these people too
severely, when we have such bright and shining examples of
the same pernicious practice in this country. In California,
in the vicinity of Santa Barbara, the manure is hauled, not
to the field, but to the public highways, where it is care-
fully spread to keep down the dust; and in Canada the farm-
ers were reported only this last summer as dumping it by
the cart-load into the rivers.

The droppings of the cow, on the other hand, are care-

204 HENRY HILL GOODELL

fully preserved, worked up with coarse straw and stubble,
and dried for winter fuel; for over large areas the woods
have entirely disappeared, and the poor people have no
other resource. The preparation of the winter's supply is
especially the duty of the women, and, to quote the words
of the veteran missionary Van Lennep : " We have watched
them collecting the manure from the track which the cattle
follow in going to pasture in the morning, shaping it into
round cakes, six or eight inches hi diameter, by handling it
as they would a lump of dough, and with a skilful twist of
their hand suddenly sticking it on the walls of their houses
to dry in the sun. They seem to enter upon this duty as a
matter of course, and conduct it with an artistic dexterity
which proves that it is one of the accomplishments of the
good housewife much to be desired."

As to the distribution of the arable land, we may make
the general division into villages and " Chifliks," or farms of
considerable extent. The common farmers live in villages
for safety. They may own the land around them in common,
but generally each man has his own. The commune system
is mainly in European Turkey, and is the ancient system of
the Slavic race.

The "Chifliks/' or large farms, are usually owned by
Turks, and vary in size from several hundred to as many
thousand acres. They constitute a village in themselves:
the landed proprietor in the centre, usually on an elevated
bit of ground, and the huts of his dependents clustered
around and below. It is only the old feudal system revived :
the lord in his castle, and the hovels of his humble retainers
grouped about the walls. These large estates are devoted
principally to grazing; but if there is good wheat land you

ADDRESSES 205

may see immense fields of grain, from which a good yield is
considered nine to ten bushels for one of sowing. The crops
are never measured by the acre, and the above yield would
probably be not over twenty bushels to the acre.

The threshing floor and its implements and operations
would interest an American farmer in the very highest de-
gree. Frequently a whole village will unite in constructing
one for common use. A description of such an one from
Hamlin's "Among the Turks" may not be uninteresting :
" I examined one that was about one thousand feet in length,
and, say, one-third of that in breadth. It was made by
hauling on to it hundreds of loads of clay and coarse gravel.
The whole was made into mortar, and spread some five or
six inches deep on a level, well-prepared surface. It was
then tamped every day by a force of men, that went all over
it twice a day, until it became too dry and solid for further
work. It is now artificial stone. Its inclination from a level
is just enough to keep it clear of water. With occasional
repairs, it lasts for generations. About three-fourths of
this floor is given to threshing, the rest to winnowing. The
grain from the field is spread six or eight inches deep over
the floor, and then the whole animal force of the village is
turned in upon it, — horses, donkeys, mules, horned cattle,
with carts and drags, or with nothing but the feet."

But the most effective, the finishing-off instrument, is
doubtless that referred to by the Prophet Isaiah (xli, 15-
16), where he says: "Behold, I will make thee a new sharp
threshing instrument having teeth." And this having teeth is
what I desire especially to bring to your attention. In ap-
pearance it looks very much on the upper side like a com-
mon stone drag or boat. It is of plank, about three niches

206 HENRY HILL GOODELL

thick, of the toughest wood, and studded on the under side
with sharp flints. The edges of these flints, after being
driven into the socket chiseled out for them, are trimmed
sharp; and thus completed it makes a most savage-looking
implement. Seated on this, with a long pole to prevent
the bundles from riding up over the bow, the driver urges
on his bullocks. As it goes round and round the area, it cuts
and bruises the straw fine, and this, with the chaff, takes the
place of hay for cattle-feed in the East. The threshing
process over, there are two raking operations : one to clear
off the coarse straw not good for food; this is piled up as
worthless chaff to be burned. Then follows a skillful raking
off of the finer straw without taking up the wheat. After
being passed through sieves, which let the wheat and chaff
pass through but retain the coarser stuff, it is ready for
the winnowing. This is accomplished by tossing the wheat
high into the air, from shovels made of beech, with long,
elastic handles, to allow the breeze to carry off the lighter
particles. Two more siftings, in sieves of different-sized
meshes, complete the operation.

The wheat thus cleaned looks well, but oh, the1 labor!
Thousands and thousands of bushels are injured or destroyed
annually by the rains before the threshing is over; for at
best, even with several threshing-floors, it will take a num-
ber of weeks for all in the village to have their turn. Efforts
have been made from tune to time to introduce more per-
fect machines, but the attempt has always been viewed
with distrust by the natives, and dark hints have been
mysteriously circulated of the agency of the Evil One. We
all remember the story of the opposition to the penny post
in London, and how it was denounced by the long-headed

ADDRESSES 207

ones as an "insidious Popish contrivance." History only
repeats itself; and it is this same conservative spirit that
Sir Walter Scott satirizes in his "Antiquary," when he puts
into the mouth of Mause Headrigg the following objections
to winnowing machines: "It is a new-fangled machine for
freeing the corn frae the chaff, thus impiously thwarting
the will o' divine Providence, by raising wind for your
leddy ship's use by human art, instead of soliciting it by
prayer, or patiently waiting for whatever dispensation
of wind Providence was pleased to send upon the shieling
hill."

The other implements of husbandry are very simple and
primitive. The ox-yoke is made of two straight pieces, one
above, the other below the neck, the top piece alone being
hollowed. Two straight pins serve instead of the yoke to
inclose the neck, a strong trunnel in the middle taking the
place of staple and ring.

The plough is absurdly ridiculous. Take a pole about
ten feet long, four or five inches in diameter at the butt;
and by mortise and tenon unite this at a slightly acute angle
to another piece of about equal size, sharpened and shod
with iron to plough the earth, and variously provided with
some sort of a handle for the ploughman's hand, and you
have an Oriental plough. It does not turn a furrow, it
simply scratches the earth to the depth of four or five inches,
and then the ground must be cross-ploughed in order to
secure anything like an adequate preparation for the sowing.
European ploughs, to which several pairs of buffaloes were
attached, have been introduced at various times, but were
soon given up on account of the difficulty of finding animals
strong enough to draw them. The hope of success lies in

208 HENRY HILL GOODELL

the improvement of the breed, but there is something be-
yond this, for the best breeds introduced soon degenerate
from lack of nourishment. The country must be better
governed, property made more secure, before farmers will
find it to their advantage to give their cattle more than
the scanty grass they can pick up here and there on the
parched hillsides. The improvement of implements will fol-
low as a matter of course. The same thing is true of the
ordinary horses : barley and straw alone, and the treatment
received through many generations, have produced the
small, wiry, enduring hack of Asia Minor, as far removed
from the lithe form and airy grace of the Arab steed as
light is from darkness.

The spade is triangular in shape, with a straight handle,
longer than a man is tall. A few inches above the blade, a
piece of wood is mortised in, upon which the foot is set, to
force the blade deep into the earth. The length of the
handle enables the laborer to lay his whole weight upon the
extremity, and afterwards use it as a lever in order to raise
a large quantity of soil, which he merely turns over. " Shal-
low ploughing but deep spading seem then to be the two
chief rules of Oriental agriculture.'*

The hoe has a broad blade, not flat, but slightly concave,
the handle very short, compelling the laborer to crouch
to his work. The sickle is about the same form as our own.
The scythe shorter, heavier, clumsier, the snath nearly
straight, with but one handle, the left hand grasping the
snath itself. The blade has no curve worth mentioning.
Fortunately for the back of the laborer, hay is in so little de-
mand that the scythe is practically used only in the cradle,
and that not by Turks, but almost exclusively by the Bui-

ADDRESSES 209

garians. As you pass by the great wheat fields you will see
men and women with their sickles slowly and laboriously
reaping the golden harvest. Ask them whether they could
not do the work much more rapidly and easily with the
cradle, and they will answer, "Doubtless." Ask them why
they do not use it, they will reply, "Good Lord! it is not
our custom." And that is the end of all controversy with
an Oriental. To change the custom of his fathers is as
impious an act as to defile the bones of his ancestors or
curse his grandmother.

One is sometimes in despair of any progress in the East-
ern world. The beginning must be made at the root. Edu-
cate the youth, and they are as ready for improvement as
any people. In some places on the rich lands of the Danube,
modern implements of harvesting have been introduced,
and the produce doubled, because the farmer is no longer
afraid of sowing more than he can gather. The women do a
great deal of work in the fields, and may be seen laboring
side by side with the men. The position occupied by them
may be fairly well illustrated by the following story: A
gentleman riding one day in the country overtook a man
who had laden his wife with a heavy bundle of sticks. He
remonstrated with him, saying, "My good man, it is too
bad that you should load your wife down in this way.
What she is carrying is a mule's burden." — "Yes, your
excellency," the man replied, "what you say is true. It is
a mule's burden. But then you see Providence has not sup-
plied us with mules, and he has supplied us with women."

It is the same all through the East. Sir Thomas Munro, in
his "Travels to the City of the Caliphs," relates as a reason
why an Indian should be exempt from paying his tax that

210 HENRY HILL GOODELL

he pleaded the loss of his wife, who "did as much work as
two bullocks."

Stuart Woods, in a recent number of the "Quarterly Jour-
nal of Economics," says: "The agricultural processes of dif-
ferent countries are among the surest indications of the
condition of the laboring population. In Germany it is a
common sight to see a cart drawn by a woman and a dog.
Where labor is dearer and money more plenty, or the
people a little easier, a horse releases both alike from their
unnatural task. In the United States, where labor is dear,
costly agricultural machinery is extensively used in spite of
the smallness of the farms. It is much used in England also,
because there the farms are large; and wages, although lower
than in the United States, still far exceed those of other
countries. In Russia, on the other hand, in Turkey and in
Asiatic countries, we find the rudest tools; baskets are used
instead of wheelbarrows, wooden ploughs instead of iron
ones; and gangs of spade-men replace both the ploughs and
the beasts which draw them. A part of this is no doubt due
to sheer stupidity, but much is also due to the price of labor
and the rates of interest."

The products of the soil are as various as the climate and
geological character of the country. Fruits are abun-
dant, of excellent quality, and extensively used by the whole
population. Grapes are delicious, and within reach of the
poorest, selling at the rate of two pounds and three-fourths
for two or three cents. Apples, apricots, peaches, cherries,
and plums have their localities of abundant growth, but no
attention is paid to obtaining the best kinds, or improving
those already possessed.1

1 I am largely indebted to Hamlin's Agriculture of the East for my facts.

ADDRESSES 211

Of grapes, whoever has once partaken of the famous
chaoush from the Bithynian side of the Bosphorus, will
forever eschew all others : thin-skinned, small-seeded, fine-
pulped, — a dream, a delight, — something to be talked
about, never to find equaled. The vineyards of the Chris-
tians and the Moslems differ in one very important particu-
lar. The former cultivate those kinds suitable for making
wines; the latter, those that are best for food. While the one
are making spirits, the others are preparing that grape-
molasses called pekmez, which is extensively used. In it,
all manner of fruits are stewed or boiled, and the preserves
laid aside for winter use. With it, savory dishes of quinces
and meat, or chestnuts and meat, are prepared, much re-
lished by the poor.

The olive is grown over a very wide area, especially in
Asiatic Turkey and the Mediterranean islands. It is a uni-
versal article of food. Give an Oriental bread and black
olives for a lunch, and he is happy. Add to this, olive oil to
flavor his stewed beans, his clam and rice, and his salads,
and he is happier. Beyond that it is not necessary to go.
The olive orchard in the flowering time is one of the most
beautiful sights in the world, — the gnarled and twisted
trunks hoar with age; the short, oblate, slightly curled sil-
very leaves; the branches fairly bending beneath the weight
of the snowy petals, and the ground beneath and around
white as with flakes of snow. Job says, referring to this
peculiarity of its shedding its blossoms: "He shall cast off
his flowers as the olive." Next to the cereals, it is by far
the most important agricultural product of Turkey. Its
berry, pickled, forms the chief article of food; the oil, pro-
duced from its pericarp, seasons most of the dishes, and

212 HENRY HILL GOODELL

keeps alive the light that cheers the winter's gloom; its
wood, close-grained and hard, takes on a beautiful polish
and is very highly prized; while its bark and leaves, pos-
sessing certain febrifuge principles, are much sought after
by the leeches of the country. The tree is slow in reaching
maturity, but after the fifteenth or sixteenth year it bears on
indefinitely, and seems never to lose its vitality. There are
trees in the garden of Gethsemane estimated to be one thou-
sand years old, still in full sap and vigor. It is of all fruit
trees the hardiest, for scarcely any amount of mutilation,
any severity of frost, or even sharp scorching by fire, suf-
fices to destroy its life. "So long as there is a fragment
remaining, though externally the tree looks as dry as a post,
yet does it continue to bear its load of oily berries; and for
twenty generations the owner gathers fruit from the faithful
old patriarch. This tree also requires but little labor or care
of any kind, and, if long neglected, will revive again when
the ground is dug or ploughed, and yield as before. Vine-
yards forsaken die out almost immediately, and mulberry
orchards neglected run rapidly to ruin; but not so the olive.
Though they may not have been attended to for half a cen-
tury, yet they continue to be a source of income to their
owners."

These peculiarities Virgil observed and carefully noted in
his "Georgics" nearly two thousand years ago: —

But, on the other hand, no culture needs

The olive tree at all; not if the knife

Forthcurved expects, nor clinging hoe, when once

It in the field is fixed, and bears the breeze.

To it the earth, its bosom loosened up

By furrows of the ploughshare's hook-like tooth,

ADDRESSES 213

Sufficient moisture gives, and gives the plough
Returns of weighty fruitage rich and ripe.

GEOEGICS, n.

Why, cleave an olive tree's dry stump, and, strange
And wondrous strange to tell, an olive root
Will from the dry wood come!

Frequently a whole village will unite and plant a grove
in common. Then not even the berries that fall to the
ground are allowed to be picked till a proclamation is is-
sued by the head man of the village or the governor of the
province. A tree yields from ten to fifteen gallons of oil, and
the profits are about one hundred dollars to the acre. It is
claimed that the tree bears only every other year; but this
is due probably to the vicious manner of gathering the fruit,
— beating the branches with long poles to shake off the
berries, and, in so doing, bruising and destroying the tender
buds that are setting for the next year's crop.

The husks with which the prodigal son would fain have
filled his belly, and which Scripture says the swine did eat,
were not after all such very poor fare. Many a repentant
sinner might go farther and fare worse. They are the fleshy
pods of the locust tree, a leathery brown when fit to eat,
from six to eight inches in length, containing a spongy,
mealy pulp, of a sweet and pleasant taste in its ripened state,
and in which are imbedded a number of shining brown seeds,
very hard, and somewhat resembling a split pea. These
seeds are of no value whatsoever, on account of their bitter
flavor; but the sweet pulp of the pod, when dry, is exten-
sively used as an article of food, particularly among the
laboring classes. In Syria it is ground up into a coarse flour,
and a species of molasses made, which is used in the prepara-

214 HENRY HILL GOODELL

tion of different kinds of sweetmeats. As food for horses it
is exported in large quantities into the south of Europe.
Into this country and Great Britain it finds its way, under
the name of locust beans or St. John's bread, receiving both
names from the ancient tradition that they are the " locusts "
which formed the food of John the Baptist in the wilderness.
The tree is cultivated extensively in all the countries bor-
dering the shores of the Mediterranean, both for its food-
producing qualities and its wood, which is hard and sus-
ceptible of a fine polish. In size and manner of growth it
resembles an apple tree, but is more bushy and thick-set.
It yields a prolific harvest, and it is not unusual to see a tree
bearing over half a ton of green pods.

One other tree deserves mention, not on account of its
food-producing qualities, but for its importance in a com-
mercial point of view. It is the shrub oak, — the Quercus
oegilops, — which, growing wild on the mountain slopes and
rugged steeps, where nothing else will grow, gives employ-
ment to hundreds of men, women, and children, who, in the
season, go out to gather the acorns. These are brought
down in sacks to the nearest seaport, whence they are ex-
ported, thousands of tons annually, under the name of
"valonia," to be used in the tanneries of Europe. They
readily command eighty to ninety dollars a ton; and, from
the seaport towns of Smyrna and the islands adjacent,
forty thousand tons have been sent to England alone in a
single year.

The cereals of the empire do not differ much from ours.
The exports are barley, maize, and wheat. Rye, oats, and
millet give good results, and there are various other seeds
of good native use. Looking only at the soil, climate, in-

ADDRESSES 215

dustrial population, and the rivers and coasts of her great
inland seas, Turkey ought to be our formidable rival in the
markets of Europe; but her state of paralysis is such that
nothing is to be apprehended from that quarter. Destruc-
tive treaties with England and stupid legislation on the part
of her own government have reduced her to a state of hope-
less bankruptcy.

Turkish agriculture and horticulture furnish all that the
heart could wish in the shape of edible vegetables. All that
we produce is there produced, with the exception of potatoes,
which are imported from Europe; squashes of various kinds,
and measure unlimited; okra, spinach, celery; melons, un-
rivaled in flavor and size; cucumbers of any length you
choose.

The people of the East eat hardly any meat, but live
almost wholly on vegetables. The same regimen that made
the three Israelitish captives at the Babylonian court so
much fairer and fatter than those fed on the king's meat,
seems to agree remarkably with the people now. Given a
little rice, some unleavened bread, a few olives, a cucumber
cut up with garlic and seasoned with oil, and a pound or two
of grapes or other fruit, and you produce those miracles of
strength to be found in the Turkish porters, who, adjusting
the burden to the pack they carry on their backs, walk off
with a load of from five to seven hundred pounds, and make
nothing of it.

Tobacco is grown in many parts of the empire, but it is a
government monopoly, and the taxes levied upon the un-
happy cultivators are so burdensome that they are gradu-
ally being forced to give up the business. The finest tobacco,
distinguished for its mild character and exquisite flavor,

216 HENRY HILL GOODELL

comes from the hill-sides of Latakia, a seaport town of
Syria. It is a little singular that smoking, introduced into the
East not earlier than the seventeenth century, should have
taken such deep root that the Turks and the Persians are
now looked upon as the greatest smokers in the world. Men,
women, and children, with consummate skill, roll their lit-
tle cigarettes, — for they are never purchased ready made;
and the yellow stain on the finger-tips is as characteristic
a mark as the black on the hand of a printer's devil.

Coming now to the farm-yard, we find it abundantly pro-
vided with animal life. In every part of Turkey domestic
fowls are met with, and the traveler always finds eggs and
chickens, if nothing more. In European Turkey large flocks
of geese and turkeys are raised for the Constantinople mar-
ket, and are driven down from the inland farms, a distance
even of one hundred and fifty miles. This task is usually
performed by gypsies; and we have often wondered at the
unerring precision with which, with their hooked sticks,
they would suddenly arrest some lunatic goose in full career
of wings and feet. The hens are transported in crates on
the backs of horses.

The Turkish horse is a smaller, hardier animal than ours.
It is more tractable, less nervous, has a better disposition,
and rarely runs away. It is broken only to be ridden, and
not driven; for, outside of the city of Constantinople, there
is not a pleasure carriage to be found in the whole empire.
In the cities all loads are carried on the backs of the porters,
or, suspended on poles, are carried by two or more of the
same class. In the country are to be found only the rudest
kinds of carts, drawn by bullocks or buffaloes, — the wheels
cut out of a solid piece of wood four or five inches thick; and

ADDRESSES 217

as no grease is used, the terrible squeaking and groaning
that is made, as the carts lumber along, remind one, as has
been quaintly said, of "all the pandemonium of hell let
loose."

The horses of the sultan's stable, and of some of the
pashas', are magnificent creatures, wholly or in part of Arab
blood. But the larger proportion of the horses met with
are of a very inferior breed. The Turkish cavalry is well
mounted, and the horses are far lighter and smaller than
those in the English or French service; and during the
Crimean war there was nothing attracted so much admira-
tion as the splendid horses of the allies. The sultan, and,
indeed, the whole Turkish government, jealously guard the
Arab race of horses, that no infidel foreigner may ever pos-
sess the pure breed. The pure-blooded Arab mare is never
to be sold or given away to a foreigner, nor can the Moslem
take her with him outside of the country. It may be doubted
whether it ever has been done, and whether, in the cases
claimed, the blood is pure and the pedigree sure.

Perhaps no one is better qualified to speak of the Arab
horses than the traveler Palgrave, whose command of the
Eastern languages was such, that, in the guise of a native,
he penetrated into the very heart of Arabia, and lived for
months unsuspected among the people. Nay, in one of his
journeys in Turkey, he actually officiated in one of the
mosques in place of the regular priest, who had been taken
sick. Practicing as a physician in the Nejed district, where
the race of horses is the purest, and having been permitted
to see and examine the stud of the sultan, he says: "Never
had I seen or imagined so lovely a collection. Their sta-
ture was, indeed, somewhat low, — I do not think that

218 HENRY HILL GOODELL

any came fully up to fifteen hands : fourteen appeared to me
to be about their average; but they were so exquisitely well
shaped that want of greater size seemed hardly, if at all, a
defect. Remarkably full in the haunches, with a shoulder
of a slope so elegant as to make one, in the words of an
Arab poet, 'go raving mad over it'; a little, a very little
saddle-backed, just the curve which indicates springiness
without any weakness; a head broad above, and tapering
down to a nose fine enough to verify the phrase of ' drinking
from a pint-pot/ did pint-pots exist in Nejed; a most intel-
ligent yet singularly gentle look; full eyes; sharp, thorn-like
little ear; legs fore and hind that seemed as if made of ham-
mered iron, so clean and yet so well twisted with sinew; a
neat, round hoof, just the requisite for hard ground; the tail
set on, or rather thrown out, at a perfect arch; coat smooth,
shining and light; the mane long, but not overgrown or
heavy; and an air and step that seemed to say, 'Look at
me ; am I not pretty? ' Their appearance justified all repu-
tation, all value, all poetry. . . . But, if asked what are,
after all, the especially distinctive points of the Arab horse,
I should reply, the slope of the shoulder, the extreme clean-
ness of the shank, and the full, rounded haunch, — though
every other part, too, has a perfection and a harmony un-
witnessed anywhere else."

No Arab ever dreams of tying up his horse by the neck.
The tether replaces the halter. A light iron ring furnished
with a padlock encircles the hind leg just above the pastern.
A rope is attached to this, and made fast to an iron peg set
in the ground. To make of their horse a devoted friend is
the end sought after by all Arabs. With them he leads, so
to speak, a domesticated life, in which, as in all domestic

ADDRESSES 219

life, women play a conspicuous part, — that, in fact, of pre-
paring, by their gentleness, vigilance, and unceasing atten-
tion, the solidarity that ought to exist between the man and
the animal. A sustained education, daily contact with man,
— that is their grand secret; it is that which makes the
Arab horse what he is, — an object worthy of our unexcep-
tional admiration. No wonder the Arab poets sing, with the
metaphor and hyperbole peculiar to that glowing clime:
"Say not it is my horse; say it is my son. He outstrips the
flash in the pan, or the glance of the eye. His eye-sight is so
good that he can distinguish a black hair in the night-time.
In the day of battle he delights in the whistling of the balls.
He overtakes the gazelle. He says to the eagle, 'Come
down, or I will ascend to thee.' When he hears the voice
of the maidens, he neighs with joy. When he gallops, he
plucks out the tear from the eye. He is so light he could
dance on the bosom of thy mistress without bruising it. He
is a thorough-bred, the very head of horses. No one has ever
possessed his equal. I depend on him as my own heart."

The famous Arab chieftain, Abd-el-Kadr, who for so many
years gloriously resisted French aggression in northern
Africa, betrayed unhappily by fortune, but saved by his-
tory, prepared, while languishing in confinement in France,
a series of maxims concerning the horse and its management,
that are worthy of close attention. His method of judging a
horse is "to measure him from the root of the mane close to
the withers, and descend to the end of the upper lip be-
tween the nostrils. Then measure from the root of the mane
to the end of the tail-bone, and if the fore-part is longer than
the hind part, there is no doubt the horse will have excellent
qualities. To ascertain if a young horse will grow any more,

220 HENRY HILL GOODELL

measure first from the knee to the highest point situated in
the prolongation of the limb above the withers, then from
the knee downwards to the beginning of the hair above the
coronet (to the crest of the hoof) ; if these two measures are
to one another as two-thirds to one-third, the horse will grow
no more. If this proportion does not exist, the animal has
not done growing; for it is absolutely necessary that the
height from the knee to the withers should represent, in a
full-grown horse, exactly double the length of the leg from
the knee to the hoof."

And now, with a few choice maxims from the same hand,
I must pass on to other themes : —

No one becomes a horseman until he has been often thrown.

Thorough-bred horses have no vice.

A horse in a leading-string is an honor to his master.

Whoso forgets the beauty of horses for that of women, Jwill never prosper.

Horses know their riders.

The best time of day for giving barley is the evening. Unless on a

journey, it is useless to give it in the morning.
Water a horse at sunrise, and it makes him lose flesh. Water him in

the evening, and it puts him in good condition. Water him in the

middle of the day, and you keep him as he is.
During the great forty-day heats, water your horses only every other

day.

"The pious Ben-el-Abbas — Allah be good to him! —
hath said": -

Love horses and take care of them.
Spare no trouble;

By them comes honor, by them comes beauty.
If horses are forsaken of men,
I will receive them into my family,

I will share with them the bread of my children;

My wives shall cover them with their veils,

And cover themselves with the horse-cloths.

ADDRESSES 221

I ride them every day

Over the field of adventures;
Carried away in their impetuous career,

I combat the most valiant.
My steed is as black as a night without moon or stars.

He was foaled hi vast solitudes;

He is an air-drinker, son of an air-drinker.
His dam also was of noble race, and our horsemen have named
him the javelin.

The lightning flash itself cannot overtake him;

Allah save him from the evil eye!

The mule needs no remark. He is the same useful, hard-
working, unpopular animal in Turkey as in America. He
has the same moral obliquity of character, and the same
uncertainty in his business end, as elsewhere. His great
usefulness in the transportation of goods makes him worthy
of better treatment than he receives.

The donkey, the poor donkey, is everywhere in the way.
He is the common bearer of a certain class of burdens in all
the cities. You meet him in every street. He crowds you
to the wall with protruding load. Everybody curses and
kicks him, while he is doing his best. He carries all the
sand, lime, bricks, boards, and lighter timbers for building.
He carries away all the refuse of every kind. He is the
most useful, abused, and patient of animals. Men, women,
and children ride him. He always leads the caravan of
camels, mules, or horses. Everybody uses him; nobody
loves him; everybody abuses him. The Eastern world could
not live without him.

The prince of burden-bearers is the camel. He is in
truth the "ship of the desert." He bears enormous loads,
of from six to eight hundred pounds, twenty-five to thirty
miles a day. But for him all inland commerce would cease.

222 HENRY HILL GOODELL

From the far-off, isolated hamlets of the East he gathers
up and brings down to the seaport towns, or to the few
through which a railway passes, the products of the country,
and returns laden with the merchandise of Europe. Awk-
ward beyond description, with his short body and long neck
and legs, moving noiselessly over the ground with his soft-
padded feet, you wonder, and yet shrink from him. Dia-
bolical in expression, he is ugliness personified.

In the breeds of cattle there is room for great improve-
ment. There are none of superior breed; and beef of good
quality is not to be found in Turkey. The best quality,
which is imported, is from South Russia. Until the time of
the Crimean War such a thing as beefsteak was hardly
known. It was mutton, mutton everywhere. Well do we
remember the first morsel of steak we ever tasted. It was
fried in a frying-pan, done till there was n't a drop of juice
in it, and came up garnished with garlic and onions, and
covered over with parsley. But what a flavor it possessed !
"Something original and authentic," as Howells puts it,
" mingled with vague reminiscences of canal-boat travel and
woodland camp." Like the Englishman "who had no pre-
judices," from that moment I hated mutton.

The ox is small and hardy, but for heavy draft the buffalo
is in constant use. This ugly-looking animal, whose para-
dise is a mud-hole, into which he can sink with the excep-
tion of his mouth and eyes, is very powerful. The female
gives a milk that is rich, though somewhat strong and odor-
ous. The manufacture of butter is infamously bad. The
churns used are of various kinds. Earthen jars, shaped like
a barrel, swelling in the centre, are rilled with cream and
then tilted up and down. The trunk of a tree, hollowed out

ADDRESSES

and boarded at both ends, is hung to a beam and swung to
and fro. The skins of animals, particularly the goat, with the
hair inside, are sewed in the form of a bag, and, being filled
with cream, are rapidly rolled over and over on the ground
until the butter comes. The gypsies, it is said, when start-
ing on their journeys, will fill the skins with cream, arid, sit-
ting upon them, will find butter when they reach their jour-
ney 's end. It is said that in early times the missionaries
used to punish their children by putting them under the
table and making them shake a bottle of milk. Sawing the
butter is a very necessary operation, and all well-provided
families have a fine-tooth saw with which to extract the
hairs from the butter. The natives melt the butter for cook-
ing, and easily strain out the hair. But no attempt is ever
made to eat it on bread.

A missionary on the rich plains of the Sangarius tried
to introduce a reform in the process of churning. He showed
the farmers that in the markets of Constantinople their
butter brought less than one-half the price of good English
or Italian butter. He tried to introduce the American churn,
and the mode of working, salting, and putting down. It is
needless to say the attempt was an utter failure. They had
always had hair and butter together, and they always would
have, till death. In Proverbs (xxx, 33) we are told: "Surely
the churning of milk bringeth forth butter, and the wringing
of the nose bringeth forth blood." There would seem to be
at first sight, no special analogy between the process of
churning and pulling a man's nose until the blood comes,
if you consider our method alone. But, in the native op-
eration, the comparison is a just one and natural: for
the women seize and squeeze and wring the milk in their

224 HENRY HILL GOODELL

goat-skin bottles in a vigorous way which would soon fetch
the blood if applied to the nasal organ of some antagonist.

The mountains and plains of this great empire, both in
Europe and Asia, afford unrivaled facilities for the keeping
of sheep. In the summer the flocks pasture on the mountain
slopes, while the shepherds with fire-arms and dogs keep
careful watch against the attacks of wild beasts. In the
winter, immense flocks migrate from European Turkey into
the milder climate of Asia Minor. There is such an enor-
mous extent of vacant pasture-land that no expense is
incurred, except in the transportation of so many animals
across the Bosphorus or Dardanelles.

The fat-tailed Caramanian sheep are the most singular
and surprising animals to be met with in Turkey. While yet
lambs, the tail begins to broaden and thicken with a fat
which is regarded by the natives as a great delicacy, and
equal to butter for cooking purposes. In a few months the
weight and size of the tail becomes a positive burden to the
animal, furnishing, in those creatures that have been care-
fully fed and tended, from fourteen to twenty pounds of pure
fat, superior to lard, and entering into competition with but-
ter. If, as often happens, the end of the tail drags upon the
ground, so as to endanger excoriation, a very simple though
laughable remedy is resorted to. A little carriage, rudely
made, with wheels about six or eight inches in diameter, is
placed under the end of the tail, which is thus sufficiently
sloped out from the body, and is so harnessed to the lord
(or lady) of the tail, that it is borne about without injury,
and may "laugh and grow fat" at its leisure. You may
thus often see a sheep going on foot, and its tail following
in a carriage. The natives will tell you that these carriage

ADDRESSES

tails sometimes produce seventeen okes (forty-six and three
quarters pounds) of pure fat; but the Oriental imagination
is prone to get the better of the real facts, and the figures
above given (fourteen to twenty pounds) are perhaps nearer
the truth. It is sufficient to know that the tails do some-
times become so heavy as to anchor the sheep and cause
its death, if suitable precautions are not taken.

According to a recent article in the "Country Gentle-
man," these sheep are found in Syria, Egypt, north Africa,
Asia Minor and western Asia, and were described by Herod-
otus and Aristotle more than two thousand years ago; but
the writer could not resist adding a pound or two to his tale,
and he claims that "animals are not rare whose tails weigh
from one hundred to one hundred and twenty pounds,
while the average weight is forty to sixty."

Another fact is peculiar about the flocks of sheep and
goats. The ewes are milked as regularly as we milk our
cows, and it is done with wonderful rapidity. Two grasps
of the overflowing udder, and it is emptied. Among my
earliest recollections is that of a flock of goats being driven
every morning to my father's door and there milked, in
order to insure our receiving our day's supply of the lacteal
fluid in its virgin purity. Immense quantities of cheese,
made from the milk of sheep and goats, moulded into disks
twelve to fourteen inches in diameter and an inch thick,
are transported from the interior of the country to the mar-
kets of the great city.

Of the Angora goats, with their long, fine, silky hair,
natives of the rocky slopes in the province of Angora, I
have not the heart to speak. From the silky fibre of their
hair, skilled workmen had long supplied the world with rare

226 HENRY HILL GOODELL

and high-priced goods of female apparel. But, with the
priceless blessings of free trade, the country was flooded
with a cheap imitation made by machinery. The flocks
dwindled away, the occupation of whole villages was gone,
and abject poverty and rain overtook the wretched inhabit-
ants.

You will perhaps have noticed the absence of any allusion
to the swine among the domestic animals enumerated. The
reason is obvious. Considered as unclean beasts by both
Turk and Jew, it is only in Christian villages that they are
to be found. What was cursed under the Mosaic dispensa-
tion and continued to be cursed under the Mohammedan,
is still looked upon with suspicion by the faithful; and,
though their mouths may water as the delicate aroma of
roast suckling pig arises on the air, yet they rigidly abstain
from any participation. Two infallible signs, one negative
and one positive, disclose the character of a Christian town
in Turkey, — the absence of minarets and the presence of
pigs. In consequence of the pig being in this manner a
Christian animal, there is an oppressive tax on pigs, levied
when the animal is three months old. The risk incurred
from the payment of so large a tax (ten piasters) on so young
an animal is so great that many of them are killed shortly
after birth, and an important article of food is lost to the
peasantry.

I have rambled on longer than I intended, for one re-
miniscence has led on to another; but I cannot close without
alluding to one more fact which must be patent to every
thoughtful observer traveling in the Levant to-day, and
that is, the constancy of the Eastern mind to itself, and the
immutability of its customs and observances. The same

ADDRESSES 227

scenes penned by the writers of Holy Writ two thousand
years ago are repeated to-day unchanged.

Rebekah still lets down her pitcher at the wayside foun-
tain, and helps the thirsty Labans to a refreshing draught.

The tender Ruths still glean where Boaz reaps.

The Miriams still dance and sing the song of triumph,
as they go forth to welcome home their conquering heroes.

The women still in humble posture grind their corn, as,
sitting on the ground, they whirl the upper grindstone round
upon the nether one.

Still, at the evening meal, reclined about the table, raised
but a few inches from the floor, they dip their piece of un-
leavened bread into the common dish, just as in the days
when Jesus said, "He that dippeth his hand with me in the
dish, the same shall betray me."

THE INFLUENCE OF THE MONKS IN
AGRICULTURE

I HAVE chosen for my subject this afternoon "The influ-
ence of the monks in agriculture," — the influence of men
who, taking then- lives in then* hands, flung themselves into
the wild forests and abandoned wastes of Europe and the
remoter East, and wrought a work which, so far as we can
judge, could have been wrought in no other way; "for it
was done by men who gave up all that makes life dear and
worth the living, for the sake of being good themselves and
making others good." They were the pioneers of a physical,
no less than a moral, civilization. Never were instruments
less conscious of the high ends they were serving, and never
were high ends more rapidly or more effectually achieved.
Apostles of the Lord, they pushed out into the midst of
tribes only wilder and more savage than the country they
inhabited, determined to bring them within the fold. But
the instinct of self-preservation compelled them first to turn
aside to reclaim and till the soil, to construct houses, to pro-
vide themselves with the necessities of life, to practise the
arts and sciences in order that they might live. And so,
ministering to their bodily wants, they ended by forcing
upon their barbaric neighbors, first, civilization, and then
Christianity. Kingsley, hi his spirited way, tells us: "They
accepted the lowest and commonest facts of the peasant's
life. They outdid him in helplessness and loneliness, in
hunger and dirt and slavery, and then said : * Among all these

ADDRESSES 229

I can yet be a man of God, wise, virtuous, free and noble in
the sight of God, though not in the sight of Caesar's courts
and knights.' "

The time at which this great work began was almost coin-
cident with the Christian era, and lasted through what we
are pleased to call the dark or mediaeval ages, which, how-
ever, when we come to examine them, we find to our sur-
prise filled with light, with charities of the noblest kind
and enduring monuments of Christian grace.

With the fall of the Roman empire and the influx of the
great waves of barbaric tribes that swept over Europe,
civilization was stamped out and Christianity ceased to
exist. The cleared lands and cultivated fields reverted to
forest and moor, cities and towns lay in ruins, and the citi-
zen was reduced to the condition of the beggar and the slave.
The despairing cry of St. Jerome from his peaceful hermit-
age at Bethlehem fell vainly on the ears of a hopeless world :
"For twenty years Roman blood has been flowing every
day between Constantinople and the Julian Alps. Scythia,
Thrace, Macedonia, Dacia, Thessalonica and Epirus all
belong to the barbarians, who ravage, rend and destroy
everything before them. How many noble matrons and
maids have been the toys of their lust; how many bishops in
chains, priests butchered, churches destroyed, altars turned
into stables, relics profaned ! Sorrow, mourning and death
are everywhere. The Roman world is crumbling into ruins."
And what St. Jerome so vividly describes of the Eastern
world was equally true of the West. France, Germany,
Spain, Italy, and England had all fallen a prey to the never-
ending swarms that poured across the barrier rivers, the
Rhine and the Danube.

230 HENRY HILL GOODELL

But out of the midst of this universal chaos and desola-
tion now burst forth an army of Christian soldiers. Some,
taking upon themselves vows of solitude and self-renuncia-
tion, penetrated the wilderness to live as ascetics, — a life
of prayer and holy calm, withdrawn from the turmoil and
wretchedness of the world; others, seeking out the most
inaccessible and unfrequented spots, erected their build-
ings, and, gathering about them their disciples, entered upon
the true monastic life; while yet others again, as missiona-
ries, advanced boldly into the enemy's dominions, to con-
quer back for the church the territory it had lost, and to
gather into its folds these new peoples and new tribes whose
invasion had destroyed the Roman world. And it was their
glory that in a few short centuries they succeeded. But,
whether as hermits or missionaries or monks they aban-
doned then* homes and embraced this painful life, the result
was in every case the same, — agriculture and the arts first,
and civilization and Christianity last. It could not be other-
wise; the necessities of the case compelled it. Solitaries
who shrank from all contact with humanity were becoming
the unconscious instruments of the civilization and con-
version of savages and heathen. They penetrated valleys
choked with rocks, brambles, and brushwood, the over-
growth of generations interlaced into a barrier not to be
penetrated by anything weaker than their untiring energy.
They are the sternest of ascetics and most isolated of her-
mits. But their rest is broken by penitents who come to
ask their blessing and who implore permission to live under
their authority. The solitary cell of the hermit becomes the
nucleus of a society, — the society a centre of many congre-
gations radiating from it. The little plot of herbs becomes

ADDRESSES 231

a garden; the garden stretches out into fields of waving
grain; the hills are clothed with vines, the valleys bowered
in fruit trees.

Opening their doors to all, receiving under their shelter
and protection the oppressed, the weak, the criminal, the
slave, the sin-sick soul, weary of this life and despairing of
another, the mourner and the comfortless, it frequently
happened that the inmates of these cloisters, those attached
to one community and under one jurisdiction, numbered
thousands. Lecky tells us that in one city on the Nile
there were twenty thousand monks and ten thousand
nuns, — the religious far outnumbering the other classes of
society. In England and Ireland these monastic commu-
nities assumed a peculiar form. Kings, followed by their
entire tribe, presented themselves at the baptismal font and
came under religious rule; and frequently these kings were
chosen abbots, and as in their worldly life they had ruled
their subjects, so in their spiritual life they continued to be
their recognized head and leader. To such an extent was
this carried, that in England in the course of a single cen-
tury there resulted an alarming diminution of the military
resources of the country; and there is still extant a letter of
the great churchman, the Venerable Bede, in which, im-
ploring the kings and bishops to put a stop to the grants of
land for monastic purposes, because subsequently misused,
he says: "Many Northumbrians put aside their arms, cut
off their hair and hasten to enroll themselves in the monas-
tic ranks, instead of exercising themselves in their military
duties. The future alone will tell what good will result from
this." Perhaps some of you will recollect a more modern
instance in the law of Peter the Great, forbidding any State

232 HENRY HILL GOODELL

officer, citizen in business, or workman, to enter the cloisters,
declaring that he would not consecrate to idleness subjects
that might be useful.

To support now these throngs of people that assumed the
cowl, it was necessary for the monks to devote themselves
to agriculture and horticulture, and this they did in a most
successful manner. "It is impossible to forget," says the
great historian of the monks, "it is impossible to forget the
use they made of so many vast districts (holding as they did
one fifth of all the land in England), uncultivated and unin-
habited, covered with forests, or surrounded with marshes.
For such, it must not be forgotten, was the true nature of
the vast estates given to the monks, and which had thus the
double advantage of offering to communities the most inac-
cessible retreats that could be found, and of imposing the
least possible sacrifice upon the munificence of the giver."
Kings and barons vied with each other in their eagerness to
save their souls from hell and pave the way to heaven by
giving to these poor monks land the most desolate and un-
fertile, land no other human beings would inhabit, land cov-
ered with sand or rock or buried in water for the greater
part of the year.

How man or woman born could live in such unwholesome
and unproductive spots and thrive seems absolutely mi-
raculous, but these patient toilers of the church surmounted
all the difficulties which stared them in the face, of begin-
ning the cultivation of a new country.1 The forests were
cleared, the marshes made wholesome or dried up, the
soil irrigated or drained, according to the requirements
of each locality, while bridges, roads, dykes, havens, and
1 Montalembert, Monks of the West.

ADDRESSES 233

lighthouses were erected wherever their possessions or in-
fluence extended. The half at least of broad Northumber-
land, covering an area of about two thousand square miles,
was lost in sandy plains and barren heaths; the half at
least of East Anglia and a considerable part of Mercia were
covered with marshes, difficult of access. Yet in both
these regions the monks substituted for these uninhabit-
able deserts fat pasturage and abundant harvests. The
latter district, the present name of which (the Fens) alone
recalls the marshy and unwholesome nature of the soil,
became the principal theatre of the triumphs of agricult-
ural industry, performed by the monks. Medehampstead
(now Peterborough), Ely, Croyland, Thorney (now South-
ampton), Ramsay, were the first battlefields of these con-
querors of nature, these monks who made of themselves
ploughmen, breeders and keepers of stock, and who were
the true fathers of English agriculture, which, thanks to
their traditions and example, has become the first agri-
culture in the world.

Perhaps in no better way can I more graphically bring
before you the immense work of the monks than by giving
you a picture of the fen district of Southampton before
Thorney Abbey was founded, and then reading you the
description of this abbey by the great bishop of Tyre, Wil-
liam of Malmesbury. Southampton is a peninsula making
down between the mouths of the Itchen and the Test or
Anton into the tide-swept channel that separates it from
the Isle of Wight. It was nothing but a vast morass.1 The
fens in the seventh century were probably like the forests at
the mouth of the Mississippi or the swamp shores of the
1 Kingsley, Hermits.

234 HENRY HILL GOODELL

Carolinas. It was a labyrinth of black, wandering streams;
broad lagoons, morasses submerged every spring-tide;
vast beds of reed and sedge and fern; vast copses of willow,
alder, and gray poplar, rooted in the floating peat, which
was swallowing up slowly, all-devouring, yet all-preserving,
the forests of fir and oak, ash and poplar, hazel and yew,
which had once grown in that low, rank soil. Trees torn
down by flood and storm floated and lodged in rafts, dam-
ming the waters back upon the land. Streams bewildered
in the forests changed their channels, mingling silt and sand
with the black soil of the peat. Nature left to herself ran
into wild riot and chaos more and more, till the whole
fen became one dismal swamp.

Four or five centuries later William of Malmesbury visits
the place and leaves us this charming picture of the change : l
"It is a counterfeit of Paradise, where the gentleness and
purity of heaven appear already to be reflected. In the
midst of the fens rise groves of trees which seem to touch
the stars with their tall and slender tops; the charmed eye
wanders over a sea of verdant herbage, the foot which
treads the wide meadow meets with no obstacle in its
path. Not an inch of land as far as the eye can reach lies
uncultivated. Here the soil is hidden by fruit trees; there
by vines stretched upon the ground or trailed on trellises.
Nature and art rival each other, the one supplying all that
the other forgets to produce. O deep and pleasant solitude !
Thou hast been given by God to the monks, so that their
mortal life may daily bring them nearer to heaven."

Everywhere we see the monks instructing the population
in the most profitable methods and industries, naturalizing
1 Chronicle of William of Malmesbury.

ADDRESSES 235

under a vigorous sky the most useful vegetables and the
most productive grains, importing continually into the
countries they colonized animals of better breed, or plants
new and unknown there before; here introducing the rear-
ing of cattle and horses, there bees or fruit; in another place
the brewing of beer with hops; in Sweden, the corn trade;
in Burgundy, artificial pisciculture; in Ireland, salmon
fisheries; about Parma, cheese-making, and finally occupy-
ing themselves with the culture of the vine, and planting
the best vineyards of Burgundy, the Rhine, Auvergne, and
England; for the monks of Croyland introduced the vine
even into the fens of Ely and in other countries where it
has now disappeared. They were the first to turn their at-
tention to improving the breeds of cattle, declaring that
the promiscuous union of nobody's son with everybody's
daughter resulted in half -starved oxen "euyll for the stone
and euyll for digestyon, fitter to be used outside as a water-
proof e than inside." They taught the necessity of letting
the land be fallow for a time after several years of continu-
ous cropping; they practised rotation of crops, using clover
as the last in the series ; they improved the different varieties
of fruits and learned the art of grafting, budding, and layer-
ing; they taught by precept and example the value of drain-
age and irrigation. In short, in everything making for pro-
gressive agriculture we find them blazing the way; and when
the monasteries were suppressed by Henry VIII, a death-
blow was struck for a time at scientific agriculture and
horticulture.

And what they did for England was paralleled by their
work upon the continent. Need we point to any other in-
stance than that of Vitrucius peopling the sand-banks of

236 HENRY HILL GOODELL

Flanders or Belgium with religious, who, by their unwearied
industry, reclaimed those arid wastes and turned those
burning sands into one vast garden? Need we speak of the
country separating Belgium from Holland, and how it was
cleared by the monks who taught its wild inhabitants agri-
culture as well as Christianity? In a manuscript bearing
date of 1420 a monk proposed the artificial propagation of
trout. It was the monks of Fulda who started the cele-
brated vineyards of Johannisberg, the Cistercian monks
that of Clos Vougeot. The Benedictines brought vines from
Beaune to plant on the banks of the Allier. The monks of
Mozat set out walnut trees, still so abundant in Lower Au-
vergne. They first cared for the preservation of forests as
affecting climate and fertility. They stored up the waters
of springs and distributed them in drought; and it was the
monks of the abbeys of St. Laurent and St. Martin who
first brought together and conducted to Paris the waters of
springs wasting themselves on the meadows of St. Gervais
and Belleville; and hi Lombardy it was the followers of St.
Bernard who taught the peasants the art of irrigation, and
made that country the most fertile and the richest in Europe.
We approach now another and higher phase of monastic
life. In its earlier days we find the monks engaging in the
practice of agriculture from the necessities arising out of
the conditions in which they were placed. They had
ploughed, they had sowed, they had reaped, in order to
preserve their lives. But now agriculture becomes a part
of their religion, and the great St. Benedict enjoins upon
his disciples three objects f or filling up their time: Agricul-
ture, literary pursuits, and copying manuscripts.1 He
1 Weishardt, History of Monasticism.

ADDRESSES 237

comes before the world saying: "No person is ever more
usefully employed than when working with his hands or
following the plough, providing for the use of man. . . .
He bent himself to the task of teaching the rich and the
proud, the poor and the lazy, the alphabet of prosperity
and happiness."

Agriculture was sunk to a low ebb. Marshes covered once
fertile fields, and the men who should have tilled the land
spurned the plough as degrading. The monks left their
cells and then* prayers to dig ditches and plough fields. The
effort was magical. Men once more turned back to a noble
but despised industry, and peace and plenty supplanted
war and poverty. So well recognized were the blessings they
brought, that an old German proverb among the peasants
runs, "It is good to live under the crozier." They ennobled
manual labor, which, in a degenerate Roman world, had
been performed exclusively by slaves, and among bar-
barians by women. For the monks, it is no exaggeration to
say that the cultivation of the soil was like an immense
alms spread over a whole country. The abbots and super-
iors set the example, and stripping off their sacerdotal
robes toiled as common laborers. Like the good parson
whom Chaucer portrays in the Prologue to the "Canter-
bury Tales": -

This noble ensample unto his scheep he gaf
That first he wroughte and after that he taughte.

When a papal messenger came in haste to consult the
Abbot Equutius on important matters of the church, he
was not to be found anywhere, but was finally discovered in
the valley cutting hay. Under such guidance and such
example the monks upheld and taught everywhere the

238 IHENRY HILL GOODELL

dignity of labor, first, by consecrating to agriculture the
energy and intelligent activity of freemen, often of high
birth and clothed with the double authority of the priest-
hood and of hereditary nobility, and second, by associating
under the Benedictine habit sons of kings, princes, and
nobles with the rudest labors of peasants and serfs.

There is still another phase of this monastic life. We
have seen that the one universal and regular duty imposed
was the necessity of being constantly employed. It was
work for the sake of work. The object sought was not so
much what would be produced by the labor as to keep the
body and mind so constantly employed that temptations
could find no access and sin would therefore be escaped.
Consequently it was a matter of comparative indifference
what the work was. The harder and more painful and un-
attractive to men in general it might be, so much the better
for the monk. If sufficiently difficult, the element of pen-
ance was added, and it became a still more effectual means
of grace. In this way the monks did a great amount of
extremely useful work which no one else would have under-
taken. Especially is this true of the clearing and reclaiming
of land. A swamp was of no value. It was a source of
pestilence. But it was just the place for a monastery be-
cause it made life especially hard; and so the monks carried
hi earth and stone, and made a foundation, and built their
convent, and then set to work to dyke and dram and fill up
the swamp, till they had turned it into fertile plough-land
and the pestilence had ceased.

The connection of the monasteries with the great centres
of population to-day is an interesting one.1 The require-
1 Gibbins, Industrial History of England.

ADDRESSES 239

ments of the monks and the instruction they were enabled
to impart soon led to the establishment in their immediate
neighborhood of the first settlement of artificers and retail
dealers, while the excess of their crops, their flocks and their
herds gave rise to the first markets, which were as a rule
held before the gate of the abbey church, or within the
church-yard, among the tombs. Thus hamlets and towns
were formed which became the centres of trade and general
intercourse, and thus originated the market-tolls and the
jurisdiction of these spiritual lords. Out of these hamlets
clustered around the monasteries arose in England South-
ampton, Peterborough, Bath, Colchester, Oxford, Cam-
bridge, Ely, and many others.

In the earlier days the monks had always taken the lead
in farming, and if improvements were introduced it was
sure to be the monks who were the pioneers. How useful
the monasteries had been, and what an important factor
they were, is perhaps best seen from the effect their disso-
lution had upon the laboring classes. Henry VIII sup-
pressed six hundred and forty-four monasteries, ninety col-
leges, two thousand three hundred and seventy-four free
chapels, and one hundred and ten hospitals. These held
one fifth of all the land in the kingdom and one third the na-
tional wealth. At the same time nearly one hundred thou-
sand male persons were thrown out of employment. "It is
possible," says Symes in Traill's "Social England," "that
the relieving of a large number of persons from the obliga-
tions of celibacy partly accounts for the great increase of the
population which undoubtedly took place in Henry's reign.
Moreover, experience proves that people reduced to poverty
and desperation often show extraordinary recklessness in

240 HENRY HILL GOODELL

bringing people into the world." However that may be, we
find the population, from the reign of Henry VII to the
death of Henry VIII, increasing from two and one half
millions to four millions.

But this change in population without corresponding dis-
tribution of wealth, this transference of one third the na-
tional wealth, was attended by another still more disas-
trous effect, and that was "the change in the character of
the demand for labor, which reduced to the ranks of the
unskilled those whose skill was no longer in demand."
The land taken up by the king was bestowed upon his
nobles and favorites, and these, desirous of securing im-
mediate and larger profits, enclosed immense areas and
turned to the breeding and pasturing of sheep. It was
the substitution of pasture for tillage, of sheep for corn,
of commercialism for a simple, self-sufficing industry, of
individual gain for the old agrarian partnership hi which
the lords or abbots, the parsons, yeomen, farmers, copy-
holders, and laborers were associated for the supply of the
wants of the villagers.1 A perfect frenzy for raising sheep
took possession of the agricultural community. No pains
were spared to increase the extent of pasturage. Small
tenants were evicted, laborers' cottages were pulled down,
the lords' demesnes turned into pastures, and wastes and
commons which had before been open to all were now en-
closed for the same purpose. Every one was now con-
vinced that "the foot of the sheep would turn sand into
gold," and hastened to substitute grazing for tillage.

But while there was this sudden and wholesale trans-
ference of the arable land to pasturage, as sudden and vio-
1 Traill, Social England.

ADDRESSES 241

lent a change in the character of labor was required. The
dog and the shepherd took the place of the ploughmen and
their teams, and thus diminished the demand for labor at
the very moment when the supply was increased. Very
serious results followed. The poorer tenants were ruined and
an immense number of persons were thrown out of employ-
ment, to become beggars and thieves. It was, says Gibbins,
in the "Industrial History of England," the beginning of
English pauperism. That this was no trifling change in the
social condition of the people the following quotations will
prove: "The Statute-book for 1489 tells us that the Isle of
Wight is lately become decayed of people, by reason of
many towns and villages having been beaten down and is
desolate and not inhabited, but occupied with beasts and
cattle; throughout England, too, we are assured that idle-
ness daily doth increase; for where in some towns two hun-
dred were occupied and lived of their lawful labor, now there
are occupied only two or three herdsmen." Starkey, the
royal chaplain in the next reign, only puts this more epi-
grammatically when he says: "Where hath been many
houses and churches to the honor of God, now you shall find
nothing but sheepcotes and stables to the ruin of men, and
that not in one place or two, but generally throughout this
realm." Finally, if any further evidence is wanted to show
that great hardships were being entailed upon the peasantry
there are the indignant words of Sir Thomas More, in which
he bids us sympathize with "the husbandmen thrust out
of their own, or else by covin and fraud, or by violent
oppression put beside it, or by wrongs and injuries so
wearied that they sell all"; and goes on to denounce the
noblemen and gentlemen, yea, and certain abbots that lease

242 HENRY HILL GOODELL

no grounds for tillage; that enclose all into pasture, and
throw down houses; that pluck down towns and leave no-
thing standing, but only the church to be made a sheep-
house.

In a word, then, the monks were the scientific farmers of
the day. They had access to all the knowledge of the an-
cients, and the constant intercourse with their brethren in
other countries kept them acquainted with methods of agri-
culture and products other than their own; and when their
great religious houses were suppressed, agriculture, of which
they had been the pioneers, came for a time to a standstill.

There were four great periods in which these disciples of
civilization were steadily pushing their way into the dark-
ness of an unregenerate world; and in like manner there
were four great periods in which, in one way or another,
vast estates were added to their jurisdiction and came under
their kindly influence. The first, covering the first five
centuries of the Christian era, may not inappropriately be
termed that of the Apostles and early fathers. And I can-
not help quoting here the vivid words of Hillis, descriptive
of that era: "With matchless enthusiasm these young
knights of the new chivalry leaped into the arena. Begin-
ning at Jerusalem they scattered in every direction, march-
ing forth like columns of light. When twenty years had
passed Matthew was two thousand miles to the southwest.
At the same time Jude was two thousand miles to the
northeast. James the Less journeyed east into Judea. Paul
journeyed to the west. When twoscore years had passed
all the disciples save one had achieved a violent death and
blazed out paths in the dark, tangled forests. And when
the torch fell from the hands of these heroes, their disciples

ADDRESSES 243

snatched up the light and rushed on to new victories. Now
that long time has passed, history has summarized the influ-
ence of these missionaries. If we ask who destroyed the
great social evils of Rome, Lecky answers, 'The Christian
missionaries/ Ask when the rude tribes of the northern
forests began to be nations, Hallam answers, * When Boni-
face crossed the Alps on his Christian mission.' Asked for
the beginning of England's greatness, Green tells us the
story of the two Christian teachers who one winter's night
entered the rude banquet hall of King Ethelbert."

About the middle of this period commenced the hermit
or ascetic life in the far East. Paul, Anthony, Pacomius,
and others, gathering together the thousands of disciples
that had followed them, peopled the arid wastes and rocky
valleys of the Thebaid with their nuns and monks.

Next follows the missionary period, in which these de-
voted soldiers of the cross, pushing their adventurous way
into every part of Europe, reconquered for the church the
territory it had lost, and, planting their monasteries in the
wildest and most unfrequented spots, became the heralds of
civilization and Christianity. In this period and in the last
the monasteries were largely enriched by the gifts of the
faithful, — in most cases the donors begging the interces-
sion of the monks in their behalf. Thus St. Eloysius in his
charter to the monks of Solignac writes: "I, your suppli-
ant, in the sight of the mass of my sins, and in hopes of
being delivered from them by God, give to you a little
thing for a great, earth in exchange for heaven, that which
passes away for that which is eternal." So Peter, the Lord
of Maule, says: "The prudent ant as she sees winter ap-
proach makes the more haste to bring in her stores, so as to

244 HENRY HILL GOODELL

assure herself of abundant food during the cold weather.
I, Peter, profiting by this lesson, and desirous, though a
sinner and unworthy, to provide for my future destiny, I
have desired that the bees of God may come to gather
honey in my orchards, so that when their fair hives shall be
full of rich combs of this honey, they may be able, while
giving thanks to their Creator, to remember him by whom
this hive was given."

Eager, ardent, and impetuous, these anchorites seemed
to take the continent by storm.1 Amid the gloom of the
Thuringian forests, among the wild precipices and caves of
the mountains of the Hartz, on the wild, desolate shores of
the German and Baltic seas, amid the glaciers and fiords
of the Scandinavian peninsula, on the banks of the Ysill
and the Weser, from the Weser to the Elbe and thence to
the ocean, these devoted missionaries toiled and taught and
laid down their lives.

The third great period came at the close of the tenth cen-
tury, and may be termed the age of expectancy and dread.
All things seemed coming to an end, and the year one thou-
sand was fixed upon as the day when the heavens should
melt with fervent heat and the hills be rolled together and
crushed. We can scarcely form any idea of the feverish
state of mind of society. As the days sped on and the time
approached for the universal dissolution of nature, the panic
was at its height. Property was disposed of for a merely
nominal sum, or willed to the Church, the bequest commenc-
ing with these words, " In expectation of the approaching end
of the world." The monasteries and abbeys received vast
acquisitions of property and were thronged with sinners
1 McLear, Apostles of Hedicevd Europe.

ADDRESSES 245

seeking a refuge within the pale of the Church. Kings laid
down their sceptres and lands were left untilled. Famine
and pestilence added their horrors to the universal despair.
Human flesh was openly consumed and the graves of the
dead were rifled to furnish sustenance to the living. Night
after night, at any unusual disturbance of the elements,
whole families, nay, the inhabitants of whole villages, left
their beds and watched the livelong night, shivering, upon
the bleak hillsides, or in the gateways of the churches.
The fear of death was upon all, — God and the judgment-
bar an ever-present reality. The terrors of an unknown
world stared them in the face. Hell opened wide the por-
tals of its gates, and the cries and torments of the damned
seemed to rise up, upon the excited ear. "Help, Lord, for
we perish! Save, Lord, from thy wrath!" was the wail of
a despairing world.

Can we wonder that, in such circumstances as these,
surrounded by such an atmosphere as this, the Church
should gain a predominating influence, and that as a me-
dium between God and man it should stretch forth its arm
and be recognized as all-powerful and efficient? And when
the last night of suspense was over and the sun had risen
again, and men breathed freer and felt that the crisis was
past, would they not have a feeling of gratitude that ex-
pressed itself in gifts to those whom they had learned to
look upon as intercessors?

The fourth and last period is that of the Crusades, when
all Europe, stirred by one single impulse, leaps into vigorous
life, and hurries, men, women, and children, to the rescue of
the Holy Land. Of the universality of this movement, the
last impulse of the migratory instinct among these tribes so

246 HENRY HILL GOODELL

lately settled down, William of Malmesbury, afterwards
Bishop of Tyre, has left us a striking account in his Chroni-
cle. Having said that after the great council of Clermont
every one retired to his home, he continues thus: "Imme-
diately the fame of this great event being spread through
the universe, penetrates the minds of Christians with its
mild breath, and wherever it blew there was no nation, how-
ever distant or obscure it might be, that did not send some
of its people. This zeal not only animated the provinces
bordering on the Mediterranean, but all who had ever heard
the name of a Christian in the most remote isles and among
barbarous nations. Then the Welshman abandoned his
forests and neglected his hunting; the Scotchman deserted
his fleas, with which he is so familiar; the Dane ceased to
swallow his intoxicating draughts, and the Norican turned
his back upon his raw fish. The fields were left by the cul-
tivators and the houses by the inhabitants; all the cities
were deserted. People were restrained neither by ties of
blood nor the love of country; they saw nothing but God.
All that was in the granaries or destined for food was left
under the guardianship of the greedy agriculturist. The
voyage to Jerusalem was the only thing hoped for or thought
of. Joy animated the hearts of those who set out; grief
dwelt in the hearts of those who remained. Why do I say
of those who remained? You might have seen the husband
setting forth with his wife, with all his family; yea, you
would have laughed to see all the penates put in motion and
loaded upon carts. The road was too narrow for the pas-
sengers, more room was wanted for the travelers, so great
and numerous was the crowd."

From this great movement, which lasted two hundred

ADDRESSES 247

years, the Church gained an enormous increase of power and
territory. The secular princes ruined themselves for the
cause of Jesus Christ, whilst the princes of the Church took
advantage of the fervor of the Christians to enrich them-
selves. It bought up for a mere song an immense extent
of property, which the owners disposed of to raise the
funds requisite to equip them for this long journey, and thus
laid the foundation for those extensive church endowments
which in the time of Luther and the French Revolution
excited so bitter a controversy.

Summing up then the influence of the monks, we can
outline it thus: The rule of St. Benedict presented agri-
culture as an occupation useful and worthy of a truly reli-
gious person whose life was to be spent between manual
labor and spiritual contemplation.1 He taught that the
brothers ought not to feel themselves humiliated if poverty
compelled them to gather with their own hands the pro-
ducts of the soil. First, then, they themselves cultivated the
ground, and this has been continued even until our own
time in certain orders. The monks of Citeaux were par-
ticularly distinguished in this respect, for in their earlier
days it was not permitted them to possess any revenues.
When a new monastery was founded there was ordinarily
bestowed upon it land not yet broken or land which, hav-
ing been devastated by the incursions of the enemy, had
become useless to its owner. Sometimes it was covered
with forests or with water, or it was a sterile valley sur-
rounded by lofty mountains, or a country in which there
was no arable land and it was necessary for the monastery
to purchase earth in the neighborhood and bring it in. The
1 Hurter, Geschichte Papst Innocenz III und seiner Zeitgenossen.

248 HENRY HILL GOODELL

monks cleared with their own hands the forests and erected
peaceful habitations for man in the spots where formerly
had lurked the wolf and the bear. They turned aside devast-
ating torrents, they restrained, by means of dykes, rivers
accustomed to overflow their banks; and soon the deserts
where before was heard only the cry of the owl and the
hiss of the serpent were changed into smiling fields and fat
pasturage. The love of solitude, the desire of placing by
every means possible a check to human passion, inspired
them to seek out sites the most unhealthy and to render
them by cultivation not only sanitary but even profitable.
Modern writers recognize that Italy, devastated by the re-
peated incursions of Barbarians, owed its restoration, its
tranquillity, and the preservation of the last remains of art
to the monasteries. Wherever we see them rise we see
agriculture reappear, — the people relieved from their bur-
dens, and kindly relations established between the master
and the slave.

In the twelfth century impenetrable forests still covered
the valley of the Jura. A monastery of the order of Premon-
tre cut down the first trees in their forests and attracted
there the first colonists. A monastery of the order of Citeaux
had but a short time previously restricted within its
banks the river Saone, which covered with its overflow the
foot of Rodomont. It cleared the soil of the virgin forest
where now is situated the little city of Rougemont with its
two thousand inhabitants. At great expense and by almost
superhuman effort dykes were opposed to the waves of the
ocean, and they snatched from the element a soil which the
work of man changed afterward into fertile fields. Marshes
became arable land and the home of man. The monks

ADDRESSES 249

loved to acquire these marshes in order to render them
amenable to cultivation, and frequently even their monas-
teries rose out of the bosom of the waters. When it was
impossible to drain them, or when economy demanded it,
they brought straw and laid it down in bundles, and upon
these bundles earth was placed. They dug out ponds into
which they collected the superfluous waters by tiles used to
drain the land. In this way the monastic orders extended
the cultivation of the soil from the south of Europe even
to the most distant north. They facilitated communication
between different points, and were the organizers of differ-
ent kinds of industry. Sweden owes to them the perfection
of its race of horses and the beginnings of commerce in wheat.
On the island of Tuteron, where was formerly located a
monastery of the order of Citeaux, plants still grow spon-
taneously, which in the neighborhood one is compelled to
cultivate with care. The Abbot William brought the first
salad from France into Denmark. If in the eleventh cen-
tury England could boast of an agriculture more advanced
than many other countries, if it presented less forest and
heath and more cultivated lands and fat pasturage, it owes
it to the zeal of the monks who had found there in early
times a hospitable welcome. It was the monks who in
Flanders cleared the forests, drained the marshes, rendered
fertile the sandy lands, snatched from the sea its most an-
cient possessions and changed a desert into a blooming
garden.

There were certain abbeys, especially in England, that
took the greatest care not to clear the country of all trees.
It is related of Alexander, the first Abbot of Kirkstall, that,
foreseeing the necessities of the future, he forbade the cut-

250 HENRY HILL GOODELL

ting down of the vast forest he had acquired by divine pro-
tection, and preferred to purchase elsewhere the timber he
required in erecting his large buildings. The monks of
Pipwel in Northampton did not cease to plant trees in their
forests and were said to watch over them as a mother over
an only child. For their own private necessities they made
use of dead, dry wood and reeds.

As a rule, the monks took great care in the cultivation of
their land to conform to the laws of climate, soil, and lo-
cality. In the north they devoted themselves especially
to the raising of cattle, and in these countries the greatest
privileges that could be given them were woods and the
right to allow the swine to wander in them. In other coun-
tries they occupied themselves in the cultivation of fruit
trees, the improvement of which was their work. It was
the celebrated nursery of Chartreuse of Paris that up to the
epoch of the Revolution furnished fruit trees to almost the
whole of France, and the remembrance of their labors still
lives in the name of certain delicious fruits, such as the
doyenne and bon chretien pears. The finest orchards and
vineyards belonged to the monasteries. All the chronicles
speak of the cultivation of Mt. Menzing in the Canton of
Zug, which produced abundantly wheat and fruits and par-
ticularly nuts. The friendly relations existing between the
monasteries, the interchange of visits between the monks of
the different establishments, were of great advantage, for
foreign plants and fruits were exchanged and cultivated.

The monks were the first to devise tools for gardening.
They had calendars in which were set down all that experi-
ence had taught them respecting the breeding of cattle, the
sowing of land, the harvesting of crops, and every kind of

ADDRESSES 251

plantation. William of Malmesbury boasts of the fertility
of the valley of Gloucester in wheat, in fruits, and in vine-
yards, adding that the wines of this province are the best in
England and scarcely yield in quality to the wines of France.
The best vineyards of Germany not only belonged to the
monasteries, but had been planted by them, and we are
forced to recognize the judgment with which these first
planters selected their grounds. Tradition tells us that the
monks of St. Peter in the Black Forest planted the first vines
in the neighborhood of Weilheim and Bissingen, and the
wine of this latter place is still the best in the whole country.
The monks of Lorsch planted the vineyards of Bergstrasse
and those along the banks of the Rhine. Epicures when
drinking the delicious wine of Johannisberg still recall with
gratitude the monastery of Fulda. In every country of
Europe the monks stimulated the progress of agriculture as
much by their personal efforts as by the example they gave
to others. It was fortunate for the world that the first
founders of the religious orders enjoined upon their dis-
ciples manual labor rather than spiritual, and that the first
monasteries were founded not hi the cities, as those which
were founded later, but in the wildest and most unfre-
quented spots, which were transformed by their activity
and labors into the homes of thousands of peaceful and in-
dustrious men.

What I have said of the monks of Europe is equally true
of the missions of this country. There was the same evolu-
tion, and at their dissolution the same fate.

When Father Junipero Serra and his followers came as
Franciscan missionaries and established the chain of mis-
sions at San Diego, Los Angeles, San Gabriel, Monterey,

252 HENRY HILL GOODELL

Santa Clara, San Buenaventura, San Juan Capistrano and
San Francisco (Dolores), and San Luis Obispo, between
1767 and 1783, they estimated that there were over eighty
thousand Indians in Alta California. At the mission of
San Gabriel there were about seven thousand. The priests
wrote that they had never found anywhere such tractable
and energetic savages as those in California.1

After a few years the missionaries were never afraid to
trust their lives and property among the Indians. The
fathers taught the Indians at the several missions to sow
wheat, grind corn, till the soil, raise herds of cattle, dress
hides, and make their clothing. The priests brought grape-
vines, olives, fruits, and nuts from then* old homes in Spain
and Castile, and taught the Indians how to cultivate them
in California soil. In time the missionaries had induced
all the Indian families to come and dwell in pueblo com-
munities about the missions, where the Spanish padres were
monitors, socially, industrially, and religiously. When the
missions were legally disestablished by order of the Mexi-
can government, and the lands were partitioned to Mexican
families, the herds and flocks sold, and the missionaries told
to seek other walks of life, the Indian pueblos soon went to
ruin. The Indians themselves wandered aimlessly away,
settling hi one place until driven to another by the white
man. No one attempted to preserve their moral condition,
and to the natural savage inclination for licentiousness was
added the bad example of the low whites of the frontier of
those days.

My friends, I have outlined to you in briefest manner to-
day the work of these grand old monks during a period of
1 Bancroft, Pacific States ; Griswold, Spanish Missions.

ADDRESSES 253

fifteen hundred years. They saved agriculture when no-
body else could save it. They practised it under a new
life and new conditions when no one else dared undertake
it. They advanced it along every line of theory and prac-
tice, and when they perished they left a void which genera-
tions have not filled.

THE MASSACHUSETTS AGRICULTURAL
COLLEGE1

IN 1862, when the nation was struggling with the most
gigantic rebellion the world has ever seen, Congress, with
a wise foresight seldom equaled, and a reversal of the old
motto, "In time of peace prepare for war," calmly turned
from the perplexing questions of the conflict and con-
sidered and passed an act donating to the "several states
and territories which may provide colleges for the benefit
of agriculture and the mechanic arts, " public lands equal-
ing in amount thirty thousand acres for each senator and
representative then in Congress. In return for this dona-
tion it stipulated two things: first, that the income of the
fund derived from the sale of those lands should be held
inviolably for purposes of instruction; and, second, that
military instruction should be given, for which a regular
army officer would be detailed by the United States govern-
ment. Under the provisions of this endowment fifty-two
colleges and schools have been established, either as inde-
pendent organizations or as colleges of universities al-
ready existing, with a teaching force of about 900, and an
attendance of some 15,000 students.

Let it be clearly understood at the outset that these
are not exclusively agricultural colleges, but institutions
designed for the benefit of the industrial classes. "With-
out excluding any studies recognized as forming part of

1 Reprinted from the New England Magazine, by permission of the
publishers.

ADDRESSES 255

a liberal education, they are directed to teach such branches
of learning as are related to agriculture and the mechanic
arts, with the declared object of providing for those classes
a liberal and practical education in the various pursuits and
professions in life." It has resulted from this that, adapt-
ing themselves to the individual needs of their respective
states, some are exclusively agricultural, while others
combine the agricultural with the mechanical. Three
things are named in the organic law: agriculture, mechanic
arts, and military tactics. The name "agricultural" used
alone is therefore as misleading as that of "mechanical"
or "military" would be.

A quarter of a century has passed since the passage of
the act, and sufficient time has now elapsed to show its
merits or defects. The grant was originally based upon
representation in population, resulting in very unequal
endowments, the smaller states receiving a much smaller
amount than the larger ones, while the expenses of main-
tenance were about the same. Again, it was found that in-
stitutions for teaching natural science required a much
larger outlay for the "plant" and for their annual work
than purely literary institutions. The scientific work re-
quired to be done in the course of instruction and experi-
ment demanded an extensive equipment in the way of
laboratories, machine-shops, apparatus, farms to be used
for purposes of experiment, cattle to be tested for their
qualities, etc. In the twenty-five years past the field of
science had so greatly enlarged, and the demands made
upon the colleges so greatly increased, that none but the
wealthier institutions could keep pace with them, or even
measurably answer the requirements of the times. To

256 HENRY HILL GOODELL

provide then for this growing demand for instruction in the
sciences, with special reference to their applications in the
industries of life, and to compensate for the inadequateness
of the original endowment, Congress has this year [1890]
passed an act, supplementing that of 1862, in further aid
of the agricultural and mechanical colleges, granting an
equal amount to each state. In doing this it has but fol-
lowed the general tendency of the age. "The government
of every leading country outside of the United States has
recognized the necessity of providing on a large and gener-
ous scale for the establishment and maintenance of scien-
tific instruction of every grade, from the primary to the
highest, and it is everywhere regarded as one of the first
duties of statesmanship to see that the citizens of the
country are not left behind in the race of modern com-
petition for lack of any resource that science can bring to
their aid. The margin of profit in the competition of
modern industries is so small and so closely calculated
that the best instructed people will be the winning people"

The Massachusetts Agricultural College is located at
Amherst. The act of incorporation by which it was es-
tablished became a law April 29, 1863, while the accept-
ance of the congressional grant was declared eleven days
before. The College is under the control of a board of
trustees, consisting of the Governor of the Commonwealth,
the Secretary of the Board of Education, the Secretary of
the Board of Agriculture, and the President of the Faculty,
as ex-offido members, and fourteen others appointed by the
Governor for a term of seven years. The appointed mem-
bers are divided into seven classes, so that two vacancies
in their number regularly occur each year. The board was

ADDRESSES 257

organized November 8, 1863, with John A.Andrew as presi-
dent, Allen W. Dodge as vice-president, and Charles
L. Flint as secretary. The question of the location
of the college was the occasion of considerable debate.
A number of influential men, including Governor An-
drew, Professor Agassiz, and President Thomas Hill,
favored making the agricultural college a department of
Harvard. The decision of the legislature and the trustees
was in favor of a separate institution. It was characteris-
tic of our great war governor, that no sooner was the de-
cision of the legislature made in favor of a separate institu-
tion, than, abandoning all his previous opinions, he entered
heartily into this plan and cooperated to the extent of
his power. Several towns offered to comply with the re-
quirement of the legislature, that $75,000 for the erection
of buildings be pledged before any portion of the public
funds should be given to the college. Amherst was finally
selected. On the 29th of November, 1864, the Hon. Henry
F. French was elected president of the College. He was
a man thoroughly identified with agricultural pursuits,
had written a work on drainage, and was widely known
by his contributions to the different journals. It was felt
that his knowledge of the subject and his large experience
in men and affairs ensured his success; but he failed to
meet the demands of the situation; and after two years, a
difference of opinion having arisen between himself and
the trustees as to the proper site for the college buildings,
he resigned. Ill luck seemed destined to pursue the College
at its founding; for his successor, Professor Paul A. Chad-
bourne, for many years an enthusiastic and successful
instructor in the natural sciences at Williams College,

258 HENRY HILL GOODELL

was compelled to resign in a few months, by reason of ill-
health. The trustees then elected Professor William S.
Clark, who had been for years interested in the movement
for agricultural education, and who was at that time
filling the chair of chemistry and botany in Amherst Col-
lege. He was a man of singular enthusiasm and energy, and
to him more than any one else the College owes the meas-
ure of success it has attained. The course of study marked
out by him has been substantially followed ever since.
Resolved on having the best, he quickly gathered about
him a corps of instructors that made the College at once
leap into prominence; and the series of novel experiments
he conducted relating to the circulation of sap in plants
and the expansive force exerted by the vegetable cell in
its growth, caused the gifted Agassiz to remark that if the
College had done nothing else, this alone was sufficient to
compensate the state for all its outlay. The squash he
had selected for observation, in its iron harness, lifting
five thousand pounds before it had ceased to grow, excited
attention far and wide, and was visited by thousands.1
But his best work was as an educator. Bringing to the
lecture-room that intense enthusiasm and personal mag-
netism so characteristic of the man, he quickly established
a bond of sympathy between teacher and scholar that
was never broken. The same brilliant qualities that at-
tracted men in the outside world made themselves felt
in his teaching. The dry details of science were enlivened
by the light play of his fancy, and the charming method of
his teaching seldom failed to arouse the dullest intellect.
The College was opened to receive students on the 2d
1 See College Report, 1875.

ADDRESSES 259

of October, 1867, and forty-seven students were admitted
before the close of the first term. Never will the writer of
this article forget the remark of President Clark, as we
drove over together, on the opening day, to the place of
examination : "I do not know of a single man that is coming
to-day, but I believe the heart of the old Bay State will
beat true to the opportunity presented it." And when we
found twenty-seven young men awaiting the ordeal, his
joy knew no bounds, and I think he was inclined to admit
the whole number at once, withour further trial. During
his administration the perpetual fund for the maintenance
of the College was largely increased by the generosity of
the state, new buildings were erected, and the faculty was
enlarged. The College also entered into an agreement to
represent the agricultural department of Boston Univer-
sity, the matriculants of the one being eligible to take
the diploma of the other.

The buildings of the Massachusetts Agricultural Col-
lege at the present time include a laboratory, botanic
museum, two plant-houses, dormitories containing reci-
tation-rooms, a chapel-library building, club-house, farm-
house with barn and sheds, drill-hall, and five dwelling
houses, representing a total value of about $200,000.
The farm consists of 384 acres, some eighty acres of
which are set off for experimental purposes, and the rest
divided between cultivated, grass, and wood-land. It is lo-
cated on the eastern water-shed of the Connecticut River,
bounded west by a tributary of that stream, with a rivu-
let running through it from southeast to northwest, empty-
ing into the tributary. The land adjacent to these streams
is rolling and high enough to give good drainage; the

260 HENRY HILL GOODELL

soil, a heavy, sandy loam, with underlying clay. The east-
ern and highest part of the farm is drift, covered with
gravelly loam, with occasional pockets of heavy, sandy
loam. Much of this part of the farm has a substratum of
hard pan. In short, the soil does not materially differ from
that found in other parts of the state, always excepting
such as is peculiar to particular localities, as the sand of
Cape Cod, etc. Seventy to eighty head of live stock are
kept, including representatives of Ayrshires, Guernseys,
Holstein-Friesians, Jerseys, Shorthorns, Percherons, South-
down sheep, and small Yorkshire swine.

While all the departments are fairly well equipped, the
agricultural and horticultural, as would naturally be ex-
pected, are best supplied, and no pains are spared to prac-
tically drive home the teachings of the recitation-room.
As the agricultural department has its barns and different
breeds of cattle, its labor-saving implements and silos, so
the horticultural has its green-houses and nurseries, its
herbaria and models. Orchards of fifteen to twenty acres,
containing all the standard varieties of small and large
fruits, lie in immediate proximity, and for further prac-
tical study there is a vineyard containing thirty to forty
varieties of fully tested grapes; a nursery of 30,000 to
40,000 trees, shrubs, and vines in various stages of
growth; a market garden; and a grove covering several
acres, affording ample opportunity for observations in
practical forestry. Methods of planting, training, and
pruning, budding, layering and grafting, gathering and
packing fruits are taught by field exercises, the students
doing a large part of the work. The botanical department,
naturally joined with the horticultural, is in like manner

ADDRESSES 261

well supplied. In the museum is the Knowlton herbarium,
collected by W. W. Denslow of New York, consisting
of over 15,000 species of plants from all parts of
the world; a collection of models of nearly all the leading
varieties of apples and pears; hundreds of sections of wood,
cut so as to show their individual structure; specimens of
abnormal and peculiar forms of stems, fruits, and vege-
tables; together with many specimens and models prepared
for illustrating the growth and structure of plants. Sec-
tions of trees joined together like the Siamese twins stand
side by side, with the "giant squash" in its iron harness,
while along the walls are suspended gigantic specimens of
marine algae. For use in the lecture-rooms are diagrams and
charts containing over 3,000 figures, illustrating structural
and systematic botany; and immediately adjacent is the
laboratory fitted up with tables and compound microscopes,
where the students engage in practical study of the growth
and structure of the common plants cultivated in the green-
house and the garden or on the farm. Valuable adjuncts to
the recitation-room are the conservatories containing a
large collection of tropical productions, together with all
the leading plants used for house culture, cut flowers, and
outdoor ornamentation. The same practical work is en-
gaged in here, and the student is expected to make himself
familiar with the different methods of propagating, hybrid-
izing, and cultivating useful and ornamental plants. All
kinds of garden and farm-garden crops are grown in this
department, special attention being given to the treatment
of market-garden crops, the selection of varieties, and the
growth of seed.

Located on the college grounds are two experiment

262 HENRY HILL GOODELL

stations, the one established and maintained by the state,
the other by the United States government, entitled the
Hatch Experiment Station of the Massachusetts Agri-
cultural College.1 The former is under a board of control
made up of eleven members, four of whom are members
ex officio, and the rest elected respectively by the Board
of Agriculture, the Massachusetts State Horticultural
Society, the Massachusetts Society for Promoting Agri-
culture, the trustees of the Agricultural College, and the
State Grange, to represent their organizations. The latter
forms a department of the college, controlled by its trus-
tees and subject to their direction. Each is distinct from
the other in its organization and work. The Hatch Experi-
ment Station devotes itself to the investigation of meteoro-
logical phenomena as affecting plant growth, economic
entomology, and the practical questions of every kind
arising in horticulture and agriculture, while the state
station turns its attention to questions of analysis, food
rations, diseases of plants, and the like. With its accus-
tomed liberality the state has erected and equipped, at an
expense of about $30,000, a fine laboratory, and a build-
ing with a glass house attached, to be used exclusively for
the investigation of such diseases as the smut, the mildew,
and the scab. This station has been in existence about
eight years, and has recently issued its seventh annual re-
port, filled with information of value to the farmer.

The Hatch Experiment Station is of more recent origin,
being created by an act of Congress, passed February 25,
1887, appropriating $15,000 annually to each state and

1 The two Experiment Stations were united in 1895, after this paper
was printed.

ADDRESSES 263

territory for the purpose of establishing and maintaining
an experiment department in connection with the colleges
of agriculture and the mechanic arts, to be known and
designated as an "agricultural experiment station."

Under the provisions of this act the station at Amherst
was organized, March 2, 1888, with four departments, —
the agricultural, horticultural, entomological, and mete-
orological. By an arrangement with the state station all
questions of a chemical nature are referred to it for in-
vestigation, thereby saving the expense of erecting and
equipping another laboratory. Each department has a
building of its own allotted exclusively to its own use. In
the meteorological department a full set of self-recording
instruments has been placed, where daily and hourly ob-
servations of all meteorological phenomena are taken and
kept. The horticultural department has its green-houses,
in which tests of fertilizers under glass are made, and where
experimentation is continued throughout the year. The
agricultural department has its barn fitted up in the most
approved way for conducting tests in feeding, or investi-
gating questions pertaining to the dairy. The entomologi-
cal department has its insectary, where plants are grown
and the life-histories of their insect enemies studied, while
at the same time trial is being made of the best methods
of applying different insecticides. The general policy of the
station has been to furnish information on such subjects
as were attracting the attention of the public, and to in-
vestigate questions of practical importance. It issues regu-
lar quarterly bulletins, and special ones, as occasion seems
to demand; thus, when the gypsy moth appeared in the
eastern part of the state a special illustrated bulletin,

264 HENRY HILL GOODELL

describing the insect, its destructive habits, and the best
remedies for combatting it, was prepared and sent to every
tax-payer in the infested district and the adjacent towns.
All these bulletins are sent free to each newspaper in the
state, and to such residents engaged in farming as may
request the same. The College for many years prior to the
establishment of these stations had been carrying on ex-
periments in a limited way, and the investigations of
Goessmann, Stockbridge, Maynard, and Clark have been
of immense value to the farmers of the state, and are re-
cognized throughout the country.

We are told that "agriculture is not a patchwork of
all the natural sciences, but is itself a vast subject upon
which the various natural sciences shed their rays of
light," and that the teacher of agriculture can do little
more than indicate the points of contact between his
own great subject and the sciences which surround it,
leaving the explanations to those into whose domains they
properly fall. With this broad definition of agriculture, —
itself a science, complete in itself, yet touching all sciences
and all branches of knowledge, — and taking as our guide
the law that the teacher of agriculture can but indicate
these points of contact and leave to others then- explana-
tion, we have endeavored to rear our superstructure of
agricultural education: agriculture, our foundation; bot-
any, chemistry, veterinary, and mathematics, our four
corner-stones; while the walls arebuilt high with horti-
culture, market-gardening, and forestry on the one side,
physiology, etymology, and the comparative anatomy of
the domestic animals on the second, mechanics, physics,
and meteorology on the third, and a study of the English

ADDRESSES 265

language, political economy, and constitutional history on
the fourth. These separate lines of study, each distinct
in itself, yet each aiding in the interpretation or solution
of the difficult problems met with, require a four-year
course. They proceed hand in hand, and the completion
of a study in one department is coincident with that in
another. Mutual help is the watchword; each for all and
all for each, in the laying broad and deep the foundation,
and building up the solid structure. Thus, when the rela-
tions of the weather — of heat, air, moisture — to farming
are considered, on the botanical side are being studied
the structure of the plant, its organs, the relations of its
root-system to soil and moisture; on the chemical, the
elements important in an agricultural point of view and
their properties; and on the mathematical, such algebra
and geometry as will lead to practical work in drainage and
surveying. So, too, when soils and tillage are being con-
sidered, are studied in like manner those plants beneficial
or injurious to man, general geology, and the insects
hurtful or otherwise to the crops. In short, the effort is
made to have each course supplement and harmonize
with the other, and the different studies so fit into each
other as to make one rounded whole. But let it be under-
stood that while the greatest effort and the largest ex-
pense have been bestowed upon the agricultural depart-
ment, the authorities of the College entirely disclaim any
attempt to narrow its graduates down to a choice of that
profession alone. The opportunity for acquiring a valu-
able education, which shall fit one for the practical duties of
life, is open to all, and all are welcomed, whatever the pro-
fession they may ultimately pursue. Believing that the

266 HENRY HILL GOODELL

training of her young men in all that pertains to the use
of arms, in the duties of the officer in handling and in-
structing troops, and in the construction of fortifications,
would be of immense value to the commonwealth, the state
has made ample provision for this department. A fine
drill hall and armory have been erected, and arms and
equipments issued. The United States details one of its
officers for duty at the College, who is reckoned as one of
the faculty, and who is responsible for the efficiency and
good order of the department.

It will have been noticed that in the course of instruc-
tion no mention is made of the mechanic arts. At the time
of the legislative acceptance of the national grant the
Institute of Technology in Boston was already established,
and it was deemed wiser to extend aid to it than to start
a new school. Accordingly, one third of the income de-
rived from the maintenance fund of the United States has
ever since been annually paid over to it from the treasury
of the commonwealth. This action of the legislature re-
lieves the College from the necessity of giving instruction
in that department, and has resulted in making the Col-
lege more purely agricultural than any other in the coun-
try. Realizing the necessity of providing a higher educa-
tion within the reach of those in moderate or straitened
circumstances, the state has thrown wide the doors of its
College and furnished every facility for acquiring such
education at a minimum cost. Its tuition has been made
practically free, and by the establishment of a labor fund,
out of which a portion of the expenses can be paid in hon-
est work, it has brought within the reach of a class of de-
serving young men forming the best possible material for

ADDRESSES 267

manhood and citizenship an education obtainable in no
other way.

The College has had many earnest friends, but it has also
encountered much opposition. The importance of a tech-
nical education has until recently been hardly appreciated
by the farmers of the state. The rapidity with which the
native population has emigrated to the western states,
leaving their farms in the hands of an alien population,
has been a factor of great importance in this connection.
In 1870 a determined attempt was made to stop all further
grants of money from the state; and several years later it
was proposed to make the Agricultural College a depart-
ment of Amherst College. The only result of these attempts,
however, has been to establish it on a firmer basis than
ever, and give to it renewed life and vigor.

RELATION OF THE STATE BOARD OF
AGRICULTURE TO THE MASSACHU-
SETTS AGRICULTURAL COLLEGE1

MANY centuries ago the Apostle Peter, writing to his
followers, said: "I stir up your pure minds by way of re-
membrance"; and centuries before the Apostle Peter lived
it had been written: "Remember the days of old; ask thy
father and he will show thee; thy elders and they will tell
thee." It is fitting, therefore, that at the close of this first
half -century of its existence the Board of Agriculture should
hold its day of remembrance, and, calling upon its father
to show them and its elders to tell them, should gather up
the memories of the past and transmit them to their child-
ren to hold and guard forever. My mission, then, to-day
is to stir up your pure minds by recalling to your remem-
brance the relation of this Board to agricultural education,
and more particularly to its college of agriculture. Thirty-
nine years, counting from the charter of this College, is the
measure of its span, and each year has brought with it some
expression of the Board's thoughtful care. Even before its
establishment as a Board we find the trustees of the Norfolk
Agricultural Society voting that its "president and secre-
taries be a committee to mature and adopt a plan for a
convention of delegates from the various agricultural socie-
ties of the Commonwealth, to be holden at some convenient
time and place, the object of which shall be to concert

1 Address delivered at the fiftieth anniversary meeting of the Massa-
chusetts State Board of Agriculture, at Boston, July 22, 1902.

ADDRESSES 269

measures for their mutual advantage, and for the promotion
of the cause of agricultural education." At the morning
session of that convention, held at the State House, March
20, 1851, the president, Marshall P. Wilder, announcing the
subjects for discussion, spoke as follows: "It is also to be
hoped that the cause of agricultural education, now about to
receive the consideration of the Legislature, will not be over-
looked in the deliberations of this body; and, if it be the
opinion of this convention that agriculture may be pro-
moted by the application of science, that such a sentiment
may be expressed in terms so explicit as not to be misunder-
stood, and that the aid of government may be solicited for
this purpose." At the afternoon session Mr. Sewall of Med-
field, from the business committee, presented a preamble
and resolutions, the fourth, fifth, and eighth of which bear
directly upon the subject now under consideration : —

Resolved (4), That agricultural schools having been found,
by the experience of other nations, efficient means in pro-
moting the cause of agricultural education, which is so es-
sential to the prosperity of farmers and to the welfare of
communities, it becomes at once the duty and policy of the
Commonwealth to establish and maintain such institutions
for the benefit of all its inhabitants.

Resolved (5), That the several plans for an agricultural
school, recently reported by the Board of Commissioners
appointed for that purpose, are worthy the profound con-
sideration of the people of Massachusetts and their repre-
sentatives in the General Court, as indicating the feasi-
bility and practicability of an establishment worthy that
exalted character which the State has secured by the en-

270 HENRY HILL GOODELL

dowment of kindred institutions, designed, like these, for
the diffusion of useful knowledge among the people.

Resolved (8), That the convention respectfully suggests
to the Legislature the propriety and expediency of reserving
the entire proceeds of the sales of the public lands of the
Commonwealth — from and after the period when the
common-school fund shall have reached the maximum
fixed by the act of 1834 — for purposes of education and
charity, with a view to extending that aid and encourage-
ment to a system of agricultural education, which the im-
portance of the subject so imperiously demands.

The discussion over the different resolutions was, as the
faithful chronicler puts it, continued, protracted, and at
times vigorous. It was carried over into the evening session,
and among those taking part we find the names of Marshall
P. Wilder, Governor Boutwell, President Hitchcock of
Amherst College, Professor Fowler of the same institution,
Judge Mack of Salem, and William Buckminster, editor
of the "Massachusetts Ploughman."

John Brooks of Princeton appears to have been the only
opponent. He said : " This resolution seems to squint toward
a college. If it has that tendency I shall be opposed to it,
for I do not believe that the farmers are prepared to spend
money in instituting a college. ... As for lecturing to the
people, I doubt whether that is advantageous, for the very
best reason to my mind in the world, — that the lecturer
will not know what to say; that he has no data on which
to make out any speech, because science, as I understand
it, is based upon facts. What facts has this commissioner
that are applicable to agriculture in this State? I say, sir,

ADDRESSES 271

generally speaking, no fact. And why? Because the science
of agriculture has not yet grown up in this country."

Richard Bagg, Jr., of Springfield, closed some breezy re-
marks by exclaiming: "Let us remember that if the State
provide the means and appliances for a scientific course of
agricultural study, the young man must 'wake up from
his drowsy nap/ and qualify himself 'to go up higher."'

The fourth and fifth resolutions were adopted, but we
fail to learn the fate of the eighth, having reference to re-
serving the entire proceeds of the sale of public lands for
purposes of education and charity.

At the first meeting of the Massachusetts Board of Agri-
culture, September 3, 1851, Marshall P. Wilder, William
C. Fowler, John W. Proctor, J. H. W. Page, and S. Reed
were chosen a committee to report on the subject of agri-
cultural education and the best measures to be adopted for
the encouragement of such education. The report of this
committee was presented at the second meeting of the
Board on January 14, 1852. It was discussed at this
meeting, and also at the third meeting of the Board, on
February 3, 1852, when it was adopted. This report,
signed by Marshall P. Wilder as chairman, resolves: "That
Massachusetts, by an enlightened policy and wise legisla-
tion, has rendered her system of education worthy of her
exalted reputation, and that this Board most earnestly
desire her to complete that system by providing kindred
institutions for the scientific education of the farmer, upon
whom is levied so large a share of the taxes for the support
of governmental and philanthropic objects; that it is the
duty, as well as the interest of the State, to aid in furnish-
ing the means for such an education; and that a thorough

272 HENRY HILL GOODELL

systematic course of education is as necessary to prepare
the cultivator of the soil for preeminence in his calling, as to
secure excellence in any of the schools of science or art."
These are no uncertain words, and fittingly echo the fer-
vent hope of Mr. Wilder in his opening remarks, "that, if
it be the opinion of this convention that agriculture may be
promoted by the application of science, such a sentiment
may be expressed hi terms so explicit as not to be mis-
understood."

There seems to have been at this time a general awaken-
ing to the necessities of an agricultural education. Henry
L. Dawes, in an address on agricultural education before
the Housatonic Agricultural Society hi 1853, after enumer-
ating the obstacles to be encountered by the farmer in the
discharge of the grand, crowning duty of the day, — the
regeneration of the soil of Massachusetts, — said : "And the
means not now within his reach, that shall enable him to
triumph over them in this great attainment, are the neces-
sities of the farmers of this Commonwealth. The means
lie in an agricultural education. And for their accomplish-
ment let Massachusetts establish an agricultural school,
where will be taught the principles of the science and their
application to the art of agriculture; and let the doors of
knowledge be opened wide to all the sons of her soil, — not
for the study of the speculative and mysterious, but of the
practical and useful."

The Board of Agriculture led the way in this popular
movement; and we find that at its third meeting, held
September 7, 1852, a committee was appointed to consider
the expediency of preparing a manual on agriculture for the
use of common schools.

ADDRESSES 273

Again, at a meeting held three years later, January 16,
1856, a committee previously appointed to consider and
report to the Board what further measures, if any, were
needed to subserve the cause of agriculture in this Com-
monwealth, made the following report, which was ac-
cepted : —

Having given the subject their careful consideration, the
committee are of the opinion that nothing would be better
calculated to advance the cause of agriculture and foster
and direct the growing interest therein throughout the com-
munity at large, than the immediate establishment of an
experimental farm, and, as soon as the funds shall permit,
of an agricultural school in connection therewith, where
both the science and the practice of farming may be taught
in all their departments.

Your committee do not propose to set forth in detail
the many reasons which have led them to this conclusion,
but they will be pardoned in suggesting one or two of the
most important: —

First. There is not at the present time, to the knowledge
of your committee, any society or board existing in the
Commonwealth authorized by act of the Legislature to
hold funds to be applied exclusively to the advancement of
scientific and practical agriculture or the diffusion of know-
ledge connected with rural economy.

Secondly. In the opinion of your committee, the time
has arrived when the wants of the community demand
something of this kind; a time when the learned profes-
sions seem more than full; when the attention of our citi-
zens, and in particular of our young men, is being more than

274 HENRY HILL GOODELL

ever directed to the cultivation of the soil; and when many
both wealthy and liberal men in the Commonwealth are
holding out the inducement of an ample supply of funds in
furtherance of such an undertaking.

Influenced by these considerations, among many others,
your committee respectfully recommend that a committee
be chosen by this Board to apply to the present Legislature
for an act authorizing the formation of a Board of Trustees,
capable of holding funds to be applied in establishing an
experimental farm and agricultural school connected with
it, designed to furnish instruction in every branch of rural
economy, theoretical and practical.

B. V. FRENCH.

SETH SPRAGUE.

JOHN BROOKS.

Acting on the recommendation in the above report, the
Board appointed Messrs. French, Newell, Sprague, Wilder,
and Secretary Flint a committee; and, as a result of this
action, the Legislature incorporated the Massachusetts
School of Agriculture, but no institution was established.

At a meeting of the Board of Agriculture, October 15,
1856, Messrs. John C. Bartlett, Benjamin V. French and
Secretary Flint were appointed a committee to take into
consideration the propriety of having a text-book on agri-
culture, prepared under the sanction of the Board.

At the annual meeting, January 5, 1860, Mr. Richard S.
Fay offered the following resolution, which was adopted : —

Resolved, as the opinion of this Board, that a system of
agricultural education should be adopted and form a part
of the educational system of the State.

ADDRESSES 275

Following the adoption of this resolution, the Board
chose by ballot Messrs. Simon Brown, Richard S. Fay and
Marshall P. Wilder a committee to prepare a plan for
carrying it into effect, and to report the same to the Board
for further action.

At a later meeting, held February 2, 1860, Dr. George
B. Loring offered the following resolutions, which were
adopted : —

Resolved, That the committee on agricultural education
be and hereby are authorized to prepare an elementary
manual of agriculture for the use of our common schools,
to be submitted to this Board for approval.

Resolved, That the said committee be requested to cause
to be introduced the aforesaid manual, when approved by
this Board, into the common schools of Massachusetts, in
the manner provided for the introduction of school books
by the laws of the Commonwealth; and that said committee
be authorized to apply to the Legislature for the passage
of an act for the accomplishment of this object.

At a meeting held January 10, 1861, on motion of Mr.
Fay, it was

Voted, That the committee on the manual be authorized
to accept a proposition from Mr. Emerson and Mr. Flint,
securing to them the copyright of the manual as a compen-
sation for their services in preparing the book, upon such
terms as to price of the work to be furnished to public
schools, farmers' clubs and agricultural associations in
Massachusetts as may be agreed upon by said committee.

276 HENRY HILL GOODELL

At a meeting of the Board, January 25, 1861, Colonel
Wilder presented the following resolution, which was unan-
imously adopted: —

Resolved, That this Board approve of the Manual of
Agriculture, submitted by its authors, Messrs. Geo. B.
Emerson and Charles L. Flint, and recommend its publica-
tion by those gentlemen as a work well adapted for use in
the schools of Massachusetts.

And at a meeting of the Board, January 17, 1862, on
motion of Mr. James S. Grinnell, it was

Resolved, That a committee of three, consisting of Messrs.
Joseph White, Charles C. Sewall, and Henry H. Peters, be
requested to represent the merits of the Manual of Agri-
culture to the committee of the Legislature on education,
on the order "To consider the expediency of including the
elements of agriculture among the branches to be taught in
all the public schools hi which the school committee deem
it expedient."

As a result of this action, the Legislature of 1862, by
Chapter 7, provided that "agriculture shall be taught, by
lectures or otherwise, in all the public schools in which the
school committee deem it expedient."

But it must not be imagined for a moment that all was
plain sailing. There were to be found, even as now, those
who sneered at book knowledge, or doubted the expediency
of any such measure. Hon. Amasa Walker did not hesitate
to say, in an address before the Worcester South Agricul-
tural Society: "Farmers are the great mass of the people,

ADDRESSES 277

and how can they, from their very numbers, be educated at
college? And then the expense could never be encountered
by the farming interest, nor could the sons be spared from
the farms, nor would it be desirable to so break up their
habits as farmers as to put them under one, two or more
years' tuition at college. Besides, colleges are made for
professional men, not for the people, and their mission
never was and never will be to educate the million." Mr.
Jackson said that if a boy learned to read, write, cipher, and
spell, he would make an excellent farmer. What need of
science? The good old way of his fathers was sufficient.
It was only the old story told by George Eliot in the " Mill
on the Floss," and it is Farmer John who speaks: "What
I want," said he, "is to give Tom a good eddication, — an
eddication as 'ud be bread for him. That was what I was
thinking of when I gave notice for him to leave the academy
at Lady Day. I mean to put him to a downright good
school at midsummer. The two years at th' academy 'ud
ha' done well enough, if I 'd meant to ha' made a farmer of
him, for he 's had a fine sight more schoolin' nor ever I got.
All the learnin' my father ever paid for was a bit o' birch at
one end and the alphabet at the other."

And even our good Governor, who has charmed us this
morning with his reminiscences of the past, is reported as
saying that all this matter of agricultural education was
mere nonsense, — that he had always said that the agri-
cultural college would be a failure; that it could not succeed
in the nature of things, for as soon as you educated a boy,
he would leave the farm. Consequently, the conclusion he
came to was, that all the education a farmer got he would
have to get at the tail of a plough.

278 HENRY HILL GOODELL

At the very first intimation of a movement in the national
House of Representatives, looking towards the establish-
ment of colleges for the benefit of agriculture and the me-
chanic arts, the Board of Agriculture promptly placed
itself on record. At a meeting held April 7, 1858, it was

Resolved, That this Board do most heartily approve of the
objects of a bill presented in the House of Representatives
in Congress, December 14, 1857, by Hon. Justin S. Morrill
of Vermont, requesting Congress to donate public lands to
each State and Territory which may provide colleges for
the benefit of agriculture and the mechanic arts; and that
our Senators and Representatives in Congress be requested
to render their best aid in securing the passage of said bill
into a law; and that our secretary be requested to serve
each of our Senators and Representatives with a copy of
the above.

At a meeting of the Board, January 8, 1861, Mr. Levi
Stockbridge of Hadley offered the following resolution: —

Resolved, That, in the opinion of this Board, the time has
arrived for the inauguration of measures tending to the es-
tablishment of an agricultural school of high grade under
the patronage of the Commonwealth.

At a meeting held the 25th of the same month, on motion
of Mr. James S. Grinnell of Greenfield, it was

Resolved, That this Board, believing that the establish-
ment of an agricultural school would advance the interests

ADDRESSES 279

of agriculture in this Commonwealth, is disposed to give
its influence to any well-directed plan for such a school.

Following this resolution, Messrs. Marshall P. Wilder,
Freeman Walker, William S. Clark, Levi Stockbridge, and
Charles C. Sewall were chosen a committee "to cooperate
at their discretion with any men or body of men who may
have any plan for an agricultural school, and to present and
report their proceedings at the next meeting of the Board."

At a meeting held February 27, 1863, Colonel Wilder
made a statement of the doings of the above committee.
After some discussion, Dr. George B. Loring presented the
following resolutions, which were unanimously adopted: —

Resolved, That, in the opinion of the State Board of Agri-
culture, the grant of land made by Congress to the several
States for the establishment of colleges for instruction in
agriculture and the mechanic arts is designed expressly for
the general diffusion of useful knowledge in these two
branches among the people.

Resolved, That the Legislature is hereby respectfully re-
quested to make such disposition of the grant as will en-
able the Board of Agriculture, as immediately representing
the farming interests of the Commonwealth, to enlarge its
sphere of usefulness by exercising a supervision over the
employment of the funds arising from the grant, for the
purpose of securing the confidence of the agricultural com-
munity, and of conducting such a scheme as will operate
for the benefit of those engaged in this business.

Resolved, That, in the opinion of this Board, the interests
of the State and intentions of Congress require that the

280 HENRY HILL GOODELL

grant should be principally devoted to the establishment
of an educational institution for the practical and scientific
study of agriculture and for the instruction of youths who
intend to follow industrial pursuits, and that the institu-
tion should not be immediately connected with any insti-
tution established for other purposes.

Resolved, That a committee of five be appointed to
present these resolutions to the committee of the Legisla-
ture having the subject under consideration, and to express
the views of this Board upon the proper disposition of the
Congresssional grant.

The committee provided for in the last resolution was
constituted by the appointment of Messrs. Marshall P.
Wilder, Paoli Lathrop, George B. Loring, S. B. Phinney,
John Brooks, Henry Colt, and Charles G. Davis.

At a meeting held January 30, 1865, Dr. Loring offered
the following resolutions, which were unanimously adopted :

Resolved, That the agricultural College should maintain
an intimate relation to the agricultural societies and the
farmers of the Commonwealth, as a means of disseminating
practical inf ormation and affording the best means of edu-
cating young men for the business of farming.

Resolved, That, for this purpose, every effort should be
made to connect the State Board of Agriculture with the
government of the college, for the express object of bringing
the agricultural societies into close connection with that
institution, and as the most useful method of combining all
the efforts of the Commonwealth in one system of practical
agricultural education.

ADDRESSES 281

From this time on we find the Board taking the most
active interest in the establishment of the College, provid-
ing in every possible way for its welfare, and seeking to
enter into a closer and more intimate union. We can do
little more than briefly enumerate these continued expres-
sions of its good-will.

We find it in 1866 the author of an act constituting the
president of the College a member ex officio of the Board;
and further providing that it should be constituted into a
Board of Overseers over the College, but without powers
to control the action of its trustees or to negative their
powers and duties. In this same act the Board was
authorized to locate its cabinet and library at the College,
and to hold its stated meetings there.

We next find it in 1867 urging upon the agricultural
societies to establish and maintain at least one scholarship
at the College. As a result of this effort, we find in 1869
eighteen of these societies supporting a scholarship, while
the Massachusetts held itself responsible for three and the
Essex and the Plymouth each two. At this same time it
advocated the proposal that each agricultural society should
set aside one sixth of the monies granted to it by the State
as a fund towards the support of a professor at the College,
whose duty it should be to carry out such experiments as
the Board might from time to time direct. A circular was
sent out to each of the thirty agricultural societies, asking
whether it would consent to such setting aside of one sixth
of its stated income. This proposition, however, failed to
go into effect; and a resolution was then adopted stating
that it was desirable that the secretary of the Board should
be located at the College and become a professor, performing

282 HENRY HILL GOODELL

such professional duties as the trustees might direct, and
receiving a competent salary from the Commonwealth.
This resolution was reconsidered the next year, and the fol-
lowing resolution adopted: "That Charles L. Flint, the
secretary of this Board, be authorized to deliver a course of
lectures at the Agricultural College, or to discharge such
duties connected with the instruction of the students at that
institution, as the trustees may assign to him, provided
that such services do not conflict with his duties as secre-
tary aforesaid."

Under this resolve Mr. Flint lectured at the College for
four successive years, his name being carried on the cata-
logue as lecturer on dairy-farming.

Again in 1875 we find the Board renewing its efforts to
induce the several agricultural societies to maintain each a
scholarship at the college, and to secure the attendance of
one or more students from the district covered by their
organizations.

In all matters of financial aid the Board, by direct effort
and petition to the General Court, was a powerful support
to the trustees. This was particularly manifest in the years
1868, 1869, 1876, 1877, 1882, and 1899.

When, in 1880, Governor Talbot and the Council ad-
vocated the union of Amherst College and the Massachu-
setts Agricultural College, it was the Board which, under
the leadership of Benjamin P. Ware of Marblehead, drew
up a series of resolutions embodying its adverse feeling;
and again in 1881 it was the Board which directed its
secretary to petition the Legislature to establish an experi-
ment station at the College. In short, wherever we look we
find the Board of Agriculture at the front, moulding public

ADDRESSES 283

opinion and leading the way. For what it has purposed and
tried to do, for what it has done in the past, for what it will
do in the future, permit me, in the name of the College
I represent, to express my grateful appreciation. With
the Board for its councillors and overseers, its future is
secured.

ADDRESS BEFORE THE ASSOCIATION
OF AMERICAN AGRICULTURAL COL-
LEGES AND EXPERIMENT STATIONS1

GENTLEMEN OF THE ASSOCIATION: — The great apostle
of German materialism was wont to say in his lectures:
"Miracles, gentlemen, are like pills, to be swallowed, not
chewed." He was dealing with the supernatural and what
is contrary to natural law. But in the vast realm of Nature
and the investigation of her phenomena, the miracles daily
performed before our eyes can not be carelessly disposed
of in a moment, swallowed without consideration. The un-
rolling of the leaf, the budding of the flower, the maturing
of the perfect fruit, the wonderful adaptation of parts to
specific ends, the differentiation of various organs, as the
filaments of certain plants for tactile organs, the lobes for
capturing insects, and the glands of secretion and absorp-
tion— all these require the most careful and patient
observation. All natural phenomena have their physical
and natural causes, and to find out these underlying
causes is often a morsel of the toughest kind, to be turned
and returned, again and again, before the final act of
deglutition takes place and we are prepared to hazard
an opinion. And these adaptations of nature are as
countless as the sands upon the shore, each one in itself

1 Address delivered at Washington, D.C., August 12, 1891, on taking
the chair as President of the Association.

ADDRESSES 285

a wonderful physical miracle, only to be interpreted by
the patient worker.

We are tempted to exclaim in the words of the magic song,
where Mephistopheles draws wine out of the table in Auer-
bach's cellar: —

Wine is grapes and grapes are wood,
The wooden board yields wine as good.
It is but a deeper glance
Into Nature's countenance.
All is plain to him who saith,
"Lift the veil and look beneath,
And behold," the wise man saith,
" Miracles if you have faith."

The rapt seer, looking over the broad field, exclaimed:
"Animate and inanimate creation are mountainous and
glittering with them. Down into the regions of the in-
finitely small, whither only the most searching microscopes
carry the sight; up into the regions of the infinitely large,
whither only mightiest telescopes lift our struggling vision;
among the mechanisms of the atomic hosts that people
a single leaf and among the mechanisms of those swarming
celestial empires whose starry banners sweep our mighty
skies, it is everywhere the same" — exquisite adaptations
crowding exquisite adaptations; means so exquisitely
adapted to the end that every part stands in the most per-
fect balance and adjustment to the other. What more per-
fect illustration of this correlation of parts can be pre-
sented than in the family of the Vandeoe, where the related
positions and shapes of the parts — the friction, viscidity,
elastic and hygrometric movements, all nicely related to
one another — come into play. Yet all these appliances are
subordinated to the aid of insects; for when the retreating

286 HENRY HILL GOODELL

insect, having satisfied its quest, gradually worms its way
out, the labellum springs back into place, the lip of the
anther is lifted up, and the viscid mass from the rostellum,
forced into the anther, glues the pollen mass to the insect
and thus insures its transportation to some other flower.

Darwins and Mullers, it is true, are not born every day,
but every man has within him the same elements of success
if he will only use them aright, bringing to bear upon each
problem the same patient, intelligent observation, adding
link to link, till at last the lengthening chain stands per-
fect and complete.

And yet there will always remain some problems that
will baffle the closest scrutiny. "The deeper science searches
into the mysteries of nature, the more clearly it evolves
the simplicity of the means used and the infinite diversity
of results. Thus from under the edge of the veil which we
are enabled to lift, a glimpse of the harmonious plan of the
universe is revealed to us. But as for the primary causes,
they remain beyond the ken of mortal mind; they lie
within another domain; which man's intellect will ever
strive to enter and search, but in vain."

The German scholar who, after a life of patient study of
a single word, the relative pronoun, regretted on his death-
bed that his efforts had been scattered and that he had not
confined himself to a single letter of the Greek alphabet,
is but a type of the labor required in establishing a single
fact. Diffusion is weakness, concentration, strength; and
the man who with divided energies studies a mass of facts
is outstripped in the race by him who confines himself to
one. It takes ten years at least, said President Clark, to
establish one agricultural fact; but it is on the aggregation

ADDRESSES 287

of facts that stable law depends, and although we can not
always see the immediate practical value of the addition
of a new fact to the fund of knowledge, still no one can ever
tell how much vital importance is hidden in it. The boy
dallying with the steam issuing from his mother's teapot
established the fact of its condensation, and forthwith be-
came possible its application to all the tremendous enginery
of modern science. Nor should a fact be despised because
of its apparent triviality. The great father and founder of
fruitful investigation, Lord Bacon, says: "The eye of the
understanding is like the eye of the sense: for as you may
see great objects through small crannies or levels, so you
may see great axioms of nature through small and contemp-
tible instances."

Not a single physical science can be named that has not
been built up by the labors of men who were seeking for
truth while those very labors were considered puerile and
ridiculous by mere utilitarians. Every scientific truth, it
has been aptly said, has to pass through three initial stages
before it can be firmly established : first, that of denial and
ridicule by the world; second, that of acceptance; and third,
that of calm assumption that it has always been so. We are
told that Pythagoras, when he discovered that the square
of the hypotenuse was equal to the sum of the squares of the
other two sides, offered up a hecatomb, in grateful recog-
nition of what had been vouchsafed him, since which time
whenever a scientific truth has been discovered the oxen
have always bellowed. The best scientific results of the
present day which have not yet borne fruit — the ques-
tions that engage the attention of our scientists — are
recounted with the same sneers and ridicule by those who

288 HENRY HILL GOODELL

claim to be practically wise as were observations in geology
and experiments in electricity a century ago. "Every great
advance in practical science in the last half-century has
been simply the combining or utilizing of materials and re-
sults wrought out as isolated products of facts, after long
years of careful investigation, by the patient truth-search-
ers in all portions of the world." The studies of Franklin,
Volta, Arago, Henry, and Faraday in accumulating facts,
discovering laws, and inventing instruments, made the
electric telegraph a possibility in our day.

Those men prosper best in this world of universal in-
quiry who sit silent, watch longest, and accept most quickly
each suggestion of change. The thrifty trees hug the earth
and rocks with a thousand rootlets, feed on air with ten
thousand leaves, and feel everywhere through and through
them the throbbing force of life; but who can tell the count-
less generations through which they have stood, silently
drinking in the sunshine of heaven and gathering and ma-
turing their strength.

All theories are open to ceaseless inquiry and correction
and we can expect to progress only by the patience, the
breadth and the sagacity of our work in uncovering laws
and methods of life in themselves very secret and obscure.

The fundamental working conceptions of science change
with the changing knowledge of the facts they interpret, but
the foundation remains the same, and he interprets best
who penetrates most deeply to its heart and questions most
closely its workings. The good agriculturist stands in a kind
of awe of living things. He is diffident in the suggestions
he makes to them, and if the hint is not taken he withdraws
it at once. If any predisposition appears, he humors it

ADDRESSES 289

immediately and is ready to stand a quiet observer in the
presence of the putting forth of vital powers.

Variety is the initiatory step of all progress, and we may
thankfully accept a score of unimportant foundlings, if
after repeated failures we succeed in producing one ser-
viceable one of lasting benefit to the human kind.

But the world is too impatient for results — like the Athen-
ians of old, madly rushing about, ever seeking for something
new. Progress is the cry of the age, progressive thought
the pet pride of to-day. The charm of antiquity is broken.
The historic tales of our childhood have faded into myth
before the cold scrutiny of modern learning. The idols of
the past are overthrown and trodden underfoot by the
iconoclasts of the present. No doctrine is too sacred, no
dogma too hoary for the levelers of to-day. Every year,
nay every month, witnesses the birth of some new theory,
some grand discovery in the laws of Nature, who in her old
age seems as prolific of law as a continental congress. New
creeds, new sciences, new methods are springing up like
the fabled race of heroes from the uncanny sowing of the
dragon's teeth, and all under the glorious reign of progres-
sive thought. Well will it be for us if in this universal
demand for something new, something strange, some-
thing out of the beaten track, we can heed the lesson of the
hour and patiently watch and wait — watch though the
world deride our waiting; wait till the harvest crowns our
watching.

From the "seely wench," who, according to Platt, taught
the art of setting corn by accidentally dropping some wheat
seeds in holes into which she ought to have dibbled car-
rots and radishes; from the sowing of potatoes broadcast

290 HENRY HILL GOODELL

and the drawing of ploughs and harrows by the tails of
the unfortunate horses hi the eighteenth century, to the drill-
ing and the sulky or steam-traction ploughs of the present
age, is indeed a great advance. The patient workers hi this
our chosen field have not been many, at least till we come
down to our own time; and too often, alas, to quote the
spirited words of another, "like the ancient alchemists have
starved in the midst of their golden dreams. Tusser, teach-
ing thrift, never throve. Gabriel Platter, the corn-seller, who
boasted that he could raise thirty bushels of wheat to the
acre, died in the streets for want of bread. Jethro Tull,
instead of gaining an estate, lost two by his horse-hoeing
husbandry. Arthur Young failed twice in farm management
before he began his invaluable tours of observation"; and
Bakewell, irrigating his meadows and raising four crops in a
single season, was compelled to give up his farm, and died
in comparative poverty.

But each one has lifted the veil a little higher and left
the way a little clearer for those who followed him. Tull,
experimenting in drilling and horse-hoeing husbandry, all
but divined the mysteries of chemistry, which then, as
applied to agriculture, were undiscovered. Thaer, applying
the natural sciences to agriculture, established a system
of farm accounts, placing values on the various farm ma-
terials, and introduced the great principle of rotation of
crops. Bakewell, discovering the principle of selection in
breeding, raised to the highest pitch of perfection his flock
of Leicesters. Stock husbandry rose at a single bound, and
henceforth the "promiscuous union of nobody's son with
everybody's daughter" was at an end. Davy, by his chem-
ical analyses and explanations of agricultural processes, laid

ADDRESSES 291

broad and deep the foundations of agricultural chemistry.
Liebig, teaching the applications of chemistry to agricul-
ture and the nutrition and growth of plants and animals,
inaugurated the era of progress of scientific agriculture.
Boussingault, whose careful analyses and experiments in
connection with his investigations into the sources of the
elements of nutrition for plants and the value of food-
rations for animals, led the "Agricultural Gazette" to say
of his "Economic Rurale" that it was the most important
and valuable book for farmers that the chemists of the
present century have produced; Stockhardt, popularizing
agricultural chemistry by his lectures and his writings;
Mechi, laying down the rational principles of farm-manage-
ment; Henneberg, unfolding the mysteries of the physio-
ology and economy of feeding farm animals; Ville, teaching
the principles of complete manures; Grandeau, teaching
the analytic methods of agricultural chemistry; Deherain,
for years conducting exhaustive field experiments ; Mcercker
and Wagner studying the application of potash, nitrogen,
and phosphoric acid to the growing plant; the two Kiihns,
working in the respective fields of the physiology of cattle-
feeding and the chemistry of the respiration of animals;
Wolff, in food-rations, Pettenkofer in respiration; and the
lengthening list closes with the name of one whose carefully
conducted experiments for half a century have made the
estate of Rothamsted a shrine for all true workers in the
science of agriculture — a Mecca to which the devout
repair as do the followers of the prophet to their holy city.
Fifty-seven years ago Sir John Bennet Lawes, entering
into possession of his estate, commenced a few experiments
on the effects of different manures upon potted plants and

292 HENRY HILL GOODELL

afterwards upon plants in the field. Led by the striking
results obtained to carry on the same line of investigation
on a broader scale, nine years later he associated with him-
self Dr. Gilbert, turned a barn into a laboratory, and com-
menced that series of patient and exhaustive experiments
which have won for him and his work a world-wide reputa-
tion. From the few experiments with potted plants of 1835
and 1836, and from a single associate working in a barn
used for chemical purposes in 1843, his station has risen
in staff and equipment to one of national importance, with
its sixty or more broad acres permanently set aside for
agricultural experiment; its trained staff of workers, chem-
ists, botanists, veterinarians, computers, and recorders;
its laboratory, presented by interested agriculturists in
recognition of the importance of his work; its munificent
endowment; its collection of over 40,000 bottles, contain-
ing the results of thousands of analyses, samples of the
various animal and vegetable products, ashes, soils, etc.,
connected with the various experiments; and last, its manu-
script library, a marvel in itself — thousands of pages,
classified and indexed, containing a complete record of
every ascertained fact; a life-history, if we may so term
it, of every experiment undertaken; a mass of all conceiv-
able data on a great variety of subjects, tabulated and
arranged for ready reference.

Rothamsted has from the outset — and for nearly half a
century — voluntarily placed itself at the disposition of
the advocates and practitioners of advanced agriculture.
Scientific and practical problems, as offered, have been
accepted and faithfully and exhaustively worked out, re-
gardless of expense either in time or money. Practical

ADDRESSES 293

agriculture in all its possible bearings is represented in
the publications, and hence the variety of the style of
its writings, suited to the education of an audience at
Oxford or a farmers' club. All things have been laid under
contribution and made to minister to it. The earth, the air,
and the water have in turn given up their secrets. Like the
All-seeing One, the hundred-eyed Argus of antiquity, or
Briareus of the hundred hands, it has suffered nothing to
escape its close scrutiny and inquiry. From the pure rain-
drops of heaven to the drainage waters of the earth, and
from the capture and imprisonment of the free nitrogen of
the atmosphere to the composition, utilization, and value
of town-sewerage, it questions them all; and whether they
answer in the tongue of the chemist, the botanist, or the
engineer, the answer has invariably been in the direct in-
terests of practical progressive agriculture.

The value to agriculture of the work already accomplished
is well-nigh incalculable. Far less can be estimated that
of the future, for which, in the will of the generous founder,
ample provision has been made. Of its immediate import-
ance, English agriculturists speak in no uncertain terms.
The author of the "Pioneers and Progress of English Farm-
ing," referring to the experiments of Sir John Bennet
Lawes and Dr. Gilbert, says: "The triumph of chemistry
is summed up in the system of successive cropping without
impoverishment, which has been established by them.
It is difficult to estimate the enormous influence which
their experiments have already exercised upon farming, or
to assign limits to the increased productiveness of the soil
which England might have witnessed but for the disastrous
period of 1873-89."

294 HENRY HILL GOODELL

Gentlemen of the Association : in my feeble way I
have endeavored to outline to you the great work accom-
plished at Rothamsted. I have likened that station to
Argus of the hundred eyes, to Briareus of the hundred hands.
Those mystic impersonations of power and sight were de-
pendent each of them upon the individual eyes and hands,
which went to make up their being. In like manner the
strength of the station depends upon the individual char-
acter and make-up of its staff.

We have with us here to-night an eye and hand of Roth-
amsted— an eye which has not sought hi vain the inter-
pretation of Nature's problems; a hand which has most
skillfully assisted the eye in these interpretations.

WHAT SHOULD BE TAUGHT IN OUR
COLLEGES OF AGRICULTURE? x

IN an old book containing the wisdom of an age two thou-
sand years older than the present, I find this quotation :
"How can he get wisdom that holdeth the plow and that
glorieth in the goad, that driveth oxen and is occupied in
their labors and whose talk is of bullocks?"

Apparently the same need of instruction was as urgent
then as now, and the tiller of the soil in the fertile plains
of the eastern world felt that there was something more to
be desired than simply f ollowing, day in, day out, the dreary
routine his fathers had left him. That there were sources
of information even then is evident from the fact that the
wise Solomon could discourse of trees, from the cedar of
Lebanon even to the hyssop springing out of the wall; and
it is added that he spake also of beasts, of fowls, of creeping
things, and of fishes. The same questions that stirred the
heart of the agricultural seer so many centuries ago are
pressing with renewed force now, and more light is sought
on all the difficult problems that present themselves to the
farmer of to-day. It is the mission of the agricultural colleges
to furnish this light and lead the way.

I am asked to present this afternoon a brief paper on
what should be taught in our agricultural colleges. Per-

1 An Address delivered at Washington, D. C., November 10, 1896.
From Proceeding* of the Tenth Annual Convention of the Association
of American Agricultural Colleges and Experiment Stations.

296 HENRY HELL GOODELL

haps I can express myself in no way more clearly than by
outlining to you the course at the Massachusetts Agricul-
tural College. That has stood ever since its foundation,
in 1867, for agriculture alone, instruction in the mechanic
arts being supplied by the Institute of Technology, which
has shared with it the proceeds of the grant of 1862 and
the later one of 1890.

While it has been the purpose of the faculty to give the
best possible instruction upom every subject taught, there
has been no effort to expand the course beyond the proper
limits of a simple professional school, or to compete in any
manner with other existing institutions. On the other hand,
the College has from the outset been intended to be some-
thing very different from a mere manual-labor or farm
school for training apprentices in the various operations of
husbandry. Since the first few years manual labor has been
entirely discarded, except in so far as it has an educational
value — not how to plough and hoe, but when and where
to do it to the best advantage. The hours of student-life
can be much more profitably employed than in mere manual
labor, opportunities for which are everywhere presented,
while the facilities for education are offered only at the
college and for a limited period. More mind and less
muscle is the watchword of to-day. In preparing the soil,
in planting, in cultivating, in haying, hi harvesting, in
threshing, in the management of the dairy, in fact almost
everywhere, intelligence is the principal thing, and mere
brute force comparatively worthless. The old prejudice
against thoughtful, studious, and progressive men as book-
farmers and fancy farmers has at length been overcome by
the mass of printed matter which is flooding with light

ADDRESSES 297

every household, and by the numberless improvements
which have been demonstrated to be not merely expensive
luxuries for the rich, but of priceless value to every tiller
of the soil.

But to turn more directly to the curriculum itself. This
naturally divides itself into seven departments : the English,
the agricultural, the chemical, the botanical, the mathe-
matical, the zoological, and that of languages and social
science.

I. English has a place in the curriculum of the Massa-
chusetts Agricultural College because of its practical value
and its educational value.

By its practical value we mean its value in enabling the
student to express his thought by oral and written language.
Looking at the study from this point of view, we may name
it the study of oral and written expression. The specific
subjects and exercises set for securing this practical ad-
vantage from the study are these : rhetoric, during the fresh-
man year; declamations, during freshman and sophomore
years; essays, in the freshman, sophomore, and senior
years; orations, in the junior year; logic and debates, in
the senior year. The principal object in these exercises is
to secure accuracy and facility in the use of the English
language as an instrument by which thought is expressed.

In addition to these studies, American literature is
studied in the sophomore year and English literature in the
junior and senior years. While, as an incidental advantage,
the student's style in writing and speaking may be im-
proved and perfected by reading and studying the best
works of the best authors, literature is studied chiefly for
its educational value. As literature is one means by which

298 HENRY HILL GOODELL

the thoughts and aspirations of men are expressed, one can
learn the history and progress of the thought of the Ameri-
can and English people from the study of American and
English literature. The student's mind being brought in
contact with the great minds that have adorned the pages
of English and American history, his powers are quick-
ened and developed thereby, his mental horizon is en-
larged, and thus a most important educational advantage
is secured.

II. The agricultural course covers a field of such wide and
varied extent that it is hard to compass it in a four-years'
course. The graduates must know the origin and nature of
soils and subsoils, and the proper treatment of each; the
methods and advantages of the various kinds of tillage, and
the modes of drainage and irrigation, with their cost and
value. They must understand the worth and peculiar ef-
fect of every variety of mineral and organic fertilizers; the
construction and use of all the implements and machines of
improved husbandry; the best modes of planting, cultivat-
ing, and harvesting all sorts of crops, and the varieties of
each which are most valuable for different localities and
objects. They must be familiar with the characteristics of
the different breeds of domestic animals and then* various
adaptations; with the proper modes of feeding for particu-
lar purposes, and of treatment in health and sickness, and
with the principles of breeding. They must be acquainted
with the keeping of farm accounts, the ordinary rules of
business and the legal rights and obligations of landholders;
with the renovation of worn-out lands and the improve-
ment of those which are new and rough; with the most de-
sirable location and construction of farm buildings, the

ADDRESSES 299

correct division of an estate into arable, pasture, meadow,
and woodland, according to circumstances, and the build-
ing of roads, bridges, and fences. They must understand
the use of rotation in crops; the management of the dairy;
the cultivation of vegetables in the market-garden and under
glass; the raising of small fruits and their transportation
and sale; the planting and culture of vineyards, orchards,
and forest trees; and the theory and practice of landscape-
gardening, with the proper selection and treatment of or-
namental plants. The strictly agricultural part of this course
is carried on for eight terms, mostly by lecture, embracing
the following topics : the history of agriculture, soils, drain-
age, irrigation, disposal of sewage, fertilizers, fields, crops,
implements, breeds and breeding, dairy-farming, cattle-
feeding, laboratory and experimental work. The horticul-
tural work covers six terms under the following heads:
horticulture, market-gardening, landscape-gardening, flori-
culture, sylviculture, care of greenhouses, and construction.

III. The course in chemistry extends over nine terms,
the last three of which are almost entirely laboratory work,
eight hours per week. Commencing with lectures and prac-
tice in elementary chemistry, there follow in succession dry
and humid qualitative analysis, lectures and practice in
organic chemistry, chemical physics, and quantitative
analysis. In connection with this is a series of lectures on
the application of chemistry to the industries of life.

IV. Botany covers seven terms, embracing structural,
analytical, economic, with laboratory work, cryptogamic,
and physiological. The course aims to treat of all the more
important features connected with the study of plants
which have a close bearing upon agriculture, without at the

300 HENRY HILL GOODELL

same time deviating from a systematic and logical plan.
Throughout the entire course the objective methods of
teaching are followed, and the student is constantly fur-
nished with an abundance of plant-material for practical
study, together with an elaborate series of preserved speci-
mens for illustration and comparison. In the freshman
year the study of structural and systematic botany is pur-
sued, with some observation on insect fertilization. This
is followed in the first term of the sophomore year by the
systematic study of grasses, trees, and shrubs, and this
during the winter term by an investigation into the micro-
scopic structure of the plant. The senior year is given up
entirely to cryptogamic and physiological botany.

V. The mathematical course. In this day of scientific
experiment, observation, and research on the farm, the
advantage of a thorough knowledge of the more elementary
branches of mathematics, general physics, and engineering
must be more than ever apparent; and it is to meet the
needs of the agricultural college student in these lines
that the work in the mathematical department has been
planned.

The mathematics of the freshmen, sophomore, and junior
year is required; that of the senior year elective. The se-
quence of subjects is as follows: bookkeeping, algebra,
geometry, and mechanical drawing in the freshman year;
trigonometry, mechanical drawing, and plane-surveying —
the latter embracing lectures and field-work in elementary
engineering, the use of instruments, computation of areas,
leveling, etc. — in the sophomore year; general physics, —
including mechanics, electricity, sound, light, and heat, -
and descriptive geometry or advanced mechanical drawing

ADDRESSES 301

in the junior year; and, finally, two electives in the senior
year, — mathematics and engineering.

The mathematical option includes the following subjects :
Fall Term, plane analytic geometry, embracing a study of
the equations and properties of the point, line, and circle,
and of the parabola, ellipse, and hyperbola; Whiter Term,
differential calculus; and Summer Term, integral calculus.

The senior engineering option is designed to give to the
student the necessary engineering training to enable him
to take up and apply, on the lines of landscape-engineering
and the development of property, his knowledge of agricul-
ture, forestry, botany, and horticulture. It embraces a
course of lectures, recitations, and field-work on the follow-
ing subjects : topography, railroad curves, earthwork, con-
struction and maintenance of roads, waterworks and sewer-
age systems, etc.

The engineering elective is intended to equip the stu-
dent to enter a comparatively new field — that of land-
scape engineering, which is coming more and more promi-
nently before the public attention; for with the increasing
consideration which is being paid to the public health and
the development and beautifying of our towns and cities,
come fresh needs and opportunities.

VI. The zoological course commences with one term of
anatomy and physiology, followed by a term of laboratory
work, eight hours per week, in which each student is re-
quired to make dissections, use the microscope, and make
drawings of his work. This is followed by one term of
zoology, three of veterinary science, and four of ento-
mology, the last three being optional, consisting largely of
microscopic work and drawing, eight hours per week.

302 HENRY HILL GOODELL

VII. The seventh and last course embraces the modern
languages (French and German), political economy, con-
stitutional history, and a course of lectures on rural law,
including the rights and obligations of landholders, and
other subjects of practical importance to every citizen,
whatsoever his profession.

I have now sketched more or less in detail the seven
divisions of our agricultural course. It is for three years rigid
and defined,with liberty to select and specialize in the fourth.
The structure is reared somewhat after this fashion: Agri-
culture the foundation; botany, chemistry, zoology, and
mathematics the four corner-stones; while the walls are
solidly built up with English, horticulture, floriculture, and
forestry on one side; English, physiology, entomology, com-
parative anatomy of the domestic animals, and veterinary,
on another ; English, mechanics, physics, and civil engi-
neering on the third; and English, French, German, politi-
cal economy, and constitutional history on the fourth. The
study of English is made the basis of all study. It is inter-
woven with every course. It is, in fact, the very warp and
woof of every branch pursued. These seven courses, each
distinct in itself, yet each aiding in the interpretation or
solution of the difficult problems met with, require a four
years5 course. They proceed hand in hand, and the com-
pletion of a study in one department is coincident with
that in another. Mutual help is the watchword. Each for
all, but all for each, in laying broad and deep the founda-
tion and building up the solid structure. Thus, when the re-
lations of the weather — of heat, air, moisture — to farm-
ing are considered, on the botanical side are being studied the
structure of the plant, its organs, the relation of its root-

ADDRESSES 303

system to soil and moisture; on the chemical, the elements
important in an agricultural point of view and their proper-
ties ; and in the mathematical, such algebra and geometry as
will lead on to practical work in surveying and drainage. So,
too, when soils and tillage are under consideration, in like
manner are studied plants beneficial or injurious to man,
general geology, and those insects hurtful or otherwise to
the crops. In short, the effort is made to have each course
supplement and be in harmony with the others, and the
different studies so fit into each other as to make one
rounded whole.

REPORT OF THE EXECUTIVE COM-
MITTEE, TWELFTH CONVENTION,1

1898

To your executive committee were intrusted a number
of very important measures vitally affecting the interests
of the Association. All these have received careful consider-
ation, and such action has been taken as the circumstances
seemed to warrant.

Very early in the year a letter was received from the
chairman of the committee on seed-testing, appointed
at the 1896 convention, stating that he had been unable to
be present when the committee made its report in 1897,
and that he had sent a letter asking for the continuance of
the committee for another year, in order that it might de-
termine practically the values of the apparatus and methods
proposed rather than leave it to the seed -dealers. The let-
ter arrived too late for action, and he now asked the execu-
tive committee to grant such authority. The matter being
an important one and requiring immediate action, your
committee, under the fourth article of the section relating
to officers, authorized by written vote the continuance of
the said committee for another year.

The question of securing necessary legislation for the sale
of uniforms, either made up or the cloth for the same, at
government prices, to the cadets of the different colleges,
was taken before the Military Committee of the House at

1 Of the Association of Agricultural Colleges and Experiment Stations.

ADDRESSES 305

its short session. The chairman refused to consider it, on
the ground that the appropriations had already been made
up, that this would require an extra appropriation for the
purchase of extra cloth, and that he was pledged not to ask
for any extra appropriations. It was urged that this did not
call for any extra expense, as the money from the sales
would be covered back into the Treasury. But the chair-
man refused to recede from his position. Your commit-
tee recommend a continuance of effort on the same lines.

At the same time legislation was sought for making the
land-grant colleges depositories of all government publica-
tions. A bill was drafted and introduced into the Com-
mittee on Printing. Objection on technical grounds having
been made, it was withdrawn, and introduced a second time
in a modified form. The approaching difficulty with Spain,
however, soon absorbed the entire attention of Congress,
and it failed to be reported. Your committee has since
learned that there are not copies of the public documents
sufficient to supply the colleges, and that a second bill,
providing for this addition, would be necessary.

Of all the questions submitted for the consideration of
your committee no one has caused so much anxiety as that
involving the annuity passing under the name of the Morrill
fund. The act (Senate, 372) providing free homes on the
public lands for actual and bona fide settlers by reserving
the public lands, twenty million acres, for that purpose,
struck immediately at the source from which the Morrill
annuity is derived, namely, the proceeds derived from
the sale of public lands. The act provides "That all set-
tlers under the homestead laws of the United States upon
the public lands acquired prior to the passage of this act

306 HENRY HILL GOODELL

by treaty or agreement from the various Indian tribes, or
upon military reservations which have been opened to
settlement, who have or who shall hereafter reside upon the
tract, entered in good faith, for the period required by exist-
ing law, shall be entitled to a patent for the land so entered
upon the payment to the local land officers of the usual and
customary fees, and no other or further charge of any kind
shall be required from such settler to entitle him to a patent
for the land covered by his entry."

The act passed the Senate and was in the hands of the
House Committee on Indian Affairs, by whom it was fa-
vored, before it was discovered, or its mischievous effects
upon the college revenues realized. Your committee, as-
sisted by others, was promptly on the ground, not once, but
five or six times, and every effort was made to warn the
colleges of the peril. But for the energetic action of their
officers during the two days of debate upon the bill it must
certainly have passed. It was finally rejected, but, the
Senate refusing to recede, the following compromise was
agreed upon: "That the settlers who purchased with the
condition annexed of actual settlement on all ceded Indian
reservations be, and they are hereby, granted an exten-
sion to July 1, 1900, in which to make payments as now
provided by law." That is, instead of making the settlers
a free gift of the land, the government has extended the
time for payment. It is like the case of the creditor who
refuses to cancel his debtor's note, but gives him easier
terms as to installments. There is, however, this difference,
that the government does not call for any installment. Do
not deceive yourselves, gentlemen of the Association : sooner
or later this question will again confront you, and it is the

ADDRESSES 307

part of wisdom to settle upon our future policy. While the
bill was being debated in the House, Senator Merrill intro-
duced a measure into the Senate providing that the college
annuities should be paid from any unappropriated sums in
the Treasury. This bill passed through two readings and
was then lost sight of in the greater interests of the war.
It is the unanimous opinion of your committee that either
that bill or one of similar import should be passed.

In response to the many requests for information respect-
ing the detail of officers to the colleges, a personal interview
with the Adjutant-General of the Army was secured, and
the order of the War Department forbidding the detail of
any officer for any service until after the report of the peace
commissioners was sent out hi a circular letter to each pre-
siding officer. While it would seem impossible at present
to secure any details, would it not be for the best interests
of this Association to place itself on record, either now or at
such time as may seem suitable, respecting the value of
these details to the colleges and the country at large? The
law distinctly states that in the details to the several States
preference is to be given to the colleges of agriculture and
mechanic arts. It further states that officers must be de-
tailed who are agreeable to the authorities of the different
institutions. Both these provisions have been disregarded
in two or three instances. It is recommended that, when
action is taken, the whole subject of these details be care-
fully reviewed and that colleges receiving officers on their
faculty be allowed a choice in this matter.

The order of the President during the late war, allowing
a certain number of second lieutenants to be appointed from
the colleges, did not entirely secure the result intended.

308 HENRY HILL GOODELL

Consultation was not had with the college authorities.
Selection was made from the ranking men in the military
department; and when, as happened in three cases, the
men were unable to accept, from physical disability or other
cause, the colleges were passed by. The subject has seemed
of sufficient importance to have a special paper presented
to this convention on "Land-grant and other colleges and
the national defense."

Special committees have been appointed to forward the
interests of the cooperative station exhibit at Paris in 1900,
the establishment of experiment stations of engineering,
and the securing facilities for graduate work in the several
departments at Washington. Reports will be made by their
respective chairmen, and we will not occupy your time with
what would be mere repetition.

In conclusion, we would state that the usual duties de-
volving upon the committee have been faithfully performed.
The proceedings of the last convention have been edited
and published, the various papers recommended by the
committee appointed for that purpose, have been published,
and the customary notices, programs, etc., have been is-
sued.

In behalf of the executive committee,

HENRY H. GOODELL, Chairman.

REPORT OF THE EXECUTIVE COM-
MITTEE, FIFTEENTH CONVENTION,

1901

IMMEDIATELY following adjournment of the last conven-
tion, the new executive committee met and organized for
the year, making choice of E. B. Voorhees for secretary
and H. H. Goodell for chairman.

To the nine measures referred to it for consideration
careful attention has been paid, and such action taken as
the circumstances in each case seemed to warrant. First
in importance was the bill for the establishment of schools
or departments of mining and metallurgy in connection
with the colleges for the benefit of agriculture and the me-
chanic arts. It will doubtless be remembered that during
the last session of Congress (Fifty-sixth Congress, First
Session) the Senate Committee on Mines and Mining re-
ported a bill (S. 3982) entitled "A bill to apply a portion
of the proceeds of the sale of the public lands to the endow-
ment, support, and maintenance of schools or departments
of mining and metallurgy in the several States and Terri-
tories, in connection with the colleges for the benefit of
agriculture and the mechanic arts, established in accord-
ance with the provisions of an act of Congress approved
July 2, 1862."

The committee gave a very careful and detailed consider-
ation to all the provisions of the bill, and unanimously re-
ported it to the Senate with a favorable recommendation,

310 HENRY HILL GOODELL

accompanying it with a report which fully set forth the
merits of the measure and the great national importance
of the interests it was intended to promote.

The Senate, in turn, subjected the bill to a searching and
thorough discussion, adopted a few useful amendments,
and passed it without a dissenting voice.

When the bill reached the House of Representatives it
was referred to the Committee on Mines and Mining, was
there fully considered and unanimously reported to the
House with a favorable recommendation, as a substitute
for one that had been previously reported from the same
committee and was then on the House Calendar. The
bill was reported by Mr. Mondell, of Wyoming, who had
given particular attention to the subject and who accom-
panied it with a strong and convincing report.

Thus the measure stood when Congress adjourned, the
pressure of other business preventing this from reaching a
vote. The bill as it stood was in the nature of a compromise,
and is believed to be just and acceptable to all interests.
Several bills relating to the same subject-matter have been
before each committee, and the form finally agreed upon
seems to embody the best features of all. Your committee
recommends that this bill or one of similar import be intro-
duced at the earliest practicable moment of the next session
of Congress.

Under the resolution that the executive committee take
into consideration the matter of making the collective ex-
hibit of the stations a permanent exhibit of the experiment
stations at the national capital, and endeavor to make suit-
able arrangements for its permanent installation and care
at Washington, a communication was sent to the honorable

ADDRESSES 311

Secretary of Agriculture, stating the wish of the Association,
and asking whether such installation and care were feasible.
The following reply was received: "The exhibit is now at
Buffalo, and very likely will be used at Charleston next
winter. The question of its permanent installation here
will be carefully considered when we are through with its use
at these expositions."

In the closing hours of the last convention a communica-
tion was received from the management of the Pan Ameri-
can Exposition, asking that a delegate be appointed to the
dairy test to be held in Buffalo. The executive committee
was directed to appoint a delegate. At a meeting held later,
Director W. H. Jordan was so appointed.

Conformably to resolution offered by Dr. Dabney, a me-
morial was sent to the honorable Secretary of Agriculture
indorsing his action in opening the Department of Agri-
culture to the graduates of the colleges established for the
benefit of agriculture and the mechanic arts, and pledging
the earnest support of the Association in carrying out that
policy.

The executive committee was further directed to urge
upon the honorable Secretary of Agriculture the desirability
of publishing : —

(a) A second edition of the history and description of ex-
periment stations as originally prepared for the Paris
Exposition;

(6) A separate edition of the addresses of President
Atherton and Director Jordan;

(c) The lectures of Dr. Bernard Dyer.

The second edition of the history of the experiment sta-
tions in this country has already been published and dis-

312 HENRY HILL GOODELL

tributed. The lectures of Dr. Dyer have been approved
and will shortly be issued, but in regard to the ad-
dresses of President Atherton and Director Jordan it was
thought wiser to publish separates from the account of the
proceedings of the convention than to ask for a separate
edition.

The question of constituting all land-grant colleges
designated depositories of government publications has
continued through the past year to claim the attention
of your committee. Taking advantage of the fact that a bill
to amend the act regulating the public printing and distri-
bution of public documents was then being considered, it
succeeded in having an additional section incorporated,
including all the colleges among the number of designated
depositories. The bill, however, failed of being called up,
and the section shared the fate of the bill, dying with the
last Congress. It seems unwise to introduce this into
Congress as a special bill, and it is recommended that the
new executive committee keep in touch with the printing
committee and see that a section providing for our inter-
ests is inserted in the amended bill.

The executive committee has considered the summer
school of graduate instruction in agriculture, suggested by
the Ohio State University, and the offer of the university
to assume responsibility for the expense of the first session.
The committee recommends that the convention approve
the holding of a session during the summer of 1902, to be
under the control of the president of the said university,
with the expectation of adopting the school as a cooperative
enterprise, under the control of the convention, should the
success of the first session seem to justify the continuance

ADDRESSES 313

of the school. The following outline is submitted as a basis
for the discussion of the convention : —

(1) A summer school of graduate instruction in agricul-
ture shall be conducted under the auspices of the American
Association of Agricultural Colleges and Experiment
Stations, the sessions to be held at different institutions be-
longing to the Association, as the convention from time
to time may direct.

(2) Each convention shall appoint a committee of control,
to be composed of three members, one of whom shall be
the president of the institution at which the next session
is held, or some other representative selected by that in-
stitution.

(3) The committee of control shall have power to select
the director and other officers of the school and to fix their
duties and compensation.

(4) The convention shall provide, either by itself or in
cooperation with the institution at which the session is to
be held, for the expenses of the school, and for this purpose
a special annual assessment, not to exceed ten dollars, may
be laid upon the colleges and experiment stations belong-
ing to the Association.

For the executive committee,

H. H. GOODELL, Chairman.

ADDRESS TO THE SENIOR CLASS, 1887

YOUNG GENTLEMEN OF THE SENIOR CLASS: — As the
hour draws nigh when we must part, I feel that I cannot
let you go without in some more personal manner wishing
you God-speed, and that good fortune and success that
waits on honest endeavor. Four times since first we met
the year has renewed its beauty, and now the spring
stands crowned in all its loveliness.

Wherever the eye may rest, on valley, wood, or mountain,
everywhere is life — life in its prime of beauty. This week
you enter upon your life-work, whose harvest will be what
you make it. Can I do more wisely than to recall to mind
the golden words the Hindoo uttered more than two thou-
sand years ago: "Man follows the bent of his will; subdues,
or is led by his passion; bows to the law of his conscience
or willfully lives in rebellion. He says to himself, *I am
free!' He says true! He is free to grow noble; he is free,
too, to work his undoing. But though he act as he will, he
is but a tool in the great hand of destiny, used to perfect its
fabric of life. Out of evil comes good, but not for the doer
of evil; he has earned for himself sorrow that he did freely;
he has worked for the good that he did blindly. Out of evil
comes good, from sorrow shall follow a blessing."

Yours will be a stirring age. The great questions now
agitating humanity will confront you at every step, and
you will have to decide for yourself their right or wrong.
Consciously, or unconsciously, you will play your little part
in the great drama of life, and work for the general harmony
of the whole. Stand fast for the right ; strike at the root of evil.

ADDRESSES 315

Be honest! Be true, and eschew the hollow shams and
pretences by which you will be surrounded!

Fight well, and thou shalt see after these wars
Thy head wear sunbeams and thy head touch stars.

Use your talents on the side of morality and justice.
Never prostitute them to a cause you disbelieve in. Re-
member that they are a special gift of God, and are not
objects of barter and trade to be knocked down to the
highest bidder. If you but have his seal upon them, you
will wear the livery of the Deity. Wherever you may settle,
remember that the community has a right to expect in-
finitely more of you than of the clever young mechanic,
who may chance to live next door. It has a right to demand
that you shall be a cultured gentleman. Genius and learn-
ing must go hand in hand with character. The man who
can stand forth with uplifted brow in the conscious sense
of a pure body and an unsoiled mind is a power which none
can withstand. For the angels of light are on his side, and
the powers of darkness cannot harm him.

And now, as we bid you farewell, we wish you success
in every good and honorable undertaking. We pray that
every blessing may attend you, and that the riches of that
mercy we ask for ourselves may rest upon you. Perplexi-
ties and trials will come. The world will seem dark and the
way dreary. There will be times when you will not know
which way to turn. But rest assured that the darkness
comes before the day, and if you but have faith the light
will surely break. Be yours the prayer of the poor Breton
fisherman as he puts to sea in his wretched skiff: "Oh, God,
thy ocean is so large and my boat so small."

ADDRESS TO THE GRADUATING CLASS

1888

YOUNG GENTLEMEN OF THE GRADUATING CLASS: — It
is not without emotion that I see you here to-day, for there
comes vividly back to me the time when, a quarter of a
century ago, I too stood, as you are now standing, on the
threshold of the great world, looking out on its busy scenes
and wondering where my place would be, and what the
work I should be called upon to do. I cannot help rejoicing
with you in all your glad hopes and aspirations, in your
generous enthusiasms and warm-hearted confidence, for in
the vigor of your young life everything now seems pos-
sible, and the difficult, easy. And yet there is a feeling of
sadness blended with it all, for I know that the way will
not be one all of ease, and many times you will be tempted
in your despair to give up the contest and turn your back
upon it.

What better wish, then, can I offer you than that you
should fill your place in life, — fill it so completely that there
can be no question about it, — fill it with your might, -
fill it in all honesty of heart and sincerity of purpose. Let
there be no half-way work about it. If it is worth the doing
at all, it is worth the doing well, and the judgment of man-
kind will estimate you according to your doing. The world
admits no shirks, and the half-in-earnest man receives
but half recognition. Put your whole soul in your work,
and as sure as day succeeds the night your reward will

ADDRESSES 317

come. The patriarch of old wrestled with the angel of the
Lord through the entire night, and would not let him go
even at the coming of the dawn, till he had received the
wished-for blessing. He was terribly in earnest, and the
shrunken smew and the hollow of his thigh bore witness
to the intensity of his purpose.

Be not cast down by the thought that yours is but a
humble place and it makes no difference what you do.
It does make a difference and the world cannot do without
you. It is the filling of just such places that makes the
perfect whole.

The healing of the world
Is in its nameless saints. Each separate star
Seems nothing, but a myriad scattered stars
Break up the night and make it beautiful.

To fill worthily your place you must look up. Walk with
your face downwards considering the things of earth, and
your purposes will be low and groveling. Accustom your-
self to look upon labor as low, and naught can save it from
being drudgery. Join brains with hands and you emanci-
pate it. "Drudgery without intelligence is slavery. Labor
with intelligence is freedom." High thoughts will lift you
— low ones degrade you. Respect for things above will draw
you upward to their level. An instructive fable tells us
that men once walked upon all fours like beasts of the field,
but they caught sight of the stars, and the heavenly attrac-
tion lifted them up to the human form and semblance of the
divine. And so with you, — with eyes turned upward to the
heavenly light you will lose the dross of earth and walk in
that divine radiance which is a part of God.

318 HENRY HILL GOODELL

And now, as we set upon you the seal of our approval,
and send you forth to justify to the world our action, we
bid you God-speed in all that is true and right; and as we
grasp your right hand, we say from out the very depths of
our hearts, not good-bye, but God be with you!

ADDRESS TO THE SENIOR CLASS, 1890

GENTLEMEN OF THE SENIOR CLASS: — The hour so im-
patiently looked forward to by you has come, and but a
few brief moments more and you too will have crossed the
dividing line that separates the present from the past, and
have taken your place in the fighting ranks of life. Four
times the spring has clothed these hills in all the beauty of
its green. Four times the wintry storms have wrapped the
mantle of the snow about them. From yonder rooms you
have daily watched the glories of the sun descending be-
hind the western hills, and daily, as your eyes have swept
the outlines of the wondrous picture nature has spread out
before you, you have gathered fresh inspiration and gone
forth with renewed courage to perform the tasks assigned
you. But now, too soon, the vivid surroundings of the pre-
sent will be but a memory of the past, and the scenes amid
which you have delighted to wander, will be the homes of
others than yourselves. It will cost you a pang to root out
these ideals of the present hour and make for yourselves
new homes, new friends, new lives. Yet after all it is right
and natural that it should be so. For separation is the com-
mon inheritance of man. No propagated life can be fully
developed till it is separated from the parent stock.

All life that lives to thrive

Must sever from its birthplace and its rest;

Still must the sapling top

Ere sunk in earth its fibres fresh will root;

320 HENRY HILL GOODELL

Must from the oak-tree drop

Ere forest monarchs from the seed can shoot.

Nay, even death itself must lay its blasting hand upon all
that is dearest and most precious, ere it can be transplanted
to a more perfect life and growth. Time has wrought many
changes in your midst. As I look down upon you, I miss
familiar faces, faces of those who set out with you. Some
have fallen out by the way, — others have entered upon
new purposes and activities, — and one, alas ! whose eager
soul outstripped the fetters of his mortal frame, has laid
down his young' life at the very outset of his career and
finished his work ere it was well begun. This is the hour for
sober thought, for self-communion, for looking over your
stock in trade and seeing what you have to offer to the world.
Gone now are all the petty animosities of your college years,
banished the little dissensions and jealousies of your
younger days. The world is too large, too grand for you
to harbor them longer. The cry of battle is ringing in your
ears, and in the pressing duties of the present forgotten are
the resentments of the past. "When/' says the Apostle
Paul, "when I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood
as a child, I thought as a child, but when I became a man
I put away childish things."

Young men, manhood with all its glorious possibilities
lies open before you, and the question comes to you, not
what can the world do for me, but what can I do for the
world? What can I do to make it wiser and better? What
can I give to my fellow men to help and bless them?
And just in proportion as you answer that question aright,
will be the measure of your success.

And now, as for the last time we meet, as students and

ADDRESSES 321

instructor, as for the last time I grasp your hands and wish
you every success that follows earnest, right endeavor, then
comes to my lips the blessing hallowed by the usage of
three thousand years : —

The Lord bless thee, and keep thee ;

The Lord make his face shine upon thee, and be gracious
unto thee ;

The Lord lift up his countenance upon thee, and give thee
peace.

CAPTAIN WALTER MASON DICKIN-
SON, U. S. A.1

MY FRIENDS, we have met to-day to hold memorial ser-
vices for one who was dear to us all. It is very fitting that
such services of remembrance should be held here. For
this was his home. These were the hills he loved. This was
his college, and here he came back in his riper years to share
the knowledge he had obtained with his younger brothers.
And if the simple story of his life may lead any one not
merely in word, but in deed, to follow the path he chose and
take as his precious legacy all that was pure and noble and
lofty in him, I shall feel that this hour will not have been
spent in vain.

When I first knew him, he was a little curly-headed lad,
who, standing at my knee and asking all manner of ques-
tions about the Civil War, used to declare that he was
going to run away and become either a sailor, or a soldier
in the cavalry. Prophetic utterance! The dream of the
boy became the reality of the man, and what in his child-
ish heart he had longed to be, found its fulfillment in the
chosen profession of his life. It is interesting to note how
unconsciously, all through his life, there was the same strong
undercurrent of patriotic feeling, only occasionally coming
to the surface. The crude composition of his sophomore
year on "The Greatness of the United States" and its abil-

1 Address delivered at the Massachusetts Agricultural College, Novem-
ber 9, 1898, at the memorial exercises for Captain Dickinson.

ADDRESSES 323

ity to conquer any other nation, — his fondness for the
study of American history, not merely at the academy, but
I may add, to the very close of his life, — the hearty em-
phatic support of President Cleveland's attitude on the
Venezuelan question, found its fitting culmination in the
noble words pronounced in this very chapel at the me-
morial service for Governor Greenhalge. They will bear
repeating, and I would that every young man listening to
me to-day would take them to his heart and grave them
there as with a pen of iron. Speaking of the higher duty, he
says: —

"That duty is the one you owe to your country. By
your country I do not mean this small space, crossed and
recrossed by the beautiful and granite-capped hills which
so closely encircle us, but I speak of a country, a part of
whose wide domain is always in sunlight, extending west-
ward from the storm-washed rocks of the New England
shore to the farthest extremities of the Aleutian Isles —
from the present frozen shores of the great lakes to the ever
tropical climate of the Mexican gulf — a country with
seventy millions of people — a country of free speech and
free religion — a country covered with schools and churches
— a country to be proud of; a country to respect; and above
all, if need be, a country to die for. This is the spirit which
should be taught in all our public schools, encouraged at
the fireside and in the churches, that the aim of every boy
and young man might be to make this our common country
united — one for all, for in unison only is there strength.
Then the day will surely come when one could wish no other
epitaph than this: 'He lived and died an American citizen.'"

He had learned well the lesson that the civic virtues,

324 HENRY HILL GOODELL

the duty man owes to the State, tower above all else. Like
Andrew Fletcher, he could exclaim: "I would readily lose
my life to serve my country, but would not do a base thing
to save it."

Entering the Massachusetts Agricultural College in
September, 1873, he pursued the regular course for nearly
three years, leaving in his junior year to accept an appoint-
ment to the Military Academy at West Point, offered him
by President Julius H. Seelye, who was then in Congress.
He entered on June 14, 1876. Of his life there and the
impression made, let his classmates bear witness. Of the
many letters received, I can only make use of a few, just
enough to give you an inside view of the man in this forma-
tive period of life.

"I remember him as being a high-strung young fellow,
conscientious and energetic in the performance of his duty,
and just the kind of man whom you would expect to be at
his post of duty in an emergency." - "Generous, honest
and unselfish — inflexible in his adherence to truth, he made
friends whenever he went." — "Dickinson had a lovely
disposition which made him most congenial company. He
always did his very best wherever he was put, and as a
soldier always did his duty. He was beloved by his men
and respected by his fellow officers." — "He learned eas-
ily, took good rank in his class, and was universally popu-
lar. Bright, genial, and a good soldier, he was a most wel-
come addition to any circle. Transferred from the cavalry
to the Seventeenth Infantry, and serving up to the time of
his glorious, but regretted death, at the front of his troops,
where he voluntarily placed himself, despite the fact that
his duties as a quartermaster appointed his place in the rear,

ADDRESSES 325

his soldierly instincts and sense of duty prevailed, with
that sad result. A soldier, a gentleman and a scholar. God
rest his soul!" — "My classmate Dickinson has always
been the same sunny, light-hearted boy he appeared to be
when we reported at West Point in 1876. The last long talk
I had with him was at Tampa, discussing the projected
campaign. He was eager for the active service and looked
forward with high hopes to our immediate success with the
efficient army then organizing. 'Dick,' as we were wont to
call him among ourselves, was naturally a great favorite
in his class and among his brother officers, and withal he was
a most efficient officer. The loss on the day of July 1 was
so heavy and immediate to us that at first I hardly appre-
ciated that we had lost our classmate, but as time goes on,
I find that I miss him the more, as my mind is capable of
appreciating the fact that we can never hope to see again
his cheery smile or hear his hearty laugh."

What higher commendation can a man seek than this?
Conscientious in the discharge of duty — Doing his best
in whatever position placed — Inflexible in his adherence
to truth — A soldier, gentleman and scholar — these are
no uncertain words of praise. They represent the noblest
ideals and highest conceptions of duty.

Graduating from the Academy in June, 1880, he was
assigned as Second Lieutenant to the Fourth U. S. Cav-
alry. At last his boyish dreams were realized and he was
in truth a member of that gallant army in which he took
so much pride. The next eleven years were busy ones for
our young, untried officer. We catch glimpses of him now
in the field against the Indians and now in garrison on
some lone frontier post — now doing duty as quarter-

326 HENRY HILL GOODELL

master and now on recruiting service. But wherever placed,
the same record for efficiency and thoroughness follows
him. He was complimented by General Ruger for a forced
march, made alone with fifty Indian scouts, covering a
distance of two hundred and fifty miles from San Carlos
agency to Sipa, New Mexico, in three days, the Indians
running by the side of his horse. And his captain writes:
"He was unusually attentive to duty and thorough in all
that he did. I always considered him a brave, true man,
extremely sincere in his attachments and relations with
others. He was a devoted husband, and just and generous
in all his relations with his friends."

The following brief synopsis of his army life, furnished
by a brother officer, gives continuity to the picture : —

"Upon graduation he was assigned to the Fourth U. S.
Cavalry, joining his troop at Fort Sill, Indian Territory
(the Kiowa and Comanche Reservation). From the In-
dian Territory the regiment was ordered to Colorado,
keeping in check the Utes; then to New Mexico for gar-
rison duty, which at that time meant continuous field
service against the Apaches. After three years' service
he was detailed to the Infantry and Cavalry School at
Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. After graduation he was re-
tained at the post until 1886, when with his troop he was
again ordered to New Mexico.

"Receiving his promotion to a first lieutenancy, Sep-
tember 1, 1886, he was ordered to Fort Huachuca, Ari-
zona, then to the Cavalry Depot, Jefferson Barracks,
Missouri, and again to Arizona, remaining there until the
regiment was ordered to the Pacific coast. In 1891 he
transferred to the Seventeenth Infantry and was stationed

ADDRESSES 327

at Fort D. A. Russell, Wyoming. From this post he was
detailed to Amherst, Massachusetts, as Professor of Mili-
tary Science at the Massachusetts Agricultural College.
After a tour of service at this college he rejoined his regi-
ment at Columbus Barracks, Ohio, remaining on duty at
that post until the late declaration of war, when he was
ordered to active service in Cuba. At this time he was the
regimental quartermaster, appointed April 1, 1898, re-
ceiving his promotion to a captaincy April 26, 1898, which
was confirmed by the Senate, after his death, July 14, 1898.

" Captain Dickinson was stationed at a number of posts
during his service, the following being a partial list : —
Fort Sill, Indian Territory; Forts Cummings, Bayard and
Stanton, New Mexico; Forts McDowell, Huachuca, and
Bowie, Arizona; Fort Walla Walla, Washington; Presidio
of San Francisco and Yosemite National Park, California;
Fort D. A. Russell, Wyoming; Jefferson Barracks, Missouri,
and Columbus Barracks, Ohio."

One last picture of the dashing cavalryman we have,
drawn by the hand of one who was in action with him,
and we see him just where we should expect to see him,
in the fore-front of the battle, leading a charge against the
lurking Apaches : —

"We were in but one Indian fight together, at Horse-
Shoe Canon, on the Arizona-Mexican line, April 22, 1882.
The Indians occupied a strong position on a high bluff, which
we finally carried by assault. In the assault, Walter was
the very first to reach the summit, and I well remember,
as the line of his troop swept up the hill, he was the for-
ward apex of a triangle, of which the two sides were formed
of the men of his troop on his right and left rear."

328 HENRY HILL GOODELL

Transferred at his own request November 4, 1891, to
the Seventeenth Regiment U. S. Infantry, he remained
in this new branch of the service only a brief nine months,
and was then detailed as military instructor to the Massa-
chusetts Agricultural College. Why should I dwell upon
his work here? Is it not known to you all? The pains he
took in bringing up the battalion to the highest pitch of ex-
cellence, eliciting from the Army Inspector the comment,
"The youngster has done well"; the interest he took in
every man of his command; the solid conscientious work he
put into his duty. Who of you that ever saw him walk
across the parade ground as if he owned the very ground he
trod upon, but recognized that he was a leader among men £
Who that ever saw him handle the cadets, and watched the
animation and the force with which he drilled them, but
recognized the born soldier? Obedience, implicit obedience,
he demanded. Unstinted praise he gave when merited;
sharp, stinging rebuke when deserved. But with all this
the boys liked him — nay, more, they loved him while they
feared him. That same nameless charm of personality which
led his brother officers to call him "Dickie," charmed them,
and their admiration for the man blossomed into affection
for the friend.

How completely he won their hearts this extract from
a letter written by one of the graduates, speaks eloquently :
"I am grateful for the opportunity to help in this me-
morial. The deep personal interest he took in each of us
who came under his instruction and discipline, his complete
devotion to duty, to the battalion, to the whole college;
his sorrow at our shortcomings and his pride in our successes,
made us regard him with more than ordinary feelings as our

ADDRESSES 329

friend. His last words to our class in our class-room were so
characteristic of him that I will repeat them as nearly as
my memory will allow : * If you ever come where I am, come
and see me — I '11 try and make it pleasant for you. If you
are ever in trouble, let me know — I'll try and help you.
Good-bye. ' — And he was gone from the recitation room
to his office. Every man in that room knew he meant just
what he said and that he meant it to apply to him. The
college has lost a good champion and the country a noble
officer."

The words of parting to the class that had been under
his instruction for four years convey so clearly his own con-
ception of duty that I know you will bear with me a mo-
ment longer while I repeat them: —

"Young gentlemen, the time has now come when we are
to separate, and there are a few things that I take occa-
sion to say to you, because I shall never have the oppor-
tunity again. I came here from twelve years' continuous
army service on the Plains, beyond the Mississippi. You
thought, perhaps, I was rather a rough fellow. My way
of dealing with you at first seemed, probably, somewhat
severe. I tried to teach you lessons of unquestioning obedi-
ence, for obedience is the first duty of a soldier; but I think
you have learned to understand me, as I have learned to
understand you, and our relations, on the whole, have been
very pleasant. And now, as you leave the college to go out
into the world, I wish to say two or three things which I
trust you will not forget. The first is: Remember always
to be a gentleman. Second: Be truthful; always truthful.
No man can be a true soldier on any other basis. Third:
Wherever you are placed, under whatever circumstances

330 HENRY HILL GOODELL

and on every occasion, be true to yourselves. And last:
Whatever you find to do in the world, give to it the best
that is in you and do it for all you are worth."

Homely words, tersely expressed, but striking out
straight from the shoulder to the mark. What Christopher
North calls "A cut and thrust style, without any flourish.
Scott's style when his blood was up and the first words came
like a van-guard impatient for battle."

A man is judged not by the place he fills, but by the
way in which he fills it. He was an unknown quantity
so far as instructing was concerned, and when he found that
he really could teach, he suddenly woke to a consciousness
that life had a deeper meaning for him than he had ever
realized before. It was most stimulating to hear his enthu-
siasm over his new work. He went at it in the same con-
scientious manner in which he performed every duty, but
there was added to that a wondering delight in his new-
found powers. He studied international law — he worked
at constitutional history and called upon all the resources
of his previous years of reading American history to pre-
pare himself the better for the lecture room. In fact —
"his work at the college was so well done that it seems as
if he could sleep better in the soil of the town where he
did one piece of thoroughly finished work and for which he
is sure to be remembered."

Rejoining his regiment in 1896, he served with it for
the next eighteen months at Columbus, Ohio. Then came
the call to arms and with it his appointment as quarter-
master, and the movement of the regiment to Tampa
and thence to Cuban soil. When they reached Baiquiri, the
regiment marched on and he was left to unload the stores

ADDRESSES 331

and baggage. Chafing under his forced inactivity and hear-
ing that a battle was imminent, he left the ship and re-
joined the regiment Monday, June 27, five miles from
Santiago. Being ordered by the lieutenant-colonel to return
and finish the unloading, he made his way back on the fol-
lowing day to the shore, completed his task, and once more
— late on the night of June 29 — reached his command.
On Thursday the army advanced, and that night the regi-
ment bivouacked so near the enemy that fires were not
allowed to be lit and the utmost quiet was enjoined that
their position might not be betrayed.

It is not my purpose to go into details of the battle of El
Caney . That has already been done by abler pens than mine.
Suffice it to say that El Caney is a small village cresting a
hill three and a half miles northeast of San Juan, three
miles north of El Poso, and five or six miles northeast of
Santiago. In the native language it signifies "the tomb/*
because upon this hill were buried many of the ancient
inhabitants — a fit name for the battle-field where so many
of our bravest found their last resting-place. On that fatal
morning no one was calmer or more cheerful than Lieuten-
ant Dickinson. No fear nor disturbing thought seemed
to enter his mind, and he made his few preparations for the
advance as quietly and with the same care as if going on
parade. His duties as quartermaster did not require his
presence at the front, but he could not bear to remain at the
rear and not share the dangers of his comrades. Going to
Lieutenant-Colonel Haskell he said: "Colonel, I want to go
with you to-day"; and from that time, with the exception
of two short intervals, during which he was carrying orders,
never left his side until he received his death wound.

332 HENRY HILL GOODELL

The brigade was in motion shortly before daybreak, pain-
fully making its way over the narrow, slippery paths and
climbing the grassy ridge overlooking the village. The
Twelfth and the Seventh regiments first deployed and took
position. Then came the order for the Seventeenth to
place itself on the right of the Seventh. Cautiously ad-
vancing in single file, it struck the sunken road running
parallel to the northeast slopes of El Caney. It was com-
manded by block-houses at either end, and in front was an
open country swept by the Spanish marksmen. The hedge
along the road was strongly interlaced with barbed wire.
The Colonel directed this to be cut, and through the open-
ing passed out into the field beyond, attended only by
Dickinson. In an instant this drew upon them the fire from
a hundred unseen guns. What followed is best described
in the words of the Colonel, taken from a private letter
written a short time before his death : —

" Captain Dickinson's death wound was received at the
same moment I was shot through the left breast. He then
received a bullet through his right arm at the same in-
stant I was shot through the knee. This shot knocked me
down, and seeing me fall, he ran toward the men and told
them to 'Go and bring in the Colonel/ In other words, he
did not leave my side till he had been wounded twice."

It is only right to say that all other accounts report
Captain Dickinson as being shot first in the arm; and seeing
the Colonel fall, he went back for help, and on his return
received his fatal wound. The weight of evidence would
seem to indicate that this is the correct version. Placed in
a litter and receiving such aid as was possible on the field,
he remained all day exposed to the bullets of the sharp-

ADDRESSES 333

shooters, being wounded a third time in the fleshy part
of the leg, and a little later grazed in the arm and ear. Who
can tell the agony of that long day in the burning heat of
a tropic sun ! But his courage never faltered and he greeted
each comrade with a wan smile and pressure of the hand.

Heroes are forged on anvils hot with pain

And splendid courage comes but with the test.

It is a beautiful incident that, as he lay there, at inter-
vals amid the crash and uproar of the battle there came
to his ears the familiar sounds of his childhood. In the
village but a few hundred yards distant the cackling of
hens and the crowing of cocks could be distinctly heard.
The Bob Whites were calling to their mates, and the
hoodios, a species of daw, flying from tree to tree, were
calling in strange, but pleasant notes.

Removed to the field hospital, he seemed troubled at
the presence of so many wounded men, and at his own
request was placed in a small shelter tent under a mango
tree. And here, watched over by his faithful sergeant,
George Kaltschmidt, he lingered on through that soft
moonlit night till the end came.

An hour before the dawn the forest birds stir uneasily
in their sleep. They are dreaming of the day. An hour before
the dawn, his trembling spirit, struggling from its mortal
frame, flew upward and found rest. The dawn of that
great day which comes to all alike, had come to him,
and on his wondering eyes there broke the glories of a
never-ending life.

My friends, "there is no heroic poem in the world but
is at bottom a biography, the life of a man; and also it may

334 HENRY HILL GOODELL

be said, there is no life of a man faithfully recorded, but
is a heroic poem of its sort." Walter Dickinson was a man
like unto ourselves — a man of like weaknesses and passions,
but his biography is written in our hearts, and in our hearts
rings on forever the poem of his strong young life.

Chaplain Trumbull in one of his "War Memories" has
a chapter devoted to "the soldier heart buttoned over by
the soldier coat," and tells the following incident: Be-
ing called upon one day to conduct burial services over
two men who had died in the hospital, he was greatly
shocked as he entered the hall where the bodies were lying,
at the apparently unfeeling manner of their comrades,
who were jesting and laughing as though nothing unusual
had occurred. But in the midst of their chattering, one
suddenly turned to the other and said: ''Jem, have you cut
a lock of Bill's hair? I reckon his mother would like it.
My mother would." It was a revelation to him, for under-
neath the rough exterior he recognized the soldier heart
beneath the coat, beating true to the mother-love of his
boyhood's days. Somebody's mother wanted a lock of her
boy's hair, and he remembered it because he too had a
mother.

Soldiers do not like to display any emotion. Their rigid
discipline has taught them to be calm and self-contained,
and they carefully repress any signs of outward feeling. It
is not shame. Only a desire to conceal from the world the
aching heart. Walter Dickinson was no exception to this
rule. The deeper feelings of his nature seldom, if ever, came
to the surface. On the very eve of leaving for Cuba, with
all the uncertainties of an active campaign staring him
in the face, he could not bring himself to speak of it, and

ADDRESSES 335

it was only in the last letter before sailing from Tampa, that
the mask was thrown aside and he penned a brief farewell
to his brothers and sisters, commending to their tender love
his wife. Not more than a dozen lines, but all the same it
was the human cry of "the soldier heart buttoned over by
the soldier coat."

We have said that he was brave. When on that fatal
morning he said, "Colonel, I want to go with you to-day,'*
it was with full knowledge of the risks he ran. He had
been in battle before. He had heard the spiteful hiss of
bullets and had seen men struck down around him. But
his keen sense of duty would not allow him to remain be-
hind in safety when he might be of service as one of the
Colonel's staff. There is a moral bravery which far trans-
cends that of the battlefield. The one is of the earth, earthy.
The other is of the spirit, heavenly. He possessed both.
Whatever interfered with his usefulness must be overcome,
and when once he had made up his mind, no power on
earth could move him. In temptation oft, beset by enticing
snares, his courage stood the test. The Good Book says:
"He that ruleth his spirit is better than he that taketh a
city." Verily he showed in this a moral force and rugged
strength that clothes his life with nobility and beauty.
The hero living for a principle. The hero dying for his coun-
try. Each in itself beautiful — each the necessary com-
plement of the other — together rounding out the perfect
life of the man. Alas, that such men must die ! Alas, that
they are snatched from us too soon!

Not like some drooping flower, that no man noticeth,
But like the great branch of some stately tree
Rent in a tempest, and flung down to death,

336 HENRY HILL GOODELL

Thick with green foliage — so that piteously
Each passer-by that ruin shuddereth,
And saith "The gap this branch hath left is wide ;
The loss thereof can never be supplied."

One sentence among the tributes to his memory has
deeply stirred me. It runs thus: "Please accept my thanks
as an army officer for your interest in and desire to pay
tribute to the memory of a fellow officer who sacrificed his
life in his country's service. It is the knowledge that friends
at home do not forget, that encourages the soldier in the
field and gives to him the feeling that he is truly a champion
of the people and not a hireling. It is sentiment that wins
our battles, not brute courage or love of carnage."

That gallant army to which Walter Dickinson belonged
and of which he was so justly proud is an army of trained
and educated patriots. If "This war has taught us the
morality of education," and "if the schools have fought
it," none the less has it been fought and brought to a close
by that little band, the regulars, — scholars, patriots and
soldiers. The thinking bayonet, the scholarly sword, have
gone hand in hand with the most marvelous exhibitions of
courage and undying patriotism. An army of heroes —
bearing the summer's heat and wintry cold without a mur-
mur— enduring all things — suffering all things — with
too often the certainty that politics and influence would
play their part in preferment, rather than merit. Yet never
for an instant swerving from the path of duty, though that
duty led them unto death: officers leading their men and
men vying with their officers : performing such prodigies of
bravery that the foreign attache in breathless surprise ex-
claimed: "This is not war, but it is magnificent." This is

ADDRESSES 337

the army we love and admire. This is the army we cherish
in our hearts. Its list "is like the tower of David, builded
for an armory, whereon there hang a thousand bucklers,
all shields of mighty men."

Out of the mass of letters received, two have seemed to
me especially fitting with which to close this brief, imperfect
sketch of his life and work.

The General commanding the Division, Major-General
H. W. Lawton, writes: "I knew Lieutenant Dickinson well
for some years, and I knew him to be a patriot and a
true soldier. And though there is no one who laments his
untimely death more than I, still we have the happiness
of knowing that he died like a nobleman and a soldier."

Lieutenant-Colonel J. T. Haskell, commanding the Sev-
enteenth U. S. Infantry, whose judgment is entitled to the
highest consideration, sums up his traits of character in
these words : "He was an honest, upright, honorable gentle-
man without fear or reproach; he had all the qualifications
of an excellent officer; well-educated, refined in his manners,
prompt and energetic in the discharge of his duties, and
very conscientious; his time was well spent with some good
object in view; a great reader, very domestic in his habits;
his own handiwork added much to the comfort and beauty
of his army home which was always a delightful place for
the guest. Unselfish, he was always pleased to contribute
to the enjoyment of others.

"He was beloved by the officers and enlisted men of
his regiment, especially for his business ways and just treat-
ment of all. An active man, he loved field-duty, and his
bravery in the field was one of his most noticeable qualifica-
tions. I loved him as a brother, and his loss to me will al-

338 HENRY HILL GOODELL

ways be felt the same as though he were of my blood. To
the Regiment, his loss was a great blow. As a Mason, he
tried to live up to the principles of the Fraternity, and was
held in high esteem by all with whom he came in contact.
In writing as I have, the desire has been to impress you with
the fact that Captain Dickinson was one of a few officers
who, with no lack of manly or social qualifications, spent
very few hours otherwise than in doing his whole duty and
trying not only to improve himself, but also his fellow com-
rades. I know he loved to help the college boys."

Precious testimony from one so soon, alas, to follow
him! Death loves a shining mark, and our hearts go out
in sympathy to the officers of the Seventeenth, thrice so
severely smitten.

In our blundering short-sightedness we call this death a
needless sacrifice. A sacrifice of what? Can anything good
ever perish? It lives forever with a vitality and persistence
no power can check, and with an influence widening as the
years roll on. "Baseness is dissolution, nobility is resur-
rection." The seed must rot, to grow; every dying body is
such a seed. Can anything then be a needless sacrifice in
the great providences of God?

There are no errors in the great eternal plan,

And all things work together for the final good of man.

What is man that he should try to solve the purposes
of the Infinite! His ways are not as our ways, and what
now seems wrapped in darkness and impenetrable mystery,
shines in the after-light of a more perfect knowledge with
a glory unsurpassed and with a meaning none foresaw. The
Roman sentinel found standing on guard in the place as-

ADDRESSES 339

signed him, when the lights of Pompeii went out eighteen
hundred years ago, will forever stand as the type of obedi-
ence even unto death. To desert his post was perhaps to
save his life. To stay was seemingly a needless sacrifice.
But duty triumphed over fear, and the world for a score of
centuries has been the brighter for his example. The dying
martyrs racked and tortured for their faith, with glazing
eye and quivering frame looking upward into heaven, prayed
God to bless their persecutors. "Another Christian dead,"
was the contemptuous remark. But the eloquent Presbyter
of Carthage, catching the true meaning of this steadfast
adherence to duty, gazed down the long vistas of the com-
ing centuries and exclaimed: "The blood of martyrs is the
seed of the church."

The Forty-sixth and Fifty-first Massachusetts Volun-
teers, on the very eve of being transported home, their
nine months' term of service having expired, learning that
Lee had crossed the Rappahannock and was in Pennsyl-
vania, offered their services by telegraph to the Secretary
of War and were accepted. Will any one dare to say that
this was a needless sacrifice ? No legal claim could hold
them — Home with its thousand blessed memories was
before them — every consideration of love and family was
urging their return. But duty triumphed over inclination,
intense loyalty over affection, and to-day a grateful and
united nation rises up and calls them blessed.

There is a conventional morality that amounts to nothing
more than legality. It does nothing but what it can show
the warrant for. It is incapable of judging self-sacrifice.
In the high moments of a man's life it disappears alto-
gether. Duty takes command and has no thought of con-

340 HENRY HILL GOODELL

sequences, and duty never throws away a human life.
Living or dead, self-sacrifice is not only in God's hand, but
by his command. And there is, there can be, no needless
sacrifice. The law may not command an officer to be with
his regiment in battle; but if his sense of duty does, that
is the supreme law, and he is a coward unworthy of the
place he holds, who does not obey.

Walter Dickinson is dead, but the good that was hi him
will never die. The example of that splendid courage, that
intense devotion to country, that laying down of life
for duty and humanity will live forever. He bought with
his blood the ransom of a nation. He baptized anew
that flag

Washed in the blood of the brave and the blooming,

Snatched from the altars of insolent foes,
Blazing with star-fires, but never consuming,

Flash its broad ribbons of lily and rose.

The sunlight fades from off the hills. The hills are there,
but the light is gone. The kindly smile, the pleasant
voice, the hearty grasp of the hand warm from the heart
— these, indeed, are gone; but the remembrance of all that
is good and noble and true in thy life will linger in OUT
hearts forever. Rest in thy quiet sleeping place, beloved
soldier, friend, and brother. Rest by the side of him thou
lovedst so well, and for whose life thou gav'st thine own.
Saul and Jonathan were lovely and pleasant hi their lives
and in their death they were not divided.

The noblest place where man can die
Is where he dies for man.

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