Address [at the first commencement of the Virginia agricultural and mechanical college

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ADDRESS.

Ladies and Gentlemen:

The occasion of oiir assembling is one of no ordinary moment.
The commencement exercises of every College are full of interest
and importance to those immediately concerned as well as to the
friends of education and human advancement. While the aspi-
ration of the student on these occasions is to acquit himself in a
manner worthy of himself, his preceptors, and his friends, and their
hopes and affections are elevated or depressed as he succeeds or
fails, the lover of education and of progress beholds all evidences of
intellectual and moi*al development with the highest emotions of
thankfulness and satisfaction. All these aspirations, hopes and
emotions have their' possessors and representatives in the intelligent
audience before me, and should I not satisfactorily demonstrate my
appreciation of these surroundings, my tongue will fail to enunciate
the ideas and impulses of my head and heart.

We have gathered here to witness and participate in the first com-
mencement exercises of this College. With this day ends its first
year's existence, and if its maturer years shall fulfill the brilliant
promises of its earlier days — if, in truth, the ''child be the father of
the man," then, indeed, may Virginia well be proud of her latest
born, and, like all fond mothers, shower upon it her. choicest
blessings.

Perhaps no event has transpired within our State fur many years
possessed of greater significance or of more far-reaching conse-
quences than the organization of this Institution. For the first time
in her history she has established a College primarily devoted to
practical education. High schof)ls and colleges she has had; schools
of law and medicine, of theology and theoretic science of high
character and great usefulness have not been wanting; but never
before has there been organized, by her express mandate, to be con-
trolled by her own officers, a school especially devoted to instruction
in the practical industries of life. Its foundation forms an epoch
in her educational history, and evidences one of the chief character-
istics of our age. What are the laws, literature and institutions of

any age but the visible expression of its wants and necessities, the
incarnation of its thoughts and aspirations? What were the Parthe
non and the Pantheon, the Republic of Plato or the Institutes of
Justinian, but the visible, tangible embodiment of the ideas of their
several eras ? And wliat is this College but the embodiment of an
idea, the expression of a conscious necessity, an ascertained want of
our day and generation ?

That the development and prosperity of the agricultural and
mechanical interests is a necessity to the well-being and progress
of society, and that these objects can be more successfully accom-
plished by the education of those engaged in these pursuits in
whatever appertains to them, is an idea which has long been enter-
tained by wise men and statesmen, but it never received much
popular endorsement nor found substantial or general expression
until modei"n times. To-day, however, it is strong in popular favor
and finds expression in one form and another, but notably in the
numerous Technical Schools and Colleges organized not only in our
own bul in nearly all the progressive countries of Europe.

These schools are based substantially upon the theory that eveiy
useful occupation of man is a specialty — that is, that it involves in
its exercise principles and practices peculiar to itself, and which do
not, in a like degree, at least, belong to any other, and that a know-
ledge of these can be best obtained in a school especially devoted to
instruction therein.

Upon this theory Avas organized the Virginia Agricultural and
Mechanical College, and whatever mutations may await it in the
coming years, I trust that from this fundamental idea it will never
depart. Its mission is essentially and pre-eminently that of practical
education.

But it may be asked. What is meant by practical education?
Primarily, it is a term of broad significance. In one sense all
education is practical. At least, it is not difficult to establish that
any education which is not practical either in its nature or tenden-*
cies, or both, is not only useless, but absolutely harmful. Keal
education has for its object the discipline of the mental and moral
faculties, the enlargement of the powers and capacities of the mind,
and the storing it with useful knowledge; and any plan or system
of education which accomplishes these results is essentially practical.
As real knowledge has been defined by a distinguislied modern
author to be " an acquaintance with tlie relations wliich things and
ideas bear to each otlier and to themselves — in other words, * * an
acquaintance with physical and mental laws" — it follows, if his

•definition of knowledge and mine of education be correct, that the
term practical education ct>mprehend8 witliin its scope not only the
lowest, but also the liighest degree of culture, the very beginnings of
knowledge as well as each successive stage of its development up to
the highest condition of mental and moral existence attainable
by man.

Theterm, however, as generally used, has a much narrower and
more specific signification. By practical education we mean in-
«truction in the theory and principles of the useful &rts. and indus-
tries, and in their actual application in practice. Of the inestimable
value of these industries it seems almost unnecessary to speak in this
presence. Their immense importance is becoming daily better un-
derstood and more justly appreciated. They lie at the foundation
and penneate the whole social structure. They not only furnish the
life-blood, but constitute the motors for its transmission through
every ramification of the body politic. They are the sources of
power, the well springs of progress, the fountains of blessings in-
jiumerable. And yet in the ages past how little of the world's
intellect, how few of its honors and emoluments have they com-
manded; how much even of the knowledge of them, acquired by
experience, was deemed worthy of being treasured up in l)ook8 or
manuscripts for present use or transmittal to succeeding generations.
How meagre the progress made in these great — I might almost say
fundamental and life-supporting, if not life-giving, industries, when
compared with that attained in <jther avocations and subjects of
study and ambition ! Literature and the arts, the science of war
and the mysteries of alchemy, the 8peculatic»ns of philosophy and
the struggles of religious creeds, engrossed the attention and con-
trolled the intellect and energies of men. Agriculture and Me-
"Chauics possessed no allurements for the energetic, the intelligent
and the ambitious, f'ame and affluence waited not upon their
votaries. The poor, tlie ignorant, and the servile; in fact, those
only followed these pui-suits whom vassalage or misfortune com-
pelled, or whose intellectual inferiority unfitted them for other and
more honorably esteemed employments. Hence they were neither
profitable nor h(iiiorable. And while at times gleams of light
pierced through the mists of ignorance and prejudice, it was not
until a later and more recent day that advancing civilization, and
the consequent increasing wants and necessities of man, began to
awaken a clearer comprehension and a juster appreciation of tlieir
dignity and importance. But the glory of their complete eman-
cipation from degradation and their elevation to their true position

among the most important and iisefnl, as well as honorable, vocations
of man was reserved to our day. And should our age go dowi^ in
history M'itli no other, distinguishing mark of its progress and en-
lightenment, this one achievement alone will command for it the
respect and admiration of future generations.

Not only have these industries been raised to the position which
their inherent worth entitles them to occupy, but another advanced
step has been taken. The conviction has slowly but surely fastened
itself upon the public mind that ignorance is as incompatible with
success in these as in other pursuits, and that experience, education
and special training are relatively as fundamental conditions of
success to the mechanic and agriculturist as to the lawyer and
physician.

And from this conviction sprang the desire which has ripened
into a demand that such opportunities and facilities shall be afforded
those designing to engage in these special branches of industry as
will enable them to become thoroughly educated and skilled in
whatever of practical experience, applied science, or other useful
knowledge appertains to them.

To meet this demand and to promote this kind of education is
the primary object of this^ Institution. Its curriculum embraces a
course of training ample to secure the accomplishment of these
objects, and he who shall have thoroughly mastered all will go forth
to the great battle of life more serviceably panoplied than Achilles,
more powerfully armed than Richard Co^ur-de-Leon. He will be
able to hew his pathway to success with a battle-axe of his own
fashioning and move on to the goal, of his ambition, invulnerable
alike to the arrows of ignorance or of prejudice. He will be quali-
fied to engage successfully in one of the noblest and most beneficial
occupations of man — the cultivation of mother earth; and as he
watches the wonderful processes of nature, the germination, growth
and maturity of vegetable life, his soul will be quickened and ex-
panded to new investigations and a broader comprehension of the
great fundamental laws which regulate and control all things, from
the minutest particle to revolving spheres. His knowledge of Draw-
ing, Mechanics, Architecture and Natural History will enable him
not only to build a house and plan a palace, construct a railroad and
locomotive engine, and manage the one or run the other, but also to
investigate the sources of organic life and trace its successive stages
of growth, its various and distinctive origin and development up to
a conclusive demonstration that his ancestors were not apes, as Dar-

win contends, but were rather the creations of the All-Wise Ruler
of^he Universe, and in his express similitude.

But it is not my purpose to essay an extended description of all
the powers and possibilities with which a complete mastery of all the
studies and exercises included in the prescribed course of this in-
stitution would clothe the student. Nor do I anticipate that the
picture which 1 have already hastily sketched will be tilled up in all
its details, or be fully completed, even in its general outlines, by
every youth whose name may be entered upon your rolls; but I do
anticipate an approximation to it. I have a right to anticipate, and
I have full faith that ni} anticipations will be fully realized, that
this institution will fultill the noble objects of its creation and equal
the full measure of its great opportunities. It will neitiier supersede
our Primary Schools nor supplant our Colleges, but will rather build
upon the former and add sustenance to the latter. The course of
instruction in our primary schools constitutes the very foundation
whereon must be reared the whole educational 8U]>erstrncture of
every individual, and this foundation should be well and carefully
laid before he attempts to build thereon with materials furnished
here or elsewhere. Beginning, then, where tlie primarj' school
leaves ofF, the student will here be prepared to practically exemplify
the peculiar benefits derived from the technical course of instruction
here imparted, either in mechanical or agricultural pursuits; or if
his nature and acquisitions incite him to a higher and wider range
of culture, the doors of the college and university are open to him,
wherein he may enter and revel in the boundless fields of thought
and knowledge. With antagonism towards none, but profound
flympathy for all systems and means of education, this College will
move on in its own distinctive and appropriate sphere of perfecting,
elevating and ennobling those great industrial interests which to-
day engross the intellect and energy of a large portion of the human
race, and upon which the progress and development of the whole
very largely depend.

These are some of the distinctive characteristics of this College,
as well as stane of the reasons which called it into being. But how
is it sustained, aufL what are its means of support, both present and
prospective ?

One of the wisest acts ever passed by Congress — one which shines
out from the gloom and turmoil and bloody carnage of 1862, with a
radiance as calm and pure and peaceful as the morning star — was
that which appropriated to each State a portion of the public domain
for the endowment and maintenance of Colleges "to teach such

0

branches of learning as are related to agricnltnre and the mechanic-
arts." But the action of Congress in making this appropriation was
no more commendable or patriotic than tliat of Virginia in her dis-
position of it. I cannot speak in too laudatory terms 6f the wisdom
and foresight which enabled her, by an advantageous sale and a
more advantageous investment, to nearly double the principal of the
fund derived from this congressional appropriation, and to increase
the income therefrom in a corresponding degree. This annual in-
come will reach fully $30,000, two-thirds of which are set apart for
the maintenance of this College, and one-third to the Hampton
Normal and Agricultural Institute, a school founded upon the same
theory as this College, but devoted to the education of our colored
population; and right nobly is it performing this necessary and im-
portant duty. By this division of the fund between these two
institutions its benefits will be shared in by all the people of tlie
State, and the principle of separate schools for each race, which I
regard of vital importance to each and absolutely essential to success
in either, will be maintained and perpetuated. In addition to this
fund, the good county of Montgomery, in the plentitude of her
patriotism and liberality, has donated to this College the munifieent
sum of $20,000. I would that her generous example might be fol-
lowed by every county in the State, that each might contribute a
monumental stone to the grand temple which is here to rise, so that
when their sons shall throng its lofty porticoes and crowd its stately
halls the conscious pride of benefactors may mingle with their
emotions of gratitude and zealous devotion. These funds, together
with those derived from the fees of ^tudents other than State, con-
stitute the resources of the Institution and its present means of
subsistence.

While these may be sufficient to sustain its present being, they
are in no wise commensurate with the requirements of " the life to
come." The sustenance of the child is unequal to the demands of
developed manhood. The veil is lifting upon a future of un-
exampled physical and mental activity. The wonders of to-day will
become the common places of to-morrow, and the dreams of the
present the realizations of the future. As the accumulated know-
ledge and experience of the past aroused, iiivigoroted and augmented
the energies and capacities of the present, so the restless activities'
and magnificent achievements of this generation will be increased
and multiplied many fold by the next. It mattei-s not that the
anchorite mourns or the cynic derides " the degeneracy of our
times ; " it .mattei's not that a Froude or a Ruskin should wield hia

trenchant pen in exaltation of the many virtues of our ancestors
and their decadence in our day ; it is unquestionably true that the
civilization of the present is far in advance of any that has preceded
it. Lapses from virtue there have been ; great crimes have stained
the annals of the times, and ignorance and infidelity still hold ex-
tensive sway ; but when were the triumphs of the Cross more wide-
spread or of the intellect more universal?

It is always easier, and, I am sorry to say, more natural to criti-
cise than applaud, and there are those in whom this disposition is so
strongly developed that nature seems inverted and their organs of
vision located in the rear instead of the front of the head. With
tliem whatever is, is wrong, and he who has the temerity to step
beyond the boundaries of thought and action marked ont by the
progress of his ancestors is sacrilegious, if not parricidal. For-
tunately these are not the leaders of our race. Fortunately man is
ruled by an ever-operating law of development — a law as immutable
as that which holds the earth in its orbit — and wliile at times, from
extraneous causes, he may swerve from the right line of progression,
he will ere long resume it again, just as the forest pine, bending to
the blast, when the tempest subsides regains its erect position — still
pointing towards heaven. This law of progressive development de-
mands obedience from the institutions of man as well as from man
himself. In fact, they must keep abreast of his ever-increasing
wants and necessities, or be discarded among the effete rubbish of
the past. To meet the demands of the immediate future this Col-
lege will require a more ample endowment. Of course as the
number of its students is enlarged its revenues will be increased ;
but this will prove inadequate to the demand. Other sources of
supply must be reached, and my judgment points td' that same
source whence came its first endowment — the public domain. The
act of 1862 evidenced an intelligent appreciation on the part of
Congress of the wants and demands of the times. It was " a new
departure" from the established policy of the Federal government
as to the disposition of the public lands, for while in the organiza-
tion of new States it had long been the wise rule to reserve a portion
of the public lands for the purposes of education therein, this was
the first instance in the history of the government when any por-
tion of the public property had been apportioned among all the
States, old as well a^ new, for this object. And it should be re-
membered, too, that this was done prior to the destruction of the
labor system of the South and prior to the elevation of four millions
of ignorant serfe to the enjoyment and responsibilities of citizenship.

8

It was done, too', in the midst of war, and after war liad again
demonstrated tlie great superiority of an educated over an ignorant
soldiery.

If this action were wise and patriotic then and nnder these cir-
cumstances, in what terms sliould we express our appreciation of
such action now, when to the voices of wisdom and patriotism are
added the earnest appeals of humanity and the stern demands of
duty ?

The war resulted in the emancipation of the negro ; but no
sooner had the sword been sheathed than the strife was transferred
to the forum, and days and months — aye, even 3''ears — were spent in
efforts to clothe the freedman with rights he could not understand,
and load him with responsibilities which he was unable to compre-
hend. Statute after statute was enacted, and the fundamental law
of the nation itself repeatedly amended to establish the civil and
political rights of the negro; but where, in the long catalogue of
legislation, can be found any provision for his education and eleva-
tion even to a partial comprehension of the duties and responsibilities
which these rights impose ? Why did not the mental and moral ne-
cessities of these " wards of the nation " excite the same paternal
solicitude as did their political condition? I shall not pause here,
nor is it germain to my present purpose, to answer this very natural
enquiry. The facts with which we have alone to deal at the present
moment are that, although the negro was emancipated from physical
slavery, he was left bound in the more terrible chains of universal
ignorance; and that while the nation invested him with the glorious
rights and privileges of American citizenship, it not only failed to
make any provision for investing him with a knowledge of the high
duties and responsibilities which that citizenship imposes, but left
him in the depths of poverty and ignorance, to be educated, if
educated at all, by.tlie white people of those States whom the war
had so utterly impoverished that they were unable to educate even
themselves.

That this was unwise, unjust and impolitic, needs no words from
me to demonstrate. In my opinion, the government should not only
have provided the means for the education of these new suffragans,
but it should have gone farther and aided the people of the South
to fulfill this high and holy duty to themselves.

If it be true that one portion of the body politic cannot suffer in
its mental, moral or physical condition without injury, more or less,
to the whole, and if intelligence and virtue be necessary and desi-
rable in the individual citizen of a republic, then the education of

the whole people becomes a matter of public interest and national
<joncern. I ain, however, no advocate of a governmental system of
education except by the States; but I do advocate the extension to
all of the States the policy which has uniformly obtained in the
organization of new States. The public lands are the common pro-
perty of tlie whole people of the Union, held by it in trust for their
benefit and behoof, and if there be reason and sound statesmanship
in reserving a portion of this property for educational purposes in
the 8pai"sely populated but prosperous new States, does not the
same reason and statesmanship, in a far higher degree, dictate the
appropriation of a portion of this pro})erty to the education of the
larger and poorer populations of the older States of the South ?

But I do not go to the length of urging even this very just and
correct view of the subject, based though it may be upon the
soundest and most substantial and patriotic reasoning. All I seek
and all I demand is equality with all of the other States of the
Republic in tliis as in all other respects. I merely advocate the
performance of what I believe to be a solemn and imperative duty
by the Federal government to the black race and to the people of
the whole country, and that duty consists in appropriating the en-
tire proceeds derived from the sales of the public lands to educational
purposes. And while I would devote a portion of these proceeds to
the further endowment of colleges of this character, and the balance
to the support and maintenance of free, primary schocJs, I would so
apportion all as to confer the greatest benefit upon the greatest
numbers.

The details of the manner in which this duty shall be executed,
whether this property shall be divided among the several States
equally, or according to population or illiteracy, or upon what I
should esteem the wiser, more comprehensive and equitable basis of
present needs and prospective demands, and how much shall be ap-
portioned to primary and how much to technical schools, may be
safely confided to that Congress which shall possess the wisdom, the
integrity and the patriotism to adopt this policy.

As one of its faithful friends and earnest advocates, I shall ever
hold myself in seadiness, with whatever of influence I may be able
to wield, not only to secure the permanent establishment of this
policy, but when established, to see to it that the State of my adop-
tion, which has honored me with her highest and most sacred trusts,
and whose soil is to be my future and final resting place, shall be
dealt with as becomes her exalted position and high deserts. With
these means, and through these instrumentalities, I shall hope to see

10

this College raised to a higher dignity and a wider sphere of useful-
ness. If, however, from an}^ cause these should fail, then the duty
will devolve upon our ]>eople to supply the deficiency either by
public aid or private munificence.

Railroads and other public improvements are of great use and
benefit to the country, and the people have manifested their high
appreciation of them by freely voting State, county and municipal
aid for their construction and maintenance; but how insignificant in
importance appears the growth and development of these temporal
conveniences of man when compared to the education and elevation
of his immortal mind? They are but the creations of the mind, and
why should the creature be worshipped while the creator is neg-
lected ? Why strew all our votive offerings upon the altar of Baal,
who is of the earth, earthy, and crumbles to decay, and minister not
to the divinity within us which has immortality for its being and
eternity for its portion ? I ha\e an abiding faith tliat when our
people begin to understand the inestimable benefits which they
may realize from this College they will rally to its support, and that
in time it will become, what of right it ought to be, the great
popular educational institution of the industrial classes of Virginia.
I shall hope to see the barriers which poverty rears in the pathway
of deserving youth broken down and obliterated, and education here
made as free as the glorious mountain air which surrounds and per-
vades it. Yes! 1 would have graven upon its loftiest pinnacle, in
characters of living light, " Whomsoever will let him come and par-
take of the waters of life freely."

To you, the learned gentlemen composing the first faculty of this
institution, I tender words of thankfulness and cheer — thankfulness
for what you have already accomplished, and cheer at the prospects
before you. The future is radiant with promise. You have care-
fully watched over and nurtured the infancy of this College; may
you be spared to guide its youth and matnrer years. 1 know of no
higher or holier calling than yours. The teacher of youth is the
moulder of the civilization of his time. lie not only instills those
great physical and moral principles which underlie the social fabric>
but fashions the immortal soul for time and eternity.

"'Tis education forms the common mind,
Just as the twig is bent the tree's inclined."

But it is presumptuous in me, perhaps, to even suggest the ex-
treme delicacy and tremendous import of your duties and respon-
sibilities. I do 80 more to manifest my own appreciation of them
than to impress you with any new convictions or loftier purposes.

11

I know that yonr duties are as arduous and yoni labors as exhaustive
as your intentions are earnest and yonr aspirations pure. I will
turn, ratlier, and address those whom 1 feel more competent ta
counsel — the first matriculates of this College.

Young gentlemen, I suppose that you are all familiar with the
aphorism that "knowledge is power;" but have you ever considered
it critically ? Have you ever thought how or wherein knowledge
constituted an element of power ? All learning is not knowledge,
nor yet is all knowledge power. The world is full of learned fiwls
and helpless wiseacres. Knowledge is power only when utilized.
It is the knowing how to use and apply what we have acquired that
gives us control of men and matter. This is the sovereign test of
ability, whatever may be oui acquirements or sphere in life. You
may cram your heads full of the most abstruse knowledge; you may
garner into them all the learning of all the ages and generations
that have preceded you; you may even make of your minds vast
store-houses of knowledge; and yet what will it avail you unless
along with it you are possessed with the power to u«je it ? Do yon
ask me what the power or ability is which enables us to utilize
whatever is taught by experience, by books and the schools? I
answer that it is thought, and that knowledge is power c>nly as it
incites, suggests and furnishes forth the materials for thought. As
the com which the farmer sows upon the gronnd prepared for its^
reception must needs have the warm and genial rays of the sun to
quicken it into life and develop it to maturity, so knowledge must
be fructified by thought to germinate and expand to useful results.
The corn, however, Mill produce only its kind, while knowledge is
not only reproductive, but it is also creative.

As in our own minds one thought suggests or begets another, so
the thoughts of others which comprehend all knowledge, save our
own individual experience, quickens and incites our minds to new
thoughts and new creations. One achievement of one human intel-
lect starts into activity perhaps an hundred others, each working out
some new success, some further advancement and improvement. In
this way one discovery or invention becomes the parent of numer-
ous others, and ia this way are the boundaries of human knowledge
expanded and the civilization of man secured.

What a brood of inventions of the highest importance and the
greatest usefulness followed the discovery of the nature and proper*
ties of steam ! When James Watt was experimenting with his tea
kettle and solving the problem of condensation, how little did he
dream of the mighty revolution he was inaugurating. When

12

Franklin tamed the lightnings of heaven, what conception had he
of the glori(jus functions it was to execute for the benefit of man?
How little do even we yet know of the capabilities of this mysterious
agency ? What we call thought is the product of the mysterious
working of the human intellect, invisible, intangible, incomprehen-
sible and useless, save onl}' to their possessor, until clothed in lan-
,guage or embodied in substantial forms. In man's capacity for
tliought and expression of thought, lies his chief claim to superiority,
and through its instrumentality must he fulfill his divinely appointed
mission to subdue and have dominion over the earth. Every step
he has taken, every advance he has made toward the accomplish-
ment of this high purpose, has been the result of the exercise of this
God given and God-like power, and its embodiment in one form of
expression and another, forms the record of his achievements and
constitutes the criterion of his success. It matters not whether these
thoughts have found expression in the complicated machine, the
lofty dome or glittering minnaret, whether they speak from the
•canvass, tlie living page, or tlie chiseled marble, they measure alike
the progress of a people and the civilization of an age. We desig-
nate an age as Golden or Brazen, as Speculative or Utilitarian,
according to the predominant thoughts and characteristics of each
as they have come down to us through the medium of their different
forms and modes of expression.

Ours has been denominated the Utilitarian, the Practical, the
Material age. It is indeed not only one, but all of these. The pre-
vailing currents of human thought and human activity are the
practical, the useful, the material. Their multitudinous forms of
expression are found graven upon the solid earth and coursing in
the air we breathe, in the physical comforts and conveniences which
surround us, and in the general uplifting of the people to a higher
plane of social, moral and intellectual existence. No age has even
equalled ours in the grandeur of its intellectual achievements and
the magnitude of its material development. Go where you will,
•enter whatsoever domain of thought and knowledge you please, and
every wiiere you will behold the most unceasing mental activity
crowned with the most astonishing results; results, too, in the main
conducive to the benefit, the improvement, and the elevation of man.
Truly ours is the utilitarian age — the age which is practically exempli-
fying the doctrine " that the greatest happiness of the greatest num-
ber should be the end and aim of all social and political institutions."

Yoimg gentlemen, these are some of the characteristics of the age
in which we live, in which you are to act your several parts, in

13

which you are to succeed or fail. Your education thus far has beea
utilitarian. You have been studying the practical, the useful, the
material. You have been learning how to tiiink, and to think prac-
tically. You iiave been acquiring knowledge, the power of which
ou are to exemplify in your future lives. Your acquisitions liere
ave been sucJi as will best lit you for those avocations of life which
ou intend to pursiie. 1 have already indicated my opinion of their
ligh character and great usefulness, as well as the necessity for a
tliorouijh system of training: and education for those who intend to
engage in them. You will compose the first Alumni of this Col-
lege and the firet exemplars of the benefits to be derived from the
special course of instruction here pursued. As such you may con-
(_ tribute largely to the future success of your Alma Mater. A&
I "a tree is known by the fruit it bears," so the character and stand-
ing of a College are often determined by the character of its gra-
duates. Permit me to express the hope that y(»nr future will be
such as to reflect honor ujx)n yourselves and credit upon this Insti-
, tution. Recollect that

I "Honor and shame from no condition rise;

f Act well your part : tliere all the honor lies."

It has been said that theie are but three ways of making a living,
viz : by working, by begging, and by stealing ; and, disguise it as
we may, there is much of truth in the expression. Work is the
\ common destiny of man. In the great hive of humanity there can
f be no drones. He who does not earn his bread by the sweat of his
brow violates the divine anathema. No matter what one's sphere in
life may be, honorable success is attainable only by worh. The
humblest artisan as well as the highest statesman bows to this inex-
orable law of our being.

You will assume the active duties of life at an interesting and
trying period, A great change has been wrought in our social and
political system, and the demoralization incident to a great war has
not been fully overcome. Fraud and peculation have stained the
charactere of some high in authority, and its infection has not been
altogether absent from the people. Although a healthier tone of
public sentiment seems to prevail, it will require the efforts of good
men and Christians everywhere to elevate it to that standard wiich
alone insures safety and stability.

Judging from past experience, well may the poet exclaim :

" God give us men — a time like this demands

Strong minds, great hearts, true faith, and ready hands ;
Men whom the hist of uilicc does not kill;

Men whom the spoils of office cannot buy ;
MeiKwho have opinions and a will ;

Men who have honor; men who will not lie;
Men who can stand before a demagogue,

And damn his treacherous flatteries without winking;
Tall men, sun-crowned, who live above the fog

In public duty and in private thitiking;
For, while the rabble in their tluimb-wom creeds,
Their large professions and their little deeds,
Mingle in seltish strife, lo! Freedom weeps,
Wrong rules the land, and waiting justice alevpe!"

Virginia Agricultural and Mechanical College.

EQUIPMENTS.

In addition to the college building and lot of five acres, the institution owns an
■experimental farm of about two hundred and forty-five acres, of great beauty and fer-
tility, lying within one half-mile of the town of Blacksburg. This farm has been
well equipped, and the students in the agricultural department will there be taught
practically the most approved methods of cultivation, under the direction of the Pro-
fessor of Agriculture and the Farm Manager.

The Mechanical Department will be organized and put into practical operation as
rapidly as the means will allow.

Apparatus for the illustration of those studies requiring its aid has been provided,
and a library has been commenced. Both will be added to, from time to time, as the
funds of the college will justify the expenditure.

SESSION OF TEN MONTHS.

The next session will open on the second Wednesday in August (13th), continue
until the 22nd of December, be resumed on the 24tli of February, and terminate on
the second Wednesday in August, 1874.

The policy of a winter vacation has been adopted, after mature consideration, as
that best suited to an institution of this character, not only because the study of the
farm operations is interrupted at a less important season, but because students from
the eastern part of the State, while escaping the severity of winter in the mountains,
will remain at the college during the most pleasant and healthful portion of the year.

STATE STUDENTS.

The act of the General Assembly establishing this college provides that " a number
of students equal to the number of members of the House of Delegates, to be appor-
tioned in the same manner, shall have the privilege of attending said college without
charge for tuition, use of laboratories, or public buildings, to be selected by the
•school trustees of the respective counties, cities and election districts for said dele-
gates, with reference to the higl)est proficiency and good character, from the white
male students of the free schools of their respective counties, cities and election dis-
tricts, or, in their discretion, from others than those attending said free schools."

The attention of County Superintendents and Trustees of the public schools is
specially invited to these provisions of the law, and they are respectfully but earnestly
urged to have "reference to the Myhest proficien»i/" in making the appointments."
There are numerous vacancies, which it is hoped will be filled before the second Wed-
nesday in August, the beginning of the next session.

PAY STUDENTS.

To be admitted as a pay student, the applicant must be at least fourteen years of
-age ; but tlie Faculty may dispense witli this requirement in favor of one who has a
•brother of the requisite age entering at the same time.

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EXPENSES.

The necessary expenses of a State student, including a unifonn ttuit, do not exceed
91 50 for the sessiun of ten months, of which $60 are needed at the time of entrance.
The expenses of a pay student are $45 more (for tuition and college fees, $40; for
room rent, $5), one-half of which must be paid in advance, and the remainder at the
lieginning of the se^nd half-ecssion.*

Table board can be had at $10 per month, and by messing the cost may be reduced.
Board and lodging in Blacksburg may be had for $13 per month, which incIodeB
room rent, fuel, and furniture.

A plain and subntantial gray uniform, costing $17.25, has been adopted, and each
student is required to provide himself with it as soon as he enters the collie. As it
takes the place of a suit of clothes, it really adds nothing to the ex^^enses.

At the time of matriculation, each student must deiK)t«it with the Treasurer $6 as a
contingent fee to cover damages to the property. Any balance remaining to his credit
■will be returned to him at the close of the session.

The rooms in the college building being unfurnished, students who desire to occnpjr
them, without increasing their expenses, should bring the necessary articles of fur-
niture from home ; but those who prefer to do so can buy furniture here on reasonable
terms. When two occupy a room, the cost to each is from $10 to $12; but the articles
may be sold at the end of the session at a small reduction from cost.

The importance of reducing the expenses to the lowest possible ]x)int is fully re-
'Cognized. A portion of tlie students have the opportunity of paying a part of their
expenses by labor on the farm or in the workshops.

CURRICULUM.

A curriculum has been adopted to which (unless excused by the Faculty for s])ecial
reasons) every student will be required to confine himself, except that in the Senior
year there will be two parallel courses, one for farmers and the other for meciianics.
Students who are properly prejjared may enter advanced classes. Provision is made
for the study of Latin and Greek, though they are not a part of the prescribed
curriculum.

JUNIOR Y£AB.

First Half Session. — Arithmetic, English Grammar, Geography, French or Ger-
man, Physics, Latin and Greek (optional), Weekly Comixwi'tions.

Second Half Session. — Algebra, English Grammar, English Composition, French
or German, Physics, Latin and (ireek (optional), Weekly Compositions.

INTERMEDIATE YEAR.

First Half Session. — Synthetic Geometry, Physics, Chemistrv, Natural History,
Composition and Rhetoric, French or German, Latin and Greek (optional).

Second Half Session. — Trigonometry, Surveying, Pliysics, Chemistry, Natural
History, English Literature, French or German, Latin and Greek (optional
through the course).

SECOND year.

First Half Session — For Fannert. — Algebra, Conic Sections, Agriculture, History,
English Literature, Moral Philosophy, Book-keeping, Astronomy.

For Mechmdr*. — Algebra, Conic Sections, Moi-hanit^, Mechanical Drawing,
History, English Literature, Moral Philosophy, lkx)k-keeping. Astronomy.
Second Half Session — For Farmers. — Algebra, Conic Sections, Agriculture, His-
tory, English Literature, Moral Philosophy, Astronomy, Book-keeping.

For Mechanics. — Algebni, Conic Sections, Mechanics, Mechanical Draw-
ing, History, English Literature, Moral Philosophy, Astronomy, Book-
keeping.

*Thi8 estimate iucludes board, tuition, fuel, lights, room r«ut, vrostaing, books, and a
uuiform suit.

16

Students who are properly prepared will have the opportunity to pursue a more
advanced course of study.

Instruction in Military Tactics is given throughout the course, from which no
student is exempt unless physically disabled ; and each student not so exempt is re-
quired to provide himself with the prescribed uniform as soon as he enters the
college.

Manual labor on the farm or in the workshops is required of the students only in
so far as is necessary for their thorough instruction in those technicalities, and it is
believed that it will not exceed two hours a week for each student.

COMPENSATED EXTRA LABOR.

In the erection of college buildings, farm buildings, fences, bridges, &c.; in the
care of live stock, of a garden, of a dairy, &c. ; in the carpenter's and blacksmith's
shops; in the management of steam motive-power and of apparatus for furnishing
heat, light and water ; there will be much work which can be done by students spe-
cially fitted for these diflferent employments by previous practice or extraordinary
intelligence and diligence, and to such a good compensation can be allowed for time
so spent. The experience of other institutions gives warning that no one should
expect to support himself at college wholly by his labor, and very few can earn any
large part of the necessary expenses ; but it may be stated, for the encouragement of
those who are willing to practice great industry and economy, that students have
proven during the session just closed that it is possible to reduce the cost of food and
lodging to five dollars per month, to pay the greater part of that by extra hand-work,
and yet at the same time to maintain an excellent standing in their classes, and win
numerous certificates of distinction.

For further information, address

C. L. C. MINOR, President,
Blacksburg, Montgomery County, Virginia.

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