By Oscar von Engeln Illustrated with Photographs by the Author UST as the sun seems to shine doubly clear after a succession of dull days, in so marked a contrast is the sense of freeness which comes to us from the wildwoods in spring, with the confinement of a city winter. And if those who seldom visit the woods and fields would come out of their city haunts and breathe the balmy woodland air of April-May, that air, they will find, is well worth the trip. When on such an early excursion (after, say, one week of warm weather), the untrained eye naturally seeks the horizon, attracted by the azure blue of the sky, or perhaps by the fleecy clouds as they scud behind their curtain of, as yet, black-limned trees. But it is to mother earth we must turn for the first true children of the spring-the wild flowers. Perchance the earliest to appear are the hepaticas, or liverworts. On sheltered, sun-kissed hillsides they will be found, wearing dainty fuzzy wraps to protect their slender stems from any chance cold wind, and exhaling a delicately delicious perfume from their white and sometimes pinkish-blue flowers. The leaves, which came after THE TWIN LEAF the flowering season last year, and were green all winter, are now turning red and dying off. They must have quarreled, those two, the leaf and bloom, in the far-distant past; and now whenever the one is visible the other sulks and fades away. Not far away from the hepaticas, in another sunny spot, stand the latest generation of bloodroots, who, lacking. the fuzzy overcoats of their neighbors, were content to wait in their leavesencircling coat till they were sure all danger of a frost was over. Then forth they came, dazzling flower society with their starry beauty. Only a day or so were they with us (time enough for the honey-bee to make his fertilizing visit), and then the wind blew the snow-white petals hither and thither, and the bloodroots settled down to the serious business of reproducing their kind. Note how close is the analogy of the relations between flower and leaf to wedded mankind. The leaf as a prosaic provider depends on the flower to bring beauty into their existence, and to be the mother of their offspring; and, as in human society, so in their case, the various stages of domestic bliss range between such extremes as loving bloodroots and quarreling hepaticas. WHITE-HEARTS There, for instance, you see the lily-bloom of the adder's-tongue, who, linked irrevocably to her spotted leaf companion, droops her head in shame. They BLOODROOTS On yon rocky slope there are undoubtably some whitehearts, or Dutchman'sbreeches. The baggy appearance of the two outer larger petals of each individual bloom are to some, perhaps, suggestive of this latter name. But by following this style of reasoning, we might argue from their snowy texture that the members of the raceme, growing from the leafless scape, represented the Dutchman's whole wardrobe, hung out upon the clothes-line after a rejuvenation in the washtub. In the open woods, on the south side of a fallen tree, we get a first glimpse of the white flowers of the twin-leaf. On their long, slender stems they stand high above their modest neighbors, the spring-beau ties; which, we note on coming closer, have carpeted the whole wide floor of the forest in white, pink, and green. But of all the wild flowers which bloom in spring, the white trillium is pre-eminently one of the choicest. Profusely scattered over hill and dale, by the side of the brook and in the deep woods, we find its clumps of stalks, governed throughout by the rule of three. And a truly grand appearance they make with their large white flowers nestling in a background of dark-green leaves, well deserving their Latin name of Trillium grandiflorum. When in full bloom, they Hamilton in advocating the Constitution, of Jefferson in acquiring Louisiana, and of Clay in giving us a truly American policy." Despite the unquestionable truth of this statement, and the fact that the bill referred to is one of the most remarkable educational measures of the nineteenth century, whereby, according to the Report of 1899, sixty-four institutions of higher learning (including thirty-five thousand nine hundred and fifty-six students and two thousand eight hundred and ninetythree professors and instructors) have been founded and developed to their present prosperity, Mr. Morrill's work in behalf of American popular education, outside of academic and scientific circles directly benefited by his wonderful and patriotic foresight, is to-day practically unknown and unappreciated. Setting aside for a moment the consideration of the bill itself, the time in which it was produced, and its results, it seems at first sight little short of a phenomenon in the history of comparatively modern intellectual progress that such a man as the late Senator Morrill should have been the originator and champion of a far-reaching, practical, and scholarly system of education. Born in the small, isolated country town of Strafford, April 14, 1810, of industrious and thrifty parents, he lived outwardly the life of an ordinary merchant and agriculturist. His fragmentary and superficial school education ended when he was fourteen. By assiduous, systematic work as clerk, storekeeper, and farmer, he became at about his thirtyfifth year a courteous, respected, and intelligent citizen of his county-a position which seemed to be the goal of his desires. Well and favorably known as he was, nothing more was expected of him. Nevertheless, his intimate friends had closely observed the inherent soundness, the wellstored power, the large and comprehensive possibilities of this quiet, unassuming citizen. His constant good behavior and steadiness, his systematic reading of good books in English literature, his ability to write well, his practical interest in the affairs of the town-all this gained the support of his constituents. On December 3, 1855, he took his seat in the Thirtyfourth Congress. His work as Representative and as Senator covered an uninterrupted space of forty-four years, during a time when there came to the front questions of momentous importance and events of worldwide consequence. And of the thousands of legislators who, in the course of his political career, sat with him under the roof of the Capitol, none were more impressive in personality or versatile and practical in wisdom. A gentleman of the "old school," his mind, to quote one of his friends, "seemed to work with the regularity and ease of a finely organized machine, the motive power of which was a well-considered and tenacious purpose." He was the creator and advocate of the successful Tariff Law of 1861, a system of protective finance which, with the exception of the system in vogue during the period of the Wilson Bill ('93-'97), has been the backbone of our modern tariff policy. He was closely identified with the completion of the Washington Monument, with the erection of the building now used by the State, Navy, and War Departments, with the creation of a Statuary Hall in the Capitol, with the improvement of the west front of the Capitol, and, finally, was the cause of that noblest of our National structures, the magnificent Congressional Library. But apart from all stands his successful work for the dissemination of knowledge-for the foundation and the maintenance of colleges "the leading objects of which shall be [to quote the language of the bill of 1862], without excluding other scientific and classical studies, and including military tactics, to teach such branches of learning as are related to agriculture and the mechanic arts, in order to promote the liberal and practical education of the industrial classes in the several pursuits and professions in life." It is unimportant to consider at length the sections of the great measure and the subsequent legislation pertaining to the financial policy whereby the National Government and the several State Governments paved the way for these institutions. Suffice to say that the process consisted in setting apart for each State, according to Congressional representation, SO many acres of public land, which, being sold, placed in the hands of a State accepting the grant a fund, the interest of which, coupled with the aid given by the State in question, would be sufficient to make for the establishing and the carrying on of a college. Thus the interested States found themselves pledged to foster industrial education; and although they vere, as a rule, liberal in their appropriats, in many cases the sums were inaquate. In 1890, Mr. Morrill, who Banwhile had been closely watching the gress of the colleges, succeeded in btaining increased aid, thus placing the National support of the institutions on a sund basis. Instead of a proportional alotment of public land, the law of 1890 gave an equal appropriation to each State. Attempts at various times, under the name of the Homestead Bill, to give away arable kads to those becoming squatters thereon, recessitated on behalf of the colleges the introduction of a protective measure to the effect that if the proceeds of the sales of public lands should be less "than is required by the terms of the Act aforesaid [the Act of 1890] to be paid to each of the several States, any deficiency shall be paid from any money in the treasury not otherwise appropriated." Mr. Morrill Ged before this bill was passed; but a parallel measure has since become a law the United States. istry, botany, and geology, considered a profession. Engineering, mining—indeed, all "pursuits" were largely looked at from this point of view. Then, too, it was Mr. Morrill's idea to furnish the industrial young men of the land—that is, those outside of the professions of law, medicine, and theology-institutions wherein, without necessarily becoming so-called "classical students," they might obtain instruction in studies of a liberal nature, such as literature, the modern languages, philosophy, political economy, etc., and, if so desired, even Greek and Latin. In this connection Mr. Morrill's words are sig nificant : ture. "It is perhaps needless to say that these colleges were not established or endowed for the sole purpose of teaching agriculTheir object was to give an opportunity for those engaged in industrial' pursuits to obtain some knowledge of the practical sciences related to agriculture and the mechanic arts, such as they could not then obtain at most of our instiueth tutions called classical colleges, where the. Morrill's languages-Greek and Latin, Frens'small and insigGerman-absorbed perhang's we have a body of all the time of thfions of higher learning, flying the lege. flag of the United States, loyal to their harmonious lines, and yearly sending several commonwealths, working along thousands of graduates into the many walks of life. A fitting and lasting evidence of the central influence and power of the United States Government, they were made possible at a time when the right of that Government was questioned. Encouraged by their past, persistent and untiring in the present, they look confidently into the future, and with one voice extol the name of their illustrious founder. eir Mr. Morrill's bill of 1857, similar to the act of 1862, with the exception of the the basis ase establishing a study of military science, tactics, expresses in parliamentary lanTage not only the educational needs ne common "plain people" of that time, but they have sures of workers the rise of the new spirit of scie they have surestigation, the inestimable vas in the dissemià educators were just begir mation among our It is a lasting honor to lected a fund of new rated farmer that he should as radically changed te herald of the new order. is country." courses of instruction the advantages of a colleg the several Morrill acts as. nevertheless, broad-m', know the value of such t promotion of industrial a man of the plain people, have been organized in ,,ges of agriculture and rado, Connecticut, DelaIowa, Kansas, Kentucky, narrowness of their inte Tents as well as the late ait untutored minds. Mchigan, Mississippi, Mon wwwith wonderful disce, bra relation of the new th Carolina, North Dakota, 1 Dr. A. C. True, "Agricultural Education," YearBook of the Department of Agriculture, 1899. Referring to Dr. True's last statement, it should be said here, in justice to the Massachusetts institution, that, although an agricultural college, it is practically and generously equipped, both in its plant and its faculty, thoroughly to prepare the way for more advanced study in subjects other than those pertaining to agricultural pursuits alone. Its work is by no means narrow or limited, and its graduates are to be found in almost all the activities of life. That its scope of influence is misunderstood, that the general public is largely ignorant of its various courses of instruction as well as of its important place in the educational system of the State, is possibly to be accounted for in the prevalent lack of knowledge on the part of the public as to what is comprehended in the cuture, hitherto simply ah Carolina, South Dakota, teaching of modern scientific agriculture and its branches. abor, was, in its conne The art elever thousand fete namber of stud labor, in the handling of tools and implements, is not to be disparaged; in the proper time and place it is most essential, and generally something of this may be obtained either before or after the college term, but should not largely interfere with the precious time required for a definite amount of scientific and literary culture, which all earnest students are apt to find far too limited." agement a charge to the like of which no sister nation could point, to the execution of which no government had turned its hands. Says Ambassador White: "Since the Romans quietly bought and sold the lands on which the Carthaginians were encamped in the neighborhood of the Eternal City, there has been no more noble exhibition of faith in the destiny of a republic." If the mere passage of the bill could have swept away from the minds of those interpreting it and taking advantage of it, as well as from the minds of those knowing of it yet indifferently disposed toward it, all the doubt and the ignorance concerning its purpose, Mr. Morrill's work for education would to-day need no written eulogy. For what they are, and what they are to become, the State colleges would receive the credit they deserve, would be known as they ought to be known, and would demand widespread and appreciative attention toward their various curricula. That the bill should have laid special stress on colleges of "agriculture and mechanic arts" is no lasting cause why the American public should consider that these institutions appeal only to certain and restricted classes. These terms were used by Mr. Morrill conveniently to summarize under general heads the industrial young men of the land; and at that time ('57 to '62), the vhen America was agricultural rather excluan commercial, the farmer was the most studies;nct type. As for the industrial workteach suepresented by the term "mechanic related to practically there were none; or, if arts, in ord exist, it was as individuals rather practical edu members of a widely extended in the severartant class. The class, as such, life." reated. Here, then, in Senator Morrill's own words, is the purpose of his bill. In the light of the present day it seems reasonable and practical; in the late fifties, however, its provisions, untried, unappreciated, and misunderstood, were met with an onslaught of all kinds of arguments, sincere and insincere. Among the objections none were more bitter than the plea that the bill was a direct violation of State's rights. Mr. Clay, of Alabama, basing his argument on the premise that the bill was an attempt of the National Government to secure control of State interests through an educational system, rave vent to the following: the late Federal Government is the creathe originatoretes, and is dependent upon ing, practical, and sution and operation. education. Born in the smadinate to the country town of Strafford, April 14, 2d. The of industrious and thrifty parents, in the lived outwardly the life of an ordinary, merchant and agriculturist. His fragmentary and superficial school education ended when he was fourteen. By assiduous, systematic work as clerk, storekeeper, and farmer, he became at about his thirtyfifth year a courteous, respected, and intelligent citizen of his county-a position which seemed to be the goal of his desires. Well and favorably known as he was, nothing more was expected of him. Nevertheless, his intimate friends had closely observed the inherent soundness, the wellstored power, the large and comprehensive possibilities of this quiet, unassuming citizen. His constant good behavior and steadiness, his systematic reading of good books in English literature, his ability to write well, his practical interest in the affairs of the town-all this gained the support of his constituents. On December 3, 1855, he took his seat in the Thirtyfourth Congress. His work as Representative and as It is unimpone many effects of this educathe sections of ure, it served as a great prosubsequent legisthods of scientific research financial policy on in institutions already Government and Classical colleges found it ernments paved introduce new courses, to tutions. In the Suffice to tories, in short, to meet consisted in setting ds of the new era. according to Congre: broadening their lines of so many acres of y of these privately enbeing sold, placed insities" actively opposed accepting the grantent of education through of which, coupled v or State control, thus discussion the question |