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landscape gardener, Mr. Adam Oliver of Kalamazoo. As it is thought economical to build the much needed officers' houses at one time, it is necessary to defer the construction of them also to another year when the appropriation in full will be available. It is expected that another year's report will give account of the expenditures of these special appropriations.

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Further legislation regarding the College will be noticed further on should this report contain the law under which the College is organized.

RECORD OF THE YEAR 1878.

The officers in charge remained for the most part the same as the year previous. In September Richard Haigh, Jr., who had served the College with great faithfulness as Secretary pro tempore since the spring of 1871, resigned his office, and William H. Marston was appointed Secretary September 15th.

William K. Kedzie, Assistant in Chemistry, a graduate of the College, received the appointment of Professor of Chemistry in the Kansas Agricultural College, and his place in the Chemical Laboratory was supplied by Mr. Robert F. Kedzie.

James M. Short was made Steward of the Boarding Hall, Charles W. Garfield, a graduate, Foreman of the Gardens, and James Cassidy, Gardener, in place of the persons formerly employed, who had resigned their places.

Professor Fairchild has received the permanent appointment of Librarian ; the professor of Agriculture is made Curator of the Agricultural and Mechanical Museum, the professor of Chemistry Curator of the Chemical Laboratory and Chemical Museum, the professor of Zoology and Eutomology Curator of the Zoological and Geological Museum, and the professor of Botany Curator of the Botanical Museum.

Students.-The students in attendance have been as follows:

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23 years and 5 months.

Total.....

The average age of the students by classes is as follows:

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21 years.

Sophomores (March 1)..........

193

66

Freshmen (March 1)....

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The character of the students remains as it has been for several years. They are mostly the sons of farmers of limited means, and are for the most part largely dependent on their own exertions for the means of gaining an education. More than half of them apply regularly for more work than is required of them. Three hours' labor is required daily except Saturdays and Sundays.. The price paid for it does not exceed eight cents an hour.

The Natural History Society, College Christian Union, and other organizations of students for their improvement, have been maintained with increasing interest throughout the year.

COMMENCEMENT.

The Commencement exercises began with the Baccalaureate Sermon of Professor Fairchild, acting President in the absence of President Abbot. The following is an abstract of the sermon:

The baccalaureate sermon, by Prof. George T. Fairchild, acting President, was the first thing in order. It was preached in the College chapel, last sunday afternoon. The services were opened by the singing of a solo by the Secretary, W. H. Marston, with a chorus of four voices. Prayer was offered by Rev. M. W. Fairfield of this city. The text of the

BACCALAUREATE SERMON

was from I. Kings, xi: 2: "Be thou strong, therefore, and show thyself a man." It was the close of a noble life,-a life of peculiar faith, of terrible struggles, and of distinguished victories. David, a man whom the Lord had sought out after his own heart, to free his people from oppression, to strive against the jealousy of Saul, to endure the pangs of exile, to meet the hardships of an uncertain life in wilderness and mountain fastnesses, there to rise and raise his people with him to the looked for eminence, to be tempted in his greatness and in it to overcome all, was about to lay upon his chosen son all the magnificence, the honor, and the burden of authority. It was when he saw and felt all its weight that he uttered in these words the epitome of all his fatherly and kingly counsel, "I go the way of all the earth; be thou strong, therefore, and show thyself a man.' He had found in all that long and rich experience that the mantle of a king must needs cover a man. So the world has found in all ages since; and all the gifts of name, or place, or power, we spurn if not allowed to be the merest perquisite of genuine manhood. Burns touches upon the conviction of all hearts:

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But do we agree so well as to what is true manhood? Each age certainly has had its ideal; and the nations have had each its peculiar pattern. The man whom Diogenes sought out would have been far from our conception. Sparta looked upon the crafty warrior as the only proper man. A later age set up its ascetics, its hermits, as patterns for the world. We, too, may fail as much of the mark; for, like the ages before us, we are biased by our wants, and overestimate such qualities as we have felt the need of recently. Our "coming man" is largely made up of the missing elements in the present generation. What is true manhood? What obstacles have those to surmount who seek it? Health, strength, and comeliness, we may regard as the essentials of our material existence; though we do so often overlook the part we have in gaining and keeping them. In possession we do not prize them. Ever passing from us, their value is underestimated in view of some habit of self-indulgence, some passion uncontrolled. The good man, Watts, says, "The mind's the standard of the man.' "" What do we need here to give us our pattern of manhood? A few wide-embracing characteristics of manly intellect may not be amiss. It

should be reasonable. How much that means to him who analyzes the whole conception. It makes the grand distinction between the brute creation and its master. Reason is the stamp upon us of the image of God. Bereft of it, what a miserable thing is humanity!—the driveling idiot, the raving maniac. We shudder at the thought. Yet there are a thousand gradations between the utter absence of reason and that genuine obedience to its dictates which belongs to manhood.

Again, a man of intelligence must be capable. A man of ability means such a man as the world needs. There is no need to draw a detailed picture of the capable man; we all appreciate his strength. He may lack information in many directions, but we feel that he can find it when he wants it, and use it when obtained. "Knowledge is power" only with the power of thought, which comes only by exercise and pains. Added to these essentials is an expansive power of mind, a spirit of progress. The man that rests satisfied with present attainments falls short of the mark. We may as well not be as exist stagnant. Wealth, popularity, associations, are not the certain signs of progress. There is a sensibility toward good and evil that people call conscience. It warns against evil, and prompts to good. It stings in case of failure from duty and blesses in the honest performance. He who would do a man's part in the good work of the world must keep the prompting quick and keen.

Once more, the sympathies that make so much of our world are a part of the man too often underrated. The one who loves the race-ofttimes a weak and ignorant sister of mercy-does more real good than the cynical philosopher whose mental powers not another mortal can fathom.

There is still another element of true manhood. The stern will of the strong man carries all before it. We call it energy. It is the power that carries over hard places, through the dangers and terrors of life. Energy will always be in demand, and strong will added to all the other essentials will crown manhood among men.

It need scarcely be added that the elements do not perfect the work. Proportion, so essential a law in the material universe, is just as essential in character. The painter shows his skill in mingling the colors that perfect his lights and shadows. So manhood comes by care for combination in due proportion of all the elements that enter its completeness. Excess of any mars the perfection. Too much energy brings out the fanatic. Sympathy in excess may give the aimless driveler. The progressive spirit untempered may lead to the changeling. The most capable may be the most imperious, and the most reasonable is sometimes the most insane and inactive. No one can be said to have come to fuli stature till he has found his work; and true manhood must be seen in action.

The speaker dwelt upon the difficulties of building a character such as the ideal presents; especially those peculiar to our own day and generation. He referred to the " greed of gain," and said that we have so confounded wealth and weal in our political economy that we are in danger of losing the latter entirely. Akin to this is that business eagerness that swallows up all interests in those of one's calling, so that instead of being a man, one is all teacher, all preacher, or doctor, etc. In our country, party spirit and political bias have wonderful power in dwarfing manhood. We may cease to be men in being voters.

Another growing obstable to manhood is the power of selfish organizations. We see some good which can only be gained by combination; we unite our efforts for this end, and finding these ties stronger than we thought, sometimes cease to be men and become fellowcraftsmen, fellow grangers, or brother masons. In ages past the bigotry of religious faith has overcome the manhood of many otherwise exalted people. The churches have done a noble work for man, and are still doing it. Their very ground of organization is "good news to all the world." But in the various views of ways and means and meanings, the spirit of manhood ceases, and we become Churchmen, Presbyterians, or Methodists.

One obstacle to manhood that especially resists the educated youth is the tendency to restrict our field of thought. In almost any field of learning we may point out a few great names among the masses. The aspiring scholar of to-day longs to win a similar fame, and finds, he thinks, his method in devotion to a very limited field of investigation. This disposition toward specialties pervades the very college halls. But the man who would really know a truth worth knowing, must know a thousand preliminary truths. God keep us from the day when men of science and learning shall cease, and all be mere scientists or doctors!

After a few appropriate remarks to the graduating class, the speaker closed his address, with the hope that they all might commence their work in the world as men, and continue doing the work of men "till we all come to the unity of faith and knowledge of the Son of God unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ."

ALUMNI MEETING.

A business meeting of the Alumni was held on Tuesday at 3 P. M., and the following were chosen officers for the ensuing term:

President-Daniel Strange, class of '67.

Secretary and Treasurer-Prof. A. J. Cook, class of '62.

Orator-Prof. A. N. Prentiss, class of '61. Alternate-Daniel Strange, class

of '67.

Poet-Rev. Oscar Clute, class of '62. Alternate-Prof. C. E. Bessey, class of '69.

Historian-J. J. Kerr, class of '71. Alternate-A. C. Williamson, class of 72. They resolved to hold their next meeting in August, 1876, at the time of the Junior exhibition.

The orator on the present occasion was Mr. George A. Farr, class of '70. The Lansing Republican reports his address as follows:

He said they (the Alumni) had come together, after three years that were fuller, richer, riper in interest than any the world has known. They had met, in obedience to a custom traditional and useful, to sorrow and to rejoice,-to sorrow for the loss of one whom the wing of the death-angel bad touched; to rejoice for the blessings of the past, the comforts of the present, and the hopes of the future. This is a practical age, that cares not for what a man knows of Virgil or Homer, but an age that asks what a man can do.

He said they as college graduates were exponents of an experiment. They are to prove the utility of their Alma Mater to utilize and ennoble labor.

There is a cry against the College because its graduates do not appear as a solid phalanx of farmers. This is unjust and unreasonable. The diversity of pursuits is indicative of equal and rounded growth. There is a sad lack of harmony between the different classes of society. The farmers need a bond of closer sympathy with other pursuits. Every gradnate of an Agricultural College will always be a strong friend to Agriculture; and if he enter another calling, he is an ally in the enemy's camp, worth twenty men in their own. The present is a time for wise counsel; grave duties devolve upon the educated farmer. His is the work of educating the popular mind to the principle of equal rights. His is the duty to purify and regenerate the condition of the masses, and to preserve inviolate the rights of every class of bumanity.

If the Alumni are faithful to their duty, they shall prove their institution a power and a blessing to the world.

The oration was warmly applauded.

A piece of instrumental music," Recollections of Home," was finely executed by Miss Bryant. Mrs. Knight sang a very pretty ballad entitled "Margarie's Almanac," which was warmly received.

Then followed the reading of the Alumni History by the historian, Mr P. H. Felker.

According to the class historian, at the time of entering college ten were farmers, one a ship carpenter, and four were students. Eleven intend to make farming a business as soon as they can get farms, one is to be a civil engineer, and two lawyers. The eldest was nearly 35 years of age, the youngest 191.

THE GRADUATING EXERCISES.

The Graduating exercises took place on Wednesday, Nov. 11. Fifteen young men were graduated with the degree of Bachelor of Science.

In addition, there were six degrees of Master of Science conferred, on the ground of proficiency in scientific study, viz.: A. G. Gully of Rochester, N. Y., class of 1860; J. S. Strange of Oneida, class of 1869; C. W. Garfield of Grand Rapids, W. K. Kedzie of Kansas Agricultural College, A. H. Phinney of Cornell University, H. G. Reynolds of Old Mission, all class of 1870.

The address on this occasion was delivered by Duane Doty, Esq., of Detroit. The following is an abstract of the address:

YOUNG GENTLEMEN,-Commencement Day is one of the most eventful days in the life of man; and to-day we who have gone a little farther on derive some pleasure in dispensing our advice to you, whom we now welcome to the ranks of the world's workers. As a rule, the average American regards advice as little better than polite impertinence; but, 28

you cannot well help yourselves, I shall pass to you what but a few years ago I was obliged to take. But you have as a consolation the possibility that you may sometime have oppor tunity to transfer like treatment to some future class of graduates.

The material problem before the American people is the subjugation of a continent; and such institutions as the one from which you graduate to-day aid largely in furnishing the appliances with which the work is to be done. Mechanical industry is the characteristic feature of our time, and its develoyment has been so rapid that, by and with the instruments furnished, the laborers of to-day can accomplish four times as much work as did our grandfathers fifty years ago. Mr. Gladstone recently remarked that Great Britain was enabled by labor-saving machinery to perform the work of six hundred millions of hand laborers, or as much as twice the hand labor of the adult laboring population of the globe, unaided by machinery. With the rapid strides making in improved mechanical appliances, we may look forward to the not remote future when band toil alone, so crushing and so wasteful, will be among the things of the past, and to the time when, by devoting only a portion of the day to manual labor, we shall live in more comiort, and secure the leisure so necessary for study, culture, and recreation. Work in some form is the great solvent, and nothing of any consequence can be accomplished without it. The best workers are the most successful men, and society rewards those who construct and add to the world's wealth.

Form a purpose and persevere in it. Nothing succeeds without a definite plan, and life is almost valueless unless devoted to the pursuit of some rational endeavor. There is a general leveling tendency in every department of effort and business. Margins are closer, and long, patient, systematic, and intelligent labor can alone secure permanent success.

Whatever it may fall to your lot to do, do it with all your might, and to the best of your ability. Society demands your best work. It is simply an impertinence for any man not to do his very best on all occasions. Should you be called upon to make a speech, prepare yourself to do it in your best possible manner. Whether it be tending swine, raising beans, running for Congress or from cannibals, do it in a manner that will never bring reproach upon you for not having performed your part with the most intense activity of which you are capable. Second and third rate work is nothing more nor less than neglect of duty and waste of opportunity.

To-day men work and live in combination: you do something for me, and I do something for you. We have a double nature or being; one might be termed our simple, personal, selfish nature, with its appetites and peculiarities, and the other our human nature, or higher nature, and by means of which we are enabled to live with and receive the recog nition of our fellow men. In the conventionalities of life we find that punctuality is a cardinal virtue. Promptness in meeting all appointments and engagements is absolutely indispensable to success. In affairs and in the details of work and study we should form the habit of doing things rapidly, though not carelessly. Counting money, using pen or pencil, turning the leaves of books, reading the printed page, etc., should all be done with the utmost rapidity consistent with accuracy; no time should be lost or wasted.

Politeness and courtesy should become habitual, for politeness is a duty to ourselves aswell as to others, and by it we are always the gainers.

Every man owes something to his craft, and should try and contribute something for the common benefit. We should improve our heritage before banding it to our successors. As the physician should give his profession the benefit of his recorded experience, so should all men take note of their work and study for the credit of the craft that bears them along life's journey.

There can be no doubt that the pursuit of some study outside a man's profession or busi ness will be found of the bigbest advantage to him. One of our best lawyers, Hon. C. I. Walker, makes the history of Michigan and the Northwest a specialty. Judge Hughes is regarded as an authority in ornithology. Hon. G. V. N. Lothrop cultivates Greek, and the Hon. James F. Joy is said to be an excellent Latin scholar. I mention these gentlemen by way of furnishing illustrations of the fact that a man may have a special study in addition to his profession, and I believe such a study is a source of constant pleasure and relaxation. For nearly a century we have been a nation, and our central idea,-for a nation is nothing but an idea,-is the gradual emancipation of men from physical and intellectual bondage. That phase of society whose instrument is slavery has given place to that higher phase whose instrument is mechanical industry. The nature of society is conditioned by the characters of the individuals composing it; and, for the general good, our society bas undertaken to give the advantages of education, to disseminate information, and to afford to each the benefits that come from the experience of all. We educate our governing class, the people,—and it is each man's duty to accept and discharge his share of public duty; and the disagreeable things incident to public life should not deter any right-minded man from doing his share of public work. When it comes to merely personal comfort, there can be no doubt that an independent private business furnishes the largest share of it.

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