"And it has not been sufficiently understood that agriculture is a science, as well as an art; that it demands the labor of the mind, as well as of the hands; and that its successful cultivation is intimately allied with the most profound investigations of philosophy, and the most elaborate exertions of the human mind. If not the exclusive duty, it is certainly the peculiar province of the state governments to superintend and advance the interest of agriculture. To this end, it is advisable to constitute a board composed of the most experienced and best informed agriculturalists and to render it their duty to diffuse agricultural knowledge; to correspond with the county societies; to communicate to them beneficial discoveries and improvements; to introduce useful seeds, plants, trees and animals, implements of husbandry, and labor-saving machines; to explore the minerals of the country and to publish periodically the most valuable observations and treatises on husbandry, horticulture, and rural economy. The county societies ought to be enabled to distribute adequate premiums; and a professorship in agriculture connected with the board or attached to the university might also be constituted, embracing the kindred sciences of chemistry and geology, mineralogy, botany, and the other departments of natural history, by which means a complete course of agricultural education would be taught, developing the principles of the science, illustrating the practice of the art, and restoring this first and best pursuit of man to that intellectual rank which it ought to occupy in the scale of human estimation."38 In 1819, after regretting the failure of a measure embodying the recommendations of 1818, and asking why the state should encourage the arts and sciences in general, "and agriculture, the most important of all arts, the most useful of all sciences, be alone proscribed from the participation of its bounty," he goes on to say: "The societies already constituted have, by stimulating emulation and diffusing information, affected great good; and if they be assisted in their useful and honorable career, by pecuniary appropriations, and if a board of agriculture, connected with a course of appropriate studies, be instituted, we have every reason to believe that the most beneficial consequences will result in multiplying the products of this country; in increasing the value and ameliorating the quality of our commodities; in preventing an undue augmentation of the learned professions, and in maintaining the equilibrium of society, by restoring the most numerous calling to its merited intellectual rank."39 He then proceeds to recommend that this proposed board of agriculture be given increased powers. In the speech of January, 1820, there is to be found this comment: "The law which passed at the last session for the encouragement of agriculture has fully realized the patriotic views of the Legislature. The institution of a board to superintend this important pursuit with authority to receive and communicate useful information, and to dispense the means of valuable improvement will always be considered an important era in our history." Then not satisfied, he says further: "The excellence of this system, may, however, be greatly improved by extending the duration, augmenting the fund, and enlarging the power of the superintending board."40 But bolder still, he recommends (1826) what the twentieth century is only beginning to realize: "I have at various times solicited the attention of the Legislature to the encouragement of agriculture, the first and best pursuit of man; and which in its twofold character, as an art and a science, is susceptible of great improvement, and demands and deserves your fostering patronage. A wide and unexplored field lies before us. Experimental and pattern farms; plantations of useful trees for ship-building, architecture and fuel; labor-saving machines; improved seeds and plants of those productions now used; new modes of cultivation; and the whole range of rural economy are subjects deserving your animating support."1 Technical. Still another means through which this sociological conception finds expression, is given in the message of 1825-this is the most important on this subject: "The Mechanic and Scientific Institute of New York has been established for the purpose of diffusing the benefits of science throughout the various mechanical professions by means of lectures, apparatus, models, books, and public exhibitions of ingenuity, skill, and industry. V. 2, p. 969. 40V. 2, p. 1005. The usefulness of this institution would be greatly enhanced by the erection of an edifice adequate for its purposes; and it is believed that an appropriate site may be concurrently granted by the State and City of New York without inconvenience to either, from contiguous property in that city belonging to both, and now unoccupied. As this is the first organized school of the kind in the world, and is destined to increase the skill, and elevate the character of the mechanical interest, by applying philosophy to the arts, and imparting the benefits of science to that most useful body of our fellow citizens, its claims upon the public bounty will not escape your favorable attention."42 Its Support After noting Clinton's extensive program, it will be interesting to see his attitude toward its support. In 1818, he said: "Funds to the amount of $750,000.00 have been granted to the three colleges, and about $100,000.00 to the incorporated academies. While this liberality reflects honor on the State, it cannot be too forcibly inculcated, nor too generally understood, that in promoting the great interests of moral and intellectual cultivation, there can be no prodigality in the application of public treasure."4 In January, 1820, he said: "In such a cause, liberality can rarely degenerate into profusion." In 1822, he said: "I am happy to have it in my power to say that this State has always evinced a liberal spirit in the promotion of education, and I am persuaded that no consideration short of total inability will ever prevent similar demonstrations."45 And so similar recommendations are made in the other messages. The speech of November, 1820, sums up this point and states its relation to the fundamental thesis: "the whole appropriation for the promotion of education may be estimated at two millions and a half dollars. Although the sum may appear highly liberal, yet when we look at the resources, population and extent of the State, and consider that knowledge is essential to the happiness and dignity of man; to the existence of republican government and to national power and glory, we must feel persuaded that V. 3, p. 67. V. 2, p. 1018. Cf. Elliott's Some Fiscal Aspects of Education, p. 4. more munificent dispensation ought to be afforded for its encouragement and diffusion."46 RESTATEMENT OF PROPOSITION-THE EDUCATIONAL IMPLICATIONS OF DEMOCRACY The foregoing presentation makes evident the fact that Clinton saw clearly the educational implications of democracy. It may be here indicated again from a somewhat different approach. In the message of 1825, Clinton said: "As connected with these important topics permit me to request your attention to a more accurate definition, a more liberal extension, and more secure enjoyment of the elective franchise. Without the right of suffrage, liberty cannot exist. It is the vital principle of representative government, and it ought, therefore, to be effectively fortified against accident, design or corruption."47 After enumerating the various alternatives necessary to secure the right of suffrage, and pointing to a few illustrations which show the complexity and the liability to fraud and injustice of the present arrangement, he says: "I submit, therefore, to your consideration whether the constitution ought not to be so modified as to render citizenship, full age and competent residence the only requisite qualification."48 It is necessary to keep in mind, however, in this connection, the statement of the message of 1827: "But after all the great bulwark of republican government is the cultivation of education and the right of suffrage cannot be exercised in a salutary manner without intelligence."49 Hence the responsibility of the State, and hence Clinton's elaborate educational program as the chief executive officer of the State. There is no better concluding paragraph for this chapter than the following from the speech of 1822: "The first duty of a state is to render its citizens virtuous by intellectual instruction and moral discipline, by enlightening their minds, purifying their hearts and teaching them their rights and obligations. Those solid and enduring honors which arise from the cultivation of 48V. 2, p. 1049. 4TV. 3, p. 58. 48V. 3, p. 59. science and the acquisition and diffusion of knowledge, will outlive the renown of the statesman and the glory of the warrior; and if any stimulus were wanting in a case so worthy of all our attention and patronage, we may find it in the example before our eyes, of the author of the Declaration of Independence, who has devoted the evening of his illustrious life to the establishment of an university in his native state."50* 50V. 2, p. 1100. *Clinton has embodied his views of science mainly in his Phi Beta Kappa Address and the Introductory Discourse before the Literary and Philosophical Society, and incidentally in the Columbia College Alumni and the American Academy of Arts addresses. He is a thorough Baconian in his attitude toward the significance of science in our social life, in its futility as a mere science of description and nomenclature, in its possibilities of growth and evolution, and in its method. |