Washington and Lee University - Calyx Yearbook (Lexington, VA)

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life, need a more direct training to this end than the usual hterary courses. 1 he proposed departments will also derive great advantage from the literary schools of the College, the influence of which in the cultivation and enlargement of the mind is felt beyond their im- mediate limits. The establishment of s uch departments would, I believe, add greatly to the im- portance and usefulness of the College. Respectfully submitted, R. E. Lee, President Washington College. To the Finance Committee of the Board of Trustees. It would be pleasant to pause for comment upon this letter and to bring out more fully its far-reaching compass. When it was written, there was no regular instruction given either in agriculture or in practical mechanics in any school in the State of Virginia. General Lee ' s plan, therefore, broke new educational ground, and had he lived to carry out his designs, Washington and Lee, ere this, would have become easily the first educa- tio,-;al institution in the South, if not in the whole country. General Lee beheld with the wide vision of the seer the needs of his people, and be was laying plans to meet those needs. He was planning for the present alumni and for their sons ' sons. His aim has been attained in part, but only in part. He was in educa- tion as in war, essentially an engineer. It seems appropriate, therefore, that the alumni should address themselves first of all to carrying out that part of his plan most representa- tive of himself — the development of the great profession of the engineer. This should come through the enlargement of the School of Engineering founded by him. This aim the Trustees of the Alumni Corporation propose to themselves and to their fellow alumni, whose help they ask in its accomplishment. The rest of General Lee ' s plan can be taken up later. The Trustees of the Incorporated Alumni have in mind many other projects which recognize the right and the obligation of Washington and Lee to the name and fame of George Washington as well as of Robert E. Lee. The realization of these projects would be of great value to the University and their discussion might be of considerable interest at this time, but further opportunity for such discussion will doubtless arise. In the mean- time, let us urge our readers, whether undergraduates or alumni, to begm at once to do what they can, by word or by deed, for the further upbuilding of Washmgton and Lee; for the upbuilding of Washington and Lee means holding high and carrying fo;ward the standards of morals, of character, of manhood bequeathed as our school ' s heritage by George Washington and Robert E. Lee.

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educational legacy left to the school by General Robert E. Lee. 1 hat legacy is in his letter of January 8, 1869, to the Trustees, and in the report of even date transmitted by that letter and drawn up under his inspiration by a committee of the Faculty. General Lee ' s letter, a model of precise statement, is herein given in full: Washington College, Lexington, Va., 8th January, 1869. Gentlemen: I transmit herewith the report on the extension of the Scientific and Practical De- partments of the College, prepared in accordance with the resolution passed at the last meeting of the Board of Trustees. The main points of the plan presented are as follows: 1st. The establishment of new Departments of Agriculture, of Commeice, and of Applied Chemistry ; 2d. A more complete development of the Engineering Schools now in operation, so that to the courses in Civil and Mining Engineering shall be added a distinct course in Mechanical Engineering, to embrace, besides Machinery, the most important branches of Practical Mechanics; 3d. The opening of a farm and workshops in connection with the instruction in Agriculture. Industrial Mechanics, and Practical Chemistry. The new departments proposed (Agriculture, Commerce and Applied Chemistry) are believed to be needed in the present condition of the country. Agriculture is, at present, the most important interest of the Southern people and must continue so for years to come. No effort, therefore, should be spared to advance it, and to extend to it all the advantages which science has bestowed upon manufactures. An agricultural school, where scientific principles and processes may be applied and illustrated, will be of efficient service. Similar schools have been found useful elsewhere, and the absence of any such in our State furnishes an additional argument for its organization. The establishment of a school of Applied Chemistry is to carry out the plan of the Board of Trustees, adopted some time since. In recommending a Commercial School, it is proposed, not merely to give instruction in book-keeping and the forms and details of business, but to teach the principles of Commercial Economy, Trade, and Mercantile Law. Such a school may, with great advantage, be added to the schools of the College, as many students may by its means prepare themselves for business pursuits while obtaining such scientific and literary culture in the other schools as time and opportunity may allow. The additional course in Engineering is necessary, in order to relieve the other courses, and to secure more complete instruction in machinery and the other branches of practical mechanics. It is proposed to establish a workshop in this department, where students may become practically acquainted with the use of tools ard the working of machinery, and thus add practical to theoretical knowledge. The great object of the whole plan is to provide the facilities required by the large class of our young men, who, looking to an early entrance into the practical pursuits of 15

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