THE BOWDOIN MUTINY.

OUR fellow-students at Bowdoin have of late attracted a considerable share of public attention by proceedings which were, to say the least, extremely impolitic, and of necessity utterly unproductive of any result. If the refractory classes had intended to destroy all chance of their wishes being acceded to, they could not have contrived a more sure method than the extreme course which they have taken. The Faculty, after what has happened, cannot recede an inch consistently with the dignity of their position, and have absolutely no choice but to assert their authority. Even were it possible, would it be advisable to entirely suppress the military portion of the College curriculum? In this country the principle of trusting to chance is carried to an alarming extent. We seldom or never make much preparation for war until war is upon us, and then we find that not only are our military supplies deficient, but that nine tenths of our impromptu army are ignorant of even the simplest movements of the manual. If we could raise a force that knew something about handling its arms, the task of organizing and disciplining it would be far easier and quicker, and the time thus saved might make all the difference in the length and results of the war.

Is it not, therefore, a prudent and statesmanlike measure for the government to provide for Elementary Military Education at the universities? The duties in this department need not be arduous, nor take up more than their due proportion of time, but let every well-educated man have a little knowledge of this sort, for he cannot tell how soon he may be called upon to use it. Let not the next sudden emergency find us in the condition we were in when the Rebellion broke out, when, to quote the language of one of our leading journals, "a drill-sergeant was a man of distinction." Not that we desire to make the United States one vast garrison like Prussia, or get into the habit of picking international quarrels unnecessarily; but all our experience tells us that a certain amount of preparation is nothing more than prudence, and that it is a poor policy to allow our military knowledge to fall to so low an ebb that a war is rendered longer and more bloody by the inadequate provision to meet it.

L.