for proprietors and farmers. A national agronomic institute would train professors and administrators. The national institute would recruit professors from the "summits of science". To attract them it would have to be located close to Paris, but in a rural area with gardens, farms and forests. Versailles would be a suitable location, available now that the king had been deposed. Courses would have a two-year duration, and the three best pupils each year would receive three-year scholarships to pursue agricultural studies. Tourret's proposal was submitted to the agriculture and farm credit committee of the Assembly, which proposed various amendments. The rapporteur was citizen Antoine Richard du Cantal, who noted that cultivators had long been neglected by previous regimes, and presented the project as a great revolutionary measure. Richard added the objective of instilling love of the Republic to that of instilling love of the land. The text was debated in the Assembly on 22 September 1848, and received a generally favorable reception. The project was criticized on the basis of costs. One member suggested that children studying at the elementary level should continue to work in the fields, receiving education in the mornings or evenings. Others felt the education should be limited to farmer-proprietors, since they alone would cause progress to be made in agriculture in France. Amable Dubois felt that there were no qualified teachers, and that the peasants would resist any form of theoretical instruction. The royalists were the most hostile to the project of educating the workers. The debate between supporters and opponents was heated. Eventually, on 3 October 1848, the decree for agricultural education and creation of agricultural schools was adopted by 579 out of 679 votes. The only major amendment was to align the schools with departments rather than arrondissements. Tourret also conceived of the idea of an international exposition, but this was abandoned due to the uncertainty of the times and the claims of other projects. Later years Tourret resigned with the rest of the cabinet on 20 December 1848 after General Cavaignac was defeated in the Presidential elections. He took a position of mild opposition to the government of Louis Napoleon. After his resignation Tourret refused to sit as a member of the Legislative Assembly. He devoted the last years of his life to agriculture. He died on 17 May 1858, aged 62. References Citations Sources 1795 births 1858 deaths People from Allier