COLLEGE OR UNIVERSITY 195 



are the basis of both intellectual and individual liberty, from the par- 

 alyzing influences that follow an attempt to meet the conventional 

 social requirements in education. Intellectual liberty often thrives 

 best in states where political freedom is restricted. 



The collegiate university is so much occupied in distributing ready- 

 made educational suits cut upon a single pattern to applicants for 

 academic honors, that individualism is almost completely hidden by a 

 garb which may conceal both the iniquities of mediocrity and the virtues 

 of genius. 



The American college graduate is so accustomed to the evils of a 

 system in which he is pulled and pushed about by " trainers " that he 

 is constantly in danger of losing his personal identity. His patience 

 is often exhausted by listening to sermons on the advantages of scholar- 

 ship, while he prays in vain for the opportunity to learn by observing 

 living examples. Many of the crudities in our intellectual life as a 

 nation are directly attributable to the failure to appreciate the impor- 

 tance of university ideals to the community and the nation. This 

 oversight also emphasizes our reluctance to recognize that the spirit of 

 enquiry is a normal instinct which if repressed is followed by serious 

 consequences such as the loss of placticity, of intellectual vigor and of 

 the highest forms of intelligent and sympathetic interest in one's own 

 profession. The vision of those who are fortunate enough to possess the 

 spirit of investigation, one of the surest signs of mental health and 

 vigor, is towards the future, while the fate of individuals and insti- 

 tutions which turn to look back is the same as that of Lot's wife. 

 "Denn wer nicht vorwarts kommt der geht zunick; So war es immer 

 so bleibt es." Unless the spirit of enquiry is developed deep and 

 abiding intellectual interests are impossible. In its absence we become 

 mere gatherers-in of knowledge with but a slightly higher degree of 

 intelligence than that possessed by collectors, but lacking genuine in- 

 terest in progress. The spirit of discovery is generally accompanied by 

 a childlike freedom from bias. Without the inspiration that comes 

 from prosecuting research, our gaze is directed down into the valleys 

 and not upwards to the peaks whither our aspirations lead us. The 

 failure of our universities to encourage more extensively than has yet 

 been attempted enquiries in the field of knowledge is largely responsible 

 for our diffuse and shallow interests. We are prone to estimate the 

 mental qualities of a student by counting the number of subjects he 

 has studied without attempting an analysis of his mental traits. Any 

 institution which publicly assumes the right to be the bestower of a 

 liberal education should be prepared to forfeit its claim to the title of 

 university, as this should be a function of the school and not of the 

 university. The essence of a liberal education is to be sought for in the 

 quality of mind of the individual and not in the character of the infor- 

 mation he possesses. The futility of any institution solemnly prom- 



