546 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY 



papers which he is so freely called on to give. He carries his message 

 to the confines of state and even of nation. He may be invited to carry 

 it to the great centers of the whole intellectual world. Still further, he 

 contributes by means of the written as well as the spoken word. In the 

 main, the solidly intellectual product of the entire press, whether in 

 technical or popular form, whether in magazine or book, is the work 

 of his hand. Even the lighter product is mostly the work of his 

 disciples. 



Add to interpretation, dissemination and inspiration, the duty of 

 discovery. The college professor's function includes not only the in- 

 crease of knowledge in the individual and the elevation of the intel- 

 lectual standard in the world at large, but the actual advancement of 

 learning. College and professor alike are not for their own campus 

 alone, but for society in general. 



Naturally, the delivering of lectures and the writing of articles and 

 the conduct of experiment and research can not be done by men who 

 consume most of their time and all of their energy in the recitation 

 room and office. This is where the ignorance and narrowness of those 

 who would scientifically manage the professor's time are most clearly 

 manifest. The cry of " students and class room first," like other dema- 

 gogic cries, never fails to win a measure of applause. 



There are two considerations, however, upon which the critics of 

 these activities should be taught to reflect. One is that, as a matter of 

 fact, other things being equal, professors who lecture, write, and engage 

 in research, are better teachers than those who do not. The professor 

 who is not engaged in this way does not grow. Long continued power 

 of inspiration depends upon continual growth, and growth depends upon 

 continual discovery. It may be discovery, for the general intellectual 

 world, of what has not yet been known, or it may be discovery, for the 

 professor himseK, of what the world of intellect already knows — the 

 conquest of the intellectual heritage which none of us can possess 

 without conquest; but discovery of some sort is essential both to useful- 

 ness and happiness, because it is essential to freshness and vigor of 

 growth. The other consideration has already been mentioned — the re- 

 lation of institutions of learning and their faculties to the world of 

 universal learning. 



The college professor with the sis hours is not denying himself rec- 

 reation and health for selfish ends, except as some little craving for 

 distinction moves him. Least of all is he investigating and writing 

 books because he will be paid money for it. He studies and publishes 

 because he is impelled by the law of his being and the ideal of his call- 

 ing. The intellectual life is, and always has been, a freemasonry. 

 Learning is, and always has been, almost as much as religion, without 

 money and without price. The apostle of scientific management who 

 imagines that it may be dealt with after the manner of a commodity, 



