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THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY 



the working of tlie option system at Har- 

 vard affords an indication of the prefer- 

 ences and tendencies of the students in 

 regard to the studies they incline to pur- 

 sue ; hut is not entrance to Harvard a 

 part of its policy, and what ahout the 

 option there ? Is there not at the door 

 of the university a big winnowing- 

 machine which delivers the " discipli- 

 nary " studies as acceptable wheat, and 

 blows the " utilitarian " studies to the 

 winds as the veriest chaff? All the 

 preparation exacted of students for 

 entrance to college is in the " discipli- 

 nary " studies, and mainly in the Latin 

 and Greek languages. Besides being 

 incessantly told in the preparatory 

 schools that the very poles of the intel- 

 lectual world are two dead languages, 

 and that a classical education is the 

 only real broad liberal education, they 

 are kept for years drilling at Latin 

 and Greek as the only condition upon 

 which they can get to college at all. 

 The standard is here kept as high as it 

 was twenty years ago, and President 

 Eliot stated at the late Elmira conven- 

 tion that, in the estimation of the pre- 

 paratory teachers in New England, Har- 

 vard requires a year more study of 

 Latin and Greek than the other col- 

 leges. The student thus enters college 

 warped and biassed by his preparation 

 for it. Of the sciences he knows noth- 

 ing, and he is prejudiced against them 

 as mere utilitarian studies to be con- 

 trasted on all occasions with liberal 

 mental pursuits. "When these facts are 

 remembered, it is certainly no matter 

 of surprise that Latin and Greek lead 

 in the collegiate elections of study ; it 

 is rather surprising that they lead by 

 so small a number. It is very far from 

 being a fair or open choice when a 

 pupil has to repudiate his past acquisi- 

 tions, and stem the tide of opinion 

 which has forced them upon him, to 

 take up studies under the grave dis- 

 advantage of no early preparation. We 

 think the lesson of the Harvard statis- 

 tics is not altogether exhilarating to 



the partisans of the classics. When 

 Harvard will accept a scientific prep- 

 aration for college as of equal value 

 with the classical, we shall be better 

 prepared to estimate the strength of 

 the tendencies in the two directions. 



LIFE OF PRINCIPAL FORBES. 



The biographer of Sir Walter Scott 

 alludes to a " first love " which ended 

 unfortunately for the great romancer. 

 It is related that, rain happening to fall 

 one Sunday after church-time, Scott 

 offered his umbrella to a young lady, 

 and, the tender having been accepted, 

 he escorted her to her home. The ac- 

 quaintance was continued, and ripened 

 into a strong attachment on the part 

 of Scott ; but he was doomed to 

 disappointment, and Lockhart states 

 that it produced a profound effect upon 

 his character. "Keble, in a beautiful 

 essay on Scott, more than hints a be- 

 lief that it was this imaginary regret 

 haunting Scott all his life long which 

 became the true well-spring of his in- 

 spiration in all his minstrelsy and ro- 

 mance." Be that as it niay, the lady, 

 whose name was Williamina Belches, 

 instead of marrying Scott, chose his 

 friend, Sir William Forbes. They had 

 a family, of which the youngest, James 

 David, was born in 1809. When the 

 son was nineteen years old his father 

 died, and, under the immediate influ- 

 ence of the bereavement, he drew up 

 a set of brief resolutions for the regu- 

 lation of his life, one of which was " to 

 curb pride and over-anxiety in the 

 pursuit of worldly objects, especially 

 fame." Young Forbes became a fa- 

 mous man. He took to science, and mas- 

 tered it rapidly under the guidance of 

 his intimate friend Sir David Brewster, 

 choosing physics as his department. 

 At the death of Sir John Leslie, Pro- 

 fessor of Natural Philosophy in the 

 University of Edinburgh, he offered 

 himself as a candidate for the chair, in 



