EDITOR'S TABLE. 



107 



of Trustees of the new college. He 

 proclaimed that the " Free Academy " 

 was dead, that he knew nothing of it, 

 and curtly brushed aside as no longer 

 of interest the objects for which it 

 was founded, and the policy by which 

 they were to be secured. He went 

 back and expatiated on the mediaeval 

 origin and classical ideal of colleges 

 and universities, defended the scholas- 

 tic conception of culture in contrast 

 with modern innovations, eulogized 

 Latin and Greek, and went in for old- 

 fogyism generally. How entirely the 

 spirit of the original undertaking was 

 ignored and disavowed was well il- 

 lustrated by the fact that when some- 

 body quoted, in behalf of modern scien- 

 tific culture, an authority whose work 

 upon education has been translated into 

 a dozen languages, and has exerted an 

 immense influence in modifying plans of 

 study, Judge Larremore contemptuous- 

 ly dismissed the matter, by saying that 

 the authority was of no weight, as the 

 author of the book had never been 

 through college, and was nothing but a 

 railroad engineer. Even a railroad en- 

 gineer might have counted for some- 

 thing, on the theory by which the " Free 

 Academy " was established ; but in the 

 policy of the new classical institution 

 this sort of men seemed to get but little 

 consideration. 



And thus it came about that New 

 York finds itself the proprietor of a 

 " regular college." The people pro- 

 posed to have a high-school, free for 

 poor boys who had attended its com- 

 mon schools, to get some adequate prep- 

 aration for industrial avocations, and 

 which it was supposed could be carried 

 on for $20,000 a year; and they now find 

 themselves cheated out of their inten- 

 tions, and saddled with an ordinary col- 

 lege, costing $150,000 a year, more or 

 less. Of course, the repudiation of the 

 original school, and of the ideas which 

 led to its establishment, was not sub- 

 mitted to a popular vote, and it is equal- 

 ly certain that, if the projected change 



had been thus submitted, it would have 

 been overwhelmingly rejected. And 

 yet, by all the reasons at present urged 

 for the continuance of the college, the 

 people would have been in duty bound 

 to establish it. Indeed, the controversy 

 which has been going on in the news- 

 papers of late, as to whether the city of 

 New York shall abolish its college, is 

 chiefly significant as affording a sort of 

 register of public sentiment on the pol- 

 icy of State education. The college has 

 this use, that it forces the extreme issue 

 in regard to the educational functions of 

 government, and it is noteworthy that 

 the contest has elicited strong expres- 

 sions in favor of committing the whole 

 business of education to the State. Hav- 

 ing affirmed the voluntary principle in 

 religion, and denied the right of the 

 State to meddle in this most important 

 concern having affirmed that the in- 

 dividual is a better judge in this matter 

 than the State can be when it comes to 

 education, we deny the voluntary prin- 

 ciple, deny that individuals here know 

 what is best for themselves, and that 

 the State that is, the politicians wbo 

 happen at any time to be in office is 

 better than the people to be intrusted 

 with the absolute control of the sub- 

 ject. The history of the New York 

 College is merely a sample of the ma- 

 noeuvring by which jobs will be carried, 

 with no reference to the popular will, 

 just in proportion as education is given 

 over to political management. 



THE LIBERTY OF SCIENCE AND EDUCA- 

 TION. 



An interesting controversy has 

 sprung up in Germany upon this sub- 

 ject, the most important utterances of 

 which we have had translated and pub- 

 lished for the benefit of American read- 

 ers. 1 A part of the discussion has been 

 made use of in England and in this 



1 See the addresses of Profs. Haeckel and Vir- 

 chow, in the Popular Science Monthly Supple- 

 ment, No. X., and Hellwald's paper in No. XI. 



