VIII UNIVERSITIES: ACTUAL AND IDEAL 231 



will remain but an imperfect test of knowledge, 

 and a still more imperfect test of capacity, while 

 it tells next to nothing about a man's power as 

 an investigator. 



There is much to be said in favour of restricting 

 the highest degrees in each Faculty, to those who 

 have shown evidence of such original power, by 

 prosecuting a research under the eye of the 

 Professor in whose province it lies; or, at any 

 rate, under conditions which shall afford satis- 

 factory proof that the work is theirs. The notion 

 may sound revolutionar}^, but it is really very 

 old; for, I take it, that it lies at the bottom of 

 that presentation of a thesis by the candidate for 

 a doctorate, which has now, too often, become 

 little better than a matter of form. 



Thus far, I have endeavoured to lay before 

 you, in a too brief and imperfect manner, my 

 views respecting the teaching half — the Magistri 

 and Eegentes — of the University of the Future. 

 Now let me turn to the learning half — the 

 Scholares. 



If the Universities are to be the sanctuaries of 



the highest culture of the country, those who 



would enter that sanctuary must not come with 



unwashed hands. If the good seed is to yield its 



hundredfold harvest, it must not be scattered 



amidst the stones of ignorance, or the tares of 



undisciplined indolence and wantonness. On the 

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