42 



THE A L UMN1 JOURNAL. 



results we ought to have from its teach- 

 ings in this country and this period ? 

 Some persons may reply that it can be 

 obtained by making the university train- 

 ing more practical. Much has been said 

 on the point first and last, but the theory, 

 which is vague at best, seems to me to 

 have no bearing here. It is not a practi- 

 cal education which we seek in this 

 regard, but a liberal education. Our 

 search now and here is not for an educa- 

 tion which shall enable a man to earn 

 his living with the least possible delay ; 

 but for a training which shall develop 

 character and mind along certain lines. 



"To all her students alike it is Har- 

 vard's duty to give that which will send 

 them out from her gates able to under- 

 stand and to sympathize with the life of 

 the time. This cannot be done by rules 

 or systems or text-books. It can come 

 from the subtile, impalpable, and yet 

 powerful influences which the spirit and 

 atmosphere of the great university can 

 exert upon those within its care. It is 

 not easy to define or classify these in- 

 fluences although we all know their gen- 

 eral effect. Nevertheless, it is, I think, 

 possible to get at something sufficiently 

 definite to indicate what is lacking and 

 where the peril lies. It all turns on the 

 spirit which inspires the entire collegiate 

 body, on the mental attitude of the uni- 

 versity as a whole. This brings us at 

 once to the danger which I think con- 

 fronts all our large universities today, 

 and which I am sure confronts that uni- 

 versity which I know and love best. We 

 are given over too much to the critical 

 spirit and we are educating men to be- 

 come critics of other men instead of doers 

 of deeds themselves. 



' ' This is all wrong. Criticism is health- 

 ful, necessary, and desirable, but it is al- 

 ways abundant and infinitely less im- 

 portant than performance. There is not 

 the slightest risk that the supply of critics 



will run out, for there are always enough 

 middle-aged failures to keep the ranks 

 full if every other resource should fail. 

 Faith and hope, and belief, enthusiasm,, 

 and courage are the qualities to be train- 

 ed and developed in young men by a 

 liberal education. Youth is the time for 

 action, not criticism. A liberal education 

 should encourage the spirit of action, not 

 deaden it. We want the men whom we. 

 send out from our universities to count in 

 the battle of life and in the history of 

 their time, and to count more and not less 

 because of their liberal education. They 

 will not count at all, be well assured, if 

 they come out trained only to look coldly 

 and critically on all that is being done in 

 the world and on all who are doing it. We 

 cannot afford to have that type, and it is 

 the true product of that critical spirit 

 which says to its scholars : "See how 

 badly the world is governed ; see how 

 covered with dust and sweat the men who 

 are trying to do the world's business, and 

 how many mistakes they make; let us sit. 

 here in the shade with Arnaodlis and add 

 up the errors of these bruised grimy fel- 

 lows and point out what they ought to 

 do, while we make no mistakes ourselves, 

 by sticking to the safe rule of attempting 

 nothing." This is a very comfortable 

 attitude, but it is one of all others which 

 a university should discourage instead of 

 inculcating. Moreover, with such an at- 

 titude of mind towards the world of 

 thought and action is always allied a 

 cultivated indifference than which there 

 is nothing more enervating. * * * 



" The time in which we live is full of 

 questions of the deepest moment. There 

 has been during the century just ending 

 the greatest material development ever 

 seen. The condition of the average man 

 has been raised higher than before, and 

 wealth has been piled up beyond the 

 wildest fancy of romance. We have built 

 up a vast social and industrial system „ 



