STUDY AND RESEARCH. 657 



it is noticeable tbat from year to year the culture of students becomes 

 less aud less wide. 



This is especially true in departments, as, for instance, jurisprudence 

 aud medicine, which, besides being- wholly different from the studies 

 pursued before entrance, are distinguished by an overwhelming- fuilness 

 of uew ideas. Precisely iu these branches the attitude of the student 

 during- the first few terms decides his development, indeed his whole 

 future. In such studies each lecture grows logically out of the last, 

 and the superstructure will be a labyrinth to him Avho is not acquainted 

 with every cranny of the substructure. The result is an imperfect 

 piece of work built up on an insecure foundation, and the later influence 

 of the teacher avads naught to fill up the gaps. 



Doubtless the difficulty of the subjects taught contributes greatly to 

 the abatement of zeal in the beginner. Yet it is precisely the beginner 

 upon whose enthusiasm everything depends. Is it possible that the 

 university teacher is to be held responsible for the diminution of ardor 

 so often occurring- in the early terms ? Most rigid investigation will not 

 substantiate the reproach, and, so far as I know, it has not been made, 

 certainlj^ not with any degree of frequency. I should say that, on the 

 contrary, all reflection upon the matter leads to the subject of prepara- 

 tory work. 



This question at present engages the attention of many minds. Cul- 

 tured men, aud no less the state, are occupied with the problem of the 

 changes necessary in the instruction dispensed by the higher schools, 

 in order to secure i^reparation for the university of the sort conducive 

 to the best interests of its work. My address would have to transgress 

 its limits by far, were I to attempt the discussion of this important 

 problem in ail its phases. The disputants difi'er on the curriculum, on 

 the amount of time to be assigned to each study, on the methods of 

 teacliing, arriving finally at the overburdening- of pujjils, mayliai) also 

 of teachers. The experience of the university teacher is wide enough 

 to admit of his formulating- an opinion on the majority of these ques- 

 tions; for to day's consideration, however, a few of the less hackneyed 

 ones will sufiice. 



The university teacher must first of all make two closely connected 

 demands upon the j)reparatory schools. He must require that the 

 matriculates bring to the university delight in study and ability to do 

 indei)endent work. As compared with these demands, the evidence of 

 positive attainments sinks into the background. In the latter respect, 

 each faculty sets up a different standard ; but with regard to the former 

 there is probably no appreciable variation. 



As for delight iu learning, it is inborn in every normally gifted child. 

 Daily we may observe the child's pleasure at becoming acquainted with 

 some new object, or at learning- to use its organs in a new way. Its 

 eagerness grows with every step iu advance. It is an innate quality, 

 aud the use made thereof depends primarily ujjou the constitution of 

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