l'Kl-:SJL)K.NT S ADDRESS. 7 



munily as America, the same need exists here for cht)o>ing the 

 best : the men and women trained by a University, acting by 

 their intinence and exam])le, shonkl induce more and more citi- 

 zens to be ready to iis^ht abu>-es or corruption, ready to speak, 

 write, and vote reasonably, ready to know true men when they 

 see them and prefer them as leaders to rabid ])artisans or empty 

 quacks. 



Much of this training in character will be given by the 

 social life of the University. When a number of students come 

 together and freely mix with one another, they learn much, new 

 ideas, new- viev/s, and new judgments. They are in a small 

 world of their owai, and they learn, as \\ill be of use when they 

 take a part in the larger world, something of the qualities of 

 force or efficiency in execution, judgment or good sense, and 

 tact, some power in putting forward opinions w^hich they believe 

 to be right, while admitting freely that different opinions may be 

 held by others as genuinely as their own. In a stitdent commu- 

 nity, too, a man will learn something of action, not for himself, 

 but for his side, or his fellow-students, or his university, and 

 there insincerity and pose w'ill be quickly detected and pointedly 

 condemned ; there, too, he has opportunities for making con- 

 genial friendships. 



This training will clearly be given best when students not 

 only come from various parts of the country, but also are study- 

 ing in various courses or preparing for various professions. In 

 the debates on the proposal to found an Agricultural College at 

 Pretoria early in 1910, before Union, the Colonial Secretary of 

 the Transvaal said: " Higher education in agriculture is not an 

 isolated thing, but part of higher education generally, and if 

 you want to give a man the highest education in agricultural sub- 

 jects he ought to be at a centre wdiere he can exchange ideas 

 with others, where teaching is not only given in agriculture, but 

 in scientific subjects generally, and w'here higher education is 

 fostered in all directions." An American authority. Professor 

 Davenport, has put it in this v>'ay : " There is no such place 

 for the farmer to sttid}' history and to learn to see himself as 

 others see him, as where he studies history in company with those 

 whose chief interests are not in agriculture, or in engineering, 

 or in teaching, but rather in history itself, by which we study the 

 true significance of world movements of all classes, and come to 

 knoW' things past and present in their true perspective. That is 

 to say, every man ought to be educated in an atmosphere not 

 especially prepared for him and his own kind, but in an 

 atmosphere and an environment much broader than his owai 

 interests."* 



So by study at a university it is hoped that while specialists 

 in any sulDJect are trained such may not be narrow- or pedantic in 

 their view^ Too often professional or technical education means 

 a one-sided development and mav show itself by a failure to 



* Quoted by Hon. Lionel Curtis in Legislative Council, Transvaal. 

 A 



