18683 Foundation Ideals of Cornell 



form of training which would most strengthen and 

 enrich his hfe; whatever his capacity for usefulness, 

 it should have the right of way, and he himself was 

 to be the judge. All students and all studies, there- 

 fore, were to be placed on an academic equality, for 

 what will nourish one may not serve for another. 

 But the university was of course to ensure that each 

 subject be sanely and lucidly presented, and each 

 piece of work be honestly and loyally done. Because 

 the new institution thus stood fundamentally for 

 the rights of every human faculty, men came from 

 all over the nation to its pioneer classes, especially 

 in Natural Science. Meanwhile, however, things of Things 

 the spirit were not forgotten; Lowell, as well as oj the^ 

 Agassiz, came as lecturer at the very beginning. ^^'"' 

 And at White's request Lowell wrote the lines 

 inscribed on the great bell Comstock used to ring 

 every morning: 



I call as fly the irrevocable hours, 

 Futile as air, yet strong as Fate to make 

 Your lives of sand or granite — awful powers: 

 Even as you choose, they either give or take. 



The young president cherished, moreover, a special 

 faith in noble architecture as a means of culture. 

 Some day he hoped there might arise on the old 

 Cornell Farm groups as fine as those that cluster 

 about the towers of Magdalen, and a chapel as 

 exquisite as that of King's College. He had faith 

 also in the inspiration of personality in the class- 

 room. So the current grind of daily recitations, with 

 its petty marking system, gave way to laboratory 

 and lecture, and the old plodding and prodding 

 which smothered all interest in teacher and taught 



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