Liberal Education. 279 



the latter. It is upon discovery, not upon rote- 

 learning, that humanity has thrived. And if 

 to adopt another idea of that incomparable man 

 civilization is but the education of the race, it 

 is after the course of civilization that a rational 

 course of education should in miniature be pat- 

 terned. 



To Professor Seeley's excellent essay on Com- 

 petitive Tests we can only briefly allude. The 

 state of things at Cambridge which it describes is 

 exceedingly instructive. At Cambridge, if any- 

 where in the world, the system of competition has 

 been put to a crucial test. The examinations are 

 formidable, alike from their severity and from 

 their rigid accuracy. Immense rewards await the 

 successful scholar, and all possible means for ob- 

 taining a creditable position are placed at the dis- 

 posal of the ambitious student. Yet the results 

 thus far obtained from the competitive system 

 are by no means brilliant. It does not apparently 

 increase the number of eminent scholars, or even 

 of thoroughly educated men, produced by the 

 university. The complaint is even made that 

 England has ceased to produce great scholars, 

 that in point of erudition she is falling behind 

 the Continental nations ; and it is frequently re- 

 marked as a significant fact that the most learned 



