602 HENRY A. ROWLAND 







education., though I have no doubt an investigation would disclose 

 equal absurdities here, for it is aside from my object. But I do object 

 to lowering the ideals of the youth of the country. Let them know that 

 they are attending a school, and not a university; and let them know 

 that above them comes the college, and above that the university. Let 

 them be taught that they are only half educated, and that there are 

 persons in the world by whose side they are but atoms. In other words, 

 let them be taught the truth. 



It may be that some small institutions are of high grade, especially 

 those which are new; but who can doubt that more than two-thirds of 

 our institutions calling themselves colleges and universities are un- 

 worthy of the name? Each one of these institutions has so-called pro- 

 fessors, but it is evident that they can be only of the grade of teachers. 

 Why should they not be so called? The position of teacher is an 

 honored one, but is not made more honorable by the assumption of a 

 false title. Furthermore, the multiplication of the title, and the ease 

 with which it can be obtained, render it scarcely worth striving for. 

 When the man of energy, ability, and perhaps genius is rewarded by 

 the same title and emoluments as the commonplace man with the 

 modicum of knowledge, who takes to teaching, not because of any apti- 

 tude for his work, but possibly because he has not the energy to com- 

 pete with his fellow-men in business, then I say one of the inducements 

 for the first-class men to become professors is gone. 



When work and ability are required for the position, and when the 

 professor is expected to keep up with the progress of his subject, and 

 to do all in his power to advance it, and when he is selected for these 

 reasons, then the position will be worth working for, and the successful 

 competitor will be honored accordingly. The chivalric spirit which 

 prompted Faraday to devote his life to the study of nature may actuate 

 a few noble men to give their lives to scientific work; but if we wish to 

 cultivate this highest class of men in science, we must open a career 

 for them worthy of their efforts. 



Jenny Lind, with her beautiful voice, would have cultivated it to 

 some extent in her native village: yet who would expect her to travel 

 over the world, and give concerts for nothing? and how would she have 

 been able to do so if she had wished? And so the scientific man, what- 

 ever his natural talents, must have instruments and a library, and a 

 suitable and respectable salary to live upon, before he is able to exert 

 himself to his full capacity. This is true of advance in all the higher 

 departments of human learning, and yet something more is necessary. 



