APHORISMS AND REFLECTIONS 169 



the modern looks to the future ard seeks the know- 

 ledge of things. 



The mediaeval view was that all knowledge worth 

 having was explicitly or implicitly contained in 

 various ancient writings ; in the Scriptures, in the 

 writings of the greater Greeks, and those of the 

 Christian Fathers. Whatever apparent novelty 

 they put forward, was professedly obtained by 

 deduction from ancient data. 



The modern knows that the only source of real 

 knowledge lies in the application of scientific rnethods 

 of enquiry to the ascertainment of the facts of existence ; 

 that the ascertainable is infinitely greater than the 

 ascertained, and that the chief business of the 

 teacher is not so much to make scholars as to train 

 pioneers. 



From this point of view, the University occupies a 

 position altogether independent of that of the coping- 

 stone of schools for general education, combined 

 with technical schools of Theology, Law, and 

 Medicine. It is not primarily an institution for 

 testing the work of schoolmasters, or for ascertain- 

 ing the fitness of young men to be curates, lawyers, 

 or doctors. 



It is an institution in which a man who claims to 

 devote himself to Science or Art, should be able to 

 find some one who can teach him what is already 

 known, and train him in the methods of knowing 

 more. 



CCCLXXII 



The besetting sin of able men is impatience 

 of contradiction and of criticism. Even those who 

 do their best to resist the temptation, yield to it 

 almost unconsciously and become the tools of 

 toadies and flatterers. " Authorities," "disciples," 

 and "schools" are the curse of science; and do 

 more to interfere with the work of the scientific 

 spirit than all its enemies. 



