PRKSTDENTIAL ADDRESS. 521 



specialisation either in the linguistic or the scientific branch would be en- 

 couraged in the highest departments. There would also, of course, be oppor- 

 tunity for specialisation in histoiy by means of divisions which would provide 

 a course of study supplementary to that which formed the staple of the school 

 curriculum. 



Meanwhile there is one serious evil which could be remedied at once. It 

 is the business of the Universities to be the guardians and upholders of a 

 true educational ideal against the natural utilitarianism of the man of affairs. 

 By their scholarship system the Universities exercise a far-reaching influence 

 on secondary schools. They give far more scholarships for classics than there 

 are deserving candidates ; they do a good deal for natural science and mathe- 

 matics ; they do something, though absurdly little, for history ; but th.ey prai-- 

 tically do nothing at all for modern languages. To this branch of study 

 they give no encouragement such as might help the schools to treat it in a 

 truly educational waj\ I want to see boys and girls who study modern 

 languages reading the great literatures which constitute the value of those 

 languages as boys at the top of a classical side read ^schylus and Plato. 

 But we shall not reach that without help from the Universities, and at present 

 the Universities refuse their help. 



But, after all, important as are the subjects of study and the machinery 

 for pursuing them, all of this is subordinate to the spirit which should direct 

 and inspire the whole. I say the less about this because it has been so admir- 

 ably dealt with by Mr. Clutton-Brock in his recent little book ' The Ultimate 

 Belief,' which I could wish that all my hearers would read. Broadly, however, 

 my contention, like his, would be that the aim of education is primarily 

 spiritual, and that there are three, and only three, primary aims of the 

 spiritual life. These are Goodness. Truth, and Beauty. It must always be 

 insisted that these are ends in themselves. School discipline must be so con- 

 ducted as to suggest constantly that goodness of character is not to be sought 

 as a means to happiness or any form of success, but as an end in itself. So 

 much is commonly admitted though seldom acted on, but the same principle 

 must be impressed with regard to Truth and Beauty. With regard to Truth, 

 pi-obably most educators already believe it but they are shy of appealing to it, 

 and industry is recommended not as a means to the fulfilment of the spirit's 

 destiny but as a mean.^ to success in life, or at best as a means to effective 

 moral goodness. In the case of Beauty our education hardly recognises at all 

 that it is an end, with the result that those whose spiritual activity most 

 naturally takes this form find themselves in rebellion against the upholders of 

 Truth, and still more against the upholders of Goodness. 



There is danger at the present time that we are about to be plunged into 

 great efforts for educational development resting on purely utilitarian motives. 

 Ruch efforts may succeed for a time, but in the long run they are doomed to 

 failure because they take their stand upon a lie. Beauty, Truth, and Goodness 

 cannot in the end of the day be .sought for the sake of anything beyond them- 

 .selves, though it is true that innumerable benefits follow even the partial 

 attainment of them. But the search is doomed from the outset if it is not 

 concentrated upon them as themselves being the prize of the soul. 



Now this contention that Beauty, Truth, and Goodness are ends in them- 

 .selves, which is the characteristic mark of a truly spiritual faith, really implies 

 that these three are a unity, and there is no way of making that unity intelli- 

 gible except by faith in God as at once perfect Power and perfect Love. This 

 is my la«t point. We are all agreed in desiring scientific education, but tlie 

 method which we have followed for many years precludes our ever reaching 

 such a goal. For to all intents and purposes we have said : Let us leave the 

 existence of God an open question, and then be scientific about the rest. The 

 thing cannot be done. The existence of Go<l is not a matter of private opinion 

 which can be added to other views of life and the world without making any 

 difference. It either governs the whole of our thinking or else it is not 

 really accepted at all. Consequently the scientific ideal of education is simply 

 unattainablo as long as this question is treate<l as an open one. There are 

 tun possible educational systems, each of which would be scientific at least 

 in it? spirit. One is the religious, the other i.- llip nih.^isi','. If will very 



