OcroDEE 1, 1900] 



SCIENCE 



441 



graduates into a corps, which, to tlie casual 

 observer, seems to have much the same sort of 

 enthusiasm about itself as a base-ball club. 



I would cite in passing the circulars issued 

 from time to time by Harvard committees 

 upon such occasions as Dr. Eliot's seventieth 

 birthday or the raising of the three million 

 fund — occasions such as arise in the history 

 of any institution, and against which nothing 

 can be said. It is to the language of these 

 appeals, through which Harvard calls upon 

 her " loyal sons " to rally, to shout and to sub- 

 scribe that I would call attention ; for the 

 language is the language of display adver- 

 tising. Unless there were in the hearts of the 

 men something less bombastic and more 

 reverent than in this literature, it would be 

 hardly worth while to build up the university. 

 Yet these documents are issued by sincere 

 men who are doing the best they know to 

 spread education and righteousness. 



The latest form which the business sagac- 

 ity behind Harvard University has taken to 

 secure cheap advertising for the institution is 

 to lend out the grounds and the name of the 

 college to the most experienced professionals 

 of the epoch, and to allow these professionals 

 to do the rest. The first example of this was 

 the performance of Joan of Arc given by 

 Charles Frohman in the Stadium last spring, 

 in which Maud Adams personated the Maid 

 of Orleans. This show had in it nothing that 

 was artistically justifiable, except the cos- 

 tumes and the training of the supers, both of 

 which were indeed remarkable. The rest of 

 the performance was meaningless and some- 

 what discreditable to the culture of Harvard. 

 The whole affair, however, was not an ex- 

 ample of culture, but of business enterprise. 

 As a result of it, every newspaper in the land 

 contained a column about Harvard College. 

 Note that the professionals were called in; 

 for this is what connects the Joan of Arc 

 with the " Harvard Classics." 



I will not pretend that the combination in 

 which Collier's, Dr. Eliot and Harvard find 

 themselves embarked was a cold-blooded 

 scheme to exploit the credit of the univer- 

 sity and put cash into Dr. Eliot's and Mr. 



Collier's pockets. It was nothing of the sort. 

 The situation was one into which all of the 

 parties slid by operation of natural force; 

 but the corporation and Dr. Eliot would 

 never have got into it, had not the corpora- 

 tion and Dr. Eliot been long and deeply sub- 

 merged in commercial measures. 



It was an excellent idea of Dr. Eliot's to 

 issue a list of books which he thought good, 

 and have them printed in cheap form. Pro- 

 fessor Norton in his last years spent much 

 loving thought over his " Heart of Oak Series 

 of Readers," and went down to his grave 

 honored for this enterprise. But Professor 

 Norton did not find it necessary to borrow 

 the name of the university, nor to submit to 

 the control of a publishing house. The pres- 

 ent board of trustees, however, saw in Collier's 

 offer to finance Eliot's project a chance to 

 spread the influence of the college. I will not 

 include President Lowell in these remarks, 

 because I do not know exactly what position 

 he has occupied; and in any case he should 

 be let alone till he is more securely in power. 

 It would be asking too much of him that he 

 should veto a personal pet scheme of his 

 predecessor's in the very moment of his own 

 entry into oiEce. The spreading of the influ- 

 ence of Harvard, then, is what the trustees 

 had in mind — the making of a little money 

 and the doing of a great deal of good is what 

 Dr. Eliot had in mind : the making of a great 

 deal of money and the doing of a little good 

 is what Collier's had in mind. But here is 

 the point : Once launched, Collier's is in con- 

 trol. The name of Harvard is an asset worth 

 thousands of dollars. The size of the scheme 

 may be measured by the money that Collier's 

 is pouring into it. Eliot and Harvard have 

 become mere trade-marks. We shall very 

 likely live to see their names on collar-boxes — 

 a picture of Eliot, a box of soap and a set of 

 the " Harvard Classics." 



It is hard to blame Dr. Eliot. He has 

 chosen a list of books, and a little bad taste 

 in the advertising will carry his name and his 

 books where good taste will not carry them. 

 The notes and glossaries of these books will, 

 it is stated, be done by a most competent 



