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SCIENCE. 



[N. S. Vol. XII. No. 305. 



university training, nor did they grow up 

 in an academic environment ; but each had 

 learned in a school where devotion to the 

 State was the cardinal virtue. When next 

 a great crisis comes, no doubt there will be 

 a Washington or a Lincoln to meet it, but 

 will he come from a university ? 



When Washington came toward the close 

 of his life he thought deeply over the dan- 

 gers of the new State and the necessity for 

 the cultivation of a spirit of intelligent pa- 

 triotism. As a best means for inculcating 

 this spirit he conceived the idea of a great 

 national university. One of the main ob- 

 jects of this university was to afford to the 

 youth of the country the opportunity for 

 ' acquiring knowledge in the principles of 

 politics and good government.' The idea 

 was a splendid one, and while the need for 

 a national university no longer exists (un- 

 less, indeed, one is needed to teach the 

 principles of good politics), Washington's 

 idea that the university is a place which 

 should train not only the intellect, but the 

 character ; that it is a place where the stu- 

 dent should find an atmosphere adapted 

 not only to the development of accurate 

 thought, but also to a wise and tolerant 

 spirit; that in the university he should 

 gain not only intellectual strength, but also 

 a just conception of the duty to the State, 

 was a right view. 



And until this is recognized ; until we 

 bring into our college life and into our college 

 training such influences as will strengthen 

 the character as well as the intellect ; until 

 the time shall come that the educated man 

 shall by reason of his training be not only 

 more able than his untrained neighbor, but 

 also more patriotic, more courageous, better 

 informed concerning the service of the State, 

 and more ready to take up its service ; until 

 such a spirit is a part of our system of 

 higher education, that system will not have 

 served the ends which education should 

 serve in a free State and for a free people. 



And in this connection I cannot refrain 

 from a reference to the aim of those who 

 founded the Institute of Technology, and to 

 the conception of duty which they have im- 

 pressed upon the institution. The recogni- 

 tion of the value of exact science as a means 

 for the training of mind came slowly. Even 

 after it did come men were slow to recog- 

 nize the value to the race of the results of 

 science. The spiritual side of scientific re- 

 search is a matter which even to this day 

 men are slow to comprehend, notwithstand- 

 ing the powerful effect which it has had 

 during the last generation upon the thought 

 and upon the conscience of the world. 



" Newton was a great man," writes Cole- 

 ridge, " but you must excuse me if I think 

 it would take many Newtons to make one 

 Milton." 



Forty years ago there were few men in 

 this republic who appreciated in any clear 

 way the value of science in the training of 

 men. To William B. Rogers, and to those 

 who labored with him, belongs the credit of 

 anticipating the value of this training and 

 the demand for it. 



But outside and beyond all these consider- 

 ations of fitness and of practical results at- 

 tained, they also impressed upon the insti- 

 tution certain principles which are dominant 

 in its life to-day. One of these concerns 

 itself with the very situation and environ- 

 ment of the institute. 



The Institute of Technology has its roots 

 in the same soil which supports the indus- 

 trial life of the city and of the nation. Its 

 contact with the practical side of life is im- 

 mediate and real. It not only draws its 

 strength thence, but expresses as only that 

 can which has a real and vital connection, 

 the aspiration of those who labor in science 

 for the upbuilding and the improvement of 

 civilization. The Institute of Technology 

 not only aims to serve the people : it is 

 itself of the people. 



One of the lessons which the study of 



