560 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY 
man conscious of his worth to himself and to his fellows; it should fit 
him and should stimulate him to make the most of himself so as to leave 
the world in some sense better than he found it. One may concede that 
mental polish is very important and at the same time he would be con- 
sistent in asserting that to spend years under the polishing process with 
nothing but veneer to show at the end is an insult to common sense. 
Something of service should be acquired in the interval. It has been 
said that the aim of education should be to enable a man to enjoy his 
leisure; that would make of education a luxury. But one must recog- 
nize that, fortunately or unfortunately, all but a very few men have to 
earn their bread and that to them the years between sixteen and twenty 
are all-important, being those during which intelligent acquisition of 
knowledge is made most easily. Since the study of language is essential, 
the language in the curriculum should be useful. English, German and 
French are quite as difficult as Latin and Greek, and their literature is 
sufficiently inspiring. If those languages were taught as the classic 
languages were taught in American colleges one hundred years ago, the 
student would have acquired the needed mental polish and he would 
have the knowledge which is demanded, whether he enter a profession 
or devote himself to business pursuits. 
