THE TREND IN HIGHER EDUCATION BY WILLIAM RAINEY HARPER If^S^^ /^A^ PRESIDENT OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO Oh TKt \ UNIVERSITY I OF CHICAGO THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO PRESS 1905 t ^HZHjii COPYRIGHT 1905 THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO J, ^/^^ March, 1905 i I TO FRANK FROST ABBOTT AND HARRY PRATT JUDSON MY ASSOCIATES DURING THE YEAR OF PREPARATION FOR THE OPENING OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO AND WILLIAM GARDNER HALE THE FIRST TO CAST HIS LOT WITH THE UNIVERSITY AS HEAD OF A DEPARTMENT 4i PREFACE There need be no hesitation in saying that in the present times there is a trend in higher educa- tion. Nor is it difficult to point out some of the more conspicuous elements which characterize the movement that is taking place before our eyes. The philosophy of it is something more difficult to formulate. Indeed, such formulation cannot be ex- pected for a long time. Meanwhile it only remains to study the various features which, from time to time, present themselves, and to indicate their in- dividual significance. If a unity of purpose exists in the several papers collected in this volume, it will be found in the effort made to point out this trend in some of the higher educational movements of the day. I have not undertaken to note all of these features, nor, indeed, any considerable number of them, for the field is illimitable. Nor have I proposed to classify these elements as a basis for generalization. Some such work as this may be undertaken later. I have tried only to make a record of observations here and there which may perhaps contribute something to a pre- view of the tendency of things in this great field of intellectual activity. Without waiting for a technical formulation of the significance of these facts, it is clear that every- viii PREFACE thing points in one direction, namely, toward the growing democratization of higher educational work. In this respect a comparison of the situation today with that of one or two centuries ago reveals differ- ences so great that one is at a loss to explain them on the basis of evolution. It would almost seem at the first glance that a complete revolution had taken place; but a closer study of the facts convinces one that here as everywhere change has come step by step, and that it will go on step by step. Moreover, one cannot imagine that a time will ever come when these forward steps will cease to be taken. Changes are taking place today which could not have been dreamed of fifty years ago, and the question may be seriously raised whether in all this we are not moving at too rapid a pace. It surely can neither be expected nor desired that we should always move at the present rapid rate of speed. It is not without a considerable feeling of dis- trust in the value of these papers that I bring them together into a volume and offer them as a contribu- tion in a small way toward a statement of the edu- cational questions current in our day. I have done so only because some seemed to receive help from them at the time they were originally presented; and because it appeared to me that, placed together, they might serve as a notebook in the great educa- tional laboratory of which all such effort forms a part. It is only by noting down here and there our observations and impressions, and by putting these PREFACE ix in a form in which they may be compared with the observations and impressions of others that we may really make progress. If even a small service shall have been rendered, the result will have justified the effort made. I am under obligations to The Century Company for permission to repubhsh the article "Alleged Luxury among College Students;'' to Messrs. Harper & Brothers for permission to use the articles first published in their various magazines {The North American Review, etc.), on ** Coeducation," "University Training for a Business Career," "Higher Education in the West," and "Should Athletics be Endowed ? " to The Curtis PubHshing Company for permission to use the article "The Business Management of a University;" to John Brisben Walker for permission to use the article "The University and Democracy;" and to The World To-Day Company for permission to use the articles "Are School-Teachers -Underpaid?" and " Why Are There Fewer Students for the Ministry ? " William Rainey Harper. February 22, 1905. I ik^ CONTENTS I ' J The University and Democracy i \y / n ^ Some Present Tendencies of Popular Education 35 m The University and Religious Education ... 55 "^ Waste in Higher Education 78 ^^ V ^ The Old and the New in Education .... 118 N. VI "^ Dependence of the West upon the East . . . 135 ^ Higher Education in the West 140 VIII ^The Contribution of Johns Hopkins 151 IX The Urban University 156' X The Business Side of a University 161 ! XI Are School-Teachers Underpaid? 186 xi I, xu CONTENTS XII Why Are There Fewer Students for the Min- istry? 195 1 XIII I The Theological Seminary in its Civic Relation- ' SHIP 207 XIV Shall the Theological Curriculum be Modified, and How? 234 XV University Training for a Business Career . . 268 *^ XVI Shall College Athletics be Endowed? .... 276 XVII Latin versus Science 285 XVIII Coeducation 294 XIX Alleged Luxury among College Students . . . 312 XX The Scientific Study of the Student . . . . 317 XXI The College Officer and the College Student 327 XXII / The Length of the College Course • ... 338 XXIII The Situation of the Small College .... 349 ^ OF THE UNIVERSITY I OF _ / THE UNIVERSITY AND DEMOCRACY ^ If education and government sustain relation- ship each to the other, the highest in education must have to do with the highest in government. If national enlightenment contributes to a better and higher national life, the state's chief agent for its proper guidance must be a potent factor in its public life. If humanity, in its slow and tortuous progress toward a higher civilization, counts as its ally a power by which, one by one, the problems of that civiHzation are resolved, humanity and this allied power must in due time come to have interests and aspirations which bind them irrevocably together. On the one hand, the University is an institution of the government, the guide of the people, and an ally of humanity in its struggle for advancement; and on the other. Democracy is the highest ideal of human achievement, the only possibility of a true national life, the glorious and golden sun lighting up the dark places of all the world. The word "university" does not suggest the same idea to everyone who hears or speaks it. Some- times it stands for "college," and rightly so; for the college, like the university (I give the usual dictionary definition), is "an association of men I Charter Day address, 1899, at the University of California. Copyright, 1899, by John Brisben Walker. 2 THE TREND IN HIGHER EDUCATION for th^ purpose of study." Sometimes it means everytlidji'g, ''Sometimes nothing. But whatever else itmay:or:n;^y"not suggest, we may not overlook the peculiar circumstances in connection with which it had its origin. The sixth century A. D. witnessed the destruc- tion of the Roman schools, which had represented the older, pagan education. By the twelfth century the church schools, connected with monasteries and cathedrals, and devoted exclusively to ecclesi- astical work, had reached their highest stage of development. Three points connected with the origin of the university still continue to character- ize it. The earliest history of the first universities shows that they were guilds or associations of men, organized in large measure for self-protection. Here, in fact, was the beginning of that spirit which now pervades every class or trade of men. These associations were "spontaneous confederations," at times of "aliens on a foreign soil," at other times of natives, and in still other cases of the two com- bined. The rector was chosen by the students, and under his leadership they secured from the com- munity privileges which as individuals they were denied, and they compelled even the professors to be deferential. The university had its birth in the democratic idea; and from the day of its birth this democratic character, except when state or church has interfered, has continued. What, in many instances, has seemed the lawlessness of students THE UNIVERSITY AND DEMOCRACY 3 and the independence of instructors is to be con- sidered from the point of view of the democratic spirit which gave birth to the university and has characterized every true university. In no other sphere, moreover, did men of different nationalities mingle together more freely. A second factor was the necessity of securing opportunity for study in lines outside the range of ecclesiastical schools, especially law and medicine, but in large measure also the arts. This is seen in the fact that such instruction was given in the earli- est universities; for example, medicine at Salerno in the ninth century; and Hkewise in the secular and catholic character of the university community, for in the university at Salerno, "at a time when Jews were the object of reHgious persecution through- out Europe, members of this nationality were to be found, both as teachers and learners." This secu- lar character has at times been overclouded when the church (as in the history of the English uni- versities) or a denomination has seen fit to lay its hand ruthlessly upon the university; but in such cases it always happens that the university ceases to exist, and a church school takes its place. That institution cannot become a university, or remain one, which to any considerable extent is controlled by a power other than that which proceeds from within itself. It is a significant fact that neither church nor state seems at first to have appreciated what was coming, since the first four universities 4 THE TREND IN HIGHER EDUCATION of Italy, after Bologna, rose into existence, like Bologna itself, without a charter from either pope or emperor. But again, the university had its origin in the desire to make use of new methods of instruction, whereby greater independence of expression and thought might be secured. In the schools of the church there had never been an opportunity to argue; that is, to discuss different opinions. The method had been very simple, to be sure, yet very monotonous. The instructor gave that which he had been given ; the pupil received it as it had come down the centuries. This method is still in vogue in some institutions which are under ecclesiastical control. But in the birth period of the university the revival of the study of logic gave rise to the intro- duction of a new spirit which, although exaggerated and made absurd in some forms of its development, nevertheless freed the work of instruction from the one deadly and deadening method of the past and made possible, in later centuries, the freedom of expression which is today the most distinctive mark of a real university. The three birth-marks of a university are, there- fore, self-government, freedom from ecclesiastical control, and the right of free utterance. And these certainly give it the right to proclaim itseK an insti- tution of the people, an institution born of the demo- cratic spirit. Such being its origin, we may ask ourselves THE UNIVERSITY AND DEMOCRACY 5 whether it has essentially changed its nature in the development through which ten or more centuries have carried it. The proper restriction of the term must, however, be first appHed. What is a uni versity today ? I accept, with modification, a com- mon definition: a self-governing association of men for the purpose of study; an institution privileged by the state for the guidance of the people; an agency recognized by the people for resolving the problems of civilization which present themselves in the development of civiHzation. According to this definition, therefore, only those institutions are universities in which adults are associated (thus excluding elementary and secondary schools, and Hkewise colleges conducted for the training of boys and girls in various stages of advancement); in which definite and distinct effort is put forth to guide the people in the decision of questions which from time to time confront them, and to furnish leaders in the different callings in whom the people may have full confidence; in which facilities are furnished and encouragement afforded to grapple with the great problems of Hfe and thought, in the worlds of matter and of mind, with the sole purpose of discovering truth, whatever bearing that dis- covery may have upon other supposed truth. This requires men of the greatest genius, equipment of the highest order, and absolute freedom from inter- ference of any kind, civic or ecclesiastical. . ^ In this connection it is worth while to note Thomas 6 THE TREND IN HIGHER EDUCATION Jefferson's conception of the functions of the Uni- versity: (i) To form the statesmen, legislators, and judges, on whom public prosperity and individual happiness are so much to depend; (2) to expound the principles and structure of government, the laws which regulate the intercourse of nations, those formed principally for our own government, in a sound spirit of legislation, which, banishing all unneces- sary restraint on individual action, shall leave us free to do whatever does not violate the equal rights of another; (3) to harmonize and promote the interests of agriculture, manu- factures, and commerce, and by well-informed views of politi- cal economy to give a free scope to the public industry; (4) to develop the reasoning faculties of our youth, to enlarge their minds, cultivate their morals, and instil into them the prin- ciples of virtue and order; (5) to enlighten them with mathe- matical and physical sciences, which advance the arts, and administer to the health, the subsistence, and comforts of human life; (6) and generally to form them to habits of re- flection and correct action, rendering them examples of virtue to others, and of happiness within themselves. The university is naturally the seat of the highest educational work; but again the word "highest" requires definition. It is the highest function of the university to prepare leaders and teachers for every field of activity. It will include, therefore, the work of the college, the secondary school, and the elementary school (with the kindergarten work), if this work is conducted either, on the one hand, as practice work in connecti(5n with which teachers may be trained, or, on the other hand, as laboratory work in connection with which effort is being made to ( THE UNIVERSITY AND DEMOCRACY 7 work out the solution of important problems, or to secure a more perfect type of work. The sympa- thies of the true university will be so broad as to bring it into touch with educational problems of every kind. The university is, further, an integral part of the public-school system. The state, by granting its charter, makes it a pubHc institution, whether itS/ support comes from the state itself or from private funds. As a public institution, it may not detach itself from the various forms of educational or legis- lative work conducted under state patronage. Its ideals control the development of all that falls below it. The university, therefore, may not stand aloof; nor may the colleges and schools shut them- selves away from its strong and revivifying influence. There may be no organic connection. In most cases such organic connection is unnecessary. The bond is spiritual, and as such stronger than merely formal connection could possibly become. The university is also an institution of the people, i/ It must, therefore, be "privileged" and, in many instances, supported by the people. In the latter case, it must be influenced by the changes which the people may undergo in their opinions. But the people must remember that when, for any reason, the administration of their institution, or the instruction in any. dt^e of its departments, is changed by an influence from without, whenever effort is made to dislodge an officer or a professor \ ' \y 8 THE TREND IN HIGHER EDUCATION because the political sentiment of the majority has undergone a change, at that moment the insti- tution has ceased to be a university; and it cannot again take its place in the rank of universities so long as there continues to exist to any appreciable extent the factor of coercion. The state has no more right than the church to interfere with the search for truth, or with its promulgation when found. The state and church alike may have their own schools and colleges for the training of youth- ful minds, and for the propagation of special kinds of inteUigence; and in these it may choose what special coloring shall be given to the instruction. This is proper, for example, in the military schools of the state, and in the theological schools of the church. But such schools are not universities. They do not represent the people; they do not come out of the people. The university touches life, every phase of life, at every point. It enters into every field of thought to which the human mind addresses itself. It has no fixed abode far away from man; for it goes to those who cannot come to it. It is shut in behind no lofty battlement; for it has no enemy which it would ward off. Strangely enough, it vanquishes its enemies by inviting them into close association with itself. The university is of the people, and for the people, whether considered individually or collectively. Democracy means, in general, the supren^acy THE UNIVERSITY AND DEMOCRACY 9 of the people, government for and by those governed, co-op erative government. The democracy of Greece, and the democracy of a century ago in our own land, were stages in the evolution which has been taking place from the beginning of man's history on earth. Wherever the industrial spirit has prevailed, as opposed to the predatory, this evolution still con- tinues, and will continue until it includes within its grasp the entire world. The essential principles in democracy are equality and responsibility to the public will. Opposed to these stand the class system and absolutism. Every- where and during all time the struggle has gone slowly on; and democracy has surely made her way, and, absorbing from her enemy all that was good, she stands today more firmly and more tri- umphantly secure than ever before. Democracy is a government in which the last appeal is to the public will; but the judge to whom the final appeal may be made must be an inteUigent and educated judge. The people must be an edu- cated people. Education, indeed, must be the first and foremost pohcy of democracy. It is the founda- tion which underlies all else. No advocate of de- mocracy today would accept Rousseau's opinion that the people have in themselves an innate and instinctive wisdom. All will agree with Lord Arthur Russell, that **the multiplicity of ignorance does not give wisdom." How, then, as a matter of fact, shall a democracy lo THE TREND IN HIGHER EDUCATION administer itself? By accepting the guidance of those who have been prepared to lead, and by hold- ing them responsible for the trust confided to them. Mr. Gladstone, whose life was devoted to the cause of the Liberal party, once said: "The nation draws a great, perhaps the greatest, part of its light from the minority placed above;" and elsewhere: The people are of necessity unfit for the rapid, multi- farious action of the administrative mind; unfurnished with the ready, elastic, and extended, if superficial, knowledge which the work of government, in this country beyond all others, demands; destitute of that acquaintance with the world, with the minds and tempers of men, with the arts of occasion and opportunity, in fact with the whole doctrine of circumstance, which, lying outside the matter of political plans and propositions, nevertheless frequently determines not the policy alone, but the duty of propounding them. No people of a magnitude to be called a nation has ever, in strict- ness, governed itself; the utmost which appears to be attain- able, under the conditions of human life, is that it should choose its governors, and that it should, on select occasions, bear directly on their action. History shows how rarely even this point has in any considerable manner been attained. It is written in legible characters, and with a pen of iron, on the rock of human destiny, that within the domain of practi- cal politics the people must, in the main, be passive. And in such a scheme education plays an impor- tant part, both with the people and with those to whom they commit the guidance. Democracy has nothing to do with religion, and yet it has everything; nothing with the specific form in which the rehgious feeling or religious teach- THE UNIVERSITY AND DEMOCRACY ii ing shall express itself, but everything in making provision for the undisturbed exercise of religious liberty. Where dense ignorance exists, there is no demand for such liberty. It is only where in- telligence asserts itself, when education has done its work, that the privilege of reHgious freedom is demanded. With the church as such, democracy knows no relation; with morality and righteousness in individual and nation, democracy is deeply con- cerned. Religion itself does not always conduce to morality and righteousness, nor is intelligence in every case a guarantee. But enlightenment of mind and soul, whatever be the single or joint agency that produces it, is the only safeguard against that which is demoralizing and degrading. Education, therefore, in connection with religion, becomes a factor in securing for democracy the very food on which its life depends. With so much for definition of terms, let me now pass to the question I desire to answer: What relation does the university sustain to democracy? It may be considered either from the point of view of the university or that of the democracy. What part then is the university to play in the great drama of co-operative government ? What contribution toward its growth and further evolution may self-govern- ment expect to receive from the university? I trust that I may be pardoned at this point if for a moment I digress. As a student, for many years, of the Old Testament, the thoughts and the 12 THE TREND IN HIGHER EDUCATION forms of thought of the ancient Hebrews have made deep impressions on my mind. In the course of their long-continued history they passed through nearly every form of life, from that of savages to that of highest civilization, and they lived under nearly every form of government, from the patri- archal, through the tribal, the monarchical, and the hierarchical. The history of no other nation furnishes parallels of so varied or so suggestive a character. I beg the privilege of drawing my form of expression from their history; and I do so with the more interest because, to all men who have religious sympathies, whether Jew or Christian, whether Roman CathoHc or Protestant, these forms of expression are familiar, and by all they are held sacred. Democracy has been given a mission to the world, and it is of no uncertain character. I wish to show that the university is the prophet of this democracy and, as well, its priest and its philosopher; that, in other words, the university is the Messiah of the democracy, its to-be-expected deliverer. The university is the prophet — that is, the spokes- man — of democracy. Democracy, if it continue, must include the masses and maintain their sympa- thy and interest. But as a system it is the product of a long period of evolution, and, as such, is not a simple system. It is, indeed, already somewhat cumbersome and complex. The principles which underhe it need constant and repeated statement by THE UNIVERSITY AND DEMOCRACY 13 those whose statement will make deep impression. Although intended to be the expression of the popu- lar mind, it is the outcome of movements which have been in operation fifty centuries or more. It is the result of the operation of laws of life which antedate the existence of man himself. Of the history of these movements and of the character of these laws the popular mind is for the most part ignorant. This history must be told over and over again, and the principles made very plain, that all who hear may understand. But democracy has not yet been unified. Un- mistakable traces exist of past ages. The weight of the multitude which it must carry renders progress slow in any case. And without unity the doctrine of equality may not exert its full force. Spokesmen who understand this unity and appreciate its ne- cessity in the economy of democratic progress must proclaim it far and near, until no ear shall have failed to hear the proclamation, no heart shall have failed to heed its clear injunction. The elements which together make this unity must be drawn together and held together by influences that shall outnumber and outweigh those pitted on the other side. The truth is, democracy has scarcely yet begun to understand itself. It is comparatively so young and untried, and the real experiment has been of so short a duration that it could not be otherwise. Democracy needs teachers who shall say. Know 14 THE TREND IN HIGHER EDUCATION thyself] messengers who shall bring light to shine upon dark places. There is great danger that the next step, at any time, may be a wrong step. Some such have already been taken; and history shows the terrible cost of being compelled to go back and start anew. Democracy is now able to walk alone, but not infrequently something occurs which leads us to think that there has not yet been time enough to learn how a fair and even balance may at all times be maintained. Democracy seems to be in the ascendency; but the impartial student of the situation sees many and great fields not yet occupied, while those already occupied are hardly more than nominally possessed. We have democracy in government, to be sure, but if it is a good thing in government, it must be equally good in social relations of various kinds, in art and literature and science. That its influence has been exerted in these fields no one will dispute. But of no one of them may it be said to have taken full possession. And even in the realm of govern- ment, how slight comparatively among the nations is the progress of the last century! The occu- pation of these fields — not by conquest, but by invitation — would greatly strengthen democracy in the places now occupied. Who will persuade the nations to prepare the invitation? Who will induct democracy into these new fields of arts and literature and science? There must be teachers who know democracy and at the same time litera- THE UNIVERSITY AND DEMOCRACY 15 ture or science, and who, in due time, will bring about the union which promises to the world so much for human welfare. Democracy has great battles yet to fight. Every step forward is in the face of deadliest opposition. Her enemies are those who sit on thrones and com- mand great armies. Christianity may be demo- cratic, but the church is too frequently hostile to the appHcation of democratic principles. These battles, moreover, must be fought with words, not swords. The pen is far the more efifective weapon. There will be many battles; some of them will be long drawn out. The mutterings of war may now be heard in many quarters, but in the end prophetic weapons will win the victory, and "the kings shall shut their mouths, for that which had not been told them shall they see, and that which they had not heard shall they consider'* (Isa. 52:15). Sometimes, too, democracy grows despondent. Borne down by the weight of opposition, over- come by the power of those who for personal ends would see her humbled in the dust, she cries: "My way is hid from the Lord; my judgment is passed over from my God." Discouragement and despair lead to utter demoralization and failure. Under such circumstances, the words of the comforter are needed. Who can measure the density of the darkness and distress which have settled down upon the minds and hearts of the great multitude of men and women in our great cities, for whom, as indi- i6 THE TREND IN HIGHER EDUCATION viduals, there is no hope in life, save perhaps that of bare existence until kindly death shall call them away? Yet these it is who constitute the multi- tude that is called democracy. "And they look unto the earth and behold distress and darkness, the gloom of anguish, and into thick darkness they are driven away; and they pass through it hardly bestead and hungry; and it comes to pass that, when they are hungry, they fret themselves, and curse their king and their God and turn their faces upward.'^ But now the prophet's voice is heard: "But there shall not always be gloom to her that was in anguish .... the people that have walked in darkness shall see a great light." And they shall rejoice; for all oppression shall be removed, and all war shall cease, and a new government shall be established — a government of justice and righteousness which shall endure forever. It is the prophetic voice speaking to a downcast, down- trodden people — a democracy despondent. At times, furthermore, democracy is corrupt. Under the guise of loyalty to her best interests, those in whose hands she has intrusted herself in loving kindness assault and seduce her. Shame and reproach fall upon her. She must be cleansed and purified before she may again take up her great and glorious work for all the world with a certain hope of success. She has exhibited a fatal weak- ness; the result will be ruinous. Sharp and stem words must be spoken by the prophet, whose keen THE UNIVERSITY AND DEMOCRACY 17 eye sees the situation and its dangers. No pity may be extended, no word of sympathy, until the evil has been mended. The lesson is bitter and fuU of shame; but the effect will be for good, if the chastisement is severe enough. The clear voice of prophetic rebuke must be heard, whenever cor- ruption rears its head to public gaze. Democracy surely has a mission; and if so, that mission, is in a word, righteousness. It is an inter- esting fact that all the great religious truths were worked out in the popular mind before they were formulated by the thinkers. The world is waiting for the working out of the doctrine of national righteousness through democracy, and no effort to formulate the doctrine beforehand will avail. But the day is coming when the thought will have become tangible enough to be expressed. The popular mind will not be able to do this service. The prophet, whose discerning eye reads the thought in the heart of democracy itself, expressed in heart- throbs reaching to the very depths of human ex- perience — the prophet, I say, will then formulate the teaching which will make earth indeed a paradise. The democracy, as an institution, needs in- terpretation. The past must be interpreted in order that its lessons may be learned, its mistakes avoided. The greatest danger is that there shall be failure to maintain the closest connection with the past. This is necessary for the sake of com- parison. Without such comparison we may never i8 THE TREND IN HIGHER EDUCATION \ know our own position. Every event of past history has contained a message. Every life has been an utterance. These events and lives are to be treated as object-lessons which we are to con- template, and by contemplation to learn how righteousness may be found. The rise and fall of nations, the growth and decay of institutions, the temporary influences of great characters as interpreted in the light of the present, constitute the basis for all better understanding and all better execution of the democratic idea. The present itself must be known and interpreted. Its currents and cross-currents, while in large measure the result of forces set in movement far up the stream, must be estimated anew with each fresh dawn of day. The shallows and depths are never the same on two successive days. The charts noting danger signals must be prepared with each turn of the tide of pubHc opinion. And, on the other hand, the slightest turn in the direction of promise is to be encouraged. It is often the small- est variation from the ordinary that proves to be the precursor of greatest reform; for true reform always begins with the thin edge of the wedge. If the present be cared for, the future will take care of itself. But the future of democracy must be considered. Mounting the watch-tower of observation, the true leader of democracy will make a forecast of the tendencies, in order to encourage his followers by THE UNIVERSITY AND DEMOCRACY 19 holding up the glory that awaits them, or, by depict- ing the disaster that is coming, to turn them aside from a policy so soon to prove destructive. In ancient days, the man who interpreted the past, who measured the present, and who foretold the future was called a prophet. The university, I contend, is this prophet of democracy — the agency established by heaven itself to proclaim the princi- ples of democracy. It is in the university that the best opportunity is afforded to investigate the move- ments of the past and to present the facts and princi- ples involved before the public. It is the uni- versity that, as the center of thought, is to maintain for democracy the unity so essential for its success. The university is the prophetic school out of which come the teachers who are to lead democracy in the true path. It is the university that must guide democracy into the new fields of arts and literature and science. It is the university that fights the battles of democracy, its war-cry being: "Come, let us reason together." It is the university that, in these latter days, goes forth with buoyant spirit to comfort and give help to those who are down- cast, taking up its dweUing in the very midst of squalor and distress. It is the university that, with impartial judgment, condemns in democracy the spirit of corruption which now and again lifts up the head, and brings scandal upon democracy's fair name. The university is the prophet who is to hold 20 THE TREND IN HIGHER EDUCATION high the great ideal of democracy, its mission for righteousness; and by repeated formulation of the ideal, by repeated presentations of its claims, make it possible for the people to realize in tangible form the thought which has come up from their deepest heart. The university, I maintain, is the prophetic interpreter of democracy; the prophet of her past, in all its vicissitudes; the prophet of her present, in all its complexity; the prophet of her future, in all its possibiHties. Among the prophets of olden times, some were mere soothsayers who resorted to the ministrations of music in order to arouse themselves to excited frenzy. Some were dreaming seers, as much awake when sleep settled down upon their eyes as they were asleep to all that was about them in their waking moments. Some were priests whom the prophetic spirit had aroused, but had not wholly subjugated. Some were the greatest souls the world ever knew, whose hearts were touched by the spirit of the living God, whose eyes were open to visions of divine glory, whose arms were steeled by the courage born of close communion with higher powers. It is just so with universities. Some are universities only in name; some, forgetting the circumstances of their birth, may indeed be arrayed against de- mocracy. But the true university, Hke the true prophet, will be faithful to its antecedents and, therefore, faithful to democracy. But the university is also the priest of the de- THE UNIVERSITY AND DEMOCRACY 21 mocracy. But a priest is found only in association with religion. Is democracy a religion? No. Has democracy a religion? Yes; a religion with its god, its altar, and its temple, with its code of ethics and its creed. Its god is mankind, humanity; its altar, home; its temple, country. The one doctrine of democracy's creed is the brotherhood, and consequently the equality of man; its system of ethics is contained in a single word, righteousness. In this rehgion there is much of Judaism, and likewise much of Christianity. This was to be expected, for it was Jeremiah of olden time who first preached the idea of individualism, the idea that later became the fundamental thought in the teaching of Jesus Christ, the world's greatest advo- cate of democracy; while the supplementary idea of solidarity, the corollary of individualism, was first preached by Ezekiel, and likewise later de- veloped into Christianity. The prophet in history has always been a hero; he has been applauded for his boldness and for his idealistic visions. The priest, on the other hand, has generally been thought a cunning worker, and while his shrewdness has been appreciated, his ambition has been feared and dreaded. In modern times, as in most ancient days, the prophets and the priests have become more and more closely identified in spirit and in work; but the difference is still a marked one. The religion of democracy is an eclectic religion. 22 THE TREND IN HIGHER EDUCATION It has absorbed many of the best features of vari- ous religions and systems of philosophy. It is a broad religion, including a wide variety of belief and practice. It is, nevertheless, a definite religion, representing a clearly defined tendency of expres- sion, both in feeling and in action. It is a world- wide religion; but the world in great part must be changed before its acceptance will be general. It is the prophet that has to do with creed and ethics, and these have already been considered. The priest is concerned with the religious cultus or practice, and finds his chief occupation in the upbuilding and preservation of the practice. His work is the work of service. He is the mediator between the individual and the ideal, whether abstract or concrete, which constitutes his God. For the god of each individual is that individual's highest conception of man, his ideal man. The priest of democracy's religion is therefore a medi- ator between man and man; for man is the con- stituent element in democracy, and humanity is the ideal of all its aspirations. The service of the priest includes, likewise, the bringing into a close communion, each with the other, of the individual and his God, the cultiva- tion of a deep and lasting communion between the two. This service represents still further the act of consecration, on the part both of the priest and the worshiper — consecration to the highest and holiest conceptions of truth and life. It is the priest THE UNIVERSITY AND DEMOCRACY 23 who, himself trained in all the mysteries of a re- ligious cultus, himself the custodian of the tra- ditions of the past, inducts those who are of a kindred feeHng into those strange mysteries and their in- herited treasures. The university, as priest, is a mediator between man and man; between man and man's own self; between mankind and that ideal inner self of man- kind which merits and receives man's adoration. The university, like the priest, leads those who place themselves under its influence, whether they live within or without the university walls, to enter into close communion with their own souls — a com- munion possible only where opportunity is offered for meditative leisure. The university guild, of all the guilds of workingmen, has been the most successful in securing that leisure for contempla- tion, consideration of society and of nature, without which mankind can never become acquainted with itself. And for this reason the university is in deep sympathy with every legitimate effort, made by other guilds of workingmen, to secure shorter hours of labor and longer hours for self-improvement. Communion with self, study of self, is, where rightly understood, communion with God and study of God. The university, furthermore, performs priestly service for democracy in the act of consecration which is involved in her very constitution. And here the old and the modern views of education are 24 THE TREND IN HIGHER EDUCATION combined. The university isolates itself from every- thing that would tend to draw her from the pre- determined service which she has undertaken. Her purpose is a fixed one, and nothing may cause her to swerve from it. She has devoted herseK with a consecration received from heaven to the cause of Hfting up the folk of her environment — an act of consecration than which none is more holy. But now, though separated thus from all the world for the world's sake, she puts herself in touch with this same "all the world," and no gate or portal fails to greet her entrance. Set apart, and consecrated to the service of every kind of man, she leads those who will follow her to consecrate themselves to the cause of liberty and truth and righteousness, in home, in country, and throughout the world. The university is the keeper, for the church of the democracy, of holy mysteries, of sacred and significant traditions. These are of such character that if touched by profane hands they would be injured. But the initiated are given free access, and every man who will may receive initiation. No effort is made to exclude; every effort is made rather to include in the list of the initiated the whole world ; for the mysteries are such only to those who have not yet been brought to see. Home, country, and humanity — it is for these and with these that this priestly activity is put forth. This service of mediation, of putting self in close communion with self, of consecration and initiation THE UNIVERSITY AND DEMOCRACY 25 into sacred mysteries, is performed in the home, the altar of democracy, the most sacred altar known to mankind. The service touches father and mother long before they are father and mother, and reveals the nature of fatherhood and motherhood. It takes the son or daughter, and indirectly touches again the father and mother. Through the school system, the character of which, in spite of itself, the uni- versity determines and in a large measure controls (whenever the political machine will permit any good influence to control) — through the school system every family in this entire broad land of ours is brought into touch with the university; for from it proceed the teachers or the teachers' teachers. The priestly service is Hkewise performed for and with and in the country as a whole, the great temple of democracy. EnHghtenment means pure purpose and holy enthusiasm; these make loyalty to truth, and true loyalty. That religion which blindly accepts what is thrust upon it is not religion, but superstition. That patriotism which knows not what it serves, or for what it is intended, is not patriotism, but ignorant servility. Patriotism, to be a virtue, must be intelligent, must know why it is exercised and for what. Not every man is equal in the work of administering the country's business. Only those who are best can serve best her interests. Here the priestly service of the university is most necessary, in mediating between party and party; in mingling together as in a crucible the widely di- 26 THE TREND IN HIGHER EDUCATION verging ideas; in holding up the standard of con- secration to truth and to truth only; in unveiHng the history of the past with its strange secrets of successful and unsuccessful experience. Without such work, the service in the temple would be a bewildering discord of unattuned elements out of which no harmonious sound would come to lift the soul to higher and purer thoughts of patriotic feeling. But greater service yet, if possible, is rendered by the university in that most profound act of worship (in the broadest sense) which man performs when he lifts his thoughts beyond home and country to humanity at large, mankind. As in ordinary re- ligion the great majority perhaps do not transcend the altar, or at all events the temple, their vision being so limited that God himself is forgotten; so home and country, for the most part, exhaust the feelings of most of the adherents of democracy's religion. But the priest, whose great duty it is to enlarge the vision of his followers, takes infinite trouble to teach men that the ties of humanity are not limited to those of home and country, but extend to all the world; for all men are brothers. Human- kind is one. And now the university stands as mediator between one country and another far remote. Her service now is to extend to the utmost limits the bond of connection which will enable nation to commune closely with nation. More solemn, sacred, and significant than ever before is THE UNIVERSITY AND DEMOCRACY 27 the consecration which now includes republics and kingdoms and empires. The inner secrets of the soul of humanity (not a single man), of mankind (not a nation) are the subjects of study and of procla- mation. The university is a priest estabHshed to act as mediator in the religion of democracy, wherever mediation may be possible; established to lead the souls of men and nations into close communication with the common soul of all humanity; established to stand apart from other institutions, and at the same time to mingle closely with the constituent elements of the people; estabHshed to introduce whosoever will into all the mysteries of the past and present, whether solved or still unsolved. Among the priests of olden times some groveled about in the mire of covetousness and pollution, encouraging men to sin, that they (the priests) might have the sin-offering; some were perfunctory officials with whom the letter of service was all- sufficient; some were true mediators between man and God, and teachers of the holiest truths; some of them in their ministrations of divine things reached so near to God himself as to exhibit in their lives and thoughts the very essence of divinity. It is just so with the universities. Some are deaf to the cry of suffering humanity; some are exclusive and shut up within themselves; but the true university, the university of the future, is one the motto of which will be: Service for mankind 28 THE TREND IN HIGHER EDUCATION wherever mankind is, whether within scholastic walls or without those walls and in the world at large. Some, perhaps many, will deny that democracy has a religion; but no one will deny that democracy has a philosophy; and the university, I contend, is the philosopher of democracy. The time that re- mains permits only the briefest statement of this proposition. It was not always possible, in the Old Testament economy, to draw a sharp line between the work of the prophet, the priest, and the philosopher or sage. The work of the sage entered into that of both the priest- and the prophet; the prophetic ranks were often recruited from those of the priests. But, in spite of some confusion and interchange, there was a marked distinction. The prophet was the ideal- ist; the priest, the formalist; the sage, the humanist. The prophet's thought centered on the nation; the priest's, on the church; the sage's, on the world. From our modern point of view, the prophet might be called the preacher; the priest, the trainer or teacher; the sage, the thinker. The situation in which democracy finds herself today makes serious demands for severe thinking. By severe thinking I mean the honest and unbiased consideration of all the facts which relate to de- mocracy. Valuable contributions toward the criti- cism of democracy have been made by De Tocque- ville, by Sir Henry Maine, and by Mr. Lecky. But THE UNIVERSITY AND DEMOCRACY 29 in such cases the vision was greatly restricted and cut short. Only one or two specific statements concerning democracy have been made which still pass unchallenged. The philosophical treatment of the movement has received many important con- tributions; but, taken altogether, these form but the beginning of the philosophic work which is urgently demanded. This work lies along three lines. The origin of democracy is still a subject of profound inquiry; and in connection with the questions of origin are those of ancient democracies and their connection with the ancient systems. The history of all this, so far as it includes the main facts, is tolerably well known; but the philosophy of this history is still a subject for investigation. To another division of the work must be assigned the formulation of the laws or principles of democracy. With one or two of these we are fairly famiHar; but in detail the work is still the work of the future. That which is immediate and pressing are the special problems of democracy, which have been immediate and press- ing throughout its history, and for the solution of which any formulation of laws must wait. These problems concern almost every point for which de- mocracy is supposed to stand. These furnish the work of the day, and with these the philosopher, whoever he may be or whatever he may be, must engage himself. These problems are so old and so constantly before us that they scarcely need mention; so THE TREND IN HIGHER EDUCATION and yet the longer their solution is delayed, the more serious becomes their importance. Sociahsm, or the extreme and exaggerated form of democracy, threatens to deprive democracy of many of her best friends, and unless checked bids fair to do incalcu- lable injury to the movement for popular govern- ment. The rapid increase of the population in the larger cities, and the character of this population, has raised the question whether, in these cases, de- mocracy is able to deal with municipal government, whatever advantages it may have in state and national government. The numbers of the people have greatly increased in a hundred years. Did the de- mocracy of a century ago contemplate that one hundred millions of people were to be governed by themselves ? Whatever democracy may do in coun- tries like Switzerland, the problem which presents itself in America, or even in France, is, on account of the vast numbers concerned, something most perplexing. Within the past three or four decades great wealth has come to a few men here and there, and the re- lation of this accumulated wealth to democratic insti- tutions and to democratic life has still to be deter- mined. In a monarchy or aristocracy there is a place for men of wealth. How is it in a democracy ? Here, too, there must be a place for such; but what shall it be and by what determined? What, too, shall democracy finally determine concerning tha great business corporations which, to so great an extent, THE UNIVERSITY AND DEMOCRACY 31 now control the commercial life of the nation ? These are not survivals from an aristocracy. They are the product of democracy. Democracy herself is re- sponsible for them. How will she adjust herself to them and them to herself ? The law-making bodies of democracy are gradu- ally losing strength and prestige. Another quarter of a century of deterioration, another quarter of a century without radical modification of the present plan, will put popular government in a position which will be embarrassing in the extreme. Thus far de- mocracy seems to have found no way of making sure that the strongest men should be placed in control of the country's business. Men confessedly weak, whose private business has been a failure, are too frequently the men who are intrusted with the nation's affairs. Especially has the diplomatic and consular service of democracy (although there are notable ex- ceptions) been weak and unsatisfactory. How shall the strong men be secured for government work? The democracy of a century ago never dreamed that a party machine would be substituted for the will of the people. Is the government of today really a de- mocracy, or is it rather an oHgarchy ? The problem of the demagogue and the machine is on every side. The difficulty of securing an honest vote is certainly greater than could have been anticipated. Many do not care to vote; many desire to vote too often. In some sections many are not allowed to vote who by the laws of the land are entitled to vote. How 32 THE TREND IN HIGHER EDUCATION shall the vote, the whole vote, and nothing but the vote, be counted? The church, too, is losing its hold upon the people. For this the democracy is directly or indirectly re- sponsible. The churches are not democratic insti- tutions. The great class of workingmen is hostile to them. And unfortunately the masses make no distinction between the church and Christianity. De- mocracy has in this matter a great problem staring her in the face. Education is the basis of all democratic progress. The problems of education are, therefore, the prob- lems of democracy. These are numerous and varied and complex; only the expert can appreciate their gravity. It is maintained by some that in a democracy only the mediocre may be expected in the develop- ment of art and literature and science. It is the duty of democracy to meet this proposition; for, if true, it is in itself fatal to democracy's highest claims. The future of democracy is the problem of problems, in- cluding, as it does, all others. What will democracy have achieved one hundred — five hundred — years hence ? The highest and final test of every plan of government is, as Mr. Godkin has said, its abihty to last. Now, I know full well the tendency of our Ameri- can repubUc to sneer at the theorizing of the uni- versity; to treat disdainfully all statements which bear the stamp of scholarly spirit; to look askance at everything that seems to bear the air of superiority. THE UNIVERSITY AND DEMOCRACY 33 But when, against the advice of experience and the plea of theory, urgent steps are taken which soon prove to be wrong steps, how quickly does this same American public turn about and adopt the idea which theory and experience advocated! The examples of this are so numerous and so familiar that I will not stop to recount them. The university, therefore, is the philosopher of democracy, because it and it alone furnishes the opportunity for the study of these problems. Allow me to repeat the functions of the university as they were formulated by the great apostle of democracy, Thomas Jejfferson: To form the statesmen, legislators, and judges, on whom public property and individual happiness are so much to depend; to expound the principles and structure of govern- ment, the laws which regulate the intercourse of nations, those formed principally for our own government in a sound spirit of legislation; .... to harmonize and promote the interests of agriculture, manufactures, and commerce, and by well-informed views of political economy to give free scope to the public industry. What is this but to solve the problems of democ- racy? I have not forgotten that the Old Testament Messiah was expected to be not only a prophet, a priest, and a sage, but also a king. But the repre- sentation as king was only an adaptation to the monarchy under which the idea had its birth. When he came, he was no king in any sense that had been expected. His was a democratic spirit; democracy 34 THE TREND IN HIGHER EDUCATION has no place for a king. The dream of the Old Testament theocracy was of this Messiah, the ex- pected one, by whose hand wrong should be set right, the high ones cast down, the lowly lifted up. And all the while prophets and priests and sages were living and working and hastening forward the reali- zation of this magnificent ideal. Now, let the dream of democracy be likewise of that expected one; this time an expected agency which, in union with all others, will usher in the dawn of the day when the universal brotherhood of man will be understood and accepted by all men. Mean- while the universities here and there, in the New World and in the Old; the university men who occupy high places throughout the earth; the uni- versity spirit which, with every decade, dominates the world more fully, will be doing the work of the prophet, the priest, and the philosopher of democ- racy, and will continue to do that work until it shall be finished, until a purified and exalted democracy shall have become universal. II SOME PRESENT TENDENCIES OF POPU- LAR EDUCATION Because we live in an environment largely dominated by the spirit of democracy; because we breathe an atmosphere strongly charged with the spirit of inquiry; and because we cherish hopes and ideals thoroughly impregnated with the spirit of constructive work, there have come to exist among us an interest in popular education and a sympathy for its promulgation unknown among the people of other nations, unparalleled in any preceding period of history. The spirit of democracy is fast taking closer hold upon our civilization, and with every fresh grasp, the a£fairs of individual and of state assume new relations to each other — relations which demand larger and keener conceptions of life and action. The spirit of inquiry is everywhere stirring men's souls to such a depth that old ideas must take on new expression, if they are still to have a place side by side with the new ideas which claim consideration. The constructive spirit, in the presence of which nothing seems to be impossible or unattainable, impels men to undertake deeds in the accomplish- ing of which definite knowledge, expert skill, and thorough discipline are essential factors. 35 36 THE TREND IN HIGHER EDUCATION And so it comes to pass that the people on all sides and of all classes expect — indeed, demand — what we call education. We see today, as men never have seen before, what the people when edu- cated .can actually accomphsh; what education of the people really signifies; what freedom of speech and thought involves. The phrase ''popular edu catio n" may mean one or all of several things. It is, in fact, employed to designate various meanings. In its largest sense it, of course, means the -education of the peopleT)y the^^gSQgki^ Somfi-times itia^used to designate the education of adult men and women_, as distinguished Erom that of children in the schools, and of young men and women in the colleges. Sometimes it is used to signify a general education, as distinguished from technical or professional. Or, it may be used to include the education in lower grades of the millions of school children; for, from one point of view, this is an education of the people. Again, it may be limited to those vague influences which elevate and cultivate humanity at large — influences as numberless as they are vague. A classification or division of the term "popular education" sufficiently definite for our purpose, will be obtained if we treat as popular the agencies and influences not ordinarily included in our regular school and college system. These latter may be termed professional, or technical, or formal, as dis- tinguished from those called popular. And the TENDENCIES OF POPULAR EDUCATION 37 line of distinction shall be that in one case the persons instructed go to the school; in the other, the school or educational agency goes to the student. This dividing hne, though at first sight it may- appear arbitrary, will be found on closer examination to be based upon fundamental distinctions. Let me mention two or three. In school education the individual makes study his first work, and everything else subsidiary; in popular education, one's occupation, the means of livehhood, takes precedence, while the educational effort becomes secondary. In the education of the school, in most cases work is not a matter of choice, the details having been largely determined beforehand either by the circumstances of the case, as in the education of the young; or by tradition, as, for the most part, in college work; or by the special demands of a fixed routine, as in the case of professional training. Popular education, on the other hand, is marked by the entire absence of such rigid determination; the kind of work, its method, and its time all being questions concerning which there is larger choice. This gre3.tPx.ir££domjnay have disadvantages : the definite and specjfic resu lts of a more forma.1 educa- tion may. not be s^9^^^4v Still, it must be remem- bered that the people have in general reached a maturity of judgment not yet attained by the mass of those in attendance upon school, and, further, that the popular work is absolutely elective, nay 38 THE TREND IN HIGHER EDUCATION even voluntary; and this election holds not only in the matter of the subject studied, but also in the matter of what time and attention shall be given it. This element of election, joined to that of voluntary effort, is of large significance. Another distinction between school and popular education is this fact : the former usually is endowed, either by the state, as in the pubhc-school system and in the state institutions, or by private munifi- cence; whereas the latter is for the most part de- pendent either upon the effort of those whose inter- est is excited by general considerations of philan- thropy, or else upon the motives which control in ordinary business enterprises. Having now determined what, for our study, the term "popular education" means, we must next consider what may be included from one point of view or another as the mos t importa nt agencies of popular education . I shall arrange them roughly in three groups. The first will include the agencie s which hqvp to ^0 T^'t^ rpadingr. Here belong: the daily newspaper, which. .throws mi.LiE6tni_day to day millions on millions of printed sheets, devoted to the world's woe or welfare; the monthly maga- zines which lie upon the tables of nearly every ho me in ^.the, ^.landy^^and -which yield a constantly increasing contribution to the culture of the multi- tudes who read them; and the current literature in book form — an agency which guides and elevates the minds of the morj„ thoughtful, those more strongly TENDENCIES OF POPULAR EDUCATION 39 inclined to work out in serious fashion the many problems which confront the thinking man, . To this group belong, also, the long hst of organizations intended to encourage the reading of books, among which the Chautauqua holds first place. The second group will include those agencies which suggest a more thorough study of important subjects by providing definite assistance, or by indirectly forcing their consideration upon the "people at large. Here belong organizations in- tended to guide and help individual workers, and groups of workers; such as the university extension, with its lecture study, its syllabus, its classes, and its written papers ; the correspondence schools, which number their pupils by tens of thousands; the lyceum lecture courses, undertaken for enter- tainment as well as for instruction, and capable of producing large educational results when under proper control; Chautauqua assemblies, through which hundreds of thousands receive every year inspiration to higher thought and direction in higher hfe ; educational associations, which in North, South, East, and West draw together in helpful assembly the representative minds of many sections. Here _belong, too, those associations intended to develop the religious side of man's nature ; such' as, the church, the Christian Association, the Chris- tian Endeavor, the Sunday school7-_all of which broaden and cultivate those who open their minds to the sweet and ennobling influences of the religious 40 THE TREND IN HIGHER EDUCATION spirit. And in this connection we must not overlook political meetings and great political campaigns — all of which fire the heart and educate the thought of those whose minds are open to the strong and stirring influences of the true patriotic spirit; nor those public gatherings held by way of celebration of great deeds, or in mourning for great lives ended; in which mind is brought in contact with mind, body into magnetic touch with body; in which is felt the awful and majestic influence of great num- bers; in which humanity, not individual man, makes known its feelings and its faith. ^To the third group we may assign those agencies, of 'a character far less tangible, whose influence,^ though considerable, is perhaps more scattering. I mean such as travehng, the educational value of which, whether the journey be in one's own land or abroad, is inestimable. The famous caravan of ancient times might properly have been called a traveling school. The well-organized excursion trip in modern times, though it cover only a hundred miles of travel, is an educational agency of the high- est value. A good- slogan for a campaign of educa- tion would be : Get away from home ! The bicycle has taught some people more than they have ever learned from books. Railroad transportation is a subject as closely connected with the work of educa- tion as with any work of a commercial character. As a matter of fact, too, business enterprises constitute a factor in education to which a high TENDENCIES OF POPULAR EDUCATION 41 place must be assigned; for many a man has received a better education in a business house than he could possibly have obtained in school or college. Every honest business transaction has in it the essential elements of educational training. Every business enterprise is a school in which the manager is prin- cipal, the heads of departments are teachers, the staff of employees the pupils. Nay more — ^it is a great laboratory in which men by working together secure results, the work and the results together exercising an educational influence. And if this be in any sense true of business enterprises in general, it is peculiarly true of the industrial under- takings which cover the entire face of our beloved country. Another influence of a popular character, more refining perhaps than commerce, and perhaps equally helpful, exists in the various forms of art, which find expression in music, in museums of painting and sculpture, and in museums which provide collections of an anthropological character. Again, the fairs in olden and in modern times are commonly recognized to have been a significant factor in the education of the people: the county fair, the state fair, the exposition of a country or of a section of a country, and last of all the international exposition. In the effort to enumerate the separate agencies contributing to popular education, I might go far into detail but what I have given will be enough. Is it not possible, now, for us to think of these 42 THE TREND IN HIGHER EDUCATION different agencies as constituting a single great division of effort — the effort put forth for the upHf ting of mankind which seeks thus constantly to raise itself ? And may we not pass a kindly judgment on the character of the effort thus put forth, and try to determine, at least in general, some of its tendencies ? The thing most obviously suggested, by the recital of such a list as that just given, is its variety and its constantly increasing scope. When we remember that the daily newspaper in its modern form, as well as the magazine, has come into existence since the war; that such agencies as Chautauqua assembhes and university extension are scarcely twenty-five years old; that correspondence schools and educational conferences are of comparatively recent origin; that the Sunday school itself is scarcely more than a century old; that the Christian Associa- tion and Christian Endeavor have had only a few years of existence ; that traveling, in any large sense of that term, has come with the establishment of railroads and telegraphs; that international expo- sitions in this country scarcely go back farther than to 1876 — we are in a position to appreciate the fact that this great variety is something really recent, and that this broadening of the scope of popular education, great as it has already become, is only in the first stages of a development which gives promise of almost infinite enlargement. The differ- ent agencies already in operation are being intensified and multipHed. TENDENCIES OF POPULAR EDUCATION 43 And, besides those, we know that new agencies, today undreamed of, will be inaugurated. Do you ask for facts which point in this direction? I would remind you of the use to which school build- ings in many rural districts and in cities are being put for the uplifting of the community at large; the organization of parental associations for the advancement of school interests — a plan which makes every school the center of a scheme for the education of the people; the lecture courses con- ducted by the city and state of New York, in every center in which an audience will gather — a system that will surely spread itself to other states; the invention of attachments for the organ and piano, by use of which the wealth of classical and standard music is placed within the reach of everyone; the processes of reproduction, by means of which the great works of art are now accessible to all who desire to study them; the increasing number of expositions which bring the world and the world's ideas and productions to the feet of him who may not himself go around the world to search them out ; the step just taken in the organizing of the General Education Board for arousing larger educational interest among the people of the southern states. Let me also recall to mind the new position assumed by great institutions of learning in their attitude toward the people outside their walls; a new and striking attitude, in these modern days, of scholarship itself, which no longer is a thing of 44 THE TREND IN HIGHER EDUCATION the monastery, but, like wisdom as described of old, "standeth in the top of high places, by the way in the places of the path; she crieth at the gates, at the entry of the city, at the coming in at the doors: Unto you, O men, I call; and my voice is to the sons of men."^ All this signifies that, as time makes requisition, new forms of propaganda will suggest themselves; new agencies will grow up; a variety still greater than any that we have yet seen will characterize this work which is still only in its infancy. No one for instance, will dispute the statement that today many of the people are engaged in study where in times past the number was small. Each century seems to have added largely to the number of those who have freed themselves from the thral- dom of ignorance and superstition, and thereby have gained a point of view which makes thinking a possibility. The progress of the last century has been the result of the work of millions, not hundreds ; and the immensity of this progress, as compared with that of preceding centuries, is in proportion to the number of individuals whose minds have been awakened. Where there has been freedom to avail oneself of educational advantages there has, to be sure, been conflict; but in the end brightness and joy have always come. On the other hand, dreary and waste is the country in which the people are not thus «Prov. 8:2-4 TENDENCIES OF POPULAR EDUCATION 45 encouraged to improve themselves. Today, as com- pared with past ages many more are thinking into fundamental problems; but still more will tomorrow be thinking into these problems; for humanity is just beginning to enjoy the sweetness of hberty; and liberty is something a taste of which creates an appetite which not even heaven can repress so long as legitimate satisfaction is denied. Another tendency of popular education, which is very marked, and exhibits itself in connection with nearly every agency now in operation, is the greater depth of thought which it provokes. We see, for instance, that the truth on many subjects is possessing the minds of the masses in a more definite and tangible way than heretofore. The people at large are thinking about matters of a fundamental character, because the people as such are being educated. Every generation, being the heir of preceding generations, comes into an accumulated inheritance which actually compels wide, and consequently deeper, consideration of all that relates to Hfe. The agencies mentioned are also in part the occasion of this tendency to deeper thought; in part they are the product of it. Institutions, for instance, are devised and adapted to meet the demands of a situation. With the progress of civilization the Kfe of the people becomes more and more compHcated; and the problems of such life are necessarily more and more difficult of settlement. Consequently, every effort to solve 46 THE TREND IN HIGHER EDUCATION these problems carries deep and deeper the thought of those engaged in the solution. The upheavals of society, symptoms of which appear on all sides, are a single illustration of this thought. This social unrest, wherever found, arises from the determination to settle great and important ques- tions in a new way. And so to all that body of intellectual effort the purpose of which is to secure an adjustment of relationships already established, in so far as this is the outgrowth of a general co-operation both intelligent and philanthropic, no objection can be raised. When, on the other hand, such effort has its origin in the desire of a few to overturn existing institutions in order that they, perhaps, may receive personal benefit — when such education ceases to lead man to grapple with fundamental problems, and becomes something superficial, and therefore indifferent to the simplest principles of right and wrong^a time has come for serious consideration, and the question should be asked: What can be done so to affect popular education that it shall be controlled more generally by stronger and higher principles of ethics ? But we must not ask that popular education shall cease because in depth and character it does not at once assume a satisfactory form. It is enough to note that there is, all the while, an im- provement; and our faith in humanity and its future, based upon the experience of the past, should enable TENDENCIES OF POPULAR EDUCATION 47 us to overlook the imperfections of the present, even though they may be many. But now let us ask ourselves: Granting that popular education affects a large and larger number; granted that it strikes deep and deeper; is it also becoming more and more pervasive? This is not a necessary conclusion from the other statements. What do I mean by a growing pervasiveness? That a spirit of eagerness, of interest, of ambition is gradually transforming the activity of the masses; that a spirit of intelHgence is everywhere more apparent, the influence of which each year touches more largely the life of every man among the mil- lions who call America their home; and that the force of this educational influence is felt in the higher ideals which, as can easily be seen, are con- troUing the thought and work of our country's multitudes; felt likewise in their readiness to put aside the narrow prejudices of a section, and take on the name and spirit and strength of a nation. With this interpretation of the word *' pervasiveness" we see clearly that the proposition holds good : Popular education is going deeper; it is also becoming more pervasive. A study of the agencies which, at the present time, contribute to the education of the people in an informal way reveals another interesting feature — that the work in general is growing more and more systematic, and to this end institutional. Until recent years all influence of this kind was exerted in a hap- 48 THE TREND IN HIGHER EDUCATION hazard sort of fashion. It was, indeed, chaotic; there was Uttle or no organization of any form. But out of this disorder there is plainly coming something like system. Different classes now find special plans and meth- ods of educational work adapted to their particular needs. No better illustration of this fact can be asked for than the organization involved in the make-up of the typical daily newspaper, including, as it does, not merely the news and the editorial page, but also the pages devoted to instruction, now in literature, again in history, still again in technology, or poHtical science, or some other sub- ject of equal educational value; the selections of classical and standard poetry, the reading of which will stimulate higher ideals along this line or that; the reproduction in beautiful form of some flower, bird, or perhaps some anthropological study. It is not exaggeration to say that in its best type the daily newspaper is not merely a popular educator; it is a popular educational institution organized to meet the demands of the millions who look to it from morning to morning for help, stimulus, and nourishment. If this be true of the da'ly paper, how much more true of the magazine which for ten cents gives its readers the results of expert work in a score of departments, all brought together to furnish information, to incite thought, to encourage the cultivation of higher aspirations. Institutional organization is seen even more definitely in the TENDENCIES OF POPULAR EDUCATION 49 countless reading circles of various kinds which are taking form; in the gradual substitution of the extension course of lectures systematically, arranged, for the hit-or-miss lecture of the lyceum; in the splendidly conceived programme of a Chautauqua assembly; in the orderly presentation of educational material from the pulpit; in the Christian Associa- tions; and also in the system and organization which, within a few years, have been developed in the Sunday-school field. In some quarters traveling has become an institutional affair, and in most cases it is now undertaken with a definite purpose and under organized guidance. This tendency toward institutional organization, like all the others, will certainly move very rapidly in the near future; for, as experience shows, institutional effort, once started, develops with irresistible momentum. Still another characteristic of this new move- ment in popular education is its scientific character. We can all see that popular thinking is coming to be more scientific. I mean this in the narrow and also in the broad sense of the word "scientific." The thinking of today has to do with what we call science. A century ago there was really no such thing as science. The laws of nature were still a secret. There had been much observation, but this was for the most part indefinite, imperfect, unco-ordinated. The circle of scientific investi- gation has now, however, gradually extended itself, until it includes everything, from God himself to so THE TREND IN HIGHER EDUCATION the most insignificant atom of his creation. Laws have been discovered, scientific methods established, in the employment of which new laws will surely come to fight; and all laws, new and old, are, or are to be, the possession, the working capital, of the people at large. The influence on farming of the scientific work done in agricultural lines is an example of what I mean. The readiness of men and boys in all our cities to do night work in sub- jects connected with electricity and mechanics bears also upon this point. The introduction of the manual-training idea into the lower forms of edu- cation is still another example. Nor is this all. Indirectly science has contributed much more. Popular thinking, in reference to matters outside the realm of science, has come to have a scientific outward expression which was before unknown. Accuracy of observation and accuracy of statement, neither of which can exist alone, have been introduced, and this introduction has been attended with radical and fundamental changes. In this there has been loss as well as gain. The older, innocent, and childish ideahty is giving place to a more mature but unimaginative realism — a realism, indeed, which in some cases has gone too far, and from which there will come a reaction. This extreme tendency is seen in the proposition to abolish Mother Goose from the nursery. Science and the scientific method, there- fore, now dominate, and their influence is to be TENDENCIES OF POPULAR EDUCATION 51 traced in popular as well as in more scholarly thought, in moral as well as in intellectual life. Popular education is growing scientific; not in the sense that the people can ever learn much con- cerning the facts of science in any of its departments ; nor in the sense that the great principles of science will enter largely into popular conceptions of Hfe and truth; but rather in that simple sense that accurate methods of thought will be inculcated ; that truth as it is accepted will be something truer than it would have been, something more absolute. And, finally, the movement in popular education is proceeding upon levels that are more ethical, more spiritual. It is not merely the practical that interests and occupies the public mind. The ideal, in spite of the teachings of science, plays a large part in the constantly shifting scenes of the drama of human hfe. This it is that gives us a faith based on hope, in respect to the future of the race. There is a deal of faith, coupled with despair, in the world. It is not this that we would have, but rather that hopeful, radiant, enthusiastic faith which carries one over and through everything suggestive of difficulty. And it is this tendency of education to reach up for the ideal, I say, which gives ground for a faith in the future. The people, in mass, occupy a plane far higher than that occupied by any one generation in the past; but something still higher is possible, and, being possible, must be attained. Will this higher 52 THE TREND IN HIGHER EDUCATION achievement come from the employment of a more scientific method in the educational work intended for the people? Greater accuracy is still to be attained; but the greatest degree of accuracy, whether of method or of form, will not enable them to accomplish what they desire. Is this thing to be attained by leading them still deeper in the study of the problems of Ufe and living ? This will help, and from this great results will be secured; but the thing desired will be found to lie still deeper. Mate- rialism does not furnish the key to unlock the secrets of the future, nor will it provide the foundation on which the future welfare of the people can find any sure resting-place. The visible world is great, but the invisible is still greater. The popular thought must rise above that which is merely material; it must grapple the problems of the unseen. This through all the ages has been the teaching of the highest thought. It has been this teaching which has made Christianity the mother of progress and advancement. And when this teaching is lost sight of, when the world is satisfied with the things which it can touch or handle, then there comes a halt in the onward march, a breaking of ranks, and an abandonment of the campaign for liberty and truth. The idealism of the prophets of old led them to paint a picture which is only now beginning to be realized. It is the function and the duty of some among the people of today to give to the world ideals TENDENCIES OF POPULAR EDUCATION 53 which a thousand years hence may not see fulfilled. But this, you will say, is impractical; it is visionary. My answer is, No ; for these same prophets of old were among the world's greatest reformers, and they edu- cated the nation to which they belonged until the nation became, in turn, the leader of other nations. The greatest piece of popular education the world has ever seen accompHshed was the education by prophet, priest, and sage of the Israelitish nation, and their teaching was as our teaching today should be — ethical in the highest and best sense. We must confess that confusion exists in the minds of the masses; confusion, on the part of some, in respect to the most elementary principles underlying what is conceived to be right and wrong. There is no standard which men generally accept, and because of a lack of such a standard even good men are everywhere working havoc and ruin. There are those who heap reproach upon the head of him who professes to regulate his thinking in accordance with ethical principles, such a thing being conceived to be truly absurd. But patriots and poets, preachers and reformers, prophets and apostles, even Jesus himself, have labored quite in vain, if in this day of advancing thought such doctrine shall prevail. We may not forget the words of the Great Teacher, or the example which he set ; and so long as these words and this example are not forgotten, there will be an incentive and stimulus to a higher and nobler ethical training of the people. 54 THE TREND IN HIGHER EDUCATION It is quite unnecessary, then, to be despondent as to the outcome of popular education in this respect. The evidence is clear to him who will but read it, that a higher spiritual element is indeed present in the great movement of modern times. We see it in the processes employed and in the results already attained. We feel it in every cry that comes from the heart of the masses; for these are not the instinctive cries of animals sufifering pain; they are rather prayers going forth to heaven from souls whose faith, though perhaps clouded, is nevertheless strong and sincere. Ill THE UNIVERSITY AND RELIGIOUS EDUCATION A UNIVERSITY founded and conducted by the state, it is generally conceded, may not under any circumstances devote its energy to subjects relating to religion or theology. This question is entirely separate from that other question of the Bible in the public schools which has furnished an oppor- tunity for so much meaningless as well as acrid dis- cussion. At the same time, the principles under- lying both questions are practically the same, and sooner or later the state will be forced to consider more definitely and scientifically than it has yet done what shall be its policy in both of these great fields of education, the lower and the higher, in re- spect to that large and vital group of subjects which, in theory as well as in practice, is indissolubly associated with life itself, whatever aspect of life may be considered. It is not, to be sure, so delicate a task to take up this question from the point of view of a university on private foundation; but if one studies the attitude ordinarily assumed by col- leges and by universities, he must infer that there exist certain unfortunate difficulties which thus far have been overcome, if overcome at all, only in part; for it is probably true that those institutions 55 56 THE TREND IN HIGHER EDUCATION founded avowedly as Christian colleges all through the states have done too little in the way of making provision for a sound religious education of the stu- dents committed to their care; while in the larger institutions or universities on private foundation — partly because of ignorance or uncertainty as to the definite thing which should be done, partly also from indifference, and partly because of that coward- ly spirit which too frequently in these days charac- terizes even good men and good institutions in con- nection with anything that is religious — the entire matter has been allowed to drift on and on with nothing tangible to show in the form of result. The undesirability of maintaining longer this general attitude of indifference to these subjects; or, to put it positively, the desirability of meeting boldly the questions involved in this matter, has been felt in more recent years by many institutions, and by many of those who are concerned with the development of higher education. The change of attitude, if we may at this time call it change, is due to several things, viz.: (i) The elevation of the study of biblical history and literature to a level, scientifically considered, with that of other history and literature. We may frankly acknowledge that the methods employed almost universally twenty- five years ago in connection with the study of the Scriptures — methods still in vogue in many quarters — were unworthy, not only of the subject itself, but of any place in an institution of higher learning. UNIVERSITY AND RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 57 (2) The work, moreover, which has in recent years been accomplished by eminent psychologists, along lines relating to the religious life, has done much to lift the whole subject into a new and higher realm. (3) The fact that the college curriculum has been broadened to include subjects relating to all the phases of human life makes it possible to introduce subjects that have to do with the religious phase. But it may not be said that these things have thus far produced any considerable re- sults; and no one for a moment would think that the interest thus far shown, or any multiplication of it which may come in the next years, will be interpreted as a swinging of the pendulum back toward the older conception of college training in accordance with which it was for the most part re- stricted to those preparing for the ministry. The college of those early days was really not a college, but a professional school planned and conducted for the education of a certain profession. At the present time, as a part of this change of feeling w^hich seems to be manifesting itself, there exists a very general sentiment that the time has come to go forward more definitely and more strongly in the direction that has been indicated. But, in any work that has to do with religious education, the university, it is evident, must partici- pate. Such participation, all will grant, is strictly in accordance with the general purpose of a uni- versity. If the higher institutions of learning in S8 THE TREND IN HIGHER EDUCATION recent years have, with a remarkable degree of unanimity, felt the demand made upon them to undertake physical education as a necessary part of the college and university work, it will hardly be possible to draw a line that will shut out religious education. And if, on the other hand, from the earliest times, the college or university has engaged in the technical work of religious and theological education, in so far as that had to do with training the chief agent of reHgious education, the minister, it will be found even more difficult today to with- draw from a work which has always been regarded as legitimately that of the college or university. Moreover, if the study of the Sacred Scriptures is associated with the study of the philology and literature of great nations of antiquity, as well as with psychology, and with the history and sociology, of the past, in a sense perhaps in which no other subject has connection with these topics; if the sub- ject of reHgious education from the pedagogical point of view has come to be recognized as really a psycho- logical subject and as an important factor in the his- tory of every human being from a psychological point of view; if, still further, the great discipHne of theology is today inseparably associated with philosophy and ethics and science, how is it pos- sible for a university, if it is to have departments of philology and Hterature and history and sociology, departments of science and philosophy, ethics and psychology, to ignore the consideration of these ques- UNIVERSITY AND RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 59 tions with which a sound religious education is con- cerned? In all lines of intellectual inquiry — and the subject of religious education may not be excluded from this field — the university is confessedly the leader in a community, there being assigned to it the peculiar function of preparing the way in which others shall tread. At this point a word of explanation seems to be called for. No one will suppose that the work of a university in religious education shall be regarded in any sense as a substitute, either, on the one hand, for the fundamental work of the home, or, on the other, for the more distinctly technical work of the church. .Whatever the university may do in this regard will sustain the same relationship to these great agencies that it sustains to every other phase of life and thought. The influence of the university is felt today in every home in which books are read or the problems of life are pondered. It is felt likewise in every church in which there exists an intelligent desire to throw off the superstitions of the past and to take hold of the higher faith of modern thought. The university can only co-operate with these important agencies in doing work that will be suggestive and helpful to those who find them- selves called to labor in the relations of home and church. The situation in general is somewhat discourag- ing. The world at large remainSj^ for the most part, in total ignorance of those laws of life which regu- 6o THE TREND IN HIGHER EDUCATION late and control the development of the religious spirit. Just as in many individual cases and in entire communities the laws of physical life or health are unknown or ignored, and there follows, not of course complete cessation of life, but the develop- ment of disease or of some abnormal form of life, so in individual cases and in entire communities, in which the laws of religious life are for ..the most part unknown or treated as unknown, there come to be forms of that rehgious life so distorted, or per- haps so stunted, as almost to be unrecognizable. And it is also true that, as ignorance and. disregard of physical laws frequently lead to loss of life itself, or death, so ignorance or disregard of the laws of religious life is surely followed by the giving up, for all practical purposes, of a religious life; in other words, abandonment of one great phase of life itself. The analogy might be roughly pressed still farther. In the lower orders of human intelligence, life is preserved, in spite of ignorance of its laws, by a certain sort of instinct which leads the individual to see that which will be helpful, and to avoid that which will be injurious. This instinct the animals share with humanity. A kind Providence, one may imagine, has provided a similar religious instinct in man; and a rehgious life of low order continues to exist even in an environment of darkness and in- difference to all that really constitutes the higher and stronger features of that life. We may not ^ forget that the different religions, the different sects UNIVERSITY AND RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 6i or divisions of a particular religion, represent differ- ent strata in the development of the religious life. Over against this condition of things in the world at large there has come to exist, among those who style themselves the more intelligent class, or per- haps those who may be properly called the more learned, a certain contempt for the lower mani- festations of the rehgious life, and for the strange and fantastic methods adopted in its cultivation. At this point we may notice a strangelyin con- sistent thing which sometimes presents itself. Men and women of the highest intelligence in matters of life and thought are discovered to be cultivating a rehgious life far below the plane of their intellectual life. In many of these cases this religious life is cultivated most zealously, and sometimes it would seem that the zeal was in proportion to the ignorance involved. Methods which would be instantly re- jected as unworthy in connection with other phases oi life are accepted and followed by these persons in connection with their reHgious life. A single illustration will suffice. A teacher in the public schools, trained in all the modern methods of peda- gogy, will do work of a most modern and scientific character through five days of the week. That same teacher in a Sundafy school will give instruction which is of an infinitely lower grade, and will undertake the religious work with a lack of knowl- edge of her subject which she would regard as disgraceful in connection with her regular work 62 THE TREND IN HIGHER EDUCATION throughout the week. A company of intelligent men, officers of a Sunday school, will intrust the religious education of the children on Sunday to persons whose average intelligence, not to speak of speCfai preparation, would not entitle them to be considered' as candidates for the regular work of teaching. It. is not strange^ then, that those who regard these matters from a strictly scientific point of view hold in a sort of contempt, not only the workers themselves, but the methods employed and the work which is conducted according ta these methods. This, now, has been the poUcy of the universi- ties, and in many cases of the colleges. In the col- leges many men, entertaining a feeUng of this kind, have, nevertheless, professed a greater or less inter- est in the religious Hfe, because, situated as they were in their community, this was a necessary thing to do in order to be in harmony with the com- munity. Unconsciously, and in many cases con- sciously, they have permitted themselves, and indeed forced themselves, to encourage and develop methods of religious education which in their inner heart they knew to be false and injurious. But in the freer atmosphere of the larger institutions, as well as in the freer atmosphere of city life, as distinguished from country life, men have put aside what were regarded as conventional obligations, and, with a sigh of relief, have ceased to think or to act in co- operation with what are known as the religious UNIVERSITY AND RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 63 forces of the community. Inasmuch as the uni- versity, in the estimation of its representatives, could not conscientiously do for the student along religious lines that which this lower conception of^reHgious education demanded, it has done nothing', and the student has been permitted, and indeed forced, as he went forward in his intellectual work, to break wholly or in part, with the traditions and traditional methods of his early youth, in so far as these have had to do with religion or the religious life. Col- lege and university training, in short, has been largely lacking in everything that directly concerns the development of the religious side. One more feature of the situation deserves con. sideration. Inasmuch as the problems of life in general are worked out more largely in the uni- versity and college than anywhere else, institutions of higher learning having come to be regarded as leaders in the work of solving problems in every realm of life, the fact that the problems of religious life have been neglected in the university and college means that they have been altogether neglected. The theological seminaries of the country have not been intended to serve as laboratories for the working out of problems, but as training schools for the instruction of expert propagandists, and the success of these training schools has been measured by their ability to turn out men of exactly the same pattern as the officers engaged in the work of instruction. Any variation from the traditional point of view \ 64 THE TREND IN HIGHER EDUCATION adopted by those in control of a particular insti- tution has immediately called for ecclesiastical dis- cipline. It is doubtful whether in the last fifty years a single important problem relating to the religious life and education has been solved in the theological seminaries of the United States. The consequence of all this has been that prob- lems of the most vital character have existed, while apparently no attempt was being made toward their solution. As in the past, so in the present, the solution of these problems will not come from the church or its established schools. The denomi- national machinery in every case is too largely occupied in propagating its own ideas and interests exactly as they have been in vogue throughout the years. ■ The solution of these difficult questions must come, if it come at all, largely from men who are not biased by ecclesiastical influence. The uni- versity, in other words, must devote itself, at least in part, to the working out of these grave questions. This is a true part of its function and falls defi- nitely and directly within its scope. We may not lose sight of the important fact that the home and the church have each its work; but with this definitely in mind, we ask: What is it that the university may reasonably be expected to do ? First of all, then, the university is unquestion- ably the agency through which there shall be insti- tuted such investigations as those to which reference has been made. This is true because so large a UNIVERSITY AND RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 65 part of the fundamental work necessary for these investigations is already established in the uni- versity. If, for example, the research proposed is to deal with biblical material, departments already exist which are equipped for just this work. The same thing holds good if it Hes along the Hnes of psychology, philosophy, history, or even the more practical field of pedagogy. It is a question, indeed, whether such investigations can be made to any con- siderable advantage outside of the university. More- over, there exists in the university the spirit of research, without which no effort of this kind will be successful. Under ordinary circumstances, it is only in a friendly environment that investigation is likely to be prosecuted. For the highest culti- vation of art, in any of its several departments, one must seek an atmosphere which is friendly to its cultivation. How different, for example, was the attitude toward art which manifested itself in ancient times, on the one hand in Israel, and on the other hand in Greece ! In one country, art of every kind was placed under a ban, because the leaders of the people beheved it to be inseparably associated with a form of religious beHef entirely hostile to the great ideas of God which they were making strenuous effort to inculcate in the minds of the people. In the other country nothing existed either in nature or in the life of the people that did not encourage the development of art and make contributions to its culture. The spirit of research in any line of 66 THE TREND IN HIGHER EDUCATION modem knowledge is something exceedingly deli- cate, requiring constant encouragement, and pos- sible only under the most favorable circumstances. For the best interests, then, of rehgious education the university should undertake those pieces of in- vestigation which wijl place in a newer and truer light the fundamental principles of education as they are applied to the rehgious field. Nor can the university from its own point of view afford to neg- lect this fruitful line of work. It has already been suggested that in the work of many of its depart- ments it finds itself forced to take up questions di- rectly involving the->problems of religion or theology. This appears in connection with philosophy and psy- chology, history and sociology, Enghsh and modern, literature; while the problems of the great fields of science in every case resolve themselves finally into questions which are more or less closely connected with this all- comprehensive subject. If one attempts to separate rehgion, rehgious thought, and rehgious hfe from these various fields of inquiry, he will soon find that such effort is impracticable. So closely in- terwoven have been the hues of secular and religious thought through all the past, as well as in modem times, that they may not be sharply separated. Two or three practical results will follow the taking up of these problems by the university: (i) The subject of rehgious education, and indeed the subject of religion itself, will be elevated and digni- fied in the minds of a great body of people by whom, UNIVERSITY AND RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 67 perhaps, the claims of religion have not hitherto been strongly felt. We do not mean to imply that religion itself will be dignified or elevated; that is impossible. But in the estimation of a great class of people who have not given to religion its proper place, there will be an added dignity, and conse- quently a larger interest. (2) There is nothing more essential for the advancement of rehgion, as well as for that of religious education, than that it should be treated with respect and reverence; and this will be one of the results of the intro- duction of this policy by the university. The very fact that these are problems on which learned and scientific men are at work; the fact that they are deemed worthy of a place side by side with the problems of other great departments, will have great influence in securing for them, not only the dignified place to which they are entitled, but also that more delicate sentiment of respect and appreciation. (3) Inasmuch as it has been so widely felt that the rehgious feehng was something pecuhar to women and weak men, and inasmuch as every abuse of thought and conduct has been practiced in the name of religion, all this tending to the degradation of that which was most holy, there is actual need of some objective movement which, in a measure at least, shall counteract the de- basing influence of so many other movements in their relation to religion. Just such an elevating and helpful influence, it is beheved, will be found 68 THE TREND IN HIGHER EDUCATION in this new attitude of higher institutions of learn- ing toward the scientific consideration of problems connected with religion and the rehgious Ufe. If it is asked, What shall be the nature of these investigations? one need only refer to what has already been done in the papers and volumes pub- lished by university men within five years, and to the interest already shown by scientific scholars in questions relating to the development of the religious side of the child in accordance with the laws which have been made known in connection with anthro- pological and psychological science. These studies, already noteworthy in character as well as in prin- ciple, give promise of a splendid work. The num- ber of the men who are today devoting themselves exclusively to the consideration of these questions is already considerable, and the field is at once so large and so attractive that within a short time the number of such workers will be greatly increased. The university may likewise offer instruction in those subjects which contribute to a better concep- tion of religious education. In making provision of this kind, consideration will be given to the classes of students for which the university is responsible, and to the special work in various departments which ^*-^j3ears upon the subject. In so far as possible, the university should encourage schools preparing stu- dents for college to provide the opportunity of making preparation in the subject of biblical literature and history. Whatever may be the point of view from UNIVERSITY AND RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 69 which the subject is considered, the inevitable con- clusion is that biblical history and literature, in view of their prominence in the history of the past, and in view of their influence in modern history and thought, deserve a place side by side with other ancient history and literature. In making this sub- ject a possibility in the preparatory curriculum, one has in mind, of course, a kind of work which will be as severe in its character as any work of a similar nature in the schedule of studies. The instruction in the university itself must be adapted to differ- ent classes of students. There will be undergradu- ates who choose this subject, as they would any other subject, for the sake of a liberal education; graduate students, who are preparing themselves to teach in one or the other departments concerned; divinity students, who require work of this kind as a part of their technical training. In '^IMs "" wEy^fEfee ^grea^^ groups of students are brought into contact with the w^ork. But as in other subjects, so also in this, the responsibility of the university goes farther and should include provision for courses of lectures on subjects relating to religious education in the various departments concerned ; correspondence courses like- wise for. those who are unable to avail themselves of other privileges offered in this line, as well as courses of reading for individual students and for groups. Perhaps, at present, nothing more should be suggested than the work already mentioned, but in the future there is no reason why other work 70 THE TREND IN HIGHER EDUCATION may not be included under this head. There is something fundamentally right in the German usage which includes religion as one of the subjects of study from the earliest stages of the child's edu- cational development. We may not feel that the German plan has been successful in all particulars; indeed, we may be quite sure that, as at present arranged, it is the source of very great injury to many; but no one can doubt that great good has been accomplished, and that the sturdiness and strength of German character today are in some measure to be attributed to this important factor in the education of the German youth. As the term ''religious" is today used, it includes also the idea of the ethical. It is therefore religion and ethics that are to receive attention in the schedule fo courses offered. The work proposed will, roughly speaking, include courses in biblical lan- guages, as well as in biblical history and literature; courses in psychology and pedagogy, with special reference to the religious side of the human develop- ment; courses in history and sociology which have to do with the progress of religion in the past and present; courses in philosophy and science which shall deal with the fundamental truths and problems of religion; courses, still further, in comparative religion in which the history and ideas of the world's great religions will be considered. Here is oppor- tunity almost unlimited; and when we stop to con- sider how large a place such work deserves, and, in UNIVERSITY AND RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 71 comparison, the slight attention given it today, the needs appear to be very great. Yet, as a result of all this, much may be expected to come in the way of larger horizon, greater sympathy for the religious spirit, and, in any case, a higher respect for its manifestation. The duty of the university will not be performed unless it shall make provision for religious education on the practical side. The character and the value of education in any realm depend upon the results which such education is able to achieve. It is neces- sary, however, that the practical factor in all educa- tional work shall be emphasized side by side with the theoretical. To this end the university should constitute itself a laboratory in which there shall be a working place for every member of the institution. If religion means anything, and if rehgious educa- tion has a function to perform, this meaning and this function will be comprehended and defined only as the work implied in religion and necessary to its proper cultivation shall be performed. This is only expressing in another form the common idea that religion is a life which we live, or an atmosphere which we breathe. The test of the theory pro- pounded in the various courses of instruction which are adapted to the needs of different classes of stu- dents will be made only in case such a laboratory as that to which I have referred is recognized as in existence, and the facilities for work in that labora- tory ar0 properly provided. Each individual church 72 THE TREND IN HIGHER EDUCATION is itseK a laboratory of religion. The university may not call itself a church, nor is it necessary even to organize a church within its walls; but there is no department of research or study in a university which does not require for its best development an opportunity for the practical application of the truth which it discovers or promulgates. It is the greatest honor to an institution to have departments of pure science thoroughly established and strongly manned; the work in these departments being rigorously restricted to research and instruction; every man being far removed from the temptation to entertain the thought of that which is called commercialism. But, while for the sake of the work in these depart- ments they should be thus limited by their own voli- tion, the university may not stop here. The applica- tion of the principles of chemistry and physics to life in all its various phases must be sought out, and this practical work, the work of the technical school, is as legitimate a part of the university's organiza- tion as that of research in pure science. Shall the university be limited to the study of the problems of biology as they are conducted in the several de- partments which make up this group — problem? of the purely theoretical kind, such as the origin of species or the laws of heredity ? Or shall it go for- ward and establish a school of medicine in which the great truths of biological science are applied to relieve human suffering? The analogy is just as true in the case of history and sociology. Shall the UNIVERSITY AND RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 73 university content itself with the study of the past, and not provide also for the encouragement of prac- tical work in those subjects in which the present is most vitally concerned ? And shall it restrict itself to the study of principles of social ethics without effort of any kind to inculcate those principles as the basis of life and work today? The university is itself a life and an atmosphere. Its students and officers of instruction, as long as they remain a part of the university, cannot cease Hving the univer- sity life ; and this life, if it is a full and complete one, must include the religious element. The university should therefore constitute itself a laboratory in which practical work is to be conducted; work which in itself will give occupation of a kind re- quired by those who take advantage of its facilities ; work also through which perhaps new truth may be discovered, or new relations of old truth — and this is something equally advantageous ; above all, perhaps a place in which old and new truth shall become better known to all who may desire it. We are not to forget that the truth in any line of thought already known, if practically applied, will contribute greatly to the betterment of Ufe and thought. In connection with this laboratory, the university will furnish opportunity for continuing the religious life begun at home by those who have changed their residence to the university community. It is a mis- take for men and women entering upon university life^o feel that they may for a period throw aside the 74 THE TREND IN HIGHER EDUCATION restraints and the duties of their former life. It is a dangerous mistake — one that has occasioned much suffering and great loss. With the intellectual growth and maturity which the college life brings, there should be a corresponding religious growth; but this will not be obtained if one deliberately re- moves himself from all the agencies of religious influence. Nor can he expect to take up the reli- gious life later at the place he dropped it. He may make the effort to do this, but he will fail, because his old religious habit or thought will not fit into his new attitude of mind after three or four years of neglect. It is as if a man of twenty- two or three, after having added twenty pounds of flesh and grown two or three inches taller during his college Hfe, should undertake again to put on the clothes which he wore when he entered college as a freshman. They will not fit. And what does he do ? He throws them aside; what else can he do ? The religious thought and spirit of one stage of intellectual development will not suit a later stage, and, being insufficient, will be altogether discarded. This fact — for it is a fact of life — can not be too strongly emphasized, and the responsibility of the university is, in this particular, all the more grave, because the home is far away; while the church no longer exerts its influence as before. The .university in its laboratory of practical religion should encourage the development of the altruistic spirit, for this is an essential part of the UNIVERSITY AND RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 75 reKgious spirit. The life of the student, as also of the instructor, is confessedly a selfish life. He is all the while laboring to acquire, to make himself strong. This is right, if the correct motive underlie it all. But there the possibiHty exists that the wrong motive will control. To be doing something for others is the best corrective. In settlement work and in a thousand other ways, opportunity is open. This is a real part of the reKgious life which may not be neglected, and for which the university should make ample provision. The university naturally should take definite steps to protect its constituency against those common forms of vice and demoralization which prevail. The dangers and temptations of Hfe in the large institution and in the city are, upon the whole, no greater than in the s^fialler institutions and in the country. They are more numerous, perhaps, and more evident; but this very openness takes away a large part of therr attractiveness; and then the coun- teracting influences are stronger, and likewise more numerous. Still, as we all know, they are many and deadly. What can the university do to destroy their influence and their attractiveness? It can hold up true ideals of hfe; it can point out the terrible consequences of the violation of nature's laws; it can pro\dde proper forms of recreation, and a proper atmosphere for recreation. It can through its staff of officers exercise a strong personal influence on those who have intrusted themselves to its care; 76 THE TREND IN HIGHER EDUCATION it can purge its membership, whether in the case of students or officers, of that element which by ex- ample or direct influence is deteriorating and inferior; it can place itself uncompromisingly on the side of all that is good and elevating, and just as uncom- promisingly against all that is bad and debasing. All this it can do, and more. All this it must do, and more, if it is to serve conscientiously the interests of those who are within its walls. Has the statement failed to distinguish between the religious Uf e and reHgious education ? Perhaps so ; for it is not always possible to make a clear distinction. Religious education or training is not the study of literature or of archaeology or of textual criticism, as some of our modem bibhcal professors would have us believe; nor is it the study of history, or of the laws of the mind, or of the laws of the universe ; all such study, and indeed all study and honest thought, will contribute toward a rehgious education. But reUgious education itself is the recognition and the development of that within us which is more than the body and more than the mind. It is itself a part of that which makes up Hfe. It is something which begins with life itself on the mother's bosom; something which includes all that is holy and sacred in life, as the years pass by, whether in relation to home, or country, or church. It is something which those who share the university Hfe may not treat with a lack of respect, or even with indifference, unless they stand ready, sooner or later, to pay the UNIVERSITY AND RELIGIOUS EDUCATION 77 cost. It is something toward which the university can render a fundamental service by encouraging for it a proper and intelHgent esteem. It is a part of the whole education of a man, lacking which the man lacks completeness, and unity, and, conse- quently, strength. IV WASTE IN HIGHER EDUCATION' I TAKE the liberty of inserting the word "higher," and thereby of Hmiting somewhat the scope of the subject assigned me for discussion. Even with this|Umitation, however, I have found the topic too large and too important to receive a satisfactory treatment within the time at my disposal this evening. \/ There is ^(?we waste in. every effort put forth. The character of this waste and its amountjn any given case determine the success or failure of the effort. This holds good in the world of nature, and it is equally true in those realms of mind and action in which man is supreme. To discover this waste and to point it out in any department of effort is, on the one hand, to criticise and condemn much that is acceptable to others. It means to stand in. opposition to what is actually being done as well as to what has, under similar circumstances, been done in the past; to oppose usage and tradition; to lay undue emphasis upon the evils of system; to make prominent the darker side; in short, it means to appear to be pessimistic. \J To discover this waste and to point it out is, on the other hand, however, merely to discriminate between ^ Read before the Regents of the University of New York, June 27, 1899. 78 WASTE IN HIGHER EDUCATION 79 that which is good and that which is not so good, and to call attention to the latter for the sake of separating it from the former; it is merely to cut off that which hinders and obstructs, in order that what remains may be relieved of what might other- wise injure it. It means merely taking the steps which will make the greatest success possible, whatever may be the character of the undertaking. And so to make an estimate of waste is a prudent thing to do; it is the method of a business man. To fail to make such estimate — indeed, to fail in any respect to make account of the waste — is, therefore, to incur the charge of imprudence and indifference. And that the work of higher education presents a field for such inquiry, cannot be questioned. It is a work in which thousands of institutions are engaged ; in which tens of thousands of instructors are em- ployed ; in which hundreds of thousands of students are given instruction; in which millions of dollars of money are expended. In the relation of preparatory training to college and university work; in the adjustment of the college machinery; in the organi- zation of the work to meet the demands of so many different minds; in its organization to make provision for work in so many widely separated subjects; in the treatment of the individual student; in the relations which govern the work of instructors; in the inter-relationship of different institutions — in each and all of these particulars the probability of great waste is certain. It is, of course, understood 8o THE TREND IN HIGHER EDUCATION that the same kind of waste may occur in less degree in one institution, or in one class of institutions, or in one section of the country, than in others. What might seem to be waste under one set of circum- stances would not prove upon investigation to be such under another. Any statements, therefore, which may be made within the scope of this paper are of necessity general rather than particular. To treat the subject with any adequacy would require ,a volume rather than a sixty-minute address. ^ It must, too, be clearly recognized in the beginning that to point out the various ways in which waste is going on is one thing, and that it is quite a differ- ent thing to indicate the remedy for the evils of our present system or lack of system. One may, indeed, point out the waste and yet be entirely unable to sug- gest remedies. It must, however, be said, on the other hand, that one cannot point out or suggest remedies until a fair accounting of the waste has been made. It will therefore be seen that in this paper I am, in the nature of the case, compelled to lay greater emphasis upon the waste than upon any suggestions as to remedies. I shall therefore satisfy myself by appending at the end a list of brief suggestions intended in some measure to meet the difficulties indi- \^ , cated. First, then, I shall consider waste connected with the work of preparation for higher education. The problems of secondary education are more numerous today than those of any other single division of educational work. We, tonight, are WASTE IN HIGHER EDUCATION concerned only with those problems which are in- volved in the direct preparation of the student for college and university. The present usage is gen- erally conceded to be defective in many important particulars; but here again we are concerned only with those which involve actual waste. I shall restrict myself to the consideration of the waste which arises from (i) a grave mistake made in the character of much of the preparation furnished; (2) an unfortunate division of the work of prepa- ration; (3) the unnecessary length of time at present required for preparation; and (4) the inexcusable confusion which arises from the multiformity of requirements for entrance and of methods of ad- mission. 1 As to the first of these, a grave mistake made in the character of much of the preparation furnished, I must say at once that satisfactory results can be gained in college and university only when proper habits of mind have been formed in the student in j / his preparatory work. The one habit upon which ^.^ more depends than upon all others is the habit of y accuracy. It is, of course, true that some minds are entirely incapable of acquiring this habit. It is, nevertheless, a habit which may be gained to a greater or less degree by careful cultivation; and every mental effort, according to its character, will lead to the development of accurate habits of thought, or to the opposite. The boy in the training school is compelled to learn accuracy or inaccuracy. The 82 THE TREND IN HIGHER EDUCATION Work will result in making his mental habits inaccu- ]^ate, unless they are so directed as to cultivate accu- y racy. Language can not describe the incalculable /waste involved in the cost to society in the case of (every individual whose training fails to secure for /him this accuracy. The whole future life of the / man is involved. It is an apparent and a lamentable fact that our preparatory education fails in this particular. In certain respects I am confident that we excel the Germans in the preKminary stages of educational work, but in this respect we fall far short, not only of the Germans, but of the Enghsh and the French ^ as well. It is, of course, difficult, and perhaps impossible, to make a satisfactory comparison, but, so far as my own observations go, this lack of accu- racy is on the increase. The introduction of science studies in the high schools and academies does not seem to have produced any serious impression. The fact, however, seems to be that the advantage gained from the prosecution of science studies has not counteracted the disadvantage which follows from undertaking work in a greater number of V subjects, jln secondary work, dissipation is the forder oT^he day, and dissipation is only another )j term for waste. The effort to give the student a little knowledge of many subjects makes accuracy impossible, and consequently renders inevitable a great waste, and a kind of waste in the future efiforts of the pupil which he will never fully comprehend. WASTE IN HIGHER EDUCATION 83 Let us consider now the second topic, an unfor tunate division of the work of preparation. In the sharp Hne which has come to be drawn between the work of the eighth grade of the elementary school and the first year of the high school or academy a great waste is involved. But a still greater waste is involved in the division between the fourth year of the high school or academy and the freshman year of college. And it is to the latter that I refer. The^ work of the freshman and sophomore years in the colleges of this country — and here again I include / the institutions properly called universities — is but a / continuation of the academy or high-school work. ( . ^ It is a continuation, not only of the subject-matter ' ^ studied, but of the methods employed. It is not until the end of the sophomore year that university methods of instruction may be employed to advan- tage. It is not until the end of the sophomore year that the average student has reached the age which enables him to do work with satisfaction except in accordance with academy methods. As it is now arranged, however, this consecutive period of prep- aration, covering five or six years, is broken into; and what follows? The student finds himself adrift. He has not reached the point where work in any of his preparatory subjects is finished. This work is continued now under new and strange / ^ conditions, with new and strange instructors. Not infrequently the instructors under whom he is placed in the freshman year at college, especially 84 THE TREND IN HIGHER EDUCATION in our larger institutions, are greatly inferior to those with whom he has been associated, in the academy, and in many cases the work of the fresh- W^man year is an utter waste. It is here that the smaller college with its preparatory department has the great advantage of the university, which scorns the attachment of such an institution. Everything may be said in favor of intermigration in the case of students who have reached an age of maturity, and are prepared for university work. Nothing can be said for the change of a student from one institution to another, or from one group of instruc- tors to another, in the earlier periods of his prepara- tion. And yet this is the very thing which happens . in the case of almost every student who enters college. <4 A greater waste can hardly be imagined — ^waste of time, waste of energy, and, worse than this, waste of interest. Nature has marked out the great divisions of educational work, and the laws of nature may not be violated without entailing great V waste. The only redeeming element in the situa- ^^ ' tion is found in the fact that by the present methods of preHminary education so much time is exhausted .,-^ that many of the students who enter college have / reached an age when even in the freshman and I sophomore years they are capable of doing work of a higher order. But this, when it occurs, is at the cost of professional training, in later years of Ufe or at the cost of years which should have been used in a different way. WASTE IN HIGHER EDUCATION 85 The third point at which there is waste in the work of preparation is the unnecessary length bf time at present required. The average student should be ready to undertake university work — thal|t is, study in Unes elected by the student himself, and undertaken in accordance with university rather than college methods of instruction — at the age of nineteen or twenty. In order that this may \ be possible, the work of the freshman and sophomore \ years should be done at the age of seventeen and ! eighteen. This would make it necessary for the four years of academy or high-school work to be / undertaken at the age of thirteen. It is a fact that ly in many of our academies and high schools the age i of entrance is for most students seventeen, eighteen, \ or nineteen; in other words, the student is three or \ four years behindhand. If now the student were better prepared to do his higher work, by having delayed his entrance to the academy or high school until this age, no question might be raised ; but the facts do not show this. The dissipation of energy andjheloss„of accuracy. in the introduction "of so many subjects into the curriculum are accom- "panied by a loss of time which involves consequences r^Hylerrible in their nature. This waste belongs, /L^^ of course, in part to the period of the elementary school. The sin involved in this waste is, however, y due in part to the methods and curriculum of the academy. It is entirely within the bounds of modera- "^ "^ tion to say that, for lack of better correlation of i 86 THE TREND IN HIGHER EDUCATION work, and because of unnecessary repetition and duplication, and also because of the custom of holding students in classes regardless, in large measure, of their individual capacities, the average boy who reaches the junior year in college has wasted at least two or three years of his life. Under proper arrangements, the present freshman would be a junior. He is old enough; the only difiS- culty is that he has been compelled to waste these years at one stage or another of his preparatory / work. One of the sad consequences of the present situation is the fact that 80 per cent, or more of those who enter schools of law or medicine, as well as of I engineering, go directly from the high school to the \ professional school, unable to spare the time needed \ for the general culture of college work, unable even I to secure the final stages of preparatory education \ included in the work of the first two years of the college course. The man who finishes his high- school course at twenty-one or twenty-two, or even nineteen, has not the courage to undertake four more years of work preliminary to that of his profes- sion. The time now required to prepare the average boy for college must be reduced at least two years, and with proper arrangements this reduction may be secured. And, finally, in the work of preparation there is the inexcusable confusion arising from the multi- formity of requirements for entrance and of methods of admission. The waste involved in making the WASTE IN HIGHER EDUCATION 87 step from secondary work to that of college work, both for the student and for the college, is something which has recently become to some extent appre- ciated. ; College and university education in the western states has been greatly helped by the sys- tem which has been organized between the state universities and the high schools of the several states; but this is only a partial remedy, and is a remedy only for a particular state university, and for those students who go to that institution. With four or five hundred colleges, most of which have their y\ individual requirements for admission; with tens of thousands of high schools and academies, most of which prepare students for several different colleges, the faculty of the preparatory school and the student seeking admission have difficulties which in many cases are insurmountable. It is difficult to under- stand why so great an impediment should be placed V in the way of those desiring a higher education; why they should be so greatly discouraged in their efforts to obtain a higher education; and this, espe- cially, not at the end of a distinct period of training, but in the very middle of such a period. The actual time spent by the faculties of colleges and training schools, the actual cost of worry and anxiety to students and officers of instruction, involves a tre- mendous waste for which there is no excuse ; a waste due to the fact of the utter lack of system in the educational work of our country; a waste due to the injurious independence of our separate institu- \l 88 THE TREND IN HIGHER EDUCATION tions — ^an independence which partakes largely of selfishness, and which, indeed, at best is a mistaken selfishness ; a waste which deterred many from doing what otherwise it might have been possible for them to do; a waste which has involved the expendi- ture of money greatly needed by the institution in other directions. In these four ways there is a waste of effort which in each case could be greatly reduced, if those who suffer it were to co-operate intelligently. J We have considered briefly four points of wast- age in the work of preparation ; let us now study the possibilities of waste in connection with what might be called the external machinery of higher education. This machinery is sometimes mistaken for edu- cation itself. Consider, for example, the veneration and inviolabiHty which attach to the traditional four years of college life. If a man should take the course in three, it would be said that he had hurried ; if he should spend five, it would mean, of course, that he had not been diHgent. A college course, to be such, must be four years, no more, no less; and, indeed, if once the four years are spent, it matters little what has been accompHshed. Have we ever considered the waste which the worship of this fetish costs? In every hundred avejage men or women there are from twenty to twenty-five who can do all that is* expected of them in three or three and one-half years; there is about the same number who require five years to do the same work with any WASTE IN HIGHER EDUCATION 89 sort of satisfaction. It is simply absurd to measure ''^^ the work of men by a measure of time; to hold back one-fourth, when they might be doing work which would be of greater advantage; to compel another fourth to do their work shabbily. Here is a double waste, for which there is no corresponding gain. The beginnings of the breaking down of this archaic system are seen on every hand. It is doomed, but it dies hard; and meanwhile the waste continues. Closely associated with this evil of the four- year fetish is the division of the college year into two periods: nine months for work, and three for vacation. The waste here is very great, and shows itself in many obvious ways. The student is compelled to do his college work in certain months of the year, although these may not be either the H, most advantageous or the most convenient for him. In these days when so many men must earn their way through college the possibihty of securing work forms an important factor. Again, the student is compelled to do work during the whole of the nine months, or lose an entire year. For reasons of health, or for other reasons, it may be greatly to his advantage to do work during six months of the year. But such an arrangement is impossible without the waste of a year. And, worst of all, he is compelled to give up his work during three months. Whatever his age or circumstances, he must turn aside from his college work during one- fourth of the year. If he is an earnest student, he 90 THE TREND IN HIGHER EDUCATION may, to be sure, find profitable employment during three months in reading or in some dilettante work; but if he is a scientific man, the laboratory is closed upon him; and in many cases even the library refuses him admission. Then there is that large class of persons who could and would do college work during their vacation period. These are denied the opportunity. During these months of vacation a large portion of the student body finds itself without guidance of any kind, and, the time being comparatively so short, without a fixed purpose. The time is largely^ thrown away; but, more than this, the time fre- quently is spent~in a way tblhjure habits already formed. DemoraUzation follows, and it is a very common experience to discover that a month or two months in the autumn pass before the. student has resumed the habits of work put aside during the summer. And meanwhile the college and„unt._ versity property^ fncluding libraries and laboratories — a property aggregating hundreds of millions of dollars — lies idle, rendering no service of any kind, during one-fourth of the time. This is surely a stupendous waste. It is probable that the time of the summer vaca- tion is largely wasted by from 60 to 70 per cent, of the teachers in our colleges and universities. It cannot be maintained that the work of the average college instructor is more arduous than that of the ordinary physician, lawyer, or minister. Men in WASTE IN HIGHER EDUCATION 91 these professions do not take fourteen or fifteen weeks of rest; they are satisfied in most cases with four weeks. The work of the college officer does not impose upon him the heavy strain which falls upon men in the many lines of business activity. They are fortunate when they are able to secure two or three weeks of rest. The fact is the long summer vacation is in the case of teachers intended, not for rest, but for work, and yet it may fairly be said that the percentage I have named utterly waste it, so far as any tangible results are concerned. Shall the instructor, then, be required to teach throughout the year? By no means; but let every teacher feel that he is guilty of wasting valuable time, and still more valuable opportunity, if during every such period he does not make a substantial advance in connection with his work — an advance marked by definite steps of progress; for otherwise ^ this is one of the greatest sources of waste in the entire field of higher education. A third source of waste in the educational ma- chinery of colleges and universities lies in the dis- sipation and distraction made possible, and indeed rendered inevitable, by the lack of care shown to secure concentration of work on the part of both student and instructor. The student is permitted, and indeed required, to distribute his energy and time, during a given period, over five or six or seven, and perhaps even a greater number, of dif- ferent subjects. This is fatal to earnestness, to 92 THE TREND IN HIGHER EDUCATION thoroughness, and, in a word, to success The waste incurred in keeping so many subjects in hand at the same time is so great as to prove almost ruinous. The greatest advantage of the old- fashioned curriculum, with its three subjects, was that under it the student was able to do honest, serious work, and to keep up habits of accuracy and thoroughness. How can men make progress or sustain interest, or be profited by attending the one- and two-hour courses a week, which now oc- cupy so large a place in college curricula? How can a man with seven or eight subjects find op- portunity to do careful and scholarly work in any one of them? Hundreds of students, on the point of finishing their college work, have expressed -to me their utter astonishment that a pohcy which forces the student to do superficial work should be continued by so many of our institutions; for under such circumstances study becomes a mere dis- sipation. No student can profitably conduct more than three lines of study at the same time, even when these lines run close together. It is not unreason- able to suppose that men who are endeavoring to carry from four to eight different studies waste half their efforts. The same waste is incurred when by the regula- tions of the curriculum the instructor is required to carry more than two, or at the most three, courses during a particular period, even within the Umits of a single department. It is sheer waste, so far as WASTE IN HIGHER EDUCATION 93 actual and final results go, to try to carry several subjects; and especially when this becomes possible by giving only one or two hours of instruction a week in each subject. In no profession does a man have greater command of his time than in that of the college instructor. In no profession does the true man find greater opportunity for the improve- ment of time; in no profession does the faithless man find greater opportunity for the waste of time. Some waste it consciously; many more unconsciously. The waste is so great as sometimes to bring sad reproach upon the profession; and in most cases it may be traced to the dissipation which inevitably follows the scattering of effort. We have seen how waste occurs in the prepara- tion for higher education, and in the machinery of the higher education; now we must direct. our atten- tion to the opportunities for waste in "the internal adjustment of the students' work. We shall con- sider three special sources of such waste: failure to recognize and to apply the principle of individualism ; the use of ill- adapted methods in dealing with col- lege students; and the lack of proper and effective correlation in the different subjects offered for study. J^nstitutions of higher learning are accustomed to accord a common treatment to all the students within their walls. I mean by this that students are treated as members of a group or company, not as individuals. No matter how different their temperaments, how varied their tastes, or how 94 THE TREND IN HIGHER EDUCATION peculiar their physical condition, they are treated in mass. The class idea is the supreme one; the individual is lost sight of. If we could imagine a physician treating any fifty or one hundred cases which came to him at one time, in the same way, we would have an analogy for the treatment now accorded the classes of fifty or more students who enter college at the same time. The truth is that the physical constitutions of fifty patients cannot possibly differ one from the other more decidedly than the mental constitutions of the same number, and to prescribe the same intellectual work for a class of fifty or more, without even a consideration of their mental constitution, is as absurd as to pre- scribe the same food for fifty or more patients in a hospital. There should be a diagnosis of each stu- dent, in ofd5rfO"discover his capacities, his tastes, his tendencies, his weaknesses, and his defects; and upon the basis of sudi a diagnosis his course of study should be arranged. Every detail should be adjusted to his individual necessities. Every student should be treated as if he were the only student in the institution; as if the institution had been created to meet his case. The cost of such a policy, it may be suggested, would be very great. True, but the waste avoided would more than counterbalance the cost. At all events, what every institution should do is to provide from the very beginning of its curricu- lum for all the great groups of study which are likely WASTE IN HIGHER EDUCATION 95 to be demanded. The majority of colleges make no adequate provision for those whose tastes lie in the direction of science. Some of the largest insti- tutions have only the old-fashioned arts group (including Greek) and the science group. These two are not sufficient; the number may be, and should be, increased, for at least five or six such groups are demanded. Harvard has probably gone too far in this matter of election; but this was only the natural reaction from the older narrow policy, and if the group system had been in vogue, the ex- treme elective system would not have come into existence. Under the old system this waste is the greatest argument that can be urged against the small colleges; and in most of them this waste still goes on. To the point where this waste bears directly upon the student, reference has already been made. It is the requiring in the same period of time from all the students of a group the same amount of work. The evil here is apparent. Every opportunity should be given the student for the freest play of individual choice. And by so doing evils for which no remedy exists may often be avoided. A prominent president of a university in the eastern states has uttered a teaching which in this day and generation is indeed astonishing. It is to this effect: The purpose of the university in its dealings with its students is to impose upon each of them a like impression ; to remove the individualities 96 THE TREND IN HIGHER EDUCATION of the students, and to send them out as if all had been formed in a given mold. We cannot possibly count the cost of the waste such a policy would oc- casion; and yet this is the poUcy of a large majority of our institutions. y The second point of wastage in the internal adjustment of the higher education to the student is the use of methods not well adapted to the needs of students who are of different stages of development, or who have different needs. A good deal of high- school work is being done in the junior and senior years of the college and university. These lower methods having once been adopted by the instruc- tor, at a time when, perhaps, he was engaged as a high-school teacher, they are still employed to the great injury of the college man, who ought to have risen far above them. The departments in which this waste is most common are the departments of Htera- ture and history, as well as those deahng with lan- guage. The waste is probably greatest in the teaching of the classics; and here it has become so conspicu- ous as to bring reproach upon this department. The teachers of the classics are themselves in large meas- ure to blame for any reaction which may have set in against this subject. In many instances the use made of the laborator)' method involves great waste. It is undoubtedly true that every college student should have a severe and rigorous laboratory training in one or more subjects of science; but it does not follow that he WASTE IN HIGHER EDUCATION 97 must learn the laboratory technique of every subject of which he may desire some knowledge. If he is to do his Hfe-work in some field of science, this may be expected ; but if not, it is a waste of time to require him to perfect himself in all the detail of the labora- tory, in every subject which he may wish to study. T he opportunity must be given the general student to become. informed upon the princijxles, and more important facts of some subjects, without spending all of the time at his disposal upon the merel^MmLe- chanical side. Teachers of science are, sad to say, now doing just what teachers of the classics have been doing for many years, and just what has made the study of the classics so distasteful to many students; that is, they are dealing with the student in each depart- ment as if he were going to make a specialty of that department; in other words, they are doing their work as if with a professional student. This is distinctly injurious, not only to many students, but as well to the departments concerned. Another source of waste closely related to the kind just spoken of is found in the work of many of our doctors of philosophy, especially those who have spent two or three years in the universities of Europe. These men and women, many of them comparatively young, and many of them without experience as teachers, are given teaching in the lower college classes. After three or four years spent in the work of research, they seem to ignore 98 THE TREND IN HIGHER EDUCATION the fact that there is any other kind of work, or that there is any other method of work than that employed by the most advanced students. They therefore employ university methods with freshmen and sopho- mores, and the result is an utter waste of energy and time, both for the student and his instructor. When, now, we add to this the insane purpose manifested by some of them (especially those who have been in Germany) to Germanize everything with which they come into relation — a purpose that has grown out of the novelty of their German experience, and the youthful desire to advocate something not exclu- sively American — we have a combination of evils to which may be traced a very considerable amount of waste. So common has this evil become that in some of the larger institutions a man who has taken his degree in a foreign university is not even consid- ered as a candidate for appointment until he has had opportunity to get a new perspective by having had three or four years of work at home again. We are sometimes told that the college life spoils many men who otherwise would have been useful. This is true. It is also true that many a good man and woman have received great injury from their Ger- man experience. After a while, in most cases, the injurious influence disappears, and then the real and great value of the experience is seen; but in the meanwhile the work of such men and women, unless closely observed and directed, will mean loss for those with whom it is done in the lower classes. WASTE IN HIGHER EDUCATION 99 The third source of waste in t he ad justment of j he highere^cation t o the student is the lack of prop er" and effective correlation in the different subjectsoT the college curriculum. If a student does work m a particular subject or department, without knowing the various connections of that subject or depart- ment, its relationship to other subjects or depart- ments, he loses at least one-half the profits of the course. If a student does work in one subject after another and in one department after another, with- out discovering the interrelationship of the other subjects or departments, and all the while conceives these subjects and departments as distinct entities without relationship, he loses far more than one-half the value of his work. I am incHned to think that more than half of the students who leave college are as ignorant as babes of the organic and logical relation which exists between the various courses in the ordinary curricu- lum. The division of the work into technical departments is an artificial and misleading one, but it is so fixed that, like the letter of the sacred Scriptures, it is by many supposed to be a part of the original creation itself. This vitiates in a greater or less degree the value of the entire college disci- pline, for it is the relationships of thought, and of life that a man ought to know, if he is to know any- thing. Not to know something of this is to be in possession only of scattered and impractical pieces of information; to have no basis or foundation on loo THE TREND IN HIGHER EDUCATION which to build one's own system of thought and thinking; to have the various parts of a machine without the abiUty to put them together. The fact that the parts cost much more than would be asked for the entire machine put together, but that until they are put together they are of no use, is what makes the waste. We hayelalready considered waste in the prepa- ration for the higher educatibri, waste mTEe machin- ery of it, and waste in the adjustment of it to the student in general. We must now consider waste in the. adjustment of it to the student in particular. Under this head the three points which seem to me to suggest important problems, each of which stands related to this question of waste, are: the presence in the college of men who are not helped toward hfe by the college work; the results of the free elective system, with lack of careful supervision; the inter- migration of students from necessity and from desire. As to the first point, I take it for granted that scholarship is not the only factor which enters into a successful college hfe. There is much else for which one should strive, and much else the posses- sion of which, even without scholarship, is a suffi- cient gain for the expenditure of time and money involved in a college course. But even with this broad interpretation, the college course is one from which many who enter upon it receive injury, rather than benefit. As to how many actually are thus WASTE IN HIGHER EDUCATION- loi ; injured a definite answer cannot,/ o? cpjur^e. beii ', > •, given, though it is safe to say that the proportion is much larger than supposed. In every such case there is distinct waste, on the part both of the man and of the institution. The number of those who drop out, in spite of the most strenuous efforts to retain them, is, in part, evidence of this statement; for in these days no strong and worthy man is com- pelled to give up college training for lack of means. ■' Many men pull through the college course by the hardest kind of work, because of the pressure of friends who themselves feel, and who succeed in making the student feel, that he will disgrace thein^ and himselljf he does. not finish the traditional and •^erieotyped four-year course. Many institutions re- tain on theiFTSlTs'lliLldentS'^who by no means fulfil their requirements; and at last graduate them with the degree, although it is known that in so doing the institution is stultifying itself, and inflicting a grave injury on those who have earned the right to receive the degree. What is the proportion? I should not be surprised if, when all the facts are col- lected, it should prove true that lo or 20 per cent, of those who go out from colleges had better never have been entered; better, I mean, for the men's own sake as well as for that of the institution. It would be impossible, however, to gather the data on which to base an accurate statement. This is a serious waste, and yet one which might in large measure be avoided. Ifoniy it were possible to leave the college honorably^—* iq2 THJ! TR^l^D IN HIGHER EDUCATION a§:ex, saj^;JvijQ_j.earsi, i. -e., at the end of thrsopho- inore'year, many men would go out to take up life's work in some department in which they would achieve success, rather than linger along in jcoUege " without profit, and with distinct injury, until it is too 4ate to take up serious work in another line. If the colleges would do their full duty and drop from their number those wHo had no business to be retained, "good would be done these men and waste would be avoided. My second point here is that the results of an elective system which has not been carefully super- vised show that such a system is another cause of waste. I suppose that even the most ardent advo- cates of electives will grant that, Hke all systems, it should be carefully guarded and directed if it is to give the best results. Thus in the smaller colleges there is waste- because the system is not sufficiently developed; in the larger institutions the waste occurs because the student does not receive sufficient as- sistance in making out his schedule of study. But with the time at my disposal I may not enlarge upon this point but must pass to the third subject — the intermigration of students from necessity and desire. It frequently happens that a student is compelled to leave one college and go to another. This change is made necessary in many instances by the removal of parents, by the exigencies of climate, and by vari- ous other circumstances. In other cases,^ however, a student desires to make such a change, even WASTE IN HIGHER EDUCATION 103 though it be not absolutely necessary. This desire usually grows out of the feehng that a change would in itself be beneficial, or that in a different environ- ment something helpful might be secured. This tendency to intermigrate is especially noticeable among graduate students; and in their case it is more easily accompHshed. In favor of such intermigration in the earlier years of college hfe nothing can be said. The change from the high school or preparatory school to the freshman class is, as a matter of fact, a case of intermigration, and one which often is injurious to the student. The change should come at the end of the sophomore year. But, leaving aside the first two years, or sup- posing that the first years have been spent in an institution near one's home and in close touch with a preparatory institution, it is a question of vital importance whether for one of the later years, at least, a change from one institution to another would not prove highly beneficial. I can readily imagine the objections which could be urged, but, in spite of these, I would ask whether, considering everything, a student would not be broader and stronger if he divided his college course between two . ../. institutions ? This transfer, if it could be arranged ? without loss of actual time, would make it possible to \ avoid a certain stagnation of interest, which after a year or two comes to many of the very best students. ] In any case, it will be advantageous for a student to | pursue his professional or graduate studies in some 104 THE TREND IN HIGHER EDUCATION Other than the institution in which his undergraduate work was done. It would be worth our while in this connection to study the graduate membership of some of our lead- ing universities. I have in mind one, for instance, in which two-thirds of all the graduate students are bachelors of the institution in which they are doing their graduate work. This is wise neither for the student nor for the university. The greatest gain would follow the policy of students' moving about, from South to North, from East to West, and West to East. But at the present such intermigration is very difficult because the lack of understanding and of co-operation between institutions discourages it. The failure of leading universities to co-operate closely with each other, especially in New England, has been the occasion of loss and injury to the cause of higher education, which it is impossible to com- pute; and in this matter of intermigration, a foolish independence and selfishness prevail, that seem wholly unworthy of the high cause in which uni- versities are engaged. From the subject of waste resulting from the adjustment of the machinery of the higher education to the students in general and in particular, we shall take up now waste as it is related to the work of instructors. What the instructor does is, after all, the key to the whole situation in the field of the higher education, and much — one is tempted to say everything — depends upon his work. An ob- WASTE m HIGHER EDUCATION 105 server, even if he be not a close observer, will find waste going on in the administration of our higher institutions, which may be charged (i) to the usage of retaining in ofl&ce men and women who are incom- petent; (2) to the policy of requiring too much work in the classroom of instructors; (3) to the failure to make proper financial provision for the support of instructors. Of the many sins which are, or are supposed to be, chargeable to the account of higher institutions the greatest, and the most grievous, is that of retain- ing men and women in ofiice who are incompetent. Instances of this occur when the instructor con- cerned, at one time perhaps entirely successful, has through illness or old age reached a physical condi- tion which makes it impossible to render the service demanded. Here sentiment comes in, and the instructor is permitted to go on from year to year, to the injury of those who are compelled to sit under his instruction. In other cases influence of one kind or another retains an instructor in a position which he was never fitted to fill. In still other cases a false delicacy, a feeling of consideration for the interests of the instructor which entirely disregards the inter- ests of the institution and of the student, permits the instructor to hold his position long after his incom- petency has been demonstrated. There is not an institution of any rank throughout the country in which the sin which I have described io6 THE TREND IN HIGHER EDUCATION is not being committed to a greater or less extent all the time. In some cases it is laxity of the ofl&cials which is at fault; in others it is the very constitution of the institution which makes such sinning un- avoidable. It is pitiable to hear college men describe the con- ditions to which in some cases they were subjected — conditions the real injury of which often only becomes apparent when in later Hfe the man begins to reahze how his alma mater robbed him (robbing would seem to be the most appropriate name for this usage), the saddest element in the situation being that many students do not at the time appreciate the fact that they are being robbed. This waste is greater by far in the smaller institutions than in the larger, for al- though in the latter there may be the same propor- tion of incompetent men, the larger election granted makes it possible for the student to avoid these whose incompetency has become especially conspicuous. The waste here is something which is, indeed, ap- palling, and it is a waste which perhaps is on the increase. Closely associated with this policy, and partly responsible for it, is another which is almost univer- sally practiced in our higher institutions — that of requiring from instructors too large an amount of classroom work. This plan is adopted, it is said, for reasons of economy. Experience shows, how- ever, that it is a most expensive policy, if all the facts are considered. WASTE IN HIGHER EDUCATION 107 I have no hesitation in saying that an instructor in freshmen and sophomore work should do no more than ten hours a week of classroom work, and of instructors doing work still higher only five or six hours should be required. A greater waste cannot be conceived than that of confining college instruc- tors to an amount of routine work which paralyzes every effort made to engage in independent research and investigation. The American college system has actually murdered hundreds of men who while in its service have felt that something more must be done than the work of the classroom, and who, because of this feeling, have died from overwork. It has actually destroyed the intellectual growth of thousands of strong and able men, who, if oppor- tunity had been offered, might have done for America what the German professor, with his greater oppor- tunities in this respect, has done for Germany. The American institution of higher learning cannot take its place beside that of other lands until the fact of this waste is recognized and something is done to stop its continuance. As a part of this indictment, we must count also the usage still practiced in many places of requiring one man to do work in two or more departments, which are not always closely associated. This, of course, means death to every desire or effort to do honest or successful work. And now, in close connection with what has just been said, let me state another cause of waste; viz., the failure on the part of our higher institutions to io8 THE TREND IN HIGHER EDUCATION make proper financial provision for the support of their instructors. To remedy this condition three things must be done : Larger salaries must be paid to those engaged in the work, in order that there may be avoided the intellectual waste which always at- tends the struggle of living on half the sum actually needed — a struggle which compels resort to any and every kind of effort to make ends meet that were never intended to meet. Again, there must be a larger support in the way of facihties for doing work. In many cases a man's real power in the course of a year would be doubled if there were only a hundred dollars with which to purchase this or that necessity for his work — a necessity the lack of which dis- courages and disheartens him to such an extent that all spirit for his work is lost. And, finally, there must be a pension system in every institution; for the lack of a pension system is a source of continu ous and incalculable waste. The one condition of the highest intellectual effort is repose of mind This repose of mind is impossible if the professor realizes, as he must, that in case of illness or inability to perform his daily routine he will be thrown out upon the world with nothing back of him, or that in the case of his death his family will be without means of support ; while, on the other hand, the satisfaction, the contentment of mind, based upon the knowledge that, whatever happens, there will be an opportunity to Uve, will stimulate him to stronger and more effective activity. '( WASTE IN HIGHER EDUCATION 109 Thus, while we are talking of our economy, the facts show that we are guilty of an extravagant waste for which no amount of money will make compensa- tion — a waste of mental vigor, of creative power, due to overwork and anxiety for lack of that which might be supplied with but a httle management. The pension system, too, would remove all sentimental ground for retaining in office men whose work was finished, and so there would be here a double econo- my to prevent waste. I have spoken now of most of the factors which, in the work of institutions of higher learning, gener- ate waste. In conclusion it remains to say a word concerning the institution itself as a source of waste in the work of higher education. I have in mind three things: the waste rising from unnecessary competition — the unnecessary dupHcation of work; the waste which comes when higher work is under- taken at the expense of lower; and the waste involved in the substitution of pretense for fulfilment. These topics require barely to be mentioned, for they will be understood by everyone who has given even a little thought to the work of higher education. The fact must be apparent that there are too many colleges — not too many good colleges, but too many such as they are; the result is a competition which in many ways demoraHzes the work of higher education and leads to waste. I could furnish a hundred examples, but one will suffice. I refer to the lowering of their admission requirements by two no THE TREND IN HIGHER EDUCATION of our western state universities in order to draw the students away from non- state institutions — an effort attended, unfortunately, with marked success. When we take into account the great numbers of so-called higher institutions, all founded on the same plan, and nearly all lacking any adequate equipment for work in science, we cannot fail to see the waste involved in this dupHcation of work, when other work of a more important character is left untouched. And when we recall that nearly every institution called college or university feels itself under the necessity of trying to cover the whole field of human knowledge, and that consequently no single part receives in these institutions even decent attention, we ask: Why do intelligent men continue thus to sin against reason and against God by bringing shame and reproach upon a cause so holy as that of higher education ? This suggests immediately a second kind of gross institutional waste; viz., the doing of higher work at the expense of the lower. There are at least two hundred colleges and (so-called) univer- sities in the United States of whose work this state- ment may be made. These institutions have a preparatory school as well as a college course. The number of students in the preparatory school is, let us say, one hundred and fifty; in the freshmen and sophomore classes, forty; in the junior and senior classes, twenty to thirty. The income is restricted for the most part to the fees of the students, WASTE IN HIGHER EDUCATION iii and will average possibly, from all sources, twelve to fourteen thousand dollars. In order to keep up the name of college, the income is made to cover the expense of seven or eight years; i. e., the pre- paratory and the college. In order to do the work of the junior and senior years, even nominally, when the classes are so small, as much of the total income is spent upon the instruction of these years as for that of the five or six years below. It must be evident, then, that even with this disproportionate expenditure the work of the junior and senior college years can in such institutions be done only in a superficial way. For in them the faciUties of libraries and laboratories are largely lacking; the range of elective work is very narrow; and a single instructor is expected to offer work in two or three or four distinct departments. The most significant fact in the situation, however, is that, the money paid by the students in the lower years having been used for supplying a superficial instruction in the last two years (in order that the institution might be called a college), there is not a sufficient income remaining, even upon the most meager calculation, to do justice to the work of the lower years. This I call an attempt to do higher work at the expense of the lower, and this is one of the greatest sources of .waste. Nor is this waste confined to the work of states in the West and South. I could name more than one instance of the kind in the state of New York, and there are many such in Pennsylvania, 112 THE TREND IN HIGHER EDUCATION Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, and Michigan. If the money stolen from the students in the lower years were sufficient to make good work possible in the last two years, there might be some justification for the theft; but, as a matter of fact, the effort to do the higher work is a failure and carries with it failure to do honest work in the lower years. Here then is a waste which amounts to fraud. We shall all agree, however, that the waste which is gravest in character and the most detri- mental in its results is that involved in the substitu- tion of pretense for fulfilment. And I am not referring to the so-called institutions, in some of our great cities, which sell their degrees and diplomas to those who are able and wiUing to buy them. There is real honesty in this transaction. Every man knows what he is purchasing and for how much he purchases it. The institution makes no pretense of furnishing instruction or of giving an education. Its only proposition is to sell a parch- ment at a high price, and it has the legal right to make such sale. This, I repeat, is a fair and honest transaction. There is no deceit; the purchaser gets just what he bargains for. And, besides, this kind of work does not fall within the field of higher education. It belongs rather to the sphere of the rag-gatherer and the rag merchant; for, when reduced to its last analysis, it proves to be such a commerce as this. Of vastly more consequence, however, is the ' WASTE IN HIGHER EDUCATION 113 deception practiced upon unsuspecting young men and women by institutions which do give instruc- tion of a sort, under the name of college instruction. And these institutions put upon such teaching a label that makes it pass for something which it really is not. The victim is the student from the country village or the farm, who cannot be expected to know that he is being defrauded. Such institu- tions will be found all through the Middle States, the West, and South, and, strange to say, those who most commonly practice this fraudulent waste are the representatives of our rehgious denomina- tions, who, for the sake of denominational pride, stoop to call the institution, which is not even a well-equipped academy, by the name of college or university. Here is waste on a gigantic scale — waste of time and energy, and, worst of all, waste of character. But I must make an end. It is stated in the beginning of this paper that the remedies for these various kinds of waste would be briefly suggested. It is clear now that I can merely name them. For the_wast.e.£onn€€^ed-with the work of prepa- ration a ^r emed y will be JQiind^JLihe^. larger in- stitutions will co-operate TfTlKe^'eff^^ unify the requirements for admission; and if institutions of higher and secondary education will co-operate to do away with the^vils which now occasion waste. This co-operation must, in order to be effective^. 'be a formal co-operation. The passing of harmless 114 THE TREND IN HIGHER EDUCATION resolutions at our various conferences will accom- plish nothing; there is needed serious and systematic work. For the waste connected with the external machinery of our institutions the waste involved in the present artificial division into four years, I and into years of nine months' work and three \ months' vacation, and in the dissipation growing \ out of a lack of concentration, a remedy will be 1 found in abandoning, wherever possible, this tra- I ditional arrangement; an arrangement which came \ into use before the doctrine of individualism had \ begun to be appHed to education, and which, that \doctrine having once been introduced, now proves impracticable and injurious. President EHot's sug- gestion to allow men to graduate in the middle of the year is a step in this direction. The organiza- tion of work in the summer months, which is organ- ically a part of the university work, is another step. And in doing these things we are but forsaking the hard and fast Hnes laid down by our ancestors under a mistaken conception of what higher educa- tion meant, and adopting the broader and more liberal poHcy of the German universities. fi I For the waste involved in the failure of the univer- sity to deal specifically with each student, its failure to use in every case the proper method of instruc- tion, and, above all, its failure properly to correlate •his work, a remedy will be found in the provision of officers whose first duty it will be to make exhaus- WASTE IN HIGHER EDUCATION 115 tive study of each individual student in some such manner as a physician would study the case of his patient; in the admission of no man to the position of instructor whose ability to teach has not been absolutely demonstrated; and in the furnishing of such instruction as will, to some extent at least, exhibit the organized structure and relationship of the various departments of university work. V) For the present waste connected with the admis- sion of students who have no business in college, with the working of the elective system, and with the removal of students from one institution to another, a remedy will be found in a closer pre- liminary study of the antecedents of each student; in making provision for a student's honorable withdrawal at the end of the sophomore year, with full recognition for the work he has done; the establishing of a better system of advisorship than any that has yet been arranged ; and in perfect- ing arrangements between institutions whereby the work of one shall be recognized at its full value in another. Let advanced students who are so incHned be encouraged to plan for work in at least two institutions. Here again Germany's Hberal pohcy is worthy of adoption. ^ For the waste which is incurred today in retain- ing incompetent instructors, in requiring of each instructor too much routine work, and in the failure to make proper financial provision, the remedy is a simple one — more money; more money for depart- ii6 THE TREND IN HIGHER EDUCATION ments, that the proper facilities and the requisite number of instructors may be provided; more money for the salaries of instructors, that they may live lives of greater service to the university; and more money for the pension fund, without which an institution is at best only half an institution. Per- haps there is something which many institutions now have with which they could dispense, and the waste be greatly reduced; I mean that thing called influence — influence of relatives and friends; influ- ence of politicians; influence even of wives of rela- tives and friends and politicians. For the waste which is incurred in connection with institutions themselves a remedy will be found in the organization in every state of the Union of some such agency as that of the Regents of the University of the State of New York, to which shall be committed a general oversight of the educational affairs of the state; and, second, the reduction of many of our colleges to the rank of academies, or of colleges doing in addition to the preparatory work only the work of the freshman and sophomore years. This would accomplish several important results. It would mean that the money now wasted in doing the higher work superficially could be used to do the lower work more thoroughly; that the pretense of giving a college education would be given up, and the college could become honest; that the student who was not really fitted by nature to take the higher work could stop naturally and WASTE IN HIGHER EDUCATION 117 honorably at the end of the sophomore year; and that many students who have not the courage to enter upon a four-year course would be wilHng to do the two years' work before entering business or the professional school; that students capable of doing higher work would be compelled to go away to the university — a change which would in every case be most advantageous; and, finally, that stu- dents Uving near the institution, whose ambition it was to go away to college, could remain at home until greater maturity had been reached — a point of highest moment in these days of strong temptation. This remedy, the substitution of a six-year institution (including the academy or high-school course) for the present four-year institution (without preparatory work), would at one stroke touch the gravest of the evils of our present situation. I am not pessimistic. I know, and we all know, that the cause of higher education has made mighty progress in the last decade. We are on the eve of great things — greater things than our nation has ever known. In all national progress the work of the college and university is an essential factor. It is our duty, therefore, to see that this work is performed in such a manner as to produce the greatest possible results with the least possible waste. THE OLD AND THE NEW IN EDUCATION' Some of us live too exclusively in the past. Its ideas and its institutions are so sacred to us that to separate ourselves from them, to allow other ideas and institutions to be substituted for them, or to be placed side by side with them, seems almost sacrilege. In Hke manner, some of us live too exclusively in the present. Such of us do not deem it worth while to study the past, that which is at hand being more than sufficient to occupy our attention. To spend one's time groping about in the darkness of antiquity, when one might work with the fullest satisfaction in all the brightness of midday, or to occupy oneself in putting forth with reference to the future conjectures which at best must always be something hazy and indefinite, seems to be a waste of energy, an expenditure of time worse than foolish. And, then, there are some of us who Uve too exclusively in the future. Ignorant of the past, or forgetful of it, blind to the environments in which we have been placed, lacking sympathy with everything that surrounds us, we permit, nay I Read at the dedication of the Library of Colorado College, Colorado Springs, March 14, 1894. 118 THE OLD AND THE NEW m EDUCATION 119 force, the mind to occupy itself with that which is far distant. In this field no limitations present themselves. Difficulties, we persuade ourselves, may be left for consideration when they actually arise. With no dead past to haunt us, with no anxious present to disturb, we revel in the future. But the world of today does not recognize true manhood in that person who thus commits himself, whether the committal be to the past, the present, or the future. The modern man, whether scholar or practical worker, whether statesman or business man or educator, must know the past, must be in touch with the present, and must anticipate the future. To know the past is a duty; to be in touch with the present, an imperative necessity; to have constantly in mind the future, a privilege which will prove the source at once of comfort and of inspiration. Every movement has its history, its present struggles, its future ideals. It is not easy to make a satisfactory collection of the statistics of the past. It is more difficult to organize the elements which compose the present. It is still more difficult, though for some more fascinating, to indicate Hnes of future development. I may now be pardoned if I ask your considera- tion of one or two factors in educational work which were almost unknown in the past of twenty-five or fifty years ago; which today may be said to constitute the new in education; of the full significance of which in the days that are coming we dare not even dream. I20 THE TREND IN HIGHER EDUCATION A quarter of a century ago the library in most of our institutions, even the oldest, was scarcely large enough, if one were to count the volumes, or valuable enough, if one were to estimate values, to deserve the name of library. So far as it had location, it was the place to which the professor was accustomed to make his way occasionally, the student almost never. It was open for consultation during perhaps one hour a day on three days a week. The better class of students, it was understood, had no time for reading. It was only the "ne'er do well," the man with little interest in the class- room textbook, who could find time for general reading. Such reading was a distraction, and a proposition that one might profit by consulting other books which bore upon the subject or subjects treated in the textbook would have been scouted. All such work was thought to be distracting. The addition of one hundred volumes in a single year was something noteworthy. The place, seldom fre- quented, was some out-of-the-way room which could serve no other use. The librarian — there was none. Why should there have been? Any officer of the institution could perform the needed service without greatly increasing the burden of his official duties. Is this statement overdrawn? Let me produce the evidence: The late hbrarian of Newberry Librar}^, WiUiam Frederick Poole, to whom more than to any other belongs the credit of the existence of the new regime, so far as Ubraries are concerned, in THE OLD AND THE NEW IN EDUCATION 121 an address delivered a few months before his death made this statement : To those of us who graduated thirty, or forty, or more years ago, books, outside of the textbooks used, had no part in our education. They were never quoted, recommended, nor mentioned by the instructors in the classroom. As I remember it, Yale College Library might as well have been in Weathersfield, or Bridgeport, as in New Haven, so far as the students in those days were concerned. It was only in comparatively recent times that a Hbrarian was appointed at Harvard or at Yale who should give his entire time to the care of the hbrary. There are today many institutions, which rank high in their particular communities, in which one will find the same hbrary conditions as those which Mr. Poole described as having existed at Yale thirty or forty years ago. I know of a college having an enrolment of a hundred and fifty students, which each year "graduates" certain of its students, and yet in a room ten by twelve bearing the name of hbrary has not two hundred and fifty volumes! To find the oldest and most primitive bounds of civihzation we must go to the heart of Africa, or the frontiers of our own country occupied by the Indians! But for the old in education it is only necessary, one might say, to step across the street. But the stage of development attained must be determined from the study of the highest, not the lowest, class, and although the old is all about us, there is also the new. Today the chief building of a college, the building in which is taken greatest 122 THE TREND IN HIGHER EDUCATION pride, is the library. With the stack for storage purposes, the reading-room for reference books, the offices of delivery, the rooms for seminar purposes, it is the center of the institutional activity. The director of the library is not infrequently one of the most learned men of the faculty; in many instances certainly, the most influential. Lectures are some- times given by him on bibliography, or classes organized for instruction in the use of books. The staff of assistants is often larger than the entire faculty in the same institution thirty years ago. Volumes are added to the number of 3,000, 5,000, 10,000, or 20,000 in a single year; the periodical literature of each department is on file; the building is open day and night. It is, in fact, the laboratory; for here now the student, and Hkewise the professor, who cannot purchase for themselves the books which they must have, spend the larger portion of their time. A greater change from the old can hardly be conceived. But you will allow me to say a word about the future of the library. The time is coming — it has, indeed, already come — when, in addition to the general Hbrary of the institution, each department, or each closely related group of departments, will have its separate library. This will include the books in most common use, and the maps and charts of special value. The departmental Hbrary, now a feature of a few institutions, will be estabHshed everywhere, not alone for advanced students, but as THE OLD AND THE NEW IN EDUCATION 123 well for the undergraduates. It is true that the cost of administration and the danger from loss of books are great; but the advantages are also great, and must be gained at whatever cost. The time is near when the student will do little of his work in the study; he must be in the midst of books. No ordinary student can afford to own one book in a hundred of those which he may wish at any moment to consult. As the scholar, though having thousands of volumes in his own library, must find his way to the great Hbraries of the Old World when he wishes to do the work of highest character, so the university student, though having hundreds of volumes in his own room, must do his work in the departmental library of the institution. The reference room is not sufficient, here only books of a general character are open to him. His table must be where, without a moment's delay, without the mediation of the zealous librarian, who perhaps thinks more of the book than of its use, he may place his hand upon that one of ten or twenty thousand books which he desires to use. In the address already cited, Mr. Poole said: None of the universities named [these were Johns Hop- kins, Yale, Hansard, Cornell, and Michigan] have as yet quite come up to the high standard of having a professor of bibHog- raphy, but they are moving in that direction. . Some of us will see the day when in every great division of the university there will be professors of bibliography and methodology, whose function it 124 THE TREND IN HIGHER EDUCATION will be to teach men books, and how to use them. It is pitiable to find that many graduates of our very best colleges are unable, upon taking up the more advanced work in divinity or in graduate courses, to make good use of books. They can find nothing; do not know how to proceed in order to find any- thing. No more important, no more useful, train- ing can be given men in college than that which relates to the use of books. Why do so many col- lege men give up reading when they leave college ? Because in college they have never learned the use of books. The equipment of the library will never be finished until it have upon its staff men and women whose sole work shall be, not the care of books, not the cataloguing of books, but the giving of instruction concerning their use. The library of the future has, however, still another function to perform. It will come to be, not simply a collecting agency, the house of storage, but also an agency for pubHcation and distribution. It may seem that I am now confusing the work of two distinct agencies. I answer, No. The pub- lications of the future which are to exert the great- est influence for good upon mankind at large will be endowed pubHcations. The pubHshing houses of our country will always restrict themselves to the pubHcation of works the financial returns from which are reasonably certain. The scientific works in every department must be issued through the munificence of private gifts for university endow- THE OLD AND THE NEW IN EDUCATION 125 ments; In time these private gifts will for the most part come through the university. The university- press, therefore, is strictly a part of the university library, and through it, even in our day, we shall see the influence and power of the library greatly increased. That factor of our college and univer- sity work, the library, fifty years ago almost unknown, today already the center of the institution's intellec- tual activity, half a century hence — with its sister, the laboratory, almost equally unknown fifty years back — will, by absorbing all else, have become the institution itself. But this equipment includes also the laboratory, just mentioned. The old regime may be said to have had no laboratory, for the laboratory is an insti- tution altogether modern. Those of us who left college from twenty to twenty-five years ago scarcely knew such a thing as a laboratory. The library had a small place in college life ; the laboratory had almost none. A little farther back the situation in Germany was the same. I quote a few statements from an address delivered by Professor Ira M. Remsen: Liebig, the noted chemist, says of the teaching of chemis- try in Germany about 1820: "It was then a very wretched time for chemistry in Germany. At most of the universities there was no special chair of chemistry. It was generally handed over to the professor of medicine, who taught it, or as much as he knew of it — and that was little enough — along with the branches of toxicology, pharmacology, materia medica, and practical medicine." Referring to the equip- 126 THE TREND IN HIGHER EDUCATION raent of universities for the teaching of chemistry, he says: "I remember at a much later period Professor Wurze, who had the chair of chemistry at Marburg, showing me a wooden table drawer which had the property of producing quicksilver every three months. He possessed an apparatus, which mainly consisted of a long clay pipestem, with which he con- verted oxygen into nitrogen by making the porous pipestem red-hot in charcoal and passing oxygen through it. Chemical laboratories in which instruction in chemical analysis was imparted existed nowhere at that time. What passed by that name were more like kitchens filled with all sorts of furnaces and utensils for the carrying out of metallurgical processes. No one really understood how to teach it." At a later period Liebig, appointed professor of chemistry at Giessen, built the first chemical labora- tory. Of the school established by him Professor Remsen says: The foundation of this school made an epoch, not only in the history of chemical science, but in the history of science. .... The scientific method, as it has been called, has been spread among men, and has changed the whole aspect of things. The influence of the laboratory is felt in every branch of knowledge. The methods of investigation have changed, and everywhere the scientific method has been adopted. The laboratory has impressed upon the world the truth that, in order to learn about anything, it will not sufiice to stand aloof and speculate, and that it is necessary to come into as close contact with that thing as possible. When the old philosopher wished to solve a problem, his method was to sit down and think about it. He relied upon the working of his brain to frame a theory; and beautiful theories were undoubtedly framed. Many of these, probably all of those which had reference to natural phenomena, were far in advance of facts known, and often directly opposed to facts discovered later. THE OLD AND THE NEW IN EDUCATION 127 Minds were not hampered by facts, and theories grew apace. The age was one of mental operations. A beautiful thought was evidently regarded as something much superior to knowl- edge. We have not learned to think less of beautiful thoughts or of mental processes, but we have learned to think more of facts, and to let our beautiful thoughts be guided by them. Today, therefore, the laboratory, unknown half a century ago, occupies the position of honor next to the library. It may be said that the laboratory has outstripped the Hbrary. With but few exceptions, institutions have but one Hbrary, though many of them have several laboratories. These laboratories are not yet, even in the better institutions, what they should be. Still, as has been said, we may determine the stage of development by the highest types. A distinct laboratory, though not always a separate building, will now be provided for each of the departments of natural science, physics, chemistry, geology and mineralogy, zoology, pale- ontology, anatomy, physiology, anthropology, and the rest. The building and equipment for a single one of these will cost more than the entire college plant of the past generation. The running expenses, not including salary, of one of these laboratories are higher today than the whole expense of all the departments of science in the days of our fathers. The progress up to date has been made almost en- tirely in the laboratories of physics and chemistry, and in the observatories for astronomical work. Even here the present dwarfs the past. Only a few years ago the eighteen-inch telescope was a 128 THE TREND IN HIGHER EDUCATION monster; now we have the thirty-six inch at the Lick Observatory, and the forty-inch at the Yerkes Observatory. But the greatest advance which the future is to show us will be found in biological laboratories; and these, so far as this country is concerned, are largely the gift of the future. The institution really equipped to do work in zoology will have a laboratory which will contain: (i) an aquarium room large enough for twenty or more aquaria; (2) a zoological garden, with ponds of water for aquatic animals, and room enough for birds and land animals, ar- ranged, not for the use of the pubhc, but exclusively for scientific work; (3) a museum room, designed for purposes of illustration in classroom and lecture work, filled with embryological, anatomical, and histological preparations, and the most important type specimens of the animal kingdom; (4) the library room for serial publications, such as the journals and proceedings of societies and academies, zoological records, reviews, reports, etc.; references, guides, charts, etc.; (5) the reading-room for cur- rent publications and hterature; (6) larger labora- tories for work in embryology, comparative anatomy, comparative histology, and general biology; (7) pri- vate laboratories for research work of instructors; (8) lecture-rooms large and small. This laboratory will have as annexes a fresh-water station on lake or river near by, and for experimental work some marine station, where the instructor and the student may find their way occasionally for study and THE OLD AND THE NEW IN EDUCATION 129 instruction in marine life. Anything less cannot hope to unite the different fields and problems of the science as it stands even today. The physiological laboratory of the future will be something amazing; and I do not here refer to the work of the medical school, (i) Like the zoo- logical laboratory, it will have rooms with constant temperature, suppHed with aquaria; and rooms in which also experiments concerning the influence of climate upon the character of animal forms may be made. (2) Like the zoological laboratory also, it will be surrounded by a garden with small ponds, in which the necessary animal and plant material may be obtained at any time, and in which animals may be kept and observed in their natural condi- tions. (3) In view of the important part played by electricity in all physiological work since the discov- eries of Galvani, a part of the building will be con- structed without the use of iron, and equipped for work in electro-physiology. (4) It will contain special optical rooms, provided with optical appa- ratus. (5) A special room will also be fitted up with all the apparatus of acoustics and phonetics for the analysis of the quahty of sounds. (6) The physiology of respiration is, after all, of the greatest importance, and rooms for gas analysis will be arranged and the different apparatus secured for measuring the amount of air given and taken up. (7) Elaborate provision will be made for the solu- tion of the economic and legislative problems of I30 THE TREND IN HIGHER EDUCATION physiology, such as the quantity of animal matter exhausted in the various forms of human or animal work. (8) Physiological chemistry constitutes a great division of physiology, and will demand all the equipment of a chemical laboratory. (9) So important is the role of photography in this, as in other scientific work, that photographic rooms, with photographic outfit, will be arranged. (10) The laboratory, besides all this, will provide electric power for every room. The lecture-rooms will be so arranged as to be darkened at any moment. Preparation rooms, class laboratory rooms, private laboratory rooms, storerooms, Hbrary room, and a reading-room will be necessary. The equipment at the outset will cost many thousands of dollars, in addition to the building and its ordinary furniture. Five thousand dollars a year will be needed for the running expenses. Such a laboratory must come, will come, and within our day will be dupUcated many times. This is one feature of the new in education. In years past our study of psychology was the simplest possible; we used a single textbook. The colleges and universities of our country, now with eight or ten exceptions, still follow the simple method. It would seem, however, that the problems of psy- chology demand for their solution along experi- mental lines the combined forces of physics, physi- ology, neurology, and physical anthropology. No longer the simple study that it was, it is now become one of the most compound of the sciences. For its THE OLD AND THE NEW IN EDUCATION 131 development almost everything called for in the physiological laboratory is needed, and much more. For comparative psychology — how that word ''com- parative" has overturned the world I We now speak of comparative anatomy, comparative psy- chology, and of comparative literature, as well as of comparative philology — for comparative psy- chology, I say, we must provide also for the care of living animals, the study of which under various conditions is necessary. Some of all this has come, although most of it is in the future; but there are some things coming which are as yet altogether of the future. Of several, one which I shall select to speak of is the classical laboratory. The future, when it furnishes us the thing itself, will perhaps give us also a new name, but for the present the word "laboratory" must suffice. Indeed, it is particularly appropriate here, since it just describes my thought of it. I mean a place, a building, adapted to the work of teaching the classics, or, if you prefer, the modern languages, as well as to the work of research and investigation in these studies, precisely as the chemi- cal and physiological and zoological laboratories are adapted to these purposes in their departments. What will be its features ? (i) A closely connecting system of departmental libraries, with a small book- case and a working-table for each student. The chemical student has his own table, why should not the classical have his ? (2) Private studies for the 132 THE TREND IN HIGHER EDUCATION instructors. Each instructor in a chemical labora- tory has his private laboratory; each instructor in the classical laboratory will likewise have his private laboratory. This is necessary, both in order that he may be near the students who are engaged upon a particular piece of work, and also that he may be more secure from interruption than is possible in a general reading-room. (3) There will be a semi- nar room, containing the books, maps, and photo- graphs, and fitted for particular subjects. (4) In order that the student may live in the midst of things that appeal through the eye; in order that his life, so far as it is spent in the classical building, may be filled with the sense of form and beauty, as the Greeks and Romans possessed it, the rooms or wings em- ployed will be arranged around a museum. This museum will, of course, have its own seminar rooms and offices, and its own lecture-rooms so arranged that any cast may be wheeled into them, and used for purposes of instruction. And no doubt represen- tative casts, photographs, and maps will be scattered through all the rooms accessible to the student, so that wherever he goes he will see the embodiment of those things which played so large a part in the ancient scheme of life. Each department will have its specific collections for the illustration of sculp- ture, of fife, and of architecture. The laboratory will contain also reading-rooms for students, sup- plied with the best texts and editions, and with the modern literature upon the subject. THE OLD AND THE NEW IN EDUCATION 133 Now, all these things are really necessary. And yet it has always been assumed that a recitation room, or a recitation room and a small Ubrary room, were all that a classical student needed. This is a mistake — a mistake which the future will correct. In selecting the classical laboratory, as an illustration of the point I wish to emphasize, I have not overlooked the necessity of a sociological laboratory; that, too, must come. I have spoken of the libraries and the labora- tories with their equipment as constituting the outside of educational work. This, however, is only partly true. When we realize that the method and spirit of the work are largely determined by these outside factors, we may consent to allow them a place upon the inside. The character of the work fifty years ago was determined in large meas- ure by their absence ; their presence has transformed the whole work of education, and the work of trans- formation will continue, for our children will see realized what we today would not even dare to dream of. Nor must it be supposed that this work of transformation will affect only the methods of teach- ing and of study. This change has already taken place; for in every subject of the college curriculum the laboratory method and the library method now hold full sway. The greatest changes are involved in the revela- tion which has come to us as a result of our using these methods. We begin to see that valuable time 134 THE TREND IN HIGHER EDUCATION is being wasted in the conduct of our educational machinery; that there prevails a general looseness which characterizes the work we have been doing; that thoroughness, the factor most greatly needed, is the factor most conspicuous for its absence; and that our educational efforts lack system, the intro- duction of which would double the efficiency of the work done, save two to four years in the Hfe of every student, and secure a thoroughness that would revolutionize methods in politics, in business, and in letters. For myself, I am confident that the discovery of these defects in our school and college work is plainly traceable to the new methods which the library and the laboratory have brought us. I think, moreover, that the principles which un- derlie our future development, and which shall furnish remedies for these defects, are principles that have been learned, in so far as they have been learned at all, from the library and the laboratory. OF TH5 \ UNIVEP3 - ^ or VI DEPENDENCE OF THE WEST UPON THE EAST^ History has always known a Westland, but until now it has been an ever-changing, ever- shifting Westland. When, from out the desert steppes of ancient Arabia, there proceeded through the long centuries that constant flow of humanity through which the nations of Semitic blood found their various distribution, the fruitful valley of the Nile became the first Westland; then the fertile regions of the Tigris and Euphrates; for, though these lay north, the movements to and through them toward the sea were, in fact, westward. After many centuries Palestine, actually called /'the Westland" by old Babylonian kings, became the country toward which migration tended, and in which great world-problems were worked out. The sea-loving Phoenicians, and later the Romans, pushed civiHzation still farther west, until the east- em shore of the Atlantic became the limit and the center of world-enterprise. In a more modern period Westland again shifted itself; this time to the New World. Here, at first, the western fringe of the Atlantic, with the adjacent in- 'tRead at the bi-centennial of Yale University, October 21, 1901. 135 136 THE TREND IN HIGHER EDUCATION land territory, represented the West (and in those days, two hundred years ago, Yale College was a western institution). A little later the great middle region drained by the Mississippi became the West. This is the Westland of our times ; and this, together with the country still beyond the mountains called the Far West, represents the last step westward ever to be taken ; for he who stands today on the shore of the Pacific, with his face turned toward the setting sun, looks no longer westward, but into the East. An end has come to the shifting of the Westland. The West of the past and of the present, wherever set apart, has always stood for something quite its own, and something definite. Its contributions made from age to age have possessed a strong and dis- tinctive character. It has represented relief from the congestion of territory, release from the bonds of conventionalism, freedom from the rigidity of tra- ditionalism. It has furnished opportunity for effort on the part of those who had tried and failed, and those to whom the opportunity to try had not before been given. It has brought, also, encouragement for the development of new activities, and new methods of expression for activities that were old; incentive to do what seemed impossible to do; what, at all events, had not been done. It has, furthermore, provided the meeting-place for the world's contend- ing forces ; often itself the occasion of conflict between older powers; often the scene of struggle between advancing civihzation and receding barbarism; DEPENDENCE OF WEST UPON EAST 137 and still more often the battleground for new and living thoughts. It has served as the home and school of democratic ideas; for in the West men have lived more nearly on terms of equality, and in the West there has been a truer exhibition of the spirit of fraternity. But in all this the West has been the debtor of the East, and at times the debt has been so large as almost to preclude adjustment — a debt so great, in fact, that, notwithstanding frequent payments, the balance due the East has been altogether start- Ung. It is from the East that have come the strong and sturdy spirits who have led the West in its struggle for freedom and relief. And just so soon as the West has ceased to draw thus from the East it has ceased to be a Westland. It has been the conservative influence of eastern institutions and eastern thought which again and again has turned the failure of radical movement and adventure into pronounced success. It is to the East that men in the West and Far West have gone for peace and calm, away from struggle and the bitter strife. It is from the East that, through all the years and centuries, has come that higher and truer spirit of culture and refinement the possession of which, sooner or later, has always been found necessary for the development of the real democratic hfe — a Hfe in which the highest aim is service to one's fellow. The East, in brief, has nurtured the West, 138 THE TREND IN HIGHER EDUCATION giving freely of its strength and substance to steady and restrain the West, and to maintain rigidly the standard by which the West, wiUing or unwilling, has been compelled to receive judgment. Though these statements are, I think, in general true of the relation of the West and East, they apply particularly to the institutions of the West and East. The colleges and universities of the West cannot measure the debt they owe to eastern institutions, and to no institution is there due a larger debt than to Yale. The West today, through its many and able representatives present, brings greetings to old Yale. For two centuries this institution has been a source of strength and inspiration, a messenger of good tidings to the entire western country. Every state and territory of the West and Far West has felt Yale's touch; for Yale, more fully than any other institution of the East, has, through her loyal sons, followed step by step the westward march of civilization over river, prairie, and through forest. Of institutions founded by the sons of Yale the West is full; there is scarcely a faculty which does not count Yale men among its members. All these send their greetings. I bring greetings, also, from those universities estabUshed in the West for which the different states provide endowment. To these institutions, the noblest and most disinterested expressions of the democratic spirit, education in the West is most largely indebted for the stage of DEPENDENCE OF WEST UPON EAST 139 prosperity and advancement it has reached. And Yale has had full share in the work of providing from her alumni men who should fill the professorial and administrative offices of these splendid institu- tions. The colleges and universities of the West unite in presenting to Yale — the president, the corporation, and the faculties — their congratulations for the noble service rendered in the past to all humanity; they unite also in expressing the strongest and most cordial wishes for the prosperous continuation of a work the magnitude and influence of which only eternity shall measure. VII HIGHER EDUCATION IN THE WEST' It is not uncommon to observe and to make re- mark upon the changes which have taken place in the world of higher education within the last ten or twenty years. Much has been said of the growth of institutions in numbers, scope, and efficiency. Much has been said likewise of the modifications in subject- matter of curriculum and in methods of work. We are led almost to beUeve that not only in higher realms, but in the lower, education today is a wholly different matter when compared with education of former times. For my own part I am incHned to think that change, in so far as it has taken place, is, generally speaking, a matter of form rather than of essence. The result gained by education today is probably the same that our ancestors secured, whatever methods they employed. We have yet to learn, perhaps, that it is with education as with re- ligion. Access to heaven is no longer restricted, even by the most rigid sectarians, to a single path. It is important for educators to keep in mind that formal training is a thing of varied possibilities, and that for different individuals, of different temperament, I Read at the Inauguration of Professor E. J. James as president of Northwestern University, October 21, 1902. 140 HIGHER EDUCATION IN THE WEST 141 of different geographical locality, or different social environnient, there may be different methods; and that, just as many roads led to Rome — ^in fact, all of them — so there are many curricula and many sched- ules of work and many 'Varieties of method to be counted and 'considered. But there is one question, out of the great number connected with this subject of modification in edu- cational work and differentiation of educational poHcy, which, perhaps, deserves special mention. That question is this: Is there something in the ( eastern institution of higher education which is not I to be found in the western, and is there something in the western institution which the eastern does not have? Has the differentiation between East and West developed types of education which may in i any respect be called different ? We are not to for- \ get, of course, that a large number of western men are in eastern institutions, and that a comparatively small number of students go from the East to the West. It is also true that in the faculties of eastern institutions are many men who by birth and spirit are western men. On the other hand, a still larger number of men in western faculties are eastern in their birth and education. I ought to add that my question has to do rather with college work and life than with university work and Hfe. Is western college Hfe more modern than the east- em ? So some maintain. Altogether too large a pro- portion of our college Hfe and work is still mediaeval 142 THE TREND IN HIGHER EDUCATION in its character. Here belongs everything which sug- gests that the student has rights and privileges other than those of an ordinary citizen; that he is to be treated on a difiFerent basis, or that there shall be a different standard by which his actions shall be measured. It is in accordance with this mediaeval spirit that the incoming freshmen must be hazed, and that the pohce authorities are not to exercise control of a university campus ; that a crowd of stu- dents may make themselves obnoxious in a theater; or that men, because they are students, are privileged in the exercise of vandaUsm. Everything that would encourage the student to beheve that he is a superior person, or a person of another caste, is a survival of mediaevaHsm; and this spirit, many tell us, exists in eastern colleges, large and small, to an extent prac- tically unknown in the West. Moreover, according to mediaeval custom, the members of a faculty were officers of state in authority over the students. Be- cause of this relationship there was always hostility between faculty and student body. The more mod- em idea makes the student and the professor brothers in the pursuit of knowledge; the younger brother guided by the older; both students and both of them brothers. As a result of this fraternal relationship, a degree of intimacy exists between professor and student unknown in former years. It is maintained by many that this close relationship of student and instructor is much more common in the West than in the East. If now these two contentions can be HIGHER EDUCATION IN THE WEST 143 made good, it might surely be claimed that the ideas which control college life and work in the West are more modem than those which ordinarily prevail in the East. It may seem, upon consideration, that the mediaeval presents a higher ideal than the modern. It is quite certain that in the points just mentioned, as well as in others which might be presented by way of illustration, the mediaeval is more attractive to the student. It is undoubtedly a source of gratification to feel that through the college one enters into the privileges of a special and higher caste; but this is not the modern democratic spirit ; and however fully the democratic spirit may be developed, as among the members of the upper class, if that spirit is not mani- fest toward those outside of the class, it is a false rather than a true view of democracy which prevails. Moreover, in so far as the feeling of the student body toward a faculty is that of those who are in submission simply to a higher authority, and an authority which perhaps exercises more rigid sur- veillance than is needful, reserving rights which or- dinarily might be assumed by the student body itself — in so far, I say, as the body of students acts upon the assumption that any privilege wliich they might secure, whether by fair means or foul, is theirs to eiijoy — ^just to this extent is the relationship one which is characterized by the unfortunate and hurt- ful elements that once made up what we now call *' mediae vahsm" — a spirit distinctly opposed to that of modern progress. 144 THE TREND IN HIGHER EDUCATION Still further, the policy which prevails so largely in the eastern college life of placing men in one insti- tution and women in another is unquestionably an ancient and not a modem policy. In this respect the western institutions which are prevaihngly coeduca- tional have made large advance upon the East. If anything in the development of educational poUcy has been worked out, it is that the present coeduca- tional poUcy of the West is a stage of development higher and more advanced than that stage which is represented in the East by separate institutions for men and for women. The spirit which opens the doors of every educational institution to women as well as to men is, if I may use a questionable phrase, splendidly modern, in contrast with the older spirit of the monastery and the convent. Because I beheve in the principle of evolution, at all events as appHed to educational progress, I am convinced that there is something still higher in educational poHcy in connection with this question of coeducation than has yet been reached; but the higher development will always include close relationship of men and women in college Hfe, and the extension of equal privileges by the same institution to persons of both sexes. In all this it may surely be maintained that the West is more modern than the East. Is the spirit of the western institution more natural and less artificial, perhaps, than that of the eastern institution? It is possible that this is only putting what I have already said in another form. Surely HIGHER EDUCATION IN THE WEST 145 it is a more natural view of the situation, as well as a more modern view, that the student is to be treated as any other member of a civiHzed community, and / accorded no special privileges because he is a student./ It may also be claimed that the fraternal relationship between instructor and student is more natural than the relationship suggested by that of strict officialism. It may with equal force be said that the coeducation poHcy, as thus far developed, is a more natural poHcy and less artificial than that of education in separate institutions. But it is possible to go farther, and to consider whether a more natural situation may not be found to exist in at least two other points. The life of the average student in the western col- lege is more natural, in that it is largely devoid of those artificial elements which connect themselves with the expenditure of large sums of money. It is the exception, if a student in an institution west of New York and Pennsylvania spends $1,000 a year. It is probably an exception when a student in an eastern institution, especially the larger institutions, spends a smaller sum than $800 to $1,000. This single fact is an index of a different kind of life. It may not be argued that the eastern student in spending more money gets a larger return; for this difference in the amount expended represents the gratification of acquired tastes and the formation of artificial habits of Hfe which are injurious to the extent in which they are artificial. The relationship that has hitherto existed between 146 THE TREND IN HIGHER EDUCATION institutions of college and university grade, and secondary schools, including academies, appears to be another illustration of the acceptance of the artificial rather than the natural. To lay emphasis upon the examination method as a basis for entrance to college, to increase from time to time the require- ments for admission, and to hold, as has been the practice until more recent times, the work of the college and the work of the secondary school so defi- nitely apart, the one from the other, is to lay em- phasis upon an artificial distinction — a distinction which has neither a logical nor a pedagogical basis. Happily the influence of the West in this particular is already manifesting itself very plainly in eastern circles. Nothing has been more marked than the breaking down of the exclusiveness of the New Eng- land college and university. In so far as this exclu- siveness still continues, a greater artificiality may be claimed as existing in the East. Perhaps all this may be summed up in the statement that the western institution is more democratic in the life of its stu- dents, in its relation to institutions of a lower grade, and above all in its relations to the public at large. This is undoubtedly due to the establishment of the state universities; and the contribution of this class of institutions to the cause of higher education has been seen nowhere more clearly than in the tendency which is thereby promoted toward the breaking down of class distmctions. The influence of these institutions, provided by the people and supported HIGHER EDUCATION IN THE WEST 147 directly by public funds, is very pronounced upon institutions built on private foundations. The establishment of a great state university, like that of Michigan, or Wisconsin, or Illinois, in the heart of New England would radically change the develop- ment of higher education in that region of our coun- try. This larger democratic influence in the West represents most completely the proposition which I have tried to maintain, that higher education in its various tendencies has shown less of that which wen may call artificial in the West than in the East. This leads me to suggest still a third question : Is our higher education in the West more practical than that of the East ? Much that I have already said might perhaps be included under this question, for that which is more modern and more natural may, at the same time, be thought more practical. By ''practical" I do not mean utilitarian, although this side of education must be considered at its full value. The work of the western student -is more practical in that he more frequently has in mind a definite purpose — something distinctly tangible. He is aiming to accomplish something. Few students in western institutions enter college simply because it is the fashion to take a college course, or because their fathers before them have passed through such a course, or in order to spend a few years which can- not easily be provided for in some better way. In other words, the western student is in college because he appreciates the fact that the preparation which 148 THE TREND IN HIGHER EDUCATION it furnishes will improve his opportunities in life. This does not mean that he selects only those sub- jects which bear upon the particular profession which he has chosen, although this may be done. It means rather that he is working toward a definite plan, controlled by a strong purpose to accomplish a certain thing; and, further, that, in the large ma- jority of instances, this purpose is being executed at a sacrifice either on the part of the student or on the part of those who support him. His point of view is different; and consequently a practical coloring pervades and penetrates his work. This same point is seen ii. another fact, that institutions in the West have rec( gnized earlier and more definitely that the college training may be secured through the study of matters which stand in close touch with life, as well as through those subjects which are more re- motely connected. The closer identification of professional training and college training is one of the great tendencies of modern times which has been more plainly emphasized in the West. The point I have in mind is illustrated by the fact that Harvard is today only beginning to introduce courses of in- struction in technological subjects, and by that other fact which, for a quarter of a century or more, has seemed a sort of enigma — the sharp line of distinc- tion which has existed between Yale College and the Sheffield Scientific School. Here again the state universities have been leaders; and their pioneer work, which was necessarily practical because of HIGHER EDUCATION IN THE WEST 149 its close connection with the hearts of the people, has exercised in the past, and is exercising in the present, a tremendous influence upon higher education throughout the country, in demonstrating the pos- sible efficiency of a more practical higher education. My last qvyestion grows out of all the rest, and is again a summary of those that have preceded it: Is the student life and the student work of the western institution more serious than that of the eastern institution? To maintain this would perhaps be making an unjustifiable charge against the other institutions from which have come the source of our strength, for who does not recognize the fact that it has been Harvard and Johns Hopkins and Yale and Brown and Amherst and Williams, and a score of other names equally well known, that have given us in the West our ideals and our teachers ? It would be impossible for me to express a sentiment which would in any way reflect upon the past or the present greatness and efficiency of institutions that have contributed so greatly to the prosperity and welfare of our nation. But it is not I who raise this question. Within three months seven college and university professors or presidents have in my hearing asked it. Ordinarily one might say that the answer must be affirmative, if what has already been said is true. If western education is more modern, more natural, and more practical, it ought to be more serious. Is it true, as the representatives of eastern institutions themselves have said, that in the larger, ISO THE TREND IN HIGHER EDUCATION and to some extent in the smaller, colleges it has ceased to be the proper thing, indeed the regular thing, for men to study? Is it true that a change has come over eastern college life, and that today serious study on the part of the student is no longer a recognized part of college Uf e, or that it is so incon- siderable a factor in that life as to occasion appre- hension and alarm ? Is it true that certain men well known in eastern circles have given this question very careful attention, and are hopmg for a solution^ at least in part, to come out of the growing influence of western higher education upon the East? I have heard these questions asked and answered affirmatively by representative eastern educators; men whose candor was surpassed only by the intense anxiety which filled their souls upon this point. Whatever may be said of the East, no man can yet say that in our western institutions through and through there does not exist a spirit as serious as any that has characterized the student of any age or country; a spirit which poverty cannot repress; a spirit of devotion and consecration to life and to life's ideals than which no higher has been known in history. I have not suggested that this same spirit is not found in eastern institutions. To do so would be to belie the truth as it is known to all men. I have simply repeated the question which eastern educators themselves are asking, whether the serious spirit does not prevail more extensively in the western institutions than in the eastern. VIII THE CONTRIBUTION OF JOHNS HOPKINS^ We are celebrating in these days not only the twenty-fifth anniversary of the Johns Hopkins Uni- versity, the completion of a quarter of a century of magnificent work by a great university; but we are celebrating Hkewise the close of the first period of university education in the United States. During this first period the university idea has been introduced and established. Nor does the time within which this has taken place date far back. There were no universities in this country before the war. There were, in fact, no large colleges. But within thirty years institutions have come into existence possessing, not only the name, but the character, of universities; and old institutions have changed, not only their character, but their names. In other words, the university idea has beyond question established itself upon a strong foundation. The first period has, moreover, seen the substan- tial beginning of a dififerentiation between the col- lege and the university. Some universities which include also college work are drawing a sharp line between the two. Some colleges are recognizing the fact that their future usefulness depends upon their I Read at the celebration of the twenty-fifth anniversary of Johns Hopkins University, February 22, 1903. 151 152 THE TREND IN HIGHER EDUCATION remaining colleges, rather than upon their making an effort to become universities. There are still some institutions, however, in which this distinction is not appreciated; that is, institutions in which the college work is conducted as if it were a kind of university work, or in which the university work is conducted as if it were still work of a college charac- ter. But the separation is proceeding as rapidly as could be expected; perhaps even more rapidly than could be desired; and it is a separation full of significance for the future of university education. This first period has seen, also, a remarkable growth in the recognition given the work of research and investigation. The professor of former times had little or no opportunity for any work aside from his teaching. It is undoubtedly true that in most of our institutions too much lecture work is still required of certain men who have shown special skill in research; but how different is the situation today in comparison with that of thirty years ago! William Dwight Whitney, if he were living today, would not be compelled to teach French and Ger- man to engineering students in order to eke out a livelihood. For it has come to be that the spirit of research, once hardly recognized in our higher educational work, is now the controlling spirit; and opportunities for its cultivation wait on every side. Again, this first period has seen, in its very last days, tangible evidence that a new period, a second period, is being ushered in;Jor^what other inter- CONTRIBUTION OF JOHNS HOPKINS 153 pretation than this may be suggested for the remark- able things that have recently taken place ? With the many milUons of dollars given directly for research and higher education; with the new foundations which have recently come into being on the Atlantic coast, in the Mississippi valley, and on the Pacific coast; with the results already obtained in the sev- eral departments of research and investigation by university men whose names have become famous for the work they have accomplished; with the maturity that comes from many years devoted to the highest educational ideals, as witnessed by the splendid history of this university, surely there is reason to believe that in the East, in the West, and in the Far West we are preparing to enter upon a new .period in the development of university edu- cation. That this is a common belief is shown, it seems to me, by the fact that within two years the leading universities in the country — fourteen in number — have joined themselves as institutions in an asso- ciation for the study and consideration of problems which concern university as distinguished from college work. If one had time and ability to per- form the task acceptably, it would be interesting to consider in a prophetic way what this new period upon which we now enter will produce. Perhaps I may be allowed a conjecture or two. This period will see a still greater development. Up to this time we have known what could be done 154 THE TREND EST HIGHER EDUCATION by a university with an annual expenditure of about $1,000,000. In this next period there will be insti- tutions which will have annually $10,000,000 or so with which to conduct a year's work. This will mean, not merely growth, but, in large measure, reorganization; at all events, organization on new lines. We shall, moreover, see a still greater differentia- ^ tion. The higher work of the university will be / separated more clearly from the lower work of the / college; many colleges will undertake to do work of / a more distinctively college character than that I which they are now doing; and many high schools will rise to the grade and dignity of colleges. And, further than this, institutions will distribute the work of higher education, some undertaking work in one group of departments, while others do work j in another group. Only a few institutions will \ endeavor to cover the entire ground. The principle of specialization will be applied to institutions. In this new period the United States also will receive proper recognition for its university work, and though American students, it is to be hoped, will always find it advantageous to visit Europe, th^ time is near at hand when the students of European countries will take up residence in our American universities. Furthermore, there will be an intermingling of university work and university ideals in all the various activities of our national Hfe — in the business CONTRIBUTION OF JOHNS HOPKINS 155 world, in the political world, and in the literary world. The old idea of separation from the world at large is fast disappearing, and the new day has already dawned in which the university is to do notable work in fields hitherto almost unknown, and by methods hitherto almost untried. In the changes which have come about in thirty years, the Johns Hopkins university has been the principal factor. The ideals of its founders, the contributions of its professors, and the work of its- alumni have constituted the principal agency in bringing about this wonderful growth. During this first period the Johns Hopkins Uni- versity has been the most conspicuous figure in the American university world, and to its achievements we are largely indebted for the fact that we may now enter upon a higher mission. I desire to present upon this occasion the greetings and the congratula- tion of the scores of institutions in the West and Far West which have been strengthened by the presence in their faculties of Johns Hopkins men, and have been encouraged and stimulated to higher work by the influence of Johns Hopkins ideals. DC THE URBAN UNIVERSITY^ Institutions of every kind sooner or later adjust themselves to the forward movement of civilization. This is particularly true of educational institutions, and among these such adaptation is especially to be noted in institutions of a higher grade. The history of higher education in the United States, from the year in which Harvard was founded to the present time, is, in fact, the history of the growth and development of American civilization. Each type of institution — ^for example, the New England college as it existed a hundred or more years ago in New England, and exists today scattered all through the western states; or the state university which, in its proper form may be said to be the product of the last half-century; or the school of technology, in most recent years taking its place side by side with, or as a part of the university; or the university in the stricter sense, which is the product of the last two decades — each type of institution, I say, represents a phase of growth, or a stage of growth, in the life of the nation. It is the very latest phase of institutional develop- ment that is illustrated by the growth and character I Address at the inauguration of Professor Nicholas Murray Butler as president of Columbia University, April 19, 1902. 156 THE URBAN UNIVERSITY 157 of the university whose guests we are this afternoon. The trend of Hfe in these last years seems to be toward that centraHzation which finds its most tangible expression in the growth of great cities. That same tendency has shown itself in many of the activities which make up life, as well as in those things which relate to the places of hving. Many have represented this as the most distinctive move- ment of the last quarter of a century. Everything points to an intensification of this movement rather than to its diminution. The city of a hundred thousand inhabitants fifty years ago is the city of a million today. What the city of a million today will be fifty years hence no man can prophesy. In connection with this massing together of human souls, much is to be deprecated, and much of the good in life is lost; yet it is also true that by this concentration of human effort, and the intense competition thereby provoked, the world as a whole will be the gainer rather than the loser. Just as in this way great multitudes of people are brought together in the various interrelation- ships of common life, so there are coming to exist \ types of educational institutions, lower and higher, j adapted to this new environment. The public- \ school system of a city of two or three miUions of inhabitants is an entirely different system from that which is adapted to the needs of a city of fifty or one hundred thousand people; and in our great modem cities there is today being wrought out a 158 THE TREND IN HIGHER EDUCATION kind of school work as different from that of even fifty years ago as the methods of transportation and communication today are different from those of the same period. It is just so with higher education. A university which will adapt itself to urban influence, which will undertake to serve as an expression of urban civiHzation, and which is compelled to meet the demands of an urban environment, will in the end become something essentially different from a university located in a village or small city. Such an institution will in time differentiate itself from other institutions. It will gradually take on new characteristics both outward and inward, and it will ultimately form a new type of university. The urban universities found today in three or four of the largest cities in this country, and the urban universities which exist in three or four of the great European centers, form a class by them- selves, inasmuch as they are compelled to deal with problems which are not involved in the work of universities located in smaller cities. These prob- lems are connected with the life of the students; the care of thousands of the students, instead of hun- dreds; the management of millions instead of thou- sands of dollars ; the distribution of a staff of officers made up of hundreds instead of tens. Not only do new problems present themselves, but many of the old problems assume entirely different forms. The question, for example, of coeducation is one thing THE URBAN UNIVERSITY 159 if considered from the point of view of an institu- tion located in a village and having two hundred or three hundred students. It is, of course, a different thing in an institution having a thousand students and located in a small city; but it is a problem of still another kind when the institution has three or four thousand students and is in the heart of a city of one or two milHons of people. The standards of life are different, and the methods of life are greatly modified. And what is true of this problem is true of a score or more. In so far, then, as an institution is intended to represent the Hfe of those about it, their ideals, and their common thought, the task before an urban university is something as new and strange and compHcated as is the life, poHtical and individual, of these same cities; and just as the great cities of the country represent the national life in its fulness and in its variety, so the urban universities are in the truest sense, as has frequently been noted, national universities. It is such an institution, with all its complexities and possibilities, its problems and its ideals, within whose walls we meet today. The occasion of this meeting is a solemn one. It might almost be called an event of sacred significance, since it concerns the formal initiation and installation into office of one to whom is thereby committed a responsibihty as sacred and as solemn as any that can be assumed by a human being. i6o THE TREND IN HIGHER EDUCATION Today I am bringing to you the greetings of a sister urban university, the University of Chicago. The problems to be worked out by Columbia are, in large measure, those with which the University of Chicago is concerned. It is perhaps not too much to expect that in many questions the experience of one institution will be helpful to that of the other. It is possible, further, that the experience of these institutions may be of service to others interested in the same questions. To the new president, Mr. Butler, and to Colum- bia University under his administration, we present our best wishes for the future. May Columbia University ever prove worthy of the name she bears, the history she has already achieved, and the splendid city of which she is the greatest institution. X THE BUSINESS SIDE OF A UNIVERSITY The business side of an educational institution is the financial side as distinguished from the edu- cational. It is difficult, perhaps impossible, to draw a sharp line between the financial and the educational, for here is no part of the university life or work into which financial questions do not enter. It is clearly unfortunate, from some points of view, that the two are so closely associated. One's ideal would be better realized if the spiritual could be more definitely distinguished from the material. In recent years the material side of university work has possibly received more than its due share of attention; but it should be noted that within this same period even greater attention has been given to the development of the educational side, and that what some have regarded as unfortunate is after all the best thing that could have happened. Two facts in such a discussion as this deserve consideration: first, that thirty years ago there were in this country no great universities; the second, that a great university can- not be conducted except upon a business basis and with large funds for expenditure. This larger attention to the material side, inconsistent as it may seem to be with the due appreciation of the spiritual element, is nevertheless a necessity, growing i6i i62 THE TREND IN HIGHER EDUCATION out of the present condition of things. Thus a large part of the expenditures of a modern institu- tion is incurred in the departments of science, many of which did not exist thirty years ago; for it is within comparatively recent times that it has seemed necessary to have natural science fully represented in an institution of learning. This is true also of the historical departments, for chairs of political economy, pohtical science, and sociology are comparatively modern. Nor is it a long time ago, even in some of our largest institutions, that the Romance and Germanic languages, not to speak of EngHsh, were given a proper status. The larger expenditure has been occasioned, furthermore, by the introduction of modern methods. The labora- tory method in the departments of science, and the library method in the departments concerned with literature and history, have revolutionized college and university work; but the revolution has been attended with great cost. The increased expenditure in universities has also come about because of the demand for better arrangements in connection with student and pro- fessorial hfe. The student of 1901 will not endure the economies practiced by the student of 1801. The professor, moreover, is an entirely different being — no longer a recluse, but a man among men mingling in the life of the world, and for that reason compelled to live in a fashion utterly unknown to his colleagues of a century ago. If, therefore, the THE BUSINESS SIDE OF A UNIVERSITY 163 financial side of a university in these times is some- thing vastly more important than it was a century ago, the fact is easily explained, and does not in any sense convey the implication that the university of today is less spiritual, less intellectual. These great sums of money must be secured with which to conduct an institution, because it is today a university rather than a college; because its work is of a vastly higher character than anything con- ceived in former years; because there exist today ten departments or sub-departments where a half- century ago a single department sufficed; because the work is infinitely higher, broader, and deeper. The average college today spends more for work in a single department of science than was spent by an institution of the same grade fifty years ago in all departments of science. In institutions which had no Hbraries at that time, there will now be found Hbraries of thirty to fifty thousand volumes. The university of the twentieth century is compelled to spend a hundred thousand dollars where the insti- tution of the nineteenth century spent ten thousand. This being true, the financial side of an institu- tion must be organized as carefully and as method- ically as its educational side; and the question arises: What does the financial side include, and what is involved in its conduct ? A consideration of this question will show the particular sides of university work and life which are affected by the financial problems, the various elements which are i64 THE TREND IN HIGHER EDUCATION involved in the preparation of a university budget, the agencies established by the university to conduct and manage its financial matters, and the principles which underHe the conduct of this financial work. The university in its financial dealings comes into contact with all the world, and with every class of people who make up the world. The student has business relations with the university in the pay- ment of his fees. These are in most instances adapted to the particular work in which he is engaged, and vary with the amount and character of that work. There is the examination fee, covering the expenses connected with examination for admission; the matriculation fee, paid once for all upon admis- sion; the tuition, library, and incidental fees, paid quarterly or for each semester; the laboratory fee in connection with physics or chemistry or a depart- ment of biology ; the library fine, if perchance a book has been retained longer than the rules permit; the special fee for extra courses, or perhaps for an examination taken at some time other than that regularly appointed, or taken perhaps because in a former examination the result was not satisfactory; the special fee imposed, if after once selecting his courses he wishes, for reasons of his own, to change the registration, this fee being imposed not so much to recompense the institution for the extra clerical work involved, as to impress upon the student the necessity of reaching a definite decision and of then adhering to it. Besides these ordinary university THE BUSINESS SIDE OF A UNIVERSITY 165 fees, if the student occupies a room in a university hall or lives at the university commons, there are room bills and board bills, each one of which must be adapted to the individual case, for rooms have different values placed upon them, and the board bill must be adjusted to the number of days during which meals are taken. In many institutions the university conducts a bank for the accommodation of students, receiving deposits and making payments on demand, exactly as in a well-regulated bank. Probably one in four of all the students in an insti- tution of learning has financial deahngs with the university in the way of scholarships and fellowships, or in the way of money received in return for serv- ices of some kind. One well-known institution distributes each year, in amounts ranging from $100 to $600, the sum of $100,000. And, finally, when the student finishes his work, a graduation fee is collected. In part to educate the student in business methods, and also in part as security for bills payable, it is an inflexible law of institutions of learning to grant no certificate or degree to a student who is in arrears in the payment of his obligations. To this there should be added further the business element involved in providing work inside and out- side of the institution for needy students — a task in some instances assumed by an allied agency inde- pendent of the institution, in others undertaken by the university itself. The amount of business in- volved in dealings along these various lines with i66 THE TREND IN HIGHER EDUCATION three or four thousand students is not inconsider- able. Each member of the teaching staff, like each student, has regular business relations with the institution. The preparation of the monthly pay- roll is an important piece of business, including as it does not only the regular members of the staff, but also the fellows and scholars of the university, and the employees. There are university pay-rolls which include more than five hundred names. Nor is the conduct of the pay-roll the simple and regular task which it at first might appear. Changes are continually taking place; men come and go; promotions are made, and in many cases special accommodation must be given. And in these days a very considerable proportion of the staff of a uni- versity spends a portion of the year abroad. In each case a special arrangement is made for the trans- fer of money, and at one time the university may be dealing with its officers in ten or twelve foreign countries. The question of promotion on the staff is frequently a simple business matter; for mani- festly a promotion which carries with it increase of salary cannot be made unless there are funds with which to meet the additional expense; and, more- over, it is a business question as well as an educa- tional question to determine to what extent this or that department shall be developed in view of the resources of the institution. In many instances the university serves as landlord to some members of THE BUSINESS SIDE OF A UNIVERSITY 167 its staff, and in a few cases (the fewer the better) it encourages the members of its staff to build per- manent homes by lending to them on proper security university funds. At times an officer of the institution becomes dis- abled, or is taken away without having made proper provision for his family. The relationship of the university is of such a character that in each case some financial arrangement must be effected. In some institutions a pension system has been estab- lished which in a more businesslike way makes proper provision for those to whom the university is under obligation. Such a pension system, from the business point of view as well as from the phil- anthropic, would seem to be an absolute necessity in every institution that pretends to manage its affairs upon a business basis. A large university needs, also, a considerable body of business officers and employees who are not directly associated with the educational work. Here belong the business manager, the auditor, and the registrar, or bursar. It is these who have to do directly with the fiscal interests. Each of these officers is aided by a force of stenographers and clerks. There is also the general stenographic and clerical force of the university distributed in the offices of the president, the various deans and directors, the pubhcation department, the university bookstore, the* extension work, and the library. It is true that until three or four years ago a certain i68 THE TREND IN HIGHER EDUCATION university of high rank did not have a single ste- nographer in its employ. It is probable, however, that in a well-regulated institution the service in this particular will always be increasing, since experi- ence proves that it is economy to furnish as much assistance of this kind as can be well used. The superintendent of buildings is aided by a force of engineers and janitors. If the university build- ings are all situated in one place, it is posssible to exercise great economy by establishing a central building and equipment for supplying heat and light, but even at the best the undertaking is a large one and requires careful business manage- ment. Perhaps the most difficult piece of business in the entire university administration is that relating to the university's function as landlord. The modern university is in a true sense a great hotel, managed on the European as well as on the American plan. Men generally adopt the European, and women the American plan. In some cases this work is conducted only indirectly as a part of the university administration ; but in every case the general responsi- bihty rests with the institution. In these days it is considered no small business task to handle the affairs of a hotel capable of accommodating three or five hundred guests. What shall be said of the task, when this number becomes one thousand, or fifteen hundred, or even twenty-five hundred? It is in this connection that the business ability of the THE BUSINESS SIDE OF A UNIVERSITY 169 administration finds itself most severely taxed, and the housekeepers, janitors, cooks, servants, and watch- men constitute, in fact, almost a regiment of employ- ees, for whose board and lodging provision must also be made. It is impossible in a large institu- tion to leave the matter of board and food to take care of itself. Experience has shown that under these circumstances the student invariably suffers. There must be mentioned also the staff of the bureau of information — something necessary in a large institution; the telegraph and telephone service; the express office ; the faculty exchange ; and, besides, the constantly increasing staff of student service, that is, students who do work for the university in various offices and departments, thereby earning a portion of the university fees. Through the bureau of student help a university may secure thousands of dollars in outside work for worthy and needy students. The large institution, Hke the large business house, finds it necessary to employ its own force of compositors, even when the university does not engage in the publication of journals, for the amount of job-printing of all kinds required daily, and the various university documents constantly in demand, make it economical for the university thus to control its own force. If now the university, as in some cases, undertakes the publication of journals, the staff of compositors becomes a large one and carries in its train a force of proofreaders, and, in some cases, of pressmen and binders. In many I70 THE TREND IN HIGHER EDUCATION cases the university library finds itself justified in establishing and conducting a bindery for its own service. In connection with the distribution of university documents, there must be, of course, a regularly established mailing department, and in connection with the care of buildings and grounds, it is wise for the university to have its own carpenter, plumber, and electrician. This list does not, of course, include the artists, photographers, and arti- sans employed directly in the various departments of sciences in connection with the educational work. The university must have or control also a univer- sity bookstore, which is managed in the interests of professors and students, and not for the purpose of making money. The annual business of such a store will sometimes amount to hundreds of thousands of dollars. And, besides this, there will be the storehouses for chemistry, physics, and the biological departments, with storekeepers and purchasing agent. Through the bookstore, the Hbrary, and the scientific storeroom, the university is all the time in business relations with publishers, importers, manufacturers, and custom-house officers. It is well known that special laws exist for the importa- tion by universities of books and apparatus. The library in its work directly or indirectly has business agents in all the principal book centers of the Old World, and ordinarily its importations and pur- chases are collected from various quarters and for- warded monthy to the institution. THE BUSINESS SIDE OF A UNIVERSITY 171 A growing institution is always building. And here the business side of the university clearly mani- fests itseK. In the work of building a new field of business is entered, and the university comes into relations with architects and contractors. The university may have a single architect to whom recourse is had under all circumstances, or it may select different architects for different buildings. The building committee of the university has always under consideration the subject of material, form, style, and practical utility of the buildings that are to be erected in the near future. It is a matter of experience that a building needed by the university is most easily secured, if the plans for it are prepared in advance. The drawings sometimes excite the interest of a patron to whom they may be presented. It is therefore unnecessary, and indeed unusual, to wait for the gift of a building before doing the pre- liminary work involved in the plans and specifica- tions. It is almost inconceivable in the large institu- tion that there should ever come a time when addi- tional buildings will not be called for. The building committee is as necessary a part of the university administration as the committee on faculty and equipment; for if an institution is to continue its work, it must add to its facilities. The business manager of an institution is therefore selected, at least in part, with reference to his familiarity with the work of building. It is perhaps to be noted that many of our American institutions have not con- f OF THE "^^X f UNIVERSITV 172 |THE TREND IN HIGHER EDUCATION ducted this part of the university business with much care or forethought. It is unfortunate, to say the least, that in America university architecture has been so commonly neglected. This is perhaps only less criminal than a shortcoming in reference to the handling of investments, since in the latter particular mistakes may be corrected, while in the former case this is impossible. A large university usually has business dealings with the public at large. These for the most part appear in connection with the work of a university press. For it has come to be true that in one form or another every large institution has its own univer- sity press. This press may be directly under the control of some publishing house, the university being in this case only indirectly connected with the business side; or the press may be associated with a large publishing house, the university in this case sharing in the business deaHngs; or the university may undertake for itself the organization and management of its own press. On the whole, the latter plan has seemed to be the most successful. Such organization calls for every phase of business activity which is involved in the work of manufac- turing and distributing books and journals. As has been said, it is a matter of business economy for the university to have its own composing-rooms and to do to some extent its own press- work. This makes necessary an organization with a director, superintendent, foreman, pressmen, compositors, THE BUSINESS SIDE OF A UNIVERSITY 173 and proofreaders, and involves the work of selecting and purchasing type, presses, paper, and all the additional material and equipment required for book-making. But shall the office be a union or a non-union office ? Shall it employ women as well as men? What shall be the relationship of the university in this phase of its activity to the prob- lems which are all the while arising from the point of view of the interests of labor ? This work involves, moreover, distribution as well as manufacture; and thus the university enters one of the most interesting fields of business known to the modern world, including its relationship to the post-office authorities, its agencies established in great centers, its connec- tion with booksellers, and its contact in its adver- tising departments with the business world at large. If the advertising field is to be cultivated success- fully, there must be representatives in the East and the West whose only work shall be to fill the pages set apart for advertising. The university deals with the public in a business way, also, through that department of its work which has in some instances been designated the extension division. In this work it enters the busi- ness field of the lecture bureau on a plan intended to be higher than that occupied by the ordinary lecture bureau. The business side of the extension work includes the selection of agents, the organiza- tion of committees, the renting of halls, the proper distribution of announcements, the selling of tickets. 174 THE TREND IN HIGHER EDUCATION the contracts with lecturers, negotiations with socie- ties, churches, clubs, the arrangement of railroad schedules, the procuring of hotel accommodations, the transportation of traveUng libraries and the distribution of the same at the local centers, the publication and sale of syllabi of lectures, etc., etc. A single organization conducting on these lines a business which amounts to fifty or seventy-five or one hundred thousand dollars in a single year must adopt business principles in its work, if it is to be successful or permanent, and if, because of the lack of special endowment funds, the extension work is expected to be in large measure self-supporting, the business side becomes all the more definite and distinct. The university, again, deals with the general public through its bureau of recommendations. A large institution will receive daily requests to make a recommendation for this or that position. These requests, by correspondence or in person, come from business men who wish clerks, agents, etc.; from superintendents of schools who wish principals or teachers; officers of the federal, state, or municipal government ; from parents who wish tutors or travel- ing companions for their children; from publishers who wish agents; from churches who wish pastors; from newspapers wishing reporters or editorial writers ; from lawyers who wish clerks ; from boards of libraries asking for librarians ; from college and uni- versity authorities asking for recommendations for THE BUSINESS SIDE OF A UNIVERSITY 175 presidents and professors. These requests must be answered, selections made, and testimonials fur- nished. It is not an uncommon thing for a large university thus to place in positions directly or in- directly hundreds of men and women in a single year. This is largely a business question, involving the educational quahfications of the persons recom- mended, and carrying with it also a large responsi- bility on the part of the university. Closely asso- ciated with this is the task undertaken by many institutions of finding work which may be performed by students while in residence, and from which they may secure at least a portion of the means necessary for their maintenance. Such work includes clerking in stores, bookkeeping, typewriting and stenog- raphy, pubHc-library work, selling railway tickets, can- vassing for city telephones, soHciting advertisements, collecting accounts, dehvering newspapers, acting as laundry agents, Hghting street lamps, doing house- work, waiting on tables, tutoring, and teaching in night schools. In these various ways many thousands of dollars are secured annually by energetic students. The university comes into contact with the pubHc, furthermore, in its department of physical culture and athletics. In recent years it has come to be seen that this work must be handled directly by the university and not be left entirely to the students. Whatever may be thought of the increased emphasis laid upon athletic contests, it will be conceded that, in the management of these contests a business ability 176 THE TREND IN HIGHER EDUCATION of high order is required; for there are included the maintenance of athletic grounds valued at several hundred thousand dollars, with full equipment of grandstands, seats, racing-track, baseball and foot- ball fields, ticket offices, entrance gates; also the contracting and arranging for intercollegiate contests; the advertising; the pubHcation of souvenir pro- grammes; the sale of tickets, which sometimes amounts to from ten to thirty thousand dollars in a single game; the proper accounting and division of the receipts ; the arranging of a schedule of trips ; the management of training quarters ; the purchase of all the outfit required for football and baseball games; the keeping of trainers, rubbers, officials, and sub- stitutes. All this involves a great amount of busi- ness and the handhng of large amounts of money. There might also be counted here the business con- nected with the pubHc appearances of the various musical clubs of the university. The investments of a large institution constitute one of its most serious responsibihties. The ordi- nary risks may not be incurred; every step taken must be supposed, at least at the time, to be per- fectly secure. This naturally increases the amount and the responsibility of the work. A large univer- sity will have from five to fifteen milHons of dollars of endowment funds invested in various forms. A portion of this will be in real estate which must be kept in repair, on which taxes are to be paid, and from which rents are collected. City business THE BUSINESS SIDE OF A UNIVERSITY 177 property is usually regarded with especial favor as fulfilling in a satisfactory way the most rigid demands imposed by the nature of the trust, but residence property will in all probability form a large factor in the situation; and the university is thus brought into contact as landlord with perhaps hundreds of tenants. Other desirable forms of investment are fees, mortgages, and bonds — especially railroad bonds which are properly and sufficiently secured; and stocks, especially when gifts are paid in this form, for ordinarily a board of trustees will hesitate to buy stocks. The business of a university, with eight or ten milHons of dollars which continually require to be reinvested, is therefore equivalent to the work of two or three large banks, and the strictly banking part of the business transactions thus in- volved is not inconsiderable. There remains to consider, among those with whom the university deals in a business way, the large number of persons ordinarily known as patrons. It may be suggested that this relationship is one of philanthropy rather than of business. Those who are acquainted with the relation in its details, how- ever, understand that it is really a business matter. Men and women contribute to the funds of an insti- tution only when they have satisfied themselves that its affairs are managed in a strictly business manner. Their gifts are made on certain conditions, which they expect to be carried out in a legal way. It is generally supposed that in large institutions much 178 THE TREND IN HIGHER EDUCATION efifort and time are spent in securing contributions. In special cases and under special circumstances such effort is sometimes made, but in general the money which such an institution receives in the form of gifts comes without solicitation. It is prob- ably safe to assert that in the case of 90 per cent, of the money given to a large institution the initiative is taken by the donor, and not by the university con- cerned. It is surely a matter of business, in so far as the university undertakes to carry out in detail certain conditions imposed with the gift. These con- ditions sometimes involve annuities, and so the uni- versity for the time being undertakes the work of an insurance company. At other times they take the form of a trust, the property being committed to the university with the understanding that all or certain portions of its income shall be given to certain persons during life. In these cases the university assumes the responsibility and duties of a trust company. The relationship therefore in many cases becomes a business one. For the transaction of its various kinds of business the university has different agencies. First of all, in a business way, come the trustees, whose function it is to control and manage the business affairs of the institution. The faculties of the institution are given power to conduct the educational side of the work, subject to certain general regulations imposed by the trustees. In general, trustees act only on those matters which involve the expenditure of money; THE BUSINESS SIDE OF A UNIVERSITY 179 but this, of course, includes appointments on the staff of instruction. The statutes of a large univer- sity enacted by the trustees take up those questions which involve money matters as well as the general organization of the institution. The president of the board of trustees is in many of the larger institu- tions also the president of the university, and as such acts as chief executive officer in business as well as in educational matters. In other institu- tions the president of the board is a man chosen for his large business discretion, and although not a salaried officer, he devotes himself in large measure to the material interests of the university. His judgment has great weight in the determination of all matters of a business character. The treasurer of the university is in some cases the business manager; in others he acts only as custodian of all funds. In the latter case he is generally chairman of the finance committee. To the business manager or the treasurer is committed the general oversight of the university business. It is he who superintends the manage- ment of buildings and grounds, who takes the initia- tive in presenting investments for consideration, and who looks after the property and property interests of the institution. The treasurer or business man- ager of the larger institution has greater and more varied responsibility resting upon him than does the president of a large bank. Besides the business manager, the university must have a registrar or bursar, who receives fees, i8o THE TREND IN HIGHER EDUCATION rents rooms in the halls, collects bills for board; a director for the management of its printing and pub- lishing; directors also for the museum work, the library, and the various laboratories, each of which has its business side; purchasing agents in various departments, or officers authorized to make pur- chases. An auditor or chief accountant will have charge of the university accounts, and audit all expenditures. The staff of accountants in such an institution is as large as that of a great business con- cern, while its stenographic force will in all proba- bility be much larger. The force of janitors and servants already referred to completes the list of agencies for the execution of the business or material side of the university's work. The president in a large university is expected, in addition to his educational duties, to negotiate contracts with the members of the teaching staff — a work in itself almost sufficient for one man; to look after the expenditures in the various depart- ments, and to see that they do not exceed the appro- priations; to serve on the committees of the trustees that have to do with the buildings, grounds, and investments; to take the necessary steps which will lead to the voluntary contribution of funds to the university by its patrons. While generally relieved from direct contact with employees, janitors, and servants, he must be sufficiently familiar with the situation in each case to know that the work is being performed satisfactorily and at not too great a cost. THE BUSINESS SIDE OF A UNIVERSITY i8i to harmonize different opinions in respect to the form and character of buildings to be erected, and to consider university departmental requests for expenditures of various kinds. If we ask for opinions as to what principles in general guide and control in the administration of the business affairs of a large university, we should, of course, find much variation. But those who have had experience in this field of business would agree, I think, to the following propositions : 1. The business affairs of a great institution should be conducted, not for the sake of increasing the business, but in a manner wholly subservient to the best interests of the educational work which has been undertaken. To this end every dollar possible, in consistency with good business prudence, will be expended for educational purposes, and every dollar possible will be saved from the expenditures involved in the administration of the business affairs. In other words, the successful business management is not in itself an end, but merely a means for pro- viding facihties of an educational character. 2. The business affairs of a large institution are of the nature of a public trust, and consequently differ essentially from the business affairs of a com- pany or an individual. It follows that no risk of any kind may be incurred. Speculation with university funds is criminal. A transaction which would be perfectly proper, and from a business point of view satisfactory, for an individual or a firm, may be i82 THE TREND IN HIGHER EDUCATION utterly lacking in those characteristics which make it suitable for approval by the board of trustees of a uni- versity. It is probable that no business management in the world is more conservative than that of the large institutions of learning. It is also probable that in no other business concerns has the percentage of loss on investments or from dishonesty been so small. 3. The trusteeship of a university, although in- volving the greatest possible responsibility, and de- manding work in large amount and of high charac- ter, must be a voluntary service. The president of the university, with one exception, should be the only salaried officer among the trustees. The exception should be the treasurer, if he is at the same time business manager. Nor can it be asserted that such voluntary service is difficult to secure. The honor and satisfaction of connection with a work of such character will be found sufficient to satisfy men of the highest ability. 4. In the administration of the business affairs of an institution the principles of civil service must prevail. Favoritism of any kind, not to speak of nepotism, are insufferable. Those who are held responsible for certain conditions of the work must be given the privilege of making recommendations for the positions under their direction, subject, of course, to the approval of the higher authorities. Promotion from those already in the ranks is an essential element. 5. Absolute economy must be exercised in every THE BUSINESS SIDE OF A UNIVERSITY 183 department of the institution. The officers charged with the responsibility of expending money should be held to a strict accounting. It is undoubtedly true that many men, eminent in their respective de- partments for learning and for ability to give instruc- tion, fail from the business point of view to conduct their own affairs or those of the institution, when intrusted to them, with proper care. Debt may be incurred only when satisfactory provision for its due payment has been made in advance. 6. Special consideration from the business point of view must be given to the problems connected with the expenses of student life. It is a mistake to encourage luxury, or even to make it possible. How- ever wealthy a young man may be, he cannot spend a large sum of money annually and be a student. For the time being, at all events, he must limit his expenditures, and directly or indirectly the university must see that this is done. On the other hand, it is equally important that provision be made for the assistance of worthy students who find themselves unable to continue their work for lack of means. It is possible to make mistakes in assisting students who do not deserve assistance, and in rendering assistance in a manner which will injure the student even if he deserves help. To require that every student who receives help from the university shall make suitable return to the university in the form of service or of money is a practical business way of treating the whole matter. Help should be ren- i84 THE TREND IN HIGHER EDUCATION dered them in return for work done, or as a loan to be repaid. In the latter case there is no objec- tion, from the business point of view, if the loan is arranged on terms especially favorable to the stu- dent. Such a student cannot be expected in every case to furnish satisfactory security, but without such security money should not be loaned except to those whose character is personally known to the officers in charge to be above reproach. 7. The financial transactions of a large institu- tion should be announced regularly to the public. The exact amount of expenditures, even in detail, in the various departments, the receipts from any and every source, are facts which the public deserve to know; and, besides, a knowledge of these facts will give the university the confidence of the public. No single act can be performed by an institution that will accomphsh greater good than the regular and systematic publication in official form of the receipts and expenditures of money. 8. Contracts with members of the teaching staff are not treated like contracts with the officers of the university conducting the business side of the insti- tution, or Hke contracts made in ordinary business affairs. A large university is accustomed to accept the resignation of a professor or instructor whenever it may be proffered, whatever may have been the time for which the professor or instructor was appointed. Resignations are thus accepted in the case of men who have been appointed to do a certain service, and who before doing that service desire THE BUSINESS SIDE OF A UNIVERSITY 185 to connect themselves with another institution. It is not considered out of place for one institution to make assiduous effort to draw away a member of the staff of another institution. The feeling pre- vails everywhere in the large universities that what- ever is for the best interests of the individual will in the end prove to be for the best interests of edu- cation; and the university can in no case afford to deprive the individual officer of a chance to accept a position of higher opportunity and influence. It is only in the smaller institutions of learning that this principle is not acted upon. 9. A university, although possessed of twenty millions of dollars, is from the legal point of view a charitable institution. Whatever may be its wealth or influence, its affairs are managed as are those of great charitable institutions. It does not hesitate to accept from any and every source gifts, large or small, with which to prosecute its work for the public benefit. It declares no dividends. The uni- versity gives to the public through its students every dollar paid by the students, and, with each such dollar, three or five in addition. There are today fifteen or twenty institutions in America with refer- ence to which the above statements, with modifica- tions, will be essentially true. Enough has been said perhaps to show that a great institution of learning is, altogether apart from its educational work, a business concern which deserves to take its place side by side with the world's other great business concerns. XI ARE SCHOOL-TEACHERS UNDERPAID? In Boston, high-school teachers are paid from $1,620 to $3,060; grammar-school and elementary teachers, $936 to $2,340. In Chicago salaries range from $850 to $2,000 in the high schools, and from $500 to $825 in the graded schools. In St. Louis the limit is slightly lower — ^high-school salaries run- ning from $682.50 to $2,060, while elementary- school teachers begin at $420, with a maximum of $892.50. San Francisco pays from $900 to $1,350 in its high schools, and $450 to $747 in the grades. In Philadelphia the average salary paid to men in all the schools is $1,487.70; to women, $569.70. The highest salary paid in MinneapoHs, excluding prin- cipals, is $1,300 to a woman, $1,000 to a man — a reversal of the usual order. Figures for the entire state of Minnesota show that the average salary of men teachers in the graded schools is $513, in the district schools $349.70; while the average for women is $381 in the grades and only $279.72 for the country district schools. New York state shows a higher average because of its cities — $604.78 for the entire state, the average in cities being $879.27, and in towns as low as $322.49. The highest average salary paid to men teachers in Pennsylvania is $719.80 in Delaware County. The average in 186 ARE SCHOOL-TEACHERS UNDERPAID 187 Fulton County is the lowest, $226.71. Delaware County has also the highest average for women, $416.88, while Pike County has a minimum of $221.67. Can any inteUigent person read these figures and be willing to say that they represent a satisfactory situation ? To me it seems a perfectly clear propo- sition, based on these figures and on the facts as they are known to exist, that the salaries paid teach- ers of the elementary and secondary grades in our pubHc schools are grossly insufficient and inadequate. To some it may seem unnecessary to consider this question; and yet, if injustice is being done a great constituency in the public service, surely remon- strance and complaint are proper. In this brief statement, therefore, I desire to present five argu- ments in support of my protest against the injustice done this great body of faithful public servants. Each argument thus presented is in itself sufficient, but when the five are taken together the case against the present policy is overwhelming in its strength. In the first place, then, salaries paid are insuffi- cient in view of the grade of talent demanded for the work of instruction. There was once a time when a young man or woman who could do nothing else turned his thought toward teaching; but in the better sections of the country, and especially in the cities, that time is rapidly passing. It is universally recog- nized that strong qualities are called for in the teacher, and that a successful teacher is one who i88 THE TREND IN HIGHER EDUCATION can succeed likewise in a multitude of ways outside of the profession of teaching. To understand the truth of this statement one need only examine the long list of men and women who have given up their work as teachers to enter upon some form of business and have conducted the new work most successfully. Just as in the departments of higher education intellectual abiHty of the highest order is called for, and nothing short of this will satisfy the require- ments, so it is in lower education. The demands of the work can be met only by those whom nature has endowed with a very high order of talent. The teacher to whom is intrusted the fostering care of our children should surely be one whose ability we respect. How is it possible to satisfy the conscience, if a policy other than this prevails ? Is there any- thing more precious than the child, whether regarded from the point of view of the family or the state ? Is not his training a thing of pre-eminent importance ? And yet we are wiUing to pay to his teacher a salary far less than is paid in many cases to the keeper of our horses or to the keeper of our cattle. Who can- not see the utter absurdity of this? The teacher, everything being considered, should be, and in many cases is, the equal of the man or woman who enters into any other professional hfe. Shall we stultify our- selves by continuing to pay the teacher at a rate which places on him or her the brand of intellectual weakness for having accepted a position which promises its occupant so little profit or advantage ? ARE SCHOOL-TEACHERS UNDERPAID 189 In the second place, the salaries paid are insuffi- cient in view of the large amount of technical prepara- tion required for the performance of the duties of the office. In this respect again the times are changed. The teacher in the grades must be an expert in psychology, and must have a reasonable acquaintance with all of the departments of knowl- edge which contribute toward the life and thought of the child. The field is iUimitable. Years of prepa- ration are required; first in the high school, and later in the college or professional school. Effort of the most serious character is demanded, and many who undertake this arduous preparation find themselves unequal to the task and drop it. A small proportion pursue the work to the end. The time has come when preparation for teaching, even in the grades, requires a training and a proficiency equal to that demanded by any other profession. These require- ments have gradually been increased until today, in many quarters, only those possessed of a vigorous physical constitution, a strong, untiring purpose, and, in addition, a considerable sum of money, are able to secure the preparation called for. Is it justice to those who have pursued this laborious course of preparation that in the end they should find themselves Hmited to a salary so small as to seem pitiful in view of the hardship undergone and the expense which has been incurred ? The third reason why the salaries paid are insuf- ficient is in view of the character of the work required ipo THE TREND IN HIGHER EDUCATION of the teacher. Those who have never taught have but slight conception of the actual demand made upon the nervous energy of the teacher in the school. It is possible that in some cases parents secure some idea of the strain under which the teacher works, but it will be remembered that the family rarely exceeds three, or four, or five children, while the teacher is compelled to do service for thirty or fifty or more. The constant alertness which is necessary, and the unbroken and uninterrupted strain which, for many, proves to be a fatal thing, draw upon the constitu- tion to such an extent that weariness of mind and body comes to be so great that only absolute rest brings relief. The four, five, or six hours in the schoolroom require a strength of body and a strength of mind as great as that required in the practice of any profession. And when it is remembered that this same routine of life comes day after day, week after week, and month after month, one cannot fail to realize the painfulness of it all, the courage which alone makes it possible, and the utter self-sacrifice which is involved ; for in no other work can it be so truly said that the toiler gives forth of his own strength to the one for whom he toils. The end of it all, unless special effort is made to avoid this end, is exhaustion, mental and nervous; and the number of physical wrecks furnished by the teacher's pro- fession is certainly larger in proportion than that in any other calling of life. Is such work unworthy of a respectable salary? Is there anywhere work ARE SCHOOL-TEACHERS UNDERPAID 191 of a more serious or more vital character than this ? Is work that counts for more in the life of the family or the nation done anywhere else ? Then why treat it in this ignoble fashion ? Beside the character of the work, there is the necessary professional expense connected with a teacher's life; and this is the fourth reason why the salaries paid are insufficient. The teacher who is to maintain his or her position must read daily. This reading requires the purchase of many books. The library, indeed, is an essential feature in the teacher's life. The growing teacher will not fail to spend at least 10 to 20 per cent, of his salary from year to year for new books. In these days again important results are accomplished in teachers' con- ventions and conferences. To attend these money is required. There may be a conference of the teachers of a particular subj ect which meets per- haps three or four times a year. Or there may be another conference of the teachers of the county, or of a certain portion of the city. Perhaps there is still another conference of the teachers in the city; and finally there is the convention of the teachers in all of the states. It is really essential to the life and progress of the teacher that these meetings shall be attended, for it is here that one comes in contact with those who are deeply interested in the same subjects, and from such contact the benefits are most numerous and valuable. But, after all, the greatest necessity of the teacher, regarded wrongly by many 192 THE TREND IN HIGHER EDUCATION as a luxury, is travel. Nothing is so elevating or so encouraging or so inspiring as travel. Home travel and foreign travel together constitute a feature in self-education which has never been truly estimated. But how can these things be done without money ? They cannot. How different will be the life of a teacher when opportunities of this kind are afforded, and how different would be the instruction given the pupils if the teacher thus comes into contact with the lives of others! At least 20 per cent, of the teacher's salary can be spent to advantage in this kind of effort to renew the mind and the body. Can it be done on the present basis of salaries? One need only study the annual budget of the average teacher to see how hopeless is the case. The salaries paid are insufficient, finally, in view of the provision which should be made before- hand for old age. While the professor in the university may well continue his work in ordinary cases until he is sixty-five or seventy years old, the average teacher in the high school or in the grades ought to give up his work much earher. This is true partly because the work has been so different from that carried on by the professor; partly also because the age of the students is Ukewise different. It is a serious question whether a woman over fifty or fifty-five years of age should teach in the grades. Such a woman can, of course, superintend or super- vise instruction, but in only a few cases will a teacher of this age find herself sufficiently fresh and flexible ARE SCHOOL-TEACHERS UNDERPAID 193 to meet the demands of younger children. But what is there left for a teacher who is compelled to give up her work at the age of fifty or fifty-five? No new occupation can be taken up. The work of life is virtually finished, and yet the individual must go on living, possibly for many years. Pro- vision beforehand must, therefore, be made, if not in the form of a pension, in any case in the form of savings set aside from year to year for this much- dreaded period. It is here that a serious problem presents itself. With the many demands made upon the teacher; with the necessity for taking advantage of the opportunities which might increase efl&ciency; with the calls for help that come perhaps more frequently to the teacher than to any other person; with the necessity in many cases of support- ing parents, or families, or friends — for all these the meager salary has been utterly inadequate, and nothing remains with which to make the years of old age even comfortable. The picture is a dark one. Many a tragedy lurks in the background. It is a picture the sight of which ought to inspire every parent to undertake a contest with the authorities for better salaries; because better salaries mean better talent, better preparation, a higher character of work, the taking advantage of larger opportunities, and, in addition, the privilege to which every man or woman who has given up life for the sake of others is entitled — the privilege of a quiet and comfortable old age. 194 THE TREND IN HIGHER EDUCATION Why does this injustice continue? Because the eyes of parents, as well as of those in authority, are blind. How can they be opened ? Let us ask ourselves this question, and then not rest till we find its answer. XII WHY ARE THERE FEWER STUDENTS FOR THE MINISTRY? In thirty of the more prominent Protestant theo- logical schools of the North there were enrolled in 1894, 2,522 students. In 1903-4 the same schools registered 2,133 — ^ decrease of 389, or over 15 per cent. If the comparison were made with 1897 i^" stead of 1894, and if from these figures for 1903-4 there were subtracted the names of students who are known to be pastors, and who are attending only the summer session or some other special session, the real decrease would be nearer 450 than 389. The following table contains the facts concerning the attendance of the leading schools of four denomina- tions in the North, east of the Mississippi, at the beginning and end of the decade 1894-1904: Attendance Loss OR Gain Per 1894 1904 CENT Baptist— Colgate 49 84 75 124 40 62 48 134 -9 — 22 -27 -f-io -18 Crozer -26 Newton -36 +8 Rochester Methodist — Drew. . .' 332 142 144 151 284 168 170 181 -48 4-26 + 26 + 30 -14 4-18 Garrett + 18 Boston + 19 195 196 THE TREND IN HIGHER EDUCATION Attendance Loss OR Gain Per 1894 1904 Cent Presbyterian — Auburn 437 83 233 212 23 519 52 184 no 19 + 82 -31 -49 — 102 -4 + 18 -37 Princeton McCormick -48 -17 Lane Congregational — Andover 551 54 49 202 54 39 365 16 27 93 59 32 -186 -38 —22 -109 +5 -7 -33 -70 -45 -54 + 10 Bangor Chicago Hartford Oberlin — 18 398 227 -171 -43 The following table indicates the attendance at the four theological schools whose student body may be called interdenominational: 1894 1904 Loss or Gain Per cent Harvard (undenominational) . . Union (Presbyterian) 50 143 118 152 52 119 97 177 + 2 -24 — 21 + 25 +4 — 16 Yale (Congregational) University of Chicago (Bap- tist. Excluding Sununer Quarter) -18 + 16 463 445 -18 -4 A consideration of these figures shows that there has been a decrease in these interdenominational institutions during ten years, of eighteen, or 4 per cent.; that in the Congregational seminaries the decrease has been one hundred and seventy-one, STUDENTS FOR THE MINISTRY 197 or 43 per cent.; that among the Presbyterians the decrease has been ^^ per cent, (in McCormick nearly 50 per cent., in Princeton more than 20 per cent.); while, on the other hand, there has been an increase in the Methodist seminaries of about 20 per cent. The schools which draw their constitu- ency from several denominations show a decUne, except in the case of Harvard, with its increase of two, and the University of Chicago, with its increase of twenty-five. The decrease seems to be in the two denominations which are generally conceded to represent more wealth and to be more influenced by modern intellectual currents than any others, the Presbyterian and the Congregational. Two or three additional points may be noted aside from these tables. Of the nearly twelve hundred men graduating in 1904 from Yale, Harvard, Colum- bia, and Princeton, less than thirty stated that they were planning to enter the ministry. The eleven Baptist colleges north of the Ohio and east of the Mississippi graduated in 1904 only twenty-eight men who intended to enter the ministry. No one will question the general proposition that the number of students preparing for the ministry in the theological seminaries of the various denomina- tions is decreasing; that, in fact, it has decreased very considerably within the last decade. It may not be an easy matter to explain this remarkable decrease, but it is possible that some of the features in the situation may be pointed out. 198 THE TREND IN HIGHER EDUCATION It is undoubtedly true that the other professions are relatively more attractive in these modern times. This is so not only because they offer better oppor- tunities for acquiring wealth, but also because the general influence of the minister, even when success- ful, has diminished, while that of the successful practitioner in law or medicine, not to speak of other professions, has greatly increased. Whether the field of influence of the average minister has di- minished absolutely may be questioned, but there can be no question as to the relative position which he now occupies in a community. From the point of view of the average young man nineteen to twenty- one years old, who notes the frequent changes in the pulpits of the parishes with which he may be most familiar, and observes the general feehng too often manifested toward the minister by those about him, this sacred calHng, once the ideal of every sober- minded youth, has lost the inspiration that formerly was associated with it. The minister is no longer the one person in the community who stands high above the others, and, for that reason, if for no other, commanded the esteem and respect of all. The sacredness, and consequently the attractiveness, of the position have largely been lost; while, on the other hand, the attorney, the physician, and even the engineer and the teacher, have come to occupy positions which in each case possess attractions of a pecuhar character. For if one is drawn toward the political field, is not the law an open door ? If he STUDENTS FOR THE MINISTRY 199 is touched with the spirit of modern science, in what field may he more easily have opportunity for the cultivation of this spirit than in medicine or perhaps in engineering ? While, if in his heart there is a real desire to help in the development of individual life and character, is not the teacher's desk or the pro- fessorial chair even more certain and more attractive than the ministry ? In the upHfting of the other pro- fessions that of the ministr}^ has fallen in the esti- mation of the young man of the present generation. In the old days, when the home religious influ- ence was strong, the father and mother not infre- quently set aside for the ministry the first-born son, or, in any case, one of the boys. This was regarded as a sacred duty, and was only a single expression, although a significant one, of the powerful influence of the rehgious spirit manifest in the home. It is unfortunately true that in very few at best of the homes of the present generation is the influence of this rehgious spirit so strongly felt, while in all probabiHty the great majority of our homes exhibit almost a total lack of this same spirit. If it is true that a decision in reference to one's future work is reached in most cases before the boy leaves home, and indeed before he reaches his eighteenth year, it is apparent that the home influence will predominate in this decision; but if, on the other hand, there is in the home no definite expression of the religious spirit, no serious consideration of duty in regard to this particular work; if, in fact, the whole subject /^ OF THE ■ f UNI VERS! Tv 200 THE TREND IN HIGHER EDUCATION of religion is passed over without serious considera- tion, how can it be expected that the minds of young men will be turned toward the calKng of the ministry ? The gradual decay of religious expression, whatever may be said of the reHgious feehng, and the absence from the home of that definite and tangible insistence upon the consideration of religious matters, will explain in large measure why the boys of our gen- eration do not look forward with longing heart toward the work of the ministry. There is, moreover, a large element of uncertainty in the career of the minister today which did not characterize it in the past days. While a much larger percentage of those trained for the ministry abandon it after one or more years of service for work of another kind, and there is consequently, from this point of view, a greater element of uncer- tainty than in former times, I have in mind something quite different. A much more disquieting factor will be found in what may be called the theological uncertainty of the times. All men concede without question that the church in its theological beliefs and in its practical methods is in a state of marked transition. To be sure, the student of history knows well enough that Christianty has been in a state of transition from the first century, but the popular mind, in view of trials for heresy, discussions concerning higher criticism, debates on inspiration, and the almost universal silence of the pulpit on the question of the future life, realizes most keenly, and STUDENTS FOR THE MINISTRY 201 to the great injury of the cause of religion, that in a peculiar sense we today are living in a time of transition. I could give from the circles of my personal acquaintanceship the names of fifty or more young men who within five years have given up their desire and purpose to enter the ministry because they were convinced that their work would not be acceptable to the churches; for the churches, in spite of their real knowledge of the present situa- tion, demand, for the sake of public appearance, a preaching which would have been acceptable fifty years ago. It is entirely safe to say that this one factor of uncertainty in the present period of transi- tion has within a single year deterred more men from entering the ministry than have actually entered it. Nor can these young men be reproached. Their educational training has taught them to think, and they have experienced the intense satisfaction which comes from thinking. Can they be blamed for refusing to enter upon a profession in which the great majority of those who have undertaken it are for- bidden to think except within the narrowest limits ? I can not consider at this point whether such limita- tions are necessary, or whether they are desirable. In this connection I can only say that many young men of the present generation are turning aside from the ministry because they fear that if in their intel- lectual development they should come to hold certain opinions, their services in the ministry would not be desired, and they would find themselves without ) 202 THE TREND IN HIGHER EDUCATION Opportunity to do the work for which they had pre- pared themselves. I do not think that many men are turned aside from the ministry because of the uncertainty of the small salary which they will be able to earn. And yet there are two phases of this question which in all probability exert a wide-reaching influence. The educated man of today regards the education of his children as an absolute necessity, and his failure to secure for them an education as a deadly sin against God and against man. But how can a man look forward to the possibility of educating even a small family in the present day on the average salary of the minister? Can even God demand the sacrifice which such a one must make if he shall succeed in securing the education of those for whose lives he is responsible, not to speak of the greater sacrifice in- volved in the failure to provide for this education ? And, further, in these days one's influence in a com- munity is measured to a considerable extent by the facilities which he may have for a respectable life, and, as we know, the life of a leader in society cannot be respectable in the popular sense — it cannot at all events be influential — if the proper facilities are not provided. I should like to propose the statement that the relative loss of influence of the minister is due to the smallness of his salary more than to all other influences combined. If the present salaries could be doubled within ten years, the influence of the average minister would be doubled. The world STUDENTS FOR THE MINISTRY 203 is undoubtedly wrong in many of the estimates which it places upon men, and even more wrong in the principles which underlie those estimates; but whether right or wrong, it has come to estimate the individual man as well as the profession in terms of a commercial character. It is outrageous that it should be so, but it is so; and no one is more keenly susceptible to the influence of such estimation than the young boy of eighteen to twenty who looks about him and undertakes to gather data concerning this or that profession. The ministry has been brought into disrepute by the fact that in certain denominations men have been admitted to its ranks without adequate prepa- ration or education. The dignity of the office, as well as its sacredness, has been greatly injured in this way. And one may well question whether greater harm will not eventually result from this promiscuous admission of ignorant candidates, than the good which these men have been able to accom- plish through their one redeeming qualification — zeal. The medical profession becomes more and more at- tractive as the requirements for admission are ele- vated. This is true likewise of the legal profession, and, in fact, of any and every profession. It is a strange contradiction that in proportion as the re- quirements for entrance into other professions have gradually been elevated, in that same proportion seemingly the requirements for admission to the clerical profession have been lowered. The statistics 204 THE TREND IN HIGHER EDUCATION given above, which show that in the Presbyterian and Congregational denominations the number of candidates has diminished, while in the Methodist it has increased, may not seem consistent with this statement, but when one closely studies them they do not contradict. It is certainly true that the existence in the Methodist church of the episco- pate is a strong incentive to men to enter the ministry. Denominations like the Presbyterian, the Congregational, and the Baptist, which furnish no opportunity to men of real ability for administration and public service to distinguish themselves before their fellows, lack one of the most important elements which appeal to the ambition of a young man who is planning for his life-work. It is a grave question whether the dead level of the ministry in the three denominations just named is as advantageous as the extremes of strength and weakness which the Metho- dist denomination exhibits in its ministry. However true this may be, the proposition holds good that the picture presented by the average minister of the pres- ent day, with the evidence which it furnishes of nar- rowness, lack of adequate support, absence of facili- ties for modern life, with its almost compulsory mediocrity and its increasingly diminished dignity and influence, is not one which will fire the imagina- tion of a young man, even though that young man has in his heart the passion which, properly guided, would lead him into this calling, rightly designated sacred. STUDENTS FOR THE MINISTRY 205 It must be confessed that the drift of college life is not one that encourages a young man to go for- ward with his plans for ministerial work even when he has reached a decision before entering college. The average college life, like the average life of mod- em times, is too indifferent to religion and to reli- gious influence. Even in colleges professedly organ- ized to train men for the ministry the curriculum studiously avoids those subjects which would keep alive in the heart of a young man the fire that has already been kindled there, and substitutes other subjects which inevitably draw him in a different direction. Too frequently no effort is made to cul- tivate in him the desire which has already had birth, and every college professor knows that a majority of those who enter college with the ministry in mind leave college to take up law or medicine or to enter business. In former days the colleges were made up almost wholly of men who were preparing for the ministry, and the atmosphere of the college was one which strengthened with every year the desire already manifested. But in modern days it is quite the op- posite, partly because the scientific spirit has come to prevail; partly because there is as yet no adequate presentation of the religious position from a modern point of view; partly because so large a proportion of those who enter the ministry do so without a col- lege training, or, in fact, no adequate training. For these and other reasons the college atmosphere is in 2o6 THE TREND IN HIGHER EDUCATION some cases indifferent, in others even hostile, to the development of the ministerial idea. It is evident that this is wrong. What shall be done to change the situation? Let college faculties address them- selves to the discovery of the answer. XIII THE THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY IN ITS CIVIC RELATIONSHIP^ The topic is one which requires exposition and definition, for otherwise we shall certainly lose ourselves among the many possibiHties of its treat- ment. I shall begin categorically, therefore, by asking three specific questions : To what extent is the church concerned with our civic institutions ? To what extent is the preacher concerned with our civic institutions ? To what extent is the seminary concerned with the training of preachers in reference to this matter ? The mutual influence of reHgion and government is the great topic in all history of the past. The connection between the development of theological thought and the development of civic institutions has always been close. This is seen in the large amount of language now employed in the expression of theological thought which has had its origin in the field of civic institutions; and hkewise in many cases in the actual historical relationship between civic institutions and theological ideas. We may I Read at the celebration of the fiftieth anniversary of Dr. Hovey's accession to the faculty of The Newton Theological Institution, June 7, 1899. 207 2o8 THE TREND IN HIGHER EDUCATION separate religion and the state, but we cannot sepa- rate theological and institutional thought, nor can we separate religious and civil life. Our Protes- tantism differs from European Protestantism partly because our civic institutions differ from those of Europe. Until very recent times, the church, as such, has regarded itself as the state's custodian, although not infrequently the state has assumed the custodianship of the church. But whether the one or the other was supreme mattered little, since between the civic and the ecclesiastical there was practical identity. Under these circumstances no separation of the two, in thought or fact, was possible ; the same blood coursed through their arteries; the same brain controlled all activity. The organism was essentially one. Cor- ruption in church carried with it corruption in state, and corruption in state carried with it corruption in church. There were times, indeed, both in the history of the Old Testament church and of the Christian church, when antagonism arose. The state, for one reason or another, would antagonize the practices and the creeds of the church. But this was done only in order that some other system of practice or of thought might be introduced. It was not supposed for a moment that the state could get along without the church. The church was, in fact, for the most part supreme, and controlled the state as if indeed it had been its keeper. Civic positions, for instance, were occupied by CIVIC RELATIONSHIP OF SEMINARY 209 ecclesiastics. The form of government was largely that of the hierarchy. The civic officer performed at the same time ecclesiastical functions. This was the situation for many centuries, and history, whether ancient, mediaeval, or modern, has occupied itself largely in describing the results which flowed from such a connection between the church and civic institutions. In respect to this matter today we are living as in respect to so many others — in the period of transition. We are accustomed to congratulate ourselves that the state and the church are separate; but very narrow must be the horizon of the man who does not see that only in a small portion of the world, and indeed only in a small portion of Christendom, is it true that the state and the church are yet sepa- rated. We see in many quarters a tendency of thought and action in this direction ; but, at the present rate of progress, many centuries will pass before it may be said with any truth that in Christian nations church and state are distinct. It is, however, in the modern situation that we are interested. And as we look about today and ask as to the concern of the church with civic institutions, in those coun- tries in which separation has taken place, we find it difficult to describe the state of things definitely. The church, of course, in view of its separation, holds itself aloof. This is the prevaiUng attitude, and with this there naturally come those other attitudes which ordinarily accompany aloofness; 2IO THE TREND IN HIGHER EDUCATION namely, indifference, disregard, and hostility. The church in separating itself assumed a hostile attitude, which has not even yet sufiFered serious modifica- tion. The church now declares that, as such, she has nothing to do with the state, and she looks askance upon any attempt to use her influence in connection with affairs of state. This position, although one which was inevitable, carried with it also a certain separation of the church from society itself; and here lies in part the solution of the serious question involved in the fact that the church has, to a considerable extent, lost its hold upon the people. Just in so far as other associations of men, directly or indirectly connected with the church, have come forward and associated themselves with the church for the purpose of improving society along lines different from those ordinarily pursued in the churches, in that proportion, I say, the church has lost an opportunity to influence civic institutions as they stand related to society, and, in losing this opportunity of influence, has at the same time lost the opportunity to become strong in the minds and hearts of the people. What, now, is the ideal toward which the church should move? Shall it retrace its steps and again join itself to the state? Never. The ideal lies in the direction of the present development. Two or three characteristics, however, must be culti- vated. The church as such must become broader in its sympathies. I do not have in mind now any CIVIC RELATIONSHIP OF SEMINARY 211 question of creed or doctrine. The church is today- narrow in its operations in the reaction from its old sphere, which included everything. It has come to limit itself too greatly. The church may not associate itself with the state, but it may asso- ciate itself with society and permeate society with the spirit of its founder — the spirit of Christ. The church must give up its exclusiveness. The mass of the laboring class feel kindly toward Jesus Christ, but hate the church. We may say that they are not justified in this; we must, however, deal with the fact. The church has ahenated Hkewise the wealthy class, and is rapidly alienating what may be called the intellectual class. Jesus' work and teaching were for all classes. The ideal of the church is a kingdom in which the spirit of Jesus Christ shall fill the heart and control the life of every man; and in this way the church will control the state, and commerce, and letters. Not by direct e£fort may it any longer determine the poHcy of nations, but as the spirit of Christ fills the hearts of men, war, the usual method of settHng questions when the church was actually in control, will give place to arbitration. There is no direct method by which the church may seek to control commerce; but as it embraces within its fold the hearts and Uves of business men, commerce will put away its degrading and unjust practices, and men will deal with one another as they would have others deal with them. Not by direct effort, nor by exer- 212 THE TREND IN HIGHER EDUCATION cise of control, may the church sway the intel- lectual centers of the country. More and more rapidly are these passing out from the hands of the church. And, in the nature of things, there exists no better reason for the control of universities by the church than for the control of the state by the church. In both cases such control is external, alien, artificial, and injurious. The only power for the determination of the poHcy of the university and the only power for the determination of the policy of a nation must come from within and not from without. Here again the ideal of the church in such relationship shall be the control of the individual mind and heart. And the work of each church in the great system will be to reach out in the spirit of Christ and to touch man — every man within its reach; in every phase of the activity of life; in every function which man is called upon to perform; in every duty to his fellow- men which rests upon him. In this way the churches will come into living contact with civic institutions on every side, and, at the same time, with the great industrial and business world, for the conduct of which these civic institutions have been estabhshed; and, still further, with the great centers of intellectual work and research in which the world's leaders are pre- pared and in which progressive thought in every Une is cultivated. The church, in the past, has done its work, for the most part, from without and not from within. CIVIC RELATIONSHIP OF SEMINARY 213 It is now beginning to adopt the latter policy, not from choice but from compulsion. Henceforth it is to deal, not with institutions of government, or institutions of commerce, or institutions of learn- ing, but with the individuals who have to do with these institutions. The preacher's work now be- comes a different kind. In the past his work has been to assert the authority of the church, or the authority of the creed. His work in the past has been to deal with man en masses and to deal with institutions as such. In his capacity as a representative of the church it was his function first of all to provide for the maintenance of the institutions of the church, but as these were insep- arably connected with those of the state, his influence and concern included both. Today, however, the preacher's concern with civic institutions is very shght. Adopting the poUcy of the church itself, he has become largely indifferent. If a preacher enters prominently into the arena of pubHc affairs, he is regarded by his fellow- preachers as seeking notoriety; by the pubHc at large, as abandoning his proper work. He is almost en- tirely cut off from participating in pubhc hfe outside the narrow lines of his profession. Of many of the privileges belonging to the ordinary citizen he is de- prived, and some of the duties he may not perform. He does not hold office. How rare an event it is for a minister of the gospel to be elected to the governor- ship of a state or to membership in Congress! In 214 THE TREND IN HIGHER EDUCATION the larger municipalities he may not even become a member of the board of education, where one would think he might render service of a most valuable character. For some reason or other, any attempt on his part to move outside the Hues which modem sentiment has created renders him liable to the suspicion of entertaining a desire to exer- cise influence in favor of his peculiar ecclesiastical ideas. As in the affairs of state, so it is even in education. At one time, in order to be a candidate for the presidency of an institution of learning one had to be an ordained minister. Today it is almost impossible for an ordained minister to be considered in connection with the office of president in any of the larger institutions. Only recently the tradition of two centuries was broken at Yale — broken at the command of pubhc sentiment by a board of trustees the majority of whom were ministers. Now it is sufficient if the board of trustees of many of our institutions has in its membership a single min- ister. With regard to the pubhc affairs which are con- nected closely with our civic institutions, the message to the minister of today is "hands off." There is, of course, a reason for this. Nothing happens except for cause. The pubhc's attitude of mind is the result of the feehng that the minister, in affairs of state and in affairs of education, is narrow. An editorial in the New York Evening Post a short time since put it that, if a minister is to be a candidate for such a position, he must be larger than his pro- CIVIC RELATIONSHIP OF SEMINARY 215 fession; that, in other words, he is not prepared to undertake the responsibiHties involved in this posi- tion. It is also the feeling of the pubhc that he can- not be rehed upon to act impartially and justly; that, in other words, he will be governed to a greater or less extent by ties of ecclesiasticism. The minister himself, on the other hand, feels, as he did not formerly feel, his inability to meet the demands under modern conditions. He is in most cases willing to be called narrow and to be narrow, at least so far as this appUes to the scope of his work. This has all come about as a part of the reaction from the time when the clergy was supreme. The future, however, will make greater demands upon the minister than the past has ever made. He will sustain a closer relationship to civic affairs, including commerce and letters, than that which existed even when the church was in absolute control of Hfe and thought. The relationship, I maintain, will be closer; but it will be very different. The relationship of mother and child is very close; so formerly was that of ecclesiasticism and poHtics. The relationship of man and wife is still closer; so will be that of the minister and our civic institutions. This relationship, though very close, will not be a direct one; the minister must stand in touch, not with the institutions themselves, but with the individuals, one by one, who enter into and constitute these institutions; that is, individuals serving in every relationship of life. In order to be the adviser of 2i6 THE TREND IN HIGHER EDUCATION the workingman, he must be familiar with the workingman's point of view. In order to be the adviser of the rich man, he must be famiHar with the rich man's point of view. This goes without saying; but this is not all. To be the true adviser of the rich man, he must know most intimately the experiences, the feehngs, and the situation of the workingman. To be the true adviser of the working- man, he must know the heart, the purpose, the method of the man possessed of millions. This is only an illustration of what I mean. To put it in another form: the minister who would help humanity must, in the first place, deal with individuals one by one, and, in the second place, he must know the civic conditions in the midst of which he works. Those conditions he must influence through the individuals with whom he is brought into contact. He must, like the apostle of old, be all things to all men. His very Ufe as a minister depends upon his abiUty to bring men into harmony with their environment, and of that environment the civic institutions are the most tangible expression. The world's preachers, whatever the religion they may have professed, because of different demands, and because of different temperaments, have been either priests, or prophets, or sages. In these days the situation makes little call for priests; a few prophets here and there will suffice; the cry that goes up to heaven is for sages — men who, sitting in the gates of the city, shall, with a wisdom which includes the practical things of life. CIVIC RELATIONSHIP OF SEMINARY 217 as well as the affairs of the classes and of the masses, deal face to face and hand to hand with life as it is. From what I have said the idea may be gathered that the minister of the future is to preach what is .sometimes called sociology. This is the farthest possible from my thought. His function it is to represent God to men; to do, in so far as he is able, just what Jesus did, and to do it, in so far as he is able, just as Jesus did it. Did Jesus have to do with the civic institutions of his times ? He was not in a position to control them, or, indeed, to influence them directly; and yet, by the words which he spoke here and there, by the teaching which he promulgated through the Twelve, he eventually overthrew the institutions which existed in his day, and supplanted them with others of a far different type. There are in this connection some phases of our seminary Ufe and work which deserve to be pointed out, because they bear directly upon the question. I am thinking of the ordinary seminary; I am glad to say that there are exceptions, of which I need not now speak. Notwithstanding the great advance which has been made in our seminaries, they are narrow in scope and narrow in spirit. They do not include provision for instruction in many of the departments of Christian work which are only less important than preaching itself; nor for instruction in preaching. Some of these adopt the theory that the man who has had college training and the man who has never 2i8 THE TREND IN HIGHER EDUCATION seen a college may work together in the same class- room with equal profit; others adopt the theory that for all preachers, whatever may be the field in which they are at work, the same training is necessary — a theory which has worked infinite injury to the growth of the churches. This is what is meant by narrowness in scope. By narrowness in spirit I mean lack of deep and enthusiastic sympathy with life, lack of a strong and uphfting ideaHsm, lack of a sturdy and sober optimism, which would lead men preparing to preach to enter upon their work with all their souls and in spite of any and every sacrifice; which would force them, even against their will, into touch with the problems of life as it exists today on every side of us. Our seminaries are more or less exclusive in their spirit, and are thus perpetuating the old priestly spirit, which has so often wrought ruin both to individuals and to nations. This exclusiveness grows out of the methods employed, and out of the kind of life which the students live. In many instances it is due to delusive ideas entertained concerning the call which has been received to preach. Evidence of such a call, or belief in it without evidence, not seldom creates in young men the spirit of pride and exclusiveness rather than that of humility. No one more profoundly than I can believe in the dignified and lofty character of the ministerial caUing; but so often we see this spirit of superiority manifested that we are compelled to ask: Whence does it CIVIC RELATIONSHIP OF SEMINARY 219 come? And with this pride there usually goes a spirit of dependence which is largely cultivated by the seminary methods of furnishing financial assist- ance to students; and the combination thus arising does much to prevent any considerable progress toward a time when our young men shall be in a position to deal with the problems involved in the relation of individuals to civic institutions. Our seminaries are still too mediaeval in their character, too far away from our modern Ufe. The young theological student does not come into touch with hfe by going out into the country and preaching on a Sunday. For, in most cases, the only results of this work (aside from the small remuneration gained) are the acquisition of bad habits of preaching, and the neglect of regular seminary work. In order to touch life, it is neces- sary for the student during his career to give either several months exclusively to practical work, or a portion of every day of every week. The Moody Institute in Chicago, and similar institutions, are in some ways doing incalculable injury to the cause of Christianity. It is possible, however, that this injury may be in part counterbalanced by the good which is undoubtedly being done along the line of training in practical work. Our seminaries, furthermore, do not, and per- haps they cannot, train their students into knowl- edge of, and sympathy with, the all-pervading scientific spirit of the times; and yet somehow and 220 THE TREND IN HIGHER EDUCATION somewhere, if the minister is to put himself in a position to deal with modern life as it enters into civic institutions, this spirit must be cherished. There is another respect in which our semina- ries are seriously defective. Society is to the prospective minister what the human body is to the prospective physician. And yet of psychology in its modern aspect, and of the elementary princi- ples of economic structure, the average theological student is almost entirely ignorant. These studies, for the theological student, correspond to the anatomy and physiology and pathology of the human body of which the medical student must have knowledge in order to do his work. As a mental discipline the curriculum of our theological seminary may be the best possible; but it cannot lay claim to be the best for the practical training of men for a technical profession. It deals too much with the past, and does riot make practical application to the situation of the present. And so it comes that our semina- ries are much like a medical school in which no provision should be made for the study of anatomy or physiology or psychology. And this brings us to the question : What should be the seminary's concern in reference to those institutions of government and of society which have for their function the administration of the affairs of society, including the great industrial system, and enter into and compose society ? If the church is concerned, and if the preacher is to have concern. CIVIC RELATIONSHIP OF SEMINARY 221 it follows at once that the seminary should have as its deepest concern the adjustment of its training to this end. If the preacher is to tell the rich man how he is to deal with the laboring-man, he must know from actual contact, something of the sufferings of the laboring-man and the injustice to which he is being subjected. If, in turn, he is to tell the laboring-man how he should feel toward the capitajist, the preacher must have learned something of the great laws of commerce and of the principles which underlie society in its present complication. If he is to advise the office-holder, he surely must know something in detail of the institutions which control the various activities of life. If he is to be a leader, he must, in a word, receive the training necessary for leader- ship. The seminary is responsible for furnishing such a training. There have been some instances of men going into the ministry after having taken a course of study in law. The almost uniform suc- cess of such men points in the direction I have indicated. These few and scattering statements I have meant as a basis for a few suggestions as to how the seminary may discharge its responsibility in this matter, and for a few specific propositions as to how these suggestions might be carried out. It is true, of course, that what remains to be said has already been said by way of anticipation. The first duty of the seminary, then, would seem 222 THE TREND IN HIGHER EDUCATION to be to inculcate more generally, more deeply, and more constantly the spirit of democracy. Our institutions are democratic institutions. The man whose heart is not thoroughly controlled by the democratic spirit cannot appreciate them. The church always has been, and is today, essentially aristocratic. The failure of the churches to reach the masses is due to the feeling on the part of the masses, whether right or wrong, that the church is today, as it has largely been in the past, on the side of kings and the rich. If the Christian church is to hold its influence in this and other democratic countries, its spirit and its methods must largely change. There must be presented to the theological stu- dent the great problems of democracy. Democracy's principles have not as yet been formulated. Nor can they be formulated until some of the problems have been solved. But the problems of democracy cannot be solved without the light which Jesus' teaching sheds upon them. It is the Christian minister and the Christian student, properly equipped, to whom we must look for the solution of the difficulties which now beset us. Today many of our ministers and teachers do not even know of the existence of these problems, and yet they enter upon their mission with the belief that God is directing their work. God may use the ignorant to accomplish his service, but he never does so from choice. The seminary must bring its students into touch CIVIC RELATIONSHIP OF SEMINARY 223 with the people, and especially with the people who, to use their own phrase, ** have no use for the church." It is pitiable that men should be brought up to the point of entering upon their ministerial work without having jostled against the great, unbelieving masses of humanity on every side of them. Preaching in country churches does not furnish this training. Reading the lectures of Robert Ingersoll does not. One must feel it directly and for himself, by seeing it as it is embodied in the rotten filthiness of whole communities, in the stale corruption of whole classes, in the blasphemous utterances which almost stifle him who hears them. The seminary student should, then, for a time at least, live in the midst of the misery and wretchedness of the poor. This will open his eyes and open his heart to the deep and murderous cry of a dejected and desperate humanity. Will such an experience be of service to a man who is to occupy a country pulpit? It matters not where his work is to be done; the life of Jesus will never be understood by one who has not, with his own eyes, seen the woes of poverty and crime. An experience of perhaps equal value is life on the frontier, where one may learn the natural ten- dencies of the human heart when the restrictions of society have been removed — a knowledge very necessary to the man who is to guide those who have fallen by the way. Some adequate method must also be devised for 224 THE TREND IN HIGHER EDUCATION the education of men who will work among the lower classes. A few ministers grow up to the point which makes it possible for them to work among the wealthy classes. Very few find themselves able to work with satisfaction or with effect among the masses. The well- trained man not only cannot do such work — he will not do it. How shall it be done ? Here is where the aristocratic spirit manifests itself: leave it for the Salvation Army, or pay the salary of a few men who will make a pretense of doing it for the sake of the pay. This is a problem of democracy, a problem of the church, which the seminary must solve, or dire destruction awaits not only church, but country. We need hundreds of Edward Judsons and Graham Taylors. The seminary student must study and know the pubHc-school system and must supplement that system. It is difficult to foretell the outcome of another fifty years of our educational system — a system which trains the mind, but, for the most part, leaves the moral side untouched; no religion, no ethics, merely a sharpening of the intellect. The Roman Catholics meet this difficulty; our Protestant churches seem utterly to ignore it. A blind faith that the Sunday school will do what the public schools do not do, leads us to lose sight of a peril as deadly as any that confronts us. Let the spirit of independence rather than that of dependence be cultivated among our seminary students. There is a kind of dependence even on CIVIC RELATIONSHIP OF SEMINARY 225 God which is culpable. Some call this faith. It is rather superstitious indolence, and is deadening to any true activity. The old fashion of dependence upon the state for maintenance still lingers among us. Let it be cast aside, and instead of it let us cherish the spirit which underlies all our demo- cratic institutions, the spirit of honest, earnest effort ; the spirit which enters into and constitutes the true life. Let us carry others' burdens; but let us not ask others to carry ours. This is the spirit of democracy. My second suggestion is one not so easy to pre- sent. It is that in our seminaries we inculcate a new doctrine of the church, and of the church's min- istry. I do not flatter myself that I can formulate this new doctrine. Its formulation will go hand in hand with that of the principles of democracy. Such a formulation may be expected within the next half-century. Meanwhile we may be making effort to gain the merest glimpses of it. The church, I maintain, has not yet adjusted itself to the new environment. The old idea of the church and of church methods will not answer today and tomorrow. It is something too stiff, too far away, and, as has been said, too narrow. But you ask me to say what it should be. I can only grope, as in the dark, toward an ideal, some aspects of which, here and there, already begin to show themselves. It should be taught and practiced that the church has responsibility as great for those outside its fold 226 THE TREND IN HIGHER EDUCATION as for those within. For, though this may be our present theory, we do not adopt it as a working basis. The functions of most churches are largely restricted to caring for their own church member- ship. If it would assist in overcoming this evil, I, for one, could wish that the ostensible lines of sepa- ration between the member and the non-member might be ignored. It should be taught, furthermore, that the great denominations of Christians have in these days nothing essential to separate them — that denomina- tional connection is largely (not wholly) a matter of historical accident, or a matter of temperament; that in every case co-operation of the forces of all denominations is desirable, and that in many cases it is feasible. Denominationalism is a necessity; it is, in fact, a thing desirable; but let us minimize its weaknesses and magnify its points of advantage. This will have a distinct influence in preparing the way for the church to exert an influence on the outer world. Let us teach, also, that the church has something to do with all the activities of a normal life. This must be true, if the church is intended to represent the spirit of Jesus. There is no moment of life, no event of life, in which and with which its influence should not be felt. The various forms of recreation and amusement afford as legitimate a field for the ministers' work as the deathbed; and it is a field in which a deal more can be accomplished for humanity. CIVIC RELATIONSHIP OF SEMINARY 227 The church is just as much concerned with the intel- lectual progress of its constituents as with the moral progress. It has concern, also, with the physical side. Let us teach, too, that the church through its ministers should, therefore, take up any and all agencies which make for the betterment of mankind. Jesus was a healer of the body as well as of the soul. The multitude of outside agencies now engaged in humanitarian work are sucking the very life-blood of the church. Here, again, the Roman Catholics have shown a greater wisdom than the Protestants; for with them these agencies are, in nearly every case, those of the church. Let us teach that the minister's work is not merely that of preaching. Nine-tenths of the semi- nary work is based upon this idea. As a matter of fact, preaching should not constitute one-tenth of his work. What the minister says out of the pulpit is more important than what he says in it. We do not stand in need of preaching, as men once did; not because we are better, but because the agencies for preaching have been so multiplied; the daily papers, the magazines, the books, lecture courses, and even the theater, all furnish sermons — some of them vastly better than any we hear preached from the pulpit. The minister should recognize this fact, and by personal hand-to-hand work drive home the application of these sermons. Why is it so difficult for the minister to get an audience ? Be- cause in these days an average audience is made up 228 THE TREND IN HIGHER EDUCATION of people of so many tastes and temperaments, so many grades of intellectual advancement, so many different ages, that the same sermon will not meet their needs. This is the day of specialism, and in most churches of three hundred communicants there are at least six different classes of people who need special preaching. I have sometimes thought that the seminar method, if it could be adapted to pulpit and church work, would be desirable. The minis- ter must be an organizer. Let us teach him in the seminary how to organize and what to organize; and in this work of organization, of using to the best advantage every man and woman within his reach, will be found the best method of doing work in behalf of our civic institutions. Let us, above all, endeavor to arouse in the seminary student the right spirit, the right attitude of mind toward all these outside influences, which are legitimately the possession of the church, the relinquishment of which has already cost the church so dearly; the spirit of inclusiveness, instead of exclusiveness ; the spirit of aggression, instead of timidity; the spirit which grows out of the idea that God is the Father of all men, and that, therefore, the church should be all things to all men. Let us train our seminary students to be sages, not priests ; to stand where men may be found, and quietly, as brother with brother, to describe to them one by one the path of life; what to do, what not to do; the iduties of life, the worth of character. Let us train CIVIC RELATIONSHIP OF SEMINARY 229 them to be sages, not prophets. A few will be prophets without training, and these few will suffice. The church needs most, not the man who by his eloquence can move the multitudes, but the man who by his life and words can save the individual; and by salvation I mean, not a deliverance from Hades, but the perfecting of life. The entire num- ber of prophets from the beginning has been few; the number of sincere, earnest teachers or sages has been legion. Jesus was more of a sage than a prophet. It is the work of the sage that will bring the church into the right relationship with our civic institutions, not that of the priest or prophet. My third and last suggestion is that the formal curriculum of the theological seminary should be modified in such manner as to bring it into adjust- ment with the new situation. If, now, there has been no change in the situation, the ground for modification does not exist. But no one will deny that democracy within fifty or sixty years has under- gone great change; that education itself in every phase has been revolutionized; that the world of commerce today is a totally different world, in its methods and in its entire character, from the world of half a century ago. The curriculum of the medical school has changed; so has that of the law school, though not to so great an extent. So far as I know, the only professional curriculum which is essentially the same as it was fifty years ago is that of the theological seminary. 230 THE TREND IN HIGHER EDUCATION I venture to propose, therefore, that psychology and pedagogy be introduced, and that the instruc- tion be adapted to the point of view of the min- ister. The fundamental relation existing between psy- chology and all other sciences has been well set forth by a recent writer in the following paragraph : Psychology takes the central place in the thought of our time, and overflows into all channels of our life. It began with an analysis of simple ideas and feelings, and it has devel- oped into an insight into the mechanism of the highest acts and emotions, thoughts and creations. It started by studying the mental organization of the individual, and it has rushed forward to the psychical organization of society, to social psychology, to the psychology of art and science, religion and language, history and law. It started in the narrow circles of the philosophers, and it is now at home wherever mental life is touched. The historian strives today for psychological explanation, the economist for psychological laws; jurispru- dence looks on the criminal from a psychological standpoint; medicine emphasizes the psychological value of its assistance; the biologist mixes psychology in his theories of evolution. From the nursery to the university, from the hospital to the court of justice, from the theater to the church, from the parlor to the parliament, the new influence of psychology on the real daily life is felt in this country as in Europe, producing new hopes and new fears, new schemes and new responsi- bilities. Much might be said for pedagogy, which is, after all, only an appHcation of psychology. Do we not realize that in all work, whether for church or for country, the largest returns come from doing the work with children. Here again we may take CIVIC RELATIONSHIP OF SEMINARY 231 lessons of wisdom from Roman Catholicism. But now this work, at least in its technical appHcations to the work of the university, must be done in the seminary or left undone. The seminaries should give instruction in the principles of economic structure. It is impossible for the minister to preach ethics for this day and generation without touching at every turn the laws of society. Jesus did it, and so therefore must Jesus' followers do it. It is very largely the minister's ignorance of these matters, and his utterances involving this ignorance, which are driving the business man away from the churches. But here, as before, the instruction offered must be from the point of view of the preacher, not merely general information without special appHcation. Let us furnish our students a better, deeper, more comprehensive idea of the Bible and the growth of the Bible doctrine than we have done in the past; and to this end, if it is necessary, let us give up some of the language work which has served as the bSte noire of the average theological student. The principles which regulate all hfe and all kinds of Ufe are found here; and here we should lay a far greater emphasis than we are accustomed to do. The historical study of the truth as it has been revealed through the passing centuries is in itself the greatest and most efficient preparation for deaHng with the civic institutions of our day. If time permitted, I should like to point out how 232 THE TREND IN HIGHER EDUCATION in this particular the Old Testament has some advantages over the New. In an address of George Adam Smith, given some years ago, this was his theme. The Old Testament shows us God in touch with the nation; the New Testament, God in touch with the individual. In a true sense the New does not supplant the Old; it merely supple- ments it. But I must omit much that I had wished to say. The propositions which I have endeavored to state are in substance these: 1. The church has work to do for, and in con- nection with, our civic institutions — a work of the most imperative character. 2. The minister who leads the church will do the work by close and vital contact with those institutions; and here I include industrial institu- tions and institutions of learning as themselves a part of the great civic system. 3. The seminaries must open their eyes to the fact that they are in a new environment — an environ- ment which makes demands very different from those made thirty, forty, and fifty years ago. They must also keep in mind the fact that they are in large measure responsible for the amount and kind of work which the church will do. 4. The seminaries must receive a new baptism; this time, a baptism of the spirit of democracy which, I make bold to say, is one expression of the Holy Spirit itself. CIVIC RELATIONSHIP OF SEMINARY 233 5. The seminaries must inculcate a new teaching of the scope and function of church work; a teaching based, without question, on bibHcal warrant; a teaching which shall make it no longer possible for the church to stand still and see itself drained of its life-blood. 6. The seminaries must prepare the proposed minister for the work which will fall to his lot under this new situation; they must, if necessary, omit certain work, good in itself, but not so necessary as the work which the times demand. XIV SHALL THE THEOLOGICAL CURRICULUM BE MODIFIED, AND HOW? Many intelligent laymen in the churches have the feeling that the training provided for the students in the theological seminary does not meet the require- ments of modern times. These men base their judgment upon what they see in connection with the work of the minister who has been trained in the seminary. Nor is this disaffection restricted to the laity. Ministers who, after receiving this train- ing, have entered upon the work of the ministry, and ought, therefore, to be competent judges, are frequently those who speak most strongly against the adequacy and the adaptation of the present methods in the seminary. So prevalent is this feeling that students for the ministry often ask the question, "Is there not some way of making prepara- tion other than through the seminary ? '' Not a few men are securing this preparation by taking graduate courses in the universities ; while, on the other hand, some prefer to adopt the so-called short-course plan. The condition of the churches, both rural and urban, is not upon the whole encouraging. Ministers of the better class are not satisfied to accept the rural . . 234 THEOLOGICAL CURRICULUM 235 churches; and yet these same ministers are not strong enough, or sufficiently prepared, to meet the demands of many of the city churches. The rivalry of denominations has led to the multiplication of churches, and in turn church abandonment in some sections of the country is being substituted for church building. It is not the purpose of this paper to consider the occasion of this condition of things in the churches. At the same time it is probably true that, whatever may be the occasion, the ministry is in some measure responsible; for we are compelled to beHeve that, with better organization and more efficient administration, this condition of things would not exist. But now, if the ministers are in any measure responsible, the theological seminary in which they receive their training must bear the brunt of the reproach, for, surely, the ministers are very largely what the theological seminary makes them. Their ideals, their equipment, and their spirit are the product of the seminary. The model in accordance with which the modern theological seminaries have been organized had its origin a century or more ago ; but though the environ- ment of the seminary has utterly changed during this century, the seminary itself has remained prac- tically at a standstill. To say the least, there are to be found in its organization and curriculum many survivals from the oldest times. These sur- vivals are out of harmony with the whole situation as it exists today. These elements, therefore, do 236 THE TREND IN HIGHER EDUCATION not suit the present situation. It is not enough merely to say that they occasion a waste of time and energy. In fact, they do distinct injury to everything with which they come into close relationship, and, what is of greater importance, they take the time and attention which something stronger and better ought to occupy. Assuming, without further argument, then, that the curriculum of the seminary should be modified, there would seem to be two general principles in accordance with which such modifications should be made, and these should be considered before pre- senting a recommendation of specific changes. The first is that modifications of the curriculum should accord with the assured results of modern psychology and pedagogy, as well as with the de- mands which have been made apparent by our com- mon experience, so far as this experience relates to the student and the preparation for his work. If this principle were adopted, certain ends would always be held in mind by those who deal with the theological curriculum. An effort would be made so to adjust the work of the seminary as to render it attractive to the best men. Much has been said about the small number of men in our college classes who enter the ministry. Much more might be said as to the quality of these men, when compared with the men who enter the other professions and occupations. This difficulty, of course, cannot be charged wholly to the character THEOLOGICAL CURRICULUM 237 of the instruction offered in the seminary, since it stands connected also with the profession itself. But actual observation shows that the curriculum of the seminary has something to do with the matter, since many of the better men seem to think that a satisfactory preparation may be secured in some other way. The curriculum should be of such a character as to give the training best adapted to the individual taste and capacity of the student. The field of theological study is a broad one. No man can cover all or even a large portion of it. The interest of some men will be aroused more easily in one line of work than in another. Some phases of the work required are very distasteful to many men. To spend time on such work is for these men a waste. It is, moreover, injurious to the student. Theo- logical students are supposed to be men of maturity. Beyond a general and comprehensive knowledge of the Scriptures, it is not necessary that all should have the same training. It is important, indeed, that men should be trained along different lines. What is helpful to one man may be injurious to another. In a field characterized by such variety, advantage may well be taken of the opportunity thus offered. An effort should, furthermore, be made to give the student that particular training which will enable him to grow stronger and stronger in future years. It is an unfortunate fact that a large pro- 238 THE TREND IN HIGHER EDUCATION portion of men who enter the ministry begin to lose intellectual strength from the moment they leave the seminary. In some cases this probably could not be prevented in any way, but in many cases it is due to the wrong training which the student re- ceived while in the seminary. In other words, the seminary is not a place in which men are to learn certain views, or to receive and adopt certain opin- ions. It is rather a place in which men shall be taught to think. It is unfair that the student, who spends his time and money for a specific thing, should receive in return, not what will prove to be a proper equipment, but instead something, the real nature of which years of pastoral experience may be required to show. In planning the work of the seminary, this, then, should be kept in mind: the student is beginning a work that will continue through many years. Every hour of the curriculum should be arranged with the sole purpose of furnish- ing that training which will render him more efficient as the years go by. With such training, men will not be compelled to leave the pulpit at the age of forty-five or fifty. They will be stronger at sixty than at thirty-five. Is this the case today? That training is demanded which upon the whole will best adapt the individual to his environ- ment. This makes necessary a study of the indi- vidual and likewise a study of the environment. It is important that the instructor should study his student, and it is equally important that the student THEOLOGICAL CURRICULUM 239 should study his environment. Failure in most cases is simply inability to adjust one's self to his environment. Education should have for its first aim the establishment of such an adjustment. But this suggests the second principle in accord- ance with which such modifications must be made. Modifications of the curriculum should be of such a nature as to meet the demands suggested by the character of the field in which the student is to work — the demands, in other words, which in general concern the present state of society in the midst of which the student finds himself. Here, again, cer- tain conclusions are immediately apparent. In the first place, the training of the theological student should be adjusted to the modern demo- cratic situation. Real democracy is not a century old. The atmosphere of the present day is essentially different from the atmosphere of our grandfathers. Even fifty years ago men did not dream of the devel- opment which was to come, nor of the results which were to follow the introduction of self-government by the people. The curriculum of the theological seminary, however, has not been modified to meet this new situation. Though Christianity is demo- cratic through and through, the church, has to a large extent, antagonized the democratic spirit. The masses are out of sympathy with the church, because they confound the church and Christianity, ascribing to the latter the aristocratic attitude of the former. If the theological student is to do his 240 THE TREND IN HIGHER EDUCATION work in a democratic atmosphere, he must be filled with the democratic spirit and must learn to employ democratic methods. This is not the spirit, and these are not the methods, of the ordinary theological seminary. And unless this spirit is permitted to control the work and methods of the seminary, the minister will find the opportunities for his work reduced both in number and in character. Then, certain changes should be made which will bring the work of the theological student into touch with the modern spirit of science. The great ma- jority of students who enter the theological seminary have but a slight knowledge of science, if any. They have come in large measure from the smaller de- nominational colleges, few of which have any equip- ment adapted to the teaching of science. Here, indeed, a real difficulty presents itself. If a pros- pective theological student is sent to a state institu- tion, or to one of the larger universities in which he would learn directly and definitely this scientific spirit, he is in danger of being drawn away from his purpose to preach. If, on the other hand, he goes to a small denominational college, he fails to secure any adequate preparation in science or psychology. It is true, moreover, that theological students in general are devoid of the scientific sense. They have little or no sympathy with scientific work. They utterly lack that point of view which will enable them to bring themselves into relationship with that greatest factor in modern civiHzation, THEOLOGICAL CURRICULUM 241 popularly called science. The man who has not had training in science cannot speak e£fectively on any subject, least of all the subject of religion, to men who have had such training. We should be surprised, not at the small number of scientists who maintain their church connections, but rather at the comparatively large number who retain such connection in spite of the pulpit ministrations to which they are compelled to listen. And, finally, some adjustment must be found by which the curriculum will be enabled to meet the demands that are made by the present pecuHar social conditions. Reference has already been made to the inabiHty of the ordinary preacher to make an impression on the lower classes. The evidence would seem to be quite conclusive that he is equally unable to influence the higher classes. The country is full of men who have become wealthy. The number of wealthy men increases every decade. It is democracy itself that has made possible this large number of wealthy men. The most interesting problem, perhaps, that confronts the future democ- racy is the question: How will she adjust herself to men of wealth, or they to her? Meanwhile, what is the attitude of the church toward this growing class of influential men? How shall men be pre- pared who shall be able to work out this difiicult problem? For it is the problem of the church as well as the problem of democracy. Something is being done in sociological lines to train men to 242 THE TREND IN HIGHER EDUCATION exercise influence among the working classes. Nothing, however, has yet been proposed in the way of a training which will enable the ministry to do successful work among the richer classes. These, then, are the principles and conditions upon which the curriculum must be modified, and now before making a specific recommendation of modifications, I shall ofiFer certain general criticisms upon the present curriculum. For the sake of con- venience, these may be divided into groups the first of which will include criticisms relating to points of a more or less external character. The present scope of the theological curriculum includes practical preparation for only one kind of Christian work; namely, preaching. A hundred years ago this was sufficient, but in these modern times a great change has come. Many phases of the reUgious work of our times are conducted by those who are not preachers. Lay workers in differ- ent lines are numerous, and the church must assume the responsibiUty for the special preparation of these men and women, as well as for that of preachers. If one were to calculate the number of those whose lives are given to Christian work of one kind and another, in which they find the means of their sub- sistence, the number would, perhaps, exceed that of the preachers. Only here and there is prepara- tion made for the training of these workers, and this preparation is in many cases of a distinctly inferior character. Why should not the curriculum of the THEOLOGICAL CURRICULUM 243 theological seminary be broadened sufficiently to include this larger modern work? There seems also to be sufficient evidence for another criticism: that the present training of the theological seminary too frequently cultivates on the part of the students a narrow and exclusive spirit. In the case of institutions located in country towns, and isolated from the various activities of human Hfe this could not be otherwise. For in so far as the seminary follows the pohcy of the mediaeval monastery, in so far does it cultivate a narrow and exclusive spirit. In so far as the seminary accepts students who have not already received a broad education in letters and science, it, further, culti- vates such a spirit; and in so far as its own curricu- lum includes only theological subjects, it still cul- tivates this spirit. The great majority of American seminaries are located in out-of-the-way places, and are not in touch with modern Hfe. It is almost impossible that the average student educated in these institutions should have a broad and generous spirit. There are some men, of course, who, in their very nature, transcend all limits imposed by narrowness in education, but these are the exception, and are comparatively few. Again, the arrangements of many seminaries not only encourage, but compel, the student to preach constantly during the first years of his theological course. In the seminaries of some denominations preaching is not allowed in the first year. This 244 THE TREND IN HIGHER EDUCATION should be the regulation in every seminary. The contention is made that such preaching is practice of the most valuable character in that which is to be the Hfe-work of the student. The truth is that in most cases student-preaching in the first and second years of the theological course is an evil. To this evil may be traced the ^ bad habits which many preachers exhibit in their later ministry. The student who does the work of the class-room during the week is not in fit condition to preach regularly on the Sabbath. Every sermon preached under these circumstances injures him. The habit of slovenliness is inevitably acquired, and when once acquired this habit may not be corrected by the limited instruction given in the later years of his course. The urgency which drives young men into the pulpit is a weapon of the evil one to counteract, so far as possible, the good which would otherwise be accompHshed. The seminary, instead of en- couraging or compelling this student-preaching, should forbid it; and, except incidentally, students should preach only when provision has been made for careful and severe criticism of the manner and method of preaching adopted. My fourth criticism is against the practice in theological seminaries of providing free tuition and rooms, and of furnishing financial aid indiscrimi- nately to all who may apply for the same. This practice, Hke many others of the church, is a sur- vival of mediaevalism, and is not consistent with THEOLOGICAL CURRICULUM 245 the spirit of our modern democracy. In answer to this proposition one may not present the analogy, so often cited, of the military schools and naval academies of the government. These are not paral- lel. It is true that men of the highest type have been produced in connection with the system in vogue in the seminaries but they were produced in spite of the system, not because of it. In general, the bene- ficiary system, as it is administered, degrades the student. This is the testimony of hundreds and thousands who have worked under it. It places the theological student upon a distinctly lower plane than that occupied by the law or medical student. It cultivates in the very beginning of his life a principle which in too many cases is apphed throughout life. Nothing is more noticeable, or more despicable, than the utter lack of independence exhibited by a great proportion of the ministerial class. In other words, this system encourages and cherishes a habit of life which soon becomes permanent. This habit, though possibly consistent with the methods of life one hundred years and more ago, does not fit into the modern conceptions of life as they have been worked out in the spirit of democracy. The second group of criticisms will include those which relate to special subjects of study in the curriculum, and to the first one reference has already been made. It is the lack of a sufficient amount of laboratory work in science in the training of the ordinary theological student. But how, it is asked. 246 THE TREND IN HIGHER EDUCATION shall this lack be supplied ? The theological semi- nary is not responsible for it. This work is college work, and should be completed before the student enters the seminary. There is truth in this state- ment, but it must not be forgotten that the colleges in which the majority of students preparing for the ministry are trained devote their attention almost exclusively to the humanities, and are, for the most part, lacking in adequate equipment for the teaching of science. The larger institutions, in which science is taught with satisfactory methods, do not send any considerable proportion of their graduates into the ministry. The question is, therefore, one which must be considered from the point of view of the theological curriculum. A specific amount of lab- oratory work in science is in our day as necessary for the prospective theological student as a knowl- edge of Greek, and if the college does not furnish the student this equipment, the seminary must take the necessary steps to provide it. We may not forget that in many theological seminaries of England and Scotland, which are, perhaps, more like theological colleges, chairs of science are estab- lished. It was such a chair that Henry Drummond occupied in the Free Church College in Glasgow. The greatest enemy Christianity is called to contend with is the materialism which has grown up in these days of modern science. No man is fitted to repre- sent Christianity in this contest who has not for him- self mastered the methods and the spirit of modern scientific workers. THEOLOGICAL CURRICULUM 247 Furthermore, as it is with the theological student in modern science, so it is in modern psychology. The instruction in psychology provided in the smaller institutions from which candidates for the ministry come in largest numbers is of the same character as the instruction provided in science. The work, for the most part, is that which was being done fifty years ago. What may be called modern psychology is to them as yet largely unknown. This statement as to psychology applies Hkewise to the principles of pedagogy, a subject which, in its recent application, is of vital interest to the minister. Child study is as directly connected with the work of the minister as with that of the teacher, for it is in the transition age, from twelve to eighteen, that the work of the church must be done. But where most of all the curriculum needs modification is in the matter of Bible study. There has been much talk about the study of the English Bible in the theological seminary. A compilation of the facts, however, shows that a comparatively small amount of work in the English Bible is being undertaken. The old-fashioned habit of Bible study in the home has largely been given up. The amount of real knowledge of the Bible gained in the Sunday school, even in a long course of years, is practically nothing. The college student is so occupied with other work, and the provision for Bible study within his reach is so inadequate, in most cases, that he finishes his course without any definite advance in 248 THE TREND IN HIGHER EDUCATION this department. The theological seminaries are sending men into the ministry who have no proper knowledge of the growth and development of biblical thought, and who even lack familiarity with the most common material of the biblical books. The time of the student is devoted either to the more mechanical work of learning a new language, or the peculiarities of a new dialect, or to the so-called exhaustive exegesis of a few chapters. Of the great movements of national life, of the contemporaneous history, of the social development, of the gradual growth of religious thought, he remains largely ig- norant. Here, most of all, let me repeat, the curricu- lum needs modification; and the following criticism will indicate, at least in part, where this modification might come in. About one-fifth of the time of the average theo- logical student is devoted to the study of the Hebrew language. This study is compulsory; otherwise the great majority of the students would omit it. After the freedom ordinarily given in the later years of college work, the compulsory language work is in most cases distasteful. Only work enough is done by the student to enable him to receive credit for the course. The time thus spent proves to be wasteful and injurious. It would be far better, in the case of some students at least, that this time should be given to the study of the English Bible. Only one or two institutions in the country have had the courage to make Hebrew an elective. The requirement of THEOLOGICAL CURRICULUM 249 Hebrew has worked incalculable injury to the morale of many students. The study of the Hebrew lan- guage should be made elective. The result of this modification would be twofold. Those men who have reached a mature age, and are by nature really unfitted to master the details of a new language, might devote their time to something which would bring them greater advantage. But besides this, those who elect the study of Hebrew would approach the subject from another point of view. It would be a voluntary study, and their attitude of mind would be entirely different. Still further, an obliga- tion will rest upon the instructor in Hebrew to make the subject as interesting as it may be made, in order to attract students to its study. As the matter stands today, the Hebrew instructor need not disturb him- self, for the students are compelled to attend his classes. He does not, therefore, have the incentive to throw into the subject that vitality and energy which are needed to make it interesting and profitable. No greater farce may be found in any field of educa- tional work than that which is involved in the teach- ing and study of the Hebrew language in many theo- logical seminaries. It may be suggested that to make Hebrew an elective is to lower the standard of theological education. Those who know the facts connected with the study of Hebrew by theological students will not make this claim. It is certainly desirable that every man who preaches from the sacred Scriptures should be able to read them in the 250 THE TREND IN HIGHER EDUCATION original, but this is otily one of many desirable things on the part of the preacher. If he may not attain all of these, some must be omitted. A most fertile field for occupation in the training of the ministerial student is that of English literature. It may fairly be questioned whether a mastery, so far as possible, of this field may not be reckoned as second in importance only to the mastery of the sacred Scriptures. The great writers have expressed in tangible form the common feehngs of the soul of humanity, and this expression always meets direct response when again brought into touch with the soul from which it originally proceeded. Surely the student preparing for the ministry does not understand the unlimited power of this mighty weapon, or he would train himself to make use of it more frequently and with greater skill. In this particular, as in that of science, and in that of psychology and pedagogy, the ordinary college is confessedly weak, while, in fact, it would hardly be going too far to assert that every minister should be a speciaHst in EngHsh Hterature. Much of the technique of a theological education could be put aside to advantage, if the time thus gained could be occupied by work in English literature. But if the theological student lacks living famil- iarity with the great works of Hterature, he is even weaker, in general, in his abiHty to express himself in strong and forcible English. It is notorious that our college education in the past has been unsuc- THEOLOGICAL CURRICULUM 251 cessful in its effort, where, indeed, effort has been made, to teach students the use of English. Even the common principles of expression are unknown to many of those who present themselves for admis- sion to the seminary. In these last years a few institutions, realizing that expression, after all, is the greatest result to be sought in education, have given diligent attention to this matter, but it will be many years before the results accomplished in the average college will be noticeable. Meanwhile it will devolve upon the seminary to make ample provision for training men in English expression. From the first day, theme work, as it is called, should be carried on, and, if necessary, much of the distinctly theological part of seminary work should be omitted, in order that the student may have an opportunity to make himself skilful in the use of the English language. The department of homiletics cannot be expected to do this work, for it really lies outside the particular field of that department. A special chair for instruction in the EngHsh language should be a part of the curriculum of every well-organized theo- logical seminary. In the third group of criticisms we may include suggestions which bear upon the general scope of the seminary. This has been referred to above. These suggestions might all be covered in a plea for a curriculum which would encourage specialism in the ministry, as opposed to the present curriculum, which requires the same work of every man. For 252 THE TREND IN HIGHER EDUCATION instance, some men are intended by nature to preach. They may be scholarly, but they can never become scholars. They may possess a social temperament, but the work of the pastorate is not natural to them. They have, however, the abihty to impress an audi- ence with truths which have taken possession of their own hearts. Such men should be encouraged to preach rather than to do the kind of work which nature never intended they should do. A special training should be arranged for them which would enable them to become strong preachers. This training would, of course, be in large measure the usual curriculum, but some subjects of the usual curriculum should* be omitted, and other subjects substituted, in order that the student in this particu- lar case might be enabled to cultivate the talent with which he has been endowed. Other men, however, who exhibit a different attitude of mind, and possess a different tempera- ment, should be advised to select for their study subjects which would train them specially for pas- toral work, or general Christian work. The churches will some time learn that one man, whatever may be his ability, cannot meet all the demands of modern times. Then, perhaps, they will readjust their organization in such a way as to make it possible for two or three men of different kinds of ability to be associated together in the same field. Only one minister in a thousand may be equally strong in the pulpit and in the pastoral work, and the effort of THEOLOGICAL CURRICULUM 253 that man to do both results not infrequently in prac- tical suicide. Many churches are today losing ground because they have placed in the pulpit a pastor who cannot preach. Other churches are losing ground because they have a preacher in the pulpit who cannot or will not do the necessary pas- toral work. This pastoral training should be some- thing very different from the training needed for the preacher. Many men who enter the theological seminary with the purpose of preaching j&nd, after a period of study, that God intended them for teachers rather than preachers. These desire to consecrate them- selves to the work of the church. The calling of the Christian teacher, whatever may be the subject taught, is hardly less responsible, and hardly less important, than that of the preacher. Provision should be made in the seminary by which such men, while grounded in the teachings of Christianity, shall find it possible also to devote themselves to some special field of study, for the sake of the church. It would be a great advantage to all our institutions of higher learning if a larger number of the men engaged in teaching were controlled in life and thought by the spirit of consecration to the church. There was a time when only ministers were appointed to professorships in colleges. The time has come when, outside of the theological seminary, the minister is hardly eligible for the professor's chair. The highest ideal will be realized when men whose 254 THE TREND IN HIGHER EDUCATION lives have been consecrated to the service of the Master shall, as a part of that service, prepare themselves to teach in the various subjects which form the curriculum of the college and the university. Meanwhile chairs of biblical literature are multiply- ing in the colleges, and opportunities to do really strong work in connection with Bible classes are rapidly increasing. It is no longer an entirely anomalous thing for a Bible teacher to receive com- pensation for his services. In these modern days the administration of church affairs has come to assume great importance. Men who are interested in affairs should be encouraged to enter upon a service for the church. To this end men of an administrative turn of mind, who, for one reason or another, find their way to the seminary, should be encouraged to give a fair proportion of their time to courses of instruction arranged especially with administration as the end in mind. The con- cerns of the church are increasing in number and in magnitude. These must be cared for by men spe- cially trained for the work. The difficulty with which executive positions are filled in college and church work is due to the fact that no special pro- vision has yet been made for the preparation of those who might wish to undertake such work. Twenty- five years ago it was never suggested that a man should prepare himself to be a professor in college. Today the graduate courses in various universities are organized for those who publicly announce their THEOLOGICAL CURRICULUM 255 purpose to do professorial work in college lines. Twenty years from now young men will announce from the beginning their purpose to prepare them- selves for college and university presidencies and for the secretaryships of our great missionary societies, and will undertake long years of training especially adapted for such work. Another department of modern church Hfe that is becoming more and more emphasized is the musical work. The men who conduct this work should be men who have had a theological train- ing. This training might include also a special training in church music. Men who have a gift for musical work should be encouraged to make special preparation which would fit them for this class of service, and the seminary should require such train- ing as an important part of its curriculum. Another idea which should be applied to home as well as to foreign work is that of the medical missionary. Many a Christian man could do more service for the church by acquiring medical knowl- edge and making use of it than by giving his time to the study of Hebrew. It is, of course, true that the theological seminary cannot easily offer special work in medicine, but it would be easy, by co-operation with a neighboring medical school, to arrange a curriculum in such a manner that a student whose interest is especially strong in this direction might secure the necessary part of the theological education, and in connection with it the medical training. 256 THE TREND IN HIGHER EDUCATION Let us try now to put the whole matter in a single proposition: The day has come for a broadening of the meaning of the word minister, and for the cultiva- tion of specialism in the ministry, as well as in medicine, in law, and in teaching. In the village and small town a single man can do all the work in the Christian ministry, as well as in medicine and in law. There is evidently no room here for the speciahst in any field. But in the small cities, as well as in the large cities, the time has come when speciahsm in the ministry is as necessary as speciaHsm in any other profession. The ministry stands today in this respect where law and medicine stood twenty- five years ago. The conservatism of the churches explains this holding back, and the fact that the profession of the ministry has not developed, as other professions have developed, under the influence of the democratic sentiment, explains why the stronger and brighter men who come from our churches ignore the ministry, and choose some other profession. The fourth group of suggestions will have to do with methods of instruction employed in the seminary. Thus, in the first place, the elective system should characterize the theological curriculum as it now characterizes that of other departments of education. Not more than one-third to one-half of the curriculum should be common to all students. To divide the time of the theological student equally between four or five or six departments is, from the pedagogical THEOLOGICAL CURRICULUM 257 point of view, absurd. The elective system is neces- sary, first of all, in order to give the student an opportunity to pursue those studies in which he is most interested. The theological field is very wide, including linguistic and philological work; historical and sociological work; philosophical and pedagogical work; rhetorical and literary work. No man can have the same degree of interest in all these fields of study. In one or another he can excel; opportunity should therefore be given him to select that in which he can do his best work. But further, the elective system is necessary in order that the student may be able, in some special subject, to do a sufficient amount of work to enable him to cultivate the stu- dent habit. We are accustomed to speak of the loss, on the part of ministers, of the student habit. In most instances we should rather speak of the lack of such a habit, for in these cases the habit was never gained. The present theological curriculum com- pels superficiality. When under obligation to do a given amount of work, in a given number of depart- ments, the student is not permitted to gain that deeper knowledge of any subject which will enable him to become a student of this subject in the truest sense. It is for this reason that so many men cease to be even superficial students when they leave the seminary. What militates especially against the elective sys- tem in seminaries is the general distribution of de- partments in the seminary which is, for the most 258 THE TREND IN HIGHER EDUCATION part, artificial. The students work in these depart- ments without a realization of the fact that they are artificial. In other words, they fail to correlate their work. They are surprised to learn that the problems which confront them in church history or in sys- tematic theology are, after all, the same problems which they were called upon to consider in the field of the Old Testament. Modern experience shows that the best work is accomplished when single prob- lems are taken up by the student and followed, wher- ever they may lead, into this or that department. A curriculum should be so arranged that the great and fundamental subjects (for example, the atonement, the incarnation, the future life) might be taken up historically and systematically, a period being given to the idea as it is presented in the old religions, an- other period to the consideration of the same subject in the Old Testament, another in the New Testa- ment, another in the progress of ecclesiastical history, and still another to its systematic formulation from the point of view of modern philosophy. To put this suggestion in another form, the time has come for the comparative method to be introduced into theo- logical work, as well as into the many other fields of thought in which it has already found a place. A reason sufficient in itself for the introduction of the elective system is that when there exists a curricu- lum requiring so much ground to be covered in a specified time, the seminar method is clearly imprac- ticable. This so-called seminar method should be more THEOLOGICAL CURRICULUM 259 widely adopted. It is difficult to define this method. The central element in it, however, is to encourage the student to enter upon a personal investigation of certain subjects for himself. The lecture method is, for the most part, unsatisfactory. This is even more true of the text-book method. In special cases, to be sure, these methods must still be employed, but the exclusive use of either or both will fail to give the student the training of which he will stand most in need when, as an independent student, he is com- pelled to face the problems of his work. There are few subjects in the theological curriculum which do not lend themselves to this method. The results obtained must be more valuable than those which come in any other way, because they have been reached by the student himself. Another need of the seminaries is something that would serve the same purpose for the theological stu- dent as is served by the hospital to the medical student, or by the law courts to the law student. For lack of a better phrase, we might suggest ''theological clinics." And the environment of the theological school usually includes such material. This material is not limited to the work of visiting the slums, but includes also the study of the work of particular preachers, in the pulpit and in church work, the study of educational methods, the study of church organization, as illus- trated on every side. This cHnical or laboratory method is already a feature of the work of seminaries in large cities. The fact is, the theological seminary 26o THE TREND IN HIGHER EDUCATION in any other place than in the large city is as much handicapped in many features of its work as the hospital would be in the same situation. But even in the larger cities this part of the work has scarcely been touched. The field is boundless, and though there is danger of throwing away valuable time in fruitless search for information and experience, yet under wise guidance this danger may be reduced to a minimum. Without its clinics a medical school would be a school for the study of certain facts of science ; it would not be a training school for physi- cians. Without its clinics the theological school is a school for the study of language and history and philosophy, and is not a place for the training of preachers or Christian workers. The old-fashioned method of training ministers, the method employed before the organization of the theological seminary, because it has some certain advantages over modern methods, deserves at least a partial reinstatement in the period of preparation. Every theological curriculum should include a certain time set apart for work in a church under the direction of a pastor, the pastor during this period serving as the instructor of the student. The time spent should be long enough to give the student a real experience of practical church work. It should not be less than three months, or one-ninth of the whole time given to the preparation. In no other way may actual experience be gained so easily, and in this way the inevitable mistakes of the first years THEOLOGICAL CURRICULUM 261 of the pastorate would be largely avoided. Just as every law student should spend a portion of his time in a law office, and every medical student in a hospital, so the student for the ministry should spend a portion of his time in actual touch with real church work, under the guidance of the leader. It is true that ministers might not be willing to accept this respon- sibility in addition to their regular work, but it may be suggested that arrangements could be made by which the minister should receive compensation, of more than one kind, in return for this service granted the seminary. Reference has been made more than once to the means by which the student should come into direct contact with practical life. For this reason it has been suggested that the best place for the location of the seminary is in the city. Essential as this is, it remains true that the student whose life-work is to be that of spreading Christianity needs, as his Master before him needed, opportunity for seasons of prayer and meditation. These seasons, moreover, should be sometimes long continued, extending, it may be, over days, and possibly weeks. The curriculum of work intended to prepare a man to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ should include provision for retire- ment from the world of groups of men, selected with great care, under the leadership of a congenial per- sonahty; a retirement during which effort should be made to separate the mind and soul from contact with the outer world and to bring them into closest 262 THE TREND IN HIGHER EDUCATION touch with God himself. It is not enough to say that one should always be in a prayerful mood. It is not enough to say that God is in the world, and that con- tact with the world is therefore contact with God. We are human, and therefore weak, and we need at times to take advantage of impulses and circum- stances which will cultivate within us the calm, peaceful spirit of meditation, the strong and urgent spirit of longing for a higher inspiration, the exalting and ennobhng spirit which comes from communion with God. A season of such life, away from the cares and distractions of ordinary living, in which ghmpses may be caught of a higher spiritual life, would seem to be an important element in the train- ing of him who is to guide others into that higher Hfe. And now, at the risk of repetition, I desire to present by way of summary a few specific recom- mendations for the improvement of the theological curriculum. These suggestions are intended to em- body in the main the points indicated above. 1. That an opportunity be given to those who may so desire to spend four years in the seminary instead of three, and that the stronger men be en- couraged to take the longer period. It is understood, of course, that the work is arranged for students who have taken a college degree. It would scarcely be wise to require four years' preparation of all men. 2. That the work of the first year be prescribed and carried on in common by all students, whatever THEOLOGICAL CURRICULUM 263 may be their special predilection. This work should include : a) A general course covering the field of Old Testament history, literature, and theology; a general course covering the field of New Testament history, Hterature, and theology; a course giving in outline a survey of the field of ecclesiastical history, and a course giving in outline the ground to be covered in systematic theology. These courses should be intro- ductory or general in their character, and, though restricted to three or four hours a week, may be pre- sented fairly well in a year of thirty-six weeks. In the conduct of this course the lecture method and text-book method should prevail. There would be no place in this work for the seminar method. b) One or two lectures a week throughout the year in sociology, the aim and purpose of which should be to present to the student as forcibly as possible the more important characteristics of the special environment in which he is to take a place. c) Regular theme work for the cultivation of proper expression. This work, while under the direction of a specially appointed instructor, should be conducted in close connection with the general courses of instruction indicated above. A certain number of brief papers should be prepared by the student during the year, each of which should be thoroughly criticised from the point of view of the EngHsh as well as that of the contents. 3. That immediately upon finishing the general 264 THE TREND IN HIGHER EDUCATION courses in Old Testament, New Testament, church history, and systematic theology, the student be ex- pected to make choice of certain fields of work and of special subjects in these fields, and that after this choice has been made the details be worked out under the direction of the professor in whose department he shall undertake to do his particular work. It is understood that, as soon as the prescribed curricu- lum is abandoned, the student will need the special counsel of an adviser. 4. That at this point the students be allowed to group themselves according to the work which they propose to do. In this way there will come to be a group of those who perhaps are planning to preach or teach; another group of those who desire to become pastors, administrators, or general workers; a third group for musical workers ; and a fourth, if necessary, for medical workers. 5. That in each case the student be expected to select a particular department in which he shall do his principal work. This will be one of the six de- partments ordinarily organized in connection with a divinity school; namely. Old Testament, New Testa- ment, church history, systematic theology, sociology, homiletics. It will be to his advantage also to select a second department in which he shall do secondary work. 6. That the study of Hebrew be required of those only who make the Old or New Testament the prin- cipal subject, and that a knowledge of Greek be re- THEOLOGICAL CURRICULUM 265 quired of those only who are to be preachers or teachers. 7. That every student who is preparing to teach or preach be encouraged to give a liberal portion of his time to work in natural science, psychology, and EngHsh hterature, unless in his college course he has made such progress in these subjects as would war- rant his omission of them at this stage of his work. 8. That in the group made up of those who are to be pastors, administrators, and general workers, the English Bible be made the principal subject, and that the secondary subjects be psychology, peda- gogy, and sociology. Of these, neither Hebrew nor Greek should be required. 9. That for musical and medical workers courses be laid out along lines of special adaptation, an effort being made to correlate the work of the seminary with that of some special institutions in which music and medicine are the sole subjects of study. 10. That to as large an extent as possible the work of the student be directed to the study and investigation of great problems. 11. That "chnics" be organized in connection with various departments of the seminary; for ex- ample, in Sunday-school work, with the bibHcal and pedagogical departments; in visitation work, with the sociological department; in preaching and church administration, with the department of homiletics. 12. That a certain number of weeks be set aside in the course of each student during which he shall 266 THE TREND IN HIGHER EDUCATION work under the direction of a pastor in active service, the results of this work to be formulated by the student, criticised by the pastor, and reported to the faculty of the seminary. 13. That arrangements be provided whereby students in small groups, with an instructor of their own choice, may be enabled to retire from the active work of the institution, and live together in quiet and solitude for special seasons. 14. That, in so far as possible, the theological curriculum be organized in connection with a uni- versity, in order that the facihties afforded by the university may be at the service of the student, and his individuaHsm thereby be given opportunity to develop; and in order, further, that there may be gained the greater breadth which is secured by mingHng with men who have other points of view. To this same end intermigration between theological seminaries of the same denomination and of different denominations should be encouraged. 15. That in all cases tuition fees be charged, and that all money to be used for the aid of students be distributed in the form of scholarships on the plan adopted in colleges and universities, in return for which the student shall render actual service of one kind or another to the seminary. 16. That, inasmuch as each seminary cannot make provision for all the specialties in Christian work, an agreement be reached among seminaries located in a given district in accordance \^dth which THEOLOGICAL CURRICULUM 267 the students of all the institutions in that district who wish to work in a given specialty be advised to go to the seminary in which this specialty may be culti- vated. 17. That the scope of the theological seminary be broadened and if necessary the name be changed in order that it may include instruction for Christian workers of all classes. XV UNIVERSITY TRAINING FOR A BUSINESS CAREER It is desirable to make a distinction, though probably an ill-founded one, between the phrases "business life" and "business career." The former would naturally include the latter; but it seems to me that the phrase "business career" is too dignified a term to be applied to a large proportion of the lives which may legitimately be said to be devoted to business. A certain number of men who go into business have careers. The number may be small relatively; it is, however, large absolutely. Here belong those men, and women, who prove to be leaders ; who are heads of departments or superintendents ; who direct the work of others; who, in a word, are successful in life, not perhaps in the sense that they become wealthy, nor in the sense that they alone experience the real enjoyment of life, but in the sense that they occupy positions of responsibility and have oppor- tunity to develop their own methods of work, and may claim credit for results achieved. It is this class of men one naturally has in mind when he speaks of university training for a business Hfe or career. It goes without saying, perhaps, that, so far as 268 TRAINING FOR A BUSINESS CAREER 269 the business side of life is concerned, one would not recommend a university training for a man who is to be a shipping clerk, or an ordinary bank clerk, or a clerk in a railroad auditor's office. I do not mean to say that such a training would not be of infinite value to men in these positions, from the point of view of life in general. It is necessary, however, to distinguish between the responsibilities and oppor- tunities connected directly with a business career itself, or with a man's development in business, on the one side, and, on the other, with that higher life which every man is entitled to enjoy to the utmost. Within a decade or so two points have come to be realized; one of these in the business world, the other in the university world. No man who is acquainted with the facts will deny that today special oppor-X tunities of the highest rank, in business, are opening \ to men of college training. College men are being 1 sought out in practically every kind of business for I positions of responsibility. Experience has shown i that the college man, although he may not have the 1 technical training for the particular business upon / which he enters after leaving college, requires no long period of time in which to overtake the non- college man who started in the same business years before ; and to overtake means, of course, to outstrip. Here and there may be found a business man of large success who, himself a non-college man, clings to the old idea that a college training does not help a man to prepare for business. Such men, however, 270 THE TREND IN HIGHER EDUCATION are few, and the. almost uniform success which col- lege men have achieved furnishes evidence enough that this old-fashioned position may no longer be maintained. Great business concerns on every side are calling for men whose minds have been trained, and they are willing to give such men ample oppor- tunity to learn the technique of the business which they are to enter, strongly confident that in the end these men will excel. All agree that a man injures his chances for suc- cess in a particular profession or line of business if he enters upon that work at too late a period in his life. Care must be taken that the college man, unless his circumstances are of a special character, shall not postpone too long the taking up of his life- work. But it is even more clear that great risk is run in beginning one's life specialty at too early a period. The danger here lies in the fact that one's habits become fixed in a certain routine. Only a small proportion of those who begin their life-work at an early date are strong enough to push forward into the higher ranks of business. We read now and then of a railway president who has come up from the position of conductor or train dispatcher; but what proportion of conductors or train dispatchers ever get beyond these positions when they have once been fully installed in them? The advantage of college training lies in the fact that the man thus trained is not ordinarily satisfied to remain in a TRAINING FOR A BUSINESS CAREER 271 lower position ; and that, conscious of his abihty, he presses forward by legitimate means to something better and higher. The fact which has come to be recognized in the college and university world is that a new kind of training is possible for men who contemplate a busi- ness career. This new training, which has already been introduced into many of our institutions, does not differ in method or spirit from the older training. It consists in substituting for certain subjects that formed the larger part of the curriculum of years gone by certain other subjects which have in recent times come into prominence. In making these sub- stitutions the college recognizes that training is no longer to be restricted to the employment of a few subjects; and that all subjects perhaps may contrib- ute legitimately to the purpose of discipline and cul- ture. The word ''training" has come to be used in a larger sense. The word ''culture" has likewise been greatly broadened. In the field of scientific study, as well as in those of history and political economy, great possibilities have been opened. The former leads naturally toward those fines of business for which a scientific or technical training will be found useful; the latter, in the direction of banking, railway management, insurance, joumaHsm, and other closely related professions. Provision is now made in nearly all the larger institutions for courses deafing with the principles underlying these important calfings, and 272 THE TREND IN HIGHER EDUCATION the young man who has already made choice of his special field in business may secure an intellectual training which will be of great service to him in the future, and, at the same time, a broad and compre- hensive acquaintance with the facts and principles that relate to the particular business which he desires to follow. These two great modifications of opinion, one in the business world and the other in the college world, have come within recent years. They have come side by side, each helping the other to gain ground in the territory of the enemy, if the word ** enemy" is not too strong a one with which to describe those who frequently scoff at the idea that such subjects are used to advantage in the college curriculum; or, on the other hand, those who ridicule the proposition that a college training is of real advantage to a man who proposes for himself a business Hfe. What is it in general that the college does for the young man entering into business? Is it perhaps true that in more recent times the college has actually degraded itself in order to attract him ? The pur- pose of the college method is clear. It is intended primarily to develop in the man systematic habits; to give him control of his intellectual powers; to fit him in such a manner that he may be able to direct those powers successfully in any special direction. It is important to observe that the training is of a general character. Special training looking toward a particular profession or line of work is not the TRAINING FOR A BUSINESS CAREER 273 province of the college. Such training is to a greater or less extent an apprenticeship. The difference between the general training and the special training consists in this: the former renders a man able to take hold of any kind of work; the latter fits him only for a particular thing. The man with special train- ing finds himself unable easily to be transferred from one kind of work to another, or, except in rare in- stances, as suggested above, to advance from one division of the field to another. The college man will, of course, require in each case a given time in which to adjust himself to the new situation, but this technique, or the amount of it necessary for his ad- vancement, he will easily master. All this may be said of the old-fashioned curriculum; in other words, the curriculum by which the college men were trained who occupy high positions in the world today. It has come to be the opinion of many educators, as I have said, that the college may take a step for- ward in this matter, and, while furnishing the general training just referred to, at the same time provide the student with a given amount of special knowledge relating to the subjects that are fundamental in the hne of business contemplated. It was argued that modern history could be made use of as a discipHne with equal advantage as com- pared with ancient history. Modern languages, if properly taught, would secure at least a large amount of that training which a study of the classics develops. This was the first step toward this more practical 274 THE TREND;^IN HIGHER EDUCATION curriculum. It was followed by the recommenda- tion of courses in chemistry and biology, which would prepare the way for medicine; by courses in consti- tutional histor}^ and international law, preparatory' to the legal profession; and, as already suggested, by courses connected with the department of poUtical economy, on commercial geography, colonization, money, banking, insurance, etc., which pointed in the direction of business. Sufficient time has not elapsed to prove conclu- sively that this poHcy is a good one, from the point of view of either the college or the student. It has, however, much in its favor; and if we were to reach a conclusion on the basis of probabiHties, the case might be considered as settled. The greatest ad- vantage connected with the policy is the fact that the ordinary student, knowing that the subject- matter will be of real service to him in the future, takes a deeper interest in the course proposed, and secures not only this special knowledge, but also a better training in proportion to the high character of the work performed. The extent to which this adaptation of the college curriculum has taken place is already marked. To be sure, the smaller colleges of the country have not been able to make important changes in this direc- tion. This, Uke all other efforts to make the curricu- lum a special one, calls for the expenditure of money in large sums. This has been done by several in- stitutions, and the experiment, if it may be called TRAINING FOR A BUSINESS CAREER 275 such, is well under way. It is altogether probable ] that in some cases the idea has been carried too far; I but that, upon the whole, it will prove successful, / no one really doubts. / The whole may be summed up in a few words."^ General training is believed to be superior in most cases to special training. This general training can be secured on the basis of a curriculum made up in part of special subjects — that is, subjects closely related to the special calling. If the danger involved in too early specialization can be avoided, the poHcy is a feasible one. If, however, in the use of special subjects the teacher or the student fails to secure the general training, the experiment will prove to be more or less a failure. It is a matter that concerns a large constituency. It is a method which may succeed in one institution and fail in another. It may succeed Hkewise in the case of one individual and fail in the case of another. Everything depends upon the spirit with which the work is conducted, and this is only saying what must be said concerning every undertaking of an educa- tional character. XVI SHALL COLLEGE ATHLETICS BE ENDOWED ? The endowment of college athletics has been pro- posed. The authorities of at least three of the largest universities in the West have given consideration to the proposition. In fact, it is still being considered. No one's eyes are blind to the difficulties which it involves. Further study of it may prove conclusively that as a practical suggestion it has no value; but until that decision is reached it is surely deserving of earnest study, as a possible solution of some of the difficulties connected with one of the most serious administrative problems of higher education — that of intercollegiate athletics. It may be urged against the proposition that colleges today stand in greater need of endowment for other subjects. With the various departments of science and the humanities crying piteously for larger resources why should money be diverted to college athletics ? It is only necessary to study the subject to appreciate the force of this objection. But is it not begging the question to use the word ''di- vert" ? The endowment of athletics will come, if it comes at all, from men who would never think, per- haps, of giving money for the endowment of a depart- ment of science, or one of the departments of arts and 276 ENDOWED COLLEGE ATHLETICS 277 literature. This point should not be overlooked. Besides, if the department of physical culture, of which athletics is only a division, is worthy to be one of the departments in an institution of higher learning, is it not as deserving of endowment as any other depart- ment ? It is suggested, however, that the public is quite ready to pay the expenses of the athletic teams by the purchase of tickets at the gate. Why, then, should they not have this privilege ? It is certainly possible, in the case of this department, if it is to be reckoned as one of the university departments, to secure its support in this way from the masses. The peculiar advantage of this fact should not be ignored; and as long as the pubHc is willing to perform this service should they not be permitted to do so ? The force of this suggestion, however, is somewhat counter- balanced by the fact, as will be noted later, that other points in contention are the uncertainty of this kind of support, and, still worse, the degradation which it carries with it. Shall the university depend for the support of one of its departments upon a crowd, a large proportion of which treats the game as it would treat the race-course, and patronizes it because of the opportunity which it furnishes for gambling? Shall a higher institution of learning cater thus to the lowest passions of the multitude? It is true, as has been urged, that tickets must be distributed according to some plan. Is it possible to devise a better or more economical plan than that 278 THE TREND IN HIGHER EDUCATION now in vogue ? Here, again, there is danger of los- ) ing sight of the fact that by the present plan, in^ accordance with which a high price is placed upon) tickets of admission, many members of the faculty' and still larger numbers of the student body are, actually prevented from attending the games becaus^ of their inabihty to meet the exorbitant charges^ Attendance upon the athletic games throughout aj single year in a certain institution involves a cost of; not less than $30. This sum of money is a very^ serious matter for a large proportion of the students. A plan which would permit the presentation of fre( tickets for all games to members of the faculty am to all students would contribute largely to a strongei and higher institutional spirit, and, at the same time, be of financial advantage to those who need help. The most serious objection to the suggestion thus far offered is, perhaps, the charge that such a policy would develop still further that much-dreaded specter, of patemaHsm; for would it not almost entirely re- move responsibiHty from the students themselves, and make the management of the athletic interests a perfunctory thing so far as student activity is con- cerned ? One might ask two questions : If the stu- dent management of athletics has been so thoroughly satisfactory, and if it has contributed so greatly to the legitimate education of the student body, why is the tendency of recent years so strongly in the direc- tion of substituting for it a more or less definite faculty control ? And, furthermore, if it is distinctly ENDOWED COLLEGE ATHLETICS '■^ to the advantage of the student body to be admitted! in a substantial way to the control and direction of the college affairs, why should the principle not be carried still further and the control and management of other college interests be placed in student hands ? Is there really any considerable danger of so great an increase in the development of patemaHsm as will prove a serious menace to the best interests of the colleges ? This frequent raising of the bugbear of paternaHsm, in connection with every college question that comes up for discussion, tends to weaken the force of the cry, especially inasmuch as the freedom today accorded the student body of the larger institutions is greater than ever before. If a careful examination were made of all the facts, it would probably be found greater than the best inter- ests of the student body really demand. An important difficulty, of course, Hes in the fact that it would be impossible to secure uniformity of policy in any large number of universities. Some might be able to secure such an endowment, while others could not. But would this, after all, be serious ? There is great diversity in the endowment of institutions in other departments; why should uniformity be necessary in this case? Could not those institutions which are closely related in athletic work have a common fund, the weaker in this case receiving some advantage from the stronger? Co- operation of this kind would surely tend to develop an institutional spirit which in itself might be of 28o THE TREND IN HIGHER EDUCATION distinct advantage to other educational interests. It is apparent, therefore, that many difficulties lie in the way of realization of any such plan as that which has been suggested, but it may be worth while to note in passing a few of the points which are urged in favor of the policy. If college athletics were endowed, and those precautions taken in reference to the expenditure of money which control in other departments, the actual cost of athletics would be greatly reduced. Some beHeve that this saving would amount to 50 per cent, of the total sum expended. No one doubts that the saving would be considerable. This state- ment does not imply that at present there is any gross mismanagement. It means simply that with the elimination of certain rivalries, the strict control of expenses, the more definite knowledge of resources, a real improvement could be effected in the financial administration of the work. When it is recalled that the amount now expended in the case of single insti- tutions ranges from $25,000 a year to more than $100,000, it can easily be understood that, at all events, there is a field for the practice of economy. It is contended, moreover, that this policy would remove a large measure of that element in college athletics that is now recognized as illegitimate. That this element exists, in the East as well as in the West, no one can doubt, after the recent disclosures in con- nection with the difficulties at Brown University. The adoption of this new policy, many believe, ENDOWED COLLEGE ATHLETICS 281 would take away the motive for encouraging this illegitimate side of college athletics. The rivalry between institutions would be less intense. The con- tests would be lifted to a higher level. The sport would become in a true sense a gentleman's sport. The necessity of securing large returns from games and certain unpleasant features fostered by the ath- letic management for the sake of financial success would no longer exist. In brief, the character of the game would be transformed. The evils so manifest today may be traced, in nearly every case, to the financial side. Change the poHcy and the occasion of evil will disappear. As has already been suggested, the claim is put forward that the work in athletics is a part of the work in physical culture, and that since the depart- ment of physical culture is a regularly recognized department in many institutions, co-ordinate with other departments of the university, it requires for its proper conduct the same provision in its various sub-departments that is made for other subjects in- cluded in the schedule of the university. So long as the most conspicuous work of the department of physical culture is dependent for its support upon gate receipts at public games it cannot occupy the high and dignified place which should be accorded it. If the athletic work of the department is not of suffi- cient value to the department, to the men, and to the institution concerned to warrant its support in a legiti- mate fashion, this work should immediately be given 282 THE TREND IN HIGHER EDUCATION up. The evils which are associated with athletics, as now administered, are so many that they bring reproach upon this department, and, indeed, upon the cause of higher education itself. Reorganization of the athletic work, or its discontinuance, is de- manded by public opinion inside, as well as outside, of the universities. Who will dispute the statement that if the adop- tion of this poHcy would bring about the changes that are predicted by its advocates, the endowment of athletics would be fully worth the cost involved. To dignify that which today is confessedly a source of disgrace and reproach to the college authorities; to remove the incentive which is so strong as to lead to illegitimate and immoral representations ; to mini- mize, at all events, the rivalry in institutions which in so many cases has proved to be injurious; to Hft the cause of higher physical education to a plane co-ordinate with that of intellectual education — all this is worth doing, if it can be done even at great cost. But how is it possible to accompHsh this ? The most ardent advocate of the poKcy will concede at once that the change, if it is to come, must come gradually, and that it will be one of long process. But if one could believe that within fifty years this change might be brought about in several of the largest institutions of the country, east and west, it would be worth while to undertake the task. No one certainly imagines for a moment that any real ENDOWED COLLEGE ATHLETICS 283 results can be achieved within a short time. If, as has been suggested, the expense of the athletic teams could by this plan be reduced to one-half of the pres- ent amount, the actual sum of money called for might possibly be covered by an increase of the student fees. If, for example, a $10 fee were charged, this would secure in an institution of a thousand students, $10,000; of three thousand students, $30,000, and it may fairly be questioned whether a larger sum should be expended; and, indeed, under the management thus secured, would a larger sum really be called for? For a time, perhaps, friends of this or that institution might consent to make annual subscriptions. Unquestionably many sub- scriptions could be obtained for this purpose which would not otherwise come to an institution. In time an endowment fund could be established. A quarter of a million dollars, or a half-milHon dollars, is not too large a sum to be considered in connection with such work, if we keep in mind the great interest that it represents, and the fact that it is a part of a rapidly growing movement, the interest of which centers in the education of the body. Furthermore, it would not be impossible to secure the co-operation of institutions, and thereby the creation of a common fund in which all should share, even if a larger por- tion of this sum of money came from the constituency of one institution than from that of another. In a matter hke this no one knows what can be done or what cannot be done until an effort is made. In 284 THE TREND IN HIGHER EDUCATION view of the progress already made along these hnes within twenty-five years, marked by the erection of so many magnificent gymnasiums, may we not ex- pect that the next twenty-five or fifty years will bring as a portion of their good fortune the proper endow- ment of the work which these gymnasiums were intended to foster ? XVII LATIN VERSUS SCIENCE The question of requiring work in the Latin lan- guage and literature, especially in the case of stu- dents who are candidates for the bachelor's degree in science, is one which has excited much interest. This interest has manifested itself in the sessions of one of our faculties, that of the Ogden School of Science, which has held several important meetings during the year (1898-99) for the consideration of questions relating to the curriculum of the College of Science. Two distinctly different theories have been propounded in reference to this curriculum. Accord- ing to the first, a specific amount of work in the study of the Latin language and literature should be required of all students of science after they have entered college, and in addition to the requirement for admission. The advocates of this policy have endeavored to show that, in the education of those whose tastes He in the direction of the natural sciences, work should be provided which will at the same time connect their thought with the past, broaden their horizon, and assist them in the culti- vation of a good English style; that the subject which is best adapted to secure these results is the Latin language and hterature; that the student who has prepared for college by doing his work largely in 285 286 THE TREND IN HIGHER EDUCATION science, and who gives too much time to work in science during his freshman and sophomore years, is speciaHzing at too early an age; that in his first college year it is to the advantage of a student to turn away from science and to study Latin, thus relinquishing for the time the opportunity to pursue those subjects which are in accordance with his tastes, in order that he may have a broader point of view from which to do his life-work. The advo- cates of the other theory have proposed that Latin be made an elective in the curriculum for the degree of bachelor of science, and that students who come to the university without having studied Latin be admitted and given permission to go forward with their work without taking up this study. The advocates of this policy urge that too much of the student's time is spent on subjects with which he is not in sympathy, and from which, therefore, no considerable profit may be gained; that subjects in science are as effective as those in any other field in broadening the horizon and in teaching accuracy of statement; that the subject of Latin as it is taught does not and cannot accompHsh that which is claimed for it; that it is a great mistake to turn men away from science, on the ground that they enter college without preparation in Latin, thus separating them from the subject which would be of greatest educational profit; that the results of the system adopted at present in the University are seen in the fact that so small a portion of the time of Junior LATIN VERSUS SCIENCE 287 College students may be given to the study of science. The line between these two policies has been sharply drawn; and it is significant that the members of the staff in the various departments of science, as well as the members of the Senate, are almost equally divided. A study of the situation from the point of view of an outsider would seem to indicate that both sides are right and both wrong. The conservative party is right, and the radical party wrong, in the conten- tion which relates to binding the student closely to the past and all that is bound up in the past. We have learned that the embryonic child passes through all the stages of animal life — from the lowest to the highest, during the embryonic period; that, in other words, the growth and development of each child born into the world presents an epitome of millions of years of animal development. We have learned that the child, as it proceeds from stage to stage until it reaches manhood or womanhood, passes through all the phases of life through which the human race has passed, and that many, if not all, of those who are vicious are cases of arrested development. It is said that one may trace the history of art, from the most early times to the pres- ent, in the efforts of the child as he grows to years of maturity and slowly develops what would today be called art-talent. If all this be true, it is essential as one of the first elements in education that the 288 THE TREND IN HIGHER EDUCATION college man become familiar with the thought of past generations, as that thought has expressed itself in institutions and as it has found expression in litera- ture. This heritage of the past is an essential element to culture and breadth of view. Science has been greatly hindered in her progress because too many of her advocates have not possessed them- selves of this heritage, rightly theirs, which, had it been obtained, would have rendered life, and all that enters into life, more satisfactory. Any system of education, therefore, which will permit the student to begin at the end (for to begin with science is to begin at the end) does the student a distinct injury. The student, of course, is not expected to know all this, and is, therefore, not himself responsible. The very fact that the student is to do his work in science later is an argument in favor of giving the earlier part of his education to the humanities which repre- sent the past. On this point the older view seems to be the better and truer view. And the efforts made by scientific men to dislodge those subjects which represent the culture of the past are efforts which in the end will prove hurtful to the best interests of science itself. On the other hand, the radical party is right, and the conservative party wrong, in the contention that a given amount of study of the Latin language properly represents this culture of the past to which reference has been made. The Latin language, as it is ordi- narily taught, studied for the period of two or three, LATIN VERSUS SCIENCE 289 or even four years, by a student without incerest in the study of any language, certainly does not bring the student into living touch with the institutions and ^ literature of the past. The great majority of stu- dents who pass through this routine fail to gain any 290 THE TREND IN HIGHER EDUCATION man, and especially in that of the scientist, is a study of the great heritage we have received from the past. The pohcy would be in agreement, how- ever, with the contention of the radical party, that this end is not conserved simply by a study of the Latin language. It would propose that in the case of students who are familiar with French and Ger- man, and after a reasonable amount of language work exhibit a real inability to do such work with ease and profit, there be required, instead of the specified number of courses in Latin, a specified number of courses in the study of the history, the institutions, and perhaps the literature of the past. Inasmuch as the difficulty of testing such work is greater than that of testing acquisition made in the study of Latin, it is proposed that at first a relatively larger number of courses in history and literature be required. This proposition is very different from the one already adopted in many institutions, which involves an omission of the Latin requirement, but does not demand a substitute for this requirement. In accordance with the proposition here suggested, every student would be required to gain a certain familiarity with the life and thought of the various nations which have contributed most to our modern civilization. This life and thought is revealed in the institutions and literatures which they have trans- mitted to us. These form an integral part of our own life and thought, and it is because a man does not possess that which is really his own that he is called LATIN VERSUS SCIENCE 291 narrow from the point of view of education. I should be willing to regard this as an experiment. A five years' trial of such an experiment, at all events, will make it possible to reach a wiser conclusion than we are able to reach with the data now in our possession. It will be urged, in opposition to such a proposition, by the conservative party that this is only another step in the downward path, the end of which means demoralization ; that the student who is not interested in the study of languages has no interest in literature ; and that both history and literature are more difficult to teach, and do not secure from the student that accurate mental discipline. To these objections it may be answered that the cry of danger has been raised at every step which has been taken even in the direction of progress; and that language and litera- ture are two essentially different subjects. The stu- dent will have had long disciphne in the study of French and German. Many a student has failed to have his interest aroused in literature because literature has been confounded with language; and if the college curriculum does not, at all events, make provision for encouraging men to read, there is no good ground for the colleges to continue their work. The study of literature is the cultivation of the fondness for reading. The great evil of college work in these modern days lies in the tendency to under- take everything except this, the greatest of all things for which the college is founded. If greater emphasis were placed upon the study of history and literature. 292 THE TREND IN HIGHER EDUCATION better methods of teaching would be developed, and thus better students would be obtained. Already the results of the teaching of history and literature in hands of good teachers are eminently satisfactory, even from the disciplinary point of view. The radical party will, doubtless, propose the fol- lowing objections to this proposition: (i) that, after all, the student is not allowed to study the subject which he prefers; namely, science; (2) that at the most important age for the cultivation of observation and for the training which science furnishes, he is deprived of the privilege of such training; (3) that the connection is broken between the work in science which may have been done, and the later work to which he may desire to devote his exclusive attention. A careful study of these objections shows, how- ever, that they affect the case slightly, if at all. It is as important in certain stages of the student's pro- gress that he study subjects which he does not like, as that he should study subjects which are pleasing to him. The best discipline is secured from doing that which is not altogether pleasing; and, besides, the student will never know what subject or subjects may be in accordance with his natural taste and ability, and what may be distasteful to him, unless he shall have made an earnest effort in subjects which represent the various groups of the curriculum. It is not proposed that at any stage in the career of the student he should be deprived of the possibility of doing work in science. No reason exists why he LATIN VERSUS SCIENCE 293 should not during the entire period have had a portion of his work in the department of science. If the scientist demands all of the time of a student from an early age, he is demanding what will in the end prove injurious to the student and injurious to the cause of science; and with such demands there can be no sympathy on the part of one who is interested in the development of other departments of human knowledge. That the suggestion here made will meet with the approval of all who stand arrayed in these opposite parties I cannot hope. I permit myself, however, to express the opinion that an unprejudiced con- sideration of this suggestion will show that it meets many of the difficulties which now confront us, and that enough may be said in favor of it to warrant its trial as an experiment, side by side with the policy now in vogue. XVIII COEDUCATION Progress in the last forty or j&fty years has not been restricted to matters in the realm of physical science, nor to the solution of problems in the field of industrial work. Wonderful as has been the advance, for example, in everything with which electricity has had to do, on the one hand, or in everything which relates to transportation, on the other, a careful survey of the whole situation will show that progress equally wonderful has been made in many other hnes of intellectual effort; and, among all these, an exhibit can be made for progress in education which will be as remarkable as any other. It is customary to make remark upon the widespread influence of commercial ideals and of others closely related, and upon the enormous growth of such interests within a given time. One Hkewise may point out the magnificent development in the educational field, and the very remarkable growth which has taken place even within ten years. A dozen or more problems of paramount interest in the field of education have taken on more definite form within these years, and some of them have moved definitely toward solution. In the case of one of these problems it is interesting to note that, while all agree that important progress has been made 294 COEDUCATION 295 toward its solution, there is great difference of opin- ion as to the direction in which the solutionis being found. I refer to the problem of the coeducation of the sexes. The interest in the subject of coeducation is something extraordinary. The word has become almost a shibboleth in the contest between the pro- gressive and the conservative. Those who accept the doctrine of coeducation beheve in it with all their heart; those who oppose it are ready to fight it with every kind of weapon. It is maintained, on the one hand, that at the present time a wave of reaction is passing over the country, and that the facts point clearly to a marked change of feeHng on the part of those who have hitherto been the friends of coeducation. It is just as steadily maintained, on the other hand, that never before in the history of education has the feeling on this subject been stronger or more intense. It is impossible to sup- pose, we are told, that in this day of advanced en- hghtenment women are to be deprived of any of the privileges which they have gained in the hard- fought battles of the past. The agitation of this subject, we must concede, has been more pronounced and more widely distrib- uted within two or three years than at any time in the preceding decade. The immediate occasion of this agitation is more or less uncertain. In certain institutions of learning the subject has been seriously discussed. In many educational conferences it has 296 THE TREND IN HIGHER EDUCATION received much attention, and is, consequently, a subject which just now deserves the thought of all who take any interest whatever in questions of gen- eral education. It is my desire to present briefly two proposi- tions. First, I wish to show that coeducation is the latest of several stages which may be traced in the gradual development of educational method as it stands related to success. Second, I shall endeavor to point out that coeducation may be, and indeed must be, modified and adjusted to meet the require- ments of special situations. It requires only a superficial observer to be able to note quite definitely the geographical features of the problem of coeducation. Roughly speaking, we find in New England and New York colleges for men and colleges for women separate from each other, Radchffe and Barnard being almost as dis- tinct from Harvard and Columbia as if they were independent women's colleges. In this territory a larger number of separate schools, including acade- mies, are to be found than probably in any other part of the country, although even here the modern high school open to both boys and girls has had large growth. In the middle states and the West colleges for men alone or colleges for women arel almost unknown. In any case, they form the excep- tion. In this statement count need not be taken of certain ** finishing" schools for women, called semi- naries. A more uniform system could hardly be imagined than that which prevails. COEDUCATION 297 Jn the Soutii, although the policy of coeducation has been very largely accepted and put into operation, it is by no means so uniform as in the West. In the wealthy East and in the sentimental South parents have been loath to trust their daughters in so demo- cratic an environment. In the West it has been different; to a large extent the girl has been placed upon the same footing as the boy. Opinions may differ as to the wisdom of this poHcy, as shown by its results, but the facts as thus roughly stated are indisputable. The geographical distribution just indicated fur- nishes the clue to the historical development of co- education. Here again my statement must be the most general possible. We may observe at least three stages in this development. The first will include the period extending far back when college instruction was provided only for men. During this period women were given, in the so-called semi- naries, some knowledge of music, history, the French language, and EngHsh Hterature; but the provision for the higher education of women, whether consid- ered from the point of view of curriculum, endowment, or instruction, was practically nothing. The second stage was introduced when Vassar College was built in the year 1861. In a section of the country in which provision had already been made for men, no plan whereby women might enjoy the privileges of higher education could be devised other than that of separate colleges. It seems quite certain even 0: "^^ 298 THE TREND IN HIGHER EDUCATION today, both from the economic and from the social point of view, that any other solution of the question of women's higher education was impossible. Col- leges had been provided for men. The only sensible — in fact, the only possible — thing was to provide institutions of a similar character for women. At this time the question of university work, as distin- guished from that of college, had not yet presented itself. About this same time, however, people in the western states found themselves compelled to pro- vide faciHties for higher education for both men and women. It is true, a certain number of colleges for men had been founded in accordance with the New England poUcy of separate education; but these, in most cases, were not adequately equipped, and, besides, they were not numerous enough to meet the very large demands being made. In the great de- velopment of education by the people which took the form of state universities, and was led by the Uni- versity of Michigan, the idea of separate education prevailed only a short time. The situation in the West was characterized by so much flexibility and was so easily adjusted to the demands of the popular feeHng, that within a httle while the coeducational poHcy was adopted at Michigan; and in the univer- sities afterward estabHshed practically no question was raised on this point. Among the colleges first established for men, and later opening their doors to women, Oberhn, in Ohio, took the lead. COEDUCATION 299 In rough outline, then, we see three poKcies in operation, the first of which may be called the old, the second and third the new — these latter growing out of an acknowledged conviction that women should have the privileges of higher education; the second policy, providing for separate colleges for women, having its fullest development in that section of the country in which fairly adequate provision had already been made for men; the other poHcy, that of coeducation, coming into existence in the West, where comparatively meager opportunities for higher education existed at the particular time when the rights of women in this respect had come to be recognized. It is important, in the study of this problem, to observe the influence, by way of reaction, which has been exercised on educational policy by the coeduca- tional development in the West. This is seen in the so-called annexes that have been established in con- nection with some of the largest universities, like Harvard and Columbia. In these the arrangement exists by which, in classes for graduate instruction, and, indeed, in some of the higher undergraduate work, men and women may be admitted to the same recitation room. This development seems to have proceeded farther at Columbia than at Harvard. It has gone still farther at Yale, where all courses of instruction in graduate work have been opened to women. And inasmuch as the Hne between graduate and undergraduate work in these days is not sharply 300 THE TREND IN HIGHER EDUCATION drawn, this means that in the later years of college work men and women in many cases sit together at Yale. It is seen still further in the number of col- leges — for example, Rochester and Beloit — which have within ten years opened their doors for the first time to women; likewise, in the fact that in the last few years there has been no perceptible increase in the number of women's colleges. Three additional points may be mentioned which look in the same direction. In several instances in the West women have been admitted to professional schools in divinity, medicine, and law. Certain German universities have admitted women, and in many cases for degrees; and, besides, there has been a growth in the amount and character of philosophical work along coeduca- tional lines, the great majority of modern educational philosophers making coeducation a fundamental principle in their system. It is quite possible to base upon the above sketch, imperfect as it is, certain conclusions. These may be summed up very briefly. The result of the de-^ velopment which has been taking place during fifty years, as we see it today, is far from ideal, since the development has been so largely affected by historical y and geographical situations. If the coeducational principle is correct, the East is at least fifty years be- hind the West. If it is wrong, it will require more than a century for the West to set itself right. The South is in a position to move in either direction without serious difficulty. COEDUCATION 301 The lack of unanimity of opinion becomes more and more apparent as one looks closely into the facts. Although at first sight the West seems to have made its choice of coeducation on purely pedagogical grounds, a closer examination shows that coeduca- tion was as much a matter of necessity in the West as it was an impossibihty in the East. How could provision be made in the western states for separate colleges for women when there were so few such colleges for men? Coeducation in the West has been an economic necessity. Now that the number of students is so large and the resources of these states have increased at so rapid a rate, will it any longer remain an economic necessity ? And, if not an economic necessity, will it continue ? But, notwithstanding this, it is clear that the pohcy which may be said to characterize the West is a more modem poHcy, and that in this policy the western institutions have made large advance upon the East. It is not merely a question of different geographical situation, nor of historical environment. It is more than this. A stage of development has been reached higher and more advanced than that stage which is represented in the East by separate institutions for men and women. The spirit which opens the doors of every educational institution to women as well as to men is, one may safely say, splendidly modern and higher than the older spirit of the monastery and the convent. It is surely more American. If, however, we understand that the 302 THE TREND IN HIGHER EDUCATION principle of evolution holds good in the field of educa- tional progress, we must conclude that there is some- thing still higher in educational policy in connection with this question of coeducation than has yet been reached. It seems to be certain that this higher development will always include close association of men and women, and the extension of equal privileges by the same institution to both sexes. It is often the case that the best friends of a move- ment are its worst enemies. This is certainly true of those advocates of the coeducational poHcy who maintain concerning coeducation that, *'hke the form of a geometrical figure, it is the same yesterday, today, and forever," and that its permanency depends wholly upon the acceptance of a definition which makes coeducation synonymous with coinstruction, and, therefore, instruction given to men and women sitting side by side in the same room. Those who feel that any other definition will sacrifice all that has been gained for women in the struggles of the last century may be strong friends of coeducation, but, in the light of history and the present situation, they cannot be regarded as wise friends. In a study of the policy or system it is eminently necessary to dis- tinguish between the essential elements in a system and those which may or may not be essential. To argue that coinstruction is an essential factor in co- education is simply to advocate a superstition and at the same time to reduce the whole subject to formal mechanism. COEDUCATION 303 All will agree that coeducation does involve asso- ciation between male and female students. The question is: Shall we reduce to a mathematical formula the quantity of such association, and shall we indicate by geometrical figure the exact form it shall take ? This, it seems to me, is the real question at issue; and, as Professor Albion W. Small has said, this conception of coeducation is parallel with the opinion "that marriage is one unchanging and unchangeable form of association between a man and a woman." Under monogamy we have several dif- ferent conceptions as to the character of the union involved in marriage; whether, for example, divorce is at the discretion of the husband, or there shall be any divorce at all; whether the wife shall have her own property, or the property shall be in the hands of the husband ; whether the husband or the wife shall be acknowledged head, or whether the union shall be one of equality. Under one general interpreta- tion of the marriage relation there exist in nearly every state of the Union laws which interpret differ- ently the details of this relation. How, then, can an institution like coeducation, concerning which the law as yet has taken no position, and in reference to which custom is not yet fixed, be arbitrarily limited and restricted to a single phase of relationship ? Whether students shall sit together in the same room is a matter of mechanical arrangement, and is to be adjusted to the demands of the situation. But there are, as already hinted, elements which 304 THE TREND IN HIGHER EDUCATION are essential. One of these is that of association. The beUever in coeducation may certainly stand firm in the doctrine that association of the sexes, rather than separation, is the normal sociological condition in the years that are called preparatory years. This principle will be strengthened, and to some extent determined, by the acceptance of a sec- ond principle, namely, that for women there shall be provided instruction on equal terms with men. In- asmuch as both of these principles depend for effi- ciency upon administration, we may go a step farther and agree that this instruction, provided for men and women associated together on equal terms, shall be under a single management, in order thus to be sure that the terms shall be equal. These, then, are the three essential elements: association, equaHty, and the same administration. It is clearly impossible for coeducation to exist without association of any kind. It will be just as great a violation of the idea involved in coeducation to provide one grade of work for men and another for women, or to assign to either sex special privileges. It would be impracticable for the state to take gen- eral charge of the education of men and to assign the work of women to private corporations or to the church, because in this way there would not only be failure to secure association,- but also failure to secure equal terms. Granting these three essential elements, it remains to consider some of the condi- tions present in certain institutions which require, COEDUCATION 305 and indeed demand, variation under these general provisions. An important factor which up to this time has received small attention is the question of location in a city. Heretofore the experiment, if it is to be called such, has been tried exclusively in small cities or towns. The University of Chicago thus far pre- sents the only case of a coeducational institution of higher learning located in a city of more than a milHon people. It is readily granted that a great city, Uke Boston, New York, or Chicago, offers in- comparable advantages, if these are utiHzed in con- nection with certain grades of higher work. It is just as true that the same elements, which constitute advantage in some particulars, prove to be the source of disadvantage in others. It is manifestly more difficult to secure mental repose and attention to intellectual interests in the midst of distraction. Safeguards must be provided for students, especially those of inexperience, while they are learning to use safeguards for themselves. The problem of coedu- cation in an institution located in a large city is altogether different from that which presents itself in a small city or town. To what has been said there may be added also the fact that association in an institution located in a city rests upon principles accepted in the society of a city Hfe. These are very different from the principles adopted in town or village life. In the latter, one is expected to know his next-door neigh- 3o6 THE TREND IN HIGHER EDUCATION bor; and for the very reason that he lives next to him there is more or less of relationship ; but in city- life one is under no obhgation to know his neighbor or to associate with him. The lines of separation are entirely different. Social Hfe itself is different; and the urban institution is compelled to share this marked difference. Another element which has not yet been fairly tested is that connected with large numbers. As a rule, coeducation has operated thus far only in smaller bodies of students. The time has come to test its efficiency when applied in connection with large numbers. Here again no one can deny the many advantages that are found in the association of large numbers, nor will any one, on the other hand, deny that these advantages may themselves become a source of disturbance and disadvantage. It does not require a long consideration of the question to recognize the fact that, while a body of two thousand men or two thousand women may be directed with a minimum of disadvantage and a maximum of advantage, it might be quite different if a body of four thousand students was constituted wholly of men or of women. Promiscuity in the case of men has no serious disadvantage; nor will it be injurious in the case of women; but promiscuity of men and women in a large undifferentiated mass is a problem of an entirely different character. A school system or a library system eminently adapted to the needs of a city of fifty or a hundred COEDUCATION 307 thousand people will utterly fail, though enlarged, to meet the needs of a city of one or two mil- hons of people. In the latter case, as experience has shown, the entire administration must be changed. In truth, the word "change" does not describe the fact. A system admirably adapted to a smaller city cannot be expanded to meet the de- mands of a large city. An entirely new system must be introduced. The factor of large numbers will seriously modify the administration of any and every kind of effort. The organization from first to last must be based on di£ferent principles. It is quite clear, from even a brief experience, that what is true in other Hnes of administrative work holds good also in reference to the question under consideration. Entirely new adjustments must be discovered and be put into operation in order to adapt coeducation, as it is now comprehended, to the needs of large bodies of students. Still another factor entering into the problem is the question of the age of students. In the high school, whether in city or in town, the pupils Hve at home. The social Hfe of the home and of the church predominates. The high school is responsible only during the hours of actual classroom work — four or five hours a day. In the first years of college hfe the case is different. Boys and girls, only a Uttle more mature than those of the high-school period, come together without the home restraint and without the home influence. They come from a score or more 3o8 THE TREND IN HIGHER EDUCATION of states and enter into a community, having a per- sonal acquaintance, in each case, with only a few who compose the community. Moreover, in the majority of cases, it is the first experience of freedom from the supervision of par- ents. The situation under these circumstances is particularly delicate and difficult. It is the very urgent desire of educators today that boys and girls shall enter college even earlier than they have been accustomed to do hitherto, and when it becomes the rule in families of certain financial competence for daughters to go to college, as it has been for the sons to go, they will be able to enter at an earUer age than heretofore. The average freshman coming from the city is younger than the average freshman coming from the country. Unless one is ready to acknowl- edge that the coeducational method, followed in western institutions, itself an altogether modern inno- vation, represents a perfect ideal, beyond which there can be no progress, and of which there can be no modification, no adaptation to changed condi- tions, he must earnestly and frankly face the new elements thus presented and consider how, in all truth, the present coeducational plan may be im- proved. Only one of these conditions will present itself to some institutions ; perhaps two of them may exist in others. In the institution with which I am myself connected all three have arisen, and have compelled consideration. If the question of numbers -is con- COEDUCATION 309 sidered, and plans are taken up for dividing the student community as a whole into smaller units, in order that each distinct class may receive that kind of oversight and guidance, and that type of moral and physical instruction, which are most conducive to the highest education of the individual, the basis of cleavage must first be estabHshed. Lines of sepa- ration naturally will be partly those that divide younger from older students. But will they not inevitably go farther than this and include those that separate men from women? And is this not entirely natural, provided that it is subject to the condition that men and women shall have equal opportunities, and that the separation shall not be carried to unnecessary extremes? In concluding this statement, it is necessary to refer to two or three other matters which are more or less closely connected with the problems thus far presented. Many advocates of coeducation have assumed, and the system, as it is frequently advo- cated, certainly justifies the assumption, that men and women should be trained to be just as nearly aHke as possible. This has been one of the greatest evils of the system as thus far appHed. Why should we attempt to train women to be Hke men, or men like women ? Is there not a serious loss if the uni- versity places too much emphasis on what they have in common, and gives too Httle weight to the fact that in many respects those essential common inter- ests may be best promoted separately? What is 3IO THE TREND IN HIGHER EDUCATION called identical instruction is probably something legendary. No two instructors ever give the same course in exactly the same way. It is hardly possible for a teacher to give to a class of women the same course of instruction that he would give to a class of men. If he is a true teacher, he will adapt him-.:; self to the different mental attitudes of men andi women. The more successful he is as a teacher, the y more varied will be the instruction given. -' A sociological fact must also be considered. Girls from sixteen to twenty years of age are physically and socially older than boys of the same age. They are more mature. Their social interests are higher than those of the boys of corresponding age. In view of this, girls are Ukely to be patronizing toward the boys, and the latter are self-conscious and em- barrassed when thrown into company with the girls. This furnishes some basis for the opinion that during a certain period in the development of the boy it is better that he should associate with girls of a younger age rather than with those of his own age. The period is a short one, and corresponds in general to that of the first two college years. An opportunity at this time to associate more exclusively with those of his own sex will surely be appreciated by many boys. In conclusion, I may suggest that it is not safe to press too closely the analogy between college life and family life. Many of the ideals of family Ufe may be cultivated in connection with college Hfe, COEI>UCATION 311 but it is to be remembered that the ordinary family is made up of persons of different ages, ranging from the young to the old. In college Hfe the range is much more restricted, the difference being at the most, in ordinary cases, three or four years. Still further, as has been said, there is the question of numbers. If the college class is only a little larger than a family of good size, there is much larger scope for the appUcation of the methods and poHcy of family Hfe than in a class or community made up of one or two thousand. Coeducation demands for its acceptance as a principle, association of men and women in educa- tional work, on absolutely equal terms, and under the same general management. I trust that I have been able to point out that, aside from these funda- mental principles, there is not only ample room, but a stern demand, for liberty of action as well as of thought, in those things which pertain to the further development of this policy. The question is no longer. Shall there be coeducation ? but. How shall the principles of coeducation be adjusted to particular situations ? XIX ALLEGED LUXURY AMONG COLLEGE STUDENTS^ The word "luxury" is a relative, not an absolute, term. What would seem poverty to the average student of one institution might seem luxury to the average student of another. What would actually be poverty for one student might be luxury for another in the same institution. I have known students in large institutions who would live luxuri- ously, from their point of view, on $300 a jear, and I have known other students who would be quite limited with an allowance of $1,200 a year. A two- dollar-a-week room is luxury for some men, while others find themselves cramped in a suite which costs $400 a year. This holds good even in the case of those who indulge in vice. One man will go to ruin on a very small sum, while another, of equally evil propensities, will find it impossible to do much mischief with a sum many times as large. In using the term, we must consider the temperaments of different men and the temptations of different environments. That more money is spent by college students today than was spent forty years ago is unquestion- able. This is true, not only because people every- I Copyright, 1901, by the Century Co. 312 LUXURY AMONG COLLEGE STUDENTS 313 where spend more money than in former times, but also because the men who go to college now are not so prevailingly students for the ministry as in past days. It is to be remembered, Hkewise, that it is today more customary for the children of wealthy and well-to-do parents to go to college, and that five boys go to college where one used to go. The average boy of wealthy parentage Hves at college less luxuriously than he would live at hom^. He is often satisfied with table board which he would not endure at home, for the reason that he wishes to live with certain men who are not able to pay a higher price. His college room is rarely as large or as well furnished as his room at home. He learns a kind of life which at home he would never have known — a life in many particulars more rigid, less easy-going; more independent, less effeminate. That effeminacy which luxury so often produces seldom affects the college man. And, on the other hand, the average boy who is poor lives far better at college than he would have lived at home. For one reason, the poor boy gets far more for his money than does the rich one, and it is right that he should. The college boy, furthermore, soon learns that neither the possession of money nor the lack of it determines his relative place in the college com- munity. For college is a leveler of distinctions. It exalts the valleys, and makes low the mountains and hills. It makes the crooked straight and the rough places even. In college life there is much give and 314 THE TREND IN HIGHER EDUCATION take — I do not have reference to money. There is an adjustment of man to man and of group to group, and, generally speaking, every man finds his true place. A man may live luxuriously and not become either effeminate or vicious, for luxury does not necessarily imply vice. Such a man, however, must have a strong character, and in such living his character will become all the stronger. In col- leges located in villages, however, whether the vil- lages be large or small, luxury is more apt to mean vicious life than in an institution located in a city. A student has few opportunities to spend money legitimately in a village, and if a large sum is being spent, it is morally certain that the results are evil. In a city, on the other hand, he may spend a very considerable sum quite innocently. One man might spend a thousand dollars with real benefit, while another, with different habits, could not possibly spend such a sum without serious injury — I mean without faUing into vice. Luxury, therefore, though it may prepare the way for a weak character to fall into evil habits, may also mean only the gratification of highly developed tastes in some quite legitimate direction. Is the college wholly to blame in case men have suffered because their college life has been too luxurious? In fact, the college may not be at all blameworthy. For it was not the colleges, but the parent, that furnished the money, and without the LUXURY AMONG COLLEGE STUDENTS 315 money to spend no luxury would have been possible. Critics of the college, especially if they are parents, should give heed to this point. I have known par- ents who continued an allowance of $1,500 or $1,800 a year, although I begged them, for the sake of the boy, to cut it down to $600. Is there any real danger that college life is becom- ing too luxurious ? If I had in mind only the sons and daughters of wealthy parents, I would say yes; for if the college student class consisted of this ele- ment exclusively or in large part, the danger would be very great. It cannot be denied, moreover, that the number of this class of students grows larger every year. But when I think of the still larger number of young men and women who are actually swarming into most of our institutions — boys and girls who must live on a mere pittance (often secured by the sacrifice of a parent), and who are eager to perform any service, of however menial a character it may be, to obtain the bare necessities of life — I have no fear whatever that the average college life will become too luxurious. In any case, the college is able to prevent any serious danger of this kind. In my opinion, the whole trend of college work makes this danger a fancied one. College work today is something quite different from that of a quarter-century ago. It may not be more difficult, but it is more real and serious. Most college men today know what their life-work is to be, and their college training is 3i6 THE TREND IN HIGHER EDUCATION arranged to some extent with this in view. This secures an interest in work and a zest for it which makes temptation more easily resisted. They see the practical connection of work with life, and this removes, at least in a measure, the possibility of the danger of too luxurious living. As is often remarked, the atmosphere of the col- lege is the most democratic possible. This, the most precious possession of our American college, should be zealously cherished, and as long as it continues to exist Httle fear of luxury need be felt. In the practical work and working of the college there is much substantial teaching of an economic sort. Many men learn how to live and how not to live, and though not every man learns to apply these lessons at the time, there are few indeed who are not strongly influenced by the simple, inexpensive, and sturdy life of the body of professors and students in the midst of whom their lot is cast. As I have ob- served extravagance in the world, I have seldom seen its worst phases among those who were college- bred, for the educated taste of a college man for- bids it. XX THE SCIENTIFIC STUDY OF THE STUDENT^ A NEW stage in the life of an institution is, at the same time, like and unhke a new stage in the life of an individual. The likeness rests in the fact that in both cases the new stage indicates growth based upon experience of life, and, therefore, unless abnormal influences prevail, a forward progress. This progress signifies, as the result of experience, greater breadth, and, as the result of the lapse of time, greater strength. There may- have been experience without a corresponding breadth; and there may have been lapse of time without corresponding gain of strength; but without experience and without time there cannot be breadth or strength. The unlikeness is to be found in the fact that, while the individual, in becoming old, of neces- sity loses the properties of youth, and with them the possibilities of self-renewal, the institution, however old, may take on new youth, and, being thus old and young, may have all the strength and experience of age, together with the freshness and vigor of youth. In the life of Brown University we celebrate I Read at the inauguration of Rev. W. H. P. Faunce as pres- ident of Brown University, October 17, 1899. 317 3i8 THE TREND IN HIGHER EDUCATION today a new stage, and the celebration takes on significance because it is a new stage in the life of an institution already old — an institution whose his- tory is marked by many stages of glorious achieve- ment. It would seem that at such a time all the mighty forces of this magnificent past were still in existence, waiting only to be summoned; and that these forces, with their collective influence, might easily be wielded in conjunction with the new forces which are now being set in motion. A heri- tage from the past is either a great blessing or a great curse. In this instance it is a blessing the greatness of which the future prosperity of the institution will only make more certain. This occasion has, at least for many of us, a peculiar significance in the fact that we celebrate the begin- ning of a new period in the life of an institution which represents a type of education by which our country has been so signally blessed. The New England college stands second only to the church in the beneficent influence which it has exerted through- out the length and the breadth of these United States. This type of institution has, indeed, controlled the lower and the higher education of the entire land. It is the New England college that has given the New England states the supremacy in higher life and thought. It has been men trained in the New England colleges who have founded similar colleges throughout the middle, western, and southern states. It is to this type of institution that the coun- SCIENTIFIC STUDY OF THE STUDENT 319 try at large owes the measure of intelligence with which affairs of government, as well as private affairs, have been so admirably administered, and that the church is indebted for the steady forward movement which has characterized its history. This institution, under whose roof we are gathered, together with others of hke purpose and organiza- tion, has lived a hfe so strong, and so helpful to our American humanity, that any event in this life which indicates renewed vigor or strengthened activity deserves to be celebrated as an event of high and holy character. It seems to me, however, for still another reason, that this hour is one of solemn significance. The period upon which the institution now enters, under the guidance of its new leader, is, essentially, synchronous with the beginning of a new century. The first and last years of every great division of time are felt to be full of meaning. The new admin- istration of this university begins with the opening years of the twentieth century, and will justly share the significance of these years. The progress of the world at large during the closing half-century has been phenomenal. As examples of this progress we are accustomed to cite the advances made in methods of transportation and communication. The college man knows that the progress in the college world has been equally great. The trans- formation in method and matter of college work 320 THE TREND IN HIGHER EDUCATION wrought within fifty years has been as marked as any that has taken place in the business world. And the principles underlying these changes are for the most part identical in the business and the college worlds. If, then, in these last moments of the nineteenth century we stand amazed at what has taken place in the sphere of commerce, we may likewise be astounded at what has taken place in the sphere of education. And it is at this peculiar juncture that the new president takes up his work. It is for him, therefore, to appropriate all that has been estabHshed, and with open mind to await the unveiling of the secrets of the new century — secrets which in number and importance will surely equal those of the days gone by. In this connection I may be permitted to dwell, for a moment, on one of the many features which, as the signs of the times would seem to indicate, will characterize the twentieth-century college education. This feature is, itself, one of several outgrowths of the application of the doctrine of individuahsm. Individualism, in education, as distinguished from collectivism, is the greatest contribution of the nineteenth century to the cause of college education. The application of the doctrine is seen in numerous modifications already introduced, as in the intro- duction of the elective system in courses of instruc- tion, the encouragement of officers of instruction to specialize in this or that department, or in this SCIENTIFIC STUDY OF THE STUDENT 321 or that subdivision of a department. The work of the student has been, in large measure, trans- formed as a result of the wide choice of subjects placed before him, and by the freedom given him to make his own choice. But, now, in order that the freedom may not be abused, and in order that the student may receive the assistance so essential to his highest success, another step in the onward evolution will take place. This step will be the scientific study of the student himself. Today the professor's energy is practically exhausted in his study of the subject which he is to present to the student. In the time that is coming provision must be made, either by the regular instructors or by those appointed especially for the purpose, to study in detail the man or woman to whom instruction is offered. ■ Just as at present, in many institutions, every student upon entrance receives a careful physical examination, for the discovery of possible physical weaknesses, and for the provision of special corrective exercises; and just as from time to time such student is re-examined physically, to note the progress of such remedies as have been applied, or to discover the rise of new complications ; so in the future it will be a regular function of the college to make a general diagnosis of each student. This will be made (i) with special reference to his character — to find out whether he is responsible, or careless, or shiftless, or perhaps vicious; (2) with special reference likewise to his intellectual capacity 322 THE TREND IN HIGHER EDUCATION — to discover whether he is unusually able, or bright, or average, or slow, or dull; whether he is industri- ous, or irregular, or lazy; (3) with reference to his special intellectual characteristics — to learn whether he is independent and original, or one who works largely along routine lines; whether his logical sense is keen, or average, or dull; whether his ideas are flexible, or easily diverted, or rigid; whether he has control of his mind, or is given to mind- wandering, and to what extent he has power to overcome difficulties; (4) with reference to his special capacities and tastes — to determine whether these are evenly balanced, or whether there exists a marked preference for some special subject; whether he prefers those aspects of study which are of the book type, or those of a mechanical or constructive type, or those of a laboratory type; whether- his special gift lies along lines of an aesthetic character, or those of a literary or scientific or philo- sophical character; whether his special aptitude, supposing it to be in the literary field, lies in criticism, or interpretation, or creative work; whether his preference in scientific Unes is for the observational or the experimental side of work, or for general principles; and, finally, (5) with reference to the social side of his nature — to judge whether he is fond of companionship ; whether he is a leader or follower among his fellows; whether he is a man of affairs, or devotes himself exclusively to his studies; the character of his recreation; the way in which he SCIENTIFIC STUDY OF THE STUDENT 323 spends his leisure hours ; whether he is compelled to work for self-support, or for the support of others. These details, and many others which I may not now describe, will be secured in various ways: in part from preparatory teachers, in part from parents, in part from the student himself, in part also from careful observation of his work in the first months of his college hfe. It will be no easy task; but the difficulties will not be greater than its importance. Such a diagnosis, when made, would serve as the basis for the selection of studies, in the different stages of advancement; for it is as certain that the student up to a certain age should be required to do work for which he has no special taste or ability, as that after such an age he should be guided to take that for which he has special taste or abihty. The facts set forth in this diagnosis will be of para- mount value also in determining the character of the instructor under whom he should study; for it is clearly manifest that students of different disposition, and of different attitudes of mind, cannot work with equal success under the same instructor even in the same subject. It is here that the large institu- tion with several instructors in a given department will have the advantage over the smaller institution. For it is as important that students should have election in the matter of teachers as in the matter of subjects. A student who will utterly fail to do good work under one instructor will often do excel- 324 THE TREND IN HIGHER EDUCATION lent work in the same subject under an instructor of a different temperament, though both instructors are of equal ability as teachers. The data thus gathered will determine the char- acter of all advice given the student and of any pun- ishment administered; for punishment as well as advice must be adapted to each individual case, and no two cases can possibly be ahke. This material, likewise, will determine in large measure the career of the student. The most pathetic experience of college life is to find a man at the end of his college course as uncertain with respect to his life-work as he was at the beginning; an uncertainty due for the most part to the fact that he has not yet discovered his powers and tastes; that he has not studied himself so as to know him- self; that he has not been studied by the instructors so as to be known by them. Here, in some degree, is the difference between college and university. The college is the place for the student to study and test himself, in order that he may learn for what God made him; the college is the place for the instructor to study each student, and to point out his weak and his strong points, that the former may be corrected and the latter still more greatly strengthened. The university is the place for men who have come to know themselves, and who have learned what they can do and what they cannot do, to study in the line of their chosen calling. For, strictly speaking, university life begins only when a SCIENTIFIC STUDY OF THE STUDENT 325 man has discovered the subject or subjects which are to be connected with his life-work. No man • has any business to enter the university until his life-work has been determined. And to this end some remedy must be found for the confusion as to the respective functions of college and university which now exists almost universally in our country. This feature of twentieth-century college educa- tion will come to be regarded as of greatest impor- tance, and fifty years hence will prevail as widely as '<-- it is now lacking. It is the next step in the evolution of the principle of individualism, and its application will, in due time, introduce order and system into our educational work, where now only chaos is to be found. May the institution under whose auspices"^ 7 we meet today be one of the first to make this scien- / ^ tific study of the student a part of its regular | work. -^ I bring on this occasion the greetings of the Uni- versity of Chicago, and also those of the great West and Northwest to which Chicago is the gate of entrance — a territory which includes many institu- tions of learning, and which numbers among its citizens many alumni of Brown University. * The West gratefully acknowledges its debt of gratitude to the East for the eastern life and thought which, transplanted and adjusted to its new environment, we now call western life and thought. The West gladly acknowledges the particular debt which it owes to Brown University for the many men of 326 THE TREND IN HIGHER EDUCATION strong character and forceful influence whom Brown has contributed to the uplifting of the West. And, finally, the West unites with the East in a prayer for the long and prosperous administration of the distinguished man who now becomes the president of Brown University. XXI THE COLLEGE OFFICER AND THE COL- LEGE STUDENT' The growth of interest shown in the field of higher education during thirty years or so has been as marked as the growth in the industrial world. The changes which have come about in connection with this growth, and in part as a consequence of it, are greater than can be appreciated without a careful comparison, point by point, between the usage of today and that of a quarter-century ago. A multitude of agencies, all of which relate themselves to the thought of democracy, and which owe their life to the spirit of democracy, have exerted influence upon the minutest details of higher educational life and method. The changes, therefore, in the educa- tional field are due to the same causes, and indeed are the same changes as those which have taken place in every kind of life about us. Thirty years ago there were no universities nor large institutions. Harvard had 655 students; Yale, 664; Michigan, 432. The American univer- sity is something entirely new; and, side by side with its development, important modifications in the method and aim of college work have come in. No one questions for a single moment the fact that I Read at the inauguration of Professor Rush Rhees as presi- dent of Rochester University, October ii, 1900. 327 328 THE TREND IN HIGHER EDUCATION these changes in general have served to advance the cause of education; and yet one will be slow to make the distinct announcement that in every detail these changes have proved to be a source of added strength. What I have in mind to speak of today, however, is the actual relationship which exists, or should exist, between the college student in his student life and the college professor. I use the word "college" rather than the word "university." In real university life the question of this relation- ship is one which has not yet received even the slightest consideration. I am myself persuaded that in the university as well as in the college the members of the faculty have large and definite responsibilities outside of those pertaining directly to the work of the lecture-room; but the oppor- tunity this afternoon permits but few words at best, and these I shall restrict to the college life as dis- tinguished from that of the university. The college professor of today is not an oflEicer of the state, but a fellow-student. The truth is that he is not an officer at all, although, in view of the old traditions or with a new meaning for the word, the term may be employed. The higher institution of learning is not, as it once was, an institution empowered to try its students for civil or criminal offenses. University courts are a remi- niscence of the Middle Ages. The college professor is neither a judge nor a member of a jury. He is not set to pass judgment on the conduct of the COLLEGE OFFICER AND STUDENT 329 student, if that conduct should violate the state laws. The college community is one made up of older and younger students, all of whom have joined the community in order to make progress in intellectual hfe. If some of the members of the community for good reason violate its common sentiment, they should retire, and naturally it will be the older members of the community who, as fellow-students, shall have most to do with deter- mining the particular spirit that shall be character- istic of the community. In that incitement which those more advanced in the same kinds of work may furnish to those who follow, in the sympathy which binds together those who hold interests in common, in the ambition which leads a student to emulate and to out-distance fellow-students — in all these and in other ways the college professor will show himself to be as much a student as any other in the college; as intense a worker, as sympathetic a Hstener, as humble a learner as any member of the community. The _. only difference between the professor and the pupil is that the former has the advantage of maturity and of experience. This advantage he shares unselfishly with his fellow- student, the pupil. Maybe the pupil is just beginning his work along these higher lines, while the professor has learned long since that, whatever progress he may have made, he is still only on the border lines of knowledge in his department. The college professor who has not the student spirit should 330 THE TREND IN HIGHER EDUCATION not continue his college work, and, if he have the student spirit, then he is a fellow-student with all who have that spirit. The idea involved in the arbitrary exercise of authority as an officer is utterly opposed to the student spirit. It is an attitude of mind with which the student spirit is entirely inconsistent; and so, today, the true and efficient college instructor is only an older fellow-student in a guild made up of members all of whom, if they so deserve, retain their membership — are truly fellow-students. If he is more than this, he is not this; if he is less than this, he is nothing, i The college professor today is not an officer in loco parentis. It is an old and a widely prevailing opinion which in opposition to this statement would make the college instructor parent for the time being of those with whom he is to associate. This idea is, of course, closely related to that which has just been mentioned. Parents who have occupied the first sixteen or eighteen years of the life of the prospective pupil in such a manner as to convince that pupil that parental disciphne is something to be dreaded and to be avoided, some- thing mischievous and productive of every evil, are only too glad to turn their sons and daughters over to the college, with the understanding that the college shall now assume parental authority. Such parents, in transferring this dignified and wide-reaching function, have transferred, in these cases, something that has long since been emptied COLLEGE OFFICER AND STUDENT 331 of its dignity and its worth. If parental authority has been rightly exercised, the young man or young woman at the age of ei^teen ought to be free, within the limitations of conventional life, to do what seems proper, in so far as it does not conflict with the general sentiment of the particular community to which they have now given adherence. If the parental authority has not been exercised properly , during those eighteen years, the young man or young woman will not be found ready to submit to artificial authority of an institutional character even for a moment. No, the college instructor is not a parent, nor does he have the authority of a parent. Parents in these days are themselves wise enough to know that at the college age the time has come when the young man or young woman will not brook objec- tive or institutional authority. The influence of the i parent has its basis in affection; and the professor, I if he would exert a strong influence, must convince the student that he is serving the student's interests. The instructor is, therefore, an older brother in the student's family. Here again his advantage is only that which comes from age and experience. As in any given family there are those who stand more closely associated — brothers, for instance, in some cases stand in closer, in others a less close, relation- ship — so the ideal community is a fraternity in which older and younger come together and influence each other in different degree. 332 THE TREND IN HIGHER EDUCATION For my own part, I can conceive that the influ- ence of the younger members in this fraternity is as great in many instances upon the older as is that of the older upon the young. This influence will be very strong, and will be entirely different from any arbitrary exercise of authority. For the college community is a real democracy. All men even in a democracy, are not equal although all deserve equal privileges. In the college community those have larger influence who, by reason of age and wisdom and training, have larger opportunity to aid those, who as yet have not attained to the same high level. If the foregoing conceptions are in any measure correct, it follows that the closeness of the relation- ship which we are considering will depend upon the extent to which in any given case the pupil and the instructor have common interests ; and those who have common interests, whether of an objective or of a sub- jective character, will alone derive strong advantage from this relationship. It is just here that the prin- ciple of election plays its part. The opportunity to elect certain subjects for study is one which permits the pupil to assume the relation of fellowship with an instructor whose highest interests connect them- selves with those subjects. A pupil cannot be a fellow-student with a professor, if pupil and professor do not have a fellow-feeling toward the subject studied. On the other hand, fellowship and friend- ship can hardly be avoided in the case of pupil and instructor whose hearts are drawn in the same direc- COLLEGE OFFICER AND STUDENT sss tion, whose minds are led to deal continuously with the same thought, and whose Hves are thus brought intimately together. Fellow-studentship between in- structor and pupil is therefore dependent upon the opportunity to elect; and if it has existed in earlier times without this opportunity, it has been, in many cases, an accident. The principle of election, then, has made student- fellowship between officer and pupil possible; nay more, it has made any other relationship impossible. But this, it may be said, does not apply to those sub- jects in the first year of college work which all students take in common; for example, Latin, English, mathematics. Here an important difference exists between the larger and the smaller college. In the latter the old regime still continues. The freshmen and the sophomore do not think of student- fellowship with instructors. It is only when one has come to be a junior or a senior that he may, under ordinary circumstances, be said to enter into any kind of relationship with instructors; and this is because in most instances in the smaller institution all students must go to one man for work in Latin, to another for work in English, and to another for work in mathematics. Even though there be two or three, the student has no choice; because, there being but a single class of a certain stage of advancement, some one instructor of the department takes the more advanced students, another those less advanced ; and this arrangement leaves the student himself no 334 THE TREND IN HIGHER EDUCATION choice. In the larger institutions it is possible — although it must be admitted the possibility is not often realized — to apply the principle of election to the instructor rather than to the subject of instruc- tion. And here a new principle comes into opera- tion. The pupil may select one of two or three, or even more, instructors who are offering the same course of instruction at the same time. There is, indeed, much to be said in favor of the distribution of students in sections made up of those of equal intellectual strength, Section A including those who rank highest, the other sections also being organized on the basis of scholarship. There are advantages in this system; but there are advantages also in the system which will allow each student to select that one of the two or more instructors offer- ing the same subject at the same time who shall seem to be a man between whom and the pupil a closer personal relationship may exist. One instruc- tor may prove to be sympathetic and helpful to pupils of a certain temperament and attitude of mind. This same instructor may utterly fail to be of assist- ance to another group of students equally strong; while a second instructor may succeed with the second group and fail with the first. Few men occupy the professorial chair in our colleges who can touch closely even a majority of the students in their classes. This is in many cases, as has been said, a matter of natural temperament. The nerv- ous and vigorous instructor will accomplish most COLLEGE OFFICER AND STUDENT 335 for students of one temperament, while students of another temperament will receive injury from his instruction. The sober, quiet, and unobtrusive personality of another instructor will, on the other hand, find response in the minds and hearts of stu- dents whom the first instructor could not touch. From this point of view care should be taken that the instructors in a given department of study should be men or women of entirely different types, in order that, being thus different, they may bring themselves into relationship with different types of pupils. In the liberty accorded the pupil to select the departments in which he will study, and in the liberty which he may enjoy to make choice between different instructors offering the same grade of work at the same time, there will be found the basis, and the only basis, for fellow-studentship and for frater- nal comradeship; and these together constitute the ideal relationship that should exist between the instructor and his pupil. I regret that the limit of time has not permitted me to enlarge upon the thought I have in mind. But now, in bearing greetings from the university which I have the honor to represent to our col- league who today assumes the responsibiHties of this high office, it will not be inappropriate to make brief appHcation of these propositions to him and to his office. If the college instructor be a student, if he is a fellow-student, one of the members of a community 336 THE TREND IN HIGHER EDUCATION of students, the president of the college must in a peculiar sense be such a student. There is no place in the college community for a man, whether he be pupil or instructor or president, who is not a student, who himself is not engaged in the search for truth, or for the best methods of propagating truth already known. I do not mean that he must be a formal teacher; for this there may not be good opportunity. But the college community cannot have as its most honored member one who is not a student in one or another of the great departments of hfe — one who has not the student mind, the student attitude of mind, the student sympathy, or the student ambition. If the college community is a family of brothers, in which the instructor is an older member guiding as best he can those who have more recently entered the family, it follows that the president is the elder brother, the oldest of the family, that one on whom special responsibihties rest — responsibihties which shall be discharged only as they conserve the inter- ests of the family, as they include the work and the growth of even the youngest member of the family. The relationship between him and the instructor is that of brothers closely related in age. His rela- tionship to the pupils is that of a brother somewhat separated, perhaps, in years, but, for that very reason, in whose heart there will be found greater tenderness and care for those who are the new- comers in the family. The president will be the most honored student of the student community. COLLEGE OFFICER AND STUDENT 337 He is the oldest brother of the family, and as such his interests will be broader than those of any other student. Personally he may have made choice of some special subject, but officially he will feel the same interest in every department, and will labor with his fellow-9tudents who represent those depart- ments, for their upbuilding. Breadth of interest will be his strongest characteristic. As a member and a brother in the family, he will exercise the largest sympathy with the other brothers of the family, old and young. His personal relationship will be close; with each brother of the family who has occasion to rejoice he will rejoice; with each member of the family who has occasion to weep he will weep. As a true brother he will point out to each member of the family, young and old, what in his opinion is wrong; and he will make effort to suggest how improvement may be secured. He will exercise, if need be, that candor and that straightforward bluntness which a brother may exercise toward a brother. His attitude will not be that of a superior person endowed for the time being with special power. The true college president is not a "boss;" he is a fellow-student and a brother. XXII THE LENGTH OF THE COLLEGE COURSE^ In view of the time allotted, I shall limit my statement to the presentation of some considerations which, to my mind, are distinctly opposed to the proposition to make three instead of four years the normal period of residence for the college course. Some students are, unquestionably, able to com- plete the course in three years. About the same number should perhaps, to do the work equally well, take five years. The question before us, how- ever, is not one that relates to a small proportion of the students who enter college — the very bright- est or the very dullest. It is a question which has to do with the normal college course — that is, the course of study intended for the average students It is easy to point out the origin of the difficulty which confronts us and has given rise to the propo- , » sition itself. It is a survival of the old idea which ^^ made the college curriculum something rigid, some- thing into conformity with which every student must be brought, rather than something which should be made to conform to each individual stu- dent. It is not inconsistent with this suggestion ^ Read before the National Educational Association (Depart- ment of Higher Education) at Boston, July 7, 1903. 338 LENGTH OF THE COLLEGE COURSE 339 \cy that the first discussion of the question took place in an atmosphere friendly to the elective policy as distinguished from the poHcy of a fixed curriculum. Adaptation to the needs of the individual along certain lines did not in this case, however, carry with it flexibihty and adaptation in other hnes. It is not an adaptation of the college course to the A /^ 'K; needs of individual men to propose that the course shall be a three-year one. An adaptation would permit four years for those who need four years, five for those who need five years, and three for / those who are able to do the work in three years. The proposition for a three-year course is based \ upon the supposition that the entire work of the college course is really university work. This is a mistaken supposition. The work of the freshman and sophomore years is ordinarily of the same scope and character as that of the preceding years in the academy or high school. To cut off a full year means either the crowding of this higher preparatory or college work of the freshman and sophomore years, or the shortening of the real university work done in the junior and senior years of the college course. The adoption of either alternative will occasion a serious loss to the student. The aver- age man is not prepared to take up university work until he has reached the end of the sophomore year. No greater mistake is being made in the field of higher education than the confusion which is com- ing to exist between college and university methods \ 340 THE TREND IN HIGHER EDUCATION of work. The adoption of a three-year college term will only add to a confusion already great. Furthermore, the proposition rests upon an incor- rect idea as to the age at which students should begin work. The average age of students entering college today is about the same as it was twenty- five or fifty years ago. The average age of students leaving college today is about the same as it was twenty-five or fifty years ago. The serious difficulty lies in the fact that the demands of professional edu- cation are greater today than they were twenty-five or fifty years ago, and that, instead of courses of professional study which extend over two years, we are confronted with courses of professional study which extend over three or four years. It is a point of special interest, however, that, although the requirements for entrance to college are so much greater than they were formerly, the student masters these requirements and enters virtually at the same age. In other words, better educational facilities have made it possible to graduate the young man at the same age, but with nearly two years of additional equipment. With all this gain, however, it is ap- parent to any student of the situation that even yet there is great waste, and that a better arrangement of the curriculum in the earlier stages of educational work will make it possible for one or two additional years to be gained. From the multiplication of high schools and their greater efficiency, and from the consequent improvement in the grammar schools, LENGTH OF THE COLLEGE COURSE much may be expected. It is reasonable to suppose that a practical limit has been reached so far as\ concerns the requirements for admission to college. With this limit fixed, it is not unreasonable to expect that on the basis of the present requirements a boy- may reach college one or two years earher within the next decade. This will counterbalance the increase of time required in the professional schools referred to above. It is therefore unnecessary to shorten the college course merely to provide for an extension of the professional course. Then, there is another wrong idea upon which the proposition is based — a wrong idea of the high" school. This institution is no longer a school pre- paratory for college. In its most fully developed form it covers at least one-half the ground of the college of fifty years ago. It is a real college; at all events, it provides the earlier part of a college course. Its work may not be separated from that of the freshman and sophomore years either in method or scope. Indeed, many high schools are actually moving forward to include in their curricu- lum the work of the freshman and sophomore years. And in these schools the entire college course, as it was known fifty years ago, besides the additional work in science which at that time was unknown, is included. This development of the high school has a significant bearing upon the question before us. How is this new college, the product of our own generation, to be brought into relationship 342 THE TREND IN HIGHER EDUCATION with the old college which has come down to us from our ancestors ? The correct appreciation of the modern high school and its proper adjustment to the situation as a whole makes strongly against the proposed three-year course. Another objection to the three-year pohcy is that its adoption by the larger institutions would be followed immediately by an increase of require- ments for admission to the first year of college work. How this increase would work may be seen in the history of the college of the Johns Hopkins Univer- sity, in which the requirements for admission to the first of the three years practically include the work of the ordinary freshman year. While high schools as such show a tendency to increase the scope of their work, and while this tendency is certainly to be encouraged, such increase should be accepted as a substitute for the work of the college, but not as an additional requirement for admission to the college. Our present difficulties have their origin partly in the fact that from time to time we have increased the requirements for admission to college, until, as has already been pointed out, a fairly good college course of instruction is now obtained before the so- called college work begins. This is an evil which should be corrected, and its correction lies in the direction of reducing the requirements for admission rather than in increasing them. The evil would be intensified by the adoption of the three-year policy. UNIVERSi LENGTH OF THE COLLEGE COURSE f UN! Again, the proposition is based upon the sup- position that the essential thing is the time require- ment. Starting with the tradition that the college course must be four years for all men of whatever grade, it proceeds upon the assumption that, for various reasons, this period, now the same for all students, must continue to be the same for all stu- dents; namely, the three-year period. No idea has exerted a more injurious influence in the history of the college work than that the period of four years, however employed, if spent in college residence, guaranteed a college education. It is questionable whether the time limit in the undergraduate course is any more important a factor than the time limit in the work for the doctor's degree. This fondness for a time limit, which is the fundamental basis of the three-year proposition, is a survival of the old class system which disappeared long ago in the larger institutions, and is beginning to show deca- dence even in the smaller institutions. The proposition should likewise be opposed because of its deleterious influence upon the smaller colleges. The American college is the glory of American spiritual life, and its existence must not be endangered. Granting that the larger institu- tions could adopt without injury the three-year plan, it would be impossible for the smaller colleges so to do. Two things would follow: the decadence of the better colleges of this class, and the adoption of the policy by colleges only slightly above the grade 344 THE TREND IN HIGHER EDUCATION of high schools. And when it came to be seen that the college system is adjusted in its entirety with a view to its relationship to the professional schools, and that it is only a second college course following a first college course already received in the high school, the tendency would be for students to go directly from the high school to the university — a tendency to be discouraged as urgently as possible. Moreover, the colleges of lower grade would at once reduce their period to one of three years, even though their curriculum were greatly inferior to that of the larger institutions. In other words, the step pro- posed, in spite of protestations to the contrary, means, in the end, a lowering of requirements throughout the field of higher education. For a boy who enters college at the right age, sixteen or seventeen, less than four years is too short a time. The adoption of the three-year course will, however, compel every boy to limit his college course to three years. This is a serious difficulty. On the present basis he may take one, two, three, or four years, according to circum- stances. On the new plan he would be limited to three years, so far as college work is concerned. With the immense increase in attendance at college which has come within the last decade on the four-year basis, why should we dehberately plan to reduce the time to three years? Surely in the years to come a preparation will be needed as full and long as was needed in the years that are past. LENGTH OF THE COLLEGE COURSE 345 The one place in which it is unnecessary and unde- sirable to cut down the time of those who are willing and able to take four years is in the college period. Let the time be shortened in the earlier years, but at this stage of preparation, with the great number of subjects which may profitably be consid- ered, let us have all the time possible. The suggestion of the three-year course, further- more, ignores the culture value of the subjects in the first year of professional work. For my own part, from the point of view of citizenship and general culture, I can conceive no work more valuable to a young man or woman than the first year in the curriculum of the law, the medical, or the divinity school, or in the school of education. In any one of these groups the student is brought into contact with living questions. The fact that the method in professional schools is different from that in the college is, in the majority of cases, a distinct advan- tage, and in no case an injury, since it serves as a corrective of a tendency toward dilettantism unques- tionably encouraged by the more lax methods of the later years of college work. If any one question has been settled in the • educational discussion of the last quarter of a century, it is that a Hne is no longer to be drawn between this class of subjects and that, on the ground that one group, and not the other, may be regarded as culture-producing. The opportunity to elect subjects of this character in the last year of the college course does not injure 346 THE TREND IN HIGHER EDUCATION the integrity of the college. It must, however, be admitted that the adoption of this policy by larger institutions introduces a difficulty for the smaller institutions, but this difficulty is not insuperable, and several ways have already been suggested for meeting it. Then, too, as already hinted, the proposition, subordinates the college almost wholly to the pro- fessional school. It is largely because of the increased demands of the professional schools that it seems necessary to shorten the college course. This does not seem to be in harmony with the fact that a com- paratively small number of students really expect to enter professional schools. Why should students who do not have the professional school in mind be required to shorten the term of college residence ? If it is answered that the student who enters any line of business activity needs the year thus saved in order that he may begin his work earHer, it may be said that the facts do not bear out this proposition ; and, in any case, a year of business is not to be treated as a year of college work in the sense that it is equivalent to the first year's course of study in a professional school. It is therefore as inexpedient to adjust the whole college policy to the supposed needs of a minority who are planning to enter the professional school, as it is to adjust the whole poHcy of a high school to the needs of a minority who enter college. And, finally, it is to be urged in opposition to the LENGTH OF THE COLLEGE COURSE 347 proposed movement that it is in general contrary to the drift of educational movements, and that the very thing which it proposes can easily be secured by other means. Among other educational tenden- cies today may be cited (a) that of the high school to enlarge its scope and add to its curriculum one or two years of additional work; (6) that of strength- ening the faculties and curriculum of the average smaller college; (c) that of avoiding the waste in the earHer years, and the consequent possibihty of college entrance at an earHer age; and (d) that of distinct separation between college and university methods. To each and all of these the proposition stands opposed. Following the example of one of the speakers this morning, I would suggest that the plan which has been in operation at the University of Chicago for nearly ten years has seemed to many of us to meet in large measure the demands called for this morning. This plan provides a course of four years and a course of two years. It permits students of exceptional ability to do the work in three years. It makes it possible for those who so desire to prolong the work five years. It is adapted to the needs of individuals of different classes. With the completion of the two-year course a certificate is given, granting the title of "associate" in the univer- A ^ sity. This, for the present, is sufficient in the way of a degree. To students who maintain a standing of the highest grade certain concessions are made. 348 THE TREND IN HIGHER EDUCATION The details of the plan have been worked out as experience has indicated the need. The provi- sion of a two-year course meets the need of many who cannot take a longer term of residence, and likewise of many who ought not to take a longer course. The provision of a normal four-year course meets the need of the average man or woman. This plan does not imply that this average man or woman who spends four years in residence is par- ticularly stupid, or that a year has been wasted. It is believed, from an experience of ten or more years, that this plan contains the solution of at least many of the points now under discussion. XXIII THE SITUATION OF THE SMALL COLLEGE^ In my opinion the two most serious problems of education requiring solution within the next quarter of a century are, first, the problem of rural schools, which falls within the domain of lower education; and, secondly, the problem of the small college, which lies within the domain of higher education. This second problem, which forms the subject of our consideration here, is at the same time serious and delicate; serious, because the greatest interests, both material and spiritual, are at stake; delicate, because there are involved special and peculiar questions of privilege and right. The study of the problem is a difficult one, because it deals with data insufficiently gathered and not yet properly tabulated; because, also, the territory covered is so vast and includes sec- tions so differently situated. I may be pardoned for mentioning my personal experience : My student life was divided, my under- graduate work being done in a small college, my graduate work in a large college or university. My life as a teacher has been almost evenly divided, twelve years having been spent in institutions termed I An address given in Charleston, S. C, July lo, 1900, before the National Educational Association. 349 350 THE TREND IN HIGHER EDUCATION ** small," thirteen in institutions which may be called *' larger." I approach the subject, therefore, with no prejudice born of lack of experience in one or the other kind of educational institution. We shall consider — I. Some factors which would seem to guarantee the life and the growth of the smaller institutions. II. Some factors which will be found to stand in the way of such development. III. Some changes affecting the small colleges which are to be expected, and which are to be desired. I Let us notice, first of all, the widely prevailing be- lief that the smaller institution has certain decided ad- vantages over the larger in the character of the results produced. This belief is entertained so strongly and in so many quarters that, whether true or false, it furnishes a substantial element of strength to the cause of the smaller college. It cannot be said that, if this belief is false, its falsity will soon become appar- ent; for, in weighing evidence on both sides of so delicate a question, the number of points to be con- sidered is very great, and the individual equation, in each case, is altogether different. Who can say dogmatically that it would have been better or worse for this or that boy had he gone to the larger institu- tion instead of to the smaller; or to the smaller instead of to the larger ? The student of the small college, it is urged, has SITUATION OF THE SMALL COLLEGE 351 an advantage in that he comes into closer contact with the officers of the faculty. It is certainly true, other things being equal, that the student who knows his instructor intimately and is himself intimately known by him, has a much greater chance of achiev- ing satisfactory results than the student who has Httle or no personal contact with his instructor. But here two things should be noted. First, is it a fact that in the larger institutions the student comes into less vital touch with his teachers ? A study of this question, extending over several years, has con- vinced me that the student in the larger institutions not only comes into relationship with a greater num- ber of instructors, but also touches in the closest possible way as many of this number, as he would have touched in the smaller college. And, second, is it a question merely of close contact, or of receiving that deep incitement which stirs the soul to its very depths ? I have known instructors in both large and small institutions, close touch with whom would deaden rather than quicken any higher life ; and it is only fair to say that the number of such is as great proportionately in the small as in the larger institu- tion. Again, the student of the small college, it is urged, has great advantages, especially in the earlier college years, because in most cases he does his work under men who have the rank of professor, while in the larger institutions he is turned over to young men who are only tutors or instructors. And yet it 352 THE TREND IN HIGHER EDUCATION should be remembered that these same tutors and instructors, if they were in the smaller insti- tutions, would enjoy the rank of professor. I have in mind a university in which every man who is ranked as an assistant professor, instructor, or tutor has been offered a full professorship in a small college, and several of them the presidency of such an institution. Further, the student of the small college, it is urged, has greater opportunity to develop respon- sibility; the number of students being small, each one stands out more definitely and receives greater recognition, while, at the same time, he actually counts for more in the various activities of the college life. It should be remembered, however, that the incentives to excel and the number of activities which present themselves to the student ambition increase even more rapidly than the proportionate increase in numbers; and that these opportunities are higher in character and more varied in propor- tion to the horizon of those who find themselves in this or that environment. But I have allowed myself to wander somewhat. The point I wish to present is this : The behef in the superior advantages of the small college has taken so strong a hold upon the minds of men in general that, although it rests upon grounds which are in large measure fancied or sentimental, it will serve as a strong factor in assisting to maintain and to advance the interests of the smaller as against those of the larger institutions. /^TUATION OF THE SMALL COLLEGE 353 A second factor which has helped the smaller j institutions in the past, and one which will continue I to render strong assistance, is that feeling, sometimes I of awe and almost fear, at other times of jealousy and hostiHty, which is invariably aroused in the minds of j many toward an institution that has grown large and \ powerful. The small college is loved and cherished, i in most cases, just because it is small and weak; f while the larger institution is hated and opposed, J because it is powerful. This has been the history of every institution that has become great. It is the history of nearly every one of the state universities in the western states. It is the feeling with which the smaller towns or cities in a state regard the one y great city of a particular region^^.^^^ Legitimate use may be made of this characteristic of human nature. I do not, observe, call it a weak- ness. It is a mark of strength when a man, or a community, or a nation turns in sympathy and com- passion toward that which is small and weak, and finds this very weakness in itself so strong as to serve as a ground of appeal for help. The small college will always have friends because of its weak- ness. And the corollary of this is equally true: the larger institution will have enemies because of its strength. Moreover, this is as it should be; that which is strong will be more likely to become stronger as the result of opposition than as the result of sym- pathy and help. The latter, too, is often weakening, instead of strengthening. This feehng, therefore, of 354 THE TREND IN HIGHER EDUCATION hostility toward the larger institutions — a feeling entirely natural and altogether general — is in itself a guaranty of a continued interest in the small as opposed to the large institutions. Closely associated with this is another factor, which, through all time, will stand arrayed on the side of the small college — a strong and noble phalanx of supporters. I mean the faculty and the alumni of the institution. No greater acts of heroism or self-sacrifice have been performed on battlefield, or in the face of dan- ger, than those which are written down in the book of the recording angel to the credit of the teachers whose very blood has gone into the foundations of some of our weak and strugghng colleges. Blood thus freely and nobly given can never have been given in vain. It will cry out to heaven in behalf of the cause for which it was spent, and this cry will be heard and answered, and new friends will be raised up. The love of an alumnus for his alma mater is something sacred and very tender. Does the true son think less of his natural mother because she is, perhaps, poor and weak, or even sick and deformed ? The true college man is and will be all the more devoted to his spiritual mother, if, per- chance, in the varying tides of human vicissitude, she has become low ; or if, in spite of long and weary years of struggle, she has failed to grow into full and perfect vigor. There are scores of colleges which live today, and in God's providence will continue SITUATION OF THE SMALL COLLEGE 355 to live, because of the devotion, even at a terrible cost, of a few teachers, or a few alumni. Such devo- tion money cannot purchase. It is worth more than money. It is a gift more precious than anything material. It is, moreover, the very essence of the life of the institution for which it is cherished. And, as the essence of that Hfe, it is the guaranty of the life of the institution. Another factor in the preservation and upbuilding of the small college — a factor the potency of which will increase with passing decades — is the desire of men who have been successful in accumulating wealth to do something with that wealth which will be constructive^ creative. The faculty of amassing wealth is a constructive faculty, a creative faculty, and the man who has this faculty, if he is of a benevo- lent disposition, is likely to turn it to a work which is likewise of the constructive or creative type; for example, to the development of college work. It might almost be said to be a law of philanthropy that it is exercised within a territory co-extensive with the horizon of the philanthropist. The great majority of men who have achieved a moderate suc- cess in life are known only within a certain district. Occasionally a man is strong enough and large enough to have his name and fame extend beyond the locality in which his work is done; such men are the exceptions. And just so, men whose hearts and minds are large enough to take in the whole world, whose benefactions are bestowed over a wide 356 THE TREND IN HIGHER EDUCATION area, are exceptions. Most men of liberal mind limit their benevolences to those causes with which they themselves may keep in close touch. In every section of the country, and in almost every county of every state, there are men who are disposed to use their means for the improvement of the particular locality in which their wealth has been accumulated. It is impossible to interest such men in any kind of benevolent work at a distance. If rightly approached, they will undertake work at home. Although interested in educational work, they are nevertheless not interested in the work of the large institution, even when it is close by. They cannot be persuaded that the larger institution, with the several millions of dollars which it has already secured, can need additional endowment; and, in any case, they cannot be persuaded that the smaller gifts which they might make would be appreciated in the midst of so much wealth. Here then is a condition of things which will bring about benevo- lence to the smaller institution within reach. The number of such men today is very large, and that number is constantly increasing with the grow- ing prosperity of the country. The small college furnishes an opportunity for these men, within their own circle, to do a work for the cause of higher education — a cause which has a peculiar fascination for many minds, inasmuch as it is a constructive and creative work. In this condition of things there is a guaranty that provision will be made in the future. SITUATION OF THE SMALL COLLEGE 357 here and there throughout the entire country, for the development of the smaller institutions. Still another guaranty for the future of the insti- tution under consideration is the fact that, whatever may be said of the relative advantages of the small and the large institution for the average young man or woman, it cannot be denied that the small college is particularly adapted to the needs of many an individual. And yet I do not mean to say that these individuals are below the average ; for many of them certainly are far above the average. I have in mind young men and women of certain peculiar tempera- ments, as well as those in whose case the transition from a certain mode of life to the more free and liberal atmosphere of the larger institution, the uni- versity, would prove to be too sudden. Just so long as there are localities in which, for one reason or ,/ another, the privilege of thinking for oneself upon every subject is denied, or in which the habit has not yet been cultivated, there will be needed for those who are destined, in the providence of God, to reach out and attain higher possibilities, places of transition between that which is more restricted and that which is more free. To step suddenly from one atmos- phere to another would seriously interfere with proper growth. The smaller college furnishes such a place of transition, and prepares minds that have been under restriction for the broader and higher privi- leges of the university. This narrowness to which I have alluded may be the outcome of an imperfect 358 THE TREND IN HIGHER EDUCATION religious system, or of a lack of proper facilities in the lower spheres of educational activity; or, as in certain districts of our country, the result of geo- graphical separation from the great centers of influ- ence, or isolation from the great routes of travel; but, in any case, the small college is specially adapted to the needs of such persons. The demand for this peculiar work, being so strong and so universal, con- stitutes in itself a guaranty for the future existence of the college. / Perhaps it is at this point that I may mention the economic side of student Hfe, which controls, far more generally than perhaps we might suppose, the possibilities of higher education. The average young man or woman who desires a college education finds more or less difficulty in securing the means with which to make such education possible. It is a question of so many hundred dollars a year. It is evident that in large institutions the expense is more considerable than in the smaller. It is true that all of the larger universities furnish aid to many stu- dents, and that in general any deserving student is able to secure help sufficient to assist him in com- pleting his work; but many men are unwilling to accept such assistance. Many have neither the cour- age nor the cleverness to secure it; and if all who desire an education were to make application to the larger institutions, the funds at the command of those institutions would prove sadly inadequate. It is only because the smaller institutions, scattered through- SITUATION OF THE SMALL COLLEGE 359 out the country, are able to do the work for the young man or woman of moderate means, that the larger institutions can, in any satisfactory way, meet the demand which is made upon them. Only a few comparatively can gather together so large a sum as five or six hundred dollars a year for a course of college study, and yet such a sum, in most of our larger institutions, is quite small, in view of the many and varied demands made upon the student. There must be institutions in which the man who can command only two or three hundred dollars a year may find help and guidance in his pursuit of \ higher education. The larger institutions, located in many cases where rents and food are more expen- sive, and where the demands of society compel a style of living which would not be considered necessary elsewhere, are prohibitive to the sons and daughters of families whose annual income is fifteen hundred dollars or less; and if an estimate were made, the great majority of families would find their classification in this category. As long as there are famihes with small incomes, and as long as in these famihes there are sons and daughters who desire a higher education, there must be colleges in which this education may be obtained at a minimum of expense. The future of the small college is, there- fore, absolutely assured. ^ In this same connection there is to be considered what may be called the geographical law of higher education. In accordance with this law, about 90 s6o THE TREND IN HIGHER EDUCATION per cent, of those who attend college select for that purpose an institution within one hundred miles of home ; or, to put the matter in another form, the con- stituency of even the largest institutions comes in great measure from within one hundred miles of the institution itself. This fact is at once an explanation of the large number of colleges scattered throughout our land, and the ground for behef that this large number will, in one form or another, remain for the most part undiminished. It is to be noted still further that educational tradition is peculiarly conservative. The tradition in the United States, estabhshed two and one- half centuries ago, and continuing almost without change until within the last quarter of this century, has been in favor of the small college. It is only within twenty or twenty-five years that the larger institution, or the university, has been known on American soil. The tradition is deeply rooted. This fact points unmistakably to the policy of the future; and while the university idea, which has so recently sprung up among us, has before it large and unlimited possibiHties, the policy of estabHsh- ing small colleges here and there is one so strongly fixed that no great modification of it may be expected. The additional fact that, side by side with the more recent development along university lines, the col- leges have grown, financially as well as numerically, is evidence in favor of the proposition just mentioned. There is no reason to suppose that the larger insti- SITUATION OF THE SMALL COLLEGE 361 tution, however influential it may become, will sup- plant the smaller. The two may go forward side by side, each exerting upon the other a helpful influence. It is not conceivable that the policy of two centuries and a half, a policy which has been found so acceptable on every side, should suddenly suffer serious modification. In any case, such modifica- tions will be gradual, and will permit an easy adjust- ment under the new conditions which may arise. One of the most important factors to be considered in any study of the small college is the religious pur- pose and control with which a great majority of these colleges stand connected. The smaller col- leges, for the most part, have been founded with a distinct and definite religious aim. This aim has been, in some cases, to protect certain peculiar tenets of religious faith; in others, to provide a rehgious atmosphere which should be in harmony with the feelings and opinions of its patrons ; in still others, to secure a definite and tangible guaranty of specific Christian influence. In all these cases there was a distinctly religious motive. The fact that so many of these colleges are supported by par- ticular denominations of Christians, and that almost every denomination feels the necessity of supporting colleges in the territory in which that denomination is represented, shows the strong and all-pervading influence of the religious spirit. If denominationahsm in Christianity were to disappear, one of the strongest foundations of our small col- 362 THE TREND IN HIGHER EDUCATION leges would likewise be removed; but just as, in these United States, the denominational spirit has developed and flourished, and has become a marked characteristic of American life in contrast with European life, so the small college, inseparably- connected with the denominational spirit, has grown and developed in striking contrast with the educational policy of Europe. If men of deep reli- gious convictions continue to cherish such con- victions, and to propagate them, they will find it necessary to educate those who shall hand down these same traditions. To do this with economy and certainty, there must be institutions for higher study which shall be pervaded by the spirit of the denomination desirous of maintaining and develop- ing this growth. This factor is as strong as any that has been mentioned, perhaps strongest of all, and yet this and all that have preceded it find their basis in another factor — the last which I shall pre- sent. The small colleges, scattered everywhere, are but the natural and inevitable expression of the American spirit in the realm of higher education. The universities of Cambridge and Oxford, as now constituted, are an expression of English aristocracy. The universities of BerHn and Leipzig, and the gymnasia of Germany, represent most fittingly the German imperial spirit. The small colleges in Ohio and Missouri, in Iowa and South Carolina, and in every state of our magnificent Union, are the SITUATION OF THE SMALL COLLEGE 363 expression of the democratic spirit, which is the true American spirit. The small college exists today as a legitimate result of the working of that spirit. It is as truly American as is any other institution of our country. The American spirit which has created these colleges is, after all, the highest and the most certain guaranty of their continuance, and in this fundamental fact and factor the others to which I have referred find their basis. II Among the things which will be found to stand in the way of the development of the small col- lege, first let us note the development of the high schools. The modern high school, sometimes called the "people's college," is a development of twenty- five years. Much of the work formerly done by the colleges is now being done by the high schools. The course of study in many of the high schools is more extensive and more thorough than was the course of study in many of the better colleges thirty or forty years ago. This course of study is hkewise stronger and more effective in the results produced than is the course of study provided in many of the smaller colleges of today. There is no evidence that the public attitude toward the high school will change. If there were no other reason for the sup- port of the high school by the public, reason enough would be found in the fact that without such work it would be impossible to provide teachers for the 364 THE TREND IN HIGHER EDUCATION lower schools. While much of the constituency of the high school is a new constituency, a consider- able portion of it has been drawn away from the preparatory schools and the colleges. So great a degree of perfection has been reached in the work of the high school in many quarters that even those / parents who have the means prefer the public high school to the private academy or college; and by many, a great incentive to patronize the high school is found in the absence of a tuition fee. The require- ments for admission to the high school and the length of the curriculum have been steadily increasing, and it seems quite certain that the end has not yet been reached, since satisfactory arrangements have been made in many schools for the work of the freshman year. This is a serious menace to the small college. The fact that the equipment of the high school for scientific work is often better than the equipment of the college which confers the bachelor's degree, brings reproach upon the college work when compared with that of the high school. The preparatory schools of colleges in the West and South are no longer crowded, because students are able to secure the desired instruction in the high school. The influence of this is felt very keenly, and officers of the small colleges are regarding with considerable apprehension the rapid growth of this, to say the least, distracting element. Another thing which stands in the way of the small college is the tendency toward specialism. SITUATION OF THE SMALL COLLEGE 365 In earlier years, when the entrance requirements were lower, it was possible for the student to give four years of time to work, the aim of which was general culture. In these latter days, when the requirements for admission are so high that they in themselves constitute an equivalent of the college course of twenty or thirty years ago, and when young men and women are unable to enter college at an earher age than nineteen or twenty, it is impos- sible and undesirable to hold the student to four years of general work. Already the tendency to speciahze is seen at the beginning of the third year Mil*" of college work. This is a natural result of the privilege of election, and also a necessary result flow- ing from the large number of subjects offered in the curriculum. The small college does not furnish the opportunity to follow out this tendency, and in the case of many students a longer period than is really necessary is spent on subjects which sustain no par- ticular relation to the future work of the student. It is easy to see the great disadvantage under which the student works when brought into touch with his professional studies. In many professions it is » essential that the technical work of the profession ! be taken up before the age of physical and mental flexibihty has passed, and especially in lines of sci- entific work the small college is unable to meet the - demand made upon it. / The whole tendency toward specialism, there^ fore, even when held within reasonable and legiti- 366 THE TREND IN HIGHER EDUCATION mate bounds, is a movement with which the small college finds difficulty in keeping pace, the more so because it is evidently not justified in providing instruction in this or that special line of work, when the number of its students interested in such sub- jects is so small. Instruction higher than that of i an exceedingly elementary character may not be provided in a great majority of subjects to advantage, / if the college has a smaller attendance than 150 students; and yet of the 480 colleges and univer- sities in the United States, about 160, or one- third, . belong to this class — that is, 160 colleges have less/ than 150 students each. ' As has been said, by far the larger number of our smaller colleges have had their origin in the religious spirit. In many of these even today the spirit is not simply religious, nor indeed simply Christian — it is the sectarian spirit. Even from New England one not infrequently hears the cry from denominational bosses that the denomina- tional college must be supported, its halls must be filled by students from the f amihes of those belong- ing to the denomination, and the denominational ideas must be propagated, or dishonor is shown the founders of the institution and the denomina- tion of which it is a representative. But, on the whole, the sectarian idea in religion is disappearing; except in certain sections, a broader spirit prevails, and sectarianism in education is destined to die within the next half century or so. In this struggle \ SITUATION OF THE SMALL COLLEGE 367 against sectarianism the colleges everywhere take the lead, and one need only study the history of educational institutions during the last quarter of a century to see how one institution after another has quietly passed out from under ecclesiastical control; and how one institution after another has gradually, but surely, thrown off the shackles of the sectarian spirit. If now these colleges have in themselves strength to endure the struggle, they will be stronger and better institutions when the struggle has passed. But many of them are so closely identified with the sect whose teachings they were established to promulgate, that with the gradual disappearance of the sectarian spirit there remains no longer good ground for their existence, and we see them steadily losing the place which they once occupied and taking a lower position; in some cases, indeed, entirely disappearing. This is especially true when, on account of the rivalry between differ- ent sects, more institutions have been crowded into a particular territory than the territory could pos- sibly support. Death in these cases is of course a blessing — not only to the institutions that have died, but to the world about them. With the gradual weakening of this narrow reli- gious spirit — often confounded with the denomina- tional spirit, but indeed something entirely separate therefrom — a great source of power and strength which has hitherto lent support to the building up of the small college will be removed. Here, then, 368 THE TREND IN HIGHER EDUCATION A,j £/(Iij 382 THE TREND IN HIGHER EDUCATION 6. Students living near the college whose ambi- tion it was to go away to college could remain at home until greater maturity had been reached — a point of the highest moment in these days of strong temptation. The substitution of the six-year institution, including the academic or high-school course, for the present four-year institution, without prepara- tory work, would, at one stroke, touch the greatest evils of our present situation. Directly along this line will be another change; namely, the development of high schools into junior colleges. Evidence that this change is already taking place may be found on every hand. The establishment of hundreds of high schools through all the states is in itself a new element in our educa- tional machinery which has disarranged the former system, but has, at the same time, greatly advanced the interests of education itself. The quickening influence of these institutions is seen, not only in the increased number of those who continue their work in the college and the university, nor merely in the fact that a larger number of more intelligent men and women is thus contributed to the various communi- ties, but especially in the fact that the teachers of the schools of a lower grade are vastly stronger and better prepared for their work. The suggestion is made from time to time that the people will not consent to continue the public support of these high schools. But, as a matter of SITUATION OF THE SMALL COLLEGE 383 fact, they do continue to support them; and, more than this, these schools are constantly increasing their requirements for admission, as well as their faciUties for instruction and the number of years of the curriculum. It has now come to be generally recognized that the ideal high school must have a curriculum of four years, and in many sections of the country this has already been secured. In others, it is coming. The next step in the develop- ment of this work will be the addition of one or two years to the present course; or, in other words, the carrying of the high school up to the end of the sopho- more college year. Already this has practically been accomplished in certain schools of Michigan and in some of our cities. It can be done at a mini- mum of cost. Today only 10 per cent, of those who finish the high school continue the work in college. If the high schools were to provide work for two additional years, at least 40 per cent, of those finish- ing the first four years would continue to the end of the sophomore year. With this modification of the high school on the one hand, and with the suggested modification of many of our colleges upon the other, there would come to be a system of colleges, state or non-state, which would meet the demands of the situation as today they are not met. Many of the normal \ schools of western states practically occupy this I O^f*^ position. ----J 1^^"^ Again, the small college of America is every- ^^^^^^^''* 384 THE TREND IN HIGHER EDUCATION where practically of the same type. So far as the general plan is concerned, each college is a duplicate of its nearest neighbors. A terrible monotony presents itself to the eye of one who makes any attempt to study the aims and motives of these insti- tutions. All ahke try to cover too much ground, and, worse than this, all alike practically cover the same ground. A change in this respect is desirable, and inevitable. This change will come partly in the way of the estabhshment of colleges for particular pur- poses ; a college, for example, established principally for the study of science; another college estabhshed principally for the study of literature; another for the study principally of historical subjects. The prin- ciple of individuaUsm, which has already been appUed in education to the work of the student and to the work of the instructor, must find application to the work of the institution. The idea has pre- vailed that every newly founded institution should duplicate the work of those which had preceded it, and in consequence the colleges of our country are, with a few notable exceptions, institutions of a single character. This means narrowness, but it means more. Inasmuch as each institution tries to cover the same ground, and all the ground, the result has been that no effort has been undertaken to estabUsh a school which will allow thoroughness or depth. The college that has no endowment, or an endow- ment of a hundred thousand dollars, seeks to do the same thing which the institution with millions of SITUATION OF THE SMALL COLLEGE 385 dollars of endowment finds it difficult to accomplish. The technical school with no endowment, or an endowment of a hundred thousand dollars, seeks to cover every field of technical work. The time will come when institutions will cultivate individuaHsm; when one institution will give a large measure of its strength and energy to the development of a depart- ment of history and poHtics, another to physics and chemistry, and another to the biological sciences, another perhaps putting all its efforts into the great field of electricity. This will be in striking contrast with the present poHcy, in accordance with which the most poorly equipped college announces courses in every department of human learning; and stu- dents are compelled, in self-defense, to dabble in everything rather than to do work in a few things. Notable examples of what may be done in this way are to be found in the case of the splendid work of the late Professor March, in philology and Anglo- Saxon, in Lafayette College, and the equally notable results secured at Haverford College, under Pro- fessor J. Rendel Harris, in the department of New Testament Greek. These institutions, lacking the means to develop equally all the departments, chose to select a single department on which to spend the highest energy, and the character of the work done in this department gave tone and coloring to the entire work of the college. In these institutions, although colleges, work was done of which even a university might be proud. 386 THE TREND IN HIGHER EDUCATION A still further change will be the development of a spirit of co-operation. It is only within a few years that there has been any co-operation worth mentioning among colleges and universities, and the co-operation which has so far been inaugurated is of an exceedingly superficial character. Enough of it has been worked out, however, to make those who have tasted it desire still more, and the few steps already taken are but precursors of many to follow. It is not enough that there should be associations in which, once a year, the representatives of certain institutions may come together for the reading of papers and the passing of resolutions. With better classification of educational work, with the greater similarity of standards for admission and for gradua- tion, and with the variety of type secured, so that individual institutions will have individual respon- sibiUties, there will be found a basis for co-operation such as has not hitherto existed. This association will be similar to that which men in all divisions of the business world have found necessary and help- ful. Such relationship will serve as a protection for all who thus stand together, against misun- derstanding and ignorance. It will secure results which no institution of its own strength could secure. It will lift educational work above the petty jealousies and rivalries which today bring reproach and disgrace upon it. It will mitigate the evils of competition, and, indeed, will substitute for these evils the blessings which follow honorable and legitimate rivalry. SITUATION OF THE SMALL COLLEGE 387 Such a relationship entered into by the colleges of a certain district will dignify the work of the small college and secure for it a proper place by the side of the institution under state control. This relationship will be, in effect, a federation of higher institutions, and through this federation it will be possible for each of the interested colleges to strengthen its facilities. There is no reason why a great specialist in a particular department might not be the servant of two or three institutions, to the advantage of the subject represented, the colleges thus associated, and the cause of higher learning. Such an associa- tion, in brief, will open up new possibilities for the small college, and it will secure privileges which today are far beyond its reach. There will also exist in the days that are coming a close and closer association of the smaller colleges with the larger institutions or universities. The great advantages which will be found to accrue both to the college and to the university in such associa- tion will bring it about, for, after all, institutions, like individuals, move along the line of least resistance. I cannot here point out these advantages in detail, but among them will be included : 1. The intermingling of the teachers and lec- turers, those of the college doing work in the univer- sity and those of the university doing work in the college — the interchange of blood, as it were. 2. The recognition of university appointment thus bestowed directly and indirectly upon the teacher of the college. 388 THE TREND IN HIGHER EDUCATION 3. The opportunities for special investigation at the university afforded the younger college instruc- tors. 4. The special assistance of many kinds which the university may render the college in the conduct of its work. 5. The prestige secured to the degrees of the col- lege in view of reenactment by the university. 6. The loan of books and apparatus to the col- lege by the university. 7. The establishment of scholarships and fellow- ships in the university open to students of the col- lege. 8. The assistance rendered in the selection of instructors. 9. The financial confidence created, upon the basis of which larger endowments may be secured. 10. And, in general, that help which a stronger agent may furnish one not so strong in the accom- plishment of the latter's work. All this points to the development of a system in our higher educational work. The change of cer- tain colleges into junior colleges, and of others into academies, the association of the colleges of a denomination or a geographical district with each other, and the close association of such colleges with the universities — all this will contribute toward a system of higher education (something which does not now exist in America), the lack of which is sadly felt in every sphere of educational activity. System SITUATION OF THE SMALL COLLEGE 389 means organization, and without organization, without the sharp distinctions and the recognized standards which come with organization, the work, however excellent, lacks that essential element which gives it the highest character and produces the best results. There are some advantages, perhaps, in lack of system; if so, we have enjoyed these advantages long enough. The time is ripe for something more definite and regular and tangible, and the modifica- tions which have been suggested in the policy of sec- ondary and college education will contribute in this direction. As a summary of what has been said, I shall append these few sentences : The small college is certain of its existence in the future educational history of the United States. It must, however, pass through a serious struggle with many antagonistic elements, and must adjust itself to other similar and, sometimes, stronger agencies. In the process of this struggle and adjustment some colleges will grow stronger; some will become academies; some, junior colleges; the high schools will be elevated to a still more important position than that which they now occupy; while, all together, high schools, colleges, and universities, will develop greater similarity of standard and greater variety of type; and, at the same time, they will come into closer and more helpful association one with another. 390 THE TREND IN HIGHER EDUCATION The general result will be the growth of system in the higher educational work of the United States, where now no system exists. The future of the small college will be a great future; a future greater than its past, because that future will be better equipped, better organized, and better adjusted. OF THE ^ i^NIVERSlTY J^^VvC ^ HOME USE