The Charleston daily news. [volume] (Charleston, S.C.) 1865-1873, 1870-04-29
The College and the University.

vention which has just had its session i'll
Brooklyn, and in particular by Dr. Ander-
sons paper on the Modern University, which
the secular press has published in full. This
address displays the widest and nohest
range of scholarship.
DR.. Anderson contends that the pecularl-
ties of our higher system OF education, as
distinguished from that of England and Ger
many, are so rooted in The history, express
sive of the spirit demanded by the Cir
cumstances of American life, that radical
change is not to,be expected or desired.
Upon the American plan he would, however
encraft the system of felowships from Oxford
and Cambridge, and of the lectures upon
literature, history and the like, in connection
with professional studies, as in the great con-
tinental universities. With us, the first three
wears of college drill represent, in feeble
way, indeed, the splendid discipline OF the
German gymnasium; the last year the am
pier scope OF the university.
The lecturer, in the course of his remarks,
elaborately criticised the sophisms which
Mr.. Lowe has urged against the collegiate
system To the objection OF that gentla-
man that, nowadays, things should be
taught rather than words, the reply is that
any science is acquired and held in posses
sion only by mastery OF its terminology;
that philology is itself the most magnificent
of the sciences, and that the words OF every
language embalm the thought and life OF the
people who have used it. To the objection
that things practical, not speculative, ought
to be taught, the reply is that whatever most
powerfully influences practical life, controls
nature, perfects laws and shapes the charac-
tiers and the history Of men, comes from the
region of ideas. To the objection that the
educator must teach truth rather than false
hood, the reply is, that truth is never ade-
quately appreciated except when viewed in
contrast with its opposing errors, and that
some of the most instructive monuments ofthe
social and political lie ofnations, are preserv-
ed in their ballads, legends and mythologies.
To the objection that knowledge OF the
the present is better than knowledge OF
the past, the reply is that the two cannot
be separated, for the origin, history and laws
of growth Of the present must be found in
the past And oftentimes, as the lecturer
might have added, the past anticipates the
present, as the struggling Greek republics OF
Thucydides throw light upon the recent civil
contest in which the provincial wars of
Athens and Sparta were renewed upon the
battle fields Of continent.
According TO DR.. Anderson, the college
curriculum should be completed at the age
of twenty-one; the university course should
not extend beyond the age OF twenty-five.
But whether his programme can be embraced
within these limits may, perhaps, admit OF
doubt. For'he advocates the introduction
of the scholastic Latin into which Christian
thought introduced 90 many new words and
idioms, and of the Anglo-Saxon and Norman
French, among the ancient languages; and
the addition of various modern languages
with their genealogical connections, the
English, OF course, having the first place,
as necessary part OF the collegiate instruc-
ton. He would have more attention paid
to Christian literature and to art culture,
with illustrations Of casts and photographs.
But the physical sciences, to which so much
importance is now attached, he would prefer
to have taught in their general principles
without overburilening the memory with de-
tails which the material investigations OF the
age are multiplying so rapidly astoput them
beyond the grasp Of the non-professional
student. We do not altogether coincide with
the lecturer in this conclusion; but We can
not withhold our admiration for the schol-
arly enthusiasm and fertility Of argument
and illustration with which he maintains bis
cause.
In conclusion, Or. Anderson justly insists
that the best men in the country should be
its educators. The book or the course is less
important than the instructor. No expense
should be spared to secure competent teach
ers 1t is wrong that q professor q the high
est reputation should receive q smaller sal
ary than confidential clerk. With US, the
university depends, for its support, upon the
voluntary principle, and the only condition
upon which we can enjoy that high intellec-
tual moral and professional education for
which the President of Rochester pleads, is
the ample endowment OF such institutions.
There is no nobler use of wealth, whether it's
favored possessor aspires to present useful
ness or enduring fame. The point is 30 well
taken that we can but wonder at the oppo-
stion to it by a thoughtful contemporary,
the World, which contends that to pay
teachers well is to injure the cause OF educa-
tion. 1t may be that, in this case, persons
who are not qualified for teachers will aspire
to the emoluments of the Office; but will not
the same principle apply to every other pro-
fession as well! Surely our critic forsets
that the editor is also an educator, as we'll
as the student whose face thns and blanches
in the rays of the Midnight lamp.