The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1871-06-16

1t is precisely the sort Of education which, 40
cording to Horace, increases the innate force
of the intellect.
Doctr1na SEQ Vim promovet insitam
| hectque cutuS Dect0ra r0bO ant,
30 that, instead of squandering the student 8
time, 1t economies it in the best sense OF that
term; it renders the work Of year more val
liable than that OF decade would have been
without Its vivifying and inspiring influence.
But the secret of the low es imation in which
the study OF the classics is held in this country
is the low standard Of our colleges. None can
appreciate at its proper value what they do
not sufficiently understand; what is not ap-
preciated excites no enthusiasm, aud no one
has ever taught language like the Greek or
the Latin to another, or learned it himself,
without more or less enthusiasm.
We must not, however, b unjust to our col
leges. Those Of any other country would
have been no better than ours had they re-
ceived no better encouragement from the
State. Indeed, it may well BE- doubted
whether the best of them would have been as
good as some of ours; for we have insttu-
tions, both Protestant and Catholic, which
have made such excellent use of the limited
resources at their disposal that the country
may well be proud of them.
1t is grave, but well founded reproach to
republics that, with the sole exception of that
OF ancient Athens all have, more or less, neg
lected the higher grades of education. All
the great institutions of learning of which
Europe may justly boast have been established
by kings, princes or churchmen-not one of
any eminence has been established by repub-
lie or parliament Strange, if not ncredible,
though it may seem, the tendency of the ''col-
lective wisdom" of every country has been to
destroy rather than build up such institutions.
Thus it was the kings and the Church that
founded and richly endowed Oxford and Cam
bridge; but several Parliaments did all they
could to rob those institutions of their rev.
enues. AS an instance we may mention what
Hume relates of the Parliament of Henry
VIII. The historian tells us that by one vote
they bestowed on the King all the revenues of
the universities; but he adds that the King
had no intention to rob learning of all her en-
universities that he meant not to touch their
revenues"
Still stranger to many will appear the tes-
timony of distinguished historian of the
present day as to the effect of the Reformation
on the educational ideas of the boasted repre-
sentatives of the people. Froude tells us that
by means of the Chantries and College act the
government appropriated all the irregular
endowments of the universities, ''under pre-
tence of checking superstition. They can
celled the exhibitions which had been granted
for the support of poor scholars. They sup
pressed the professorships and lectureships
which had been founded by Henry VIII"
This, however, was but the beginning of the
reforming process as applied to the univer-
stiles. Froude tells us how they were called
''stables of asses, stews and schools of the
devil"
We mention these facts in passing to show
that those who wish to see superior institu-
tions of learning established in this country
need not despair, since, although our govern
ment has yet established no great college, it
has at least not attempted to despoi colleges
established by other means. Perhaps we
should be thankful to it for this; but we should
be much more SO if it were half as willing to
make large grants for the benefit Of colleges
as it is for the benefit of railway companies
At all events, we need not expect any such
institutions as the great universities of Europe
until the State learns that it is its duty 10
endow such and provide them with ample
revenues. In the meantime we must not
blame those who send their sons to institutions
where superior learning is not only taught,
but rewarded by liberal salaries for life, as
well as by important privileges and immuni-
ties, as we mean to show in another article
Nor must those sons blame the institutions at
home in which they may have graduated If,
notwithstanding their diplomas, they have to
undergo more preparation before they are
admitted into Oxford, Cambridge Or Heidel-
berg; but all should blame Congress and our
State Legislatures and try to impress on those
short-sighted bodies that even in poor, con-
quered Poland larger revenue is devoted to
university education than in the great, wealthy
and enlightened republic of the West.
THE PARIS COMMUNISTS Nor WANTED
HERE.-A cable despatch has it that the
workmen of Paris are almost all Communists.
They are very bitter, it is said, because their
cause has heen defeated and thev hate NJ