, 1874-08-05
t,ca aud rlca Of grammar rhetorio Tho greater part
Of lid work should be Intercollegiate.
- -- HARVARD

p,e. and r1ca Of grammar rhetoric, Tho greater par.
Of tho work should bs snto-colleRlste.
~, Inv. FIR several yosra bee atoadily raising or
1t about lie sausc ratio Of the numboc Of candidates
ren,roi af,,lics that moro Btlnnta coma to bot
tor prepared tn what Is now required than a much
much. There hns ueen Mt tho aane time inrr.nao
1T ,outa year in thu nyoragc agc at which ssi,Asa
ns N II o wsy
On luoessona aud acive ffc. The training
o. s sSo spnksn may ty es,sna ,t;n t t ss
eon fuliy inflated Into coeac NO. and haa rocelved
ho anipdng touch oi accomplished instructors " tte
That fill liberty Of cioice In emincntly Desirable ad
/ haye tho more confidence In my opinion from ths
own! own oDsesvaoa W md ha Songht
,' sss Hs me- so e
that seem to mo tho strongest II favor Of tho
Nc young man cur now hold the sasno relation to all
portions Of Ill tho realm Of things movable that ono
could when was Young man: T IL 10 only BY many
fewiy created Bachelor Of Arts. Dutin a limited
a , S is %s In rs ~
eminent scholar at least profcton and though with
] po.oa ff f1 Ns" l. sssb nss ss Int ~
ihiigs should bo studied llloroughly with mini amt
soul ind strength Than that tl,crs should b rnpi
liz aes !aeo tho sIeeliSe sssism 'hs best pos
CURE ron Poon sdno1Ausn1r
That fas YET been discovered. There arc not few
ncG esOacity ~ in sone one dIrscon Now persstuat
uiIuro md iIfoElori.y in my dopartneut arc very
Aahilio and reduce him In tho branches fn which ho
might do well to Tho standard established BY his lt.-
competency iii thoao In which ho cannot but do ILL., Far
tl,o noel Of attempting what he cannot do. Tho
Of diatasto OF utter and ny1ncble inseEonce to Ger
n o . sa oS @
sae Treatment. Lot young man CHOOSE The branches
tt o ho M 1y sR s can reg on @ nns
ashamed to mako utter failure In elective study
At Harvard, Of sudden conversion havc not been
fare-casea IN which minimum amount Of required
work has been done, a1td minimum rank attained,
who in tho elective branches tho batrs student hns
dono excellcny we'll and In somo inssanecs has stood
say that the lo"or q'iartcr Of tho college c!sss has
!. sas q a ~
Belong to the lowest number of tno third quarter Of
class and thus iar tle improyomont has been PRO o.
preceding. thus Indicating standard advancing In
proportion ha:. rccoded from the old traditions
N''N '@ ANOTHER obvious ADVANTAGE
elevated rat scope given 10 college, sts'rnis fha eehan.
iqRa Celeste, the maHicr works OF German philosophy,
5 # ct ~
and contemporary Illustrations Of the "1nfcrno," to
familiar uso Of text booka In Latin, German, nnd
French. Of corresponding booksn English, arc ccr
tain1y within tho range Of university s.os, but ut
torly beyond tho possibilities Of required course.
They been tho work Of elective caascs At Hnrvala
aud in connection with tllom no lnyo had exanina~
ton books and theses which professor In these do
partments, would have been usha1ned to own "a Ills
This systom 10 equally desirable for tho intellectual
life, growth md enhanced working power Of tho
te,chGr.
Another advantage Of tho elective syBom Is that II
gives opportunity for tho thorough study Of aoe de-
at,ited Of oil yet adequately performed BY. few
tho curriculum. ll,i!a sanscfl a. mother tongue
1or tle whos l1do European aroup. u pto,eminently
low viii iG suy it. md toso few Al liz sreatest dIssd
vantage unless 1t be madca regular study The ssmo
zeEars applies to tho science Of music ad % various
xLo game limo liberal studies and spsca!ties for tAoeo
WHO purauo tho,r.
Let us consider
.nns arc most liscy 10 DO nrsel as,n.t this sy.te
Il viii be .ad that pzesenss strong temptation to
the indolcnt student 70 sock tho easiest rather
than tho most proltshe course of study. The
ue Ind sn94a hoy LII 1s e arranged
5action 1t Harvard. There were, when tho oacsiyo
Thioh the moro inolept and incarable were inclined
10 drift but shey made to understand that
careful to make tho quality and amount of Tho work
IN every elective section commemorate with tho grade
Of tho students that have Rcccsa to It, but tGra bo
nu individual student for whom, from peculiar cir
cumstances, the work Of scction u easy, he IL not
permitted TO Join It. Thus from MI but tho ad
vanccl section III French In GermHn care u taken
to exclu1o such students known already to hnyo
moderately good knowledge Of the language, whothor
from residence abroad or from previous study.
II may bc objected that tho audout under this sys
tom may DO tempted to dcAultory Of st,ly,
changing Ills electives from ttne To tinu from nlcre
caprice. and pursuing study long far enough to
derivo substantial benefit from the pursuit. To this
might answer ID the hrHt paco that In no rcason-
bio system would liberty Of cAangn 10 oGerod moro
4hnn onep year, aud two or three exercises wcok
4hrough the yo.r In any one department furnish cor
tainy respectable amount Of knowledge and disci-
pllne.
are in general too young a,l Immature 10 1Iako wso
choice among tho colr*os uf stu1y oren to them.
Very happily such is theIr prevalent opinion. Ono Of
tho most tomtsfng features Of our Eystom ~ the grow
Ing tendency aulong tho atdonts to seek In their
uhOico the bent udyica they ean procure. Many Of
them huve fathcrs whose Judgment hns controlling
influence. large portion Of the remainder sock tho
such Mewn Of their own rlaus, aspirations, and
n,eaBure at HclfknoT1ege and thoughtful outlooktug
Into the future aa to 1nutfy very essentially tho
eatuante Of The eyy and rccklessnuss Of youth.
think ut first thcro in tho choco of studies 4
good deal Of caprcc waItonness, Aaphazar but with
every year tho choice has bucolo more and moro
1ious matter, subject OF careful forotlought and
forecast nsonucl tllat there ara aono Of cur late
Freshmen cluss who Aave with suitable advice, drawn
out written schemes, and very Judlous oncs, on q
COURSE Of atudy for the Hhoo Of the tematniue three
Teara.
before We uade trial OF tho elective system aa been
entirely removed by trnl. feared that lAo system
would 10 prcjudtcia 10 classical learning I believe
pnpoatto direction, Latin IL studied throughout lilo
tlree electifn years by largar number than remain