The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1876-03-18


fessonal or public lifei Whatever the
merits or shortcomings OF the academic |
system, ought not its fruits to be most con-
spicuous in those graduates who have pre-
sumably shown themselves most amenable |
to its influence, namely, tho first scholarsl |
These are some Of the questions suggested |
by n glance Mt the latest triennial cata- |
logue OF Harvard
Compared with the exhibit Of similar |
institutions, the Harvard registers doubt |
less gratifying to the alumni of that col
lege II includes two Presidents, many
members OF successive Cabinets, ambassa-
doris and ministers to foreign courts, a
great number of judges in the higher
courts both state and Federal, Senators
aud representatives in Congress, and u
large array of distinguished persons in
| literature and the liberal professions.
| Comparing, however the last half century
| with the preceding, we find the ratio of
eminent aud useful men to the whole body
of graduates was notably larger in the
earlier period. Since classes have begun to
graduate from fifty TO one hundred ana
| nifty, they are rarely able to show three
members, and sometimes none, who have
earned Il right to remembrance. or had the
| ability To command the respect or the at
tention of their contemporaries. During
the last thirty years especially, Harvard
alumni are rarely encountered i'll the
upper grades of official functions or on
the Federal bench. Yet the prestige OF
the college at all events within the state
of Massachusetts,, Is almost equivalent to
that of oxford in Great Britain. How
does it happen that her record is so poor
beside that Of the English university,
which in recent years has been represented
on the highest plane of public life by Sir
ROBERT PEEL, GLADSTONE, the late and
the present Lord DERBY, Lord CARNAR-
voN. and many others, all, by the way
having taken " first classes and several
L" double first"
II il a mistake 10 suppose tina n sense OF
self-respect has Withdrawn Harvard grad
yates from the arena of public life. Where
they are supported by the CONSCIOUSNESS
of desert, or encouraged by the faintest
CLEAN Of popular recognition, they appear
ready enough To grasp the prizes OF OIL &c.
EVERETT, BANcRorT MOTLEY. RoBERr
WINTHROP, Il. II. CURTIS, are instances in
point. The HoARs apparently would leave
Congrcss with regret, and r. II. DANA has
tried to join them there Why Was il that
the latter failed 50 signally to enlist the
-vmpathics of the Essex dIstuct,aud why DO
Harvard men in general m,carry in the
attempt TO reach tho popular ear;
We are told that tie curriculum OF Har-
ward rs of most Eastern colleges is ultra
mundane, autiquatcl, medieval; and 80,
in spite of mluife-t expansion in late
years, We must allow that it measurably
remains. Yet, upon the whole. college
graduates assinilate the results of modern
science and thought no less easily than
, other classes of the community; and tue
truth is that the direction Of youthful
studies is point of secondary importance,
, since the sum of acquisitions attlinablc nj
. the age OF twenIy-onc is incons iderablc,
/ and the primary arms of early education
, must be limited to discipline and method.
= No collegiate institution in the world
=, assigns larger and more preposterour
>, place to the study of the Latin languag,
aud literature than does the University OF
France yet in no country have college
graduates exorted a more direct and de
. cisive influence throughout the functions
of political and social life.
/ We incline 10 find the capital source o.
3 those narrowing and esoteric tendcncle
p which in some degree dlsqualify the grad
n yates of certain colleges for active sym
patty aud close incorporation with thu
d body of the community, in the inteus'
IL, esprit dc corps and kindred phenomena o
4 college life, which class orators and poets
~ are accustomed to celebrate with so mucl
If fervor. Let us remind our undergraduate
,o friends, to whom the above statement ma,
n have an air of paradox, that no scheme o
N tuition is more thoroughly secuted by in
n telligent Frenchmcu than the Internal o
n | boarding school Now, every one OF on
IN Eastern colleges, which islOcated in a SINAI
a. city or country town, is essentially grea
IA boarding school. That is, the students, ut
, most unreasonable and plastic age, lead
IN semi-conventual life, effectually walled OF
n from the contact and pressure OF societ
10 ut large. Here they generate specific pub
"a lie opinion, adopt peculiar oanons of pro
,s prety, form estimates Of achievement an
character, are swayeu by motives and o'
n. cupypoints OF view, more or less imcompaI
IN lblo with the principles and habits OF tn
~ general public. The whole structure an
n spirit of their curious common wealth. hk
-, those Of Greek city or Italian republic, al
ir lnsIIlaT and III some sort lrreconollaDie' VII
he awakened to catholic sympathies beoaus
m lntractable TO exterior influences. The co
~ lego world. in short, constitutes heter'
cosm, ana not, as its denizens like TO thinl
n | a miCrocOsm,
I'd Nov myetorate college estimates an
y prepossessions appear to BIO in the case
es. many graduates, is n matter Of common e.
'of porience. Allsagaelous and successful mt
ar agreo that they have had great deal
M uulcarn, and that u thorough abjuratlc
ey Of aca lemic standards and prejudlces w
p) | The Indispensable condition of frutful col
ZEN mercc with the larger community. Ii
our | probable that the insignificant political "a
ton aud feeble hold upon popular sympathi
ore usually attained by German professors III
NIX, men of letters, compared with the veg
b, and authority conceded to their Freu
ong cOntr6res, may be partially explained
tina location Of most Gnrnan univprsit