The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1884-04-06
Phillips Exeter Academy.

Phillips Exeter Academy.
Now that many Of our leading universities
havo materially .raise<l their requirements
for admission and enlarged their sphere Of
action, tho Importance Of adequate facilities
for preparation should be more clearly recog-
nIzed. It Is. therefore, o timely and wise
movement which has been lately started by
graduates OF Phillips Exeter Academy. and
which has led to tho formation Of IN alumni
association in this city with the object OF
augmenting the resources and tho usefulness
Of TINT well-known institution. There Is no
doubt that more schools OF tho kind are
needed. and thpse that exist already ought to
be encouraged and enriched.
The services rendered to u country by on
dowcd schools. Of which Rugby is an English
typo aud Exeter an American example, can
hardly be ovcrrated. Not a few OF those
whose judgment has been clarified by time
and friction with tho world acknowledge that
the men who were hard students al such IN
institution who managed, In other words to
profit by their environment. owe their school
n larger debt than Is duo to any other cduca-
tional appliance or stimulus under whose
influence they may have CHANGED to fall.
How, nd,ed could we expect 1t to be other
wise when we keep in view tho period ut
which tho young brain Is subjected to
tho impulse and tho training supplied by
such school as Exeter? Boys used
to enter that academy, and, We presume, do
so still, ct thirteen or fourteen. and after re-
naming three or four years graduated at
seventeen or eighteen. Now II needs no pro-
found acquaintance with physiology to sec
that there can be no epoch III tho life OF the
human organism Mt which tho nervous sys-
TEN and the brain, which Is It's focus are moro
ncutely sensitive to wise impressions and
moro responsive to right discipline. Is 1t not,
In truth. notorious that the few years on the
hithcr and tho further sido OF puberty arc
tho critical and decisive years for those sub
tic and mysterious cerebral transformations
with which We must ct least associate, II
wc do not identify. the equipment. the pro-
ccsscs, and the energy OF tho intellect, Its
grasp its elevation, and It's generative power.
AT what other epoch Of mans life is 1t pos
sib!e to acquire tho master faculty OF severe
and fixed attention, OF profound, sustained
inllexibie concentration, Of that hubit OF
hard work. In short, which IL not the whole
of genius is certainly part OF 1t, and which
is at any rate the secret, We will not say Of
success, but Of survival, In any field of la
Dor. Clearly, then, the function undertaken
by an organ Of intermediate education, like
the great endowed schools OF England and
their compeors In this country, is OF high
and vital import to the community at large.
How well that function Is discharged by
Phillips Exeter Academy has been conclu-
siyoly attested during its century OF exist
cnce by the record OF Its alumni. In almost
every channel Of Intellectual activity.
SO much ut least would DO patent and I'M
answcrablo even II tho stimulus and tho dis
cipline bestowed should be looked upon not
ut oil as preparatory. but as final. by q largo
fraction Of the benefciaries OF Exeter, as is
the case with not fcw OF the alumni OF It's
old and Opuent exemplars on tho othcr eide
Of the Atlantic. A considerable number Of
the graduates from the great endowed
schools of England do not proceed to univcr-
stiles, but enter at once tho army or the
navy, tho diplomatic corps, the multifarious
departments OF Indian administration, and
almost every branch Of tho English civil ser-
vice. 1t is observed, too, that men who have
profited by school training nearly identical
with that conferred at Exeter Academy arc
by no means hopelcssly disqualified for tho
race against those who have received moro
aid from exterior appliances. because the
former at least possess tho aptitudcs, the
methods, and the standards OF excellence
which permit and impel men TO educate
themselves. What is true from this point OF
view OF Eton, Winchester. and Rugby, Is
equally true Of Exeter But of course we
cannot overlook the preparatory function OF
such establishments and their intimate re-
lation to tho higher educational institutions.
1t Is not too much to say TINT without
| schools OF the kind mentioned, universities
| like Yale and Harvard and Princeton could
not exist ct all upon their present plane OF
requirement and endnavor. When we place
q recent catalogue OF Phillips Academy be-
side the catalogues issued by Now
England colleges about tho beginning Of
this century, and compare the range
and character OF tho several cur
ricula. we shall remark that Harvard, at the
date when EDWARD EVERETT could matricu-
late ct thirteen and graduate at seventeen,
was doing almost precisely for tho young
men Of the community what Exeter is doing
now. Not only has the school kept pace with
the evolution OF the college, but there was q
certain period when tho fountain overlooked
tho cistern, when an alunnus OF Phillips
Academy was 80 superlatively fitted, was
sent forth such an accomplished scholastic
athlete, that considerable portion Of his
college work socmed play. And II recent
years have Witnessed q signal development
upward and outward on the part OF our FORE
most colleges, we should not forget to give
tho credit for suoh elevation and expansion
where 1t ia principally due, namely, to
schools like Exeter, without whose prelimi-
nary and cooperative labors advance would
DO impossible.
It is to the scope and quality Of the work
done In her 0ynm rsia that Germany owes
tho breadth aud dignity Of her universities.
Nor is it less evident that Oxford and Cam.
bridge are largely indebted for their rcnown
and their efficiency. 80 far a. through their
honor mon they may DO justly termed
efficient and distinguished, to the material
sent up from such admirable nurseries OF
youthful talent MS Elton and Winchester, as
Harrowand Shrewsbury, as Westminster and
Rugby. How has It happened. ono Ia some.
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