Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1885-02-04

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success. Among men it has often
been found that the man with unusual
ability and mission has generally
avoided the college or been turned out
of it for contempt. Of course there
are many exceptions" In commenting
on the Times's remarks the Providence
Journal says "These are deliberate
assertions, and should not be made
without evidence to sustain them and
adds:
"The higher the education the greater
the advantage which the owner OF the
education possesses over those who nave
it not. II is true that person without
collegiate education may have other
knowledge. also of value, and possibly
of greater value in certain circumstances
than the collegiate training would be.
But il. in addition TO this other know
ledge. lac also had the education OF a
college. he would certainly be no worse
off. A blacksmith would be none the
worse blacksmith il, in his leisure hours
from the forge. he should be able to
enjoy Homer in the original Greek, and
successful farmers there are, as well
as successful lawyers, who can read
the Georges and the Eneid. 1t is i'm
possible to imagine a calling in which
a knowledge of correct English Is not
of some use to man, and the ancient
classics. from which we derive so many
of our English words, have a direct
bearing upon the ability to speak and
TO write English with propricty-and
when we say propriety we do not mean
Johnsonian ponderosity, but clear, sim
pie. unaffected propriety.
And again:
sit is true that some collcge-bred
men do not achieve what is called sue
cess but the fault is in themselves,
and not because they are college-bred.
A very large proportion of our eminent
and successful men in the East are of
collegiate training. and but for the col
lege the world might never have been
enlightened by their achievements in
the professions, in the arts. in states
manship. 1t is likewise true that there
are successful men who have never been
within the walls of a college as stu
dents, but we notice that none are more
anxious than these very men to obtain
for their children every advantage of ed
ucation.'
1t is seldom that we can agree with
the Providence Journal. but in this in
stance we DO agree with it thoroughly.
What it says embodies the results of
the observation Of every one who has
taken the trouble to investigate the
statistics of college-bred men " with
reference to what is termed success in
life. Comparatively speaking, the eX-
ceptions are the men who have not been
successes. 1t is true that some of the
most brilliant men. some of the strong
est men we ever met, had never been in
side Of a college. Likewise we
have met college graduates the Sc
cret of whose graduation will remain a
mystery to the end of time. But we
have yet to see self-made man."
man of unusual ability, not college
bred, who did not regret that he had
not a collegiate education. and whose
success did not suggest how much more
brilliant he would have been with such
advantage. We have yet to see man
of that class that was not determined
to give his sons, if sons he had, the
benefit Of college course. II is true
that there are college-bred men who
think that when they leave college their
education is finished, but the college can
not be held responsible for such leather
heads having been brought into the
world. They would be only little
more leather-headed if they had not
been to college. To the average college
man his degree is stimulant, his course
is basis upon which to build. When
persons and papers sheer at college
bred men" they forget how many men
Of liberal education there are in every
walk Of life. Because a man does not
have the opportunity to ''air" his ac-
quirements in public it does not follow
that his success is not due to
education. On the contrary. taking |
many Of the men who ornament and |
dignity various occupations, it does fol- |
low as probability that without college |
training they would have been nonenti-
ties. That this is so is all the more
creditable to the man who rises despite
the fact that he has been debarred col
legc training, and none recognize the
fact more fully than do college,men.