Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1895-07-23
THE DANGER OF COLLEGE LUXURY,
From a paper by President Thwing. read be
fore the American Institute OF Instruction.l

! From paper by President Thwing read be
fore the American Institute OF Instruction.
But a difficulty far more serious oppos
ing the intellectual purpose OF the col
lege lies In the increasing luxury Of col
| lege living. The age Is n luxurious ag,
and the college cannot but be sympa
thetic with the sge, hut the college seemi
| ia sense To be leading In the luxurious
ness OF the life Of the age. The scholar
has not in the past been distinguished
| for the elegance of his environment. tn,
scholar has been a pretty independent
being but he has been independent not
because he had much but because b,
needed but little. You know that the
laws Of begging were In the Middle Age:
suspended In behalf of the scholars
The scholars walked from all Europe
thirty thousand Of them-to Paris 70
hear Abelsrd. and they begged their
way as they came in pursuit OF knowl'
edge. When the magnificent Earl ol
Essex was sent 10 Cambridge, In Eliza.
be,hs time. his guardians provided him
with sidetable covered with green baiZe,
truckle-b bed, half dozen chairs and a
wash basin-ihe cost of all was about
five pounds. st. Andrews Rectorial
Addresses page 90.) But to-day the
furnishing Of the room Of many 3 stu
dent In many American colleges IA many
times five pounds.
The English aud American people
the most luxurious Of all peoples on the
face OF the earth--have allowed their
luxurious habits 10 pervade their uniyer-
sites and their colleges. Luxury has
not gone into Edinburgh and Glasgow
aud Aberdeen and st. Andrews as IL has
iuto Cambridge and New Haven or Ok
ford ior Cambridge. The German stu
dent too is still student, like the Ger
man nation, Of great economy and sim
plicity in manner Of living. cannot
but believe that the American college
should be made as little sympathetic rs
possible with the luxuriousness OF Amer
lean living. There should be one place
in democratic country where men are
measured and men are influential not by
their wealth, not By the elegance OF
their bed-chamber or the splendor OF
their faiment, but by simple and sheer
character.
cannot doubt but that the influence
the two great ancient universities OF
England would have been far greater in
English life IL the method of living OF
the students had been simple, plain.
severe. oxford and Cambridge have
had tremendous influence in training
men for the upper realm OF professional
and social, of theological and civil
life, but neither has had a large influence
in the great community of the people.
beleieve that one cause OF the influence
OF Leipsic and of Berlin. of Bonn and OF
Munich In the life OF the German people
has been the simplicity and plainness OF
the life OF the student. | believe that
the influence of the American college
would be magnified and deepened in the
community IL the life of the student in
the college was more plain and more
simple. Let the living not be high, let
the thinking not be plain; let there be
cultivated much philosophy on little
oatmeal.
know very well that in certain col
leges the life is plain, too plain; 1t lies
at the other extreme OF the scale OF lux
ury il is too bare and il is barren; 1t is
remote from humanizing and cultivating
influences. Men are herded and dwell
in surroundings that have none OF the
comforts of home: such conditions are
quite as evil as the evil that arises from
luxuriousness of environment. But
such barrenness is not to our peril. Our
peril is that increasing luxury shall re-
suit in diminishing intellectually. Our
peril is that the college will come to be
the home of the rich and the dwelling
place of the magnificent. Our peril Is
that in this condition the college will
not and cannot stand for things of the
mind. But for things of the mind the
college must stand. In the age Of home
spun of our fathers the college did stand
for things of the mind; in the age Of
broad-cloth the college must still thus
stand.
have no doubt but that the American
college will despite the increasing luxury
of American life still be able to main
tain the scholastic ideals.