New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1897-04-18
THE TEACHER.

"but he kept II up. JOWett kept IL up.
II.
THE TEACHER.
He was a good man without ever being prig.
The distinction would not be worth making II
II were not one OF Jowett's claims to our interest
that throughout his career he often offered
striking contrast in his manners TO
those Of his acquaintance, and yet never
offended the latter. How often do we
hear OF a man who can rebuke his COM
rades In a matter Of indecacy without be-
ing regarded as prig? Jowett was almost ef-
Terminate in his demeanor as young man. and
what with his small voice and somewhat precise
speech he could easily have provoked reprisals
when he ventured to critcise his fellows But
his moral force was unmistakable, and he grew
I'D an accepted counsellor, one for whom men
felt spontaneous and lasting respect
When staying at a country house. among men
of great literary reputation. when the host then
but slightly known to him. made use OF Some na-
beasian expression-unaware perhaps Tor the
moment that he entertaining clergyman
Jowett said quite simply, Mr.. - do not
think myself better than you, but feel Dound
to disapprove Of that remark. This ATTITUDE
was maintained consistently in later life put
with differences Of method. in accordance win
his increasing knowledge of men and things AL
a Scotch shooting lodge. somewhere in the six
ties he insisted on going down to the smoking
room with the others at a late hour and when
the conversation of the younger men took
doubtful turn the small voice that had been
silent hitherto suddenly heard: There IS
more dirt than wit in that story. think once
again. in the eighties. when at Balliol after din
ner some old companion ventured on dangerous
ground, he quietly said, Shall we continue TINS
conversation with the ladies?' and rose to 60
The high principle and courage disclosed In
these incidents were Jowett's great resources in
his oxford lfe that is to say. throughout his en-
tire career He was great educator. one OF the
greatest who ever lived. and this not merely be-
cause of his scholarly wisdom, but because OF
his consistent humanity his close grip on the es-
sential things Of life and especially the crucial
elements in the characters Of his men. This
biography abounds in testimonies to his gifts as
a teacher, but there is noticeable absence or
comment upon his mere pedagogics. What his
pupils felt most the force Of his nature, the
range and depth Of his sympathies the exquisite
subtlety of his insight into their needs He mad
genius for friendship. says one who knew him
well. and every one Of his pupils was his friend.
even the black sheep whom. indeed he sought
out the more with the delight in duty that dis
tinguished him In all the relations of life. The
stories Of his taciturnity. OF his crushing COM
ments upon the work brought to him, are anthem
tic, and they are certainly funny. Some one
brought him a set of Greek verses. He glanced
over them. and. looking up rather blanky, said,
Have you any taste for Matchmaker" But
Professor Ramsay shows us best how to take
this side of Jowett. He never seemed to wound
you" he says, but only to put into your hands
a weapon for discovering that you were TOOL
| To most men, as Ramsay observes. such dis
covery is invaluable, and undergraduate oxford
took Jowett to it's bosom with an enthusiasm that
burned steadily for nigh half a century. Ohcial
Oxford came slower to feel toward him in the
same way In fact his est. Paul" and his share
In Essays and Reviews" to say nothing of other
heretical Offences kept him at odds with the au-
thorities for a length of time that now seems
fairly scandalous. But 1t is perhaps Improbable
to enter into those hOary 1uarrels in TINS place
They are as dead as Jowett would wish them to
be, dead, and only now traversed by his biog-
raphers In order TO put permanently on record
in succinct form an official ratification Of the
Master as against the committees and boards
and bores with whom he came In conflict The
undergraduates were wiser than their rulers.
They saw almost Immediately what treasure
they had in Jowett dear old Jowler," they
used affectionately to call him, and among them
he soon had a firmly established fame, first as
their companion, later as a tutor, and finally as
| Master of Balliol. Walter Pater wrote to Pro-
| lessor Campbell not long before his death that
this fame of Jowett's rested on his great orig
| nalty as a writer and thinker. He seemed TO
| have taken the measure not merely of all opin-
IONS but Of all possible ones and to have put the
last refnements on literary expression This
passage sums up the intellectual side OF Jowetts
career at oxford. He was nothing more or less
| than a living inspiration to the undergraduates
| with whom he came in contact. His methods
were never conventional. He never allowed his
| mon to stagnate He tried them on this line
| now on that, and since he followed closely the
| DEVELOPMENT of each individual seeking to in
| terest him, never to merely burden him. he was
| not alone beloved, but admired. That, after ALL
| is the secret of success in educational matters
| Jowett had learning, sympathy, enthusiasm. and
| indomitab BILE energy, but most Of all he had the
| magic to make all these qualities interesting
| His siIences at dinner when the poor undergrad
| mates at his table felt the atmosphere pressing
| them down like the cerements of mummy
| must have been terrific. but no one has ever
| heard OF a man who was bored in Jowetts COM
nonv Those silences awful as they were, could
| rever no unfruitful. When he spoke it was to
| tho noint Everything he said had an edge on
| q and WAS so perfectly expressed as TO seem
final" If he said nothing, as he himself once ex-
| nlained. It was because he had nothing to say
Writing to Dean Stanley about his shyness and
! his silence he says that somehow or other
get thinking about matters speculative or o'her-
| wise and when not perfectly well, they get such
| hold that cannot relax" Oxford smiled ana
| told anecdotes but oxford understood him, the
| undergraduates bore his idiosyncrasy because
they knew that when he spoke they would get a
| stimulus that would last them for weeks
| III.
THE PLATONIsT.
The reader of Jowetts plato" needs no con-