The Worcester spy. [volume] (Worcester, Mass.) 1898-1904, 1898-11-06
SOME NEW ESSAYS
President Eliot and Mr.. Chapman on
Education and Politics.

Addresses, by Charles William Ellot,
LII. D., president of Harvard Uniyer-
sity. The Century Company.
Foremost among American educators
stands President Eliot. Probably it
would not be too much to say that his
is the most potent personal force that
has ever affected American education.
For nearly 80 years he has not only
directed the progress of the great in-
stitution of which he is the head, but
has taken a. leading part in initiating
and guiding the development of educa-
ton at large in this country, from the
elementary through the secondary
schools to the universities. What his
influence has been and IS can never be
measured adequately; only as we hold
in our hands the books which record
his life-work and recognize one by one
the themes of well remembered con-
tests. does the magnitude of the ma
tional debt to him become clear.
The present collection comprises
President Eliot's most important es-
says and addresses on educational
questions beginning with his inaug-
ural address as president of Harvard
University in 1869. and concluding with
his address on THE function of educa-
ton in a democratic society,"" deliv-
cred before the Brooklyn Institute in
1897 1t is impossible to read the in
augural address, delivered 30 years
ago, without amazemenI at the uner-
ring vision which could so dehnltely
and accurately forecast not only the
future policy of Harvard, and the de-
velopmenf of the writer's own mind,
but also some of the chief formative
influences which were to be eNerted on
education in.TAfnerica within the next
90 years. Electives. teaching by lee
lures, natural science taught in the
laboratory, lectures for women-these
We're the opening wedges to a breadth
of culture and fairness of spirit
toward all forms of education such as
America had never before dreamed of.
In the paper on what is a liberal
education?" President Eliot carries
this subject still farther He claims
equality fer the English language and
literatJtie with Latin and Greek;
claims a position of academic equality
for French and German; and places
beside them history, political economy
and natural science. A liberal educa-
ton must cover the discoveries OF ITS
own time; it must include all that is
most helpful and vitalzihg in the past;
it must expand with the progress of
knowledge and the advance Of ciyiliza-
ton; it must keep in touch with So
ciety.
Dul d llprI d. cluNellA1ll .NAtiiAtNN 49,
ty would be paradox and it is for
liberty that in the last analysis Presi-
dent Eliot pleads-the liberty of the in
dividual to choose his own studies, the
liberty Of the present to break away
from the traditions of the past, and the
liberty of the teacher to substitute new
methods for the old.
There are other ESSAYS in the collec-
ton but space forbids a more extended
notice of this book, which is marked by
a breadth of vision, a generosity of
spirit, a vigor of intellectual grasp and
an exalted patriotism that make it a
most notable contribution to the educa-
tional literature Of the century.
Causes and Consequences by John
Jay Chapman. Charles Scribners Sons.
Mr.. Chapman's preceding volume of
Emerson and Other Essays" has a
worthy successor in this new collection
of five very serious essays on politics
and education in America The author
is an original and penetrating thinker,
who employs an English style full of
epigrammatic force and terseness to set
forth his ideas. He is dogmatic in his
opinions, but who that is much in ear
nest over thing is not dogmatic2
1t is impossible to present even an
outline of the most important of Mr.
Chapmans views with regard to the
political situation in the United States
but he is consistently optimistic even
when discussing Plat and Croker. Our
rnisgovernment, he says, is an incidena
in the history of commerce., and is
largely due to the growth and concen-
tration of capital which the railroad
and the telegraph have made possible
The civil war left the nation in such a
state that the ma chinery of govern
nent Avas in a particularly purchasable
state, for the war had left the. republi-
can party in control and the best in
tellect 0f~the country was Withdrawn
from public affairs and devoted to
trade During the thirty years which
followed the war the native power be-
hind the party organizations was silent
~ transferred from principles to money
and the machine" with the boss in
charge came into being, while steady
degradation was to be seen in public
life. in4character and in deeency.
The problem which confronts the
American citizen, according to Mr..
Chapman, is not the downfall of the
boss, but the overthrow of the boss
system, and what prevents the over
throw Of the boss system is not the
selfshness. or treason of bad men. but
the inehiciency Of upright and patriotic
men. Platt and Croker are not worse
than the men who continue to employ
them after understanding their fllnc-
New York. Idealism is the shortest
way to reform, all compromise means
delay. A reverse following a fight for
principle. like the defeat Of Low. is
pure gain, for it educates the masses
on a gigantic scale. IT is certain that
the moral tone Of the community is
changing very rapidly for the better.
and that henceforth reform Will be re-
spectacle.
Mr. Chapman believes firmly that
man is an unselfish animal, and that
our government is in accord with sound
philosophy, and is q. constant influence
tending to correct the distortions
wrought by the forces of commerce
upon the American character. The only
pity is that his book, While read bv
the more politically intelligent is not
likely to fall into the hands Of those
who most need a gospel of reform.
.F'riendship," by Hugh Black M. A.
With an Introductory note by w Rob-
ertson Nicoll Fleming H. Revell Com
pauy.
This is wise little book, charming
" written and delightfully."- printed and
Illuminated Its author is said to be
tha most popular preacher in Scotland