The semi-weekly messenger. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1897-1908, 1902-10-28

classical languages OF antiquity oner-
ed better discipline than any
Of the present day except the language
Of o." own thought. Drill in mathe-
mas stands in h same category
and The English is also of the funda-
mental group OF stndies- But the
funca mental studies have widened in
our day, chiefly because science las
had its credentials accepted as OF the
true patriciate of learning. and IL is a.
necessary that the lad should be IN
duced into the thinking Of the modern
time as il is that he should be care
fully grounded in the old. Undoubted-
~ the fundamental sciences are phys
les, chemistry and biology. Physics
and chemistry afford a systematic
body of knowledge as abundant for
instruction. as definite almost as
mathematics Itself: and biology. young
as 1t Is, has already supplied US with
a scheme OF physical life which lifts
its study to the place Of n distinctive
discipline. And there stand along
side OF these geology and astronomy,
whose part in general culture, aside
from their connection with physics.
mechanics n chemistry, is 10 apply
to the mind the stimulation which
comes from being brought into the
presence and in some sort into the
comprehension of ~stupendous. system
atized physical fact. from seeing nature
in the mass and system OF her migh
and structure. These. 900, are essen
tial parts OF the wide scheme which
the college must plot out. And when
We have added to these the national
discipline OF philosophy. the indispen-
sable instructions OF history. and the
embellishments OF economic and po-
litical study. and to these the modern
languages which are the tools of schol-
arship, we stand confused. How arc
we TO marshal this host OF studies
within a common plan which shall
not put the pupil out Of breath?
No doubt we must make choice
among them. and suffer the pupil him.
self t make choice. But the choice
that We make must be the chief choice,
the choice the pupil makes the subordi-
dinate choice. Since ne canno in the
time at his disposal so the grand tour
of accepted modern knowledge, we
who ave studied the geography of
learning and who have observed several
generations of men attempt the journey
must instruct him how n a brief space
he may see most of the world. The
true American university gets its best
characteristic. its sureSt guarantee of
sane and catholic learning, from the
presence at its very heart of a college
of liberal arts. Its vital union with the
college gives it the true univ ers ty at
mosphere. a p~ervading sense of the
unity and unbroken circle Of learning
not so much because Of the presence
of a great body of undergraduates in
search of general training as because
of the presence of a great body Of
teachers Whose lifework it is to find the
general outlooks of kno wled4a and 6 We
vision of them every day from quiet
| rooms which. while they talk. shall
seem to command all The prospects of
the wide world"
The speaker said he would wish to
see every student made. not a man of
his task. but a man of a world, what
ever his world may be.
$50 soon as generous friends have
arranged their n SO as to enable
them to release enough money for the
purpose it is the intention to build a
graduate college, which will be not only
a body of teachers and students, but
also a college of residence, where men
shall live together in close and whole
some comradeshiD of learning: a com
radeship for the novice as well as the
graduate.
mo doubt the old purely literary
training made too much of the devel'
opment of mere taste. mere delicacy Of
perception, but our modern training
makes too little.
There are other things which mus
be supplied our generation bes des mere
| tldlcIldl SuCeSS. IL IiuSl NC SupDiiSI
with men who care more for principles
than for money. for the right adjust
men of life thar for the gross accumu-
lation of profit.
'1n America, for every man touched
with nobil ty, for every man touched
with the spirit Of Jul institutions, so
cial service is the high law of duty
and every American un verSity mus
square it's standards by that law o.
lack it's national title. 1t IS serving
the nation to give men the enlighten
ments of a general training, it i:
serving the nation to equip fit men TO
thorough scientific investig alton ant
for the tasks of exact scholar ship. 70
science and scholarship carry h trutl
forward from generation to generation
and give the certain touch of knowledg
to the processes of life
In conclusion President Wilson sal
every concrete thing America has don
has seemed to rise out OF some abstrac
principles, some vision of the mind
Her greatest victories have been tn
victories of peace and Of humanity
And in days quiet and troubled alik
Princeton has stood for the nation
service, to produce men and patriots.