Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1906-06-14

| nave III tnt WORTH ~ 10 De ore, I'D count
one; to be ones self; to have intellec-
tual freedom. the only true freedom
all of which was so eloquently advo-
Gated in the dawn Of European intellec-
tual life by the Greeks. Socrates was
no traction: Plato and Aristotle were
integers each, and the worlds work to-
day is being done; the great problems
Of science. the great problems of state
and OF society are being solved. OF
shall bc solved. by men who are tray-
cling in the Footsteps of these first
leaders, of the world. who discovered
| Intellectual freedom for themselves
AMI who made schOla rship and schol-
arly pursuits possible today and OF 50
sublime and at the same time deep
meaning.
This note of intellectual freedom
which | think Is one that the scholar
rlnst constantly sound and which goes
far towards being an essential part of
bis mission in the world. is so funda-
mentally associated with the original
thinking of Plato and Aristotle, not tn
mention other famous Greek writer's
that il merits particular emphasis. We
may say that practically all the world
before the time of the ancient Greeks
Wa, in bondage intellectually, and we
may with almost equal propriety de-
clare that for a thousand years and
more after the fall of the Greek intel
lectnal reign. there was also an intel
lectual bondage, an intellectual slavery
an absence OF all possibility for schol-
arship and for the prophecy of the
scholar. 1t is this free dom of the ego
this striving after ones complete self
that we find 80 eloquently proclaimed
by the greatest German writer. Goethe;
by the deepest American writer's. EN-
ers on and by the most famous of mod
err day dramatiSts, Ibsen.
IF | shall say nothing further that
can have somewhat permanent place
in YOUR memory. l would desire this
point at least to be weighed well-that
the learning of Greece had a mission
in the world. and performed that mis-
sion in such manner that we must
point to these colossal giants as the pi-
lots OF the worlds intellectual craft
that have kept the world, as Lowell
would say. trimmed and true. on an
even keel" We have yonder in the fifth
and fourth centuries r. c.. within an
area no larger than a fraction of our
own state. the grand prototypes of
those who. since the foundation of
modern universities, and since the mod
ern discoveries i'm science, have done
the worlds work in the realm of mind
1T is a significant fact that the first
university established in the world was
located not among Saxons or Franks,
hnt among the people and by the peo-
pie who were the direct inhertOrs Of
Greek learning; neither was this in the
north Of Italy where Goths and Lom-
bards had become engrafted upon the
Roman stock: neither was it in Rome
the then spiritual and temporal capital
of Europe. but in Southern Italy"
President Fellows made very inter-
esting statement of the affairs of the
university as follows:
THE State University must be tested
before the public by the amount of work
it does for the public, and by the man.
ner in which it complies with the acts of
Congress and the Legislature which have
defined its duties and mission. The uni
versity will have performed its work best
IL 1t has contributed to the education.
advancement and uplifting of the largest
possible number OF the people 1t seems
to be rapidly attaining this end.
AT the beginning Of the present col
lege year a larger number of students
registered than at any time during the
history of the institution. Not only is tho
total number in attendance in the whole
university larger than before, but the
number of new students entering last
September excee ded that of any previous
year, being over 200
LAS the president has repeatedly said
on previous occasions. numbers are by
no means the test of the merits of an
institution. but numbers measure the ex-
tent of the influence of the institution to
q large degree.
within the present year 1t has been
possible to arrange TO carry the work of
the university to n far greater number of
people away from Orono than ever before
BY the placing of n special train at the
disposal of ,h. university. the Bangor
e Aroostook Railway made it possible for
the university to carry its agricultural
work directly to the people within the
vicinity of the entire Bangor e. ArO0s-
took system A careful estimate by the
newspaper reporters accompanying the
train shows that the agricultural work
and instruction of the university was Of
fercd to 5000 people. On this trip of Il
days, about 100 speeches were delivered
by members of the faculty and agricul-
tural workers connected with the depart
ment OF agriculture and the various ag
ricultural societies Of the State. besides
II evening lectures. and 20 other brief
speeches.
1.-THE management of the Maine Central
Railroad has placed at the disposal Of
the university a special train which will
begin its Journey June IA and continue
until June 20. On this trip AZ towns will
be visited. and If the proportion of ct
tendance Is no greater than on the earlier
trip there will he between 5000 and 4n.OOo
people directly reached by the university
Instructors. In addition to the depart
ments of agrOnOmy. animal industry and
horticulture, which were illustrated on
the earlier train. forestry will h. added
to the new one so THAI not only the ag-
ricultural population but the numbering
and manufacturing portions of the com
munity will he served.
I'm this connection it is proper to add