Ottumwa tri-weekly courier., 1909-06-10
ATTORNEY GENERAL GIVES Ap-
VICE TO LEHlGH uNlvER-
sITY GRADUATES.
ONCE STUDENT THERE
Wickersham Tells Students Technical
Education is Not Enough Alone
to Fit Young Man for Life,s
Struggles.

day before the Alumni association of
Lehigh university, George w. Wicker
sham, attorney general of the United
States, one time student of the
university, discussed in an illuminat-
ing way the differentiation between
merely technical education and broad
culture. He, himself, he said, had
found in DR.. Henry Coppee, at that
time president of the university, a
wise counsellor, who, quick to recog-
nize in student taste for letters.
had advised him to relinquish the
study of calculus for that of Black
stone. Such advice was hardly to b..
expected from the faculty of Lehigh,
for the absorbing interests of the
institution then were technical.
"The thoughts of many eager
young men," said Mr.. Wickersha1n,
were therefore directed toward
preparation for the different branches
OF engineering, believing that those
vocations offered the most promising
pathways to success and prosperity.
"It was natural for Americans, with
a sense of the great natural resources
of their country, to turn to the study
and application Of practical science,
In order that they might aid in the
development of those resources and
share in the material results to be
thereby realized
Technical Education Not Enough.
Mr. Wickersham suggested that the
mere students of technical knowledge
have not taken quite the rank in
American social and political life
commensurate with their accomplish
ments in their own professions. l
ascribe this to the fact that their
training has been too purely techni-
cal; they have specialized too early
in life. and without that broad and
catholic foundation upon which special
training should be based. All edu-
Gated men concede the full value Of
the technical education; but the de-
fects in merely technical education
also are easily perceived. The re-
quirements of a civilization that is
not purely materialistic have not dis
pensed with art and literature, nor
| ignored the tremendous Importance
of the imagination-the value Of
poetry and song in inspiring that i'm
pulse which achieves the greatest
practical results, nor can it minimize
the Importance Of the study of the
past history of man, for contrast and
example, for warning and for emula-
tion.
The best superstructure Of special
technical knowledge is built on the
broad foundation of general intel
lectual and moral culture. In an age
OF great technical and Industrial de-
velopment, the tendency is towards
pure materialism-the exalting of
practical accomplishment In the pro-
duction of wealth over the less tang
ible result of the study of history.
literature and art, and so there is on
the part of many men who have at
| tanned success In business life or In
the practical sciences a disposition to
extol such accomplishments be-
yond all others, and to undervalue or
not at all to realize the value of
mental culture in any other than
purely technical lines.
Cites lmmortals as Proof.
| "It is to be noted, however, that
the greatest discoveries in science
followed that great intellectual awak-
ening which is known as the Renais-
sance. The revival of learning. the
desire for general culture which found
inspiration in the study of the art
the literature and the history Of the
Greeks and Romans, produced as its
! first fruits the marvellous architecture
of Bramante, Michael Angelo and
Brunelleschi; the Basilica of St
Peters in Rome, and the Duomo of
Florence; the paintings of Leonardo
Raphael and Titan; the sculpture OF
Ghiberti, Lucadella Robbia, Donatello
and Michael Angelo; the immortal
divine comedy of Dante, and the
tender lyrics Of Petrarch Then fol
lowed the philosophy Of Erasmus and
Colet and More, the epic poem OF
Arristo, and the historical work OF
Guicciardini. Upon this splendid
foundation Of art and poetry and let
ters was built the stately structure
of modern science.
"Copernicus, while studying mathe
matics, devoted his spare time to
painting. Calico was an earnest stu
dent Of literature, accomplished as a
Greek and Latin scholar, a musician
and a painter, when the vibrations OF
the great swinging lamp at Pisa first
directed his attention to problem
in physics which led to his great dis
coveries. Newton pursued his studies
at Trinity college, Cambridge, and
was graduated in 1865 with the de
gree of bachelor of arts. The steam
engine was invented by Watt, the
locomotive by Stevenson, and the
spinning jenny by Albright, at time
when the whole civilized world wac
in ferment Of intellectual agitation
concerning the rights of man and the
theories of social order, and when
the history and the literature of the
ancient world were eagerly studied
for light on the fundamental princi
pies of civil government and indi
vidual liberty. Almost without excep
tion, the great men whose names have
been written large in the history Of
science were men of broad culture