VII

THE SCHOLAR AND THE NEW CIVIC SPIRIT

SAINT SIMEON STYLITES stood on a pillar sixty feet high for thirty years-this for his soul's benefit and the glory of God. He was a product of his age and the age's philosophy. The other world, states of mind, the good of the soul through torture of the body, contempt of practical life, were interests that governed many holy men. The saint was a hermit or a monastic and the scholar a recluse, meditating on theology and knowledge. It is a long history-the gradual emergence of religion and learning from the cell into the light.

Today we witness another kind of extreme devotion shown by the recent conquest of the ends of the earth. The spirit which impels to action and adventure, urges to the limit of endeavor, and dares the impossible, shows our age in one sublime aspect. But lately, we have had occasion to reflect upon the men who reached the Ultimate North and South. Surely a great glory has come out of the frozen North through the daring of explorers; and now out of the frozen

South, in a world-wide and enduring story filled with pathos, and in another of triumph and renown. This spirit represents our times—man's expression of himself, the impulse that reaches out toward whatever is true, whatever is beautiful, whatever is good, whatever has worth measured by the effort to attain it. This spirit is akin to the ideals which we hold before youth or set as a far goal for endeavor. It is akin to the spiritual aim at "something beyond" that has a value not in money, but in itself. It leads to the conquest of nature, enterprise in business, and all forms of achievement. The scholar finds himself in a new age with claims that in ways call for constant adjustment.

The individual today is in the midst of things. There is little thought of castles in Spain or a remote Paradise. We do not dwell on the glory that was Greece, but create glory in the present. We do not, like Mohammed, journey to a distant mountain, but build a mountain in our midst. The" something beyond " means future progress, the growth of mind, justice among men. We are to find some sort and degree of culture in any labor, service in any occupation; to transmute drudgery into joy of doing, and leaden indifference into spiritual alliance with the Universal Will.

We forget that genius in the past grew out of its immediate surroundings. Plato, while he

spoke truths for all times, found his inspiration in his own time. Moreover he applied his philosophy to the spirit and beliefs of his own people, to politics as related to the needs of his State, to education as related to the ideal of Athenian citizenship. There is an unequalled opportunity for modern Platos to utter wisdom. The genius can learn to know himself and to apply his philosophy in this age, to study politics in connection with current questions, and education in the light of desirable citizenship. History, although it is intensely a modern subject, is valued, not for mere enjoyment and reflection, but for its help to know the present and divine the future. Interest centers on the immediate field of action. In our rapid political and social changes every public question appears yearly in a new light. Ethics, form of government, justice between classes are disturbed by the energy of new ideas. Education and educational values are determined in part by civic needs. Not barren meditation, but power of knowledge and the expression of it are essential to the aims of higher education today.

Society needs the college man in its business, and as never before. I am not speaking of the engineer or physician-their function is unquestionable-but of the man who knows history, political and economic and social science, the

physical sciences, the ideals and sentiments embodied in literature, the man who has perspective and can measure the present by the past and by the understanding and logic of organized knowledge. There is plenty of crude energy and sympathy and reform, but too little of intelligence, sanity, and progress. Whether he till or build or govern or lead, man needs the help of all the science the schools can create or transmit.

There is a demand upon the universities to combat the fallacies of demagogues, to promote clearness of thought and honesty of purpose, to arouse state pride in all forms of betterment, and to advocate every good cause from individual rights and duties to international peace. They are expected to give the latest scientific thought and to teach the principles underlying every modern subject and the meaning of recent movements. Government is becoming a matter of business rather than of politics. Expert knowledge will be the ground of appointment to many positions of trust. The highly trained man will be found in office, legislation, and industry. He will guide reform and help solve society's problems. More and more his ideals will help determine the character of our civilization.

We need no longer declaim abstractly of the glories of higher education. The enlarged

function of the university is not a matter of mere theory and prediction. In some of the older, larger and wealthier states, enough has been accomplished to furnish concrete proof, and a study and analysis have been made by careful students of society. It is discovered as a fact that better farming, better engineering, better education, better municipal government, better legislation, better tone of the press, better laws and greater justice to all classes, more variety and interest in life are directly traceable to the influence of the university. The results are attained both by the regular training and by the extension of departments to cover problems of the whole state.

Here are some of the ways in which the university increases its influence. Its members are found doing expert work on state boards and commissions. It applies scientific principles to the industries, the education, the economic and social conditions, and the health of the state. It promotes reform of laws, scientific charity, civic improvement, social betterment, responsible government. It helps to enlighten the people on such matters as wage problems, the value of franchises, questions of public utilities, unjust monopoly. To use a suggested example, it may analyze for the people the dangers of deforestation, soil-robbing, "speeding up," that industrial device which, as used, is