That even
development of all a man's faculties, which is what properly constitutes
culture, may be effected by such an education, while it opens the way
for the indefinite strengthening of any special capabilities with which
he may be gifted.
In a country like this, where most men have to carve out their own
fortunes and devote themselves early to the practical affairs of life,
comparatively few can hope to pursue their studies up to, still less
beyond, the age of manhood. But it is of vital importance to the welfare
of the community that those who are relieved from the need of making a
livelihood, and still more, those who are stirred by the divine impulses
of intellectual thirst or artistic genius, should be enabled to devote
themselves to the higher service of their kind, as centres of
intelligence, interpreters of nature, or creators of new forms of
beauty. And it is the function of a university to furnish such men with
the means of becoming that which it is their privilege and duty to be.
To this end the university need cover no ground foreign to that occupied
by the elementary school. Indeed it cannot; for the elementary
instruction which I have referred to embraces all the kinds of real
knowledge and mental activity possible to man.
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