Supposed counterbalancing Advantages of American Colleges

Summary

—ὄνδ ἴσατιν ὅσῳ πλέον ἥμισυ παντός

—Hesiod.

“The great comedian of Athens saw that the feeling of their own insight and profundity rendered his countrymen a prey to the vulgarest delusions. The great philosopher of Athens whom that comedian ridiculed, saw still deeper into the meaning of the same fact—saw that the most clever and enlightened of the youth of Athens could talk about all manner of things, but knew nothing whatever of themselves.”

Maurice's Lectures on Education.

Admitting that our colleges do not teach Latin and Greek so well as the European ones, the natural and ordinary defence is, that they teach other things, and those on the whole of more value, better. Let us examine the particulars of this defence. What are the other things taught?—are they better taught?—and are they more beneficial as means of liberal education?

And first, in relation to Mathematics. There used to be, and probably is still, a vague general impression at Yale, to the effect that the Mathematical course there is a very difficult and thorough one—that, in fact, Mathematics constitute one of the crack points of the institution.