The History of Dartmouth CollegeSmith, Baxter Perry
History
The History of Dartmouth College
Smith, Baxter Perry
Dartmouth College -- History
"But it would seem important to the continued success of this system,
that its several parts should still be kept distinct and subordinate.
I will not say that they may not subsist harmoniously, and be
conducted usefully upon the same ground. I will not say that an
university, sectional or national, that shall, in its separate
colleges and halls, prepare our youth for the various departments of
life, may not consist with the spirit of our civil governments, and be
guarded against the evils which have generally attended establishments
so complicate, and of such numerous resort. However this may be
judged, it will be found, I apprehend, the wisdom of our scattered
institutions, to preserve their individuality, and remain true, as to
their general regulations, to the purpose of their foundation. With
respect, particularly, to the arrangements of a college, it would seem
not less true than in regard to the efforts of an individual mind, or
the operations of a machine, that however numerous and various these
arrangements may be in detail, the most beneficial results cannot be
expected without unity of design. Between that kind of cultivation and
discipline necessary as a foundation for professional eminence, and
that which is required for success in mercantile, mechanical, or
agricultural occupation, there is a very natural and obvious
distinction. And not only is it desirable that they who will be
successful mainly as they shall be conversant with books, who require
to be learned men, and they whose concern lies principally in the
active business of life, in skill or labor, should have in some
respects a different course of study, but be subjected to the
influence of different minds, and examples, and rules, and scenes, and
associations, corresponding to the different relations which they will
sustain. 'Non omnia possumus omnes,' is a proverb applicable both to
teachers and to pupils, and it would forbid the supposition, that
minds which act upon others for widely different purposes, should do
it always with the best effect, or that they who are so acted upon,
should not sometimes suffer injury from the inadequate or ill
appropriated influence that is exerted over them.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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