stead of an open door, how can the result be anything but disastrous? I believe in the New England colleges. I am a graduate of one, and am at present one of its trustees. I am deeply interested in its welfare. I recognize, moreover, that the policy of that college must be in general that of other institutions of its class, and I share the desire to preserve the spirit and traditions and all that is best in our well-tried and time-honored American colleges; but I believe that the time has come when they must broaden their work to articulate with the high schools. The most important service which American colleges can render to the American people is to attract large numbers of young men who are willing to work, ambitious to rise, and inspire them with the best purposes and ideals. Comparatively few such young men go to the Eastern colleges now. The poor young men who are making their way through college, by teaching and other forms of self-help, are comparatively rare. They find other avenues to influence and success now; and, unfortunately, they find a different kind of success. They go into business, or they go into the professions, without collegiate training. The pulpit needs these men, the other professions need these men, and they need them well trained and disciplined. But if they are to receive a college training it must be by uniting the secondary and superior schools in their work as they are already united in their interest.

JOHN W. JOHNSON, University of Mississippi: As every important structure which is to tower above the general level must have a solid foundation on which to rest, so every system of collegiate education must have its foundation rooted and grounded in secondary schools. The dependence is absolute, the condition truly a "sine qua non."

Conversely, the dependence of secondary schools upon colleges is conceded in the highest and most important sense. Without the maintenance of high standards of education and the production of cultured teachers as the result of college work, the secondary schools would soon cease to be in demand and die of utter neglect. The dependence, therefore, is reciprocal, and their aims and efforts should be mutual, harmoniously pressing toward one common end, viz.: the highest education possible to the greatest number possible. The relation of these two great factors in our educational system can be strengthened, among other ways, by a severance of preparatory departments from colleges.

It is the honest belief of some, the prejudice of others, and a concession for the sake of expediency of many, that these secondary schools should be maintained, even by a misappropriation of trust funds, as preparatory departments of colleges, and even universities. According to the very able report of President Canfield, at Nashville, last summer, a large majority of the colleges and universities all over this country, North, South, East, and West, are retaining these preparatory schools as appendages to college curricula. Various excuses are offered for what it seems all concede to be a necessary evil. Many claim that adequate preparation cannot be obtained away from the

colleges. Some are afraid of being surpassed in numbers by rival colleges; others claim that State institutions have no right to discriminate against poor boys who have been deprived of the advantages near home of good preparation; others frankly confess that a desire for a show of numbers is the real cause of thus maintaining the preparatory departments.

The perpetuation of such departments works several disadvantages:

(1) It is against the prosperity and healthful development of high schools, for the simple reason that, as a rule, preparatory departments at colleges are free schools, while the high schools are of necessity fee schools. The sympathy and cooperation of the masters of high schools are eliminated from the colleges as if rivals, and not what they should be, co-workers, harmoniously blending their efforts in the grand work of educating the men and matrons of our great country. (2) It is against the moral development of young boys. College discipline involves many problems, which remain unsolved by either the past or the present age. Immature boys thrown under the influence of college life and college freedom, too often fall before the enticing temptations which always beset the youth at this formative period of character. (3) It injures the eclat and dignity of the college. Young boys who fail to enter even the freshman class can add but little to the intellectual reputation, or to the high order of work of the college. But little is expected of such. They are unfortunately looked upon as mendicants, or as undesirable objects of charity, rather than appreciated patronage. Five years seems a long time to remain in college pursuing one long, tedious curriculum. The boy, upon realizing what is before him, staggers at the task; and, in many cases, abandons the course. He may be good fruit, but he is plucked too early, and retains innocently enough a special "native green," which distinguishes him from the riper hue of the young man who can enter the higher classes. The latter has advantages to begin with, which serve him a good purpose before professors and the student body.

The relation may be further strengthened by greater intimacy and sympathy between the two. Every college should have as feeders its group of high schools scattered all over the country, over which it should exercise an advisory and supervisory control. The college authorities should take special interest in the high-school course, examine the text-books used, and suggest changes when deemed proper. It should make it a point to send, at least annually, certain of its officers and visitors to the high schools. These visits should be somewhat formal, casting, as it were, reflected dignity from the college upon the high schools. It should be an occasion specially appreciated and prepared for by teachers, patrons, and pupils. It should be a field day, and all on dress parade. The nature of the course pursued and the amount completed should be shown by examinations. A well-prepared lecture on some popular subject should be delivered by one of the visitors; something that would interest and instruct patrons as well as pupils and teacher. Let the young men of the high school thus have some personal knowledge of the

professors, and some little foresight into the sciences taught. The intimacy and sympathy thus engendered will constitute an important part of the thorough preparation needed.

Again, hearty cooperation will materially strengthen the relation. The college authorities, if sufficient intimacy and sympathy are maintained as above indicated, will know well enough the preparation made by the different high schools; and should, therefore, accept the candidates who bring certificates of qualification from their teachers, without the usual entrance examinations. This will stimulate the pride of the teacher to recommend only those who shall maintain themselves creditably. Feeling that his ability to teach is thus recognized, and that he shares, in part, the responsibility for the grade of scholarship in the college, he will exert the greater effort to send well-prepared boys. He will feel a greater interest every way in its prosperity and success. The boys who are being prepared will feel the greater respect for the teacher, if they know that his recommendation will be honored by entrance, without examination, and they will therefore strive the more to secure his indorsement. Patrons will feel that they have a teacher known and recognized by the college authorities, and will appreciate and sustain him all the more for that reason. In short, the chain of sympathy and coöperation, starting out from the college, will embrace teachers, pupils, and patrons, and band them all together as strong friends and supporters of the college, and of the higher education generally.

A young man prepared at home for entering high classes will be able to determine with greater certainty his natural talents and predilections. We live in an age of specialties, and the sooner a young man can ascertain the preference of his talents, and the inclination of his will, the sooner he can enter upon that line of thought which is to control his activities through life. If mathematics be his forte, he can make a specialty of studies in that line. If he be gifted in language, he may study linguistics. If any of the natural sciences attract him, he can devote himself to any one of those beautiful fields which have furnished so much food for thought to many of the world's brightest intellects.

Above all, let us have systematic and regular State appropriations to the high schools. Taking a plain, common-sense view of our school system, it does seem an invidious distinction that the State should liberally provide for primary and collegiate instruction, but leave secondary instruction without support. In this the State might be likened to the proprietor of a spacious hotel who should furnish his lower apartments with all the needed appliances to make his guests comfortable, and prepare elaborate upper chambers, with fresco and cornice, protected by imposing roof with beautiful dormerwindows and balustrades, and yet leave all the middle of his house exposed to wind and snow and storm. Such a proprietor would be laughed to scorn. But suppose he should persist in conducting his business in such a house, and claim that he had a right to public respect and patronage. Suppose, too, he

should pay his servants in the upper chambers magnificent salaries, and those also in the lowest apartments satisfactory wages, but expect the servants in the intermediate apartments to work without any fixed and regular salary, and live on whatever little fees they could collect from the guests, doing outside work somewhere when guests were scarce. How would guests like to pay extra these hungry servants after they had already paid their annual stipend for the comforts of the house? Would not the guests say to the proprietor: "Why, my dear sir, we are surprised to see such poor equipments in these intermediate departments. The rooms are not comfortable. The servants seem too much pressed with outside business to give us proper attention. They want pay, too, and indeed they seem to need it. But they do not give us service enough to make us feel comfortable and properly chaperoned for introduction to your nicest guests, of whom we hear so much. We hear that they have a little ante-room up there adjoining the drawing-room, and that more than half of the guests going from here are rejected and carried to that anteroom for proper toilet. Now such will be very embarrassing to us-to be rushed out of those fine parlors, as objects of ridicule, before all the nicer and more fortunate guests. Being rejected once, we will ever after be embarrassed by the thoughts of it." The proprietor might reply: "Well, if you will pay them enough they will prepare you all right. But, really, I do not expect many of my guests to pass up through here. My upper chambers are free, to be sure, to everybody, for everybody who cheerfully pays the stipend; but, really, they are far above the level of you common people, and I expected you to be satisfied, and even grateful for even the privilege of being rejected!” Such management in business would be absurd, indeed, but this is really the management in some States, Mississippi among them, in school affairs. The secondary schools are neglected, the teachers forced to teach for whatever they can collect from the citizens, who have already paid a liberal school tax. In many cases the teachers grumble because they collect so little, and the patrons grumble because they collect so much! It is gratifying, however, t know that in many States the secondary schools are supported by the State West Virginia reports favorably concerning the State aid to high schools. Wisconsin shows gratifying results. Minnesota shows a very good system or ladder leading from the primary schools into the university-certificates are accepted from their high schools in lieu of entrance examinations. Rhode Island claims ten such schools doing thorough preparatory work, and good results follow. Vermont reports her high schools as the most prosperous class of schools in the State.

It is sincerely to be hoped that the mighty chasm between the primary schools and the colleges will be bridged by placing the secondary on a financial basis commensurate with their importance and responsibility.

R. K. BUEHRLE, of Pennsylvania: In addition to what has been so well said by the President of Harvard College, I would suggest that the colleges agree on a uniform standard of admission among themselves before they ex

pect any uniformity in the public high schools. Not only local circumstances, but the course of studies and the terms of admission of the Alma Mater of the high-school principal, condition the course of studies of the school he teaches. Such a uniform course of study, published by a joint committee appointed by the colleges of a State, and annually sent by them to the secretary of each school board sustaining a high school, though not authoritative, nor mandatory, would be suggestive and helpful to the committees charged with the course of studies. Gradually, uniformity would be attained; for although the committees change, the course of study would naturally shape itself more and more in accordance with the thought of men standing high in the educational field. It should also be remembered that the highschool students are not generally the sons of wealthy parents, nor of such as value a college training because of having personally experienced the advantages of such discipline. Here is a work for the colleges to do. If Greek is to be studied, the advantages of such study must be set forth to the parents of such high-school students. In other words, the college and the university must come down to the people, and enlighten, educate them on this subject, this phase of education, the advantages of higher culture, the necessity of it in order to attain to higher manhood. Perhaps one cause for the smaller relative number of persons who pass into college in the East-in the Northeastern States—is to be found in the change in the population. The immigrants which have supplanted the old New England stock are not all likely to rush into, or to be attracted by, institutions permeated by the spirit of the Pilgrims. As regards admissions into State colleges or universities, like Michigan and Minnesota, I have no doubt the denominational influences and interests are largely responsible for the small number that pass from the high schools into them. The church needs a trained clergy, and hence establishes higher institutions of learning in which its children shall be educated, not only scientifically, but also religiously; and I am inclined to believe that it is best that it is so. The smaller colleges often accomplish great good utterly beyond the reach of large and far-distant institutions.

Another cause, I have no doubt, is to be found in the character of the teachers of the public schools. They are, especially in the cities and towns, almost exclusively female, and have hence to a large extent been excluded from the colleges, or perhaps they have been hesitatingly allowed to enter The Annex. How, or why, shall they be expected to prepare students for institutions which deny them admission? In former days the school-master was largely the college graduate who would naturally attract the brighter boys and lure them on to the same elysian fields in which he basked. Even when the teacher is a graduate of a normal school he is often not qualified to prepare pupils in the classics for admission to the college. In our State the elementary course requires for graduation only the first twenty-nine chapters of the first book of Cæsar. Yet, I suppose the normal schools of Pennsylvania are second to none in the country.