imulus, that a resolute selection of subjects,
which is the only remedy, is not attempted; and accordingly the victim
of educational theories is in the predicament of the man described by
Dr. Johnson who could not make up his mind which leg of his breeches
he would put his foot into first. Meanwhile, said the Doctor, with a
directness of speech which requires to be palliated, the process of
investiture is suspended.

But the practical result of the dilemma is the rise of specialism. The
savant is dead and the specialist rules. It is interesting to try to
trace the effect of this revolution upon our national culture.

Now, I have no desire whatever to take up the cudgels against the
specialists: they are a harmless and necessary race, so long as they are
aware of their limitations. But the tyranny of an oligarchy is the
worst kind of tyranny, because it means the triumph of an average over
individuals, whereas the worst that can be said of a despotism is that
it is the triumph of an individual over an average. The tyranny of the
specialistic oligarchy is making itself felt to-day, and I should like
to fortify the revolutionary spirit of liberty, whose boast it is
to detest tyranny in all its forms, whether it is the tyranny of an
enlightened despot, or the tyranny of a virtuous oligarchy, or the
tyranny of an intelligent democracy.

The first evil which results from the rule of the specialist is the
destruction of the AMATEUR. So real a fact is the tyranny of the
specialist that the very word "amateur," which means a leisurely lover
of fine things, is beginning to be distorted into meaning an inefficient
performer. As an instance of its correct and idiomatic use, I often
think of the delightful landlord whom Stevenson encountered somewhere,
and upon whom he pressed some Burgundy which he had with him. The
generous host courteously refused a second glass, saying, "You see I
am an amateur of these things, and I am capable of leaving you
not sufficient." Now, I shall concern myself here principally with
literature, because, in England at all events, literature plays the
largest part in general culture. It may be said that we owe some of the
best literature we have to amateurs. To contrast a few names, taken at
random, Shakespeare, Dryden, Pope, Dr. Johnson, De Quincey, Tennyson,
and Carlyle were professionals, it is true; but, on the other hand,
Milton, Gray, Boswell, Walter Scott, Charles Lamb, Shelley, Browning,
and Ru