he mass of knowledge have not been its
principal function, nor even an important function in our own country,
until a recent time. The primary object of the proposed institution is
the advance of knowledge and the opening up of new lines of thought,
which, it may be hoped, are to prove of great import to humanity. It
does not follow that the function of teaching shall be wholly foreign
to its activities. It must take up the best young men at the point
where universities leave them, and train them in the arts of thinking
and investigating. But this training will be beyond that which any
regular university is carrying out.

In pursuing our theme the question next arises as to the special
features of the proposed association. The leading requirement is one
that cannot be too highly emphasized. How clearly soever the organizers
may have in their minds' eye the end in view, they must recognize the
fact that it cannot be attained in a day. In every branch of work which
is undertaken, there must be a single leader, and he must be the best
that the country, perhaps even the world, can produce. The required man
is not to be found without careful inquiry; in many branches he may be
unattainable for years. When such is the case, wait patiently till he
appears. Prudence requires that the fewest possible risks would be
taken, and that no leader should be chosen except one of tried
experience and world-wide reputation. Yet we should not leave wholly
out of sight the success of the Johns Hopkins University in selecting,
at its very foundation, young men who were to prove themselves the
leaders of the future. This experience may admit of being repeated, if
it be carefully borne in mind that young men of promise are to be
avoided and young men of performance only to be considered. The
performance need not be striking: ex pede Herculem may be possible; but
we must be sure of the soundness of our judgment before accepting our
Hercules. This requires a master. Clerk-Maxwell, who never left his
native island to visit our shores, is entitled to honor as a promoter
of American science for seeing the lion's paw in the early efforts of
Rowland, for which the latter was unable to find a medium of
publication in his own country. It must also be admitted that the task
is more serious now than it was then, because, from the constantly
increasing specialization of science, it has become difficult for a
specialist in one line to ascertain the soundne