tion and the advance of learning, as the means whereby
the national mind can be trained."

The constructive intellectual spirit so paramount in the university
begins in the college. The more formal methods of disciplinary work at
the beginning of a collegiate course gradually shade off, during the
closing years, into the methods and spirit of original discovery
adopted in university work. In the college there is kindled in the
student the love of new truth and an enthusiasm for the advancement of
learning. He is led to undertake creative work, and become an active,
intellectual producer, with aspirations to widen the horizon of
thought and weave the best results of his discoveries into the warp
and woof of the social organism.

The steps leading up to the important period in the student's life
where research is for the sake of fruitfulness are traceable in the
historic development and requirements of college studies. In nearly
all the colleges there is manifest a growing spirit of freedom in
pursuing a course of study. There is little doubt that elective
courses of study are a recognized necessity and benefit. It remains,
however, an open question what studies should be required and what
elected, and when the work of specialization should begin. If we keep
in view the fact that the primary aim of a college education is to
elevate and broaden the student by training him to clear and exact
thought and accurate observation and expression, we will see that,
whatever the course or subject of study chosen, it is only the means
to this end.

Required studies should be based upon the principle of the
instrumental, substantive and interpretative elements in a liberal
education. For example, the study of language is important as the
instrument of thought. A knowledge of the rich and copious foreign
languages opens up the wisdom of the past and present, and their study
develops memory and precision, as well as stimulates and provokes
thought. A knowledge of some of them is essential to the highest
professional success. The student who can read and appreciate the
foreign languages and appropriate their contents has a decided
advantage.

Mathematics is, likewise, an instrument of thought. It is the
foundation of the physical sciences and the framework of the material
universe. Its study trains the mind to think in relations and
quantities, and helps to obviate loose and confused thinking. Logic
and psychology are also importan