ergetically and in season. Its position is not unlike that of the
commander of a regiment. The colonel will not unfrequently wink at a
certain amount of dissipation among the officers, and even among the
privates. He may say to himself that the offence is one hard to prove,
that perhaps it will wear itself out in time, that perhaps it is best
not to draw the reigns too tightly. But no commanding officer
can afford to tolerate for an instant the slightest movement of
insubordination. He must put it down on the spot, without regard to
consequences, and without stopping to inquire into abstract questions
of right and wrong. No one, of course, will assert that the head of
a college is to act according to the military code. The differences
between soldier life and college life are fundamental. Yet there are
certain resemblances which prompt and justify the wish that a touch at
least of the military spirit might be infused into our colleges.
The spirit, be it carefully observed, and not the forms, for the
incompatibility between the military and the literary-scientific
methods has been demonstrated repeatedly, the most recent evidence
being furnished by those colleges that have attempted to combine,
under the terms of the Congressional land-grant, agriculture, the
mechanic arts, classical studies and military tactics. But a touch of
the military spirit would be possible and beneficial in many ways.
It would make the relationship between professor and student
more tolerable for both parties. The mental drill and substantial
information acquired through the college course are undoubtedly great.
Still greater is the formative influence exercised by the body of
students upon the individual member. But the greatest lesson of the
course--and the one which seems to have escaped the otherwise close
observation of President Porter--should be the lesson of deference to
position and authority. This deference to one's superiors in age and
position, this respect due to the professor simply because he is a
professor, and aside from any consideration of his personal character
or attainments, should be the first thing to impress itself upon the
student's mind, the last to forsake it. For it is a high moral gain,
a controlling principle that will stand the graduate in good stead
through all the vicissitudes of after-life. Unless it be acquired we
may say with propriety that the college course has fallen short of its
highest aim. For the acquis