We often hear that the advocates of higher education are mere theorists
without definite, tangible plans and propositions. There has recently
sprung into prominence a class of educational philosophers who deny
the value of stored up knowledge. We are informed that only such
information as will be honored at the corner grocery or is convertible
on demand into cash equivalent is of practical value, while all else is
an educational delusion and a snare. The truth is, that all knowledge
which clarifies the vision, refines the feelings, broadens the
conception of truth and duty and ennobles the manhood is of the highest
and most valuable form of practicability. An institution which sends
into the world a physician to heal the sick, a lawyer to plead the
cause of the injured, a teacher to enlighten the minds of the ignorant,
or a preacher to break the bread of life to hungry souls is rendering
just as practical a service to the race as those schools which prepare
men to build houses and plant potatoes.