UNIVERSITY COURIER.
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Books. New
college led in they are ing on in together at the d with al, with knowledge , equal ? The a way before list of friends, critical one most of the two or dishers. sort we d; it is ; it is a frequent ary stueet.
perpetiirely to men—as cultivae counstly be do notduction her ele They do med byizing and ing proud in so and the the capderstand ruins the business laborers y all the is not so ve. It is or rough
handling. It is easy to destroy the value of any kind of property or investment by injurious legislation or mischievous municipal administration. But many men believe that by means of legislation "in the interests of labor," and by severe taxation, most of the wealth now in the possession of rich men and corporations can be transferred, without impairment, to the hands of the working people. I think the actual result, if their plans could be carried out, would be the gradual annihilation and expulsion of the wealth of the country. There would no longer be any disparity of conditions between rich and poor, because all would be poor alike. Our organized industries would be destroyed. All machinery which requires the co-operation of many laborers would be disused, and we should be compelled to return to the conditions and methods of life of the days before the introduction of labor-saving machinery, when the people of our country depended almost wholly upon agriculture and such manufactures as could be carried on in their homes. The world's wealth will not be perpetuated or reproduced if the essential conditions under which it has been created are destroyed.
Might does not make right or justice on the side of the people, any more than on that of the tyrannical few who are regarded as their oppressors. Excessive taxation is robbery, though the guilt and dishonor of it may be distributed among millions of voters. When the people make a law which compels the capitalists of a city to deliver up their wealth at the doors of the city treasury, for distribution among the laborers of the municipality, in the form of unnecessary and dishonest appropriations for improvements, the act is not more honest because committed by the people under the forms of law. It is not wise to teach the people of our country that nothing in their political action can be wrong or unjust; that robbery and injustice are to be accounted right when perpetrated by the majority by means of the ballot. -Atlantic Monthly.
PROFESSOR HUXLEY'S TALK TO THE SCHOOL-BOYS.
Quickness in learning, readiness and accuracy in reproducing what is learnt, industry, endurance, these are the qualities, mixed in very various proportions, which are found in boys who win prizes. Now, there is not the smallest doubt that every one of these qualities is of great value in practical life. Upon whatever career you may enter, intellectual quickness, industry, and the
power of bearing fatigue are three great advantages. But I want to impress upon you, and through you upon those who will direct your future course, the conviction which I entertain that, as a general rule, the relative importance of these three qualifications is not rightly estimated, and that there are other qualities, of no less value, which are not directly tested by school competition.A somewhat varied experience of men has led me,the longer I live,to set the less value upon mere cleverness; to attach more and more importance to industry and to physical endurance.
Indeed, I am much disposed to think that endurance is the most valuable quality of all; for industry, as the desire to work hard, does not amount to much, if a feeble frame is unable to respond to the desire. Everybody who has had to make his way in the world must know that, while the occasion for intellectual effort of a high order is rare, it constantly happens that a man's future turns upon his being able to stand a sudden and heavy strain upon his powers of endurance. To a lawyer, a physician, or a merchant it may be everything to be able to work sixteen hours a day for as long as is needful, without knocking up. Moreover, the patience, tenacity, and good humor which are among the most important qualifications for dealing with men are incompatible with an irritable brain, a weak stomach, or a defective circulation.
If any one of you prize-winners were a son of mine (as might have been the case, I am glad to think, on former occasions), and a good fairy were to offer to equip him according to my wishes for the battle of practical life, I should say: "I do not care to trouble you for any more cleverness. Put in as much industry as you can, instead. And, oh! if you please, a broad, deep chest, and a stomach of whose existence he shall never know anything." I should be well content with the prospects of a fellow so endowed. The other point which I wish to impress upon you is, that competitive examination, useful and excellent as it is for some purposes, is only a very partial test of what the winners will be worth in practical life. There are people who are neither very clever, nor very industrious, nor very strong, and who would probably be nowhere in an examination, and who yet exert a great influence, in virtue of what is called force of character. They may not know much; but they take care that what they do know they know well.
They may not be very quick;but the knowledge they acquire sticks. They may not even