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A REPORT 
 
 IN REGARD TO THE 
 
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 COMMITTEE OF STUDENTS FROM OTHER 
 
 COLLEGES NOW STUDYING 
 
 AT HARVARD. 
 
A REPORT 
 
 IN REGARD TO THE 
 
 MADE BY A 
 
 COMMITTEE OF STUDENTS FROM OTHER 
 
 COLLEGES NOW STUDYING 
 
 AT HARVARD. 
 
 BOSTON 
 
 PRESS OF GEO. H. ELLIS, 141 FRANKLIN STREET 
 1889 
 
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WE present in this pamphlet the report of a committee 
 of students who have recently been investigating the 
 tone of life at Harvard. The Committee was appointed for 
 this purpose last February, at a meeting of Harvard students 
 who, before coming here, have studied at other colleges. 
 Knowing that in many sections it is commonly supposed that 
 Harvard does but little earnest work, and has no very high 
 standard of morality, these men had determined to make in- 
 quiries as to whether such a view would be considered justifia- 
 ble by students who, having attended colleges elsewhere, know 
 how the Harvard spirit compares with that of other places. 
 The seventy-five men represented in this movement are inti- 
 mately acquainted with the daily life and the general spirit 
 both of Harvard and of institutions previously attended. They 
 can therefore judge how these compare with one another much 
 better than can those who have spread the adverse criticisms, 
 or those who gain their ideas of Harvard from them. With 
 the hope that their opinions may be of some influence in this 
 matter, they have decided to publish the report of their Com- 
 mittee, together with extracts from the letters which were re- 
 ceived. For the means to accomplish this purpose, they are 
 indebted to the generosity of a number of Harvard graduates 
 who have kindly interested themselves in the plan. 
 
 The Committee has endeavored to make selections with 
 entire fairness, and has excluded nothing because its attitude 
 was unfavorable. The extracts given in this pamphlet com- 
 prise practically all the material received, excepting only such 
 as has little pertinence, or is mere repetition of statements 
 already included. The report itself summarizes the results 
 obtained, giving various statistics in regard to the answers 
 received, and showing what proportion of them were favorable 
 and how many were otherwise. 
 
 Since, then, these statements are made by students who are 
 as loyal to their previous colleges as they are to Harvard, and 
 who therefore express their true opinions impartially, and since 
 
 889452 
 
these opinions are all included here, without regard to their 
 attitude, . whether of. corjirhejidation or criticism, we therefore 
 hope that ithey will" fee 1 of some weight in correcting public 
 
 opinion^ sot faivd& i^ lfcy be-*ynjcist in regard to the conditions 
 of student $iite**at"Hafvard." 
 
 EDMUND BURKE DELABARRE, Chairman, 
 WILLIAM HERBERT CARRUTH, 
 CHARLES WILLIAM COLBY, 
 
 Committee on Publication. 
 
REPORT OF THE COMMITTEE. 
 
 GENTLEMEN : 
 
 Your Committee has finished the work assigned it, and begs 
 to submit the following report : 
 
 We first prepared and sent out the following circular : 
 
 Dear Sir, With a view to extending knowledge of the advantages 
 of Harvard and of correcting any false impressions prevalent con- 
 cerning it, a committee of ten, appointed for this purpose at a general 
 meeting of students who have come to Harvard from other colleges, 
 has prepared the following questions, to which it solicits answers : 
 
 1. Name and age. 
 
 2. College or colleges previously attended, and time passed there. 
 How long have you been at Harvard ? 
 
 3. What special advantages induced you to come to Harvard ? 
 
 4. Have your expectations been fulfilled ? 
 
 5. What advantages have you found that you did not expect? 
 
 6. What disadvantages and dangerous influences, if any, did you 
 or your friends anticipate ? 
 
 7. Do you find such apprehensions warranted by the facts ? 
 
 8. What do you think of the moral tone of Harvard ? How does 
 it compare with other institutions with which you are familiar ? 
 
 9. What is your opinion of the intellectual earnestness of the 
 students ? How do you think it is affected by the elective system ? 
 
 10. Can you suggest any changes which would improve the Uni- 
 versity or its administrative methods, and thereby attract larger num- 
 bers of graduates of other colleges ? 
 
 In case your answer is used for publication, your name and that 
 of your college will be regarded as strictly confidential. The Com- 
 mittee trusts that you will give careful consideration to these ques- 
 tions, and send a prompt reply to 
 
 THE SECRETARY OF THE COMMITTEE. 
 
This was sent first to such members of the graduate and 
 undergraduate departments as had previously attended some 
 other college. A little later, copies were sent to members of 
 the Law and Divinity Schools, but so few answers have been 
 received from them that they are not included in this report.* 
 
 As nearly as can be determined, there are in the graduate 
 and undergraduate departments 97 men who were members of 
 some other college previously to coming to Harvard. Of these, 
 75, or 77.3 per cent., have given the statistics asked for by the 
 Committee ; and from these we compile our report. 
 
 From the answers to Questions I and 2, we have prepared 
 the following statistics : 
 
 Number of answers received, 75 
 
 From graduates, 29 
 
 From undergraduates, * 46 
 
 Average age, 23.5 
 
 Of graduates alone, 26 
 
 Of undergraduates alone, 21.8 
 
 Number of colleges and universities represented,! 64 
 
 Of 19 States of the Union, 56 
 
 Of Canada, 3 
 
 Of England, i 
 
 Of Germany, 2 
 
 Of Japan, 2 
 
 Total number of years passed elsewhere, about 280 
 
 Average " " " " " 3.75 
 
 Total " " " " at Harvard, about 120 
 
 Average " " " " " 1.6 
 
 *Some half-dozen extracts from their letters, however, have been given, on 
 account of their pertinence. 
 
 t Namely : Adelbert, Amherst, Antioch, Boston University, Bowdoin, 
 Brown University, Brooklyn Polytechnic, Bucknell, University of California, Cen- 
 tre (Ky.), Central Wesleyan, Colby, Columbia, Cornell, Dartmouth, Denison, 
 Drury, Eureka, Furman University, Georgetown, Greenville Military, Haverford, 
 Hobart, Illinois Agricultural, Illinois State Normal, Illinois University, Johns 
 Hopkins, Kansas State University, Kenyon, Lehigh, Michigan University, Minne- 
 sota, Nashville, New York City College and University, North Carolina Univer- 
 sity, Oberlin, Ohio State University, University of Pennsylvania, Princeton, Rich- 
 mond, Rochester, St. Lawrence, South Carolina, Swarthmore, Syracuse, Tufts, 
 Wake Forest, Washington, Wesleyan, Williams, Worcester Polytechnic, Union 
 Christian, University of Virginia; McGill, New Brunswick, Toronto; Oxford; 
 Berlin, Frankfurt. 
 
The answers to Questions 3, 4, and 5 give a detailed list 
 of the advantages which Harvard presents, and show that they 
 are well appreciated. Among those mentioned are : General 
 Reputation ; Superiority of Instructors ; Wide Range of Courses 
 of Instruction ; Methods of Instruction, including the elective 
 system ; various facilities for work, as Library, Laboratories, 
 and Museums, Gymnasium, etc. ; other aids, such as the Depart- 
 ment Clubs, Lectures, and Conferences, and vicinity of Boston ; 
 the cordial relations between instructors and students ; various 
 religious advantages ; Financial Aids ; and many others. Many 
 dwell upon the fact that Harvard affords better advantages for 
 both graduates and undergraduates than any other college or 
 university in the country. To some this has seemed so palpable 
 a truth that they have thought it universally acknowledged, 
 but the experience of many others has been that a state of 
 deep ignorance prevails in regard to this important fact. 
 
 Questions 6 and 7 speak of the disadvantages anticipated. 
 Among these were : Immoral and Irreligious Influences ; lax 
 and superficial spirit of work ; Extravagance, expense of living 
 here, Snobbery, etc. Most of these fears have been found by 
 those who mention them to have been without foundation. 
 Immorality and idleness are discussed more fully under the 
 next two questions. 
 
 As to the moral tone of Harvard, there is a very decided ex- 
 pression of opinion that the accusations against her are greatly 
 exaggerated or unfounded. Only 3 of the answers received 
 express strong disapproval of Harvard's moral tendency; 3 
 others think it no better in morality than other institutions 
 which they have attended ; 10 more, while they believe the 
 tone and tendency here to be good, yet think that in their own 
 previous college it was somewhat better ; 6 feel themselves in- 
 competent to judge; and 53, or 70 per cent, of all, are convinced 
 that it is as high as in any other institution which they have 
 previously known, or even higher. Thus 84 per cent, express 
 the conviction that the moral atmosphere of Harvard is good, 
 as against only 4 per cent, who speak of having found it 
 decidedly otherwise. 
 
 As to the general spirit of earnestness in work, there seems 
 little doubt. Only 2 think it low, and better in smaller col- 
 leges; 2 that in the lower classes it is better elsewhere; 4 
 
8 
 
 -think themselves unable to judge ; the other 67, or 90 per 
 cent., vary in their expressions of commendation from " good " 
 to " never have seen a more thoroughly earnest spirit." 
 
 Question 10 was inserted at the request of the President, and 
 the answers to it have been submitted to him. 
 
 We have collected numerous extracts from the most signifi- 
 cant of the letters. As to the disposal to be made of these, we 
 await your pleasure. We recommend the publication of a pam- 
 phlet to contain the report of your Committee, the extracts from 
 the letters, and an introduction stating the object and general 
 result of our investigations. 
 
 We also recommend, in accordance with suggestions made 
 in many of the letters, a permanent organization of men from 
 other colleges, and the appointment by them annually of a com- 
 mittee whose duties shall be, at the opening of each college 
 year, to welcome, advise, and help students coming here from 
 other colleges, either as graduates or as undergraduates ; and 
 also to call such occasional meetings of the organization, for 
 business or social purposes, as shall be deemed wise. 
 
 COMMITTEE. 
 
 W. H. CARRUTH, Chairman. W. C. KITCHIN. 
 
 E. B. DELABARRE, Secretary. A. A. MORRIS. 
 
 J. B. CHITTENDEN. J. P. NIELDS. 
 
 C. W. COLBY. W. H. SIEBERT. 
 
 E. B. DAHLGREN. F. B. VROOMAN. 
 
EXTRACTS FROM STUDENTS' LETTERS. 
 
 QUESTION 3. 
 What special advantages induced you to come to Harvard ? 
 
 A. REPUTATION AND GENERAL* SUPERIORITY. 
 
 " I came to Harvard because I believed it offered a broader field 
 for education than any other college in this country." 
 
 "The general reputation of Harvard as a broad university, and 
 the name it has of being the leading college of America." 
 
 " The advantages of the oldest and most progressive institution in 
 the country. The advantages of coming in contact with a people 
 who have always given more attention to education and cultivation 
 of the mind than those of any other section of our country." 
 
 " The conclusion that Harvard is the most broadly representative 
 of American educational science and scholarship. The impression 
 that Harvard, of all American institutions, is most expressly moved 
 by the spirit of a universal learning and development, as distinguished 
 from the intent and temper of sectarian colleges." 
 
 B. SUPERIORITY OF INSTRUCTORS. 
 
 " I did not expect to find the younger instructors as able as I have 
 found some of them." 
 
 "A reference to the list of works published by instructors and 
 officers of Harvard standard text-books, literature, monographs, 
 papers, etc. cannot fail to give an idea of the overwhelming superi- 
 ority and activity of Harvard professors." 
 
 C. WIDE RANGE OF COURSES OF INSTRUCTION. 
 
 a. In General: "A broader field for education than any other col- 
 lege in this country." 
 
 " More professors in each specialty and a larger variety of courses 
 than elsewhere." 
 
 Men in the most varied courses write : " No other place offers so 
 many courses and such superior instruction in my line as does 
 
IO 
 
 Harvard " ; e.g., " The advantages in mathematics, the precise, thor- 
 ough, and extensive instruction in that department, especially the rigor 
 with which it is prosecuted, inspired in me a confidence which I 
 could not feel in any other institution." 
 
 "jAll departments are well equipped and work very thoroughly 
 done." 
 
 b. Graduate: "The graduate work is perhaps higher in character 
 than I expected to find it. It is that of a university, in the highest 
 sense of the term." 
 
 "The seeming efforts to recognize the graduate department in 
 planning for the college courses, while at the, same time extending 
 the attention given to undergraduates in their work to graduates as 
 well." 
 
 " For my work, no university in this country or abroad offers me 
 such fine opportunities as I find here. From the circular sent me 
 describing the graduate department, I had no idea that almost a 
 hundred earnest men were enjoying the courses offered, and were 
 enthusiastic over the facilities for their work and the superiority of 
 instruction. It was only by a fortunate accident and with many mis- 
 givings that I came here. I now believe that Harvard offers better 
 advantages for graduate work than any other American university." 
 
 D. METHODS OF INSTRUCTION. 
 
 a. The Elective System : " I believed that the elective system 
 would allow the most untrammelled pursuit of the studies which 
 would be most advantageous." 
 
 " It allowed me to omit certain subjects with which I was not at all 
 conversant and devote myself to the branches of interest to myself." 
 
 " It permits the student to pursue lines of study for which his 
 natural endowments best fit him, in which he can engage with the 
 greatest zeal, and from which derive the greatest improvement." 
 
 " I have found a sort of inspiration in the personal liberty system. 
 It makes one feel that the work he does is his own work rather than 
 that of a professor who tries to force it upon him. This feeling is a 
 constant stimulus." 
 
 " It vastly improves scholarship, fosters independent opinion and 
 research." 
 
 b. The Methods of Original Research in Vogue here : " The system of 
 writing theses in the various departments gives both command of the 
 subject in hand and command of English such as can never be ac- 
 quired by the ordinary recitation system." 
 
 " I have found a method of individual investigation by the members 
 of the various courses which I did not expect. It seems to be the 
 
II 
 
 policy of the instructors to make their students work up the subjects 
 individually by directing them in work outside the text-books, and 
 not to subject them to a parrot-like cramming of details." 
 
 E. FACILITIES FOR WORK. 
 
 a. Library: "A university library of about 350,000 volumes ; and 
 free and easy access, with privilege of taking out books, to the Boston 
 Public Library, Boston Athenaeum, Massachusetts State, Massachu- 
 setts Historical Society, and others. This places more than a million 
 volumes within easy reach of the student, which is more than three 
 times as many as are accessible to the student in any other centre of 
 the country." 
 
 "The remarkable liberality with which the library is administered, 
 
 a liberality which is not satisfied with * housing ' the latest contribu- 
 tions to knowledge, but by means of the ' alcove ' and ' reserved book ' 
 system seeks to make collateral reading easy. How great the con- 
 trast between our crowded library and the sleepy quiet of 's 
 
 half-deserted library, into which occasionally students go silently, 
 order a book, and softly steal away ! " 
 
 " Free access to the valuable and strikingly complete collections of 
 literature and specimens in my department, a privilege very difficult 
 to enjoy in most European universities." 
 
 "Extent and completeness in the important branch of scientific 
 periodicals." 
 
 b. Laboratories and Museums : " The magnificent chemical and 
 physical laboratories, the astronomical observatory, the museums of 
 zoology and natural history, of archaeology and ethnology, the botan- 
 ical collections, etc., offer unusually great facilities for special re- 
 search." 
 
 c. " A gymnasium magnificently equipped, giving unequalled facili- 
 ties for physical development." 
 
 F. OTHER IMPORTANT AIDS. 
 
 a. The Clubs: "The existence of 'department clubs,' such as 
 the Historical, the Philosophical, the Chemical, the Electricity, the 
 Finance, the Classical Clubs, the French and German Societies, etc., 
 
 with their membership comprising upper class men, graduate 
 students, and professors of these various departments ; the object of 
 these organizations being primarily the discussion by each of topics 
 especially interesting to itself, secondarily the establishment of a 
 closer relation between professors and students and among the 
 students themselves." 
 
12 
 
 " The multifarious societies are surprisingly conducive to breadth." 
 
 b. Lectures and Conferences : " The giving of a series of lectures by 
 members of the faculty and by distinguished men from a distance, 
 bearing on the students' work in the various departments." 
 
 " The valuable addresses and discussions at the college conference 
 meetings." 
 
 " A series of orchestral concerts in Sanders Theatre." 
 
 c. " The vicinity of Boston and its opportunities, musical and 
 theatrical." 
 
 G. RELIGIOUS ADVANTAGES. 
 
 " The opportunities of hearing in the university chapel some of the 
 distinguished preachers of the country." 
 
 " The pleasant Thursday afternoon Vesper Services. The advan- 
 tage of seats at the expense of the college in the churches of the 
 different denominations in Cambridge." 
 
 "The unique and valuable privilege of easily consulting the 
 preacher conducting morning prayers, who is each morning at Wads- 
 worth House for this purpose." 
 
 " The voluntary system of attendance at chapel services, which is 
 conducive to a truer and healthier morality and religious interest." 
 
 H. RELATIONS BETWEEN INSTRUCTORS AND STUDENTS. 
 
 " The relations between faculty and students have been closer and 
 more satisfactory than I had hoped for." 
 
 " I have found a prompt, broad, and generous readiness of the 
 controlling authority of the college to perceive and advance the pur- 
 poses of earnest candidates of special work and an encouraging 
 openness and interest shown by such professors as I have had con- 
 nection with." 
 
 "I had no idea of the interest taken in each student personally." 
 
 " I cannot say too much of the helpfulness and willingness to help 
 of the men with whom I have come in contact." 
 
 " I find in all my courses that the professors take a much greater 
 personal interest in one's work than I expected. This I consider a 
 point of great importance." 
 
 " The students are treated as gentlemen desiring knowledge, and 
 not as school-boys desiring to learn as little as they have to." 
 
 I. FINANCIAL. 
 
 (On this subject, consult Professor Palmer's pamphlet, " College 
 Expenses at Harvard.") 
 
 "The pecuniary advantages are very great." 
 
13 
 
 " It is possible to spend any amount at Harvard ; but a student 
 need not, I have learned, go to another college because he fears the 
 expenses at Harvard. The opportunities for scholarships and other 
 means of assistance, so near at every hand, make it quite possible 
 for a student to go through Harvard for one-half or, at most, two- 
 thirds of what it would cost him at one of the small colleges. My 
 actual expenses here (without deductions for scholarships) have been 
 less than my actual expenses at a smaller college." 
 
 " After careful comparison, I concluded I could live in Cambridge 
 as economically as elsewhere." 
 
 " Memorial Hall, with excellent table board at $4 a week (of 
 which seven hundred students avail themselves), and the newly es- 
 tablished University Club, which proposes to offer board at $3, with 
 rooms for study, a reference library, etc., make it possible for a stu- 
 dent to live economically and well." 
 
 K. THE "BACKING" OF HARVARD. 
 
 " I believe that the backing of Harvard because of her age, the 
 wide distribution of her graduates, and her reputation for scholar- 
 ship is worth more in America than that of any other institution 
 in the world." 
 
 " I believe a good Harvard diploma is worth more than that of any 
 other college." 
 
 L. MISCELLANEOUS. 
 
 "The inspiring association with many earnest and ambitious men 
 in my own and other lines." 
 
 " The privilege of association with a class of students whose aims 
 are not bounded by dollars and cents." 
 
 " Competition with a large body of students." 
 
 " I have found a spirit of ' comradeship ' which it has taken months 
 elsewhere to discover." 
 
 " I have been in no way annoyed by class or caste distinctions, 
 intellectual or pecuniary." 
 
 " The advantage of studying human nature ; also, of testing and 
 making firmer one's own moral discipline or character." 
 
 " Traditions of the place." 
 
 " The keen intellectual life of a large proportion of the men." 
 
 " High stand in athletics." 
 
 " I anticipated a new phase of life, when I would for the first time 
 be thrown entirely on my own resources, when temptations would be 
 put before me and I should have to decide whether I had will power 
 to resist them, when I should, in fact, be called upon to show my 
 
character to myself not less than to those around me. I anticipated 
 meeting men whom I wished for life-long friends, and whose compan- 
 ionship would be of the greatest possible pleasure and advantage to 
 me. These expectations have most certainly been entirely fulfilled." 
 
 Most of the answers to Questions 4 and 5 have been incorporated 
 with the preceding. A few only are now given separately, in order 
 to show the general spirit of most of them. 
 
 QUESTION 4. 
 Have your expectations been fulfilled ? 
 
 " More than fulfilled." 
 
 " I never knew the rare opportunities a man may enjoy here until 
 I had been here several months. My expectations were more than 
 realized. I cannot afford to go elsewhere." 
 
 " I find that, instead of overestimating, I had underestimated the 
 advantages which Harvard offers." 
 
 QUESTION 5. 
 
 What advantages have you found that you did not 
 
 expect? 
 
 " I have found pervading all the departments with which I have 
 been associated a spirit of earnestness in work, which was directly in 
 contrast with what I had been told to expect." (On this matter, see 
 answers to Question 9, p. 26.) 
 
 " I did not expect to find morality and unostentatious piety re- 
 garded with the favor that they are." (See answers to Question 
 8, p. 19.) 
 
 " I was led to expect no religious advantages here. I have found 
 that this was a mistake. I had no adequate idea of the extent of the 
 courses of instruction in the university, of the library privileges, of 
 the advantages of proximity to Boston, etc. In all these, I have 
 found my expectations exceeded." 
 
15 
 QUESTIONS 6 and 7. 
 
 6. What disadvantages and dangerous influences, if any, 
 did you or your friends anticipate ? 
 
 7. Do you find such apprehensions warranted by the facts? 
 
 A. IN GENERAL. 
 
 " Such temptations as arise from intimate association with a large 
 body of wealthy young men. (7) Yes ; but these temptations are 
 easily resisted. They are not nearly so strong as generally painted." 
 
 " I presume there are many dangerous influences here, as at any 
 large institution, especially near a city like Boston. But the devil, 
 I believe, is not confined to any one locality." 
 
 " They anticipated almost everything that was evil ; for the name 
 ' Harvard ' carried with it the idea of extravagance, easy life, and 
 many temptations. (7) To a certain extent. But in any place a 
 man must make himself." 
 
 " Some friends told me that I should lose, individuality and ambi- 
 tion. If this has been the case, the cause is, not a lack of ambition 
 among the students, but the great number of brilliant men as well as 
 hard workers. Others were afraid that I should become exclusively 
 interested in the work of the curriculum, another that I should forget 
 studying in athletics, another that I should * live in a dress-suit.' 
 These apprehensions were unwarranted." 
 
 "Contact with and evil influence of immoral and extravagant 
 young men, too numerous to be avoided, and too influential to be 
 resisted. (7) No." 
 
 " I was not personally warned against any dangerous influence, but 
 I had somehow been led to regard the moral and intellectual tone of 
 Harvard as below that of the average American college. (7) No." 
 
 B. SCEPTICISM, IMMORALITY, IRRELIGION. 
 (See also answers to Question 8, p. 19.) 
 
 " I was led to expect no religious advantages here. I have found 
 that this was a mistake. I was led to fear that Harvard was a place 
 where religion was derided, where professors took especial pains to 
 sneer at piety. It seemed to be believed outside that Harvard was 
 a kind of entrance to Hades. When I had been here some time, 
 and found that these beliefs were false, I experienced much indigna- 
 tion against those who were responsible for perpetuating them ; and 
 I have only been able to account for their conduct on the ground of 
 their jealousy and envy at the prosperity and pre-eminence of Har- 
 vard, and the very necessity, for their own self-preservation and the 
 
i6 
 
 perpetuity of their own schools, of resorting to such means to frighten 
 the youth of the land from coming here." 
 
 "My friends warned me of the unhealthy moral atmosphere of 
 Harvard. They believed that the place abounded in scepticism and 
 immorality, and that the utmost frivolity prevailed here. They 
 thought that there was little earnestness in study here. (7) The 
 above apprehensions are not warranted by the facts. I cannot 
 conceive how such radically false impressions could have gotten 
 abroad about Harvard, unless its very superiority invited attack 
 from the friends of invidious institutions." 
 
 " In regard to the influence exerted, I regarded it as being exceed- 
 ingly dangerous, tending to irreligion and atheism under the appear- 
 ance of liberalism, outwardly seeming to embrace all creeds, but in 
 reality holding to none ; in fact, a mixture of materialism and dis- 
 torted rationalism. This was my idea in regard to the influences 
 brought to bear on the student, and I am glad to say that it is 
 not warranted by the facts as I find them. The moral tone of the 
 college is very good, and indeed to me surprisingly so, when regard- 
 ing the amount of liberty and freedom of action permitted to the 
 young man, thrown as he is almost entirely on his own resources. 
 This^was a great shock to my former opinions, holding as I did that 
 a far greater dependence on others was necessary for the proper edu- 
 cation of the young man." 
 
 " Irreligious and immoral atmosphere. (7) No." 
 
 " The especial danger apprehended by my parents and family was 
 the tendency to ' liberal thought,' so prominent at Harvard. They 
 also deplored the lack of moral restraint supposed to exist in other 
 ways. (7) I do not find the apprehensions warranted by the facts. 
 A man may become infidel or not : all depends upon himself. As for 
 the supervision of the students in other ways, I consider it is as 
 rigorous as is consistent with right." 
 
 " Irreligion, fast life, and little study. (7) Proportionally, No ! " 
 
 " My friends told me that in moral matters there was an ultra-liber- 
 alism which tended to deify intellectual culture and a lazy indiffer- 
 ence toward all moral effort. (7) I have s.een nothing * immoral ' in 
 tone, tendency, or custom." 
 
 "Mainly (a) that graduates and undergraduates were jumbled in 
 together in the classes to the injury of the former, and () that what- 
 ever of a religious spirit pervades Harvard is anti-evangelical in its 
 nature, and (t) that the prevailing tone of the college is irreligious. 
 
 "(7) I think there is enough foundation in fact to justify the exist- 
 ence of such conceptions of Harvard, but that the rumors afloat 
 through the country are greatly exaggerated." 
 
" Moral corruption and extravagance among a limited class. (7) 
 On the whole, Yes." 
 
 " Friends anticipated irreligious influences. (7) Yes." 
 
 C. LAX AND SUPERFICIAL SPIRIT OF WORK. 
 
 (See also answers to Question 9, p. 26.) 
 
 "I believed that the administration of Harvard was culpably lax, 
 and fully expected to find here that a large number of the students 
 were rich, dissipated youths who attended lectures with large license 
 to ' cut,' and were annually ' coached ' over forty per cent, barriers of 
 a fragile character. I had never heard of a religious 'set' at Har- 
 vard, nor that the ' professors ' were not mildly anti-religious. We all 
 know how expensive Harvard is popularly understood to be ; and, in 
 setting about to earn my expenses by waiting upon table, I fully ex- 
 pected that snobbishness was rampant, and that I should be * cut ' by 
 the students. But we have all heard the same story about the Har- 
 vard 'dude,' 'tough,' and 'gladiator.' Among such Harvard men as 
 I have met, I have looked in vain for such types ; and I am led to be- 
 lieve that they exist, if at all, only in small numbers, and certainly do 
 not dictate Harvard student sentiment." 
 
 " My friends and I believed (a) that a lax and superficial spirit of 
 work prevailed at Harvard, that the Harvard A.B. usually signified a 
 much more superficial education than that of most colleges ; () that 
 the morals among the students as a body were lax, and especially 
 that religious ideas would find little favor. (7) In the case of the 
 first of these apprehensions, I have found that we were completely 
 deceived. So far as my acquaintance goes, the spirit of work is all 
 that can be desired. In the case of the second of these apprehen- 
 sions, I have found that they were not warranted by the facts, although 
 I have not been so struck with their want of foundation as I have 
 been in the case of the first. Religious ideas will find as much favor 
 here as elsewhere." 
 
 " The impression that there is here a lack of intellectual earnest- 
 ness is pretty generally present in the West. Says a Western gentle- 
 man, 'Many scholarly men are of the opinion that, while the standard 
 of admission at Harvard is high, some say too high, it is not high for 
 the college classes. " It is hard to get in," they say, " easy to stay in." ' 
 There is a belief, hard to argue down, that a great many men at 
 Harvard spend a large amount of money and do a very small 
 amount of work. If Harvard is to take the position she should take, 
 in the opinion of a large portion of the sober, thoughtful men of 
 other yes, of all sections of the country, this wide-spread belief 
 
i8 
 
 in the idleness and extravagance of so many of her students as to 
 give the general idea that all are such must be changed." 
 
 " My friends told me that in intellectual matters there was a habit 
 of cramming the pupils by an ocean of books to be read, without 
 thoroughness ; that the lectures were of such a character that all the 
 pupil had to do was to swallow them, like sugar-coated pills ; in other 
 words, that the difficulties were solved for the pupils, by the teachers, 
 to an excessive and enervating degree. (7) I find some lectures full 
 of mental gymnastics, which emphatically do not do the thinking for 
 the pupil without calling in his co-operation and exciting him to think 
 for himself. The system of theses also compels original work. 
 There may be a tendency to magnify instruction or accumulation of 
 facts rather than education or power to estimate facts, but I fancy 
 that Harvard has less of this fault than most American colleges." 
 
 D. EXTRAVAGANCE AND DISSIPATION. 
 
 "Ten years ago the general impression of my friends was that 
 Harvard was a ' rich man's ' college, a place where much extravagance 
 and dissipation were common. N.B. I have lived in three different 
 States of New England, and know the above statements to be circu- 
 lated by persons (mostly collegiates) unfriendly to Harvard. (7) My 
 brief and irregular attendance does not warrant an extended infor- 
 mation. My belief and impressions are that such apprehensions are 
 foolish and absurd, founded too often upon maliciousness." 
 
 " Had a vague idea that there was considerable idleness and dis- 
 sipation among the students. (7) My opportunities for observation 
 are limited, but should say that the state of affairs here is better than 
 outside it is generally thought to be." 
 
 " I anticipated none. My friends feared the tendency to extrava- 
 gance, idleness, dissipation, too much athletics, said by some to exist 
 here. (7) Not a single one of them." 
 
 " I did not consciously consider this question. I had known that 
 Harvard was an expensive college, and that many fellows spent more 
 money than they should ; but, as I had a definite object in view, this 
 consideration had no effect on my decision. (7) What I have seen 
 of Harvard leads me to think that a few men spend much money in 
 gratifying vicious tastes, and that there is a good deal of dissolute 
 living in college. However, I am not inclined to ascribe this to the 
 system in vogue ; nor do I think that the number of fast men is large." 
 
19 
 
 E. EXPENSE. 
 
 (See answers to Question 3, L, p. 12.) 
 
 "Among the disadvantages believed to appertain to Harvard in 
 comparison with small colleges is the matter of expenses at Har- 
 vard. Now, in my own experience, I have spent less every year at 
 Harvard than I did at a much smaller college." 
 
 F. SNOBBERY. 
 
 " The only disagreeable expectation I had was with respect to 
 snobbery. (7) If there are snobs here, they have not obtruded them- 
 selves upon me." 
 
 " I anticipated a snobbishness on the part of many students, due to 
 great wealth and unsettled purpose. (7) Not at all. Have found 
 the students here courteous and sensible." 
 
 G. INEXPERIENCED TUTORS. 
 
 " A disadvantage pointed out to me was instruction, particularly in 
 the first two years, under inexperienced tutors. This, I think, is de- 
 cidedly untrue." 
 
 QUESTION 8. 
 
 What do you think of the moral tone of Harvard ? How 
 does it compare with other institutions with which you are 
 familiar? 
 
 A. CAUSE OF ADVERSE OUTSIDE CRITICISM. 
 
 " I think the so-called immorality of Harvard is all newspaper sen- 
 sationalism." 
 
 " The tendency to personal self-depreciation and the habit of sar- 
 castic criticism of the methods of certain representatives of the lazy 
 or indifferent element among us are in marked contrast to the spirit I 
 have found elsewhere ; and to this habit I believe much of adverse 
 outside criticism can be traced." 
 
 " I think the moral tone of Harvard is higher than Harvard men 
 themselves are willing to have it believed to be. As a late number 
 of the Advocate has said, it is rather the fashionable thing to pre- 
 tend not to study. Some of the college papers recognize but two 
 classes of students, which they put in the categories of Jack Go-easy 
 and Grinder. The prominence they give Jack and his like would 
 lead one to think that the real students at Harvard were in a very 
 small minority, and that even these few were hopeless and helpless 
 bookworms, of whom nothing could be expected in this world. 
 
20 
 
 " More than this, the prominence given athletics, whist, and chess 
 tournaments, etc., in the daily or weekly reports appearing in the 
 newspapers, leads outsiders to believe in Harvard's moral laxity. As 
 a Harvard man now a professor in a prominent Western college 
 remarked to me a short time since : 'Not a little of the false im- 
 pression about Harvard extravagance, idleness, fastness, etc., is due 
 to the silly stuff which is put into the newspapers ; e.g., in the Adver- 
 tiser of February 22, under " Harvard Notes," four lines are given to 
 a mention of Dr. Wheeler's lecture, seventeen lines to an account of 
 a whist tournament.' This gentleman went on to say : ' Millions of 
 people in the United States look upon card-playing as harmful ; and 
 very many colleges and almost all academies forbid it. Harvard men 
 have themselves to blame for much of the misapprehension which 
 prevails elsewhere about the moral atmosphere of Cambridge.' 
 
 "This evil of our own doing is helped on gloriously by the bitter 
 enemies which Harvard unquestionably has. The indications, as 
 presented by a number of late and notable instances, are that these 
 people take particular pains to spread any damaging report about 
 Harvard as fast and far as the telegraph and press can carry it. 
 
 "The fact that Harvard is the largest, oldest, most liberal, and most 
 progressive of our institutions of learning insures for ic the most 
 prominent place in the front rank of American colleges. This posi- 
 tion is naturally the one most exposed to the friendly and unfriendly 
 aims of our rivals and adversaries ; and so, as Harvard is oftenest 
 aimed at, she is oftenest hit by unjust and damaging criticisms. It is 
 certainly high time that these things be seen in their true light, and 
 that their harmful influences be checked." 
 
 B. As TO THE EXISTENCE OF IMMORALITY AND A " FAST SET." 
 
 "The recent articles against the moral tone of Harvard seem to me 
 to be strongly flavored with the ridiculous. There is no institution, 
 I believe, where some vice does not exist. And it is natural that, as 
 the number who attend the colleges grows larger, a larger proportion 
 of ' demoralized ' young men will be among them. But I do not 
 believe that Harvard is more a 'haunt of vice' than any other 
 college in the country. There are two thousand students up here, 
 and it cannot be expected that there should not be some 'black 
 sheep ' among them. On the whole, I should say that the proportion 
 is a very small one. Most of the men whom I have come in contact 
 with, it seems to me, have exhibited a wonderful amount of earnest- 
 ness in their college work. The prevalent spirit, I think, is a very 
 healthy one." 
 
 " Whether certain cardinal vices do exist or not there can be little 
 
21 
 
 value in discussing, for the reason that, unless students are regarded 
 as beings differing in the parts which characterize other men and 
 other society, they must be in some measure granted to exist. I am, 
 though, convinced that the vulgar notice and concern which have 
 been devoted to this matter are wholly superfluous." 
 
 " When I speak of the moral tone of the college, I mean the col- 
 lege as a whole ; for one must admit that in so large a body of men 
 as we have here there must naturally be some wild and impetuous 
 natures overleaping the bounds of prudence and discretion, but for 
 whose actions the blame should not be attached in any manner to 
 the college, and in regard to whom and, in fact, it applies to the 
 entire body of men I find that the world is far more liable to hear 
 of their misdoings than of the penalties which follow close on the 
 committal of offences, and hence form opinions very erroneous con- 
 cerning discipline, etc., as enforced here." 
 
 " I think the moral tone is high. To be sure there is a class of 
 men whose sole object in life out here seems to be to appear ' tough.' 
 The slang is inelegant, but expressive. The moral tone must not be 
 judged by the actions of these children, who should have been kept 
 at school until they learned to behave like ' men,' as they term them- 
 selves." 
 
 " I do not know that the moral tone of Harvard is an atom worse 
 than that of other institutions of which I have known students and 
 had an opportunity to observe their life and conduct. Of course any 
 place where young men are collected in large numbers is bound to 
 contain some vice, and the vice is bound to be more evident than the 
 virtue." 
 
 C. ESTIMATE OF ITS INFLUENCE. 
 
 " It is generally admitted that there is' a * fast set ' here, but they 
 have been so unobtrusive that I hardly knew of their existence until 
 a short time ago." 
 
 " The fast set, if there is one, certainly has the virtue of being so 
 exclusive as to offer few temptations to the unwary." 
 
 "That the moral tone of Harvard is rather higher than at some 
 other institutions which could be named appears from this : that here 
 the men who are fast are not anxious to parade it except among 
 those who are in the same boat with them, and will guard their 
 secret. They wish to appear to be moral, and to be gentlemen. 
 Why should this be so, unless morality is in favor with the majority 
 at Harvard? Indeed, there seems to be a strong moral sentiment 
 here." 
 
 " The students of Harvard form a small world in themselves, and 
 among them may be found both high and low standards of morality ; 
 
22 
 
 but the immense number of students is itself a guarantee that the 
 great majority of students will not come into immediate contact with 
 that small minority known as the fast set. In smaller colleges, the 
 fast set comes in contact with almost every student." 
 
 D. COMPARISON WITH OTHER PLACES. 
 
 " I could write a book on this question. The dangerous influences 
 at Harvard are many, but no more than elsewhere. According to 
 my estimate, a city of forty or fifty thousand inhabitants would con- 
 tain about the same number of young men between the ages of six- 
 teen and twenty-four as there are at Harvard ; and I doubt if there 
 is a city of this size in the United States where less crime is com- 
 mitted by the young of the same age as our students. A compara- 
 tively small number of Harvard men join the criminal class. There 
 are dangerous influences everywhere, and no one is compelled to 
 hunt for them any more than he is compelled to hunt for mosquitoes 
 in a marsh." 
 
 " I have had some experience in the business world, and do not 
 hesitate to say that the moral tone here is higher than among men of 
 the same age in business in cities. But, of course, as the average 
 moral tone of the people in large cities is lower than that in towns, 
 so the average tone is lower here than in the small local colleges ; 
 but, among those who have sound principles, I believe the moral 
 standards to be found here are as high as anywhere in the land." 
 
 "The moral tone of Harvard is certainly as high as that of any 
 educational institution that I have been connected with." 
 
 " I have seen nothing to warrant me in supposing that the moral 
 tone of Harvard differs essentially from that of my own college, which 
 we consider very high." 
 
 " I am convinced that the intellectual spirit and the moral influences 
 at Harvard are superior to those of any educational institution of my 
 acquaintance." 
 
 " The moral tone among the students is, considering the numbers 
 and classes of students, I believe, better, by far, than one would 
 
 expect. It does not compare favorably with that at . This 
 
 I attribute, not to any merit in the system of government of the latter 
 institution, but to co-education in part, and to the class of men who 
 attend, they being almost exclusively from the country, and very 
 largely poor (in pocket-book) men." 
 
 " I think Harvard's methods more conducive to deep moral con- 
 scientiousness than I had any expectation of finding. It compares 
 favorably with my former college." 
 
 "This is a very difficult question. My personal opinion is this: 
 
23 
 
 that the moral tone of Harvard is just as high as that of any other 
 institution of its kind. I am inclined to say better than most. But 
 of this I have no proof. It is merely an inference drawn from a 
 pretty large collection of facts. I have had a good deal of college 
 life myself, and have known a number of college men who, if not 
 regular "rakes" themselves, were pretty well posted in regard to 
 the habits of such men. Numbers considered, any comparison~that 
 I can make seems to me to be entirely in favor of Harvard." 
 
 " The professors I have come in contact with seem as decided on 
 undisputed points of good morals as those at my former college ; and 
 offences against good morals, when discovered, are fearlessly dealt 
 with." 
 
 " I think the moral tone of Harvard rather worldly but, on the 
 whole, good. It compares favorably with other institutions." 
 
 " Good in fact. But many men seem ashamed that this should be 
 the case. As good, in the main, as that of any educational institu- 
 tion with men of the same ages that I have ever known. But then 
 I know only decent men." 
 
 " Fair to good. Not any better than at the other places, perhaps 
 not much worse. Absence of dormitories and presence of 'co-eds' 
 tended to raise the moral tone in each of the other places." 
 
 " No better than at my former university. Is a tendency for it to 
 be worse. More men come here for a 'good time.' " 
 
 "Like every large community, it has all elements from best to 
 worst. The average moral tone is too low, too lax. Compares very 
 unfavorably." 
 
 " So far as I can judge, decidedly low ; and, on the whole, consid- 
 erably lower than at . I have, however, seen cribbing in ex- 
 aminations at , but have not seen it done at Harvard." 
 
 "I did not come to Harvard to get religion, though I am sorry 
 there is not a firmer grounding here than the one on which the college 
 rests. Harvard proposes to be a university : it is a little world in 
 itself. A man can go to church or not, be religious or not. I do not 
 think it affects one who has his principles grounded, who knows what 
 he believes, etc. I should hardly recommend, however, any young 
 boy, with immature ideas, to start in at Harvard for four years. 
 Youth finds so many allurements. But then, there are other institu- 
 tions just as bad. I hardly think there is a whit of difference between 
 Harvard and other places like most of the larger colleges. My own 
 college is markedly the other way. Men who have graduated else- 
 where come to Harvard for work, not to attend theatres. Their 
 habits are fixed. With them, this undercurrent at Harvard will be 
 almost unknown. For myself, I don't know that there is such a 
 
24 
 
 thing as a fast set; but the sixteen-year-old boy is very apt to 
 find it." 
 
 " I believe it is entirely possible to be as moral as one wishes here. 
 The proportion of Amoral men is perhaps not greater than at my 
 former college ; but there seems to be a much greater proportion of 
 unmoral men that is, men indifferent in such things than there. 
 
 " The studious and earnest men bear about the same proportion, I 
 should say, to the idle and careless. The actual number of the 
 latter, however, is of course much larger; and their influence in 
 giving tone to the college is, even comparatively, very much greater." 
 
 " It is low, but improving. Much lower than elsewhere." 
 
 " Harvard's moral tone is not bad for so large a university ; but it 
 can be elevated, and is improving. Cant is especially despised here. 
 The moral tone is below that of Wellesley." 
 
 "The moral tone of Harvard is good. I have known only one 
 small college where there was a better, and half a dozen where there 
 was a worse. The temptations to immorality are no greater than in 
 any other inhabited district." 
 
 " I believe that the moral tone of Harvard is as high as that of 
 any institution in the country." 
 
 " I have seen nothing * immoral ' in tone or tendency or custom. 
 Among one thousand students it would be indeed a miracle if there 
 were not some of them not what they should be. I have not met any 
 myself of this character. I think the spirit of manliness and honor 
 among the students is ahead of that of the BEST society outside of 
 the college walls. It compares rather unfavorably with . How- 
 ever, the latter is a provincial university, quite non-sectarian, and its 
 activity of moral life says not one word against Harvard, but is a 
 proof that sectarian universities have no monopoly of morality. In 
 other words, it confirms Harvard's stand-point ; namely, allow moral- 
 ity sunshine and air, and it will take care of itself. If you attempt to 
 force it, you either root it out or at best have a sickly hot-house 
 plant." 
 
 " I can make no fair answer to this question. I have not lived in 
 a dormitory since I have been here, and the men I have met are 
 probably above the average in respect to their conduct. Leaving out 
 of account the comparatively few men who make a business of 
 * bumming,' I should say that the college maintained a very good 
 tone in this matter." 
 
 " A noticeable distinction between the Harvard students and those 
 of other colleges is the uniform politeness and gentlemanliness of 
 the former. Harvard students, too, are uniformly respectful to the 
 professors. A Harvard lecture-room presents an entirely different 
 
25 
 
 scene from some which I have witnessed elsewhere, and from some 
 of which 1 have heard from graduates of other colleges. Such a 
 thing as monkeyism with a Harvard professor is quite a thing of the 
 past, and would be impossible, not on account of discipline by the 
 professor, but because the men who sit before him are men, are 
 gentlemen, and themselves make such a thing impossible. 
 
 " Also, hazing and those puerilities which distinguish their perpe- 
 trators as heroes at some smaller colleges, if done here at all, are 
 done under the opprobrium of the whole body of students, excepting 
 of course the perpetrators themselves \ but these latter can find no 
 glory in it, and are glad to keep quiet about it. Thus there is no 
 encouragement for these puerilities. I know that there is encourage- 
 ment for them in other colleges, owing to the tone of the students in 
 those colleges" 
 
 " I believe it to be good, to be based upon high aims and upon 
 respect for the opinions of others. Candor and truthfulness are, it 
 seems to me, especially recognized at Harvard ; while self-respect and 
 self-reliance are the characteristics of the majority of students." 
 
 " From what I can learn and observe, it is equal to any and 
 superior to many. I have visited most of our New England colleges, 
 and especially with marked credit to Harvard can the demeanor of 
 the students in ' chapel ' be compared with the deportment of the 
 members of other colleges in similar services. (This, however, may 
 be due to the compulsory attendance in other places.)" 
 
 "The standard of honor here is high. Have taken great pride in 
 telling my friends outside that dishonesty in examination rooms is 
 almost unknown." 
 
 " My acquaintances, being mainly * grinds ' like myself, have no 
 time for deviltry. Taking simply the students of my own acquaint- 
 ance, I have never known a more moral set of men." 
 
 E. RELIGIOUS SPIRIT. 
 
 " I think religion is more respected and its influence more vital at 
 Harvard than at other schools with which I am familiar, because its 
 methods of presentation are not compulsory and sectarian." 
 
 " I find that the body of students as a whole are imbued with a 
 sincere moral and religious earnestness, for which I do not think they 
 receive as much credit as they deserve. That such a spirit exists is 
 apparent from the religious and charitable organizations of the 
 college, and especially in the demand for books from the library on 
 solid philosophical and religious subjects. I must confess that, 
 contrary to my former views, it compares very favorably with the 
 institution with which I was formerly connected." 
 
26 
 
 " I consider the religious sentiment, on the whole, deep and 
 practical, but not emotional." 
 
 " Nothing could be more erroneous than to suppose Harvard a 
 stronghold of infidelity. The general tenor of the instruction here 
 tends to cultivate theistic and religious belief. Every effort for the 
 amelioration of the race and for the promotion of personal morality 
 and godliness is recognized and supported by Harvard." 
 
 "There is not such an outward demonstration of religion as 
 appears in some other colleges. There is not the talk and religious 
 cant that one meets elsewhere. There is, however, a deep and genu- 
 ine feeling, a reverence and respect, for religion, which feels itself too 
 sacred to be hawked about as the fishmonger cries his way through 
 the streets, or to be talked about in any ordinary way. And yet, 
 quietly and sincerely, it is talked about." 
 
 " Harvard does not boast a noisy morality, but it is deep-seated. 
 There is a general profound respect for religion among the students ; 
 and, though entirely voluntary, the religious exercises are largely 
 attended. I think this is a very significant fact." 
 
 QUESTION 9. 
 
 What is your opinion of the intellectual earnestness of the 
 
 students? How do you think it is affected by the 
 
 elective system ? 
 
 A. EARNESTNESS. 
 
 " I never before saw a class of as hard-working and earnest men 
 as I find here. I think the university should be governed in the way 
 that will best suit that class of men." 
 
 " I think this earnestness is a distinguishing characteristic of Har- 
 vard. Men go to work not as a mere duty, but with an interest 
 greater than I have observed at any other college. I think this ear- 
 nestness and interest is, in a large measure, due to the elective sys- 
 tem, since by this system the men can freely pursue the courses of 
 study which best suit their individual tastes and powers." 
 
 " I think that scholarly attainment is sought here more earnestly 
 than in any other place I know." 
 
 " The intellectual earnestness, so far as I can judge, is much in 
 advance of what I expected it would be, taking into consideration the 
 fact that the majority of the students are young men of means, who 
 have not had the tonic of fighting life's battle for themselves." 
 
 " The great mass of the students I believe to be thoroughly earnest, 
 
27 
 
 particularly Juniors and Seniors. The elective system makes them 
 more manly and thoughtful." 
 
 "The men with whom I come in contact are all earnestness. I 
 do not believe that the elective system affects this matter much ; if at" 
 all, favorably." 
 
 " This is a point upon which there can be little doubt. There are 
 hundreds of men at Harvard who can fairly be called serious stu- 
 dents. What is more, they are organized in such a way that their 
 influence is felt throughout the whole university ; e.g^ Historical 
 Society, Deutscher Verein, Finance Club, etc." 
 
 " I have never seen the intellectual earnestness of a certain part of 
 the students here exceeded." 
 
 " The proportion of men whose business is study is larger than in 
 any other university with which I am familiar." 
 
 " Of course there are among the special students and members of 
 the first two undergraduate classes a large number who have but 
 little intellect, much less intellectual earnestness. Another large 
 number have intellect enough, but squander it. But the majority 
 (and all this is only my opinion) are awake to the peculiar advantages 
 of being here, and are in earnest. Then there is a class contain- 
 ing not a few who need to be restrained from overwork. I think 
 the elective system tends to make the extremes of carelessness and 
 earnestness further removed." 
 
 " Most of the students whom I have met are earnest in their work. 
 As a class, I feel certain that they are earnest and hard-working." 
 
 " I think the proportion of men here who work well is quite as 
 large as in any New England college, and, of those who work too 
 hard, larger." 
 
 " If a man applies himself entirely to study, he is dubbed a 'grind ' ; 
 and his lot is hard. It is the fashion to seem not to study, and Har- 
 vard's weakest point is here. At the same time, a man may do his 
 work faithfully and well, and yet be ' a good fellow ' and have his 
 good time with the rest. The intellectual earnestness, on the whole, 
 consists for half 1 the men in college in getting through the examina- 
 tions j but the other half are hard workers, and apply themselves 
 almost entirely to their books." 
 
 " I fear that there is not so general a desire for knowledge as in 
 most of our smaller colleges, where most of the students feel that 
 their education is their fortune." 
 
 " I have never seen more earnest students. The elective system 
 seems to me greatly promotive of earnestness." 
 
 " My opinion of the intellectual earnestness is a very high one. I 
 was struck by the difference when I came over from Germany. The 
 German system, of nearly unlimited restriction in the gymnasium and 
 
28 
 
 no restriction whatsoever in the universities, is, I think, a bad one ; 
 for it has the effect that young men, when they leave the school- 
 bench, and suddenly feel themselves free from all sort of compulsion, 
 do no work at all, at least for a good while." 
 
 " The only means that I have of getting at the intellectual earnest- 
 ness of Harvard are those presented by average class attendance and 
 interest manifested in the lectures. Being in advanced classes, where 
 the men are evidently old enough to appreciate their opportunities, 
 I have seen nothing to indicate a lack of intellectual earnestness. 
 Indeed, I think this quality exists in Harvard in a much greater 
 degree than is generally believed." 
 
 " I do not think I have ever met a body of students who, as a 
 whole, are more earnest in their work. This most probably is due 
 to the elective system ; for under it the student is enabled to thor- 
 oughly pursue a particular kind of work, for which he deems himself 
 best fitted, besides acquiring a good general training." 
 
 " My experience has made me acquainted with graduates chiefly ; 
 but, judging from what I have seen in class-rooms, would say that 
 the earnestness is much above the general public opinion of it. 
 
 "With graduates, of course, the elective system is entirely proper; 
 but for college course I believe in a group system, or an elective sys- 
 tem subject to approval of those more experienced than undergrad- 
 uates. The opinion is abroad through the country that it is com- 
 paratively easy to graduate here : this opinion measures all the work 
 done here, and the graduate department suffers in consequence." 
 
 "The majority of students come here with a desire to learn, having 
 chosen Harvard as the best college in the country for that purpose ; 
 while a small minority come with the intention of getting a diploma 
 to say that they are graduates of Harvard. The elective system 
 gives the latter class of students a better chance to get the desired 
 diploma." 
 
 " In regard to the intellectual earnestness of the students, I have 
 been very favorably impressed. I find that the men take great inter- 
 est in their work, as is exhibited by the large number of societies, such 
 as the Historical Society, the Finance Club, the Boylston Chemical 
 Club, the Classical Club, and other excellent and well-directed 
 organizations, all going, as 1 have said, to show the intensity of ear- 
 nestness that pervades the college students. Likewise, I find that 
 the deep interest, the strict attention, and the large attendance at the 
 lectures all go to show how very successful the elective system is 
 in its workings ; and this is also shown in the remarkable extent to 
 which the college library is used, which can be found thronged with 
 men every day, working in the different reference alcoves. In short, 
 I think that the strong intellectual earnestness of the students may 
 
be plainly traced to the elective system ; and this I say after having 
 been for seven years at a college where the elective system is totally 
 unknown. I willingly give my voice to this system, whose beneficial 
 results have become known to me through experience." 
 
 B. THE ELECTIVE SYSTEM. 
 
 " It would be pretty hard to put two thousand men together with- 
 out finding a good many shirks. For the working man, the elective 
 system is the thing. For the shirk, it makes no difference. By all 
 means make your rules to benefit the earnest men : do not restrict 
 them for the sake of a few shiftless fellows." 
 
 " I think a good student is greatly aided by liberty of choice in his 
 courses. On the other hand, the most rigid regulations and restric- 
 tions cannot convey to a listless student the spirit of true scholarship. 
 I wish to say without reservation that I think Harvard men are 
 benefited and stimulated by the elective system." 
 
 " Lazy men can select snaps, but they would not be earnest any- 
 way. So no harm is worked by the elective system alone." 
 
 " I cannot say what is the effect of the elective system. I have 
 heard it said that it gave an opportunity to hunt up * snap courses ' to 
 men so inclined. There are always a number of men who wish to 
 crawl through with the minimum of effort. I should fancy the 
 elective system would be able to take care of these about as well as 
 any other system. It all depends on the character of the examina- 
 tions and the amount of ' plucking ' done there." 
 
 " As to the intellectual earnestness of the Harvard students, I can 
 state that I have never before been in classes where every man was 
 so good a student. I may have happened to meet only bright men, 
 but I have chiefly met such since I have been in Harvard. These 
 men were not only bright, but hard workers. There are doubtless 
 many of the other kind, but I should expect to find such at a large 
 university. I am sure they do not do me any harm. I thoroughly 
 believe in the elective system. As far as we have statistics, it is 
 shown that men have risen from a mediocre position in scholarship to 
 a very good position by being allowed to follow studies congenial to 
 them. The elective system stimulates intellectual activity, instead of 
 blunting it, by making it possible for a man to become something. It 
 offers hope for him. It affords him an opening and a possibility. It 
 gives him an opportunity to breathe. It invites him to become a man 
 and begin to exercise moral responsibility, yet not when he is cast 
 out into the world all alone for the first time, but while he is still sur- 
 rounded with friendly counsellors, experts in their respective depart- 
 ments, who, if he make a mistake, will attend him and quickly restore 
 
30 
 
 him. He can afford to make mistakes when he is learning, but, if he 
 had gone out into the world and made those mistakes, it might have 
 been fatal." 
 
 " In a college to which many men are sent merely because it is the 
 proper place for a society young man to go, there are inevitably many 
 men who do not do their work. But the great number of those who 
 do their work with any sort of purpose whatever do it earnestly and 
 carefully." 
 
 " The effect of the elective system is, it seems to me, in its broadest 
 application, to cause lazy men to do fairly good work in easy courses; 
 while under a fixed curriculum the same men would get their diploma 
 by doing much poorer work in harder courses. It seems to me that 
 the first arrangement is much the better." 
 
 " Now I maintain that even lazy men often master themselves in 
 trying to get to study some pet ' fad,' while under an arbitrary course 
 of studies they would * fly the track ' at the outset, and perchance 
 miss the opportunity to develop into something along the lines of 
 least resistance, as indicated by the bent of their minds. Therefore, 
 I believe enthusiastically in the elevating influence of the elective 
 system upon the intellectual tone of the students here." 
 
 " There is more of it here than I have ever seen before. It sur- 
 prised me at first, it seemed so general. I have come across excep- 
 tions since. In the main, the elective system, I think, makes men 
 more earnest in their work. There are men who take advantage of 
 the system to take easily passed courses; but such are in the small 
 minority." 
 
 " Of course, some students select their courses only with reference 
 to the ease of getting through them ; but I believe that the majority 
 choose carefully and wisely, and that students will do more work on 
 a specialty in which they are interested than on some distasteful 
 elementary study." 
 
 " I believe the elective system, by enabling a man to train, most 
 carefully the faculties which are naturally deficient, and to inform 
 himself generally on those subjects which he feels he will have least 
 time to inform himself upon in after life, gives him an opportunity to 
 get a broad, all-around culture ; and then, in his last year or two years 
 of college, he can devote himself to such studies as will give him the 
 best training preparatory to professional study or active life. Surely, 
 this tends to put earnestness into a man's work." 
 
 "I have it on reliable authority that undergraduates have done 
 more work and better work under the free system than was ever 
 gotten out of them by old methods." 
 
 " I 'think the elective system has had an excellent effect on me ; 
 and I have noticed especially in fellow undergraduates a tendency to 
 
 
independent opinion and research which was unknown at my former 
 college." 
 
 " Very high, indeed. For the more mature minds far superior to 
 the old system, for the younger class of students usually narrowing in 
 its tendencies." 
 
 "Intellectual earnestness is much greater and more prevalent than 
 I had anticipated. I think it is greatly increased by the elective sys- 
 tem in intensity, if not in prevalence. The system seems to make the 
 students specialists in their selected subjects, and thus permits the 
 courses to become more advanced ; it allows of idleness in those who 
 are naturally lacking in intellectual earnestness, and could thus de- 
 crease that quality only indirectly." 
 
 "For my own part, I attend recitations more regularly, work 
 harder, and enjoy my work more than I did or would do under any 
 other system." 
 
 " I have come across a number of men whose avowed object was 
 to 'get through' ; but the tone of the college is rather that of a ma- 
 jority who, in addition, are actuated by an earnest desire for intellect- 
 ual attainment. The college naturally suffers in this respect in com- 
 parison with the technical and professional schools I have attended, 
 where the necessity for earning one's living, in the immediate future, 
 is the main stimulus before most of the students. I am ready, how- 
 ever, to prove that the man who gets A or B at Harvard works as 
 hard as the student who secures equal rank in the technical school. 
 I also believe that the elective system (contrary to the opinion held 
 before entering Harvard) works, in the great majority of cases, to the 
 advantage of advanced students. I have not the data upon which 
 to predicate its utility in the lower classes. 
 
 " So far as my observation goes, it promotes self-reliance, increases 
 the interest of the student in his work, and teaches him to differen- 
 tiate wisely between essentials and non-essentials in the methods of 
 getting at results, and thus raises the standard of intellectual ear- 
 nestness." 
 
 "The average is lowered by the number of easy-going fellows. 
 Among the good students, the average is high. The elective system 
 enables the loafers to loaf, but is a benefit to the workers, thus 
 increasing the intellectual earnestness." 
 
 " I think that the great mass of the students here are earnest, in- 
 tellectually speaking ; but I know of a great many who are not, but 
 I do not think that the elective system can be accountable for their 
 lack of earnestness. I think the elective system is a great stimulus 
 to intellectual earnestness." 
 
 " * Grinds ' usually avail themselves of every privilege and advan- 
 tage afforded by the University, and my acquaintances are no excep- 
 
32 
 
 tion. I find that nearly every one has some purpose or calling in 
 view, and to the best of his ability selects his studies in the line of 
 that calling; and I know the privilege of such selection is of great 
 advantage to myself." 
 
 "As to the intellectual earnestness of the students of Harvard, I 
 think it is, on the whole, about as good as one could expect in this age 
 and land. The elective system in my estimation rather tends to 
 increase than diminish this ; for, although it allows loafers to loaf 
 legitimately, it certainly does allow a greater room for self-improve- 
 ment to those bent on that end, and it is for this latter class that the 
 college is supposed to be founded." 
 
 " Some of the students give daily evidence that they are here for 
 no other purpose than to learn : others again are here for any other 
 purpose than to study. I think the proportion of good students at 
 Harvard is fully as large as in any college I know of. The elective 
 system allows the good student to specialize, and in his chosen de- 
 partment to carry his studies to an advanced stage ; it also makes it 
 possible for the shirk to avoid difficult studies." 
 
 "The intellectual earnestness of- the students with whom I am 
 .acquainted is of the highest. This, I think, is increased on the part 
 of the true student by the elective system. It is a question in my 
 mind whether or not the elective system does not lead to too early 
 specialization. I think the weight of argument is that it does so 
 lead." 
 
 " As far as I can judge, there seems to be a good degree of ear- 
 nestness in study. I think that those who are fully decided upon 
 the course they wish to pursue are favorably affected by the elective 
 system ; it seems to me that it has a bad effect on others." 
 
 " I have seen great intellectual earnestness among some of the 
 men; the very reverse among others. I think the elective system 
 affords splendid facilities for study to men who wish to work, and 
 equally good facilities to men who wish to obtain a degree without 
 work." 
 
 "The amount of studying actually done is, I believe, far greater 
 than in any other college. The elective system enables a student to 
 avoid those officers and studies which are distasteful to him ; but, 
 whatever courses he pursues, the amount of work required is in 
 general double and often three times the requirement of the average 
 New England college. Thus, in the languages especially, a Harvard 
 graduate who has paid particular attention to those branches can read 
 fluently classical, French, and German authors that the average grad- 
 uate of other colleges can only laboriously dig out with the help of a 
 lexicon." 
 
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