Page:Popular Science Monthly Volume 77.djvu/566

560 man conscious of his worth to himself and to his fellows; it should fit him and should stimulate him to make the most of himself so as to leave the world in some sense better than he found it. One may concede that mental polish is very important and at the same time he would be consistent in asserting that to spend years under the polishing process with nothing but veneer to show at the end is an insult to common sense. Something of service should be acquired in the interval. It has been said that the aim of education should be to enable a man to enjoy his leisure; that would make of education a luxury. But one must recognize that, fortunately or unfortunately, all but a very few men have to earn their bread and that to them the years between sixteen and twenty are all-important, being those during which intelligent acquisition of knowledge is made most easily. Since the study of language is essential, the language in the curriculum should be useful. English, German and French are quite as difficult as Latin and Greek, and their literature is sufficiently inspiring. If those languages were taught as the classic languages were taught in American colleges one hundred years ago, the student would have acquired the needed mental polish and he would have the knowledge which is demanded, whether he enter a profession or devote himself to business pursuits.