THE RHODES SCHOLARSHIPS

THE first generation of American Rhodes Scholars is now complete. Before Oxford welcomes any more, the pioneers will have returned to their native land prepared to show whether or not the ideals which they are supposed to stand for are only the chimerical dreams of a man, who, while he may have been a great worldwide thinker, was nevertheless only a dreamer, aiming at the impossible and carried away by the greatness of his conceptions into impracticable absurdities. Will the advantages of an Oxford education and the close association with the best that cultured England has to offer, have impressed themselves with sufficient strength and power upon a few at least of those who are representing the educated life of our American universities and colleges over here, to guarantee the success of the scheme? The answer to this question cannot be given now, nor even in a few years. The future only can tell and it is best to leave entirely alone any attempt at forecasts and prophecy.

On the other hand, without considering the questions of result, it is still interesting to ask whether, from the standpoint of the Americans over here, the experiment judged from present observation is really worth while. Are they simply wasting their time, enjoying to the full the pleasures of English undergraduate life and possibly becoming mere Anglicised pedants, absolutely worthless when they return to enter into the strife and bustle of ordinary American life, unfit by three years of comparative luxury and idleness, to take their share in the work that their country demands of them? Again we must wait for the decision of their countrymen on their return. Their own feelings in the matter would perhaps be viewed with suspicion or indifference, though there is no question what would be their answer to such an imputation. It may be worth while, however, to consider, even if with extreme brevity and possible superficiality, a few of the influences with which they are surrounded and which are undoubtedly affecting their thoughts and ideas, changing them in many respects and leaving an indelible impress upon their lives.

That they are being influenced, and greatly so, there can be no question. Indeed, if this element were not present, if they were utterly unchanged by their life over here, there could be no doubt what the answer to the query as to the success of the scheme would necessarily be. With such a result it would have been better for them to have staid at home, to have finished their education where it was begun and to have been content with their American degrees to go into the world and see what it has in store for them. But such a contention is certainly untenable. No man can enter intimately for three years into the life and activities of a university in any part of the world and not come out with a certain stamp and impress which will influence him through his whole life. No, these seventy-five or a hundred Americans will be different when they return from what they would have been if they had spent these years at home. Whether for better or for worse it is not for them to judge. But certain of the influences may be well worth noting, though they are doubtless well known to many.

In the first place, and possibly to the minds of some the most important influence, there is the purely academic side of the university. Is the work which one gets here such as to warrant a violent breaking into one's American education in order to study at Oxford? If this were the only thing over here I should emphatically say, no. I do not wish to be misunderstood, as there are many things which I heartily admire, and certain features in which I think we could well copy the English system. But in general the work that one gets over here is not so superior to what we can get at home, as to justify in itself a man's coming over here to spend three years to acquire it. For post graduate work, to prevent one's getting into a groove, ar different point of view is always valuable, but that can be obtained quite as well in any one of a dozen of our first class universities.

In making so sweeping a statement I do not in the least underrate the advantages of Oxford. I realize how strong they are here along certain lines. The courses leading up to the Litterae Humaniores schools or examinations, popularly known as Greats, undoubtedly afford the very finest training in Classics and Philosophy that it is possible to give. In History, too, the results are apparently the very best, and the same is probably also true of the other schools. But while not at all capable of judging as an expert, yet I feel quite safe in repeating my statement that from the standpoint of scholarship it is not necessary to come to England to find the best. One thing I should like to say, however, and that is that the more I see of the tutorial system the more I am impressed with the value and benefit that it gives. The English system has no place at all for the classroom recitation. There are lectures both by the college fellows and university professors, which are attended with more or less regularity; but the actual teaching is done in the tutor's room, where the student brings his essay once or twice a week, reads it and discusses what he has written and what he has left out, until he acquires of necessity an insight into his subject that can be gained in no other way. The direct intercourse for an hour or more alone with a man who is the leader, often of worldwide fame, in his special department, is one of the most stimulating and helpful features of the Oxford educational system. Whether it would be possible or wise to introduce this in America, I am by no means competent to say. The experiment at Princeton must be watched with great interest by all. But at any rate this appears to be one of the most valuable influences from the educational side that is brought to bear on those who get their training over here.

I must say one word in regard to the chance for post-graduate study, for after all the majority of Rhodes scholars are already graduates from American colleges, and personally I should regret the day when younger men are sent over, and the question often comes Up whether the opportunities are sufficient for such men. There is no disguising the fact that up to very recently the whole system was devised from the point of view of the undergraduate. Everyone here was expected to go in for the schools or final examinations and work for his B.A. degree. He could take this either with or without honors, these being considered of much greater importance over here than with us. The class that a man takes in his final examination immediately stamps him with a certain standard, which the great uniformity in examinations enables one to gauge exactly and so get a fair estimate of his ability. Within the last few years, however, this exclusive attention to the needs of the undergraduate has been changed, and with the introduction of the law degree, B.C.L., and still more recently of the so-called research degrees, B.Litt. and B.Sc., the university is coming more and more to realize that there is another class of students who do not wish to be tied down to the regular courses, and who come with serious and more or less well defined work in mind, which they wish to accomplish and for whom provision, must of necessity be made. The authorities have been very careful not to cheapen the value of these degrees, and more often than not err on the side of severity in the reluctance with which they grant them, but there is no question that they are coming more and more to realize the field that there is for this kind of work and the necessity of giving it every possible encouragement. It is quite certain that the professors themselves welcome gladly all who come to them with a serious purpose of acquiring something, and are ready to render them every assistance toward the attainment of this object. I can say this from the very pleasantest personal experience.

But after all it is not here that the greatest benefit to the Rhodes scholars is going to arise, as it is not in scholarship alone, important as that is, that the essence of a college or university training really lies. We have often been told that unless we learn to become more efficient men, more useful citizens with a broader, saner outlook into our country's share in the affairs of the world, and a fixed purpose for the service of mankind, no amount of knowledge gained can prevent our college education being written down a failure. To Dartmouth men especially, from the inspiration continually before them, such ideas present nothing new.

It is just here that the full benefits and advantages of the system must make themselves felt. To a man who has had the opportunity of coming in close personal contact with the ideals and purposes of two systems so widely different in their applications and development, if he does not permit himself to be carried away by any mere superficial judgment, whether of condemnation or approval, the chance that is afforded him is unique. It is often only by contrast that the lessons and examples of his training are made sufficiently clear to be fully appreciated. In this way the true perspective of things is borne most vividly and convincingly to his mind. He learns to be critical and at. the same time liberal and sympathetic. He is not blinded by an unreasoning sentiment to shortcomings and positive evils that have never before been vividly drawn to his attention, or if so, have been put aside as too unpleasant to be contemplated. On the other hand, sources of strength and greatness have been accepted so as a matter of course that their significance has been entirely lost sight of. To take a concrete example, never is one more imbued with the value and necessity of the training of a democratic Dartmouth as when one is surrounded by the effects of an exclusive and aristocratic Oxford. On the other hand, never does one appreciate the greatness of the English nation as when one sees the way her sons carry themselves on the athletic field, and make up one's mind to do all that one can to introduce the same spirit and ideals into the life of America. That this is possible one cannot doubt for an instant, for at heart the two peoples are the same. Externals of custom and convention have at times made it easy to lose sight of this fact. Indeed for a long time at first it seemed almost impossible to get on terms of intimacy with one another. But this soon wore off, or at least became much less noticeable. The Americans came to realize that the reserve and coldness of the Englishman was in large measure due to shyness. Their own impetuousity and attempts at cordiality amused but did not entirely reassure him. It was not until they had lived together for some time that they came to understand each others peculiarities. Then it was that we came to appreciate the greatness and efficiency of the Englishman that have enabled him to accomplish so much for the good of the world. And he also has come to look upon the American a little less as an object of curiosity,to be carefully investigated and perhaps given the slight encouragement necessary to make him perform, so to speak, but nothing more. Here are the future leaders of England's thought and politics, and they are this much more truly than is usually the case when one makes this commonplace generalization of university men. It surely cannot be for nothing that during their undergraduate days they have been associating with a body of representative American students. Misunderstandings must of necessity be less likely to arise when the peculiarities of each nation are so much better known to the other. But again we must heed our former warning and confine ourselves to present influences rather than to attempt to forecast the future, to avoid-the danger of being accused of being ourselves nothing but dreamers.

One of the phases of Oxford life with which the Americans have naturally come in close contact, and which cannot be without direct influence, is the athletic life of the place. Everyone who sees anything of the Englishman on the athletic field must be struck with the marked difference in the spirit which animates him compared with what we are used to on our home grounds. In fact this has been so often subject for remark that people become rather tired of having their attention drawn to the difference. But to my mind there are few things more important, and running the risk of repeating what everyone knows very well, I wish just briefly to indicate some of the English lines which might with profit be considered by us.

First and foremost, one often sees the statement made, that the English-man plays for the sport of the thing and not necessarily to win. Such a statement needs some qualification, for as it Stands it is certainly no more true than is usually the case with such bold generalizations. In some of the varsity contests, with Cambridge for instance, when the under-graduate interest is very great, there can be no question but that the spirit of going in to win is an important and necessary factor. In rowing, too, at the time of the intercollegiate races, the Torpids and the . Eights, while the men go into them for the love of the sport, yet the severity of the training and the hard, uninterrupted work of practice, is not entirely gone through just for the pleasure that there is in it. With such qualifications, however, it may very well be said, that in his games, the English-man is not animated by the same intense feeling of rivalry, which will make work of his fun, and sacrifice everything for the sake of gaining the upper hand. Several things make for this admirable spirit. In the first place, the number of colleges that make up the university afford plenty of opportunity for contests of all kinds. Take for example the activities of the fall or Michaelmas term. Each of the twenty-three colleges has at least one "Rugger team, and many of the larger ones support two. The same is true of Soccer and hockey. Each of these teams plays twice or three times a week, there being hardly ever anything that corresponds to practice, and all that a beginner learns must be picked up by experience in the actual contests. This of course cannot lead to a very highly developed or scientific play, or afford any interest to critical spectators. But with so many people playing something there are very few left to watch. Of anything like organized and systematic coaching there is nothing at all. For the varsity contests and for rowing this is not quite true, but a coach never receives anything for his services. Rowing is also carried on with the purpose of giving everyone a chance. At the beginning of the academic year there are probably between five and six hundred men on the river being taught the elements of watermanship by members of the previous year's crews. After Christmas these have been pretty well weeded out, it is true, but in the spring races at the end of February there are usually about thirty eights taking part in the characteristic bumping races which the narrowness of the river demands.

There are still men, however, who do not share in any of these activities, but this does not mean that their afternoons are not engaged in out of door sport. Cross country running, the track, lacrosse, all demand the attention of a large number, so that on man who is not physically unfit, can say that there is not some game or sport in which he can take an active share. With so many contests the significance and importance of any one is exceedingly small and the whole system of athletics takes the proper place in the life of the university, and unquestionably has a permanent effect upon the men that are turned out. This is obviously much better than if the interest of the majority had been simply that of spectators.

There are many other influences, but I will only mention one more, and that is the real interest in politics which is very great in a large number of men. There are many things that one might be tempted to criticize after having seen the excitement and stir of the General Election through which the country has been passing. But on the other hand, the intelligent interest that has been taken by the vast majority of undergraduates, many of whom have been working extremely hard, canvassing and otherwise assisting their respective parties in all parts of the country, shows an appreciation of the share which an Englishman feels that it is his duty and privilege to take in the government of his country. I do not for a moment mean to imply that we at home do not take any interest in national affairs. Such a statement would of course be absurd. But if we can come to a still greater appreciation of our responsibilities, if the educated American would take greater care to see that he is adequately represented and not be dominated by a spirit of letting well enough alone, waiting until conditions become practically unbearable, before showing an active interest in the affairs of the community, it would, to say the least, not be any the worse for the strength of the nation.

Have I seemed to be too ready to see the good in others and to imply criticism of our own conditions ? If so, it is well to bear in mind what a well known man said in discussing the Rhodes scholarships. Some one expressed the fear that the effect of three years of Oxford training would unfit us for the life that our country demanded of us. "Don't be alarmed," was the' reply, "if we can take care of a million aliens coming into our country every year, we ought to be able to manage a few scores of anglicized Americans." The truth of this allegation we will leave to others to judge. For the present I am willing to run the risk of the charge, for which I might easily lend further color, as I have only hinted at a very few of the admirable qualities which a closer intercourse compels one to appreciate more and more, and which make one understand in some measure from what a great people we are sprung. On the other hand, if I were writing this for Englishmen, there are many elements of strength and greatness in our own country which, I would touch upon ; things the appreciation of which seems to have been all the more enhanced from the fact that we are for a few years looking at them from the outside. To our own minds these elements can never grow dim, or be superseded, but will always make us proud of the country whose name we bear and for whose life and prosperity it will always be our duty to strive. But always appreciating her greatness we should never be blind to her faults, and if we can return filled with a discontent of many conditions at home and ready and eager to do all that we can to remedy such conditions, I venture to think that these three years will not have been wasted for any of us.

Julius Arthur Brown '02, New Hampshire Rhodes Scholar at Oxford