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THE VALUE OF THE COLLEGE LIFE

"Knowledge not purchased by the loss of power; "-thus does Wordsworth define the only knowledge which he believes to be "rightly honored with that name." What precisely does he mean us to understand by this "power" which he so highly exalts? He has nowhere told us; but so much at least is evident it is a power larger than intellectual power and inclusive of it, as the whole man is larger than and includes his mind. It is of this power, and of some of the elements which the college life contributes to its upbuilding, that I wish to speak. How then shall I define it? It is the total capacity to deal with life, to organize out of its manifold experiences a complete individual being, capable of effective activity. The building up of this great central power, on which all lesser powers depend, seems to me the supreme end of education.

I am endeavoring, you see, gracefully to avoid that eternally recurring academic question, Is character or activity the true end of life?-since I can not conceive of a strong and good character failing to express itself in effective and benevolent activity, nor, on the other hand, of effective and benevolent

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