The Gavelyte, April 1909

70 THE GAVBLYTE, ---------------- ------- ual triining which is so indispensible. The students are dealt with in groups rather than as individuals. That close personal contact between teachtr and student, which is so important, is Jacking. Then again the raw matt"ria-1 receivt"d hy the small college is more crude than that received by the larger institutions. Even if their finished product graded as well as thP large eo)IPge they would therefor~ be entitlecl to murL praise. What tht'n should be said of them if their finished product he superior to that of the large ones. It is the recognition of this weakness that has led to the adoption uf the PrPCej.Jtorial sys~E>'m at Princeton and that account); for the in tert>st with w hieh it is being watcked by ed ucatorH a 11 over tht-> eou ntry. The Preceptorial sy~tem is in es:-:ence an effort to restore what ha~ bet'n lost through the rapid growth of the stuclent body by the ernplo) ing of tutors, and if it fulfill:; the expf'ctatio r1H of its originators, it will do much to weaken one of the ehief arguments against tht> largP co]·lt>ge. But its f'xpem:e is apt to put off its gent'ral adoption for many years. Meanwhile it, remains true that, it is for the most part the small college that supplies the bt"st inQividual training. Another defect existing in praet ically all our li.rge collegPR has its source in the discipline which prevails by reason of their existence in con– nection with professional and graduate schools. The Rtuder.ts are allowecl their largest freedom. There is little or. no ,. vversight of their individual and social habits. . Profe~sional students are oldt'r and more mature in . thought and years and are not so apt to abuse their freedom because they are steadied by the thought that they are making direct preparationR for their work in life. As for College students many of them do not intend to take a trade or a profession, others have very hazy ideas about thPir future. While practically all feel that the serious busine8s of life has not yet begun. . Under the eircumstances they are more prone to loaf, to avoid definite c1nd consecrated work, to go in tht- way of the drunkard, the gamblPr etc, in short to form habits of thought and conduct th,lt poRitively unfit them for a useful and honorable career. Many a boy has deterior'ated both mentally and morally in the atmosphere of the large and complex institutions, who in a strictly college atnioRphere would have developed into a man rn the full sense. of the word.