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 ®lte State Wniti^tsitg : 
 
 ITS WORK, 
 AND ITS PLACE IN THE PUBLIC SCHOOL SYSTEM. 
 
 By 
 
 3. %.. Cippttttott, 
 
 Chancellor. 
 
The State University: 
 
 ITS WORK, AND ITS PLACE IN THE PUBLIC 
 SCHOOL SYSTEM. 
 
 Inaugural Address 
 
 DELIVERED IN 
 
 University Hall, Lawrence, Kansas, 
 
 September 26, it 
 
 BY 
 
 J. A. LIPPINCOTT, 
 
 CHANCELLOR. 
 
 PUBLISHED BY ORDER OF THE BOARD OF REGENTS. 
 
 CAN^Tlti 
 
 TOPEKA, KANSAS: 
 
 KANSAS PUBLISHING HOUSE, 
 1883. 
 
 ^ 
 
Ma- q 
 
 im 
 
 V 
 
ADDRESS. 
 
 I esteem myself happy, Mr. President, that, under 
 circumstances so auspicious, I come into the office to 
 which the Board of Regents of Kansas University has, 
 with so flattering a courtesy, invited me. 
 
 The first duty which was laid upon me by the Board 
 in my new relation, was that in the performance of 
 which I stand here to-day, to give expression, in mea- 
 ger outline though it be, to some hastily collected 
 thoughts concerning University work, and the relation, 
 as it seems to me, which a State University should hold 
 to the public school system, of which, indeed, it is a part. 
 
 I may be allowed here, perhaps, and this once, to 
 speak out in the frankest possible manner, and say that 
 it is not entirely without misgiving that I have con- 
 templated the responsibilities which have thus been 
 thrown upon me. The greatness of the work, not so 
 much that which is as that which is to be, impresses 
 me. The University must keep pace with the wonder- 
 ful development of Kansas; indeed, it must, with other 
 agencies, mold and direct that very development. A 
 University such as the singular prosperity of this great 
 and growing commonwealth makes possible, and yet itself 
 one of the factors of that prosperity, — the University 
 as it stands to-day in the liberal thought of the Regents 
 and of the people of Kansas, — the ideal University, 
 how shall it be realized I You will not criticize me 
 
adversely, I am sure, that I confess to have paused 
 a moment, and that with something of hesitation I sur- 
 veyed the field thus presented to view. The work and 
 its responsibilities seemed magnified in advance. Yet I 
 trust we shall move forward none the less steadily, with 
 no less of energy and determination, because we realize 
 the magnitude of the undertaking before us. 
 
 And now let me say that, after a pretty careful sur- 
 vey, I have reached the conviction that the future of 
 Kansas University is rich in splendid possibilities. 
 The past and the present are full of encouragement. 
 The foundations are well and securely laid. There has 
 been a steady and healthy growth from, small begin- 
 nings. The present is marked by a buoyant hopeful- 
 ness. It may not be out of place to say in this 
 connection, that whatever of success may distinguish the 
 future, it will not be possible to write adequately the 
 history of the University without a recognition of the 
 masterful influence upon it of Chancellor Marvin, and 
 his faithful and able co-workers. All honor is due to 
 the men whose care and devotion and labor have given 
 to Kansas this honored institution of learning. 
 
 Another element of encouragement in contemplating 
 the immediate future of the University, is to be found 
 in the high conception of its position and functions 
 entertained by the Board of Regents, and their fixed 
 determination that the realization of that conception 
 shall not long be delayed. 
 
 Then, again, I am convinced that the State Univer- 
 sity is an object of pride and of affection to the entire 
 
commonwealth. If the people have divided upon polit- 
 ical issues, all parties have united in the support of 
 this institution. Its foundations were laid while Kan- 
 sas was yet a Territory. It has grown under the fos- 
 tering care of successive legislatures. The people of 
 Kansas love their own creation, and will continue to 
 make for it the most liberal provision. 
 
 Once more, the graduates of this seat of learning, 
 already numerous in the State, will ever turn toward 
 their Alma Mater with loving hearts and helping hands. 
 
 But why, it may be asked, should the State commit 
 itself to educational enterprises? Are we sure that it 
 does not transcend its natural powers when it estab- 
 lishes and maintains the public school? There have 
 not been wanting in these days of quickened thought 
 and radical opinions those who boldly declare that the 
 tendency of civilization is, and ought to be, toward the 
 curtailment, if not the absolute abrogation, of govern- 
 mental powers. These advanced theories evidently con- 
 template an ideal State, wherein each individual is 
 actuated by unselfish, noble motives. Here indeed 
 would be no need of a government either to prohibit 
 or to command. The common weal or highest good of 
 all would grow spontaneously out of the combined and 
 harmonious action of the individual citizens. It need 
 not be said that such a state of society is yet far 
 from realization among men. 
 
 But I think we may point out the ground whereon 
 plainly the power and duty of a State rests to support 
 both elementary schools and also colleges of the liberal 
 arts and sciences. Our argument may be two-fold : 
 
I. A liberal provision for the education of the young 
 tends toward the suppression of pauperism and crime. 
 It is universally recognized among civilized nations as 
 the bounden duty of the State to restrain and punish 
 its criminals, and to care for its helpless poor. Now 
 we do not mean to say that a liberal education, how- 
 ever widely diffused, suppresses all crime, nor that it 
 removes the possibility of extremest poverty; but we do 
 say (and tiie assertion will not be contradicted ) that 
 the tendency is in this direction. With still more em- 
 phasis can we insist upon this declaration after having 
 considered what is involved in education, and traced 
 the relation to it which the school must maintain. 
 
 If, then, the influence of the school is to diminish 
 the probability of crime and of pauperism, the State 
 may rightly establish and maintain it. Nor can this 
 position be consistently assailed by any one who ac- 
 knowledges the du'ty of the civil magistrate to bind 
 over to keep the peace a man who violently threatens 
 the injury of another. " Prevention better than cure,^' 
 is a good maxim for a State as well as for an indi- 
 vidual. 
 
 II. Our second argument may be outlined as fol- 
 lows : The influence, greatness, glory of a State stand 
 not in merely material possessions, but in the intelli- 
 gence and character of its people. 
 
 A great race once made northern Africa blaze with 
 glory. Here stood ancient Carthage, the mistress of 
 the Mediterranean, the conqueror of Spain, the adven- 
 turous explorer of the unknown sea beyond the Pillars 
 
of Hercules, while Rome was yet in her infancy. 
 Here was Egypt, whose civilization ante-dated the 
 glory of Sparta and of Athens. In later times here 
 flourished Alexandria, the acknowledged center of the 
 world^s literature and science. This same land, whose 
 fertility was such that it was called the granary of 
 Europe, the great deeds of whose martial people are 
 celebrated in ancient story, has in later years and for 
 long centuries, in the hands of an inferior people, 
 fallen ir||o insignificance and obscurity. Again, our 
 own land, with its fertile plains, its mountain ranges 
 rich in minerals, lying for unknown ages in the un- 
 conscious possession of the red man, leaped at once 
 into forms of wealth and of power when a higher, 
 nobler, more intelligent, more energetic race of men 
 succeeded to its ownership. 
 
 Now, it is admitted by every one that it is the 
 right and duty of the State to carry forward great en- 
 terprises that are too burdensome for individual effort, 
 and that yet manifestly contribute to the general wel- 
 fare. If it may do this, it may with equal propriety 
 establish and maintain institutions whose object is to 
 develop in its people those forces of character and of 
 intellect upon which its wealth, its power, its glory 
 must ultimately rest. 
 
 We come now to the theme of the hour : The State 
 School — what are its functions, and what may the State 
 fairly expect from it in return for its support? 
 
 1. The school must educate the intellectual faculties. 
 It would seem unnecessary to enlarge upon this obvi- 
 
8 
 
 0U8 8taUmient ; yet it falls within my line of thought 
 to say that mere mental discipline \a a large part of 
 this work. This is worth mure than the formulated 
 knowledge of the schools. To be able to think clearly, 
 forcibly, accurately, is of more value than to possess 
 the bare facts of all modern science. Thus far, I pre- 
 sume, there is agreement among educators. But just 
 here the inquiry may be instituted, whether there may 
 not be gained at the same time, and in the pursuit 
 of the same study, both the mental discipline and the 
 practical knowledge. On this question educators divide. 
 The one party defends the ancient curriculum which 
 holds the student to the classic languages, the mathe- 
 matics and metaphysics ; the other seeks to supplant 
 these to a large extent with the so-called practical 
 sciences. These maintain that the study of the physi- 
 cal sciences is disciplinary in a high degree, while it 
 is also eminently practical. Where the line ought to 
 be drawn between these opposing theories does not spe- 
 cially concern us to-day, though 1 may say that I do 
 not believe that it can be drawn permanently in the 
 wrong place. We may, however, hold firmly to this, 
 that the education expecteil of the public school must 
 be two-fold: Firsts The learning of valuable truth; and 
 secondly y the disciplining of the intellectual powers. 
 
 There is another line of thought closely related to that 
 which we have just entertaintnl, and well worthy of con- 
 sideration in this connection. The school should, to a 
 certain extent, furnish stimulus to mental exertion. Ex- 
 ercise develops strength, whether of muscle or of thought. 
 
 H 
 
Exercise in itself is irksome. To overcome the inertia 
 of sloth, nature has made the amplest provision. The 
 child does not run and climb for the exercise there is 
 in itf but for the sake of the diversified objects which 
 nature has herself placed before him, and which to him 
 seem worthy of the pursuit. So, too, the school must 
 not with changeless monotony set before the student 
 the merely disciplinary exercise. I cannot blame the 
 youth who wearies of the monotonous round of para- 
 digm and problem. The school must do more for the 
 student than require these tasks. It must come nearer 
 to nature's method. If into the otherwise dull routine 
 of school life there can be thrown some living ques- 
 tion, judiciously selected out of the field of philosophy, 
 or botany, or natural history, I am free to say that 
 the time consumed will be more than made good by 
 the added interest and quickened thought which it in- 
 troduces. Whether by this or by some other means, 
 the competent teacher will know how to awaken in 
 his students a slumbering ambition, and to kindle an 
 ennobling enthusiasm. 
 
 2. Secondly, the school must assist in the development 
 of character. It is the power to think which most 
 obviously exalts man above the brute creation, yet that 
 exaltation is immeasurably heightened by the possibili- 
 ties of Moral character. To develop a delicate sense 
 of honor, to implant a noble love of truth, to inspire 
 a lofty patriotism, is the highest object of the public 
 school. If this object be accomplished, the State, 
 though never so liberal in its provision, is rendered a 
 debtor to the school. 
 
10 
 
 It is acknowledged that this is delicate and difficult 
 work, but it constitutes the true sphere of the teach- 
 er's profession. To sit listlessly in the school-room, 
 and require more listless children to repeat the too 
 often meaningless words of the cold, lifeless printed 
 page, is a travesty on true teaching. The teacher 
 must be the life and inspiration of the school-room. 
 His is an enthusiasm which must be contagious. In 
 this very contagion of the inspiration of enthusiasm 
 must be planted the seeds of true nobility of character. 
 Mark well my meaning ! It is not the teaching of 
 maxims and proverbs of morality, though this should 
 not be omitted — it is not the mere presentation of a 
 code of ethics — it is this, enforced by a living and 
 irresistible personality. Make the ground mellow, then 
 cast in the seed. Induce in the student a quenchless 
 thirst, then in inspired and inspiring words, and in 
 the ardor of a conquering personality, set forth that 
 which alone can satisfy desires thus created. Let there 
 ever be held before the student in precept and exam- 
 ple that which is worthy his supremest effort, the pos- 
 session of the manliest traits of a truly noble character. 
 
 Is this impossible ? Dr. Arnold of Rugby left the 
 impress of his own personality upon a generation of 
 leaders in English thought and action. Dr. Eliphalet 
 Nott, of Union College, New York, yet lives in the 
 worthy deeds of men made more noble in their aspira- 
 tions by association with him. The public schools of 
 New England are bearing fruit in every State of the 
 Union. I beg you to bear in mind that the true 
 
11 
 
 greatness of England rests not upon her prowess in 
 arms, nor upon the profound and brilliant results 
 achieved by her men of letters, but upon the sterling 
 and uncompromising character of her people. This has 
 been fostered and developed for generations by her great 
 public schools. It is true that in these schools have 
 been found but a tithe of her people, but there have 
 been enough to hold the current in the right direction. 
 It is true also that in some features these schools are 
 not such models as we would select for imitation. 
 There are sometimes exhibitions in them of coarseness 
 afnd even of brutal tyranny of the strong over the 
 weak; yet there has ever been maintained a high stand- 
 ard of the prominent traits of the sterling English 
 character. Here has always been cultivated a profound 
 loyalty which detests treason whether to country, to 
 truth, or to personal honor. With all this in mind, 
 England's place in European affairs is not difficult to 
 understand. Her brilliant exploits by sea and land, 
 the noble triumphs of her men of letters, the marvels 
 of her industrial and mercantile enterprises, ha^e ground 
 from which to grow, and a stable foundation on which 
 to rest. 
 
 All that has been outlined as the function of the 
 State school — the gaining of practical knowledge, the 
 culture of the intellectual powers, the development 
 of character — must be accomplished, and perhaps with 
 intensified enthusiasm, by the State University. This, 
 however, is only the starting-point from which we must 
 proceed to a full comprehension of the work and in- 
 fluence of the University. 
 
12 
 
 "^e mav as well state frankly that the position of 
 
 the universiry as distinguished fi'om the college is, as 
 yet. quite unsettled in the American educational sys- 
 tem. It is by some held to be simply a combination 
 of colleges, each devoted to its own domain in the 
 grand total of human knowledge and investigation. By 
 others its sphere is limited to professional and practical 
 work, while to the college is left the pursuit of those 
 studies which are preparatory and disciplinary. Again, 
 a university is held to be a school in which any ap- 
 .plicant may hnd competent instruction in any useful 
 study. 
 
 To reach the highest ideal, these definitions must, 
 perhaps, be combined. The universiry is an association 
 of colleges cultivating diiTerent fields of human knowl- 
 edge. Within its various curricula any inquirer may 
 fi_nd competent instrucrion in any desired line of inves- 
 tigation. Possibly this last statement must be limited 
 by excluding dogmatic theology which no independent 
 church could commit to the care of the State, and 
 which the State, under our form of government, could 
 not consistently assume. 
 
 But beyond this matter of teaching lies another duty 
 of the university, equally clear and important. It is 
 that of original investigation. Here, with reasonable 
 success, it can repay the State a hundred fold. In 
 this work it intensifies its own enthusiasm. Here it 
 secures a firmer grasp upon its students: for nothing 
 so grandly inspires the human soul as the forcing of 
 nature's secret from her willins but reluctant hand. 
 
13 
 
 In this grand pursuit, professor and student are most 
 likely to forget their individuality in the oneness of 
 their aim and enthusiasm. It is in this moment of 
 fusion that the competent teacher finds the opportunity 
 for his grandest work, and on a plane, too, higher 
 than that of mere scholastic training. 
 
 Again, the University must keep abreast of the times. 
 No department may be allowed to lag behind. There 
 must be here a comprehension of the latest development 
 in science, in art, in philosophy; and there must be 
 some one competent to become its expounder while it 
 yet has the freshness of novelty. 
 
 It may be allowable here to say that the University 
 of Kansas has already honored itself in these respects. 
 In some lines it is fully up to the times, and has 
 gained for itself a fair name among men of science. 
 What it has done in a single line, or in a few lines, 
 let it nobly determine to do in all ! 
 
 Once more, the University ought to be a conserva- 
 tory of knowledge. I mean three things : 
 
 (1.) Its library should be the best in the State. 
 Nay, more, it should be the best possible. Here should 
 be gathered together, as in a great depository, the vast 
 stores of human knowledge that have been committed 
 to the safe-keeping of the printed page. So complete 
 should this be, that scholars, otherwise unconnected with 
 the institution, but engaged in scientific and literary 
 work, should be attracted to the seat of the Univer- 
 sity for the sake of the facilities offered in every line 
 of thought and investigation. 
 
14 
 
 (2.) Its cabinets in the various lines of natural his- 
 tory, mineralogy, etc., should be correspondingly com- 
 plete. These will be the more valuable in manifold 
 ways if they are mainly the collections of the Univer- 
 sity itself, and thus the visible exponents of its own 
 enthusiasm and industry. 
 
 This involves the erection of additional buildings. 
 There will be demanded a fire-proof Library Hall and 
 a fire-proof Xatural History Hall, thus releasing rooms 
 in the main University building that will be greatly 
 needed for other purposes. In addition, in the near 
 future, we must have a thoroughly equipped Astronom- 
 ical Observatory ; a hall devoted to Physics, and per- 
 haps yet other buildings needed as the University 
 grows to its place among the best of American col- 
 leges. Indeed, the time will come when our beautiful 
 Mount Oread, the gift of Gov. Eobinson to the State, 
 shall be crowned with beautiful and stately structures 
 needed in the work of the University, and erected by 
 the munificence of a generous State, and of its public- 
 spirited citizens. 
 
 (3.) It should gather about itself a host of students 
 and scholars in all the walks of science, literature, art, 
 and philosophy ; for it is an evident truth that a 
 
 univei 
 
 'sitv consi: 
 
 its not 
 
 of stately s 
 
 tructures, 
 
 nor 
 
 of 
 
 im- 
 
 mense 
 
 libraries. 
 
 nor ( 
 
 3f completed 
 
 cabinets. 
 
 nor 
 
 of 
 
 all 
 
 these 
 
 combined ; 
 
 but 
 
 of enthusiastic 
 
 scholar-students 
 
 who 
 
 know 
 
 how to 
 
 make 
 
 thorough, competent 
 
 use 
 
 of 
 
 all 
 
 these 
 
 needed adjuncts 
 
 of the schoo 
 
 L 
 
 
 
 
 When these 
 
 things 
 
 shall have 
 
 been real 
 
 ized,- 
 
 — when 
 
15 
 
 the library and the various cabinets shall have been 
 carried well on toward completion, when men of scien- 
 tific and scholarly taste shall have been brought together, 
 is it too much to hope that many, if not all the col- 
 leges in the State of Kansas, the technical schools, the 
 denominational institutions, may find it to their interest 
 to come into close relations with the State University ? 
 If such a close relationship and harmony of action 
 among these diverse educational agencies can be accom- 
 plished, it is fair to presume that it will be with equal 
 profit to the University itself, while the people of the 
 State will become incalculably the gainers. 
 
 Once more, the University should be an essential 
 part of the State system of public schools. In this 
 system there should be no chasm difficult of passage. 
 The High School must join hands on the one side with 
 the more elementary grades, and on the other with the 
 University. In this series of schools all must be ad- 
 vanced together. If the University should at a single 
 bound stride into the position which, perhaps, our ar- 
 dent fancy pictures for the undeveloped future, it would 
 sever its relations with the system, and lose its grand 
 opportunity. On the contrary, if it maintain its proper 
 relations with the Academies and High Schools of the 
 commonwealth ; if with wisdom and patience it wait 
 and work in harmony with them ; then the time will 
 come in the development of the State, and that, too, 
 in the near future, when its halls shall be crowded 
 with young men and women well prepared in the 
 lower schools, and eager for its best work. 
 
16 
 
 Yet in all this let us not lose sight of the essen- 
 tial fact that each class of schools has a definite work 
 to accomplish within its own sphere. In the more 
 elementary grades, the great mass of our people receive 
 not only their first but their final scholastic training. 
 These schools must supply the needs of their most 
 numerous patrons. Yet in the same schools are pre- 
 pared those who advance to the High School. Again 
 from the High School many thousands of boys and 
 girls go out into the actual business of life. A com- 
 parative few graduate into the University. Not for 
 these few, but for the many, must the curriculum of 
 the High School be arranged; yet, while these pre- 
 pare for business, others, their class- mates in some 
 branches, prepare for a yet more advanced course of 
 study. Thus, the graded school cannot do the work 
 of the University, and ought not to try; but it can 
 prepare its pupils for the college classes. So, too, the 
 University should not be burdened with preparatory in- 
 struction ; but it can supplement that of the High 
 School and Academy. More than that : created by the 
 State, and liberally furnished beyond other and less fa- 
 vored institutions with facilities for distinctive work, it 
 should suggest methods and furnish inspiration resulting 
 in incalculable good to every school, whether public or 
 private, in the State. 
 
 Thus the University helps all and antagonizes none. 
 It becomes a center of educational influence which is 
 felt with good effect in the remotest counties. 
 
17 
 
 In this sketch of the ideal university have I drawn 
 too much upon my imagination ? Or, have I made 
 perilous my position by creating too large an expecta- 
 tion ? Let me remind you that the true workman ever 
 holds in mind an ideal which serves as a model for 
 his less perfect handicraft. More than this, the actual 
 creation of his workmanship falls below his model — 
 often immeasurably below it. Further still, it may be 
 said that the ideal itself grows more rapidly toward 
 perfection than his actual work. If, then, our ideal 
 university seems to stand out discouragingly beyond 
 that which we see actually accomplished, it is only 
 natural that it shall be so. It is the condition of 
 healthy growth. We are building upward. The State 
 has given us the foundation, and stands by us with 
 liberal hand. We may appropriate here a maxim of 
 the common law, ^^Cujus est solum, ejus est usque ad 
 caelum;'' and it is our privilege and our duty to build 
 up toward the skies. We shall follow our ideal, yet 
 without overtaking it; for, like the mirage in the des- 
 ert, it will move on before us, yet, unlike the mirage, 
 only to attract us into a more noble and more enno- 
 bling view of that at which we shall have striven — 
 the perfected University of the State of Kansas. 
 
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