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this quest of idle learning has sought shelter in the university
as the only establishment in which it could find a domicile； even
on sufferance； and so could achieve that footing of consecutive
intellectual enterprise running through successive generations of
scholars which is above all else indispensable to the advancement
of knowledge。 Under the r間ime of unmitigated pragmatic aims that
ruled the earlier days of the European universities； this pursuit
of knowledge for its own sake was carried on as a work of
scholarly supererogation by men whose ostensibly sole occupation
was the promulgation of some accredited line of salutary
information。 Frequently it had to be carried on under some
colourable masquerade of practicality。 And yet so persistent has
the spirit of idle curiosity proved to be； and so consonant with
the long…term demands even of the laity； that the dissimulation
and smuggling…in of disinterested learning has gone on ever more
openly and at an ever increasing rate of gain； until in the end；
the attention given to scholarship and the non…utilitarian
sciences in these establishments has come far to exceed that
given to the practical disciplines for which the several
faculties were originally installed。 As time has passed and as
successive cultural mutations have passed over the community；
shifting the centre of interest and bringing new ideals of
scholarship； and bringing the whole cultural fabric nearer to its
modern complexion； those purposes of crass expediency that were
of such great moment and were so much a matter of course in
earlier academic policy； have insensibly fallen to the rank of
incidentals。 And what had once been incidental； or even an object
of surreptitious tolerance in the university； remains today as
the only unequivocal duty of the corporation of learning； and
stands out as the one characteristic trait without which no
establishment can claim rank as a university。
Philosophy the avowed body of theoretical science in the
late medieval time had grown out of the schoolmen's
speculations in theology； being in point of derivation a body of
refinements on the divine scheme of salvation； and with a view to
quiet title； and to make manifest their devotion to the greater
good of eschatological expediency； those ingenious speculators
were content to proclaim that their philosophy is the handmaid of
theology Philosophia theologiae ancillans。 But their
philosophy has fallen into the alembic of the idle curiosity and
has given rise to a body of modern science； godless and
unpractical； that has no intended or even ostensible bearing on
the religious fortunes of mankind； and their sanctimonious maxim
would today be better accepted as the subject of a limerick than
of a homily。 Except in degree； the fortunes of the temporal
pragmatic disciplines； in Law and Medicine； have been much the
same as that of their elder sister； Theology。 Professionalism and
practical serviceability have been gradually crowded into the
background of academic interests and overlaid with
quasi…utilitarian research such as the history of
jurisprudence； comparative physiology； and the like。 They have in
fact largely been eliminated。（8*）
And changes running to this effect have gone farthest and
have taken most consistent effect in those communities that are
most fully imbued with the spirit of the modern peaceable
civilization。 It is in the more backward communities and schools
that the barbarian animus of utilitarianism still maintains
itself most nearly intact； whether it touches matters of temporal
or of spiritual interest。 With the later advance of culture； as
the intellectual interest has gradually displaced the older
ideals in men's esteem； and barring a reactionary episode here
and there； the university has progressively come to take its
place as a seat of the higher learning； a corporation for the
pursuit of knowledge； and barring accidental reversions； it has
increasingly asserted itself as an imperative necessity； more and
more consistently； that the spirit of disinterested inquiry must
have free play in these seminaries of the higher learning；
without afterthought as to the practical or utilitarian
consequences which this free inquiry may conceivably have for the
professional training or for the social； civil or religious
temper of the students or the rest of the community。 Nothing is
felt to be so irremediably vicious in academic policy as a
coercive bias； religious； political； conventional or
professional； in so far as it touches that quest of knowledge
that constitutes the main interest of the university。
Professional training and technological work at large have of
course not lost ground； either in the volume and the rigour of
their requirements or in the application bestowed in their
pursuit； but as within the circle of academic interests； these
utilitarian disciplines have lost their preferential place and
have been pushed to one side； so that the professional and
technical schools are now in fact rated as adjuncts rather than
as integral constituents of the university corporation。 Such is
the unmistakable sense of this matter among academic men。 At the
same time these vocational schools have； one with another；
progressively taken on more of a distinctive； independent and
close…knit structure； an individual corporate existence；
autonomous and academically self…sufficient； even in those cases
where they most tenaciously hold to their formal connection with
the university corporation。 They have reached a mature phase of
organization； developed a type of personnel and control peculiar
to themselves and their special needs； and have in effect come
out from under the tutelage of the comprehensive academic
organization of which they once in their early days were the
substantial core。 These schools have more in common among
themselves as a class than their class have with the academic
aims and methods that characterize the university proper。 They
are in fact ready and competent to go on their own recognizances；
indeed they commonly resent any effective interference or
surveillance from the side of the academic corporation of which
they nominally continue to be members； and insist on going their
own way and arranging their own affairs as they know best。 Their
connection with the university is superficial and formal at the
best； so far as regards any substantial control of their affairs
and policy by the university authorities at large； it is only in
their interference with academic policy