友情提示:如果本网页打开太慢或显示不完整,请尝试鼠标右键“刷新”本网页!阅读过程发现任何错误请告诉我们,谢谢!! 报告错误
飞读中文网 返回本书目录 我的书架 我的书签 TXT全本下载 进入书吧 加入书签

the higher learning in america-第83章

按键盘上方向键 ← 或 → 可快速上下翻页,按键盘上的 Enter 键可回到本书目录页,按键盘上方向键 ↑ 可回到本页顶部!
————未阅读完?加入书签已便下次继续阅读!






surprise; to find such persons visibly affected with those



characteristic pathological marks that come of what is



conventionally called 〃high living〃  late hours; unseasonable



vigils; surfeit of victuals and drink; the fatigue of sedentary



ennui。 A flabby habit of body; hypertrophy of the abdomen;



varicose veins; particularly of the facial tissues; a blear eye



and a colouration suggestive of bile and apoplexy;  when this



unwholesome bulk is duly wrapped in a conventionally decorous



costume it is accepted rather as a mark of weight and



responsibility; and so serves to distinguish the pillars of



urbane society。 Nor should it be imagined that these grave men of



affairs and discretion are in any peculiar degree prone to



excesses of the table or to nerve…shattering bouts of



dissipation。 The exigencies of publicity; however; are; by



current use and wont; such as to enjoin not indulgence in such



excursions of sensual perversity; so much as a gentlemanly



conformity to a large routine of conspicuous convivialities。



〃Indulgence〃 in ostensibly gluttonous bouts of this kind 



banquets; dinners; etc。  is not so much a matter of taste as of



astute publicity; designed to keep the celebrants in repute among



a laity whose simplest and most assured award of esteem proceeds



on evidence of wasteful ability to pay。 But the pathological



consequences; physical and otherwise; are of much the same nature



in either case。







5。 See pp。 68…73; 79…81; above。







6。 As bearing on this 〃hired…man's loyalty〃 of the academic staff



and the means of maintaining it; see; e。g。; a paper by George



Cram Cook in the Forum for October; 1913; on 〃The Third American



Sex;〃 especially pp。 450…455。







7。 Unfortunately; the language wants a competent designation for



public…minded personages of this class; which comprises something



appreciably more than the homiletical university executives



alluded to above; and their understudies; while it is also not



strictly inclusive of all these executives。 There is indeed a



fairly obvious contingent comes in from among those minor



politicians and clergymen who crave the benefit of an inoffensive



notoriety; and who are at the same time solicitous to keep their



fellow…men in mind of the unforgotten commonplaces。 One will



necessarily have misgivings about putting forward a new technical



term for adoption into a vocabulary that is already top…heavy



with technical innovations。 〃Philandropist〃 has been suggested。



It is not a large innovation; and it has the merit of being



obviously self…explanatory。 At the same time its phonetic



resemblance to an older term; already well accepted in the



language; should recommend it to the members of the craft whom it



is designed to signalize; and with whom phonetic considerations



are habitually allowed weight。 The purists will doubtless find



〃philandropist〃 a barbarism; but that is an infirmity that has



attached to many technical designations at their inception;



without permanently hindering their acceptance and



serviceability; it is also not wholly unfitting that the term



chosen should be of such a character。







8。      〃The time has come; the walrus said;



        To talk of many things。〃







Within the last few years one of the more illustrious and fluent



of the captains of erudition hit upon the expedient of having a



trusted locum tenens appointed to take over the functions of the



home office for a term of years; while the captain himself 〃takes



the road〃  on an appreciably augmented salary  to speak his



mind eloquently on many topics。 The device can; however; scarcely



yet be said to have passed the experimental phase。 This



illustrious exponent of philandropism commands an extraordinary



range of homily and is a raconteur of quite exceptional merit;



and a device that commends itself in this special case;



therefore; may or may not prove a feasible plan in general and



ordinary usage。 But in any case it indicates a felt need of some



measure of relief; such as will enable the run of presidential



speech to gain a little something in amplitude and frequency。







9。 So; e。g。; a certain notably self…possessed and energetic



captain of erudition has been in the habit of repeating (〃on the



spur of the moment〃) a homily on one of the staple Christian



virtues。







10。 These resulting canons of blameless anility will react on the



character of the academic personnel in a two…fold way: negatively



and by indirection they work out in an (uncertain but effectual)



selective elimination of such persons as are worth while in point



of scholarship and initiative; while positively and by direct



incitement it results that the tribe of Lo Basswood has been



elected to fill the staff with vacancy。



    At the same time the case is not unknown; nor is it



altogether a chance occurrence; where such an executive with



plenary powers; driven to uncommonly fatuous lengths by this



calculus of expedient notoriety; and intent on putting a needed



patch on the seat of his honour; has endeavoured to save some



remnant of good…will among his academic acquaintance by



protesting; in strict and confidential privacy; that his course



of action taken in conformity with these canons was taken for the



sake of popular effect; and not because he did not know better。



apparently having by familiar use come to the persuasion that a



knave is more to be esteemed than a fool; and overlooking the



great ease with which he has been able to combine the two



characters。







11。 In all fairness it should be noted; as a caution against



hasty conclusions; that in both of these cases this initial



scholarly intention has been questioned  or denied  by men



well informed as to the later state of things in either of the



two universities in question。 And it may as well be admitted



without much reservation that the later state of things has



carried no broad hint of an initial phase in the life…history of



these schools; in which ideals of scholarship were given first



consideration。 Yet it is to be taken as unequivocal fact that



such was the case; in both instances; this is known as an assured



matter of memory by men competent to speak from familiar



acquaintance with the relevant facts at the time。 In both cases;



it is only in the outcome; only after the pressure of



circumstances has had time to act; that a rounded meretricious



policy has taken effect。 What has misled hasty and late…come



observers in this matter is the relatively very brief 



inconspicuously brief  time interval during which it was found

返回目录 上一页 下一页 回到顶部 0 0
未阅读完?加入书签已便下次继续阅读!
温馨提示: 温看小说的同时发表评论,说出自己的看法和其它小伙伴们分享也不错哦!发表书评还可以获得积分和经验奖励,认真写原创书评 被采纳为精评可以获得大量金币、积分和经验奖励哦!