The most distinguished universities of that epoch, Halle and Göttingen, displayed with pride the names of hundreds of barons, counts, and even princes, who had been matriculated in these institutions. It is true there was another way to distinction-the military career that led through the military academy and the page service. The great princes were at that time standing too high to commingle with the people by attending a university; imperial and royal princes were sought in vain in gymnasia or universities during the sixteenth century.

On the other hand, that century did not make university education a condition of admission to society. Only the study of law gave entrance to society. Candidates for positions in school and church as such occupied a very inferior position. A candidate of theology who accepted a position as tutor in an aristocratic house was considered as belonging to the servants, and when he became rector of a small city Latin school, he counted as parts of his official income the fees he could collect for singing at funerals, and his new-year presents. Not until he had become pastor did he gain a more elevated position; but even as pastor it did not occur to him to consider himself socially equal to the lord of the manor.

It was in the nineteenth century that university education rose in prominence to such an extent that its possessors could lay claims to social equality with classes that had enjoyed inherited privileges. This was the result of the great political and social change that deprived aristocracy of the rank of the ruling class, which it had-gained during the seventeenth century. Aristocracy is not any longer the privileged gentility that has an inherited claim to all state offices so far as they are desirable. Like all other classes, aristocracy is now obliged to pass through schools and examinations, and to stand in line with other applicants. Hence we find in gymnasia at present the sons of the most aristocratic families, even the princes of ruling dynasties are found there; they sit on the same benches with sons of simple citizens and meet them on the benches of the university. And again they sit side by side in Governmental bureaus, as high up as the King's cabinet. Frequently they meet as comrades in the corps of officers in the army; even the school teacher is officer of the reserve army, and may become privy-councilor of the realm. Thus education has won the victory over the aristocracy of birth, and the ancient idea of "misalliance" has died out.

With this change is intimately connected a disadvantage that oppresses all the learned professions of the day. Their official income is not sufficient to defray the necessary expenses of life and to maintain a high social position; at least this is true with regard to married men. This disadvantage is felt everywhere, but mostly in the teaching profession, the members of which chiefly come from strata of society. which are not favored with wealth. The lawyers and medical men usually come from wealthier strata; besides, their professional work

enables them to secure a better income, in some cases to accumulate a fortune. The theologians are better protected in their profession, partly by good salaries, partly also by the fact that they live in rural communities, where luxury is seldom displayed or even known. It can not be denied that this disproportion is a source of discomfort and discontent which it is difficult to remedy.

(3) As to the third question, whence come the men of academic culture, it may be said they come from all classes of society. In preparatory schools and universities we find side by side with the sons of aristocracy and plutocracy the sons of farmers and tradesmen, village schoolmasters and subaltern officers. Here all academic citizens consider themselves equal on principle; occasional pretensions of aristocratic and plutocratic coteries usually end in their exclusion from the festive gatherings of the students. The principle is accepted that everyone who has been admitted to the right of academic citizenship has thereby acquired the claim to equality, which, if it should become necessary, he may defend with armed hand; no one can deny him satisfaction upon the ground of his descent.

Hence we may speak of a democratic character as marking the German university. It excludes no one on the ground of his descent, and makes all its members equals. E. M. Arndt expressed this beautifully in his periodical, The Watchman (1815), when he said:

As a citizen of a university, the son of the poorest and most obscure parents, "armed and mounted" by culture, enters the arena together with the noblest and most distinguished, and he who proved to be the best in mind, aspiration, and courage can, if he is so inclined, rule by his talents. This proud equality, which life with its numerous limitations afterward rarely ever shows, I consider the greatest glory of the German students, the most precious relic that has remained of what the great German nation once was.

It is different with our Western neighbors, where admission to academic culture is limited to smaller social circles. In the old English universities the expenses are so high that they can be met only by wealthy people. Board and lodging in the college alone, for the six months of three terms, costs about 3,000 marks a year or more. To that must be added that the state does not maintain preparatory schools. In place of our gymnasia, which make higher study possible for sons of the poorer people by exempting them from tuition fees, in England the ancient public schools and some private institutions are all boarding schools; they prepare for the universities and are very costly institutions. By similar conditions in the lycées in France, which are always boarding schools, the poorer people are prevented from pursuing higher studies, though the church in France opens its educational institutions to them.

However, it can not be denied that recently, also in Germany, the circle from which the students of the learned professions are recruited has been narrowed down. The class of artisans and rural day laborers is not represented any longer in the university. This is the inevi

table consequence of the fact that academic culture lifted its possessor into the ruling classes.

The case presents itself historically in this way. In the university of the Middle Ages all classes of the population were represented; aristocracy sparsely-only the younger sons destined to enter the church came to study. The middle classes of citizens were in the majority, but also sons of peasants and "poverty" were not wanting; they maintained themselves by alms; solventes and pauperes are the two classes which we meet on the rolls of the university. During the sixteenth century the order of begging monks disappeared and with them the beggar students; but in the court schools and other boarding schools public provision was made for indigent students by means of scholarships and private benefices-private, in so far as the names of those who enjoyed them were not published. Naturally the officers of church and school had the lion's share of these benefices. This is the reason why the theological faculty was considered less aristocratic, than the law faculty, where gentility was represented. During that century the expenses for university study rose perceptibly; also the duration of the course was gradually extended.

During the last century it was still customary for students to close attendance at a Latin school quite early, in order to go to a university, there to spend a few semesters with the aid of benefices, or as private instructor; then spend a few years as tutor in an aristocratic family in the country, and after that, pass a very difficult examination before a consis torial councilor and receive a position as rector of a school or pastor of a church. At present the rule is: Attendance of nine years in a gymnasium and of at least three years in the university, which frequently extends to four and five years. To this must be added the expensive voluntary one year's service in the army. This is followed by a long period of waiting, owing to enormous competition; the position of tutor has become very rare because the aristocratic families send their sons to military academies and public schools. Thus it has gradually come to pass that a safe income in the learned professions can not be expected before the twenty-fifth or thirtieth year of age.

Naturally the pauperes of the ancient university have begun to disappear, and there is a strong current going through society which approves of this disappearance. It is said occasionally by lawyers and physicians, "we do not want the sons of small people," and the teachers are beginning to say the same. One can read in periodicals for secondary teachers:

The profession suffers when young men of the lower classes, sons of tradespeople, small farmers, and village schoolmasters, come to the university. They almost always bring with them a scanty scientific, and invariably an insufficient social culture, which makes it difficult to maintain themselves among the students.

Without doubt these objections are not unfounded. Certainly poverty is a great obstacle to successful study. He who is obliged to earn

his daily bread by dint of giving private lessons will not have left much time, power, or vigor of mind to occupy himself with learning.

If this obstacle is not overcome by exceptional talent and great moral strength, study becomes a misfortune. Nowadays cases of this kind are not rare. The earnest desire of parents to lift their children to a higher position in life, which desire is quite common with numerous subaltern officers, has, during the last few decades, contributed consid erably toward overcrowding the universities, partly with elements entirely unfit. On the other hand, it can not be denied that the exclusion of indigent elements, which to all appearances is on the increase, is not without danger. Above all, the disintegration of the nation as a body would be hastened thereby. If it should come to pass that the broad mass of the population, including artisans and small farmers, that now rise through intermediate steps, such as the positions in lower schools. and subaltern offices, should not be represented in the university, then these classes would consider the state and its entire administrative organization as a foreign domination. In the ranks of social democ racy, which has permeated with its views the industrial population of large cities, this feeling is already prevalent; the state appears to them an institution of the privileged classes for the purpose of defending their interests against the masses. I know of nothing that could more effectually spread this idea than the actual exclusion from higher studies and the learned professions of all who do not belong to the wealthier classes of society. The comprehension on the part of the cultured, for the people and their life, would vanish; offensive haughtiness and foolish sentimentality together would bring about a complete estrangement.

Another thing should be considered: the exclusion referred to would deprive the intellectual life of the nation of talents and powers which it can not relinqnish without exposing itself to the danger of intellectual impoverishment. It must not be forgotten that many of our most prominent men have come from very low strata--Winckelmann and Heyne, Kant and Fichte, were born in the humble homes of small tradesmen.

Jacob Grimm in his autobiography, looking back upon his own youth and the restrictions placed upon him, gives expression to a beautiful thought, worthy of being repeated. He set forth the honor and advantage of poverty admirably, saying:

Poverty urges to diligence and labor, preserves us from many a dissipation and infuses us with a noble pride, that is, a consciousness of self-earned merit, in comparison with him who is supported by class-pride or wealth. I should even like to generalize, and say, many of the grand things the Germans have done should be attributed to the fact that they are not a wealthy nation. They work upward from below, and open new and peculiar ways, while other nations march the broad, wellpaved highway.

ED 92-19

III. TEACHERS IN UNIVERSITIES AND UNIVERSITY INSTRUCTION.

Professors and Privat-Docenten (or Private Lecturers).-In German universities three classes of teachers are active in all the faculties, to wit: Regular, extraordinary, and Privat-Docenten.

Privat-Docenten simply have the permission to give lectures and conduct exercises (venia legendi), but no obligations. They are not appointed, and have no salary. The extraordinary professor is an appointed officer of the state, and as a rule receives a salary; but he has neither seat nor vote in the faculty, he does not take part in elections, meetings, and academic examinations. The regular professor is one of the members of the faculty occupying an endowed chair, he is appointed by the state, and is the official representative of a scientific branch. The entire number of the regular professors forms the body of the faculty. There is to be mentioned a fourth class of professors found occasionally, the so-called honorary professors. This grade is reserved for meritorious aged scholars, who are too old for the regular professorship, or do not desire to be a regular member of the faculty, yet wish to continue their work as professors. Their legal connection with the university is similar to that of the reading member of the academy, and does not essentially differ from that of the private professor. The lectors, or teachers of modern languages for practical use, who as a rule are foreigners, may be regarded as an appendage to the philosophic faculty. Finally, we mention the masters of exercises, teachers of fencing, riding, and dancing.

The three chief classes of university teachers mentioned show the normal gradation of an academic career. One enters the faculty as a Privat-Docent, then after a time which may be long or short, as circumstances decide, the Privat-Docent is appointed to an extraordinary professorship, and again, as occasion offers and vacancies occur, he becomes a regular member of the faculty. However, exceptions to this rule are so frequent, that of late years it has almost ceased to be a rule. Not every academic teacher is first a private lecturer; in the philosophic faculty especially, appointments take place from outside the university, frequently from among teachers of gymnasia. Nor does every Privat-Docent become in turn, a regular professor. Not a few of them leave the university in order to enter a practical profession, in ecclesiastic and secular offices, at the head of schools, in a library or some other institution; some remain private lecturers all their lives. The medical faculty has an unusually large number of Privat-Docenten, because their duties do not greatly interfere with the practice of a physician. Lastly, the extraordinary professorship is by no means a necessary stepping stone to the highest grade. A promotion from the private to the regular professorship is not at all rare. Nor is it unusual to see extraordinary professors remain in their positions without being promoted, especially in large universities. There are branches