Indeed， our whole life is so specialized and so subject to change that there is nothing for it but special schools.
We may probably learn also， as time goes on， that the enlarged sphere of choice and the complexity of the relations with which it deals call for a social and moral education more rational and explicit than we have had in the (387) past. There are urgent problems with which no power can deal but an instructed and organized public conscience， for the source of which we must look， in part， to public education.
In striving to meet new requirements our schools have too commonly extended their system rather than their vital energies； they have perhaps grown more rapidly in the number of students， the variety of subjects taught， and in other numerable particulars， than in the inner and spiritual life， the ideals， the traditions and the personnel of the teaching force. In this as in other expanding institutions life is spread out rather thin.
In the country the schools are largely inefficient because of the falling off in attendance， the poor pay and quality of the teachers， and the persistence of a system of instruction that lacks vital relation to country life， tending in fact to discredit it and turn children toward the towns. In cities the schools are overcrowded梠ften insufficient even to contain the children who swarm in the poorer districts？and the teachers often confused， overworked and stupefied by routine. Very little， as yet， is done to supply that rational training for industry which is the urgent need of most children， and which industry itself no longer furnishes. The discipline， both of pupils by teachers and of teachers by officials， is commonly of a mechanical sort， and promising innovations often fail because they are badly carried out Our common schools no doubt compare well enough， on the whole， with those of the past or of other countries； but when we think of what they might and should do in the way of bringing order and reason into our society， (388) and of the life that is going to waste because they do not nourish and guide it， there is no cause for congratulation.
In our higher education there is a somewhat similar mixture of new materials， imperfectly integrated， with fragments of a decadent system. The old classical discipline is plainly going， and perhaps it is best that it should go， but surely nothing satisfactory has arisen to take its place Among the many things that might be said in this connection I will touch upon only one consideration， generally overlooked， namely the value of a common type of culture， corresponding in this respect to what used to be known as "the education of a gentleman." Since the decay of the classical type set in our higher education， notwithstanding so much that is excellent in it， has had practically no common content to serve as a medium of communication and spiritual unity among the educated class.
In this connection as in so many others the question arises whether even an inadequate type of culture is not better than no type at all.
Not only was the classical tradition the widest and fullest current of higher thought we had， but it was also a treasury of symbols and associations tending to build up a common ideal life. Beginning with Dante all imaginative modern literature appeals to the mind through classical allusion and reverberation， which， mingling with newer elements， went to make up a continuing body of higher feeling and idea， upon which was nourished a continuing fellowship of those competent to receive and transmit it.
All that was best in production came out of it and was unconsciously disciplined by its standards.
It would indeed be stupid to imagine that any assort-(389)-ment of specialties can take the place of the culture stream from which all civilization has been watered： to lose that would be barbarism. And， in fact， it is a question whether we are not！ in some degree and no doubt temporarily， actually relapsing into a kind of barbarism through the sudden decay of a culture type imperfectly suited to our use but much better than none.
If one has an assembly of university graduates before him， what， in the way of like-mindedness， can he count on their having ？ Certainly not Latin， much less Greek； he would be rash indeed to venture a quotation in these tongues， unless for mystification： nor would allusions to history or literature be much safer. The truth is that few of the graduates will have done serious work outside of their specialty； and the main thing they have in common is a collective spirit animated by the recollection of football victories and the like.