And when to these circumstances peculiar to ourselves is added
the influence of those general causes which have had the effect of
leading men throughout the civilized world to give of late years more
and more of thought and study to the investigation of Nature and to the
pursuits resulting therefrom, it is not strange that learning,
so-called, should, for the present at least, find itself but poorly off
in America, and that the essential value of learned studies for an even
and fair development of the intellectual faculties should be far too
little regarded. The danger that arises from a too exclusive devotion
to scientific pursuits is pointed out by Dr. Acland in a passage which
deserves thoughtful consideration, coming as it does from a man
distinguished not more for scientific eminence than for his wide and
cultivated intellect.
"The further my observation has extended," he says, "the more satisfied
I am that no _knowledge of things_ will supply the place of the early
study of letters,--_literae humaniores_. I do not doubt the value of
any honest mental labor.
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