The Value of a University for Educational Purposes
The value of a university for educational purposes lies not principally in its examinations, not even wholly in its teaching, however admirable that teaching may be. It lies and must lie, in the collision of minds between one student and the other. We learn at all times of life, but perhaps most when we are young as much from our contemporaries as from anybody else, and when we are young, we learn from our contemporaries what no Professor, however eminent, can teach us. Therefore, it is that while I admire the lives—admirable beyond any power of mine to express my admiration of those solitary students who, under great difficulties, come to Edinburgh or some other University, and without intercourse with their fellows doggedly and perseveringly, pursue their studies very often under most serious pressure of home difficulties. Their course, however admirable, is not the course which can give them to the fullest those great advantages which can be got only through the intercourse of various minds.
