breeder in New South Wales who was so earnestly convinced of the superlative excellence of his stud flock, and the immense superiority of his hundred thousand acres to any other hundred thousand acres of land anywhere, that on all possible and impossible occasions he sounded their praises to such victims as would hearken. Traveling once on an inter-State steamer, he met a mild tourist, who for three weary days was perforce compelled to listen to the praises of the Boastful Downs Run and the Boastful Downs sheep, until in his extremity he quietly remarked: "But, tell me, Mr. Golden-Fleece, is Boastful Downs in New South Wales, or is New South Wales in Boastful Downs?" One has almost been tempted at times to wonder whether Oxford was in England, or England in Oxford.

Perhaps we are always too ready to scoff at what we hear praised too freely, it is the characteristic irreverence which we have been assured Australians possess to a degree. The Universities of Sydney and Melbourne, we might remind ourselves, have higher "pass standards for a degree than Oxford. One can get to know just as much at either of them as in the ancient, out-of-date knowledge-shop up the Thames Valley. We might comfort ourselves with the reflection that Oxford is not "the only pebble on the beach." But go and see it, ye scoffers, and assuredly it will seem plain and clear that that is just about what Oxford is," the only pebble on the beach." At any rate, once having been there, there remains no resentment, no spirit of hostility, no rebellious determination not to take for granted another of the institutions which the English seem to regard as being above criticism. There remains nothing but admiration, wonder, affection, and a little envy. All latent hostility has ebbed away. All desire to adopt the nil admirari standpoint has gone. Oxford will have brought about your surrender to the charm of the old and the beautiful if nothing else in England has ever done so.

It is so old, so quiet, so beautiful. The gray walls of college and hall, chapel and cloister, take you back into a splendid past. The wonderful lawns, the clinging vines that carry the green over the gray, the long shady walks thru

verdant arcades, the gentle waterways, the patches of golden sunlight filtering thru the trees on to grass and gravel and worn stone pavement, are of to-day, and of yesterday, and of many yesterdays. Quick voices, eager steps, laughter across the quadrangles, fresh, healthy faces, are the preparing for tomorrow which seems indefinably to blend with the present and the past. Somehow, in some way you can only vaguely realize, past and present and future are united here. The bygone years lurk about the gray stones. In the arch of a window, in the vaulting of a passage, behind a massive door black with age, venerable ghosts of days that have been seem to look out on a world that is their own world, and yet a new one. Time has walked slowly thru the colleges, has even, one would think, not hesitated to sit down and rest when it has pleased him so to do. He could not hurry here. All Eternity might be waiting; but there is that in the air, in the aspect, in the spirit of the place which must delay him. And so, occasionally, the Past has caught up with the Present, and both hold the hands of the Future.

How it all contrasts with every other place that one has seen! Glaring little white-walled dorps in the Karoo; weather-board and crackling galvanized iron in the backblocks; wind-lashed townships in Otago; rustling plantations in the Pacific,-every remembrance of places, and men in the places, that one has recur. All the colleges in the great University of the World-irom fo'c's'le to shearer's hut, from Port Said to Port Melbourne-where the Faculty of Experience is paramount, are in competition with these old foundations, and so much as one has seen of them rises up for comparison. But there is nothing like it all, nothing to compare it with. Oxford stands alone.

Put aside all books, leave all learning to take care of itself, take no heed of honor lists,-look at Oxford from without. Never mind its influence on English life, its influence on English politics, its bearing on world destinies,-take it as it stands. Just see it. Carry no introductions, be led by no guide, hear nothing of story and tradition. Content yourself with what your eye alone may convey to your brain. Stand

and look. And then, if you have breathed in ever so little of the beautiful spirit of the place, have become aware of an inward sense of reverence which may in the slightest degree have influenced you towards feeling healthier, and better, and cleaner of soul,-then you have seen Oxford. You may not understand the deeper meanings that Time has written on the gray walls-perhaps you are too new a product for that-and you may not altogether realize what life means within them. but this you cannot fail to comprehend, that Oxford itself is almost the noblest place you shall have seen in England. Take this idea out to the Back of Beyond. You will never lose it. "The world, surely, has not another place like Oxford."

III

THE DISTRIBUTION OF DISTINCTION IN AMERICAN COLLEGES 1

It is alike interesting and important to control casual impressions of the efficiency of educational provisions by the convincing testimony of statistical evidence. The value of such statistical deductions is often questioned, and perhaps most often by those least conversant with the nature of the data and the principles underlying their proper treatment and interpretation. It certainly is true that no instrument of modern research requires more skillful handling than is demanded for the just interpretation of number-relations. The problem of ascertaining how far the education and the inspiration that come from college years are really formative and influential factors in the life of the college graduate individually, and in the life of the nation collectively, is one that strongly tempts the application of every promising kind of test. The question thus proposed is not mainly the narrowly personal one of whether and how far a college education pays, and in what sense it is an equipment for success; it is the more general one of the extent to which college graduates participate in the successful careers upon which our national status and welfare are intimately founded: what type of college is most successful in performing for its students the service that places them most favorably in line for preferment,—more particularly what historical, geographical, social, and educational factors may be shown to be the most influential contributors to the desired result? The suggestion

'It is pertinent to explain that the present study was begun and nearly completed shortly after the appearance of the second edition of Who's who; that it has been delayed in completion thru several unlooked-for circumstances; and that, notwithstanding its limitations, it seems desirable, in view of the unlikelihood of a similar investigation for many years to come, to place on record the present results. Tho they have been gained at an unprofitable expenditure of energy, it is believed that they are of sufficient intrinsic interest to warrant the present publication.

is near at hand that such a test may be found in observing the proportion of men graduating from college who achieve distinction in after-life; the proportion who receive the stamp of approval from the world at large, and who receive it in a greater measure than those who are without the advantage of a college education. The difficulty is to fix upon any such standard yardstick of success or distinction that may be applied with reasonable accuracy. But even a poor standard is better than none at all,-just as a watch that departs appreciably from chronometric precision is a better means of regulating one's engagements than no watch at all; and with judicious use and insight, practical results may be obtained with decidedly imperfect tools.

The publication of Who's who in America (1st edition. 1899, 2d edition 1901, 3d edition 1903) makes possible many statistical comparisons that are inviting, and if properly carried on, instructive. Unquestionably the appearance of one's name in Who's who is not a final or authoritative standard of one's merit or even of one's reputation. Individually, the test would frequently fail; but it is as needless as improper to make any such individual application. It is fortunately true that what is statistically correct and legitimate does not appreciably lose its value by minor fluctuations of accuracy in sporadic cases. Not only is it unquestionably true that the average of distinction of those persons mentioned in Who's who decidedly and overwhelmingly exceeds the distinction of the average citizen, but also that, considered in large groups, the names of this volume represent the uppermost level of ability (in some callings, if not in all) in American life. After making all possible allowance for accidents of various kinds, it remains conspicuously true that the use of such a book, with proper precaution, is entirely legitimate as a test of distinction and of the ability that leads to success,provided always that such test is applied fairly and statistically to large groups, and with allowance for the probable error of the compilation. Several studies of this kind have appeared within recent years; and in the preface of the second edition of this index to contemporary America, certain interesting com