ABSTRACT
There has never been, in the long history of the university, so much dissent, so much discussion, so much pessimism regarding its future, as there is today. Current events tend to overshadow its past, and sooner or later, those who express most concern about its present situation, and are least optimistic about its future, may find it rewarding to examine more closely what there is in its past which we are lacking today. Like so many other great institutions, the university evolved as a mighty instrument designed, by its very nature, not only to shape itself to the requirements of contemporary society, but to act as the corrective for a society which may be in process of losing its way.
