ABSTRACT
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. The economic system, for example, is in a state somewhat analogous to that of the family and the church, and indeed the "industrial revolution" is the chief seat of those phases of decay and reconstruction which most affect the daily life of the people. The underlying reason for the special growth of educational institutions in our time is the free and conscious character of our system, which demands a corresponding individual to work it. Thus democracy requires literacy, that the voter may learn what he is voting about, and this means schools. The mediæval cathedral was the culmination of a long social growth, not greatly dependent upon individual genius.
