importance of their position cannot be overestimated.  They have been faithful though neglected; but a state which neglects or refuses to support any class will soon find that such class neglects and refuses to support it.  The remedy lies in part with private charity, in part with government action; but it lies wholly with public opinion.  Private charity must worthily support its clergymen and the faculty and instructors of our higher institutions of learning; and the Government must adequately reward the teachers in its schools.  In the great bound forward which has been taken in a material way, these two noble professions, the pillars of liberty and equality, have been neglected and left behind.  They must be reestablished.  They must be restored to the place of reverence they formerly held.

The profession of teaching has come down to us with a sanction of antiquity greater than all else.  So far back as we can peer into human history there has stood a priesthood that has led its people intellectually and morally.  Teaching is leading.  The fundamental needs of humanity do not change.  They are constant.  These influences so potent in the development of Massachusetts cannot be exchanged for a leadership that is bred of the market-place, to her advantage.  We must turn our eyes from what is to what ought to be.  The men of the day of John Adams and James Bowdoin had a vision that looked into the heart of things.  They led a revolution that swept on to a successful conclusion.  They established a nation that has endured until its flag is the ancient among the banners of the earth.  Their counsel will not be mocked.  The men of that day almost alone in history brought a Revolution to its objective.  Not only that, they reached it in such a condition that it there remained.  The counterattack of disorder failed entirely to dislodge it.  Their success lay entirely in the convictions they had.  No nation can reject these convictions and remain a republic.  Anarchy or despotism will overwhelm it.

Massachusetts established Harvard College to be a defender of righteous convictions, of reverence for truth and for the heralds of truth.  The purpose set forth in the Constitution is clear and plain.  It recognizes with the clear conviction of men not thinking of themselves that the cause of America is the cause of education, but of education with a soul, a trained intellect but guided ever by an enlightened conscience.  We of our day need to recognize with the same vision that when these fail, America has failed.

XXXII

PLYMOUTH, LABOR DAY

SEPTEMBER 1, 1919