In his recent address before the New York Harvard Club, President Eliot remarked that the clerical profession had been "deeply injured by beneficial endowments," and that although this profession had been more generously treated in the way of pecuniary aid than any other, in it is "the greatest dearth of great men."

This is but the expression of an opinion that has been long since advanced by Adam Smith, but the fact that it comes from the president of a university that is noted for the liberality of its scholarship system gives it a new and greater interest. It is generally thought that the best disposal a man could make of his money was to found some scholarships in a college which would aid the poor student and reflect credit upon the profession which the student entered.

But past experience has shown that however pleasant it may be for the recipient of the income, in the end he and his profession loses. Although it is a fact to be deplored, the scholarship is looked upon somewhat in the nature of alms, and no man can consent to receive alms without a sacrifice of personal independence. The remedy suggested for this is that the money be understood as a loan, to be repaid, if possible, after graduation. This might take away part of the sting, but some of the evil effects remain. The system, in fact, is nothing short of offering a prize to young men to adopt a certain profession. A man who enters a profession with the aid of outside means, and not by the aid of his own native talents and feelings, will not do much to ennoble that profession. Besides, according to Adam Smith, it fills the profession with inferior men, who make the competition greater and hence reduce the rewards an able man has the right to expect for his labor.