In looking back on the general course of this whole movement in England, we find that it has been steady, smooth and fairly rapid. It has not been due to any spasmodic impulse or artificial propaganda, but has been the result of natural forces operating throughout the nation. Universities, and the training which they give, have come to count for more in our national life as a whole. It should be noted in passing that the missionary movement known as university extension did not arise in the first instance from spontaneous academic action, but was a response to public appeals from without. It had its origin in memorials addressed to the University of Cambridge, in 1872, by various public bodies; and it was in compliance with those memorials that, in the winter of 1873, the first courses of extension lectures were organized in the Midlands. Another fact of vital significance in the movement is that it has included ample provision for the higher education of women.
With reference to the present position and prospects of the higher education in South Africa, I tried, before leaving England, to acquaint myself with at least the outlines of the general situation; but it is only with great diffidence that I shall offer a few observations bearing on some of the broader aspects of the question. I trust to be heard with indulgence by those from whom I shall hope to learn more. At any rate, I can truly say that the question seems to me one of the deepest interest and of the gravest importance. Indeed, it does not require much insight or imagination to apprehend the greatness of the issues that are involved.
In the first place, it would be correct, if I am not mistaken, to say that in South Africa at large there is a genuine and a keen desire for efficient education of the highest type. A sound liberal education is desired for all who can profit by it, whatever their future callings are to be. But the practical and immediate need for the organizing of the highest teaching is felt, I believe, more particularly in regard to three great professions—the profession of engineering, in all its branches; the profession of agriculture (including forestry); and the profession of education itself, on which the intellectual future of South Africa must so largely and directly depend. That the interest in the higher instruction is so real must be regarded as the best tribute to the efforts of those able and devoted men who, in various parts of this land, have labored with dauntless perseverance for the improvement of primary and secondary education. Unstinted gratitude is due also to the University of the Cape of Good Hope. It is acknowledged on all hands that the university, as the chief guardian of learning in South Africa, has done admirable work in maintaining a high standard of general education. Certainly it can not be regarded as any disparagement of that work if, as seems to be the case, a widespread desire exists that
