Nature requires that between two neighboring hills there must be a valley. Perhaps this is a sufficient explanation for my presence here, and sufficient apology to anyone who thinks that the subject just announced intrudes vulgarly into a program of the Modern Language Association. Certainly our annual meetings should be devoted chiefly to exchanges of high thoughts about the humanities which it is our fortunate lot to profess, and the communication to each other of our discoveries in the delightful world of scholarship. But we know, too, that when we come together we talk of other things—of changes in this department or that, of resignations and retirements, of openings for young men and women of promise. Some of us, indeed, are besieged by hopeful applicants, and are forced to give attention, even in this academic company, to recruiting and placements which will sustain our professional strength. It cannot well be otherwise. Our problems are not simply those arising out of our own studies, but those of preceptors who accept as a principal responsibility the preparation of young men and women for useful careers in colleges and universities. To this end not only the learning which we impart but also the philosophy which we inculcate are of importance; and we may well spare a few minutes, therefore, to consider conditions now prevailing in the academic world which affect our outlook. I shall have little to say that is novel, nothing which cannot easily be discovered. I wish only to give emphasis to conclusions which recent experience has shaped.