In every
branch of work which is undertaken, there must be a single leader,
and he must be the best that the country, perhaps even the world,
can produce. The required man is not to be found without careful
inquiry; in many branches he may be unattainable for years. When
such is the case, wait patiently till he appears. Prudence
requires that the fewest possible risks would be taken, and that
no leader should be chosen except one of tried experience and
world-wide reputation. Yet we should not leave wholly out of sight
the success of the Johns Hopkins University in selecting, at its
very foundation, young men who were to prove themselves the
leaders of the future. This experience may admit of being
repeated, if it be carefully borne in mind that young men of
promise are to be avoided and young men of performance only to be
considered. The performance need not be striking: ex pede Herculem
may be possible; but we must be sure of the soundness of our
judgment before accepting our Hercules. This requires a master.
Clerk-Maxwell, who never left his native island to visit our
shores, is entitled to honor as a promoter of American science for
seeing the lion's paw in the early efforts of Rowland, for which
the latter was unable to find a medium of publication in his own
country.
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