ui i a ""m."!!.!!! wmii .???' 2 THE HESPERIAN too. But now we fondly hope that the stormy days of its early youth are over, and that its twenty-third year will be one of quiet, courageous, honest wort. When the Hesperian first began, the school was made up of scarcely two hundred students, who were necessarily drawn into close relationship with each other. If one student abandoned the political faith of his fellows it wounded them as deeply as a per sonal slight But now we have about us a great University. We cannot control it or its politics, and we do not mean to attempt to. We do not even personally know half the students who work about us; wo cannot pretend to control their opinions. We mean to have as little to do with poli tics as possible. If we are attacked, we think we can hold our ground, but we will never throw the glove. We intend to voice student sentiment, not student prejudice. If a man says that the earth is flat, if he slanders a great book or writes an absurd one, we claim ihe right to pummel him as much as we please; it is within the province of liberal education and legitimate journal ism. As to dictating whether our neighhor shall wear jewelry or not, we think this is none of our "business. We have our own political faith, and we helieve in its purity and majesty. We may never have a chance to die for it, but we can at least respect it enough to hold our peace when words are worse than useless, and to maintain that dignity and repose which are the essential characteristics of the free thought we profess to champion. If the .Hesperian has principles to advocate, it must advocate them by its general worth, not by its "fight."" It is absurd to spend one's time dying for the principles of a papei when the paper itself is perishing for want of a little proof reading. Then dying never means much more than flunking after all. We are not going to work with a lance or sword, but with a good stiff stub pen. If only the printer devil can manage the Eng lish alphabet for us, Greek characters will not trouble as much. It is infinitely easier to fight than to work. The "plumed knight" pose is so old, and it is so much harder to be a gentleman than a martyr. EDITORIAL. The student owes something to the Uni versity besides grinding mental labor. Last year it became apparent from the number of shirkers on any sort of committee work, that the student body as a whole had no time for anything but study. It may seem odd to advise against study but let it be understood that over-study is becoming altogether too prevalent. The change in the courses has caused more than one student to cut too much from his recreation and to add too many hours to his labor. This evil will be come worse until the standard of the school has been raised and the average number of courses for the four years shall have drop ped to twenty-five. Meanwhile the college spirit is sure to suffer. Everyone will con tinue wrapped up in himself and will go on carrying as many hours as the limit will allow. An occasional foot-ball game or a class fight may detract attention temporarily, but only temporarily. There will he no time for general athletics, no time for those move ments in which all become interested and in which all participate; which form the ess ence of college life in its typical sense. These things come in properly with Univer sity life, and form the most pleasant of all remembrances of college days. Do not misB them. If your work is crowded, con centrate your efforts. Do you admire Tom Brown because of his intense application at Oxford? No, you remember the jovial, lively boy who rowed in the "'Varsity crew. Enjoy your college life. Work when it is time to work, but reserve some time to de vote to fun. Don't be uproarious about it, but go in with the University for yourself and your alma mater. She'll thank you for it. It is the time-honored privilege of the college proper to give the new student ad vice in the first issue. Of course none but the wisest of the wise ever profit by the ex perience of others. There are many wise persons who have profited "oy their own experience.- But it will be noticed that these V Tl iiiMftfunrmi