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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
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