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About Hesperian student / (Lincoln [Neb.]) 1872-1885 | View Entire Issue (March 1, 1875)
tea1 W" THE HESPERIAN STUDENT. tffeHMMtiH Inm reached a remarkable degree ol' pel foe lion. It 1" P'n,on' ,ni11 Hmm r ,hl' wo'riliy ritilors who visited tho Normal on tin- occasion in question, ami who had pre vioit-ly decried the same, as " the Peru High School," etc., Inula great Incubus lift cl iroin tliclr minds, and perhaps felt some slight touches of shame, if editors ever ex prrience that wry worthy emotion. It would he a remarkably prolific village, of nbout -even hundred inhabitants, that could produce three hundred young men and wo. men of nearly equal age. There Is not a city this side of Chicago that could do it. The students, in fact, come from all pails nf the State. There is one feature of the. exorcises and Instruction of tho Normal, which wo would like to ce emulated in tho University muhie. Great attention is paid to vocal music. The Preparatory Depnrtmot, Prof. Ntt 1101.S, Principal, devotes half or three quarters of an hour each morning to this exercio. Tin- Normals are expecting to give tho University a visit en masso soon ; tho stud cuts of the University will give them a hearty welcome. There is' much that we would like to say of this school, but space forbids further mention. i CRITIQUES AND CRITICISMS. "When we commenced our editorial work we thought, "What a bore It will bo to look over and rer.d tho exchanges. To havo to enduro Sophomorlc llights of eloquence, Junior gushes, and tho ponder ous polemics of Seniors, each plainly sent out in tho tho expectation that it is to revolutionize tho thought of tho world." But wo wore disappointed. In the first place, we meet with but little of such writing, and for what wo do find, a fellow feeling makes us wondrous kind. And now it is one of our chief pleasures to greet each newcomer on its monthly visit and mark the comments on daily events, the tenor of thought, the Impres sions of life, which each brings from its section of the educational world. We turn eagerly to the Exchange Column to see and profit by tho friendly criticisms of 'one upon another, and feel that we have almost a personal acquaintance with many. This feeling of good-fellowship, fraternity and friendship, is really ono of the best results of College Journalism, since it seems to bind in closer bonds, institutions which are working for the fiiune end and purpose. Tho advantage resulting from this can scarcely be esti mated. To some extent, each College or University is the exponent of particular ideas which circumstances have fostered and nourished. The College paper be coiiicMicccHbUk tally, tinctured with those M-iitliiwnts that it imparts toothers and in turn becomes modified and liberalized by the friendly criticism and suggestions of the organs of tho living ideas embodied in other assemblies of thinkers. So let tlioho who will, sneer at College Journals and the presumption of boys and girls we will do the best that lies in our power' knowing that it is necessary to pasB through the stage, which bos been likened so often to veal, before wo can reach the stolid common sense and staid strength of tho full grown ox. Tho Bates Htudent comes with some good ideas on the "Scholar iu Society," and what we have to fear from the inllu euce of the German clement. Wo think It lias more vim than tho Orescent, the oili er magazine from the Fiec Baptist Col-leges. Tho Institute is a lively Utile paper' published in convenient pamphlet form, down in Missouri. The last unmoor is unusually good. "Luna" evidently has talent as a story-teller. Tho Institute is always a welcome visitor. We stand corrected, Friend Tyro, and hereby make the anionic honorable Tho Tyro is the only paper published by tho young ladles of Cook's Collegiate Insti tuto. We found out our error but loo lato for correction. Forgive us, and we wont do so any more Do you really dare "sauce" tho august autocrats at Yale ? Wo humble Westerners keep rover- cut silence. Wo fear tho fate of Zelica if wo lift the awful veil. Some one in tho Targum u riling on "College Materialism" deplores the prev alence of liberal iews at Rutgers and calls upon the Faculty to give attention to tho matter. Verily, the leaven is work ing everywhere. Tho contributors to tho Delaware Col lego Adcimce havo all evidently been ex tensively studying Shakspere and the Old Dramatists and to some purpose. Tho article on "Shakspere and Friends at tho Walnut" is well conceived and well carried out. It is decidedly ono of the best articles we havo seen lately. "Sir Walter," "rare Ben Jonson" and "Francis tho royal," though they would give even tho Devil his due, would bo constrained to cry with Falstall', "Lord, Lord, how is this world given to lying I" if they could revisit their old haunts at tho Mermaid and learn of the efforts to rob "Gentle Will" of bis laurels and place them on the haughty brow of Sir Francis Bacon. Imagine doughty Ben's indignatiou at the spoliation of tho honors so long ac corded to his sweet Swan of Avon, with his "excellent phantasy, brave no lions, and gentle expressions," and all for the good of Lord Verulam, wnose poi ished, clear-cut, icy thought the "honied sweetness" of pero's! Wc ought, no doubt, to feel overwhelmed by the Volantc's criticism. But we dont. The VoUtnte iBiiuiio right, in one tiling. We dont like the the Doctor's ideas on cj education, nor his proceedings in re gard to tho matter, at the University of Chicago. Probably when tho learned Doctor succeeds iu his commendable lit tle project of crowding the lady students out ot the University entirely, he will point triumphantly to the achievement as an indubitable proof of the failure of tho wliiilu Hvstem of co-education. And what Chicago alllrms is law for the small re- mainderof tho world, wc uum perspicuity of the Volant' critic, it wndiilv fail-id him this time. wrote all tho other criticisms, but "ho" wrote that one. It was beyond her capac ity "She" will not "enter into an argu menton co-educatlon" either but "she" cannot forbear expressing her unbounded admiration for the "cute" way m which (he Volantc tries to praise Itself. It wants to discover why it is that "no college pa per with young ladies on tho editorial staff has equaled in excellence papers published either entirely by men or en irely otherwise. ' When wo remembe, Lhe Volante is publiscd by young entirely, and the iiesi e.a - never liau Will Shaks- admire tho But She" men ., the modesty of the above is appar- sexes ent. ...... ...iiiii (mi oil some- ?5S it, and will content ourselves willi expres sing our satisfaction without airing our Clascal knowledge obtained from Ant. Class. Diet. II (the Union, not tho Diet.) is a handsome paper and contains some good articles. The one on the "Freshman at Work" Is really amusing, and tho cdl tori al on Debating describes the "process" so vividly wo question whether ho did not have our own Societies in his "mind's eye." The College Message visits us regularly from St. Vincents. Our Catholic friends know how to keep up their papers well. From way down in Alabama, tho Ala bama University Monthly comes to us with Its Steam-Electro-Litcrary machine whose "theological peg" sometimes gets loose to tho horror of tho editors. We hope the Monthly will continue to visit us Dr. Holland receives a little less rover- once from the Sibyls of Elmira than ho usually does from his feminine admirers. All of which is a sign of commendable advancement. There is a class of people, mostly women, to whom Dr. Holland is a sort of demi-god, and his books unfail ing oracles of wisdom. The Sibyl who criticises his Mistress of the Manse is evi dently beyond that stage. "The Tcndeu cy of the Age" contains some good "ideas," expounded with a good degree of "leadiness." A certain gentleman (ho would n't like to bo called old) who claims us as his eld est hope, is very severe (though we know perfectly well, at heart, he is n't so severe as ho pretends) on boys and girls who think they can carry on a paper and who express themselves freely about their bet tors. However we notice lie looks very carefully over all the exchanges that pass through our hands. But what wo wanted to say was that he thinks "There really is something in that Bcrkeleyan now," for "it goes out of the beaten track," and "strikes out for itself." "We confess wo agree with him and have a hearty and honest admiration for the Bcrkeleyan &a admiration which extends generally from tho first page to tho last. Tho March number is especially good. Wo would venture to suggest that it do not make criticism too much of a hobby, and thus run in danger of becoming uninteresting from sameness. If wo do not hear from the author of "Turgenieff's 'Liza'," in the future, we shall be sadly disappointed. We have no doubt ho will make his mark in critical literature at least. And that is what we need. We have few good critics though wo are Hooded with tho produc lions of men and women who have not the faintest conciption of tho functions of true criticism or the attributes of a true critic. The same author, in the edito rial columns, differs from some strictures of the Vassar Mis. on Middlomarch. It has become the fashion lately to deplore tho Injurious effects of Geo. Eliot's writ ingfl and to warn young readers, espeetal ly, against their gloomy tendency. This fashion has become prevalent among that class of people who, as the author says, "would have a novelist paint life as a con stunt victory of good people over Lad poo pie, of good influences over bad," forgct ling that it is the novelist's highest duty to bo faithful to fact and to realize that the more he makes truth the foundation of his Art, (as of all others), tho greater, tho more ulessed he Is. Personally, we havo always entered a invite; inward pro test against this outcry but could novor filly express it In words. Wo are glad, thoicfore, to have met with so admirable a critique. Wo bog to whisper in the ear of tho Williams Athenaeum that the "cinnamon colored (wo blush) &c." was all a mistake on the part of the printer and one which wc have rectified in this number. Wo think wc look belter. Do wenot? Now, dear Athenaeum dont you suppose wo poor editors have cnoughto bear without shouldering all that our contributors may choose to say? Do you judge us by yourselves? Do the editors have to fill all your pages themselves? The Trinity Tablet comments at some length on its exchanges and manages to crowd notices of a good many in a small space. Whether the best plan or not is a question of taste. Wo felt sligh'ed that, among so many, the Hicbpeuian was left out in the cold, but consoled ourselves with the knowledge that wo wore in tho good company of Union Colleye Mag., Packer Quarterly, Volante, and others, who only received mention as "other exchang es." Wo have received a now exchange in tho Eurlictonan Argosy, n name, by the way, which we hope wo will not bo compelled to write very often. It is too utterly un. manageable. The Argosy is from New Brunswick and is at swords' points with tho JDalhousie Gazette. It appears to con sider itself able to hold its own however, with an air that reminds us forcibly of th little Archangel. ECHOES FROM NORMAL HALL. FltOM OUK KKQUIiAll COIUIKHPONDKNT. It has been some time since your corres pondent lias attempted to act the part of news-gatherer find reporter; not for any lack of news, but rather for lack of time. And just here let me say that this seems to be a characteristic of the students of tho Normal School, and in some sense a fault. The disposition of the majority of the students is to let their regular studies occupy all their time, leaving none for outside, practical work. But this is a fault which perhaps might bo termed a good one. I presume to say that nowhere in tho United States can there be found a sehool in which a majority of the students aro more in love with their work, more com pletely devoted to study, and whose work is more faithfully and cheerfully per formed. There aro, undoubtedly, sufficient reasons for all this. Some of which I conceive to be the following: first, the ab sence of those places of amusement, and that excitement, which, were they present, would attract tho attention of the students, and consequently detract from their stud ies; second, tho peculiar circumstances under which most of the students aro placed, impel them to accomplish tho greatest amount of work in the least possi ble amount of time; third, we havo a fac ulty whoso whole soul is in their work, who aro thoroughly in sympathy with tho students, and endeavor, by all the means in their power, to encourage and assist tho students in their labors. I started out to write some news but llew the track at the end of tho first mil yet, through the exercise of considerable willpower, I again find myself prepared to start. Feb. 22nd, as a school, we dispensed IIM l r V I r. i .1 .! i u)