THE IIESPE1UAN STUDENT.
Prniik 15. Stephens, of Donne. If Mr.
Stephens lititl eoiillnod his nromcnt to
the time occupied by his opponent or even
less, if lie hud not repealed his tactics of
last year in constantly appealing to the
"most honorable judges," and if he had
refrained from his unwarranted personal
attacks upon Mr. Yates, we should feel
more like saying thai the two debaters
were on par. Air. Stephens is to be given
much credit for the impromptu parts of
his speech and for its telling facts and
figures, but it had an appearance of being
mauufaciiired much after the manner of
the Donne oration. Mr. Yati's, on the
other hand, seemed to have thought all
his out carefully, keeping closely to the
line of the argument, and, aside from a
peculiar enunciation, was the better orator.
The audience was attentive, cnlhusias
tic and patient under (lie long programme,
more so, perhaps, than any audience we
have ever seen. Particularly in the debate,
where one gentleman occupied fifty min
utes between eleven o'clock and midnight,
it was felt that the hounds of time should
have been set. The contest, altogether,
was a rare and lirillin.it exhibition of
culture and dcclnmatoiy power. In the
preparation of eauit number the most
earnest thought and careful labor had
boon given; in their delivery every nerve
was strained and every art called up to
make all perfect; in their reception by
the audience it was seen, in the recitations
particularly, how thoroughly in sympathy
was the house with the stage, and how
victory for Hesperians or Palladiums
would have been greeted by enthusiastic
cheers.
And yet, after all this, after weeks of
severe practice and unselfish labor given
in hopes of deciding for one society or
the other, after four hours of feverish
expectancy to student friends, the three
judges said that the performance was all
very nice but that they couldn't really
tell who was ahead. We were all well
aware that the affair way "brilliant and
spirited," we knew it would bo so before
wo name, but wo had como to a contest
not an arhibition, so it was no wonder
that the audience, citizens of Lincoln and
oilizons of Crete, expressed In groans
thoir dissatisfaction with this (want of a)
decision.
One of the Palladlans sprang up and
backed by cries of "Good, good ! " re.
quested Judge Morris to retire again with
the judges and see if a positive decision,
pro or con, could not be obtained, or that
f he would not do this, that he would at
least read aloud the murks of the Judges.
The Judge would do neither of these
things, whereupon Lieut. Wobater pro.
posed that four persons appointed from
the audience be added to the original
three us judges to bring Li a decisive
verdict. This motion, notwithstnndiii
that Chancellor Fairfield tried to throw
cold water upon it, was voted unanimous
ly, but Judge Morris stubbornly refused
to accede, though Editor Gere and Sen
alor Howe offered to do anything the
audience wished. What Ed'lor Gere and
Senator Howe should have done, being in
the majority, was to outvote the tie. But
they did not peep.
At this point, when there was danger of
further complications, Mr. Yates appeared
in behalf of the evening's class and re.
quested that, as the late hour would pre
vent new judges from reading the man
uscripts, no further action be taken. This
was final, of course, and the crowd filed
out of the hall, at one o'clock in the
morning, in a most unhappy mind, feeling
that a mistake had been made in the
choice of judges and that there would be
slight chance for other contests bused on
such uncertainty as this. If (lie palm had
been given to the Hesperians, the Palla
dians would have been eager for another
trial next year, if to the Pulladians then
we would know that we should have a
hard struggle to hold it, and prepare our
selves accordingly. Hut as given, the
decision was nothing; it dampened an
otherwise completely happy day; it was
love's labor lost.
"SUNIOll STUMES."
In his last article Gale admits that he
had the classical course mainly in mind,
still he used the words, "Studies of the
Senior year." As to the distinctive char
actor of these studies we hud, and have,
nothing to say. lie also admits that his
assertion thai "the present course requires
at least six different lines of thought" will
not hold good of the scientific course,
says nothing about the literary, and tries
to prove that it is true of the classical by
saying that "there are no two three-hour
recitations occurring (lie same term that
a Senior would be likely to choose."
Let us see. The first semester ho would
huvo the choice of frur three-hour studies,
viz: Geology, English Literature, Euro
pean History and Constitution of England.
The- second semester he would likewise
have the choico of four studios, yiz: Pal
aoontology, English Literature, European
History and Ancient Law. Is it not likely
a Senior will choose two of these four
named studies? But if he does not, our
objection was to the use of the words, at
least." They imply that the minimum of
the work required is six studies. In
reality, by Gale's own figures, the max
imum is only six. Does G,le rocognlzo
any dlflerence in the meaning of thoso
two words? or can they bo used intor.
changcably ?
We have no desire to discuss at length
the advantages and disadvantages of the
elective system. Few indeed are the stu
dents that would ask for the old system
now that they know something of the
new. Nor do we accept without
qualification the statement that the
object of an education is to secure
mental training and not the mere
acquisition of knowledge." Let the two
go hand in hand. Why should a student
rack his brain with studies that give him
mental discipline alone, when both disci
pline and useful knowledge might he
attained by working in another line?
This mental discipline theory of itself is
fast losing its charms. Life is too short
to spend four years acquiring it alone, uid
the system that requrres it is a false one.
We are also of the opinion that, in the
past especially, there has not been enough
special work done by the students, not
enough useful knowledge gained along
with th(! mental discipline. Of all our
graduates no more than one or two were
prollcienl in any one department when
they graduated. Still they hud a liberal
education. The elective system gives a
studcni a chance to make himself
thorough in something, nor docs it, in the
least, lesson his opportunities for acquir
ing mental discipline. (We arc now
speaking of xtudents, not those aimless
creatures, who without the ano to do
University work, some without the ability,
find their way into our colleges Into this
one at least. Courses of study are not
urrauged, or should not be, for the benefit
of the latter class at the expense of the
former.) This, then, is the great advan
tage of the elective system that discipline
is acquired along with useful knowledge.
This is of such importance as to override
its disadvantages, the greatest of which
is, too much work required of students
necessitated by too many studies being
pursued at the same lime. Gale is unable
to comprehend how, with a constant
number of hours, the number of studies
can be lossenoJ without increasing the
time (recitation time) given to each, ren
dering them perhaps consesutive, to
which wo objected and still object, as it
would destroy tho very principle upon
which the elective system is based. Hut
is there no other way out of thodilllcully ?
If some of our two and three hour studies
counted for three, four, or five hours but
recited only twice or thrice a week, would
not tho matter bo righted? Tho lioins
would remain constant, no more class
time would bo givon to different studies.
They would not recite on consecutlvo
days, but tho number of studies would ho
lessened. Tho fact is too many studies
have not, thus fur, counted for as much
as they ought. It is not necessary for the
students of tho higher classes to recite
every day. Tho work they must do for
themselves, the professor can only guide
and show them how they can best ccon
omizo thoir time.
