?H& HESPERIAN,
a
f
graduate with the graduate; they give the college stu
dent a glimpse of life after graduation, and finally
they keep warm the sympathies of the afamtws for his
college associations and his alma mater. But this
should not be restricted to the literary societies. In
deed we question if The Hesperian is not the more
proper medium. If published tvey would come to
the notice of a much greater propoi tion of the stu
dents and those interested in the University, and
tbeir good influence would be thus enhanced. But
even if sent tons through the societies, we shall take
pleasure in publishing or otherwise noting these com
munications from our alumni, Our interests should
be theirs and we emphasize the need of some such
connection between the University and her graduates.
The gradual though rapid accumulation of wealth
by the citizens of this westerrstate not only tends to
increase the number of students attending the Uni
versity and other colleges throughout the state, ,but
also makes it possible for many more to complete a
college course than in earlier and less prosperous
times. Thus as the number of graduates grows lar
ger each year the question of Commencement ora
tors presents itself far settlement. We have now
reached the time when the graduating class begins to
number more than can conveniently appear with
graduating addresses, as has formerly been the cus
tom in the University. Although not large, the class
of S6 has chosen from among its members six ora
tors vho shall deliver the addresses Commencement
Day. We are pleased to note that the selections are
not made in accordance with the rule whereb" those
showing the best college record or those most popu
lar among the students are selected. On the contra
ry the aim seems to have been to represent "as nearl)
as possible all courses of study, and beside, to select
such members as can most conveniently perform this
irksome though customary duty towards their alma
mater and an expectant public There are, per
haps, some things common to the universities of the
cast that we might well adopt, modified of course to
suit our western ideas and spirit But all customs
lending to incite the student to special effort for the
sake of high marks is to be discouraged as unworthy
those who -understand tie true intent of the universi
ty training. A time may come when some such plan
will be necessary in order to obtain the best results
from the students of the U, of N., but that day is far
distant. As remarked by a member of the faculty a
few days ago, 'the work is sufficiently hard, and is as
thoroughly performed.'7 The "markings" are at
best but faulty indices of the work and excellencies
accomplished.
MISCELLANY,
The leaders of any great movement must pass through the
ordeal of popular criticism. As an eminent writer has said,
all reforms have three stages, vis:: ridicule argument, adop
tion. What is known in current history a the aesthetic move
ment seems now to have reached the first named stage. In
the public press and in common conversation it is alluded to,
if at all, in a lone of ridicule. Oscar Wilde and his grotcsqe
band of followers are held up as the true apostles of culture
and aesthelicisra. Hut it is unfair to judge of any movement
by the stragglers and camp followers who infest its rear. The
lovers of the sunflower ami of China decoration may no more
truly stand for the aesthetic school than did Henry VIII. rep
resent the reformation. It is only from recognized leadrrs
from such as Ruslcin and Matthew Arnold that we may learn
the true spirit of this movement.
The aesthetic school would lay great stress upon a faculty
of the mind which often receives but little attention. It is
known under various names. It has been called thi "taste,"
the "aesthetic sensibility," the "sense of beauty." (The fac
ulty is regarded as being capable of a high degree of training
as resembling the other mental faculties in that it cows
I more powerful by exercise, and the advocates of the schoo
woald urge upon us the importance of its cultivation. They
maintain also that the development of this sensibility brings
its own reward. Thus the appreciation of beautiful scenery
is a true source of enjoyment, but one which acultivated taste
alone can give. It is not the peasant of the valley who finds
most in the scenery of the Alps it is the tourist from afar
whose appreciation of the sublime and the beautiful is the
result of training tl.e proper powers of the mind.
The same is true of the fine arts and of literature. Appre
ciation of their highest form requires a correspondingly high
sense of beauty on the part of the individual. Gaudy colors,
a flashy style, may captivate vulgar minds, but for allsuch the
divine creations of a Raphael or an Aeschylus are wholly de
void of charm.
But the aim of the aesthetic school, say its advocates, is
more than simplj' to aflord enjoyment. The cultivation of
the taste has a tendency not only to please but also to elevate.
Lamarline in his life of Homer supposes the case of a savage
who by some means is enabled to discover and read a copy of
the Iliad. The author then considers how the great epic with
its lofty -style, its grand similes, and its ennobling senti
ments, would improve the condition of its degraded reader;
how it would lift him above bis rude surroundings and enable
him to forget the sensual in the admiration of the beautiful.
The instance is a typical one and well illustrates the principle.
There is an ethical side to the subject. The youth of culti
vated tastes is not easily enticed into the haunts of sin. For
him the dingy gambling hall or the low variety theatre has
few attractions. The fact is well worth considering. Let the
moralist learn that conscience is not the only faculty which
leads us to abhor vice, and that the proper appreciation of
beauty is a -useful agent in the development of human charac
ter. The aesthetic movement then, is not without good results.
Its leaders deserve our gratitude, not because they have en
dowed us with a love of beauty, for that is inborn, but before
they have directed our attention towards what is too often a
neglected faculty.
The question may be raised as to the -material good the
practical worth of such studies as are here required. But the
elevation of humanity is a task whose value cannot be estimat
ed by figures alone. Prof. Swing maintains that beauty is
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