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THE HESPERIAN.
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society of friends ami of the milder material pleasures they
could not know. But with Horace these were the embellish
ments of life. To recline beneath his shady laurel and share
with a friend the mild Italian wines was his delight. To fly
from Rome with its heat and turmoil and its false hearted so
ciety to retire to his beloved Sabine farm to wander over
its smiling fields "singing of his Lalagc" to lave in the clear,
cold waters of the Digcntia these and such as these arc the
pleasures of which he makes so frequent mention in his
works.
In the doctrines which he taught Horace is free from the
mistake of constructing a system loo ideal for practical ap
plication a mistake which other philosophers before and af
ter him have not avoided. Plato in his "Ideal Republic"
conceived a political scheme so fanciful that when it came to
be applied to an actual state proved utterly worthless, and the
same might almost be said of many of the ancient ethical sys
tems. But Horace, while he sought to improve the condition
of his age, still was careful not to erect a standard too high
for attainment. Thus on the subject of pleasure he avoided
both the Stoic and Epicurean extremes. He sings the praises
of the festal board and of the brimming bowl, but against
the excessive use of these he lifts up his warning voice.
Moderation is indeed a marked feature of his system.
Pleasure, he might well point out to those who were seeking
it, ceased to be pleasure beyond certain limits, and the
evilcflccts of the excessive indulgence of the times the
sumptuous banquets and nightly revelries furnished him with
abundant illustrations.
The zest and activity which mark the commencement of
the University year arc in striking contrast to the languor of
the last days of the summer term. During the vacation
months many of the students have been scattered throughout
this and other states, engaged in providing ways and means
for attending another year. With most of them, no doubt,
their alma mater was the subject uppermost in their minds.
The coming college year was looked forward to, plans were
laid and however pleasant their surroundings they probably
felt that their more important interests were elsewhere. This
leads us to the observation that the modern university (wheth
er on the American or German plan) is a minaturc common
wealth where the students hold their citizenship. The old
fashioned idea of a college was not infrequently that of a
modified house of correction where students were to be kept
continually in the straight jacket. The professors were
taskmasters and detectives and their victims were justified in
breaking rules as much as possible. But the new idea of a
college or university is rather that of a community in which all
students share certain privileges and, like the citizens of a
republic, arc in a measure responsible for the good name of
the institution. The members of the faculty arc to be re
garded as guides and assistants, and college as a place where
students come not for drudgery alone but for other purposes
as well, for hard work indeed, but for pleasure also, only be
ing careful that neither of these pursuits encroaches upon the
time allotted to the other. Better judgment and strength of
character arc thus required of the student, but this docs not
present as much difficulty in our own institution where so
many come on their own account instead of simply being
sent by others.
In another respect a university beats a marked resemblance
to a commonwealth. Edward A. Freeman speaks of the
Americans as a nation who carry on with astonishing rapidity
the process of assimilating population, of receiving foreigners
and converting them ere long into American citizens. This
same process is constantly taking place in our own and other
higher institutions of learning. New students come here
whose interests and associations have been elsewhere. But
after a time they arc assimilated by the student community
and even if their connection with it should last but a year
they will naturally feel an interest in the welfare of the insti
tution; but what is true of a republic is also true of a univer
sity, viz., that the sooner this assimilation takes place the
better for all concerned.
In this busy college commonwealth, the IIkspkriAN as its
organ, hopes to prove a continued power for good. Represent
ing no faction, voicing no partisan view, it hopes to be the
means of establishing closer relations between old students
and new ones, between undergraduates and alumni. Most
especially it hopes to present a faithful picture of this period
of our institution's history, chronicling events as they occur,
important to us, however trifling they may seem to the out
side world, and thus preparing a record which can not but be
valuable to all of us in the future when we look back through
the intervening years to the halcyon days of college life.
It is not often that we arc allowed the privilege of calling
attention to a magazine article by one of our own alumni.
But in the October number of the Popular Science Monthly
appears an artirlc from the pen of A. G. Warner, class of '85,
entitled "Lc Play's Studies in Social Phenomena." The ar
ticle is in the line of study which Mr. Warner is pursuing in
his post graduate course at Johns Hopkins University.
Though mainly narrative in its outline, it deals largely with
economic principles and with theories, in general, regarding
t he social problems which arc pressing forward so forcibly for
solution at the present lime. The economist, Lc Play, who
is so interesting a figure among the sociological writers of
this century, is discussed from the standpoint not of a follow
er but of a critic. The weak points as well as the good fea
tures of Lc Play's system arc reviewed at length in the vigor
ous and interesting style for which Mr. Warner is so well
known here. As an alumnus of the U. or N., and as a for
mer member of its staff the IIksvkuian takes pride in rec
ommending the article to the general reader.
ED UCA TIONAL NOTES.
Beatrice is striving hard for the proposed Lutheran col
lege. May her efforts be crowned with success. Not only
arc we in need of such a college as the Lutherans propose to
establish, but the college to insure success needs just such a
location as Beatrice. However we arc pleased to learn that
Nebraska is to have still another college and we only wait the
opportunity to welcome it into our midst.
Nebraska may well congratulate herself upon the glowing
outlook in her educational prospects for the coming year.
With her common school teachers of a higher grade than for
merly, with her high schools more numerous and with strong,
cr corps of instructors, with York and Doanc strengthened in
courses and faculty, and with her State University more
prosperous than ever and rapidly assuming its place among
the best state institutions; Nebraska can now educate hcr
sons and daughters without sending them to other states.
The upbuilding and elaboration of our tried and almost
uncqualcd state school system is due to the efforts of the man '
who this year, we arc r.bout to dethrone, Prof. Jones. With
proved efficiency he has presided over the educational affairs