THE HESPERIAN. li. merit, and whose faculty is not known outside of its college edifice." But after all, the question of cost must generally have a place among these considera tions, and always has its weight in argument. Othei matters have more or less weight. Perhaps a certain college, very near, lacks the reputation of another quite distant; perhaps there is quite a difference in tu- MISCELLANY. In resuming our study of the Horatian system it is well to remember that the disposition of a philosopher necessarily influences greatly his views and gives direction to his teach ings. The optimism which pervades the philosophy of Hor ace may therefore be traced directly to his own sunny temper ament. The reader of the "Odes" can scarcely fail to note the cheerful tone in which thev are written. Horace is not ition in favor of the first mentioned; perhaps the one onc of those who mar their preScnt by indulging in gloomy is the State institution of the preparing student, the views of the future. To him the present is his only possession as regards time. Like our own Emerson Horace believes that "Today is king," and that we should make his reign as pleasant and profitable as lies within our power. The idea which runs through all his works is that of getting the most out of life, and he seeks to do this by thoroughly enjoying the present and living each day as if it were the last. It seems strange to us to find him using the same fact as the modern ethical teacher to illustrate an idea directly opposed to the latter' s view; but this may be explained by the different con ceptions of the hereafter then and now. "Life is brief and uncertain at best" says the moralist of to-day, "death alone is sure and must be prepared for; then banish all that is not serious and earnest." "Life is brief' says Horace, "there fore let us enjoy with a rest the period allotcd to us." For death to him was a leap in the dark and life a thing to be cheered and cherished to the last. If he sometimes refers to "the melancholy flood with the grim ferryman" it is only to suggest the value of seizing and enjoying the present hour. Amid all his faults, and his works reveal many which his ad mirers could wish were not there, his optimism is ever appar ent, his frailties arc over shadowed by the warmth of his natnrc and the cheerfulness of his disposition. In no respect is the philosophy of Horace more remarkable than in the piominencc which it gives to human friendship. Many of his odes arc addressed to personal friends and in many more these are made the principal theme. With Hor ace his friends were among his choicest possessions not con veniences merely, nor means of amusement to while away the passing hour. Cicero, in his essay, "De Amicitia," writ ten some years before, had pictured the model friendship a natural and disinterested onc, if indeed, there could be any other. From this and many similar sources wc know that 'ofty ideals of friendship were conceived by the more thought ful of the ancients, but probably these ideals were as seldom realized as they arc now, or even more so. Human alliances were probably governed even more than in our day by selfish motives and the spectacle presented by Horace and lus friends must have been all the more beautiful and impressive because of its rarity. These friends were found in all ranks of society, from the very throne of the emperor to the rebel against his authority. They include those in almost every walk of life, the statesman, the philosopher, the soldier, the adventurer, the poet, in them all Horace finds something to admire, something to receive as well as to bestow. His rela tions wfth two men, Maecenas and Vergil, .are of -special sig nificance. Maecenas was the trusted counsellor of Augustus. As a. minister of the imperial government hewas naturally anxious concerning the welfare and suspicions of all whose loyalty to it was not unquestionable. Horace describes him in a "stanza of one of the odes which has been rendered thus: "Thou dost devise with sleepless zeal What course may best the state beseem, And, fearful for the City's weal, Weigh'st anxiously each hostile scheme That may be hatching far away Tn Scythia, India, or Cathay." other a college in a distant state; perhaps too, the in structors in his own state institution are really men of great worth, "able and learned men," but the world at large has no certain proof of their abilities. Such a case supposed, which institution is most likely to gain the student? As before suggested, if he be worth having the college best known, best advertised, and longest proved will get him, though it cost him a sacrifice of money and pleasure. But to the applica tion. The University of Nebraska is the institution whose merits are not sufficiently nor widely advertised; the ability of whose professors has never yet been giv en a proper opportunity to spread beyond the city in which the University is located. This University is being advertised that we do not question; indeed, we have proof of the fact in the increased number of students. But that increase is not what it should be, nor would be, in the opinion of the Hesperian, did it but properly advertise. We do not wish to be understood as decrying all the methodsnow being used to advertise; we rather acknowledge the good and believe, at the same time, that there is yet a better means. The publication and distribution of some of the work done here, both by faculty and students, is, we be lieve, the only true method of advertising, and as such is the only one that can possibly make us ade quate returns for the time and money expended. To properly publish and distribute this specimen work would necessitate the doing away with a certain very inadequate if not ill-directed method now employed; but in our opinion we must sooner or later acquiesce in such changes would ve ever hope to attain our ideal of a University. That our institution is not sufficient ly advertised is patent. That present methods are in adequate follows without question. That the method suggested is worthy our acceptance and adoption is proved by the grand results which have attended its adoption in some eastern colleges, notably Johns Hopkins. That both money and moral support will be needed to encourage professors ane students goes without demonstration. The question to be answered is, Will those who have the power and opportunity, acknowledging the results of such a method, lend their aid and energies to its adoption and support?