Χαίρετε. MOUNTAINS and rivers may sink and decay, Time with his restless wings onward may flee, Till he dips his gray locks in eternity's sea, Empires may rise from the dust of the dead, The garments of honor may change to a pall; Darkness may waft her wild wing o'er the world, Peace, holy Peace may extinguish her light, War's ghastly visage may threaten and frown, The smoke of its fury may rise from afar, Obscuring the lustre of Liberty's star, And the noble may fall 'neath the wheels of its car, Tyrants may laugh at the groans of the slave, Sad hearts may sigh to the cold midnight air, Youth, with its buoyant hopes, painting the sky, May furl its bright pinions, bleeding and torn, Old age, with its silver hairs, reverend with years, In the cold vale of sorrow may pillow its head, And pray for the dying, and weep for the dead, And drop from life's stage like a tear that is shed, God never forgets. Love's golden bands may be broken in twain, And the heart once as light as the lark on the steep, Life all aglow with the glory of hope, God never forgets, May sink in its course, while its efforts are blest, There is a bright hour in the ages to come, God never forgets, When the children of sorrow shall no longer weep, When these spirits that now only struggle in vain, Shall burst their dark bondage, and soar up afar, Come, then, ye that weep at the close of the day, Come with your bonds, and your cares, and your tears; God never forgets. J. B. Progress of Civilization at Yale. To one who compares Yale as she was at the close of the last century with Yale as she is now, the contrast in men, manners, and what may be called the social relations of College life, is too marked to escape notice. Yet, in following up her course from first to last of these extremes of time, we find no abrupt transition, no definite point at which we can rest and say, Here ended the old system, here began the new." No, the progress has been gradual, it is, chemically speaking, "the slow reäction" of time upon the original elements which has wrought this change. Our old Alma Mater has been and still is undergoing a process of civilization in its fullest sense, both that of individual and social advancement. Unlike civilization in general, however, hers receives its elements only after they have been modified by another agency; and a still further difference may be found in the fact, that while as an institution she moves steadily on, her component parts are constantly changing. Nothing, perhaps, is so great a hindrance to her advancement in this respect as the fact, that those who enter here have not the living exemplification of a correct College deportment which a graduate would exhibit were he to repeat his course, but are obliged to rely upon the assertions of "Todd's Student's Manual," which they pronounce old fogy and behind the times, or upon their own common sense, which is an excellent guide if faithfully followed, or (which is least commendable,) they follow in the footsteps of the Class which precedes them, whose career they know only by hearsay, and whose example they zealously exaggerate until the evil becomes unbearable, and is put down by the mighty hand of the "powers that be," only to show itself either in the form of some new malady, or in the aggravation of some existing institution whose very being is a clog upon the steady improvement at which our Alma Mater always should aim. To illustrate: a Freshman Class enters Yale, and, after overcoming the individual fears as to ability to maintain a degree of scholarship high enough to enable them to keep their places, they, naturally enough, cast about them to see what course of conduct they shall pursue as a Class. The Class preceding them we will suppose to have been a rather wild and unruly one, whose example should be avoided rather than followed; yet so strong is the force of custom, that they usually enlarge upon the example thus given them, until, at length, as we have said, the aggravation becomes too great, and the "institution," to the perpetuation of which their energies have been turned, is suppressed by the Faculty. For instances of this process, we refer you to "Burial of Euclid," "PowWow," "Hazing," &c. Even now Initiation is under the ban, and bids fair soon to become a thing of the past. There are also several institutions among us, which, even more than those to which reference has been made, show that the students of Yale have not yet reached the height of civilization which the outside world may fairly expect. Unlike the others, they have not even a few defenders who will stoutly protect them by reason of alleged profit to the College in their continuance. They rest solely on the basis of antiquity. Every one wishes them away. Every one, who expresses himself at all, denounces them as a crying evil. Yet no steps are taken toward their removal, or if taken, do not seem to have gained the confidence of the public in their efficiency, either present or future. Of this type are the electioneering for the Public Societies and the coalitions of Class Societies. It would really seem to one unacquainted with the facts in the case, that a Class was compelled by College law to follow as closely in the social as in the intellectual steps of its predecessor. It would be refreshing to see a Class independent enough to break down this constraint, and abolish some established custom, even should it not be harmful in itself. If harmful, so much the better. So much for the "institutions." I have spoken of them first, inasmuch as it is accounts of them (exaggerated more or less, according to the medium of communication,) which get to the ears of the public, and which injure the reputation of our Alma Mater. If this little phrase "Alma Mater" conveyed to an undergraduate but a tithe of the meaning that it does to an alumnus, I am sure that the circumstances which prompt this article would not now exist. The fault is in the head, not the heart, and its remedy is easy and speedy. We earnestly hope that it may soon be applied.-Secondly, is the civilization of the individual, the "culture" of the student, what it should be, at this period? We think that some of the practices of members of the upper classes, if not of all, are such as to make one hesitate to render an affirmative answer to this question. We have, indeed, heard it said that compulsory attendance at prayers and recitations was not enforced in the other Departments, because it was expected that the students in those Departments were of an age to appreciate the advantages of regularity-had, in fact, arrived at years of discretion, while we did not enjoy such license, as being "mere boys." Whether or not the theory is correct, we do not know, but we certainly think that the exuberant joy evinced by Juniors at not finding the Professor in the recitation room, (as if it were their gain, not loss, to lose the recitation,) would be apt to convey to a stranger the idea that they were in their first rather than their third year; and that Seniors should enter into the spirit of " Initiation" with a zest equaling that of the Sophomores, seems to us to be placing the far-famed "Senioric dignity" in an extremely hazardous situation. Of Sophomore extravagance we make no mention, but with the con solatory reflection that "no good can come out of Nazareth," we pass them by. The Freshmen, until the third term, are generally the most civilized of any of the classes in their class deportment. No credit to them, however. They can not well help it, for they do not sufficiently establish themselves during the first two terms to attempt any thing uncivilized. Seriously speaking, we think that there is a sort of halt in the "onward march" among us, at present, in reference to the objects of which we have spoken. President Woolsey, in his "Historical Address," delivered in 1850, takes a retrospect of College life with very satisfactory result. He says that at that time the cultivation and refinement of the students generally was greater than it had been twenty years previous, and he thought that there was a perceptible addition to the increase of these qualities, received during the course. We fear that a comparison of this year with one ten years ago would result unfavorably to us. Yet this ought not to be, and we, upon whom the responsibility falls, ought to see to it that we act our part well, and cast our influence on the right side. S. B. ST. J. To Ethel. I see you as I saw you last, The perfect form, the perfect face, I live again that summer-morn; Along my veins the hot blood whirls: But then I saw you with my eyes; And, with that sight which love supplies, |