The courses offered by the Department-so runs the General Statement in the pamphlet-"deal with the history of literature considered as an organic whole. They aim to show the inter-relations of the literatures of different countries, the reaction of prominent authors upon one another, the origin and development of literary forms, the growth of national characteristics in writing, and the connection of literature with political and socal movements." No course will be included in next year's list which has not strictly a place there, both because it is conducted according to the method of Comparative Literature and bears that designation. Twenty-eight regular courses are thus set down, and ten optional "courses of special study." Of the former, the following will be given next year for the first time: For Undergraduates and Graduates-Comp. Lit. 5: “The History of Classical Culture in the Middle Ages," by Professor E. K. Rand. Comp. Lit. 30: "The Literary Relations of France and England in the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries," by Professor C. H. C. Wright. Comp. Lit. 31: "The Rise and Growth of Elizabethan Literature in England, examined in the Light of its Continental Origins," by Dr. H. de W. Fuller. Primarily for Graduates-Comp. Lit. 17: "The History of the Novel and the Tale in Italy and Spain from the Beginning of the Medieval Period to the Eighteenth Century," by Professor Ford; Comp. Lit. 24: "Political Satire in Europe since the Renaissance," by Professor Bliss Perry; and Comp. Lit. 27: "English Literature of the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Centuries and its Relations to Continental Literature," by Professor Schofield. Comp. Lit. 6a, as may also be noted, has been made still more comprehensive and will henceforth have "The Literary History of England and its Relations to that of the Continent from the Beginning to Chaucer," Comp. Lit. 6b, continuing the same course from Chaucer to Elizabeth. Mr. W. G. Howard's course, "German Literature in the Sixteenth Century and its Relation to English Literature," is to be given next year as Comp. Lit. 28. Professor Bliss Perry announces for the following year a new course, Comp. Lit. 32: "Lyric Poetry.-An Introduction to the Study of Poetics, with especial attention to the nature and forms of Lyric

Verse." And, finally, the Department would call attention to a course instituted at its request, but for inexplicable reasons called Philosophy 5, and therefore not included in its list: "Three Philosophical Poets -Lucretius, Dante, and Goethe," by Professor Santayana.

The courses in Comparative Literature are expected to be of particular service to undergraduates who are trying for the degree with distinction in History and Literature, whether their special concern is with the continuous development of civilization in a single land, or with the collateral tendencies in different lands which determined the characteristics of an epoch. They are very grist to the mill of candidates for Honors in Literature. And they afford an inviting opportunity for work towards an A.M. or Ph.D. degree with fresh combinations never before allowed, and broad thesis-subjects hitherto hardly encouraged. These courses, it is specially hoped, will foster a habit of reflection on the part of the student. He should be tempted by them out of a narrow groove of thought, and led to coördinate his store of disordered facts concerning any question he undertakes to study. He should through them develop the power of far as well as near sight, and be quickened to discern new aspects of knowledge, new explanatory vistas of related truth.

Literary study, one may safely assert, has never been pursued at Harvard with more general earnestness or enlightenment than now. Never before has so great a desire been manifest to make it helpful to students in so many ways. All, of course, are encouraged to examine literary works as a treasure-trove of facts concerning bygone days, for the information and instruction they afford to historians of whatever subject or type. But they are urged even more to familiarize themselves with the great monuments of literature, that they may thus obtain the enlargement of horizon, the enfranchisement of the mind, the stimulus to high achievement which these so bountifully provide. And they are constantly reminded that, above all, literature is meant to serve as a refreshment, a delight,-a pure, permanent, and noble joy. "Abeunt studia in mores," is a motto they are asked to keep ever in view, —and “manners make men.”

W. H. Schofield.

THE PAST

I do remember oftentimes the days,

Yes, and regret all the lost happy hours

We spent in this old garden, with the flowers,
The trees, the birds. Alas, those early Mays!
I have been wandering in distant ways,

Fed with strange bread and wet with alien showers;
Have lived, learned and forgotten. Still when lowers
The sky, an old insistent counseling says;

"Be not too free, lest in your wrath ye die;
Forget ye nothing, learn ye not too much;
Seek not too far, lest in the night ye fall.

Above your garden is the same blue sky,
Within the birds, the trees, the flowers; on such
As these Love lives; without them, not at all."

C. Henry Dickerman.

"THE YOUNG INSTRUCTOR," FROM AN UNDERGRADUATE POINT OF VIEW

The recent discussions of the young-instructor system have their origin farther back than the editorial which broached the topic. Most of us, at one time or another, have smiled over some phase of the topic as it has been presented in the form of this or that "assistant." By the end of Sophomore year the man who has been chaffed during vacations by men from other colleges, and by persons not now connected with any college community, or the "instructor type" at Harvard, ceases to wonder why this should be a subject of mirth among the Philistines and begins to cast about him for excuses, lame or otherwise. Where there is so much smoke there must be a little fire. The apology he makes is that which the college has taught him, "You see," he explains, "there are so many of these subordinate places to be filled, that the limited funds at the disposal of the college for this purpose often make it impossible to secure the men who would be most satisfactory."

On the part of both authorities and undergraduates the apologetic attitude at once admits that the system is not ideal. The most ardent supporters of the present order are bound to agree that here and there in various courses are "dead ones" sitting behind the desk. But so long as the difficulty is a financial one, there is nothing to be gained by hammering away at the theoretical side of the argument, because it happens to be sound, when it may be quite beside the point.

This article does not attempt to suggest any sweeping changes for the remedy of an acknowledged defect, nor to suggest a solution of the financial difficulty, but to give an impartial view of both sides of the question from an undergraduate point of view. If it admits the difficulty of a change in the present system, it reserves the right to point out the fact that such a change is highly desirable.

One great difference which is noticeable between Harvard College and the professional schools of the University is that the teaching force of the Law School, of the Medical School and of Lawrence Scientific School is composed largely of men of action who have achieved a reputation independently of academic surroundings. They are men who have been practicing lawyers, surgeons or engineers. In Harvard College "tradition" appears to have been maintained by the program of undergraduate, graduate assistant, instructor, assistant professor and so on, with intervals for travel, study abroad and research.

This system is one which bears its best fruit in men who have ripened after long years of such training; the product before that time. is likely to be somewhat raw. And too often the motives leading men to remain at college as instructors are described by the remark of a brilliant young graduate, a man who has already achieved an independent reputation in the world of letters. Speaking of the younginstructor "type," as he had known it, he observed, "They are men who haven't gone out and wrestled with the angel."

On the other hand, there seems to be less to say against the plan of retaining recent graduates to serve as assistants in minor courses for a year or two while they are pursuing law and graduate studies. These men are often extremely able, they are enthusiastic; they have ideas which they wish to impart, and they are sometimes brilliant fellows. Most of them candidly admit that their teaching is pot-boiling, but provided they keep the vessel at a lively temperature this is no reproach. They bring a freshness to their work which largely offsets their lack of experience, and they are out and away before they go stale. Harvard College seems to be especially fortunate in possessing several such men just now, and the undergraduates who have come into contact with them are not likely to regret it.

Just here, however, something might be said for the "two-year plan." While admitting the difficulty of putting such a scheme into immediate operation, few will deny the obvious advantages of asking a candidate for an instructorship at Harvard College to absent himself