NOT long since, an article was published which discussed the present system of college penalties. At that time almost every student was delighted with the near prospect of voluntary recitations and the abolition of morning prayers. Then it was the custom to praise the Faculty for their liberal opinions in regard to college discipline. Then, too, some cherished the hope that in no long time this childish system of privates and publics would be done away with. That the rule against smoking in the yard had been set aside, was considered the first step in this direction. For some time, also, no one had received any deductions for snowballing. But alas for our expectations! Within a week, the author of the article in which that system of penalties was proved inefficient, in which, too, the Faculty were praised for their moderation and sympathy with the students, himself received a private. It is indeed a censurable act for any one to call a man in the third story to the window by throwing a snowball at that window. Much better in every way, more gentlemanly and more soothing to all in the immediate neighborhood, is it to stand in the yard and shout your friend's name.

The season has passed, however, in which privates can be given for handling snow; still, numbers every Tuesday visit the Dean to receive punishment for their misdeeds. Our police authorities are quick to espy any man who carries a bat or ball through the yard. From the time he comes out of Weld to the moment he passes from the gate on his way to Jarvis, the eye of some proctor is upon him. If any dare to transfer the ball from one hand to another, even if they roll it about in one hand, one acute interpreter of the college laws asserts that they are playing ball. Of course such a strict interpretation, and such a certainty of punishment in case of disobedience, awes every would-be offender. Neither a bat nor ball is seen inside of the yard. It is expected that soon no one will be allowed to toss a book about while walking through the yard, under penalty of suspension. Besides, to avoid all ambiguity as to the respectful attitude of the students toward the officers of government, it is recommended that the old rule forbidding any undergraduate to wear his hat in the yard unless it rain or snow, or he have both hands full, be revived and stoutly enforced.

Such matters as these, far from exciting the indignation of the students, meet with their ridicule. A more serious bit of information has recently been given to us. For failing to hand in a theme corrected, a large deduction from the marks previously assigned is made. That, too, when the professor has acknowledged, on one occasion at least, that it was a matter of small importance. Not so much the good we derive from substituting a synonyme for the word we used before is considered, as the fact that this rule teaches us to be punctual. But why deductions are made from our rank, instead of demerits given to us for disobeying a college rule, is a puzzle. Then, too, a large amount is taken off, - a third of the maximum, some say, - for work which does not involve a third part of the labor requisite to writing the theme originally. That this is unjust, few will doubt.