IT has been rather the fashion for the last few years, beginning prominently with an oration by Mr. Adams, if we remember rightly, to blame Harvard for not giving enough instruction in writing. People who saw in the Catalogue what seemed a very small number of themes and forensics prescribed, would hastily conclude that Harvard offered no other opportunities for training in writing. To show that this conclusion is unfair may justify us as undergraduates in defending our Alma Mater against an accusation in which some of our College rulers have joined; and as visiting committees of the Overseers have just been formed, we hope that it will not seem impertinent in us to warn them that more work may be done than is at first evident. We are only giving our own observations as to the quantity of writing that is done by the students and the aid that is given them in improvement, while our instructors and the College papers can best testify to the quality.

In the first place, almost every society requires some literary work of its members, either before or after initiation, so that in this way a large number of men gain that first practice in writing which is necessary to wear away the newness of their pens and make them run freely. Then the themes and forensics are sufficiently numerous, in the last three years, to allow the student on the average only four weeks to compose each one, which is certainly by no means too long for those who have acquired no great facility in arranging their ideas. These are all carefully examined by able Professors, who give their opinions upon the merits or demerits of each essay to its author, so that no one is without help in discovering- and correcting his faults. Again, men who can do more work are contributors to the College papers, and, though more rarely, to other magazines or papers; and, while such writers must rely entirely on self-training, they are obliged to improve as much as they can by the necessity of reaching a certain standard of excellence. Other good writers are encouraged by the Faculty to substitute for their forensics theses on subjects that interest them more and require more originality and skill in discussion.

Thus the result of the entire system is that those men who bid fair to be our more prominent writers and thinkers are induced to exercise themselves more in writing and thinking than less promising students, who will seldom need to do more than write business letters. Of course, there are many men who do not use any of these means of education, for even a theme may be bought for a few dollars; still it is through no fault of our system that men remain awkward in expressing themselves. That many of our best writers are willing to make the most of their opportunities every editor knows, who so often finds that some one on whom he has depended for an article has been prevented by a forensic, a thesis, or a Bowdoin prize. As we do not, however, wish to seem to deny the justice of the Advocate's complaint that it receives very few articles from the lower classes, we would venture to suggest that, if there is time, a few themes in the Freshman year would be a great improvement, for it is very rarely that men gain much control of their pens till the middle of the Sophomore year.