TO THE EDITORS OF THE CRIMSON

THE evening readings, so gratifying to those who attended them last year, have begun again, and, so far, have been well attended. Mr. Everett reads the AEneid on Monday evenings, Mr. Norton the Divine Comedy on Tuesdays, Mr. Palmer the Odyssey on Wednesdays, and Mr. Bocher parts of Moliere on Fridays. The programme speaks for itself, embodying as it does the great works of Rome, Italy, Greece, and, last of all, France. The readings are one hour long, and consist of translations, with what few introductory and explicative remarks may be necessary for a full understanding of the subject, and offer one the best possible opportunity to renew his acquaintance with some authors, perhaps neglected of late, or to make fresh acquaintances in new fields. It would probably be difficult to select men better qualified to explain their separate subjects than those mentioned above, and one has only to go once and he will continue to go, if he has any real love for literature. If not, perhaps it were better he were not here. It is a common plea that it is impossible to spend so much time and do justice to other subjects; but this is a very feeble excuse; for if one were only to take account of the time he wastes each day, it would be found to be many times more than the one hour spent profitably in the manner described. It is another common excuse that there is no use in hearing Homer and Virgil over again when they were learned so thoroughly before coming to college. But they were not then, we claim, understood; they were merely hurried through as so much task-work. It is only in later years that the fine points of these authors are seen. In regard to Dante, no one who professes to any respectable degree of culture can afford to be ignorant of the writings of the great Florentine. Moliere has never suffered for want of hearers; but it is chiefly noticeable that the merely comical, rather than the serious parts, were most enjoyed by those who flocked to hear Mr. Bocher, - a fact that sheds no imperishable lustre on the intellectual superiority of our students; but when students enter college at sixteen or seventeen, perhaps nothing better can rightly be expected.