IF the emphatic vote last week of the Board of Overseers against open scholarships means anything, it is that the existing scholarships shall be given to those actually and at present in need of them. With this vote to guide them, those to whom the assignment of the scholarships is in trusted ought clearly to understand and perform their duties henceforth, if, as it seems, they have not heretofore. By inspecting the list of scholarships published in the Catalogue, one cannot help believing that they were awarded exclusively according to the rank list, though not a single donor, excepting the class of 1821, imposed any such conditions upon his gift; and that there are eleven scholarships, though apparently available, not assigned this year. This being true, we cannot escape the conclusion that the authorities, while thinking that they were carrying out the provisions of the donors, have not done so in every case. For, notwithstanding the modest statement in the Catalogue that none but the really indigent are expected to apply, it is a well-known fact that there are a number of holders of scholarships who could live comfortably without them, while others, who have to stint themselves in regard to food and clothes, are refused because they do not obtain the required per cent. Under the elective system, where there is so much difference in the courses and professors, to conclude that one man is not as studious or has not as much ability as another because his rank happens to be lower, seems to us exceedingly illogical. It is the cause of real mischief to thorough scholarship and sound education. As soon as a student finds that his chance for a scholarship depends solely on the rank list, he will naturally, if a scholarship is the condition of his remaining in college, take those courses in which it is easiest to obtain a high rank, thus following no fixed plan of study, and leaving college without having enjoyed its highest advantages. How the Corporation and the Faculty have arrived at the conclusions that influence their action it Would be interesting to know. But perhaps the son of the pastor of a wealthy parish, or a student who pays $250 for his room, or one who spends the summer in Europe, is entitled to eleemosynary considerations.