A writer in the Yale Literary Magazine discusses the American university of the future. "What the American university of the future is to be," he says, "must be decided within the next few decades. Two ideas are on trial, and one must stand and the other fall. Either Harvard must check her career of revolutionary innovation and even withdraw from some of the positions already taken, or else Yale must abandon her cautious conservatism and stand abreast of her venturesome rival. Meanwhile, there is no denying the fact that the bulk of undergraduate opinion at Yale favors Harvard on this question." The drift of such a sentiment, we believe, shows very clearly the inevitable tendencies of the day, and its significance is by no means small. The discussion of these two ideas of the American university, carried on by the writer we have quoted, we cannot undertake to follow. The arguments for and against the elective system have been often enough bruited to the apparent satisfaction of both sides. All arguments a priori against the system are of little value. The system has worked well in practice at Harvard at least. This there is little room for disputing. What better reason is required for its continuance?