Persons have urged that the work of our Literary Supplement would be done much more thoroughly and successfully by a monthly literary magazine, like the Yale Lit and the Nassan Lit. In one way, these persons are quite right. The essays would be presented in a more attractive, permanent form, the proof could be read more carefully, and the printing could be of a better quality of work than we can afford to pay for in a supplement that we give to our subscribers. There is, however, a very strong argument in favor of our Supplement. Our paper is a newspaper, and is read by everyone-students, faculty, and annex. An essay that appears in our Supplement is thereby thrust upon the notice of every one in college. Men read it who could not be induced to subscribe to a literary monthly. And the writer, instead of having a reading public of 150 or 200 (for that, judging by past experience and some present experience, would be about the circulation of a monthly in this disintegrated institution) enjoys a reading public of about 800. This, of course, reacts on the character of the essays. Better men will write, if their work is to be read by everybody; and they will take more pains with their work.

The literary publications of Yale and Princeton are, therefore, no analogy, and form no example for us whatever. At those colleges, everyone subscribes to the monthlies; but here, a monthly would have a mere handful of subscribers, and would have to depend for funds almost wholly on advertisements, and owing to its small circulation, would not get good work from the best men.