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BOOKS.
A book is far more than a few pages of
paper on which words have been printed. A
book that is worthy of the name is filled with
the thoughts of the writer. Unfortunately,
some books are filled with thoughts that are
bad and injurious. But there are thousands
of books published every year that are filled
with thoughts of a high order that are helpful
and inspiring.
Some people have an idea that they may
read any kind of books and think that they
will not affect them. They might just as well
cat any kind of food, wholesome and poison
ous, thinking that it will not affect their bodies.
Books should be read for one of three rea
sons, for amusement, for improvement of the
mind, or for the uplift of the soul. [Books
that are read merely for entertainment are
likely to be the most dangerous. Such books
are often of poor literary character and set
forth a low standard of morals. Such books
may poison both mind and soul. A highly
educated literary woman was asked if she had
read a recent popular book. She replied, "No,
I cannot afi'ord to read the writings of that
author, as his poor literary style would injure
my style."
IIow much more is it true that books of low
moral teachings will do harm to the reader.
And so the books that are not true to the
teaching of God's Word will injure the soul.
On the other hand, there are many books that
are uplifting to mind and soul.
One who attempts to do without books will
find his soul narrowed and his mind un
developed. No one has all the knowledge that,
he needs or can use. He may gain some
knowledge from association with others, but
Ihe knowledge that sinks down deepest into
his mind is that which he finds stored away
in a good book, and which he absorbs and
makes his own by quiet, careful reading.
One of the best means of growth in the Chris
tian life is to learn and appropriate the
thoughts of those who have lived close to God.
No one can learn all of God's truth from his
own study and experience. He needs the help
of others who give forth from full hearts
streams that refresh a thirsty soul.
Books should be carefully selected. This
may be done by the knowledge of the author,
by the reviews published in reliable papers and
magazines, and on the advice of wise friends
who know the books.
Most people are careful about the clothes
and food they buy. The wise farmer gives
much consideration to the buying of seed and
stock for his farm. The same careful consid
eration should be given to the buying of books,
so that mind and soul may be nourished and
store of wisdom may be accumulated.
There was n?ver a time in the history of the
world when as many books were published as
there are at this time, and one of the gratify
ing facts is that their general standard is be
ing elevated.
ARE TOO MANY OF OUR YOUTH ATTEND
ING COLLEGE?
This question is being seriously discussed by
learned college presidents, and many of them
assert that entirely too many young men and
young women are rubbing their backs against
the college wall.
The reasons are that our colleges, especially
in the North, are crowded with men who fill
ihe rooms, but not the class-rooms; who set an
< xtravagant pace in money matters and add a
fashionable air that destroys the purposes of
Ihe college. College attendance is looked on
as necessary to social prominence. To have
been to college marks a man as among the
""Who's "Who." If there are too many, and
by too many they mean undesirables, the col
leges are to blame.
As a people we have gone mail after 4 'big
ness." We think in billiQns of dollars. We
count voters by the million. We despise any
thing small. We assume that because ten
thousand students are connected with a uni
versity by affiliated schools and correspondence
courses, it must be a great institution, the
very place for a youth to go.
The virus of this ambition has gotten into
the veins of college presidents, so that few of
them have the courage to limit the number of
attendants. The idea abroad seems to be to
get as many in as possible. The entrance units
amount to but little. There is no really diffi
cult entrance examination to most of them.
The boy is passed along from a high school,
which has as many studies as the old college
curriculum, and as extensive a course; yet the
boy slips on through. lie has the units, though
perhaps his acquaintance with these studies is
necessarily of a smattering character. The
boy is m, and often he is lost in the absolute
difference in methods of teaching. By reason
of an elective system, the poor student drags
through several years of college course.
Why not make a mental test at the begin
ning such as will determine the mental ability
of the boy to take the course. A knowledge
lest, to see if he has really mastered the studies
necessary to doing creditable work, as well as
physical test to determine both his physical
defects and physical need. If these examina
tions were made sufficiently rigid, the number
getting in would shrink considerably.
Then, if at the end of a few months, or even
a year, it was seen that the boy could not
get through, or derive any benefits from re
maining in college, demit him home without
disgrace.
It will take courage on the part of college
executives to do this. It may cause some
shrinkage in popularity. It may affect the in
come of the institution, but it would certainly
lift up the morale of the student body.
The college world has gone mad over Ath
letics. We spell it with a capital, because it is
a sacred subject to many. We believe that
many of our colleges are ceasing to exist as
seats of learning, and are become arenas for
fathletic sports. Some years ago a small col
lege acquired an unusual football team. They
won unexpected victories. We are told that
next year the town in which the college is lo
cated could not hold the boys who must needs
go to such (?) a famous institution. No doubt
its teaching was good, but Athletics brought
lhe boys. As long as that is allowed, and col
lege standings are determined by the games
won, all the "A grades" that the Association of
American Colleges may set up will amount to
nothing.
We have understood that a man who led a
successful football team to victory has been
employed by one of our Southern clleges as
coach under a five-year contract at $35,000.
He is paid twice what the professor is.
Is it any wonder that the boy who studies
{>nd is not on the team is despised, and our
American colleges are come to be considered
arenas for the development of brawn rather
than brain, and so arc crowded?
It is time our ecclesiastical authorities at
ipast are saying to colleges, appealing to them
for students and money, that Athletics must
not occupy the primary place in your college
life.
When our colleges and universities become
places of hard study and high thinking; when
the man who stands at the head of his class
stands higher than the captain of the football
leam, or the member of a choice fraternity,
there may not be too many students at the
college, but there will not be so many of the
indifferent and wrong kind.
A. A. L.
Contributed
A VISIT TO THE OLDEST CAPITAL IN THE
WORLD.
By Rev. P. F. Price, D. D.
The editor of the Presbyterian of the South,
in an appreciated letter, writes: "I wish very
much that our missionaries would write more
for the Church papers. I know that you arc
busy men, but 1 also know that your letters
would do a great deal toward increasing in
terest in the work in this country. When you
missionaries come back to this country you
spend most of your time, when I feel that you
ought to be resting, in traveling over the coun
try to speak to the people of a few churches.
If you would put into the papers, from time
to time, articles giving the striking incidents
which you put into your speeches, there would
not be the same necessity for your visiting the
churches."
I am sure that Dr. Campbell would not min
imize the value of personal contact between
the missionaries and the churches, but he is
quite right about the paucity of missionary
informmation sent from the field to our Church
papers. One reason for this is the feeling on
the part of not a few that when one writes to
his own church, or to individual friends or
groups of friends, he can use the personal pro
noun and pass on personal incidents. But
when one sits down to write for the papers
there is a conscious or unconscious feeling of
restraint in regard to telling things of a more
or less personal nature. And, again, each one
b absorbed so much in his own. personal work
that it is hard to write on general topics. And
it is often easier to do a little bit toward mak
ing mission history than to write about it. Af
ter all is said, however, it is neglect that is
responsible for not writing more, and the edi
tors are right to stir up our minds by way of
remembrance. Inasmuch as I promised him to
do better, you will let me first try to tell of a
visit to another city. It is often remarked
that new missionaries write more interestingly
of things they see because of the fresher im
pression on their minds. Older missionaries
who have gotten used to these things fail often
to tell the little things in which people are
interested. Our first visit to Peking, which
was unexpectedly made possible the past sum
mer, gave us the opportunity of seeing things
somewhat as a new-comer would do, and I ven
ture to pass on to you three of the most out
standing impressions made on my mind.
The Altar of Heaven.
Peking is one of the most interesting cities
in the world. Some visitors spend weeks wan
dering through all the points of interest in
the city, going out to the summer palace, and
absorbing the old world atmosphere, into
which is being slowly injected a new and mod
ern spirit. Wc were able to touch only on
the high spots. The three deepest impressions
left on my mind are the altar and temple of
heaven, symbolic of ancient China; the Rocke
feller Hospital and Medical School, symbolic
of new China, and ^'Mother Stuart," a typical
missionary who has seen both the old and the
new.
I wish I had the words in which to describe
the impression made upon Mrs. Price and my
self and (tfher new visitors who happened to
be in the party that day, by the Altar and
Temple of Heaven. You have no doubt read
much about this famous spot, but to appre