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4 She tim’gia (L'oUcoian. ATHENS. GA. Saturday Morning, April 13, 1872. Published by the Literary Societies of the University. EDITORIAL CORPS. C. J. SWIFT. Trim Editor from the two Societies. Phi K’tftp'i Society. Dei \nntheninn Society. R. A. ANGIRR, IT. W. BARROW, M. 0. DAVIS. J. S. POWELL. Executive Committee. II C GLENN. | F. P. GRAY. TEEMS OF SUBSCRIPTION. * Single copies, one year $ 2 00 “ “ six months 1.50 “ “ three months 75 Clubs of five, one year 9 OP “ “ ten, “ “ 18.00 “ “ twenty, one year 30.00 And an extra copy to the one who gets up a Club of 20. should be made by regis tered letters or P. 0. order. Address all Letters to “Georgia Col legian,” Athens, Ga. INDUCEMENTS TO AGENTS. Anyone who constitutes himself an agent, a id gets us 5, or more than 5 subscribers, can have the advanta e of our club rates. Thus one who gets 5 subscribers (at $2 00 each), need remit us only $9.00; if 10 subscribers, he need remit only SIB.OO. .I©©“ Contributions solicited from the Alumni of the College, the students at the institutions of learning throughout, this State and other States; and from the friends of the University generally. The Age of Progress. The Nineteenth Century will doubtless be looked upon by suc ceeding generations, with a more intense interest than that which characterized even the Fourteenth Century in the intellectual history of Europe. The present age is already marked by the many developments in the scientific and philosophical departments. Indeed, it is emphat ically an Age of Progress. While the fourteenth century century claims the Revival of Let ters, and the great Protestant Refor mation, it has been within the nine teenth that, the mighty incubus of ignorance and superstition was dis pelled by the irresistible tide of an enlightened sentiment. A moment’s reflection will teach us of the innu merable trophies won by indefatiga ble efforts of missionaries—their un tiring perseverance has caused rude nations to denounce idolatry, and numerous churches now mark the spots where once misshapen idols stood. The essence of true religion has been poured out upon their al tars, and from the shades of deep planted superstition brought forth the beaming splendors of meridian day. It has been within the nineteenth century that the idea of railroad communication was fully matured, THE GEORGIA COLLEGIAN. and extensively realized—formerly, produce was conveyed from place to place on road-wagons drawn by horse-power ; but now this method is greatly facilitated, and we see huge locomotives flying across our valleys, and rumbling through our mountain passes, conveying thou sands of pounds with almost electric speed. 'Phe progress of this age is also remarkably characterized by innu merable agricultural and manufactu ring improvements, as well as by the wonderful advantage of annihi lating time and distance l y means of the electro-magnetic telegraph.— While it may be remarked that the ancients excelled us in learning and the arts, we consider the many enu merated, and unenumerated inven tions and discoveries of the nine teenth century, and assail this re* mark, as a mere hallucination of the fancy. Though we can furnish no rival for a Homer, no metaphysician equal to Aristotle, nor philosopher equal to Archimedes, we can boast of the fact that, civilization is now more universal, and has made more rapid strides towards the goal of per fection—that our system of educa tion tends to throw open the doors of the grand repository of intelli gence. and diffuse its choicest fruits throughout all classes and condi tions. The ideal sublimities, lofty conceptions and utopian dreams cf the ancients have been supplanted by the fond realities of the nine teenth century. Eminent in the practicability of the age, elevated above many vulgar superstitions, the sun of intellectual glory has hurst upon us, and we are being lured on to new and laudable aims. The Feast of Purim. The 24th of March, according to the Calendar of the Israelites, was the Feast of Purim. This festival first received the sanction and force of a custom through the instrumen tality of Mordecai, at the instance of Esther, under the auspices of the reign of the Persian King Ahasne rus, and was intended to keep fresh in the mind the escape of the Jews from the cruelty and rapacity of Haman. The observance of this day receives the name of Purim from the fact that lots were daily cast for twelve months, under the imme diate surveillance of Haman, to as certain, from omens, auguries and other divinations, what day would he most propitious for the total exter mination of the Jews throughout the length and breadth of the realms of Persia. The word is derived from the Hebrew, its composition signifying drawing or casting lots. Hie charming Rook of Esther, in which is related the compulsory ab dication of Q,ueen Vashti, the invest ing of Esther with regal dignities and royal prerogatives, the subtlety and chicanery and perfidy of Ha man, the frustration of his wicked and diabolical schemes by the supe rior strategy and invention of Mor decai, the compelling Haman to mount the scaffold of his own con struction, is one of the most thrill it g and intensely interesting hooks of tho Old Testament. It will amply repay frequent perusal, assiduous and sedulous study, as illustrating the precarious favor and position of the diplomat and courtier. As showing the incertitude of all temporal affairs, the fickleness of fortune, that retri butive justice, “ tho’ slow of foot,” will sooner or later overtake the guilty in their career of wickedness and licentiousness, the haughty and self contained Haman points a moral so obvious that it lias passed into a trueism. The abiding faith and in trepidity of Mordecai, and the saint ly spirit of Esther, which breathes a fervent piety, “ even when all seems dark and sad below,” in the accom plishment of the object and end they were prosecuting—although there was arrayed against them the crafti ness and sagacity of their implaca ble enemy—lends to the story of their wrongs, dangers and tribula tions, a secret and indefinable charm. In Mordecai’s adopting the most ju dicious and salutary measures; the salvation of tho chosen race, ’m ; dst hair-breadth ’scapes, when hunted down by a ferocious and relentless enemy—the finger of destiny, that “shapes our ends, rough hew them as we may,” is apparent. All that is done in commemoration of this day, is the offering up of prayer and the incense of praise that rises from the Synagogue and the reading of the hook of Esther to the assembled worshippers. The occasion is not one of boisterous merry making, hut of profound heart-feeling. HSF* The following, which is a happy instance of the multrnn, in pnrvo. emanated from the able and fluent pen of Processor B. L. Gilder sleeve, of the University of Virginia. We commend it to our readers : “ Women may he safely regarded as Indicatives ; and it is hut rarely that they may he called Subjectives. They are by cnmuvn consent of mankind Imperatives ; and as Ope ratives, we have the highest regard for them. They may be further held as Supines (!) or as verba nouns, and in point of expense, In finitives. Again, they are often ac tives, and their characterat the same time frequently requires them to be Passive, and some have professed to sum up their whole e aracter in re garding them to he Middle.” “The Land of Desolation.” BY ISAAC I. 11A YES, M. I) From all authentic reports, the first land that was discovered on the continent of America, is now the least understood by the adventure some traveller. It is said that the ancient Northmen occupied the country bordering on the Arctic re gion from the tenth to the fifteenth centuries, and whose restless love of adventure led them even so far from their native homes as our own shores, at least five hundred years before the renowned voyage of Col umbus. The range of the Greenland coast was more than a thousand miles, terminating a good way beyond the outpost of civilization on the glohe, in the midst of the much dreaded “ ice-pack” of Melville Bay. Some speculative writer has advocated *a theory that the North Pole when discovered, will he found to contain an opening leading to an interior world—or in other words, our world is a globe within a glohe. We will not ridicule the absurdity of this fanciful surmise, for it might contain some hidden incentive to lead men on to discover the real nature of the Arctic regions immediately around the Pole. Several expeditions have started upon this errand, hut they have been as fata' to the parties en gaged in them, as they have been futile to solve the mystery. Sir John Franklin commanded an expe dition sent out hv the English Gov ernment, hut this enterprise resulted in the total destruction of their fleet and loss of the life of their brave commander. Dr. Kane accompa nied a fleet which started but to dis cover the fate of Franklin and his men : and while they failed in the accomplishment af the primary ob ject, he has given to the world very interesting accounts of the voyage. McClintoek, encouraged and aided by Mrs. Franklin—whose strong love for her husband made her ever hopeful—has perhaps beyond doubt settled the true fate fate of Sir John Franklin. Capt. Hall, an Ameri can, is out now, and proposes to dis cover the North Pole by a route on