.
WE were somewhat amused while
looking over some old laws to
find the following : "Let all judges,
and all city people, and all tradesmen
rest upon the venerable clay of the sun,
but let , those dwelling in the country
freely and with . full liberty attend to the
culture of their fields ; since it frequent
ly happens that no other clay is so fit for
the sowing of grains, or the planting of
vines ; hence the favorable time should
not be allowed to pass, less the provis
ion of Heaven be lost."—Conslanline,
321 A. D. We say we were amused,
but why should we be ? How will oui•
customs after fifteen centuries of prog-*
ress compare with this old law of Con
stantine's ? Might not the enforcement
of a law similar to the first clause of
this one of ancient date protect our
Sunday, the quiet and rest of which is
being attacked on all sides by the•run
ning of railroad trains, the printing and
distributing of newspapers, and many
other methods of pleasure which many
are so anxious to excuse by calling them
necessities of our advanced civilization.
Necessities they may be in one case out
of ten ; but it has. always appeared un
just to us that ten men should be com
pelled to work upon our acknowledged
day of rest, in order that one 'bay Le
benefited. Heathen as well as Chris
tian nations have found it necessary to
establish certain periods or days of rest
for the best advancement of their people.
Now with our advantages, and the
past experience of all nations to warn
us, should we not guard our Sunday
with laws built so high, and upon such
a foundation that the liquor dealers, the
money - makers and pleasure- seekers
THE FRE
E LANCE.
would. neither be able to break them
down nor evade them, thereby avoiding
the calamity which has befallen France,
which is becoming "a nation without a
Sunday."
THERE has been a petition handed
to the Faculty asking that a rule
be adopted which will excuse all stu
dents who have a term grade of eighty
per cent. in any subject, from the usual
term examination in that subject. We
hope this petition may meet with favor.
Several of our foremost institutions have
tried such a scheme, 'and find it satis
factory, we understand. We do not see
that it is necessary for an instructor to
'examine a student to ascertain whether
he or she has any knowledge of a sub
ject when the same student has been
compelled to attend recitations during
the whole term, and to the student such a
scheme would give a coveted goal. In
order to avoid the worrying ordeal of
an examination the student would be
incited to put forth greater effort dur
ing the term, and not depend on "cram
ming" for an examination, or worse yet
on "ponying" his way through the ex
amination. •
Should the student be too honest
t) do either of the above vices, which
we are sorry to say is very seldom the
case, then we would ask who is likely
to know more of a subject—the one who
has an average term grade of eighty,
or the one who has a term grade of
seventy-five and an examination grade
of eighty-five ? Certainly the former,
for lie is graded on all the• work passed
over, while• the latter makes his grade
on something which happens to be easy
for him.
Ea!