hand as he investigates their nature and leaves him
in the lurch. If the French proverb speaks truth
"the more languages a man speaks the more of a
man he is" our view is incorrect. Yet too often
a man who knows several languages is merely- us
ing four or five different words for the same idea,
several counters of different colors but all of the
same value. But the acquisition of a language
which is the key to so rich and varied a literature
as our own is an incredible gain,—a means of
storing one's mind with fresh ideas in. every de•
partment of man's activity.
A recent number of the Alandae contains com
munications from widely distant points ; letters
from the prefect of the Vatican library ; from Trin
ity College, Dublin ; from St. Petersburg, Goet
tingen, Madras and one from the United States—
all written in the classic language of Cesar and
Cicero, sometimes with almost more than Cicero
nian accuracy.
HOLIDAYS.
Among the most enjoyable occasions in the life
of ordinary mortals, students included, are holi
days, those oases in life's desert where the weary
traveler may enjoy a brief season of refreshment
for his further journeying. As mere rests they
are very beneficial, especially to those in the
whirl and bustle of our American business life,
and it is doubtful whether their number might
not be increased with advantage.
While we all view these days with pleasant an
ticipations, we do not often think of the peculiar
surroundings of each, of the atmosphere which
encloses it and gives it a special influence. Omit
ting from present view the weekly. Christian holi- •
day, the healthful effects of which are invaluable,
and omitting also the church festivals—Easter for
example--which are not recognized by all Chris
tians, but which probably have, nevertheless, a
greater power here than in larids where the state
recognizes them, but a state religion deadens the
reverential spirit, we find that those which remain
THE FREE LANCE.
are few in number and, with one exception, readi=
ly fall into two classes, the moral and the patriotic..
The exceptional case, New Years, is neither
Christian nor American but rather heathen in its
character, as it was wholly heathen in its • origin.
Professing no more than to be a season of unmix
ed jolity, it has been in the country a children's
festival chiefly, but in cities a period of carousals
which fashionable society sanctioned or at- least
winked at. Within the past few years, . society
has looked askance on New Years; dissipation and
we may, well h6pe that it will be henceforth a sea
son of pure social joyousness, free from its old
barbaric associations.
Christmas, though primarily religious and so not
specially American, may rightly be placed with
that festival which is most distinctively our own,
Thanksgiving, the former proclaiming "peace on
earth, goodwill to men," and the latter acknowl
edging the blessings of home, and country.
Thanksgiving, the national festival of the home,
has its special interest and value in the fact that
it brings together, so far as this is possible, the
scattered members of each household, strengthen
ing the ties of natural affection in those who meet
about the old fireside 'and calling forth simultane
ously kindly thoughts in the breasts of the friends
who are widely separated in space but not in
heart. But no true affection is narrow and self
ish ; "thanks-living," as an old writer puts it,
"is akin to . thanksgiving," and so the spirit of
Christmas, of "goodwill to men," has entered in
to our November holiday also, and manifests itself
ih helping the poor, the orphan, the friendless
One, for the heart expanded by the home love and
the thoughts of home friends grows tender in its
thought of the homeless.
As the two holidays just named are related to
morals through the religious and the home life, so
is the remaining class related to patriotism through
the national life, commemorating now the birth
day of the nation or of him whom we recognize
as the father of our country, now the death of
those who freely gave their lives "that the gov-