Baltimore City College - Green Bag Yearbook (Baltimore, MD)

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unfriendly one, the occasion does not seem to call for this particular kind of work. A certain suggestion of pedantry will lurk under any exposition made in this contingency, and the notion that some unfair advantage has been taken of a privilege extended, that we have been lured to a lecture, so to speak, is apt to creep in and maintain itself in spite of honest efforts to dislodge it. This brings us around once more to our original question of “What are the duties and what are the functions of the teacher who contributes to the college year-book ?” His privileges, by virtue of the courtesy extended him by the students, are practically unlimited ; he may do what he will “dishonor shall be humor.” But what ought he to do? I am really almost tempted to say the teacher has of right no place at all in the book, that he should be eliminated, expurgated, done away with, except ,of course, as I have said before, as an objective element. In that capacity, he may be called on to endure different degrees of martyrdom, with the varying comforts of philosophy to support him in his trials. He may have an excellent opportunity for the display of stoicism, or he may enjoy with suspicious hilarity the jokes or grinds at his own expense, but with the traditional good manners of the defunct, he will not interrupt the proceedings at his own wake by any unseemly behavior. This patricular use of a teacher in the year- book I have been led by some experience and observation to understand, and I had almost said I am convinced, he has no other use. Such a conclusion, however, should not be too hastily arrived at or too positively expressed ; for just as there is back of all customs the historical basis of convention, good sense and justice, it is not to be doubted that this precedent of inviting some professor to contribute to the year-book, which seems about to become a custom, has its foundations in considerations which are not always to be found upon the surface. I would take it, in the first place, as a representative act. The honor of the invitation, is, of course, personal and particular, but it goes really as the message of one class of individuals to another, as an earnest of accord and sympathy, an evidence of trust and good faith. It says in effect : Share with us in this work ; let the association of years eliminate all ideas of differ- ence, yes, even the distinctions which ordinarily separate generations. Let the sympathy of a complete fellowship unite us by common ties, mutual interests, similar ideals. So it is most appropriate that the teacher should say something through these columns in recognition of the completer understanding and closer sympathy that bind together the present generation of teacher and student. WILBUR F. SMITH. i

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conferred that very desirable vision prayed for by Robert Burns, “O wad some power the giftie gie us To see oursels as ithers see us.” And that the sight is not always an agreeable one, goes without saying. In such a record, then, of purely local happenings, in the unrestrained expression of sentiment, opinion, criticism, with its accompanying display of the natural boisterousness belonging to the superabundant vitality of youth, the staid figure of the professor, uttering his philosophical maxims, or dispensing his professional knowledge, seems to me somewhat incongruous. Connected with this phase of the subject is probably the question, “Should the teacher make use of the golden opportunity given him to set such an example of moderation and sobriety as may influence the general tone of the work?” It is naturally not to be conceived that he will take any part in the fun-making, save as an objective element, but I do not believe that it is his part to endeavor to shape the policy or to influence the standard of these publications in any active or positive way. I do not believe that there is any pronounced sentiment in favor of such a course. It is true that a limited censorship has been practised, that a certain restraint has been sometimes im- posed, when expression has verged on violence, but this has been in the way of prohibition only ; there has been no attempt, and there should be no attempt to dictate or inspire the work of the students in these year-books. Since then, there is a certain incongruity in preaching in these publications, and a decided aversion to at- tempting to change their character, there seems really but one more available course open to the teacher-con- tributor. Shall he lecture? Shall he use the opportunity here afforded for a technical dissertation upon his special work? There is really no very weighty reason to urge against such a course, and it would seem to be a natural solution of the problem. There is no element of reproof that comes rather ungraciously from the invited guest; there is independence and dignity in this attitude. But to me it seems that matter of even this sort is out of place in productions of this kind. I can readily see that the discussion of any new feature such as affects the College work as a whole, such, for instance, as the adoption of the elective system of studies, would be perfectly appropriate. It has the right local flavor, and goes to make a part of the affairs of the students as students. It is of material interest to them in their college work, and intimately and vitally concerns their college careers. Its success or its failure are legitimate material for discussion, since its very existence depends upon opinions regarding its usefulness and its advantages. To introduce here, however, a technical subject and treat it in a technical manner, while it is no violation of the proprieties, does not seem to me an exact appreciation of “the eternal fitness of things” ; whatever the merits of the subject, whatever the excellence of treatment, whatever the amiability of the audience, the atmosphere is an io

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FRANCIS A. SOPER, A. M.