St Johns College - Yearbook (Annapolis, MD)

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Iebb's Selections from Attic Orations Published by Macmillan, deserves special notice on account of the peculiar character of its humor. This is the one feature which distinguishes it from the great mass of Htrashyn literature now published. It is generally accepted that humor should have some tendency to provoke readers to mirth. But old Lysias was a sly and greedy old duck, and his humor is of such a nature that it provokes the readers to a perfect frenzy, while affording them the best sort of fun imaginable. Methinks I can see old Lysias choking with laughter as he delivers his harangues to that gossiping crowd of Athenians, while he thinks of the difficulties he is making for the future students of St. john's. Those old Greeks were a .far-sighted and a vindicative sort of people, anyway. Apart from this feature there is nothing in the work to command respect. As for thelothers, we will not censure them, poor fellows, for they did the best they could. They might not have seemed such dope goods in those days. We will close with those words which are so proper here, '4They are more to be pitied than censuredf' A Ames' Theory of Physics ' By Joseph Ames, Ph. D., johns Hopkins University. Published by American Book Company. Price 31. 50. versity. Published by American Book Company. Price 31.50. This book is one of the greatest works ever written on the subject of Grecian Mythology. It begins with a description of the fall of Alpha, the God of Beauty, from the regions of Beta, the God of Highlands, and tells how Qmega, the Goddess of the Whirlwinds, caught Alpha in her currents and wafted him away to the land of Iota, the goddess of a very indefinite region called Momentum. Wliile in this region Alpha falls in lo-ve with Theta, the Goddess of Attraction, and nearly meets his fate at the hands of Delta, her lover, the God of War and Power. But the struggle is suddenly brought to an end by the appearance of Ro, the great God of Pressure and Hurricanes, who hurls the forces of Delta into the ethereal regions, where they are consumed by the fires of Sigma, the God of Light and Heat. Ro then destroys the region of whirlwinds, Qmega's kingdom, and releases Alpha, who, with his dear Theta by his side, at the head of the forces of Ro, returns to the kingdom of Beta, and by force of arms restores himself to power, and now reigns supreme with his beloved Theta. Lambda, an offspring of Theta, is next in succession. Thus the work gives us a fair idea of the ancient ways of the gods, and is highly interesting throughout. The plot is well worked out and should be read by every scholar. Side Remarks on QDutchD German T An individual may grow to manhood as verdant and innocent as the day he was born, and yet spend his latter days in a flat having a back door Sunday connection with a barroom, he may live a youth of wickedness and crime and i 180 ' 3? ' o vii If 2 all i. P l ,. vit l 1 . 'r i I I L i I A sl I 1 1 fl F 3 l i. yi :il E

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I I I -unfi- I .xp I I I I I-If-X I I I I , I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I I . I I II Ev I ! I I I I I I I I I I I I 5. I I I I I . I I I I I I I I I. I I I '+- I I I I I '-s. f I I I , . Book Review Q, HELEMENTS OE LGGICY' One of the most interesting pieces of light literature or notion that has come into our hands for some time is Elements of Logic, published by Butler, Sheldon Sz Company. Throughout, this work abounds in the most sparkling wit. It is quite hard to contain oneself as the author proves his absurdities for us. We shall give two of these syllogisms, as the author calls them. We never heard the term before, but are sure that the street boys will adopt it and will begin to shout, Syllogism yourself. Nothing is better than wisdom. Bread is better than nothing. . Ergo. Bread isbetter than wisdomf, Or, No cat has two tails. Every cat has one more tail than no cat. Ergo. Every cat has three tails. There are also four little jingles which we are sure will become soon nursery rhymes, and instead of our babies shouting ' I 4'Old mother hubbard VV'ent to the cupboard, they will cry joyouslyj V Barbara celarant parii ferioquepuoris, - Cesare camestres festino baroko secundee, Tertia darapti desamis dalisi felapton, Bokardo fersison habetg quarta insuper addet, Bramantip, camenes demaris, fes apo fresisonf' . Its extreme simplicity Will, no doubt, appeal to all of the readers. And let us say here that no verses can be surer of posterity than those which are preserved in the nursery. ' The diction of this work should recommend itself to careful mothers and teachers for the child's first reading, for seldom do words of more than fifteen syllables occur. We predict a great success for this book in this line also. 179

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Q-+L l 4 3 . I V . 12 V. l. L. 1 l l l , s !. 1 ? . x Q. ' z Q 1. l f F U I l e Q g, l l 1 l. l l 4 I I 1 I i 1 I 1 5 i l incidentally pay ,a few prolonged visits to the State penitentiary, yet it is not impossible that he may pass peacefully over the river amid the sorrowful tears of his .Sunday-school class. A man may begin life by passing across the bar the worst concoctions ever produced, and yet, after having made a fortune in the wholesale liquor business, become one of the greatest exponents of tem- perance that ever graced a platform. But when he becomes so void of discretion as to purpose in his mind that he will undertake the study of Dutch, the Dar- winian Theory of Evolution, i. e., that man is descended from a monkey, or more probably from an ass, is certainly proven. He may already have plucked from the lower branches of the tree of knowledge a few plums such as Greek, Logic and Calculus, but he should have noticed that Dutch is of the fruits that grow only upon the topmost branches, and it takes more than a brickbat to bring it down. Blinded by the knowledge of what he has done, he asserts, Verily will I roll up my sleeves and jump upon 'Dutchi with both feet, and of a truth when I am through, it will look like the traditional dollar from which 70 cents has been extracted. For a time, my son, this benighted individual may stumble along the stony path, and may even knock 4.50 and 5.oo by the timely assistance of some careful 'fponying' in his book. But there comes a time of reckoning. He goeth into examination with a happy heart and a step as light as if he were rushing the growler, but when he cometh out, his countenance hath a careworn and vacant expression, and his general appearance is like unto that of a rotten pumpkin upon which a ton of brick has accidentally been dropped. It is not neces- sary to inquire if he has flunked. Leave him alone to the tender mercies of an accusing conscience. H A Truly the way of the HDutch student is hard and full of trouble. When you are reading that 'fsublimen creation Die VVacht am Rhein,', does it picture to you the beautiful blue Rhine, with its patriotic associations, dear to the heart of every true son of the Fatherland? Not much. It sounds very nice when played by the little 'German band, but for heaven's sake cut it outl' in classroom. When Mr. Wni. Tell shoots the apple from his son's head are you trembling for fear he will miss it? Decidedly no. You don't care whether he hits the apple or smashes the boy in the solar plexus. As you are perambulating slowly and p-ainfully over Luther's Ein, feste Burg ist unser Gottf' does it recall the time when you, an in- nocent little boy, attended Sunday-school and mingled your childish voice in the familiar hymns? Nit. You are swearing inwardly and committing Martin Luther and every other Dutchman to an extremely warm climate. My son, you who are at the parting of the ways, consider well before you go on. lf you fall, great will be the fall thereof, and it is not necessary that the ISI