A GERMAN VIEW OF HARVARD.

A SERIES of papers on American student-life have appeared in Die Gegenwart. The author, Mr. Otto Gross, selecting Harvard as the representative college, calls her the oldest and most renowned of American colleges, and Yale her Tochteranstalt. These are almost the only true statements which he makes. His pictures of college life are even falser than the Herald's, and must have been taken from "Student Life at Harvard" or derived from a correspondence with Dr. F-h-b-r. Here is one of the conversations:-

"What is a proctor?" asks the new-comer.

"A proctor is a kind of human being that lives between Freshman and Sophomore, and prevents the latter from completely destroying the former. A proctor's Freshman has his room directly below him, and is under his especial care . . . and then you are sure of Holworthy."

"What is Holworthy?"

"Oh, Holworthy is the Seniors' heaven. Only Seniors live there. Magnificent quarters!"

In the evening the Freshman is escorted by his friend to the "old chapel," where "Fanny" allots rooms, and where chums are provided for those in need of them. The Freshman succeeds in getting a room in College House, which is considered an unusual piece of good luck.

The description of this room, as well as many other passages in the papers, is a translation, word for word, from "Student Life at Harvard." The effect upon the German mind can be imagined.

The most amusing statement of all is that the difference between Harvard and Yale is shown by the fact that the treasure of Harvard is Long-fellow, whereas that of Yale is the geologist, Dr. Dana. We wish that Mr. Gross was right, but the fact is that Longfellow is a graduate of Bowdoin.

It is to be hoped that the German students will not feel called upon to imitate any of the barbarous customs that Mr. Gross attributes to Harvard men.