Course on "Modern Novels."

A new and literary course will be given by the department of English at Yale next year, entitled "Modern Novels." The course will consist almost entirely of the rapid reading of living authors, with a general discussion of each work. The idea is to take up each week some English, American, French, German or Russian novel, translations of foreign works always being used. Such authors as Thomas Hardy, Weyman, Meredith, Tolstoi, Alphonse Daudet, Heyse, Mrs. Ward, Hall Caine, C. D. Warner and Howells will be among those studied, the recitation hours being given up to a lecture on the book in hand, with a thorough discussion of the purpose, plot, characters, etc. Men electing the course-which consists of one hour each week-will be required to hand in a theme before the lecture on the book read during the week.

The expense of the course can be made much smaller than would at first seem possible by a system of clubbing together for the purchase of the books, which can almost all be obtained in cheap editions, or taken out of the library. While the course will be an unusually interesting one, it will be seen that it will require a fair amount of outside work, and no one who is unwilling to give sufficient time to the subject should elect it. The primary object is to make men read current literature intelligently and to establish sound principles of criticism.