The December Graduates' Magazine

The December number of the Graduates' Magazine is graced with a garland of appreciation contributed by eminent writers in honor of Professor Norton's eightieth birthday. A sonnet by Edith Wharton heads the list, and there follow letters from Ambassador Bryce, President Eliot, Horace Howard Furness, R. W. Gilder, Thomas Wentworth Higginson, W. D. Howells, G. H. Palmer, Bliss Perry, Goldwin Smith, and Andrew D. White. President Eliot traces the development of Mr. Norton's courses at Harvard-a most interesting history to follow, especially for those of us to whom Fine Arts 3 and Fine Arts 4 seemed as ancient and as necessary as sun and moon. Professor Palmer, speaking of another teacher beloved by Harvard men, says finally: "Under Professor Shaler the student gained a kindling vision of pretty much all of the natural world; under Professor Norton, of the human." And perhaps Mr. Bryce's words best sum up what we all feel and what these writers in different ways have fittingly expressed: "His clear and luminous intellect, shining with a steady glow, has been a beacon light to many who seek their way amid the tossing waters that surround us. Loving beauty in literature and in art, and seeing the need of it for the delight of life and the refinement of character, he has never allowed his apostleship of beauty to divert him from the pursuit of goodness and truth."

Even without the distinction of these tributes to Professor Norton, the present number of the Graduates' Magazine would be of special interest. Besides the reports of college affairs, news from the classes, and book reviews, one may find here topics ranging from the Law School Library and the efficient services of the Appointments Bureau to the ten thousand guinea pigs which are quartered in Lawrence Hall and have all unwittingly contributed much to science and the fame of Harvard. A valuable article on Charles Chauncey makes clear that aristocracy as well as democracy presided over the inception of the University, and will doubtless attract more visitors than before to the portrait of Harvard's second President in Memorial Hall.

The most striking article in the number is a spirited rejoinder by the editor to the danger of Germanization and general depravity brought against Harvard College by one of its more recent graduates. Harvard cannot thrive without criticism, but this particular attack is unfortunate in more ways than one. The editor finds Oxfordization as perilous a development both for the College and for the critic in question-and disapproves any scheme which would tend to destroy either college spirit or class spirit. This is true: despite the amazing changes wrought by the reform of the curriculum, Harvard College is embedded in class spirit as in a rock.