The "Monthly" for May.

The May issue of the Harvard Monthly is a credit both to the editors of the magazine and to the University at large. Too great praise cannot be given for the high tone and the literary excellence of the various articles. If the editors of the Monthly desire to keep for their magazine a literary reputation they have only to follow the precedent so well sustained in the present number. The opening essay written by Mr. F. G. Peabody and entitled "Religion in a University" is very opportune. It is a frank statement of Harvard on the question of voluntary and compulsory attendance at religious services. The essay is forcible, directly to the point, and convincing. It reads like a final statement of the matter, and we hope that it will meet the eyes of those who have been hasty in condemning what they have called the over-haste of Harvard towards liberalism. A short extract is contributed by Dr. Hale from his forthcoming volume on "Franklin in France." The part played by Franklin in the Asgill affair during the Revolution is described in clear and simple language. The story is almost dramatic in its interest. One of the best productions that have come from the pen of an editor of the Monthly is the account of "An Eighteenth Century Jubilee," written by Mr. Howe. The careful handling of detail, the judicious mingling of light and shade, the vivacity of expression and the lightness of touch manifested in this sketch give a peculiarly charming effect. The writer has caught the happy spirit without the ridiculousness of Boswell, whose strange acts at the Shakespeare jubilee of 1769 are incidentally described. Mr. Herrick's story, "Optimaet Pessima" is a powerful effort. A vagueness of meaning seems at first to characterize the piece, but the uncertainty disappears as the story advances. The real strength is discovered upon a second reading. There is a delicacy of analysis which shows careful thought. There is a touch of morbidness in the story, but as it belongs wholly to the character that is being studied, we should not wish to have it removed.

Mr. Santayana in his poem "Two Voices" beautifully expresses the antithesis in the bitter language of the soul that has found nothing but defeat in this world and that looks beyond earth for some sign of hope, and in the resignation of that other soul that finds in every triumph and defeat the fulfilment of its own destiny. The thought is, perhaps, somewhat too deeply hidden by the words, but we do not begrudge the effort to unravel it. Mr. Bates's poem "The Sleeper," develops an original idea. The metre chimes well with the sentiment of the tale; the lines convey the folly and the utter hopelessness of the magicians wish to stop the progress of time. The number closes with the charming bit of verse "Vanitas."