The "Advocate."

The ninth number of the Advocate appeared last Saturday. The editorials, with one or two exceptions, are devoted to a discussion of the athletic problems now absorbing the attention of the college. The Advocate urges every man to do his best to help on our college athletics; to make some sacrifice, be it money or time, for the honor of Harvard. Another point discussed is the restriction which the faculty has seen fit to put on our athletic contests. There can be no better place for the expression of the opinion of the college than in the editorial columns of a college paper, and the Advocate acquits itself well.

"Identity," the first poem of the number, is a bit of verse very prettily clothing a sober thought.

"His Story," by the same writer, is an article which embodies some startling ideas. It is a description of a Harvard's man's attempt to conjure up a suitable plot for a story. Whether he succeeds or not is left for the reader to judge. A human being with such a prolific imagination would have the making of a Rider Haggard. The story is very brightly and interestingly told and has the merit of singular originality.

"An Estimate of Thackeray," the second prose article, is a very powerful tribute to that celebrated novelist. The writer shows his deep admiration for Thackeray, but yet is not led to indulge in unnecessary praise. It is an able article, but much too heavy for the Advocate. The paper has chosen its field and its readers expect lighter literature than essays on novelists.

"The Minister and the Child" is different from anything that has appeared in the Advocate for some time. It is no light story, it is not a criticism or an essay. It is a description of a man who is not in sympathy with life; in whose nature there is something wanting to complete his existence. There is an unsatisfied craving for a feeling he has never known. And now an event comes into his life which shows him what is lacking, and fills the void. He is a changed man; he has a new life, not that existence he knew before, but a life complete in itself; and when the end comes he meets it like a man. The writer has infused deep feeling in his work and has successfully treated a difficult subject.

"The Unveiling of the Grail," a description of one of the scenes in Wagner's parsifal, is very well told and possesses the atmosphere necessary for the successful description of such an event.

Some short bits of verse and some bright items make up the number.