it is called, and are pursuing liberal
studies, is only an aggravation of the offence. We expect youthful
extravagances, waste of time, neglect of opportunities, exaggerated
self-importance, a supercilious way of looking down upon the
outside world--these are all phases of growth, and are usually
short-lived--but we cannot tolerate any violation of the rights of
property, any overawing of individual conscience, any breach of public
order, any disregard of public decency. Such offences we must resent
and punish, not only for the sake of those injured, but in the best
interests of the offenders themselves. We cannot afford to let the
most promising class of our young men entertain even for the brief
period of four years false and pernicious views of the fundamental
principles of life. It is the duty of every community to suppress
error _en voie de fait_, wherever it may occur. And if it is our
duty to suppress, it is no less our duty to prevent. Common sense
and experience teach us that danger must arise from gathering large
numbers of young men in places too small to hold them in check. Are
we not at liberty to borrow an example from the history of President
Porter's own college? In the days when the president was a young
professor, Yale was a small college and New Haven was a small town.
The name of the college then was, to speak mildly, notorious. The Yale
of thirty or forty years ago seemed to personify everything that was
obnoxious and lawless in our college life: in no other place did the
conflict between "town" and "gown" assume such dimensions and lead to
such deplorable results. Yet the Yale of to-day, although the number
of students has trebled, will compare favorably with any college
or university. The students, without having lost a particle of true
manliness and independence, riot less and learn more: they show in
every way that they are better students and better citizens. Wherein,
then, lies the secret of the change? Evidently, in the circumstance
that the city has outgrown the college. New Haven is no longer an
insignificant town, but has become the seat of a large local trade and
the centre of heavy manufacturing and railroad interests. Like other
cities, it has established a paid fire department and a strong police
force for the protection of all its residents, the college included.
It is no longer overshadowed, much less over-awed, by the college. On
the contrary, the observation forces itself upon the v