at prayer-meeting, and of the one hundred and thirty whose names we have on our roll. Our friend is also asked to join the Temperance Union, which has for its object the furtherance of the cause of temperance by means of a total-abstinence pledge lasting until the end of the session. It is also a debating society, and, this year, has about twenty-five active members, besides a good many more who have signed the pledge but do not care to take an active part in the proceedings.
He is certainly expected to connect himself with one of the literary societies, and in doubt comes to me for my advice and opinion on their respective merits. And I proceed to give my ideas on the subject, as follows. The "Wash." is composed almost entirely of hard-working men, who mean to get all the good they can out of everything, and therefore their debates are really instructive and interesting. As a natural consequence, they pay less attention to society politics, and their elections create little excitement in college. The "Jeff.," on the other hand, professes to be the "swell" society, and to have the more popular and influential men enrolled among its members. The debates are paid little attention to during the year, and consequently every one is surprised to see such a good display in the contest for the medal. But this is not to be wondered at, when it is remembered that a majority of the brightest intellects of the three hundred or more students is here collected. The election for Final President in the Jeff. constitutes one of the greatest excitements of the year to the sixty or eighty members of that society. The candidates begin their canvass two or three months before the election, and sometimes as much as a year before. The contest is waged with such bitterness that warm friendships are frequently broken, never to be renewed. Here we encounter the most objectionable feature of the system of secret fraternities. The average fraternity man does not vote according to his own opinion as to the fitness of the candidate for the position, but entirely as his fraternity goes. Of course there are exceptions, but they are rare. This arouses ill feeling and jealousy between fraternities, which is very apt to lead to open breaks. I suppose the men would form themselves into cliques if fraternities were not allowed, and the same bad result would follow. But why is it that the young men of this country cannot carry on the simplest and most unimportant election without employing all the tricks, and frequently the dishonorable combinations, that so strongly characterize the average politician of to-day? Can they find no better model after which to copy? Frequently as many as thirty men are rushed into the society, simply for the purpose of voting for the Final President; but this year a law was passed to the effect that no man could vote for Final President unless he had been a member four months
