The Monthly.

It will not be from lack of able championing that the present four years' course of study at Harvard is changed. Professor Macvane contributes the leading article to the March Monthly and in it makes an able stand against the arguments of Professor James and others who advocate the three years' course. The various arguments offered by the friends of the three years' course,-such as a popular demand for such a change, the supposed analogies of foreign educational systems, the relations of our colleges to our professional schools, the failure of the attendance at colleges to keep pace with the growth of population, the increasing efficiency of our secondary schools, etc.,- are met and answered. Professor Macvane's arguments are logically arranged and the whole article is an earnest plea for the existing order of things and against college iconoclasm.

The rest of the number is taken up by two stories, an essay, and the editorial,- the usual verse being wanting. The first story, "Elsie's Paladin," is a fanciful tale of a boy and a girl, two playmates,-a half-fairy-story in which there is a touch of the weird and fantastic German folk-lore. The first page of the story reminds one of Hawthorne's "Ethan Brand." While the scene of the tale is faid in New England, the names of the characters, the incidents and peculiarities of treatment are entirely German, and bring to the mind's eye the "Black Forest" of Germany and the folk-tales which are its inheritance. Though the ending is almost too abrupt, the story on the whole is distinguished by a charming simplicity of style.

"A Common Marriage" is a thoughtful character study and story of that not uncommon species of man who fancies himself in love with a pretty woman because he takes pleasure in the faint evasive perfume of her hair, in being on the same divan with her, in leaning against the same cushions, and in watching her quick breathing,-who goes a step farther and becomes engaged to her, recognizing his mistake, yet incapable of sufficient will-power and courage to make a clean breast of it and effectually to relieve the entanglement,-who takes the final step and becomes her husband, only telling her the cruel truth, that he does not really love her, after the marriage. It is at this point that we come to the end of the March installment of this extremely well-written story, the conclusion of which will be in the April number.

Mr. Duffield's sketch of Sir John Suckling, one of the wits of the Elizabethan age, is sprightly and vivacious. The delectable bits of contemporary gossip, anecdote, and biography have all been culled and the result is a literary morsel appetizing to the lover of Herrick and kindred spirits, among whom Suckling holds a high rank.

The only editorial of the number discusses the Prospect Progressive Union, its influence and effectiveness, and urges Harvard men to support it actively.