THEN AND NOW.

AS passage-bird, far, far away from land,

Battling in his wild fright the encircling storm,

Is compassed by the billows and the wind,

So battled with adversity my soul!

But now the bird, trusting in his strong pinions,

And rising far above the powerless surge,

To cleave the very clouds for refuge seeks,

Upstriving, till the surge he fears no more;

And my strong soul, on wings of thought confiding,

Still upward flew, piercing the clouds of woe,

And when the heaven was gained, all sorrow died!

Now seem the times with countless blessings numbered,

And all this world to me most beautiful;

Now pleasure dwells forever in my soul,

To fill it with imaginings of heaven!

Methinks the mirthful fancies, floating upward

From my glad heart, are like the summer-winds'

That grace the waving fields where'er they roam,

That breathe a tender tiding to the flowers,

And hover o'er the brook, and play upon it

Until its waves are ruffled peacefully;

But then at eve they flutter through the trees,

Seeking their homes among the skyey stars!

L. L. E.COMPARING our present University crew either with the crew that rowed at Springfield in '73, or the crew that pulled at Saratoga in '74, one sees that they differ in many ways. Many of the men who are to represent us this summer are not as large and do not appear as powerful as their predecessors; yet the comparison is on the whole favorable to the present representatives. The change in the manner of training a university crew has been almost as marked in the last three years as the change between the time of our earliest boating experience and the time of the formation of the R. A. A. C. The men of four years ago thought they did much hard work when they were trying for the "'varsity," but, compared to what the candidates for positions in the boat have done this winter, their exertions seem moderate.

We expect of our crew this year something which was never demanded of a crew before. They have, in the first place, to row a four-mile race; this ended, six of them must change all their habits in the boat and pull the old three-mile race without a coxswain. If they had to do the first alone, it would be something beyond what was usual with our crews, but we are so situated this year that, having rowed a longer and harder race than any crew of past years, they will have to do the regular work of former crews, and this at a disadvantage. It is more than any one can expect that they will be successful in both races. Which of the two then is more important? This question has been answered, and most of their energies have been turned toward preparing for the four-mile race.

The promiscuous contests at Saratoga, the balky, unmanageable Rowing Association, will not have been wholly useless, if because of the dissatisfaction they have caused, we are led to adopt, permanently, the English method of a four-mile race in an eight-oared boat steered by a coxswain. It looks now as if our boating men would, after this year, never engage in any other kind of a contest. This state of affairs necessarily causes a revolution in the training of our University crew. The revolution has already begun, and great care should be taken at the outset to establish a high standard of work for those who are candidates for places in the boat. It is not only necessary for our success in this next race, but it will have its effect on the boating men who come up to take the places of those now on the crew.

What the crew of this year needs particularly is endurance. If they are to hope for success, they must be as ready for a spurt on the last quarter of the fourth mile as on the first quarter of the first mile. It may be of some advantage to review the manner in which our crews for the last three years have rowed their races, especially the last part of them.

In '73, after admirable rowing and steering, the crew made a beautiful spurt and saw all their competitors behind them as they ended the race. The next year happened the unfortunate collision with Yale, almost at the beginning of the race. When our crew was away again, they began a spurt which lasted to the end, though on the last eighth of a mile they were much used up and allowed another boat to pass them. It was well done and deserves praise, though, if they had been trained as the crew of this year has been, and will continue to be, they would have rowed the last quarter of a mile in that race very differently. The remembrance of the race of last year is fresh in the minds of all. It was well rowed until the time for the final spurt, and that was a miserable failure, - not from lack of endurance, but for a reason of which it is not well to speak.

Now, whatever may be the result of the race with Yale and the regatta at Saratoga, it is not too much to say that we shall send out a crew better trained in every respect than any that has been seen here since we began to row. Whether they win either of the races they take part in, we must be ready to learn from their experience and to apply, in future years, the lesson thus learned.