HOUSE OF SEVEN FABLES

Not long ago a group of Harvard men bought Beck Hall. The reasons for this purchase, they announced, were largely sentimental. Many graduates hearing of it, hoped that the dormitory, whose future of late years has been uncertain, would, at last, be given a decent burial. But it now appears that the motives of these philanthropists were not altogether unmixed with mercenary considerations. The wraiths of Harvard's great, which supposedly haunt the unplumbed depths of Beck, and for whose memory the purchase was made, have now become a selling point for the owners. They have found, to their disappointment, that the distinguished tenantry of years past will not, alone, pay for the present taxes. And so Beck Hall is offered for sale.

The regret of these men at selling their gallery of reputations is doubtless great, for it is always hard to find the large heart thwarted by the small purse. But they are not to be censured for the failure, their high purpose is sufficient evidence of good faith in the matter. That they failed to gratify the dictates of their affections is immaterial. It is enough for the University that these men sought to preserve a Harvard heirloom for her sons.