"Take but degree away . . ."

Some years ago misguided radicals in Paris attempted to change the calendar. The result was the Reign of Terror.

But President Pusey has not learned the bloody lesson of 1789; he has not studied those Brumaires, those Thermidors. Only now does he learn how fragile is the fabric of society, how tenuous are the ties that hold together our common life.

We plead with him: turn back. Turn back, before the guillotine rises in Harvard Square, and the tumbrils roll along Quincy Street. Before blood darkens the brick of our sidewalks, we say, turn back.