ASSUREDLY the public prints assist in keeping the world straight—sometimes by sarcastic allusions like the following from the Easton Call. Undoubtedly the intelligence and freedom of the press should be credited with much of the advantage of our day over that termed "the dark ages." We quote:—
"One of the most amusing phases of the sacerdotal vaudeville this country is witnessing, is the way schools and colleges of the denominational kind are trying to shake off their religious connections in their greed to get hold of some of Mr. Carnegie's money. It is a well-known fact that Mr. Carnegie has no gifts for institutions ruled by church boards and trustees. To comply with this condition, Dickinson College, always regarded as a Methodist institution, has been turning all kinds of somersaults. The trustees of that college met in Philadelphia recently and passed resolutions, denying that the Methodist Church had any control over Dickinson College whatever, and forbidding the journals of that Church from publishing any such statement. The president of the college was also instructed to report his college as "nonsectarian" in the future. So that the reforms that once caused men to be tortured and burned at the stake, now come voluntarily to the tune of the Carnegie funds.
"Soon we may expect to see Lafayette College saying good-bye to the Presbyterian fathers and falling in line for something more substantial than the dope handed down by John Calvin.
"Of course, the ecclesiastical gentlemen are making a stubborn fight to preserve the special privileges of the clergy. They say that if you take away the religious foundation, the colleges will go to pieces. This reminds us of a story: Some years ago a large manufacturing plant at High Bridge, New Jersey, was discovered on fire at night. A message was sent to Phillipsburg for aid and one of the local companies loaded its engine on a car and went to High Bridge, but arrived after the buildings had burned. Early the next morning an Irishman arrived in Phillipsburg from High Bridge. 'Well, Pat,' asked some one, 'how did our boys make out last night at the fire?' 'Sure, and they did nobly well,' answered Pat; 'after strinuous ifforts, they succeeded in savin' ivery bit of the ground on which the great buildings were built.'"