University Missourian. [volume] (Columbia, Mo.) 1908-1916, 1909-05-31

bi'N' HIS StH>i'iNe Spiiit. III i''' ii'
sought rest and holiday. He was,
rs h" said in til" oft-Quoted doggcrel:
Over worked. ovrr-w worried.
Over Crokcrcd. over-NIurrayed
and his holiday never came to an end.
He did not take up the rcins again. but
surrendered them with excellent judg-
ment to Whitwcll Elwin. The publish
or who appointed this tranquil country
clergyman to the editor>hip of the
Quarterly was gifted with a miraculous
clairvovancc On the face of il. il
must have seemed improbable that the
rector of remote parish should be
the man to drive Il refractory team OF
contributors and to impose his views
of politics upon an angry world. But
Elwin did this with ease and certain
tv During the war i'm the Crimea he
helped more than any other to keep
alive the martial spirit in England and
to strengthen by severe criticism the
policy of the Government. The fact
that the articles on the war were writ
ten by the new editor was kept pro-
found secret. 'All the weight will he
uone.' said he. If it is known that
they proceeded from a village par>on.'
1t was not known and Elwin had the
satisfaction of seeing his warnings ac-
ceptcd and his advice respected by un-
friendly ministers. \ Yet greater feat
was his final suppression of Croker.
who from the first number had sat
somewhat heavily upon the Quarterly.
Honest. clever. and energetic. Croker
was incapable of compromise. and the
Sixty-fve pages which he contributed
to each number gravcly ovorwci"hed it..
Iockhart had -lrrnk from dealin" with
him. as from Dustin" an old friend;
hut Elwin had 10 scruple> Of amiablity,
and Croker. after forty-ive years of
service. was persuaded t. resign so
pleasantly that h" and Elwin parted
on terms OF excellent friendship.
OF late wears change of influence
rather than Of character has come over
he Quarterly. Though it preserves its
lofty standard. aS of old. it no longer
makes the wide and in-tau; appeal that
il did. But if we consider the matter
we shall see that it i, not the Quarter
" that has changed 50 much a. our
solves Other days. other manners. 1t
is not easy to believe tha; fifty wears
ago a review which appeared only four
times = YEAR should have been an ar
T""ant arbiter OF policy a- well a> of
elegance. Nowadays we forget news as
eagerly as we gather ii. We modify
",lr opinions at tn" rcadin" of the last
telegram. The history oI the whole
world l. flashed acr"-, the wires every
night that our breakfast table may not
be- without excitement. And IN the
-curry OF modern life that patient race
of men who waited three month, to
hear the news and to frame an opinion
j. extinct. \ reaction may some day
rccrcate it. In the meanwhile the Quar-
tcrly goes on it, way with Il MODERATION
which Clifford and Lockhart would not
have understood. and with sound
sense which all the old editors could
have approved. In 4 shifting age. it
has made but Il single concession To the
popular curiosity; it has admitted sign
ed articles within its buff covers. And
if It's direct authority i not what it
was once. if members Of Parliament no
longer put off an address Ia their con
stituent> until the next Quarterly
should tell them what to say. it still
influences those who. in the press. in
fluence others. and when the world is
tired of high speed and special editions
the Quarterly NAV recouuipr that an.