College News, 1929-11-13, Vol. 16, No. 06

              The College.. News
VOL. XVI, NO. 6
BRYN MAWR (AND WAYNE), PA., WEDNESDAY, NOV. 13,1929
PRICE,  10 CENTS
Dr. Lake Gives
% Memorial Lecture
Synthesis   Between   Greek   and
Semitic Learning at
Alexandria.
NEW FAITH ALLEGORICAL
The Reverend Kirsopp Lake, Winn
Professor of Ecclesiastical History at
Harvard University, presented a lec-
ture on "The Early* Greek fathers,"
in Goodhart Hall, Saturday evening,
November 9. Dr. Lake was intro-
duced by Miss Park, who briefly sum-
marized the history of the Horace
White Memorial Lectures, given at
Bryn Mawr. endowed by a fund estab-
lished by his daughter. So far the
lecturers have been old teachers of
the college itself�Dr. Shorey and Dr.
Frank. "When I came to speak of
Dr. Lake," Miss Park added, "I almost
said that he was a third;" not only is
his daughter a student in college, but
also he has come in previous years to
speak in any way for which we could
induce him to come, and this year we
have induced him for a "lecture in
which we have grown to have the
greatest pleasure." The series has
been in "good chronological order,"
Homer, Plato and the Roman Repub-
lic, now it is the early development of
the Chftstian Greeks. "I hope Dr.
Lake will not object to our thinking
of his adding a kind of semi-laurel to
Bryn Mawr."
"I do not know what is the best way
of  approaching  the  Greek   Literature
of the Early Church," Dr. Lake opened
his  talk,  "but  though  other  methods
are quite possible, the one that most
appeals to me is to begin with Alex-
andria,   and   the   peculiar ' problem   of
life  in  that  city."    In  the   first  cen-
tury, there was an effort to do some-
thing toward synthesis between Greek
and  Semitic   learning;   the   difference
between   the   two  views  of   life,  was
that in general the Semitic world was
more anxious  to establish a  code of
conduct than to inquire into the nature
of  things   whereas   the   Greeks  were
more given to formulate the system of
things.    How these two forms of liv-
ing could be brought together was an
acute problem in Alexandria, where so
many Jews of wealth and culture were
constantly in contact with the best in
the Greek world and were obliged to
attempt  a   synthesis.    The   leader  of
the most distijiguished^T?Hfes"in" Alex-
andria  was   Philo;   his   technique   was
a leavening of the religion of the Jews
with the learning of the Greeks, and
it has a peculiar  resemblance  to  the
method  of  the  Middle  Ages;  he ac-
cepted in his doctrine both the revela-
tion in the Old Testament and the dis-
coveries of science and  philosophy in
Plato and in the other Greek writers,
and   his  task   is   to "prove   both   right,
just  as  it   was  the   task  of  Thomas
Aquinas  to  prove  Christian   theology
in   no   way. contradictory   to   the   phi-
losophy  of   Aristotle.    Neither   Philo
nor   Thomas   Aquinas   succeeded,   but
the experiment was interesting, and the
books     produced    are     among    the
triumphs     of     the     human     intellect.
Finally the theory of this Alexandrian
scholar was, that by the correct use of
allegory you could reconcile  anything
in the Old Testament with anything in
Plato, but he never gave up the belief
that the literal sense of the Old Testa-
�>   ment was also true.    He died before
he   had   quite   completed   the   task   of
proving   how   both   these   truths   were
ever equally true.    He was  not only
concerned with the intellectual problem
of synthesis, but also with the emotion
or   experience   we   call   religion,   that
experience  of   which   the   leading  fea-
tures are three in number: a sense of
unity,   for   man   can   break   down   the
wall   of   personality   separating   him
from   other   people,   and   the   universe
can give man a sense of unity with the
world as a whole; a sense of purifica-
tion a taking away of the impediments
that come into the  human state, and
Miss Carey Defines the New
Cult in League Service
"The Cult of S%lf-Expression, spelt
with capital letters, is abroad in the land
and it is very difficult to know what to
think about it. If we ignore.it, we are
sure to have a feeling that we are miss-
ing somethingf If we plunge into it, we
are often not satisfied because it is so
inconsistent with many ideas that we
have inherited, or even with our sense
of good taste. So we are baffled�and
sometimes follow the guide who has the
loudest voice.
"This is no new problem with which
we are faced. It is nothing more or less
than the battle that has"raged from age
to age between excess and repression.
It is the Stoic against the Epicurean,
the Puritan against the Cavalier, the con-
ventional Victorian point of view against
the aesthetic movement of the eighteen
nineties.
"One aspect of the present battle that is
especially interesting is the fact that no
Mud or convincing voice has been raised
against the doctrine. Ever since the
war, books have been appearing like Mr.
Bertrand Russell's The Right-To Be
H<*PPy, in which the authors proclaim in
no uncertain terms the privilege of the
individual to do what he pleases regard-
less of social circumstances. - More sig-
nificant than literary expositions is the
actual working out of this philosophy in
the lives of people. It is by no means
confined to our own generation, although
our world sometimes thiritc from our
triumphant self-consciousness that it is.
In the whole of society it may be seen:
in the decisions of the divorce courts;
in the lawbreaking by virtuous citizens;
in the turning away from organized
Christianity to the new Humanism, which
gives a cosmic sanction to whatever trian
takes it into his head to do. Until re-
cently the only resistence has been made
by scattered and desperate parents, by
occasional teachers, and by ministers who
have preached to ears which, unfortu-
nately, are usually already, converted. I
believe, however, that the reaction has
set in. Mr. Walter Lippman has struck
the first blow. Intellectual that he is,
cynic, perhaps, in the eyes of many
people, irreligious in ^the conventional
sense of the word, in his book, The Pre-
face to Morals, he has analyzed the point
of view to our world and then shown it
up for what it is: a faddish, limited, and
completely  unsatisfying philosophy.
Continued on Pas* Three
America and
Europe Contrasted
Our New Civilization  Is Based
Mechanical
on
Efficiency.
NATIONS SHOULD TRADE
"My subject tonight is a very preten-
tious one," began M. Andre Siegfried in
his lecture entitled European and Ameri-
can Civilisations. "If I dare to attempt
it, it is not because I myself am pre-
tentious. It is a problem' that in my
"country we have discussed every day
since the Great War, simply because
the French realize that there is a civ-
ilization in America, entirely opposed to
a European civilization. Tim-, on the
two sides of the ocean there are two
distinct civilizations: if one is more
efficient than the other, that is if
America is more efficient than Europe,
what is the less-efficient nation to do?
This is the problem.
"When in 1898 I first came to Amer-
ica this new civilization was not yet
existing. America in those days was a
political power of secondary impor-
tance. Its whole attention was focused
on the business of conquering itself in
the West. To Europeans America
seemed romantic and exotic at that
time. You had eccentric millionaires,
Southern planters with their Negroes,
and Western adventurers�cowboys and
gold prospectors. Most of all you had
the West with its great riches, liberty,
phantasy and action. When you
wanted more of anything you had to go
West. Now you have the Middle
West that is different. The sentiment
pi the frontier is lost, and today people
go to New York for their excitement.
"In Europe we regret that this old
America does not exist any more. Then
you hadMo many poetical qualities, and
you very carefully preserved your
spiritual bondage with us across the
ocean. The great men of that age were
in touch with Europe: Lincoln be-
longed to America, but also he seemed
to belong to all humanity. Since the
war there has arisen a new civilization
which has changed not only externals
but spiritual values. It seems to me
that what has caused this (perhaps I
am wrong) is a new conception of
methodically organized,production now
paramount in America. The American
is the greatest organizer of his day;
<rt   such   we   admire   him,   yet   at   the
Continued on   Pare   Four
*    �
-111
On Monday evening, November 4, Dr.
D.- K. Karve, Principal of the Indian
Women's University at Poona, spoke on
the subject of women's education in
India. The difficulties of education in
India for both men and women have been
very great, explained Dr. Karve, as
formerly the Indian languages were not
very developed and>"hence English was
used as the medium of instruction. This
system still continues, unfortunately
since it is very different from the In-
dian languages and therefore very diffi-
cult for students to learn. The educa-
tion of men, nevertheless, has made con-
siderable advance because it enables
young men to enter the professions and
government service. Money, therefore,
is readily spent on the education of boys,
whereas the education of girls lags far
behind. Even so, only nine per cent, of
the population pf India at the. present
time can read and write, and only two
per cent.~of these are women. Therefore
great disparity results between men and
women so far as general information and
knowledge are concerned.
The most important question in India,
said Dr. Karve, is how to bridge this
wide gulf. Of great disadvantage is
the fact that the system of education for
women has been exactly the same as
that for men, so that women were de-
nied the opportunity of learning useful
and applicable subjects such as home
economics, hygiene, and domestic science.
Therefore, continued TJr. Karve, there
was need of a system for women which
would   give   them   general   culture   and
Continued   en   Pace   Fire
Dr. Wagoner Lectures
the Graduates
-*/
"In an pld manuscript of about 370
B. C, a conversation is recorded be-
tween two philosophers, Morosophus
and Protagoras, which will probably
illustrate what I mean by sane dormi-
tory life," Dr. Wagoner related in the
course of an informal after-dinner talk
to the graduate students, November 6,
at the invitation of Dean Schenck.
The conversation, quoted frtmi a
translation of the manuscript, pertained
to the essential nature of madness and
disease. Protagoras conjectures that
they are merely two ways of showing
inability to sustain the weight of the
everyday world, or, more explicitly, in-
ability to conform oneself not only to
things but to people, so as to live with-
out the constant discord that reduces
effectiveness so markedly. A group in
which each individual lived shut up in
himself, unintelligible to others and
with no comprehension of them, would
be a group pf madmen. Such a life
would be one of extreme weakness, if
possible at all. Now, Protagoras
argues, suppose these individuals ^were
suddenly endowed with the ability to
agree and act together in some partial
ways�woidd not the entire community
be benefited and strengthened accord-
ingly? And the more they agreed in
certain fundamental conceptions which
are necessary to life and well-being,
the more efficiently and the less like
madmen would they act.
"If I could be the means of bringing
this group to agree and act together in
respect to preventive medicine, I
should feel I had served a good pur-
pose in this talk tonight," Dr. Wago-
ner continued. She then proceeded to
cite certain general principles which it
was well to keep in mind. For ex-
ample, that health is desirable not so
much for its own sake as for the free-
dom it gives to pursue life'and happi-
ness; that ill-health is largely�patheti-
cally so�preventative; that the causes
of ill health are to be found in our-
selves, our habits especially, and in our
environment, and that therefore self-
knowledge and a knowledge of one's
environment are the strongest weapons
in combating disease. Medical aid
should come second, and should never
be relied upon to the exclusion of
simple preventive  measures.
In the practical application of such
general principles, Dr. Wagoner sug-
gested the following "Dont's":
"Don't   forget   the   present   in   the
Advancement of Women
same tim_e feel sj^ano-* and away frnm . plaus..for-�V f>.!t�rfir*-�>e*^"2C *o�sc:os-e
Itldia DlSCUSSetf him.                                                          the present is  always to discount the
"The center of gravity of this coun-
try seems to have shifted. When I
firSt came to America it was in the
East; now, according to the 1921 cen-
sus, it is in Indiana. This unmistakedly
means that the real center of the coun-
try, from the point of view of popu-
lation and production, now is in the
Middle West, and that there is a pos-
sibility of the standards of this geo-
graphical section being imposed upon
the whole country. It seems that the
East is becoming westernized very
-rapidly. In 1898 I felt that I was in a
cultural colony of Europe. Now in
the West people live in a big internal
courtyard with plenty of light and am-
ple space, but little opportunity to
look outside. Thus the people are
politically, economically and culturally
autonomous. They live on what they
produce and don't bother with Europe.
Their men are men like Ford and
Hoover, who if they are known are
not understood by Europeans, despite
the fact that they are great personali-
ties. The important word of America
today is^efticiency,' a word for a long
time not translatable for us; indeed,
we had no use for it. So today in this
age-of the radio and the aeroplane we
find the gulf between Europe and
America greater than ever before.
"The conception of production is the
new thing in America. When we think
of America our first impression is of
its enormous abundance of natural re-
sources, our second of its constant
scarcity of labor. As an almost inevi-
table  result of  this  scheme of things
Coatlaaed on  �>��� Six
President Park
Calls Special Chapel
Relation of Self-Government to
the Administration
*       .   Clarified.
STUDENTS    RESPONSIBLE
future�and live a twenty-four hour
day in which work, play, social con-
tacts, sufficient food, sleep, etc., all
have their proper place.
"Don't neglect little ills�do some-
thing constructive about them. Poor
teeth, tonsils, frequent headaches,
colds, etc., are often outward signs of
inward  neglect.
"Don't tolerate neglected ills in
others, particularly if of a contagious
variety. Be hard-hearted toward the
martyr that can't afford to give in to
an ill."
At the conclusion of the talk the
meeting was thrown open to general
discussion which centered around ques-
tions concerning colds, cigarettes, sleep
and the use of drugs and stimulants as
home remedies.
Varsity Wins Over   �.
Philadelphia Crickets
For the first time this season Varsity
played a clean, pretty, well-directed
game, tying Philadelphia Cricket Club.
5-5, on Saturday morning, November 9.-
In the first half the opponents wen
quicker and more effective with thcV
sticks, and throughout the game their
close control of the ball was remark-
able. The playing was well distributed
and long hard passes on both sides
kept the teams .on their toes.
Varsity had learned its lesson by the
second half, and displayed its prettiest
stick work of the year. The backs took
the ball on the run and passed quickly
Continued   oa   Pa��  Four
On Monday morning November 11,
President Park called a special chapel
meeting in Goodhart HalJ, and spoke
to the student body on the subject of
the relations, past and present, between
the Self-Government Association and
the administration of Bryn Mawr Col-
lege. Miss Park began by stressing
the fact that she wished to speak very
directly and frankly to the students;
it was, perhaps, this opening statement,
combined with the spontaneity and
open-mindedness of the whole tone of
the speech, which made it one of the
most enthusiastically received of many
talks that have been made to the under-
graduates in past years.       ,
Miss Park went on to say. "When I
read the College News last Thursday,
with the announcement of the Self-
Government meeting, I was filled with
regret that, at the moment, I was shut
up at home with a cold that made it
impossible for me to use that chapel
hour or Friday's to ask you to let me
speak to you. Obviously there was
need for a very immediate, a very di-
rect, and a-very accurate statement of
the relation of the President and the
Dean of the College to the Self-Gov-
ernment Association.
"In the agreement that was made
between the Self-Government Associa-
tion and the then Truatees, now Di-
rectors, of Bryn Mawr College, almost
forty years ago, there was a definition
in simple but, I think, very adequate
terms, of the province which was
handed over by the Directors of the
College, not at the moment to the
Self-Government Association, bat to all
the students of the College. They were,
in so many words, given control of
all matters relating to control of them-
selves, with the exception of those hav-
ing to do with the housekeeping of the
College and in 'matters directly under
control of the authorities of the Col- -
lege.' I am using the phrase of, the
original agreement, and it has never
been interpreted by any official of the
College as referring to anything but
academic affairs. The matters lead-
4ng.�*c-- digue "'�-' instance,-are not
in the hands of the students. This
matter of academic affairs I have often
had to explain, especially outside the
College, because in many others the
regulation of examinations, for ex-
ample, has been in the hands of the
students. This has never been true at
Bryn Mawr, and the explanation is an
easy one. It is the College which ob-
tains legal power from the State of
Pennsylvania to give degrees; it is re-
sponsible, in return, for a choice of
such work as shall be adequate for the
degree which it gives, for the resources
of the College which make the teaching
possible, and for the choice of a faculty
which will make possible the carrying
out of that work. The College is also
responsible, I believe, for the integrity
of the work of the students; Bryn
Mawr has always felt this responsi-
bility and has kept in its own hands
the control of academic matters, so
that it may stand behind  its degrees.
"Now, clearing away the academic
responsibility, the students have com-
plete control of their' own .conduct,
given to them absolutely, within their
own area. I want to discuss, this
morning, the possible infringements on
that area; first of all I shall take-up
the traditional one of the Drrectors.
It has been commonly said that the
Trustees, in giving over this field to
the students, did so on condition that
four restriction appear in the regula-
tions. I never knew, as an under-
graduate, what the four matters were.
When, several years ago, the present
Constitution of the Self-Government
A�ociation   was   rewritten,   I    looked
Coatlaaed   oa   Pas*   T\n                 I