_The Religious Instincts._—Möbius says, “We reckon the downfall of religion as one of the causes of mental and nervous diseases. Religion is essentially a comforter. It builds for the man, who stands amid the evil and misery of the world, another and fairer world. Besides his daily careful life, it lets him lead a second and purer life. The consciousness of being within the hand of Providence, and the confident hope of a future redemption, is a support to the believer in his work and care, for which unbelief has no compensation. Meditation calms and refreshes him like a healing bath. Worship breaks in upon the daily drudgery of his days with rest and meeting.” The morality of a nation suffers most severely through the downfall of its religion, as experience has always and everywhere proved. The religious instinct has a very close relation to the emotions, morals, esthetic feelings, to social instinct, and to sex. The feelings of reverence and awe, and the consciousness of the infinite in man are vague, but are the most powerful parts of his nature. Religion furnishes the only pure ideals that half of the world has access to. It has proved an intellectual stimulus, and roused a metaphysical frame of mind in some of the most vigorous nations, such as the German and Scotch. It leads more toward refinement of life than any other agency. It stimulates the benevolent and altruistic feelings, and leads to their practical demonstrations; it fights vice and immorality; it seizes on the best that is in man and transforms the character. =The Advantages of College Life.=—College life is of the greatest possible advantage to girls in many ways: it is broadening to the mind; discipline is maintained, and, at the same time, the girl is thrown on her own resources; adequate means are provided for developing both mind and body to their greatest capacity. Whether the girl comes from the country, a country town or city, her social group is comparatively limited; her world is very little and the _ego_ is very large. The discipline that any large body of students bring to bear on the conduct and behavior of the individual is one of the important advantages of a college training. The insignificance of the ego, who is only a unit in this large community, is quickly impressed on the gray matter of the brain, and the rough and unpleasant angles are soon smoothed off. This, in addition to the discipline afforded by the college officers, and the total lack of discipline is the weakest point in the average girl’s education. To be brought into intimate relation with the members of a large and educated community is in itself a liberal education. To learn to respect the rights and the opinions of others, to perceive that any given subject has a great number of points of view, is attaining toward a healthy mental balance that will make the woman broader minded, more sympathetic, more companionable, and more charitable in her views of life.