The first and most direct influence of the institution is, of course, upon its students. An observing visitor, listening to a recitation, or attending any gathering of the students, can, without much difficulty, distinguish the recent comers from the older pupils. In modes of thought and expression, and in the general bearing, the contrast is usually quite marked. These, however, are only superficial indications of the deeper change that is commonly wrought in the entire character. Frivolity is toned down, carelessness corrected, punctuality secured, a respect for the rugged virtues as well as the amenities of life stimulated, and, in many cases, a sober and abiding religious earnestness developed. The influence of the institution thus imparted to its students, is next felt by the thousands of younger scholars whom the students gather into their schools. So, too, the Sunday-schools and Churches with which they are connected, and the entire communities in which they move, receive a quickening impulse from their presence. “There are three of us in that Sunday-school, _all with the University ideas_,” was the significant remark of a graduate now teaching in a large Southern city. Finally, the influence of Atlanta University upon the Southern white people themselves has been a marked one. They have repeatedly and handsomely acknowledged that the success of its instruction has convinced them that the colored race can receive a high degree of culture. The demonstration of this fact has an important bearing upon the whole subject of public education. Not only the colored people, but the white people of all classes, especially the poorer classes, will receive great benefit from the quickening of public sentiment, produced by the success of this institution. The last official report on Atlanta University, by the Board of Visitors appointed by the Governor, contains an emphatic recognition of its very great influence, present and prospective. These are some of the sentences from that report: “The Board are constrained to say that the mental training was very satisfactory.” “No school in Georgia ever had such a field, and its social as well as political power may become immense.” “The pupils of that school will be the moulders of their race in the State,” etc., etc. These are the statements of influential white men in Georgia. Do the people of the North realize how true they are? * * * * * Devotion to Study—Conversions to Christ. REV. M. O. HARRINGTON, MACON.